Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Monday, November 28, 2016

The government's climate numbers correlate to its bias

Thermometers show the US cooling since about 1920, but NOAA massively cools the past to create the appearance of a warming trend.

These adjustments make a spectacular hockey stick of data tampering.

When plotted against atmospheric CO2, the correlation is almost perfect. NOAA is tampering with the data exactly to match their theory.

More

Baltimore County official rejects Trump's plan to deport undocumented students

Baltimore County police will not help President-elect Donald Trump deport undocumented students if the measure is undertaken at five county colleges, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said Monday.

Kamenetz pledged to support the efforts of the five colleges located in Baltimore County to protect the status of students who first arrived in this country as undocumented children.

Kamenetz sent a letter to the chancellor of the University System of Maryland, and the presidents of the Community College of Baltimore County, Goucher College, Stevenson University, Towson University and UMBC, saying that county police would not participate in any efforts to identify otherwise law-abiding students and subject them to deportation by federal authorities. Several Maryland university officials recently announced efforts to protect undocumented students from deportation.

More

In Milwaukee, hard-pressed black voters dumped Clinton

Milwaukee (AFP) - On North Avenue, young black men with nothing to do wander past boarded-up buildings and dilapidated shops. It is a sad, desolate landscape.

They and other African Americans in Milwaukee contributed to Hillary Clinton's crushing defeat in the presidential election: not only did they not vote for her, as had been expected, some even backed Donald Trump.

Wisconsin's largest city is also America's most racially segregated one, according to a study based on the 2010 census.

And Wisconsin served up one of the biggest surprises of an election day that shocked America and the world: no one thought the midwestern state would fall to the Republican billionaire.

Clinton was so sure of victory she did not even bother to campaign here after the Democratic primaries, instead sending her daughter Chelsea or her husband, former president Bill Clinton.

"She probably thought she had Wisconsin wrapped up," said Ronald Roberts, a 67 year old retiree, as he left a shop called Bill the Butcher. Its aging sign is missing the R.

"You can't take the voters for granted because they'll stay home," said Roberts, who used to work as an auto mechanic.

More

Troopers Arrest More Than 90 Impaired Drivers During Thanksgiving Holiday Traffic Enforcement


(PIKESVILLE, MD) –Maryland state troopers stopped more than 7,400 vehicles for traffic violations, arrested more than 90 impaired drivers and made more than 130 criminal arrests during increased traffic enforcement efforts over the Thanksgiving holiday period.

During the four day holiday period, Maryland State Police troopers conducted 7,470 traffic stops statewide. They arrested 93 people for impaired driving, while arresting 75 on criminal charges and another 62 who were wanted on warrants. Troopers issued 4,139 traffic citations and 4,924 warnings.

Troopers at each of the 23 Maryland State Police barracks were involved in the effort. Many of the additional troopers were working overtime assignments, funded by the Maryland Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office.

Prior to the holiday period, the Maryland State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division conducted overnight operations throughout the state. Troopers and truck inspectors conducted 572 commercial vehicle safety inspections. They placed 84 vehicles (15 percent) and 51 drivers (nine percent) out of service due to safety violations. CVED troopers issued 645 citations and warnings during this enforcement initiative.

As the holiday period continues and the winter weather impacts travel, drivers are reminded they can check travel conditions and delays before traveling. SHA provides up-to-date traffic and road conditions at roads.maryland.gov, or chart.state.md.us. Traffic conditions are also available at md511.org, or by safely dialing 511 on your cell phone.

Lost in all the chaos at Ohio State University today was something that most people probably missed

Muslim Brotherhood-Tied Group Paid for Keith Ellison to Visit Mecca in 2008

Group was founded as 'overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S.'

The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) after he failed to disclose that a group founded by members of the Muslim Brotherhood paid for him to make a pilgrimage to the Islamic holy site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Top Democrats have considered shifting to the left by electing Ellison party chairman, but critics say his previous association with radical groups should disqualify him from the leadership role.

Ellison has associated with the Muslim American Society, a Virginia-based group founded by Muslim Brotherhood members in 1993 to act as the “overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States,” according to federal prosecutors in 2007. The United Arab Emirates recently added the group to a list of terrorist organizations.

More

Black Friday stunt convinces people to donate $100,000 for 'Holiday Hole'

(CNN)The makers of the irreverent and lewd game Cards Against Humanity celebrated Black Friday with another unconventional stunt this year: By digging a massive hole in the ground for no reason whatsoever.

The project, dubbed the "Holiday Hole," saw online donors contribute more than $100,573 -- or, as organizers called it, "money thrown in the hole" -- for the frivolous dig.


"As long as money keeps coming in, we'll keep digging," Cards Against Humanity says on HolidayHole.com, its dedicated splash page for the project.
More

Keep It Simple, Stupid...Why Oil & Commodity Demand Is Set To Fall Indefinitely

Following James Carville's sage advice, I will attempt to explain to president-elect Trump, Fed-head Yellen, and the average Americanwhy global oil, commodity, and consumer demand is set to collapse using the Carvillian principle..."keep it simple stupid".

The combined 35 OECD wealthy nations (list HERE) plus China, Russia, and Brazil represent 70% of global oil consumption while they represent about 40% of global population (chart below). In comparison, Africa and India (combined) make up 8% of oil consumption despite being 33% of global population (& nearly 100% of all present and future net population growth).

