Investigations: Treasury Dept. Bailout Contracts Blacked Out

BailOutSleuth.com, a new investigative blogging venture that probes the lack of transparency in the U.S. $700-billion bailout of the financial sector, reports in this story that key info is being redacted from the publicly released versions of the contracts signed with accounting firms to do the books for the Treasury Department program. BailOutSleuth.com is a joint effort of Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, and ShareSleuth.com, a site that probes fraud in "the lower reaches of the stock market."

Interesting disclosure statement on that site: "In certain instances, the majority partner of Sharesleuth.com [Cuban -A.R.] is going to make personal investments based on information we uncover. Those investments will be fully disclosed, so that readers can evaluate any potential conflicts of interest. The reporters and editors, however, will maintain policies of not holding individual securities, and we will report Sharesleuth.com stories no differently than we have others throughout our careers."

TAGS: markets, fraud, investigations, bailout

Investigations: Major Security Lapses at High-Security Labs

Two of the top U.S. biological labs - which work with the most dangerous microbes known - have major security lapses, according to a General Accounting Office investigation. What's worse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which oversee the labs, seemed to ignore the glaring vulnerabilities.

TAGS: investigations, microbes

Interesting: Hedge Fund Boss Retires at 37, Calls Traders "Idiots"

U.S. hedge-fund manager Andrew Lahde became famous in his business when one of his funds returned an astonishing 866 percent last year, mostly by betting U.S. housing loans would crash. Now, he's retiring at age 37 and in style: his farewell letter - calling fellow hedgies "idiots," telling them to throw away their Blackberries and appealing for the legalization of marijuana - has stirred waves. "All of this behaviour supporting the aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America," he wrote. Read more about Lahde here.

TAGS: markets, interesting, hedge funds

Journalists Attacked: "Murder Russia-Style"

This TIME story from Moscow-based Yuri Zarakhovich is a good backgrounder on recent attacks on journalists and political figures in increasingly authoritarian Russia.

TAGS: journalists attacked, Russia

Events: Stevie Cameron Speaks About Pickton Case

Author Stevie Cameron, a member of the advisory board of the Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting (of which yours truly is vice-president), will give a talk at Fredericton's St. Thomas University on her years of work investigating one of Canada's most notorious serial killers, Robert Pickton. Cameron, author of The Pickton File, is working on a second book on the gruesome case, The Pig Farm. Her talk happens Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. in the McCain Hall auditorium.

TAGS: investigations, justice