Monday, January 13, 2020

Three French executives convicted in the suicides of 35 of their workers

A day came when I should have died, and after that nothing seemed very important. So I have stayed as I am, without regret, separated from the normal human working condition ...

 Australian bushfires: The canary building the coal mine Deutsche Welle

 The Canaries are still buying into nonsense claims about MEdia Dragon’s influence 

 Man working from home forced to hot desk with dycish cat Daily Mash -Nine Tax Lives

 Uber won’t share sex assault details with California regulators, citing privacy San Fran Chronicle
A Comedy Education From Late Legend Buck Henry What working on The Graduate, Get Smart, SNL, and more taught him about making timeless humor.New York Magazine
Jokes are exploratory as well as playful. In Stalin's Russia, though, they were no laughing matter. "The jokes always saved us," recalled Gorbachev 





Paul WeissPaul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison partner Mordie Rochlin, one of the oldest men in the United States, is convinced that the only reason he made it to the age of 107 is that he never left the firm that he retired from decades ago.

“Without the firm, I would have probably shriveled up somewhere in a nursing home and have long been put away,” he said as chairman Brad Karp and other guests listened intently.


Buy Used Books. Here’s Why - Book Riot: “Everyone—you, your grandma, your best frenemy—should buy used books. In fact, I will go so far as to say that everyone should buy used books as often as they can, reserving purchases of new paper books for special occasions, gifting, and those rare, delicious occasions when you get a gift certificate for your family’s particular gifty holiday. The reasons transcend thrift! Everyone already understands that a $30 new book is at best prohibitive, at worst impossible. Buying used means more than the sticker price. It speaks to our humanity. It’s an act of social and economic heroism. It’s the way we all need to think from now on, not just for our personal bookshelves, but for how we view ourselves as readers, our critical thinking abilities, and our planet’s continued livability…”

January Is A Terrible Time To Make Resolutions


We know it’s a little late to tell you this, but it might be time for take-backs – and a plan to make those resolutions during a better month (especially for those in the Northern Hemisphere). “Spend the early parts of January getting back into the flow of things. You’ve got all year to make yourself better.” – Fast Company

 There are moments in life when it is no longer clear whether we dream our dreams or are dreamt by them — moments when reality presses against us with such intensity, acute and overwhelmingly real, that all we can do is sit on its sharp edge of uncertainty, feet dangling into a dream, hoping for clarity and fortitude. And then, on these dream-drenched feet, we get back up and march into the uncertainty, then soar over it on the wingspan of perspective we call hope.

Favorite Books of 2019
 Dominic Cummings advertises for talent, recommended if you haven’t already read it.  They are hiring “assorted weirdos.”  (Is it better to advertise for weirdos, rather than just hire them?  I’ve never advertised for a weirdo — or have I?)  And commentary from Henry Oliver.
Latitude East wp13:70 - Rather than fading away, solitary imprisonment, a form of torture in my view, has become more common:

Tax Programs Today At AALS

Administering the 2017 Tax Act: Successes, Challenges & Opportunities  (8:30-10:15 a.m.)
AALS (2018)In late 2017, Congress passed a major piece of tax legislation. Since then, the Treasury Department and IRS worked to implement this legislation, and in 2019, individual taxpayers went through the first filing season under the new law. This program will draw on these experiences and discuss issues related to the new law’s implementation and administration. The panel will include people who played key roles in the IRS’s Tax Reform Implementation Office, IRS Office of Chief Counsel, OIRA, and Taxpayer Advocate Service. Topics discussed will include the roles of different government players; process for promulgating regulations; decisions along the way, including about prioritization of topics for guidance; questions that remain unresolved; how the administration of the new law impacted taxpayers; obstacles faced during the first filing season; opportunities for improving the new law’s administration; and what to expect moving forward. There will be a business meeting at program conclusion.
  • Kristin Hickman (Minnesota)
  • Philip Lindenmuth (IRS Office of Chief Counsel)
  • Sunita Lough (IRS)
  • Nina Olson (National Taxpayer Advocate (retired))
New Voices in Tax Law & Policy (1:30-3:15 p.m.)


Three French executives convicted in the suicides of 35 of their workers


The company France Telecom, which used to be state-owned and is now known as Orange, was accused of deliberately making workers' lives miserable.



 #BELIEVEALLWOMEN: She Claimed Her Doctor Touched Her Breast During A Consultation. His Conviction Was Overturned After A Court Determined She Lied


Hunter S. Thompson’s Letters to His Enemies

The great gonzo journalist understood America’s fractured politics long before the rest of us did.



Historic Václav Havel tram returns to the streets of Prague
TheMayorEU (press release)




Electronic Health Records Creating A ‘New Era’ Of Health Care Fraud


Dozens of suits have been filed by whistleblowers, doctors and hospitals alleging that electronic health records (EHR) software used in hospitals and medical offices has hidden flaws that may pose a danger to patients — and that a substantial chunk of the $38 billion in federal subsidies went to companies that deceived the government about the quality of their products.

Pete Buttigieg’s Odd Time at McKinsey

The more you look at what Buttigieg has said about his time at McKinsey, the more questions it raises.


Medieval Painting Found In Old Lady’s Kitchen Blocked From Leaving France


“Christ Mocked, by the 13th-century Florentine painter Cimabue, had hung for decades above a cooking hotplate in the kitchen of a 1960s house near Compiègne, north of Paris, before it was spotted by an auctioneer who had come to value furniture for a house move. But after the unsigned work was bought at auction in October by US-based private collectors, the French state this week classified the painting as a ‘national treasure’ and refused it an export certificate. The move gives the French state 30 months to attempt to find [€24 million in] funding to acquire the picture itself.” – The Guardian

Published: 


Scientific American – The evolutionary history of humans explains why physical activity is important for brain health…Clinical trials will tell us much more about the efficacy of cognitively engaged exercise—what kinds of mental and physical activities are most impactful, for example, and the optimal intensity and duration of exercise for augmenting cognition. But in light of the evidence we have so far, we believe that with continued careful research we can target physiological pathways linking the brain and the body and exploit our brain’s evolved adaptive capacity for exercise-induced plasticity during aging. In the end, working out both the body and the brain during exercise may help keep the mind sharp for life.”

ASIC targets 'coaches' in anti-phoenix crackdown



Dodgy work and investment tax claims 'costing us $30bn a year'

The Australian
Dodgy tax deductions for workplace-related expenses and fudged claims ... cost the national tax coffers $5.5bn a year, part of tens of billions of ...
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