The IRE office will be closed from December 25th to January 5th.
Extra Extra
Personality disorder used to discharge soldiers, strip them of benefits
A report by Joshua Kors in The Nation explores the Army’s fraudulent use of personality disorder diagnoses to discharge soldiers, thus stripping them of their disability benefits and long term medical care. The article details the case of Chuck Luther who suffered a concussion during a mortar attack in May 2007. After reporting his symptoms,…
Read MorePension obligations strain budgets throughout California
A collaboration by the five McClatchy newspapers in California examines how pension obligations are hurting local governments at a time of diminished resources throughout the state. “The initial logic of increasing retirement benefits to retain quality employees has been turned on its head: Paying for those benefits is forcing local governments to lay off employees…
Read MoreHedge fund fueled housing bubble, financial crisis
An investigation by Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica reveals how “the hedge fund Magnetar helped create mortgage-based securities, pushed for risky things to go inside them and then bet against the investments, resulting in billions in losses for investors and ultimately making the financial crisis worse.” The story can also be heard on…
Read MorePolitically-connected subcontractor profits at the District’s expense
Hunter L. Gorinson, of The Hill Rag (Washington, D.C.), exposed how Sinclair Skinner, a politically connected subcontractor, bilked the city out hundreds of thousands of dollars in overcharges for contract work as a surveyor for a D.C. park renovation project. Skinner’s company, Liberty Engineering & Design (LEAD), is not even licensed to survey in the…
Read MoreElder abuse investigations mishandled at state veterans homes
James Drew of The Dallas Morning News found that a criminal investigation into alleged abuse by two workers at a state veterans home in West Texas languished for more than two years because of confusion over who should investigate, cumbersome bureaucracy, and conflicts among local police, state officials, and veterans home administrators. Felony charges were…
Read MoreDevelopers abuse loopholes in Brownfield Cleanup Program
Rick Moriarty of The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) reports on abuses of loopholes in the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program, a law meant to encourage development on contaminated property through tax credits for environmental cleanup. The developer of Destiny USA, a stalled shopping mall expansion project, could collect up to $54 million in tax breaks despite insignificant…
Read MorePentagon mentor system to be overhauled
Tom Vanden Brook and Ken Dilanian of USA Today? report that Defense Secretary Robert Gates “ordered an overhaul of the Pentagon’s use of retired senior officers to advise the military, limiting the pay of “senior mentors” and requiring them to disclose their business ties to defense contractors.” This move is in response to a USA…
Read MoreHawaii’s long-term-care system for elderly fraught with problems
In a four-part series, Rob Perez of the Honolulu Advertiser found Hawaii’s long-term-care system for the elderly is fraught with problems, including a placement system tainted by kickbacks and fraud. He also found that Hawaii nursing homes are the least sanctioned in the country, that reforms at the state Legislature are consistently blocked by care-home…
Read MoreOver 51,000 hired after state imposed hiring freeze
Using electronic payroll records, Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y) reporter Delen Goldberg found that New York state officials hired 51,000 people at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1 billion in salaries since Gov. David Paterson ordered a “hard” hiring freeze in state government nearly two years ago. Former Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll earns $155,000 annually…
Read MoreIdentity revealed in fatality at CIA secret prison
The name of the only known fatality from a secret prison network that the CIA operated overseas after the 9/11 attacks is finally known, due to an Associated Press investigation of his imprisonment and death. Gul Rahman, a suspected militant imprisoned in a CIA compound code-named the Salt Pit near Kabul, was found dead in…
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