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Daily Archives: October 17, 2016

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction – Corruption in Conflict

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Corruption in Conflict – Lessons From the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan, September 2016 – “Corruption in Conflict—the first in a series of lessons learned reports by SIGAR—examines how the U.S. government understood the risks of corruption in Afghanistan, how the U.S. response to corruption evolved, and the effectiveness of that response. This report draws important lessons from the U.S. experience with corruption in Afghanistan since 2001. It is vital that these lessons inform and improve not only ongoing efforts in Afghanistan, but also future U.S. contingency operations. When U.S. military forces and civilians entered Afghanistan in 2001 in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, they were immediately faced with the difficult task of trying to stabilize a country devastated by decades of war and poverty. Against that background, the U.S. government did not place a high priority on the threat of corruption in the first years of the reconstruction effort. By 2009, however, many senior U.S. officials saw systemic corruption as a strategic threat to the mission.

The report identifies five main findings from which we draw lessons and recommendations for improvement.

  1. Corruption undermined the U.S. mission in Afghanistan by fueling grievances and channeling support to the insurgency.
  2. The U.S. contributed to the growth of corruption.
  3. The U.S. was slow to recognize the magnitude of the problem.
  4. U.S. security and political goals consistently trumped strong anticorruption actions.
  5. Anticorruption efforts lacked sustained political commitment and saw limited success.”

GAO – EPA estimates over $650 billion in expenditures for cities to upgrade water infrastructure

Water Infrastructure: Information on Selected Midsize and Large Cities with Declining Populations, GAO-16-785: Published: Sep 15, 2016. Publicly Released: Oct 17, 2016 “EPA estimates water and sewer utilities will need to spend $655 billion over the next 20 years to maintain, upgrade, or replace water infrastructure. Many midsize and large cities that lost a large… Continue Reading

‘Every Full Moon’ video series debuts with sea creatures that light up the night

NOAA – “Did you see the full moon this week? Keep an eye out because once a month, during every full moon, NOAA’s Emmy Award-winning Ocean Today team will release awe-inspiring videos featuring new discoveries, cutting-edge technology, weird animals and people around the world who are coming together to keep our ocean and our planet healthy. … Continue Reading

Privacy International challenge of UK hacking operations

PCWorld: “The U.K.’s spy agencies breached the European Convention on Human Rights for years by secretly collecting almost everything about British citizens’ communications except their content, a U.K. court has ruled. However, now that the U.K. government has admitted what it is doing, the collection is legal, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled Monday. It has… Continue Reading

Analyzing Hospice Care in the United States

Center for Data Innovation – “The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a data set called the Hospice Utilization and Payment Public Use File (Hospice PUF) detailing the services of 4,015 hospice providers to Medicare subscribers in 2014. The Hospice PUF includes deidentified data on over $15 billion in Medicare payments… Continue Reading

Medicare Part D: A First Look At Prescription Drug Plans in 2017

Kaiser Family Foundation – “Current enrollees in stand-alone Medicare Part D plans are projected to face an average 9 percent increase in premiums if they remain in their current plan for 2017, according to an analysis released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. During Medicare’s 2017 open enrollment period, which runs from Oct. 15 through… Continue Reading

Research – disparities in recommendation letters for women and men

Although this article is specific to a group of professionals in geoscience, the research about this bias is reflective of experiences across a range of professions, Nature Geoscience – Gender differences in recommendation letters forpostdoctoral fellowships in geoscience, published online 3 October 2016. “Gender disparities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, including… Continue Reading