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A child asks his mother, "Do all fairy tales begin with, 'Once upon a time?'"
His mother answers, "No, dear. Once in a while they begin with 'I'll be working late at the office tonight.'"
"Does Daddy tell you fairy tales like that ?"
"He used to."
"What made him stop ?"
"One day he told me he'd be working late, and I said, 'Can I depend on that ?'"

Sydney’s reliance on cars is costing more than $18 billion a year through congestion, accidents and air pollution, and threatens to stunt the state's economy: Driven round the bend: tales of a life on the road A city going nowhere fast

Eye on Death, Politics & Taxes: Everyone Dies Sometimes
THE tax on superannuation contributions paid by millions of Australian workers could be scrapped

This is a Labor tax, brought in by Paul Keating in 1988 in a typically desperate bid to raise revenue, which made Australia one of the very few countries that taxes people's contributions to their superannuation

• It's time to scrap super tax, says Minchin [Life after politics can be a lucrative business, but at what price for the public? Nice work, if you can get it ; SHOULD the public be worried that Craig Knowles, the former planning minister in the Carr government, has joined the investment bank Investec? Like justice needing to be seen to be done, even the appearance of conflicts of interest in such appointments must be excluded as far as possible if confidence in the rectitude of public administration is to be attained. Too quick off the mark ]
• · The baby boomers tacked left, then right. Where will their politics go in the golden years? The 'I want it all and I want it now' crowd confronts its hardest campaigns The Last Hurrah ; For decades, laws, governments, even popular will were stacked against the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. No way, people thought, would they ever change the way things were. Got grit?
• · · Isaiah Berlin, liberalism’s philosopher-in-chief, a conservative? One was startled from the beginning,” Arthur Schlesinger said, “by the glittering rush of words and wit, the dazzling command of ideas, the graceful and unforced erudition, the penetrating assessments of personalities, the passion for music, the talent for merriment and, most remarkable of all, the generosity of spirit that led him to treat all of us as his intellectual equals. He had the exciting quality of intensifying life so that one perceived more and thought more and understood more.” Sir Isaiah pronounced aye-ZYE-ah ; Removing the current 15% superannuation contributions tax, which raises around $3.3bn each year, would deliver real benefits to workers without putting upward pressure on interest rates, according to the Minister for Finance and Administration, Senator Nick Minchin - "Strong Case" For Abolishing Super Contributions Tax: Finance Minister
• · · · How Class Disappeared From Western Politics ; Australia should increase fines and toughen sanctions against companies found guilty of bribing foreign public officials - PDF version Tax Office needs to effectively detect foreign bribery transactions, says OECD ; No stone unturned in upheaval over spy rock - The spy trail went cold The agent was saying nothing, being, one, in Russian custody, and two, a rock
• · · · · From the Czech Republic, after communism's fall, the scent of marijuana became a symbol of liberation: J.X. Dolezal, a kind of Czech version of the late Hunter S. Thompson who has written the books "How to Take Drugs" and "Stoned County." He opens a box. There's a sprinkle across paper, a nimble roll of the fingers, a lick, a match strike, a curl of smoke — and a smile. A Czech Toke on Freedom: no amount larger than a small amount ; WITH his democracy project in the Middle East having produced a landslide victory for Hamas in the Palestinian elections, the US President, George Bush, is hoping Hamas will renounce terrorism and recognise Israel. But analysts agree the chances of this happening soon are remote Democracy, a faithful dog that bit Bush
• · · · · · An exhibition highlights unusual pieces of legislation which remain on the statute book. Why have they survived, when they appear so at odds with modern life? Ever been drunk driving a steam engine? ; The NSW state opposition wants to make it illegal for retiring government ministers to sign up to private sector jobs related to their former portfolios within two years of quitting the parliament. Call for stand-down period; Business buys hot property - ministers

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…human beings fall easily into despair, and from the very beginning we invented stories that enabled us to place our lives in a larger setting…[Mythology] helped people to find their place in the world and their true orientation. We all want to know where we came from, but because our earliest beginnings are lost in the mists of pre-history, we have created myths about our forefathers that are not historical but help to explain current attitudes about ourselves, neighbours and customs. We also want to know where we are going, so we have devised stories that speak of a posthumous existence…

Martin Luther King The Smudge of Ashen Fluff: Reverence for the Reverend

Eye on Politics, Death & Taxes: Stumped by cultural problems
Jack Waterford reviews the Public Service Commissioner’s latest State of the Service report

