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We live in a political world...
Cold War River

Saturday, June 09, 2012

World, here we come

World, here we come
To win in the Age of Now you need to unleash the unreasonable power of creativity. It's no longer about coming up with the 'big idea' – creative leaders need to go for lots of small ideas continuously. Call it what you will but tinkering, brainstorming and problem-solving all play a vital role in driving success... In Praise of Tinkering

Age of Now World, here we come

David Simon of Simon Property received a pay package worth more than $137 million for last year, and the typical CEO took home $9.6 million, according to an analysis by The Associated Press."

"Top U.S. public companies made only modest increases to CEO pay levels in 2011, despite strong company profitability, according to results from The Wall Street Journal/Hay Group 2011 CEO Compensation Study released [May 21, 2012]. The Wall Street Journal partnered with Hay Group for the fifth year on its annual study, which examined how large company CEOs were compensated across all forms of pay in fiscal year 2011.

Top CEO pay equals 3,489 years for typical worker ; A quirk of fate can mean the difference between a life of freedom and the chance to acquire prosperity and a life of misery and subjugation. We are all boat people [Far too often a major communication gap exists between a company's risk management program and their human resources department. This lack of communication means that most companies are failing to effectively monitor their human-capital risks Capital risk management: taking on human ; Apple also contemplated illegally dividing the digital content world with Amazon, allowing each to ‘own the category’ of its choice — audio/video to Apple and e-books to Amazon Fifty Speeds of Cold River - The margins are low and there is almost no flow ]

• · Birth of a Book & End of Sookie Stackhouse: Top Stories of the Week; The biggest beneficiaries from the retail renaissance will be large international banks

• · · I may or may not post tomorrow 10 Writing Tips from a Real-Life Editor ; They say that anything worth doing is worth doing badly. This is as true of filmmaking as it is of anything, and it's the final thing that I'd say to a Christian who wants to be the next Spielberg or Soderberg. If you want to make films, then make films. Make them badly. Make them with iPhones and flip cameras, edit them on a laptop or in a computer lab at your middle school. Make lots of them and don't worry about whether or not they're good until you've made 10 or 20. Even then, don't worry when they're bad. Look for the things you've done well and figure out how to apply those lessons to the entire next project. Create Culture, Not Subculture

• · · · Vladimir Nabakov needed his pencils sharpened just so - 'The sun loosed its summer light.... a liquid so rich I wanted to eat it, store it, make honey of it for when winter came'. What it takes to get writers writing;. One of our core philosophies ... was that it wasn't about the bank telling customers what they wanted- it was about the customers being able to tell us,” Ms Collins said. The bank has achieved this through enabling users to place feedback and encouraging them to vote on current projects, as well as submit ideas for new developments Lightweight enters mobile banking game

• · · · · Democratic governments are all about collective action ; Charting the new globe-trotting science of moviemaking How to Make a Hollywood Hit

• · · · · · One of Google’s top requests from their users is the ability to roam the vast Australian continent. Unfortunately, the remoteness of the outback has posed a challenge for our traditional Street View cars and trikes One of Google’s top requests ; New Research: Consumers Trust Online Reviews more than any other Media This research shows that 70% of consumers trust online reviews - placing this form of media ahead of newpaper articles (58%), company websites (58%), television ads (47%), radio ads (42%) and online banner ads (33%) explosion of word-of-mouth

Monday, March 12, 2012



Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.
- Jennifer Yane

Wishing you your happiest birthday yet
A birthday too special To ever forget Yullis.
So many wishes
So many smiles
Too many memories
Too few words
Like that ad in the FrenchFilmFestival - No wonder the world stops after all it's the golden age of French cinema ;-) To the world, you may be one person. But to me, you are the world ; Happy birthday to a person who is smart, good looking, and funny and reminds me a lot of myself ;-) Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. To the nation's best kept secret; Our true age because we identify with the kids who are crafty and retro-adorable, the morals sound and the rural nostalgia impeccably groomed in War Of The Buttons (La Guerre des boutons) a harmlessly old-fashioned tale of youthful rivalries between two Slavic and Sikh villages in the 1960s. War Of The Buttons



Wrap Text around Image

Only in High Tatra Mountains - Is this the ‘coolest’ cinema in the world




Wrap Text around Image

Is this the ‘coldest’ story in the world?


