From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Economic Policy Journal – by Robert Wenzel
In one sense it is good to see so many getting worked up over reports of the spying and data collection being done by the US government, but, on the other hand, I am very suspicious about mainstream media’s current “shock” at the disclosures. Shock doesn’t occur in MSM without at least quiet approval from those behind the scenes. Continue reading “Are the Data Collection Leaks Just a Set Up by the Government?”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Monday wouldn’t say whether he knew about the National Security Agency’s PRISM surveillance system , noting there are a number of classified programs the government uses.
Asked by “CBS This Morning” host Norah O’Donnell whether he knew about PRISM before the disclosures, the No. 2 Republican in the House said, “There are a variety of classified programs that exist for us to, again, guard against a terrorist threat.” Continue reading “Eric Cantor ducks on PRISM”
Do you intrinsically possess individual privacy rights, based upon natural law authority, or are your civil liberties arbitrarily defined by the current whims of government? How you answer, this question speaks loudly about your understanding of the nature of your very being. Those who deem that natural law is a myth or a superstition are poised for voluntary surrender of their vital identity. The cataloging of individual essence is aberrant. Your deoxyribonucleic acid is the core element of personal uniqueness and human dignity. If your DNA is subject to government collection and storage, the right of personal privacy is destroyed. Continue reading “The Essence of DNA Identity”
Raw Story – by Agence France-Presse
A secretive deal aimed at settling a dispute with Washington over Swiss banks’ alleged complicity in tax evasion by Americans has caused uproar in the wealthy Alpine nation.
Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf announced a deal last week that she said would put an end to the row that has been poisoning relations between Switzerland and the United States for years. Continue reading “Secretive U.S. bank deal alarms Swiss parliamentarians”
American Everyman – by Scott Creighton
UPDATE: So what exactly did the hero tell us?
The National Security Agency pushed for the government to “rethink” the Fourth Amendment when it argued in a classified memo that it needed new authorities and capabilities for the information age.
The 2001 memo, later declassified and posted online by George Washington University’s National Security Archive, makes a case to the incoming George W. Bush administration that the NSA needs new authorities and technology to adapt to the Internet era. Continue reading “NSA memo pushed to ‘rethink’ 4th Amendment”
What Really Happened – by Michael Rivero
Obama insists that secret surveillance helps prevent terrorist attacks. Boston proved this claim is false.
Indeed, I have to wonder, with all the phone calls and internet traffic being monitored since 2006, why aren’t American drug lords being arrested? Continue reading “The Multi-Billion Dollar Total Surveillance System Doesn’t Seem to be Working”
CNN – by Stan Wilson, Michael Martinez and AnneClaire Stapleton
Santa Monica, California (CNN) — The suspect in a shooting spree that left four people dead in Santa Monica has been identified as John Zawahri, sources told CNN.
Authorities say he killed his father, Samir “Sam” Zawahri, and brother, Chris Zawahri, in a Santa Monica house before carjacking a woman and firing at a public bus on Friday. Continue reading “Santa Monica shooting suspect ID’d; father, brother among victims”
Breitbart – by Dr. Susan Berry
As dissatisfaction with the U.S. public school system grows, apparently so has the appeal of homeschooling. Educational researchers, in fact, are expecting a surge in the number of students educated at home by their parents over the next ten years, as more parents reject public schools.
A recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has increased by 75%. Though homeschooled children represent only 4% of all school-age children nationwide, the number of children whose parents choose to educate them at home rather than a traditional academic setting is growing seven times faster than the number of children enrolling in grades K-12 every year. Continue reading “Report: Homeschooling Growing Seven Times Faster than Public School Enrollment”
A fascinating article from the New York Times is just making the rounds, detailing for the first time the means by which the tech companies cited in the PRISM program negotiated government access to their data. It also gives context to their denials of providing the government with “back-door access” to their servers: Continue reading “NYT: Tech Companies Concede on Participation in NSA Scandals”
World Events and the Bible – by Brandon T. Ward
The drums of war beat louder by the day. The entire middle east is a lit fuse at this point. How long is the fuse is the question? The honest answer is no one truly knows. Rumors of a U.S. led war against Iran have been swirling for years.
