News Articles
| US: Deputy SecDef could earn $500K lobbying Pentagon by Lara Jakes, Washington Post January 27th, 2009 William J. Lynn, the man nominated to be the Pentagon's second-in-command could make a half-million dollars next month with vested stock he earned as a lobbyist for military contractor Raytheon. This is despite an Obama administration order against "revolving door" lobbyists who become public officials. |
| Iraq: Introducing DisneyIraq: The Unhappiest Place on Earth by Scott Thill, AlterNet August 15th, 2008 An American financier is pitching a vast theme park in Baghdad, not out of kindness, but as he says, "for profit." |
| US: Concrete contractor cuts deal with prosecutors by Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle June 1st, 2008 Substandard concrete from Ramirez's now-defunct company was poured into a half-mile stretch of the Bay Bridge's rebuilt western approach. Inferior, less-durable material also was used on a retrofit project at the Golden Gate Bridge, a wastewater treatment plant in Burlingame, the new parking garage in Golden Gate Park, the Municipal Railway's Third Street light-rail line and other projects. |
| FRANCE: Prosecutors probe Alstom for contract corruption AFP May 6th, 2008 French prosecutors suspect engineering giant Alstom, builder of power stations and high-speed trains, of bribing foreign officials to win contracts, a judicial source said Tuesday. |
| US: Holes in the Wall
by Melissa del Bosque, The Texas Observer February 18th, 2008 As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security marches down the Texas border serving condemnation lawsuits to frightened landowners, Brownsville resident Eloisa Tamez, 72, has one simple question. She would like to know why her land is being targeted for destruction by a border wall, while a nearby golf course and resort remain untouched. |
| US: Protests Greet Nuclear Power Resurgence in US South by Matthew Cardinale, IPS January 14th, 2008 Residents and environmental activists are in a bitter dispute with large U.S. energy corporations and the federal government over the safety of nuclear power, as more than a dozen corporations plan to, or have filed, paperwork to open new nuclear power plants, primarily in the U.S. South. |
| CHINA: China Grabs West’s Smoke-Spewing Factories by Joseph Kahn and Mark Landler, New York Times December 21st, 2007 In its rush to re-create the industrial revolution that made the West rich, China has absorbed most of the major industries that once made the West dirty. |
| US: Sale of KBR Bolsters Profit at Halliburton by Bloomberg News, The New York Times July 24th, 2007 Halliburton, the oil field contractor, said second-quarter net income more than doubled on a gain from selling its government services and construction subsidiary, KBR. |
| INDONESIA: Blood boils as mud volcano swallows homes Sydney Morning Herald May 26th, 2007 One year ago this Tuesday, a gas-exploration well part-owned by the Australian mining giant Santos blew, sending a geyser of mud and toxic gas into the air. Nearby villages and factories were flooded, then a big highway and railway were covered, and later East Java's main gas pipeline ruptured. |
| SUDAN: China accused of supporting Sudan rights abuse Agence France Presse May 18th, 2007 A leading opponent of a Chinese-financed dam in Sudan accused Beijing on Friday of fueling widespread human rights abuses, as Khartoum moved to relocate 70,000 villagers to make way for the project. |
| US: Contractor pleads guilty in train station corruption Associated Press October 16th, 2006 A fourth defendant pleaded guilty Monday to participating in corruption involving the renovation of state offices at a train station, authorities said. |
| US: Unwanted Imports: Goods deemed toxic elsewhere shipped to U.S. Associated Press October 15th, 2006 Destined for American kitchens, planks of birch and poplar plywood are stacked to the ceiling of a cavernous port warehouse. The wood, which arrived in California via a cargo ship, carries two labels: One proclaims "Made in China," while the other warns that it contains formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical. |
| US: Official Warned of Tunnel Ceiling Collapse in 1999 The Associated Press July 26th, 2006 The on-site safety officer for a Big Dig highway tunnel where a motorist was crushed by falling concrete warned his superiors in 1999 that the heavy ceiling panels might collapse because the bolts could not support them, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday. |
| US: Romney: 1,400 Big Dig 'concerns' The Associated Press July 18th, 2006 Gov. Mitt Romney said Monday that tests showed there are more than 1,400 "items of concern" in a Big Dig connector tunnel where the ceiling collapsed � dramatically raising the number of potential troublespots identified by engineers and investigators. |
| US: Foreign Companies Buy U.S. Roads, Bridges by Leslie Miller, Associated Press July 15th, 2006 Roads and bridges built by U.S. taxpayers are starting to be sold off, and so far foreign-owned companies are doing the buying. |
| US: Big Dig problems may date back to 1999 by Steve LeBlank, The Associated Press July 13th, 2006 Contractors knew as early as 1999 that there were problems with some of the bolts attaching massive concrete panels to the ceiling of the Big Dig highway tunnel where a woman was crushed by 12 tons of falling concrete, Massachusetts' attorney general said. |
| US: Military contractor indicted on federal charges Waynesville Daily Guide June 29th, 2006 An Arkansas company and three of its employees face federal charges for alleged improprieties in their work at Fort Leonard Wood. |
| ROMANIA: PM advises Bechtel contract could be annulled by Adrian Hamzescu, Bucharest Daily News December 22nd, 2005 Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu warned the American company Bechtel that the contract for the Brasov - Bors (Transylvania) highway could be annulled if the company does not follow the laws to the letter. |
| IRAQ: American Faces Charge of Graft for Work in Iraq by James Glanz, New York Times November 17th, 2005 In what is expected to be the first of a series of criminal charges against officials and contractors overseeing the rebuilding of Iraq, an American has been charged with paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to American occupation authorities and their spouses to obtain construction contracts, according to a complaint unsealed late yesterday. |
| INDONESIA: Construction in Aceh Endangers National Forests by By Richel Dursin , Asia Times Online March 9th, 2005 A government plan to cut down more trees in one of the largest national parks in Indonesia to help rebuild tsunami-ravaged Aceh has drawn opposition from environmentalists and officials in the country's Forestry Ministry, who claim that the plan could worsen illegal logging in the country. |