CODA for Malaysian, German and British - Sharm: [By Peter FitzSimons aka THE FITZ FILES] Last year, TFF's cousin, Andrew Tink - the former parliamentarian who triumphed over throat cancer - told his wife, Kerry, that he was going to dedicate his new book Lord Sydney to her. She replied: ''That's very nice but I'd rather have a diamond.'' This year, when the book began selling very well, he told her the dedication would most likely outlast us by many years. Her reply was: ''That's still very nice but I'd still rather have a diamond.'' So at the launch at Parliament House on Thursday - with those present including the Governor, Marie Bashir; ministers Hazzard, Berejiklian, Souris, Smith and Parker; the lord mayor, Clover Moore; and Andrew's old sparring partner Paul Whelan, who drove down from near Maitland in atrocious weather - he presented her with a diamond. And she was gracious enough to say that she didn't need to put on her glasses to be able to see it. A rare jewel
Lord Of Sydney - Book Launch in Chatswood

Friday, January 06, 2012



Here's to a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year, to all media dragons! I thought it would be difficult to decide what to write for my first blog entry. I thought it would need to be original, witty, unique, and somehow perfect. Yet, I don't have a perfect track record when it comes to new years resolutions, so this year MMXII I am not even planning to change the world for the better. The reality is that in 2012 Media Dragon is 10 years old and how the decade just flew. My daughters will be both in their twenties and how I managed to get grey hair is beyond me ... I might be older, yet the mind and idiosyncrasies of women and computers are still a foreign language to me. I must have done something strange in my previous lives to be blessed with four sisters, two daughters etc ... ;-) New Year's Resolutions I've Already Broken.

There's been a dramatic end to New Year's Eve celebrations in Melbourne, with the iconic Arts Centre spire catching fire - (hat tip to MT iphone).

Spire
Tens of thousands of revelers filled Melbourne Streets, while we watched George Cluney in the Descandants, to ring in the new year Saturday night. Counting backwards from 10, the crowd cheered as the clock struck midnight and fireworks even peppered Catholics at St Kilda

Wishing one another a happy new year, many people shared a kiss with a significant other, while others traded high fives and hugs. May this new vintage be a bit more than peppered with good intentions ;-) Happy New Year to media types everywhere

If your conscience is clear, you've nothing to worry about. Your innocence will be proved, but you have to fight for it! I believe that if one doesn't give way, truth must always come out in the end. Maria in Václav Havel, Vyrozumení (The Memorandum) (1966)

-In certain countries, theatres do not merely hire half-starved performers to act out the writings of half-starved writers. They also launch (escapes and)revolutions! Absurdity and truth: the passing of Václav Havel

The Joy of Quiet: Happy New Year to Quiet Douliae types everywhere Gabbie Melbourne Gal: Out with the Old, and iN with the New
When telegraphs and trains brought in the idea that convenience was more important than content — and speedier means could make up for unimproved ends — Henry David Thoreau reminded us that “the man whose horse trots a mile in a minute does not carry the most important messages.” Even half a century ago, Marshall McLuhan, who came closer than most to seeing what was coming, warned, “When things come at you very fast, naturally you lose touch with yourself.” Thomas Merton struck a chord with millions, by not just noting that “Man was made for the highest activity, which is, in fact, his rest,” but by also acting on it, and stepping out of the rat race and into a Cistercian cloister.

I never ... watch TV ... Nor do I go to cocktail parties, dinners or anything like that.” He lived outside conventional ideas, he implied, because “I live alone mostly, in the middle of nowhere.”


Around the same time, I noticed that those who part with $2,285 a night to stay in a cliff-top room at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur pay partly for the privilege of not having a TV in their rooms; the future of travel, I’m reliably told, lies in “black-hole resorts,” which charge high prices precisely because you can’t get online in their rooms.
Has it really come to this?
In barely one generation we’ve moved from exulting in the time-saving devices that have so expanded our lives to trying to get away from them — often in order to make more time. The more ways we have to connect, the more many of us seem desperate to unplug. Like teenagers, we appear to have gone from knowing nothing about the world to knowing too much all but overnight.


