Author: JohnValbyNation

In a boon to the role of big money in politics, the Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowly struck down overall limits on the amount of money individuals can contribute to candidates, parties and political action committees during the federal two-year election cycle. The decision left the cap of $2,600 per election that an individual can…

Are deep-pocketed web companies laying the groundwork for a for-profit internet all of their own? Close on the heals of Facebook, internet search giant Google entered into the drone technology race in a big way on Monday as it announced the purchase of the Titan Aerospace company. Though details of the deal remain unclear, Titan…

Student climate activists at Stanford University declared a sizeable, though not ultimate, victory on Tuesday after the prominent university’s board of trustees announced it would wholly divest the school’s holdings in the coal industry. “Stanford’s decision is a clear testament to the power of the student movement for divestment and the broader movement to combat…

British fashion company Burberry has teamed up with digital production agency Koffeecup to develop new software that it states is “revolutionising fashion design and engineering”. The new application merges gaming technology and fashion design and streamlines the design process as it “significantly” speeds up and simplifies the process of placing prints onto garments, explains Burberry…

Valtteri Bottas’ championship hopes were dealt a massive blow last weekend at the Nürburgring, but the Mercedes driver is keeping his faith, convinced that at his best he can be better than teammate Lewis Hamilton. Bottas was sidelined by an engine issue at the Eifel GP, a setback that allowed Hamilton to increase his advantage…

Group of Seven nations on Saturday vowed to impose ‘swift’ new sanctions on Russia due to the country’s alleged backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine—ratcheting up tensions and drawing more countries into the war of rhetoric. The announcement by the G7—which represents some of the world’s biggest economic superpowers—came the day after European military observers…

The Thailand military, led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha, has declared martial law on Tuesday in what it claims is “not a coup” but an attempt to bring “peace and order” back to the southeast Asian country amid deep political divisions. Troops have taken to the streets of Bangkok, shut down key television and radio stations,…

The wealth gap roughly doubled over the past decade—a sign of a trend of growing inequality this likely to continue, a new study (pdf) finds. Using data from 2003 to 2013, the University of Michigan researchers found that those at the bottom were disproportionately hit by losses in the Great Recession, though net worth by…

An announcement by two federal agencies on Friday that opens the door to new offshore driling for oil and gas in the nation’s coastal waters is receiving criticism as an example of the exactly wrong course of action at a time when serious efforts must be made to transition away from fossil fuels in the…

A four-year-old Israeli child was reportedly killed by mortar fire in southern Israel near the Gaza border on Friday afternoon, the latest casualty of renewed violence between Israel and Hamas that has disproportionately claimed Palestinian lives. Since hostilities resumed Tuesday, 76 Palestinians have been killed, according to Ashraf el-Qedra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health…