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The Election Year Fix is In... But Can Janet Make It To November?

The election year fix is in… and Janet Yellen is praying the markets hold together until November.

President Obama met privately with Yellen in April of this year. It was their first private meeting together since November 2014 (the Congressional election in which the GOP took both houses of Congress).

President Barack Obama met with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Monday to discuss the U.S. economy amid signs that growth may be slowing as consumers retreat from spending.

Ahead of the afternoon meeting, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest described Obama as "pleased" with Yellen, who he appointed to lead the Fed in 2014. It is the first time since November 2014 that the Fed chair has met with the president on her own. The meeting was closed to the news media.

Source: Bloomberg

The timing of these meetings is not coincidental. And if you think Obama and Yellen were discussing “signs that growth may be slowing” a mere 8 months before the former left office, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. The economy has been weak for EIGHT years. This is not a new issue.

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Are The Police Racist?


Are the police racist? Do they disproportionately shoot African-Americans? Are incidents in places like Ferguson and Baltimore evidence of systemic discrimination? Heather Mac Donald, a scholar at the Manhattan Institute, explains.

Gun-Toting Senior: 'My Friends Like To Knit, I Like to Shoot'

As senior citizens continue to be a driving force behind record firearm sales, one gun-toting senior says, “My friends like to knit, I like to shoot.”

Every Tuesday the doors of Frontier Justice gun shop in Lee’s Summit, Missouri open to a morning crowd of seniors who are there to shot and hone their ability to defend their own lives and the lives of loved ones, should they be attacked.

According to the Kansas City Star, Frontier Justice president Bren Brown said she understands the trepidation seniors feel. Brown said:

With ISIS in the news and mass shootings and current events that are happening around the world, I think it brings to the forefront all people’s sense of need to protect their family and to protect themselves. And certainly one of the most vulnerable components of our society are seniors.

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Bumpy start to Obama’s China trip, beginning with the stairs

HANGZHOU, China (AP) — If President Barack Obama was hoping for a graceful start to his final trip to Asia as commander in chief, this wasn’t it.

A confrontation between a White House aide and a Chinese official, and other diplomatic dust-ups were out in the open from the moment Air Force One landed in Hangzhou, site of an economic summit.

The first sign of trouble: There was no staircase for Obama to exit the plane and descend on the red carpet. Obama used an alternative exit.

On the tarmac, a quarrel broke out between a presidential aide and a Chinese official who demanded the journalists traveling with Obama be prohibited from getting anywhere near him. It was a breach of the tradition observed whenever the American president arrives in a foreign place.

When the White House official insisted the U.S. would set the rules for its own leader, her Chinese counterpart shot back.

“This is our country! This is our airport!” the Chinese official yelled.

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BREAKING: WATER RESCUE IN OC



IAFF Local 4269, Ocean City Career Firefighter Paramedics Association
Water Rescue Unit and Paramedics responding to 60th Street & the beach for reported multiple victims in the ocean needing rescue.

UPDATE: MSP Trooper 4 Aviation scanning the Ocean looking for swimmers. 

*UPDATE*
Maryland State Police Aviation is patrolling the beach- Fire/EMS units are clearing the scene. No victims have been located.

Fake Red-Meat Conservative News Sites

Many of the fake stories conservatives are tricked into sharing have been planted by the left.

Almost all of us have been a victim of accidentally spreading fake news at one time. A trusted friend emails you a link to an article that is red meat for the conservative base; it sounds legitimate, and the name of the site even sounds official. You forward the article and post it on Facebook and Twitter — and then the backlash is embarrassing. Multiple people point out you’re wrong, and you feel like an idiot. But how were you to know, especially in this information overload, social media era? It has become normal to quickly skim articles and headlines. And why would you suspect your most trusted, intelligent friends would be sending you false news?

It used to be The Onion was the only satire news site. And the site makes it very clear its news is satire. But within the last year, multiple sites (there is a list compiled here) have sprung up that do not make it clear they are satire, if at all. They brazenly post fake news that isn’t even funny, like The Onion, but sounds like legitimate news.

By posting these outlandish tales, the sites attract many page views, which allows them to make money from advertisers. Even more nefarious, some are run by Democrats in order to make conservatives look like radical extremists. The strategy, an insider told me, is to fool so many conservatives into spreading a ridiculous, fake article that finally a prominent elected official falls for it. Then the left pounces on the official and makes them look foolish and/or an extremist.

As I’ve written previously, putting out heroic stories about Donald Trump that turn out to be false doesn’t help Trump when people discover they are false.

Some of the worst offenders are sites that rip off names from legitimate conservative news sites. World News Daily Report is a typical example. It sounds very similar to the conservative site WorldNetDaily, which recently renamed itself to WND. The disclaimer on the site says nothing about the news being fake; instead, it disingenuously states that the site is not responsible for inaccurate information. The fake site’s “About us FAQ” page pretends to cater to conservative Jews and Christians with a strong defense of Israel. Yet how are fake news articles helping Israel? The site has become so successful that the myth-debunking site Snopes now lists it second on its “Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors.”

