From the Trenches World Report

MassPrivateI

Under Maryland law, jurisdictions that operate speed cameras face strict limits on how much revenue can be generated and what local officials can buy with the money. Last month, the city council in Salisbury voted unanimously to take the automated ticketing cash and buy Glock training handguns, Tasers and a device that police can use to crack passwords and download data off the cell phones of motorists during a traffic stop.   Continue reading “Police use speed camera cash to Taser, shoot & spy on motorists”

RT News

Amid public outcry over China’s increasingly unsustainable levels of pollution and environmental destruction, the government is reconsidering its ‘economic growth at all cost’ strategy.

The ruling Communist Party has announced it will place more emphasis on environmental protection when monitoring the performance of local officials, holding them directly responsible for excessive levels of pollution and ecological damage, Reuters reported.   Continue reading “Smog-choked China shifts gears in effort to reverse environmental damage”

Mail.com

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s newest Martian explorer is on its launch pad in Florida, ready to soar.

The Maven spacecraft was scheduled to blast off aboard an unmanned Atlas V rocket Monday afternoon. NASA is sending Maven to Mars to study its upper atmosphere. Scientists want to know why Mars went from being warm and wet during its first billion years, to the cold and dry place it is today.   Continue reading “NASA launching robotic explorer to Mars”

RT News

Indonesia is recalling its ambassador to Australia over allegations that Canberra listened in on phone conversations of the Indonesian president.

Indonesia said the ambassador was being called to Jakarta for“consultations”.

The move by Jakarta comes as the Australian Department of Defence and the Defence Signals Directorate, or DSD, (now known as the Australian Signals Directorate), has been accused of monitoring the phone calls of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife Kristiani Herawati, as well as eight other high-ranking officials, including the vice president, Boediono.    Continue reading “Indonesia recalls its Australian ambassador alleging phone-taps on President Yudhoyono”

Mail.com

HONG KONG (AP) — When Hong Kong intercepted yet another huge shipment of illegal African ivory in early October, it added to a growing headache for authorities: What exactly do you do with one of the world’s biggest stockpiles of elephant tusks?

Government warehouses in the former British colony are holding more than 30 metric tons of ivory seized since 2008, as customs agents intercept a surging amount of endangered animal products being smuggled to mainland China to meet demand from the country’s newly wealthy.   Continue reading “Ivory seizures swell hidden Hong Kong cache”

Mail.com

TORONTO (AP) — Beset by scandal, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford faces another likely setback Monday as the City Council takes up a motion to strip him of most of his remaining powers.

Under the motion, already endorsed by a majority of council members, Ford would in effect become mayor of Canada’s largest city in name only. The council does not have the power to remove Ford from office, barring a criminal conviction. It is pursuing the strongest recourse available after recent revelations that Ford smoked crack cocaine and his repeated outbursts of erratic behavior.   Continue reading “Toronto council poised to strip mayor of powers”

Mail.com

TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — When a newspaper for Filipino workers in New Zealand told readers how to donate to the typhoon relief effort in their homeland, it mentioned agencies like the Red Cross but not a list of government bank accounts that the Philippine Embassy had sent over.

“I’m not going to mince words,” said Mel Fernandez, the editorial adviser for the Filipino Migrant News. “We would like every cent to reach those poor people there rather than getting waylaid.” Corruption is a concern after any major natural disaster, as millions of dollars in cash and goods rush in from around the world. But those worries are especially acute in the Philippines, where graft has been a part of life for decades.   Continue reading “Philippine corruption magnifies effects of typhoon”

Mail.com

SEATTLE (AP) — Dot-bong, Marijuana Inc., the Green Rush: Call it what you will, the burgeoning legal marijuana industry in Washington state is drawing pot prospectors of all stripes.

