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Kyle Schwitters
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 Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:34 pm Post subject: RUSSIA: Still Communist in Nature: But The Country THRIVES |
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Maybe the U.S. should consider incorporating the Russian model into
its economy. It would be an easy transition, because in a sense, at
the higher levels at least, cheating never goes out of style in
"American" politics and industry.
Bushie might go along. After all, he was mesmerized when he "Gazed
into Putin's soul" and found a kindred spirit!
And criminals of a feather need to stick together.
----------------------------------
"Taking On Russia's Ubiquitous Bribery"
"President Has Pledged to Undo 'a Way of Life'"
By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 14, 2008; A09
MOSCOW -- Earlier this year, with final exams looming, Alexander and
10 of his fellow mathematics students were summoned by their professor
at a Moscow technical university. All were missing course work needed
to complete their study of a field known as discrete mathematics, and
without it they could not take the final exam, jeopardizing their
graduation.
"The professor asked for suggestions how we might resolve this
situation," said Alexander, who spoke on the condition that his full
name not be used. "One of our group suggested that we meet him at his
home, and he said he would give him a ride there while the rest of us
took the Metro."
On the way to the apartment, the professor and the student settled on
the terms for everyone, recounted Alexander, 22. Each student would
pay 500 rubles, or approximately $22, for each missing piece of work,
and an additional $170 for a 4 -- the Russian equivalent of a B -- on
the final exam. Alexander said he ended up paying about $280.
"It was reasonable," Alexander said. "You have to pay for your own
stupidity."
From birth to death, corruption courses through the lives of Russians
-- a phenomenon that newly elected President Dmitry Medvedev recently
said has become "a way of life for a huge number of people."
"Those who take bribes feel it involves no risks or consider such
risks to be negligible," Medvedev told lawmakers. "It mustn't be so."
In the Russian education system alone, about $1 billion is paid each
year in bribes to secure entry and pass exams, according to Mark
Levin, a professor at Moscow's Higher School of Economics who has
studied the phenomenon. Levin estimated that unqualified students,
depending on the reputation of the school, pay between $500 and
$20,000 for admission to a university. Most of those students, he
said, continue to pay bribes to pass exams and to emerge with
diplomas.
Medvedev has pledged to introduce new anti-corruption legislation by
October as part of a broad campaign to reduce bribery. In the early
weeks of his presidency, he made the centerpiece of his administration
the establishment of the rule of law and the ending of what he calls
"legal nihilism," or the wholesale flouting of the law.
But Russia has a history of half-hearted or failed attempts at
combating corruption. Despite the centralization of power under former
president Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has been unable or unwilling to
tackle an issue that may well be expanding even further. The country's
staggering new wealth, largely flowing from oil and natural gas
revenues, has led to an explosion in graft, which is now measured in
the tens of billions of dollars.
In a survey of corruption levels in 180 countries, Transparency
International, a watchdog organization based in Berlin, ranked Russia
143rd, with 180th as the worst.
"We have a lot of people who in their lifetimes worked only in the
civil service, and what they have does not correspond with their
income, which is extremely modest," said Yelena Panfilova, head of the
group's Russia office. "They have shares in business, property in
London or Paris or Madrid or the Maldives, children in boarding school
in England . . . and a couple of cars.
"And they say that any law forcing them to account for their assets is
a violation of their human rights."
As recently as 2006, Russia ratified the U.N. Convention Against
Corruption but excused itself from a key provision on "illicit
enrichment." The article requires countries to make it a criminal
offense when there is a "significant increase in the assets of a
public official that he or she cannot reasonably explain in relation
to his or her lawful income."
Bribery enriches Russian bureaucrats and other officials to the tune
of $120 billion annually, a senior Russian investigator said. "The
revenues of our bureaucrats from corrupt activity, according to
experts, account for one-third of our national budget," Vasily
Piskaryov, a senior official at the Investigative Committee of the
Prosecutor General's Office, said last month.
Other groups believe the scale is even bigger. The Indem Foundation, a
Russian grass-roots organization, estimates that Russians pay $319
billion annually in bribes. "It is always with us, in every part of
our lives," said Georgy Satarov, head of Indem and a former adviser to
the late president Boris Yeltsin.
And everything has a price, according to Russians who were willing to
discuss bribes they had personally paid, on the condition that they
not be fully identified.
