The east coast of Australia high speed rail study is slowly pulling out of the platform. Now that China has a rail link of similar length to Sydney-Melbourne operating in under three hours between Guangzhou and Wuhan, it definitely deserves to be front-of-mind, writes Ben Sandilands.
February, 2011
film reviews 
Catfish and the rise of the ‘real-or-not-umentary’
Documentary filmmakers and their subjects have always blurred the line between truth and fiction. Catfish is the latest is the first wave of the ‘real-or-not-umentary,’ which is destined to make audiences more cynical and hostile than ever before, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Rundle: full Swedish police report of accusations against Assange
With five days to go until WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange appears in a UK court for a hearing on extradition to Sweden, Crikey has obtained a copy of the full police report of the allegations against him.
Mining the donations: Palmer returns as $1 million Tory sugar daddy
Billionaire Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer ratcheted up his political donations to the conservative side of politics to over $1 million in 2009-10, despite the Liberal Party declaring his cash persona non grata mid-way through the audit period, according to data released by the Australian Electoral Commission this morning.
Knockers knocks public servant out of a job
A senior federal public servant accessed porn on an employer-provided laptop while at home. He was caught, his employment was terminated and he attempted to overturn the termination in court. Yesterday, that court case failed.
Political donations give and take
The Australian Electoral Commission released political donations data today for 2009-10, giving us an insight into what political parties received from donors between 7 and 19 months ago.
Mayne on donations: Vic Libs still richest political division in the country
The Victorian Liberals clearly remain the richest political division in the country. No one else can claim to own $50 million worth of shares.
Muslims don’t fit into a simple left v right debate
Last week Fairfax columnist Paul Sheehan fed the idea that Islam is a monolithic entity that’s fundamentally incompatible with western values. That’s what’s wrong with the current debate about Islam, says writer and filmmaker Ruby Hamad.
Richardson: Egypt and the logic of revolution
The sheer experience of tens of thousands of people on the streets together builds confidence in what they can do, far beyond the point where they can be bought off by half-measures or controlled by any ordinary police operation.
How do the new food labelling recommendations measure up?
Will companies who make quality products voluntarily use green dots and that could push others to follow? Possibly, but don’t hold your breath waiting to see any red dots on food labels, writes nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton.
Australian of the Year maybe, but business is business
In celebrating Simon McKeon’s personal ethic of noblesse oblige, we should not swallow the wider guff being talked about corporate do-gooding, writes David Ritter.
Kohler: the economic roots of revolution
The sharemarket is ripe for a correction with oil going above $US100 a barrel in both Europe and Asia and the turmoil in Egypt refusing to go away.
David Williamson: Labor’s biggest problem? Gillard’s a ham
Julia Gillard and the Labor government are on the precipice, and it’s nothing to do with pink batts. It’s simply that Julia, who I like and admire, is a perfectly lousy actor, writes playwright David Williamson.
Can Fianna Fáil rise above the scandals?
The Irish parliament is expected to be dissolved this week and Fianna Fáil is facing the prospect of a humiliating defeat that could see them become Ireland’s third major political party, writes Keshia Jacotine.
Why the big bang theory was a big stuff up
The big bang, 13.7 billion years on, and we are still in a place that is infinitely large, but roomier, with no starting point and no ending point.
Egypt wrap: Cairo preparing for a ‘million man march’
A million people are expected to march through the streets of Cairo tomorrow, as the public protests continue against embattled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. It’ll be the biggest show of public discontent since protests began.
Political snippets: Yasi throws a spanner in Gillard’s works
Cyclone Yasi is going to have a big say in how much the planned flood levy will be.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: March like an Egyptian
Crikey readers have their say.
Morning Market Report: Markets rally on Egyptian army statement
The situation in Egypt was partially defused by an army statement that they would not harm citizens causing the Dow to rally 50 points in the last hour.
Daily Proposition: Get writing, damn it!
When it comes to procrastinating, modern man seems spectacularly adept at finding new and ingenious ways of avoiding writing that dream novel, article or screenplay, laments freelance writer Dan Hanks.
Media briefs: Guardian gets leaked on … The Oz repels rockets
The Guardian shrieks but loses grip on WikiLeaks, plus The Australian saves lives in Afghanistan and other media news of the day.
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
The zoo on the auction block? Apparently the NSW government is thinking of selling off Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo to a theme park operator! They tried — and failed — to do a similar thing down in Victoria with Werribee Zoo, with the full backing of that state government, before the public became aware of it and voiced their collective […]
