Opponents of “Corporate Personhood” Eye U.S. Constitution

There is a growing national movement to establish a 28th amendment to the constitution of the United States to address the issue of unlimited corporate spending in elections, although the groups working on the issue diverge on what exactly the amendment should say.

Better than Organic

When my children were born it was a clear commitment: all clothing would have to carry the “organic” seal. It was an expression of a lifestyle, a commitment to the Earth.

Who’s Watching Those Unblinking Eyes in the Sky?

On the long meadows of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, a man pilots an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) – more commonly referred to as drones – in figure eights to the amusement of his Labrador.

Kerry Gets a Pass as Factions Gear Up for Hagel Fight

Sen. John Kerry received a warm reception from his colleagues on both sides of the aisle during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee here Thursday, virtually assuring his approval as President Barack Obama’s second-term secretary of state as soon as next week.

Ending Ban, U.S. Hopes to Reduce Sexual Assaults in Military

Following on a surprise announcement, U.S. Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta on Thursday confirmed that the U.S. military will be rolling back a nearly two-decade-old ban on women in the U.S. military serving in frontline combat positions.

Drones Provoke Growing Controversy in U.S.

As Barack Obama renews his lease on the White House for another four years, his administration is debating how best to respond to a growing internal and public controversy over his first term’s non-battlefield counter-terrorist weapon of choice: armed drones.

Expanding Coal Exports Test Obama’s Inaugural Climate Pledges

Following surprisingly forceful statements on the threat of global climate change by President Barack Obama during his second inaugural address on Monday, campaigners here are expressing cautious optimism that a second Obama administration will be able to see through some of the substantive actions on carbon reduction that largely eluded the president’s first term.

U.S. Public Supports UNESCO, Despite Funding Cuts

A national poll revealed that 83 percent of voters in the United States believe it is important for the country to be a member of  and provide funding to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, commonly referred to as UNESCO.

Vote, Violence and Weather Top 2012 U.S. TV News

The presidential election topped news coverage in 2012 from the three major U.S. television networks, closely followed by violence in the United States and Middle East, and extreme weather events in the United States, according to the latest annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report.

Opposition to U.S. Corporate Political Spending Gains Momentum

Activists and watchdog groups across the United States unveiled a new national push on Thursday to urge policymakers to roll back a controversial 2010 Supreme Court decision that led to the unprecedented spending of about 6 billion dollars, much of it untraceable, during recent national elections.

Obama Misses Opportunity to Stem Gun Flow to Mexico

Unveiling the most extensive gun control proposal in generations, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed nearly two dozen executive orders and called on the U.S. Congress to enact a legislative package to blunt the country's growing trend of gun violence.

New Push in U.S. for Tougher Sanctions, War Threats Against Iran

Four U.S. non-proliferation specialists are urging the Obama administration to impose tougher economic sanctions against Iran and issue more explicit threats to destroy its nuclear programme by military means.

To Save the U.S. Economy, Lift the Bottom

The problem of the U.S. economy lies much deeper than the fiscal cliff. Wise people--Robert Borosage, Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz--see neither the fiscal deficit nor the U.S. debt as the key problems, but the lack of growth.

More Aging U.S. Coal Plants Hit the Chopping Block

Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the largest utilities in the U.S. south, plans to retire 15 coal and oil-fired energy generating units at four different plants, in the latest sign that a national campaign against coal is gaining traction.

U.S. Health Worse Than Nearly All Other Industrialised Countries

U.S. citizens suffer from poorer health than nearly all other industrialised countries, according to the first comprehensive government analysis on the subject, released Wednesday.

U.S. to Take Closer Look at Flood of Corporate Political Spending

Civil society actors and the some corporate groups here are reacting with excitement to indications that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates the country’s stock exchanges, is likely to take up discussion over new rules that would mandate the public disclosure of all political spending by U.S.-listed public corporations.

U.S. Immigration System’s Cost, Reach “Unprecedented”

The United States government is spending more on immigration enforcement each year than it is on all other federal law-enforcement agencies combined, according to the first comprehensive look at how the country’s sprawling immigration complex has grown over the past decade.

New Push for U.S. to Ratify Major Women’s Treaty

The United States continues to be in the dubious company of six countries that have either refused or are reluctant to ratify the landmark U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Obama Nominates Hagel for Pentagon, Brennan for CIA

Rounding out his second-term foreign policy picks, U.S. President Barack Obama Monday nominated former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to head the Pentagon and his top counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, to direct the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Major Test for Israel Lobby As Obama Leans to Hagel for Pentagon

With President Barack Obama reportedly primed to nominate former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to head the Pentagon early next week, the powerful Israel lobby, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), faces a major dilemma.

Groups Decry Obama’s Failure to Close Guantanamo

Human rights groups are denouncing President Barack Obama’s failure to veto a defence bill that will make it far more difficult for him to fulfill his four-year-old pledge to close the Guantanamo detention facility this year.