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 word carcinoma should not apply to this condition and others, they argued, because too many patients become frightened by the diagnosis and have treatments that aren’t needed and do more harm than good, such as mastectomies. Many lesions detected during breast, prostate, thyroid, lung and other cancer screenings should not be called cancer at all, but should instead be reclassified as IDLE conditions, which stands for “indolent lesions of epithelial origin,” according to the panel.   read more

Out in California, home to the biggest solar market in the U.S., three major utilities want state officials to save them from a subsidy program that they claim could soon drain them of $1.4 billion annually. Advocates of renewable energy scoff at such statements, saying utility companies are exaggerating their losses. They also wonder why company profits should take precedent over the finances of individual American citizens.   read more

Colorado has experienced a huge surge this year in permits to carry concealed weapons, following the passage of gun control measures by the state legislature. The new laws include requiring universal background checks for gun sales, a 15-round limit on firearm magazines, and banning online-only concealed-carry certification training.   read more

Khuzami, who once referred to the concept of the revolving door as a “myth” that creates “unfounded cynicism about public institutions and public servants,” will be required to wait one year before he can represent Kirkland clients before the SEC.   read more

It used to be that American kids were potty trained (and out of diapers) by 18 months of age. This was the case in the 1950s. But by 2001 the average age of potty training rose to 35 months for girls and 39 months for boys. Some parents report that their children aren’t potty trained until they are three-, four- even five-years old. The longer kids stay in diapers, the more money companies like Procter & Gamble make off delayed potty training.   read more

In the past two years, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office has arrested at least 12 men for sodomy, otherwise known as homosexual sex. All of the defendants were approached by Sheriff’s deputies working undercover who asked the men if they wanted to have consensual sex. Louisiana’s anti-sodomy law, which is still on the books, was invalidated along with others like it when the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas back in 2003.   read more

Four out of five U.S. adults will struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives—products of growing income inequality and the outsourcing of American jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector, since the 1970s.   read more

JLENS, manufactured by defense contractor Raytheon, is essentially a blimp 75 yards in length that carries sophisticated radar and lenses that can see 320 miles in any direction, while hovering about 10,000 feet above the earth.   read more

The Pentagon is refusing to release the names of the enemies the U.S. is currently fighting on the grounds that the information is classified. A Pentagon spokesman told the journalism website ProPublica that revealing the list could cause “serious damage to national security” by allowing listed organizations to use their inclusion to inflate their importance, “build credibility … [and] strengthen their ranks.”   read more

During a two-year period ending December 31, 2012, the 217 “no” voters received on average more than twice as much cash ($41,635) from the defense and intelligence industries than did the 205 “yes” voters ($18,765). The donations totaled $12.97 million. Of the top 10 recipients of defense dollars, only one House member—Rep. Jim Moran (D-Virginia)—voted to end the program   read more

Stung by a century of investigations and exposés into animal cruelty and unhygienic conditions at sites where animals are raised, slaughtered and chopped up for consumption, corporate interests have lobbied lawmakers in six states to pass “Ag-Gag” laws that make it a crime to take videos or photos at agro-industrial sites that reveal illegal or unethical practices toward livestock, or to apply for a job at a factory farm with the intent to conduct an undercover   read more

The complaint alleges the existence of a double standard under which black contestants have been disqualified for reasons—including having taken topless photos, witnessing a murder, and having an arrest record—that did not cause white contestants in similar circumstances to be disqualified.   read more

The litigation represents the first time that CFPB has gone after a financial institution for this kind of business practice, which was common before the financial crisis last decade. Castle & Cooke violated a federal prohibition on paying loan officers more when they sell loans with higher interest rates and fees.   read more

Before 2010, the U.S. prison population increased every year for 30 years, from 307,276 in 1978 to a high of 1,615,487 in 2009. The decline has not affected federal prisons, which are seeing record numbers of prisoners. At least 17 states are selling or are considering selling some of their underutilized prisons.   read more

Since 1932, Louisiana has lost more than 1,900 square miles of its coastline, enough to cover the state of Delaware, and may lose another 700 square miles in the coming decades. John M. Barry, vice-president of SLFPA-E, noted that, “The industry has taken about $470 billion of the state’s natural resources during the past 20 years, and we ask that it pick up its share of the increased costs of flood protections.   read more

The test included a mock attack by HSS commandoes against SRS’s security guards, who work for government contractor Wackenhut Services, Inc. POGO was told by a “senior government official” that the attackers in one scenario were able to reach a key building and gain access to simulated bomb material. Furthermore, HSS stopped at least two of the security tests early because a shift change resulted in a number of workers entering the “combat” area.   read more