But Zhou does not represent an isolated case; corruption is systemic to China's oil industry and its other state-owned enterprises.
To that end, the Times reported, Obama asked the military and various agencies to develop guidelines that could isolate the corruption that fuels anger among Afghans and drives many into the ranks of the insurgency, as opposed to the more routine kickbacks and bribes that grease the Afghan political system.
Mr. Obama, the officials said, directed government agencies -- including the Pentagon, the State Department, the Justice Department and the C.I.A. -- to develop guidelines that could isolate the corruption that fuels anger among Afghans and drives many into the ranks of the insurgency, as opposed to the more routine kickbacks and bribes that grease the Afghan political system.
His was hardly an isolated case of corruption.
Campante, Filipe R., and Quoc-Anh Do. "Isolated Capital Cities, Accountability and Corruption: Evidence from US States". HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP12-016, May 2012.
The fewer the episodes that can be linked, the more the Mayor can argue that the corruption was isolated, an aberration rather than a systemic problem for which he can be blamed.
New research provides a partial answer to that long-standing question: isolated capitals breed more corruption and lack of news coverage is a major reason why.
If this is not an important issue in our society then let the band play on and the circus continue while pretending that corruption can be isolated and contained to one corner of the university without corrupting the entire institution.
Instead of focusing on isolated prosecutions of mobsters for corruption, Mr. Morgenthau said that the five-year investigation was aimed at restructuring the industry.
This week, a prominent lawyer appeared in court and suggested that such incidents of official incompetence and corruption were far from isolated.
But the people running the country would rather single out the occasional high profile mogul who engages in insider trading, and use him for an isolated perp walk, rather then indicting the corruption of the entire system.
