Grattan: Unforced errors in the politics gameThe government and the media follow the polls like drug addicts searching for their next hit, writes Michelle Grattan. But it’ll take more than 50-50 polling to get Tony Abbott into government.
May, 2010
The final nail in the NSW ALP coffin?
Daily Media Wrap: The NSW ALP is the gift that just keeps giving to the tabloid media, with NSW Transport Minister David Campbell resigning amidst a “gay sex club scandal”.
Fact: people love the truth
Readers love cold, hard facts. ‘Fact Check’ articles by Associated Press — like this recent one debunking the myth of Elena Kagan as an “ivory-tower peacenik” — are the most popular AP online content.
Crikey Essay: Why Rudd is Failing
The honeymoon is well and truly over for Kevin Rudd. But how did his popularity hit all-time lows and why is the Coalition looking better than ever? Crikey’s Bernard Keane explains all in this Crikey Essay.
Celebrities: burnt out as cover stars
Supermodels ruled the magazine stands of the 1990s and celebrities took over the front covers for the last decade. But the public mood is shifting and the movie stars have lost their shine, says the mag industry.
Film review: New York, I love you — like an oversized entree
New York, I Love You is a collection of 10 short films themed around the Big Apple, with each film having a different writer, director and cast. Unfortunately the quality fluctuates substantially, says Luke Buckmaster.
Tony Martin’s list of reasons to be cheerful
It’s not all doom and gloom, whingers. Tony Martin offers up ten everyday reasons to get a smile on your dial, from piercing the metal covering on an instant coffee tin to discovering a favourite new word.
Genetically Modified food: a force for good or evil?
Genetically modified crops are a tricky topic. They have the potential to solve world food shortage issues, yet they also could create massive super weeds and potential health problems. Should we be worried?
leaked 
Snap, it’s the new iPod touch with camera
More leaking of Apple products, with a test version of an iPod touch with camera being unveiled by a Vietnamese website. Or is it one of those eBay prototypes?
Simons: Why I won’t accept a free e-reader (even though I really want one)
Borders has sent our media blogger Margaret Simons a free e-reader, but although she needs and wants one, she’s giving it to the local Rotary op-shop instead.
Dowd: All the single ladies put your hands up
It’s total bull that recent US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan gets referred to by the White House as “unmarried” rather than “single”. Why make her sound depressing? asks Maureen Dowd.
Electric cars: 100 years of going nowhere
Electric cars may be all the hype now, but they’ve actually been around since the 1890s. And although today’s models look a bit schmicker, they’ll still only drive you about as far as they did over a century ago.
‘Save VCA’: indigenous centre in crisis as money dries up
Storied Victorian College of the Arts Indigenous institution the Wilin Centre is in crisis after the centre’s founding director and an administrative staff member were told their contracts would not be renewed.
US TV networks showcase their up-and-comers
Major US TV networks ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC this week revealed their 2010-11 schedules in New York.
Guy Rundle: Rundle in Cannes: Come for the films, stay for the parties
After watching several films in Cannes Guy Rundle went to a party in a marquee. It was an all white marquee, most of the folks were in white, the DJing was white, even the black people were white.
Theatrics aside, Hockey and Robb have made a good start
Once you get beyond all the spinning, there’s plenty to consider in what Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb offered yesterday: more substance than Tony Abbott has managed all year.
Look ma! Actual convergence — Foxtel, XBox 360 link
Foxtel and Microsoft joined forces this morning, announcing Foxtel will be soon be available via XBox Live, offering a full-scale IPTV offering for the first time.
Mayne: Raking over the coals of OZ Minerals scandals
If Oz Minerals had followed the lead of many over-leveraged companies during the GFC and simply raised equity through a pro-rata rights issue, the company would today be worth more than $4 billion.
You idiot: Akermanis’ homosexuality football clanger
In today’s Herald Sun, AFL player Jason Akermanis argues that a current player admitting they were gay would be “international news and could break the fabric of a club.” It’s time to enter the 21st century, Aker, writes Kim Crow.
Where’s the King? The monarchy asleep as Thailand burns
With the dust settling on the rubble of the former Red Shirt strongholds in Bangkok, Crikey intern Nicole Eckersley speaks to Professor Damien Kingsbury about the future of Thailand’s democratic process and the role of the monarchy.
RSPT debate: Wayne Swan’s day of reckoning
My ALP contacts tell me that Treasury has had no experience in mining projects put together by the states and they genuinely had no idea of the impact of the RSPT, writes Robert Gottliebsen.
Gay double standard, or just confusion in classification?
Was the decision to punish the Nine Network over airing racy same-sex love scenes a case of homophobic double-standard or confusion between two different classification systems? asks Crikey intern Matt de Neef.
Time for The Age to come clean on the fate of archives: Gawenda
Former editor Michael Gawenda wants to know what happened to The Age archives, revealing that when he left in 2004, the archives still existed but were in an appalling state of neglect.
Budget reply: the battle of the incompetents
Silly and unnecessary mistakes ruined Joe Hockey’s budget reply. This year’s election seems to be shaping up as a battle of the incompetent.
Business As Usual: Germany wins the prize … Aussie dollar down, up … Fed upgrades, but warns consumers won’t carry the can …
The euro slides, dragging the Aussie dollar with it. Plus, the lowdown on German banks, the latest forecast on US economic growth and Greece has a small win — at last.
