Tuesday Tidbits

By Paddy



Another gorgeous day in Indiana. Pic is via Cat of course, and I am supremely jealous. She's been able to attend the rally in Grand Rapids and Detroit.

NY Times: Army Overseer Tells of Ouster Over KBR Stir The Army official who managed the Pentagon’s largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food, housing and other services to American troops.

Washington Times/ABC: VA testing drugs on war veterans; Experiments raise ethical questions The government is testing drugs with severe side effects like psychosis and suicidal behavior on hundreds of military veterans, using small cash payments to attract patients into medical experiments that often target distressed soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, a Washington Times/ABC News investigation has found.

Politico: Are Dems talking about McCain’s age in ‘code’? In a campaign year marked by flare-ups surrounding comments that have offended one group or another, John McCain and Barack Obama have moved on to the next sensitive battleground: the question of McCain’s advanced age.

NY Times: A Quiet Dealmaker Works for Pained Homeowners Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a studious, introverted former Army Ranger, is one of the Democratic Party’s eminent voices on military affairs. But in neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures, like the West End of Providence, it is Mr. Reed’s lesser-known expertise on housing policy that is proving critical these days.