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

According to Pope, Helms’s aide Danielle Pletka told him he would not even get a hearing unless he agreed to testify on his advice to Zinni regarding Chalabi. Pope retired from the State Department on October 2, 2000, after 31 years of service rather than expose his confidential advice. Later, during the ramp-up to the U.S. War on Iraq, Chalabi was responsible for supplying the George W. Bush administration much of the false information alleging that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.   read more

From 2006 to 2009, Godec was the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia. According to diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks, Godec was quite critical of the regime of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, describing his “sclerotic regime,” as a “police state” mired in corruption, an evaluation that was much-appreciated by pro-democracy forces in Tunisia when it was made public. Godec served as principal deputy coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department from 2009 to 2012.   read more

According to The Guardian, American diplomats have asked the British government for permission to use military bases in Cyprus and to fly from U.S. bases on Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, both of which are British territories. But London has repeatedly denied the requests, citing a legal opinion that concluded Iran does not represent a “clear and present threat”.   read more

At issue is $500,000 contributed to Rick Hill by the Republican Governors Association through the state Republican Party. The money was delivered in early October, after U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell threw out the state’s contribution limits, . The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the limits a six days later, on October 9. Hill contends it was legal to accept the half a million dollars while the limits were nullified.   read more

Children have been jailed for committing minor offenses, including school disciplinary infractions such as farting in class and wearing the wrong colored clothing. A seven-month investigation uncovered numerous illegalities, including children being arrested in school and incarcerated for days at a time without a probable cause hearing. Also, it was revealed that children had made confessions without being read their Miranda rights and having a chance to waive those rights.   read more

In July 2009, Cole became director general for European and Economic Affairs, as well as chairman of the Malta Sanctions Monitoring Board, which is responsible for Malta’s participation in international economic sanctions against countries like Iran. He served in both capacities from July 1, 2009 to July 12, 2012.   read more

Highlights of his diplomatic career include service as consul general in New York from 2007 to 2010 and as ambassador of Senegal to South Africa from 2010 to 2012. Niang has also served as diplomatic adviser to the President of Senegal.   read more

Texas is among the states where OSCE plans to send observers. But Attorney General Greg Abbott vehemently objects to the idea, and has threatened to arrest and prosecute them if they appear within 100 feet of polling places. Despite the fuss and Abbott’s threats, the fact is that OSCE observers have monitored U.S. elections regularly since 2002 without incident.   read more

Internal Countrywide documents demonstrate that company executives bypassed existing safeguards that disqualified risky borrowers and instead pushed to generate large numbers of loans without regard to their quality. The Justice Department complaint accuses Countrywide of crossing the line into illegality by falsifying loan applications so that borrowers appeared to meet the standards set by Fannie Mae.   read more

According to the Post’s Greg Miller, the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command has set up a “targeting center” just 15 minutes from the White House, and the National Counterterrorism Center, formerly a data collection center not directly involved in operations, has been transformed into a “targeting hub.”   read more

Under new rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, drillers must inform Washington via email two days before they extract natural gas through fracking. Industry lobbyists are attempting to eliminate the new rule, so that drillers can go back to dealing just with state governments. The problem with this development is that state regulators often lack the necessary funding to properly protect the public from the dangers associated with fracking.   read more

The monks have continued to build caskets while the case has worked its way through the courts, selling an average of 20 per month at $1,500 to $2,000 each. Made of cypress and considered biodegradable, the caskets come in two styles, traditional and monastic.   read more

Predatory debt collection has increased dramatically in recent years. The Federal Trade Commission received 13,950 complaints about debt collectors in 2000. By 2011 the number had risen to 180,928. Not all debt collection agencies will come under the CFPB’s scrutiny. Of the 4,500 companies now operating in the U.S., only those making $10 million a year (about 175 businesses) will be monitored. But these 175 companies account for 63% of all collections each year by the industry.   read more

But hidden in the terms is this caveat: Authorizing a debt transfer can result in customers losing their 25-day grace period on new balances resulting from purchases made with their Capitol One cards. This results in high interest rates being immediately applied to outstanding balances, according to the plaintiffs. Capital One also charges a fee of 2%-3% of the transferred amount.   read more

In March 2008, the EPA updated the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone to 0.075 parts per million. States then had until March 12, 2011, to submit their revised implementation strategies and the EPA then had six months to issue findings of “failure to submit.” Judge Gonzalez Rogers gave the EPA until January 4, 2012 to submit the findings it was supposed to have submitted in September.   read more

Fulton County is 44.5% black and 40.9% white, while DeKalb is 54.4% black and 30.1% white, according to the 2010 Census. Sandy Springs is 78% white and 12% black; Milton is 72.4% white and 9% black; Johns Creek is 59.9% white and 9.2% black; Chattahoochee Hills is 65.7% white and 27.4% black; Dunwoody is 64.1% white and 12.6% black; and Brookhaven is 47.7% white and 10.9% black. All are also wealthier than the counties at large.   read more