Mountaintop removal coal mining is the worst environmental tragedy in American history. When will the Obama administration finally stop this Appalachian apocalypse?

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    Senior Central Intelligence Agency officials, including the London station chief, have been brought before a grand jury in Virginia investigating the potentially illegal destruction of 92 video tapes recording the torture and interrogation of al-Qaida detainees.

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    Tehran - A senior Iranian cleric warned on Friday that detained British embassy staff would face trial for their alleged role in post-election unrest, and EU countries summoned Iranian envoys to protest against the detentions.

    Britain said it was urgently seeking clarification from Iranian authorities over Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati's comments to worshippers during Friday prayers in Tehran.

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    Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she was resigning her office later this month, a stunning decision that could free her to run for president more easily but also raises questions about her political standing at home.

    Palin disclosed the surprise news Friday afternoon from her home in Wasilla with her husband, Todd, and Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, who the governor said would take over the state on Saturday, July 25th.

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    When South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited Washington for a summit with President Barack Obama on June 16, the United States reaffirmed its "commitment of extended deterrence" to Seoul, "including the US nuclear umbrella."

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    Polar bear encounters on the North Slope oil fields have risen to record levels the last two years, a sign that increasing numbers of the white giants may be prowling on land because the sea ice they prefer is shrinking, scientists said.

    Oil field sightings along the southern Beaufort Sea coast jumped to 321 in 2007 and 313 in 2008, said Craig Perham, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in Anchorage.

    That's more than double the 15-year average of 138. It's also a sharp rise from 232, the previous high in 2005.

    Oil companies are legally required to report a polar bear encounter to Fish and Wildlife that involves any change in the animal's behavior, even if the bear simply lifts its head to sniff the air, Perham said.

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    Washington - The tough economy and tight labor market have tarnished the luster of a bachelor's degree for young college graduates seeking employment.

    New monthly survey data from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston finds that during the first four months of 2009, less than half of the nation's 4 million college graduates age 25 and under were working in jobs that required a college degree. That's down from 54 percent for the same period last year.

    "I've never seen it this low and we've been analyzing this stuff for over 20 years," said center director Andrew Sum.

    The problem is most acute in the 25-and-under age group among Asian female graduates and black and Hispanic male graduates.

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    Create jobs. End the recession. Save the environment. What else can transforming our fossil fuel economy to a clean energy economy do? How about create unprecedented employment opportunities for women? Readers of Linda Hirshman's recent New York Times editorial may think this is a dubious claim. She sparked a debate over the gender bias in Obama's stimulus plan by asking, "Where are the new jobs for women?" She makes a good point. Transitioning to a clean-energy economy has the makings of a decent jobs program. Unfortunately, many of these jobs are in male-dominated industries such as construction.

    Therefore, the next question we should ask is: "How do we get women into these new jobs?" Women would benefit significantly from gaining access to these male-dominated jobs that pay decent wages. Take for example the $18.72 average wage of carpenters, 99% of whom are men. This wage can cover the basic needs of a small family. Compare this to the $11.48 average wage of preschool teachers, 98% of whom are women. At this wage, a preschool teacher would have to work in excess of 25 hours more per week to support a similar living standard.

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    Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Barack Obama's health policy czar, served as a director of corporations that faced scores of federal investigations, whistleblower lawsuits and other regulatory actions, according to government records reviewed by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.

    Several of the companies were investigated for alleged kickbacks or engaging in other illegal billing schemes, while others were accused of serious violations of federal quality standards, including one company that failed to warn patients of deadly problems with an implanted heart defibrillator. Several of the cases ended with substantial fines paid to the federal government, even though the companies admitted no wrongdoing.

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    The National Education Association, representing 3.2 million ecducators nationally, held its 2009 Joint Conference, at the Manchester Hyatt Hotel on Monday, June 29, where 1,000 educators gathered to discuss "Public education, the gateway to global opportunities in a diverse society."
The conference took special interest in GLBT students and their teachers, along with GLBT minorities of color and women.

    "For educators, the challenges are numerous," said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) special projects manager Che Tabiosa, who gave a presentation on identity issues for GLBT students of color. "Every teacher has had an experience where students will use 'that's so gay,' and it's become this awful slang."

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