Pentagon Paid $998,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) — A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.

The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.

The owners of C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina — twin sisters — exploited a flaw in an automated Defense Department purchasing system: bills for shipping to combat areas or U.S. bases that were labeled “priority” were usually paid automatically, said Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator.

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That wasn’t in the plans

Loyal BON reader George was backpacking in Washington state and sent me this email:

Hey Keith, 

I’ve had some adventure this last week. We went backpacking up in the cascades and we almost lost a guy. He had a pretty severe heart-attack at about 5400 feet in pretty rough terreain. It took a while but we got cell reception up on a ridge and got him air-lifted out. He’s currently recovering in Seattle. I’m exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

And here’s a picture of the rescure helicopter.

mountianrescue.jpg

I’m trying to imagine the stress and fear that everyone must have been going through during this ordeal.  One moment it’s just a bunch of friends hanging out having fun and backpacking, then all of a sudden everything turns upside down.

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I Found This Fascinating

It’s Californian ground squirrel versus rattlesnake in a potentially lethal showdown. But the squirrel has a secret weapon that until now has remained invisible to the human eye.

The ground squirrel heats up its tail then waves it in the snake’s face – a form of harassment that confuses the rattler, which has an infrared sensing organ for detecting small mammals.

This defensive tactic remained invisible to biologists until they looked at the animals through an infrared video camera. Now they believe that many other animals might be using infrared weaponry to ward off potential predators.

Link

Be sure to check out the videos.

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