From the Trenches World Report

Inter Press Service – by Frederic Mousseau

OAKLAND, United States, Aug 12 2014 (IPS) – Mostly unreported as the Ukraine conflict captures headlines, international financing has played a significant role in the current conflict in Ukraine.

In late 2013, conflict between pro-European Union (EU) and pro-Russian Ukrainians escalated to violent levels, leading to the departure of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 and prompting the greatest East-West confrontation since the Cold War.   Continue reading “What Do the World Bank and IMF Have to Do With the Ukraine Conflict?”

RT

​Former congressman Ron Paul told RT on Tuesday that the United States should look to the history books for advice on how to handle the escalating crisis in Iraq and pull the American military out of the country immediately.

Only days after US President Barack Obama authorized the Pentagon to begin airstrikes against militants from the Islamic State, formerly ISIS, in the midst of a violent campaign being waged by that group across Iraq, the longtime lawmaker for the state of Texas told RT’s Ameera David that America should abandon its latest efforts in the Middle East lest it wants to repeat the lessons of the last Iraq War.   Continue reading “Ron Paul on Iraq: ‘The sooner we get out of there the better’”

RT

Ecuador doesn’t need anybody’s permission to export agricultural products to Russia, which now has a big gap that needs to be filled after it banned supplies from a number of western countries, said President Rafael Correa.

“I want to immediately say that we don’t need to get anybody’s permission to sell products to friendly countries: as far as we know Latin America isn’t a part of the European Union,” as RIA cites Correa’s Tuesday comments to the Andes press agency.   Continue reading “Ecuador: We don’t need permission to trade with Russia”

Mail.com

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A former Ohio high school football player found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl after an alcohol-fueled party two years ago returned to the field Tuesday with his old team.

Ma’Lik Richmond played for Steubenville High School in a scrimmage against Cambridge, WTOV-TV (http://bit.ly/1lSi5IV) reported. Richmond and fellow athlete Trent Mays were adjudicated delinquent in the August 2012 assault on a West Virginia girl. Richmond was sentenced to one year in juvenile detention and Mays, who was also found guilty of using his phone to take a naked picture of the underage girl, was sentenced to two years.   Continue reading “Ohio teen returns to football team after rape case”

Mail.com

GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — A man stabbed to death his elderly father, then killed his two young sons, his mother and finally the family dog. He then calmly called police to the home on California’s Central Coast and told detectives the killings were his destiny, authorities said Tuesday.

The killings occurred late Monday, and Nicolas Holzer, 45, was taken into custody without incident at the home near the University of California, Santa Barbara, that he shared with his parents and sons, ages 10 and 13. Two kitchen knives believed used in the killings were recovered.   Continue reading “Authorities: California man admits killing family”

Mail.com

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Associated Press video journalist and a freelance Palestinian translator were killed Wednesday when ordnance left over from the Israeli-Hamas war exploded as they were reporting on the conflict’s aftermath.

Simone Camilli and Ali Shehda Abu Afash died when an unexploded missile believed to have been dropped in an Israeli airstrike blew up as Gaza police engineers were working to neutralize it in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.   Continue reading “AP video journalist, translator killed in Gaza”

AmmoLand – by David Kopel

Wisconsin –-(Ammoland.com)- Yesterday incumbent Sheriff David Clarke, of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, won the Democratic primary, 52-48%.

There being no Republican on the November ballot, Sheriff Clarke is almost certain to win re-election.   Continue reading “Sheriff Clarke Wins Primary & Defeats Bloomberg’s Attempt to Buy Election”

Consortium of Defense Analysts

Beginning in 1979, China opened itself to interactions with the West — economic, political, and social/cultural. Almost immediately, U.S. academics began prattling that China inevitably would liberalize its political system, that democratization is in the cards.

It’s now 35 years later.

None of the optimistic predictions came true. Instead, it’s “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (The more things change, the more they remain the same).”   Continue reading “China to “nationalize” Christianity”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Why is Obama now re-committing the U.S. military to Iraq? Why is France strongly backing military action?

Obama says it’s to protect minorities.    That’s nothing new.  Obama is the fourth president in a row to bomb Iraq … while claiming it is for humanitarian purposes.

But the architects of the Iraq War (the one which started in 2003) themselves admitted it was about oil.   Continue reading “The REAL Reason for New U.S. and French Military Involvement In Iraq”

Wall Street Journal – by Ashby Jones

Lawsuits against websites that facilitate private firearm sales might not fare much better, judging from a federal appeals court ruling handed down Tuesday.

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld a trial judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the brother of a woman killed with a handgun purchased through Armslist.com, an online marketplace for privately owned guns. The three-judge panel ruled that Armslist did not owe a “duty of care” to the plaintiff or his sister, and therefore the plaintiff could not prove negligence.   Continue reading “Online Gun Exchange Not Liable for Murder Victim’s Death, Appeals Court Says”

Reuters

U.S. crude oil production averaged an estimated 8.5 million barrels per day in July, the highest level since April 1987, the Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.

In its monthly short term energy outlook, the EIA also raised its crude production forecasts for this year to 8.5 million bpd from its previous estimate of 8.42 million bpd and for next year’s output to 9.3 million bpd from 9.27 million bpd previously.   Continue reading “U.S. crude oil production in July highest in 27 years: EIA”

Pro Liberate – by William Norman Grigg

Victor Pierce bears a resemblance to notorious death-cult leader Jim Jones, which is a tragic accident of nature. He also deeply imbibed the authoritarian Kool-Aid ladled out by the Homeland Security State, and force-fed it to the residents of Barry Township, Michigan, the tiny and unfortunate village where Pierce was employed as Chief of Police.

Like the Rev. Jones, Pierce demanded that everyone within the area of his claimed authority partake of the divinely inspired vision he has received.   Continue reading “Small-Town Praetorianism: Barry Township Rejects Victor Pierce’s Authoritarian “Vision””

KTLA 5 News – by JOHN A. MORENO, MELISSA PAMER AND NERISSA KNIGHT

Family members said Tuesday that a 25-year-old man was complying with police orders when he was fatally shot by LAPD officers in the Florence neighborhood South Los Angeles.

Patrol officers had “conducted an investigative stop” in the 200 block of 65th Street, and “during the stop a struggle ensued” and police opened fire, an LAPD news release issued midmorning Tuesday stated.Officers responded to a report of a possible officer-involved shooting at the intersection of West 65th Street and South Broadway (map) at 8:12 p.m. Monday, Lt. Ellis Imaizumi of the Los Angeles Police Department said Monday evening.   Continue reading “Police Fatally Shoot Man in South L.A.; Family Members Say He Was Lying Down When Shot”

Breitbart TV

ABC 13 in Houston reports that a car accident that killed six people, including a family of four, was caused by a man who was believed to be in the country illegally.

Juan Garcia Ahuezoteco fled from the police at up to 100 miles per hour after he was pulled over for a traffic violation, and ran a stop sign, causing him to crash into a family of four.  The family, Ahuezoteco, and his passenger were are all killed in the accident.  “Ahuezoteco had an outstanding felony warrant for Driving While Intoxicated” according to ABC 13.   Continue reading “Suspected Illegal Alien Kills Family of 4 in High Speed Chase”