Whistleblowing

El sábado 12 de junio de 1971, la hija del ex presidente estadounidense Richard Nixon, Patricia, celebraba nupcias con su prometido Edward Finch Cox. Todo apuntaba a que el siguiente día, 13 de junio, la prensa dedicaría un amplio espacio en sus primeras planas a los recién casados. Y así lo hicieron grandes medios de Estados Unidos como el Washington Post o el Chicago Tribune.

Pero el diario The New York Times rompió con el guión. La boda Nixon-Finch quedó opacada por la publicación de la primera parte de una serie de documentos “top secret” del gobierno estadounidense, y que serían conocidos como los “Papeles del Pentágono”. La publicación corresponde a un estudio titulado oficialmente Relaciones de Estados Unidos-Vietnam, 1945.1967: Un Estudio Preparado por el Departamento de Defensa, que contiene un análisis sobre la participación política y militar de aquel país en el conflicto de Indochina. El estudio fue comisionado en 1967 por el entonces Secretario de Defensa, Robert McNamara, y supervisado por por el director de Planificación de Control de la Política de Seguridad Internacional en el Pentágono, Leslie Gelb. La investigación duró un año.

El contenido fue filtrados en primer lugar al diario estadounidense The New York Times y posteriormente al Washington Post, por el ex analista del Departamento de Estado, Daniel Ellsberg. En ellos se reveló que el gobierno de Estados Unidos aumentó su actuación militar en la Guerra de Vietnam a costa de engañar al Congreso y a la opinión pública. La publicación de los “Papeles del Pentágono” marcaron en su época una victoria Judicial a favor de la Libertad de Expresión en Estados Unidos y en contra de los intereses del gobierno, así como un avance para los informantes que buscan equilibrar los abusos de poder en los que pueden caer los Estados bajo el cobijo de la secrecía.

A 45 años de la publicación de los “Papeles del Pentágono”, el escenario ha cambiado. Las tecnologías han permitido la emergencia de plataformas como Wikileaks para filtrar anónimamente documentos clasificados que revelen una actuación ilegal de algún gobierno, o que atente contra la democracia y la soberanía de los países. Esto significa una simplificación en la logística desde que Ellsberg y su colega Anthony Russo fotocopiaron más de 7,000 páginas del informe que fue entregado en secreto al periodista Neil Sheehan. Los canales digitales encriptados también han permitido que medios de comunicación y plataformas como Wikileaks puedan recibir directamente información de los whistleblowers.

Peter Ludlow, profesor de Filosofía en la Universidad del Noroeste de Estados Unidos, observa ya una emergencia de la “Generación W”, una generación de informantes que actúan en la era Wikileaks. Figuras como Julian Assange, Chelsea (Bradley) Manning y Edward Snowden se han convertido representantes de esta generación, quienes han denunciado políticas y decisiones secretas del gobierno estadounidense que contravienen con los principios democráticos, de respeto a la soberanía y autodeterminación de los Estados, así como los derechos humanos. Estas figuras son la evidencia de que la herencia de Daniel Ellsberg y los “Papeles del Pentágono” aún sigue viva.

Pero Estados Unidos y sus países aliados han orquestado una continua persecución y acoso en contra de los mensajeros (medios de comunicación, plataformas de divulgación de información y periodistas) mientras que los informantes son objeto de persecución judicial bajo una Ley de Espionaje que data de la Primera Guerra Mundial. En este escenario, los whistleblowers se han convertido en actores no estatales que han generado tensión al interior de los Estados y en sus relaciones internacionales ya que las filtraciones de estos tres actores han tenido alcance tanto local como global; y por la persecución estatal de la que son objeto. Los whistleblowers son acusados de espías y por divulgar información que compromete la seguridad nacional cobijada en la secrecía.

A lo largo de este trabajo se analizará la herencia de Daniel Ellsberg y la publicación de los “Papeles del Pentágono”, y su influencia sobre el actuar de los principales representantes de la “Generación W” de informantes. A partir de este análisis se buscará dar explicación a una realidad: lo que alguna vez la sociedad estadounidense vio como una victoria para la libertad de expresión hace 45 años se tradujo en el desprestigio y la criminalización de actores que suponen un equilibrio entre la protección de la seguridad nacional y los abusos del poder.

