Now Docs Association Stolen Hard Drives Exposes Personal Data Of 39,000

It won't be long before every one's personal financial data and health care information is in the hands of miscreants. An employee of the Indiana State Medical Association reported the theft of two computer hard drives while they were being transported to an off-site storage site according to WRTV. The hard drives contained identifying information for 39,000 people, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, email addresses and personal medical histories. The ISMA's health insurance plan is Anthem, which had already suffered the exposure of confidential information on tens of millions of its insured after its database was breached by hackers. Presumably, the affected persons are physician members and employees of physician groups.

Plans For Rockport Coal Gasification Plant Officially Dead

Leucadia's plans to develop a controversial $2.8 billion coal gasification plant in Rockport pushed by the Daniels administration and one of Gov. Daniels' closest political cronies, Mark Lubbers, is officially dead according to the Evansville Courier & Press. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management withdrew an air quality permit required for the plant after New York-based Leucadia requested the permit be revoked.

Utility companies and some business groups opposed the plant because of an agreement the Daniels administration brokered with the politically-connected company that would have forced utility companies to purchase natural gas produced by the plant, which opponents said threatened to artificially inflate natural gas prices passed on to consumers. Leucadia officials balked after lawmakers passed legislation in 2013 providing for greater regulatory oversight of the project, warning that the additional oversight would kill the project.

Former Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Dead At 34

Evansville attorney Joshua Claybourn posted some sad news on his Facebook page of the passing of former Marion Co. Deputy Prosecutor and Republican Party activist Terry Record of Evansville at the age of 34. Long-time readers of this blog will probably recall Record's highly-publicized and tragic fatal drunk driving arrest and conviction that claimed the life of 47-year old Jimmy Cash on the city's Southside in 2007. Here's Claybourn's Facebook thoughtful posting on Record's passing and his efforts towards redemption:

It's with sadness I let my friends know of the passing of Terry J. Record at the young age of 34 years old. Terry was a contemporary of mine. He graduated from Harrison H.S. in Evansville, Indiana University in Bloomington, and law school at Southern Illinois. He had many gifts and talents, including public policy and law that eventually landed him a brief spot on the staff of Indianapolis prosecutor Carl Brizzi and then as attorney with the state. But his high profile involvement with politics also made his demons more visible as well. Terry's public struggle with the law culminated most notably with a DUI crash that killed another driver and resulted in over a year in jail. Sadly, this aspect of Terry's life is what many will remember. But I will remember his courageous path toward redemption and a renewed faith, particularly through the Catholic tradition. He worked hard to cross the bridge of forgiveness toward a new hope. I do not know if Terry ever found that in this life, but I pray and trust that he has found it in his new one.

Record received a two-year sentence, which he served on home detention. He also lost his license to practice law. Record had blogged at one time at radio talk show host Abdul-Hakim Shabazz' blog, Indiana Barrister, for a period of time prior to his arrest. Unfortunately, his struggle with alcoholism was no doubt exacerbated by a poisonous work environment former Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi fostered for those like Record who worked on his campaigns and in his office during his two terms as prosecutor. It's unfortunate he didn't get the help he needed before such a tragic set of events played out eight years ago. Our condolences to the Record family on the loss of their son.

Illinois Congressman Took 10 Staffers With Him On Trip To New York, Billed Taxpayers

Rep. Schock at Global Citizen Festival with Prime Minister Modi

The negative news stories about U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock's lavish travels at taxpayer expense keep piling up. It now turns out that the trip he took to New York last year to attend the Global Citizen Festival where he introduced Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi included ten of the 14 staff members the Republican lawmaker's congressional office employs in Washington and his district offices back in Illinois. The trip cost taxpayers more than $10,000 according to the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet.

According to Sweet, three other Illinois congressman also attended the concert in New York, including Rep. Danny Davis (D), Rep. Randy Hultgren (R) and Rep. Dan Lapinski (D). Davis told Sweet he paid for his own travel expenses. Lipinski billed taxpayers $741.06 for air and taxi fare, while Hultgren billed taxpayers $849 for flight, food and hotel. Hultgren told Sweet he had to stay overnight in order to attend official meetings Monday morning with financial service companies. One staffer joined Hultgren for the meetings in New York and billed taxpayers $250.75 for train and taxi fare.

