President Donald Trump gleefully announced that, under his direction, U.S. military troops had swooped down on the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento and kidnapped California Governor Gavin Newsom. “We’re charging Newscum with fraud.” When a reporter asked for specifics about the fraud charges, Trump pointed to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi, clearly taken by surprise, said, “We’re looking into it and will let you know the details as soon as we’ve created them.”   read more

After three decades of soaring numbers, drug-related fatalities have become nearly as common as deaths resulting from car crashes.   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that poisoning deaths in 2008 exceeded the tot...   read more

Beginning in January, Connecticut will implement the nation’s first state mandatory paid sick leave for service employees.   The new law only applies to businesses with 50 or more employees.   Service workers will be able to accrue one hour of...   read more

To the benefit of weapons manufacturers, Police departments throughout the United States have been loading up on sophisticated weaponry and riot gear since September 11, 2001, thanks to generous grants from the federal government.   About $34 bi...   read more

For two years in a row, the United States has been subjected to an abnormal amount of extreme weather events, raising the question of global warming’s impact on the earth. But government scientists have struggled to gain approval from Congress for...   read more

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a legal opinion reversing its longstanding opposition to many forms of Internet gambling. The change could mean new revenue opportunities for cash-strapped state governments.   Officials in New York and ...   read more

In awarding a contract to Booz Allen Hamilton, the Department of Veterans Affairs rejected alternative bids that were millions of dollars lower, according to the VA’s inspector general.   Booz Allen’s submission for a 2010 information security c...   read more

The use of unmanned aircraft, made popular by the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has now become a non-violent weapon employed by environmentalists.   In the Southern Pacific Ocean, the anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherd has utilized a ...   read more

When some Americans complain that foreign aid is wasting taxpayer money abroad that could be put to better use at home, they may not realize that today’s version of foreign aid isn’t what it used to be. Call it the Pentagon-zation of U.S. foreign ...   read more

The Obama administration has decided to eliminate a 1998 restriction on the sale of guns to foreigners, claiming federal law does not allow the government to have different gun-control rules for noncitizens.   In a letter to firearms dealers, th...   read more

Filing and completing bankruptcy proceedings is supposed to free consumers from paying any outstanding debt to credit card companies. But that hasn’t stopped Capital One, one of the leading credit card lenders, from going after bankrupt Americans....   read more

Many of those making the most money among U.S. government civil servants have an MD after their names, according to WikiOrgCharts.   Using data obtained from federal agencies, the company compiled a list of the top 1,000 earners in Washington, D...   read more

The Federal Election Commission (FEC), an independent agency established by Congress in the wake of campaign finance abuses by the re-election campaign of President Richard Nixon, elected a new Chair to a one-year term on December 15, 2011. The FE...   read more

Iraqis tortured by American defense contractors at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison are still seeking justice in U.S. courts, which will hear their claims in early 2012.   Human rights attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights are assist...   read more

Having already cleared one checkpoint and flown across the country with her sweet treat, Rebecca Hains of Peabody, Massachusetts, lost her cupcake to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official in Las Vegas who insisted the frosting co...   read more

On December 12, the State Department announced that the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs would be renamed the Office of Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs. The new offi...   read more

On November 28, 2011, Mary E. Bohman took over as Administrator of the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), an agency that carries out economic research that helps public and private decision-makers stay informed of economic and policy issues inv...   read more