#los ketz

[allthatchernobyl]

Stone Temple Pilots- No. 4 (1999)

Que despropósito que con lo que me gustan y lo importantes que han sido en mi fascinación por la música los Pilots no haya subido nada de ellos en un año de blog. Pero ya no mas, basta de injusticias, No. 4 esta aquí para poner las cosas en su lugar.

Stone Temple Pilots comenzó cuando Robert DeLeo conoció a Scott Weiland en un concierto de Black Flag, en Long Beach, California, donde se dieron cuenta de que ambos estaban saliendo con la misma chica. Una vez rotas las relaciones sentimentales de ambos con la mujer, DeLeo y Weiland decidieron mudarse al piso vacante de su ex-novia para formar una banda y ensayar en dicho lugar. Para ello contrataron a Corey Hicock como guitarrista, quien no acababa de "conectar" con Weiland y Robert, por lo que fue despedido poco tiempo después. La banda se llamó "Mighty Joe Young" en honor a la película del mismo nombre. Para cubrir las labores de batería en el grupo, Eric Kretz se ofreció voluntario para adoptar dicho rol, y Robert llamó a su hermano Dean para rellenar el puesto de guitarrista. Anteriormente, los hermanos DeLeo habían formado un grupo llamado Tyrus. De esta forma, Mighty Joe Young quedó conformada y empezó a tocar en diversos clubes de Los Ángeles. Al poco de empezar a girar por esta ciudad, la banda se enteró de que el nombre "Mighty Joe Young" ya había sido tomado por un músico de jazz, por lo que cambiaron el nombre por el de "Shirley Temple's Pussy", bajo el cual actuaron en diversos locales de San Diego. La banda quería un nombre con las iniciales STP porque les gustaba el logotipo de la compañía STP Motor Oil Company, por lo que a continuación vendría otro cambio de denominación hacia "Stereo Temple Pirates", después "Stinky Toilet Paper" y, a continuación, el ya definitivo "Stone Temple Pilots", en el año 1990. Si bien muchos insisten en encasillar a STP como una banda grunge por compartir tiempo, espacio y también publico con bandas como Pearl Jam, Nirvana o Soundgarden, los muchachos tomaron distancia de la movida grunge, desarraigados de su concepto y  se encontraron rápidamente mucho mas cerca del rock alternativo incluyendo matices de hard rock y post-punk en sus composiciones. La discografia de los Pilots inicia en 1992 con Core, sigue con Purple y luego con el genial Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. Estos tres primeros discos podrian considerarse la primer etapa de STP, que sin separarse formalmente se vio interrumpida por los problemas de adiccion de Weiland que se la pasaba de clinica en clinica casi siempre por orden judician y a cambio de evitar la carcel. En este periodo que va desde finales del 96 hasta 1999, los otros integrantes de la banda formaron un proyecto paralelo llamado Talk Show con Dave Coutts como vocalista. Por su parte, Weiland grabo tambien un disco en solitario: 12 Bar Blues. Entonces, y finalmente, en 1999, con Weiland aparentemente recuperado, STP se metio en el estudio a grabar su cuarto album, titulado convenientemente No. 4 que, en relacion a su predecesor, dejaba de lado esa vena popera para volver a ponerse pesado y contundente alcanzando nuevamente las primeras posiciones de las listas estadounidense. Sin embargo, la carrera de la banda volvió a verse truncada una vez más debido a la sentencia de un año de cárcel contra Scott Weiland, quien fue condenado después de una sobredosis casi fatal de heroína, violando la libertad condicional que poseía. Tras pasar un año preso, Weiland salio y lejos del desgaste que pueda producir la carcel salio motivado para grabar el quinto disco de la banda, Shangri-La Dee Da en el verano de 2001. Con algunas ideas por delante, la carrera de STP volvio a verse truncada (si, una vez mas) cuando sus fundadores discutieron arriba del escenario y terminaron a las piñas. Para sorpresa de muchos, en el año 2008, la banda se volvio a reunir. Según Dean DeLeo, la reunión de STP comenzó con una simple llamada de teléfono de la esposa de Weiland, Mary Forsberg. La oradora invitó a los DeLeo para disfrutar una fiesta de playa privada, que condujo a la reconciliación de Weiland y los hermanos DeLeo. Producto de esta reunion, Stone Temple Pilots hizo una gira bastante importante en 2008 y grabo en 2010 su ultimo album de titulo homonimo con Weiland como cantante. Este ultimo periodo estuvo signado por trabas judiciales fruto de una demanda que el sello Atlantic le hiciera a Weiland y Ketz por incumplimiento de contrato. Al respecto, Scott dijo "No sé a donde van a ir las cosas con STP. Es triste saber que estamos todavía, de alguna manera, 'bloqueados' por un contrato con Atlantic Records, el cual es una farsa, realmente. Si termina siendo necesario, ya sabes, hacer una cierta cantidad de grabaciones para Atlántic con el fin de ser libres, entonces no sé si eso va conmigo." En el año 2013, luego de 3 años de silencio de parte de la banda y en un contexto cuando menos turbio, STP lanzo un EP bastante flojo (a mi gusto) con el vocaista de Linkin Park, Chester Bennington a la cabeza. Weiland murio a fines del 2015 de un paro cardiaco y aunque en teoria STP sigue vivo, las cosas llevan mas de una decada de putrefaccion.

Genero: Rock Alternativo, Hard Rock

Año: 1999

Pais: EEUU

Duracion: 42:17

Compresion: 320kbps

Tamaño: 93,1mb

Tracklist:

1- Down 2- Heaven & Hot Rods 3- Pruno 4- Church on Tuesday 5- Sour Girl 6- No way out  7- Sex & Violence 8- Glide 9- I got you 10- Mc5  11- Atlanta

DESCARGAR

[charlesjening]

Which KPMG Scandal Is Worse: PCAOB ‘Steal the Exam’ or CPE Training Exam Cheating?

Since Monday when the SEC announced it had fined KPMG $50 million for not one but two scandals involving auditor misconduct at the firm, I’ve been thinking about which scandal is worse. Is it KPMG audit partners stealing confidential information from rogue PCAOB employees in order to better the firm’s audit inspection scores OR is it auditors at all levels cheating on internal online training exams by illegally sharing answers with colleagues and manipulating test results?

Both are equal parts ridiculously stupid and disturbing. On one hand, five KPMG officials and one PCAOB inspector were indicted in early 2018 in the inspection list leak scandal: two were convicted by a jury, three have admitted guilt, and one is scheduled to go to trial later this year—and all of whom could be facing jail time. On the other hand … well, we don’t know what the outcome is going to be in that whole training exam cheating mess.

But from an ethics standpoint, which of the two is more damaging to the firm and to the profession? That question was debated by Tom Fox, an attorney and compliance expert, and Matt Kelly, founder of the blog Radical Compliance and a longtime observer of corporate compliance issues, on the most recent episode of the Compliance into the Weeds podcast, which is worth 25 minutes of your time.

I wanted to get the viewpoints of people whose job it is to educate the CPAs of tomorrow on how not to get into the kinds of trouble that presumably current and former KPMG auditors and partners are in right now. So I reached out to several accounting professors who teach or who have taught ethics and asked them which scandal they thought was worse.

And here’s what they told me:

Jillian Alderman, PhD Assistant Professor of Accounting, Graziadio Business School Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA

I see two primary ways in which the auditing profession could be impacted negatively by these scandals: public perception and actual audit quality.

Jillian Alderman

The PCAOB scandal results in a more severe impact on both, since the PCAOB provides independent oversight for all firms registered to perform audits of U.S. public companies. PCAOB inspection reports can lead to improvements in audit quality profession-wide, as they set precedent for what constitutes violations of the professional standards. Therefore, undermining the independence of the PCAOB could jeopardize both public confidence and actual audit quality at a much broader scale in the profession.

The current information released on the internal employee ethics training cheating does not imply collusion with any external members of regulatory agencies. Therefore, the independent oversight of audit quality is not jeopardized by the ethics training scandal, minimizing the impact on the profession as a whole. The SEC report appears to have made note of the ethics training cheating to provide additional evidence of organization-wide ethical culture issues at KPMG, and to support the $50 million penalty and the order to hire an independent ethics and integrity controls consultant.

Denise Dickins, PhD, CPA, CIA Professor of Accounting, College of Business East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

In combination, the incidents are problematic as they suggest a tone at the top that demands high ethical behavior and has a zero tolerance for violations may not be in place.

Denise Dickins

As a former Big 5 audit partner, when I first heard of KPMG hiring a former PCAOB employee who provided intelligence about which KPMG engagements were likely to be targeted for inspection, I thought this akin to the similar practice of accounting firms hiring former IRS employees to learn about transactions/deductions likely to be targeted for audit. In terms of ethics, more gray than black and white.

