Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

The law Congress adopted this spring to reshape the nation's health-care system will be especially beneficial to women, because they traditionally have relied on health care more than men, faced more insurance problems and had greater difficulty paying medical bills, according to a new analysis.


Commonwealth Fund - Health - United States - Health care - Politics

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Al Kamen is away. The In the Loop column will resume when he returns.


Business - United States - Materials and Supplies - Clothing - Consumer Goods and Services

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Posing as someone else and using fake birth certificates and driver's licenses to get a U.S. passport can still work, government investigators reported Thursday.


United States - Security - Government Accountability Office - Fire and Security - Business Services

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

The Navy is more likely to promote white enlisted officers than those who are black or Hispanic, according to an independent academic study based on data provided by the military branch.



Hispanic - United States - History - Health - Arizona

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Native Americans who have sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging discrimination say they, like many African Americans, were taken aback by the agency's hasty firing of a black mid-level official last week after she was falsely accused of racism.


Indigenous peoples of the Americas - Native American - Ethnicity - Indigenous - United States

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

About 1.8 million women have served in the U.S. military, and with 245,000 female soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, it's estimated that within a decade, women will make up 16 percent of all veterans.


United States - Veteran - Military - Organizations - Government

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

By the time the U.S. Postal Service announced plans to raise rates earlier this month, an unusual alliance of customers was in place to oppose it.

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

A measure designed to ease stubbornly high rates of violent crime, including rape and sexual assault, within Indian reservations will be signed into law by President Obama on Thursday.



United States - Barack Obama - President - Crime - History

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said Wednesday that senators who oversee the U.S. Postal Service's budget will block a proposal by the head of that agency to drop Saturday mail delivery.


United States Postal Service - United States - Postal Service - Government - Mail

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:26:00 EDT

The Justice Department's inspector general is investigating whether hundreds of FBI agents violated rules in taking a 2009 exam meant to ensure that they could follow aggressive investigative guidelines without intruding on Americans' privacy rights, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III acknowledge...


Federal Bureau of Investigation - Robert Mueller - United States Department of Justice - United States - Government

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Christmas in July for Santa? Tucked away in the fiscal 2011 appropriations bill for the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency is a $1 million earmark, inserted by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), to be given to the "City of North Pole for industrial force sewer main."


Shopping - Gifts - Personalized - Greeting Letters - Santa Claus

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

New census data released Tuesday confirm a huge spread in the rate of uninsured from state to state and the big difference in impact that can be expected as a result of the health-care overhaul recently passed by Congress.



Census - Government - United States - Department of Commerce - Executive Branch

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

The table below shows 2007 health insurance coverage status for people under 65, at all income levels, for a select number of states and the District


Business - United States - Insurance - Financial Services - Health

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

He fell just short of winning the White House in 2004. Four years later, he was rumored to be a leading contender to be secretary of state, until President-elect Barack Obama stunned everyone by tapping his former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.


Climate change - Environment - John Kerry - Joe Lieberman - Activism

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

BAGHDAD -- Because of poor record-keeping and lax oversight, the Department of Defense cannot account for how it spent $2.6 billion that belonged to the Iraqi government, according to the inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.


Middle East - United States - Iraq - United States armed forces - Business

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

After more than eight years of fighting in Afghanistan, the United States and its NATO coalition partners continue to hire private contractors to support their intelligence and counterintelligence analyses and operations in that country.



Afghanistan - United States - Asia - Military - Politics

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:31:30 EDT

On Jan. 10, 2008 in Caledonia, Miss., a powerful tornado with winds up to 155 mph exploded from the sky, ripping apart the town's elementary school and hurling a school bus onto the roof of the gymnasium.


Weather forecasting - Meteorology - Earth Sciences - Atmospheric Sciences - Business

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:13:00 EDT

Joseph Schaefer Former Director, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center Best known for: Enhancing the scientific knowledge regarding tornadoes and severe weather conditions, and translating these findings into state-of-the-art advance for...


Tornado - Meteorology - Earth Sciences - Atmospheric Sciences - Weather

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:13:00 EDT

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Monday marks the 20th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a far-reaching measure that enacted a series of changes improving public access for people with disabilities and protecting them from discrimination.


ADA - Programming - Languages - United States - adalovelace

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Russ Sullivan isn't a senator. He just emulates one.



Max Baucus - United States - Senate - Government - Legislative Branch

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

It is fitting that the last duel between the old ink-slingers at the Marble Palace was over guns.


Antonin Scalia - United States - Supreme Court of the United States - Government - Law

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Eager to boost public participation and awareness of the federal rule-making process, the Obama administration will relaunch the Federal Register's Web site Monday with a design resembling a newspaper Web site.


Federal Register - United States - Education - Colleges and Universities - Law

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Federal investigators have identified about 20 Pentagon employees and contractors who allegedly bought and downloaded online child pornography and in some cases used their government-issued computers to view the illegal material.


Child pornography - Crime - Sex Offenses - Legal Information - Pornography

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

There is a glaring irony in the wake of Shirley Sherrod's firing and subsequent reinstatement offer, say those who know her in Georgia.



Tom Vilsack - United States - White House - United States Department of Agriculture - Government

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told lawmakers Thursday that he will use his regulatory authority to impose strict new rules to remedy the revolving-door problems in his department.


United States - Business - Government - Lobbying - United States Congress

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

The ever-evolving English language is expanding at warp speed these days.


Sarah Palin - United States - English language - Twitter - Ben Smith

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

One of the most vocal critics of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy has been honorably discharged for being in violation of it.


United States - Military - Don't ask don't tell - Government - Army

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Contrary to folklore, federal employees can be fired, as demonstrated by the sorry situation involving Shirley Sherrod.



United States - Government - Senate - Members - Legislative Branch

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Patients will find it easier to appeal the denials of health insurance claims under rules being issued Thursday by the Obama administration, which is trying to boost political support for the new health-care law by highlighting advantages for consumers.


Insurance - Business - Health - Financial Services - Law

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

What good is being a multinational corporation if you don't know how to make the most of loopholes in the law? BP filed a lobbying report shortly before the second quarter deadline on Tuesday night, saying it spent $1.7 million influencing the government last quarter, an increase of 8 percent fro...


Lobbying - Politics - Federal government of the United States - Recreation - United States

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

As Sudan speeds toward a January referendum that could lead to the splitting of the country, President Obama's special envoy is complaining that his job has been made more difficult by new charges leveled against the Sudanese president.


Sudan - Africa - International Criminal Court - Omar al-Bashir - War crime

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

John D. Bennett, a CIA veteran who served as station chief in Pakistan until last year and who has had numerous other overseas postings, has been appointed head of the agency's National Clandestine Service, Director Leon E. Panetta announced Wednesday.



United States - People - Central Intelligence Agency - Al-Qaeda - Michael Sulick