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A new report accuses the space agency of a lack of transparency regarding the cost of its SLS program.NASA has come under heat for the increasing cost of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which space agency officials have finally admitted to being unsustainable and unaffordable, a new report revealed. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Thursday that heavily criticized NASA for its lack of transparency regarding the true cost of the SLS program, which has already gone $6 billion over budget. The SLS rocket launched on November 16, 2022 for the Artemis 1 mission, sending an...

Surviving crew were driven back by the fire off the coast of Southern CaliforniaThey are said to have told investigators in 'very lengthy, detailed, comprehensive interviews' the harrowing story of the moments after the fire erupted MondayJumping from the ship's bridge to its main deck, they tried to get into the galleyWith the galley's doors on fire, they tried to get through windows but could not'At that point, due to heat, flames and smoke, the crew had to jump', officials sayTwo retrieved a skiff to see if they could rescue any survivors. None were foundThe only crew member to...

Houston cop 'lied about drug dealing so officers could storm home' sparking a shootout which left a couple dead and five officers wounded The Houston officer who led a deadly raid in which a couple were killed and five cops were injured lied to get a search warrant, according to the city's police chief. Lead investigator Gerald Goines alleged an informant bought heroin at the house of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58, the day before the January 28 raid. The informant had also allegedly seen a handgun in the home. But according to an affidavit filed as part...

A jewelry restorer has gone undercover at some of New York's most recognizable diamond stores to 'prove' that customers are being ripped off. Diamond expert Jacob Worth, founder of I Want What It's Worth, claims that luxury retailers Tiffany & Co, Cartier, Van Cleef and Harry Winston all use 'identical' diamonds to those found in basic retailers - but with huge markups. 'There really is nothing special about these diamonds. Identical rings can be found at Costco or websites like Blue Nile,' he said. 'At Tiffany you are basically paying a massive markup up for a blue box which you...

CMS Announces 8M Beneficiaries Will Be Exempt From New Medicaid Proof-of-Citizenship Rules, Proposes Alternatives for Documentation [Jul 07, 2006]      CMS on Thursday announced that it will exempt people enrolled in the Supplemental Security Income or Medicare programs and other groups from regulations that took effect July 1 requiring Medicaid beneficiaries and applicants to provide proof of citizenship in order to receive benefits, the Washington Post reports (Levine, Washington Post, 7/7). Under the law, individuals seeking care through Medicaid must show proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate, passport or other form of identification. The law's intent is...

FEMA Katrina Funeral Contractor Desecrated CorpsesThursday, 15 September 2005, 2:15 pm Article: Jason Leopold Division of Funeral Corp. Charged With Desecrating Corpses Hired to Collect Deceased Victims of Hurricane Katrina By Jason LeopoldA funeral services company which recently learned that one of its subsidiaries is negotiating a lucrative contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to remove dead bodies in areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, paid $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit several years ago alleging the company desecrated thousands of corpses, and dumped bodies into mass graves.Moreover, the company paid $200,000 to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that sought...

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~28822~2888206,00.html Nearly 100 exotic birds stolen from home aviaryBy Angie Valencia-Martinez, Staff Writer May 26, 2005 Nearly 100 parrots and other orphaned exotic birds were stolen from an aviary in Box Canyon operated by an 85-year-old bird lover, officials said Wednesday. The birds, including Rosellas, Mexican Redheads and Patagonias, were stolen from the back yard of June Matthews' mobile home, where she has cared for rescued birds since 1984. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department said Matthews reported the birds stolen on Monday, but that an investigation showed they might have been taken from the aviary over the weekend. Matthews...

More evidence of Saudi doubletalk?Judge caught on tape encouraging Saudis to fight in IraqBy Lisa Myers & the NBC Investigative UnitUpdated: 7:28 p.m. ET April 26, 2005WASHINGTON - Sheik Saleh Al Luhaidan, seen in video seated to the right of the crown prince, is chief justice of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council. His sermons and words carry great significance.In an audiotape secretly recorded at a government mosque last October and obtained by NBC News, Luhaidan encourages young Saudis to go to Iraq to wage war against Americans."If someone knows that he is capable of entering Iraq in order to join...

