THE GIST. Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett is kicking up a big stink about how much (or how little) money his state gets from the pool of GST revenue, describing it "outrageous" and "disgraceful".

DIVIDING THE PIE. This is roughly how the GST works: all the states and territories collect a 10% tax and goods and services, then they hand that money over to the Federal government for safekeeping. The cash is pooled together, and then distributed back out to the states and territories. So, why bother pooling it together in the first place? Because of a thing called 'horizontal fiscal equalisation' - the theory that each state should get enough money back so that they all can provide the same level of services.

WESTERN WHINGE. At the moment, Western Australian gets back about 30 cents for every dollar in GST they put in the pool, and they aren't happy about it. Barnett said that there is a "second class citizen in Australia called Western Australians." He isn't getting much sympathy from the other states and territories though - today they released a joint letter arguing against and "special treatment" for the West.

WEAK CASE. While Barnett has been busy playing a tune of injustice on his tiny iron-ore-encrusted violin, he's ignoring the fact that as recently as 2007, Western Australia received more GST cash then they put in. Oh, and there's also the fact that WA has been financially supported by the other states for most of the last 100 years.

THE GIST. The Obama Presidency is winding down, and the Big O looks to be leaving a bigger power vacuum in his wake than Tywin Lannister. Keeping track of the candidates for the coveted role of Leader of the Free World is going to be hard over the next year and a half, so it's worth getting introduced to some of them now.

RAND PAUL. Paul is a Republican candidate and Senator from Kentucky, who calls himself a 'libertarian'. Like other conservative candidates he is anti-abortion and opposes gun control. Unlike many conservatives, he has been a vocal critic of NSA surveillance and supports medical marijuana. What to expect: he'll be a favourite with the YMI crowd (Young Men on the Internet) for those last two points, and won't get anywhere near the White House.

TED CRUZ. Cruz is a Republican Senator from Texas, and is by some measures the most conservative candidate in the field, so you can probably guess what he thinks about the big measuring-stick issues. Despite once being hailed as the "The Republican Barack Obama", Cruz's biggest problem is that nobody likes him - including his Republican colleagues. How bad is it? Well, Cruz is too extreme even for well-known conservative crackpot Pat Robertson - a man who said that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for American abortions.

MARCO RUBIO. The most recently announced Republican candidate, Rubio is also the youngest - the Florida Senator is just 43. Rubio is probably the conservative front-runner at the moment, as he has a relatively high 'favourability' rating, and is well-liked by Republican primary voters. 

HILLARY CLINTON. Former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State and the only Democratic candidate so far - it looks likely that Clinton will get the nomination. She has a few spots on the CV - like the recent secret emails scandal, and her family's 'charitable' foundation which has received millions of dollars from the governments of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as from several Wall Street banks. On the other hand, she isn't any of those other three guys.

GLORIOUS BASTARDS. A study shows that men are more likely than women to say they would travel back in time to kill Hitler if given the opportunity. The research found that women had greater reservations about committing murder. 

PAPER POWER. Financial advisory firm Arton Capital has released a passport index, which ranks countries' passports based on how 'powerful' they are. Top of the list are US and UK passports, giving holders access to 145 countries. A passport for the Palestinian territories is among the least powerful, with access to only 20 countries without an 'advance visa'.

ARTIFICIAL INTOLERANCE. Apple has refused to answer questions about whether the Russian-language version of Siri is homophobic. The allegation is based on a video of man asking Russian Siri where to find a gay bar and how to register a gay marriage, to which she responds "you are so rude!" and "I will pretend I haven't heard".