According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

Maplight reported that senators voting for two Senate resolutions (S.J.Res.23 and S.J.Res.24) targeting EPA regulations “received, on average, 17 times as much money ($75,802) from the coal mining industry compared to senators voting against them ($4,464) between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2015.” Thirteen senators received more than $100,000 from the industry during that period—and all of them voted for both resolutions. The Senate approved the resolutions by identical votes of 52-46.   read more

The Bible calls on Christians to “welcome the stranger,” and Matthew 25:41-43 says “we cannot say to those in need, ‘you are not our problem.’” But governors such as Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska have essentially said the Syrians fleeing their war-torn land are not their problem. “The anti-refugee position has struck many observers as hypocritical," wrote Lee, since before the attacks they had "invoked their Christian faith...calling for tolerance."   read more

Boko Haram was ranked No. 1 in part because its terror campaign surged last year, when deaths attributed to the Muslim fundamentalist group increased by more than 300%. In fact, the Global Terrorism Index 2015 reported huge increase in terrorist attacks during 2014, most of which were carried out in the countries IS and Boko Haram are based: Iraq, Syria and Nigeria. The report pointed out that the vast majority of terrorist attacks do not take place in the West.   read more

Consumer advocates have blasted Williams for his proposal. "His amendment benefits nobody but car dealers. And he’s a car dealer,” said CARS' Rosemary Shahan. Williams claimed cars shouldn’t be idled for minor fixes such as a safety sticker peeling off or other minor issues. “This is ridiculous," said Rep. Lois Capps. "(National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration) does not issue frivolous recalls. All safety recalls pose serious safety risks and should be fixed as soon as possible.”   read more

Persistent lobbying by Scottish agriculture officials has convinced the USDA to consider ending the ban on beef and lamb imports by 2017. “Getting back into the U.S. market in 2017 would unlock a huge market and millions of pounds of business for our Scotch lamb and haggis producers,” said Scottish Agriculture Secretary Richard Lochhead. However, the USDA says it will not lift its prohibition on sheep lungs, which would mean any Scottish haggis would have to be altered to enter the U.S.   read more

“In the last three years, at least 12 states have seen their legislative leaders or top cabinet-level officials charged, convicted, or resign as a result of ethics or corruption-related scandal,” wrote Andrew Emett. “At least five House or Assembly leaders have also fallen." Additionally, “[a]t least 36 states have voted on bills that may present a conflict of interest.” The absolute worst state was Michigan, which got F’s in 10 of the 13 categories of government operations examined.   read more

About 73% of all the water associated with the United States’ oil demand comes from international sources. That’s considerably more than the worldwide total, in which 56% of the oil sector’s water needs come from countries outside of where demand for that oil originates, according to ThinkProgress. Water requirement related to U.S. oil needs is more than three times as much as that of China, where 22% of its oil sector’s water needs come from international sources.   read more

The surveys found that self-induced abortions were more common among women who had difficulty finding or getting to clinics that perform the procedure.The news comes in the wake of Texas’ new law that forced the closure of most of the states’ abortion clinics, which went from 41 in number three years ago to 17 today. Still more are likely to close, bringing the total down to 10 clinics unless the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to review the law, overturns it.   read more

All five are from Yemen, but the ongoing war there made it impossible for the U.S. to send them back home. Instead, the Obama administration convinced the United Arab Emirates to take the men. The notorious military facility in Cuba still has 107 detainees, 48 of which have been approved for transfer. Seventeen more “proposed transfers of lower-level detainees are in the bureaucratic pipeline,” according to The New York Times.   read more

A new study by Harvard law professor Richard J. Lazarus found Sotomayor has not been assigned a major case in her six terms on the court. Roberts Jr. is, as The Washington Post put it, “a stickler for evenly distributing the workload of the Supreme Court, but he plays favorites among his eight colleagues when assigning the court’s most important decisions.” In particular, Roberts plays favorites with Roberts, assigning more key cases to himself than any other justice.   read more

A hotter world could wind up being a less populated one. Research says this century is likely to experience more days of 80°F or higher than the 20th century, and that the increase won’t bode well for “coital frequency.” "Extreme heat leads to a sizeable fall in births,” reported the researchers. "It could affect hormone levels and sex drives. Alternatively, high temperatures may adversely affect reproductive health or semen quality on the male side, or ovulation on the female side.”   read more

The delay is “nearly without precedent over the last half-century,” according to Eric Ostermeier at Smart Politics. The 220-day vacancy will be “more than twice as long as the average vacancy among the 219 to occur in the chamber since 1965 and the second longest of the 123 vacancies to fall outside of an election year.” It will not be the longest vacancy since the 1960s, however. That distinction still belongs to Illinois’ 6th district, which went 447 days without a congressman.   read more

Some former inmates have pay-to-stay bills totaling tens of thousands of dollars. David Mahoney owes $21,000 for his stay in the Marion, Ohio, jail on drug charges. He’s now out of jail and is clean, but has a huge bill staring him in the face. “People that end up in jail are usually down on their luck anyway," he said. "They’re going through some trials and tribulations in life. Why focus on the people who are already struggling?”   read more

Disorders associated with marijuana use, including addiction, car accidents and emergency room visits, went up, from 1.5% to 2.9%. Young users were a particular concern of researchers. “When examined by age, young adults were at highest risk for marijuana use disorder in both surveys” said the study. "Clearly, concerns about this age group continue, with prevention and intervention...critically needed.” Nearly three of 10 marijuana users manifested a marijuana use disorder in 2012-2013.   read more

One of the more unusual explanations was filed by Representative Jeff Landry (R-Louisiana), who missed two votes in 2011 because, he said, he “completely lost track of time.” Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona) once missed a vote because he was arrested at an immigration rally on the National Mall. The congressman who has missed the most votes—22% of them—is Bobby Rush (D-Illinois), who was undergoing cancer treatment.   read more

More than 300 veterans are awaiting execution on America's death rows, according to a new study. Veterans make up nearly 10% of the death row population in the U.S. Some fought in wars from Southeast Asia to Afghanistan, the Christian Science Monitor noted, before coming home and killing civilians in a “troubling contradiction to the traditionally valorous picture of returning soldiers.”   read more