Yearly Archives: 2013

Tax watchdog: IRS travel costs are ‘excessive’

"A handful of Internal Revenue Service officials spent most of their time traveling for work in 2011 and 2012 and amassed thousands of dollars in seemingly excessive costs for transportation, hotels and meals, the tax-collecting agency’s watchdog said in a report on Tuesday. 12 IRS officials claimed more than $60,000 a year in travel expenses for fiscal year 2011 and nine executives surpassed that figure in 2012, mostly in travel to Washington, said the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the IRS watchdog. Some executives traveled for more than 80 percent of their working days in the past two years, the report said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTax watchdog: IRS travel costs are ‘excessive’

Florida Study Documents Shortened Yellows At Camera Intersections

"An investigative reporter's claim that Florida cities have been exploiting shortened yellow times at red light camera intersections has been vindicated by a report commissioned by the city of St. Petersburg. WTSP-TV's Noah Pransky has been documenting timing shortfallsthroughout the region since last month, and a new report by the engineering firm Kimley-Horn and Associates confirms several of St. Petersburg's photo enforced intersection approaches fail to meet the minimum specified under state law. They found half of the photo enforced intersections had problems with shortened yellows. As of March, 47,715 tickets worth $7,538,970 have been issued." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlorida Study Documents Shortened Yellows At Camera Intersections

Federal Government Consummates Theft of “Camp Zoe” in Missouri

"Rush Limbaugh’s net worth is estimated to be in excess of $400 million, and his annual income more $30 million. He owns several homes and a number of private aircraft. He was certainly a ripe target for prosecution and 'asset forfeiture' – or he would have been, had he been a commoner like Jimmy Tebeau, rather than the politically connected grandson of retired federal Judge Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr., whose name is affixed to the courthouse where the entertainer’s cousin consummated the theft of Tebeau’s business and property." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal Government Consummates Theft of “Camp Zoe” in Missouri

Atheist anti-war immigrant to be awarded US citizenship following public outcry

"A woman who was nearly denied U.S. citizenship over her lack of church membership will soon be naturalized thanks to a public outcry. The immigration office in Houston had informed Margaret Doughty, 64, that she would need to provide proof of membership in a church if she wished to gain conscientious objector status. Doughty, an atheist, had provided the immigration office with a secular rather than religious explanation for why she objected to war. In response, groups sent letters to the immigration office demanding Doughty be granted conscientious objector status. The office withdrew the request on Thursday and approved her application." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAtheist anti-war immigrant to be awarded US citizenship following public outcry

Doctor returns Viet Cong soldier’s bone 40 years after amputation

"The arm was handed back to ex-soldier Nguyen Quang Hung, who now plans to use it to claim a war veteran’s pension. 'After some research, it turns out that you can take bones in your suitcase,' said US doctor Sam Axelrad, adding that he packed the arm into his luggage — not his carry-on — 'and it went all the way through with no problems.' 'You can’t send a body without authorisation, but bones, yes,' he added. Some three million Vietnamese civilians and soldiers died during the war, which also claimed the lives of almost 60,000 American soldiers before ending in 1975 with Vietnam’s reunification." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoctor returns Viet Cong soldier’s bone 40 years after amputation

Cop Who Shot and Killed Unarmed 14-year-old Hiding in Woodshed May Have Used Excessive Force

"A police officer for a Texas school district may have used excessive force in fatally shooting a teenager who fled the scene of a fistfight, a federal judge ruled. 'In violation of NISD police department procedures, Alvarado drew his weapon immediately after exiting the patrol car,' the complaint states. 'With his gun drawn, he rushed through the gate and into the back yard. Within seconds from arriving at the residence, Alvarado shot and killed the unarmed boy hiding in the shed.' The school district attracted national attention last year when a father challenged its program for tracking students with chip-embedded identification badges." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCop Who Shot and Killed Unarmed 14-year-old Hiding in Woodshed May Have Used Excessive Force

Austrian children’s home charged with ‘decades’ of physical and mental abuse

"Children were physically and mentally abused for decades at a former Austrian children’s home and city authorities knew about it but did nothing, a commission charged with investigating the allegations said Wednesday. The violence went beyond the severe education techniques of the time and clearly violated regulations on children’s homes which forbid beatings, Helige said, confirming that rapes also took place. Unusually, all files from the home were destroyed after its closure so the report relied heavily on interviews with some 220 people, including former staff and children from the Wilhelminenberg home." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAustrian children’s home charged with ‘decades’ of physical and mental abuse

Nursing home staff allegedly abused elderly Alzheimer’s patients

"Twenty-one current and former employees of a nursing home for Alzheimer’s patients in Georgia, including its owner, face a total of more than 70 criminal charges for allegedly abusing elderly patients, authorities said Tuesday. The abuses included employees restraining patients with bed sheets and subjecting them to 'inhumane and undignified conditions' at Alzheimer’s Care of Commerce, about 60 miles north of Atlanta, according to a statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. In 2012, a Congressional report showed that patients suffer abuse or neglect in one in three nursing homes in the United States." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNursing home staff allegedly abused elderly Alzheimer’s patients

Justice Department sues Florida over ‘deliberate indifference’ in treatment of disabled children

"The U.S. Justice Department sued the state of Florida on Monday, accusing health officials of violating the Americans with Disabilities act by placing almost 200 handicapped minors in nursing homes usually used for elderly residents, Mother Jones reported. Florida is the 12th state sued by the department over alleged mistreatment of physically or mentally disabled residents in the past four years. The Miami Herald reported that while the state has increased patient care payments to $550 per day for children placed in nursing homes, lawmakers also cut $6 million from a program allowing residents to get private health care at their homes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustice Department sues Florida over ‘deliberate indifference’ in treatment of disabled children

Doctors caught on video using household drills in Moldovan state-run children’s hospital

"Doctors at a Moldovan state-run hospital used household tools, including an electric drill and pliers, to perform surgery in a video leaked to local press and published on the Internet, prompting outrage among the public and government officials. Prime Minister Iurie Leance ordered Healthcare Minister Andrei Usatii on the same day to investigate the incident. Usatii, in turn, told local television that while the use of household tools was allowed in certain circumstances, the hospital in question had adequate specialized equipment. Moldova, a former Soviet republic of 4 million, is one of the poorest nations in Europe with an average monthly wage of about $300." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoctors caught on video using household drills in Moldovan state-run children’s hospital