The people who run these sites are nothing more than cruel bullies who should get a taste of their own medicine.

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Illinois Teen Accused Of Plotting Terrorist Attack

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Authorities arrested an 18-year-old southern Illinois man who they allege had communicated with an unspecified terrorist group about a plan to an attack on at least one area location.

Keaun L. Cook, of Godfrey, was arrested Wednesday on preliminary charges of providing material support for terrorism and making a terrorist threat. He was being held at the Madison County jail on $150,000 bond and didn’t have a lawyer as of Friday morning.

At a news conference Thursday, Madison County’s state’s attorney, Tom Gibbons, described Cook as a dangerous man who had deliberate plan to cause a “mass casualty event” at one or more locations in the county. He declined to specify which terrorist group Cook had allegedly been in contact with, but said they weren’t local. He also wouldn’t give the locations of any planned attacks, but said police departments and individuals at those locations were notified after authorities first learned of the threat.

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'Secret Trump vote,' independents, Dems lying to pollsters

Pollsters linked to the Clinton and Trump campaigns have started wondering if there is a secret Donald Trump vote and now a new survey of voters shows that the vote exists, especially among Republicans who are reluctant to tell the truth.

Rasmussen Reports on Wednesday provided results that could indicate that its daily horse race poll, which shows Hillary Rodham Clinton and Trump virtually tied, undercounts the Republican's support.

The survey analysis said that in its latest telephone survey, "17 percent of 'likely Republican voters' are less likely this year to let others know how they intend to vote compared to previous presidential campaigns."

What's more 10 percent of Democrats aren't telling the truth to pollsters.

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Berlin Crab Feast on Main Street

All You Can Eat Crabs & Corn Fundraiser

Saturday, October 1

OUTSIDE ON MAIN STREET IN Downtown Berlin 

12noon-5pm
(Rain date Oct 2)

Beer by Burley Oak Brewing Company & Fin City Brewing Company

Crabs steamed right here on Main Street. & provided by Hooper's Crab House 

Live music by Funk-Shué

Raffles & More! 

Sponsored by Ocean 98.1 WOCM


Tickets:

$30 Adults 
$25 Children 12 & under

***SEATING IS LIMITED***

Click link to order tickets: http://www.berlinmainstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT-CRAB-FUNDRAISERNEW.pdf


$38 Day of Event

(Raising money for Christmas events for Berlin and fundraiser for the Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Area Council - LESHC)
For more information call 410-629-1722

Latest email disclosure is just more proof that Clinton lied

On Tuesday, The Post’s Daniel Halper broke the news that Hillary Clinton continued recklessly mishandling classified information even after stepping down as secretary of state. The revelation is bracing — but hardly surprising.

We already knew Clinton’s email practices remained a national security vulnerability after she left the State Department at the end of President Obama’s first term.

For nearly two years, she maintained the servers through which her unauthorized, non-secure homebrew communication system had operated. As we now know, about 62,000 emails were stored on those servers, over 2,000 of which contained classified information, including some of the most sensitive national defense secrets — and the highly classified sources and methods for acquiring those secrets — maintained by our government.

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UN Admits: Bill Clinton-Run Haiti Mission 'Played Role' in Cholera Outbreak

On August 17, 2016 the United Nations did something it had not been willing to do for six years: it admitted a role in the 2010 cholera outbreak that has since killed nearly 10,000 and infected hundreds of thousands.

“Over the past year, the U.N. has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera,” UN secretary general deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said, the New York Times reports.

Still, the global organization appears to be fighting any possibility of paying damages and, just as alarming to observers, the Obama administration has remained silent on the matter.

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Maryland Takes Proactive Measures, Braces for Hermine Today

Maryland Takes Proactive Measures, Braces for Hermine Today
Southern Maryland, Eastern Shore to have Significant Rainfall, Winds, and Coastal Flooding
REISTERSTOWN, Md. (September 3, 2016) — Post-tropical Cyclone Hermine will be located off the Atlantic coast of Maryland later today and will likely bring high rain totals, tropical storm-force winds and coastal flooding to southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore.
“I urge Maryland residents and visitors to our Eastern Shore to closely monitor weather forecasts,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “Though some uncertainty remains, it is becoming clear that Hermine will affect Maryland with significant rainfall and flooding along the coast. I have reached out to Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan and agree with his assessment—anyone planning to travel to the beach this weekend that has not already departed should stay home until the agenda of the storm are over. I encourage all Marylanders, especially those on the Lower Shore, to use common sense and stay safe during this time.”
Yesterday, Governor Hogan signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency in Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, Worcester, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s Counties. The executive order allows the state to efficiently coordinate support and provide additional assistance to those counties.
Those in potentially affected areas should be familiar with evacuation routes, have a communications plan with family members, keep a battery-powered radio handy and have a plan for pets. If flooding occurs, residents should never drive through flooded roadways. Anyone with plans to travel to the Shore should first check local officials’ recommendations and closely follow weather forecasts and warnings.
Find out more information about hurricane and storm preparedness on our website mema.maryland.gov or follow our Twitter feed @MDMEMAFacebook page and Instagram account, or by viewing our hurricane preparedness whiteboard video.

