Controversies
Siemens and Nokia Helped Iran Dictatorship with Web Spying
When the government of Iran bought a new mobile phone network last year from two European telecommunications giants, it got a great two-for-one deal: expanded Internet and wireless coverage for its citizens…and the capability to spy on them.
A... read more
VA Hospital Botched 92 of 116 Prostate Cancer Treatments
Almost 80% of prostate cancer treatments at the VA hospital in Philadelphia were performed badly over a six-year period, found The New York Times, which uncovered a “rogue” cancer unit that routinely failed to properly treat patients. Of 116 prost... read more
Chicago Teachers File Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Relating to Obama “Turnaround” Plan
The Obama administration, led by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, wants to turn around thousands of low-performing schools across the United States using a plan utilized in Chicago when Duncan was the head of that city’s public schools. The Chicag... read more
Air Force Scrambles to Come Clean on Freedom of Information Requests
The National Security Archive at George Washington University took the U.S. Air Force to court four years ago because of its failure to respond to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. But even though the non-profit organization won... read more
Unprocessed Veterans Claims Approach Million Mark
Despite President Barack Obama’s pledge to improve the system of processing benefits claims for veterans, and hiring thousands more adjusters, the Department of Veterans Affairs has almost a million unprocessed requests piling up on its desks. A c... read more
Another Inspector General Bites the Dust
Who would have thought with the arrival of President Barack Obama and his pledge to make government more open and honest, that the most precarious job in Washington would become that of inspectors general (IG)? Since the Obama administration took ... read more
Medtronic Paid $850,000 to Doctor Who Forged Names on Study
Medtronic, already under investigation by the Justice Department and Congress for allegedly using illegal marketing practices to promote their Infuse Bone Graft, has admitted to making $788,280 in direct payments and about $64,000 in expense payme... read more
Therapeutic Justice: Pamela Gerloff
With the nation’s prisons bulging with convicts, many of whom wind up back behind bars after being released, isn’t it time to try a different approach to operating correctional facilities, argues writer Pamela Gerloff. The current system just isn’... read more
Largest Health Insurer Rewarded Employees for Canceling Sick Patients
The health insurance industry managed to sink to a new low this week when a congressional committee revealed that it is common practice for insurers to pay their employees incentives for canceling the policies of sick patients. Documents obtained ... read more
Corporate Jet Users Try to Block Release of Records
After the embarrassing episode last fall when executives of the “Big Three” automakers got blasted for flying private jets to meet with Congress, General Motors tried to use an obscure federal program to block the public from tracking the use of i... read more
Neo-Nazis Infiltrate the U.S. Army
Having struggled to maintain enlistment levels in the wake of an unpopular war in Iraq, the U.S. Army has relaxed the enforcement of rules designed to keep neo-Nazis and white supremacists out of the ranks, according to an investigation by Salon.c... read more
EPA Keeps Hazardous Sites Secret
There are more than 40 coal combustion waste sites in the United States that are considered a hazard, and yet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refuses to disclose their location to the public. Why this is happening is unclear, althou... read more
Bush Justice Department Didn’t Enforce Anti-Abortion Violence Laws
Pursuing attackers of abortion clinics was not a priority of the Justice Department during the Bush administration, concludes an investigation conducted by The Washington Independent. The publication found that enforcement of a federal law making ... read more
Obama Fires Inspector General Who Investigated a Friend
President Barack Obama tried late last week to quietly fire an inspector general who had investigated a close political ally, a move that prompted attention from several media sources anyway. Obama terminated Gerald Walpin, inspector general of th... read more
Eli Lilly Pushed Useless Drug for Dementia
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. made Zyprexa its best-selling drug, largely through marketing it to patients with dementia, even though Zyprexa was only approved for use in cases of schizophrenia and the company’s own research showed the medi... read more
Fired for Reporting Illegal Killing of Mountain Lions
An employee of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has been fired for telling his supervisors about the illegal hunting of mountain lions in Nevada by coworkers. Gary Strader worked for APHIS, which is part of the U.S. Departmen... read more