2009 was a year of surprise hits for Aussie TV, with MasterChef, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, and the return of Hey Hey all defying the odds. A look back at the television year that was.
November, 2009
Kristof: Microsoft’s Bing is a Chinese propaganda tool
NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof is calling on his readers to boycott Microsoft’s Bing search engine, because it actively censors search results in China on politically sensitive topics like Tienanmen Square and Tibet.
Is Tony Blair a war criminal?
With the Chilcot Inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war soon to go public, one big question must be answered, says Oliver Miles: was this a war of aggression and therefore a war crime?
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Documents reveal Blair’s Iraq cover-up
Documents leaked to the Telegraph have revealed Tony Blair mislead British MPs in 2002 by claiming that his goal in invading Iraq was “disarmament, not regime change” and that the military action was unplanned.
Hartcher: Rudd and Turnbull now on the same team
The CPRS debate has resulted in an unholy alliance between Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, says Peter Hartcher. Both are fighting for the same outcome against a common enemy: Coalition conservatives.
Libs push for secret CPRS ballot
At least 29 of the Liberal’s 57 backbenchers want to hold a secret partyroom ballot on the CPRS this week in order to resolve the party’s deep rifts over the issue once and for all.
Stott Despoja: Conscience pollution reduction scheme
Natasha Stott Despoja knows a thing or two about breaking the party line by crossing the floor in Parliament. She looks at how and why some rebel Coalition MPs might follow their hearts over their heads on the emissions trading issue.
Climate deal delayed: just whose side is Macfarlane on?
A CPRS deal between Ian Macfarlane and Penny Wong has been put off until tomorrow, and an impatient Coalition is not happy — especially when they discovered it was their own man who asked for the delay. Is Macfarlane getting too close to the Government? asks Michelle Grattan.
How Vice bucks the trend: by making actual money
Hipster bible Vice magazine is known for its counter-culture convictions, but it’s bucking the mainstream mag trends in more ways than one: by turning advertisers away and turning a healthy profit.
The rocky romance between Rudd and The Australian
Kevin Rudd’s close relationship with The Australian editor Chris Mitchell helped get him into office, says Peter Hartcher, but the honeymoon is now well and truly over.
CPRS deal now just hours away
A deal between Penny Wong and Ian Macfarlane is within sight, with the Government spelling out a timetable to put the deal to Cabinet and Caucus on Monday, writes Bernard Keane.
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Where do immigrants most want to live?
Despite making a big show of being unfriendly to “illegal” immigrants, both Australia and the US are among the most desirable new homes for immigrants.
The hacked emails causing climate sceptic chaos
Hundreds of private emails and documents from climate scientists have been unleashed into the wilds of the internet, and climate sceptics are calling their contents “the greatest scandal in modern science“. Ruth Brown investigates.
SARS, shoe bombs and teen sex: the 10 stupidest scare campaigns of the decade
Remember how we were all going to die of bird flu? And the world was going to end with the year 2000? Newsweek looks at the most overblown fears of the noughties.
Could giant snails end starvation in Africa?
It may sound gross, but the giant snail is more nutritious than beef, rich in protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and essential vitamins, and is widely available in Africa. Could giant snail pies be the starving continent’s saviour?
Pel-Air implicates itself deeper and deeper over ditching
It seems that every time the senior management of Pel-Air open their mouths in public they take on more water, says Ben Sandilands.
Ghetto gourmet: Cookin’ With Coolio
’90s rapper Coolio is releasing a cookbook, Cookin’ with Coolio, featuring such recipes as “Chicken Lettuce Blunts” and “Drunk-Ass Chicken” in a style of cooking he calls “Ghetto Fusion”. Check out the book’s Top 10 quotes: “Everything I cook tastes better than yo’ momma’s nipples.”
The 50 best inventions of 2009
Time names the 50 coolest things created over the past year, including vertical farming, the robo-penguin and tweeting by thinking. It has also listed the year’s five worst inventions.
Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity’s cat fight over Sarah Palin
Fox News pundits Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity both scored interviews with Sarah Palin. Hannity’s will air first, but O’Reilly scooped him by putting a teaser of his interview on his own YouTube channel, reportedly causing Hannity to throw a “hissy fit”. Meow!
Different Castro, same Cuba
A new report by Human Rights Watch says Cuba’s government is as repressive under Raúl Castro as it was under his brother Fidel, with dissidents beaten, publicly humiliated and fired from their jobs.
No luck for the Irish as French cheats prosper
Ireland’s football team was cruelly denied a place at next year’s World Cup in South Africa due to a blatant piece of cheating from the French this morning, declares Neil Walker.
Bahnisch: Liberals fight over their own soul
The CPRS battles within the Liberal party have nothing to do with good public policy or climate change, says Mark Bahnisch — it’s a contest over the spoils of opposition and the ideological direction of the party itself.
Crikey Says: Where was the protest over the Forgotten Generation Apology?
Why was there no protest over the Apology to the Forgotten Generation, as there was over last year’s Apology to the Stolen Generation?
Guy Rundle: Friday book review: Reclaiming Patriotism
Tim Soutphommasane continues his reign of error with this new book, Reclaiming Patriotism: nation building for Australian progressives, writes Guy Rundle.
