From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Washington Examiner – by Paul Bedard
The top paychecks of federal workers are set to grow again next year to a six-figure number that rivals the $174,000 salaries of America’s 535 House and Senate members.
Under a new federal order, salaries for most bureaucrats in the General Service will rise next year when the cap on top pay hits $164,000. Continue reading “Federal workers poised to overtake salaries of senators, DC gets highest pay raise”
Police have removed a candle-lit memorial that a white nationalist group created to honor an Australian woman killed in Minneapolis by a Somali-American officer in July.
Minneapolis Police spokesman John Elder told local radio that an officer cleared the memorial when the department learned it was displayed outside a precinct headquarters.
‘We cannot allow any memorial and anything like that to be put up at that location,’ Mr Elder told Minneapolis Public Radio News. Continue reading “US police remove memorial created by white nationalists in honour of Australian woman shot dead in her pyjamas by a Somali-American cop”
BEIJING (Reuters) – China sentenced a prominent rights activist to eight years in jail for subversion on Tuesday, his lawyer said, the harshest sentence passed in a government crackdown on activism that began more than two years ago.
In a separate case, a rights lawyer avoided criminal punishment despite being found guilty of inciting subversion, because he admitted his crimes, the Chinese court trying him said. Continue reading “China hands down harshest sentence yet in crackdown on activists”
President Donald Trump was in a jolly mood at dinner on Friday night, with CBS News reporting that the Commander-in-Chief spent part of his evening extolling the benefits of the new tax bill to friends at Mar-a-Lago.
‘You all just got a lot richer,’ President Trump told a group of diners at a nearby table according to two people at the Palm Beach club that night. Continue reading “‘You all just got a lot richer’: What Trump bragged to wealthy friends at Mar-a-Lago just hours after signing tax bill he said would benefit the middle class”
Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan today agreed to support the creation of a Palestinian state as Palestine president Mahmud Abbas said that he would ‘no longer accept’ any peace plan proposed by the US.
The Russian and Turkish presidents spoke in a phone call a day after the UN rejected Donald Trump‘s controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel‘s capital. Continue reading “Putin and Erdogan agree on the creation of a Palestinian state”
A wonder material as flexible as tinfoil but hard enough to stop a speeding bullet has been created in the lab.
Diamene is made using two layers of graphene, the world’s first two-dimensional material which is just one atom thick, a million times thinner than human hair.
Such a substance could be used for anything from water-resistant protective coatings to ultra-light bulletproof armour. Continue reading “‘Wonder material’ that is as flexible as tin foil but becomes harder than a diamond when it’s hit by a bullet could lead to ultra-light body armour”
Wall Street Journal – by Jon Emont
SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands—This U.S. territory in the western Pacific is known for its epic World War II battle, white-sand beaches and the enduring culture of its indigenous Chamorro people.
But for a certain class of Chinese parents, Saipan has become known as the latest hot spot for birth tourism, a place where women can give birth to babies who will automatically acquire U.S. citizenship. Continue reading “Saipan: The Island Where Chinese Mothers Deliver American Babies”
The federal government owns or leases 5,066 bathrooms, occupying nearly 1.7 million square feet of the government’s 1.9 billion feet of total office space.
Uncle Sam also controls 16,570 parking lots and garages, more than 1,500 prisons, nearly 17,000 warehouses, 766 hospitals and 2,427 schools, the General Services Administration said Monday, releasing the most complete report ever on the breadth of the federal government’s footprint. Continue reading “With count complete, feds can start eliminating billions of dollars in wasted property”
Two Chinese courts sentenced 10 criminals to death in front of thousands of people including children on Saturday.
The 10 criminals, who were convicted drug dealers, murderers and robbers, were said to be executed immediately at an execution ground in Lufeng, southern China‘s Guangdong Province. Continue reading “Ten Chinese criminals are sentenced to death in front of thousands of spectators – including children – before being executed immediately”
The Federalist – by Mollie Hemingway
The Trump administration will reverse course from previous Obama administration policy, eliminating climate change from a list of national security threats. The National Security Strategy to be released on Monday will emphasize the importance of balancing energy security with economic development and environmental protection, according to a source who has seen the document and shared excerpts of a late draft. Continue reading “Trump Admin To Remove Climate Change From List Of National Security Threats”
Toronto police are investigating the suspicious death of a billionaire Canadian pharmaceutical magnate and his wife in their $5.4million home.
Barry Sherman, the founder of Canadian firm Apotex Ince, and his wife Honey, were found dead in the basement of their lavish mansion in an affluent neighborhood.
Two bodies covered in blankets were removed from the home and loaded into an unmarked van on Friday evening. Continue reading “Canadian police probe ‘suspicious’ death of billionaire”
Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy sent a message to the White House about the qualifications of some of President Trump‘s judicial nominees by grilling a court pick about basic courtroom skills as well as more obscure areas of law.
‘Have any of you not tried a case to verdict in a courtroom?’ Kennedy asked a panel of nominees to serve in lifetime appointments at federal courts. Continue reading “Trump pick for lifetime judgeship can’t answer basic court questions”
WASHINGTON — President Trump vowed Thursday to step up his war on government regulations, saying his ultimate goal is to shrink the Code of Federal Regulations to its 1960 size.
“The never-ending growth of red tape in America has come to a sudden, screeching and beautiful halt,” Trump said. “We’re going to cut a ribbon because we’re getting back below the 1960 level, and we’ll be there fairly quickly.” Continue reading “Trump promises to reduce federal regulations to pre-1960 level”
Nasa is set to make a major announcement about a breakthrough in its alien-planet-hunting project.
The space agency is holding a live-stream event today at 1:00pm ET (6:00pm GMT) to reveal a discovery about potentially habitable worlds made by its Kepler telescope.
The satellite has been searching the stars for distant worlds using Google‘s AI system, which is helping Nasa find planets that may host alien life. Continue reading “Has Nasa found alien life? Space agency to make a ‘major’ announcement TODAY after teaming up with Google’s AI in the search for habitable planets”
A man in Washington created a genius device to catch pesky thieves who steal packages from front porches.
Jaireme Barrow, from Tacoma, Washington, was tired of people stealing his expensive Jeep parts and decided he ‘wanted to even the playing field’
He created one of the earliest models trap – using 12-gauge shotgun blanks, fishing line, bricks, a wooden box-like, a small box, aluminum carrying vessel for the blanks, a small plate, and a cardbox box – and has filmed numerous wannabe thieves. Continue reading “Man creates genius trap that sets off 12-guage shotgun blanks, terrifies thieves and stops them stealing his expensive packages”