The U.S. again ranked first in global weapons sales last year, signing deals for about $40 billion, or half of all agreements in the worldwide arms bazaar and far ahead of France, the No. 2 weapons dealer with $15 billion in sales. Developing nations continued to be the largest buyers of arms, with Qatar signing deals for more than $17 billion in weapons last year, followed by Egypt, which agreed to buy almost $12 billion in arms, and Saudi Arabia, with over $8 billion in weapons purchases.   read more

From flag-burning to libel, from conflicts of interest to torture, Donald Trump has made comments that have suggested he was either unaware of the applicable laws or didn't care about them. "Nearly every president has probably done something that a court has later held unconstitutional or contrary to law,'' said prof. Karlan. ``But I can't think of one who had such an across-the-board combination of ignorance, indifference and defiance.'' Added prof. Rakove: “He's consistently uninformed."   read more

The American chemical industry extols self-policing, raises terrorism fears to block the public's right to know and pours about $200 million into lobbying every year. The prevention of chemical disasters remains governed by a tattered patchwork of regulations administered by agencies that have neither the staff nor political support to enforce or improve upon them. And the public has been left largely in the dark about what goes on at facilities that might endanger their lives.   read more

Defenders say the arrangement may bring patients a lifesaving treatment. Critics say taxpayers will end up paying twice for the same drug — once to support its development and again to buy it — while the company reaps the financial benefit. “If this was not a government-funded cancer treatment — if it was for a new solar technology, for example — it would be scandalous to think that some private investors are reaping massive profits off a taxpayer-funded invention,” said KEI's James Love.   read more

In the wake of Trump’s election, despite having lost the popular vote by more than any U.S. president in history, Schneiderman urged Obama to shutter the program. Responding to anxiety within the civil-rights community, Homeland Security published a plan Thursday to do just that. Trump’s team almost certainly had been eyeing its revival. “Perhaps we should have put the nail in that coffin many months ago,” rather than risk it falling into the hands of a “dangerous demagogue,” said CCR's Azmy.   read more

Despite widespread outrage over Trump’s proposal for a Muslim registry, President Obama still has not dismantled the model created by his predecessor, George W. Bush. In a Trump administration, the program will be in the hands of a “dangerous demagogue,” Azmy said. “We can never allow our nation to return to the dark days of Japanese internment,” added Schneiderman. “By finally dismantling the NSEERS program now, President Obama can make a repeat of that horror significantly more difficult.”   read more

A small town in New Jersey has sued DuPont for $1.1 billion, claiming it dumped more than 100 million lbs. of toxic waste into soil and water near the Delaware River, “a disaster worse than Exxon Valdez” that will take 1,000 years to clean up. The site has been linked to cancer clusters in the area. Thousands of New Jersey residents have sued DuPont for contaminating their drinking water. One such case was settled in 1993 for almost $40 million. In another case, DuPont paid $800 per household.   read more

The surveillance devices have been broadly adopted by police and federal agencies. But it has raised Fourth Amendment concerns among privacy advocates for its ability to collect data on the targets as well as innocent bystanders. "...Absent proper oversight and safeguards, the domestic use of cell-site simulators may well infringe upon the constitutional rights of citizens to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the right to free association," the report states.   read more

The Commerce Dept is slated to make no fewer than five decisions about steel trade soon after the inauguration which will directly affect businesses that Ross has a stake in. “His business contacts are deep and wide. Life could be very complicated for Wilbur Ross if he chooses to hang onto those interests,” said Schulzke. “It’s never happened that a Commerce secretary has been so directly involved in the fallout, and rewards, from previous trade deals,” said a former Treasury Dept official.   read more

Republicans may be handing wealthy Americans a big tax cut by repealing Obamacare. The "repeal" part of the GOP promise would definitely have one-sided consequences, said researcher Gordon Mermin. "This is a change that helps high-income folks more than everyone else," he said. "People who currently get these premium tax credits are going to lose a lot." More than 8 million consumers could take a significant hit. They would lose financial assistance worth several thousand dollars.   read more

When CIA said Russia likely sought to influence the U.S. election on behalf of Trump, 10 electors sent an unprecedented letter to Director of National Intelligence Clapper demanding a briefing. Their letter described the Electoral College as a deliberative body whose members have more than an "empty or formalistic task" to cast their votes. "There's been an attack on the integrity of the U.S.," said one elector. "As a person with a background in national security, I take that very seriously."   read more

With the election of Donald Trump, there was immediate concern inside NASA about the future of the agency’s earth-science program. Within hours of Trump’s acceptance speech on Nov. 9, an internal email circulated within NASA acknowledging worry that “funding may now be exposed to severe reductions.” Trump's space policy advisor is pushing to take climate science out of NASA, and his NASA transition chief has strong skepticism about the severity of global warming.   read more

“It was like I was standing out there naked,” said Annette Taddeo, a Democrat who lost her primary race after secret campaign documents were made public. The impact of information released by hackers on candidates in nearly a dozen House races around the country was largely lost in the focus on the hacking attacks against the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. But this untold story underscores the effect the Russian operation had on the American electoral system.   read more

While Tillerson's not a diplomat, he has an agenda overseas that doesn't always mesh with the U.S. government. His willingness to cut a deal regardless of the political consequences speaks volumes about Exxon Mobil’s influence. In Iraq, Tillerson and his company outmaneuvered the State Dept, which he has now been nominated by Trump to lead. “[Exxon and Tillerson] are very powerful in the region, and they couldn’t care less about what the State Dept wants to do,” said Atlantic Council's Seznec.   read more

Concern about police militarization ranges from the NAACP and ACLU to the libertarian Cato Institute. Prof. Kraska said there's nothing to justify most police departments having such equipment. "We don't want local police departments to be incentivized to get the types of equipment that in most cases are a better fit for the war zone," said Koch VP Ruger. Added prof. Kraska: "It just ramps up the probability that this kind of kind of high-end military hardware is going to be misapplied."   read more

An Energy Dept. official called the 74 questions a hit list and said Trump's team appears to be going after top scientists and employees who work on subjects ranging from the Iran nuclear deal to the clean energy mission. Sen. Edward Markey sent a letter to Trump on Friday telling the president-elect that the new Trump administration would violate the law if any of the information being collected is used to punish department employees who carried out legal policy directives.   read more