Top Stories
Cantor Fitzgerald Asks Court Permission to Activate Lawsuit against American Airlines over 9/11 Deaths
Securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 of its 1,000 employees when its headquarters in Tower 1 (North Tower) of the World Trade Center were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, has asked a federal bankruptcy judge to all... read more
Large Majority of Americans Now Believe There is Conflict between Rich and Poor
The wealthy and the poor in U.S. society are not getting along, according to a large majority of Americans. A new Pew Research Center survey revealed that 66% of the public believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the upper a... read more
Murder Drops out of Top 15 Causes of Death in U.S. for First Time Since 1965
Not since 1965 has the list of the leading causes of death in the U.S. not included homicides. But last year murders did indeed fall from the list, thanks to both a declining homicide rate and a rising number of deaths from certain diseases. Repla... read more
Investment Banking Cartel More Concentrated than Ever, Drops to 5
Where once there were 17 major investment banks on Wall Street, there now are only five.
During the financial crisis, stalwarts such as Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch crumbled, leaving behind Goldman Sachs, Morga... read more
Roberts Supreme Court Not a Friend of Free Speech
A legal expert has questioned the conventional wisdom that the U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. has been a strong proponent of free speech.
Monica Youn, a lawyer with the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York Unive... read more
Obama Recess Appointments Rare in Comparison to Previous Presidents
Senate Republicans want the American people to think that President Barack Obama is on a “power grab” after using a recess appointment to install Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three new members to the Nati... read more
FBI Expands Definition of Rape to Include Male and Non-Resisting Victims
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officially expanded its definition of rape this week, changing the standards for sexual assault for the first time since 1929. Under the new definition, rape will include male victims as well as women and ... read more
Mysterious U.S. Space Spy Plane Probably Tracking China
Once China puts people aboard its new space station, they may have to watch what they say.
The United States’ super-secret space plane, the X-37B, is currently orbiting the earth on a classified mission. Even though the government won’t say wh... read more
Number of Americans Wounded in Iraq is Obscured by Fog of War…and Peace
Most Americans simply don’t want to think about the Iraq War anymore. But that is not an option for hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families.
Exactly how many U.S. troops died in Iraq is pretty well established: 4,487 dead. But det... read more
Johnson & Johnson Sued over Secret Recall of Children’s Tylenol after Death of 2-Year-Old
Seeking to avoid adverse publicity, Johnson & Johnson allegedly carried out a “stealth recall” of its Children’s Tylenol—a move that cost the life of a two-year-old child, say parents.
The father and mother of River Moore are suing the drug co... read more
Ohio Closes Fracking-Related Injection Wells after Earthquakes
After a significant earthquake hit on New Year’s Eve, leaders in Ohio ordered the temporary closure of one natural gas-related injection well in the eastern portion of the state near Youngstown and the postponement of the opening of four more.
... read more
Obama Signs into Law Indefinite Detention of Americans without Trial
He waited until New Year’s Eve to do it…but he did it. While expressing “serious reservations” about the bill, President Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve signed legislation that cements into law two highly controversial tenets of the war on terror: ... read more
FDA Quietly Ends Attempt to Regulate Antibiotics in Animal Feed
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to withdraw rules limiting the use of human antibiotics in animal feed, much to the dismay of environmental and consumer groups.
The FDA used the holiday season to quietly make the policy chan... read more
20 Most Popular AllGov Stories—2011
1. Iceland Ranked World’s Most Peaceful Nation, Somalia Worst; U.S. Improves to 82nd
The United States placed 82nd in the ranking, behind Gabon and just ahead of Bangladesh. According to the Institute, “If the U.S. moderately reduced its violence... read more
Post-Occupation Iraq Turns into Bonanza for U.S. Weapons Makers
The presence of U.S. soldiers in Iraq may have dwindled, but American-made weaponry will still be quite visible, and in use, there for a long time to come.
The Obama administration is planning to sell nearly $11 billion in arms and training to... read more
Obama’s Secret Assassination Program
Having succeeded a president who relied on secrecy to thwart terrorism, Barack Obama has himself established a clandestine and “extensive apparatus” to hunt down and assassinate terror suspects across the globe.
Whereas George W. Bush’s war-on... read more