President Donald Trump invited the Dodgers to the White House. Many of their fans feared that the team, by accepting, would humiliate themselves and betray the team’s large Latino, Asian and African-American fan base. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, along with co-owner Magic Johnson, have proposed a solution. Trump has promised that if he can keep the championship trophy, the Commissioner’s Trophy, he will end all seizures and deportations of immigrants.   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

Now word has filtered out of the area that seventeen Sudanese poachers, in search of ivory, have swooped into the area, driven out the researchers and, as of last night, begun slaughtering the elephants at Dzanga Bai. This is a sickening development. Not only are wild elephants one of the earth’s treasures, but the sort of people who would shoot them to death are just one step away from turning their weapons on the Pygmies and others who either stand in their way.   read more

After reviewing the court cases, researchers ranked 35 justices who served on the court during the span in question. The ranking revealed that five of the current court’s members made the top nine most likely to vote in favor of business interests since the mid-1940s. Samuel Alito placed first, Roberts second, Clarence Thomas fifth, Anthony Kennedy sixth and Antonin Scalia ninth.   read more

The most common toxic chemicals were cobalt and cobalt compounds (1,228 products), ethylene glycol (1,066 products), and antimony and antimony compounds (525 products) and methyl ethyl ketone (469 products). Cobalt is used in plastic building blocks and baby bibs; ethylene glycol in dolls; antimony in high chairs and booster seats; and methyl ethyl ketone in clothing.   read more

Apple’s tax savings occurred when it borrowed money to finance a $55 billion stock buyback instead of spending some of the $100 billion it has off-shored in foreign accounts, which would have had to be repatriated and opened the way for the Internal Revenue Service to send Apple a $9.2 billion tax bill.   read more

The UN representatives singled out for concern low-wage agricultural workers and harmful practices by the mining industry, among other problems. They cited employee complaints about being paid less than minimum wage, as well as “chronic disregard” for health and safety measures, including the destructive practices of strip mining and “mountaintop removal” by the coal industry.   read more

Because dogs aren’t very good at inhaling smoke, the doctor primarily recommends precise applications of pot via a glycerin tincture. But he also says marijuana can be made into butter or oil and used to cook or bake a range of foods, including dog biscuits. He strongly discourages people from blowing smoke in their pet’s face to get them high, which he calls “animal abuse.”   read more

“Nullification” says states don’t have to listen to Congress, or the U.S. Supreme Court, on laws state governments deem unconstitutional. In South Carolina, a nullification bill deems President Barack Obama’s health care reform law “null and void.” It criminalizes its implementation, and allows the state attorney general “to restrain” any person who is believed to be causing harm with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.   read more