From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
A US Border Patrol agent came across a depression in the ground along the US-Mexico border while on patrol 2 miles east of the Calexico, California, border crossing.
The agent approached the area — near the All-American Canal — on foot, but the ground gave way, revealing a hole 18 inches in diameter, US Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. Continue reading “An agent discovered another tunnel on the US border after nearly falling into it”
DETROIT (Reuters) – Three Michigan state and local officials were criminally charged on Wednesday in connection with the state attorney general’s investigation into dangerous lead levels in Flint’s drinking water, a crisis that has fueled widespread public outrage.
Genesee District Judge Tracy Collier-Nix authorized charges against Flint employee Michael Glasgow and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) employees Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby. Continue reading “Michigan officials charged in Flint water crisis”
Las Vegas Review Journal – by Jeff German
Nevada’s chief federal judge Tuesday for the second time refused to let nationally known conservative lawyer Larry Klayman join Cliven Bundy’s defenseteam.
In a two-page order, Gloria Navarro said she will not allow Klayman into the high-profile criminal case until he can give her proof that “ethical disciplinary proceedings” against him in Washington, D.C., have been resolved in his favor. Continue reading “Judge again refuses to let nationally known lawyer defend Cliven Bundy”
CNS News – by Robert J. Olson and Herbert W. Titus
On Wednesday, April 20, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the case ofBirchfield v. North Dakota, an important Fourth Amendment case that should be of interest to everyone who drives a car.
In recent years, the legislatures of some states have criminalized a driver’s choice to assert his constitutional right not to be subject to an unlawful search and seizure. These legislatures have enacted laws which make it a crime for a driver to refuse to consent to searches and seizures via breathalyzer and blood chemical tests after being placed under arrest after a routine traffic stop. Continue reading “Drive a Car — Waive Your Constitutional Rights”
Five years after the Fukushima nuclear accident, local residents are reporting a marked increase in serious birth defects, but due to an ongoing coverup by Japanese authorities, and a severe lack of scientific studies being performed, very little information on the subject is reaching the public.
A February, 2016 broadcast on LaborNet TV featured interviews with evacuees from the affected areas near the Daiichi nuclear plant, who provided firsthand accounts of babies being born with extra limbs caused by a structural birth defect called polymelia. Continue reading “Parent’s worst nightmare: Wave of babies born in Japan with extra arms and legs due to Fukushima radiation… Stillbirth numbers on the rise”
Independent – by Andrew Buncombe
The motorcade of America’s UN ambassador was involved in a tragedy when it struck and killed a young child while the envoy was visiting Cameroon.
Reports said that an armoured jeep in Samantha Power’s motorcade hit and killed a young boy who had darted into the road. Continue reading “Samantha Power: America’s UN ambassador’s 60mph motorcade kills boy in Cameroon”
Bernie Sanders’ campaign team has slammed reports of voting irregularities at the New York state primary as “absurd” after more than 125,000 Democrats were unable to cast their ballots due to a mixture of broken voting machines, missing ballots and purged voter rolls.
The figure of 125,000 accounted for voters registered in Brooklyn, the district where Sanders was born. Continue reading “Sanders’ campaign condemns NY voter irregularities that leave 125,000 Democrats disenfranchised”
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Barack Obama opened a brief trip to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday with a one-on-one meeting with King Salman in Riyadh. The visit for a Persian Gulf summit comes against the backdrop of increasingly strained U.S. relations with the Saudis, who remain deeply opposed to his outreach to Iran and skeptical of his approach to Syria.
Under crystal chandeliers, the Saudi monarch greeted Obama in a grand foyer at Erga Palace, where the two walked slowly to a reception room as the small of incense wafted. The two offered polite smiles as they sat down side by side for pictures at the start of their private meeting. Continue reading “Obama meets with King Salman at start of Saudi Arabia visit”
PHOENIX (AP) — A man charged in freeway shootings that rattled Phoenix last year has been released from jail amid questions about the evidence that authorities say links him to the crimes. The release of Leslie Merritt Jr. on Tuesday came after a judge reduced his bond to zero and said he can return to his home under electronic monitoring.
“I am just ready to go home and be with my kids,” Merritt said moments after walking out of jail. The reduction of the bond — once $1 million — was a major victory as defense lawyers contend that ballistic tests cast doubt on the claim by authorities that Merritt was behind four of the freeway shootings. Continue reading “Freeway shooting suspect released amid doubts about evidence”
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Students and teaching assistants have arrived back in Juneau from a remote mountaineering class that was cut short when one of their professors was mauled by a brown bear. They said Tuesday night that they were tired and not yet ready to talk about Forest Wagner, 35, who was teaching the class on Mount Emmerich near Haines when he was attacked by the brown bear sow on Monday. The mountain is near Kicking Horse River in Alaska’s panhandle.
