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[Oversight.Gov] Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Report Description:
The VA Office of Inspector General Administrative Investigations Division issued a report titled: Administrative Investigation of Conflict of Interest, Nepotism, and False Statements within the VA Office of General Counsel, Washington, DC. Date Issued: Thursday, March 29, 2018
Appears Admiral Ron Jackson has his work cut out for him.
SUBJECT: Administrative Investigation of Conflict of Interest, Nepotism, and
False Statements within the VA Office of General Counsel,
Washington, DC (2017-03324-IQ-0103)
Summary
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Administrative Investigations Division received an allegation that Mr. Robert Fleck (SES), Chief Counsel of the Procurement Law Group (PLG) within the Office of General Counsel (OGC), actively and openly
solicited, during a conference call with other Senior Executive Service (SES) employees, that the OGC hire his wife, Ms. KW (GS-14).One of the SES employees who participated in the conference call hired Ms. KW. The OIG found that Mr. Fleck had a
conflict of interest and engaged in nepotism when he used his position as an SES manager in OGC’s Contract Operations to advocate for the employment of his wife and help establish for her a GS-14 e-Discovery attorney position on OGC’s Contract Litigation Team, a team that he managed. And on, and on....
#1
Get your criminal referrals. Criminal referrals for all those False statements made under oath to the VA OIG. Get your referrals. Criminal referrals.
#2
So why is the VA HQ in Washington? Shouldn't it be centered in the country based upon the over all veterans population? Sort of making it easier to travel among the population served. The old advise applies - that which is not inspected, doesn't get done.
[USNEWS] A Connecticut high school employee is accused of threatening to "execute" white men and stomping on an American flag in a classroom.
A police report says Harding High School in-school suspension counselor Carl Lemon was tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! Wednesday and charged with threatening and breach of peace.
The document says a teacher reported that Lemon said he "couldn't wait for the Panthers to give the OK and a revolution begins" because he would "execute every white man he gets his hands on."
Sixty-three year-old Lemon is black.
The police report says Lemon also stepped on a flag and told students: "This is what I think about it."
No phone number is listed for Lemon. It's unclear whether he has an attorney.
School administrators haven't returned a phone message seeking comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Nother reason to abolish the US Department of Education Commie Indoctrination.
#5
Yes, congratulations, you've won a super inclusive long term vacation to Johannesburg, South Africa where you and yours can enjoy the life style you long for.
[USA Today] "A black, grainy foul-smelling substance" coated the floor of an operating room at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center, which also suffered from at least one "active leak" of sewage, according to a review by the District of Columbia health department last August.
That health department report was cited in a lawsuit filed against the hospital by the husband of a woman who died from a post-operative infection after surgery at the hospital, where the operating rooms had suffered from leaks of bacteria-filled sewage for months.
Carol Leonard, 70, had thyroid surgery February 2017 at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, which is the go-to hospital for Congress and the White House. The surgery was so routine, she was told she'd be out the next morning or possibly the same day.
During their elementary school choir’s performance of the national anthem before a game between the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians at Safeco Field on Easter Sunday, two students kneeled.
The students got the attention of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who retweeted a photo of the students kneeling shared by Tacoma news Tribune reporter Ryan S. Clark.Kaepernick is credited with starting a movement in support of racial equality and social justice by kneeling during The Star-Spangled Banner before games during the 2016 season, his last in the NFL.
Video of the elementary school students kneeling also made it to Twitter:Kaepernicks movement caught on across the sports world and crossed over into national politics, earning him Citizen of the Year honor and making him a finalist for Times Person of the Year award. Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell, the son of a U.S. Army veteran, was the first baseball player to protest inequality and injustice during the national anthem this past September.
[AFRICANEWS] A Kenyan government official on Saturday said that anyone caught possessing ivory should be sentenced to life in prison as a headstone was unveiled for the world’s last male northern white rhinoceros.
Wildlife officials at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, about 250 km (155 miles) north of Nairobi, put down the 45-year-old rhino, named Sudan, on March 19 because of a rapid deterioration of his condition.
Kenya’s tourism minister Najib Balala was present at the conservancy to unveil the headstone and declared that ivory belonged to elephants and rhinos rather than humans.
’’We are very clear as a government punitive measures must be taken into punishing people who kill our wildlife and that’s why we are pushing for life sentences for people who kill for ivory because ivory belongs to elephants and rhinos better than taking it for human consumption’’, Balala said.
