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The hippies, claimed economist Andrew Oswald recently, are having their quiet revenge on how money doesn't make people happy But marriage, sex, socializing and even middle age do

Daniel Gilbert Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Sausage? and how money can't make you happy, but making the right comparisons can; when it comes money and happiness, economists and psychologists have got it all wrong; why don't men love women with money? Arianna Huffington finds out; does money make you more attractive? Dan Savage investigates an article on the economics of prostitution; neuroscientists are poking holes in old-fashioned economics; and much more.

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Olympics are a sporting bacchanalia
During the Olympics, the mirror neurons of whole nations will be electrically identical

At about the same time that Homer invented the epic hero, the Greeks started a religious festival dedicated to Zeus. The Gods, they decided, might like to see the human form in motion. Naked men competed in a single race, 200 yards long. The winner received a branch of wild olives. The Greeks called this celebration the Olympics

• To Tiger Woods [And yes, Soviet Communism is just getting started. Will Wilkinson on solidarity: More than a feeling. Solidarity: More Than a Feeling ; Think again. Communism isn't an ideology but a religion; like Christianity it has its saints, its scriptures, and its iconography Manifesto for the dawn of communism ]
• · The sad fact of political science is that politics trumps economics—and always will, unfortunately Politics Trumps Economics? ; THERE is a growing perception that company directors and executives are self-interested actors, using their positions to pursue their own ends rather than what is best for the company and its shareholders. Positive thinking to beat bad apples
• · · Pricing Corruption ; What will it take to wake us up to the ever-tightening grip of oligopolies over ever more of our global marketplaces? Wake Up To Old-Fashioned Power of New Oligopolies
• · · · THE Reserve Bank has thrown its weight behind the NSW campaign to claw back billions of dollars in GST siphoned each year to other states, because the NSW economy "has fallen behind the pack" NSW is getting ripped off: Iemma ; Anyone who thinks that the federal income tax code is baffling now ought to brace for what lies ahead: big changes and uncertainty Cracking the Tax Code; And you have $1. How should you spend it to do the most good? Bang for Your Buck
• · · · · On the 20th anniversary of Perestroika, a rare book appears: Marx and Russia. Still no history of Marxism written in Russia ; The emerging Cold War on Asia's high seas ; The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion U.S. Has Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies
• · · · · · Australia's top spies were in the dark about the Iraqi wheat bribes scandal, the government said on Sunday, as it continued to deny knowledge of kickbacks by wheat exporter AWB Ltd. Spies in the dark about AWB bribes ; On how the Western democracies, so keen on exporting their political model to the rest of the world, seem to be perfecting the art of shooting themselves in the foot. In the name of democracy ; Seven Questions: Domestic Spying ; Who love to spy on whom in the world community Who Do You Love?

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Unfortunately, I announce my client won't be answering bail, he was murdered last night Murder stops underworld trial

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: The myths about shared parenting
On the face of it, such sensible proposals might be expected to meet with universal acceptance. Indeed, the average citizen might even be moved to congratulate a government on such family-friendly initiatives.

The Federal Government tables significant changes to the Family Law Act with a view to encouraging both parents after divorce to share parenting of their children. At the same time, the government announces that $400 million will be spent in setting up 65 family relationship centres across the country for the purpose of counselling couples with relationship problems and, if they decide to separate, to assist them to manage the aftermath in a sensible manner.

• Little more than a mirage: A triumph of style over substance [Has history teaching fallen victim to a politically correct, new-age approach to curriculum and are students receiving a fragmented understanding of the past? Why our greatest story is just not being told ; The cost is trivial, the gain is great Achieving a world free from want ; Personal wealth is all relative, especially in a world of virtual finance and credit ratings Want to be rich? Ask for a billion-dollar loan ]
• · Battling for political power is, to men and women of a certain temperament From loss to ideas to power ; Economics - Fred Argy - posted 27/1/2006 Joblessness and income inequality: has Australia taken the wrong turn? Victors, as Winston Churchill knew, not only write the history, they define the terms of justice. Today, with Saddam Hussein in the dock, the moral complexities of trying war criminals haven't gone away. Spoils of war
• · · The New Corporate Outsourcing Big Business has learned how to love Big Government ; Debnam repeats promise to rein in DPP
• · · · Calling the new tax commissioner to account ;
Taxing and spending, if it’s done carefully, is no bad thing, writes Nicholas Gruen What’s wrong with churning?
• · · · · Make poverty history: tackle corruption ; Immaterial Labour is seen by (post)Marxists and capitalists alike as the motor of the new economy Reality check: Are We Living In An Immaterial World? ; Ending the divorce between loyalty and family law would bring the law into line with rightly held moral standards. It would also lead to fairer property divisions and probably result in fewer divorces Time to end the divorce between loyalty and the family law
• · · · · · Centralising regulation does not always deliver the best results, argues John Quiggin Benefits of diversity ; The AWB oil-for-food scandal continues to build daily, going from bad to worse for the Howard Government. National watchdog is needed

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“We all drew on the comfort which is given out by the major works of Mozart, which is as real and material as the warmth given up by a glass of brandy."
-Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

Am I a breath of fresh air, in slow motion? Our dragons started digging up records, knocking on doors, and reaching out to trusted sources. Ultimately, however, we had too many unanswered questions and decided not to publish a story. Sparing Media dragons ... CHEERS to fighting the good intentions and fight: Confidential Sources

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Reaching for Power: There can be no rights in a democracy
Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight--
Got to kick at the darkness `til it bleeds daylight

Max Weber described politics as
a strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective. Certainly all historical experience confirms the truth--that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible. But to do that a man must be a leader, and not only a leader but a hero as well, in a very sober sense of the word.

• Even when people are satisfied, there is much left to do. Institutions must achieve the moral education of the citizens. By respecting their individual rights, securing their independence, refraining from troubling their work, they must nevertheless consecrate their influence over public affairs, call them to contribute by their votes to the exercise of power, grant them a right of control and supervision by expressing their opinions; and, by forming them through practice for these elevated functions, give them both the desire and the right to discharge these. The False Hope of Democracy [Full-fledged corporatism, as a system for organizing the formulation and implementation of economic policies Quasi-Corporatism: America’s Homegrown Fascism ; The introduction to David Runciman's The Politics of Good Intentions: History, Fear and Hypocrisy in the New World Order Did September 11, 2001, really change the world? ]
• · Recorded rates of assault and sexual assault in NSW have more than doubled in the past 15 years Sexual assault rates more than double ; AUSTRALIA'S biggest cities have become less affordable over the past year - tell me about it ;-PPPSydney pays for rise up world rankings
• · · The year 2006 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Hannah Arendt, one of the most prominent public intellectuals of the twentieth century ... It is appropriate to recall Hannah Arendt's contributions to Jewish politics and peace in the Middle East What the world outside saw; The New Geopolitics of Empire Australia, put simply, there are two types of Bill of Rights - a legislative model and a constitutional model. What price for a Bill of Rights?
• · · · Threaten One, Intimidate a Million: After provoking outrage in the Muslim world by publishing offensive cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, A couple of simple caricatures ; A Danish newspaper has apologized as the extent of the anger continued to mushroom. Denmark's Cartoon Jihad
• · · · · Kick me, I'm a Democrat: Michael Kinsley on the games politicians play. When Republicans lose elections, it is because they didn't get enough votes. When Democrats lose elections, it is because they have lost their principles and lost their way. Or they have kept their principles, which is an even worse mistake Everyone can play; Political donations: grubbiness tolerated
• · · · · · Urban myths "Much of what we think we know about sprawl is wrong" ; Donations avalanche -- time for reform