Purpose – Most organizations are fully aware of the misconduct that occurs within their company but take
a soft-handed approach attending to the problems. Consequently, misconduct that at the beginning is just a
mere incompliance may become a corporate scandal involving a substantial amount of money. This paper
aims to examine the factors that influence whistleblowing intentions of employees that work in one big
corporation, ABC Berhad, which experienced a corporate scandal.

Design/methodology/approach – A survey questionnaire is used in which the respondents from the
various departments of the selected study case, ABC Berhad, were required to indicate the seriousness of the
wrong-doing cases and their intention to whistleblow based on the given vignette. A total of 70 survey
questionnaires were distributed. Out of these, 63 questionnaires were returned, for a response rate of 90
per cent.

Findings – The result of the study shows that gender did not have any significant influence to the likelihood
to whistle blow. However, the job position of the respondents has a significant result as it can influence the
likelihood to whistle blow. The study also found that the more serious the wrongdoing, the higher the
likelihood to blow the whistle.

Research limitations/implications – The results provide further confirmation of the determinants
that influence employees to report wrongdoings in the organizations. This study, however, may be subject to
self-reported data biasness due to the sensitivity of the topic. In addition, respondents may not give responses
or answers based on the actual situation but be tempted to response based on socially desirable which is to
please their peers and others.

Practical implications – This study shows ABC Berhad whether its employees are ethical in carrying
their duties and indicates their levels in ethical reporting. In addition, the study helps the company generally
and ABC Berhad particularly to understand the working culture in the company so that they can identify the
areas of the governance that need improvement such as protection to the employee that blew the whistle.

Originality/value – This study is original as it focuses on the employees in a big organization such as
government-linked companies (GLCs) that have experienced corporate scandals although they have a
whistleblowing mechanism in place.

The British newspaper industry has a long-standing and complex relationship with notions of crisis from an ethical, politico-economic and regulatory perspective. Challenges to the legitimacy of the press as a Fourth Estate purveyor of the public interest and a guardian of democracy abound. Despite repeated public policy statements in favour of media pluralism and freedom, the British news environment has become increasingly deregulated over the last two decades and changes to relevant competition rules have led to a greater concentration of ownership and cross-media ownership against a backdrop of economic austerity and technological change. Consequently, investigative journalism often struggles to receive the necessary support to fulfil its watchdog role. Yet this situation has opened up opportunities to shift away from the traditional model of highly competitive investigative practices towards collaboration between news organizations and journalists in large-scale projects. This paper applies archival research, including news content, political debate and public opinion surveys, to the qualitative analysis of case-studies regarding collaborative transnational partnerships and involving the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Attention is firstly drawn to the challenges posed by mass surveillance and the impact on journalistic activity as well as source protection in the United Kingdom. Consideration is then given to the anonymous mass leaks known as the Panama Papers (2016) and the Paradise Papers (2017), which are amongst the largest collaborative investigations in the history of journalism. This paper’s findings tend to show that the ability of journalists to collaborate on global projects in the public interest is having a profound impact as subsequent public policy debate continues in relation to issues such as fiscal justice, the insufficiency of government mechanisms, transparency and corruption.

Perverse complicity in Christian celebration of pain?
Futility of highlighting denial of Christian complicity in torture
Promotion of enhanced torture on behalf of the American people
Crowdsourcing appropriate punishment for enemies of the American people
WikiJustice, WikiRetribution, WikiPunition, or WikiSalvation -- for Assange?
Types of torture variously used by Christians and applicable to Assange
Hanging, drawing and quartering as symbolic of Christian retribution?
Christian complicity in distortion of the truth symbolized by Cross
Religious enactment of the suffering and torture of Assange
Whistleblowing as a "crime of passion" -- for the truth?

La ISO 37002 es una guía para que las organizaciones puedan establecer, implementar, mantener y mejorar los sistemas internos de comunicación de infracciones, teniendo como fundamento los principios de confianza, imparcialidad y protección, de los que depende el éxito de estos canales internos de denuncia.

