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

First came the news that the NSA spied on millions of French phone calls and texts. Then it came out that the agency had tapped the cell phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for more than ten years. Then it was been revealed that the NSA had monitored the phones of at least 35 world leaders. White House press secretary Jay Carney did little to calm the situation when he denied any present and future monitoring of the German leader’s phone, while avoiding any mention of past surveillance.   read more

“Drone strikes take out a few bad guys to be sure, but they also kill a large number of innocent civilians. Given Yemen’s tribal structure, the U.S. generates roughly forty to sixty new enemies for every AQAP [al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] operative killed by drones,” Khoury wrote in an article for the Cairo Review.   read more

He raised more than half a million dollars for Obama, according to OpenSecrets.org, and he donated $4,600 of his own money. He also contributed $25,000 to Obama’s inauguration fund. Barzun and his family contributed more than $290,000 to political campaigns and groups during the 2008 election cycle. Barzun served as Ambassador to Sweden from August 2009 to late 2011. He returned to the U.S. to serve as National Finance Chair for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.   read more

From 2006 to 2009, he served as ambassador to Sri Lanka. Blake was criticized for his advocacy of a political solution to the conflict, which he mistakenly argued could not be resolved by force of arms. In February 2007 at a Sri Lankan airbase, Blake sustained minor injuries from a mortar blast fired by Tamil rebels, who claimed they were not informed that Blake was present and were only returning fire from the Sri Lankan Army.   read more

The eavesdropping discovery has raised concerns not only among defense lawyers, but also civil libertarians who point out the government could conduct warrantless spying with the bracelets.   read more

Iceland has once again demonstrated itself to be the best place on earth for women to live, having finished first for the fifth year in a row with the world’s smallest gender gap. The United States was ranked 23rd..The five countries with the biggest gender gap were all predominately Muslim: Yemen, Pakistan, Chad, Syria and Mauritania.   read more

The documents detailed at least 65 strikes that the Pakistani government was informed about, including dozens of drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal region. Pakistan even allowed the CIA to launch its Predator drones from local airstrips for a period time during the campaign. It also participated in the selection of drone targets. Pakistani officials were provided with maps, as well as before-and-after aerial photos of targeted compounds from late 2007 to late 2011   read more

Smith has been “verbally and physically abusive to staff, and often becomes belligerent and disruptive, resulting in numerous complaints from other patients,” St. Francis claimed. She has even called the police, public health officials and others to complain if her room is not a constant 83 degrees, according to the complaint.   read more

Currently serving as director of the Office of Regional and Security Affairs for the Bureau of African Affairs at the State Department, John F. Hoover served two straight postings in Africa, as economic counselor at the embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, from 2004 to 2008, and as deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Kampala, Uganda, from 2008 to 2010.   read more

The airship could even withstand hostile fire, thanks to a blend of unique fabrics, including bullet-proof Kevlar. But the humongous, floating surveillance center became 12,000 pounds overweight (cutting its endurance capability by 75%), fell eight months behind schedule and, after only one brief test flight over New Jersey, the Army decided to cancel it.   read more

During their phone call, Obama reportedly told Merkel that the U.S. was not listening in on her phone conversations. When reporters subsequently asked White House press secretary Jay Carney if the NSA had previously monitored Merkel’s calls, he responded that he wasn’t able to answer that question.   read more

One of Joseph’s favorite targets was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “Had few policy goals and no wins” … “[California Republican lawmaker Darrell] Issa is an ass but he’s on to something here with the @HillaryClinton whitewash of accountability for Benghazi” … “@ChelseaClinton seems to be assuming all of her parents’ vices ...” And he once tweeted that the State Department “has shitty staff.”   read more

The investigation found “that in many cases, information carrying no apparent investigative value is treated no differently from information that does give rise to reasonable suspicion of criminal or terrorist activity. Basically, the chaff is treated the same as the wheat,” the report states.   read more

Robles explained that she had three children and no food at home, and was desperate to feed her family. She was looking for work, but meanwhile money had run out and her children could not be fed. Thomas checked Robles’ criminal record, which contained no serious prior arrests. Nor was she a habitual shoplifter. So the officer charged the mother with a misdemeanor, and then proceeded to buy $100 worth of groceries for Robles to take home.   read more

Numerous problems have plagued the U.S. Air Force’s nuclear missile silos, including a protective blast door twice being left open while officers were asleep. Protocol for the service’s ICBM force allows a silo operator to sleep during long shifts, but only as long as security procedures are followed, which include shuttering blast doors designed to keep intruders out of the classified facilities.   read more

Despite repeated warnings from experts, the federal government under President Barack Obama has continued to allow farmers to pump livestock with antibiotics intended for humans, which has increased health risks for Americans. A new study from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (JHCLF) blamed the lack of meaningful change in livestock-antibiotics policies on the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries, which have lobbied to block new laws and regulations from being adopted.   read more