Refreshing

Memeorandum has had an item up for some time now about a message sent to reporters at the Seattle Times from Dave Boardman, the executive editor of that paper. The original email addressed the impropriety of several staffers cheering when they heard in a meeting that Karl Rove had resigned. Boardman's words:

When word came in of Karl Rove's resignation, several people in the meeting started cheering. That sort of expression is simply not appropriate for a newsroom.

Editor and Publisher has a followup from Boardman:

My Raves admonition on politically based cheering in the newsroom has ignited the predictable flame-throwing in the blogosphere, particularly from the portside. Allow me to riff a bit further on that, and on my reasoning….

The postings nearly everywhere speak not to the fundamental issues around newsroom decorum, but instead spring from one's place on the spectrum of Bush/Rove "Bad" or Bush/Rove "Good."

I ask you all to leave your personal politics at the front door for one simple reason: A good newsroom is a sacred and magical place in which we can and should test every assumption, challenge each other's thinking, ask the fundamental questions those in power hope we will overlook.

If we wore our politics on our sleeves in here, I have no doubt that in this and in most other mainstream newsrooms in America, the majority of those sleeves would be of the same color: blue. Survey after survey over the years have demonstrated that most of the people who go into this business tend to vote Democratic, at least in national elections. That is not particularly surprising, given how people make career decisions and that social service and activism is a primary driver for many journalists.

But if we allowed our news meetings to evolve into a liberal latte klatch, I have no doubt that a pathological case of group-think would soon set in. One of the advances of which I’m most proud over the years is our willingness to question and challenge each other as we work to give our readers the most valuable, meaningful journalism we can.

The result: A newspaper that is known nationally for aggressive watchdog and investigative reporting, without fear or favor. From a Democratic United States senator (Brock Adams) to our region's biggest employer (Boeing) to a large advertiser (Nordstrom) to our school districts and courts and police, we have confronted them all with tough questions to which they had no good answers. The result has been a better community, laws changed, lives saved.

It’s not about "balance," which is a false construct. It isn't even about "objectivity," which is a laudable but probably unattainable goal. It is about independent thinking and sound, facts-based journalism — the difference between what we do and the myopic screed that is passed off as "advocacy" journalism these days.

Boardman is refreshingly honest here. Reporters are, by their very nature, biased. That is what led them into the field. But if they cannot put aside those biases and ask the difficult questions – even from their personal sacred cows – they have no business being in the business they have chosen. Reporting is about facts, not agenda. Real facts, not made up ones. Boardman's candor and honesty is welcome.

Today’s SHOCKER!!! From The Associated Press!!!!

The blaring headline says it all:

Rumsfeld resignation letter omits 'Iraq'

The utterly breathless report that follows puts the AP on a par with AFP's shocking revelation that American troops are physically throwing unfired rifle cartridges at Iraqi homes.

WASHINGTON – The word "Iraq" doesn't appear in former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation letter. Neither does the word "war." In fact, the deadly and much-criticized conflict that eventually drummed him out of office, comes up only in vague references, such as "a critical time in our history" and "challenging time for our country," in the four-paragraph, 148-word letter he wrote to President Bush a day before the Nov. 7, 2006 election.

According to a stamp on the letter, Bush's office acknowledged receipt the next day, as voters were going to the polls. Bush announced Rumsfeld's departure a day later, after the massive anti-war vote that swept Democrats into control of the House and Senate.

The elusive letter — which the Pentagon denied existed as recently as April — surfaced this week in response to multiple Freedom of Information Act requests by The Associated Press.

But it sheds no light on why Rumsfeld believed he should leave his post after directing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for nearly five years.

Instead Rumsfeld, in his last paragraph, says only, "It is time to conclude my service."

Further cutting-edge investigative journalism from the AP also reveals that Rumsfeld did not once use the words 'kumquat', 'ballista' or 'Zamboanga' and that, most shockingly of all, made no reference to Paris Hilton, Britney Spears (or her beaver ) or Spiderman 3.

We Expect Thanks For This

All of you people who detest mowing lawns owe us a real debt of gratitude. The next time your significant other or officials in the city, town or village you live in demand that you cut your lawn all you have to do is point to this post. Your troubles are over and any talk of mowing of lawns is finished. All you have to say it: "I'm sorry, I can't mow the lawn. I don't want to burn down the house."

