The Chicago Police Department says that since November 27, its officers have been targeted by gunfire six times, the latest occurring early on December 8.  Read Full Article

The epidemic of heroin and opioid related deaths in the US continues to grow, surpassing gun homicides in 2015, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows. Nearly 5,000 more people died from opioids in 2015 than in 2014.  Read Full Article

American lawmakers have introduced a so-called Stop Arming Terrorists Act that aims to protect US taxpayers’ dollars from being spent on supporting and arming international terrorist groups through covert operations and third states.  Read Full Article

  Employees working for the National Security Agency are leaving their posts in “increasingly large numbers” following the scandal caused by whistleblower Edward Snowden, the NSA’s former director has revealed.  Read Full Article

Which goes back to the original question: what news source has not reported fake news?  Journalist Brian Williams has become the latest person to slam ‘fake news,’ claiming it influenced the US election. But there’s some irony in his apparent defense of quality journalism, as he was let go from his NBC gig last year for…

President-elect Donald Trump may be giving up his salary, but he will be staying on as executive producer of reality show “Celebrity Apprentice”. While critics have denounced this as conflict of interest, Trump’s campaign chief compared it to golfing.  Read Full Article

A California college student and professor who he recorded criticizing Trump during the class have both fallen under fire amid threats of expulsion and legal action. It is the latest in string of incidences involving teachers expressing their views on President-elect Donald Trump in the classroom.  During a political discussion, Orange Coast College professor Ogla

You pay, you play. Buy yourself a stakeholder position.  President Obama has ordered US spy agencies to prepare “a full review” of election-linked cyberattacks, but the public may never see it. The report should be ready before Obama vacates office and it is likely to be disclosed only to “a range of stakeholders.”  Read Full

The House Oversight Committee wants to know why the Pentagon buried a proposal to save $125 billion, requesting a copy of the full report – and an explanation – from the Department of Defense.  Read Full Article

I like that she acknowledges that all economists agree on the effects of the minimum wage: job losses, unemployment, and cut-back in hours. But many say it’s worth it.  When I teach the Principles of Economics, I often note the relationship between positive analysis and normative judgments. One of my favorite ways to teach this

David R. Henderson is an economics professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and was the senior economist for health policy with President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers Why are pharmaceutical prices so high while the prices of so many other items we buy are low and even falling? The difference is competition. Drug companies typically

In 1966, Congress enacted legislation to raise the federal minimum wage from $1.25 an hour to $1.40 in February 1967 and then to $1.60 in February 1968. Further, Congress voted on amendments in 1966 to broaden the coverage of the minimum wage to public schools, nursing homes, laundries, and the entire construction industry. On September

The Democrats focus on the blacks because of their voting block.  Members of which of these groups were most likely to be a victim of a hate crime in 2015: Muslims, Blacks or Jews? Based on media coverage, you would have to say Muslims or Blacks. According to a Google news search for the term “hate

If you’ve taken Econ 101, this will make perfect sense.  If you haven’t, you shouldn’t be passing economic laws that hurt everyone.  There’s been a lot of talk lately about the new government industrial policy of threatening to penalize U.S. manufacturers that move production and jobs overseas by imposing 30-40% tariffs on the American customers

Smoke billowing from the boys bathroom as rebellious teens lit up cigarettes during school more than likely got the teens immortalized — and in trouble. But what happens when the tell-tale signs of tobacco use like odors and smoke aren’t there? With the rise in popularity of electronic cigarette use among youth, that’s a real challenge for

Multiple news agencies are reporting that local Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers will be President-Elect Donald Trump’s pick for Interior Secretary.  That would leave the congressional seat open setting up an election next year to replace the Republican from Colville.  Already Spokane City Council President Democrat Ben Stuckart has announced he will run.  Spokane County

A Trump transition spokesman is confirming published reports that Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador is scheduled to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York Monday. Spokesman Jason Miller said the Labrador meeting is among others Trump will hold with former Hewlett-Packard exec and presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, and former

The US intentionally bombs a Mosul hospital that was being used as a command center by ISIS fighters. The US military launched an airstrike against a hospital in eastern Mosul that was used as a command center by the Islamic State as Iraqi troops failed to seize the complex over the past several days. The

Only half of 30-year-old Americans make more than their parents. In 1970 92% of 30-year-old Americans made more than their parents. This has become the new-normal that millennial have been taught to accept. Barely half of 30-year-olds earn more than their parents did at a similar age, a research team found, an enormous decline from