Curiouser and curiouser

There was a time when The Age published brain teasers on its comics page, but as the paper has fired Bristow, who would have made a superior editor, the riddles now sometimes appear on the front page, as is the case today.

The paper has wrapped itself in an extra sheet with headlines at the top, as you might expect. Below that, however, is the facsimile of a diagonal tear and the words "Always Curious", the paper's promotional slogan. (Truth in advertising indeed; there are few enterprises more curious than The Age)

Curiousity certainly seemed warranted, as there was no way of knowing what journalistic heroism was contained inside. Less open to question, perhaps, is an assertion emailed some months ago to the Billabong by a professional journalist who, at that point, had yet to be tapped on the shoulder, handed a cheque and told to get lost.

"The word I hear is that [CEO Greg] Hywood gets a $3 million bonus if Fairfax is sold," the correspondent whispered.

No credence was invested in that tip at the time, but after seeing this morning's rag, well, you just have to wonder.

Only the black stripes count

Visitors to this little blog may have noticed that posts have come in spasms over the past few months, and for this inconsistency apologies are offered. The thing is, other interests and obligations have trumped the business of blogging, often leaving little time and less energy to tickle the plastics.

Things have now settled a little, so posts should be more regular, as there is so much that is curious and worthy of comment. Take Daily Life contributor Celeste Liddle who, being both a feminist and Aborigine of the modern kind, should probably equip her gunyah with a hotline direct to Judge Mordy's chambers. Given her ethnic identity, Ms Liddle's capacity for tasking offence would seem boundless. Here is how she describes herself:

Celeste is a proud Arrernte/Collingwood woman. She was born in Canberra and her family moved to Melbourne when she was 14 where she has lived ever since.....

So watch what you say about Victoria Park, Jock McHale (who, if the Rainbow Serpent had hands, would sit beside the right one), and the sacred site formerly known as the Outer urinal, where many myths of the Great Flood had their origin).

News we kinda knew already

Clementine Ford, the Fairfax gargoyle and prolix Daily Life contributor, confirms what many may have suspected:

...I didn’t much enjoy being a teenager. In addition to being lumpy in all the wrong places and covered in what I thought were unseemly freckles, I felt deeply unfeminine. I resented other girls for appearing to have it so easy. They had the kinds of slim legs and delicate features which lead to party invitations, which lead to kisses, which lead inevitably to boyfriends and thus everlasting happiness. (My understanding of how the working model of high school romance clearly came Fed Exed direct from Hollywood.) I had thick calves, a succession of terrible haircuts and no boyfriends. Worse, I had no prospect of getting a boyfriend...

Yes, there really is no denying Undeniable Truth of Life #24

How to cover the enviro beat

Four Fairfax warmists sitting around tweeting:

She still beats Slipper, Thomson and a nasty rash

Q: WHY has Julia Gillard been hanging with Kyle Sandilands of late?

A: Because he is more trusted than she.

But not by much.

(H/T: Bruce at the cat)

This has everything, folks

EVEN as this is typed stationwagons loaded with ABC and Fairfax journalists must be speeding to Adelaide to interview the Indigenous woman "touched inappropriately" by Tony Abbott.

It's all here in some species of pdf or somesuch, and very annoyingly it jumps around the screen as you try to read it.  But read it you should, just to get a glimpse of what the next three months will bring. Notice that this slime-fest is being promoted by NSW Labor MP Linda Burney.

Will anyone believe Ali Cobby Eckerman (below)? And if they do, will they take the alleged touch of fingertip to forearm as a form of assault?

Probably the same people who see a proud, defiant Aboriginal woman in that picture.

Another day at their ALPBC

On Radio National this morning, Canberra correspondent Alison Carabine briefed hostess Fran Kelly about the latest turns in the ongoing conspiracy to bring down Julia Gillard. The Abbott forces, she explained, yesterday put a question to the Prime Minister concerning her view of predecessor Kevin Rudd's decision to close Nauru and throw open the borders to an influx of future ALP voters:

"The Opposition, aided and abetted by some sections of the media this morning, [pointed] out how many boats have arrived since Kevin Rudd took that decision to dismantle John Howard's Pacific Solution."

Those rascally "some sections of the media" do not include the ABC, which these days seldom if ever reports the near-daily consignments of illegal aliens arriving on our shores.

When your favourite party is going down for the count like a boatload of Afghans, why give aid and comfort to the enemy?