(Danny) Fendley was trying to start the mower in the garage of his two-story brick home in this Atlanta suburb when the machine burst into flames. Before he could extinguish the fire, it had spread through the garage.

Then his wife tried to toss a can of gasoline out a window as the blaze spread, but she missed, spreading the fuel "everywhere," Fendley said.

The flames engulfed the house in less than a minute. The couple escaped without serious injury.

Remember, kids, don't try this one at home. Go to a friend's house.

President For Life

(T)Hugo Chavez is set to announce his new, improved constitutional powers. Including the really important one: declaring himself President for Life.

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez was presenting his blueprint Wednesday for sweeping constitutional changes expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely, a move his critics call a threat to democracy.

Chavez, who is seeking to transform Venezuelan society along socialist lines, announced late Tuesday that he would unveil his proposal before crowds of supporters at the National Assembly. He predicted it would bring renewed political upheaval to Venezuela.

Chavez's political allies firmly control the National Assembly, which is expected to approve the plan within months. It then would have to be approved by citizens in a national referendum.

Chavez has revealed few details of his proposal, but has stressed the need to do away with presidential term limits that currently prevent him from seeking re-election in 2012.

Critics accuse Chavez of seeking to become a lifelong leader, like his close friend Fidel Castro in Cuba. They say his main goal is simply to expand his power and assure he will be able to run again in 2012.

"Chavez is seeking to reduce the territory held by the opposition and give his intention to remain in power a legal foundation," said Gerardo Blyde, an opposition leader and former lawmaker.

He said many other reforms are likely to be "red capes" like those used by a bullfighter "to distract Venezuelans from his real objective."

The "elections" will be pro forma affairs. of course. Funny how the left in this country charges our president with having intentions to do something like this but say not a word damning the real deal happening not so very far away. So, inquiring minds want to know: will chief American shill for (T)Hugo Chavez, Joseph Kennedy II, still vouch for the wonderful dictator for life?

He’s Ever So Much More Than Just A Messiah

I posted about David Shayler, the former MI5 agent turned messiah a short while back. Now the Daily Mail has done a long interview piece with… er – what's the proper form of address here? His Highness? Nah, that's a king. His Holiness? Nah, that's the Pope. How about his All-Seeing Orbness. Clumsy, but it'll have to do. The Daily Mail sent a reporter to do the interview, Jane Fryer, who would have, quite obviously rather been doing something else. Like having a root canal without Novocaine.

David Shayler is sitting before me – slim, tanned, sockless, dressed from top-to-toe in white and very, very chatty.

"I am the messiah and hold the secret of eternal life," he starts excitedly. "It all came about quite suddenly.

"First I started meditating, then I learnt how to channel the "light", and the more research I did – into Freemasonry, the Knights Templar, Kabbalah – the more convinced I became that I was the Christ."

Jesus Christ? "No, Jesus of the New Testament is an archetype," he explains patiently. "His name derives from the 13th Name of God in Kabbalah, which helps activate the Messiah consciousness within us.

"I was, though, crucified with a crown of thorns and nails then incarnated as Astronges, a Jewish revolutionary put to death by the Romans at around the end of the last century BC …It explained why in this life I had funny shaped wrists and ankles…"

Had? "Yes, look," he says, proffering his tanned arms. "They've pretty much corrected themselves now I've acknowledged the crucifixion – but there used to be big hollows where nails had been bashed in."

And if you squint you eyes up enough, you can see Elvis in the scar I got from an infected bug bite. Good heavens. You simply must read this one. His Orbness claims a number of past lives as well as being the messiah:

While he is likeable, well-spoken, beautifully mannered and very clever, it's all very disturbing.

Particularly when he rattles through his past lives – along with Astronges (the crucified Jewish revolutionary) there's also George Washington, Pythagoras, Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Mark Antony and Lawrence of Arabia.

And the all-white wardrobe – is that a Kabbalah thing?

"Actually, it's a Christ thing. You'll notice that T. E. Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – started wearing long white robes when he realised he was the Christ. It seems part of the process."

The terrifying thing is how unshakeable his belief is.

Nah, that's normal for someone that far 'round the bend. "See this buttonhole? Rats come out of that hole." His exalted Orbness admits to smoking pot and taking "magic" mushrooms. Sadly, there is no longer a significant other Orbness in the picture. His former girlfriend bolted. But things are definitely looking up for the Orby love-life! We may have found a match made in … um … Wisconsin.

Neighbors called police shortly after midnight Tuesday and, after an officer arrived, he heard the woman yelling in the backyard and found her wearing headphones, a T-shirt and underwear, the captain said.

An officer tried to get her attention by shining a flashlight on her but she continued yelling her chants, Babe said.

He said Barney at one point poured lighter fluid on the fire, in which she was burning rubber car mats and a cooler. Barney refused to cooperate with police and was belligerent, and her breath smelled of alcohol, Babe added

Four officers were sent to the scene and arrested her, the captain added.

She claims to be a Wiccan. We had no idea that flaming rubber car mats and flambéed coolers were part of their rituals. We find that more confusing than the coconuts.

Gator Break

Lest you think it is only capuchin monkeys who are capable of Houdini-like escapes from captivity, we bring you the troubling story of Reggie, the jail-breaking alligator. You may have heard about Reggie. He eluded capture in a California lake for two years, despite the efforts of a whole bunch of expert gator catchers. When he was finally nabbed, he was transported to a new home at the Los Angeles Zoo. This morning zoo personnel look in on Reggie in his cheerful, new pond.

Reggie, however, had left. Disappeared. Gone on the lam. Bolted.

Keepers discovered the 7 1/2-foot gator was missing from his personal exhibit pond at around 7:30 a.m. and a search of every rock and bush proved he wasn't anywhere in the display.

Reggie was finally found near a loading dock shortly before the zoo's 10 a.m. opening time, spokesman Jason Jacobs said.

He had managed to climb a mesh-covered side wall of the exhibit and crawl several hundred yards.

"They're very good climbers. Alligators are superbly adapted," Jacobs said.

"It proves to us that he's a very smart, healthy gator," Jacobs said.

Reggie was placed in quarantine while a mesh overhang was added to his exhibit to prevent another escape. He was expected to be returned to the display later Wednesday, and staffers planned to keep a close eye on him.

It is quite obvious that Reggie planned to steal a delivery truck and head home to the lake. Now all our readers can sleep soundly knowing Reggie is back home. But we bet you won't because gators can climb walls. Think you're safe on the second floor? Sleep tight!

Oliver In Chains

Oliver "Capuchin" Monkey has been captured in Tupelo, Mississippi. It took an old style football dogpile of humans to capture the fugitive this time, though. (The number of people involved is not specified in the story, but we have this mental picture of about twenty guys piling on.) And Oliver didn't go peacefully even with all that – he bit one of his captors. He won't be getting out quite as easily this time, either. He's been triple-chained into his cage.

Now, park officials have put three chains with locks on his cage, said park manager Kirk Nemecheck.

"There’s one on top, one on the bottom and one in the middle," Nemecheck said. "If he gets out again, someone is letting him out."

Oliver was found about four miles from the park in a yard off Endville Road. Park officials said he probably followed the railroad tracks to get there.

"The police showed up and helped us," he said. "We surrounded him, a guy jumped on him and got his hand bit, but we got him."

Oliver has so far shown himself to be smarter than the people trying to keep him locked up. We simply cannot wait for the next jailbreak. We're thinking of sending him a banana with a file hidden in it just for the giggle factor.

Vampires Take Over Costa Rica

You think we're making this up, don't you? Well we're not. Real, blood-sucking vampires are multiplying and spreading all over Costa Rica and Central America. And they are dining well. They're eating cow blood.

There have never been this many vampire bats before.

Farmers have observed vampire bats attacking cattle recently. (Vampire bats only feed on humans in rare instances.)

To see if the farmers were right about the overall trend in bats' new diets, Christian Voigt of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin and colleagues measured isotopes in exhaled carbon dioxide in both captive and wild vampire bats.

“The potential victims of vampires in Costa Rica are either cattle or rainforest mammals such as tapirs and peccaries," Voigt said.

The two animal groups feed on different plants with distinct levels of carbon isotopes. "Therefore, we expected that the stable carbon isotope signature in bat breath would change according to their diet,” Voigt said.

The bat breath showed the chemical marks of cattle, indicating, the authors say, that the last blood meal of the flying mammals almost always was cattle.

