From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
The US Treasury has already exceeded the federal legal borrowing limit of $16.7 trillion in May. That signals the main structural problems remain unresolved putting at risk the fragile recovery.
The country’s outstanding public debt is already $38.82 million above the statuary debt ceiling and now at $16,738,220,000,000.00, according to Treasury data. Continue reading “US blows out $16.7 trillion debt limit”
Halliburton Energy Services to pay a maximum $200,000 fine for destroying evidence related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which the Gulf of Mexico is yet to recover from. The company will also donate $55 million towards wildlife protection.
World’s second-largest oilfield services company has pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge and agreed to be subject to three years of probation – apart from paying $200,000 fine – for destroying internal probe computer simulations into the cementing after the blowout at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Allegedly the probe showed little difference between using six and 21 centralizers while cementing the damaged oil rig well. Continue reading “Halliburton to pay $200k fine for destroying evidence in 2010 Gulf oil spill”
Security researcher Barnaby Jack has passed away in San Francisco, only days before a scheduled appearance at a Las Vegas hacker conference where he intended to show how an ordinary pacemaker could be compromised in order to kill a man.
Jack, who previously presented hacks involving ATMs and insulin pumps at the annual Black Hat conference in Vegas, was confirmed dead Friday morning by the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office, Reuters reported. He passed away Thursday this week, but the office declined to offer any more details at this time. Continue reading “Hacker dies days before he was to reveal how to remotely kill pacemaker patients”
YAPHANK, N.Y. (AP) — A “violent and uncontrollable” resident of a Long Island group home for the developmentally disabled died after officers used a Taser on him during a struggle, a police official said Thursday.
Three officers were treated at a hospital and released following the Wednesday night encounter, Suffolk County Police Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said at a briefing. Continue reading “NY group home resident dies after police struggle”
Honey bees are quickly disappearing from the US – a phenomenon that has left scientists baffled. But new research shows that bees exposed to common agricultural chemicals while pollinating US crops are less likely to resist a parasitic infection.
As a result of chemical exposure, honey bees are more likely to succumb to the lethal Nosema ceranae parasite and die from the resulting complications. Continue reading “Scientists confirm: Pesticides kill America’s honey bees”
A military judge said early Thursday that she would not dismiss charges of theft against Army Private first class Bradley Manning. The soldier is expected to be sentenced next week for the largest intelligence leak in United States history.
Col. Denise Lind ruled from Ft. Meade, Maryland Thursday morning that she must reject the defense’s plea to acquit Pfc. Manning on five charges relating to the alleged robbery of government documents. Continue reading “Judge refuses to acquit Manning on theft charges”
Following a surprisingly close vote on Capitol Hill Wednesday evening, the libertarian congressman who tried to stop the National Security Agency’s blanketing collection of domestic phone records vowed to further his fight against NSA surveillance.
Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan) was unsuccessful with his attempt to tack an amendment on to an upcoming Pentagon appropriations bill Wednesday night that would have barred the NSA from using a PATRIOT Act provision to collect the phone records of all Americans. But despite being relatively new to DC politics, the 33-year-old lawmaker garnered support from both sides of the aisle before and after an evening of heated testimony that ended with a 205-217 vote that shut-down his amendment, co-sponsored by colleague Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan). Continue reading “Amash vows to continue fighting against NSA surveillance”
Portions of an airport in Miami, Florida were evacuated after depleted uranium was discovered early Thursday.
Firefighters cleared a 150-foot area of the Opa-locka Executive Airport in south Florida after a 55 gallon drum located either on or near part of a dismantled aircraft was discovered to be containing exposed, depleted uranium, NBC 6 South Florida reported. Continue reading “Florida airport evacuated after depleted uranium discovered”
MADRID (AP) — A passenger train derailed Wednesday night on a curvy stretch of track in northwestern Spain, killing at least 40 people caught inside toppled cars and injuring at least 140 in the country’s worst rail accident in decades, officials said.
Bodies were covered in blankets next to the tracks and rescue workers tried to get trapped people out of the train’s cars, with smoke billowing from some of the wreckage. Some passengers were pulled out of broken windows, and one man stood atop a carriage lying on its side, using a pickaxe to try to smash through a window. Images showed one car pointing up into the air with one of its ends twisted and disfigured, and another severed in two. Continue reading “Spain passenger train derails, killing at least 40”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House narrowly rejected a challenge to the National Security Agency’s secret collection of hundreds of millions of Americans’ phone records Wednesday night after a fierce debate pitting privacy rights against the government’s efforts to thwart terrorism.
