Obama admin asserts dominion over creeks, streams, wetlands, ditches — even big puddles

President Obama’s administration on Wednesday claimed dominion over all of America’s streams, creeks, rills, ditches, brooks, rivulets, burns, tributaries, criks, wetlands — perhaps even puddles — in a sweeping move to assert unilateral federal authority.

The Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, says it has the authority to control all waterways within the United States — and will exercise that authority.

“We’re finalizing a clean water rule to protect the streams and the wetlands that one in three Americans rely on for drinking water. And we’re doing that without creating any new permitting requirements and maintaining all previous exemptions and exclusions,” EPA head Gina McCarthy told reporters Wednesday.

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Congressman Andy Harris Announces Congressional Art Competition Winner

Winner’s Art Will Be Displayed for a Year in the Capitol

WASHINGTON, DC: Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2015 Congressional Art Competition: YeJin Han, a senior at Parkside High School in Salisbury, Maryland. YeJin’s oil painting, titled “2007 Summer,” depicts her and her friends standing on the beach and will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year.

“I was amazed by YeJin’s ability to make her personal memory come to life, and I am proud to see her artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol for all to enjoy,” said Rep. Harris. “All of this year’s participants were impressive and I thank every student who submitted their work. An abundance of imagination, creativity, and talent was evident in each piece.”

Both the Congressman and a professional artist from his district—Sarah Lyle, of the Queen Anne’s County Centre for the Arts —judged the artwork. The Congressman and Ms. Lyle also selected a 2nd- and 3rd-place winner, while the Congressman’s Facebook followers voted for a “People’s Choice” winner. They are as follows: “Crab Dance,” by Madison Finnah of Rising Sun High School (2nd place), and “Hubcap,” by Garrett Miller of The Gunston School (3rd place). The “People’s Choice” winner was also YeJin Han. You can see all submissions and winning pieces on Rep. Harris’ Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AndyHarrisMD.

Since 1982, the U.S. House of Representatives has sponsored this competition to acknowledge the artistic talents of high school students from each Congressional district throughout the country. Each Congressional district selects one winner, and that student has the opportunity to display his or her artwork for one year in the U.S. Capitol building. The student’s pieces are displayed alongside other gifted high school artwork from across the country.

Chicago PD cops posed for photo standing over black man dressed in antlers

It’s a racially charged photo the Chicago Police Department didn’t want the public to see: two white cops posing with rifles as they stand over a black man lying on his belly with deer antlers on his head.

But a Cook County judge has refused to keep secret the shocking image of former Officers Timothy McDermott and Jerome Finnigan kneeling with what the police department says is an unidentified African-American drug suspect.

Believed to have been taken in a West Side police station between 1999 and 2003, the Polaroid photo was given to the city by the feds in 2013 and resulted in McDermott, a clout-heavy cop, being fired last year by the police board in a 5-to-4 vote. The four dissenters said McDermott should only have been suspended. But a majority of the board wrote that “appearing to treat an African-American man not as a human being but as a hunted animal is disgraceful and shocks the conscience.”

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Obama administration issues rule to help protect Chesapeake Bay

Baltimore, MD – Fifty-nine percent of Maryland’s streams, including those feeding the Chesapeake Bay, will regain federal protections under a final rule signed today by top Obama administration officials. The Clean Water Rule restores Clean Water Act safeguards to streams and wetlands that have been vulnerable to development and pollution for nearly ten years.

"The Chesapeake Bay - where we swim, fish, and go boating – can only be clean if we protect the streams that feed it,” said Kimberly Williams, Outreach Coordinator for Environment Maryland. “That’s why today’s action is the biggest victory for clean water in a decade.”

By closing a loophole created by Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006, today’s rule returns Clean Water Act protections to streams that feed the drinking water sources for over 3.9 million Marylanders and one in three Americans. Millions of acres of wetlands, vital for flood control and filtering pollutants, will also again be shielded under federal law.

The court rulings had put small streams, headwaters and certain wetlands in a perilous legal limbo, allowing polluters and developers to dump into them or destroy them in many cases without a permit. In a four-year period following the decisions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had to drop more than 1500 cases against polluters, according to one analysis by the New York Times.

First proposed in March 2014, the joint rule by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is backed by robust scientific review and has gained broad support across a wide range of constituencies. Local officials, sportsmen, small businesses, and farmers are among the more than 800,000 Americans who have registered their support for the Clean Water Rule.

Environment Maryland has been campaigning to restore these clean water protections for nearly a decade. In the past year alone, the organization gathered over 25,000 comments in support of the rule, released research reports to the media, and met with federal officials to counter heavy industry lobbying in opposition.

Despite broad public support for restored clean water protections, oil and gas companies, developers, and other polluters have waged a bitter campaign against them. The U.S. House has passed multiple bills to block or severely weaken the rule, including one measure as recently as two weeks ago. Polluters and their allies have now turned their sights on the Senate, where lawmakers could take up a bill to kill the rule soon after the Memorial Day recess.

“Today the administration signed and sealed critical protections for the Chesapeake Bay, but they simply won’t get delivered without Senator Mikulski,” said Williams.

Texans Respond in ‘AMAZING’ Way After Animal Center Issues Plea for Help Following Recent Floods

An animal shelter in Austin, Texas, that was significantly impacted by recent devastating floods turned to Facebook Tuesday to thank residents for responding in an “AMAZING” way after the center put out a call for help.

Earlier this week, the Austin Animal Center alerted the public that they were “WAY over capacity.”

“Due to flooding, many animals have become lost and good samaritans are bringing them to the Austin Animal Center,” the shelter said on Facebook. “We are DESPERATE to get animals out of the center!”

