Marketers have never abandoned the idea that men and women require their own ‘special’ products. Women’s products are often tinted pink and advertised with cuddly names and breathy female voiceovers. Insulting much?
October, 2009
Not letting the facts get in the way of wagging school
Last week an Oz opinion piece discussed governments’ abandoning schools in the Northern Territory. But, if you want to know whether teachers miss schooling, you go to the source and ask.
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours: Trivia night with your host John Della Bosca?
Why is John Della Bosca hosting a trivia night at the Point Clare community hall? Plus, a small SMH error that they’re yet to print a retraction for.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Climate change, CPRS and politics
Climate change and the ETS were the biggest topics for Crikey readers today, with readers lamenting the politicisation of an global environmental issue.
RBA boss doesn’t like bank deposit guarantee
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has made it clear that he doesn’t like the idea of a government bank deposit guarantee and doesn’t want to see it return after it is withdrawn.
Buy our brown coal! Now cleaning up on eBay
Victoria’s 13 billion tonnes of unallocated brown coal are now listed as an eBay item, under the seller name “BrumbyGovt”. Bids are open for the next seven days. The starting price is $1,000,000, writes Greg Foyster.
Media briefs: NT News goes crocs and boobs … the Grinch strikes the NY Times
NT News continues in its classy reporting, with some front page crocs and party buses and then a vox pop on the real pressing issue in today’s society: boobs — real or fake?
Tax Office won’t prosecute Australia’s worst tax cheat
Glenn Wheatley is jailed for $300,000 in tax cheating. Yet an unnamed tax cheat who owed tax totalling $242million gets away with no prosecution, writes Chris Seague.
RBA: “possibly imprudent” not to lift rates
The Reserve Bank lifted interest rates because it might have been “possibly imprudent” not to do so — quite a telling phrase for such a conservative organisation.
The real estate spinners who are artificially inflating prices
Despite its ubiquity, residential property remains one of the least transparent asset classes in Australia. Most buyers spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an asset which they know very little about.
Rudd might as well flick the dissolution switch
The Government is now in such a strong position, they may figure they’ll get their CPRS through after a double dissolution with minimal risk. Why bother negotiating with an Opposition so patently out of favour with voters?
Morning Market Report: Metals shine on
It might have been the 22nd anniversary of the 1987 Black Monday crash, but things were looking positive, with the market up 62 and Wall St closing up 96. Gold is continuing its impressive form.
When Fairfax moves, will Andrew Bolt be an outside broadcast?
Could management at Fairfax Media be so precious about rivals accessing its sparkling new Collins Street headquarters they are already hatching plans to bar News Limited employees from the premises?
Why a Tory victory is just what Rupert wants
If the Conservative Party gain power in the UK, they will “rip up” the BBC’s royal charter, deregulating the TV industry to improve the market for commercial operators, according to the party’s shadow culture secretary.
Mad Men style: the secret goss behind the typewriters
Mad Men is known for its slick visual styling, but where do all the props — from magazines to vintage taxicab meters — come from? Prop master Scott Buckwald dishes all the fascinating dirt, including how to remake an original Coke can.
Australians don’t blame Rudd for interest rate rise
The latest Essential Report reveals some surprising public opinions: 55% of Australians believe the latest interest rate hike reflects a positive trend in the economy, not “reckless and excessive stimulus spending”. Possum Comitatus has the rest.
How Wall Street makes its billions
All the major Wall St banks’ profits come from trading, but who is on the receiving loss end of trades? asks Philip Greenspun. Banks don’t just shift Federal money around and skim off profits for themselves, do they?
Possum: Coalition’s “economic legacy” in tatters
A new Essential Report has found the public have a favourable view of the Rudd government’s economic management, and they’re dismissing every single economic angle the Opposition has been raising as an attack for the past six months.
leaked 
The new-look Facebook
Mashable has gotten its geeky little mitts on leaked details of Facebook’s latest redesign. (Spoiler: it looks a whole lot like the current Facebook.)
“Sorry mate, not with those carrots”: Australia’s border control is out-of-control
If you need any proof that Australia’s border is well and truly secure, watch Border Security, where a tourist was reduced to tears by a customs official’s interrogation over a bag of veggies, says Daniel Flitton.
Auditing the Afghan election
Renard Sexton gets wonky on the UN’s Afghanistan Election audit, concluding that “the situation remains fairly damning for Hamid Karzai”, with millions of votes to be thrown out due to fraud.
Miss, Ms., Mrs: the confusing mess of modern manners
While men deal with a simple ‘Mr’, women face the confusing titles of Miss, Mrs and Ms. Should women battle between using a title to define their marital status or is it okay not to care?
Are independent political blogs dead?
With the leading political blogs increasingly backed by big media outlets, are the days of needing only a PC and an opinion to be an popular online pundit over?
Video of the Day: C.S.I.R.O!
The hep cats from Sydney University’s Science Revue Society have an entire song and dance number about the CSIRO, to the tune of classic ’90s opus Backstreet’s Back. It’s so charmingly geeky, we couldn’t resist. [Thanks to Crikey reader El Gibbs for sending this in]
