171 Matching Annotations
  1. Jan 2024
    1. In addition, between approximately 2015 and 2018, SAP, through certain of its agents, engaged in a scheme to bribe Indonesian officials to obtain improper business advantages for SAP in connection with various contracts between and among SAP and Indonesian departments, agencies, and instrumentalities, including the Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan (the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) and Balai Penyedia dan Pengelola Pembiayaan Telekomunikasi dan Informatika (an Indonesian state-owned and state-controlled Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency).

      Korupsi proyek digitalisasi.

  2. Dec 2023
    1. Will artificial intelligence create useless class of people? - Yuval Noah Harari

      1:00 "bring the latest findings of science of the public", otherwise the public space "gets filled with conspiracy theories and fake news and whatever".<br /> he fails to mention that ALL his beautiful "scientists" are financially dependent on corporations, who dictate the expected results, and who sabotage "unwanted research".<br /> for example, the pharma industry will NEVER pay money for research of natural cancer cures, or "alternative" covid cures like ivermectin / zinc / vitamin C, because these cures have no patent, so there is no profit motive, and also because the "militant pacifists" want to fix overpopulation this way.<br /> a "scientist" should be someone, who has all freedom to propose hypotheses, which then are tested in experiments (peer review), and compared to real placebo control groups. because that is science, or "the scientific method". everything else is lobbying for "shekel shekel".

  3. Nov 2023
  4. Oct 2023
  5. Sep 2023
    1. 54:30 Max utopian in his head, trust in random people

      • see index zk on Apollonian and Dionysian theory (idealism, good or bad?)

      57:00 inherently, people are good, but they get corrupted (good and evil)

      57:44 “there is some light” (life can be good): see zk 9 section on light & darkness

  6. Aug 2023
  7. Jul 2023
    1. four mitigating factors that make power appear to corrupt when something else is actually going on.
      • four mitigating factors that make power appear to corrupt when something else is actually going on.
        • dirty hands
          • people in power often are faced with no good alternatives and your hands will appear dirty, even when you choose the lesser of the evils
        • the idea of learning
          • authoritarian leaders are new to the job in the beginning and they have to learn to be good at being bad. Their leadership may appear to get worse but they are just learning how to be more effectively ruthless - on-the-job training
        • the problem of opportunity
          • a scaling effect. A leader of a country has far more people they can harm with his/her decision than a janitor.
        • the problem of scrutiny
          • people in power get more scrutiny
          • if you are not in power, you could be committing a crime but never get caught because you are not scrutinized to the same degree - think Donald Trump
    2. most of what we do when we look at power is we say, "This person is bad, let's get them out." And then we end up with another bad person a few minutes later or a few months later. And as a result of that, we end up replicating the exact same problems over and over and over.
      • we look at a bad person
      • try to get rid of him/her
      • when we do, then another bad person ends up in the role
      • this is because we are treating the symptom, not the root cause
    3. And so when we have this simplistic view of power, we're missing the story. What you really need is a system that attracts the right kind of people 01:18:20 so that the diplomats who are clean and nice and rule-following end up in power. Then you need a system that gives them all the right incentives to follow the rules once they get there. And then if you do have people who break the rules, there needs to be consequences. So the study from UN diplomats and their parking behavior actually, I think, illuminates a huge amount of very interesting dynamics around power,
      • how to create a system that mitigates abuse, based on the UN diplomat parking example
        • create a system that attracts the right kind of people so that the people who are clean and nice and rule-following end up in power.
        • Give them all the right incentives to follow the rules once they get there.
        • If you do have people who break the rules, there needs to be consequences.
    4. the reason I focus on the system so much is not just because it's something that's so important, it is, but also because it's the most straightforward thing to change. Trying to change a psychopath or trying to change a bad leader is hard.
      • key insight
        • changing a psychopath is hard
        • changing a system that produces the psychopath is easier
    5. systems make an enormous difference. Systems make a difference on a few levels. The first is that rotten systems attract rotten people.
      • key finding
        • rotten systems attract rotten people
        • good systems attract good people
    6. if we want to end up with a world that is shaped by the best of us, rather than very often the worst of us, we have to think carefully, we have to engineer a system.
      • key insight
      • quote
        • if we want to end up with a world that is shaped by the best of us, rather than very often the worst of us,
          • we have to think carefully, we have to engineer a system.
          • think of the worst person for the job position you are hiring for
          • design the system to
            • screen that person out
            • if they do manage to get in, have oversight that can eliminate them from the post
            • have a system in place that looks upwards to the top position to scrutinize them and hold them accountable
    7. when we design systems in an intelligent way, we can screen out 00:11:09 and topple the Martin McFifes of this world.
      • key strategy
        • design system to screen out power hungry people
    8. Lord Acton
      • quote
        • power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely
      • Author
        • Lord Acton
      • Context
        • Lord Acton coined the term to whiitewash the brutality o Spanish Inquisition
  8. Dec 2022
    1. Blackstone

      Some important points about Blackstone:

      • In separate cases in 2018 and 2019, the hotel chain Motel 6, owned by Blackstone, agreed to settle for a total of $19.6 million for giving guest lists to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without a warrant.
      • The company has invested in companies with links to the commercialization and deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
      • In 2019, a United Nations report found that Blackstone's massive purchasing of single-family homes after the financial crisis of 2007–2008 had "devastating consequences." The report alleged that Blackstone had abused tenants with exorbitant fees, rent hikes, and aggressive eviction practices, and that Blackstone's real estate practices had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, in part because the company targeted foreclosures resulting from subprime loans.
      • In July 2020, Blackstone invested US$200m in the Swedish oat milk brand, Oatly, for a 7% stake in the company, triggering outrage among some segments of its customer base.
  9. Jul 2022
    1. Strategic ignorance is effective because it is hard to detect; hard to point out without seeming conspiratorial; and hard to prosecute because perpetrators successfully efface the evidence that could indict them, or, importantly, they thwart inconvenient evidence from emerging in the first place, like Blair’s halting of the BAE Systems inquiry. Most troublingly, we don’t empirically know how often strategic ignorance works and just how effective it is, because the most "successful" examples of strategic ignorance are, quite literally, the tactics that work so well that they can never be detected.

