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E.P.A. Paper Affirms Widely-Used Monsanto Chemical is Non-Carcinogenic

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The Environmental Protection Agency published a paper late Friday, which concluded that a key ingredient in a Monsanto-manufactured herbicide doesn’t cause cancer. Glyphosate, which is an integral part of Round-Up—a heavily-used chemical in the cultivation of genetically-modified crops–was declared “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” The declaration comes ahead of a final agency assessment on glyphosate. EPA officials told Politico last week that the ruling is expected early next year. It is already two years late, the newspaper noted. The EPA decision doesn’t mark…

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Congressional Report Details A Starving Judiciary

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With four months left in office, President Obama is staring down mounting judicial vacancies around the country. As a result of Senate obstruction, he will likely be the first executive in nearly two decades to leave office with federal district courts less staffed than when he was sworn in. There are 673 district judgeships around the nation, and 75 of them are currently vacant. That’s an 83 percent increase from when President Obama took office, when there were only 41 vacancies, according to data from the…

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Watchdog Clears FBI of Wrongdoing for Posing As News Media in Sting Operation

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An FBI scheme that involved an agent posing as a reporter for the Associated Press to track down a 15-year-old suspected of making bomb threats at his school was deemed permissible by the Department of Justice Inspector General. The watchdog concluded in a report published Thursday that the bureau’s tactics “did not violate the undercover policies in place at the time,” primarily because there was no explicit ban on impersonating members of the news media. It went on to add, however, that under new policies implemented…

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Former Clinton Treasury Sec. Had Been Recommended for 2008 Mortgage Meltdown Criminal Probe

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Former Treasury Secretary and Citibank Chair Bob Rubin was cited by a special congressional panel as someone who should have been the subject of a criminal investigation for activities related to the 2008 subprime mortgage meltdown. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) had told the Justice Department that it should open an investigation of Rubin, Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton, for alleged securities fraud perpetrated as a member of Citibank’s board. Rubin was among nine executives recommended for a criminal probe by the FCIC that…

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Dem Congressman: GOP Knows “Only Alternative is Single-Payer

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A Democratic congressman said that Republicans aren’t offering a unique alternative to Obamacare because they know that the only working substitute would be Medicare-for-all. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) made the accusations on Wednesday, at a House committee hearing set up by Republicans to criticize the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “The reason they have not proposed a viable alternative to the ACA, other than going back to pre-ACA situation, I’m convinced, is because the only other alternative is single-payer,” Yarmuth said. The law has come under…

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Thanks to Streamlining, the DOJ Generated Fewer “New” Secrets in 2015

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An internal inspector general gave high marks to the Department of Justice for correcting its classification procedures, and cutting down on the number of secrets it creates. The watchdog described “significant improvements” at the department, which reduced its original classification decisions down to zero in 2015 from 4,455 in 2013, when the IG conducted its first audit. The dramatic drop was primarily a result of DOJ officials having a “better understanding” of the classification process. In its prior 2013 audit, the IG noted that individuals…

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White House Boasting After Income Report Downplays Falling Oil Prices

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President Obama has touted this week’s Census report on poverty and income as evidence that his economic policies are working. “We lifted 3.5 million people out of poverty–the largest one-year drop in the poverty rate since 1968,” he said Tuesday. But the claims obscure an actor who inadvertently helped boost American incomes last year: the Government of Saudi Arabia. The data released by the Census Bureau showed that inflation-adjusted median incomes had increased for the first time since 2007, by an impressive 5.2 percent. This…

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McCain Slams Proposal to Separate NSA and Cyber Command, Promises to Scuttle It

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Reports that the Obama administration is considering cleaving off US Cyber Command from the National Security Agency (NSA) have roiled the Chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) threatened the White House on Tuesday, saying he would do all he can to block a nominee to head any new agency created by ending the “dual-hat” role of the NSA chief. US Cyber Command, formed in 2009, resides within the NSA, sharing the same networks and resources as the intelligence gathering agency.…

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NLRB Asks Supreme Court to Rule on Class Action Waivers, After Appellate Circuit Split

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The Supreme Court was asked to settle disputes over the legality of contract terms that bar employees from filing class action lawsuits, in petitions filed by opposing parties. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accounting conglomerate Ernst & Young, and medical software company Epic Systems have all asked Justices to rule on the issue, according to a Politico article published on Monday. Appellate courts have recently issued decisions both in favor and against the NLRB, which is seeking to have class action waivers declared illegal…

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Trump Alleges Yellen Conspiring With Obama to Keep Interest Rates Low

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Donald Trump hit out at Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, questioning her independence from President Obama and the wisdom of low interest rates. “She’s keeping them [interest rates] artificially low to get Obama retired,” he said on CNBC. “It’s a very serious problem.” “I think she’s very political, and to a certain extent I think she should be ashamed of herself,” he added. “Any increase at all will be a very, very small increase because they want to keep the market up so Obama goes…

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Private Utility Profiteers Outperformed By Publicly-Owned Counterparts

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A new report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that municipal utility providers offer better results than their corporate competitors. Power plants owned and operated by city governments experienced on average one outage in 2015, usually lasting up to two hours, according to the study. Those performance indicators outpaced other utility types in 2015. Investor-owned energy producers averaged more than one outage a year. They typically lasted beyond three hours. Cooperatively owned utilities fared the worst, averaging more than two outages a year that…

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