From 2015 to 2040, the EIA anticipates global oil consumption to increase by over 27 million barrels a day. Of that, the OECD to represent 2% of the growth, China+Russia+Brazil 25%, India+Africa 27%, and the RoW 46%.

More

The ‘Petticoat Regime’ that Ruled Ocean City Back in the Day

Ocean City took its first big step toward its future as a resort when five men pooled their resources and built the 200-room Atlantic Hotel in the early 1920s. The Baltimore, Chesapeake, and Atlantic railway came along soon thereafter, connecting the town with the outside world and helping that investment start to pay off.

A fascinating thing happened as this transition to tourism took hold. Slowly but surely, the town that had been born as a place for burly-man types came under the control of a bevy of strong, entrepreneurial-minded women. By 1926 there were 32 hotels in Ocean City—and 30 of them were run by women.

Local historians have a great name for this surprise turn of events: “The Petticoat Regime.” One of its leaders was Ella Phillips Dennis (at left), who delivered the most famous Petticoat Regime quote of them all: “Ocean City is 70 percent run by women, built by women, and the men are all henpecked.”

More

Ron Glass, Emmy-Nominated Actor Known for ‘Barney Miller’ and ‘Firefly,’ Dies at 71

Ron Glass, a prolific TV actor known for playing Ron Harris in the sitcom “Barney Miller” and Shepherd Derrial Book in “Firefly,” has died. He was 71.

The actor’s rep confirmed the death to Variety, but had no further details regarding the cause or location.

Glass was born in Evansville, Ind. and went on to study drama and literature at the University of Evansville. He began his career in Hollywood in episodes of “Sanford and Son,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “All in the Family” in the early ’70s.

More

A Viewer Writes: Ambulances?

8-9 ambulances rolling south right now towards Princess Anne??

Subject: "Ed-Exit" - Ron Paul Urges Americans To Secede From The Centrally-Planned School System

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan recently signed an executive order forbidding Maryland public schools from beginning classes before Labor Day. Governor Hogan’s executive order benefits businesses in Maryland’s coastal areas that lose school-aged summer employees and business from Maryland families when schools start in August. However, as Governor Hogan’s critics have pointed out, some Maryland school districts, as well as Maryland schoolchildren, benefit from an earlier start to the school year.

Governor Hogan’s executive order is the latest example of how centralized government control of education leaves many students behind. A centrally planned education system can no more meet the unique needs of every child than a centrally planned economic system can meet the unique needs of every worker and consumer.

Centralizing education at the state or, worse, federal level inevitably leads to political conflicts over issues ranging from whether students should be allowed to pray on school grounds, to what should be the curriculum, to what food should be served in the cafeteria, to who should be allowed to use which bathroom.

The centralization and politicization of education is rooted in the idea that education is a right that must be provided by the government, instead of a good that individuals should obtain in the market. Separating school from state would empower parents to find an education system that meets the needs of their children instead of using the political process to force their idea of a good education on all children.

More

Dakota Access pipeline protesters told to leave by Dec. 5

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has set an early December deadline for American Indians and others to leave an encampment in North Dakota where they’ve been entrenched for months protesting the Dakota Access pipeline. Tribes including the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux are fighting the Dakota Access project because they fear it will harm drinking water and cultural sites. Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners says the 1,200-mile pipeline through the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois will be safe.

Here’s a guide to the latest developments and key background about the protest:

EVICTION NOTICE

The Corps said last week in a letter to Standing Rock Sioux tribal leader Dave Archambault that all federal lands north of the Cannonball River will be closed to public access Dec. 5 for “safety concerns.” The order includes the sprawling encampment called Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires camp, that’s a living protest against the four-state $3.8 billion pipeline.

More

Trump Slams "Brutal Dictator" Castro's "Legacy Of Firing Squads, Theft, Suffering And Poverty"

Having been unable to find a compromise on any topic affecting the living, outgoing president Obama and president-elect Donald Trump found a way to disagree even on the topic of death: that of Fidel Castro.

Earlier this morning, President Obama issued a typically soothing, celebratory statement in which he extended a hand of friendship to the Cuban people and offered condolences to Castro’s family, adding that "history will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him."

Trump, on the other hand, had far less patience with history and delivered his visceral judgment right now, slamming "the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights."

More

African Migrants Riot Against 'Racist' Italians, Warn 'Allah Will Guide Us in Revenge'

Locals were terrified as African migrants rioted, throwing projectiles and screaming threats at passers-by in a protest against “racist” Italians on Wednesday and Thursday in Turin.

The Bataclan massacre was a “revenge of the excluded”, warned one of the hundreds of migrants, most of them illegal, who took to the streets to protest against not being given a “decent life” by Italian taxpayers.

“We have nothing in this city”, a man from Cameroon said, angry that people in Italy “do not understand that we are also boys and would like a decent life”.

The rioters are among 1,500 Africans illegally squatting in Turin’s abandoned Olympic village. Most of the men are in their twenties and while there are some who work on the black market, many complain about having nothing to do.

More

New Orleans violence 'out of control' says mayor after one person is killed and nine injured in shooting on famous party street

A New Orleans shooting that left nine injured and one dead early Sunday morning has left the city's mayor decrying the violence there as 'out of control'.

Ten people aged between 20 and 37 - eight men and two women - were shot after gunfire broke out on the city's famous Bourbon Street, at the intersection of Iberville Street, around 1:30am, police said. One male victim died.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu described the shocking scene as 'totally unacceptable.' 'The violence continues to spin out of control with people brandishing weapons whenever they think they can,' he told WDSU. 'It's really unfortunate.'