      The former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma tried to shut down investigations into corruption that he was engaged in but democratic advocates won out in the end.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/23/world/africa/south-africa-corruption-jacob-zuma-cyril-ramaphosa.html

  10. Jun 2022
  11. Mar 2022
    1. This is a moment that we should seize, in all seriousness, in order to take on the two huge existential plagues that face us this morning: the climate crisis, outlined in this new IPCC report, and the fact that we have a madman with nuclear weapons who’s used the revenues from oil and gas to intimidate and terrify the entire world.

      This is the critical observation - everything is interconnected. It is a nexus of problems that requires that we deal with all dimensions of the problem simultaneously.

      Putin is the nexus of so much that is wrong with the world. He is like an octopus that has its arms in multiple crisis of the planet.

      The political polarization of the US, the ascendancy of the puppet government of Trump and the blatant cognitive dissonance of the extreme right who are impervious to facts is reminiscent of the propaganda imposed upon the Russian people themselves for one reason - it was part of Putin's master plan: https://youtu.be/FxgBuhMBXSA The US population has been split by Putin's information warfare system, the same one he uses on the Russian population.

      The fake news programmed by Russian propaganda about the Ukraine war has worked effectively to mislead the Russian populus: https://youtu.be/kELta9MLOzg The same pattern of psychological manipulation has also had the same impact in the belief system of the typical hardcore Trumpist.

    2. The same fossil fuels that are destroying the planet are precisely the thing that undermine — that underwrite the power of thugs like Vladimir Putin.

      This is the key connection between many authoritarian regimes and fossil fuel.

  12. Feb 2022
    1. από Βαξεβάνη και HOT DOC, γιατί όπως λέει το site (για να μην υπάρξει κάποιος που δεν καταλαβαίνει ποιος είναι ο στόχος) τότε δεν υπήρχε το Documento ακόμη, υπήρχε μόνο το HOT DOC.

      Δεν σήξωσε το γάντι ο Βαξεβανης με [το μπερδεμα των εφημεριδων του (https://hyp.is/D_8S1JTwEeyann-PRzCW-w/www.iefimerida.gr/ellada/ntokoymento-ihitiko-toy-bgenopoyloy-kaiei-thanoy-papaggelopoylo-kai-paradikastiko-pos-ton) στο δημοσίευαμ της iefimerida].

    2. Ταυτόχρονα βέβαια έκανε και 33 μηνύσεις σε εμένα τις οποίες έχασε στο σύνολό τους.

      Απιστευτο πως ο Βαξεβάνης "κεριδισε" 33 μηνυσεις από τον ισχυρό ανδρα της Ελλάδας που επινόησε την πατέντα πέτσα με τα ΜΜΕ!

    3. Ενώ επίκειται επίσκεψη Κύπριων ανακριτών στην Αθήνα για να ανακρίνουν τον Βγενόπουλο για υπόθεση χρηματισμού του Κεντρικού Τραπεζίτη της Κύπρου, η Τσατάνη αρχειοθετεί την υπόθεση και ο Βγενόπουλος χρησιμοποιεί την αρχειοθέτησή του για να μην ανακριθεί από τις Κυπριακές Αρχές.

      Αυτό φαίνεται να ειναι η λορυφαία πράξη διαπλοκής των "αρμών" της Δικαιοσύνης στο σκάνδαλο της MIG του Βγενόπουλου. Και έγινε ενω κυβερνούσε ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ.

    4. καταθέτει πολυσέλιδη αναφορά στον Άρειο Πάγο με την οποία καταγγέλλει τις προσπάθειες συγκάλυψης της υπόθεσης Βγενόπουλου, κατονομάζοντας την εισαγγελέα του Αρείου Πάγου Ευτέρπη Κουτζαμάνη, την Ελένη Ράικου και τη Γεωργία Τσατάνη.

      Ο Αγγελής κατονομάζει Κουτζαμάνη, Ράικου & Τσατάνη πως συγκαλύπτουν Βγενόπουλο.

    1. ένας από τους εισαγγελείς που «έθαψαν» τη δικαστική συνδρομή από την Κύπρο που αθώωνε τα δύο παραπάνω πρόσωπα.

      Δεν ηταν η Τσατάνη που αθώωσε τον Βγενόπουλο μία μερα πριν την αφιξη των Κυπρίων εισσαγγελέων και του επέτρεψε να μην ανακριθεί από αυτους??

