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

Legislation now awaiting approval from Governor Jerry Brown (D) would prohibit the use of single-use disposable plastic bags in grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores and other businesses. When supporters in the state legislature agreed to add to the bill a provision allocating $2 million to help plastic bag makers retool their operations to manufacture reusable bags, this tipped the balance   read more

At a recent meeting of the Winter Garden City Commission, Mayor John Rees ordered a local resident removed from the proceedings (video) after he refused to stand during the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance. Courts, including one in Florida, have consistently ruled that people can’t be forced to pray, say the pledge or stand during them.   read more

Aminta Cifuentes fled Guatemala in 2005 with her two children after enduring abuse from her husband including weekly beatings, rape and being doused with burning paint thinner. She sought help from Guatemalan police, but was told they wouldn’t intervene in a domestic dispute. For now, the ruling applies only to women from Guatemala and those applying for asylum will have to meet strict requirements to get it.   read more

An investigation by Fusion shows that 184 law enforcement agencies have been suspended by the program for losing the equipment and other violations of program guidelines. In some cases, the equipment’s not merely missing, but has been sold by department personnel. Most of the missing items are weaponry, such as M14 and M16 rifles, but some Humvees are also unaccounted for.   read more

The list released Thursday by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reveals 243 instances in which drilling contaminated water wells. Some of the causes of contamination were methane gas contamination, spills of wastewater and other pollutants, and wells that went dry or were otherwise undrinkable.   read more

The good news: Complaints about workplace discrimination by federal employees fell in fiscal 2012 by 6.7%. The bad news is that the Government Printing Office (GPO) still led the list of complaints with 1.22% of its workforce filing complaints, according to a report by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It was the second year in a row the GPO led the list.   read more

Castro Ramírez was recruited in 2009 to become the chief executive officer of the San Antonio Housing Authority, which gives housing assistance to 25,000 households. There has been some controversy during her tenure. In 2011, local news reports detailed high travel expenses for Castro Ramírez and other employees of the authority. She was found to have spent five nights in a Washington, D.C., Ritz-Carlton hotel at taxpayer expense. The total bill for that trip was $7,400.   read more

Witnesses say the agents were harassing a swimmer who had apparently tried to cross to the United States and then went back toward the Mexican side of the river. When Mexican families shouted at the agents to leave the swimmer alone, the agents fired into Mexico, according to the complaint.   read more

China was the single greatest source of students holding F-1 visas; representing one-quarter of all foreign students. Next is India at 15%, followed by South Korea at 10%. These students don’t all go home at the conclusion of their studies. Many take part in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Under OPT, F-1 visa holders may apply to work in their fields in the United States after graduation.   read more

After Roach failed to comply with an order to lie down on the ground, Sanguino fired nine times at Roach, who had allegedly discharged his handgun inside the bar. Roach’s gun, however, was not loaded, police later determined. Five of Sanguino’s shots hit Roach, who was hospitalized and is expected to survive. But one of the officer’s bullets struck bystander Maria Fernanda Godinez Castillo, killing the 22-year-old university student.   read more

. He was named the secretary general’s special coordinator in Lebanon, but left after a few months because of concerns for his safety. He was then sent to Georgia in a similar role and was head of the UN Observer Mission until 2009. He returned to Belgium’s foreign service in 2010 as its ambassador to the United Kingdom, serving there until being tapped for the Washington post.   read more

Al Kuwari was born May 20, 1958, one of 13 children of parents who could not read or write. Gaining a scholarship, he attended college in the United States, at the University of Portland in Oregon, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1980. He joined Qatar’s foreign service the following year, with his first posting coming in Washington, D.C.   read more

CDC officials say ingesting water containing the amoeba is harmless because it cannot infect a person through the digestive system, but the contaminated water can prove fatal if it comes into contact with nasal passages, which is how it travels to the brain. A four-year-old Mississippi boy contracted the amoeba while visiting St. Bernard Parish last year and later died.   read more

City officials voted 4-1 in 2012 to prevent the Abu Huraira Islamic Center from using the basement of the St. Anthony Business Center as a worship space while reserving other areas for business, rejecting a recommendation made by the city’s planning commission. The Center was founded by immigrants from Somalia.   read more

Jaishankar accused the United States government in January 2003 of having an “obsession with Iraq” while ignoring the terrorist training and support pipeline that ran through Pakistan and Afghanistan. His father, K. Subrahmanyan, was considered by many to be the “father of Indian strategic thought,” and was the author of India’s nuclear doctrine.   read more

Jilani comes from a family of public servants; his father was a Public Service Commission officer, one brother was chief secretary of Punjab; an uncle recently stepped down as chief justice of Pakistan and a cousin, Yousuf Raza Gilani, was the country’s prime minister from 2008 to 2012. Jilani’s posting to the United States is somewhat of a rarity; Pakistan’s envoys to Washington are usually political appointees.   read more