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

\Meals on Wheels (MOW) saves money by helping clients live at home instead of in more expensive nursing homes. As MOW clients tend to be poor, their nursing home bills are paid by Medicaid, at an average annual cost of $57,878. When seniors receive home care, in contrast, the cost to Medicaid is about $15,371 per year, or $42,507 less than nursing home care.   read more

In December 2011, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, blocked the sale of the drug to young girls without a prescription, presumably because of a lack of data proving it would be safe. Many saw this decision merely as a political move by the Obama administration to protect vulnerable Democratic candidates in an election year.   read more

There are several theories as to why the 86 cleared prisoners have not been released. For some, returning to their native countries would expose them to retaliation by their governments. For others, such as those from Yemen, the Obama administration may feel that the political situation there is too volatile, and the released prisoners might join terrorist groups, either voluntarily or involuntarily.   read more

Colorado-based Energy Fuels Resources, a subsidiary of Toronto-based Energy Fuels, Inc. (2012 revenues: $25 billion), argues that the January 2012 Obama administration policy barred only new claims on the one million acres surrounding the park. Because the company's “Old Canyon mine” received regulatory approval and opened in the 1980s, Energy Fuels persuaded the U.S. Forest Service to approve the mine’s re-opening based on environmental and other regulatory approvals issued in 1986.   read more

Next time you grumble about the high price of gasoline, consider this surprising fact: The U.S. is awash in a glut of crude oil, with inventories at their highest level since the government began keeping monthly data in 1931. Although the price of crude oil is down, consumers should not expect much of a price cut at the gas pump, thanks to continued, although slowing, demand worldwide and the effects of speculation.   read more

The largest increases occurred in the Baby Boom generation. For men in this cohort, the suicide rate jumped 50% among those in their 50s. Among women age 60-64, the rate soared even higher, by 60%. Easy access to prescription painkillers may have played a role as well. However, suicides by hanging saw the highest increase (81%), and most suicides are still committed using firearms.   read more

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that as of 2011, 62% of women age 20-24 who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried. This rate was considerably higher than that for women 35-39, who came in at 17%. More than half (57%) of women with less than a high school diploma in 2011 who had had a child in the past year were unmarried. In contrast, only 9% of recent mothers with a bachelor’s degree or higher were unmarried.   read more

The rock was stored in an apparently abandoned office building in San Jose, kept under armed guard at an attorney’s office in Santa Barbara, and then transferred once again to a private vault in South El Monte. The emerald was then driven to Las Vegas, where it played a supporting role in the fall of fraudster Bernard Madoff and a shady deal between some Colombians that nearly ended in bloodshed in the desert.   read more

Chesimard was eventually captured, tried and convicted in 1977 of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and other crimes. She was sentenced to life in prison, but escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey on November 2, 1979, with the help of armed visitors, and made her way to Cuba, where she resides today, according to the FBI. The FBI declared her a terrorist in 2005. She was the godmother of rapper Tupac Shakur.   read more

Rows of booths stuffed with produce like Pineapple Thai, Super Mango and Blue Dream belie the fact that growers and sellers risk arrest, incarceration and heavy fines for their activities. Just last month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office took action against 63 pot shops in Santa Ana. The authorities executed search warrants at two locations, filed asset forfeiture complaints against three properties where seven stores are located and sent threatening letters to 56 other parties.   read more

The pitch, a derivative of tar once used for waterproofing boats, is so slow that a grand total of only eight drops have been produced since the stem of the funnel was cut in 1930. The drops fell in 1938, 1947, 1954, 1962, 1970, 1979, 1988 and 2000. Unfortunately, no one involved with the study has seen a drop in action, including Professor John Mainstone, who has run what is thought to be the world's oldest laboratory experiment since 1961.   read more

In 2012, conservative elements in Paraguay's government engineered what Paraguay's neighbors Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and others, termed a coup, by impeaching Lugo and giving him only two hours to prepare a defense. Franco became president in June, naming Pfannl interim head of the Ministry of Information and Communication, an important post in the days after the coup. Franco later named Pfannl Minister of Planning and Economic and Social Development.   read more

West Chemical and Fertilizer had enough anhydrous ammonia, a highly volatile gas that attacks the eyes, skin and respiratory system, to require it to follow this OSHA standard. However, the standard contains what is known as the “retail exemption.” According to OSHA, a fertilizer facility can avoid these extra requirements as long as more than half of the company’s sales are to end users (i.e. farmers).   read more

The U.S. Department of Labor investigated Henry’s Turkey Service in both 1997 and 2003 and concluded that the workers were being paid substandard wages. However, the federal government took no action. After a 2009 tip about the conditions at Henry’s, both the state and the federal government imposed million-dollar fines, but Henry’s simply didn’t pay them.   read more

While attending the Halloween festivities, Gonzalez was accused by the event’s bouncer of being too drunk. The student insisted he was not intoxicated, and that the security guard mistook him for one of the other eight people dressed as Waldo. Nevertheless, Gonzalez was told to leave the party, which he did. He claims the bouncer then approached him outside the event and punched him without provocation. The blow knocked Gonzalez out and resulted in a fractured jaw, he says.   read more

The plaintiffs added that “the circumstances surrounding his death are bizarre” and “they have been unable to fully and finally determine how Chuck died,” which made it “impossible to collect on life insurance because of the mutilation of the body and the missing heart.” To add insult to injury, the companies offered no apology for sending Doherty’s heart home separately, while also trying to charge the family for shipping costs.   read more