WhistleblowerSupporter

DOD OIG Director of Whistleblowing and Transparency Was a Whistleblower

Thanks Old Navy Man,

I appreciate your contributions.   It is good to learn of someone who is trying to support whistleblowers instead of destroy them.  GFS

 

G Florence:

There are some good ones out there.  Dan is one.

An Old Navy Man

See article

Whistleblower sits in Defense IG office

By Jeremy Herb - 07/12/12 06:00 AM ET

at this link:

http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/army/237469-whistleblowers-have-one-of-their-own-in-dod-office

 

Russian Sub in Gulf Emblematic of Greater Problem of Negligently Lost Technology

Old Navy Man, 

 

Thanks for the information.  That is quite disturbing indeed.   I am posting this to see if anyone else can elaborate or comment. 

 

GFS

 

 

 

 

G Florence:

 

Here is a link to a story that emphasizes why it is so important for this country to be ferociously protecting our most advanced technology.

 

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/08/19/Reports-of-Russian-sub-in-gulf-downplayed/UPI-35751345390615/

 

 

 

Who remembers the sale and transfer of advanced navy quieting technology to Toshiba?  Because of that poorly informed sale this country lost some of our most advanced navy quieting technology.  Remember those countries where these most advanced navy technologies ended up?  Refresh your memories!  This article just came out today, through the United Press International.  It is a U.S. News article entitled “Reports of Russian sub in gulf downplayed.”  This is what happens when we do not let good men like Mr. Conley and Mr. Kelly do their jobs.  This is what happens when the people of this country are complacent and do not support the tireless efforts of patriotic Americans like Mr. Conley and Mr. Kelly.

 

Shame on us!

 

An Old Navy Man

 

DSS and Boeing Continue Retribution Against DSS Security Specialist Despite DOD OIG Report

Thanks Old Navy Man for sending this.  It is a good follow up in one of the continuing stories I had been observing.  The Defense Security Service has truly reached the point of no salvation in this whistleblower supporter's opinion.  It just gets worse and worse.  I have a lot more I've been told or have been able to find out during my family emergency trips back east.  I'll be unrolling more stuff from this point forward.   Please do go to this link.  I see that POGO's Nick Schwellenbach included links to the DOD OIG's report concerning Mr. Conley's case from 2002-2008, where the DOD OIG validated and upheld Mr. Conley's concerns and that he has been fiercely retaliated against by DSS managers and it appears the director.  Mr. Conley has been on the receiving end of a vendetta for doing his job lawfully and trying to make sure a particular case was not covered up and would be prosecuted.  But because of the demonstrated actions of the defense contractor involved (Boeing) and the conflict of interest relationships certain managers in DSS have personally and professionally with Boeing,  and as it was discovered later, Boeing's relationships with other government managers and  defense agencies or activities, it has been a brutal uphill battle to assure integrity in the oversight process.  Start with reading all of this.  I will be publishing more later.    GFS

 

 

G Florence:
 
Please read this article    http://getinvolved.pogo.org/site/PageNavigator/dss_boeing_whistleblower.html

I just stumbled across this link to a very disturbing whistleblower article.  I did not see it posted at your site so I am forwarding it to you.  Please take the time read it.  I hope you will consider posting it with your comments.  This recent article is from the Project On Government Oversight.  As an old navy man I am incensed that the two government workers identified in this article have been persecuted by the Marine Corps, my Navy and the Defense Security Service for trying to do their jobs.  More people need to know what is going on in our government!
 
An Old Navy Man

Support Your Local “Occupy Your Town/City” Movement

I received an email today from someone who did not understand why I was not actively supporting the “Occupy” efforts across the country.  I’ve been watching news of these activities with interest. (The real news, not corporate owned media outlets who are NOT reporting it for the most part, and not accurately reporting it for the rest.)   A week or so ago I intended to go down and find out for myself what was going on, but work and several family disasters delayed my expedition down there.  Probably the same excuse, many of you have for not actively helping in some way or another.  

