Private corporations have been funding university research for decades now.  During the last 30 years, corporate funding has risen 250 percent to about $2.4 billion.  This allows too much room for corporate direction of what subject matter scientists are researching. But there’s a deeper and more sinister story behind the relationship between corporations and research scientists. While the… [more]

In September 2001, one week after the 9/11 attacks, the United States was subjected to a series of frightening events known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as Amerithrax. A number of letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to news offices and the offices of two senators. 23 people were infected, of which five died. Fast forward, in the last 12 years the United States has exp… [more]

A recent study released by the Journal of American Medicine, Relationship Between Occurrence of Surgical Complications and Hospital Finances,concludes that hospitals actually profit when surgical errors are made.  Why?  Those unfortunate patients who experienced surgical errors/medical malpractice many times required prolonged hospital admissions and additional corrective surgical procedures. �… [more]

Below are Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. Papantonio and Ed Schultz Discuss Darrell Issa’s Criminal Record Congressman Darrell Issa, the man with the nerve to call the Obama Administration “corrupt,” knows a thing or two about corruption. After all, the man has been arrested at least 3 times over the years for things like possessing an illegal weapon and stealing c… [more]

This week’s Ring of Fire, hosted by Mike Papantonio: Sundays at 12pm Eastern, 9am Pacific.  Full schedule of rebroadcasts can be found at FreeSpeech.org. This week on Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV: We’ll tell you how lobbyists have found a way to influence government policies from inside government.  Attorneys Howard Nations and Dave TeSelle will join us for that discussion. Wall Stre… [more]

First off, it’s a bewilderment that people still even smoke crack, especially a politician.  Rob Ford, mayor of Toronto, was videotaped allegedly smoking crack, dubbing him around the web as a “Canadian Marion Barry.”  However, Ford’s past endeavors make Barry look like an Eagle Scout turn D.A.R.E. spokesman. Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto has fallen into to similar scandal, according to t… [more]

After years of conflict and countless lawsuits filed against it, Johnson & Johnson’s orthopedic unit, DePuy Orthopaedics, is ending production of all metal replacement hips because of “high early failure rates,” according to New York Times author Barry Meier. Meier has been following products from Johnson & Johnson and DePuy for years, reporting the failures and scandals in the indu… [more]

Verizon is the company that just willfully handed over the phone records of its AP journalist customers to the United States Department of Justice.  And to further twist the knife, Verizon defended its crude actions. Verizon spokeswoman, Debra Lewis, said that Verizon “complies with legal processes for requests for information by law enforcement, and don’t comment, can’t comment on any s… [more]

This week’s Ring of Fire Radio, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern This week on Ring of Fire Radio: Investigative journalist Josh Israel will tell us why the IRS needed to investigate the Tea Party. Author and journalist Steven Rosenfeld will talk about the growing corporate influence … [more]

It has been predicted that the Obama Administration is going to turn out a $51 billion dollar profit this year solely from returns on student loans. This amount surpasses the earnings of the most profitable companies in the United States, calling attention to the need to take action to lower the record-high interest rates on student loans. According to the Huffington Post, the figures which we… [more]

It seems New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (REP) is lacking the motivation to push forward with his promised stricter gun control policies and it is becoming increasingly evident where Christie’s loyalties are lying on the subject. With incentives such as the recently discovered cash donations that were made from the National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbyist Randy Kozuch to the governor’s ca… [more]

Powerhouse Senator Elizabeth Warren continues to school regulators and demand accountability for U.S. financial institutions. On Tuesday, Warren sent a letter to Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Jo White, asking the regulators whether they have any evidence that a settlement that doesn’t req… [more]

The Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Ethicon, now has company in being sued for defective tranvaginal mesh devices.  A new lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin woman alleges that the Pinnacle Pelvic Floor Repair Kit, by Boston Scientific, is “defective and caused her a number of serious injuries.” Transvaginal mesh devices are marketed as a means to “repair weakened or damaged tissue” and is … [more]

The media has been buzzing in recent days surrounding the Department of Justice’s obtaining phone records from Associated Press journalists in secret and political groups being targeted by the IRS for their affiliation with right-wing-sounding names. It has been a long time since the impression that it’s best to keep quiet if you know about something that needs to be exposed has had such a co… [more]

In a recent article by Bloomberg, Chris Levett, Clive Capital LLP’s top-earning partner, made $33.5 million in the last year through February even he lost money for clients two years running.  The most notable of his losses goes back to the 2011 oil crash when he lost $400 million in a single week.  That year, he banked $3.6 billion. In the wake of his new book’s release, Les Leopold has … [more]

While victim-blaming and an environment of fear have certainly played a significant role in the sexual assault epidemic in the military, moral decline may have begun during Bush’s “war on terror” train wreck. Today, information continues to unfold highlighting the rampant issue of sexual assault in the military.  It was reported that another soldier, in charge of a military sexual assa… [more]

News Inferno has reported that another lawsuit against Takeda Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of the Type-2 incretin mimetic diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone), has been filed in the alleged wrongful death of an Ohio man who possibly suffered bladder cancer from the drug. The plaintiff claims that the now-deceased decedent took Actos from June 2002 to February 2007. Upon completion of the medicin… [more]

A recent report by WTSP 10 News of Tampa Bay pointed out that after secretly decreasing yellow light intervals below the federal recommendations, the state of Florida has reaped millions from otherwise safe drivers.  American Traffic Solutions, the company selling red light camera to governments on all levels, has a strong financial motive behind the practice. The change, instituted by the Fl… [more]

Without government regulation or guidelines from insurance companies, such as Medicare, hospitals are given free reign to determine standard practices when it comes to billing patients for rendered medical services. This leaves the opportunity for hospitals to  take advantage of the vulnerability of the public by overcharging and up-selling patients with unnecessary treatments and controversial … [more]

While many conservatives are still avidly fighting to reject the evidence for climate change, 2012 will go down as a record year for producing climate refugees. A study from the International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reveals that climate change and extreme weather disasters were the main causes of human displacement last year, with Hurricane Sandy being responsible for the majority… [more]

The Justice Department has announced that Attorney General Eric Holder has “removed himself from a decision to subpoena phone records of The Associated Press,” The Huffington Post reports.  The AP is Holder’s latest victim of unjustified scrutiny after the Department of Justice secretly snooped and seized the AP's phone records that spanned over a  two-month period in early 2012. All si… [more]

Indian-based Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., has agreed to pay out $500 million to resolve allegations that the company was selling tampered and corrupted drugs to government medical programs. The drugs at issue were Sotret, gabapentin, and ciprofloxacin. The penalty is a combination of $350 million for settlement and $150 million following a guilty plea to charges from the U.S. Department of Justice … [more]

Dr. Robert Zann, an orthopedic surgeon of Boynton Beach, Fla., has reported removing nearly one in five of Stryker Rejuvenate and ABGII hip replacement systems over the last two years according to NewsInferno.  Since 2011, he has removed 100 of the 400 hip devices he has implanted and reports that he expects nearly 100 more. On July 6, 2012, Stryker issued a recall of its Rejuvenate and ABGII … [more]

Ever since proposing the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has amassed heaps of support in only a few short days, according to The Huffington Post.  A petition in support of the bill, started by MoveOn.org, has already gotten over 250,000 signatures. The Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act is Warren’s first-ever Senate Bill and proposes a near-zero… [more]

According to a new study by the Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC), the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has the strongest pro-corporate tilt in recent history. It is no surprise that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s involvement in Supreme Court cases has increased substantially during this time frame. The Chamber won every Supreme Court case it weighed in on last term, a… [more]

According to documents from an audit conducted by the Internal Revenue Service’s inspector general, officials from the agency have allegedly been targeting conservative political groups, with names such as “tea party” or “patriot”, for the past two years. The IRS has also allegedly been scrutinizing against nonprofit groups that criticized the government and wanted to teach fellow Ameri… [more]

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said on “Fox News Sunday” that “more whistleblowers” are to come forth with testimony about the Benghazi attacks, reports The Washington Post.  The fiasco continues, even after House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) admitted “that the facts as we were told before during and after the attack at Benghazi just simpl… [more]

This week’s Ring of Fire, hosted by Mike Papantonio: Sundays at 12pm Eastern, 9am Pacific.  Full schedule of rebroadcasts can be found at FreeSpeech.org. This week on Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV: Corporations in America are turning to respected universities to draft phony research that will help boost corporate profits.  Attorneys Joe Cotchett and Mike Burg tell you all about it. Cong… [more]

Many Diabetes Drugs Under FDA Review, Linked to Cancer The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing new, unpublished reports made by academic researchers that indicate patients taking certain drugs to treat Type-2 diabetes possess an increased risk of acute pancreatitis resulting in pancreatic cancer, according to an FDA press release, released on March 13. ...Read more. Progressives … [more]

Televangelist Pat Robertson warned yesterday that people should “avoid false prophets and televangelists caught up in scandal,” according to Right Wing Watch. Robertson’s co-host posed the question, “How do we know the real [prophets] from the unreal? There are so many people who are self-appointed in things like prophet, or, you know, some of the different positions…” to which Rober… [more]

In light of a recent study exposing that the belief in the Second Coming is stifling climate change reaction, Rhode Island Senator, Sheldon Whitehouse (D), has distanced himself from some of his fellow senators by asserting that God will not save us from a climate catastrophe. “I was recently at a Senate meeting where I heard a member of our Senate community say, ‘God won’t allow us to… [more]

What do the Clinton impeachment, Fast and Furious scandal and Benghazi attack all have in common: The Republican Party’s determination to fabricate a convoluted scandal against their opposition. The GOP and conservative media cannot resist the urge to create a scandal out of anything controversial on the left side of politics.  Recently, Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State, has been … [more]

In a report by The Atlantic, the Pew Research Center released a study indicating a significant drop in America’s gun violence, but there’s a flipside.  The Pew study also suggests that the population thinks that gun violence is getting worse. There’s an obvious disconnect here.  With all this data, why are some still thinking that gun violence is getting worse?  The Atlantic points out… [more]

The Freedom of the Press Foundation is running a fundraiser to pay for a court stenographer to be present at the trial of Bradley Manning. The organization is responding to the frustration caused by the authoritarian, and in some ways archaic, rules governing the whistleblower’s military trial. Controversy has surrounded Manning’s proceedings, and the rules governing the transcripts from M… [more]

An original version of this post appeared on The Huffington Post. It is reprinted here with permission from the author. By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., co-host of Ring of Fire Radio. In a surprise move, the eight Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday blocked a floor vote on President Obama's nominee, Gina McCarthy, as EPA Administrator. In doing so th… [more]

This week’s Ring of Fire Radio, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern This week on Ring of Fire Radio: Congressman Joseph Kennedy will be here to give us the latest on the sequester, and to let us know what the Democrats are doing to help solve America’s financial problems. Investigativ… [more]

During a speech to the Ripon Society, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) blamed the media for the GOP’s “messaging woes,” according to The Hill. In a nutshell, Cantor thinks it’s the media’s fault for the American public’s criticism of that dirty-faced kindergarten classroom that is the GOP.  He believes “the party’s economic message is drowned out by coverage of debt an… [more]

The perplexing world of medical care payments has made a positive move towards transparency by exposing the inner workings of the healthcare charging system. Data was released by the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services showing hospital bills from virtually every hospital in the country in 2011. The bizarre findings revealed large discrepancies in the rates hospitals were charging a… [more]

Former Vice President Al Gore said on Tuesday that there is “no such thing as ethical oil.” Speaking to a Toronto audience regarding the Keystone XL pipeline, Gore stated that “his countrymen need to wake up to the special interests that have a grip on the levers of power in the U.S. Congress and are able to block legislation on a range of policy issues including… global climate change,�… [more]

College students who have borrowed money from the government to pay for their education now have a glimmer of hope as they face crippling loan balances and interest rates.  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has proposed a bill, called the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, that will lower student loan interest rates to match those placed upon corporate banks. To date, students have accumulated… [more]

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight’s stories serve as an unfortunate launchpad for far-right drivel that the kidnappings could have been inspired by a T.V. show. Rush Limbaugh, the poet laureate of rambling, right-wing idiocy, suspects that the kidnapping of the three Cleveland women drew interesting allusions to an episode of Hawaii Five-0 particularly concerning the tax and welfar… [more]

The city of Victorville, CA and several others were charged with defrauding investors with misleading statements made during a 2008 Airport Authority bond offering, according to a press release from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Of the accused is the Airport Authority’s bond underwriting firm Kinsell, Newcomb & DeDois (KND), which is suspected to have misappropriated and mi… [more]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing new, unpublished reports made by academic researchers that indicate patients taking certain drugs to treat Type-2 diabetes possess an increased risk of acute pancreatitis resulting in pancreatic cancer, according to an FDA press release, released on March 13. The drugs in question are Byetta, Januvia, Janumet, and Victoza.  Byetta is an injec… [more]

The U.S. military is facing further scrutiny for its widespread problem with sexual assault, and this time the irony couldn’t be more glaring. Early Sunday morning, the chief of the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response branch was arrested and charged with sexual battery. Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski is accused of assaulting a woman in a parking lot around midnight on Saturd… [more]

The City Attorney of San Francisco is suing energy drink maker, Monster Beverage Corp., claiming that the corporation is marketing their products to children and young teens. City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera claims that Monster Beverage is unique to the energy drink industry in that it markets its products to youth, despite scientific findings that their products may pose grave health dangers. … [more]

Over the next few weeks, Progressive ads will be scarce on Facebook. Outraged Progressive coalitions have “unfriended” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg in protest to his recent support of the expansion of the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On Tuesday, many Progressive groups announced that they would either retract existing paid Facebook ads or a… [more]

Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady has resigned from his position after supporting gay marriage, for which the Republican party at large has put Brady under a firestorm of criticism. Bobbie Peterson, a Republican state central committeewoman based in Beecher, Ill., has been one of Brady’s harshest critics.  “Pat Brady is a total disgrace,” belted Peterson on WBEZ, an Illinois station.  “… [more]

In the most recent development in the ongoing saga of the now-defunct Prenda law firm, the presiding US District Court Judge, Otis Wright, issued an order that the “shattered” firm’s future is bleak. The Court held that John Steele, Paul Hansmeier, and Paul Duffy, the principals of Prenda, sought easy money by conspiring to engage in bullying practices and accusing individuals of infring… [more]

Since the Espionage Act of 1917 was enacted during World War I, the United States has only seen three indictments in the act’s 90 years.  The act is intended to “protect the United States against ‘the insidious methods of internal hostile activities.’”  Since the Obama Administration took Washington, there have been six indictments under the Espionage Act, according to AlterNet. The… [more]

It looks like the “Party of No” and a minority of Regressives will continue to deny facts, support corporate oil and gas giants, and stifle America’s progress, all the while claiming infallibility as an excuse for their actions. A new study suggests that the United States has been impeded, in part, by the Biblical “end time” belief. Research by University of Pittsburgh’s David C. … [more]

A report released by the Washington Toxics and Safer States Coalition (WTC) indicates that thousands of childrens products including baby food, cosmetics and care products, toys and clothing contain numerous dangerous chemicals, according to AlterNet.  Washington state law requires a product content report indicating the chemicals present, their effects, the products that contain them and the co… [more]

For better or worse, 3D-printing of firearms is coming. Whether or not the public is sufficiently educated to cope with the technology’s advent, it is here and it will change things. And the technology is a good thing. Its ubiquity will present the public with many opportunities and challenges, not the least of which is the threat of untraceable, easily-produced firearms. This past week, the… [more]

This week’s Ring of Fire, hosted by Mike Papantonio: Sundays at 12pm Eastern, 9am Pacific.  Full schedule of rebroadcasts can be found at FreeSpeech.org. This week on Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV: Billionaire conservatives are trying to tighten their grip on traditional media outlets, and Howard Nations and Mike Burg will join us to talk about what that will do to the flow of information i… [more]

Below are Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. Yamaha Hit with $3.3 Million Verdict for Wanton Conduct After five hours of deliberation, a jury in Montgomery, Alabama returned a $3.3 million verdict against Yamaha for its wanton conduct in the design, manufacture, marketing, and sale of the Yamaha Rhino Model 660 UTV vehicle.  A finding of wantonness means that Yamaha acted or … [more]

Rep. Michelle Bachmann is slated to go under investigation after the Iowa Supreme Court chief justice appoints an investigator, according to a report by Salon.  The investigation will look further into the allegations that Bachmann committed ethics and criminal violations during her farcical 2012 presidential campaign. The allegations center on charges that Bachmann misappropriated funds to pr… [more]

How out of touch is Missouri Republican Rep. Billy Long? For starters, speaking about the sequestration cuts taking effect, he claimed that his constituents not only weren’t feeling any effects but that they actually want more sequester cuts. Speaking without any actual information, the representative said to Missouri’s KOLR10 News, “The people that I’ve talked to seem to be doing well… [more]

The debacled circus-act that is the National Rifle Association has its new over-the-big top, ringmaster.  Jim Porter, an Alabama attorney and slack-jawed son of former NRA president, Irvine Porter, is set to lead the clowns this coming Monday, reports CNN. Porter is the NRA’s current first vice president, previous second vice president and, in classic NRA style, is no stranger to right-wing … [more]

This week’s Ring of Fire Radio, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern This week on Ring of Fire Radio: progressive radio host David Bender will join me to discuss this week’s biggest news stories that the mainstream media missed. Climate change activist Tim DeChristopher will join us to… [more]

More than 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against Merck & Co. pharmaceutical company in regards to their contraceptive NuvaRing, which has been linked to venous thromboembolism (VTE, blood clotting).  The suits were filed in a Missouri federal district court citing Merck & Co.’s apparent negligence in warning consumers of product risks and are set to begin this fall, reports Yahoo News.… [more]

In an attempt to undermine the Federal law, South Carolina’s House of Representatives passed a so-called “nullification” bill that declares President Obama’s health care bill null and void and, otherwise unconstitutional according to state law. What is to be called the South Carolina Freedom of Health Care and Protection Act, passed by a vote of 65-39. If the bill passes in the state’s … [more]

Yesterday, Ring of Fire posted a story about a $3.3 million verdict against Yamaha for their gross negligence with their Rhino ATV (model 660 UTV.)  The verdict was delivered after attorneys were able to show that during every step of the way – from design, to manufacturing, to marketing – the company put their own desire for profits over the safety of consumers. It didn’t take long for … [more]

Republican Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) introduced a bill last week intended to combat an imagined threat to Second Amendment rights. Republicans believe that the Obama administration is buying up high amounts of ammunition in order to limit the number of bullets available to the American public, and this time, even the NRA is calling them out for their deceptive fear … [more]

At first glance, the “parent trigger” movement, backed by the Parent Revolution, appears to be an innovative push to repair failing public schools and empower low-income parents. However, a closer look reveals that the education reform movement is nothing but a deceptive ploy to eliminate public education and weaken the power of labor unions. The Parent Revolution uses their empowering missio… [more]

Al Gore criticized the commodification of the American political system during an interview with Bloomberg at the Milken Institute 2013 Global Conference in Los Angeles, candidly proclaiming that “our Democracy has been hacked.” Case in point, Gore cites the Senate’s failure in passing the proposed bill to expand background checks on gun buyers last month, despite having “90 percent of … [more]

On Tuesday, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz) pleaded to his fellow Republicans to go against their nature, give credence to their “better angels” and, when that fails, consider the negative repercussions that failing work on comprehensive immigration reform will have on the GOP. In an interview at the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, McCain claimed that he thinks the GOP “can compete” but not… [more]

After five hours of deliberation, a jury in Montgomery, Alabama returned a $3.3 million verdict against Yamaha for its wanton conduct in the design, manufacture, marketing, and sale of the Yamaha Rhino Model 660 UTV vehicle.  A finding of wantonness means that Yamaha acted or failed to act with a conscious and reckless disregard for the safety of its consumers, knowing that grievous injury was li… [more]

Employer John Najera, of El Paso company Sun-City Roofing, was indicted and charged with criminal wage theft last Thursday, the Texas Observer reported.  This specific type of case is the first of its kind to occur in El Paso and Austin is the only other city in Texas to see this type of case, according to the Texas Observer. Najera allegedly pocketed over $2,000 that was supposed to go to wo… [more]

Tom Wheeler will be nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Wheeler will be filling the position following the resignation of Julius Genachowski. According to a tweet from Brendan Sasso, technology policy reporter for The Hill, the White House has confirmed the nomination. … [more]

Takeda Pharmaceuticals has been found liable by a California jury for failing to warn of the risks of Bladder Cancer posed by its blockbuster Type 2 Diabetes Drug, Actos.   The $6.5 million verdict came after a lengthy trial and several days of jury deliberation.  Suit was filed by Jack Cooper against Takeda after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer after years of taking Actos. The entire t… [more]

RTT News reports that researchers at Imperial College London have concluded that just one soda consumed a day can raise the risk for diabetes, according to data collected on 350,000 adults from 18 different countries. The European study revealed just drinking one 12-ounce can of soda daily can increase the risk of diabetes by 18 percent. The researchers said the study “corroborates the associat… [more]

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a rule to increase whistleblower payouts for people who come forward with information about healthcare fraud. The current cap on payments is $1,000; under the new rule, fraud reporters could receive up to 15 percent of any recovery resulting from their information, up to $9.9 million. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,… [more]

When patients seek medical treatment, they put their well-being in the hands of medical professionals. These caregivers are expected to provide treatment and care correctly and honestly; most of them do.  However, mistakes happen and sometimes, rarely, medical professionals may have malicious intents. One of the best ways for a patient to protect him or her self is to stay informed about the tre… [more]

Last week, twelve Republican senators introduced a bill seeking exemption from Washington’s anti-discrimination laws. The bill proposes to exempt businesses from obeying laws that give people the right to be treated equally regardless of sex, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, etc. If passed, the bill would allow Washington businesses to refuse services to gay and lesbian cu… [more]

Ever since the Boston bombings, the GOP has been using the attacks as a platform to fuel its anti-Muslim agenda.  Over the weekend, two from the Republican camp, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have been beating their chests in a bigoted battle cry to profile the Muslim community. On an episode of Meet The Press, King said, “the threat is coming from the Muslim commun… [more]

Concerning the revolving door of government regulators who, upon leaving office, take executive and high-ranking positions in the very industries they used to regulate, special outrage can rightfully be expressed regarding Mary Schapiro’s recent joining with Promontory Financial Group. Promontory Financial Group is a global consulting firm that advises its clients on the paths to take when le… [more]