FOR AN organisation which has talked so much and spent so much on leadership and improved management, the Australian Public Service has nothing much to write home about in terms of results – at least if the views of public servants themselves mean anything. A good many public servants find their leaders significantly wanting in leadership qualities and in ideas. Many leaders talk too little about ethics and values, and all too often do not provide good examples of them in action. Many public servants think their bosses poor managers of their fellows and have little confidence in their promotion decisions, or in the allocation of rewards or bonuses for good work

• The findings of the Comrie report take us directly to the dilemma inherent in all regulation [How one man defied a Cronulla mob I felt sorry for the guy. It's not right - 30 blokes on one person ; Peoples can be luckier than people. People are only young once. They seize their chances or miss them; then they grow old and die. The Twins' New Poland ]
• · Michael Kinsley on what the wiretapping debate says about freedom. Give Me Liberty or Let Me Think About It ; Debunking five of the right’s favorite myths about universal health care
• · · A few books you should read if you're serious about Progressive politics long term ; World War IV As Fourth-Generation Warfare
• · · · ASIC's award for 2006 goes to an illegal investment scheme promoted through wealth seminars throughout Australia. ASIC said that, operated by Mr Craig McKim, Pegasus Leveraged Options Group (Pegasus) lured approximately 90 unsuspecting investors and raised $3.7m. According to ASIC, over $2.1m of the funds raised were lost in personal gambling and other personal expenses by Mr McKim Outrageous financial schemes: ASIC's 2006 Pie in the Sky (PITS) awards ; Beijing is now seeking to check unbridled capitalism ; The Future Of Outsourcing
• · · · · Australian Financial Review, 19/01/2006 The case for wholesale reform of the tax system is compelling. The system lacks both vertical and horizontal equity, is excessively complex and is a brake on economic growth. Individuals are paying too much tax. Compliance burdens are killing small business. Poor interaction between the individual, company and capital gains tax systems poses a serious threat to our future prosperity. So does the over-reliance on superannuation taxes as a means of creating budget surpluses. Acting shadow Treasurer Joel Fitzgibbon states that the Tax Office is not performing at par — it is over aggressive towards small business debt. This tax system fails everyone ; The identification of discipline with hierarchy is a dangerous mistake ... The way people work has changed dramatically, but the way their companies are organised lags far behind The new organisation ; Most people have little faith in politicians
• · · · · · ABC chief quits to head Sydney Airport ; After years at the epicentre of NSW power, Bob Carr's sultans of spin have entered the private sector I told West to go on the attack, outing Forrest as a hypocrite, Latham writes. "Then West replied, 'Sounds OK, but I had better ask Walt'. I said, 'Who the f--- is Walt? You're in the middle of a [state] election campaign and the local Liberal MP is up you for the rent. Have a go and fight back.' Apparently Walt works in Carr's media office and backbenchers like West are not allowed to scratch their backsides unless Walt gives them the green light Carr's sultans of spin enter private sector ; Parliamentary democracy is by definition rotten, because it does not represent the voice of the people, which is that of the sublime leader The new fascism is fed by myths, our myths, the myths by which we rock ourselves to sleep Myths by which we rock ourselves to sleep

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#1 at Technorati as at January 2006: Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

Here comes the virtual book by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel .. . I have made no mistery that I am a fan of these two, and of the book. So go ahead and order it here. Next milestone: the Silicon Valley launch party in February! Naked Conversations : How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers, is out or will be shortly. Check out the Amazon page for it.

• · Naked Conversations passing a million little pieces/lies, a get rich quick book, and the latest Harry Potter to be the most blogged about book of about book of the last 99 hours ;-) More buzz than a controversial Oprah Book Club choice, that's some good work guys. Congrats! A Small Virtual Key Open Big Door
• · Direct marketing still works. 2 out of every 100 people will always buy from you on the first meeting. Permission marketing gives people a chance to trust you by developing a relationship before they make a decision. But many of today's permission marketing strategies are still monologues. Naked Conversations demonstrates how an authentic dialogue is the best way to develop a business. The Media Dragon Loves us

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If you can't laugh at yourself, at least laugh at those who govern you. Bullying and harassment are prevalent throughout Victoria's Government departments and public agencies, and many workers are unwilling to complain because they fear it will do them more harm than good Bullying rife in public service

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Can Congress matter?
Congress, more than the court, scholars say, is the branch that's supposed to keep executive power in check

IN 1973 THE historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. published a book called ''The Imperial Presidency," tracing the way in which the White House had, over the course of American history, grabbed more and more power until it threatened to overwhelm the rest of the federal government. Then-president Richard Nixon-who carried out a secret bombing campaign of Cambodia, eavesdropped on his domestic rivals, and impounded federal funds that Congress had earmarked for programs he didn't like-was to Schlesinger only the latest and most brazen example.

