From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Rwandan-born former Congolese general Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court for suspected war crimes in Congo, has given himself up at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Monday.
“We have learned today that Bosco Ntaganda entered Rwanda and surrendered to (the) U.S. Embassy in Kigali,” she posted on Twitter. Continue reading “U.S. confirms Rwandan-born former Congolese general turned himself in at U.S. Embassy in Kigali”
NY Daily News – by Mike Lupica
It is three months since the killings in Newtown, since 20 children and six adults were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School less than two weeks before Christmas. And as bad as the story was, and will always be, it is even worse than we originally knew because now we discover that this was slaughter by spreadsheet.
It has been reported previously that law enforcement found research about previous mass murderers at the Newtown, Conn., home the shooter, video gamer Adam Lanza, shared with his mother, the first victim of Dec. 14. Continue reading “Morbid find suggests murder-obsessed gunman Adam Lanza plotted Newtown, Conn.’s Sandy Hook massacre for years”
Salmonella outbreaks. E. coli outbreaks. Millions of dollars in economic losses.
These are among the scenarios the Obama administration warned about last month as it claimed the sequester would force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to furlough meat inspectors. Continue reading “Dems preserve US-Mexico food stamp ‘partnership,’ while USDA prepares for meat inspector furloughs”
Yahoo News – by Associated Press
GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado sheriff says he won’t enforce two aggressive gun-control measures waiting to be signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
Weld County Sheriff John Cooke told The Greeley Tribune (http://bit.ly/141Ee2z ) that Democratic lawmakers are scrambling after recent mass shootings, and the bills are “feel-good, knee-jerk reactions that are unenforceable.” Continue reading “Colo. sheriff refuses to enforce gun-control bills”
The Daily News – by Scott DeSmit
ALABAMA — It was about midnight on a night last week when Randy Smith took his dog outside and for the third time this year, heard the mysterious booms.
“Three times in a row I heard it,” Smith said. “It sounds as loud as a sonic boom. Maybe louder. As soon as it goes off, the dog starts growling and gets startled.”
Smith and his father, Laverne Smith, live at 748 Lewiston Rd. (Route 77) and have been hearing the booms for nearly two years now. Continue reading “Mysterious ‘booms’ still unexplained”
Freedom Outpost – by William Lafferty
Here’s what Obama’s advisors are telling him about the way to confiscate guns: Tax them.
They are advising him to tax guns, ammunition, magazines, and licenses and then attach draconian remedies for failure to register and pay the taxes. Set the taxes low the first year, then increase them gradually to the point where a person owning an AR 15, three magazines and a box of ammo would owe $5,000 a year in taxes. Continue reading “Obama’s Advisors: Disarm America Through Taxation”
There are four general types of checkpoints you might encounter: DUI checkpoints, US border checkpoints, drug checkpoints, and TSA checkpoints. In a legal sense, they are not all created equal. So depending on which one you encounter, you’ll want to be prepared to flex your rights appropriately. Continue reading “What are my rights at various “checkpoints”?”
NY Daily News – Associated Press
A landmark expansion of background checks on firearm purchases was approved Friday by lawmakers in Colorado, a politically moderate state that was the site of last year’s mass shooting at a suburban Denver movie theater.
The bill previously passed the state Senate and now heads to Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is expected to sign it into law within two weeks. Continue reading “Colorado legislature approves expanded background checks for gun purchases”
The Daily Caller – by Caroline May
During the Senate Budget Committee’s Thursday markup of the Senate budget resolution, Democrats prevented an effort to block funds for the Agriculture Department’s “partnership” with the Mexican government, which is aimed at promoting nutrition assistance programs among Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals and migrant communities in America.
In a party-line 12 to 10 vote, the Democrats on the committee rejected a proposal to prevent funding for such endeavors from ranking member Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, who has spoken out against the program in recent months. Continue reading “Senate Democrats block effort to end USDA/Mexico food stamp promotion partnership”
What does it say about our economy that at the same time the Dow Jones hits a peak, we have the highest percentage of Americans on food stamps?
It is a dichotomy that speaks to the current state of our economy. Food stamp usage has peaked at the very same time that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is setting new highs. Of course, the Dow is setting new nominal highs but still has a way to go to catch up to the eroding effects of inflation. Continue reading “An economy of peak food stamp usage, peak Dow, and peak Debt”
Mashable – by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
For the first time, NSA chief and head of the U.S. Cyber Command Gen. Keith Alexander admitted America is ready to attack in cyberspace. Never before has a U.S. official acknowledged that the U.S. government is working on or is in possession of malware capable of attacking a foreign nation in a cyber conflict, despite the fact that at least one attack — the famous Stuxnext worm — has been attributed to the U.S. Continue reading “NSA Chief Says America Is Ready to Cyberattack”
A scandal in a Massachusetts crime lab continues to reverberate throughout the state’s legal system. Several months ago, Annie Dookhan, a former chemist in a state crime lab, told police that she messed up big time. Dookhan now stands accused of falsifying test results in as many as 34,000 cases.
As a result, lawyers, prosecutors and judges used to operating in a world of “beyond a reasonable doubt” now have nothing but doubt. Continue reading “Crime Lab Scandal Leaves Mass. Legal System In Turmoil”
Deal Book NY Times – by JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG AND BEN PROTESS
JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s biggest bank, ignored internal controls and manipulated documents as it racked up trading losses last year, while its influential chief executive, Jamie Dimon, briefly withheld some information from regulators, a new Senate report says.
The findings by the Congressional investigators shed new light on the multibillion-dollar trading blunder, which has claimed the jobs of several top executives and prompted an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Continue reading “JPMorgan Faulted on Controls and Disclosure in Trading Loss”
Federal Times – by SEAN REILLY
Some 60,000 Customs and Border Protection agents and other employees will be furloughed for up to 14 days, according to notices dated Thursday. The furloughs could begin April 21 and last through the end to the fiscal year in September, according to the notice, which attributes the move to across-the-board budget cuts that began taking effect March 1. Continue reading “60,000 Customs, Border Patrol agents face furloughs”
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The head of a U.N. team investigating casualties from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan declared after a secret research trip to the country that the attacks violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.
Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, said the Pakistani government made clear to him that it does not consent to the strikes — a position that has been disputed by U.S. officials. Continue reading “UN Says US Drones Violate Pakistan’s Sovereignty”
PHOENIX – The video made national headlines — a Phoenix Police officer caught on camera tackling a teenage girl.
The chief of police wants to suspend that officer, but the officer says it’s too harsh, and he’s appealing the decision.
That officer is fighting a 5-day suspension. He believes he acted within policy, but a disciplinary review board and the chief don’t think so. Continue reading “Officer who tackled teenage girl appeals suspension”
Reuters – by Emily Flitter and Stella Dawson and Mark Hosenball
(Reuters) – The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters. Continue reading “U.S. to let spy agencies scour Americans’ finances”
Fox News
NPR – by Tovia Smith