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

A report (pdf) from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that only 0.7% of charities were audited in 2013, and that’s down from an already-low 0.81% in 2011. This drop came while returns filed by charitable organizations went from 725,888 to 763,149, an increase of 5%. For comparison, about 1% of individuals and about 1.4% of corporations were audited in 2013.   read more

Cubans are allowed to enter the United States without visas or background checks and are given permanent resident status after one year and one day. Those from other countries can wait years and even decades for their green cards. That access to the United States has made Cubans the leaders in Medicare fraud. Those born in Cuba represent less than 1% of the U.S. population but commit 41% of Medicare fraud.   read more

Much of the library and museum maintains a cheerful, laudatory atmosphere until one checks in on the Watergate Exhibit. Naftali presented an in-depth, historically accurate depiction of the days leading up to the only presidential resignation in history, with a retrospective look at why it was important. The exhibit was not a family favorite. Some members boycotted its opening in 2011 and Naftali left shortly afterward.   read more

The Pentagon announced last week that it will close 15 U.S. bases in Europe. However, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other pressures, the number of American forces on the continent will remain about the same at about 67,000 for the next several years. The closures are expected to save about $500 million from the $500 billion Pentagon budget.   read more

Four Californians stopped in Utah for taking pictures of agricultural buildings last September are apparently the first non-residents to be charged with violating the state’s controversial “ag-gag” law. Will Potter at Green Is the New Red says that the two Utah cases are the only ag-gag enforcements, nationally.   read more

Jailer is an elected office in Kentucky, the only state where that’s the case. The jailer is responsible for maintaining the county jail, transporting prisoners to court and other related duties. But in 41 of Kentucky’s counties, there is no jail. Those counties with small populations use regional jails to house prisoners. So what do those jailers do with their time? In the case of Jeanette Miller Hughes, who received $69,000 a year as Perry County’s jailer, it’s babysitting her grandchild.   read more

Thousands of small dead and dying seabirds are washing up onshore from Northern California to Washington State and scientists don’t know why. If it turns out that Cassin’s auklets are dying from the loss of their food source, “They would be the first seabird species hit hard by a lack of krill,” according to the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association.   read more

The target of the intimidation is journalist Shohret Hoshur, who works for Radio Free Asia in Washington. Hoshur fled China in 1994 after the government went after him for his reporting. But his continued coverage of events back home has resulted in three of his brothers being imprisoned, according to Hoshur. The harassment of Hoshur’s family began in 2009 when he reported on a Uighur torture victim.   read more

“I’m sure every American worker is saying: thank God the Republicans are going to have me work 10 more hours before I can get health insurance. Aren’t you generous?” Rep. Hoyer said. The Congressional Budget Office said the bill would result in 1 million people losing their health care coverage, forcing them either into government-supported plans or having no medical insurance at all. That would force an increase in federal spending of $53 billion over the next decade.   read more

The failure of Tammy Kilgore Alois to fully investigate the crimes, many of which involved sexual offenses against children, from 2010 to 2012 prompted the Coconut Creek Police Department and the Broward State Attorney’s Office to look into Alois’ work. It was found that she failed to interview victims and witnesses, mishandled evidence and neglected to write reports or present cases to prosecutors. It took three internal affairs officers to investigate the cases due to the volume of work.   read more

The oldest known living person is Misao Okawa of Japan. She’s 116, born March 5, 1898. She lost her husband in 1931, and has been a widow for 83 years. Her secret to longevity is plenty of sleep and plenty of food, including sushi. The next oldest is Gertrude Weaver of the United States. Also 116, but a bit younger than Okawa, Weaver has the distinction of being the oldest living American. The Arkansas native has outlived her husband and three children, but has one son in his 90s.   read more

Soilihi in 2006 was appointed as special delegate to Moroni city hall and the following year he became chief of staff to Comoros’ minister of finance. Soilihi moved to foreign affairs, becoming political counselor to the minister in 2009. In 2010, Soilihi took over as director general of the Office of Radio and Television for Comoros. One of his achievements was to make Comoran television available via satellite.   read more

The major sticking point in Macedonia’s efforts to join the EU has been its name. Greece is opposed to the use of the name Macedonia by its northern neighbor, saying it implies territorial claims to Greece’s northern province of the same name. Naumovski worked on that issue from 2009 to 2011, surviving a 2010 vote of no-confidence by members of the opposition party who claimed he was ineffective in his negotiations.   read more

An alarm has been sounded that the very future of science is at risk. Young scientists are increasingly being denied research grants, a trend that has been growing for more than a decade and resulting in a brain drain from biomedical academia. The continued loss of young scientific minds from this arena “could lead to a gradual evaporation of new discoveries, the loss of future leaders and mentors, a less diverse workforce and the loss of scientists...at a pivotal point in their career."   read more

The fact that these companies are selling such a large percentage of coal back to themselves constitutes “a fundamental shift in how the coal industry does business,” wrote Claire Moser. The scheme involves companies that mine coal using other companies they own to sell the resource at below-market value. That's how the government determines its royalties collected from coal producers leasing federal lands. The lower the sale price of coal, the lower the payment to the U.S. Treasury.   read more

The U.S. imports about $30 billion worth of seafood annually. Americans eat 5 billion pounds of seafood per year, and about 90% of it is imported from countries that don’t protect marine mammals caught in fishing operators’ nets from being killed. The rule change would impact 122 countries that currently sell fish to American importers. Latin America, India and China are among the biggest of them.   read more