Yulia, a new mother, said she slipped her doctor in Moscow $1,500 to
ensure the best care when she was pregnant, even though she has state
medical insurance. She said the doctor wouldn't see her without the
cash up front.
Nina, a grandmother in Penza, a city about 400 miles southeast of
Moscow, said that she paid $150 to a local bureaucrat to get her
daughter's child into a state kindergarten, which is ostensibly free.
Sasha, a recent university graduate, said he paid $3,000 this year to
avoid military service. The money was passed by a mutual friend to the
head of a recruitment office, and Sasha got a medical exemption in
return.
Oksana, who recently purchased an apartment in Moscow, said she paid
$4,000 to obtain the documents proving she owns her property. Moscow
city officials at first demanded $10,000.
"What choice do you have?" Oksana said. "You can fight them, but it
will take forever, and they can make things very bad for you."
Yuri, who runs a small business, said he paid $1,200 to continue on
his way after he was stopped while driving under the influence of
alcohol in Moscow this year. The traffic police are among the most
notorious bribe-takers in the country. Yuri said he phoned a friend,
who brought the cash to the location where he was stopped.
"There is a very easy and light-hearted attitude to corruption in our
country," said Panfilova of Transparency International. "But I keep
trying to stress that corruption kills. Do you really want to take
your children to see the doctor who bought his diploma? What about the
drunk driver who pays, and then kills someone down the street?"
Another small-businessman, a glass company owner who wouldn't allow
even his first name to be used, said he pays about $900 a month to
various inspectors and police. If he refused, he said, they would
paralyze his business with alleged fire, health, labor, tax or
sanitary violations.
"Arbitrary inspections by officials, from firemen to police, are often
an excuse to extort bribes," Medvedev said in March.
And that's just the small stuff.
For tens of thousands of dollars -- estimates vary from $10,000 to
$50,000 -- investigations by police or other state agencies can be
purchased to cripple business rivals, ripening them for cheap
takeovers. Russian business organizations say that each year, about
8,000 businesses are the subject of such attacks by "raiders," as
Russians call these corporate bandits.
The Institute for Public Projects and the Institute for Comparative
Social Research, two Moscow research organizations, recently compiled
a price list of big-ticket bribes after interviewing businessmen,
politicians, civil servants and other experts who were granted
anonymity.
· A state contract to a state firm: A 20 percent kickback of the
contract's value.
· A state contract to a private firm: A 33 percent kickback of the
contract's value.
· A state license for a large private business: $1 million to $5
million.
· A charitable grant: 20 to 30 percent of the grant's value.
The think tanks suggested that a place on a political party's list of
candidates for parliament could be acquired for $2 million to $5
million.
Medvedev has provided few details about his proposed attack on
corruption. Some critics, including Satarov, believe his interest in
establishing the rule of law grows from a desire to legitimize
property acquired by Kremlin insiders and their loyal collaborators
during the Putin years.
"They are afraid that those who might replace them will take away
their property," Satarov said. "The plan is to create . . . a sort of
island where the rule of law exists. Their property is on this
island."
But Panfilova said she is reserving judgment on Medvedev's initiative,
which could also be part of a broader strategy to strengthen his still-
uncertain political position.
"If the plan is filled with real instruments to control the income and
property of civil servants, it means he is serious about fighting
corruption," she said. "Anti-corruption can also be a perfect tool to
confront your political enemies. And that's easy to do in Russia.
There will be something to investigate on almost each and every
person."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/13/AR2008071301928.html |
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rst0wxyz
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| Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:15 pm Post subject: Re: RUSSIA: Still Communist in Nature: But The Country THRIV |
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On Jul 14, 11:34 am, Kyle Schwitters <slipuva...@yahoo.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
Maybe the U.S. should consider incorporating the Russian model into
its economy. It would be an easy transition, because in a sense, at
the higher levels at least, cheating never goes out of style in
"American" politics and industry.
|
I thought this is the Chinese model!!! Maybe it is all over the
world.
| Quote: |
Bushie might go along. After all, he was mesmerized when he "Gazed
into Putin's soul" and found a kindred spirit!
