According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

Trace amounts of PFOA and PFOS can be detected in the blood of almost every American as the result of exposure through food and consumer products. But of specific concern is the risk posed to residents in the relatively small number of communities where higher levels of PFOA and PFOS have been found in public drinking water. EPA now says long-term exposure to either chemical at concentrations above 70 parts per trillion could have adverse health impacts.   read more

The findings further resonate in a state that continues to lead the nation in the number of uninsured. Texas remains one of 19 states that has chosen not to expand Medicaid under the ACA. In Texas, 63% of those polled said they support an expanded Medicaid program. Similarly, 68% in Florida also favored a Medicaid expansion. These numbers are significant because of the states surveyed, only Florida and Texas did not expand the safety-net program.   read more

Part of Lose’s duties since arriving in the U.S. includes explaining Danish policies mentioned in the course of the U.S. presidential campaign. He commented on Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders’ statement that he would like to see the U.S. economy be more like Denmark’s. “It goes without saying, of course without interfering in the U.S. political debate, that we welcome any positive mention of Denmark,” Lose said. “Denmark has a lot to offer in terms of how we organize our society.”   read more

Gov. Fallin, who has signed several anti-abortion bills that were later blocked by the courts, will not comment on the new bill “until she and her staff have had a chance to review it,” said her office. But some legislators called the measure an ill-considered diversion. “I’m pro-life and a Roman Catholic, but I don’t think we should waste our time on legislation that someone will declare unconstitutional,” said Sen. Yen, an anesthesiologist and one of the few Republicans to oppose the bill.   read more

Many mines already operate at a loss, and there's not enough money in the fuel anymore to enable their owners to keep their promises to clean up the land. This reclamation crisis looms because of a practice called self-bonding, which allows coal companies to promise to eventually cover the cost of cleaning up abandoned mines without first setting aside the necessary money. Nationwide, self-bonding in the coal-mining industry tops $3.3 billion.   read more

Democrats shouted "Shame! Shame!," but seven Republicans switched their votes under pressure from House leaders Thursday and defeated a measure to protect gay rights. Maloney and other Democrats were incensed. "They literally snatched discrimination from the jaws of equality," Maloney said. Democrats loudly chanted as their leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, yelled up from near the well of the House at her members, shouting at them to vote down the underlying bill.   read more

Federal courts don't have authority to decide if the government has an obligation to evacuate 26 U.S. citizens stranded in war-torn Yemen, a judge ruled Tuesday. Those citizens sued Secretary of State Kerry and Secretary of Defense Carter, saying the government ignored them while ordering diplomats and military personnel to flee the war-ravaged country. While the State Dept issued a travel warning and acknowledged danger to Americans, it did nothing to evacuate U.S. citizens, the group claimed.   read more

Judge Richard J. Leon’s ruling reopens the district’s long fight over how much room the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to bear arms leaves for local regulation — and whether it applies only to firearms in the home, or to guns carried outside as well. The law gave the police the discretion to grant concealed-carry licenses only to those with “good reason to fear injury” or other specific reasons, such as having a job in which they carried large amounts of cash or valuables.   read more

“For the sake of the families, I want to make clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that every entity, including foreign states, will be held accountable if they are found to be sponsors of the heinous act of 9/11,” said Sen Schumer. “If the Saudis did not participate in this terrorism, they have nothing to fear about going to court. If they did, they should be held accountable.” Schumer said he believed Democrats would override a veto from President Obama.   read more

Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria's remarks are the strongest yet in a fight with the world's biggest drugmaker. The Colombian Embassy described intense lobbying pressure on Colombia, a staunch U.S. ally, from the pharma industry and its allies in the U.S. Congress. Gaviria said the pressure shows the forceful steps that big pharma is willing to take to protect its commercial interests. "They're very afraid that Colombia could become an example that spreads across the region," he said.   read more

Including women in a potential mass mobilization has roiled social conservatives. They see such a mandate as another step toward blurring gender lines similar to allowing transgender people to use public lavatories of their choosing. But proponents see the requirement as a sensible step toward gender equality. They point to the Pentagon's decision late last year to open all front-line combat jobs to women as removing any justification for gender restrictions on draft registration.   read more

When the Democrats still controlled the Senate in Dec. 2014, committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein sent a copy of the full report to President Obama, with a letter encouraging the president to use the full report in future development of CIA programs. Feinstein chose not to seek declassification of the full committee study at that time, however, and the committee's new chairman, Sen. Richard Burr, has since demanded that Obama to return all copies of the Final Full Report immediately.   read more

Unwanted robocalls are an increasingly vexing problem, in general, because of new technology that makes it easier to initiate automated calls and harder for the authorities to track them. Unwanted calls are the subject of more than 1.7 million complaints a year to the FTC. Recently, the calls have become a particular problem for cellphone customers, including some who report receiving repeated calls that are actually intended for people who previously had the same cellphone number.   read more

Efforts to diversify America’s corporate boards with more minorities and women are still lagging. Overall, 399 new directors were selected for the top company boards last year. Hispanics claimed only 16 of those seats. The U.S. has the second-largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, second only to Mexico. “Companies need to do more to recruit Latinos into the boardroom if they are to compete successfully for the growing Latino consumers and future talent,” said HACR's Cid Wilson.   read more

Ohio has repeatedly pushed back executions while it looks for drugs. It now has more than two dozen inmates with execution dates, but no drugs to put prisoners to death with. Some states are using compounded versions of drugs that fall outside of FDA approval. Other states have passed laws allowing older methods of execution if lethal drugs are unavailable: Utah has approved the use of firing squads, Tennessee passed a law allowing the electric chair, and Oklahoma has approved nitrogen gas.   read more

Many ill people with a legitimate need for narcotic drugs cannot get them and are suffering and dying in pain. In Russia, India and Mexico, many doctors are reluctant to prescribe these painkillers, fearful of possible prosecution or other legal problems, even if they believe the prescriptions are justified. And in most poor and middle-income countries, these drugs are restricted and often unavailable, even for patients with terminal cancer, AIDS or grievous war wounds.   read more