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

The most dangerous type of call was a disturbance. In those cases, 11 officers were killed. Nine were killed while conducting traffic pursuits or stops; seven died after being ambushed; seven were investigating suspicious circumstances; five were conducting investigative activities; four died in arrest situations; four were involved in tactical situations; and three were killed while dealing with mentally ill individuals. One officer died as the result of an unprovoked attack.   read more

University of Washington's Center for Human Rights reported to police that its office was broken into and that a computer and hard drive were stolen. The equipment contained sensitive information about the center’s recent lawsuit against the CIA for withholding documents pertaining to an American-supported El Salvador army officer suspected of human-rights violations during that country’s civil war in the 1980s. The break-in coincided with a campus visit by CIA Director John Brennan.   read more

An 11-year-old boy was suspended for 364 days from school after school officials searched his backpack and found a leaf they believed was marijuana. But months later, the boy’s parents discovered that the leaf was in fact not marijuana. Field tests for the drug had come back negative three times, but school officials refused to end the suspension. The school officer who pursued the prosecution, Deputy Morgan Calohan, had the boy charged despite the negative tests.   read more

Jones has served in a variety of assignments in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. In 2010, Jones assumed his first ambassadorial post, as the U.S. envoy to Malaysia. While there, he focused on educational projects; getting Malaysian students chances for advanced study; and promoting exchanges for American students in that country. An avid tennis player and fan since childhood, Jones participated in a celebrity tennis tournament in Malaysia, which benefited local charities.   read more

Furuta-Toy was sent to Africa in 2009 as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Accra, Ghana. In 2012, she assumed a similar role in Oslo, Norway. Furuta-Toy ended up heading the mission there for almost two years because of the Obama administration’s inept handling of the nomination of George Tsunis, a bundler for Obama’s election campaigns, to be the ambassador to Norway. Tsunis eventually withdrew from consideration after a botched performance at his confirmation hearing.   read more

Nolan was sent to Ireland as chief of the political/economic section in the embassy in Dublin in 1998. In 2002, he was made Deputy Chief of Mission in Nicosia, Cyprus. He was in charge of the embassy when the State Department issued a negative report on Cyprus’ human rights record. Nolan was forced to bear the brunt of the Cypriot government’s anger at the report. Nolan went overseas again in 2010 as Deputy Chief of Mission, and for a time Chargé d’Affaires, at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague.   read more

“The U.S. government has held back the medical community’s ability to conduct the type of research that the scientific community considers the experimental gold standard in guiding medical practice,” Hudak and Wallack wrote. “Of all the controlled substances that the federal government regulates, cannabis is treated in a unique manner in ways that specifically impede research. Statutory, regulatory, bureaucratic, and cultural barriers have paralyzed science and threatened...research freedom.”   read more

The device in question is the Stingray, a suitcase-size device that mimics cell phone towers and allows users of the technology to locate a mobile phone. The FBI has used Stingrays without a court order over the objection of civil libertarians who say it’s a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against illegal searches by the government. Now, the Secret Service has been given similar authority when there is a “nonspecific threat to the president or another protected person.”   read more

Over a period of eight years, railroads were the subject of more than 2,000 retaliation complaints made by whistleblowers to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. BNSF and Union Pacific had the most railroad complaints, 409 and 360, respectively, from October 2007 through June 2015. Railroads, in fact, made up seven of the top 10 on OSHA’s list of most whistleblower reports. After BNSF and Union Pacific, were CSX, Norfolk Souther, Canadian National, Amtrak and Metro-North.   read more

Much of Jacobson’s work has involved negotiations with Cuba leading up to the normalization of diplomatic relations. Her success in those efforts could pose a problem when her nomination comes up for a vote. Marco Rubio opposed her nomination as Assistant Secretary and held it up for several months. Rubio is now running for president and that, along with Republican delay tactics used on most Obama nominees, might mean Jacobson will be waiting a while to board a flight for Mexico City.   read more

One of Hill’s biggest assignments began in 2007 when she was appointed political/economic officer in the U.S. consulate in Vancouver, Canada. There she prepared for the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics in British Columbia, including securing more space for the many temporary Foreign Service officers assigned there during the Games. At the Bureaus of European Affairs and International Organizations, she planned 60 overseas trips for Secretary of State John Kerry.   read more

The Social Security Administration is still trying to reduce its worst-ever backlog of claims, which hit 1 million cases in 2015. The number of pending cases is the largest in SSA’s history. The backlog is the product of several factors: The number of requests for hearings has increased, the federal judges who hear appeals have become less productive, there are fewer attorneys on staff who could decide cases without going through the lengthy hearing process and fewer judges overall.   read more

The Republican plan to shutter the offices, where voters obtain the most commonly used form of identification under new voting laws, has been blasted by Democrats and civil rights advocates. They argue the move was made to help disenfranchise minority voters who tend to vote Democratic in elections. Of the counties with the highest percentage of non-white registered voters, eight had their license offices closed and they were closed in every county where blacks make up 75% of registered voters.   read more

Binge drinking and its associated costs have been increasing. The costs are up 2.7% since 2006. All forms of lost productivity accounted for about $179 billion of alcohol-related costs, while the cost of people showing up (or not) at work hung over cost $90 billion. The government wound up covering about 40% of the $250 billion total. Costs related to motor-vehicle crashes amounted to $13 billion, while the cost of arresting people and court fees related to drinkers was $15 billion.   read more

Inmates’ families will get a break from wildly inflated telephone charges now that the federal government has put new restrictions on the billion-dollar prison telephone business. The FCC has approved a plan that drastically cuts how much companies charge for phone calls by inmates to their families and others. It is capping calls at 11 cents per minute for a 15-minute phone conversation from state and federal prisons, starting next year. Jails would be allowed to charge a bit more.   read more

The controversial power of eminent domain has cost the Sheahan family their property near Area 51 in Nevada, ending their ownership that dates back about 150 years. The federal government has wanted the Groom Mine property, which overlooks the secret air base, offering as much as $5.2 million for it. But the Sheahans refused to accept the buyout, saying the land was “priceless” to them. Groom Mine is surrounded by Area 51’s security buffer zone which is patrolled by troops.   read more