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Home  •  About this site  •  How did we once fight corruption in colonial Hong Kong?
 •  John Sinclair's lexical items  •  When a linguist stumbled upon a Buttonwood
 •  Historical US administrative thoughts  •  USA versus colonial Hong Kong
 •  Anti-corruption review of Nigeria  •  Procurement monitoring in Nigeria
 •  Syndicated news  •  Usman's blog  •  Anti-graft news  •  Socialist news

 Tuesday, May 21 2013 6:54pm Hongkong Time
Protest Riot Police (c) Taylor Renforth

Photo © Taylor Renforth

INSTABILITY FACTORS
Israel-Iran strike | Sanctions on Iran | Senkakus-Diaoyu and historical findings | Dokdo-Takeshima | Spratly, Paracel, Scarborough | Kurils
Healthy Living (c) Robert Churchill

Photo © Robert Churchill

COMMODITY & SUSTAINABILITY
Biofuel | Global rice yield | Power blackout and Japan's nuclear phaseout | Preserving rhinos and elephants
China Town (c) Marco Prandina

Photo © Marco Prandina

TRADE & ECONOMY
Foreign funds and China's pension crush | Outward foreign direct investment saga | American movies entering China



Procurement Monitoring

A case study of the Nigerian procurement monitoring program and its portal and observatory

Chibuzo Chiemela Ekwekwuo

Public procurement has largely been a public sector activity in Africa. From a back room administrative function, it is however now being recognized as a major multi stakeholder public function, with huge ramifications on public service delivery and therefore on economic and social development. The concept of having statute based citizens oversight of the procurement process is very new in Africa. Perhaps Nigeria's public procurement law is the first, if not the only one of



Chibuzo Chiemela Ekwekwuo © Procurement Monitor
the many procurement laws passed by African countries in the last decade that took the bold step of requiring mandatory citizens observation of the public procurement process.

 Click here to read the full story on procurement monitoring
  Was Hugo Chávez killed by weaponized cancer? Aspartame causes more Type II diabetes?

Check out this video from Alex Jones, and more food-for-thought from Jones's www.infowars.com

 
  Act of sportsmanship: Iván Fernández Anaya

This Spanish runner proved to the world how winning is not the ultimate goal of being a true person when he decided to lose his race to Kenya athelete Abel Mutai. Read more from USA Today

 

  Storyboard: Where stories get their shapes

          And the baby giraffe always has something to chew on...

tornado: quick sweep through asia
giraffe: always something to chew

Clean up mess please (c) Alice-the-Artist

"Clean up the mess in the playhouse please?"  © Alice-the-Artist
U.S. presidential election: elephant vs. jackass
Romney vs. Obama: Whom to vote for?

From a 'no-regret' perspective

Raymond Cheng

Deciding on whom to vote for can be a real headache but definitely not as disappointing as when you have to regret for choosing the wrong guy over the next four years. People are keep telling you (and the media ads are bombarding you too) as to whom you should vote for but no matter what and how compelling the reason(s) they may give, they seem to care less about what is really going to happen after the election. For me, I would like to know what people have really said several years *after* they casted their votes in previous elections. There is just always too much information *before* every election and too few when people eventually find themselves unhappy with their previous decisions. So do people often regret picking the wrong guy? If so, what kind of people regretted and for what and why would they regret? Let's find out.

 Click here to read the full story on how people regretted after U.S. presidential elections


February 25, 2012: Protest against Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, some wearing the Guy Fawkes masks holding banner with 'people' on it (c) pReTeNdEr


Photo caption (above): This is a snapshot of a street protest against Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Belgrade, Serbia, dated February 25, 2012. Some protesters appeared as members of the Anonymous Group, wearing the Guy Fawkes masks holding a large banner with "people" written on it.   Photo © pReTeNdEr
When a linguist stumbled upon a Buttonwood

A REVIEW ON AN ECONOMIST ARTICLE ENTITLED –
"The demand for financial assets is not like the demand of iPods"


Raymond Cheng

I stumbled upon this old Buttonwood article the other day and, as a language and cultural briefing consultant, I just can't help not sharing in here what I got after reading it. But before I start, I need to make it very clear that I am not in anyway against anyone's freedom of speech, freedom of press, or anything similar. What I intend to do here is to share with you how the use of grammar in the Buttonwood text had possibly helped or hindered the realization and communication of meanings. So let's start from the tiny little building blocks – the words.

 Click here to read the full story on this Buttonwood article from the Economist



Anti-corruption in Nigeria

An evaluation of strategies, legislations and systems

Iliyasu Buba Gashinbaki

No one is sure when and where corruption first started in Nigeria. But Nigerian scholars like B. C. Osisioma, Ejiofor, Chinu Achebe, and Wole Soyinka amongst host of others had a consensus view that, the cradle of corruption in Nigeria was colonialism..... To buttress this view, they argued that, in 1914 the British colonial powers amalgamated vast territories of separate and distinct ethnic



Nigeria Political Map © Magellan Geographix
nationalities, kingdoms and caliphates, which have diverse cultural, religious and social values into one single corporate entity called Nigeria.