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Perdue Foods Nutrition Class

When Saturday June 13, 2015 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM EDT Add to Calendar   Where Shore Appliance Connection, Salisbury 307 A Civic Avenue Salisbury, MD 21804 Driving Directions

Women Supporting Women is pleased to present Perdue Foods Nutrition Class a FREE health and wellness nutrition class open to the public hosted by three of Perdue's executive chefs.         DATE: Saturday, June 13, 2015 TIME: 3:00 - 5:00 PM  LOCATION: Shore Appliance Connection, Salisbury            Click on the link below to register or RSVP byJune 10th.  Get more information Register Now! I can't make it Please call with any questions about the event or how to register at (410) 548-7880.   Thank you for your attention and response, and we look forward to seeing you at the event.   Sincerely,   Cindy Feist Women Supporting Women cindy@womensupportingwomen.org 410-548-7880

New report blasts city police union contract, officer bill of rights

BALTIMORE —The University of Nebraska on Wednesday published a scathing review of the Baltimore City police union contract and the Maryland Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights

Making some very interesting points, the study concludes that both stand in the way of holding officers accountable.

The police in-custody death of Freddie Gray raised serious questions about the practices of Baltimore City police and how officers deal with the public.

The circumstances surrounding Gray's death and the citizen unrest that followed caught the attention of University of Nebraska criminologist professor Samuel Walker.

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Police: Ex-death row inmate Cooper dead of apparent suicide

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana woman who was once the nation's youngest person on death row but whose sentence was eventually commuted to a prison term was found dead in Indianapolis on Tuesday.

Indianapolis police said 45-year-old Paula Cooper was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound outside a residence on the city's northwest side. Cooper had been released from prison about two years ago, after the Indiana Supreme Court set aside her death sentence and gave her a 60-year prison term.

Cooper was 16 when she was sentenced to death in 1986 after confessing to her role in the murder of a 78-year-old Gary Bible studies teacher the year before. Cooper admitted stabbing 78-year-old Ruth Pelke 33 times with a 12-inch butcher knife in a robbery that netted four youths $10 and an old car. Cooper was 15 at the time the crime was committed.

Her death sentence enraged human rights activists in the U.S. and Europe and drew a plea for clemency from Pope John Paul II. In 1988, a priest delivered a petition to Indianapolis with more than 2 million signatures protesting Cooper's sentence.

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'Inhumane' county jail rehabbed into home

GREENVILLE, GA-- Maria Gosdin's new home is more than a fixer-upper. She's the new owner of a brick building built in 1896 that has been known to sleep as many as 80 people, albeit restlessly.

Her new kitchen is nearly finished. Her living room is next. The cellblocks in her new home -- they're the next phase of Gosdin's renovation.

For 90 years, this was the Meriwether County jail. By the time a judge ordered it closed in 1986, it was an ugly and overcrowded place.

Meriwether Co. Sheriff Chuck Smith says he started his career in law enforcement working dispatch at the old jail, which doubled as the sheriff's office. A generation earlier, the county sheriff actually lived in the front of the building. Inmates stayed in the rear.

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Can One Man End the Global Drug War?

In between slurps of soup and sips of coffee, Jindřich Vobořil tells a story of his youth that would sell out a Broadway theater. He lived on and off the streets in his hometown of Brno, Czechoslovakia, running with local gangs. By age 12, he was burning through 30 cigarettes a day and says he moved on to hard drugs by his teenage years. By the mid-’80s, Vobořil was a 17-year-old dropout who played guitar in a rock band and had joined the nation’s preeminent anti-communist organization, Charter 77, before becoming … a Catholic, organizing underground religious activities — back then, religious people were persecuted by the government.

Friends, meet the unlikeliest top-level bureaucrat on planet Earth.

The 49-year-old Vobořil isn’t your typical paper pusher. Think of him as the drug czar, coordinating drug policy for the Czech Republic. But he’s no hammer-fisted police officer. He’s a psychotherapist and the founder of one of the country’s largest drug-related nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), who’s using a variety of progressive programs to tackle record-high underage drinking and smoking as well as rising meth production. Though little-known even in his own country, Vobořil has a sophisticated approach to drug policy that has countries from Latin America to neighboring Eastern Europe seeking to emulate him. And he’s trying to make the upcoming 2016 Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly on the World Drug Problem his big stage with a resolution that will open the door for progressive policies like decriminalization of use and possession.

That is, if he still has a job by then. When we meet Vobořil — who has straight, shoulder-length hair and sports an unassuming blue-and-peach striped shirt, jeans and sneakers — in his office building’s basement cafe, he takes 15 minutes to wonder out loud how long he’ll be employed. He has made it a habit of calling out the lethargy of politicians and the poisonous influence of big business — diversions from the status quo that have earned him official warning letters, informal threats and even a 10 percent salary cut last year. It’s no wonder he isn’t willing to move his family to Prague from Brno, instead opting to commute more than four hours daily despite being in the fifth year of his job. “If I moved here, I’d have to be much more careful,” he says with a smirk.

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Under Armour to ship through Port of Baltimore for first time in 8 years

Under Armour Inc. is shipping to the Port of Baltimore for the first time in eight years as it changes with the logistics industry and diversifies freight routes following a West Coast labor dispute that snarled traffic earlier this year.

Baltimore-based Under Armour (NYSE: UA) has a new deal with the shipper Evergreen that will have it move products loaded in Shanghai, China from the Port of Long Beach in California to Baltimore. The first ship carrying Under Armour products from China to Baltimore should arrive by the end of June, said Chris Sichette, Under Armour's director of global trade compliance.

More Under Armour shipping could be bound for the Baltimore port in the future. The athletic gear company is reviewing six other shipping lanes.

