---

Woke up this morning and I
Stared out the window and I
Searched for ugliness and I
Struggled for something to fotograf...
After all, Alexandra and Gabriella are
The Children of Love: Fathers and Daughters

The World Pyro Olympics, an annual competition for fireworks professionals, begins today at The Avenue Rose Bay where the center cannot hold ;-) Gunpowder, Jimi Hendrix and a big heart to usher in the New Year in Sydney. Seeing out the bittersweet year (Peace and goodwill to all, except Foolish Dave) with Gabbie, Christopher, Lidia, Jacob and Alex feels like a box of chocolates I get to enjoy at just the right pace: one at a time, stretching the box out to last a whole Silvester evening, parcelling out the sweetness bite by bite World Pyro Olympics Elsewhere: No, not again: summer's great terror returns

How to Feel like Imrich: The usual mixed bag of existential klass, but mostly Lessons In Gratitude The secret to happiness is being grateful for everything

Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: THE POTENTIAL POWER OF MANY: Most important books for understanding the future
Why books? Why not articles, or speeches, or university courses, or documentaries, or blogs, or iTalks …? The intent of the readings is to be as comprehensive as possible on each of the topics addressed, so book-length treatments seemed like the best approach.

The mission of the RAND Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition is ultimately to improve the human condition in the longer-range future. While there is no sure path to improving the future human condition, there is no shortage of books that address themselves to some aspect of improving that future.

After a particularly brilliant and spectacular speaking engagement in Canberra, Australia, in the summer of 1973, Professor Manning Clark, a distinguished Australian historian wrote to Chinua Achebe and pleaded: “I hope you come back and speak again here, because we need to lose the blinkers of our past. So come and help the young to grow up without the prejudices of their forefathers...”
• 50 Books for Thinking About the Future Human Condition [Two Christmass gifts for your non-Iranian friends ; Gooooood morning, Weblogistan! ]
• · Holidays are the days we recommit ourselves to our values Amitai Etzioni ; Speaking Personally ; Most in this depraved later Age think a woman learned and wise enough if she can distinguish her husband’s bed from another’s The forgotten literary canon ; Amid talk of "embezzlement" and "rape" they allege a "massive copyright infringement" of the type they say will do the authors of books irreparable harm, Google has done nothing like this to Cold River. Without Google Cold River would have drowned! On line and print make a marriage in heaven ... Google rocks, but only mainstream publishers! Hardly; A new chapter in the death of the book
• · · At a new theme park in El Alberto, Mexico (near Mexico City), wannabe migrants to the United States can test their survival skills at an obstacle course that Replicates the rigors migrants must endure while sneaking across the border ; Doing good at Fairfield Do you value people and appreciate their differences? Do YOU want to make a difference? ; Larger people are more cheerful than their thin peers CLICHES only turn into cliches because they're true
• · · · If 2005 tells us anything about the direction of culture in the Czech Republic, it's that inspiring art and performance have to be rooted in our own experience. Culture comes home in 2005 ; Time management is not the only issue here. There is often something sinister about the motives of those who press books onto others .... The urge to give "Elwood's Blues" to someone who already owns unread biographies of Franz Schubert and Miles Davis smacks of sadism Wish List: No More Books! ; I heard Lauren/ In a haunted doze/ Say: I know a secret dance/ Nobody knows.) Brokeback Mountain (some spoilers possible)
• · · · · The Gnostics were right, the world is made of shi. I made my life a work of art expressing this Judging the book by its BACK-cover ; As any good Jesuit could tell you, the power of myth can sometimes be more important, more materially helpful, than the cold, harsh glare of truth The Success Curse
• · · · · · Amazon Connect A Chance to Meet the Author Online ; A study finds fear of death may be a factor into who we vote for; The people who stand ready to trade their lives for ours are part of a tradition that goes back 400 years Firefighters ; Blogging's Naked Truth

---

For America's number one liberal blogger politics is like sports: It's all about winning. Everybody says I'm an asshole, and they're right, I am Kos Call: Stepping over bodies
Capitalize on fear-mongering A study finds fear of death may be a factor into who we vote for

Eye on Politics & Taxes: Top spy warns on bias
New ASIO director-general Paul O'Sullivan has warned his spy network not to allow politics to colour their intelligence-gathering and to avoid overstepping their new counter-terrorism powers.

As spy agencies around the world reel from accusations of political bias, Mr O'Sullivan has told the intelligence community judgments need to be unbiased and not influenced by political considerations. What the Government needs is balanced assessments that draw on both classified and unclassified information

• via Antony: Asking the impossible [ Lance Collins criticises army cover up culture; Deep in a remote, fog-layered hollow near Sugar Grove, W.Va., hidden by fortress-like mountains, sits the country's largest eavesdropping bug. Located in a "radio quiet" zone, the station's large parabolic dishes secretly and silently sweep in millions of private telephone calls and e-mail messages an hour The Agency That Could Be Big Brother]
• · Why are things the way they are, politically speaking? U.S. Spying Is Much Wider, Some Suspect ; Density Is Destiny: On Politics and the Paperboy ; Human spirit in a straitjacket
• · · Hope gives us the capacity to see beyond the mundane and the inconsequential. It motivates us to contemplate preferred realities, by never defining the future on the basis of present circumstances. Hope teaches us to not allow our past to destroy our future. It is audacious and bold. Our present realities should never define our consciousness. But the consciousness of hope should shape and define our ultimate realities. Christmas Story Brings Us Gift Of Hope ; Your daddy wants so much to be at home with you tonight. He's lonesome for you and Mommy, and he hopes you are for him, every night. But more tonight than any other. From a dad in harm's way,
one Christmas long ago
• · · · The great paradox of any civilized democracy, is that the primary organization which protects its interests and promotes its values -- its military -- is fundamentally anti-democratic. American society as a whole recognizes neither rank nor privilege; the American military must do both. American society permits the individual to do as he or she pleases, more or less; the American military cannot. Sam Mendes's new film Jarhead trades on this seeming contradiction, though it cannot understand why it is necessary. That Jarhead is also a brilliant piece of anti-American propaganda compounds the problem. Jarhead ; Can an intelligent person be patriotic? Or is national loyalty a base emotion, fit only for the tabloid-reading masses? The story of Europe is very largely a German story Patriotism is back in intellectual fashion ; Constituting Israel
• · · · · Why the recent riots in Australia should surprise no one On the Cronulla beach ; Cronulla: finger pointing not the answer ; Cronulla Beach riots: making waves for the Asia Pacific region
• · · · · · Benjamin Powell: We need not fear that immigrants will burden our economy, take more jobs than they create, or depress our wages. Quite the contrary, immigration brings economic benefits, so it should not be artificially limited. The Pseudo Economic Problems of Immigration ; Globalization Rocks, but African Leaders Fail to Understand It

---

Without risk there is no faith, and the greater the risk the greater the faith.
—Sören Kierkegaard

As a father of two daughters of the Velvet Revolution I object to this finding ;-) Parents of daughters are more likely to be left-wing, whatever the feminists claim Voting and the feminine mystique

It has been four months since Bob Carr departed from public office as Premier of New South Wales. It was tempting in the immediate wake of his farewell to speculate whether Carr’s retirement might only be a temporary break before a draft into the federal Labor leadership. But he has remained in the public eye, participating in debates on the environment, national security, and foreign affairs. Bob Carr: Ethos was more important than ideology

Eye on Politics & Taxes: No crystal ball: This was the year of the war
This was true of both nonfiction and fiction. For every The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq and Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq -- to name a couple of the titles on our list of the best books of 2005 -- there was a Shalimar the Clown and The March (to name two more).

