From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
A prosecutor says he plans to charge a man accused of crashing his vehicle into a Ten Commandments monument outside the Arkansas Capitol with first-degree criminal mischief.
Larry Jegley told The Associated Press on Monday that 32-year-old Michael Tate Reed faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the felony charge. Continue reading “Arkansas man accused of toppling 10 Commandments monument faces charges”
WASHINGTON — Over the sound of protesters crying “kill the bill,” 50 Republican senators cast their votes to begin to debate repealing Obamacare on a razor-thin margin Tuesday afternoon. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. — who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer — cast the 49th “yes” vote after making a dramatic entrance back to the capitol, greeted by applause from his colleagues.
Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote to begin the debate. No Democrats backed the measure. Continue reading “Senate GOP moves forward on health care bill in dramatic procedural vote”
A Navy patrol boat fired warning shots near an Iranian naval ship that was conducting “an unsafe and unprofessional interaction” with a U.S. ship in international waters of the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, the Navy said.
The USS Thunderbolt was involved coalition exercises when the Iranian ship came within 150 yards, the Navy said in a statement. The Iranian ship did not respond to repeated attempts to establish radio communications, and warning flares and blasts of the ships whistle also were ignored, the Navy said. Continue reading “Navy fires warning shots at Iranian ship in ‘tense encounter’”
Ars Technica – by David Kravets
If you’re not a US military or police buff, you probably have never heard of the 1033 Program. It essentially provides a bureaucratic means to transfer excess military grade weapons to local law enforcement agencies. Sure, you may not like local police departments having all types of military gear, such as grenade launchers, helicopters, boats, M14s, M16s, and so on.
And you probably won’t like how the agency seemingly doles out the weapons to anybody. All you have to do is apply, create a fake website, and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) will oblige. Law enforcement experience is not required. There doesn’t seem to be a requirement that the requesting agency actually be real, either. Continue reading “How to get free US military weapons—build fake website and DOD will oblige”
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Continue reading “A Fair for Illegals”
LONDON — A five-month legal battle to take terminally ill baby Charlie Gard to the United States for experimental treatment ended Monday after his parents told a British court they were withdrawing their legal challenge.
Charlie Gard’s parents, supported by an American neurologist and Italian medical researchers, had wanted the 11-month-old to be given the legal right to receive an untested therapy in the U.S. that they admitted was unlikely to work. The child has a rare, incurable genetic disorder. Continue reading “Charlie Gard’s parents end legal fight to take him to U.S. for treatment”
Bloomberg – by Jennifer A Dlouhy
Donald Trump’s allies in the oil industry are warning the president that his bid to boost U.S. steelmakers could backfire against their efforts to achieve his goal of “American energy dominance.”
The intense lobbying effort comes as the Commerce Department faces a Sunday deadline to give the president a plan to require oil and gas pipelines use American-made steel, an idea Trump embraced in the initial days of his presidency. While the U.S. has imposed “Buy American” rules on government purchases for decades, it would be unprecedented to force those obligations on privately funded, commercial projects. Continue reading “US oil industry pushes back against “Buy American” policy”
A 20-year-old man accused of torching a North Carolina apartment building that left 130 people homeless last week was in the U.S. illegally, the sheriff’s office told the Charlotte Observer.
Jesus Reyes Lopez, who was arrested Thursday in connection with the fire at the Woodscape Apartments, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico and is wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the paper reported. Continue reading “NC apartment fire suspect was in the country illegally, report says”
Business Insider – by Michael McLaughlin, The Trace
For advocates of stricter gun laws, a sweeping package of new legislation signed by California’s governor in July 2016 — and a similar set of measures approved by the state’s voters in a referendum four months later — served as rare bright spots in a year that they would otherwise rather forget.
The new restrictions included an expanded version of the state’s assault weapons ban, designed to close a loophole that had been exploited just months earlier by ISIS-inspired gunmen; a prohibition on owning high-capacity magazines; and a requirement for background checks on sales of ammunition. California’s beefed-up laws came as many other states, including Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee, moved in the opposite direction, loosening restrictions on who can legally carry weapons, and where they can carry them.
