From the Trenches World Report

Disinfo – by Jacob Sloan

Two weeks ago we noted that in a span of six days, a former Federal Reserve economist was found dead in an apparent suicide, a former senior manager for Deutsche Bank was discovered hanging from a noose in his home, and a JPMorgan Chase vice president seemingly jumped to death in London. The Financial Post reports that the string of sudden fatalities among masters-of-the-universe continues:   Continue reading “37-Year-Old JPMorgan Executive Is The Latest Leading Banker To Die Strangely Over The Past Three Weeks”

Bloomberg – by Masumi Suga, Yuji Okada and Jacob Adelman

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), operator of the crisis-ridden Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, said it found a new leak near the tanks holding contaminated water at the disaster site.

The utility, which serves 29 million customers in the Tokyo metropolitan area, is collecting soil where the leak occurred and doesn’t believe any water reached the ocean, company executives said at a briefing in Tokyo. About 100 metric tons (26,400 gallons) of water may have escaped a concrete barrier, the company said.   Continue reading “Tepco Finds New Leak of Radioactive Water at Fukushima Site”

Carlsbad Current-Argus – by Zack Ponce

CARLSBAD — Traces of radiation have been found approximately half a mile northwest of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a federal nuclear waste repository approximately 26 miles east of Carlsbad.

Tests by the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center, a division of the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University, showed evidence of trace amounts of americium and plutonium on an air filter Wednesday afternoon at a sampling station off the WIPP Access Road.   Continue reading “Lab: Radiation detected above ground near WIPP site east of Carlsbad”

CNN – by Phil Black, Nick Paton Walsh and Michael Pearson

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) — [Breaking news alert, 12:01 p.m.]

Asset freezes on people in Ukraine believed to be involved in the crackdown are being “fast-tracked” by the Obama administration, a senior administration official said Thursday.   Continue reading “Truce crumbles amid gunfire in Ukraine, protesters claim 100 dead”

Bloomberg – by Paul M. Barrett

Huffington Post – by Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON — A suspect in a terrorism sting pleaded guilty on Wednesday in a case that federal prosecutors and the FBI had turned down, setting up a rare situation in which local prosecutors in New York handled a terrorism case.

Jose Pimentel, 29, was arrested in November 2011 and charged with trying to construct a bomb. While terrorism cases are typically handled by the FBI, federal authorities washed their hands of the case, citing the actions of a New York City Police Department informant.   Continue reading “Victory For NY Police Pursuing Rare Terrorism Case”

Natural News – by Elizabeth Renter

Although we don’t know exactly why, there is no question that sleep is crucial for brain and overall health. Without proper sleep, the chance of disease and stress increases notably. Now, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Center for Translational Neuromedicine have found that sleeping actually helps detoxify the brain, potentially offering clues into dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.   Continue reading “Study Reveals How Sleep Removes Toxic Waste from the Brain”

The Daily Caller – by Vince Coglianese

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Thursday that the Obama administration will not be releasing any more information about the controversial use of drones to kill American citizens.

Carney’s remarks, via the White House’s transcript of the off-camera press gaggle:   Continue reading “White House: No more information about drone killings will be released to public”

Wall Street Journal – by ALISON SIDER and ALICIA MUNDY

A Nebraska judge ruled Wednesday the law allowing the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline to be built across the state is unconstitutional, a move that could further delay the project.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Stephanie Stacy sided with three landowners who argued Nebraska’s governor shouldn’t be able to sign off on the pipeline’s route. The governor, Republican Dave Heineman, was handed that power in a law the state Legislature hastily passed in 2012. But the court ruled that under the state’s constitution, only Nebraska’s Public Service Commission could approve such a pipeline route.   Continue reading “Nebraska Judge Blocks Governor’s Keystone XL Decision”

Fox News

Violence between Ukrainian security forces and anti-government protesters broke out again Thursday in the capital, Kiev, leaving at least 22 people dead, as a truce called by President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders fell apart.

An Associated Press reporter saw 21 bodies Thursday laid out on the edge of the sprawling protest encampment in central Kiev’s Independence Square. In addition, one policeman was killed and 28 suffered gunshot wounds Thursday, Interior Ministry spokesman Serhiy Burlakov told the AP.   Continue reading “Violence between police, protesters resumes as truce falls apart in Ukraine”

Liberty Blitzkrieg – by Michael Blitzkrieg

Anyone that has spent any time whatsoever looking into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade treaty, understands that it is a oligarch crony capitalists’ wet dream. Being negotiated entirely in secret, the treaty is designed to institutionalize corporate rule, giving companies the ability to sue governments and prevent them from exerting regulatory control over their own societies.

Bill Moyers has described the treaty as “Death for Democracy,” and now, unsurprisingly, we find out that several of the main negotiators for the TPP have received huge payments from taxpayer bailed out “Too Big to Jail” banks.   Continue reading “How Obama’s Chief Negotiators on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Treaty Received Huge Bonuses From Mega Banks”

Wall Street Journal – by JASON L. RILEY

A new FBI report says that violent crime continues to fall nationwide, which might annoy liberals because gun purchases continue to rise.

In the first six months of 2013, murders fell by nearly 7 percent, compared with the same period in 2012. Aggravated assaults fell by 6.6 percent, and robberies are down 1.8 percent. “All of the offenses in the violent crime category—murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery—showed decreases when data from the first six months of 2013 were compared with data from the first six months of 2012,” according to the FBI. Overall, violent crime in the U.S. fell by 5.4 percent. Burglaries, larceny and auto thefts also decreased.   Continue reading “More Guns, Less Crime”