We can now imagine General Sherman, like an Iraqi villager, just minding his own business, when along comes Doctorow in a gleaming new F-16 and just blows his little house down. How depressed one has to be to resurrect Carthage, Flaubert said after resurrecting Carthage during the Second Empire; but also how hungry, how greedy, how large.

• New Revelations of the Americas [Warning - Don't open Pandora's box ... Ten Political Christmas Wishes ; A philosopher who wrote with passionate eloquence about the heart and the human condition. Two centuries on, and Rousseau still provokes and maddens. Jean-Jacques Rousseau: - Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains; How bitterly ironic was it that the U.S. military ultimately acknowledged that it used the very same chemical weapon (white phosphorous) on civilians during the November, 2004 attack on Fallujah The Top 10 Bitterest Ironies of 2005 ]
• · Power to the People: Matthew Cookson uncovers John Lennon's radical past 25 years after his death - John Lennon was murdered in New York 25 years ago. This year has seen a slew of articles about the former Beatle's life. One key aspect that few of the media remembrances touch upon is Lennon's radical politics, but these were integral to his music, particularly in the later Beatles years and after Double Fantasy of Working Class Hero ; Economic liberties can not be separated from civil liberties. If a king or emperor could arrest or detain or search or torture anyone for whatever reason, there was nothing to stop him from taking private property, interfering in private contracts, commandeering private resources Business and the Rule of Law ; The Release of 'Dr Anthrax'
• · · Supreme Court opens door for swingers clubs ; An Insidious Culture of Surveillance = It always starts small, almost logically. Is US Becoming a Police State?
• · · · The incoming tax commissioner, Michael D'Ascenzo, has announced his arrival with a broad crackdown on European tax haven rorts, after his investigations revealed offshore tax evasion is much more widespread than feared Tax chief to target havens; While by no means new, it appears that more states are planning to get back at tax evaders by putting their names on the web Latest tax tool: 'Internet shaming' ; The federal government is once again under pressure to cut taxes Tax comparisons—Australia and selected countries
• · · · · New York City Housing Tax Breaks ; Ziva Branstetter of the Tulsa World used state documents and records to show that “at least 30 children have died from abuse and neglect in Oklahoma in recent years, despite the fact that the state had previous reports they were being abused or neglected or had requests to check on them.”Failed by the System
• · · · · · Bush Fundraiser Benefits ; Man makes war not merely against oppression but also to oppress Why poverty is the greatest threat to democracy ; Although the overwhelming majority of people are honest, fair and trustworthy, the average person simply can't be put into a position in which he has great authority and the power to act in complete secrec When Power Corrupts

---

Antipodean media dragon Kerry Packer has died Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, dies, dead at 68

Eric Beecher of Crikey on Death and Taxes:
As of today, the era of the bombastic, bullying, bludgeoning Australian media baron is almost over. Although Rupert Murdoch still remains, he's no longer an Australian and is ensconced in the US preoccupied with issues of control of his global empire. Meanwhile, the Fairfax dynasty has drifted apart and all the other remaining media owners, like Kerry Stokes, are essentially businessmen rather than influence brokers ... He knew everything that was going on in his business, he loved television to the point of obsession, he dealt with his businesses on a day to day basis even up to Christmas Eve

---

To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.
- Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

To Those Who Appreciate the Art of Giving Cold River does not Mind Sand in the Spine
While much is left to the imagination, I console myself with knowing that everyone’s first book is autobiographical to some extent. The escape story across the Iron Curtain was a bit like constipation, it had to come out in the end ... When I'm crying, as much as when I'm laughing, I feel completely alive. It works for me. As a writer, the test of my best work is whether it does more than simply stimulate thought -- it must also provoke emotion. Memoirs can mine psychology in a way that films can not. Films are all about surface and speed. Books are all about depth and taking one's time swimming in the deep end of emotions. What other art form allows you to live inside another person's mind—a theater of other people's minds—for days or even weeks on end?
The experience of writing serious non-fiction is comparable to a shamanic journey. We must be willing to let go of our attachment to our everyday lives and concerns and make the solitary pilgrimage into the deepest reaches of our psyches to explore a strange and often frightening landscape. We return changed, blessed and burdened with our most profound wisdom and the need to communicate it. The attempt to shoehorn such an emotionally and spiritually engaging venture into a twenty-first century Western schedule can result in frustration, inhibition, and spectacular rejections ... Two zillion books a year are published, of which top one hundred are given the Big Rush, and all the rest tend to drown without a trace ... They say it's OK to charm, to cajole, to manipulate, to sell your soul if need be. But the most important thing is caring enough to get the story right and tell it well! Thank you for reading ...

Most of us don't like risk and uncertainty. That's too bad, because there's no shortage of either ... Next year will be bigger than ever. Take it easy, run a risk, have fun, go for it! 2005’s been a huge year for Cold River! Skipped the Coldest River the first time around? Here comes your second chance! If great escapes are all about redemption, isn't it kind of fitting this book gets a second chance? Here is a book peppered with gripping account of escape just out in paperback. A staggering achievement, especially considering this was a debut memoir. Cold River created a stark and painful record of what happens to families when death moves in. And showing that he's unafraid to tackle big themes and larger questions, Jozef links to links about writing for posterity. Remember: great books don't only get better with age. They get less expensive. So dive right in as every day in the deep end of life is a good day... The Cold River Comes in From the Cold: Dissent Protects Democracy

Cold River: Fluid Memoir

Gut-wrenching memoir never forgets that cold war was fought by human beings

Sink or Swim: If It Were All So Simple

Iron Curtain Brought to Book: This Book Will Save Your Life

Cold River: Telling tales against the tide

---

Criminals caused the Cronulla riots, not failed multiculturalism Critics on the wrong track over racism

Eye on Politics & Taxes: Minimize Secrecy, Maximize Knowledge
A few types of corporate information need to be kept confidential. But keep the secrets to a minimum, urges Stever Robbins. Companies need to spread knowledge to achieve greatness.

How open should executives and all managers be when it comes to confidentiality? Some things, like employee pay or impending layoffs must remain confidential. But what about company strategy and finances? Doesn’t it weaken the position of managers to share that information too widely?
People have lots of reasons for hoarding information, mostly bad ones. But sometimes it’s good to keep quiet. After all, you want information to get where it’s needed, in a way that serves everyone involved.
Information was also scarce, and that made it valuable. Power was gained by hoarding information and being shrouded in mystery. That was then, this is now. Hoarding information used to be a show of power, now it’s just annoying. The bottleneck has moved, and with it, the dynamics of who wins and who loses.

• Let go of information-as-power, and instead embrace information-as-lifeblood [Even as the fires smoldered in France's working-class suburbs and paramilitary police officers patrolled Paris to guard against attacks by angry minority youths last month, dozens of young men and women dressed in elaborate, old-fashioned parade uniforms marched down the Champs-Élysées to commemorate Armistice Day Elite schools block the poor's path to power ]
• · The Messiah was a Marxist ; An essay on when self-immolation is a rational choice History shows us that the broad electorate can be as bellicose as the most bloodthirsty tyrant
• · · In October 1997, as the political philosopher Isaiah Berlin lay on his deathbed in Oxford, he received a short note from Britain's new prime minister. What intrigued Tony Blair was Berlin's celebrated distinction between two kinds of liberty - between the simple "negative" liberty of the individual to be free from external interference or coercion, and the "positive" liberty to take control of one's life and to play an active role in one's community Negative v positive liberty ; Canada-U.S. relations have taken centre stage this election. Is it a lovers' quarrel or something more serious? The politics of Bush-bashing
• · · · If you're a graduate student of political theory, check out The ABD Club blog
• · · · · Like cherry blossoms that symbolize springtime and renewal in Japan, signs of an end to the nation's 15-year economic slump are beginning to emerge Japan, this time, the recovery seems for real ; The most stupid thing about the Australian tax system is that we can deduct passive investment losses from other income, while small business people have to quarantine start-up losses from new businesses that actually employ people and can't deduct them as they go. Nerve needed to fix tax idiocies
• · · · · · Michael Carmody Leading by example Leadership matters; David Uren: Tax debate hotting up

---

It is a good habit now and then to question
things that one has taken for granted for years.
-German proverb

Cronulla, Kronulla and Cronulla dominates the newspapers this week Txting hate: Racist messages spread from Sydney International reaction to Cronulla ... Many Europeans are asking whether they can ever emulate the American melting pot The only thing that melted was the pot

Eye on Politics & Taxes: Tragedy of the commons: Attaining one hundred victories in one hundred battles
There is only one thing about which I am certain, and that is
there is very little about which one can be certain.
Somerset Maugham

Machiavelli says: Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration

• Crickey’s verdict - Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac so czech out Kate Ellis The sexiest pollie is – by far – John Faulkner! [ ; High brow French develop a taste for kiss-and-tell celebrity gossip ]
• · Advertiser (Adelaide), 14/12/2005, Page 14 The Australian Taxation Office has won a global gobbledygook award for a particularly confusing section of GST legislation. The tax office collected the Gold Bull award for a section of the Act which said the tax commissioner may treat a particular event that actually happened as not having happened and treat a particular event that did not actually happen as having happened Our tax men talk prize load of Bull ; Did you know? That the productivity commissioner has predicted that at its current rate of growth Australia’s Tax Act will be 3.2 billion pages long and would take 2.3 million years to read by the end of the 21st century Tax Act
• · · You don't have to wade far into the Australian Taxation Office's guide, Part IV A For Dummies, to understand why it took 24 years to produce. The guide is scarcely more comprehensible than Part IVA of the Income Tax Act itself, and serves as yet another admission by the Tax Office that the act is incomprehensible ATO guide reveals the real dummies ; The Australian Financial Review 14-Dec-2005 The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued guidelines on tax avoidance. Released in late 2005, the guidelines document is called "Part IVA for Dummies". This document is even harder to understand than the incomprehensible Income Tax Act itself. Part IVA is the section devoted to anti-avoidance measures. The Tax Act runs to 10,000 pages and is very wordy and complex. The problem is that tax laws are complex when they should be simple, and difficult where they should be easy to understand. They are written in jargon and convoluted sentences. The new law allowing tradespeople to split their incomes with spouses is unfair. It gives an advantage that a normal wage and salary earner could never have. Australia's tax laws are both punitive and complex ATO guide reveals the real dummies
• · · · Gordon Brown on liberty and the role of the state ; Separation of sex and state
• · · · · A Global Exchange Report The 14 Worst Corporate Evildoers; Getting Smart at Being Good ... ... Are Companies Better Off for It?
• · · · · · Youth is wasted on the young Your Guess Is as Good as Mine ; Capitalism as if the World Matters

---

It is a good habit now and then to question
things that one has taken for granted for years.
-German proverb

Cronulla, Kronulla and Cronulla dominates the newspapers this week Txting hate: Racist messages spread from Sydney International reaction to Cronulla ... Many Europeans are asking whether they can ever emulate the American melting pot The only thing that melted was the pot

Eye on Politics & Taxes: Tragedy of the commons: Attaining one hundred victories in one hundred battles
There is only one thing about which I am certain, and that is
there is very little about which one can be certain.
Somerset Maugham

Machiavelli says: Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration

• Crickey’s verdict - Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac so czech out Kate Ellis The sexiest pollie is – by far – John Faulkner! [ ; High brow French develop a taste for kiss-and-tell celebrity gossip ]
• · Advertiser (Adelaide), 14/12/2005, Page 14 The Australian Taxation Office has won a global gobbledygook award for a particularly confusing section of GST legislation. The tax office collected the Gold Bull award for a section of the Act which said the tax commissioner may treat a particular event that actually happened as not having happened and treat a particular event that did not actually happen as having happened Our tax men talk prize load of Bull ; Did you know? That the productivity commissioner has predicted that at its current rate of growth Australia’s Tax Act will be 3.2 billion pages long and would take 2.3 million years to read by the end of the 21st century Tax Act
• · · You don't have to wade far into the Australian Taxation Office's guide, Part IV A For Dummies, to understand why it took 24 years to produce. The guide is scarcely more comprehensible than Part IVA of the Income Tax Act itself, and serves as yet another admission by the Tax Office that the act is incomprehensible ATO guide reveals the real dummies ; The Australian Financial Review 14-Dec-2005 The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued guidelines on tax avoidance. Released in late 2005, the guidelines document is called "Part IVA for Dummies". This document is even harder to understand than the incomprehensible Income Tax Act itself. Part IVA is the section devoted to anti-avoidance measures. The Tax Act runs to 10,000 pages and is very wordy and complex. The problem is that tax laws are complex when they should be simple, and difficult where they should be easy to understand. They are written in jargon and convoluted sentences. The new law allowing tradespeople to split their incomes with spouses is unfair. It gives an advantage that a normal wage and salary earner could never have. Australia's tax laws are both punitive and complex ATO guide reveals the real dummies
• · · · Gordon Brown on liberty and the role of the state ; Separation of sex and state
• · · · · A Global Exchange Report The 14 Worst Corporate Evildoers; Getting Smart at Being Good ... ... Are Companies Better Off for It?
• · · · · · Youth is wasted on the young Your Guess Is as Good as Mine ; Capitalism as if the World Matters

---

John Spierings discusses the main findings of the How Young People are Faring report Insiders or outsiders?

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Goanna tales
Last week, I told you a little of my strange friendship with a convicted murderer, the "enforcer" for the Painters & Dockers Union, Billy "The Texan" Longley. At the same time I had what might seem an even stranger friendship with Kerry Packer.

