From the Trenches World Report

Mail.com

CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — Resistance to the Republican tax overhaul comes with an ideological twist for some Democratic state officials: They’ve styled themselves as champions of the working class but are pushing hard for measures that would reduce taxes mostly for the wealthy.

Democratic governors and lawmakers in a handful of high-income, high-tax states are promoting policies that are intended to spare their residents the pain of the new $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes. Connecticut, New Jersey and New York are even planning to sue the federal government over the new cap, which was a key provision of the Republican tax overhaul adopted in December.   Continue reading “Democrats’ seek to help wealthy in response to tax changes”

Mail.com

DETROIT (AP) — David Gavitt spent 26 years in prison for the deaths of his wife and two daughters before a prosecutor agreed that the evidence behind his arson conviction was no longer credible. The case helped inspire a Michigan law aimed at compensating the wrongfully convicted.

Yet the state now is vigorously resisting Gavitt’s request for money, going so far as to question whether he’s really innocent. He would qualify for more than $1 million. “My reaction? I don’t know how to put this — anger,” said Gavitt, 59, who works the midnight shift at a tub manufacturer. “It’s like a slap in the face. … I thought we lived in America where the accused doesn’t have to prove innocence. They’re judging me all over again.”  Continue reading “Michigan man cleared of murder now fights for compensation”

Mail.com

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Taking a cue from the fight over immigration, some states that have legalized marijuana are considering providing so-called sanctuary status for licensed pot businesses, hoping to protect the fledgling industry from a shift in federal enforcement policy.

Just hours after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Jan. 4 that federal prosecutors would be free to crack down on marijuana operations as they see fit, Jesse Arreguin, the mayor in Berkeley, California, summoned city councilman Ben Bartlett to his office with a novel idea.   Continue reading “States mull ‘sanctuary’ status for marijuana businesses”

ACLU – by Rashida Richardson

The TSA and Amtrak Police are trying out new see-through body scanners in New York City’s Penn Station that raise serious constitutional questions. And as is so often the case, the government is not being sufficiently transparent about the devices, how they will be used, on whom, and where they will eventually be deployed. We also don’t know who will have access to the information they collect or for how long.

There is also reason to believe the technology may not work as well as the TSA says it does.  Continue reading “TSA Tests See-Through Scanners on Public in New York’s Penn Station”

Washington Post

Media entrepreneur Steven Brill thinks there’s something missing from all the efforts to separate fake news from the real kind: Some smart and discerning humans.

Faced with the waves of mis- and disinformation lapping up on social media, Brill is proposing to apply some reader-beware labels to Internet news sources. His idea: ratings, as determined by teams of independent journalists, that would enable readers to understand where their news — or “news” — is coming from.   Continue reading “A journalistic fix for fake news? A new venture seeks to take on the epidemic.”

I wouldn’t recommend it, because you’ll probably end up dead. Cops can and will shoot people for their safety.

Forth Amendment – by Hall

Defendant was walking down the street, and officers noticed he had a bullet magazine on his belt. They followed him to his residence, and he declined to talk to them and went inside. Their entry into his residence violated the Fourth Amendment because there were no exigent circumstances justifying the entry. State v. Thomas, 2018-Ohio-758, 2018 Ohio App. LEXIS 793 (10th Dist. Mar. 1, 2018).   Continue reading “Ohio Appeals Court Ruled Defendant Can Walk Down The Street With Bullet Magazine”

The Organic Prepper

Recently, a lot of signs have been pointing to a financial crisis the likes of the Great Depression hurtling toward us, but no one wants to heed these warnings.

This weekend, I wrote about the continuing retail apocalypse, with thousands more brick and mortar stores slated to close down this year, taking tens of thousands of jobs with them. Quite a few people scoffed at my concern, feeling that a few retail jobs weren’t a sign of pending doom.   Continue reading “Economic Experts Are Warning of a Looming Financial Crisis But No One Wants to Listen”

Mad in America – by Craig Wagner

Pictures are worth a thousand words. They can distill mountains of detail into essential understandings. So I’ve chosen pictures to distill the mountain of mental health research I’ve examined over the last eight years. Three infographics summarize research on psychiatric drugs, and one asserts why I think Integrative Mental Health is the best path available for mental health recovery.   Continue reading “8 Years of Mental Health Research Distilled to 4 Infographics”

Newser – by Michael Hawthorne

Doctors at a hospital in Kenya were two hours into brain surgery to remove a patient’s blood clot when they discovered to their shock there was no clot, the Daily Nation reports.

They had the wrong patient. According to the BBC, the patient they were operating on simply needed non-invasive treatment for swelling. Both patients were brought into the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi unconscious last Sunday.   Continue reading “Wrong Patient Gets Brain Surgery Due To Hospital Mix-Up”

The New Observer

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued new indictments against Michael Ron Kadar, the dual citizen US-Israeli Jew was who was responsible for the wave of threats against Jewish Community Centers in the US and other countries—and which there were blamed on “anti-Semites” and even listed as “anti-Semitic incidents” by the ADL and other Jewish extremist groups.

According to a press release issued by the DOJ, Kadar was indicted in three jurisdictions for “hate crimes and other offenses.”   Continue reading “US Issues Hate Crime Charges against Jew responsible for “Threats to Jewish Centers””

Breitbart – by Kathrine Rodriguez

A victims’ fund for the Las Vegas shooting victims and their families announced Friday that it would distribute a total of $31.5 million in payments.

The Daily Mail reported that the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund would pay out up to $275,000 to each of the families of the 58 victims killed.

The fund would also distribute $275,000 to each of the ten victims who suffered permanent paralysis or brain damage as result of the October 1 shooting that took place on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada.   Continue reading “Las Vegas Shooting Victims, Families to Receive $31.5 Million in Payments from Victims’ Fund”

San Diego Union-Tribune – by Kristina Davis

It started as a rather straightforward Social Security fraud investigation — a man receiving disability benefits pretending to live in the United States when in fact he lived in Tijuana.

What authorities uncovered was a 37-year identity theft scheme by an unauthorized immigrant and repeat felon who bilked federal, state and local governments out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits, according to a plea agreement entered in San Diego federal court this week.   Continue reading “Mexican man assumes American’s identity for 37 years, steals $361,000 in government benefits”

Press TV

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is voicing admiration for US President Donald Trump over his decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as the Israeli regime’s capital.

The powerful lobby group launched its annual conference at the Washington convention center on Sunday, with an appeal to “progressives.”   Continue reading “AIPAC thanks Trump over Jerusalem recognition, turns to ‘progressives’”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declined to readjust the Senate schedule for a rush to gun control and will instead consider a banking bill this week.

The decision to forgo any gun control debate comes as the establishment media, gun control groups, and Democrat Senators fervently push for gun control now.   Continue reading “Mitch McConnell Rejects Frenzied Gun Control Push: Not on Senate Agenda”