The Continuing IRS Scandal

There's a great collection of story links at TaxProf Blog. 

He has followed it with an update of additional links.

Claire Berlinski: On Thatcher and More

Peter Robinson interviews Claire Berlinski about Margaret Thatcher and much more:

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five

[I recently finished Berlinski's book on Thatcher and highly recommend it.]

Grade Inflation

B or even C performance can receive a grade of A when the scorer:

• Doesn't know what A performance is.
• Doesn't want to learn about A performance.
• Doesn't believe grades are that important.
• Has low expectations.
• Is eager to avoid conflict.
• Is trying to encourage the individual and believes a lower grade would be demoralizing.
• Likes the individual and is inclined to approve of any work that is produced.

Quote of the Day

The world is more malleable than you think and it's waiting for you to hammer it into shape.

- Bono

"Our Story in Two Minutes"

Check out this video at Law Latte. Quite impressive. There will be a quiz.

"I know this beach like the back of my hand"

From The Smithsonian (in 2012): The story of the prime minister who disappeared. An excerpt:

On the gusty afternoon of December 17, 1967, a group of five adults arrived at Cheviot Beach, near Portsea, Victoria, and strolled along the Bass Strait beneath the warm Australian sun. Harold Holt was eager for a swim, and after stepping behind a rock outcrop in the sand dunes, he emerged wearing a pair of blue swim trunks. Marjorie Gillespie and her daughter, Vyner, both in bikinis, turned to the water and noticed that the surf, at high tide, was higher than they’d ever seen it.

Outside

I spent the day outside yesterday.  The weatherman called for storms, so it was a beautiful day.  Flats of flowers were procured and planted, flower boxes were filled along with the odd assortment of flower pots we've collected over the years.  I purchased a power washer (doesn't everyone need a power washer?) and new mower blades, tore out a tired old rhododendron, trimmed some bushes.  I weeded and mowed and tinkered and puttered and did almost everything I could do to stay outside.

Read the rest of Kurt Harden's post at Cultural Offering, a truly essential blog.

Find Something Beautiful Today

Entertainment Break

The trailers for:

• "16 Blocks"
• "The Red Violin"
• "The Town"
• "High Noon"
• "The Twelve Chairs"
• "Midnight in Paris"
• "Say Anything"

Built-In Burden

As I started to outline the structure of an organization I've been studying, one thing was evident: Although the organization claimed that it wanted both functions A and B, a heavy bias on behalf of A was decidedly a burden on B's making any serious progress and yet B was the more important activity if the organization as a whole was to be secure.

There were several reasons for this. Once upon a time, A was all the organization had to do. As a result, it developed a strong A orientation and the top executives reflected that mindset. The B function was regarded as secondary and intellectually inferior even though it was more of a money-maker. Executives gave cautious lip-service to B, but - unless carefully watched - would quickly slip into their default A mode. Many of the board members had a similar disposition and longed for the old days when A was all that needed to be done and competition was rare.

Much needs to be done to get the necessary changes in place. The question now is whether to force a knock-down, drag-out fight over the A and B priorities or instead simply to get the changes in motion that will correct the imbalance and let those do their stuff.

I'm still thinking about this one.