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Governor Hogan Kicks Off Trade Mission To Asia, State Signs Agreement With South Korean Business Group

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – Joined by a delegation of Maryland business executives and higher education leaders, Governor Larry Hogan today arrived in Seoul, South Korea, the first stop on an economic development mission to Asia. Governor Hogan will spend the first part of the mission in South Korea, then head to China and wrap up the mission in Japan to boost two-way trade and investment and promote Maryland as a gateway for foreign-owned companies looking to establish U.S. operations.

“This goal of this mission is all about taking our 'Maryland Is Open for Business' message to one of the fastest-growing economic regions of the world and inviting businesses from South Korea, China, and Japan to explore all that Maryland has to offer,” said Governor Hogan. “We also want to connect our Maryland businesses with potential global partners and opportunities that will ultimately enable them to grow their companies and add new jobs.”

Today, Governor Hogan met with South Korea’s Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA) and took part in the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) that seeks to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises in both Maryland and South Korea. Started in 1996, the SMBA supports South Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises with the goals of creating jobs and growing the startup and venture industry, strengthening technological competitiveness, and providing support for business management.

As part of the agreement, Maryland and the SMBA will work together to foster entrepreneurship and startup development and connect South Korean companies with business opportunities in Maryland, particularly in the life sciences industry. The MOC also seeks to establish a working group called the Maryland-SMBA Joint Committee for Business Enterprises Development to strengthen commercial and investment ties between Maryland and South Korea.

SMBA-Maryland MOU.pdf

Woman Adopts Harford County Teen Who Killed Father

BEL AIR, Md. (WJZ) — It’s one of the most notorious crimes ever in Harford County: a teenager kills his father, who he says severely abused him for years. Through the tragedy, one woman wouldn’t give up on him. Now, he can officially call her “mom.”

WJZ investigator Mike Hellgren with their story of love and redemption.

Eileen Siple became the teen’s confidant before she became his mother in an adoption Wednesday afternoon. It was the same courthouse where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter last year.

He couldn’t get his shackled arms around his new mom, but that didn’t matter. Robert Richardson, III, was still all smiles as he became Robert Siple, and so was Eileen Siple, who officially adopted him.

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BREAKING NEWS: Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert indicted on bank-related charges

Federal prosecutors have indicted former House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert on bank-related charges and accused him of lying to the FBI.

Governor Larry Hogan Meets With U.S. Ambassador To Korea, Senior Representatives, Korean Business Leaders

Meeting Includes Governor Lee Nak-yon of Jeollanam Province
 
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - Governor Larry Hogan today met with the U.S. ambassador to Korea, the Honorable Mark Lippert, as well as the Honorable Lee Nak-yon, governor of Jeollanam Province, at a reception hosted at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Following discussion regarding economic development opportunities for Maryland, Ambassador Lippert, Governor Lee, and Governor Hogan delivered remarks to key Korean and Maryland business leaders.
Governor Hogan was joined by First Lady Yumi Hogan, who was born in Jeollanam Province. In addition, several members of Governor Hogan's Cabinet attended the reception, including Special Secretary of Minority Affairs Jimmy Rhee, Secretary of State John Wobensmith, Secretary of Transportation Pete Rahn, and Deputy Secretary of Business and Economic Development Ben Wu. University of Maryland President Wallace Loh was also in attendance.
"I'd like to extend my sincere appreciation to Ambassador Lippert and Governor Lee Nak-yon for hosting this event and supporting our efforts to strengthen our economic ties with this region," Governor Hogan said. "Maryland and Korea have a number of mutual interests, and it is my belief that today’s meetings have strengthened our relations dramatically."
Governor Hogan has been in Korea since May 26 as part of a 12-day trade mission to Korea, China, and Japan, the goal of which is to strengthen economic development ties with the region and foster positive relations with the Hogan administration and key Asian officials and business leaders.

HIGHWAY WORKER KILLED ALONG I-95

(Havre de Grace, MD) – Troopers are investigating a crash which took the life of an MDTA employee working along I-95 early this afternoon in Harford County.

The victim is identified as Michael Pearce, 59, of the 600-block of Baker Avenue, Abingdon, Md. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Harford County emergency medical personnel. Mr. Pearce was employed by the Maryland Transportation Authority as a Facilities Maintenance Technician. . His work crew was assigned to mow the grassy area along the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.

The driver of the 2003 Ford E-150 van has been identified as Corey Ness, 54, of Spring Grove Pa. He was transported to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center for treatment of injuries sustained during the collision.

A preliminary investigation has been conducted by troopers from the Maryland State Police CRASH Team with the assistance of troopers from the JFK Barrack. The investigation indicates that around 1:00 p.m. today, a Ford van was traveling southbound on I-95 in the area of Maryland Route 155 in Harford County, Md. For reasons unknown at this time, the van left the travel portion of the road and continued into the gore area between the right shoulder and MD 155 overpass. The vehicle struck the right rear of a stopped dump truck then struck the victim.

There were other members of the mowing crew at the scene when the crash occurred. They did not sustain any injuries. There has been no determination of vehicle speed at this time.

Due to the severity of the crash, troopers have closed the right two lanes as well as the exit ramp to Route 155 at this time. The lanes are expected to be closed for several hours. Maryland Transportation Authority personnel are assisting with road closures.

Anyone who may have witnessed this crash is asked to contact the Maryland State Police, John F. Kennedy Barrack at (410) 537-1150. The cause of the crash is unknown at this time. Charges are pending. The investigation is continuing.

Arab Takeover of Port Canaveral

United Arab Emirates major donor to Clinton Foundation

NEW YORK – The Dubai Ports World controversy of 2006 is making a comeback, only this time the Arab principal has actually gained control of the container contract for a major U.S. port.

The site is Port Canaveral, near the Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s east coast, which is frequented by U.S. and NATO-ally nuclear submarines.

A 35-year contract signed last year and set to go operational next month allows a United Arab Emirates-based company managed by Badr Jafar to operate a cargo terminal managing containers.

