May, 2011
Crikey Says: Crikey says: have they got the fiscal right stuff?
As Crikey has previously noted, this government has a tendency to talk very tough ahead of budgets, and then offer the mildest fiscal rigour on budget night itself.
travel 
How to survive a Chilean earthquake
It was 3am last year in Santiago, Chile, when Laura Burgoine was awoken by plates and glasses smashing on to the kitchen floor as her apartment walls shook. What does one do in such a situation?
The Bolt Report stumbles out of the gate
Andrew Bolt’s new TV show The Bolt Report feels like a low-rent cable news opinion-driven panel show that doesn’t have a strong voice. For the program to work it needs to be bolder, says Dan Barrett.
The anonymous nurse helping to patch Japan’s wounds
An anonymous nurse, sent from Tokyo to the disaster zone immediately after the deadly earthquake and tsunami, has blogged her entire experience, from watching bodies pulled from the rubble, to caring for children in disaster centres.
Clinton gets photoshopped out of history
The iconic image of the White House Situation Room during the Osama bin Laden raid appeared in Hasidic newspaper Der Tzitung but Hillary Clinton, who was holding her hand over her mouth in horror, had been removed.
Happy birthday LiteraryMinded!
Crikey’s book blog LiteraryMinded, spearheaded by literary hound Angela Meyer, this week turns the pages on its fourth birthday. Hip, hip, hooray!
Oakes: Time for John Howard to eat humble pie
In the context of bin Laden’s death, John Howard’s comment in 2007 that suggested the election of Barack Obama would be a boon to Al-Qaeda should at least cause deep embarrassment for Howard, says Laurie Oakes.
PHOTO GALLERY LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall
Is LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, the most beautiful building in the world? Check out Bob Gosford’s photo essay and decide for yourself.
comedy Seinfeld’s new website shows he doesn’t understand the net
Jerry Seinfeld has a launched a new website showcasing stand up comedy videos from the last three decades but you can’t share, link to, tweet or Facebook the videos. It’s clear Seinfeld doesn’t understand the internet, writes Matt Smith.
Do public health advocates get more active in online discussion
A recent study conducted by Becky Freeman found that those opposed to plain packaging cigarettes are much more likely to post responses online, despite public opinion polls showing strong support for tobacco control measures.
Tasmanian upper house elections
On Saturday one-fifth of Tasmanian voters went to the polls for the periodical Legislative Council election. Recap the weekend’s events by reading William Bowe’s live bog conducted on Saturday and Sunday.
Mental health, social justice – and a program that works
The first report of the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on gambling reform has recommended a ‘hybrid’ approach to the reform of poker machine regulation, writes Dr Charles Livingston.
Tasmanian upper house elections
An ageing Labor government’s struggles to retain existing seats has brought a few recent contests to life, writes William Bowe.
Come in Spinner: royal wedding a traditional PR framing device
The recent royal wedding is instructive for many reasons, but probably mainly for illustrating the effectiveness of using tradition as a framing device.
Simons: Fairfax and its 48 hours of WTF moments
This was meant to be Fairfax’s big, though awful moment. The time when it showed the market that it knew what it was doing and there was a vision. But the vision thing is being dimmed.
UK referendum marks a bad night for Liberal Democrats
The Lib-Dems are losing ground across the board, from some combination of dissatisfaction with the coalition’s record and opposition among their grassroots to the very idea of joining with the Conservatives in the first place.
Posetti accuses The Oz of bullying tactics
University of Canberra journalism academic Julie Posetti has accused The Australian of bullying tactics by running an incorrect story yesterday complaining she failed to disclose the newspaper was threatening her with legal action in an ABC radio interview about Twitter.
Guy Rundle: Bin Laden was executed, that much is obvious
The failure of self-belief in a Western project had spread throughout the West for several decades before 9/11 came along.
News Corp’s bizarre idea of a whistleblower site
News Corp’s effort to copy Wikileaks is an IT debacle - but worse is to come when you read the fine print.
When in doubt, blame
Anonymous
Exposed for shockingly poor IT security, Sony has tried to shift the blame to Anonymous. It’s a familiar tactic.
Parkinson: rooftop solar winners and losers
In Australia, solar PV has grown tenfold in just two years, but despite its popularity, the industry believes it has barely scratched the surface., writes Giles Parkinson, of Climate Spectator.
Bin Laden — bad news alive, worse news dead
My grudge against this war on terror is greater than ever, and why should it not be? This war on terror has done more damage to Pakistan than any other country, writes Wajeehah A. Sabahat.
Beyond the private health insurance spin
The private health insurance industry argues in a new study that insurance subsidies for the rich benefit the health system overall, writes health policy analyst Jennifer Doggett.