More

Silent victims of violence: 4 million kids orphaned in Congo

GOMA, Congo (AP) — More than 4 million children have lost at least one parent in Congo over the past two decades, the silent victims of continuous cycles of violence.

And more than 26 million orphans live in West and Central Africa, where Congo is located — the second highest number in the world behind South Asia, according to the United Nations.

These children have grown up amid conflict fueled by ethnic strife and the fight over valuable minerals. The violence and displacement are eroding the tradition of families caring for their own.

The breakdown in family means some orphans are forced to look after themselves and their younger siblings. Some are vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups. And many also face sexual exploitation, in a country where rape has become commonplace on the streets.

More

US Housing Market In Peril As "Increase In Mortgage Rates Has Shocked Consumers"

While rising treasury yields may be music to the ears of savers who have been crushed by low interest rates over the past 7 years, they're a bit of downer for the overwhelming majority of Americans that have been funding their lavish lifestyles with cheap debt. Yes, sadly the days of upgrading to the $65,000 luxury car despite a $40,000 annual salary, because you can "afford it" so long as you can cover the low monthly payments courtesy of 7-year terms and low interest rates, may finally be coming to an end.

But auto OEM's aren't the only ones about to get crushed by the "normalization" of interest rate policies in the U.S. As the Wall Street Journal points out, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage refinancings are set to drop 46% in 2017. And with many American's funding their daily expenses with "cash-out" mortgage refi's, pretty much everyone selling goods to consumers, which happens to represent about two-thirds of the economy, has reason for concern.

More

Alcohol Compliance Checks Conducted In Somerset Co.


(Somerset County, MD) The Maryland State Police conducted numerous alcohol compliance checks at retail establishments in Somerset County on Wednesday, November 23, 2016. Troopers from the Princess Anne Barracks ensured that various retail establishments which hold a Somerset County Liquor License are denying sales of alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 21 years old. A total of 21 retail establishments were checked. The following retail establishments complied with the provisions of the law and denied the sale of alcoholic beverage to minors:
  • Arby’s General Store. Wenona, Maryland
  • Becky’s Market, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Big Willey’s, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Caeser’s Pizza Palace, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Crisfield Oceanic, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Eden Quick Stop, Eden, Maryland
  • Junior’s Stop N Shop, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Kash and Karry, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Kings Creek Market, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Lucky’s Last Chance, Chance, Maryland
  • Goose Creek, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • River Market, Pocomoke, Maryland
  • Shore Stop, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Spike’s Pub and Subs, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Somers Cove Market, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Dash In, Westover, Maryland
  • Goose Creek, Westover, Maryland
  • Somerset County Liquor Dispensary, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Somerset County Liquor Dispensary, Pocomoke, Maryland
The following retail establishments were not in compliance with the provisions of the law and sold alcoholic beverages to a minor:
Peaky’s Restaurant, Princess Anne, Maryland
Beer ‘N Soda Drive Thru, Crisfield, Maryland

In an effort to increase awareness about underage alcohol consumption, Troopers distributed informational brochures to all establishments which were checked. Additionally, Troopers distributed ID guides which will aid establishments in checking IDs to assist employees in detecting false identification documents. Troopers will continue with unannounced compliance checks to ensure that alcoholic beverages stay out of the hands of minors during this holiday season.

Breakfast With Santa

Mark your calendars. Federalsburg Volunteer Fire Company is having breakfast with Santa Sunday December 18th. All you can eat breakfast. Pictures with Santa & each child recieves a gift. Adults 8$ each Kids 8 to 12 $5 each & Kids under 8 eat free. We hope to see you there!! 

Stunning new data indicates El Nino drove record highs in global temperatures

Global average temperatures over land have plummeted by more than 1C since the middle of this year – their biggest and steepest fall on record.

The news comes amid mounting evidence that the recent run of world record high temperatures is about to end.

The fall, revealed by Nasa satellite measurements of the lower atmosphere, has been caused by the end of El Nino – the warming of surface waters in a vast area of the Pacific west of Central America.

More

SPD Press Release - (Weekly Shoplifting Arrests) 11-28-16


Truthy Researcher Launches New Fact-Checking Project

The head researcher behind the government-funded project to track “misinformation” and “hate speech” online is now getting into the fact-checking business.

Filippo Menczer, a professor of informatics and computer science at Indiana University, explained during a lecture earlier this fall that he is creating a new system to go along with “Truthy” that he hopes can automatically extract tweets to be “fact-checked.”

During his talk at Northwestern University, Menczer also falsely claimed that the Washington Free Beacon is an “alt-right” website.

Menczer explained the details of his latest project “Hoaxy” that is entering the battle against “fake news.”

“One of the interesting questions is how misinformation spreads,” he said. “Is it the case that all the people who believe in conspiracy theories [chemtrails, anti-vax] are just in their own isolated group or island, or is it the case that they are spread over the population?”

“So we’re trying to build a system, we call it Hoaxy,” Menczer continued. “We hope to be able to release it quite soon, where we are trying to allow people to visualize the spread of fake news.”

Menczer’s presentation provided a list of fake news websites, which included the Daily Currant and Drudgereport.com, and satire sites such as Click Hole and The Onion.

More

‘SORE LOSERS’! Hillary joining Stein recount

Big question: Where did Green Party get $5.9 million for bill?

