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Monday, January 23, 2017
Trump punches establishment right out of the gate
What, you expected poetry? Maybe a turn of the other cheek to the boycotters and hooligans and haters?
If so, you haven’t been paying attention for the last 18 months. America’s new sheriff didn’t come to Washington to make friends or make nice.
He came to get things done and make change. Big things and big change.
President Donald Trump showed again yesterday that he is many things, but not — NOT — a politician. He is an outsider, a disrupter, a revolutionary and he made no attempt to disguise his plan to smash the status quo.
His 16-minute inaugural speech was as subtle as a punch in the nose. Its imagery was brilliant in its starkness, as when he talked of “mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities” and “rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape.”
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If so, you haven’t been paying attention for the last 18 months. America’s new sheriff didn’t come to Washington to make friends or make nice.
He came to get things done and make change. Big things and big change.
President Donald Trump showed again yesterday that he is many things, but not — NOT — a politician. He is an outsider, a disrupter, a revolutionary and he made no attempt to disguise his plan to smash the status quo.
His 16-minute inaugural speech was as subtle as a punch in the nose. Its imagery was brilliant in its starkness, as when he talked of “mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities” and “rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape.”
More
WCSO CID Press Release - Jan. 23, 2016
Date of Incident: 1/9/17
Location: 300-Blk of N. Salisbury Blvd Salisbury, Maryland
Suspect: Thomas Edward Bowen III, white male, 34 years old – Crisfield, MD
Narrative: On 1/9/17 members of the Sheriff’s Office Community Action Team (CAT) were on patrol in the area of E. Church Street and Rt. 13 Salisbury, MD. Deputies observed a white male, later identified as Thomas Edward Bowen III, running from an employee of the Delmarva Thrift Store. Bowen was fleeing the store employee with stolen female clothing in his hands. The store employee advised Deputies that Bowen had just stolen the items from Delmarva Thrift Store located in the 300-Blk of N. Salisbury Blvd, Salisbury, MD. Deputies were able to apprehend the Bowen in the 400 Block of E. Church Street. An inventory of the property taken revealed $28.00 worth of female clothing was taken from the thrift store. Bowen was charged and issued a criminal citation for theft under $100.
Charges: Theft under $100.00
Mainstream media screams in pain as Trump becomes president (they know he beat them, too)
President Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday was a time of historic transition. It was not just the transfer of power from Washington back to the citizens, as explained by the 45th president. It also marked the transfer of power from the news media to Trump.
And journalists weren’t happy about it.
Trump did what no politician in the modern era had. He had taken on the most-powerful interest group in America – the media – and won. He celebrated his victory as only Trump could – tweeting from both the @potus account and his own. He now has more than 35 million followers between the two, about one-and-a-half times the viewers of the three network evening news shows combined.
The media acted defeated but not vanquished, calling the inaugural speech “Hitlerian” for daring to use the term “America First.” A viral video of a protester screaming as Trump was announced the new president could well have been almost any major network staffer.
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And journalists weren’t happy about it.
Trump did what no politician in the modern era had. He had taken on the most-powerful interest group in America – the media – and won. He celebrated his victory as only Trump could – tweeting from both the @potus account and his own. He now has more than 35 million followers between the two, about one-and-a-half times the viewers of the three network evening news shows combined.
The media acted defeated but not vanquished, calling the inaugural speech “Hitlerian” for daring to use the term “America First.” A viral video of a protester screaming as Trump was announced the new president could well have been almost any major network staffer.
More
PASSENGERS CHEER AS WOMAN IS KICKED OFF PLANE FOR DEMANDING THE REMOVAL OF A TRUMP SUPPORTER
MARYLAND - Video has gone viral showing an elderly being removed from an airplane in Baltimore, MD after berating a Trump supporter sitting next to her. Scott Koteskey is the the victim in the incident and posted the following explanation of what happened along with two videos:
Continue/VideosJust had the craziest experience ever on an airplane:I'm boarding my flight from Baltimore to Seattle and approach my seat. I had an upgraded seat that I paid a little extra for because of the long 6 hour flight. As I approach my row I smile and motion to the husband and wife sitting in the aisle and middle seat that Imy seat was next to the window. I put my backpack in the overhead and the wife with a very stern voice says to me:"Did you come here to cheer or to protest?""I came here to celebrate democracy ma'am"... I knew this was going to be a long flight at this point. She then proceeded with: (somewhat paraphrased as my memory allows)
Trump: ‘We’re Going to Start Renegotiating' NAFTA
Sunday in East Room before White House senior staff were sworn in, President Donald Trump said, “We’re going to start renegotiating, having to do with NAFTA.”
Trump said, “We are also meeting with the prime minister of Canada. We will be meeting with the president of Mexico, who I know. We’re going to start renegotiating, having to do with NAFTA. Anybody ever heard of NAFTA? I ran the campaign somewhat based on NAFTA. We’re going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration and on security at the border.”
(h/t The Hill)
Trump said, “We are also meeting with the prime minister of Canada. We will be meeting with the president of Mexico, who I know. We’re going to start renegotiating, having to do with NAFTA. Anybody ever heard of NAFTA? I ran the campaign somewhat based on NAFTA. We’re going to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration and on security at the border.”
(h/t The Hill)
3 puppies found alive in Italy avalanche give rescuers hope
The first human survivors of the deadly avalanche were released from the hospital as questions intensified into whether Italian authorities underestimated the risks facing the snowbound resort in the hours before the deadly avalanche.
Five days after up to 60,000 tons of snow, rocks and uprooted trees plowed into the Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy, rescue crews were still digging by hand or with shovels and chainsaws in hopes of finding more survivors. An excavator reached the site, northeast of Rome, to speed up the search.
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Anti-Semites harass rabbi who spoke at Trump inauguration
Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who delivered a blessing at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump last Friday, has been inundated with hundreds of anti-Semitic messages on social media in the two days since the inauguration.
Rabbi Hier blessed Trump at the inauguration and quoted from Psalm 137:“By the rivers of Babylon we wept as we remembered Zion. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning."
The anti-Semitic responses began almost immediately after Rabbi Hier finished his prayer, which was the first prayer given by a rabbi at a Presidential inauguration since 1985, and the first ever by an Orthodox rabbi.
Wiesenthal Center associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the Jerusalem Post that Rabbi Hier's prayer at the White House was a "perfect storm" for anti-Semites of the left and the right. He said that his IT staff had removed hundreds of anti-Semitic messages from social media.
“Obviously a lot of people who don’t like Jews had a tough time seeing a Jew stand up proudly before the world,” Rabbi Cooper said.” To have a Jew wearing a kippa on an international stage and a declared and well-known Zionist - from the far left to the far right a lot of people were very angry.”
He said that the internet and social media allow rabid anti-Semites and other bigots and racists to post their hateful messages with ease and without fear of repercussion. However, he said that outside the digital world Rabbi Hier received warm support from people of all different faiths.
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Rabbi Hier blessed Trump at the inauguration and quoted from Psalm 137:“By the rivers of Babylon we wept as we remembered Zion. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning."
The anti-Semitic responses began almost immediately after Rabbi Hier finished his prayer, which was the first prayer given by a rabbi at a Presidential inauguration since 1985, and the first ever by an Orthodox rabbi.
Wiesenthal Center associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the Jerusalem Post that Rabbi Hier's prayer at the White House was a "perfect storm" for anti-Semites of the left and the right. He said that his IT staff had removed hundreds of anti-Semitic messages from social media.
“Obviously a lot of people who don’t like Jews had a tough time seeing a Jew stand up proudly before the world,” Rabbi Cooper said.” To have a Jew wearing a kippa on an international stage and a declared and well-known Zionist - from the far left to the far right a lot of people were very angry.”
He said that the internet and social media allow rabid anti-Semites and other bigots and racists to post their hateful messages with ease and without fear of repercussion. However, he said that outside the digital world Rabbi Hier received warm support from people of all different faiths.
More
Trump signs executive order to withdraw from Trans-Pacific trade deal
The move fulfills one of Trump's signature campaign pledges to get out of the sweeping 12-nation trade deal, which he once called "a rape of our country" and said would hurt U.S. jobs.
He pledged in a video shortly after his November election that he would pull out of the deal on Day One of his presidency.
The Asia-Pacific agreement, which the Obama administration negotiated and hoped to ratify before leaving office, is written in such a way that it is effectively dead without the participation of the United States and its huge economy.
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First Lady Melania Trump Weeps at National Cathedral
First Lady Melania Trump wept as 20-year-old Marlana VanHoose sang the hymn “How Great Thou Art” during the Inaugural Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital on Saturday morning.
Hundreds of worshippers joined President Donald Trump the First Lady; Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen; most of the Cabinet; and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy for an ecumenical prayer, featuring a wide variety of faiths.
The service, which has become part of the inaugural tradition over the past several decades, sounded a message of national unity, echoing a theme that featured in several of Friday’s inaugural addresses as well. On Saturday morning, with politicians seated in the pews as ordinary congregants, and religious leaders and laypeople leading them in prayer, without the pomp and ceremony of the day before, there was a sense of humility shared by all in the chapel, as well as a palpable sense of joy.
