Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The Royal Wedding

Watch the wedding entrance dance to top all wedding entrance dances. T-Mobile's Royal Wedding Dance celebrates the marriage of William and Kate.

Eagle Chicks Lose Their Mother

Joe-

After you posted the cam on the Eagles at Norfolk Virginia - this morning my wife reported not seeing the mother.

Well it is confirmed that the little chicks have lost their mother. The mother eagle was struck by a US Air Jet this morning.

A few minutes ago the father eagle dropped a fish in the nest. But the chicks are without a mother.

http://www.wvec.com/my-city/norfolk/US-120702329.html

Editors Notes: While unfortunate, this sort of thing happens more often than most know. However, this simply means the Father will have to work much harder to get food and raise these babies.

Fruitland Police Department Press Release

DATE & TIME OF INCIDENT: 4/26/2011

TYPE OF INCIDENT: Elder Abuse Investigation Warrant Services

LOCATION OF INCIDENT: Fruitland Police Department

VICTIM: Mary Jane Baker

CASE NO.: 2010-069

ADDRESS: FRUITLAND

Since January, 2010, the Fruitland Police Department and the Wicomico County Department of Social Services, Adult Protection Services Division have been investigating the reported abuse and neglect of elderly person, Mary Jane Baker, age 85.

On Tuesday, April 25, 2011, the Wicomico County State’s Attorney’s Office presented the details of the investigation to the Wicomico County Circuit Court Grand Jury. The Grand Jury issued indictments against the four (4) below listed individuals for the crime(s) of: Vulnerable Adult Abuse / Physical Injury, Neglect and Reckless Endangerment.

George Wilber Baker, age 85
Amy Jane Davis, age 56
Sherry Lynn Mundy, age 63
Michelle Lynn Hundley, age 27

On Tuesday, April 26, 2011, the above mentioned individuals were arrested on the aforementioned Grand Jury Indictments and taken to the Wicomico County Detention Center pending a hearing before a Wicomico County Circuit Court Judge.

Firefighters Union Halting Federal Contributions

The nation's largest firefighters union and one of the Democrats' most reliable sources of campaign money says it will quit donating to federal candidates this year because members of Congress are not doing enough to support organized labor.

International Association of Firefighters President Harold Schaitberger says there is a more urgent need to spend money defending anti-union measures sweeping GOP-controlled statehouses across the country.

Cities and state governments attempt to undo protections to balance budgets

When an arbitrator ruled this month that Detroit could reduce the pensions being earned by its police sergeants and lieutenants, it put the struggling city at the forefront of a growing national debate over whether the pensions of current public workers can or should be reduced.

Conventional wisdom and the laws and constitutions of many states have long held that the pensions being earned by current government workers are untouchable. But as the fiscal crisis has lingered, officials in strapped states from California to Illinois have begun to take a second look, to see whether there might be loopholes allowing them to cut the pension benefits of current employees. Now the move in Detroit — made possible, lawyers said, because Michigan’s constitutional protections are weaker — could spur other places to try to follow suit.

“These things do tend to be herd-oriented,” said Sylvester J. Schieber, an economist and consultant who studies pensions.

Anchor 'looking at a format that will allow me to engage in more multi-dimensional storytelling'

Ending weeks of speculation about the future of her broadcast career, Katie Couric announced Tuesday that she is leaving the anchor desk at CBS.

"I have decided to step down from the 'CBS Evening News,'" Couric tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I'm really proud of the talented team on the 'CBS Evening News' and the award-winning work we've been able to do in the past five years in addition to the reporting I've done for '60 Minutes' and 'CBS Sunday Morning.' In making the decision to move on, I know the 'Evening News' will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future."

"I am looking at a format that will allow me to engage in more multi-dimensional storytelling," Couric, 54, tells PEOPLE about her future plans. She says other details, including when and where any new show will air, are "still being discussed."

The Associated Press reported three weeks ago that Couric's tenure as CBS anchor would end just short of five years in the job. Her contract expires June 4.

Speed Cameras Coming to Salisbury

Speed camera legislation passed the Salisbury City Council last night by a unanimous vote. Upon the signature of Mayor Jim Ireton, the measure will allow the Salisbury City government to increase revenue in the name of public safety.

Salisbury’s police chief, Barbara Duncan, will determine the placement of the cameras near schools. After 30 days of usage (during which warnings will be issued), any vehicle photographed exceeding 12 miles over the posted school zone speed limit will be issued a ticket. According to the ordinance, fines are not to exceed $100. While the ordinance does not specify, speed camera summonses are not subject to points on the owner’s driving record.

The cameras will be in operation Monday – Friday from 6AM – 8PM. When asked by councilman Tim Spies, Chief Duncan was not clear as to how the system would work on week days when school was not in session or as to why the cameras would operate in the hours after school children had gone home.

Dogs Found On Rt. 50: UPDATE

If you are the owner or happen to know the owner of these two dogs please contact 410-546-5166.

A special thank you goes out, (once again) to Cathy's Pet Salon for taking in these animals. The owners are on their way to the Shop now to get their pets.

Opportunities To Support Our Students And Schools

Tuesday, April 26
Bingo Benefit for Wicomico Middle School Student
Salisbury Moose LodgeA bingo benefit for Brooke Shockley has been planned for Tuesday, April 26 at the Salisbury Moose Lodge.

Brooke is a 13-year-old student at Wicomico Middle School and has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Osteosarcoma (bone) cancer. All proceeds will go toward medical expenses that are not covered by insurance. The doors will open at 5:30 and the games will begin at 6:30. Anyone who is interested in attending, please call Kristin Dukes at 410-677-5145 or email kdukes@wcboe.org for tickets.

Salisbury Police Department Press Releases

On April 24, 2011 at approximately 9:08 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police arrested the below listed suspect on an outstanding arrest warrant for a number of thefts that occurred in March of 2011. At that time, it was reported to the Salisbury Police that a suspect had used a stolen credit card to make purchases at a number of locations in Salisbury. Officers investigated the thefts and were able to positively identify the below listed suspect.

