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Daily Archives: November 7, 2014

Criminality, Corruption and the Devastation of Tanzania’s Elephants

Environmental Investigation Agency. Vanishing Point – Criminality, Corruption and the Devastation of Tanzania’s Elephants, November 2014.

“The devastating poaching crisis in Tanzania 25 years ago was characterised  by increased criminality, corruption, the proliferation of firearms, the failure of the judicial system and the perception that Tanzania was a sanctuary for criminals. Between 1977-87, Tanzania lost over 50,000 elephants, more than 50 per cent of its population …Tanzania’s elephants continue to be poached to supply a growing demand in an unregulated illegal ivory market, predominantly in China. Seizure data implicates Tanzania in more large flows of ivory than any other country. It is also consistently linked to criminal cases featuring exceptionally large consignments of ivory recovered in places as diverse as Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. The poaching crisis in Tanzania is due to a toxic mix of criminal syndicates, often led by Chinese nationals, and corruption among some Tanzanian Government officials. This report shows that without a zero-tolerance approach, the future
of Tanzania’s elephants and its tourism industry are precarious. The ivory trade must be disrupted at all levels of criminality, the entire prosecution chain needs to be systemically restructured and all stakeholders, including communities exploited by the criminal syndicates and those on the front lines of enforcement, given unequivocal support. All trade in ivory should be resolutely banned, especially in China.”

St. Louis Fed Releases New and Improved Free Digital Library

“The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has launched a new and improved version of its digital library of economic, financial and banking materials and has also made its content available to a broader audience through inclusion in the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). The Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research (FRASER) turned 10 years… Continue Reading

United Kingdom National Accounts, The Blue Book, 2014 Edition

“The United Kingdom National Accounts Blue Book was first published in August 1952 and presents a full set of economic accounts (National Accounts) for the United Kingdom. These accounts are compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). They record and describe economic activity in the UK and as such are used to support the… Continue Reading

Business models for open government data

Business models for open government data – Gustavo Magalhaes, UT Austin-Portugal Program, The University of Texas at Austin; Catarina Roseira, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto, Portugal; Laura Manley, New York University. “The commercial re-use of open government data is broadly expected to generate economic value. However, the practice and study of this trend is still in its infancy. In particular, the issue of… Continue Reading

Arrested – Mastermind of Silk Road Drug Sales Dark Web

ELIAS GROLL – Foreign Policy: “According to the criminal complaint filed in a New York federal court detailing charges against him, Benthall was easily identified once federal authorities discovered a server used to run Silk Road 2.0. His email address gave away his name and was listed on several publicly available social media profiles, including his account… Continue Reading