WASHINGTON –
Remember how Donald Trump was grilled repeatedly about his willingness to accept the results of the 2016 presidential election?

Well, it turns out a little more attention should have been directed Hillary Clinton’s way.

The Democratic Party nominee has joined a recount effort spearheaded by Green Party candidate Jill Stein in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, states all won by Trump.

Trump called it a “ridiculous” effort.

“What a pack of sore losers,” said Kellyanne Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager and is now a senior adviser. “After asking Mr. Trump and his team a million times on the trail, ‘Will HE accept the election results?’ it turns out Team Hillary and their new BFF Jill Stein can’t accept reality.”

More

14 neglected dogs seized by animal welfare officers; Millsboro man charged with animal cruelty

A Millsboro man faces charges in connection with what an animal welfare services investigator calls one of the worst neglect cases the agency has ever seen.

Atwood Timmons II of Millsboro is charged with 18 counts of animal cruelty and other violations related to lack of care of the dogs.

14 neglected dogs were seized from the Millsboro property last Wednesday, and Timmons was charged two days later.

Some of the dogs needed emergency veterinary care. They and the others, some of which were malnourished or had parasites or other symptoms of neglect, are now being cared for by the Brandywine Valley SPCA.

Four deceased dogs also were found.

More

Trump administration will pressure foreign states to probe Clinton Foundation

Foreign governments will be encouraged to investigate the Clinton Foundation’s finances, as many are already turning off money spigots to the scandal-scarred group, The Post has learned.

A source close to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team told The Post that the new administration plans to pressure the US ambassadors it will name to bring up the foundation with foreign governments — and suggest they probe its ­financial dealings.

Trump said last week that he would not order an investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server or her role in the foundation.

But Trump’s statement didn’t preclude the backroom moves to investigate the group.

“Haiti and Colombia will be key diplomatic posts for this ­because of all the money ­involved,” said the source.

More

CNN commentator: We don't need white people running Dem party now

CNN political commentator Symone Sanders is done with white people and she thinks the Democratic Party should be, too.

Appearing on the network on Wednesday, Sanders said the DNC should not have a white person — notably Howard Dean — lead it again.

“In my opinion we don’t need white people leading the Democratic party right now,” Sanders told Brianna Keilar.

“The Democratic party is diverse, and it should be reflected as so in leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels. From the vice chairs to the secretaries all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC.”

She continued, “I think we need a robust discussion about this and I think we need to hear more from all the candidates.

“Jaime Harrison of South Carolina, he’s great, too. He’s done real party building, but everybody doesn’t necessarily know Jaime and they want to know what he stands for. So I want to hear more from everybody.”

She added she’s there for the “millennials and the brown folks.”

More/Video

Hate crime hotline launched in Maryland

WASHINGTON — Maryland’s attorney general has established a hotline for reporting hate crimes: 866-481-8361.

The announcement follows a national spike in such crimes as vandalized churches and homes.

In a statement, Brian Frosh said that conduct motivated by such factors as a victim’s race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation and disability is already illegal. “I am committed to working with local law enforcement, state and county governments, our local school systems, higher education systems and communities to enforce these laws,” he said.

More

North Dakota governor: The feds made the Dakota Access mess, they can clean it up

Gov. Jack Dalrymple had a message Saturday for the Obama administration: Don’t expect local and state law enforcement to do your dirty work by evicting the Dakota Access pipeline protesters.

The North Dakota Republican said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would need to take the lead after setting a Dec. 5 deadline to vacate protest camps located on federal property north of the Cannonball River, where hundreds if not thousands have been illegally camped for months.

“Our state and local law enforcement agencies continue to do all they can to keep private property and public infrastructure free from unpermitted protest activities, and it’s past time that the federal government provides the law enforcement resources needed to support public safety and to enforce their own order to vacate,” Mr. Dalrymple said in a statement.

He said he supports the decision to close the camp, but the state has already spent more than $10 million on additional law-enforcement costs while his pleas for federal assistance have gone largely unheeded.

More

Wisconsin officials to set timeline for recount

Wisconsin election officials are expected to meet Monday to discuss a possible timeline for a recount of the state's presidential election.

The recount comes at the request of Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who says it's important to determine whether hacking may have affected the results. Stein says she also plans to request recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Wisconsin officials say it will be tough to finish the recount by the federally required deadline of Dec. 13..

More

Hillary's Popular Vote Holdouts on Collision Course with History

Electoral College designed by Founders to protect vulnerable Americans from the tyranny of elites

After complaining for months that our electoral process takes too long, now some commentators apparently want it to take even longer. Lawrence Lessig has written an article for the Washington Post saying that members of the Electoral College should ignore what they were actually elected to do, and should take it upon themselves to give the presidency to Hillary Clinton.

His argument is that since Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, she is the “people’s choice.” Other commentators have made similar claims, and given the general angst and unhappiness that fills so much of the commentariat these days, we can expect this meme to float around for years to come. So let’s clarify a few points right now:

More

Study: Black Officers More Likely than White Officers to Shoot Suspects

A new study by John R. Lott, Jr. and Carlisle E. Moody shows that black crime suspects are more likely to be shot by black cops than by white cops.

Lott is president of Crime Prevention Research Center and Moody is a professor of economics at William and Mary.

In conducting the study, Lott and Moody looked at “2,699 observations of police killings from over 1,500 cities in the United States from 2013 to 2015.”

