Top Stories
Justice Dept. Asks Judge to Keep Enforcing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in Gay Republican Case
Having lost a key ruling in federal court involving the government’s ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military, the Obama administration continues to fight the outlawing of “don’t ask, don’t tell” despite the president’s insistence he wa... read more
Republican Senate Minority Blocks Corporate Campaign Finance Disclosure Bill
Democrats in the U.S. Senate have so far been unable to overcome Republican opposition to campaign disclosure legislation designed to address unlimited spending by corporations and unions on elections since a key court decision was handed down e... read more
More Contractors than Troops Killed in Iraq and Afghanistan This Year
The biggest sacrifice the U.S. can make in Afghanistan is no longer being borne by the military. With contractors by the thousands operating in the war effort, private security are now dying in greater numbers than soldiers in the fight against ... read more
Since Official End of Recession, U.S. Has Actually Lost Jobs
With a recovery like this, who needs a recession?
According to The National Bureau of Economic Research, the U.S. economy has officially been out of the Great Recession for 15 months, since things bottomed out in June 2009. But regardless of... read more
Trial Opens against Chemical Company Accused in Brain Cancer Cluster Case
Chemical manufacturer Rohm and Haas, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, has begun defending itself in a Philadelphia courtroom against claims that it is responsible for an outbreak of brain cancer cases in a small town in northern Illinois. The plain... read more
FDA Says Consumers Have No Right to Know if Salmon are Genetically Modified
If the Food and Drug Administration decides to approve for the first time the sale of a genetically-modified animal (GMO) for Americans to consume, the deal will not include a requirement that producers or retailers label the food as such.
FDA... read more
Obama Extends Presidential Emergency Powers for Another Year
It’s been more than nine years since September 11, 2001, and the U.S. government continues to operate under the provisions of the National Emergencies Act, which President George W. Bush first implemented three days after the terrorist attacks o... read more
Deformed Fish Found Downstream from Oil Sand Project; Next Stop…Utah
Efforts to extract oil from sand pits in Canada may be a harbinger of environmental troubles awaiting Utah if the state goes through with its own oilsands project, which would be the first of its kind in the United States.
In Canada’s Saskatch... read more
Nuclear Detectors at the Border: Goodbye to $4 Billion
One would think when spending $4 billion to develop new technology that would prevent terrorists from smuggling nuclear weapons into the country, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would have at least made sure the equipment could fit at ... read more
America Under Stress—Manhattan Mosque Rallies
With poverty spreading, foreclosures on the rise and unemployment still high, Americans gathered in New York City on September 11, 2010, to protest… the building of an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan. (photos: Aaron Wallechinsky)
... read more
U.S. Attacks in Pakistan Reach Record Levels
The United States has stepped up its unmanned aerial assaults in Pakistan this month, launching more missile attacks in September than during any other month since the use of drone aircraft began in 2004.
The Associated Press estimates there... read more
Obama Prepares Largest Arms Sale Ever…to Saudi Arabia
Selling $60 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia is a win-win deal, according to the Obama administration. The largest weapons deal ever by the U.S. would create more than 70,000 jobs for the stumbling U.S. economy, and it would strengthen ties with ... read more
Big Winners in a Bad Economy…Military Recruiters
Business is booming for the military in these lean economic times. The four major branches of the armed services (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines) are “far exceeding their recruiting goals,” according to the Dallas Morning News, which reports ... read more
Record Increase of Americans Living in Poverty
When income data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau is released for 2009, it’s likely to show the poverty rate jumped to 15% from 13.2% the year before—the single highest increase since the government began recording such information in 1959.
... read more
KBR/Halliburton Immune from Prosecution for Cancer Exposure in Iraq
Former Halliburton subsidiary KBR got quite the deal from the Bush administration when it agreed to help rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure following the 2003 invasion. Not only was it paid millions of dollars for the work, but it was also indemnifie... read more