Critic's view - Sunday, April 3h

The Lost Thing

Correction

In This Old House (March), a photo of Leichhardt was dated incorrectly. Leichhardt Library advises it is circa 1900 "give or take five years".

Clarke's faults: young, good-looking, with a touch of celebrity

Misgivings over the new Test captain have nothing to do with his cricket.

Visa agents involved in sex trade Rackets operate in city apartments

MIGRATION agents registered by the federal government are helping to run illegal prostitution rackets across Melbourne.

Frenzal adjustment

Frenzal adjustment THE date of Frenzal Rhomb's Newcastle show has been shifted from April 29 to 28. But tickets already bought for the April 29 Bar on the Hill show at Newcastle University will be honoured.

Cash for driving kids to school

AN Upper Hunter mother who gets paid up to $6000 a year to drive her children to and from school said the government scheme was a waste of money and a rort.

Jokes aside, Trollope takes on mother-in-law struggles

JOANNA Trollope's latest novel tackles the fraught relationship between a mother and the wives of her three sons. So one of the first questions for the British novelist is, does she mind people telling her mother-in-law jokes?

Reader competition

the(sydney)magazine is the best way to stay up to date with what's going on in your city. And the easiest way to make sure you never miss an issue of the magazine is to sign up for our email reminders. Each month, we'll be in your inbox, letting you know when the magazine is out and giving you a taste of what each new issue has in store for you.

the view

IT'S not exactly a white flag of surrender but it's certainly a signal that Channel Ten's opening salvo in the battle for the key 6pm timeslot hasn't fired as planned. The network's move of 6PM with George Negus to 6.30pm from Monday follows two months of disappointing ratings.

Osieck imprint has Socceroos on course for Brazil

I don't know Holger Osieck well but I do know he is squeezing the very best out of a Socceroos selection which not that long ago looked like it had passed its used-by date.

Costly caffeine

THOSE who can't do without their morning (and sometimes mid-morning and afternoon) coffee will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets in the coming months.

Club fined, warned

BAR Beach Bowling and Sporting Club chairman Darryl Lowe says the club is in an excellent position, despite a scathing report from its governing body after an audit.

Making cents of romance

A COLLECTABLE 50-cent coin to mark Prince William and Catherine Middleton's engagement will go on sale today.

Racing to defence

FORMER chief executive Maurice Sinclair is adamant he has left the Newcastle Jockey Club in solid financial shape.

Ponting pulls pin as leader

IN THE end, Ricky Ponting didn't need a tap on the shoulder.

Time to begin building

NEWCASTLE MP Sharon Grierson has defended a decision to revert to original plans to build a childcare centre on the lower side of Merewether Heights Public School.

Rock concert vs the pub gig

NATHAN Tinkler's slick presentation to Knights members at an information session in the main auditorium at Newcastle Panthers on Monday night was like a rock concert.

Arthur Freeman guilty of daughter's murder

A MAN who threw his four-year-old daughter off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge ��� on what was supposed to be her first day of school ��� has been found guilty of her murder.

Intelligence

UNIVERSITIES may fail to meet federal government targets to increase the number of students with bachelor degrees by 2025, according to researchers from the University of South Australia's national centre for student equity in higher education. Unless universities understand the aspirations of students who traditionally have not seen university as contributing to their future, they will not attract new students. The research is in the current edition of the Cambridge Journal of Education.

Hay List has to work hard for stakes win

HULKING sprinter Hay List got the job done in the Challenge Stakes at Warwick Farm yesterday but there is no certainty he will keep a date with Black Caviar in the TJ Smith.

Coalition has a hold on upper house

BARRY O'FARRELL has all but won a narrow majority in the NSW upper house, ensuring the passage of Coalition legislation through Parliament for the next four years.

Odd Spot

A brother and sister have been reunited after more than 30 years via a dating website. Sarah Kemp, 42, travelled to London to meet George Bentley. They had been emailing for months but only realised they were related when discussing childhoods over a pub lunch.

Solution eases concert traffic

CONTROVERSY over traffic congestion at Saturday night's Lionel Richie and Carlos Santana "double date" at Pokolbin was eased by staggering finishing times.

BRIEFS

Pullin grabs double

techknow

PORTABLE RADIOS

what i know about women ...

NEIL STRAUSS, LATE 30s AUTHOR IN A RELATIONSHIP

Celebrating our city's urban cool

IN 2008, Natasha Skunca went out to buy a Melbourne-themed gift for a friend. She wanted to get something fresh and hip, something that extolled the city's unique urban cool. "And all I found were koalas, kangaroos, Ned Kelly and wattles," she says. "Nothing at all you would want to proudly display in your home."

