JAMES PICKETT WESBERRY Jr >>>> PERSONAL WEBSITE

Introduction to Jim Wesberry
GIVING THANKS
E-MAGAZINES CURATED BY JIM
ARTIFICIALIDAD vs VERACIDAD (AI)
ARTIFICIALITY vs VERACITY for Peruvian JCI Senate
THE REAL INVISIBLE HAND / LA MANO INVISIBLE VERDADERA ............(traducción en español más abajo)
THE FALTERING EAGLE: Speech made in 1970
CLEPTOCRACIA 1990 articulo para el 25 aniversario de ILACIF
ENFRENTANDO LA CORRUPCION EN TIEMPOS DE COVID, Conferencia - Profesionales del Bicentenario del Perú
ETICA E INTEGRIDAD, Congreso Organos Internos de Control, del Estado de Guanajuato, Mexico via Zoom
EL IMPACTO DE LA INTEGRIDAD, presentación en el Foro ISAF de Sonora, Mexico via Zoom
Donde fueron nuestros valores? Como podemos recuperarlos?
75 ANIVERSARIO DE LA Federación Nacional de Contadores del Ecuador
VIDEO: El Auditor Frente sus Tres Mayores Desafíos
MIAMI KEYNOTE: Public Financial Management, 2016
CONFERENCIA: CONTROL INTERNO Y ÉTICA: ESTARÍAN PERTINENTES EN 2025?
CONFERENCIA 6a Conferencia de Auditores Ecuador: El Auditor Interno Frente sus Tres Mayores Desafios
CONFERENCIA CReCER 2015: Empresas Estales en Busca de Etica---State Enterprises in Search of Ethics
CONFERENCIA QUITO HONESTO: Ambiente Etico = Municipio Eficiente: Principios de Conducta Etica, 2014
DOCTORADO HONORIS CAUSA - UNIVERSIDAD INCA GARCILASO DE LA VEGA, LIMA, PERU - 2013
DECORATION BY THE PERUVIAN GOVERNMENT 1972
My Work in Peru / Mi trabajo en el Perú
CONFERENCIA EN HUANUCO, PERU - El Auditor enfrenta la Erupcion de Corrup$ion del Siglo XXI -2013
CONFERENCIAS EN CHILE - 3 Mayores Desafios al Auditor Interno - 2012 - VIDEO y TEXTO
THE CONTINUING FINANCIAL CRISIS
GEORGIA CORRUPTION ON MY MIND
Personal Information
My Resume (in English)
Mi Curriculum Vitae (en español)
Personal Photo Album
ACTIVITIES & EVENTS INITIATED
The Top Quartile of Life
AMERICA IN DECLINE? The Life Cycle of a Great Power
ACCOUNTANCY & AUDITING: MY CHOSEN PROFESSION
SERVICE AS PAGE IN US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1949-51
SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR OF CORRUPTION IN STATE GOVERNMENT 1959-60
LEGENDS: Georgians Who Lived Impossible Dreams
Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 US 1 Landmark US House Reapportionment Case
POLITICS - MY FIRST CAMPAIGN 1961
POLITICS - ELECTION TO GEORGIA STATE SENATE 1962
GA POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION
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LA TRANSFORMACION POLÍTICA DE GEORGIA DE 1963
Press Clips from Georgia Senate Service
The Best Speech I Ever Made
Why I Quit the Georgia Senate
Congressional Testimony
Activities in the Junior Chamber of Commerce
Contador Benemerito de las Americas (Most Meritorious Accountant of the Americas)
Articles from The Journal of Accountancy
My Credo
Media
Interview about Leadership
ACCOUNTABILITY - RESPONDABILIDAD
THE EVER GROWING, EVER STIFLING BUREACRACY
PONZIS and PIRAMIDES
GRAPHIC DISPLAY OF US DEBT
CALCULATE YOUR DEBT LIABILITY
Fraud-Corruption-Bribery
Collusion Breaks Internal Controls
FORENSIC AUDITING --- AUDITORIA FORENSE
FRIENDSHIP - AMISTAD
Creencia - Belief
Think -------- Pensar
WOMAN -------------- MUJER
Dawn
Message to Garcia - Mensaje a García
THE GREATEST SPEECHES OF ALL TIME
Education
Interesting!
POEMS
ATLANTA, GEORGIA USA - MY HOME TOWN
WASHINGTON DC - MY OTHER HOME TOWN
PERU
ECUADOR
MEXICO
PHILIPPINES
Conferencia Senado JCI Perú
COLOMBIA VS KLEPTOKAKISTOCRACIA: Presentación para el Día Internacional Anti-Corrupción 2011
LECTURE AT MANILA'S UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST: Integrity & Honor, Corruption & Dishonor VIDEO
MANILA LECTURES AT FAR EASTERN & SANTO TOMAS UNIVERSITIES: Good Governance and Social Responsibility
EFFECT OF 2008 GLOBAL CRISIS (JW presentation in English)
SEGUNDA GRAN DEPRESION 2010 (JW presentaciónes en español)
Speeches - English
More Speeches
Conferencias / Discursos - Espanol
Mas Conferencias / Discursos
Power Point Presentations
ANTI-CORRUPTION EVENTS & REPORTS
Favorite Links
Quotes by Jim Wesberry
Documents, Articles - Documentos, Articulos
Books Read
From the Past
Contact Me
Family Photo Album
The Wesberry Surname
Miscellaneous
Technology Use in Fighting Corruption
Last Page

I serve him, doing what I know is right as my ancestors did.
----------- 2 Timothy 1:3
Al igual que mis antepasados, sirvo a Dios - 2 Timoteo 1:3

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Jim Wesberry's Political Campaign Logo during 1962 -1967

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Please report any politically correct items found on this website

PROFILE

LIFE GOAL: Strengthen accountability and integrity; Fight evil, especially corruption and fraud.