They explained the depth of their data:

With respect to the incident, we have the race of the suspects killed (Black, White, Hispanic, other) and their age. With respect to the officer(s) involved, we have race and gender for 904 incidents. We also have data for the number of officers on the scene. We suspect that the more officers on the scene, the less likely it is that the suspect will resist. The police report, we believe, is also more likely to be accurate. With respect to the suspect, we have data on whether the suspect was involved in a violent crime, a property crime, or a drug-related crime. We also have data on whether the suspect was armed and, if so, the type of weapon (firearm, knife, vehicle, other).

More here

Top Trump adviser continues public crusade against Mitt Romney as secretary of state

Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump's top advisers, told CNN's Dana Bash that while she hoped Romney would be a gracious secretary of state if selected, his aggressive criticism of Trump during the 2016 Republican primary did not sit well with the president-elect's supporters.

"It's just breathtaking in scope and intensity the type of messages I have received from all over the country," Conway said. "The number of people who feel betrayed to think that Governor Romney would get the most prominent Cabinet post, after he went so far out of his way to hurt Donald Trump — there was the Never Trump movement, and then there was Mitt Romney."

She added: "If president-elect Trump chooses Mitt Romney as his secretary of state, or whomever he chooses, that will have the full support and backing of all of us. I respect the brilliance and judgment and sheer instincts of president-elect Trump to form his Cabinet as he wishes. But I felt compelled to come forward on behalf of the people who were weighing in."

More

Injured 'Punkin Chunkin' producer disappointed show is off, faces long recovery


(CNN)Suzanne Dakessian's memory of the explosion is hazy. She ran as a large metal plate flew toward where she and other TV crew members were standing.


For a split second, she turned to see where the debris might land. That's when the plate struck her head.


"I tried to run and I didn't make it," Dakessian said.


The 39-year-old New York television producer nearly died this month on a clear blue Sunday in a Delaware soybean field, where she was chronicling the 2016 World Championship Punkin Chunkin for the Science Channel. The event featured giant air cannons, catapults, trebuchets, slingshots and other devices launching gourds long distances.


More

Towards An 'America First' Trump Trade Policy

Donald Trump’s election triumph is among the more astonishing in history.

Yet if he wishes to become the father of a new “America First” majority party, he must make good on his solemn promise:

To end the trade deficits that have bled our country of scores of thousands of factories, and to create millions of manufacturing jobs in the USA.

Fail here, and those slim majorities in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin disappear.

The president-elect takes credit for jawboning William Clay Ford to keep his Lincoln plant in Louisville. He is now jawboning Carrier air conditioning to stay in Indiana and not move to Mexico.

Good for him. But these are baby steps toward ending the $800 billion trade deficits in goods America runs annually, or bringing back factories and creating millions of new manufacturing jobs in the USA.

More

Berlin Fire Department On Scene For Fire On Flower Street

Berlin Fire on scene, Flower St. multi purpose building. Fire in the boiler room. On scene, smoke showing.

Here's What Happened When Ancient Romans Tried To 'Drain The Swamp'

In late January of the year 98 AD, after decades of turmoil, instability, inflation, and war, Romans welcomed a prominent solider named Trajan as their new Emperor.

Prior to Trajan, Romans had suffered immeasurably, from the madness of Nero to the ruthless autocracy of Domitian, to the chaos of 68-69 AD when, in the span of twelve months, Rome saw four separate emperors.

Trajan was welcome relief and was generally considered by his contemporaries to be among the finest emperors in Roman history.

Trajan’s successors included Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, both of whom were also were also reputed as highly effective rulers.

But that was pretty much the end of Rome’s good luck.

The Roman Empire’s enlightened rulers may have been able to make some positive changes and delay the inevitable, but they could not prevent it.

Rome still had far too many systemic problems.

The cost of administering such a vast empire was simply too great. There were so many different layers of governments—imperial, provincial, local—and the upkeep was debilitating.

Rome had also installed costly infrastructure and created expensive social welfare programs like the alimenta, which provided free grain to the poor.

Not to mention, endless wars had taken their toll on public finances.

More

BREAKING: Active shooter reported at the Ohio State University campus in Columbus

An active shooter was reported on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus Monday, the school and campus police said.

The school tweeted at 9:56 a.m. that there is an active shooter on campus.

“Run Hide Fight,” the school wrote in a tweet. The school said the apparent incident happened at Watts Hall, a science and engineering building.

OSU Police tweeted the same alert, and wrote in another tweet, “Continue to shelter in place. Avoid area of College.”

More


UPDATE: 7 patients are being transported. One of the patients is critical.

Officer Tries To Save Baby Girl Who Stops Breathing At Restaurant

A hero cop has attempted to save a one-month-old baby who died while her mom was protesting against a police shooting.

Baltimore Major Richard Gibson was on patrol near where a protest was being held about 3pm on Saturday in the wake of the shooting of an man armed with two knives on Friday.

During the protest, which was attended by about 30 people, a group of people told Major Gibson a one-month-old girl had stopped breathing and was bleeding from the nose.

More

In Time For Black Friday, Judge Issues Restraining Order Against Striking Pilots At Amazon-Backed Cargo Line

About 40 hours after pilots at Amazon-backed cargo airline ABX went on strike, threatening to throw a wrench in the holiday shipping plans of the country’s largest online retailer (and others), a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the striking pilots. 

