New Additions to AllGov

Why do Unaccompanied Minors Try to Come to the U.S.? They’re Fleeing Violence, Gangs and Poverty…and Looking for Family Members

Forty-eight percent of unaccompanied children, when interviewed by the UN Refugee Agency, gave societal violence as a primary reason for fleeing their home country. For children from El Salvador, the number was 66%. Another factor is poverty. Two thirds of Hondurans are poor, while the rates aren’t much better for Guatemalans (55%) and Salvadorans (45%). read more

Hedge Funds Accused of Screwing Americans out of Billions of Dollars in Taxes

The two banks “used the options to build special accounts for their hedge fund clients in their own names and claimed they owned the assets when it was, in fact, the hedge fund clients that exercised full control of the assets.” The structure of the basket options also allowed the hedge funds to borrow up to $17 for every dollar in an account rather than the 50 cents on the dollar that broker-dealers are restricted to according to limits that go back to the 1930s. read more

Missouri the only State to Refuse to Maintain a Prescription Drug Database

The state that’s home to the maker of oxycodone, one of the most abused painkillers in the United States, is also the only one in the nation that doesn’t have a government prescription drug database, thereby encouraging misuse of medications. Other Republicans have grown frustrated with Schaaf’s obstructionism, particularly those in neighboring states trying to stem their own drug abuse problems. With Missouri being so lax, drug addicts often cross the border and buy what they need. read more

Beef Production Far Worse for the Environment than other Animal Products

The research revealed beef cattle utilized 28 times more land, required 11 times more irrigation water for feed, used six times more nitrogen fertilizer that pollutes waterways, and discharged five times more greenhouse gases, particularly methane. On average, eating beef is about ten times more costly to the environment than eating any other animal-based foods, according to the report. read more

FBI Accused of Entrapping Muslims; ATF Accused of Entrapping Minorities

In one high-profile case (the “Newburgh Four”), New York District Judge Colleen McMahan, the federal judge overseeing the trial, characterized the government as having come “up with the crime, provided the means, and removed all relevant obstacles.” She added, “Only the government could have made a ‘terrorist’ out of [defendant] Mr. [James] Cromitie, whose buffoonery is positively Shakespearean in its scope.” read more