    2. Στο "Hot Doc" και στη "Δημοκρατία"», απάντησε. Η εφημερίδα «Documento» δεν υπήρχε τότε. Εκδόθηκε τον Νοέμβριο του 2016

      Το Hot Doc πρωτοεκδόθηκε τον Απρίλιο του 2012 (από wikipedia και συνέχισε m;exri το Νοέμβριο του 2016 όπου ενσωματώθηκε ως νεθεμα στη νέα, τότε, εφημεριδα, Documento.

    3. όταν η Τσατάνη πήρε τη δικογραφία από αυτούς.

      Βεβαια η Τσατάνη "πρόλαβε" και τις διάβασε σε 3 μέρες μεσα αφότου τους πήρε τη δικογραφία, και εβγαλε αθωοτικό πόρισμα 803 σελίδων...

  13. Jan 2022
    1. Federal Trade Commission

      Come on, people. It's the "Trade Commission". They're not a health agency of any kind, they're about keeping the trade status quo. When was the last time you ever heard of a "Trade Commission" say what's not in the interest of the biggest trading partners? Great Scott, "Federal Trade Commission", "United Trade Federation" from star wars ... same thing. Yeah, that was just a movie, but the algorithm is the same ... they're run by the most powerful banking and business conglomerates to subjugate the masses for maximum profits for those who put the FTC commissioners into place, paid for with campaign contributions, soft money, under the table deals, you name it. Not a health organization, and even if it were ... it's a lobbying organization under the false guise of a research entity. Look at the historical credentials of the members. Cronyism incarnate.

      Same with FDA ... it's a regulatory agency, not a research branch of the government. The NIH ... that's a research branch (although there is cronyism there too, it's not as bad, being just research, no regulatory authority). The NIH does not agree with all the contentions here. For many of the mentioned treatments they agree, but for many others of these "treatments", although they are not cures, the NIH has repeatedly said "not enough data" to make a conclusive assessment. The NIH admits there is "scientific evidence" for some of these, although, again ... not enough in their opinin to recommend them. That's different than discouraging them and labeling them all failures.

  14. Dec 2021
    1. This paper defends the greek government decision to accept turists without test.

      Which is rather strange, since this study in Cyprus, another turistic destination, shows quiet the opposite, of variants coming from multiple countries.

  15. Nov 2021
    1. που το 2020 κατέληξε στο βούλευμα 1679/2020 του Συμβουλίου Πλημμελειοδικών Αθηνών, το οποίο αποφάνθηκε ότι η αγοραπωλησία ήταν απάτη και παρέπεμψε τα επτά άτομα που συμμετείχαν στην αγοραπωλησία σε δίκη κατηγορούμενα για κακουργήματα, η PIMANA – ενδεχομένως για να μην εμπλακεί περαιτέρω το όνομα του εμίρη του Κατάρ σε μια αποδεδειγμένη και με τη βούλα του δικαστηρίου απάτη – μεταβιβάστηκε από την κρατική επενδυτική εταιρεία του Κατάρ σε ξένη εταιρεία αγνώστου ιδιοκτήτη, με έδρα τις Παρθένες Νήσους, και λίγο μετά εμφανίστηκε στο Δ.Σ. της νέας εταιρείας το όνομα του Ευθ. Μπουλούτα, διευθύνοντα συμβούλου της Ελλάκτωρ, της μίας από τις δύο ισχυρότερες κατασκευαστικές, και αργότερα όπως ανέφερε την περασμένη Δευτέρα ο Θ. Γαλιατσάτος, το όνομα του Γεώργιου Μυλωνογιάννη, γνωστού συμβούλου του πρωθυπουργού Κυριάκου Μητσοτάκη, πρώην νομικού συμβούλου του ΤΑΙΠΕΔ και νυν προέδρου επίσης της Ελλάκτωρ.

      Ξεκαθαρη εμπολκή του πρωθυπουργικού γραφείου.

    1. Όπως και η θητεία των μελών του ΕΣΡ, αιτία της δικαίωσης των καναλαρχών στο ΣτΕ, με αποτέλεσμα νομίμως να μην καταβάλλουν τα πρόστιμα λόγω της άνευ αδειών λειτουργίας.

      Ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ στρώνει το δρόμο για να τα βρει με τους καναλάρχες.

    1. Μια από αυτές ανήκει στο ζεύγος Δεληδάκη – Γκρελλόνι. Η τελευταία είναι στέλεχος και στο fund Endeavor το οποίο είχε ιδρύσει η Μ. Γκραμπόφσκι-Μητσοτάκη, η οποία δεν είναι κρυφό ότι διατηρεί με την Αθ. Χατζηπέτρου άριστες φιλικές σχέσεις.
  16. Sep 2021
    1. The Beloit-based billionaire has publicly pushed for tax breaks and said she wants to stop the U.S. from becoming “a socialistic ideological nation.”

      I LOVE the dysfunctional thought process of this statement. This is Social Engineering 101. An educated public not drinking the cool-aid of Neoliberalism, aristocracy or silver-spoon wealth would realize the deception of that statement simply by the fact that the US is already a socialistic ideological nation in the same way the US is already a democracy or that the US is already a capitalist ideological nation. Point being: The US is like a "mutt", meaning it's not a pure bred anything and will never be a pure anything.

      The original United States through the early 1970's represented the true American experiment and dream. The US (America) created opportunity and limited support for impoverished citizens and understood the strength and meaning of leadership (taking care of it's own). Having a somewhat balanced (more perceived) societal ideology for the US allowed America's unique nature to shine strong. Modern America (early 1980's to current) is not and should not be compared to what I call the Original America. Modern America is a nation corrupted by wealth and power. Modern America does not shine brightly anymore, the experiment is over and old school European aristocracy (wealth, status, power) rules the land. The problem is the public does not realize the extent of damage done to America and will completely forget within 2 generations.

