DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
In Spite Of All That Lovin’, McDonald’s Sales Still Sinking
Even though McDonald’s made a huge media push with its G-droppin’ apostrophe-lovin’ hug-acceptin’ Super Bowl-centered marketing campaign, the latest sales data from the world’s largest fast food chain shows that it’s going to take more than a few ads to turn this burger business around.
More 'Ugly American' Tourist Foolishness
Two American tourists now have a criminal record in Italy after they were caught carving their names into Rome's Colosseum, according to The Guardian.
The visiting Californians snuck away from their tour group on Saturday and began scratching their initials into the amphitheater walls using a coin, The Guardian reported.
Police caught the pair but not before they managed to carve a "J" and an "N" around 3 inches high into the Colosseum wall. The paper also reports that the women took a selfie with their carvings.
The young women, aged 21 and 25, were cited for "aggravated damage to a building of historical and artistic interest," according to The New York Post.
Here's more
The visiting Californians snuck away from their tour group on Saturday and began scratching their initials into the amphitheater walls using a coin, The Guardian reported.
Police caught the pair but not before they managed to carve a "J" and an "N" around 3 inches high into the Colosseum wall. The paper also reports that the women took a selfie with their carvings.
The young women, aged 21 and 25, were cited for "aggravated damage to a building of historical and artistic interest," according to The New York Post.
Here's more
The Darwins are out
1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked. And now, the honorable mentions:
2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger.. The chef's claim was approved.
3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.
4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies.. The deception wasn't discovered for three days
5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.
6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]
7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly.. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape...
8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."
9.. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast... The man, frustrated, walked away.
10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street by sucking on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for... Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.
In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family....unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.
Remember.... They walk among us, they can reproduce, and they vote!!!!!
7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly.. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape...
HUMANITIES IMPACT ON THE PLANET
A new photo book from conservation experts aims to shine a light on humanity's impact on the planet and convince people to think about their contribution. Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot includes photos and essays exploring man's complicated relationship with the planet.
The book “presents the stark reality of a world transformed by human action, action that threatens our future and the buzzing, blossoming diversity of life with which we share the planet,” an introduction reads.
The authors also take aim at current rates of population growth, which they argue are unsustainable and present "ecological and social tragedies." "We sought to present a range of images reflecting how the human demographic explosion -- 7.3 billion people and still growing by over 1.5 million every week -- has diminished Earth’s richness and beauty, and contributed to so much misery among people," they wrote in a press release.
The images below, from the chapter "Feeding Frenzy" chronicle the landscape alterations and industrial operations needed to feed billions of people and the animals they consume.
All images and text below are from Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot.
More
The book “presents the stark reality of a world transformed by human action, action that threatens our future and the buzzing, blossoming diversity of life with which we share the planet,” an introduction reads.
The authors also take aim at current rates of population growth, which they argue are unsustainable and present "ecological and social tragedies." "We sought to present a range of images reflecting how the human demographic explosion -- 7.3 billion people and still growing by over 1.5 million every week -- has diminished Earth’s richness and beauty, and contributed to so much misery among people," they wrote in a press release.
The images below, from the chapter "Feeding Frenzy" chronicle the landscape alterations and industrial operations needed to feed billions of people and the animals they consume.
All images and text below are from Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot.
More
ANTI NETANYAHU RALLY
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of thousands of Israelis are gathering at a Tel Aviv square under the banner "Israel wants change" and calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be replaced in March 17 national elections.
Saturday night's rally at Rabin Square is the highest profile demonstration yet in the run-up to the election. It is organized by a non-profit organization seeking to change Israel's priorities and refocus on health, education, housing and the country's cost of living. Though not officially endorsed by any political party, it drew mostly supporters of leftist and centrist parties.
The rally's keynote speaker is former Mossad chief Meir Dagan who recently slammed Netanyahu's conduct and called him "the person who has caused the greatest strategic damage to Israel."
More
Saturday night's rally at Rabin Square is the highest profile demonstration yet in the run-up to the election. It is organized by a non-profit organization seeking to change Israel's priorities and refocus on health, education, housing and the country's cost of living. Though not officially endorsed by any political party, it drew mostly supporters of leftist and centrist parties.
The rally's keynote speaker is former Mossad chief Meir Dagan who recently slammed Netanyahu's conduct and called him "the person who has caused the greatest strategic damage to Israel."
More
Idle Thoughts Of A Retiree's Wandering Mind:
I had amnesia once --- maybe twice.
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I went to San Francisco .
I found someone's heart. Now what?
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I found someone's heart. Now what?
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Protons have mass?
I didn't even know they were Catholic.
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I didn't even know they were Catholic.
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All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
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If the world were a logical place,
men would be the ones who ride horses sidesaddle.
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men would be the ones who ride horses sidesaddle.
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What is a "free" gift?
Aren't all gifts free?
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Aren't all gifts free?
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They told me I was gullible and I believed them.
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Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up,
he'll never be able to merge his car onto the freeway.
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he'll never be able to merge his car onto the freeway.
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Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.
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One nice thing about egotists:
they don't talk about other people.
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they don't talk about other people.
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My weight is perfect for my height--which varies.
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I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.
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How can there be self-help "groups"?
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If swimming is so good for your figure,
how do you explain whales?
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how do you explain whales?
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Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground,
and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off.
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and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off.
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Is it me --or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?
RUSSIAN SUSPECT BLOWS SELF UP AS POLICE APROACH
MOSCOW, (Reuters) - Russian authorities said on Sunday they had charged two men over the killing of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov and said one of them was a former senior policeman from the mainly Muslim region of Chechnya who had confessed to involvement in the crime.
The two were among five men, all ethnic Chechens, frogmarched into a Moscow courtroom on Sunday, forced by masked security officers gripping their bound arms to walk doubled over, a Reuters reporter at the court said.
The men stood in metal cages as television crews were ushered in to film them.
More
The two were among five men, all ethnic Chechens, frogmarched into a Moscow courtroom on Sunday, forced by masked security officers gripping their bound arms to walk doubled over, a Reuters reporter at the court said.
The men stood in metal cages as television crews were ushered in to film them.
More
REPUBLICANS WARN IRAN AGAINST DEAL WITH OBAHMA
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - Republican senators warned Iran on Monday that any nuclear deal made with U.S. President Barack Obama could last only as long as he remains in office, in an unusual intervention into U.S. foreign policy-making.
The letter, signed by 46 U.S. senators, says Congress plays a role in ratifying international agreements and points out that Obama will leave office in January 2017, while many in Congress will remain in Washington long after that.
"We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei," the letter read.
More
The letter, signed by 46 U.S. senators, says Congress plays a role in ratifying international agreements and points out that Obama will leave office in January 2017, while many in Congress will remain in Washington long after that.
"We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei," the letter read.
More
Beaver Falls Biker Brawl Shocks Small Town: Police Search For Men Involved In Violent Fight
A Beaver Falls biker brawl video is going viral this weekend after Pennsylvania police released footage of the incident that took place on January 31, according to WPXI. A surveillance camera near the Evergreen Café caught the biker brawl footage, and it is being reported that more than two dozen people were involved in the fight between two rival biker gangs.
The brawl shocked residents of the town when it happened back on January 31, and the local police have been trying to find everyone involved in the melee.
The Beaver County Police revealed that the fight involved The War Dogs and The Rebels, and it was reported that the fight broke out after one of the gangs found out that members of the other gang were at a bar just a block away. The brawl started with those involved punching and kicking, but it quickly escalated to more violent behavior.
More
The brawl shocked residents of the town when it happened back on January 31, and the local police have been trying to find everyone involved in the melee.
The Beaver County Police revealed that the fight involved The War Dogs and The Rebels, and it was reported that the fight broke out after one of the gangs found out that members of the other gang were at a bar just a block away. The brawl started with those involved punching and kicking, but it quickly escalated to more violent behavior.
More
Transgender woman at center of gym policy controversy speaks out
A transgender woman who believes she was unexpectedly the focus of a Planet Fitness policy controversy said that she has only used the gym’s female locker room on two occasions.
Carlotta Sklodowska came forward today after Michigan mom Yvette Cormier made headlines for having her gym membership instantly revoked when she complained about a transgender woman using the female locker room.
Sklodowska now claims that she believes she is the transgender woman Cormier saw and that she had only used the changing area on two separate visits to hang her purse and coat and to pick up her items after working out.
More
Carlotta Sklodowska came forward today after Michigan mom Yvette Cormier made headlines for having her gym membership instantly revoked when she complained about a transgender woman using the female locker room.
Sklodowska now claims that she believes she is the transgender woman Cormier saw and that she had only used the changing area on two separate visits to hang her purse and coat and to pick up her items after working out.
More
Reggie Jackson to sell big letters from old Yankee Stadium
The 10-foot high letters that spelled "Yankee Stadium" atop the original Bronx ballpark are being offered for sale at Sotheby's on April 1. The auction house has estimated that the letters will sell for $300,000 to $600,000.
The owner is Yankee legend Reggie Jackson.
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Bottle of grey wine that was dug out of US Civil War shipwreck after 151 years gets tasted
An old bottle of wine containing grey liquid that was dug up from a US Civil War shipwreck was uncorked and tasted yesterday.
It was recovered intact four years ago from the 1864 wreck of the Mary-Celestia blockade runner that sank off the coast of Bermuda. It was sampled by wine experts after being submerged for 151 years.
The sommeliers’ verdict at a food festival in Charleston, South Carolina, is that the grey “wine” actually smelled and tasted like crab water, gasoline, salt water, vinegar, with hints of citrus and alcohol.
More
It was recovered intact four years ago from the 1864 wreck of the Mary-Celestia blockade runner that sank off the coast of Bermuda. It was sampled by wine experts after being submerged for 151 years.
The sommeliers’ verdict at a food festival in Charleston, South Carolina, is that the grey “wine” actually smelled and tasted like crab water, gasoline, salt water, vinegar, with hints of citrus and alcohol.
More
Solar-power plane airborne on historic round-the-world trip
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — With its wings stretched wide to catch the sun's energy, a Swiss-made solar-powered aircraft took off from Abu Dhabi just after daybreak Monday in a historic first attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fossil fuel.
Solar Impulse founder André Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seat aircraft when it lumbered into the air at the Al Bateen Executive Airport. Borschberg will trade off piloting with Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard during layovers on a 35,000-kilometer (21,700-mile) journey.
Some legs of the trip, such as over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, will mean five days and five nights of flying solo. Both pilots have been training hard for this journey, which will span 25 flight days over five months before this Spruce Goose of renewable energy returns to Abu Dhabi in late July or August.