This week I'll tell you how those friendships collided.Although I'd worked for his father, Kerry and I had never met. But we disliked each other from a distance, on principle. Then he invested in a film I was producing, The Getting of Wisdom. Over the course of a few meetings I found myself liking him. I'll leave the details to the autobiography I'll never write - suffice to say that Packer was highly intelligent and very lonely. And we were more alike than we'd expected, both half-educated, both having survived harsh childhoods. Most of all, I liked Kerry's curiosity. He's not the sort of bloke who reads books so we'd talk for hours on end about anything and everything - from black holes to ancient history - passionately disagreeing about politic

• Phillip Adams [The Reserve Bank’s relationship with government is working well, except from an anachronistic process of appointing board members, writes Time for transparency ; Following the seventeen arrests, the debate becomes more complex, argues Andrew Lynch Suddenly, Security is no longer abstract ]
• · Property boom hangover: the debt ; How is trust in government created? It begins at home, but ends in the parliament
• · · How well prepared is Australia to meet the twin challenges of infectious disease and bioterrorism? This paper explores these issues and offers some advice about how Australia should incorporate these challenges into our thinking about security. The paper considers the spectrum of biological threats, both natural and deliberate. A summary is available online. Plague anatomy: health security from pandemics to bioterrorism ; Behind the execution of Nguyen Tuong Van lies a repressive city-state whose problems are becoming clearer Managing the contradictions
• · · · Australia has been selective in implementing its international obligations How Australia protects war criminals but not asylum seekers from torture ; How Saddam's man was cleared
• · · · · It is difficult to discover just who is actually advocating the cold rational systems The Enlightenment revolt against rationalism ; Oil output may well be at or near its peak level, and oil prices are likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. But adjusting to changes in relative prices is what market economies do best, at least when adjustment is supported by coherent and well-designed public policies. The Oil Shock of 2005 John Quiggin
• · · · · · The trial of King Charles I of England before the High Court of Justice in 1649 was, in essence, a political contest between a former sovereign and some of his former subjects over the rights of sovereign Trying times: The life and times of a tyrannicide ; Four Corners goes inside Supermax, Australia’s toughest jail, home to killers and suspected terrorists. Supermax

---

The journey to democracy never ends. This is a constant journey.
-Bill Clinton

Margo's got more guts than the entire Press Gallery. What a pack of pussycats they are…oh look, I'd better stop now Love from all your friends

Eye on Politics & Taxes: Havel: Don't forget freedom
Former world leaders voice concern about authoritarian regimes

Former President Václav Havel's message is unequivocal: Democratic countries should support the struggle for greater freedom in authoritarian states such as Cuba, Belarus, Myanmar and North Korea.
So he told other former world leaders Nov. 10–12 at the Club of Madrid's first Prague conference, an annual gathering of retired heads of state. At the event, this year focusing on the state of democracy in the postcommunist world and attended by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Havel said, "We should not forget that there are still countries that are not free."

• Democracy was at a critical stage
• · Despite barking at others for the last decade, the Federal Government has conveniently overlooked two important competitive reforms. And the hypocrisy has come back to haunt it on both. Grain of politics in regulation ; No one feels guilty about using tax preparation software instead of a live accountant. Yet many feel it’s wrong to outsource tax preparation to India. Why?
Why People Hate Economics
• · · Terrorism arrests - moving from the political to the judicial ;
• · · · It is the beginning of October. A thick fog envelops Brussels. The solid headquarters of the EU Commission, like the other institutions, lies hidden beneath a compact, grey blanket. It feels a little peculiar to be researching lobbying, the very image of obscure politics, on a day like this. Fifty metres away I cannot even make out the entrance to the Commission - lobbying and a potential lobbyist registry ...Lobbying in the mist
• · · · · Two retired senior Tax Office auditors said yesterday they knew of political interference in tax audit and enforcement procedures, some involving federal ministers. Tax auditors blow whistle on ministers

---

History is a great dust heap
-Thomas Carlyle

The history of modern nation building suggests that the authority of the state must be grounded in the common cultural and ethnic values of its citizens Nationhood, modernity, democracy

Eye on Politics & Taxes: KISSING UP KICKING DOWN
How well do you know your colleagues' personalities? Researchers warn some of them may have psychopathic traits.

But they say this is nothing to be worried about. They will not be violent, but their psychopathic traits will allow them to climb the career ladder, New Scientist magazine reports. Professor Robert Hare, of the University of British Columbia says "corporate psychopaths'" arrogance and focus helps them succeed. They may also be superficially charming, prone to fly into rages and likely to take credit for colleague's achievements. Professor Hare estimates that around one per cent of the population of North America could be described as psychopaths.

• How to spot a psychopath at work [ Kissing up, kicking down, blogging around ; Are you ( working with ) an Office Psychopath ? ]
• · Australian children enjoy less freedom to roam independently than children in German, English and New Zealand cities Children's freedoms reduced out of fear ; Why Nazism Was Socialism and Why Socialism Is Totalitarian
• · · Helping people break out of the poverty trap offers a career opportunity. Small is beautiful ; No government anywhere has lived up to its basic promises- all people need to contribute to building a new kind of freedom The Nature of Man and His Government ; Yes, I remember one student saying, the author has done a good job describing the way the windows broke. But he might have done something more beautiful by throwing rocks himself.... A look at France's history of violence
• · · · Here is a paradox. In the financial markets, investment information is rapidly and efficiently diffused. New product and service innovations, be they junk bonds, new forms of options, or debt securities that allocate
and price risk in an innovative fashion, get rapidly copied by competitors Presumed Truths Need Debunking ; If you want people to follow you, take a walk in their shoes How to Become a Change Agent
• · · · · Employee Engagement: New age HR ; Interesting Stuff: Hot Topic - inspirational dancing Will M&S's fancy footwork improve staff motivation? ; Peter Drucker is the one management thinker every educated person should read Trusting the teacher in the grey-flannel suit
• · · · · · There are two common misconceptions held by those who are critical of globalism. The first error is that there is a very small group of people who secretly run the world with all-powerful and unrestrained dictatorial powers. The second error is that there is a large amorphous and secret organization that runs the world. A look at The Global Elite: Who are they? ; The destiny of the currency is, and always will be, the destiny of a nation New International Economic Order ; An interview with Mark Crispin Miller, author of Fooled Again Fool Me Twice

---

In its November Tax and Budget Bulletin, the Cato Institute examined the movement in several countries, particularly eastern European countries, toward adopting flat tax systems, which Cato said can attract foreign investment, reduce tax evasion, and make tax systems more fair and efficient.

Taxing Times Catching Up to Global Tax Reforms

President Bush's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform has proposed two plans to modernize the tax system.1 Both plans would take steps to simplify the tax code and reduce taxes on savings and investment. But the plans do not include large enough cuts to top individual or corporate tax rates. Many countries have cut their income tax rates in recent years to attract foreign investment and promote growth. The reforms in Eastern Europe have been particularly dramatic, with many countries adopting flat-rate taxes for individuals. Countries in Europe and elsewhere have also made large cuts to corporate tax rates. In today's competitive global economy, policymakers need to respond to foreign reforms and cut U.S. income tax rates. As a first step, they should consider versions of the Advisory Panel's plans that cut the top individual and corporate rates to at least 25 percent. If such reforms were enacted, it would help America regain its competitive edge and boost investment, wages, and growth.

