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Good marketing is partly a matter of following the rules.
Great marketing often happens by breaking the rules.
- Philip Kotler

Irony of mother of ironies ... Wristbands sold to raise money for a campaign against world poverty are made in Chinese sweatshops in "slave labour" conditions. Anti-poverty wristbands made in sweatshop

If tax can be sexy, international tax structuring is the glamour end of the industry. Glamour follows dollars, and the international financing deals into and out of Australia are where the dollars are: in deals and salaries. They reckon a tough tax system has spawned some great tax talent by Allesandra Fabro: 21/05/2005 Tough tax system spawns great talent

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: An audit of the Australian soul
I want you to call to your mind the film Seven Samurai — Akira Kurosawa’s masterful depiction of a Japan rent to pieces.

Remember how, in response to the depredations of bandits, the villagers hired as protectors seven itinerant warriors. Hold in your imagination the wind, which before our eyes tore at trees, at branches, which plucked at the cloth and bones and minds of men. In its breath, this wind carried a key message: in the absence of law and the authority of the law, only force, devastation, madness and death prevails.
Kurosawa’s villagers were fortunate that their samurai protectors embodied the ideals of nobility and sacrifice. The samurai epresented what was right: stability, security, an obligation shared between rulers and the ruled encapsulated in just law.
Yet these same villagers could equally have been ‘saved’ by a gang that hesitated not to impose malevolent rule. The rule of law, yes, but bad law and bad government.

• Human rights: fixed or fluid? [Keating is onside - Beazley ; Proposed changes to our industrial relations law by Tim Dunlop: Because they can ; The Profit of a Free-for-All ]
• · Memoirs of a Failed Diplomat by Dan Vittorio Segre published by Halban 'I used to collect real information about Israel to throw like crumbs to French journalists, while avoiding giving them the key to the stupidity of certain decisions taken by the Israeli Government.' Munching on Memories ; Primo Levi called it "taut and illuminating… memorable… written with the humility of he who confesses himself and with the honesty of he who bore witness" Sequel to Memoirs of a Fortunate Jew
• · ·
Power to the Media Dragon, sang Common Dreams in 2005 Say You Want a Revolution: Start with the Silent Warriors; Greg Barns How Howard's Party takes revenge on true liberals; John Quiggin As usual Tim Lambert does the heavy lifting
• · · · Webdiary: Was Cornelia physically or sexually abused? ; From my kitchen table, by Christine Rau
• · · · · I never served in the military. Before my son unexpectedly volunteered for the Marines, I was busy writing my novels and raising my family, and giving little thought to the men and women who guard us. My attitude has changed. I did not choose to change. I was forced to Fathers, Sons and the Lessons of War ; Caspar Weinberger, WSJ
Friendly Fire: War's Most Tragic Consequence - Of all the terrible consequences of military combat, perhaps the worst are losses caused by that awful euphemism, "friendly fire."
• · · · · · An officer who was suspended and faces dismissal from the NSW Police claims her only offence was to have complained that she had been raped by a fellow police officer Officer who cried rape fights for her job ; Cynthia Gorney, NY Times Magazine A Mothers' War ; Somebody get Jacque-strap a le hanky French Voters Deliver a Crushing Defeat to European Constitution

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Hugh Martin: Jozef Imrich is a prolific researcher. This kind of blog can become a trusted source of links; effectively he's editing the web for readers interested in the media - When are bloggers journalists?

People's No. 1 question is How do I find stuff? Most advertisers who survive know that - The advertising business is undergoing an upheaval, forcing marketers to try desperately to stay ahead of technological innovations Advertisers Want Something Different

The Blog, The Press, The Media: Always on Google

Kudos to Google for succeeding to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

• Integrated Media Systems Center [ A new sensation is piggy-backing on the phenomenon that is the iPod: podcasting Come One, Come All: The Rise of Podcasting ; Corporate blogs have become something of a norm Another twist in blogging's fate]
• · Blogebrity: A to C list ; Ali, Rafat ; Ace ; Chris Allen
• · · Blogs Are Just the Medium, not a Profession ; What makes a blogger a blogger?
Being a blogger is a bit like being an alcoholic: if you say you are one, you are
What makes a blog a blog?
• · · · BitTorrent Creator to Launch Search Engine ; How Old Media Can Survive In a New World
• · · · · Are Bloggers Setting the Agenda? It Depends on the Scandal ; Why is it worth having a debate about whether blogging is journalism? Because, for one thing, as James Packer points out today, online companies such as Google and Yahoo! have market valuations of $US55 billion ($A72 billion) to $US60 billion while "media behemoths" such as Viacom, News Corp and Disney are capitalised at $US50 billion-$US55 billion. The dollars will follow the eyeballs
• · · · · · 'All time Greatest Aussie Bloopers'; We are at the end of the beginning in terms of the internet Online the way to go - Packer

