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

Chicago’s high-end suburb of Woodridge has been charging anyone who gets arrested within their community a $30 fee, which some consider unconstitutional. Jerry Markadonatos, for one, objected to the charge and filed a class action suit arguing it violated a person’s right of due process. When the defendant’s lawyer, Paul Rettberg, likened the cost to filing fees, Posner shot back: “Arrest is not a privilege. Paying for being arrested is ridiculous.”   read more

Barack Obama, the former constitutional law professor and U.S. senator, once disapproved of presidential signing statements, which allow the White House to ignore or interpret differently certain provisions of new laws passed by Congress. But Obama the 44th president of the United States has often embraced the practice that he once called a “clear abuse” of executive power.   read more

The leaked report criticized agents for intentionally standing in front of speeding automobiles to justify shooting at drivers, as well as questioned the Border Patrol policy of allowing the use of deadly force against individuals who throw rocks or other objects at agents, including those who did so from across the border in Mexico.   read more

The researchers concluded that by eliminating in-person drug buys and conducting sales through the Web, Silk Road was more of a business-to-business operation that facilitated deals between suppliers. And because these arrangements were conducted anonymously, there was no need for late night meet-ups in abandoned warehouses, which have often turned ugly in the street world of narcotics sales.   read more

Grease bandits have grown in number, making off with vats of discarded oil from restaurants worth hundreds of dollars at a time. The booming black market for the “liquid gold” has reached $40 million a year, and cooking-oil crimes have doubled in number in just seven years. Despite the fact that 5,943 grease thefts were reported around the country two years ago, only 188 criminal charges were filed and 97 people were convicted.   read more

“Our model,” wrote the authors of the study, “suggests that changing a severe hurricane’s name from Charley…to Eloise…could nearly triple its death toll.” The fact that hurricanes with female names are perceived—by both men and women—as being less dangerous results in people taking less protective measures when those hurricanes strike. Consequently, more deaths occur.   read more

As part of the agreement, the five detainees were flown from the U.S. facility in Cuba to Qatar, which brokered the exchange. The Qatari government said the Taliban members will be prevented from leaving the country for one year, and the U.S. ally promised to work to ensure American national security does not become compromised by the release.   read more

The Albuquerque Journal reported that internal LANL emails indicated the contractor that packages its waste, EnergySolutions, asked for and received approval to use new products intended to neutralize the pH balance of drum contents sent to WIPP. These changes, though, resulted in a heat reaction that breached at least one sealed container after it was buried.   read more

Those eligible for the Pentagon’s program, called Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, would have to have grown up in the U.S. and possess desired medical or strategic language skills valued by the military. The languages sought include Arabic, Farsi, Hindi and several from Africa. Obama still hopes that House Republicans will adopt immigration reforms this summer.   read more

Last year 38-year-old Jason Heap, applied to become the U.S. Navy’s first humanist chaplain. Heap’s credentials include a degree in ecclesiastical history from Oxford, as well as years of teaching and spiritual guidance work. The Navy, however, turned him down. The chaplain corps in the U.S. military is currently dominated by Christians, particularly evangelicals. More than 90% of chaplains represent Christianity, and half of those are from evangelical denominations.   read more

Boulder police officer Sam Carter says he responded to calls of a wounded elk on January 1, 2013 in the neighborhood of Mapleton and put the animal down. Carter claimed it was a mercy killing. But some officers dispute Carter’s version of the incident. One Boulder man, Jonathan Bennett, even wrote a song about the killing. Part of the lyrics say “Gunned down for nothing, But his sovereign space, Wrong time, wrong place.” The late elk also has his own Facebook page: RIP Big Boy.   read more

The amendment, championed by California congressmen Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, and Democrat Sam Farr, passed by a 219-189 margin. Those voting yes included 170 Democrats and 49 Republicans. As the amendment is written, it would apply only to 32 states and the District of Columbia, which are listed in the bill, that currently allow use of medical marijuana or are about to approve its use. So if another state were to legalize medical pot, it wouldn’t be included.   read more

The proposal says the expansion is designed to be a representative sample of about 5% of borrowers. It would “include without limitation: (1) Borrower/co-borrower information (name, address, zip code, telephone numbers, date of birth, race/ethnicity, gender, language, religion, social security number, education records, military status/records, employment status/records).”   read more

A new report by the Haas Institute at UC Berkeley reveals a third of mortgaged homes in 57 U.S. cities are still underwater, meaning more is owed on the house than it’s worth. In 151 zip codes half of all mortgaged homes are underwater. Among the nearly 400 hardest-hit ZIP codes, there are 146 in which African-Americans and Latinos account for three-quarters of the population.   read more

A Department of Health and Human Services appeals board ended the 33-year-old restriction on Medicare payments for gender-reassignment surgery after a suit by a transgender woman who’s an Army veteran. Denee Mallon, who was born a male, had appealed a Medicare denial of the surgery. "I expect a certain amount of criticism because of my age—generally you’re considered over the hill at 70."   read more

Bell's main contribution in 2012 was bundling contributions to Obama’s re-election effort. According to The New York Times, she raised more than $2.1 million during 2011 and 2012. Bell ran into trouble during her nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Bell had no experience with foreign service or special knowledge about the nation, Hungary, in which she had been nominated to serve. Apparently she had also spent little time studying about U.S.-Hungary relations.   read more