From the Trenches World Report

Monday Morning – by Frank Marchant

Detroit is the largest municipal default in the history of the US.
The city owes $9.2 billion in pensions, $1.9 billion to creditors and is $18.5 billion in debt.

The city’s infrastructure is collapsing. Almost half of its streetlights are not working and aren’t being repaired.

The average time for Detroit police to respond to an emergency is just under an hour. Crime has spiked. Many in the city have resorted to carrying firearms for their personal protection.   Continue reading “8 New Cities On The Verge Of Bankruptcy”

Washington’s Blog

“I mean—hell, I been surprised how sane you guys all are. As near as I can tell you’re not any crazier than the average asshole on the street.” – R.P. McMurphy – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

“Years ago, it meant something to be crazy. Now everyone’s crazy.” – Charles Manson   Continue reading “Trying to Stay Sane in an Unsane World – Part 1”

Liberty Hollow

Just got a comment which touched on the material I am about to cover, and which prompted me to finish this up and get it out there.  In baseball, when a batter comes to the plate, he gets at least three swings at the ball, but once he’s missed three times, he’s out, he cannot bat any longer in that turn at-bat.  Now baseball does not serve as a great analogy for politics, but I submit to you, gentle reader, that we here in these presently united States have had our three strikes, and that while we are not yet out of the game we are certainly in one hell of a mess.  (BTW, those of you who have never seen George Carlin’s comparison between baseball and football are missing a truly timeless comedic routine.  Fairly clean, too!)   Continue reading “Three Strikes, or the Three Roots of American Tyranny.”

Century Link

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A central Ohio judge has ordered a woman to spend the next five Christmases in jail as part of her sentence for issuing state ID cards and driver’s licenses to immigrants who entered the country illegally.

Prosecutors say 44-year-old Betina Young — a former license agency employee — accepted payments from applicants to falsify records showing they had verified their immigration status. She has pleaded guilty.   Continue reading “Ohio woman’s sentence includes Christmases in jail”

 Asharq Al-Awsat

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff warned on Monday that possible American military intervention in Syria would risk deeper involvement in the fighting without preventing the collapse of the Syrian state.

Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the most senior officer in the US Army, gave the broad outlines of American military contingency plans for Syria in a letter to members of the US Senate’s Armed Forces Committee, including Senator John McCain, a leading advocate of US intervention in Syria.   Continue reading “US military chief outlines options for Syria”

Tech Dirt – by  Mike Masnick

I’ve mentioned in the past how my eyes were opened as to how the Justice Department prosecutes various criminal cases after seeing a powerful documentary called Better This World, which detailed (in part) the prosecution against two teens for supposedly planning to plant some bombs at a political convention. While the two teens are hardly innocent, the ridiculous tactics pulled by the US Attorneys’ office and the FBI in pressuring them into a plea bargain made it clear that for the DOJ, it’s never about justice, but about winning. And that can be a bit dangerous when you’re the guys with the most guns and you get to make up many of the rules as you go along.    Continue reading “DOJ/FBI Admit They May Have Abused Hair Analysis To Convict Hundreds To Thousands Of Innocent People”

Mirror – by Gemma Aldridge

Experts have warned about a new craze in which men are secretly seeking and spreading HIV.

The reckless practice, known as bug chasing, started in the US as a bizarre means of getting a ­sexual high from risk-taking.

Now, according to one man who willingly caught the virus, hundreds of men in the UK are introducing themselves on online forums, Face­book groups and Twitter.   Continue reading “Bug chasing: Men deliberately trying to catch HIV for sexual thrill in astonishing craze”

Max Velocity Tactical

I’m just back in front after the computer after an enjoyable training weekend with, as usual, a great bunch of people. In fact, it’s never been any different; at no point have I had anyone attend the course who was not a good decent person. I just posted a couple of AARs from the weekend, and I will publish any more that come in along with any more photos.    Continue reading “Rainstorms & Associated Tactical Thoughts”

Northeast Intelligence Network – by Larry Hagmann

Americans seemed to have suddenly awakened to an egregious invasion of our privacy and assaults on our constitutional rights and civil liberties, as if the process “just appeared” or was just discovered as a recent form of government overreach. While the process has indeed been refined and accelerated over the last decade under the pretext of national security, the architecture of this system of total surveillance was actually revealed decades ago – and longer –  by the global elite. You just have to know where to look.   Continue reading “One nation, under surveillance, with tyranny & injustice for all”

The American Spectator – by Paul Kengor

Did Katrina vanden Heuvel think no one would notice her magazine’s affinity with friends of Joseph Stalin?

The left-wing magazine The Nation has published what it deems America’s all-time, most influential top 50 progressives. The list is very revealing. I will not mention all 50 names, which you can review for yourself, but a few are especially interesting.   Continue reading “The Nation’s Top 50 Progressives… and Socialists and Communists”

The Sleuth Journal – by Ralph Lopez

Contradicting a statement by ex-vice president Dick Cheney on Sunday that warrantless domestic surveillance might have prevented 9/11, 2007 court records indicate that the Bush-Cheney administration began such surveillance at least 7 months prior to 9/11.

The Lonely Conservative

According to the New York Post, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg participated in a raft race to promote tourism in the Adirondacks. For some reason they allowed this photo to be snapped of themselves. I’m laughing too hard to think of anything else to say.   Continue reading “This Is Some Pic Of Bloomberg And Cuomo”