From the Trenches World Report

Fox News

The FBI has so far found no evidence that would warrant the Justice Department filing criminal charges in its investigation into the IRS targeting scandal, federal officials confirm to Fox News.

The findings, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, could intensify the debate over the scandal, in which the IRS allegedly targeted Tea Party and other conservative groups applying for non-exempt tax status for special scrutiny.   Continue reading “Officials say no evidence criminal charges warranted so far in IRS targeting probe”

Breitbart – by MATTHEW BOYLE

The omnibus spending bill before Congress continues to fund U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) advertising programs for food stamps in foreign countries like Mexico, Breitbart News has learned.

The bill was hashed out between House Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Senate Appropriations Committee chairwoman Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). The funding will continue despite claims in a document the House Appropriations Committee published that the bill contains a “prohibition” on such programs. Page three of this press document states regarding food stamps that the omnibus spending bill contains a “prohibition on advertisements or outreach with foreign governments.”   Continue reading “Omnibus Spending Bill Continues Funding Food Stamp Ads in Mexico”

Reuters

Efforts to renew emergency federal jobless benefits for 1.5 million Americans stalled in the Senate on Tuesday when Democrats and Republicans rejected each other’s proposals.

Both sides vowed to keep looking for a compromise, but it appeared unlikely they would find one before next week’s Senate recess.   Continue reading “Effort to extend jobless benefits stalls in Senate”

Kentucky.com – by BILL ESTEP

Two Kentucky water systems temporarily shut down their intakes early Monday as a plume of the chemical spilled last week in West Virginia passed in the Ohio River.

The cities of Ashland and Russell stopped drawing water from the Ohio after the chemical — 4-methycyclohexane methanol, or MCHM — reached Ashland at 5:30 a.m., according to the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection.   Continue reading “Two Kentucky water systems shut intakes as chemical plume passes in Ohio River”

New York Times – by EDWARD WYATT

WASHINGTON — Internet service providers are free to make deals with services like Netflix or Amazon allowing those companies to pay to stream their products to online viewers through a faster, express lane on the web, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

Federal regulators had tried to prevent those deals, saying they would give large, rich companies an unfair edge in reaching consumers. But since the Internet is not considered a utility under federal law, the court said, it is not subject to regulations banning the arrangements.   Continue reading “Rebuffing F.C.C. in ‘Net Neutrality’ Case, Court Allows Streaming Deals”

From Sovereign to Serf

Whether you think of it as an analogy or as an accurate portrayal of the human condition, Stefan Molyneux’s controversial essay about the rise and (hopefully) fall of the tax farmer will make you think. Early humans could only produce what they consumed. There was no excess for a slave master to steal, so there was no point owning slaves. However, when agricultural improvements allowed for excess crop production, human ownership became an advantage. History tells us that early governments were in fact a ruling class of slave hunters who believed that because humans could produce more than they consumed, they were worth capturing, breaking in and owning. Early Egyptian and Chinese empires were in reality human farms where captured humans were domesticated and owned like any other livestock. – KK   Continue reading “Human Farm: The Story of Your Enslavement”

ABC News – by LARA JAKES AP National Security Writer

The United States pledged Wednesday to send an additional $380 million in aid this year to help victims of Syria’s brutal civil war, but warned that international efforts to ease their suffering will fail if Syrian President Bashar Assad refuses to let humanitarian assistance get to people who need it.

The U.S. is the largest single international donor to the Syrian crisis. But its new funding commitment, announced by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, is only a fraction of the $6.5 billion the United Nation hopes to raise for aid to Syria in 2014.   Continue reading “US Pledges Additional $380m for Syria War Victims”

Washington’s Blog

Stunning Hypocrisy

The big banks have laundered hundreds of billions of dollars for drug cartels. See this, this, this, this, this and this (indeed, drug dealers kept the banking system afloat during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis).   Continue reading “Big Banks Launder Hundreds of Billions of Illegal Drug Cartel Money … But Refuse to Provide Services for Legal Marijuana”

The Ugly Truth

Israeli, American researchers publish work on new genetic risk factor for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder. The grounds of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

jpost.com

Israeli and American researchers investigating a healthy Ashkenazi Jewish population have identified a new genetic risk factor for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic-depression).   Continue reading “Researchers find new risk factor for two mental illness disorders in Ashkenazi genes”

Yahoo News – by Leticia Pineda

Apatzingán (Mexico) (AFP) – Mexican federal forces launched an offensive to take over security in a violence-torn western state, seizing a drug cartel’s bastion and clashing with vigilantes who refused to disarm.

A convoy of 200 military and federal police forces rumbled into Apatzingan and disarmed municipal police officers in the city, which is known as a stronghold of the Knights Templar gang in Michoacan state.   Continue reading “Mexican troops in deadly clash with vigilantes”

The Narcosphere

Pleadings in Federal Court Reveal ICE Undercover Operation Marked With CIA Fingerprints

Federal agents this past November raided the offices of an aircraft brokerage and leasing company called World Jet Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The raid, spearheaded by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, was launched on the heels of a DEA affidavit for a search warrant, which was filed in late October last year in federal court in Colorado as part of a case that is now sealed. The search-warrant affidavit was made available on the Internet after being obtained by a reporter for the Durango Herald newspaper.   Continue reading “DEA Case Threatens to Expose US Government-Sanctioned Drug-Running”

Mami’s Shit

Sodium bicarbonate, better known as baking soda, has been used for decades as a first line of defense against every kind of ‘acidic’ health problem – including cancer. Naturally, the question remains – is there any proof that baking soda is a defense against cancer or any other chronic dis-ease?

History has much to teach us about natural healthcare. In a booklet titled, Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Medical Uses – published in 1924, Dr. Volney S. Cheney explains his clinical successes in using sodium bicarbonate to treat both the common cold and flu. His comments are actually quite remarkable.   Continue reading “How baking soda helps cancer patients”

The Daily Sheeple- by Lily Dane

A Florida concealed carry permit holder had an unpleasant run-in with a Maryland police officer while traveling through the state.

John Filippidis and his family drove from Florida to New Jersey last December for Christmas and a wedding. He knew he’d be traveling through states that aren’t gun-friendly, so he left his gun at home.   Continue reading “Gun Owners: Be Careful if You Pass Through Maryland”

The New York Times – by DAVID E. SANGER and THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world that allows the United States to conduct surveillance on those machines and can also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks.

While most of the software is inserted by gaining access to computer networks, the N.S.A. has increasingly made use of a secret technology that enables it to enter and alter data in computers even if they are not connected to the Internet, according to N.S.A. documents, computer experts and American officials.   Continue reading “N.S.A. Devises Radio Pathway Into Computers”