Business Spectator interrogates Lindsay TannerBusiness Spectator’s Alan Kohler, Robert Gottliebsen and Stephen Bartholomeusz probe Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner.
May, 2009
interviews 
Ron English on Abraham Obama
An interview with Abraham Obama creator Ron English.
Who regulates the regulators?
Financial crisis happen, says Harvard’s Niall Ferguson, but people need to stop blaming the current one on de-regulation.
Jack Kerouac, fantasy baseball nerd
Jack Kerouac led a busy life boozing, writing, bee-bopping, and banging Neal Cassady’s wife, but he was also quite the nerdsworth when it came to fantasy baseball. Heavy emphasis on the “fantasy.”
Peter Costello on ABC 774
Costello plugs his new website on ABC radio.
Ping pong: the latest Hollywood trend
Now Kaballah, rap, chihuahuas and marrying Geena Davis are old hat, Hollywood’s A-List are apparently turning to the latest stupid craze: ping pong. Oy.
Ice-cream hipsters
A snappy new business idea: combining ice cream with architecture, healthy eating and lots of hipster kids. Who could resist the Frank Behry flavour? Or how about mintimalism?
Michelle Obama addresses the class of 2009
Michelle Obama was inspired by the students of California’s newest, smallest university UC Merced to give her first graduation speech as First Lady there.
Dowd in hot water over alleged plagiarism; NYT issues apology
It was a wild Sunday for the New York Times columnist. By mid-afternoon she was on the hot seat for using liberal blogger Josh Marshall’s paragraph almost word-for-word.
Internet v newspapers — an animation
“I took down Nixon.” “I made everyone a publisher.” Newspaper and Internet fight it out.
Rumsfeld’s Iraq “crusade” revealed
For the first time, GQ has revealed the top secret briefings issued by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon not long after the Iraq invasion. Tacky is a kind interpretation; dangerous is another.
Kofi Annan: Africa must establish a green economy
Africa is being harshly affected by climate change, but it’s not all bad news, says Kofi Annan: climate change opens up new economic opportunities for countries on the continent.
Wimbledon’s new retractable roof unveiled
The closing of a Wimbledon roof in seven minutes, four seconds drew 15,000 pairs of eyes upwards with the sense of wonder that normally overcomes a first-time visitor to the Sistine Chapel.
The Pirate Bay Anthem
Swedish artist Montt Mardiéhas written a theme song for the whole Pirate Bay thing, and it’s really quite annoying.
The rebirth of the news
Yes, the media is suffering — but news itself is thriving.
Eurovision fashion: fairytales and Les Mis
From Norway to Iceland, Eurovision’s costumes, as ever, were more interesting than the singing.
California, the ungovernable state
California’s current constitution rivals India’s and Alabama’s for being the longest and most convoluted in the world. Some are arguing the state must start over from scratch.
Greens score first state lower house seat
Crack open the organic, carbon-offset champagne: The Greens have clocked up their first lower house seat in any state parliament, in Western Australia.
Eurovision: sparkles, stripping and tears
BBC has the picture highlights.
How to fix the Hubble Telescope
Making repairs to a telescope in space is hard. Really, really hard.
Pelosi goes on the attack
Republican Nancy Pelosi has attacked the CIA, claiming she was never briefed about water-boarding and that the agency deliberately mislead Congress.
Iran’s potatoes-for-votes scandal
Opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are accusing him of buying off voters with free potatoes.
How to kill a story
Did the NY Times kill an investigation because it would have been “a game-changer” in the presidential election? Pretty much, says Power Line.
Obama tackles abortion
President Obama made a bold step on the weekend, facing scrutiny and protestors to give a speech on abortion where he called for both sides to find some “common ground” on the issue.
Grim times for financial media
How the business press failed to warn its readers of the looming financial crisis during the years when it could have made a difference.
