Julia Gillard says she has no regrets about calling the election so many months in advance and believes Labor can still win, despite repeated polls showing the party is set for an historic defeat.

Never before has Australia’s political coverage been so poorly regarded by the public; Tom Orren says this reputation is well-deserved — and here he explains why.

You will often hear uttered, from women who don’t subscribe to the whole feminism package but who nevertheless wish to add their voice to the gender equality debate, that well known phrase “I’m not a feminist, but…”

We are at the beginning of the exposure of a long haul of deception and deceptive manipulation... Deception is not new. What is new in this world of goggling each others is the scope and the ramifications of such deception.

In his book, Propaganda, published in 1928, Edward Bernays wrote: "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country."

They're grown men, the President and the Emir. So it is inevitable that over a dinner or perhaps in a frank chat some time soon, the US President and his Qatari counterpart will swap notes on the unfolding, or the unravelling, of the Arab Spring.

What a night of nights it must have been last May: the music, the champagne, the chatter and laughter, the bursts of applause. See the merry throng of gentlemen elegant in best black tie, the ladies soignee in satins and silks, a soft light sparkling on silver and pearls, on diamonds and gold.

from Crikey ….

Devine spin: inside the Church PR machine - and why Pell must go

Spy drones used in American skies: FBI