From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
TOKYO, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Japan’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports from the United States are expected to double in 2017 to a record and account for around for around half of its total purchases, government and shipping data showed.
The surge comes as shale oil and gas output lifts overall U.S. production to rival that of Saudi Arabia and Russia. Continue reading “US LPG exports to Japan seen setting record in 2017”
Fresno and Madera County law officers are now investigating up to 10 shootings in which drivers are randomly fired upon, officials said Thursday.
Detectives are looking for a dark-colored, four-wheel-drive pickup with oversize tires and an extended or crew cab, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said during a news conference Thursday morning. She was joined at the conference by Madera County Sheriff Jay Varney and California Highway Patrol Capt. Eric Johnson, commander for the Fresno area. Valley Crime Stoppers also upped the reward to $3,000 for anyone who provides information leading to an arrest. Continue reading “Someone driving a big pickup is believed to be randomly shooting at drivers”
There was word from Washington late Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered an expert on discovery evidence to review the Bunkerville case and advise the next step or steps.
A spokesman for the Justice Department says “the Justice Department takes this issue very seriously”. Continue reading “Bunkerville Standoff: Attorney General Sending Expert To Advise Next Step”
President Trump’s Executive Order on Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to collect relevant data and provide quarterly reports on data collection efforts. On Dec. 18, 2017, DOJ and DHS released the FY 2017 4th Quarter Alien Incarceration Report, complying with this order.[1] The report found that more than one-in-five of all persons in Bureau of Prisons custody were foreign born, and that 94 percent of confirmed aliens in custody were unlawfully present. Continue reading “Departments of Justice and Homeland Security Release Data on Incarcerated Aliens—94 Percent of All Confirmed Aliens in DOJ Custody Are Unlawfully Present”
The Guardian – by Peter Beaumont
The United Nations general assembly has delivered a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump, voting by a huge majority to reject his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The vote came after a redoubling of threats by Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, who said that Washington would remember which countries “disrespected” America by voting against it. Continue reading “UN votes resoundingly to reject Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital”
Washington Examiner – by Anna Giaritelli
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has directed the Justice Department to interview FBI agents about evidence in a previous investigation into a foreign uranium deal that may have been connected to Bill and Hillary Clinton, according to a report published Thursday morning.
The interviews come a month after Congress asked Sessions to look into whether a second special counsel should be opened to investigate what has become known as the Uranium One deal, one Justice official told NBC News. Continue reading “FBI agents who probed Uranium One deal now under Justice Department scrutiny”
A Florida police officer is recovering in a local hospital after a 38-year-old man dragged the officer for about a half-mile from the door of his car Tuesday morning.
Thomas Cabrera, from Pembroke Pines, Florida, is facing a charge of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer for the incident, which was caught on dramatic bodycam video. Continue reading “Florida man charged with attempted murder for allegedly dragging police officer with car”
President Trump on Wednesday issued his first commuted sentence for a federal prisoner, freeing Sholom Rubashkin, the former owner of the country’s largest kosher meat-processing plant who in 2009 was sentenced to 27 years in prison for a litany of financial crimes.
The commutation had bipartisan support from lawmakers and had become a cause among many leading voices in the legal community, petitioning the Obama and Trump administrations to draw attention to a sentence they said was wildly disproportionate to the crime that had been committed.
Continue reading “Trump issues first commuted prison sentence”
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Citing the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, South Carolina’s capital city approved a ban on “bump stock” devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to mimic fully automatic guns.
The measure was approved by Columbia City Council on Tuesday night. Mayor Steve Benjamin has said he thinks the city of 134,000 people is the first to ban bump stocks. Continue reading “South Carolina capital city bans bump stock rifle attachment”
With every tax bill there are winners and losers. Given the complexity of any major tax overhaul, it can take months or even years to figure out who those winners and losers actually are. Yet there is one indisputable winner we can point to immediately: commercial real estate investment.
On a range of points, real estate makes out like a bandit under the new law. Let’s take a look at a few of the provisions that will likely fuel the ongoing boom in commercial real estate. Continue reading “The Big Winner Of The Tax Bill: Commercial Real Estate”
LINCOLN, Nebraska (Reuters) – Nebraska regulators on Tuesday denied TransCanada Corp’s request to amend its route application for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline through the U.S. state, a potential setback for the company as it seeks to head off legal challenges.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) issued an approval for the line in late November, removing what appeared to be the last big regulatory obstacle for the long-delayed project, which has been backed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Continue reading “Nebraska regulators deny TransCanada request on Keystone XL route”
The House on Tuesday approved the final version of the GOP’s bill to overhaul the U.S. tax code, bringing Republicans closer to getting their first big legislative win with full control of government.
