From the Trenches World Report

Science Alert – by Michelle Starr

When it comes to sneezes, it seems there’s a golden rule: better out than in. This has been somewhat painfully demonstrated by a man in the UK, whose attempt to hold in a sneeze resulted in a trip to hospital with a ruptured pharynx.

A sneeze is the body’s method of clearing an irritation out of the air passages, and they can often happen without warning.   Continue reading “A Man Tore a Hole in His Throat Trying to Hold Back a Sneeze”

Fox News

ALEXANDRIA, Va. –  A former CIA officer has been arrested and charged with illegally retaining classified records, including names and phone numbers of covert CIA assets.

Fifty-three-year-old Jerry Chun Shing Lee was arrested Monday night after arriving at JFK International Airport. He made an initial appearance Tuesday in federal court in New York, but will face charges in northern Virginia, where the CIA is located.   Continue reading “Ex-CIA officer arrested, charged with keeping documents”

Reason – by Robby Soave

Williams College is one of at least 100 campuses with a system in place for students to report each other for saying or doing something slightly offensive. These trivially disturbing occurrences are known as “bias incidents”—and at Williams, virtually anything could qualify.

According to the Massachusetts college’s website, “name-calling and stereotyping” are examples of bias. Telling a joke that draws its humor from a stereotype is also wrong. Students shouldn’t use slurs, or the word “gay” as an insult, or display “a sign that is color­coded pink for girls and blue for boys,” or imitate someone’s “cultural norm or practice.”  Continue reading “Williams College Students Can Report Each Other for ‘Making Comments on Social Media’ About Religion or Politics”

Breitbart – by Tom Ciccotta

A San Diego State University professor was given $430,000 by the federal government to study the grocery store habits of Latino Americans.

According to a report from The College Fix, Professor Iana Castro of San Diego State’s College of Business Administration has received a $430,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to study the grocery store purchases of Latino American families. The purpose of the study is to learn how Latino Americans can combat obesity by making healthier choices at the grocery store.  Continue reading “Government Gives San Diego State Professor $430,000 to Study Latino Grocery Store Purchases”

New York Post

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is mulling a congestion pricing plan in Manhattan, said Monday the state is capable of placing tolls anywhere in the Big Apple.

“We have the ability with technology to put tolling anywhere in the city — it’s not just the bridges, it’s just a gantry with a license plate reader that reads an EZ pass or a license plate,” he explained at an unrelated press conference.  Continue reading “Cuomo says tolls can be placed on ‘any block’ in NYC”

The Guardian

A historian has discovered a royal decree issued to Donald Trump’s grandfather ordering him to leave Germany and never come back.

Friedrich Trump, a German, was issued with the document in February 1905, and ordered to leave the kingdom of Bavaria within eight weeks as punishment for having failed to do mandatory military service and failing to give authorities notice of his departure to the US when he first emigrated in 1885.   Continue reading “Historian finds German decree banishing Trump’s grandfather”

I can’t stop laughing….

Fox 61

HARTFORD — Dog shedding can be an issue for some dog owners especially when trying to keep their house and car nice and cleaned.

So when you think of possible solutions to help decrease the amount of shedding a dog can do, it might be hard. And if you were able to come up with one that works for you, great job.   Continue reading “Problem solved? Dog leotards solve issue that some dog owners have”

Daily Mail

An attempt to oust President Donald Trump’s hotel business from managing a luxury hotel in Panama has turned bitter, with accusations of financial misconduct.

Trump Hotels is contesting its firing, and its staff ran off a team of Marriott executives invited last month to visit the property during a search for a new hotel operator, according to two people familiar with the matter.  Continue reading “Majority owners in Panama hotel want Trump’s company out”

CBS News

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — With the reading of their own version of a Declaration of Independence, founders of the state of New California took the first steps to what they hope will eventually lead to statehood.

To be clear, they don’t want to leave the United States, just California.

“Well, it’s been ungovernable for a long time. High taxes, education, you name it, and we’re rated around 48th or 50th from a business climate and standpoint in California,” said founder Robert Paul Preston.   Continue reading “New California Declares Independence From Rest Of State”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

In its latest reminder that China is a (for now) happy holder of some $1.2 trillion in US Treasurys, Chinese credit rating agency Dagong downgraded US sovereign ratings from A- to BBB+ overnight, citing “deficiencies in US political ecology” and tax cuts that “directly reduce the federal government’s sources of debt repayment” weakening the base of the government’s debt repayment.

Oh, and just to make sure the message is heard loud and clear, the ratings, which are now level with those of Peru, Colombia and Turkmenistan on the Beijing-based agency’s scale of creditworthiness, have also been put on a negative outlook.  Continue reading “China Downgrades US Credit Rating From A- To BBB+, Warns US Insolvency Would “Detonate Next Crisis””