The UAE has been a major donor to the troubled Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. And Jafar has ties to supermodels linked with President Bill Clinton and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s famed Lolita Island.

The company, Gulftainer, is a global terminal port operator with headquarters in Sharjah, UAE, adjoining Dubai.

“Project Pelican,” featuring Gulftainer’s new unit, GU USA, aims to create 2,000 jobs when fully operational, including 500 at the port itself in a planned $100 million investment in infrastructure, equipment and staff.

A Space Coast Daily video June 23, 2014, shows Port Canaveral CEO John Walsh announcing the agreement with Gulftainer USA:

The Gulftainer deal threatens to raise new charges of “pay-to-play” as it apparently was not opposed by Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state, reports Alan Jones’ 1776 Channel.

As a U.S. senator from New York, however, she led Democratic Party opposition to the Dubai Ports deal in 2006.

More here

Commissioner Batts Apologizes To His Officers After Riots

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — It’s been one month since anti-police riots erupted in Baltimore and injured more than 100 city officers. Now Baltimore’s top cop reaches out to his ranks to tell them he let them down.

Christie Ileto talks to Commissioner Anthony Batts about what he wants to do better.

They showed up not knowing what to expect and not fully prepared for the violence directed towards them on April 27.

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Traffic Alert: Route 50

TRAFFIC ALERT: E/B Rt50 construction crane & empty school bus crash under Rt13 overpass. No Injuries, 1 lane open

TRAFFIC ALERT U/D: Rt50 E/B single lane remains closed while MD State Hwy evals bridge. Drive slowly. http://t.co/aKxYDpXWQM
Posted by Salisbury Police Department on Thursday, May 28, 2015

U.S. Pushback Against Muslim Refugees 'Growing'

WND has discovered what amounts to the government playbook for countering the rising “backlash” against the secret planting of Muslim refugees into cities and towns across America.

The 2013 report anticipated two years ago that resistance would increase to the seeding of communities with Muslim refugees if counter measures were not undertaken.

The report was prophetic.

Last year, WND reported how the mayor of Athens, Georgia, requested the federal government not send any refugees to her town until she could get a handle on the costs. Earlier this year, another high-profile case of pushback emerged in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in Rep. Trey Gowdy’s district, a story WND first reported in April.

In Wyoming, the only state that does not have a refugee resettlement agreement with the U.S. State Department, Gov. Matt Mead was “exploring” whether he should start such a program. But after stories in the local media and on WND, Mead dropped the plan.

Now, WND has learned the government and its contractors have a stock plan on how to deal with what they call “backlash” to refugee resettlement in American cities.

Titled “Resettlement at Risk: Meeting Emerging Challenges to Refugee Resettlement in Local Communities,” the report by one of the federal government’s top resettlement contractors admits that communities “across the country” are pushing back against the refugee program, especially when it involves the infusion of Muslims into their city or town.

In the wake of the report, the Obama administration has handed out millions of dollars in grants to organizations like Welcoming America, which works to “educate” elected officials and the public in “receiving communities” before refugees arrive. Welcoming America was started in 2010 with seed money from George Soros’s Open Society Institute.

The U.S. State Department, working with the United Nations, accepts about 70,000 foreign refugees for permanent resettlement in the United States each year, distributing them to more than 190 cities and towns across America.

Dealing with uncooperative elected leaders...

Major Accident Shuts Down Rt. 13 In Seaford

NRP Logs Busy Memorial Day Weekend on Water and in Woods

With a string of beautiful days with bright sun and comfortable temperatures, Memorial Day weekend beckoned thousands of residents and visitors to Maryland waterways and state parks and kept Natural Resources Police officers on their toes.

NRP, the oldest statewide law enforcement agency, responded to 588 calls for service, issued 386 tickets and 1,104 warnings, and talked to more than 23,700 recreational anglers, boaters and park goers.

Saturation patrols statewide checked 2,533 recreational vessels during the 72 hours from May 23-25. Seven boaters were charged with operating under the influence, two more than last year.

The state recorded nine boating accidents; one accident in Calvert County resulted in the death of a New Carrollton angler. A swimming accident in Garrett County led to the death of a teenager from Kitzmiller.

Officers returning from a wreath-laying ceremony at Annapolis City Dock on Memorial Day rescued seven fishermen from their capsized boat just south of the Bay Bridge. All were unharmed.

NRP’s safety efforts kicked off with National Safe Boating Week, from May 16-22, with officers and reserve officers ramping up safety checks and outreach.

During the campaign, NRP inspected 1,205 vessels, talked with 2,171 boaters and attended safe-boating events at marinas across the state and at Camden Yards during an Orioles game, where the agency unveiled its new mascot, Splash the Water Safety Dog.

Officers made four Operating Under the Influence arrests, and wrote 89 tickets and 294 warnings.

Despite Border Patrol’s Best Efforts, Our Border Is Still Wide Open

It’s a cat-and-mouse game, and the mouse is still winning. In spite of the best efforts of our Border Patrol agents, drugs and humans keep coming across our border with Mexico.

I recently returned from my seventh trip to the border. Our Border Patrol agents are trying to do their job, but they are being hampered by bureaucrats and “open border” initiatives put in place by President Barack Obama’s administration.

On this trip, I went out with two local groups, the Arizona Border Defenders and Arizona Border Recon, both comprising activist citizens who want to help us secure our borders by augmenting what the Border Patrol does.

The Arizona Border Defenders are from Tucson. Their members come down on weekends to service cameras they have placed in the desert that transmit live video images when the camera’s sensors detect movement, which may be cattle, illegal aliens or Border Patrol agents. They see the video images on their cellphones, wherever they may be, and alert the Border Patrol if they see anything suspicious.

