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

In the case of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, it gave Vertex Pharmaceuticals $75 million to develop Kalydeco, considered a “breakthrough” drug that could reap big profits. The foundation has already enjoyed a big return on its investment, collecting royalties on sales of the drug before selling its rights to future royalties to an investment firm for twice the amount it gave Vertex.   read more

From the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian range to the Texas panhandle, American families have found themselves with contaminated water supplies. Time and time again they have blamed the problem on hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) and won settlements from drilling companies—but only if the victims agree never to talk about the impact that fracking had on their lives.   read more

Although Comey donated more than $7,000 during the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, his money went to Obama's Republican opponents, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney. But Comey became a political hero on the moderate Left in January 2006, when reports surfaced regarding his role two years previously in averting a constitutional crisis by forcing the George W. Bush White House to accept certain changes to its warrantless wiretapping program.   read more

Northrop Grumman hopes DHS will like its automated tracking device that was first developed to help soldiers detect roadside bombs in Afghanistan. General Atomics, which builds reconnaissance drones, is hoping to sell more of the aircraft as part of a $443 million contract. If the legislation as currently drafted becomes law, DHS will have only six months to offer up ways to achieve “effective control” and “persistent surveillance” of the entire 1,969-mile border with Mexico.   read more

Several explanations have been suggested for this decline. Many of the most important discoveries have already been made; the patients who volunteer for clinical trials have become more difficult to treat; the quality of clinical trials has improved, with studies using a greater number of patients. Others blame a weak regulatory system that allows pharmaceutical companies to make minor advances, market these new drugs aggressively and increase profits as each minor advance comes along.   read more

Gilbert admitted to shooting Frago, but his legal defense argued that Gilbert’s actions were justified because under Texas law, a person can use deadly force to recover property during a nighttime theft of the commission of “criminal mischief.” Prosecutors insisted the law did not apply to someone trying to force another person into an illegal act such as prostitution. But the jury sided with Gilbert, who avoided a possible life sentence in prison.   read more

As of Friday, Dingell had served 20,997 days (or 57 years, 5 months and 26 days) as a representative from southeast Michigan. He first joined Congress in 1955. He had already broken the record for the longest time served in the House of Representatives in February 2009. Now he has broken the overall Congressional record, previously held by Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who served in the House of Representatives from 1953 to 1959 and in the Senate from 1959 until his death on June 28, 2010.   read more

Madden summarizes the beginning of the story of The Silver Collar, the book that preceded The Silver Crown thus: “The plot of The Silver Collar is almost traditional. Iris and Alfie are lovers. Deeply besotted until one night a werewolf attacks them and Iris’s twin brother, Matthew. Matthew is killed and Alfie is bitten. Alfie becomes a werewolf as Iris becomes a werewolf killer. Suddenly their relationship isn’t going so well….”   read more

President Barack Obama said that he welcomed “this debate,” although his actions make it clear that there is no room for debate. Despite the assurances of Obama and Clapper, civil liberties advocates point out that there is no guarantee whatsoever that use of the gathered information is limited to combating terrorism.   read more

The two researchers conjured up a two-dimensional graph that measures the “ideological distance between the median of the Democratic and Republican parties in the state legislative chambers.” The congressional median is around 1.2. Louisiana is the least divisive state at 0.5. California is literally off the grid, which only goes up to 2.5. California’s score looks to be around 3.0. The next closest to California is Colorado at 2.2.   read more

The 50 worst charities identified by the investigation raised about $1.4 billion in donations over the past 10 years, but paid $970 million of the total to for-profit companies that encouraged Americans to make donations. These 50 charities devoted less than 4% of donations to direct cash aid.   read more

President Barack Obama has turned to a career diplomat with extensive experience in Africa to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the troubled nation of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa. James F. Entwistle, who has been ambassador to the even more troubled Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since November 2010, will succeed Terence P. McCulley.   read more

The court order allows the NSA to gather phone records on a daily basis for three months until July 19. The data is then turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for use in counterterrorism investigations. The order appears to be simply the latest in a program that has gone on for seven years. According to an ACLU analysis of the order, the NSA wants to know “when you’re calling, who calls you, how long you talk, and maybe where you’re calling from.”   read more

Two days after Chrysler’s unusual pushback, the company did announce the recall of 630,000 Jeep SUVs as the result of transmission and restraint system problems. These recalls include 254,000 Compass and Patriot SUVs from 2010 to 2012 to fix a delay in air bag and seatbelt functioning, and 181,000 Wranglers from 2012 and 2013 relating to leaks in transmission cooler lines.   read more

“According to the DoD Office of Security Review, the individual’s name is protected from public release” under federal law, the report says, which also states however that “no precautionary measures were taken to protect special operators from being identified by the Hollywood executive at this event.”   read more

Monsanto said it does not know how it happened. The company tested GM varieties of wheat between 1998 and 2004 in 17 states, including Oregon. But officials said all tested material was destroyed after the program was shut down nine years ago. Currently, no varieties of GM wheat have been approved for commercial farming anywhere in the world. The discovery led the governments of South Korea and Japan to temporarily suspend imports of U.S. wheat.   read more