But when the farmers figure out how to protect the cows, the abundance of bats will have to look elsewhere for dinner. We wouldn't plan any trips to Costa Rica for the foreseeable future.

AFP Pulls A Reuters!

This is simply too funny. Uncle Jimbo over at Blackfive has some amazing AFP photographs. The most recent shows a woman holding up two "bullets" that she claims hit her house during an American raid. If this is true, American forces are in real trouble. Oh, not for hitting the house. But the cartridges (including bullets) that the woman is holding are unfired. Do you realize what this means? If the woman's claims are true, that is:

American troops are physically throwing unfired cartridges!

Even more entertaining are the pictures that follow that appear to show a woman holding up a bullet – only that bullet never hit anything. And it does not appear to have a copper jacket – which casts doubt on what it is. The one after that shows what may be an actual fired bullet but also what appears to be an unfired hollowpoint pistol cartridge. (Hint: American forces do not use hollowpoints, which are banned in warfare. It is a court martial offense to be caught with one in your possession according to my son.)

All of these were supposedly the result of American actions.

Fauxtography: it's not just for Reuters anymore.

Also, read the comments, there is much more. But my favorite comment was this one:

No, no. This makes perfect sense. Bullets thrown at a house…the French have finally sent troops to Iraq!

Absolutely inspired.

UPDATE: Others: Confederate Yankee,  Hot Air, Snapped Shot, Say Anything, Wake up America, Gateway Pundit, Done With Mirrors, Protein Wisdom,  Captain's Quarters, Little Green Footballs, The Jawa Report, Neptunus Lex, A Blog For All, The Autonomist, AND Captain's Quarters again with a new AFP scoop! Inspired!

When Beef Goes Bad

A woman from Scotland found out what happens when beef goes bad – the hard way. While the woman was trying to move a calf into a shed, momma cow decided that she didn't want junior leaving and attacked. The angry cow, not to be confused with a mad cow, kept knocking the woman down every time she tried to get away. This is where the story gets confused:

"Every time I tried to crawl away, the cow just slammed into me again."

With nobody nearby, she admitted she feared for her life.

"The first I knew I was just lying on the ground – I thought I was dead," she said.

"Nobody was there to help me. I was terrified and I thought the other cows would join in which can happen sometimes."

However, she had not counted on the intervention of her 15-year-old horse as it went to her rescue.

"I was so surprised, she is like a pet so I was very surprised," said Mrs Boyd.

She cannot remember if the horse actually kicked the cow but is sure her charge scared the angry animal off.

Here we go anthropomorphizing again. Longtime readers recognize the fallacy of Mrs Boyd's belief that the horse rescued her. In actuality, the cow and the horse were arguing over who got the prime rib. Mrs Boyd was lucky she got away before they settled the argument.

Bullet-Proof Bear Goes Bonkers

A black bear led police and game officials on a merry chase through the city of Roanoke, Virginia. It took three tranquilizer darts, a beanbag gun and a pepper-ball gun to finally subdue the bear, who is apparently a reincarnation of Rasputin. But that's not the bad news. The bad news is that bear sightings are increasing rapidly in Virginia.

RICHMOND (AP) — It took three tranquilizer darts, a beanbag gun and a pepper-ball gun to bring down a black bear running through Roanoke, police and game officials close on its tail.

The 140-pound bear, which lumbered through the city two weeks ago, was turned over to Michael Vaughan, professor of wildlife science at Virginia Tech, who has been studying bears for 26 years. He said he will use the bear for his reproductive physiology research.

The sight of a bear running down a street hasn't been a rare sight this summer. Bear sightings and encounters have been on the rise, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said.

"I suspect it's because we've had some hot and dry conditions and there may not be as much water or food in their natural habitat," Mr. Vaughan said. He said black bears typically are shy and try to avoid humans.

Unless you really want to encourage a visit by a hungry bear (in which case, you deserve one) it is important to keep food sources tightly controlled. Garbage and even bird feeders can attract bears. Incidentally, if you do run into a bear, whatever you do, do not look the bear in the eyes. That is considered by bears to be a challenge. (That is serious advice, BTW.)