Moderate/Severe Flooding Expected During High Tide Through Monday

 
OCEAN CITY, MD – (September 3, 2016):   As minor flooding and strong winds continue, reported damage remains minimal throughout Ocean City.  During the next high tidal cycle, at 10:14 p.m., residents and visitors should be prepared for tidal surge to bring moderate flooding to Zone A.
With a Tropical Storm warning still in effect, town officials are cautioning residents and property owners to expect weather conditions to worsen over the next several days.  Flood warnings and wind advisories will remain, with the expectation that the current system will keep Ocean City under tropical storm conditions through Monday.
The Inlet Parking Lot will be closed at 8:30 p.m. and will remain closed until further notice, along with access to the beach.
As always, the town remains committed to keeping residents and visitors informed with accurate information before, during and after the storm. Citizens should subscribe to the e-news and/or follow the town’s social media channels to stay informed! The next news release is expected at 10 a.m. on Sunday, September 4.
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The Town of Ocean City’s Emergency Services personnel will be working closely with local and state representatives to provide citizens with timely, accurate and essential information before, during and after the storm.  Citizens are encouraged to Know Your Zone and Division and be prepared for any impact the storm may have on Ocean City.  To begin preparing, citizens should build an emergency kit and make a family communications plan for potential relocation during a flooding event.  For more information regarding storm preparedness, please visit: http://www.ready.gov/hurricanes.

Ocean City Hopeful For Tax Setoff Resolution With County

OCEAN CITY — While there appears to be a thaw somewhat in the decades-old debate of tax differential between Ocean City and Worcester County, it remains to be seen if the two sides can reach an amicable agreement, but a new element involving the resort’s contribution to the public school system could further muddy the picture.

Late last year, the Ocean City Mayor and Council again submitted its official tax differential request to Worcester officials in advance of the county’s budget deliberations. Each year, the town seeks relief for its taxpayers from Worcester County for services duplicated by the two jurisdictions.

In 2007, Ocean City hired the Municipal and Financial Services Group (MFSG) to conduct a study to identify those duplicated services and calculate a tax differential, or tax set-off for resort residents against their county property tax rates. In 2013, MFSG was rehired to update the original study and determined the estimated cost of duplicated services for Ocean City residents totaled around $17 million.

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Marine Survey Critical Part Of Offshore Wind Project

OCEAN CITY — The future development of a vast wind energy farm off the resort’s coast took another step toward becoming a reality last week when the lease-holder began a marine survey of the 80,000-acre site offshore in advance for the final project design.

In August 2014, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued an $8.7 million lease to U.S. Wind, Inc., a Texas-based company with ties to a successful offshore wind developer in Italy, for the Maryland Wind Energy Area (WEA), which includes two adjacent lease areas totaling 80,000 acres off the coast of Ocean City for the development of a future offshore wind energy farm. The Maryland WEA covers roughly 94 square nautical miles with its western edge roughly 10 miles off the coast of Ocean City with its eastern edge extending about 30 miles out.

Since the lease, U.S. Wind has been going through the requisite regulatory hurdles, including approval from the Maryland Public Service Commission along with other bureaucratic red tape, but the company now appears to be poised to begin the massive project, which would be the first of its kind along the east coast. Similar leases have been approved for other offshore wind energy farms off the coasts of mid-Atlantic states, but those projects are further behind in the regulatory process.

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USA vs. USA

What a mess! In the crazy Syrian war, US-backed and armed groups are fighting other US-backed rebel groups. How can this be?

It is so because the Obama White House had stirred up the war in Syria but then lost control of the process. When the US has a strong president, he can usually keep the military and intelligence agencies on a tight leash.

But the Obama administration has had a weak secretary of defense and a bunch of lady strategists who are the worst military commanders since Louis XV, who put his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, in charge of French military forces during the Seven Year’s War. The French were routed by the Prussians. France’s foe, Frederick the Great of Prussia, named one of his dogs, ‘la Pompadour.’

As a result, the two arms of offensive US strategic power, the Pentagon, and CIA, went separate ways in Syria. Growing competition between the US military and militarized CIA broke into the open in Syria.

Fed up with the astounding incompetence of the White House, the US military launched and supported its own rebel groups in Syria, while CIA did the same.

Fighting soon after erupted in Syria and Iraq between the US-backed groups. US Special Forces joined the fighting in Syria, Iraq and most lately, Libya.

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Landowners hopeful solar farm greenlighted

Proposals to build a pair of solar energy farms in Worcester County are still being debated and, despite earlier setbacks, the future may still be bright for clean energy projects near Berlin and Snow Hill.

Negotiations with utility-scale developer Longview Solar will pick up again on Tuesday during a Worcester County Commissioners public hearing to review plans to develop the Heron Solar Farm west of Berlin and the Seabeach Solar project east of Snow Hill.

The commissioners rejected the proposal at its June 21 meeting because of a tax abatement request.

