euralmanac: Hungary Vulnerable to Corruption, Transparency International Says Transparency International, an anti-corruption organization, criticized the Hungarian government for failing to deliver on promises to fight corruption. The organization said this week overall corruption levels had remained unchanged since its last analysis of Hungary conducted in 2007. Political party financing, business corruption and the lack of anti-corruption agencies still remain main risks for graft, it said. The expected headway hasn’t been made, although corruption hasn’t gotten much worse either, it said. The government of the Fidesz party came to power in 2010, winning a two-thirds majority of seats in Hungary’s parliament after a campaign pledging a radical change of how the country’s run. “What’s disappointing is that there was so much hope within society for a radical change, but the government has failed to deliver on their promise,” Peter Hack, lead researcher for the project, told a news conference. The government wasn’t immediately available to comment on the report. It has earlier said it stands by its commitment to ending high-level corruption. Several investigations have been launched into alleged foul play involving senior politicians from earlier governments. (via WSJ)
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euralmanac:

Hungary Vulnerable to Corruption, Transparency International Says

Transparency International, an anti-corruption organization, criticized the Hungarian government for failing to deliver on promises to fight corruption. The organization said this week overall corruption levels had remained unchanged since its last analysis of Hungary conducted in 2007.

Political party financing, business corruption and the lack of anti-corruption agencies still remain main risks for graft, it said. The expected headway hasn’t been made, although corruption hasn’t gotten much worse either, it said.

The government of the Fidesz party came to power in 2010, winning a two-thirds majority of seats in Hungary’s parliament after a campaign pledging a radical change of how the country’s run.

“What’s disappointing is that there was so much hope within society for a radical change, but the government has failed to deliver on their promise,” Peter Hack, lead researcher for the project, told a news conference.

The government wasn’t immediately available to comment on the report. It has earlier said it stands by its commitment to ending high-level corruption. Several investigations have been launched into alleged foul play involving senior politicians from earlier governments. (via WSJ)

Source: The Wall Street Journal

euralmanac: Russian election Monopoly board (via The Poke) Dear Santa…
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euralmanac:

Russian election Monopoly board

(via The Poke)

Dear Santa…

Source: thepoke.co.uk

theatlantic: Iceland Is Wrong to Blame Its Leaders for the Financial Crisis, and So Are We The urge to blame someone, preferably a banker or a politician, though, isn’t exclusively Icelandic. And that raises the question: Should other European states or even the U.S. be holding its politicians more accountable, too? Wouldn’t that make more sense than hauling out the pitchforks for the bankers who, after all, were doing exactly what they were paid to do? At least politicians are being paid to protect us. On the one hand, there’s a pretty clear outsourcing element to Western government: we elect, either directly or indirectly, people whose job it is to pay attention to certain things we don’t have the time or the expertise to figure out ourselves. In that sense, if you believe that bankers constitute the very sort of threat that government is supposed to be monitoring, the political leaders do bear some responsibility for the financial crisis. But it’s possible to get too self-righteously outraged about government negligence and miss another practical component of Western government: that though we pay the government to take care of things we can’t take care of personally, we also pay them in large part to take care of the things wewant them to take care of. The more direct the democracy, the more direct the effect: politicians follow polls and pressures — whether it comes from money (the financial industry is a huge source of political donations) or public sentiment. It’s a rare politician who follows his conscience against the tide, and in the United States, at least, we regularly accuse politicians who do just that of ignoring the will of the people. Prior to the financial crisis, neither the American people nor the Icelandic people were paying enough attention to the financial industry for regulating it to be worth the governments’ while. Read more. [Image: Reuters]
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theatlantic:

Iceland Is Wrong to Blame Its Leaders for the Financial Crisis, and So Are We

The urge to blame someone, preferably a banker or a politician, though, isn’t exclusively Icelandic. And that raises the question: Should other European states or even the U.S. be holding its politicians more accountable, too? Wouldn’t that make more sense than hauling out the pitchforks for the bankers who, after all, were doing exactly what they were paid to do? At least politicians are being paid to protect us.

On the one hand, there’s a pretty clear outsourcing element to Western government: we elect, either directly or indirectly, people whose job it is to pay attention to certain things we don’t have the time or the expertise to figure out ourselves. In that sense, if you believe that bankers constitute the very sort of threat that government is supposed to be monitoring, the political leaders do bear some responsibility for the financial crisis.

But it’s possible to get too self-righteously outraged about government negligence and miss another practical component of Western government: that though we pay the government to take care of things we can’t take care of personally, we also pay them in large part to take care of the things wewant them to take care of. The more direct the democracy, the more direct the effect: politicians follow polls and pressures — whether it comes from money (the financial industry is a huge source of political donations) or public sentiment. It’s a rare politician who follows his conscience against the tide, and in the United States, at least, we regularly accuse politicians who do just that of ignoring the will of the people.

Prior to the financial crisis, neither the American people nor the Icelandic people were paying enough attention to the financial industry for regulating it to be worth the governments’ while.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

Source: The Atlantic

Higher education is not a luxury. It’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.

President Obama speaking in Michigan today about his plans to make college more affordable (via barackobama)

Micsoda ortodox megközelítés…

Source: barackobama

Quick study: Alastair Smith on political tyranny: How to be a dictator | The Economist

random-nesz:

látszik, hogy Viktorunk nem olvasta ezt…

Source: random-nesz

euralmanac: Yulia Tymoshenko’s husband granted asylum in the Czech Republic The husband of Ukraine’s imprisoned opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, has been granted asylum in the Czech Republic, a week after his wife was transferred to a penal colony to serve a seven-year sentence. Tymoshenko, 51, the former prime minister of Ukraine, was convicted in October of abuse of office for signing an allegedly disadvantageous gas deal with Russia in 2009. She lost an appeal last month. Critics say the prosecution was politically motivated and probably ordered by her rival, Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s president, who denies that accusation. The Czech interior ministry confirmed on Friday it had approved the application for asylum submitted by Tymoshenko’s partner, Oleksander, a businessman. (via The Guardian)
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euralmanac:

Yulia Tymoshenko’s husband granted asylum in the Czech Republic

The husband of Ukraine’s imprisoned opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, has been granted asylum in the Czech Republic, a week after his wife was transferred to a penal colony to serve a seven-year sentence.

Tymoshenko, 51, the former prime minister of Ukraine, was convicted in October of abuse of office for signing an allegedly disadvantageous gas deal with Russia in 2009. She lost an appeal last month. Critics say the prosecution was politically motivated and probably ordered by her rival, Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s president, who denies that accusation.

The Czech interior ministry confirmed on Friday it had approved the application for asylum submitted by Tymoshenko’s partner, Oleksander, a businessman. (via The Guardian)

Source: Guardian