Sudan is survived by the last two females of his species, his 27-year-old daughter Najin and 17-year-old granddaughter Fatu. The only hope for preserving their species is through in vitro fertilisation using their eggs and stored semen, according to Ol Pejeta.
Thousand of southern white rhinos still roam sub-Saharan Africa, but decades of rampant poaching have drastically cut the number of northern whites. Poachers could sell northern white rhino horns for $50,000 per kilo, making them more valuable than gold.
Kenya introduced tough wildlife-protection laws in 2013 in an attempt to stop highly lucrative ivory smuggling, mainly to Asia, which has led to the slaughter of thousands of rare and endangered animals.
Kenya had 20,000 rhinos in the 1970s, falling to 400 in the 1990s. It now has 650, almost all of them black rhinos.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[AFRICANEWS] Multiple reports indicate that Sierra Leonean authorities temporarily shut down the internet after close of polls in the presidential runoff. The service has since been restored as at Sunday morning.
The shutdown was also corroborated by internet censorship outfit, Open Observatory Network Interference (OONI). The group said according to google traffic statistics, there was a noticeable decrease in traffic from Sierra Leone to search.
An election monitoring group, Sierra Leone Decides reported on Sunday morning that Internet Service Providers said the measure was to stop the elections body (National Electoral Commission) and affiliates from sharing results data to party affiliates.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[AFRICANEWS] Botswana braved early morning rains to swear in the country’s fifth president on Saturday. 55-year-old Mokgweetsi Masisi took the oath of office at the country’s National Assembly.
The rains came down in Gaborone this morning as the country waited to swear in its new leader. It turned out that people were not going to be stopped by the downpour ‐ be they politicians, security forces, the judiciary and even members of the public.
Masisi replaces immediate past Seretse Khama Ian Khama, a former soldier who has been at the helm of the country for the past 10 years. He will see out Khama’s tenure ahead of national polls in October 2019.
There was a lot of colour and style in the National Assembly and later when Masisi inspected a Guard of Honour by the Botswana Defence Forces. The official government portal shared photos on their Twitter handle.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
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[Bloomberg] Bahrain, the smallest energy producer in the Persian Gulf, discovered its biggest oil field since it started producing crude in 1932, according to the country’s official news agency.
The shale oil and natural gas discovered in a deposit off the island state’s west coast "is understood to dwarf Bahrain’s current reserves," Bahrain News Agency reported, without giving figures. U.S. consultants DeGolyer & MacNaughton Corp. evaluated the field, and Bahrain plans to provide additional details on Wednesday about the reservoir’s "size and extraction viability," BNA reported.
Bahrain’s energy industry is overshadowed by the world’s biggest oil and gas producers. It sits between Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporter, and Qatar, the biggest shipper of liquefied natural gas. Bahrain has crude reserves of 124.6 million barrels -- fewer than Poland -- and 92.03 billion cubic meters of natural gas, according to the U.S. CIA Factbook. Saudi Arabia, by comparison, has 266.5 billion barrels of crude reserves, while Qatar has 24.3 trillion cubic meters of gas.
The find could "provide a much needed boost to Bahrain’s fiscal accounts," Ehsan Khoman, head of research for the Middle East and North Africa at Mitsubishi UFJ in Dubai, said Monday. "However, it is too early at the current juncture to estimate the potential increase in hydrocarbon receipts until further guidance is provided."
Is is just me, or is anyone else remembering that just about every square inch of that part of the world has been poked, prodded, and/or drilled for oil over the last hundred years?
The Bahranis ain't stupid. I think they may have been sitting on this for a rainy day.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/02/2018 15:20 Comments ||
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#4
This weekend they host the Formula 1 race which brings in big monied investors from both the Arab world as well as London... It is a "good week" for "good news".
#5
if Bahrain knew about this they should have drilled 15 years ago and took advantage of the high prices from 2006 to 2015 (average was about $100/bar).
My guess is that this field lies below a reservoir that was previously tapped.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/02/2018 15:34 Comments ||
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[Townhall] The Sunday Times reports that London, England has had a deadlier month of February than New York City for the first time in modern history due to a "dramatic surge in knife crime." In nearly word-for-word fashion from the current gun control debate in America, this has led some Brits to ponder whether the proper solution is a crackdown on knives.
