Controversies
S&P Gives Higher Rating to Sub-Prime Mortgages than to U.S. Bonds
Standard & Poor’s, the Wall Street rating institution whose integrity already was questioned a few years ago, has decided that securities backed by subprime home loans deserve a higher rating than bonds issued by the federal government.
That... read more
Arizona Begins Charging for Prison Visits
Visiting inmates in Arizona will now require a $25 background check fee, making the state the first in the nation to require such an expense.
Wendy Baldo, chief of staff for the Arizona Senate, admitted that the money raised from the new fee... read more
U.S. Oil Exports Reach Record Highs; That’s Right…Exports
Funny how politician after politician keeps talking about the necessity to drill for more oil in the U.S., be it in Alaska or in the Gulf of Mexico or on public lands—considering that America has been breaking records this year for exports of pe... read more
Veterans’ Lawsuit against CIA and Army Drug Experimentation Moves Closer to Trial
The CIA failed this week to convince a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the agency used American soldiers during the Cold War as guinea pigs for drug experiments.
Led by the Vietnam Veterans of America, the plaintiffs are suing th... read more
Former Volunteers Sue Peace Corps for Refusing to Release Survey Results
Charles Ludlam and Paula Hirschoff, who served two different stints in the Peace Corps, are suing the agency for not releasing data from its annual surveys of volunteers.
Ludlam and Hirschoff are seeking the release of the country-specific s... read more
Judge Orders Exelon to Divulge Radiation Data in Child Brain Cancer Lawsuit
Energy company Exelon has been ordered by a federal judge to turn over data regarding radiation leakage from one of its power plants.
The demand came about after the parents of a girl sued Exelon claiming their daughter developed brain cance... read more
Billing Dispute Opens Unexpected Window on Secret CIA Kidnapping Flights
One problem with entrusting the secret transport of detainees to private companies is that the process may end up spilling information about clandestine operations, if issues of money arise.
This development now plagues the CIA, whose contra... read more
Army and Air Force Approve Sales on Bases of Gay Magazine
Later this month the U.S. military will officially begin allowing homosexuals to serve openly. On the day this landmark change takes effect, gays and lesbians in two branches of the armed services will also be able to buy copies of a new magazin... read more
Chemicals Used in BP Oil Spill Cleanup Suspected of Being Cancerous
More than a million gallons of oil-dispersing chemicals were dumped into the Gulf of Mexico following the BP oil spill of April 2010, and based on what was known about the products available at the time, it is probable that some of the dispersan... read more
New, Safer Traffic Signs Fall Victim to Budget Cuts
The Obama administration has decided to eliminate deadlines for replacing traffic signs in local communities, saying the mandates would have cost millions of dollars at a time when states, cities and counties are struggling to balance budgets.
... read more
Lawsuit Accuses Kellogg of Faking “All Natural” Products
Kellogg, the world’s largest cereal company, is under fire again for allegedly selling healthy breakfast food that is anything but. In one case, a “natural” product was produced almost entirely with synthetic ingredients.
In a federal class-... read more
CIA Censors FBI Agent’s 9/11 Book
The CIA is being accused of censoring an FBI agent’s book on the fight against terrorism in order to keep the intelligence agency from looking bad.
FBI agent Ali Soufan has written a memoir about his days as a counterterrorism expert from 19... read more
7 Foundations Spent $42 Million to Spread Fear of Muslims in U.S.
The rise of Islamophobia in the United States can be traced to a small group of people and organizations who are well financed by about half a dozen foundations, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
After the terrorist ... read more
Florida Tests Show Welfare Recipients Less Likely to Use Illegal Drugs
Florida’s highly-publicized drug-testing experiment for welfare recipients has so far not produced the results proponents anticipated. In fact, the welfare applicants are testing positive at a lower rate than the general population of the state.... read more
National Safety Board Rejects Shoulder Belts for School Buses as Too Costly
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has rejected safety advocates’ attempt to mandate shoulder-lap seat belts in large school buses. Such seat belts are required on smaller school buses.
Nearly a half-million school bu... read more
12 Deficit Committee Members Have More Than 100 Ex-Staffers as Lobbyists
It’s safe to say that the dozen members of Congress charged with coming up with a plan for trimming $1.5 trillion from the federal budget won’t lack for input from lobbyists.
It turns out that the six Republicans and six Democrats on the Joi... read more