The crisis of philanthropy “We live in an age that loves the solution. But a lot of problems are problems of justice rather than problems of tinkering with an engine. And when you have a problem of justice, you can’t just move forward. You have to evaluate the whodunit.” So says the author and … [Read more...]
“Democracy is gone, the junta is in power,” the email said.
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Ms Madigan told the court it was not a threat, but an example of Mr Bijkerk’s “silly humour.”
But another email read in court appeared to lay out an extensive operation to spy on staff members and root out “wrongdoing”.... Latitude in action ;-)
Drug trade shifting from street corner to dark web
ABC NEWSMICHAEL THORN. Who’s in the room? Access and influence in Australian politics. The revolving door.
TREVOR KENNEDY. Consultants are a blight on government and business.
ROSS GITTINS. Why businesses are behaving badly. (SMH 6.10.2018)
While we digest the royal commission’s evidence of shocking misconduct by the banks and insurance companies, there’s another unpalatable truth to swallow: they have no monopoly on bad behaviour. Continue reading
Laurie Oakes has called Graham Freudenberg “the greatest speechwriter this country has produced”. Ruth Cullen’s documentary The Scribe has brought him out of the backroom and into the light. On the ABC’s Sunday Extra James Carleton interviews him about his political life (reminding listeners that Freudenberg’s own quest for political office was thwarted by a factional deal that favoured Eddie Obeid over Freudenberg). On Pearls and Irritations Susan Chenery has written a short biography of Freudenberg, including not only reminiscences but also his comments on present political developments. Also inPearls and Irritations Freudenberg’s article 80 years after Munich defends Chamberlain’s “peace in our time” agreement.
We are apt to see tensions over China’s claims in the South China Sea as a recent development, coinciding with China’s assertion of economic and military power. But in an interview on Phillip Adams’ Late Light Livejournalist and writer Humphrey Hawksley(author of Asian Waters) points out that tensions over the South China Sea stretch back into the nineteenth century (China’s “century of humiliation” from 1839 to 1949), and even earlier.
“Want a more capable nation? Start younger” is the title of an article by Ross Gittins. Australia lags behind other nations in pre-school participation by three and four year olds. Presenting the case for more public investment in early childhood education he writes “perhaps the most important and useful scientific discovery of our times is that the human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life, and both the nurturing and the intellectual stimulation a child receives in that time has huge influence over their wellbeing during their lives.” He urges the Coalition to match Labor’s stated commitmentto supporting pre-school education.
There is still plenty of commentary on the portrayal of the Opera House as a billboard. Dr Michael Jensen, Rector of St Mark’s Anglican Church Darling Point, writes about “the habits of the aristocracy and the habits of the working classes” combining to give gambling a privileged status in NSW. On the question of commercialisation of public space, Waleed Aly writes in the Fairfax media “As public spaces become smaller and rarer, and as our sense of even having a public slowly erodes, we should expect people to be stirred passionately when one of the few remaining threads of our public space is threatened”.
As housing prices fall and as the stock market enters what is euphemistically called a “correction”, we do well to realise that our houses are still in much the same condition that they were at the peak of prices, and that companies listed on the stock exchange still have intact assets. What’s happening is only about money, and for an excellent explanation of what money is, one can listen to Peter Martin in a discussion (really a teaching session) with Gigi Foster of the University of New South Wales and Christopher Kent of the Reserve Bank on the ABC’s The Economists.
Two people with strong Liberal party connections have advice for voters in next Saturday’s Wentworth by-election. John Hewson, writing in the Fairfax media, says “a major political party without a climate action plan should forfeit the right to govern” and as reported in The Guardian he suggests that voters who traditionally vote Liberal should consider voting for others. Also writing in The Guardian, Alex Turnbull urges voters not to support the Liberal Party because it has been taken over by “extremists”. (Here is a link to his short video.)
Benevolence only makes things worse delancyplace
How stray cattle sparked a gold rush in the Pilbara
The crows move in as Randwick's Eurimbla Avenue is wiped off the map
How stray cattle sparked a gold rush in the Pilbara
The crows move in as Randwick's Eurimbla Avenue is wiped off the map
World’s billionaires became 20% richer in 2017, report reveals Guardian. From UBS.
Unfair Advantage The Sun. How Amazon undermines local economies
Why Creating Monsters Is Useful
From the point of view of evolution, casting others as monsters would have been extremely adaptive and helpful to your own survival as a group. Nature was not a warm and fuzzy place. Some of these horror stories were helpful in getting you to be nervous about real predators—both non-human animals and human predators. … Read More
Transparency International EU: Corporate Tax Tracker.
A tool to examine publicly available key financial data of the 20 largest European banks.
A tool to examine publicly available key financial data of the 20 largest European banks.
Better tax collection can help tackle rising debt in Africa and the challenge of development finance Brookings
See also: Mobilization of tax revenues in Africa – State of play and policy options Brookings
See also: Mobilization of tax revenues in Africa – State of play and policy options Brookings
Haiti: Top Officials Fired After Anti-Corruption Protests OCCRP
‘alleged embezzlement of US$3.8 billion, abuse of power and forgery in connection with a Venezuelan oil loan program’
‘alleged embezzlement of US$3.8 billion, abuse of power and forgery in connection with a Venezuelan oil loan program’
The Cost and Benefits of Tax Treaties with Investment Hubs: Findings from Sub-Saharan Africa IMF Working Papers
Danske Bank whistleblower to testify before European parliament Reuters
See also: How One Stubborn Banker Exposed a $200 Billion Russian Money-Laundering Scandal The Wall Street Journal
See also: How One Stubborn Banker Exposed a $200 Billion Russian Money-Laundering Scandal The Wall Street Journal
As American Public Turned To Opioids, OxyContin’s Founder Tapped A Private Swiss Bank ICIJ
Mortimer Sackler’s family’s files were among 60,000 leaked documents that make up Swiss Leaks.
Mortimer Sackler’s family’s files were among 60,000 leaked documents that make up Swiss Leaks.
Swiss Bank UBS Discourages China Travel After Banker Is Kept in Beijing The New York Times
A banker’s woe: Chinese wealth may get harder to snag for global bankers The Economic Times
Horgos in spotlight after Fan Bingbing tax evasion scandal, Chinese city no longer tax haven The Straits Times
See also: China’s tax authorities remind high-income earners to heed law following Fan Bingbing’s case The Straits Times
See also: China’s tax authorities remind high-income earners to heed law following Fan Bingbing’s case The Straits Times
In Groundbreaking Decision, Feds Say Hacking DRM to Fix Your Electronics Is Legal ~ Motherboard: “The new exemptions are a major win for the right to repair movement and give consumers wide latitude to legally repair the devices they own. The Librarian of Congress and US Copyright Office just proposed new rules that will give consumers and independent repair experts wide latitude to legally hack embedded software on their devices in order to repair or maintain them. This exemption to copyright law will apply to smartphones, tractors, cars, smart home appliances, and many other devices. The move is a landmark win for the “right to repair” movement; essentially, the federal government has ruled that consumers and repair professionals have the right to legally hack the firmware of “lawfully acquired” devices for the “maintenance” and “repair” of that device. Previously, it was legal to hack tractor firmware for the purposes of repair; it is now legal to hack many consumer electronics. Specifically, it allows breaking digital rights management (DRM) and embedded software locks for “the maintenance of a device or system … in order to make it work in accordance with its original specifications” or for “the repair of a device or system … to a state of working in accordance with its original specifications.”…”