Zelenskyy explained, “I told him that if he gave us the weapons we need and stopped supporting Putin, we would let him build Trump-branded hotels and other Trump-branded buildings in Ukraine’s ten largest cities, as well as Trump golf courses in the countryside. He was quite excited.”   read more

While allowing the weed-killer Atrazine to be sprayed in enormous quantities throughout the United States, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has relied on scientific studies that have been mostly funded by the industry.   A review o...   read more

The Catholic Church’s headquarters in Rome announced over the weekend that it lost money for the third year in a row. Expenses outpaced revenues for the Vatican in 2009 by $5.2 million ($314.7 million in revenue against $319.9 million in expenses)...   read more

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Obama administration is employing a quieter approach to going after illegal immigrants employed in the United States. Instead of conducting high-profile raids of factories, farms and other busine...   read more

After considerable dilution of the financial reform bill in Congress, it seems Wall Street’s supporters and lobbyists missed a provision that could lead to the breakup of large banks during another economic crisis.   As Simon Johnson, professor ...   read more

Wealth accumulation among the richest North Americans (excluding Mexico) grew in 2009, with millionaires in the U.S. and Canada enjoying a 15% increase in their total worth. Collectively, these millionaires possessed $4.6 trillion, according to a ...   read more

Hospitals and doctors’ offices throw away an enormous amount of used, and unused, medical supplies and equipment each year, prompting advocates to call on the industry to address the mountain of waste. Some medical professionals are beginning to h...   read more

Hollman Morris has earned a reputation as a hard-hitting investigative journalist in Colombia, exposing abuses by government officials and paramilitary groups. This body of work may be what’s keeping Morris from visiting the United States, accordi...   read more

Chosen by President Barack Obama to rebuild the dwindling (both in terms of size and reputation) U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is Rajiv Shah, a doctor and researcher formerly with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He was c...   read more

On February 16, 2010, President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Robert Stephen Ford as the next U.S. ambassador to Syria. This was a significant gesture because the United States has been without such an official for five years, e...   read more

On November 17, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Dr. Robert A. (Randy) Petzel to be Under Secretary for Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Petzel was officially sworn in by Veterans Secretary Eric Shinseki on April 23, 2010, takin...   read more

President Barack Obama can only hope Raul Humberto Yzaguirre, Sr., nominated to serve as ambassador to the Dominican Republic, does not do to him what the outspoken civil rights advocate has done to other presidents, namely blast them in public fo...   read more

A college professor, Indian-American community activist and Democratic Party player, Rajen Anand was chosen by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to return to his leadership role at the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion in the U.S. Departme...   read more

Tired of the cheap deal enjoyed by mining companies, environmentalists are suing the Department of the Interior over the federal designation of the nation’s largest coal-producing region.   WildEarth Guardians claims that the Powder River Basin,...   read more

Corruption continues to rob struggling Afghans of their currency. The citizens of Afghanistan forked over $1 billion in bribes in 2009—more than double of what was paid in 2007 ($466 million).   A new report from the anti-corruption organization...   read more

By taxing soft drinks and other sugar-filled beverages, the government could help Americans lose weight and reduce the growing problem of obesity, says a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.   Sodas, sports beverages and energy dr...   read more

Three veterans of the U.S. military have joined with seven others in filing a legal challenge to the government’s “no fly” list which seeks to keep terrorist threats from entering the United States. Seven of the ten are U.S. citizens, two are lega...   read more