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Friday, June 05, 2015

Beautiful Sunset In Florida


A beautiful sunset at Panama City Beach, Florida from photographer Luke Swims.

Warning Not to Use E15 Gas in Your Car: FOX Business

WHY CDS ACTUALLY SOUND BETTER THAN VINYL

James Russell’s mother told him that his first invention was the “automated battleship” that he built when he was six. By the time he was thirteen, he was fixing toasters, irons and fans at a local appliance store in his home town outside Seattle. The summer before he left for college, he was hired to set up a radio station, transmitter and all — something he’d never done before. He’d never even seen an antenna that big.“That’s why I am an inventor,” says Russell, now 83. “I can envision how it should be.”

At Portland’s Reed College, Russell studied physics and built his first turntable. Unsatisfied with the standard needles of the day, he used cactus needles, which he sharpened with sandpaper, to play the first LP he purchased: a recording of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’sScheherazade. Even so, with his sharp ears, he could hear the quality of his LPs disintegrate after the tenth or twelfth spin.

After he graduated, in 1953, Russell took a job in the research laboratories at Washington state’s Hanford Works, the nuclear reservation that produced the plutonium used in the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Longtimeclassical-music fans, Russell and his wife, Barbara, were subscribers to the Seattle Opera, even though it meant a 400-mile round-trip drive for each performance.

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Problem solved


Walk 30 miles or do jail time, judge tells Ohio teen who didn't pay cab fare

PAINESVILLE, Ohio (ABC News) - What the hail?

An eccentric Ohio judge told a scofflaw teen to take a hike -- and walk 30 miles for stiffing a cabbie for a ride of the same length or face 30 days in the slammer.

Painesville Judge Michael Cicconetti, known for his unusual punishments, meted out the sentence to Victoria Bascom, 19, after she was found guilty of theft for not paying her cab fare of $100, Ciconnetti's secretary Diane Armstrong told ABC News Tuesday.

The victim drove Bascom, who was charged with theft, about 30 miles from Cleveland to Painesville this past February, but she left the cab without paying, Armstrong added.

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$5 million heroin supply chain dismantled, 5 arrested

NEW YORK — Federal agents arrested five men and seized 12 kilograms of heroin – more than 26 lbs – worth at least $5 million dollars, plus $115,000 in cash, two guns and drug paraphernalia. The arrests and seizures follows a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA)’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force and New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor.

Orlando Rosario-Concepcion, 28, of Paterson, New Jersey, is accused of heading the Bronx and Washington Heights-based drug trafficking organization that supplied local dealers in New York City, upstate counties and Long Island. Jonathan Almonte, 27, Rodolofo Abreu-Crisotomo, 31, Jean Carlos Rosario-Ortiz, 28, Deckson Holguin-Rosario, 28 all from New York, New York are accused of overseeing an alleged heroin packaging mill.

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Another Dead NASA Scientist, 'SEVENTY FOUR' Scientists dead in 2 years!

Friday January 12th 2015, renowned scientist Alberto Behar crashed his small plane in the streets of L.A. shortly after he had taken off. Alberto worked at NASA’s ‘Jet Propulsion Laboratory’ and Arizona State University; he was one of the leading scientists responsible for discovering that there was once water on Planet Mars. Behar was an expert pilot; he was a flight instructor for both planes and helicopters – the weather conditions were very clear and for some unknown reason his plane just started to lose altitude. The Van Nuys Airport pilot Kashif Khursheed stated “I can’t see what would be the cause of something like this. He was very knowledgeable, competent and thorough.”

This tragic event is just one of the most recent cases of a prominent key scientists suspicious death, over the last two years 74 leading medical and NASA scientists have died, almost ‘ALL’ are officially labelled suicide or an accident. (all 74!?) Glenn Thomas was a World Health Organisation spokesperson; he was reportedly an expert on Ebola and AIDS, he was aboard MH17 when it was shot down with approximately 100 other researchers.

Other strange deaths of leading scientists are:

Joep Lange, a leading AIDS researcher and former president of the International AIDS Society (IAS) was also aboard MH17. They were all on their way to an international AIDS conference. With one fell swoop a large portion of the leading AIDS experts were killed before they could attend a global conference.

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Stranger buys car for single mom in random act of kindness

It turns out the power of prayer is worth 200 horses.

A North Carolina man bought a used car for a struggling single mom -- a complete stranger -- after hearing her plight and going home to pray.

Connie Cole, 32, was talking to a sales manager on speakerphone at Carolina Auto Sales in Black Mountain, North Carolina while her anonymous benefactor-to-be happened to be in the office, dealership owner Wesley Gurley told ABC News Thursday.

She was in dire need of a car but was struggling to find a way to pay for it.

“Connie sounded so desperate since the car she had broke down,” he said. “The guy said he heard the distress in her voice and he wanted to go home and pray about maybe buying her that car.”

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Burger King’s Fantastically Creepy King Mascot Is Back

Have you been counting the days until Burger King’s terribly creepy “King” mascot re-appeared in the brand’s ads? It seems unlikely that any potential customers missed the King, and he’s possibly been slumming behind the counter of a Taco Bell since his spots stopped airing in 2011. Here’s your warning: the King is coming back to your television. Sorry.

