Remember, TIGTA’s Web site says, “If you are aware of fraud, waste, mismanagement, and abuse in the IRS programs and operations, report it to the TIGTA’s Hotline!”
Big country, long memory
Talk about bullying the little guys. China, pop. 1.3 billion, is putting the squeeze on Palau, pop. 20,000, because the island nation granted asylum to six Uighurs who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay. The Chinese consider the Uighurs, swept up in Afghanistan but cleared of wrongdoing, terrorist suspects.
Palau President Johnson Toribiong, testifying last week before a Senate committee considering aid for the country, said his government had been put under pressure from Beijing to turn the Uighurs over, according to a Radio Australia report. Toribiong said construction of a five-star Chinese-backed hotel stopped soon after the Uighurs, alleged to be members of the separatist East Turkistan Islamic Movement, arrived in 2009.
“I am advised that the Chinese investor, who by that time had invested several million dollars into the project, can no longer get money out of China for the project,” he said.
Toribiong said China had repeatedly told Palau’s United Nations mission it considered the Uighurs, who had been granted temporary asylum, a very serious matter for Chinese-Palauan relations.
The Chinese have said “that the issue was ‘not a legal issue but a political one’ and, ominously, that China had ‘a long memory,’ ” Toribiong said, according to the radio report.
Back to the pool
Didn’t register by the Friday deadline for that fine Office of Government Ethics conference at the excellent Orlando World Center Marriott golf and spa resort in September?
Did you miss the Department of Veterans Affairs human resources conference at the same resort in July?
You can still pack those bags! Sign up now for a second, week-long HR conference starting Aug. 8. This VA gathering, like the one in July, is limited to 1,100 participants, so don’t delay.
The gathering is packed with about five hours of training sessions on some days — we won’t tattle if you arrive late or leave early — but there are fine evening activities, such as a “Karaoke Night” and a “Game Night,” plus a “complimentary shuttle service to downtown Disney.”
For early risers, there’s an optional “Meditation/Pilates/
Water Aerobics Class” to help you get through the sessions. Spouses, of course, can avail themselves of the “nearly 7,000 yards of championship golf,” the full-service spa and the six “tropical” pools.
Participants, in addition to airfare, get about $600 for lodging and per diem expenses during the conference. If you want to come early or stay on through the weekend, you’ll have to pay, but since you’re already there . . .
Follow In the Loop on Twitter: @AlKamenWP.
Loading...
Comments