From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
NEW YORK/SINGAPORE Feb 3 Oil majors and trading houses are set to ship an unprecedented volume of U.S. crude oil to Asia in coming weeks, boosting already high flows to the region due to higher prices from OPEC production cuts.
Traders have estimated that some 700,000 to 900,000 barrels per day is set to leave the United States in February, with the majority of the cargoes headed to Asia. Continue reading “Record volume of US crude to head for Asia in coming weeks”
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Continue reading “This is the sky over Las Vegas, February 4th, 2017”
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court denied early Sunday the Justice Department’s request for an immediate reinstatement of President Donald Trump’s ban on accepting certain travelers and all refugees.
The Trump administration appealed a temporary order restraining the ban nationwide, saying late Saturday night that the federal judge in Seattle overreached by “second-guessing” the president on a matter of national security. Continue reading “Court denies Trump request to immediately restore travel ban”
A veteran CIA clandestine service officer who ran one of the agency’s “black site” prisons set up after the 9/11 attacks was named deputy director of the U.S. spy agency on Thursday by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Gina Haspel, who will serve under new Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, was the first woman spy to reach the CIA’s second-highest position, and her selection won applause inside the agency’s Virginia headquarters and from many longtime U.S. intelligence professionals. Continue reading “Trump names former ‘black site’ prison operator CIA deputy chief”
President Donald Trump will halt an Obama administration regulation, hated by the financial industry, that requires retirement advisers to work in the best interests of their clients, while the new administration reviews the rule.
The president also will order a review of Dodd-Frank Act rules enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis, a White House official said. Trump is scheduled to issue the directives at a signing ceremony around noon on Friday following a meeting of more than a dozen top corporate executives led by Blackstone Group LP Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman. Continue reading “Trump to Halt Obama Fiduciary Rule, Order Review of Dodd-Frank”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is imposing sanctions on 13 people and a dozen companies in response to Iran’s recent ballistic missile test.
The Treasury Department announced the action Friday. Continue reading “US hits 13 people, dozen companies in new Iran sanctions”
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High school is forever, the saying goes. And for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, it’s proving particularly true today.
Gorsuch both created and headed the “Fascism Forever Club” at Georgetown Preparatory School, which he graduated from in 1985, The Daily Mail reports. The school is a selective all-boys Jesuit prep school, and now reportedly costs day students $30,000 annually and boarding students $50,000.
Continue reading “Neil Gorsuch Founded ‘Fascism Forever Club,’ Report Says”
NEW YORK — Fights broke out Thursday night at a protest at New York University amid an appearance by a conservative speaker, who school officials said was hit by pepper spray.
Gavin McInnes was invited to speak on campus by the NYU College Republicans. McInnes is an actor, comedian and co-founder of Vice Media. Continue reading “NYU protest turns violent; conservative speaker Gavin McInnes hit with pepper spray”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled Congress on Thursday scrapped Obama-era rules on the environment and guns, counting on a new ally in the White House to help reverse years of what the GOP calls excessive regulation.
The Senate gave final approval to a measure eliminating a rule to prevent coal mining debris from being dumped into nearby streams, while the House backed a separate resolution doing away with extended background checks for gun purchases by some Social Security recipients with mental disabilities. Continue reading “Congress scraps Obama rules on coal mining, guns”
As Jewish settlers and protesters were removed from an illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank overnight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build the first new settlement in nearly two decades.
As the sun rose Thursday morning in Amona, the outpost’s synagogue contained activists chained to tires, making it difficult for police to extract them. All day Wednesday, the images of struggle — including burning tires and stone-throwing protesters — were broadcast on Israeli TV. Continue reading “As Illegal Outpost Cleared, Israeli PM Netanyahu Announces New West Bank Settlement”
A scheduled speech by controversial Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of California, Berkeley led to violent protests that caused the event to be called off, the university said.
The university said fires were set, including one caused by a firebomb that ignited a generator-powered spotlight, and commercial-grade fireworks were thrown at police. NBC Bay Area showed a group of people grab a metal barricade and smash it against a door. Continue reading “Protests, Violence Prompt UC Berkeley to Cancel Milo Yiannopoulos Event”
Towards the end of the White House press briefing yesterday, a reporter brought a question that may have seemed strange: “The president has previously indicated that he would encourage the targeting of families of terror suspects. Is that still his current position?”
Press Secretary Sean Spicer, responded, “When did he say that?” Continue reading “A mission in Yemen in which ‘almost everything went wrong’”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. put Iran “on notice” Wednesday after the Iranian military tested a ballistic missile and allied rebels in Yemen attacked a Saudi naval vessel in the Red Sea, an early manifestation of President Donald Trump’s promise of a tougher American approach to the Islamic republic.
“Iran is now feeling emboldened,” Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, told reporters. Continue reading “US puts Iran ‘on notice’ after missile test, won’t elaborate”
A group of inmates took guards hostage at a maximum-security prison in Smyrna, Delaware, Wednesday in a brazen attack that forced corrections officials to lock down all of Delaware’s state prisons.
“The inmates have taken over a building,” Rep. William Carson, a member of the Delaware House Corrections Committee, told the Wilmington News Journal. Continue reading “Inmates take guards hostage at Delaware maximum-security prison”
A Minnesota homeowner is facing manslaughter charges after he told police he shot at a group of men who had tried breaking into his home, and one of the suspects later died in the hospital.
David Allen Pettersen, 65, called police around 7 a.m. Saturday to report a possible burglary and shooting at his home in Fieldon Township, just south of Madelia. According to the charging documents, Pettersen told the dispatcher he fired his handgun at a gray car that was leaving his property after an attempted burglary. Continue reading “Homeowner charged with manslaughter for shooting at home invasion suspects”
Energy Transfer Partners LP may be close to getting the permit it needs to finish the Dakota Access oil pipeline, a project that became a flash point for environmentalists but a symbol of President Donald Trump’s pledge to jump start energy infrastructure.
Just a week after Trump signed a memo directing the Army to expedite the line’s approval, North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said Tuesday that the Army Corps of Engineers had been directed to move forward with the easement necessary to build the final leg of the $3.8 billion crude oil line under North Dakota’s Lake Oahe. Continue reading “U.S. Army Corps to Approve Dakota Access Oil Line, Senator Says”
The Hill – by LYDIA WHEELER AND JORDAN FABIAN
President Trump on Tuesday selected Neil Gorsuch to succeed Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, setting up a nasty confirmation battle with Senate Democrats stung over the GOP blockade against former President Obama’s pick.
Trump named Gorsuch, a well-respected conservative who sits on the Colorado-based 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, after a drama-packed day that resembled the president’s former reality show “The Apprentice.” Continue reading “Trump taps Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court”
The Tennesseean – by Andrew Wolfson
Flying a large “Trump” flag, a mysterious convoy of military vehicles rolled down Interstate 65 through Louisville on Sunday morning. But nobody is claiming it.
A spokesman for Ft. Knox, Patrick Hodges, said it wasn’t theirs.
Same for the Kentucky National Guard, said Maj. Stephen Martin, director of public affairs. Continue reading “‘Military’ convoy with Trump flag rolls through”
Washington Post – by Katie Zezima
The Boy Scouts of America announced Monday that it will allow transgender children to enroll in scouting programs.
Boy Scouts chief executive Michael Surbaugh said in a video message that the organization will now accept boys based on the gender a parent puts on a child’s scouting application, ending a policy of accepting boys based on the gender listed on a child’s birth certificate. Continue reading “Boy Scouts of America will allow transgender children to join”