Nielsen: Who’s Spending And Saving Around the World? “Once we’ve covered our essential living expenses, how do we spend the money left over? Whether we stash our spare cash for retirement, invest it to try and make more, or purchase new products, strategies differ around the world. In the fourth quarter of 2015, saving and investing intention levels were highest in Asia-Pacific (61% and 37%, respectively), as was spending on holidays/vacations (44%), new clothes (41%), new technology (34%) and out-of-home entertainment (34%)
*** “You could pay $118 on Amazon for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s catalog The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry. Or you could pay $0 to download it at MetPublications, the site offering “five decades of Met Museum publications on art history available to read, download, and/or search for free.” If that strikes you as an obvious choice, prepare to spend some serious time browsing MetPublications’ collection of free art books and catalogs…” Via OpenCulture:
An economist’s rational road to Christianity?
Christian and Non Christian Pirates no longer have much interest in stealing oil. Note Bernanke on oil and stock prices
How much does Simon Smith love Bacon Double Cheeseburgers? So much that he changed his name to Bacon Double Cheeseburger. Spending time to officially changed his name by deed poll Bacon Double Cheeseburgers
What we eat and why are as much psychological phenomena as physical ones. Digesting the great conundrum of body, brain, nutrition, taste, and flavor...Mamka's PyrozkyDeja vu of Nick Petroulias jury complications and twists ... The trail of the former New South Wales Labor government minister, Eddie Obeid, who pleaded not guilty to wilful misconduct in public office, will now be delayed
Jury in Eddie Obeid trial discharged after new evidence emerges
An extraordinary combination of forces and interests has put the future of NSW's corruption-fighting body at risk, writes Neil Chenoweth. At the heart of the power struggle that is playing out behind the scenes in NSW politics is a mystery. It's a complex whodunnit. An extraordinary combination of forces and interests has put the future of the state's corruption-fighting body at risk over a failed investigation – to say nothing of the potential damages bill the state may face at the end of this. Sydney has been transfixed by the saga of a wronged – and very angry – prosecutor, who wants to destroy her tormentor, which is no less than the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). "They're out of control, these people," says deputy senior prosecutor Margaret Cunneen, SC Behind the plot to kill ICAC
The difference between fake bills printed on thin paper intended for use in religious rites and counterfeit bills trafficked by criminals can be a subtle distinction Hell Money to Buy diapers?
A Chinese company producing Trump brand diapers Circa 1999
Oddly
enough for a man who all but lives in the media, Trump has no public relations
to speak of. In a day when even petty tycoons protect themselves with platoons
of spokespeople and media people, he relies only on his longtime assistant
Norma Foederer and returns most reporters’ calls personally, making him one of
the most accessible businessmen anywhere. How ironic a man of his statue and
money has to prove himself to the world everyday. Donald Trump is a very
goal-driven person and I believe will always resurface no matter how his
investments turn out. Trump summed his future in these few words, “Anyone who
thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.”
There is no such thing as a job for life anymore: Dog Eat Dog Vicious Circle of saving and spending
There is no such thing as a job for life anymore: Dog Eat Dog Vicious Circle of saving and spending
FT Supports publication of Corporate Tax Returns: The taxman, Google and the benefits of fiscal voyeurism
Plumbing firm to the rich and famous avoided paying tax and used case of Stringfellow's lapdancer in its defence at employment tribunal
Albert Camus, The Stranger ~ as relevant today as in 1980 and even before ...Czech Stranger runs away with her young lover to trendy Byron Bay. "You have to take your hat off to Timothy Kafka. It’s a work of pure and evil genius to be able to say virtually nothing, but speak in such volumes."
UBS/PwC
Billionaire report reveals female billionaires outpace males
PWC, 15/12/15. Analysis shows fleeting nature of wealth with only 44% of billionaires from 1995 still billionaires today. Female billionaires are driving their families' businesses. 57% in the US, 63% in Europe and 96% in Asia are active wealth creators.The changing faces of billionaires
"L.A. County judge killed while crossing the street in Pico-Robertson": Matt Hamilton of The Los Angeles Times has this report
The masked man was carrying a handgun when he entered the store, but the 56-year-old 7-Eleven worker saw the hopeful attacker approaching and hid, the Miami Only in Miami Herald
PWC, 15/12/15. Analysis shows fleeting nature of wealth with only 44% of billionaires from 1995 still billionaires today. Female billionaires are driving their families' businesses. 57% in the US, 63% in Europe and 96% in Asia are active wealth creators.The changing faces of billionaires
“In short from what I have before heard of this man, and what I have now read of him, my opinion with respect to him, is a mixture of admiration and contempt.”
~bathroom quote
Australian Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan is known for his combative stance against multinational profit-shifting and inadequate tax paid by some of the world's biggest companies. But even he concedes the revenue raised if the Australian Taxation Office were to win all of its arguments with the range of companies it is pursuing would still be relatively modest – perhaps up to $1 billion a year. "It's very hard to be precise and we don't really have a figure but our best estimate is that it would be more than hundreds of millions of dollars and less than billions of dollars – perhaps up to $1 billion," he tells The Australian Financial Review Dream of extra tax billions turns into mirage
The masked man was carrying a handgun when he entered the store, but the 56-year-old 7-Eleven worker saw the hopeful attacker approaching and hid, the Miami Only in Miami Herald
Spies Who Chased Terrorists Join Banks to Hunt for Rogue Traders Bloomberg. Resilc: “Ex-CIA operatives and banksters, a marriage made in hell.”
Painters without ideas
"People are telling me to keep speaking out": Charlie Lynn
A 20 year veteran of the NSW Parliament, Charlie Lynn, says he
has been inundated with messages of support since his shock suspension
by the Liberal Party.
Mr Lynn, who retired from the NSW Upper House before the 2015 election, was issued with a six-month suspension for speaking publicly on ABC television's 7.30 about the need to reform the NSW Liberal Party's preselection processes.
But Mr Lynn's views on the topic are not new. In his valedictory speech to the NSW Upper House, he had highlighted the need to get more women preselected to the upper house, arguing that without reform, the NSW Liberals risk "being depicted as a white-bread Anglo enclave run by misogynistic factional warlords". Suspended Liberal veteran Charlie Lynn: 'People are telling me to keep speaking out'
Evidence mounts for interbreeding bonanza in ancient human species Nature
Jonathan Bate, Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life. Fun, lots of sex for a serious book, and it makes you appreciate the diversity of human beings.
Jonathan Bate, Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life. Fun, lots of sex for a serious book, and it makes you appreciate the diversity of human beings.
"People are telling me to keep speaking out": Charlie Lynn
Mr Lynn, who retired from the NSW Upper House before the 2015 election, was issued with a six-month suspension for speaking publicly on ABC television's 7.30 about the need to reform the NSW Liberal Party's preselection processes.
But Mr Lynn's views on the topic are not new. In his valedictory speech to the NSW Upper House, he had highlighted the need to get more women preselected to the upper house, arguing that without reform, the NSW Liberals risk "being depicted as a white-bread Anglo enclave run by misogynistic factional warlords". Suspended Liberal veteran Charlie Lynn: 'People are telling me to keep speaking out'
JODI McKay, Michael Daley and Ryan Park are to vie for deputy leadership of the NSW Labor Party, a position that will fall vacant with current deputy leader Linda Burney aiming for a federal seat.
Labor Trojka