Retired in Cumbayá, Ecuador, after leading the USAID-funded Philippines Integrity Project in Manila during 2010-11. E-Magazine curator, writer, speaker, webmaster. Married to Lea Castañeda of Quivilla, Peru, seven children, 16 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

+++ Curator of 70 E-Magazines on Flipboard

+++ Lecturer on Responsibility, Fraud, Corruption and Ethics for various organizations and universities in Latin America and the Philippines.

+++ Based on performance as Director of four USAID-funded Anti-Corruption Projects, widely recognized as a top-level anti-corruption and accountability expert in Latin America based on 54 years of professional experience since he resigned from the Georgia State Senate to go to Peru with the Alliance for Progress in 1967.

+++ For four years he was Director of USAID's Hemisphere-wide Americas Accountability / Anti-Corruption Project (AAA Project), then led similar projects in Mexico, Ecuador and the Philippines

+++ Served for four years as Senior Accounting and Auditing Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank and held a similar four-year position as Senior Financial Management Advisor for the LAC Region at USAID. Previously, he was Director of International Operations, Americas Region, Price Waterhouse, Auditor General of the Organization of American States, Consultant to the Comptrollers General of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and the United States and the Latin American Auditing Institute (ILACIF, now OLACEFS), President of the Institute of Public Administration of New York, Director of Systems, Policies and Procedures, Days Inns of America, Vice President for Administration and Finance, Computer South, Inc.,

+++ Began practice as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in two firms and then his own firm in Atlanta, served as a Special Investigator in the Criminal Division of the Attorney General's Office of the State of Georgia investigating corruption in the state government. Elected three times to the Georgia State Senate, Chairman of the largest Senate Delegation and the Institutions and Mental Health Committee. Author of the Code of Ethics, and legislation on administration, finance and auditing in government.

>>> Specialties: Anti-Corruption / Responsibility / Transparency. Prior to 2006 maintained accreditation through continuing education as a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Financial Services Auditor, and Certified Government Financial Manager. Recognized as a specialist in consulting and training in anti-corruption, integrated financial management systems, operational and forensic audit.

>>> Honors: Meritorious Accountant of the Americas by the Inter-American Accounting Association, Awards by the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Agency for International Development, Three Decorations, Two Doctorates Honoris Causa, Honorary Lifetime Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and several professional associations in Latin America. One of Georgia's Five Outstanding Young Men of 1963. Listed in the books: Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in American Politics, Outstanding Young Men of America, Young Men Can Change the World, Georgians Who Realized Impossible Dreams.





Recent Presentations - Conferencias Recientes
(Haz clic para leer --- Click to read)

ARTIFICIALIDAD vs VERACIDAD Senado de la Camara Junior del Perú (JCI) VIA ZOOM 7 de marzo de 2024

ARTIFICIALITY vs VERACITY for Peruvian JCI Senate

ENFRENTANDO LA CORRUPCION EN TIEMPOS DE COVID Conferencia de los Profesionales del Bicentenario del Perú, via ZOOM

ETICA E INTEGRIDAD, Congreso Órganos Internos de Control del Estado de Guanajuato, Mexico, via Zoom

EL IMPACTO DE LA INTEGRIDAD, presentación en el Foro ISAF de Sonora, Mexico via Zoom

75 ANIVERSARIO DE LA Federación Nacional de Contadores del Ecuador

CONFERENCIA VIDEO: El Auditor Frente sus Tres Mayores Desafíos

KEYNOTE: Public Financial Management, 30th Miami Conference of ICGFM

CONTROL INTERNO Y ÉTICA: ESTARÍAN PERTINENTES EN 2025? XVI CONGRESO NACIONAL DE ESTUDIANTES DE CIENCIAS CONTABLES Y FINANCIERAS, Cuzco, Perú,

El Auditor Interno Frente sus Tres Mayores Desafios - VI Congreso Auditores Internos, Quito

Empresas del Estado en Busca de la Etica---State Enterprises in Search of Ethics - CReCER 2015, Quito

Ambiente Etico = Municipio Eficiente: Principios de Conducta Etica - Día Internacional Contra la Corrupción,9 Dic 2014 Quito Honesto

"SIGLO XX = CORRUPCI0N SIGLO XXI = CORRUPCION A LO GRANDE" FLACO Quito, Seminario - 13 dic 2013, (69 ayudas visulaes)

Recent Articles - Articulos Recientes

"Raices del Pasado, Principios para el Futuro" - Revista del Colegio de Contadores de Pichincha (PDF, 5 pp.) enero,2018

"El Auditor Frente la Erupción de Corrupción del Siglo XXI" - Revista GESTION, La Paz, Bolivia, Año 1,No.6,Nov.-Dec,2014 (PDF de revista entero, 56pp.,ver pag.42)


Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.....Romans 13:7 (NIV)



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Paguen a cada uno lo que le corresponda: si deben impuestos, paguen los impuestos; si deben contribuciones, paguen las contribuciones; al que deban respeto, muéstrenle respeto; al que deban honor, ríndanle honor......Romanos 13:7 (NVI)



~~~ "The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.
Creativity in living is not without its attendant difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt. And the unfortunate thing about being ahead of your time is that when people finally realize you were right, they'll say it was obvious all along. You have two choices in your life; you can dissolve into the mainstream, or you can be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must strive to be what no one else but you can be." . . . Alan Ashley-Pitt

~~~ "El hombre que sigue a la muchedumbre por lo general no va más allá de la multitud.El hombre que camina solo es probable que se encuentre en lugares que nadie ha estado antes.
La creatividad en la vida no está exenta de las dificultades que conlleva, pues la peculiaridad engendra el desprecio. Y lo desafortunado de estar por delante de su tiempo es que cuando la gente finalmente se da cuenta de que tiene razón, dirán que fue obvio todo el tiempo. Tienes dos opciones en tu vida; Usted puede disolverse en la corriente principal, o usted puede ser distinto. Para ser distinto, debe ser diferente. Para ser diferente, debes esforzarte por ser lo que nadie más que tú puedas ser. . . . Alan Ashley-Pitt
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~~>>> Many people claim to be loyal, but it is hard to find a trustworthy person....Proverbs 20:6 <<<~~

~~>>> Son muchos los que proclaman su lealtad, ¿pero quién puede hallar a alguien digno de confianza?-Proverbios 20:6 <<<~~
_____

***** It is better to trust the Lord than to trust people...Psalm 118:8 *****

***** Es mejor confiar en el Señor que confiar en el hombre...Salmos 118:8 *****

JIM's 88th Birthday ZOOM Celebration organized by Ecuadorian friends with participation from all over the Americas Region

(Spanish language, length 2 hours)

Special addition to the above for friends to share Christmas & New Years greetings. In Spanish, Time 2:45.

