The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has faced a copious amount of criticism in recent months after the introduction of naked body scanners and enhanced pat-downs to security screenings. The criticism has come from private citizens, airport workers, and lawmakers - on the local and federal levels. Critics have begun to take action against the intrusiveness of the TSA, such as by filing lawsuits or encouraging airlines to move from hiring TSA screeners to employing private screeners. The newest measure with which the TSA must contend is a bipartisan resolution proposed by New Jersey lawmakers.

Once the United States Food and Drug Administration turned its attention toward energy drinks, energy drink companies like Four Loko feared that a regulatory ban was in the works. While the FDA had not yet declared how they plan to proceed — even though they have been undertaking a review of the products for almost a year — food safety lawyers who previously worked for the FDA warned that a likely option was for the Food and Drug Administration to issue warning letters that declared the drinks to be unsafe, which is often followed by a regulatory ban.

Much to the chagrin of gay rights activists, a federal appeals court ruled on November 1 that the military may maintain its "don't ask, don't tell" policy while the federal government appeals Judge Virginia Phillips' decision in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States. The appeals' ruling was made by a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Saturday�s "Rally to Restore Sanity," hosted by Comedy Central�s Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, proved to be a forum of absurdity and mockery of all things conservative, most notably, Glenn Beck. Intended to be a satirical version of Beck�s Restoring Honor rally, the October 30 rally seemed to restore little sanity.

With the 2010 midterm elections less than a week away, Americans and ambitious politicians are already looking to the 2012 elections and asking who will come forward to take on President Obama and his liberal progressive agenda in the next presidential campaign. The Blaze reports that Indiana Republican Congressman Mike Pence is considering stepping down from his post as House Republican Chairman to do just that.

According to John Amato, founder of the Crooks and Liars blog, a Bloomberg poll confirms a notion that readers of The New American may celebrate but left-wing media outlets such as Crooks and Liars lament: The Tea Party movement's ideals are an extension of those held by The John Birch Society. The not-so-happy liberal blogger wrote, �A new Bloomberg poll on the Tea Party movement confirms ... Tea Party activists are an extension of the most extreme, far-right John Birch Society values, with the added bonus of funding from the corporate right.�

With Delaware’s Democratic Senatorial candidate Chris Coons maintaining a commanding lead over his Republican counterpart Christine O’Donnell, the Tea Party favorite cannot help but turn to the National Republican Senatorial Committee for more help. What’s ironic, according to ABC News, however, is that O’Donnell’s message to the national GOP is “strangely mixed,” as she is both fighting them and asking for their help.

In an effort to rival Glenn Beck's 8/28 “Restoring Honor” rally, progressive and left-wing groups held the “One Nation Working Together” rally on Saturday, October 2 at the National Mall in Washington. Much to the chagrin of the organizers, however, which were comprised of 400 organizations ranging from labor unions to environmental groups, they could not muster up the crowd of up to 500,000 that Beck drew, even after union leaders forced their members to attend Saturday's event. Low numbers were not the sole disappointment of the rally either. Despite the alleged unifying goal of the rally, the liberal organizations could not help but use the platform to promote liberalism, socialism, and progressivism.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ruled that the military’s ban on openly homosexual military personnel is unconstitutional. Phillips declared the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy instituted by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 to be in violation of the First and Fifth Amendment rights of gays and lesbians. As a result, Judge Phillips placed an injunction prohibiting the federal government from enforcing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

In an effort to refute allegations of Tea Party racism, particularly within the Tea Party Express, black conservative Tea Partiers held a press conference last week. The Tea Party Express organized the event to address accusations of racism that were elevated by the group’s split from its former leader Mark Williams. At last week’s conference, members explained that accusations of racism are merely ploys to discredit the movement.