The fork in the road tour fails to inspire the troops. A visit from the fork in the road tour hasn’t prodded any Labor candidates to come forward for the Tasmanian bellwether seat of Bass. The Government holds Bass by less than three percent, but ALP contender Steve Reissig withdrew from the race in October. The Right’s Geoff Lyons was tipped as a possible replacement, but he ain’t biting. And Launceston Deputy Mayor, Jodie Campbell, has also said she won’t seek preselection. Nominations close on Friday.

Putting Christ back into Christmas special. “Credentialed philosopher” Paul Comrie-Thomson examines the teachings of St Kevin at the ABC’s Counterpoint  while Gerard Henderson warns in The Sydney Morning Herald of “a new sectarianism in the land… a tendency on the left of Australian politics to regard a number of committed Christians with contempt — socially conservative Catholics and Protestant evangelicals alike… dismissed because of their views on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research involving the destruction of human embryos, homos-xuality and same-s-x marriage”. And talking about stem cell research, Family First have prepared a very detailed breakdown of the conscience vote on Kay Patterson’s successful private member’s bill.

Credit where credit is due. Canberra’s bus drivers are clearly sick of copping the flak for budget driven cuts to services, if this picture from a Crikey reader is anything to go by: