The majority of voters did not vote for Donald Trump for president; the majority of voters did not vote for Republican candidates for the Senate; and fewer than 51% of voters cast their ballots for Republican candidates for the House of Representatives. The Republican Party now controls the White House, both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court, no matter how that came to be. I believe it is worth bearing in mind that a majority of U.S. citizens did not support the Republican winners.   read more

Democrats in Congress have been the most vocal opponents, saying it would give foreign banks as well as pharmaceutical, tobacco and other companies the ability to undermine U.S. sovereignty. “This is really troubling,” said Sen. Charles Schumer. “It seems to indicate that savvy, deep-pocketed foreign conglomerates could challenge a broad range of laws we pass at every level of government." Most GOP lawmakers reportedly favor the agreement.   read more

Many of the troops never received proper treatment for their ailments related to the chemical exposure. The Army's Brad Carson said service personnel will now receive medical support for lingering health effects. “To me, the scandal is that we had protocols in place and the medical community knew what they were, and yet we failed in some cases to implement this across the theater. That was a mistake, and I apologize for that."   read more

The Surveillance State Repeal Act is the most far-reaching anti-surveillance legislation drafted to date. “This isn’t just tinkering around the edges, it’s a meaningful overhaul that makes sure the meaningless surveillance of emails and cell phones are done away with,” said bill co-author Rep. Mark Pocan. “All mass surveillance does is violate the rights and put a chilling effect on the American people," said CATO Insititute's Patrick Eddington.   read more

“If you don't pay for the license to the song they will notify you and let you know that you have to pay,” said case plaintiff Jennifer Nelson. “They've never actually sued anybody but they have strong-armed people into having to pay.” Warner/Chappell Music charges anywhere from $500 to upwards of six figures for the song's use in a major motion picture. Nelson says it's been in the public domain for 65 years, while Warner says it owns title to copyright registration dating back to 1935.   read more

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials decided to extend a public comment period on whether the agency should downgrade the classification of woodland caribou from endangered to threatened. The species has almost entirely disappeared from the lower 48 states, and currently numbers only 14 in areas near the Canadian border. Their numbers have dwindled in the face of habitat destruction by loggers and off-trail snowmobilers, and because of predation by wolves and mountain lions.   read more

Pentagon officials had asked for $51 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations. They got that, and more. Wednesday night, the Republican-controlled House passed a budget plan, authored by Rep. Tom Price, that added $45 billion to the request. Democrats, and even some Republicans, call the OCO a “slush fund” that allows the military too much freedom to spend taxpayer dollars. Democrats labeled the Republican padding of the fund an “abusive loophole.”   read more

When she’s not defending corporate polluters accused of releasing toxic substances, Nessa Coppinger is in court suing her neighbor for smoking in the privacy of his own home. She said Gray’s smoking was “a health concern” for her family. “We don’t allow smoking in our home,” she said. They want their neighbors to pay them $500,000 in damages, saying the smoke has intruded on their property. They’ve already gotten D.C. Judge Ronna Beck to issue an order banning smoking in Gray’s house.   read more

The investigation uncovered more than 15 whistleblowers within DHS who had concerns with Mayorkas’ actions—“an unusually large number of witnesses,” according to Government Executive. “Their allegations were unequivocal: Mr. Mayorkas gave special access and treatment to certain individuals and parties,” the report said. "Many employees concluded, not unreasonably, that the pressure exerted on them was because the individuals involved were politically connected.”   read more

A small Utah town located near a major oil and gas drilling operation has witnessed a recent spike in infant deaths. Neonatal mortality rates in Vernal, population 10,000, went up six-fold from 2010 to 2013, according to statistics compiled by local resident and midwife Donna Young. Young’s troubling conclusion seemed to be backed up by a government health report on baby deaths in a tri-county area that includes Vernal. “I believe they know a lot more than what they’re divulging,” said Young.   read more

WDBJ got into trouble for showing a brief pornographic video clip on July 12, 2012, during a story on former porn star Tiffany Rose volunteering her time for a local rescue squad. The segment included three seconds from the woman’s website that featured an explicit video clip in a box on the side of the webpage. The fine of $325,000 against the station is the maximum amount that can be levied by the FCC.   read more

The cornerstone of the Bill of Rights is increasingly becoming the property of corporations, says a new study. Supreme Court rulings reveal a “corporate takeover of the First Amendment," said Harvard professor John Coates IV. “Once the patron saint of protesters and the disenfranchised, the First Amendment has become the darling of economic libertarians and corporate lawyers who have recognized its power to immunize private enterprise from legal restraint,” wrote Columbia law professor Tim Wu.   read more

Koch gave $15 million to fund the Hall of Human Origins at the National Museum of Natural History. The exhibit suggests that humans can simply evolve to adapt to the changes brought about by climate change. One part of the exhibit asks visitors whether humans might develop bigger sweat glands or become tall and thin, like giraffes. Since the temperatures are increasing faster than humans could possibly develop those traits, the exhibit is misleading.   read more

NYPD numbers revealed black suspects were arrested in 54% of murders, 55% of thefts, and 49% of assaults. But 74% of homicides reported by the four stations where race was identified had black suspects; suspects in 84% of thefts reported on were African-American and in assault cases mentioned by the stations, 73% of suspects were black.   read more

Chief Justice James Hardesty testified before a joint senate subcommittee that the court needed $700,000 by May 1 or it will be out of money. Law enforcement is not generating the same amount of revenue from traffic tickets as it once did, he said, and that’s robbing the high court of funds for operations. “I’m not faulting law enforcement...[but] the truth is that we’re seeing less traffic violations because law enforcement’s priorities have changed...dramatically."   read more

While inside a Publix supermarket, Derek Wood, 11, wanted to eat a “Chocolate Chew” cookie. Due to the boy’s allergy to tree nuts, his relatives first asked if the cookie was nut-free. They were told the cookie was nut-free. Derek suffered a fatal asthma attack after eating the cookie. His family is now suing Publix, saying it should be held liable under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act for not properly identifying allergens in the foods it sells.   read more

Spearheaded by Attorney General Eric Holder and then-Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the HEAT program ramped up an 18-year effort by their two departments to battle Medicare fraud. Of the $3.3 billion recovered, $1.9 billion was funneled back into the Medicare Trust Fund, $1.2 billion went to the U.S. Treasury, and $155 million to other agencies. Whistleblowers collected $370 million of the funds for helping expose Medicare fraud.   read more