Tears Sweat Triumph

"Father, I can't wait to tell you of all the awful things I have done since my last confession."

Sometimes the internet may be in a collective state of schadenfreude, it turns out that taxing peasants think it is relevant to put down anyone who stands out ;-) Workplace Stress Matches Passive SmokiNg

“I understand culture as a treasure that is part of our collective memory, of our perception of ourselves."

A Scottish politician who got rid of numerous public toilets has been left red faced after he was caught by police urinating in public. “I was approached by police, who gave me a £40 fine which I have duly paid. I am embarrassed by the incident and have apologised,” Burns told Yahoo News UK.

Twitter: Michael West ‏@MichaelWestBiz

The kidnap threat is real! The entire government has been kidnapped by Big Business, forced to abandon #tax reform

It turns out that Family Office Institute has no members and is what is called an astroturf organisation ...

A standoff between the two houses of parliament threatens to thwart a government-backed crackdown on multinational tax avoidance and a Labor-backed plan to increase tax transparency. The treasurer, Scott Morrison, told the House of Representatives on Thursday the government would not accept the “cobbled together, last-minute, back-of-the-envelope” amendments that the Senate made to the Coalition’s multinational tax package on Wednesday Scott Morrison sets up a showdown with senate over tax avoidance

Via KC: Being a true sports fan is not only about celebrating victories. “A true fan supports the team through thick and thin, good calls and bad calls, good plays and terrible plays”, according to an article in the Bleacher Report that investigates what makes a true sports fan.

Most of the time fans stick with their teams. It’s about loyalty. When the Boston Red Sox were not performing well, their fans felt like “they’ve earned the right to revel in the team’s success when ultimately things turn(ed) around for them”, says Professor Edward Hirt from Indiana University.

Regardless of the outcome of the game, we all react to a good game in some physical way. Hearts beat faster, hands get cold and blood presusure rises. According to studies conducted during the 2010 World Cup soccer final, our cortisol levels increase when we watch our teams perform on the pitch.

An interesting read for sports fans is Eric Simons’ book The Secret Lives of Sports Fans in which he explores the connection and “extreme emotional attachment” between sports fans and their teams. We feel like we are part of the game and studies have found that in a way we are – at least our brains are. When we see a player kick a goal part of our neurons react as if we were kicking the goal ourselves.

But that’s not all. Our reactions to what we see go way beyond the physical. Being a real sports fan has a range of positive psychological effects. According to Daniel Wann, sports psychology professor of Murray State University, it all boils down to our sense of community. Wearing fan wear or cheering for a team together with others gives us a sense of belonging and makes us feel integrated. That sense of community is even stronger when the team itself reciprocates something to their fans.

Manchester City has just unveiled the ‘City Circle’ outside the Etihad stadium as a tribute to their many fans. The ‘City Circle’ consists of discs engraved with fan messages. That is quite a community to belong to – and a large one, too.

Professor Alan Pringle from the University of Nottingham notes that sports can give us a ‘common currency’ that transcends distances created by age. There is no better feeling than celebrating your team’s success with other fans, which is another reason why being a sports fan is good for us – it gives everybody the possibility to experience success as in real life success often comes slow or we are too busy to enjoy it. 

Singing and Walking by the Tames River

Psychological injury claims placing stress on APS departments

The right to appoint a lawyer of choice has received an important boost after the nation’s workplace umpire found that the ­Australian Taxation Office was wrongly refused permission to be represented by a barrister  Fair Work Commission 

‘The appearance of lawyers to represent the interests of parties to a hearing runs the very real risk that what was intended by the legislature to be an informal procedure will be burdened by unnecessary formality.’ Legal Aspects

Architecture by Thames River

The Scott McIntyre Anzac Day tweeting controversy, which continues to be fought out in the industrial relations system, raises a host of interesting issues about the ability of employees to speak freely. Those questions are particularly pertinent in the public sector, where a proper balance must be maintained between the ordinary rights of staff and a legitimate government interest in ensuring public confidence in an effective administration. Recent events suggest the balance is increasingly being struck in favour of the latter, with worrying consequences for free speech in this country Public servants as silent members of society the creeping encrouchments-on-freedom-of-speech-20151030-gknh1g.html

Mysterious Thames River The Magic of Nikon Fish Eye 37 aperture f/16

Vladimir Nabokov never tired of writing to his wife. He addressed her as “Kittykin,” “poochums,” “mousikins,” “my beloved insecticle.” She rarely wrote back... Malchshkin »

U.S. charges Scottish man over fake tweets that hurt stocks Reuters 

Dwindling cash transactions point to an inconvenient truth Financial Times

Pulitzer-prizewinning Ann Marie Lipinski of the Chicago Tribune and award-winning author Jim Tobin watching the last hot-type Daily come off the presses in the late 1970s. “That college newsroom was everything,” she said.