Tipsters tell of classroom-building chaos, the Michael Jackson msuci store cash grab, price fixing and the new head of FremantleMedia.
July, 2009
Tips and rumours: Building classrooms to destroy them
Why we should learn to stop worrying and love Iran’s bombs
The attention being paid to Iran’s nuclear program is way out of proportion, says Joe Klein: recent intelligence says they don’t have one, and even if they did, a regional arms race would be more likely than a nuclear war.
Business as usual on Wall St as big bonuses return
Buoyed by a recent boom in profits, Wall Street’s biggest banks are setting aside billions of dollars for executive bonuses, only months after they were rescued by the government bailout. Said government is less than impressed.
Newspapers haven’t actually charged for content in 180 years
History lesson: the retail price of a newspaper hasn’t reflected the total cost of assembling and producing it since around the 1830s, says NewsFuturist. Why expect the economics to apply any differently for online news?
Crikey Says: The Age v China
The Age should move beyond cheap headlines and suggestions of sinister connection to Asians.
Lowbottom High Diaries: A brush with human sacrifice
Oh dear, mid-term staff reviews.Trevor Diogenes wakes in fright.
Guy Rundle: Friday drive-bys: Best Chaser stunt ever! … Productivity Commission farce
Guy Rundle’s musings on Gerard Henderson, bloggy battles at News Ltd and more.
Catania’s WA bombshell reflects a sick ALP
The culture of the Labor Party in the west is battered and broken with Vince Catania’s defection to the Nationals, and things don’t look like recovering any time soon.
Snatch the Murray-Darling Basin from the states to save it
There’s a clear solution to the management problems of the Murray-Darling, at least in the view of many South Australians: a full Commonwealth takeover of the Basin, writes Bernard Keane in his second special water report.
Hot Form Charts: Hot Form Chart haiku
Let’s hope Craig Wing’s Foxtel fans can live without his top-and-tailing their favourite Marlon Brando documentaries.
Memo to Tony Abbott: you’re not helping!
With friends like Tony Abbott who needs Kevin Rudd. The Liberal spokesman on families, housing, etc (not climate change) was today “supporting” his leader Malcolm Turnbull with an op-ed on emissions trading.
Menadue: five health reforms we really need
There are five critical issues that should be addressed by National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission.
Media briefs: New Women’s Weekly editor; America’s most trusted newscaster
In today’s media briefs: Helen McCabe takes over the editorship at Australian Women’s Weekly and The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, yes satirist, gets the nod Australia’s most trusted newscaster.
Stern Hu and the unpleasant truth about Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a company renowned for playing hard-ball in its commercial operations around the world.
Morning Market Report: Dow: highest close since January
The Dow finished up 188. It was up 215 at best and down 15 at worst. Highest close since January. Meanwhile, Nufarm announced it has been approached by China’s Sinochem about a potential takeover.
The Sydney-ification of ABC local radio
ABC local and regional radio will be back under Sydney control next week when all of the senior management roles are taken up by people in NSW.
The complex mathematics of envy-free cake-cutting
Mathematicians have devised an algorithm for “envy-free” cake-cutting: a formula that divides it fairly amongst a number of people, even when each has a different opinion of the value of each piece. It takes 27 pages of explanation.
Swine flu and pregnancy: don’t miss the bigger picture
The risk of swine flu for pregnant women has received a lot of attention. But influenza more generally is dangerous for pregnant women, explains Professor Peter McIntyre, though much of it is preventable.
Dying for the iPhone?
The New Yorker is trying to find out more about a 25-year-old employee at Foxconn, Apple’s Chinese manufacturer, who committed suicide, apparently after being interrogated about a missing iPhone prototype.
Greenpeace turns video game consoles on their makers
Greenpeace has released three very clever and creative videos attacking Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo for using toxic substances in their video game consoles, turning their scraps into spokespeople against the companies.
Politicians take it to the op-ed pages
Politicians have always published op-eds but could the latest flurry of opinion pieces — Wilson Tuckey, Tony Abbott, Penny Wong — signal a change in how political communication takes place?
Sarkozy really likes flowers
French president Nicolas Sarkozy spends £660 a day on flowers, according to the presidential accounts. That’s more than Elton John, says The Guardian wanting to underline the excess.
What crimes are considered worse than others?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has just released their attempt to list crimes in Australia by ranking of seriousness. Where does counterfeiting rank in relation to prostitution? Find out here.
Liberal Rule vs. The Howard Years
Does SBS’s new series Liberal Rule provide a better look back at the Howard government than the ABC’s The Howard Years? Peter Brent ranks the retrospectives.