Learning about the second incident—multiple employees collaborating on CPE/ethics tests—is worse because it suggests at least some KPMG employees outside of the national office perceive this is acceptable practice. It begs the question, what other assignments do employees perceive can be short-cut? Time reports, expense reports, audit tests performed on clients’ financial statements? Because trust in the results of independent audits is critical to the efficient operation of financial markets. If not isolated, this incident has the potential to undermine KPMG’s entire business.

Lawrence Kalbers, PhD, CPA R. Chad Dreier Chair in Accounting Ethics Chair, Department of Accounting Professor of Accounting, College of Business Administration Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles

The question about which KPMG scandal is worse is an interesting one. But I think a better question is, what do these scandals tell us about KPMG as an organization? The two scandals taken together strongly suggest a challenged ethical culture that allows—and perhaps encourages or even rewards—unethical behavior.

Lawrence Kalbers

The PCAOB scandal implicated leaders at high levels within KPMG, while, according to the SEC release, the training scandal was widespread, with “KPMG audit professionals—at all levels of seniority—engaged in misconduct.” Adding to this sad state of affairs is the training exams included content required by a 2017 SEC order as part of an agreement in which the SEC found that KPMG had “engaged in improper professional conduct” on a previous audit. These two recent scandals appear to be a continuation of unethical and/or negligent behavior.

Given the disclosures provided in the SEC’s report, one must wonder if investors can rely on audit reports issued by KPMG. It can be argued whether the $50 million penalty is sufficiently large enough. However, the SEC has provided a path for KPMG to work toward the competence and credibility required of public accountants through a host of remedial actions the order imposes on the firm.

It remains to be seen whether KPMG can provide the leadership and perseverance that it will take to sufficiently improve its audit effectiveness and to develop the necessary ethical culture to gain back the trust of the public.

J. Edward Ketz, PhD Associate Professor of Accounting, Smeal College of Business Pennsylvania State University, University Park Author of “Confessions of an Accounting Critic”

J. Edward Ketz

I think the CPE scandal is worse than the firm inspection cheating primarily because the inspection cheating could be blamed on a few rogues who tried to get a leg up, but the CPE scandal has much greater scope, indicating a poor ethical culture in the firm or at least a significant subset of the firm.

It also shows low regard for proper authorities who regulate the accounting industry. And it shows low regard for the ethical principle of competence, wishing to allow colleague Joe Schmuck an ability to get CPE credit while not deserving it.

Joyce Lambert, PhD, CPA, CIA Arthur Andersen Professor of Accounting University of New Orleans

Cheating is cheating. Each one is an act discreditable to the profession under the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct.

Joyce Lambert

If I had to rank them, I would say that hiring someone from the PCAOB to get inside information to revise their audit workpapers would be greater. The reason is that this action implies that their audits of their clients’ financial statements were deficient and would have a more serious impact on whether they would have rendered the proper audit opinions.

At the same time, cheating on KPMG internal training exams by sharing answers, manipulating test results, and no one reporting these activities within the firm is extremely troubling.

Note: Under the AICPA’s Code, soliciting or disclosing CPA exam questions and answers is specifically listed as an act discreditable. Sharing answers on a firm’s training exams would be seen in a similar light.

3.400.001 Acts Discreditable Rule

.01 A member shall not commit an act discreditable to the profession. [Prior reference: paragraph .01 of ET section 501]

Interpretations Under the Acts Discreditable Rule

3.400.020 Solicitation or Disclosure of CPA Examination Questions and Answers

.01 A member who solicits or knowingly discloses the Uniform CPA Examination question(s) or answer(s), or both, without the AICPA’s written authorization shall be considered to have committed an act discreditable to the profession, in violation of the “Acts Discreditable Rule” [3.400.001]. [Prior reference: paragraph .07 of ET section 501]

James McKinney, PhD, CPA Clinical Professor of Accounting, Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland, College Park

Both scandals are awful. I have so many former students who work at KPMG, and I know and have known various partners at KPMG who are decent people trying to do the right thing. I have enormous respect for them. However, both scandals are examples of people taking shortcuts to get their desired end instead of putting forth the necessary work to get there. Both scandals to my understanding were ultimately self-reported. Though the ethical lapses went on too long, at least some people at KPMG are doing the right thing.

James McKinney

To me, the PCAOB intelligence might be considered to have larger implications because it involved tampering with completed audits and ultimately may have impacted PCAOB inspection findings. However, as a firm, I would be more troubled by the CPE cheating scandal. The CPE cheating was a blatant disregard of ethical norms. Clearly, these partners and staff had no respect for the necessity of passing such an ethics exam. The concern would be that this disregard of ethics with respect to the exam might bleed into other areas of audit behavior.

Certainly, KPMG should be scrutinizing the work product of the cheaters to a greater extent. There should be a lot of soul searching on how to improve the ethical culture at KPMG to prevent future ethical lapses and to encourage more rapid self-reporting.

Michael Pakaluk, PhD Acting Dean and Professor of Ethics and Social Philosophy, Busch School of Business The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC

“Worse” is always relative to a dimension. Call the two scandals the “inspection scandal” and the “CPE scandal.” On the dimension of pervasiveness, and what it says about firm culture, the CPE scandal looks worse. The inspection scandal was carried out by a small number of persons who—KPMG argued plausibly then—were quickly censured, separated, and isolated. The CPE scandal was much more widespread and longstanding too.

Michael Pakaluk

Another dimension is something like internal control—whether mechanisms for finding wrongdoing have been tampered with. The inspection scandal was uncovered pretty quickly by a partner who went to the firm’s general counsel. The CPE scandal involved manipulation, even of the server, as regards to what percentage correct answers counted as a pass. This is a high level of basically undiscoverable mendacity. So the CPE scandal again looks worse.

Then there’s the dimension of the substantive seriousness of the matter. For a KPMG partner to be concerned about the number of deficiencies in an inspection report, well, everyone knows and the PCAOB explicitly says that because of the risk-based, drill-down method of inspections, it’s not possible to draw any conclusion about audit quality in general from the number of deficiencies in an inspection report. The samples are not random. So KPMG wanted to get its hands on the inspection schedules basically as a matter of PR and marketing to audit committees—not in the end a substantive matter (as important as it might be for their business). But the CPE scandal involved cheating on matters involving genuine professional competence related to carrying out audit engagements well. So on this dimension too, the CPE scandal looks worse.

Finally, there’s the dimension of how the scandal affects the trustworthiness of the firm. PCAOB inspections are discrete; gaming the inspection system is unlawful in regards to this one particular authority. But a firm’s commitment to professional education and competence is a standing commitment; gaming this system is implicitly an attack on the very notion of a profession, as based in knowledge and expertise. On this dimension too, then, the CPE scandal is worse.

So my conclusion is that although the inspection scandal got all the headlines because it was so flagrant and looked like “stealing the exam,” the CPE scandal on all the dimensions I can think of was worse.

But three questions:

Are we sure that CPE is not treated in a similar way by other firms?

Is the reason that CPE is “gamed” or “cheated” in this way because the CPE offerings (mostly online?) are so poor that busy professionals can’t take them seriously?

Why does the SEC believe that three hours of ethics training every month (no matter what the nature or the character of the ethics course, apparently) is an important part of the solution?

Matthew Reidenbach, PhD, CPA (inactive) Assistant Professor of Accounting, Lubin School of Business Pace University, New York City

Both of these incidents are particularly bad for KPMG since they illustrate efforts to “game the test” and show an utter lack of professionalism on behalf of the individuals involved. Both incidents demonstrate poor “tone at the top” as the actions of these partners show those who report to them that firm and industry rules are a nuisance and unimportant.

Matthew Reidenbach

That said, from my time as a former Big 4 auditor, I believe that unethical actions on CPE compliance likely occur on a smaller scale in most public accounting firms. I also believe the PCAOB inspection scandal is far greater as external stakeholders associate the PCAOB inspection process with true audit quality (whether fairly or not).

Senior leadership in KPMG actively using information about which audit engagements may be selected for PCAOB inspection provides a significant advantage ensuring that audit working papers correctly document performed work and comply with PCAOB standards. This conduct around the PCAOB inspection reflects poorly on KPMG’s entire audit practice, while the CPE scandal can arguably be dismissed as the extremely poor judgment of several bad actors (and not all of KPMG’s audit practice).

Tying back to ethics, since the AICPA Code of Professional Ethics is largely rules-based (in contrast with the new principles-based IESBA Code of Ethics), having such a high-profile publicized ethical lapse (“acts discreditable” in the code) demonstrates a problem that KPMG must fix quickly to protect its market position.

Lawrence Murphy Smith, PhD, CPA Professor of Accounting, College of Business, RELLIS Campus Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

Any ethical scandal is damaging to the reputation of the accounting profession. I think all should be taken equally seriously.

