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

Lyrvall went to the European Union in Brussels in 2002, first as Sweden’s delegate to the enlargement negotiations, and then in 2003 as Sweden’s ambassador to the EU Political and Security Committee, remaining in that post until 2007. He returned to Stockholm to serve as director general for political affairs in the foreign ministry. He remained in that post until being sent to Washington.   read more

With funding from companies such as Exxon and Chief Oil, a Dallas science museum tiptoed around the topic of fossil fuels and climate change. Among the exhibits at the Perot Museum was a “Climate Change” display that never saw the light of day. Museum officials denied its scrapping had any connection to its oil and gas industry benefactors. Other science museums play down climate change to avoid controversy.   read more

Federal health officials are warning of a new threat to so-called “last resort” antibiotics used to treat patients with deadly infections. The CDC reported that a type of Asian squid being sold in Canada contains a highly resistant bacterium. Such "nightmare bacteria" are resistant to all antibiotics, including carbapenem, "the truly last of the few remaining last-resort antibiotics in the world." A patient with these bacteria who gets an infection might not have any options for a cure.   read more

Some neurological conditions such as autism and schizophrenia may be linked to exposure to air pollution, a new study shows. Experts at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that subjecting young mice to air pollution causes unhealthy changes in their brains--the same areas found in humans diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia. The changes occured more often in males, and other troubles like memory loss, learning disability and impulsivity became prevalent.   read more

The bipartisan bill, from Representatives Kevin Yoder and Jared Polis, stands a good chance of moving forward now that it has attracted support from 218 lawmakers. “Having a majority of house members supporting our bill shows House leadership that the bill would pass … if it was put on the house floor,” said Yoder. He and others say the law needs updating to better protect Americans’ rights under the Fourth Amendment. Supporters of the bill include the tech industry and privacy advocates.   read more

“The disbandment of the Colorado City/Hildale Marshal’s Office is necessary and appropriate because this police department has operated for decades, and continues to operate, as the de facto law enforcement arm of the FLDS Church,” said Arizona Attorney General Thomas Horne. The marshal’s office turned a blind eye to the group’s polygamist ways, enforced church edicts over secular law and has discriminated against church nonbelievers, claims former police chief Helaman Barlow.   read more

More than two decades after the end of the Cold War, the world’s leading powers continue not only to hold onto their nuclear weapon, but also modernize them in a sign that they will continue to be around for a long time to come. There are nearly 4,000 nuclear weapons deployed throughout the world, ready for launch within minutes of receiving the “go” code. Four countries control 3,970 of the weapons. The U.S. has 1,920, followed by Russia (1,600), the U.K. (160) and France (290).   read more

Raising the wages of low-paid workers normally doesn’t make headlines. But in an era of soaring corporate profits, executives of a Dallas hospital decided to spend money ticketed for their own benefit so employees at the lowest rung could receive a raise. Parkland Health & Hospital System announced it would elevate its own minimum wage from $8.78 to $10.25 an hour. Dr. Jim Dunn, the hospital’s executive vice president, said the decision was “the right thing to do.”   read more

Texas, known for its tough-on-crime stance, leads the nation by paying those wrongly convicted $80,000 for each year they were incarcerated. Colorado is close behind at $70,000 a year. Six states: Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina and Washington, plus the federal government, pay $50,000 per year incarcerated. But 21 states have no statute on their books to address these situations, leaving them wide open for lawsuits.   read more

Lisa Weiszmiller was one of about 100,000 service members who were thrown out of the service because of their sexual orientation between World War II and September 2011. “Back then, the treatment was barbaric,” she said. She found herself being interrogated for hours about her sexual orientation and ordered to perform hard labor, all while drill sergeants insulted her. “These are queers! These are lesbians! Stay away from these homosexual women,” she recalled them saying.   read more

It has been well documented how the demand for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) health system has soared following the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. But in recent years, it has been civilians who have flooded into the system at much higher rates. Non-veterans, such as spouses or dependent children of vets, may be eligible for VA care. There were 356,333 non-vets using VA healthcare in 2001. Today, that total has nearly doubled to an estimated 708,921.   read more

About 20% of the U.S. workforce does business with the U.S. government, which means that about 11 million workers—whose rights are not currently protected under state laws—will now be provided with employment protections, according to gay rights advocacy groups. Federal law currently does not prevent discrimination against gay and transgender individuals. Residents in 29 states also have no protection for such discriminatory behavior.   read more

Judge Richard Posner, a conservative appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, warned that release of the classified documents risked public disclosure. “There are too many leaks of classified information—too much carelessness and irresponsibility in the handling of such information—to allow automatic access to holders of the applicable security clearances,” he wrote.   read more

Those making $25,000 or less annually say you’re rich when the bank account has, on average, $293,000 in it. Individuals earning between $30,000 and $60,000 each year believe the magic number is $394,000. Up next, people with annual incomes between $60,001 and $120,000 need $426,000, on average, to be rich. Finally, the upper strata of American life (anyone making $120,000 or more) say they must have $501,000 to reach their wealthy plateau.   read more

Gas prices in the area have averaged $3.74 a gallon, while the city’s fueling depot sells for $3.10. The city purchases its petroleum from a local refinery, which reduces transportation costs and allows it to undercut private sellers. Many in the town have complained that its gas prices are generally 20 to 30 cents higher than those in surrounding cities and across the state.   read more

After reviewing the cases of 224 judges and 2,500 of their votes, Sen and Glynn discovered having at least one daughter corresponded with “a 7 percent increase in the proportion of cases in which a judge will vote in a feminist direction,” the study says. Having more than one daughter did not alter the results, they said. But instances in which judges had only one child, having a daughter produced a larger effect.   read more