 

When you consider that the Occupy efforts appear to be a collaboration of committed individuals who have various concerns and complaints, many of which are caused by corporations, politicians, bureaucracy, greedy examples of those with more than most, etc.  The problems are social, economic, and political.  I can see my reader’s point

 

These are the same people who are helping to enable corporations and various hands and arms of government that are causing the very situations that are creating whistleblowers.  Greed, power mongering, cronyism, influence pedaling, unethical and criminal contracting activities, fraud, waste, abuse, and a host of other ills are examples.  Honorable people when confronted by this try to change it, report it, fix it and usually get the stuffing kicked out of them for their efforts in the climate we are dealing with in this country today. 

 

I agree that I should help promote the support of those who have the courage, determination and commitment to go be an active part of peaceful protest in events being staged across the nation.  Even if you cannot take part in the sign holding and waving, stop by and talk, find out why these people are down there and what they need to stay well and comfortable.  This is especially true in parts of the country that are now turning cold, wet and inhospitable.  My reader suggested donating supplies that are so critically needed like, warm coats, gloves, hats, food, especially things that can be cooked or heated under outdoor camping conditions.  Waterproof plastic storage boxes, tents, sleeping bags, cooking utensils, first aid supplies, those hand warmer sticks you can buy at sporting goods stores, and anything else that will keep up the volunteer’s spirits and energy.  

 

My reader reported that the Occupy Tacoma (in Washington State, south of Seattle, in a park on Pacific Avenue, downtown, at the cross street with the new bridge across the Puyallup River) is a neat and orderly effort showing a positively motivated cooperative of young and old that demonstrates a stellar example of the best of human effort.  They, who are giving the best they can to make a difference and to help the majority of us break out of our complacency and paralyzed condition, deserve our support and help. 

 

When those  with wealth and political control,  who continue to take and take and manipulate things to the detriment of the majority (working class and poor)  in this country are taken to task, and our society balances and rights itself again, we will also be reducing the number of whistleblowers, because there will be less crap and corruption to report,  and to fight against in our work places. 

 

Please take time this week or weekend and do what you can for your local “Occupy ____________” effort.  If you can report on your local Occupy activities, please comment here on this site; you are welcome to voice your observations and opinions. 

 

As for me, I am going to the coat closet, storage room and pantry right now! 

GFS

 

 

Whistleblowers Wanted: New International Whistleblower Association Invites You to Participate

Friends,

Please send this everywhere and ask everyone to join the IAW caucus.
We are of the whistleblower, by and for the whistleblower. We want the
largest diversity of whistleblowers possible. We want everyone regardless of
affiliation.

Please circulate the following news item:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/5th-Annual-Whistleblower-C-by-James-Murtagh
-110831-261.html

Our website explains what we are about:

http://internationalwhistleblower.org/

We are expanding our membership, and we are international in scope.
Our articles are appearing today in Scoop magazine NZ and around the world.
We want all whistleblowers to join, and the greater the diversity, the
better. Our signature issues are judicial accountability and medical
whistleblowing, but we are joining with defense and financial
whistleblowers, veterans, environmental. Our focus is to network and mentor.

We also ask all members to register for the entire conference at:

http://makeitsafecampaign.org/news/?page_id=2146

Please ask all members to write articles for OEN. We are running a series of
articles about the conference. I urge every panel to write an article about
their issue. Everyday I would like to run an additional article about each
individual event for the meeting. We are going to U-tube as much of the
conference as possible, and post on OEN and on the IAW website.

We work hard for this conference every year. This year, we can get even more
out of the conference with planning. I challenge every person to get an
article out about their issue. We will work with them, help them with
editing, and get their issue into the press.

We want participation from every single member. By delegating, we can get
everyone involved, and everyone can be heard.

Please send this out, and we will have another article tomorrow.
Ginger, if you have an article about the overall conference, please send it
and we will post it. OpEdNews has a tremendous circulation, and we will get
more attendees if we post articles now. Members still can reserve discounted
airfares.

So, to all MISC members and fans, now is the time. Write and post your
articles! None of us can do this alone, but together we can!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/5th-Annual-Whistleblower-C-by-James-Murtagh
-110831-261.html

Problem: Corporate Tax Evasion and Loss of Critical Technology

Here is an interesting article and comment sent to me by a reader.  This is something to think about.  Right on from what I know about that problem.  GFS

 

 

G Florence

 

So what other large corporations are enjoying these tax reduction opportunities?  This question becomes critically important when we look at the defense corporations, since transfer of proprietary technologies also has serious export control considerations, and national security considerations.  Is this one more mechanism for the loss of United States militarily critical technologies for large corporate profit returns?

 

An Old Navy Man

 

 

From:  Truthout.Org

 

No Tax Holiday for Multinational Corporations

Saturday 11 June 2011

by: Dr. Eileen Appelbaum, Truthout

 

If you think that "double Irish" and "Dutch sandwich" are schoolyard jump rope games girls play, think again. These are the nefarious, but legal, games that hundreds of multinationals play to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. According to a report by Bloomberg, Google used these techniques to cut its tax rate to 2.4 percent and its taxes by $3.1 billion over the three years from 2007 through 2009. The company's top two markets by revenue are the US, with a 35 percent corporate income tax rate, and the UK, with a 28 percent rate, yet Google - using practices widely employed by global companies - dramatically reduced its tax rate.

 

At the heart of this strategy is the transfer of rights to intellectual property developed in the US - often, as in Google's case, with early research funded by US taxpayers through the National Science Foundation - to a subsidiary in a low-tax country. Foreign earnings based on the technology are then attributed to the subsidiary. Google transferred its search and advertising technology for much of the world to its Irish subsidiary at a price sanctioned in 2006 by the IRS. But even the much-vaunted low Irish taxes were not low enough for Google. That's where the "double Irish" and the "Dutch sandwich" come in.

Here's how it works. In the "double Irish," Google establishes two subsidiaries in Ireland. Google Ireland Holdings, managed from Bermuda, licenses intellectual property rights to Google Ireland Limited, which sells advertising rights in Europe, Africa and the Middle East and collects the advertising revenue. Google Ireland Limited keeps a fraction of these revenues and, ultimately, pays the balance in royalties to Google Ireland Holdings which, under Irish law, is a Bermuda company. No taxes are paid on these royalties because Bermuda has no corporate tax.

 

Ireland does have a 20 percent withholding tax that it would collect if royalties were paid to Google Ireland Holdings directly. That's where the "Dutch sandwich" comes into play. A Dutch subsidiary, Google Netherlands Holdings, is "sandwiched" between the two Irish subsidiaries. Google Ireland Limited actually pays the royalties to the Dutch subsidiary, which then pays the royalties to Google Ireland Holdings. Irish law exempts this type of royalty payment to companies in other EU countries from the withholding tax.

 

Google is not alone. Hundreds of multinationals - including Microsoft, Oracle and Eli Lilly - use these ploys, with a foreign tax haven as the ultimate repository for the firms' overseas profits. This kind of income shifting - known as transfer pricing - can significantly increase a company's earnings and share price.

 

Companies continue to owe taxes to the US government on these overseas earnings - technically, the taxes have only been deferred. But the taxes don't come due until the profits are brought back to the US - that is, repatriated. And companies do want to repatriate these profits.

 

A dozen large multinationals have joined the "Win America Campaign" to lobby for a tax holiday, so US companies can bring foreign profits home. In 2004, when Congress last declared a tax holiday, much of the $900 billion that corporations held abroad was repatriated at a reduced tax rate of just 5 percent. Today, US corporations hold roughly $1.43 trillion overseas. The demand for a tax holiday clearly indicates that parking profits overseas is a tax-avoidance strategy, not a business necessity.

