Horrendous Nepalese Flood

 8/27/26 NDTV:

After massive flash flood that originated in Tibet and caused devastation in Nepal and China, claiming 172 lives, questions are being raised about whether early warnings from China could have helped prevent loss of lives in one of the worst natural disasters to hit Nepal.

The Chinese side has now responded to these questions saying the claims that Beijing did not issue an early warning to the Nepali side, resulting in significant casualties on the Nepali side, are fake.

Voices in Nepal have questioned that even when the border facilities at the Rasuwagadhi-Gyirong crossing and Gyirong port were hit, warnings could have been issued to save lives downstream.

"Nepal has been addressing the legitimate security concerns of our neighbours. However, it must be said with sadness that our northern neighbour has significantly undermined us. By failing to provide early warning of such a massive disaster, we suffered immense loss of human life," Nepali Journalist with Naya Patrika, a Nepali daily, posted on X.

Do You Ever Wonder What Old Football Players Do When They Get Too Old to Play?

 5/8/26 U.S. Department of Justice:

A former NFL player who owned a marketing company and was the beneficial owner of eight durable medical equipment (DME) companies was sentenced yesterday to 196 months in prison for his role in a yearslong scheme to bilk Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million by selling patient information and sham doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not want or need.

In addition to the prison sentence, the defendant, Joel Rufus French, 47, of Armory, Mississippi, was ordered to pay $110,753,619 in restitution and to forfeit approximately $17 million that the government seized from bank accounts and other assets.  

“Fueled by lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers, this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Today’s sentence makes clear that if you target America’s elderly, sick, or vulnerable — and rob America’s purse doing so — you will be targeted and brought to justice.”

This is at least in the "Never steal anything small" category.  8/13/26 Ohio Attorney-General:

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Indictments filed this week by the office of Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson accuse six Medicaid providers of stealing a combined $558,383 from the government healthcare program for the needy....

Among those indicted:

• Rasheedah Biles, 42, of Pickerington, is charged with Medicaid fraud and theft in connection with Reset Tomorrow, a Columbus behavioral-health program for children that she owns and operates. The MFCU began investigating Biles after a referral in May 2025 flagged her for excessive billing. The investigation revealed that she allegedly directed employees to inflate claims for services to children in Reset Tomorrow’s after-school program and summer camp, and to residents of a group home for foster children. The fraudulent claims included upcoding and billing for services that were never provided, resulting in a $404,810 loss for Medicaid between November 2023 and October 2025.
   
• Dorika Carter, 41, of Columbus, is accused of falsifying timesheets. She claimed to have provided home-health services while a client was hospitalized, when she was working a separate full-time job and during a six-month period when she could not work due to medical reasons. The loss to Medicaid totaled $6,661.
   
• Carol Dawes-Willis, 59, of Hillsboro, allegedly billed for homemaker and personal care services on dates that she did not visit the client. Electronic visit-verification data, text messages and other documentation confirmed that no services were provided on the billed dates. The loss to Medicaid between January 2024 and October 2025 totaled $4,510.
   
• Yvette Johnson‑Woodall, 58, of Youngstown, faces charges after allegedly defrauding Medicaid of $83,857 between April 2021 and February 2026. Investigators found that she billed for therapeutic behavioral services for four clients during extended periods when no services were provided, including stretches when the clients were homeless or hospitalized. Records also show that some of her billed service hours overlapped with her shifts at a job as a school bus aide.
   
• Sasi Kaza, 55, of Clinton, was charged following an investigation that revealed a $53,405 loss to Medicaid. As the owner of Moonlight Home Health Care in Austintown, Kaza is accused of routinely billing for the maximum number of authorized hours regardless of whether services were provided. The fraudulent claims included billing for dates when clients were hospitalized and, in some cases, after they had died.
   
• Binetou Ndao, 37, of Columbus, allegedly billed for full shifts as a home-health aide despite routinely arriving late and leaving early. Data from her employer’s electronic visit-verification system showed her clocking in and out at locations other than the client’s residence. The loss to Medicaid between January 2025 and January 2026 totaled $5,140.

Medicare Fraud Guilty Plea

 8/27/26 KTLA:

An Anaheim woman pleaded guilty Thursday to submitting more than $2.2 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for hospice care for patients who were not terminally ill, federal prosecutors announced.

Lynn Galbraith, 60, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Galbraith was the co-owner and operator of Garden Grove-based Azure Hospice Care Inc. from September 2019 until July 2022, when she became its sole owner. She remained the owner until February 2024.

During that time, prosecutors said Galbraith knowingly submitted claims to Medicare for hospice services provided to patients who did not have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less, as required to qualify for the benefit.

According to her plea agreement, Galbraith either knew the patients did not qualify for hospice care or knew there were insufficient medical records to support diagnoses and prognoses that would make them eligible.

