Another goose-step backwards with North KoreaThere are no easy answers when dealing with a state whose behaviour is unpredictable. The rule is: there is no rule, says Paul Reynolds.
May, 2009
North Korea’s final gamble
Pyongyang has few chips with which to bargain, says Anna Konopatskya. They are relying on the belief that belligerent actions might reap long-term political rewards.
Lobsters take on Sea Urchins
Australian scientists are deploying an army urchin-eating lobsters to curb the coral reef damage caused by sea urchins.
Why meerkat pups get less cute
Baby meerkats are adorable, but their families stop spoiling them after they’re only 100 days old. Wired explains how and why.
Turning poo into power
Waste not, want not — the top six ways people are converting excrement into electrity.
Hating Clare Werbeloff
Joe Hildebrand muses on the moral outrage sparked by the shocking revelation that — gasp! — something on the Internet was false!
Energy drink Mother rises like a phoenix
After originally tanking in 2006, Coke relaunched and rebranded its energy drink Mother this year to outsell Red Bull and equal sales of V. Here’s how they did it.
Arnie faces a real Armageddon
Arnold Schwarzenegger has built his career on roles where Armageddon was just around the corner. Now he faces a budget and political apocalypse for real.
New Monthly editor achieves his majority
The Monthly: the only magazine of ideas in the world edited by the work experience kid, says Jonathan Green
Crikey Says: Kevin Rudd, micromanager
Kevin Rudd’s micro-management of Australia over the past 18 months is starting to create headaches (or more of them) now the times are getting tougher.
Letter from...: Cambridge, as MP expenses scandal unfolds
Anything less than sleet in a howling gale is considered fine in Pommyland. We have at least been spared that so far. Gavin Moodie pens a postcard from Cambridge.
Political snippets: Nice try Aussie journos
The media really are going to extraordinary lengths to get Australian politicians implicated in the kind of expense account rorts that are battering the reputation of politicians in the United Kingdom. So far, no smoking gun.
Short-selling ban comes up empty
ASIC announced this morning that it had lifted the ban on “covered” short selling.
Rudd’s 25% carbon target is just a stunt
Why would the Government put forward a 25% target that hasn’t been modelled and is based on conditions that cannot be satisfied, asks Andrew Macintosh.
Bangaroo bust-up bad news for Rees
Buried in a newspaper story on the weekend was a disclosure that is bad news for the struggling NSW Government.
Bob Ellis v Margot Saville: from farts to Ingmar Bergman
Author and sometimes Crikey contributor Margot Saville reviewed Bob Ellis’ And So It Went: Night Thoughts in a Time of Change for the Sydney Morning Herald. Bob Ellis begged to differ
Conservative heroines: must be pretty and enrage liberals
Clare Werbeloff is Australian for Sarah Palin … well almost.
Aker won’t pull his head in, but his critics should
Say what you like about Jason Akermanis, Jason Akermanis will say what he likes about Jason Akermanis, writes Ralph Horowitz.
A big parliamentary fortnight, by any estimate
In the aftermath of the budget, the next fortnight should be a target-rich environment for Opposition senators. If they can’t score some points now, it may be time to give up.
Talking the Town: white people like writers’ festivals
The Sydney Writers’ Festival has verged very close to a bunch old farts talking about their apparently hilarious sex lives, writes Margot Saville.
Taste and decency AWOL at SMH
The SMH’s taste and decency seems to have dropped another level with their coverage of actress Lucy Gordon’s death, says a Crikey reader.
Guy Rundle: Searching for a greater good in indigenous policy
Federal and State government policy towards indigenous people — with rare exceptions — is overwhelmingly directed towards white people.