• · Hat tip - Gina F The man whose horse trots a mile in a minute does not carry the most important messages [A Variety of New Year's Resolutions
‎ - 666 Pure Vodka run a workshop in NY where Sam Ross (former Melbourne bartender, now manager of Milk & Honey in New York and recently awarded American Bartender of the Year at the 2011 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards) described his bartending philosophy and shared various cocktail techniques to a mostly industry-only crowd. It was a really interesting session (I took lots of notes, nerd that I am) Melbourne Gal in love with her city - Milk & Honey ; Chichi Bella and her recommended readings Divine Simplicity of Life in Melbourne; Gabbie and her How to do stuff sites Crafts]
• · · Melbourne erupted in a blaze of colour and light at midnight as Australia ushered in the new year in style Melbourne Arts Centre set ablaze during fireworks ; Sydney turned on a dazzling display of fireworks on the harbour that cost $6.5 million and lasted 12 minutes Cities of light deliver hope in darker times
• · · · Happy 2012 for all crossworders ... ... but may it be a bad year for the crossword gremlins; Metropolis
• · · · · Sydney and Hong Kong set the standard with glittering extravaganzas, while London geared up for a firework display over the River Thames to usher in a year in which it will host the Olympic Games World rings in New Year in blaze of fireworks ; The NSW Minister for Planning has asked two lawyers and ex-State Government ministers - Tim Moore and Ron Dyer; one Liberal, the other Labor - to review the NSW Planning System. Into the swamps of the current system, or a clear view of where to go?
• · · · · ·In announcing the end of the Iraq War, President Obama ignored its horrors, so as not to further upset its still-powerful supporters. But his silence removed the context for Pvt. Bradley Manning's moral decision to expose these crimes of war. Bradley Manning: traitor or hero?; Apocalypse now: caught in the Web of Revelations - In Hell there is nowhere to hide. It's official: we've all gone to hell

Sunday, July 24, 2011



We are lucky we are We. We are lucky to have come across people like Dr Cope

Dr. Seuss once wrote a poem called Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?

Anytime we start thinking that our job doesn’t pay us enough, our leg’s aren’t long enough, our house isn’t big enough, the town we live in isn’t exciting enough, our boss isn’t forgiving enough, our spouse isn’t rich enough…

you’re lucky you have a job, and legs, and a house. you’re lucky you have people in your life that care about you and want to see you succeed. you’re lucky you have free will; and the ability to mold your life the way you want it to be. you’re lucky you have people to encourage, friends and family to love, and a life to lead.

You’re lucky You’re You.
Acknowledging the things you’d like to address or fix in your life is healthy. changing the things you have the ability to change is even healthier.
but complaining or wishing for things which are completely out of your control,
is just plain silly.
You’re lucky You’re You.

As the friendliest and considerate President in my time in NSW Parliament, Johno Johnson, noted: In 1991 Dr Russell Cope, the Parliamentary Librarian, concluded 40 years of meritorious service Dr Cope is one of those living treasures that few institutions have ... Happy Birthday, Dr Cope

The Wisdom of De Cope and June and my parents is reflected in the story about Robert Redford who turns 75 next month. He still directs, only occasionally performs and remains, as always, protective of his private persona. One of the slogans I remember when I was a kid was, 'It doesn't matter how you win or lose it's how you play the game'," he says. And I realised over time that that was a lie and that in this country everything was about winning. That's when I was able to make my own films and concentrate on the subject of winning and how that affected human beings." In Surratt's instance, the effect was a seemingly unjust death after a trial in which her guilt or innocence was not truly tested. Redford points to Stanton's contravention of the US Constitution as his win, achieving what he thought would save the union at a fragile moment in its formative years.
"The fact that the rule of law was the only thing we had to hold this country in place morally I found an interesting story," Redford says. "This was an example of how the Constitution was rearranged to satisfy political interests at that time." The contemporary parallels are obvious but Redford invokes them anyway, pointing to the "constant threats" to the US Constitution through some "pretty big events in American history that were threats to the moral standing of our country", including McCarthyism, the John F. Kennedy assassination, Watergate and the Iran-Contra affair.
You have these patterns that have repeated themselves over time. And it's usually the same people, the same mentality, the same personalities that threaten that. . I find that interesting because I suspect that if we as Americans had a better value of history we wouldn't be repeating these things but I think we have a short-term memory.
As the friendliest and considerate President in my time in NSW Parliament, Johno Johnson, noted: In 1991 Dr Russell Cope, the Parliamentary Librarian, concluded 40 years of meritorious service Dr Cope is one of those living treasures that few institutions have ... Happy Birthday, Dr Cope