• If it has failed, it has no one but itself to blame [Tax breaks for bribes revealed ; Reputation for good corporate conduct is at risk ]
• · With limited government incentives, Australians have been slow to install solar power A power station in every home ; I'm a great believer in doubt. At least I think I am
• · · Antony Loewenstein As an anti-Zionist ; The dawn of the year 2006 has been marked by Howard Government’s Orwellian “anti-terror laws”, which have sought to violate human rights principles as articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the UN General Assembly. The quest for universal human rights
• · · · Making societies more civil ; Why game shows have economists glued to their TVs. Deal or No Deal: His risk appetite is really abnormal
• · · · · Clive Crook on how the CEOs of too many public companies enjoy the power and rewards of ownership without the risks Executive Privilege ; When Madeline Raison started feeling run-down, lethargic and more susceptible to colds and flu she had little doubt about the cause: stress. Memo to boss: stress is sickening
• · · · · · The specter of Communism is still haunting Europe. If the Nazi symbols were to be forbidden, so should the Communist symbols ; Wheat exporter AWB may have made a profit from some of the hundreds of millions of dollars it paid to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's government under an elaborate scheme of kickbacks Bribes turned big profits: inquiry

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I am a part of all that I have met
Tho much is taken, much abides
That which we are, we are–
One equal temper of heroic hearts
strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield
-Tennyson

How did Europe come to be ruled by sullen ideologues? Blame it on the “68ers,” once fresh and youthful, now gray and oppressive Three Radicals

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: A meeting of minds
The point is that everyone is an entrepreneur to a greater or lesser extent and the direction and outcome of our efforts depends a great deal on the situation where we are located

One of our old books is called “Every Man His Own Mechanic”. It is actually a 130 year old version of the Readers Digest book for home handwork, renovation and repairs. It dates from a time when tradesmen of all kinds, including the building trades, were called mechanics (hence the “mechanics institutes” as the forerunner of the Workers Adult Education system).

• Everyone an entrepreneur [via Tim Dunlop ; One of the elder statesmen of the Oz blogosphere john quiggin ; She is going to take the reins of this country as if it were a big house. Look at us men, we do one thing at a time, while the mom is cooking, talking on the phone, feeding the children and listening to the radio! Victim of Pinochet era asks Chilean voters to make history ]
• · James Howard Kunstler's new book, The Long Emergency, depicts humans as parasites who might benefit from a mass die-off. Speak for yourself Down with catastrophism ; The year 2005 has been the hottest year on record for the planet, hotter than 1998, 2002, 2004, and 2003 The Coming Meltdown ; Antony Loewenstein links to The brewing storm
• · · via Caroline Molloy: Analysts believe AAPT may be worth less than half its book value of $1.35 billion, due to increased competition and reduced fixed-line earnings in the Australian telecommunications market AAPT still for sale ; A Donor’s Congressional Allies
• · · · Anticorruption tools could be effective — but there must be political will to implement them Cops and robbers ; A Broken Contract ; Corporate crooks watch out: ASIC
• · · · · An article on the New Etiquette of Lobbying: Emily Post, meet Jack Abramoff; Jacob Weisberg on Swindlers and fixers: which kind of Washington lobbyist is worse? ; The Government has produced an official list of 12 national icons to kick-start a £1million website-based project designed to encourage an interest in culture. Are we English icons or not? ; Stonehenge, the FA Cup and the red Routemaster bus are among England's most popular icons, according to a new poll. But what do the choices say about the English? And what about the rest of the UK? The making of icons
• · · · · · Lawyers and accountants who allegedly recommended the secretive tax haven services of Jersey Islander Philip Egglishaw are being targeted by both clients and criminal investigators Tax haven clients turn heat up on their advisers ; Cossie's going to need more that tax tinkering in 2006 Taxing times for Peter Costello ; Politics is a game of compromise

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Fortune 500 Blogging Wiki (socialtext.net/bizblogs) amasses blogs maintained by employees of the biggest American corporations. A Blog That Blogs Corporate Blogs ; Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki

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Deal with reality before it deals with you
- Matt Savinar

If the world was made of oil there would still be a finite supply of it ...

If kindness and comfort are, as I suspect, the results of an energy surplus, then, as the supply contracts, we could be expected to start fighting once again like cats in a sack.
- George Monbiot

The infrastructure of suburbia can be described as the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world
- James Howard Kunstler

No civilization can survive the physical destruction of its resource base
- Bruce Sterling

How could it be otherwise ? - Jay Hanson

It may be eclipsed by the anti-EU musings of the current Czech president, but the influence of Vaclav Havel lives on Exporting Dissent: Made in the Czech Republic

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Welcome to Sydney Doctors - Bulk Billing listings
Bulk billing is almost dead, and we're noticing the smell ...