 

The push for a tax holiday has bipartisan support in Congress. However, the Treasury opposes a tax holiday as a stand-alone measure although it might consider it as part of a broader tax reform package.

 

How should the rules governing taxes on overseas profits be reformed?

House Speaker John Boehner has proposed a system of territorial taxation, in which overseas profits of US corporations would not be taxed in the US. This would only increase incentives for US companies to offshore operations and increase the use of transfer pricing. Ultimately, it would mean a race to the bottom in which no country could tax corporate profits, since companies would threaten to move operations to a lower-tax country unless the home country reduced its tax rate.

Here's a better idea: replace the rules for transfer pricing with rules that allocate a company's profits among its subsidiaries based on metrics such as the number of employees or the sales revenue generated in each jurisdiction. Currently, about half of US states with corporate income taxes use this method for companies that operate in multiple states. It would not be difficult to apply the same rules to multinational companies.

 

Dr. Eileen Appelbaum is a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. She previously served as director of the Rutgers Center for Women and Work. During her tenure, Dr. Appelbaum built the Center into a major locus for research on women's advancement in the labor market and at the workplace. The Center undertook numerous projects that were aimed at understanding and improving the lives of working women at all income levels. Prior to taking over the Center at Rutgers she was the research director at the Economic Policy Institute. She previously had been a professor of economics at Temple University.

 

Link to original:  http://www.truth-out.org/no-tax-holiday-multinational-corporations/1307797781

 

Cyber Attacks, National Security and US Economic Survival

Anyone interested in both real national security and economic security should read this set of articles.  What is discussed in these articles does not cover even half of the problems.  It is not only cyber espionage and theft, but other more direct kinds of actions that may also be very risky to our security and economic well-being.   Problems, such as sloppy security or imprudent decisions made by defense contractors regarding how security is handled, often brought about by penny wise, pound foolish financial decisions designed to save money for the company.  Misguided notions of an open world – a fantasy non-competitive world where science and technology should all be shared, can also bring about loss of technology and “technical secrets”.  Sometimes the visitors that are allowed in, (as in the case of foreign nationals), who ask for in person visits, or sometimes extended project or work time, in the defense contractor’s company sites, can provide significant risks to these same kinds of materials.    

Read these two articles for now if you did not already see them.  GFS

 

* * * * *

 

US arms makers said to be bleeding secrets to cyber foes

By Jim Wolf

Reuters

 

Link:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43230826

 

* * * * *

 

From Nextgov:

 

Pentagon to adversaries: An attack on U.S. networks might unleash military force

By Aliya Sternstein  05/31/11

A new Defense Department policy that reportedly authorizes troops to use physical force in response to a cyberattack does not represent a change in posture, but rather a signal to adversaries that the United States will not hesitate to act, said a former U.S. military and intelligence official who managed network security.

According to an article in Monday's Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon penned a departmental policy that for the first time unequivocally states that a grave attack on U.S. networks will be treated as an act of war. In other words, a cyberattack severe enough to cause death and destruction can trigger the use of military force.

"I don't think the statement is a giant step forward in terms of new policy," said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Dale W. Meyerrose, former chief information officer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "It's an explicit statement, which underpins the military being serious about cyberspace and its relationship to the other domains of land, sea and air."

The policy, expected to be publicly released within the next month, arrives at a time when the notion of cyberwar increasingly is becoming a real-world problem. During the past year, sophisticated intrusions such as the Stuxnet virus, which targets industrial equipment such as nuclear reactors, and so-called advanced persistent threats, worms that invade silently for extensive periods to steal intelligence, have fueled national security concerns.

This weekend, Defense and Homeland Security Department officials confirmed the government is investigating a network penetration at Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.

