Controversies
Divide and Conquer: Building Trade Unions Split with Public-Sector Unions
Coming on the heels of its bitter defeat in Wisconsin, organized labor received more bad news this week with word of a serious divide between public and private unions in New York State, the nation’s most pro-collective bargaining state.
On ... read more
UPS Accused of Refusing Safe Transfer to Driver Who Witnessed Gangland Execution
All delivery driver Sergio Cervantes wanted from his employer, United Parcel Service (UPS), after witnessing a man executed by a street gang, was a transfer to another (safer) route far away. But UPS refused Cervantes’ request, he alleges, and n... read more
Why are Prison Terms Getting Longer and are They Worth the Cost?
The United States has reached a point whereby locking up offenders for longer and longer periods of time is no longer cost-effective or a factor in deterring crime, according to the Pew Center on the States.
Over the last 40 years, prison se... read more
House Passes Bill that Could Open Wilderness Areas to Hunting and Fishing
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have approved legislation that would guarantee hunting and fishing rights on some federal lands, possibly even in National Parks.
HR 4089, sponsored by Representative Jeff Miller (R-Florida) w... read more
Experts Related to Drug Makers Promote Narcotics for Seniors in Pain
Seniors are increasingly being prescribed powerful narcotics for chronic pain following the recommendations of experts, many of whom had connections to the pharmaceutical industry.
An investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and MedPa... read more
Most Kansas City Nonfatal Shooting Victims Refuse to Cooperate with Police Investigation
Police in Kansas City had a tough time solving shootings last year because the majority of victims who survived refused to cooperate with authorities.
The Kansas City Star found that out of nearly 300 shootings in 2011, 175 victims declined ... read more
Texas Finally Agrees to Death Row Prisoner’s Request for DNA Testing…After 11 Years of Stalling
Having barely avoided execution late last year, convicted murderer Hank Skinner is finally getting the DNA test he first requested nearly a dozen years ago.
Skinner was found guilty in 1995 of killing his girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two... read more
After Voters Reject Property Tax Increase, Oregon County Releases Prisoners
Elections have consequences, a truism demonstrated last week in Grants Pass, Oregon (pop.: 34,533), where dozens of inmates poured out of the Josephine County jail Wednesday, some running, yet none pursued by law enforcement because voters two w... read more
Texas Latinos: 1/3 of Population, 1/4 Majority Districts, 1/7 of Congressional Seats
Growth in the number of Latinos was single biggest reason why Texas was awarded four more congressional districts after the 2010 census. And yet when the next Congress convenes, Latinos are not expected to make gains in Texas’ delegation to the ... read more
North Carolina Developers Promote Law to Limit Planning for Rise in Sea Level
Like the ancient Persian King Xerxes, who ordered the sea whipped and chained for destroying a bridge his army needed to cross, real estate developers in North Carolina are pushing a law to prohibit rising sea levels owing to global warming–or a... read more
Arab-Americans Ask to be Classified as Socially Disadvantaged to Qualify for Minority Business Help
Arab-American entrepreneurs should enjoy the same assistance from the federal government as American Indians and Hasidic Jews, according to a civil rights group.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee recently asked the Department of ... read more
U.S. Used Sesame Street Music to Torture Guantánamo Prisoners
When Grammy and Emmy award winning songwriter Christopher Cerf composed songs for Sesame Street, little did he know that the very same music would be used decades later for dark purposes by the U.S. government.
As part of its torture program d... read more
Should Elderly Prisoners be Released Early?
With America’s prison population getting grayer by the year, the question arises: Should the U.S. continue to incarcerate inmates in their sixties, seventies and older?
Over the past two decades, the percentage of older prisoners has increased... read more
Is Secrecy at Bradley Manning Court-Martial about Security or Embarrassment?
While conducting an arraignment recently for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal government willingly published the court’s transcript for the public to review. Such openness h... read more
Record 45% of Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Applying for Disability Benefits
America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have produced a record number of veterans seeking disability benefits from the federal government.
About 45% of the 1.6 million men and women who served in the two wars have filed claims with the Departme... read more
Judge Jails Honor Student with Two Jobs for Missing School
With no parents around and two siblings to support, 17-year-old high school student Diane Tran of Houston, Texas, has had to work two jobs while taking college prep classes. For all her work and dedication Tran recently found herself spending a ni... read more