According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

Growth in blue collar temping has been even more dramatic: last year, more than one in every 20 blue-collar workers was a temp, and according to a ProPublica analysis of occupational employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the share of temp workers doing blue collar work has grown dramatically, from 30% to 47% since 1993. In the rush to use these workers, according to the report, health and safety issues have taken a back seat.   read more

The Kids’ Right to Read Project (KRRP), part of the National Coalition Against Censorship, says attempts to remove books from classrooms and libraries went up 53% this year, based on 49 attempts in 29 states. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie was labeled “anti-Christian” in numerous states (Montana, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia). KRRP said it “went to bat for [this book] more than any other work in 2013.”   read more

Of the 25% in funding that the study was able to identify, the leading contributor was the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund. Other prominent supporters of the climate denial movement have included Exxon Mobil, the Searle Freedom Trust, the John William Pope Foundation, the Howard Charitable Foundation and the Sarah Scaife Foundation.   read more

Exide Technologies in Vernon, has been accused of presenting a health hazard to more than 100,000 people while melting down up to 40,000 batteries a day. It has been smacked around this year by the South Coast Air Quality District (AQMD) and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which almost managed to close it, at least temporarily.   read more

Reuters reported that RSA included in its BSAFE software a flawed formula for generating random numbers developed by the NSA. In exchange, the company received $10 million. EMC Corp., which now owns RSA, informed customers to stop using the NSA formula after leaks by whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed its vulnerability. RSA has “categorically” denied the allegation that it had secret deal with the NSA involving the random number generator.   read more

The plaintiffs argued that the administration was discriminating against them based on their political viewpoints—an argument Judge Allen Baddour seemed to agree with. Baddour determined that there was no difference between the groups that want to protest cuts to unemployment benefits and the state's decision not to expand Medicaid and other demonstrations that had used the Capitol grounds, aside from the content of their speech.   read more

Attorney Robert Spence, who is representing the plaintiff, Jane Doe, says his client was raped 12 years ago, but her kit was never tested to help find the culprit. He also said the man who raped Jane Doe committed multiple rapes after his client’s sexual assault. By not processing the rape kits, police violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, Spence claims.   read more

The video, a type of mock documentary, was intended to make fun of youth culture in Dubai. It portrayed a fictional training facility, the Satwa Combat School, which taught students how to use sandals as weapons. The filmmakers said they wanted to satirize mild-mannered teenagers in Dubai who enjoy acting like “gangstas.” UAE officials didn’t think the video was funny.   read more

The Obama administration insists federal courts should stop hearing cases challenging the agency’s warrantless surveillance on grounds that they might expose the existence of this spying. Last week, federal lawyers asked a judge, Jeffrey S. White, in Northern California to dismiss cases that could lead to a ruling on the constitutionality of warrantless surveillance programs.   read more

PepsiCo settled one such lawsuit in August over its use of the phrases “All Natural,” “All Natural Fruit” and “Non-GMO” on bottles of Naked Juices. The company said it would remove “All Natural” from the drinks’ packaging and pay consumers $9 million. However, PepsiCo will still use “non-GMO” on the juices, even though they are not certified as such.   read more

As of December 23, a total of 102 police had been killed in 2013. That’s the lowest amount since 1944, when 90 officers died. The leading cause of death for law enforcement has been traffic accidents, but even those are going down. Forty-four officers were killed in vehicular-related incidents this year, down from 48 in 2012 and 62 in 2011. Officials attribute the decline to improved training for police who get behind the wheel.   read more

Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas said at the time that they were out to clean up local politics. But those targeted in the investigations claimed Arpaio was getting back at them for opposing his policies. A former supervisor, Don Stapley, received $3.5 million to end his case against the county. Another settlement worth $3.75 million went to Phoenix New Times founders Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, who were targeted by Arpaio.   read more

Created in 1965 as part of the Department of Commerce, EDA uses grants and cooperative agreements to encourage private investment in economically distressed regions, hoping to create and maintain high-skilled, high-paying jobs. The EDA was headed by Assistant Secretary John Fernandez until he resigned on March 2, 2012, and he has not been replaced. At the good end of the scale, the top-ranked agency is the Surface Transportation Board..   read more

Although 1,168 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contractors owe a combined $589 million in back taxes, the agency paid them about $741 million between October 2010 and June 2012, and continues to resist a key reform proposed two years ago, according to a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).   read more

Less than a week after a Utah state judge struck down key portions of the state’s anti-polygamy law, a federal judge in Utah invalidated its anti-gay marriage ban, holding that the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process under the law forbid states from denying marriage rights to gays that it gives straights.   read more

When 2013 began, members of Congress must have intended to have a productive year. After all, they introduced 6,366 pieces of legislation. But 12 months later, with the session almost over, lawmakers managed to pass less than 1% of these bills. As of December 21, the House and Senate had approved only 58 measures. This output was the lowest for a single year since 1947.   read more