Background According to the HUD/OIG website: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Inspector General is one of the original 12 Inspectors General authorized under the Inspector General Act of 1978. Over the years, we have forged a strong alliance with HUD personnel in recommending ways to improve departmental operations and in prosecuting program abuses. We strive to make a difference in HUD’s performance and accountability. We are committed to our statutory mission of detecting and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse and promoting the effectiveness and efficiency of government operations. While organizationally we are located within the Department,…
Author: John Greenewald
Background On July 23, 2015, CBS News published the following: An explosion inside a federal laboratory in Maryland appears to be connected to a security officer’s small-scale efforts to manufacture methamphetamine, according to a federal law enforcement official. Authorities who responded to the explosion Saturday night on the campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology recovered pseudoephedrine, Epsom salt and other materials associated with the manufacture of meth, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because potential charges are pending. The materials indicate production of small batches of meth, the official said. The chemical reaction might…
Introduction According to the document: In November 1990, we started the “Audit of the Management of the ISLAND SUN Program.” ISLAND SUN is an unclassified nickname for a special access program. The overall audit objective was to review program management, which included a review of financial controls. The Defense Information · Systems Agency (DISA), formerly Defense Communications Agency, administered the FY · 1985 through 1990 ISLAND SUN funds. The Comptroller, Joint Staff became responsible for administering the ISLAND SUN funds effective october 1, 1990. The National Security Agency (NSA), used the funds to provide program management and contracting support to…
Background I found reference to the following document, having been released due to an ACLU FOIA lawsuit in 2011. Since a large amount of time had passed since it was originally released (and it was heavily redacted), I requested the document be reviewed again in December of 2016, with the filing of a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request. Sadly, the result was nearly identical to the original release, but it does appear they did review it again, and redact the classified information. This was the result: Document Archive FBI Atlanta Intelligence Note from Domain Management: Terrorism and Counterintelligence Threat, September…
Background Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis use for recreational purposes, and 28 states plus the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medical purposes. Recent studies suggest that 45-80% of individuals who seek cannabis for medical purposes do so for pain management, and an estimated 6%-39% of patients prescribed opioid medication for pain are also utilizing cannabis. Over one-third of patients seeking cannabis for medical purposes list post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the primary reason for the request. Approximately 15% of Veterans who are treated in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient PTSD clinics report…