Our readers declared the perpetually smiling, plastic-faced King to be the second creepiest fast food mascot of all time in a poll just over a year ago so maybe it was us who guaranteed his return. Bringing back the King doesn’t just mean he quits working for other fast-food joints: it means that his re-appearance earns the chain free publicity from sites like…well, Consumerist. We’ll probably even embed the YouTube version of the 15-second ad, earning them free views.

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Governor Larry Hogan Announces Shimadzu Corp. To Open Innovation Center In Maryland

$20 Million Investment To Create 25 New Jobs

TOKYO, JAPAN – Governor Larry Hogan met with executives from Shimadzu Corp., a Kyoto, Japan-based multinational corporation, and announced that the company plans to expand its U.S. headquarters in Columbia, Md., by investing $20 million and creating an Innovation Center focused on new product research, development and engineering. The company has operated its U.S. subsidiary, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, in Columbia since 1975 and currently has 200 employees in Maryland. The center, which will be developed over the next five years and create 25 new jobs, will enable Shimadzu to better align itself with new technologies being developed in the U.S., particularly in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan area. This meeting took place in Japan as part of Governor’s Hogan 12-day trade mission to Korea, China and Japan.

“Shimadzu has been a valued corporate partner in Maryland since 1975 and we are very excited that this world-class company is continuing to expand and invest in our state,” said Governor Hogan. “Through this new Innovation Center, Shimadzu will be able to harness the groundbreaking research being done in our region and deliver the next generation of analytical and measurement instruments to a global marketplace.”

“The Innovation Center will house a team of engineers and scientists whose goal will be to develop close collaborations with universities, government agencies, and industry centers in order to capitalize on the cutting-edge research being conducted in and around the area,” said Shuzo Maruyama, president of Shimadzu Scientific Instruments.

Founded in 1875, Shimadzu is a $3 billion multinational corporation with three major divisions: Medical Diagnostics, Aerospace/Industrial, and Analytical Instruments. In the United States, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments has a network of more than 50 locations providing local and regional sales, service, and technical support.

In 2014, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments opened a new Solutions Center at its Columbia location to enhance collaboration with customers and enable the company to more quickly respond to customer needs for new scientific instruments, software platforms, and applications. The 4,100-square-foot center showcases more than 30 Shimadzu scientific instruments, as well as provides space for more collaborative research, and helps the company to more quickly develop new software applications and focus-based solutions.

Agencies release new guide on rights of LGBT feds

Agencies have released a new guide for LGBT workers who want to know their rights or file discrimination complaints.

The Office of Personnel Management, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Special Counsel and the Merit Systems Protection Board released a new guide that reflects new guidance, recent court decisions and new laws that have strengthened protections for federal workers.

The EEOC has also issued several decisions in recent years holding that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals may bring valid Equal Employment Opportunity claims in the federal sector.

The guide, "Addressing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination in Federal Civilian Employment: A Guide to Employment Rights, Protections, and Responsibilities," can be found at www.opm.gov/LGBTGuide.

Katherine Archuleta, director of the Office of Personnel Management, said one of her highest priorities at OM is to recruit and retain top talent from among the diversity of the American people.

We need all of our employees to be focused on making the most of their skills and their ingenuity, rather than worrying about losing their job or not getting promoted due to discrimination," said Archuleta said. "This guide is an important resource for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members of our Federal family."

The guide provides federal workers with a description of employee rights and agency responsibilities under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, and other agency and union procedures. It also offers a comparison table showing differences between procedures available at the EEOC and OSC.

Jenny Yang, the chairwoman of the EEOC, said reissuing the guide is critical given all the developments that have occurred over the last 10 years.

"It illustrates, in plain terms, the breadth of protections available to victims of LGBT discrimination in federal employment and should serve as an invaluable resource to all federal employees."

The guide will also help to eliminate confusion among federal workers and supervisors with respect to workplace protections, according to MSPB chairwoman Susan Tsui Grundmann.

"Since the MSPB's mission is to safeguard, protect and promote the merit principles, which includes fair and equitable treatment in all aspects of personnel management without regard to discrimination, we support this guide as a helpful tool that will better educate and inform the federal workforce and applicants about the full range of options under current law."

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This Young Man Has A Good Point!


I never post anything on Facebook but I need to voice my opinion. Noah Galloway, a veteran of of the United States Army...

Posted by Conner Whigham on Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Governor Larry Hogan Announces MOU Between University of Maryland and Chinese Academy of Sciences

Agreement to Enhance Joint Research Activities, 
Student Exchanges

TOKYO, JAPAN - Governor Larry Hogan today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the University of Maryland (UMD), the state’s flagship university and one of the top public research universities in the country, and the headquarters of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China’s top science and technology research and educational organization.

Signed on June 2 by UMD President Wallace D. Loh and CAS President Bai Chunli at CAS headquarters in Beijing, the MOU encourages joint research activities, student exchanges, and other related mutually beneficial activities. CAS is composed of 104 research institutes, two universities, 12 academies, and over 100 key national labs.

