Controversies

17,000 Inspector General Recommendations Ignored; $67 Billion Saved if Implemented

The committee found a “correlation between the absence of a permanent inspector general and a high volume of open and unimplemented recommendations,” according to its report. Currently, eight of the 73 IG positions are vacant. In fact, the State Department has not had an inspector general for more than five years and the Department of the Interior for more than four years, while the Labor Department had been IG-less for a mere three and a half years. read more

Confidential HIV Test Results Stored in Secret Michigan Database for a Decade

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has, since 2003, compiled names, birth dates, risk categories, and other demographic information of people submitting for confidential HIV testing into a huge database. Those identified as sexual and needle-sharing partners of persons living with HIV have been coded in the database. read more

Supreme Court Rules U.S. Government not Immune for Medical Malpractice by Pentagon Doctors

Steven Alan Levin sued his eye surgeon after an operation at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guam to remove a cataract in his right eye left him with diminished eyesight, discomfort and other problems. Levin claimed he twice withdrew his consent to the operation based on his concerns over the equipment. But the Navy surgeon proceeded anyway, resulting in the plaintiff developing severe corneal edema. read more

700 Members of Military Had Homes Unlawfully Foreclosed On During Housing Crisis

After reviewing their files as part of a billion-dollar settlement with the federal government, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo each uncovered about 200 military members whose homes were wrongfully taken away in 2009 and 2010. A fourth bank, Citigroup, had at least 100 such foreclosures. The foreclosures violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which requires financial institutions to obtain court orders before foreclosing on active-duty members. read more

Next Up for Big Brother: Recording and Transcribing Public Conversations

If successful, this new system could raise “some thorny legal and social questions about privacy,” wrote Robert Beckhusen at Wired. One example cited by Lease involves “respecting the privacy rights of multiple people involved,” and how to gain permission of everyone talking before capturing and storing a conversation. In the hands of spy agencies, this is not expected to be an issue. read more

Obama Releases Memo Allowing Firing of Employees without Appeal

The change, issued late last month by the White House, could impact thousands of workers and result in making government less transparent and free from corruption, critics charged. The presidential order was issued on January 25, the day after a federal appeals court panel set aside a 2012 court decision, in the case of Berry v. Conyers, giving the government broad authority to remove employees from “sensitive” jobs without appeal. read more

USDA Moves Closer to Approving Horse Slaughter Plant in U.S.

There is ample evidence that U.S. horsemeat is not a healthful meat to eat. In the U.S., horses are not raised for slaughter, so horsemeat is made predominantly from former race horses and work horses, which are routinely treated with medications harmful to humans, including the anti-inflammatory phenylbutazone, a known carcinogen that has been found in horsemeat, despite an FDA ban on its administration to any horse sent to slaughter for human consumption. read more

Texas Student Punished for not Reciting Mexican Pledge of Allegiance

The civil complaint charges that the McAllen Independent School District violated Brinsdon’s constitutional guarantees when her Spanish teacher, Reyna Santos, demanded the recitation and singing. The student also claims that her school principal, Yvette Cavasos, tried to coerce her into going along with her teacher’s assignments. As an alternative, Brinsdon offered to recite the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish. read more

Switching Sides: Executioner Opposes Death Penalty, Federal Drug Prosecutor Supports Legalization

For 17 years, Jerry Givens was Virginia’s chief executioner. He was personally responsible for executing 62 people, and felt no remorse for his work during that time. But these days Givens has a whole new take on the death penalty. Since leaving his job 13 years ago, Givens has become one of the state’s biggest opponents of capital punishment. read more

Federal Prison Guard Killed for First Time in 5 Years

Eric Williams was conducting a nightly headcount alone in a unit housing 130 prisoners at the high security federal prison in Canaan, Wayne County, when a prisoner beat him and stabbed him repeatedly using a homemade knife. Williams was the first federal prison guard to be killed in the line of duty since 2008. Two dozen federal prison employees have died on the job since 1901. read more

Sierra Club Opposes Fracking…Except in Illinois

In supporting an industry-backed bill in Illinois, a Sierra Club official, Jack Darin, said there was no way to avoid fracking from taking place, so the organization might as well compromise and get regulations in place. Complaints about the Illinois plan include its provisions to allow drilling on state land and permit fracking as long as rules are in place to regulate it. read more

Blackwater Executives Get Slap on Wrist in 6-Year Criminal Case

Several of the charges dealt with the gifting of personal firearms to King Abdullah of Jordan and his entourage while the company was trying to win a security contract. Others related to the seizure automatic weapons that exceeded Blackwater’s legal limit. Blackwater officials claimed they were just storing the weapons for the Camden County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina. read more

Gun Makers Threaten to Refuse to Sell Weapons to Police to Cities and States that Pass Gun Restriction Laws

Upset by efforts to impose new gun control restrictions, a group of small firearms manufacturers are threatening to not sell weapons to local police in states that adopt new restrictions. The group currently numbers about 50 and includes gun shops as well as machinists. The Police Loophole web site lists 87 such companies. read more

Congress Orders Pentagon to Justify Continued Use of Animals for Medical Training

Instead of using animals, the medics will be expected to use human simulators, which resemble mannequins designed to react like the human body while being operated on, including the hemorrhaging of fake blood. However, the military will not entirely abandon the use of animals for medical training, as evidenced by the fact that the Army is soliciting bids for a five-year contract for goats to be used in the training of medics. read more

Texas Halts Shooting of Immigrants from Helicopters

Bowing to public criticism, a pending grand jury investigation and an FBI probe, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has banned its officers from shooting at suspects from the air except under exceptional circumstances. The change comes four months after a DPS sharpshooter in a helicopter shot and killed two Guatemalan immigrants hiding under a tarp in the back of a speeding pickup truck. DPS Director Steve McCraw insisted that the change was not a response to the shooting. read more

Exasperated by EPA Inaction, Residents near Coal Ash Dumps File Lawsuits

Many of the plaintiffs have claimed they have no choice but to take legal action against polluters because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has refused to act. In June 2010, EPA presented two proposals for dealing with coal ash; one would classify it as “hazardous” and the other as “non-hazardous.” More than two and a half years later, the agency has yet to make a choice. According to government figures, there are 1,161 coal ash ponds and landfills in the United States. read more