Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi, whose new piece in Rolling Stone outlines the complete lack of accountability for Wall Street crooks, tells Democracy Now!,

As politicians are asking ordinary Americans to sacrifice their education, their health, their labor rights, and their wellbeing to tackle budget deficits, some of the world's richest multinational corporations are getting away with shirking their responsibility and paying nothing. ThinkProgress has assembled a short but far from comprehensive list of these tax dodgers - corporations which have rigged the tax system to their advantage so they can reap huge profits and avoid paying taxes:

Silvio Berlusconi is an internationally renowned figure, but not for his good reputation as an upright and respectable statesman, rather as a notorious man who can be called one of the most corrupt politicians of the world in all terms.

An unflappable and defiant politician who has accumulated a collection of criminal charges for which he hasn't been held accountable so far, Berlusconi is approaching the first stages of punishment for several crimes he committed during his three terms of premiership in Italy.

Australia remains committed to the war in Afghanistan, despite the rising death toll, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

"Jamie Larcombe was taking the fight to insurgents," Ms Gillard told reporters in Canberra, noting that the whole nation would mourn his death.

But it's in the nation's interest to remain in Afghanistan, Ms Gillard said.

"It's a hard mission and I'm not underestimating the costs."

"I am immeasurably sad, but I am certainly very determined to see the mission through.

"We have the men and the means to acquit our mission," she added.

Would you change your diet - even if it damaged your health - to save the environment? Australians have never been asked the question, although it's a fair bet most would answer with a resounding "no."

What if the environmental benefit was uncertain and the data said to support it held secret?

A hand-picked group of Australians on a secretive sub-committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council have answered yes for you and are determined you will not get to make up your own mind.

After speaking with many hundreds of Party members and supporters today we released the 2010 ALP National Review Report.

Review 2010 was the largest in the history of the party thanks to the participation of members like yourselves who contributed online, through a formal submission or at one of the consultation forums.

What is clear is that members and supporter are passionate about our great Party, but very concerned about its future.

That is why the Review Report recommends significant changes in Labor's organisation including:

Did you hear about the uprising?

Not the one in Tunisia, or Egypt.

No, not the one in Libya, though what has been happening there is certainly riveting. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in several cities, defying the forty-year rule of Muammar el-Qaddafi under threat of death.

Not the similar one in Bahrain, where several died and many more were injured.

Not the similar one in Yemen, which has been going on for more than seven days.

Scott Morrison, the Liberal frontbencher who this week distinguished himself as the greatest grub in the federal Parliament, is the classic case of the politician who is so immersed in the game of politics that he has lost touch with the real world outside it.

This week it was race. Morrison decided to see if he could win some political points by inflaming racism and resentment. More specifically, he zeroed in on some of the most vulnerable people in the country for political advantage. Indeed, is there anyone more vulnerable than a traumatised, orphaned child unable to speak English, held in detention on a remote island?

from Crikey .....

Former NRMA director: insurance industry hiring "a conga line of spin doctors"

Crikey senior journalist Andrew Crook writes:

from Crikey .....

Hockey stands aside from Islamophobia campaign - and where was Labor?

Crikey Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

This column is about lawlessness, and what your government is doing in your name. Or, more accurately, how it's spending your money while dodging the oversight of Parliament in direct contravention of the law.

It is about the High Court challenge to the National School Chaplaincy Program and the reason why - whatever you think of school chaplains, love or hate 'em - you should be hoping the challenge succeeds. Any Australian who cares about the primacy of the law over the electoral fortunes of the political party in power should.

Hosni Mubarak ceded power to the Egyptian military as a popular revolt swept away the leader of the Arab world's most populous state, throwing into question the future course of a reliable US ally in the Middle East.

Egyptians, who only hours earlier shouted anger that Mubarak was clinging to power, celebrated through the night in Cairo and other cities after an announcement that Mubarak had resigned, bowing to the demands of protesters who had occupied central Cairo for 18 days. In downtown's Mubarak subway station, revelers crossed out his name, replacing it with "Martyrs' Station."

When shit happens to Tony Abbott, as it has a lot lately, his first instinct is to run to the loving embrace of Alan Jones, the venerable broadcaster. So it was on Wednesday morning, after that now famous encounter on Seven News the night before. As ever, it was the Great Man - Jones, that is - who did most of the talking. ''If I could perhaps amplify and you might then just comment ...'' he began helpfully.

from Crikey .....

Ralph Norris and a bad apples-and-oranges comparison

Glenn Dyer writes:

from Crikey .....

Abbott's bad week has been months in the making

Crikey Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes: