Ms Sparky has not been ignoring you….freaking computers!!

Posted on: March 19th, 2010 at 5:59 pm — by Ms Sparky

This photo is a fairly accurate representation of how I was feeling today when I discovered that nearly 200 emails from my “Contact Us” page were…..well in simple terms…..lost in cyberspace. These emails were from the last two weeks or so. Some of them were very important and contained time sensitive information. Very freaking aggravating.

Fortunately, it would appear that no emails were actually lost. But I have spent the majority of this day doing “email triage”. Most of my emails today started out like this:

“I am so sorry it has taken me so long to respond to this email….”

Please do not think I don’t care about your problem or am not appreciative of your information. If you have emailed from the “Contact Us” page within the last two weeks and I have not responded…I’m so sorry. Please resend!

Ms Sparky

Posted in Rants. Tags: Rants. 3 Comments »

How many more will die from the Iraq burn pits?

Posted on: March 18th, 2010 at 9:17 am — by Ms Sparky

Another Gulf War Syndrome?

Burning trash on bases is sickening soldiers, but the Army refuses to extinguish the burn pits.

By Beth Hawkins – MotherJones.com March 18, 2010

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Wiedman from MOJO

Before her last deployment, 31-year-old Staff Sergeant Danielle Nienajadlo passed her Army physical with flying colors. So when she started having health problems several weeks after arriving at Balad Air Base in Iraq, no one knew what to make of her symptoms: headaches that kept her awake; unexplained bruises all over her body; an open sore on her back that wouldn’t heal; vomiting and weight loss. In July 2008, after three miserable months, Nienajadlo checked into the base emergency room with a 104-degree fever.

She was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and learned she had been diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, a fast-progressing form of the disease. She told her doctors and her family she had felt fine until she started inhaling the oily black smoke that spewed out of the base’s open-air trash-burning facility day and night. At times, the plume contained dioxins, some of which can cause the kind of cancer Nienajadlo had.

“She breathed in this gunk,” says her mother, Lindsay Weidman. “She’d go back to the hooch at night to go to bed and cough up these black chunks.” (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in Burn Pit Lawsuits, Burn Pits, CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, LOGCAP III - KBR, Senate & House Committee Hearings, Senate DPC Hearings. Tags: Burn Pits, Danielle Nienajadlo, Darrin Curtis, Joint Base Balad (JBB), Lindsay Wiedman, Rep. Tim Bishop*. 8 Comments »

SCAM ALERT! LOGCAP recruiting scams

Posted on: March 18th, 2010 at 5:03 am — by Ms Sparky

It seems that unethical opportunists are once again (or still) preying on those who desperately seek jobs overseas. Some hiring companies such as KBR and Dyncorp appear to be proactive and are aggressively trying to warn potential applicants.

KBR Warns of Fraudulent Employment Offers

We are aware that fraudulent employment offers are being transmitted via email by people claiming to be employees or representatives of KBR. Prospective candidates are provided salary information, instructed to obtain immigration documents and pay application/processing fees, and then advised they will be reimbursed for any expenses.

Please be advised that these communications are FRAUDULENT and are NOT sent from anyone within or affiliated with KBR. These email messages are a scam and should be treated as such.

If you receive such a message, you are advised to contact your local law enforcement agency and provide any details you may have. You also may forward the messages to ReportFraud@kbr.com.

If you are interested in employment with KBR, please visit www.kbrjobs.com.

DynCorp International Afghan Operation Warning

We have become aware of an internet scam using the DynCorp International name, (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, Reports & Investigations. Tags: CAMBRIDGE CROWN COURT, Clifford Chance Chambers & Solicitors, Dr. Alexander W. Stephen, DynCorp International Afghan Operation, DynCorp*, Employee Issues-KBR, Fluor Limited Libyan Operation, Fluor*, Innovative Services, L'Destiney Barton, Recruiting Fraud, REHMAN CHAMBERS, SCAM, Valorie Barton. 46 Comments »

Fine… $400 million – new contract awards… priceless

Posted on: March 16th, 2010 at 6:01 pm — by Forseti

What Do They Know? DOJ Keeping Secrets About BAE Probe

Sue Reisinger – Corporate Counsel – March 17, 2010
Just what does the Department of Justice know about Britain’s giant defense contractor BAE Systems that it’s not telling? Apparently plenty, according to a statement tucked away in the bribery-related plea deal that BAE signed on March 1.

In one section about the government-imposed independent monitor lies one sentence that warns the company to listen to its monitor. It states that if BAE rejects a recommendation, the Justice Department could decide to “bring relevant facts to the attention of other parts of the U.S. government.”

Justice prosecutors, including deputy chief Mark Mendelsohn of the criminal fraud section, declined to comment on exactly what “relevant facts” they have and what “other parts” of the government they would refer them to. Larry Byrne, a partner in Linklaters’ New York office who signed the plea deal for BAE, didn’t return calls for comment.

But the relevant facts must have turned up during the nearly three-year federal investigation of BAE’s alleged bribes to officials in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Under the deal, such facts could be turned over to other government agencies that might seek even tougher penalties than the $400 million fine that BAE has agreed to pay. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, Indictments, Convictions & Arrests, Reports & Investigations. Tags: BAE Systems, Bribery, DoD*, DoJ*, FCPA Violations, Fraud, Larry Byrne, Mark Mendelsohn, Michael Koehler, Richard Grime, U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), U.S. Dept. of Defense*. 3 Comments »

Spies “R” Us….privatizing intelligence gathering in Afghanistan?

Posted on: March 16th, 2010 at 7:53 am — by Forseti

From Left: United States Air Force; Robert Young Pelton; Mike Wintroath/Associated Press; Adam Berry/Bloomberg News

Did contractors hire spies?

Associated Press - Monday, March 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — A Defense Department official is under investigation for allegedly hiring private contractors to gather intelligence on suspected insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Associated Press, citing a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported Monday that Michael D. Furlong directed a defense contract to gather information about the region that could be shared with military units. After military officials suspected that he was using Defense Department money for an off-the-books spy operation, defense officials shut down that part of the contract. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in GOV. CONTRACTORS, Reports & Investigations. Tags: Afghanistan, International Media Ventures, Master Sgt. Kevin Allen, Michael D. Furlong, U.S. Strategic Command. No Comments »

One Dead After U.S. Military Base In Afghanistan Attacked (updated 03/17/10)

Posted on: March 16th, 2010 at 7:26 am — by Ms Sparky

March 15, 2010
Ayinde O. Chase – AHN Editor

Kabul, Afghanistan (AHN) – One person was killed during a rocket attack on the largest military base in Afghanistan on Monday.

The rocket landed inside Bagram Airfield in northern Kabul. The U.S. and NATO base which can house 20,000 military personnel is no stranger to attacks.

The nationality of the person slain has not been released. However the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn attack on the Bagram Air Base. Bagram is also one of the main NATO air-supply routes into Afghanistan and it’s headquarters for the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Posted in CONTRACTOR DEATHS, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LOGCAP III - KBR, LOGCAP-Fluor. Tags: Afghanistan, Almir Bikovic, Bagram Airfield, Fluor*, Kabul. 19 Comments »

Will our next war be with Mexico?

Posted on: March 15th, 2010 at 10:16 am — by Ms Sparky

Americans Killed In Drive-By Shooting At Consulate In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Obama ‘Outraged’
Is this violence any different than what is going on in the Middle East?

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico — Gunmen killed a U.S. consulate employee and her husband as they drove in this violent border city with their baby in the back seat, minutes after the husband of another consular employee was shot to death and his two children wounded, officials said Sunday. Security forces suspected a drug gang hit, but offered no motive.

President Barack Obama expressed outrage over the killings, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon said he was indignant and promised a swift investigation. (Read the rest of the story here…)