Trump said, “We need people to be afraid. Right now many Americans are surprised when protestors are killed, but they’ll get used to it.” Trump did add one suggestion: “Try not to kill white people. That gets too much attention. Stick to protestors of other colors.”   read more

In one case, a single reviewer at one company “completed” 15,152 background investigations in just one month (a daily average of more than 500), “with most of these occurring within minutes of each other on multiple days,” the IG’s report states. The audit also discovered at least 17 investigation reports were turned into OPM without a manager at the contractor first reviewing them, which went against procedure.   read more

Lerner is former director of the IRS exempt organizations unit, which evaluates applications from groups for tax-exempt status. She has been the focus of investigations by House Republicans. Now, the IRS says it’s unable to deliver emails between Lerner and those outside the IRS from January 2009 to April 2011. Included in that group are messages to and from the White House, the Federal Election Commission and other agencies.   read more

Gibson’s career in some ways closely tracks that of another Obama administration official. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel served in the Army as a young man, was deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration for a time during the Reagan administration, and later, while working in private industry, was president and CEO of the USO.   read more

In the EU and much of the rest of the world, if a product presents a credible threat of danger to human or environmental health, it’s restricted or banned. In the United States, the regulatory agencies mandate a high level of proof that a product is dangerous before its use is restricted. The U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulates chemicals used in this country, but the process of taking a chemical off store shelves can take years.   read more

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) had filed a Freedom of Information Act suit against the DOJ to learn how the government uses the Patriot Act to gather the communications records of millions of Americans. U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered the release of five documents sought by EFF. In her opinion, she questioned the government’s practice of withholding documents that have subsequently been found to be suitable for at least partial release.   read more

At least 28 people have been killed by CBP personnel since 2010, and an internal review of the agency’s shooting policy was kept under wraps for more than a year before coming to light. In light of these troubles, CBP’s head of internal affairs for the past eight years, James F. Tomsheck, was moved to another assignment this week. Tomsheck’s supporters say he was made a scapegoat for a system that wasn’t interested in righting its wrongs.   read more

In 2007, Cerar became Slovenia’s representative to NATO. He returned to Ljubljana to serve again as state secretary in the foreign ministry in 2012. Since coming to Washington, Cerar has been active in the Slovenian-American community, including a stint as a judge of a polka contest at the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame.   read more

In 2009, he was made ambassador to China for two years. Tupouniua then returned home as secretary for Foreign Affairs and subsequently as secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2013, Tupouniua went to New York to assume his posts at the UN and as ambassador to the United States.   read more

At least four vehicles transporting these radioactive materials have been stolen since 2005, according to the GAO. Some companies use a loophole in Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations that makes storage requirements less stringent for smaller amounts of nuclear materials. So the companies with large amounts of the materials simply divide them up and store them in smaller containers.   read more

The soft drink giant was sued by Pom Wonderful for selling a competing beverage, Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored Blend of Five Juices, which contains almost no pomegranate. The Coca-Cola product has, the court said, only 0.3% pomegranate juice, but 99.4% apple and grape juices.   read more

Keeping the baptism a secret was vital, Doe says, because under some interpretations of Islamic law, Christian converts can be punished by beheading. Such a threat became very real for the plaintiff after Syrian militants saw the conversion notice and took him prisoner. He alleges that he was tortured, stabbed, shot and nearly had his head cut off before escaping.   read more

While at the UN, Friday was a strong advocate for remediation of the effects of global climate change for Grenada and other island nations. In 2009, Friday went to the World Bank, where he was a specialist in international climate policy. Given his experience working on climate change, it’s perhaps not surprising that Friday is one of the few diplomats who rides his bicycle to work in Washington.   read more

Ruben Maye Nsue Mangue presented his credentials as Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador to the United States to President Barack Obama on September 17, 2013. Equatorial Guinea has a reputation as having one of the world’s worst human rights record, one which Nsue has spent much of his career defending.   read more

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees cases in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, on Wednesday rejected what has become a routine practice by law enforcement: tracking a suspect’s location via their cell phone. These violations of privacy, according to critics, have gone on without police having to establish probable cause of criminal activity by individuals.   read more

Chicago Transit Authority surveillance cameras had recorded Martin in the act of using a gun to threaten subway riders in order to steal their cell phones. Using NeoFace, law enforcement compared the image of Martin’s face to the police department’s database of nearly 5 million criminal booking photos.   read more

In the case of the Minuteman III missile, which has served as the backbone of the nation’s land-based nuclear deterrent since the 1970s, GAO auditors found the administration left out all future funding for replacing these weapons, saying the program was “not yet defined.” As for a new bomber, the Air Force said those costs were “too sensitive” to include in the report.   read more