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Power, Corruption and Lies

The latest Corruption Index published by Tranparency International ranks 159 countries by the level of perceived corruption and reveals a world still struggling with the twin axes of evil that are corruption and poverty.

Not surprisingly, the majority of the world’s most corrupt countries featured in the report are the world’s poorest nations such as Chad and Bangladesh, who came in joint last place of the 159 countries covered; Nigeria came in 154th; Kenya, Pakistan and Paraguay (!) were amongst a group of countries in 144th spot with Iraq, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Azerbaijan tieing for 137th.

Venezuela is the next South American country to feature in the list, grouped with the likes of Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan and Papua New Guinea followed by Russia, Albania, Niger and Sierra Leone at 126.

At the other end of the table, the “good” end if you will, Iceland takes the title of world’s least corrupt nation, closely followed by Finland, New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore.

Other notable rankings which may surprise many include the United Kingdom at joint 11th with The Netherlands; Canada 14th and Germany 16th, one spot ahead of the United States, who just push France into 18th. The “Top 20” is completed by Belgium and Ireland with Chile taking the least corrupt in Latin America title in a tie with Japan for 21. My country of residence, Spain, comes in at 23 with a rating of exactly 7 out of 10, most of which is real estate related.

A score of 5 or less is seen as indicating serious corruption problems and almost 120 countries failed to reach this minimum standard, with more than a hundred scoring less than 3, pointing to rampant corruption in both the private and public sectors.

To mark the publication this month of the report, â??Corruption is a major cause of poverty as well as a barrier to overcoming it,â?? said Transparency International Chairman Peter Eigen. â??The two scourges feed off each other, locking their populations in a cycle of misery. Corruption must be vigorously addressed if aid is to make a real difference in freeing people from poverty.â??

TI Chief Executive David Nussbaum added: “Corruption isn’t a natural disaster, it is the cold, calculated theft of opportunity from the men, women and children who are least able to protect themselves”.

Tranparency International is “the only international non-governmental organisation devoted to combating corruption [and] brings civil society, business, and governments together in a powerful global coalition”.

The Corruption Index “ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on corruption-related data in expert surveys carried out by a variety of reputable institutions. It reflects the views of business people and analysts from around the world, including experts who are locals in the countries evaluated”.

A version of this article is cross-posted here at BlogCritics.

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Serious Questions About God

There are many religions on this planet and many of their believers strongly trust that their particular creed is the one and only true faith. As far as I understand it, they all (or at least the vast majority) seem to believe that there is only one God. Setting aside the issue of how many different ways there are of worshipping this singularity, there are a lot of God related questions which always seem to go unanswered. This article is a serious and sincere attempt to outline some outstanding unanswered questions about God.

1. God appears to be unique, one of a kind, a genuine singularity, but is there really only one?

2. If, as all the current religious writings seem to say, there is only one entity of this omnipotent genre, it lives alone. Sure, it has all of us, and possibly all the known universe, its creations, to care for, but is s/he lonely?

3. One of the problems doubters have is the absence of any physical manifestation. Let’s face it, if God turned up in all their terrifying glory, it would instantly squash all questions of existence. If God is alone and possibly lonely, why doesn’t s/he hang out more?

4. On the other hand, perhaps God is not alone, but one of a whole species or race of beings simply way more advanced and evolved than we are. If there are more, where are they? And what are they doing?

5. If God is actually a physical being, s/he must actually be somewhere, even if they are omnipresent and all-knowing. Where is God physically located?

6. As far as we can tell, with our limited understanding, all living things need regular inputs of fuel, what we call food. Does this universal rule also apply to God? And if so, what does s/he eat?

7. As a follow on question, all living things also produce byproducts of the refueling process. If God eats, do they also have waste products and what does s/he do with them?

8. Similarly, all energetic systems produce heat as another byproduct of existence. If s/he consumes, why can’t we detect a heat signature?

9. And whilst pondering these issues, there seems to be certain universal laws of nature. Does God also obey the laws of nature?

10. I, for one, would prefer a universe with active gods that one could call upon for guidance and support – and not only because it would completely change the mostly predictable world in which we live. Does God’s infinite patience and indulgence of us, its creations according to dogma, go to such lengths that if it came to it, s/he would actually allow us to blow ourselves out of existence through the development of ever more terrible weapons?

PLEASE NOTE: This is intended as a serious attempt to have a focussed and intelligent dialogue about the nature of God. It is meant respectfully and not as an attempt to be provocative and/or offensive to anybody’s beliefs. Please respond in a similar spirit and resist the impulse to attack a simple enquiring mind.

