From the Trenches World Report

GMA News

WASHINGTON – U.S. spy agencies plan to declassify documents about the National Security Agency surveillance programs revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden, and also material related to a secret intelligence court, a U.S. intelligence official said.

The declassified documents could be released as early as this week and were intended to provide the public more information about the programs as part of a commitment by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper for more transparency, the official told Reuters on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.   Continue reading “US to declassify documents on spy programs, surveillance court”

UPI – by JAMES ZUMWALT

HERNDON, Va., July 30 (UPI) — After heading the Department of Homeland Security for four years, Janet Napolitano announced she will depart in September. Wishing her well, U.S. President Barack Obama claimed the “American people are safer and more secure thanks to Janet’s leadership in protecting our homeland against terrorist attacks.”

Apparently, neither Obama nor Napolitano have read the November 2012 U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management report titled, “A Line in the Sand: Countering Crime, Violence and Terror at the Southwest Border.” Building upon the 2006 report, “A Line in the Sand: Countering the Threat at the Southwest Border,” the new report’s title has grown along with the threat.   Continue reading “Napolitano’s failing Homeland report card”

LaCrosse Tribune – by Chris Hubbuch

The former La Crosse County Sheriff’s Deputy fired after she killed a Holmen teenager in a 2010 crash has won her job back.

In a ruling released today, an arbitrator ordered Trisha Stratman be returned to duty with back pay with more than 20 months pay.

Stratman was responding to a call for help at a Holmen bar fight in the early morning hours of July 18, 2010, when she drove through a red light at more than 90 mph just as 16-year-old Brandon Jennings was pulling into the intersection.   Continue reading “Arbitrator: Stratman to be reinstated with back pay”

OffSpectrum with James Farganne

Tonight, I stepped on a snail. I felt the shell give way, stopped, and in the lamplight could make out the wet spot.

Well, at least it died instantly.

I felt bad about it, as I always do. (It is a common summer occurrence.) The snail was sailing blissfully along at its snail’s pace and then — what? — maybe the blinding light flash we will all experience when that moment comes?   Continue reading “Why the “Elites” Are Lower Than the Animals”

USA Today – by Rhema Thompson and Kevin Robinson, Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal

WARRINGTON, Fla. — A man whom deputies shot early Saturday as he tried to retrieve a cigarette from his mother’s car still hasn’t received any answers on why he was barraged with gunfire.

A neighbor saw someone reaching into Ceola Walker’s car at about 2:40 a.m. Saturday and called 911. Escambia County sheriff’s deputies responded as Roy Middleton, 60, was bent over, searching the car’s interior.   Continue reading “Deputies shoot man in his front yard”

Libertarian Republican – by Clifford F. Thies 

The London Daily Mail is reporting that Turkey is releasing a suspected Israeli spy, a kestrel, a bird of prey of the falcon family, after a complete x-ray of the body showed no hidden devices.

The Turks are naturally suspicious of the use of birds of prey by enemies as Arabs are famous for the sport of falconry.    Continue reading “Turkey releases suspected Israeli spy”

The Lonely Conservative

Nancy Pelosi has been doing her best to ignore her party’s war on women while touting her bogus economic agenda for women, as if a healthy economy can be legislated into existence. Part of that agenda includes freeing parents from the “burden of childcare.”   Continue reading “Pelosi Wants To Free Parents From The ‘Burden Of Childcare’”

Before It’s News – by Anonymous

Japan loves robots. It is not uncommon to see robots taking people’s orders at restaurants, cleaning the streets, or even acting in plays. The idea of robots may seem intriguing to people in the United States, but it has not taken off yet. A local SSI disability attorney plans on changing that.

Charlie Willows has the first ever robot receptionist and potential paralegal in the law industry. The robot, who is scheduled to be installed in November, will be the first of its kind in the country.   Continue reading “First Robot Receptionist Makes Its Way to the States to Work in Local SSI Disability Law Firm”

Century Link – by ANDREW DeMILLO

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. (AP) — As Cheyne Dougan rounded the corner at Clarksville High School, he saw three students on the floor moaning and crying. In a split-second, two more ran out of a nearby classroom.

“He’s got a gun,” one of them shouted as Dougan approached with his pistol drawn. Inside, he found one student holding another at gunpoint. Dougan aimed and fired three rounds at the gunman.   Continue reading “Ark. district arming more than 20 teachers, staff”

Daily Mail – by Ryan Gorman

California prisoners in one town are now able to upgrade their digs if they’ve got deep enough pockets.

Fremont, CA recently began charging inmates $155 a night to stay in a previously unused jail. The program is pay-as-they-go and provides a few perks that might be worth the cost to a few discerning inmates.   Continue reading “California prison is charging inmates $155 to upgrade to fancy wing with widescreen TV and ‘quiet surroundings’”

Survival Blog

Mr. Rawles,

I wanted to share my experience regarding this situation. When the great scare began in December, I knew that as a prepared individual I did not need to panic buy and so I decided to perform an experiment.

The goal: To acquire an AR-15 for the lowest possible cost during a time with the highest possible demand.   Continue reading “Buying an AR-15 During the Gun Control Scare of 2013”

Daily Mail – by MICHAEL ZENNIE

A 12-year-old girl is fighting for her life in critical condition after contracting a rare and extremely deadly brain-eating amoeba while swimming at an Arkansas water park.

Kali Hardig is the second person to have come down with primary amoebic meningoencephalitis in three years after swimming in the sandy-bottom lake at Willow Springs Water Park near Little Rock, Arkansas.    Continue reading “Girl, 12, in critical condition after contracting deadly brain eating amoeba while swimming at water park”

Washington’s Blog

Energy Markets Are Manipulated

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says that JP Morgan has massively manipulated energy markets in  California and the Midwest, obtaining tens of millions of dollars in overpayments from grid operators between September 2010 and June 2011.   Continue reading “Big Banks Manipulated Energy Markets In California and the Midwest … Ripping Off Tens of Millions of Dollars in 9 Months”

AlterNet – by Rose Bouboushian, Courthouse News

Pittsburgh SWAT officers must face claims that they raided a family’s home, violently dragged a child from the bathtub, and “terrorized” them at gunpoint, a federal judge ruled.

Georgeia Moreno and her family sued Pittsburgh, its police chief and 14 police officers in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.   Continue reading “Lawsuit: SWAT Officers Dragged 10-Year-Old from Bathtub, Made Him Stand Naked Next to 4-Year-Old Sister, Terrorized Family”

Fox News

WASHINGTON –  Police have arrested a woman in the splattering of green paint inside two chapels at the Washington National Cathedral and are trying to determine if she has any connection to two similar incidents on the National Mall.

Police say 58-year-old Jiamei Tian was arrested Monday inside the cathedral shortly after the paint was found and charged with defacing property. Assistant D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said investigators were hoping to question her about the vandalism on the Mall, including at the Lincoln Memorial, but a language barrier was complicating those efforts.   Continue reading “Police: Woman arrested in green paint vandalism at Washington National Cathedral”