From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan held a sidewalk press conference last week in Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood. He promised to revitalize the city by spending $75 million to tear down 4,000 vacant houses.
“Fixing what is broken in Baltimore requires that we address the sea of abandoned, dilapidated buildings that are infecting entire neighborhoods,” he said. Continue reading “Can We Fix American Cities by Tearing Them Down?”
Washington Post – by Tom Jackman
The criminal justice system in Virginia appeared to be on the verge of radical change, at last. In a state where defendants are not entitled to the police reports in their case, the witness statements against them or even a witness list, a prominent committee issued a detailed report late last year proposing to carefully change all that, and more.
“Where trial by ambush has been the norm,” committee chair and retired Loudoun Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Horne wrote, “there is now clarity and transparency.” Continue reading “Va. decides not to change rules that withhold documents from defense”
A wanted man who police in Ohio said sent them a selfie because he didn’t like the mugshot that had been made public was arrested in Florida Tuesday morning.
The Lima News reported that Donald “Chip” Pugh, 45, was arrested outside a public library in Century, Fla., just across the border from Alabama. Continue reading “Fugitive who sent police selfie to replace ‘terrible’ mugshot arrested in Florida”
Members of the Michigan National Guard are headed to Flint to help dole out bottled water, filters and other supplies to residents dealing with a drinking water crisis that began months ago.
Gov. Rick Snyder activated the National Guard late Tuesday, and some members were expected to arrive as soon as Wednesday to assist state authorities and volunteers in the distribution effort. Continue reading “Michigan National Guard, FEMA Help Flint Amid Water Crisis”
Ten U.S. sailors detained by Iran were released early Wednesday, officials said.
The sailors — nine men and one woman — were held overnight on Iran’s Farsi Island. They were taken into custody Tuesday when their two small U.S. navy riverine vessels drifted into Iranian-claimed waters during a training mission. Continue reading “U.S. Sailors Detained by Iran Are ‘Safely Returned’”
Courthouse News Service – by NICHOLAS IOVINO
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – The city of Oakland has settled a wrongful death suit accusing five police officers of killing a man wrongly suspected of invading his own home.
Hernan Jaramillo, 51, died from asphyxiation under the weight of five police officers attempting to subdue him in front of his house on the 2300 block of 21st Street in Oakland on July 8, 2013. Continue reading “Oakland Settles Family’s Wrongful Death Suit”
Washington Examiner – by PETE KASPEROWICZ
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration inappropriately paid an Amtrak employee more than $850,000 over 20 years to provide information on passengers who may be smuggling drugs, according a report from the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General.
The OIG also released a separate report saying the DEA arranged to pay a government airport screener to act as a confidential source. The screener, however, never provided information of any value to the DEA. Continue reading “Watchdog: Feds paid Amtrak worker to spy on passengers”
Naked, agitated and restrained in a chair, Jack Marden pleaded with officers to remove a “spit hood” covering his face, to let him breathe.
The clash on 11 February began when the 56-year-old, locked up in Midland County jail on assault charges, became combative with sheriff’s deputies following brief questioning by a pair of healthcare workers. Continue reading “Lawsuit over Michigan man’s death in jail focuses on officers’ use of ‘spit hood’”
Free Thought Project – by John Vibes
The Texas activist group Don’t Comply was making waves again this week after they were ejected from a bioterrorism drill for filming. Members of Don’t Comply signed up to be “crisis actors” in a mock government drill, which is said to train police and emergency crews for an actual attack.
Don’t Comply members Matthew Short, Murdoch Pizgatti, Brett Sanders and others were accepted to take part in the drill, and they decided to bring their cameras and film the event so they could give the public a better idea of how these drills work and ultimately, how their tax dollars are spent. The group had responded to a public call for volunteers that was broadcast through NBC News. The article asked for 200 volunteers play the role of a “patient” in a mock bioterrorism attack. Continue reading “Activists Sign Up As “Crisis Actors,” Infiltrate Govt Terrorism Drill Before Being Kicked out for Filming”
Freedom Outpost – by Tim Brown
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” – Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
Clearly the idea behind the phrase “shall not be infringed” has been completely ignored not only by the current administration, but by various Congresses and Presidents throughout our history. However, at no time in our history has the issue of guns been such a target as they have been under Barack Hussein Obama Soetoro Sobarkah. Now, another piece of unconstitutional legislation is being pushed by the Obama administration in 2016, courtesy of Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) that seeks to ban semi-automatic rifles and handguns in a fictitious “assault weapons ban.” Continue reading “The New Assault Weapons Ban Bill Targets Every Semi-Automatic Rifle, Handgun and Shotgun”
A suicide bomber killed at least 15 people, most of them police, outside a polio eradication center in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Wednesday, the latest militant attack on the anti-polio campaign in the country.
Two militant groups – the Pakistani Taliban and Jundullah, which has links with the Taliban and has pledged allegiance to Islamic State – separately claimed responsibility for the attack. Continue reading “Suicide bomber kills at least 15 outside Pakistan polio center”
The California gas company responsible for the storage site where methane has been leaking from a damaged well for over two months has promised action to stop the breach, while a Los Angeles County supervisor has branded the situation a “mini-Chernobyl.”
SoCal Gas said it was working on a plan to siphon off and safely burn some of the leaking methane, a crisis which has led to months of protests and the displacement of thousands of families in the Los Angeles County community of Porter Ranch. The gas has also leaked into homes and schools. Continue reading “‘This is a mini-Chernobyl’: LA County supervisor on California methane leak”
A Pennsylvania constable fatally shot a 12-year-old girl during an attempt to evict her family from their home. The bullet was fired at the girl’s father, passed through his arm and hit the child, who died instantly.
Ciara Meyer was pronounced dead in her home in Duncannon, north of Harrisburg, where a police constable arrived with a“legal and valid” eviction order on Monday morning. Continue reading “Pennsylvania officer kills 12-year-old girl when firing at her father”
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Seattle police raided a suspected burglar’s Bellevue home on Monday and found a cache of stolen guns, ammo and body armor.
Police originally responded to a commercial burglary on New Year’s Eve in the 500 block of Colorado Avenue South. The thief, who made off with dozens of guns and suppressors, was long gone by the time officers arrived, but detectives learned that the prime suspect was a white man driving a late 1990s Toyota Forerunner, according to the Seattle Police Department. Continue reading “Police find cache of stolen guns, ammo in suspected burglar’s home”
When the international financial press presents their standard explanation for the panic decline in the Chinese stock market, most want to tamp down the acute apprehension that the long awaited global depression is now at hand. Well, the International Business Times in their account on the China Stock Markets, makes a very insightful appraisal.
“Some analysts say the acceptance of the Chinese yuan into the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights basket of reserve currencies late last year may have strengthened China’s determination to allow the exchange rate to be set by the market — as it seeks to make the currency fully convertible within the coming years.” Continue reading “The Chinese Market Crash”