Imagine that China’s dictator, Xi Jinping, sends one million Chinese troops to invade the United States. Fighting breaks out all over the U.S. as U.S. troops and civilians battle against the Chinese invaders. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, are killed. Meanwhile, China has taken over Florida and declared it an overseas province of China, with Chinese nationals taking over control of the Florida government.   read more

Judge Ramos ruled that Restis will “not get [his] day in court, but cannot be told why.” Glenn Greenwald called the ruling “a truly stunning debasement of the U.S. justice system” that “occurred through the joint efforts of the Obama Justice Department and a meek and frightened Obama-appointed federal judge, Edgardo Ramos, all in order to protect an extremist neocon front group from scrutiny and accountability. The details are crucial for understanding the magnitude of the abuse here.”   read more

Suspicion was first raised when Mo Hailong was found to be snooping around Iowa corn fields owned by Monsanto and Pioneer. The FBI began to investigate the Mos, tapping cellphone calls and going through email. “Stealing hybrid seeds enhanced with traits such as drought resistance doesn’t pose the same immediate threat as a suicide bomber, but the FBI treats economic espionage and similar trade secret theft as dangerous threats to national security,” wrote the Register's Grant Rodgers.   read more

Times are good for veterans seeking work, either with the federal government or in general. The Office of Personnel Management has reported that a third of all new hires by federal agencies last year were veterans, a record. The increase is a result of the Veterans Employment Initiative, signed by President Barack Obama in 2009 to increase the number of veterans in civil service positions. The effort has involved establishing liaisons at every agency to recruit veterans.   read more

Deborah Maynard will deliver the invocation early this month before the Iowa House of Representatives, marking a first for the legislative body. Maynard was asked to appear before lawmakers by her representative, Liz Bennett, a Democrat from Linn County, who was looking for someone different to give the invocation. Bennett has drawn criticism for the selection of Maynard."I am a little bit surprised that it has become as controversial as it has,” Bennett told KCCI.   read more

The smartphone owners were sent daily messages informing them of the number of times their personal information—current location, incoming and outgoing phone calls, their contacts lists—had been shared with app companies. One message read: “Your location has been shared 5,398 times with Facebook, Groupon...and seven other apps in the last 14 days.” People were taken off guard. One person reacted: “4,182 (times) – are you kidding me? It felt like I’m being followed by my own phone. It was scary."   read more

The costly drugs are effective—with cure rates of upwards of 90% and fewer dangerous side effects. “Curing hepatitis C will likely go on to prevent liver cancer, go on to prevent patients needing liver transplantation, go on to save health care dollars down the road,” said liver specialist Dr. Adam Peyton, who prescribed $13.5 million worth of hepatitis C drugs in Part D last year. “It’s upsetting that there's been so much negative publicity for such a positive breakthrough in medicine.”   read more

Dash-cam footage showed agents smashing the car window of Navy veteran Thomas Sauer, 26, then forcibly yanking him from his car after he chose to “opt out” of discussing his citizenship. “I did it because I don't agree with the premise of questioning citizens without suspicion,” said Sauer. The incident led to his being fired from his job. “Often, local citizens are subjected to extended interrogation and detainment” said ACLU attorney Mitra Ebadolahi. “These are mini police-state zones.”   read more

Statistics show that Alabama judges, who are elected to the bench, have overridden juries in murder cases 111 times since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976. Of that 111, judges have upgraded the sentences to death 101 times. Of those, 80% occurred in the year leading up to a judge’s reelection. "Alabama judges, who are elected in partisan proceedings, appear to have succumbed to electoral pressures.” wrote U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor   read more

Base Esperanza, controlled by Argentina and located near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, recorded a temperature of 63.5°F on March 24. That was nearly four degrees higher than the previous high for the continent. “One surprising aspect of the temperatures measured recently at Esperanza and Marambio are that they occurred in autumn, nearly three months past the usual warmest time of the year in the Antarctic Peninsula,” according to the Weather Underground.   read more

One of the emails pointed out the deteriorating security situation right before the Benghazi consulate was stormed, citing “an extremely sensitive source” who pointed out the numerous bombings and kidnapping of aid workers and diplomats by those thought to be loyal to the late Libyan Prime Minister Muammar Gaddafi. Despite the information gathered by Clinton’s network, she said after the Benghazi attacks of September 2012 that U.S. intelligence officials had had no advance warning of the threat.   read more

Until now, the Uniform Crime Report did not include hate crime data for any South Asian-American community. Instead, they were just lumped in with all Asian Americans. Supporters of the change said it was long overdue, noting that hate crimes against Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims have gone up since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.   read more

The TSA has even assigned point values to each suspicious act. Strong body odor, for example, is worth 1 point, while a cold penetrating stare rates 2 points. If a passenger appears to be in disguise, he’s assessed 3 points. Points can also be deducted for a passenger’s age, or if they appear to be traveling with a spouse. Anyone assessed 4 or 5 points is subject to further screening and 6 or more points causes a supervisor to be called.   read more

There is fraud in the system, according to the Urban Institute, but it’s not the kind that would be prevented by having a photo on the cards. Generally fraud occurs when a recipient buys food with the card and then sells it or connives with a retailer to receive cash back from a purchase, which is strictly forbidden by the regulations governing the program. In none of these scenarios would a photo on the cards stop fraud.   read more

Shulkin’s work has frequently involved looking at managed and accountable care, in which patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors. In 2008, for example, he studied why patients who are admitted at night are more likely to die than patients admitted during the day. Also in 2008 he edited the book Questions Patients Need to Ask: Getting the Best Healthcare.   read more

The new law prohibits state or local governments from substantially burdening a person’s ability to exercise their religion, which opponents say is a veiled attempt to allow religious conservatives to discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals without the state intervening. “Not only is this law unnecessary, it unfortunately has already portrayed our state as intolerant, unfriendly, and backwards” Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane said.   read more

The reviewers concluded that there was “insufficient evidence” that adding white potatoes to the approved list would change food purchasing habits of WIC recipients, and that there was “no evidence” purchasing habits had changed since white potatoes were removed from the list in 2009. Furthermore, “The nutrient profile of white potatoes does not support their exclusion from the CVV [cash value voucher program] because their nutrient content is similar to that of other starchy vegetables."   read more