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POPSAny Way these Firms Can be Experts in Everything? What these government contractors are expert at is: 1. Placing job sites in states and districts of Congressional Members who serve on funding committee for Defense, IT, and Homeland Security. 2. Have Political Action Committees that donate money to candidates on same committees. 3. Having paid representatives at every meeting in Congress or government agency that could affect their funding.
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POPSDefense dept. opposed to franken's anti-rape amendment The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), is intended to address the type of Kafka-esque treatment Jamie Leigh Jones received from the U.S. justice system after she was gang-raped by fellow KBR workers. The defense contractor argued that her employment contract required that her claim be heard in private arbitration rather than in open court. Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/defense-department-oppose_n_326569.html
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POPSRape case to force US defence firms into the open Halliburton/KBR used a clause in her contract requiring disputes to be settled by arbitration to block legal action – a policy which, her lawyer says, has encouraged assaults by creating a climate of impunity. Franken described it as a denial of justice. "Contractors are using fine print to deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court," he said in a Senate debate. In legal papers Jones, who was 20 at the time, says she was fed a knockout drug while drinking with KBR firefighters. "When she awoke the next morning still affected by the drug, she found her body naked and severely bruised, with lacerations to her vagina and anus, blood running down her leg, her breast implants ruptured and her pectoral muscles torn‚ which would later require reconstructive surgery. Upon walking to the rest room, she passed out again," the papers say.
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POPSU.S. Mercenaries Exempt from all laws
#1. These mercenaries employed by the U.S. are not subject to the laws of the host country; in this case, Iraq. #2. They are not subject to military laws #3. Now we also see, in this case, they put 'fine print,' in their contracts with employees that they falsely use to avoid accountability to U.S. laws. Over and over again the excuses and the manipulations, the seeking of exemptions and/or special privilages never ends. It's a full time job to keep up with such people and group and those that are suppose to do so often fail or are lax in their jobs (like we learned in the financial scams that keep happening). This clip talks about fixing this "loophole," next year. That's a joke. These people should be arrested and put on trail now. You can pretend to excuse murder, rape, stealing, etc. because you got the victim to sign a contract! Yet many people will do what they want and try to get away with anything. (Like also we see with USA health insurance companies getting esd
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POPSFighting Fraud
To put it into perspective, ACORN received about $53 million of federal funding over the past 15 years. Meanwhile, Blackwater, the private military contractor to which the U.S. government has farmed out security duties, may owe the government as much as $55 million for allegedly failing to fulfill the terms of one of its federal contracts. Yet Blackwater (now known as Xe), a company that has five of its employees facing murder charges in a massacre of Iraqi civilians in 2007, got a $217 million contract from the Obama administration to provide security in Iraq. The former Haliburton subsidiary, KBR, got $80 million in contract bonuses to provide electrical wiring in Iraq -- wiring that has fatally electrocuted 16 soldiers and two contractors. They haven’t been defunded by Congress. According to the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, the biggest three defense contractors -- Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman -- have been cited 109 times for misconduct since 199
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POPSLaVena Johnson: Raped and Murdered on a Military Base in Iraq
If she had of being white this story would have got a lot more coverage Questions were raised when LaVena’s family viewed her body. There were suspicious bruises, and while the military claimed that this right-handed soldier had shot herself in the head with an M-16 rifle, the gunshot wound was on the left side of her head. But the truth began to make itself known when the family received the autopsy report and photos they requested under the Freedom of Information Act: The 5-foot-tall, 100-pound woman had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, probably a weapon. Her nose had been broken, and her teeth knocked backwards. There were bruises, teeth marks and scratches on the upper part of her body. Her back and right hand had been doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire. Her genital area was bruised and lacerated, and lye had been poured into her vagina. The debris found on her person suggested her body had been dragged. And despite all this mutilation, she was
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POPS30 GOP Senators Vote to Defend Gang Rape
Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Gregg (R-NH) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ) McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS) In the debate, Senator Sessions maintained that Franken's amendment overreached into the private sector and suggested that it violated the due process clause of the Constitution. To which, Senator Franken fired back quoting the Constitution. "Article 1 Section 8 of our Constitution gives Congress the right to spend money for the welfare of our citizens. Because of this, Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote, 'Congress may attach conditions on the receipt of federal funds and has repeatedly employed that power to further broad policy objectives,'" Franken said. "That is why Congress could pass laws cutting off highway funds to states that didn't raise their drinking age to 21. That's why this who
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POPSFood for Thought: Corruption Crusading Truth seeking: Yes the ACORN employees willing to cover child prostitution and income tax fraud is vile. But the Political Right loves to go after poor people and the organizations that help them. The Right is silent about the big $$$$$ corruption, scandals and warmongering within their ranks. That is the scandal: complicit silence about the corruption that truly affects the economic well being of the country.
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POPSRight-Wing #1 Scapegoat - ACORN
No hypocrites here - ha, ha. How many would support a bar on funding: 1. Pfizer Slapped With $2.3 Billion Fine For Illegally Promoting Drugs & Defrauding Gov't? 2. On July 23, 1992, GE pled guilty in federal court to civil and criminal charges of defrauding the Pentagon and agreed to pay $69 million to the U.S. government in fines " one of the largest defense contracting fines ever. 3. US: DynCorp Billed U.S. $50 Million Beyond Costs in Defense Contract by V. Dion Haynes, Washington Post August 12th, 2009 4. Halliburton didn't hesitate to pay $382 million in fines to the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the settlement of a controversial KBR gas project in Nigeria in which the company admitted to paying a $180 million bribe to government officials. 5. Wackenhut is currently involved with scandal over their guarding the US Embassy in Kabul, and in April of this year - the appellate court's ruling late last week, it upheld all but $5 million of the original $47.5 mi
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POPSHalliburton Rape Trial This company untouchable while Cheney was in Office, could it be that now the sheild of protection is not being granted?