Campus Reform's Cabot Phillips jokingly pointed out, perhaps it is time for some updated knife control legislation.
But believe it or not, some in London are actually claiming that is the proper answer to stopping these murders.
#7
No will. The intestates' bequeathal:
"Removal of tongues and of teeth'll
Leave Olde England harmless
To immigrants, gormless,
More pleasingly peaceful, less lethal!"
[RT] The political chaos in Brazil is a result of collusion between local elites and the US, which doesn't want a strong new independent player in Latin America and beyond, former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told RT. Somehow it's always us, isn't it?
Lula da Silva, 72, who served as Brazil's president from 2003 until 2011 and is one of the most popular politicians in the country's history, is now eyeing another presidential term. Polls suggest this could be a possibility, unless his ambitions are quashed by a pending court decision, which will either uphold or dismiss a nine-year sentence for corruption.
Commonly known as Lula, the Brazilian Workers' Party icon spoke on RT Spanish show, Conversation with Correa, hosted by Ecuador's former president Rafael Correa.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
So another foreign wannabe tyrant trying to distract "his" people by pointing at "the great satan" as the cause of all problems.
#3
Would love Latin America to police themselves but they seem incapable of recognizing and modeling success (Chile) and hell bound to try different flavors of failure.
#5
A corrupt communist with a possible jail sentence hanging over his head - what's not to love about Lula? Might want to consider cleaning up your own back yard before fingering the Great Satan for most of your problems.
#6
My whole life there have been predictions of Brazil and India rising into the first world. Nobody predicted Chile would. Yet the roadmap is laid out and all they have to do is follow it.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Alexander Yakovenko, has officially accused British intelligence of carrying out the Sergei Skripal poisoning ‐ since blamed on Russian spies.
According to the Russian ambassador, there are two motivations for the false-flag attack by British intelligence: first, that the UK is trying to cover up the fact that Brussels has dictated to London almost all the terms of the Brexit agreement (a testament to the country’s dwindling influence in European affairs) and, second, that British Prime Minister Theresa May is attempting to present herself as a strong leader by attacking Russia.
Yakovenko draws his suspicion from the fact that UK intelligence refuses to cooperate with Russian authorities on any level to investigate the poisoning of the turncoat agent.
’This provocation has been carried out by UK secret services. We are not provided with any facts, they refuse to cooperate with us. Such a state of affairs brings us to the judgment that it is a provocation organized by secret services,’ Yakovenko said in his statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
......first, that the UK is trying to cover up the fact that Brussels has dictated to London almost all the terms of the Brexit agreement (a testament to the country’s dwindling influence in European affairs) and, second, that British Prime Minister Theresa May is attempting to present herself as a strong leader by attacking Russia.
Both points potentially true, but quite likely unrelated to the attack on Colonel Skripal. Please file under 'Russian half-truths make good lies.'
#2
Far as I'm concerned, the current leadership of the Western Europe (or the USA Deep State and its candidates) are not one whit better than the defunct Soviet leadership - they just don't have things organized to their satisfaction yet.
#5
Yakovenko draws his suspicion from the fact that UK intelligence refuses to cooperate with Russian authorities on any level to investigate the poisoning of the turncoat agent.
Translation: UK intelligence refuses to let Russia know where their leaks are and refuse to provide feedback on how the Russians can do assassinations better the next time. If the Russian's were not involved, why would they want to be part of the investigation?
Posted by: Boss Ghibelline1171 ||
04/02/2018 7:49 Comments ||
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#6
If the Russian's were not involved, why would they want to be part of the investigation?
#9
The U.S.A. has a Deep State but the Brits also do. Brexit was anathema to deep-statists in the UK. Trump was anathema to deep-statists in the U.S. Hillary was expected by the deep state to win the election. Despite using Steele and some Russians to gin up the fake dossier, she was hawkish towards Russia. Some say she wanted to get into a war with the Russians. I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss the possibility of FF operations and blaming it on the Russians. "An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the sun shine through."
[The Hill] China announced Sunday that it is implementing new tariffs on more than 120 U.S. imports in response to President Trump’s recent decision to increase taxes on imported steel and aluminum.
The Chinese Ministry of Finance announced that it will impose a 15 percent tariff on 120 products, including fruits and other commodities, according to China's state news agency Xinhua. It will also impose a 25 percent tariff on pork and related products.