A student hiked into cellphone range on the mountain and called Haines police, who reported it to the Alaska State Troopers. Haines police would not comment on the incident. Initial reports were that Wagner had extensive injuries to his leg, according to a police report shared with the Washington Post. Continue reading “University professor mauled by a brown bear while teaching”
Roll Call – by John T. Bennett
A Senate bill that would allow families of those killed in the 9/11 attacks to sue the Saudi government has achieved a rare Washington distinction, by uniting the Obama administration and some of its fiercest GOP critics.
President Barack Obama, Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are rallying to kill the bipartisan plan that would make it possible for American citizens to sue foreign governments believed to be linked to terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Continue reading “In Rare Alliance, Obama, Ryan Oppose 9/11 Bill”
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Shortly after Woodrow Wilson took office there began in Colorado one of the most bitter and violent struggles between workers and corporate capital in the history of the country.
This was the Colorado coal strike that began in September 1913 and culminated in the “Ludlow Massacre” of April 1914. Eleven thousand miners in southern Colorado … worked for the Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation, which was owned by the Rockefeller family. Aroused by the murder of one of their organizers, they went on strike against low pay, dangerous conditions, and feudal domination of their lives in towns completely controlled by the mining companies. … Continue reading “Ludlow Massacre: April 20, 1914”
Here we go: three invasive searches — each more invasive then the one preceding it — without even the slightest shred of the Fourth Amendment intact by the end of it. Radley Balko has the details.
Here’s what happened: Lakeya Hicks and Elijah Pontoon were in Hicks’s car just a couple of blocks from downtown Aiken when they were pulled over by Officer Chris Medlin of the Aiken Department of Public Safety. Hicks was driving. She had recently purchased the car, so it still had temporary tags.
Continue reading “Police Officer Attempts To Set Record For Most Constitutional Violations In A Single Traffic Stop”
LA Times – by Patrick McGreevy
Four months after the San Bernardino mass shooting, state lawmakers on Tuesday gave initial approval to five gun control bills, including measures that would outlaw assault rifles with detachable magazines, ban possession of clips holding more than 10 rounds and require homemade guns to be registered with the state.
The bills approved by the state Senate Public Safety Committee were introduced in response to the December shooting in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead and 22 others wounded at the hands of two terrorists. Continue reading “California lawmakers advance gun control measures in response to San Bernardino massacre”
CNS News – by Terence P. Jeffrey
“Lawfully” does not mean “legally.”
Welcome to what Solicitor General Donald Verrilli told the Supreme Court on Monday is the “immigration world.” Or, more accurately, welcome to the new world President Barack Obama — through his solicitor — is asking the Supreme Court to join him in declaring. Continue reading “Obama Administration Tells Supreme Court ‘Lawfully’ Doesn’t Mean ‘Legally’”
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has introduced legislation to stop President Barack Obama from imposing a stealthy gun ban on an estimated 75,000 Social Security beneficiaries.
Breitbart News previously reported last July that Obama’s gun ban would hit Social Security beneficiaries who are labeled as having “mental health” issues. That category is so broad that it includes people who need help to handle personal finances. Continue reading “Rand Paul Pushes Bill to Block Obama’s Social Security Gun Ban”
A former New York City police officer avoided prison on Tuesday for the killing of an unarmed black man in an unlit stairwell, prompting demonstrations outside a Brooklyn courthouse.
State Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun sentenced Peter Liang to 800 hours of community service, after prosecutors recommended six months of home confinement. Continue reading “N.Y. officer avoids prison for fatal shooting of man”
NextGov – by Mohana Ravindranath
A new online portal would let scientists access vast amounts of genomic data from patients involved in heart, lung, blood and sleep research studies.
The hub, called GenPort, is supposed to help researchers look into the results of several studies at once, tracking individuals in different trials who might share the same characteristics, known as “synthetic cohorts.” Continue reading “Federal Researchers Build Massive Online Database Of Genomic Data”
Two overdue library books have landed a married couple in Tecumseh, Michigan, afoul of the law. Not only have the husband and wife been fined more than $200, but they were arraigned in court Thursday, each charged with larceny of rental equipment.
“We were appalled, totally appalled,” Catherine Duren, 44, told ABC News today. “We didn’t commit a crime.” Continue reading “Michigan Couple Arraigned on Larceny Charges for Late Library Books”