Arthur Miller wrote, Few of us can easily surrender our belief that society must somehow make sense. The thought that the state has lost its mind and is punishing so many innocent people is intolerable. And so the evidence has to be internally denied.
This week has seen a full dose of poetry of the taste from kitchen of June's to Dial's, Five Ways Thai, Watson's Bay Doyles, Digi.Caf, Glebe pubs and much more ;-)
Everything Changes Yet Everything Stays the Same Under the Sun: Life Banc
Investment banks have innovated at a furious pace and changed the mix of their businesses. While banks like to say that they still rely on traditional investment banking, their profits increasingly come from other activities such as trading and principal investment. As The Economist rather cheekily noted ‘the sharp suited investment bankers act as a sales force for less well dressed colleagues who work out how to make money from swaps, operations and direct investments’.
I live in Alexandria Virginia. Near the Supreme Court Chambers is a toll bridge across the Potomac. When in a rush, I pay the dollar toll and get home early. However, I usually drive outside the downtown section of the city and cross the Potomac on a free bridge. This bridge was placed outside the downtown Washington, DC area to serve a useful social service, getting drivers to drive the extra mile and to help alleviate congestion during the rush hour.
If I went over the toll bridge and through the barrier without paying the toll, I would be committing tax evasion. If, however, I drive the extra mile and drive outside the city of Washington to the free bridge, I am using a legitimate, logical, and suitable method of tax avoidance, and I am performing a useful social service by doing so.
For my tax evasion, I should be punished. For my tax avoidance, I should be commended. The tragedy of life today is that so few people know that the free bridge even exists."
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis
• A 39-year-old man fighting for his life after BASE jumping off the Harbour Bridge could face charges if he survives. (The first time I jumped) was for a Mission Impossible film. I was doubling for the hero who fell off the Bridge and miraculously opened the parachute just before hitting the water. The other time was for my own adventure documentary film production - The barbed wire used to stop people leaping off the Bridge was no deterrent. Simply Skydive website ; Mel Gibson - The preponderance of the evidence indicates that the religion claim is merely a tax-evasion ruse and a fig leaf for a hugely profitable enterprise George Bush, Alcoholic - Part 1
• · Every day, experts bombard us with prognostications on Iraq, bird flu, Bolivian coca, global warming, and the fate of the Euro. Who checks their predictions? How Accurate Are Your Pet Pundits? ; 'This is not detention, this is hell'