Where is the Money Going?
Pentagon Non-Lethal Weapon Research: 50 Projects, 0 Weapons
Almost $400 million has been spent since the late 1990s by the Defense Department to develop new technologies for soldiers to control urban populations without resorting to lethal force. But the return on this pricey investment has been exactly no... read more
Metric Signs to be Removed with Stimulus Funds
When the federal government approved billions of dollars for infrastructure projects as part of the stimulus plan, the intention was to invest in such things as bridges, roads and highways. But officials in Arizona have decided to spend a million ... read more
Bank Failures through April Greater Than All of 2008
Despite improving conditions in the stock market and President Barack Obama’s own pronouncements of signs of economic progress, banks are continuing to fail—at a rate much worse than last year. In 2008, 25 banks failed. So far in 2009, with only f... read more
Homelessness Spreads to Wealthy Counties
The economic downturn has struck even some of the wealthiest counties in the United States. Marin County, which has the highest median household income in the state of California ($83,870), has experienced a tremendous increase in homelessness. Ac... read more
Don’t Cut Emissions; Fund R & D: Bjorn Lomborg
When it comes to stopping global warming, world leaders are going about it the wrong way, says Bjorn Lomborg, director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center at the Copenhagen Business School. Large multilateral treaties intended to cut emissions, suc... read more
IRS Awards Tax Processing Contract to Private Firm Hacked for 1.5 Million Names
Some Americans who owe Uncle Sam will have to pay their taxes through a private contractor that previously allowed a hacker to access the personal financial data of 1.5 million people. The IRS hired RBS Worldpay to process credit card payments by ... read more
Madoff Victims Sue JPMorgan Chase
Fallout from the Bernard Madoff scandal has spread to JPMorgan Chase, which is accused of being complicit in the scam, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by a Florida partnership that lost almost $13 million last December in the Ponzi scheme. T... read more
Banks Take Over U.S. Government: Ann Pettifor
Rather than worrying about the government nationalizing banks, the American people would do well to worry more about the banks controlling the government. Thanks to the missteps of the Obama administration in handling the financial industry crisis... read more
Roquefort Sales Surge as Threat of Tariff Hike Looms
Once again, the United States has delayed imposing a tariff hike on imported goods from the European Union (EU). The latest delay, which will suspend trade action until May 9, is due to ongoing negotiations regarding a trade dispute involving an E... read more
Obama Orders Cabinet to Cut Budgets by 0.0001%
President Barack Obama’s proclamation to his cabinet that they collectively cut out $100 million from the federal budget amounts to much ado about nothing, when the savings is put into perspective. Given the enormous size of the federal operating ... read more
States Hardest Hit by Recession Benefit Least From Obama Stimulus
Based on numbers released by the Obama White House, and current unemployment figures, the stimulus package is likely to be more help to those states not hit hard by the recession than those really struggling to recover. Mint.com compared jobless t... read more
Grandparent Power
Marketers obsessed with selling to young people may want to start looking at the other end of the age spectrum for big buying dollars. A new study commissioned by Grandparents.com reveals that grandma and grandpa are more likely to be flush with c... read more
Oil Companies Thrive in Bad Economy
Last year was a bad year for many giants of industry, according to Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of top companies, which reported the profits of the largest 500 companies fell collectively by 85% from 2007 to 2008. But 2008 wasn’t so bad for t... read more
Ocean Power: Worth the Investment
As the United States searches for sources of domestically produced energy, interest has developed in the possibility of using the oceans to create power. Although the field is in its infancy, the long-term prospects are intriguing.
Earlier thi... read more
Drug Arrests: Whites Up; Blacks Down
According to a recent study conducted by the Washington D.C.-based Sentencing Project, a demographic shift is taking place with regards to those sentenced for drug offenses. Between 1999 to 2005 there was a 22% decrease in the number of black drug... read more
California Unemployment Worst Since Before Pearl Harbor
The last time Californians were enduring a worst spate of unemployment than now was January 1941, according to the latest figures released by the state Employment Development Department. The jobless rate for March hit 11.2% in California, only fiv... read more