From the Trenches World Report

NPR

Updated at 5:52 a.m. ET Saturday

A U.S. Navy destroyer reached its base Saturday evening in Yokosuka, Japan while search efforts continued for seven missing sailors.

The Pentagon confirms seven crew members of the USS Fitzgerald are unaccounted for after a collision with a Philippine-flagged merchant vessel off the coast of Japan. The collision with the container ship ACX Crystal took place around 2:30 a.m. Saturday local time.   Continue reading “7 U.S. Sailors Missing in Navy Destroyer Collision With Merchant Vessel”

NBC News

A jury has acquitted a Minnesota police officer in the shooting death of a black man outside St. Paul last year, putting to end a tragic saga that began with a routine traffic stop.

St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez was charged in the July 2016 shooting of school cafeteria worker Philando Castile, igniting protests and a call to action by civil rights activists nationwide against the deadly use of force by police.   Continue reading “Officer Who Shot Philando Castile Acquitted of Manslaughter Charges”

Opinions anyone?

The Tech Reader – by Tanya Techie

If you’re like me, you’re really beginning to get fed up with Gmail. What was once the go-to email provider in the world, millions have been leaving as Google began violating users’ privacy, instituting draconian policies, removing all customer service support whatsoever, and altering the user interface in ways that millions of users protested.   Continue reading “Top 4 Free Email Alternatives To Gmail That Protect Your Privacy”

Natural News – by Mike Adams

Amazon will acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 a share in a deal with a total value of $13.7 billion, according to multiple news reports (including CNBC), creating the world’s largest marketplace for untested health products contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides.

Neither Whole Foods nor Amazon tests every product it sells for heavy metals or pesticides. Both retailers rely on product providers to meet all USDA and FDA product safety requirements, but product manufacturers routinely misrepresent their own products for the simple reason that they almost never conduct their own testing, either. (Their suppliers lie to them, and in turn they lie to Whole Foods, and Whole Foods accepts that chain of lies as “fact” … which is, ironically, the same method by which the Washington Post writes fake news.)   Continue reading “Amazon buys Whole Foods, creating the world’s largest marketplace of untested health products contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides”

ZD-Net – by  Zack Whittaker

Leaked secret documents have revealed that the CIA has been targeting and compromising home, office, and public wireless routers for years in an effort to carry out clandestine surveillance.

The documents, which could not be immediately verified, are part of an ongoing series of leaks released by the website WikiLeaks, revealing the work of the CIA’s elite hacking unit, dubbed the Engineering Development Group.   Continue reading “CIA has been hacking into Wi-Fi routers for years, leaked documents show”

The Great Recession Blog

Carmageddon, as Wolf Richter has called it, is hitting the US economy exactly as I said a year and a half ago would start to happen at the very end of 2016 or the start of 2017. Measured year-on-year, auto sales have declined every month of 2017, and are now starting to cause the financial wreckage that I said we would experience in what will become a demolition derby for US auto manufacturers.

“A stretched auto consumer, falling used [vehicle] prices, and technological obsolescence of current cars are ingredients for an unprecedented buyer’s strike,” wrote Morgan Stanley’s auto analyst Adam Jonas in a note to clients. (Wolf Street)

Continue reading “Carmageddon Crashes into “the Recovery” Right on Schedule — EXACTLY as Predicted Here”

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

Taunton, MA — In the Land of the Free, you can and will be charged and convicted of manslaughter for texting your teenage boyfriend and telling him to kill himself. No physical action was needed on the part of Michelle Carter, then 17, to be complicit in her boyfriend’s death other than sending text over the digital either to be read by the troubled teen.

According to the AP, Juvenile Court Judge Lawrence Moniz found that Michelle Carter caused the death of Conrad Roy III, who intentionally filled his truck with carbon monoxide in a store parking lot in July 2014. Carter cried and clutched a handkerchief to her face as Moniz detailed her conduct in explaining how he reached his verdict, but she was stoic when it was formally pronounced.   Continue reading “Girl Convicted of Manslaughter For Causing Teen’s Death with a Text Message”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Two days after Trump ceded unilateral authority on Afghan troop deployments to the Department of Defense, the Pentagon wasted on time and according to AP, the Pentagon will send 4,000 additional American forces to Afghanistan to support existing forces and in hopes of breaking a stalemate in a war that has now been passed on to a third U.S. President. The deployment will be the largest of American manpower under Donald Trump’s young presidency.

