January 2012
Senators Press SEC On Extractive Issuer Rule -... →
Where’s the transparency rule?
That’s the question asked of the Securities and Exchange Commission by five Democratic U.S. Senators in a letter sent Tuesday. The letter notes proposed rules governing a disclosure rule covering oil, gas and mining company payments to foreign governments were issued in December 2010, and a statutory deadline of April 2011 for the final rule “is long past.”
The...
Survey Finds Bribery, Corruption In Middle East... →
Nearly two-fifths of respondents to a new survey said they expect their organization to face incidents of bribery or corruption in the Middle East over the next year.
The responses, which come from a Middle East Report released Monday for PricewaterhouseCooper’s Global Economic Crime Survey, are starkly higher than those across the world, where less than one-fourth of respondents said they...
Two US Senators Propose More Iran Sanctions -... →
Two top U.S. senators announced new legislation imposing further sanctions on Iran.
Sens. Tim Johnson (D., S.D.) and Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), respectively the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, said Tuesday they had been working for months on the 61-page bill, which among other things, would require companies traded on U.S. stock exchanges to disclose Iran-related...
Yahoo! Social: Help Wanted: Yahoo! Hiring Six... →
shortformblog:
yahoosocial:
Big news, digital media people: Yahoo! is hiring social editors across its News, Sports, Finance, Entertainment, Lifestyles and Commerce properties. Check out the job descriptions: Y! News Y! Sports Y! Entertainment (Movies, TV, Music and omg!) Y! Commerce (Travel, Shopping, Autos,…
Hey! Need a job? Hop on this, stat! Yahoo’s hiring!
Journalism job alert....
4 tags
Avon Vice Chariman Leaves Company Amid Bribery... →
Avon Products Inc. fired its vice chairman, who formerly served as chief financial officer, due to a bribery and material-disclosure investigation.
The company said in a securities filing that Charles W. Cramb, vice chairman of the developed market group, was let go Sunday in connection with an investigation into possible material-disclosure violations relating to possible foreign bribery to...
Iraq Watchdog Report Cites Attacks On... →
To look for one of the toughest places to be an anti-corruption official, try Iraq.
Not only do officials there have to cope with political interference but also physical violence, with a quarterly report on the progress of Iraq’s reconstruction citing an increase in attacks toward the end of 2011.
The report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, or SIGIR, released...
Study Finds Romania Vulnerable To Corruption -... →
A gulf between the law and its implementation leaves Romania vulnerable to corruption, a study found.
The study of Romania’s national integrity system, conducted by Transparency International and released Thursday, cited a lack of resources and independence of Romanian institutions from political interference as reasons for the rating.
Moreover, the dominance of the executive branch over...
UK Arrest 5 In News Corp. Probe As It Expands To... →
U.K. authorities investigating possible bribery of police arrested five people on Saturday, including four current and former employees of News Corp.’s tabloid the Sun and a police officer.
The arrests of Sun employees show a probe into illicit reporting tactics at News Corp., which publishes this blog, as expanding beyond the original focus, which was on the now-shuttered weekly tabloid...
“You can’t explain why you like something. The bigger question for me was always...”
– Stew, on how people like music or don’t like music because they think other people think they should like or dislike it. (via nprfreshair)
Indonesia’s Corruption Not as Bad as It Looked... →
By Eric Bellman
It’s hard to blame Indonesians for being numbed by the unending flow of news stories about scandals and government graft. But the top story in the Jakarta Globe gave even the most cynical reader a rude awakening Monday morning, when it started with this headline: “Graft Stole $238b From the Nation in 2011.”
Luckily the headline was wrong by one letter – and by more than $237...
'..."Oh, he's with the media?" the officer... →
Barrett Army.
“For more than a decade, the Patriots’ home field changed so often that tickets...”
– Early Patriots Were a Comical Traveling Sideshow - NYTimes.com
A Struggling Bronx Synagogue Finds Free Housing—in... →
Near the corner of Westchester Avenue and Pugsley Street in Parkchester, just off the elevated tracks of the No. 6 train, Yaakov Wayne Baumann stood outside a graffiti-covered storefront on a chilly Saturday morning. Suited up in a black overcoat with a matching wide-brimmed black fedora, the thickly bearded 42-year-old chatted with elderly congregants as they entered the building for ...
