From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
NEW YORK (MYFOXNY) -The line wrapped nearly around an entire city block on Friday as approximately 1,500 people waited in Queens for a chance to apply for a coveted union job as painters or blasters on bridges and steel structures.
The first few people on line had been there since 1 p.m. on Tuesday when the temperature in New York City was in the single digits. Continue reading “More than 1,000 Camp out for Union Jobs”
As U.S. military operations wind down overseas, some of that surplus hardware has been used to equip cash-strapped local police departments.
Police and sheriff’s departments have been given at least 165 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles since this summer, according to a recent Washington Post analysis. Continue reading “Cops use armored military vehicles to deliver shock and awe during routine police work”
U.S. employers added only 74,000 jobs in December, pushing the unemployment rate down to 6.7 percent, down from its previous rate of 7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
A full two-thirds of the unemployment rate is due to people who have given up on finding work – and a at least one news outlets has taken notice: Continue reading “Unemployment Rate Falls to Lowest ever during Obama Presidency…But why even the Associated Press is Pointing Out it’s Not Good”
New York Times – by JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG AND PETER EAVIS
Wall Street could pay nearly $50 billion to buy peace from federal authorities who are taking aim at the banks over their role in the mortgage crisis, according to interviews and a confidential analysis of the industry’s potential legal exposure.
Bracing for a potential reckoning, the banks and their outside lawyers are quietly using JPMorgan Chase’s record $13 billion mortgage settlement in November to do the math and determine just how much each bank might have to pay to move beyond the torrent of government mortgage litigation that has dogged them since the financial crisis. Such calculations, people briefed on the matter said, have gained particular urgency among the banks’ board members. Continue reading “Wall Street Predicts $50 Billion Bill to Settle U.S. Mortgage Suits”
The Pentagon is set to begin training 5,000 to 8,000 Libyan soldiers by mid-2014 to solidify the nation’s security forces, according to the head of US Africa Command. Gen. David Rodriguez told reporters Thursday that the US is planning a 24-week training program to aid Libyan security forces still in disarray since the US-backed ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The General also expressed concern over another potential attack similar to the siege at Nairobi’s Westgate Mall in September that killed 67 people. Continue reading “US military to train up to 8,000 Libyan soldiers by midyear”
The most unproductive and least popular US Congress in history can count on another distinction: For the first time ever, most members of the Legislative Branch are millionaires.
At least 268 of the 534 current members of the 113th US Congress have an average net worth of US$1 million or more, according to personal financial disclosure data members registered last year on 2012 net worth, the Center for Responsive Politics reported Thursday. Continue reading “Make the money, make the laws: Congress has more millionaires than ever – report”
Reuters – by NATE RAYMOND AND DAVID BRUNNSTROM
The Indian diplomat whose arrest and strip-searching in New York caused a major rift between India and the United States was indicted for visa fraud on Thursday, and the U.S. government immediately asked her to leave the country.
A U.S. government official said Washington accepted a request by India to accredit the diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, at the United Nations and then asked New Delhi to waive the diplomatic immunity that status conferred. India denied the request, leading Washington to ask for her departure, the official said. Continue reading “India diplomat indicted, asked to leave U.S.”
Thanks to satellite weather photos, we’ve been able to observe a persistent, virtually permanent, huge, blocking High Pressure system off the West Coast for the last two months…most of November, December and into January.
We have watched the satellite photos reveal how storm after storm formed up, as usual, in the Kamchatka, Korea and Northern Japan (Fukushima) areas of the North West Pacific. Continue reading “Satellite Photos Show Pacific Storms Stopped Cold, Destroyed”
HAVANA (AP) – A 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck in the Straits of Florida off Cuba on Thursday, startling office workers in medium-rise buildings set swaying in Havana. There was no word of any damage or injuries.
The temblor occurred just before 4 p.m. about 106 miles (172 kilometers) east of Havana, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The closest city to the epicenter was Corralillo, 17 miles (28 kilometers) to the southwest.
In Old Havana, the quake was felt clearly by workers in two 6-floor buildings that were temporarily evacuated. It appeared to last around 30 seconds. Continue reading “Earthquake rattles Cuba, South Florida”
ABC News – by JOHN RABY Associated Press
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency for five counties Thursday night because of a chemical spill into the Elk River in Charleston, advising residents not to drink, bathe, cook or wash clothes in the water and to only use it for flushing.
The chemical, used in the coal preparation process, leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries and overran a containment area on Thursday. The amount that spilled isn’t immediately known, but a West Virginia American Water has a treatment plant nearby. Freedom Industries did not immediately respond for comment. Continue reading “W.Va. Gov Declares Emergency After Chemical Spill”
A powerful blast has struck a chemical factory in central Japan, killing at least five and leaving 17 injured, reports local press. Japanese police say the explosion was triggered by a chemical reaction inside the plant.
The incident happened at a chemical plant owned by Mitsubishi in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. The factory produces silicon materials for the international firm. Continue reading “Explosion at Japanese chemical factory causes multiple causalities”
Russian authorities said on Thursday that security forces had been put on combat alert in the southern Stavropol region after the discovery of six bodies with gunshot wounds in four different cars, three of which were rigged with explosives.
Only one of the bombs went off and no one was hurt. But the killings are further heightening security concerns ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, which also lies near the Caucasus region, where an Islamic insurgency is simmering. Continue reading “Security alert in southern Russia as bodies found in bomb-rigged cars”
Mess with us, we’ll mess with you. That is the message one can derive from JPMorgan’s surprise announcement that it plans to “sell or wind down its business of issuing prepaid cards for corporate payrolls and government tax refunds and benefits.” Which also includes the infamous Electronic Benefits Transfer, or foodstamps, card. According to Reuters, the product, which has been offered with cash and treasury services to companies and governments, “had become a headache of risks in operations and regulations, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.” Continue reading “JPMorgan To Exit Foodstamp, Other Prepaid Cards Business”
The polar vortex that has gripped the U.S. and Canada this week has led to some spectacular icy images. The latest come from Niagara Falls, which partially froze Tuesday when the temperature hit a record low of minus 2 degrees.
Aaron Harris, a photographer for Reuters, took several shots of the 167-foot frozen falls Wednesday. The ice formed on the U.S. side of the falls, which straddle the border with Canada. Continue reading “Stunning photos of partially frozen Niagara Falls”
Republicans claim the Justice Department’s investigation of the IRS targeting scandal is “compromised,” after revealing that it’s being led by one of President Obama’s political supporters.
In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the lawmakers said they’ve learned trial attorney Barbara Kay Bosserman is leading the probe. They detailed federal campaign finance records showing she’s given more than $6,000 to Obama’s two presidential campaigns — and urged Holder to remove her from the case. Continue reading “Republicans call for removal of Obama supporter leading IRS targeting probe”
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