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

When Judge Michael Schumacher ran out of potential jurors for a trial, he instructed the sheriff, Ron Cramer, to round up more people. Cramer then hit the streets of the 65,000-population city, and using a little known law, ordered some residents to come with him to the courthouse. The sheriff cited the “Insufficient Jurors” statute on the books, which authorizes police to grab any local resident 18 years old with no felony convictions to serve on a jury if a pool runs dry.   read more

The U.S. signed the treaty in 1995. However, President Clinton never submitted it to the Senate for approval. George W. Bush also did not ask the Senate to ratify it. Nor has President Barack Obama, who during his 2008 campaign said, “It is embarrassing that the U.S. is in the company of Somalia, a lawless land. If I become president, I will review this and other human rights treaties.” Supporters say it’s unlikely the U.S. will ratify it soon, with Republicans now in charge of the Senate.   read more

The survey revealed the number of people who said they were struggling to pay their medical bills went down from about 75 million people in 2012 to 64 million people last year. The survey also showed that due to the implementation of Obamacare, the number of uninsured working-age adults in the U.S. declined from 37 million in 2010 to 29 million by the second half of last year. The rise in people with health insurance also meant fewer people skipped going to the doctor in 2014.   read more

Unsolved murders, also known as cold cases, are really starting to pile up across the U.S. That’s because detectives are not clearing homicides like they used to. In 1965, the national homicide clearance rate was 90%. By 2012, that rate had fallen to 64%. As an example, Detroit’s police department arrested only 9% of those responsible for the city’s 386 murders three years ago. New Orleans didn't fare much better, clearing only 15% of its 193 killings in 2012.   read more

Before setting rates, insurance companies check the USGS’s National Seismic Hazard Map, which makes earthquake predictions. This map will now take into account quakes that occur within the vicinity of fracking wells. That means insurance rates may go up in areas considered more at risk of seismic events due to fracking operations. Between 2010 and 2013, central and eastern U.S. had five times as many annual quakes as between 1970 and 2000. Fracking has been cited by scientists as a cause.   read more

Of all tooth extractions performed by oral surgeons, nearly 80% are wisdom teeth. Although a local anesthesia can be used, oral surgeons are able to administer general anesthesia—which costs much more—to knock their patients out completely. “They like to give general anesthetic,” said dentist Jay Friedman.. “It's a big money maker." One survey found nearly 90% of those questioned about why they had their wisdom teeth removed said it was because their insurance paid for part of the work.   read more

The 20-week limits have a disproportionate impact on the poor, who often don’t seek medical attention for their pregnancies until they’re farther along, and then have more trouble scraping up the money for an abortion if that’s what they decide to do. Other women, particularly younger ones with irregular menstrual cycles, sometimes don’t realize they’re pregnant until farther down the line. In addition, there are few exceptions in the laws for cases of fetal abnormalities.   read more

When Barack Obama became president, he vowed to step up the analysis of chemicals by EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) to determine which should be restricted or banned because of toxicity. The George W. Bush administration had evaluated only about five chemicals a year. Lisa Jackson, Obama’s first EPA administrator, said the target should be 50 a year. Instead, the EPA has completed only 41 evaluations since Obama took office in 2009, with only one being done in 2014.   read more

Candidates’ backers set up nonprofit organizations ostensibly as “social welfare organizations” that don’t have politics as their primary purpose. Instead, they run “issue ads,” that coincidentally mention either the candidate they’re backing or their opponent. Sen. Mitch McConnell used this technique to great effect in his recent defeat of Alison Lundergan Grimes.   read more

Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC) has a particularly insidious tactic: it forces incoming patients to sign a waiver allowing the hospital to garnish their wages to settle hospital charges and legal fees. Normally, those making less than $30,000 a year are exempt from garnishments, but SAMC and other hospitals skirt this consumer protection with the waiver.   read more

The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East sued 97 oil and gas companies, asking for compensation for the damage done by the oil industry in dredging canals and installing pipelines, causing more erosion of the land and making it more vulnerable to hurricanes. Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal tried to throw a wrench in the suit by firing some of the members of the board that filed the action.   read more

The infection count changes daily, hitting 85 nationwide Saturday night. The majority of the cases have been linked to Disneyland. More than 150 schools in Los Angeles County have exemption rates of 8% or higher for at least one of the five vaccines recommended for children, according to a study by the Times. All of them are in areas with incomes averaging $94,500, 60% higher than the county median.   read more

Twelve companies have been asked to bid on the four lease areas within the 1,160-square-mile patch south of Martha’s Vineyard. The auction, to be held Thursday, will be the largest such sale to date by the federal government. If built out, the project would generate enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes.   read more

Sondra Arquiett sued the government after learning photos of her were part of a social media sting operation run by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Federal agents had obtained the images after confiscating her phone in 2010 as part of a drug arrest, which resulted in Arquiett pleading guilty to a drug conspiracy charge. But she never gave the DEA permission to use her photos to snare other people she knew who were using or trafficking in illegal drugs.   read more

The big trees, more than two feet in diameter, were found in decline from Southern California to the Northern Sierras. Some areas of SoCal showed nearly a 75% decline. They were in decline even in the wild, where logging and development were not factors. The study compares the numbers from 80 years ago with a survey taken between 2001 and 2010, so the current four-year drought is not a factor.   read more

, Lloyd’s of London filed a suit seeking reimbursement from multiple parties, including Salman. In the lawsuit, Salman was identified as an “individual patron” of al-Qaeda and as the leader of the Saudi High Commission for Relief to Bosnia and Herzegovina (SHC). According to the lawsuit, “Under Prince Salman’s leadership, the SHC served as a primary front for supporting al Qaeda’s operations in the Balkans.   read more