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

According to the Complaint, local and federal records readily available to ICE agents clearly show that Gonzalez is a native-born U.S. citizen born in Pacoima, California. Noting that low-level agents can request holds with no supervision and no finding of probable cause, the Complaint alleges that this has caused 834 U.S. citizens and more than 20,000 legal, permanent residents with no criminal records to be detained—both violations of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.   read more

Convicted murderer Gary Haugen, who has been on Oregon’s death row since 2007, cannot force Gov. John Kitzhaber to put him to death, according to a unanimous Oregon Supreme Court ruling last week. Calling Oregon’s death penalty system “compromised and inequitable,” Kitzhaber also stated that he would not allow any executions to proceed, at least until the state legislature had a chance to consider and enact reforms.   read more

Costos migrated to film and television, working as a senior executive of Revolution Studios in charge of corporate partnerships and promotions from 2002 to 2004. He then founded Eight Cylinders Inc, an entertainment marketing firm. In July 2006, HBO hired Costos to head its new global licensing and marketing division. Costos is in a long-term relationship with interior designer Michael Smith, who was selected by Michelle Obama in 2009 to redecorate the residential quarters of the White House.   read more

The case centered on a 2003 law intended to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases worldwide. It provided $60 billion in funding for public health NGOs—but only if they renounced prostitution and sex trafficking, which can lead to the spread of diseases. Four NGOs that carry out overseas programs sued the government, saying the law undermined their efforts because they sometimes have to work with those involved in the sex trade in order to fight the spread of AIDS.   read more

The Department of the Treasury paid Comerica to provide prepaid debit cards to Social Security recipients who are poor or don’t have bank accounts or don’t trust banks. The bank did well by the switchover, while many Americans suffered. Comerica was paid $5 for every debit card it distributed to Social Security recipients—plus fees. For instance, Comerica was allowed to limit customers to only one free withdrawal a month. After that, a 90-cent fee per withdrawal was levied on the account.   read more

The lawsuit is the culmination of a four-year effort to lure the Oakland franchise. MLB did not want the move and invoked a league rule that gave the San Francisco Giants territorial rights to the San Jose area in 1990. Each of the 30 franchises has veto power over a club moving into its operating territory.   read more

The Associated Press found 24 instances of defendants who went to jail because of bite marks, but ultimately were found not guilty as a result of DNA testing. In separate cases, two men in Mississippi were convicted in the 1990s of raping and murdering three-year-old girls based on bite mark evidence. DNA testing later revealed that another man was guilty of both crimes and that the alleged bite marks were actually caused by crawfish or insects.   read more

Ayalde served two consecutive stints as a USAID mission director, first in Bolivia from 1999 to 2005, and then in Colombia from 2005 to 2008. Ayalde left USAID in 2008 to serve as ambassador to Paraguay from June 2008 to 2011, returning to Washington to serve as deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Western Hemisphere Affairs Bureau, beginning July 16, 2012.   read more

A poll conducted in 2012 by the National Opinion Research Center showed that 57% of Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court prohibition against public schools requiring the reading of Bible verses or the Lord’s Prayer, while 39% approve. However, there were sharp regional differences. A majority in the Northeast and the West did approve of the prohibition, while in the South 73% disapproved. In addition, Americans age 18-29 differed from their elders, approving of the prohibition 56% to 38%.   read more

FBI agents killed about 70 people, and wounded another 80 or so, between 1993 and 2011—and in every case, the bureau ruled the incidents justified, according to a review of bureau records by The New York Times. In most of the shootings, the FBI was the only government body to review the incidents. Out of 289 times that agents fired their weapon, only five were disciplined. But in those five cases, no one was hurt or killed, and the agent merely received a letter of censure.   read more

John Shafer, a self-described conservative Republican, said he was the one who flagged the first application for tax-exempt status by a Tea Party affiliate in February 2010, back when court rulings were unleashing a flood of organizations seeking to take advantage of the shifting law.   read more

Now the U.S. is on a tight deadline to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, and bringing home all 11,000 MRAPs from the conflict would not be cost effective, military experts say. Leaving them with the Afghan military also appears out of the question, due to concerns that the Afghans wouldn’t be able to maintain them. So, it’s on to the scrap yard. About 2,000 of the vehicles will be shredded and their metal sold for pennies on the pound on the Afghan scrap market.   read more

Eight Americans were selected from 6,100 candidates, the second largest pool of applicants in NASA’s history. A mix of scientists and military pilots, the group of four men and four women will begin training for future space missions that may include trips to an asteroid and Mars.   read more

Remaining silent during questioning by police can be used against a person in a court of law, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a startling reinterpretation of Fifth Amendment rights. A narrow majority ruled 5-to-4 in Salinas v. Texas that it was permissible for authorities to present at Genovevo Salinas’ trial that he refused to answer the police’s questions about a fatal shooting because Salinas had already answered some questions prior to being arrested and read his Miranda rights.   read more

The new law applies only to state and local law enforcement. Federal law enforcement agencies are only required to get a warrant to access recent emails before they are opened by the recipient. No such provision in federal law prevents the FBI from reading emails once they have been opened or have remained unopened for 180 days. The Texas initiative requires Texas law enforcement officials to get a court warrant to gain access to emails, no matter how old they are.   read more

Terrance Brown, charged with the attempted robbery of armored cars that culminated in the murder of a Brink’s armored truck messenger in October 2010, has asked a federal judge to ask the government about telephone records that are pertinent to the case. Brown’s legal defense tried to compel prosecutors to turn over the records. But they claimed the phone company, MetroPCS, no longer had them. Judge Robin Rosenbaum ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to respond to Brown’s inquiry.   read more