ARRESTED: Rodnisha Monique Mitchell, 22 years of age Delmar, Maryland

CHARGES:
Credit card theft
Theft (under $ 1,000)
Fraudulent use of credit card (16 counts)

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100010708

On April 25, 2011 at approximately 12:41 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Shore Stop Store on Mt. Hermon Road for the report of counterfeit currency. Upon arrival the officers met with store employees who advised that the below listed suspect was attempting to use counterfeit U.S. currency to obtain property from the store. The currency was examined and determined to be a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. The suspect was still located in the store and was taken into custody without incident.

ARRESTED: Christopher Alan Powell, 22 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES:
Counterfeiting
Possession of counterfeit currency
Issuing counterfeit currency
Attempted theft

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100015730

On April 25, 2011 at approximately 9:07 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to a residence on the one hundred (100) block of Delaware Avenue for the report of a domestic dispute. Upon arrival the officers met with the below listed suspect outside of the residence who advised that he had been involved in a domestic type argument. While investigating the incident, the suspect became loud and refused to calm himself. After a number of unsuccessful attempts to calm the suspect, the suspect remained disorderly and was taken into custody.

ARRESTED: Eugene Tyrone Logan, 51 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES: Disorderly conduct

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100015778

PUBLIC NOTICE

The City Council has scheduled an additional work session for

Monday, May 9, 2011 following the conclusion of the Council’s

6:00 p.m. regular meeting in Council Chambers (Room 301) of the

Government Office Building (125 N. Division Street) for further

discussion of the proposed Towing Ordinance.

Salisbury Council Gets Off to Uneventful Start

The newly constituted Salisbury city council began their tenure with fairly uneventful, two hour, first legislative session. Every vote was unanimous. Matters that may have been controversial, such as the speed camera legislation, were treated as though they were routine.
A little over one hour of the meeting was devoted to the presentation of Mayor Jim Ireton’s FY 2012 budget. Staying on message, Ireton emphasized that Salisbury’s city government was doing more with less and that city employees were bearing the brunt of city cost cutting through the use of furloughs.
While it is true that city spending has seen a general decline (5.95%) under Ireton’s stewardship, local attorney Bob Taylor pointed out during public comment that city spending has increased 55.46% from FY 2005 through FY 2012. The FY 2012 budget, Ireton’s second, is a 5.88% increase over last year.

PUBLIC NOTICE

A CLOSED SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, MAY 2, 2011 TO CONSULT WITH LEGAL COUNSEL/PENDING LITIGATION AS PERMITTED UNDER THE ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND SECTIONS 10-508(A)(7)(8).

THE CLOSED SESSION WILL BE HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM 306 OF THE GOVERNMENT OFFICE BUILDING (125 N. DIVISION STREET) AT 3:00 P.M.

Yemen Opposition To Approve Gulf Mediation Deal

SANAA, Yemen -- A coalition of Yemen's opposition parties say they will soon sign a deal mediated by neighboring Gulf countries for the president to step down.

Mohammed Salem Bassindwa, head of opposition's national dialogue council, told the Associated Press Tuesday that he expected the deal to be signed in the "next 24 hours."

The deal provides for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power to his deputy in return for immunity from prosecution for him and his family.

Levee protecting Poplar Bluff, Mo., has breached, police say

Money Managers Switching To GOP

Hedge-fund managers made a big bet on Barack Obama and other Democrats in 2008. Now, with the 2012 contest gearing up, some prominent fund managers have turned their backs on the party and are actively supporting Republicans.

Daniel Loeb, founder of Third Point LLC, was one of the biggest Obama fund-raisers in 2008, rounding up $200,000 for him, according to campaign-finance records. In the decade prior, Mr. Loeb and his wife donated $250,000 to Democrats and less than $10,000 to Republicans.

But since Mr. Obama's inauguration, Mr. Loeb has given $468,000 to Republican candidates and the GOP, and just $8,000 to Democrats. Hedge-fund kings have feelings, too, and the president appears to have hurt them.

"I am sure, if we are really nice and stay quiet, everything will be alright and the president will become more centrist and that all his tough talk is just words," Mr. Loeb wrote in an email about four months ago expressing frustration with the president's posture toward Wall Street. "I mean, he really loves us and when he beats us, he doesn't mean it."

The email, sent to eight friends, was widely circulated on Wall Street.

Managers of hedge funds—private investment partnerships that cater to institutions and wealthy people—are reacting to what some criticize as Mr. Obama's populist attacks on Wall Street, as well as to Democrat-led efforts to raise their tax bills.

They had hoped to be protected from such a tax move by their relationships with prominent Democratic members of Congress. "Hedge funds bankrolled the Democrats in the 2006 and 2008 elections, and the very people they helped put in power turned around and screwed them," said Sam Geduldig, a former Republican congressional staffer who is a Wall Street lobbyist.
More here

8 Teachers Named Finalists For Best-Mannered Teacher Of The Year

Salisbury – Eight Lower Eastern Shore teachers from seven schools have been named finalists as the Best-Mannered Teacher for the 2010-2011 School Year by the Eastern Shore Chapter of the National League of Junior Cotillions.

The finalists were nominated by students of the Eastern Shore Chapter of NLJC as the teachers who best demonstrated the manners being taught to the middle-school students.