Flat Tax Revolution
Nine nations in Central and Eastern Europe have enacted personal income taxes with single rates and few deductions -- flat taxes. Combined with corporate tax rate cuts, the reforms have spurred economic revival in formerly moribund economies. The table shows that the United States has much higher tax rates than do the flat tax countries, and it has a much higher corporate rate than the average of the 25 European Union nations. The following countries are some of the world's tax reform leaders.2

Hong Kong. Hong Kong has long had one of the world's most efficient tax systems. The corporate income tax has a low 17.5 percent rate. The individual income tax has graduated rates from 2 to 20 percent and various deductions. Alternately, individuals can opt to pay a 16 percent flat tax on a broader base. Individuals are not taxed on dividends or capital gains.

Ireland. Ireland has the second-highest income per capita and the lowest overall tax burden in the EU.3 Its economy has grown rapidly as a result of pro-market reforms including tax cuts, which have attracted large capital inflows. The corporate tax rate is just 12.5 percent.

Estonia. Prime Minister Mart Laar launched the European flat tax revolution in 1994 by instituting a 26 percent tax on individual and corporate income. Estonia is currently phasing down its rate to 20 percent. Another pro-growth change, adopted in 2000, was to exempt corporate retained earnings from tax. Estonia has become a magnet for foreign investment and has enjoyed real annual growth averaging 5.7 percent since 1995.

Lithuania. In 1994 Lithuania cut its corporate tax rate to 29 percent and its top individual rate to 33 percent. In 2002 the corporate rate was cut to 15 percent. In 2005 Lithuania passed a phased-in cut to its top individual rate to 24 percent. The tax rate on dividends is 15 percent.

Latvia. In 1995 Latvia cut its top individual tax rate to 25 percent. The corporate tax rate was reduced from 35 percent in 2001 to 15 percent in 2004. Domestic dividends are exempt from tax.

Hungary. Hungary cut its corporate tax rate to 18 percent in 1995 and reduced it further to 16 percent in 2004. Hungary has a top individual income tax rate of 38 percent, but dividends are taxed at a lower rate.

Russia. In 2001 Russia replaced its individual income tax, which had rates up to 30 percent, with a 13 percent flat tax. In 2002 it cut its corporate tax rate from 35 to 24 percent. Russia's system is not a pure flat tax, as it retains some deductions and narrow provisions. Domestic dividends are taxed at just 9 percent. Russia's tax reforms have been a big success. In recent years, the nation's economy has grown strongly, tax revenues have soared, and tax evasion has fallen.

Serbia. In 2003 Serbia enacted a flat income tax with a 14 percent rate on individuals and corporations.
Ukraine. In 2004 Ukraine replaced its individual income tax, which had a top rate of 40 percent, with a 13 percent flat tax. It also cut its corporate tax rate from 30 to 25 percent.

Slovakia. Slovakia adopted a flat rate tax of 19 percent on individuals and corporations in 2004. The top tax rates had been 38 percent and 25 percent, respectively. For individuals, the flat tax has a large basic exemption and few special preferences. Dividends are exempt from tax. Slovakia is attracting large investment inflows from Western Europe, and its economy is growing strongly.

Poland. In 2004 Poland cut its corporate tax rate from 27 to 19 percent. The top individual rate is a high 40 percent, but reforms may be on the way. One party in the new coalition government favors a low-rate flat tax, while the other favors a cut in the top rate to 32 percent.

Georgia. In 2005 Georgia adopted an individual flat tax with a 12 percent rate. The top individual rate had been 20 percent. The corporate tax rate is 20 percent.

Romania. Soon after coming into office last year, Romania's new president issued an edict to replace the nation's income tax with a 16 percent flat tax on individuals and corporations, effective for 2005. The top tax rates had been 40 and 25 percent, respectively.

Recent Developments and Outlook
The large benefits of cutting top income tax rates suggest that the trend will continue for some time. Nations are cutting rates to attract investment, reduce tax evasion, and make tax systems more fair and efficient. Here are some recent developments:

Israel is cutting its corporate rate from 34 to 25 percent and its top individual rate from 49 to 44 percent.
Greece is cutting its corporate rate cut from 35 to 25 percent and is considering a flat tax for individuals.
Austria cut its corporate tax rate from 34 to 25 percent in 2005.
Netherlands reduced its corporate tax rate from 34.5 to 31.5 percent in 2005 and is considering further cuts.
Germany's new conservative chancellor wants to cut tax rates, but even the former leftist chancellor had planned to cut the corporate rate to boost growth.
France is planning to cut its top individual income tax rate from 48 to 40 percent.
Belarus is considering adopting a low-rate flat tax, like the one in neighboring Russia.
Slovenia's leader plans to enact a flat tax after being inspired by Estonia's success.

The Bush Advisory Panel's proposals would create tax systems with three or four individual rate brackets and top individual and corporate tax rates of 30 percent or more. Those would be only minor tax rate changes compared to some of the reforms enacted abroad. The United States is particularly lagging on corporate tax reform. Ongoing tax cuts have reduced the average corporate rate in the 25 EU countries to just 27 percent. That compares to 40 percent in the United States, based on the federal and average state rate. U.S. policymakers need to wake up to the new global tax realities and put marginal rate cuts front and center in upcoming federal tax reforms.

Top Statutory Income Tax Rates, 2005

Country Individual Corporate

Countries with Individual Flat Taxes

Estonia 24.0% 24.0%
Georgia 12.0% 20.0%
Latvia 25.0% 15.0%
Lithuania 33.0% 15.0%
Romania 16.0% 16.0%
Russia 13.0% 24.0%
Serbia 14.0% 14.0%
Slovakia 19.0% 19.0%
Ukraine 13.0% 25.0%
Flat tax countries 18.8% 19.1%

Other Countries and Regions

Czech Republic 32.0% 26.0%
Hong Kong 16.0% 17.5%
Hungary 38.0% 16.0%
Ireland 42.0% 12.5%
Poland 40.0% 19.0%
Singapore 22.0% 20.0%
Europe: 25 countries 40.6% 26.6%
United States 38.6% 39.5%

Source: Author, based on sources in endnote 2. Rates include the
national and average subnational tax rate.

FOOTNOTES:
1 President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, "Simple, Fair, and Pro-Growth: Proposals to Fix America's Tax System," November 2005.

2 Numerous sources were used for this Bulletin including European Union, "Structures of the Taxation Systems in the EU," 2004; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), various working papers; KPMG, "Corporate Tax Rate Survey," 2004; www.russianeconomy.org; www.freedomandprosperity.org; and news articles from Tax Notes International and www.tax-news.com.

