President Donald Trump gleefully announced that, under his direction, U.S. military troops had swooped down on the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento and kidnapped California Governor Gavin Newsom. “We’re charging Newscum with fraud.” When a reporter asked for specifics about the fraud charges, Trump pointed to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi, clearly taken by surprise, said, “We’re looking into it and will let you know the details as soon as we’ve created them.”   read more

Some of the largest school districts in the United States are moving away from two decades of “zero tolerance” policies that resulted in thousands of students being arrested and dropping out. Instead, education officials are trying to help at-risk kids avoid trouble and stay in school. The shift away from “get tough” policies has taken place in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver and most recently Broward County, Florida, home to Fort Lauderdale.   read more

The latest attempt by the federal government to improve drug safety involving pharmacies and manufacturers will take a decade to fully implement. Also, some of the key provisions are strictly voluntary on the part of industry. Crafted by the FDA and and signed into law by President Barack Obama last week, the new rules were prompted by the tragedy involving a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy that killed 64 people who developed fungal meningitis from tainted medication.   read more

Within a half hour, 11-year-old Madison Root had sold seven bunches of mistletoe at $4 each. But a private security guard stopped Root from making her sales because a city ordinance bans such commerce without a permit. That’s why the guard informed Root that she could simply ask people for donations, and forego the mistletoe altogether. To which she replied: “I don’t want to beg! I would rather work for something than beg.”   read more

Dumping medicine in the trash is generally not advisable, and the Food and Drug Administration provides detailed instructions to consumers regarding the proper disposal of prescription drugs. It suggests using drug buy-back programs, but if those are not available, it recommends mixing the medicine with kitty litter or coffee grounds (soaking the mixture with water is advisable) prior to disposing of it in the garbage.   read more

Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri claim they were brought to a Central Intelligence Agency “black site” in Poland in December 2002, where they were detained and tortured until June 2003, at which point they were transferred to other interrogation sites before being shipped to Guantánamo. Zubaydah was accused by the George W. Bush administration of helping mastermind the September 11, 2001, attacks. But he has never been charged with a crime.   read more

For the first time in 40 years of the quadrennial “America’s Place in the World” survey, 53% of respondents said the U.S. plays a less important and powerful role as a world leader than it did a decade ago. An even larger majority (70%) said their country is losing respect internationally—the highest since May 2008.   read more

Police officers in Dallas will now have the right to remain silent for three days following their participation in or witnessing of a police-related shooting. The new department policy also allows officers to view any available video footage of the shooting before talking to investigators. Before Police Chief David Brown made the change, officers were required to provide a statement within hours of the incident.   read more

The UN drone fleet currently consists of just two aircraft, made in Italy. They’re being deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to monitor the border with Rwanda and Uganda. The Falco drones, manufactured by Selex ES, will observe the movements of a Rwandan Hutu rebel group, FDLR, and Ugandan rebels, ADF-NALU. Both operate in the DRC’s east, which is rich in minerals.   read more

The report examined 60 large corporations and found that 22 of the 30 companies that paid the highest tax rates created nearly 200,000 jobs over a five-year period. Meanwhile, those companies that paid little or no taxes actually laid off employees— more than 51,000 during that same period. Verizon, the nation’s biggest wireless provider, earned $32 billion in U.S. profits over a four-year period and even received $951 in tax refunds—yet cut 56,000 employees from its payroll.   read more

Physicians at the veterans’ hospital in San Francisco have been caught renewing highly addictive painkillers to patients without seeing or talking to them first. The IG reviewed 264 opiate prescription renewals and learned that in 53% of cases, the physician renewing the medication had not communicated personally with the patient. The IG report also says there were seven opiate overdoses among patients at the hospital, and that doctors “did not consistently monitor patients for misuse.”   read more

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has come under fire for exposing its computer networks to possible infiltrations as a result of not following many of its own cyber-security policies. DHS’ inspector general (IG) said in a new report (pdf) that the agency was using old security controls and Internet connections that could not be verified as reliable. Officials also failed to review “top secret” information systems for vulnerabilities.   read more

It was 19-year-old Abdul Ghafar’s pick-up truck that was hit by the drone. The truck carried his mother, brother, sister-in-law and nephew, all of whom were killed. “We have the ID cards of these civilians,” he told the Times. “We have their graves. If someone can prove these were Taliban, I would accept any punishment.” He insists the U.S. was responsible for the loss of his loved ones, and he now wants vengeance. “If I could attack them, I would.”   read more

An animal rights organization has filed suit to free a chimpanzee being held in a New York trailer park, claiming non-humans deserve some of the same legal rights as people. The Nonhuman Rights Project filed its writ of habeas corpus with the New York Supreme Court, with a chimp named Tommy as the focus of the unusual legal case. Habeas corpus has been used frequently to help free people from unlawful imprisonment, but this time it’s being employed to assist a primate.   read more

It was about 4 am when Westbrook walked up to the front door, knocked and tried unsuccessfully to enter. He then walked towards the back of the house. Hendrix went outside armed with a handgun, and called out to Westbrook, who did not respond, but did approach Hendrix. That’s when Hendrix opened fire four times, killing Westbrook, who was found by police clutching some mail. It is believed that Westbrook was disoriented and suffering from exhaustion when he stopped at Hendrix’s house.   read more

Recently, the U.S. government has increased its use of secrecy orders, which totaled 5,445 by the end of FY2013—the highest number since 1994. Among that total are 21 “John Doe” orders, which refer to secrecy orders that are imposed on private inventors who received no government or military support for their patent applications or their inventions.   read more

The high level of distrust applies to day-to-day living, with the percentage whose level of trust is “just somewhat,” “not too much” or ”not at all” rising to 65% when handing a credit card or debit card to a clerk, 75% when dealing with drivers on the road, and 78% when meeting strangers on trips.   read more