From the Trenches World Report

New York Daily News – by ROCCO PARASCANDOLA

Has that broken window been fixed, Mrs. Johnson?

New Yorkers who dial 311 to complain about quality-of-life violations can expect a call back from police asking if they’re satisfied with how the problem was handled, the Daily News has learned.

In the wake of the Staten Island chokehold death of Eric Garner during his arrest for selling loose cigarettes, critics have called for the NYPD to abandon broken windows policing — cracking down on minor offenses to prevent more serious crime.   Continue reading “NYPD will call back New Yorkers who complain about quality-of-life violations”

Guilty as Hell and will go scott free.

New York Times – by Stephanie Clifford

For three days, the former chief of the Israeli military’s Palestinian Affairs Department delivered important, if a bit dry, testimony in the terrorism financing trial of Arab Bank in Federal District Court in Brooklyn.

The witness, Arieh Spitzen, had highlighted bank records showing Arab Bank routing payments to people who, he said, were widely known to be terrorists or members of Hamas.   Continue reading “At Trial, Arab Bank’s Lawyer Spars With Witness”

WEB Commentary – by Sher Zieve

Obama is allowing ISIL/ISIS to continue its blood lust of beheadings of Christians across the world. He has done nothing to stop it and, chillingly, has not even mentioned it except for a passing remark or two. Now, this group of Sunni Muslims (BTW…please remember that Obama’s “family” members–save one who is a conservative Christian shunned by the rest of the family–are all Sunni Muslim Brotherhood)–has beheaded 2 American journalists within the last 2 weeks. After a passing remark containing an almost ‘sorry it happened’ to the parents of beheaded journalist James Foley, Obama hurried off to make his tee time. He was later photographed high-fiving one of his golfing buddies and yucking it up on the links.   Continue reading “Obama has No Intention of Stopping ISIS”

Clarion Project

A US airstrike has killed the top aide to the Islamic State’s “caliph,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said today. The strike hit the city of Mosul, which the Islamic State has controlled since June. Another Islamic State figure was also killed in the strike.

The Arabic paper Al-Mayadeem reported the death at 11:35am local time. Abu Hajer el-Souri was described as “the right hand of al-Baghdadi.”   Continue reading “Right Hand of ISIS Leader Killed in U.S. Airstrike in Mosul”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

While NATO is contemplating its existential purpose in a world where the Cold War has suddenly come back with a vengeance, and the military alliance has found itself woefully unprepared to deal with a Russia which no longer accepts the supremacy of the west (appropriately enough NATO is doing this on a golf course) Russia is also strategizing, only instead of issuing “sharply-worded catchphrases” and hashtags, a Russian general has called for Russia to revamp its military doctrine, last updated in 2010,to clearly identify the U.S. and its NATO allies as Moscow’s enemy number one. That in itself is not disturbing: we reported as much yesterday and is merely more rhetorical posturing. Where things, however, get very problematic is that the general demands that Russia spell out the conditions under which the country would launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the 28-member military alliance.
Continue reading “Russian General Demands Preemptive Nuclear Strike Doctrine Against NATO”

Publius Forum – by Warner Todd Huston

Obama’s Illinois perennially ranks at the very bottom of every statistic that marks a successful state and a new report on America’s “sinkhole states” finds that Illinois again ranks at the very bottom this time for how much state debt each citizen is saddled with.

The statistics gathered by the excellent Chicago-based budget watchdog group Truth In Accounting calculated how much state debt–obligations like pensions, healthcare plans for retirees, etc–each citizen would have to pay to retire the debt in a lump sum.   Continue reading “Illinois a ‘Sinkhole State’: Rates Second Worst for Liability Per Taxpayer”

Press TV

“The people who collect tactical intelligence on the ground, day-to-day – and this isn’t Washington – but people collecting this stuff say they’re here, ISIS is here, they’re capable of striking,” Bob Baer told CNN, using another acronym for the terrorist group.   Continue reading “ISIL cells already in US, warns former CIA operative”

Concealed Nation – by Brandon

This story is incredible. This story is amusing. This story shares life lessons.

Let’s begin with the situation. A man woke up early one morning to use the bathroom. When he did so, he heard someone moving around inside his home. After retrieving his firearm, he goes to investigate the noise and comes across 25-year-old Bryan Remley going through his belongings.   Continue reading “Home Intruder To Homeowner: If You Let Me Go, I’ll Mow Your Lawn; Also, See the Importance of a Backup Gun”

Reuters – by DAVID SCHWARTZ

A family friend was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of first-degree murder and kidnapping after the body of a missing 8-year-old girl was discovered in a shallow grave in northwest Arizona, police said.

Justin James Rector, 26, who was staying at the girl’s home, was booked into Mohave County jail for the murder of Isabella Grogan-Cannella, said Bullhead City Police Chief Brian Williamson.   Continue reading “Family friend arrested after missing girl found dead in Arizona”

Bloomberg – by Joshua Green

Former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell was going to emerge from his bribery and corruption trial as either a convicted felon or a clueless, neglectful husband who didn’t realize a rich political donor was lavishing expensive, illegal gifts on his out-of-control wife. Either way, his political future was doomed. This afternoon a jury decided it: convicted felon.

McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were convicted on multiple counts of “conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud, honest-services wire fraud, conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right, and obtaining the property under color of official right.” The five-week trial in U.S. District Court in Richmond found that the two traded political influence for loans and gifts from a dietary supplement magnate, Jonnie Williams, valued at more than $170,000.   Continue reading “Virginia’s Ex-Governor Is Now a Felon”

Reuters – by Kate Kelland

A World Health Organisation-commissioned review of e-cigarettes contains errors, misinterpretations and misrepresentations, meaning policymakers may miss their potential health benefits, a group of tobacco addiction experts said.

In a critique of the WHO’s background paper on e-cigarettes, which acted as a blueprint for a WHO report last month calling for more regulation of the devices, the experts said its evaluation of the evidence was inaccurate.   Continue reading “WHO report gives misleading view on e-cigarettes, experts argue”

Continue reading “Happy Camp Fire Pictures”

KPCC 89.3

Firefighters battling a blaze threatening hundreds of homes in a far Northern California forest are expecting another day of strong winds that could again imperil homes.

But they did get some help from the weather on Wednesday, when winds pushed parts of the Happy Camp Complex Fire in the Klamath National Forest back onto itself. Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for some of the 270 homes they were affecting. The fire is threatening a total of about 750 homes in Siskiyou County.   Continue reading “Happy Camp Complex Fire: 77,000 acres burned, crews brace for gusty winds”

Fox News

Comedy legend Joan Rivers has died at the age of 81. She went into cardiac arrest on Aug. 28, and had been on life support at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers. She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends,” her daughter Melissa Rivers said. “My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother.”    Continue reading “Joan Rivers dead at 81”

Austin Statesman – by Marty Toohey

The writer and sociologist Joel Garreau once divided North America into nine regions, each with a distinctive cultural character. One, called MexAmerica, stretched from Southern California along the U.S.-Mexico border to South Texas. Its northern reach stopped just short of Austin.

Gus Garcia chuckles when he thinks about that boundary. Garreau drew it in 1981. That was before Garcia became the first Hispanic elected mayor of Austin. That was before Hispanics had moved in large numbers beyond the East Austin barrio to become a majority in wide swaths of North and South Austin. That was before a burgeoning Hispanic middle class emerged in Austin of doctors, lawyers, engineers, entrepreneurs, even police chief.   Continue reading “One Austin, muchas comunidades”