The tariffs will reportedly go into effect starting Monday.
The Chinese had previously indicated they would unveil reciprocal tariffs after Trump announced that steel imports will be taxed at 25 percent and aluminum imports at 10 percent.
U.S. and international lawmakers warned Trump against implementing the tariffs, saying they could spark a trade war. Trump brushed aside those concerns, saying trade wars are "good and easy to win."
Several countries have since negotiated temporary exemptions from the steel and aluminum tariffs.
In addition, Trump announced late last month his administration plans to target China in particular with tens of billions of dollars in tariffs and penalties on imports to try to curb its efforts to steal intellectual property from U.S. companies.
It looks like it’s not a uniquely American problem.
[DW] Deutsche Post sold client microtargeting data to the Christian Democrats and Free Democrats before the 2017 elections. Is this a scandal along the lines of Cambridge Analytica in the US? That depends on whom you ask.
Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australian National University, said the remnants of Tiangong-1 appeared to have landed about 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Tahiti.
"Small bits definitely will have made it to the surface," he told Reuters, adding that while about 90 percent would have burnt up in the atmosphere and just 10 percent made it to the ground, that fraction still amounted to 700 kg (1,543 lb) to 800 kg (1,764 lb).
"Most likely the debris is in the ocean, and even if people stumbled over it, it would just look like rubbish in the ocean and be spread over a huge area of thousands of square kilometres."
So much for the watch they’re keeping up in Michigan.
h/t Instapundit
...It has been decades since enlisted airmen had the chance to sit in the cockpit. But as the Air Force faces the greatest pilot shortages since its inception, service leaders are contemplating a return to a model that includes enlisted pilots. A Rand Corp. study, set to be completed this month, is exploring the feasibility of bringing back a warrant officer corps for that purpose. And another, separate Air Force study is examining, in part, whether enlisted pilots could benefit from new high-tech training that leverages artificial intelligence and simulation.
With these moves, the Air Force is inching just a few steps closer to someday getting enlisted airmen back in the cockpit, on a formal basis, for the first time since World War II. One more step to combating the tyranny of "higher" education.
#2
...When I read this yesterday, I quadruple-checked to make sure I wasn't falling for another date-appropriate story, but it appears to be accurate.
The USAF has, for the last seventy-three years, been wedded to the idea of the college-educated, commissioned pilot to the point where I firmly believed that any effort to change that would have led to the Chief of Staff His Own Self slitting every tire and throwing a thermite grenade in every cockpit before they allowed it. I go back far enough to remember a similar recommendation in the 80s, during the 'pilot shortage' of that era - IIRC only about 10-15%, depending on the aircraft type, and that in a much larger Air Force. At that time, USAF faced the idea of Warrant Officers with roughly the same attitude as the Devil being doused with Holy Water, and even then the report only suggested bringing them back to fly transports and helos.
The problem today is considerably more complex:
*The pilot shortage isn't a 'manageable' 10-15% - the USAF is admitting that only 35% of eligible pilots are staying in, and it may be getting worse. As a matter of daily ops, we are currently short something like 1200 pilots.
*There is no 'pilot career path' any more - years of administrative bloat and PC requirements have created a situation where what we actually have are thousands of highly trained administrative specialists who are occasionally allowed to fly airplanes.
*Finally, although the Fighter Mafia thought they had finally triumphed over the Bomber Mafia in the early 90s, they didn't know that as drawdowns continued - and we shrank the force even further to afford fewer and fewer aircraft that we can't fly anyways - the combat pilots would eventually be outnumbered by the transport/helo drivers and the admin types...and they're the ones making the rules these days, to the distinct detriment of the combat guys.
I hope that if the report suggests bringing back WOs, it's not dismissed out of hand - it may well be the last hope My Beloved Service has to have enough pilots in time to face an unpleasant world.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/02/2018 7:03 Comments ||
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#3
Mike - Are you sure it's not a created shortage and a gender flushing exercise?
#4
Given that most mid-grade NCOs have to have a bachelors degree to be promotion eligible these days, I suspect the college educated spanking new 2LT of 1950 was probably no better than a 2017 NCO with 7 to 10 years of service already under his/her belt.
What good does a college degree do for a combat pilot? Seriously, are there women's studies issues, anthropology issues or even STEM issues that couldn't be spun up on a training basis?