 Click here to read the full story about anti-corruption strategies in Nigeria


Anti-corruption news around the worldmore anti-graft news

  Pakistan
When corruption brought cricket into disrepute...

16/May/2013

  Indonesia
KPK told to focus on beef import graft case...

16/May/2013

  Russian Federation
Societe Generale's Russian head charged over $1.5 mn bribe...

16/May/2013

  India
For over 7 months, anti-corruption panel fails to meet in MP...

16/May/2013

  Switzerland
Sports federations targeted under Swiss anti-corruption plan...

16/May/2013

  Cuba
Canadian jailed in Havana corruption scandal speaks out...

16/May/2013

  Cuba
Cuba government minister reports on corruption in international deals and gas...

15/May/2013

  Afghanistan
Afghan finance minister offers peek at high-level corruption...

15/May/2013

  Ethiopia
Ethiopian government minister, businessmen to face corruption charges after 2-year probe...

15/May/2013

  China
Senior Chinese planning official sacked in latest corruption case...

15/May/2013

  Congo
DRC mining deals highlight resource corruption...

15/May/2013

  United States
Benghazi, IRS and AP scandals reveal Obama's culture of corruption...

15/May/2013

  Hong Kong
Hong Kong's anti-graft agency investigates former head...

15/May/2013

  Cuba
Cuba readies corruption trials of Western businessmen...

15/May/2013

  Indonesia
See no evil, hear no evil: Rationalizing corruption...

13/May/2013



Photo © Peter Chen

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Totem (c) P.I.E. Image Compendium

Photo © Image Compendium

Roald Amundsun leaves Spitsbergen with 2 seaplanes to North Pole

Greyhound Bus Co begins in Minnesota

32nd Preakness: G Mountain aboard Don Enrique wins in 1:45.4

West Indian Company sells 1/3 of Suriname

Portuguese admiral Da Nova discovers St Helena


SOMETHING STICKY
Children Expressions (c) Jean Schweitzer

Photo © Jean Schweitzer
A Hong Kong Review

HOW WE FOUGHT CORRUPTION – Sustained anti-corruption strategy in pre-1997 colonial
Hong Kong, an alternate perspective


Raymond Cheng

Over the years, Hong Kong has built up a clean culture and is recognized as one of the role models for fighting corruption. Syndicated and petty corruption in the public sector has become a thing of the past and irregularities in the private sector have been reduced substantially.

I shall review from a new strategic viewpoint the "passive commitments" of the Hong Kong colonial government in terms of (a) the local economic and social statistics for a 25-year period spanning 1967 thru 1992 and (b) the behavioral patterns and theories of people.

 Click here to read the full story on how Hong Kong fought its war against corruption



Commentary and reflection pages by Raymond Cheng, PhD DPA

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Copyright © 1997-2013 Raymond Cheng & Wyith Ltd dba Commentary.com. All rights reserved. Copyright of selected news articles and logos belongs to respective entities. Read disclaimer

SHORTCUT TO MAIN SECTIONS & ARTICLES
Home  •  About this site  •  How did we once fight corruption in colonial Hong Kong?
 •  John Sinclair's lexical items  •  When a linguist stumbled upon a Buttonwood
 •  Historical US administrative thoughts  •  USA versus colonial Hong Kong
 •  Anti-corruption review of Nigeria  •  Procurement monitoring in Nigeria
 •  Syndicated news  •  Usman's blog  •  Anti-graft news  •  Socialist news

Contact the editor at raymond {dot} cheng {at} kellogg {dot} oxon {dot} org


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COUNT ON THE STATISTICS  100% Towels (c) Daniel Chittka
Photo © Daniel Chittka

This new section contains some interesting statistics in bribe and corruption, please check back for more as we pile up our numbers!

It's statistics time!  Using n-gram: kickback, graft, bribe and corruption - Comparison of their historical occurences from 1810 to 2009 A.D.

