“In the war of ideas, it is the crudest and the most simplified ideology that wins. During our own lifetimes we have seen spectacular examples of this. We have seen great and highly civilized countries becoming infected by epidemics of ideological insanity, and whole populations being destroyed for the sake of some irrational slogan.”
~ Christopher Dawson, The Movement of World Revolution
Ethics explainer: scepticism
CAPABILITY: Scepticism, in its best form, has opened up mind-boggling ways of thinking about ourselves and the world around us.
Ethics explainer: scepticism
CAPABILITY: Scepticism, in its best form, has opened up mind-boggling ways of thinking about ourselves and the world around us.
EveryCRSReport.com – Congress Considers Possible Responses to the Disappearance of a Saudi Journalist October 18, 2018. IN10983.
“Congress is considering potential responses to the disappearance and reported death of prominent Saudi Arabian journalist and former diplomatic advisor Jamal Khashoggi. Some members of Congress haverequested additional informationfrom the executive branch, raised the prospect of targeted U.S. sanctions, or introducedlegislation to limit security cooperation with Saudi Arabia until the executive branch makes a determination concerning alleged Saudi government involvement. Khashoggi, an outspoken, self-exiled critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud, disappeared on October 2 in conjunction with his visit to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi had resided in the United States since 2017, but he was not a lawful permanent resident. His whereabouts and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and presumed death have yet to be definitively established. The Saudi government denies that its personnel were involved in Khashoggi’s disappearance or reported death, despite allegations, including some sourced to unnamed Turkish officials, of evidence of such involvement. U.S. officials arereviewing the charges, and President Trump and his top aides have consulted with counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Turkey and welcomed both governments’ pledges to conduct thorough investigations. U.S.-Saudi relations are close and multifaceted, reflecting decades of economic, diplomatic, energy, and security cooperation. Differing policy preferences with regard to governance, human rights, and regional affairs have tested relations at times. The United States provides limited foreign assistance to Saudi Arabia, but security and defense cooperation is substantial and rooted in billions of dollars in congressionally reviewed sales of U.S. defense articles and services. Bilateral intelligence and counterterrorism partnerships are well developed and mutually valued. U.S.-Saudi relations have remained transactional, and current patterns of cooperation would be challenging and costly for either side to significantly modify or replace…”
"Stories don't get bigger than this, Brian!"
"Stories don't get bigger than this, Brian!"
Banking royal commission shows how financial regulators have smaller fish to fry
While we’re on the subject of Young Liberals, CBD has stumbled upon a rich resource that should allow future anthropologists to answer the question: how do party staffers and their friends see themselves?
The answers lie in a private Facebook page populated by Liberal staffers for dozens of MPs from Premier Gladys Berejiklian to Finance Minister Victor Dominello, Sports Minister Stuart Ayres and Better Regulations Minister Matt Kean.
It’s name? “Not so Subtle Young Lib Traits”.
“Having the ethnic pushed to the front of every group photo,” one Lib suggests.
“And the females!” another quips.
Glyn Davis senses momentum for a major APS rethink
APS REVIEW: Submissions to the ongoing APS review indicate enthusiasm for fundamental changes rather than just a few tweaks, says panel member.
Parliamentary Librarian ‘did not feel pressured’ to revise post
MY HEALTH RECORD: Dr Dianne Heriot is adamant that she independently decided to revise a blog post about how law enforcement agencies could access My Health Record data following complaints from Health.
Commonwealth PS boards make headway towards gender parity
MINISTER FOR WOMEN: "It is fantastic to see six Commonwealth portfolios have reached or exceeded the 50 per cent target ... and a further four portfolios are within only five percentage points of meeting the target."
Everyone in America with a TV set has heard a few yiddish words. Some have passed into the general language: cockamamy, mishmash, gonif, dreck, chutzpah, gelt, bagel, yenta, klutz, bubkes, tochis. We use yiddish influenced phrases: Who needs it? You should live so long. I need it like a hole in the head. Alright already.
I fell in love with yiddish at nineteen. I had finished my BS coursework in December, and graduate school did not start until the following September. Figuring I would earn some money before being vanished to the wilds of Virginia, I went to work for a clipping agency. (Get your mind out of the gutter; a clipping agency was a place where you clipped articles out of newspapers and magazines for folk who wanted to keep track of something. You know, like search engines without computers).
How to disagree better
The Ezra Klein Show | 1h 38m | Listen Later 
“Contempt is the conviction of the utter worthlessness of another person. Anger leads to reconciliation, contempt to permanent enmity.” Interview with Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, an America think tank. Discusses how to disagree better, why civility shouldn’t be the goal in conversation, why it’s healthy to have a lot of arguments, and why anger is a healthy emotion and contempt isn’t.