Don Hawkins, who lives across from the 190-acre proposed Heron Site located south of Libertytown Road, has watched the property sit idle on the real estate market for a number of years and is concerned what might lie ahead.

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WTF Chart Of The Day: US Factory Orders Tumble For Longest Streak In History

21 Months... US Factory Orders have decline year-over-year every month since October 2014 (the end of QE3). This is the longest period of decline in US history (since 1956) and has always indicated the US economy is in recession...

While headlines will crow of 1.9% MoM gain (which missed expectations of a 2.0% rise), the trend is simply ugly - Year-over-year Factory Orders fell 3.5%

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One fatality, scores of rescues earlier this week due to storm

Ocean City lifeguards rescued about 80 people on Monday, followed by another 90 struggling swimmers on Tuesday as a storm far offshore caused dangerous conditions in the ocean.

Farther south, a Pennsylvania man drowned Tuesday while swimming at Assateague National Seashore on an unguarded portion of the beach.

“Rip currents were stronger yesterday than Monday,” Ocean City Beach Patrol Captain Butch Arbin, said Wednesday afternoon. “The hurricane is pushing more water on the beach and it has to go back out.”

A few Beach Patrol guards were kept after hours and responded to several 911 calls on Monday night from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Guards were available on Tuesday evening as well.

“The big thing is these people should not be in the ocean,” Arbin said. “We pull everyone out at 5:30 p.m. when we leave the beach and they made the decision to go back in.”

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Death Panel Discussion: Obamacare Costs Skyrocket; When Does It Stop?

Middle-class households are finding more of their Obamacare costs are coming out of their own pockets.

Self-covered individuals are hit hardest, but employers providing coverage have fought back against rising costs by reducing plan benefits.

Deductibles are up 67% since 2010. That’s seven times more than wages. And the cost of prescription drugs is out of sight.

Please consider Burden of Health-Care Costs Moves to the Middle Class

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MSP: Salisbury Barrack DUI Arrests from 8/26/2016 to 9/02/2016


Salisbury Barrack DUI Arrests from 8/26/2016 to 9/02/2016:

Nathaniel P. Silver 26yoa Puerto Rico

Ricardo Martinez 28yoa Gaithersberg, MD

Berner Antonio Monzon Alvarado 35yoa Salisbury, MD

Sarah Renee Eichhorn 21yoa Stockton, MD

Lawrence L. Johnson 3rd 34yoa Salisbury, MD

Travis Aaron Brown 23yoa Bishopville, MD

Wicomico Teacher Named Finalist For State Honor

SALISBURY — Among the seven finalists in the running for the 2016-17 Maryland Teacher of the Year is Wicomico County’s honoree Christy Briggs.

Joining her are Katrina Griffin, Anne Arundel County; Athanasia Kyriakakos, Baltimore City; Donna Miller, Calvert County; Anne Highfield, Cecil County; Michael Williams, Montgomery County; and Tamara Forte, Queen Anne’s County.

Briggs has been teaching for 19 years. She obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Salisbury University and is National Board Certified. She has been an ILT Chair, facilitator for after school professional development and mentor teacher. Throughout her career, her love of literacy has inspired her to implement a student book club, an annual Family Read In and an after school reading program. Through her leadership in school partnerships, she planned the Back to School Carnival and Hope for the Holidays outreach program to support her school community. Her passion is to inspire her students to become life-long readers.

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Chris Wallace, Anderson Cooper among presidential debate moderators

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the moderators of the three presidential debates Friday, along with details about what formats those debates would include.

Lester Holt of NBC News is slated to moderate the first debate on Sept. 26, followed by Martha Raddatz of ABC News and Anderson Cooper of CNN as moderators of the second, town-hall-style debate on Oct. 9.

Chris Wallace of Fox News will moderate the third presidential debate on Oct. 19.

Elaine Quijano of CBS will moderate the lone vice-presidential debate on Oct. 4.

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What They Are Saying: Governor Hogan's Executive Order to Start School After Labor Day is Welcomed by Parents and Students

Mother Of Two Teenagers And Mental Health Therapist Ebony Hicks: “They study a lot during the school year in an academically intense school, so it’s nice to give them more time to be off.” (Josh Hicks, “Hogan Orders Md. Schools To Start After Labor Day Beginning Next Years,” The Washington Post, 8/31/16)

Baltimore County Parent Nicki Bollhorst: “We did it when we were in high school. I think they can figure it out.” (Erin Cox and Liz Bowie, “Hogan Orders Maryland Public Schools To Start After Labor Day, Sparking Political Fight,” The Baltimore Sun, 8/31/16)

Somerset County Parent Elizabeth Jordan: "I think it's a great idea for kids to go back to school after Labor Day. It will be a longer summer, and would give parents time to get things together." (Gino Fanelli and Deborah Gates, “Kids, Parents Like Hogan’s Post-Labor Day School Mandate,” Delmarva Now, 9/2/16)

Parent Meagan Curtis: “I’d much rather him be more comfortable and have more time with friends than be tied to school... He’s a second-grader. He needs his summer and time with friends." (Josh Hicks, “Hogan Orders Md. Schools To Start After Labor Day Beginning Next Years,” The Washington Post, 8/31/16)

