Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

About a dozen species of vibrio bacteria make people sick from eating raw or undercooked seafood or drinking or swimming in tainted water. Until now, researchers had indirectly linked climate change to an increase in illnesses from the bacteria. DNA, a 50-year database of plankton, water temperatures and disease reports show a more comprehensive connection. The most consistent tracking of vibrio illnesses were in the U.S. The CDC blames about 100 deaths a year on vibrio on average.   read more

The hallowed jury trial is a right enshrined in the Constitution and immortalized in American culture. But these days, said professor Richman, it's more a cultural concept than a regular happening.” Kaplan said: “It’s a loss... One thinks of justice being administered by juries of our peers." Jury trials were "a check against the potential abuse of the use of prosecutorial power,” said lawyer Hafetz. Now it's done "behind closed doors. It's hugely disappointing," said Judge Rakoff.   read more

Now high-speed internet is finally reaching these remote places, but not through the telecom and cable companies. Instead, local power companies are more often the broadband suppliers — and to bring the service, they are borrowing techniques and infrastructure used to electrify the U.S. nearly a century ago. In some cases, rural municipalities are also using electrification laws from the early 1900s to obtain funds and regulatory permissions reserved for utilities.   read more

The declassified document shows that if top NSC officials agree that a proposed strike would be lawful and appropriate, the Pentagon or CIA can proceed. “From one perspective it might be seen as reassuring, because it makes clear that these decisions are considered by many different senior people,” said ACLU's Jaffer. “On the other hand, the document drives home how bureaucraticized, and therefore normalized, this practice of killing people away from conventional battlefields has become.”   read more

Think tanks have power in government policy debates because they are seen as researchers independent of moneyed interests. But in the chase for funds, they are pushing agendas important to corporate donors, at times blurring the line between researchers and lobbyists. And they are doing so while quietly reaping the benefits of their tax-exempt status. On issues such as military sales and global trade, think tanks have frequently become vehicles for corporate influence.   read more

The aquifer sits under 20 enormous underground tanks the Navy uses to store fuel for military ships and aircraft. Each tank is 25 stories tall and holds 187 million gallons of fuel. "If we don't have the fuel to operate the forces, then we can't...help our friends," said Rear Adm. Fuller. But one tank leaked tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel into the ground in 2014. The aquifer supplies a quarter of the water consumed in urban Honolulu, which includes the tourist mecca Waikiki.   read more

The Libertarian and Green parties claimed the rules violate antitrust law. "With Gov. Johnson consistently polling in double-digits, we continue to believe that the CPD should make the right and fair decision to invite him to participate in the...debates," said Libertarian's Nielson. "There is clearly an unprecedented desire for alternatives to the Republican and Democratic nominees, and voters deserve an opportunity to see and hear that there are, in fact, other credible, serious choices."   read more

The industry has been on the defensive since Gov. Edwards ended eight years of Republican leadership last November. Geologist Gagliano contends that extracting millions of barrels of oil and gas from below the surface has caused vast swaths of the coast to sink. "It's like an Atlantis oilfield," he said. "Abandoned production platforms now completely submerged. Oilfields developed on land are now under 5 or 10 feet of water. And that is happening all the way across the coast."   read more

The CIA tortured Rahim at one of their black sites. But that hasn't dampened his sense of humor. He mocked the Ashley Madison hack scandal, asking that his profile be quickly removed. "I'll stick with Match.com even though you say it is for old people. There is no way I can do Tinder in here," he wrote. The U.S. claims he had close ties with bin Laden, including knowledge of 9/11. "I am innocent and I was tortured," he says. "I thought I could prove my innocence in the U.S. I was wrong."   read more

Crystal cringes whenever a patrol car appears in her rear view mirror. Her personal experience with police, plus recent fatal shootings of unarmed black men by white officers, has led the mother of two to ask: Who are the good guys and who are bad? "You are the people I'm supposed to go to when I'm in trouble," Webb says of police. Two-thirds of young African-Americans and 4 in 10 Hispanics say that they or someone they know has experienced violence or harassment at the hands of the police.   read more

Hovhannissian put his Arab studies to use in 2001 as a team leader and emergency planner for the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process. He joined Armenia’s Foreign Service in 2009 as his country’s Consul General in Los Angeles. There, he had to help clean up a mess made by one of his predecessors who was involved in an immigration documents sale scheme. In 2014, he was named Ambassador to Mexico, along with responsibilities for Panama, Cuba, Costa Rica and Guatemala.   read more

What would happen if the federal government ended its subsidies to companies that drill for oil and gas? Chances are, it wouldn’t do much. Metcalf’s conclusions suggest subsidies could be eliminated without causing much pain. And they could give some political muscle to those fighting climate change. They may not mobilize Republican politicians to join in the battle. But they help to undermine the case made by energy companies that drilling for fossil fuels merits federal support.   read more

A public defender office claims that the NYPD won't disclose how many millions of dollars it seizes in cash each year through civil forfeiture. A journalist reported in 2014 that the NYPD seizes and retains millions annually by civil forfeiture. Bronx Defenders filed a request with the NYPD, asking how much money and property was seized after arrests. NYPD responded 19 months later with "only two hard-copy documents and an electronic copy of the NYPD Patrol Guide."   read more

Ceccotti said it remains to be seen whether the ruling could be applied retroactively to the 13 men currently on Delaware's death row. "What we know for sure is that the scheme in Delaware is unconstitutional ... and that will have a direct impact on cases that are pending," he said. Ceccotti said all defendants in cases in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty will have to be recharged. "With this decision, capital murder is no longer an option," he said.   read more

What could be scarier than a statue of Lucille Ball that was so hated it was dubbed "Scary Lucy"? Being the sculptor hired to replace it. "It was completely intimidating," said Carolyn Palmer, whose new Lucy is to be unveiled today in the actress's hometown. Dave Poulin's 2009 version was heavily panned for looking nothing like the comic actress. Poulin said he ended up receiving hundreds of angry emails and even death threats for his piece, blasted by critics for its zombie-like face.   read more

In 2007, Groser was accused by his by-now ex-wife of smoking marijuana while on the job as Ambassador in Jakarta. Groser denied the accusation and the controversy died down. Groser was being touted in 2013 to be the next Director General of the WTO. He was not given the post, but it was later found in documents leaked by Edward Snowden that New Zealand’s intelligence service had used U.S. National Security Agency facilities to spy on the other candidates for the position on behalf of Groser.   read more