"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and
asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do
what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been no for
too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
~Steve Jobs
“Contempt is the conviction of the utter worthlessness of another person. Anger leads to reconciliation, contempt to permanent enmity.” Interview with Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, an America think tank. Discusses how to disagree better, why civility shouldn’t be the goal in conversation, why it’s healthy to have a lot of arguments, and why anger is a healthy emotion and contempt isn’t.
Jonathan Haidt on the Righteous Mind
EconTalk | | 1h 03m | Listen Later 
Interview with Jonathan Haidt, author of The “Righteous Mind”, discussing the nature of human nature, and how our brain affects our morality and politics. Haidt argues that reason often serves our emotions rather than the mind being in charge. We can be less interested in the truth and more interested in finding facts and stories that fit preconceived narratives and ideology. Haidt tries to understand why people come to different visions of morality and politics and how we might understand each other despite those differences
Interview with Jonathan Haidt, author of The “Righteous Mind”, discussing the nature of human nature, and how our brain affects our morality and politics. Haidt argues that reason often serves our emotions rather than the mind being in charge. We can be less interested in the truth and more interested in finding facts and stories that fit preconceived narratives and ideology. Haidt tries to understand why people come to different visions of morality and politics and how we might understand each other despite those differences
A Polite Word for Liar
Revisionist History| | 0h 39m | Listen Later
An early morning raid, a house-full of Nazis, the world’s greatest harmonica player, and a dashingly handsome undercover spy. Part 1 of a two-part exploration of memory and our naïve ideas about what memory is worth. Malcolm Gladwell shows us how we all reimagine the truth – so we cannot treat our memory as gospel. So good you just might listen twice
An early morning raid, a house-full of Nazis, the world’s greatest harmonica player, and a dashingly handsome undercover spy. Part 1 of a two-part exploration of memory and our naïve ideas about what memory is worth. Malcolm Gladwell shows us how we all reimagine the truth – so we cannot treat our memory as gospel. So good you just might listen twice
Free Brian Williams
Revisionist History | | 0h 39m | Listen Later 
The second part of Gladwell’s exploration of memory and our naïve ideas about what memory is worth. Part 1 showed that only a fool accepts the evidence of his own memory as gospel. This part shows how we’re all fools. Around 60% of our memories of flashbulb events like 911 are false, although we fervently believe them to be true.
The second part of Gladwell’s exploration of memory and our naïve ideas about what memory is worth. Part 1 showed that only a fool accepts the evidence of his own memory as gospel. This part shows how we’re all fools. Around 60% of our memories of flashbulb events like 911 are false, although we fervently believe them to be true.
~Steve Jobs
Tali Sharot – Optimism, Decision Making, and Mistakes
Capital Allocators || 0h 47m | Listen Later
Interview with Tali Sharot, an expert on human decision-making, optimism and emotion and author of “The Influential Mind”, “The Science of Optimism”, and “The Optimism Bias”. Sharot combines research in psychology, behavioural economics and neuroscience to reveal the forces that shape our decisions, beliefs and inaccurate expectations of the future.
Interview with Tali Sharot, an expert on human decision-making, optimism and emotion and author of “The Influential Mind”, “The Science of Optimism”, and “The Optimism Bias”. Sharot combines research in psychology, behavioural economics and neuroscience to reveal the forces that shape our decisions, beliefs and inaccurate expectations of the future.
ANZ CEO says robots can't replace bankers
"SIBOS conference told cyborg onslaught isn't a relationship." (iTnews)
Ex-ACT public servants join lobbyist ranks, Geocon
"Two former senior ACT public servants have joined Canberra's lobbying sector, while a third has been recruited by a major property firm." (Canberra Times)
Forgotten that Chinese spy chip story?
"Server maker drags Bloomberg in note to customers, watchdog, still checking its motherboards." (theregister.co.uk)
The jobs that are growing the fastest in the next five years
"Predicting the labour market of the foreseeable future." (Quartz)
ATO's internal fraud controls get tick of approval
Plutus review finds stronger tax fraud protections needed: Ali Noroozi
- report discussing the Inspector-General of Taxation's call for tougher fraud controls at the ATO, including regular rotation of staff and tougher background checks for job applicants after the Plutus tax fraud.
Allow the ATO to use phone taps: Inspector General of Taxation - article discussing Ali Noroozi's call to allow the ATO to rely on phone taps to levy tax bills
Watchdog seeks ATO anti-fraud action - article discussing the Inspector-General of Taxation's review calling for the ATO to implement tougher fraud controls
New DTA chief aims to prove a 'start-up' can disrupt government services
RANDALL BRUGEAUD: "We need to be disruptive, we need to be innovative, but we need to be able to be effective in government," says the Digital Transformation Agency’s third permanent chief executive.
'Offer better advice': overcoming the public service 'victim mindset'
CAPABILITY: It's a tough time to be a public servant, but one deputy secretary is urging his colleagues to break out of their despondency.