The Senate is expected to pass the bill later on Tuesday, sending it to President Trump’s desk and allowing the GOP to achieve its goal of rewriting the tax code in Trump’s first year in office.
Continue reading “House passes final tax bill, edging GOP closer to win”
U.S. fuel makers are poised to reap billions under a sweeping Republican overhaul of the tax code. But don’t expect them to expand, go on a hiring binge, or lower prices at the pump.
Refiners haven’t built any major new plants in the U.S. since the 1970s. Instead, they have been returning profits to shareholders en masse in recent years, because the country has more gasoline and diesel than it can consume. Continue reading “Why Refiners Are Expected to Give Their Tax Savings Right Back to Shareholders”
The Oregonian – by Maxine Bernstein
LAS VEGAS — Ammon Bundy was at times on the brink of despair behind bars but said Monday he’s now at peace as he awaits a judge’s ruling on whether the stalled federal conspiracy trial against him, his father, older brother and a friend will proceed.
The 42-year-old has been staying at a relative’s home in Las Vegas, supervised with GPS monitoring and a curfew, after spending a year and 10 months in custody following his arrest in Oregon. Continue reading “Ammon Bundy: Not surprised prosecutors under fire in Nevada standoff case”
In an interview with Bill Clinton in 2015, Jimmy Kimmel asked the former president about UFOs. “If I were President–and I never will be,” he said, drawing laughter, “the first thing I would do after putting my hand on the Bible and taking that oath to serve the country, I probably wouldn’t finish the oath, I would run to the White House, I would demand to see all the classified files on UFOs….did you do that?”
Clinton, ever the politician, gave an earnest answer, admitting that he’d always had an interest in the subject of extraterrestrials and had invested considerable effort into discovering whether they had ever visited the Earth. His answer: they haven’t. Would he tell us if they had? He would. Continue reading “The Pentagon’s Secret UFO Research Program May Have Found Something”
Activist Post – by Nicholas West
As we continue to chart our path down the slippery slope of biometric identification for human beings, we’ve had to speculate about how far we could slide. Well, it appears that China is providing an early example that we would all be wise to take notice of.
It is now a fact that nearly all areas of the modern world have adopted some form of surveillance camera apparatus. Meanwhile, biometric identification technology has advanced to a degree where it’s now possible to merge the two and create not only a pervasive surveillance network, but a nearly real-time identification system that police can use to act upon. Continue reading “China Accused of Using Biometric Surveillance to Send Thousands to Political Detention Camps”
Washington Post – by Laurie McGinley
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a tougher enforcement policy toward homeopathic drugs, saying it would target products posing the greatest safety risks, including those containing potentially harmful ingredients or being marketed for cancer, heart disease and opioid and alcohol addictions.
Homeopathy is based on an 18th-century idea that substances that cause disease symptoms can, in very small doses, cure the same symptoms. Modern medicine, backed up by numerous studies, has disproved the central tenets of homeopathy and shown that the products are worthless at best and harmful at worst. Continue reading “FDA takes more aggressive stance toward homeopathic drugs”
The National Transportation Safety Board says an Amtrak passenger train that derailed from an overpass south of Tacoma, Wash., leaving at least three people dead, was traveling at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone.
At a news conference late Monday Pacific Time, NTSB board member Bella Dinh-Zarr said that the speed of the train at the time of the accident had been determined by downloading the Event Data Recorder from the train’s rear locomotive. Continue reading “NTSB: Amtrak Washington Train Doing 80 MPH In 30 MPH Zone”
Just two weeks ago, the mayor of Lakewood (just north of Dupont where the Amtrak train derailed) warned there would be accidents if this were to go through.
LAKEWOOD, Wash. – City leaders gave a chilly reception to a new high-speed rail plan for Amtrak trains that starts running later this month.
The idea is to use the Sound Transit tracks that cut through the city and open them up to Amtrak trains. However, huge safety concerns remain. Continue reading “Two weeks ago: Lakewood, WA mayor predicts deadly accidents from high-speed train service”