3 OECD, "OECD in Figures," 2005, p. 12. Income is GDP per capita (at purchasing power parity). See also EU, 2004, p. 165.
November 2005 - by Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy, Cato Institute

---

A look at when corruption makes perfect economic sense Zero tolerance for corruption

Eye on Politics & Taxes: There Are Too Many Losers in Globalization
On globalization's losers: Politicians need to be braver when capitalism is the only game in town

It was pure Fawlty Towers. According to Helmut Kohl, Margaret Thatcher's comment after the Berlin Wall came down was: "We've beaten the Germans twice. Now they're back."
If true, this seems a rather perverse response, since Thatcher had spent the 1980s supporting Ronald Reagan in the last big battle of the Cold War, one that resulted in an economically weak Soviet Union being bankrupted by its attempts to keep up with the west in an arms race. Thatcher and Reagan hailed the demolition of the Berlin Wall as the release of millions of people from tyranny

• Deep irony [The Utility of Force: the art of war in the modern world ; Gene Sperling on how the time to think about helping displaced workers is before they lose their jobs. The Early-Warning Economy ]
• · The more extravagant promises of globalization theory have come to naught. Where do we go from here? The Collapse of Globalism ; In the untamed world of hedge funds, rigged deals and manipulated markets help the wealthy thrive while ordinary investors wither. Behind the Hedge
• · · And Sixties counter-culture had a point, it was an act of rebellion. Forty years on, the need is just as great Grandchildren of the revolution ; The fruits of freedom
• · · · Injured accused terrorist Omar Baladjam was moved from hospital to prison in Sydney's biggest ever anti-terror convoy Huge convoy for injured suspect ; Investors should be keeping some powder dry rather than taking extra risks to cope with the prospect of lower investment returns Tycoon says greed has rotted enterprise
• · · · · Bush lied ; The Australian Newsagency blog is one of my favourite Australian blogs and I've mentioned it before. For the past couple of weeks, blogger/newsagent Mark Fletcher has been running a series of posts complaining about the unfair competition newsagents are receiving at the hands of Australia Post. Today, he summarises his case in a letter to Crikey: The postman always rings twice
• · · · · · The public has become suspicious about public-private partnerships Tunnel trouble will lead to deeper difficulties ; WANT to buy the Sydney Harbour Bridge? The question, used to sort out gullible blow-ins, has been part of this city's larrikin streak for generations. Deal-making flaws must be addressed

---

In the middle nineteenth century, Jay Gould's Erie Railroad fought with Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt's New York Central. In one battle, Vanderbilt lowered the rate for hauling steers from Buffalo to New York from $125 to $100 per carload. Gould counterattacked, lowering Erie's rate to $75. Vanderbilt then went to $50, then Gould to $25. Vanderbilt filled every car when he lowered his rate to a rock bottom one dollar. Unfortunately for the Commodore, the cattle he was carrying were Gould's. Gould had bought up every steer he could find in Buffalo and shipped them on Vanderbilt's railroad. Vanderbilt had made the mistake of believing that his objective was to carry the most beef on the hoof, while Gould didn't lose sight of the real objective - to make money."

Here are some thoughts and reminiscences of Jan Sokol, prominent Czech intellectual. The Czech Republic and the Future of European Politics

Eye on Politics & Taxes: Mikhail Gorbachev on Perestroika, 20 years later
Your policies of “perestroika” and “new thinking” on global affairs were announced 20 years ago this summer. How do you evaluate their accomplishments and failures now?

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union, now heads Green Cross International. He spoke with Carlos Gardels and Nathan Gardels July 8 at the Gorbachev Foundation headquarters in a modern bank building on the outskirts of Moscow. In the summer of 1985, he first announced his ideas of “new thinking” and “perestroika.”

• Perestroika’s greatest achievement was to awaken and liberate the mind [ On the Wal-Mart Money Trail ; Wal-Mart: is this the worst company in the world? It is the biggest private employer in America ; Wal-Mart turns in student’s anti-Bush photo ]
• · Frank Furedi on how the French riots reveal the political exhaustion of Europe French lessons for us all ; Steven Levitt on rational choice and voting: There's no good economic rationale for going to the polls. Why Vote? ; Michael D. Yates' keynote speech atHow Unions Matter in the New Economy in Toronto, 28-29 October 2005 Do Unions Still Matter?
• · · EJ Dionne on a vision check for the Democrats. Vision Check for the Democrats ; Billy Joel was on to something when he sang "Only the Good Die Young." Sweet Dreams for America's Ruling Elite and their Sycophantic Loyalists
• · · · A look at the long history of US politicians’ denial of their country’s imperial reach An empire in denial ;
• · · · · Wellesley's Thomas Cushman on Democracy and its enemies ; The impasse of the authoritarian command economic systems in the communist zones of the 1970s brought a great deal of rethinking about economic planning and co-ordination in non-market societies within the East Bloc and outside Democratic Economies
• · · · · · From Multinational Monitor, a series of articles on The People’s Triumphs over Corporate Power Victories! Justice! ; This morning as I was driving to work I heard HoWARd say (in reference to the Paris riots) that he saw a direct correlation between highly regulated labour markets and high unemployment. Pile-up in Western Sydney

---

Diversity means different things to different people and the blogs I read value All People. Diversity is 'otherness' or those qualities that are different from our own and outside the group to which belong. There are many dimensions to diversity such as age, ethnicity, gender and other qualities that can be changed such as marital status, income, educational background, geographical location and work experiences. Diversity means more than just acknowledging or tolerating difference. Diversity is a set of conscious practices that involve appreciating interdependence of cultures. To me diversity means sharing all kinds of stories at Media Dragon. The concept of diversity encompases acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique. The whole wide world of the internet is moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the RICH dimensions of diversity contained within each individual. Who could be more diverse than Shel and Robert ;-)

Eye on Politics & Taxes: An Interview with God
What would you like to ask God?

The beautiful and powerful presentation that has inspired
millions will bring you closer to God

• God is Light: Beautiful Flash presentation [A study links information and communications technology to political 'place-making' efforts A sense of place ; From Business Week, a cover story on Ikea: How the Swedish retailer became a global cult brand. Ikea ]
• · Cross City Tunnel scandal threatens to sweep up the former premier, two of his ministers and the state' Scandal hits premier's men ; Real estate is a national obsession in Australia but this week comes warnings that the market may be in for hard landing. Prices have already come off 10 percent in Sydney Safe as houses ; According to this premise, when a real-estate bubble bursts, It smells like syrup
• · · Who deserves to be a citizen? Migrant Worry ; Ex-communist countries are competing hard in the global education bazaar From Marx to marketing
• · · · What Chou En Lai said about the French Revolution holds for the Russian as well: Too soon to judge (subscription req) ; After Nov. 1, 1755, the new Lisbon would be a monument to the Enlightenment, a living metaphor of effective government. Stirred, Not Shaken
• · · · · An article on the demise of Canadian ideas Intellects can't be public without good magazines ; Christian pacifists ignore the true ambitions of terrorists Peace Now
• · · · · · Francis Fukuyama knows how to toss out an idea that, like a baby rattle, is big enough for small minds to hold onto. History in the Remaking ; The conservatives may look to be imploding at the moment, but liberals have a serious long-term problem that won't go away Can We Talk?