More/video
Hundreds of worshippers joined President Donald Trump the First Lady; Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen; most of the Cabinet; and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy for an ecumenical prayer, featuring a wide variety of faiths.
The service, which has become part of the inaugural tradition over the past several decades, sounded a message of national unity, echoing a theme that featured in several of Friday’s inaugural addresses as well. On Saturday morning, with politicians seated in the pews as ordinary congregants, and religious leaders and laypeople leading them in prayer, without the pomp and ceremony of the day before, there was a sense of humility shared by all in the chapel, as well as a palpable sense of joy.
More/video
POLICE: “Washington DC Rioters Could Face 10 Years in Prison”
Federal prosecutors said on Saturday that a great majority of the 230 rioters arrested after violent protests broke out after President Donald Trump’s inauguration will be charged with felony rioting. This charge carries a punishment of up to ten years in jail and a $25,000 fine.
Thousands of protesters turned violent and unruly at the inauguration. They attacked the police and Trump supporters with rocks, bottles, and bricks. They also burned cars, spray painted public property, and shattered store windows.
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Bill de Blasio’s Anti-Trump Rally Impedes Traffic, Infuriating New Yorkers
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio infuriated New Yorkers on Thursday night when he led a massive anti-Donald Trump protest in Columbus Circle.
There were several sand trucks lined up around the Trump International Hotel and Tower starting at 6 p.m., blocking all northbound traffic along Central Park for several hours as nearly 20,000 protesters participated in the event, the New York Post reported.
In addition to the protesters, there were several jumbotrons and a giant stage located at 60th street, further causing gridlock among pedestrians near the Columbus Circle subway stop.
De Blasio and celebrities attending the protest criticized Trump and told the crowd to disregard what happens in Washington, D.C. over the next four years of Trump’s presidency. The protest was attended by big names like Alec Baldwin, Cher, Mark Ruffalo, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rosie Perez, Shailene Woodley, Robert De Niro, and Natalie Merchant.
Despite the star-studded event, there were several New Yorkers outraged by de Blasio because they believe the event was fueled by the mayor trying to get the political spotlight on himself, the Post reported.
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There were several sand trucks lined up around the Trump International Hotel and Tower starting at 6 p.m., blocking all northbound traffic along Central Park for several hours as nearly 20,000 protesters participated in the event, the New York Post reported.
In addition to the protesters, there were several jumbotrons and a giant stage located at 60th street, further causing gridlock among pedestrians near the Columbus Circle subway stop.
De Blasio and celebrities attending the protest criticized Trump and told the crowd to disregard what happens in Washington, D.C. over the next four years of Trump’s presidency. The protest was attended by big names like Alec Baldwin, Cher, Mark Ruffalo, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rosie Perez, Shailene Woodley, Robert De Niro, and Natalie Merchant.
Despite the star-studded event, there were several New Yorkers outraged by de Blasio because they believe the event was fueled by the mayor trying to get the political spotlight on himself, the Post reported.
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Unseen Video of Victims Inside Starbucks Attacked by Rioters
There is no shortage of videos to watch if you want to see rioters destroy property in Washington D.C. after President Trump’s inauguration. But one video stands out more than others, in my opinion (see video below).
The video shows two innocent men picking themselves off the floor inside a Starbucks. It appears as if the two guys were sitting at the window tables when rioters rushed the building and smashed the windows with bats and crowbars.
Imagine that. You’re sitting in a Starbucks sipping warm coffee when out of nowhere thugs dressed in black smash the massive windows in front of your face. The potential for injury is almost as great as the potential for a heart attack caused by being caught off guard. There’s no exaggeration in my statement — the two men picking themselves off the ground appear to be late 50s, early 60s — heart failure due to that sort of traumatic event is very possible.
My problem is the police didn’t take out their night sticks and whack the living crap out of these losers. Instead, the cops used pepper spray to deter the rioters from continuing on, but as you can see in the video the spray does very little.
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Israeli leader to Iran: "We are your friend, not your enemy"
Israel's leader has recorded a conciliatory message to the people of Iran, saying, "we are your friend, not your enemy."
In the video uploaded to his Facebook page Saturday, Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the people of Iran in English, with Farsi subtitles. He says he will soon discuss with President Donald Trump how to counter the threat of an Iranian regime that calls for Israel's destruction, but that he distinguishes between the regime and the people.
"You have a proud history. You have a rich culture. Tragically, you are shackled by a theocratic tyranny," he says.
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In the video uploaded to his Facebook page Saturday, Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the people of Iran in English, with Farsi subtitles. He says he will soon discuss with President Donald Trump how to counter the threat of an Iranian regime that calls for Israel's destruction, but that he distinguishes between the regime and the people.
"You have a proud history. You have a rich culture. Tragically, you are shackled by a theocratic tyranny," he says.
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Trump nominates Heather Wilson for Air Force secretary
President Trump on Monday tapped former New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson to serve as secretary of the Air Force.
After two unsuccessful Senate bids, Wilson became president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2013. She will leave that post to join the new administration if confirmed by the upper chamber.
Wilson chaired the House Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence during her time in Washington, in additon to serving on both the House Armed Services and Energy and Commerce committees.
The Trump administration said Wilson will make "an outstanding secretary of the Air Force."
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After two unsuccessful Senate bids, Wilson became president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2013. She will leave that post to join the new administration if confirmed by the upper chamber.
Wilson chaired the House Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence during her time in Washington, in additon to serving on both the House Armed Services and Energy and Commerce committees.
The Trump administration said Wilson will make "an outstanding secretary of the Air Force."
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Promise Keeping: Trump Reinstates Mexico City Policy Defunding International Planned Parenthood
Washington, DC - President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order reinstating the Reagan-era Mexico City Policy, which effectively defunds International Planned Parenthood and stops American tax dollars from funding organizations that conduct or promote abortions internationally.
This reverses former Pres. Barack Obama's unpopular 2008 Executive Order that rescinded the Mexico City Policy and opened the doors for tax-funding of abortions overseas.
"This is a welcome first step on Trump's first full business day in office. It shows us that he is serious about keeping the promises he made to protect innocent lives from abortion," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "Today's executive action shows Trump is placing a high priority on protecting the pre-born."
Other pledges Trump made during the 2016 presidential campaign included:
* Nominate a pro-life conservative to the U.S. Supreme Court.
* Appoint strong pro-life judges to the Federal Courts.
* Defund Planned Parenthood.
* Pass the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act banning abortions at 20 weeks and later.
* Repeal and replace Obamacare and the abortion mandate that forces the insured to pay for abortions and abortifacient drugs.
Steps have already been taken to fulfill some of these promises.
The Trump Administration has signed an Executive Order "minimizing the economic burden" of Obamacare until it can be repealed and replaced. This essentially halts enforcement of financial penalties for those who, as a matter of conscience, refuse to purchase health insurance that pays for abortions.
The Trump Administration has signed an Executive Order "minimizing the economic burden" of Obamacare until it can be repealed and replaced. This essentially halts enforcement of financial penalties for those who, as a matter of conscience, refuse to purchase health insurance that pays for abortions.
Trump has also telegraphed that his nomination for the Supreme Court is imminent.
"Today's reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy is encouraging," said Newman. "It is refreshing to see action instead of the lip service we have gotten from establishment politicians. We expect that Trump will continue to act quickly to keep all his pro-life promises."
Accident On Beaver Run Drive
TRUCKER LOSES TRAILER OF 38,000 POUNDS OF MARBLES ON FREEWAY
State police tell TV station WXIN that a truck carrying 38,000 pounds of marbles lost its trailer Saturday on southbound Interstate 465, near Pendleton Pike. The marbles were on the shoulder and in the median.
There were no injuries, but a lane of traffic in that area was affected by the cleanup during much of the day.
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Budget is In, Wicomico Wins
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David Brock’s Super PAC Lays Out Ambitious 2018 Plans
Just two months after the 2016 elections, a leading Democratic political group is already laying out ambitious plans for the 2018 midterms in an attempt to retake the Senate and win key gubernatorial and state legislative races.
American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC focused on opposition research, expects to be active in 16 to 20 Senate races next year, the group told its donors at a conference in Florida this weekend.
The Washington Free Beacon obtained a general outline of American Bridge’s plans that was provided to current and prospective financial supporters at the conference organized by Democratic operative and American Bridge founder David Brock.
“American Bridge will make running as a Republican candidate in the next four years painful,” the documents boast. “We will not only damage Trump, but also the candidates who enable and support him.”
American Bridge’s super PAC arm expects to operate on a $6.9 million budget in 2017. That is a significant decline from its 2015 expenditures, which exceeded $10 million, but a slight increase above the $6.4 million it spent in 2013 leading up to that cycle’s midterm elections.
The group’s 501(c)(4) dark money arm, which will focus primarily on attacking President Donald Trump, hopes to bring in $7.8 million. Together, the sister organizations will have a staff of 146.
Democrats face a very difficult Senate election map in 2018. The party’s incumbent senators face reelection fights in nine states that Trump carried last year.
More here
American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC focused on opposition research, expects to be active in 16 to 20 Senate races next year, the group told its donors at a conference in Florida this weekend.
The Washington Free Beacon obtained a general outline of American Bridge’s plans that was provided to current and prospective financial supporters at the conference organized by Democratic operative and American Bridge founder David Brock.
