July, 2010
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Experienced news man gone from Nine. The bonings continue at the Nine Network in Sydney. Much surprise at news senior director Ian Jobsz being made redundant on Friday. Production staff and studio people were shocked, and so far no explanation. That’s one less experienced person Nine will have to carry on the move to the […]
Crikey Says: A population problem
If “Labor insiders” are to be believed, the population issue in places like the outer suburbs of Sydney is — to use one of their favourite words — “toxic” . So let’s drill into the soundbites to inject a bit of reality.
For LG, business is good
Last year LG posted record sales of $43.4 billion. Thanks to a gutsy business strategy the company have grown from strength to strength in recent years and - along with bitter rival Samsung - are fundamentally changing the dynamic of the LCD-TV industry.
WA Australia’s strongest performing economy, and then some
A new CommSec survey has not only listed WA as the nation’s best performing economy, but also claims the state has completely conquered the GFC and its aftereffects.
MTV get thumbs up for gay-friendly programming
US-based gay activist group GLAAD has awarded two thumbs up to MTV for its representations of gay, lesbian and transgender people. Fox, on the other hand, got tsktsked for airing Family Guy and The Cleveland Show.
Film review: Inception – dreamy and brainy blockbuster-tainment
Director Christopher’s Nolan’s latest big budget noodle scratcher is a fast-paced and inventive SCI-FI take on Edgar Allan Poe’s timeless question “is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream,” writes Luke Buckmaster.
For sale on Amazon: uranium ore
For the low low price of US$29.95, visitors to Amazon can purchase their own tin of uranium ore. But wait, there’s more: the product is generating some very positive reviews.
New Fairfax app misses the innovation boat
Fairfax has launched a new Sydney Morning Herald iPad application. It is bad enough that the app resembles a PDF reader, says Tim Burrowes, but forcing users to subscribe to the print edition is ludicrous.
Russia’s first elected black politician
48-year-old Jean Gregoire, from the West African country of Benin, has become the first black person to be elected to office in Russia. The press have dubbed him “Russia’s Obama,” a mantle he passionately rejects.
LEAK: The real war in Afghanistan
WikiLeaks has released an explosive collection of over 91,000 secret military reports documenting the war in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2010.
Flickr gets royal treatment as Buckingham Palace opens account
Popular photo sharing website Flickr has a high profile new account holder: the Queen. Buckingham Palace have opened a Flickr account and are sharing hundreds of rare photographs.
leaked 
Behind the Afghanistan war: insurgents set the pace
An archive of leaked military documents uploaded onto Wikileaks on the weekend paint a picture of an American war effort starved for resources and attention, with US soldiers battling highly coordinated and deadly insurgents.
Hayward’s head on BP chopping block
According to a senior US government official, beleaguered gaffe-prone BP CEO Tony Hayward has his head on the chopping block and is set to be replaced by American Robert Dudley. But will switching the company’s CEO’s improve its reputation or further diminish it?
Oakes: transparency, hollowness, fear and farce
Julia Gillard’s promise to elect a 150 member citizens assembly demonstrates just how hollow current politics has become, and Tony Abbott’s pledges aren’t much better. Australia, meet two leaders who are afraid to lead, writes Laurie Oakes.
The Stump: transcript of the Tony, Scott ‘n Cory show
The transcript of yesterday’s Liberal announcement about its immigration target follows, featuring Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison. Abbott’s Parliamentary Secretary, dog-whistler Cory “ban the burqa” Bernardi is along for the ride.
Abbott tries to make ‘Little Australia’ his own
Tony Abbott announced his immigration policy over the weekend, promising to dramatically reduce net overseas migration during his first term. This is misguided policy designed to seize the smaller Australia position from Julia Gillard, writes Paul Kelly.
The front pages: debate winner(s) and MasterChef Adam
A look at how some of the nation’s newspapers are leading this morning.
Election Tracker: Day 6/7/8 — Abbott in the wild west … Gillard in QLD … Adam wins MasterChef …
One week down and Tony Abbott’s visit to Western Australia has seen him take a huge lead on the election tracker. Abbott’s visit to the wild west saw him pledge his support to the mining industry and announce increased border security measures. Meanwhile, Julia Gillard’s weekend was spent on the east coast, where she announced […]
Who won the debate?
Daily Media Wrap: Fair dinkum, last night was the only election debate of the campaign and it was filled with moving forwards, cheesy Aussie lingo and worms aplenty.
Last night’s joint press conference had a lot of empty seats
More than ever, this election seems to be about two parties pretending to be politicians, rather than actually being them
Crikey Says: Campaign Crikey morning edition: Day 9
“This election will determine whether the Prime Minister is to be elected by the people or by the powerbrokers. Whether Prime Ministers are to be chosen on the basis of the job they’ve done, or gender.”
Keane’s Talking Points: let’s hope voter common sense kicks in
Is there anyone in the country other than in the Labor and Liberal camps who thinks last night’s debate wouldn’t have been made at least more interesting, if not more enlightening, with the presence of Bob Brown?
Australian public short-changed in lacklustre debate
There was no clear winner in last night’s election debate, with both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott too frightened to put a foot wrong, says Michelle Grattan.
