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

An analysis of more than 1,200 fatal police shootings over a two-year period "certainly seems to support what has been an article of faith in the African American community for decades: Blacks are being killed at disturbing rates when set against the rest of the American population,” ProPublica reports. Not all law enforcement agencies report their shootings to the FBI, so it’s likely that the numbers actually understate the number of people killed by police.   read more

For the first time since the no-fly list was set up after the 9/11 attacks, officials in Washington have publicly acknowledged to some who had been prohibited from getting on a commercial airliner that they were on the list. Seven people were officially identified as being on the list and removed from it, but only after Homeland Security lost a court fight to keep those names a secret. One of those seven, Abe Mashal, declared: “Today, I learned I have my freedoms back.”   read more

There’s only so much of the best of anything and Internet advertising is no different, particularly for election campaigns. Election strategists around the country have been planning to use online ads as well as television in their campaigns. But in some markets, only campaign managers who thought ahead will be able to run their commercials without interruption on sites like YouTube. That’s because the most sought-after ads are limited in number.   read more

For network executives, the news was both shocking and unsettling, given that the ratings system can make or break a show—or a vice president’s career. “This is the equivalent of an earthquake. When you can’t trust the ground you’re standing on, it’s disorienting,” a network insider told CNN. “These ratings are the currency of the business,” said NBC's Alan Wurtzel. “Any time that currency is under suspicion it’s a concern.”   read more

Mention the NSA and visions of mathematicians and computer scientists working in windowless offices spring to mind. But according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the NSA also employs agents who work in foreign companies and physically compromise devices and computer networks. The documents show that the NSA has agents working in China, Germany and South Korea to accomplish this mission. Its personnel are also stationed in Hawaii, Texas, Georgia, and in U.S. embassies.   read more

Texas’ latest attempt to restrict minority groups from exercising their right to vote was a law that required certain forms of ID to cast a ballot. That law has now been struck down by a judge who provided a lesson in Texas’ long history of discrimination. Judge Gonzales Ramos ruled that Texas’ voter ID law had the same chilling effect on voting as a poll tax. Literacy tests and gerrymandering have also been employed to depress turnout of black and Hispanic voters, she wrote.   read more

The $100 million is more than a third higher than what was spent on congressional races at this point in 2012. The money is funneled to so-called “social welfare” groups. One of the most prominent spenders has been the Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, which promotes the campaign of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and targeting his Democratic rival, Alison Grimes. Other money is spent by the Koch brothers’-funded Americans for Prosperity and Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS   read more

The Pentagon bought 20 transport planes for use in Afghanistan for $486 million. The planes could not be kept operational, so 16 of them were scrapped at Kabul Airport and the shredded metal was sold for 6 cents a pound. “I am concerned that the officials responsible for planning and executing the scrapping of the planes may not have considered other possible alternatives in order to salvage taxpayer dollars," said SIGAR's John Sopko.   read more

In 2008 and 2012, Adams, at his home overlooking Lake Geneva, hosted lavish fundraisers featuring George Clooney to benefit Obama’s presidential campaigns. Adams’ co-host, Matthew Barzun, is now the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. Although Adams is a political, rather than career, appointee, he’s familiar with the Foreign Service. He was born August 25, 1947, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where his father, Charles C. Adamas, was serving as a U.S. diplomat.   read more

“Life as you know it on Earth ends. Seven degrees increase Fahrenheit and we can’t sustain crops, water, life under those circumstances,” Secretary of State John Kerry said after touring a Boston wind center with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. “The solution is staring us in the face. It’s very simple: clean energy. We still have in our hands a window of opportunity to be able to make the difference. But the window is closing quickly. That’s not a threat, that’s a fact.”   read more

Judge Gladys Kessler ordered the government to coordinate the release of videos showing the force-feeding of a Guantánamo inmate. “I want Americans to see what is going on at the prison today, so they will understand why we are hunger-striking,” inmate Syrian Abu Wa’el Dhiab wrote in a petition. Kessler rejected the government’s claim that the video would harm national security. "Most of [their justifications] are unacceptably vague, speculative, ...just plain implausible,” she wrote.   read more

Some companies have inserted a clause into those service contracts you agree to that can cost you money if you give them a negative review. One online retailer, KlearGear, slapped a couple with a $3,500 suit after they’d complained online about poor customer service. The Union Street Guest House will fine event organizers at the inn if any of their guests post negative reviews online. But in California, Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill prohibiting such clauses in the state.   read more

Mills went to Malta in 2010 as deputy chief of mission, and for a time as chargé d’affaires, at the embassy in Valetta. While there, he helped coordinate the evacuation of Americans and other foreign nationals from Libya during the unrest in that country in 2011. He also helped dedicate the new U.S. Embassy in Malta. In 2012, Mills went to Beirut as deputy chief of mission, where he served until his nomination.   read more

Since 2011, Cekuta has been deputy assistant secretary of state in the Energy Resources Bureau. As such, he has acted as a point man for the State Department’s views on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring tar sands oil from Canada into the United States. That experience will come in handy in Azerbaijan, a major oil producer.   read more

New friction has emerged between the U.S. and China. China is starting a new bank and the U.S., the largest shareholder of the World Bank, doesn’t like the competition. China has pledged $50 billion to launch the enterprise, which would be run by Jin Liqun. The Chinese are luring South Korea and Australia to contribute funds, but the U.S. is urging them not to. If the U.S. succeeds, it would damage the prestige of China's bank by having its membership limited to smaller nations.   read more

After the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, the State Department established a directorate to focus on the security of U.S. missions abroad. Now, a report has found that the High Threat Programs division doesn’t have the tools it needs to protect diplomats. Several units of the directorate were found to be understaffed. In addition, the directorate doesn’t have the authority to force other bureaus to do what it says.   read more