October 28, 2009

Taking Graft to New Heights

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I’ve never heard of the Italian news agency ADNkronos, but today they report a pretty spectacular statistic:

Kabul, 28 October(AKI) – Anti-corruption officials believe graft is eating up a staggering 75 percent of the Afghan government’s revenues, a news conference heard on Wednesday. A senior official in Afghanistan’s anti-corruption department, Muhammad Yasin Osmani, said most of the revenues were being wasted due to administrative corruption.

….Finance ministry spokesman Aziz Shams admitted government revenues were being squandered but said Osmani had over-dramatised the situation.

But does Aziz Shams mean over-dramatized in the sense of “wrong” or over-dramatized in the sense “making too big a fuss over it”?  Steve Hynd wants to know.

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ONLY HOURS LEFT—AND EVERYTHING RIDING ON IT

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

With just hours left, we need a huge surge in reader support to get to our $400,000 year-end goal. Whether you've given before or this is your first time, your contribution right now matters. All gifts are 3X matched and tax-deductible.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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