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 many states across the country, companies receive their employees’ personal income tax payments, either directly or indirectly, because of tax-break programs designed to encourage job creation or job retention. More than 2,700 companies in 16 states are collecting nearly $700 million each year in tax payments.   read more

While the East Coast was battered by Hurricane Sandy, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s preference for privatizing FEMA became the focus of attention. The Romney/Ryan ticket seeks to dismantle FEMA, publicly demanding that the federal government only disburse disaster relief funding if Congress offset it with budget cuts elsewhere.   read more

Billions of dollars have been spent over decades to reduce harmful runoff into the Gulf of Mexico, where fish and other species die off each year. But the longstanding efforts have failed to slow down the problem. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls it the costliest and most damaging environmental problem facing the country.   read more

Chevron Corp. gave a $2.5 million contribution earlier this month to the conservative Congressional Leadership Fund, which is dedicated to electing Republicans to Congress. Chevron’s gift accounted for most of the $3.1 million raised by the Congressional Leadership Fund during the first half of the October.   read more

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for violating the constitutional rights of Americans who try to use cameras near ports of entry. In different instances, CBP officers prevented two Americans from taking photos at border crossings, thus denying their free-speech rights.   read more

Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities of Islam, have undergone dramatic modern developments at the expense of historical buildings and places, which has provoked anger at the Saudi royal family. In Medina, three of the world’s oldest mosques are slated for demolition so Saudi officials can expand the Masjid an-Nabawi mosque.   read more

State officials in Tennessee in July decided to close two detention centers housing minors in order to reduce the Department of Children’s Services’ budget. It has cost dearly in terms of violence.   read more

The United States is labeled as “An Iconic Brand in Decline” and is ranked eighth in the world based on the Country Brand Index (CBI) in a survey taken by FutureBrand.   read more

Citizens of Ohio are now enduring a record-breaking onslaught of presidential campaign commercials in what is being called an “advalanche.” Besides the parties themselves, seventeen different outside groups have funded the waves of commercials to influence the outcome of the race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. All but three of these groups are pro-Romney or, more accurately, anti-Obama.   read more

Fracking so close to a nuclear power plant seems like a bad idea, especially in light of a report released in March by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources concluding that a rash of 12 earthquakes in the Youngstown, Ohio, area between March and December 2011 was likely due to nearby fracking operations. Shippingport is less than 45 miles away from Youngstown, with similar geology.   read more

At least four 2012 swing states–Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, and Florida–rely at least partially on machines that produce no paper ballot and are thus even easier to hack. Those four states account for 71 electoral votes in the presidential race, more than one-quarter of the 270 needed for victory. In Pennsylvania, 80% of voters will use paperless systems to cast their ballots, and in Virginia almost 75%.   read more

U.S. Oil Sands hope to begin strip mining for bitumen, which can be refined into oil, in early 2014 if it is able to finalize the permitting process in the next several weeks. It has already dug out a two-acre test pit. The company found water at a depth of 1,800 feet and will use it in the mining process.   read more

The state of Idaho filed suit against a secretive group that has spent more than $200,000 on campaign ads supporting three school reform ballot measures but refuses to disclose its donors as required by state law. The group, which calls itself “Education Voters of Idaho” (EVI), popped up in August and gave $200,350 to a political committee called “Parents for Education Reform” (PER), which immediately spent the money on statewide TV ads. The two groups share the same mailing address.   read more

Those suing the NSA are telephone service customers who claim something needs to be done to check the government’s unlimited authority to monitor any person’s communications. In addition to claiming it will only use the TSP when necessary, the NSA is refusing to turn over evidence related to what plaintiffs say is a warrantless “dragnet’ surveillance of U.S. citizens.   read more

David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress, writes that “This vastly under-reported case has tremendous implications for millions of Americans and could undermine our ability to use sites like eBay and Craigslist—or even hold old-fashioned garage sales."   read more

Calling the practice “extortion,” Columbia, South Carolina, councilman and defense attorney Seth Rose recently struck a blow against websites that post booking photos—aka mugshots—taken by police and local jails and then charge for their removal, even when the individuals in the photos were never formally charged, much less convicted, of any crime.   read more