This week’s Ring of Fire, hosted by Mike Papantonio: Sundays at 12pm Eastern, 9am Pacific.  Full schedule of rebroadcasts can be found at FreeSpeech.org. This week on Ring of Fire on Free Speech TV:  The Obama administration has spent more time and resources going after whistleblowers than they have Wall Street criminals, and we’ll take a look at the administration’s War on Whistleblowe… [more]

Below are Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. Aaron Swartz’s Prosecutor to Pursue Charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz is known for her rabid, often overdone, aggression toward defendants.  Of recent infamy for her overzealous treatment of the would-be prosecution of Reddit co-founder and suspected hacker Aaron Swartz, who was found hanging dead in hi… [more]

Director of the Bernalillo County, New Mexico Republican Party, and insufferable misogynist, Steve Kush, flew off the handle on his Twitter and Facebook account Tuesday, writing a slew of inappropriate remarks referencing a 19-year-old girl who is a volunteer with Working America as well as targeting the director of the volunteer program. The girl testified before the county commission Tuesday pr… [more]

The Department of Justice reported yesterday that the supervisor of a $63 million health care fraud scheme has been convicted. 51-year-old Wondera Eason, supervisor of a Miami-area mental health care company, Health Care Solutions Network (HCSN), was found guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. She was employed as Director of Medical records at HCSN’s Partial Hospitalization Program… [more]

A Wall Street mandate launched by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2012 requiring oil companies to disclose payments made to foreign hosts has now become a GOP target.  The disclosure measure enacted by the 2010 Dodd-Frank finance reform will certainly combat the financial corruption in the oil companies, deterring them from slyly socking away any “oil money intended for a natio… [more]

This week’s Ring of Fire Radio, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern This week on Ring of Fire Radio: author Michael Klare will tell us what could happen as climate change creates a severe shortage of global resources. Economist and author Richard Wolff will discuss the economic impacts… [more]

Stryker Corporation reported a 13% reduction in stock value, which equates to millions of dollars, for the first quarter. Analysts comment that the reduced earnings are mostly due to the mounting number of lawsuits and increasing potential liability it faces for its recalled devices. The company produces orthopaedic devices, i.e. hip implants, and has been reporting profits north of $300 milli… [more]

A new report asserts that the use of the dispersant Corexit during cleanup efforts after the BP oil spill in 2010 caused more damage to human health and the environment than did the spill itself. The report, Deadly Dispersants in the Gulf, is a collaborative investigation of the health effects of dispersant on humans and ecosystems by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and the non-… [more]

James Tracy, the Florida Atlantic University professor that questioned the existence of the Sandy Hook shootings, has been making headlines all week with his commentary of the Boston Bombings, calling it a “mass casualty drill” on his personal blog.  The inflammatory and misguided, and perhaps insane, remarks of Tracy have once again put him under fire. Although Tracy is a crackpot, and th… [more]

Americans are drawn to products that promise health, beauty, status, and vitality. Flashy packaging and punchy names such as “Monster’, “Rockstar”,“Full Throttle”, and “Jack3d”, promise to deliver a burst of energy to even the most fatigued while providing healthful benefits or significant weight loss. What consumers don’t know is how dangerous a particular ingredient found in t… [more]

  At approximately 8:30 PM CDT Wednesday night, firefighters and Coast Guard officials responded to explosions in Mobile, Ala., after two fuel barges caught fire. The fire was extinguished by early Thursday morning and reports indicate that 3 individuals were taken to the University of South Alabama Hospital for treatment of burn-related injuries. The injured are reported to be in … [more]

The man suspected of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama has been vindicated. Charges were dropped against Paul Kevin Curtis on Tuesday. He told CNN’s Piers Morgan, “It’s like a train has been lifted off my shoulders.” According to CNN, U.S. Attorney Felicia Adams said that “new information” had become available. Curtis’s attorney, Christi McCoy, believes her client w… [more]

