In Asia, white skin is the new blackEvery year, Asians spend an estimated $18 billion trying to make their skin appear whiter, using lasers, creams, pills and surgery in an effort to achieve a milky complexion. But it’s not about appearing “Western” — it’s about appearing rich.
November, 2009
Pulp Fiction writer tweeting from prison
Oscar-winning screenwriter Roger Avary is serving a prison term for vehicular manslaughter, and he now appears to be chronicling his life behind bars via Twitter. But is it really him?
The emails that weren’t a Godsend for Treasury
The Godwin Grech emails tabled by the Senate Privileges Committee last night speak volumes about the judgment of the Liberal Party and the security of the Treasury.
The Amazon: one jungle, many interests
Amazonian countries are meeting today to establish a mutual negotiating position for Copenhagen. But from Columbia to Brazil to Venezuela, each country has its own interests to protect — and they aren’t always ones that put the environment first.
Burgers 101: from the Angry Angus to Neil Perry’s $22 Wagyu beef
“Gourmet” burgers are So Hot Right Now — even McDonald’s and Hungry Jack’s are getting in on the fad with their Angus beef numbers. But, high-end or not, there’s an art to engineering the perfect burger, says Ed Charles, and it all starts with fat and salt.
Rival publishers unite to create iTunes for magazines — but who’s buying?
Magazine publishers Hearst, Time Inc and Conde Nast are joining forces to create an “iTunes for magazines” — a online storefront for digital versions of their titles and articles. But they can’t sell a product that’s already free… are those paywalls we can see looming on the horizon?
SCANDAL! Triple J is mean to Seven’s Ian Ross!
Departing Channel Seven newsreader Ian Ross has been “humiliated” after Triple J radio host Lindsay McDougall posted pictures on Twitter “defacing” his newspaper farewell ad, says The Hun — which has dutifully reposted the images as an online gallery.
Murdoch siezes control of DMG
Lachlan Murdoch’s company Illyria is set to buy 50% of DMG Radio Australia, putting him at the helm of some of the country’s biggest radio stations, including Nova FM and Vega FM.
Gossip, niche audiences, public space and public “broadcasting”
The justification for tthe ABC’s draw on the taxpayer purse is stronger than it has been at any time since it was founded in the 1930s, writes Margaret Simons.
Income management works. Roll it out.
The government’s plan to extend income management beyond the NT intervention to the rest of Australia is good policy, says former Howard government adviser David Moore. Tough love is needed to protect women and children.
Hungry Jack’s burger mysteriously loses 6.7g of fat overnight
Just days after Hungry Jack’s new “Angry Angus” burger was slammed for its high fat and salt content, the nutritional information on the company’s website was quietly changed to show 83 fewer calories — 6.7g of fat and a gram of salt mysteriously vanished overnight.
How do different countries’ emissions pledges stack up?
A site produced by European climate change NGOs assesses individual country’s pledges on carbon emission reduction, weighing them up against each other and the numbers scientists say we need to be aiming for.
Obama to pledge 17% emissions cut at Copenhagen
Barack Obama will make a token appearance at the Copenhagen climate summit, pledging a token 17% emissions cut by 2020 — well below the 25-40% cut scientists say is needed to curb climate change.
Utegate returns
Just when Malcolm Turnbull’s week couldn’t get any worse: Utegate is back! The Senate inquiry has revealed previously undisclosed emails between Turnbull and Godwin Grech suggesting the two were pretty chummy.
Steketee: History isn’t on Turnbull’s side
In the history of the Liberal Party, unsuccessful political challenges like the one Malcolm Turnbull faced yesterday are typically followed by a second, which does succeed, explains Mike Steketee.
Hartcher: Where have all the grown-ups gone?
There are no adults left in the Liberal Party, says Peter Hartcher, and it has descended into childish chaos without anyone sensible to supervise.
Rundle: How the Liberal party died
The fracture in the Liberal Party is not a split around an ancillary issue, says Guy Rundle: it is a division on how the world is viewed and interpreted.
#911txts: follow the fallout on Twitter
leaked 
Wikileaks releases 500,000 9/11 pager
messages
Wikileaks has half-a-million intercepted pager messages sent on 9/11 — including Pentagon and New York Police Department exchanges — and it’s releasing them here now, synchronised with the actual time each message was sent.
150 years of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species
It’s been 150 years since Charles Darwin published what many consider to be the most important book ever written, On the Origin of Species, and it’s just as controversial today as the day it was published.
Video of the Day: Video of the Day: The Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody
Carry on, carry oooon… The Muppets take on Queen.
Moral equivalence bonanza in Afghanistan
What’s the difference between the predicament that the Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan faced in the late ’80s with those that America and its allies face there today? Not as much as some would like to believe, says Charles Richardson.
Crikey Clarifier: What is solar power?
As Australia attempts to plan a future powered by renewable energy, solar power is one the most talked-about possibilities. But could Australia actually be 100% solar powered? Evan Beaver takes a look.
American banks: down but not out
The American banking sector remains devastated by the credit crunch and the recession, with a record fall in lending and commercial real estate down. Yet there are emerging signs of an improvement.
Matheson submission and the get-out-of-jail card
Hidden in plain sight in the parliamentary committee report into the Opes and Storm collapses and other financial services debacles is a remarkable cameo of how far an industry association will go to muzzle one of its own when they say something untoward, writes Bernard Keane.