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Australia's elected representatives have shown just how ugly IT cost-cutting exercises can become if users are not consulted. An opt-in option has produced an uneasy truce over attempts to force-march senators onto electronic documents and away from paper Parliamentary paperless coup aborted (courtesy of Catherine the Great ;-)

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: V-E Day
Prague's World War II commemorations, as usual, all but left out a band of heroes who saved the city

Good progress, this year" said a colleague at Czech TV who had been monitoring the Czech press and TV coverage of the V-E Day celebrations — also 60 years after the fall of Nazi Prague — for references to the Russian Liberation Army, the ROA, aka "Vlasov's army" after its leader, the renegade former Soviet general whose troops turned on their Nazi sponsors and made possible the liberation of Prague without the massive bloodbath and destruction that would have undoubtedly happened otherwise.

• Rewriting history [Political Affairs, on the “ultimate bullshit” which has deformed American politics since the beginnings of the cold war “Totalitarianism” or “Bullshit” ; Open Democracy, a look at the hidden history of the United Nations. The hidden history of the United Nations ]
• · David Starkoff’s blog The merits of torture ; Why Freedom? The Castle in real life
• · · At least 56 police officers are facing the sack for allegedly committing crimes such as rape, making up evidence and break and enter 56 cops face sack over crimes CityRail's train breakdowns are driving commuters insane Driven insane: 1242 train breakdowns ; Tomorrow's budget is expected to include infrastructure spending that will top last year's $7.5 billion. State budget aims at voter confidence
• · · · Via Scoop: Craig R. McCoy, Jennifer Lin and Mario F. Cattabiani of the Philadelphia Inquirer detailed the relationship between state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo and the bank he heads PSB Bancorp Inc. has served one man especially well: its chairman, Sen. Fumo ; Ames Alexander of the Charlotte Observer investigated the relationship between lawyers and judges in the North Carolina’s judicial district that is most lenient on drinking and driving. Judges Under the Influence
• · · · · Mike McAndrew and Michelle Breidenbach of the Syracuse Post-Standard analyzed records from New York’s Empire State Development Corp., which offers businesses tax breaks and other incentives to create jobs State gives away millions for jobs that never come ; Andrew Conte and Mark Houser of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review created a database from paper campaign finance filings in Pittsburgh’s mayoral race, finding that “about $1 million in campaign donations has come from people who live outside the city,” more money than came from people living in Pittsburgh Campaign dollars coming from afar
• · · · · · Lise Olsen of the Houston Chronicle compiled information on deaths at oil refineries from various sources to find that “BP leads the U.S. refining industry in deaths over the last decade, with 22 fatalities since 1995 - more than a quarter of those killed in refineries nationwide.” Fifteen of those deaths occurred in a March accident at BP’s Texas City facility BP leads nation in refinery fatalities ; Karen Augé of the Denver Post used state records to show that “nearly every agency, contractor and department that touched the state’s new $200 million computer benefits system in some way contributed to its debacle Blame aplenty in benefits mess ; Anne Applebaum The Torture Myth

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Czech out this web site with the tax rates (individual income tax, corporate income tax, and value-added tax) for 55 countries around the world. Tax Rates Around the World

There’s a lot of evidence that people aren’t always rational, and suffer from a range of cognitive biases. But thanks to arbitrage, rational people stand to profit when irrational people let prices and wages stray from efficient levels. That’s what justifies the economist’s assumption of rationality—a small number of rational profit-seekers keep markets rational as a whole even when many participants aren’t. Unfortunately, tax policy has no such mechanism. Solutions To Bad Taxes - And Bad Government

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: America Needs a Better Tax System For
Debunking the Tax Basis Myth Taxes good, market bad

For millions of Americans, the annual rite of filing taxes has become a headache of burdensome record-keeping, lengthy instructions, and complicated schedules, worksheets, and forms – often requiring multiple computations that are neither logical nor intuitive.