Abstrakt Štúdia pojednáva o téme verejného záujmu ako neuritom pojme niekokých odvetví predovšetkým verejného práva. Základný cie štúdie je uchopi tento pojem vymedzením základných a abstraktne a všeobecne použitených znakov a spôsobu jeho identifikácie vo formálnych a materiálnych prameoch práva. Štúdia nemá za cie analyzova všetky právne predpisy a situácie, v ktorých sa vyskytuje tento pojem, ale skôr poskytnú také teoreticko-právne vymedzenie, ktoré ústavne-komfortným spôsobom pomôže interpretova tento neuritý pojem ako právnej teórii, tak predovšetkým právnej praxi. Keže verejný záujem nie je isto právna otázka, ale musí by ukotvený v širšom interdisciplinárnom kontexte, súasou lánku je aj jeho definovanie v rámci širších politicko-filozofických súvislostí, ale aj skúseností. Verejný záujem chápem ako v existencionálnom (statickom) slova zmysle, potom o om hovorím ako o povinnosti a úlohe funkcionárov verejnej moci, vrátane verejnej moci ako takej, a hovorím o om v dynamickom slova zmysle ako dôvod obmedzenia základných udských práv a slobôd. Štúdia sa snaží novým spôsobom systematizova danú problematiku, ako si to vyžaduje nové právne prostredie. Klúové slová verejný záujem, spoloné dobro, verejná správa, samospráva, právny štát, zelená infrastruktúra, whistleblowing, genius loci, Abstract The study deals with the topic of public interest as an indeterminate concept of several sectors of public law in particular. The basic aim of the study is to grasp this notion by defining basic and abstract and generally applicable characters and the way it is identified in formal and material sources of law. The study does not aim to analyze all the laws and situations in which this term occurs rather to provide a theoretical-legal definition that will help to interpret this vague notion as a legal theory and especially legal practice in a constitutionally comfortable way. Since the public interest is not a purely legal issue, but it must be anchored in the wider interdisciplinary context, the article also includes its definition within the broader political-philosophical context as well as experience. I understand public interest as an existential (static) word, then I refer to it as an obligation and role of public authority officials, including public authority as such, and I speak of it in a dynamic sense as a 1 JUDr. Martin Píry PhD., odborný asistent na Katedre finanného a správneho práva Právnickej fakulty Univerzity

A raíz de la Directiva europea 2019/1937 los estados miembros de la Unión Europea tendrán que poner en marcha o adaptar los sistemas de denuncia en las organizaciones públicas y privadas para garantizar la protección de los denunciantes. El autor reflexiona sobre los retos existentes para la implementación de los sistemas de denuncia.

It’s our turn to eat is much more than the story of John Githongo, a portly upper-class man in his mid-40s which dreamed of changing a country’s history of sleaze, state-capturing and ethnic identification. Githongo’s story is the personification of a change of mentality in a new generation of Kenyans which want to modernize its institutions and forget the times when your luck and wealth depended on if you shared ethnicity with the president.

This articles reconstructs the standard of protection of whistleblowers’ rights developed by the European Court of Human Rights on the basis of Art. 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. An analysis of activities of whistleblowers from the point of view of freedom of expression results from the fact that a whistleblower, when warning the public of a reproachable practice or exposing somebody’s corruption, uses freedom of expression. The Court in its case law developed six factors enabling it to set limits of legal protection for the activities of whistleblowers. The Strasbourg standard is particularly important in the context of lack of comprehensive regulation dedicated to whistleblowers in the Polish law.

Niedawne przypadki dwóch Amerykanów: Edwarda Snowdena oraz Bradleya Manninga skoncentrowały debatę na tzw. sygnalistach (ang. whistleblowers), czyli osobach przekazujących opinii publicznej ważne dla niej, lecz niejawne informacje. Informacje ujawnione przez E. Snowdena i B. Manninga miały istotne znaczenie z punktu widzenia demokracji, co pozwoliło większości komentatorów uznać ich za tzw. whistleblowers. Można postawić pytanie: czy publicystyczna kwalifikacja jest tożsama z prawną? Odpowiedź stanowi asumpt dla niniejszego artykułu, którego celem zasadniczym jest ustalenie, jak w świetle orzecznictwa Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka (dalej jako ETPCz) definiowany jest sygnalista i jakie niesie to następstwa.