Dodd-Frank - What If the Federal Reserve Can't Pull Any More Tricks From Its Sleeves? The Financial Printer Diaries: Tales of an Era Gone By - Part 1
A few months ago, I blogged a "Farewell to Bowne" and posted a poll about "your favorite financial printer moment." In response to the poll, 69% responded that free food was their favorite (no surprise!); 41% said tedious arguments over commas and periods; 19% said brushing up on proofing; 5% said good facetime with partners and 10% said sleeping in the bathroom.


In addition, I received many emails with specific memories, some of which are repeated below - please keep them coming and I will only blog them if you give me permission:
- My favorite memory is an experience done a hundred times melded into one memory: the clearing of the blue line, just before printing the final prospectus (you know, when nobody is left at the printer other than a couple of lawyers and accountants with sometimes a guest appearance by the junior analyst from the investment bank to make sure their name is spelled correctly on the cover of the 424). Ah, peace.
- My favorite story involves the hubris of a first-year associate from a large, very prestigious firm that shall go unnamed, in the early-ish days of constant cell phone use. This was about a decade ago, in mid-2000 or so, and it was dinnertime after the deal ended and I was having a brief meal before heading home, and he was having a few beers with a colleague before heading out, and we overheard him calling the front desk on his cellphone from the lunchroom and attempting to order a car, and totally confounding the front desk since he wasn't walking a few doors down to ask for the car or calling on the printer's phone, but using his cell phone. And he was a little tipsy. In the end, it devolved down to a "do you know who I am" moment on his part, after which he stated very loudly "I am a ____ associate", as if it was time for whoever was on the other line at the front desk to bow down to him and call that car - fast. That was an iconic moment, a classic "I don't want to be that entitled person" story.
- I spent many long hours at Bowne of Dallas, which had nice cushy chairs, a huge projection TV and free Pac Man and Ms Pac Man game tables (now that gives you the timeframe). Good BBQ for meals, too.
- I sure have a lot of good memories of lawyers, accountants and bankers working nights shoulder-to-shoulder at the printers in the '70's and 80's. In Cleveland, our printer was originally known as The Judson Brooks Company, which was later acquired by Bowne. We all knew some of the owners and most of the staff like family. They had a couple of cots separated by curtains in the back where you could catch a few hours' shut-eye before leaving for the dawn flight to DC with the SEC filing package. We did the red-lining on the plane. Many the nights I called my wife to let her know I would be working late and spending the night at "The Judson Hilton."
- Going to the printer was one on the best things about being a securities lawyer. Unlike everyone else in the world, financial printers loved lawyers and would do most anything to make them happy. I love you.


