From the Trenches World Report

Mail.com

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Dozens of Turkish hostages seized by the Islamic State group in Iraq were freed Saturday, resolving a serious crisis which Turkish officials had long cited as a reason to avoid moving aggressively against the violent militant group.

The 49 hostages were captured from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq on June 11, when the Islamic State group overran the city in its surge to seize large swaths of Iraq and Syria. But the circumstances of their release — which drew flag waving crowds to the Turkish capital’s airport — were clouded in mystery.   Continue reading “Turkey: 49 hostages have been freed”

Mail.com

BELL, Fla. (AP) — Most people in this rural, north Florida community seemed to know about the Spirit family’s troubled and tragic past.

The patriarch, Don Spirit, who police say killed his daughter and his six grandchildren before committing suicide, served time a decade ago after he accidentally shot his son to death during a hunting trip. His daughter 28-year-old Sarah Lorraine Spirit was on probation at the time she was killed. Two men who fathered her slain children are locked up.   Continue reading “Florida town knew shooter had troubled past”

Mail.com

ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Food safety advocates say a guilty verdict in a rare federal food-poisoning trial should send a stern warning to anyone who may be tempted to place profits over people’s welfare.

More than five years after hundreds of Americans got sick from eating salmonella-tainted peanut butter, the top executive in the company that owned the Georgia plant where it was made was convicted Friday of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, wire fraud and other crimes related the nationwide outbreak in 2008 and 2009.   Continue reading “Guilty verdict in peanut trial should send warning”

Human Wrongs Watch

“The voices of older people and those who look after them need to be heard in a meaningful way,” said Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons.*

Speaking ahead of World Alzheimer’s Day, marked annually on 21 September, Kornfeld-Matte called for concerted action to ensure that older persons suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia can fully enjoy their human rights in all circumstances. “The whole of society shares responsibility for the welfare of older persons with dementia and is called upon to find comprehensive solutions,” the UN expert said.   Continue reading “Ahead of Alzheimer’s Day, UN Expert Urges Greater Protections for People with Dementia”

Natural Society – by Christina Sarich

Should the less financially-able be allowed to get free medical marijuana? A new bill says: nope! Supporters of the federal law have called it the ‘no welfare for weed’ bill, and this past Tuesday it passed the House of Representatives in the U.S., making it harder for people to use government welfare and to buy marijuana in states where the drug is legal.

While this law is understandable at first glance, since those on government ‘cheese’ shouldn’t be sitting around getting high – a cliché’ in many non-smokers minds – it also rules out the use of medical marijuana for individuals who sincerely need it, like those with Multiple Sclerosis, cancer, or even autism. Cannabis has been shown to help with all of these ailments, as well as other medical conditions.   Continue reading “‘No Welfare for Weed’ Bill Passes U.S. House: No Weed for the Poor”

TheBlaze – by Zach Nobel

UPDATE (9:30 a.m. EDT): One of the “Shut Down All Ports of Entry” organizers has shed more light on why the protest was called off hours before it was supposed to begin: cartel threats.

“It was [a] cartel threatening a blood bath, [Facebook] hits coming [en] masse from Mexico,” Stasyi Barth told TheBlaze Saturday. “One of the organizers was being followed and was verbally told not to go.”

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The plan had been to take a stand for American sovereignty, with ordinary citizens taking action to block the ports of entry along the U.S. border.    Continue reading “‘Cartel Threatening a Blood Bath’: Huge Border Protest Was Just Cancelled for a Disturbing Reason”

Yahoo News – by PAT EATON-ROBB

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Former Gov. John G. Rowland, who resigned from office a decade ago in a corruption scandal, was convicted Friday of federal charges that he conspired to hide payment for work on two congressional campaigns.

Rowland, once a rising star for the Republican Party, served 10 months in prison for taking illegal gifts while in office and now as a repeat offender faces the possibility of a much stiffer sentence.   Continue reading “Connecticut ex-governor convicted of new crimes”

Information Operations

When your access to the internet and cell service gets cut, you better have a plan B for Info and Intel.

The goal of this post:  Kick start your Plan B without procrastination excuses like “I have to study and pass first…, I don’t have the money…”

1) Listen:  You can listen without a license. Get a cheap handheld and start listening while you study for the exam. Less than $40 gets you off your ass and on the air.   Continue reading “Comms – Do you have a Plan B?”

PROTEST IS CANCELLED…..PROTEST IS CANCELLED……

There has been an unsubstantiated threat of mass violence to attendees, along with very suspicious activity on the Facebook site. These two items are more than enough for me to immediately stop any protest that was going to occur.

Your lives, and the lives of our law enforcement, are more important than any protest.

I apologize for the inconvenience, but we must remain safe and not put anyone in danger. If you attend, you are not just putting yourself in danger, but the law enforcement officers, as well. They are there to watch you, the protesters against you and the unknown threat. That is not the purpose of this event! Risking anyone’s life is not worth it!   Continue reading “Shut Down the Ports Protest Cancelled”

Sent to us by a reader.

Business Insider – by Ewan Palmer

Ketamine, the horse tranquilizer which is also a popular party drug, could be used to treat people who have been suffering from long term depression, according a study.

Researchers at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Oxford said they noticed a “remarkable” change in people suffering treatment-resistant depression once they were given the drug, which has recently been upgraded to Class B.   Continue reading “Ketamine, LSD, Magic Mushrooms and Ecstasy: The Illegal Drugs Which Can be Good for You”

Yahoo News – by Lisa Maria Garza

DALLAS (Reuters) – American citizens describing themselves as “deeply concerned” with Obama administration immigration policies plan a mass protest on Saturday to press their demand to seal the southern border by blocking traffic at more than a dozen U.S. crossings.

Demonstrators will attempt to stop incoming and outgoing traffic at 17 of the 63 locations in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California listed on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.   Continue reading “Protests planned to target U.S. southern border entry ports”

WOAI

Several independent ‘milita’ groups, concerned over what they see as a porous southern border and unchecked illegal immigration, plan to block traffic on Saturday at several international ports of entry in the Rio Grande Valley, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.

Militias have been flocking to the border since July in what the Minuteman Project describes as ‘Operation Normandy.’

The groups have been even more energized by reports that jihadist groups are using the border as a way to infiltrate ‘sleeper cells’ into the United States, a claim that federal immigration authorities have rejected.   Continue reading “Border Sheriffs Brace for Possible Militia Action on Saturday”

ABC News – by ASTRID GALVAN Associated Press

The federal government refuses to say whether prosecutors in Yuma, Arizona, have scaled back a years-old program that guarantees jail time for most immigrants caught crossing the border illegally and which law enforcement officials say is crucial to public safety.

Reports that federal prosecutors have stopped some prosecutions under Operation Streamline surfaced nearly two weeks ago when Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder seeking information on the status of the zero-tolerance program that circumvents the civil immigration system and lumps together months’ worth of criminal proceedings into one day for immigrants caught crossing the border illegally.   Continue reading “Feds Mum on Prosecution of Illegal Border Crossers”

Times of India

NEW DELHI: Nearly 1,000 Chinese soldiers intruded into India in Ladakh’s Chumur sector on Thursday, a day when Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a visit here.

According to Army sources, nearly 1,000 Chinese soldiers moved inside the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh region, and refused to go back.   Continue reading “LAC stand-off: Nearly 1,000 Chinese soldiers enter India”