From the Trenches World Report

US News – Reuters

Continue reading “U.S. Justice Department Taps Prosecutor to Oversee Asset Forfeiture Program”

Yahoo News

Former South Carolina police officer Michael Slager was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for the deadly shooting of unarmed black man Walter Scott.

U.S. District Judge David Norton ruled that Slager committed second-degree murder and obstruction of justice, when he shot and killed 50-year-old Scott in 2015. The second-degree murder ruling came with a recommended 19 to 24 year sentence.

At one point during the sentencing Scott’s mother looked the former officer in the eye and told him she forgave him. Families on both sides of the court burst into tears.   Continue reading “Ex-cop Michael Slager sentenced to 20 years for shooting death of Walter Scott”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

GOP lawmakers have come forward with new allegations of political bias or interference at the FBI – this time involving the 2012 Benghazi attack. John Solomon of The Hill reports tht Rep. Ron Desantis (R-FL) recently interviewed a retired FBI supervisor who told him he was instructed by Deputy Director Andrew McCabe not to call the 2012 Benghazi attack an act of terrorism when distributing the FBI’s findings to the larger intelligence community – despite knowing exactly who conducted the attack.    Continue reading “FBI Deputy Director McCabe Told Agents To Lie About Benghazi Investigation, Says GOP Lawmaker”

Free Thought Project – by Jack Burns

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved what may be the world’s first “smart pill.” Abilify MyCite, (aripiprazole) a “pill with a sensor that digitally tracks if patients have ingested their medication” was approved for sale and distribution by the FDA in mid-November. Now, a month after the drug’s approval, several of the world’s leading medical doctors are questioning the ethics surrounding the controversial drug.  Continue reading “FDA Just Approved ‘Smart Pill’ Antidepressant So Gov’t Can Track You As They Force Medicate You”

Activist Post – by Nicholas West

After lulling the public into believing that using drones in the U.S. would be confined to border patrol or for counter-terrorism in the event of an imminent threat, we are beginning to see police calling for far wider implementation of drone surveillance.

I’ve reported several times about the years-long battle in Los Angeles over the use of police drones. The plan resulted in severe pushback from civil liberties groups such as the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and eventually resulted in an agreement to in fact limit their use to extreme threats and never for surveillance.   Continue reading “Disturbing Trend of Police Wanting Drones for Routine Infractions”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

The more Washington lashes out in anger at those who will not bow to the unipolar world order, the more the rest of the world fights back. As the launch of its Yuan/Gold-settled oil futures looms, China is escalating its de-dollarization scheme further by seeking a bilateral rial-yuan agreement with Iran.

As a reminder, nothing lasts forever…
Continue reading “De-Dollarization Continues: China, Iran To Eliminate Greenback From Bilateral Trade”

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Representative Trent Franks said on Thursday he would resign after two female staffers complained that he had discussed surrogacy with them.

Franks, 60, who has been a member of Congress from Arizona since 2003, said in a statement that he would step down on Jan. 31.

The House of Representatives Ethics Committee said on Thursday it had opened an investigation into accusations of sexual harassment against Franks.   Continue reading “Rep. Franks to resign after staff members’ complaints of harassment”

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress moved rapidly on Thursday to send President Donald Trump a short-term funding bill to avert a government shutdown this weekend, leaving fights over budget priorities and a range of other controversial issues for the coming weeks.

The House of Representatives, working against a Friday midnight deadline, approved legislation in a 235-193 vote to fund a wide range of federal programs through Dec. 22.

The Senate followed up by approving the bill 81-14. The White House has said Trump will sign it into law.   Continue reading “Congress averts government shutdown for now”

Daily Mail

The White House insisted Thursday that Donald Trump’s lispy, halting performance Wednesday in an Israel policy speech is nothing to worry about, and a U.S. Navy doctor will release the results of a physical next year to prove it.

The president’s speaking cadence became irregular and his speech slurred during part of his delivery, concluding with ‘God bless the United Shhtates.’

‘There were a lot of questions on that. Frankly pretty ridiculous questions,’ White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday.   Continue reading “His ‘throat was dry’: Trump to get physical after speech slurring”

New York Post

A teen who claimed she had undergone 50 surgeries to look like her idol Angelina Jolie has admitted she faked the whole thing to “amuse” herself.

Sahar Tabar had been called a “zombie” by cruel commenters after her gaunt Instagram selfies went viral.

But, as the Sun Online reported last week, many viewers had a hunch that the teenager was using Photoshop to tweak her pictures.   Continue reading “‘Zombiefied’ Angelina Jolie lookalike reveals she’s a total fraud”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

A day after labor unions warned that General Electric was planning thousands of job cuts in its troubled power-generation unit, GE confirmed that it’s planning to cut 12,000 jobs globally in its power business as the company’s new leadership tries to revive the company’s moribund stock price.

The reductions would account for about 18% of GE Power’s workforce, will mostly affect professional and production workers outside the US. GE is also paring back capital expenditures and research-and-development spending as it grapples with a sharp downturn in gas- and coal-power markets.   Continue reading “GE Slashes 12,000 Jobs In Troubled Global Power Business”

The Hill – by Nathaniel Weixel

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday said House Republicans will aim to cut spending on Medicare, Medicaid and welfare programs next year as a way to trim the federal deficit.

“We’re going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,” Ryan said during an interview on Ross Kaminsky’s talk radio show.   Continue reading “Ryan pledges ‘entitlement reform’ in 2018”

Oil Price – by ZeroHedge

Elon Musk’s reliance on shock-and-awe tactics and unjustifiably lofty performance projections is creating serious problems for the so-called visionary as a growing number of experts have come forward to explain that many of his claims would defy the laws of physics.

The latest group to call bulls— is Aurora Energy Research, a European consultancy which estimated that Tesla’s electric haulage truck will require the same energy as up to 4,000 homes to recharge – a stunning claim that would seem to raise serious questions about the projects viability, according to the Financial Times.
Continue reading “The Stunning Energy Cost Of Tesla’s Semi-Truck”

Sputnik

The reputation of the most expensive plane in history has once again been tarnished.

The F-35, a fifth-generation US stealth fighter, lost part of its fuselage, during a “routine training mission” near Kadena Air Base in Japan, according to the Defense News.
Continue reading “US F-35 Reportedly Starts to Crumble in Okinawa in ‘Routine Training Mission’”

Surprise, surprise. Maybe this is how they’ll justify the uranium wars.

Cosmos – by Joel F. Hooper

Uranium may be good for something more than nuclear fireworks, according to new research that offers it a novel role: a catalyst for chemical reactions that could produce a new generation of pharmaceuticals and plastics.

“Uranium, undoubtedly, has really bad PR,” says Professor Steven Liddle of the University of Manchester, lead author of a paper on the research published in Nature Communications. “But to me it’s just an element of the periodic table. It’s about what you use it for.”   Continue reading “Uranium: the element of surprise”

Daily Mail

Police in California say they have uncovered a tape in which Corey Feldman lists the names of men who abused him in the past.

The former child actor had claimed in October that he had given the names of sexual predators in Hollywood to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office in 1993 during their investigation into Michael Jackson’s molestation charges.   Continue reading “Corey Feldman WAS telling the truth: Santa Barbara police say they’ve found historic audio of him naming abusers which he claims they then covered up”