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

In California, Aetna wants to boost rates by 22%, Despite the passage of the federal healthcare reforms, insurers in many states can hike rates by double digits without the federal government doing anything about it. Anthem Blue Cross by 26% and Blue Shield of California by 20% for some policyholders, mostly those from small businesses and self-employed individuals. In Florida and Ohio, insurers have been able to increase rates by at least 20%   read more

The signal from the judge in Sandusky’s case, however, was clear. This was a federal trial, not state, and his written jury instructions reportedly reflected the trial’s narrow scope. The defense was discouraged from arguing that Sandusky was obeying California law, using public statements made by Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama, or citing FBI agents who, they said, had assured Sandusky his actions were legal.   read more

Lawmakers were less popular than root canals (32% to 56%), lice (19% to 67%), colonoscopies (31% to 58%), cockroaches (43% to 45%), traffic jams (34% to 56%) and used-car salesmen (32% to 57%). But they did score higher than illegal drug labs and a venereal disease, as well as telemarketers, the Kardashians, lobbyists, North Korea, the ebola virus, Lindsay Lohan and communism.   read more

The U.N. Department of Peacekeeping has announced that it would deploy unmanned drones to help with peacekeeping operations in the eastern region of Congo, where U.N. peacekeepers support Congolese troops fighting M23 rebels, who are allegedly backed by both Rwanda and Uganda.   read more

The World Economic Forum (WEF) asked about a thousand industry and government experts what issues concerned them the most. The response was similar to a previous report: the divide between rich and poor, governments carrying too much debt, and greenhouse gases producing too much extreme weather.   read more

The Tea Party enjoyed the support of nearly a quarter of American voters at the peak of its popularity two years ago. But now the party’s popularity has plummeted—only 8% of voters claim to be Tea Party members. In April 2010, its support was at 24% among voters.   read more

Things really heated up in 2012 in the United States—last year was the hottest one on record in the contiguous U.S., with the average temperature measuring 55.3 degrees Fahrenheit, a full degree higher than the previous record set in 1998, a significant jump.   read more

The New York Police Department (NYPD) must stop randomly frisking people on sidewalks, according to a federal judge who ruled as unconstitutional the NYPD’s policy of targeting pedestrians in areas of the Bronx that suffer from high crime rates.   read more

John Brennan, President Barack Obama’s CIA nominee, endorsed the Bush administration’s use of torture on detainees, favored granting immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in warrantless wiretapping, and was a principal architect of the U.S. drone “kill list.”   read more

It is no longer illegal for Illinois residents to record police officers on duty, now that a law that has been in effect since 1961, has been nullified by the courts.   read more

Disney World will offer MyMagic+, a special rubber bracelet encoded with customers’ credit card information, enabling visitors to enter the park and purchase food or souvenirs without using credit cards or cash, while their actions, behaviors, and whereabouts are tracked within the park.   read more

The use of biofuels, specifically certain trees grown and burned to replace the need for oil and coal, could worsen air pollution and cause more than 1,000 premature deaths a year.   read more

Tracking down illegal immigrants has become the dominant law enforcement priority of the U.S. government under President Barack Obama.   read more

Operated and maintained by the FBI, the federal Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database contains data regarding 10 million offenders and 1.3 million arrestees, and is growing at an accelerating rate. At present, however, prosecutors have an iron grip on CODIS and only nine states—Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas—have laws granting defendants access to DNA databases.   read more

Under the terms of the agreement, BofA will pay $3.6 billion directly to Fannie Mae, and spend another $6.75 billion to buy back mortgages from the housing finance giant. BofA also agreed in a separate legal case to pay an undisclosed sum as part of a $8.5 billion settlement reached between federal regulators and several large banks. Bank of America officials assured their investors that the entire sum of the BofA payouts will be covered by reserves and 2012 fourth quarter set-asides.   read more

A third provision in the measure would mandate that mobile services reveal the names of the advertising networks or other third parties with which they share consumers’ locations. Franken says his privacy bill is needed to prevent companies from creating a precise profile of consumers’ family connections and professional associations, as well as political and religious beliefs and even health status.   read more