With Labor’s budget doubling Australia’s expenditure on Afghanistan, it seems pertinent to look at where that war might be heading, writes Jeff Sparrow.
May, 2009
Canberra’s new mandarin: meet Mike Mrdak
Canberra has a new mandarin, reports Bernard Keane.
Political snippets: Wayne Swan the punter’s friend
Mellon Capital Management Corp in San Francisco was placing bets that the Wayne Swan budget will work.
NT Govt under pressure over “insane” laws harming teenagers
The NT Government is under growing pressure to rethink laws requiring health professionals to report all under-age teenage patients they suspect of being s-xually active, writes Melissa Sweet.
Group sex: not that there’s anything wrong with that
The ugly little passion play precipitated by Monday night’s Four Corners program “Code of silence” is full of preconceptions and prejudices, but conspicuously short of nuance, writes Michael Winkler.
Wankley Awards: Outstanding achievements in PR
This week’s Wankley goes to some truly magnificent achievements in PR.
Guy Rundle: Planet Janet re-orbits and the last word on The Monthly
Guy rundle takes aim at Janet Albrechtsen, The Monthly and Melanie Phillips.
Newspapers stabilise but magazines terminal
Much to the relief of Australia’s newspaper groups, the circulation losses of 2008 seemed to stabilise in the three months to March, writes Glenn Dyer.
Crikey’s AFL & NRL Hot Form Charts
Another week, another self-inflicted machete wound to rugby league’s torso, writes Crikey’s resident footy nerd.
ArtStart (kind of) gets the nod
Minister Peter Garrett somehow has managed to maintain all funding for the arts portfolio — despite the economic downturn, writes Nicholas Pickard.
Comment for cat food pays mighty fine
The cat food story thickens, as a new revelatory email lands.
Leighton bitten by corporate idol worship
Former market darling Leighton Holdings has been forced into its second profit downgrade in the space of five months, writes Adam Schwab.
Chinese ore glut bad news for Canberra
There are signs of growing Chinese Government unease at an oversupply situation developing in the politically and economically sensitive steel sector.
So which is it, recession or recovery?
If we have somehow segued from recession to recovery without noticing it, we’ll be in a very peculiar position regarding our official forecasts, writes Bernard Keane.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Marrickville and Matthew Johns
Crikey readers flog Marrickville Council, Matthew Johns, the Kruddget and an assortment of other dead horses.
Guy Rundle: Guy Rundle interviews John Quiggin
On Budget night, roving reporter Guy Rundle asks John Quiggin some serious economic questions…
Budding journo bids $13,000 for HuffPo internship
A charity auction for a two- or three-month internship at the Huffington Post has collected bids as high as $13,000, in a sign of just how bad the media job market has become.
Lipstick feminist pioneer?
A new biography of Helen Gurley Brown — former editor of US Cosmpolitan magazine from over 30 years — explores the life of a controversial feminist.
Fairfax Mags consider nine-day fortnight
New Zealand’s Fairfax Magazines are encouraging staff to switch to a nine-day working fortnight to avoid job losses.
Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble for astronauts
The first of a planned five space walks have been completed, in an attempt to fix the troubled Hubble Space Telescope.
Dutch Government to pay young journos’ salary
The Dutch government is planning to spend €4m to pay the salaries of 60 young journalists across the Netherlands while the industry struggles in the financial crisis.
@Overingtonc: Twitter comedian
Oz journo Caroline Overington considers the role of the twittering journo as a comedian. We love you, @overingtonc.
MPs behaved badly — but was it criminal?
Whatever the public anger and outrage, we must be clear that only conduct that was an offence at the time should be the subject of criminal penalties, says Robert Wardle.
The Tory couple who took taxpayers for £282,731
David Cameron was under mounting pressure last night to end the political career of one of his closest allies as the MPs’ expenses scandal claimed its first casualties.
