From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
The key Shanghai Composite Index sank another 7.63 percent Tuesday, extending its worst four-day rout since 1996. The index has fallen 22 percent since August 19. Continue reading “Chinese markets crash again in biggest collapse in 20 years”
And Fukushima’s radiation has nothing to do with this?
The death of 30 whales off the coast of Alaska may be linked to a rapid growth of toxic phytoplankton in the local marine environment that can paralyze as well as kill, a University of Alaska scientist told RT. Continue reading “‘Shocking’ death of 30 whales off Alaska could be linked to toxic bloom – scientist”
MARION, Ohio (AP) — The thousand-mile journey to the Texas border was supposed to bring the Guatemalan teenagers to a better life. Instead, it was the beginning of a terrible ordeal: Prosecutors say they were fraudulently plucked from U.S. custody by conspirators posing as friends or family who forced them to work as virtual slaves.
As the country’s immigration system was being overwhelmed by an unprecedented flow of unaccompanied children fleeing unrest in Central America, one of their countrymen orchestrated the scheme to force them to work on egg farms in Ohio, prosecutors said. Continue reading “Man admits forcing immigrant teenagers into egg farm work”
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A rising politician’s meeting with his mentally ill son at a restaurant turned deadly when the young man pulled out a large kitchen knife and stabbed his father to death while his mother and other horrified witnesses looked on, police said Monday.
Christian Costello, 26, was being held on a preliminary first-degree murder charge Monday after the Sunday night killing of his father, Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello, a two-term politician who was expected to run for higher office in 2018. Continue reading “Police: Oklahoma politician killed by son with wife nearby”
Although the US accounts for just 5 percent of the world’s population, it was home to almost one-third of the world’s mass shootings between 1966 and 2012. A new study says the rate is due to shattered “American dreams” and the ease of gun ownership.
The research – titled ‘Mass Shooters, Firearms, and Social Strains: A Global Analysis of an Exceptionally American Problem’ – is the first quantitative analysis of all reported public mass shootings around the world. The study was presented at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting in Chicago on Sunday. Continue reading “Propaganda Alert: ‘No coincidence’: US leads world in gun ownership & mass shootings, study says”
BEIRUT (AP) — A resident in the Syrian city of Palmyra says Islamic State militants have demolished the ancient temple of Baalshamin after laying explosives around it for over a month, confirming earlier reports.
The U.N. cultural watchdog UNESCO called the destruction of the temple a “war crime” and an “immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity.” The witness, who goes by the name Nasser al-Thaer, said Monday the bombing took place a day earlier. He said he feared for the other ancient sites in Palmyra but that no explosives have been placed around them. Continue reading “Witness confirms IS destruction of ancient temple in Syria”
Police in Boston have said they thwarted a potential massacre at the Pokemon World Championship.
Security forces detained James Austin Stumbo, 27, and Kevin Norton, 18, for “threats of violence made over social media,”as they attempted to gain entry to the contest on Thursday. Continue reading “Police prevent potential massacre at Boston Pokemon World Championship”
Divers in Florida once again hit the jackpot after finding $4.5 million worth of rare coins from a Spanish fleet that sank off the Florida coast 300 years ago. The spot is ‘commercially successful’ as earlier a Florida family discovered $1 million in treasure from the same area.
“Over 350 gold coins including 9 Royals were recovered on July 30 & 31. This amazing recovery occurred on the actual 300th Anniversary,” said 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC, a group of historic shipwreck salvagers, on its Facebook page. Continue reading “Florida divers find $4.5mn in gold coins from sunken 18th century Spanish fleet”
South Korean military shelled the North’s border area in response to an apparent earlier shelling from the North.
South Korean military fired dozens of artillery shells across the border on Thursday, the Yonhap news agency reported. The attack came in response to apparent shelling of the southern part of the border area by the North’s military. Continue reading “S. Korea orders civilian evacuation near western border, after exchanging fire with N. Korea”
Q: Dear Dr. Don,
My brother-in-law was convicted of a felony and will spend 19 months in a Michigan prison. Will the government withhold his Social Security income because of this? His wife needs that money. Thanks.
— Sally Slammer
A: Dear Sally,
It sounds like your extended family has been traveling down a troubling road. Here’s hoping that their fortunes improve in the years ahead. Continue reading “Can you collect Social Security in prison?”
NEW YORK (AP) — The boyfriend of Morgan Freeman’s granddaughter was found standing over her lifeless body with a knife still sticking out of her chest when police officers arrested him on a Manhattan street, a prosecutor said at his arraignment Wednesday.
