From the Trenches World Report

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the next month, two of President Barack Obama’s closest first-term advisers will spill insider details on the administration’s handling of the early days of the recession, the White House’s cautious response to Syria and the genesis of clandestine talks with Iran.

The memoirs are from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ex-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and the latest examples of confidants signed to big book contracts to examine a presidency not yet over and policy decisions still being implemented.   Continue reading “Obama’s top advisers set to spill insider details”

Intellihub – by Shepard Ambellas

The story changes yet again as officials now say the plane may have landed, says at least one report.

As we all know, the Flight 370 story has been the center of controversy in the press ever since it was reported missing on Mar. 8, 2014, even overshadowing the Ukrainian conflict for the most part.   Continue reading “Gee, ya’ think? Officials now say flight 370 landed”

Organic Prepper 

It’s probably no surprise that the young people of today aren’t particularly independent.  Not only does the “education” system take great pains to mold them into follow-the-herd, terrified automatons, society in general doesn’t force them to do much for themselves either.

My oldest daughter recently came home for summer vacation and we discussed her first year of college.  She told me that her younger sister, age 13, was much more mature and competent than many of the kids in her student apartment building.  ”I had to show a bunch of them how to do laundry and they didn’t even know how to make a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese,” she said.  Apparently they were in awe of her ability to cook actual food that did not originate in a pouch or box, her skills at changing a tire, her knack for making coffee using a French press instead of a coffee maker, and her ease at operating a washing machine and clothes dryer.  She says that even though she thought I was being mean at the time I began making her do things for herself, she’s now glad that she possesses those skills.  Hers was also the apartment that had everything needed to solve everyday problems: basic tools, first aid supplies, OTC medicine, and home remedies.   Continue reading “Raising Competent Kids in an Incompetent World”

Defense One – by Patrick Tucker

Virtually every country on Earth will be able to build or acquire drones capable of firing missiles within the next ten years. Armed aerial drones will be used for targeted killings, terrorism and the government suppression of civil unrest. What’s worse, say experts, it’s too late for the United States to do anything about it.   Continue reading “Every Country Will Have Armed Drones Within Ten Years”

AlterNet – by Martha Rosenberg

There is good news and bad news when it comes to the nation’s decade-long opioid/heroin addiction epidemic. The good news is the government has cracked down on pill mills, strengthened warnings on pill labels and approved an injectable form of naloxone which reverses heroin overdoses and will reduce deaths in the hands of caregivers and police.

The bad news is on the same day the FDA announced plans to tighten restrictions on hydrocodone combination products like Vicodin, it approved the long-acting drug Zohydro made from hydrocodone bitartrate which has five to 10 times the abuse potential of the infamous OxyContin. The FDA did so over the objections of many medical and public health groups and its own advisory committee. And even as public health professionals are outraged by the FDA’s tin ear and refusal to learn from the opioid addiction epidemic, a pill that combines oxycodone with morphine is also inching its waytoward approval.   Continue reading “Who Is Behind the Pain Killer Epidemic? Big Pharma, Of Course”

BBC

Villagers in west Sri Lanka have said they have been surprised and delighted by an unusual rainfall of small fish.

The edible fish fell during a storm and are believed to have been lifted out of a river during a strong wind.

Villagers in the district of Chilaw said they heard something heavy falling and found scores of fish with a total weight of 50kg (110lbs).   Continue reading “Fish rain down on Sri Lanka village”

Paul Craig Roberts

Anyone who looks carefully behind the veil of words cannot find democracy in America. For years I have been writing that the US government is no longer accountable to law or to the people (see, for example, my book, How America Was Lost). The Constitution has been set aside, and the executive branch is degenerating into Caesarism.

Government is used to impose agendas that result from the symbiotic relationship between the neoconservative ideology of US world hegemony and the economic interests of powerful private interest groups, such as Wall Street, the military/security complex, the Israel Lobby, agribusiness, and extractive industries (energy, mining, and timber). Dollar imperialism, threats, bribes, and wars are means by which US hegemony is extended. These agendas are pursued without the knowledge or approval of the American people and in spite of their opposition.

Continue reading “Gangster State America”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

During a May 6th speech at a National Council for Behavioral Health conference, while making the case that gun laws are far too lenient and need to be “reined in,” Hillary Clinton asserted, “We’re way out of balance” on guns.