“American Bridge will make running as a Republican candidate in the next four years painful,” the documents boast. “We will not only damage Trump, but also the candidates who enable and support him.”
American Bridge’s super PAC arm expects to operate on a $6.9 million budget in 2017. That is a significant decline from its 2015 expenditures, which exceeded $10 million, but a slight increase above the $6.4 million it spent in 2013 leading up to that cycle’s midterm elections.
The group’s 501(c)(4) dark money arm, which will focus primarily on attacking President Donald Trump, hopes to bring in $7.8 million. Together, the sister organizations will have a staff of 146.
Democrats face a very difficult Senate election map in 2018. The party’s incumbent senators face reelection fights in nine states that Trump carried last year.
More here
Trump begins withdrawing US from Trans-Pacific Partnership
President Trump signed a notice of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Monday, kicking off the highly-anticipated process of withdrawing the U.S. from a trade deal that has become deeply unpopular among his supporters.
Sitting in the Oval Office and flanked by members of his senior staff, Trump also signed an order that imposes a federal hiring freeze on all departments "except for the military" and an order cutting off funding to international groups that perform abortions, a rule known as the "Mexico City policy."
The trio of orders Trump signed on Monday marked the next step in the first major wave of actions of his presidency.
On Friday, Trump issued a regulatory freeze and instructed his agencies to stop enforcing aspects of Obamacare. He then conducted telephone calls with a number of foreign leaders over the weekend, including with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Sitting in the Oval Office and flanked by members of his senior staff, Trump also signed an order that imposes a federal hiring freeze on all departments "except for the military" and an order cutting off funding to international groups that perform abortions, a rule known as the "Mexico City policy."
The trio of orders Trump signed on Monday marked the next step in the first major wave of actions of his presidency.
On Friday, Trump issued a regulatory freeze and instructed his agencies to stop enforcing aspects of Obamacare. He then conducted telephone calls with a number of foreign leaders over the weekend, including with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
More
Mom Outraged, School Dental Program Removes Child’s Teeth Without Her Knowing
A Baltimore City mom is looking for answers: Why did the school allow serious dental work — without making a single phone call to parents.
9-year-old Michael is still brought to tears by the pain. He’s now missing three teeth — pulled out by a dental program visiting his school. His mother, Shanda Flemming, tells WJZ she never was notified that the procedure was happening.
“And then two on this side. One top and one bottom,” says Flemming.
Baltimore City Schools says Flemming signed a permission slip, but Flemming thought it was for routine cleanings.
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David Brock Memo: Defeat Trump Through Impeachment
A confidential David Brock memo obtained by the Washington Free Beacon lays out the ways the Democratic operative plans to use his numerous organizations to take down President Donald Trump through impeachment.
Brock is currently at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura, Fla. for a weekend conference with more than 100 major liberal donors. Attendees are mapping out a course to combat the newly sworn-in president.
According to the private and confidential memo, Brock plans to defeat Trump “through impeachment,” using American Bridge, his liberal super PAC, as the main vehicle to do so.
“No other progressive organization has the resources and assets that American Bridge has amassed over the past several election cycles to hold Trump, his administration, and the politicians accountable,” the 44-page confidential memo states.
More here
Brock is currently at the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura, Fla. for a weekend conference with more than 100 major liberal donors. Attendees are mapping out a course to combat the newly sworn-in president.
According to the private and confidential memo, Brock plans to defeat Trump “through impeachment,” using American Bridge, his liberal super PAC, as the main vehicle to do so.
“No other progressive organization has the resources and assets that American Bridge has amassed over the past several election cycles to hold Trump, his administration, and the politicians accountable,” the 44-page confidential memo states.
More here
Juanita Broaddrick Slams Madonna, ‘Fake News’ Women’s March
Broaddrick, who charged that Hillary Clinton tried to silence her about the alleged rape, further labeled yesterday’s women’s march “just more a part of the fake news that they are trying to perpetuate.”
“And their rhetoric,” added Broaddrick. “They are so disappointing.” She was speaking on this reporter’s Sunday talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” broadcast in New York’s AM 970 The Answer and NewsTalk 990 AM in Philadelphia.
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Cheers from CIA Officers When Trump Criticizes the Media
President Donald Trump was met with cheers from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers on Saturday when he criticized the media’s portrayal of the relationship between him and the agency.
“As you know I have a running war with the media,” Trump said. “They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth.”
Trump was immediately met with laughs and cheers from the crowd of roughly 400 people, according to Politico.
“They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community, and I just wanted to let you know that the reason you’re the number one stop is because you are exactly the opposite,” Trump said.
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“As you know I have a running war with the media,” Trump said. “They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth.”
