Sex, drugs and government employees
Commentary: A weekly roundup of offbeat stories on the Internet
By Craig Tolliver, MarketWatch
Last update: 11:42 a.m. EDT Sept. 12, 2008
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- "Party hardy" was the theme at the Interior Department's now infamous agency that collects royalty payments for oil and gas produced on public land. An internal investigation alleges that eight employees of the Minerals Management Service's (MMS) Royalty in Kind Program (RIK) acted improperly with employees of some big oil companies. In 2006, RIK raked in over $4 billion in oil and gas sales for the federal government, according to the report. Employees of Chevron the Gary Williams Energy Corp. and Hess Corp.
were questioned in the affair.
Drug use, gifts and sexual relations are among the charges levied at RIK employees. "Gifts" largely amounted to meals but also included golf, ski and paintball outings -- not to mention a few hotel stays. While the value of the gifts was less than $7,000, the tally on the investigation was in the neighborhood of $5.3 million according to the Associated Press. The Interior's inspector general assembled criminal investigators, computer forensics specialists, criminal research specialists, and auditors for the job.
Another complaint lodged at some of the workers was accepting outside employment without agency approval. One provocative staff member who did have approval had "bragged that she made more money with this business than her salary," according to a confidential source aiding in the investigation. Branded as one of the hot-to-trot " MMS chicks," the RIK staffer had a side job as a sex-toy-party hostess for direct seller Passion Parties. We don't know what her future with the Interior Department may be, but can a Playboy pictorial contract be far behind? -- Federal News Radio
Sex really does sell
Before Interior officials judge RIK employees too harshly, they would do well to take notice of a University of Leuven study on sex and sales. The Belgian report found that sexually aroused customers tend to be looser with their wallets (duh). In short, sex sells. "Machos usually tend to be tough negotiators, but advertisements featuring naked women turn them into gullible sheep," Siegfried Dewitte, a professor of economics who carried out the study, told Flemish broadcaster VRT. The study also found the same to be true of women exposed to scantily-clad men. As a government agency that that arguably raises more non-tax revenue than most, RIK staffers may be on to something. -- The Times of India |
