Controversies
USDA Admits Involvement in South Dakota Mass Bird Deaths
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has assumed responsibility for the deaths of more than 300 birds in Yankton, South Dakota. But the USDA insists it had nothing to do with other mass die-offs of birds recently in Arkansas, Louisiana, Ala... read more
SEC Commissioner Wants Investment Advisors Overseen by Group that Paid Her Millions
As part of the federal reform of Wall Street oversight, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is deciding whether it or an outside source should oversee investment advisers. One commissioner, Elisse Walter, wants an industry organization—... read more
Army Reserve and National Guard Suicides Double; Active Duty Down
The good news for U.S. Army officials is that suicides among active-duty soldiers have gone down a little. The bad news is that suicides of Army Reserve and National Guard troops more than doubled.
From 2009 to 2010, the number of Reserve an... read more
Army Gives 4,200 Jobs to Contractors that are Meant for Federal Employees
An audit of military contracts for 24 of its 26 commands and headquarters has turned up more than 4,200 full-time jobs assigned by the U.S. Army that legally should belong to federal employees, but instead are being handled by contractors.
The... read more
Federal Futures Regulator May Outsource Regulation to…the Futures Industry
Stronger federal regulation of the $583 trillion derivatives market was one of the goals of Wall Street reform legislation adopted by the last Congress, in an effort to help reduce the careless trading that crippled the financial industry three ... read more
Tennessee Gov. Haslam Exempts Himself and Top Staff from Financial Disclosure
In his first action as governor of Tennessee, Republican Bill Haslam espoused the importance of government transparency and being open with the public—while simultaneously wiping out a state law requiring him and his top aides to disclose how mu... read more
Railroad Worker Claims He was Fired for Refusing to Pray
James Dunkin is suing his employer, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF), because he claims he was fired for not participating in prayer meetings. Furthermore, Dunkin says his boss, shop superintendent Jeff Kirby, handed out r... read more
Goldman Sachs Won’t Let Americans Buy Facebook Shares
Wary of how federal regulators might react to its plan, Goldman Sachs has decided not to sell shares of Facebook to U.S. investors. The turnabout was a result of too much public exposure of the plan, which Goldman officials initially didn’t seem... read more
More Than Half of U.S. States Have Never Elected an African-American to Congress
African-Americans have yet to serve in the U.S. House on behalf of 26 states, and the situation is even worse in the U.S. Senate. In the more than 220 years of Congress, only three states have ever elected a black senator.
Those three states... read more
Who’s Underrepresented in Congress? Baptists, Pentecostals and “No Religion”
There are no atheists in foxholes, and only one in the 112th Congress.
A survey of those serving in the U.S. House and Senate reveals only one member considers himself an atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”: Pete Stark (D-California) ... read more
State Department Promotes Film about Leaker Daniel Ellsberg
In a classic example of policy disconnect, the State Department, while denouncing the publication of classified cables on the Internet by WikiLeaks, is at the same time promoting a documentary about Daniel Ellsberg, the most infamous leaker of t... read more
House Republicans Eliminate Civil Rights, Civil Liberties and Labor (from Committee Names)
Republicans have altered the names of two House committees, upsetting Democrats, labor representatives and civil libertarians.
For the second time, the Education and Labor Committee, which was founded in 1867, is being changed to the Educati... read more
Judge Asks CIA to Investigate Itself Regarding Illegal Tape Destruction
Don’t expect anyone to be punished for the destruction of torture tapes by the CIA. Responding to a request from civil libertarians that the CIA should be held in contempt of court for destroying the tapes, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerste... read more
FDA Helps Advance Executions in Arizona and California
Contrary to its own policy of staying out of capital punishment matters, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has helped two states import from the United Kingdom a scarce type of anesthetic used in lethal injections.
The FDA is charged wi... read more
Newt Gingrich Claims “Forever Stamps” Will Lead to Taxpayer Bailout of Postal Service
What’s good for today could wreak bankruptcy tomorrow for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), says Republican Newt Gingrich about the plan regarding “Forever Stamps.”
U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahue wants to go exclusively with forever sta... read more
Suspect Exposed in Unsolved 1964 Civil Rights Murder
It has been nearly 47 years since Frank Morris, an African-American business owner in Ferriday, Louisiana, was killed when members of the Ku Klux Klan set fire to his shoe store in 1964. The identity of the culprits has remained unknown, but a l... read more