From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Parking is such a precious commodity in Boston that one woman was willing to pay $560,000 for two off-street spaces near her home.
Lisa Blumenthal won the spots in the city’s Back Bay neighborhood during an on-site auction Thursday held in a steady rain by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS had seized the spots from a man who owed back taxes. Continue reading “Boston woman pays $560,000 for 2 parking spots”
After over 40 years of secrecy, the real cause of death of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, has been made public. Prominent Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov reveals the truth behind the events of that tragic day.
For over 20 years Aleksey Leonov, the first man to conduct a spacewalk in 1965, has been struggling to gain permission to disclose details of what happened to the legendary Yuri Gagarin in March 1968. Continue reading “Death of Yuri Gagarin demystified 40 years on”
Brooklyn prosecutors are examining 50 homicide convictions involving a retired police detective who may have intimidated suspects into confessing to crimes they never committed – with words he chose.
Louis Scarcella was a celebrated member of the Brooklyn North Homicide squad through the crack-cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, when he gained a reputation for his unusual ability to draw out confessions. He investigated about 175 murders alone and helped with almost 200 more, but questions have been raised on whether Scarcella coerced, or even entirely fabricated, the admissions of guilt. Continue reading “Dozens of convictions in question as NYPD detective said to have falsified murder confessions”
ST. LOUIS (AP) — An argument inside a St. Louis home health care business escalated into gun violence Thursday when a man shot three other people before turning the gun on himself, police said.
The shooting occurred at AK Home Health Care LLC, one several small businesses inside the Cherokee Place Business Incubator south of downtown St. Louis. The shooter gunned down another man and two women before turning his semi-automatic handgun on himself, Police Capt. Michael Sack said. Continue reading “Police: Gunman shot 3, self at St. Louis business”
An enormous explosion shook a chemical plant in Geismer, Louisiana, just south of Baton Rouge on Wednesday. The blast was followed by a huge fire. 25 have been injured in the blast, with fatality numbers currently unconfirmed.
Emergency crews are on the scene and have reported injuries. A hazardous materials team has also been dispatched to the fire. Continue reading “Massive explosion and fire at Louisiana chemical plant, 25 injured”
An appeals court ruling handed down Monday is being largely viewed as yet another victory for biotech giant Monsanto.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled this week that an earlier ruling favoring Monsanto would stay intact, despite mounting concerns voiced by farmers and agriculturists bothered by the biotech company’s reputation for litigation. Continue reading “Monsanto secures victory over organic farmers”
South Carolina may give authorities direct access to anyone’s vehicle license plate as it considers switching to new electronic plates called e-tags. New technology allows the DMV to post messages across the license plates anywhere, anytime.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will have complete access to all e-tags to flag vehicles with expired insurance or suspended license plates and write messages such as “Suspended”, “Uninsured”,“Amber Alert”, or “Stolen” across license plates. Continue reading “Shameplates: E-tags on license plates let DMV show your ‘suspended’ or ‘uninsured’ status”
IOTO, Japan (AP) — Iwo Jima is a training site like no other. The rugged volcanic crag was one of the most iconic battlegrounds of World War II, and is so isolated and barren it has almost never been inhabited by anyone other than military troops. But from the perspective of U.S. Navy fighter pilots who regularly train on the island’s one functioning airstrip, it is unique in another way.
If a plane finds itself in serious trouble and for some reason that lone airstrip on the island isn’t viable, the only alternative is to eject and ditch in the Pacific. It’s a problem that the U.S. Navy, which is now conducting training on the island to prepare pilots for deployment to the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, has been trying to fix for nearly 25 years. Continue reading “Amid safety fears, US Navy jets train on Iwo Jima”
PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona sheriff who led the way for local police across the country to take up immigration enforcement is reconsidering his crackdowns — and other law enforcement officials who followed his lead are expected to eventually back away, too.
Joe Arpaio, the sheriff for metropolitan Phoenix, has temporarily suspended all his immigration efforts after a federal judge concluded two weeks ago that the sheriff’s office had racially profiled Latinos in its patrols, Arpaio spokesman Brandon Jones told The Associated Press. Continue reading “Ariz. sheriff suspends immigration efforts”
A review of classified US intelligence records has revealed that the CIA could not confirm the identity of about a quarter of the people killed by drone strikes in Pakistan during a period spanning from 2010 to 2011.
