From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Natural Society – by Barbara Minton
If you’ve been wondering what all that coffee is doing to you, cheer up. A recent review of data completed at Gill Heart Institute in Kentucky focused on the cardiovascular, genetic, antioxidant and caffeine effects of coffee and found that drinking the brew reduces the risk of mortality right across the board. They also documented that coffee: Continue reading “8 True Benefits of Drinking Coffee You Didn’t Know About”
Back on October 7, 1940, more than a year before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. McCollum in his capacity as director of the Office of Naval Intelligence’s Far East Asia section, drafted what is now known as the “Eight Action Memo” (which can be read in its entirety here) to FDR in which he recommended an eight-part course of action for the United States to take in regard to the Japanese Empire in the South Pacific, suggesting the United States provoke Japan into committing an overt act of war. Continue reading “Is Japan Preparing For War?”
All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman
In spite of an $80-million investment in building incinerators for hazardous waste disposal in Afghanistan, the U.S. military left many of them unused, resulting in increased use of open-air burn pits whose dangerous fumes put thousands of soldiers and civilians at risk.
The repeated use by the U.S. military of burn pits to dispose of solid and hazardous wastes—from batteries, plastics and aerosol cans to tires and entire vehicles—was one of the foulest stories to come out of the Afghanistan war. The practice produced acrid smoke and exposed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilian personnel to toxic fumes that have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, cardiopulmonary diseases and reduced lung function. Continue reading “U.S. Waste Disposal in Afghanistan: Unused Incinerators and Open-Air Burn Pits”
Cops in Big Sky Country aren’t happy about it, but Montana lawmakers look ready to ban the use of license plate cameras by government agencies to track motorists’ movements. The legislative move comes after a stream of revelations of local, state, and federal tracking and databasing of Americans’ movements by car, without cause or warrant.
A year ago, the Department of Homeland Security killed a solicitation for bids to establish and maintain “a National License Plate Recognition (NLPR) database service” after a chorus of public outrage. The DHS plan may actually have been duplication of effort, since the DEA already has a national license plate scanning system maintained with the cooperation of local police. If passed, the Montana measure couldn’t block such efforts from D.C., but it would prevent agencies within the state from contributing to those schemes. Continue reading “Ban on Government License Plate Cameras Nears in Montana”
Jihadist militants from Islamic State (IS) have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, the local police chief says.
Exactly who these people were and why they were killed is not clear, but Col Qasim al-Obeidi said he believed some were members of the security forces.
IS fighters captured much of the town, near Ain al-Asad air base, last week. Continue reading “Islamic State militants ‘burn to death 45 in Iraq’”
West Coast ports that were closed to incoming cargo vessels during the holiday weekend reopened in full on Tuesday as Labor Secretary Tom Perez arrived in San Francisco seeking to broker a settlement ending months of shipping disruptions.
Perez was sent to meet with the two sides in the conflict at the behest of President Barack Obama, who has come under mounting pressure to weigh in on a labor dispute that has cascaded through the U.S. commercial supply chain and beyond. Continue reading “West Coast ports reopen as labor secretary arrives for talks”
GERMANTOWN (WITI) — Thanks to man’s best friend and some quick police work, a Germantown woman is alive.
Early Friday morning, February 13th, John Boy, a black labrador, was found running around the Autumn Ridge neighborhood off of County Line Rd. in Germantown.
“He stood there and barked a little bit, then I rolled down my window and called to him. Then he wagged his tail and got more friendly until I got out of my car. And then he ran a little bit,” said Jeff Gonzalez of the Germantown Police Department. Continue reading ““He pointed me in the right direction:” Dog leads officer to his owner, slumped over in chair”
A dangerous Tropical Cyclone “Lam” formed in the Arafura Sea, between Australia and Indonesian New Guinea, on February 16, 2015. The system is expected to make landfall in Northern Territory, Australia on February 18 or 19 as a powerful Category 4 storm on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale.