Trump was immediately met with laughs and cheers from the crowd of roughly 400 people, according to Politico.
“They sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community, and I just wanted to let you know that the reason you’re the number one stop is because you are exactly the opposite,” Trump said.
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Obama Allies Working to Undermine Trump’s National Security Team
Democrats loyal to former President Barack Obama are waging a behind-the-scenes effort to undermine President Donald Trump’s national security team by blocking key appointees, according to multiple sources familiar with the outgoing administration’s efforts.
The centerpiece of this obstruction is the recent refusal by Senate Democrats to quickly confirm incoming CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
Democratic leaders—including Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), and Patrick Leahy (Vt.)—postponed Pompeo’s confirmation, claiming they need more time to debate the pick, which is widely supported by a majority of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
The decision to stall Pompeo’s vote, a move that will leave the critical post of CIA director vacant as Trump takes office, is part of a wider effort by the outgoing administration and its allies to hamstring Trump on the national security front, according to multiple sources, including those close to the Trump administration.
More here
The centerpiece of this obstruction is the recent refusal by Senate Democrats to quickly confirm incoming CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
Democratic leaders—including Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), and Patrick Leahy (Vt.)—postponed Pompeo’s confirmation, claiming they need more time to debate the pick, which is widely supported by a majority of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
The decision to stall Pompeo’s vote, a move that will leave the critical post of CIA director vacant as Trump takes office, is part of a wider effort by the outgoing administration and its allies to hamstring Trump on the national security front, according to multiple sources, including those close to the Trump administration.
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Donald Trump and the New American Patriotism
Donald Trump’s inaugural address was a stirring call for national unity and a declaration of war against the establishment in Washington, D.C. The speech was vintage Trump: politically incorrect, critical of both parties, amped up, biting, strongly delivered, and wildly ambitious. Anyone who believed Trump would change his beliefs or style when he assumed the office of the presidency was proven wrong. He’s not going to change. And he’s not going to let up.
Trump espoused his worldview in remarkably few words. He is a vituperative critic of the post-Cold War international system. Where the architects of that system see it as a bulwark of stability and global prosperity, Trump sees it as diminishing the United States in favor of foreign countries and an international class of wealthy political and financial elites. Washington has been serving its own interests, he said, and not the people’s. That ends now. His America will turn inward, focusing on domestic stability, education, infrastructure, and jobs. The one exception will be the fight against Islamic terrorism, where Trump is prepared to join with autocracies in pursuit of common goals.
Trump forcefully rejected identity politics. Racial and ethnic identities, he said, are less important than our status as American citizens..
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Trump espoused his worldview in remarkably few words. He is a vituperative critic of the post-Cold War international system. Where the architects of that system see it as a bulwark of stability and global prosperity, Trump sees it as diminishing the United States in favor of foreign countries and an international class of wealthy political and financial elites. Washington has been serving its own interests, he said, and not the people’s. That ends now. His America will turn inward, focusing on domestic stability, education, infrastructure, and jobs. The one exception will be the fight against Islamic terrorism, where Trump is prepared to join with autocracies in pursuit of common goals.
Trump forcefully rejected identity politics. Racial and ethnic identities, he said, are less important than our status as American citizens..
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Pruden: A hearty last laugh for the Donald
Donald Trump’s greatest contribution to America will be his stripping the media, particularly the overpaid and undereducated television media, of its last pretense to fairness and objectivity.
Most of these correspondents of the “legacy” media no longer even want to be called objective. They’ve heard a higher calling, to commune as equals with the high priestess of Delphi at the Temple of Apollo.
The natural antagonism between politician and oracle is an old one, and in earlier days the needling and teasing was good fun, harmless entertainment for the reading public. Some of the jabs occasionally drew a little blood, like nicks on the chin from an errant razor, but nobody required a transfusion. It was sometimes hard to see who suffered most, because one of the characteristics shared by pol and pundit is a skin approximately the thickness of bible paper.
Once upon a time a conscientious reporter or even the pundit with license to fire both barrels, understood that staying out of the tank was more effective, and more comfortable besides, than firing from inside. There were editors to keep the correspondent impressed by himself from embarrassing his newspaper.
The late A.M. Rosenthal, the executive editor of The New York Times who died disappointed because he failed to restore the newspaper’s once-high standard of objectivity and fairness, understood that a good editor’s first responsibility is to keep his troops working from the neutral zone. Once, when a female reporter sought permission to march in an abortion-rights demonstration and cover the story from there, Rosenthal the demanding editor became Rosenthal the Solomonic arbiter of rights.
“Sure,” he said. “If you want to [have sexual congress with] an elephant, be my guest. But if you do, you can’t cover the circus.”
