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Fat Leonard Scandal
The Fat Leonard scandal is a corruption scandal and ongoing investigation within the United States Navy involving ship support contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a subsidiary of the Glenn Marine Group. The Washington Post called the scandal "perhaps the worst national-security breach of its kind to hit the Navy since the end of the Cold War." At the heart of the scandal was Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a firm run by Leonard Glenn Francis, a Malaysian national known as "Fat Leonard" for his then over 350 pound weight. Francis provided at least a half million dollars in cash, plus travel expenses, luxury items, and prostitutes to a large number of U.S. uniformed officers of the United States Seventh Fleet, who in turn gave him classified material about the movements of U.S. ships and submarines, confidential contracting information, and information about active law enforcement investigations into Glenn Defense Marine Asia. Francis then "exploited the intelligence for illicit profit, brazenly ordering his moles to redirect aircraft carriers to ports he controlled in Southeast Asia so he could more easily bilk the Navy for fuel, tugboats, barges, food, water and sewage removal." The Navy, through GDMA, even employed divers to search harbors for explosives. He also directed them to author "Bravo Zulu" memos, which is an informal term for a letter of commendation from the Navy given to civilians who have performed outstanding services for the Navy, in order to bolster GDMA's credibility for jobs "well done". The first activities of the conspiracy were confirmed to have existed in 2006 when Francis recruited numerous Navy personnel to engage in corruption, including directing contracts toward his firm, disfavoring competitors, and inhibiting legitimate fiscal and operational oversight. The initial co-conspirators labelled themselves "the cool kids" and "the wolf pack." U.S. federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against 33 people in connection with the Fat Leonard scandal. Of those, 22 pleaded guilty: Francis himself, four of his top aides, and 17 Navy officials (specifically, at least ten commissioned officers, two petty officers, one former NCIS special agent, and two civilian Navy contracting officials). Nine others are awaiting trial in U.S. district court in San Diego. Separately, five Navy officers were charged with crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and have been subject to court-martial proceedings. An additional civilian pleaded guilty to a scandal-related crime in Singapore court. Suffering health problems, Francis was hospitalized and released in March 2018. Rather than returning to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, he was granted a medical furlough and allowed to stay in San Diego at a private residence owned by one of his physicians, under 24-hour surveillance for which his family paid. At a deposition taken in 2018 in the David A. Morales case, Francis said he is being treated for kidney cancer. In 1989, when he was 21, Francis had been sentenced to three years in jail in Malaysia for firearms possession.
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Topic Review
Society of the Friends of Truth
The Society of the Friends of Truth (Amis de la Verité), also known as the Social Club (French: Cercle social), was a French revolutionary organization founded in 1790. It was "a mixture of revolutionary political club, the Masonic Lodge, and a literary salon". It also published an influential revolutionary newspaper, the Mouth of Iron.
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Topic Review
Al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Factory
The Al-Shifa (الشفاء, Arabic for "healing") pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum North, Sudan, was constructed between 1992 and 1996 with components imported from Germany , India , Italy, Sweden, Switzerland , Thailand and the United States . It was opened on 12 July 1997 and bombed by the United States on 20 August 1998. The industrial complex was composed of four buildings. It was the largest pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum and employed over 300 workers, producing medicine both for human and veterinary use. The factory was destroyed in 1998 by a missile attack launched by the United States government, killing one employee and wounding eleven. The U.S. government claimed that the factory was used for the processing of VX nerve agent and that the owners of the plant had ties to the terrorist group al-Qaeda. These justifications for the bombing were disputed by the owners of the plant, the Sudanese government, and other governments. American officials later acknowledged "that the evidence that prompted President Clinton to order the missile strike on the Shifa plant was not as solid as first portrayed. Indeed, officials later said that there was no proof that the plant had been manufacturing or storing nerve gas, as initially suspected by the Americans, or had been linked to Osama bin Laden, who was a resident of Khartoum in the 1980s." The attack took place a week after the Monica Lewinsky scandal and two months after release of the film Wag the Dog, prompting some commentators to describe the attack as a distraction for the public from the scandal.
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Topic Review
Chinese Information Operations and Information Warfare
Informatized warfare of China is the implementation of information warfare (IW) within the Chinese military. Laid out in the Chinese Defence White Paper of 2008, informatized warfare includes the utilization of information-based weapons and forces, including battlefield management systems, precision-strike capabilities, and technology-assisted command and control (C4ISR). However, some media and analyst report also uses the term to describe the political and espionage effort from the Chinese state.
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Topic Review
Spatial Distribution Suitability of Ethnic Minority Villages
Ethnic minority villages are important resources for the economy and social development of ethnic minority areas because they preserve ethnic minorities’ culture. With the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization in China, the factors affecting the development of villages have changed. With the help and guidance of the government, the gap between villages has increased. According to the development conditions of ethnic minority villages, the suitability of their spatial distribution has been studied, the existing problems in the current development have been explored, and the development laws and future development trends have been found.
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Topic Review
Death of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima
Ali Abdulhadi Saleh Jafar Mushaima (Arabic: علي عبدالهادي صالح جعفر مشيمع) (26 August 1989 – 14 February 2011) was a 21-year-old Bahraini who on Monday 14 February 2011, the "Bahraini Day of Rage", became the first fatality of the Bahraini Uprising. He died on his way to hospital from injuries he received when he was hit in the back by birdshot pellets fired from close range (two to five meters) by security forces (riot police)(pp228–9) during the Bahraini uprising (2011–present). According to Nabeel Rajab, head of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Mushaima was participating in a protest in Al Daih, in Manama's outskirt, when he was shot. In a rare televised speech the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, announced that the deaths of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima and Fadhel Al-Matrook would be investigated. Bahrain's Interior Minister said that legal steps would be taken if the use of the weapon had been unwarranted. Details of the investigation were disclosed in the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, established by King Hamad to look into events in the Bahraini uprising. The investigation failed to identify any culprits in the killing of Mushaima.(p229) The Commission concluded that Mushaima's death resulted from the "use of excessive force by police officers," and "that there was no justification for the use of lethal force."(p229)
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Topic Review
Forgiveness Scale
A forgiveness scale is a psychological test that attempts to measure a person's willingness to forgive. A true definition of forgiveness is debated by many researchers, yet Hargrave suggests that forgiveness refers to releasing resentment towards an offender. Forgiveness is a complex phenomenon which involves cognitive, affective, behavioural, motivational, decisional and interpersonal elements. Forgiveness is thought to be central to human functioning and important in restoring interpersonal relationships. It is an effective intervention to problems caused by anger, depression, drug abuse, guilt and moral development. Due to the different conceptualisations of forgiveness, different scales have been developed to measure the ability in different ways. Examples of forgiveness scales include the Forgiveness scale of the Interpersonal Relationship Resolution Scale; the Marital Offence-Specific Forgiveness Scale; the Workplace Forgiveness Scale; and the Tendency to Forgive scale. Forgiveness can also be measured via methods which are not empirical scales. These may come in the form of biological measures; such as chemical, central and peripheral physiological measures, as well as behavioural measures; and measures of self forgiveness. Studies have found that compared to participants without past suicide attempts, those with past suicide attempts scored on the Forgiveness Scale as being significantly less believing of forgiveness by others, were less likely to forgive themselves, and to a lesser degree, were less forgiving of others.
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Topic Review
Telugu Script
Telugu script (Telugu: తెలుగు లిపి, romanized: Telugu lipi), an abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts, is used to write the Telugu language, a Dravidian language spoken in the India n states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well as several other neighbouring states. The Telugu script is also widely used for writing Sanskrit texts and to some extent the Gondi language. It gained prominence during the Eastern Chalukyas also known as Vengi Chalukya era. It shares extensive similarities with the Kannada script, as it has evolved from Kadamba and Bhattiprolu scripts of the Brahmi family. In 2008, Telugu language was given the status of Classical Languages of India, this status owes to its rich history and heritage.
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Topic Review
Information Technology Specialist (Military)
Information Technology Specialist or Information Systems Operator-Analyst is a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) in the United States Army. Information Technology Specialists have the responsibility of maintaining, processing and troubleshooting military computer systems and operations.
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Topic Review
German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer
The German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer (German: Deutsche Universität für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer; sometimes referred to as Speyer University), is a national graduate school for administrative sciences and public management located in Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany . Founded in 1947 by the French occupational authorities as a grande école, today it is operated under the joint responsibility of both the Federal Republic (Bund) and all 16 German states (Länder). It runs four Master's programs, grants doctoral degrees and habilitations, offers a postgraduate certificate program, and administers programs of executive education. The school is a major training ground for German and international senior government officials. Noted alumni and faculty include former President of Germany Roman Herzog, current Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht, former President of the Bundesbank Helmut Schlesinger, former Prosecutor General of Germany Alexander von Stahl, and CEO of BASF Jürgen Strube. The school was founded in 1947 as the State Academy of Administrative Sciences Speyer (Staatliche Akademie für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer). In 1950 it was renamed the School of Administrative Sciences Speyer (Hochschule für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer) and after reunification became the German School of Administrative Sciences Speyer (Deutsche Hochschule für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer).
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