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Matthew Hoh Quits State Dept Over Afghanistan: Resignation Letter
Region: District of Columbia
Matthew Hoh, a former Marine and contractor in Iraq, resigned from the US State Department last month, it has been revealed, citing US involvement in Afghanistan as the impetus for his move. In his resignation letter, Matthew Hoh, 36, writes that "To put simply: I fail to see the value or the worth in continued U.S. casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-yea... more
Views: 612 Rating:
New Medical Marijuana Policy a Hot Topic on Twitter
Region: District of ColumbiaPer The Christian Science Monitor, the Obama administration has created a new policy wherein federal officers will no longer prosecute medical marijuana users and sellers in states that have legalized the drug. A reversal of the Bush administration policy, the Justice Department stressed that federal prosecution will only be enforced to those who abuse the amount and usage of medical marijuana in states where it is le... more
Views: 645 Rating:
Medicare Drug Planners Now Lobbyists, With Billions at Stake
Region: District of Columbia
Four years ago, a group of lawmakers and aides crafted Medicare Part D, the prescription drug program for seniors that has produced billions of dollars of profits for pharmaceutical companies. Today, at least 25 of those key players are back, but this time they’re lobbyists, trying to persuade their former colleagues to protect the lucrative system during the health care reform negotiations. The role of big pla... more
Views: 392 Rating:
Recovery.gov Releases First Batch of Stimulus Reports
Region: District of Columbia
The federal government today released the first batch of reports [1] detailing how recipients are spending the stimulus money. The reports cover the nearly 9,000 federal stimulus contracts awarded by the end of last month, which represent $16 billion of the $339 billion total that has been obligated by federal agencies or made available as tax relief. According to the data, which was posted this morning on Recovery.gov... more
Views: 266 Rating:
Historic National Equality March in D.C. Ignites Twitter
Region: District of Columbia
Tens of thousands of gay and lesbian activists marched in Washington, D.C. today in the fight for equal rights for all people, in the military and elsewhere. The rally came one day after U.S. President Barack Obama said he will reverse the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, but activists say they want won’t rest until it’s official, per USA Today. Tweets were flowing throughout the da... more
Views: 704 Rating:
Helen Keller: Honor the Woman, Not the Child
Region: District of Columbia
Yesterday, members of Congress unveiled the statue of Helen Keller in the United States Capital Building. The statue honoring Keller depicts her as a child standing next to a water pump at the moment when she first made the connection, between the word water, spelled into her hand by her dedicated teacher Annie Sullivan, and water itself, pumped into her hand by Sullivan. While this event was certainly a wa... more
Views: 806 Rating:
Obama Administration Refuses to Release Whole Contract for Transparency Site
Region: District of ColumbiaThe Smartronix contract. Nearly half of the pages in the technical proposal (outlined in red in the graphic above) are blacked out. (Dan Nguyen/ProPublica) The Obama administration has refused [1] , once and for all, to reveal the full details of its contract with Smartronix for a new version of Recovery.gov [2] , the government’s stimulus information clearinghouse, as well as a sophisticate... more
Views: 267 Rating:
We’re tracking the stimulus from bill to building, and we're organizing citizens nationwide to wat
Region: District of ColumbiaFederal agencies spent some $4.5 billion in stimulus money over the last week, and obligated another $4.5 billion, according to our updated Stimulus Progress Bar [1]. But the progress is uneven. Winners for the week include the Treasury Department, which nearly doubled the amount of stimulus dollars it’s paid out, from $646 million to $1.2 billion; and NASA, a slow stimulus spender [2] which increased the money i... more
Views: 287 Rating:
Why Chicago lost the 2016 Olympics bid and why Rio de Janeiro won
Region: District of Columbia
Chicago is out of the 2016 Olympics but this defeat is not the city’s fault or a result of a deficient candidacy. This is a sign that the world is changing and this country’s leadership seems not to notice. As usual, the U.S. remains a bit out of touch with the rest of the world, perhaps because in any other international organization this country rules, demands, and others usually obey. Here in the U.S.... more
Views: 1025 Rating:
The ACORN Investigation Unveiled, The US Government Releases its Findings, By Robert Paisola
Region: District of Columbia
The ACORN situation has Matt Drudge so excited, he's goin' to Disneyworld! Drudge's top headline today is "ACORN REGISTERS 'MICKEY MOUSE'" referring to the revelation that some of ACORN's canvassers were turning in applications with fake names and information in order to meet their daily quota. Drudge and the GOP are screaming "voter fraud" to anyone who'll listen, but as far as we can tell, nothing happened except a b... more
Views: 371 Rating:
