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

The false testimony came from Sandra McElroy, who claimed to have seen Brown charge Wilson before the shooting. However, McElroy’s story was found to have many holes in it when questioned prior to her grand jury testimony. She also as a history of mental illness and making racist remarks. Nonetheless, McCulloch called her twice to testify before the grand jury. He has said she “clearly wasn’t present” at the shooting scene and "recounted her story right out of the newspaper.”   read more

To protest the persecution of Navalny, who has demonstrated against Putin and led anti-corruption investigations against Russian officials, demonstrators created a Facebook page to spread the word about a demonstration. But Russian authorities demanded that Facebook block the page, and the company complied with the order. The Russian government claimed the demonstration represented an illegal and unauthorized event that would “infringe the public order."   read more

“Rather than being innocuous and gentler alternatives to typical horror or drama films, children’s animated films are, in fact, hotbeds of murder and mayhem,” and “rife with death and destruction," said the head researchers." On-screen deaths can be particularly traumatic for children as they directly expose them to loss of life. Death, often gruesome and sensationalized, is featured prominently in North American films,” noted the study.   read more

A letter on Jim Hood’s AG stationary that slammed Google for aiding piracy reportedly was copies from text from MPAA lawyers. Hood held a press conference last week, accusing Google of theft of secrets from the Sony leaks. “I want to talk about a story that’s been pushed out by a large corporation called Google. I mean, they pushed this story out. They rifled through the emails that were stolen from Sony. And, you know, I equate it to rifling through someone’s stolen property,” he said.   read more

Thursday the Federal Reserve granted financial institutions extra time to divest themselves of private equity and hedge fund investment they’d been required to sell as part of the Volcker Rule, which prohibits banks from investing their own capital. The postponement is seen as the work of Fed general counsel Scott Alvarez, a holdover from Alan Greenspan’s tenure as Fed chair who has been trying to water down Dodd-Frank since it was passed.   read more

The attorneys general for Nebraska and Oklahoma want Colorado’s marijuana legalization program stopped in order to stem the flow of pot into counties that border the state. A challenge to Colorado’s law on this basis could set an interesting precedent. If the suit is successful, could states with tougher gun laws sue neighboring states with relaxed firearm regulation because they allow guns to flow into their state?   read more

A panel appointed by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan to assess blame for the CIA’s intrusion into Senate Intelligence Committee computers has—no surprise—found that those who broke into the computers shouldn’t be punished. Those investigated by the CIA panel claimed they’d been given the go-ahead to break into the Senate computers by Brennan himself.   read more

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, there have been 1,394 executions in the United States, 518 of them in Texas. There are currently more than 3,000 people on Death Row. In 2014, 80% of the executions were carried out by three states: Texas, the perennial leader; Missouri; and Florida. Only seven states executed anyone.   read more

Pangrazio is no stranger to the U.S. He attended high school in Mission Viejo, California, competing on that school’s nationally recognized swim team. He was a high school All-American in 1985. He then attended Kansas University, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science in 1990. In 2009 he came home to become director general in the energy resources unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a post he held until he was chosen to be ambassador to the United States.   read more

The decision came as a disappointment to those who had hoped the substance would be classified as hazardous waste. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the rules, which will cover 1,425 coal ash ponds and landfills in 37 states, will treat coal ash the same as common household waste. That designation comes even though coal ash contains chemicals such as arsenic, chromium, mercury, and lead.   read more

For the first time since the 1970s, female Peace Corps volunteers will receive federal assistance for abortions, granting them the same coverage as those in other federal programs. As part of the omnibus spending bill adopted by Congress, medical coverage for Peace Corps volunteers will include abortion in cases of rape, incest and life endangerment.   read more

George Stinney Jr., who was black, was charged with murder for the death of 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames, who were white. Judge Carmen T. Mullen of Circuit Court didn’t rule on the merits of the prosecution’s case because of the lack of transcripts and case files. However, she noted the violations of Stinney’s rights   read more

He joined his family business in 2002, managing Agroquimica Industrial RIMAC, an agricultural chemical firm. In 2009, Macaya campaigned for the presidential nomination of the Citizens Action Party. He came in third in the party’s primary with 9% of the vote. He continued managing Agroquimica Industrial RIMAC until his appointment as ambassador. At that time, he also had to renounce his U.S. citizenship.   read more

González-Revilla was founder and director of BellSouth Panama and BellSouth Guatemala wireless services. From 2000 to 2004, González-Revilla also served as a director of the Panama Canal Commission. In 2005, González-Revilla became president of Panama Power Holdings, which develops and operates hydro-electric power facilities in his home country. He remained with that company until being named ambassador.   read more

“Suicide is far more common than homicide and its rate is increasing,” Garen Wintemute of U.C. Davis wrote in his new study. “The homicide rate is decreasing.” He also noted that firearm violence is a “large and costly public health problem in the United States for which the mortality rate has remained unchanged for more than a decade.” Even when the homicide rate was far higher than now, it was outpaced by the suicide rate, according to the study.   read more

All three are also considered political, rather than career Foreign Service, appointments. John Estrada, President Barack Obama’s choice for Trinidad and Tobago, has waited the longest of anyone: 504 days. He is a former Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, the highest-ranking enlisted Marine, and a native Trinidadian. After leaving the service, he worked at Lockheed Martin as a senior manager.   read more