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

The Department of Defense has been ordered by a federal judge to release information on American soldiers killed last decade while wearing body armor. U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts ruled (pdf) that the Pentagon failed to demonstrate that Charles’ request for records would “shock” troops’ families. He also ordered the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner to release 89 records to the plaintiff.   read more

About 2.3 million pounds of asbestos was shipped to the U.S. last year, all of it from Brazil, the third largest producer of the mineral after Russia and China. The dangers posed by asbestos have caused more than 50 countries to ban the substance, which is used in building materials, insulation, automobile brakes and other products. But the U.S. government has not prohibited asbestos, preferring instead to regulate its use by businesses.   read more

“The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that passed in the General Assembly today would require the United States to implement gun-control legislation as required by the treaty, which could supersede the laws our elected officials have already put into place,” Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) said in a statement. Actually, the treaty does no such thing.   read more

A different section of the U.S. Code that forbids the use of WMDs by U.S. nationals outside the U.S. also includes “any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas—(i) bomb, (ii) grenade, (iii) rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, (iv) missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, (v) mine, or (vi) [similar] device.”   read more

Batteries gave out sooner than expected, locations of parolees were off by miles, and many sex offenders figured out ways to tamper with or jam the GPS systems. At the urging of corrections attorneys, this information was sealed by a judge, reportedly to avoid “erod[ing] public trust” and to ensure that offenders continued to believe that they were constantly being tracked by a flawless system.   read more

At the VA center in Winston-Salem, 37,000 claims folders were stored on top of file cabinets due to the office running out of space. The IG reported that the weight of the combined folders exceeded the load-bearing capacity of the building itself. Employees had to use ladders and step stools to reach some files. This situation produced at least one work-place injury when a worker was hurt trying to retrieve a file.   read more

In terms of lawmakers’ social media topics, the study came up with seven categories. The most frequent is “position taking” (41% of Tweets and 39% of Facebook posts). The fifth category is “media,” in which the congressional Tweeter may hype himself (“I’m quoted in a Portsmouth Daily Times news report…,” said one Tweet cited in the report). The sixth category is “personal” (“Great meeting with the pres. of my alma mater. Go Cardinal!” said another).   read more

Another problem discovered was that the Army hasn’t kept track of the thousands of personal smart phones and tablets used by soldiers that access military networks. The IG investigation discovered that more than 14,000 such devices were in use without authorization, leaving them more vulnerable to data leakage and cyber-attacks.   read more

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Association of Manufacturers predicted in a 2011 report (pdf) that fracking could help add one million manufacturing American jobs by 2025. These gains have not materialized yet, and in some cases, businesses that use natural gas are continuing to lay off workers. For example, the glassmaker Libbey benefited financially from lower gas prices, but decided to cut its work force and relocate some operations to Mexico.   read more

Federal regulators hired more than 70 attorneys following the 2010 explosion to establish the Litigation Backlog Project and reduce the backlog of contested mine safety citations, which had grown to 16,600. Two of the Backlog project’s five offices are now slated for closure, which will result in 30 lawyers being laid off by June 1.   read more

State Senator Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn), a former NYPD captain, said the stop-and-frisk policy was implemented to “instill fear” among young black and Hispanic men. Adams accused Police Commissioner Ray Kelly of admitting to this during a July 2010 meeting. It has been reported that during the past decade the NYPD has stopped around five million people, of whom almost 90% are Latino or black.   read more

After 30 years of synching traffic lights, at a cost of $400 million, the Los Angeles Transportation Department claims that the average speed on its streets has increased 16%, while delays at major intersections are down 12%. So now, instead of crawling along at 15 mph, a driver can crawl along at 17.3 mph. Less idling in traffic should also cause a reduction in carbon emissions.   read more

One of the clearest indicators of just how important SOCOM is today can be found in budget plans. At a time when the Pentagon has been told to make do with less, SOCOM will continue to grow in the coming years. SOCOM is expected to expand by 7.5%, from 66,100 civilian and military personnel in 2011 to 71,100 by 2015.   read more

here are some of the board members of Goldman Sachs and what else they do: • M. Michele Burns—CEO of the Marsh & McLennan-sponsored Retirement Policy Center; also serves on the board of directors of Wal-Mart and Cisco • William George—professor at Harvard Business School; also serves on the board of directors of Exxon Mobil • Stephen Friedman—chairman of the Stone Point Capital private equity firm   read more

Long-term health problems occurring on the job cost the American economy approximately $250 billion annually, including medical expenses and lost productivity. About $27 billion of these medical costs are born by federal health programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.   read more

In South Dakota, the uproar involves a 40-acre plot of land where the Battle of Wounded Knee took place on December 29, 1890. U.S. soldiers massacred about 300 Sioux, most of them women and children, in what turned out to be the last major conflict of the American Indian wars. But today, Native Americans want the site preserved so people don’t forget the injustice. The land’s owner, James A. Czywczynski of Rapid City, wants to sell it for $3.9 million.   read more