U.S. News

Sen. Ted Kennedy collapses at inaugural lunch
CNN - Mon Jan 19, 2009
WASHINGTON - Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, collapsed Tuesday afternoon during a luncheon for President Barack Obama in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. More»

Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address
Associated Press - Mon Jan 19, 2009
Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday, as prepared for delivery and released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. More»

Obama takes office, saying choose 'hope over fear'
Associated Press - Mon Jan 19, 2009
WASHINGTON - Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as America's first black president on Tuesday, saying the nation must choose "hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord" to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. More»

FDA scientists allege mismanagement at agency
CNN - Sun Jan 11, 2009
WASHINGTON - Nine scientists at the Food and Drug Administration have written a letter to President-elect Barack Obama and his transition team, alleging gross mismanagement at the agency that has "placed the American public at risk". More»

Lynndie England: 'What happens in war happens'
The Guardian, UK - Fri Jan 2, 2009
In 2004, photographs of abuses at Abu Ghraib shocked the world: Seven people were charged, but the face of the scandal will always be Lynndie England, the 21-year-old private grinning at the camera. More»

Illinois governor's federal security clearance revoked
Associated Press - Fri Jan 2, 2009
CHICAGO - The US Department of Homeland Security has revoked embattled Governor Rod Blagojevich's access to classified federal security information, officials said Friday. More»

Rare snow covers south Louisiana, Mississippi
Associated Press - Wed Dec 10, 2008
NEW ORLEANS - A rare snowfall blanketed south Louisiana and parts of Mississippi Thursday, closing schools, government offices and bridges, triggering crashes on major highways and leaving thousands of people without power. More»

Sen. Larry Craig loses appeal in airport sex case
Associated Press - Mon Dec 8, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS - Idaho Senator Larry Craig has lost his latest attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the Minneapolis airport men's room sex sting that effectively ended his Senate career. More»

Attorney General Mukasey collapses during speech
Associated Press - Wed Nov 19, 2008
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the no-nonsense former federal judge who took over the Justice Department after Alberto Gonzales resigned in disgrace, collapsed during a speech Thursday night and lost consciousness. More»

Obama triumphs, will be first black US president
Associated Press - Mon Nov 3, 2008
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama was elected the nation's first black president Tuesday night in a historic triumph that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. More»

Mercenary Firm Offers to 'Detain Troublemakers' on Election Day
Wired News - Sun Nov 2, 2008
CIA-linked private military contractor Evergreen Defense & Security Services offered to post sentries at Oregon election offices on Tuesday, "detaining troublemakers" and making sure voters "do not get out of control". More»

Republicans in 'Oxford plot' to smear Barack Obama
Times UK - Fri Oct 31, 2008
The Republicans have made a last-minute attempt to prevent Barack Obama's ascent to the White House by trying to recruit an Oxford academic to "prove" that his autobiography was ghostwritten by a former terrorist. More»

Exxon Mobil posts biggest US quarterly profit ever
Associated Press - Wed Oct 29, 2008
HOUSTON - Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, reported income Thursday that shattered its own record for the biggest profit from operations by a US corporation, earning $14.83 billion in the third quarter. More»

U.S. judge orders backup paper ballots in Pa.
USA Today - Tue Oct 28, 2008
A federal judge has sided with Pennsylvania voter groups and ordered election officials to provide paper ballots if half the machines break down Tuesday. More»

As Election Nears, Dirty Tricks Grow More Common
Huffington Post - Tue Oct 28, 2008
As the election nears, examples of political dirty tricks are emerging with greater frequency. More»

New Mexico GOP Sued For Voter Intimidation
Huffington Post - Tue Oct 28, 2008
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has sent out a press release about a lawsuit against the New Mexico GOP after reports that minority voters in the state are being intimidated by party officials. More»

Report: Isaac Hayes Will Shafts Scientology
WSB-TV - Thu Oct 23, 2008
Even though he was a member, Isaac Hayes apparently decided to give the Church of Scientology the shaft in his last will and testament. More»

Feds Investigate Vermont Radiation Leak
WPTZ-TV - Tue Oct 21, 2008
VERNON, Vermont - Federal regulators are investigating the cause of radiation exposure that forced the evacuation of 25 workers at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. More»

Are You in the "Constitution Free" Zone?
Wired - Tue Oct 21, 2008
Government agents should not have the right to stop and question Americans anywhere without suspicion within 100 miles of the border, the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday, pointing attention to the little known power of the federal government to set up immigration checkpoints far from the nation's border lines. More»

GOP Calls for McCarthyist Witch Hunt
Huffington Post - Fri Oct 17, 2008
In a television appearance that outraged Democrats are already describing as Joseph McCarthy politics, Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachmann claimed on Friday that Barack Obama and his wife Michelle held anti-American views and couldn't be trusted in the White House. More»

Palin: We can't let 'leftist groups .... steal this election'
CNN - Sun Oct 12, 2008
The McCain campaign is fundraising off embattled community group ACORN. More»

