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

The fact that these companies are selling such a large percentage of coal back to themselves constitutes “a fundamental shift in how the coal industry does business,” wrote Claire Moser. The scheme involves companies that mine coal using other companies they own to sell the resource at below-market value. That's how the government determines its royalties collected from coal producers leasing federal lands. The lower the sale price of coal, the lower the payment to the U.S. Treasury.   read more

The U.S. imports about $30 billion worth of seafood annually. Americans eat 5 billion pounds of seafood per year, and about 90% of it is imported from countries that don’t protect marine mammals caught in fishing operators’ nets from being killed. The rule change would impact 122 countries that currently sell fish to American importers. Latin America, India and China are among the biggest of them.   read more

“People who think we did the right thing in invading Iraq seem to be revising their memories to retroactively justify the invasion,” said poll researcher Dan Cassino. “This sort of motivated reasoning is pretty common: when people want to believe something, they’ll twist the facts to fit it.” The survey also revealed that 52% of respondents who said they watched Fox News said the WMD program discovery was “probably” or “definitely” true. Only 14% of viewers of MSNBC said that WMDs were found.   read more

There was half a minute left in the game and Anthony, his team having given up a 14-point lead, was called for an offensive foul. It was at that point that Rotondi let loose with his verbal barrage. After the next play, with 6.7 seconds left in the game, security personnel approached Rotondi to escort him from his seat. When the police arrived, security told them that Rotondi was ejected for interfering with the game and refusing to leave while being escorted out. Rotondi was then arrested.   read more

The study says fracking near Poland Township triggered a previously undiscovered fault. The result was more than 70 earthquakes ranging in magnitude of 2.1 to 3.0, the latter of which was described as “rare” by the experts. Hilcorp Energy, operator of several oil and gas wells in the area, was forced to shut down its drilling after the 3.0 quake. The seismologists’ research was deemed consistent with findings of a “probable” link between fracking and seismic events.   read more

The cutoffs will come in 2016 as a result of federal welfare reform law adopted in 1996, which imposed a three-month limit on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) eligibility for those aged 18-50 who aren’t disabled or don’t have minor children. The Agriculture Department estimates nondisabled childless individuals on SNAP earn 19% of the federal poverty level, or $2,200. About 40% of those who will lose benefits will be women and a third will be older than 40.   read more

DHS’ Inspector General says in a new report that CBP has not delivered the kinds of results it promised from spending at least $62.5 million so far on drones. The unmanned aircraft were supposed to help law enforcement do a better job of capturing those crossing the border illegally, but the report says CBP’s drones assisted in only 2% of these efforts in 2013. Drones were involved with only 1% of Arizona marijuana seizures and 4% of those in Texas.   read more

“We know nothing about what’s going on. No one has told us anything,” Reinyer Figueredo, the son of prisoner Haydee Gallardo, told Reuters. Opposition groups say the Castro government was holding about 100 political prisoners before the announced deal with the United States. People working for the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba have called prisoners’ family members to ask if their relatives had been released, but have learned of no one who had, according to the Miami Herald.   read more

Papa Faal and Cherno Njie were involved in the recent failed attempt to oust Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled the small African nation since 1994. Njie and Faal traveled to Gambia, as did about 10 others, where most of the group tried to storm the presidential palace on December 30. The longtime dictator was not in the country at the time of the botched coup. Njie would have been Gambia’s interim leader if the coup had been successful,   read more

The now former senator from Oklahoma accused the $60 billion DHS of falling short of fulfilling its key objectives to protect the nation. “Based upon the available evidence, DHS is not successfully executing any of its five main missions,” Coburn wrote. “DHS’s main domestic counterterrorism programs—including its intelligence initiatives and homeland security grants—are yielding little value for the nation’s counterterrorism efforts."   read more

The U.S. population currently is 73% Christian, but they’re overrepresented in Congress, according to Pew Research. A survey found that 92% of the members of the House and Senate belong to a Christian denomination. That’s even a higher percentage than in the last session, but Congress lost five Jews, one Buddhist and one unaffiliated member. The largest bloc now is made up of Protestants (57%), followed by Catholics (31%). There are 28 Jews, who make up only 5% of Congress.   read more

Now, it’s down to Representatives Bill Foster (D-Illinois) and Jerry McNerney (D-California). Members of the scientific community are concerned about the nation’s leading legislative body making decisions affecting science with so few voices of authority in physics, biology and chemistry. “What we are sorely missing in the Congress today are those who are science-minded,” said Mary Woolley, president of Research! America. “We are skating on thin ice.”   read more

The lawsuit says the juror objects to how prosecutor Bob McCulloch has been able to speak out about the case and his characterization of the grand jury’s decision. The documents McCulloch released “do not fully portray the proceedings before the grand jury.” St. Louis Public Radio said “the Wilson case was handled in a very different manner than other grand juries...presenting thousands of pages worth of evidence and testimony...[and] characteriz[ing] the grand jury as co-investigators.”   read more

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 15.76% of Rhode Islanders used illicit drugs in 2012-2013. Right behind Rhode Island was the District of Columbia, with 15.17, and Colorado at 14.90. Rhode Island also was first for using marijuana at 20.22%, followed by Alaska (19.69), Vermont (19.10) and Oregon (19.03). As for alcohol consumption, no state was less sober than New Hampshire, where 65.19% of residents used alcohol in the past month.   read more

It’s not the first time this has happened. In fact, it’s becoming a regular occurrence in American politics. Republicans now hold 54 Senate seats, compared to 46 for Democrats. But the GOP candidates only received 46.6% of the vote over the last three elections. Republicans winning a majority of Senate seats while not winning a majority of votes is nothing new. This trend has been happening every 10 years: 2004, 1994 and 1984. It also occurred following the midterm elections of 1980 and 1982.   read more

For policymakers looking to rectify this situation and improve economic growth, the focus should be on lifting up the bottom 40% of society, which includes much of the struggling middle class, says Cingano. “Many social policies are aimed at poverty alleviation. [However,] it is not just poverty...that inhibits growth. Policymakers need to be concerned about...the vulnerable lower middle classes at risk of failing to benefit from the recovery and future growth."   read more