The National League of Junior Cotillions Eastern Shore Chapter just announced the finalists as Laurene Abent of Faith Baptist Church, Berlin, MD, nominated by Ana Valdes; Courtney Baxter of Bennett Middle School nominated by Kevon Turnamian, Kathy Fahey of Worcester Preparatory School nominated Meridith Kellam and Nikhil Moondra; Denise Hopkins of Holly Grove Christian School nominated by Joshua Bale; Bev Points nominated by Daria Usab and Monna Winslow nominated by Michaela Miller of The Salisbury School; Janet Smith of St. Francis de Sales School nominated by Hayden Eutsler and Sydney O’Dell; and Jay Waggoner of Salisbury Middle School nominated by Lauren Bailey. Said Ann Wiseman, director of the Eastern Shore Chapter, “The students in our program were excited about being a part of the selection process. They wanted to honor teachers who exemplify the etiquette and manners being taught in our program.”

One teacher named above will receive the coveted crystal award as THE Best-Mannered Teacher at the Grand Spring Ball, the final event of the season, being held on April 30. Last year’s winning nominee was Deana Williams from Bennett Middle School.

Those nominated for the award were nominated by Junior Cotillion students who wrote an essay about a teacher in their school. The criteria for selection included their positive characteristics, how the teacher shows courtesy and respect for students, and why the person is a good role model. According to Wiseman, “The special teachers are those who treated students with respect and instilled a love of learning which will continue to have a positive effect on the student’s performance throughout their school years.”

The National League of Junior Cotillions™ is an etiquette and social dance training program that involves thousands of students nationwide. Students learn the customs and courtesies that will serve them for a lifetime. Topics covered include table manners, writing thank you notes, and responding to formal invitations, in addition to many other social skills that will make life more pleasant for them and for those around them. Most importantly, the students learn to feel comfortable in social situations.

Classes are now forming for the 2011-2012 Season. If you’d like to recommend a student for membership in Junior Cotillion or would like more information regarding the program, call Mrs. Wiseman at 410-341-0065.

Obama Wants More 'Death Panel' Power

Most of the legal challenges to Obamacare, the president's signature legislation that allows the federal government to take over health-care decision-making, focus on the "unconstitutional individual mandate" that defines sitting in one's living room as "interstate commerce" and demands the purchase of government-approved health insurance.

However, there's a new round of alarms developing over what critics have described as the ultimate "death panel," concerns that have been raised because Barack Obama himself suggested giving an already-unaccountable board more authority.

It's the idea of Obama's Independent Payment Advisory Board, which is one of 150 board and commissions established by Obamacare but is the most notorious because it would be made up of 15 Obama-appointed individuals and would dictate Medicare policy affecting millions of seniors and disabled Americans with essentially no congressional or judicial oversight.

It was during Obama's recent speech in which he condemned a plan to cut the deficit by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., he referenced Obamacare and its critics.

"What they'll say is, well, you know what, that will never work because it's government imposed and it's bureaucracy and it's government takeover and there are death panels," the president said. "I still don't entirely understand the whole 'death panel' concept. But I guess what they're saying is somehow some remote bureaucrat will be deciding your health care for you."

Obama then specifically said his panel's authority should kick in at an earlier time than it already is scheduled to become the law.
More here

Farah: 'Investigations Have Concluded ...'

Last Thursday, nearly three weeks after April Fool's Day, the New York Times, once touting itself as "the newspaper of record" that brought readers "all the news fit to print," carried the following headline in its politics section:

"Evidence Aside, State Lawmakers Debate 'Birther' Bills."

Datelined from Oklahoma City, where state lawmakers were in the process of passing legislation that would require all candidates for all offices to establish they meet eligibility requirements before getting on the ballot, the lead of the story stated:

"Investigations have concluded that President Obama was, in fact, born in Hawaii in 1961, as he has always said."

Which investigations were those?

The story doesn't say.

But it does provide this startling new evidence to back up that claim: "Just this week, on the news program 'Good Morning America' on ABC, George Stephanopoulos produced a copy of the president's Certification of Live Birth, causing a potential presidential aspirant, Michele Bachmann, the Republican congresswoman from Minnesota, to say that the issue appeared settled. In 2008, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging that proof."

In another day, with another issue, this might be categorized as shallow or shoddy journalism.

After all, in 2008, the New York Times led the "birther" craze.

They were pushing the idea that there were serious questions of constitutional eligibility for a man running for president that year.

That man was Sen. John McCain. Now, I didn't support McCain for the presidency. I didn't vote for him. I even wrote a book urging Americans not to vote for him. But McCain had served in the House and Senate for 26 years. It was his second bid for the presidency. America knew the man inside out – including his birth in Panama when his father, an American citizen, was serving in the Navy. They also knew his mother was an American citizen.

But, for the Times, this was the right "birther" moment.

The media concern over McCain's eligibility actually led to hearings in the U.S. Senate that concluded he was eligible for one reason – both of this parents were American citizens. McCain had to show the Senate his long-form birth certificate to prove he was eligible. The motion carried 99-0 with one abstention, John McCain. Barack Obama co-sponsored the affirmative resolution declaring McCain eligible.

But that was then and this is now.

The Times never once questioned Obama's eligibility during the campaign. It never reported on those who did. It never asked for proof of Obama's eligibility. The flimsiest evidence was accepted on faith.

Question: Were both of Obama's parents American citizens?

Answer: No, according to Obama. He says his father was a Kenyan visiting student, a subject of the United Kingdom, who would have transferred U.K. citizenship to his son, if indeed Barack Hussein Obama I were his father. But we don't even know that with certainty, because the only eyewitness document that would confirm Obama's story is the long-form, contemporaneous form he refuses to release to the public. Furthermore, if Stanley Ann Dunham were actually his birth mother, she may have been too young to confer U.S. citizenship upon Obama, making him not a dual citizen but a U.K. citizen only.

Arrest Of Homeless Connecticut Woman For Enrolling Son In School Illegally Sparks Debate

A Connecticut mother who says she wanted to give her son a better education will be arraigned on Wednesday on charges for enrolling the 6-year-old in another town, sparking outrage and support from people nationwide.

