New Additions to AllGov

FDA Phase-Out of Livestock Antibiotics is Only Voluntary and Partial

FDA officials claimed a voluntary approach would be the quickest way to implement the rules. Michael Taylor, the FDA’s top food safety official, told the media that making compliance mandatory would have created “legalistic, product-by-product regulatory proceedings that would take years to complete.” It is estimated that 23,000 Americans die every year from antibiotic-resistant infections. read more

Koch Brothers Group Boasts Total Control of Iowa and South Dakota Legislatures

ALEC boasts having members in statehouses throughout the United States. But in two states—Iowa and South Dakota—it has managed to sign up every single lawmaker, according to documents from an ALEC board meeting on August 6. The South Dakota legislature’s executive board, in April, voted for the state’s treasury to pay the $100, two-year ALEC membership dues for all 105 lawmakers, as well as the cost of unlimited out-of-state travel to ALEC meetings for those who are ALEC committee members. read more

U.S. to Destroy a Half-Billion Dollars’ Worth of Unused Aircraft in Afghanistan

The Obama administration spent $486 million to purchase the aircraft, which were supposed to comprise 15% of the Afghan Air Force. A key problem was that the planes couldn’t handle the heat and dust of Afghanistan’s environment, which caused numerous maintenance troubles and prevented them from flying. Davis said the Air Force tried to sell the aircraft to another country, but couldn’t locate any buyers. So now they will be dismantled for parts. read more

Dancing Baby Video Case Moves Forward

When, in February 2007, Stephanie Lenz posted a 29-second video of her toddler on YouTube, she included an audio clip from the Prince song “Let’s Go Crazy.” Common use of a recorded, copyrighted song is nothing new on the Internet, as countless individuals have done the same thing with their video content. But Universal Music Group, which owns the rights to the hit tune from 1984, objected to Lenz’s action, and demanded she take down the video. read more

NSA and GCHQ Infiltrated Online Games to Hunt Terrorists

A 2008 NSA document (“Exploiting Terrorist Use of Games & Virtual Environments”) described gaming communities as a “target-rich communications network” where threats could “hide in plain sight.” These realms seemed so attractive, in fact, that the NSA, GCHQ, the Department of Defense and the Federal Bureau of Investigation dove into them, which forced the government to create a “deconfliction” group to make sure agents weren’t spying on each other. read more