Arizona Border Recon is a veteran-based organization. Tim Foley, the field operations director, and his communications director, “Spartan,” recently moved permanently to Sasabe, Arizona, less than a half mile from the Sasabe Port of Entry. Foley is a slender, chain-smoking, U.S. Army 82nd Airborne veteran who roams the smuggler trails with a shotgun in one hand and his dog, Rocko, complete with ABR K-9 jacket, close behind. “Spartan” handles communications with law enforcement.

On our second day we caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure disappearing down the back of a mountain inside the U.S. border; it was a cartel “scout.” The “scouts” operate on the mountains and monitor the movement of the Border Patrol and let the smugglers know when it is safe to bring across drugs and human cargo. Keep in my mind they operate in the mountains on U.S. soil as far as 100 miles inside our border.

Read more here

What it looks like when your toddler has a tantrum at Obama’s feet during a fancy White House event

A key Passover ritual involves asking: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” That’s kind of a no-brainer for Laura Moser, whose 2-year-old had a full-on tantrum during this year’s White House Passover event on the floor at President Obama’s feet.

The photo of Claudia Chaudhary, in a sundress and little pigtails, face down on an ornate White House carpet while the father-in-chief gestures at her went viral last week, prompting parents worldwide to say some version of “thank GOD that wasn’t my kid.”

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Report: Public University Paid Clinton Foundation $500,000 To Host Event

Many people were shocked when they learned last year Hillary Clinton earned nearly $2 million in the span of 18 months giving speeches at colleges nationwide. Turns out there’s plenty more where that came from.

Arizona State University gave $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation for hosting a Clinton Global Initiative University event on the Tempe campus in 2014, The Arizona Republic reports.

Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton all headlined the three-day meeting, which encourages student attendees to pledge themselves to causes such as education, climate change, human rights, poverty, and public health, the initiative’s website states.

“Student attendees had the opportunity to attend … working sessions and other special events covering topics across CGI U’s five focus areas and allowing them to network with their peers, build skills, and identify potential partnerships,” the initiative’s website states. “Youth organizations, topic experts, and celebrities joined students at the CGI U meeting to help them gain the skills and knowledge needed to take action.”

ASU spokesman Mark Johnson told The Arizona Republic in an e-mailed statement that the money used to pay for the event did not come from publicly funded coffers, but rather other parts of the university’s budget, such as tuition, private donations and grants.

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Police Officer stops his kids with a traffic stop for being "TOO CUTE"

Remember that we want to come home to our families so we can make precious memories with our loved ones so everyone stay safe out there! Traffic stop by Officer (Daddy) on his own kids (Rylee & Blake) getting pulled over because they're "TOO CUTE!"

Scott Walker: We Would Fight For Every State, Except 'Maybe Florida'

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, ready to announce next month if he’ll run for the Republican presidential nomination, promises that if he commits to a campaign, he’ll be in it to win it in every state — except for Florida’s primary.

Voters, he told the Laura Ingraham’s radio show Tuesday, "want someone who can fight, and win," including the "really big battles that matter."

"Our message… would play just about anywhere out there," he said. "If we chose to get in, I don’t think there’s a state out there that we wouldn’t play in."

But he quickly added:

"I mean, other than maybe Florida where [former Florida Gov.] Jeb Bush and [Florida Republican Sen.] Marco Rubio are, at least in some of the polls, essentially tied, and they’re going to eat up a good amount of that financial advantage that Gov. Bush is going to have.

Remember [Florida Gov.] Rick Scott spent something like a 100 million dollars running for governor there last year."

Instead, Walker says he’ll be concentrating on the first three nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

"I love Iowa," the Badger State executive declared. "I lived there as a kid. … we’ll make an announcement in about a month from now… If we get in as a candidate, we’re going to make a strong play in Iowa."

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Sen. Grassley Irate Over Reports of Clinton State Dept. FOIA Interference

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, is demanding answers from the State Department regarding Hillary Clinton's ongoing email scandal and whether or not her staff inappropriately got involved in FOIA requests.

In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Grassley asked a series of questions and pointed out inconsistencies between media reports and claims from the Clinton camp surrounding her use of private email addresses and a private server during her time as Secretary of State (2009-2013).

Grassley also attempted to find out more information about FOIA requests, and whether media reports about members of Clinton's staff using their position to interfere with them are true.

"In addition to Secretary Clinton's actions, news reports indicate that her staff, including her Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, took a special interest in reviewing and approving State Department responses to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on behalf of Secretary Clinton," Grassley wrote in the May 22 letter, which was obtained by Politico.

"According to the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Mills exercised substantial control of document production, going so far as to 'flag as problematic a few [documents] that the department's records-law specialists felt obligated to release[.]' In one instance, a State Department employee wrote an email in reference to a pending document release and noted, 'I believe, though, that this is still pending with Cheryl Mills' office...The real action, for now, is with Cheryl's office.

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U.S. PUSHBACK AGAINST MUSLIM REFUGEES 'GROWING'

Government offers advice on how to quash dissent

WND has discovered what amounts to the government playbook for countering the rising “backlash” against the secret planting of Muslim refugees into cities and towns across America.

The 2013 report anticipated two years ago that resistance would increase to the seeding of communities with Muslim refugees if counter measures were not undertaken.

The report was prophetic.

Last year, WND reported how the mayor of Athens, Georgia, requested the federal government not send any refugees to her town until she could get a handle on the costs. Earlier this year, another high-profile case of pushback emerged in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in Rep. Trey Gowdy’s district, a story WND first reported in April.

In Wyoming, the only state that does not have a refugee resettlement agreement with the U.S. State Department, Gov. Matt Mead was “exploring” whether he should start such a program. But after stories in the local media and on WND, Mead dropped the plan.

