From the Trenches World Report

RT News

The text of a 19-page, international trade agreement being drafted in secret was published by WikiLeaks on Thursday as the transparency group’s editor commemorated his two-year anniversary confined to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Fifty countries around the globe have already signed on to the Trade in Service Agreement, or TISA, including the United States, Australia and the European Union. Despite vast international ties, however, details about the deal have been negotiated behind closed-doors and largely ignored by the press.   Continue reading “Secret trade agreement covering 68 percent of world services published by WikiLeaks”

Infowars – by Paul Joseph Watson

The Department of Homeland Security is set to pay for illegal minors up to the age of 17 to be escorted into the United States, according to a new solicitation posted at FedBizOpps.

Entitled ‘Escort Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children’, the solicitation reads;   Continue reading “DHS to Pay for Illegal Immigrants to be Escorted into U.S.”

Talking Points Memo – by Eric Lach

Off the Grid News – by Susan Patterson

If someone told you that your backyard may contain plants that could boost your immune system, improve your eyesight, relieve your upset stomach and help you fall asleep, would you believe them? Most people take for granted the fact that their yard, neighborhood or favorite spot in the woods are full of vegetation with therapeutic value.

However, Native Americans were quick to realize the value in plants. They have been practicing herbal therapy for thousands of years. Some believe that native medicine may be as old as 40,000 years old, although there was no early written language and nothing was documented until the Europeans arrived at the end of the 15th century.   Continue reading “5 Native American Survival Medicines Secretly Made At Home”

Canada Free Press – by Arnold Ahlert

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll reveals that President Obama’s overall approval rating has cratered to 41 percent, tying the low-water mark of his presidency.

Moreover, only half of those polled consider the president to be competent, a lower percentage than that accrued by George W. Bush following the pounding he and his administration took for its response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. One year later, Democrats took control of both houses of Congress. Whether the 2014 election will produce similar results remains to be seen.   Continue reading “Hope and Change Has Crashed and Burned”

RT News

Utah’s residents have had a contentious history with the federal government when it comes to public lands. Now one county in the state has taken things a step further, passing a resolution refusing to recognize federal agents.

Carbon County, located on the eastern side of Utah and named for the coal deposits in the region, unanimously passed the resolution against federal agents on June 4. The county board of commissioners specially singled out officials from the Bureau of Land Management in its prohibition.   Continue reading “Utah county follows Cliven Bundy’s lead, refuses to recognize federal agencies”

RT News

The British parliament was quickly evacuated following a security alert after a suspicious package was found in the visitor center in Westminster Hall.

Witness report that all traffic was at a standstill around Parliament Square, according to UK media.

Police called off the security alert after investigating a suspect device found near the X-ray machines at the entrance to Westminster Hall that was later found to pose no danger.   Continue reading “UK parliament evacuated after suspicious package found”

RT News

Lawyers for accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have petitioned Massachusetts to move the trial out of state, claiming the juror pool in Boston is already biased against their client.

The defense team asked a Massachusetts court Wednesday to have Tsarnaev tried in Washington, DC instead of Boston, citing “an overwhelming presumption of guilt in the District of Massachusetts.”   Continue reading “Lawyers ask to move trial of Boston Marathon bomber to Washington, DC”

RT News

An 89-year-old Czechoslovakian immigrant was arrested by federal officials in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Wednesday to face charges related to allegations that he worked for the Nazis at concentration camps during World War II.

The New York Times wrote on Wednesday that the case against Johann Breyer of Philly could very well be the last legal battle involving an accused Nazi to ever be held on US soil.   Continue reading “Last Nazi on trial? US authorities arrest suspected 89-year-old death camp guard”

Mail.com 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The deteriorating situation in Iraq is giving Congress pause about President Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, with fears that hard-fought gains could be wiped out by a resurgent Taliban.

Senior Obama administration officials insist Afghanistan is not Iraq, with a population far more receptive to a continued U.S. presence and the promise of a new unity government. But the officials could offer no assurances that Afghanistan won’t devolve into chaos after Americans leave, as Iraq has.   Continue reading “Iraq crisis stirs fears Afghanistan could be next”

Mail.com

PHOENIX (AP) — A teacher at an Arizona prison was alone in a room full of sex offenders before being stabbed and sexually assaulted by a convicted rapist, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press about an attack that highlighted major security lapses at the facility.

The attack occurred Jan. 30 at the Eyman prison’s Meadows Unit, which houses about 1,300 rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders. The teacher was administering a high school equivalency test to about a half-dozen inmates in a classroom with no guard nearby and only a radio to summon help. The Department of Corrections issued only a bare-bones press release after the attack, but the AP pieced together what happened based on interviews and investigatory reports obtained under the Arizona Public Records Act.   Continue reading “Left alone with a sex offender, a teacher is raped”

Mail.com

TENINO, Wash. (AP) — A deadly blast at a fireworks plant in Washington state came as workers were preparing shells for shipping, an Entertainment Fireworks official says.

The company produces professional fireworks shows around the region, Ken Julian, company operations vice president, said in a statement. After the explosion Wednesday morning, a 75-year-old man died of his injuries while awaiting an airlift to a regional trauma center.   Continue reading “ATF, Wash. investigate fatal fireworks explosion”

Mail.com

BAGHDAD (AP) — Sunni militants hung their black banners on watchtowers at Iraq’s largest oil refinery, a witness said Thursday, suggesting an ever-increasing stranglehold on the vital facility by insurgents who have seized vast territories across the country’s north. A top Iraqi security official and a militant fighting for control of the plant said the government still held it.

The fighting at Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said.   Continue reading “Militants fly their black flags over Iraq refinery”