From the Trenches World Report

Forbes – by Eamonn Fingleton

In their never-say-die efforts to defeat Obamacare, Tea Party Republicans brought the federal government a giant step closer to shutdown last night. What they seem not to have considered is how America’s foreign creditors will react.

Although China, Japan, and other major creditor nations have no dog in the Obamacare fight, they have a strong interest in preserving America’s basic financial, economic, and social stability. From their point of view, the Tea Party contingent is not following the script and a corrective may be necessary.   Continue reading “If Republicans Want To Shut Down Washington, They’ll Have To Ask China’s Permission First”

Infowars – by Paul Joseph Watson

It turns out that the ominous “government shut down” isn’t so apocalyptic after all since it won’t actually shut down government because the vast majority of federal services and activity will continue as normal.

In addition, the same thing has happened – without dire consequences – no less than 17 times over the past three decades.   Continue reading “‘Government Shut Down’ Won’t Actually Shut Down Government”

NPR – by Bill Chappell

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is at the White House today, meeting with President Obama to discuss security and intelligence matters in the Middle East, including Iran’s nuclear program.

The White House says the two will discuss “final status negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as developments in Iran, Syria, and elsewhere in the region.”   Continue reading “Obama And Netanyahu Discuss Iran, Palestinians At White House”

Adesso

For some people, the fact that mobile applications gather location data and use it to provide services is an intolerable violation of their privacy. For others, it doesn’t really matter as long as their mobile device can direct them to a nearby Starbucks. So what will change in regards to location data with Windows 8?   Continue reading “Location Data Collection & Windows 8: Friend or Foe?”

Proof that Windows 7 and 8 both have one giant homing beacon/NSA backdoor in them.

Remember: Turning the feature off doesn’t necessarily mean it is off. It’s just like your webcam. NSA can easily turn it back on without you knowing.

Trish Tech

The Windows Location Provider feature in Windows allows applications to find your geographical location. This feature can make use of GPS hardware in your computer directly or it can make use of IP address resolution, Wi-Fi or cellphone tower triangulation methods to locate you geographically. Continue reading “Turn off Windows Location Provider in Windows 8”

Fox Nation – by Warner Todd Huston

NBC News has announced that it will air a special series that will “help Americans get the most out of the Affordable Care Act.”

A press release reports that NBC News will “help” Americans get all they can out of Obamacare.   Continue reading “NBC’s Effort to Help Sell ObamaCare to America”

Continue reading “A Promise”

ABC News

Chew on this.

A team of MBA students were the recipients of the 2013 Hult Prize earlier this week, providing them with $1 million in seed money to produce an insect-based, protein-rich flour for feeding malnourished populations in other countries. The product is called Power Flour.

“It’s a huge deal because we had a very ambitious but highly executable five-year plan in place,” said team captain Mohammed Ashour, whose team hails from McGill University in Montreal. “So winning this prize is a great step in that direction.”   Continue reading “Flour Made From Insects Will Feed Underfed Populations”

The Guardian – by Sam Jones and Lizzy Davies

John XXIII, the pontiff who called the landmark second Vatican council, and John Paul II, who crisscrossed the globe during his 26 years as leader of the Roman Catholic church, will be declared saints in April in a historic ceremony that could be attended by their two living successors.

The announcement of the date for the canonisations had been expected since July, when Pope Francis approved a second miracle attributed to John Paul, clearing the path for the fastest canonisation in modern times.   Continue reading “Popes John Paul II and John XXIII to become saints”

The Daily Caller – by Sarah Hurtubise

Army Times – by Antonieta Rico

Fort Hood service members who refuse to show identification to law enforcement officers can face action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to a policy issued by the 1st Cavalry Division commander Sept. 5.

Texas state law requires people to identify themselves to police only if they are legally arrested. But the Fort Hood policy requires soldiers to show their ID to law enforcement whenever they are asked to do so by authorities.   Continue reading “Fort Hood soldiers can face UCMJ if they won’t show ID to cops”

MassPrivateI

Since 2010, the National Security Agency has been exploiting its huge collections of data to create sophisticated graphs of some Americans’ social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with officials.   Continue reading “The NSA is gathering your social-networking connections, what about the FBI?”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — New York is indeed an expensive place, but experts say that alone doesn’t explain a recent report that found the city’s annual cost per inmate was $167,731 last year — nearly as much as it costs to pay for four years of tuition at an Ivy League university.

They say a big part of it is due to New York’s most notorious lockup, Rikers Island, and the costs that go along with staffing, maintaining and securing a facility that is literally an island unto itself.   Continue reading “NYC inmate almost as costly as Ivy League tuition”

Information Clearinghouse – by UPI

TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 27 (UPI) — Israel’s military chiefs are pushing for a bump in the $3.1 billion a year the Jewish state receives in U.S. military aid even though the 10-year agreement doesn’t expire until 2017 and America is struggling with domestic economic issues.

Among other things, the Israelis are citing a 2008 U.S. law that for the first time legally committed Washington to maintain the Jewish state’s technological superiority — its Qualitative Military Edge, or QME, in military terminology — over its regional adversaries, particularly Iran, which has been pursuing nuclear technology.  Continue reading “Israel Starts Campaign to Boost U.S. Military Aid”

Blouin News – by Mark Galeotti

Every two years, Russia holds massive military exercises in its north-western territories that open a window onto its strategic thinking and combat capabilities. September’s demonstrated both a growing aggression in Russian military posture, as well as an underlying strategy to keep the West off-balance.

The latest of these Zapad (“West”) exercises were amongst the biggest yet, a six-day event running until September 26 involving ground, air and sea forces from Russia and its ally Belarus. The exercises were run in Belarus, near the Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian borders, and in Russia’s Kaliningrad territory, between Poland and Lithuania.   Continue reading “Russian troops wargame invasion of Europe for political gain”