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 poll found 77% feel there is less religious influence today in America. Another 20% said religion is gaining influence. The 77% figure was the most negative evaluation of religion’s impact since 1970. About the same number of Americans (75%) told Gallup that the country would be better off if it were more religious.   read more

The premise of Webb’s 1996 three-part exposé, “Dark Alliance The Story behind the Crack Explosion,” was that the explosion of crack-cocaine in America’s ghettos was indirectly abetted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The chief source of drugs for the number one street distributor was a Nicaraguan exile connected to the right-wing, CIA-backed Contras, who were fighting to overthrow that country’s leftist Sandinista-led government.   read more

A local judge in Dallas has ordered a lesbian couple to stop living together, citing a “morality clause” from one of the women’s divorce papers. The clause states that someone who has a “dating or intimate relationship” with the person or is not related “by blood or marriage” is not allowed in the home after 9 p.m. when the children are present.   read more

Thompson worked at the Census Bureau from 1975 to 2002. Leaving government service for the private sector in 2002, he joined the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, serving as executive vice president from 2002 to 2008, and as president and CEO since 2008.   read more

Researchers at Harvard Medical School analyzed immigrants’ contributions to the area of Medicare that covers hospital care and found they generated surpluses totaling $115 billion from 2002 to 2009. In comparison, native-born citizens used more in benefits than they paid into Medicare, creating a deficit of $28 billion over the same period.   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