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themselves and there family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond their control.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• At Bondi 8 Hall Street Dr Ursula Christopher Medical Bulk Billers [Saudi Arabia seems a law unto itself: rich, unequal, uncompromising and unchanging. But, cautiously and almost imperceptibly, it is moving forward Moving forward ; An article on Henry Louis Gates and the Times: Unfit to print "Ghanaians' Uneasy Embrace of Slavery's Diaspora ]
• · G.O.P. Lobbyist Pleads Guilty in Deal With Prosecutors ; Does money always find a way? ; Samuel Alito Tackling a judge's ideology My Alito be the worst choice? Court nominee to face Congress
• · · What's behind the rise of female politicians in Latin America? ; Hype has become a commercial reality Believe the hype?
• · · · What Albert Camus and the "little-ease" say about U.S. torture policies Bush vs. Camus; From ZNet, an essay on progressive political fiction A bias against explicit, progressive political fiction is widespread among critics and commentators, publishers, editors, and many authors Progressive Political Fiction ; Immigration Scandal Claim
• · · · · Few things matter more in the next decade than how we approach human rights within the new economic superpowers We must not kowtow to these undemocratic giants ; The 1964 Warsaw Pact plans saw things going hot real fast Nuclear war in the Czech lands? ; Responsible horticulture and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Nipping evergreens in the bud ; Countries with weak institutions that undergo incomplete democratic transitions are four times more likely to become involved in wars than other states... Prone to Violence
• · · · · · Since September 11th, and perhaps before, conventional wisdom says the world is going to hell in a hand-basket. But it is? Not necessarily. The data shows that in the case of violent conflicts things are actually getting better. The Positive Power of Negative Thinking . . . . promotes the practice of "defensive pessimism", a strategy of imagining the worst-case scenario of any situation. Tracking Global Violence: Are things Getting Better? ; The Embrace of Unhappiness ; Dragon Slayers or Tax Evaders? Buying and selling imaginary goods in computer-game worlds is big business. Now let's figure out whether gamers should pay real-world taxes on virtual treasures. IRS to tax your World of Warcraft booty?

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Colourful post pinched from TaxProf Blog Blogging: Scholarship or Distraction?

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It is only 2006, and people have already dubbed this new century the Information Age, the Digital Age or the Connectivity Age. I have a more accurate name for the 21st century, and I encourage us all to start using it today: The New Middle Ages. Rousseau once wrote: Nothing is more depressing than the general fate of men. And yet they feel in themselves a consuming desire to become happy, and it makes them feel at every moment that they were born to be happy. So why are they not? Information Age? More like the New Middle Ages via my mates at School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales

Politicians no longer govern, somebody has observed, they perform. More important yet, are the main party leaders hot or cool? Are you hot or cool?

Eye on Politics & Taxes: The Victory of Reason
It is quite plausible that Christianity remains an essential element in the globalization of modernity

Augustine and Aquinas had a faith in progress and reason, which led to our notions freedom, moral equality, and human rights

• The Christian roots of capitalism [Democracies often find it strangely difficult to reorient themselves in such a way as to produce a change in government Political uses of catastrophes ; Sri Lanka’s Tigers on the loose ]
• · The big five privatizations of 2005 wrought more than scandals — some have shaken the government to its foundation Up for grabs ; Sam Roe and Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune published a three-part series on the presence of mercury in fish sold in supermarkets The Mercury Menace ; Biological Weapons
• · · Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the creation of Planet of the Apes-style warriors by crossing humans with apes, according to recently uncovered secret documents Stalin's half-man, half-ape super-warriors ; Australians have now lost one of their most fundamental rights in a democracy -- the right to withdraw their labour The right to strike -- put with powerful simplicity ; If there is a real winner in the walkout that hobbled the city, it is the workers who went out on strike, and their leader. New York Transit Deal Shows Union's Success on Many Fronts
• · · · The spotlight has shifted in the Robert Gerard tax saga. DPP can still prosecute Gerard; Oops: Tax Office sums out by almost $7b
• · · · · There were lots of starring roles, though no others quite like Ronald Miller's A whizz of a year for the common law ; It's not just the common agricultural policy: the corporate sector relies on state handouts that dwarf their profits Never underestimate the self-pity of the ruling classes Free market does not exist
• · · · · · As widely reported, at the daily press gaggle yesterday, US administration mouthpiece Trent Duffy claimed that, among much else, the George jr. Bush was actually reading some books while on vacation When Trumpets Call ; The Peace Epidemic The world isn't so dangerous after all

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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