WaPo's Witch Hunt: "Expect Such Attacks To Continue"

The Washington Post has a history of misrepresenting Ron Paul’s views. Last year the supposed newspaper of record ran a feature article by David A. Fahrenthold in which Fahrenthold grossly mis-characterized Paul as an advocate for calamity, oppression, and poverty — the opposite of the goals Paul routinely expresses and, indeed, expressed clearly in a speech at the event upon which Fahrenthold’s article purported to report.

Such fraudulent attacks on the prominent advocate for liberty and a non-interventionist foreign policy fall in line with the newspaper’s agenda. As Future of Freedom Foundation President Jacob G. Hornberger put it in a February editorial, the Post’s agenda is guided by “the interventionist mindset that undergirds the mainstream media.”

On Thursday, the Post published a new article by Craig Timberg complaining of a “flood” of so-called fake news supported by “a sophisticated Russian propaganda campaign that created and spread misleading articles online with the goal of punishing Democrat Hillary Clinton, helping Republican Donald Trump and undermining faith in American democracy,” To advance this conclusion, Timberg points to PropOrNot, an organization of anonymous individuals formed this year, as having identified “more than 200 websites as routine peddlers of Russian propaganda during the election season.”

Look on the PropOrNot list. There is the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity’s (RPI) website RonPaulInstitute.org listed among websites termed “Russian propaganda outlets.”

What you will not find on the PropOrNot website is any particularized analysis of why the RPI website, or any website for that matter, is included on the list. Instead, you will see only sweeping generalizations from an anonymous organization. The very popular website drudgereport.com even makes the list..

More here

The Democrats’ Real Strategy in Launching Recounts

The recount in Wisconsin, and the coming ones in Michigan and Pennsylvania will not change the outcomes in any of the states. No recount ever changes thousands of votes. I do not think that is the purpose.

The recounts, if done by hand, which can be demanded, may take longer than the last day for completing the official counts in a state and directing Electoral College voters. If all 3 states miss the deadline, Trump is at 260, Hillary at 232. No one hits 270...

Read more here

Judicial Watch Asks Federal Court to Find Government Misconduct in Clinton Email Scandal

Judicial Watch has asked a federal court to reject the State Department’s secrecy claims over certain Clinton email-related document on the grounds that the documents relate to government misconduct.

Judicial Watch argues the agency should release 30 emails currently being withheld under various “deliberative process,” “attorney client,” and “attorney work product” privileges.

The lawsuit was originally filed in May 2015, and seeks “all emails sent or received by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in her official capacity as secretary of State, as well as all emails by other State Department employees to Secretary Clinton regarding her non-‘state.gov’ email address.” (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00687)).

Judicial Watch argues that Clinton’s email practices at the State Department constitute misconduct:

The U.S. federal government has produced two State Department Inspector General reports and a report following an FBI investigation, which collectively support the conclusion that, at a minimum, the unofficial server arrangement was misconduct even if it was not a prosecutable violation of criminal law or one that will necessarily result in civil liability. Secretary Clinton herself has called the unofficial server arrangement a ‘mistake’…

The State Department’s descriptions of the documents show that the department may have misled the public about the Clinton email scandal:

More here

Obama Urged Clinton to Concede on Election Night

Barack Obama called Hillary Clinton on election night and urged her to concede the election to Donald Trump, according to an upcoming book on Clinton’s defeat.

“There was a lot of discussion about Michigan and Wisconsin and whether the numbers could flip it,” said one of the sources to the authors.

“Just give me the phone,” she said in frustration to campaign staffers. “I’m calling him.”

Despite Clinton’s efforts to concede the election, Green Party candidate Jill Stein is pushing for recounts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

But Dan Pfeiffer, former Obama White House Communications Director, called the efforts to challenge the results a “waste.”

“The amount of Democratic energy and money being wasted on recounts instead of trying to win the Louisiana Senate Race is mind boggling,” he tweeted on Thursday.

More

Man dies in apparent hunting accident in Frederick Co.

Maryland Natural Resources Police Officer Christopher Warden was headed south on U.S. 15 to check out a hunting hot-spot in Dickerson when his radio suddenly squawked to life.

Within seconds, Warden’s truck was swinging around, its powerful engine roaring back north toward Sabillasville where emergency medical units and Frederick County sheriff’s deputies were racing to help a 32-year-old hunter suffering from a gunshot wound. Grabbing his radio, Warden relayed his location to dispatchers, then reached over to activate his vehicle’s overhead lights and sirens.

“I’m going to start out to that just because it might be a hunting accident,” he told the dispatchers and responding units alike before keying off the radio to guide his truck through a winding stretch of Md. 550, both hands firmly on the wheel.

“We’re pretty close, so we can check it out,” he said, his levelheadedness belying the shattered calm of what began as a relatively quiet opening day to the state’s firearm hunting season just a few hours before.

More

The Media's Dangerous Obsession with White Supremacists

Headlines lit up Tuesday morning with the news that a vicious “alt-right” white supremacist group had spent the prior evening hailing Donald Trump’s presidential victory and casting Nazi salutes in support of some misguided vision of white nationalism. Media outlets rushed to report with almost a perverse glee about how Trump’s shocking election had launched leagues of neo-Nazi racists back into the spotlight (although there were only about 200 attendees at Monday’s meeting), finally giving them the megaphone they’ve long desired to lash out against Jews, blacks, immigrants, Muslims and anyone else of the non-Aryan variety.