Now, WND has learned the government and its contractors have a stock plan on how to deal with what they call “backlash” to refugee resettlement in American cities.

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Secret Meeting in London to "End Cash"

Central banks aim to institute "governmental approval" for all purchases and sales

Economist Martin Armstrong claims there is a “secret meeting to end cash” set to take place in London before the end of the month involving representatives from the ECB and the Federal Reserve.

Armstrong, who is known for successfully predicting the 1987 Black Monday crash as well as the 1998 Russian financial collapse, expressed his shock that no news outlet has reported on this upcoming conference.

“I find it extremely perplexing that I have been the only one to report of the secret meeting in London. Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University, and Willem Buiter, the Chief Economist at Citigroup, will address the central banks to advocate the elimination of all cash to bring to fruition the day when you cannot buy or sell anything without government approval,” writes Armstrong.

“When I googled the issue to see who else has picked it up, to my surprise, Armstrong Economics comes up first. Others are quoting me, and I even find it spreading as far as the Central Bank of Nigeria, but I have yet to find any reports on the meeting taking place in London, when my sources are direct.”

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Winning cartoon from ‘draw Muhammad’ contest could end up in Metro stations, on buses

The organizer of a contest that offered a $10,000 prize to the best cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad, is now pushing to have the winning entry displayed in Metro stations and on buses around the D.C. region.

Metro officials said they are considering the request by Pamela Geller, head of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a group that has for years garnered headlines for controversial anti-Muslim ads it has paid to have displayed in transit systems across the country, including here in Washington.

AFDI made headlines earlier this month after two men were shot and killed outside the building where the art exhibit and cartoon contest was being held in Texas.

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Free Financial Markets Are A Hoax

There are no free financial markets in America, or for that matter anywhere in the Western word

There are no free financial markets in America, or for that matter anywhere in the Western word, and few, if any, free markets of any other kind. The financial markets are rigged by the big banks, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury in the interests of the profits of the few big banks and the dollar’s exchange value, which is the basis of US power.

There is a contradiction between a strong currency on one hand and on the other hand massive money creation in order to sustain zero and negative interest rates on the massive debt levels. This inconsistency is revealed by rising gold and silver prices.

When gold hit $1,900 an ounce in 2011 the Federal Reserve realized that the precious metal market was going to limit its ability to provide enough liquidity to keep the thoughtlessly deregulated financial system afloat. The rapid deterioration of the dollar in terms of gold and silver would sooner or later spill over into the exchange value of the dollar in currency markets. Something had to be done to drive down and to cap the gold price.

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How Donations to the Clinton Foundation Led to Tens of Billions in Weapons Sales to Autocratic Regimes

Another day, another Clinton Foundation related scandal.

In the latest expose by International Business Times’ David Sirota, we learn about the explosion in weapons sales to certain nations during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. Billions of dollars in sales went to autocratic regimes notorious for human rights abuses who donated generously to the Clinton Foundation. Should we be surprised? No. Should we be outraged and disgusted? Absolutely. Of all the Clinton scandals, the following is the most dangerous to peace on earth.

Here are some excerpts from the IBT article detailing how taxpayer money is being used to arm the world into oblivion:

Even by the standards of arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia, this one was enormous. A consortium of American defense contractors led by Boeing would deliver $29 billion worth of advanced fighter jets to the United States’ oil-rich ally in the Middle East.

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Prepare Your Homes And Neighborhoods For The Violence That Is Going To Sweep America

The thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted on a daily basis is beginning to disappear

I don’t know if you have noticed, but violence is increasing on the streets of America. Over Memorial Day weekend, 29 people were shot in Baltimore and 55 people were shot in Chicago. But of course the trend that I am talking about is much broader than that. According to the FBI, the number of police officers “feloniously killed” in the line of duty rose by an astounding 89 percent in 2014. We live at a time when Americans are becoming extremely angry and extremely frustrated, and this is only going to intensify as economic conditions worsen. But already we have seen some of this anger and frustration boil over into violence in Ferguson and in Baltimore. And you know what? The vast majority of Americans expect more of the same in the coming months. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey that was recently released, 96 percent of all Americans believe that there will be more civil unrest in America this summer. What we have seen up until now is just the warm up act. The main event is still to come.

If things are this bad already, how bad will they be when the next great economic crisis hits this nation and unemployment skyrockets and poverty is everywhere?

That is why I am encouraging people that currently live in the heart of our major cities to consider moving. Unfortunately, most Americans are completely dependent on the jobs that they currently have, so moving is not really a practical option for a lot of people.

For those that cannot move, you are just going to have to get prepared right where you are. That means making your home and your family as unattractive a target to potential criminals as you possibly can. The goal should be to avoid a violent confrontation if at all possible. So you will want multiple layers of security between you and those that would potentially harm you and your family. You want to try to deter the bad guys from ever coming on to your property in the first place, but if they do come, you need to be ready to deal with them.

At the moment, we are still in the midst of relatively stable economic times. But even in these relatively stable times, violence is escalating. Just consider what happened in Baltimore over the recent holiday weekend. A grand total of 29 people were shot…

Police say 29 people were shot, 9 of them killed over this weekend, adding to the record-breaking violence.

The shooting didn’t stop on Monday night after a 9-year-old boy and another man were both injured by gun fire in the 2900 block of Arunah Avenue. Police say the child was shot in the leg and another man suffered a graze wound to the head.

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Using Logic, Facts, & Basic Math? - You Are A "Doomer"

The S&P 500 currently stands at 2,126, fractionally below its all-time high. It is now 300% above the 2009 low and 34% above the 2008 and 2001 previous highs. Most people believe this is the new normal. They are comfortably numb in their ignorance of facts, reality, the truth, and the inevitability of a bleak future. When the herd is convinced progress and never ending gains are the norm, the apparent stability and normality always degenerates into instability and extreme anxiety. As many honest analysts have proven, with unequivocal facts and proven valuation measurements, the stock market is as overvalued as it was in 1929, 2000, and 2007.

