The considerable comedic talents of Robert Downey Jnr and Zack Galifianakis are largely squandered despite best efforts from all and sundry in Due Date, a good-natured on the road odd couple comedy from director Todd Phillips, writes Luke Buckmaster.
November, 2010
Big Ideas 
Daniel Petre: the decline of generosity
We are too focused on our own needs and on hoarding more with the sad result that we lack the ability to care for others or approach life with a generous demeanor and spirit, writes Daniel Petre, executive chairman of Netus and head of the Petre Foundation.
Jetstar pilot fired for raising safety concerns
The pilot union says it will fight the Qantas Group all the way up to the High Court over its dismissal of a Jetstar first officer, Joe Eakins for writing an article critical of the Jetstar’s cost cutting culture in terms of safety implications, reports Ben Sandilands.
Bond markets in Europe remain sceptical
Ireland’s decision to accept the EU bailout fund relieved the European bond markets for a very brief time, but the risk premiums are already returning higher, reports Richard Farmer.
Encouraging the poor to breed
Howard Flight, a former Tory MP, is in political trouble for saying what no doubt many of his Conservative colleagues believe – the problem with the poor is that they breed, writes Richard Farmer.
Newswall crisis solved
Following our teasing, the Herald Sun comes up with some bonus content with which to sell its (ad-supported, $96/year) iPad app: “The week’s best comments” from the Andrew Bolt blog! How wonderful, writes Jeremy Sear.
Galaxy: 50-50 in Victoria
The latest Galaxy poll has the primary vote for Labor in Victoria at 36 percent and the Coalition on 44, leveling out at 50-50, writes William Bowe.
Conroy adjusts anti-siphoning to reflect reality
Stephen Conroy has announced a significant overhaul of the anti-siphoning scheme, designed to free up aspects of the list intended to keep major sporting events on free-to-air television whilst maintaining approximately current levels of sporting coverage, writes Bernard Keane.
The Afghanistan War needs less tanks
The US military’s tank-like MRAP (mine-resistant ambush-protected) vehicles work wonderfully in the streets of Iraq. But in the hills and desert of Afghanistan, the tanks just help the insurgents gain more ground writes Major Michael Waltz from the US Special Forces.
PHOTO GALLERY 
Sleeping giants: a world of empty skyscrapers
A depressing but also beautiful look at abandoned buildings around the globe, from the majestic Detroit train station built in 1913 to the 26-floor gothic tower in San Francisco and the 37-floor residential tower in Brazil.
How journalism is failing us in the Iraq War
There’s a reason “embedded” became a dirty word in journalism: most of the news coming out from Iraq and Afghanistan is highly filtered, not representative of what is going on and completely overplays the US Military’s importance and success, declares Patrick Cockburn.
language Delving into Fairfax’s “deep verticals”
A recent Fairfax email from Don Churchill discussed the development of “deep verticals”. Deep what? Piers Kelly delves into the archaic term. And it’s not all good news for Fairfax staff.
Ask a climate scientist Even if we reverse climate change, what damage can we expect?
How do you prove climate change is a fact? And if it is, what damage can we expect? It’s a thoughtful and fascinating round of climate science questions today, writes Amber Jamieson.
interviews Filmmaker Patrick Hughes discusses Red Hill
If you thought Animal Kingdom would be the only hit-you-for-six Australian genre film released in 2010, think again. A new horse has arrived in writer/director Patrick Hughes’ spectacular neo-western Red Hill. Hughes discusses his trailblazing hoofs-and-bullets debut with Luke Buckmaster.
Gruen: paying for Australia’s infrastructure deficit
Rather than simply getting budgets into operating surplus — mostly a very good thing — Australian governments have embraced the notion that all debt is bad, writes Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economic.
Herald Sun caught trying to entrap Victorian MPs
The Herald Sun has been caught red-handed trying to entrap Victorian MPs in an unethical and possibly illegal sting operation just days before the state election.
‘Bulls in a paddock’: the climate debate from Canberra to Cancun
In the run-up to UN climate talks in Cancun, Julia Gillard’s business and NGO roundtables are a fascinating clash of ego and self-interest. But she’ll need them on side to push forward, says Giles Parkinson.
Guy Rundle: Rundle’s Euro Bites: where there’s a Will, there’s a day (off)
Funny how we all have to work hard, increase productivity, etc, except when an ancient monarchical ritual is involved, at which point everything dissolves like a mad May fair.
NBN business case: curiouser and curiouser
If the government secures passage of its bill to separate Telstra, it will have achieved an historic telecommunications reform. Typically, everyone’s talking about something else.
Sophie Cunningham: is writing evolving?
Is form following function? Are we evolving? Or, to the question I want to consider here: is writing evolving? And is there a danger of Australian writers losing their distinctive voice, asks writer and editor Sophie Cunningham?
Our commodities caught in China’s inflation cycle
China’s half-hearted attempts to control inflation are causing a dangerous build-up in inflationary pressures. The worry, says Karen Maley, is that the longer the Chinese government delays raising interest rates the more aggressive the tightening will eventually become.
Explaining the deep, vertical verbiage that pervades Fairfax
The axe will still fall for Fairfax employees, but at least it will have a ribbon of verbiage tied around it, writes Piers Kelly, of Crikey language blog Fully (Sic).
NBN Co business case — truly a curiously inadequate document
“It is a curiously inadequate document,” wrote Malcolm Turnbull of the NBN Co Business Case Summary. He’s right. A business case that doesn’t, y’know, present a case for the business, supported by proper numbers? WTF?
NT, the Montara oil spill and the regulatory ‘dog that didn’t bark’
Yesterday Federal Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson tabled the Report of inquiry into the oil spill at the Montara Wellhead Platform in the Timor Sea in August 2009 — and gave the NT government the kind of kick in the teeth you’d normally reserve for your political enemies.
Murray Murmurings: should we think of farmers as we do teachers?
The guide and the credibility of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority hangs in the balance, writes Professor Chris Miller, School of Social and Policy Studies, Flinders University. writes:
