Crows, in fact, might be like us not so much because they are clever (and so are we) but rather because they sometimes engage their cleverness simply for fun – and so do we.
Comment: Sydney's new light rail system is taking on average 50 minutes to cover the distance compared with 26 minutes for the original trams in the 1950s. So what has gone wrong? Basically the state government has been badly let down by Transport for NSW smh.com.au/politics/nsw/w…
Nothing to do with being poorly advised. Infrastructure NSW advised them not to do it but Berejiklan didn't listenpic.twitter.com/LgqlPWLXf0
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According to deputy commissioner Deborah Jenkins, fancy items like private jets and yachts could indicate a discrepancy between someone’s real financial situation – and what they might report on their tax return
ATO ‘red flags’: Tax office requests insurance information on taxpayers
ATO ‘red flags’: Tax office requests insurance information on taxpayers
New York Times Sunday Review: What Would Jesus Do About Inequality?, by Molly Worthen (North Carolina):
In
today’s evangelicalism, this is where the theological action is: the
faith and work movement, the intersection of Christianity with the
demands of the workplace and the broader economy — in a society that is
one of the world’s wealthiest, yet persistently inhumane. In politics,
responses to the American economy’s moral crisis usually split along the
lines of the culture war. President Trump, still the darling of white
evangelical voters, has hardly wavered from the Christian right’s
tradition of faith in a lightly regulated market and weak social safety
nets.
The
evangelical faith and work movement used to be merely another trumpet
for this peculiarly American political gospel. But in recent years the
movement has become much more ideologically diverse — and far more
interesting. Participants are moving beyond the idolatry of the free
market to a conversation about economic justice that doesn’t align so
neatly with culture war clichés or party platforms.
Conservative
evangelicals have long treated the workplace as a sphere for
evangelism, where a good Christian prints Bible verses on corporate
stationery [and] shares the gospel with colleagues. ...
Today,
a different cast of evangelicals — who are more likely to be pastors,
academics and small-scale entrepreneurs than titans of the business
establishment — are leading the faith and work movement in new
directions, because they take more seriously all the ways the Bible
challenges the exploitations of our new Gilded Age. They have built a
network of businesses, ministries, media organizations, conference
programs, websites and more than a dozen research centers in
every region of the country that focus on how Christians can turn the
workplace into “a sign and foretaste of God’s coming kingdom,” according
to the “guiding principles” of the Denver Institute for Faith and Work.
David Elkins (Netanya), A Critical Reassessment of the Role of Neutrality in International Taxation, 40 Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus. 1 (2019):
Neutrality
plays a central role in the literature on international taxation. In
its most prevalent form, the concept of neutrality posits that in order
to maximize aggregate global welfare, capital needs to flow to where it
would produce the highest pretax return. The thesis of this Article is
that neutrality is ordinarily inapplicable in the field of international
taxation.
Wall Street Journal op-ed: Don’t Believe in God? Lie to Your Children, by Erica Komisar (Psychoanalyst and Author, Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters (2017)):
As
a therapist, I’m often asked to explain why depression and anxiety are
so common among children and adolescents. One of the most important
explanations—and perhaps the most neglected—is declining interest in
religion. This cultural shift already has proved disastrous for millions
of vulnerable young people.
A
2018 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology examined how being
raised in a family with religious or spiritual beliefs affects mental
health. Harvard researchers had examined religious involvement within a
longitudinal data set of approximately 5,000 people, with controls for
socio-demographic characteristics and maternal health.
The
result? Children or teens who reported attending a religious service at
least once per week scored higher on psychological well-being
measurements and had lower risks of mental illness. Weekly attendance
was associated with higher rates of volunteering, a sense of mission,
forgiveness, and lower probabilities of drug use and early sexual
initiation. Pity then that the U.S. has seen a 20% decrease in
attendance at formal religious services in the past 20 years, according
to a Gallup report earlier
this year. In 2018 the American Family Survey showed that nearly half
of adults under 30 do not identify with any religion.
Nihilism
is fertilizer for anxiety and depression, and being “realistic” is
overrated. The belief in God—in a protective and guiding figure to rely
on when times are tough—is one of the best kinds of support for kids in
an increasingly pessimistic world. That’s only one reason, from a purely
mental-health perspective, to pass down a faith tradition.
I
am often asked by parents, “How do I talk to my child about death if I
don’t believe in God or heaven?” My answer is always the same: “Lie.”
Learning at work is work and we must make space for it -“The event was running over, the car was waiting, but the keynote speaker did not seem to mind. He was enjoying fielding questions from a large auditorium packed to the rafters with executives, aspiring entrepreneurs, and management students. “Get ready for an age in which we are all in tech,” he had told them, “whether you work in the tech industry or not.” The moderator called for one last question. “What’s the best way to get ready?” a woman asked. “Be great at learning,” he said without hesitation. “The moment you stop learning is the moment you begin to die.” Calls for learning have long been common at corporate retreats, professional conferences, and similar gatherings. But with the furious pace of change that technology has brought to business and society, they have become more urgent.1 Leaders in every sector seem to agree: Learning is an imperative, not a cliché. Without it, careers derail and companies fail. Talented people flock to employers that promise to invest in their development whether they will stay at the company or not.2 And companies spend heavily on it. By one estimate, in 2018, corporate outlays on learning and development initiatives topped $200 billion.
Despite the lofty statements and steep investments, however, learning at work remains complicated. People are ambivalent about it, if not outright resistant. We want to learn, but we worry that we might not like what we learn. Or that learning will cost us too much. Or that we will have to give up cherished ideas. There is often some shame involved in learning something new as an adult, a mentor told me at the start of my career. What if, in the process, we’re found lacking? What if we simply cannot pick up the knowledge and skills we need? I have spent two decades studying adult learning, helping companies design and deploy learning initiatives, and teaching and coaching thousands of high potentials and executives all over the world. And I have found that mentor’s words to be wise: Nothing truly novel, nothing that matters, is ever learned with ease…”