Always expect rough ride with airline shares

SPARE a thought for Virgin Blue chief executive John Borghetti and his counterpart at Qantas, Alan Joyce. They are running listed companies whose shares are the investment equivalent of plutonium: highly volatile and dangerous in the wrong hands.

FIVE OF A KIND

IN TRANSIT Whether you're catching a train, tram, bus or plane, take a detour and fuel up at these stops along the way. By Libby Margo. WHAT TO DRINK BANNOCKBURN FROM GEELONG

HISTORY

TURKEY: A SHORT

Treasury pushed for review

THE government has received secret advice from Treasury "strongly" urging it to conduct a sweeping review of the financial sector, after the global market meltdown exposed key weaknesses.

Historic home to draw art lovers

THIS gracious old brick, stone and timber property dates back to 1865 and has a history steeped in the cultural life of Castlemaine.

Rich pre-history buried in the sands of time

Melbourne is surrounded by significant fossil sites dating back as far as 415 million years.

hot tours

COMING SOON

Command structure bickering mars allied campaign

THE US and its European allies are still arguing over who is to manage the military campaign against Libya, with heated talks in Brussels failing to agree on a final command structure.

PM Somare suspended

PORT MORESBY. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has been suspended from office for two weeks after being found guilty of 13 charges of misconduct.

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE TOP FIVE

1. Battle: Los Angeles ��� $2.6m (-)

ROAD TO NOWHERE

This road in Caroline Springs is being built to where a new $55 million railway station was meant to go ... until it was mothballed.

The last bark bites

The Dingoes are preparing for their final goodbye and, by gosh, we'll miss them, writes Jo Roberts.

Delay on operation cost father, 42, his life

MARYN SARDELIC was not the type to make a fuss, and when St Vincent's Hospital cancelled his heart valve replacement surgery twice during December 2009, he accepted a rescheduled operation for the following February despite worsening breathlessness, weakness and weight loss.

DJs, Virgin hoping for take-off soon

The David Jones boss, Paul Zahra, sounded like he had been reading up on chaos theory yesterday when he delivered the company's first-half results: Libya's leader launches an air strike on rebels and a well-heeled Australian consumer has a change of heart on buying a Chanel lipstick.

Dropping a bundle

AFTER failing to reach the million-viewer mark upon its debut on Monday, The Million Dollar Drop, Channel Nine��s lavish game show, will screen twice a week over the next fortnight in a possible bid to attract more viewers. The hour-long program, dubbed Million Dollar Flop by the twitterati, will screen tonight and then on Monday.

BG halts pipeline project

BG GROUP has stopped construction of the coal seam gas pipeline that will connect gasfields with its $US15 billion LNG export facility after possibly breaching environmental guidelines.

A hipster's passage to India

INDIA is the new spiritual buzz-word. Mention a recent trip there, that your anklet was hand-crafted in Mumbai, you once dated a guy who was one-twelfth Indian ("but don't worry, he never made me pay for dinner") and in the eyes of hipsters everywhere you'll be instantly transformed into an ethereal being, vibrating on a heightened level of awareness of self and the world.

Asthma research leads the world

A HUNTER discovery being hailed as a world-first is set to revolutionise asthma diagnosis by using a simple blood test.

Crisis? Pick a crisis round the world, or blame it on consumer confidence

Chaos theory, DJs and the application of other inexact sciences.

Critic's view - Thursday, March 31

The Good Wife

YOUNG BUCKS

After a summer of scandal, Trent Cotchin is a welcome relief. Michael Gleeson reports.

Feared environmental breach halts construction of gas pipeline

BG GROUP has stopped construction of the coal seam gas pipeline that will connect gas fields with its $US15 billion liquefied natural gas export facility after possibly breaching environmental guidelines.

Region's asthma diagnosis feat

A HUNTER discovery being hailed as a world-first is set to revolutionise asthma diagnosis by using a simple blood test.

Police training is failing Victoria

ONCE again, a report on police shootings in Victoria has highlighted deficiencies in training and leadership. Victoria Police is to be commended for commissioning the latest report, which was co-ordinated by Superintendent Mick Williams and prompted by the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Tyler Cassidy in a skate park in Northcote in 2008. Less impressive is the fact the report has been released only after the Federation of Community Legal Centres fought a 14-month freedom-of-information battle; its contents are in the public interest and belong in the public arena. Most disturbing is the fact that its findings echo those of a string of previous reports dating back to the mid-1990s, when police launched a program called Operation Beacon designed to change a culture that had resulted in Victoria having more police shootings than any other state.

