Current events in the news more and more read and sound like the fulfillment of end-times bible prophecies Correlation between the bible and current events is clearer now than five years ago. We cannot afford to keep sticking our heads in the sand about this convergence. We are not there yet, but things are plainly making strong headway toward the reality of prophesied end-times happenings. The key word is Watch We must remain knowledgably vigilant. Scripture must be studied for clues and signposts of last-day events and then comparison must be made with reported events to discern how they relate to one another.

This important volume looks at conflicts of interest, codes of ethics, and the regulation of corruption in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the European Community. It finds that there is less corruption than ever before, but the gap between public expectations and perceptions has nevertheless widened. Moreover, it questions the dominant academic approach to applied ethics, with its emphasis on training, standards and procedures, and, ultimately, regulation.

In contrast, the authors featured in this volume argue that governance is a social process. Ethical governing means attending to the relational aftermath of complex decisions - the ways in which decisions and their execution affect and sustain social relationships. Moreover, applied ethical reasoning in this context must not only confront certain stock issues, but must also lead to widespread participation in decision-making processes. Viewed in this way, ethical governing means a respectful discourse involving widespread participation of legitimate viewpoints.

Consequently, the authors suggest that the nearly universal dissatisfaction with the state of public ethics is a manifestation of something deeper and more profound. As one author explains, public perceptions won???t look up so long as politics remains a spectator sport, dominated by "sleaze ball tactics and shrinking sound bites."
*Concentrates on economically developed nations, with stable polities, traditions of popular government, legal systems grounded in common law, and relatively low levels of corruption
*Deals with countries who have adopted "New Public Management" style of government
*Focuses on countriesincreasingly distressed about the ethics of public officials

This book focuses on the inherent contradiction between bureaucracy, hierarchy, and the vision inspired by the architecture of modern information technology of a more egalitarian culture in public organizations. We agree with Evans and Wurster and others who have argued that, in the future, knowledge-based productive relationships will be designed around fluid, teambased collaborative communities, either within organizations (i.e., deconstructed value chains), or in collaborative alliances such as those with ""amorphous and permeable corporate boundaries characteristic of companies in the Silicon Valley"" that is, deconstructed supply chains. In such relationships everyone can communicate richly with everyone else on the basis of shared standards and, like the Internet itself, these relationships will eliminate the need to channel information, thereby eliminating the trade-off between information bandwidth and connectivity. ""The possibility (or the threat) of random access and information symmetry,"" they conclude, ""will destroy all hierarchies, whether of logic or power

Revenue and expenditure forecasting plays an important role in public budgeting and financial management, particularly during times of financial constraint, when citizens impose greater accountability upon government to use taxpayer dollars more efficiently. Despite its significance, revenue and expenditure forecasting is often overlooked in the budget process, and there is an imbalance between practice and research in this area. Based on the collaboration of budget scholars and practitioners, Government Budget Forecasting fulfills two purposes- Enhances the understanding of revenue and expenditure estimation both theoretically and practically Stimulates dialogue and debate among practitioners and academicians to identify good forecast practices as well as areas for improvement

Divided into four parts, this comprehensive reference first examines forecast practices at the federal, state, and local levels, utilizing case studies that include California, Texas, and Louisiana. It then explores consensus systems and risk assessment, considering political factors and the costs of forecast errors. The text concludes with a call to transparency and guidance from a code of ethics, and a look at forecasting practices in emerging countries.

Presenting emphases on and approaches to issues such as government spending, reporting, pricing and fiscal federalism, the Handbook of Public Finance demonstrates the utility of integrating public finance theory with actual public policy practices. It discusses applications in major subfields of public finance, including public education, environmental regulation, energy policy, social welfare programs, and local and state politics. Other topics of discussion include the theory and practice of tax incidence analysis; the marginal costs of taxation and regulation, the economics of expenditure incidence, discounting and the social discount rate; passive use benefits, and public sector pricing.

Current events in the news more and more read and sound like the fulfillment of end-times bible prophecies Correlation between the bible and current events is clearer now than five years ago. We cannot afford to keep sticking our heads in the sand about this convergence. We are not there yet, but things are plainly making strong headway toward the reality of prophesied end-times happenings. The key word is Watch We must remain knowledgably vigilant. Scripture must be studied for clues and signposts of last-day events and then comparison must be made with reported events to discern how they relate to one another.

Side dishes are the very heart and soul of southern cuisine. So proclaims Fred Thompson in this heartfelt love letter to the marvelous foods on the side of the plate. From traditional, like Pableaux's Red Beans and Rice, to contemporary, like Scuppernong-Glazed Carrots, Thompson's 250 recipes recommend the virtues of the utterly simple and the totally unexpected. Fred Thompson's Southern Sides celebrates the sheer joy of cooking and eating these old and new classic dishes. Exploring the importance of side dishes in the cuisine of the American South, Thompson suggests that if you look closely enough, you can find a historical tale of family, culture, and ethnicity in one awesome recipe after another. Twelve richly illustrated chapters feature a full array of produce, grains and beans, fish and meats, and more. The recipes are enhanced by Thompson's amusing observations, tales of southern living and eating, and straightforward cooking tips. Thompson also provides menus for special occasions throughout the year--for Thanksgiving, you may want to include Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Sage, Sorghum, and Black Walnuts.

From the earliest days of European settlement in the South, as in many rural economies around the globe, cured pork became a main source of sustenance, and the cheaper, lower-on-the-hog cuts--notably, bacon--became some of the most important traditional southern foodstuffs. In this cookbook, Fred Thompson captures a humble ingredient's regional culinary history and outsized contributions to the table. Delicious, of course, straight out of the skillet, bacon is also special in its ability to lend a unique savory smokiness to an enormous range of other foods. Today, for regular eaters and high-flying southern chefs alike, bacon has achieved a culinary profile so popular as to approach baconmania. But Thompson sagely notes that bacon will survive the silliness. Describing the many kinds of bacon that are available, Thompson provides key choices for cooking and seasoning appropriately. The book's fifty-six recipes invariably highlight and maximize that beloved bacon factor, so appreciated throughout the South and beyond (by Thompson's count, fifty different styles of bacon exist worldwide). Dishes range from southern regional to international, from appetizers to main courses, and even to a very southern beverage. Also included are Thompson's do-it-yourself recipes for making bacon from fresh pork belly in five different styles.

A plan to restore public trust in how your tax dollars are spent.

This book focuses on the inherent contradiction between bureaucracy, hierarchy, and the vision inspired by the architecture of modern information technology of a more egalitarian culture in public organizations. We agree with Evans and Wurster and others who have argued that, in the future, knowledge-based productive relationships will be designed around fluid, teambased collaborative communities, either within organizations (i.e., deconstructed value chains), or in collaborative alliances such as those with ""amorphous and permeable corporate boundaries characteristic of companies in the Silicon Valley"" that is, deconstructed supply chains. In such relationships everyone can communicate richly with everyone else on the basis of shared standards and, like the Internet itself, these relationships will eliminate the need to channel information, thereby eliminating the trade-off between information bandwidth and connectivity. ""The possibility (or the threat) of random access and information symmetry,"" they conclude, ""will destroy all hierarchies, whether of logic or power