Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, plays a multi-faceted role in the rising Republican’s campaign for her party’s presidential nomination. But as he sketches out a new role for himself, his day job is drawing a bit of attention.   Marcus Bach...   read more

When an individual’s income, both pre-tax and after-tax, goes up more than 400%, shouldn’t they pay taxes like those eking out a living?   That’s the argument by tax reformers who want to go after some of the biggest earners on Wall Street. In...   read more

David Petraeus, the United States’ top military commander in Afghanistan who’s now moving to the CIA, promised last year to cut down on the use of airstrikes to combat the Taliban, in order to reduce the risk of civilian casualties.   But the ...   read more

The largest fire in New Mexico history finally receded from the edges of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, but it crept close enough to spark concern among local residents and anti-nuclear activists opposed to the lab’s proposed plutonium facili...   read more

Young Hoosiers won’t have to deal with turning in their assignments this fall in cursive, because the Indiana Department of Education has decided to eliminate the flowing handwriting style as a requirement.   Indiana became one of the latest of ...   read more

When oil started gushing from an ExxonMobil pipeline into the famed Yellowstone River over the weekend, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer took exception to the oil company’s initial claim that the spill had not impacted wildlife along the famed Ye...   read more

Health experts have gone from blaming mothers to singling out genetics for causing autism in children, to now giving considerable weight to environmental factors as potential causes.   A few decades ago, therapists attributed autism to a lack of...   read more

Primarily responsible for combating unfair trade practices within the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has spent 30% of its travel budget in recent years on foreign excursions.   Over a three-year period, FTC employees and commissione...   read more

County fair food has never been mistaken for Lean Cuisine. But the San Diego County fair has really taken fatty delights to a whole new universe of belt-busting gluttony.   This year, fair patrons can go way, way beyond the usual offerings of pi...   read more

Florida does not lack for challenges in its public schools. Half of all students qualify for subsidized lunches, an indication their families may be struggling financially. And many children are the first in their homes to speak English or even co...   read more

Any number of right-wing politicians, radio shock jocks and “rodeo clowns” have tried to use Fox News as a stepping stone to a higher calling.   Fourth of July was the first time a group of hackers tried it. "Fox News was selected because we fig...   read more

Just before the United States attacked Iraq in 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave his estimate of the war’s eventual cost. “If you think we’re going to spend a billion dollars of our money over there, you are sadly mistaken.”   He m...   read more

Freedom will come sooner to thousands of prisoners convicted of possessing crack cocaine now that the U.S. Sentencing Commission decided to retroactively apply a new sentencing regulation to those already serving time.   In response to the pas...   read more

China’s monopoly over rare-earth minerals—used in flat-screen TVs, energy-saving lightbulbs, hybrid cars and missile guidance systems—may be coming to an end now that news out of Japan indicates a large swath of the Pacific Ocean floor contains ...   read more

Philip Contos was determined to show that the government had no right to make him wear a helmet while riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle, regardless of the consequences.   He set out on Saturday with a group of fellow enthusiasts who were par...   read more

Nearly 90% of the wealth generated in the post-recession U.S. economy has gone to corporations, while American workers received a tiny fraction of the money.   A new study from Northeastern University in Boston found “corporate profits captured ...   read more