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

Mulonda has worked for the Zambian Ministry of Justice and served as executive director of the Institute of Human Rights, Intellectual Property and Development Trust (HURID), a private human rights organization in Zambia. He served on the Zambian Human Rights Commission, starting as vice-chairman in November 2007. He taught law at the University of Zambia, and served as director of the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education from December 2009 to December 2012.   read more

Gallup’s annual Economy and Finance survey, conducted April 4-14, found that only 52% of Americans currently are playing the market. That’s the lowest rate since at least 1998, when Gallup began tracking stock ownership. Even that figure is deceptive because about half of Americans who do own stock do so only through pension funds, mutual funds and other accounts they don’t control.   read more

About 66% of eligible blacks voted in the 2012 election, compared with 64% of eligible whites. Blacks overtook whites because 1.8 million more African-Americans voted in 2012 than 2008, while the number of white voters dropped by two million, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Last year, African-Americans overwhelmingly voted for President Barack Obama, with 93% supporting his reelection.   read more

As it stands, the average acidity of surface ocean waters is now about 30% higher than before the Industrial Revolution, experts estimate. The increase in acidity could affect many ocean species, including commercially important fish, scientists say. They also predict major changes in the marine ecosystem in the years ahead, with some species being harmed, while others thrive.   read more

Her wrongdoing infuriated Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lester Nauhaus, who ordered Melvin to pose before a photographer, in handcuffs, and send the image, along with a written apology, to all 500 members of Pennsylvania’s judiciary “who have been tarnished by your behavior,” he said. In addition, Melvin will be confined to house arrest for three years. She also received two years of probation, and must spend three days a week working at a soup kitchen.   read more

TheLadders tested 24 pairs of names, such as Steve and Stephen, Bill and William, and Sara and Sarah, and found that in all but one case those with shorter names earned higher pay (The exception was Lawrence over Larry). Other good money-making names to go with: Tom, Bob, Marc, Dana and Cindy.   read more

Save the Children blames some of the problem on babies being born too early in the U.S., where the preterm birth rate (1 in 8 births) is one of the highest in the industrialized world. Another contributing factor is teen births. The U.S. has the highest teenage birth rate of any industrialized country. “Teenage mothers in the U.S. tend to be poorer, less educated, and receive less prenatal care than older mothers."   read more

Most of the monetary benefits and costs generated last year came from just two rules, according to OMB. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation limiting the amount of air pollution produced by coal-fired power plants resulted in reductions of childhood asthma, premature deaths from breathing polluted air, and the amount of mercury found in fish. generated fuel savings, promoted energy security, and provided other economic benefits.   read more

Environmental and beekeeper groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency last March, seeking to ban pesticides that have been found toxic to bees. The European Commission recently announced it will be banning, across the entire continent, three insecticides believed to be killing Europe’s bee colonies: imidacloprid and clothianidin, produced by Bayer, and thiamethoxam, produced by Syngenta.   read more

Stifled by their government’s opposition to free speech, citizens of China have used the Internet to reach out to the White House and voice their concerns about problems back home. On the We the People website created by the Obama administration, thousands of Chinese have joined a petition calling for an investigation into a nearly 20-year-old case involving an alleged murder attempt.   read more

The eight chains examined were McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Arby’s, Jack in the Box and Dairy Queen. The companies did make some improvements in the areas of meat, saturated fat, and calories from solid fats and added sugars. But they lost ground with milk/dairy and sodium, and stayed about the same when it comes to fruits and vegetables. More than 25% of Americans dine on fast food at least twice a week.   read more

Less than 1% of the 26,000 military sexual assaults in 2012 have, to date, resulted in convictions. Of special note in the Pentagon report is the fact that only 38% of military servicewomen who reported their sexual assault to superiors did not suffer retaliation for having done so.   read more

Legal experts say that the agreements permit company officials to buy their way out of going to prison. “DOJ has championed an alternative reality that has become problematic: it sends the message that justice can be bought,” Mike Koehler, a professor at the Southern Illinois School of Law, added.   read more

Some of those problems can be found with a careful study of the fine print in the PPP contracts, claims Penn State University law professor Ellen Dannin. In her 2011 report on the subject, she disclosed that little-known “adverse action” clauses make the public the guarantor of private contractors’ expected revenues. Dannin believes that this ensures profit for the investors and compromises the integrity of the transportation network as a whole.   read more

Journalists and others have asked for this information, primarily to help address nutritional and health problems of low-income people. However, they have been told by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that it does not have the authority to collect the data. The bill would grant such power, and require the agency to post the information on a publicly searchable database.   read more

The study found that men have a tougher time identifying emotions from female eyes than male eyes. The medical data showed looking at the eyes of men activated the part of the brain known as the right amygdala (which contains fear and sadness reactions, among other things) more than when gazing into the eyes of women.   read more