According to the National Journal, “Clinton said she supports Second Amendment rights, [but] she added that there needs to be a proper trade-off between safety and freedom.”   Continue reading “Hillary Clinton: Gun Law are too Lenient, Must be ‘Reined In’”

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

An idea the government has been kicking around since 2011 is finally making its debut. Calling this move ill-timed would be the most gracious way of putting it.

A few years back, the White House had a brilliant idea: Why not create a single, secure online ID that Americans could use to verify their identity across multiple websites, starting with local government services. The New York Times described it at the time as a “driver’s license for the internet.”

Sound convenient? It is. Sound scary? It is. Continue reading “US Government Begins Rollout Of Its ‘Driver’s License For The Internet’”

WMUR

CONCORD, N.H. —If a New Hampshire man thinks cops lie, he’s free to say so on his license plate, the state’s highest court ruled Wednesday.

In a unanimous decision, the state Supreme Court agreed with the arguments of David Montenegro, who wanted the vanity plate reading “COPSLIE” to protest what he calls government corruption.   Continue reading “Court rules state violated free speech in ‘COPSLIE’ license plate case”

RT News

Celebrity-stacked Beverly Hills has become the first municipality in California to ban the practice of hydraulic fracking, or fracking, along with acidization and other extreme well stimulation techniques.

The initial push for legislation happened last month and was confirmed by Tuesday’s city council vote, which was unanimous. The law will come into effect June 6, Reuters reported.   Continue reading “Fracking banned in Beverly Hills – a first for California”

Forbes – by Ryan Mac and Brian Solomon

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group filedregistration documents on Tuesday to go public in the U.S. in what may be one of the biggest initial public offerings in American history.

While the average U.S. consumer may be unfamiliar with Alibaba and its operations, Tuesday’s F-1 filing gives a clearer look into a business that accounts for 80% off all Chinese e-commerce and will rank among the world’s largest technology firms–among them IBM IBM -0.34% and Oracle ORCL -0.98%–once it goes public. Analysts recently polled by Bloomberg News valued the company at nearly $170 billion, while some expect that valuation to surpass $250 billion, once it starts trading.   Continue reading “Chinese E-commerce Giant Alibaba Files For IPO”

RT News

An agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been detained in Pakistan after allegedly attempting to bring a 9 millimeter pistol magazine and 15 bullets on board a plane in Karachi.

Officials told the Washington Post that the agent, whose name was not revealed, was taken into custody Monday afternoon upon trying to board a flight to Islamabad.   Continue reading “FBI agent on sensitive job in Pakistan arrested on terrorism charges”

Mail.com

CARTHAGE, Texas (AP) — A former mortician whose killing of a rich widow shook an East Texas town and later inspired a movie is a free man after a judge agreed to reduce his life sentence and release him on bond.

Bernie Tiede’s freedom Tuesday was part of an agreement with the same district attorney who prosecuted him for the death of his 81-year-old longtime companion, Marjorie Nugent, who disappeared in 1996 and was found dead in a freezer in Carthage nine months later.   Continue reading “Former mortician set free in Texas slaying case”

Police State USA

KALAMAZOO, MI — A family was terrorized and accosted when a masked paramilitary outfit unexpectedly broke through their back door.  Frightened children hid in a closet as the masked invaders spent hours tearing apart all the possessions in the home.  The family assumed they were being attacked by robbers, but it turned out to be a SWAT team sent from the local “Department of Public Safety.”

The incident happened on May 1st, and has been the source of continued nightmares for the two children who experienced it, ages 7 and 8.   Continue reading “Kids traumatized after SWAT team ransacks wrong home”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Update: moments after we posted this, Putin did his best to bring attention to just this matter:

• PUTIN CALLS TO POSTPONE MAY 11 REFERENDUM TO EASE UKRAINE TALKS

And naturally, since there will be no delay as Kiev does not even bother to discuss the referendum while Donetsk will push on but certainly aware of Putin’s distance-providing “reservation”, Putin will “sadly” have to accept the referendum results.   Continue reading “The Next Big Catalyst: East Ukraine May Be Officially Indepedent In Seven Days”