Prosecutors said she also did not routinely coordinate with patients’ primary care physicians about their purported conditions or terminal prognoses.

In one example cited by federal officials, Galbraith submitted a $6,600 Medicare claim in October 2022 for hospice services provided to a patient despite knowing there was insufficient medical documentation to establish that the person was eligible for hospice care.

Can we balance the budget. Sure "A million here, a million there, after a while it adds up to real money." And put off the inevitable bankruptcy of Medicare. 

4/16/26 U.S. Attorney's press release:

SAN DIEGO – Former teacher Jeanett Valenzuela Ayub pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that she conspired with others to launder millions of dollars of health care fraud proceeds.

In total, Valenzuela admitted that she and her co-conspirators billed Medicare nearly $51 million for bogus prescriptions and were paid approximately $20 million, ultimately laundering at least $14 million dollars of Medicare proceeds and paying $3.7 million in unlawful kickbacks.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.  Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs

According to her plea agreement, Valenzuela and co-conspirators owned and operated multiple durable medical equipment (DME) companies, which sold orthotics – including back, wrist, and knee braces – to Medicare beneficiaries.

Valenzuela admitted that in operating the DME companies, she and co-conspirators paid unlawful kickback payments to sham marketing companies who provided bogus prescriptions for DME. The prescriptions were signed by physicians who had no legitimate doctor-patient relationship with the beneficiary; had not conducted a legitimate medical evaluation of the beneficiary; and had not impartially determined that the beneficiary actually needed the DME.

 

This Brings Back Memories

 I was taking first semester American History at Sonoma State University. Another student asked a question that degenerated into an anti-capitalist diatribe. At the break, I approached him: "Is your Dad a banker or a CEO?" 

"Banker. How did you know?"

8/29/26 New York Post:

Two NYC Democratic Socialists of America leaders have been caught living the ultimate capitalist dream, with one quietly collecting millions in real estate flips and another nesting in a sleek $500,000 Brooklyn apartment, The Post has learned.

Labor Coordinator Olivia Gonzalez Killingsworth sold a luxe Upper West Side triplex in a brownstone building for $2.4 million on Sept. 12, 2022, according to public records.

The “huge, versatile” two-bedroom, three-bathroom triplex just a block away from Central Park boasts sweeping 10-foot-high ceilings overlooking a fireplace, marble shower stalls, bay windows with a view of the gorgeous Callery Pear blossoms that line the street.

“Once again we’re finding out why DSA actually stands for Daddy’s Savings Account. Selling a multimillion-dollar Manhattan Triplex to go play pretend bohemian with your rich comrades in Brooklyn is a luxury working-class New Yorkers will never have,” said NYC Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens)....

Also plotting to seize the means of production from the comfort of her fully owned one-bedroom apartment is DSA Steering Committee chair Julie Swoope, who has a half-million-dollar pad in Brooklyn.

The $510,000 one-bedroom co-op located blocks away from Prospect Park boasts of high ceilings, skyline views and great closet space, per its Streeteasy profile.

It was purchased in 2021, according to public records....

Swoope’s mother, Gail Cunningham Swoope, was an artist who traveled for three years on her “live-aboard sailboat” and was a member of the New Smyrna Beach Boat and Ski Club, according to her obituary.

Both apartments are over $100,000 above the average home price in the United States, which is $387,400, according to 2026 US Census and Department of Housing and Urban Development data.

Nearly 70% of NYC residents are renters, leaving the two socialists woefully out of step with the needs of the working-class people they claim to represent, critics said.

The two women join NYC DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo as part of Gotham’s socialist landed gentry.

Gustavo, who was booted from the electricians union after ghosting his employer, was gifted a $1.5 million Bed-Stuy townhouse by his telecommunications millionaire father.

The revelations about the Yale-educated sculptor have rattled the secretive organization and his days may be numbered, the source close to the organization told The Post.

Those of us who grew up poor are unsurprised. 

Stalking Poseidon

If you know the Odyssey, you know why the name matters. Over the years, as my daughter has acquired robots to vacuum the house, mow the lawn, and clean the pool, she has named each of them.

So far, we have only one robot: an Auquabot that cleans the pool which we named Poseidon, which we hope is less vengeful than the Greek god of the sea.

Lillie, our hyperactive Springer Spaniel, has decided that Poseidon is prey of some sort. She stands at the edge of the pool, barking and growling as it crawls the walls of the pool. Even though she loves to swim, she has shown no willingness to enter Poseidon's domain.  Look how it worked out for Odysseus!

The Odyssey: Awesome

But loud in places. Worth seeing in theaters. Unfortunately, the Sea Peoples are again getting blame for the collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age societies. If you recall my review of 1177 B.C., we now know that climate change likely disrupted complex globalized trade networks, causing collapse of all but Egypt  

Things Very Southern

You knock down spiderweb one day. The next day, they are back.