Tanya McDowell, a 33-year-old homeless woman whose last known address was in Bridgeport, Conn, is scheduled to be arraigned on charges of larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny for allegedly stealing $15,686 from Norwalk schools. Prosecutors allege that figure is the value of her son's education at Norwalk's Brookside Elementary School between the time he was illegally enrolled in January and McDowell's arrest on April 14. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.

Obama's Broken Promise: I'll Help Jobless Blacks

By DeWayne Wickham

This is not an easy column for me to write. It’s never easy to tell someone you like that he’s a disappointment. I like Barack Obama. I liked him the first time we met back in 2006 when I took a small group of journalism students to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with the then-freshly minted U.S. senator.

I liked Obama even more when an aide to his presidential campaign invited me to a July 2007 speech he gave laying out his commitment to improve life for people in urban America — which for most politicians is a euphemism for black America.

“Today’s economy has made it easier to fall into poverty. … Every American is vulnerable to the insecurities and anxieties of this new economy. And that’s why the single most important focus of my economic agenda as president will be to pursue policies that create jobs and make work pay,” Obama said that day to his mostly black audience.

At that time, the nation’s overall unemployment rate was 4.7%. Whites had a jobless rate of 4.2% while the black unemployment rate stood at 8.1%. Today, the black rate is 15.5%, nearly double that of white job-seekers.

I don’t blame Obama for the economic conditions that are responsible for so many blacks being out of work. The seeds of this problem were planted long before he moved into the Oval Office. But I do fault him for not doing more to fix this problem.

The poor in urban America, he said in that 2007 speech, “suffer most from a politics that has been tipped in favor of those with the most money, and influence, and power.” And then he asked rhetorically, “How can a country like this allow it?” To which he answered, “We can’t.”

But so far, under his leadership, he has allowed it.

Finding work for the jobless is the best anti-poverty program this nation can mount. But while the Obama administration spends $608 million during the first 17 days of its involvement in Libya’s civil war — it can muster neither the money nor the will to combat black unemployment.

The president’s failure to fight this problem as vigorously as he wages war abroad gets a pass from black leaders, many of whom complain to me privately but remain silent in public. They’re reluctant to challenge Obama the way Martin Luther King Jr. did Lyndon Johnson in 1967.

America “would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor” so long as it was involved in the Vietnam war, King said in a speech in which he called for an end to that bloody conflict.

Last month, as the Obama administration applauded the creation of 216,000 new jobs and a slight dip in the overall unemployment rate, the gap between whites and blacks without work widened as the black unemployment rate inched up.

In December 2009, when the black unemployment rate was just 5.5 percentage points higher than the national rate, Obama told USA TODAY that he didn’t think he needed to do anything special to close this gap. Now that it is nearly 7 percentage points higher, black leaders should demand that the president devote as much attention on this problem as he has on ending the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and in pushing for immigration reform.More here

Do You Own An Electric Car, Charge Up For FREE!

More so on the western shore, electric stations to charge up your vehicle are popping up faster than most know. In fact, many of your Park & Ride areas already have charging systems installed.

However, here's the cool part. What you didn't know as a Maryland Taxpayers is, you are completely welcome to pull in and charge your vehicle for FREE. Heck, there are even some shopping centers where the state has come in and installed these systems but there are no charges when you do so.

So if you happen to wonder just where your tax dollars are going, well, you better line up and buy one of these vehicles and take advantage of the FREE ride. Remember, Democrats are lining up for their FREE ride before enough Republicans complain and the cat gets out of the bag.

Don't believe me, (since you've NOT heard about this anywhere else) call the Governor's Office and see.

So What REALLY Happened At Wor-Wic Last Week

Last week we published a question HERE about a 23 year long employee being escorted out of Wor-Wic Community College. The article/question produced quite a few comments but today Salisbury News will reveal the TRUTH about what's going on.

Amanda Trego has worked for Wor-Wic for the past 23 years. Amanda graduated college with 2 BS Degrees in 4 years. Two years later she received her first Masters Degree and ultimately she earned two Masters Degrees. Amanda was considered one of the top 5 most valuable employees at Wor-Wic.

After 20+ years Amanda unfortunately started having health issues and this past March Wor-Wic actually put her on probation because of her medical conditions.

Last week they did not fire or terminate Amanda, Wor-Wic simply chose NOT to renew her contract, mainly due to her having to go see specialists. We're told that Wor-Wic, (rather than supporting a 23 year long dedicated employee) chose her medical leave and condition was too much for them to handle.

OK, so why the big deal, right. Well, it turns out, Wor-Wic SELF INSURES their employees. Amanda was supposed to go see a specialist in Washington, D.C. for her condition, (which is quite serious) but because they would not give her the leave to do so, she has ignored her Doctors request. Keep in mind, there are NO specialists on the Eastern Shore that can handle her condition. I do know her condition but IMHO its private and I will not share such information here.

Nevertheless, Amanda is clearly a well educated person and based on the fact that someone LEAKED her being escorted out of War-Wic, I felt it extremely important to let every one know the whole truth about what's going on. Amanda has given her life to Wor-Wic. No matter the weather condition, Amanda has always been on call. The list of accolades goes on and on about this woman.

Over the past several years Wor-Wic has hired different leaders to run things out there and from what we're told, this new one is a real doozy. Its all about the money. Its all about employers asking their employees to dedicate their lives for large profits, yet when it comes to the health of the employee, screw them, let them go and move on. My Wife experienced a similar situation with former Mayor Barrie Tilghman and her 18 years on the job with the Salisbury Zoo. She herniated three disks in her back, (ON THE JOB) and she was terminated.

So I feel for Amanda Trego. Rather than ANYONE ever thinking Amanda was let go for ANY other reason, I want this Post to serve as the TRUTH and what Wor-Wic is capable of.

If ANY of you have more scoop on the new Boss at Wor-Wic, feel free to forward that information to alberobutzo@wmconnect.com and we'll provide yet another article down the road. I've already started a decent file on this woman.

