Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

Drought conditions have devastated nearly all of the range and pasture land in Oklahoma and Texas, forcing ranchers to buy feed to maintain their herds or else face the prospect of “liquidating” them.   At least nine states have lost the use o...   read more

Since his days as head of the CIA, John Deutch has earned more than $1 million serving on the boards of energy companies. The problem with this, say environmentalists and scientists, is that Deutch has been chairing Energy Secretary Stephen Chu’s ...   read more

Medical journals over the past decade have had to retract a rising number of articles, in part because there are more publications, but also due to problems of fraud.   While the number of papers published since 2001 in research journals incre...   read more

The U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, Fay Hartog Levin, announced on August 8 that she is resigning her post effective September and returning to Chicago.   One of many Chicagoans tapped by President Barack Obama to join his administration, ...   read more

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, William H. Moser was selected by President Barack Obama to be the United States’ next ambassador to Moldova on May 5, 2011, and he was confirmed by the Senate on August 2.   Born and raised in Nor...   read more

In an attempt to piggyback on the landmark Citizens United ruling, two foreign nationals tried unsuccessfully in federal court to force open American elections to overseas political contributions.   Benjamin Bluman a Canadian citizen, and Dr. ...   read more

Civil unrest can be brought about by a government’s change in economic policy, specifically efforts to reduce spending or impose harsh austerity measures. Researchers at the Centre for Economic Policy Research reviewed historical data from the 1...   read more

The rise of income inequality in the United States, with the rich accumulating greater and greater proportions of the nation’s wealth, has created opportunities for ex-military and police to become guardians of the upper strata.   According to...   read more

Sprint Nextel Corp. has been ordered by a federal judge to pay more than $600,000 to victims of the June 25, 1996, Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.   The order arose out of a lawsuit filed by families of those who died in the terrorist a...   read more

With gasoline consumption on the decline, the government of the Netherlands is experimenting with putting meters in cars so it can charge citizens for how much they drive.   Drivers are assessed not only for the miles they rack up, but also fo...   read more

Democrats are again trying to limit the practice of sealing legal settlements that arise from product liability and other types of lawsuits, arguing that the public has a right to know about potential safety and public health problems.   The S...   read more

It’s been open season on doctors and nurses in recent years, according to the International Red Cross, which has issued alarming numbers on attacks, some intentional, targeting medical professionals in war zones.   The International Committee ...   read more

It survived the Great War, the Great Depression and the Second World War. But the House of Reeves wasn’t able to withstand the riots that swept across England.   The family-owned furniture store had been in business since opening its doors i...   read more

Virginia’s correctional department has been ordered by a federal judge to explain why it allows prisoners to have only religious CDs, after an inmate sued for being denied a collection of Dylan Thomas’ poetry.   Plaintiff Owen North filed his ...   read more

With prosperity comes indulgence, and many in China are taking advantage of their wealth by buying cars, homes … and mistresses.   While no statistical information reflects the growing trend, plenty of anecdotes have surfaced in China revealin...   read more

Unhappy with the White House’s legal position, Democratic leaders of Congress have filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging President Barack Obama’s position on Medicaid.   The dispute stems from Douglas v. Independent Living Cent...   read more