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

Elite Sterling Security, based in Denver, has sold more than 300 backpacks in the last two months at $295.95 each. At least 2,000 families have inquired about them so far. The company also provides ballistic safety vests for $1,040.95. The company’s website gushes: “It's an insulated vest! It's the latest in ballistic protection for kids!”   read more

The last time CO2 levels were so high was likely between 3.2 million and 5 million years ago, during the Pliocene epoch, when the planet was much warmer than now. During the past 800,000 years, CO2 levels had never exceeded 300ppm. The tracking of these measurements was begun in March 1958—when the CO2 level was 316ppm.   read more

Those close to Karzai said the cash went to pay off warlords, lawmakers and others whom the president courted for support. Karzai shrugged off the controversy, noting that his Office of National Security still receives monthly cash payments from the CIA. Later, his office issued a statement that some of the money was used to treat wounded soldiers, but others suggested that it wasn’t wounded soldiers who were receiving “treats.”   read more

More than 3,000 people, mostly young women, worked in the Rana Plaza building that contained five garment factories producing items for JCPenney, Cato Fashions, Benetton, Primark, Canada’s Joe Fresh, Walmart’s Canadian operation and others. Immediately following the tragedy, Benetton officials insisted they had not purchased clothes made in the factories. However, photos and other evidence surfaced indicating Benetton products were indeed produced in the shops.   read more

In terms of dollars, the average white family had about $632,000 in wealth. Their black counterparts had only $98,000 and Hispanics $110,000. Between 2007 and 2010, Hispanic families lost 44% of their total wealth and African-American families lost 31%. Meanwhile, the total wealth of white families dropped by only 9%. The retirement funds of African-American families lost 35% of value between 2007 and 2010, while the funds held by white families gained in value by 9%.   read more

The process often involves hospitals putting patients on chartered international flights and shipping them out of the country, all without going through the government’s deportation system. Advocates for immigrants say the number of medical repatriation cases may increase once the federal healthcare reform law goes into effect. This is because the new law will reduce government payments to hospitals that receive uninsured patients.   read more

When one conspires to violate federal law, it helps to have a government agency or two as one's co-conspirators when law enforcement comes poking around, as telecom giant AT&T and others learned recently when the Defense Department (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) successfully pressured the Justice Department (DOJ) to agree secretly not to prosecute blatantly illegal wiretaps conducted by AT&T and other Internet service providers at the request of the agencies.   read more

In the rush to do something about mounting gun violence by strengthening the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to weed out gun buyers with a history of mental illness, the health privacy rights of patients could be compromised or outright ignored, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which last week solicited public comments on improving the background check system for mentally ill people deemed dangerous to themselves or others.   read more

Originally passed in 1925 as a temporary answer to an alleged “helium gap” between the U.S. and European powers like Germany—at a time when military leaders believed that zeppelins or blimps filled with helium would have a decisive military role in the future—the Federal Helium Program, which has only 52 employees, pays for itself with proceeds from sales, so the budget deficit is not an issue.   read more

About 30% of the nation’s electricity is now generated from natural gas, compared to 16% in 2000. Meanwhile, coal-based electricity is down to 38% from 52% in 2000. There has also been a 3% rise in the production of energy from renewable sources, such as wind and solar. David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy, told the Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics conference: “Natural gas is in the process of wiping out the coal industry, and it’s wiping out the nuclear industry quicker than we thought.”   read more

Prime Minister David Cameron, apparently with a design assist from his wife Samantha, gave Obama a 48” x 70” hanging rug of the Union Jack, decorated with a superimposed eagle, American flags, flowers and a few odd butterflies, made by The Rug Company and enclosed in a canvas bag with teal and orange designs. The Camerons also presented the Obamas with silver Links Sweetie Bracelets and, ever thoughtful, a 13-inch bone-shaped chew toy with the U.K. flag for Bo, the Obama family dog.   read more

Among the richest 7% of Americans, their mean net worth increased 28% from 2009 to 2011, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, according to a Pew Research Center report. Household wealth is defined as the sum of all assets, such as home, car, 401(k), and stocks, minus all debts, such as mortgage, car loans, credit card debt and student loans.   read more

Its training manuals advocated targeting civilians, extrajudicial executions, torture, false imprisonment and extortion. Not surprisingly, many of its graduates—including such notorious figures as Gen. Efrain Rios Montt of Guatemala, Gen. Manuel Noriega of Panama and Captain Roberto D’Aubuisson of El Salvador—went on to form death squads and commit human rights abuses.   read more

"Combat camera teams were directed to acquire imagery of key districts as the local population moved back to local village areas and business trade resumed. These images were used during dignitary visits and provided to the media to illustrate security progress.” When local insurgents used photo of civilian casualties to promote hostility against U.S. forces, Pentagon photographers were ordered to provide images of Americans treating injured Afghans.   read more

There were even rumors that Medina-Mora—a key negotiator of the Merida Initiative that provides U.S. funding to the drug war in Mexico—was replaced as attorney general because officials worried the government could not protect him and his family in Mexico, although it was also said that he was forced to resign after a top deputy was arrested for taking bribes from the drug cartels. Shortly after his removal as attorney general, Medina-Mora was appointed ambassador to the U.K.   read more

. Kairat Umarov, now serving his third stint in Washington, D.C., presented his credentials to President Barack Obama on January 14. in 2004, Umarov received his first ambassadorship, serving as ambassador to India at the Kazakh embassy in New Delhi from 2004 to 2009, concurrently accredited to Sri Lanka from 2008 to 2009. He then served as deputy foreign minister of Kazakhstan from 2009 to January 2013.   read more