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

The U.S. Army sent out a request to contractors for proposals for a radio program that would convince rebel forces in Colombia to put down their weapons. Interested companies must explain how they will produce 20 radio novela episodes in Spanish and regional dialects for use by the Army’s Military Information Support Operations in Colombia.   read more

Drug-resistant superbugs are invading hospitals, killing about 100,000 patients and costing $30 billion a year. One way to combat them is for nurses, doctors and other hospital personnel to wash their hands regularly. Yet, without encouragement, hospital workers clean their hands as little as 30% of the time they interact with patients.   read more

In New Jersey, prisoners are not eligible for unemployment, welfare and other benefits under state rules. Yet, in a 22-month period recently, nearly $24 million was given to prisoners due to a lack of adequate internal controls.   read more

Women are now the primary breadwinners in nearly half of all U.S. households. About 40% of homes with children under 18 now include a mother who is either the sole or primary earner, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau and polling data. The rate is the highest on record—four times that in 1960.   read more

Chinese hackers have successfully accessed classified information about U.S. weapons programs, including those that play key roles in the military’s anti-missile systems.   read more

Regulators at the Food and Drug Administration have expressed safety concerns regarding the da Vinci surgical system. Its maker, Intuitive Surgical, is currently being sued in dozens of cases because the robotic arm was responsible for sepsis, surgical burns, excessive bleeding, severe bowel injuries, and punctured blood vessels, organs or arteries.   read more

As a result of a New York Times story on the Stuxnet computer worm by David Sanger, hundreds of U.S. government officials have been questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine who communicated with him. The probe has dampened contact between Washington insiders and news media.   read more

FBI agents in Nebraska raided a large child pornography service, which shared thousands of images showing children being raped, displayed and abused. Realizing the illicit operation had more than 5,000 customers, the bureau continued operating it for two weeks to determine their identities.   read more

Eyelid lifts (blepharoplasties) billed to Medicare more than tripled to 136,000 annually from 2001 to 2011 making some suspect that seniors or physicians are bilking the government for an elective surgery rather than just the medically necessary procedure to preserve vision.   read more

To qualify for the tax exemption, participation in elections cannot be a group’s primary activity, with circumstances and facts regarding its work carrying at least as much weight as the amount of money that is spent. This can include the group’s website, the material it publishes, and whether its members are employed by political parties.   read more

One example of political intelligence firms’ work involved the arrangement of meetings between Elizabeth Fowler, a one-time top health-policy adviser to President Barack Obama, and executives from at least six investment firms during the last two years. Another instance involved a conference call between an official from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and managers of hedge funds, pension plans and mutual funds.   read more

Navi Pillay, U.N. high commissioner for human rights, singled out the ongoing detentions of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, as well as international kidnappings (aka renditions) and the use of drones, as troubling threats to laws and principles intended to protect individuals from abuse.   read more

Of the 54% who responded to a CNN/ORC International poll (pdf) saying they oppose the Affordable Care Act (pdf), 16% explained that their beef stems from the law not going far enough, the highest percentage since polling began. Another 35% of critics feel the law is too liberal. Other polls have shown widespread confusion about what the law actually includes, even among those who would benefit from it.   read more

Kiger used data obtained from IRS programs that allow previous U.S. tax evaders to voluntarily disclose details of their crime in exchange for receiving reduced penalties and no jail time. To date, more than 39,000 tax evaders have fessed up through those programs, resulting in a recoupment of $5.5 billion by the IRS. Of those cases, there are at least 129 that involved FCIB and its Caribbean predecessors.   read more

Citigroup (2012 revenues: $70.17 billion), for example, got one of its favorite bills to exempt many trades from new regulation through the House Financial Services Committee this month over Treasury Department objections, with 71 of the 80 lines in the bill written by lobbyists for major banks. Two critical paragraphs written by Citigroup were copied word for word, with the sole exception of two words that Congress changed from singular to plural.   read more

The per capita national debt rose by 75.2% during Bush’s presidency, a rate surpassed only by the presidency of Ronald Reagan, when the per capita debt skyrocketed by 168.2%. By comparison, the per capita debt grew by only 22.5% during Bill Clinton’s presidency and by 48.4% during Barack Obama’s first term.   read more