When corporations underpay their workers, the government must step in to keep low-income individuals from slipping even further into poverty. Meanwhile, these companies are raking in enormous profits as a result of keeping their labor costs down. “The low-wage business model practiced by many of the largest and most profitable employers in the country not only leaves many working families unable to afford the basics, but also imposes significant costs on the public," said Sarah Leberstein.   read more

State Department officials say there are no plans to rescue Americans in Yemen. An official told McClatchy. “Sending in military assets, even for an evacuation operation, could put U.S. citizen lives at greater risk.” Other countries have rescued their citizens though. India, for instance, was able to move about 5,600 people, including almost a thousand from 41 other nations, out of Yemen. China, Russia and Ethiopia also evacuated their citizens.   read more

The most recent Department of Defense report lists buildings in 38 foreign nations and territories. The U.S. has 179 bases in Germany and 109 installations in Japan. Even where the U.S. doesn’t send military personnel, the U.S. does send weapons. The United States is the world largest arms exporter. From 2010 to 2014, Americans sent weapons to at least 94 countries.   read more

One of the U.S. Navy’s biggest embarrassments continues to produce serious fallout for top military personnel. The scandal has unearthed stories of “yummy” prostitutes, Spanish suckling pigs, and spa treatments. Three admirals have been censured for accepting “lavish gifts from Leonard Francis, known as Fat Leonard for his corpulent profile and grandiose lifestyle,” wrote Katherine Peters. Navy Capt. Dusek admitted to passing along classified information in exchange for prostitutes and cash.   read more

First built in the 1960s, Cheyenne Mountain was set up as a critical communications center deep inside Colorado's Rocky Mountains, where it was believed Air Force personnel could survive a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. The Air Force had since largely pulled out of Cheyenne Mountain, believing there was no longer a nuclear threat. Military officials haven't explained why they are now upgrading the complex, for which defense contractor Raytheon won a $700 million contract.   read more

The last two officials to run the FDA’s dietary supplement programs previously worked for the NPA, a trade group that has tried very hard to convince Congress not to create tougher standards for supplement makers. Daniel Fabricant was a senior NPA executive before joining the FDA. He has returned to the NPA as CEO. “To have former officials in the supplement industry become the chief regulators of that industry at the FDA is like the fox guarding the hen house,” said Michael Jacobson.   read more

The funding cuts have been pushed by Congressional conservatives who don’t like the idea of the IRS. “We deliberately lowered the IRS’ funding to a level to make you think twice about what you are doing and why,” Rep. Ander Crenshaw told the agency. “You don’t have a single dime to spare on anything frivolous... The IRS should focus on its core mission of...processing returns [and] providing customer service.” Those functions Crenshaw described are exactly those hurt by budget cuts.   read more

Egypt has imprisoned journalists, prosecuted gays and lesbians, and carried out mass executions of protesters. Obama had imposed the arms freeze after Egypt’s military overthrew the country’s democratically elected government in 2013. Sisi helped lead the coup, and more than 40,000 people were arrested in its immediate aftermath. Obama’s concerns over the ongoing human rights situation were finally trumped by national security matters,   read more

LegiStorm, a non-partisan watchdog group, analyzed the number of Senate and House of Representatives legislative assistants and other staffers who are assigned to the issue of abortion. On the Democratic side, 173 women and 60 men deal with abortion. But among Republicans the gender breakdown is the opposite: 139 women and 153 men.   read more

The 4-second recording contains information related to negotiations between the U.S. government and South Vietnam connected to the war. The NSA claims the brief recording, if released, “would reveal information that would impair U.S. cryptologic systems or activities.” Historians say the snippet probably refers to former President Johnson's threat to expose an illegal effort by the Nixon presidential campaign to sabotage the Paris peace negotiations on ending the war in Vietnam.   read more

The agency’s environmental impact statement warned drilling could have serious negative effects on the region, with a 75% risk of a large oil spill in an area where it would be virtually impossible to clean up. And yet, Interior officials decided to allow the drilling to go ahead. “Our Arctic ocean is flat out the worst place on Earth to drill for oil,” said Niel Lawrence. “The world’s last pristine sea, it is both too fragile to survive a spill and too harsh and remote for effective cleanup.”   read more

The requirement was included in Senate Bill 1318, approved this week by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. “It has no data behind it, absolutely no science to show that this is an effective method," said Dr. Ilana Addis.“If ever there is an example of Legislative overreach, this would be it," said Dr. Eric Reuss. "There is absolutely no evidence-based data that the [medication abortion] process can be reversed. If passed, our state government will force physicians to impart hearsay to their patients.”   read more

Lawyer Matt Anderson said the law opens up “the path of least resistance among its species to have a court adjudicate it in a manner that could ultimately be used to discriminate…" It “explicitly applies to disputes between private citizens,” said ThinkProgress. “This means it could be used as a cudgel by corporations to justify discrimination against individuals that might otherwise be protected.” The law already took root elsewhere; Arkansas on Tuesday passed a bill nearly identical to it.   read more

The smartphone owners were sent daily messages informing them of the number of times their personal information—current location, incoming and outgoing phone calls, their contacts lists—had been shared with app companies. One message read: “Your location has been shared 5,398 times with Facebook, Groupon...and seven other apps in the last 14 days.” People were taken off guard. One person reacted: “4,182 (times) – are you kidding me? It felt like I’m being followed by my own phone. It was scary."   read more

One of the emails pointed out the deteriorating security situation right before the Benghazi consulate was stormed, citing “an extremely sensitive source” who pointed out the numerous bombings and kidnapping of aid workers and diplomats by those thought to be loyal to the late Libyan Prime Minister Muammar Gaddafi. Despite the information gathered by Clinton’s network, she said after the Benghazi attacks of September 2012 that U.S. intelligence officials had had no advance warning of the threat.   read more

The new law prohibits state or local governments from substantially burdening a person’s ability to exercise their religion, which opponents say is a veiled attempt to allow religious conservatives to discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals without the state intervening. “Not only is this law unnecessary, it unfortunately has already portrayed our state as intolerant, unfriendly, and backwards” Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane said.   read more