From the Trenches World Report

Yahoo News -by Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether police can search an arrested criminal suspect’s cell phone without a warrant in two cases that showcase how the courts are wrestling to keep up with rapid technological advances.

Taking up cases from California and Massachusetts arising from criminal prosecutions that used evidence obtained without a warrant, the high court will wade into how to apply older court precedent, which allows police to search items carried by a defendant at the time of arrest, to cell phones.   Continue reading “U.S. Supreme Court to weigh cell phone searches by police”

Huffington Post – by JEFF BARNARD

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that bloggers and the public have the same First Amendment protections as journalists when sued for defamation: If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial in a defamation lawsuit brought by an Oregon bankruptcy trustee against a Montana blogger who wrote online that the court-appointed trustee criminally mishandled a bankruptcy case.   Continue reading “Bloggers Have First Amendment Protections, Court Rules”

Activist Post

More than 5,893 leaks from aging natural gas pipelines have been found under the streets of Washington, D.C. by a research team from Duke University and Boston University.

A dozen of the leaks could have posed explosion risks, the researchers said. Some manholes had methane concentrations as high as 500,000 parts per million of natural gas – about 10 times greater than the threshold at which explosions can occur.   Continue reading “5,900 Natural Gas Leaks Discovered Under Washington, D.C.”

New York Times – by AZAM AHMED and MATTHEW ROSENBERG

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban claimed responsibility Saturday for an attack Friday on a popular Kabul cafe that killed 21 people, mostly Western civilians, saying it was in retaliation for a coalition airstrike earlier in the week in which a number of Afghan civilians had died in a village north of Kabul.

In their statement, the Taliban said they picked a restaurant frequented by “high-ranking foreigners” where alcohol was served. The attack, one of the most significant on Western civilians since the start of the war in 2001, occurred in the heart of one of Kabul’s most secure districts, very close to many embassies and coalition military bases.   Continue reading “Taliban Says Kabul Cafe Attack Was Payback for Earlier Strike”

Yahoo News

Tehran (AFP) – Inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog arrived in Tehran Saturday in readiness to oversee implementation of a landmark deal that puts temporary curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme, state media reported.

The team is led by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Iran task force, Massimo Aparo, and will hold talks with Iranian nuclear officials, the official IRNA news agency said.   Continue reading “UN team in Iran to oversee landmark nuclear deal”

The Western Center for Journalism – by SUZANNE EOVALDI, November 4, 2013

A covert game of hide and steal among the United Nations Agenda 21 Project, the U.S federal government, and Indian tribes will result in irreversible consequences that will let the feds control all national water rights. According to a press release by small ranchers and property owners in Montana, “Circuit Court Judge Cameron Wogan in Klamath Falls, Oregon, refused ranchers’ requests for a temporary restraining order to allow their cattle and horses access to drinking water.”    Continue reading “UN Agenda 21: The Feds and UN Coming for Your Water Rights”

Fox News

Police in Philadelphia were searching for a suspect in connection with a shooting that injured a boy and a girl hanging out with a group of fellow students in a high school gym Friday.

The shooting happened at the Delaware Valley Charter High School in north Philadelphia around 3 p.m., authorities said.   Continue reading “1 suspect arrested, another sought after shooting at Philadelphia school”

RINF – by Andrea Germanos

Freedom Industries, the company behind the chemical leak last week in West Virginia’s Elk River, filed for bankruptcy on Friday, the Charleston Gazette reports.

Roughly 7,500 gallons of the coal-cleaning chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (or MCHM), leaked from a hole in a storage tank into the river, polluting the water supply of 300,000 West Virginians, exposing the lack of a response plan in case of a spill, lack of regulations, fallibility of  safety claims and potentially significant health risks.   Continue reading “Week After West Virginia Chemical Spill, Company Files for Bankruptcy”

RT News

Twin blasts hit Makhachkala, the capital of the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, according to local police. Sixteen people were injured, among them four police officers.

Those injured have been taken to hospital, but none are thought to be in a life threatening condition.   Continue reading “Two explosions hit capital of Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan”

WNYC – by Jody Avirgan

The trove of documents leaked by Edward Snowden has revealed the elaborate tricks the NSA can use to monitor communications and data around the world. Here, a running list of things we now know the NSA can do, based on media reports and other publicly available documents — so far.    Continue reading “A Running List of What We Know the NSA Can Do. So Far.”

The New American – by Alex Newman

In apparent defiance of federal law and U.S. court rulings, unelected bureaucrats at the increasingly out-of-control Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other Obama administration departments unilaterally purported to grant control over the city of Riverton, Wyoming, to tribal authorities for the Wind River Indian tribes. At least two smaller towns are also affected.

The scheme appears to illustrate a growing United Nations-linked trend being witnessed across the United States and the world. In essence, vast amounts of private land and even entire towns are being taken over by authorities under various pretexts — UN agreements, Agenda 21 “sustainability,” and supposed concerns about indigenous peoples — to advance a radical agenda targeting private property rights.   Continue reading “Obama EPA Hands Control Over Wyoming City to Indian Tribes”

USA Today – by John Myers, KXTV-TV

SACRAMENTO — In what could become one of California’s biggest crises in years, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency Friday, an action that sets the stage for new state and federal efforts.

The governor also wants to focus Californians on the possibility of water shortages.

“All I can report to you is it’s not raining today and it’s not likely to rain for several weeks,” Brown said in a news conference in San Francisco. On Thursday, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center forecast below normal precipitation for two-thirds of California through April.   Continue reading “California governor declares drought emergency”

Jon Rappoport

It’s Senate Bill A8186-2013.

It’s been referred to the education committee twice, most recently a week ago. NY State Senator Margaret Markey introduced it in 2013.

Previously, Markey won a few minutes of fame for introducing a bill that would stop all restaurants from using salt in their meals.   Continue reading “NY State Senator says: psych eval for all little children”

Yahoo News – by Jonathan Saul

LONDON (Reuters) – In recent weeks Russia has stepped up supplies of military gear to Syria, including armored vehicles, drones and guided bombs, boosting President Bashar al-Assad just as rebel infighting has weakened the insurgency against him, sources with knowledge of the deliveries say.

Moscow, which is trying to raise its diplomatic and economic influence in the Middle East, has been a major provider of conventional weapons to Syria, giving Assad crucial support during the three-year civil war and blocking wider Western attempts to punish him with sanctions for the use of force against civilians.   Continue reading “Russia steps up military lifeline to Syria’s Assad – sources”

Yahoo News – by Shelly Banjo and Drew FitzGerald, Wall Street Journal

Best Buy Co. on Thursday became the latest retailer to chime in with weak holiday results. Like other chains, the electronics retailer blamed the race to offer the deepest discounts, a game of brinkmanship that hurt profit margins and held back revenue.

But there is a deeper malaise at work: A long-term change in shopper habits has reduced store traffic—perhaps permanently—and shifted pricing power away from malls and big-box retailers.   Continue reading “Stores Confront New World of Reduced Shopper Traffic”

The Organic Prepper

Officials in West Virginia claim that the water in parts of the state is now safe after a chemical spill left 300,000 people without water, but local residents aren’t so sure.  A reader graciously provided his eyewitness assessment and opinion of the situation:

I have first hand knowledge this water is not safe. For one, it smells very strongly of licorice. It has an off color; a blue hue. I will never drink it again.   Continue reading “Are Water Filters Effective Against the Chemical in the West Virginia Water Supply?”