Good evening.
Elizabeth Shue vs Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Shue (0-2-0 Pts. 108 Avg. 54.00)
VS
Elizabeth Hurley (2-0-0 Pts. 160 Avg, 80.00)
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Roughly One Quarter Of Pentagon Purchases Related To COVID-19 Were Illegitimate, Watchdog Finds
American Action News | 01/19/2024 | Micaela BurrowAn estimated 26% of purchases the Department of Defense (DOD) reported as supporting its COVID-19 response went to unrelated items, according to an Inspector General report released on Thursday.
Former President Donald Trump’s March 2020 memo in response to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak gave DOD program officials the ability to increase the limit on government charge cards between $10,000 and $35,000, according to the report. Cardholders used the increased limit to make unrelated purchases on items from shipping to food and sometimes failed to produce receipts or get the required approvals before making a purchase.
“It is critically important to track execution and ensure funds are used only for the purpose appropriated, including furnishing evidence to support items bought in support of COVID-19, for audit,” Pentagon guidance issued near the beginning of the pandemic stated, according to the report.
The inspector general randomly sampled 127 purchases from a total of 110,525 made between March 2020 and January 2022 equaling $239 million, all recorded in the Pentagon’s COVID-19 Transaction Report. Of those, 33 did not appear to support the DOD’s COVID-19 response and 45 failed to meet all of the documentation requirements.
If the sample is representative of all 110,535 purchases, up to $53.2 million meant to support the Pentagon’s COVID-19 response might have been used for other purposes, according to the report.
Purchases were completed by each of the military services as well as several civilian-staffed defense organizations.
For example, the Army spent $2,394 to dig up a pipe in the process of determining the cause of a sinkhole, then labeled that purchase as “COVID-19” in the bank’s transaction management system, according to the report. Army officials maintained that the Army did not actually pay for the plumbing services using funds appropriated for the COVID-19 response.
The Air Force spent $4,158 on a Nordic exercise machine and mats, the report shows.
Other purchases were smaller, like $405 for a sit and stand desk for Army personnel, $151.99 for finance training. Cardholders wrote off shipping, food, vehicle maintenance purchases and other miscellaneous purchases.
The charge cards cover minor purchases valued at less than $10,000, according to the inspector general.
“Without adequate oversight, DoD cardholders will continue to incorrectly identify or code GPC purchases as being related to contingency operations, not properly support purchases with required documentation, and have increased risk that fraudulent, improper, and other abusive activity could occur without detection,” the inspector general wrote.
In a response to the report included as an appendix, the Defense Pricing and Contracting, the Pentagon division responsible for policy related contracts and pricing throughout the Department of Defense, agreed with the report’s recommendations and proposed actions to address the shortfall.
Good afternoon.
Olivia Newton-John vs Jennifer Connelly
Olivia Newton-John (1-1-0 Pts. 130 Avg. 65.00)
VS
Jennifer Connelly ( 1-0-1 Pts. 146 Avg. 73.00)
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Background:
Inside the ‘Weird’ Write-In Campaign Needed To Help Biden Win New Hampshire
nbc | 01/16/2024 | Alex Seitz-WaldLast year, Biden tried to end New Hampshire’s 100-year reign as the nation’s first presidential primary state when he directed the Democratic National Committee to overhaul the 2024 primary calendar by putting South Carolina (which he won in 2020) ahead of New Hampshire (which he lost).
The Democratic National Committee, which essentially becomes the political arm of the White House when a Democrat is in occupancy, promptly ratified Biden’s wishes. Iowa went down easily since it was already on the chopping block…
But the Granite State refused to budge… triggered DNC rules prohibiting any presidential candidate from campaigning in any state with an unauthorized primary…
Democrats there stepped into the vacuum to help Biden…
Their main goal is simple: Make sure voters know how to write in Biden’s name on the ballot. “Start at the bottom of the ballot, fill in the oval for ‘write-in,'” one digital ad instructs, “Then write ‘Joe Biden’ on the line.”
The budget for the main write-in campaign is somewhere around $70,000… An affiliated super PAC would not disclose its budget. But a source familiar with the effort said it had raised roughly $500,000 by mid-December.
The leaders of the write-in effort all insist they have had no communication with the White House or the Biden campaign…
Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Govs. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Maura Healey of Massachusetts have pitched in to help the write-in campaign directly.
Good morning.
Catherine Zeta-Jones vs Kaley Cuoco
Catherine Zeta-Jones (0-2-0 Pts. 114 Avg. 57.00)
VS
Kaley Cuoco (1-1-0 Pts. 112 Avg. 56.00)
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Things remain tight.
Results
This poll is no longer accepting votes
This poll is no longer accepting votes
This poll is no longer accepting votes
This poll is no longer accepting votes
Standings
| Contestants | Record | Points | Average | Points Against | Average Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Hurley | 2 – 0 – 0 | 160 | 80.00 | 95 | 80.00-47.50 |
| Jennifer Connelly | 1 – 0 – 1 | 146 | 73.00 | 124 | 73.00-62.00 |
| Rita Hayworth | 1 – 0 – 1 | 136 | 68.00 | 118 | 68.00-59.00 |
| Kate Beckinsale | 1 – 1 – 0 | 138 | 69.00 | 127 | 69.00-63.50 |
| Olivia Newton-John | 1 – 1 – 0 | 130 | 65.00 | 135 | 65.00-67.50 |
| Kaley Cuoco | 1 – 1 – 0 | 112 | 56.00 | 151 | 56.00-75.50 |
| Catherine Zetas-Jones | 0 – 2 – 0 | 114 | 57.00 | 148 | 57.00-74.00 |
| Elizabeth Shue | 0 – 2 – 0 | 108 | 54.00 | 146 | 54.00-73.00 |
This week