Villagers with Torches - The "Terrorist" Barack Hussein Obama
FRANK RICH - New York Times - Sat Oct 11, 2008
IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him. More»

Raw anger in McCain's crowds as Obama strengthens
Associated Press - Thu Oct 9, 2008
LAKEVILLE, Minnesota - The anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is finally acting to tamp it down. More»

Report: Voter purges in 6 states may violate law
Associated Press - Wed Oct 8, 2008
Tens of thousands of eligible voters have been removed from rolls or blocked from registering in at least six swing states, and the voters' exclusion appears to violate federal law, according to a published report. More»

Gas shortages: get ready for more
Fortune Magazine - Fri Sep 26, 2008
NEW YORK - While Congress and Bush administration officials have been working to complete a bailout plan and stem the financial contagion on Wall Street, a different kind of economic crisis emerged across the South this week: A severe, hurricane-related gasoline shortage has curtailed trucking from Atlanta to Asheville, NC, and created a wave of panic buying among motorists. More»

Cheney must keep records, judge orders
CNN - Sat Sep 20, 2008
Vice President Dick Cheney must preserve a broad range of records from his time in office, a federal judge ordered Saturday, ruling in favor of a private watchdog group. More»

Missing ballots found in Florida
WPTV-TV - Thu Sep 11, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida - You hate to say it, but only in Palm Beach County. More»

Hurricane destroyed Galveston in 1900
CNN - Thu Sep 11, 2008
The worst weather disaster in American history took place in Galveston, Texas, in 1900 when a hurricane estimated as a Category 4 intensity blew ashore, killing thousands of residents and obliterating the town. More»

Palin's Book-Banning Controversy
Associated Press - Thu Sep 11, 2008
WASILLA, Alaska - The McCain campaign is defending Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's much-criticized inquiry into banning books at her hometown library, saying her questions were only hypothetical. More»

DHS Scales Back Plan for Radiation Detectors
US News - Fri Sep 5, 2008
After years of research and testing and at the expense of millions of dollars, plans by the Department of Homeland Security to use radiation detectors to screen cargo and vehicles entering the United States have largely failed, according to an audit obtained by the Washington Post. More»

Police fire chemical agents, projectiles at RNC protesters
CNN - Tue Sep 2, 2008
ST PAUL, Minnesota - St Paul police fired chemical agents and projectiles into a large crowd of protesters outside the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night. More»

FEMA: Gustav to be a catastrophic storm
Associated Press - Sun Aug 31, 2008
Cartons of food, water, blankets and other supplies to sustain 1 million people for three days were ready to be distributed Monday as FEMA anxiously eyed Louisiana levees to gauge how much damage Hurricane Gustav would wreak. More»

New Orleans evacuations begin as Gustav menaces
Associated Press - Fri Aug 29, 2008
NEW ORLEANS - Lines of people waiting for buses to take them out of the city grew longer Saturday and traffic grew heavier on main highways as Hurricane Gustav strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 storm on track for the Gulf Coast. More»

In New Orleans, no shelter for those who stay
Associated Press - Thu Aug 28, 2008
NEW ORLEANS - Police with bullhorns plan to go street to street with a tough message about getting out ahead of Hurricane Gustav: This time there will be no shelter of last resort. More»

State Rep charged with assaulting teen
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Sun Aug 10, 2008
JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri state Representative Scott Muschany, R-Frontenac, was indicted today in connection with a reported sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl on May 17, the day after this year's Legislative session ended. More»

New Orleans levees squeezed by Congress' demand for cash
Associated Press - Thu Jun 26, 2008
NEW ORLEANS - The goal to raise levees and build large-scale flood defenses around this flood-torn city could be delayed indefinitely because of congressional demands that Louisiana chip in almost $2 billion to the effort over three years. More»

Ex-Head Of UCLA Cadaver Program Indicted
Associated Press - Fri May 16, 2008
LOS ANGELES, California - The former head of UCLA's cadaver program and a businessman were indicted Friday on eight felony counts involving black market sales of human body parts. More»

Lynndie England blames media for photos
Associated Press - Tue Mar 18, 2008
BERLIN - Lynndie England, the public face of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, told a German news magazine that she was sorry for appearing in photographs of detainees in the notorious Iraqi prison, and believes the scenes of torture and humiliation served as a powerful rallying point for anti-American insurgents. More»

Jet mistakenly drops dummy bomb in Okla.
Associated Press - Sun Mar 16, 2008
TULSA, Oklahoma - An Air National Guard jet mistakenly dropped a 22-pound non-explosive, practice bomb on an apartment complex, damaging the foundation but no one was injured, police said Friday. More»

Bathroom Footsie Gay Senator "Acted Improperly" says Ethics Panel
Associated Press - Tue Feb 12, 2008
The Senate Ethics Committee said Wednesday that Idaho Senator Larry Craig acted improperly in connection with a men's room sex sting last year and had brought discredit on the Senate. More»