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

During the 1984 restoration of democracy, Pita was elected to Uruguay’s national legislature on the minor party list “Movement for the Fatherland,” part of the right of center coalition known as the National Party. When the National Party pushed through a 1986 amnesty law protecting officials who participated in torture and murder under the military regime, however, Pita formed the People’s Current and joined Uruguay’s left of center political coalition.   read more

Sushi bars proved to be the most misleading in terms of which fish were being sold to customers, with 74% mislabeled. Nationally, 87% fish sold as snapper weren’t snapper and when it came to red snapper, only 7 of 120 samples were actually red snapper. Tuna fared little better with only 59% of alleged tuna being real tuna. In New York, tuna was almost never tuna according to Oceana, which found 94% of samples to be some other kind of fish.   read more

There were 38,329 drug overdose deaths nationwide, with medications and prescription drugs involved in nearly 60% of cases. Most of the fatalities involved addictive painkillers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, which contributed to 75% of medication overdose deaths. Meanwhile, traffic fatalities went up in 2012 for the first time in seven years   read more

On February 19, a family of seven (three adults and four children) were kidnapped after visiting Waza National Park in the extreme north of Cameroon. At least one of them worked for a Lebanese construction company, GDF Suez, stationed nearby. This brings to fifteen the number of French hostages, all in Africa. It is thought that the victims have been transported across the border into Nigeria, where they are being held by a little-known Islamist group called Ansaru.   read more

Gary Friedman, a spokesman for the American Correctional Chaplains Association, told the Associated Press, “There are certainly enough Wiccan prisoners to merit their own chaplain." Wiccan minister Patrick McCollum puts the number at 2,000. Hartmann claimed there are at least as many inmates practicing the Wiccan religion in the Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla as there are practicing Jewish, Muslim and Catholic inmates.   read more

In November 2010, Johnny sued the cabinet, permanent secretary and attorney general of St. Lucia over a pay dispute going back to her first tenure as ambassador in Washington. She asked the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court for judicial review of St. Lucia’s decision to refuse her request for payment in lieu of vacation leave to which she was entitled under her employment contract, but the court refused.   read more

This year a record 71 countries submitted entries in the Best Foreign Language Film category. I managed to see 61 of these films. Although there were many entertaining movies, the overall mood was bleak. As one of my viewing companions put it, it’s as if the stories were conceived during the financial crisis of 2008, written in 2009, funded in 2010, produced in 2011 and released in 2012. Here are my comments on the five nominees, as well some non-nominees that I consider noteworthy.   read more

The favorite in this category is Searching for Sugar Man, simply because it is such a good story. However, I hope that more people will get see some of the other nominees, in particular 5 Broken Cameras. Searching for Sugar Man is the only one of the five documentary feature nominees that is uplifting and doesn’t deal with an important social or political issue that needs correcting. And yet it does start with such a struggle…the fight to end apartheid in South Africa.   read more

Three of this year’s five documentary short nominees have connections with New York. Three of them were produced by HBO and a fourth premiered on HBO. If there is an underlying theme to all five, it is that with all of the negativity in the world, there are still a lot of unheralded heroes out there who are trying to help others just because it’s the right thing to do.   read more

Unlike last year, this year’s set of live action shorts nominees are on the serious side with the notable exception of one and a half comedies, which, as usual, I prefer. Asad (South Africa/USA) A young boy living in a coastal village in Somalia, Asad wants to go out with the big kids and capture ships for ransom. Asad is the standout among this year’s nominees, compressing the plight and the hope of Somalis into 18 minutes.   read more

This year produced a relatively weak bunch of nominees skewed towards animators with big studio experience. Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare” (USA) Madge drops off Maggie to spend the day at the Ayn Rand School for Tots. A bit of background for those who are unfamiliar with Ayn Rand: Rand (1905-1982) was an atheist philosopher whose ideas have attracted such supporters as Rep. Paul Ryan, ex-Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.   read more

During the last quarter of 2012, the vacancy rate for homes was 1.9%, and 8.7% for the rental housing market. To compare, the vacancy rate for homes reached a high of 2.9% in 2008, while the rate for rentals peaked at 11.1% in 2009. On an annual basis, the rental vacancy rate is the lowest since 2001. Low interest rates and a shrinking supply of homes for purchase have been credited for helping boost the housing market, as has the reduced level of new housing construction.   read more

Before they were confirmed, at least four members of the high court indicated that they favored or were open to TV cameras in the courtroom. Since then, however, Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan have changed their minds and now reject video coverage. In 1990, Justice Scalia said, “When I first came on the court, I was in favor of having cameras in the court. I am less and less so...I don't want it to become show biz.”   read more

Federal researchers say more than 30% of new medications—first tested on mice or other mammals—have failed in human clinical trials because they turn out to be toxic or ineffective. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) hopes to develop “human tissue chips that accurately model the structure and function of human organs, such as the lung, liver and heart."   read more

This right, they argue, stems from a provision in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938—even though their own collective bargaining agreement says nothing about the overtime. Part of the case hinges on whether hard hats, safety glasses and ear plugs qualify as clothing or safety equipment.   read more

The deal came together thanks to a longstanding relationship between the university and the company’s CEO, George Zoley. Zoley is an alumnus of the school, and previously chaired its board of trustees. GEO Group is based in Boca Raton, Florida as is Florida Atlantic. Opponents of private prisons were not pleased with the news of the stadium sponsorship and have launched a petition drive against the deal.   read more