• PDF version Sharing the burdens and benefits of the Federal tax structure [More comprehensive tax data are available on the OECD web site OECD Tax Database ; Subscribers only: Tax reform is in the political air, but not all reforms are created equal ]
• · Top Countries for Big Business Why does business seem to thrive more in some countries than in others? Best for Business ; Do taxes matter when companies decide where to locate? In theory, yes. After all taxes are just another cost of doing business, and companies streamline whenever possible Do Companies Run from Taxes?
• · · Control of large projects, such as upgrading Parramatta Road and high-rise developments near railway stations, may be removed from councils and given to the State Government as part of plans to build more than 450,000 homes in existing suburbs over the next 25 years. Councils to lose control of more sites ; Great leaders elevated by those they lead What Leadership Lessons Can We Learn From Alexander The Great?
• · · · Brogden wants 18,000 jobs axed; The sexual irony of the calendar is clever – the picture on the site is captioned “Are your butts covered? We thought ours were too!” In today’s PC world, this is definitely a shot across the bow cockpit. Stewardesses Stripped
• · · · · Not all characteristics VCs look for in an investment actually help a company succeed; some may just reveal value the company already had. In a world of ruthless efficiency weeding out evolutionary misfits, why in the world would a peacock evolve such a big, clumsy tail? Sex, of course. Why Are Startups Like Peacocks? ; As the monetary costs fall, the most important impediments to a transaction are non-monetary: search costs and psychic costs. Cold River Peppered with Matchmaker, Matchmaker: Of Searches and Psychics: The Costs of Long Tail Businesses
• · · · · · Which is bigger: Ad Dollars Spent on Outdoor Advertising or Online? ; What Keeps Us Where We Work?

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In Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, Mr Micawber suggests that a humble sixpence may define the difference between happiness and misery: if your income is sixpence more than you spend, that's happiness; if it is a sixpence less, misery Interview - Peter Costello

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Beazley can't afford to buy a Sydney home
Labor leader Kim Beazley will rent a $625-a-week apartment in inner-city Pyrmont after stating he cannot afford to buy in Sydney.

Mr Beazley said the experience of trying to find a property had left him sympathetic towards Sydneysiders trying to enter the property market. I have a real understanding of how difficult it is for people in Sydney in finding affordable accommodation to rent or buy.

Unlike Prime Minister John Howard's stately residence in Kirribilli, Mr Beazley's future apartment is small and unassuming
• As Opposition Leader, Mr Beazley earns $197,524 a year [Malcolm Fraser handed a pile of personal papers and documents from his prime ministerial years to Melbourne University last week: The provisions would well accord with old-fashioned Communist states with tyrannical dictatorships We all need to take a long, hard look at ourselves to see what our governments have executed in our name ; Bizarre as lack of breastfeeding is causing all kinds of problems for children in a long term yet women are encouraged to head for work as soon as they can. Many have no choice as the mortgage is like the hang man waiting ...Child-care incentive to entice sole parents to work ]
• · Ray Cooper, former head of operations for the AFP's internal investigations, told the Nine Network it was well known by the AFP that unwitting passengers were being used as `mules' to shift drugs between Australian domestic airports AFP involved in drug smuggling: ex-detective ; Gaps in Corby prosecution: drug squad chief
• · · In explosive allegations, this former senior AFP officer accuses the Australian Federal Police of shutting down his attempts to investigate such drug trafficking at Australian domestic airports. He explains how his investigations included intelligence suggesting that corrupt NSW and AFP officers were working in league with corrupt airport staff to smuggle drugs into and around Australia Schapelle Corby: A question of innocence; Bali Nine key members smuggled before
• · · · Police have confirmed that all 15 people on board a plane that crashed in far north Queensland are dead No survivors at plane crash site ; The NSW Labor Party has halted all recruitment of new party members in the electorate of Strathfield held by Virginia Judge, the former local mayor No Political Survivors at Strathfield 'stacking'
• · · · · Questions for Richard Florida: The level of immigrants speaks for itself. Sydney has become a hub of talent in the Asia Pacific (region). It has built up its universities and attracted foreign students. Sydney also scores highly on the Gay, Bohemian and Creative indexes. Lauren was born and bred in Sydney and it is amazing how the beat of the city could not be erased even though tropical Queensland was a four year break from the stress of the city. Life is an extreme of feast and famines if you have time you have no money and if you have money you have no time ;-) Why is Sydney attractive: Time-poor v, Time-rich; Folks risk the house for kids' mortgages
• · · · · · Opposition Leader John Brogden has criticised the State Chamber of Commerce for joining forces with the Carr Government in its brawl with the Federal Government over GST funding Brogden angry with chamber: Margy Osmond ; A judgement finds the Government guilty of systemic breaches of its duty of care to mentally ill asylum seekers in Baxter and condemns its outsourcing policy, which Labor promised to abolish at the last election Government policy deepened asylum seekers' mental illness