From the Trenches World Report

Wall Street Journal – by Michael McConnell

President Obama’s decision last week to suspend the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act may be welcome relief to businesses affected by this provision, but it raises grave concerns about his understanding of the role of the executive in our system of government.

Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution states that the president “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This is a duty, not a discretionary power. While the president does have substantial discretion about how to enforce a law, he has no discretion about whether to do so.   Continue reading “Obama Suspends the Law”

Oath Keepers – by Shorty Dawkins

Sheriff John D’Agostini has prohibited US Forest Service agents from enforcing State Laws within El Dorado County, which includes El Dorado National Forest. This article, would have you believe it is only about the right to carry guns in the El Dorado Forest, but there appears to be even more involved.

As the article states:   Continue reading “El Dorado Sheriff’s Fight With Feds Likely Over Residents Carrying Guns”

USA Today – by Bobby Carmichael

A BP (BP) refinery in Indiana will be allowed to continue to dump mercury into Lake Michigan under a permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

The permit exempts the BP plant at Whiting, Ind., 3 miles southeast of Chicago, from a 1995 federal regulation limiting mercury discharges into the Great Lakes to 1.3 ounces per year.

The BP plant reported releasing 3 pounds of mercury through surface water discharges each year from 2002 to 2005, according to the Toxics Release Inventory, a database on pollution emissions kept by the Environmental Protection Agency that is based on information reported by companies.   Continue reading “BP gets OK to dump mercury into Lake Michigan”

Journal Sentinel – by John Diedrich

The ATF has settled a claim from the landlord of the building where the agency ran a troubled undercover sting in Milwaukee last year, leaving behind broken doors and walls, unpaid utility bills and damaged carpeting from an overflowing toilet.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives closed its phony store, called Fearless Distributing, in October after an agent’s guns, including an automatic machine gun, were stolen from his vehicle. Then, the storefront was burglarized of $40,000 in merchandise. The stolen machine gun remains missing.

The landlord, David Salkin, asked the ATF to pay to cover damage to the building and unpaid utility bills. ATF supervisors in Milwaukee and regional headquarters in St. Paul refused.   Continue reading “ATF settles with landlord after flawed sting”

Infowars – by Kurt Nimmo

So hasty were Florida lawmakers, they managed to outlaw all computers in the Sunshine State.

The absurd instance of mindless over reach by government appeared in a Florida Senate bill prohibiting electronic gambling devices and internet cafes.   Continue reading “Florida Outlaws All Computers”

CBS New York

AP – by JOHN O’CONNOR

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois became the last state in the nation to allow public possession of concealed guns as lawmakers rushed Tuesday to finalize a proposal ahead of a federal court’s deadline.

Both houses of the General Assembly voted to override changes Gov. Pat Quinn made to the bill they approved more than a month ago. Some lawmakers expressed fear that failure to pass something would mean virtually unregulated weapons in Chicago, which has endured severe gun violence in recent months. Continue reading “Illinois enacts nation’s final concealed-gun law”

RT News

Around 30,000 inmates held in prisons across California have taken the first steps towards engaging in what could become the largest hunger strike in state history.

Prisoners at 11 state facilities began refusing meals early Monday, after months of plotting a demonstration which they hope will bring change to a number of longstanding grievances against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation – particularly the practice of indefinitely housing some detainees in total isolation.   Continue reading “30,000 California prisoners launch largest hunger-strike in state history”

21st Century Wire

A violent blast from a car bomb wounded 50 today in a southern suburb of Beirut populated mainly by Shi’ite muslims. Many already believe this was a provocateured event, designed to cause a sectarian reaction in Lebanon, and one that is politically tied to the Syrian conflict.   Continue reading “Israel accused of false flag terror car bomb in Beirut by Lebanon’s former PM”

The Organic Prepper

If you are a follower of alternative news, then you know that anything written by Michael Snyder is something that you shouldn’t miss reading.  One of the most prolific bloggers of the genre, Snyder writes incredibly well-researched articles on his highly ranked websites The Economic Collapse Blog, The American Dream, and The Truth.  His work has been republished on nearly every respected website in alternative media and tens of thousands of people per day learn from his articles.   Continue reading “Book Review: Michael Snyder’s “The Beginning of the End””

Ottawa Citizen – by WILLIAM MARSDEN

WASHINGTON – The deadly explosion of a derailed train carrying crude oil in the remote town of Lac-Mégantic, Que., likely will spark fresh arguments in the rancorous debate over the safety of the giant Keystone XL pipeline.

“TransCanada (owner of Keystone XL) and the other pipeline proponents are going to try to use this (accident) to boost their case but it’s a real double-edged sword for them,” Keith Steward, the climate and energy coordinator at Greenpeace in Toronto, said. “Pipelines and rail both have safety issues and both can be a hell of a lot safer than they are today.”   Continue reading “Quebec train derailment could boost Keystone pipeline”

AmmoLand

Portland, OR –(Ammoland.com)- In the summer of 2012, Leatherman Tool Group acquired its second company, Seattle-based PocketToolX.

For the remainder of 2012 Leatherman continued to manufacture existing PTX designs under the Leatherman name.    Continue reading “Leatherman Expands PocketTool Line with Shooting Specific Models”

Washington Post – by Valerie Strauss

Back by popular demand (well, I like it) here’s a 1912 eighth-grade exam that was used in schools in Bullitt County, Ky. This test, which I first published more than a year ago, is now in the Bullitt County History Museum, a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society.

If you like this one, you can try this one too, an exam from 1931 by the West Virginia education department for students seeking graduation from eighth grade. That test was sent to me a few years ago by John N. Beall of Wilmington, N.C., who received it from his father, the teacher who administered the exam in a one-room school in Gilmer County.   Continue reading “Can you pass this 101-year-old test for 8th graders?”

Economic Policy Journal – by Robert Wenzel

A source provides me with this internal advisory put out by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation:   Continue reading “WARNING Simulated ‘Street Wide’ Cyber Attack on Wall Street Coming”