More
Solar Impulse founder André Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seat aircraft when it lumbered into the air at the Al Bateen Executive Airport. Borschberg will trade off piloting with Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard during layovers on a 35,000-kilometer (21,700-mile) journey.
Some legs of the trip, such as over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, will mean five days and five nights of flying solo. Both pilots have been training hard for this journey, which will span 25 flight days over five months before this Spruce Goose of renewable energy returns to Abu Dhabi in late July or August.
More
Volunteer Participation in United States Lowest in Over a Decade
(CNSNews.com) - The percentage of the population who has volunteered through or for an organization at least once is the lowest it has been in over a decade at 25.3 percent in the United States between September 2013 and September 2014, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
“Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses) through or for an organization,” explained BLS.
“The reference period for the questions on volunteering was about 1 year, from September 1, 2013, through the survey reference week in September 2014,” it said.
“The volunteer rate was little changed at 25.3 percent for the year ending in September 2014,” stated BLS. “About 62.8 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2013 and September 2014. The volunteer rate in 2013 was 25.4 percent.”
More
“Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses) through or for an organization,” explained BLS.
“The reference period for the questions on volunteering was about 1 year, from September 1, 2013, through the survey reference week in September 2014,” it said.
“The volunteer rate was little changed at 25.3 percent for the year ending in September 2014,” stated BLS. “About 62.8 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2013 and September 2014. The volunteer rate in 2013 was 25.4 percent.”
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Worcester County Tea Party Speaker Series 2015
Event: Worcester County Tea Party Speaker Series 2015
Speaker: Mike Bradley, morning host of the "Talk of Delmarva" on WGMD (92.7 FM)
Topic: Stories From Behind The Microphone
Topic: Stories From Behind The Microphone
Date: Friday, March 20, 2015
Time: Meeting begins at 7PM, doors open at 6:30PM
Location: Worcester County Library - Ocean Pines Branch, 11107 Cathell Rd., Ocean Pines, MD 21811
Admission: Free and Open to the Public.
Time: Meeting begins at 7PM, doors open at 6:30PM
Location: Worcester County Library - Ocean Pines Branch, 11107 Cathell Rd., Ocean Pines, MD 21811
Admission: Free and Open to the Public.
Sen. Schumer on Hillary E-Mails: ‘That Stuff Isn’t Gonna Matter’
Americans don’t care about Hillary Clinton using a private server for her e-mails as Secretary of State, according to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
"I think, ya know, she's already said she wants the emails out. What do Americans care about? Good paying jobs, good country, good family. All that stuff isn't gonna matter."
More here
"I think, ya know, she's already said she wants the emails out. What do Americans care about? Good paying jobs, good country, good family. All that stuff isn't gonna matter."
More here
56,023,000: Record Number of Women Not in Labor Force
(CNSNews.com) - A record 56,023,000 women, age 16 years and over, were not in the labor force in February.
Not only was that a record high, but it's also the first time the number has exceeded 56 million, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
To be counted as ‘not in the labor force,’ according to the BLS, one must not have a job or have looked for one in the past four weeks. In January 2015, there were 55,756,000 women not in the labor force, which means that 267,000 women dropped out of the labor force since then.
The labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of those who are participating in the labor force by either having a job or looking for one in the past four weeks, declined in February.
More
Not only was that a record high, but it's also the first time the number has exceeded 56 million, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
To be counted as ‘not in the labor force,’ according to the BLS, one must not have a job or have looked for one in the past four weeks. In January 2015, there were 55,756,000 women not in the labor force, which means that 267,000 women dropped out of the labor force since then.
The labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of those who are participating in the labor force by either having a job or looking for one in the past four weeks, declined in February.
More
Obama: 'We’re The Gay Americans Whose Blood Ran in the Streets of San Francisco’
From President Barack Obama’s speech yesterday in Selma, Ala., celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches:
That’s what it means to love America. That’s what it means to believe in America. That’s what it means when we say America is exceptional.
For we were born of change. We broke the old aristocracies, declaring ourselves entitled not by bloodline, but endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. We secure our rights and responsibilities through a system of self-government, of and by and for the people. That’s why we argue and fight with so much passion and conviction -- because we know our efforts matter. We know America is what we make of it.
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That’s what it means to love America. That’s what it means to believe in America. That’s what it means when we say America is exceptional.
For we were born of change. We broke the old aristocracies, declaring ourselves entitled not by bloodline, but endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. We secure our rights and responsibilities through a system of self-government, of and by and for the people. That’s why we argue and fight with so much passion and conviction -- because we know our efforts matter. We know America is what we make of it.
More
Nearly At ‘Full Employment’? 10 Reasons Why The Unemployment Numbers Are A Massive Lie
On Friday, we learned that the official “unemployment rate” has fallen to 5.5 percent
On Friday, we learned that the official “unemployment rate” has fallen to 5.5 percent. Since an unemployment rate of 5 percent is considered to be “full employment” by many economists, many in the mainstream media took this as a sign that the U.S. economy has almost fully “recovered” since the last recession. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, some Federal Reserve officials believe that “the U.S. economy is already at full employment“. But how can this possibly be? It certainly does not square with reality. Personally, I know people that have been struggling with unemployment for years and that still cannot find a decent job. And I get emails from readers all the time that are heartbroken because they are suffering through extended periods of unemployment. So what in the world is going on? How can the government be telling us that we are nearly at “full employment” when so many people can’t find work? Could it be possible that the government numbers are misleading?
