August, 2011
My Cup Of Tea: The costly disease in our backing orchestras
An Australia Council-commissioned report into Australia’s ballet and opera orchestras reveals an unsustainable business model. But where will efficiencies come from?
Canberra: where coffee and politics go to die
Throughout history, cafés and coffeehouses have been instrumental in political and commercial activity. So what does it mean that our nation’s capital has such bad coffee? asks year 12 student Madison Tonkes.
Abbott’s European holiday might make him hot and bothered
Tony Abbott has begun his holiday in Europe but one wonders why he chose to visit a region that has had a price on carbon since 2005 and now has the largest multi-national emissions trading scheme in the world, writes Ellen Sandell.
theatre reviews And No More Shall We Part — near-to-perfect theatre
It might be grossly impertinent to say so, but David Williamson could learn a lot from Tom Holloway’s And No More Shall We Part, his new play at the Griffin Theatre in Sydney, says Lloyd Bradford Syke.
First look at ABC’s The Slap — and it’s a winner
Last night Luke Buckmaster saw the first two episodes of ABC’s highly anticipated adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap. The show is likely to become a huge critical and popular success, says Buckmaster.
Tiger botches homework, will be grounded longer
It seems incredible, but Tiger Airways just can’t get it right. CASA issued the latest update last night, noting that there were deficiencies in the documentation Tiger submitted, reports Ben Sandilands.
Award winning awards. Or is it just greenwash?
Having read through annual reports of some of the most polluting companies on earth, it would be naieve not to be cynical about the extent of corporate greenwashing, writes John Hepburn.
Imaginary conversations with the NSW Premier about high-speed rail
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell said that any high speed rail project would be better off linking Canberra Airport so it could act as a second Sydney Airport. This could go two ways, imagines Ben Sandilands.
Intervention sign wars in the Tanami Desert
Bob Gosford writes on the amusing political war going on in Yuendumu, where locals deface (perhaps improve?) the signs spruiking the government’s NT Intervention and erect their own signs.
Kohler: tipping towards a recession
This was always the great danger for the post-GFC world: that debt-laden governments, led by the US, would have to start cutting fiscal deficits before their economies reached escape velocity.
Labor’s life is in foreign hands …
A gathering economic storm overseas may wreck Labor’s entire political strategy, write Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer.
Mayne: Murdoch only champions free speech away from home
It has been a full month since the Murdoch phone hacking scandal blew up and, after more than 30 contributions across various media platforms, Stephen Mayne finally got a rise out of the empire today.
War crimes in Sri Lanka and political options for Australia
Why is no one in the international community doing anything decisive to meet the challenges to human rights and humanitarian law from the bloody end to Sri Lanka’s civil war? asks Jake Lynch, director, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney.
Dick Smith: get used to pain retailers, time to stop the growth fetish
Amid all the talk of shopping strikes, US recession and the mainstream Australia’s eagerness to pay off their credit cards on time, the “prosperity without growth” crowd is beginning to arc up again.
The high-speed rail project and the fairytales that surround it
The first stage of the government’s high-speed rail study appears to set implausible capital costs and match them with highly attractive theoretical cheap fares.
Merkel’s energy challenge: can Germany go green?
The world’s energy policy makers are watching as the Merkel government takes the lead, writes Michael Jacobs, who writes each month about climate change for Inside Story.
Organ trade ‘vile’, but donating a kidney is no big deal — try it
The best way to reduce the number of us tempted to pluck a kidney from a foreigner is to increase the number of live donors in Australia, writes Crikey reader Jason Moutney.
Attacking privacy under the cover of ‘cyber war’
The conflation of very different forms of online activity underlies the use of “cyber war” as a pretext for reducing privacy and funding contractors.
Is voluntary internet filtering a crime?
The voluntary filtering being introduced by some of Australia’s major internet service providers (ISPs) is on shaky legal ground.
A carbon price to cause house prices to rise by $6000? What crap
The claim that a carbon price will cause house prices to rise by $6000 is crap, writes environmental consultant Ben Rose.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Our Anglo-obsessed media
Crikey readers weigh in on Hugo Chavez, quality journalism and the Fukushima disaster.
Morning Market Report: More stimulus measures by the Fed?
The market is up 7. The SFE Futures were up 12 this morning. The Dow Jones closed up 29 overnight. After 8 straight days of losses, the index avoided what would have been the longest slump since 1978. Talk is that the Fed is considering further stimulus measures to prevent another recession. Three former top […]
Daily Proposition: gotta hand it to Mel’s Beaver
The Beaver is a quietly unsettling inspirational story.
