Grattan: Where to now for asylum seekers?How times have changed since John Howard and Tampa, notes Michelle Grattan. Kevin Rudd’s relationship with Indonesia is strong and the Opposition’s ‘Labor are immigration softies’ line falls flat.
October, 2009
Mark Scott’s fall of Rome fallacy
ABC chief Mark Scott’s comparison of the ongoing media revolution and the fall of the Roman Empire hardly fills one with confidence, says Trevor Cook: after the “fall” came the Dark Ages.
The question that health ministers should be asking
Is it too much to ask that health ministers question whether their policies further increase or decrease the inequities in access to good health and to health services? asks Melissa Sweet.
Sweet sixteen: no vote for you
If 16 years olds are allowed to vote, then it opens the flood gates for gambling, violence, porn and drinking at 16. Our compulsory voting comes with great responsibility, writes Kenneth Wiltshire.
Yes, he went there: Glenn Beck compares White House attacks on Fox with the Holocaust
Proving that any stupid argument will inevitably descend into Hitler comparisons, Fox News’ Glenn Beck has likened the Obama White House’s treatment of Fox News to the Nazi persecution of Jews.
People smugglers are people too
PM Kevin Rudd may be talking tough on immigration, but putting the pressure on people smugglers — sometimes ‘mum and dad’ operations — will simply strain diplomatic relations with Indonesia.
Kellogg fights fake corn flakes — with lasers!
Cereal king Kellogg has decided to tackle the pressing issue of imitation corn flakes by using lasers to brand its authentic flakes with the company’s signature logo. Take that, black market breakfast cereals!
Fred Nile turns people smuggler
Christian Democrat Fred Nile is getting into the people smuggling business, with plans to smuggle 2000 Christian asylum seekers by boat into Australia from Indonesia.
85,000 dead in Iraq
The Iraqi government has released its official count of war dead since 2004, claiming more than 85,000 have died — and that doesn’t even include those who died in the 2003 US invasion.
Dow cracks 10,000: Who cares?
So the Dow has hit 10,000 for the first time this year. It may make big headlines, but most traders on Wall St won’t pay much attention.
The Dow 10,000: as told in headwear
In what evidently passes for “fun” on Wall St these days, traders have taken to wearing commemorative caps to celebrate each time the Dow cracks 10,000. The WSJ has a great gallery of the wacky funsters and their stockmarket silliness.
The mainstream media on Scott
The mainstream media weigh-in on ABC chief Mark Scott’s AN Smith Lecture in Journalism last night. How did News Ltd report on his attacks on Uncle Rupert?
Mussolini was a British agent
Newly discovered documents have revealed that, at age 34, Benito Mussolini was paid a regular wage by British spy agency MI5 to publish propaganda in his paper and beat up peace protesters.
The climate change report Bush tried to suppress
America’s EPA has finally released a 2007 report suppressed by the Bush White House, which recommends the government begin regulating greenhouse emissions because of the serious threat posed by climate change.
Breakfast Media Wrap: The US$’s decline, better retail sales and Chauncey Gardiner
The pick of the morning’s media
Scott: The ABC will always be free
Media moguls’ mission to make people pay for content will not work and cannot work, except for a few highly specialised high quality brands, ABC managing director Mark Scott said in an address last night.
Wanky food trends that need to end
Neil Perry can take his schmancy wagyu beef burger and cram it: the high-end burger fad has been well and truly over-cooked. Not to mention gourmet pizzas, having three types of salt on each table, the phrase “farm to table”, and other foodie fads Esquire can’t stomach.
How playing poker made Obama powerful
Poker has long been a game for every race, sex and political persuasion, with many US presidents being poker fans. How is poker so intrinsically linked with power in US society?
Twitter kills the Guardian gag
An oil trading firm’s attempt to gag London’s Guardian newspaper from reporting on toxic waste it dumped in west Africa has been thwarted by a surge of social media outrage.
Life in an empty basin
While scientists fret about a future world without water, for the people of the Murray Darling Basin, it is already a way of life. Meet the communities who have literally been left high and dry.
NSFW Four books that will mess up your kids
Modern sex education is an internet-based phenomenon. Not so last century, when kids had to turn to books to learn about the birds and bees. Vice look at four of the creepiest sex-ed texts you will ever lay your eyes upon.
Let’s create a Reagan Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is just a charade for left-wing Norwegian politicians to award like-minded liberals, says Jeffrey Lord. Let’s create a new Peace Prize, chosen by Americans, that rewards actual achievers — like George W. Bush and Margaret Thatcher.
podcast Canberra Calling: The Philip Ruddock’s a floater podcast
Crikey’s Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane and editor Jonathan Green get on the boat again to produce your favourite weekly podcast that is almost always on time.
