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

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

Greenwald add that "the FBI traced all of Broadwell's physical locations, learned of all the accounts she uses, ended up reading all of her emails, investigated the identity of her anonymous lover (who turned out to be Petraeus), and then possibly read his emails as well. They dug around in all of this without any evidence of any real crime…and, in large part, without the need for any warrant from a court.”   read more

Some lawmakers want more changes imposed on the flood insurance program, such as requiring property owners in flood plains to pay the true market cost of being in harm’s way. Currently, the program insures 5.7 million homes nationwide near coastlines or rivers. Due to its existing debt obligations, it must pay anywhere from $90 million to $750 million annually to the U.S. Treasury just on the interest it owes.   read more

The VA didn’t formally accept PTSD as a legitimate disability until 1980. Even after this decision, Dolphin was unable to receive benefits to assist him with his war-related problems. Last year, a psychiatrist diagnosed Dolphin with PTSD. He applied again to the VA for help, but The Army Board for Correction of Military Records denied his request on grounds that it fell outside the time period for reconsideration.   read more

Janitors in Cincinnati are currently negotiating a new labor contract with cleaning service companies. The annual salary for a full-time janitor is only $17,836—which is below the poverty line of $18,106 for a family of three. The wage is also just over half the estimated annual cost of living in the city—$33,347 for a one-parent, one-child family, according to The Nation. Because of these wages, many full-time janitors are on food stamps, and receive both Medicaid and housing assistance.   read more

A petition on a White House website (“We the People”) calling for Texas to withdraw from the United States and create its own new government had collected more than 94,000 signatures as of November 14. A similar petition advocating for Louisiana to go its own way had collected more than 32,000 supporters, while three petitions (two in upper-case and one in lower-case) seeking Georgia’s withdrawal from the union had gathered combined signatures of more than 42,000.   read more

In 1980, there were more than 28 million vets and more than two million soldiers on active duty in the U.S. By 2010, the number of veterans had declined to 22 million and the total of active duty personnel had dropped to 1.4 million. Over the past 30 years, the U.S. population has increased by 80 million people. That means the percentage of veterans in society fell from 12% in 1980 to about 7% by 2010.   read more

Closed seminars include the topics: “How to Create Robust, Culturally-Sensitive and Practical Guidelines for Gifts, Entertainment and Hospitality in High Risk Markets: A Guide to What You Can Do” “10 Trip Wires to Avoid When Conducting an FCPA Internal Investigation.”   read more

Who is on the “heat list?” Not just fugitives who have been linked to past homicide suspects, but also victims and those close to victims. The criteria for the list were based on the work of Yale University Sociologist Andrew Papachristos, an expert on Chicago gangs. Joseph Salemme, commander of the fugitive unit, told the Chicago Sun-Times that “hot people” are those “stopped with a murder victim, or arrested with a murder victim—or victims—in the past two years.”   read more

The highest profile race won by an independent was in Maine, where former two-term governor Angus King easily won his state’s open Senate seat with nearly 53% of the vote. Another independent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, posted an even more impressive total, claiming 70% of the vote in winning his second term. In Nevada 4.5% voted for “None of the above” in this year’s Senate race, the highest percentage gained by that option since it was made available in 1976.   read more