While the Pentagon's policy may seem like a statement of the obvious, "it does put potential folks who want to do mischief with national security apparatus on notice," said Meyerrose, who also served as CIO at several Defense and Air Force commands.

Few nations have enough cyber-savvy to cripple U.S. critical infrastructure, such as power grids, but as soon as terrorist groups or enemy states attain that capability, they will not hesitate to use it, James A. Lewis, a cybersecurity researcher at the nonprofit Center for Strategic and International Studies, testified before Congress just last week.

The more imminent possibility is that adversaries will disrupt military communications, said Meyerrose, now a senior executive at information technology firm Harris Corp. Under the new Pentagon edict, "the retribution [for that] could be -- we'll take out your ability to transmit, or it could involve killing," he said. "When we report on the elements of cyber, we tend to boil it down to a user on a keyboard. It's not quite that simple. It could be an attack on a military place where computer systems are assembled."

In mid-May, while unveiling a new White House policy framework on international cybersecurity with other Cabinet officials, Defense Department Deputy Secretary William J. Lynn III alluded to "a forthcoming strategy for operating in cyberspace."

The White House document asserts that the United States has the right to use military force to defend itself against cyber threats.

"All states possess an inherent right to self-defense, and we recognize that certain hostile acts conducted through cyberspace could compel actions under the commitments we have with our military treaty partners," the strategy states. "We reserve the right to use all necessary means -- diplomatic, informational, military and economic -- as appropriate and consistent with applicable international law, in order to defend our nation, our allies, our partners and our interests."

Link:  http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20110531_5712.php

 

 

 

ATTENTION! SEC ADOPTS NEW WHISTLEBLOWER RULES

I attended one of these sessions recently.  You do not have to be an attorney to attend.  I recommend that you all attend and read Mr. Kohn's new book.  It is written to make the complexities understandable even for people who are not attorney's.    Your fee includes a copy of Mr. Kohn's new book and handouts.  He was very open to answering participant questions.  GFS

 

 *******

 

On May 25th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted whistleblower rules that fundamentally changed and enhanced the right of employees to obtain legal protection and large financial rewards (see Washington Post article).  The National Whistleblowers Center and its legal staff were extensively involved in this process, providing the SEC with nine formal rulemaking submissions and personally meeting one-on-one with each of the five SEC commissioners.  Many of the NWC's proposals were adopted by the SEC, and the Final Rules cited to NWC formal comments forty-four times.  The new regulations will prove an invaluable asset in the representation of corporate whistleblowers, and the new regulations if properly utilized will prove to be an invaluable asset in successfully representing employees and preventing corporate fraud.

 

As a result, the National Whistleblowers Center is conducting a series of nationwide seminars that will focus on the new SEC regulations, and the historic whistleblower protections contained in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  The seminars will explain the new anti-retaliation rules governing corporate employees and the financial reward provisions.  These rules require the SEC to pay large financial awards to qualified whistleblowers for which there is no cap and can result in multiple millions of dollars in recoveries.

 

 

 

 

Dodd-Frank Act

3-hour CLE Seminar

NEW Corporate Whistleblower Protections and Reward Provisions

 

 

On July 21, 2010, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act. Corporate whistleblowing was forever changed. The Act established the right of whistleblowers to obtain multi-million dollar rewards for reporting violations of Securities and Commodities Exchange Acts. These "qui tam" provisions were modeled on the False Claims Act -- a law that already has resulted in whistleblowers obtaining over $2.7 billion dollars in rewards for reporting federal contracting and procurement violations to the Justice Department. Dodd-Frank also enhanced employment protections available to whistleblowers. Retaliatory discharge cases can now be filed directly in federal court, with the right to a jury trial. Under Dodd-Frank, mandatory arbitration agreements cannot be enforced.

$150 ATTORNEY REFERRAL SERVICE MEMBERS

($95 For Early Bird Special!)

 

$295 ATTORNEYS

($150 For Early Bird Special!)