Skyrocketing Food Prices – Redux

Longtime readers know I have sounded this warning in the past, but today the McClatchy Washington Bureau has come out with an article on the sharp increases in the price of many staple foods. While overall inflation remains low, the prices for many common foods are jumping by double digits.

MIDLAND, Va. — The Labor Department’s most recent inflation data showed that U.S. food prices rose by 4.1 percent for the 12 months ending in June, but a deeper look at the numbers reveals that the price of milk, eggs and other essentials in the American diet are actually rising by double digits.

Already stung by a two-year rise in gasoline prices, American consumers now face sharply higher prices for foods they can’t do without. This little-known fact may go a long way to explaining why, despite healthy job statistics, Americans remain glum about the economy.

Meeting with economic writers last week, President Bush dismissed several polls that show Americans are down on the economy. He expressed surprise that inflation is one of the stated concerns.

“They cite inflation?” Bush asked, adding that, “I happen to believe the war has clouded a lot of people's sense of optimism.”

But the inflation numbers reveal the extent to which lower- and middle-income Americans are being pinched.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its June inflation report that egg prices are 19.5 percent higher than they were in June 2006. Over the same period, according to the department’s consumer price index, whole milk was up 13.3 percent; fresh chicken 10 percent; navel oranges 19.8 percent; apples 11.7 percent. Dried beans were up 11.5 percent, and white bread just missed double-digit growth, rising by 9.6 percent.

These numbers get lost in the broader inflation rate for all goods and services, which measured 2.7 for the same 12-month period. Across the economy, rising food prices were offset by falling prices for things bought at the mall: computers, cameras, clothing and shoes.

McClatchy may actually have this pinned. People are reminded frequently about high gas prices and sharp increases in the cost of foods. That may be exactly why there is so much economic gloom among the voters. People see it every day and it is beginning to pinch. But what is fueling these increases? (Pun intended.)

It's partly because of corn prices, driven up by congressional mandates for ethanol production, which have reduced the amount of corn available for animal feed. It's also because of tougher immigration enforcement and a late spring freeze, which have made farm laborers scarcer and damaged fruit and vegetable crops, respectively. And it's because of higher diesel fuel costs to run tractors and attractive foreign markets that take U.S. production.

I do not, for a moment, buy the immigration issue they raise. That is a red herring. Most of the products they cite as increasing rapidly are ones that do not rely on large (illegal) labor resources. Fuel, though, is a double whammy: higher fuel prices mean higher transport costs and higher food prices; increased demand for ethanol for fuel causes higher food prices. All thanks to your friendly Congress. And don't forget, the Democrat-controlled Congress is eying still more tax increases which will drive up the cost of fuel. Transportation costs will increase still further and the price of food will continue to spiral upward out of control.

Dragoon

In many ways, it is the forgotten invasion of the Second World War. On 15 August, 1944, American, British and Free French forces stormed ashore near Marseilles in Southern France. The invasion was code named Operation Dragoon. More than 94,000 troops landed on the first day, along with some 11,000 vehicles. German resistance was light and ineffective (one assault force was redirected when resistance at the original landing site was too fierce). The troop advanced very rapidly, penetrating some 20 miles into France in the first 24 hours.

The 45^th US Infantry Division landed at La Nartelle where enemy resistance was weak. Amphibious tanks destroyed the pillboxes; other obstacles were then rapidly cleared. The first battalions assaulting Sainte-Maxime encountered firm German resistance. The houses had to be cleared one by one by grenade, and two hours of fighting were needed before resistance ended there. Progress resumed along the coast with a link established with the 3^rd Division at about 2100 hours. To the north and the interior, the landing forces took up blocking positions for the night. Despite the limited area of the beachhead 33,000 men and 3000 vehicles put ashore during the first day of the invasion.

Operations of the 36^th US Infantry Division were more difficult. The first waves of the assault lost several landing craft when subjected to intense fire near Cape Antheor. On the Drammont beach, amphibious tanks were able to open the route and allow rapid occupation of the crest and coastal road. On the other hand, the elements in front of Fréjus were obliged to make an about turn due to the intensity of German fire. 93 Liberator bombers were called in to inundate the area with a deluge of high explosive. Under a violent enemy barrage, minesweepers moved in and cleared the approaches to within 500 meters of the coast. Two demolition teams disembarked and undertook the opening of passages to the beach. But facing the apparent impossibility of destroying the underwater obstacles, Admiral Lewis decided to suspend the landing and to transfer the landing to the Drammont beachhead. There was no longer any question of seizing Saint-Raphaël before nightfall. At 1030 hours, the assault forces, finally landed on the Drammont beach, moved toward Saint-Raphaël, but were stopped at the eastern boundary by a strong German blocking force at Boulouris. At 1700 hours the blocking force was bypassed and progress resumed toward Valescure. By nightfall, the heights to the northeast of Fréjus were reached. The next day, a strong attack allowed clearing Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël.

