When Pope John Paul II visited Damascus in May 2001, Bashar used his welcoming speech to denounce the Jews, saying, “They tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.”   read more

McFarland has accused OPM’s information technology office of interfering with his office’s efforts to determine how well the agency had guarded security clearance and federal employee personnel files that were hacked and how well it responded to those breaches. McFarland said the Office of the Chief Information Officer had “hindered and interfered with” his office’s oversight and “has created an environment of mistrust by providing my office with incorrect and/or misleading information.”   read more

The FEC has made very few determinations on what’s legal and what’s not as far as super PACs go because of the even Democratic-Republican makeup of the commission. Seeking clarification could be a win-win for Democrats; if they get the OK, they have a new fund-raising tool. If they don’t, GOP candidates that have used the techniques could find themselves in legal trouble. How the FEC responds “could have profound ramifications for the 2016 campaign, particularly for Democrats...” said the Times.   read more

Aspen now gets its power primarily from wind and hydroelectric, joining Burlington, Vermont, and Greensburg, Kansas, as the only other cities to achieve all-renewable energy portfolios. “This means we are powered by the forces of nature, predominately water and wind with a touch of solar and landfill gas,” said Aspen environmental/utilities director David Hornbacher. The movement toward renewables could soon count California as a big example for others to follow.   read more

“The loss of civilian life in Hajja shows why most countries have made a commitment never to use cluster munitions,” said Solvang. “These weapons not only kill or injure people at the time of attack, but the unexploded submunitions go on killing long afterward.” The Obama administration is going through with a deal to sell Saudi Arabia more weapons and missiles. "Bombs have fallen so far from any military target that human rights groups say such airstrikes amount to war crimes," said the Times.   read more

Recruiters from Oklahoma City have traveled to Puerto Rico and Spain seeking teachers. Other districts are putting up billboards in neighboring states to lure teachers. California alone will need to hire 21,000 new teachers every year over the next five years, but is issuing fewer than 15,000 new teaching credentials a year. “There was a point where we were, frankly, overproducing teachers. Now, if you look at the most recent year, we are not producing enough,” said Joshua Speaks.   read more

Asked if he had any connection with al-Qaeda, Hassan said yes. But it was not the terrorist group he was admitting to being familiar with. In Yemen is a village called Al-Qa’idah. It was this place he was responding to, not al-Qaeda. But the translator didn’t realize the mistake, and the American soldier interrogating Hassan had all he needed. Hassan was shipped to Guantánamo, where he was cleared for release in 2009 but remained until June of this year, when he was released in Oman.   read more

Honeybees have been dying out in unprecedented numbers since 2006. Land use and other factors are no doubt part of the problem, but pesticides have been one of the suspects from the beginning. The ruling supported the view of many environmentalists who believe the long-term effect of insecticides on entire bee colonies should be taken into account, not merely a dose of chemical on an individual bee.   read more

In Alabama, Marcus Underwood, who is black, sued the city of Bessemer, its police chief, Nathaniel Rutledge, and officers Daniel Cecil Partridge and Christopher Asarisi, all of whom are white. Underwood claims police needlessly shot him multiple times, striking him in the jaw, chest, arm, hand and shoulder in June 2014 while he was driving away from a friend’s house. Underwood was also charged with attempted murder and attempting to flee the scene of a crime.   read more

“Celebrating” the holiday with shootings was most popular in Chicago, where nine people were killed and 46 wounded with guns over the weekend. Charlotte, North Carolina, was also busy, with five people killed and 12 wounded.   read more

The Buy American Act mandates the federal government give preference to products made in the U.S. when it makes bulk purchases of more than $3,000. Similarly, the Berry Amendment says the Pentagon can’t buy products such as clothing and textiles outside of the U.S. when the purchases are at least $150,000. The IG, however, found that nearly half of the Navy contracts it reviewed violated the Berry Amendment, and a third of another sampling of contracts violated the Buy American Act.   read more

In an experiment by the U.S. Marine Corps on the integration of women into combat units, mixed-gender units didn’t perform as well as all-male units. It was pointed out that the male Marines in the trial were mostly combat veterans, whereas the women, by definition, had not seen combat and were mostly recent graduates of infantry school or had come from non-combat roles.   read more

The Illinois Lottery has stopped paying jackpots of more than $25,000 while the state government tries to pass a budget and some winners who still haven’t received their payouts are suing the state. “How the heck can they do this, and they’re still selling tickets?” Rhonda Rasche, who is still waiting for the $50,000 she won in July from a $3 scratch-off ticket, said to the Chicago Tribune. “If I was the one selling raffle tickets and I didn’t pay, I would be sued or in jail or both.”   read more

State Senator Bob Keenan and former state Senator Verdell Jackson, both Republicans, sought an injunction to stop the transfer because of the tribes’ business and cultural connections with Turkey, a U.S. ally and member of NATO. The suit charged that the transfer would give the Turks “access to the uranium deposits and bountiful water sources surrounding the Flathead Reservation for production of yellowcake capable of later conversion to a gaseous state for eventual use in incendiary devices.”   read more

A report from the Harvard Kennedy School and the National Institute of Justice says that those up to age 21 should be treated as juveniles by the justice system, with gradually diminishing protections for those up to age 24.   read more

Connecticut’s rate of suicide by firearm dropped 15.4% after it enacted a waiting period and background checks. In Missouri, suicides via firearm increased 16.1% after that state in 2007 repealed its law requiring that those wanting to purchase firearms apply for a permit at the local sheriff’s office....But Crifasi warned that the study does not indicate a clear causal relationship."   read more

Derrick Hunter and Lee Sullivan are accused in the 2013 shooting death of Jaquan Rice and the wounding of his girlfriend. The defendants subpoenaed Facebook, Instagram and Twitter seeking the private messages of Rice and Renesha Lee, Sullivan’s former girlfriend and a prosecution witness. Defense attorneys say the records will help them prove that Rice was a dangerous criminal who had threatened others and that Lee was motivated by jealousy.   read more