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

The age of robot-driven cars is here, thanks to Google. These self-driving vehicles on California’s Bay Area roadways are ushering their human passengers to their destinations. So far, Google’s cars have a perfect law-abiding record: Not one of them has been issued a traffic citation…yet. But when that day comes, who’s going to pay the fine? Google? Or the person behind the wheel, who has no control over the car? The programmer who wrote the algorithm that made the mistake?   read more

Oklahomans are on the hook for more than $300,000 for adopting an amendment banning the use of Islamic law in state courts. Established in 2010 by lawmakers and voters, the “Save Our State Amendment” targeted Sharia law, which conservatives claimed was a threat to Oklahoma. But Muneer Awad argued the law violated the First Amendment’s prohibition on government favoring one religion over another, and he successfully sued to stop the law .   read more

Liberals and conservatives in the U.S. Senate expressed concerns about David Barron’s selection for the judgeship due to his writing at least one drone-assassination memo believed to be the basis for using drones to target and kill a U.S. citizen in 2011. Opponents threatened to derail the nomination unless Obama agreed to disclose the memos to Senators, which he did. The move apparently worked with liberal critics, as the Senate voted 52 to 43 to advance Barron’s nomination.   read more

The U.S. is reportedly experiencing an “epidemic” of pedestrians being hit and killed by automobiles. But the most startling statistics involve minorities. Death rates for blacks were 60% higher than Caucasians, while fatality rates for Hispanics were 43% higher than whites. Hispanics in S. Carolina were 189% more likely than whites to be killed as pedestrians. In Wisconsin, blacks were 145% more likely to be killed.   read more

The nation’s two largest cable companies want to merge, creating not just a new industry dominance but a giant mess of customer dissatisfaction. Comcast and Time Warner say their merger will be a blessing for subscribers. But a new survey reveals that Time Warner ranks dead last in customer satisfaction, with Comcast right behind it. "It’s hard to see how combining two negatives will be a positive for consumers," said David VanAmburg.   read more

In the eyes of one civil liberties organization, the U.S. Justice Department office overseeing national security matters is a real winner when it comes to keeping the American public in the dark. Each year, Investigative Reporters and Editors gives out the “Golden Padlock” award to the government agency best at being overly secretive with information. Nominations for the “honor” are now being accepted, and Justice’s National Security Division has been put up for consideration.   read more

Three corporate players in the flour milling business, which is essential to the U.S. food manufacturing industry, have gotten provisional approval from federal anti-trust regulators to form the nation’s largest producer of wheat flour. Cargill, CHS and ConAgra Foods intend to form a joint venture called Ardent Mills that will control 40 mills and yield about $4 billion in annual sales. The new company will be responsible for about one-third of the U.S. flour business.   read more

By all accounts Attorney General Holder held a straight face when he announced that the indictment of five Chinese military hackers for stealing U.S. corporate secrets. As this administration has been repeatedly criticized for letting the NSA pry into overseas computer systems, the charges were greeted with skepticism, if not laughter from some critics. “This could...open U.S. officials to similar charges [from] other countries," said Professor Sean Lawson.   read more

The CIA has finally shuttered its fake vaccination program that was set up to help find Osama bin Laden three years ago. But the operation did much harm in Pakistan, where health workers were murdered once word got out about the program. At least 22 polio workers have been killed since 2012, and more have been kidnapped. The decision comes a year after public health officials wrote to President Obama to complain about the the phony program.   read more

The overcharges in some cases were absurd, like one contract employee who allegedly worked 1,208 hours over a 12-day span. In actuality, 12 days consists of 288 hours. The companies also were caught over-classifying workers for jobs for which they lacked qualifications, or claiming they held multiple jobs concurrently. One depot aircraft mechanic was also classified by Northrop as senior general engineer, an integrated logistics manager, a quality assurance manager, and three more titles.   read more

It has already been widely reported that poor Americans are increasingly being sentenced to prison because they can’t pay court-ordered fines and fees. But an NPR investigation discovered that defendants in most states are charged for government services that used to be free, including those required under the Constitution, like the right to have an attorney. Those most impacted by the development of these costs are usually low-income and/or minorities.   read more

The U.S. military has been ordered by a federal judge to stop force-feeding a hunger striker at Guantanamo Bay and to preserve videos showing the controversial procedure. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler’s ruling came in the case of Mohammed Abu Wa’el Dhiab of Syria, who has been detained without trial for 12 years. Kessler raised concerns in a previous ruling, noting that it was “perfectly clear” that “force-feeding is a painful, humiliating and degrading process.”   read more

An Army National Guard soldier has become the first person to receive death benefits following the loss of a same-sex spouse during combat. Staff Sgt. Tracy Dice Johnson will receive benefits dating back to the death of her wife, Staff Sgt. Donna Johnson, who was killed in Afghanistan two years ago. The VA benefits are the same ones provided to heterosexual widows and widowers, marking the first time a surviving same-sex spouse has been treated the same as non-gay individuals.   read more

Under fire about medical delays at veterans hospitals, the Obama administration offered up a political sacrifice … of an official who was already planning to step down. The announcement implied Petzel was to blame for the VA problems, and that his leaving meant they were serious about fixing the mess. But Petzel’s departure was announced last year. “We don’t need the VA to find a scapegoat,” said Tom Tarantino. “We need an actual plan to restore a culture of accountability [at] the VA.”   read more

With the government mired in debt, some members of Congress have decided their colleagues shouldn’t be able to fly first class at taxpayer expense. Pending legislation would bar lawmakers from flying first class unless they pay for it themselves. That change would put them in the same position as employees working for the executive branch. However, their travel allowance isn’t being cut, so the proposal is more symbolic than anything else.   read more

Name almost any group of Americans and the odds are they’re exaggerating about how often they attend church. A survey by PPRI tested Americans’ honesty when it comes to churchgoing. The research revealed “that every subgroup of Americans inflates their levels of religious participation, with young adults, Catholics and white mainline Protestants particularly likely to inflate the frequency of their attendance at religious services,” according to PRRI.   read more