BEYOND THE PALEWALL (2)

 

["Beyond the Palewall" is the title of this series because "Beyond the Paywall" is taken. Information for which you are not willing to pay, along with information you may not wish to know, is presented in abbreviated form without charge. What has caught my eye may sometimes feel like a poke in yours and, in that sense, be beyond the pale for you. Items will appear weekly, or perhaps monthly, or maybe semi-annually, if I can get started and the weather is bleak.]

Blow That Whistle! - On Whistle Blowing
  Occasionally we witness examples of malfeasance in government at the federal level, and perhaps more often at the provincial one, and on rare occasions a whistle is blown. Such behaviour needs encouragement and it is provided in this article relating to government fraud in the United States.  Ms. Feinberg is featured in it and she is $42 MILLION richer and, no doubt, whistling all the way to the bank.
   "How a Whistleblower Says Booz Allen Hamilton Defrauded the Government: Sarah Feinberg's Complaint About the Billing Practices Led to a $377 Million Settlement With the Justice Department," David Nakamura, Washington Post, Aug. 26, 2023.
"Only a few months into a new finance job, Sarah Feinberg was stunned when a senior manager with a Northern Virginia-based defense contractor called federal auditors “too stupid” to notice overcharging, according to a federal complaint she filed....
During the ensuing nine months, she repeatedly raised concerns with senior executives, including internal compliance officials and the chief financial officer, according to the 37-page civil complaint she filed against Booz Allen in 2016 under the federal False Claims Act....
In July, the Justice Department, which investigated her complaint, announced that Booz Allen had agreed to pay $377 million — $209 million in restitution to the federal government and the rest in penalties — to settle the matter, one of the largest awards in a government procurement case in history....
Feinberg, who said she felt vindicated and was to receive nearly $70 million for making the case known to authorities, nevertheless could not help having doubts about whether justice had been served....Feinberg had filed a “qui tam” lawsuit in which whistleblowers are awarded a portion of any financial judgment or settlement as incentive to come forward with evidence of fraud against the U.S. government.... 
According to federal data, 652 people filed qui tam complaints last year, and the Justice Department recovered $2.2 billion in false claims by companies from 351 of those cases, the second-highest number of cases ever. The largest awards have come in health care, procurement and mortgage lending, federal officials said....
For Feinberg, the personal award is life-changing. After paying her lawyers, she cleared a pretax amount of $42 million — up to $12 million of which she intends to put into a charitable trust. Some funds will go to supporting her church, she said, and she is interested in investing in underserved communities.

    I have learned that there is in Canada the, Whistleblowing Canada Research Society.    

Unfit For Service
    I did not include the fact that the fine Ms. Feinberg mentioned above had also been in the Marine Corps Reserve. Although she broke her pelvis during officer candidate school, she got her commission and volunteered for a tour in Iraq. This leads me to the next story which indicates that the Marines are not having any difficulty filling the ranks, but the other services certainly are. It appears that sitting on the couch playing "Call For Duty" does not mean you will be able to answer it.
   "U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force Struggle For Recruits: The Marines Have Plenty: As the Other Large Military Branches Fall Short of Their Goals Despite Offering Bonuses and Other Incentives, the Marine Corps Easily Fills Its Ranks On Swagger Alone," Dave Philipps, New York Times, Oct. 17, 2023.
"These are dark days for military recruiting.
The Army, Navy and Air Force have tried almost everything in their power to bring in new people. They’ve relaxed enlistment standards, set up remedial schools for recruits who can’t pass entry tests, and offered signing bonuses worth up to $75,000. Still, this year the three services together fell short by more than 25,000 recruits.
Military leaders say there are so few Americans who are willing and able to serve, and so many civilian employers competing for them, that getting enough people into uniform is nearly impossible.Tell that to the Marines.
The Marine Corps ended the recruiting year on Sept. 30 having met 100 percent of its goal, with hundreds of contracts already signed for the next year.
The corps did it while keeping enlistment standards tight and offering next to no perks. When asked earlier this year about whether the Marines would offer extra money to attract recruits, the commandant of the Marine Corps replied: “Your bonus is that you get to call yourself a Marine. That’s your bonus.”
Apparently the slogan, "The Few. The Proud. The Marines", works. 

   Although standards have been lowered,  "about 77 percent of young people are ineligible to enlist because they are overweight, or have disqualifying mental or physical conditions or issues with drug use, according to a Defense Department report.