Maryland, My Maryland

 Balmer Sun, Md. nonprofit receiving $60M in taxpayer funds says it hasn’t completed required audits

A Maryland nonprofit that has received more than $60 million in taxpayer funds since 2022 stated it has yet to complete a required audit of its services, sparking concerns from some accounting experts, according to a Spotlight on Maryland investigation.

Federal regulations require that the Connections Thru Life (CTL) nonprofit, based in Owings Mills, undergo an audit of how it manages $61.4 million in federal taxpayer funds received through the Ryan White HIV program. However, CTL stated on its past three nonprofit tax forms from 2022, 2023 and 2024 that “no audit has been completed” to fulfill the requirement. The organization also states on the three consecutive tax forms that it has not undergone an independent audit of its financial statements, meaning the tax forms have not been verified by a third party.

The lack of oversight furthers transparency concerns about Maryland’s network of taxpayer-funded nonprofits. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent more than $60 million in taxpayer funds for the Ryan White program to the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD), which chose CTL to take over the program’s fiscal agent duties in 2022, just months after the nonprofit was formed.

The Ryan White program provides medical services and support for those living with HIV. CTL manages the program’s funds in the Baltimore metropolitan area by providing oversight and disbursement of taxpayer money to specific grantees, which includes institutions such as Johns Hopkins University (JHU), as well as local health departments in Harford, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties.

CTL states on its latest tax form from 2024 that 100% of its revenue and expenses are related to the Ryan White program.

A spokeswoman for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which manages the Ryan White program, said BCHD is charged with ensuring its subrecipients are properly audited.

I'm not going to accuse them of fraud. Yet. Costs of auditing have skyrocketed in recent years thanks to recent legislation that put additional liabilities on auditors, post Enron. Costs for auditing the local water system's books more than doubled in the last 2 years to almost 10% of the total budget. CTL may be looking for alternatives, or just hoping their regulators won't ding them too hard.

Oregon, My Oregon

 UPI, Thousands of Oregon hospital patients may have been exposed to hepatitis, HIV

After an anesthesiologist may have exposed thousands of people treated at several hospitals in Oregon to hepatitis and HIV, those patients are being advised to get tested for the diseases.

Two health care providers in Portland -- Providence and Legacy Health -- have been told to offer the tests as a safety precaution.

"We recently learned that Providence's comprehensive infection control practices may not have been followed by a physician during some procedures at Portland-area hospitals, including Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center, Providence Portland Medical Center and other non-Providence hospitals," Providence said in a statement issued Thursday. "The physician was employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG), which no longer provides services for Providence."

The physician is no longer employed by OAG, according to the statement.

But I'll bet he/she/ze got his/her/hir DEI procedures right. 

Clinton.com Email Troubles Continue

According to Fox News, Clinton.com IT nerd Brian Pagliano, recently given immunity from prosecution for his role in setting up the private unsecured server that Hillary and buds used to communicate State Dept. classified material, and yoga routines, is singing like a bird: Clinton IT specialist revealing server details to FBI, 'devastating witness'

"Bryan Pagliano is a devastating witness and, as the webmaster, knows exactly who had access to [Clinton's] computer and devices at specific times. His importance to this case cannot be over-emphasized," the intelligence source said.

The source, who is not authorized to speak on the record due to the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation, said Pagliano has provided information allowing investigators to knit together the emails with other evidence, including images of Clinton on the road as secretary of state.

The cross-referencing of evidence could help investigators pinpoint potential gaps in the email record. "Don't forget all those photos with her using various devices and it is easy to track the whereabouts of her phone," the source said. "It is still boils down to a paper case. Did you email at this time from your home or elsewhere using this device? And here is a picture of you and your aides holding the devices."
. . .
The intelligence source said the FBI is "extremely focused" on the 22 “top secret” emails deemed too damaging to national security to publicly release under any circumstances, with agents reviewing those sent by Clinton as well her subordinates including former chief of staff Cheryl Mills.

"Mrs. Clinton sending them in this instance would show her intent much more than would receiving [them],” the source said. "Hillary Clinton was at a minimum grossly negligent in her handling of NDI [National Defense Information] materials merely by her insisting that she utilize a private server versus a [U.S. government] server. Remember, NDI does not have to be classified." According to the Congressional Research Service, NDI is broadly defined to include “information that they have reason to know could be used to harm the national security.”

