From the Trenches World Report

Mail.com

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane and Ukrainian troops were fired upon by missiles from a village inside Russia, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Security Council said Thursday.

The alleged episodes mark what Ukraine says is mounting evidence that Moscow is directly supporting the separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine who have been seen to have substantial quantities of powerful weapons in recent weeks.   Continue reading “Ukraine: Air Force jet downed by Russian missile”

Eureka Alert – Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

CHICAGO (July 16, 2014) – Cases of the highly contagious, drug-resistant bacteria, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), have increased fivefold in community hospitals in the Southeastern United States, according to a new study published in the August issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

“This dangerous bacteria is finding its way into healthcare facilities nationwide. Even this marked increase likely underestimates the true scope of the problem given variations in hospital surveillance practices,” said Joshua Thaden, MD, a lead author of the study. “A CRE epidemic is fast approaching. We must take immediate and significant action in order to limit the transmission of these dangerous pathogens throughout our hospitals and acute care facilities.”   Continue reading “Cases of drug-resistant superbug significantly rise in southeastern US”

Kim Komando

There were over 3,500 authorized wiretaps in the U.S. last year, mostly related to drug cases. One state, however, has far more wiretaps than any other based on its population.

That state is … Nevada. Data from the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts shows that the state had 38.2 wiretaps per 500,000 residents. That’s quite a bit considering Colorado came in second-place with 12.4!   Continue reading “You’re most likely to be wiretapped in this U.S. state”

Gun Watch – by Dean Weingarten

Many people claim that handguns are useless for protection against bears.   Numerous examples have shown that this is a false notion.   Handguns may not be ideal as defensive weapons for bears, but they can be effective.  In a defensive situation, you have to use what is available.   In this case, a homeowner in Alaska used a .45 against a brown bear that was trying to get into his house on July 7th of this year.  He and his son were in the home.   He had scared off the animal with some warning shots just three hours before.   Continue reading “AK: .45 vs 9-Foot Brown Bear”

Yahoo News

STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — Robbers fleeing a California bank took three women hostage and threw two of them from their getaway vehicle, as they fired repeatedly at police during a high-speed chase. Police shot out their tires but the shooting continued, fatally wounding two suspects and the last hostage.

The violence in this central California city erupted Wednesday afternoon when officers responded to a report of a robbery at a Bank of the West branch and spotted three men taking three female hostages from the bank at gunpoint, Stockton police officer Joe Silva said.   Continue reading “3 dead in California bank robbery, gunbattle”

The Common Sense Show – by Dave Hodges

UN Document Or Not, the Plot to Disarm America Is Commencing

The evidence is mounting that Obama and his colleagues at the United Nations are preparing for complete gun confiscation of civilian owned American guns. There is a new document, previously held secret, which has surfaced and clearly signals the intention of the United Nations to engage in gun confiscation in the relatively near future. The document is damning, however, the existence of the document is not even needed to prove the point that there is a major confrontation , brewing between the American people and an international peace-keeping UN force, right around the corner.   Continue reading “The UN Plot to Confiscate American Guns”

RT

Microsoft will cut a record 18,000 jobs next year, as the company’s new CEO Satya Nadella seeks to boost efficiency, according to a company memo on Thursday.

“The first step to building the right organization for our ambitions is to realign our workforce. With this in mind, we will begin to reduce the size of our overall workforce by up to 18,000 jobs in the next year,” Satya Nadella said in the memo published by Business Insider.   Continue reading “Microsoft announces biggest layoff in history, cutting 18,000 jobs”

Huffington Post – by Andres Jauregui

He’s just an ordinary guy, burning down the house.

Fire officials said a West Seattle man on a quixotic quest to rid his home of a vile spider ended up torching his abode on Tuesday evening.

The man told firefighters that he saw a spider in his laundry room and decided the best way to take care of it was with a lighter and a can of spray paint. He set his wall on fire, then the blaze quickly spread.   Continue reading “Man Burns Down House Trying To Kill Spider With Homemade Flamethrower”

AOL – by JOHN HEILPRIN

GENEVA (AP) — Texas blues legend Johnny Winter, known for his lightning-fast blues guitar riffs, his striking long white hair and his collaborations with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and childhood hero Muddy Waters, has died. He was 70.

Winter was a leading light among the white blues guitar players, including Eric Clapton and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, who followed in the footsteps of the earlier Chicago blues masters. Winter idolized Waters – and got a chance to produce some of the blues legend’s more popular albums. Rolling Stone magazine named Winter one of the top 100 guitarists of all time.   Continue reading “Blues Legend Johnny Winter Dies at 70 in Zurich”

Sent to us by a reader.

The two largest private prison providers in the U.S. each rake in tens of millions of dollars every year. How do they make their money, and what agreements are in place to protect their profits?   Continue reading “Private Prisons: The Injustice League”

It Ain’t Holy Water

Tech Dirt – by Mike Masnick

The self-assured nature of federal prosecutors can be quite insane. We’ve talked many times in the past about how the criminal justice system is completely rigged against anything remotely looking like fairness. From grand juries to plea bargains to sentencing guidelines, the entire system is designed to make anyone who enters it presumed guilty until their spirit is crushed and destroyed. In the last few years we’ve noted an even more disturbing trend: law enforcement creating their own plots, in which they lure (often gullible or marginalized) individuals into a convoluted criminal “plot” in which nearly all of the other players are fellow law enforcement folks (or informants). They then build up this big plot… wait until it’s about to go off (knowing it’ll never actually happen) and then arrest those they lured into it.       Continue reading “DOJ Claims Judge Who Trashed ‘Made Up Plot’ Should Be Removed For Being ‘Hostile’ To The Gov’t”

LA Times – by Tony Perry

A lawsuit filed on behalf of 30 strippers at two local nightspots was filed Wednesday seeking damages from the city of San Diego and the police chief for allegedly violating the strippers’ rights during licensing inspections.

The strippers were employed at Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club and Club Expose when members of the police department’s vice squad detained them and forced them to pose for pictures during “raids” in 2013 and 2014, according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court.   Continue reading “Strippers sue San Diego police over ‘nearly nude’ photos”