Winston Churchill had bitterly opposed Operation Dragoon. But the capture of the port of Marseilles turned out to be vital to the war effort. The port was put back in operation despite heavy damage and the supplies that moved through there were desperately needed by the rapidly advancing Allied armies.

Wikipedia entry here.

Growing Rich

John Stossel uses his column this week to savage farm subsidies. The General Accounting Office uncovered about $1.1 billion in payments to dead farmers from 1999 to 2005. But dead farmers were the least of the problem. Agriculture subsidies cost American taxpayers $25 billion every year.

Exactly. The agricultural section of the U.S. code is nearly 1,800 pages.

There's an easy way to avoid such absurdities: Abolish all farm subsidies.

Why are taxpayers forced to pay farmers $25 billion a year? Sure, farmers face droughts and floods, but that's been true since Moses' day. They can't say they weren't put on notice that farming has risks. Running a restaurant or a software company entails risks, too, but we don't guarantee their continued operation. Those businesses and America are stronger for it.

Farm subsidies are popular with politicians because Big Agriculture lobbies hard, and many people believe that without subsidies, we wouldn't have a reliable food supply.

But what an insane myth that is. As I wrote in "Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity", most crops are not subsidized. Yet we have no shortages of fruits, vegetables, livestock and poultry. America has plenty of peaches, plums, peas, green beans, etc., and farmers who grow those crops do fine. What makes wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans and rice different?

Last week, the New York Times reported that dairy farmers in New Zealand get along perfectly well without subsidies: "[E]ver since a liberal but free-market government swept to power in 1984 and essentially canceled handouts to farmers — something that just about every other government in an advanced industrial nation has considered both politically and economically impossible. … [O]utput has soared."

Stossel forgot sugar – one of the most egregious of the farm subsidies that artificially keep sugar prices very high in the US. The insanity of the system is that while some farmers are getting subsidies to grow certain products, others are being paid to not grow the same things. The term "farmer" used to mean a small, family run operation. These days "farmer" basically means agricultural baron with huge Federal subsidies. Family farms are really a thing of the past but the subsidies that were originally intended to help out those small operators are now being consumed by corporate operations. If lawmakers want to continue the fiction of the family farm, it would be easily enough to fix: put an income limit on subsidies.

Congress rejected just that, though.

An amendment that would have withheld subsidies from farmers with incomes of $250,000 or more was rejected by the House.

Very nice.

Educating The Nonexistent

The Washington, DC school system received about $4 million in Federal money over a decade to pay for the education of the children of migrant workers. Which is all well and good except for one thing: they didn't have any children of migrant workers enrolled in their schools. The grant money was intended for the children of seasonal workers in agriculture or fishing, two industries that Washington, DC is not exactly noted for. Worst of all, it appears to have been done deliberately based on false claims filed by officials.

The school system received $3.85 million between 1994 and 2004 for children whose families had seasonal employment in agriculture and fishing. The U.S. Department of Education awarded the grants on an annual basis based on information submitted by D.C. education officials.

Federal education officials did not give information yesterday on how many children were claimed by D.C. officials to have been served under the grants. The receipt of money for migrant students was first reported by the Washington Examiner.

Melissa Merz, spokeswoman for the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, said city attorneys have looked into the issue "and believe that the D.C. public schools drew down these funds in error." The office is working on a resolution with federal attorneys from the Justice Department, Merz said. Local jurisdictions can face fines for the misuse of funds under the federal False Claims Act.

This went on for a decade. It seems unlikely that it was a one-off oopsie on the part of officials. Whatever arrangement Washington officials make for repayment of the money should also include some punishment for whoever kept filing the false claims. Given that it is part of the educational bureaucracy involved, that seems unlikely. Unless the Examiner keeps the heat on.