It was emphasized to Fox News that Clinton’s deliberate “creation” and “control” of the private server used for her official government business is the subject of intense scrutiny. Pagliano knows key details as to how the private server was installed and maintained in her home.

As far as I know, Pagliano never had any kind of clearance, and just his ability to monitor and extract information from the servers would be illegal. Some interesting comments on this at Althouse:

Oh, no. It's much worse than that. Pagliano, under orders from Hillary & in open or grudging connivance with the State Dept, introduced what's called a mail relay host, which bridged the air gap between State's secure & Hillary's unsecure network. Now, in computer/network security terms, just like housing construction, a doorway out is a doorway in. In other words, Hillary probably compromised the entire State Dept secure network.

Just wait. This will come out. It can be no other way.

Cruz: I would 'absolutely' go after Clinton on emails if elected. I'll vote for that. Sen. Grassley is getting impatient with the FBI:

"The FBI is behaving like it’s above the law," Grassley said in a statement provided to POLITICO on Monday evening. "Simply refusing to cooperate with a court-ordered request is not an appropriate course of action. This entire case, from Secretary Clinton’s ill-advised decision to use a non-government email server, to the FBI’s investigation about classified information, needs some transparency in order to assure the American people that getting to the bottom of this controversy is a priority.”

And buried down below:

In yet another Clinton-related FOIA case Friday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted a partial stay of State’s obligations to search for records contained in Clinton’s email account relating to two Clinton Foundation donors: Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire businessman Gilbert Chagoury and Chicago securities trader Raj Fernando. Jackson said, however, that State should keep processing any such records it has already identified.

Other judges have declined to impose such stays, which State sought as it tries to have some aspects of the more than 30 FOIA cases connected to Clinton and her aides’ emails coordinated by a single judge.

Charles Lane at the Washinton Post writes The Trump campaign speech that could beat Clinton this fall

“You know our country doesn’t win anymore. When was the last time — like, 1991, when we beat the Soviets, and that guy Saddam in Kuwait? We were on top of the world and everybody loved us and wanted to copy our system and it was really special. That was what, 25 years ago? These college kids who voted for Bernie weren’t even born yet.

“Ever since, it’s been lose, lose, lose. And you know when it started, people? I’ll tell you: It started in 1994, with that stupid NAFTA. That was her husband Bill’s idea. He sounded all high and mighty about markets and democracy, but he was really listening to lobbyists and taking their money, and he let Mexico rip us off.

“And then he had another genius idea: Renew most-favored-nation trade status for China — can you believe it! He promised not to do it in the 1992 campaign, but the lobbyists and Henry Kissinger got to him. He made it permanent his last year in office so China could join the World Trade Organization. He said that would help sell U.S.-made cars in China! And now he says she’d be a great president. . .

Did guns kill Hillary's chances in Michigan? I expect a tack to the right on this as soon as the super delegates deliver the nomination.

What Clinton might not have considered is that Michigan has a long hunting and shooting tradition and has some of the highest rates of hunting license sales and firearm background checks in the country. In 2015, the FBI processed over 500,000 background checks for gun buyers in Michigan, about the same number as in 2014.

And in 2013, the last year of available records according the the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the state sold nearly 800,000 hunting licenses. That means about 10 percent of the population of Michigan over the age of 15 are hunters. It's not the highest rate in the country, but its well above Ohio, Florida, or even Iowa.

Researchers who look into the issue of concealed carry rights find that as of 2014, nearly half a million Michiganders hold permits to wear a gun. Rough back-of-the-napkin math shows that's about 5 percent of the adult population of the state over the age of 21, the minimum age for permits.

Hillary Clinton regrets faint praise of Nancy Reagan at her funeral. The Reagans got a bum rap from liberals over the AIDS epidemic, which hit the "elbow" in the exponential growth curve during the Reagan years.

