Politics

[Wheels]

And he even looks like Elmer Fudd……. “ Waskwe wabbit”!

I thought he looked and talked like Don Rickles with the mannerisms of Richard Simmons.

(This is not my original thought. I read it somewhere but don't know who to attribute it to)

 

[WellThatsNotRight]

To my friend and fellow AH reader Tim L..................sorry about your home in N. Carolina. Had hoped that FEMA would step in to help more. They didn't. But Sec Austin gave $400 million to Ukraine yesterday, and another $5 billion was given to Israel last night. (my, how that would have helped you folks) I guess an intervention in the Homeland was not important to the Biden-Harris regime. Stay strong. It's gonna get better...........FWB

None of this is how any of this works.

 

[deewayne2003]

To my friend and fellow AH reader Tim L..................sorry about your home in N. Carolina. Had hoped that FEMA would step in to help more. They didn't. But Sec Austin gave $400 million to Ukraine yesterday, and another $5 billion was given to Israel last night. (my, how that would have helped you folks) I guess an intervention in the Homeland was not important to the Biden-Harris regime. Stay strong. It's gonna get better...........FWB

You just need to convince Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics to get into the disaster relief business…. Then you’ll see some aid come PDQ!

 

[deewayne2003]

None of this is how any of this works.

You’re correct …. Just like the bankruptcy and LLC laws in this nation.

Same pants but different pocket so it’s unrelated right?

Bottom line, we’re pretty damn good at sending relief over seas, in our back yard…. Ehhh not so much.

 

[bob meadows]

You’re correct …. Just like the bankruptcy and LLC laws in this nation.

Same pants but different pocket so it’s unrelated right?

Bottom line, we’re pretty damn good at sending relief over seas, in our back yard…. Ehhh not so much.

foreign policy.......nothing makes America stronger than giving our money away to other countries......

we have so much, I mean why help out the taxpayers of our own country who are in need...bob

 

[fourfive8]

The deep state and this administration sure is going all out to paint this Iran “leaker” as a lone wolf. Connection between Iran and bho and continuing under brandon has been obvious and continues to be hiding in plain sight. I know, I know it’s all a right wing MAGA conspiracy theory. Same for intel being “blind” to October 7.

Oh, news flash! Also getting no press is the Qatar-Raytheon 950 mil “nothing to see here payment-in-kind book keeping rounding error”. And so on and on….. but nothing to see here, nooooo

 

[spike.t]

Russians accused of crimes offered choice - fight in Ukraine instead of court

A former Olympic athlete has been told if he fights in Ukraine a criminal case against him will be frozen.

www.bbc.com

 

[Red Leg]

The deep state and this administration sure is going all out to paint this Iran “leaker” as a lone wolf. Connection between Iran and bho and continuing under brandon has been obvious and continues to be hiding in plain sight. I know, I know it’s all a right wing MAGA conspiracy theory. Same for intel being “blind” to October 7.

Oh, news flash! Also getting no press is the Qatar-Raytheon 950 mil “nothing to see here payment-in-kind book keeping rounding error”. And so on and on….. but nothing to see here, nooooo

Well why don't we start with the facts about the Raytheon story. After all, I am certain you would agree that all the readers here should know all the facts to prevent them from jumping to some erroneous conclusion. There is, after all, "plenty to see", and that transparency is due to the effective investigatory efforts of the US Government and the strength of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That effort will cost the new RTX corporation, which was created through the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies in 2020, a nearly billion dollar write off, and an extensive period of compliance overwatch.

The corruption occurred under Raytheon between 2012 and 2018 in two forms. The first was an over charge to the US government of $111 million for the cost of three Patriot Batteries. This was discovered through a Raytheon whistleblower and criminal charges were brought through the DOJ for damages. The other, was discovered through the Securities and Exchange Commission, where the company was demonstrated to have bribed a Qatari official in order to win a competitive contract for the Qatari armed forces.

The two issues were combined in a settlement with the corporation where it essnetially pled no contest. For the over charge the company will pay a $146.8 million criminal liability and a further $428 million civil claim under the False Claims Act. In addition, the whistleblower herself will receive $4.2 million for reporting the incident. The bribery allegation was settled through a $252.3 million dollar penalty along with other forfeitures. They are also required to increase their compliance monitoring and remain under direct federal compliance supervision for three years.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been pretty effective since 1977 in stopping most US corporate efforts to buy contracts abroad. It actually puts US corporations at a competitive disadvantage in the developing world. The result has been, that countries tend to purchase critical must haves from the US and less critical assets from European or Asian sources where considerations flow more freely.

Anyway, my takeaway is that our government and its regulatory system worked as designed and caught a bad corporate actor. That is what is to see here.

With respect to the security breach and Israel, you can believe whatever makes you happy, but you know nothing more than me or anyone else on this site. Just to add to the conspiracy file, a new one on the left is that the administration leaked the data in conjunction with the Israeli government in order to let Israel off the hook in trying to respond militarily to Iran - something it has limited capability to do. I also suspect that Israeli missile defense assets are pretty low after fighting off two huge barrages from Iran. Who knows? No one here - yet.

 

[WellThatsNotRight]

The deep state and this administration sure is going all out to paint this Iran “leaker” as a lone wolf. Connection between Iran and bho and continuing under brandon has been obvious and continues to be hiding in plain sight. I know, I know it’s all a right wing MAGA conspiracy theory. Same for intel being “blind” to October 7.

Oh, news flash! Also getting no press is the Qatar-Raytheon 950 mil “nothing to see here payment-in-kind book keeping rounding error”. And so on and on….. but nothing to see here, nooooo

“deep state” should be capitalized, right? I mean it’s a proper noun, like France or Indianapolis or Xanadu. Right?

 

[bowjijohn]

Well why don't we start with the facts about the Raytheon story. After all, I am certain you would agree that all the readers here should know all the facts to prevent them from jumping to some erroneous conclusion. There is, after all, "plenty to see", and that transparency is due to the effective investigatory efforts of the US Government and the strength of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That effort will cost the new RTX corporation, which was created through the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies in 2020, a nearly billion dollar right off, and an extensive period of compliance overwatch.

The corruption occurred under Raytheon between 2012 and 2018 in two forms. The first was an over charge to the US government of $111 million for the cost of three Patriot Batteries. This was discovered through a Raytheon whistleblower and criminal charges were brought through the DOJ for damages. The other, was discovered through the Securities and Exchange Commission, where the company was demonstrated to have bribed a Qatari official in order to win a competitive contract for the Qatari armed forces.

The two issues were combined in a settlement with the corporation where it essnetially pled no contest. For the over charge the company will pay a $146.8 million criminal liability and a further $428 million civil claim under the False Claims Act a result of the whistleblower claim. In addition, the whistleblower herself received $4.2 million for reporting the incident. The bribery allegation was settled through a $252.3 million dollar penalty along with other forfeitures. They are also required to increase their compliance monitoring and remain under direct federal compliance supervision for three years.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been very effective in stopping most of the US efforts to buy contracts abroad. It actually puts US corporations at a competitive disadvantage in the developing world. The result has been, that countries tend to purchase critical must haves from the US and less critical assets from European or Asian sources where considerations flow more freely.

Anyway, my takeaway is that our government and its regulatory system worked as designed and caught a bad corporate actor. That is what is to see here.

With respect to the security breach and Israel, you can believe whatever makes you happy, but you know nothing more than me or anyone else on this site. Just to add to your conspiracy file, a new one on the left is that the administration leaked the data in conjunction with the Israeli government in order to let Israel off the hook in trying to respond militarily to Iran.

Informed, balance and succinct as always

j

 

[Scott CWO]

And this is legal? Do you consider it sporting?

It has become acceptable by some people and jurisdictions where the brush is so thick that you can’t walk it and the only way to see deer is to sit in a high stand or blind in a small opening over a feeder.

In other states, it is completely illegal, such as where I live in Colorado.

