Cossie takes centre stage. It had to happen. Peter Costello’s Question Time rendition of “Beds Are Burning” is now on YouTube. While Dollar Sweetie has a rich range of cultural references after his admission last week that “I will be so old I will probably be in a wheelchair” before he becomes prime minister, we don’t expect him to start citing The Who. And it’s a pity that Jeff Kennett’s riposte, “I’ve always considered Peter to be perceptive” came too late for the Crikey awards.

Forgetting their history. Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald seemed to think it was something special that Paul Keating has trotted off to see his namesake musical three times. They’re forgetting their history. The man knows more than Mahler. He’s versatile. Remember that line about being able to “throw the speech to vaudeville”?

It actually flies! The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter finally got off the ground on Friday. Of course, whether it’s any good is another matter. The latest edition of the Australian Defence Association’s Defence Brief bulletin talks about how despite earlier and even recent denials, Australia looks like buying Super Hornets as an interim option to cover further delays in the JSF project – and why the lease or purchase of at least some F-22 Raptors is a much better option.

Glenn Milne’s ambush marketing. Glenn Milne plays the shameless sook in The Australian today. “I’d like to thank you for the hundreds of emails and text messages of support during what has proved to be a difficult few recent weeks,” he writes to readers. “See you next year. Have a happy and safe Christmas.” And a happy Christmas to you, too, Glenn. If you want things to be less difficult, don’t get p-ssed and don’t try to thump people on national TV. But talking of hundreds, you might be interested to know that according to Media Monitors your Walkleys antics generated over 300 mentions in print and radio and television. Your little bit of ambush marketing has also generated more than 500 customers for us. Crikey ends the year with subscriptions at a record high – so from all the team a happy and safe Christmas to you, dear Glenn. You’re too valuable for us to lose.