Guilty plea from driver

A MAN who caused a four-car accident on the Pacific Highway at Sandgate had 12 different drugs in his system, including amphetamine and methadone, court documents stated.

In fine feather - Silke Raetze

This artist takes inspiration from the brilliantly coloured plumage of a lairy boys' club, writes Steve Dow.

Loader options

Newcastle's renewable energy beacon, the Kooragang Island wind turbine, could be removed to make way for the multibillion-dollar Terminal 4 coal-loader project. Here's what Herald readers had to say:

BRIEFS

Assault case query

Bradman of Football chronicles great Date's exploits

AUTHOR Peter Allen was a wide-eyed teenager living in Cessnock when he first marvelled at the deeds of Wallsend and Australia football great Reg Date.

Currawong sale faces state audit and ICAC

THE historic Currawong site at Pittwater was sold to the developer Eco-Villages for $9.5 million by Unions NSW in January, six weeks before the state government exchanged contracts to buy it for $12.2 million.

COLUMN 8

"If only teachers were able to report with the accuracy of Royal Navy Officer Efficiency Reports," laments John Boddington, of Dalton. "You can find lots of them by Googling Royal Navy Officer Reports. The one I like best is: 'This medical officer has used my ship to carry his genitals from port to port, and my officers to carry him from bar to bar."'

Top Aussies a soar point for new team

THE stocks of Australian riders are rising by the day, with Matt Goss, Cadel Evans and Cameron Meyer in the top five of the latest world tour rankings. But such lofty positions are a mixed blessing for those behind the new Australia GreenEDGE team, which plans to race for the first time next year, hopefully with local riders.

Pay television faces the big game changer

The deal that the AFL and NRL bosses strike over the next couple of weeks on the broadcasting rights of their respective codes will carbon date them.

Deluge breaks records

RAINFALL records for March were smashed in southern Illawarra following Monday's deluge.

ESPRESSO

Changing of the guard

Events

Anzac Day Origins

Fossil fuels will run out of gas when the solar revolution arrives

The electricity market will be turned on its head,writes Mike Sandiford.

Grand day for the English, Irish and the flooded plains

"THIS wouldn't have happened 20 years ago," said Jim Stynes, the tall Irishman who became an Australian football legend.

Private cancer testing offer could 'confuse'

PRIVATE doctors are encouraging people to pay for expensive bowel cancer tests in the absence of a government-funded screening program, the Cancer Council of Australia says.

tv previews

Stoked Turn Back Time: The High Street Whites Getting On

SBW packs big punch for quake victims

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS is set to make a $NZ100,000 ($73,500) donation from the proceeds of his next fight to victims of the Christchurch earthquake.

Drawing on experience

A career in architecture beckons, but Waratahs veteran Al Baxter still has designs on another World Cup, writes Jamie Pandaram.

Good Weekend

The full text version of the articles in this section are available in the Sydney Morning Herald for this date.

ASK NOEL

MY MOTHER bought a house in July, 1993, for $127,000 and lived it in until her death in June, 2009. It was valued at $770,000 in December 2009 and $660,000 in March 2011. It was to be left to three beneficiaries who intend to sell it. Your guidance on the CGT position will be appreciated.

Myths and logic of deceased estates

Buyers often view these properties with favour but there can be traps for the unwary, writes David Adams.

Warhorse ready for battle

Al Baxter never thought of rugby as a career, writes Jamie Pandaram.

Once upon a set of lines...

SO INORDINATELY fond of Dr Seuss's The Sneetches is Margaret Drabble that she gave the book to her grandchildren over and over and over again. Until, in fact, she was asked to stop. Raymond Briggs, by contrast, is more of a William fan and now aged in his late 70s has managed to pull together an almost complete collection of the Richmal Crompton books ("their crackpot humour never dates").

Ayoub jnr placed bet on Cowboys scoring first

JAI AYOUB, the son of the player agent at the centre of the NRL betting scandal, has emerged as another person to have placed a bet on the Cowboys to score first from a penalty goal in last year's match against the Bulldogs.

Australian miners coy on fuel sales

AUSTRALIA has been a long-term supplier of uranium to Tokyo Electricity Power Company, operator of the stricken nuclear reactors at Fukushima.

Radiation battle critical

RADIATION levels have risen again around Japan's crippled Daiichi nuclear power station after improvised attempts to flood smouldering uranium fuel storage tanks with water failed.