Smackdown

Why gas prices go up much faster than they come down

You might have heard over the weekend that skyrocketing gas prices have finally "plateaued." If gas prices were like gravity, you would anticipate they would start plummeting soon. Raise your hand if you expect that.

Me neither. While the words "skyrocketing" and "gas prices" often end up in the same sentence, "plummeting" and “gas prices” rarely occupy even the same paragraph. In a perfect free market, prices should float up and down with equal speed. But in our market, what goes up doesn't seem to come down, at least not at once. What gives?

We've been told for months that instability in the Middle East spooked the traders who set gas prices, which are almost $1 per gallon more at the pump than a year ago. Prices jumped 30 cents from mid-March to mid-April alone, to an average $3.88 a gallon. What are odds, do you think, that average prices will return to $3.58 by mid-May?

The quick rise/slow fall phenomenon will feel familiar to most consumers, who often explain it with this conventional wisdom -- greedy retailers take advantage of temporarily high prices as long as they can to sock away a little extra profit.

More

D.C. Fire Truck Donation Violated Procedure

High-ranking officials in ex-Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration made several violations when donating a surplus fire truck to a Dominican resort town in 2009, according to the Office of the Inspector General.

The fire truck, and an ambulance, were en route to a Sosua, Dominican Republic, when they were stopped and returned to the city. Such surplus vehicles usually go to auction, but aides in Fenty's economic development office arranged for their donation to Sosua via the anti-youth violence group Peaceoholics. Head Peaceoholic told the Washington Examiner that he and some friends of his regularly visit the Dominican beach town.

Council members Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson asked for an investigation, and the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment determined there was an abuse of authority by several administration appointees.

“We knew there was something very wrong when the Mayor’s representatives were dealing with District property as if it were their own,” Cheh said.

White House says it is considering 'targeted sanctions' after crackdown

WASHINGTON — The State Department on Monday told American citizens to leave Syria as soon as they can and ordered some personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus to depart the country, as the Syrian government steps up a brutal crackdown against pro-reform demonstrators.

In a new warning, the department urged Americans to defer all travel to Syria, advised those already in the country to depart while commercial transportation is available and to limit nonessential travel within the country. Nonessential U.S. embassy staff and the families of all embassy personnel have been ordered to leave Syria. It said the embassy would remain open for limited services.

More

What A Day

A new IMF report blithely forecasts that the "Age of America" will end as the U.S. economy is overtaken by China by 2016.

· China Proposes To Cut Two Thirds Of Its $3 Trillion In USD Holdings leaving us to wonder who will buy our bonds if China cuts them loose? As the Feds "buy" more and more of U.S. debt, the dollar is steadily devalued.

· With gas prices climbing to $4.00/gallon and after Shell Oil has spent 5 years and $2 billion to drill in the Arctic Ocean, EPA idiocy in withholding air permits is forcing Shell to abandon drilling. Obama needs to investigate the EPA rather than attacking oil companies and "speculators.

· http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/25/energy-america-oil-drilling-denial/#ixzz1KYFHsmR1

· And in the latest example of thugs in the White House, Obama is proposing an executive order requiring a company or its executives to disclose political contributions over $5000 in order to qualify for a federal contract. (But of course big labor will not have to disclose its vast contributions.) This is much worse than the much criticized Nixon "Enemies List" . Businesses hoping to win federal contracts will be very intimidated about showing up contributing to Republicans.

Can't wait for 2012.

Liars And Lies

Reporters, Democrats, and even some Republicans have begun repeating an infectious lie in the prelude to the debt ceiling debate. Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner started it off and it has been repeated by reporters in print, on radio, and on television, including Fox News.

The lie is very simple: a failure to raise the debt ceiling will cause a default on American debt.

This is utterly and categorically a lie. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

As Senator Pat Toomey noted the other day,

Next year, about 7 percent of all projected federal government expenditures will go to interest on our debt. Tax revenue is projected to cover at least 70 percent of all government expenditures. So, under any circumstances, there will be plenty of money to pay our creditors.

Moreover, as the Congressional Research Service has noted, the Treasury secretary himself has the discretion to decide which bills to pay first in the event that a cash flow shortage occurs.

Nonetheless, the media and Democrats keep repeating the lie. And it is a lie.
If we fail to raise the debt ceiling and do default, it will not because because of a failure to raise the debt ceiling. It will be because Barack Obama and Tim Geithner chose to default for political gain.

There's much more here

Boehner To Obama: 'Time to Grow Up' About Deficit And Taxes

House Speaker John Boehner said President Obama needs to "grow up" in talks over deficit reduction.

During an interview with ABC News in his Ohio district Monday, Boehner said he personally trusts the president, but accused him of not being honest with Americans about taxes, Medicare and deficit reduction.

The topic was the bipartisan deficit commission, which was appointed by the president and issued a controversial report late last year recommending tough spending cuts, tax reforms and reforming Medicare and Social Security.

"While I didn't agree with everything they did, there was a lot in their proposal that was worth of consideration. And what did the president do? He took exactly none of his own deficit reduction commission's ideas. Not one. Come on! It's time to grow up and get serious about the problems that face our country," Boehner said.

Despite that, Boehner said that he trusts the president and was prepared to negotiate with him on how to resolve the budget problems.

"I get along with him fine," he said. "I wouldn't say we're close friends, but it's -- we're polite. We get along fine. We look each other in the eye and we're straight and honest with each other."

But Boehner accused the president of not being "honest with the American people." He said he still felt Obama said one thing about deficit reduction behind closed doors and then demonized Republicans during a speech directing Congress to use the deficit commission and come up with concrete proposals.

"You know, I met with him, along with the other leaders -- before he gave that speech that day. And we had a real honest conversation about raising taxes," Boehner said.