#6
What good does a college degree do for a combat pilot?
Operating multi-millon dollar aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons is a bit more complex than carrying around an M4 as an infantryman. You really do want 'your best and brightest.'
#10
#5 Okay, you guys that know of which you speak.
What good does a college degree do for a combat pilot? Seriously, are there women's studies issues, anthropology issues or even STEM issues that couldn't be spun up on a training basis?
thanks
Posted by: AlanC 2018-04-02 07:39
Alan,
The overwhelming majority of USAF pilots today have an Engineering degree of one sort or t'other, and most of them are Aeronautical or Mechanical - the USAF feels that in order to properly fly the airplane, you have to be able to understand why and how it flies. This has changed drastically since the old days - I knew one of the first F-15 pilots with 1TFW at Langley, and his degree was in Theatrical Arts.
The thing to keep in mind is that the US military gets its officer training philosophy from the British - the well-educated gentleman. (or, of course, these days a well-educated Lady.) It's going to take a hell of a jolt to change that, and I suspect that even if the USAF accepts the RAND report, they will still insist on the college degree requirement.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/02/2018 9:50 Comments ||
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#11
Okay Mike I can see that. However when I think of British Gentlemen in the services I immediately flash on Kim Philby and the Cambridge 5.
Given the indoctrinalization trend in US Unis. I'm afraid that there is no distinctions to draw.
#12
Hey, if you can make it through 4 years waking up nearly every morning after hitting the frat bar/club and making the grades, you too have completed one of the rites of passages. /sarc (well, sort of)
#14
Warrior. Soldier. Officer. Three different Skill Sets described by using the following examples from ancient Rome: Gladiator (Warrior), Soldier (Centurion), and Legate (Officer).
The Air Force establishment seems to believe that by some mysterious alchemy that an Act of Congress can make a pilot an 'Officer and a Gentleman' when most of the pilots Just. Want. To. Fly. Jet. Aircraft. (...and in many cases honorable serve their country, of course)
The irony is that as they focus on being more and more "Transformational" and "Network Centric" there is less and less reason for pilot/officer/warriors to exist.
#17
And what about drone pilots? I agree that to fly a high performance fighter you need to be in excellent physical condition and have excellent eyesight.
However, to fly a drone, you still need to be smart enough to absorb the math behind flight physics. But you are unlikely to need to be able to withstand 7-9Gs, and spot a gnat on the ground from 35000 feet. So why not let us wimps fly drones?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Navy fighter pilot. Then I got my first pair of glasses after 8th grade, and barely passed phys ed. So there went the dream. Of course, I also didn't have the obnoxious macho jock personality that a lot of fighter pilots have, but still...
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/02/2018 21:42 Comments ||
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[Breitbart] The Brooklyn Museum in New York City has sparked outrage among members of the black community after it selected a white woman to curate its African art exhibit. The museum announced Monday that it tapped Kristen Windmuller-Luna, 31, to be in charge of the museum’s African art collection.
Luna earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University in African art history, worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an educator "responsible for adult and college gallery tours" of the museum’s African galleries, and lectures at Columbia University.
But despite the woman’s impressive credentials, social media users have been criticizing the museum for hiring her because she is not "a person of color."
#2
None of this should come as a surprise. Affirmative Action only recognizes the capabilities and expertise of entitlement candidates. All others need not apply.
#5
IMO, it's long past time to stop affirmative action dead - I just hope it's not too late.
Posted by g(r)omgoru
Affirmative Action is now well established and has become a multi-generational social practice. Ending it would turn artificial achievement on it's head. It would be difficult if not impossible to end. I doubt we'll see it terminated in our lifetimes.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[USNEWS] A Connecticut high school employee is accused of threatening to "execute" white men and stomping on an American flag in a classroom.
[USA Today] "A black, grainy foul-smelling substance" coated the floor of an operating room at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center, which also suffered from at least one "active leak" of sewage, according to a review by the District of Columbia health department last August.
[Bloomberg] Bahrain, the smallest energy producer in the Persian Gulf, discovered its biggest oil field since it started producing crude in 1932, according to the country’s official news agency.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Alexander Yakovenko, has officially accused British intelligence of carrying out the Sergei Skripal poisoning ‐ since blamed on Russian spies.