According to AP, the decision by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis could be announced as early as next week, and was prompted by “the rising threat posed by Islamic State extremists, evidenced in a rash of deadly attacks in the capital city of Kabul, has only fueled calls for a stronger U.S. presence, as have several recent American combat deaths.” Asked for comment, a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said, “No decisions have been made.”   Continue reading “Pentagon To Send 4,000 Troops To Afghanistan In Trump’s Largest Deployment Yet”

ABC News

After nearly three years of warming relations between the United States and Cuba, President Donald Trump has announced that his administration will unravel many of his predecessor’s policies on the communist state.

Speaking from Miami, Florida, Trump announced changes to President Obama’s historic rapprochement with Cuba — fulfilling a promise to the anti-Castro voting bloc he believes helped his campaign clinch the state, but stirring fear among others he could set back business interests and Cuba’s potential for a more prosperous private sector.   Continue reading “Trump says he’s ‘canceling’ Obama Cuba deal, unveiling new policies”

CBS News – by Aimee Picchi

Illinois residents may feel some solidarity with the likes of Puerto Rico and Detroit.

A financial crunch is spiraling into a serious problem for Illinois lawmakers, prompting some observers to wonder if the state might make history by becoming the first to go bankrupt. At the moment, it’s impossible for a state to file for bankruptcy protection, which is only afforded to counties and municipalities like Detroit.
Continue reading “Could Illinois be the first state to file for bankruptcy?”

The Hill – by Max Greenwood

The Homeland Security Department announced on Thursday that it would keep in place the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, allowing undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the country.

The decision breaks a key campaign promise by Trump to “immediately terminate” the DACA program and stands at odds with the president’s vows to crackdown on illegal immigration.    Continue reading “Trump breaks campaign promise to deport Dreamers”

Media Matters

Right-wing radio host Michael Savage called for a government takeover of media following a shooting at a baseball practice of Republican members of Congress.

Five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), were wounded during baseball practice in Alexandria, VA. The assailant, “identified by multiple law enforcement officials as James T. Hodgkinson II,” was killed by police after they exchanged gunfire.   Continue reading “Trump ally Michael Savage calls for government takeover of the media following shooting at GOP baseball practice”

Informaza News

Oliver Stone joined Stephen Colbert on the Late Show which aired Tuesday June 13th.  He sat down with Colbert to discuss and promote his upcoming Putin Interviews, which will debut June 15th on SHOWTIME.

Colbert, having watched previews of Stone’s upcoming program, questioned Stone on what he described as Stone’s “apparent sympathy” for Vladimir Putin, despite claims of Russian intervention in the 2016 U.S Presidential Elections. To this, Stone retorted something to the effect of “Israel had far more involvement in the US election than Russia…Why don’t you ask me about that?” according to a source within the audience. To this, Colbert replied “I’ll ask you about that when you make a documentary about Israel!””   Continue reading “Oliver Stone Mentions Israeli Interference in U.S Politics, Colbert Edits it Out of Show”

CBC News

Russian-language propagandists are taking aim at Canada’s military mission to Latvia by linking the troops to the Armed Forces’ most-disgraced commander.

A website with the same name as a prominent Russian news program has re-published infamous photos of convicted killer Russell Williams, a former commander in Canada’s air force, posing in women’s underwear, suggesting the Canadian military is full of homosexuals and shouldn’t be counted on by Latvians.   Continue reading “Anti-Canada propaganda greets troops in Latvia”

Yahoo News

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Lottery officials say players in the state could see the end of Powerball and Mega Millions games this month if Illinois doesn’t end its budget impasse.

Acting Director Greg Smith said Thursday the lack of a budget will result in players being “denied the opportunity” to participate. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the news.

The stalemate could enter a third year if there’s no agreement by July 1.   Continue reading “Illinois will lose Powerball, Mega Millions without budget”