Schock stayed at the palatial Palace Hotel once owned by the Queen of Mean, Leona Helmsley. Sweet said, "I know this because, by coincidence, I was in New York also staying at the Palace the night of Sept. 27." She continued, "I talked to a Schock staffer about interviewing Schock, but the timing did not work out. My room at the Palace, with tax, cost $247. A tab at the same price for 11 — 10 staffers plus Schock — would be $2,750 a night." Sweet added, "The Schock Victory Committee – organized for FEC purposes as a “Joint Fundraising Committee” — shows payments for meals at New York restaurants: $554.15 at Bergdorf Goodman, which has a restaurant; $1,272.84 at Mercer Kitchen; and $816.45 at the Delta Grill.

It appears that Schock's ties to the Global Citizen Festival are based on the fact that the largest employer in his district, Caterpillar, was a major sponsor for the event. A spokesman for the nonprofit group credited Schock with getting Prime Minister Modi to attend the event. Caterpillar has significant investments in India. A vice president for the Caterpillar Foundation joined Schock on stage in New York when he introduced the prime minister according to Sweet. You have to wonder just how much of this kind of crap is going on all the time that's not reported by the news media.

The Indianapolis Star's coverage of the goings on of Indiana's congressional delegation is pretty much useless. We're treated primarily to superficial stories that could have been written by their press staffs. Last week, political columnist Matt Tully had a column describing Sen. Dan Coats as a "work horse." Today, Tom LoBianco has a story discussing whether Coats will run for re-election in 2016. A story about how millions of dollars have been funneled into his bank accounts by Washington special interests just like occurred with our former Sen. Evan Bayh would be preferable.

UPDATE: It just keeps getting worse. Now Politico is reporting that Schock's political action committee misreported part of the private airfare costs for that trip to a Chicago Bears game last year as a software purchase. The pilot of the private plane on which Schock flew owns a software company. The pilot tells Politico the campaign expenditure itemized as a $3.425 purchase of software from his company was actually a deposit for the chartered flight, which cost over $13,000. Schock previously reimbursed the government about $10,000 for the trip after he was questioning about billing taxpayers for his trip to a Bears football game.

Indianapolis VA Manager Mocks Suicidal Veterans In E-Mail

A manager at the Roudebush VA Hospital forwarded an e-mail to co-workers that contained images mocking veterans with suicidal tendencies, a serious problem grappling U.S. servicemen returning from the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. A copy of the e-mail wound up in the hands of the Indianapolis Star, which it says depicts images of a Christmas elf pleading for Xanax and hanging himself with a strand of Christmas lights. The e-mail was sent by Robin Paul, a social worker who manages the Seamless Transition Integrated Care Clinic, which is charged with providing transitional services to returning veterans, including mental health services. From the Star:

. . . When initially asked about the email, Paul responded, “Oh my goodness.” She then referred a reporter to the hospital’s public affairs department, which emailed The Star a statement on her behalf.

“I would like to sincerely apologize for the email message and I take full responsibility for this poor judgment,” Paul said. “I have put my heart and soul into my work with Veterans for many years. I hold all Veterans and military personnel in the highest regard and am deeply remorseful for any hurt this may have caused.”

Julie Webb, a Roudebush spokeswoman, said administrators were made aware of the email “a couple of months ago.”

“The email is totally inappropriate and does not convey our commitment to veterans,” she said. “We apologize to our veterans and take suicide and mental health treatment seriously, striving to provide the highest quality.”

Webb said the issue was “administratively addressed.” She declined to provide specifics, citing employee confidentiality.

Paul remains employed at the hospital and continues to manage the clinic, earning an annual salary of $79,916. She received a $2,000 performance bonus in 2013, records show. More recent bonus information was not immediately available . . . 

Not surprisingly, Veterans organizations are extremely upset by the employee's actions. Ken Hylton, commander of the Indiana American Legion, called the employee's actions a "slap in the face" and "a disgusting display of mockery." He called for Paul's firing, which obviously didn't occur.

UPDATE: Not directly related, but Jonathan Turley has a blog entry this morning about a Florida police officer who was fired and now faces criminal charges because he sent an image of a suicide victim to his ex-girlfriend. The officer was in the midst of a custody battle with his ex-girlfriend when she turned the image he had sent to her over to his superiors after she asked him how his week was going.

City Ensured Stink-Free Super Bowl, Tells Southside Neighbors To Drop Dead Any Other Day Of The Week

The Indianapolis Star is three years late to the story, but its story today, "Stink-free Super Bowl has Southsiders asking: what about us?", is still an eye opener as to just how far city officials were willing to go to allow the city to put on its best face for the out-of-town elites who attended the Super Bowl in 2012 in ways it would never afford the city's residents on the nearby Southside--even those facing years of pungent smells from a nearby factory.

