Domestic Glance
This year, the Georgia legislature considered a bill that would require women to prove their miscarriages “occurred naturally” and weren’t secret abortions. In a similar vein, the Guardian reports that states including Mississippi and Alabama are charging dozens of women with murder or other serious crimes who have miscarried or had stillbirths:
Across the US more and more prosecutions are being brought that seek to turn pregnant women into criminals.
Pregnant Women Who Lose Babies Face Criminal Charges In Mississippi, Alabama
Church that picketed military funerals worked with FBI
Members of the controversial Kansas church known for picketing military funerals have participated in training sessions with FBI recruits, officials say.
The Westboro Baptist Church was involved in four sessions this spring, National Public Radio reported Wednesday. The FBI then ended the relationship, which began in 2008.
The church in Topeka is led by Fred Phelps and most of the members are in his extended family. Phelps is anti-homosexual and argues that God is punishing the military for U.S. tolerance of gays.
Former chairman gets 30 years for $3 billion mortgage fraud
An executive convicted of orchestrating a $3 billion fraud as chairman of one of America's largest private mortgage companies was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison. Federal prosecutors in northern Virginia had sought a life sentence for Lee Farkas, former chairman of Florida-based Taylor Bean & Whitaker.
They called the case against him one of the most significant arising from the nation's financial meltdown. A federal jury in Alexandria convicted Farkas in April of all 14 counts, including securities fraud and conspiracy.
Supreme Court Kills Off AZ Public Financing Law
Score another one for James Bopp, the veteran conservative lawyer who has helped kill off much of the country's campaign finance regulatory system. On Monday, the US Supreme Court struck down an innovative Arizona public financing law that would have provided extra public money to candidates who were being outspent by privately funded candidates and independent expenditure groups.
The drafters of the law had hoped that by using public funds to generate more speech, not less, they might be able to avoid many of the free speech issues that have bedeviled other attempts to level the campaign playing field.
FDA gears up for 'perfect storm'
In a report released Monday, "Pathway to Global Product Safety and Quality," the FDA said two-thirds of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States and 80 percent of the seafood eaten domestically are imported.
Half of the medical devices sold in the country and "80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in medications sold here are manufactured elsewhere," the report said.
"There has been a perfect storm -- more products, more manufacturers, more countries and more access. A dramatic change in strategy must be implemented," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said.
N.Y. Target store workers reject unionization
Workers at a Target store in New York voted against joining the country's largest retail union Friday night, but the union said it would press on and broaden its push to represent the company's workers nationwide.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 also said it would contest the results and ask the federal government to order a new election, alleging that Target illegally intimidated workers. Target denied the union's allegations.
Citigroup releases more about credit card breach
Citigroup released more details about the May attack that compromised some personal information of about 1 percent of its credit card customers.
According to a statement from the company, 360,083 accounts were breached in total. Of those accounts, 142,426 were not current — they had been closed or new cards had been automatically issued. The company said it has reissued 217,657 new cards to affected customers.
More Articles...
Page 139 of 219
