From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
French President Francois Hollande says he wants Western sanctions on Russia to be lifted if progress is made in talks on the Ukraine conflict this month.
He did not specify which sanctions – imposed by the EU, US and Canada – could be lifted. The sanctions began after Russia annexed Crimea in March. Continue reading “France seeks end to Russia sanctions over Ukraine”
Daily News – by NINA GOLGOWSKI
A shooting outside an Ohio airport left one person dead following a “confrontation” between officers and a man, an airport official said.
An officer opened fire at the male suspect outside Port Columbus International’s departure area at about 1 p.m., leaving the individual dead, David Whiticker, the airport’s vice president of business development & communications told reporters.
“Through that confrontation, the person who was causing the confrontation was shot and killed by police officers,” Whiticker said. Continue reading “Shooting outside Port Columbus airport in Ohio leaves one dead after ‘threat’: official”
Washington Free Beacon – by Elizabeth Harrington
Custom and Border Protection’s (CBP) drone program is ineffective and surveys less than 200 miles of the southwest border, according to an audit by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General.
The program operates 10 Predator B drones at a cost of more than $12,000 for every hour a drone spends in the air, funding which could be put to better use elsewhere, according to the OIG. Continue reading “Audit: DHS Drone Program Ineffective at Border Security”
A gunman shot a doctor at a Texas veterans’ hospital Tuesday, then turned his gun on himself.
Both the victim and the shooter in the incident at the El Paso VA Health Care System have died, Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty told reporters.
“All other VA patients and staff are safe. This is an active crime scene, and the shooting incident is under investigation,” he said. Continue reading “Gunman kills doctor, then himself, at VA hospital in El Paso, Texas”
CNN – by Catherine E. Shoichet
More than 200 years after Samuel Adams and Paul Revere first buried it in Boston, it took an hour to remove all the objects crammed inside a tiny time capsule.
Onlookers anxiously watched the unveiling Tuesday, worrying the items might not have weathered the years very well. Continue reading “1795 time capsule opened, centuries after Revere and Adams buried it”
Twelve people including two police officers were killed in a shooting at the Paris offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, a police spokesman said in an update on the death toll.
French President Francois Hollande described as without doubt a terrorist attack. Continue reading “Police put Paris shooting death toll at 12, including two police officers”
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1. Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.
There really isn’t anyone out there who is more you than YOU are. No one else can think for you, farm for you, or experience life for you. Your choice to farm will impact not only your life but the lives of so many others. Nobody else on the planet has exactly the same dream as yours, so stay true to yourself. Continue reading “5 Life Lessons from Dr. Seuss for Farmers”
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Money Metals Exchange – by Stefan Gleason
The “year that was” brought mostly disappointment to precious metals bulls. Silver prices fell for the third straight year, while gold mostly flat-lined around the $1,200 per-ounce level.
So what about the year to come?
On the one hand, the charts looks ugly. On the other, it is rare for any metal to fall in price four years in a row. Continue reading “Forecast 2015: The Year Ahead in the Money Metals”
NEW YORK – Since the passage of Obamacare, House Speaker John Boehner has been dogged by critics pointing out his investment portfolio has benefited from owning insurance and medical company stocks that have profited from the legislation.
An analysis of Boehner’s current investment holdings includes a number of stocks benefiting from Obamacare in a total portfolio estimated at between $3.5 and $5 million in current market value. Continue reading “Boehner Profits from Obamacare Stocks”
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ABC 7 News – by Darsha Philips, Amy Powell and Hanna Chu
MOORPARK, Calif. (KABC) — Investigators in Ventura County are searching for a man who is suspected of setting his wife on fire in front of their three young children.
Deputies and firefighters responded to the 11800 block of Broadway Road in an unincorporated area of Moorpark at about 3:55 a.m. Monday after a woman called 911 reporting that her husband tried to set her on fire. Continue reading “Search For Man Who Allegedly Set Wife On Fire In Front Of Kids In Moorpark Area”
The son of a hedge fund founder was arrested on Monday and charged with the murder of his father, who was discovered shot to death in his New York apartment over the weekend, police said.
