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News (387)

February 7, 2013 1:21 pm

White House defends drone-war killing of Americans (Yahoo)

The White House on Tuesday defended targeted assassinations of Americans thought to consort overseas with terrorists as “necessary,” “ethical” and “wise,” as the Obama administration faced fresh questions about its sharply expanded drone war.

January 18, 2013 11:52 am

White House answers Death Star petition: No (Yahoo News)

Build this Death Star, we will not. That’s the message from the White House in an official response to a petition urging President Barack Obama to build the moon-sized planet-killing space station from Star Wars.

December 14, 2012 6:09 pm

Freedom from Earsplitting Ads: The CALM Act Goes Into Effect (Daily Finance)

After 12 months of waiting for the rules to go into effect, Americans will finally begin to enjoy the benefits of the CALM Act, which takes effect today.  Congress passed the law — which requires the FCC to prevent ads from being louder than the programs they accompany.

December 7, 2012 4:25 pm

States Spend Anti-Smoking $$ on Other Things (MedPage Today)

Only 1.8% of the $25.7 billion states will collect from both taxes on cigarettes and the 1998 tobacco settlement — about $460 million — will go to tobacco prevention and treatment programs in 2013.

November 9, 2012 3:36 pm

Ethics in Play, Voters Oust Incumbents Under Scrutiny (New York Times)

In races around the country, an unusually large number of lawmakers facing charges of wrongdoing were unceremoniously ousted from their jobs on Tuesday — which is quite rare, because more than 90 percent of the incumbents seeking re-election to Congress typically return for another term.

July 17, 2012 9:40 am

Synthetic Biology Scorecard Finds Federal Agencies Responding to Presidential Bioethics Commission Report (Market Watch: The Wall Street Journal)

Federal agencies have started taking steps to address the recommendations in a 2010 report from the presidential bioethics commission to improve the governance of synthetic biology research and development, though the government has not fully addressed any of the report recommendations, according to a scorecard tracking the efforts.

April 18, 2012 3:48 pm

Unusual Alliances Form In Nebraska's Prenatal Care Debate (NPR)

In Republican-dominated Nebraska, government leaders often line up together, but lately a political tornado has ripped through this orderly scene. A political showdown over taxpayer funding of prenatal care for illegal immigrants has produced some unusual political splits and alliances in the statehouse of the Cornhusker State.

April 16, 2012 3:39 pm

Stay Awake, Comrades (Science Progress)

Are you losing sleep over America’s competition with China for global dominance?  Not to worry.  The People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, has a pill that will keep you feeling well, alert and comfortable for 72 hours.  So at least while you’re not sleeping you can be productive.

April 12, 2012 9:58 pm

Confusion Reigns in Tennessee (Science Insider)

Teaching science in Tennessee may become more confusing now that an antievolution bill has been added to the state’s statutes. Governor Bill Haslam yesterday declined to either sign or veto HR 368, which prohibits school officials from stopping a teacher from helping students understand so-called controversial subjects such as evolution and global warming. Never mind that teachers say they need no such protection, or that thousands of educators and scientific societies (including AAAS, which publishes ScienceInsider) had urged Haslam to veto the bill because it wrongly suggests that the scientific community is divided on these issues.

April 3, 2012 3:54 pm

White House and the F.D.A. Often at Odds (NY Times)

“In a globalizing world, where trust is a huge part of what American manufacturers have to sell, the politicization of the F.D.A. could hurt not only consumer protection but industry profits as well,” said Daniel Carpenter, an F.D.A. historian at Harvard University. “If this trend continues, one could easily see major government purchasing programs in Europe, India, China and elsewhere saying, ‘We’re not going to follow F.D.A. recommendations anymore.’ ”