December, 2010
Handy hits on how to develop a social media strategy
If you own or work for a business keen to engage with social media, there’s a lot more to it then making a Facebook “like” button. You should also have a social media content strategy and this quick guide by Rich Brooks outlines the basics.
Wikileaks 
How I got the American embassy cables
The journalist with all the Oz WikiLeaks cables, Philip Dorling outlines his meeting with founder Julian Assange, painting an incredible picture of the security-conscious WikiLeaks, with its HQ sitting in a rotting Georgian mansion in the English countryside.
Assange’s online dating profile
Take a look back at WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2006, thanks to his online dating profile in OkCupid. “Passionate, and often pig headed activist intellectual seeks siren for love affair, children and occasional criminal conspiracy,” declares Assange.
Christopher Hitchens on The Tea Party
Coming to terms with the phenomenon of Tea Party, Christopher Hitchens contrasts the extreme right party’s historical significance with The John Birch Society and lambasts the poisonous politics of Glenn Beck.
The complete tweets: Tim Burton and co. complete Stainboy
From November 22 to December 6 film auteur Tim Burton helmed an innovative Twitter-based creative writing project in which selected Twitter users filled out the story, tweet by tweet. The complete story can be read on Burton’s website.
travel 
The slums of Phnom Penh: working with child drug users
At one stage I counted ten young street children injecting heroin in the ally around me. Monks slowly walked by on their morning alms. For a Westerner it was an unexpected juxtaposition, writes Allan Soultaris from Cambodia.
Animal Kingdom dominates AFI Awards
Writer/director David Michod’s Melbourne-set crime drama Animal Kingdom ruled the roost last night at the 2010 Australian Film Institute Awards, winning 10 gongs from a record 18 nominations, reports Luke Buckmaster.
GOP rally against 9/11 Health and Compassion Act
More than 90% of congressional Republicans have rejected the ‘Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act,’ which proposed to pay health care for 9/11 rescue workers. In doing so the GOP have taken a big risk of looking heartless and stingy, writes Steven Benen.
The latest Oz WikiLeaks news: all eyes on Dorling
Australian security and intelligence agencies worry about a potential nuclear war involving Iran, but most of the Australian media is more concerned with the journalist that beat them to the scoop, writes Amber Jamieson.
The News Ltd whispering process
The recently released WikiLeaks cable titled ‘David Letterman: Agent of Influence’ claims US TV shows have a greater influence in persuading Saudi youth to reject violence than US government propaganda. Jeremy Sear demonstrates how such a simplistic statement can change at the hands of News Ltd.
Wikileaks throws a harsh spotlight on Pfizer
Pfizer is at the centre of new Wikileaks revelations based on a leaked US embassy cable. The Guardian reports that Pfizer hired investigators to unearth evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general, explains Melissa Sweet.
Swanny announces banking reform
Crikey Media Wrap: Wayne Swan has made good on his pledge to confront banking reform, yesterday announcing a range of reforms include banning exit fees for new mortgage loans, giving lenders more funding options and providing consumers more information.
aviation industry Truth and consequences for Rolls-Royce
Although statements by Rolls-Royce on its Trent 900 issues have yet to amount to more than a single page, a number of firm conclusions can be drawn from the documents tended in court in Australia and the last ATSB update on engine inspections. Ben Sandilands explains.
How a story is seriously twisted on its way to News Ltd readers
Watch how “Desperate Housewives is doing more to persuade Saudi youth to reject violent jihad than US government propaganda” becomes “Fox News – fair, balanced and turning Saudis off jihad like no CNN could” in just three easy steps, writes Jeremy Sear.
Pen pushers versus gliders, a parable for our times
It is such an amazing contrast, to sit in a ‘glass’ cocoon in a glider, able to see as far as the rugged ranges extend, instead of being packed tight in a torture tube, getting a glimpse of sky, or wing. Ben Sandilands compares gliders to planes.
aviation industry Pen pushers versus Gliders: a parable for our times
Bureaucrats in pursuit of universal codes of control that can be applied with equal rigor to the scheduled movement of airliners and the impulsive and individualistic flights of recreational aviators highlight the conflict between bureaucratic political tendences, writes Ben Sandilands.
WikiLeaks and the politics of
embarrassment
WikiLeaks isn’t a news event, it’s a new environment, and politicians and officials now have to work out whether they’ll continue to risk the politics of embarrassment.
Crikey at the Walkleys: the shocks (and frocks) from hacks’ night-of-nights
Ah, journalism’s night of nights at a glittering auditorium strongly resembling a muggy Bangkok transit lounge circa 1986, featuring Australia’s best backstabbers all together in close proximity. Andrew Crook worked the room.
The great ASX float rush of 2010 is finally on
Despite the fact there are little more than two full working weeks before the end of December, a total of 32 companies are set to hit the boards, including four set to list today, writes SmartCompany’s James Thomson.
A close finish from Victoria’s surprisingly engaged electorate
A close election doesn’t necessarily mean close seats: the new Victorian government has the narrowest possible majority, two seats, in the legislative assembly, but there’s been no real interest in the counting for the last week.
Rundle: London convulsed by protesters doing it Greek-style
From the Crikey national affairs desk/office/pad in Soho, I watched them swarm through the city, up Oxford Street and across Leicester Square. London was convulsed by protest over tuition fees, in a crisis for the coalition government.
Meet the Böcker: ASX the biggest loser in Singapore Exchange merger?
Is a Singapore-ASX merger is a good move for both Australia and Singapore — but particularly for Australia? Business Spectator’s Robert Gottliebsen spoke to the chief executive of Singapore Exchange, Magnus Böcker, to find out.
Arbib a gossiping plotter to be treated with caution
The colleagues of Senator Arbib, who have felt obliged to spring to his defence as having said or done nothing out of the ordinary, will be treating him with considerable caution.
The Cronulla riots: five years on
The week leading up to the riot was highly charged. There is a dogged and proud ignorance in the Australian psyche and this was being shaken as people in Cronulla were forced to hold opinions on subjects they’d spent little time thinking, writes Stuart Nettle, editor of Swellnet.
