The more things a (wo)man is ashamed of, the more respectable s/he is.
-George Bernard Shaw (unrelated to Catherine H Shaw )
What does the Peter Mandelson three-men-in-a-boat affair have to do with the price of fish? In the midst of the greatest financial crisis in human history - according the Bank of England economist Charles Bean - does it really matter who said what to whom on Oleg Deripaska's yacht in Corfu? Yes, actually it does. This affair tells us a great deal about how Britain got into its current financial mess. What may appear to be a lot of bitching by Bullingdon Berties is actually highly revealing about the relationship between political and financial power in public life. Our politicians simply can't help themselves: they are in love with wealth. And this infatuation has robbed them of their judgment. Politicians must end their love-in with the super rich - There was a failure to appropriately assess the regulatory and reputational risks. It seems to be a pattern similar to Enron Offshore secrecy jurisdictions
Leadership in the APS: its influence on workplace culture
Lynelle Briggs
Leadership and culture have an intricate relationship. Each can operate on its own, but when they operate together towards a common purpose, they become a very powerful tool. Culture is about shared ways of thinking, how people behave and interact, and what information and ideas they value as being important. In many ways it is an unspoken and unwritten aspect of an organisation - it's the way things are done around here.
• A culture can work to the benefit or detriment of organisational success. So too can leadership...; [As Steve noted This is a powerful article: Past U.S. generations invented the airplane; invented the automobile; discovered penicillin; and built the Interstate highway system. The Baby Boom generation has invented credit default swaps; mortgage backed securities; the fast food drive thru window; discovered the cure for erectile dysfunction; and built bridges to nowhere. No wonder we’re in so much trouble. US Culture Our Culture – sneeze develops to cold everywhere; Life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.
A golden heart stopped beating, hardworking hands at rest.
What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, we may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget. When tragedy strikes, people are at a loss of words.]
• · Once upon a time, foes of immigration were more concentrated on the country's political left than the right. Writes Vargas Llosa: "In a radio address given in 1977, Ronald Reagan mocked 'the illegal alien fuss,' asking himself: 'Are great numbers of our unemployed really victims of the illegal alien invasion, or are those illegal tourists actually doing work our own people won't do?' If only in the interest of political survival, those who claim to idolize the Gipper -- the same guy who in 1986 legalized almost 3 million Hispanics, many of whom were driven by fear to vote for Obama -- should think again." Obama's Herculean Task; What's Ahead for Taxpayers?
• · Failure to significantly reduce poverty could eventually destabilise world peace and security; dealing with it successfully is in our national interest.The global hunger challenge: an opportunity for Australian leadership; The Chinese cheer the Democratic victor with a wary eye on his trade policy The world looks to Obama
• · · Today, cybercriminals run their operations like businesses: they outsource, watch margins, cut costs. Security managers must first understand such opponents before they can begin to defeat them. The cybercrime arms race ; You know times are tough when the rich start cutting costs on their mistresses. Tough Times
• · · · Economy; Lack of it
• · · · · The logic of capitalist crises and the 'slaughtering of capital values Financial deregulation and the sub-prime crisis; This is not a time for bureaucratic mumbling but plain, honest speech, of a type that Australians and their leaders were once noted for. Spin no cure for depression
• · · · · · On a lighter side of life Salsa Scene In Sydney ; A FORMER taxman has penned his first novel at the age of 60 after developing a love of history. Ian Bonaccorso of Eight Mile Plains has written Addio Italia - Hello Australia an historical account of Stanthorpe Italian pioneers, from 1925 to 1935 in Southern Star (Springwood), 12/11/2008 Addio Italia - Hello Australia is $49.50 at Daw Road Newsagency, Warrigal Rd, Runcorn, or order by email: bonastar@ bigond.net.au A novel way to record history