This weekend past, I determined to hunt for neo-con humour, Liberal High-Jinks and general coalition contretemps. Deductive and inductive reason tells us there must be some amusing conservatives, writes Helen Razer.
Can BHP defy the market gloom?
How desperate is BHP Billiton to get its Rio Tinto bid up? There was a flood of leaks and tips from the BHP camp to weekend papers in London about all sorts of deals and moves. Glenn Dyer reports.
US drama and comedy struck down by writers’ protest
Screen writers in the US are striking for residuals, writes Peter Mattessi. They’ve seen the trucks of money being dropped at the studios’ doors for DVD sales, and want some of the action.
Flint: Garrett lets the “Real Agenda” out of the bag
Peter Garrett has well and truly let the cat out of the bag, his “Real Agenda.” He has been talking about this for weeks, writes David Flint.
Dollar spikes, stocks rally. Dollar plunges, stocks rally. Do the math.
The financial markets are a little more confusing than usual at present, credit and equity markets are contradicting each other – a contradiction that surfaced in yesterday morning’s JP Morgan credit and rates market commentary.
Barns: Oh, what a mess for Keelty and Andrews
The publication of an email in morning’s Australian, which details AFP plans to detain Mohammed Haneef if he was granted bailed, raises a series of questions which must be answered, writes Greg Barns.
The Perpetual redemptions start to flow over Gunns
Perpetual chairman Bob Savage has defended his company’s status as the biggest shareholder in Gunns by claiming that his customers weren’t at all worried about the controversial investment. But that was before the wide public recognition of the fact resulting from this week’s AGM, writes Stephen Mayne.
Robert Manne asks: Why does Gerard Henderson lie?
There are lies, damn lies, and Gerard Henderson. He is in a category of his own, writes Robert Manne.
The real, sad story behind the Quah photos
Questions still remain: Why did Quah take these photos, and who did he give them to? Who has betrayed Andrew Quah and introduced him to the pain of international humiliation? Cam Smith has the answers.
Family farce: the strange thoughts of Andrew Quah
If you want to become a Family First candidate, it all starts online, where you can email through your CV to the party, writes Jane Nethercote.
The end nigh, Conrad Black seeks heavenly solace
The final curtain is stirring in the wings for lapsed media tycoon Conrad Black, who has apparently turned to God in this his moment of greatest need. Some reading is in order.
The next four weeks? Boring as batsh-t!
Is there anything new in the Newspoll today? Not really. It’s more of the same old, same old – with the figures fine-tuned, writes Christian Kerr.
Talkback callers debate the debate
Talkback callers today weighed in on all matters debatical: who won, the bias of the worm, the reason for John Howard’s “spasm”, the Prime Minister’s mouth dryness, Kevin Rudd’s smugness and Peter Costello’s heckling.
Day Two: Talkback callers not sold on tax cuts
Today on talkback, it’s all about the Coalition’s promised tax cuts…
Comrie-Thomson: racing this time
Six weeks of the Reptiles waiting for a gaffe, a slip, a contradiction, a dummy-spit. No more “feeding the chooks” with selected leaks. Now is the chance to make a feather duster out of a rooster and leak from a great height, writes Paul Comrie-Thomson.
The Australian wheat crop falls on its ear
The United States Department of Agriculture has slashed its estimates for the value of Australia’s wheat crop and exports for the next year by over $2 billion, or more than 7 million tonnes, writes Glenn Dyer.
Errington: Howard on the defensive, Rudd to the test
Little has been achieved in the past few weeks of jousting and speculation. The period since APEC has shown only what we already knew – that voting intentions are only going to change during the intensity of the campaign, if at all, writes Howard biographer Wayne Errington.
MacCormack: Oratory the loser on a day of fumbles
After weeks to prepare, the Prime Minister’s performance at his election news conference was inexplicably poor. In his response, Rudd started poorly, too - stiff and stilted, writes David MacCormack.
Bahnisch: Galaxy Poll shows things will be close in Queensland
The Courier-Mail is this morning touting a Galaxy Poll which purports to show Labor winning only two additional seats in Queensland – Bonner and Moreton, writes Mark Bahnisch.
Poll history repeats – but which piece?
The government will be hoping opinion poll history repeats. But which piece of history? Which previous Newspoll graph can the government take heart from? Peter Brent investigates.
Razer: Rudd’s half-ars-d web presence is good strategy
On Facebook, MySpace and his own Kevin 07 site (which is rather more web 1.5 than web 2.0) Kevin Rudd offers the name of his family cat (Jasper) but is yet to become fluent in internet cant, writes Helen Razer.
Sparrow: Can Howard break away from the culture wars?
For too long, Howard’s been pandering to a disreputable posse of intellectual thugs. Howard can’t win unless he breaks with these people. Yet they’re his oldest and most loyal allies. Quel dilemma, writes Jeff Sparrow.
Abjorensen: What fate John Howard?
John Winston Howard has a thing or two on his mind at the moment, quite apart from being Prime Minister of Australia. He is fighting not one, but many battles, writes Norman Abjorensen.
Rundle: Never mind the narrative, feel the vamp
Day Two of the election John Howard had to have (possibly after checking with constitutional lawyers for any get out) and News Limited is already in full spin mode, from both those with a modicum of respectability (Paul Kelly), to the ratbags (Piers Akerman), writes Guy Rundle.