 

[Red Leg]

I suspect this informal focus group wasn't exactly what MSNBC expected.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1848909246991126896

 

[Hunt anything]

I saw an interview with secretary Austin, he was asked point blank if the Israeli/ Iran leak was intentional. Instead of a straight up yes or no his answer was elusive and full of lawyer speak. I didn’t have time to watch the whole thing so he may have clarified it later. It’s answers like this that lead people to conspiracy theories, if people would be straight it would go a long way in the trust in government.

 

[Scott CWO]

Looks like there is a pretty aggressive effort to identify the "leaker" of TS material on Israel to a pro-Tehran Telegram site. Based upon a previous incident, this woman should never have had a TS security clearance, much less the job she holds.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1848741999039365217

The previous incident.

Meet the Iranian-born Biden military aide reportedly under investigation for major influence campaign: ‘Clear and present danger’

Ariane Tabatabai, who currently sits in the Pentagon with a high-level security clearance, is reportedly under investigation over an Iranian influence operation.

nypost.com

This is what DEI is bringing us into.

 

[sgt_zim]

This is what DEI is bringing us into.

DEI is just a moronic lie. It assumes that we're all just replaceable widgets, that we all have the same skills, desires, and motivations, where "lived experience" is a substitute for actual experience in a given endeavor.

 

[WAB]

Well why don't we start with the facts about the Raytheon story. After all, I am certain you would agree that all the readers here should know all the facts to prevent them from jumping to some erroneous conclusion. There is, after all, "plenty to see", and that transparency is due to the effective investigatory efforts of the US Government and the strength of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That effort will cost the new RTX corporation, which was created through the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies in 2020, a nearly billion dollar write off, and an extensive period of compliance overwatch.

The corruption occurred under Raytheon between 2012 and 2018 in two forms. The first was an over charge to the US government of $111 million for the cost of three Patriot Batteries. This was discovered through a Raytheon whistleblower and criminal charges were brought through the DOJ for damages. The other, was discovered through the Securities and Exchange Commission, where the company was demonstrated to have bribed a Qatari official in order to win a competitive contract for the Qatari armed forces.

The two issues were combined in a settlement with the corporation where it essnetially pled no contest. For the over charge the company will pay a $146.8 million criminal liability and a further $428 million civil claim under the False Claims Act. In addition, the whistleblower herself will receive $4.2 million for reporting the incident. The bribery allegation was settled through a $252.3 million dollar penalty along with other forfeitures. They are also required to increase their compliance monitoring and remain under direct federal compliance supervision for three years.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been pretty effective since 1977 in stopping most US corporate efforts to buy contracts abroad. It actually puts US corporations at a competitive disadvantage in the developing world. The result has been, that countries tend to purchase critical must haves from the US and less critical assets from European or Asian sources where considerations flow more freely.

Anyway, my takeaway is that our government and its regulatory system worked as designed and caught a bad corporate actor. That is what is to see here.

With respect to the security breach and Israel, you can believe whatever makes you happy, but you know nothing more than me or anyone else on this site. Just to add to the conspiracy file, a new one on the left is that the administration leaked the data in conjunction with the Israeli government in order to let Israel off the hook in trying to respond militarily to Iran - something it has limited capability to do. I also suspect that Israeli missile defense assets are pretty low after fighting off two huge barrages from Iran. Who knows? No one here - yet.

Thanks for the insight. Curious as to whether the corporate officer caught bribing a foreign official went to jail? When I became an officer of a Fortune 100 company, I spent two days learning all the different ways I could go to jail. FCPA was pretty high on the list!

 

[wesheltonj]

Well why don't we start with the facts about the Raytheon story. After all, I am certain you would agree that all the readers here should know all the facts to prevent them from jumping to some erroneous conclusion. There is, after all, "plenty to see", and that transparency is due to the effective investigatory efforts of the US Government and the strength of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That effort will cost the new RTX corporation, which was created through the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies in 2020, a nearly billion dollar write off, and an extensive period of compliance overwatch.