 

$75 WHISTLEBLOWERS

 

Call (202) 342-1903 for Early Sign-up or ARS Discount Codes

 

To REGISTER visit our UPCOMING EVENTS page

Locations:

 

Washington, DC -- June 10th, 2011 (Teleconference Available)

         National Whistleblowers Center

         3238 P Street NW

         Washington, DC 20007

 

         Register on or before June 7th for Early Bird Special

 

         Contact Seminar Director Estelle Kohn at [email protected] or Associate

         Seminar Director Philip Barrett at [email protected] or call

         (202) 342-1903 to register

 

Denver, CO -- June 23rd, 2011

         The Browne Palace Hotel & Spa

         321 17th Street

         Denver, CO 80202

 

         Register on or before June 10th for Early Bird Special

 

San Francisco, CA -- June 27th, 2011

         TURN-The Utility Reform Network

         115 Sansome Street, Suite 900

         San Francisco, CA 94104

 

         Register on or before June 10th for Early Bird Special

 

Los Angeles, CA -- June 28th, 2011

         Carlsmith Ball LLP

         444 South Flower Street, 9th Floor

         Los Angeles, CA 90071-2901

 

         Register on or before June 10th for Early Bird Special

 

New York, NY -- July 25th, 2011

         New York Marriott Downtown

         85 West Street at Albany Street

         New York, NY 10006

 

         Register on or before July 15th for Early Bird Special

 

CURRICULUM:

Learn how to use the new corporate whistleblower laws and regulations to effectively represent employees, combat fraud and qualify for large whistleblower rewards. Gain insight into how whistleblower protections laws can be integrated into your law practice as powerful legal tools for maximizing your client's ability to have their case heard before a jury and obtain entitlement to large monetary damage awards and rewards.

 

FACULTY:

Stephen M. Kohn, Esq. is the Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center and one of the nations leading advocates on whistleblower law.  Mr. Kohn will present this unique seminar on the latest whistleblower laws and rewards provisions. Mr. Kohn has represented numerous high profile whistleblowers for over 27 years. He has authored seven books on whistleblower law, including the recently published The Whistleblower's Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing What's Right and Protecting Yourself (Lyons Press, 2011). Mr. Kohn was the principal author of the NWC's rulemaking petitions and personally met with all five SEC Commissioners and the responsible Commission staff.

 

To Register or For More Information:

Please visit our UPCOMING EVENTS page or contact Estelle Kohn or Philip Barrett by phone: (202) 342-1903 or email: [email protected] or [email protected].  

If you cannot make the seminar, you can purchase the course materials, The Whistleblower's Handbook, online for $16.95 plus shipping. 

Scott Bloch, Former Special Counsel (OSC) Sentenced to One Month in Prison

Someone sent me this comment regarding the Scott Bloch travesty:

 

No one in Washington wants this person to do any serious time. He may get upset and start pointing fingers at who, within our government retaliates against the Federal workers. Congress certainly does not want Whistle Blowers to have protections because the minute they are protected, the floodgates open and the citizenry would then find out who the real crooks are.

 

It is only common sense, the politicians must prevent the American public from knowing what they have always suspected, and that is that members of Congress are there for the Graft, Greed and Corruption. Punishing one of their own, like Scott Bloch of the Office of Special Counsel, who so loyally and successfully protected the guilty for all those years, would just not be in the best interest of the members of Congress. 

 

–Disgusted in DC

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

National Whistleblowers Center

3238 P Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20007

http://www.whistleblowers.org

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Lindsey M. Williams (202) 342-1903

[email protected] 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Former Special Counsel Sentenced to One Month in Prison

Washington, D.C. March 31, 2011. Scott Bloch, the former head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), was sentenced to one month in prison, twelve months probation and 200 hours of community service yesterday, after he pled guilty to criminal charges for his misconduct during is tenure at OSC.

