Top Stories
Obama Rejects U.N. Visits to Guantánamo
President Barack Obama’s stated goal to make government more open has not extended to requests by United Nations officials to visit the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay or learn more about secret prisons once operated by the CIA. Last month, S... read more
Record Number of Prisoners Serving Life Sentences
The national obsession with “Three Strikes” laws and other mandatory sentencing rules that began decades ago has produced today a record number of prisoners serving life sentences. This comes at a time when government budgets are squeezed more tha... read more
Who Are the Enemies U.S. is Bombing in Pakistan?
Three of the most important “high value” targets of the U.S. military in Pakistan are top Taliban leaders, including a former Western ally who today is behind the attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Jalaluddin Haqqani was onc... read more
Good News: Violent Crime Way Down in Big Cities
Is it possible the country is so wracked by the recession it just can’t afford violent crime these days? Experts are stumped over the latest figures showing murders down significantly across the country—from New York to Los Angeles, and from San F... read more
Banks Accused of Misusing Bailout Billions
When the federal government created the bank bailout program last year, the objective was not only to stabilize institutions, but also to thaw the freeze on lending to individuals and businesses that occurred during the financial crisis. And while... read more
Texas Threatens ExxonMobil with Billion-Dollar Sabotage Fine
Jerry Patterson, commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, is going after ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil company, for sabotaging a hundred oil wells almost 20 years ago. The wells are located on land owned by the O’Connor family, which l... read more
Happy Days Are Here Again…If You’re a Big Bank
Watching the rising rates of unemployment and foreclosures, it’s hard to imagine the economic downturn is even close to being over. But for one group of Americans, the leaders of large banks, the economy is starting to look rosy again.
Followi... read more
Panel Chosen to Investigate Causes of Financial Meltdown; Will Obama Cooperate?
Two longtime California politicians have been selected to lead the government’s investigation into the causes of the economic crisis that struck the nation last year. Chairing the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission will be Phil Angelides, former ... read more
Taxing Marijuana Would Earn California $1.4 Billion
With a $26 billion deficit to fill, California needs to take advantage of something it does more than any other state—grow marijuana plants—according to Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. The San Francisco lawmaker has introduced AB 390, which wo... read more
Los Angeles Meanest City for Homeless
The City of Angels is not where you want to be if you’re homeless, according to a new report by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless. The advocacy groups say cities across America are increa... read more
Planning for an Electric Car Future: Battery Swapping
Electric cars by the thousands could be traveling America’s roads within the next 20 years, assuming industry and car buyers embrace an important new facet of the vehicles: switchable batteries. Economist Thomas Becker at the University of Califor... read more
Bush Illegal Wiretapping Program Almost Prompted FBI and Justice Resignations
President George W. Bush’s insistence on continuing the warrantless wiretapping program in 2004 almost forced the resignations of some of top law enforcement officials in the administration, according to federal inspectors of the government’s top ... read more
Fighting Gang Violence with Night Lights and Mass Arrests
For the second year in a row the city of Los Angeles is funding a special program to remove the urban shadows that have allowed street gangs to rule the night across South Central. “Summer Night Lights” keeps 16 parks across crime-ridden neighborh... read more
Both Parties in House Slam Obama Signing Statement
Normally, if a U.S. president objects to a law passed by Congress, he vetoes it. But there is another mechanism that presidents claim allows them to ignore a certain section of a law if the president says he considers it unconstitutional or that i... read more
NASA Satellite Reveals Dramatic Thinning of Arctic Ice
Imagine if Alaska, the largest state in the union, completely disappeared from the earth. That’s roughly what happened to an enormous amount of ice in the Arctic over just four years, NASA scientists concluded, after conducting the first comprehen... read more
Obama Threatens Veto over Sharing Covert Actions Details with Congress
Amid accusations that the CIA has repeatedly lied to Congress since 2001, President Barack Obama is threatening to veto legislation that would force the White House to disclose to Congress internal documents pertaining to covert operations. The bi... read more