Trump ordered that the term Homo sapiens be changed to Hetero sapiens. In history books and on websites, the airplane from which the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima will no longer be identified as the Enola Gay, but rather the Enola Straight. Trump also ordered billionaire Mark Cuban, who supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, to change his name to Mark American. If he does not do so, he will be charged with terrorism.   read more

In the film Forrest Gump (and the novel by Winston Groom), Forrest starts a shrimping business in the small Alabama fishing town of Bayou La Batre. Bayou La Batre is a real place, and it is now struggling to survive in the wake of the gulf oil spi...   read more

Soldiers returning home from Afghanistan with neurological problems may not be victims of just traumatic brain injury stemming from battles. Scientists with the U.S. Navy have speculated that toxic sand also may be damaging the nervous systems of ...   read more

Insurance companies have been raising premiums by an average of 20% on individual health plans, according to The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.   A new report shows that more than 75% of those surveyed who bought their own health insurance e...   read more

Although President Barack Obama has not officially nominated an ambassador to the Czech Republic, rumors are heavy in Prague that the post will go to White House ethics lawyer Norman Eisen. Eisen has no diplomatic experience to speak of, but he do...   read more

Pamela S. Hyde was sworn in as administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on December 7, 2009, after spending 30 years managing and consulting for government and non-profit operations that handled mental health ...   read more

Everything seems to go up in price these days—food, clothing, gasoline, even government secrets. A new report from an obscure federal operation (the Information Security Oversight Office) says Washington is now spending at least $9.93 billion to k...   read more

BP has conducted numerous controlled burns on the ocean surface to eliminate some of the oil collecting in the Gulf of Mexico. But in the process, the company is also burning alive endangered sea turtles caught in the areas set aflame, according t...   read more

A career employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Michael Walcoff has served as Acting Under Secretary for Benefits since January 4, 2010, and, according to some VA observers, could become the permanent head of the Veterans Benefits Ad...   read more

Oil company Syncrude Canada has been found guilty by a Canadian court of killing 1,600 ducks two years ago by allowing the birds to land on a toxic pond filled with oilsands waste in April 2008. A judge determined Syncrude was liable for the death...   read more

Dissent is back in style within the State Department, now that the Obama administration is in charge. During the Bush years, very few diplomats were willing to speak out against U.S. foreign policy, for fear of retribution. But under Secretary of ...   read more

Xe Services, the new name for the controversial security firm Blackwater, is not hurting for business these days with the U.S. government. Despite getting thrown out of Iraq, and facing criminal and civil cases for its involvement in a deadly fire...   read more

As far as the U.S. Army is concerned, no one in a position of command should be held accountable for the mistakes that resulted in one of the deadliest battles of the Afghanistan war.   In July 2008, a platoon of soldiers manning an outpost nea...   read more

Bedridden and on oxygen, Lona Varner of El Reno, Oklahoma, was zapped by police using Taser guns after she acted in an “aggressive” manner in her bed. Officers showed up at Varner’s residence after her grandson, Lonnie Tinsley, called 911 seeking ...   read more

Being born in one’s state is not a requirement to serve as governor, which is a good thing for California, Arizona and Idaho because of their history of electing outsiders. In fact, fewer than half of all states have elected the majority of their ...   read more

In an attempt to keep the world’s largest hot desert from getting any larger, African leaders want to build a wall of trees across the continent to stop the Sahara from encroaching into Central Africa. The “Great Green Wall” would be nine miles wi...   read more

This week was one of the toughest yet for the eight-year war in Afghanistan. On the same day the White House announced the removal of General Stanley McChrystal as the top American commander, news filtered out that June was already the worst month...   read more