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 account indicated that the NSA had collected military and security data on countries including Venezuela, while also carrying out surveillance operations to acquire trade secrets from within the oil industry in Venezuela and the energy sector in Mexico. O Globo also published a story over the weekend saying Brazil was a major target of the NSA’s global spying on telecommunications, which involved the cooperation of American and Brazilian companies (which were not named).   read more

In a new national poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, 55% of respondents said they consider Snowden a whistleblower for telling the media about secret National Security Agency programs involving phone records of Americans. The survey also revealed what Quinnipiac called “a massive shift in attitudes” regarding the government’s anti-terrorism efforts. The new poll found 45% said those efforts have gone too far in restricting civil liberties.   read more

Top U.S. military brass who toured the facility described the center as as large as the Supreme Allied Headquarters in Europe or the U.S. Central Command and, according to one two-star Marine general, “better appointed than any Marine headquarters anywhere in the world.” According to John Sopko, special inspector general for the reconstruction of Afghanistan: “The building will probably be demolished.”   read more

It turned out that only two computers actually had a virus. But even that doesn’t explain why the agency’s top IT official thought it was necessary to not only destroy all the computers, but also discard keyboards, monitors, mice, cameras and even televisions—when such equipment isn’t vulnerable to malware.   read more

In an unexpected turn of events, it was discovered on Wednesday that Bulletproof is not licensed to operate in the state of Wisconsin. The mining site is reportedly highly controversial, in part because it is in violation of a treaty with Native Americans.   read more

Information about the mission was stored at the Department of Defense (DoD) until Admiral William McRaven, the top U.S. Special Operations commander, ordered the files be purged from Pentagon computers and sent to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where it will be more difficult for the media and the American public to access them. The move violates government rules regarding the archiving of official records and possibly the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).   read more

Congress passed legislation to give telecommunication companies retroactive immunity (pdf) from lawsuits resulting from their collusion with the NSA. The Supreme Court later rejected an EFF and ACLU petition arguing that the immunity law was an “unprecedented violation of the separation of powers.” The new states secret ruling comes a month after The Guardian leaked documents that seem to support allegations made in the EFF’s lawsuit.   read more

If President Barack Obama declares the Egyptian military did indeed seize power, his administration would be forced under federal law to suspend all assistance to the Middle Eastern country. That aid totals about $1.5 billion, nearly all of which ($1.3 billion) is military support.   read more

Tony Capaccio at Bloomberg wrote: “The skimpy 14-page final report recited DoD regulations governing media dealings and largely summarized e-mails, most released in May 2012 by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based legal organization that chronicled cooperation between the CIA, Pentagon and filmmakers.”   read more

The citizens will first sit down with Smithfield lawyers and a mediator to try to resolve the complaints. If that fails to produce a resolution, the complainants will file lawsuits against the billion-dollar corporation. Such litigation could become hampered if the North Carolina General Assembly approves hog-farming-friendly legislation that would require any plaintiff who loses a case against Smithfield and others like it to pay for their legal fees.   read more

Today’s FISC has Roberts’ imprint all over it—he’s appointed all of its members since becoming chief justice. Ten of the eleven FISC judges are Republicans and they are not subject to confirmation. When hearing cases, they only hear the government’s point of view. Opposing arguments are not presented.   read more

It is still not known how many people were killed, how many buildings were destroyed and whether the town’s water supply has been contaminated by the more than 26,000 gallons of light crude oil that spilled into the Claudiere River, which feeds into the St. Lawrence River.   read more

The National Security Agency (NSA) controversy as revealed by Edward Snowden has raised the question of whether the nation’s top intelligence official should face felony charges for lying before Congress. Senator Ron Wyden (R-Oregon) asked Clapper: “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?” Clapper’s response: “No, sir.”   read more

Following the deadliest accident in the history of the global garment industry, more than 70 retailers and clothing brands have pledged to improve safety conditions in Bangladesh’s textile factories. But two leading U.S. companies—Walmart and Gap—have refused to sign the agreement that was prompted by the April 24 tragedy that killed 1,127 garment workers inside Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza, which collapsed.   read more

The president’s nomination of James “Wally” Brewster to be the next ambassador to the Dominican Republic, however, has been greeted with an ugly example of homophobic hostility—with the nation’s highest ranking Catholic official as the ringleader. During a press conference last week, Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, who is currently archbishop of Santo Domingo, referred to Brewster as a “maricón”—a derogatory terms that is usually translated in the U.S. as “faggot.”   read more

Although national leaders of the GOP have been attempting to “rebrand” their party by emphasizing economic opportunity and downplaying social issues like marriage equality and abortion, Republican state legislators must have missed the memo. Since the beginning of the year, Republicans have spearheaded the passage of at least 40 new state laws intended to restrict access to abortion, including mandatory ultrasounds for pregnant women and expensive new regulations for clinics.   read more