During FY 2008, of the 530 new whistleblower disclosures brought to the OSC, just 25 were reported to the President and Congress, meaning 95% of whistleblower disclosures brought to the OSC were ignored with no determination ever made on their validity. More "highlights" on Mr. Bloch's tenure at the OSC can be found at civilservicechange.org, courtesy of Charlotte Yee.

 Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, said:

 Instead of deterring fraud, which was his job as the head of the Office of Special Counsel, Scott Bloch promoted it. This will ultimately cost the American taxpayer billions of dollars. It is a shame that Mr. Bloch has been given nothing more than a slap on the wrist for his crimes, while true whistleblowers such as Bradley Birkenfeld are ostracized and imprisoned.

It has now been over two years since President Obama made a campaign promise to appoint a strong advocate for whistleblowers as the new Special Counsel. The National Whistleblowers Center repeats our call for the immediate appointment of someone who is aggressive, competent, independent and will change the culture of the OSC and stand behind whistleblowers.

 

Links:

"Highlighting the Accomplishments of Scott Bloch" (Charlotte Yee)

http://civilservicechange.org/?p=2952

Highlighting the accomplishments of Scott Bloch, former head of the Office of Special Counsel

Posted in July 19th, 2010

by C Yee in Absurd, Accountability, Current Events, Merit Systems Protection Board Statistics

Tomorrow, Scott Bloch, former head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), is scheduled to be sentenced before Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson. Bloch has pleaded guilty to one count of criminal contempt of Congress for not disclosing the nature and extent of his instructions that a private company erase files from his government-issued computer and the computers of two other Office of Special Counsel employees. As this ominous day approaches, from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel Fiscal year 2008 Annual Report, here are some highlights of Bloch’s five-year OSC career:

During his tenure, Scott Bloch reduced total matters pending at OSC by 56 percent. Statistical analysis indicates he accomplished this by having his agency throw out matters without investigating them. In Fiscal Year 2008, of 2,447 Prohibited Personnel Practice (PPP) Complaints, OSC referred six percent of them to the Complaints Examining Unit (CEU). Of these, only 88 were processed. Prohibited Personnel Practice Complaints made up 67 percent of total matters, yet only 88 of 2,447, four percent were processed by investigators.

In FY 2008, OSC obtained zero stays from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the quasi-judicial agency tasked with enforcing federal civil service law. In the same year, OSC filed zero corrective action petitions with MSPB.

On whistleblower disclosure activity, OSC received 530 new disclosures in FY 2008. Of these, 25 were reported to the President and Congress. That’s less than five percent that were investigated and any determination made on disclosure validity. Looking at it another way, 95 percent of whistleblower disclosures were not acknowledged by OSC.

That then, explains the record low satisfaction ratings OSC garnered in its survey of customers. Of those that responded to its survey, only 1 out of every 21 respondents obtained a satisfactory result from OSC. Moreover, more than half of respondents indicated that their complaint included allegations of whistleblowing. On a five-point scale, 200 of 220 rated OSC’s results as either dissatisfactory or very dissatisfactory.

As Scott Bloch heads for sentencing tomorrow, he leaves behind innocent victims sentenced to reprisal by his failure to protect those he was tasked to serve. Additionally, as Special Counsel William E. Reukauf’s message from OSC’s Annual Report reads, “FY 2008 was a challenging time for this small, but important, agency. Employees were called upon to respond to and cooperate with two extensive inquiries involving the then-agency head, including a grand jury investigation, and execution of search warrants on agency premises.”

 

Natural Resource Conservation Service Whistleblower Story

Here is another Whistleblower Story.  -GFS

 

From a reader:

USDA, & Vilsack fire another. This one is a US Farm Bill whistleblower.

Please read this article. I will use "hyperspectral data" to show this to the newspaper readers.

The mainstream media is not concerned about the $300 Billion 2008 US Farm Bill, and how the USDA steals your money.

