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 recent terrorist attack at an oil complex in Algeria that left dozens dead, including three Americans, has prompted one analyst to point out that the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound two years ago produced documents showing the former al-Qaeda leader was communicating Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a group that opposes the Algerian government. It would appear that the Algerian attack was carried out by an offshoot of AQIM.   read more

American citizen Saeed Abedini has been sentenced to eight years in prison by the Iranian government for allegedly helping establish underground churches in the Islamic republic. Abedini, an Iranian-born convert to Christianity, reportedly led secret churches in the early 2000s when the pro-reform presidency of Mohammad Khatami tolerated such activity.   read more

In the 1970s, however, the Senate changed its rules in ways that had the unintended consequence of fueling an increase in filibusters by no longer requiring senators to physically hold the floor via marathon speeches (also called a silent filibuster). Liberal and progressive critics were disappointed, especially with the retention of the silent filibuster. Senator Bernie Sanders said,"Most Americans grew up believing that in America the majority rules. That is not the case in the Senate.”   read more

The Constitution uses the phrase “the Recess,” only twice, neither time defining it or distinguishing it from “a recess” or from adjournments. Nearly all of the 659 recess appointments made by the five most recent presidents would be invalid under the new ruling, and any government actions that relied on such appointments could be voided.   read more

The report analyzes 873 exonerations between January 1989 and February 2012. In total, the 873 spent more than 10,000 years in prison for crimes they did not commit—an average of more than 11 years each. Five of the most common reasons for wrongful convictions involved reckless or intentional misconduct, including perjury or false accusation (51%), mistaken witness identification (43%), official misconduct (42%), false or misleading forensic evidence (24%) and false confession (16%).   read more

Under Schedule II, Hydrocodone refills would be forbidden without a new, written prescription from an M.D.—not a physician assistant or nurse practitioner. Distributors would have to store it in special vaults. However, the 19 to 10 vote revealed skepticism that the change would have much of an impact on drug abuse. Some panelists also argued that the change would simply redirect addicts to other drugs like heroin   read more

Some are questioning whether the ACA is too burdensome on smokers, especially since smokers tend to be lower-income and to work in jobs without insurance benefits. For example, a 55-year-old smoker could pay a smoking premium of as much as $4,250 a year, while a 60-year-old could pay up to $5,100.   read more

The investigation was launched after the inspector general (IG) learned that former USAID general counsel Lisa Gomer had helped former chief financial officer David Ostermeyer develop a contract for a “senior government-to-government assistance adviser” that would go to Ostermeyer after he retired. The bidding was later cancelled. The IG’s office was told by Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg, USAID’s No. 2 official, that the investigation was “inappropriate.”   read more

James Cyrus Gilbert is suing the Georgia Department of Driver Services, claiming it had no right to deny his requests for personalized license plates that read: 4GAYLIB, GAYPWR and GAYGUY. The lawsuit followed a story by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that said the state has relied on an arbitrary approval process for vanity license plates. While denying Gilbert’s plates, state officials have approved such terms as HATERS and BEER.   read more

Scenic America, a nonprofit public interest group, sued DOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) claiming the exemption violates U.S. laws, including the 1965 Highway Beautification Act. The digital billboard exemption, approved by the FHWA in September 2007, gave the federal government the right to overrule state agreements limiting the use of flashing or moving advertisements near federal highways   read more

The focus of the lawsuit is Texxxan.com, which features images of women, without their consent, who live in Texas. In many instances, the intimate photos were provided by ex-boyfriends seeking to punish former lovers.   read more

A lawsuit was filed against a Catholic hospital in Colorado for wrongful death after staff made no attempt to save a set of unborn twins before the mother died. In a turnabout, lawyers for the Catholic hospital argued that the Colorado Wrongful Death Act did not apply to unborn fetuses because they are not persons.   read more

Afghanistan’s security forces have continued to torture detainees, according to a new report released by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. The torture has occurred despite admonishment from the United Nations and corrective measures by U.S./NATO commanders.   read more

A new report produced by the U.N.’s International Labour Organization says the number of jobless people worldwide is more than 197 million, with another 39 million having given up looking for work. Meanwhile, the incomes of the top 1% globally have increased 60% in 20 years.   read more

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Massachusetts) is President Barack Obama’s choice to succeed current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will stay on until her successor is confirmed. Kerry seems to have been born for the role, but he has nonetheless worked hard to prepare for it.   read more

In order to meet the requirements to join the European Union, the Greek government needed to mask the true level of its national debt. In 2001 Goldman Sachs stepped in and provided a secret loan using a fictitious historical exchange rate to convert dollars and yen to Euros. The deal instantly went bad—for Greece, but not for Goldman—leaving the nation owing more money than the loan itself.   read more