From the Trenches World Report
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New Jersey Watchdog – by Kevin Glass
Restrictive rules being proposed for five lakes in New Jersey, including the largest body of freshwater in the state, could have a huge impact on tourism and summer fun.
Some of the proposals come at the request of lakefront residents who claim their properties are being subjected to too many unwelcome visitors. Continue reading “Nanny State of the Week: Too much summer fun on New Jersey lakes”
HOUSTON Jan 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday issued a Notice of Sale for crude from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves, with bids for 8 million barrels of light, sweet oil due by Jan. 17.
The sale is part of a resolution to sell up to $375.4 million of crude in the fiscal year 2017 to fund operational improvements to the infrastructure that holds the emergency reserves. Continue reading “US announces sale of 8M barrels from oil reserves”
Say goodbye to privacy and hello to Big Brother, soon every home appliance you purchase will spy on us. The list of home appliances that use Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, Samsung’s ‘SmartThings hub‘ and Amazon’s Fire TV is growing at a disturbing pace.
Private companies are using our refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, toaster, water heater, air conditioner, ceiling fan, washer and dryer, electrical outlets, light bulbs and lamps to spy on us inside our homes.
(LG’s ‘Instaview‘ refrigerators have Alexa installed in them.) Continue reading “Amazon & Microsoft use appliances and toys to spy on families worldwide”
It was the first time in Mississippi defense attorney Richard Rehfeldt’s long career that he can remember where police seized a client’s furniture.
In 2012, Rehfeldt says the Hind County Sheriff’s Office raided his client’s apartment on suspicion her boyfriend was a drug dealer. Anything purchased with drug proceeds is fair game to be seized by police under civil asset forfeiture laws, and they determined the boyfriend had furnished the apartment, so off went her TV, her table and chairs, her couch, her lamps, and even the pictures on the wall.
Continue reading “Inside Mississippi’s Asset Forfeiture Extortion Racket”
Sent to us by Tax Revolution Institute.
Tax Revolution Institute – by Chloe Anagnos
Each year, thousands of taxpayers are tricked into giving their financial information to scammers.
According to a report from the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), victims have paid more than $50 million to scammers since October 2013. The average each victim loses individually? Close to $5,200. Continue reading “New Year, New Tax Season, More IRS Phone Scams”
Prisoners defying orders to return to their cells have caused the evacuation of correctional officers from a unit of Souza Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts. Crisis negotiators engaged, and no injuries were reported.
On Monday, police responded to a situation at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, where 51 inmates refused to be locked back in their cells. Continue reading “51 inmates refuse orders to return to cells at Massachusetts max security prison”
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The assault on Emanuel AME Church left a total of 12 victims: Nine who were killed that June night and three who survived the hail of bullets in the basement of the beautiful, historic structure in downtown Charleston.
Now, after hearing testimony from relatives of those slain in the 2015 attack during a Wednesday night Bible study, the focus in Dylann Roof’s trial again switches to a new set of 12 people: the jury. Continue reading “Roof’s fate soon will rest in hands of 12 federal jurors”
DALLAS (AP) — A white Texas policeman was suspended without pay for 10 days, but will not be fired, after an incident in which he was caught on video wrestling a black woman and her daughter to the ground, Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald announced Monday.
Fitzgerald said the officer, identified by department officials as William Martin, violated policy, is sorry for his behavior and is eager to resume active duty at the end of the suspension. He said he has asked Martin, who will also be required to undergo additional training, to go back into the same community when the suspension ends “to repair relationships.” Continue reading “Policeman suspended but not fired after video incident”
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando’s law enforcement community is mourning the fatal shooting of an Orlando Police Department sergeant who was killed as she approached a fugitive outside a Wal-Mart store and an Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputy who died in a traffic accident more than two hours later while responding to a manhunt for the suspect in the officer’s slaying.
Master Sgt. Debra Clayton, 42, was killed outside a Wal-Mart store in northwest Orlando early Monday, and Orange County Sheriff’s Office Deputy First Class Norman Lewis was killed in a crash while responding to a manhunt for 41-year-old Markeith Loyd. Continue reading “Orlando mourns deaths of 2 law enforcement officers”
Huffington Post – by Mary Papenfuss
Just when you thought ethics standards couldn’t get much worse on Capitol Hill… It’s emerged that the House GOP quietly changed a rule last week to allow members to keep their records hidden from ethics or criminal investigations.
The tweak allows politicians to conceal any information members produce — even suspicious expenditures and budgets — if the Office of Congressional Ethics or the Department of Justice investigates them for criminal activity, the Center for Responsive Politics reports.
USA Today – by Igor Volsky and Mark Glaze
Federal investigators allege that in November, an “agitated and incoherent” Esteban Santiago walked into an FBI office and complained that “his mind was being controlled by a U.S. intelligence agency.” The FBI turned over the case to local authorities and Santiago underwent a mental health evaluation, as he complained of hearing voices and having visions. Earlier in the year, he had been arrested for displaying violent behavior toward his girlfriend and charged with breaking down a door to get to her, smacking her and strangling her.
It appears that none of this prevented him from legally owning a firearm in the United States of America or transporting it on an airplane. Continue reading “Propaganda Alert: After Fort Lauderdale, go after the guns”
Tiny Tim (born Herbert B. Khaury; April 12, 1932 – November 30, 1996) was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist.[1] He is best remembered for his rendition of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” sung in a high falsetto/vibrato voice.
Tiny Tim was born in Manhattan, New York City on April 12, 1932. His mother was Tillie (née Staff), a garment worker, who was the daughter of a rabbi. She had immigrated from Brest-Litovsk as a teen in 1914. Tiny’s father, Butros Khaury, a textile worker, was from Beirut, Lebanon and his father was a Maronite Christian priest.[3][4][5]
In a 1968 interview on The Tonight Show, he described the discovery of his ability to sing in an upper register in 1952: “I was listening to the radio and singing along; as I was singing I said ‘Gee, it’s strange. I can go up high as well.'” He then entered a local talent show and sang “You Are My Sunshine” in his newly discovered falsetto. Although he stood 6 ft 1 in (185 cm),[7] he started using the stage name Tiny Tim in 1963 at the suggestion of his manager George King.
High winds whipped the Sierra on Sunday as an atmospheric river bringing rain and snow moved through Northern California.
The most impressive gusts blew at 173 mph on a Squaw Valley summit and 175 mph atop a peak in Alpine Meadows. Continue reading “173 mph wind whips Squaw Valley peak”
A former Fox News anchor has quietly reached a settlement after threatening a sexual harassment suit against the network over the actions of star Fox personality Bill O’Reilly and Jack Abernethy, who was recently named co-President of the news division.
According to an exclusive at Lawnewz, former Fox News host Juliet Huddy has agreed to the settlement according to three separate sources, including a former Fox News executive. Continue reading “Fox News quietly settles with former host over O’Reilly sexual harassment claims”