Top Stories
Another $250 Million Spent on a Missile Defense System (Almost) No One Wants
The Department of Defense has refused to give up on a costly missile defense system that has yet to prove its worthiness for the battlefield, arguing that hundreds of millions of dollars more should be spent to keep the program alive.
The prog... read more
White Births in U.S. Drop below 50% of Total
In another sign of the coming end of the United States’ Caucasian orientation, the majority of babies born last year were minorities—a first in American history.
Just over half (50.4%) of the U.S. population younger than age 1 were minorities ... read more
Federal Judge Blocks Obama’s Right to Impose Indefinite Detention without Trial
A New York federal judge has temporarily blocked provisions of the controversial National Defense Authorization Act approved by President Barack Obama on December 31, 2011, which allows the military to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects, inclu... read more
Why Are There So Many More Negative Campaign Ads? Because They Work
The 2012 election is shaping up to be ugly, with considerably more negative advertisements than the election four years ago. It’s no surprise that campaigns are relying more on attack ads, for the simple reason that research shows going negative i... read more
CEO Who Oversaw Mass Vioxx Deaths Now Teaching at Harvard and on Microsoft Board of Directors
Raymond Gilmartin’s landing was a soft one after leaving behind an embattled Merck. The one-time top executive of the leading pharmaceutical company, which was engulfed in the Vioxx controversy last decade, splits his time these days between teach... read more
Ominous Failure at “Too Big to Fail” JPMorgan Chase
The self-styled “Masters of the Universe” have done it again. Just three-and-a-half years after Wall Street’s best and brightest lost billions of dollars on bad bets and crashed the global economy, mega-bank JPMorgan Chase lost more than $2 billio... read more
Federal Reserve Allows First Chinese Government Takeover of U.S. Bank
In a “watershed moment” for the U.S. banking industry, the Federal Reserve has approved the first takeover of an American financial institution by the Chinese government.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), which is owned by the... read more
Campaigns Shift Negative Ads from Candidate Funding to “Independent” Groups to Avoid Backlash
Candidates who go negative during a political campaign run the risk of a backlash from voters.
But if a so-called independent group can sling your mud for you, then going negative is a much more successful strategy, according to two professors... read more
Underemployment for Under 30s Reaches 32%
Getting a full-time job is toughest these days for those in their twenties.
According to a new Gallup poll, 32% of young workers (age 18-29) are underemployed, a category that combines the unemployed with individuals who are working part-time... read more
U.S. Sees Warmest Year Since Record-Keeping Began 117 Years Ago
Things are heating up in the United States. Over the past 12 months, the average national temperature reached the highest ever recorded since the government began keeping track in 1895.
From May 2011 to April 2012, the nationally averaged temp... read more
Over 50 Years, Private Job Growth Better under Democratic Presidents
They have spent less time in the Oval Office than their conservative counterparts over the last five decades, but Democratic presidents have presided over better private sector job growth than Republicans.
Bob Drummond at Bloomberg analyzed 50... read more
Abbott Labs to Pay $1.6 Billion for Illegal Marketing of Anti-Seizure Drug; No Individuals Charged
Pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle accusations that it illegally marketed the anti-seizure medication Depakote for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
About $800 million... read more
13 Workers a Day Die on the Job…Not Including Work-Related Diseases
The American workplace is not as safe as it could be. Every day in the United States, 13 people are killed on the job, about 137 die from occupational diseases and at least 10,000 suffer workplace injuries or illnesses, according to data recently ... read more
Boeing Launches First Non-Union Airplane
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has unveiled its first plane built at a new plant in South Carolina, where non-union workers are trying to prove they’re just as capable of producing quality jetliners as the organized labor workforce in Washington Sta... read more
Americans Get Less for Their Health Money than Citizens of other Wealthy Nations
The United States spends more per person on health care than 13 other industrialized nations. But paying more has not meant getting more in return, according to a study published by The Commonwealth Fund.
In terms of health care expenditures, ... read more
More Teens Smoke Marijuana than Tobacco
Marijuana has become the most popular substance to smoke among teenagers today, according to a survey by an anti-drug organization.
The Partnership at DrugFree.org found that 27% of teens said they had smoked marijuana within the last month. T... read more