From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
The Russian embassy in Damascus came under fire on Tuesday from a neighborhood controlled by militant groups, including Al-Nusra Front, the Russian Foreign Ministry reports.
One of the mortar shells fired at the embassy complex hit the residential area, while two others landed near the embassy building, the ministry said in a statement. Nobody was injured by the explosions. Continue reading “Russian embassy in Damascus shelled from terrorist-controlled area of Syria”
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Tax Revolution Institute – by Guillermo Jimenez
Just how harshly does the IRS treat tax cheats within its own agency? Are IRS employees who don’t pay their taxes still being rewarded with bonuses and paid time off in 2016? Newly obtained documents reveal the answers: not very, and the IRS isn’t telling. Continue reading “500 IRS Employees Caught Not Paying Taxes in 2015, Only 5 Fired”
Guide to building: Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties
A US bill allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for damages has prompted an Iraqi lobby group to push the parliament for a law seeking compensation for the American invasion of the country, citing “violations by US forces.”
Following Washington’s example, the Arab Project in Iraq lobby group is now seeking to “ask for compensation from the United States over violations by the US forces following the US invasion that saw the toppling of late President Saddam Hussein in 2003,” Al-Arabiya reported Saturday. Continue reading “Iraqi group demands payments for US invasion after ‘Sue the Saudis for 9/11’ bill passes Congress”
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — When President Theodore Roosevelt designated the country’s first national monument 110 years ago, the proclamation inadvertently left out a punctuation mark, and what was supposed to be Devil’s Tower became Devils Tower instead.
Some say that’s not all it got wrong. According to local American Indians and others, the landmark’s name was based on an incorrect translation and is offensive given the tower’s religious significance. Continue reading “Debate simmers over name of Devils Tower monument in Wyoming”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police officers who shot and killed men in two separate weekend shootings were justified in their use of deadly force because they feared for their lives, the Los Angeles police chief says.
Carnell Snell, 18, turned toward officers with a gun before he was shot, and the other, a Hispanic man who still hasn’t been identified, pointed a replica that looked like a real gun at police, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Monday. Continue reading “Los Angeles chief defends latest shootings by officers”
The Obama administration is seeking to toss out a pair of high-profile healthcare lawsuits in which insurers claim they are owed millions of dollars under the Affordable Care Act.
The two insurers, Moda Healthcare and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, have sued the federal government over a combined $338 million in ObamaCare payments they argue are overdue. Continue reading “Feds move to throw out ObamaCare lawsuits”
Hillary Clinton had glowing words for the General Motors plant in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, when she traveled there in 2011 as secretary of state to announce the joint venture — of GM and an Uzbekistan state-owned firm — as a finalist for a State Department award.
“It is a collaboration between Uzbek and American companies, and it will serve as a symbol of our friendship and cooperation,” Clinton said, touting the plant’s “newest, most advanced technology.” Continue reading “Clinton-backed branch of foundation donor GM now caught in major scandal”
Washington Examiner – by Paul Bedard
The newest surge in illegal immigration from Mexico did not slow in August, as expected, and now is on the verge of breaking the 2014 record, driven by deported migrants eager to return and illegals paying smugglers extra money for VIP services, according to a new report from the border.
“FY2016 has already seen the second highest number of apprehensions in the last five years, and will likely come close to or even exceed the number of apprehensions as the crisis year of 2014,” said the report from two immigration experts for the Wilson Center who recently return from a border tour to conduct interviews with immigrants.
What was surprising, said the report, is that the expected slowdown in illegal immigration in August, when the heat typically drives people away, didn’t occur.
“Central Americans continue to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border in surprising numbers. While they have not yet surpassed the peak of fiscal year 2014, August 2016 had the highest number of [unaccompanied children] and family unit apprehensions of any August in the past five years including 2014. Normally, apprehensions begin to decline in August because of the heat and the reduced demand for seasonal labor in the U.S. – which makes the increased apprehension numbers this August surprising,” said the report.
The report said that economic opportunity in the United States continues to drive illegal immigration as did the desire by those deported to get back to their life, and families, in America.
“All spoke of families they have left in the U.S. and their determination to return to take care of their children and restart their lives,” said the report of those interviewed in the border regions.
