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

Income tax evaders stand a good chance of getting light prison sentences. Last year, 45% of convicted tax cheats received sentences that were less than what is recommended. This practice came under scrutiny earlier this year when billionaire H. Ty Warner received probation for stashing more than $100 million in overseas bank accounts to avoid paying the IRS. Sentencing guidelines say he should have gone to jail for 46 to 57 months. Instead, he won’t serve a day behind bars   read more

It has long been assumed in the U.S. that torture was something that went on in other countries. Now, a large portion of the American population fears they will be tortured if arrested in their own country. Of Americans polled, 32% said they were not confident that they would be safe from torture after being arrested in the U.S. Worldwide, 44% of people are worried about the use of torture against them if they were taken into custody by local officials.   read more

The Justice Department wants to be able to conduct electronic searches of computers anywhere in the U.S. Civil libertarians fear this would put more personal information from innocent people in the government’s hands. “[It] significantly expand(s) the [conducting of] secret, remote searches of the sensitive contents of people's computers,” said ACLU's Nathan Wessler. “It is crucial that the courts place strict limits on [searches].”   read more

Members of the German parliament intent on learning more about the NSA surveillance of German citizens have said they want whistleblower Edward Snowden to testify before a special committee investigating the issue. Merkel’s government, however, fears it would only stir more trouble for the German-American alliance. The lawmakers have refused to back down, so government officials hired a Washington-based law firm to threaten them if they take Snowden’s testimony.   read more

Imagine you were terminally ill and had exhausted all conventional treatments for your sickness. Then you hear about a promising drug that had the potential to cure you, but it hadn’t been approved for use. You might be willing to give that drug a try, figuring you had nothing to lose. That’s the reasoning behind three states’ recent approval of “right to try” laws, where physicians may recommend potentially life-saving drugs to their patients before FDA approval.   read more

Thousands of oil and gas wells on federal land have gone without inspection at a time when drilling has expanded in many parts of the country because of fracking. The failings of the Bureau of Land Management has put the environment in peril, according to a GAO report. The agency was accused of relying on “outdated rules and guidancem” having “limited coordination with state regulatory agencies, and incomplete data on the location of resources and industry activities   read more

Members of the U.S. Congress want to be sure that the NSA will never again use “back doors” to crawl into Americans’ computers. Among the Edward Snowden revelations is the fact that the spy agency had engaged in weakening of encryption programs to facilitate access to computers for its surveillance operations. Now lawmakers hope.to amend the USA Freedom Act to restrict the agency from exploiting vulnerabilities in software to peek into computers.   read more

When Barack Obama was first inaugurated, he promised that his administration would “usher in an era of open government.” Instead, requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act are increasingly being challenged or ignored by federal agencies. The Border Patrol has been denying requests for information, and both the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have released heavily redacted documents that had earlier been released with the censored parts intact.   read more

The enrollment issues with Obamacare are fixed, but the computer experts aren’t off the hook yet. More than a million Americans may be getting incorrect subsidies for their health plans, and problems also exist with citizenship verification. But since the government has no computer capability to address these problems, it will have to resolve every case by hand. Those whose subsidies are incorrect and who've been overpaid will have to refund the money to the government.   read more

A New Hampshire man is about to find out how good the sense of humor of his state’s police is. In 2010, David Montenegro applied for a vanity license plate reading COPSLIE. He was denied by the state DMV, who found it "insulting." He then appealed and lost. Montenegro applied again for the plate, but this time the state Supreme Court gave him the right to the plate. But the road ahead, on the streets of New Hampshire, may a tough one.   read more

Call them the greater of two evils. According to a new Gallup poll, Americans view the Republican Party with less favor than they do the Democratic Party. However, both parties are viewed more unfavorably than favorably. Some observers say this is the beginning of the end for national aspirations for the Republican Party. Democratic strategist Doug Sosnik said the moves the GOP is making to take the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections will doom them in 2016.   read more

The FCC has unveiled its proposed regulations that they claim would preserve net neutrality. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler acknowledged that “the potential for there to be some kind of a fast lane available to only a few has many people concerned.” But he said he rejects the concept of the Internet being “divided into haves and have nots.” Wheeler’s assurances were not enough to calm fears that the rules allow for faster streaming of big companies' online content.   read more

Educational technology companies have hit the mother lode of data mining. Each time a pupil takes an online test, or a teacher notes a grade, those firms know about it. And data miners are striking it rich. One report concluded that the U.S. economy could grow by another $300 billion if those entities make education more efficient. One data analytics firm, Knewton, is already tracking more than four million students throughout the U.S.   read more

U.S. Special Operations Command has asked for money to support troops’ physical health--via exercise and dietary advice--to help those suffering from depression and suicidal tendencies. But members of Congress argue the funding request of $23 million should go toward more mental health programs to help Special Ops warriors, like Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, who are killing themselves at a rate that exceeds that of those in the regular armed forces.   read more

Senator Harry Reid has crusaded lately against the Koch brothers, claiming their right-wing priorities represent a threat to ordinary Americans. The amendment proposal would reverse the Citizens United and McCutcheon rulings that erased limits on corporate contributions. “The Court has repeatedly used the First Amendment – not to protect the voices of all Americans, but as an instrument to amplify the voices of billionaires and corporations,” said Senator Patrick Leahy.   read more

China has used designs of the U.S. Capitol and the White House as inspirations for various Chinese government buildings. The latest is a 4,000 square foot facility featuring the Romanesque dome and columns found on Capitol Hill in Washington. But inside the elaborate building are toilets for staff and visitors to use. It was brought to light by local farmer Wu Ketao. “I took the pictures because the toilet looked very luxury and reminded me of Capitol Hill,” he said.   read more