Continue reading “California finds new gun laws are much easier to pass than enact”
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New York Daily News – by David Boroff
A Pennsylvania couple who “gifted” six daughters to a cult-like figure and forced them into a life of “sex slaves” were each sentenced to up to seven years in prison on Wednesday.
Authorities said Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus gave their oldest girl to Lee Donald Kaplan because he helped them out of financial trouble when they broke with their Amish faith. Kaplan fathered two children with the girl, the first when she was 14. She is now in her late teens. Continue reading “Pennsylvania couple who gifted daughters as ‘sex slaves’ to cult-like figure sentenced to up to 7 years in prison”
The Trump administration provided details for its aggressive plan to roll back environmental regulations Thursday.
In the first regulatory agenda of the Trump administration, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget detailed when and how agencies plan to repeal numerous Obama administration rules regarding air and water pollution, fossil fuel extraction and more. Continue reading “White House details plan to roll back environmental regs”
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — More than 300 Carrier Corp. workers were being laid off Thursday from the company’s Indianapolis factory as part of an outsourcing of jobs to Mexico that drew criticism last year from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The nearly 340 workers clocked out after their final shifts at Carrier’s gas furnace factory. Another wave of 290 workers will be let go by Dec. 22 under a timetable the company announced in late May. Continue reading “Layoffs begin at Carrier plant that drew Trump’s criticism”
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs – Population Division
United Nations projections indicate that over the next 50 years, the populations of virtually all countries of Europe as well as Japan will face population decline and population ageing. The new challenges of declining and ageing populations will require comprehensive reassessments of many established policies and programmes, including those relating to international migration. Continue reading “UN March, 2000 Report on Replacement Migration: Is It a Solution to Declining and Ageing Populations?”
House Republicans moved to make it easier to build pipelines from Mexico or Canada, as they sought to prevent a repeat of President Barack Obama’s drawn out rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline.
The requirement for a presidential permit for pipelines that cross U.S. international borders would be eliminated under the legislation, which was approved by a vote of 254-175 in the House of Representatives. Senate approval is still required before the bill can go to President Donald Trump’s desk, and it faces longer odds there. Continue reading “House Passes Pipeline Bill to Ease Path for More Keystones”
A Federal Court hearing will take place Thursday over a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails during her tenure at the State Department, Judicial Watch announced Wednesday.
The case, Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State, was originally filed in May 2015, and will be heard before Judge James Boasberg in Washington D.C. U.S. District Court. Continue reading “Hillary Clinton emails: Judicial Watch going to court for new emails from State Dept.”
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Additional environmental review of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline is likely to take the rest of the year to complete, U.S. officials said in court documents in which they also advocate for keeping the line operating during the study.
Developer Energy Transfer Partners also is asking U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to keep the line open, saying a shutdown would cost the Texas-based company $90 million each month. Continue reading “Months needed for additional study of Dakota Access pipeline”
Las Vegas • Armed assault and lawful protest were the opposing scenarios presented to a federal jury hearing the retrial in Las Vegas of four men who bore assault-style weapons during a standoff that stopped government agents from rounding up Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle in April 2014.
Acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre displayed photos and told jurors during opening statements on Monday that evidence will show the defendants used what he called “the working end of a rifle barrel” to bend the law to their will, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/2tmyc09 ). Continue reading “Retrial begins for 4 defendants in Nevada Bundy standoff”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recertified Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal late Monday, but senior administration officials emphasized that Tehran is a dangerous threat to both U.S. interests and Middle East stability.
Under U.S. law, the State Department is required to recertify to Congress Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal every 90 days. Despite President Trump’s harsh criticism of the agreement forged under his predecessor, it is the second such certification since he took office. Continue reading “State Department Certifies Iran’s Compliance With Nuclear Deal”