This article is also cross-posted here on BlogCritics.

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What’s worse than 2 dead lawyers?

Just 1 dead lawyer! Yeah, I know, stupid joke but the following may slightly justify it.

Ursula and I have been looking for a new lawyer for a while now and, as we’re hanging near Nerja for a while thought we’d look there. Our last lawyer was a Spanish Abogado in Antequera but with their poor English and our poor Spanish, communication was never easy. Anyway, they were consumed by a host of personal problems and unable to continue working for a while, so we were on our own at a difficult time when strong legal representation could really have helped.

Needing to be able to communicate clearly and easily and hoping to find someone more dynamic and proactive, we thought we’d go for an English lawyer based in Spain, hoping to get the best of both worlds. After some research, a likely candidate emerged; a team of English and Spanish lawyers with branches in Nerja, Marbella and London. So I phoned up to make an appointment and had the following conversation with a snobby person who might have been called Naomi.

Nerja

Me: Hi, I’m looking for a lawyer to represent my wife and I in some future property deals, company formation stuff and some personal matters and would like to come in for a meeting to see if you would be right to represent us.
Snobbette: Er, so you want a consultation?
Me: No, I want to meet with, interview if you like, one of your senior partners to see if you would fit with us and our plans.

Trust me, if you’re going to work with lawyers, they often come to know more about you than anybody else; wife, parents, doctor, holy person if you’re that way inclined, none of these will ever know as much as your lawyer, so it’s important to work with someone you feel comfortable with.

Snobbette: A___ J______ is the partner here.
Me: How long has he been with the firm?
Snobbette: Oh, about a year!
This should have been my tip that these people weren’t clued up!
Me: You do remember me saying I wanted to meet with a senior partner?
Snobbette: Shall I set up the consultation?
Me: Why don’t you tell AJ what I’ve told you and check with him?

After several mins on hold, Snobbette returns…
Snobbette: Mr J will meet with you but if he gives you any advice the charge will be 80 Euros an hour.
Me: Oh, there won’t be any advice given, I just want to meet to see if I think you’d be right for us
Snobbette: Er, so you don’t want legal advice?
Me: NO! I want to interview one of your senior partners to see if you’d be the right legal represention for us!

I’m not famous for my patience and this clueless twit is really starting to hack me off. I’m looking for sharp legal minds and I’m practically being hustled for a lousy 80 Euros.

Me: Have you told AJ what I said?
Snobbette: Yes and he said he would meet with you but if he gave you any advice it would be for 80 Euros an hour.
Me: I’ve decided you’re not the right firm for us, you don’t hear what I’m saying to you and all you want to talk about is money, before we’ve even met. Goodbye.

And I hang up.

A few days later, Ursula and I are walking in Nerja and see a little law firm and for some reason are drawn to their door. I didn’t really want to go in, still hacked off over my last lawyer experience and not being sure where to try next, given our English strategy was in tatters. So Ursula popped in and got their card and told me that everyone in there spoke English, though appeared to be Spanish. I noticed they had a website and planned to check them out later back home.

I didn’t actually get round to looking at their site til the next day, but, surprise, it was built in not only Spanish, but also English and German! And it was a good site, nice simple design, quick to load and easy to use and not too big! And their philosophy of getting to know the client, of treating the client’s needs and problems as if they were their own, was just what we needed! This was looking good.

They had a page showing all the staff, their qualifications and areas of expertise and I was able to identify 3 or 4 who had the necessary legal and commercial background. S0 I phoned up and was able to set up a meeting the next day with one of the 3, a senior partner with a solid financial understanding. and we went in, had a great meeting with one Ernesto Yagüe Sánchez, who spoke good English and just seemed to get us straightaway.

Ernesto

To cut a long story shorter, we now have new lawyers in the shape of the good people of Del Prado & Partnersand are feeling a lot happier after another difficult 15 month stretch as we continue growing into our new lives here in Spain. Several people messed us about quite seriously during that time, our 3rd year in Spain, but now well into our 4th, we feel able to make up for lost time, confidence restored by the new alliance and come out fighting!

When you’re a stranger in a strange land, and are doing any kind of business, it’s vital to have a strong team of people supporting you, to protect you against yourself and your lack of knowledge of the way they do things here, the very different way of doing things they have here in Spain. And now we do! So watch out world, here we come, again.