The corruption occurred under Raytheon between 2012 and 2018 in two forms. The first was an over charge to the US government of $111 million for the cost of three Patriot Batteries. This was discovered through a Raytheon whistleblower and criminal charges were brought through the DOJ for damages. The other, was discovered through the Securities and Exchange Commission, where the company was demonstrated to have bribed a Qatari official in order to win a competitive contract for the Qatari armed forces.

The two issues were combined in a settlement with the corporation where it essnetially pled no contest. For the over charge the company will pay a $146.8 million criminal liability and a further $428 million civil claim under the False Claims Act. In addition, the whistleblower herself will receive $4.2 million for reporting the incident. The bribery allegation was settled through a $252.3 million dollar penalty along with other forfeitures. They are also required to increase their compliance monitoring and remain under direct federal compliance supervision for three years.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been pretty effective since 1977 in stopping most US corporate efforts to buy contracts abroad. It actually puts US corporations at a competitive disadvantage in the developing world. The result has been, that countries tend to purchase critical must haves from the US and less critical assets from European or Asian sources where considerations flow more freely.

Anyway, my takeaway is that our government and its regulatory system worked as designed and caught a bad corporate actor. That is what is to see here.

With respect to the security breach and Israel, you can believe whatever makes you happy, but you know nothing more than me or anyone else on this site. Just to add to the conspiracy file, a new one on the left is that the administration leaked the data in conjunction with the Israeli government in order to let Israel off the hook in trying to respond militarily to Iran - something it has limited capability to do. I also suspect that Israeli missile defense assets are pretty low after fighting off two huge barrages from Iran. Who knows? No one here - yet.

The whistle blower made nothing. The usual minimum recovery is 15%.

 

[Red Leg]

Thanks for the insight. Curious as to whether the corporate officer caught bribing a foreign official went to jail? When I became an officer of a Fortune 100 company, I spent two days learning all the different ways I could go to jail. FCPA was pretty high on the list!

I was curious and could not find the individual case(s). But yes, I went through the same set of briefings about FCPA upon hiring, plus we had annual scare you to death updates. My business unit also had its own dedicated lawyer, plus other international experts upon which to lean when working a proposal with a foreign government or corporation. I couldn't even take my counterpart out to dinner without approval from the legal team.

 

[Tex .416]

The whistle blower made nothing. The usual minimum recovery is 15%.

The DOJ press release states the blower did receive $4.2 million. The statute provides for payments up to 15%, but there are multiple factors that go into the analysis. This area of law is treacherous for the whistleblower and his or her lawyers.

“The civil settlement includes the resolution of a lawsuit filed under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in a portion of the government’s recovery. The qui tam lawsuit was filed by Karen Atesoglu, a former Raytheon employee, and is captioned United States ex rel. Atesoglu v. Raytheon Technologies Corporation, 21-CV-10690-PBS (DMA). Ms. Atesoglu will receive $4.2 million as her share of the settlement.”

Raytheon Company to Pay Over $950M in Connection with Defective Pricing, Foreign Bribery, and Export Control Schemes

Raytheon Company (Raytheon) — a subsidiary of Arlington, Virginia-based defense contractor RTX (formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation) — will pay over $950 million to resolve the Justice Department’s investigations into: (i) a major government fraud scheme involving defective...

www.justice.gov

 

[VertigoBE]

I was curious and could not find the individual case(s). But yes, I went through the same set of briefings about FCPA upon hiring, plus we had annual scare you to death updates. My business unit also had its own dedicated lawyer, plus other international experts upon which to lean when working a proposal with a foreign government or corporation. I couldn't even take my counterpart out to dinner without approval from the legal team.

Still living this. Gotta love the compliance department, the yearly trainings and examples of all the ways I could get fired, go to jail, and pay personally hefty fines.

As Front Officer you are actually personally liable, for actions you take before, during and after negotiations. Especially in regulated entities (banks for example) it is often draconian.

The thing is, during those yearly training sessions, going through "use cases". They are not invented, but come from our peers, and ourselves... Sometimes the line is so fine, that it is difficult to see when you are in danger zone and when not.