Trump announced that from now on the NFL will be known as the NTL: The National Trump League. The Super Bowl will be renamed the Trump Bowl, and professional players must be called Trumpball Players. Anyone, on any level, who refuses to comply with Trump’s orders will be arrested and charged with being a threat to national security.   read more

The San Jose Mercury News reported similar cases of BASM overbilling, including $5,760 for a colonoscopy, instead of the going rate of $2,555, and $13,662 for a circumcision instead of the average of $3,619 for an in-network job. Hashemieh and Sarnevesht see themselves as Robin Hoods, taking from the rich insurance companies and giving to the doctors (with BASM taking fees of 15-25%).   read more

Halfway through his presidency, the U.S. is more than halfway toward achieving Barack Obama’s goal, announced at the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, of cutting carbon emissions that cause global warming by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020, according to a report released last week. America’s greenhouse gas emissions have already fallen 10.7% from the 2005 baseline.   read more

Whistleblower Protections: The Whistleblower Protection Act in 1989 protects executive branch workers from retaliation for reporting waste, mismanagement or law-breaking, but Congressional employees have no such protections. Keeping Workplace Records: Although a number of workplace-rights laws require private-sector employers to retain personnel records, including injury records, for a set period of time, Congress has exempted itself from all of these requirements.   read more

Hutchenson also concluded that ex-prisoners who gain employment pick up more illegal income than those ex-prisoners who are unemployed. “The same human capital variables that lead to success in the conventional labor market,” wrote Hutchenson, “also lead to success in the illegal economy.” Being white also increases the acquisition of illegal incomes, as does belonging to a gang.   read more

The percentage of those viewing the government as a threat represents a six-point increase from nearly three years ago, when 47% said they felt that way, and a 23% jump from November 2001, when Americans rallied around their government following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Conservative Republicans are the largest group who distrust Washington, with 76% expressing fear for their personal freedoms. A majority (54%) described the government as a “major” threat.   read more

The plan, which the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) okayed this week through federal regulations, allows the Navy to conduct testing and training exercises off the Atlantic coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and off Southern California and Hawaii. These tests and military exercises could injure or kill tens of millions whales, dolphins and other sea creatures over a five-year period (2014-2019), according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).   read more

The biggest killer among food-poisoning incidents was poultry. Between 1998 and 2008, 277 people died from eating tainted poultry, compared to 236 vegetable-related deaths. Most of the poultry deaths were attributed to Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella, with the numbers increased by outbreaks related to turkey deli meats.   read more

“I Give God 10% Why do you Get 18?” read the note on the receipt from Alois Bell, who was charged an automatic 18% tip because she was with a large group at the restaurant, five adults and five children following services at the Word Deliverance Ministries church. Thinking the note was both funny and insulting, waitress Chelsea Welch took a photo of the receipt and posted it on Reddit.   read more

This week, BP agreed to 11 counts of manslaughter for the workers killed during the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, when the Deepwater Horizon oilrig blew up. But no one from the oil giant will serve time for the convictions. Instead, BP will pay a $4 billion fine, which is equivalent to what the company made in revenue every four days last year. Also, BP will have five years to pay the fine. This news left some family members of those killed on the rig feeling bitter.   read more

Cowan, who is African-American, becomes the second black member currently in the Senate, joining Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina. This marks the first time in the upper chamber’s 223-year history that two African-Americans have served simultaneously. If African-Americans were represented in the Senate relative to their proportion of the national population, there would be at least 13 Black senators.   read more

The 21-hospital chain, citing a controversial court decision invalidating three recess appointments to the board by President Barack Obama, said it wouldn’t abide by two of the board’s recent decisions. One decision said that unions could collect dues even after a contract had expired and the other directed employers to provide unions with certain materials during an investigation.   read more

The database contains 190 million employment records, salary records and health insurance details involving more than 30% of all U.S. adults. And much of this data, including how much people have been paid, is sold to third parties, including bill collectors and banks. Equifax obtains its information from thousands of businesses and the federal government. Because the information is considered a credit report, federal law allows Americans to obtain their own records for free once a year.   read more

The killer is probably a loner who did not serve in the military and likely will use a semiautomatic handgun. This conclusion was formed after reviewing details of 29 mass shootings since 1999 in which five or more people were killed, beginning with Columbine High School in Colorado (which was the only one studied involving more than one killer). The shooters were almost always male, acting alone, between the ages of 17 and 49.   read more

The judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, did not authorize the blackout and said it never should have happened, particularly during what had been an unclassified discussion. As the feed resumed, he remarked that it seemed as “if some external body is turning the commission off.” One of the defense attorneys then asked, “Who is controlling these proceedings?” Pohl would only say that the subject was forbidden for discussion in open court.   read more

The NCLC found that many states, like Arizona, make it difficult for residents to sign up for direct deposit with the state government. And in at least five states—California, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland and Nevada—direct deposit is not an option at all. The consumer group contends that this situation is illegal under federal law prohibiting states from requiring benefits recipients to open an account with a specific bank.   read more

“Between 2005 and 2012, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and its members spent over $333 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies on, among other things, a protracted campaign to prevent government agencies from designating formaldehyde, styrene, and chromium as carcinogens,” the Center wrote in its report (pdf). The actions by the Office of Advocacy ran counter to the wishes of most small business owners.   read more