4 tags
“After two decades of New York’s forced engagement with radical Islamists, two...”
– Jim Dwyer | When the Police Say One Thing, the Facts Another | New York Times (via capitalnewyork)
“In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most...”
– Apple’s iPad and the Human Costs for Workers in China - NYTimes.com
Military-Owned Businesses Pose Unique Corruption... →
Businesses owned by militaries around the world pose unique corruption risks to the sectors in which they operate, a new report found.
The report, released Thursday by Transparency International’s U.K. Defence and Security Programme, looks at how military-owned businesses are structured, what the inherent corruption risks are for these firms, and why and how the countries have made...
CIA to pull officer from NYPD after internal probe →
A CIA operative’s unusual assignment inside the New York Police Department is being cut short after an internal investigation that criticized how the agency established its unprecedented collaboration with city police, The Associated Press has learned.
In its investigation, the CIA’s inspector general faulted the agency for sending an officer to New York with little oversight...
Sasol to Avoid Iran’s Oil - Corruption Currents -... →
South Africa’s Sasol Ltd. said it is trying to diversify away from Iranian oil as sanctions from the U.S. and Europe increase pressure on those doing business with Tehran, The Wall Street Journal reported.
asol, which is the world’s largest producer of motor fuels from coal, depends on Iranian oil imports for 20% of its crude, which calculates to 12,000 barrels a day, at its Natref...
“The power held by singers as political agents and voices for movements is...”
– I have piece up at Guernica Magazine called “Troubadours of the Revolution,” out conveniently in time for marking the January 25 anniversary of the start of the Egyptian uprising. In it I discuss the important role that protest musicians like Ramy Essam, Ibrahim Qashoush and El Haked (among many,...
Press Freedom Index 2011-2012 - Reporters Without... →
goldman:
The U.S. came in 47th on Reporters Without Borders’ 2011-12 Press Freedom Index, a drop of 27 spots from last year. According to RWB, the U.S. owed its drop “to the many arrests of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street protests.”
“Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne told The New York Times on Monday that the...”
– Police Commissioner Kelly Helped With Anti-Islam Film and Regrets It - NYTimes.com
Israeli Finance Minister Calls For ‘Complete... →
Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said he approved of the sanctions imposed on Iran Monday by the European Union and urged a “complete economic and political blockade” of the country.
Calling the oil embargo and central bank measures against Iran taken Monday by the EU “very significant,” Steinitz said during a Tuesday sit-down meeting with reporters at Dow Jones’ offices in New York...
More Journalism Advice
journalofajournalist:
Stories are everywhere. One of the worst possible things you can say is “I can’t find anything to write about.” We live in an amazingly fascinating world; the challenge is learning how to notice all those things that make readers and editors love you.
Dear Sam-
sanspassport:
Congratulations! As near as I can tell, samuelrubenfeld.com is blocked in China.
The best news I’ve ever heard.
1 tag
US Sanctions Iran State-Owned Bank Tejarat -... →
The U.S. Treasury Department said Monday it sanctioned Iran’s third-largest bank, Bank Tejarat, for providing services to Iranian banks already subject to sanctions for their involvement in proliferation activity.
Bank Tejarat, along with its subsidiary Trade Capital Bank, were sanctioned for providing financial services to Bank Mellat, the Export Development Bank of Iran, the state shipping...
EU Imposes Iran Oil Embargo, Central Bank Freeze -... →
European Union foreign ministers agreed Monday to impose an oil-import embargo on Iran and an asset freeze on the country’s central bank, escalating the confrontation over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The embargo bans the importation of petroleum and crude oil products from Iran, as well as insurance on such products. It goes into effect as of July 1 (sub req) on existing contracts, and a...
“Many Americans know about the highly publicized lockouts in professional sports...”
– Lockouts, Once Rare, Put Workers on the Defensive - NYTimes.com
“Obama promised to transcend forty years of demographic and ideological trends...”
– Barack Obama, Post-Partisan, Meets Washington Gridlock : The New Yorker
I now have an iPhone.
“Extolling the virtues of transparency, Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis...”
– Hard Truths About Disclosure - NYTimes.com
NBC NEWS CALLS S.C. FOR NEWT GINGRICH →
shortformblog:
CNN not declaring yet, though. ABC News is, though.
EDIT: Now Fox News is declaring for Newt. CBS hasn’t declared yet, though.
The latest.