Controversies
State Courts Versus Republican Efforts to Limit Voting: Wisconsin
The voter ID law, which GOP lawmakers and Governor Scott Walker adopted, was declared unconstitutional in March by Circuit Judge Richard G. Niess.
A second judge, David T. Flanagan, ruled the law invalid in July following a nonjury trial.
Niess was appointed by Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, in 2004 and then elected in 2011. Flanagan was appointed by Governor Tommy Thompson, a Republican, in 1999 and then elected in 2012.
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Wyoming Ranchers Knock Gray Wolf Off Endangered Species List
These killings “cost producers approximately $11,076.49 per year between 1987 and 2003 … [and] accounted for <0.01% of the annual gross income from livestock operations in the region.” Such losses, moreover, are subject to compensation by the federal and state governments. read more
Apple Rejects App that Tracks Drone Strikes
App developer Josh Begley received an email this week from Apple saying that “We found that your app contains content that many audiences would find objectionable.”
Before that, the company rejected the app on grounds of it being “not useful.”
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Survivors of Aurora Theater Massacre Speak out against Charity Group Claiming to Help Them
The 7/20 Recovery Committee charged with distributing the donations does not include any victims or their families. 7/20 Committee spokesman Rich Audsley said, “This committee will not be having the victims decide how the dollars are allocated. It will be done by the committee with input by victims.” read more
Truck Driver Fired for Refusing to Carry Explosives with Co-Driver who Smoked, Regains Job
An Arizona-based trucking company specializing in explosives hauling has been ordered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to reinstate a whistleblower fired for refusing to travel with a co-driver who smoked. read more
Obama Administration Sets New Fuel Efficiency Standards…with Loopholes
The environmental group says the new goal of 54.5 mpg by 2025 will more likely be reduced to 47 mpg once certain credits, such as those for air-conditioning units, and “flexibilities” are factored in. Not including electric cars, the current commonly available car with the best fuel efficiency rating is the Toyota Prius at 42 mpg. read more
CIA Emails Reveal How Hollywood Won Rights to Bin Laden Killing Details
CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf was quoted as saying it made “sense to get behind the winning horse...Mark and Kathryn’s movie is going to be the first and the biggest. It’s got the most money behind it, and two Oscar winners on board.” read more
FDA Approves Anti-HIV Pill…for $28,500 a Year
AIDS activists were outraged once they heard how much Gilead intends to charge for the new drug. Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, called the pricing “shockingly irresponsible….It’s just unsustainable at these levels,” he told The New York Times.
Industry analysts project Gilead could earn $2.5 billion from sales of Stribild by 2015.
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Are Administrative Subpoenas being Used to Avoid the Need for Warrants?
Congress has adopted more than 330 laws that grant the use of administrative subpoena power to dozens of federal offices. This has resulted in agencies issuing hundreds of thousands of these subpoenas every year, without having to officially report just how many of them are being served. read more
The Real “Gateway” Drug…Alcohol
Using clinical data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the experts found that 12% of young adults had abused prescription opiates. Of this group, 57% had previously abused alcohol and 56% cigarettes. Only 34% had abused marijuana. read more
Pennsylvania Government Refuses to Turn Over Photo ID Documents to Justice Dept.
Pennsylvania Senior Deputy Attorney General Patrick Cawley admitted under oath that the state was unaware of any case of in-person voter fraud having ever been committed in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania’s Republican House Majority Leader Mike Turzai said that the voter ID law would help deliver the state for Mitt Romney in November. read more
10 Immigration Agents Sue Their Own Agency over Obama Deportation Policy
The lawsuit targets President Obama’s June 2012 decision to grant “deferred status” to some undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, which would delay immigration enforcement action against them for at least two years, as well as a June 2011 memo by ICE Director John Morton ordering immigration officials to focus scarce resources on dangerous illegal immigrants, such as those with criminal records for violent crimes. read more
Commercial Fishing Deaths Grow, as Government Slow to Regulate
The Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked commercial fishing as the most dangerous job in the country from 2007 to 2010. According to records kept by the Centers for Disease Control, the greatest number of fatalities occurred among Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishers, followed by Atlantic scallop fishers and Alaska salmon fishers. read more
Appeals Court Overturns EPA Rule Limiting Cross-State Coal Plant Pollution
The regulation required 28 states in the East, Midwest and South to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that cross state lines and pollute the air of downwind states. Reducing these emissions would have added costly changes for power plants that burn coal to generate electricity, so the coal power industry praised the two judges who voted in their favor. read more
Undercover Video Exposes Illegal Abuse of Animals Used in School Lunch Program…Where were USDA Inspectors?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) responded by shutting down the Hanford-based Central Valley Meat Company on Sunday.
Still, the question arises as to why USDA inspectors did not discover the abuse themselves and had to rely on video submitted by an infiltrator.
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Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists Join U.S. Military to Gain Weapons Training
Former neo-Nazi Marine T.J. Leyden told Reuters, “I went into the Marine Corps for one specific reason: I would learn how shoot. I also learned how to use C-4 (explosives), blow things up. I took all my military skills and said I could use these to train other people.” Leyden later renounced white supremacist causes.
Despite such examples, one Army spokesman, Colonel Kevin Arata at Fort Bragg, told Reuters: “We don’t really think this is a huge problem, at Bragg, and across the Army.”
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