Jim & Lea Wesberry in Cusco, Peru, September 16, 2015

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Jim & Lea Wesberry in Cusco, Peru, September 16, 2015

ABOUT THIS WEBSITE: Originally this was to be a personal site for my resume and personal information; however, it has grown considerably to include much more and now includes many issues that concern me, some autobiographical reflections as well as a bit of inspirational material and some humor too. It reflects in general my own personal philosophy as one who must find his own way without following directly any individual, group, organization or party. 
I follow only Jesus Christ as best I can, often failing miserably, but forging on.
 
See the index at the left for the website's  full content...JW
 
_______________________________

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"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe,we shall become as corrupt as Europe." - Thomas Jefferson

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Conferencia en Quito para el Día Internacional contra la Corrupción en el Encuentro Internacional auspiciado por la Comisión Metropolitana de Lucha Contra la Corrupción de Quito, Ecuador
9 de diciembre de 2014
(haz clic en foto para texto)

Seminario 9 dic. 2014: Responsabilidad y Transpa
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Comisión Metropolitana de Lucha Contra la Corrupción

Jim Wesberry decorated by Peruvian Government
Conferred by General Oscar Vargas Prieto
23 de junio de 1972
(click on photo to read article in the Congressional Record)
 

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Jim Wesberry decorated by Peruvian Government's Gen. Oscar Vargas Prieto - 1972

Modern Georgia

 was born when a group of maverick lawmakers, including Jim Wesberry, won election to the state Senate during the tumultuous years of the civil rights era. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff writer Bill Torpy narrates their fitful journey in a

 

50th ANNIVERSARY ARTICLE

 

about the then newly reapportioned

1963 Georgia State Senate.

 

EXTRACT

 

"James Wesberry, a 28-year-old Atlanta accountant, had earned a reputation — and enemies — as part of a task force digging up corruption across Georgia.
A blunt-speaking son of a well-known minister, he was the forerunner of an archetype still held in low-esteem by many colleagues at the Capitol: the trouble-making Atlanta liberal. Wesberry earned the enmity of rural Georgia’s power brokers by telling an audience, “We’ll never get good government in Georgia until we put 100 House members back behind the plow.”
__________

Wesberry left the legislature after four years, complaining the low pay — $2,000 a year to start — and long hours devastated his accounting practice. He recently said ferreting out wrong dealing in the Griffin administration trained him well in his lifelong mission — auditing for corruption worldwide. He has worked for many organizations, including the World Bank and has rooted out corruption in China, the Philippines, Mexico and South America, where the 78-year-old now lives.
In 1963, the reform-minded legislator learned the “new” Senate may have not been that new. A reporter assessing the historic session noted, “Wesberry has been beaten down on just about everything he has proposed and most of his bills have been killed in committee.”
Some senators complained that Wesberry, who proposed one of the state’s first ethics bills, tried doing too much, too fast. Fifty years later, legislators are still grappling with ethics.
Before getting elected, Wesberry had filed suit against the state arguing that Atlanta’s congressional district was unfairly apportioned, a case not unlike the county unit case. In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling, found in favor of him in Wesberry V. Sanders, a decision that caused Congressional districts across the country to be more fairly redrawn."

Read the full article

Click here to read Jim Wesberry's article "Why I Quit the Georgia Senate" from the April 30, 1967 Atlanta Journal-Constitutione Magazine section.

Click here to read the Chapter on Jim Wesberry from the book, "LEGENDS: Georgians Who Lived Impossible Dreams"

 

Extract from Robert Klitgaard’s book

Tropical Gangsters II: Adventures in Development in the World's Poorest Places 

(describing a 1991 anti-corruption seminar for Nicaraguan CPA's)

As the heat rises, Jim Wesberry takes the mike.  He is AID’s regional man on financial systems, a CPA and a crusader against corruption.  Jim’s aged father is a Southern preacher whose speaking style Jim seems to have inherited.  Normally a quiet man, he yells into the mike as if exorcizing a demon.  He says some CPAs are doubtless corrupt—what’s important is to make all of this transparent. 

Jim turns the discussion back to what to do and asks if there are any other questions or suggestions…

After a brief discussion, Jim Wesberry is at the mike and booming.  He reviews 1991 as the AIC’s “year against corruption in government.”  He describes forthcoming anti-corruption conferences.  My ears hurt, and I’m behind him and to his left, far away from the speakers in the middle of the room at the sides.

Jim goes right on into his own speech, which he says he’ll summarize.  It’s on the perils of “kleptocracy,” and he’s been giving it everywhere. 

“The seeds of kleptocracy, sown by the irresponsible and fertilized by the greedy . . “  Loud and then louder, with rhetoric galore.  Jim rocks back and forth and sings with an evangelist’s growl. 

After a few minutes I look out at the audience.  They are in rapt attention as Jim condemns “kleptofungus.”  And when he finishes, they roar their approval.  The MC thanks their dear friend for his great contribution.


