http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/daniel-piotrowski/ Daniel Piotrowski is a columnist and producer for The Punch and a reporter for news.com.au. After being asked throughout his young life whether he was related to Tom Piotrowski, the Channel 10 CommSec guy (for the record: he’s not), Daniel chose to follow his namesake into the media. Dan joined The Punch team in August 2011. He graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney, with a degree in journalism and communications. There, he edited the student magazine, Vertigo. His crowning achievement in this role was the magazine being censored by student politicians over a poor taste headline about fake breasts. A headline he still thinks is very funny.  Before joining The Punch, Dan spent a year-and-a-half working on The Australian’s online desk and working for free for every New South Welsh news outlet under the sun. Dan is the proud owner of a Barack Obama desktop garden gnome. en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-outrageous-plot-to-scrap-our-ridiculous-ballot-papers/ No wonder so many people scribble penises on their ballots instead of actually voting for someone. They’re too big - as big as tablecloths (just splattered with the taste of democracy). At the 2010 federal election, the NSW Senate ballot paper was just over a metre long. There were 84 candidates… but good luck finding them. The font size was just 8.5 point, much smaller than what you’re reading right now. Millions had to contend with the unwieldy papers at that election. But things should be easier at the September 14 vote. The Government has quietly dealt with the issue. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-outrageous-plot-to-scrap-our-ridiculous-ballot-papers/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-outrageous-plot-to-scrap-our-ridiculous-ballot-papers/#item10753 Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:00:29 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/five-unusual-ways-science-fiction-is-fact/ Meteorites blowing up the joint, robots carrying on… The Punch thought it was time to take a look at how science fiction has become science fact. 1. KILLER ROBOTS WITH NO MORAL CODE ‘Stop The Killer Robots’! There have been few times in history where a campaign has had such an eye-catching name. It sounds like some facetious, Onion-style parody of an NGO campaign gone wrong, but it’s not. It’s real. And it has formed because of concerns a race of Terminators is one day going to say hasta la vista, bebbe to humanity. Human Rights Watch keep a trained eye on the abuses of nations (their biggest beef with us concerns asylum seeker detention). They’ve released an extraordinary report about the potential for murderous robots. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/five-unusual-ways-science-fiction-is-fact/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/five-unusual-ways-science-fiction-is-fact/#item10667 Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:45:01 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crunch-time-labor-to-go-hard-or-go-home/ Two of the big guns of Julia Gillard’s Government confirmed this morning that they will not contest the next election. Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, one of the most prominent faces of the Labor Government under both prime ministers, and Higher Education Minister Chris Evans will resign from Cabinet. It’s big news. Roxon, particularly, is one of the most prominent public faces of this Government, having pushed through one of Labor’s signature accomplishments, the plain packaging of tobacco products. And Evans has been the leader of the party in the Senate for eight years. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crunch-time-labor-to-go-hard-or-go-home/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crunch-time-labor-to-go-hard-or-go-home/#item10532 Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:10:17 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-violence-against-women-our-sandy-hook/ A balding, middle-aged man said something dumb about breastfeeding on TV last week. Furious mums turned out in the force outside Channel 7’s studios in Martin Place, juggling bubs on their chests. As is their right. But while this was happening, there was another protest underway. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-violence-against-women-our-sandy-hook/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-violence-against-women-our-sandy-hook/#item10505 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:50:25 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/it-wasnt-about-the-bike/ “I view this situation as one big lie.” “It’s just this mythic perfect story and that just wasn’t true.” It just wasn’t true. After a decade of denials and threats to critics, Lance Armstrong has confessed, in a lengthy interview with Oprah Winfrey. In 2000, Armstrong - off the back of Tour De France victory - penned the book, It’s Not About The Bike: My Journey Back to Life, co-authored by a US journalist. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/it-wasnt-about-the-bike/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/it-wasnt-about-the-bike/#item10427 Fri, 18 Jan 2013 04:20:12 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stop-the-fattism-the-prejudice-we-never-talk-about/ Racism, sexism, ageism, disability-ism, sexual orientation-ism… None of these are really socially acceptable. But what about fattism? Like all prejudices, it’s easy to a be a fattist. It comes naturally. Particularly if you’re one of those freaks who have never felt plump because you eat at the speed of a tortoise.  piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stop-the-fattism-the-prejudice-we-never-talk-about/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stop-the-fattism-the-prejudice-we-never-talk-about/#item10416 Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:14:59 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fifty-shades-of-crap-cliches-we-should-leave-in-20121/ It’s a New Year - time for a fresh start. In everyday life and in the news in 2012, a lot of phrases got thrown around that fast became pretty cliche.  Here’s a small list of a few that got up our noses last year. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fifty-shades-of-crap-cliches-we-should-leave-in-20121/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fifty-shades-of-crap-cliches-we-should-leave-in-20121/#item10312 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 19:54:59 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-guide-to-music-festivals-especially-if-youd-never-go/ The sniffer dogs are out, the shirts are off, the skirts are short… and the media is using the phrase “festivalgoers”, which apparently is a term people use to describe people. Oh, and the music is loud. Music festival season is revving up, with Homebake, a mainstay, held at the weekend. But sadly, for many Australians, their days of being “festivalgoers” are but a distant, sweaty memory. And, tragically, that is often because they are old. So today, we’re presenting a guide to this season’s festivals that is not just for the Mad Dogs pinging under the sun to dubstep music this summer - but for everybody, featuring helpful festival alternatives for those who don’t plan to crowdsurf again anytime soon. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-guide-to-music-festivals-especially-if-youd-never-go/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-guide-to-music-festivals-especially-if-youd-never-go/#item10206 Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:58:59 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-30-11-2012/ The Advertising Standards Board is the arbiter of all things proper in advertising. But they’re not the nanny-statists some might assume them to be. They have upheld the right for advertisers to use the phrase “fork”, as in, “no forking worries”. What’s on your plate today, Punchers? piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-30-11-2012/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-30-11-2012/#item10115 Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:00:08 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-tobaccos-packaging-fight-goes-up-in-smoke/ We’re nearly at the day where we (officially) won’t be able to tell the difference between packets of Winnie Blues, Marlboros and Long Beaches. From Saturday, durrie packets have to be coloured a particularly foul brown. “Look you stupid bastard, you’ve got no arms” But what’s stunning is how little fight the tobacco industry has put up against the packaging laws. The industry’s attempts to stop plain packaging gained no traction right from the very beginning, when a group posing as a representative for convenience stores popped up, stressing the economic impact of plain packaging on your local servos and 7-Elevens. piotrowskid@newsltd.com.au (Daniel Piotrowski) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-tobaccos-packaging-fight-goes-up-in-smoke/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-tobaccos-packaging-fight-goes-up-in-smoke/#item10109 Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:55:08 +0000 Daniel Piotrowski | Author bios | The Punch