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

Whichever airline had shorter average actual flight times “won” each pair. Virgin America ran away from the competition. That airline beat JetBlue 15-1, outshined American 22-4 and routed United 50-2, giving it an 87% winning streak. Which airline was the cellar-dweller among those measured by Silver? United took the top draft pick, winning only 27% of the time. This is the same winning percentage as the current Los Angeles Lakers.   read more

So many trains carrying crude oil from North Dakota pass through Pennsylvania that an estimated 1.5 million residents live in evacuation zones near rail lines. The 1.5 million Pennsylvanians represent 11.5% of the state population. In addition, 550 K-12 schools, 37 hospitals and 61 nursing homes are in evacuation zones.   read more

Benito Vasquez-Hernandez and his son Moises Vasquez-Santiago were arrested in September 2012 because of the suspicion that Moises’ older brother, Eloy Vasquez-Santiago, had killed a woman. Moises was released from custody last September after 727 days in jail when he gave a statement to prosecutors on video. But Benito seemed disoriented during the same process and didn’t address any of the questions posed by the judge or prosecutors. He just kept repeating, “I didn’t do anything.”   read more

The arena most hostile to visiting teams is the home of Arizona State’s basketball team, where students have the Curtain of Distraction. As a visiting player is about to shoot a free throw, the curtain is pulled back to reveal a five-second playlet designed to throw off the shooter’s aim. Teams shoot almost nine percentage points worse at ASU than they do at home. This makes a difference of 1.7 points per game.   read more

Americans are having a tough time these days feeling really good about many of the country’s institutions. A mere 5% of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in the legislative branch of government, according to General Social Survey. The Supreme Court reached a new all-time low with only 23% having a great deal of confidence. Things aren’t much better for the executive branch. Only 11% of adults expressed a great deal of confidence in it.   read more

The issue of oil shipments and the risk of explosion from derailments were raised again when a train carrying toxic Bakken oil went up in flames in neighboring West Virginia on Feb. 16. That fire continued for days. “If something catastrophic happens, there’s no municipality along the railroad that can handle it,” said Fire Chief Richard Lengel. Between 60 and 70 crude-laden trains pass through Pennsylvania each week on their way to refineries in Philadelphia and other cities.   read more

The Republican National Committee has condemned the guidelines, claiming they are “radically revisionist,” a sentiment echoed by lawmakers in four other states. Georgia’s senate adopted a resolution that mirrored the RNC’s complaint. The Republican push to end AP history began after The College Board overhauled the course. Board officials said they merely tried to address concerns that the previous AP history classes didn’t allow teachers to focus more on some areas of American history.   read more

Galarza was one of an estimated 120 Ecuadorans who were imprisoned and interrogated by the government with the assistance of CIA operatives. The spy agency claimed that Galarza was a guerilla in the Dominican Republic, an accusation he has long denied. Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, has said his agency printed the authors’ book, in both English and Spanish, to not only educate people about previous CIA schemes, but current ones.   read more

She joined the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management in 2008 as senior program manager in waste processing. As she awaits confirmation by the Senate, Regalbuto is deputy assistant secretary for fuel cycle technologies in DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.   read more

Ospina led an Army brigade in 1997 that allowed a pro-government militia to sack a village in northern Colombia. The assault left several dead, including children. “One shopkeeper was tied to a tree, had his eyes gouged out, and his tongue removed," according to witness reports. The allegations didn’t stop Ospina from joining the teaching staff at NDU’s Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, where he taught from 2006 to 2014. There, he lectured “elite” U.S. and foreign military officers.   read more

“The point of my legislation is to take the state out of the process and leave marriage in the hands of the clergy,” said Republican state Rep. Todd Russ, the bill’s author and an Assemblies of God minister. But Troy Stevenson said the bill "puts all couples who plan to marry in Oklahoma at risk of being denied hundreds of federal legal rights and protections... The federal government and other states will not be required to acknowledge these proposed ‘marriage certificates.’"   read more

“Time is running out for people who didn’t file a 2011 federal income tax return to claim their refund,”said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “People could be missing out on a substantial refund,.. Some people may not have filed because they didn’t make much money, but they may still be entitled to a refund.” The IRS estimates that about a million taxpayers may rightfully lay claim to a portion of that billion dollars.   read more

Thousands of Americans impacted by the storm subsequently complained that FEMA wrongly rejected or “low-balled” their claims. Those complaints led New Jersey’s U.S. senators, Democrats Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, to contact FEMA officials. Following a meeting between the senators and FEMA chief Craig Fugate, the agency announced it would review the claims belonging to 141,800 homeowners with federal flood insurance.   read more

When the woman became violent, Johnson unsuccessfully employed his stun gun twice to subdue her. An Inyo County deputy arrived and assisted Johnson, but called for police back-up when the two officers became outnumbered by the woman and her hostile family. She was ultimately cited, but not arrested at the request of her ex-husband. The district attorney later charged Johnson with falsely representing himself to be a public officer, assault with a stun gun, false imprisonment, and battery.   read more

The letter, drafted by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, was intended to undermine negotiations between the Obama administration and Iran about its nuclear program, with the GOP senators warning Tehran that any deal it signs with President Obama might not last beyond his remaining term in office. "It appears from the letter that the Senators do not understand our constitutional system or the power to make binding agreements,” wrote legal authority Jack Goldsmith.   read more

The groups hope to have the federal courts end the NSA’s mass collection of Internet communications, which the agency claims is legal under the 2008 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act. “We’re filing suit today on behalf of our readers and editors everywhere,” said Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. “Surveillance erodes the original promise of the internet: an open space for collaboration and experimentation, and a place free from fear.”   read more