Anonymity affords whistleblowers the best protection against retaliation. Yet, prior theory has suggested that anonymous whistleblowers are perceived by investigators to be less credible than identified sources. To address this issue, we propose and assess the use of self-sovereign identity (SSI) in whistleblowing reporting systems. SSI would allow whistleblowers to include a verifiable claim regarding employment without revealing any additional identifying information. Therefore, investigators could receive anonymous reports submitted through publicly accessible reporting systems without sacrificing the ability to verify that the whistleblower was employed by the organization. First, we review relevant whistleblowing research, paying particular attention to anonymity and credibility issues. Second, we introduce SSI and discuss how it can be used to enhance credibility for anonymous whistleblowers. Third, we outline our formal hypotheses. Fourth, we explain our planned methodology. Lastly, we discuss the implications of our study.

Partendo dall’analisi delle difficoltà di emersione del fenomeno corruttivo, il presente contributo esamina gli aspetti più rilevanti della recente ‘scommessa etica’ dell’anticorruzione, il whistleblowing, evidenziandone luci e ombre. In particolare, sono analizzate le forme di tutela offerte, i rischi cui va incontro chi segnala condotte illecite di cui sia venuto a conoscenza sui luoghi di lavoro e il grado di adesione ottenuto finora dall’istituto. Da tale angolatura, si riflette circa i possibili correttivi de iure condendo, capaci di riequilibrare il rapporto benefit-cost, che attualmente rende non del tutto scontata la scelta tra “soffiare o non soffiare” il fischietto.

From the analysis of the difficulties in emerging corruption, this paper aims to examine the most relevant aspects of the recent reform about the whistleblowing, the ‘ethic chance’ of the anti- corruption system, shedding light on its potentiality and flaws. In particular, this essay analyses any form of protection provided by the law to the insider who reports wrongdoing, the risk of blowin’ the whistle within workplaces and statistical data about the frequency of the practice. In conclusion, there are suggested possibile legislative amendments, which could balance the benefit-cost eva- luation towards the choice of reporting misconduct.

In the last few years we have had a number of infamous national security leaks and prosecutions. Many have argued that these people have done a great service for our nation by revealing the wrongdoings of the defense agencies. However, the law is quite clearthose national security employees who leak classified information are subject to lengthy prison sentences or in some cases, even execution as a traitor. In response to the draconian national security laws, this article proposes a new policy which fosters the free flow of information. First, the article outlines the recent history of national security leaks and the government response to the perpetrators. Next, the article outlines the information policy of the defense industry including the document classification system, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), whistleblower laws and the Espionage Act. Finally, the article outlines a new policy that will advance government transparency by promoting whistleblowing that serves the p...

This paper maps the background to a new Australian Research Council (ARC) funded cultural historical sociology of childhood and child maltreatment. The project takes as its central focus public inquiries from the 1970s to the present, which either explicitly examine child abuse and neglect, or consider this within a broader remit. Employing a comparative historical approach, informed by cultural sociological perspectives, the research examines the unfolding Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse alongside past inquiries. The central aim of the project is to explore how changing understandings of children’s development, vulnerability and rights have shaped social policy, educational responses and public attitudes towards safeguarding children and promoting their wellbeing. In particular, it investigates how concepts of childhood and policy approaches are changing as a result of broader societal imperatives for openness and disclosure about matters that until recently were not publicly discussed, most notably, child sexual abuse. In this paper, I explicate the rationale for the focus on official inquiries as a framework for this research, while advancing a broader argument for the value of analysing inquiries as an important feature of late modernity and as a valuable lens through which to examine social change.

Communication plays an important role for human beings. Communication is treated as a life skill. This paper helps in improving the communication with the deaf and dumb using Whistle Morse code technology. A device is developed that can translate different signs including Indian sign language to text as well as voice format. The people who are communicating with deaf and dumb may not understand their signs and expressions. Hence, an approach has been created and modified to hear the Whistle based communication. It will be very helpful to them for conveying their thoughts to others. In the proposed system, RF module is used for transmitting and receiving the information and raspberry pi as a processor, memory card is also used for blind people to identify their location. The entire framework has been executed, customized, cased and tried with great outcomes. INTRODUCTION Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be...

