From the Trenches World Report

Tenth Amendment Center

The movement to thwart NSA spying at the state level continues to grow, with Iowa becoming the 15th state to consider legislation denying support to the spy agency.

On Wednesday, Iowa state Senator Jake Chapman introduced the Fourth Amendment Protection Act. If SF2172  becomes law, the state, it agencies or political subdivisions will not “provide material support for participation with or assistance to, in any form, any federal agency which claims the power, or which purports due to any federal law, regulation, or order, to authorize the collection of electronic data or metadata of any person pursuant to any action not based on a warrant that particularly describes the person, place or thing to be searched or seized.”   Continue reading “Fifteen and Counting: Iowa to consider legislation against NSA spying”

Yahoo News – by Paul Elias

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A divided federal appeals court has struck down California’s concealed weapons rules, saying they violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that California is wrong to require applicants to show good cause to receive a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The court ruled that all law-abiding citizens are entitled to carry concealed weapons outside the home for self-defense purposes.   Continue reading “Court tosses California’s concealed weapons rules”

Huffington Post – by KAY JOHNSON

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Disregarding heated American protests, Afghanistan released 65 accused militants from a former U.S. prison on Thursday, despite warnings that the men are dangerous Taliban fighters and bomb-makers likely to return to killing foreign forces and Afghans.

The freeing of the men from the Parwan Detention Center further strains relations between Washington and President Hamid Karzai. The Afghan leader’s increasingly anti-American rhetoric and refusal to sign a long-negotiated bilateral security deal has heightened uncertainty ahead of the year-end withdrawal of most international forces.   Continue reading “Afghanistan Frees 65 ‘Dangerous’ Inmates, Despite Protests From U.S. Military”

Weekly Standard – by Michael Warren

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The tea party is teeing off on Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Matt Bevin, who is challenging McConnell in the GOP primary in Kentucky, seized on the senator’s vote Wednesday to move ahead on legislation to increase the nation’s debt limit, describing it as a blank check for President Barack Obama. The tea party-backed businessman and conservative groups signaled they won’t let Senate Republican incumbents forget the vote this election year.   Continue reading “Tea party tees off on McConnell after debt vote”

Mail.com

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Profuse sweating betrayed Nicole Bartscher’s internal panic over having 10 pounds of cocaine strapped to her body as she negotiated her way through Lima’s international airport in 2010 for a flight to the Netherlands.

Policewomen took the heavyset hairdresser aside, told her to strip and found the drug packages bound to her torso and legs. After a body cavity search, they arrested Bartscher and shuttled her to a crowded holding cell, where she slept on the floor, hungry and cold.   Continue reading “Foreign drug mules in Peruvian parole purgatory”

WND – by JACK MINOR

With Democrats facing a real possibility of losing the Senate this November, the Communist Party USA has announced the cavalry is planning to ride to their rescue by helping unite the left and stave off “right-wing extremism.”

The plans were announced during a web streaming event held by party Chairman Sam Webb Wednesday titled “Taking care of the future: from here to socialism.”   Continue reading “Communists to Obama: We’ve got your back”

Mail.com

HOPEWELL, Va. (AP) — Federal agents intercepted the wealthy Iranian entrepreneur at a U.S. airport, questioned him about his business and charged him with illegal export of American-made satellite equipment to his native country.

Seyed Amin Ghorashi Sarvestani pleaded guilty soon afterward, but changed circumstances now have encouraged him to challenge his 30-month prison sentence. Since his plea, the federal government has approved for export to Iran the very products he was convicted of helping ship, his lawyers say. Then federal prosecutors in New York told a judge after the sentencing hearing that they had mistakenly exaggerated the equipment’s capabilities. The judge hasn’t moved to change the sentence, though lawyers for both sides are continuing to press their arguments.   Continue reading “Iranian satellite case in NY takes complex turn”

Mail.com

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The latest storm to roll off nature’s assembly line during this bustling winter spread heavy snow and sleet along the Northeast corridor Thursday, while utility crews in the ice-encrusted South labored to restore power to hundreds of thousands of shivering residents.

The storm shuttered schools and businesses, made driving scary, grounded thousands of flights and made more back-breaking work for people along the East Coast, where shoveling out has become a weekly chore — sometimes a twice-weekly one.   Continue reading “Another storm hits Northeast; ‘Oh, no, not again’”

Mail.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comcast Corp. will buy Time Warner Cable Inc. for about $45.2 billion in a deal that would combine the nation’s top two cable TV companies and create a dominant force in creating and delivering entertainment.

The all-stock deal, which was approved by the boards of both companies, trumps a proposal from Charter Communications to buy Time Warner Cable for about $38 billion. It is expected to close by the end of the year, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.   Continue reading “Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion”

Police State USA – by Marlon Brock

Americans are not typically aware of how their federal and state prison systems work. What we think we know, we learned from watching television. When I took my first walk through at FCI (Federal Correctional Institution) El Reno Oklahoma as a new employee, I was surprised at how non-Hollywood real prison life is. Frankly, all I knew about prison life was what I saw on television or at the movies. Not even close.     Continue reading “10 Prison Security Techniques Being Implemented on the American People”