From the Trenches World Report

CBS Philly – by Chris Stigall

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall spoke with comedian Rob Schneider on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the struggle comedians face in today’s current political environment.

Schneider struck on ominous tone when discussing the path he sees the country on.

“Democracies don’t end well. We are sliding very fast towards fascism. It’s an ugly kind of thing. There’s this kind of mob mentality that we have to be careful of,” he said.   Continue reading “Rob Schneider Tells Chris Stigall: We Are Sliding Very Fast Towards Fascism”

Independent – by Heather Saul

Scientists have developed an “off-switch” for the brain to effectively shut down neural activity using light pulses.

In 2005, Stanford scientist Karl Deisseroth discovered how to switch individual brain cells on and off by using light in a technique he dubbed ‘optogenetics’. Continue reading “Scientists have built an ‘off switch’ for the brain”

Campaign for Liberty – by Megan Stiles

The unemployment rate for April plunged to 6.3 percent after 800,000 people left the labor force. The government defines the unemployment rate as the number of people actively looking for work divided by the labor force (those currently working + those actively looking for work). From Bloomberg:   Continue reading “800,000 people leave workforce in April”

Freedom Outpost – by David Risselada

As we witnessed the media spectacle that was the Don Sterling story unfold, there is an element of the story that is going completely unspoken. Everybody realizes that there is an elusive, slippery slope involved. If they can “ban” a basketball team owner from his own team after having his privacy invaded one day, what can they do to someone else on another? Make no mistake, Mr. Sterling’s privacy was invaded, and in my opinion, this is a perfect example of society being willing to give up their own privacy rights, for the sake of argument, in favor of slamming someone they detest. Little do they realize that someday, someone will detest something they, or someone they love, might say. Will the same rules apply then? As disgusting as Sterling’s words were, he still has the right to privacy. The fact that this conversation was released to a media outlet is as detestable as Sterling’s comments, in my opinion. If you disagree, wait until it happens to you.    Continue reading “The Unforeseen Consequences of the Don Sterling Story”

The Sleuth Journal – by Luis R. Miranda

United States and the Philippines have signed a military pact Monday, allowing greater presence of U.S. troops in the Asian country. The agreement, signed just hours before the arrival of U.S. President Barack Obama to Manila is part of the strategy of political, economic and military U.S. shift towards Asia.

Philippines, the oldest ally of Washington in the region, is the last leg of Obama’s Asian tour, which began on Wednesday of last week in Japan and then took him to South Korea and Malaysia, before landing at Manila, where he met with Philippine President Benigno Aquino. After the meeting, Obama said that the alliance, initially for ten years, will promote peace and stability in the region, and that the United States is not trying to renew old or build new foundations.     Continue reading “Obama Bribes Eastern Nations In Search For Support Of U.S. War Policies”

MassPrivateI

Apple, Facebook and Google all are updating their policies to expand routine notification of users about government data seizures, unless specifically gagged by a judge or other legal authority, officials at all four companies said. Yahoo announced similar changes in July.

As this position becomes uniform across the industry, U.S. tech companies will ignore the instructions stamped on the fronts of subpoenas urging them not to alert subjects about data requests, industry lawyers say. Companies that already routinely notify users have found that investigators often drop data demands to avoid having suspects learn of inquiries.
Continue reading “Whitehouse to give immunity to telecomm companies that allow them spy on Americans”

Washington’s Blog

Americans Turn Anti-War

The American people are now overwhelmingly opposed to more war in Ukraine, Syria, Iran and elsewhere.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows:   Continue reading “Polls: Americans Are Sick of the War On Terror, War On Drugs … And All of the Other Failed U.S. Wars”

Continue reading “They serve their Masters well”

RT News

Ongoing hydraulic fracking operations will only exacerbate seismic activity, leading to heightened earthquakes in areas where wastewater is injected deep underground, according to new research.

To unleash natural gas, hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – requires large volumes of water, sand, and chemicals to be pumped underground. Scientists attending the Seismological Society of America (SSA) annual meeting said Thursday that this storage of wastewater in wells deep below the earth’s surface, in addition to fracking’s other processes, is changing the stress on existing faults, which could mean more frequent and larger quakes in the future.   Continue reading “Fracking-linked earthquakes likely to worsen – seismologists”

RT News

Fifty-five US colleges and universities are currently under investigation in connection with allegations that they mishandled or ignored sexual assault and sexual harassment complaints, the US Department of Education announced Thursday.

A variety of schools – small, large, private, and public – are named on the list. Ohio State University, the University of California Berkeley, and Arizona State University are all included, listed alongside prestigious institutions like Princeton University, Dartmouth College, and Harvard University Law School.   Continue reading “55 colleges under investigation for mishandling sexual assault”

RT News

The US Environmental Protection Agency has revealed a proposal for mass use of Dow Chemical’s herbicide 2,4-D on the company’s genetically-engineered corn and soybeans. The GE crops were developed to withstand several herbicides, including 2,4-D.

Dow would be allowed to sell the herbicide if the EPA approves it following a 30-day public comment period.   Continue reading “​EPA advances approval of powerful weed killer for Dow’s ‘Agent Orange’ GMO crops”

The Boston Globe – by Evan Allen

The largest security training exercise in Boston’s history is slated to kick off at 8 a.m. Saturday with a simulated active school shooter drill in Brookline. It will continue with other drills during 24 hours and involve about 2,000 state and local personnel.

“The Urban Shield Program, as we’ve learned over the last year, is essential to our city’s safety at any time of crisis,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston.   Continue reading “Officials to hold largest security drill in Boston’s history”

News Watch – by Jonathan Smith

In January the Satanic Temple announced plans to erect a monument glorifying the Dark Lord on the front lawn of the Oklahoma Statehouse. An Indiegogo campaign was launched with what seemed like a somewhat lofty goal of $20,000, but by the time donations ended almost $30,000 had been raised. Now an artist trained in classical sculpture is toiling away in New York, crafting a Baphomet figure sitting beneath a pentagram and flanked by two children gazing upward in loyalty. When it is finished, it will be cast in bronze and, the Satanists hope, eventually displayed in Oklahoma.   Continue reading “Oklahoma Statehouse To Shrine A Satanic Monument”

CleveScene – by Eric Sandy

One of the big news items this week has to do with St. Edward High School, St. Ignatius High School and Gilmour Academy all kicking off a mandatory drug-testing program for their students in the fall. It’s an interesting story because no other schools in Northeast Ohio presently test their students for drug use.

Another interesting point of fact is that the president and CEO of Massachusetts-based Psychemedics – the company that will be conducting the tests – is Raymond Kubacki, brother of St. Edward High School President James Kubacki. The former is a St. Ignatius grad himself and a member of that school’s athletic hall of fame.   Continue reading “Mandatory Drug-Testing: President of Drug-Testing Company Is Brother of St. Edward High School President”

Huffington Post – by Christopher Mathias

The New York City Police Department has a problem: three officers in the span of a week have drunkenly fired their weapons at people, in one case striking a man six times as he sat in a car.

“These unfortunate incidents highlight the reality that lack of accountability at the NYPD has enabled a culture in which some officers believe they are above the law,” Priscilla Gonzalez of Communities United for Police Reform told The Huffington Post.   Continue reading “NYPD Cops Can’t Stop Getting Drunk And Shooting At People”