Pearls and Irritations provides the following links for weekend reading:

“Tony Abbott, once the ‘climate weathervane’, has long since rusted stuck” - Marc Hudson (The Conversation)

“Some states do better than others on affordable housing we can learn from the successes” - Steven Rowley and Peter Phibbs (the Conversation)"

Australian dollar looks set to drop - Ian Verrender (ABC News). Ian Verrender raises the issues we don’t want to discuss: our debt and dependence on commodities . Way back in the dim dark ages, a strong currency was a matter of national pride. But that mentality is out of style, and economists may be breathing a sigh of relief now interest rates and commodity prices are threatening to sink the Australian dollar.

“Slashing penalty rates: a misguided response to problems of the past” - John Quiggin (the Conversation)

Kim Jong Un isnt crazy - Zachary Cohen (CNN)

How Catalonian separatists outsmarted Madrid - Thomas Harrington (Antiwar.com).

Rex Tillerson at the breaking point - Dexter Filkins (New Yorker)

‘War is preventable, but I am not sure it will be prevented’ - Nicholas Kristof (The New York Times International Edition)

If only the Las Vegas gunman had been a Muslim - Thomas L Friedman (The New York Times International Edition)

Donald trump is unravelling say White House advisers - Gabriel Sherman (Vanity Fair)

In an interview with Phillip Adams, Barry Jones (former ALP President and Science Minister in the Hawke Government) speaks about his ideas to re-invigorate Australian politics to make headway on presently deadlocked issues.