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

CBP’s own public relations statements give the impression that the majority of those arrested for drug smuggling are Mexican citizens. This plays into the hands of the drug traffickers, who increasingly recruit Americans to serve as their smugglers because they are less likely to be viewed with suspicion by border security. The drug suppliers find no shortage of Americans willing to make the runs, given the need for cash during tough economic times.   read more

The research focused on the 5.7 magnitude quake that hit near Prague, Oklahoma, on November 6, 2011, the largest ever recorded by modern instruments in the state and the largest triggered by injection wells to date, according to the research. The quake injured two people and destroyed 14 homes. The year 2011 saw more than 1,400 earthquakes, the most ever recorded in Oklahoma.   read more

An investigation by the Los Angeles Times found that since the housing crisis last decade, the FDIC repeatedly chose to settle cases secretly with financial institutions. Such actions contradict the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Improvement Act of 1991, which called for bank settlements to be made public. Presumably, public disclosure of settlements would hurt the reputation of the banks that engaged in financial misdeeds, and thus threaten their profit margins.   read more

First established in 1859, the Senate barbershop has been open to the public since the 1970s, but senators get priority. Up until 1979, haircuts were free to senators. Then a charge of $3.50 was imposed, and today a basic trim costs about $20 (plus tip). Senators can also have their eyebrows trimmed for $15.   read more

“The police cannot, without a warrant based on probable cause, hang around on the lawn or in the side garden, trawling for evidence and perhaps peering into the windows of the home,” Justice Antonin Scalia said for the majority. “And the officers here had all four of their feet and all four of their companion’s, planted firmly on that curtilage—the front porch is the classic example of an area intimately associated with the life of the home.”   read more

The USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) share responsibility for inspecting labs that are registered to work with dangerous germs and toxins that have bioterror potential. However, following a USA Today investigation about safety and security problems at CDC labs in Atlanta, the USDA was put in charge of inspecting labs operated by the CDC.   read more

There is a view that, in spite of overlapping symptoms, moral injury—which isn’t necessarily caused by an actual traumatic event—is not the equivalent of PTSD, which is generally associated with nightmarish memories of frightening combat experiences. Not differentiating between the two “renders soldiers automatically into mental patients instead of wounded souls," stated Tyler Boudreau, a former Marine captain and Iraq veteran, who resigned for reasons of conscience.   read more

Among the former presidents receiving this largess, George W. Bush was given the most assistance: $1.3 million. The expenditures included $395,000 for 8,000 square feet of office space in Dallas, $85,000 in telephone costs, and $60,000 for travel. Bill Clinton came in second at just under $1 million, followed by George H.W. Bush at $842,000, and Jimmy Carter at about $518,000. Nancy Reagan, widow of Ronald Reagan, also received $14,000 for postage.   read more

Pearce says his proposal would mean more time for lawmakers to meet with their constituents, and it would save money on travel costs to and from Washington, DC. He also pointed out the idea’s counter-terrorism benefit: any attempted terrorist attack on Congress would be rendered futile, given that its membership would be scattered across the country rather than in one location like a sitting duck.   read more

Afghanistan’s geography will make it costly for the U.S. to ship its military hardware home. Because Afghanistan does not have a port, American commanders must prepare to either fly home everything or drive it to Pakistan, where it can be loaded onto ships at Karachi. Another option is to use roads winding through northern Afghanistan, which the Soviets used for their withdrawal from the country in the late 1980s.   read more

Several scientific studies have linked neonicotinoids to harmful effects in bees, including the loss of a large number of queens. Recent declines in populations of bees and other pollinators have also been blamed on disease and habitat loss. Other studies have dealt with the threat of neonicotinoids to birds. The EPA has promised to review neonicotinoids and complete their study by…2018.   read more

As good government organizations noted, had the senators not announced their votes, the public would have been left in the dark. “When you afford lawmakers the ability to hide how they voted, no one can hold them accountable,” Joe Newman, communications director for the Project On Government Oversight, told Roll Call. The Senate Intelligence Committee had been the only Congressional committee that didn’t disclose voting positions.   read more

Officials say the use of the tag-based FasTrak electronic toll system will save money, with estimates varying from $8 million to more than $19 million over the next eight years. Drivers, including visitors, will have the option of having their license plates photographed and then pay online or by mail. “I think what it is, sometimes we are the first, if not the only smile they get in the morning,” toll collector Jackie Dean told The New York Times.   read more

The Georgia senators claim the border was wrongly set up, based on a flawed survey conducted in 1818 that placed the 35th parallel, the border between the two states, one mile south of its actual location. Fixing the snafu, they maintain, would only put things as they should have been all along. The resolution offers Tennessee 66.5 miles of land that legally belongs to Georgia in exchange for the return of the 1.5-mile waterway.   read more

The Air Force actually relies more heavily on piloted aircraft to conduct airstrikes, with drones responsible for only about one-quarter of missiles fired. The U.S. has killed between 3,049 and 4,376 civilians in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, including at least 179 children. Parents who have seen their children killed by U.S. bombs don’t care if the person who pushed the button that released the bomb were inside an airplane or in a control room thousands of miles away.   read more

Fisher applied for admission to the university in 2008, when stiff competition meant that students who graduated in the top 10% of their class got 92% of the spots reserved for Texans. But Fisher was ineligible for the “Top Ten” admission program because her grades simply weren’t good enough—and she is not challenging her failure to meet these requirements. Instead, Fisher says she should have gotten one of the remaining slots, for which competition was particularly ferocious.   read more