Controversies
Almost Half of Bottled Water Comes from Taps
Drinking bottled water nowadays is about the same as consuming filtered tap water, according to a new report from the advocacy group Food & Water Watch. Their assessment shows that from 2000 to 2009, the proportion of bottled water taken from muni... read more
Raise Social Security to 70? What about Workers with Physical Jobs?
There are those in Washington who want to raise the standard retirement age from 65 to 70 in order to ease some of the burden on Social Security. But such a change could force millions of Americans to accept reduced benefits because of the nature ... read more
Army Ends Program to Help High School Dropouts
No longer in need of recruits, the U.S. Army is discontinuing a test project in which the service helped high school students earn their equivalency certificates so they could qualify to become soldiers.
Nearly 3,000 high school dropouts went ... read more
Pentagon’s New Enemy: Wind Turbines
It’s energy security vs. national security. The Department of Energy vs. the Department of Defense.
Out West in California, the U.S. military is raising a stink about the many wind farms cropping up in the desert, claiming the towering turbine... read more
17 Fort Carson Soldiers Charged in Domestic Killings
Coming home has been a tragedy for many members of a U.S. Army unit stationed in Colorado. So far, 17 soldiers from Fort Carson, most of whom served in Iraq, have been charged or convicted of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter in the past fo... read more
California Jail Prepares to Use Unbearable Heat Weapon
Next time inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic in Los Angeles County get into a fight, they’re going to feel some real heat. Using technology originally developed for the military, the Sheriff’s Department has installed the 7½-foot ... read more
Prior to Massive Egg Recall, FDA Refused to Mandate Vaccinating Hens
In 1997, the United Kingdom
began having its farmers vaccinate chickens for salmonella. The result: Cases of food poisoning from Salmonella Enteritidis PT4 went down from 14,771 to 581 over 12 years, a 96% decline.
U.S. regulators could have ... read more
Veterans Groups Want VA Put in Charge of Arlington Instead of Army
Having lost faith in the U.S. Army to properly run Arlington National Cemetery, veterans groups and members of Congress are raising the idea of transferring management of the renowned military graveyard to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
U... read more
A Quarter of Fort Hood Soldiers Seek Mental Health Counseling
Between the shooting rampage last year that killed 13 soldiers and the stress of warfare, Fort Hood in Texas has its hands full of U.S. Army personnel in need of mental health services. Approximately 25% of all soldiers stationed at the nation’s l... read more
The Anti-Vietnam War Bomber Who Got Away
Former college student Leo Burt is known as “Wisconsin’s state ghost.” But no one can prove that Burt is actually dead. The one-time radical who attended the University of Wisconsin four decades ago has been in hiding since he took part in what wa... read more
Plastic Pollution in the Atlantic Ocean
Plastic garbage floating in the Atlantic Ocean is “a significant environmental concern,” according to oceanographers from the Sea Education Association (SEA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Hawaii. In reviewing 22 years... read more
Soldiers Punished for Not Attending Christian Concert
As far as Major General James E. Chambers is concerned, being in the U.S. Army also means being in God’s army too. For the past several years, Chambers, the born-again commander of first Fort Eustis and then Fort Lee in Virginia, has wanted his so... read more
Appeals Court Hits Grocery Chains with Anittrust Violation
Albertson’s, Vons (Safeway), Ralphs and Food 4 Less violated antitrust laws as a result of their 2003 profit-sharing agreement, ruled a federal appellate court. In banding together to share profits in the event workers from one of the stores went ... read more
When CIA Destroyed Interrogation Tapes, They Missed One Set
At least one piece of history survived the CIA’s attempt to erase evidence of its secret prison program during the Bush administration when suspected terrorists were confined throughout the world at hidden locations, interrogated and in some cases... read more
Coal vs. Wind on a West Virginia Mountain
In an effort to save one piece of landscape from the destruction of surface coal mining, environmentalists in West Virginia are fighting to establish a wind farm atop Coal River Mountain. Proponents claim the wind energy project would save the mou... read more
Doctors Group Wins Partial Victory against Grilled Chicken Restaurants
Seeking notification that would warn customers of popular restaurant chains about the dangers of eating grilled chicken, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine won a partial victory in a California appellate court. The group filed a law... read more