“As the leading public university in the nation’s capital region and one of the leading research universities in the world, UMD has continually been at the forefront of collaborations with partner universities and academic institutions,” said Governor Hogan. “With their shared traditions in science and technology research and development, and innovation, and entrepreneurship, UMD and CAS can build their respective strengths and make significant contributions to both of their institutions.”

UMD and CAS have a long history of collaboration, dating back to 1980 when UMD signed its first agreement with CAS’ University of Science and Technology of China.

This MOU was signed while Governor Hogan’s delegation, which included President Loh and professionals from UMD, were in Asia as part of a 12-day trade mission to Korea, China, and Japan. The goal of this mission is to strengthen economic development ties with the region and foster positive relations between the Hogan administration and key Asian officials and business leaders.

Two House Bills Would Completely Legalize Marijuana Across the U.S.

Yes, the United States federal government might just legalize marijuana. Two congressmen just filed two separate House Bills on Friday that together would legalize marijuana at the federal level. That means an effective end to the U.S. government’s prohibition policy on the plant.
Representative Jared Polis (D-Colorado) recently introduced the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. This Bill proposes just what it sounds like. Marijuana would be legal, but regulated like alcohol. The Bill would completely remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act’s schedules.
The Drug Enforcement Administration would no longer have any say or oversight in policing and regulating the plant. Instead, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, would handle regulation of legal marijuana in the same way they regulate alcohol.
Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) also introduced the separate Marijuana Tax Revenue Act, which imposes a federal excise tax for regulated marijuana. While that might sound like a huge bummer to marijuana users, it provides a big incentive for politicians to make a progressive move on legalization.
States could still enact their own, individual prohibitions, but the federal ban that exists today would be gone.

UPDATE: Missing 4-H Animal (Please Share This Post)



(photo illustrative of Boer breed, not actual goat)

Johns Hopkins Psychiatrist: Transgender is ‘Mental Disorder;' Sex Change ‘Biologically Impossible’

(CNSNews) -- Dr. Paul R. McHugh, the former chief psychiatrist for Johns Hopkins Hospital and its current Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, said that transgenderism is a “mental disorder” that merits treatment, that sex change is “biologically impossible,” and that people who promote sexual reassignment surgery are collaborating with and promoting a mental disorder.

Dr. McHugh, the author of six books and at least 125 peer-reviewed medical articles, made his remarks in a recent commentary in the Wall Street Journal, where he explained that transgender surgery is not the solution for people who suffer a “disorder of ‘assumption’” – the notion that their maleness or femaleness is different than what nature assigned to them biologically.

He also reported on a new study showing that the suicide rate among transgendered people who had reassignment surgery is 20 times higher than the suicide rate among non-transgender people.

Dr. McHugh further noted studies from Vanderbilt University and London’s Portman Clinic of children who had expressed transgender feelings but for whom, over time, 70%-80% “spontaneously lost those feelings.”

While the Obama administration, Hollywood, and major media such as Time magazine promote transgenderism as normal, said Dr. McHugh, these “policy makers and the media are doing no favors either to the public or the transgendered by treating their confusions as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention.”

“This intensely felt sense of being transgendered constitutes a mental disorder in two respects. The first is that the idea of sex misalignment is simply mistaken – it does not correspond with physical reality. The second is that it can lead to grim psychological outcomes.”

The transgendered person’s disorder, said Dr. McHugh, is in the person’s “assumption” that they are different than the physical reality of their body, their maleness or femaleness, as assigned by nature. It is a disorder similar to a “dangerously thin” person suffering anorexia who looks in the mirror and thinks they are “overweight,” said McHugh.

Read more here

WCSO Press Release - Child Support Warrants May 2015

Walters, Parish
Walters, Parish
Murphy, Edward
Murphy, Edward
Cornish, Jujuan
Cornish, Jujuan
White, Charles
White, Charles
Matthews, Jeremiah
Matthews, Jeremiah
Bragg, Deborah
Bragg, Deborah
Reid, Maurice
Reid, Maurice
Donoway, Chad
Donoway, Chad
Collins, Robert
Collins, Robert
Incident: Child Support Warrants.

Date: May 2015

Location:  Wicomico County, MD

Suspect: 1.Parish Walters, 29, Salisbury, MD
              2.Edward Murphy, 44, Salisbury, MD
              3.Jajuan Cornish, 20, Salisbury, MD
              4.Charles White, 35, Suffolk, VA
              5.Jeremiah Matthews, 28, Salisbury, MD
              6.Roudy Richardson, 54, Salisbury, MD
              7. DeborahBragg, 49, Delmar, DE
              8.Patrick Hartman, 35, Willards, MD
              9.Maurice Reid, 32, Salisbury, MD
              10. ChadDonoway, 30, Pittsville, MD
              11.Robert Collins, 33, Seaford, DE
             
Narrative: During the month of May 2015 deputies from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office arrested the above individuals on Circuit Court Body Attachments that had been issued in connection with Child Support cases.

All subjects were detained on bond in the Detention Center pending an initial appearance in front of a Circuit Court Judge.

