Trump said, “We need people to be afraid. Right now many Americans are surprised when protestors are killed, but they’ll get used to it.” Trump did add one suggestion: “Try not to kill white people. That gets too much attention. Stick to protestors of other colors.”   read more

The Ebola scare took over the news cycle for weeks last fall, but when all was said and done, it was responsible for only two deaths in the United States. Another disease that is far more communicable is already responsible for the deaths of 15 U.S. children but has received comparatively little attention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the flu is responsible for those deaths, and that every state can expect to report flu cases “within the next few weeks,”   read more

“The numbers paint the most comprehensive picture to date of an electoral landscape in which the financial balance has tilted dramatically to the ultra-rich," wrote Politico's Kenneth Vogel. "They have taken advantage of a spate of recent federal court rulings, regulatory decisions and feeble or bumbling oversight to spend ever-greater sums in politics — sometimes raising questions about whether their bounty is being well spent.”   read more

The Military Lending Act of 2006 was intended to protect military members and their families from being gouged by lenders offering payday and auto title loans. But it contained several loopholes that opened the way for predatory loan providers to charge military families more than the 36% interest allowed by law. Lenders can easily do this by offering different terms than those proscribed in the law.   read more

Four years ago, the General Services Administration (GSA) was caught spending more than $800,000 in taxpayer money on a lavish conference in Las Vegas. The fallout included the firing of two GSA managers who were accused by the agency of not providing better oversight of those who planned the event. Now a civil service review board has ruled that the agency was wrong to fire the managers and the GSA has been ordered to reinstate them and give them 30 months of back pay.   read more

“The documents show that the deadly missions were not just viewed as a last resort to prevent attacks,” stated Der Spiegel. The “war on terror” became intermingled with the “war on drugs,” said Reprieve's Jennifer Gibson. “This is both new and extremely legally troubling." It also raises "legal and moral questions that extend far beyond Afghanistan,” added Der Spiegel. “Can a democracy be allowed to kill its enemies in a targeted manner when the objective is not to prevent an imminent attack?”   read more

Hacker Jan Krissler claims he replicated the fingerprint of Germany’s defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, using an ordinary camera and computer software. He said he took high-resolution photos of Leyen’s hands as she moved them while speaking at a press conference, then worked with the images on his computer to duplicate her fingerprints. This would allow him, he said, to hack into any of Leyen’s accounts protected by biometric scanners on any high-end smart phones she might own.   read more

For the family of 18-year-old Natasha Weigel, who died after her GM-made car’s ignition switch shut off just before her fatal accident, getting a lawyer to help them sue GM has proven challenging. One law firm turned down the Weigels in 2007, saying the state’s cap of $350,000 for “maximum recovery for loss...and the extreme expense of litigating the case against General Motors” left them disinclined to get involved.   read more

With more people choosing to reduce, if not eliminate gluten from their diet, Catholic leaders have tried to accommodate those who can’t ingest communion wafers—which are made of whole wheat per the Code of Canon Law—without getting sick. “Imagine how painful and spiritually challenging it is for faithful Catholics, who desire to receive Holy Communion...but who are unable to ingest wheat bread because of the grave physical harm it can cause them,” wrote Monsignor Mark J. Meridian.   read more

How are small towns expected to finance their equally small governments? Use of roadway speed traps is the obvious answer. Or so claims one state attorney general. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has sued 13 municipalities in St. Louis County for violating state law. Four were accused of using monies from speeding tickets and other traffic violations to pay for more than 30% of their budgets, which is in violation of Missouri law.   read more

The United States didn’t skip a beat last weekend when it officially ended the war in Afghanistan, then launched its new mission to justify the nearly 11,000 American soldiers remaining in the country. A ceremony was held Sunday that declared the 13-year war against the Taliban and insurgents was concluded. The very same ceremony was used to proclaim the start of operation “Resolute Support,” which calls for keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan to advise and train the Afghan military.   read more

“A global disease-forecasting system will improve the way we respond to epidemics,” Sara Del Valle, a study co-author, said. “In the same way we check the weather each morning, individuals and public health officials can monitor disease incidence and plan for the future based on today’s forecast.” The researchers said that through Wikipedia, they observed flu outbreaks in the U.S., Poland, Japan and Thailand.   read more

The Marshall Islands has asked the International Court of Justice to order nations with nuclear weapons to engage in talks to ban the weapons. The action is directed at the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China, as well as India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea. The Marshall Islands contend the original five nuclear powers promised in 1968 to negotiate a nuclear disarmament treaty, which never came about.   read more

The York City School District developed financial difficulties two years ago, which led to the appointment of a local businessman, David Meckley, as the chief recovery officer. That put him in charge of most of the district’s financial matters. But now Judge Stephen P. Linebaugh turned control of the district to Meckley, who has advocated for converting all eight of the local public schools to charter schools that would be run by a for-profit company, Charter Schools USA.   read more

Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor found immigrants who Americanized their names earned more than those who kept their original names, regardless of what they did for a living. Changing first names to popular ones like John or William resulted in a wage boost of as much as 14%. The research was based on information from 3,353 male immigrants found on Ancestry.com. The immigrants were mostly from Italy, Russia, Poland or the Czech Republic.   read more

The National Security Agency (NSA) took full advantage of the holiday, issuing reports on 12 years of overreaches and mistakes by its employees at 1:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Because the released reports have been heavily censored, it is impossible to tell if any of the admissions by the NSA involved serious wrongdoing.   read more

Texas will not lack for influence in the U.S. House when the new Congress convenes in January. Despite representing a tiny percentage of Americans, white males from the Lone Star state will occupy six of the 21 committee chairmanships. Not bad, considering white Texan men account for only 3.35% of the U.S. population.   read more