And criminals of a feather need to stick together.
|
"Criminals of a feather flock together", lecher dog used to say.
| Quote: |
----------------------------------
"Taking On Russia's Ubiquitous Bribery"
"President Has Pledged to Undo 'a Way of Life'"
By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 14, 2008; A09
MOSCOW -- Earlier this year, with final exams looming, Alexander and
10 of his fellow mathematics students were summoned by their professor
at a Moscow technical university. All were missing course work needed
to complete their study of a field known as discrete mathematics, and
without it they could not take the final exam, jeopardizing their
graduation.
"The professor asked for suggestions how we might resolve this
situation," said Alexander, who spoke on the condition that his full
name not be used. "One of our group suggested that we meet him at his
home, and he said he would give him a ride there while the rest of us
took the Metro."
On the way to the apartment, the professor and the student settled on
the terms for everyone, recounted Alexander, 22. Each student would
pay 500 rubles, or approximately $22, for each missing piece of work,
and an additional $170 for a 4 -- the Russian equivalent of a B -- on
the final exam. Alexander said he ended up paying about $280.
"It was reasonable," Alexander said. "You have to pay for your own
stupidity."
From birth to death, corruption courses through the lives of Russians
-- a phenomenon that newly elected President Dmitry Medvedev recently
said has become "a way of life for a huge number of people."
"Those who take bribes feel it involves no risks or consider such
risks to be negligible," Medvedev told lawmakers. "It mustn't be so."
In the Russian education system alone, about $1 billion is paid each
year in bribes to secure entry and pass exams, according to Mark
Levin, a professor at Moscow's Higher School of Economics who has
studied the phenomenon. Levin estimated that unqualified students,
depending on the reputation of the school, pay between $500 and
$20,000 for admission to a university. Most of those students, he
said, continue to pay bribes to pass exams and to emerge with
diplomas.
Medvedev has pledged to introduce new anti-corruption legislation by
October as part of a broad campaign to reduce bribery. In the early
weeks of his presidency, he made the centerpiece of his administration
the establishment of the rule of law and the ending of what he calls
"legal nihilism," or the wholesale flouting of the law.
But Russia has a history of half-hearted or failed attempts at
combating corruption. Despite the centralization of power under former
president Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has been unable or unwilling to
tackle an issue that may well be expanding even further. The country's
staggering new wealth, largely flowing from oil and natural gas
revenues, has led to an explosion in graft, which is now measured in
the tens of billions of dollars.
In a survey of corruption levels in 180 countries, Transparency
International, a watchdog organization based in Berlin, ranked Russia
143rd, with 180th as the worst.
"We have a lot of people who in their lifetimes worked only in the
civil service, and what they have does not correspond with their
income, which is extremely modest," said Yelena Panfilova, head of the
group's Russia office. "They have shares in business, property in
London or Paris or Madrid or the Maldives, children in boarding school
in England . . . and a couple of cars.
"And they say that any law forcing them to account for their assets is
a violation of their human rights."
As recently as 2006, Russia ratified the U.N. Convention Against
Corruption but excused itself from a key provision on "illicit
enrichment." The article requires countries to make it a criminal
offense when there is a "significant increase in the assets of a
public official that he or she cannot reasonably explain in relation
to his or her lawful income."
Bribery enriches Russian bureaucrats and other officials to the tune
of $120 billion annually, a senior Russian investigator said. "The
revenues of our bureaucrats from corrupt activity, according to
experts, account for one-third of our national budget," Vasily
Piskaryov, a senior official at the Investigative Committee of the
Prosecutor General's Office, said last month.
Other groups believe the scale is even bigger. The Indem Foundation, a
Russian grass-roots organization, estimates that Russians pay $319
billion annually in bribes. "It is always with us, in every part of
our lives," said Georgy Satarov, head of Indem and a former adviser to
the late president Boris Yeltsin.
And everything has a price, according to Russians who were willing to
discuss bribes they had personally paid, on the condition that they
not be fully identified.
Yulia, a new mother, said she slipped her doctor in Moscow $1,500 to
ensure the best care when she was pregnant, even though she has state
medical insurance. She said the doctor wouldn't see her without the
cash up front.
Nina, a grandmother in Penza, a city about 400 miles southeast of
Moscow, said that she paid $150 to a local bureaucrat to get her
daughter's child into a state kindergarten, which is ostensibly free.
