Three in Four in U.S. Still See the Bible as Word of God and other news and views for Friday 6 June

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  • Three in Four in U.S. Still See the Bible as Word of God – “But 21%, near the 40-year high, consider it fables and history.”
  • Why budget reforms are now in intensive care – Laura Tingle in the Financial Review: “… the more tyres that are being kicked on the budget car, the less persuaded people seem to be that it is in the national interest either. That is, that the various “reforms” may produce a smarter, more productive country. You even have to wonder whether it can deliver the outcomes the government says it wants.”
  • Attempts to protect PM from Malcolm Turnbull are causing problems for Liberal party – Malcolm Farr at news.com.au : “So what has Malcolm Turnbull done to be the target for hard right sections of the media? Among his sins are being the most popular Liberal in Parliament (according to national polling), supporting same sex marriage which the right opposes, agreeing with scientists that human-assisted global warming is underway, and supporting and appearing on the ABC. And of course sharing food with Clive Palmer without getting permission from Mr Abbott. Or from Mr Jones or Mr Bolt.”
  • How One Man’s Arrest In London Shut Down Pakistan’s Megacity
  • Eschaton: He Crashed The Party And Pissed In The Punchbowl And He’s Such A Jerky Jerk: “I really have never quite understood the enmity that Greenwald inspires, mostly from the ‘Center’ to the ‘Left’. Journalists against journalism are bizarre, as are people who think revelations about the Surveillance State are somehow direct attacks on Obama. Yes, ultimately, the guy in charge is the guy in charge and I haven’t seen a lot of evidence he disapproves of much of this stuff, but it isn’t really that simple. One can think in combination that the surveillance state is out of hand, some programs might be “worth it” but not all, that Obama doesn’t sign off directly on every program, and that even if he doesn’t support all of these things it isn’t so simple to turn over the bugged applecart instantly. Even if I trusted Obama completely (I don’t), and even if I thought he knew as much about this stuff as he should (I doubt it), I can’t imagine trusting the massive unaccountable agency. Even if I trusted the nice patriotic government workers, I wouldn’t trust the massive private contractor system that has grown up around it. Snowden showed how easy it was to ‘abuse’ his access. You think he’s the only one? (We know he isn’t, of course, we just don’t know how bad it is).”
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