From the Trenches World Report

USA Today – by Karl Gelles

Congress may let student loan interest rates double July 1, but some federal workers and congressional staff likely are protected from the impact by a taxpayer-funded benefit that provided more than $20 million last year for them to pay down their college debts.

Congress created the benefit more than 10 years ago to make government jobs more appealing to job candidates who could get higher-paying jobs in the private sector. Meanwhile, a 2007 law that cut student loan interest rates in half will expire July 1, and Congress has been unable to reach a deal to extend it.   Continue reading “Federal Workers Get Millions In Student Loan Relief”

World Events and the Bible

WEB Notes: Make no mistake about it, the failure of the rebels is by design to literally bring the world powers into this conflict. We see that happening with each passing day. Now the powers of the world are openly arming the rebels and taking steps to intervene with their own military.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday, June 20, that Moscow will honor its controversial contract to deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria. He spoke the day after the announcement that two warships carrying 600 Russian marines were heading for Syria “to protect the Russian citizens there” along with air force cover as needed. Lavrov told Russian TV: “We respect all our contracts and are honoring all our contractual obligations.”    Continue reading “World War By Proxy: Russia’s Lavrov says, ‘will honor its S-300 missile contract with Damascus’”

McClatchy – by Lindsay Wise and Jonathan S. Landay

Blacklisted News – by Stephen Benavides, Truth Out

Passed in 1978, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) set the groundwork for surveillance, collection, and analysis of intelligence gathered from foreign powers and agents of foreign powers, up to and including any individual residing within the U.S., who were suspected of involvement in potential terrorist activity. On October 26, 2001, a little over a month after 9/11, President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act into law. Two provisions, Sec. 206, permitting government to obtain secret court orders allowing roving wiretaps without requiring identification of the person, organization, or facility to be surveyed, and Sec. 215 authorizing government to access and obtain “any tangible thing” relevant to a terrorist investigation, transformed foreign intelligence into domestic intelligence.   Continue reading “Indefinite Surveillance: Say Hello to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014”

Activist Post- by Brandon Turbeville

As the secular Syrian government continues to mop up the mobs of death squads made up of mercenaries, religious fanatics, and the criminally insane (as well as cannibals), the second phase of destabilization is quickly taking shape – that is, the establishment of “no-fly zones” and the arming of the death squads by the West with even heavier weapons than they have previously been given. The destruction of Syria is thus apparently scheduled to take exactly the same form as that of Libya.   Continue reading “Next Phase of Syrian Invasion Begins — The Central Bank Connection”

Yahoo News -by HANNAH DREIER

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The nation’s mayors are expected to ask Congress to push anew for strongerbackground checks for gun buyers.

Dozens of city leaders will consider a resolution demanding gun control legislation during the 81st annual U.S. Conference of Mayors conference, which begins Friday in Las Vegas.   Continue reading “Nation’s mayors meet in Vegas amid gun debate”

It would be a good time to do some reading up on what’s about to hit the USA by researching the Weimar Republic of Germany in the 1920’s.

They, like GW Bush and Company, and Obama also decided to go to war by borrowing the money needed and not raising taxes.  Here’s a hint: Be sure you have a wheelbarrow to carry your worthless Fed notes in to the store to shop for groceries.   Continue reading “The Waste List: 66 Crazy Ways That The U.S. Government Is Wasting Your Hard-Earned Money”

Erie TV News

A gun rights group will not be permitted to carry their firearms during a rally this Saturday at Perry Square.

That was the ruling from an Erie County judge today.  A group called,”Open Carry Pennsylvania” was given a permit to hold the rally.  However, the city told members to keep their guns at home. The city cited an 1976 ordinance that forbids people from carrying a firearm into a park.   Continue reading “Judge Upholds City Firearms Ban”

CNS News – by Elizabeth Harrington

Special agents at the IRS accidentally shot their firearms 11 times between 2009 and 2011, and at least three of the cases “may have resulted in property damage or personal injury.”

Agents actually fired their guns accidentally more often than they intentionally fired them in the field, according to an audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).   Continue reading “IRS Agents ‘Accidentally’ Discharged Guns 11 Times, Possible Injuries”

Canada Free Press – by Doug Hagmann

As noted in my June 7, 2013 report titled DHS Insider: It’s about to get very ugly, the additional information provided to me that was temporarily withheld from publication is now being released. The methodical and incremental release of information was (and is) deliberate, to allow other things to play out, such as the public exposure to the name Edward Snowden and his revelations regarding just how extensive the domestic surveillance apparatus is—and who the surveillance is actually targeting.   Continue reading “More DHS insider from DC”

Moonbattery

Uh oh. California is drowning in red ink:

A financial report issued by state auditors finds that the state of California is in the red by an unsustainable $127.2 billion.   Continue reading “As California Sinks Into Debt, Governor Brown & Co. Give Themselves Raises”

Desert Peace

Sixty years ago today, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were legally murdered by the United States government. Today, their children see that horror as a force for good …

Today, the US government asserts that danger from the international terrorist conspiracy and their weapons of mass destruction justifies massive surveillance, indefinite detention and even torture. Authorities say we must guard national secrets even more securely to avoid destruction. Today, the issues raised by the Rosenberg case resonate from the Oval Office of the White House to Bradley Manning, who is being tried under the Espionage Act of 1917, as were Ethel and Julius.   Continue reading “Rosenberg Children Speak of their Parent’s Execution 60 Years Ago”

Reason – by J.D. Tuccille

Government officials like to use eminent domain for the convenience of their preferred policies and/or the enrichment of themselves and their buddies. Usually, they get away with it, because the folks on the receiving end are too few and powerless to hold their tormentors to account. In Hackensack, New Jersey, however, the officials who targeted Michael Monaghan’s property for seizure as part of an “area in need of redevelopment,”  even while denying him the right to develop it himself, pushed too many people around, too often. Last month, voters booted out the entire city council.   Continue reading “Attempted Land Grab Ends With Voters Booting Entire City Council”

End the Lie – by Madison Ruppert

In yet another instance of a report indicating that tech giants worked directly with intelligence agencies to enable government surveillance, it is now being reported that Skype began a secret program called Project Chess to enable intelligence agencies and law enforcement to easily get a hold of calls.

This comes after it was revealed that Skype was part of the massive National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program known as PRISM.   Continue reading “Project Chess: Skype’s secret program aimed at making calls readily available to intelligence agencies”