From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
AUSTIN — Texans will no longer be required to wear a face mask in public and all businesses can open at full capacity starting next week, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday.
The Republican made the sweeping move — on Texas Independence Day — even as public health officials say restrictions are still critical to control the pandemic, which has killed more than 42,500 Texans. Continue reading “Gov. Greg Abbott says it is now time to open Texas 100%, end statewide mask mandate”
In 2019, the California Court of Appeal, 1st Appellate District, ruled that a police officer may always enter a suspect’s home without a warrant if the officer is in pursuit of the suspect and has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a misdemeanor. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether that ruling should be overturned.
Justice Neil Gorsuch seemed to have a problem with the lower court’s decision. Under the common law, Gorsuch pointed out during oral arguments in Lange v. California, the police did not “have the power to enter the home in pursuit of any and all misdemeanor crimes.” The framers of the Fourth Amendment built on that common law understanding. So “why would we create a rule that is less protective than what everyone understands to be the case of the Fourth Amendment as original matter?” Continue reading “‘Everything Has Been Criminalized,’ Says Neil Gorsuch as He Pushes for Stronger Fourth Amendment Protections”
A Virginia man accused of helping to ‘plan and coordinate’ the January 6th Capitol breach claims he’s not a member, much less a leader, of the Oath Keepers – a group commonly described in the press as ‘far-right’ extremists – and that he wasn’t at the Capitol on January 6th due to what his attorney described as “physical limitations” that would have prevented his travel in the first place.
In a Monday court filing, 66-year-old Thomas Caldwell also claimed he’s held a top-secret security clearance since 1979, ran a consulting firm that did classified work for the US government, and worked as a FBI section chief from 2009 to 2010 – a job the Associated Press says typically requires ‘rising through the ranks of the bureau.’ Continue reading “Accused ‘Oath Keeper’ Denies All Charges, Claims To Be Former FBI Section Chief Who’s Held Top Secret Clearance For Decades”
Jewish Journal – by Jonathan S Tobin
(JNS) Jewish Democrats are celebrating this week and with good reason. Their party is about to take back power in Washington and end the presidency of the man they all love to hate: President Donald Trump. But adding a certain frisson of pride to their touchdown dances is the number of Cabinet members, and other officials and personalities, within the new First and Second families who are Jewish.
It’s an impressive tally. Social media is awash with posts with lists of the Jewish cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries, as well as the Jewish connections of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. When placed in the broad sweep of the nation’s history, it’s an important statement about the acceptance and the accomplishments of American Jewry. A century ago or even for several decades afterward, such a number would have been inconceivable. Continue reading “It’s Time to Stop Counting Jews in the Cabinet”
The Last American Vagabond – by Derrick Broze
On Tuesday, Donald Trump said farewell to America as he acknowledged “this week, we inaugurate a new administration.” Trump is yet to officially concede – a point which his most hardcore followers still believe indicates he will remain president – however, he finally spoke about handing over the reins of power to the Biden administration. “Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning,” Trump stated during his farewell address. Continue reading “Here Are 18 Ways Trump Supported The Swamp During His Presidency”
In his final day in office, outgoing President Donald Trump has pardoned many prominent Jews convicted of a myriad of crimes.
Among some of the Jewish convicted criminals to be pardoned by Trump include: Continue reading “Who were the Jews pardoned by Trump in his final days in office?”
JTA — A grant funneled through a Jewish federation to a group that was accused of funding the Capitol insurrection was an anomaly, said Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America.
Fingerhut reached out to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to address the controversy engendered by an Intercept article last week that noted the $100,000 grant to the Tea Party Patriots, a group that organizers of the deadly January 6 Capitol insurrection say helped fund the protest. Tea Party Patriots denies funding the protest. Continue reading “US Jewish umbrella group: Grant to far-right group linked to DC riot was anomaly”
The great crisis that is now happening in the United States did not begin with the break-in to Capitol Hill. It began with the Democrats’ lack of confidence in the presidency of Trump expressed in stormy demonstrations across the US, and his being labeled in every possible derogatory way.
