While Feds Stall, Locals Tackle Big Issues

Staff / Truthdig Aug 11, 2006 In the face of stagnant federal policy, more and more localities have adopted their own measures to address the environment, stem-cell research and immigration. Impatient for action from deadlocked Washington, cities and states have increasingly crafted their own policies regarding the major issues of the day, even reaching out to foreign leaders. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Ellen Goodman: Wedding Bells Only for Breeders?

Ellen Goodman / Truthdig Aug 3, 2006 Washington state's Supreme Court says it limited marriage to heterosexual couples in order to encourage procreation. OK, so what about straight couples that can't or don't want to have kids? Are they banned from marriage, too? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Audit Finds U.S. Hid Cost of Iraq Projects

Staff / Truthdig Jul 30, 2006 More inspiring news about our government: A State Dept. agency used an accounting shell game to hide cost overruns on Iraq projects and withheld info on scheduling delays from Congress. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Washington State Upholds Gay Marriage Ban

Staff / Truthdig Jul 27, 2006 Bigots are delighting at this blow against tolerance. Massachusetts is now the only state still extending full marriage benefits to homosexual couples. On an intellectual level, it's interesting to read the logical flights of fancy that judges have to make in their opinions to codify this kind of hatred into law. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Foreign Companies Buy U.S. Roads

Staff / Truthdig Jul 19, 2006 U.S. roads and bridges paid for by American taxpayers are being sold to companies abroad. Selling roads and bridges to private companies provides states with extra cash in the short term, but as Indiana's House Democratic leader has argued, these deals are shortsighted taxpayer rip-offs that funnel long-term profits to foreign coffers. (h/t AmericaBlog) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

State of Emergency Declared in Baghdad

Staff / Truthdig Jun 23, 2006 The Iraqi government ordered everyone off the streets of the Iraqi capital after insurgents set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops outside the Green Zone. Dozens of deaths were reported around the country in this one day alone. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Alternet’s 10 Signs of the Impending Police State

Staff / Truthdig May 27, 2006 An indispensible roundup, and it's not just The War and The Spying. Alternet also points to presidential signing statements, free speech zones, the Internet clampdown, and touchscreen voting machines. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush Increases Use of ‘State Secrets’ Privilege to Quash Lawsuits

Staff / Truthdig May 25, 2006 The administration is using this tactic at a rate of three lawsuits per year--purportedly to keep national security information safe. But one expert says that in cases like these, "the principal concern of the classifiers is not with national security, but with governmental embarrassment of one sort or another." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Albright Criticizes Bush’s Religious Absolutism

Staff / Truthdig May 23, 2006 The former secretary of state says that Bush has alienated Muslims around the world with his use of Christian dogma to discuss foreign policy. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Jon Stewart Debriefs Madeleine Albright

Staff / Truthdig May 5, 2006 "The Daily Show" host gets the skinny from the former secretary of state on Bush's "consultation" with over a dozen former White House advisors. Scary part: Albright says Bush was exactly the way he sounds on TV. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Report: Extremists Push for Terror Haven in Iraq

Staff / Truthdig Apr 29, 2006 The U.S. State Department's annual report on worldwide terrorism said Sunni and Shiite extremists groups are working inside Iraq to create a terrorist haven. Also, the report names Iran as the world's top state sponsor of terrorism. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Nation: Red & Blue Are Worthless Categories

Staff / Truthdig Apr 18, 2006 Despite recent polling showing red states turning blue, true color-blending will require "electoral reform that changes the way votes are counted, districts are proportioned and views are represented," argues the editor of The Nation. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )