February 2013
Ah, the modern workplace is a strange beast.
You share cups and fossick for spoons, sit closer than you’d choose to most people and spend the majority of your waking life sharing an ill air-conditioned space with others who do not share your hygiene standards.
For around 40 hours a week we hunch at our desks, beavering away at any number of shared business goals and ticking off KPIs.
Continue reading "Workplace etiquette for bores and pyschopaths" »
Labor isn’t just afraid of losing valuable political real estate in western Sydney. It also fears the loss of a generation of its best talent.
The casualty list of a Labor wipe-out in Sydney’s west would include the names of some MPs credited with the potential to become Prime Minister.
They include Environment Minister Tony Burke (Watson), Tertiary Education Minister Chris Bowen (McMahon), Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare (Blaxland) and Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury (Lindsay).
Continue reading "Labor could lose more than an election in Sydney’s west" »
Latest 2 of 389 comments
-
esteban says:
Jack. I know how these things can rock the confidence. I was completely certain that Australia would never vote Rudd for PM. I was also certain that if he was voted in the voters would suffer and regret it. I was right on one score at least Jack whereas i… Read more »
-
thomas says:
barfly; have you got verbal diarrhea or other problems..fell asleep reading your comments.. Read more »
Remember the days when Tony Abbott spoke more freely on his views about the sinfulness of modern society? Sometimes I wonder if he misses those happier times when he was free to be “the mad monk”, deploring the “condom culture”.
And his long lost opinions were just part of a chorus of conservative leaders and pro-life organisations who believe that easily accessible and effective contraception is ruining sex, as it means that couples don’t give themselves completely to each other.
But even the most cursory glances at history shows that contraception and sex have gone hand in hand since the earliest civilizations, long before the luxury and ease of hormonal and latex methods.
Continue reading "Let’s celebrate the contraception revolution" »
Latest 2 of 176 comments
-
Ben says:
>>Sometimes I wonder if he misses those happier times when he was free [Abbott] to be “the mad monk”, deploring the “condom culture”.<< Thanks for this, Holly. Sometimes in moments of despair I doubt that this Labor Government is going to be swept from power at the election as I… Read more »
-
Pattem says:
These days the Withdrawal Method refers to using the ATM at the Brothel. It certainly means you don’t get your wife pregnant. Just ask Craig Thomson about it. Read more »
It’s not fair that Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer is expected to become the poster girl for working mothers the world over. Even if it was a gig she wanted, where would she find the time?
In between the exhaustive hours that running a Fortune 500 company demands, raising her five-month-old son and squeezing in the occasional dinner with her husband, there’s not much free time in the 37-year-old’s schedule.
And even if there was, it’s probably a stray hour or two she would prefer to spend getting reacquainted with sleep rather than stage a protest rally to lobby for better conditions in the workplace.
Latest 2 of 147 comments
-
GnE says:
ZZZZzzzzz mate if you can’t look outside this place for information, than I can’t help you any further. But I guess, it would be too convenient to actually look into it. All I read in your response is ME, ME, ME. /yawn again And, I love the “I don’t know,… Read more »
-
marley says:
@Colin - I don’t know how to break this to you, but the location of your work, and whether it’s manual or cerebral, isn’t determinative - there’s no difference between a manual labour type and a cerebral labour type if you’re doing if for someone else. I’m just thinking of… Read more »
Women love it and men hate it. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly the point.
Despite the idiotic antics of some of its players, the NRL is not stupid. Its new ad, featuring pop diva Jessica Mauboy, is a deliberate pitch at the hearts and minds of women.
The NRL knows it must compete with the AFL to increase both its TV audience and the number of people who attend games. The AFL has long been able to boast that women comprise a greater share of both audiences. The new NRL ad could go a long way to changing that.
Continue reading "NRL targets women, with AFL squarely in its sights" »
Latest 2 of 53 comments
-
Dave Mc says:
International being ..?! 3 countries, 2 of which barely play it! Read more »
-
London Calling says:
@Levi ‘Pfft keep telling yourself until you’ve played it mate. You’ll be finished in 5 minutes.’ Here I was thinking that this post was about ‘watching’ the NRL. Hence the ad, to get a bigger TV audience and people, especially women, to go and watch the game. Read more »
How many hours of sleep do you get every night? If your answer is lower than seven or eight, you should consider an earlier bedtime.
A new study has shown that, as well as causing a bunch of common health issues, a lack of sleep can actually damage your genetic makeup. So if you aren’t getting enough sleep, a little fatigue is the least of your worries.
Are you all well rested today? If not, what’s been keeping you awake? Tell us your thoughts.