More absolute and real proof of time travel, offered publicly for the very first time. The 'In Her Hand' photo-document is a sneak-preview from the soon-to-be released 'Pirates of Time' DVD presentation. This document will prove that time travel is already a reality to anyone who takes the time and trouble to view it.

When an international cartel member considers self-reporting a global collusion in various jurisdictions, it is confronted with more than 60 different leniency programs applicable to a single infringement. The diversity of rules affects strategies of poten- tial leniency applicants as transaction costs and uncertainties may deter them from blowing the whistle.Competition authorities promote soft-conver- gence of leniency programs and cooperation among agencies but a unified policy is unavoidable in the long term to secure effective enforcement.

The rising number of scandals leading to the closure of many large companies is worrisome. The traditional belief is that business and ethics are oxymorons and one is not expected to be totally virtuous during business operations. Nonetheless, this does not mean ethical standards should be side-lined. Professional associations such as the Chartered Financial Institute (CFA) uphold moral values and urge members to exercise high moral standards and diligence in their duties. Philosophically, major accounting scandals could have been nipped in the bud by whistle blowing before the wrong deeds escalated. However whistle blowing is a major issue and is viewed as disloyalty. In this paper, the dilemmas of whistle blowing are evaluated using contemporary ethical theories which are: egoism, deontology and utilitarianism. The analysis shows that deontology and utilitarianism are based on altruism and may support whistle blowing because they are grounded on consideration of other people. It is worth noting that morally upright adults are often a result of being brought up as ethical children from a psychological standpoint.

Though whistleblowing is quickly becoming an accepted means of addressing wrongdoing, whistleblower protection laws and the relevant case law are either awkwardly silent, unclear or mutually inconsistent concerning public disclosures of classi ed government information. I remedy this problem by  rst arguing that such disclosures constitute a pro tanto wrong as they violate (1) promissory obligations, (2) role obligations and (3) the obligation to respect the democratic allocation of power. However, they may be justi ed if (1) the information disclosed concerns grave government wrongdoing, (2) alternative channels of disclosure are  rst exhausted and (3) steps are taken to minimize harm.

Whistleblowing (WB) is the practice of reporting immoral or illegal behavior by members of a legitimate organization with privileged access to information concerning an alleged wrongdoing within that organization. A common critique of WB draws on its supposed consequence of generating a climate of mutual distrust. This wariness is heightened in the case of external WB, which may lead to weakening public trust in an organization by diminishing its credibility. Accordingly, even the defenders of WB have presented it as an individual conscientious extrema ratio; the justification of WB as a dutiful practice has lost plausibility. Contrary to this view, we present WB as a specific instance of institutional and individual moral duties of public accountability in nonideal conditions. WB is thus justified as a dutiful corrective practice within a general normative theory of institutions because it qualifies the individual and institutional moral demands attached to rule-governed institutional roles.

"Ethics in organizations, raising concerns, and whistleblowing have been previously theorized through Foucault’s work on the power/knowledge bond. However, approaching these issues through the work from Foucault’s third period on parrhesia, or fearless speech remains an underdeveloped route.
This paper contributes to this emerging research stream. Based on Foucault’s work on parrhesia, and the importance of courage for fearless speech to occur, we theorize the possibility of critique within organizations as a moment of disorganizing, which requires a chain of parrhesia where not only the speaker but also the hearer requires courage.
The paper examines the possibility and risks of organizing courage through three illustrations of ethical guidelines, whistleblowing, and open dialogue.

Keywords: parrhesia, whistleblowing, business ethics, courage"

Les secrets se dévoilent rarement d'eux-mêmes. Dans ce contexte, le rôle des journalistes et des lanceurs d'alerte est essentiel pour assurer l'information des citoyens sur des questions qui peuvent les concerner au plus haut point. La présente contribution vise à faire la lumière sur le droit des « journalistes » à la confidentialité de leurs sources d'information et sur la protection des lanceurs d'alerte lorsque ces derniers décident de révéler publiquement les manquements qu'ils dénoncent.

