Tuesday, October 16, 2018

How Should We Judge Others For Past Moral Failings?



Men resemble great deserted palaces: the owner occupies only a few rooms and has closed-off wings where he never ventures.
— François Mauriac, born in 1885

 A couple of weeks after hearing a sermon on Psalms 51:2-4 (knowing my own hidden secrets) and Psalm 52:3-4 (lies and deceit), a man wrote the following letter to the ATO:
"I have been unable to sleep, knowing that I have cheated on my income tax. I understated my taxable income, and have enclosed a check for $150.
If I still can't sleep, I will send the rest."


“All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?” ― Banksy, Wall and Piece

Vicious infighting, secret identities, a whiff of plagiarism, plenty of money — the world of Instagram poetry is a huckster’s paradise 


There’s an ancient Jewish proverb which says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”.
Brexit is contributing to marriage breakdowns – UK psychotherapist The Journal 

 Twitter and Salesforce CEOs bicker over who is helping the homeless more Guardian. Twitter put a major office (not sure if HQ but very important office) in a so-so part of San Francisco. Twitterati sent the rents in one of the few semi-affordable parts of SF through the roof because a lot of them rented apartments nearby, many of which were crash pads in addition to their main residences.


UWO says banker’s wife spent $21 million at Harrods FCPA Blog Saw this a few days ago on teh BBC< but this will have more informed commentary.


What we know about Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance


New York Times, Kushner Paid No Federal Income Tax for Years, Documents Suggest:
Over the past decade, Jared Kushner’s family company has spent billions of dollars buying real estate. His personal stock investments have soared. His net worth has quintupled to almost $324 million.
And yet, for several years running, Mr. Kushner — President Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser — appears to have paid almost no federal income taxes, according to confidential financial documents reviewed by The New York Times.
His low tax bills are the result of a common tax-minimizing maneuver that, year after year, generated millions of dollars in losses for Mr. Kushner, according to the documents. But the losses were only on paper — Mr. Kushner and his company did not appear to actually lose any money. The losses were driven by depreciation, a tax benefit that lets real estate investors deduct a portion of the cost of their buildings from their taxable income every year.

 


How Should We Judge Others For Past Moral Failings?


"As a philosopher, I believe this ethical conundrum involves two issues: one, the question of moral responsibility for an action at the time it occurred. And two, moral responsibility in the present time, for actions of the past. Most philosophers seem to think that the two cannot be separated. In other words, moral responsibility for an action, once committed, is set in stone. I argue that there are reasons to think that moral responsibility can actually change over time – but only under certain conditions." … [Read More]




When Tech Knows More About You Than You Do


"I think that we are now facing really, not just a technological crisis, but a philosophical crisis. Because we have built our society, certainly liberal democracy with elections and the free market and so forth, on philosophical ideas from the 18th century which are simply incompatible not just with the scientific findings of the 21st century but above all with the technology we now have at our disposal." … Read More


The Power Of Positivity To Define Your City


In 2003, Hull was named the UK’s number one ‘Crap Town’, according to Sam Jordison’s less-than-favourable alternative city guide. Ten years later, it was named the successful bidder for UK City of Culture 2017. There were numerous facets to the success of Hull’s City of Culture bid and year. Winning it was a reflection of the huge collective power of a city to make change happen, and what can be achieved in the arts when we come together as a sector to achieve a common objective. … [Read More]

 Undercover cops break Facebook rules to track protesters, ensnare criminals NBC

The New York Times – “On this page you will find maps showing almost every building in the United States…Created by Times graphic designer Derek Watkins and former Times editor Tim Wallace, the project relied on a Microsoft database of building footprints that The Times team turned into graphics, in which buildings are black and open space is white…” 


In praise of proper public policy process
CASE STUDY: Two think-tanks with very different ideological standpoints arrived at strikingly similar conclusions, when they were asked to rate 20 state and federal policies in terms of the processes that produced them.
◾ Percy Allan: process, not policy is where the left and right can agree
Leading in tough times, with Obama's stimulus boss
POLICY WISDOM: Edward DeSeve discusses the importance of using the tried pathways "wherever you can" and how the Trump administration is serving up policies that "aren’t quite half-baked, they’re a quarter-baked".

How the Australian government is failing on countering violent extremism
RESEARCH: An analysis of budget documents suggests that federal funding for community-based, counter-terrorism programs has dried up.

Could the Australian embassy in Israel ever be moved to Jerusalem?
FRANCES ADAMSON PODCAST: Who hasn't wanted to throw an unanswerable question at a top diplomat just to test the skillset they're most famous for? 
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