This is the third or fourth in a series on the usurpation of power that has taken place in the administration agencies that is taking away the right to sue pharmaceutical companies for injuries caused by dangerous drugs. The first part described the basic problem.

The follow ups explain legal issues that, I hope, will help everyone understand just how bad this is in terms of having no basis in law as it was known in the US pre- the Bush administration.

The first in a series of reports exploring the ramifications of this controversial state ballot measure.

Hard-line, socially conservative activists are gearing up to enact state laws to restrict abortion since President Bush and Congress have all but abandoned the federal cause. To that end, Colorado is once again serving as a political incubator in yet another attempt to chip away at Roe v. Wade.

But for all the hue and cry, do efforts at the state level have a chance of success and what cost do they exact from the larger conservative movement in a watershed election year?

On Daily Kos, I was asked to define torts. That turned into two long comments, which I think might be helpful here. I discuss what is a tort and what are tort damages.

Today the GAO issued a report on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), the darling of the private is always better crowd. And an issue that Jacob Hacker takes issue with - strongly takes issue with - in The Great Risk Shift.

This is part two of a discussion of a disturbing trend by the Bush Administration. They are using obscure parts of federal agency regulations to destroy the right to sue manufacturers who have caused serious injuries. Part one described the revelation made by reporter Pete Yost in his Washington Post story - Bush administration rules limit lawsuits on May 13, 2008.

This part explains what has gone wrong in the power grab being made by federal agencies and the way that courts have made this possible. This is a very technical area of law, but I have tried hard to make this explanation clear. But please ask questions if I have not achieved that goal. There will be another part that addresses the issue of preemption. You will see that word used several times here, but I think you can understand this part without an explanation of the impact of preemption.

You may have seen the article by Pete Yost, Bush administration rules limit lawsuits. The gist of the article is that the Bush Administration refused to be stymied by Congress' refusal to protect companies that hurt, kill, or otherwise people from tort suits. As in so many other cases, the Administration turned to federal agencies and administrative processes to do in the dark what it could not do in public.

You may have read it and tut-tutted, but not me. OK, I did tut-tut, but I also compiled a mental list of questions which I plan to share with you.

Pentagon documents released by the Defense Department and posted at its website show that White House officials, including Karl Rove, were aware of the domestic propaganda program under which the DoD coached retired military "analysts" to parrot administration views in television and radio appearances on all the major networks. The Smith-Mundt Act prohibits the federal government from appropriating funds to influence public opinion in the United States. On April 30th George Bush's spokeswoman Dana Perino falsely stated that the WH was unaware of the propaganda program.

Were my wife running for public office, you can be sure I'd make a donation to her campaign - if only to show my support and encouragement. It's the natural thing to do, I think most people would agree.

What about the presidential candidates' spouses?

unbossed has had many reports on the August 6, 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine disaster. The latest news is Rep. George Miller's call for indictments.

"I've been actually able to see my mom and tell her how much I love her and how much I miss her."

Jada Pointer's tummy ache was cured with a smile.

It was the perfect smile: her mom's. The 9-year-old from Perris hadn't seen that comforting smile in more than a year.

Nine-year-old Albert Gonzalez held onto his mother's long hair like it was his lifeline. The boy from San Bernardino twisted it, tasted it, tangled it through his fingers and plucked a strand or two to save for later.

"I need it, Mommy," he said, gripping a strand in his hand. "I need it to take home."

These are the stories of the kids who take the annual Mother's Day bus ride to visit their moms in California's prisons.

On Friday afternoon, with George Bush in Texas for his daughter's wedding, the White House finally released its new Executive Branch rules for designating and disseminating what used to be known as "sensitive" information.

By Deep Harm - Cross-posted from Daily Kos

If you live in the Washington, D.C., area, you won't find a more interesting free event than the International Assembly of Whistleblowers, May 12-16. I will be attending because I will be a speaker on a domestic surveillance panel, along with Eric Lichtblau, Jesselyn Radack, Babak Pasdar and Michelle Richardson.

If you're worried about your safety when you fly these days, consider how dangerous it is to work for an airline bent on cutting corners just so it can stay afloat in the shark-infested waters of airline deregulation.

The EEOC has announced a major settlement of a race discrimination case with a major Pennsylvania building contractor and its subcontractors. This case included racist graffiti, nooses hung around the place . . . The price of allowing this to happen is $1,650,000.

Wouldn't it be nice for a change to read a GAO report on how the Bush administration is using contractors that found reasonable performance standards were set, that there was good oversight, that contractors performed as required, and that if they didn't they were given the boot?

Well, you'll have to keep holding your breath when it comes to the State Department . . . whose Secretary would be . . . .?