---

I was trying to think of a way to make the point that this whole war is such a waste. But I also wanted to honor the troops I believe our government wrongly sent to Iraq Luckovich spent 13 hours working on his "Why?" cartoon
(Mike Luckovich's Wednesday editorial cartoon has the hand-written name of every American soldier killed in Iraq)

Eye on Politics & Taxes: The Polish autumn
The double election victory of the Law & Justice party has left Poland’s leading political actors embracing new friends and old enemies, finds Adam Szostkiewicz.

From Open Democracy, the double election victory of the Law & Justice party has left Poland’s leading political actors embracing new friends and old enemies

• Polish political sclerosis [French people’s impatient distrust of their ruling class is a symptom of a deep political and Social malaise ; Latin Americans do not want to go back to dictatorship but they are still unimpressed with their democracies Democracy's ten-year rut]
• · Byelection hopefuls quizzed on sex life ; Economist.com Cities Guide: Sydney Briefing - October 2005
• · · James Q. Wilson to Californians: Lawmakers stole your vote; Research Service, Parliament of New South Wales Industrial relations reforms: the proposed national system
• · · · Essential liberties are lost in imitation ; An overview of the effectiveness of closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance
• · · · · George Williams surveys the High Court career of Justice Michael McHugh Democracy and the High Court ; The political process is being used to wage a civil war in Iraq, writes Derek Woolner War by other means
• · · · · · Will Howard investigate seditious leaks on terror scare against his public wishes? (rhetorical question) ; Webdiary

---

Is the Prime Minister misusing the Government's Senate majority by rushing to introduce two major pieces of legislation? Emperor Howard

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Terror defence, or slur?
In what is perhaps the most bizarre business idea to spring up since the 9/11 attacks, an American entrepreneur is trying to show that, in the fight against terrorism, the pen is mightier than the sword

An American entrepreneur is trying to show that, in the fight against terrorism, the pen is mightier than the sword

• Revenge [Villawood hunger strike into its 10th day ; Heavy weapons in the home of democracy ; What use is the CIA? asked Richard Nixon. They’ve got 40,000 people over there reading newspapers. Not a bad idea, actually Reexamining the Distinction Between Open Information and Secrets ]
• · Mate! Citizens, aliens and ‘real Australians’: the High Court and the case of Amos Ame ; Peter Mares and Nic Maclellan argue that it’s time to create opportunities for lower skilled workers in our region Knocking on Australia’s door ; World Bank: Doing Business database
• · · More splits for Labor? ; Marc Mauer: Experience from the US suggests that prisoners should keep the right to vote Disenfranchising criminals is bad for democracy
• · · · Derek Woolner: The political process is being used to wage a civil war in Iraq War by other means ; Police probe Liberal Party fraud claims ;Nicolaou chosen to contest Brogden's seat
• · · · · John Singleton made a Fabian Society speech on Labor's chances of winning in 2007; The NSW Police Integrity Commission is probing suggestions that police phone tap warrants used to snare 12 of the so-called exam scammers were obtained using false or misleading information Police watchdog bitten by scandal
• · · · · · You've bought your home and now you want an investment property. So, do what millions have done before you - borrow the money, buy an apartment and write off the interest against your tax. In this special series we debate whether so-called negative gearing is wrong The great Aussie dream - take two ; Sedition, or How I Learned to Love Howard's Terrorising Legislation ; Bibliography of News and Gov. Docs on Libby Indictment

---

Sometimes schadenfreude just feels so good...
Unfortunately nobody ever finally knows these things until such time as the court rules: Costello adds to Howard's terror woes

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Read all about it - soon it will be a crime
Bilal Daye and ASIO director-general Paul O'Sullivan have got at least one thing in common - they both went to school at Randwick's Marcellin college

But for that footnote in their CVs, there is little to compare the two men. One is the head of Australia's domestic spy agency, the other was raided twice by federal authorities, suspected of being a terrorist. On Tuesday, Mr Daye will take Mr O'Sullivan and the Commonwealth Government to the District Court, seeking damages of up to $750,000 for a bungled swoop by ASIO agents and heavily armed police on his Mascot home

• It is a story that anyone interested in the subject should read now. Under the proposed anti-terrorism laws It turned out is was real and a nightmare [ Cracks in terror solidarity ; AUSTRALIAN wheat sales to Iraq were used to illegally funnel about $US200 million from the UN humanitarian oil-for-food program to prop up Saddam Hussein's murderous regime UN scandal hits wheat board sales ]
• · Over 50 Great Radical Centrist Political Blogs Great source for other links in the great center uprising ; Conference offers fresh and compelling new views on terrorism as nation's partisans sleep
• · · RTA chief Paul Forward quit today amid deepening controversy over Sydney's Cross City Tunnel as the Roads Minister accused him of neglect RTA chief falls on his sword over tunnel ; The Fight Over Wireless Will we get Internet access from big government or big business?
• · · · Bob Carr has aggressively defended his new role as a consultant with Macquarie Bank, describing journalists who asked if there was a conflict of interest as "silly" and "mistaken" - I would not have allowed a question like that at a press conference in my day Green Carr denies climate of conflict in new role ; The specter of a “Colored Revolution” in Kazakhstan Whither Kazakhstan? ; Whither Kazakhstan ... continues part 2
• · · · · It provokes extreme passions. From a country the size of Wales, conflicts and arguments touch lives and shake economies across the globe. In the pages that follow, distinguished writers analyse the phenomenon that is Israel, its people, its past and its future, while here Mario Vargas Llosa introduces a nation he both admires and fears Democracy and demons ; How the Right Has Won ; Ethical imperialism: A review of books that reveal the political atrophy of foreign policy today
• · · · · · You've heard of money laundering; now welcome to "policy laundering" Big Brother goes global; Why Most Meetings Stink ; An overview of the effectiveness of closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance

A Small Virtual Key Open Big Door

[Blogging] business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side ...
-Hunter S. Thompson Meeting the Whole Wide World

Once upon a time I had a pleasure of reviewing a masterpiece by Dan Gillmor entitled We The Media and this week I ploughed through another global treasure entitled The Naked Conversations. If you know who the honest, naked, guys are who wrote this amazing tome then the future has never looked brighter. However, if you have no idea who wrote the story then the future has never looked more bleak.

This is a story of a modern revolution
Imagine what it would be like to live simply and purely, dedicated to a force larger than yourself. This is exactly what Robert Scoble and Shel Israel have done over the last twelve months or so. You know that both of them spent hours and hours on the story because the first page that you open of the Advanced Uncorrected Proofs - Not For Sale - is dedicated to Maryam Scoble and Paula Israel. The boys could not have given birth to this wonder without them;-) If you happened to have the time over the last twelve months to follow their virtual fingerprints you would realise that Shel and Robert are like those creatures with two legs and eight hands.

Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers taps into something under the surface, which I think is intriguing, and there is a mystery there which drags you through the new virtual world. The struggle to get ahead in the new brave world makes for a memorable read. As Tom Peters, the blogging guru, notes in his forward ‘Biz Blogging ... WORKS. It is of ... MONUMENTAL IMPORTANCE. (Or can Be) Listen. Please (If you don’t you’re a Damn Fool)’

The introduction: of Bloggers and Blacksmiths envokes an image of middle-aged white guys talking in the nude around a camp fire. Terry Catchpole gets to have the first say: ‘It began with conversations. Then we got into broadcast media. Now we are going back to conversations. It’s a full circle.’

The book consists of three parts and it is peppered with pertinent quotes and observations. In my eyes, the basic points for this book are also found inside Aristotle’s The Rhetoric. Technology changes but human nature and how we converse, think and act remains the same. We all want to practice ‘honest and, naked, conversations with customers that build loyalty and trust.’ “Three Legs of Persuasion” found inside The Rhetoric enable us to share great conversations with people. Miss any of the three legs and it is like trying to sit on a three-legged stool that is missing one leg! What are the three legs? They are: Logos, or Logic. Pathos, or Passion. Ethos, or Ethics. All 15 chapters of this book are based on these three legs. There are no tricks, no superficial concepts and certainly no short cuts. In order to obtain full benefit one needs to read one and all chapters.

When I think of Robert and Shel I think of what Oliver Wendell Holmes had to say about leaders:
‘There are one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story intellects with skylights. All fact collectors with no aim beyond their facts are one-story men. Two-story men compare reason and generalize, using labors of the fact collectors as well as their own. Three-story men idealize, imagine, and predict. Their best illuminations come from above through the skylight.’

Robert and Shel are three-story men and blogging champions who even make each chapter heading thought-provoking. Where other technical evangelists and business consultants pander, lecture, exaggerate or understate, Robert and Israel are content with an intimate recitation of fact and wisdom. They lay out the core beliefs, the core practices, and the core virtues of blogging. And they work hard to get those things working in your personal and professional life.

In a light-hearted, motivating tone this book explores many nuggets of genuine wisdom. The virtual terms are all explained using real-life examples and interesting tidbits from 200 or so interviews. You will find handy 'must know,' 'should know' as well as 'could know' spread throughout the book. For instance, find out how Google delivered golden needles. This is a book that most of us need on our bookshelves and one that we will likely refer to time and time again. The authors’ extensive business and marketing experiences are evident as every page is filled with useful tips, concrete examples, and thoughtful suggestions for improvement.

To paraphrase an old song, blogging is not for everybody - just the sexy people
Naked Conversations is the ultimate reference for people wishing to develop their blogging and marketing skills. This indispensable guide is packed with professional tips on how to add more zap and clarity to personal and business communications.

This book is a delight to read for many reasons. It encapsulates the skills and techniques for improving people's blogging and writing in one accessible book. And it practises what it preaches, in the sense that it is easy and enjoyable to read.

It is hard to compete for thoughtful reviews with writers like Jeff Clavier who posted the first review of the galley proof, to boot, autographed by both Scoble and Israel, Naked Conversations

Congratulations are in order for creating something out of nothing, and may the word spreads like a good old Australian bushfire ...

Soon, around Christmas, Robert Scoble and Shel Israel of Naked Conversations are going to strike a few sparks at the Les Blogs conference
Defining together these new values:
1. How they challenge the corporate world
2. How they change the media landscape
3. How they bring more democracy in politics
4. How education evolves
5. What are the tools used and how we can all best benefit from them
6. Where we are going in the near and longer term future

CODA - Worthy reads: The PC Doctor » Here to help! I have a galley proof!
Neville Hobson makes an observation about two events that have happened since the two authors delivered the completed manuscript to Wiley and which are not in the text - IBM's global employee blogging initiative and eBay's acquisition of Skype Naked Conversations Is A Cracking Read
Steve Rubel links to Naled Conversations
Alex Barnett Markets *really* are conversations
Jim Minatel writes: I read the first 3 chapters of Scoble and Israel's Naked Conversations in galleys today over lunch. Yes, I'm reading the actual hardcopy, not a Word file or PDF. Why? Because almost everyone buying the book will read a hardcopy version too, it only makes sense to experience the book the same way the customer will. Reading and editing on paper
Church of the Customer Podcast Women's word of mouth; Wanna be a business book author?
I've Been Selected to Review Robert Scoble and Shel Israel's New Book The Mason Technologist
I got another great treat today: My galley copy of Robert Scoble’s and Shel Israel’s Naked Conversations hit my desk A Book Publisher Blog
Business Blog Consulting The Newest Blogging Book to Hit the Market
Michael Martine pointed out: Business blogs are personal in the sense that they are not the product of a marketing department or public relations firm. How Do You Draw the Line Between the Personal and the Private in Your Blog?
Robert Scoble wrote about his recent visit to high end audio/video cable manufacturer Monster Cable: Why Should Businesses Have A Blog?

After the Matter: A note from Robert and Shel - The Media Dragon Loves us

---

James Jupp reviews the Draft Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005. He notes that the draft legislation breaches a number of long-standing legal protections and raises concerns about how it may be implemented Draft Anti-Terror Legislation reviewed and Christian Kerr notes how Peter Beattie has made a committment to anti-terror measures, but he still thinks the proposed counter-terrorism laws may be unconstitutional Sowing the seeds of Terror Australis

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Points and Counterpoints: Are we becoming bad losers?
There is a crisis in mental health in Australia.

Its magnitude, and the level of community concern, is reflected in the 500-plus submissions made earlier this year to the federal government’s Senate Select Committee on Mental Health. Writing in New Matilda, Jennifer Smith and Anne-Marie Boxall draw on several of these submissions to highlight the critical issues facing mental health care in Australia

• New Matilda [David Elliott: The NSW Liberal Party should take the leadership in campaigning for sweeping constitutional reforms, including the abolition of the upper house NSW upper house 'has had its day' ; The man who instigated the Wood Royal Commission into the NSW Police force has cast doubt over the ability of future corruption inquiries to attract key witnesses John Hatton ]
• · Multiculturalism is an ally not an enemy, argues Petro Georgiou Multiculturalism and the war on terror ; Race against time to create a 1000km bird flu buffer zone
• · · Washington Post (reg req): Indonesia Neglected Bird Flu Until Too Late, Experts Say Bird Flu: A Government's Criminal Failures ; Falconio told of tax debt on day he disappeared
• · · · Linda Botterill examines the role of Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in the wake of the controversy over ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope’s publication of the draft Anti-Terrorism Bill. COAG and the limits of parliamentary scrutiny ; The agenda lurking in the shadows ; Despite the controversy over the Cross City Tunnel, partnerships can work, writes Gary Sturgess Private funding still a better way forward for public projects
• · · · · Bullies are all the same. They hunt in packs, pick on those weaker than them, then scurry like rats when someone, in a moment of bravado, takes them on. And so it is with the infamous NSW right-wing Labor machine The sissies of the Labor Right ; Raunch culture: Feminism set out to free women from roles imposed on them by males, but a new book accuses women of building a new, self-imposed prison by acting like sex objects and tolerating sexism
• · · · · · The Conservative Party is looking for a leader with the qualities to sweep them to power. But what's the secret to great leadership in the wider world? The best boss is... A leader is a dealer in hope; Anti-terror policies 'failing'