When the defaults on prime and alt-A mortgages are added to sub-prime losses, it’s clear that we’ll see a long period of financial darkness before the dawning of better times, writes Alan Kohler.
International
Guy Rundle: Rundle08: Republicans crossing over to the blue side?
Whatever happens in the race for the White House it’s worthwhile remembering it’s a competition for two seperate powers. And in the second fight, for Congress, the Republicans know they’ve got Buckley’s, writes Guy Rundle.
NZ retail duopoly stymied. What does it mean for Oz?
Just as the competition regulator, the ACCC hands a report on Australian grocery retailing, a NZ court hass taken steps to protect competition, writes Glenn Dyer.
Guantanamo Bay: still no justice after all these years
Yes, the Military Commission hears argument and makes rulings: just like a real court. Do these processes involve independent judges making fair rulings or are they just mirages in a system loaded against the defence? wonders Stephen Keim SC.
Sarkozy takes a knife to the military
French president Nicolas Sarkozy is battling the military, writes Charles Richardson.
Guy Rundle: Rundle08: God’s hand in McCain’s stormy weather
Poor old John. The bloke can’t take a trick at the moment. But worse, the political bad weather seems to be affecting the judgment of both McCain himself and his staff, writes Guy Rundle.
Karadzic captured, Serbia celebrates
After 13 years on the run, indicted Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic has been arrested. Here’s how the media is reporting the capture of one of the world’s most wanted men.
Rundle08: the old left collapses into the blogosphere
The old Democrat left has morphed seemlessly into a polyglot on-line presence, writes Guy Rundle.
China’s electricity shortage helps cut greenhouse gas
While Australian union leaders are concerned about the effects of an emissions trading scheme, China suffers electricity shortages. by Glenn Dyer.
Guy Rundle: Rundle08: It’s the economy stupid
Outside of the 400 blocks or so on Manhattan Island where it functions as a local rag, the The New Yorker is, for many people, about as visible as the Almanach de Gotha, writes Guy Rundle.
The price tag on doing business in Russia
You only have to spend a few days in Moscow, as I did last month, to realise that whatever advancements may have occurred under the Putin/Medvedev regime, Russia remains a highly undemocratic quasi-dictatorship, writes Crikey publisher Eric Beecher.
Can somebody please explain the Wilkins Ice Shelf
At the risk of being called a sceptic, an ABC report at the weekend on the Wilkins Ice Shelf being in danger of breaking off from Antarctica sent me scurrying back to look at the data for myself, writes Richard Farmer.
Golf’s underdogs come out from the woods
A British Open without Tiger Woods? Opportunity knocks for golf’s nervous nellies, writes Charles Happell.
France cracks down on underage drinking
A new advertising campaign will target binge drinking among the young in France, writes Charles Richardson.
Australia a vulnerable housing market? You bet your Fannie Mae it is.
Imagine what would happen if Australian banks had to value their mortgages at market value, writes Business Spectator’s Alan Kohler.
Fed fixes Fannie and Freddie, saves the world
The financiers of the American dream are reporting nightmares, writes Glenn Dyer.
Boris Johnson’s very bad week
To understand why the Ray Lewis affair may yet destabilise the Conservatives nationally, one needs to recall how David Cameron won the party leadership in 2005, writes Ben Ellis.
Why HIV prevention must move beyond c-ndoms
For many people, particularly women who face the threat of HIV in developing countries, c-ndom use is not a viable option, write Bridget Haire and Professor John Kaldor.
East Timor report encourages culture of impunity
The long-awaited report by the Indonesia-East Timor ‘Commission on Truth and Friendship’ (CTF) has been handed down, confirming what we already knew about the events in East Timor in 1999; that the crimes against humanity committed by the military and their proxy militias were an all of state affair, writes Damien Kingsbury.
Reagan’s Iran scandal born again in McCain
The “lost chapter” of the official investigation into the Iran-Contra scandal is compulsory reading for students of campaign 08. Dan Cass explains.
