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 plaintiffs in the case are Shaun McCutcheon, a conservative activist and businessman from Alabama, and the Republican National Committee (RNC). They object to current two-year limits on overall spending to candidates (currently $48,600) and groups ($74,600). As it stands, an individual could donate the maximum amount to 18 candidates. A ruling in favor of the RNC would allow individuals to donate unlimited amounts to unlimited numbers of candidates.   read more

Citing data from a current Congressional Research Service report (pdf), Winslow Wheeler wrote in Foreign Policy magazine that even if sequestration takes place, the Defense Department will have more funding under President Barack Obama “than most other postwar presidents (and without the sequester he will outspend all of them, including Reagan). Moreover, it's all in dollars adjusted for inflation.”   read more

The decline was attributed to multiple factors: the slowing pace of the ground war; more fighting by Afghan forces, who possess less firepower than U.S. soldiers; fewer suicide attacks on non-government targets; and efforts by American and NATO forces to reduce the impact of fighting on civilians, including reducing the number of aerial bombings.   read more

A state audit revealed that more than 26,000 inmates in local jails received jobless benefits, with some getting an average of $344 a week. Officials expect to save the state about $18 million annually by not paying prisoners unemployment. Other states have had the same problem, including South Carolina and Arizona.   read more

It’s not the first time that the Postal Service has dabbled in the apparel industry. During the 1980s it launched a retail line of T-shirts, neckties and mugs. However, it was forced to abandon the enterprise after Congress received complaints from lobbyists that it was competing with private businesses.   read more

Mandiant was able to track down the source of the attacks to the PLA unit because two of the hackers momentarily logged on to their personal Facebook or Twitter accounts without first signing off of the servers they were using for their espionage work. A hacker’s use of his cell phone number to register a Google email account for himself provided another clue. Unit 61398 is acknowledged by the U.S. as the center of Chinese cyber espionage operations.   read more

The U.S. Sentencing Commission revealed in a new report that the sentences of black men were on average 19.5% longer than the sentences of white men from December 2007 to September 2011. The commission did not mention racism as a factor in sentencing decisions, but did write that judges “make sentencing decisions based on many legitimate considerations that are not or cannot be measured.”   read more

Experts say the research could lead to better understanding of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and autism, and could produce new therapies for mental illnesses. Additionally, it may open doors for new achievements in the area of artificial intelligence. The new brain project will be organized by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and will also involve the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Science Foundation.   read more

During the study, parents were provided with viewing guides that advised them on how to get their 3-to-5-year-old children to watch shows like “Sesame Street” instead more violent programs like “Power Rangers.” The researchers checked in on progress after six months and after a full year, comparing results with a control group in which parents were only given suggestions for improving their kids’ diets.   read more

Dr. Ratjan Batra, who was born in India and became a U.S. citizen in 2008, noticed an asterisk next to the name of Mississippi on USConstitution.net that explained about the oversight. He contacted Ben Sullivan of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, who called the office of Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who then sent a copy of the 1995 resolution to the Federal Register. On February 7, Mississippi ratification was officially recorded.   read more

The Department of Labor closed off new enrollment to Job Corps until at least June 30 after lawmakers complained about a budget shortfall that has now reached nearly $100 million. The decision could impact as many as 30,000 young adults struggling to find work, and it could mean about 10,000 staffers losing their jobs.   read more

At issue is the Medicare Part D drug program that was created in 2006 to cover beneficiaries eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Before Part D came along, drug companies were required to provide rebates to the government to help pay for medications for so-called dual eligible beneficiaries. But eliminating the rebates has proved costly to the government. The Congressional Budget Office has said the switch would save billions of dollars in government spending every year.   read more

The case, Boyer v. Louisiana, stems from a claim by Jonathan Edward Boyer that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated when the state of Louisiana refused to pay for his defense counsel for five years. Boyer has argued that witnesses died during the lengthy delay and he suffered a mental breakdown which rendered him unable to assist in his own defense.   read more

Africa is set to become a major flashpoint for the U.S. military. Although the stated strategy is “countering violent extremist groups” on the continent, the next general in charge of U.S. forces in Africa has made it clear that the goal is to protect “western interests.” Rodriguez wants more resources for the Africa Command, which was established only six years ago. It needs more drones, surveillance aircraft and satellite imagery, according to the general.   read more

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Amazon the patent (“Secondary Market For Digital Objects”), giving the company the ability to set up a marketplace for the transfer of used digital objects, whether they are sold, rented, loaned, traded or gifted. Amazon’s effort has raised the question of how digital products become “used,” which is more easily understood with hardware or physical retail items.   read more

The most alarming part of the manual, though, says there are times when drones could be utilized to spy on Americans. “[Unmanned aircraft] operators cannot conduct surveillance on specifically identified U.S. persons, unless expressly approved by the Secretary of Defense, consistent with U.S. laws and regulations….Use of unmanned aircraft systems requires approval at high levels within the DOD and the FAA prior to employment.   read more