Figures released by the Victorian Coroner reveal an addiction to gambling has been linked to 130 suicides over the past 12 years.

How far will the climate purge go?

YESTERDAY ‒ Wednesday, 18 September 2013 ‒ the newly minted Australian Prime Minister Abbott returned to the past by swearing allegiance to the Queen whereas both Prime Ministers Rudd and Gillard, on taking office, swore allegiance to Australia.

Dear Mr Suzuki

Cyclists across Sydney have sprung to the defence of Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore in the face of a Daily Telegraph campaign against bike paths.

The old Catholic-based Democratic Labor Party — a product of Labor's split of the 1950s — is "alive and well and living inside the Howard Government", Health Minister Tony Abbott says.

In what passes for democracy in Australia, the vilest of the vile has won.

Labor lost because for six years it ruled, just like the Liberals before it, for the big end of town and did nothing to advance the interests of its working class supporters.

from Crikey …..

Stimulating hypocrisy from Hockey: Joe's changed tune

It is 2013, right? Why then, is a woman's status as a mother still relevant to her career potential?

Stephen Fry is the kind of person to avoid debating against. He's basically a huge brain piloting a finely tuned public speaking machine. Please note that this clip isn't about Catholics being bad people. In my experience, Catholics themselves tend to be some of the nicest, most caring individuals I have ever met. Fry's anger is directed at the Catholic leadership and policy makers.

Today’s global economy is causing shortages of natural resources (both renewable and non-renewable) as we come to the end of what might be called the Age of Extraction. A true cost, steady state economy, on the other hand, would prevent resource problems by maintaining population and resource consumption well within the carrying capacity of the planet.

According to the line flogged relentlessly for the last six years by the federal Coalition and the mainstream media, the Howard-Costello years – 1996 to 2007 – were a period of wonderful money management.

Warning: This story is going to make you very angry.