Lamar Davenport, 30, did not enter a plea as he appeared on a video monitor from a hospital to be arraigned in Edena Hines’ death. The 33-year-old actress was found Sunday in front of her apartment building, stabbed 15 times in the heart, lungs and liver, Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Penfold said. Continue reading “Beau of Freeman’s granddaughter arraigned in her killing”
Two former Georgia police officers are facing murder charges for tasing an unarmed man at least 13 times while he was handcuffed. The man died following the confrontation.
The indictment, filed Monday, charges former East Point Police Sgt. Marcus Eberhart, 41, and former Cpl. Howard Weems, 49, over the April 2014 death of 24-year-old Gregory Towns Jr. Continue reading “2 Georgia ex-cops face murder charges for tasing handcuffed man at least 13 times”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bud Yorkin, a director and producer who helped forge a new brand of topical TV comedy with the 1970s hit “All in the Family,” died Tuesday, a family spokesman said. He was 89.
Yorkin died at his home in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles of natural causes, Jeff Sanderson said. Yorkin, who started as a writer and director in the early days of TV, made his biggest mark after joining writer-producer Norman Lear to form Tandem Productions. Continue reading “‘All in the Family’ producer Bud Yorkin dies at 89”
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Three men missing following an Alaska landslide are presumed dead and the search will be a “body recovery effort,” an official said late Tuesday.
A landslide described as a sea of logs, mud and debris is believed to have trapped the three who were missing from a neighborhood in the Alaska coastal town of Sitka. Sitka fire spokeswoman Sara Peterson said that crews were not able to dig at the site Tuesday because of unstable terrain. Continue reading “Official: 3 men missing in Alaska landslide presumed dead”
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Longtime Subway pitchman Jared Fogle is expected to plead guilty to child-pornography charges, an Indiana television station reported Tuesday.
The report on Fox59 comes six weeks after authorities seized electronics and other items from Fogle’s home in Zionsville, an affluent Indianapolis suburb. Citing sources it did not identify, the station said Fogle would enter a plea Wednesday. It also said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Indianapolis planned to hold a news conference Wednesday. Continue reading “Ex-Subway pitchman to admit to child-porn charges”
Almost 2 million people in California and the Midwest live on aquifer sites which have up to 180 times the safe level of uranium, according to a recent study by US researchers.
Some 275,000 groundwater samples were taken for evaluation, and it turns out that many Americans live about a kilometer from wells that are uranium-polluted, scientists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln discovered. Continue reading “2mn people in California, Midwest drink uranium-contaminated water – study”
It took 14 San Francisco Police Department officers to take down and restrain a one-legged, black homeless man, armed with crutches and apparently dangerous. The incident is the latest embarrassment for the US police, who face constant accusations of unreasonable use of force.
The confrontation was captured on video released by journalist Chaedria LaBouvier via blog platform Medium, and shows white police officers taking down a one-legged homeless black man on the city’s central Market street. According to witnesses, police were called in to the scene to take care of a suspicious man waving some “sticks” around. Continue reading “14 San Francisco cops gang up on homeless man ‘armed’ with crutches”
BANGKOK (AP) — Thai investigators believe a man seen in security video wearing a yellow T-shirt and carrying a backpack set off the bomb at a central Bangkok shrine that killed 20 people and injured more than 100, police said Tuesday.
“The yellow shirt guy is not just the suspect. He is the bomber,” police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri told The Associated Press. Prawut earlier released several photos of the man, with and without the backpack, on social media. The images were apparently taken from closed-circuit video at the Erawan Shrine on Monday evening before the bomb exploded. He confirmed that the man is suspected in the bombing when contacted by The Associated Press. Continue reading “Police tell AP: Man carrying backpack is Bangkok bomber”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that federal investigators have Hillary Rodham Clinton’s homebrew email server, they could examine files on her machine that would be more revelatory than the emails themselves.
Clinton last week handed over to the FBI her private server, which she used to send, receive and store emails during her four years while secretary of state. The bureau is holding the machine in protective custody after the intelligence community’s inspector general raised concerns that classified information had traversed the system. Continue reading “Probe of Clinton’s server could find more than just emails”
NEWTON – The Newton officer accused of exposing himself to male drivers over a 7-month period last year was sentenced to a 2-year probationary term Friday in Superior Court.
Prior to Jason Miller’s sentencing, Judge Thomas Critchley said he believes “it would be off the mark to include a jail term” because he thinks the 38-year-old has already “suffered consequences.” Continue reading “2 years probation for N.J. cop accused of exposing himself to drivers”