Parent Sylvia Thomas: "Going back to school after Labor Day is a good idea. They are there for a couple of days, and then they are right back out. That's a waste of time." (Gino Fanelli and Deborah Gates, “Kids, Parents Like Hogan’s Post-Labor Day School Mandate,” Delmarva Now, 9/2/16)

Parent Alyssa Melani: “I feel like it’s disruptive, because they get one week of school, and then they have a long weekend. They miss Monday and then they’ve got to readjust, and routine is important for kids.” (Paul Gessler, “School Systems Search For Ways To Comply With New School Year Mandate,” WBFF, 8/31/16)

Spanish Teacher John Lowe: “For me, it’s kind of like returning to what we used to do.” (Emily Chappell,’Reactions Mixed After Hogan Orders Post-Labor Day Start To School Year,” Carroll County Times, 8/31/16)

Baltimore City Teacher Rita Tate: "It allows for an extended vacation which is nice instead of coming back to work as a teacher two weeks before Labor Day.” (Tim Tooten, “Parents, Educators React To Gov. Larry Hogan’s Post-Labor Day School Start,” WBALTV, 8/31/16)

Comptroller Peter Franchot: "We're doing this for Maryland families and for our state economy, for the students who rely on summer jobs for themselves and their families, for the small businesses that won't have to lose their experienced staff in August, right at the peak of tourism season.” (Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, “Hogan Orders Post-Labor Day Start Date For All Public Schools,” The Frederick News Post, 8/31/16)

Senator James Mathias: “I’m grateful to Governor Hogan for his action today. I’ve worked on this effort for a long, long time, and I can’t wait to see the faces on the kids and families enjoying themselves the way they should be on the boardwalk the weekend before Labor Day. This is a win for the families and for the economy.” (“Governor Hogan Changes Maryland Schools Start Date,” WMDT, 8/31/16)

FBI Found Extensive Evidence Hillary Emails Violated Federal Records Laws

Though it was not their primary mission, FBI agents who investigated Hillary Clinton's email collected significant evidence suggesting she and her team violated federal record-keeping laws, including persisting to use a private Blackberry and server to conduct State Department business after being warned they posed legal and security risks, government sources tell Circa.The evidence was compelling enough to convince FBI Director James Comey that the Clinton team had not complied with record-keeping laws and to cause at least one witness to raise their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during an investigative interview, the sources said.

In public, the FBI recommended not filing criminal charges against Clinton on national security grounds. But in private, the Bureau chose to defer to the State Department on whether to recommend anyone to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution on records law violations, the sources said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.

Each email transmission of a government document that was not preserved or turned over to the State Department from Mrs. Clinton's tenure could theoretically be considered a violation of the Federal Records Act, the main law governing preservation of government records and data.

Other federal laws make it a felony to intentionally conceal, remove or destroy federal records as defined under the Act, punishable with a fine and imprisonment of up to three years. A single conviction also carries a devastating impact for anyone looking to work again in government because the law declares that any violator "shall forfeithis office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States."

The FBI "indirectly documented hundreds, and likely thousands, of violations of the Records Act," one source with direct knowledge of the FBI's investigation told Circa.

More here

Obama Goes Snorkeling After Massively Expanding Marine Reserve

President Barack Obama visited his massively expanded National Marine Reserve off the coast of Hawaii, using the opportunity to do some snorkeling with friends away from the eyes of the press corp.

The Papahānaumokuākea marine reserve was first created by President George W. Bush, but Obama has decided to expand it by over half a million square miles.

The new boundaries of Papahānaumokuākea marine reserve are larger than all national parks combined and over twice the size of Texas, according to Forbes’ Trevor Nace.

The president flew aboard Air Force One to Midway Atoll, before leading a golf cart sightseeing tour with the press.

“I can’t wait to get in,” he said, as he stood near the beach, pointing out area sea turtles.

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Construction halts on Rt. 90 hotel just short of finish line

Construction of the 150-room Marriott Residence Inn & Suites on 61st Street bayside has reached a standstill following a dispute between the project’s developers and the general contractor.

Jeff Thaler, Atlantic Planning Development and Design LLC managing director of development, who presented preliminary site plans to the Ocean City Planning and Zoning Commission in February 2014, said it is unclear when the issue would be resolved.

“Work is stopped until they come to an agreement,” he said.

The property is being developed by the Inns of Ocean City LLC, which is in the midst of sorting out details with Berlin-based general contractor Sens Mechanical Inc.

“The bonding company is involved,” he said. “They have to decide if they want to bring the general contractor back.”

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Hobby Lobby CEO Denounces Clinton's War on Christians, Endorses Trump

Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green authored aUSA Today op-ed on Thursday, denouncing Hillary Clinton’s militant opposition to traditional Christian beliefs and insisting that her Supreme Court picks would rule against Christians’ rights. He also announced that he is endorsing Donald Trump to ensure a Supreme Court that will uphold Americans’ First Amendment rights under the Constitution.