It is my contention that the official “unemployment rate” has become so politicized and so manipulated that it is essentially meaningless at this point. The following are 10 reasons why…
#1 Since February 2008, the size of the U.S. population has grown by 16.8 million people, but the number of full-time jobs has actually decreased by 140,000.
More
On Friday, we learned that the official “unemployment rate” has fallen to 5.5 percent. Since an unemployment rate of 5 percent is considered to be “full employment” by many economists, many in the mainstream media took this as a sign that the U.S. economy has almost fully “recovered” since the last recession. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, some Federal Reserve officials believe that “the U.S. economy is already at full employment“. But how can this possibly be? It certainly does not square with reality. Personally, I know people that have been struggling with unemployment for years and that still cannot find a decent job. And I get emails from readers all the time that are heartbroken because they are suffering through extended periods of unemployment. So what in the world is going on? How can the government be telling us that we are nearly at “full employment” when so many people can’t find work? Could it be possible that the government numbers are misleading?
It is my contention that the official “unemployment rate” has become so politicized and so manipulated that it is essentially meaningless at this point. The following are 10 reasons why…
#1 Since February 2008, the size of the U.S. population has grown by 16.8 million people, but the number of full-time jobs has actually decreased by 140,000.
More
Credential Crunch For Hillary Press Conference
Hillary Clinton will be holding a press availability today at the United Nations in New York City. But all members of the press won't be able to attend. Only those who requested credentials 24 hours before the event will be credentialed. But word of the event didn't leak out until hours before event.
"It's appearing at the UN, which has a notoriously difficult credentialing process. So there's going to be a restriction on the number of reporters who can come in. You had to apply 24 hours in advance for press passes. So I don't know if it is intentional or not," says MSNBC's Alex Seitz-Wald.
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"It's appearing at the UN, which has a notoriously difficult credentialing process. So there's going to be a restriction on the number of reporters who can come in. You had to apply 24 hours in advance for press passes. So I don't know if it is intentional or not," says MSNBC's Alex Seitz-Wald.
More
BREAKING NEWS: ATF decides not to issue ban on type of bullet
Faced with strong opposition in both houses of Congress, the ATF has decided not to issue a ban on a widely used type of ammunition.
From Fox News
From Fox News
Here's One That Will Drive Everyone Nuts: SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION CONFIRMS: ILLEGAL ALIENS TO BEGIN COLLECTING BENEFITS IN 2017
We were sternly commanded to ignore all those studies showing the legalized alien population would be a staggering drain on our immense welfare state. The authors of such studies were torn to shreds for their alleged short-sightedness and xenophobia.
The amnesty shills, who spent years telling us illegal aliens were a poor and oppressed minority eking out a sparse existence from predatory employers while living miserably “in the shadows,” have recently spun on a dime and said to forget all that jive and believe their new party line that these “Americans-in-waiting” are far more productive than existing American citizens, including the chumps who waited in line for years to immigrate properly. Jeb Bush, to name a prominent example, often speaks as if he considers illegals qualitatively superior to Americans in their sense of family responsibility and work ethic, gingerly leaving the subject of their respect for the law to discuss another day.
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Kill Obamacare, or U.S. healthcare will suffer same fate as Britain
A colleague of mine, a Conservative MEP, was cremated last month. Except he wasn't: the hospital had released the wrong body to the undertakers. A second funeral has just been held with his actual remains — though, of course, nothing can be done for the family of whoever was cremated in error.
We take such incompetence for granted; it doesn't make the news. Even when something happens that is atrocious enough to generate headlines — the latest scandal being what an official report calls a "systemic cover-up" of baby deaths in a hospital in North West England — no one calls for the system to be overhauled. The truth is that, after 60 years of a state monopoly in healthcare, most of my countrymen are unable to imagine any alternative.
It's a vivid demonstration of what Milton Friedman called "the tyranny of the status quo". In most fields of life, Britons lean toward the free market. Our political culture is Anglosphere rather than European, in the sense that even Leftist politicians have to cloak their schemes in the language of liberty and enterprise. But when it comes to the National Health Service, the reverse is true. Every party has to guarantee that the NHS budget will continue to rise, whatever the other austerity measures. No party will contemplate an end to the state monopoly.
More
We take such incompetence for granted; it doesn't make the news. Even when something happens that is atrocious enough to generate headlines — the latest scandal being what an official report calls a "systemic cover-up" of baby deaths in a hospital in North West England — no one calls for the system to be overhauled. The truth is that, after 60 years of a state monopoly in healthcare, most of my countrymen are unable to imagine any alternative.
It's a vivid demonstration of what Milton Friedman called "the tyranny of the status quo". In most fields of life, Britons lean toward the free market. Our political culture is Anglosphere rather than European, in the sense that even Leftist politicians have to cloak their schemes in the language of liberty and enterprise. But when it comes to the National Health Service, the reverse is true. Every party has to guarantee that the NHS budget will continue to rise, whatever the other austerity measures. No party will contemplate an end to the state monopoly.
More
LaPierre: 'Next 700 days are the most dangerous' for 2nd Amendment
The National Rifle Association is warning that the administration's plan to ban one type of AR-15 ammo is just the first step in taking away all hunting rounds, a backdoor bid to impose national gun control.
"He can ban their guns so he's going to ban their ammo," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, the nation's largest organization promoting the Second Amendment.
His warning was the latest chapter on a new bid by the administration to ban the popular 5.56 M855 "green tip" ammunition used by AR-15 rifle.
Last month the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives moved to classify the round as "armor piercing" and then ban it, claiming it is a threat to police as more people buy AR-15 style pistols. AR type rifles are among the nation's most popular.
Without getting into the issue that the round currently isn't made of metals considered in legislation as armor piercing, LaPierre told Fox's Lou Dobbs that if the administration succeeds in banning the small 5.56 ammo because it can pierce body armor, then it will likely come after even bigger rounds.
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"He can ban their guns so he's going to ban their ammo," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, the nation's largest organization promoting the Second Amendment.
His warning was the latest chapter on a new bid by the administration to ban the popular 5.56 M855 "green tip" ammunition used by AR-15 rifle.
Last month the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives moved to classify the round as "armor piercing" and then ban it, claiming it is a threat to police as more people buy AR-15 style pistols. AR type rifles are among the nation's most popular.
Without getting into the issue that the round currently isn't made of metals considered in legislation as armor piercing, LaPierre told Fox's Lou Dobbs that if the administration succeeds in banning the small 5.56 ammo because it can pierce body armor, then it will likely come after even bigger rounds.
More
JOBS AT RISK FROM TECHNOLOGY
Somewhere out there, a robot is scheming to take my job.
About a year ago, a breaking news story about a Los Angeles earthquake was fully written by a robot. Gathering data it received from the U.S. Geological Survey, an algorithm wrote and published the story on the Los Angeles Times' website less than three minutes after the trembling began.
News organizations freaked out, some labeling the event as the "rise of the robot reporter," sending all of us into a soul-searching quest to defend ourselves in the face of such a formidable adversary. "But my writing is original, and it oozes with style," many a reporter defiantly told themselves. "A data-crunching robot could never fill my position!"
At The WorldPost's Future of Work Conference, a partnership of The Huffington Post and Berggruen Institute taking place in London this week, a similar anxiety has begun to emerge -- if not with workers, then with the economists who study them.
"According to our research, 47 percent of jobs in the U.S. are at risk from technology over the next 20 years," Michael Osborne, a co-director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment, told me. The group's research combined U.S. Bureau of Statistics data with a complex machine-learning algorithm of its own to draw its conclusions.
For example, in retail, an algorithm might be a better predictor of customer preferences than a human salesperson thanks to the amount of data companies collect, he said. Logistics will be impacted by fast-moving advancements in autonomous vehicle technology that few took seriously just a few years ago.
"Forklift drivers, truck drivers, agricultural vehicle drivers," Osborne listed. "Those jobs could be gone very soon."
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About a year ago, a breaking news story about a Los Angeles earthquake was fully written by a robot. Gathering data it received from the U.S. Geological Survey, an algorithm wrote and published the story on the Los Angeles Times' website less than three minutes after the trembling began.
News organizations freaked out, some labeling the event as the "rise of the robot reporter," sending all of us into a soul-searching quest to defend ourselves in the face of such a formidable adversary. "But my writing is original, and it oozes with style," many a reporter defiantly told themselves. "A data-crunching robot could never fill my position!"
At The WorldPost's Future of Work Conference, a partnership of The Huffington Post and Berggruen Institute taking place in London this week, a similar anxiety has begun to emerge -- if not with workers, then with the economists who study them.
"According to our research, 47 percent of jobs in the U.S. are at risk from technology over the next 20 years," Michael Osborne, a co-director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment, told me. The group's research combined U.S. Bureau of Statistics data with a complex machine-learning algorithm of its own to draw its conclusions.
For example, in retail, an algorithm might be a better predictor of customer preferences than a human salesperson thanks to the amount of data companies collect, he said. Logistics will be impacted by fast-moving advancements in autonomous vehicle technology that few took seriously just a few years ago.
"Forklift drivers, truck drivers, agricultural vehicle drivers," Osborne listed. "Those jobs could be gone very soon."
More
BREAKING NEWS FORTHCOMING
Just say no to executive-action gun control
In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, President Obama seized the moment to push for legislation expanding federal gun control laws. As it turned out, his proposal could not make its way through Congress quickly enough for public opinion to remain on his side.
The Democrat-controlled Senate could not muster the votes for his plan. This was in large part because nothing Congress considered at that time could have prevented the bloody school shooting, committed by a mentally disturbed man who had actually been turned down when he tried to purchase a gun. Instead, he killed his own mother and stole her legally purchased, background-checked weapons from her home.
Even as Obama failed in his mission, he mentioned that he would do what he could on the issue through executive action. Hence the sudden push this year by his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to ban a kind of ammunition used in the AR-15 rifle, one of America's most popular models.
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The Democrat-controlled Senate could not muster the votes for his plan. This was in large part because nothing Congress considered at that time could have prevented the bloody school shooting, committed by a mentally disturbed man who had actually been turned down when he tried to purchase a gun. Instead, he killed his own mother and stole her legally purchased, background-checked weapons from her home.
Even as Obama failed in his mission, he mentioned that he would do what he could on the issue through executive action. Hence the sudden push this year by his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to ban a kind of ammunition used in the AR-15 rifle, one of America's most popular models.
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Maker of heroin antidote under fire
Federal and state officials are turning up the pressure on the manufacturer of an antidote to help treat heroin and prescription drug overdoses, as the price of the drug has soared in some areas by as much as 50 percent recently.