More here
Most of these correspondents of the “legacy” media no longer even want to be called objective. They’ve heard a higher calling, to commune as equals with the high priestess of Delphi at the Temple of Apollo.
The natural antagonism between politician and oracle is an old one, and in earlier days the needling and teasing was good fun, harmless entertainment for the reading public. Some of the jabs occasionally drew a little blood, like nicks on the chin from an errant razor, but nobody required a transfusion. It was sometimes hard to see who suffered most, because one of the characteristics shared by pol and pundit is a skin approximately the thickness of bible paper.
Once upon a time a conscientious reporter or even the pundit with license to fire both barrels, understood that staying out of the tank was more effective, and more comfortable besides, than firing from inside. There were editors to keep the correspondent impressed by himself from embarrassing his newspaper.
The late A.M. Rosenthal, the executive editor of The New York Times who died disappointed because he failed to restore the newspaper’s once-high standard of objectivity and fairness, understood that a good editor’s first responsibility is to keep his troops working from the neutral zone. Once, when a female reporter sought permission to march in an abortion-rights demonstration and cover the story from there, Rosenthal the demanding editor became Rosenthal the Solomonic arbiter of rights.
“Sure,” he said. “If you want to [have sexual congress with] an elephant, be my guest. But if you do, you can’t cover the circus.”
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Pro-Life Youth Crash Pro-Abortion Women’s March
On her Facebook page, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, wrote, “Yeah so they wouldn’t let us in their march so we just ran ahead and got in the front.”
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Soros has ties to more than 50 ‘partners’ of the Women’s March on Washington
In the pre-dawn darkness of today’s presidential inauguration day, I faced a choice, as a lifelong liberal feminist who voted for Donald Trump for president: lace up my pink Nike sneakers to step forward and take the DC Metro into the nation’s capital for the inauguration of America’s new president, or wait and go tomorrow to the after-party, dubbed the “Women’s March on Washington”?
The Guardian has touted the “Women’s March on Washington” as a “spontaneous” action for women’s rights. Another liberal media outlet, Vox, talks about the “huge, spontaneous groundswell” behind the march. On its website, organizers of the march are promoting their work as “a grassroots effort” with “independent” organizers. Even my local yoga studio, Beloved Yoga, is renting a bus and offering seats for $35. The march’s manifesto says magnificently, “The Rise of the Woman = The Rise of the Nation.”
To understand the march better, I stayed up through the nights this week, studying the funding, politics and talking points of the some 403 groups that are “partners” of the march. Is this a non-partisan “Women’s March”?
Following the money, I poured through documents of billionaire George Soros and his Open Society philanthropy, because I wondered: What is the link between one of Hillary Clinton’s largest donors and the “Women’s March”?
I found out: plenty.
More here
The Guardian has touted the “Women’s March on Washington” as a “spontaneous” action for women’s rights. Another liberal media outlet, Vox, talks about the “huge, spontaneous groundswell” behind the march. On its website, organizers of the march are promoting their work as “a grassroots effort” with “independent” organizers. Even my local yoga studio, Beloved Yoga, is renting a bus and offering seats for $35. The march’s manifesto says magnificently, “The Rise of the Woman = The Rise of the Nation.”
To understand the march better, I stayed up through the nights this week, studying the funding, politics and talking points of the some 403 groups that are “partners” of the march. Is this a non-partisan “Women’s March”?
Following the money, I poured through documents of billionaire George Soros and his Open Society philanthropy, because I wondered: What is the link between one of Hillary Clinton’s largest donors and the “Women’s March”?
I found out: plenty.
More here
Donald Trump, change agent
With every new presidency comes real opportunity for real change.
Over the last eight years, Americans have become ever more disillusioned with politics as usual and that sentiment was expressed, loud and clear, at the ballot box last November.
Politics is as much about timing as it is good fortune, but every now and then a candidate comes along with real backbone — as did Donald Trump. Mr. Trump capitalized on the frustration of the American people, promising to be an agent for change and an agitator of the status quo. It wasn’t seen as just talk.
Only time will tell the type of president that Mr. Trump will be, and whether he’ll be able to follow through on his many promises. There will be little to no honeymoon for Mr. Trump, with Chuck Shumer and Nancy Pelosi steering the priorities of congressional Democrats, but with Mr. Trump, what you see is what you get. Against any political opposition, honesty and sincerity wins every time and Mr. Trump will undoubtedly have the advantage.
Based on form so far, Mr. Trump is a sure bet to always do what he thinks is right and what he thinks is in the national interest. Political shortcuts don’t seem to be in his playbook.
The same goes for the team Trump’s assembled, which reflects his own desire to talk straight with the American public and not mince words. Two of his selections for key leadership posts are obvious proof..