"And both Senator [Mitch] McConnell and I made it clear to the president we're not raising taxes. And he seemed to understand that we weren't going to raise taxes," he said. "We debated about how we were going to move forward in terms of the kind of changes we're going to make. And it was a serious conversation.

"Then the president goes out that same afternoon and gives this partisan, political campaign speech -- that -- frankly, I was -- I can't tell you how disappointed I was in the president in not being honest with the American people about the big problems that we face," he said. "And the fact that it's time to own up, fess up and quit whistling past the graveyard."

More of this interview and the video

White House Starts Attacks On Oil Companies

The White House has joined congressional Democrats in targeting oil companies with criticism for nearly $4 per gallon gas.

President Obama lashed out at oil companies — and the tax breaks they get from the government — for a second consecutive day on Thursday and again in Saturday's address.

“Four billion dollars of your money are going to these companies at a time when they’re making record profits and you’re paying near record prices at the pump,” the president said at a Nevada town hall. “It has to stop.”

Obama also announced a Justice Department task force that will probe whether speculators and traders are to blame for the high prices. A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Friday criticized the effort as an attempt to deflect attention from White House and Democratic opposition to increased drilling in the United States.

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Computer Virus As Bad As A-Bomb?

Have Little Boy and Fat Man, the nuclear devices dropped on Japan to end World War II in Asia and the Pacific, been replaced by Stuxnet? The question is raised in a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Analysts who have viewed the Stuxnet virus, which sabotaged the Iranian nuclear centrifuges, call its use a watershed moment in cyber warfare, because it was the first instance of a specially designed cyber weapon used to attack the industrial infrastructure of a sovereign nation.

The success of the attack has demonstrated that cyber attacks can be not only successful but devastating.

Ralph Langner, an independent cyber security expert based in Germany, and his team of experts, analyzed the code contained in the Stuxnet virus and were surprised by what they found.

According to Langner, "code analysis makes it clear that Stuxnet is not about sending a message or proving a concept, it is about destroying its targets with utmost determination in military style."

In a recent article, David Gerwitz, the cyber terrorism adviser for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, argues that the Stuxnet virus has ushered in an era in warfare and will spark a virtual arms race similar to how Hiroshima sparked the nuclear arms race.

Gerwitz calls the Stuxnet virus the "Little Boy and Fat Man of the digital age," in reference to the two atomic weapons used by the United States against Japan in World War II.

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WikiLeaks: Al-Qaida Already Has Nuclear Capacity

U.S. authorities believe al-Qaida already has nuclear capacity and is ready to use it, new WikiLeaks documents detailing prisoner interrogations in Guantanamo Bay have revealed.

And during questioning, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed threatened the terror group would unleash a “nuclear hellstorm,” Britain’s Daily Telegraph reveals.

The newspaper says “A senior al-Qaida commander claimed that the terrorist group has hidden a nuclear bomb somewhere in Europe which will be detonated if Osama bin Laden is ever caught or assassinated.

The U.S. authorities uncovered numerous attempts by al-Qaida to obtain nuclear materials and fear that terrorists have already bought uranium.

Other revelations reveal a plot to put cyanide into air-conditioning units of public buildings across the United States and to recruit ground staff at London’s Heathrow Airport to make attacks on planes easier.

Khalid’s 15-page file adds: “Detainee stated that as an enemy of the United States, he thought about the U.S. policies with which he disagreed and how he could change them. Detainee’s plan was to make U.S. citizens suffer, especially economically, which would put pressure on the U.S. government to change its policies.

"Targeting priorities were determined by initially assessing those that would have the greatest economic impact, and secondly which would awaken people politically.”
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WH Confirms Work Underway On Executive Order That Will Stifle Political Speech

In what the White House calls a push for transparency, a pending executive order would require companies doing business with the federal government to disclose political contributions to independent groups, but would not place the same requirement on public employee unions or federal grant recipients that typically donate to Democrats.

Entitled the “Disclosure of Political Spending By Government Contractors,” the order would implement parts of the DISCLOSE Act, which failed to get through Congress last year. The legislation sought to restrict campaign speech after the landmark Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right of corporations and unions to donate to campaigns.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed Monday that work is underway on the draft order, and linked the move to President Obama’s stated commitment to transparency.

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Iowa College Republicans Target Young Voters With New Ad

The College Republican National Committee (CRNC) is launching a television ad in Iowa this week with the goal of energizing young voters to get involved in the political process in a state that will host the first electoral contest of the presidential primary season.

Unlike typical political ads, the CRNC spot features pop culture references and an upbeat tempo with young people asking viewers about the $5 trillion per decade interest on the national debt. It calls on Iowa’s college students to ask presidential candidates, who will be courting their state’s voters over the coming months, what their plan is to fix the deficit?

But CRNC spokesman Rob Lockwood told The Daily Caller that what is most important is that ads like this help Republicans appeal to young voters who have been supporting Democratic candidates in recent years.

Republicans got young voters on their side when re-electing Ronald Reagan in 1984 and when electing George H.W. Bush in 1988. Lockwood said he expects the GOP to win back many young voters who supported Obama in 2008 but have become disillusioned by the president’s policies.

WATCH: CRNC’s new advertisement:

This new ad comes on the heels of the CRNC’s “The Breakup” advertisement, which showed college students expressing their dissatisfaction with Obama’s inability to fulfill campaign promises of “hope” and “change.”

Top 10 Federal Programs Making 'Improper Payments'

At a time of growing concern about government spending, the federal government made $125 billion in “improper payments” in fiscal 2010, more than eleven times the total 2010 spending by the U.S State Department.

The $125 billion in improper payments was also more than 7 times the total spending by the Justice Department or by NASA, which runs the U.S. space program, which is preparing to launch its last-ever shuttle flights.

Federal agencies reported improper payments estimated at $125.4 billion in fiscal year 2010, an increase of $16.2 billion from the $109.2 billion estimate in fiscal 2009, the Government Accountability Office said. Ninety-four percent of those payments came from social spending programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, GAO said in its April 15 report.