The report, titled “Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking at the Rio Grande Valley,” provided a sometimes jarring description of the smuggling operations illegals utilize to get into the United States.
Migrants pay about $6,000-$8,000 for help to get into the United States.
But it added that some pay twice for “VIP services” that will make repeated attempts to cross the border and even help get illegal immigrants deep into the United States.
“The smugglers offer the migrants logistical support and intelligence. Their services include transportation networks, moving from place to place northward to the border based on the smugglers’ sense of the securest route,” said the report.
It added: “Depending on the kind of service provided the cost can run between $6,000 and $8,000, with some VIP services costing double with a guarantee of several attempts at crossing the border and safe passage to a major city in the U.S. But the majority of migrants seem to pay to be brought to the U.S.-Mexico border, taken to a crossing point, and sometimes helped across the river.”
Read the full Wilson Center report here.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com
The Intercept – by Alex Emmons
TWO FORMER CIA captives recently described being threatened with a makeshift electric chair — a previously unreported torture method — while being held in the U.S. government’s infamous “Salt Pit” prison in Afghanistan.
In independent interviews with Human Rights Watch in August that were made public on Monday, Ridha al-Najjar, 51, and Lufti al-Arabi al-Gharisi, 52, described a metal device that had wires with clips that would attach to the fingers, and a helmet connected to wires. Continue reading “Former CIA Detainees Describe Previously Unknown Torture Tactic: A Makeshift Electric Chair”
Sunlight Foundation – by Emily Shaw
The dependence of thousands of American cities and town on judicial fines and forfeiture to fund public services is unhealthy for democracy. Public awareness of the depth of the problem has been growing since the Department of Justice’s 2014 investigation into the Ferguson, Mo., police, following the shooting of Michael Brown.
According to a Sunlight examination of 2013 Census data, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois and Mississippi topped the list of states where city governments relied heavily on fines and forfeits for funding. We concluded this by examining the ratio of local fines and forfeits to local tax in order to see where local governments rely particularly heavily on fines and forfeits to pay for basic services. Continue reading “Where local governments are paying the bills with police fines”
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Truthstream Media – by Melissa Melton
Everyone can feel the walls closing in on the Internet like the trash compactor scene in Star Wars. Everything from government spying to thought crimes to outright censorship is turning what was once referred to as the new Wild West into an increasingly smaller cybernetic control grid.
Now YouTube isn’t just disincentivizing what it deems “controversial speech”; YouTube is actually incentivizing trolls to “help” shut down what it deems controversial speech. Continue reading “YouTube Unleashes Army of Trolls Who Get Points to Shut Down “Controversial Speech””
The Emergencies Ministry of Russia is going to organize all-Russian civil defence drill since 4 October until 7 October 2016. More than 40 million people, more than 200.000 specialists of rescue and recovery units, as well as more than 50.000 units of equipment are going to be involved into the drill. Continue reading “Emergencies Ministry to organize all-Russian civil defence drill”
This is bad, bad, BAD.
Russia has just withdrawn from its agreement to dispose of enough weapons-grade plutonium to make 17,000 nuclear warheads.
And…they’re blaming the change of heart on the US. Continue reading “Is the Sh*t About To Hit? Russia Just Reneged on Agreement to Dispose of Weapons Grade Plutonium”
Conservative Treehouse – by Sundance
Hurricane Matthew is massive in scale and extremely powerful. The forecast track of Hurricane Matthew has now shifted slightly Westward. This means it is forecast to come even closer to the state of Florida and the East coast. Any further Westward shifts have the potential to be catastrophic. EVERYONE MUST BE ALERT.
Once this storm exits Hispaniola, there will be little time left for preparation in the Bahamas, and in the Florida Peninsula and the Florida Keys. Keep a close eye. Continue reading “Hurricane Matthew Update – Governor Rick Scott Declares State-Wide State of Emergency…”
Speaking at a Monday conference for U.S. military veterans in Virginia, Donald Trump suggested those who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder when they return from war are not as “strong” as those who are able to “handle it.”
“When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over — and you’re strong and you can handle it — but a lot of people can’t handle it,” the Republican nominee said while taking questions at the Retired American Warriors event in Herndon, Va. Continue reading “Trump on PTSD: Some veterans aren’t strong enough to ‘handle it’”