From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Twenty residents were trapped on a roof and others were stuck inside when a four-alarm fire broke out at a high-rise apartment building on Manhattan’s West Side, the FDNY said.
The fire started around 4:55 p.m. Thursday at 515 West 59th Street near the intersection with 10th Avenue. Continue reading “Fire Traps 20 Residents On Roof Of West Side Apartment Building”
Public Integrity – by Michael Beckel
Donald Trump routinely blasts his political foes for “pay-to-play” politics and “crony capitalism and corruption.”
But Trump is now rewarding some of his biggest campaign bankrollers with unparalleled access, influence, prestige and power in his presidential administration-in-waiting, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of new campaign finance disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission. Continue reading “Donald Trump rewarding million-dollar donors with plum postings”
The storm over legislation seen as targeting transgender people is set to intensify in 2017 with several U.S. states proposing measures similar to a bathroom restriction statute in North Carolina that has prompted protests, lawsuits and economic boycotts.
Four states have legislation limiting transgender bathroom rights that will be on the agenda when lawmakers convene next year, and Republican leaders in other states have said more such bills will be filed soon. Continue reading “Bathroom law battles loom in more states after North Carolina controversy”
What, no synagogues?
The Islamic State is urging its followers to attack U.S. churches and has published names and addresses of thousands of prospective targets, according to a report in the news website Vocativ.
Messages posted in Arabic to the group’s “Secrets of Jihadis” social media site called “for bloody celebrations in the Christian New Year.” The post, under the name Abu Marya al-Iraqi, said the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, hopes to tap lone wolf attackers to “turn the Christian New Year into a bloody horror movie,” Vocativ reports. Continue reading “ISIL issues hit list of U.S. churches for holiday attacks”
Tenth Amendment Center – by Mike Maharrey
AUSTIN, Texas (Dec. 21, 2016) – A bill prefiled in the Texas Senate for the 2017 legislative session would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction in most cases. The legislation also takes on federal forfeiture programs by banning prosecutors from circumventing state laws by passing cases off to the feds in most situations. Continue reading “Texas Bill Takes On “Policing For Profit” Via Asset Forfeiture, Closes Federal Loophole”
Free Thought Project – by John Vibes
New York, NY – Brooklyn resident Raven Garcia is filing a lawsuit against the NYPD after the police entered her house without a warrant, shot her dog and then ransacked her home in an attempt to find evidence to justify their intrusion. Police were called to Garcia’s house over an unpaid cab fee, but they had no warrant or justification to enter her home without permission. Continue reading “Cops Shoot Woman’s Dog Then Warrantlessly Ransack Her Home to Justify It”
Of potential significance to the US Election process, Israeli news Ynet reports in an article entitled “Israeli Mossad Chief And Security Delegation Meet With Trump Team” that the Director of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, (image left) “clandestinely visited the United States to meet with President-elect Donald Trump’s staff and brief them on pressing security matters including the Iranian nuclear deal, the Syrian civil war, terror threats and the Palestinian issue.”
Of significance, this was an initiative of Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Obama administration was not consulted or informed: Continue reading “Israel’s Mossad Chief Meets with Donald Trump Staff in “Secret Meeting””
Amid skyrocketing food prices and inflation ahead of Christmas, Nigerian authorities have intercepted a shipment of some 2.5 tons of fake rice, supposedly from China. Health warnings have been issued and an arrest made.
The 102 bags of fake rice, weighing 25kg (a little over 50lb) each and labeled ‘Best Tomato Rice’, are thought by customs officers to have been smuggled in through the port in Lagos, according to AFP. The port city is the country’s main commercial hub. Continue reading “2.5 tons of fake plastic rice seized in Nigeria”
The Obama administration said Thursday it is officially scrapping a post-9/11 requirement for immigrant men from predominantly Muslim countries to register with the federal government. The U.S. hasn’t used the program since 2011, but a top immigration adviser to President-elect Donald Trump has spoken of renewing it.
The decision to end the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or NSEERs, comes amid growing international terror fears and Trump’s suggestions that he could ban Muslim immigrants from the United States. After a truck attack killed 12 in a Christmas market in Berlin this week, Trump told reporters, “You know my plans.” Continue reading “Obama Dumps Registry for Some Immigrant Men, Mostly Muslims”
Shanghai (AFP) – A Chinese auto glass tycoon has caused a stir by shifting part of his empire to the United States and setting up a factory in Ohio, citing high taxes and soaring labour costs at home.
Cao Dewang’s $600-million investment comes after Donald Trump threatened to declare Beijing a currency manipulator and slap 45 percent punitive tariffs on Chinese imports to protect American jobs. Continue reading “China tycoon moves jobs to US, citing high taxes at home”
In a curious convergence of superpower opinions, earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the country to reinforce its military nuclear potential. In a speech that recapped military activities in 2016, Putin said the army’s preparedness has “considerably increased” and called for continued improvement that would ensure it can “neutralise any military threat”. Continue reading “Trump Calls For Expansion Of US Nuclear Capability, Hours After Putin Urges Russia To Do The Same”
Breitbart – by Warner Todd Huston
Council for convicted killer and former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez now claims that the Russians hacked his jailhouse phone calls, and may want the evidence thrown out of court over a violation of client-attorney privileges.
Hernandez attorney George Leontire insisted this week that maybe the Russians released the contents of the Hernandez phone calls in an effort to damage his defense against murder charges, according to a report by NECN. Continue reading “Convicted Murderer and Former Patriots Star Aaron Hernandez Says Russians Hacked His Jailhouse Phone Calls”
This is what Trump is promoting in USA or is it Is-not-real.
TAMPA (FOX 13) – You may have seen the old armory transformed into a new Jewish Community Center, with sparkling new facilities.
It’s helping to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood, but now the reach extends farther. Continue reading “New Jewish Community Center means business”
Hold tight to your wallet, now that both parties have rejected the free market in favor of Keynesian Big Government prodigality. Unsurprisingly, Chuck Schumer — the leftist personification of bloated government to whom Trump donated more than to any other Senator — is on board with Trump’s Obama-esque stimulus plan: Continue reading “Schumer Loves Trump’s $Trillion Infrastructure Plan”
A historically black Mississippi church that had ‘Vote Trump’ sprayed on it prior to being torched was attacked by a black member of its own congregation, police have said.
The blaze broke out at the 200-member Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville at around 9.15pm on December 1, a week before the presidential election. Commentators were quick to point out the possible political ad racial implications. Continue reading “Black church was burned by a member of its own congregation, cops say”