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

The Buy American Act mandates the federal government give preference to products made in the U.S. when it makes bulk purchases of more than $3,000. Similarly, the Berry Amendment says the Pentagon can’t buy products such as clothing and textiles outside of the U.S. when the purchases are at least $150,000. The IG, however, found that nearly half of the Navy contracts it reviewed violated the Berry Amendment, and a third of another sampling of contracts violated the Buy American Act.   read more

In an experiment by the U.S. Marine Corps on the integration of women into combat units, mixed-gender units didn’t perform as well as all-male units. It was pointed out that the male Marines in the trial were mostly combat veterans, whereas the women, by definition, had not seen combat and were mostly recent graduates of infantry school or had come from non-combat roles.   read more

The Illinois Lottery has stopped paying jackpots of more than $25,000 while the state government tries to pass a budget and some winners who still haven’t received their payouts are suing the state. “How the heck can they do this, and they’re still selling tickets?” Rhonda Rasche, who is still waiting for the $50,000 she won in July from a $3 scratch-off ticket, said to the Chicago Tribune. “If I was the one selling raffle tickets and I didn’t pay, I would be sued or in jail or both.”   read more

State Senator Bob Keenan and former state Senator Verdell Jackson, both Republicans, sought an injunction to stop the transfer because of the tribes’ business and cultural connections with Turkey, a U.S. ally and member of NATO. The suit charged that the transfer would give the Turks “access to the uranium deposits and bountiful water sources surrounding the Flathead Reservation for production of yellowcake capable of later conversion to a gaseous state for eventual use in incendiary devices.”   read more

A report from the Harvard Kennedy School and the National Institute of Justice says that those up to age 21 should be treated as juveniles by the justice system, with gradually diminishing protections for those up to age 24.   read more

Connecticut’s rate of suicide by firearm dropped 15.4% after it enacted a waiting period and background checks. In Missouri, suicides via firearm increased 16.1% after that state in 2007 repealed its law requiring that those wanting to purchase firearms apply for a permit at the local sheriff’s office....But Crifasi warned that the study does not indicate a clear causal relationship."   read more

Derrick Hunter and Lee Sullivan are accused in the 2013 shooting death of Jaquan Rice and the wounding of his girlfriend. The defendants subpoenaed Facebook, Instagram and Twitter seeking the private messages of Rice and Renesha Lee, Sullivan’s former girlfriend and a prosecution witness. Defense attorneys say the records will help them prove that Rice was a dangerous criminal who had threatened others and that Lee was motivated by jealousy.   read more

The State Department says that even though personnel are warned to stay off the streets in certain border areas, they can “walk across the border and be in a Walmart or a Dairy Queen,” Gregory Starr, State’s assistant secretary at the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, said Wednesday at a hearing.   read more

“After expanding by a record 1.7 million barrels a day in 2014, the latest price rout could stop U.S. growth in its tracks,” the agency reported. The reason for the decline is the fall in price caused by a huge surplus of oil.   read more

The past few months have seen dramatic coverage of shootings, including those in South Carolina and Louisiana, which prompted some to call for tighter background checks and other gun safety measures. In August, the FBI received reports of 1.7 million background checks required of gun purchasers at federally licensed dealers, which was the highest number recorded in any August since gun checks began in 1998. Likewise, July broke the record for that month, with 1.6 million requests.   read more

The hearing, labeled a “show trial” by Democrats, featured two “abortion survivors” who lived after their mothers attempted to terminate their pregnancies. Republicans did not invite anyone from the Center for Medical Progress, the antiabortion group that made and edited the undercover videos that sparked the hearings. Furthermore, GOP lawmakers—after making critical remarks about Planned Parenthood—admitted they had not seen the controversial videos in their full, unedited form.   read more

With all that free time, Farrow has also been able to hold a side job—as lobbyist for Puerto Rico and the island nation of Palau, which earned him $820,000 last year. The GSA IG also found the commission agreed to pay Farrow $104,000 per year to work eight hours per week. “Instead, he took the higher salary and worked less than the scheduled amount,” Eric Katz reported at Government Executive. His $143,000 government salary represented nearly 25% of the commission’s annual budget.   read more

A five-year federal pilot program to determine levels of contamination around eight other nuclear facilities in the United States was cancelled this week because, apparently, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is already doing such a fine job of oversight. . Nuclear sites to be studied included active and decommissioned plants in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey. A nuclear fuel fabrication plant in Tennessee was also on the list.   read more

In 2010, Melville returned to the United States to become executive director of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and International Organization Affairs, providing support to 79 U.S. missions under those umbrellas. Melville returned to Berlin in August 2012 as deputy chief of mission, serving for a time in 2013 as chargé d’affaires.   read more

"Land dries up. Trees die. Crops cannot take root," wrote Flesher. Such spills rarely result in penalties for oil and gas companies. This does little to encourage the industry to take action to prevent accidents. “It’s almost a coddling relationship,” said PRBRC's Jill Morrison. “The industry looks at spills as a cost of doing business.” Meanwhile, the victims—farmers, ranchers, landowners—spin their wheels in court while their land, water and livestock deteriorate.   read more

U.S. attorneys have been instructed to not settle unless they identify those responsible for wrongdoing. “Corporations can only commit crimes through flesh-and-blood people,” said deputy AG Sally Yates. “It’s only fair that the people who are responsible for committing those crimes be held accountable. The public needs to have confidence that there is one system of justice and it applies equally regardless of whether that crime occurs on a street corner or in a boardroom.”   read more