From the Trenches World Report

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”

Mail.com

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The family of a Texas teenager who killed four people in a drunken-driving wreck has agreed to pay more than $2 million to the family of a boy who was paralyzed in the accident, according to court documents detailing the first approved settlement in the case.

The liability insurer of Ethan Couch’s parents agreed to pay more than $1 million in cash and the rest in annuities to a trust established for Sergio E. Molina, who was among 12 people injured in the wreck last year near Fort Worth.   Continue reading “‘Affluenza’ teen’s family to pay victim $2M”

Mail.com

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Authorities are looking into whether marijuana or alcohol played a role in the case of a Montana homeowner accused of setting a trap and killing a German exchange student in his garage.

A newly published court document reveals Missoula police received a judge’s permission to test whether homeowner Markus Kaarma was drunk or high when he shot and killed 17-year-old Diren Dede. Officers found a jar of pot in Kaarma’s home the day he shot the teen, a police statement accompanying an April 28 request for a search warrant said. Kaarma also might have had marijuana stolen from his garage in a previous burglary, the document said.   Continue reading “Police: Pot might be factor in Montana killing”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Access to the White House complex was halted for about an hour Tuesday after a vehicle followed a motorcade carrying President Barack Obama’s daughters through the gates.

Uniformed agents immediately stopped the vehicle after it trailed in behind the motorcade at about 4:40 p.m. EDT, the Secret Service said. The driver, identified as Mathew Evan Goldstein, 55, was arrested and charged with unlawful entry. No hometown was given.   Continue reading “Car follows motorcade in, White House locks down”

Politico – by EMILY SCHULTHEIS

A candidate for Congress in Georgia said earlier this year that he’d rather see another terrorist attack on the United States than have Transportation Security Agency screenings at airports.

Bob Johnson, a doctor and Republican candidate in Georgia’s solidly-red 1st District, said at a February candidate forum that the TSA is “indoctrinating” Americans.   Continue reading “House candidate: I’d ‘rather see’ terror attack than TSA screening”

The New American – by Jack Kenny

The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the appeal of a New Jersey gun owner in Drake v. Jerejian, means the state may continue to deny most residents permits to carry a handgun outside their homes. The high court’s decision to deny a hearing, issued without comment Monday, apparently allows other states to also require, as New Jersey law does, the demonstration of a “justifiable need” to carry a firearm outside the home before a permit is issued. Critics say the law grants officials virtually unlimited discretion over a citizen’s right to bear arms. New Jersey state Senator Jeff Van Drew, who wants to amend the law, says the permits are rarely granted.   Continue reading “High Court Leaves Second Amendment in Limbo”

U-T San Diego – by Pauline Repard

VISTA — The Sheriff’s Department apologized, but now it is facing a Vista family’s lawsuit over a deputy who pepper sprayed and beat their 21-year-old son, who has Down syndrome, when he failed to obey the deputy’s orders.

Antonio Martinez, who has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old, suffered scrapes, bruises and eye irritation from the Dec. 18, 2012 encounter, according to the suit filed Thursday in Vista Superior Court.   Continue reading “Suit alleges deputy beat mentally disabled man”

Yahoo News

Chinese police will help patrol tourist destinations in Paris this summer after a rise in muggings and attacks on Chinese tourists, a source in France’s interior ministry said Tuesday.

More than one million Chinese visitors come to France every year and there have been concerns over a number of muggings and attacks against them.   Continue reading “Chinese police to help patrol Paris streets”

Politico – by Lauren French

The U.S. Capitol Police are investigating threatening emails against Rep. Trey Gowdy, the South Carolina Republican recently tapped to lead a special panel probing the Benghazi terrorist attacks.

The investigation comes after POLITICO reporters and journalists at other outlets received two emails on Tuesday warning that Gowdy would be harmed because of his role in investigating the 2012 attacks.    Continue reading “Police investigate threats against Trey Gowdy”