The Obama administration launched an unprecedented attack on people running their businesses according to their faith when his Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created a regulation under the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) requiring employers to pay for abortion-related products and services.

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Eric Trump questions Clintons' enormous wealth: 'What product were they selling?'

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump questioned Friday how Democratic nomineeHillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton became enormously wealthy running a charity, which has become the focus of the campaign’s allegation of pay-to-play corruption while she was secretary of state.

“The question I always ask is, what product were they selling? If we make a buck, we sold a bottle of wine or an apartment, or we sold a hotel room. What product were they selling to make $150 million,” Mr. Trump said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

Host Ainsley Earhardt suggested: “Favors? The government?”

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FBI: Hillary Clinton Lost Cell Phones with Classified Emails

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost several mobile telephones carrying e-mails from her private server during her time in office, according to newly-released FBI documents on the investigation into her mishandling of classified information.

“[Huma] Abedin and [former Clinton aide Monica] Hanley indicated the whereabouts of Clinton’s [mobile] devices would frequently become unknown once she transitioned to a new device,” one report indicates.

On other occasions, a staffer would destroy Clinton’s old mobile phones “by breaking them in half or hitting them with a hammer,” the FBI documents reveal.

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Since 2014 The US Has Added 520,000 Waiters And Bartenders And Lost 13,000 Manufacturing Workers

As another month passes, the great schism inside the American labor force get wider. We are referring to the unprecedented divergence between the total number of high-paying manufacturing jobs, and minimum-wage food service and drinking places jobs, aka waiters and bartenders. In August, according to the BLS, while the number of people employed by "food services and drinking places" rose by another 34,000, the US workforce lost another 14,000 manufacturing workers.

The chart below puts this in context: since 2014, the US had added 523,000 waiters and bartenders, and has lost 13,000 manufacturing workers.

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Md. medical pot process ‘abnormal’ compared to others

Founder and Chief Operating Officer Brett Roper of Medicine Man Technologies, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, called Maryland’s approval process for medical marijuana “very abnormal” from what he’s seen in dealing with clients from 13 other states.

“The application was composed of 117 questions with required word counts and restricted fonts to Times New Roman. I’m not sure it allowed applicants to put their best foot forward,” he said. “Other states wanted to see business plans, job descriptions and wanted to see how growers would cultivate, to know that the users were using a proven process.”

According to its website, as of Dec. 2015, Medicine Man technologies is a consultant for four cultivation clients and four dispensary application clients.

“It was basically a writing exam. If you didn’t have a good attorney then you weren’t well placed,” Roper said.

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The Results Are In

Many have claimed WBOC does this so people can't back out of their reservations in Ocean City, since you need 24 to 48 hours advance notice to cancel. It is peculiar how WBOC was the only station that swore it was NOT going to rain this weekend. 

Hillary Used Eight BlackBerrys But FBI Couldn't Get Them

Hillary Clinton used at least eight different mobile devices to send private e-mail during her tenure as secretary of state – none of which were recovered by the FBI as part of its investigation into her communications practices as the nation's top diplomat.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in a heavily redacted summary of its probe released on Friday, said Clinton flouted security standards for official communications by relying on private e-mail for government business.

In addition to the eight devices she used as secretary of state, the FBI said they sought at least five additional mobile devices as part of its inquiry. Clinton's lawyers said they couldn't provide any of the mobile devices she used. One person interviewed by the FBI said he recalled two instances in which Clinton's devices were destroyed by "breaking them in half or hitting them with a hammer."

The inability to investigate the missing devices means investigators "could not make a determination as to whether" they were hacked, the FBI said.

In addition, a personal laptop used to archive Clinton's e-mails when she was secretary of state went missing after being put in the mail. While the e-mails were deleted before the computer was sent, the hard drive wasn't permanently wiped clean.

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ACLU steps in on latest Boardwalk busker complaint

The American Civil Liberties Union has written a letter that spells out a new grievance with the Ocean City Police Department and how it regulates Boardwalk performers’ freedom of speech.

City officials, however, say the letter is the result of a mistake compounded by a misunderstanding by the aggrieved party, who did not realize that he was never cited for breaking any rules.

The civil rights organization maintains that the department wrongfully cited a street performer, when police charged him for violating an ordinance that had been declared unconstitutional three years earlier.

According to the ACLU, an officer gave violinist Ion Lucian Ionescu a spoken warning after a merchant complained about the sound level of Ionescu’s amplifier. The following day, Ionescu was allegedly given a written citation for the same issue.

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Free Trade Wins: The TTIP Is in Trouble

The problem with trade deals

You have probably heard of the controversial TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the deal that Hillary Clinton can’t make up her mind on.

However, you probably have not heard of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It is referred to as a free trade pact between the United States and the European Union. I only recently read about it in European media sources. Negotiations have been going on for years and it only recently surfaced because top European officials have declared it a de facto dead deal.
The Problem with Trade Deals

Such trade deals are inherently suspicious by nature. They invariably benefit large corporations to the detriment of the average citizen. As political scientist Kerry Chase has concluded “When groups that rely on scale economies and production sharing networks” i.e., big multinational corporations, “have political clout trading blocs are likely to form.”

