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

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is expected to challenge the verdict that featured $23.6 billion in punitive damages. In addition to that sum, the jury granted compensatory damages totaling $16.9 million in the case brought by Cynthia Robinson, the widow of chain smoker Michael Johnson, who died 18 years ago of lung cancer at age 36.   read more

More than half of all the world’s HIV patients are not aware of their medical condition, according to a new United Nations’ report. Nineteen million of the 35 million living with the human immunodeficiency virus are unaware that they’re infected. Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS, which produced the report, says: “Whether you live or die should not depend on access to an HIV test.”   read more

Using the online fundraising website Kickstarter, journalist Will Potter managed to raise $75,000 to purchase multiple drones for aerial surveillance of large livestock facilities. Potter told NPR’s The Salt that the move was necessary since seven states have adopted “ag-gag” bills that outlaw the collecting of images inside such operations that reveal neglect or abuse.   read more

Cities such as Chattanooga, Tennessee, have become groundbreaking examples of what local governments can do to provide high-speed fiber optic networks to residents and local businesses. That city created its “Gig City” operation that’s at least 50 times faster than the national average for $70 a month. But city officials there have been prohibited from expanding to nearby communities eager for the service because of a state law backed by telecommunications companies.   read more

“When I found out that the NSA was collecting records of my phone calls, I was shocked,” Smith said in a prepared statement. “I have heard of other governments spying indiscriminately on their own citizens, but I naively thought it did not happen in America. I believe who I call, when I call them, and how long we talk is not something the government should be able to get without a warrant. I sued because I believe the Constitution protects my calls from government searches."   read more

A military commission had found al-Bahlul guilty of supporting terrorism, solicitation and conspiracy. But the appellate court, in a unanimous decision, invalidated the first two convictions, saying they weren’t considered war crimes prior to the Military Commissions Act of 2006. and the court majority questioned the third.   read more

The 15-count indictment says that the company had been warned by the federal government at least six times that it was acting as a drug courier. The online pharmacies at issue were those that didn’t rely on prescriptions from physicians. Rather, they relied on an online questionnaire filled out by buyers without a doctor ever examining a patient. According to the indictment, the drugs shipped by FedEx included Ambien, Diazepam, Alprazolam (Xanax), and Clonazepam.   read more

The report charged that Muro created a job for a friend in violation of civil service regulations; that he had an improper relationship with a contractor for the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), which he managed; and that he improperly gave that contractor business for educational services that were already available through VA channels.   read more

In 2012, there began to be a drumbeat of criticism about P&G’s earnings and stock price. An outside activist investor, Bill Ackman, leveled complaints about the company’s performance, saying that McDonald was spending too much time on outside activities. Despite cutting thousands of jobs and bringing up P&G’s stock price, McDonald was pushed out in June 2013 and replaced by the man he had succeeded in the job, A.G. Lafley.   read more

Inmates will have to go before a judge and ask that their sentences be reduced. If the judge grants the maximum reduction, about two years will be shaved off the average inmate’s sentence. Prisoners shouldn’t start packing their bags yet though; they won’t be able to begin petitioning judges for the reductions until November 2015.   read more

The granddaddy of spying authorizations goes back to the Reagan Administration, and even Congress doesn’t know much about how it works. So, what’s 12333 being used for? According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, its authority is used to cull American’s electronic address books and buddy lists, to put malware on Facebook servers and to justify the recording of all of a country’s telephone calls.   read more

Oil producers have long injected fracking waste into aquifers that had been deemed by the state as having no potable water and are not protected from such practice. However, the maps delineating where waste aquifers are compared to useable water are often inaccurate.   read more

Krol was nominated to be ambassador to Uzbekistan in July 2010 and assumed the post about a year later. While there, he has taken criticism from human rights groups in the country for deferring to the regime of Islam Karimov, under which there are frequent rights violations, including forced labor of its citizens, and little freedom of expression.   read more

He was acting assistant secretary (principal deputy assistant secretary) for the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. In that role, he worked in coordination with Defense Department officials on regional security issues. Among these were maritime security issues, such as pirates off the coast of Somalia, making him familiar with the region of Africa in which he is to serve.   read more

ADX inmates endure 23 hours a day and sometimes more in their tiny, private cells. The one hour they’re not in solitary confinement is instead spent outside—in an exercise cage often with no one else around. Many ADX inmates suffer from mental illness, but are denied treatment such as medicine and counseling, according to the report. In addition, the prison operates with virtually no public oversight. The media cannot visit prisoners in person nor talk to them by phone.   read more

41% of women reported experiencing “physically aggressive forms” of harassment, including “sexual touching (23%), following (20%), flashing (14%), and being forced to do something sexual (9%).” An even larger percentage (65%) said they have experienced at least one type of street harassment in their lifetimes.   read more