China’s return to the dark daysThe recent turmoil in the Middle East may have triggered a new wave of repression in China, where citizens such as artist Ai Weiwei are being detained for voicing skeptical views about the government, writes Peter Foster.
April, 2011
book reviews 
Ashes in the Air by Ali Alizadeh
In a book of poetry we want each poem to paint a picture, to shake us up a little and reach down inside us. On these grounds Ashes in the Air does a good job, writes Angela Meyer.
Future for property bulls looks decidedly bleak
Instead of predicting the usual “5% annual house price growth”, suddenly, the “experts” are suggested house prices will drop this year.
Maley: America’s dance with the default
The US government is embroiled in a vicious fight over budget cuts and investors are becoming increasingly agitated that a truce will not be reached in time to avert a partial shutdown of the government, writes Karen Maley, of Business Spectator.
film reviews Sucker Punch — exploitative, crude and dull
Fueled by the berserk brain juice of director/SFX addict Zack Snyder, Sucker Punch is a loud, incongruous bore. It’s not a movie, says Luke Buckmaster. It’s a video game you can’t play.
Jimmy Fallon and the QR Code
While watching Stephen Colbert perform Friday on The Late Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, TV blogger Dan Barrett noticed something strange in the background: a QR code that his iPhone successfully read.
Guy Rundle: Fantasies of multiculturalism, ordinariness and Ozstalgie
The one thing the Australian public will never be presented with is the real choice — do you want genuine community control over immigration policy, levels and source (a process that would generate an answer liked by neither left nor right)?
China presents another Australian budget complication
The decision by the People’s Bank of China to raise the benchmark one-year borrowing and lending interest rates by 25 basis points presents another complication for Wayne Swan in preparing this year’s Australian budget, writes Richard Farmer.
Moving beyond band-aid solutions for mental health
Federal Labor knows it must deliver a substantial boost to mental health funding come the May budget. But how much is required to fix our mental health services? John Mendoz explains.
Why does Obama call himself black?
In the last decade, the number of citizens in the US who identified themselves as multiracial grew by 32%. Yet president Obama, son of a black father and a white mother identifies himself in the national census as black. Why?
melbourne international comedy festival Review: Jason Chong’s Real Life (MICF)
“Clever” and “arse-cheeks” are the first words that come to mind when reviewing Jason Chong. There are some great laughs to be had in his new show Reel Life, writes Matt Smith.
Playing the game: sex, footy and its secret world
It’s the article everyone is talking about: Anna Krien delves inside the dangerous game of sex and treatment of women in the AFL, in light of the St Kilda Schoolgirl scandal.
Andrew Bolt’s slot: Video Hits out-rates Meet the Press
If Ten wants starts a Sunday morning talk show to accommodate the likes of Andrew Bolt and his right-wing views, it’s in for a long, expensive learning experience.
Andrew Bolt on trial: questions of Aboriginal identity, writing intent
Former Federal Court Judge Ron Merkel has raised the spectre of thousands of vulnerable young Aborigines suffering for years at the hands of Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt as the conservative scribe’s race case continued this morning
Dictator Watch: UN peacekeepers attack Gbagbo’s palace
After the slaughter in Srebrenica and Rwanda — while UN forces stood idly by — who would have expected UN peacekeepers to use their firepower to prevent a bloodbath?
Letter from...: Letter from … Nauru — the worst place in the world?
Not many people go to Nauru unless they absolutely have to, writes Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet.
Guy Rundle: Politics and plaster ducks, aka kitsch as kitsch can
There’s always something mysterious about kitsch; every time you think you’ve defined it, it slips away.
Media briefs: Hun plugs Mitsubishi … wrong headline, ABC … haunting front page …
One motoring journalist says its not just good fortune, but good engineering from Mitsubishi, that saved a woman whose car fell six storeys. Also, front page of the day and other media news.
Video of the Day: Putting data mining to the test
Data mining is an industry that relies on gathering and trading personal information. Time columnist Joel Stein decided to put data mining companies to the test and, although one of them listed him as a woman, it turns out they knew quite a bit about him.
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Five-star retreat for ABC bosses? Crikey reported of penny-pinching in the news department that has cracked down on foreign correspondents’ travel. Next week the ABC board is flying to Broome for the opening of the new radio building and are all staying at the exclusive Cable Beach Club Hotel… Michael O’Brien: ‘typical barrister’. Victoria’s fair trading […]
Crikey Says: Stalemate in Libya
The failure to intervene elsewhere does not undermine the rationale for, or raise questions about the motive of, the intervention in Libya. The international community was faced with a stark choice about whether to act to prevent a mass slaughter.
climate change Warning from the past: 21st century climate trends, tipping points
The current rate of greenhouse gas rise is unprecedented in Earth history, excepting global volcanic events and asteroid impacts, writes Dr Andrew Glikson, Earth and paleo-climate scientist at the ANU.
