When there is a lack of beds, patients suffer. It’s that simple, writes Professor Peter Collignon.
July, 2009
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Reading between the lines of parallel imports
Crikey readers on parallel imports, climate change, government debt and more.
Daily Tele Poh-faced over MasterChef cook up
The Daily Telegraph has egg, and perhaps a few other ingredients, on its face after naming the wrong winner of MasterChef Australia last night. So what happened?
Media briefs: Belt tightening at Nine … Golden Tonsils’ final fine … Vale Cronkite
Tough times at Nine, as employees face a pay freeze, The Chaser’s latest stunt makes The Oz’s dreams come true, Walter Cronkite dies and more news from the media world.
Forget the GFC, it’s time for a takeover frenzy
Could the Australian stockmarket be about to witness an orgy of acquisitions? Crikey tested the waters with some leading economic commentators.
The Goldman exception that proves the rule
It’s now clear the big profits reported by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan last week were not indicative of the health of the American economy.
BeyondBlue finally pays attention to long-neglected group
Whether it’s neo-natal, indigenous, or rural mental health , BeyondBlue has been almost relentless in its efforts to reach groups who are at risk. Except one.
New York Times to seek sponsorship?
As Rupert Murdoch considers locking up content, The New York Times has begun considering foundation funding (a la National Public Radio) to help cover some of its news-gathering costs, says Bill Mitchell.
Guardian winning the online tweet-war
Stories from The Guardian have been tweeted 328,288 times over the last four months — head-and-shoulders above any other British newspaper site. Just what are they doing so right?
Popularity contest: Bruno v Harry v Sonia
On Trendrr, a social- and digital-media tracking service, just about any mash-up of mismatched memes is possible, writes Simon Dumenco who looks at who won the week’s Twitter war.
graph pr0n 
Timeline: getting creative in a downturn
In a recession, things cost less, there’s less competition and ideas need to be finely honed to make money, which leads to great businesses explains Spencer Ante — with some help from a smashing timeline.
From onions to electricity
Gills Onions in Southern California forecasts that it will eliminate the equivalent of 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by using its onion waste to create biogas and fuel its processing plant.
North Korea’s first family
Forget the Windsors: the most entertaining dynastic family of crackpots are the Kims of North Korea. Newsweek looks at Kim Jong Il and his three potential heirs, all delightfully kooky in their own ways.
Watergate on the market
The Watergate Hotel may have lost its lustre years ago, but with the the national landmark set to go under the hammer on Tuesday, in real estate circles, the phones are running hot.
Britain’s dirty little secret
The UK has been accused of dumping toxic household and industrial waste into developing countries, with syringes, condoms, nappies, bags of blood and electrical items found in waste that was supposed to be recyclable.
Garrett’s about-face on uranium makes sense
Peter Garrett, the Federal Environment Minister, has been heavily criticised for approving a uranium mine in SA and apparently flip-flopping. But much has changed since 1984, writes Sam Wylie.
The cultural cringe of publishing industry protectionism
Scrapping parallel import restrictions ruin the Australian publishing industry, says Tim Wilson: it will be killed by “cultural cringe” from authors and publishers who want to stop it being globally competitive.
Miley Cyrus and the art of crisis PR
Miley Cyrus, Disney’s poster girl, has flirted with brand disaster by attempting to grow up too quickly too publicly, but she’s also learned how to atone well. Just like Tylenol in the 1980s, says Bruce Watson.
Bruno unites Israelis and Palestinians in mutual disdain
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno has unwittingly united hardline Israelis and Palestinians by offending both groups equally.
A guide to getting regular
Any self-respecting eater is a Regular at at least one restaurant. Here’s how to become one, says Ben Leventhal who supplies handy tips. But note: may involve Blackberrys (of the tech kind).
US convicts former Boeing employee of spying for … China
With the case of Stern Hu — the Rio Tinto exec accused by China of spying — still up in the air, CNN reports that Dongfan “Greg” Chung, 73, has been found guilty of economic espionage for China.
SA still imports thinkers. Why?
The SA Government’s Thinkers-in-Residence scheme imports foreign “thinkers” (mainly university intellectuals) to stay in Adelaide. Intellectual cringe has replaced cultural cringe, writes Stephen Orr.
Vale Frank McCourt, Irish childhood chronicler
It wasn’t til his mid-60s that teacher Frank McCourt wrote a memoir of his tough Irish childhood, describing it as “a modest book.” Angela’s Ashes, with its buoyant prose, became a runaway hit.
The internet is great… just not in your portfolio
Investing in online is a pretty shaky proposition when even the most popular websites can’t figure out a viable business model, says James Altucher. Trading online is fine — just don’t trade in online.
MasterChef: the reviews are in
Like any good reality TV show, MasterChef will undoubtedly start to cannibalise itself. But until then, what people were saying about last night’s final.