Latest 2 of 202 comments
-
Stained says:
@ subotic the placard kid, agree with you ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. Its possibly why these people are seeking asylum, running away from their crimes to a more “forgiving” country. Their home countries are possibly glad they’re leaving also. Read more »
-
AJ in Perth says:
no probs, I’ll only be asked once, kid won’t manage to get 5% if he/she is lucky ... ok, I’ll probably be out of a job too, but I see that as a win-win situation Read more »
In light of the latest developments coming out from the NRL regarding Ben Barba, rumours are now running rife that on top his well now well documented relationship breakdown with the mother of his children, he could also be suffering from a gambling problem.
This hits home for me because I despise sports gambling, it sickens me.
I personally have spent the darkest of hours with a sports gambling addict. Without delving into too much personal detail out of respect to this person, I can however say that for a number of years I battled with my live in boyfriend’s gambling addiction.
Continue reading "He would bet on his laptop while we were in bed" »
Latest 2 of 112 comments
-
turbodewd says:
Hayley, I think you are being too kind to Mr Barba with this line: “he could also be suffering from a gambling problem” Ben Barba is a father of 2 and earns his own income. If he has indeed gambled and grogged away his previous marriage then he has shown… Read more »
-
stephen says:
That photo up there appears like the author who caught her ex. looking up something else, (naughty) on the internet. Me ? ... I like seeing the You-tube Tennesseean who shoots up his lawnmower with a 9mm, then a 12 gauge, then a 308. And then there’s the one about… Read more »
Imagine if Australia had no Opposition Leader. It’s not such a stretch. The United States operates without one for almost all of any four-year presidential term.
The President’s opponent is only formally nominated in August of any election year, and has just four months until the November election of the same year to represent his or her party.
For the remaining three years and eight months, the opposition, whether Republican or Democrat, is not represented by one party leader. In some senses it is unsatisfactory that for long stretches—years, in fact—there is no single, cohesive American opposition voice.
Continue reading "People, not pollies, should decide our Prime Minister" »
Latest 2 of 201 comments
-
Zack says:
Ex-LNP is just childishly sad We win, you lose Read more »
-
stephen says:
I read the other day that 8 billion dollars of Oz study fees, via loans, due to the government, is never to be repaid because the recipients are overseas. Um, doesn’t anyone know that the reason why anyone would study in this country, is to get out of it ?… Read more »
Try this pop quiz: How many of the following financial institutions do you think are owned by the big four banks?
St George, BankWest, UBank, RAMS Home Loans, Aussie Home Loans, Wizard Home Loans, Bank of Melbourne, Bank SA.
If you answered “all of the above” (with regulatory approval pending for Commonwealth Bank to increase its stake in Aussie from 30 per cent to majority control) you’d be correct. Full points.
Latest 2 of 80 comments
-
mikem says:
The banks can and do gouge us because they control the market. They thumb their nose at us and the government can do sweet FA about it. Read more »
-
Bolverk says:
All of these ownership structures are public knowledge, and some (particularly Bankwest and St George) were high profile news stories in their time. Stupidity is no grounds for complaint. Politicians constrantly telling people to ask for a better deal is immensely unhelpful, and one of the simplest ways to improve… Read more »
The chances are fairly slim, but if I were ever to have something named after me, I would prefer a star in a galaxy far, far away — or a postcard-inducing beach — rather than an abscess.
I’m sure Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie was a rather pleasant chap who liked patting puppies and drawing unicorns — and by all reports was an outstanding surgeon and physiologist.
However, it is an interesting way to be remembered — some poor bugger’s abscess sticking out of his shin being named after you.
Continue reading "It sickens me to think a disease could bear my name" »
Latest 2 of 19 comments
-
stephen says:
What about a star ? NGC Stevo ? Or Williams’s Black Hole ... sorry, sounds like a credit rating. Or a pub in Dubbo. (Or Hayley’s credit rating.) The real test for immortality is amanuenses : do anything mildly interesting, get yourself on the Tube, then get a friend to… Read more »
-
Gregg says:
All that suffering you have eased though Professor S. , nearly making all the fun worth the pain. Read more »
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
RT @andrewjbutcher: I hope I never agree to write a press release with a first par as full of nonsensical spin as this one from Ford. http:…
RT @sarahvmac: In session about Women's fiction at @SydWritersFest w @overingtonc Publishers say it not taken seriously but it's up to 70% …
RT @victoria_craw: Government will allocate $30 million to fund to help communities, calls on #Ford to make substantial donation http://t.c…
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
The Punch is moving house
Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…
Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?
I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…
Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”
In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…
Gentle jabs to the ribs
Superman needs saving
Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more
Latest 2 of 72 comments