From the Trenches World Report

RT

Following revelations that the NSA, in cooperation with various telecom companies, was spying on private communications, Apple Inc. has released new technology that it says cannot be compromised by the police.

In an effort to protect the private communications of iPhone and iPad users, Apple said on Wednesday its latest mobile operating system, the iOS8, has built-in encryption features that does not allow anybody – even police with search warrants – from accessing data stored on handheld devices.   Continue reading “Apple reveals new operating system it claims is police-proof”

RT

Vice President Joe Biden apologized Wednesday for use of the offensive slur ‘Shylock’ to describe home-loan lenders. Yet hours later, Biden dropped two more gaffes during a visit to Iowa, an important state for anyone considering a 2016 presidential run.

On Tuesday, Biden, in a speech before the Legal Services Corporation, called ‘Shylocks’ those who had offered bad home loans to US service members deployed overseas.   Continue reading “Biden apologizes for ‘Shylock’ gaffe, immediately drops another two”

RT

The United States’ top intelligence official said Thursday that he’s disappointed to continuously have his integrity disputed over an unsound remark he made before Congress more than a year ago concerning the National Security Agency’s spy tactics.

Eighteen months after he told lawmakers that the NSA does “not wittingly” collect and store data pertaining to US citizens, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said during an event Thursday morning in Washington, DC that he still takes heat for his infamous answer.   Continue reading “Intelligence Director Clapper insists he didn’t lie to Congress — but ‘misspoke’ about NSA spying”

Nunez Report

The Satanic Temple of New York City has been granted permission to pass out its literature to students in public schools in the Orlando, Florida, area after district officials declined to prohibit distribution of religious materials.

So will there now be a huge new interest among students in the pentagram, the goats-head emblem and devilish rituals?

Maybe not, according to one columnist.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Daniel Vasquez wrote Tuesday that while Satanists may be allowed to give out their material to students, it’s an entirely different question whether they will pay attention to it.   Continue reading “Satanists handing out religious literature at schools”

CNS News – by Terence P. Jeffrey

House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) joined forces early Wednesday evening as the House passed a continuing resolution that will fund the government after the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, and that will permit funding for Planned Parenthood (the nation’s largest abortion provider), the entirety of Obamacare, and an amendment requested by President Barack Obama “to train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the Syrian opposition.”

The bill passed 319 to 108 with four members not voting. But there were not enough Republicans members to pass the bill without significant support from Democrats. While Pelosi sided with the Republican leadership and voted for the bill, 53 Republicans joined with 55 Democrats in voting against it.   Continue reading “Boehner and Pelosi Unite to Pass Bill Funding Planned Parenthood, Obamacare, Syrian Revolutionaries”

The Black Sphere – by Kevin Jackson

Mexico celebrated its independence the other day, and I wondered, “Independence from what?”

Mexicans are so proud of their country that many of them are LEAVING it.

In a recent poll, 33 percent of Mexicans believe they would be better off in America, and 60 percent disapprove of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s economy.   Continue reading “Mexico celebrated independence…from what?”

RT

The US Air Force is changing the instructions for its reenlistment pledge after an atheist airman was initially denied the ability to re-enlist because he refused to use the word “God” in his oath of office.

On Wednesday, the Air Force instructed force support offices across the service to allow enlisted members and officers to omit the words “so help me God” from enlistment and officer appointment oaths if the airmen so chooses, the branch said in a statement. The US Air Force requested an opinion from the Department of Defense General Counsel, addressing the legal parameters of the oath. The Counsel concluded that removing the words was permissible.   Continue reading “US Air Force to allow atheists to omit ‘God’ from reenlistment oath”

Natural Society – by Christina Sarich

While many of us rely on grass-fed beef as a source of healthful, properly raised meat, that option of healthy eating may just move down a peg? Why? Not because cattle may have to switch to GM grain, but rather because cattle may be forced to indulge in genetically modified grass.

The Scotts ‘Miracle-Gro’ Company which created genetically modified RoundUp-Ready Kentucky Bluegrass has announced that it will conduct field trials at the homes of Scotts’ employees. What’s more, they can do so without any government oversight because there are no laws that prohibit or limit the planting of GMO grass.   Continue reading “Kiss Your Grass-Fed Beef Goodbye! GMO Grass About to Be Approved”

The Organic Prepper

When a ship from an Ebola-plagued nation docks on American shores with a crew full of sick passengers, by all means, we should bring them into the country and treat them.