Going to the printer was one on the best things about being a securities lawyer ; A Dearth of Whistleblower Complaints? ;
Link to WSJ List of Top 50 U.S. Banks: KeyCorp's CEO Beth Mooney; Worldwide financial meltdown or note women rule KeyCorp's CEO Beth Mooney ;
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law one year ago today. Many significant provisions become effective today. Many more aspects of the law remain to be implemented through regulation. Happy Birthday, Dodd-Frank!
• • The Federal Register version of the final regulation identifies comments -- both pro and con -- which have been received by the OCC in response to the proposed regulation issued May 25, 2011.
Key points:
* The preemption shield has been eliminated for operating subsidiaries of national banks as well as op subs of federal savings associations.
* Federal thrifts can no longer avail themselves of "field preemption." Their preemption standard is the same as that for national banks.
* The OCC removed language from its 2004 regulations which differed from that articulated in the Dodd-Frank Act and in the Barnett Bank of Marion County , N.A. v. Nelson case (rejected language called for preemption of state laws that "obstruct, impair, or condition a national bank's powers) and substituted the language from Dodd-Frank and Barnett: calling for federal preemption of any state law that "prevents or significantly interferes with the exercise by the national bank of its powers."
* The OCC still contends that, although it is changing the language of its regulation, it did not need to repeal the 2004 regulations that were essentially "gutted" by Dodd Frank. The OCC opines that all the prior preemption determinations remain in effect because the Dodd-Frank standard is not limited to the "prevents or significantly interferes" standard, but rather encompasses all the reasoning of the Barnett case and the OCC's interpretation of that case, which OCC says remains unchanged. This is sure to provoke controversy.
* The OCC also contends that the existing categories of state laws that are preempted remain valid because they represent the OCC's review of the impact of each law. The OCC says that the Dodd-Frank requirement for "case-by-case" preemption determinations will only affect future preemption determinations.
* The final regulation revises the OCC's 2004 visitorial powers rule to conform to the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Cuomo v. Clearing House Association, L.L.C. The new OCC regulations follow the Dodd-Frank provisions that make it clear that a state attorney general may bring an action against a national bank in a court of appropriate jurisdiction to enforce applicable laws. ; Several people asked what I thought about humor in legal writing, a topic I touch on in my Academic Legal Writing book. Here’s my thinking on the subject:
Humor can be valuable: It can keep the reader interested, put the reader in a good mood, and make the reader feel something of a psychological link to the author. Humor in article titles can also help the article be more eye-catching and more memorable. I still remember an article title I saw in the early 1990s, “One Hundred Years of Privacy”; this both communicated the article’s essence (a look back on the privacy tort a century after Warren and Brandeis first proposed it), and humorously alluded to the novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” Humor in Legal Writing
• • • The "ostrich defense," "idiot defense," or "Sergeant Schultz (I know nothing, I see nothing, I hear nothing) defense" is being asserted again -- this time by Rupert Murdoch in his testimony before the U.K. Parliament's Culture, Media, and Sport Committee yesterday. The "ostrich defense," "idiot defense ; Norwegian Terror Suspect Arrested Motives May Be Nationalist and Anti-Islamic
• • • Mary Lou Byrne is the project coordinator of Mosman Library's new interactive, online visual history project, Mosman Faces. The project will be launched next week as part of Library and Information Week Big day for book lovers at library ; Digital Librarians

Thursday, March 10, 2011



Few weeks before the NSW Elections the legendry anti-corruption campaigner, John Hatton warned the people of Bermagui, Make sure that neither of the big parties get a majority in both houses of parliament. Voting Independent in the Upper House is your insurance for good government ... For example, I want to see a Public Works Committee, a Public Accounts Committee and a Public Service Commission which is not under government control. This will enable projects, expenditure and management to be put under a non-government spotlight. The public service at the moment centred in the Premier’s Department is to a large extent made up of people appointed - not to manage efficiently - but to be puppets delivering favours to big political donors John Hatton speaks about clean government
Candidates will be hoping for an advantageous position when the ballot papers draws for the Legislative Assembly and Council are held soon after the nominations close at midday John Hatton Team is in Left Side of the Paper - Group C

And at the other end of the spectrum the group led by former independent MP and corruption fighter John Hatton could take votes from the Greens. VOTE FOR JOHN HATTON




John Waters - Political wild cards shuffled John HATTON: Hatmobile - Parliamentary Underbelly Series
Mr Hatton was joined by actor John Waters, who played the corruption fighter in the most recent Underbelly series. "I was moved by the fact that I was portraying a man who obviously had a lot of courage to stand up and do what he did," Mr Waters told reporters.

John Waters Media

Mr Hatton, a former South Coast MP, said he would bring "openness and accountability" to NSW politics as "somebody who says it as it is and is not afraid to take on the big money and the button pushers".


