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Bill Kelty made a memorable speech last week. Addressing the ACTU Congress Dinner in Sydney, the legendary ACTU Secretary who helped shape the Accord in the 1980s and 1990s, explained why he became a unionist.
“It was the underdog you always sided with in our family,” he told a hushed audience that included former Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.
“The Aboriginal on death row, the Gurindji people, women not getting equal pay. It was Australia of whom you were proud, but not the Australia who sang God Save the Queen.
Continue reading "Deep down we’re all unionists, even the haters" »
The US debt crisis has raised some very serious questions, and the answers floating around range from crazy to impenetrable. So we talked to Scott Pape, The Barefoot Investor, to shed some light on what’s going on.
Q. How the HELL did the US get into this mess?
A. Even though it’s the biggest economy on the planet, and it’s a really complex beast, they got to this point the same way that Tom from Townsville’s credit card got out of control – the US Government consistently spent more than they made.
And now they’re broke – and like Tom, that means they can’t pay for the basics.
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jf says:
Richard says:08:17am | 28/07/11 “Disagree” That’s ok but as well as looking at both sides of the balance sheet you have to also look at the P&L. That is Tom from Toorak’s pretty strong cash flow. Because like Tom from Toorak, the USA’s income is strong. Poor old Greece, like… Read more »
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Alex says:
USA was saved last time he knocked down communism in Europe.Unfortunately due to greed American tycoons who have invested in China,U.S. economy is in collapse and that collapse can not be stopped without war world.Military spending under Bush was without reason without equivalent.Bush in office last month gave $ 700… Read more »
Tell-all interviews usually reek of sex. Mostly adulterous, always complicated, sometimes violent and just like an old-school western – with the “goodie” and “baddie” laid out plain for all to see.
Tragedy, celebrity, victory, great wealth or misfortunes get a look in too. Ditto multiple childbirth, homosexual offspring and gender transformation surgery.
They’re trashy, melodramatic, addictive and moving. They can be tragic. But the best tell-alls give us something else as well.
Continue reading "Landmark interviews that changed the game" »
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Glen says:
Oh come on, the classic interview of our times is Katie Couric and Sarah Palin. One extended interview and there was Palin caught cold in her lack of suitability for one of the highest offices in the USA. It’s hard to think of any other interview unsupported by reportage which… Read more »
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graham says:
Joel b1 asks and I’ll answer. He looked like nothing I’ve ever seen, but in your world, yes, one of your “real” people. And Nafe, you should really copyright your post even if only for its literary value. Where did you learn to write like that? It’s magnificent, and more… Read more »
EUROPE: the IMF asks for EU members to share in a 78 billion euro bailout of Portugal. EU Finance Ministers unanimously agree.
NEW YORK: Head of the IMF offers to have his wife post $1million bail to get him out of Harlem police Cell. Judge refuses.
The most minute details concerning the incident that lead to Dominique Strauss-Kahn missing his flight this weekend will no doubt become common knowledge over the next few weeks.
Continue reading "How you see le scandal rests beaucoup on your politics" »
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Tata says:
Delighted to see that John is so hale and htreay. He produced my first Saturday Night Theatre for Radio 4 back in ’79, and set the bar of professionalism so high that I’ve never forgotten the experience nor the lessons I drew from it. It’s only looking back that I… Read more »
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james says:
Well, here I was thinking that John was the craziest person on the punch but I think we have a new winner, well done Wolfie! Your parents must be so proud. Read more »
A hotel worker’s allegations of sexual assault by International Monetary Fund chief and possible French presidential candidate Dominique Strauss-Kahn are disturbing. But also disturbing is the way the case is being reported in some sections of the media.
Strauss-Kahn has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a woman at his expensive hotel suite in New York. This is a summary of the story from the New York Times:
According to the law enforcement official, the woman entered Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s suite early Saturday afternoon by saying “housekeeping”. She heard no answer and believed that the suite was unoccupied. She left the door open behind her, as is hotel policy.
Continue reading "Not a tale of a charmer and a sexy French maid" »
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L H says:
My figures come from American legal journals and the Australian Bureau of Statistics; “The False Rape Society” is hardly an unbiased academic source. Read more »
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Adam says:
@ Fiona - Are you suggesting bias and the truth are somehow mutually exclusive? Which would means victims of crime (automatically biased as to what happened to them) are also automatically untruthful. A pretty weak argument by any stretch of the imagination, but one you seem to be trying to… Read more »
YOU’D expect the World Bank to employ some pretty top-notch economists. The body and its 10,000 staff - including a fair smattering of economists - are charged with spending tens of billions of dollars donated by member countries to lift the developing world out of poverty.
And to do that effectively, I suspect, you would need to have a pretty good grasp on what the world economy is actually doing.
In reality, however, the bank doesn’t seem to have a clue. Earlier this week the World Bank ``revised’’ its forecast for global GDP this year from a fall of 1.7 per cent to a fall of 2.9 per cent. With global economy worth roughly $85 trillion, that’s a $1 trillion ``revision’‘. It’s the equivalent of forgetting to include Australia - the world’s 14th biggest economy.
Continue reading "Economists are full of it and the IMF doesn’t have a clue" »
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Paul G says:
Apparently the seeds to the GFC were sown back in mid 2007 in the form of warning signs coming out of the US. However, I came across an article I read in May 2008 on the Australian “runaway economy”. Economists predicted double digit interest rates by the end of 2008,… Read more »
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ANDIKA says:
Clive, The World Bank, like all the other roosters, wouldn’t know if their ass was on fire let alone be able to provide any reliable economic forecasts. None of them saw the Sub Prime crisis and when the penny did drop, they under estimated its significance. Now if the media… Read more »
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Oops, just trying to say thanks all four your follows and Hackett yarn feedback, especially the dude who called me an opinionated dipshit
@GreenJ how dare you even suggest such a thing. I'd love to blog from their traning session though about what a pack of toffs they are
RT @kellieconnolly: @penbo @antsharwood Not judging Hackett but to set the record straight again I had been asking 9 for a redundancy and left on good terms
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