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Abortion Votes Will Shadow GOP In 2012 Campaign

In a year when spending, deficits and debt have dominated the national debate, the recent push to strip Planned Parenthood of government funding is a reminder that the abortion issue retains its political potency.

The decades-old battle nearly derailed the latest spending deal on Capitol Hill, and House Republicans say they’ll continue to fight federal funding of the group after Congress returns from a two-week break to tackle the nation’s borrowing limit, 2012 spending levels and the soaring national debt.

“We believe very strongly that government dollars shouldn’t be used to fund abortion. I believe that is where the majority of the American people are and we will make sure that we continue in the spirit of the Hyde Amendment, governmentwide,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican, told reporters this month, referring to the 1976 law that bans the use of federal funds for abortions.

As part of the 2011 spending deal, the Democrat-controlled Senate agreed to hold an up-or-down vote on defunding Planned Parenthood, a measure that sailed through the House only to die in the Senate largely along partisan lines. Republican Sens. Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts, Mark Kirk of Illinois, and Olympia J. Snowe and Susan M. Collins, both of Maine, joined their Democratic counterparts.

The vote has handed advocates on opposite sides of the battle new ammunition to use against their political foes in the 2012 elections, where Republicans hope to capture the U.S. Senate and oust President Obama.

“Votes have consequences, especially for politicians who say one thing at home and do another in Washington when it comes to protecting life,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life group.
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EPA Threatens Utah With Air Quality Sanctions

Federal officials threatened Monday to block road money and seize control of Utah's air quality management plan because of an exemption for excessive pollution from oil refineries and other sources.

Utah officials have about 18 months to change the rule to ensure polluters are cited for a violation first, instead of the state having to investigate a breakdown and then issue a violation, said Monica Morales, the head of the air quality planning unit for the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 office in Denver.

The current rule "is not in compliance with the Clean Air Act," Morales said.

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Prosecutors Review Charges In Attack At McDonald's

ROSEDALE, Md. (AP) -- Baltimore County prosecutors are reviewing whether further charges, including hate crimes charges, are warranted in an attack on a transgender woman at a McDonald's that was caught on video.

State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said Monday that prosecutors are reviewing all aspects of the April 18 incident and whether there are other potential defendants. Eighteen-year-old Teonna Monae Brown is charged with assault and a 14-year-old girl is charged as a juvenile.

The victim and her family plan to attend a Monday evening rally organized by advocates for transgender rights to condemn the attack. Advocates who pushed for a bill in this year's General Assembly that would have extended housing and employment protections to transgendered people say this incident shows that discrimination against transgendered people is real.

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Teen Charged In McDonald's Assault Was Arrested Last Year In Similar Crime In Same Restaurant

Bystander who intervened describes melee; 18-year-old suspect denied bail

The family of a transgender woman who was attacked in a Baltimore County McDonald's last week thanked the woman who stepped in and tried to help, as more than a hundred supporters gathered at the Rosedale restaurant Monday night. The rally drew together representatives of transgender, civil-rights and faith-based communities in a call to action to stop violence against all people.

"I'll never forget you for this," Renee Polis told Vicky Thoms, who was hit in the face as she stepped between Chrissy Polis and the two teens who were caught on video punching and kicking Polis, and dragging her by her hair until Polis appears to have a seizure.

The attack was filmed by a McDonald's employee and was first posted on YouTube last week. Despite being removed from the video-sharing site, it quickly went viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of views after being linked from several websites, including the Drudge Report.

Stepping into the McDonald's restaurant on April 18, the 55-year-old Thoms stumbled onto the attack — she said she saw a woman cowering on the floor outside a restroom as two other women pummeled her.
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Photo Gallery: William Donald Schaefer Lies In State In Annapolis

Teen Charged With Assault With Intent To Kill In Zoo Stabbing

WASHINGTON - A 16-year-old is charged with assault with intent to kill after Monday's stabbing at the National Zoo.

A teen boy was stabbed multiple times, a National Zoo spokesperson tells WTOP. The stabbing occurred just inside the Connecticut Avenue entrance gates to the Zoo. The victim then ran outside the zoo's gates.

The victim remains in critical condition at Children's Hospital.

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Redskins Owner Dan Snyder Wants A Public Apology

WASHINGTON - Redskins Owner Dan Snyder says he'll drop his lawsuit against the Washington City Paper, if he gets an apology and a retraction within the next few days.

Snyder plans to refile his suit in a D.C. court Tuesday. The suit, previously filed in New York, claims the paper published false and reckless claims about Snyder.

Snyder admits making mistakes as the owner of the Redskins. He admits getting angry when his team loses. He says he can take that criticism, but won't stand false attacks on his integrity.

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Working Boomers Say Age A Plus At Office

Feel like the office geezer? Age may be an asset at work, or no issue at all, according to an AP-LifeGoesStrong.com poll. Only 14 percent of baby boomers see getting older as a workplace liability.

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Switch To Old-School Safety Razors And Save $160 A Year

Like a drug dealer giving out free samples, Gillette has been getting men hooked on Fusion razors by handing out free Fusion razors. You go along and you think, mm, this is a pretty good shave, and eventually you need to buy replacement cartridges, and it turns out they cost $40! Reader Jim got sick of spending $250 a year on cartridges for a shave that wasn't stellar so he decided to kick it like a grandpa and switch to old-school double-edged safety razors. Jim says the blades on these just cost pennies a piece and the shave is cleaner and closer. Here's how he made the switch:

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Allegations Of Photography Cause Plane Evacuation, 2.5-Hour Delay On United Flight

When did "taking photographs" become "suspicious behavior" on a plane? Because that's exactly what caused an entire United flight to return to its gate, be evacuated and inspected, leave 2.5 hours late and forced to make an additional stop because of the delay.

