From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12 (UPI) — Actor Charlie Sheen showed support for broadcaster Brian Williams Wednesday stating on Twitter the journalist will always be his hero.
Sheen’s Twitlonger post also slammed the NBC executives who decided to suspend the anchor for six months without pay following Williams recanting of a story that he had been in a helicopter that drew fire in Iraq in 2003. Continue reading “Charlie Sheen calls Brian Williams a ‘hero,’ blasts NBC execs”
A dozen states already use drug tests to screen those applying for financial assistance, but another 12 are also considering – and wishing to expand – the costly measure despite its limited results.
In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) wants to go further and have state House Republicans mandate drug tests for unemployment insurance and a number of other state programs. He also wants permission from the Obama administration to drug test food stamp applicants. However, lawmakers haven’t introduced a bill yet. Continue reading “Plans to drug test welfare applicants considered in a dozen states”
The House of Representatives easily passed a measure approving the construction of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, setting up a showdown with President Barack Obama, who has promised to veto the bill.
In a 270-152 vote led primarily by Republicans, the House passed the same bill that the Senate itself approved last month. The pipeline was first proposed in 2008 and would carry oil 1,179 miles from Canada’s tar sands to Nebraska, where it would connect to an existing pipeline and continue traveling south. Continue reading “House approves Keystone XL pipeline despite veto threat”
Three people were reportedly injured in a chemical explosion in northern Spain, which created a toxic orange cloud. Residents in towns around Barcelona were told to stay indoors. The restrictions were lifted after about four hours.
The accident in northeastern Spain appears to have been caused by two chemicals accidentally mixing while on their way during delivery, the regional government in Catalonia said, as cited by Reuters. Continue reading “Toxic orange cloud outside Barcelona after chemical blast”
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The inflight tantrum dubbed “nut rage” culminated Thursday in a one year prison sentence for Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-ah, a humiliating rebuke that only partially quelled public outrage at the excesses of South Korea’s business elite.
Cho, the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, achieved worldwide notoriety after she ordered the chief flight attendant off a Dec. 5 flight, forcing it to return to the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Continue reading “Court sentences Korean Air nut rage exec to 1 year in prison”
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Authorities have wanted to nab Hugo Selenski on murder charges ever since they searched his northeastern Pennsylvania yard in 2003 and found the bodies of a missing pharmacist, the pharmacist’s girlfriend, and at least three other sets of human remains.
It took nearly a dozen years and one failed prosecution, but they finally got their man on Wednesday after a jury convicted the 41-year-old career criminal in the strangling deaths of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett. Continue reading “Jury convicts Pennsylvania man with bodies in yard”
Occupy Corporatism – by Susanne Posel
In 2014, Jeff Michael, associate administrator for research and program development for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told Congress that stoned drivers posed a threat to public safety on the roads and highways, but could not answer senators when asked “how many fatal crashes are caused by marijuana annually”.
Michael replied: “That’s difficult to say. We don’t have a precise estimate.” Continue reading “NHTSA Study Confirms Driving Stoned Not Linked to Car Crashes”
ESPANOLA, N.M. (KRQE) – A middle school principal said a student was misbehaving with his friends and took things too far. The student threw an American flag out a second-story classroom window. Now the principal says the 14-year-old needs to be held accountable, but some parents say the punishment is too harsh.
“I guess I can’t believe they’re going to take such extreme measures,” said Curtis Schattschneider. Continue reading “Principal to contact FBI after student throws U.S. flag”
At any given time, we face a limitless array of threats and possible harms. For instance, right now, we could worry about terrorism, climate change, gun violence, unemployment, immigration, food security or any number of other concerns. Yet public concern over these issues is neither constant nor necessarily linked with the actual level of threat.
What turns a potential threat or harm into a full-blown social problem? How does what the foreign-born work force is smoking become a national crisis, worthy of repressive action, as it has here repeatedly? And how does a few hundred thousand people smoking crack in the 1980s translate into a solid majority of Americans saying drugs were the number one problem in the country in the fall of 1989? Continue reading “Four of the Major Fear Campaigns That Helped Create America’s Insane War on Drugs”
Ars Technica – by Cyrus Farivar
If you’ve ever filed a public records request with your local police department to learn more about how cell-site simulators are used in your community—chances are good that the FBI knows about it. And the FBI will attempt to “prevent disclosure” of such information.
Not only can these devices, commonly known as “stingrays,” be used to determine a phone’s location, but they can also intercept calls and text messages. During the act of locating a phone, stingrays also sweep up information about nearby phones. Last fall, Ars reported on how a handful of cities across America are currently upgrading to new hardware that can target 4G LTE phones. Continue reading “FBI really doesn’t want anyone to know about “stingray” use by local cops”
The Obama administration announced creation of another federal intelligence center in the long list of law enforcement and spy services. This time its main task will be cyberintel.
The last year saw high-profile hacks into Sony Pictures, which set off a firestorm of controversy surrounding their film “The Interview.” But other security breaches, like cyberattacks on Home Depot, Target, and even the social media accounts of US Central Command, made President Obama to prioritize cybersecurity. Continue reading “US Creates Cyber-CIA to Fight Hackers”
BRUSSELS – The International Monetary Fund has agreed with Ukraine on a new bailout deal worth $17.5 billion that could climb to around $40 billion over the next four years with help from other lenders like Europe and the U.S.
Ukraine has so far received $4.6 billion as part of a $17 billion aid package from the IMF agreed on last year, but that program has run into trouble as the war ravaging the country’s eastern region has weighed on its economic prospects. Continue reading “IMF, Ukraine agree to $17.5B bailout deal”
ABC News – by Justin Pritchard
Seaports in major West Coast cities that normally are abuzz with the sound of commerce are falling unusually quiet.
Companies that operate marine terminals said they weren’t calling workers to unload ships Thursday that carry car parts, furniture, clothing, electronics — just about anything made in Asia and destined for U.S. consumers. Containers of U.S. exports won’t get loaded either. Continue reading “West Coast seaports mostly shut down amid contract dispute”
Reuters – by PAVEL POLITYUK AND ELIZABETH PINEAU
The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukrainehave agreed a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine, participants at the summit talks said on Thursday.
The deal reached after all-night negotiations in the Belarussian capital Minsk included a ceasefire that would come into effect on Feb. 15, followed by the withdrawal of heavy weapons. Continue reading “Ceasefire agreed for eastern Ukraine after Minsk summit”
UPI – by Veronica Linares
RT
RT
RT
Mail.com
Mail.com
KRQE 13 News – by Lysee Mitri
AlterNet – by Phillip Smith
Space War
Fox News