      The baby-boomer generation is the last representation of original America and makes up the largest demographic in our nations history. Boomers hold the true America in their hearts and minds. The real Patriotism and ideology derived from the original America has become the weapon of choice for those wishing to exploit the the concept of America past. Meaningless rhetoric tied to patriotic ideals is behind the controlled social engineering of today.

      The statement above is a great example of meaningless rhetorical pandering with ambiguous words and phrases from a morally corrupt 1 to 2% of the new aristocracy grabbing power in America.

    1. The tunnel far below represented Nevada’s latest salvo in a simmering water war: the construction of a $1.4 billion drainage hole to ensure that if the lake ever ran dry, Las Vegas could get the very last drop

      Deep Concept: Modern America is mostly corrupt from it's own creation of wealth. Wealth is power, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely! Money and wealth have completely changed the underlying foundation of America. Modern America is the corrupted result of wealth. Morality and ethics in modern American have been reshaped to "fit" European Aristocracy, ironically the same European aristocracy America fled in the Revolutionary War.

      Billions and billions of tax payer money is spent on projects that could never pass rigorous examination and best public ROI use. Political authoritative conditions rule public tax money for the benefit of a few at the expense of the many. The public "cult-like" sheep have no clue how they are being abused.

      The authoritative abusers (politicians) follow the "mostly" corrupt American (fuck-you) form of government and individual power tactics that have been conveniently embedded in corrupt modern morality and ethics, used by corrupted lawyers and judges to codify the fundamental moral code that underpins the original American Constitution.

  17. Aug 2021
    1. Polls show Biden is significantly more popular than Harris, and his team is running more smoothly than hers.

      Wow, so if Beijing Briben is more popular than the Camel, how can anyone say the election results were trustworthy? Think about the total lack of support for these two scoundrels during the election season last year. ZERO turnout, yet, we are led to believe by big media that Briben and Cammy had a larger turnout than even Barack Hussein Obama? Puhlease!

  18. Jul 2021
    1. The New Money Trust: How Large Money Managers Control Our Economy and What We Can Do About It

      WTF is wrong?

      Where is the moral character and backbone of the American people. We know something is wrong! It smells and stinks yet no one does anything. Most of our elected politicians are useless turds floating in wastewater and the rest are multiple term professional corrupt politicians waiting for the appropriate revolving door opportunity. This has nothing to do with party affiliation, it is rampant on both sides. Political parties perpetuate the illusion as a control mechanism. We see it yet do nothing about it! WHY?

      This paper (topic) is typical of the continued "head in the sand" passive financial regulatory system loaded with Sheeple and kiss-ass do nothing idiots. Alarms have been going off since 2005/6 and as predicted then, our financial system imploded in 07/08.

      1. What lesson was learned?
      2. Who were the players?
      3. What disciplinary actions took place?
      4. Who went to Jail?

      Nothing has changed. Corruption and fraud fuel a dysfunctional financial system destined to cripple the American and Global economies. Economists and many within the financial sector know what is going on. Maybe they care about the average person but are afraid to come forward. Maybe they don't care and fully intend to rape and pillage as much of the global society as possible.

      The question is what are YOU going to do to protect future generations, your children, grand children and so on?

  19. May 2021
    1. But you could not have pure love or pure lust nowadays. No emotion was pure, because everything was mixed up with fear and hatred. Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act.

      their union is a political act

    2. 'I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don't want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.' 'Well then, I ought to suit you, dear. I'm corrupt to the bones.' 'You like doing this? I don't mean simply me: I mean the thing in itself?' 'I adore it.'
    3. nything that hinted at corruption always filled him with a wild hope.
  20. Mar 2021
    1. Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH. (2020, November 20). Today was a very, very odd day I testified before @senatehomeland They held a hearing on hydroxychloroquine. Yup, HCQ In the middle of the worst surge of pandemic HCQ It was clear how our information architecture shapes questions of science and medicine of COVID A thread [Tweet]. @ashishkjha. https://twitter.com/ashishkjha/status/1329646432958156801

  21. Feb 2021
    1. Virginia politicians face some of the loosest ethics rules in the U.S., according to a new index from nonpartisan group Coalition for Integrity.

      It has, unfortunately, been this way for years:

      • In 2020, the nonpartisan group Coalition for Integrity ranked Virginia 46 out of 51 (including the District of Columbia)
      • In 2018, Virginia ranked 43 out of 51.
      • In 2015, the last time to my knowledge the Coalition for Integrity gave letter grades, Virginia earned a "D" rating (although in all fairness they did rank notably better, 16th out of 50, likely due to short-term reforms after the fallout over former Gov. Bob McDonnell).
      • In 2012, Virginia earned an "F" rating and was 47th out of 50 states.

      This is unacceptable. Virginians deserve better.

  22. Oct 2020
    1. A 2016 Lancet study found that universal breast-feeding would prevent 800,000 child deaths a year across the globe and yield $300 billion in savings from reduced health care costs and improved economic outcomes for those reared on breast milk.

      Pure corruption here. Protectionism to prop up profits of approximately 630 million versus major benefits and savings of 300 billion. Even if you look at the calculus of the entire industry of 70 billion it becomes a no brainer.

