From the Trenches World Report

RT News

For the first time in history, all three branches of American government are complicit in violating the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution by facilitating illegal surveillance, Ray McGovern, a former CIA officer, told RT.

The persecution-induced suicide of online activist Aaron Swartz, the sentencing of US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning and the Edward Snowden asylum saga have all made 2013 the year that saw a clampdown on whistleblowers. Yet the US government’s efforts to stifle this kind of activity will hardly stop the new tech-savvy generation from leaking sensitive data, McGovern believes, describing whistleblowing as “unstoppable.”    Continue reading “NSA stands for ‘No Such Amendment’: Intelligence agency violates US Constitution”

RT News

United States Customs and Border Patrol is under fire after a new report revealed that officials there confiscated nearly a dozen homemade instruments from a Canadian man and proceeded to destroy them.

Canadian-born flute player Boujemaa Razgui was flying from Marrakech, Morocco back home to New York when Customs officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport asked to see the instruments he had on hand. Razgui was carrying 11 instruments with him at the time, each of which was built himself and corresponded to varying sets of musical pieces.   Continue reading “TSA agents reportedly destroyed Canadian man’s 11 homemade instruments”

RT News

In a move that could potentially affect millions of American businesses and individuals alike, Congress is allowing billions of dollars in tax breaks to expire at the end of the year – and no one really knows why.

According to the Associated Press, Congress lets this set of 55 popular tax breaks expire almost every year, only to ultimately renew them retroactively so that Americans can still benefit when their tax returns are filed.   Continue reading “Billions in tax breaks expired at midnight”

RT News

A US federal judge has reaffirmed an Obama administration policy granting officials the authority to search Americans’ laptops, citing a controversial premise that makes citizens within 100 miles of the border eligible for a police check.

District Judge Edward Korman made his ruling in New York on Tuesday, more than three years after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit. The ACLU claimed that – since Americans put so much of their lives on their computers, cell phones, and other devices – border officials should have reasonable suspicion before sifting through someone’s personal files.   Continue reading “Constitution ‘exemption’ zone spans 100 miles inland of US border– judge”

Activist Post – by Chris Carrington

The FAA has announced that six states have been chosen for the testing of commercial drones. Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia have been chosen to host sites that will develop safety protocols and operational rules for commercial drones. The program will be complete by the end of 2015.

So the people in these states will now have to put up with drones flying overhead as researchers figure out how to make them safe for commercial use. That implies they are not currently safe for use. How many accidents and incidents are there going to be over the next two years?   Continue reading “Is Your State One of the Six Chosen for Drone Testing in 2014?”

Natural Health 365 – by Jonathan Landsman

Radiotherapy radiation wavelengths were recently found, by UCLA Johnson Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers, to transform breast cancer cells into highly malignant cancer stem cells. Clearly, it’s been shown, that the overuse of medical radiation (testing) can create cancer cells. In addition, we’ve been told that cancer rates are ‘soaring’ – but could western medicine be fabricating (falsely labeling) patients with cancer?

In reality, these breast cells were 30 times more malignant – post treatment. It is a known fact that a subpopulation of cancer stem cells, within tumors, will be made stronger and more malignant through chemotherapy and radiation.   Continue reading “Millions wrongly diagnosed with cancer”

Counter Punch – by MIKE WHITNEY

Millions of older Americans say they will never be able to retire. They simply don’t have the savings. According to CNN, “Roughly three-quarters of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with little to no emergency savings…50% have less than a three-month cushion and 27% had no savings at all….” (“76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck“, CNN Money)

“No savings at all”?   Continue reading “Don’t Plan on Retiring, Work Until You’re Dead?”

Activist Post

The number of states taking action against the indefinite detention provision contained within the National Defense Authorization Act is growing. Additionally, the strong wording of legislation, like that of New Hampshire’s bill to be introduced in early 2014, is a positive sign that the federal government is being put on notice that tyranny in America will not be tolerated. In fact, supporting such tyranny will be outright banned, and the local officers that cooperate with illegal federal dictates will be subjected to possible criminal prosecution.

