March 2011 Archive
Behind Administration Spin: Bailout Still $123 Billion in the Red
The administration has been on a charm offensive about the TARP. We check in with our bailout database to show where things really stand.
Villages Testify to Disparity in Benefits Alaska Native Corporations Provide
Congress created the system of Alaska Native Corporations with the promise of bringing prosperity to a scattered indigenous population stuck in poverty. The corporations have created pockets of success but not a wide-scale solution for joblessness and substance abuse.
Army Plans New Guidelines to Resolve Denials of Purple Hearts to Brain-Injured Soldiers
The Army’s move comes in response to an investigation published last September by ProPublica and NPR that revealed some soldiers had been wrongly denied the medal despite regulations that made them eligible for it.
In Proposed Mortgage Fraud Settlement, a Gift to Big Banks
Under terms being negotiated with state attorneys general, banks would be allowed to treat second liens like first mortgages — and to avoid coming clean on the true extent of their losses.
With Eyes Elsewhere, Here’s the Latest on U.S.’s (Muted) Responses to Mideast Crackdowns
As violence escalates in Bahrain, Qaddafi gains in Libya, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Egypt, we check in on how the U.S. has been responding to continued turmoil in the region.
Our Reading List for Following Nuclear News From Japan
We’ve compiled a few resources that we’ve found helpful as we track the developments from the aftermath of Japanese earthquake.
Expert: Builder’s New Guidelines for Chinese Drywall “Feel Like a Whitewash”
New National Association of Home Builders guidelines for testing and fixing homes built with suspect Chinese drywall conflict with Consumer Product Safety Commission recommendations.
Spent Fuel Now Focus at Japanese Reactor, Highlighting Concerns About Plant Design
As ProPublica reported earlier, spent fuel stored outside the reactor containment structure poses a direct threat of radiation releases at Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility.
Status of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Question at Crippled Japanese Power Plant
Opponents of nuclear power have warned for years that if spent fuel pools lost water, it could lead to a fire and a catastrophic release of radiation. Now, there have been hydrogen explosions at two of the reactor buildings housing spent fuel pools at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
A Partial Victory in Our FOIA Request — But Government Still Hasn’t Provided All the Records
Tricare provided ProPublica and NPR with some, but not all, of the reviews criticizing a Tricare study finding that cognitive rehabilitation therapy has not been proven effective.
Iodine Pills Distributed in Japan Offer Limited Protection From Effects of Radiation
The Bush administration in 2008 scrapped a plan to expand distribution of the pills to more residents living near the nation’s nuclear reactors.
FOIA b(3) Exemptions
Information about watermelon handlers, avocado importers and caves are some of the categories of information that have been withheld from federal Freedom of Information Act requesters using sections of laws that are otherwise unrelated to disclosure. There are hundreds of such laws, according to data compiled by the Sunshine in Government Initiative. They fall under number three -- known as b(3) -- of the nine exemptions. Use our database to see how extensively agencies use b(3) exemptions.
FOIA Eyes Only: How Buried Statutes Are Keeping Information Secret
Invoking exemptions to Freedom of Information Act may deter accountability.
