Imagine that China’s dictator, Xi Jinping, sends one million Chinese troops to invade the United States. Fighting breaks out all over the U.S. as U.S. troops and civilians battle against the Chinese invaders. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, are killed. Meanwhile, China has taken over Florida and declared it an overseas province of China, with Chinese nationals taking over control of the Florida government.   read more

Kmec spent the first half of the new century's first decade as the number two man at two key embassies, serving as deputy chief of mission at Slovakia's embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, from 2000 to 2002, and holding the same title at Slovakia's embassy in Washington, DC, from 2003 to 2005. Kmec was appointed to his first ambassadorship in 2007, serving as Slovakia's ambassador to Sweden from August 2007 to July 2012.   read more

Two years ago, the Independent Foreclosure Review proclaimed homeowners who suffered “financial injury” could get as much as $125,000. It now turns out only 1,135 borrowers will see this amount. This small group mostly includes members of the U.S. military who had their homes taken away from them, as well as 53 non-military homeowners who endured foreclosure even though they didn’t default on their loans.   read more

These facts run contrary to President Barack Obama’s public claims that drone attacks are carried out only against “specific senior operational leaders of al Qaida and associated forces” involved in the 9/11 attacks who are plotting new “imminent” violent attacks on Americans.   read more

ICE will have to gain permission to enter and investigate a home, and if possible, communicate with the residents in their native language. In cases involving Spanish-speaking suspects, ICE teams must include Spanish-speaking agents. The agency also must obtain consent in order to enter other parts of a home, such as a backyard.   read more

After going through the longest state trial in New Hampshire’s history, a jury took less than 90 minutes to find Exxon Mobil Corp. guilty of contaminating groundwater supplies with the gasoline additive MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether). Not only was the trial, which lasted three months, the state’s longest, but it also yielded the largest civil verdict: $236 million.   read more

When the testimony of Wilkerson and his wife were in conflict, Franklin interpreted this as proof that they had not colluded in creating a cover story. Wilkerson was convicted by an all-male jury of raping a woman while she slept in his home. He was sentenced to a year in the brig and discharged from the Air Force. Franklin used his authority to overturn the court’s decision, which allowed the accused to return to active duty.   read more

Under a new plan revealed to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), the IRS will expend 18% less effort auditing businesses with assets of $10 million or more compared with just two years ago. The agency also sees itself devoting 14% less time for specialized revenue agents to conduct corporate audits in FY 2013, compared to what was allocated in FY 2011.   read more

The United States has a serious problem with every nuclear reactor currently in operation, requiring that they be replaced or shut down, according to Dr. Gregory B. Jaczko, former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Reactor fuel continues to generate heat after a chain reaction is shut down and it is this problem that led to the Fukushima meltdown in Japan.   read more

Christopher Hebert, 24, died at Omega Protein’s Moss Point fish-processing plant on April 9, 2012. According to the lawsuit, Hebert was ordered to perform welding work inside a giant rotating screw conveyor without being informed that it was operational. While he was inside the single screw conveyor, a supervisor ordered another employee to turn on the conveyor. Hebert was dragged feet first into the machinery and screamed for help. His last words were, “I’m dead!”   read more

Beginning in July, doctors who perform abortions must have hospital admitting privileges, under the new law. Currently, there are only five licensed abortion clinics operating in Alabama, and none of them hire doctors with hospital admitting privileges. Pro-choice advocates say it is unnecessary for clinics to have doctors working at hospitals because so few abortions these days result in medical emergencies (about one out of 160,000 procedures).   read more

Only about 2% of small law practices in the U.S. are in rural areas, which accounts for nearly a fifth of the population, according to The New York Times. The South Dakota law, which is the first of its kind in the nation, establishes a pilot program that has the participation of 16 lawyers, each of whom makes a five-year commitment and receives an annual subsidy of $12,000. The program will begin in June.   read more

A pipeline carrying tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the Gulf Coast ruptured on March 29, spilling thousands of barrels of oil into a residential area of the small town of Mayflower (population: 2,234). Plaintiffs Kathryn Jane Roachell Chunn and Kimla Green sued ExxonMobil and three pipeline subsidiaries, seeking at least $5 million in property damages on behalf of themselves and others who live within 3,000 feet of the broken pipeline.   read more

A majority of respondents stated their belief that it is illegal to sell guns to people on the terrorist watch list. In fact, there is no law in place banning such sales. (The General Accountability Office reported that 247 people on that list purchased weapons after passing a background check in 2010.) One-third of those polled incorrectly thought that federal law requires merchants to inform authorities when someone purchases large amounts of ammunition in a short period of time.   read more

Williams and his colleagues determined that if carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles within 40 years, turbulence could become 10%-40% more forceful at altitudes used by jetliners. “Turbulence strong enough to make walking difficult and to dislodge unsecured objects is likely to become twice as common in transatlantic airspace by the middle of this century,” Williams added.   read more

Muhammad, a Pashtun tribesman, was an ally of the Taliban who had been labeled an enemy of the state after leading a tribal rebellion. Pakistani officials wanted him eliminated, so the CIA came up with a proposition: Let us kill him for you, and in exchange, grant CIA drones access to Pakistan’s airspace so the U.S. could hunt down its own enemies, like al-Qaeda. In June 2004, the deal was sealed when Muhammad and several others were killed in South Waziristan during a missile attack.   read more

As for Harris, she received a personal apology from Obama. But the damage was already done, some analysts say. Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, told the San Francisco Chronicle that drawing attention to Harris’ looks was particularly unwelcome given that she holds “a traditionally-male position like attorney general, the top law enforcement officer in the state.”   read more