Controversies
Senate Committee Blasts Intelligence Community over Christmas Day Bomber
Every major intelligence agency in the U.S. government contributed in some way to the blunders that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria to nearly blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day last year.
An investigation into th... read more
Louisiana Chemical Industry Attacks New Orleans’ Tulane University
The chemical lobby in Louisiana has declared war on Tulane University’s environmental law program, long the bane of existence for corporate polluters.
As part of a multi-pronged strategy, the Louisiana Chemical Association is urging all of its... read more
Anti-Arizona Cities Issue IDs to Illegal Immigrants
Unlike the state of Arizona, which is trying to crackdown on illegal immigration by requiring anyone stopped by police to show proof of legal status, some cities on the East and West Coast are dispensing IDs to help undocumented individuals become... read more
Bipartisan House Support for…Limiting Scientific Research
Republicans and Democrats in the House united last week, voting 292-126 to freeze government spending on scientific research, even though such expenditures can help lead to innovations and economic opportunities for tomorrow’s economy.
The bip... read more
Poets: Murdered in Iraq, Beaten in Rhode Island
Political expression through poetry has prompted violent reactions by authorities from Iraq to Rhode Island.
In the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Zardasht Osman, a student and freelance journalist, was found shot to death shortly after publ... read more
5 VA Hospitals Banned from Performing Most Surgeries
In an attempt to improve medical care at its hospitals, the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a rating system that consequently has caused some VA facilities to be banned from performing elective surgeries. The “surgery complexity initi... read more
Omar Khadr: The U.S. Military Trial of a Child Soldier
Defense attorneys for Omar Khadr, the so-called “child soldier” of Guantánamo, have argued at their client’s military tribunal that some of the testimony being used against him by the U.S. was coerced. The tainted testimony was obtained soon after... read more
Future Worry: Hackers Attacking Car Computers
Cars today are as much products of computer electronics as they are automotive engineering. Because they contain and rely upon so much high-tech circuitry, cars are increasingly becoming vulnerable to computer hackers who may be able to manipulate... read more
Does it Matter that Kagan Has Never Been a Judge?
Conservatives are trying to make an issue out of Elena Kagan’s lack of judicial experience before she joins the U.S. Supreme Court. Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas, for one, has said that having been a judge is a “necessary credential... read more
Judge Asked to Revoke BP Probation for Earlier Explosion in Texas
Five years ago, a deadly explosion at a refinery in Texas landed BP on probation as part of a plea agreement it reached with the U.S. Department of Justice. That probation should now be revoked, argues an attorney representing some of the victims ... read more
Owner of Sunken Gulf Oil Rig Dominant Source of Problems in Gulf Since 2008
The Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico was not the first safety problem that oil rig operator Transocean has suffered in recent years. A review of safety reports logged with the federal government showed the company accounted for alm... read more
Health Reform: One in Five Non-Elderly Have “Pre-Existing Condition”
With pre-existing conditions expected to become a thing of the past once the federal healthcare reform plan kicks in, the Families USA Foundation decided to issue a report showing how widespread a problem this has been for Americans.
The found... read more
Old-Fashioned Law Enforcement Stops Terrorist Plots as Often as Extreme Measures
In an attempt to demonstrate that terrorism can be thwarted without resorting to torture or endangering civil liberties, the American Security Project has issued a report claiming that most foiled plots since September 11, 2001, have come about fr... read more
Obama Administration Exploits Miranda Loophole
Seeking a compromise between the right and left, the Obama administration is making use of an old exception to the Miranda rule so that federal agents can interrogate terrorism suspects before informing them of their right to remain silent and see... read more
Offshore Oil Drilling Deaths More Common in U.S. than in Europe
Offshore oil workers stand a higher risk of getting killed or injured on the job than their counterparts in Europe. This finding was uncovered among others in an investigation by The Wall Street Journal of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), wh... read more
Gulf of Mexico Turtle Autopsies Closed to Public
Government scientists are denying media access to necropsies being performed on dozens of dead sea turtles found washed up along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Thirty five young Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, an endangered species, have been discovered on ... read more