Fight Corruption

[The One]

Ever wondered why some nations are still so poor.

Africa is rich with natural resources. But too often, money from the sales of oil, gas and mineral resources end up in the pockets of corrupt governments. This means that critical development issues like education, health care and agriculture get ignored and poverty remains.I believe that by putting information into the hands of local communities, governments of resource-rich countries will be better held account for how they spend their money. Corruption can be reduced and governance can be improved the result being that more resources are spent on economic and social development programmes.

lets have a look at the outgoing president of egypt Mubarak worth more than $70 Billion how he's been able to get so rich is shocking How does a dictator get so rich? Over 30 years as president, and before that a senior military officer, allowed Mubarak access to the oligarchs who control much of the investment capital in Egypt’s very closed, highly bureaucratic system. Investment deals have generated hundreds of millions of pounds in profits for Mubarak. Most of those gains have been taken offshore and deposited in secret bank accounts or invested in up-market homes and hotels.According to a report last year in the Arabic newspaper Al Khabar, Mubarak has properties in Manhattan and exclusive Beverly Hills addresses on Rodeo Drive.His sons, Gamal and Alaa, are also billionaires. A protest outside Gamal's ostentatious home at 28 Wilton Place in Belgravia, central London, highlighted the family's appetite for western trophy assets.Amaney Jamal, a political science professor at Princeton University, told the Guardian that the estimate of $40 billion to $70 billion was comparable with the vast wealth of leaders in other Gulf countries."The business ventures from his military and government service accumulated to his personal wealth," she told ABC news. "There was a lot of corruption in this regime and stifling of public resources for personal gain."This is the pattern of other Middle Eastern dictators so their wealth will not be taken during a transition. These leaders plan on this."this is just one examle just think how many ex Presidents/Prime Ministers have done the same.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsmax.com%2FInsideCover%2Fhosni-mubarak-egypt-wealth%2F2011%2F02%2F04%2Fid%2F385057&ei=7TRRTfaJC5GEhQfF3smtCQ&usg=AFQjCNEG0Hp1cJdGAD-ZD7bF6BVnbSW8MQ

Shame on them all

[Jean-Marie]

We had a mayor we believed to be corrupt, giving deals to his friends. The city had a 2 million + deficit the last two years he was in office. We gathered like minds, came up with a list of people who felt the same way we did. We found a candidate who agreed to run against him in the next election. We pulled off a true grass roots election. Many influential people in the community told us he was unbeatable and that it couldn't be done. As a volunteer I ran the campaign office 7 days a week. Not only did we win, but we won with a large margin.

I had to give up personal time and time with my family. My sons helped distribute flyers door to door. One of my sons was a poll watcher the day of the election. My husband could not wait for it to be over because no one was cleaning the house and fast food was getting old quickly. But not only did I feel personal achievement, my sons learned that anything is possible depending on how badly you want it and how much passion you can throw into it.

[Peacelovinman]

We had a mayor we believed to be corrupt, giving deals to his friends. The city had a 2 million + deficit the last two years he was in office. We gathered like minds, came up with a list of people who felt the same way we did. We found a candidate who agreed to run against him in the next election. We pulled off a true grass roots election. Many influential people in the community told us he was unbeatable and that it couldn't be done. As a volunteer I ran the campaign office 7 days a week. Not only did we win, but we won with a large margin.

I had to give up personal time and time with my family. My sons helped distribute flyers door to door. One of my sons was a poll watcher the day of the election. My husband could not wait for it to be over because no one was cleaning the house and fast food was getting old quickly. But not only did I feel personal achievement, my sons learned that anything is possible depending on how badly you want it and how much passion you can throw into it.

All power to you!

[centreoflight]

I was going to start a new post on corruption, but now i found this one and I post my view on it:

My Indian friend Lokesh once told me: “there is only 1 % of the population who is corrupt, but these people are so clever, that they create the impression that all are corrupt.”

Now how did it all start?

I am sure that at the beginning we where all honest and we all knew that we are one. To cheat somebody was unthinkable, because cheating somebody at the end is cheating yourself.

One person must have gone mad and started this game of dishonesty. He took all the possessions of one of his fellow humans and declared that all what he had taken was now his. The victims were puzzled and approached that mad person. “I will help you to recover all what you had and much more”, replied the cheater. “We will make a plan together and cheat another person”. Now the penniless man agreed, because he had to feed his family!

This event started a chain of cheating, but only the person who started the game was really corrupt, all the others played along because they needed this system to survive.

Many people, including me, have the feeling that there is something terribly wrong here and what is wrong is exactly this chain of corruption. It only stops when we stand up courageously and stop supporting the system.

I worked in different Swiss banks and also lived in India for several years. What I have learned in those places combined with my researches on the internet has helped me to make a picture of the present situation.

I know that it is important to know what we want, because discussing continuously what we do not want, brings exactly that. For me what I want first of all is peace and I know once I found it, World peace will follow spontaneously.

Just a few thoughts to start my activity here on Avalon.
Blessings to you all.
George / Centreoflight