But don’t worry – the CDC figured it was probably fine.

According to a release from the CDC, the ship was reported to have traveled to a port in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and others in Africa. Officials immediately downplayed the likelihood that the sickness was related to an outbreak of Ebola in that part of the world. Continue reading “Ship from Liberia with Sick Passengers Docks in Louisiana…But Don’t Worry”

Seattle Times – by Hal Bernton

David Winter is a Gulf War veteran who depends on the Puget Sound VA to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder, neck pain and other ailments. In a town-hall meeting Wednesday evening called by the Department of Veterans Affairs, he spoke in stark detail about his difficulties trying to see his health providers and to get medications in a hospital system struggling under an expanding patient load.

Though he was supposed to have a 20-minute PTSD counseling session once every six weeks, he’d been to only three this year.   Continue reading “VA gets an earful from Veterans at town hall”

Boston Globe – by Michael Birnbaum

KIEV, Ukraine — President Petro Poroshenko will arrive in Washington on Thursday with a simple request: more economic and military aid for a nation that is reeling from an insurgency in the east.

But amid concerns about Ukraine’s commitment to anticorruption efforts and Western caution about escalating a military conflict with Russia, it remained far from clear that Ukraine’s president would leave Washington with a substantial new pledge of support. The candy-magnate-turned-politician plans to talk with President Obama at the White House and will address a joint meeting of Congress.   Continue reading “Ukraine president to make case for aid in US”

The Anti-Media – by Cassius Methyl

Several documents were released recently by the Peaceful Streets Project detailing how the Austin Police Department, The Austin Police Association, and several figures of authority conspired against The Peaceful Streets project, Cop Block, Oath Keepers, and several other peaceful organizations in an attempt to slander American activists as a whole. Police tried to draw conclusions backed with zero evidence in an attempt to gain the power to incarcerate activists who have broken no laws. Continue reading “Police Claim Cop Block, Peaceful Streets Project and Activists of America are an Imminent Threat”

ABC News – by KRISTEN GELINEAU Associated Press

Police on Thursday said they thwarted a plot to carry out beheadings in Australia by supporters of the radical Islamic State group. They detained 15 people and raided more than a dozen properties across Sydney, though nine of those brought in were freed before the day was over.

The raids involving 800 federal and state police officers — the largest in the country’s history — came in response to intelligence that an Islamic State group leader in the Middle East was calling on Australian supporters to kill, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.   Continue reading “Australia Raids Thwarted ISIS Beheading Plot”

Huffington Post – by Rebecca Klein

Pinellas County School District in Pinellas County, Florida, is one of over 20 districts around the country with a police force or public safety department in possession of former military supplies, thanks to the Department of Defense’s Excess Property Program, or 1033 program. Since 1997, the initiative has provided excess military equipment to state agencies like local and public university police forces, but it has come under renewed scrutiny in the weeks following the Ferguson demonstrations.   Continue reading “These Are The School Districts Around The Country With Military Supplies”

Reuters – by Ros Krasny

Hackers associated with the Chinese government have repeatedly infiltrated the computer systems of U.S. airlines, technology companies and other contractors involved in the movement of U.S. troops and military equipment, a U.S. Senate panel has found.

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s year-long probe, concluded in March but made public on Wednesday, found the military’s U.S. Transportation Command, or Transcom, was aware of only two out of at least 20 such cyber intrusions within a single year.   Continue reading “Chinese hacked U.S. military contractors: Senate panel”

CNS News – Ali Meyer

Although the overall Consumer Price Index dropped by 0.2 percent in August, the price index for food rose 0.2 percent, with the average price for a pound of ground beef rising to $4.013 per pound–the first time it has ever topped $4 per pound.

In July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price for a pound of ground beef had been $3.884 per pound—which was the record price up to that point.  From July to August, the average price jumped 12.9 cents, an increase of 3.3 percent in one month.   Continue reading “New Record: Pound of Ground Beef Tops $4 for First Time”