The Slate guide to magazine gift guidesIt’s that time of year again: every magazine in the western world issues its official Christmas Gift Guide and we’re all buried in a pile of “must haves” and “hot buys”. Slate cuts through the crap with a guide to this season’s guides.
December, 2009
Sinodinos: Tony Abbott is our Spartacus
Tony Abbott is the slave who rose up and will lead the party through a revolt, says Arthur Sinodinos. Can he reinvigorate ‘working families’ with his government attacks?
The top Twitter trends for 2009
Twitter has released its highest trending topics for the year — from the obvious like #iranelection, Michael Jackson and Susan Boyle, to a few unexpected inclusions like Chuck Norris, G.I. Joe and #nevertrust.
North Korea bans fancy hairdos. Seriously.
Bouffant lover and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has issued some advice (read: law) regarding hairstyles. Men, keep it short, women, pull it back. No sexy Western style mullets, mohawks or faux hawks. This may be a good thing.
Conroy: Why I’m censoring your internet
As the internet types their uproar over the proposed internet filter, the man behind the plan, Stephen Conroy, writes about why it’s being introduced. To keep the kiddies safe and maintain a civilised society, apparently.
Where are the ALP’s usual media critics on the filter?
Stephen Conroy announced a very expensive plan to give the government and its favoured lobbyists the power to control the internet: so where have all the usual anti-ALP pundits gone? Are they worried about offending fundamentalist readers? asks Jeremy Sear.
Newspoll: 53-47 to Labor in sexy SA
In the first Newspoll since the Mike Rann sex scandal became public, the SA ALP’s vote is down 4 points to an alarming 37%. Just four months out from the election, can Rann hold onto his high personal approval ratings?
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How a climate deal could end up boosting emissions
Loopholes in draft texts of climate deals in Copenhagen could render any global deal worthless, says New Scientist, allowing countries to say they are committed to a 20% cut in emissions, while actually increasing them by 5-10%.
Taylor: Wong jeered, Chavez cheered
Our Penny was upstaged in her big speech to Copenhagen by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who spoke four times as long as he was supposed to and received a standing ovation by quoting everyone from Karl Marx to Jesus Christ himself, reports Lenore Taylor.
A small win in Copenhagen: forests saved
It’s hardly an emissions treaty, but in what may prove to be the biggest achievement to actually come out of Copenhagen, delegates are likely to sign off soon on an agreement that would compensate countries for preserving forests.
Penny Wong, live in Copenhagen!
Matthew Knott liveblogs Penny Wong’s speech to Copenhagen. She forewarned the crowd that her speech would not be exciting, and she sure delivered. Hugo Chavez, on the other hand…
The Apple Gestapo
Gizmodo goes inside the “Apple Gestapo” — aka the Worldwide Loyalty Team — Apple’s team of moles who keep tabs on the company’s staff to make sure they don’t leak about upcoming gadgets. That 1984 ad suddenly makes so much sense.
Ben Bernanke: Time‘s Person of the Year 2009
Time magazine has named US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke as its Person of the Year for 2009, lauding him as “the most powerful nerd on the planet”. Well, at least it wasn’t bloody Twitter.
How to bypass the internet filter
Australia’s mandatory internet filter won’t be rolled out until mid-2010, but Anthony Caruana can already tell you how to bypass it.
What Conroy’s clean feed report doesn’t say
Stephen Conroy’s clean feed report is missing vital data about participating users and leaves a lot of important questions unanswered, writes ISP network engineer Mark Newton.
Farrer: The slippery slope from filtering to censorship
At what point does “filtering” start and “censorship” begin? asks Gordon Farrer. It’s just one of many fundamental problems with the government’s new internet filter.
A rear-view mirror on the Australian economy
The latest National Accounts data allows us to look back at how the Australian economy has been travelling, says Bill Mitchell. The good news is the GDP is growing, the bad is that the economy is barely keeping its head above water.
Naomi Klein: Denmark — good at furniture design, crap at conferences
The Danes are control freaks, says Naomi Klein. It means they can make a really comfy chair, but when the Copenhagen conference didn’t go as they’d planned, everything fell to pieces.
PHOTO GALLERY: Beauty queens, bowling and bunnies: US presidents like you’ve never seen them before
From President Truman’s summer wardrobe — mainly Hawaiian shirts and pastel shorts — to Reagan surrounded by 80s supermodels and LBJ singing to his dogs, take an inside peek inside the secret world of US presidents.
Merry Christmas (banana war is over)
The European Union has finally agreed to lower tariffs on banana imports, ending the 15-year “banana war” over the preferential treatment given to growers in the Caribbean and Africa over those in South America.
graph pr0n 
What’s the real value of your job?
A new British report which looks at the social value of various professions versus their levels of pay, has found that — surprise surprise — cleaners and child-care workers are far more valuable than bankers or accountants.
Crabb: Howard’s heir ruffles the Love Rug
What other Liberal leader would discuss his family’s Communist background and his admiration for an old Labor stalwart? Opposition leader Tony Abbott thrills a conservative crowd like no other, writes Annabel Crabb.
The Koala AIDS epidemic
Koalas generate almost $1 billion for the Australian economy every year, but could be facing extinction due to a rising epidemic of Chlamydia and “Koala AIDS”, with the national koala population falling from 100,000 to fewer than 43,000 in the past six years.
Abbott’s bodgie, smug diatribe on unions
Tony Abbott’s “Winston Churchill” speech today contained some curious observations on industrial relations, citing a failed strike attempt during his stint at The Bulletin. Andrew Crook explains where he went wrong.
