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

There are now 83.1 million millennials in the United States, according to the Census Bureau. That compares to 75.4 million baby boomers. A study by Gallup showed that 30% of adult millennials identify as liberal, with 28% saying they’re conservative and 40% claiming to be moderate. That compares to only 21% of baby boomers who say they’re liberal, compared to 44% conservative and 33% moderate.   read more

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is legally prohibited from doing business with companies that owe a significant amount of back taxes or a felony conviction, but an audit found the agency paid $18.8 million to such companies over a two-year period.   read more

Since the mid-19th century, the Republican Party has nominated a westerner 17 times to pursue the presidency or vice presidency. In contrast to Republicans, Democrats have yet to choose a single westerner for the presidential ticket or as a running mate. None of the current Democrats running or thinking of running are from the West.   read more

The smoking gun was a report from a Wisconsin State Trooper about a fatal accident involving a Cobalt in which the ignition switch had turned off, preventing airbags from being deployed after the driver lost control of the car. GM was finally forced to recall 2.6 million vehicles to remedy the problem, which is responsible for at least 114 deaths.   read more

Opponents of new voting laws pushed by Republicans say the Texas case could help challenge voter ID laws. The laws’ effect is to curb voting by minorities and those most likely to vote Democratic. Attorney Culliton-Gonzalez said the ruling is “very helpful” with lawsuits against those laws. “It’s...hard to prove intent,” she said. “We have a lot of implicit bias and symbols of racism...but we don’t always find state legislators saying, ‘We’re going to suppress the African American vote...’"   read more

The study looked at the median income of neighborhoods. For instance, the typical black family with an income of $50,000 lives in a neighborhood in which the median income is less than $43,000. But a typical white family with the same income lives in a neighborhood with a median income of almost $53,000. “When you look at the evidence of how important neighborhoods are, you really worry about the long-term consequences of these patterns of racial and economic segregation,” said Sean Reardon.   read more

The research arm of Congress spends $100 million a year informing lawmakers on key policy issues through reports that are mostly hidden from the public. Now some groups are trying to make these reports available to those who paid for them—U.S. taxpayers. The reports by the Congressional Research Service are not classified. But nor are they put up online. Third-party sources offer them for sale, but it’s unreasonable to expect Americans to pay again for something they already financed.   read more

The documents note that al-Alwi has made threats to kill U.S. personnel during his detention at Guantánamo and that he promised to do so following his release. However, there have been no efforts on the part of the U.S. government to prove any of those charges in a court of law. His petition to be tried in a civilian court has been denied, with federal judges determining that “it is more probable than not that petitioner was supporting the Taliban and al Qaeda.”   read more

In January 2012, Connery took the newly-created position of director of nuclear energy policy in the NSC’s office of international economics. She has a reputation as a proponent of replacing coal fired power plants with small nuclear reactors and of exporting such reactors to other countries.   read more

The Charleston shooting was “only the latest in a string of lethal attacks by people espousing racial hatred [and] hostility to government,” said the Times. “The assaults have taken the lives of police officers, members of racial or religious minorities and random civilians.” There has been a misperception among Americans that jihadists have posed a greater danger. But scholars and now law enforcement agencies are acknowledging that right-wing extremists are in fact the greater threat.   read more

As if getting beaten isn’t bad enough, some towns have adopted ordinances that punish victims for being nuisances. In one case, a woman who had been warned by police not to make another 911 call was attacked by her boyfriend, leaving a four-inch stab wound in her neck. Her neighbor called 911 in spite of her pleas not to. Police demanded the landlord evict her. “These laws threaten citizens’ fundamental right to call on the police for help,” said Matthew Desmond.   read more

Their lawsuit claims Boeing knows its airplane cabins can become filled with toxic air but won’t do anything to solve the problem. The plaintiffs claim this problem is “a previously hidden and ‘dirty little secret’ of the commercial airline industry.” A flight attendants union said thousands of people traveling on commercial aircraft may have been exposed to these toxic fumes over the years, and still have the poisonous chemicals in their systems without being aware of it.   read more

The adoption of a law in 2005 that gave state prosecutors the option of pursuing life-without-parole sentences in capital murder cases has clearly had an effect. Since then, the size of Texas’ death row has been shrinking. It currently stands at 260 individuals, down from 460 in 1999. The death row population is now dwarfed by the number of people serving a life-without-parole sentence in the state: 745.   read more

Lindane is used for livestock and pet treatment, and on fruit and vegetable crops. It is also used topically for the treatment of head and body lice. Small quantities are used in certain lotions, cream, and shampoos. Although the chemical has been detected in groundwater near hazardous waste sites, the most likely exposure in humans is oral ingestion of food that contains traces of the insecticide. “Exposure to lindane can increase one’s risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 60%,” said TIME.   read more

Between rising rents and tougher mortgage qualification standards, it’s difficult for many Americans to find a place of their own. The number of homeowners has now declined for eight straight years, and this year appears to be going in the same direction. The national homeownership rate was down to 63.7%. Meanwhile, it’s been getting tougher to rent, due to shrinking availability of units and rising rent prices. Also, much of the new rental property is aimed at the higher end of the market.   read more

An administration official said the White House felt it "needed to clarify that...we do not abandon families during a horrific ordeal." The official added that the threats of prosecution “should never have happened.” The administration has sent mixed signals on negotiating with hostage takers. It talked to the Taliban in Afghanistan to free Bergdahl but warned families of hostages held by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda that they won’t negotiate for their release or allow the families to do so.   read more