But herein lies the problem: the media controls where the spotlight shines. And they point it with great deliberation.

Monday’s 11-hour meeting was led by Richard B. Spencer, whose name you’ve probably never heard because he’s been of very little consequence for…well, ever. Back in 2011, Spencer took over as director and president of the National Policy Institute, a group with that’s been around since 2005. According to the group’s own definition, NPI is “an independent organization dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States, and around the world.”

And if you’re scratching your head trying to think of any policy that’s been affected by NPI’s influence, or any tangible effect the group has had on American life or society, that’s because they haven’t. They’ve held events, written papers, published reports, and they’re still less-known than the KKK, who’ve been most notable in recent memory for occasionally passing out poorly printed fliers and maintaining embarrassingly outdated websites.

To be fair, a fool in a suit preaching white power and inspiring Nazi salutes while standing in a building named for a president who brought an end to the Cold War is disturbing, to say the least. The mere existence of a group that thinks its supremacy is derived from some genetically prescribed amount of melanin is grossly offensive. And yet a small, sad gathering of roughly 200 people – about 0.00000062 percent of the entire American population – is hardly cause for this level of national alarm.

More here

Washington Post Shamelessly Promotes PropOrNot

The Washington Post on Thursday night promoted the claims of a new, shadowy organization that smears dozens of U.S. news sites that are critical of U.S. foreign policy as being “routine peddlers of Russian propaganda.”

The article by reporter Craig Timberg — headlined “Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say” — cites a report by an anonymous website calling itself PropOrNot, which claims that millions of Americans have been deceived this year in a massive Russian “misinformation campaign.”

The group’s list of Russian disinformation outlets includes WikiLeaks and the Drudge Report, as well as Clinton-critical left-wing websites such as Truthout, Black Agenda Report, Truthdig, and Naked Capitalism, as well as libertarian venues such as Antiwar.com and the Ron Paul Institute.

From the actual PropOrNot website (you make the call):

"PropOrNot is a Resource

"We at PropOrNot are assembling tools and information to help identify and neutralize Russian propaganda. We are not waiting for an official response, and we need your help!

"We call on the American public to:

"Be aware that Russia is trying to supplant actual journalism (that has editors and fact checkers who impose accountability for mistakes), with fake-"media" online propaganda that Russia influences or controls.

"Spread the word: Russia is attempting to manipulate the American people through online propaganda.

"Obtain news from actual reporters, who report to an editor and are professionally accountable for mistakes. We suggest NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Buzzfeed, VICE, etc, and especially your local papers and local TV news channels. Support them by subscribing, if you can!"

More here

Donald Trump: ‘I Won the Popular Vote’ if Illegal Voters Discounted

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that besides winning the Electoral College “in a landslide” in the Nov. 8 election: “I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”

The allegation comes as Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s lead in the popular vote over Trump has surpassed 2 million votes and is expected to grow to more than 2.5 million as ballots in populous states such as California continue to be tallied.

More

Navy flight nurse shares experiences treating wounded leaving the battlefield

Lt. Cmdr. Kimberly Albero, a reservist in U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, will present “Saving Lives Under Fire” at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, in Johnson Dining Room in Sweet Briar College’s Prothro Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Albero, who was commissioned as a Navy ensign after graduating from the University of Virginia in 2006, deployed to Afghanistan in October 2010. She served as a Navy flight nurse with the First Medical Battalion in support of the U.S. Marines during Operation Enduring Freedom.

After three months at the British Trauma Hospital at Camp Bastion, Albero was sent to a forward operating base near Musa Q’ala as an en route critical care nurse attached to the shock trauma platoon. She was the ICU nurse on a surgical team that included four surgeons, two anesthesiologists, one ER nurse and one medical-surgical nurse.

Albero and the ER nurse split the duty of flying wounded Marines, coalition soldiers, Afghan soldiers, insurgent fighters and Afghan civilians from the point of injury to Camp Bastion. At the camp hospital, the wounded received life- and limb-saving surgery before transport to Germany and, eventually, home to the U.S.

“I returned to work as an ICU nurse in the naval hospital in San Diego in May 2011 a changed person,” Albero says. “It was a professionally rewarding and emotionally exhausting experience. It was at once thrilling and heartbreaking and among the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done.”

Today, Albero is back at UVa pursuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice with a focus as a family nurse practitioner. Rosie Lewis, Sweet Briar’s health and wellness director, served as her clinical preceptor this semester.

More


Publishers Notes: Yes, this is my Niece. 

Here's what 5 of your favorite products would cost if they were made in the US

In his first address since his victory speech — a two-and-a-half minute YouTube video posted November 21 — President-elect Donald Trump dove right into theissue of trade.

On his first day in office, Trump said, he plans to “issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a disaster for our country.”

Free trade teals like the TPP and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) played a prominent role in Trump’s campaign message. Though the TPP is not yet in effect, Trump has consistently blamed NAFTA and other trade deals for shipping too many jobs overseas and hurting the US economy.

Although there is broad support for increasing US manufacturing power overall, goods made in the US are inevitably more expensive than those created in countries where labor is cheaper, such as China, Vietnam, and Mexico. If the production of popular items like iPhones and sneakers were done domestically rather than abroad, their prices would increase considerably.

Here’s what five of your favorite products would cost if they were American-made.

More

EPA hikes Ethanol Blend Requirement in Gasoline

Over the objections of many lawmakers who say the entire program has failed, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday increased the amount of ethanol that must be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply next year.