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Ex-Huff Post Journo: How The Media Sleeps With Hillary

Here's just how close Hillary is to the mainstream media

Hillary Clinton has not subjected herself to an open press conference in going on 270 days.

She has sustained massive PR blows during this time frame, with the public increasingly focused on her deteriorating health, her and her husband’s byzantine money-raising foundation and even darker rumours.

Despite this, the corporate media has been a source of unlimited compassion toward Hillary Clinton and her campaign.

It’s as if Hillary Clinton makes herself available for public commentary at any and all hours of the day, such is her vitality.

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Clinton emails wiped clean after NYT story

A number of Hillary Clinton’s private emails were erased weeks after The New York Times published a story reporting on her use of a private email server while secretary of State, according to notes from the FBI’s investigation released on Friday.

The notes include an entry that says that someone mistakenly deleted Clinton’s archived mailbox from her server and exported files.

The deletion took place between March 25 and March 31, the FBI learned in a May 3 interview. The name of the person who deleted the emails was redacted from the FBI’s notes.

“In a follow-up FBI interview on May 3, 2016, ------ Indicated he believed he had an 'oh s--t' moment and sometime between March 25-31, 2015 deleted the Clinton archive mailbox from PRN server and used BleachBit to delete the exported .PST files he had created on the server system containing Clinton;s e-mails,” the FBI notes released on Friday stated.

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Taser use spikes in summer months


Ocean City will see the population decrease – and the number of people who get zapped by police – now that the summer season is winding down.

From May 1 to Aug. 24, the Ocean City Police Department recorded 42 instances when police drew their Conducted Electrical Weapons, also known as CEWs or Tasers. That figure, police said, reflects the rise in population.

City wastewater flows, which are often used to measure population despite some flaws in the formula, accounted for 1.1 million people for this year’s Fourth of July weekend. During the three-day holiday, Tasers were used four times. The weapon was introduced in seven incidents over Memorial Day weekend.

In comparison, police logged 10 Taser incidents from January to April.

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Clinton tells FBI she could not recall all briefings on preserving documents

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton, under questioning by federal investigators over whether she had been briefed on how to preserve government records as she was about to leave the State Department, said she had suffered a concussion, was working part-time and could not recall every briefing she received.

Clinton, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, raised the health scare during her 3-1/2-hour interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department prosecutors on July 2, according to an FBI summary released on Friday.

Besides the 11-page interview summary, the FBI also released other details of its investigation into her use of an unauthorized private email system while running the State Department in which it concluded she mishandled classified information but not in a way that warranted a criminal prosecution.

Clinton told investigators she could not recall getting any briefings on how to handle classified information or comply with laws governing the preservation of federal records, the summary of her interview shows.

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Government Workers Now Outnumber Manufacturing Workers by 9,932,000

(CNSNews.com) - Government employees in the United States outnumber manufacturing employees by 9,932,000,according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Federal, state and local government employed 22,213,000 people in August, while the manufacturing sector employed 12,281,000.

The BLS has published seasonally-adjusted month-by-month employment data for both government and manufacturing going back to 1939. For half a century—from January 1939 through July 1989—manufacturing employment always exceeded government employment in the United States, according to these numbers.

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LEGENDARY COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER 9-3-16

Squirrels

Something we live with all the time but never really appreciate are squirrels. Sure, they can be destructive and you never want to have one in your house, but to just observe them from afar can be very rewarding.

I have managed to accumulate a sizable following in my backyard.

I have always fed them and when my boys were growing up there was always one in particular that waited patiently for his culinary treat. We named him “Chunk”. Since there were many squirrels, one would occasionally meet an untimely end under a passing car. I would quickly go out and retrieve the remains before my boys would see them. So, the next squirrel that showed up would be “Chunk” and the boys would never have to face the fact that the “Chunk” had been met an untimely death.

I even had them so tame that they would come over and take a peanut out of my hand. I did this until my niece gave me some pecans one time and I watched a squirrel crack one with his jaws. Fearing for the safety of my fingers, I never put my fingers down again. Who knows if it would be just my bad luck to have the only near-sighted squirrel on the planet?

Observing them has been pure pleasure. The former radio personality, Bill Phillips, lived over in Pinehurst and also fed a quantity of squirrels. He used to sit in a chair in his yard and dole out peanuts to his adoring and voracious audience. I now know what pleasure he got from something as simple as supplying sustenance to something so small and inoffensive.

My only experience with hunting involved a squirrel. When I was about 15, my grandfather gave me his shotgun. My mother took me out to the woods and said she would pick me up in two hours. I walked the path through the woods and finally spotted a squirrel, which I proceeded to shoot. Mom wouldn’t do anything with it but my grandmother knew how prepare it for eating. I must not have acquired a taste for it because I never went hunting again. I felt so bad about killing that little squirrel that it stayed with me to this day. I’m sure I spend as much on 25 pound bags of peanuts as some guys spend on shotgun shells going squirrel hunting.

