South Africa faces major challenges, and they can can only be surmounted by the emergence of a strong opposition.
April, 2009
Flu, GFC, boat people … all good news for Rudd
Nothing like the possibility of a pandemic to excite the media on a slow long weekend.
First home owner grant: just making vendors richer
The first home owners grant, especially in its boosted form, is not a policy which benefit first home buyers, but one which will lock them into a lifetime of possibly unserviceable debt.
Media briefs: Albrechtsen tells the left to lighten up
Guy Rundle responds to Janet Albrechtsen’s comments about lefties; WSJ maps newspapers’ deaths and Ten stops doing the Bartman.
Crikey Clarifier: Can we still eat pork crackling?
Swine influenza clarified Crikey style by Dean of Health, Medicine, Nursing and Behavioural Sciences Deakin University Professor John Catford.
Morning Market Report: Swine flu paranoia hits markets
A wrap of the market’s movements, including the effect of “Bird flu” paranoia building in the market.
Mungo MacCallum: The economy is not all gloom and doom
Rudd is not bragging when he says that, comparatively speaking, Australia remains economically in pretty good shape.
A taste of Candy
Candy Spelling on meeting Aaron, collecting Fabergé eggs, and speaking with Tori.
The danger of an Israeli strike on Iran
Netanyahu recently appeared to give Obama a blunt ultimatum: Stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — or we will. The world should hope it’s a hollow threat, writes Walt Rodgers.
China: the new Detroit
China is now the world’s largest market for cars. If Beijing gets its way, the future of the auto industry will be small, green and — of course — made in China
US houses stripped before foreclosure
American home owners are reacting to foreclosure by stripping everything of value from the house in advance. This diminishes the value of the foreclosure, costing taxpayers money.
We’re all torturers now
The US has become so casual about torture that we now openly debate its efficacy — something nobody would have dared do in the first days after Abu Ghraib, writes Dahlia Lithwick.
Tamil Tigers’ ceasefire a “cry of desperation”
With no government reciprocation, there can be no immediate improvement in the dire situation of the civilians trapped in the Tamil Tigers’ area.
Irish opt for paper ballots over e-voting
Chalk one up for AEC-style old skool pen-and-paper voting: Ireland are scrapping their e-voting system and going back to paper ballots.
What really happened to Russia’s missing cosmonauts?
An incredible tale of space hacking, espionage and death in the lonely reaches of space.
From Chav fighting to poolates: five new UK gym trends
Only in Britain? Five new UK gym trends, including Chav fighting, poolates, and stand-up paddle surfing.
Hitler’s art attracts big prices
A painting by Adolf Hitler sold for almost US$15,000 last week — more than six times as much as expected.
Mount Everest to get mobile coverage
“Hey mum, guess where I am?!” Nepal Telecom are planning to extend their coverage to the peak of Mount Everest.
Neil Gaiman writes a final ‘love letter to Batman’
Acclaimed comic-book writer Neil Gaiman is burying Batman, but not before he pens a final “love letter” to the Dark Knight.
Swine flu: Twitter’s power to misinform
There are quite a few reasons to be concerned about Twitter’s role in facilitating an unnecessary global panic about swine flu.
One billion iPhone apps. But how many are worth downloading?
The marketplace for iPhone applications is growing increasingly more crowded, but the question must be asked: are they actually any good?
Top 4 recession sacrifices
Eating out? Alcohol? New clothes? What are we willing to give up in these tough financial times?
