From the Trenches World Report

RT News

Marijuana advocates in Alaska have obtained more than enough signatures to ensure voters there will have the opportunity this year to weigh-in on a measure that could legalize recreational marijuana, state officials admitted this week.

As of Tuesday, a petition that would let residents of the forty-ninth state vote to make pot legal for adults surpassed a 30,169 signature threshold, all but clearing the way for the issue to appear in ballot booths during elections there on August 19.   Continue reading “Alaska to vote on pot legislation this August”

RT News

An alliance of Native American communities has promised to block construction of the northern leg of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which, if approved by President Barack Obama, would carry crude tar sands oil from western Canada through the US to Texas.

In a joint statement entitled ‘No Keystone XL pipeline will cross Lakota lands,’ Honor the Earth, the Oglala Sioux Nation, Owe Aku, and Protect the Sacred declared their support for resistance action against energy corporation TransCanada’s building of the parts of the pipeline planned to cut through Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska before meeting with a constructed line in Kansas. The existing line would then move the crude tar sands through Oklahoma and into Texas for refineries on the Gulf Coast.   Continue reading “‘You shall not pass!’ Native American groups vow to block Keystone XL pipeline”

Sonoma County Gazette

Legislation authored by Senators Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) and Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) to regulate the appearance of toy, imitation or “copycat” guns passed out of its first policy committee with a 4-1 vote.  In an effort to stem a reoccurring tragedy involving toys being mistaken for real firearms Senate Bill 199, the Imitation Firearm Safety Act, would amend California law to define what an imitation firearm is and what those imitations must look like to differentiate real guns from fake guns.  Currently, toy guns such as airsoft and bb guns are not included in California’s legal definition of imitation weapons.    Continue reading “Bill to Regulate Toy Guns Advances in CA Senate”

RT News

The teenager who killed four people in a drunk-driving incident escaped jail for a second time and was sent to a rehabilitation center. His defense used the ‘affluenza’ strategy, insisting his privileged upbringing made the teen reckless.

‘Affluenza’, commonly viewed as selfish, immature behavior caused by a consumerist upbringing, is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as an official illness or diagnosis. The term – a portmanteau of ‘affluence’ and’ influenza’ – was coined in the 1970s and once again garnered attention in the mid-noughties, with psychologist Oliver James releasing a book on the subject.   Continue reading “Texas ‘affluenza’ teen who killed 4 in drunk driving avoids prison again”

Mail.com

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Wild West tradition of openly carrying your six-shooter on the street has long been banned in Texas under state law. But the next governor could change that.

Rising Democratic star and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis has joined her top Republican rival in supporting a proposed “open carry” law. It would allow people with concealed handgun licenses to wear a pistol on their hip, in full view, while in public.   Continue reading “Next Texas governor supports open carry law”

Mail.com

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Chuck Herron heard the loud thud, then another and another. It sounded like someone was dropping big snowballs on the roof of his home.

The house is more than 100 years old and creaks, Herron said, but he had “never heard anything like that before.” As his neighbors in tiny Paris, Mo., huddled around televisions Sunday for the Super Bowl, many were startled by similar strange noises. Some even saw flashes of light and called 911.   Continue reading “Mysterious noises traced to rare ‘frost quakes’”

Mail.com

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Police say Judy Lynn Hayman’s luck ran out after 37 years on the run not because of an intense manhunt but rather two disparate factors: bad weather that kept an investigator at his desk and her distinctive eyes that had never changed since her mug shot was taken.

San Diego police arrested the 60-year-old woman Monday at her San Diego apartment after receiving a mug shot from Michigan, where an officer staying off icy roads sent fingerprint cards for all old escapees to the FBI.   Continue reading “Disparate factors led to fugitive’s arrest”

The Truth – by Michael Snyder

When a real terrorist attack happens, sometimes we don’t hear about it until months afterward (if we ever hear about it at all).  For example, did you know that a team of snipers shot up a power station in California?  The terrorists destroyed 17 transformers and did so much damage that the power station was shut down for a month.  And it only took them 19 minutes of shooting to do it.  Of course most Americans have absolutely no idea that this ever happened, because they get their news from the mainstream media.  The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at that time says that this was “the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred”, and yet you won’t hear about it on the big news networks.  They are too busy covering the latest breaking news on the Justin Bieber scandal.   Continue reading “In 19 Minutes, A Team Of Snipers Destroyed 17 Transformers At A Power Station In California”

Bloomberg – by Joshua Brustein

Banks have been consistently uninterested in providing financial services to poorer Americans, but others are increasingly jumping at the chance to do so. The latest is the United States Postal Service (pdf), whose inspector general published a paper last week detailing how serving the so-called unbanked with savings accounts and small-scale loans could provide a valuable public service while shoring up the finances of the vulnerable agency.   Continue reading “Would the U.S. Postal Service Make a Better Banker for the Poor?”

