Because Democracy is Not Free — we all have to work at it
Because you are astute readers, you questioned the methodology between my whistleblower count and those of others. Namely, my statistical base seemed significantly higher than that of the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). During the course of tracking down the following citation I attributed to POGO, found it was actually produced by the Government Accountability Project (GAP). In the past eight [...]
During the course of the past few months, I’ve received a few inquiries on advertising. After flip-flopping on the concept (wouldn’t it be nice to say this site was “successful” by blogosphere money standards?), I’ve come to the conclusion that readers don’t want this to be a commercial site. Therefore, I’m putting out a new policy. If [...]
Ever wonder what happened to former Brigadier General Janis Karpinski of Abu Ghraib fame? (Other than her demotion to Colonel and then her retirement?) In 2005, she wrote a book called, “One Woman’s Army.” The theme is familiar. The villain was the administrative culture and not the people at Abu Ghraib. The message was cultivated thousands of miles away by a select [...]
Has there been a change of tone in Washington DC toward federal whistleblowers? Nope, not that I see at least. For the latest week available, April 20-24, federal whistleblowers lost two Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) initial decisions and had six dismissed. If Obama wants accountability, he needs to make a strong statement on whistleblower support. Otherwise, he [...]
A statistic often cited by the Project on Government Oversight is : “In the past eight years, the [Merit Systems Protection] board [MSPB] has heard 55 cases; whistleblowers have won only two.” Today, make that three. After four and a half years, Matthew R. Drake has won his whistleblower case. The decision can be found here. MSPB provides [...]
Ever have those days when you’re really looking for the silver lining on a massive raincloud? Today feels like that day. The Obama administration, which — during its campaign — pushed for the right of whistleblowers to have a jury trial, has flip-flopped. Instead of taking from its campaign promise statement (still posted here on [...]
Some local news about the San Francisco Federal Building from Matier and Ross at the San Francisco Chronicle: And finally: First, the big new Federal Building in San Francisco was late and over budget. Then workers complained about needing sunglasses and umbrellas indoors to shield them from the glaring sun. Now comes word about another bit of embarrassment [...]
You may have heard, Obama has changed his mind on the release of more torture photos. Well, to be fair, his leadership has advised him against it, and he is accepting their counsel. Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic had much the same reaction I did. He says it best, so here’s the link. addthis_url = [...]
We just got a blog comment from Teresa Chambers, who reports that she is now in her sixth year of legal battles over her termination as Park Service Chief at the Department of Interior. Her comments come at a time when fourteen other noted whistleblowers, including Lt. Eric N. Shine, Martin Edwin Andersen, Michael DeKort and Coleen [...]
The White House will be releasing more photos of alleged prisoner abuse. According to CNN: More than 400 people, [Pentagon spokesman Bryan] Whitman said, have been disciplined based on investigations involving detainee abuse. The discipline ranged from prison sentences to demotions and letters of reprimand. And walking free is John Yoo, author of the memo that [...]