Central to this opposition is the fine work conducted by The Tenth Amendment Center and P.A.N.D.A – People Against the NDAA. Their personal story for 2013 is available in the below chronicle from founder, Dan Johnson. It should serve as a template for the type of organization, strategy, hard work and determination that must exemplify activism as we move toward 2014. Many challenges await . . . and so do many victories.   Continue reading “People Against the NDAA: “The Resistance is Just Getting Started””

Breitbart – by DR. SUSAN BERRY

In March, conservative writer Michelle Malkin brought to light that at the heart of the controversy about the Common Core curriculum standards is an issue that has little to do with “college and career readiness.”

In fact, as Malkin wrote in National Review Online, the Common Core has initiated an entire stealthy student-tracking database that will allow the government access to private information from birth onward.   Continue reading “Children’s Privacy at Risk with Common Core Curriculum Standards”

Huffington Post – by Meredith Bennett-Smith

A Chinese doctor told officials on Monday that she is guilty of kidnapping seven infants and selling them to human traffickers for personal financial gain.

In front of a courtroom in Shaanxi province, former obstetrician Zhang Shuxiaadmitted to illegally obtaining and selling the babies, reports the BBC.

Zhang, who worked in Shaanxi’s Fuping Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital, sold the children between November 2011 and July 2013, per the BBC.   Continue reading “Chinese Doctor Kidnapped, Sold Babies; Could Face Death Penalty”

NewsMax – by Sandy Fitzgerald

Former NYPD Commissioner and 9/11 hero Bernard Kerik has filed a complaint with the New York state bar accusing his high-profile attorney Joe Tacopina of working with prosecutors to send him to prison.

Kerik was sentenced to time behind bars after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges and admitting accepting $165,000 in apartment renovations from a company that was allegedly tied to the mob, The New York Daily News reports.   Continue reading “Ex-NYPD Chief Kerik: My Attorney Helped Send Me to Prison”

AlterNet – by April M. Short

Perry Parks, a Vietnam combat veteran and highly decorated retired military officer of 28 years, says killing is an unnatural act.

I live on the east side of the Cascade Mountain Range in Oregon, and I am so tired of being chemically sprayed by high altitude jet aircraft. We have been hit every day for at least 90% of the days of past 6 weeks. The spray lines are either being placed right over Chiloquin like today, or they come in as an afternoon drift from the heavy morning spraying over the Pacific. If you remember your physics, fallout is always heavier at the higher elevations (4100 – 4200 feet in Chiloquin) as opposed to the west side of the Cascades (1382 feet in elevation in Medford, Oregon)

This means that the chemical fallout over the east side of the Cascades is much heavier in spray particulates which I think is making me sick. I have a headache which does not go away and a metal taste in my mouth. If you are skeptical about this, my east side brothers and sisters; go out right now and taste our snow. For a fleeting moment, you will find the cold snow taste delightful. The aftertaste however is a different story. It is incredibly metallic. It is actually frightening how bad the snow tastes. My dogs won’t eat it. I swear to Buddha, it is like licking a cookie sheet.   Continue reading “The Earth is a living place of sacred teachings. It is not an equation, not a static thing but an ever-flowing holy communication of meaning.”

Huffington Post

In one of his last acts as mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg signed legislation Monday banning electronic-cigarette use in indoor public places, as well as in city parks, beaches, and pedestrian plazas.

And in a final act of protest against the three-term mayor, one stubborn smoker lit a real, non-electronic cigarette inside City Hall, The New York Daily News reports.   Continue reading “Woman Lights Up Cigarette Inside City Hall As Bloomberg Signs E-Cigarette Ban Into Law”

New York Daily News – by DAVID HARDING

A man with a NYPD squad car has been arrested — by British police after he drove it in an English town.

The 33-year-old driver, Mark Knight, was arrested as he parked his car — complete with the iconic police livery – in the traditional market town of Guildford, close to London, while he went to buy a McDonald’s.   Continue reading “Man busted for driving real NYPD squad car — in England!”