Controversies
Time to Take a Closer Look at the Work Progress Administration: Mike Elk
Now is the time to revisit the New Deal’s Work Progress Administration (WPA), which was created 75 years ago, writes Mike Elk at Campaign for America’s Future. The WPA provided more than three million jobs for a struggling economy in the 1930s, gi... read more
Officer Pleads Guilty in Post-Katrina Danziger Bridge Killing
Former New Orleans police officer Michael Hunter has pleaded guilty in the ongoing trial of numerous law enforcement personnel accused of the September 2005 unjustified shootings of several residents and a subsequent cover-up. He is the first offi... read more
How Eggs are Made in the United States
Chickens living on factory farms endure suffering described as “staggering,” according to an undercover investigation carried out by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). An HSUS investigator spent two months working inside four differen... read more
Secret Private Plane Rides Cost Taxpayers
Thanks to a business air-travel trade group, politicians, CEOs and even televangelists have been able to fly around the U.S. and the world without having to make their flight information available to the American public. But after a lengthy legal ... read more
Abu Zubaydah, the High-Value Terrorist Who Wasn’t
Labeled the first “high-value” detainee by the Bush administration, Abu Zubaydah was described as “al-Qaeda’s chief of operations and top recruiter” and “a senior terrorist leader and a trusted associate of Osama bin Laden” who supposedly was goin... read more
First U.S. Citizen Added to CIA Assassination List
Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S.-born and educated citizen now residing in Yemen, has become the first American to be placed on a CIA assassination list targeting suspected terrorists. Al-Aulaqi surfaced as a controversial figure after it was learned that ... read more
Social Security Disability Appeals Take Twice as Long in Ohio than in Delaware
People with disabilities seeking help from the Social Security Administration can wait twice as long than others depending on where they live in the United States. A review of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) hearings by the company A... read more
Netflix, Postal Service’s Largest Corporate Client, Braces for End of Saturday Delivery
News of the U.S. Postal Service’s proposal to end Saturday mail delivery could mean trouble for Netflix. The mail-based DVD rental company has been doing better than ever, posting a $115 million profit in 2009 and boasting a subscriber base of 12.... read more
JPMorgan Chase Advised Homeowners to Stop Making Loan Payments…and Then Foreclosed
JPMorgan Chase has been accused of telling homeowners to not pay their mortgages in order to be considered eligible for a loan modification—only to then foreclose on the properties for non-payment. The matter was brought to light by a lawsuit file... read more
After 135 Years, the End of the Sardine Industry in the U.S.
Next week will mark the end of an industry in the United States when the last remaining sardine factory closes down. Bumble Bee, owner of the sardine cannery in Prospect Harbor, Maine, has decided to shutter the operation because of government l... read more
Bayer Beats Out ExxonMobil for Most Toxic Corporate Air Polluter Title
The worst air polluter in the United States isn’t an oil or chemical company, but a longtime name best associated with aspirin: Bayer. According to the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Bayer Grou... read more
Pfizer’s Bad Week: Kickbacks, Whistleblowers, and Doctors on the Payroll
The bad news seems without end for pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer, which has only itself to blame. In addition to paying the largest criminal fine in U.S. history ($1.19 billion) for illegally marketing the painkiller Bextra, Pfizer created a ... read more
German Faces Murder Trial in France after Being Kidnapped by Victim’s Father
Dieter Krombach of Germany is awaiting trial in France for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl. What makes Krombach’s case unusual was how he came to be in the custody of French law enforcement.
Following the death of Kalinka Bamberski i... read more
Two State Attorneys General Refuse Governor Requests to Sue over Health Reform Law
Fourteen states intend to fight the recently passed federal healthcare reform legislation in court, but in Georgia and Nevada the Democratic attorneys general are refusing to cooperate with their Republican governors’ requests to join the cause.
... read more
Execution of TV Host in Saudi Arabia May Be Imminent
Ali Hussain Sibat, a Lebanese television host who occasionally offered predictions on his show, was scheduled to be executed in Saudi Arabia on April 2 for acts of “sorcery,” But his lawyer, May el-Khansa, has been told by a Lebanese government of... read more
Gun Rights Advocates to March on 15th Anniversary of Oklahoma City Bombing
Supporters of the Second Amendment and the right to own guns are planning a national march on Washington, DC, scheduled for April 19. The date was chosen because it is the 235th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. However, April 1... read more