From the Trenches World Report

New Scientist – by Ewen Callaway, February, 2010

Texas health officials secretly transferred hundreds of newborn babies’ blood samples to the federal government to build a DNA database, a newspaper investigation has revealed.

According to The Texas Tribune, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) routinely collected blood samples from newborns to screen for a variety of health conditions, before throwing the samples out.    Continue reading “Newborns’ blood used to build secret DNA database”

Boston Herald

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Briarwood Presbyterian Church already has more than 4,000 members, two private schools and its own radio station. And if administrators have their way, the wealthy congregation could soon add something that no other American church has: its own police force.

With a membership larger than many small towns, Briarwood has asked the state Legislature for permission to set up a private law enforcement department to watch over its flock and schools. The bill comes at a time when places of worship around the country are stepping up security, but a church-only police force raises constitutional questions that are ripe for a legal challenge. And opponents worry crimes could be covered up by the church.   Continue reading “Church cops? Congregation eyes its own unusual police force”

USPTO

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 1/2 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 “US Patent: Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from computer and TV monitors”

Evolve Politics – by Summer Winterbottom, March 2, 2016

Eton college pupil, Andrew Picard, who owned 1,185 indecent images of children, as well as videos of a three-year-old being raped and children being forced to have sex with dogs, was allowed to use his Mother’s maiden name by the UK courts in order to protect his wealthy family’s reputation.

Picard, whose real name is Andrew Boeckman, was spared jail and handed an 18-month suspended sentence for ten counts of possessing child pornography.   Continue reading “Eton student who owned toddler-rape videos allowed to use false name to protect wealthy family”

Rick Wells

A small but significant test for General Kelly, and the Trump administration in general has emerged. They will be asked to stand strong against the weasels in the Senate who talk out of both sides of their mouths. Admittedly, that does account for the majority of the members on one issue or another and in this instance it’s American jobs. It may not be easy as the fix is already in, the commitment to give away 66,000 of our jobs to foreigners has already been made by Congress. Kelly will be facing off against a group of thirty-one Senators who have sided with the deep pockets of big business and lobbyists against what’s best for the citizens they supposedly represent.   Continue reading “31 Senators Ask DHS For 5,000 Visas To Give American Jobs To Foreign Replacements”

You’ve seen all the commercials. But what *really* happens when you ask for help with an erection lasting more than 4 hours?

I walked into a drug store and asked to talk to a male pharmacist. The woman I was speaking with said she was the only pharmacist and since she and her sister owned the store, there were no male employees.   Continue reading “Me and Priapism”

Raw Story – by Sharon Begley, STAT

A little-noticed bill moving through Congress would allow companies to require employees to undergo genetic testing or risk paying a penalty of thousands of dollars, and would let employers see that genetic and other health information.

Giving employers such power is now prohibited by legislation including the 2008 genetic privacy and nondiscrimination law known as GINA. The new bill gets around that landmark law by stating explicitly that GINA and other protections do not apply when genetic tests are part of a “workplace wellness” program.   Continue reading “Little-noticed House Republican bill would let employers demand workers’ genetic test results”

Yahoo News

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who previously served as the CEO of oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, has recused himself from any decisions regarding the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

In a letter sent to the environmental group Greenpeace Thursday, a State Department deputy legal adviser writes that Tillerson decided to recuse himself in “early February… from working on issues related to TransCanada’s application for a presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.”   Continue reading “Tillerson steps away from possible pipeline decisions”

Yahoo News – by Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Reuters) – Starbucks Corp’s vow to hire thousands of refugees after President Donald Trump’s first executive order that temporarily banned travel from seven mostly-Muslim nations appears to be hurting customer sentiment of the coffee chain.

Trump supporters have used Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites to call for a boycott since Jan. 29, when Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz vowed to hire 10,000 refugees over five years in the countries where it does business.   Continue reading “Starbucks CEO’s refugee comments sour customer views of chain – survey”

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Fox 57

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The FBI raided the home of a Maryland man last month after he allegedly impersonated an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent while also attempting to enforce criminal laws, Montgomery County District Court documents state.   Continue reading “Sources: Wash. Post employee allegedly impersonated ICE agent; guns found at his Md. home”

WTOP – by Michelle Basch

WASHINGTON — Forty years ago this week, armed terrorists stormed three D.C. buildings and took nearly 150 people hostage.

To commemorate the anniversary of the three-day Hanafi siege, a photo exhibit is currently on display at the Wilson Building.   Continue reading “‘One of the first acts of serious domestic terrorism’ 1977”

Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spanish energy company Repsol says an oil reserve of 1.2 billion barrels has been identified in Alaska’s North Slope, which the company is the largest onshore discovery in the United States in three decades.

Repsol said that the contingent resources of recoverable light oil found near the village of Nuiqsut in North Slope, would allow production of 120,000 barrels per day starting from 2021.   Continue reading “Spain’s Repsol, Armstrong Energy make major oil discovery in Alaska”

PJ Media – by Raymond Ibrahim

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis’ pick for undersecretary of defense for policy, Anne Patterson, is problematic.

Politico briefly explains why:   Continue reading “Why Is General Mattis Nominating the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’s Stooge’?”

Yahoo News

Montreal (AFP) – While delivering oyster mushrooms to restaurants in the heart of Montreal, Lysiane Roy Maheu stops to get a bucket filled with coffee grounds from a barista friend. She needs it for her next crop.

Mixed with residues from local micro-breweries, the grounds will provide rich nutrients for cultivating the sumptuous fungi.   Continue reading “In Montreal, mushrooms make the local economy go round”

Campus Reform – by Anthony Gockowski

Harvard University recently created a research guide on “fake news” that identifies dozens of respectable conservative websites as “unreliable” or simply “fake” while rating many of their liberal counterparts as “credible.”

Harvard’s new research guide, called “Fake News, Misinformation, and Propaganda,” encourages students to acquaint themselves with a “huge list of fake news sites,” many of which are legitimately deceptive, but others of which are merely conservative or libertarian-leaning.   Continue reading “Harvard pushes list calling conservative websites ‘fake news’”

Daily Caller – by Rob Shimshock

A Latina student at Pitzer University emailed fellow students asking “white allies” to donate to her spring break trip, accusing fellow white students of the “genocide and enslavement of our ppl.”

“We are hoping ppl are willing to support us in our ventures out to queer [as fuck] oakland & some national parks to find some spaceeee to breatheee,” said Pitzer University student Leandra Vargas, who identifies with they/them pronouns, in an email obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.   Continue reading “Latina University Student Calls On White Students To Pay For Her Spring Break”