Neighbors living in the working class neighborhoods south of Lucas Oil Stadium have long complained about the smell of "rotten eggs, sulfur and natural gas" emanating from Metalworking Lubricants Co. better known as "the Southside stench." Officials of the company deny they are the source of the odors, and government officials tell complaining neighbors there is nothing they can do to regulate smells. This is Indianapolis so the story naturally doesn't end there. Officials reached a deal with the company to close down the entire week of the Super Bowl to ensure there were no smelly problems during the Big Event.

. . . But those regulators knew where to turn when they wanted to put an abrupt end to the smell in 2012. With Super Bowl XLVI only a week away, an Indianapolis Star investigation recently discovered, city and state officials quietly signed an agreement to suspend operations at Metalworking Lubricants for seven days in the lead up to and during the nationally televised NFL festivities.

Some activists and residents say the Super Bowl deal raises questions about what the city and state promised the company in order to persuade it to shut down. Were favors offered, some ask, in exchange for ensuring a stink-free event at Indy's nearby Lucas Oil Stadium?

City and state officials insist no favors were extended. But to residents — who had complained about the odor for years — the Super Bowl deal stings in other ways.

"It strikes me as unfair and unfortunate that we can provide clean air and non-smelly air for visitors who come for the Super Bowl," said Southside resident Jim Simmons, "but not for our citizens who are in the path of this odor every day." . . .

Metalworking Lubricants, which recycles dirty oil and makes cleaners, employs about 50 people at its plant on the Southside. State environmental regulators recently conducted an air quality permit hearing for the company that drew a large number of residents from the affected area according to the Star. City officials who have long known the company was the source of the odors acknowledge city officials frequently respond to false reports of natural gas leaks because of the problem that tie up city resources.

Federal EPA didn't take steps to take an enforcement action against the company until 2013, and state IDEM officials are now considering a different air quality permit that would require the company to invest in equipment intended to mitigate against the odors, although the state agency has never cited the company for any violations despite the numerous complaints against it. IDEM blames city officials for creating such a weak air permit for the company, which IDEM claims ties its hands. IDEM says city officials could pursue a nuisance action against the company, which it does to poor working class people all the time for the most minor of violations at residential properties by hauling them into court and slapping them with large fines it imposes as a lien on their property if they don't pay up. City prosecutor Samantha DeWester told the Star the city lacks any empirical data to take action against the company."Unless there's some empirical data or something to show that there's pollution," she said, "we can't just say 'Well, it smells so therefore it must be a violation.'"

The Star says the company's president signed a "voluntary agreement" with former Code Enforcement Director Rick Powers and state IDEM Commissioner Tom Easterly on January 23, 2012 under which the company agreed to shut down its operations from January 30 to February 6. None of the parties to the agreement would speak to the Star about the agreement. The agreement recognized that Metalworking Lubricants would suffer economic losses, and that "the city will attempt to assist Metalworking in recovering its losses." A spokesman for Mayor Ballard's office denies the city paid anything to the company to shut down, but it insists at the same time it lived up to its end of the agreement.

Nuvo had a story about the odor problems associated with the company back in 2013. That story mentions a 25,000 gallon oil spill the company experienced back in 2010, which required the disposal of 850 tons of polluted soil. Incredibly, IDEM claimed no toxic materials were released into the city's sewer system or nearby waterways. Apparently, the company only received a $30,000 fine associated with that spill. Perhaps a lesser fine was part of the deal. A separate Star story mentions a letter the company's president sent to IDEM last August referencing the deal. "On this you have our word and a handshake," Kainz wrote. "Just as we stopped operation for the Super Bowl based on our word and handshake." If officials held in abatement civil penalties it would normally take against a company in exchange for its agreement to ensure a stink-free Super Bowl, then that it is a really smelly story worthy of further investigation.

Consultants Say Lake And LaPorte Counties Not At Risk In Toll Road Bid

Is it possible for Lake and LaPorte Counties to form a new entity, borrow billions to buy a portion of the bankrupt Indiana Toll Road and be on the hook for nothing in the event its toll road operations fail just like ITR Concession Co. failed after making the same bad investment in 2006? The answer seems to be yes as long as there are people dumb enough to sink billions into the bonds that are issued to finance the purchase, and that's what consultants advising the two counties are telling local officials according to the Northwest Indiana Times' Bill Dolan.

According to LaPorte County's attorney, Shaw Friedman, the only thing the county has to lose is a $5 million annual revenue stream if it doesn't join with Lake County in acquiring the portion of the toll road that runs through the two counties in Northern Indiana. Porter Co. pulled out of the deal because the deadline for submitting a bid didn't allow officials enough time to consider the undertaking. Friedman says the county will be out nothing if the bid is turned down because the money to pay the fees of the consultants for the bidding groups is being paid out of the bond proceeds of the winning bid group.

