From the Trenches World Report

CenturyLink – by LOUISE WATT – Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — An American executive said he has been held hostage for four days at his medical supply plant in Beijing by scores of workers demanding severance packages like those given to 30 co-workers in a phased-out department.

Chip Starnes, 42, a co-owner of Coral Springs, Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies, said local officials had visited the 10-year-old plant on the capital’s outskirts and coerced him into signing agreements Saturday to meet the workers’ demands even though he sought to make clear that the remaining 100 workers weren’t being laid off.   Continue reading “US factory boss held hostage by workers in Beijing”

Common Dreams – by Julian Assange

It has now been a year since I entered this embassy and sought refuge from persecution.

As a result of that decision, I have been able to work in relative safety from a US espionage investigation.

But today, Edward Snowden’s ordeal is just beginning.   Continue reading “On 1 Year, Snowden, Manning and More”

Washington Examiner – by GABRIELLA MORRONGIELLO

According to Sen. John McCain, a member of the Senate’s Gang of Eight, criminals will not be legalized under the proposed bipartisan immigration bill.

“Anyone who has committed crimes in this country is going to be deported,” the Arizona Republican declared on the Senate floor last week.   Continue reading “Illegal immigrants who commit crimes face lesser punishment than U.S. citizens”

Godfather Politics

The FBI placed two guys from Upstate New York under surveillance starting last year, wiretapping their phones, listening in on their conversations, and reading their e-mails. I’m sure the NSA were also listening in. These two guys apparently wanted to make a comic book-style “death ray” gun that would shoot x-rays at people they didn’t like, causing cancer or radiation poisoning unbeknownst to their victims. The Atlantic Wire reported:  Continue reading “The FBI Foils Its Own Death-Ray Plot”

Stop the Drug War – by Philip Smith

Ice News

Iceland has withdrawn its bid to join the European Union, announced its foreign minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson.

Three weeks after being installed in his position by the newly elected Icelandic government, the foreign minister said that “this is how democracy works”. He explained that the new coalition government in Iceland was against the idea of joining the EU at present.   Continue reading “Iceland opts out of joining EU”

David Duke

The Israeli Air force will be one of the first in the world to be given the very latest Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth jet fighter—even before the aircraft becomes fully operational in the US Air Force.

In addition, the $2.75 billion price tag of the F35 shipment to Israel, is less than the annual aid subsidy of more than $3 billion, not including the recent special military budget allocated to the Zionist state.   Continue reading “Israel “First” to get New Generation F35 Jetfighter: Paid for by American Taxpayers”

Informed Comment – by Juan Cole

The US government charged Edward Snowden with theft of government property and espionage on Friday.

Snowden hasn’t to our knowledge committed treason in any ordinary sense of the term. He hasn’t handed over government secrets to a foreign government.

His leaks are being considered a form of domestic spying. He is the 7th leaker to be so charged by the Obama administration. All previous presidents together only used the charge 3 times.   Continue reading “So When will Dick Cheney be charged with Espionage? His Crime was the Same as Snowden’s”

War is a Crime – by Francis A. Boyle

I have now had the chance to read Obama’s Report on Nuclear Employment Strategy of the United States, that just came out on Friday, June 21, 2013.  The critical passage can be found on page 5:

“The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review established the Administration’s goal to set conditions that would allow the United States to safely adopt a policy of making deterrence of nuclear attack the sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons. Although we cannot  adopt such a policy today, the new guidance re-iterates the intention to work towards that goal over time.”   Continue reading “Obama Backs First-Strike Nuclear War as U.S. Policy”

Las Vegas Sun – by Alan Fram

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service’s screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency acknowledged Monday. Terms including “Israel,” ”Progressive” and “Occupy” were used by agency workers to help pick groups for closer examination, according to an internal IRS document obtained by the Associated Press.   Continue reading “Documents show IRS also screened liberal groups”

Sovereign Man – by Simon Black

On March 10, 1975, a group of US diplomatic and national security officials gathered at the office of the Turkish foreign minister’s office in Ankara. Henry Kissinger was among them.

The discussion turned to foreign aid and supply of parts for military equipment, at which point Kissinger (Secretary of State at the time) suggested something that violated the law.   Continue reading “How to give the NSA the finger”

Truther.org

SWITZERLAND, Zürich — For the very first time, the shocking evidence of Obama nuclear terror whistleblower David Chase Taylor’s case for Swiss political asylum will be entered into the official court record at the “Bezirksgericht Zürich” (District Court of Zürich) on June 25, 2013. .

The 9:54 A.M. hearing will be a historic step in Taylor’s quest for political asylum. After 2 years of being denied access to a good-faith asylum hearing of any kind, Taylor will finally be able to declare under oath and on the record why he desperately needs and deserves political asylum in Switzerland.   Continue reading “Nuclear Terror Whistleblower David Chase Taylor In Swiss Court June 25, 2013”

Bob Owens

The Pocono Record Says Kahr, owners of the Thompson, Auto Ordnance, and Magnum Research Lines, is leaving New York for Pennsylvania:

A gun manufacturer is considering buying the entire 620-acre Pike County business park for $2 million to escape an unfriendly gun climate in New York.   Continue reading “Is Kahr the next funmaker to flee for freedom?”

Bob Owens

It was less than two weeks ago that we posted that an unknown gun company was looking to possibly move operations to Mayodan, NC. We can now confirm that Mayodan is one of three possible locations for Sturm, Ruger  & Co., which would confirm that the exodus of gun companies from anti-gun Connecticut is beginning to pick up steam:   Continue reading “Mystery solved: Sturm Ruger latest looking to transition out of slave state Connecticut”

Charleston Voice

The economy isn’t getting better and the unemployment numbers we keep seeing are far from accurate. According to CNN Money, 76 percent of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Roughly three-quarters of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, with little to no emergency savings, according to a survey released by Bankrate.com Monday.   Continue reading “Wow: Nearly All Americans Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck”

The New American – by Joe Wolverton, II

President Barack Obama has converted the CIA into his personal army and granted it unfettered assassination authority.

The story behind the development and deployment of this presidential killing corps is told inThe Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth, the latest book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mark Mazzetti.

Mazzetti, who writes for the New York Times, describes a role reversal between the army of agents in the CIA and the actual army:   Continue reading “Obama’s Secret CIA Hit Squad Detailed in “The Way of the Knife””

Homeland Security News Wire

Huffington Post -by Gabrielle Dunkley

Daniel Musso, a New Hampshire man who was hit with a stun gun and then arrested by police last week at a gun control rally,returned home Saturday to find his house had caught on fire, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.

The chimney of Musso’s home reportedly caught fire while he was away on a fishing trip, causing $150,000 in damage, according to the Union Leader.   Continue reading “Daniel Musso’s House Catches Fire Days After Gun Rally Arrest”