From the Trenches World Report

AP

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A court on Thursday upheld the rape and sexual assault convictions and 263-year prison sentence of a former Oklahoma City police officer whose case has been watched closely by the Black Lives Matter movement and some conservatives.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously rejected appeals by Daniel Holtzclaw that included a lack of evidence, excessive sentence, prosecutorial misconduct, a “circus atmosphere” during his trial and a failure by the defense attorney to present an expert to offer an alternative explanation to how DNA of one victim wound up on Holtzclaw’s pants.  Continue reading “Oklahoma court upholds sentence for ex-cop convicted of rape”

Venture Beat – by Jeremy Horwitz

While AT&T and T-Mobile have both committed to nationwide rollouts of 5G cellular technology next year, an interview with Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg this morning suggests that 5G may actually take considerably longer than that to spread to customers. However, the prickly nature of the interview with CNBC’s David Faber this morning may have done some injustice to Vestberg’s intent.  Continue reading “Verizon CEO expects 5G in 50% of U.S. land by 2020, 50% of phones by 2024”

Daily Mail

Home improvement retailer Lowe’s has laid off thousands of workers as the company begins the process of outsourcing them to third-party companies.

The company is eliminating thousands of maintenance and assembly workers who put together products such as wheelbarrows and grills.    Continue reading “Home improvement firm Lowe’s lays off thousands of workers amid plans to outsource assembly and maintenance jobs”

Huffington Post – by Jess Mechanic

Kamala Harris has been deemed the democratic party establishment’s next big thing. They’re pushing her as the figure head of the resistance, the anti-Trump: a staunch, strong progressive who relies on her intelligence and empathy to combat the authoritarian belligerence of the current administration. While Harris is certainly poised and intelligent, her progressive credentials are fuzzy and her past is punctuated boldly by her decision to not prosecute OneWest Bank and the “foreclosure king” who ran it, current Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.  Continue reading “Kamala Harris Has To Answer For Not Prosecuting Steve Mnuchin”

Rutherford Institute – by John W Whitehead

“Adolf Hitler is alive and well in the United States, and he is fast rising to power.”—Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, on the danger posed by the FBI to our civil liberties

Despite the finger-pointing and outcries of dismay from those who are watching the government discard the rule of law at every turn, the question is not whether Donald Trump is the new Adolf Hitler but whether the American Police State is the new Third Reich.  Continue reading “The Rise of the American Gestapo: Has It Already Happened Here?”

Madness Hub

Oh, man . . . what a smart move. The images of Chinese cops, thugs and military going after Hong Kong protesters holding American flags will not play well here: Continue reading “American flags on Nike shoes? NO; American flags in the Hong Kong protests? YES”

RT

Billionaire financier George Soros has created a super PAC and written a $5.1 million check for Democrats ahead of next year’s election. However, the liberal mega-donor has not revealed which candidate will get his blessing.

Soros spent more than $20 million during the 2016 election, donating more than $9 million to Political Action Committees (PACs) supporting Hillary Clinton, and the rest on committees working to install Democrats in Congress and to boost minority turnout at the polls.  Continue reading “Soros gifts $5.1 million check to Democrats as he enters 2020 funding game”

Middle East Monitor

The normalization that Saudi Arabia is witnessing is unprecedented. The two countries that established official and public relations with Israel, Egypt and Jordan, and the other countries that have established normalized relations, have stuck to the Palestinian narrative of the conflict. They did not adopt the enemy’s narrative regarding the history and sanctities. They did not demonize the Palestinians. Relations remained limited to an official level and secret, mostly justified by economic benefits beyond the public level.  Continue reading “Saudi Arabia’s normalization with Israel”

Activist Post – by BN Frank

Decades of research has already determined that cell tower radiation is biologically and environmentally harmful.  Thanks to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) for filing a complaint which led to this heartbreaking discovery.  Continue reading “National Park Service Improperly Approves Cell Tower Installation, Doesn’t Know How Many There Are, Fails to Collect Telecom Fees, Noncompliant with Eco-Rules”

NextGov – by Brandi Vincent

The Federal Bureau of Investigations aims to acquire access to a “social media early alerting tool” that will help insiders proactively and reactively monitor how terrorist groups, foreign intelligence services, criminal organizations and other domestic threats use networking platforms to further their illegal efforts, according to a request for proposal amended this week.  Continue reading “FBI Wants Tech to Track Social Media for Criminals and Terrorists Before They Act”

Fox News

The Justice Department has decided against prosecuting former FBI Director James Comey for leaking classified information following a referral from the department’s inspector general, sources familiar with the deliberations told Fox News.

“Everyone at the DOJ involved in the decision said it wasn’t a close call,” one official said. “They all thought this could not be prosecuted.”  Continue reading “DOJ will not prosecute Comey for leaking memos after IG referral: sources”

NextGov – by Jack Corrigan

The Pentagon last year purchased thousands of Chinese tech products that contained known cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and officials have yet to enact policies to stop it from happening again, an internal watchdog found.

In 2018, the department bought more than 9,500 commercial printers, computers and cameras despite warnings that adversaries could use the products to infiltrate networks and spy on personnel, according to an inspector general audit. The procurements, which totaled roughly $33 million, expose significant shortcomings in the department’s supply chain security policies that persist to this day, auditors said in a redacted report published Tuesday.  Continue reading “The Pentagon Spent Millions on Vulnerable Chinese Tech in 2018, Watchdog Says”

Yahoo News

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The use of force by police to subdue Markeith Loyd — the fugitive suspected of shooting an Orlando police officer to death — was justified, according to Phil Archer, state attorney for Brevard and Seminole counties in Florida.

The Jan. 17, 2017 arrest, which was captured on video, showed four police officers punching, kicking and striking Loyd in the face with the muzzle of a rifle as Loyd, wearing a bulletproof vest, was lying in the street.  Continue reading “Officers ‘justified’ in beating suspected police shooter, Florida State attorney says”