The crisis continues in the great distrust of many of the Republicans in what they see as false election results that led to the break-in to the core of the government while the electoral votes for Biden were being confirmed. Continue reading “Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu: America is collapsing, Israel must fill the vacuum”
Cannabis activists in Washington, D.C. are planning to offer a free bag of marijuana to those receiving the vaccine for Covid-19, the group DC Marijuana Justice announced this week. The free cannabis giveaway, dubbed Joints for Jabs, is being arranged to coincide with vaccine clinics expected to open in the nation’s capital soon, DCMJ wrote in a press release on Monday. Continue reading “Get A Free Bag Of Marijuana With Your Covid-19 Vaccine”
President Trump has ordered that the major U.S. military command for the Middle East be expanded to include Israel, in a last-minute reorganization of the American defense structure that pro-Israel groups have long advocated to encourage cooperation against Iran, U.S. officials said Thursday.
The move means that the U.S. Central Command would oversee American military policy involving both Israel and Arab nations, a departure from decades of U.S. military command structure put in place because of acrimony between Israel and some of the Pentagon’s Arab allies. Continue reading “Trump Orders Military Shift to Spur Israeli-Arab Cooperation Against Iran”
NEW YORK (AP) — The son of a New York City judge who was arrested by the FBI on charges that he was among the protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol was ordered Tuesday by a different judge to stay away from Washington.
Aaron Mostofsky, 34, was picked up at his brother’s home in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning, about a week after he was seen inside the Capitol wearing a fur costume and a police vest he is accused of stealing during the mayhem. Continue reading “Fur-wearing NYC man arrested on Capitol riot charges freed on $100K bond”
Telegram – by Ryan Devereaux, Sam Biddle
In the wake of last week’s deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol Building, a publicly accessible chat group devoted to sparking a civil war is telling its thousands of subscribers that the moment they have all been waiting for is here.
Since the events last week, “Boogaloo Intel Drop,” a channel on the Telegram messaging app with more than 6,600 subscribers, including some self-described active-duty U.S. military personnel, has pushed its followers to usher in a new epoch of political violence in the United States. Subscribers and administrators have called for the murder of police officers with increased fervor and elevated Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran killed by Capitol Police during the riot, to the status of a martyr. Continue reading “On Telegram, the Paramilitary Far Right Looks to Radicalize New Recruits Ahead of Inauguration Day”
Sheldon Adelson, the multibillionaire casino mogul and Republican Party megadonor, died Monday at age 87.
Adelson died from complications related to treatment he was receiving for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, according to a press release Tuesday morning from Las Vegas Sands, the casino and resort company Adelson owned. Continue reading “Casino mogul and GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson has died at age 87”
White House.gov – by Melania Trump
Like all of you, I have reflected on the past year and how the invisible enemy, Covid-19, swept across our beautiful country. All Nations have experienced the loss of loved ones, economic pain, and the negative impacts of isolation.
As your First Lady, it has been inspiring to witness firsthand what the people of our great Nation will do for one another, especially when we are at our most vulnerable. Continue reading “First Lady Melania Trump: Our Path Forward”
Veterans Today – by Kevin Barrett
The previous century (20th c.e., 14th h.) featured innumerable martyrs. But only a few of their names have been chiseled prominently into the tablets of world history. Mahatma Gandhi, John and Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Sayyid Qutb were all murdered for standing up against evil. None were saints, much less prophets or imams. All led imperfect lives and had personal as well as intellectual flaws. Yet each became emblematic of a different facet of the struggle for God and the good against the forces of Satan that dominate the so-called modern world. Continue reading “General Qassem Soleimani: Iconic Martyr of the Century”
Multiple air traffic controllers in New York heard a chilling threat Monday in audio obtained exclusively by CBS News: “We are flying a plane into the Capitol on Wednesday. Soleimani will be avenged.”
The threat refers to Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general killed last year in a U.S. drone strike ordered by President Trump. It was made on the one-year anniversary of Soleimani’s death, for which Iranian officials have long vowed revenge. Continue reading “Chilling threat sent to air traffic controllers vowing revenge for killing of Iranian general is under investigation”
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package Sunday, ending days of drama over his refusal to accept the bipartisan deal that will deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown.
The massive bill includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as an increase in food stamp benefits. Continue reading “Trump signs massive measure funding government, COVID relief”