Microsoft veterans and farmers, real estate agents and pastry chefs, former journalists and longtime pot growers alike are seeking new challenges — and fortunes — in the production, processing and sale of a drug that’s been illegal for generations.   Continue reading “Prospectors seek fortune in legal pot”

Militia News

The federal government is constructed by the parameters laid out in the Constitution. The Constitution lays out the powers of each branch of government and how they play together. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution lays out the exact powers of the Legislature, written as follows:

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;   Continue reading “Why The Socialist Progressive Movement Is Unconstitutional”

Militia News

Progressives are the ones who leaped us into a “war to end all wars,” the end of which brought about the rise of Adolf Hitler. Progressives are responsible for this country having ever been segregated. Progressives are the ones who created the idea of an American Empire, and later a global authority that is referred to as the New World Order, but we know it as the United Nations. Progressives caused every economic collapse the United States has ever seen from 1920 to 2010. Progressives broke the back of the US automakers, and created our dependence on foreign oil.   Continue reading “The Corruption And Lies Of Progressives”

The Eagle – by MICHAEL BARNES Austin American-Statesman

WEST LAKE HILLS — With effort, Craig Denham heaves open the heavy metal door.

Mail.com

BERLIN (AP) — A retired Minnesota carpenter, shown in a June investigation to be a former commander in a Nazi SS-led unit, ordered his men to attack a Polish village that was razed to the ground, according to testimony newly uncovered by The Associated Press. The account of the massacre that killed dozens of women and children contradicts statements by the man’s family that he was never at the scene of the 1944 bloodshed.

In June, an AP investigation found that Michael Karkoc entered the U.S. in 1949 by failing to disclose to American authorities his role as a commander in the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion, which is accused of torching villages and killing civilians in Poland. The investigation found that Karkoc was in the area of the massacres, but did not uncover evidence linking him directly to atrocities.   Continue reading “Soldier: Minneapolis man ordered Nazi-led attack”

Digital Trends – by Andrew Couts

If you think a Bluetooth headset makes you look like a tool, how about replacing it with a … throat tattoo?

That’s right, a throat tattoo. Google-owned Motorola has received a patent for a smartphone-connected system “that comprises an electronic skin tattoo capable of being applied to a throat region of a body.”   Continue reading “Who needs Bluetooth headsets? Motorola patents ‘neck tattoo’ smartphone accessory”

Yahoo News – by GILLIAN MOHNEY and ANTHONY CASTELLANO | Good Morning America

Search and recovery operations are underway after severe storms and tornadoes wreaked havoc on the Midwest, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more after powerful winds flattened homes and decimated much of the town of Washington, Ill.

A sixth death was confirmed late Sunday night after 81 reports of tornadoes ripped through the Midwest earlier in the day. One of the tornadoes in New Minden, Ill., was estimated to be an EF 4 with winds up to 200 mph.   Continue reading “At Least 6 Dead in Illinois After Tornadoes, Storms Damage Homes”

The Crime Report – by Waldo D. Covas Quevedo

When defense lawyer Fermín L. Arraiza-Navas sat down with a prospective client in San Juan, Puerto Rico last April, he casually asked the man about the Global Positioning System (GPS) ankle bracelet that he was wearing as a condition for his bail.

The reply was just as casual.

“They speak to me through that thing,” the man said.   Continue reading “Caution: Your GPS Ankle Bracelet Is Listening”

McClatchy DC – by Matthew Schofield

BERLIN — To appreciate the scope and impact of a joint investigative series by the highly regarded German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and German public television station NDR on the depth of American trespasses in this country, you don’t even have to read a word of the reports, or watch the videos.

All you really have to do is take a look at the U.S. Embassy rebuttal of the series. The multi-part, multi-media series was put on line beginning Friday morning, though some parts weren’t up until evening. And others are said to be coming during the coming weeks. The U.S. Embassy in Germany press office statement came out just after 3 p.m.   Continue reading “German Expose of America’s “Secret War” Attracts Quick, Strong U.S. Rebuttal”