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Thursday, September 12, 2019

What is a king Panama Papers tide?

As Ellen DeGeneres once observed, “When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important.” 
Mothers who allegedly gave their children's identities to be used in a $4 million childcare fraud syndicate were arrested in a police operation across south-west Sydney on Thursday.
“As an aside, I would also caution that if you have come up with a new and clever idea which gives non-policy outcomes, you should be very careful: very few ideas are truly new, and often there will be an old provision, so successful that the behaviour stopped and the provision is ‘forgotten’, that is directly relevant to your idea. There have been many very clever tax advisers, and it would be a rare idea indeed that is completely new.”
Reflections on being a large market tax adviser
Second Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn delivered this paper to large market tax advisory firms during July-September 2019.



Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC a 'systemic' tax risk: ATO



Edmund Tadros
The big four consultants harbour a small number of arrogant partners who disrupt the tax system with overly risky advice, warned ATO second commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn 

A little stretched': Tax inspector compares office to startup The Sydney Morning HeralThe inspector-general of taxation's office says it is battling "resourcing constraints" and is stretched dealing with small business disputes. A senate committee is ...
Be wise, not clever: ATO fires shots at big four

Planning my next escape - Scientists say they found first habitable-zone planet with water vapour in its skies

In the dim, red light of an alien sun, scientists have found an exoplanet like no other.
(Swimming Across Cold River River...)





Good morning. It’s Sept. 11 — the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. To mark the occasion, all the major networks are planning a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m.— the time when the first plane hit the Twin Towers. There will be special TV coverage throughout the day to remember one of the most shocking days in U.S. history. 
Several outlets, including The New York Times, will live stream this morning's anniversary ceremony.Adriana Diaz of “CBS This Morning” will report from Stuyvesant High School, which is just three blocks from the original World Trade Center. She was a student there on 9/11 and will talk with classmates about the impact that day had on their lives. On the “CBS Evening News,” anchor Norah O’Donnell will interview families of military members who died fighting in Afghanistan following 9/11. At NBC, the “Today” show will have reports from New York and the Pentagon, while “NBC Nightly News” will feature anchor Lester Holt talking to children who lost a parent in the attacks and are now joining the New York Fire Department. Holt also will interview a 9/11 first responder now dealing with cancer.
Also, look for special coverage on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight.”

Daily Kos, Trump Took a Big Loan From Trump and Never Paid Trump Back ... Because It's a Tax Scam:A loan listed on Donald Trump’s personal financial disclosure forms appears to be hiding a scheme in which he got tens of millions from Deutsche Bank and never reported the income to the IRS. It all adds up to a huge violation of federal tax law that Trump is hiding behind one of the many LLCs that make up the Trump Organization. 

 As headlines from the latest film inspired by the Panama Papers have filled my news feeds this past week (here's yesterday's), it really drove home the difference between Hollywood's glamor and the (often unnoticed!) hard work of journalists. I know hundreds of reporters (many from the Panama Papers) are buried in research, working on the next exposé. Why? Because they think it'll make a difference. It means things can often appear quiet when indeed they are not. Rant over... here's some news from all about the place for you this week!

CRANKY BUT CAN COLLABORATE


We might preach about collaboration a lot here at ICIJ – it’s kinda the core of what we do – but it doesn’t always come naturally. Reporters are born to compete, and bred to fight each other for scoops (as you might remember from our chat with Brigitte recently). “Mine mine mine,” is what our chief reporter, Ben Hallman, thought when he was first asked to join an ICIJ investigation. 

Spoiler alert: he realized collaboration was actually the better way to work… and now has 11 hot tips for effective collaborations.

‘BULLET-PROOF’ STORIES


Wahyu Dhyatmika began working as a reporter in Indonesia in 1996, when the country was still under the dictatorship of the Suharto regime. Since then he’s held Suharto to account, continued to uncover corruption, and watched press freedom transform. He’s also become a mentor for many young reporters and championed cross-border investigations in the region.

ICYMI: SACKLER’S SWISS BANKING


One of the richest families in the United States has been back in the news lately. The Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma (the company behind the drug Oxycontin), turned up in our Swiss Leaks investigation linked to HSBC Private Bank accounts worth $31.2 million. In news this week, the Sackler family rejected a demand to give up their personal wealth to settle opioid claims. 

DOUBLE EXPOSURE (IN DC)

One for our D.C. readers - and any film or journalism buffs who might want to follow along. The annual Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival & Symposium is on again from October 10-13. There is a mix of hands-on training for reporters, and discussions about the visual newsroom and podcasting. 

NEWS YOU CAN USE: These Are the Most Expensive New Cars You Can (Actually) Buy. I could see myself in a Bentley, but you guys would have to hit the Amazon Cold River Order button a lot harder ;-)

The Dances That Shook The World


What freaked out Elizabethan England? A dance from (gasp!) Italy, of course, where “a man clasped his female partner tightly around the waist with his left hand, took hold of the busk (the rigid point on the corset below her bosom) with his right, and lifted her high into the air so that his thigh was under her bottom.” Scandalizing! –BBC History Magazine


What is a king tide? TreeHugger






The literary kind …


“It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream — a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought — a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!”
… Pilgrimage | George Hunka

Young Adults Spend Six Hours A Day On Their Phones.


According to researchers, young adults, and particularly those raised as “digital natives” as part of Generation Z (ages 18 to 24), have high expectations for a “flawless, seamless, personalized online experience” that news organizations are not often able to provide. – Washington Post

 A Society Is Only As Free As Its Most Troublesome Political Dissident Caitlin Johnstone
Conduct of ex senior cop ‘offensive’ but no charges laid
TOXIC MASCULINITY: Charges won’t be filed against Brett Guerin over “damaging” social media posts made under a pseudonym.
Lorraine Hansberry, the Love of Freedom, and the Freedom of Love

“Ahead of her time, Lorraine’s witness and wisdom help us understand the world, its problems and its possibilities. In her lonely reckonings, her impassioned reaching for justice, and the seriousness of her craft, she teaches us how to more ethically, more lovingly, witness one another today.” 

I never thought I'd see the Australian rainforest burning. What will it take for us to wake up to the climate crisis?

Joëlle Gergis
This is playing out much faster than many of us scientists ever imagined

  Tax on snacks would have 'huge impact' on obesity, say experts (6 Sep 2019)

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