Imagine that China’s dictator, Xi Jinping, sends one million Chinese troops to invade the United States. Fighting breaks out all over the U.S. as U.S. troops and civilians battle against the Chinese invaders. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, are killed. Meanwhile, China has taken over Florida and declared it an overseas province of China, with Chinese nationals taking over control of the Florida government.   read more

"Whether the sign in question says 'no Muslims' or whether it says 'no coloreds' or whether it says 'no women' or 'no Christians' or 'no Buddhists' ... it is just as un-American and fundamentally it is just as wrong," Henderson said. Claims of discrimination by business owners against Muslims have been reported in numerous states. "It's one of those issues that's tied to the overall rise of anti-Muslim bigotry in our society," Hooper said.   read more

Consumer confusion over organic marijuana peaked in Colorado earlier this year, when Denver health authorities seized thousands of marijuana plants from growers suspected of using off-limits chemicals on their plants. Most of the plants were ultimately released, but some were sold with names that suggested the products were natural or organic. "That misleads people," said Larisa Bolivar. "You need to know that when something says organic, it's organic."   read more

A trial judge had denied Freeport’s post-verdict motion for a judgment as a matter of law on the grounds that Hispanic does not constitute a distinct race under antidiscrimination laws. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals found that Hispanic has long been considered a separate race in civil rights cases. The judges pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court has previously held that racial discrimination includes bias based on ancestry or ethnic characteristics.   read more

A majority of Democrats said they wanted someone pragmatic and willing to compromise, with 53% of Republicans saying they wanted someone ideologically pure. Despite its polarizing effect, the Supreme Court issue does not appear to be a priority for voters surveyed. More Americans think the executive and legislative branches of government wield greater influence than the judiciary, and fewer than 10% thought nominating justices to the high court was a presidential duty most relevant to them.   read more

The NSA defended hiding key details of its process for deciding whether to exploit or disclose software security flaws that make people vulnerable to hackers. The EFF sued the NSA in 2014 for withholding records on the government's handling of newly discovered security flaws not yet fixed by software developers. It had been reported that for two years the government knew about and exploited a security flaw affecting an estimated two-thirds of the world's websites, without disclosing the threat.   read more

An election watchdog filed a complaint Friday with the FEC over a $500,000 donation to a super PAC aiding Marco Rubio from a mystery firm headed by a New York investor. Efforts by good government groups to stem the use of shadowy corporate entities to channel large political donations have been long stymied by the FEC's internal political paralysis. The complaint seeks an investigation into IGX LLC for masking the donation.   read more

Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker signed two bills into law on Thursday that block federal funding from Planned Parenthood and could cost the local organization millions of dollars. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin could lose about $7.5 million a year because of the measures, an organization spokeswoman said. Texas, Louisiana other Republican-controlled states have tried to halt funding for the reproductive health organization.   read more

Facebook said it condemns terrorism but will "fight aggressively" against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems. "These demands would create a chilling precedent and obstruct companies' efforts to secure their products,"the statement said. Google CEO Sundar Pichai also voiced support for Apple. "Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users' privacy," Pichai wrote, adding that the case "could be a troubling precedent."   read more

The Great Plains states led the nation in healthy sleep, buoyed by South Dakota, where 72 percent of those surveyed said they averaged at least 7 hours nightly. The South and Appalachian states got the least sleep as a region. But Hawaii was the worst individual state, where 56 percent of respondents got the recommended amount of sleep. The report also found that while two-thirds of white people nationally got enough sleep, only about half of blacks, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders did.   read more

When Sen. McConnell said the next president, rather than Obama, should select a successor to Scalia, his words struck a familiar and painful chord with many black voters. “Our president...has been disrespected from day one,” said Carol Richardson. “The words that have been said, the things the Republicans have done they’d have never have done to another president.” Said Rep. G.K. Butterfield: “It’s more than a political motive — it has a smell of racism."   read more

The death toll published by the Observatory, which tracks the war using a network of contacts on the ground, included at least 15 people killed when strikes hit a bakery in the city of al-Shadadi near the border with Iraq on Tuesday. Air raids in at least three other villages killed 15 others on Thursday, including three children, while eight more civilians died in air strikes elsewhere, it said.   read more

"I do not believe handguns belong on a university campus, so this decision has been the greatest challenge of my presidency to date," University of Texas President Gregory Fenves said. Professors protested the law with some saying they feared discussing grades with a pistol-packing student, while others said youths and firearms were a deadly combination. "As a professor, I understand the deep concerns raised by so many. However, as president, I have an obligation to uphold the law," he said.   read more

Written by Rep. Ann Coody, the bill states: "the Legislature hereby affirms that it is the public policy of the State of Oklahoma to make a value judgment favoring childbirth over abortion." Rep. Emily Virgin and Rep. Jason Dunnington asked Coody why the bill did not address sex education. "There is only one sure prevention of pregnancy, and that's not to cause it in the first place," Coody responded.   read more

The report found care at the hospital, which treats 40,000 veterans, had been cut to save money, and described surgical instruments delivered to operating rooms contaminated with blood and bone debris from previous surgeries. The report also alleged a top hospital official was improperly drawing two salaries and had prescribed controlled pain medication to the spouse of the regional director without a valid license. The VA declined to comment directly on the allegations.   read more

NOAA exceeded its authority to regulate fishing, plaintiffs say. Industrial aquaculture in open waters is associated with many serious environmental and health concerns, including the escape of farmed fish into the wild, outcompeting wild fish for habitat, food and mates or intermixing with wild fish and altering their genetics and behaviors; the spread of diseases and parasites from farmed fish to wild fish and other marine life; and pollution flowing through the open pens into natural waters.   read more

Men who had said their sexual functioning had been flagging reported moderate increases in their interest in sex and in their performance, although when it came to erections, a drug like Viagra or Cialis would be more effective, the researchers reported. Those who said they felt blue reported a small improvement in mood. But the drug had no discernible effect on vitality or walking speed in men with those complaints.   read more