Facts haven’t mattered, as belief in the infallibility and omniscience of Federal Reserve bankers, has convinced “professionals” to program their high frequency trading supercomputers to buy the all-time high. If central bankers were really omniscient and low interest rates guaranteed endless stock market gains, then why did the stock market crash in 2000 and 2008? The Federal Reserve’s monetary policies created the bubbles in 2000, 2007 and today. There was no particular event which caused the crashes in 2000 and 2008. Extreme overvaluation, created by warped Federal Reserve monetary policies and corrupt Washington D.C. fiscal policies, is what made the previous bubbles burst and will lead the current bubble to rupture.

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Wives Can Give Husbands High Blood Pressure

When older men have stressed-out wives, their own blood pressure may go up, a U.S. study suggests.

While previous research has linked stress and bad relationships to elevated blood pressure, less is known about how these challenges affect both members of a couple, and how the spouses affect one another, over time.

For the current study, researchers evaluated about 1,350 couples once in 2006 and again in 2010 to see how each person’s blood pressure might change based on shifts in their relationship satisfaction or stress levels.

“We found that husbands had higher blood pressure when wives reported greater stress and that this link was even greater when husbands felt more negative about the relationship,” lead study author Kira Birditt, a scientist at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said by email.

“In addition, negative marital quality experienced by only one member of the couple was not associated with blood pressure, but when both members of the couple reported higher negative marital quality they both had higher blood pressure,” added Birditt.

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Public Art pARTy Tonight!!

Anthony Batts Releases Five-page Response To Violence In Baltimore city

Join Us TODAY for Our Open House!

WANT LIVE MUSIC? WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED. OPEN HOUSE: LIVE MUSIC BY EASTERN ELECTRIC Thursday, May 28   Join us for our Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, and then stick around for a free show by Eastern Electric!  If you have been itching to see what Headquarters Live is all about, this is your chance!   The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce is an organization of community focused leaders dedicated to promoting a positive business environment by supporting economic development through networking, teamwork and innovative thinking.  Doors: 5 PM | Show: 5:30 PM FREE! | All Ages Welcome CHECK OUT OUR FOOD TRUCK! OPEN MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY FOR LUNCH Don't forget to stop by the food truck in the Headquarters Live lot! It's open during every show and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for lunch.     NAKED NATION Friday, May 29 Naked Nation brings out the party animal in EVERYONE. Continuing to build an identity as one of the most innovative cover bands in the area, they have taken everywhere they plug in by storm with no warning, or plans of putting out that fire!  Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM $5 Admission | 18+ Show BACK BY SUNRISE Saturday, May 30   Four Southern Maryland guys and a girl who live to rock! They  play today and yesterday's top rock, pop, country, and dance hits, and have toured throughout Maryland and Virginia. Don't miss this high-energy cover band! Doors: 7 PM | Show: 8 PM $5 Admission | 21+ Show   WHAT IS HEADQUARTERS LIVE?  Headquarters Live is a music venue in Downtown Salisbury. The focus here is on music, sound quality and the performers. It is a truly unique experience compared to anywhere else in the area! Sure, we have a bar - serving domestic and craft beers, wines and wine cocktails - but it's so much more than that! Check out our website for more upcoming shows and events!

Glen Ave. Road Closure Announced for High School Commencements

Salisbury, MD – The Wicomico Youth & Civic Center is scheduled to host commencement ceremonies for area high schools on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30. Wicomico High School’s commencement ceremony is on Friday, followed by James M. Bennett, Mardela High and Parkside High on Saturday.

To protect the safety of graduates and their families, a portion of Glen Ave. in front of the WY&CC will close from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, May 29 and again on Saturday, May 30 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. The closed portion runs from Civic Avenue to St. Albans Drive.

For additional information about upcoming events at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center, please visit www.WicomicoCivicCenter.org.

The True Reason behind the 40-Hour Work Week and Why We Are Economic Slaves

Economic slavery, or wage slavery, refers to one’s total and immediate dependence on wages to survive. Although people throughout history have had to work to get by, we now live in a culture where we are led to believe we have economic freedom, when unbeknownst to most citizens, we are in fact bound in servitude. We automatically accept a 40-hour workweek with meager hourly pay as normal, even though many work overtime and still struggle to survive. There are also those who make enough to live comfortably but are unable to request less hours—you either work 40 hours a week, or you don’t get to work at all. We submit when told what to wear, when we have to arrive and depart, when we’re allowed to eat, and even when we’re allowed to use the restroom. How is it we have come to allow this?

The 40-hour-work week came about during the Industrial Revolution in Britain when at one point workers were putting in 10 to 16 hour days and began to protest. Working situations for Americans began to worsen as well, and by 1836, labor movement publications were also calling for a 40-hour workweek. Citizens in both situations were so overworked, an eight-hour day was easily accepted. This system is unnecessary now, if it ever was, but we still accept it due to the effects of our capitalist society.

There are many contributing factors that have led to our current economic system and continued acceptance of the 40-hour workweek, three major factors being consumerism, inflation, and debt. First, it’s important to understand exactly what inflation is, how it works, and how it leads to debt.

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Report: Air Force Chooses Missile to Carry Computer-Killing Weapon

The Air Force has reportedly picked Lockheed Martin’s long-range Joint Air-to-Surface Missile to carry a new computer-killing electronic attack payload with the stunning capability of being a "first day of war" standoff weapon.

Major Gen. Thomas Masiello of the the Air Force Research Laboratory says the technology, known as CHAMP — for Counter-electronics High-powered microwave Advanced Missile Project — can destroy electronic equipment with bursts of high-power microwave energy, Flight Global reports.