    1. Dow swings 600 points after Trump rejects stimulus plan

      Given his past history of insider trading and stock market manipulation, I can't help but think that Trump makes statements and does activities like this to influence the markets directly like this.

      The question is who is colluding with him and where is the money going? How is it being hidden? Is it foreign (Russian) investors? Is he dumb enough to be doing it from within his own company?

    1. For commercial surveillance to be cost effective, it has to socialize all the risks associated with mass surveillance and privatize all the gains.
    2. There’s an old-fashioned word for this: corruption. In corrupt systems, a few bad actors cost everyone else billions in order to bring in millions – the savings a factory can realize from dumping pollution in the water supply are much smaller than the costs we all bear from being poisoned by effluent. But the costs are widely diffused while the gains are tightly concentrated, so the beneficiaries of corruption can always outspend their victims to stay clear.
  23. Sep 2020
    1. while a Minister’s view is always slanted on matters that affect his own interests, so that instead of promoting deserving persons he will fill the places with his own creatures, and will try to strengthen his own position by the number of persons whom he makes dependent on his fortunes;

      Here, we see a distrust of Democratic systems, commoners, and burgher-capitalism.

      The thread of logic is that people from lower classes - coming from positions of less power and wealth - are more susceptible to corruption as they attempt to shore up their own interests by surrounding themselves with flunkies and sycophants.

      The nobility, on the other hand, need no such false assurances.

  24. Jun 2020
  25. May 2020
  26. Aug 2019
  27. Jul 2019
  28. Jun 2019
    1. The decision did not favour his financial interests and has been misreported by the journalist. In fact, Mr Petch was pressuring an inexperienced General Manager to attend to an entitlement affecting multiple councillors. The entitlement - reimbursement of legal expenses incurred in legal action initiated by council - is not discretionary, but must be extended to councillors incurring costs in carrying out their civic duties in good faith. The entitlement is explicitly coded in the NSW Local Government Act and NSW Office of Local Government expenses guidelines for serving councillors and Mayor's. No evidence was submitted that the affected councillors had acted in a manner other than "good faith". Therefore the only logical conclusion that could be drawn for delaying the reimbursement

  29. Apr 2019
    1. Svenska skattebetalare har räddat bankerna flera gånger och finns där om det kniper igen. Går det dåligt för banken så vet ägarna att skattebetalarna finns där. Staten tar över, rensar upp och sen säljs banken vidare till nya privata ägare som ordnar nya skandaler och riskerar den finansiella stabiliteten.
  30. Mar 2019
    1. Office Depot, Inc. and a California-based tech support software provider have agreed to pay a total of $35 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the companies tricked customers into buying millions of dollars’ worth of computer repair and technical services by deceptively claiming their software had found malware symptoms on the customers’ computers.Office Depot has agreed to pay $25 million while its software supplier, Support.com, Inc., has agreed to pay $10 million as part of their settlements with the FTC. The FTC intends to use these funds to provide refunds to consumers.

      Lovely fraud scheme. Good thing that Office Depot and support.com are paying for this.

  31. Dec 2018
  32. Oct 2018
    1. The bureau agreed not to interview Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford, who accused him of sexually assaulting her, or to respond to many people stepping forward with new information. They agreed not to follow up on possible lies Kavanaugh is accused of telling in his Senate testimony. And they made other concessions unknown to the public or even Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

      According to the New York Times’s reporting, White House lawyer Don McGahn made sure relevant questions went deliberately unexplored because, he believed, “a wide-ranging inquiry like some Democrats were demanding — and Mr. Trump was suggesting — would be potentially disastrous for Judge Kavanaugh’s chances of confirmation to the Supreme Court.”

  33. Aug 2018
  34. Jul 2018
    1. Facebook doesn’t have a mind-control problem, it has a corruption problem. Cambridge Analytica didn’t convince decent people to become racists; they convinced racists to become voters.

      In relation to the question of mind-control verses corruption, I wonder where the difference exists. Does corruption involve some element of 'mind-control' to convince somebody that this is the answer?

  35. Jun 2018
    1. Interactive visualization of the relations between members of Portuguese governments and companies

      This is one of the best and undisputable representations of politics promiscuity with business. It clearly shows that not all parties are equal...

    1. For most of last year, Ross served as secretary of commerce while maintaining stakes in companies co-owned by the Chinese government, a shipping firm tied to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, a Cypriot bank reportedly caught up in the Robert Mueller investigation and a huge player in an industry Ross is now investigating. It’s hard to imagine a more radioactive portfolio for a cabinet member.

      To this day, Ross’ family apparently continues to have an interest in these toxic holdings.

      ...

      Absurdly, maintaining all those conflicts of interest appears to be entirely legal—a reflection of ethics laws woefully unprepared for governing tycoons like Donald Trump and Wilbur Ross.

      Ross appears to have broken one law, however: submitting a sworn statement to federal officials in November saying he divested of everything he had promised he would—even though he still held more than $10 million worth of stock in financial firm Invesco, his former employer.

  36. Apr 2018
  37. Nov 2017
    1. Robert Mercer's hedge fund owes the IRS $7 billion.

      Since the IRS found in 2010 that a complicated banking method used by Renaissance and about 10 other hedge funds was a tax-avoidance scheme, Mercer has gotten increasingly active in politics. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, he doled out more than $22 million to outside conservative groups seeking to influence last year’s elections, while advocating the abolition of the IRS and much of the federal government.

