Controversies
Polar Bears vs. Oil Drilling in Alaska
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has downsized the amount of Alaska wilderness that should be considered critical habitat for polar bears, after complaints were raised by the oil industry over the agency’s original proposal.
In Octob... read more
Defense Contractor Audits Decline
To hear the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) tell it, the reason why it is conducting far fewer audits these days is because of an emphasis on quality over quantity. Whatever the rationale, DCAA’s productivity has really dropped in the last ... read more
FDA’s Top Crime Investigator Resigns Amid Corruption Allegations
Terry Vermillion, the Food and Drug Administration’s top criminal investigator, has abruptly retired after allegations surfaced that he abused his position of power. Vermillion, a former Secret Service agent who established the FDA’s Office of C... read more
Obama and Endangered Species: Better than Bush, Worse than Clinton
Having a Democrat in the White House has not been the salvation environmentalists had expected for protecting endangered species. After watching the Bush administration drag its feet in using the Endangered Species Act, environmental groups thou... read more
Johnson & Johnson Fails to Correct Tylenol and Motrin Quality Control Problems
Johnson & Johnson continues to have troubles with its pharmaceutical plant in Puerto Rico, where subsidiary McNeil Consumer Healthcare had to recall millions of bottles of Tylenol, Motrin and other products in January. The latest bad news for Jo... read more
Southern States Criticized for Hurting Fight against AIDS
Misguided public policies are fueling the AIDS epidemic in the American South, says Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a new report (Southern Exposure: HIV and Human Rights in the Southern United States). The organization blames leaders in Southern sta... read more
Goodbye to Color-Coded Terror Alerts
Goodbye green, blue, yellow, orange and red. Hello … well, they’re still working on that.
The Obama administration has decided to discard one of the most visible reminders of the post-Sept. 11 anti-terror policies installed by President Geor... read more
Texas Environment Commission Changed Test Results to Hide Radiation in Water
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) spent two decades under-reporting radiation levels in local water supplies, which helped water districts avoid fines, but exposed residents to potentially harmful radioactive elements.
An ... read more
Texas Police and Sheriff Departments Earn Money by Seizing Property
Through the use of civil asset forfeiture, law enforcement agencies in Texas last decade collected property and cash valued at $280 million from individuals neither convicted nor even charged with a crime. Civil asset forfeiture allows police an... read more
Fish & Wildlife Service Accused of Using U.S. Funds to Help 3 Beachfront Property Owners
Environmental groups are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) over its plan to bulldoze a protected beach in Delaware so that three private homes will be better protected from the elements.
FWS wants to scrape sand from the Prime H... read more
Iraq War Veteran Barred from College over Essay Admitting He is Addicted to Killing
A former U.S. Army infantryman has been kicked off a Maryland community college campus following the publication of an essay in which he wrote about how his service in Iraq left him addicted to killing.
Charles Whittington crafted the essay ... read more
Airports Consider Opting Out of TSA Screening, Creating Big Profits for Private Companies
Led by a congressman who’s received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from private contractors, a movement is afoot to dump employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and replace them with private airport screeners... read more
Arsenic Still Used in Chicken Feed
Americans are consuming three times the amount of chicken than 60 years ago, but the U.S. government hasn’t kept up with its regulations governing how much arsenic is allowable when eating poultry.
Despite the known dangers of arsenic to hum... read more
FDA Stops Sales of Darvon…after More Than 50 Years
More than fifty years after it hit the market, and five years after the United Kingdom banned it, the painkiller Darvon is being pulled off the American market at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drug and a related bran... read more
National Trust for Historic Preservation Sues Defense Dept. over Guam Firing Range
The U.S. military wants to build a series of firing ranges on the Pacific island of Guam overlooking the remnants of an ancient settlement. Fearing the move will adversely affect the historically significant site, the National Trust for Historic... read more
Hundreds of Homeless and Foster Children in Florida Summer Camps Run by Convicted Criminals
Officials in Palm Beach County, Florida, have been doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to businesses operated by convicted felons for them to run summer camps for foster kids and the homeless.
An investigation by the Palm Beach Post ... read more