From the Trenches World Report

New York Times – by ERIK ECKHOLM

A federal judge on Thursday evening declared that Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, in the strongest legal reversal yet of restrictive marriage amendments that exist throughout the South.

“Our Constitution declares that ‘all men’ are created equal,” wrote Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Norfolk. “Surely this means all of us.”   Continue reading “Federal Judge Overturns Virginia’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban”

Mail.com

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Just 87 votes at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee separated the United Auto Workers union from what would have been its first successful organization of workers at a foreign automaker in the South.

Instead of celebrating a potential watershed moment for labor politics in the region, UAW supporters were left crestfallen by the 712-626 vote against union representation in the election that ended Friday night.   Continue reading “UAW falls 87 votes short of major victory in South”

RT News

A member station within the Public Broadcasting Service announced Friday that it would return a $3.5 million grant to a former Enron executive who first provided the money to fund an anti-pension series.

WNET, the New York City affiliate of PBS, said production on the planned series, dubbed “Pension Peril,” would be suspended indefinitely after journalist David Sirota of PandoDaily revealed the money was coming from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.   Continue reading “PBS returns millions to anti-pension crusader who funded TV series”

RT News

Frustrated by the deadlock of the second round of Geneva 2 talks, Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered to supply the rebels with anti-aircraft missiles. Meanwhile Russia has accused the US of once again hijacking peace talks and pushing for regime change.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Russian-made antitank guided missiles and Chinese man-portable air-defense systems are up for grabs, already waiting in warehouses in Jordan and Turkey.    Continue reading “Saudi Arabia to supply Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles – report”

RT News

Tokyo suggested that it would allow the US to bring nuclear weapons into Japanese territory in the event of a serious threat to its security.

In a briefing with lawmakers, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida outlined conditions that would lead Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government to make exceptions to Japan’s longstanding posture against possessing, producing, or allowing nuclear weapons within the nation’s borders, Kyodo News reported.   Continue reading “Japan indicates US could bring nukes into its territory in case of emergency”

Red Ice Creations – by Elizabeth Leafloor

A new study has been released that shows that bees in urban areas are building their nests out of plastic.

The study observing the ecology of modern bees, as reported in EcoSphere, has surprised the scientific community with its findings.    Continue reading “In ubran areas bees are making hives out of plastic”

Activist Post – by Brandon Turbeville

As a survivor of the Icepocalypse that recently gripped much of the South in crippling power outages and freezing temperatures, at least three lessons can be deduced from the experience.

1. A very small minority of people are equipped to deal with an emergency in a competent fashion.
2. A slightly larger number of people attempt to be prepared but fall short if the emergency persists.
3. The vast majority of people are wholly unprepared for even a slight disturbance in their usual routine or living conditions.   Continue reading “Half-Prepping Equals NO Prepping: Lessons From The Icepocalypse”

Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday pledged $1 billion in loan guarantees for Middle East ally Jordan and the renewal of a five-year aid package.

Obama made the announcement while meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah at a summit at a California retreat. Jordan, one of the United States’ closest allies in the Middle East, is a regional player in diplomatic efforts seeking peace in the turbulent region and is one of two Arab countries, the other being Egypt, that has signed a peace treaty with Israel.   Continue reading “Obama pledges $1 billion in loan guarantees for Jordan”

Fox News – by Judson Berger

Wyoming officials are taking the Environmental Protection Agency to court in a bid to reverse a sweeping agency ruling that transferred more than 1 million acres of land — including an entire city — to Native American tribes.

Wyoming Attorney General Peter K. Michael filed his state’s appeal Friday morning before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. The state wants either the EPA to reverse, or the courts to overturn, a December ruling on a request from the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes.    Continue reading “Wyoming officials take EPA to court after ruling gives land to tribes”

CNN – by Greg Botelho

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck Friday night in west-central South Carolina, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake was the strongest to hit South Carolina since 2002, local emergency management officials said.   Continue reading “4.1 magnitude quake strikes in South Carolina”

IB Times – by Meagan Clark

Daily Mail – by WILLS ROBINSON

Devastating storms that have dumped as much as 40 inches of snow on parts of the United States and caused widespread flooding in the UK are combining over the Atlantic, weather experts have revealed.

Incredible satellite imagery from NASA’s Worldview shows the monster storms swirling ‘arm-in-arm’ across the ocean.   Continue reading “American and British storms are ‘holding hands’ over Atlantic: Systems that wreaked havoc on two continents are combining”

Huffington Post – by Ryan J. Reilly and Matt Ferner

WASHINGTON — The federal government issued guidelines on Friday that officials said were intended to increase the financial services available to marijuana businesses that are legal under state laws.

Guidelines announced by the Treasury Department and a memo from a top Justice Department official were intended to ease concerns that the federal government would target banks working with marijuana-related businesses that are legal and regulated on the state level. Expanded banking access will enable them to function like traditional businesses, and implementing a reporting structure will allow the federal government to take a close look at how they operate. Continue reading “Feds Move To Fix Pot Shops’ Banking Problems”

[SATIRE] A very big thanks to Michigan member M.P. who sent in this bit of humor, which was forwarded from a senior-level person at Chrysler. The date on this note was Sunday, July 19, 2009:

Monday morning, I attended a breakfast meeting where the speaker/guest was D.C., Chairman of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR and Professor at U. of M.). you all have likely heard CAR quoted, or referred to in the auto industry news lately.   Continue reading “Do You Appreciate the Laws of Physics?”

Jon Rappoport

Edward Snowden worked for Booz Hamilton, a private company, and was assigned by his employer to work at the NSA.

The infamous Carlyle Group owns a majority stake in Booz Hamilton.

Carlyle manages global assets of roughly $170 billion. The companies it invests in employ 650,000 people.   Continue reading “Snowden, Booz Hamilton, Carlyle, and the spider web”

Townhall – by Katie Pavlich

Earlier this week the Obama administration announced the Obamacare mandate for medium sized businesses will be delayed again until 2015. The announcement came after a long list of delays, 27 of them, that the White House has unilaterally made to the law without the consent of Congress. Now, the RNC has released a handy infographic to keep track of it all.   Continue reading “Obamacare Changes in One Infographic”