Charges: Child Support Non- Compliance

Releasing Authority: Lt. Tim Robinson                                  Date: 5 June 2015

WCSO Press Releases - June 5, 2014

Incident: WCSO Activity

Date of Incident:   4 June 2015

Location:  Wicomico County

Nichols, LizaNichols, Liza1. On 4 June 2015 a deputy arrested Liza Marie Nichols, 37 of Salisbury, on two District Court Bench Warrants. One was issued after she failed to appear back in March 2015 for a case where she had been charged with Resisting Arrest and Obstruct and Hinder; the second was issued after she also failed to appear in March for a Disorderly Conduct case. Nichols was detained on a bond of $6,000.00 on the two cases.




Timmons, WilliamTimmons, William2. On 4 June 2015 a deputy arrested William Leslie Timmons, 25 of Delmar, DE on a District Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Timmons failed to appear for a violation of probation hearing in a theft case. Timmons was released on $20,000.00 unsecured bond.








Sheppard, PatrickSheppard, Patrick3. On 4 June 2015 a deputy arrested Patrick Sheppard, 48 of Salisbury, on a District Court Bench Warrant that was issued after he failed to appear for a Driving Suspended case. Sheppard was detained on a bond of $1,000.00.

****************************************************************







Elliott, JackElliott, JackIncident: Vandalism

Date of Incident: 4 June 2015

Location: 4000 block of Skylar Drive, Eden, MD

Suspect: Jack Joseph Elliott, 67, Eden,MD
                               
Narrative: On 4 June 2015 at 9:34AM a deputy arrested Jack Elliott after Elliott called the Sheriff’s Office toreport that he had been the victim of a theft. During the course of theinvestigation the deputy ran a routine query on Elliott and discovered an openwarrant that was issued back in 2012 following an allegation he dumped sugarinto another individual’s gas tank.

Thedeputy took Elliott into custody and transported him to the Central BookingUnit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner.Following an initial appearance, the Commissioner released Elliott on PersonalRecognizance.

Charges: Malicious Destruction of Property

****************************************************************

Thomas, ShaquilleThomas, ShaquilleIncident: CDS Possession

Date of Incident: 4 June 2015

Location: Priscilla Street, Salisbury, MD

Suspect: Shaquille O. Thomas, 20,Salisbury, MD
                               
Narrative: On 4 June 2015 at 3:35PM a deputy stopped a vehicle operated by Shaquille Thomas after observing thatthe vehicle’s registration was expired. Upon making contact with Thomas, thedeputy detected a strong odor of marijuana emanating from within the vehicle.Upon conducting a search, the deputy recovered what was determined to be overan ounce of marijuana. Further search of the vehicle revealed a substantialsupply of clear baggies.

Dueto the amount located in connection with the empty baggies, the deputy chargedThomas with Possession with the Intent to Distribute. Following an initialappearance in front of the District Court Commissioner, Thomas was detained inthe detention Center in lieu of $31,000.00 bond.

Charges: Possession of Marijuanawith the Intent to Distribute

****************************************************************


Incident: Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle

Date of Incident: 4 June 2015

Location: 400 block of Nomreh Rd., Salisbury, MD

Suspect: Monty S. Hall, 40, Frankford,DE
                               
Narrative: On 4 June 2015 at 5:15PM a deputy arrested Monty Hall following a complaint he borrowed a vehiclefrom his employer and failed to return it by the specified deadline. Followingthe complaint a warrant for the arrest of Hall was issued.

Uponarrest, Hall was transported to the Central Booking where he was processed andtaken in front of the District Court Commissioner. Following the initial appearance,the Commissioner detained Hall in the Detention Center in lieu of $17,000.00bond.

Charges: Unauthorized Use of aMotor Vehicle

****************************************************************


Releasing Authority: Lt. Tim Robinson       Date:  5 June 2015

Broken Families Breed Broken Cities Like Baltimore

On the 50th anniversary of Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s famous report on the breakdown of the black family in urban ghettos, Baltimore has descended into the tragic violence and chaos he predicted. In a report titled, “The Negro Family: The Case for Action,” Assistant Secretary of Labor Moynihan, warned that the deterioration of the black family, would result in soaring crime rates if it continued unchecked.

In the most famous passage of the 1965 report, Moynihan, who would later become a Democratic U.S. senator, wrote, “From the wild Irish slums of the 19th-century Eastern seaboard, to the riot-torn suburbs of Los Angeles, there is one unmistakable lesson in American history: A community that allows large numbers of young men to grow up in broken families, dominated by women, never acquiring any stable relationship to male authority, never acquiring any set of rational expectations about the future — that community asks for and gets chaos. Crime, violence, unrest, disorder are not only to be expected, they are very near to inevitable.”

When he wrote these words, the illegitimacy rate among African-Americans was 25 percent while illegitimacy nationwide, stood at 7.7 percent. In the mid-1960s thanks largely to Great Society welfare policies, the out-of-wedlock birth rate began to climb rapidly. Today the out-of-wedlock rate for blacks is over 72 percent with even higher rates in inner cities. Illegitimacy among Hispanics is now over 50 percent, and for whites it has risen from the 3 percent in 1960 to 36 percent today.