There is already significant rainfall, around the 20 – 50 mm range, and there will be much heavier falls along the coast as the cyclone nears and intensifies over the next 36 hours to a peak intensity of about 166 km/h (103 mph). Continue reading “Dangerous Tropical Cyclone “Lam” formed near Northern Territory, Australia”
Young people out of work, education or training for six months will have to do unpaid community work to get benefits if the Conservatives win the election.
David Cameron said about 50,000 18 to 21-year-olds would be required to do daily work experience from day one of their claim, alongside job searching.
The welfare shake-up would make sure young people “don’t get sucked into a life on welfare”, he said in a speech. Continue reading “David Cameron: Unemployed young ‘should do community work’”
The New American – by Alex Newman
Over the last decade in the United States, the deaths of over 100 children — at the very least — have been linked to receiving a measles vaccine, compared with zero children dying from the disease itself, according to the U.S. government’s own compiled data. Put another way, an American child would have been infinitely more likely to die after receiving a measles shot, percentage-wise, than from getting the actual measles disease in the last ten years. Thousands more have suffered from adverse reactions to the measles shot and other vaccines. The explosive numbers have massive implications for public health efforts, analysts said. Continue reading “Over 100 Measles Vaccine Deaths, Zero Measles Deaths, Since ’04”
All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman
Perhaps the most questionable statistic to come out of the air war against ISIS so far is one that actually doesn’t exist, officially.
To date, no civilian casualties have been recorded, according to the U.S. military. That’s because American commanders aren’t counting them.
Lieutenant-General James L. Terry, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, has said that his people were “tracking no civilian casualties.” Continue reading “In Battle against ISIS, U.S. Reverts to Not Counting Civilian Casualties”
Opposing Views – by Michael Allen
While politicians warn America every day of an impending attack by the terrorist group ISIS, police in the U.S. are killing one American every 8 hours.
According to the online database Killed By Police, 136 people have been killed by American police from Jan. 1 to Feb.15. The database is citizen-run because there is no federal law requiring local police departments to report how many people they kill. Continue reading “Police Have Killed One American Every 8 Hours In 2015”
LA Times – by MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE, KATHLEEN HENNESSEY AND MICHAEL MUSKAL
The Obama administration on Tuesday said it would appeal a move by a federal judge in Texas that temporarily stopped the president’s executive actions on immigration, an anticipated judicial roadblock that was greeted with partisan reactions.
In a decision released late Monday night, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen put on hold Obama’s executive action to protect between 4 million and 5 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally from deportation. The first of the actions, expanding a program that protects young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, was set to launch on Wednesday. Continue reading “White House to appeal ruling blocking Obama’s immigrant protections”
The White House on Tuesday will begin hosting a three-day summit to examine ways to counter violent extremism.
The meeting will put a special emphasis on domestic and international efforts to prevent extremists and their backers from radicalizing young people. Continue reading “White House hosts summit on extremism”
Liberty’s Torch – by Francis W. Porretto
This morning, the great Victor Davis Hanson deposeth and sayeth:
For bewildered and increasingly quietist Americans, the center holds mostly in family, religion, a few friends, the avoidance of the cinema and nightly news, the rote of navigating to work and coming home, trying to stay off the dole and taking responsibility for one’s own disasters — as the world grows ever more chaotic in our midst.All sorts of escapism from the madness is now epidemic. Home-schooling. Gun ownership. A second home in the mountains. A trunk of freeze-dried food. Kids living in the basement. A generator. Some gold coins. A move to Wyoming. An avoidance of the old big cities. A tough choice between death and going to the nearby emergency room (at least your relatives are safe as you pass away at home). A careful and narrow selection of channels on cable TV. A safe room or escape plan. And on and on. Continue reading “Quietism, Or “Hunkering Down?””
Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden
Reason – by J.D. Tuccille
BBC News
Fox 6 Now
The Watchers
BBC News – by Ross Hawkins
The Hill – by Martin Matishak