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

Wall Street is certainly pushing boundaries on securitized commercial mortgage-backed securities, in which a pool of commercial mortgages are mixed together into bonds So far in 2013, banks have issued $33.5 billion in such bonds, slightly more than they did in early 2005. Before the 2008 crash, 57% of the outstanding money in such securities was in high-risk interest-only loans, a number that fell hard and fast, to just 11% two years ago. Today, that number has more than tripled to 34%.   read more

Even as 15 million Americans continued to look for work and the average wage barely kept up with the cost of living, the 25 best paid hedge fund managers raked in a total of $14.14 billion, an average of $565.6 million per year. The top ten took home $10.1 billion, and top manager David Tepper—who did not even make the top 25 last year—made off with $2.2 billion, equivalent to $1,057,692 an hour, as much as the average American family makes in 21 years.   read more

The plaintiffs alleged that a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Petroleum, the parent company of Shell Oil, supported the Nigerian government in torturing and killing people protesting against the company’s construction of a pipeline in the Ogoni region in the 1990s. But the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Nigerian plaintiffs, although they are now resident in the United States, could not sue in American courts.   read more

Some senators, such as Republican Dan Coats of Indiana, accepted donations from pro-gun groups as recently as three weeks ago. Of the current members of the Senate, the ones who have benefited the most from the largesse of the NRA since 1990 are Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) with $60,550 in campaign contributions; Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) at $56,950; John Thune (R-South Dakota) with $48,605; and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) at $46,600.   read more

Unlike earmarks, darkmarks (technically, programmatic requests) are directed at specific projects or programs, not specific recipients, and thus the earmark disclosure rules do not apply. If a member of Congress makes a programmatic request asking for more funding for line 3 of the Army aircraft procurement budget, taxpayer money will go to General Atomics. If the member wants to direct money to Raytheon, he or she can make a request regarding line 7 of the Army missile procurement budget.   read more

Herndon found multiple problems, including selective exclusion of years with high debt and average growth, a problematic method of weighing countries, and a coding error in the Excel spreadsheet that excludes high-debt and average-growth countries. The errors all had the effect of overstating the dangers of debt and overselling the benefits of austerity. The data simply do not support the idea that too much debt inevitably ruins an economy.   read more

Despite an anti-corruption rule adopted in 2002 barring high ministry bureaucrats from becoming ambassadors, the new ambassador to the U.S. is Kenichiro Sasae, most recently vice minister for foreign affairs. Sasae served as deputy minister for foreign affairs from 2008 to 2010, and as vice minister for foreign affairs, the top civil service job at the Foreign Ministry, from 2010 to 2012.   read more

Schnepf served as secretary of state for foreign relations and security in the office of Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz from October 31, 2005 to June 1, 2006, when he was forced to resign over comments he made in support of a controversial gas pipeline, although some said that he was simply caught in an internal power struggle. Schnepf’s exile from government did not last long. In December 2008, Schnepf returned to serve a second stint as ambassador to Spain.   read more

Treatment clinics in more than two-thirds of the states are already at or approaching 100% capacity, AP reported, and state budget are being cut. In Minnesota, an estimated 491,000 people in need of substance abuse treatment, but there are only 3,900 inpatient beds available in the whole state. In Illinois, there are 92,000 patients receiving treatment, but more than 230,000 more addicts and alcoholics currently without insurance will become eligible in January.   read more

Michael J. Elli claims he was ticketed by an Ellisville police officer for flashing his headlights at oncoming traffic on November 17, 2012. Elli said he flashed his lights in an effort to warn other drivers about a nearby speed trap that police had set up. In suing the small town (population: 9,200), Elli, who is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, argues that the ticket he received represents a violation of his right to free speech.   read more

Residents of Memphis, Tennessee, aren’t nearly as positive about walking their city streets alone after dark. Only 55% said they feel comfortable doing such a thing, giving Memphis the lowest marks from the polling. Some of the other least safe cities for walking at night are New Orleans, Riverside, California, Houston and Jacksonville.   read more

He is no stranger to the U.S., having served in Boston as consul from 1983 to 1985 and as consul general there until 1989, and as consul general in Los Angeles from September 1994 to 1999. Panagopoulos served as ambassador of Greece to Cyprus from 2000 to 2005, and as ambassador to Serbia from July 2005 to late 2008. Back in Athens, he was director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Foreign Minister, and of the Alternate Minister, from 2008 to 2012.   read more

From May 2008 to late 2012, Altangerel was ambassador to the United Kingdom, resident in London and concurrently accredited to South Africa, Ireland and Iceland. Altangerel speaks Russian, English and Spanish. An enthusiastic equestrian, Altangerel owns a dozen horses and even attended Royal Ascot while posted to London.   read more

Those arguing against the need for a warrant argue that the time it takes to obtain one allows alcohol to dissipate from the bloodstream while a judge is being found. Justice Clarence Thomas alone took the position that the possible dissipation of alcohol is always more important than obtaining a warrant. Justice Sotomayor, on the other hand, pointed out that warrants are easier to obtain than they used to be, thanks to technological developments.   read more

A new ABC News/Washington Post Poll revealed that 86% of respondents said “yes” to backing a law requiring background checks of people buying guns at gun shows or online. This level of national support wasn’t enough to convince several key Democrats to back the legislation. All of them represent states that voted against Barack Obama in 2012.   read more

USCIS was acknowledged for information contained in its “About Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” FAQ. The Center noted that the FAQ’s intended audience was people “who don’t speak English as their first language AND it involves children. The tone indicates that the writer does not see the reader as a person. This is written in such bureaucratic style that someone who was born and raised in this country may not recognize this as English.”   read more