The Obama administration promised to crack down on those suspected of bilking thousands of people seeking higher education. But Education Dept. money has continued to flow to schools accused of illegal acts and predatory behavior. Those still receiving federal monies include the Education Management Corporation, which accepted $1.25 billion from the government over the past year. “It has been investigated or sued in recent years by prosecutors in at least 12 states,” reported the Times.   read more

In El Paso, where 20% of residents live below the poverty line, judges regularly send people to jail without holding a poverty hearing. Of 100 cases of people jailed for at least five days last year, not one showed that the judge had considered the defendant’s ability to pay before locking them up. “I just find this to be outrageous,” said professor Susan Crump. She said judges who jail people because they are too poor to pay are either “not knowing, or not able to read the law, or not caring.”   read more

While airstrikes against the rebels haven't been carried out by the U.S., the attacks have included U.S.-made weaponry sold to the Saudis. It includes 1,300 cluster bombs the Saudis obtained in a deal with U.S. defense contractor Textron Defense Systems, which made $640.8 million from a Pentagon-approved sale. The U.S. also provides intelligence personnel to help with targeting support, refuels Saudi jets with air tankers and provides search-and-rescue support for downed Saudi pilots.   read more

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland called the new panel “a waste of taxpayer money and Congress’ time, much in the same way that time and money have been squandered by the Select Committee on Benghazi.” Rep. Gwen Moore said, “We know that fetal tissue procurement ... provides life-saving research for diseases like Parkinson’s, ALS... This is just another pathway to deny a woman a right to a safe and legal abortion.” Planned Parenthood officials called the committee addition a “five-ring circus.”   read more

“The U.K. and U.S. are both insisting that the wording for any mandate about autonomous weapons should discuss only emerging technologies," said Noel Sharkey. Such a development would undermine the intent of the agreement, and result in autonomous weapons systems becoming a part of modern warfare. “If there is not a pre-emptive ban on the high-level autonomous weapons then once the genie is out of the bottle it will be extremely difficult to get it back in,” said the U.N.'s Christof Heyns.   read more

Oxfam singled out the U.S., Iran, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey for “fueling violence and violations of war in Syria through arms and ammunition transfers to parties to the conflict.” Along with the U.K. and Kuwait, the U.S. also was criticized for its “less than generous” offers “to welcome the most vulnerable refugees.” Oxfam claims the U.S. has resettled only 8% of its “fair share” of refugees. Since 2011, only 1,500 Syrian refugees have been admitted into the country.   read more

The European Court has invalidated an international agreement that allows the sharing of online data between the U.S. and Europe by Internet companies like Google and Facebook. The ruling could affect the flow of digital information such as users’ web search histories and social media updates. “The court said leaks from Edward J. Snowden...made it clear that American intelligence agencies had almost unfettered access to the data, infringing on Europeans’ rights to privacy,” said the Times.   read more

Doctors Without Borders contacted the U.S. military to urge them to stop the attack, but it went on for 30 minutes.The Pentagon first denied it even happened, then said it did but that the Taliban could have been using it as a base; then blamed it on Afghan forces that requested help from the U.S. while fighting the Taliban. Gen. John F. Campbell, American commander in Afghanistan, is said to believe U.S. troops broke rules of engagement by calling in the airstrike on behalf of Afghan forces.   read more

“It is appalling that Faisal was deemed worthy of meetings in Washington D.C. with White House and National Security Council officials, but that the U.S. is trying its level best to avoid apologizing, and to block his quest for justice by kicking him out of the courts,” said his attorney, Cori Crider. “There is no good reason that the president stood up in front of the world with the Lo Porto and Weinstein families to say sorry for the U.S.’s tragic mistake, but can’t do so for a Yemeni man.”   read more

The World Trade Center Health Program, serving more than 70,000 first responders to the 9/11 attacks, was allowed to expire on Oct. 1. Funding will continue for about a year, with services being gradually phased out. Eventually, these heroes, sickened by the work they did, will be turned away.   read more

Alabama enacted a voter identification law in 2011 and allowed it to take effect after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. Now it is closing eight of 10 driver license bureaus in counties with the highest percentages of African-American citizens.   read more

Victims of domestic violence are often reluctant to call police for help, and a new survey indicates why: most are afraid police won’t believe them or that calling them will make things worse. The survey, involving more than 600 respondents and published by the National Domestic Violence Hotline, found more than half agreed with a statement that reaching out to law enforcement “would make things worse.”   read more

Even patients who are receiving hospice care and are near death are reported to have received the maximum amount of therapy. Between 2010 and 2013, about 110,000 patients died within five days of receiving ultrahigh therapy. If after such therapy “a large number of people are ending up in a hospice, that’s not a good outcome,” said professor Brant Fries, and “if you have lots of people who are dying, it doesn’t make any sense why you’re giving them rehab.”   read more

Four national polls have shown that the majority of Americans favor the continued federal funding of Planned Parenthood, despite attacks from conservative lawmakers in the wake of the release of phony videos about the organization’s practices. Republicans in Congress have demanded the cutoff of all funding for Planned Parenthood, and even threatened to shut down the government if they don’t get their way. Such a move would run counter to the views of most Americans.   read more

“The [Benghazi] committee has squandered the last 16 months and more than 4.5 million taxpayer dollars dredging up political attacks to impact the 2016 presidential election—a severe misuse of taxpayer funds..." said the committee's top Democrat, Rep, Elijah Cummings. "The committee has turned into a political punchline. Sadly, that comes at the expense of being taken seriously and being able to take effective, bipartisan actions to improve the security of our diplomats abroad.”   read more

VA whistleblower reprisal cases filed with OSC in 2013 totaled 405. This year, they’re projected to reach 712, a 75% increase. Consequently, her small staff has been “truly overwhelmed,” Lerner testified. “The VA has a culture problem with whistleblower retaliation,” Senator Ron Johnson said during the hearing. “The most troubling aspect being that in the end, it’s the veterans who ultimately suffer when the courageous employees who expose wrongdoing are punished.”   read more