The vote was 217-205 on an issue that created unusual political coalitions in Washington, with libertarian-leaning conservatives and liberal Democrats pressing for the change against the Obama administration, the Republican establishment and Congress’ national security experts. Continue reading “House narrowly rejects effort to halt NSA program”
New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan on Tuesday signed a new medical marijuana bill into law, officially making her state the 19th to allow doctors to prescribe the drug.
State lawmakers in both legislative houses overwhelmingly approved the new law in June, and Gov. Hassan said she would sign the bill, thereby making New Hampshire the last state in New England to legalize medical marijuana. Continue reading “New Hampshire legalizes medical marijuana”
Record-breaking numbers of Americans have lost support for Congress, according to a survey. Eighty-three per cent of respondents said they disapprove of the job its doing, while 57 per cent said they would replace every member of Congress if they could.
The poll (link to poll), conducted jointly by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, has illustrated new heights of vehement public distaste for the actions of the US government. Continue reading “Americans against Congress: Over 80% of citizens disapprove of lawmakers”
DETROIT (AP) — A federal judge agreed with Detroit on Wednesday and stopped any lawsuits challenging the city’s bankruptcy, declaring his courtroom the exclusive venue for legal action in the largest filing by a local government in U.S. history.
The decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes was a major victory for Detroit, especially after an Ingham County judge last week said Gov. Rick Snyder ignored the Michigan Constitution and acted illegally in approving the Chapter 9 filing. That ruling and others had threatened to derail the case. Continue reading “Judge stops lawsuits against Detroit bankruptcy”
On the eve of a congressional discussion that may lend to ending the National Security Agency’s mass collection of domestic phone records, the White House made the rare move late Tuesday of issuing a statement condemning proposed legislation.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday evening that a bipartisan-supported amendment expected to go before a vote later this week would “hastily dismantle” a key counterterrorism tool used by the United States intelligence community if approved. Continue reading “White House denounces Amash amendment as dismantling of NSA”
The CIA is seeking to reduce the number of its Afghanistan bases of operation from a dozen to as few as six over two years, going with the overall American withdrawal. But even after 2014 it will maintain a significant footprint.
The manpower and equipment will be relocated from Afghanistan to other destinations, particularly Yemen and North Africa, places where Al-Qaeda-affiliated forces are presented, reports The Washington Post. CIA operatives would also be needed for operations not involving anti-insurgency, like the planned supplying of weapons to the Syrian armed opposition. Continue reading “CIA scales down Afghanistan operations amid troop pullout”
Israeli Military Intelligence chief said that Syria is becoming a ‘center of global jihad’ right on Israel’s border, with extremists trying not only to topple President Bashar Assad, but also to create a state governed by the Islamic religious law.
Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi warned that Syria is posing a regional threat as it attracts thousands of global jihadists and Muslim extremists from around the world. Continue reading “Syria turning into ‘center of global jihad’ – IDF Intel Chief”
Millions of pieces of trash are floating in the world’s oceans and fundamentally changing the makeup of Earth’s food chain.
Tons of plastic have accumulated in an area between Hawaii and California, and the convergence of currents swirls the trash into what is now known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Continue reading “California coastline hosts ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’”
Al-Qaeda-linked extremists have taken and continue to hold hostage about 200 Kurdish civilians, including women and children, using them as live shields in north-eastern Syria, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has stated.
Civilians remain hostage after Syrian Kurds clashed with Al-Qaeda linked militants in the north-eastern Syrian towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, along the Syrian-Turkish border over the weekend. Continue reading “Russia: Al-Qaeda-linked extremists hold 200 Kurdish civilians hostage as ‘live shield’ in Syria”
The National Security Agency has invited certain members of Congress to a top secret, invitation only meeting to discuss a proposed amendment that could end the NSA’s ability to conduct dragnet surveillance on millions of Americans.
A letter circulated only to select lawmakers early Tuesday announced that NSA Director General Keith B. Alexander would host a question and answer session with members of Congress in preparation of a Thursday vote on Capitol Hill expected to involve an amendment introduced last month by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan). Continue reading “NSA holds emergency hearing to fight off anti-surveillance amendment in Congress”
“Operation Last Chance” was launched on Tuesday and offers the German public a grand total of 25,000 euro ($33,000) for any information pertaining to surviving suspects complicit in World War II hate crimes.
Two thousand placards have been plastered across German cities, including Berlin, with the intention of trapping the dregs of Germany’s Nazi war criminals. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is seekinginformation on Holocaust perpetrators still at large. Continue reading “Nazi-hunting campaign kicks off in Germany”
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SF Gate – by FRANK ELTMAN
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