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

When Portugal decided in 2001 to become the first nation in Europe to eliminate criminal penalties for possession of all drugs, from marijuana to heroin, critics warned that the decision would result in “drug tourists” flocking to the conservative...   read more

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

In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that undocumented students can legally attend K-12 public schools. However, the decision did not address public education beyond high school. And in today’s labor market, those with a college degree usually earn a ...   read more

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials have insisted that the use of torture techniques yielded valuable information that helped the government thwart terrorist attacks in the United States. But the CIA’s own ins...   read more

For some politicians, the inclusion of inmates in local populations as part of the U.S. Census means everything. State Senator Elizabeth O’C. Little’s (R-NY) district in upstate New York is known as “Little Siberia” because of its vast physical si...   read more

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

Reuters’ recent review of U.S. aid programs in the Palestinian territories uncovered two USAID contracts made with the sons of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that are involved with the agency’s attempts to promote a better public image of the...   read more

The longstanding debate over allowing cameras inside the U.S. Supreme Court was renewed recently at a House appropriations subcommittee hearing, where Justices Stephen Breyer and Clarence Thomas appeared before lawmakers to discuss the court’s nex...   read more

Mexican drug cartels have joined forces with the Italian mafia to transport narcotics through the United States and into European markets. Heightened efforts by U.S. and Mexican officials to crackdown on the drug trade and rising European cocaine ...   read more

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

Pigs hardly resemble the gallant heroes featured in movies and comic books. By 2017, however, “mini-pigs” may be saving more lives than Spiderman ever has, shining a new “bacon of hope” for those on the organ transplant waitlist by providing their...   read more

Last week, 400 representatives from 80 indigenous nations met in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the problems of climate change and possible solutions to global warming. These nations are the most affected by but least culpable for environmental irr...   read more

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

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

Fans of “South Park” know that it’s good to have a scapegoat, and that Canada fits the bill. Unfortunately, in real life, some politicians are still blaming Canada. Culprits #1 and #2: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Senator ...   read more

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