" We hold that, construed in its historical context, the command of Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution that representatives be chosen by the people of the several States means that, as nearly as practicable,
one man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's. To say that a vote is worth more in one district than in another district would not only run counter to our fundamental ideas of democratic government, it would cast aside the principle of a House of Representatives elected by the people, a principle tenaciously fought for and established at the Constitutional Convention." ...."It would defeat the principle solemnly embodied in the Great Compromise - equal representation in the House for equal numbers of people - for us to hold that, within the States, legislatures may draw the lines of congressional districts in such a way as to give some voters a greater voice in choosing a Congressman than others. The House of Representatives, the Convention agreed, was to represent the people as individuals, and on a basis of complete equality for each voter. "
-- US Supreme Court in  Wesberry v Sanders

The landmark 1964 case WESBERRY V SANDERS continues to be frequently cited as setting precedents for new cases: On April 4, 2016, the United States Supreme Court decided Evenwel v. Abbott, No. 14-940, holding that a state may draw legislative districts based on total population... The Court noted that the founding fathers agreed when the constitution was adopted that representation in the House of Representatives was to be based on all inhabitants of the states. Congress reconsidered, and affirmed, this principle when adopting the Fourteenth Amendment... Petitioners first argued that the rule for apportioning House of Representative seats did not apply to apportioning seats within states. The Court rejected this argument on the basis of its prior precedent, Wesberry v. Sanders. Wesberry concluded that there was no basis in the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment for the principle that congressional districts are apportioned by total population and yet states are barred from apportioning their own legislative districts the same way. In addition, the Court rejected petitioners' argument that the Court generally does not analogize the federal electoral system to that of the states. The Court agreed that in some contexts it may not be appropriate to compare state and federal systems but reasoned that here, constitutional history is clear that congressional apportionment rests on the same representational concerns that exist within individual states.

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Senator James P. Wesberry, Jr. with Governor Carl E. Sanders

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CORRUPTION
is a particularly viral form of cancer. It is caught here and there but it reappears somewhere else as soon as vigilance is relaxed. It is not eliminated, just driven underground. The corrupt merely suspend their operations temporarily. It lingers, hovering always in the background for its next opportunity. - Gerald E. Caiden
-- LA CORRUPCIÓN es una forma particularmente viral del cáncer. Se captura aquí y allá pero volverá a aparecer en otro lugar tan pronto como la vigilancia es relajado. No se elimina, simplemente es conducido al subterráneo.Los corruptos simplemente suspender sus operaciones temporalmente. Se persiste, flotando siempre en el fondo esperando su próxima oportunidad. - Gerald E. Caiden

Click here to read my blog...JimWes Thinks

Jim Wesberry has been named the Anti-Corruption Digest's Contributing Editor for Latin America. Click here to go to Anti Corruption Digest, the most comprehensive source for global risk & compliance related news, insights, and best practices.

View Jim Wesberry's profile on LinkedIn

E-Magazines
(click on image below to go to e-magazine)

View my Flipboard Magazine.

View my Flipboard Magazine.

Lecture at the University of the East
 Manila, Philippines
August 18, 2010
"Kleptocracy Rising, Democracy Endangered"
 Extract from full video
 


KLEPTOCRACY RISING, DEMOCRACY ENDANGERED
Uploaded by jimwes. - News videos hot off the press.

THE CONTINUING GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
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Click here to go to FINANCIAL CRISIS Page

View my Flipboard Magazine.

"Shame must become fashionable, and shamelessness unfashionable."...José Martí
"La vergüenza de ha de poner de moda: y fuera de moda la desvergüenza."...José Martí

Click to go to Lecture: Integrity & Honor
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University of the East, Manila - Aug. 22, 2010

Jim Wesberry

 

Since 2011 back in his residence in Quito, Ecuador after an 18 month assignment in Manila, Republic of the Philippines, Jim Wesberry went back to work full-time on the other side of the planet in 2010 after nearly 4 years of "semi-retirement." 

 

Jim is presently "semi-retired" for the second time. He is Contributing Editor of The Anti-Corruption Digest and performs short-term consulting, as well as speaking, writing, curating 48 E-Magazines and webmastering. 

 

 Lecturer for the following organizations/events:

·         XVI National Congress of Accounting & Finance Students, Cusco, Peru

·         Instituto de Auditores Internos del Ecuador, VI Congreso de Auditores, Quito, Ecuador

·         Inter- American Development Bank, World Bank & other sponsors, CReCER 2015, 8th annual conference, Quito, Ecuador

·         Comisión Metropolitana de Lucha Contra la Corrupción, Día Internacional Contra la Corrupción, Quito, Ecuador

·         Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Seminario para Directores Financieros, Quito, Ecuador

·         Universidad Garcilaso de la Vega, Ceremonia de Doctorado Honoris Causa, Lima

·         Colegios de Contadores Públicos de Perú,V Conferencia Nacional de Auditoría, Huanuco, Perú

·         Colegio de Contadores Públicos de Chile, Santiago de Chile

·          Universidad DUOC-UC, Santiago, Chile

·         Universidad de Valparaíso y Colegio de Contadores Públicos, Valparaíso, Chile

·          US State Department Bureau of International Information Programs, United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (UNDOC) & Colombian Attorney General’s, I Cumbre Internacional sobre Buenas Practicas Anti-corrupción, Día Internacional contra la Corrupción, Bogota, Colombia


In Manila Jim was Chief of Party of the USAID Philippine Integrity Project contracted to Management Systems International (MSI). The project sought to improve integrity within government agencies and reduce corruption. It has four components: (1) Strengthening the Office of Ombudsman; (2) Supportuing effective prosecution of corruption; (3) Building institutional cooperation to reduce corruption; and (4) Taking the fight against corruption to the local and regional levels. Jim introduced Forensic Auditing to the Commission on Audit (COA - Supreme Audit Institution) with training courses and guidelines for implementation. He was requested to do the same for Internal Auditors under the Presidency of the Republic including Forensic Auditing training and Manual. The project supported joint training and joint investigations of the country’s most significant corruption cases by the Ombudsman and COA. It introduced the use of electronic, anonymous, instantaneous Audience Response Systems to provide self-assessments of corruption vulnerabilities, causes and potential remedies. Its website, now dormant, but still available at  http://jimwes.com/integrity/ provided comprehensive corruption news from all media sources.

 

Jim retired in Cumbaya, Quito, Ecuador in 2006 after heading the USAID anti-corruption project, “Yes! We Can! (Sí Se Puede!), Jim Wesberry previously served in Mexico City as Director of USAID’s first Mexico Anti-Corruption Project “ATLATL.”  Wesberry until retirement was widely recognized as a premier expert on corruption and accountability in Latin America based on nearly 40 years experience since going to Peru with the Alliance for Progress in 1967. Previously he served for four years as Director of USAID’s Hemisphere-wide Americas’ Accountability/Anti-Corruption Project (AAA Project). 

Wesberry earlier served four years as Principal Adviser on Accounting and Auditing for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank where he was in charge of project audit quality, advised regarding anti-corruption and national government financial management systems in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and served on the Bank’s first anti-corruption task force. Before that he held a similar four-year post as Senior Financial Management Adviser for the LAC Region at USAID where he was responsible for the first phase of the AAA Project and the initiation of USAID’s anti-corruption efforts.  

Wesberry’s modus operandi in fighting corruption was developed based on his experience since 1988 when USAID first addressed the problem and is characterized by intensive use of technology and mass communication in establishing and maintaining a massive interest in fighting corruption.  He has been responsible for four Hemispheric Teleconferences, two Anti-Corruption Summits, four widely known websites, four newsletters distributed electronically and in printed format, and four weekly corruption news summaries distributed electronically.  He used teleconferencing in Mexico and Ecuador to provide seminars and training courses to large groups of participants simultaneously.  The use of technology to reach massive numbers of persons greatly reduces the cost of training and, where properly applied, loses nothing in the area of discipline and evaluation of results.  In Mexico Wesberry was responsible for video courses offered to over 6,000 State auditors in the 32 Mexican States using Mexico’s Television Educativa’s state-of-the-art video studios and satellite channels. In Ecuador he headed programs that provided training for 21,720 persons using both live in-person traditional facilities and live video transmitted presentations in Ecuador’s 22 largest cities.

A Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner, Wesberry, worked for two of Atlanta's leading accounting firms before opening his own practice as a CPA in 1959. He began his anti-corruption efforts in his home state of Georgia where he performed investigatory audits of several counties resulting in charges of corruption against local officials and served as Special Investigator in the Criminal Division of the State Law Department of Georgia investigating corruption in state government. Later he was elected three times to the Georgia State Senate where he championed legislation in the areas of accountability, ethical conduct and fair representation. He was principal plaintiff in the landmark 1964 US Supreme Court case, Wesberry v. Sanders (395 US 1) that ordered the reapportionment of the US House of Representatives in accordance with the constitutional “Great Compromise” of 1789.

Wesberry also served as Chief Auditor of the Organization of American States and held senior posts at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the U.S. General Accounting Office. He served in Peru and Ecuador for 11 years as adviser to six of the two nations’ Comptrollers General and to the Latin American organization of national auditing agencies. He has worked or provided training in every Latin American country. Wesberry holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from The American University and is also a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Financial Services Auditor and Certified Government Financial Manager.  He has been decorated on three occasions and, among others, has received the following significant awards:

·         USAID Outstanding Career Achievement Award - 1993 for "invaluable and lifetime contributions to the improvement of financial management systems and the fight against corruption in Latin America” (second highest USAID employee award).

·          Most Meritorius Accountant of the

    Americas Award (Contador Benemerito de las Americas), 2003 from the Interamerican Accounting Association for “his indisputable professional merits, his ethical values and the interest, enthusiasm and imponderable labor, placed at the service of the Accountancy Profession.”

·          Bradford Cadmus Memorial Award - 1989, highest honor of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), "To honor individuals making the greatest contribution to the advancement of the internal auditing profession."

Wesberry lives with his wife of 38 years, Lea Castañeda originally from Peru, at Quinta Quivilla a one acre natural paradise outside Quito a few miles south of the Equator at an elevation of 7,700 feet in the Andes mountains.  The Wesberry’s raise 80% of their vegetables, 50% of their fruits and have about 50 chickens plus other animals such as peacocks, rabbits, guineas, pheasants, and Persian cats, not to mention eight Chihuahuas from their days in Mexico

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Be a worker who is not ashamed and who uses the true teaching in the right way.
                 2 Timothy 2:15

Extracts from the publication

TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

USAID'S ANTI-CORRUPTION EXPERIENCE

"USAID's first program explicitly designed to fight corruption, the Regional Financial Management Improvement (RFMI)  Project, was launched in 1989. It incorporated the lesson that USAID anti-corruption programs must address several levels to have any sustainable impact. Over its ten-year history of working with Latin American countries, the RFMI Project has facilitated the successful detection and prosecution of corrupt practices in government by strengthening accountability and audit practices. The computerization elements of the program have proven particularly useful. They have enabled governments to better identify and take action against "ghost" employees and vendors; to identify and take action against a range of procurement irregularities; and, to "follow the money" in instances of stolen or misspent funds.

Phase II of the RFMI Project began in 1992. Renamed "The Americas. Accountability and Anti-corruption Project" to reflect its increased emphasis on fighting corruption, it has been the source of many innovations in combating public corruption. It was, for instance, one of the first anti-corruption activities to engage civil society organizations in awakening public awareness on the costs of corruption. Its Internet website initiative and the extremely effective donor coordination group set up under the project have been replicated in anticorruption programs elsewhere in the world."

...

“Americas' Accountability/Anti-Corruption Project

Throughout its ten-year history, the AAA Project has been the source of 

many innovations in combating public corruption. Beginning in 1989, 

the project organized the Donor Consultative Group on Accountability 

and Anti-corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean (DCG). Comprising 

six bilateral and 12 multilateral donor agencies who meet 

quarterly, the DCG has dramatically increased the number of coordinated 

financial management and anti-corruption projects in the region.

The AAA project has also undertaken ambitious efforts to publicize the 

need to fight corruption across the Americas and provide a public 

forum for issues related to corruption. Three interactive Respondacon 

teleconferences, a quarterly newsletter (Respondabilidad), and a 

bilingual website (www.respondanet.com) are the main tools the 

project has used to raise awareness and spark debate about corruption. 

