Controversies
Georgia Law Would Outlaw Picketing Homes of Corporate Executives
Coming only days after a protest outside a major telecommunications company, Republican lawmakers in Georgia have introduced a bill that would subject non-violent demonstrators involved in a labor dispute to heavy fines and felony convictions.
... read more
Federal Government Moves to Combat Violence and Corruption in Detroit
Federal authorities launched a two-pronged attack crime in Detroit, holding press conferences to announce crackdowns on both violence and corruption.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, surrounded symbolically by city, state and feder... read more
Man Denied Liver Transplant for Using Prescribed Marijuana: “Probably Too Late for Me”
Norman B. Smith, the 63-year-old cancer patient at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who was denied a liver transplant because he used medical marijuana, says in a new interview that it’s probably too late for him to make a recovery even ... read more
Parents Sue Dating Sites for Using Photos of Son Killed in Iraq
Two dating websites in Dallas and Vancouver face a lawsuit for exploiting the image of a dead American soldier killed in Iraq.
Pof.com and True.com have been using a photo of Army Lieutenant Peter Burks, who died on November 14, 2007, followin... read more
Obama Does End Run around Congressional Insistence on Military Trials for Terror Suspects
Following on his criticism last year of the Republican-led plan, President Barack Obama this week attempted to get around the mandate that terrorism suspects be tried by military tribunals.
To accomplish this end-around, Obama issued waivers t... read more
Would Lorax Have Approved of Corporate Tie-Ins to His New Movie?
From cars to diapers, the Dr. Seuss character known as The Lorax, created back in 1971 to “speak for the trees,” can be seen promoting one consumer good after another, as part of the new Universal Pictures’ film debuting this week.
The use of ... read more
Two Years of Tweets Now For Sale to Marketers
Twitter partner DataSift is now offering companies access to two years of tweets, making available a vast amount of market-research information. Through its new program Historics, the United Kingdom-based Datasift is providing businesses with the ... read more
FDA Committee Endorses Controversial Weight-Loss Drug to Combat Alleged Obesity Epidemic
Hungry to take advantage of an unfulfilled market, the pharmaceutical industry is hoping the latest diet pill to gain federal approval will open the way for other drugs in development that are designed to cut pounds off of millions of obese Americ... read more
Act of Valor and the Rise of the Military-Entertainment Complex
Act of Valor, which opened nationwide this past weekend as the top-selling movie in the U.S., is perhaps the closest yet that Hollywood has come to producing a pure propaganda film for the “Military-Entertainment Complex.”
For the past 25 year... read more
Petroleum Industry Claims Cutting Its Tax Breaks is “Discriminatory”
According to the oil industry’s top lobbying group, President Barack Obama’s corporate tax reform plan is discriminating against petroleum producers.
Apparently with a straight face, Jack Gerard, the president and CEO of the American Petroleum... read more
Homeland Security Dept. Pays General Dynamics to Scour Internet for Criticism of its Policies
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been paying a defense contractor $11.4 million to monitor social media websites and other Internet communications to find criticisms of the department’s policies and actions.
A government watchdog ... read more
Monsanto Agrees to Pay Victims of Dioxin in West Virginia…But Not Much
Giant chemical corporation Monsanto has agreed to a tentative settlement requiring it to pay nearly $100 million to settle claims that its factory in Nitro, West Virginia, contaminated the small town and its residents with the toxic chemical dioxi... read more
Obama and Vilsack Bow to Produce Lobbyists and Eliminate Program to Test for Food-Borne Diseases
Bowing to industry lobbying, the Obama administration has proposed eliminating a program that tests fresh produce for food-borne diseases like the listeria outbreak in cantaloupe that killed 36 people in 2011. The USDA microbiological data program... read more
New York Judge Affirms Right of Towns to Ban Fracking
For the first time since the natural gas drilling procedure became controversial, a state judge has ruled local communities have the right to ban the use of fracking (hydraulic fracturing) within their jurisdictions, even if the state has authoriz... read more
Two-Headed Trout Near Phosphate Mine Spark Pollution Alarm in Idaho
J.R. Simplot Company is coming under scrutiny from state and federal environmental officials after two-headed fish were found in waters near the operator’s mine in Idaho.
The deformed trout were discovered in a creek polluted with selenium ru... read more
Is a 9/11 Attack Facilitator Alive and Well in London?
A Saudi businessman suspected of being involved in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is now living in London, where he works for the Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco.
Abdulaziz al-Hijji and his wife, Anoud, were living in the gated com... read more