Remember what the last election was about? According to the prime minister it was all about trust – about whom we could trust to bring back fair dinkum, grown up honest government and the high standards that go with it. 

Well, Tony, we’re still waiting. 

No wonder our leaders tell us not to worry our little heads about our wars - just support those troops, go shopping, and keep waving that flag.

from Independent Australia ….

The NSA has been systematically eavesdropping on the Mexican government for years. It hacked into the president's public email account and gained deep insight into policymaking and the political system. The news is likely to hurt ties between the US and Mexico.

Queensland’s anti-bikie laws – a misnomer because they can apply to any group deemed to be a criminal association – are draconian. They also have a long history in Australia.

As a special church service was held in Springwood, in the lower Blue Mountains, near Sydney, one can only decry the futility of praying for rain... More effective of course would be to plead to Tony Abbott to keep the carbon pricing...

It's not going to improve unless we reduce our emissions of CO2... It's as simple as this... And we have to reduce these emissions to NIL, NADA, NOTHING, ZIP... We have to find ways to stop using fossil carbon. If one does a comparison between the past and now, global warming has removed about two months of winter and added two months of summer in this country...

The United States has temporarily avoided federal default. As the Republicans lick their wounds, the Democrats are triumphant. But no one should be happy, because the debacle has exposed just how broken the American political system truly is.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Symptoms

After a year of travelling, I had planned a last, short trip. I was going to take the train from Montreal to New Orleans. The travels I had been undertaking earlier this year had brought me to places that were meant to form the background of my second novel.