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1895 8th Grade Final Exam

What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA .. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal..

8th Grade Final Exam:

Salina , KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.

2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications

3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph.

4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,' 'play,' and 'run'.

5. Define case; illustrate each case.

6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.

7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet Long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs, what is it worth at 50 cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs for tare?

4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent per annum.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft long at $20 per metre?

8... Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus .

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States .

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas .

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)

[Do we even know what this is??]

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?

4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.

8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

9.. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

4. Describe the mountains of North America .

5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco .

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

9.. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

HUH??? Are they kidding??? This is hard to believe....

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

Also shows you how poor our education system has become and . . .

NO, I don't have the answers!

Governor Larry Hogan Rides World’s Fastest Train in Japan

 
Announces Federal Grant Application for Private-Sector Superconducting Magnetic Levitation Train Efforts
 
YAMANASHI, JAPAN – In support of private-sector efforts to explore building high-speed rail in Maryland, Governor Larry Hogan joined executives from the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and the Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail LLC (BWRR) to ride the 27-mile-long Yamanashi Maglev Line located outside of Tokyo, Japan.

The high-speed rail line is equipped with Superconducting Magnetic Levitation (SCMaglev) technologies, which uses magnetic forces to accelerate trains smoothly and rapidly to speeds of more than 300 miles per hour while levitating inches off the ground. The JR Central train recently achieved a record-breaking 375 miles per hour.

The College Board's Sabotage of American History

A stellar group of American historians and academics released a milestone open letter yesterday in protest of deleterious changes to the advanced placement U.S. history (APUSH) exam. The signatories are bold intellectual bulwarks against increasing progressive attacks in the classroom on America's unique ideals and institutions.

Moms and dads in my adopted home state of Colorado have been mocked and demonized for helping to lead the fight against the anti-American changes to APUSH. But if there's any hope at all in salvaging local control over our kids' curriculum, it lies in the willingness of a broad coalition of educators and parents to join in the front lines for battles exactly like this one.

As the 55 distinguished members of the National Association of Scholars explained this week, the teaching of American history faces "a grave new risk." So-called "reforms" by the College Board, which holds a virtual monopoly on A.P. testing across the country, "abandon a rigorous insistence on content" in favor of downplaying "American citizenship and American world leadership in favor of a more global and transnational perspective."

The top-down APUSH framework eschews vivid, content-rich history lessons on the Constitution for "such abstractions as 'identity,' 'peopling,' 'work, exchange and technology,' and 'human geography' while downplaying essential subjects, such as the sources, meaning and development of America's ideals and political institutions." The scholars, who hail from institutions ranging from Notre Dame and Stanford to the University of Virginia, Baylor, CUNY, Georgetown and Ohio State, decried the aggressive centralization of power over how teachers will be able to teach the story of America.

This is not a bug. It's a feature, as I've been reporting for years on Fed Ed matters. These so-called APUSH reforms by the College Board, after all, are part and parcel of a radical upheaval in testing, textbooks and educational technology. It is no coincidence that the College Board's president, David Coleman, supervised the Beltway operation that drafted, disseminated and profits from the federal Common Core standards racket.

More here

Public Art pARTy Special!


Tickled Paint ARTworks Studio
$25 Fun PUBLIC ART pARTy SPECIAL  $25
Saturday June 6th 7 pm – 9 pm
Flirty Flamingo

PUBLIC WELCOME
Studio located next to Edible Arrangements
Call 410-713-2013  Limited Seats

Md. Man Recovering After His Body Gives Out During Triathlon

A Maryland man is recovering at Shock Trauma after his body gives out during a triathlon on the Eastern Shore. A heat stroke caused his organs to fail, requiring an emergency transplant.

Jessica Kartalija explains his family and friends are asking for your help.

Doug Wetzel, 32, is quite the athlete. He was nearing the end of his first ever triathlon when something went terribly wrong.

“He was a mile and a half from the end, he was running the last leg of the triathlon, and he realized he was in trouble. So he actually veered off course and went to find help,” his best friend, Craig Nickel, said.

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House panel says VA firing bill is necessary to weed out problem employees

A House panel debated a bill Tuesday that would give the Veterans Affairs Department secretary greater authority to fire employees, with many saying it's a necessary step to revive the beleaguered agency.

The bill is similar to one passed last year that gave the VA secretary more leeway in firing senior executives, except this bill (H.R.1994) would extend that authority to all VA employees, not just senior executives. The bill comes as a result of last year's manipulation of wait lists by employees at the VA's Phoenix medical center to make it look like veterans weren't waiting as long for appointments as they actually were.

At the June 2 House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on economic opportunity hearing, Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) said that 99 percent of the more than 300,000 VA employees are dedicated and hardworking, and are not part of the problems that exist at VA.

The VA has a history of transferring problem employees to other offices, Miller said, and the bill is necessary since it allows the agency to fire those employees instead of passing them off to another office.

And while some have questioned whether the bill denies VA workers due process and could scare away whistleblowers, Miller denied those claims.

Though the VA secretary could remove any employee based on misconduct or performance, that employee could file an appeal within seven days with the Merit Systems Protection Board and that panel would have to rule on the firing within 45 days.