Sasha, a recent university graduate, said he paid $3,000 this year to
avoid military service. The money was passed by a mutual friend to the
head of a recruitment office, and Sasha got a medical exemption in
return.
Oksana, who recently purchased an apartment in Moscow, said she paid
$4,000 to obtain the documents proving she owns her property. Moscow
city officials at first demanded $10,000.
"What choice do you have?" Oksana said. "You can fight them, but it
will take forever, and they can make things very bad for you."
Yuri, who runs a small business, said he paid $1,200 to continue on
his way after he was stopped while driving under the influence of
alcohol in Moscow this year. The traffic police are among the most
notorious bribe-takers in the country. Yuri said he phoned a friend,
who brought the cash to the location where he was stopped.
"There is a very easy and light-hearted attitude to corruption in our
country," said Panfilova of Transparency International. "But I keep
trying to stress that corruption kills. Do you really want to take
your children to see the doctor who bought his diploma? What about the
drunk driver who pays, and then kills someone down the street?"
Another small-businessman, a glass company owner who wouldn't allow
even his first name to be used, said he pays about $900 a month to
various inspectors and police. If he refused, he said, they would
paralyze his business with alleged fire, health, labor, tax or
sanitary violations.
"Arbitrary inspections by officials, from firemen to police, are often
an excuse to extort bribes," Medvedev said in March.
And that's just the small stuff.
For tens of thousands of dollars -- estimates vary from $10,000 to
$50,000 -- investigations by police or other state agencies can be
purchased to cripple business rivals, ripening them for cheap
takeovers. Russian business organizations say that each year, about
8,000 businesses are the subject of such attacks by "raiders," as
Russians call these corporate bandits.
The Institute for Public Projects and the Institute for Comparative
Social Research, two Moscow research organizations, recently compiled
a price list of big-ticket bribes after interviewing businessmen,
politicians, civil servants and other experts who were granted
anonymity.
· A state contract to a state firm: A 20 percent kickback of the
contract's value.
· A state contract to a private firm: A 33 percent kickback of the
contract's value.
· A state license for a large private business: $1 million to $5
million.
· A charitable grant: 20 to 30 percent of the grant's value.
The think tanks suggested that a place on a political party's list of
candidates for parliament could be acquired for $2 million to $5
million.
Medvedev has provided few details about his proposed attack on
corruption. Some critics, including Satarov, believe his interest in
establishing the rule of law grows from a desire to legitimize
property acquired by Kremlin insiders and their loyal collaborators
during the Putin years.
"They are afraid that those who might replace them will take away
their property," Satarov said. "The plan is to create . . . a sort of
island where the rule of law exists. Their property is on this
island."
But Panfilova said she is reserving judgment on Medvedev's initiative,
which could also be part of a broader strategy to strengthen his still-
uncertain political position.
"If the plan is filled with real instruments to control the income and
property of civil servants, it means he is serious about fighting
corruption," she said. "Anti-corruption can also be a perfect tool to
confront your political enemies. And that's easy to do in Russia.
There will be something to investigate on almost each and every
person."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/13/AR200... |
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Feulin Yewup
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| Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject: Re: RUSSIA: Still Communist in Nature: But The Country THRIV |
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SLAVEMASTERS of COMMUNIST CHINA Thrive on PUBLIC BEATINGS!
*** FLASH ***
"MIGRANT WORKERS RIOT AT COMMIECHINK POLICE STATION! "
Around the World
Tuesday, July 15, 2008; A14
CHINA
HUNDREDS OF MIGRANT WORKERS attacked a police station in eastern China
after one was allegedly beaten while trying to get a residence permit,
highlighting enduring tensions between temporary workers and
authorities.
The three days of unrest in coastal Zhejiang province began Thursday
when a crowd gathered in front of the Kanmen town police station to
protest the treatment of the beaten worker, with some demonstrators
throwing rocks at officers, the official New China News Agency said
Monday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/14/AR2008071402621.html |
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dillydally
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject: Re: RUSSIA: Still Communist in Nature: But The Country THRIV |
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They say there is little bribe culture in China because the Commie
slavemasters merely order up something or some action -- and if it's
not promptly acted upon, there's a pistol shot to the head.
As they said at Tiananmen Square, "Dead citizens tell no tales." |
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Bob LeChevalier
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