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

Acidization is a subject state regulators don’t want to talk about, or can’t for lack of information from the industry. Pavley pointedly asked the California Department of Conservation and its Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources last May to share with lawmakers what they know about the process and its use in California and the nation. The response from Department of Conservation Director Mark Nechodom was less than satisfying.   read more

In years when high raisin production threatens to cause prices to fall substantially, the RAC can decide that the government should seize part of the crop and keep it off the market by storing it in “reserve,” specifically in warehouses located in California. The result should be higher raisin prices. Here’s the rub: the government often does not pay the raisin growers for the raisins seized.   read more

Originally expected to be online by 2009 at a cost of $1.6 billion, the Savannah River, South Carolina, plant is 10 years behind schedule and the bill is up to $7.7 billion—so far. A recent life-cycle cost estimate for the MOX program calculated by environmental activist Tom Clements of Friends of the Earth foresees a price tag of about $22.11 billion. The Department of Energy estimates that it won't be ready to open until November 2019.   read more

Following the blowout of the undersea well, Halliburton tried to shift the blame to BP, the British oil company, saying that Hallibuton recommended the well include 21 metal centralizers to stabilize the cementing. BP chose to use six instead. Halliburton twice told its workers to destroy computer simulations that showed little difference between using six and 21 centralizers.   read more

The government can use the Patriot Act’s business records authority to collect, collate and retain all sorts of sensitive information, including medical records, financial records, or credit card purchases. They could use this authority to develop a database of gun owners or readers of books and magazines deemed subversive. This means that the government’s authority to collect information on law-abiding American citizens is essentially limitless.   read more

Although the proposal sent to Congress lists 16 drones for the sum of $1.5 billion, this is in fact an overestimate, as is often the case in arms deals, in order to allow a partner to order additional hardware without having to reapply to Congress. The initial acquisition project actually involves only 12 drones. The French government wants to deploy two drones by the end of the year in the Sahel, a region in north-central Africa, south of the Sahara Desert.   read more

Bauer hosted multiple fundraisers and raised $4.3 million for the President’s two election campaigns, served on the Obama for America National Finance Committee from 2007 to 2008 and from 2011 to 2012, and was Finance Chair for Women for Obama from 2011 to 2012. She was also on the Democratic National Committee from 2008 to 2012, serving as chair and co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Forum and as co-chair of the National Issues Conference.   read more

The legislation would, among other things: • End pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds at public high schools • Prevent counties from extending voting hours in case of long lines • Make it more difficult to add “satellite” voting sites for elderly and disabled, such as at nursing homes, by requiring unanimous approval of a county board of elections   read more

Originally sentenced to five years in prison, Shaye was pardoned in 2011 by then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh. But Shaye remained imprisoned after Obama reportedly “expressed his concern over the release” of the reporter during a February 2011 phone call with Saleh. The pardon was revoked. In May, Yemen’s new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, reversed the decision, issuing an order to release Shaye.   read more

Gas produced from the Yamal LNG plant would be shipped to Asia along northern sea lanes that only began opening up four years ago as warmer ocean temperatures thawed and thinned the ice sheets. Global warming may be causing worrisome environmental changes, according to scientists and others, but for oil and gas entrepreneurs focused on the Arctic sea, such changes can mean newfound profits.   read more

The problems have arisen because state government slashed the budget for home care, while raising the amount paid to nursing homes that take in disabled children. It also turned down federal aid to help move children out of nursing homes. According to the Department of Justice, “As a result of the state’s actions and inaction, the state has forced some families to face the cruel choice of fearing for their child’s life at home or placing their child in a nursing facility.”   read more

About an hour after midnight on May 28, police received word of a burglar alarm going off at 409 Havenwood Lane. Officers B.B. Hanlon and R.P. Hoeppner responded, but showed up at 404 Havenwood. The officers said poor lighting caused them to visit the wrong home. At 404 Havenwood, the officers encountered homeowner Jerry Waller, 72, who was holding a handgun “near the corner of the home,” according to the affidavit.   read more

It can vacuum up emails, phone calls, text messages from all over the country and the globe, and sift through mountains of metadata looking for signs of terrorists plots. But the National Security Agency (NSA) can’t conduct a common search of its own emails. Elliott was told by an NSA official that they couldn’t complete his request because their email system is too “antiquated and archaic” to perform bulk searches.   read more

About one quarter of the top 250 administration officials are 60 or older. In 2009, only 18% were 60 or older. Over on Capitol Hill, the experience level among House members has gone down. Currently, 46% of representatives are “junior members” (defined as those who have completed fewer than three terms in office).   read more

As of the second quarter of 2013, the Chamber has allocated $1,002,845,680 on lobbying over the past 15 years. No other lobbying force in Washington, DC, has spent a billion dollars to influence decision-making, or come even close to that amount. General Electric, the next highest spender, has spent only $294 million over the same period.   read more

But in Washington, DC, about 20% took a drink without paying. The least honest (after DC) were West Virginia (85% paid) and Texas and Kentucky (both 87%). The morality level in DC was so low that someone even stole a bicycle belonging to the Honest Tea’s founder.   read more