That's not far off from the appeals process for most agencies, expect that MSPB normally has only 30 days to rule.

Other than the greater firing authority, the bill would extend the new hire probationary period from one year to 18 months, giving the VA secretary a long look at new employees before making a decision to keep them on board.

For more:
- go to the hearing page
- go to the UStream page for video
- go to the Congress.gov page for H.R. 1994

5 Most Unused Health Benefits for Veterans

Although they spent time valiantly protecting America, many veterans have not taken the time to fully understand their benefits.

A 2010 Veterans Affairs survey found that only 41% of veterans indicated that they had “a lot” or “some” understanding of their benefits.

As a result, numerous benefits with the potential to help veterans and their families go unused.

Here are 5 of the most unused veteran benefits:

Let's Have an Honest Discussion About Bruce Jenner

Only a cruel person would wish Bruce Jenner ill will now that he has 'morphed' into Caitlyn Jenner. Hopefully, he is now at peace with himself.

Assuming he is, what are the chances he will stay that way?

Regrettably, they are not good. Worse, the glamorization of his condition is risky: It will only encourage those who are in rebellion against their nature not to seek professional help.

It is important to clarify what Jenner's condition is. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, he is not a transgender: he is a transsexual. Gender refers to socially learned roles that are appropriate for males and females; sex connotes a nature-determined status, as exemplified by the two sexes.

Gender roles, moreover, typically take their cues from nature; this explains the similarities in the way boys and girls are raised in different cultures. Moreover, boys are more aggressive than girls — in every society — and this has important social and cultural consequences. The reason has everything to do with nature: Boys have a higher level of testosterone than girls.

Are transsexuals mentally ill? Until two years ago, the answer was yes. In the 3rd edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published in 1980, those who underwent sexual surgery were seen as suffering from a psychological disorder, often schizophrenia.

When DSM-4 was published in 1994, they were also considered mentally ill. But when DSM-5 was published in 2013, they were no longer listed. Instead, it was determined that such persons suffer from "gender dysphoria," not "gender identity disorder"; the new term refers to an emotionally distressful condition. What changed, however, were mores, not science.

Not everyone is buying into this politically correct interpretation of what is now called transgenderism. Dr. Paul McHugh is former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Not shy about challenging the conventional wisdom, he is adamant in his conviction that people like Jenner suffer from a mental disorder. What they need, he says, is treatment.

More here

Poll: More Than Three-Quarters of Voters Back Voter ID Laws

More than three-quarters of likely voters think voter ID laws are needed in the United States, according to the results of a new survey.

The Rasmussen Reports poll found that 76 percent of people want the laws in place. Thirty-four states currently have voter ID laws at the polls.

Some Democrats want the laws removed because they think they're a form of discrimination, while conservatives would like them to remain in place — and want to see the remaining states enact similar laws.

Public support for voter ID laws was at 78 percent in 2006.

The Rasmussen data shows that 56 percent of Democrats support voter ID laws, compared to 92 percent of Republicans.

Further, voter ID laws have the support of 78 percent of people not affiliated with one of the major political parties, according to the Rasmussen figures.

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Common Pesticide Linked to ADHD

There's evidence -- but not proof -- of a link between a commonly used household pesticide and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and young teens, according to a new study.

Specifically, researchers found an association between exposure to pyrethroid pesticides and ADHD, as well as ADHD symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsivity.

The link between the pesticides and ADHD was stronger in boys than in girls, according to the findings published online in the journal Environmental Health.

However, researchers only found an association between pesticides and ADHD. The study did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Pyrethroid pesticides -- considered safer than organophosphate pesticides -- are the most widely used pesticides for home and public health pest control, and their use in agriculture is increasing, according to the researchers.

"Given the growing use of pyrethroid pesticides and the perception that they may represent a safe alternative, our findings may be of considerable public health importance," study corresponding author Dr. Tanya Froehlich, a developmental pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said in a hospital news release.

More here

Obama NLRB Seeks To Gut Right-to-work Laws

Opponents of Big Labor complained to lawmakers Wednesday that the Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board is poised to gut right-to-work laws with a seemingly simple tweak they claim could leave independent workers at the mercy of the unions they rejected.

The board is considering requiring non-union workers who work at unionized companies - something that can only happen in the 25 so-called "right-to-work" states - to pay fees to unions in order to file workplace grievances. That, complained Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee, gives the unions, who control the grievance process, too much power over workers who opted out.

"History has shown that union officials all too often initiate on-the-job discrimination, which forces a worker into the grievance process the union bosses control, in order to punish him or her for not joining the union in the first place,” he said.

In addition to the potential for union workers to initiate a grievance with non-union colleagues, forcing them to seek and pay for union representation, the "fee-for-grievance” scheme could allow for fees that exceed regular dues, warned Mix, who called the NLRB proposal a "deceptive assault" on right-to-work laws.

Read more here

Bill Would End 'Regulation Without Representation'

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) used his first speech from the Senate floor to press for legislation that would create a panel to review federal rules, calling for an end to “regulation without representation.”

