Lawmakers Rip Gun-Tracking Effort In Mexico

The scandal is widening over a U.S. law enforcement operation that lost track of guns later discovered at crime scenes on the Southwest border. The Justice Department and Republicans in Congress are trading accusations over who approved the operation. But what’s getting lost in all the politics may be the larger effort to take down [...]

How I Remember Whitey

Irish mob boss James J. “Whitey” Bulger’s scheduled arraignment in a Boston courtroom Friday after 16 years on the lam will open yet another chapter in the violent crime-and-politics family saga that has consumed Beantown reporters since the 1980s. “I’ve spent half my career chasing Whitey Bulger around,” says Gerard O’Neill, retired head of the [...]

Doctors: IUDs Deserve Another Look

When it comes to birth control options, women have tons to choose from. So it caught our attention when the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists came out with guidelines advising doctors and patients to consider intrauterine devices, which are inserted in the uterus to prevent pregnancy. A big reason: The guidelines say IUDs “are [...]

FDA Puts Out New Labels, Intern Puts Out Cigarettes

The only thing more aggravating than being told by a non-smoker that “smoking is bad for you,” is being taunted with offers to go outside by a cigarette-waggling coworker halfway through your first week of quitting smoking. “Wanna come out for a smoke?” Yes, you evil spawn of Satan. I do. If you can make [...]

Obama, Biden To Meet With Reid, McConnell On Debt Talks

There’s apparently at least one congressional Republican leader willing to sit down with President Obama to talk about raising the debt ceiling. The White House on Friday issued the following statement: Monday, the President and Vice President will hold meetings at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and with Senate Minority Leader [...]

‘Columbo’ Star Peter Falk Dies At 83

Here’s some sad news from the world of entertainment: Peter Falk, indelible in his 30-plus years on television as the rumpled, comically relentless homicide detective Lt. Columbo, has died at age 83. No mystery surrounds this death — the actor passed away peacefully Thursday night at his home in Beverly Hills, a family representative said. [...]

Tom Hanks Fights Cynicism With Cinema In ‘Crowne’

In his long Hollywood career, Tom Hanks has often played the hopeful character — so his latest film, about reinvention amid recession, isn’t much of a stretch. It’s called Larry Crowne and in it, Hanks plays the ever-optimistic Larry, a loyal employee of a big-box store whose life gets turned upside-down when he’s unceremoniously downsized. [...]

Mexico Replaces Police With Soldiers In Border Area

In Mexico, one controversial part of President Felipe Calderon’s war against the drug cartels has been the use of the military to fight organized crime. Now in the border state of Tamaulipas, the Mexican army is taking over full control of the police departments in some of the state’s most troubled cities. In May, municipal [...]

Rising River Hits New Record In Flooding N.D. City

Watching the Souris River creep over roads and into neighborhoods has amounted to slow torture for residents of Minot, N.D., where the river broke a record set in 1881 Friday, when it reached 9-1/2 feet above the flood stage. The Souris is expected to rise another 6 feet this weekend. The new mark was set [...]

AMA Speaks Up On Comparative Effectiveness

My, how they’ve changed. Not all that long ago, doctors seemed pretty much united by their antipathy toward being told by outsiders how to practice medicine — particularly by the government. That bond helped fuel the American Medical Association’s bitter opposition to several efforts to overhaul the U.S. health care system in the 1930s and [...]