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P&G Coupon Book Full Of Delightfully Stereotypical "Mom" Imagery, And Savings!

A packet of "mom"-centered P&G coupons landed in Post Punk Kitchen forum member raspberrycomplaint's mailbox and she found the ad copy and images pretty amusing. She posted several of the pages along with her commentary, like the one of a wife feeding her husband snacks. "At the end of the day, I get supper on the table. My husband refuses to use utensils. He says that's what I'm here for, and makes me hand feed him his supper, one bite at a time. I just feel so proud that I can be useful to him. That's a woman's job." It's all very facetious and snarky and worth a good chuckle, but it makes you wonder who comes up with this stuff.

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Is Walmart Or Target Cheaper?

Ok, so the official studies are telling us that Target is now actually beating Walmart on price, but is it for real? Rob Cockerham decided to put the superstores to the test. He shopped for the identical shopping list and compared the final tally. Who won?

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‘Don’t Say Gay' Bill Advances In Tennessee

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

A bill that would prohibit teachers from discussing anything having to do with homosexuality in grade school is moving to the Senate Floor.

Four Alleged Masterminds of 2008 Mumbai Attacks Are Indicted In Chicago

Four alleged masterminds of the Mumbai attacks have been indicted in a U.S. federal court, including two who have been linked to Pakistan's government, a close U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago have indicted four alleged masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai attacks including two men who, as ProPublica has reported [1] in recent months, have been linked by U.S. investigators and foreign court documents to Pakistan’s security forces.

The indictment filed Monday never mentions the Pakistani security forces or their alleged role in the attacks. But it represents a major development in a secretive, diplomatically sensitive prosecution set for trial next month, because Pakistan is considered a close U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism. Prosecutors charged the four Pakistanis with playing lead roles in the attacks by the Lashkar-i-Taiba terrorist group that killed 166 people, six of them Americans. Three of the four are believed to be at large.

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What Can Be Found In The WikiLeaks "Gitmo Files"

McClatchy Newspapers writes “the US military set up a human intelligence laboratory at Guantanamo,” the Washington Post details new classified military documents obtained by the “anti-secrecy organization” present “new details” of detainees whereabouts on Sept 11, 2001 and afterward and the Daily Telegraph reports that it has exposed “America’s own analysis of almost ten years of controversial interrogations on the world’s most dangerous terrorists.”

Months after news organizations reported the Guantanamo Files might be WikiLeaks’next release, the files are now posted on theWikiLeaks website. Nearly 800 documents, memoranda from Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), the combined force in charge of the Guantanamo Bay prison to US Southern Command in Miami, Florida.

The memoranda do not detail torture or how detainees were interrogated. The reports from between 2002 and 2008 show how JTF-GTMO justified when to keep detainees and also when it chose to release detainees. In cases of detainees “released,” that detainee’s “transfer” is detailed to “the custody of his own government or that of some othergovernment.”

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Smoking Is Bad

Children and adolescents in the United States exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) are at risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and conduct disorder, new research suggests.

In a national survey study of more than 2000 nonsmokers between the ages of 8 and 15 years, investigators found that serum cotinine levels, signifying SHS exposure, were positively associated with symptoms of all these disorders — and were especially correlated for boys.

"Our results have important public health implications," write Frank C. Bandiera, MPH, from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, Florida, and colleagues.

"Given the critical developmental period of childhood and adolescence, the effects of policy to reduce or ban smoking in public places and in the home may help prevent or reduce the progression of illness in at-risk individuals and alleviate the heavy burden...attributable not only to tobacco use but also to mental disorders," they write.

Although the findings are in line with previous research showing a link between mental health outcomes and SHS exposure, the investigators note that this study did not "establish the biological or psychological mechanisms of association."

Still, the investigators note that this new research does provide "critical and much-needed data."

The study is published in the April issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Citing Jobs and Environment, More Unions Backing Environmental Protection Agency

At the start of 2011, as the energy corporations, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the Tea Party right launched their assault on environmental protection and the EPA, it looked like public opinion and organized labor might just be swept along. Instead, much of the public and the labor movement have rallied in support of EPA and environmental regulation. The result has been a standoff on legislation to decimate EPA authority to protect the environment. But whether it will be possible to prevent the backdoor effort to gut the EPA by cutting its budget hangs in the balance.

In a March 14 article titled "EPA Tangles With New Critic: Labor," the Wall Street Journal reported that "several unions" are demanding that the EPA "soften new regulations" that "could put thousands of jobs in jeopardy." It noted an analysis by the United Mine Workers saying that proposed EPA regulations could put 250,000 jobs at risk in the utility, mining and railroad sectors. It cited a letter from a coalition including Boilermakers, Mine Workers, and Utility Workers to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson saying that a a tightening of standards on ground-level ozone would "have a significant impact on our states' workers."

The article also described a "delicate alliance" developing between the Boilermakers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and American Electric Power Company, "one of the nation's top coal burners." It described a meeting held at request of the CEO of AEP with the president if the IBEW and Rep. Fred Upton, the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a leading opponent of the EPA that discussed "concerns about the impact of new EPA regulations."

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As Syrian Regime Sends Tanks Against Citizens, Obama Ponders Sanctions

Washington - The United States is considering seeking targeted sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime amid reports that it unleashed tanks and troops in an escalating crackdown on a peaceful nationwide uprising, the White House said Monday. The announcement came amid criticism of the Obama administration for refraining from mounting the same kind of aggressive response to Assad’s bloody onslaught against the pro-reform protests as it did to the use of force against demonstrators in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.

“The brutal violence used by the government of Syria against its people is completely deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement. “The United States is pursuing a range of possible policy options, including targeted sanctions, to respond to the crackdown and make clear that this behavior is unacceptable.”

“The Syrian people’s call for freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and the ability to freely choose their leaders must be heard,” Vietor said.

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