Private Cops to Replace Public Ones in British Counties

The relentless privatization of everything continues in the U.K., where local governments are offering private security companies £1.5 billion ($2.4 billion) over seven years to conduct services previously carried out by police.

Posted on Mar 3, 2012 READ MORE  |  12 COMMENTS

Facebook CEO Sniffs at Ownership Lawsuit

Here’s some palace intrigue from the inner chambers of the Facebook empire that could threaten the whole enterprise: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is denying the legitimacy of a contract, allegedly signed in 2003 ... (continued)

Posted on Jul 26, 2010 READ MORE

Calif. Students Dig Up Dirt on Palin Perks in Campus Trash

Dumpster diving—or the diminutive version, dustbin diving—is never a savory task, but a group of enterprising students from California State University, Stanislaus, had a tip-off before they dug around in the campus trash to find documents detailing ... (continued)

Posted on Apr 13, 2010 READ MORE  |  25 COMMENTS

Do as I Say, Not as I Pay

Despite the fact that Washington has forcefully discouraged investment in Iran for the past decade, the federal government has given more than $107 billion in contract payments to companies that dealt with Iran or are doing business there.

Posted on Mar 6, 2010 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS

What Does Blackwater Have to Do?

The company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide has been mired in scandal ever since its guards massacred some Iraqi civilians, but the government work keeps coming. Sen. Carl Levin has asked the Pentagon to think carefully about awarding a $1 billion contract to the company now known as Xe.

Posted on Mar 4, 2010 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS

State Department to Drop ArmorGroup’s Kabul Contract

Tough break, ArmorGroup North America. The U.S. State Department has decided not to re-up its contract with the rent-a-guard company that made the worst kind of headlines earlier this year with lurid stories about, and compromising photographs of, AGNA’s alarmingly hard-partying Kabul embassy crew.

Posted on Dec 8, 2009 READ MORE

Wal-Mart Employees Are Restless

Wal-Mart may be fined by a Minnesota judge for violating the state’s employment laws. The fines are for ‘‘contractual violations,” a fancy way of saying that Wal-Mart denied rest breaks to workers at least 1.5 million times.

Posted on Jul 2, 2008 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS

Boeing Gains Ally in Tanker Battle

Boeing has friends in high places, as evidenced by the congressional Government Accountability Office siding Wednesday with the U.S. aviation giant in a protest against a multibillion-dollar refueling tanker contract that was awarded earlier this year to a U.S.-Europe team.

Posted on Jun 18, 2008 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS

Blackwater Bounces Back

Over the last year, Blackwater Worldwide has been under fire from critics at home and abroad, but that hasn’t stopped the private security firm. In fact, the State Department has just re-upped Blackwater’s Iraq contract, thanks in part to the magic of lobbying. Also, State Department officials don’t seem to think they have much choice.

Posted on May 10, 2008 READ MORE  |  13 COMMENTS

Iraq Bans Blackwater, Launches Investigation

The Iraqi government has ordered employees of the North Carolina-based security firm Blackwater USA to leave the country and is opening a criminal investigation following Sunday’s deadly shootout in Baghdad, during which a group of Blackwater contractors escorting a convoy of U.S. officials opened fire on nearby civilians.

Posted on Sep 17, 2007 READ MORE  |  8 COMMENTS

Courage in Journalism

Anna Politkovskaya, a veteran Russian journalist and outspoken critic of the Putin administration, was found dead in her apartment building on Saturday, the victim of an apparent contract killing.  Mikhail Gorbachev described the murder as “a blow to the entire democratic, independent press…. It is a grave crime against the country, against all of us.”

Posted on Oct 8, 2006 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS

$20 Million for ‘Good News’ From Iraq

According to the Washington Post: “U.S. military leaders in Baghdad have put out for bid a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq.” Your money at work! (Via boingboing)

Posted on Sep 1, 2006 READ MORE  |  7 COMMENTS

Washington Deal Maker Details Palm Greasing

A contractor tied to disgraced former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham describes America’s congressional appropriations process as little more than a shakedown.

Posted on Aug 5, 2006 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT

Belated Justice: Army Cancels Halliburton Contract

We’re a bit late to this story, but we couldn’t let it go un-blogged.
HUURAH!

Halliburton Tried to Double Its Pleasure, Fun

Even while a Halliburton subsidiary was being criticized for running up bills on a 2003 no-bid contract, government officials were finding similar problems on a simultaneous project.

Posted on Mar 29, 2006 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS

Army Pays Nearly All Disputed Halliburton Charges

The military contractor will get reimbursed for nearly all its disputed costs in connection with a $2.41-billion no-bid contract to deliver supplies to Iraq, despite the Pentagon’s findings that more than $250 million of that was “potentially excessive or unjustified.”

Posted on Feb 27, 2006 READ MORE