Friedman told the NWI Times he didn't know why the state of Indiana chose not to bid on the toll road, presuming the short deadline may have been the reason. When Gov. Daniels sold the legislature and public on the deal back in 2006, he claimed ownership of the toll road would automatically revert back to the state if the toll road concessionaire went bankrupt, which proved untrue. "The consultants said the plan is for Lake and LaPorte counties to form the Northern Indiana Toll Road Authority, a nonprofit public-benefit corporation that would issue billions of dollars in nonrecourse bonds to be paid back solely out of Toll Road revenues, not taxes, the NWI Times reported. "Bondholders have no right of recovery from either county," Shaw said. An interlocal government agreement between the two counties will provide that the two counties each receive $5 million after expenses are paid before the bond holders are repaid.

The consultants advising the two counties assure county officials there will be at least $230 million in revenues generated annually from the toll road and only about $40 million in operating and payroll expenses. Repairs to the road will cost between $20 million and $100 million. It's unclear how this portion of the toll road will generate higher revenues than the entire 157-mile toll road generates for ITR unless toll rates are being raised considerably.

Ferrovial and Macquarie Group teamed up to pay the state of Indiana $3.8 billion in 2006 for a 75-year lease agreement to operate the 157-mile toll road. The two foreign companies invested very little of their own capital initially, relying on money it borrowed from European banks who believed the unrealistic projections of future income growth from higher traffic. ITR Concession was only generating about $206 million in revenue annually at the end of 2013 before it filed for bankruptcy. Its debt, however, had grown to about $6 billion.

Look Who's Bidding To Buy Indiana Toll Road

The Northwest Indiana Times' Keith Benman is reporting today on competition Lake and LaPorte Counties are facing in their bid to acquire a portion of the bankrupt Indiana Toll Road concessionaire. Citing an industry intelligence letter, InfraAmericas, at least three other consortiums have submitted bids to acquire the bankrupt toll toll road. One of the bids may surprise you.

Bids are being submitted by IFM Global Infrastructure Fund and a team of Spanish infrastructure investor Albertis and Toronto-based Borealis. A third bid is being submitted by Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, which includes the Spanish-owned Ferrovial Group's Cintra Group. Where have we heard that name before? Yes, that's the same firm that teamed up with the Australian-based Macquarie Group to acquire the toll road from the state of Indiana in 2006 for $3.8 billion--using mostly other people's money, of course.

Clinton-Run State Department Ousted Kenyan Ambassador For Using Private E-Mail

It's another case of do as I say, not as I do. While Hillary Clinton was operating a home-based computer server to handle all of her State Department e-mails using a private e-mail account, the State Department she ran fired the American ambassador to Kenya for doing the same thing. The Daily Mail reports on the double standard:

While Hillary Clinton was using a private email address hosted on her own home-based computer server to conduct State Department business, her agency forced out an ambassador who was doing the same thing overseas.

Retired Air Force General Scott Gration was US ambassador to Kenya for 13 months between 2011 and 2012, departing after a scathing performance report blasted his leadership style and determined that he created security risks by running his own one-person IT department.

The report determined that Gration 'assumed charge of the mission’s information management operations,' in Nairobi, and 'ordered a commercial Internet connection installed in his embassy office bathroom so he could work there on a laptop not connected to the Department email system.'

He also tried to legitimize his actions by writing new policy and distributing it to the embassy staff, saying the use of 'commercial email' for government business was acceptable.

Gration, the State Department's Office of Inspector General wrote, 'continued to use commercial email for official government business' even when investigators were digging into his conduct.

The report noted that he seldom logged on to his official State Department email account; The New York Times later reported that he 'preferred to use Gmail for official business.'

Clinton, the odds-on favorite to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in 2016, came under fire this week for using a private email account – not a State Department 'state.gov' address – to conduct government business.

Her aides, and Obama administration colleagues – including White House personnel – reached her at 'hdr22@clintonemail.com' for the four years she was America's top diplomat.

Isn't the only reason we know about Hillary's use of a private e-mail account is because of the computer hacker known as Guccifer, who is now in jail?

Clinton’s use of her personal account raises security concerns, as the account of one of her aides, Sidney Blumenthal, was compromised in 2013 by the notorious hacker Guccifer, the Washington Post reported. 

The Blumenthal hack also exposed the fact that Clinton had created her own domain, “ clintonemail.com,” to host the email account. 

The domain was registered on the same day her confirmation hearings to become Secretary of State began in 2009.

Yeah, that's what I thought.