The underbelly in NSW politics is very real [Pauline Hanson's bid to enter NSW politics has shone a welcome spotlight on the upper house, anti-corruption campaigner and independent candidate John Hatton says Hanson shines light on upper house: Hatton; Our support rises straight out of the community and our contact with the community is grassroots, he said, explaining that his team and its 'Hatmobile' is travelling across NSW to gather support Hatmobile ; John Hatton is one of Australia's most courageous politicians ever: The Forgotten People; What issues will change the way you vote at the NSW Election? ]
• · Openness and accountability ; John Hatton who opened with a fiery condemnation of corruption in the approvals process for mining and CSG extraction ; Special Gasland screening hosted by John Hatton
• · · Corruption fighter rallies Moruya troops ; Well-known Wollongong lawyer David Swan has launched a bid for the NSW upper house at this month's state election ; Saturday’s Illawarra Mercury helpfully featured opinion polls conducted by local outfit IRIS of each of the five state electorates on the paper’s turf, each with sample sizes of 400 and margins of error approaching 5 per cent. To speak Illawarra
• · · · NSW election minus 16 days ; Pauline Hanson and the NSW Legislative Council election
• · · · · LIBERAL Leader Barry O'Farrell has this morning revealed a family member's struggle with a mental illness helped to inspire the Coalition's health care policy. Barry O'Farrell reveals his family battle with mental illnes ; JUST hours before the NSW government moved into caretaker mode last week, the Planning Minister, Tony Kelly, approved four separate developments at Barangaroo, dealing another blow to critics attempting to stall the project.Minister ran down clock for approvals ; Newspoll has the Gillard government’s primary support a Keneallyesque 30, the Coalition on 45 and Greens 15. Distributing preferences as they flowed at last year’s election comes to 54 to 46 in the Coalition’s favour. Tables here. Newspoll history repeats
• · · · · · A total of 809 candidates have nominated for the NSW Election, 498 candidates for the 93 Legislative Assembly electorates and 311 for the 21-member Legislative Council election. The 498 Assembly candidates is down from 537 in 2007, 661 in 2003 and a record 732 in 1999. The big change in numbers for the 2011 election is the disappearance of Unity and Australians Against Further Immigration. The Australian Democrats have nominated only one Assembly candidate, down from 26 in 2007. There are an extra 21 Independents compared to 2007 and 29 more Christian Democrat candidates, the party standing a record 86 candidates. Family First are also contesting their first NSW election with 15 lower house candidates. The Legislative Council has seen numbers fall from 20 columns with 333 candidates in 2007 to 17 columns and 311 candidates in 2011. The Liberal/National Coalition have drawn the prize first column Group A on the ballot paper, Independent John Hatton has drawn Group C, while Pauline Hanson is in Group J. Summary of Nominations for the NSW Election ; The Largest Swings in Australian History - the Measuring Post for NSW 2011 ; THE sale of public assets should be put to a public vote

Smiling John

Saturday, February 12, 2011



The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid 'dens of crime' that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the offices of a thoroughly nasty business concern.
-C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Dennis Atkins of the Courier-Mail reports the internal inquiry into Labor’s 2010 election fiasco being conducted by Bob Carr, Steve Bracks and John Faulkner “could open up selection of election candidates to the public”, American primaries style. This has always struck me as being the last bad solution for much of what ails the party, in view of the terminal membership decline of major political parties generally. NSW E*ection

When I was 22, I knew it all. Now few decades later, I find myself relating to the Judy Collins lyrics I sang at 20 all too well.
I’ve looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall.
I really don’t know life at all THE WHO: WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN ; The litmus test is the collision of stewardship and self-interest.

Perspective: New Age, New Morals, New Leaders
To speak of "moral leadership " in today's world seems a contradiction in terms. Almost every day, headlines tell of the disgrace, downfall, imprisonment or forced resignation of a political, corporate, religious, or community leader somewhere.
The new paradigm for leadership means that leaders today must be chiefly concerned with giving service to their community -- rather than advancing their own ideas, careers or sense of privilege.