During that time the United States has been racing to improve its bunker buster bombs which are capable of destroying facilities deep beneath the earth’s surface. The Pentagon recently announced they have made more improvements to the 30,000 pound Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP). This is the famed bomb that will most likely be used against Iran’s Nuclear Facilities which are buried deep beneath the earth. Continue reading “U.S. Destroys Replica Iranian Nuclear Facility in Test of Latest “Bunker Buster” Bomb”
In a sign Venezuela’s food shortages could be worsening, restrictions on the sale of 20 basic items subject to price controls, including toilet paper and chicken, are set to begin next week in its most populous state, officials said Tuesday.
A spokesman for President Nicolas Maduro’s government said it is incorrect to call the plan rationing because it is meant to fight smuggling of price-controlled food across the border into Colombia. He said there are no plans to extend the program nationally. Continue reading “Food rationing to begin in oil rich Venezuela”
The DC Caller – by Greg Campbell
It may be easier said than done. The rules for creating new states are outlined in Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which require the approval of the existing state’s legislature and Congress.
Each upstart county plans to let its residents’ vote on the idea, which Rademacher said they want to do at the first opportunity, even though the deadline for questions to appear on the November ballot is Aug. 1. Continue reading “Eight Colorado counties want to leave the state”
Living Not Surviving – by Ahmed Serag
A Food lobbyist could be deciding what goes on your dinner plate right this minute. And the Diet Police of tomorrow are getting ready to make sure the decision of a food lobbyist is law.
With the opportunity of government and the power of money, corporations and individuals can lobby government to impose taxes, laws, regulations, subsidies, bailouts, and special contracts that make specific products winners, and other products losers. Through what will be explained below, you will get the idea of how a food lobbyist could be deciding what’s on your plate, and utilizing the opportunity of BIG government to decide how much it costs and make sure diet police are there for enforcement. Continue reading “How BIG government Recruits Food Lobbyists to Make Diet Police & Decide What You Eat”
Motherboard – by Daniel Stuckey
If you’ve been reading the headlines about the NSA mining intelligence data from the world’s largest data mongers, and haven’t already burnt down your house with everything you own in it and set sail for a libertarian expat community in Chile, then there are some less dramatic suggestions in store for you. Evading the NSA’s comprehensive surveillance system is no simple task, especially as we only know snippets of the agency’s capabilities. But we’re going to try our best. Continue reading “The Motherboard Guide to Avoiding the NSA”
NY Daily News – by DAVID KNOWLES
The California college has been placed on lockdown, and the reportedly wounded suspect was found in the school’s library and is now in custody. The Secret Service said that the shooting did not impact the President’s travel schedule.
Six people have been shot, at least two fatally, near Santa Monica College on Friday. Continue reading “Six shot, at least two dead, near Santa Monica College minutes after President Obama’s motorcade passed by”
My San Antonio – by Michelle Mondo
A Bexar County jury on Wednesday acquitted Ezekiel Gilbert of murder in the death of a 23-year-old Craigslist escort.
Gilbert, 30, embraced defense attorneys Bobby Barrera and Roy Barrera Sr. with tears in his eyes after the not guilty verdict was read aloud by state District Judge Mary Román. Continue reading “Jury acquits escort shooter”
The Examiner – by Gregory Patin
The “shocking” revelation that the NSA requested phone records from Verizon is not surprising to anyone who has been watching the rise of the police state that America has become since 9/11. The only thing new is now that a British newspaper published the story, the U.S. media and congress have to acknowledge it very publicly. Continue reading “NSA spying on Verizon phone records is nothing new”
Kevin Bailey, 22, got into a fatal shootout with Solon, Ohio cops the other day. It all began over a minor traffic violation – failure to signal before changing lanes. Once he had Bailey pulled over, the cop claimed he “smelled marijuana” – and it went bad from there. Bailey took off, ran off the road and – as the cops closed in on him, fired his gun at the cops. The cops were better shots and Bailey was killed at the scene. Continue reading “One Thing Leads to Another”
Politico – by Tal Kopan
BATR
Politico – by PHILIP EWING
Daily Policy Journal – by Jay
Petroleum World 
Eric Peter’s Autos – by Eric