President Donald Trump invited the Dodgers to the White House. Many of their fans feared that the team, by accepting, would humiliate themselves and betray the team’s large Latino, Asian and African-American fan base. Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, along with co-owner Magic Johnson, have proposed a solution. Trump has promised that if he can keep the championship trophy, the Commissioner’s Trophy, he will end all seizures and deportations of immigrants.   read more

By then the cost of the purchase had risen by $72 million, and the first planes won’t be delivered until at least April 2015 instead of the original target date of April 2014. The problem with that is that the U.S. is scheduled to withdraw most military personnel from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. That means there might not be any American trainers in the country to show the Afghans how to fly the Super Tucanos.   read more

Orcutt wrote: “If I am not mistaken, a cyclists [sic] has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride.”   read more

Counting Detroit, more than half of Michigan’s African-American citizens have lost their right to urban self-governance, their cities being run instead by nearly omnipotent managers appointed by the state’s Governor, Rick Snyder, a member of the overwhelmingly white Republican Party. Voters last November voted to repeal Public Act 4, but Republican legislators used a lame duck session in December to ram through a nearly identical bill (Public Act 436) to replace Public Act 4.   read more

The change, issued late last month by the White House, could impact thousands of workers and result in making government less transparent and free from corruption, critics charged. The presidential order was issued on January 25, the day after a federal appeals court panel set aside a 2012 court decision, in the case of Berry v. Conyers, giving the government broad authority to remove employees from “sensitive” jobs without appeal.   read more

Cellulosic biomass, which is ethanol made from switchgrass, wood chips, and other fibrous, non-edible plants, has lagged far behind the goals set by Congress, largely because the cost of production has turned out to be much higher than projected in 2007. In fact, in 2012 the U.S. biofuel industry produced only 20,069 gallons of cellulosic ethanol, compared to the 500 million gallon goal set by EISA.   read more

The National Center for Law & Policy (NCLP) sued in San Diego Superior Court to suspend the yoga program already instituted in half the district’s schools. They claim it promotes Hinduism and teaches religious doctrine in place of state-required physical education. Russell Case of Jois Foundation said, “We’re good Christians that just like to do yoga because it helps us to be better people.”   read more

As a federal judge, he has presided over several high-profile cases, including the perjury and obstruction of justice trial of Vice President Dick Cheney aide Scooter Libby, the perjury trial of pitcher Roger Clemens, and a number of habeas corpus petitions filed by prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.   read more

The National Congress of American Indians replied to these remarks by pointing out that the attorney general may certify a tribal court’s eligibility to prosecute non-Indians only “after…concluding that the criminal justice system of the requesting tribe has adequate safeguards in place to protect defendants’ rights.” In addition, the Indian Civil Rights Act guarantees the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights to all those under the jurisdiction of tribal governments.   read more

There is ample evidence that U.S. horsemeat is not a healthful meat to eat. In the U.S., horses are not raised for slaughter, so horsemeat is made predominantly from former race horses and work horses, which are routinely treated with medications harmful to humans, including the anti-inflammatory phenylbutazone, a known carcinogen that has been found in horsemeat, despite an FDA ban on its administration to any horse sent to slaughter for human consumption.   read more

Forty-six million adults benefited from income-based government aid, either in the form of cash or in-kind assistance (services, goods and vouchers), in 2011, and of this total, 30.4% had a disability. Among those receiving both cash and in-kind assistance, the percentage of beneficiaries with disabilities jumped to 58.3%. In West Virginia, 41.7% of those receiving federal assistance had disabilities, whereas in Arizona, only 25.1% did.   read more

Overall, 12.4% of drivers cut in front of other vehicles and 34.9% failed to yield to a pedestrian. But rich drivers broke the law at a far greater rate: they cut off other cars 29.6% of the time and failed to yield 46.2% of the time, while lower class drivers did so only 7.7% of the time and not at all, respectively.   read more

Mason, who worked on President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign as a member of its national finance committee and raised funds in Georgia, left private practice to serve as a deputy associate attorney general from April 2009 to February 2012, after which she returned to Alston. In addition to her other specialties, she provided “guidance in government investigations.”   read more

The court case was filed by Luis Lebron, a Navy veteran and single father, who also cared for his mentally disabled mother. Lebron told the Tampa Tribune, “I felt like, I served my country for four years; doesn't that mean anything anymore? I've worked for pretty good companies. I'm going to school; I'm supposed to graduate. I shouldn't be in this position.”   read more

The researchers at the top seven cancer centers hail from 56 countries, but half of them came from just five nations The leading country of origin for U.S.-based cancer researchers is China, which accounts for 21%. Following China is India (10%), Germany and Canada (both 7%), and the United Kingdom (6%).   read more

The civil complaint charges that the McAllen Independent School District violated Brinsdon’s constitutional guarantees when her Spanish teacher, Reyna Santos, demanded the recitation and singing. The student also claims that her school principal, Yvette Cavasos, tried to coerce her into going along with her teacher’s assignments. As an alternative, Brinsdon offered to recite the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish.   read more

For 17 years, Jerry Givens was Virginia’s chief executioner. He was personally responsible for executing 62 people, and felt no remorse for his work during that time. But these days Givens has a whole new take on the death penalty. Since leaving his job 13 years ago, Givens has become one of the state’s biggest opponents of capital punishment.   read more