Reporter Mark Schapiro reveals that Big Tobacco lobbied Congress to change the Patriot Act. The changes allowed the tobacco companies to continue smuggling cigarettes into Europe, Canada and Colombia. Schapiro also traces campaign contributions from Big Tobacco back to proponents of the bill changes, including GOP leader Tom Delay.

This investigation uncovers the involvement of major tobacco companies in organizing mass-scale smuggling of cigarettes into Colombia. Reporter Mark Schapiro's story also implicates these tobacco companies in brazen reshaping of the USA Patriot Act in order to insulate themselves from charges of smuggling and money laundering.

Associate Reporter Gil Davis reports that since 1998, buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBFs) have caught the design "wave" in high seismic areas of the United States like Utah, Washington, Oregon and California. This is a CIR-assisted report.

In this investigates of toxic hazards in Silicon Valley, CIR Fellow Koren Capozza reveals that microchip and semi-conductor manufacturing is more dangerous and toxic than many advocates would have us believe, and that manufacturing methods are to blame for rising sickness levels among industry workers, who are mostly women and minorities.