The drug, naloxone, has been around for decades and is traditionally used by first responders such as police officers and emergency medical technicians to reverse the effects of an overdose. In response to the price increases over the past few months, state attorney generals have pushed for the drug's manufacturer, Amphastar, to offer rebates for public agencies that purchase the drugs.
The pressure comes as localities are dealing with soaring heroin and prescription drug overdoses over the past few years. The death rates for prescription drug overdoses quadrupled from 1999 to 2010, while the rates for heroin overdoses increased by more than 50 percent.
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The drug, naloxone, has been around for decades and is traditionally used by first responders such as police officers and emergency medical technicians to reverse the effects of an overdose. In response to the price increases over the past few months, state attorney generals have pushed for the drug's manufacturer, Amphastar, to offer rebates for public agencies that purchase the drugs.
The pressure comes as localities are dealing with soaring heroin and prescription drug overdoses over the past few years. The death rates for prescription drug overdoses quadrupled from 1999 to 2010, while the rates for heroin overdoses increased by more than 50 percent.
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GENDER EQUALITY IN GERMANY
Germany on Friday approved a new quota that will force some of Europe’s largest companies to increase the number of women in their boardrooms to 30 percent by next year.
Women claim just 15.5 percent of boardroom seats on companies listed on the S&P 1500 -- an index of U.S. stocks -- fewer than the combined number of positions held by men named John, Robert, William or James, according to a report from Ernst & Young.
Germany fares slightly better, with women in 22 percent of boardroom seats.
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Women claim just 15.5 percent of boardroom seats on companies listed on the S&P 1500 -- an index of U.S. stocks -- fewer than the combined number of positions held by men named John, Robert, William or James, according to a report from Ernst & Young.
Germany fares slightly better, with women in 22 percent of boardroom seats.
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GOLD MINE: HILLARY CLINTON’S BROTHER GRANTED SUPER-RARE MINING PERMIT FROM HAITI AFTER STATE DEPT. SENT COUNTRY BILLIONS
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s brother, Tony Rodham, sat on the board of a self-described mining company that in 2012 received one of only two “gold exploitation permits” from the Haitian government—the first issued in over 50 years.
The tiny North Carolina company, VCS Mining, also included on its board Bill Clinton’s co-chair of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), former Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.
The Rodham gold mine revelation is just one of dozens featured in a forthcoming bombshell investigative book by three-time New York Times bestselling author Peter Schweizer, according to a Thursday statement from publishing giant HarperCollins. The publisher says the book, Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, is the culmination of an exhaustive one-year deep dive investigation into the nexus between the Clintons’ $100+ million personal wealth, the Clinton Foundation, and the decisions Hillary made as Secretary of State that benefited foreign donors, governments, and companies.
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The tiny North Carolina company, VCS Mining, also included on its board Bill Clinton’s co-chair of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), former Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.
The Rodham gold mine revelation is just one of dozens featured in a forthcoming bombshell investigative book by three-time New York Times bestselling author Peter Schweizer, according to a Thursday statement from publishing giant HarperCollins. The publisher says the book, Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, is the culmination of an exhaustive one-year deep dive investigation into the nexus between the Clintons’ $100+ million personal wealth, the Clinton Foundation, and the decisions Hillary made as Secretary of State that benefited foreign donors, governments, and companies.
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Obama Still Sniping Over Iran Deal
The tension between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to percolate over the weekend when the White House National Security Council took to Twitter to post aWashington Post op-ed by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria titled "Netanyahu enters never-never land."
Zakaria writes that Netanyahu and members of Congress who went wild for his speech last week decrying the current deal with Iran over nuclear proliferation are "utterly divorced from reality" and living in a Peter Pan fantasy world in which "Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough."
"If the deal now being negotiated fails, the most likely scenario is a repetition of the past," Zakaria wrote. "Iran will expand its nuclear program.
"If the other major powers believed that Iran’s offer was serious but U.S. and Israeli intransigence torpedoed it, they would be reluctant to enforce sanctions — and all sanctions start to leak over time anyway."
During an appearance Sunday on CBS News' "Face the Nation," Netanyahu told host Bob Schieffer that the reason he’s been warning about the danger posed by Iran for the past 25 years is because Iran has been trying to get a nuclear bomb for that amount of time.
Asked if he was offended by Zakaria’s contention that Netanyahu has been wrong about Iran for 25 years — and the Obama administration’s tweet — the prime minister said: "If I had to choose, I would re-tweet something that relates to Iran and that’s the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s recent tweet in which he cites nine ways and reasons that Israel should be destroyed.
"Even in these times of sometimes heated disagreement, I think it’s useful to remember who your ally is and who your enemy is."
More here
Zakaria writes that Netanyahu and members of Congress who went wild for his speech last week decrying the current deal with Iran over nuclear proliferation are "utterly divorced from reality" and living in a Peter Pan fantasy world in which "Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough."
"If the deal now being negotiated fails, the most likely scenario is a repetition of the past," Zakaria wrote. "Iran will expand its nuclear program.
"If the other major powers believed that Iran’s offer was serious but U.S. and Israeli intransigence torpedoed it, they would be reluctant to enforce sanctions — and all sanctions start to leak over time anyway."
During an appearance Sunday on CBS News' "Face the Nation," Netanyahu told host Bob Schieffer that the reason he’s been warning about the danger posed by Iran for the past 25 years is because Iran has been trying to get a nuclear bomb for that amount of time.
