* The US Veterans Health Administration’s Inspector General published an interim review [PDF] on the Phoenix Health Care System’s patient wait times, scheduling practices, and their effects on patient outcomes: “To date, our work has substantiated serious conditions at the Phoenix HCS.”
* Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) characterized the Inspector General’s report as “damning and outrageous… reveals potentially criminal behavior”. Removing veterans from treatment waiting lists in order to make performance statistics look good, and causing veteran deaths and suicides, certainly ought to qualify.
* In reaction to the report calls for the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki are growing louder and increasingly bipartisan. Shinseki’s own reaction to the IG’s report: I’m committed to restoring integrity.
* PJ Media looks in detail at the record and activities of Rahim Sabadia, “a South African-born, California-based defense contractor who has bankrolled the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)” who continued to pursue defense contracts through a new company after his security clearance was suspended in 2011. Last decade Sabtech Industries, headed by Sabadia then, received millions of dollars of contracts for computer parts for AEGIS ships.
* Incidentally it looks like facerolling is a legit data entry method among US Navy contract officers. Here is the verbatim of the requirement for a $7.7 million task order to Sabtech Industries, as per the official FPDS database:
“200512!459406!1700!N00178!NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER !N0017805D2027 !A!N! !Y! ! !20050926!20100925!131239295!131239295!131239295!N!SABTECH INDUSTRIES INC !23231 LA PALMA AVE !YORBA LINDA !CA!92887!86832!059!06!Yorba Linda !Orange !California!+000007731670!N!N!000007731670!AC57!RDTE/Weapons-Operational System Development !S1 !SERVICES !000 ! !334418!E! !3!B!S! ! !D!20100925!B! ! !A! !A!N!U!2!001!B! !Z!Y!Z! ! !N!B!N!N! ! !A! !A!A!000!A!B!N! ! ! ! !1700!N00178!0001! !”
A Few Non-Scandal News
* Lockheed Martin acquired Astrotech Corporation’s Space Operations business for a reported $61M.
* Tension between Israel’s finance and defense ministries seems to continue unabated: IAF Makes ‘Extreme’ Decision To Cancel Training Flights.
* USNAVSEA will hold an industry day on June 12 in Port Hueneme, CA to discuss Automatic Test Equipment and launcher components for the MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS).
* Today’s video comes from the US Navy which has decided to counter Duffel Blog by going into another round of uniform tinkering. Maybe they can fix whatever is in the sleeve design that might be preventing contracting officers from typing full legible sentences in the requirements justifying seven-figure contract actions?