According to a purportedly exclusive report by NBC News that mirrors findings of an April analysis by McClatchy, between September 3, 2010 and October 30, 2011 the agency’s drone program over Pakistan routinely designated those killed as “other militants,” a label used when the CIA could not determine affiliation, if any. Continue reading “Classified documents reveal CIA drone strikes often killed unknown people”
Some of US President Barack Obama’s high-ranked political appointees are using secret government email accounts, which they say are necessary to prevent their inboxes from being overwhelmed with unwanted messages and spam.
The scale of secret email use across the government remains unknown, as most US agencies have failed to provide lists of political appointees’ email addresses, which AP requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) over three months ago. Continue reading “Obama’s top appointees use secret email accounts – AP”
The United States Department of Justice has responded to allegations that Attorney General Eric Holder lied to Congress, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill aren’t impressed.
Mr. Holder’s reputation within the Justice Department has been tarnished in recent weeks in the wake of a number of DoJ scandals, including his office’s investigation of journalists with the Associated Press and Fox News. Continue reading “Congress gives Holder one more day to answer allegations of perjury”
The state of Connecticut has become the first to successfully enact a law requiring food containing genetically modified ingredients to be labeled as such, though it comes with the unusual requirement that four other states must pass similar legislation.
Though supporters of GMO product labeling will likely laud the state legislature’s approval of the new bill, it represents a significant weakening of the initial proposal with the introduction of a bipartisan ‘compromise’ requiring that four additional states, one of which must border Connecticut, pass labeling laws as well. An additional requirement is that the aggregate population of any combination of such states exceed 20 million people. Continue reading “Connecticut passes first GMO food labeling law in US”
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (AP) — Ziyad Abid was a Missouri college student aspiring to become a pilot like his father back home in Saudi Arabia when he was accused of paying his roommate to kill a local bar owner. The judge set bond at $2 million, completely out of reach for his family — but not for the Saudi government. Continue reading “Saudi remains behind bars after $2M bond posted”
After spending 24 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, a Chicago man has filed a lawsuit claiming that police subjected him to violent torture methods that made him urinate blood to force him to make a false confession.
James Kluppelberg was released from a southern Illinois prison in May 2012 after his case was dismissed, 24 years after he was convicted and locked up for an arson-murder. The man was charged with setting a March 1984 fire that killed a woman and her five children – a felony crime that Kluppelberg confessed he committed. Continue reading “Exonerated Chicago man claims police tortured him into confession”
As New York City continues to rebuild and reimburse those residents displaced by Hurricane Sandy at least one man, a US Army veteran, was refused help because of a strict federal law that prevents someone from collecting aid on their property.
Vito Colucci Sr., a Staten Island resident who served in the Korean War, was living with his son’s family in New Jersey when Hurricane Sandy hit at the end of October. Colucci was diagnosed with dementia two years ago and submitted an application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) three days after the storm ravaged his Staten Island home, according to the New York Daily News. Continue reading “FEMA refuses Hurricane Sandy aid to elderly US Army veteran”
An internal watchdog claims the IRS spent $50 million on ‘inappropriate’ conference funds during a three-year period – news that serves to further embarrass the agency in wake of its targeting of conservative groups.
The Internal Revenue Service allegedly spent nearly $50 million on about 200 employee conferences between 2010 and 2012, during which it frequently provided its workers with presidential hotel suites and allowed them to take dance classes and attend baseball games, according to excerpts from an inspector general’s report slated to be released Tuesday. Continue reading “IRS wasted $50 mln on luxury hotels, alcohol and baseball tickets”
The US has announced it is easing sanctions on Iran, allowing exports of computers, cellphones and software to individuals. The move comes ahead of presidential election to be held next month.
Though the chances of an Apple Store being opened in Tehran are still slim, Iranians might soon be able to buy American computer devices and cellphones officially and not at the black market, as they have been forced to do by US restrictions, in force since 1992. As for Iranians living in US, they can finally feel free to buy whatever gadgets they like – something they used to be denied, with shops citing American sanctions. Continue reading “US lifts ban on gadget exports to Iran ahead of elections”
Ibragim Todashev, who was killed by the FBI during a questioning, was shot six times, once in the crown of his head, photos shown at a press conference in Moscow reveal. His father suspects it could have been a kill shot.
“I can show you the photos taken after the killing of my son. I have 16 photographs. I just would like to say that looking at these photos is like being in a movie. I only saw things like that in movies: shooting a person, and then the kill shot. Six shots in the body, one of them in the head,” Abdulbaki Todashev said at the press conference at RIA Novosti news agency in the Russian capital. Continue reading “Kill shot? Photos show Boston bombing suspect’s friend took FBI bullet to top of head”
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RT News, June 4, 2013
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