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

Cisco sold a system called “Golden Shield” to the Chinese government, touting its ability to uniquely identify members of Falun Gong and as “the only product capable of recognizing over 90% of Falun Gong pictorial information,” according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Cisco’s presentation also included offering features to persecute “Falun Gong evil religion,” which should have been a tip-off that human rights violations were at issue.   read more

He returned to Iraq in 2008 as deputy commanding general for support of the 25th Infantry Division. Brown went to Germany in 2010 as chief of staff of the United States Army in Europe and deputy commander, U.S. Army NATO. After that, he was named commander of the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning in Georgia. His most recent assignment was as commanding general of I Corps and aenior Army commander for Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington.   read more

Much of Anthony’s career has been spent in Latin America. One posting had him serving as special forces and counter-narcotics advisor along the Ecuador-Colombia border. While there, he served as a liaison for an Air Force medical team performing plastic surgery on Ecuadorans with deformities such as cleft palate and burn scars. He was also Army section chief in Guatemala and his last assignment was as the commander of the U.S. Military Group in Nicaragua.   read more

A new study produced by the Guttmacher Institute says the rate of women receiving contraception through their private health insurance at no cost to them jumped from 15% in 2012 to 67% by the spring of this year. The Affordable Care Act included a provision that required companies to include contraception coverage in their health plans.   read more

“With some team members dressed in ballistic vests and masks, and with guns drawn, the deputies rushed into their target destinations, handcuffed the stunned occupants—and demanded to see their barbers’ licenses,” the court wrote. The raid was one of several deputies carried out against minority-owned barbershops and salons in 2010.   read more

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 8-1 that concerns about “upskirting” or “downblousing” cannot trump the rights of free speech under the First Amendment. Such photography, the justices wrote, is “inherently expressive” and therefore protected just like paintings, movies and books. The challenge to the law came from Ronald Thompson, who was charged with 26 counts of improper photography when he took underwater pictures of children swimming at a San Antonio water park.   read more

In 2010, as chairman of the Audit Commission of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficientcy, he was called in to audit the auditors—investigating the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction. He found the office was out of compliance with some of its audit policies and recommended corrective action. Rymer maintained the dual roles at the FDIC and SEC until being nominated for the Department of Defense post.   read more

In February 2013, Ray B. Shepherd, a former Air Force public affairs officer, was named Director of Defense Media Activity, which handles public relations for the Armed Forces. One of the most controversial issues since Shepherd has been at Defense Media Activity is the consideration of cuts to Stars & Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper (and now website) aimed at the Armed Forces, due to sequestration. So far, the newspaper is hanging in there.   read more

Internally, insurers are classifying both brand name and generic drugs as “non-preferred,” which results in all drugs for these patients costing more money through higher co-pays. This effectively drives patients away from a plan because it is too expensive, but the insurer gets away with legally claiming it does not discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions.   read more

Israeli training of U.S. police has also influenced the type of equipment being used. Security forces from both countries are now using some identical gear, including stun and tear gas grenades manufactured by the same U.S. companies—Combined Systems Inc. and Defense Technology Corp. A long-range “sound rifle” that emits ear-shattering noise to disperse crowds, which was used against 2005 West Bank protestors, was also used in the recent police action against protestors in Ferguson.   read more

Lawmakers embraced an important change that would force the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to exempt public companies making less than $250 million a year from filing their financial statements electronically.   read more

This year, North Carolina alone has collected nearly $20 million in the revenues generated by gun and ammo sales—a three-fold increase since 2007. The money has allowed state officials to expand the number of public shooting ranges from one to four, with three more in development. The tax revenue has compensated for cuts in state spending and provided funds for new roads, signs and parking lots.   read more

The one-time respected oncologist was caught lying to patients about their health, telling some who did not have cancer that they did in order to give them unnecessary chemotherapy treatment just so he could bill Medicare for the procedure. In other cases, Fata lied to those with cancer that they were getting better, when in fact their tumors were growing. All the while, the Lebanese-born doctor ordered unusually large and dangerous amounts of chemo for these individuals.   read more

After the NHTSA’s chief operating officer, Deputy Administrator David Friedman, tried to pin the blame for the deaths and on the failure of the agency to find their cause on GM, McCaskill added: “You want to obfuscate responsibility, rather than take responsibility.” The NHTSA administrator who refused to open an investigation into the ignition switch problem in 2007 was Nicole Nason, a George W. Bush appointee .   read more

The database used by the system has primarily data on known criminals, but information on others, including government employees and contractors, is also there. That increases the possibility of an innocent person being tagged as a suspect because of an error. The system may also be able to access other databases, such as DMV and Department of State records, which would increase the chances of a law-abiding citizen being caught up in a criminal investigation.   read more

U.S. District Judge David Sam in Utah has ruled that a member of a polygamist group can cite religious freedom as a reason to not give testimony in a criminal probe. Sam, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, ruled Steed could refuse to talk about FLDS business based on his religious oath to not discuss internal matters.   read more