Asked if he was offended by Zakaria’s contention that Netanyahu has been wrong about Iran for 25 years — and the Obama administration’s tweet — the prime minister said: "If I had to choose, I would re-tweet something that relates to Iran and that’s the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s recent tweet in which he cites nine ways and reasons that Israel should be destroyed.
"Even in these times of sometimes heated disagreement, I think it’s useful to remember who your ally is and who your enemy is."
More here
2 US tourists face trial for damaging Colosseum
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Carabinieri Captain Lorenzo Iacobone said Monday two tourists from California, ages 21 and 25, were picked up Saturday for carving their names eight centimeters (three inches) high into an upper level of the Colosseum. They were freed later but will face trial for aggravated damage to a monument.
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DSP S.O.A.R. Searching for Wanted Sex Offender
Investigators have obtained warrants for Carl Jones, who is a high risk Tier 3 sex offender and may be living in the Georgetown area.
Jones is a black male, 5'07” tall, 150 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. He is wanted for two counts of Failure to Re-Register.
The Delaware State Police Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration Unit is asking anyone who may know the location of Jones to call 302-672-5306. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the internet atwww.tipsubmit.com, or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."
NYPD investigates 2 men who took videos outside Brooklyn synagogues
The NYPD is investigating why two men were videotaping outside two large Jewish synagogues in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon, police said Sunday.
The two men shot videos with their phones at two shuls on Ocean Parkway starting about 4:15 p.m. and drove away in a car with an expired Delaware license plate, according to sources and surveillance video from one of the synagogues.
The tape shows one man wearing a black jacket and blue jeans posing in front of Safra synagogue at Ocean Parkway and Ave. R while his bearded friend begins to tape him with his cellphone.
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The two men shot videos with their phones at two shuls on Ocean Parkway starting about 4:15 p.m. and drove away in a car with an expired Delaware license plate, according to sources and surveillance video from one of the synagogues.
The tape shows one man wearing a black jacket and blue jeans posing in front of Safra synagogue at Ocean Parkway and Ave. R while his bearded friend begins to tape him with his cellphone.
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Governor Larry Hogan Marches In Annual Annapolis St. Patrick's Day Parade
Photo Release:Governor Larry Hogan Marches In Annual Annapolis St. Patrick's Day Parade
ANNAPOLIS, MD - Governor Larry Hogan today marched in the annual Annapolis St. Patrick's Day Parade, and attended a celebration for local firefighters and first responders. Attached are pictures from the day's events.
OC: EXPECT TRAFFIC DELAYS DURING ST. PATRICK’S DAY FESTIVITIES
In order to offer an ample amount of space for the parade’s participating floats, bands and motorized units, southbound traffic with be reduced to one lane from 63rd Street to 43rd Street. Northbound traffic will remain open, however, no left turns or U-turns will be allowed along the parade route from the northbound lane including 62nd Street.
Residents and visitors will see traffic delays on southbound Coastal Highway as early as 9:30 a.m. and should expect congestion until after 2 p.m. To avoid traffic delays, viewers and visitors are urged to arrive before 10:30 a.m. Ocean City Police are recommending motorists entering the Town of Ocean City use Maryland Route 50, as traffic is not expected to be as heavy in the south end of town.
In addition, heavy pedestrian traffic is also expected along the parade route and in surrounding areas. Pedestrians are encouraged to use crosswalks and cross with caution.
You Won't Believe Why This Garbage Man Was Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail
What a load of garbage!
A Georgia sanitation worker has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for picking up trash too early in the morning.
The city of Sandy Springs says that Kevin McGill, 48, violated a city ordinance that limits trash pickup between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., a rule intended to keep workers from waking residents in the wealthy Atlanta suburb.
McGill, a family man who had only been on the job for three months, was cited for picking up trash just after 5 a.m. one morning.
McGill didn't have an attorney with him at the sentencing and was given the maximum punishment: 30 days in jail.
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A Georgia sanitation worker has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for picking up trash too early in the morning.
The city of Sandy Springs says that Kevin McGill, 48, violated a city ordinance that limits trash pickup between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., a rule intended to keep workers from waking residents in the wealthy Atlanta suburb.
McGill, a family man who had only been on the job for three months, was cited for picking up trash just after 5 a.m. one morning.
McGill didn't have an attorney with him at the sentencing and was given the maximum punishment: 30 days in jail.
More
Historically Black Schools Say Obama’s Policies Fall Short
The country’s first African American president is finding himself increasingly at odds with a cornerstone of the African American community: historically black colleges and universities.
Leaders at these schools and some black lawmakers say the Obama administration has been pushing policies for years that hurt students at a time when historically black colleges are already cash-strapped and seeing a drop in enrollment.
Tensions spilled over after a recent Congressional Black Caucus meeting with Obama and Vice President Biden in which the president said that historically black schools, also known as HBCUs, needed to do a better job graduating students and not saddling them with debt, according to several people at the meeting. Some Black Caucus members bristled at those remarks since they say the president didn’t acknowledge that his own administration was also pursuing policies that advocates say are hurting the schools.
“The president thinks that HBCUs — and there may in fact be some — are failing our students,” said Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), who was in attendance. “But there needs to be an open dialogue about higher education and why HBCUs have historically gotten short shrift when it comes to resources and recognition.”
Here is more
Leaders at these schools and some black lawmakers say the Obama administration has been pushing policies for years that hurt students at a time when historically black colleges are already cash-strapped and seeing a drop in enrollment.