The dominant understanding in  literature today is that whistleblowing is ethical and moral . This is a far cry from when the author of the lyrics of the German National Anthem, Hoffman von Fallersleben (1798-184) cited  “The greatest rogue in the whole land is, and will remain , the informer..” (Strack 2011, p109).  For years whistleblowing has been seen as an action against the interests of the organisation. Whistleblowers have been characterised as disloyal to their organisations, traitors and tattletales. (Haigh & Bowal 2012; Hauserman 1986);(Varelius 2008) . Haigh and Bowel ( 2012) add that rather than being commended for their constructive actions, whistleblowers have been  belittled, treated as pariahs and often forced to leave their jobs. Miethe (1999) argues that negative attitudes towards whistleblowing are grounded in psychology from early childhood where parents send messages that snitching is a devalued behaviour . Further,vilification of whistleblowing in mass media has deterred employees in coming forward.  (Miethe 1999; Bosacki et al. 2009; Bajovic & Elliott 2006; Bosacki et al. 2010).

El artículo (a partir de la página 26 de la Revista) discute el argumento que intenta sostener la delación premiada como legítimo ejercicio democrático. Problemas como acceso a la justicia, efectivo diálogo con el Estado y la vulnerabilidad del mentado 'interés público' son acá analizados.

Corrupt exchanges are often brokered by a third party, but this phenomenon has not been satisfactorily explored by researchers of corruption. Literature on brokerage in general provides interesting models but they have not previously been applied to corrupt exchanges. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with respondents who participated in actual corrupt transactions, this paper identifies several distinct brokerage types in low-level corruption in contemporary Hungary. The paper also provides explanation of variation in corruption brokerage in terms of actors' group affiliations, forms of the corrupt exchanges, brokerage mechanisms, as well as neutrality, benefit and motivation, risk distribution, and stability of the brokerage structure. Finally, we discuss some policy implications of corruption brokerage.

Since the end of the Cold War, technology advancements have increasingly affected the discipline of Security studies.
Warfare is the first example heartened by technological improvements of the last decade. The race to new technologies and their deployment on the battlefield have affected warfare in all senses. This part will focus on the United States since they have focused their rearmament programmes on the integration of new technologies. In broader terms, the US can be considered as the protagonists of this new warfare era.
The so-called Revolution in Military Affairs is a pioneering theory that began in the United States of America which has focused on how to match a reform in the Army with the new technological improvements. This example is the first evidence to include in my analysis to assess to what extent technology has contributed to change warfare and thus how it has affected Military Security.
The most striking case to assess the relationship (if any) between security and technology is the Pakistan intervention by the US in 2004. In that case, the United States have deployed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (e.g. the drones) and new technologies on the battlefield. Especially, drones have had optimal results in the battlefield, however they also have “shaken” the public opinion in the US. This gives further reasons to prove that the RMA is still in act but that overall, the relationship between security and technology has some ambiguities.
In the first part of my work, I expect to show not just how the logic and the essence of war has been affected by technology, but also how, in a wider sense, to trace the roots of the relationship between technology and security is possible.
The second part of this work will deal with cybersecurity
Precisely, the case of Edward Snowden and the investigative report of The Guardian are an interesting point of departure to assess how and to what extent technology has affected the practices of surveillance. Through its revelations, Snowden has revealed an ambiguous pattern between the use of information in the hands of the National Security Agency of the United States. The reaction of the public has been ambivalent: American citizens have considered Snowden as a “hero” and as a “traitor”. Overall, this case shows how new technologies have turned the practices of surveillance in an ambiguous area.
The final part would include the case of economic security and the virtual currencies. In particular, Bitcoins can be an example on to what extent a technological improvement can both disturb and support the functioning of world Economy. Bitcoins are a technological advancement for economic security. However, the encryption system by which they work, Blockchain, makes the identity of the purchase almost untraceable. Down to these two features, anonymity and inviolability, Bitcoins can be used by criminals for illegal practices. Therefore, Bitcoins are a further example to emphasise that the relationship between security and technology is ambiguous.

This article addresses the confidentiality obligations of government lawyers. It examines the rather complex question of the identity of a government lawyer's client. On the specific issue of confidentiality, the article discusses how several legal doctrines impact the confidentiality duty: open government laws, statutes encouraging whistleblowing by government employees, and common law doctrines regarding the disclosure of government wrongdoing. These doctrines suggest that, as a substantive matter, government lawyers may disclose information that is subject to mandatory disclosure under freedom of information laws and information regarding government wrongdoing. But as a procedural matter, state supreme courts and governments need to establish procedures for government lawyers to follow in disclosing this information.

