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

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

A Boy and His Atom is so small that a thousand frames of the film laid side by side would be no bigger than a single human hair. IBM says the film demonstrates the growing ability of scientists to manipulate matter on the atomic level, a development which they hope will help create new, smaller, data storage solutions.   read more

In the Time/CNN survey, 61% said they are more concerned about the government enacting new anti-terrorism policies that restrict civil liberties as opposed to 31% who are more concerned about the government failing to enact strong new anti-terrorism policies. A majority supported law enforcement monitoring of Internet discussions in chat rooms and other forums, but opposed expanded government monitoring of cell phones and email.   read more

Supporters argued that the change in law will provide municipalities with new revenues through gun reselling. In 2010, Arizona passed a law requiring that firearms seized by police be given to gun dealers for resale. Opponents of the new law claimed that weapons obtained through buy-back programs were exempt from this requirement and said the new bill sent the wrong message.   read more

During 2011 and 2012, 25 billion-dollar floods, storms, droughts, heat waves and wildfires were unleashed in the U.S., killing 1,107 individuals and causing $188 billion in economic damages. Superstorm Sandy alone killed 72 and wreaked nearly $50 billion in destruction. The federal government pitched in more than $60 billion in disaster relief and recovery funds.   read more

The inspector general (IG) for the Department of Energy found the handling of security canines at the Y-12 National Security Complex must be improved in order to assure the protection of the facility and the bomb-grade uranium stored there. “We found that half of the canine teams we observed failed explosive detection tests, many canines failed to respond to at least one of the handler’s commands, and that canines did not receive all required training,” the report (pdf) states.   read more

The study revealed that at least 30 hazardous chemicals were detected in the air following the 500,000 gallons of oil that spilled from a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline. The chemicals included include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, n-hexane and xylenes. Exposure to ethylbenzene and benzene can cause cancer and birth defects, while the inhalation of n-hexane can damage the nervous system and produce numbness, muscular weakness, blurred vision, headaches and fatigue.   read more

“Is this risky? Well, since the satellite was openly contracted, they [the Chinese] know who is using which transponders. And I suspect they’re making a copy of all of it,” Cheng told Wired. He noted that even the encryption technology used to protect the data may reveal U.S. security methods to the Chinese. Another point of concern: What if the Chinese decide to suddenly cutoff the U.S. military from using Apstar-7, such during a critical time or political crisis?   read more

The FBI has cited increasing use of the Internet, rather than phones, for public communication as the reason for its need to monitor online traffic. The agency’s general counsel, Andrew Weissmann, has said that wiretapping the Internet is currently the FBI’s “top priority.”   read more

Fox News Latino got it right and also pointed out that, “Roughly 8,000 immigrants who have so-called green cards join the armed forces each year, according to Pentagon data. Nearly 30,000 non-citizen immigrants now serve in the armed forces.” Non-citizens can also be attorneys and judges, just not jurors.   read more