It’s not a revolution that seems inevitable for Iran, but rather civil war and social breakdown as the government and opposition divide the nation along religious and political lines. Abbas Barzegar reports from Iran.
December, 2009
William Hague: Stop Iran’s nuclear weapons while we still can
The Iran government is in trouble and the threat of violence looms further than just its own citizens if their nuclear programme is pursued. Time for sanctions and diplomacy, writes UK shadow foreign secretary William Hague.
China fails to live up to its aspirations
If China wants to be regarded as a civilised and important nation than it shouldn’t execute foreign citizens who are suffering mental illness, like it did with Akmal Shaikh, writes George Pitcher.
Bailouts, banks and Bernanke: Wall Street’s biggest lies
From declaring the economy as “better” to Citigroup being too-big-to-fail, AlterNet puts together the top ten greatest fibs that Wall Street told the public this year.
How Maccas conned us into thinking Angus beef was special
Michael Pascoe doesn’t mince his words as he explains the Great Burger Con of 2009. Angus beef mince is just like any other beef mince, but fast food companies — and some clever advertising — have us suckers fooled.
Rumours of the death of the written word have been greatly exaggerated
YouTube, iPods and other fandangled things that confuse your grandmother haven’t killed the written word. Rather, we’re reading more words than ever before because technology hasn’t found a better substitute for conveying certain types of info.
Crabb: Will Robot Rudd finally malfunction?
It’s going to be a long hot summer for Robot Rudd and Mad Monk Tony as they struggle to figure out their own carbon emissions plans, but their election fight will be a win for democracy, says Annabel Crabb.
Beating the hypersonic heat barrier: all weapons, no quick flights
New ways of beating the heat barrier to sustained hypersonic flight are being researched in Queensland. But don’t get excited about two hours flights to London because the main interest in the technology comes from the military, explains Ben Sandilands.
Bartlett: The refugee torment continues
With hundreds of thousands of refugees living precariously in risk of human rights abuses in various parts of south-east Asia, it is amazing that Australia is claiming a couple of thousand refugees as a ’crisis’, writes Andrew Bartlett.
Film Review: Bright Star — deeply romantic
John Keats is an iconic literary figure, regarded as one of the great romantic writers, so its fitting that Jane Campion’s biopic Bright Star is a deeply romantic film: sumptuous, beautiful and sad, writes Luke Buckmaster.
The Aussie year in politics: all the #spills and thrills
From Malcolm Turnbull’s reckless interview with Laurie Oakes, to Nick Minchin mouthing off over climate change sceptics, The Piping Shrike puts together the best Aussie politics moments of ‘09.
The second Iranian revolution?
Iran is moving from election protests into a full scale civil disobedience campaign, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni to blame, says Meir Javedanfar. Can Khameni save his regime or is its demise inevitable?
The noughties: the decade that sucked
The last ten years have been pretty crap for Americans and the US economy, says Paul Krugman. There was zero job creation, zero gain for home owners and zero gain for stocks. Will the next decade be any better?
Bronwyn Bishop: The Copenhagen fairy tale with no happy ending
The Hans Christian Anderson classic, ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, is a nice allegory for the Copenhagen climate summit. Who’s going to mention that the Copenhagen Accord is spun from lies? asks Bronwyn Bishop.
Yemen: next stop for the War on Terror?
The would-be-bomber on the Northwest Amsterdam-Detroit flight claims he was trained and armed by al-Qaeda in Yemen. How did Yemen become the destination of choice for international jihadi’s planning terrorist attacks?
Phil Liggett talks birds, sewage treatments works and good chopper pilots
Phil Liggett may be well known as the “voice of cycling” and Tour de France and the Tour Down Under commentator. But, in his spare time you’ll find him more concerned with bird watching. Just don’t call him a twitcher, says Bob Gosford.
How religion is stealing our democracy
Religious politicians has overtaken our state and federal parliaments and we should be worried. Mainly because they’re conservative Christians who aren’t leaving room for any other religions, writes Ross Fitzgerald.
Peeling back the layers: inside The Onion
As newspapers close across the globe, satirical paper The Onion is bigger, busier and more amusing than ever. Editor Joe Randazzo spills the dirt on what it’s like to work in America’s Funniest Newsroom and how to get a job there.
revealed The real reason van Gogh sliced off his ear
Is the mystery of why painter Vincent van Gogh cut off his own ear finally solved? Apparently it was because of van Gogh’s brother (and financial benefactor) who announced he was getting married. Cue, ear slashing.
States of play: who are the most popular pollies?
A different way to look at how the various political leaders of our country are travelling is to contrast their net satisfaction or approval levels against their two party preferred vote share. Possum Comitatus crunches the numbers.
A very Delhi belly Christmas
Christmas wasn’t quite the presents and turkey standard for Scott Bridges, thanks to the joys of travel gastro. Instead, he reflects on the season with some light Indian Christmas television. Isn’t travel glamorous?
A ‘far miss’ in NT skies
The holiday media excitement over a ‘near miss’ between a Cathay Pacific A330-300 and a Virgin Blue 737-800 south of Darwin last Tuesday was in fact a ‘far miss’, explains Ben Sandilands.
The best Australian dishes of 2009
From Cutler & Co’s ginger granita in Melbourne to Jus Burgers’ wagyu burger in Perth, Gourmet Traveller’s editors pick their favourite dishes of 2009.
Classic Christmas recipes
Roast turkey with pancetta stuffing, Chrissie pud with muscat custard, honey-glazed ham and other Yuletide noms. Sure, it’s 35 degrees outside, but we can dream.
Angels, witches and life after death: what do Australians believe in?
Possum Comitatus looks at a new Nielsen poll on Australians’ belief in religion and paranormal phenomena — and how they correspond to our political convictions.
