February 28-March 6, 2015

News

Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivers his security address at AFP headquarters.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s new leadership plan: panic

“Abbott adopted the time-honoured tactic of the panicked conservative leader. He sought to panic others into supporting him. ”

Mike Seccombe Tony Abbott’s security speech shows him already reaching for the last trick in the conservative playbook.

News
Former Newcastle mayor Jeff McCloy departs ICAC.
St Francis Xavier school’s inclusion support teacher Catherine Taylor (centre) and assistant teacher Loretta Marranya (right) with year 1 and 2 children from Nauiyu.
Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin (above), the defence lawyer for Villawood detainee Sirul Azhar Umar, after the Malaysian Federal Court restored Sirul’s death sentence for murder.

Comment

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

ReadCartoon image, links to full cartoon page

Editorial
Scott Morrison’s brutality the year’s defining story

Letters

In Bernardi’s own words

At first blush, the claims made last week about “[Inside]Bernardi’s business web” (Kate Doak, February 21-27) seem at odds with the lofty ideals espoused in Cory’s rousing …

A sliding scale

Given Senator Bernardi appears to have some kind of fetish for slippery slope arguments against marriage equality, it is bizarre that he has failed to apply such logic to the sanctity of the pecuniary interests …

Read More

Food
Read
Image for article: Coconut and chocolate cake

Food

Coconut and chocolate cake

Andrew McConnell Love a Cherry Ripe? Then this is the cake for you.

Books
Image for article: The Anchoress

Robyn Cadwallader
The Anchoress

Image for article: Hot Little Hands

Abigail Ulman
Hot Little Hands

Image for article: So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed

Jon Ronson
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed

Life
Image for article: At home in downtown Manhattan's Greenwich Hotel

Travel

At home in downtown Manhattan’s Greenwich Hotel

Dan F. Stapleton Some hotels transcend hospitality to become something closer to home, such as New York’s Greenwich.

Image for article: Witnessing protection via the human papillomavirus vaccine

Health

Witnessing protection via the human papillomavirus vaccine

Megan Howe The risk of developing cervical cancer is at an all-time low, as Australia’s world-leading vaccination program yields impressive results.

Image for article: Gold rush: Ellie Cole, 23, swimmer and wheelchair basketball player

Sport

Gold rush: Ellie Cole, 23, swimmer and wheelchair basketball player

Richard Cooke Four-time London Paralympics gold medallist Ellie Cole on the shock of being a champion.

The Quiz
1. Sixty-two years ago, Cambridge University scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announced they had identified which molecular structure of DNA?
2. How many countries are currently contesting the ICC Cricket World Cup? (Bonus points for naming which European countries are competing.)
3. By what name is author and illustrator Theodor Geisel better known?
4. What is the name of the professor in the game Cluedo?
5. Which pop group wrote the song Islands in the Stream, made famous by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers?
6. Ashton Carter this month took over which high-powered United States government post?
7. I. M. Pei is often referred to as the master of modern …?
8. Which sovereign island nation’s flag comprises vertical panels of blue, yellow and blue, with a black trident on the centre panel?
9. Which Hollywood A-lister directed the World War II film Unbroken?
10. According to the NATO phonetic alphabet, what word represents the letter G?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

LAW

“Senator Brandis is one of the most competent legal minds in the country, he is an outstanding attorney-general.”

– Peter DuttonThe former Queensland cop praises the attorney-general – the same attorney-general who botched reforms to the Racial Discrimination Act, does not know what metadata is, and allowed his head to become badly sunburnt at the G20 summit.

POLITICS

“It’s absolutely crystal clear, this inquiry by the president of the Human Rights Commission is a political stitch-up.”

– Tony AbbottThe prime minister continues his cloddish attack on Gillian Triggs. If the speciousness and the inaction were not enough, he now adds the mixing of metaphors to his crimes.

ANIMALS

“During the day there’s no problem, but at night we now only venture outside armed with umbrellas, helmets and hats, anything really to protect ourselves.”

– Liselotte de BruijnThe resident from the Dutch town of Purmerend describes a “rogue” owl that has attacked at least 15 people, some of whom have been hospitalised. You have been warned.

APPLIANCES

“You’re seeking four stick blenders, two food processors, a – and you’re going to have to help me with this – a Thermomix?”

– Joe LudwigThe Labor senator asks estimates about the kitchen needs of Governor-General Peter Cosgrove. Ludwig said he had no idea what a “Thermomix” was, but admitted he had been in “Queensland”.

SPORT

“It is with an element of sadness but a lot of pride that I have decided to retire from the Socceroos.”

– Mark BrescianoThe soccer player announces he is retiring from some soccer playing.

HUNTING

“Like Glenn McGrath, I know firsthand the lengths to which animal activists will go to attack and vilify anyone involved in anything the activists oppose.”

– Robert BorsakThe Shooters and Fishers Party member expounds on the special bond shared between men who have shot elephants. The elephants, he continued, are a dangerous scourge. They are the owls of Zimbabwe.

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