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

Mark R. Rosekind, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), was nominated by President Barack Obama on November 18, 2014, to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During his career, Rosekind has specialized in issues relating to sleep and fatigue. At his Senate confirmation hearing on December 3, Rosekind said that, if confirmed, his “first focus will be on the recall defect and reporting process."   read more

In 2009, Kariyawasam was made high commissioner to India, as well as ambassador to Afghanistan and Bhutan. While in New Delhi, Kariyawasam created a controversy when he urged that some Indian Members of Parliament be investigated for ties to the Tamil Tigers, the rebel group that fought a civil war in Sri Lanka for more than 25 years.   read more

Under President Obama, whom many conservatives claim is a tax-and-spend liberal, federal spending has declined after decades of increases. Data from the Office of Management and Budget shows that in 1965, government spending was $118 billion. For the next 44 years, that figure steadily went up through 2009, when outlays totaled $3.5 trillion. But starting in 2010 and for the next four years, there was no growth in nominal spending.   read more

The target of the federal case is FastTrain II Corporation and its owner, Alejandro Amor, who ran seven private schools across Florida until they closed in 2012. The complaint says that the company “employed female exotic dancers as admissions representatives at least one campus to lure young male students.” A 15-count indictment against FastTrain says it conspired to steal government funds by filing false claims with the Education Department.   read more

Tagtow has been somewhat of a lightning rod for criticism from the right for her work to make food systems sustainable and ecologically sound, being accused of wanting to force plant-based diets and grass-fed meat and dairy animal products on Americans.   read more

The average income last year for Telfair residents was $17,536 after falling 1.2% from 2012. That’s more than $6,000 below the federal poverty line ($23,283 for a family of four), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Telfair has only 16,000 residents, 61% of whom are white. African Americans make up 36% of the population.   read more

José Luis Fialho Rocha, a longtime member of his country’s foreign ministry, took over as Cabo Verde’s ambassador to the United States on May 12, 2014. Cabo Verde, also known as Cape Verde, is located off the coast of West Africa and has a population 0f about 512,000. More than 100,000 Americans are of Cape Verdean ancestry or were born in Cabo Verde.   read more

Justice lawyers obtained a record amount--$5.69 billion--in deals negotiated with the likes of Bank of America (BofA), Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and other violators this past year. Never before had the Justice Department exceeded $5 billion in cases under the False Claims Act. Since Obama took office in January 2009, the agency has produced $22.75 billion in settlements under the act. BofA and J&J accounted for half of the monies collected for fraud and false claims cases during FY 2014.   read more

With so much riding on the success of the new health law, the Obama administration felt it necessary to inflate the number of Americans who had signed up for health insurance. They tried pulling off this statistical sleight of hand by combining the number of people who had purchased dental coverage on the exchanges with those buying health insurance. Somehow, the officials didn’t think anyone would notice…despite the fact they had previously reported the dental and medical totals separately.   read more

Tom Colicchio, José Andrés, Art Smith and Sam Talbot are among the 700 chefs supporting a congressional bill mandating GMO labeling. The petition they signed states: “As chefs, we know that choosing the right ingredients is an absolutely critical part of cooking. But when it comes to whether our ingredients contain genetically modified organisms, we're in the dark. It’s time for Congress to move us forward, not backward, when it comes to our right to know what’s in our food.”   read more

Tom Atchison makes those living at his homeless facility work concession stands at various sporting events. The homeless also perform construction, landscaping, telemarketing, moving, painting, and grant-writing for Atchison. No salaries are provided for the jobs they perform. They receive only food and shelter. All of the money earned at the concession stands goes to Atchison's operation.   read more

The buyer determined after driving the truck about 3,000 miles that the vehicle was defective, and returned it to Paccar, demanding a refund. Paccar went so far as refunding the purchase price of $135,847 plus interest. But it refused to refund the $53 title fee. So the customer sued Paccar in court, and wound up winning a $369,196 judgment, plus a $157,697 attorneys’ fees award. Paccar is now on the hook for half a million dollars all because it wouldn’t cough up $53.   read more

Only 17.8% of U.S. adults smoked last year, the CDC found. That’s the lowest rate since the government began keeping track of the behavior in 1965. The actual number of smokers in 2013 was 42.1 million. Despite fewer people smoking, the habit continues to be the leading cause of premature death in the country. Smoking kills 480,000 Americans each year and results in $289 billion in annual health costs and lost productivity.   read more

“In many respects, Applicant’s life in the U.S. parallels my own. He and I were brought to this great nation as young children by our hardworking immigrant parents," wrote Chief Justice Labarga. "[But while my parents were] defectors from a tyrannical communist regime [and] thus...received with open arms...[Applicant] is perceived to be a defector from poverty, is viewed negatively because his family sought an opportunity for economic prosperity."   read more

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), which was already hamstrung by Congress’ mandate that it prefund future retirees’ health benefits and prohibition from closing some post offices, might soon have another roadblock in its way. This time, it would come from legislative inaction. The Senate is dragging its feet on confirming members of the USPS Board of Governors, which could mean that the agency will be unable to make any major decisions.   read more

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported only 27 law enforcement officers were killed by criminals last year. That figure is far smaller than any since before 1968. The 2012 number was 49. Except for 2011, when 72 were killed, the number has hovered between 41 and 58 since 2004 and had been trending down for many years. The high in recent decades was 134 police feloniously killed in 1973.   read more