  38. Jun 2017
    1. Maryland and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit against Trump concerning his violations of the Emoluments Clause.

    1. Trump cabinet meeting.

      First, he boasted of his accomplishments as president. He doesn't have any.

      Then, the cabinet members took turns praising Trump.

  39. May 2017
    1. Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters.

  40. Apr 2017
  41. Mar 2017
    1. A public official may not appoint, employ, promote, advance, or advocate for appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement, in or to a civilian position in the agency in which he is serving or over which he exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a relative of the public official.

    1. Rainey died inside that shower. He was found crumpled on the floor. When his body was pulled out, nurses said there were burns on 90 percent of his body. A nurse said his body temperature was too high to register with a thermometer. And his skin fell off at the touch.

      But in an unconscionable decision, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle's office announced Friday that the four guards who oversaw what amounted to a medieval-era boiling will not be charged with a crime.

  42. Feb 2017
    1. Robert Mercer, Steve Bannon, Breitbart, Cambridge Analytica, Brexit, and Trump.

      “The danger of not having regulation around the sort of data you can get from Facebook and elsewhere is clear. With this, a computer can actually do psychology, it can predict and potentially control human behaviour. It’s what the scientologists try to do but much more powerful. It’s how you brainwash someone. It’s incredibly dangerous.

      “It’s no exaggeration to say that minds can be changed. Behaviour can be predicted and controlled. I find it incredibly scary. I really do. Because nobody has really followed through on the possible consequences of all this. People don’t know it’s happening to them. Their attitudes are being changed behind their backs.”

      -- Jonathan Rust, Cambridge University Psychometric Centre

    1. Paul Ryan (WI) and Bob Goodlatte (VA) are claiming authority over who other congressmen are allowed to meet with.

      Rep. Gutiérrez was among the Members who requested the meeting with the Acting ICE Director in a letter on February 11. A meeting originally scheduled for Tuesday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other Democrats in the House was cancelled at the last minute by ICE. It was rescheduled to today and turned into a Republican-led meeting run by Chairman Goodlatte and was apparently made invitation-only. Members were told by Chairman Goodltte at the meeting that any further meetings with ICE officials would have to be cleared by the Republican Judiciary Committee Chairman.

  43. Jan 2017
    1. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who was eager to launch new investigations of Hillary Clinton, doesn't care about Donald Trump's huge, glaring, absurd conflicts of interest. He's even trying to intimidate the director of the Office of Government Ethics for commenting about it.

    1. Donald Trump's insane conflicts of interest.

      A report this afternoon from the Wall Street Journal, however, revealed that Trump’s disclosure was the tip of the iceberg. The FEC required Trump only to report debt from entities he fully controls. The disclosure left out “more than $1.5 billion lent to partnerships that are 30%-owned by him.” That debt has been securitized and is owed to at least 150 financial entities.

      These financial institutions include many firms that are under the scrutiny of the federal agencies that Trump will soon control. Wells Fargo, for example, which services over $900 million in loans connected to Trump, “is currently facing scrutiny from federal regulators surrounding its fraudulent sales practices and other issues.”

    1. Parents and students in the Mountain View school district consider their use of math software called Teach to One to be a failure.

      The Mountain View school district apparently budgeted $521,000 to implement and operate this new-fangled math program in two local schools. Had they adequately beta tested the program beforehand, the school district might have discovered that Teach to One teaches math (we’ve found) in a disjointed, erratic, and non-linear fashion that leaves many students baffled and disenchanted with math. The program contains errors in the math it teaches. Parents end up having to teach kids math at home and make up for the program’s deficiencies. And all the while, the math teachers get relegated to “managing the Teach to One program rather than to providing direct instruction” themselves.

      Sounds like they would have been much better off to just use http://khanacademy.org or http://schoolyourself.org So why are they using this expensive, seemingly untested service?

    1. Sara Holbrook had two of her poems used on the Texas state assessment tests. She verifies what I thought as a student. The questions are ridiculous. The test makers seem to think that their interpretation of a work is the only interpretation, and that they can read the author's mind and know their intent.

      "Texas paid Pearson $500 million bucks to administer the tests". Is that right? Was that for just one year? What else could we do with $500 million?

      She mentions a study showing that the results of another standardized test could be predicted pretty well using just three data points about families in the community: the percentage with income over $200K; the percentage in poverty; the percentage with bachelor's degrees. So the standardized test tells you nothing that you can't guess by looking at local incomes and education levels.

      What a scam.

    1. This Russia does not aspire to be like us, or to make itself stronger than we are. Rather, its leaders want the West—and specifically NATO and America — to become weaker and more fractured until we are as broken as they perceive themselves to be. No reset can be successful, regardless the personality driving it, because Putin’s Russia requires the United States of America as its enemy.

      Putin's Russia requires the U.S. to be weak. Even better if it's a weakling stupid enough to think Putin is its pal. I'm sure Putin will say lots of nice things about Trump as long as he's getting a piece of the action.

    2. we first need to see the Russian state for what it really is. Twenty-five years ago, the Soviet Union collapsed. This freed the Russian security state from its last constraints. In 1991, there were around 800,000 official KGB agents in Russia. They spent a decade reorganizing themselves into the newly-minted FSB, expanding and absorbing other instruments of power, including criminal networks, other security services, economic interests, and parts of the political elite. They rejected the liberal, democratic Russia that President Boris Yeltsin was trying to build.