Bush official tells agencies to ignore GAO memo that knocks fake stories. WASHINGTON – The White House, intent on continuing to crank out "video news releases" that look like television news stories, has told government agency heads to ignore a Government Accountability Office memo criticizing the practice as illegal propaganda.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Schwarzenegger administration video packaged as a television news story has labor leaders and one lawmaker outraged.The video promotes regulations that give workers the choice of taking a meal break or going home early. "It's a blatant attempt to manipulate the media," Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, said yesterday. "If a television station is lazy enough just to take this video (and run it), it completely manipulates and skews the story."He suggested the video violated a ban on spending tax money to produce propaganda and said he would ask the attorney general's office to investigate.But an administration...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers were all atwitter on Thursday over the highly public canoodling of one of their most high-flying celebrity couples -- Pale Male and Lola. The pair of red-tailed hawks have been spotted flagrantly mating all around the neighborhood of the ritzy Fifth Avenue apartment building where they were evicted, then restored to a brand new, architect-designed love nest last December. "It's hard to miss them now. They're seriously trying to propagate," bird-watcher Marie Winn told Reuters. The mating was front-page news for the tabloid New York Post, but Winn said that, hormones being what they...

WASHINGTON — As fresh evidence surfaced Wednesday of the Bush administration's use of taxpayer dollars to promote its policies in the news media, the president disavowed such practices and ordered that his Cabinet secretaries remain independent from the press. Bush spoke as Democrats produced statistics showing that contracts to private public relations firms by the administration have more than doubled since he took office.

WASHINGTON — Evidence and other witnesses supported complaints by a fired FBI contract linguist who alleged shoddy work and possible espionage within the bureau's translator program after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, according to a report Friday from the Justice Department's senior oversight official...

Outrage over Pale Male's evictionHawk tries to rebuild Thursday, December 9, 2004 Posted: 9:50 AM EST (1450 GMT) NEW YORK (Reuters) -- He was a movie star who resided on Manhattan's tony Upper East Side, drawing a devoted crowd of followers who gathered daily to catch a glimpse of him...

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit by Fired FBI TranslatorBy Ted Bridis Associated Press Writer Published: Jul 6, 2004 WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge threw out a lawsuit Tuesday by a whistle-blower who alleged security lapses in the FBI's translator program, ruling that her claims might expose government secrets that could damage national security. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said he was satisfied with claims by Attorney General John Ashcroft and a senior FBI official that the civil lawsuit by Sibel Edmonds could expose intelligence-gathering methods and disrupt diplomatic relations with foreign governments. The judge said he couldn't explain further because...

TIA now verifies flight of Saudis The government has long denied that two days after the 9/11 attacks, the three were allowed to fly. By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer Published June 9, 2004 The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, better known as the 9/11 Commission, sent a list of questions to Tampa International Airport. It appears concerned with the handling of the Tampa flight. TAMPA - Two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, with most of the nation's air traffic still grounded, a small jet landed at Tampa International Airport, picked up three young Saudi men and left. The...

<p>Bob Dornan thinks he's found Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's Achilles' heel, the issue that will be the Huntington Beach incumbent's downfall when the March Republican primary rolls around.</p> <p>Drugs.</p> <p>In his challenge to Rohrabacher, Dornan has quickly made the subject an issue, focusing on his opponent's drug use as a young man and his support for legalizing medicinal marijuana.</p>

By DAMIAN DOTTOREThe Orange County Register DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A few months ago, Hubbard/Downing Inc., manufacturers of the revolutionary HANS (Head and Neck Support) system, was producing an average of three of the devices a week. But Monday, less than 24 hours after Dale Earnhardt died from injuries when his car crashed into the wall in Turn 4 during the last lap of the Daytona 500, plant manager Ken Adams announced he had received 35 new orders from &#34;several Winston Cup teams.&#34; Among them were orders from Roger Penske's program for drivers Rusty Wallace and Jeremy Mayfield. Tellingly, though, ...

Suspect in office killings was Considered 'quirky' PROBE: Michael McDermott, accused of slaying seven co-workers, was known for his temper. By BETH DALEY and ANNE BARNARD The Boston Globe He donated blood platelets every two weeks, with a devotion that was almost odd. He chatted about explosives on the Internet, but his postings were tinged less with menace than with boyish enthusiasm. He was born to Richard A. and Rosemary Martinez, respected teachers in Marshfie14 Mass., about 28 miles south of Boston; yet, at the age of 22, he changed his name because he wanted to sound Irish, not ...

Daley's 'friends' helped Kennedy win WASHINGTON - Ed Myles, loyal Chicago Democrat, never made it to the voting booth on Nov. 8,1960. He never saw John F. Kennedy win his cliffhanger with Richard Nixon, give that brilliant inaugural address, march with such magic into American history. But you can't say this good party loyalist didn't do his bit for JFK. Thanks to the high-octane electoral machine of Mayor Richard Daley, the vote of &quot;Edward Myles" was counted that night with all the other Democratic loyalists in the city's 4th Ward, 3lst precinct. Boss Daley knew he had the situation ...