Former intern under Mitt Romney, Adam Savader, has been arrested and faces charges for internet extortion and cyber stalking. The 21-year-old is accused of using Google Voice to send anonymous text messages to 15 women claiming that he had nude photographs of them and threatening to notify their friends and family unless the women sent him more photographs. According to the FBI’s press re… [more]

Hundreds of low-wage workers from the retail and restaurant industries took to the Chicago streets early this morning demanding higher, livable wages from their corporate employers, such as McDonald’s, Sears and Victoria’s Secret. In Illinois, minimum wage is $8.25 an hour, and living in a large city like Chicago, where the cost of living is higher compared to the rest of the state, employe… [more]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has once again succumbed to pressure from the GOP, putting his sequester payment plan on the back burner yesterday after an opposition by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK). Reid’s proposed bill would have paid down the sequester for the next five months by dipping into a portion of the United States’ war savings, a reported $81 billion  that was saved from Ob… [more]

Private companies have been buying research from public universities, or have the public universities been selling research? Some universities, like Texas A&M, stand behind the decision to accept corporate money.  Just because the funding may be accepted open-palmed by universities doesn’t make corporate-funded university research a good idea.  Universities are making a deal with the devi… [more]

Republican senators warned President Obama on Monday that he cannot require federal agencies to consider the impact their actions have on climate change. The thirty-two Republican senators, led by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), discouraged the administration from including greenhouse gas emissions in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, which “requires federal agencies to incorporate… [more]

Undocumented immigrants are facing new means of deportation, as an increasing number of hospitals across the nation are adopting “medical repatriation”, a process that allows U.S. hospitals to deport an unconscious patient without their consent should they come up as an undocumented immigrant. The process is controversial, and immigrant advocates argue that it could be violating U.S. and inte… [more]

It only took the tragic events in Boston to get Republican leaders to reconsider their positions on immigration, but what they’re selling as movement is little more than an effort to repackage obstinance. John Boehner told Fox News, “If we fix our immigration system, it may actually help us understand who all is here, why they’re here and what legal status they have.” “We have a b… [more]

Paul Kevin Curtis, the man suspected of sending poison letters to President Obama, a U.S. senator, and a Mississippi judge, has been released from custody. Less than a week ago, Curtis was arrested for sending ricin-laced letters to target political officials from his house in Corinth, Mississippi. The news came just hours after officials canceled a detention and preliminary hearing on Tuesday… [more]

“Give him an inch and he takes a mile” is a common saying and this has been especially true for American corporations. But instead, these guys are given a dollar and want to steal the entire billfold.  And who’s the victim of this back-alley mugging?  It’s more than likely going to be the ever-growing lower class. Last year, over 80 corporations moved hundreds of billions of dollars … [more]

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz is known for her rabid, often overdone, aggression toward defendants.  Of recent infamy for her overzealous treatment of the would-be prosecution of Reddit co-founder and suspected hacker Aaron Swartz, who was found hanging dead in his Brooklyn apartment earlier this year. Ortiz wanted to give Swartz up to 35 years of imprisonment for online pirating and distributio… [more]

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is in charge of investigating the explosion at the West Fertilizer plant in Texas. The independent agency, which was also responsible for the investigation after the 2010 BP Gulf Oil Spill, has been faulted for its declining investigative processes. According to the Center for Public Integrity, “The number of board accident reports, case studies and safety … [more]

As you may have noticed, hundreds of websites went dark today, protesting CISPA  in response to Anonymous’s call to resist the passage of the reincarnated act. We haven’t written on the subject yet, waiting to see how the damned act died. Unfortunately, many will not take note of the act, dismissing it as another non-threatening law passed to regulate nasty internet pirates and trolls - not … [more]

The Huffington Post confirmed that a court magistrate arraigned Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, at his hospital bedside today, formally charging him with using weapons of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property, resulting in a death. If convicted of the federal charges, Tsaernav could face the death penalty or life in prison. Tsarnaev had regained consciousnes… [more]