The teleconferences have attracted some 4,000 official participants 

from 19 countries, and were broadcast over radio and television in 

many countries. The website serves as an important source of up-todate, 

objective information on corruption scandals in the region and 

worldwide anti-corruption efforts. In addition, it hosts an electronic 

forum for concerned citizens to debate issues related to corruption in 

their countries. Among the many successes of the AAA Project are the 

wide diffusion of a common financial management reform model in 

nearly every country in Latin America; the adoption of uniform standards 

in accounting and auditing among professional organizations in 

Latin America; and increased awareness of the high costs of corruption 

among government officials, citizens, and NGOs. The combination of 

strengthened financial management systems and broad-based anticorruption 

efforts on a regional scale is a unique achievement.

Based on the success of the AAA Project, in 1997 USAID's 

Bureau for Europe and Eurasia entered into a partnership with OECD's 

Centre for Co-operation with Non-members to create an informal Anticorruption 

Network for Transition Economies.”

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“One of USAID's earliest achievements in donor coordination was the formation of the Donor Consultative Group on Accountability and Anti-corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean (DCG), part of the AAA Project. Initiated ten years ago, the DCG now includes six bilateral and twelve multilateral development agencies. Through quarterly coordination meetings, DCG members have avoided duplication of effort and conflicting programs, and stretched resources to benefit almost every country in the region. The DCG.s crowning achievement has been the development of a common, computerized financial management system framework that ensures compatibility no matter which donor provides the support.” 

Jim Wesberry was the architect of the above project, initiating all the innovations described, as well as others. He was responsible for the project during most of it's ten year period of activity.

"History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economical decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster." - General Douglas MacArthur, 1945

"La historia no recuenta un solo precedente en el que aquellas naciones sujetas a la decadencia moral no han pasado a la decadencia política y económica.Ha habido o un despertar espiritual para superar lapso moral, o un deterioro progresivo que conduce a un desastre nacional final." - General Douglas MacArthur, 1945

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From ExPat Newspaper, Manils, Philippines, January, 2011

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"James P. Wesberry, CPA, received the highest honor of the “Western Hemisphere’s accountancy profession” at the 25th Interamerican Accounting Conference in Panama in September. The award recognized Wesberry’s professional merits, ethical values and enthusiastic efforts in the service of the profession. Only 22 CPAs—three from the United States—had previously been so honored since the award was established 52 years earlier. A member of the AICPA for since 1957, Wesberry chaired its delegation to the conference for six years."  - The Journal of Accountancy, Dec., 2003

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Jim Wesberry's Trajectory of Leadership

 

·         Page, US House of Representatives

o   Overseer of Pages

o   President Student Council, Capitol Page school

o   Completed high school in 3 years

·         Completed university at night while working earning BBA degree in 3 years (age 20) and passed CPA exam (age 21)

·         Worked for two of Atlanta’s leading CPA firms ganing specialized experience in public sector audits

o   Supervised Quadrennial Executive Audit of the State of Maine

o   Audit of Jackson County, Georgia revealed corruption among almost all county officials

o   Acting Controller of Hillcrest Poultry Industries, Lewiston, Maine  while installing pioneering IBM unit record system for accounting

·         Lieutenant Coronel, Georgia Governor’s Staff

·         Practiced in own CPA firm in Atlanta, Georgia (beginning at age 24 for 10 years)

o   5 offices in Georgia

o   29 employees at peak

o   Listed in Who’s Who in Commerce & Industry

o   Prepared first comprehensive budget for DeKalb County, Georgia As County Auditor recommended and monitored pioneering IBM 360 computerized accounting system

o   Audit of Bleckley County, Georgia resulted in criminal indictment of County Commissioner

o   Annual Reports for Georgia’s two largest counties won highest national award for financial reporting.

·         Designed & built ultra modern home featured in Atlanta Journal Magazine and Better Homes & Gardens as one of 100 best in US

·         Special Investigator, Criminal Division, State Law Department of Georgia -  investigated corruption in state government.  Discovered bribes to Governor’s brother who was indicted. Governor later was defeated.

·         State Governmental Affairs Chair, Georgia Junior Chamber of Commerce

o   Chaired State governmental Affairs Seminar in Atlanta & Federal Governmental Affairs Seminar in Washington

o   Outstanding State Chairman Award , Georgia Jaycees

·         Member Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries, Warren Memorial Boys Club, Morningside-Lenox Association, Georgia Mental Health Association, Atlanta Junior Chamber of Commerce, United Negro College Fund, Active Voters and others.

·         Chair, Atlanta Jaycee Religious Activities Committee

·         Treasurer, 1961 Jaycee National Convention

·         Treasurer, 5th District Georgia Jaycees

·         Colonel, Georgia Jaycee Rebel Corps

·         Listed in Outstanding Young Men of America

·         Ran unsuccessfully for Atlanta City Council ( age 26)

·         Elected to Fulton County Democratic Executive Committee (age 27)

·    Elected Georgia State Senator 3 times from Atlanta (age 28)

o   Chair of largest delegation in Senate

o   Chair, Institutions & Mental Health Committee

o   Author, first Code of Ethics for State employees

o   Co-Author Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Law

o   Listed in Who’s Who in American Politics

·    Named One of Georgia’s Five Outstanding Young Men of 1963

·    Featured in book Young Men Can Change the World

·     National Vice President, National Treasurer, & National Governmental Affairs Chair, US Junior Chamber of Commerce (US Jaycees)

o   Outstanding National Chairman Award (twice)

o   Founded National Jaycee Governmental Affairs Leadership Conference

o   Started and Edited new Jaycee GO newsletter, then later magazine (Governmental Obligation)

o   Presented Testimony before Committees of the US Congress

o   Chair, US Jaycee Finance Committee

o   Trustee Jaycee War Memorial Fund, Jaycee Mental Health & Retardation Fund, Jaycee Religious Activities Fund

·    Principal Plaintiff in Wesberry v Sanders (376US1) landmark Supreme Court case that reapportioned US House of Representatives restoring the Great Compromise of 1789 that lead to the adoption of the US Constitution

·         Lifetime Senator in Junior Chamber International

·         Mason, York & Scottish Rite, Royal Order of Scotland

·         Prelate, DeKalb Commandery, Knights Templar

·         Shriner, Secretary of Yaarab Temple Provost Guard

·         Featured by a chapter in book LEGENDS: Georgians who lived  Impossible Dreams

·    Resigned as State Senator to go to Peru with President Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress (age 33)

·         Honoris Causa  LLD degree Atlanta Law School

·     Advisor to 3 Comptrollers General of Peru and 3 of Ecuador and to the Latin American Institute of Auditing Sciences in both countries

o   Decorated by Peruvian Government  with Order of Merit for Distinguished Service (age 37)

o   Co-Author, United Nations’ Auditing Manual for Developing Countries

o   Author, Latin American Manual of Professional Auditing in the Public Sector (Spanish)

·         Founder & President Lima International Junior Chamber of Commerce

·         Honorary member of the Lima, Peru Junior Chamber of Commerce

·         Honorary Member of the Peruvian Junior Chamber International Senate

·          Listed in Who's Who in the World

·         Co-Founder & Director, Quito Chapter, Institute of   Internal Auditors

·          Lifetime Member of Board of Directors, Quito, Ecuador Chapter, IIA

·         Vice President for Latin America, Institute of Internal Auditors

·    Vice President Administration & Finance, Computer Technology/South, Inc.

·    Director of Systems, Standards and Procedures of Days Inns of America, Inc., then world’s 6th largest lodging chain

·    Chief Auditor, Organization of American States

·        Honorary member of the Lima, Peru College of Public Accountants

·         Listed in Who's Who in America

·    Co-Founder and Second President of the International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management

o   Founded Washington International Financial Management Forum

o   Co-Founder and Program Chair of Miami International Financial Management Conference

·         President, Washington Chapter, Institute of Internal Auditors (led to becoming 3rd largest in US)

o   IIA Outstanding Contributor Award for article in The Internal Auditor

o   Washington Chapter IIA Distinguished Service Award

·         Chair International Committee, Association of Government Accountants (twice)

o   Association of Government Accountant's Authors' Award (twice)

·    Director for Latin America, Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA)

o   Founder and Editor first IIA Spanish Newsletter Pistas de Auditoria

·   Advisor to Comptroller General of the United States

o   Senior Advisor on International Audit Institutions and Training, US General Accounting Office

·    Director of International Operations, Americas Region, Price Waterhouse

·         Honorary member of the Lima, Peru Junior Chamber of Commerce

·         Honorary member of Quito, Ecuador  College of Public Accountants and Ecuadorian Federation of Accountants

·          Bradford Cadmus Memorial Award, highest honor of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), "To honor individuals making the greatest contribution to the advancement of the internal auditing profession."

·    Senior Financial Management Advisor, US Agency for International Development

o      USAID Outstanding Career Achievement Award for "invaluable and lifetime contributions to the improvement of financial management systems and the fight against corruption in Latin America (Second highest USAID award)

 

·         President and CEO, The Institute of Public Administration of New York

·        Principal Adviser on Accounting & Auditing for Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC), The World Bank

o   Served on the Bank’s Corruption Action Plan Working Group that developed the first strategies and plans to combat corruption worldwide.  

o   Represented the Bank in Donor Consultative Group on Improving Financial Management in the LAC Region

o   Represented LAC on the Bank's Task Force on Financial Reporting and Auditing.

o   Represented the Bank's LAC Region on Senior Advisers' Group  

o   Member Task Force on Financial Reporting and Auditing

o   Chaired Professional Education Committee of the Bank's Association of Professional Accountants.

o   Designated Bank’s lead adviser on anti-corruption in the LAC Region

·         Chair AICPA Delegation to the Interamerican Accounting Association (6 years)

·         Director of USAID-financed America’s Accountability/Anti-Corruption Project (AAA Project)

o   Initiated Spanish & English RESPONDANET Anti-Corruption Websites (www.respondanet.com)

o   Initiated and Organized RESPONDACON Hemispheric Anti-Corruption Teleconferences and two International Anti-Corruption Summits

·         Member Executive Committee & Chair Public Sector Committee Interamerican Accounting Association

o    Most Meritorius Accountant of the Americas Award (Contador Benemerito de las Americas), 2003 from the Interamerican Accounting Association for his indisputable professional merits, his ethical values and the interest, enthusiasm and imponderable labor, placed at the service of the Accountancy Profession.” (highest Hemispheric accountancy recognition)

·         Decorated by the Office of the Comptroller General of Venezuela - 1998 with Order of Merit “Gumerisindo Torres”  “for  valuable contributions to government auditing.”

·         Decorated by the Office of the Comptroller General of Peru – 1999 with Order of Merit “Gran Auditor”

·         Director of USAID-financed Project ATLATL/Mexico Anti-Corruption Project, Mexico City

·    Director of USAID-financed Project Si Se Puede!/Ecuador Anti-Corruption Project, Quito, Ecuador

  • Retired 3 1/2 years, , Quito, Ecuador - Speaking, Writing, Consulting 
  • Returned to work at age 75 as Chief of Party USAID-financed Philippines Integrity Project,  Manila, Republic of the Philippines
  • Re-retired to Quinta Quivilla in Cumbaya, Ecuador still occasionally speaking, writing and consulting as well as webmastering various websites including this one.

