The pessimism is fueled by problems many are having in paying rent or their mortgages. Fifty-five percent said they had to make at least one sacrifice in the past three years to pay their landlord or bank. Twenty-one percent said they had to work more, 17% stopped saving for retirement, 14% accumulated credit card debt, and 12% cut back on healthy nutritious foods. “It is disturbing that people feel...prospects for social mobility are receding. This survey is a wake-up call," said Julia Stasch.   read more

The Hornes said the government violated the Fifth Amendment by “taking” their property without just compensation. Chief Justice John Roberts reached back to the Magna Carta and the American Revolution in categorically denying the government’s right to set up a raisin reserve program. He dismissed the Ninth Circuit’s argument that precedent dealt with real property and this case was about personal property. Property was property and government needed better excuses to take it.   read more

The number of veterans on waiting lists of one month or more is 50% higher than it was during the height of the 2014 controversy. More veterans are seeking help from doctors, some of whose workloads have increased 20% or more over the past year. The VA faces a $3 billion budget shortfall, which could further impact the delivery of care for veterans. The VA intends to ask Congress for help, but Republican lawmakers may be reluctant to allow the VA to shift monies around to address its needs.   read more

In Ohio, a task force chaired by Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters issued a report saying a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize medical and personal use marijuana could create more than 30,000 jobs and generate nearly $7 billion for the state’s economy. Legalization of marijuana in other states “has not led to drastic increases in crime, adult or teen use, workplace injuries,” noted the report.   read more

Brian Norberg claims in his class action suit that although he’s not a Shutterfly user, a friend uploaded a picture of him to the service and tagged it with his name, which created a biometric profile of Norberg. Now the service recognizes him in other photos.   read more

The three-minute video shows workers on a slaughter line and at a farm location. There is no gentle way to describe the process of killing chickens, hung upside in shackles on a crowded moving contraption that slices off their heads on their way to further hacking and preparation. But that’s the process signed off on by American Humane Association, which inked an agreement with Foster Farms in 2013 to certify that its chickens aren’t abused.   read more

Union Pacific Railroad has sold rights to 1,871 miles of oil pipelines along rail lines in six states—California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Oregon—according to the complaint. But the Terrys claim Union Pacific should never have been allowed to sell the rights. The plaintiffs want the court to establish that the easements allow railroads to use land under the tracks only for purposes directly related to the railroad.   read more

“Sooner or later every case must come to an end,” Judge Neil Gorsuch wrote in the opinion. “After all, that’s why people bring their disputes to court in the first place: because the legal system promises to resolve their differences without resort to violence...it’s pretty surprising when a state and several of its counties need a reminder.”   read more

The staff was allegedly made to transfer the chemicals into non-descript bottles that bore no warning labels. The complaint says Marriott not only required housekeepers to use the hazardous chemicals, but also denied they were dangerous and threatened to fire anyone who complained about them. Housekeepers who did not speak English were forced to sign documents they didn’t understand, including liability waivers, which the housekeepers were told they had to sign under threat of termination.   read more

Some say it’s because police fear for their jobs if they’re caught abusing a suspect, but some police have displayed a more defiant attitude about the slowdown. Those who complain about police “are going to get the police force they want, and God help them,” Lt. Victor Gearhart told the Sun.   read more

The FCC accused AT&T of misleading its customers about the company’s “unlimited” data plans. In fact, “AT&T severely slowed down the data speeds for customers with unlimited data plans and that the company failed to adequately notify its customers that they could receive speeds slower than the normal network speeds AT&T advertised,” the FCC said in a statement.   read more

The 2002 case accuses Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III of ordering authorities to detain hundreds of people, mostly Muslim men, who were rounded up for immigration violations and questioned. The Department of Justice’s inspector general said the government didn’t distinguish for the most part between genuine suspects and Muslim immigrants with minor visa violations. The reports also documented widespread abuse at the detention center.   read more

“Clinical experience is something that should be considered as additional information, but absolutely never take the place of scientific data,” said NCHR's Zuckerman. “By urging FDA to get away from randomized clinical trials, drug makers may have more power to urge the FDA to consider data that is favorable to their product.” Scientist Moore said: “They are pushing the FDA to consider types of evidence that’s not been previously regarded as reliable enough.”   read more

Even worse is this from The Washington Post: “VA officials had prepared to tell Congress that the records had been destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, according to previously undisclosed records, until a senior adviser in [then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s] office pointed out that the timing was wrong and the excuse wouldn’t hold up.” The VA's Jan Frye, who uncovered the purchases, accused the Veterans Health Administration of operating a culture of “lawlessness and chaos.”   read more

CBP reviewed shootings in which 19 people died, several of which involved people who Border Patrol agents said were throwing rocks at them. Two agents were disciplined, receiving oral reprimands. One independent study “found a pattern of agents firing in frustration at people throwing rocks from across the border, as well as agents deliberately stepping in front of cars apparently to justify shooting at the drivers,” the Times’ Brian Bennett wrote.   read more

One contractor, USIS, spent years rushing through investigations of government employees seeking security clearances. Company officials said they had to speed through the reviews because their payments from the government were linked to how many investigations they performed. USIS lost its contract after an employee filed a suit, eventually joined by the Justice Department, about the company’s practices. The system is “just producing shoddy investigations," said AFCIA's Carolyn Martin.   read more