In the latest update to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the agency said that at least 19.28 billion gallons of ethanol and other biofuels must be included in gasoline supplies in 2017.

While that’s an increase over this year’s target of 18.11 billion gallons, it’s a far cry from what Congress had envisioned when it established the RFS in 2007.

That legislation called for 24 billion gallons of ethanol and other biofuels to be blended into the gas supply by 2017, and the wide gulf between the initial target and today’s reality illustrates the difficulty the EPA has encountered as it tries to meet congressional mandates.

Still, the EPA argues its new rule will ramp up production of biofuels and save consumers money at the pump.

Board Of Supervisors Resolution Defies Trump Funding Threat, Reaffirms Sanctuary City

Following a gathering on Monday, which brought together Mayor Lee, the Board of Supervisors, SFPD officials and others to reaffirm San Francisco's status as a sanctuary city, the Board of Supervisors passed a strongly worded resolution in response to the election of Donald Trump.

Introduced by newly reelected Board President London Breed, the resolution touches on Black Lives Matter and climate change ("not a hoax"), affirms LGBTQ and women's rights, and defies Trump's threats to revoke federal funding for sanctuary cities.

The original version called Trump an "erratic, ill-informed racist and misogynist" and included a more direct resolution title, but was amended before full board approval.

Read on for the full "Board of Supervisors’ Response to the Election of Donald Trump."

More

Clinton joining vote recount appears to test fragile truce with Trump

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s truce and efforts to “come together” after their bitter White House race appeared to fray this weekend when Clinton joined in a vote recount effort that the President-elect assailed in a series of Tweets Sunday.
In the posts, Trump claimed that "millions" of people cast illegal votes in this month's presidential election, and claimed that the press was covering the matter unfairly. 
In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally

Trump further contended that if the popular vote determined the presidency, "It would have been much easier for me to win" it because he would have altered his campaign to pile up overall vote totals, not Electoral College votes.

Ryan' Proposed Budget Cuts ?????

PAUL RYAN'S PROPOSED BUDGET CUTS 
A List of Republican Budget Cuts
 Notice S.S. And the military are NOT on this list.
 These are all the programs that the new Republican House has proposed cutting.
* Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy -- $445 million annual savings.
* Save America 's Treasures Program -- $25 million annual savings.
* International Fund for Ireland -- $17 million annual savings.
* Legal Services Corporation -- $420 million annual savings.
* National Endowment for the Arts -- $167.5 million annual savings.
* National Endowment for the Humanities -- $167.5 million annual savings.
* Hope VI Program -- $250 million annual savings.
* Amtrak Subsidies -- $1.565 billion annual savings.
* Eliminate duplicating education programs -- H.R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon ,
eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.
* U.S. Trade Development Agency -- $55 million annual savings.
* Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy -- $20 million annual savings.
* Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding -- $47 million annual savings.
* John C. Stennis Center Subsidy -- $430,000 annual savings.
* Community Development Fund -- $4.5 billion annual savings.
* Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid -- $24 million annual savings.
* Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half -- $7.5 billion annual savings
* Trim Federal Vehicle Budget by 20% -- $600 million annual savings.
* Essential Air Service -- $150 million annual savings.
* Technology Innovation Program -- $70 million annual savings.
*Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program -- $125 million annual savings..
* Department of Energy Grants to States for Weatherization -- $530 million annual savings.
* Beach Replenishment -- $95 million annual savings. 
* New Starts Transit -- $2 billion annual savings.
* Exchange Programs for Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and
Their Historical Trading Partners in Massachusetts -- $9 million annual savings
* Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants -- $2.5 billion annual savings.
* Title X Family Planning -- $318 million annual savings.
* Appalachian Regional Commission -- $76 million annual savings.
* Economic Development Administration -- $293 million annual savings.
* Programs under the National and Community Services Act -- $1.15 billion annual savings.
* Applied Research at Department of Energy -- $1.27 billion annual savings.
* Freedom CAR and Fuel Partnership -- $200 million annual savings..
* Energy Star Program -- $52 million annual savings.
*Economic Assistance to Egypt -- $250 million annually.
* U.S.Agency for International Development -- $1.39 billion annual savings.
* General Assistance to District of Columbia -- $210 million annual savings.
* Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority -- $150 million annual savings.
*Presidential Campaign Fund -- $775 million savings over ten years.
* No funding for federal office space acquisition -- $864 million annual savings.
End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services.
* Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act -- More than $1 billion annually.
* IRS Direct Deposit: Require the IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers
(such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) to the Treasury,
instead of allowing it to remain as part of its budget -- $1.8 billion savings over ten years. 
*Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees -- $1 billion total savings.WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?
* Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees -- $1.2 billion savings over ten years.
* Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of -- $15 billion total savings.
*Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress. WHAT???
* Eliminate Mohair Subsidies -- $1 million annual savings.
*Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change -- $12.5 million annual savings. WELL ISN'T THAT SPECIAL
* Eliminate Market Access Program -- $200 million annual savings.
* USDA Sugar Program -- $14 million annual savings.
* Subsidy to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) -- $93 million annual savings.
* Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program -- $56.2 million annual savings.
*Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs -- $900 million savings.
* Ready to Learn TV Program -- $27 million savings..
* HUD Ph.D. Program.
* Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act.
*TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.5 Trillion over Ten Years
My question is, what is all this doing in the budget in the first place
?!
Maybe this is why the Democrats are attacking Paul Ryan.