The habits and quirks of the little critters is simply amazing to observe. Like the fact that they can’t stand to touch one another. They scamper all over the yard looking for the peanuts among the hulls that I have never been able to get them to pick up. I have to go out occasionally and rake the yard down to bare grass. But, all in all, we have a mutual understanding that I supply the peanuts and they provide the entertainment.

ISIS Genocide: Parents Shown Video of Daughters Raped, Tortured

As the Islamic State continues its genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in Syria and Iraq, human rights activist and lawyer Jacqueline Isaac testified at the United Nations about some of the atrocities, including parents in Syria who were shown a video of their kidnapped daughters being raped and tortured by ISIS, and then given the dismembered body parts of their daughters in plastic bags.

Although Isaac, vice president of the humanitarian group Roads of Success, testified on April 28, her remarks – at the United Nations in New York City -- about the atrocities against women captured by ISIS were not covered by the national news networks in the United States, according to a search of the Nexis news database.

In March, the British government declared the actions by ISIS as genocide; the U.S. government said the same on April 20.

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Hillary Couldn't Answer FBI Questions Due To Brain Injury, Docs Show

Clinton cited concussion for being unable to recall details regarding private email server

Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton cited health issues related to a 2012 concussion as recently as two months ago during an interview with the FBI, documents released by the agency Friday show.

During a July 2 interview with the FBI over her use of a private email server amid her tenure in the state department, Clinton claimed she was unable to recall certain details when asked about receiving instruction on preserving records due to a concussion she received in 2012.

“Clinton stated she received no instructions or direction regarding the preservation or production of records from (the) State (Department) during the transition out of her role as Secretary of State in early 2013,” the report stated.

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BI Documents: Hillary Blamed Her Email Lawbreaking On HER CONCUSSION

The media have spent weeks railing against anyone for asking questions about Hillary Clinton’s obviously questionable health. There’s been rampant speculation about everything from her ability to stand without a stool to her capacity to get into an SUV without an extra step. Her constant absence from the campaign trail and unwillingness to travel to campaign key spots like Louisiana raised serious concerns about whether she is in decent shape. Hillary herself tried to quash these rumors by opening a pre-opened pickle jar onJimmy Kimmel.

But Hillary blamed her own poor health for her consistent and dramatic failures to abide by law and regulation surrounding the treatment of classified information and discoverable documents. According to the FBI:

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Smoking Gun? FBI Reveals Hillary Could Not Recall Briefings Due To Concussion, Clot

With much of the recent discussion focusing on Hillary Clinton's general health condition, and mental acuity in particular, we wonder if the FBI just threw her under the bus with the following statement which links Hillary's "inability" to remember her transition instructions with her 2012 concussion and blood clot:

CLINTON stated she received no instructions or direction regarding the preservation or production of records from State during the transition out of her role as Secretary of State in early 2013. However, in December of 2012, CLINTON suffered a concussion and then around the New Year had a blood clot. Based on her doctor's advice, she could only work at State for a few hours a day and could not recall every briefing she received. CLINTON did not have any discussions with aides about turning over her email records, nor did anyone from State request them. She believed her work-related emails were captured by her practice of sending email to the state.gov email address of her staff. CLINTON was unaware of the requirement to turn over printed records at that time. Her physical records were boxed up and handled by aides.

The original, on page 9 of 11:

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First Female Tries Out For Elite 75th Ranger Regiment, Flunks Out

The first female ever to try out for the Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment has flunked out, but will get the opportunity to try again later this year.

As part of the Army’s effort to integrate women into combat roles, it allowed this unnamed female staff sergeant to try out via the 75th Ranger Regiment’s Ranger Assessment and Selection Program 2 (RASP 2) June 16, Army Times reports.

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"Tremendous Ripple Effects" - Retailers Demand Bailout After Hanjin Collapse Paralyzes Trade

When we first reported about the imminent paralysis of an unknown number of global supply chains and a potential shock in worldwide trade as a result of the historic bankruptcy of Hanjing Shipping, one of the world's largest container shipping companies which handles 8% of Trans-Pacific trade volume for the US market, we concluded that "the global implications from the bankruptcy are unknown: if, as expected, the company's ships remain "frozen" and inaccessible for weeks if not months, the impact on global supply chains will be devastating, potentially resulting in a cascading waterfall effect, whose impact on global economies could be severe as a result of the worldwide logistics chaos. The good news is that both economists and corporations around the globe, both those impacted and others, will now have yet another excuse on which to blame the "unexpected" slowdown in both profits and economic growth in the third quarter."

However, not even this extreme forecast captured what would happen just 48 hours later, when as the WSJ reported overnight, retailers have gone far beyond simply blaming the Hanjing bankruptcy for their upcoming woes: they are petitioning for a government bailout, or as the WSJ put it, they are "bracing for a blow as they stock up for the crucial holiday sales season, asked the government to step in and help resolve a growing crisis."

Or, as America's banks would call it, "get bailed out." And, in taking a page right out of the 2008 bank bailout, the doom and gloom scenarios emerge:

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