The technology will be "miniaturized" to suite the Lockheed missile, Flight Global reports.

"That’s an operational system already in our tactical air force, and that is really what will make us more operationally relevant," Masiello said at a science and technology exposition at the Pentagon earlier this month, Flight Global reports.

"Both the major commands and the combatant commands are very interested in that weapon system. It’s a non-kinetic effect."

According to Foxtrot Alpha, the super-high-tech system will be a "first day of war" standoff weapon.

"The capability is real … and the technology can be available today," Masiello says, according to Foxtrot Alpha. "That's an operational system already in our tactical air force."

The Daily Mail reports that in 2012 Boeing successfully tested the weapon on a one-hour flight during which it knocked out the computers of an entire military compound. The test was over the Utah Test and Training Range, the newspaper reports.

The test was so successful even the camera recording it was disabled, the newspaper reports.

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The Economy: Fake It Till It Makes It

HOW “DOUBLE SEASONAL ADJUSTMENT” WILL FIX EVERYTHING!

In January the breathless ones told us the U.S. economy was going to be all “rainbows and unicorns” this year. At the time, we pointed out such predictions were overly optimistic … and we were right (still are).

But bad numbers can’t be … they just can’t. Which is why our government is now doing its best to artificially inflate things via a “double seasonal adjustment.” What’s that, you ask? Well, typically seasonal adjustments are used to smooth out economic data so that seasonal surges – or retreats – don’t offer distorted pictures of growth.

“Business and consumers behave differently in December than they do in July,” economist Peter Schiff put it this week.

But when does legitimate “seasonal adjustment” become artificial inflation?

Right about NOW, according to Schiff …

“Just as the steady torrent of awful economic data, which began in the First Quarter and continued well into April and May, had forced many market analysts to grudgingly concede that 2015 would not see the robust economic growth that most had expected, the statisticians arrived on the scene like a cavalry charge and routed the forces of pessimism with a wave of their spreadsheets,” Schiff wrote.

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Costs of Baltimore Civil Unrest Estimated At $50M

BALTIMORE (WJZ) –It’s been weeks since Baltimore’s riots and now we’re learning how much the city’s response cost taxpayers.

Derek Valcourt explains the city is preparing to fork out $20 million, which doesn’t take into account how much the state and National Guard spent in its response and how much money businesses lost from damage or the curfew.

Even before teens started throwing rocks and setting fires on April 27th, the city had already brought in extra help from police jurisdiction around the state. The city’s own officers worked lots of overtime throughout the disturbances.

Now weeks later the city’s Board of Estimates authorizes taking $20 million out of the rainy day fund to help cover some of those unexpected costs.

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Massive Striped Bass Sets Missouri State Record

A Missouri fisherman last week pulled in the largest striped bass ever recorded on a "pole and line" in the state, with the fish weighing in at 65.2 pounds.

Lawrence Dillman said he fought the nearly 50-inch monster for more than 45 minutes at Bulls Shoals Lake, which sits on the state's southern border with Arkansas. When the fish eventually came close enough to touch, he "bear hugged the fish and got out of the water on to the bank."

He caught the fish on a 20-pound test line and used a chub minnow for bait.

The previous state record for a fish caught on a "pole and line" weighed in at 60.9 pounds, and was caught in 2011 on the same lake. The Missouri Department of Conservation pointed out that striped bass are most common on the Atlantic Coast, but have been stocked in reservoirs across the U.S.

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Conn. Pastor Shot Outside Church While Setting Up Memorial Day Flags

A pastor in Hartford, Connecticut, is reportedly in critical condition after he was shot several times Sunday while decorating his church’s lawn with Memorial Day flags.

Rev. Dr. Augustus Sealy, 54, was shot multiple times outside the First Church of the Nazarene at 932 Capitol Ave. about 6:30 a.m. Sunday. According to church official Elton Adams, Mr. Sealy was outside the church placing flags from different countries in the yard as part of an annual Memorial Day tradition, a local NBC affiliate reported.

Witnesses told police they heard five gunshots as a black car heading west on Capitol Avenue passed Mr. Sealy. Seven shells were found at the scene, NBC reported.

The reverend, who also a licensed psychologist, was transported to St. Francis Hospital with two gunshot wounds to the right leg and one to the left shoulder.

Mr. Sealy’s wife, Sharon, said he was in a lot of pain but expected to recover.

“He hasn’t lost any hope,” she told NBC. “You know, this is something that happened that was really terrible and shouldn’t have happened and we’ve already prayed for that person who actually committed the crime.”

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China Warns War May Be Coming With US

The buildup of Chinese naval power in the South China Sea and recent groundbreaking on two island lighthouses are elevating tensions between the U.S. and China over the disputed region.

The release of a new white paper, "China’s Military Strategy," which indicates China plans to broaden its influence over the South China Sea, noting that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will be adding "open seas protection" to "offshore waters defense" in its naval mission, is straining nerves in the U.S., where Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has instructed his staff to come up with ways in which the United States can confront China's actions, Bloomberg News reports.

The paper was released just after an editorial in the state-run Chinese tabloid Global Times said conflict between China and the U.S. will be unavoidable if Washington doesn’t stop harassing Beijing for building islands and military facilities in disputed parts of the South China Sea.

"We do not want a military conflict with the United States, but if it were to come we have to accept it," the paper said.

In a briefing, PLA senior Col. Wang Jin commented, "The maritime battlefield has been broadened, and China’s navy needs to react to protect its rights globally," Bloomberg noted.

The white paper stated, "Some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs; a tiny few maintain a constant close-in air and sea surveillance and reconnaissance against China.

"It is thus a long-standing task for China to safeguard its maritime rights and interests," Bloomberg reported.

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