      Following the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings that the FSB almost certainly planned, former FSB director Vladimir Putin was installed as President.

  44. Dec 2016
    1. Kudlow makes the case not only that Trump and his administration are not corrupt, but also that they cannot be corrupt, by virtue of their wealth. “Why shouldn’t the president surround himself with successful people?” reasons Kudlow, “Wealthy folks have no need to steal or engage in corruption.”

      -- Lawrence Kudlow, "reported leading candidate to head the administration's Council of Economic Advisors"

      This asshole has a syndicated radio show, a column in The National Review, and used to host a show on CNBC.

    1. Paul Krugman points out that our current situation is like that during the rise of fascism in the 1930s. And it is also like the situation during the gradual decline of the Roman Republic. Political norms are being ignored. Republicans are placing their party, their wealthiest campaign donors, and their careers, before their nation.

      "Famously, on paper the transformation of Rome from republic to empire never happened. Officially, imperial Rome was still ruled by a Senate that just happened to defer to the emperor."

    1. From 26 July 2016, Lawrence Lessig says it isn't the time to refuse to vote for "the lesser of two evils". Then he agrees with Robert Reich that people are angry about corrupt government, and Trump is likely to win unless Hillary Clinton makes it a central issue.

      Now Trump is already working on using the presidency to line his pockets. His cabinet is basically ExxonMobil and Goldman Sachs -- and a few lesser Nazis.

      I wonder how many Trump voters are paying attention to this. How many notice they've been scammed? How many are busy rationalizing it? How many notice that they just voted to destroy democracy?

  45. Nov 2016
    1. I have watched as tobacco, coal, oil, chemicals and biotech companies have poured billions of dollars into an international misinformation machine composed of thinktanks, bloggers and fake citizens’ groups. Its purpose is to portray the interests of billionaires as the interests of the common people, to wage war against trade unions and beat down attempts to regulate business and tax the very rich. Now the people who helped run this machine are shaping the government.

      Donald Trump has filled his staff with these liars.

    1. Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, chair of the House Oversight Committee, has shown great enthusiasm for persecuting Hillary Clinton. But for some reason, he doesn't seem to have any interest in investigating Donald Trump's glaring conflicts of interest.

    1. Donald Trump's "lies about voter fraud are a prelude to massive voter suppression." This has become typical of the Republican party. But Trump and his staff are sure to make it worse, and they're already showing it.

    1. Members of the Electoral College should not make Donald Trump the next president unless he sells his companies and puts the proceeds in a blind trust, according to the top ethics lawyers for the last two presidents.

      Richard Painter, Chief Ethics Counsel for George W. Bush, and Norman Eisen, Chief Ethics Counsel for Barack Obama, believe that if Trump continues to retain ownership over his sprawling business interests by the time the electors meet on December 19, they should reject Trump.

    1. Another way the Trump presidency is likely to be disastrous: he will (by his very nature) introduce systemic corruption in which friends of Trump and his cronies become "successful businesses" and those who oppose them are punished.

    1. But according to regulators who have overseen potential conflicts of interests under two former presidents, Trump’s arrangements were unprecedented and present a host of issues.

      This is in no way a blind trust, said Karl Sandstrom, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the regulatory body that oversees campaign finance, under Bill Clinton and George W Bush. “A blind trust is not anywhere near the same. You don’t still have access to the decision being made. That’s why you put assets in and don’t just have someone else manage the company,” he said. Trump’s assets will instead apparently remain united under his company, and operated under his name even if he is not directly in charge.

  46. Oct 2016
    1. By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept

      A biblical allusion, though I guess this isn't a surprise, referencing the captive Israelites' mourning song at the rivers of Babylon. The intriguing thing here is the contrast between that reference and the word "leman," which is apparently an obscure term for lover, and the preceding references to sexual exploits. Eliot seems to be emphasizing the pollution of sexuality by using the polluted Thames and himself "polluting" a traditional story.

  47. Apr 2016
    1. An anonymous source has handed 2.6TB worth of records from Mossack Fonseca, one of the world's largest offshore law firms, to a consortium of news outlets, including The Guardian. The dump includes 11.5M files, whose contents reveal a complex system of tax evasion that implicates some of the richest, most powerful people in the world
  48. Jan 2016
  49. Oct 2015
    1. Taking on Corruption in Latin America

      This article discusses the difficulty in attacking corruption. It uses Guatemala and Brazil as examples of direct corruption through embezzlement and fraud schemes with Chile and Mexico where corruption is rooted in access to political knowledge and nepotism. In Chile and Mexico, the link is less direct and investigations cannot be traced as concretely as was the case in Brazil and Guatemala. This can make tackling corruption extremely difficult where these cases are more difficult to prove.

