world's greatest Ph.D.

photos by Marco Mazzocchi

Photography of Warsaw by Marco Mazzocchi on Warsawcalling.com , a new online "podcasting" outfit run by a friend of mine, Pierluigi, who came to Warsaw via Milano. If you don't understand Polish, then at least look through these very interesting photos taken by Mr. Mazzochi, who Warsawcalling interviewed the other day.

finally, a new chapter.

This is the first paragraph, hopefully explaining the subject of this chapter.

Chapter #: Implementation of Polish FOI

This chapter concerns the implementation of the Law About Access to Public Information of 2001. By implementation, I refer to the set of practices set into motion by the Polish government in its efforts to adhere to the law. But implementation can hardly be extracted from the monitoring of the implementation of the law conducted both inside and outside of the government. As such, implementation refers to more than an act of putting policy into practice, it also includes a measure of success. Measure implies both a standard of practice or a coherent and applicable rule, as well as a manner of measurement or form in which to collect data on a practice. As discussed in the previous chapter, success is always the source of debate and conflict. While the law’s passage was a success, in the sense that it was passed at all, few people have consider its implementation a success. Even many within the Polish bureaucracy have cited either a lack of compliance or overly ambiguous rules. The NGO sector generally and, in particular, the NGOs responsible for the law’s creation have been dissatisfied with implementation. All sides have placed blame for improper or unfulfilled implementation elsewhere: lack of funds, lack of training, a bureaucratic culture of secrecy, or confusing or contradictory legal codes. It seems Professor K.’s proverb [from the last chapter] has held true: failure, in this case, is truly an orphan.

if that is your real name...

Walter Anderson is a crazy billionaire who has recently been arrested for tax evasion (NYtimes) because he has never paid taxes. I highly reccomend this fascinating article that profiles his many aliases and how he has been on a life-long quest to evade the government, become an invisible person, and escape to outer space.