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Jim & Lea Wesberry

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BIOGRAPHY FROM

MARQUIS WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA & MARQUIS WHO'S WHO IN THE WORLD


WESBERRY, JAMES PICKETT, JR., retired anti-corruption specialist, management consultant, speaker, author, webmaster; b. Columbia, SC, Sept. 22, 1934; s. James P. and Ruby L. (Perry) W.; m. Lea Esdras Casteneda, June 13, 1975; children: Jonathan Jesse, Perry Latimer, Ruby Lee Nilda; children by previous marriage: James Pickett III, Elisa Marie, Lillian Sue, Paul Armand. BBA, Ga. State U., 1955; LLD (hon.), Atlanta Law Sch., 1967; MPA, Am. U., 1983; Doctorado Contaduria (hon.), U. Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Lima, Peru, 2013. CPA, Ga.; cert. internal auditor, fraud examiner, govt. fin. mgr., fin. svcs. auditor. Page U.S. Ho. Reps., 1949-51; acct., mgmt. cons. Atlanta, 1956-67; v.p. fin. and adminstrn. Computer Tech. South, Atlanta, 1969-70; sr. cons. Inst. Pub. Adminstrn., NYC, 1967-69, 70-76; cons. to comptr. gen. Peru, 1970-74, Ecuador, 1974-78; adv., prof. Latin Am. Inst. Auditing Scis. Peruvian and Ecuadorean Sch. Govtl. Auditing, 1971-78; dir. sys., stds. and procedures Days of Inns Am., Inc., 1979-80; chief auditor OAS, Washington, 1980-82; cons. World Bank, 1982-83; prin. advisor acctg. and auditing pub. sector Latin Am. and Caribean Region, 1994-97; dir. America's accountability/anti-corruption project Casals & Assocs., Alexandria, Va., 1997–2001, dir. accountability audit, anti-corruption project Project -ATLATL-Mex., 2001–03; dir. Si Se Puede anti-corruption project Mgmt. Sys. Internat., Quito, Ecuador, 2003–06; ret., 2006–10; dir. Philippines Integrity Project Mgmt. Sys. Internat., Manila, 2010–12, ret., 2013–. Founder, pres. Accountability 21, 1998–2003; advisor to pres. of Latin Am. Orgn. of Supreme Audit Instn., 1993–2000; sr. adv. to comptr. gen. U.S., 1983–85; dir. internat. ops. Price Waterhouse, 1985–88; sr. fin. advisor U.S.AID, 1988–93; pres., CEO Inst. Pub. Adminstrn., 1993–94, trustee; dir. N.Y. Bur. Mcpl. Rsch., 1993–94; mem. panel of experts in acctg. and auditing UN, 1972–82; adj. prof. Am. U., Washington, 1981–85; founding dir. Internat. Consortium Govtl. Fin. Mgmt., 1977–88, 1994–97, pres., 1984–87; cons., tchr. all Spanish-speaking We. Hemisphere nations Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, The Netherlands Antilles, Guyana, Peoples Republic China, The Philippines, Can., U.S. Co-author: UN Handbook on Government Auditing for Developing Countries; editor: Latin American Manual of Professional Auditing in the Public Sector, Spanish Lang. newsletter Pistas de Auditoria, 1985-92; mem. editl. bd. Pub. Budgeting and Fin. Mgmt., 1982-92, The Govt. Accts. Jour.; contbr. articles to profl. jours. Mem. Ga. Senate, 1962-67, Fulton County Dem. Exec. Com., 1962-66. Decorated Order of Merit (Peru), 1972, Comptr. Gen. Peru, 1997, Venezuela, 1998; recipient Outstanding Career Achievement award USAID, 1993, Most Meritorious Accountant of the Americas award Interamerican Acctg. Assn., 2003. Mem. AICPA (hon. life, chmn. interam. com. 1988-95), Interam. Acctg. Assn. (cert. assoc., bd. dirs. 1989-95, chmn. pub. sector com. 1989-91, 2000-2001, exec. com. 1994-95, Vet. Acct. Am. award 1987, Lifetime Acct. of Am. 1995, Most Meritorious Acct. 2003), Am. Acctg. Assn., Assn. Govt. Accts. (Authors award 1981-82, 89-90, chmn. internat. affairs com. 1981-82, 89-91), Inst. Internal Auditors (v.p. Latin Am. 1978-79, internat. rels. com. 1977-82, 84-88, regional dir. Latin Am. 1986-88, chpt. bd. govs. 1981-87, v.p. 1982-84, pres. 1984-85, vice chmn. internat. membership com. 1989-90, chpt. Disting. Svc. award 1987, Bradford Cadmus Meml. award internat. orgn. 1989, Outstanding Author's award 1990), Honduras CPA Soc. (Hon. award 1990), Jr. Chamber Internat. (life senator), Quito (Ecuador) Inst. Internal Auditors (life bd. dirs.), Lima Coll. Pub. Accts. (hon.), Lima Jr. C. of C. (hon.), Pinchicha (Ecuador) Coll. Pub. Accts. (hon.), Ecuador Fedn. Pub. Accts. (hon.). Independent. Baptist. Achievements include principal plaintiff in case of Wesberry v. Sanders landmark US Supreme Court decision that required reaportionment of the US House of Representatives in compliance with the Great Compromise of 1789. Avocations: politics, government. Home: Cumbaya Quito Ecuador Personal E-mail: jwesberry@aol.com, jwesberry@gmail.com.

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Jim Wesberry and his family, September 26, 2009
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The descendants of James P. Wesberry and James P. Wesberry, Jr.

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Links related to this site

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MY BLOG: "JimWes Thinks" Random thoughts on diverse subjects that interest me.

Link to Lea Wesberry Website

Link to Photos of Children & Grandchildren

Link to Memorial Website for Jim's father, Dr. James P. Wesberry (1906 - 1992)

Link to JimWes Thinks...Jim's blog on key issues

Link to "Just Dogs" featuring our 8 Chihuahuas and more

Link to US Supreme Court decision in Wesberry v. Sanders (376US1)

Click on picture below to go to Jim's American Heritage website

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Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect

                     --- Mark Twain

We have never observed a great civilization with a population as old as the United States will have in the twenty-first century; we have never observed a great civilization that is as secular as we are apparently going to become; and we have had only half a century of experience with advanced welfare states...Charles Murray

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This is a personal website containing personal information and some news and  personal opinions on certain issues affecting democratic governance of interest to me and my friends, associates and seminar participants. The financial information, charts, etc., consist of items I find interesting. Draw your own conclusions from it.
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