The Daily Tele is responsible for publishing an email, later showed to be fraudulent. Do they issue a mea culpa? No, they make fun of Treasury official Godwin Grech’s garden.
June, 2009
Brangelina: the story that writes itself
The Jen-Brad-Angelina love triangle has become a staple of the celebrity gossip rag, with a new twist splashed in fluro yellow across tabloid pages every week. But where do the stories come from? And are they even vaguely true? Oliver Burkeman investigates.
Last drinks in Dublin
The “roaring naughties” are well and truly over for Dublin, as top-end restaurants and nightclubs close en masse in the city’s famous party precints due to the struggling Irish economy.
Video of the Day: Finally, you can be a centaur
Quit horsing around with those leg extensions. Sorry, had to be said. Seattle artist Kim Graham has built her own horsey stilt-like legs from steel, cable, foam, and rigid plastic (with optional fur).
graph pr0n 
Why ageing population = entrepreneurial boom times
Contrary to assumptions, over the past decade or so the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity belongs to the 55–64 age group. A sizable, healthy and time-rich group that could lead a business boom as they age.
New Nixon tapes released
New private recordings of former US President Richard Nixon have been released, revealing his views on Roe vs. Wade, anti-Semitism, the Paris Treaty and more.
The Chaser returns
The Chaser returns to screens tonight after two weeks in the sin bin. They’ve signed a contract with the BBC and are set to take the piss out of a less controversial target, the Morans.
Why Rudd should listen to a Greens Senator
Greens Senator Christine Milne’s recent Press Club speech was a bracing bucket of iced water over the nonsense peddled by climate-change denialists. If only Rudd would listen, writes Tony Kevin.
Cutthroat capitalism: the economics of Somali piracy
Wired’s interactive infographic explains the economic model behind piracy in Somalia — there’s big business behind all that booty. Yarr.
Mousavi not the agitator rebels had hoped
Mir Hossein Mousavi is still nominally the guiding force of the fury over Iran’s disputed election. But there are ample signs his rebel stature is being eroded, writes Brian Murphy.
The role of women in Iran
Sounds counter-intuitive but in Iran “women have had a much more vibrant, participatory role” than elsewhere in the region. “Zahra Rahnavard, who is the wife of Mousavi, campaigned with her husband – a completely unusual experience”, says Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent.
VIDEO: Diplomatic and media ties strained in Iran
Two British diplomats have been expelled from Iran, and the BBC (along with other Western news sources) is much maligned in the Iranian press — they are now banned from reporting in the streets.
Italian proescuters crash Berlusconi’s parties
Italian prosecutors are investigating whether prostitutes were hired for parties held by Silvio Berlusconi, and will interview 30 young women who have been partying with the Italian PM.
The marathon ahead for Iran
What happens next is almost as opaque as the elections that caused all the trouble. But the deep divisions that have shattered Iranian society will dictate events for the foreseeable future, writes Peter Goodspeed.
Israel thanks Gillard for support
Senior Israeli minister Isaac Herzog praised Deputy PM Julia Gillard at a dinner in Israel: “You stood almost alone on the world stage in support of Israel’s right to defend itself.”
What the Arab media is (and isn’t) saying about Iran
While the Western media devours and obsesses over every tiny morsel of news that comes out of Iran, much of the Arab world is taking a far more cautious approach in its reporting.
What Iran can learn from Iraq
Iran’s Shiite clerics could be well served to take a page out of Iraq’s Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s book, who has shown that religion can play an influential, but background, role in a secular democracy.
Bad times at Boeing — Dreamliner delayed again
At the end of last September Boeing solemnly promised first delivery of a 787 to All Nippon by this August, says Ben Sandilands. It’s not going to happen.
Obama gets tough on Iran
President Obama has “ratcheted up his rhetoric” on Iran, strongly denounced the government crackdown on post-election protesters in a press conference yesterday.
Obama goes Goldilocks on Iran
Obama has pulled out another “Goldilocks” performance in his press conference on Iran — not too hot to inflame sentiment overseas, and not too cold to seem apathetic or indecisive at home. It’s a strategy his critics dislike, but one that continues to work for the President.
Obama walks a tightrope on Iran
Benjamin Sarlin examines the uber-cautious rhetoric employed by the White House on Iran.
The man who out-Madoffed Madoff
The biggest winner in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme may not have been Madoff himself, but a secretive businessman named Jeffry Picower who is alleged to have raked $5.1 billion from Madoff accounts.
Obama weak-willed on Iran
Instead of denouncing the fake election, President Obama now tells Iranians who are dying for the real thing “the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Whose sovereignty is that? asks Anne Bayefsky.
Mousavi’s no angel — don’t forget his bloody past
Before we go too far down the road cheering the forces of Iranian democracy, let’s not forget that its public face, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, has American blood on his hands, writes Robert Baer.
Commentary / Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Obama’s failure to use his power and position to give the Iranian people as much support as possible is morally reprehensible and a strategical blunder for which he will not be forgiven, says Joshua Muravchik.