ABSTRACT

In the cities around the world, the members of the Mafia would find themselves having absolutely no common affinities with any university officials in their respective regions. The two very disparate groups are like oil and vinegar in that they simply do not mix well with each other. Such is not, however, the case in Limerick where the two are synonymous with each other, or rather, are the homonyms. Against this backdrop, Prof Des Fitzgerald replaced Prof Don Barry as the new president at the University of Limerick (UL) on the 1st of May, 2017.  Upon his inauguration, Prof Des Fitzgerald commissioned Dr Richard Thorn to conduct a sweeping investigation on the past financial and HR mismanagement issues under Prof Don Barry’s ancien régime.  Subsequently, under the remit from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Department of Education and Skills, Dr Thorn met with a total of 34 individuals in Dublin and Limerick in July and August of 2017.

The Thorn Review required five months to complete, as the meetings began in the mid-May of 2017, and his final report was submitted to the HEA in October of 2017.  The Thorn Review had requested records from UL, covering the period from 2006 to 2017, and the Thorn Review deals directly with the events that had taken place during that 12-year period. The Thorn Review into the past management failures at UL makes for a chimaera reading. A directory of mismanagement and mis-governance issues was identified over a period of 12 years that led to a Mafia culture at the core of the UL institution.

This paper examines what has happened since.  It now has become clear that during the 12-year period mentioned, UL had turned into personal ATMs for its Governing Authority members. The Limerick Leader has played a vital role in keeping the UL corruption stories on the leading front page headlines, and it was the first newspaper to break the Leona O’Callaghan’s whistleblowing testimonials. If the Limerick Leader had not exposed the true magnitude of these corruption issues, there is a good chance that they would have continued and even grown worse. Much has been promised by Prof Des Fitzgerald at his inauguration, but no tangible action has been taken yet.  This paper also revisits the segments reported by Conor Ryan in the RTÉ Investigates programme, ‘Universities Unchallenged’, which was aired in the Republic of Ireland on the 25th of May, 2017.  Through the Freedom of Information Act, Conor Ryan was able to discover even more startling and fabulous corruption anomalies that were taking place at UL.

Key Words: Whistleblowers, University of Limerick, Corruption, Mismanagement, Hate Crimes, Racism in Ireland, Drugs in Irish University, Universities Act 1997.

Communication plays an important role for human beings. Communication is treated as a life skill. This paper helps in improving the communication with the deaf and dumb using Whistle Morse code technology. A device is developed that can translate different signs including Indian sign language to text as well as voice format. The people who are communicating with deaf and dumb may not understand their signs and expressions. Hence, an approach has been created and modified to hear the Whistle based communication. It will be very helpful to them for conveying their thoughts to others. In the proposed system, RF module is used for transmitting and receiving the information and raspberry pi as a processor, memory card is also used for blind people to identify their location. The entire framework has been executed, customized, cased and tried with great outcomes. INTRODUCTION Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment. Each Morse code symbol represents either a text character (letter or numeral) or a pro-sign and is represented by a unique sequence of dots and dashes. The dot duration is the basic unit of time measurement in code transmission. The duration of a dash is three times the duration of a dot. Each dot or dash is followed by a short silence, equal to the dot duration. Our project is about decoding of Morse code to speech and text.To allow input and output without any limitation on expression,we decided to use Morse code. Morse code has most oftenbeen expressed in the audio and visualmodalities, Currently, there is no augmentedcommunication method or device that is suitable for thesiblings. They need a communication method that allows easy discriminationof sensation for comprehension and simple methods for communicating. Several methods have been examined for tactile communication. Braille allows a user to move their finger over raised dots that represent different characters. This can work well if the sensory and motor systems have the accuracy to perform those tasks, but can be difficult to use as a conversation method since there is nointuitive way to speak using braille. Other tactile interfacesinclude Tactons [1] and Haptic Icons [2] where information is encoded into sequences, rhythm, frequency, and amplitude over multiple locations. These methods are beneficial for conveying often used phrases, but are limited to a finite number of gestures. Morse code for communication through the tactile modality specifically for use with individuals with highly limited sensory and motor capabilities. The results presented tactile communication methods above.