Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

“Particularly notable within the vast trove of phone records are what appear to be at least 14,000 recorded conversations between inmates and attorneys, a strong indication that at least some of the recordings are likely confidential and privileged legal communications — calls that never should have been recorded in the first place,” reported The Intercept. ACLU's David Fathi said the recordings “may be the most massive breach of the attorney-client privilege in modern U.S. history."   read more

On the one hand, people are not drinking as many non-diet sodas, the consumption of which has declined about 25% since the late 1990s, Yet obesity levels have actually ticked upwards. “The trend is very unfortunate and very disappointing,” said Marion Nestle, a professor in the department of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “Everybody was hoping that with the decline in sugar and soda consumption, that we’d start seeing a leveling off of adult obesity.”   read more

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but national security is given as the reason for keeping some inventions a secret. Under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, the U.S. government can impose secrecy orders on patent applications if officials decide granting and publishing a patent would compromise national security. Statistics collected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office showed there were 95 new secrecy orders imposed last year. The government also rescinded 36 secrecy orders.   read more

Janice Rivera claimed Gomez held her against her will and pointed his weapon at the three men at the scene, striking one of them with his gun. Criminal charges against Gomez were eventually dismissed. But he was fired by his employer, prompting Gomez to sue the NYPD for false arrest, physical abuse and other claims. While the case was still making its way through the courts, Gomez was deployed to Afghanistan. When Gomez was out of the country his attorney, Trevor Reid, agreed to a settlement.   read more

The women claimed they were selected to help with the chauffeuring because they were told it would be “elegant” for females to drive “ladies and kids.” But then they were fired because the prince, who was then a deputy defense minister, reportedly wanted “no women drivers.” They were replaced by male chauffeurs. The women then sued Abdul-Aziz and Elbashir. The prince never responded to the lawsuit, and Elbashir quickly stopped responding as well.   read more

Those wishing to become officers in Inkster, Michigan, must pay $6,000 to attend an academy. Making candidates pay for their tuition limits the pool of those who can afford a police career. Like some other states, Michigan is prohibited from reimbursing towns for training. This kind of restriction is good for budgets, but not for diversifying police departments. “That knocks out a whole swath of people that I know are eligible,” said Inkster police chief William Riley III.   read more

“Now that we’ve seen the full text, it turns out the job-killing TPP is worse than anything we could’ve imagined,” said Democracy for America's Charles Chamberlain. “This agreement would push down wages, flood our nation with unsafe imported food, raise the price of life-saving medicine, all the while trading with countries where gays and single mothers can be stoned to death.” TPP also would restrict food inspections at international borders, and undermine efforts to label GMO foods.   read more

These firms use visas to relocate their employees, many from India, to the U.S., where they are taking jobs Americans could do. The Times reported federal law requires global companies using H-1B workers to sign a declaration saying they will not displace Americans. “But there is a loophole: An exemption cancels that requirement if employers pay H-1B workers at least $60,000 a year — significantly less than an experienced technology worker’s salary in many parts of the country,” said the Times.   read more

Only 90 of the 5,400 children who have applied to escape street gangs, extortion and rape have been interviewed by the Department of Homeland Security. Some have been approved, but “lengthy procedures for getting airplane tickets and processing paperwork have delayed” their admittance into the U.S., the Times reported. “Really, it’s pathetic that no child has come through this program,” said Lavinia Limón, president and CEO of the nonprofit U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.   read more

Dana Perls, food and technology policy campaigner at Friends of the Earth U.S., warned the upcoming trial was unnecessary and possibly dangerous. Jaydee Hanson, senior policy analyst at Center for Food Safety, said: “Once these GE moths are out in the wild, there is no turning back. Every possible scenario needs to be accounted for. Until federal agencies have implemented rigorous regulations around GE insects, this GE moth trial should be halted.”   read more

The FCC has rejected a petition from a consumer group to require online companies to honor do-not-track requests from consumers. Consumer Watchdog petitioned the FCC to start developing a new regulation mandating ‘edge providers’ such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, Netflix, and LinkedIn to honor do-not-track requests from consumers. Users can set their browser preferences to request that their online movements aren’t tracked, but few companies comply.   read more

Judge Leon was not dissuaded by the coming change in the NSA program. “Although this court appreciates the zealousness with which the government seeks to protect the citizens of our nation, that same government bears just as great a responsibility to protect the individual liberties of those very citizens," he wrote. “This court simply cannot, and will not, allow the government to trump the Constitution merely because it suits the exigencies of the moment."   read more

Contractor Kingsley discovered the offshoring and warned the Russian-made software made it possible for the Pentagon’s communications systems to be infected with viruses. He said Netcracker used the Russians because they worked for a third of the cost of U.S. programmers. "Numerous viruses were loaded onto the DISA network as a result of code written by the Russian programmers and installed...in the DISA secure system,” said Kingsley.   read more

“You’re going on 11 years into this project, they only have one form, and we’re still a paper-based agency,’’said Kenneth Palinkas, former president of the union that represents USCIS employees. “It’s a huge albatross around our necks.’’ USCIS may have to spend another $2 billion to finish the project and digitize the other 94 forms used by immigrants who come to the U.S. The new projected completion date is 2019.   read more

The suit charges use of Zofran for morning sickness amounts to “experimenting with the lives of unsuspecting mothers-to-be and their babies.” It says GSK was warned as of 1999 by the FDA to “immediately cease distribution” of ads that “promote Zofran in a manner that is false or misleading because it lacks fair balance.” Instead, says the suit, GSK urged its staff to emphasize to providers "not only the benefits of Zofran but also the financial benefits to the providers by prescribing Zofran."   read more

Republicans in Congress have worked to cut funding for the IRS, forcing the agency to lay off thousands of workers, including those who review income tax returns. The cuts have resulted in the audit rate for individual tax returns dipping to 0.84% for fiscal year 2015. That’s the lowest rate since 2004. The IRS has lost 15,000 workers since 2010, but at the same time, the number of income tax returns filed by individuals went up 3%, to 146 million.   read more