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

“Some observers offered the possible explanation that blue states tend to adopt stronger safety laws, while red states opt for looser regulation, presumably leading to more fatalities.” But, Silverstein added, “the sweeping generalization doesn’t hold up under scrutiny,” noting that both red and blue states have adopted seat-belt laws for motorists. Another proposed explanation is that Republican-leaning states are more rural, so their citizens tend to drive more miles.   read more

Since 1979, Dauphin Island has been hit by nearly a dozen hurricanes and major storms, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Most recently, it was blasted by Hurricane Isaac in August of this year. The community of 1,300 has received at least $80 million in federal tax dollars has been given to Dauphin Island over the decades. This amount—more than $60,000 for every resident—does not include another $72 million provided to homeowners from the federal flood insurance program.   read more

The Zetas drug cartel is now selling millions of dollars worth of coal each year in northern Mexico, across the border from Texas. This relatively legitimate business allows the cartel to launder money gained from drug trafficking. In Coahuila state, which produces 95% of Mexico’s coal, the cartel produces or buys 10,000 tons of coal a week and sells it to the Mexican government at inflated prices, earning $22 million to $25 million annually.   read more

Real earnings, in fact, are now equal to what they were in December 2005. Wages have been trending downward for about four decades, according to The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution. Researchers say the median working-age man with a job earns about 4% less than he did in 1970, after factoring for inflation.   read more

115,000 women each year lose private health insurance following a divorce and 65,000 lose all health insurance coverage. This occurrence stems from wives being on their husbands’ health plans and their inability to pay for their own coverage following the breakup of a marriage. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that women’s overall insurance coverage remains lower for more than two years after divorce.   read more

Under current law, travelers arriving in the United States must declare if they are carrying more than $10,000 in cash, traveler’s checks or other negotiable currency. However, according to a proposed amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to also scan prepaid cards in possession of anyone trying to enter the United States.   read more

Although Diplomatic Security funding and personnel increased considerably between 1998 and 2010—the budget grew nine-fold from $200 million to $1.8 billion and the workforce doubled—since 2011 Republicans in Congress have pushed to cut BDS funding by tens of millions of dollars and the agency has experienced staff shortages. In 2008, about one-third of BDS’s domestic sub-offices had vacancy rates greater than 25%.   read more

The problem for the federal government is that it does not have the resources to fight a war on pot possession by itself, not in two medium size states and certainly not nationwide, given that there are about 750,000 marijuana possession arrests in the U.S. every year. With respective populations of 5.1 and 6.8 million, Colorado and Washington annually see about 12,000 and 16,000 pot arrests.   read more

Wal-Mart bankrolled five petition drives in California last year that, if approved by voters, would have qualified the company to bypass the landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Once the company gathered the 15% of signatures necessary to qualify the measure for the ballot, Wal-Mart would offer a deal. The cities could approve the petition themselves or face a costly election battle. The strategy worked. Four cities enacted the Wal-Mart petition in 2011 without an election.   read more

The committee blames the euphemistic nomenclature used in the toxic cleanup industry, which calls sites “closed” and considers them “successes” even though contamination remains that will require long-term oversight and funding. Although industry professionals in both the private and public sector understand how these terms are used, the general public does not, and may assume that a successfully closed site has been restored to pristine condition.   read more

The complaint goes on to say Hershey “has knowingly failed to fulfill its promises. Instead, Hershey has continued to produce and sell chocolate that is the fruit of child and forced labor. If the company has knowingly supported or exploited the use of child or forced labor in Ghana or the Ivory Coast, Hershey itself has acted unlawfully or aided and abetted unlawful conduct.”   read more

Coloradans convicted of “child abuse resulting in death” were sentenced to an average of 29.9 years in prison, 25% less than those who were sentenced to an average of 37.4 years for the equivalent charge of second-degree murder of an adult. Those convicted of the less serious charge of “child abuse negligently causing death” got 13.6 years, 42% less time than those sent down for 19.4 years on comparable charges of negligent homicide of an adult.   read more

The report found that the electric grid lacks resilience and is susceptible to disruption, either from natural disasters or terrorism, according to Steven Aftergood at Secrecy News. It deemed transmission lines and transformers to be the most vulnerable parts of the system, and it was more concerned about physical attacks than cyber attacks.   read more

Members of religious minorities began serving in Congress in 1845, when Lewis Charles Levin, the first Jewish member of Congress, arrived to represent Pennsylvania in the House. Only six years later, the first Mormon in Congress, John Milton Bernhisel, began representing the Utah Territory. California Democrat Dalip Singh Saund was the first and only Sikh to serve in Congress, starting in 1957. The first Muslim, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), was elected in 2006.   read more

Another rising indicator from 2005 is the percentage of these borrowers who are at least 90 days delinquent, up from 6% to now nearly 10%. Many of these seniors—119,000, nearly double the total five years ago—are losing part of their Social Security benefits to the government in order to pay off their loans. The consequences facing them are moving in with their children, less money for retirement and filing for bankruptcy.   read more

Uhlmann told the Corporate Crime Reporter. “It also is curious that the Justice Department agreed that BP could have five years to pay the penalties, since criminal fines are supposed to be paid immediately unless there are ability to pay issues.” In addition, the fine represents only a small portion of BP’s 2011 profits of $27.5 billion.   read more