The impulse to become a hermit is ancient and universal. What's the allure? To escape triviality? To live more contemplatively?... Escaping Cranky Crane No Days»
"An artist needs a certain amount of turmoil and confusion,” Joni Mitchell once told an interviewer.
Rosy jobs numbers blind us to the bleak reality of the ‘real economy’ Los Angeles Times
A human resources manager for the Catholic Education Office in Parramatta who was compared to Margaret Thatcher and once advised to "do the Pretty Woman thing" was sacked for bullying her co-workers and making them appear incompetent.
The employee relations team leader took her former employer to court for unfair dismissal, but the court found she was sacked for bullying other workers whom she gave the "silent treatment" Not only had the conduct created fear and intimidation, it was also found to have impacted on other teams and on workplace productivity.
Unfair dismissal case: Parramatta Catholic Education Office manager sacked for bullying
Salim Mehajers to study medicine
The good folks at Wonder Ponder have brought philosophy and toilet days of celebration together highlighting life as it is ;-) Worth going for the gif alone. And the Irish Times brings International Men’s Day (also today) into the mix of special days to remember in November ....
“Will excessive drinking unleash your creative energy? Who can say?” Over at The Toast, intrepid cataloger Ren Arcamone has compiled a list of things you could be doing instead of writing your thesis. Go read it instead of writing your thesis. Continue the stay of essay execution and check out Mallory Ortberg’s hilarious (and helpful) guide to some common signs that you might be dying in a Victorian novel.
Digital transformation in the APS External perspective provided by Paul Shetler, CEO Digital Transformation Office, October 2015. The Australian Public Service Commission as part of the State of the Service report has published information on Digital transformation in the APS. Authored by Paul Shetler topics covered include the strategic approach to transformation and capability levels within the Australian Public Service. Paul Shelter of DTO fame
Mazur (SMU), Transfer Pricing Challenges in the Cloud, 52 B.C. L. Rev. ___ (2016):
Cloud
computing - the provision of information technology resources in a
virtual environment - has fundamentally changed how companies operate.
Companies have quickly adapted by moving their businesses to the cloud,
but international tax standards have failed to follow suit.
“While other sectors have certainly overlooked brilliant new ideas and missed opportunities for innovation, this fact isn’t usually romanticized or celebrated. In other sectors this level of oversight would be called ‘a system failure,’ or ‘inefficiency,’ or ‘failure to innovate.’ And policies and practices would be put into place to try to prevent this from happening in the future.” The Atlantic
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| Foggy Frogs |
Two programmers from an IT company, acting on their own initiative, spent a weekend doing the job that the Government hasn’t wanted to do: they have made it possible for anyone to search the Norwegian Shareholders Registry. You can now search all Norwegian shareholders at the websiteAksjonærregistret.no
Dave Nelson, Preparing for a cyberattack or data breach (IowaBiz.com). “In today’s world of nonstop cyberattacks, companies must prepare for when, not if, they are attacked.”
Mitch Maahs, Report Highlights IRS Shortcomings Preventing Business ID Theft (Davis Brown Tax Law Blog). “In most cases, an ID thief files a business tax return using an Employer Identification Number (EIN) of an active or inactive business without permission to obtain a fraudulent refund, often claiming extensive refundable tax credits.”
The two-day inaugural International Conference on Taxpayer Rights concludes today in Washington, D.C. (agenda):
The
National Taxpayer Advocate of the Internal Revenue Service is convening
the Inaugural International Conference on Taxpayer Rights in
Washington, D.C. This ground-breaking conference will present panelists
from around the world to explore how taxpayer rights globally serve as
the foundation for effective tax administration ...Blackstone is now ‘the largest owner of real estate in the world’ Business Insider
Second largest for-profit chain to pay $95 million to settle fraud charges WaPo
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| Room with the French Doors |
“To fit all the books in the allotted space, the library will have to abandon its version of the Dewey Decimal System, in which shelving is organized by subject, in favor of a new “high-density” protocol in which all that matters is size. Books will be stacked by height and tracked by bar code rather than by a subject-based system, making for some odd bookfellows.” The New York Times
Singapore’s “vertical village” named building of the year
Verification Junkie Josh Stearns. “A growing directory of apps, tools, sites and strategies for verifying, fact checking and assessing the validity of social media and user generated content.”
Verification Junkie Josh Stearns. “A growing directory of apps, tools, sites and strategies for verifying, fact checking and assessing the validity of social media and user generated content.”
Just over a month ago, Bob Katter – the eccentric independent from Far North Queensland – asked Josh Frydenberg, the newly-appointed Minister for Northern Australia, to explain a little-known deal to lease the Port of Darwin. With his trademark delivery of man caught halfway between tears and hysterical laughter, Katter used Parliament's question time to ask whether the Australian government's decision to allow the sale of public asset, the Port of Darwin, to a Chinese company called Landbridge for $506 million would transform it into a "foreign corporate, unrestrained, monopolistic money machine" that dominated half of Australia's vast northern coastline?
In the theatre of federal parliament, all attention was focused on Frydenberg's reaction and none on the substance of the question ... Controversial Chinese investment in Australia is part of a bigger more grand multigenerational plan
US Justice Department Announces Three Banks Reach Resolutions Under Swiss Bank Program - Swiss banks to pay $81 mln, avoid US charges on aiding tax evasion
*More Banks Spill Tax Evasion Secrets To Avoid Criminal Charges, Account Holders Beware
What’s Worse Than the SEC’s Revolving Door? Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg
US Justice Department Announces Three Banks Reach Resolutions Under Swiss Bank Program - Swiss banks to pay $81 mln, avoid US charges on aiding tax evasion
*More Banks Spill Tax Evasion Secrets To Avoid Criminal Charges, Account Holders Beware
- Nigeria: Ekiti government seals off banks, telecoms firms over tax evasion
- A re-organised HMRC: Friend or foe?
- China arrests crack $125bn underground bank network
- The Offshore Wrapper: a week in tax justice #71
- Limitations of the BEPS Reforms: Looking Beyond Corporate Taxation for Revenue Gains
- Measuring Misalignment: the Location of US Multinationals’ Economic Activity Versus the Location of their Profits
- Offshore landownership frustrates police investigation
- Elizabeth Warren Calls Corporate-Profits Proposals a 'Wet Kiss' to TaxAvoiders
- Warren: Large corporations have too many ways to avoid paying taxes