Top Stories
Bush-Appointed Judge Rules Yoo Can be Sued for Torture
John Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who took a leading role in crafting the Bush administration’s legal rationale for torturing terrorism suspects, can be sued in federal court for his actions, according to a Republican-appointed judge.... read more
San Francisco Approves Nation’s Toughest Recycling Law
Intent on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, San Francisco officials this week approved an aggressive expansion of the city’s recycling program, requiring all residents and businesses to separate recyclable materials and food waste from garbage th... read more
Landmark Bill to Regulate Tobacco
The Food and Drug Administration tried almost 10 years ago to start regulating the tobacco industry by going after the use of nicotine in cigarettes, but that effort was shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled Congress first had to give s... read more
House Leaders Invested in Bailed Out Firms
When Congress decided to bailout Wall Street’s largest financial institutions last year, they had more than just the nation’s interest in mind. They had their own as well. According to disclosure forms released on Wednesday by the House of Represe... read more
Obama Administration Lobbies against Democratic Vote in Iraq
After sacrificing thousands of Americans lives and spending hundreds of billions of dollars to supposedly bring democracy to Iraq, the U.S. government is seeking to suppress the Iraqi people’s right to vote on whether American troops should stay i... read more
Insurance Companies Invest in Tobacco
Tobacco may be frowned upon by insurance companies when it comes to insuring smokers, but it is a-okay as an investment. The New England Journal of Medicine is reporting that many of the biggest insurers in the world have billions of dollars inves... read more
U.S. Leads Boom in Arms Sales
Times may be bad for car and home sales, as well as numerous other industries, but the economic troubles plaguing so much of the business world has had no effect on either war or “peace” operations. According to the Stockholm International Peace R... read more
White House Issues Anti-Drug Plan for Mexican Border
Continuing a strategy focused on the supply side of the drug problem, the Obama administration on Friday unveiled its counternarcotics policy for the Southwest, calling for greater investment in technology to intercept drug shipments over the U.S.... read more
FTC Shuts Down Malicious Internet Service Provider
The Federal Trade Commission last week sent a message to those who support illegal activities on the Internet that there’s a new sheriff in town. In a move deemed unprecedented by some Internet analysts, the FTC got a judge to order the shutdown o... read more
Is Obama’s Cybersecurity Plan Recycled Bush?
When President George W. Bush came up with his plan in 2003 to protect the nation’s key computer systems from cyber attacks, he called for collaborative efforts involving public-private partnerships and international organizations, all while prote... read more
Who’s Abusing Which Substances?
Drug abuse and mental illness are challenges officials face everywhere in the country, but for some states certain problems are more acute than others. Utah, for example, leads the United States in the rate of “serious psychological distress,” but... read more
Iraq’s Oil: Ready at Last
Assuming the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki can maintain stability once the U.S. withdraws its forces next year, Iraq has ambitious plans for expanding oil and natural gas production, with the first big contracts to be due to be awar... read more
Government Publishes Classified List of Nuclear Sites
Was it a serious breach of national security that could end up helping terrorists, or just no big deal? That was the range of opinion among experts following the revelation earlier this week that someone in the federal government had accidentally ... read more
8 Extremely Little-Known Corners of the U.S. Intelligence Network…and 4 More
While the government spends billions to keep things secret, it also splurges a little on information that’s not so tightly locked away. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, home to the country’s top spook, has published a handbook ... read more
Planning for National Education Standards
Education standards for K-12 students have historically been decided by each state, creating a disparate system of requirements for children across the country. This 50-state model could change if reformists manage to create a uniform set of math ... read more
Ranchers and Environmentalists Unite
No matter how much some conservatives despise left-wing environmentalists, it is still possible for the two sides to find common ground where commerce and renewable energy meet. Such is the case in the Texas panhandle, a hardscrabble stretch of ea... read more