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 U.S. Army first occupied Fallujah, a city of more than 300,000 people about 45 miles west of Baghdad, in April 2003. But it was the following year, following the dismembering of four U.S. mercenaries, that the Americans launched their deadliest attacks, which included the use of white phosphorus. The authors of the study found children with birth defects had five times the level of lead in their hair than healthy children. Also, mercury levels were six times above normal.   read more

From July 2011 to May 2012, Yudin served as acting assistant secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, overseeing the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. In June 2012, he took over as acting assistant secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. He is listed on the website of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute, a non-partisan, tax-exempt educational and research organization, as an openly gay political leader.   read more

He was a special advisor to the NIDRR director, as well as NIDRR’s deputy director. After the Department re-organized RSA in 2005, Esquith served as director of the State Monitoring and Program Improvement Division. He also completed an extended detail at the Office of Management and Budget as a program examiner.   read more

According to The Center for Public Integrity, which tracked this transfer, the $1.5 million passed through three RGA accounts in Washington D.C. before making its way to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Common Cause Executive Director Barry Kauffman called the multi-transferred funds “an elaborate money-laundering scheme, which is legal.”   read more

In the current dysfunctional campaign finance system, partisan groups are able to receive 501(c)(4) status from the IRS. This tax designation is supposed to be for organizations dedicated to promoting social welfare. But big-money operations like Crossroads GPS (Republican) and Priorities USA (Democrat) are really dedicated to influencing election outcomes, and that’s where the IRS could play a key role in stemming the million-dollar collections of these groups.   read more

The jump in violent crime was driven by a 22% increase in simple assaults, defined as those not involving bodily harm or weapons. Property crimes went up because of a 14% increase in household burglaries. Meanwhile, the largest decrease in the crime rate came in the category of rape and sexual assault, which dropped 9% between 2010 and 2011.   read more

Under the tax code, penalties can be assessed for not filing a tax return or for failing to pay the full amount shown. But Americans who have paid on time and in full for the previous three years can ask for the penalties to be waived. The problem is that the IRS did not bother to tell 1.45 million tax filers in 2010 about this opportunity, known as the First-Time Abate.   read more

Founded twenty years before Christopher Columbus sailed for the New World, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is 118 years older than the world’s second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank of Germany.   read more

The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed how the statements should read. One example states: “For decades, we denied that we controlled the level of nicotine delivered in cigarettes. Here’s the truth: Cigarettes are a finely-tuned nicotine delivery device designed to addict people.” Tobacco lawyers claim the statements amount to “forced public confessions” and want to modify the language.   read more

Only two of the six “studies” are really studies at all. Three are online articles and one is an op-ed that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. The author of one study, Martin Feldstein, an advisor to the Romney campaign, said that it was “impossible to calculate the exact effects of the future reforms since Gov. Romney hasn't specified what he would do.”   read more

More than 90% of sugar beets and soybeans and 88% of corn grown in the U.S. are genetically engineered, according to the organization. Sugar beets are the preferred sweetener for 55% of prepared, sweetened foods, and 79% of salad oil is made from soybean oil. EWG did not include in its estimates several foods that are commonly genetically engineered, such as canola oil, cottonseed oil, papaya, yellow squash and miscellaneous soy products.   read more

“I would even argue that if you’ve got one graduate degree and you borrowed a lot to pay for it, your second graduate degree will be free,” study coauthor Jason Delisle told Raw Story. “It gets rid of any incentive for law schools to bring down their cost.”   read more

Two years ago, the Army allocated $10.7 million to take part in a Washington conference and trade show organized by the Association of the United States Army, a Virginia-based group that brings together defense contractors and members of the military. The Army spent nearly the same total ($10.6 million) in 2011 for the same event, before finally deciding this year to limit to $1.3 million the Army’s expenditure for this year’s event, which will take place in Washington D.C. October 22-24.   read more

The ACLU says the litigation represents the first of its kind to directly make allegations against an investment bank, rather than a lender, of violating federal civil rights laws. Morgan Stanley stands accused of violating the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which prohibits unfair lending practices, and the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which bans discrimination for credit transactions, including mortgages.   read more

Defense procurement officials are supposed to resolicit bids in some cases so that more than one offer is on the table for consideration. But the IG faulted the Pentagon for not realizing “potential cost savings associated with increased competition and re-competing $390.9 million in contract modifications.”   read more

According to the Kaiser analysis, for those remaining in traditional Medicare, 53% would pay more, with the average premium increased by $720 annually. Among participants in private Medicare Advantage plans, 88% would pay higher premiums unless they switched to less expensive plans with less coverage and/or higher deductibles. The average premium hike in this group would be $1,044 more annually, according to the study.   read more