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

An animal rights organization has filed suit to free a chimpanzee being held in a New York trailer park, claiming non-humans deserve some of the same legal rights as people. The Nonhuman Rights Project filed its writ of habeas corpus with the New York Supreme Court, with a chimp named Tommy as the focus of the unusual legal case. Habeas corpus has been used frequently to help free people from unlawful imprisonment, but this time it’s being employed to assist a primate.   read more

It was about 4 am when Westbrook walked up to the front door, knocked and tried unsuccessfully to enter. He then walked towards the back of the house. Hendrix went outside armed with a handgun, and called out to Westbrook, who did not respond, but did approach Hendrix. That’s when Hendrix opened fire four times, killing Westbrook, who was found by police clutching some mail. It is believed that Westbrook was disoriented and suffering from exhaustion when he stopped at Hendrix’s house.   read more

Recently, the U.S. government has increased its use of secrecy orders, which totaled 5,445 by the end of FY2013—the highest number since 1994. Among that total are 21 “John Doe” orders, which refer to secrecy orders that are imposed on private inventors who received no government or military support for their patent applications or their inventions.   read more

The high level of distrust applies to day-to-day living, with the percentage whose level of trust is “just somewhat,” “not too much” or ”not at all” rising to 65% when handing a credit card or debit card to a clerk, 75% when dealing with drivers on the road, and 78% when meeting strangers on trips.   read more

Some years Obama has pardoned more turkeys than humans. Obama has pardoned two birds every year since 2009, compared with zero people in 2009 and 2012. In 2010, he pardoned nine people, and in 2011, it was 13. When it comes to commutation of prison sentences, his administration has granted just one out of 5,371 total applications.   read more

FARC leaders said they would participate in soccer matches to help foster reconciliation between them and the government. In an open letter, the group confessed to being “fanatical about football” and noted that its members play the sport between negotiating sessions with the government. The first game will be played in Cuba, where peace talks between the two sides are taking place.   read more

It has been 17 years since the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) began cleaning up the Cold War-era nuclear weapons plant, Savannah River Site, in South Carolina, and at the current pace, it may be another 30 years before the work is completed. That fact does not sit well with state officials who are now threatening to levy an enormous fine on DOE for not keeping to its original deadline of fixing the mess by 2023.   read more

A final settlement last week of the largest meat recall in the nation’s history assessed the largest monetary judgment ($155 million) ever entered in an animal abuse case. In response to the abuse videos and ensuing legal action—not to mention a century of exposé and scandal—lawmakers across the country sprang into action…to protect slaughterhouses and meat processors.   read more

HRA Pharma, the French manufacturer of Norlevo, an emergency contraceptive pill identical to Plan B (aka the morning-after pill), found that its product began to lose effectiveness for females above 165 pounds, and was completely ineffective for those weighing more than 176 pounds. The news could mean that millions of American women won’t be able to use Plan B or its generic equivalents. The average weight of females 20 years and older is 166.2 pounds.   read more

Critics of the program argued that there really was no evidence of an urban nuclear threat and that development of the technology to detect such a threat may not be possible. Despite attempts to cut Securing the Cities funding in 2009 and 2010, Congress finally made the pilot program permanent and increased its funding in 2011.   read more

Shezanne Cassim is the first foreign national to be charged under a 2012 cybercrimes law that targets threats to national security made via the Internet. It was only after five months of incarceration that Cassim was told what the charges are against him. His crime was posting a 19-minute video on YouTube about the fictional Satwa Combat School. The mock documentary was intended to satirize teenagers in Dubai who act like “gangstas,” but really are mild-mannered.   read more

The Army decided to expand the deal and purchased licenses for five servers and several thousand workstations, as well as annual maintenance. But by 2008, company officials realized the Army was using the software on more servers and workstations than it had paid for. In total, the service had installed the programming on at least 98 servers and 11,000 computers.   read more

The Central Austin Neighborhood Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois filed suit two years ago claiming the city violated the Illinois Civil Rights Act by not providing consistent emergency response service to all Chicago neighborhoods. The groups claimed that this problem has persisted for two decades.   read more

Bultemeier, a Department of Defense employee assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Niger, was shot to death in the capital city of Niamey as he left a restaurant with colleagues in December 2000. Armed with a handgun and an AK-47 assault rifle, Cheibani and an accomplice accosted the group. Bultemeier was shot by Cheibani, and again by the accomplice, after Cheibani demanded the keys to his U.S. Embassy SUV   read more

Of the 52 measures that cleared both houses this year, just 44 are considered “substantive,” with the other eight being commemorative or ceremonial—like naming a subsection of federal tax code after former Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and naming a bridge across the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri after baseball legend Stan Musial.   read more

Iulia Filip of Courthouse News Service described the district’s shape as looking “something like a mutant salamander.” “Congressional District 2’s tortured shape further contorts the districts around it,” the complaint states. “Congressional District 6 surrounds Congressional District 2 on three sides, appearing to shoot Congressional District 2 out of its cragged jaws like a crooked tongue.”   read more