Tensions spilled over after a recent Congressional Black Caucus meeting with Obama and Vice President Biden in which the president said that historically black schools, also known as HBCUs, needed to do a better job graduating students and not saddling them with debt, according to several people at the meeting. Some Black Caucus members bristled at those remarks since they say the president didn’t acknowledge that his own administration was also pursuing policies that advocates say are hurting the schools.
“The president thinks that HBCUs — and there may in fact be some — are failing our students,” said Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), who was in attendance. “But there needs to be an open dialogue about higher education and why HBCUs have historically gotten short shrift when it comes to resources and recognition.”
Here is more
E-Cigarettes Are A Gateway Drug, Scientists Say; Nicotine Activates Addiction Trigger In The Brain
E-cigarettes are healthier in some ways than combustable cigarettes but remain a powerful gateway to dangerous addictions, said a pair of Columbia University scientists, including a Nobel Prize winner, on Wednesday.
Their research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, focuses on the effects of nicotine on the brain. Using the drug is like flicking a neural switch that deepens a person’s susceptibility to addiction. Someone who “vapes” an e-cigarette and then uses cocaine is more likely to develop a cocaine dependency, they say, than someone who has never used nicotine. "While e-cigarettes do eliminate some of the health effects associated with combustible tobacco, they are pure nicotine-delivery devices," said co-author Dr. Denise B. Kandel, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and researcher at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, in a statement.
Their arguments join a long list of others for and against the widespread use of e-cigarettes, sales of which could reach $1.5 billion this year, according to Bloomberg Industries. Earlier this year, the FDA vowed to push for regulation of the product after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that calls to poison control centers about e-cigarettes had skyrocketed. More than half of those calls involved children under the age of 5 who had consumed the nicotine.
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Their research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, focuses on the effects of nicotine on the brain. Using the drug is like flicking a neural switch that deepens a person’s susceptibility to addiction. Someone who “vapes” an e-cigarette and then uses cocaine is more likely to develop a cocaine dependency, they say, than someone who has never used nicotine. "While e-cigarettes do eliminate some of the health effects associated with combustible tobacco, they are pure nicotine-delivery devices," said co-author Dr. Denise B. Kandel, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and researcher at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, in a statement.
Their arguments join a long list of others for and against the widespread use of e-cigarettes, sales of which could reach $1.5 billion this year, according to Bloomberg Industries. Earlier this year, the FDA vowed to push for regulation of the product after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that calls to poison control centers about e-cigarettes had skyrocketed. More than half of those calls involved children under the age of 5 who had consumed the nicotine.
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2,059 convicted criminals arrested in ICE nationwide operation
“This nationwide operation led to the apprehension of more than 2,000 convicted criminal aliens who pose the greatest risk to our public safety,” said Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. “Today, communities around the country are safer because of the great work of the men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
The operation, dubbed “Cross Check,” began Sunday, March 1, and ended Thursday, March 5. Hundreds of ERO officers participated in the operation that focused on the arrests of public safety threats. Those arrested are from 94 countries and have a wide array of criminal convictions.
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Trey Gowdy: Hillary's Emails Missing From Libya Trip
There are still significant gaps in the emails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has turned over to the committee investigating the Benghazi terror attacks, Rep. Trey Gowdy said Sunday, including from the day a now-iconic photo of her was taken while she was flying to Libya.
"There are gaps of months and months and months," Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican and head of the House select committee on Benghazi, told CBS' "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer.
"If you think to that iconic picture of her on a C-17 flying to Libya, sunglasses on, she has her handheld device in her hand, [but] we have no emails from that day. In fact, we have no emails from that trip."
Clinton has used that photograph as the cover shot on official Twitter account, and Gowdy said it hard to believe there are no emails available from that trip.
"It strains credibility to believe that if you’re on your way to Libya to discuss Libyan policy that there’s not a single document has been turned over to Congress," said Gowdy.
Further, he told Schieffer, it's not up to Clinton to decide what is a public record and what is not, and he's lost confidence in the State Department to make the determination on the matter.
"They're the ones who allowed this arrangement, and did nothing about this arrangement until they got the request from our committee," Gowdy said, noting that a "neutral, detached auditor" is needed to determine what should be considered a public record.
More here
"There are gaps of months and months and months," Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican and head of the House select committee on Benghazi, told CBS' "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer.
"If you think to that iconic picture of her on a C-17 flying to Libya, sunglasses on, she has her handheld device in her hand, [but] we have no emails from that day. In fact, we have no emails from that trip."
Clinton has used that photograph as the cover shot on official Twitter account, and Gowdy said it hard to believe there are no emails available from that trip.
"It strains credibility to believe that if you’re on your way to Libya to discuss Libyan policy that there’s not a single document has been turned over to Congress," said Gowdy.
Further, he told Schieffer, it's not up to Clinton to decide what is a public record and what is not, and he's lost confidence in the State Department to make the determination on the matter.
"They're the ones who allowed this arrangement, and did nothing about this arrangement until they got the request from our committee," Gowdy said, noting that a "neutral, detached auditor" is needed to determine what should be considered a public record.
More here
A Viewer Writes: They scare me with their knowledge....or lack of
- Alert County Roads that IDIOTS will be calling. While Sixty Foot Road may be a county road the light would have to go on a STATE road (Route 50) so they would be the ones to contact and these are the people we are suppose to rely on. Im scared!