Check out this link:
http://wcrecord.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=314

 

 

 

Front Page : Whistleblower reveals himself

on 11/10/2010 (349 reads)

Valvo accuses NRCS of betraying the public trust (The following article is part two in a series of articles dealing with the investigation of the NRCS in Pembina County.) REGION—In the first article it was introduced that the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s (NRCS) office in Cavalier is under investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in regards to allegations of fraud, waste and mismanagement. These acts are violations of the public trust. They were first brought to the attention of the NRCS Cavalier Field Office and eventually to the OIG by Geo-Spatial Analyst Anthony (Tony) Valvo, who is currently employed as a soil conservationist with the NRCS and has a master’s degree from Purdue. He has been employed by the federal government for seven months in the Cavalier field office. Valvo, is not a career bureaucrat, but carries his work experience from American industry. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Navy, where he served in the engineering department aboard a fleet ballistic missile submarine. Valvo is not a disgruntled employee, but someone who tried to right wrongs that he considered violations of the public trust. The following is his story: I am an example of the great opportunity afforded our citizenry, and a testament to why government is essential to the average American. None of my accomplishments were given to me, but our government made them available to me, and many others. A few weeks ago I gave this newspaper (The Walsh County Record) permission to write a story concerning government corruption. The charges are currently under investigation by the USDA’s OIG. The original target of the investigation is the NRCS. I do not know the status of the investigation, and do not have the “need to know.” The case is under investigation and has been broken down into two components. One is criminal and ethical violations and the other is retaliation against me for reporting violations of the public trust. I did report the people in this circle for unethical practices, fraud, waste and mismanagement. I did not expect the level of retaliation I received from the NRCS Cavalier Field Office, and its Area I Office Staff. The harassment has been unrelenting, sustained and cruel. I am currently not allowed on any USDA property. On Oct. 8, I was removed from the office by the Cavalier Police Department. I was told that I had a disease and was not allowed on the property. That’s the last thing I remember. I awoke in the Pembina County Memorial Hospital in Cavalier. From there I was transported to the cardiology department at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks. Being a former resident of the State of Florida I had no friends and very few social contacts in the area, who could come and get me. Needless to say I had to call someone to make the 165 mile round trip back to Cavalier to come and pick me up after being released by the hospital. No one from NRCS office bothered to call or offer assistance. Currently, I am still employed by the NRCS, but am on administrative leave and not allowed to be near USDA terminals or USDA property. This privileged group of federal employees in Cavalier and Area I, don’t want you to know what they do with our money. When they stand accused of misappropriating taxpayer money, they become bullies that hide behind the inertia of a 100,000 person bureaucracy. This behavior is not in keeping with the traditions of the USDA, and the United States of America. These people do not own, and were not elected to run this vital federal agency. That’s Valvo’s story. This is what happens to government employees for exposing fraud, waste and mismanagement. These actions are supposed to be protected by the No-Fear Act signed into law by President Bush. The No Fear Act requires that Federal agencies be more accountable for violations of anti-discrimination and whistleblower protection laws. Valvo went to lower and middle management to get redress of these issues before filing an OIG report. Paul Sweeney, state conservationist out of Bismarck was recently asked about the investigation and confirmed the reports of an OIG probe, but refused to comment on the subject. Valvo has Type II Diabetes and Hepatitis C, which he got from his former wife who is a primary caregiver. The reasons given to keep him out of the office by NRCS officials are that he is armed and dangerous, that the NRCS couldn’t provide “reasonable accommodation” for his diabetes and that he has a blood born illness. “I have asked the proper chain of command for help. Nothing so far,” he said. “I have used my best communication skills and best deportment to bring administrative change to these issues. I met with relentless retaliation.” What’s at the core of these issues with the NRCS is it doesn’t do anything to expedite the process of the construction that is often needed to implement conservation plans and does very little to see if the plans are actually carried out or verified. This is an important point because oftentimes agri-businesses firms are paid before actual verifications are performed.

 

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