From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing an expansion of its net-neutrality rules to cover cell-phone service.
In a speech Tuesday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said that Internet access on smartphones is a “key component” of the investment and innovation that net-neutrality regulations are intended to protect. Continue reading “FCC May Expand Net Neutrality to Cell Phones”
Time to change your password again. A database containing nearly 5 million Gmail user accounts and passwords was leaked on Bitcoin Security, a popular Russian website devoted to the cryptocurrency.
The text file was published on Tuesday night by user tvskit, according to CNews, the Russian news outlet that first broke the story. The leaker claimed that the majority of the accounts belong to users who speak English, Russian, or Spanish, and that approximately 60 percent are active. The passwords not only give access to Gmail, but a slew of other Google services such as Drive and the mobile payment system Google Wallet. Continue reading “Millions of Gmail accounts hacked, was yours one of them?”
Yahoo News – by Lisa Marie Garza
BROWNSVILLE Texas (Reuters) – With binoculars in hand, an assault rifle slung over his chest and a Glock pistol on his hip, a man named Will scans the banks of the Rio Grande looking for anyone trying to cross from Mexico into Texas.
Will is a member of the Patriots, a group of heavily armed private citizens who use displays of force to intimidate people attempting to cross the border illegally. Since early summer the Patriots have patrolled an area near Brownsville, Texas. Continue reading “‘Armed patriots’: the private citizens out to secure the U.S. border”
White House Dossier – by Keith Koffler
Oh the indignity.
What golf course would have turned away President Barack Obama a couple of years ago? None. But now, in a sign of The One’s fading luster, no less than three New York City-area clubs told the president to take his game elsewhere rather than disrupt their members’ coveted Labor Day Weekend of play.
Obama was in Rhode Island and Westchester County – a suburb of the city – Friday, August 29, doing some fundraising. He was scheduled to stay overnight, since he had the wedding of White House Cook Sam Kass in Westchester to go to Saturday evening. Continue reading “Obama Denied His Golf”
ONE in four Scots believes M15 is working with the UK Government to prevent independence, a new poll reveals.
The study, which many will see as a measure of public distrust in Westminster, found nearly as many thought next week’s vote will be rigged.
The findings – from the same pollster, YouGov, that reported the lead for Yes at the weekend – were commissioned by news site Buzzfeed as it explored hostility to the British state north of the border. Continue reading “One-quarter fear MI5 will try to prevent Yes vote on Scotland Independence”
I am a leavemethef#@kaloneafarian when are they going to allow me to practice my religion?
Huffington Post – by Carol Kuruvilla
When it came to her driver’s license photo, one Oklahoma woman had no problem taking her glasses off to give the camera a clear shot of her face.
But her spaghetti strainer? No way. Continue reading “Pastafarian Wears Spaghetti Strainer In Oklahoma Driver’s License Photo”
The New American – by Bob Adelmann
News from North Carolina marks another milestone toward developing an informed, politically active citizenry familiar with the basic fundamentals of the American Republic.
Homeschooled students now outnumber private-school students in North Carolina. This represents an increase of more than 14 percent from the year before, and a 27 percent increase from just two years ago. The state estimates that there are nearly 100,000 homeschoolers in North Carolina, while private school enrollments have been dropping ever since the beginning of the Great Recession. According to the Charlotte News Observer, this extraordinary growth is due to parental concerns about school violence, the lack of a religious focus in public schools, and the large classroom size. Continue reading “Homeschoolers Outnumber Private-school Students in North Carolina”
Russia-Iran Oil-for-Goods Contracts
Representatives of the Russian and Iranian governments met in Tehran yesterday for the 11th meeting of the Iran-Russian Trade Council, where details of a ground breaking oil-for-goods swap between the two heavily sanctioned countries were revealed.
With both countries now sanctioned by the West, Russia and Iran have been in extensive negotiations on how to facilitate Iranian oil exports without breaching the UN Security Council nuclear deal that was agreed between Iran, Germany and the five UN Council permanent last January. Continue reading “Russia And Iran Put Oil-For-Goods Deals Into Motion As Iran Signals Similar Arrangements Coming With China”
Shark Tank – by Javier Manjarres
Put down the bong, and step away from the counter.
A recent Public Policy Poll (PPP) is showing that Florida’s medicinal marijuana amendment, which will be on the November ballot, has lost significant support among voters.
The ‘Vote No on 2′ initiative, which has implemented a very effected media campaign outlining the cons against legalizing pot, can be credited for the downtick in support for the legalization of medicinal marijuana. Continue reading “Push To Legalize Pot In Florida Could Be Going Up In Smoke”
A recount was conducted Tuesday at the Pettis County Courthouse involving the results of the co-called “Right to Farm” Amendment to the Missouri Constitution.
On Aug. 5, Amendment 1 passed by 2,490 votes, or about a quarter of a percentage point.
Losers of a Missouri ballot initiative are permitted to request a recount if the margin is a half percentage point or less. A coalition of Amendment 1 opponents — including Missouri’s Food for America, the Missouri Farmers Union, and the Missouri Rural Crisis Center — formally called for a recount. A total of 497,091 people voted no on the proposal. Continue reading “Recount on Missouri’s “Right to Farm” Amendment Conducted”
Russia does not rule out the possibility that it might close its airspace in response to new Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.
