Peace vigil/DVD AMAZING GRACE/Pentagon Paid Billions To Contractors Suspended For Fraud

  There is a silent vigil on Fri., Feb. 4 from 5 to 6 PM outside of Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 N. Charles St., in opposition to war in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Placards say: "War Is Not the Answer." The silent vigil is sponsored by AFSC, Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings. 

 

The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility and Baltimore Quaker Peace and Justice Committee of Homewood and Stony Run Meetings are hosting the FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES.  The next film in the series, entitled THE INDIVIDUAL IN A TIME OF CONFLICT, AMAZING GRACE [United Kingdom, 2006] will be shown on Fri., Feb. 4 at Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218.  The Meeting hosts a potluck dinner from 6 to 7 PM on First Fridays after the vigil.  At 7 PM, the DVD will be shown with a discussion to follow.  There is no charge, and refreshments will be available.  Call Max at 410-366-1637.

 

AMAZING GRACE is directed by Michael Apted is about the campaign to abolish the slave trade in the United Kingdom.  The camera focuses on William Wilberforce, responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title refers to the hymn "Amazing Grace," and the film recounts John Newton's writing of the hymn and highlights his influence on Wilberforce. The film stars Ioan Gruffudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Romola Garai and Albert Finney.  Wilberforce has to be convinced by the abolitionists to take up the cause, as he realizes how unpopular he will become, considering slavery is a staple of the British economy.  Filmgoers unfamiliar with the history portrayed in the movie will be unaware that the real hero was Thomas Clarkson, a legendary Quaker human rights activist.  In the film, though, Clarkson is somewhat of a minor character.  Regardless, it gives hope to all who dream of serious and positive social change.  After a 20-year campaign, a bill is passed in 1807 to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire forever.

 

Published on Thursday, February 3, 2011 by Huffington Post

Pentagon Paid Billions To Contractors Suspended For Fraud

by Amanda Terkel

WASHINGTON -- The military paid a total of $285 billion to more than 100 contractors between 2007 and '09, even though those same companies were defrauding taxpayers in the same period, according to a new Defense Department report [1].

The military paid a total of $285 billion to more than 100 contractors between 2007 and '09, even though those same companies were defrauding taxpayers in the same period, according to a new Defense Department report. (CBS/AP)

What's perhaps most shocking is that billions of dollars went to contractors who had been either suspended or debarred for misusing taxpayer funds. The Pentagon also spent $270 billion on 91 contractors involved in civil fraud cases that resulted in judgments of more than $1 million. Another $682 million went to 30 contractors convicted of criminal fraud.

The analysis was mandated by a provision that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) inserted into the defense bill last year. The measure also requested that the Defense Department recommend additional ways to punish the violating contractors, but the Report to Congress on Contractor Fraud concluded, "The department believes that existing remedies with respect to contractor wrongdoing are sufficient."

"It has been said that insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results," replied the Sanders staff in an analysis [2] of the findings. "It is clear that DOD's current approach is not working, and we need a much more vigorous approach to dealing with contractor fraud."

Sanders underscored the importance of reining in contractor abuse by pointing to the U.S. fiscal situation, saying that the deficit cannot be reduced without looking at the waste, fraud and abuse in the Pentagon's budget.

"With the country running a $14 trillion national debt, my goal is to provide as much transparency as possible about what is happening with taxpayer money," he said. "The sad truth is that virtually all of the major defense contractors in this country for years have been engaged in systemic fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money."

On Monday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) pressed the Joint Chiefs of Staff to get the military's books in order [3], saying he would "continue to push for a budget freeze of all base budget non-military personnel accounts at the Defense Department until it complies with the law regarding auditable financial statements."

 

© 2011 Huffington Post

 

URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/02/03-3

 

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net

 

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs