“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
― Socrates
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
― Socrates
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
― Socrates
Anti-money laundering laws should be streamlined and strengthened to help law enforcement agencies to focus on serious crime, say the Law Commission.
Money laundering is estimated to cost every household in the UK £255 a year and allows criminals to profit from their crimes.
Money laundering is estimated to cost every household in the UK £255 a year and allows criminals to profit from their crimes.
The Prospect August 2018 issue – review by Duncan Weldon – How economists predicted the wrong financial crisis. “As the 10th anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers approaches, many books on the financial crisis will be published. Few are likely to match Adam Tooze’s Crashed in scope, ambition or rigour. This is truly contemporary history—the book runs right up to the end of 2017. It is hard to think of another author who can write as authoritatively on such a wide range of subjects—from the workings of the credit default swap market to the intricacies of Italian politics and the geopolitics of Ukraine.
New research shows that most Australians have negative
views of cash-only businesses, with consumers describing them as
‘inconvenient’, and saying it makes them wonder if the business is honest.
FALL OF LOCAL NEWS = TRUMP?: It’s not that
clear-cut, says the Washington Monthly’s Paul Glastris. Trump did
win big among “low information voters,” in places where local news was
weak, Glastris says, but it’s correlation, not causation. “Local news outlets
tend to be highly trusted,” he writes. “When they disappear, partisan national
media like Fox News and social networks like Facebook fill the void. Without
trusted local news to provide a check, voters are more likely to accept the
lies and propaganda coming out of these other sources.”
FROM PODCAST TO NETFLIX: The Los Angeles Times podcast
"Dirty John" is being made into a Bravo drama series starring Connie
Britton and Eric Bana. Deadline Hollywood reported Tuesday that Netflix
would be handling international distribution of the project, produced by
Universal Cable Productions, Los Angeles Times Studios and Atlas Entertainment.
Later this week we’ll be talking about licensing stories with Christa
Scharfenberg, the CEO of The Center for Investigative Reporting.
THE ETHICS OF FOOD, PHOTOGRAPHS AND VILLAGES: A series of photos
taken in India has created huge debate, with one side saying the Sicily-based
photographer exploited
poverty to shock. Why would Alessio Mamo force impoverished villagers to
stand before bountiful platefuls of exotic food (which turned out to be fake)?
Why would the highly regarded World Press Photo publicize them? Maria Thomas
reports on the controversy for Quartz.
PROMOTED: S. Mitra Kalita, to CNN Digital’s senior vice president of
programming, national news and opinion. Kalita is a digital veteran of the Los
Angeles Times, Quartz and The Washington Post. Here are her
thoughts for Poynter from March on digital changes, including the
rebirth of the homepage.
WHAT GETS ALEX JONES THROWN OFF FACEBOOK?: Apparently it's
not calling special prosecutor Robert Mueller a child rapist or the pantomimed
assassination of the former FBI director. A Facebook spokesperson told
BuzzFeed News that Jones' comments do not violate the company's
community standards because they are not a credible statement of intent to
commit violence.
HIRED: Susan Fowler Rigetti, who blew the whistle on Uber's sexist
culture in a blog post last year, has
been hired by The New York Times as its technology opinion editor.
GAO – Only One-Quarter of Agencies Publishing Timely, Accurate Spending Data
NextGov: “Eight agencies submitted financial data that was more than 75 percent wrong. Nearly three-quarters of federal agencies failed to meet internal auditors’ quality standards when publishing financial data, according to a congressional watchdog. Under the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, agencies must use a standard framework when submitting quarterly spending data to the Treasury Department, but the Government Accountability Office found few agencies are submitting complete, timely and accurate information. After reviewing 53 inspector general reports on DATA Act compliance, GAO found only 15 agencies met IG standards for completeness, timeliness and accuracy. Just six of the 24 CFO Act agencies submitted high-quality data, auditors found.“If you don’t have complete and accurate data, you don’t have transparency,” said Paula Rascona, who authored the GAO report. “The agencies definitely have a lot of work to do, and so do [the Office of Management and Budget] and Department of Treasury when it comes to their leadership.”..Reported Quality of Agencies’ Spending Data Reviewed by OIGs Varied Because of Government-wide and Agency Issues GAO-18-546: Published: Jul 23, 2018. Publicly Released: Jul 23, 2018. “The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act) requires agencies’ Offices of Inspector General (OIG) to issue reports on their assessments of the quality of the agencies’ spending data submissions and compliance with the DATA Act. The scope of all OIG reviews covered their agencies’ second quarter fiscal year 2017 submissions. The files the OIGs used to select and review sample transactions varied based on data availability, and OIGs performed different types of reviews under generally accepted government auditing standards. Some OIGs reported testing a statistical sample of transactions that their agencies submitted and other OIGs reported testing the full population of submitted transactions. Because of these variations, the overall error rates reported by the OIGs are not fully comparable and a government-wide error rate cannot be projected.
According to the OIG reports, about half of the agencies met Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Department of the Treasury (Treasury) requirements for the implementation and use of data standards. The OIGs also reported that most agencies’ first data submissions were not complete, timely, accurate, or of quality. OIG survey responses show that OIGs generally reported higher (projected) overall error rates for the accuracy of data than for completeness and timeliness. OIGs reported certain errors that involve inconsistencies in how the Treasury broker (system that collects and validates agency-submitted data) extracted data from certain federal award systems that resulted in government-wide issues outside the agencies’ control, while other errors may have been caused by agency-specific control deficiencies. For example, OIGs reported deficiencies related to agencies’ lack of effective procedures or controls and systems issues. Most OIGs made recommendations to agencies to address identified concerns. OMB staff and Treasury officials told GAO that they reviewed the OIG reports to better understand issues identified by the OIGs. OMB issued new guidance in June 2018 requiring agencies to develop data quality plans intended to achieve the objectives of the DATA Act. Treasury officials told GAO that they are collaborating with OMB and the Chief Financial Officers Council DATA Act Audit Collaboration working group to identify and resolve government-wide issues…”
Pezzullo: how to restore public trust in governments
“Immigration and border management is the issue devouring public confidence in the political process in Western democracies,” says the Department of Home Affairs secretary.
The shaky case for prosecuting Witness K and his lawyer
VIEWPOINT: There is a compelling reason why the case should be in open court, so the public can see how the DPP justifies its independence in the case.
Bowen says Labor would restore Treasury's independence
Labor’s Treasury spokesperson has linked the appointment of incoming Treasury secretary Philip Gaetjens to issues of “integrity of the public service”.
New security reality demands new Australian policy
"Why Australia’s international security outlook is starting to look very threatening." (The Strategist)
Human Rights Commissioner tells govt to fix My Health Record
"The Human Rights Commission calls for changes to the My Health Record system." (ABC News)
How Telstra lost its way on APIs
"But found the corporate will - and funds - to rebuild." (iTnews)