Even before the embarrassing backdown there were problems. For starters, it's not a burqa

A burqa is that particularly Afghan garment, usually blue, with the mesh covering the eyes.

The ABC must accept full responsibility for any controversial program cuts rather than blaming the Abbott government, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned.

A frustrated Mr Turnbull said cutting programming is the "laziest" way to save money and that the ABC should focus on reducing back-of-office expenses.

The ABC is considering axing current affairs program Lateline, the state-based 7.30 programs and cutting back on radio current affairs programs.

One of the greatest conceits of the modern journalist may be the notion that she, or he, has a better idea of what is in the Australian national security interest or the public interest than the government of the day, the politicians of the day, or even the permanent public administration, including the military and security establishment.

Almost a third of Australia's largest companies are paying less than 10¢ in the dollar in corporate tax, according to a report that exposes a gaping hole in government revenues over the past decade.

As Australia prepares to host world leaders at the G20 summit in Brisbane in November, where a global assault on tax avoidance will be a key topic of discussion, the report found 84 per cent of Australia's top 200 stockmarket-listed companies pay less than the 30 per cent company tax rate.

One might think that by now even Americans would have caught on to the constant stream of false alarms that Washington sounds in order to deceive the people into supporting its hidden agendas.

If you can attend an Anzac Day ceremony and hear the Turkish ambassador read the famous words of Turkish president Ataturk without an enormous lump in your throat, my bet is you are a very rare Australian.

With the freedom lovers restricting freedom even further to defend freedom, (oh, and don’t forget security), I am reminded of this from Peter Arnett about Bến Tre city in Vietnam on 7 February 1968.

He wrote that a US army commander said:

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from crikey ….

Targeting of Muslims risks the exact terror threat we claim to oppose ….