From the Trenches World Report

RT News

United States Vice President Joe Biden said during a tour of Asia on Tuesday that the US is “deeply concerned” about recent efforts by China to re-draw airspace surrounding a series of islands between Taiwan and Japan.

The airspace in that area has traditionally been controlled by Japan, but claimed by the Chinese as well. Late last month China proclaimed a portion of that area in the East China Sea as within their own air defense zone, prompting international tensions to tighten between all those involved in the Pacific Rim.   Continue reading “US pledges to side with Japan in conflict with China”

RT News

A Florida police officer who was protesting US President Obama’s newly implemented healthcare law has been arrested because he refused to take off a Guy Fawkes mask he was wearing at a demonstration.

Ericson Harrell, 39, was wearing a mask, a black cape, and holding an inverted American flag when police approached him in Plantation, Florida. Harrell told officers he was “protesting Obamacare” but the police report notes “he refused each time” when he “was asked several times to remove his mask and produce some form of identification or tell us his name” and taken into custody.   Continue reading “Florida cop arrested for refusing to remove Guy Fawkes mask in Obamacare protest”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — An American man who is marking four years in prison in Cuba has written a letter to President Barack Obama asking the president to get personally involved in securing his release.

Alan Gross was arrested four years ago Tuesday while working covertly in the Communist-run country to set up Internet access for the island’s small Jewish community, access that bypassed local restrictions. At the time, he was working as a subcontractor for the U.S. government’s U.S. Agency for International Development, which works to promote democracy on the island.   Continue reading “US man marks 4 years in Cuban prison, writes Obama”

Yahoo News – by DENISE LAVOIE

BOSTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s Kenyan-born uncle, who ignored a deportation order more than two decades ago, on Tuesday was granted permission to stay in the United States.

Judge Leonard Shapiro made the decision after Onyango Obama, 69, testified that he had lived in the U.S. for 50 years, been a hard worker, paid income tax and been arrested only once.   Continue reading “Obama’s Kenyan-born uncle allowed to remain in US”

AccuWeather – by Michael Doll

A storm may evolve into an all-out blizzard, unleashing snow, high winds and reducing visibility across the northern tier of the U.S.

Treacherous travel conditions and dangerous cold are expected across the Rockies, northern Plains and Upper Midwest through midweek.   Continue reading “Wind-Driven Snow to Bury Central Rockies, Midwest”

Crocket Lives

“I read the news today, oh boy …”–  John Lennon

Thanks largely to Democrats — more precisely, progressive Democrats — America’s fast becoming a place decent folk would do well to avoid.

Look away.   Continue reading “America’s Got The Blues, Brother!”

CNS News – by Ali Meyer

After 12 years of occupation by U.S. military forces, Afghanistan set a record for growing opium poppies in 2013, according to newly released data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

“Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a sobering record high in 2013,” said the UNODC. “According to the 2013 Afghanistan Opium Survey, cultivation amounted to some 209,000 hectares, outstripping the earlier record in 2007 of 193,000 hectares, and representing a 36 per cent increase over 2012.”   Continue reading “After 12 Yrs of U.S. Occupation, Afghanistan Sets Record for Growing Opium”

The Daily Sheeple – by Lily Dane

A Dallas woman waxed a would-be thief who pulled a knife on her and demanded her bag and money.

Teresa Mendez was walking home on Sunday night when the man approached her. She told him she didn’t have any money or a purse with her, so he went for her bag.

Mendez is a beautician and the bag she was carrying was full of supplies from her salon.   Continue reading “Woman Uses Unlikely Weapon to Fight Off Thief”

ARS Technica – by Casey Johnston

The company E2V has developed a prototype device that uses a radio-frequency pulse to shut down a car’s engine at range, according to a report from the BBC. While the range of the device is fairly short, it worked on a handful of cars and motorbikes and could also potentially be used on boats.

The product, named the RF Safe-stop, works by sending an RF pulse to a car at up to 50 meters (164 feet) away. The pulse “confuses” the car’s electronic systems, which the BBC said made the “dashboard warning lights and dial [behave] erratically.” The engine then stalls, and the car comes to a stop. How safely and quickly the vehicle would stop depends on the vehicle, and this technique would not work on older vehicles.   Continue reading “New product shuts car engines off with a radio pulse”

Max Velocity Tactical

I recently posted about ‘More on the SWAT Threat‘. I am enjoying the fact that my posts are generating some really good comments from a generally high quality of commenter right now. I am beginning to see myself as just the initiator of a discussion: Pose a post, step back: “Discuss!”

However, the SWAT post generated a bit of doom and gloom and it was described as a realistic but gloomy post. Well, not one to give you problems without solutions, that is why I am writing today. Here is one comment that just came in, with my response:   Continue reading “Doom, Defeat & Solutions”