Downloads

��HAVING launched their collaboration as Broken Bells with a well-received 2010 album, Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) and James Mercer (the Shins), above, return with Windows (������). This single opens like a Brixton two-tone production before slipping into choppy chords and falsetto harmonies. It's as immaculately produced as TV on the Radio but without the purposefulness and stratospheric detachment it doesn't completely suit either contributor.

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE TOP FIVE

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE TOP FIVE

SHAPE

Going Dutch

Same but different

Three distinct songwriters have emerged in the Waifs, writes Craig Mathieson.

SHORTCUTS

THE Adelaide Film Festival will be moving dates to avoid a clash with the city's renowned arts festival, which will become an annual event in 2013. Film festival director Katrina Sedgwick confirmed that the festival would move, but would not be drawn on options. The late-February berth gave the festival a huge advantage, taking place within weeks of Sundance and Berlin, where many films, including those backed by the festival's investment fund, enjoyed their world premieres. In other AFF news, Justin Kurzel's debut feature Snowtown (pictured), a psychological drama based on the deeds of serial killer John Bunting, has won the popular audience award. Madman will release the film nationally in mid-May.

ABC Learning co-founder loses tax delay attempt

LE NEVE Groves, co-founder of collapsed childcare chain ABC Learning, has lost a legal attempt to delay several tax appeals, leaving her with a $9.5 million tax debt that she does not have money to pay.

MASS DISCONTENT

The Mass lies at the very heart of Catholic identity and a new Vatican-led translation of it has split the church in Australia. Barney Zwartz reports.

Christchurch's art treasures survive quake

DESPITE the destruction wrought by Christchurch's earthquake, many of the city's public art collections have survived. The Canterbury Museum has more than 2.1 million items in its collection, and after initial inspection by torchlight, it appears at least 95 per cent of the collection is undamaged, says museum director Anthony Wright.

A surreal dream come true

WHEN Tony Ellwood took over as director of the Queensland Art Gallery four years ago, he embarked on a deliberate strategy of luring high-profile international exhibitions to Brisbane.

All Men Are Liars

As a member of Generation X, one of the great joys I've derived from our frisky successor, Gen Y, has been shagging them. Now, that probably sounds creepy, boastful or maybe just a touch too honest, but I know I'm not alone in my attraction to the next letter in the alphabet.

REVIEW OF THE WEEK

GIVE ME YOUR HEART: TALES OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE Joyce Carol Oates, Corvus, $29.99

Gates warns US allies not to abandon war

BRUSSELS. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has rebuked US allies for preparing to effectively abandon Afghanistan and threaten what he described as tenuous progress in the war.

First Leif, then Stieg: it must be the water

BETWEEN SUMMER'S LONGING AND WINTER'S END Leif Persson Random House, 552pp, $32.95 FROZEN MOMENT Camilla Ceder Orion, 379pp, $32.99

FROM THE EDITOR

IT'S difficult to imagine people tiring of retro designs. Whether it's a watch, fridge or piece of clothing, classic design never dates. On four wheels we've had revived versions of the Mini, Volkswagen Beetle, Fiat 500 and Toyota's FJ Cruiser, which we put through its paces this week.

Networks fire up for Warburton court clash

A DATE has been set for the start of what promises to be a short but potentially explosive exchange between the Seven and Ten Networks over the defection of James Warburton.

Seven, Ten to contest Warburton case in April

A DATE has been set for the start of what promises to be a short but potentially explosive exchange between the Seven and Ten networks over the defection of James Warburton.

Hilditch to stay on until Ashes review complete

ANDREW HILDITCH'S job as head of national selectors is safe for the time being after Cricket Australia yesterday said no decisions would be made until after the review into Australia's poor Ashes campaign was completed in August.

Grey nomads with pulling power

There are some jobs for which only a truck will do, writes Geoff Paradise.

It's time to get back on track

IT'S time to freshen up, sharpen up and get back on track.

Wise lessons from the island miracle

Mauritius shows how to provide free healthcare and education, writes Joseph Stiglitz.

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE TOP FIVE

1. Hall Pass ��� $1.98m (-)

The science is good, the media bad, the situation worse: Garnaut

GOVERNMENT adviser Ross Garnaut has criticised media treatment of climate change, suggesting it has undermined support for action by giving equal weight to mainstream peer-reviewed science and sceptical views not backed by published evidence.

Songs on a whim and a prayer

A big break and a little faith have injected vigour into the Waifs, writes Craig Mathieson.