  The word guanxi (collocation) and meanings of bribe: Deeply rooted, disgusting, sad endings

LATEST STUFF TO PONDER UPON
Looking for a good book (c) Doug Logan
Photo © Doug Logan
tagged by date and occurrenceBY DATE & OCCURENCE
11/22 What fiscal cliff means for India
12/06 Capitalism and socialism rank #1
12/06 U.S.-Taiwan: Where to?
12/08 Bribe up in Vietnam, Laos & China
01/14 Socialist logic: Recipe for disaster
01/16 The case for socialist organization
tagged by regionBY REGION • Anything AsiaUS Presence in Asia
Communist ChinaNationalist TaiwanHong Kong and MacauJapanKoreaSingaporeMalaysiaPhilippinesPakistanIndiaAfghanistanVietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and MyanmarTimor-Leste and IndonesiaMongoliaNew Zealand and Australia
tagged by topicsBY TOPIC • BiofuelRhino and elephant poachingAmerican movies hit China marketChina Internet censorshipChina's outward FDI opportunitiesGlobal rice yield
ISLAND DISPUTES – FROM A DISTANCE
Island disputes in Southeast Asia | Senkakus-Diaoyu and historical findings | Dokdo-Takeshima | Spratly, Paracel, Scarborough | Kurils

For those you who don't have time to read all our news excerpts about the Asian island disputes (links above), you may find the following video, "The economic impact of a war between Japan and China", very enlightening.



© Minute MBA: More from onlinemba.com

Free Pussy Riot!
Free Pussy Riot!

Photo © Igor Mukhin, retrieved from Wikipedia

"This trial is another example of the Kremlin's attempts to discourage and delegitimize dissent. It is likely to backfire." John Dalhuisen, Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme

 More from Amnesty InternationalFree Pussy Riot



How it started – Pussy Riot Prayers, February 2012

PUSSY RIOT CASE CHRONOLOGY
08/17 Pussy Riot imprisoned on hooliganism charges
08/17 The only professionals in sight
08/19 Pussy Riot protesters arrested in Marseille
08/20 NZ PM – Sentence 'disproportionate'
08/20 Pussy Riot fear their kids being put in care
08/22 German supporters face criminal charges
08/22 Pussy Riot – it's carefully calibrated
08/23 Russian church-state corruption unveiled
08/23 Putin's secret weapon: The Orthodox faithful
08/24 Putin-nominated watchdog slams convictions
08/31 'Pussy Riot ritual killing', man detained
09/03 Orthodox deacon speaks over verdict
09/06 Putin denies part in 'Pussy Riot case'
09/10 Pussy Riot benefit concert draws 1,000
09/10 Gorbachev says verdict "disproportionate"
09/19 Punk group to transfer to remote penal colony
09/21 Aung San calls on Moscow to release RP
10/01 Sentence appeal delayed until Oct 10
10/10 Katya freed, 2 years for Nadya and Masha
10/16 Masha and Nadya sent to remote labor prison



BBC • Pussy Riot women begin life in prison

11/16 Merkel challanges Putin on imprisonment
11/22 Maria Alekhina transferred to solitary cell
11/28 Tolokonnikova's appeal case goes to court
12/24 Extremist videos appeal adjourned
01/15 Masha's sentence deferment denied
02/01 PR civil claim granted right to appeal
02/07 Pussy Riot files complaint with ECHR
03/06 Ombudsman asks court to overturn verdict
03/08 Protesters detained in Moscow
04/13 PR gets reprimand: parole problematic
04/21 PR defense seeks abolition of conviction
GLUCK ON SOCIALISM AND CHINA Asia (c) Robert Churchill
Photo © Robert Churchill

Professor Sidney Gluck (c) Sandi BachomI am honored to have obtained Professor Sidney Gluck's (right) permission to allow me to repost here some of his work and interview related to China and socialism. Professor Gluck is professor emertius at the New School University in New York. A classical Marxist, Gluck has been studying China for 60 years in history and modern development. He has lectured all over the U.S. and still welcomes engagement at the age of 94 – photo © Sandi Bachom

FEATURED ARTICLES

TECHNOLOGY BLOG BY USMAN KHURSHID
Usman Khurshid on Mike McCune's HD Monitor with Paths Technize.net logo with Maartje van Caspel's Public Space
I am proud to announce that the Commentary.com website is now carrying the technology updates from Usman Khurshid's Technize.net. Usman is a network consultant and works in a mixed environment of Windows and Linux platforms. He likes to study about the latest advancements in computer technology and shares his views on his blog.

Click here to read Usman's tech blog
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Photo © Usman Khurshid, Mike McCune, Maartje van Caspel
COMING 2013 – COMPUTING CORPUS Active Network Hub (c) Phil Sigin-Lavdanski
Photo © Phil Sigin-Lavdanski

Oh, please do not get me wrong. This new section is not about computers, electronics or any engineering stuff, but rather I am currently constructing a new corpus based on Spectrum, the monthly publication from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (USA), from July 2007 to date. Having been a member for the last 20 years (since 1992), I am always fascinated by some of the terms scientists use when they talk about or envision their new inventions or methodologies. How many of them eventually come into practice? Could there be some insights we could possibly derive, from the linguistics perspective?

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER

This website is published and designed by Raymond Cheng, PhD DPA and reflects only and only his personal views and opinions in his individual capacity. It does not represent the views and opinions of his firm, employer(s), clients, or anyone else, and is not in any way sponsored or endorsed by any other thrid parties. Click here to read my full disclaimer
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