OK, he/shes crazy, but not that crazy: Caitlyn Jenner: The “Country Is Over” If Hillary Clinton Is Elected President

“Just because I’m a woman now doesn’t make me all of a sudden liberal.” The debate escalates when the women bring up Clinton, to which Jenner says, “I would never, ever, ever vote for Hillary… If Hillary becomes president, the country is over.”

Jenner’s friend Candis Cayne attempts to argue that there’s “a lot to love about Hillary,” and that she’s “an amazing woman,” but an annoyed Jenner starts yelling, “What has she done in her life?! What has she done?” The former Olympian adds, “She was a lousy senator. She was horrible. Look at all of the things that are going on in the Middle East, all because of what she did. Look at Benghazi. She lied to us! She’s a f***ing liar!”

FDA Prepares to Lift Gay Blood Donation Ban

FDA to propose altering ban on gay and bisexual men who want to donate blood

Since the onset of the epidemic of AIDS among gay/bisexual men, and intravenous drug abusers in the 1980s, one of the more obnoxious aspects of donating blood has been the extensive questioning regarding sexual practices and drug use. It used to be that you had to sit while a nurse asked you if you had ever had sex with another man, even once, ever used a non-prescribed injectable drug. Now, the nurse leaves the booth, but you still get the same questions, merely from a laptop connected to the internet. And we know how private that is. 

In the United States, the FDA mandates that people who answer yes to these questions are permanently banned from donating blood, for fear of infecting people who receive transfusions and others who receive other "blood products" as they are known

Gay activists have struggled with this ban for years, saying that it is somehow illegal discrimination to ban 1-3% of the population from donating blood based on their sexual orientation. This, of course, is patently false, as would be blood donors are not required to answer analogous questions about lesbian sex because, well rug-munching is not a risk factor for AIDS.

However, the FDAs new proposal is less than satisfying to gay men because it requires a year of celibacy before donating blood. Yeah, that'll happen, because donating blood is much more rewarding than sex.

The Food and Drug Administration plans to lift its lifetime ban on blood donation for men who have had sex with other men, and will propose replacing it with a one-year ban after homosexual activity, the agency announced Tuesday.

Gay rights groups, which have long advocated a change to the ban, largely decried the announcement, saying that expecting gay blood donors to remain celibate for a year is not reasonable or medically necessary.

Others were heartened by the relaxation of a long-criticized ban. “This is a very good next step in a process that began in the early 1980s,” said Jay Menitove, who chaired a federal advisory committee that recommended the change.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “There’s no doubt about it, that any way that you can safely add to the pool of donors to counter this chronic shortage of blood is a good thing.”

The recommended change could increase the U.S. blood supply by 2 percent, researchers said.

I'm looking forward to yet another change in the questions the next time I try to donate blood. I had been getting rather bored with the old set.

 I'm also predicting very few new blood donors as a result.

Gay Men Demand Right to Bleed

No, not that, although I wouldn't be surprised...

Gay men push to end 30-year blood donation ban

A push by activists to ease the 30-year-old blanket ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men faces a key test this week as a federal panel hears results of the latest research. The findings will be released amid growing pressure from politicians and advocates, including college students, to change the policy.

Critics say the ban is a hangover from the early, fear-filled days of AIDS, stigmatizing gay men and ignoring advances in treatment and detection in the decades since.

Supporters of the policy say politics, not science, is driving the proposed change, which would heighten the risk of spreading HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, when the medical demand for blood donations is decreasing.

I've often wondered how effective the "ban" on gay men giving blood is, since there is really no mechanism for enforcement other than the honor system.  And I imagine there are a great many gay men out there who would choose not to self report and go ahead and give blood anyway.  Perhaps they had a negative AIDS test, and monogamous relationsships.  No really! It could happen.

As you may be aware, all blood collected is tested for AIDS antibodies, everytime.  It's also remotely possible for a fresh infection to slip by because antibodies haven't formed.

So how big is the threat, really?

HIV transfusion incidents are rare in the U.S.: In 2008, a patient acquired HIV from a Missouri blood transfusion. The donor, a middle-aged married man, was found to have had anonymous sex with both men and women.

That transfusion-transmitted HIV infection was the first reported since 2002, the CDC said.

 So, not very big.  But if we can only save one life...

My sense is that they want the right, not that they expect to exercise it often.