Lawrence Murphy Smith

How should recent accounting scandals be evaluated? A good answer to that question requires a historical context. In world history, there has never been a country like the United States of America. Relative to other countries, America has more freedom, more wealth (more evenly distributed), and more opportunity. The accounting profession has compiled a lengthy record of vital contributions to the efficient functioning of business operations, the capital market system, and the economy in general. To carry out its role, the profession must consistently maintain its most priceless asset—its reputation.

Accounting professionals must be exemplars of ethics. Ethical values are the base on which a civilized society is established. Lacking that solid base, a civilization falls apart. I’ve often said, “On a personal level, everyone must answer the following question: What is my highest aspiration? The answer might be wealth, fame, knowledge, popularity, or integrity. Be on guard, if integrity is secondary to any of the alternatives, it will be sacrificed in situations in which a choice must be made. Such situations inevitably occur in every person’s life.”

The role of ethics in accounting and business is to guide business men and women to live by a code of conduct that builds public confidence in their products and services. Accounting leaders and educators must stress the importance of high ethical standards. Adherence to high ethical standards will enable the accounting profession to continue its historic role in the ongoing success of the country and its economy.

John Thornton, PhD, CPA LP and Bobbi Leung Chair of Accounting Ethics Professor, School of Accounting Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA

Both issues involved very egregious behavior and are a huge black eye for KPMG. The only small consolation is that both were uncovered by internal whistleblowers.

John Thornton

In my opinion, by far the worst issue is one with former and current PCAOB employees colluding with KPMG to avoid oversight in audits. It is not enough to fine KPMG; there should be criminal convictions as well. Moreover where does the culpability of the PCAOB fit into this? Did they fine themselves? How is it legal to jump straight from their organization to a partner in a Big 4 firm? It is their own internal control problems to not have processes in place to protect the public from this public institution. This is a huge issue.

Cheating on tests? Especially ethics ones! How ironic.

Both incidents suggest the tone at the top and throughout this firm is simply unacceptable for the auditing profession.

Extremely disappointing!

Related article:

SEC Says $50 Million Fine For KPMG Is ‘Significant’ and ‘Appropriate’ For All That Cheating Going On

The post Which KPMG Scandal Is Worse: PCAOB ‘Steal the Exam’ or CPE Training Exam Cheating? appeared first on Going Concern.

republished from Going Concern

[lonkbraguitaslocas]

Ya casi haré el estreno de "Empty Space <3 In a Full Mind". Sacaré a la luz el primer capítulo el día 15 de Abril de este preciado 2017. Por el momento creo que soy la unica impaciente :T espero que cuando salga ya el cómic que he estado horneando le guste a la mayoría del publico. Géneros: Sentai/ Ecchi/ Shonen ai

Empty Space está inspirado tanto en mi pasado como en el futuro que planeo construir. El personaje principal, Rack Cameleon, es una imagen mía de todos los tiempos, desde su actitud un tanto inmadura, hasta lo valiente que puede llegar a ser para enfrentar ciertas situaciones. Lo que convierte a Empty Space en una gran historia, es que en el transcurso de los capitulos, te va planteando una serie de enseñanzas y mensajes bonitos que te ayudarán en la vida si te propones a usarlos.

Rack esta destinado a ser el héroe de su Universo, guiado por su grupo de amigos que va juntando durante el camino: Anubis Aurelion, Dante Aonno, Kubons Crower, Knight Arzen (Jack) , y Henri Louwer. Cada uno tiene sus propias virtudes y habilidades especiales distintas que adquieren al superar sus metas y miedos. Este equipo viaja de planeta en planeta, decididos a ayudar a los otros y salvarlos de la obscuridad y terror que genera el aura de su enemigo principal Chazer Ketz, un terrorífico hombre con máscara que se niega siempre a revelar su identidad; un loco apasionado por los gatos que quiere gobernar el Universo a base de terror.

No daré mas detalles para evitar los spoilers. Pero si les parece interesante, me alegraré mucho, esperen a la fecha para subir por lo menos 1 capitulo diario sin falta hasta terminar la primera temporada. Esto es algo completamente nuevo para mi, asi que daré lo mejor. Quizá el primero o segundo capitulo no tengan los mejores dibujos del mundo ya que apenas me estoy adaptando pero aun asi, lo haré lo mejor posible. No los defraudaré. Ayudame a difundir esta publicacion ya que es algo muy importante para mi! Necesito mas seguidores para asi poder compartir mejor el comic. Agradecería mucho tu apoyo <3 ^-^ https://www.facebook.com/ArizenFujoshi/