From the Trenches World Report

Anti-War – by Jason Ditz

A bipartisan letter signed by nearly 400 US Congress members is calling on President Trump to remain militarily engaged within Syria, while claiming to be “deeply concerned” about extremists in the country.

President Trump had announced a pullout from Syria in December, but had already disavowed it repeatedly by February. Still, lawmakers want to keep emphasizing how enthusiastic about the Syrian War they are, and push Trump into escalating it against various other parties.  Continue reading “Congressional Letter Urges Trump to Keep US Troops in Syria”

Common Dreams – bu Eoin Higgins

The White House is continuing its march to war with Iran, but resistance is growing—most recently by a group of 62 organizations that issued an open letter to Congress on Tuesday calling for the representative body to exercise its power and stop U.S. aggression.

In the letter, the 62 groups call on Congress to “fulfill its constitutional duty and enact further constraints to unequivocally prevent the administration from launching an unauthorized war.”  Continue reading “No War With Iran, Say 62 Groups in Letter to Congress”

KSL – by Liesl Nielsen

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has signed his office up to beta test a new tech that uses artificial intelligence to detect concealed weapons.

The technology, called HEXWAVE, can identify both metal and nonmetal concealed objects using 3D imaging and deep learning algorithms, according to a Wednesday news release from Liberty Defense — an Atlanta-based company that acquired the tech from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Continue reading “Utah attorney general signs on to beta test new AI tech that detects concealed weapons”

Guns America – by S.H. Blannelberry

Two Democratic legislators introduced the “Disarm Hate Act” this week, which calls for the permanent revocation of 2A rights for any misdemeanor offense deemed to be a hate crime.

The bill was brought to both chambers, via Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) in the House and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) in the Senate.    Continue reading “Disarm Hate Act Introduced: Would Permanently Revoke 2A Rights for Misdemeanor Hate Crimes”

Anti-War – by Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.)

What if they called a war and no one came? Well, now’s the time folks. The apparent march to war with Iran represents a pivotal moment in the historical arc – the rise and fall – of our republic come empire. This potential war is so unnecessary, so irrational, that it borders on the absurd. Still, since the U.S. now fields a professional, volunteer military, few citizens have “skin in the game.” As such, they could hardly care less.  Continue reading “The Time Has Come for Patriotic Dissent: Stopping War With Iran Is Essential”

Bloomberg – by Edvard Pettersson

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has put up just 1.7 miles of fencing with the US$1.57 billion that Congress appropriated last year for President Donald Trump’s wall along the Mexican border, a federal judge was told.

A lawyer for the U.S. House of Representatives provided the information Tuesday to the judge in Oakland, California, who is weighing requests from 20 state attorneys general and the the Sierra Club to block Trump from using funds not authorized by Congress to build the wall.  Continue reading “U.S. federal wall funding of US$1.57B yields 1.7 miles of fence”

The Guardian

The US says it has seen signs the Syrian government may again be using chemical weapons in its attritional offensive to recapture the last rebel-held pocket of the country, warning the use of any such weapons would incur retaliatory measures from Washington and its allies.

The alleged attack occurred on Sunday on the border of Idlib province, where in recent weeks the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has stepped up an air and ground campaign that has killed at least 150 people and displaced more than 200,000 from their homes. Continue reading “US investigating possible Assad chemical attack in Syria”

The Mind Unleashed – by Emma Fiala

On Friday, the rumble of 25 motorcycles signaled the start of a big surprise in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

An Indiana-based nonprofit responsible for distributing easy to prepare meals in pouches was organizing a large shipment of meals for sites in Guatemala and Honduras, but after being contacted by Victoria Fisk, Pack Away Hunger decided to route some of those meals to Las Cruces instead—30,000 non-perishable meals, to be exact. The donated meals consist of rice, vegetables and textured vegetable protein.  Continue reading “Bikers Deliver 30,000 Meals to Migrants Seeking Asylum in New Mexico”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

US existing home sales slumped for the 13th straight month in March, but the pressures on the national housing market have yet to translate into cheaper rents: To wit, average national rent climbed 3% YoY in April, and 0.3% from the prior month, according to Yardi Matrix data cited by RentCafe.

The national average rent hit $1,436 in April, climbing about $42 from the prior year to $1,436 – which, though still positive, marked the slowest pace of growth in 11 months.   Continue reading “US Rents Climb To Fresh Record Highs Despite Slowest Price Increase In 11 Months”

End of the American Dream – by Michael Snyder

It looks like global food production could be well below expectations in 2019, and that could spell big trouble in the months ahead.  In recent weeks, I have written extensively about the problems that we have been experiencing here in the United States.  As many as a million calves were lost to the flooding that hit the state of Nebraska in March, farmers have planted less than half of the corn that is normally in the ground by this time of the year, and a lot of the crops that have been planted in the middle of the country are really struggling due to extremely wet soil.  Continue reading “Floods And Drought Devastate Crops All Over The Planet – Could A Global Food Crisis Be Coming?”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Some 500 Nusra-front militants, accompanied by seven tanks and about 30 pickup trucks armed with mounted heavy machine guns launched three major offensives against government troops in Idlib province on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The counterattack focused on the town of Kafr Nabudah, which was recently captured by the Syrian government.  Continue reading “Syrian Rebels Attack Russian Air Base In Major Offensive”