    1. 两会

      人(民代表)大(会)+政(治)协(商会议)

    2. 风暴

      风暴 fēngbào ②名 比喻气势猛烈、震动全社会的事件。 政治风暴 | 金融风暴

    3. 开启

      inaugurer; ouvrir

    4. 老虎
    5. 外媒

      境外媒体

    6. 班子

      班子 bānzi ③名 指领导机构。 班子换届

    7. 警醒

      警醒 jǐngxǐng ①动 警觉醒悟。 这场大火应该使你们警醒了。 ②形 形容睡觉不沉,容易醒来。 夜里要警醒些,不要睡得太死。

    8. 官僚主义

      bureaucratie

    9. 形式主义

      !主义:-isme, une idéologie formalisme

    10. 群众

      la masse / polulace

    11. 脱离

      脱离 tuōlí 动 离开;断绝。 脱离危险期 | 脱离夫妻关系

    12. 贪污

      贪污 tānwū 动 国家工作人员利用职务上的便利,非法占有公共财物。 贪污和浪费是极大的犯罪 | 贪污腐化

    13. 亟待

      亟待 jídài 动 急切地等待。 珍稀物种亟待保护 | 亟待商讨 用法说明 跟“急待”不同。“亟待”文言色彩较浓,语意也较重,多用于较庄重的场合;“急待”较口语化,多用于一般场合。

    14. 鼓掌

      applaudir

    15. 严峻

      严峻 yánjùn ①形(神情、态度)严厉;严肃。 严峻的目光 ②形(情况)严重。 形势严峻

    16. 开诚布公

      开诚布公 kāichéng-bùgōng 《三国志蜀书诸葛亮传》:“开诚心,布公道。”后用“开诚布公”形容诚恳待人,坦白无私。 用法说明 跟“推心置腹”不同。“开诚布公”侧重于公开、坦率;“推心置腹”侧重于真心、诚挚。

    17. 总书记

      中共中央总书记

    18. 常委

      中共中央政治局常委

    19. 当选

      当选 dāngxuǎn 动 选举或选拔中被选上。 她当选为人民代表。

    20. 十八届一中全会

      中国共产党第十八届中央委员会第一次全体会议

    21. 抛出

      抛出 pāochū 动 投掷出去;比喻把某事物公之于众。 他们终于抛出一份宣言。

    22. 别有用心

      别有用心 biéyǒu-yòngxīn 另有不可告人的企图。

    23. 不时

      ⚠️ 不是否定的意思,而是说“时不时”。=“时时” 不时 bùshí ①副 时时;常常。 不时从街上传来吆喝声。 ②副 随时;不定什么时候。 法庭在审理案件中不时传唤证人。

    24. 舆论

      opinion publique 舆论 yúlùn 名 公众的议论。 制造舆论 | 舆论谴责 用法说明 跟“言论”不同。“舆论”强调议论的公众性;“言论”既可指公众的,也可指个人的议论。

    25. 查阅

      查阅 cháyuè 动 查找翻阅(书刊、文件等)。 查阅资料 | 便于查阅

    26. 高层

      高层 gāocéng ①名 高的等级或层次。 位居高层 | 他住高层,我住低层。

    27. 随即

      à la suite 随即 suíjí 副 表示紧接着前一动作或情况之后立即发生,相当于“随后就”。 接到报警后,消防队员随即赶赴火灾现场。

    28. 停顿

      pause ③动 语流中的间歇。 讲话要注意停顿

    29. 说道

      原文错误:“说完”已经完成,“说道”正在说。去掉其中一个。

    30. =到

    31. 避罪

      néologisme, construction similaire à "避税": 避免承担罪责

    32. 避税

      避免交税。和“逃税”不同:“逃税”是非法的,“避税”是合法的。 避税 bìshuì 动 在不违反税法的前提下,纳税人利用税法的漏洞或税法允许的办法,规避某些税负。 瞒报销售收入的做法不是避税,而是逃税 | 依法避税

    33. 分子

      分子 fènzǐ 名 属于一定社会群体或具有某种特征的人。 作家协会的一分子 | 投机分子

    34. 追逃

      追捕逃犯

    35. =和/与/跟

    36. 纸牌屋
    37. 顺应

      顺着回应

    38. 苍蝇

      mouche

    39. 说/表示

    40. 以往

      以前

    41. 各界

      社会各个方面

    42. 查处

      检查,处理

    43. 腐败

      corruption

    44. 微信

      WeChat, marque de messagerie instantanée.

    45. 政事儿

      Affaires politiques. Néologisme homophonique de "正事儿”, chose solennelle.

    46. 首站

      第一站

    47. 西雅图

      Seattle

    48. 谈及

      =谈到 及:达到 ex.: 及格(达到要求的成绩)

    49. 访美

      访(问)美(国)

    50. 对美

      对美(国的)

    51. 国事访问

      visite d'État

    52. 微信

      WeChat

    53. 反腐

      反对腐败

  50. Sep 2015
    1. This article discusses the role an American energy company played in Guatemala's newly uncovered corruption scandal and the legal consequences its employees could face due to their participation in bribery. " “It is safe to assume,” he says, “that US authorities would be conducting an investigation.” Should the US government press charges against this company to stand in solidarity with Guatemala?

  51. Feb 2015
    1. "We provide half a billion dollars (annually) to the District. One would think they would be much more compliant with the wishes of Congress," Rep. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican and one of the most vocal pot opponents, said in an interview Thursday.

      It's almost unbelievable to me that a representative can say something like this. It really speaks to how comfortable we've gotten with money politics.

  52. Sep 2013
    1. whom he calls the teacher of other men, everyone would regard his power as irresistible.
    2. Here in the indictment my accuser endeavors to vilify me, charging that I corrupt young men30 by teaching them to speak and gain their own advantage in the courts contrary to justice, while in his speech he makes me out to be a man whose equal has never been known either among those who hang about the law-courts or among the devotees of philosophy; for he declares that I have had as my pupils not only private persons but orators, generals, kings, and despots;31 and that I have received from them and am now receiving enormous sums of money

      Shows how people view rhetoric and its link to corruption