Thomas Gilbert, 70, founder of the Wainscott Capital Partners Fund, was found shot once in the head Sunday afternoon in the bedroom of his Manhattan apartment, police said. Continue reading “N.Y. police arrest son in murder of hedge fund founder”
The Obama administration said Monday it was reviewing its annual $440 million aid package to the Palestinians because of their effort to join the International Criminal Court to pursue war-crimes charges against Israel.
At the same time, however, the U.S. criticized Israel for withholding tens of millions in tax revenues to the Palestinians, saying such a step “raises tensions.” Taken together, the statements reflected Washington trying to come to grips with a Palestinian move it has spent years trying to avert and a peace process that offers no hope for an immediate breakthrough. Continue reading “US Weighs Cutting Aid to Palestinians Over ICC Move”
In the wake of the murder of two New York City police officers and a national debate about policing, the National Fraternal Order of Police is asking for the Congressional hate crimes statute to be expanded to include crimes against police officers. The union has more than 300,000 members.
Violence against police officers that is motivated by anti-police bias should be prosecuted as a hate crime, the nation’s largest police union is arguing in a letter to President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders this week. Continue reading “Police union pushes for cop killings to be included in federal hate crimes law”
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn released his final oversight report on the Department of Homeland Security, which has found major problems in the branch.
The report finds that Homeland Security is not successfully executing any of its five main missions.
“Ten years of oversight of the Department of Homeland Security finds that the Department still has a lot of work to do to strengthen our nation’s security,” Coburn explained. “Congress needs to review the Department’s mission and programs and refocus DHS on national priorities where DHS has a lead responsibility.” Continue reading “Oversight report finds major problems with DHS”
DES MOINES, Iowa – As anyone who has grown up around snow knows, part of the fun of sledding is the risk of soaring off a jump or careening around a tree.
But faced with the potential bill from sledding injuries, some cities have opted to close hills rather than risk large liability claims.
No one tracks how many cities have banned or limited sledding, but the list grows every year. One of the latest is in Dubuque, Iowa, where the City Council is moving ahead with a plan to ban sledding in all but two of its 50 parks. Continue reading “Liability concerns prompt some cities to ban sledding”
Earlier today, when we were conducting a routine check with the Office of the Currency Comptroller’s on the total notional amount of derivatives held at the Big 4 banks in the context of the “JPMorgan break up” story, we found something stunning: using the latest, just released Q3 OCC data, JPMorgan is no longer America’s undisputed derivatives king. Well, it still is at the HoldCo level, where it is number one in terms of notional derivatives with $65.5 trillion, but when one steps a level lower, namely the FDIC-insured commercial bank (the National Association or N.A.) level, something quite disturbing emerges. This: Continue reading “Is Citi The Next AIG: 70 Trillion Reasons Why Citigroup And Congress Scrambled To Pass The Swaps “Push-Out” Rule”
A U.S. hedge fund founder was found shot to death in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday, and New York police are seeking his son for questioning, authorities said.
Thomas Gilbert, 70, founder of the Wainscott Capital Partners Fund, was shot once in the head around 3:30 p.m. EST inside his apartment bedroom, police said in a statement.
“Right now, we’re looking to speak to his son, who was the last person to see him alive,” police spokesman Lieutenant John Grimpel said. He did not identify the son. Continue reading “Hedge fund founder shot dead in New York”
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Ars Technica – by Sean Gallagher
A National Security Agency document published this week by the German news magazine Der Spiegel from the trove provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden shows that the agency had full access to voice, video, text messaging, and file sharing from targeted individuals over Microsoft’s Skype service. The access, mandated by a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant, was part of the NSA’s PRISM program and allowed “sustained Skype collection” in real time from specific users identified by their Skype user names. Continue reading “Newly published NSA documents show agency could grab all Skype traffic”
BBC News, January 5, 2015
CNN – by Dana Ford
Reuters
WND – by Jerome R. Corsi
Reuters – by Ellen Wulfhorst
ABC News – by Bradley Klapper
Yahoo News – by Liz Goodwin
Fox News
Fox News
Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden
Reuters