Crikey -- On politics, media, business, the environment and life

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Aluminium, industry policy and losing our way on reform

The closure of the Kurri Kurri smelter lifts the lid not merely on a troubled industry but a troubled policy process.

Campbell Newman’s ‘attack on gays’ could face legal test

Crikey Subscriber / Harley Dennett / 9

Family and human rights lawyers are considering grounds to halt what they see as a pair of targeted attacks on the LGBTI community from the Queensland government.

Two months, $10b: Gina Rinehart’s big leap

Crikey / James Thomson / 10

We got our prediction for the top end of the BRW Rich List wrong. It wasn’t Gina Rinehart on top with daylight second — it was daylight, twilight, moonlight and everything in between.

With $5b of intangibles, will new Fairfax director wield the axe?

Crikey Subscriber / Stephen Mayne / 1

With its share price sliding to record lows, Fairfax Media is now in the invidious position of having the most wildly optimistic balance sheet of any ASX200 company.

You have unleashed the lynch mob. And you have fanned it.

– Craig Thomson lambasts the media and the opposition in a long and emotional speech defending himself and his family.

scoop Tips and rumours: ABC insiders spill … Baillieu kills uni jobs … water wars cont …

Crikey Subscriber / 1

Politics

Crikey Says: Should the Future Fund be ethical?

Crikey / 10

Does it matter that the Future Fund has invested over $200 million in tobacco shares? Should taxpayers be asked to accept a poorer return on their investment for the sake of avoiding a controversial product?

Concern rises over use of drones in America

CBS News

America has used drones largely for anti-terrorist and illegal immigration assignments, but the number of domestic drones are increasing and civil liberty advocates are ringing alarm bells, reports CBS News.
At the ballot booth, Egypt makes history

NY Times Business

“It is like honey to my heart,” said one Egyptian lining up to vote in the country’s first free election, of which no clear front-runner has emerged, writes David D. Kirkpatrick.

Is reducing the number of bottle shops to curb domestic violence a ‘bone-headed’ idea?

Crikey Blogs
Will Obama make Clinton his veep?

The Daily Beast
OECD echo the words of Wayne Swan

Crikey Blogs
Is the old and creaky strata system keeping up with high density growth?

Crikey Blogs
The birther craze has a sequel: the afterbirther craze

Village Voice

Media

Media briefs: Guardian review … Leveson latest … C-Mail police probe …

Crikey / 1

In today’s Media Briefs: typo of the day … Front Page of the Day … Jeremy Paxman says Piers Morgan told him how to hack a phone … Police probe complaint against Courier-Mail and more …

‘Get that f-cking fat old c-nt off Channel 9′: traffic guy claims ageism

Crikey / Andrew Crook / 20

Australia’s leading helicopter traffic report network has been accused of ageism in a swingeing statement of claim lodged in the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal.
Pirate Bay pre-empts UK blockade

Torrent Freak

In its ongoing quest to circumvent censorship, the notorious Pirate Bay has pre-empted impending UK blockades by launching a new website, reports TorrentFreak.

Digital marketers move from ‘plus ones’ to ‘pins’

Advertising Age
Tweeps free to tweet again in Pakistan

PC Magazine
Amazon charges big bucks for Kindle Fire ads

Advertising Age
Google up the ante with ‘database of everything in the world’

CNET
Is Facebook about to jump the shark?

Mashable

Culture

travel Top five Asian dishes for brave tourists

Crikey Blogs

Bite. Chew. Swallow. Those words are easier said than done — particularly when your dinner plate has on it a deep fried tarantula the size of your hand. Nicole Frisina braves the palette pleasing world of crazy Asian food.

Beers and buskers in Montpellier

Crikey Blogs

Buoyed by sun and the smiles of strangers, The Northern Myth’s Bob Gosford strolled through the town of Montpellier in southern France, sipping beer and fraternising with buskers.
Luhrmann’s new trailer is Gatsby on crack

Crikey Blogs

Bright and brash, the new trailer for The Great Gatsby captures everything you’d expect from a Baz Luhrmann film, writes Bethanie Blanchard.

Attend before they end: Kentridge and The Clock

Crikey Blogs
Revisiting Batman: Arkham City — the worst kind of sequel

Crikey Blogs
Great Gatsby goof-up: a billboard-sized Baz Luhrmann booboo

Crikey Blogs
Chewing the fat with Shaun Micallef: news, comedy, Fabio and more

Crikey Blogs
Les petites maisons de la rue Crémieux

Crikey Blogs

Business

Qantas’ future up in the air after the great divide

Crikey / Ben Sandilands / 2

There are some difficult questions left unanswered about the future of Qantas as an international Australian flag carrier.

Up a billion: Packer’s casino bets pay off

THE POWER INDEX

James Packer still isn’t as rich as he was when his father died but, now with $5.21 billion to his name, he’s going in the right direction, writes Paul Barry.
Competition regulator ticks off Catalano-Fairfax tie-up

Crikey / Andrew Crook / 0

The ACCC has approved Fairfax Media’s 50% merger with Antony Catalano’s Metro Media Publishing business, publisher of Melbourne real estate advertising glossy The Weekly Review.

Facebook launch: now the party’s over, the hangover begins

Reuters
What happened to Lehman: an insider look at insider trading

NY Times Business
Five bogus business rebrands

Start Up Smart
Berlin’s new airport delayed as project fiasco exposed

Crikey Blogs
Healthier alternatives at the golden arches: is anybody buying them?

Crikey Blogs

Environment

The Australians backing Heartland’s climate sceptics conference

Crikey / 4

Any conference worth its salt needs a nice long list of sponsors to give the impression of widespread diverse support for whatever the conference organisers are advocating, writes freelance journalist and blogger Graham Readfearn.

Introducing Basil the bung-eyed camp dog

Crikey Blogs
Will AGL have to choose between green and brown gold?
Climate change & the Murray Darling: when our most divisive enviro issues meet

Crikey Blogs

Sport

Melbourne’s ‘sports capital of the world’ boast a sham

Crikey / Charlie Happell / 15

Melbourne’s claims to the title of Sports Capital of the World have been exposed this week as a sham, a hollow of piece of self-publicity that stands up to no scrutiny.