The corruption of leadership takes many forms. There are those who seek to use positions of power to accumulate wealth, undermine rivals, or win sexual favors. There are those who use their authority to advance some particular cause at the expense of justice to other ideas. There are those who care more for partisan advantage than the discovery of truth. There are those who seek to dominate out of a base desire to manipulate and control others. And there are those who abuse positions of advantage simply because they have not reflected on the true purpose of leadership.


• Leaders like Vaclav Havel see the culmination dissent in the formation of a “genuine community” Leadership [What combines Risk, Corruption and Incentives – and Leadership; Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life. The dissident does not operate in the realm of genuine power at all. He is not seeking power. He has no desire for office and does not gather votes. He does not attempt to charm the public, he offers nothing and promises nothing. He can offer, if anything, only his own skin -- and he offers it solely because he has no other way of affirming the truth he stands for. His actions simply articulate his dignity as a citizen, regardless of the cost Vaclav Havel ]
• · Sensuality, along with Mystery and Intimacy, is one of the three magic ingredients in a Lovemark. Sight, scent, hearing, touch and taste are gateways to the emotions and a powerful means of connecting with the consumer. Each sense is profoundly complex, to a point where they defy description and easily slip from your grasp when you try to pin them down. Why is it easier to imagine what a lemon tastes like than to imagine what it smells like? ; Love is the only proper measure of a year in a human life.
• · · Jason Whittaker of Zoamorphosis has posted the first review of Blake and Kierkegaard: Creation and Anxiety. Many thanks for his timely and professional review Blake and Kierkegaard: Creation and Anxiety ; The McGuire brothers are a study in contrasts - one a succesful personality the other about to be a politician Eddie and Frank McGuire: good cop, bad cop
• · · · Here’s a note to all the news directors around the country: Do you want to save some money? Well then bring home your journalists following Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard, because they are not doing anything of any worth except having a round-the-country twitter and booze tour. Election 2010: Day 14 (or waste and mismanagement - the media);By now you’ve probably heard about social media and how it’s making celebrities out of mild mannered public servants and chirpy journalists who think in 140 character bursts. Maybe you’re wondering whether a witty and intelligent person like yourself could also become an internet celebrity. The good news is YOU CAN! Becoming a popular blogger is easy, unremunerative and unthankful, but easy
• · · · · Writing is a creative act between the writer and the reader. Ad hominem comment threads brutalise that relationship. you can’t be a blonde and have a PhD! ; Prostitute, concubine, mistress, wife: the boundaries are blurred in this study Art – History - Mistresses through the ages
• · · · · · THE advice from one of the country's most respected legal practitioners to the Governor-General is simple: "Let the people decide." Former Federal Treasurer and member of the Australian Gulf Council’s advisory team, Peter Costello with AGC chairman Alastair Walton; United Arab Emirates Foreign Trade Minister, Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, and former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, at an Dubai summit in December where Mr Hawke presented Her Excellency with an RM Williams leather briefcase. Arab farm investment push; WE thought 2010 would be a pivotal year, and we were right. It saw profound political shocks in Australia, Britain and the US. And it was the year China seemed to tire of Deng Xiaoping's injunction that the rising giant should bide its time, and began to assert its interests aggressively. Waning West; Californians used to be an optimistic and self-confident breed, their home a harbinger of America’s utopian future. Today, however, the Golden State exudes hopelessness

Friday, January 02, 2009



Shaw PS - showing the way? Ian McPhee of Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) fame, noted last year My presentation today is intended to provide a broad perspective on public sector governance to act as a 'spring board' for the more specific aspects of governance that will be addressed in later sessions. I mainly refer to governance in the context of agencies (where the CEO generally reports to a Minister), rather than statutory authorities (where the CEO generally reports to a board) given the more limited information available relating to agency governance. Barbers and Bullies

We should expect the worst, but hope for the best New Media Dragons Bring Out Best Of Traditional Journalism
Arianna Huffington, creator of the popular blog, The Huffington Post, believes that both old and new media are joining forces to bring out the best in one another.