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POPSU.S. Mercenary's Lewd & Wild Corrupt Behavior Stealing tons of military stuff, wild nude drinking parties where they fondle each other (there's video and photos). Prostitution rings. Drug deals. Hazing (beating up subordinates). Eating potato chips and drinking vodka off of each other's ass, pissing on people, failing to show up for duty, going out on unauthorized missions to "hunt heads," and awarding themselves commendation for doing so. Ah....the glories of war. Hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. contracts. Republicans refuse to investigate -- they first have to make sure Obama gets the blame. (It's his war. His Vietnam). I hope this makes into into the War Movies. Scenes of the wild parties interspersed with oil rigs churning away, poppy fields in flames, false elections, the embassy under attack, politicians talking about freedom and democracy, car bombs and bodies, hookers and drugs...brawls over a bag of ice. Hillary fleeing in a helicopter. Cheney at home The impact of our armed insanity is mighty dread i
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POPSLaVena Johnson: Raped and Murdered on a Military Base in Iraq "Questions were raised when LaVena’s family viewed her body. There were suspicious bruises, and while the military claimed that this right-handed soldier had shot herself in the head with an M-16 rifle, the gunshot wound was on the left side of her head. But the truth began to make itself known when the family received the autopsy report and photos they requested under the Freedom of Information Act: The 5-foot-tall, 100-pound woman had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, probably a weapon. Her nose had been broken, and her teeth knocked backwards. There were bruises, teeth marks and scratches on the upper part of her body. Her back and right hand had been doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire. Her genital area was bruised and lacerated, and lye had been poured into her vagina. The debris found on her person suggested her body had been dragged. And despite all this mutilation, she was fully clothed when her body was found in the tent, with a blood trail lead
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POPSNew Hired Guns in Afghanistan? Flour Corp. claim to fame? Closing down former nuclear weapon factories across the USA with plenty of complaints from workers in the process. But Afghanistan is a long ways away and by the time efforts get audited, the money is gone and who knows where it went and for what. Will there be a Wendy's in Kabul or Abu Ghraibthat's what US rent-a-cops and Red Ball Express drivers want to know. It would be laughable if US soldiers were not paying the heavy price with lives and limbs depending on hired contractors for supplies.
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POPSUNESCO: US Seriously Damaged Historic Babylon Allen said the 2003 war bought the restoration project some time because it prevented premature, ill-supervised development of the site. But looters rampaged through Babylon after the U.S.-led invasion, and U.S. forces stuffed sandbags with dirt that contained ancient pottery and brick fragments, the UNESCO assessment said. It said U.S. forces and the contractors they employed, mainly KBR, then a Halliburton subsidiary, "caused major damage to the city by digging, cutting, scraping, and leveling." The U.S. military did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but in the past it has said looting would have been worse had its troops not been there. The report said steel stakes were driven into ancient walls, which included fragments with inscriptions from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled 2 1/2 millennia ago and is credited with building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon - one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A helicopter pad, roads and parking lots were bu
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POPSUNESCO: Invasion seriously harmed historic Babylon The report said steel stakes were driven into ancient walls, which included fragments with inscriptions from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled 2 1/2 millennia ago and is credited with building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon — one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A helicopter pad, roads and parking lots were built, and heavy vehicles devastated ancient brick roads, the report said. The symbolic dragon-snakes adorning many of the structures have been partly smashed. Today there's no trace of the legendary Hanging Gardens. But no large-scale exploration has been done at Babylon in nearly a century, and according to the UNESCO report, archaeologists believe "much remains buried beneath the earth and there is still a great deal to discover." The rest of the article squabbles about who is at fault. This sickens me. A wealth of history and knowledge destroyed. so sad
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POPSDid Toxic Chemical In Iraq Cause GIs' Illnesses? The chemical "is one of the most potent carcinogens know to man" and it can "enter every cell of the body and potentially produce widespread injury to every major organ in the body," said Max Costa, chairman of New York University's Department of Environmental Medicine. KBR, however, says studies show only that industrial workers exposed to the chemical for more than two years have an increased risk of cancer - and in this case, soldiers were at the plant just days or months. KBR denies any wrongdoing.
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POPSKBR, Halliburton Fined $579 m. for Nigerian Bribery Scheme Of course, $579 million isn't much of a punishment for a crime that earned them $6 billion. In fact, it's kind of a sweet deal -- almost an investment, really. GovExec tells us: CEO William Utt said the agreement closes "both a regrettable and unfortunate chapter in KBR's rich and storied history." He added that the settlement was "very difficult but necessary." Yeah, I'm sure your $5.4 billion overall profit here is a real hardship in this tough economy, Bill. Don't spend it all in one place.
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POPSInvestigator: Soldier's electrocution 'negligent homicide' The investigator blames KBR, the largest U.S. contractor in Iraq, and two KBR supervisors for the incident, saying there is "credible information ... they failed to ensure that work was being done by qualified electricians and plumbers, and to inspect the work that was being conducted." The e-mail, written late last year, says the investigation report was being reviewed by CID headquarters for a legal opinion to determine probable cause before the case could be referred to the military court system or the Department of Justice for possible
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POPSArmy: KBR Committed 'Negligent Homocide' Not surprisingly, KBR had no comment. How are those no-bids contracts working out for us? Bush argued we had to hire them because they were so damned competent. Of course, that's Bush's definition of "competence," so this shouldn't be a huge surprise.
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