The Blaze – by Jason Howerton

A former Republican lawmaker has contacted the FBI over allegations that Cover Oregon project managers misled the federal government about the progress of the state health insurance exchange in order to get millions of dollars in funding.

More specifically, KATU-TV reports that project managers allegedly “initiated the design of dummy web pages to convince the federal government the project was further along than it actually was.”   Continue reading “‘If It’s True, Someone’s Going to Prison’: Serious Allegations Hit Oregon’s State Health Insurance Exchange”

Small Thoughts for a Complex World – by C. Jeffery Small

Tick … Tick … Tick … Tick …   Continue reading “A Life of One’s Own? — Fugget About It!”

Breitbart – by WARNER TODD HUSTON

On February 3, news emerged that the city of Chicago, now run by former Obama right-hand man Rahm Emanuel, is issuing $900 million in bonds, $100 million of which is going directly to pay off plaintiffs of lawsuits against the city.

The city is attempting to issue the $900 million in bonds to lower some of its borrowing costs and to double its short-term credit line to $1 billion. But fully $100 million of that debt burden is going to pay off lawsuits, much of it to plaintiffs who won judgments against the city in police brutality cases.   Continue reading “Chicago Issues $100 Million in Bonds to Settle Police Brutality Cases”

MassPrivateI

FOIA request by Muclrock: DEA policies on “parallel construction”

Drug Enforcement Administration training documents released to MuckRock user C.J. Ciaramella show how the agency constructs two chains of evidence to hide surveillance programs from defense teams, prosecutors, and a public wary of domestic intelligence practices.   Continue reading “DEA manuals show how they train police to construct false chains of evidence”

CBS Denver – by Brian Maass

DENVER (CBS4) – The Denver District Attorney’s Office has declined to file criminal charges against a female Transportation Security Administration agent at Denver International Airport after a passenger complained the pat-down she received amounted to sexual assault.

“I felt sick to my stomach,” said Jamelyn Steenhoek, 39, when she learned Wednesday that Denver prosecutors were no longer pursuing her complaint and would not be filing criminal charges.   Continue reading “No Criminal Charges Against TSA Agent Over Pat-Down At DIA”

World Events and the Bible

(ZeroHedge) – While we are sure it is a very sad coincidence, on the day when Argentina decrees limits on the FX positions banks can hold and the Argentine Central Bank’s reserves accounting is questioned publically, a massive fire – killing 9 people – has destroyed a warehouse archiving banking system documents. As The Washington Post reports, the fire at the Iron Mountain warehouse (which purportedly had multiple protections against fire, including advanced systems that can detect and quench flames without damaging important documents) took hours to control and the sprawling building appeared to be ruined. The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately clear – though we suggest smelling Fernandez’ hands…   Continue reading “Argentine Banking System Archives Destroyed By Deadly Fire”

World Events and the Bible

(Anti-War) – Speaking to law students at the University of Hawaii today, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia discussed the Korematsu v. United States ruling of 1944, which affirmed the right of the US government to force people into internment camps regardless of citizenship.

Scalia said it was wrong for the court to make that ruling, and said the case has since been repudiated. At the same time, he cautioned that people are “kidding themselves” if they think the same thing couldn’t happen again.   Continue reading “Scalia: Internment Camps Could Happen Again”

Lake County News Sun – by Judy Masterson

The city of North Chicago has settled a lawsuit brought by a woman who said her 11-year-old son was threatened and physically abused by an on-duty police officer.

A civil suit filed in federal court in 2012 claims that a uniformed Casimir “Casey” Rincon walked into South Elementary School, 1812 Morrow Ave., and summoned an 11-year-old student into a hallway, then handcuffed the boy, slammed him into a locker and threatened him for allegedly bullying his son.   Continue reading “Settlement in 2012 case of North Chicago cop threat against student”

Yahoo News – by JAKE PEARSON and TOM HAYS

NEW YORK (AP) — Four people were taken into custody on drug charges after police investigating Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death executed search warrants, two people with knowledge of the investigation said Wednesday, and the medical examiner’s office said more tests are needed to determine what killed him.

There was no timetable for Hoffman’s autopsy to be finished, said medical examiner’s office spokeswoman Julie Bolcer, who declined to discuss the pending tests. Toxicology and tissue tests are typically done in such cases.   Continue reading “Hoffman autopsy inconclusive, further tests needed”

Mail.com

More than a million homes and businesses were left in darkness and cold Wednesday after snow, sleet and freezing rain moved into the Northeast. The region’s second winter storm of the week canceled classes, closed government and business offices and sent cars and trucks sliding on slippery roads and highways. Around a foot of snow fell in some states. Moving in overnight from the Midwest, where it wreaked similar havoc, the storm tested the region already battered by a series of heavy snows and below-freezing temperatures this winter.   Continue reading “Lights out for 1M as winter storm slams Northeast”