Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey says the Government is prepared to consider wider exemptions to the Medicare co-payment, after he met with crossbench powerbroker Clive Palmer in Brisbane last night.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says that the government must do “whatever we reasonably can to ensure that the Australian community is safe from people who have been radicalised ….”

from antony loewenstein …..

So far it appears that the death of Robin Williams was a suicide... He had been suffering from depression and dealt with it with addiction... It is always hard to know what goes on in the head of people... 

I know depression, Artistic people tend to feel it most. Depression is a hard master. It sucks life's motivation out of you... I've dealt with mine for over a long time with what I call positive anger... When one is angry, one cannot be depressed... And anger does not have to be reactive but being "positive" it maintains the fire in the belly. Positive anger can be used for strong creative purposes. 

The Federal Government was told its $7 Medicare co-payment would disproportionately hit the old and chronically ill, previously secret documents reveal.

The documents, obtained by The West Australian under Freedom of Information laws, show many of the nation's poorest will have to carry more of the cost of the $3.5 billion plan, even with a cap on payments.

Some Sydney homes may have also been insulated with the same dangerous form of asbestos that was pumped into the so-called Mr Fluffy homes in Canberra.

The Mr Fluffy insulation company installed loose-fill asbestos in the roof spaces of more than 1,000 homes across the ACT during the 1960s and 1970s.

Tony Abbott is a Rhodes Scholar and an Oxford graduate.

Malcolm Fraser, while not a Rhodes scholar, is also an Oxford graduate. Fraser is constantly labouring towards intellectual positions. Whether or not you agree with them, you would be hard-pressed to prove Fraser’s positions are not thoroughly considered. By contrast, Abbott’s utterances on the big issues seem best summed up by his statement, ‘‘No one is the suppository of all wisdom’’.

from politicoz …..

It’s been called "excruciating" and "the most embarrassing interview you'll ever be likely to see".

Imo Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, yesterday, at Imo Government House, has revealed that Governor Rochas Okorocha has churned out veritable programmes to save Igbo language from extinction.