Trump ordered that the term Homo sapiens be changed to Hetero sapiens. In history books and on websites, the airplane from which the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima will no longer be identified as the Enola Gay, but rather the Enola Straight. Trump also ordered billionaire Mark Cuban, who supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, to change his name to Mark American. If he does not do so, he will be charged with terrorism.   read more

The plaintiff claimed she was subjected to discrimination by a supervisor—whom she defined as someone who controlled her work schedule and performance evaluations. But the supervisor in question did not possess the power to hire, fire and promote workers—and on that basis, the pro-corporate wing of the Supreme Court rejected (pdf) the plaintiff’s argument because the superior was really a coworker in their view.   read more

George’s audit stated the IRS wrongly used “Be On the Look Out” (BOLO) memos to single out tea party groups. But he failed to mention that at least seven BOLO memos included the word “progressive.” The IRS also keyed on terms like “Occupy” and “medical marijuana,” as well as advocacy of President Obama’s health care law.   read more

Boeing billed the Pentagon for $13.7 million more than it should have, according to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), including $2,286 for an aluminum bearing sleeve that really only costs $10 apiece. The Pentagon purchased 573 of the sleeves to be used on landing-gear doors, resulting in an overcharge of $1.3 million just for that particular device.   read more

A lot of the time, Carney says he can’t answer the media’s question on an issue. Since taking the job in early 2011, the former Time reporter had conducted 444 briefings through June 18. During that span Carney used some variation of "I don’t have the answer” a total of 1,905 times, according to Yahoo! News.   read more

EPA officials said they will not finalize a 2011 draft study that found contaminants in the groundwater of Pavillion, Wyoming, were consistent with chemicals used in fracking. They also said they will not ask outside experts to review the EPA’s research. Instead, the agency will turn the matter over to the state of Wyoming, which intends to work with Encana, the company that conducted the fracking, to finish the study.   read more

In the first 52 months of Obama as president, the government issued a total of 1,229 rules. Bush’s administration produced more rules during the same period of time (1,469), as did the Clinton administration (2,136). Agencies under Obama have issued more “economically significant rules” than earlier administrations did: 259 versus 206 under Bush and 215 under Clinton.   read more

On July 26, 2012, Skype vice president Mark Gillett assured users that, “It has been suggested that Skype made changes in its architecture at the behest of Microsoft in order to provide law enforcement with greater access to our users’ communications. False.” It would appear that Gillett chose his words with unusual care, because the greater access actually took place before the sale to Microsoft.   read more

Other countries, including China, the United Kingdom, Colombia, the Philippines and Germany, have banned the chemical compound. Even the U.S. Department of Transportation considers ammonium nitrate a “hazardous material.” But the EPA, under pressure from the fertilizer industry, has refused to list it as extremely hazardous.   read more

The wages of disabled workers are based on how long it takes them to complete a task in comparison to abled workers. Goodwill’s CEO, John Gibbon, who is blind, has defended this practice, explaining to NBC that “It's typically not about their livelihood. It's about their fulfillment. It's about being a part of something.”   read more

In an under-reported but potentially historic decision last week, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-3 to reject the retailers’ argument, ruling that large corporations may force contractors—and potentially consumers and employees—to waive their constitutional right to a jury trial in favor of private arbitration decided by a firm of the corporation’s choice.   read more

Sen. Dianne Feinstein , chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated that the FAA had helped thwart “a plot to bomb a downtown Chicago bar” that fall. If that is true, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure would require the government to share the results of the surveillance that led investigators to Daoud, yet prosecutors refuse even to confirm or deny the substance of Feinstein’s comments.   read more

ECM is not only part of the market for school insurance in Kansas, it’s a leader, insuring about 90% of Kansas’s 286 school districts. That EMC fears unsustainable liability so much amounts to a non-ideological, dollars-and-cents way of saying that EMC believes concealed carry at schools will lead to tragic shootings and deaths—and that EMC does not want to pay out on them.   read more

The median dollar value of possessions and cash stolen jumped 54% from 1994 to 2011, BJS reported, with the median financial loss going from $389 (adjusted for inflation) to $600. Because the average loss (as opposed to the median loss) in 2011 was $2,116, it would appear that high-end burglars are proving successful. However, low-income households are still victimized at a higher rate that upper-income households.   read more

Emerson finally backed a winner in 1992, when he was Bill Clinton’s California campaign manager. He was rewarded with a White House job, serving from 1993 to 1997 as deputy assistant to President Clinton. A wealthy man, Emerson has donated $225,000 to Democratic candidates and organizations since 1992, and bundled donations from others for Barack Obama to the tune of at least $500,000 in 2012.   read more

A deficiency balance, also known as the “underwater amount,” is the difference between the amount of the mortgage and the actual property value. In New Jersey, lenders have up to 56 years to collect debts and in Massachusetts 60 years. In Pennsylvania, there is no time limit at all. Lenders often wait several years until the homeowner has recovered financially before the they go after the debt. By this time, significant interest has been added to the original debt amount.   read more

Passed in 1978, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was supposed to prohibit discrimination based on “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions." Nearly two-thirds of first-time mothers work while pregnant and, of these, most work into their last month of pregnancy.   read more