President Donald Trump invited the Dodgers to the White House. Many of their fans feared that the team, by accepting, would humiliate themselves and betray the team’s large Latino, Asian and African-American fan base. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, along with co-owner Magic Johnson, have proposed a solution. Trump has promised that if he can keep the championship trophy, the Commissioner’s Trophy, he will end all seizures and deportations of immigrants.   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

CRS analyst Thomas L. Hungerford looked at 65 years of data and couldn’t determine how changes in the top marginal tax rate and the top capital gains tax correlated with economic growth. He did find, however, a connection between reductions in tax rates for wealthy Americans and growing concentrations of income for top earners.   read more

A report from the National Research Council of the National Academies in 2010 concluded that the new lab would have a 70% chance of accidentally releasing a pathogen during its projected 50-year life. However, a subsequent report reduced the risk percentage to less than 1%. Opponents still point to the fact that Manhattan is prone to tornadoes, just like the rest of Kansas, which was struck by 187 twisters in just one year (2008).   read more

Under the Immigration Act of 1990, employment visas can be given to those possessing “extraordinary ability” in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. Noroozi sought the visa claiming to be a top international player. He finished tied for 65th and last place at the 2008 Olympics, having lost his only match. He was ranked 284th in the world.   read more

Before the mid-1990s, jail populations historically were evenly split between pretrial and sentenced prisoners. Since 1996, however, pretrial inmates have grown in numbers and at a faster rate than sentenced inmates, even though crime rates have been falling. Today, 61% of inmates have not been convicted, while 39% are serving sentences. Arrestees who are able to post bond are less likely to be convicted than those who cannot.   read more

According to the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Miranda v. Arizona, suspects who are arrested must be informed that they have the right to remain silent and that anything they say may be used against them. The question is whether Miranda rights extend to students at school. The issue stems from a case involving a high school student who was caught with a prescription painkiller on campus and giving some of it to two students.   read more

The bank essentially submitted preliminary low bids for energy (perhaps even at a negative amount), thus qualifying for “a bid cost recovery” payment even if they weren’t accepted. Those bids would be money losers for JPMorgan if accepted, but the next day it allegedly submitted real bids too high to be accepted and pocketed the windfall.   read more

Officially, the department says it does not follow individuals who tweet. Instead, officials probe for certain keywords, presumably those that might provide tips about potential threats. Nevertheless, it says it is following 333 Twitter accounts, and privacy advocates are wary of what DHS is up to on Twitter.   read more