From the Trenches World Report

Activist Post – by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers

Momentum is growing in the campaign to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Yesterday, the TPP was dealt two blows. Each could be lethal but the TPP, and its Atlantic counterpart, called TAFTA, are not dead yet. It is time for the movement of movements that formed to oppose the TPP to stand in solidarity, defeat these agreements and end the era of rigged corporate trade.  Continue reading “The People Can Defeat the Trans-Pacific Partnership”

RT News

The Russian Foreign Minister has revealed that there are no real differences on practical issues between the six-party negotiators and Iran. What is needed now is to set down our understanding in a document, Sergey Lavrov told the Russian TVC channel.

“The negotiations with the Foreign Minister of Iran [Mohammad Javad Zarif] have confirmed that for the first time in many years the sextet of negotiators and Tehran are ready to truly seek common grounds instead of presenting mostly uncorrelated positions,” said the Russian FM in an interview to Postscriptum program.   Continue reading “No real dissent in nuclear talks between P5+1 and Iran – Lavrov”

RT News

Tests of a new missile for the advanced version of the Russian air defense system Tor-M2 proved it is capable of shooting down challenging targets with amazing precision, hitting moving missiles head-on, Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey revealed.

In an attempt to push the limits of modern missile defense systems, Russian military design bureaus Almaz-Antey and Vympel NPO (now part of Tactical Missiles Corporation) have jointly developed the new 9M338 surface-to-air missile.    Continue reading “Unique ‘direct kill’ air defense complex unveiled in Russia”

RT News

A powerful car bomb has gone off causing casualties in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, near the site where around 2,500 prominent Afghan elders will gather next week to debate a contentious security pact with the United States.

At least six people have been killed and more than 20 injured in the attack on Saturday, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry.   Continue reading “Deadly warning? Blast hits Kabul ahead of key talks on US-Afghan security pact”

Mail.com

BEIRUT (AP) — Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have firmly seized the momentum in the country’s civil war in recent weeks, capturing one rebel stronghold after another and triumphantly planting the two-starred Syrian government flag amid shattered buildings and rubble-strewn streets.

Despite global outrage over the use of chemical weapons, Assad’s government is successfully exploiting divisions among the opposition, dwindling foreign help for the rebel cause and significant local support, all linked to the same thing: discomfort with the Islamic extremists who have become a major part of the rebellion.   Continue reading “Assad gaining ground in Syrian civil war”

Mail.com

STEVENSON, Ala. (AP) — Weeping relatives watched as the body of an Alabama woman was exhumed from her front yard Friday, a bitter end for her husband who fought to keep her remains buried there.

With husband James Davis, his five children and some grandchildren standing by the log home, a crew unearthed the body of Patsy Davis from beside the front porch. Flowers still sat atop her tombstone.   Continue reading “Alabama woman’s body removed from front yard grave”

Press TV

New York City Police Department policeman Adhyl Polanco describes in a Democracy Now report and interview the corrupting and rights abusing quota system for stop-and-frisk, summons, and arrests in the largest local police department in the United States. Among other revelations, Polanco estimates that, but for the improper encouragement of stop-and-frisk by the city government, police department, and police union, about 600,000 of the around 700,000 police initiated stop-and-frisk incidents last year would not have occurred. Polanco adds that some police will arrest “whoever’s at the corner” near the end of a work shift to meet the quota plus receive overtime pay.   Continue reading “Cop describes stop-and-frisk, corruption at NYPD”

Zen Gardner

It’s no wonder the awakened boomer generation is so upset.  We’re the current elders who’ve watched these latest accelerating changes not just take place, but fully supplant the delicate human and planetary condition.  We’ve seen it happen step by premeditated step.

Even though we baby boomers were born in the heat of social programming experiments, the exponentially increasing onslaught on our world is next to unfathomable. Even we remember simpler times, while our forefathers are no doubt groaning from beyond.   Continue reading “Boomer On A Grampage”

Yahoo News – Reuters

UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company’s other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.   Continue reading “UnitedHealth drops thousands of doctors from insurance plans: WSJ”

Project Chesapeake – by Tom Chatham

Based on current estimates there are between 91 and 102 million working age Americans without a job. A nation cannot sustain a service based economy with that many unemployed people that contribute nothing to the economy. A service based economy requires a certain amount of money flowing through the hands of working people to support all of the service work done. When you eliminate a large percentage of those people the system becomes unsustainable and soon collapses in on itself. This is the situation we now find ourselves in as a nation.  Continue reading “Time to Reshuffle the American Job Market”

Next Gov – by Aliya Sternstein

The next Cuban missile crisis could be resolved through the power of music rather than an armed standoff between nuclear powers, military officials and researchers speculate.

It is believed that sound waves can “jump the air gap” — or hack a machine that is not on a network — to paralyze a ship’s control systems. Instead of using a blockade or firing Tomahawk missiles to prevent Russia from delivering weapons to Cuba, the United States could use malicious tones.    Continue reading “The Next U.S. Weapon at Sea Could be Music”

Fox News – by Catherine Herridge

At least five CIA personnel, including government contractors, were asked to sign a second non-disclosure agreement after the Benghazi terrorist attack, Fox News has learned.

While the three-page NDA, obtained by Fox News, does not contain specific references to the 2012 attack which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, it does contain standard language that unauthorized disclosures could lead to “temporary loss of pay or termination” and “in some circumstances, constitute a criminal offense.”   Continue reading “CIA personnel asked to sign additional non-disclosure form after Benghazi attack”

MassPrivateI

Local law enforcement is getting the kind of technological boost that used to be limited to three-letter agencies, thanks to Web-based software services that mine social media for intelligence.

At last month’s International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference in Philadelphia, LexisNexis showed off a new tool it will bundle with its research service for law enforcement agencies—one that will help them “stake out” social media as part of their criminal investigations. (making it easier for them to spy on activists or suspicious people)   Continue reading “Police departments have NSA like spying powers for social media monitoring”