Such milestone events as the Revolutionary War and the drafting of the U.S. Constitution could be completely ignored. Cutting out early U.S. history in 11th grade hurts the ability of students to “think historically” when they reach higher education, according to a letter sent to the state Board of Education by university educators.That, of course, might be exactly what the Republican-dominated state government has in mind. “It’s disabling their citizenship,” said DSU's Ben Jones.   read more

Lobbyist Bruce Burkett convinced lawmakers to amend HB 1328 so it allowed “less than lethal” weapons on drones, including rubber bullets, tear gas and Tasers--many of which have caused death. The ACLU argues that "police drones are a new kind of threat to that compromise between security and liberty,” wrote Pyke. “[It] supports laws to restrict law enforcement’s use of them, and makes a compelling case that absent such restraints the technology is fundamentally at odds with the Bill of Rights.”   read more

The meat was purchased from a variety of stores. The test results showed that all 458 pounds of the beef contained bacteria that indicated feces came into contact with the meat at some point. One kind of bacteria detected can cause blood or urinary tract infections. Nearly 20% of the test meat contained another bacteria that causes about 1 million cases of food poisoning each year. Only 1% contained Salmonella, which causes 1.2 million illnesses and 450 deaths in the U.S. annually.   read more

Despite government claims of safety, officials admit that one way nuclear material could be spread into the atmosphere is if a nuclear facility was hit by a fire. Now a report says that a federal nuclear agency has failed to upgrade aging fire suppression systems in its buildings. The NNSA claims it doesn’t have enough funding to replace aging water pipes intended to prevent or fight fires at nuclear weapons facilities.   read more

“The U.S. could likely reduce its number of school shootings, workplace shootings, and public mass shootings...if it reduced the number of guns in circulation,” said Lankford. “Until now, everyone was simply speculating about the relationship between firearms and public mass shootings. My study provides empirical evidence, based on my quantitative assessment of 171 countries, that a nation's civilian firearm ownership rate is the strongest predictor of its number of public mass shooters."   read more

The decision has already been cited as precedent in an anti-robocall case, an anti-panhandling ordinance and a case involving a voter who took a selfie with their ballot. Justice Elena Kagan joined in the result of Thomas’ opinion, but in a concurrence took issue with the strict scrutiny standard, writing that it might mean that the Supreme Court “may soon find itself a veritable Supreme Board of Sign Review.”   read more

The Pentagon turned to General Atomics because it wants to “boost its drone presence by 50 percent in four years,” Tucker wrote. The Air Force says it needs help from contractors because although it brings in 180 new pilots every year, it needs about 300 of them and loses about 240 because of attrition, according to Military.com. Predator drones have been used to kill about 3,000 people, according to some estimates.   read more

Up to 100,000 young people, even those charged with non-violent offenses, walk into courtrooms handcuffed or in leg irons, or both. “Children as young as 9 have been shackled, as have children who have been abused by their parents,” said Christian Science Monitor. Critics say use of the restraints is contrary to the rehabilitative purpose of juvenile court, and can hurt, humiliate and traumatize children. Once sent to prison, they can be subject to another form of abuse--solitary confinement.   read more

Residents of China have accounted for 90% of the visas issued from DHS in 2014, according to government data. “For rich Chinese, a green card is a ticket out of China -- a way to escape heavy pollution or gain access to improved education options,” wrote CNN’s Sophia Yan. EB-5 has proven popular with scammers and possibly even spies who have used the program to gain entry into the country. The SEC reportedly received more than 100 tips of possible securities fraud connected to the EB-5.   read more

The DEA conducted the mass surveillance without court approval, gathering billions of phone records on calls made to more than 100 countries. “Friday’s decision is rare,” Rumold wrote. “EFF is not aware of any other case where discovery has been allowed into a government mass surveillance program. And the order forces the government to answer questions, under oath, about the steps it took to ensure that all illegally collected records have been fully purged from all government systems.”   read more

Trump’s “constant presence on Fox News has likely aided his rise to first place in Republican primary polls,” said Media Matters for America. “New York magazine reported that Rupert Murdoch had asked Fox News head Roger Ailes to have the network ‘back off the Trump coverage,’ which Ailes refused to do.” Fox News, which has been accused of trying to usurp the Republican primary process, “has caused a rift among conservative media figures, including within Fox News,” added Media Matters.   read more

Walker agreed to the stadium deal despite criticism from fiscal hawks. “It is difficult to think of a clearer illustration of a politician’s comically misplaced priorities,” wrote Weissman. Once interest on the bonds is factored in, taxpayers will end up paying closer to $400 million for the stadium. The education cut was Walker’s “most damaging and telling attack on the public sector,” said Bob Peterson. “K-12 public schools were particularly decimated."   read more

When 3 million gallons of heavy-metal laced water first poured from the Gold King mine into the Animas River, it was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the spotlight. Now, it has come out that those working at the mine when the waste poured out worked for Environmental Restoration LLC, based in Missouri. Environmental Restoration frequently contracts for the EPA, collecting more than $350 million in business from the agency.   read more

Rents have risen steadily since the housing crisis, so much so that the share of income people spent on rent reached 30.2% during the second quarter this year. That rate is the highest recorded by real estate company Zillow, which has been tracking such data since 1979. The percentage was 29.5% during the second quarter of 2014. The median rent nationwide also is up from last year, by 4.3%.   read more

Lead researcher Willem Verstraeten said “the dominant westerly winds blew this air pollution straight across to the United States. In a manner of speaking, China is exporting its air pollution to the West Coast of America." The study relied on satellite observations and computer models of airborne molecules traveling in the lower atmosphere. This research revealed that China expanded its ozone levels by about 7% from 2005 to 2010--enough to counter the 20% reductions in the U.S.   read more

“It’s a national embarrassment,” said criminology professor Geoffrey P. Alpert. “Right now, all you know is what gets on YouTube.” The problem is police departments don’t use the same reporting standards. Some have combined the accounts of officers punching someone with the times they have shot someone. Some big-city departments claim they don’t collect data on the use of force, while others balked at sharing it. “Those that do keep track are under no obligation to release it,” said the Times.   read more