“If there are sanctions connected with energy or further restrictions on our financial sector, we will have to strike back in an asymmetric way, such as restrictions in the transport sphere,” Medvedev said in an interview with Vedomosti, a business daily. Continue reading “Russia mulls closing airspace in response to new Western sanctions”
The morning after the Sandy Hook shootings, Shannon Watts, a mother of five and a former public relations executive, started a Facebook page called “One Million Moms for Gun Control.” It proved wildly popular and members quickly focused on renewing the federal ban on military style assault weapons.
“We all were outraged about the fact that this man could use an AR-15, which seemed like a military grade weapon, and go into an elementary school and wipe out 26 human beings in less than five minutes,” Watts said. Continue reading “Why Gun Control Groups Have Moved Away from an Assault Weapons Ban”
New York Daily News – by Don Kaplan
The routine surgical procedure Joan Rivers was supposed to undergo turned deadly when a doctor who arrived at the clinic with the legendary comic’s entourage performed an unplanned biopsy on her vocal cords, a medical source who was briefed on the case told The News.
Such a procedure is not supposed to be performed outside of a hospital, according to medical experts. Continue reading “Joan Rivers had surprise throat biopsy that cut off her air supply, source claims”
Mired in the drought that has dried up so much of the Southwest, Texas is losing patience with Mexico, which owes the state millions of gallons of water.
Under the terms of a 1945 agreement, Mexico and Texas are supposed to send each other a certain amount of water. Texas’ share comes from the Colorado River, while Mexico’s originates along the Rio Grande. Continue reading “Mexico Owes Water to U.S.”
AlterNet – by Steven Rosenfeld
The federal bureaucratic pipeline that has pumped billions in surplus military weapons and battle gear into thousands of police departments across America does not train cops to use them, does not track when the weaponry is used and does not screen police for history of civil rights abuses. It also does not want to decide whether it is even appropriate to be sending local police weapons as esoteric as rifle bayonettes and combat knives.
These were just some takeaways from a lengthy hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday, where top officials from the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice described programs that funneled upwards of $50 billion in gear and grants in recent years to local police. The hearing is expected to prompt a major revamping of these programs, as almost every senator who spoke up, both Democrat and Republican, slammed militarized policing. Continue reading “The Shocking Militarization of America’s Police Finally Catches the Interest of the US Senate”
HOUSTON — The day after HISD police officers wrestled a 10th grade girl to the hallway floor of Sam Houston High School, the girl and her family protested in front of the campus demanding an investigation and an apology.
In cell phone video first aired on KHOU Tuesday night, three HISD police officers surround Ixel Perez, two of them have her pinned to the floor face down. One officer has his knee pressed to the side of her head. Continue reading “Student tackled by officers over cell phone tells her side of the story”
The Mayor of Philadelphia has agreed to endorse legislation that decriminalizes the possession and public consumption of marijuana, making it one of the largest American cities to turn back punitive drug laws.
The bill, which Mayor Michael Nutter said he will endorse, was proposed by the city council, and – with the latest amendments – would levy fines of $25 on people caught possessing small amounts of the drug, and $100 for smoking it in public. In neither case would an offender face a criminal charge or arrest. Continue reading “Philadelphia set to decriminalize marijuana possession”
A fourth American aid worker stricken with the Ebola virus arrived early Tuesday in Atlanta for treatment at Emory University Hospital. Two Americans were successfully treated for Ebola at Emory last month.
The patient, whose identity was not released, will be housed in a special isolation unit, according to hospital officials. No additional details were offered. Continue reading “Fourth American with Ebola treated in Atlanta”
Manhattan’s One Percenters will now have one more type of real estate investment that the have-nots of the world could never hope to afford: $1 million parking spaces. The spots for sale cost more per square-foot than the luxury building’s apartments do.
A new luxury development in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, 42 Crosby Street, will offer 10 underground parking spaces in the 10-unit apartment building. Each spot will be offered for a whopping $1 million, which will cover the full term of a 99-year lease, the New York Times reported. So, after all that money spent on a place to park their car, investors will not actually own the spot. But they will have a storage space and charging station. Continue reading “Location, location, location: $1 million parking spaces for sale in NYC”
A Pentagon investigation of the “kill vehicle” warhead, part of a weapons system plagued with years of failed tests, found dozens of quality control problems, according to a new report.
The Pentagon’s inspector general said in the report released Monday that the “kill vehicle,” a warhead meant to intercept missiles, fell short of quality standards in 48 specific cases, including issues with software testing, supply chain demands, and design changes, making the kill vehicle “susceptible to quality assurance failures.” Continue reading “Pentagon: Missile defense ‘kill vehicle’ still plagued with problems after years of failure”
Fusion – by FIDEL MARTINEZ
Herald Scotland
Gold Core – by Mark O’Byrne
The Sedalia Weekly Observer
ProPublica – by Lois Beckett
All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff
KHOU 11 News – by Kevin Reece
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