No Crap App: w/b 16 Feb 2015

Lobbecke, Aust 19 Feb 2015

Abbott

• Niki Savva: Philip Ruddock’s sacking another wrong call by Abbott
• Peter Hartcher: Tony Abbott plays the wrong card
• Jack Waterford: Tony Abbott making it worse fro Bali nine clemency bid

Labor

• David Crowe: Labor should step out of policy-free zone
• Nick Dyrenfurth: Labor must go boldly

Political profiles

• Kate Legge: Sussan Ley’s next big challenge

Other thinkiness

• Greg Jericho: Gotcha mentality – not trivia – reveals media, politicians lack economic nous

By request, my posts for the week

• Turnbull: too left to be right for the Liberals?
• Abbott does a De Niro
• Danger lurks ahead for superstar PMs in waiting

No Crap App: w/b 9 Feb 2015

Letch, SMH 13 Feb 2015

Abbott / leadership

• Rodney Tiffen: Thinking of dumping a prime minister? History isn’t encouraging
• Dominic Knight: Abbott’s ironic reversal of political fortune
• Piping Shrike: Implosion
• Paul Kelly: Tony Abbott crippled by his own backbench
• David Crowe: Base politics is at the heart of Liberals’ power struggle
• Mark Skulley: Emperor’s new clothes only part of the Coalition’s problems
• Jack Waterford: Will the public come to Tony Abbott’s party?
• Niki Savva: Down periscope: Abbott torpedoes himself
• David Crowe: Abbott’s pleading calls can’t be made again
• Peter Brent: The trouble with friends
• Peter Hartcher: Tony Abbott ripe for knockout blow
• Lenore Taylor: Tony Abbott’s authoritarian need to attack just leaves him looking weak
• Norman Abjorensen: Can Abbott change?
• Paul Kelly: Dangerous quest for survival
• Michael Gordon: Tony Abbott’s leadership is going backwards
• Chris Wallace: The press gallery’s leadership thrills and spills

Budget/economy

• Peter Martin: Why the government is a brake on the economy
• Greg Jericho: The truth about ‘bludgers’: welfare dependency in Australia is falling
• Greg Jericho: We want the whole budget story, not just half

Other thinkiness

• Patricia Karvelas: Closing the Gap: how are we getting it so wrong?

By request, my posts for the week

• The Liberal rebellion is far from over
• Abbott’s leadership still on the line

No Crap App: w/b 5 Jan 2015

Pope, Canb Times, 5 Jan 2015

Je suis Charlie

• Monica Attard: Charlie Hebdo drew critics, fans as European immigration held up to scrutiny
• Sarah joseph: Charlie Hebdo: the pen must defy the sword, Islamic or not
• Helen Razer: Je ne suis pas Charlie

Qld Votes

• Lenore Taylor: Campbell Newman’s election pitch is a test run for Tony Abbott
• Michael Gordon: Even in absentia, Tony Abbott a factor in Queensland poll
• Norman Abjorensen: State elections fought on issues, not Abbott

Abbott’s woes

• Marius Benson: Can Abbott go from ‘ragged’ to riches in 2015?
• Jack Waterford: Prime Minister Tony Abbott needs an issue, or an idea

GST

• David Crowe: States must face facts about GST

Other thinkiness

• Kath Kenny: Gen X in power. Spot the difference.
• Waleed Aly: Plane crashes, terrorism, random violence – new realities amid our relative security

By request, my posts for the week (or so)

• Will 2015 see the rise or fall of the crossbenchers?
• Abbott has six months to get it right
• Iraq: troops stay, media kept out
• Why the PM’s mission was a PR failure

No Crap App: w/b 1 Dec 2014

Lobbecke, The Australian 6 Dec 2014

Abbott’s woes

• Jack Waterford: Tony Abbott should be looking to the message, rather than the messenger
• David Crowe: Tony Abbott must start listening
• Dennis Atkins: Why Tony Abbott’s government is in deep trouble
• Dennis Shanahan: Cruising in opposition, adrift in government
• Jonathan Green: Is history repeating itself already for Tony Abbott?
• Michael Gordon: Prime Minister Tony Abbott is feeling the heat after a ‘ragged’ year
• Lenore Taylor: The Coalition’s own messages are neither coherent nor convincing

Budget

• Tim Colebatch: More reasons why the Abbott budget is so hard to sell
• Jane Gilmore: CSIRO cuts: be very alarmed

Victorian election

• Ben Eltham: Victoria’s Swing To The Left: Eltham’s Analysis Of Saturday’s Result
• Stephen Mills: Rules for Radicals comes to Carrum
• Wendy Harmer: “You should have seen this coming, guys.”

End-of-year thinkiness

• Peter Browne: Gap year
• Lenore Taylor: Three things a good government would do
• Katharine Murphy: Five things we’ve learned from the year in politics
• Greg Jericho: ‘Year of delivery’ draws to a close, but are voters buying it?

Other crunchy brain food

• Greg Jericho: Don’t use Hughes’ death to beat your own drum
• Monica Attard: Julie Bishop goes nuclear

By request, my posts for the week

• Chief of staff job too big for one person
• Sorry Clive, honeymoon’s over
• Are pollies kids fair game in political journalism?
• Here’s your lump of coal. Merry Xmas.
• Class of 2014

No Crap App: w/b 24 Nov 2014

Letch, SMH 28 Nov 2014

Abbott’s woes

• Waleed Aly: Coalition marooned in a sea of troubles
• Jack Waterford: Captain Catholic versus President Presbyterian
• Steven Scott: Clearing barnacles is easier said than done
• Phil Coorey: Dissent, disarray strike Tony Abbott’s government
• Phil Coorey:Tony Abbott’s big problem: he doesn’t really get AFL
• Laura Tingle: PM’s credibility comes under assault
• Laura Tingle: Just own up and say that budgets are really hard
• Niki Savva: Happy fifth anniversary for Tony Abbott, but there’s no time to relax
• Phil Hudson: Tony Abbott needs Ricky Muir-like candour to win back voters’ faith
• Paul Kelly: Tony Abbott can win the core argument by cleaning the slate on promises
• Peter Browne: Gap year

Other thinkiness

• Tim Dunlop: When elected independents are seen as interlopers
• Peter Brent: What the Senate is telling us about big party politics

By request, my posts for the week

• Coalition needs a better budget, not better PR
• ABC cuts – controlling the bleeding
• Jacqui Lambie has drawn out Clive Palmer’s bullying and diminished his power
• Jacqui Lambie – Going it alone (best viewed on iPad or tablet)