“Our great nation has been bogged down in recent years with what I believe is one of the greatest hindrances to job growth and economic productivity, and that is the overregulation of our citizens,” he said Tuesday.

Rounds introduced the Regulation Sensibility Through Oversight Restoration Resolution, which would create a joint select committee to review new rules, as well as hold hearings on the impact of those already in place and make recommendations on reducing regulatory overreach.

He added that his legislation would “take a giant leap forward in restoring the people’s role in the rule-making process.”

"Unfortunately, the voice of the people in the rule-making process has been cut out and replaced by unelected government bureaucrats who think they know better than the farmer or the scientist or the entrepreneur," he said.

More here

County budget not end of salary debate

Money for employee salary increases was not included in Worcester County’s 2016 budget, but that doesn’t mean the discussion is over for teachers.

County employees, on the other hand, have little choice but to grin and bear it. Like the board of education employees, county workers also operate on a step system. Their annual base salaries are expected to increase with favorable reviews and additional experience. But like the proposed funding for teacher pay raises, the money for county employee pay increases was spiked in the budgeting process.

County Administrator Harold Higgins said the people he oversees realize the county’s situation and haven’t protested in the ways the teachers have. Worcester teachers have begun working to the exact terms of their contract and are expected to continue to the end of this school year, June 18.

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Time Warner Cable Has Lowest Customer Satisfaction Score Of All U.S. Companies, Not Just Cable Providers

In news that backs up the results of a recent Consumer Reports survey , Time Warner Cable’s pay-TV service is not just dead last on the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s rankings of cable companies, but of all companies in the entire Index .

TWC managed to score a ridiculously bad 51 out of 100 on the ACSI for its pay-TV service (the Index scores cable companies’ pay-TV, broadband, and phone services separately), tying it with survey newcomer Mediacom for the worst rating thus far in 2015. Mediacom was also a bottom-of-the-barrel performer in the CR survey.

This is a repeat of sorts for TWC, which saw its Internet service receive the worst overall ACSI score (54) in 2014, while its pay-TV score of 56 was the second-lowest.

While TWC’s broadband score improved slightly to a subpar 58, the score for Comcast’s Xfinity service slipped a point to 56, putting it at the back of the pack for all ISPs this year.

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Yellow means slow: paint spill snarls I-68 in western Md.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Yellow means slow on Interstate 68 in western Maryland, where 6,500 gallons of spilled paint will keep cleanup workers busy for several days, officials said Thursday.

The driver of a westbound tractor-trailer carrying plastic barrels of white and yellow paint was illegally texting on a cellphone when he lost control of the vehicle Wednesday evening in the mountains 10 miles west of Hancock, Maryland State Police said. Barrels flew from the flatbed trailer as it overturned, splashing slippery paint along several hundred feet of pavement.

No accidents stemming from the spill were reported.

There was enough spilled paint to fill an above-ground swimming pool. It was traffic paint, meant to be put on roads — but not like this. And like those durable stripes on the highway, it's hard to remove.

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Does Postdating A Check Prevent Anyone From Depositing It Early?

Thanks to automated payments and online banking, many of us rarely (if ever) write checks, but millions of Americans still pull out their checkbooks every day to pay their bills. Because they might not always have enough money in their accounts on the day they write those checks, some folks will postdate their checks so that they aren’t deposited or cashed until after that date. Unfortunately, the fact is that there’s generally no actual obligation to honor the date on a check.

Although it might not seem right for a bank or credit union to disregard the date written on a check, they aren’t legally required to honor the request to postpone processing a transaction unless certain conditions are met by the check issuer.

Consumerist reader M. recently learned this the hard way when her bank processed a postdated check several weeks before she’d intended.

M. had sent the check to a car dealership to cover the remaining $1,500 payout resulting from turning in a leased vehicle ahead of schedule.

“Since we were still short a few hundred dollars, why not cover most of the payout, and send a postdated check for the rest later on,” she tells Consumerist. “[The dealer] would deposit the postdated check as stated, right?”

Wrong. And because the bank processed the check before the date she’d written, M.’s account was overdrawn and she was hit with fees by her bank.

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There’s finally a Hooters-style restaurant featuring men. It’s called Tallywackers.

As legend has it, Rodney Duke, a bar owner and Dallas businessman, was enjoying a meal at Hooters in 2005 when he was confronted by one of the world’s great mysteries, a question so profound it has vexed some people for decades.

“Everyone has asked themselves the same question over time when visiting all these other venues that are related with female eye candy,” Duke recently told the syndicated “Kidd Kraddick Morning Show,” recalling the moment inspiration struck. “Why is there not a male equivalent?”

So he decided to do something about it.

Enter Tallywackers, the world’s first, uh, male-themed “brestaurant.”

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The Mysterious Number of American Citizens

Many Americans believe that someone, somewhere in Washington, must be in charge of tracking who is and who isn’t a citizen of the United States. Apparently, so does the U.S. Supreme Court, which just accepted a voting rights case that turns on the government’s ability to count the number of citizens in each voting district. But despite all the talk these days about government and Big Data, the justices, like the rest of us, might be surprised to learn that the most basic information as to who is an American citizen cannot actually be found in any publicly available government data set — anywhere.

