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

Prostitution has been legal in rural Nevada since 1971, but only for customers seeking female companionship. But now Shady Lady Ranch, a brothel located about two hours outside Las Vegas, is preparing to offer the first male prostitutes in state h...   read more

Dr. Frankenstein would be proud.   When it comes to bringing the dead back to life, Congress is dogged in reviving defense programs that the Pentagon wants to kill. The 2010 defense budget, like others before it, was submitted to lawmakers witho...   read more

Travis County, Texas, (population about 100,000) is struggling to find ways to keep Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans out of trouble. A local report found that 25-30% of veterans suffer from mental illness, and more than 450 ex-soldiers were in ja...   read more

To help Hispanics overcome fears of participating in next year’s census, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) distributed to more than 7,000 churches posters depicting Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem … to take part i...   read more

Public health trumped free speech and artistic expression in Colorado on Monday when the state Supreme Court upheld a ban on all smoking in theaters…actors included. Colorado approved its Clean Indoor Air Act in 2006, setting off a legal challenge...   read more

In an attempt to redefine the history of the American West, the Autry National Center in Los Angeles is presenting a first-of-its-kind exhibit examining the roles of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the old frontier. Consisting of ...   read more

Efforts to improve the human rights situation in Arab countries have amounted to little more than broken promises since Sept. 11, according to the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. Arab and Western governments pledged beginning in 2004 to ...   read more

In a move described as “pretty nervy” by one White House official, the leaders of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup did not show up in person on Monday for a meeting with President Barack Obama. The three bank executives said their fligh...   read more

Holiday treats came early this year for the health insurance industry—not from Santa Claus but from U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT). The stock prices of major insurers rose on Monday after Lieberman threatened to join Republicans and delay consi...   read more

Uncle Sam has a hard time getting his own employees to pay their taxes. More than $3 billion is owed by U.S. government workers from 2008, an amount only slightly smaller than that of the previous year ($3.6 billion).   More than 276,000 employe...   read more

For the first time, YouTube has compiled official lists of the most watched videos and the most watched music videos. First place in the first category went, not surprisingly, to Susan Boyle’s debut performance on Britain’s Got Talent, which earne...   read more

Six years after the problem was first discovered, computer experts have located 22 million emails that became lost during the Bush administration. The discovery followed lawsuits filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)...   read more

With a near monopoly over the biotech gene market covering soybeans and corn, Monsanto has been able to dictate the terms of business for rivals who use the agribusiness’s genetically modified seeds. After obtaining confidential contracts, the Ass...   read more

Having decided not to meddle in the private affairs of homosexuals, the New Hampshire legislature is deciding whether to but out of the bedrooms of consenting heterosexuals. Representatives Timothy Horrigan (D) and Carol McGuire (R) are sponsor...   read more

The party once again could be over on Wall Street, depending on how the market responds next year to a decline in the “dollar carry trade.” Since the Federal Reserve last year lowered interest rates to near zero, investors have been borrowing the ...   read more

When detainee Mohammed Al-Adahi testified via secure video link in June from Guantánamo Bay, the Department of Defense was supposed to record his testimony, on orders from U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler. Al-Adahi was testifying remotely for hi...   read more