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 agency currently has only 2,500 agents—a total smaller than what it had four decades ago—and 60,000 gun retailers to inspect and oversee. The NRA has been so effective in keeping a permanent director from being confirmed by the Senate that even President George W. Bush couldn’t get his choice of Michael J. Sullivan, a former U.S. attorney in Boston, from winning confirmation.   read more

U.S. Army Sergeant Robert Bales could become the first soldier in more than half a century to be executed by the U.S. military. Bales is accused of murdering 16 Afghan villagers, including nine children, in two separates rampages last March. By Afghan standards, there was a seventeenth victim…an unborn fetus.   read more

Republicans have grown to despise the NLRB, claiming it has turned itself into an advocate for labor unions. This is actually not that surprising considering that the NLRB since that was its purpose when it was created in 1935. Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whenever Republicans have occupied the White House, they have appointed NLRB members who leaned more towards the employers than towards the employees.   read more

Carpio-Leon, who had lived in the U.S. without authorization for 13 years, claimed he had the right to keep firearms around to protect his home and family. The justices concluded that the Second Amendment right to bear arms does not extend to illegal immigrants because the amendment only applies to “law-abiding citizens” and they are not law-abiding citizens.   read more

Fowler helped implement Obamacare as Special Assistant to the President for Healthcare and Economic Policy at the National Economic Council. Fowler is now leaving that post to handle global health policy at Johnson & Johnson. Like other companies in the industry, Johnson & Johnson will increase their profits greatly thanks to the fact that Obama’s healthcare reform will provide insurance to tens of millions of Americans who will now being to purchase drugs and use medical devices.   read more

The five-member panel said the State Department lacked veteran security personnel to guard the mission. The agency also relied too much on local militias to safeguard the compound, according to the Pickering panel. Officials in Washington were also criticized in the panel’s report for not making safety upgrades at the mission and ignoring requests for more guards.   read more

Of the 43 people executed by the government in 2012, 33 of them died in Texas, Arizona, Mississippi and Oklahoma, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. As it usually does, Texas led the nation with 15 executions. The other three states each had six. Nine states total conducted executions this year, the lowest number of states to do so in 20 years.   read more

The publication of the report in The Journal of the American Medical Association occurs six months after cancer was added to the list of sicknesses covered by the $4.3 billion World Trade Center Health Program, designed to treat and compensate 9/11 survivors who suffer health problems caused by the event. The lack of evidence linking cancer to toxic debris from the twin towers’ collapse undermines the government’s decision to include cancer on the list and prompts questions about its coverage.   read more

In the United States, 78.3% of the population are Christians, 16.4% are unaffiliated, 1.8% are Jewish and 1.2% are Buddhist. Followers of most of the major religions tend to live in nations in which they are the majority: Hindus 97%, Christians 87% and Muslims 73%. Buddhists and Jews, on the other hand, are more likely to be in the minority, with 72% and 59% respectively.   read more

McDonald’s USA Chief Operating Officer Jim Johannesen wrote in a memo that franchises operating on December 25, 2011, made about $5, 500 on average. Low-wage employees at McDonald’s don’t receive holiday pay, however. Working on December 25 is strictly voluntary, the corporation insists. That means those serving up Big Macs will earn the usual hourly wage, which according to the Food Chain Workers Alliance averages about $9.65 an hour.   read more

Haley chose Tim Scott, a Republican elected to the House of Representatives only two years ago. In taking over for DeMint, he will become the first black senator from the South since 1881. A Tea Party member, Scott will be sworn into office on January 3. Scott will be the only African-American in the current Senate and only the seventh to serve ever.   read more

Clients of ID Analytics, a subsidiary of Arizona-based LifeLock (since March) that specializes in credit analysis, include the top five credit card issuers, top four wireless carriers, auto lenders and other big companies. ID Analytics looked at 1 billion applications for bank cards, store credit cards and wireless service over a nearly four-year period.   read more

Until recently, Bank of America was in a prime position to sway “independent” reviewers who decided whether the bank had wronged homeowners during foreclosure proceedings. The reviewers are charged with examining the cases of 4.4 million homeowners. Victims are eligible to receive up to $125,000 in cash compensation and in some cases get their homes back.   read more

Agent Brian Terry was murdered in December 2010 by cartel members in Arizona using firearms purchased illegally from Lone Wolf Trading Co., a gun shop participating in the operation at the request of U.S. government agents. Terry’s relatives are going after Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley and six ATF agents involved in the operation. Attorney General Eric Holder was not named as a defendant.   read more

Citizens who don’t comply may be charged with obstructing a governmental operation, according to Stovall. For “people who buck us…we are prepared to throw your hind-end in jail,” he promised. Legal advice apparently was not sought before making the decision. When asked if his plan was different from imposing martial law, Stovall said he wasn’t sure if there was a difference.   read more

When Adam Lanza, 20, gunned down 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, the firearm he used was an AR-15 assault rifle. The AR-15 was also employed by James E. Holmes, 24, the man accused of killing 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, July 20. Jacob Roberts, 22, who shot and killed two people before taking his own life in a Happy Valley, Oregon, shopping mall on December 11, also used an AR-15.   read more