From the Trenches World Report

Ars Technica – by Timothy B Lee

A Miami Beach man is facing criminal charges after he created a parody account purporting to be Ernesto Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department. The defendant, Ernesto Orsetti, is charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer, a third-degree felony, according to a press release posted by the Miami New Times.

“Defendant falsely created and assumed the identity of the victim (active police officer/police information officer) via Twitter,” the police report says. “The Twitter account, @ernierodmb, had a marked Miami Beach police vehicle and a photo of the victim in uniform.”   Continue reading “Miami Beach cops arrest man for Twitter parody of police spokesman”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

Phoenix, Arizona, resident Jonathan Pring called police and surrendered all of his guns in hopes of making a statement following the heinous attack on concertgoers in Las Vegas.

According to 12 News, Pring said the Vegas attack made him “think about what was important in life,” and he listed family as number one. He then said, “I would hate for that to happen to my family and it suddenly made me think how ridiculous this whole gun debate is in America. So, one immediate thing that I could do was hand over my guns,” he said. “I’m one less civilian that has guns.”   Continue reading “Man Surrenders All His Guns to Make a Statement After Vegas Attack”

Fox News

Funny man Ralphie May has died at age 45.

“We are heartbroken to announce the untimely death of our friend, Ralphie May,” his rep confirmed to Page Six on Friday. “Earlier this morning at a private residence in Las Vegas his body was discovered, cause of death is cardiac arrest.”

We’re told May had been battling pneumonia and cancelled “a handful” of upcoming gigs to recover.   Continue reading “Comedian Ralphie May dead at 45”

Publication date: Jan 14, 2003

ABSTRACT
Physiological effects have been observed in a human subject in response to stimulation of the skin with weak electromagnetic fields that are pulsed with certain frequencies near ½ Hz or 2.4 Hz, such as to excite a sensory resonance. Many computer monitors and TV tubes, when displaying pulsed images, emit pulsed electromagnetic fields of sufficient amplitudes to cause such excitation. It is therefore possible to manipulate the nervous system of a subject by pulsing images displayed on a nearby computer monitor or TV set. Continue reading “Patent US 6506148 B2 – Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors”

Philly.com

So far, no one has tried to yank the Christopher Columbus statue off its pedestal in South Philadelphia, but that doesn’t mean everyone reveres the monument or the man.

Vienna Enos and Signe Espinoza-Nelson don’t.

Both young women launched online petitions: one to abolish Columbus Day, the other to remove two city memorials that celebrate the Italian explorer.   Continue reading “Should Philadelphia say ‘Goodbye, Columbus?’”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Russia no longer even has to lift a finger (or buy a few thousands dollars worth of Facebook ads) to steal influence from the US in key geopolitical hotspots: the US can do so on its own.

According to the WSJ, the Pentagon halted military exercises with Gulf allies in a symbolic rebuke to countries caught in the ongoing diplomatic spat with Qatar that has eroded counterterrorism cooperation in the region, soured relations between historical allies, and allowed outside powers to establish substantial footholds in the region.   Continue reading “One Day After Historic Saudi-Russian Summit, US Suspends Military Exercises With “Arab Allies””

Breitbart – by Michelle Moons

California officially became a sanctuary state for illegal aliens on Thursday with the stroke of Gov. Jerry Brown’s pen.

Senate Bill 54 will go into effect in January 2018. Brown signed the bill entitled the “California Values Act” and released a signing statement. Brown explained what the bill does and does not do.   Continue reading “California Becomes ‘Sanctuary State’ with Gov. Brown Signature”

“James Murren: CEO of Mandalay Bay/MGM Resorts International is a sitting member of the Homeland Security National Infrastructure Advisory Council-he’s responsible for getting legislation and regulations passed for security & technology infrastructure in public places. Things such as x-ray backscatter machines. So the CEO of Mandalay Bay is a sitting member of the Homeland Security National Infrastructure Advisory Council? This is not normal people!   Continue reading “Of potential interest: CEO of Mandalay Bay Casino”

Now that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has successfully defeated or neutralized much of the insurgency in his country, domestic and international attention has begun to turn toward stabilization and reconstruction. It is now possible to envision a postwar Syria, at least in parts of the country.

Yet large sections of the international community—including, critically, key donor countries—continue to reject the legitimacy of Assad and his regime. The United States and its allies have given up on their proxy war in Syria, with which they had pushed for Assad’s negotiated removal from power. But now restoration seems like the next battle to shape Syria’s political order. For backers of the so-called moderate Syrian opposition, restoration funds are their last remaining tools to pressure the Government. Experts are now proposing convoluted schemes for how the West can rebuild Syria in spite of Assad or how it can condition its restoration money on political concessions from the regime.   Continue reading “Restoration of Syria: Who will Gain What?”

Fighting between U.S.-backed militias and Islamic State in the jihadist group’s former Syria stronghold has peppered mosques and minarets with machine-gun fire while air strikes flattened houses. No building is untouched. Senior council member Omar Alloush estimated at least half the city has been already completely destroyed.

“The old clock tower could be heard from outside the walls once. It’s damaged now. It’s silent,” Mohammed Hawi, a Raqqa-citizen, said at a nearby home occupied by the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance (SDF). Driving militants out has caused destruction that officials say will take years and cost millions of dollars to repair. A major bridge leading into eastern Raqqa lies collapsed after a latest coalition air strike. Beyond it, damaged water towers and the skeletons of teetering residential blocks dot the skyline. “We’re waiting for help to repair the east bridge,” co-president Leila Mustafa, a civil engineer, said. “If it doesn’t arrive soon, we’ll begin ourselves, using any means we have, though we have practically nothing.”   Continue reading “What did the US-led Coalition Decide to Defeat: Islamic State or Raqqa?”

Fight the Bias

We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans…

When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans, it was assumed that the Americans who had that freedom would use it responsibly … [Now] there’s a lot of irresponsibility. And so a lot of people say there’s too much freedom. When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it.   Continue reading “Quotes – Bill Clinton”