Following Kevin Rudd on Twitter is compelling and cringey all at the same time.
Articles by Sophie Black 
95 kids on Christmas Island and counting
As another 194 asylum seekers head to Christmas Island for health and security checks, concerns are being raised about the number of children already there.
Former detainee: debt a reminder of trauma and tragedy
As the detention debt bill continues to be debated in the House, a former detainee tells Sophie Black what an outstanding debt of $161,000 means to them.
Coalition splits on abolishing detainees’ debts
Many former detainees are taking a great interest in the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill 2009 that’s currently being debated in the Lower House.
Mirabella’s man had a past before the ball
Never mind the groping, Sophie Mirabella’s now ex-advisor Anthony Scrinis was showing signs of being a little, well, off balance, well before the Mid-Winter Ball.
Farewell Constance E Little, prolific letter writer
If Constance E Little stuck around today, she’d have a blog. That’s why Crikey is honouring her with a new column, says Sophie Black.
Goodbye John ‘fuckability’ Westacott
As he snaps on his gold watch, the eulogies for John Westacott keep pouring into Crikey.
Wankley Awards: Chris Mitchell’s climate change award
Most editors would beg an oil and energy lobby group to take their trophy back. Not Chris Mitchell.
Putting the Ruddock back into shadow immigration?
An email exchange about former Philip Ruddock chief of staff Ann Duffield, who is now working for Shadow Immigration minister Sharman Stone, makes for revealing reading.
Dear Fairfax: Martin Bryant’s mother set to sue
Crikey has obtained a copy of a letter from Slater and Gordon to Fairfax Media on behalf of convicted serial killer Martin Bryant’s mother Carleen Bryant.
Racist, who, us? Si senor!
Ex Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Mexican immigrants. So why the sombero?
Wankley Awards: Deceptive toddlers and fabricated bogans
Viral marketing, vested interests and self promotion tricked up as news, nothing new to see here folks… But here’s a Wankley anyhow.
Before Wayne was King…
He was just a lowly, inexperienced Shadow Treasurer, who had to face constant humiliation at the hands of the very smug, very unbearable Longest Serving Treasurer Ever Peter Costello…
Wankley Awards: This week’s gong goes to …. Golden Tonsils
An old friend reappeared from the wilderness last night…
The Punch defends its use of interns
The University of Technology in Sydney have received an offer from News Ltd’s new venture The Punch for the opportunity for internships for their journalism students: unpaid internships.
Australia’s $18m bid to keep asylum seekers in Indonesia
The sound bites may have shifted, but the policy around interception of asylum seekers in Indonesia never changed.
DSE’s prescribed burning: time for some answers
As Black Saturday victims claim that they’ve been denied a voice in the Royal Commission into bushfires, the DSE’s prescribed burns continued across the state.
Crikey Clarifier: “Well dressed” waves of boat people
Are we being invaded by boat people? Do they think we’re soft? And just how ‘well dressed’ are they? Sophie Black asks the hard questions of Immigration lawyer David Manne.
Wankley Awards: A fine field of winners
Mmmm we love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.
Couple still waiting for $262,000 detention bill to be waived
Evelyn and Masoud Shams are still waiting for the government to waive a detention debt of $264,000, reports Sophie Black.
And the Wankley goes to… the people who put Miranda Kerr on pg 3
In Australia the Victoria’s Secret parade never got much more than a slide show and a late night slot on Channel Nine. Enter Miranda Kerr. In suspenders, writes Sophie Black.
Newspoll on ETS: a clear case of push polling?
If you believe Shanahan, the market meltdown has shoved worries about melting icebergs way down the list of the public’s concerns, writes Sophie Black.
And the Wankley Award goes to … the print media
The world ended on Monday night when Wall Street crashed and burned, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the Tuesday’s morning papers, writes Sophie Black.
Solitary confinement will cost you extra
“Australia is the only country in the world which charges innocent people the cost of locking them up,” Julian Burnside QC has told Crikey. And solitary confinement is seperately billed, reports Sophie Black.