According to Ms. Huffington, bloggers are growing in stature in the world of traditional media, while journalists are increasingly moving into the world of blogging. "There's this real convergence, where basically you found that the best and most accurate rose to the top, whether it originated from Time magazine or from Nate Silver's 538.com, which did not exist before the election," she told Reuters, referring to the 538.com Web site that gathered and analyzed political polling data during the 2008 election."The convergence is going to keep growing, as we saw in this election period, two years and four years from now, I'm sure," she added.


They have to share the power.; [Love and Consequences etc Famous Literary Hoaxes: Whatever you do, don't blame Oprah; It's the latest story that touched, and betrayed, the world Oprah Fooled Again ]
• · In media circles, there is a joke about facts that are too good to check. This week Oprah Winfrey and the New York publishing industry stumbled on yet another unverified account in the form of a Holocaust survivor who said his future wife had helped him stay alive while he was imprisoned as a child in a Nazi concentration camp by throwing apples over the fence to him. Nearly three years ago Ms. Winfrey was famously duped by James Frey, the author of “A Million Little Pieces,” his memoir of drug addiction and recovery in which he embellished several details; for example, he wrote that he had spent nearly three months in jail when in fact he had been held for a few hours. An outraged Ms. Winfrey rebuked Mr. Frey on television, telling him that he “betrayed millions of readers.” As Another Memoir Is Faked, Trust Suffers ; We run out and buy these books and then we get kicked in the teeth
• · Woman's struggles, cancer blog connect with others worldwide Local woman's blog has global impact; How do you make a go of blogging?
• · · These same media, however, have turned a blind eye to much more significant literary hoaxes. These include Alex Haley's counterfeit "Roots," Rigoberta Menchu's Nobel Prize-winning fraud, "I Rigoberta," Margaret Mead's fanciful "Coming of Age in Samoa," and leftist superstar Edward Said's repeated claims of being a Palestinian refugee. Memoir, meet the fact checker. Fact-checker, meet the memoir. ; Bigger frauds to fry than Rosenblat
• · · · I went straight to Google and typed in Fake Memoirs. Like a mushroom that sprouted up overnight, a stub on Herman Rosenblat had popped up at the top Wikipedia’s list of notorious authors of fake memoirs and journals Laurie Fendrich, a painter who lives and works in New York; How wonderful to have no scratches on your face. Yet difficult, too, I imagine. How pleasant it must be to be pleasant. How lovely to be lovely.
• · · · · The Bush administration's decision to drop planned anti-money laundering (AML) regulations aimed at the $2 trillion hedge fund industry has been denounced as "inexplicable, ill-timed and unwise" by Democrat Senator Carl Levin. Withdrawal of hedge fund AML rules "inexplicable"; ANDREW PEACOCK who was once married to a Rossiter girl. had a special friendship with Shirley MacLaine in 1978 but Australia's relations with the United States were far from intimate. Foreign affairs with a spicy tang; The holiday season can be a bit of a bummer for die-hard theater lovers Song Lyrics and Memoirs for All Seasons

• · · · · · Carrie Fisher won’t let you feel sorry for her, which is greatly to her credit in this age of needy, tell-all celebrity memoirs, but neither can she relax or stop joking. She writes: “If my life wasn’t funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable… The title of Carrie Fisher’s funny, sardonic little memoir is a bit misleading. Drinking seems to have been the least of her problems. Pills were more her thing, and for a while hallucinogens. As a teenager, she dropped so much acid that her parents called in the greatest LSD expert they knew: Cary Grant. Princess Leia’s Wit Tames the Dark Side: When two celebrities mate, something like me is the result ; In the end, one is never really sure what one is supposed to be taking from this book: whether one is reading the memoirs of someone who has shared a significant number of curious, thought provoking moments with the religious, or whether one is meant to be engaging in something like an 'edgy quest for meaning'. In any case, the experience may well leave one with their own sense of 'nothing'. Since Nietzsche wrote of the death of God, the question of valuing 'value' itself has been a central concern of western thinking


You're not going to read a book
You're going to cross the Iron Curtain

The tale, not the teller,
is what matters most ...

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