The sharemarket didn’t move very much following the government’s budget revisions, but what did was the Australian dollar.

Furthermore, some economists believe the government won’t reach its projected budget surplus in 2012/13.



For more, including the implication for interest rates, I spoke with Stephen Walters, Chief Economist at JPMorgan.

Debating their foreign policy credentials, Republican candidates (left to right) Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann. (AP)

Before President Obama pardoned two Thanksgiving turkeys last week, sparing them a trip to the oven, most political eyes were on the televised debate where Republican Party candidates tried to focus on foreign policy.

This, it should be noted, provided an indicator what the world could expect if Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, or even Herman Cain defeats Obama next year. After hearing some answers from the candidates let’s suggest that they get some genuine advice before making any real world decisions. Otherwise, we may all be doomed.

The context and setting of the debate was instructional. Part-sponsored by news network CNN and held in Washington, DC, the candidates were asked questions from a cast that included several former Bush administration officials not remembered for their foreign policy success. This included former Defense Department official Paul Wolfowitz, known as the architect of the war on Iraq. As we all know, that didn’t go very well.

Still, it would be hoped that we might have come away from the debate having a clear understanding of the candidates’ views and America’s potential future position on the world stage. The opposite was true. At times, answers were populist mumbo jumbo with little understanding of how the real world works. This is great for a beer-fueled discussion in a local bar but not when you’re pitching to lead the world.

Qantas says the total impact of its recent industrial dispute will be $194 million.

It comes as the airline revealed that it expects to post a half year underlying profit of between $140 million and $190 million.



While that’s down 66 per cent, it comes amid growing get fuel prices and the global economic slowdown, proving that it’s still making a profit, it tough times.

Roadshow is gearing up for what it hopes will be a memorable year for local films. 

Critically and commercially 2011 has been another largely forgettable year for Australian films with the notable exceptions of Red Dog and Mrs Carey’s Concert, a decent result for Oranges and Sunshine and plaudits for a few titles including Snowtown and The Tall Man.

But the outlook for 2012 seems a lot brighter, with Roadshow Films’ managing director Joel Pearlman forecasting a “great” year for Australian cinema.

True, Pearlman is biased because his optimism is based chiefly on four films his company will release: Working Dog’s comedy Any Questions for Ben?; the big screen debut of the dysfunctional mother and daughter duo in The Kath and Kim Filum; Goddess, a musical starring Ronan Keating and West End actress Laura Michelle Kelly; and the return of cackling serial killer Mick Taylor in Wolf Creek 2.

Brad Pitt has reunited with Australian director Andrew Dominik for another crime film.

What mid-life crisis? If the contrary combination of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Babel and the Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading hinted that Brad Pitt was coming good in his forties, then this year’s strong back-to-back performances in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life and Bennett Miller’s Moneyball have made the transformation clear. The handsome, vacant movie star has become a leading man of good taste, offering the kind of self-contained – and flawed – masculine pride that the likes of Burt Lancaster exhibited in his B&W prime.

Next up for Pitt is a hard-edged genre piece. Reuniting with Australian director Andrew Dominik (Chopper), with whom he made the 2007 revisionist western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (pictured), Pitt will play an organised crime enforcer investigating the robbery of a poker game under his employer’s protection in Cogan’s Trade. James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta and Richard Jenkins co-star, while the notice taken internationally of Animal Kingdom means that one of the crew Pitt is pursuing will be played by the resurgent Ben Mendelsohn.

Dominik’s source material is a 1974 crime novel by the late George V. Higgins, one of the genre’s most revered figures. The first novel Higgins had published – reportedly the 18th he wrote – was 1970’s The Friends of Eddie Coyle, which with Peter Yates (Bullitt) directing resulted in a 1973 movie where an ageing Robert Mitchum gave one of the great performances of his career. The laconic, deceptive Mitchum did most of his best work – The Lusty Men, Out of the Past, Night of the Hunter – before he was 40; Brad Pitt appears to be doing the opposite.

Andrew Randell, Team SpiderTech - C10 (Sirotti)

Despite the topic of race radios being in a period of détente, a temporary casualty of the politics in pro cycling, the issue continues to make its presence felt within the professional road peleton.

Simply put, the radio issue isn't one that will go away soon, though it should. At least if you listen to the riders.

Because as many observers have noted there isn't much conclusive proof of any race having being decided because riders have a telecommunications link to their overly animated overlords in the team car.

The latest missive on race radios comes from someone at the pointy end of the debate, Canadian pro Andrew Randell, who rides for the Steve Bauer led Pro Continental team, Spider Tech - C10.

If there is not an Oscar-winning film to be made about Monique van der Vorst, possibly starring Hillary Swank, then the Broom Wagon will give up and stop emailing scripts to Sean Penn. ('I am Andy', the heartwarming biopic of a European man born with a congenital inability to time-trial, remains a surefire winner in the opinion of both the Broom Wagon and Encouraging Aunty Broom Wagon, and it is a mystery why Penn never replied).

Van der Vorst took up cycling at 13, shortly before undergoing routine ankle surgery. The operation resulted in nerve damage and left her unable to use her left leg from the hip down.

Undeterred by this setback, she took up handcycling and won six European titles and three world championships.In the lead-up to the 2008 Paralympics, she was hit by a car. The accident damaged her spinal cord and left her completely paralysed from the waist down.

War hero Kevin Keller ties the knot in the latest edition of "Life with Archie". (bleedingcool.com)

Apollo and Midnighter may not be as well-known as Batman and Robin, and chances are you've never heard of Rictor and Shatterstar from X-Men.

That could be due to the fact you have better things to do than read comic books.

But you may be interested to know that other than having kick-ass super powers, these obscure couples have another thing in common. They're all gay.

As with every other medium, graphic novels feature characters and storylines that tackle several issues relevant with the times: from Superman renouncing his US citizenship (and any mention of standing for "the American way"), to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles travelling to the future where New York City is ravaged by global warming.

Video Journalist Amanda Hoh visited a Coober Pedy health clinic making a difference to Aboriginal health despite increasing population pressures.

My trip to Coober Pedy was my first ever visit to rural Australia. I’ve gone from Sydney to Perth, travelled overseas, but have always flown over the centre of Australia, not into it.

The nine hour drive from South Australia with my colleague, Nick Evershed, opened my eyes to how beautiful our country is.

It also showed how remote communities like Coober Pedy are from neighbouring towns, which made the people living there so much more inspiring.

Only in America... pizza has been declared a vegetable. (AAP)

The intention this week had been to solely write about pizza. This was a very important topic, according to the US Congress.

As we know, America’s economy is down the tubes, there’s conflict over the national debt, and we all need jobs, jobs, and more jobs. But what did Congress spend time on last week? Debating whether pizza is a vegetable.

I wish I were making this up.

Congress, skewed by the power of lobbyists, on this occasion representing frozen pizza companies and potato growers, delayed President Obama’s program to make school lunches somewhat healthier.