The case, Evenwel v. Abbott, poses a question: whether the Constitution’s long-standing “one person, one vote” principle requires equal numbers of voters per district instead of equal numbers of people, as is current practice. Most commentary on the case has focused on its implications for political parties and racial groups. But focusing on the politics, or even on the merits of the constitutional argument, ultimately distracts from a much bigger problem: The data necessary to draw districts with equal numbers of eligible voters does not exist. We have no national citizen database that tells us how many citizens live in each district around the country.

“What about the U.S. Census?” you might be wondering. It’s true that the census releases a data set that provides the building blocks of redistricting plans for Congress, state legislatures, city councils and school boards. But that data set counts just two things: the total number of people, and the number of people over the age of 18, in every community in the country. The data file has no information about which of those people are citizens and which are not. Voter registration lists, another alternative, are notoriously unreliable and highly variable depending on whether an election is coming up — and some states don’t keep track of voter registration at all.

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MAC Public Hearing Monday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SALISBURY – MAC Inc., the Area Agency on Aging for the Lower Eastern Shore, will hold a public hearing on the proposed Area Plan for Programs & Services for Fiscal Years 2016 through 2019 at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 8, in the agency’s conference room.

The Plan describes the agency’s proposal for services for senior citizens for the coming budget years, including Meals on Wheels, congregate meals at the senior center, other senior center services, and changes in services due to funding reductions.

The Area Agency on Aging is located at 909 Progress Circle in Salisbury. The public is encouraged to attend and offer comments on the proposed plan.

For more information, call 410-742-0505, ext. 113.

The Speech Every 2015 College Grad Needs to Hear

Assateague Group Trying to Stop Broiler Farms -- Again!

New Lawsuit Demands Accountability for Factory Farm Pollution on the Eastern Shore

Baltimore –
Food & Water Watch and Assateague Coastal Trust, represented by lawyers at the Columbia Law School Environmental Clinic, announced they filed opening arguments in a case against the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) last Friday that tries to force the Agency to demand more accountability from the highly polluting factory farm industry on the Eastern Shore. These facilities, also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), currently operate under Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permits issued by MDE that provide for minimal inspection and no water quality monitoring to assure compliance.

“The permits that MDE gives to these industrial facilities do not allow for any discharges of pollutants from their production areas, but we know these facilities are one of the biggest contributors in Maryland to the Bay’s ongoing pollution problem,” stated Scott Edwards, co-founder of Food & Water Justice, the legal arm of Food & Water Watch. “The lack of oversight and monitoring means the permits are little more than symbolic gestures, under which factory farms can continue to pollute at will.”
The Problem with Nutrient Pollution from Factory Farms in Maryland

A March 2015 United States Geological Survey report singles out industrial agriculture on Maryland’s Eastern Shore as a dominant source of that state’s contribution to the ongoing Bay problem, noting the concentrations of nitrogen in groundwater, and nitrogen and phosphorus in surface waters, are well above natural levels and are among the highest in the nation. The amount of pollution flowing off these facilities persists despite historic levels of federal and state funding for the industry to implement failing conservation practices, even as this industry launches an unprecedented expansion across Delmarva.

Under the CWA, all permitted industries must monitor and report their pollution discharges to show that they are in compliance with the terms of the permit. “The only industry that gets away without monitoring its discharges is the factory farm industry,” said Kathy Phillips, Assateague Coastal Trust Executive Director. “That means that they can never be held accountable for polluting like other industries are, and the results of this irresponsible exemption are clearly evident in the Bay.”

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Boehner Indicates Support For Withholding State Funding Over Benghazi

House Republicans introduced a State Department spending bill on Tuesday that withholds a significant chunk of funding until State hands over emails related to the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead.

And House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has indicated he supports the language.

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee released their fiscal year 2016 funding bill for the department, which would withhold "15 percent of State Department operational funds until requirements related to proper management of Freedom of Information Act and electronic communications are met."

More here

American Credit Cards Are Most Popular In The World For Hacks, Fraud (Because Our Tech Stinks)

If it feels like we hear a whole lot of stories about retail data breaches here in the U.S., well, that’s because we do. Americans are super duper popular targets for card hacks and fraud, and it’s for one simple reason: our credit card security is bad and should feel bad.

Quartz reports this week on a new report from British-based international megabank Barclays, and it’s bad news for consumers on this side of the Atlantic.

American credit cards represent about a quarter — 24% — of all cards in use in the world. But when it comes to fraud, American cards represent nearly half — 47% — of cards that have been subject to fraud.

The main culprit is one we’ve covered many times before: in the U.S., where magnetic stripe technology is still the dominant way payment cards are accepted, we are vulnerable to software incursions and theft. Simply put, we are low-hanging fruit. Intruding into a system like Target or Home Depot and making off with usable data for tens of millions of payment cards is easy as pie, at least as compared to other nations.

And that is, of course, because other nations have long since switched to more secure, EMV (chip-using) credit and debit cards. The EMV system doesn’t completely eliminate the potential for card fraud, but it does make it much harder to do.

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