More here
Over the last eight years, Americans have become ever more disillusioned with politics as usual and that sentiment was expressed, loud and clear, at the ballot box last November.
Politics is as much about timing as it is good fortune, but every now and then a candidate comes along with real backbone — as did Donald Trump. Mr. Trump capitalized on the frustration of the American people, promising to be an agent for change and an agitator of the status quo. It wasn’t seen as just talk.
Only time will tell the type of president that Mr. Trump will be, and whether he’ll be able to follow through on his many promises. There will be little to no honeymoon for Mr. Trump, with Chuck Shumer and Nancy Pelosi steering the priorities of congressional Democrats, but with Mr. Trump, what you see is what you get. Against any political opposition, honesty and sincerity wins every time and Mr. Trump will undoubtedly have the advantage.
Based on form so far, Mr. Trump is a sure bet to always do what he thinks is right and what he thinks is in the national interest. Political shortcuts don’t seem to be in his playbook.
The same goes for the team Trump’s assembled, which reflects his own desire to talk straight with the American public and not mince words. Two of his selections for key leadership posts are obvious proof..
More here
Trump inauguration ratings second biggest in 36 years
Donald Trump’s inauguration ratings were the second-highest in 36 years, according to Nielsen.
The swearing-in of the 45th president was seen by 30.6 million viewers across 12 networks.
The only inauguration over the last three decades that tops Trump’s number in the linear ratings? Barack Obama’s first inauguration back in 2009, which had a record-setting 37.8 million viewers. So Trump was down from the last new president to take office.
But before that, to get an Inauguration Day number this high, you’d have to go all the way back to Ronald Reagan in 1981, who was seen by 41.8 million viewers (Nielsen released tracking for inauguration ratings back to 1969).
Trump’s numbers are all the more remarkable considering he’s entering into office with rather low approval ratings compared to past presidents and sparked protests worldwide along with vows to not watch his inauguration.
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The swearing-in of the 45th president was seen by 30.6 million viewers across 12 networks.
The only inauguration over the last three decades that tops Trump’s number in the linear ratings? Barack Obama’s first inauguration back in 2009, which had a record-setting 37.8 million viewers. So Trump was down from the last new president to take office.
But before that, to get an Inauguration Day number this high, you’d have to go all the way back to Ronald Reagan in 1981, who was seen by 41.8 million viewers (Nielsen released tracking for inauguration ratings back to 1969).
Trump’s numbers are all the more remarkable considering he’s entering into office with rather low approval ratings compared to past presidents and sparked protests worldwide along with vows to not watch his inauguration.
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Noonan: President Trump Declares Independence
His message to America: Remember those things I said in the campaign? I meant them. I meant it all.
I was more moved than I expected. Then more startled.
The old forms and traditions, the bands and bunting, endured. I thought, as I watched the inauguration: It continues. There were pomp and splendor, happy, cheering crowds; and for all the confounding nature of the past 18 months, and all the trauma, it came as a reassurance to see us do what we do the way we do it. A friend in the Southwest, a longtime Trump supporter, emailed just before the swearing in: “I have been crying all morning.” From joy.
I found myself unexpectedly moved during the White House meeting of the Trumps and the Obamas, at the moment Melania Trump emerged from her car. She was beautiful, seemed so shy and game. There are many ways to show your respect for people and events, and one is to present yourself with elegance and dignity.
The inaugural address was utterly and uncompromisingly Trumpian. The man who ran is the man who’ll reign. It was plain, unfancy and blunt to the point of blistering. A little humility would have gone a long way, but that’s not the path he took. Nor did he attempt to reassure. It was pow, right in the face. Most important, he did not in any way align himself with the proud Democrats and Republicans arrayed around him. He looked out at the crowd and said he was allied with them.
More here
I was more moved than I expected. Then more startled.
The old forms and traditions, the bands and bunting, endured. I thought, as I watched the inauguration: It continues. There were pomp and splendor, happy, cheering crowds; and for all the confounding nature of the past 18 months, and all the trauma, it came as a reassurance to see us do what we do the way we do it. A friend in the Southwest, a longtime Trump supporter, emailed just before the swearing in: “I have been crying all morning.” From joy.
I found myself unexpectedly moved during the White House meeting of the Trumps and the Obamas, at the moment Melania Trump emerged from her car. She was beautiful, seemed so shy and game. There are many ways to show your respect for people and events, and one is to present yourself with elegance and dignity.
The inaugural address was utterly and uncompromisingly Trumpian. The man who ran is the man who’ll reign. It was plain, unfancy and blunt to the point of blistering. A little humility would have gone a long way, but that’s not the path he took. Nor did he attempt to reassure. It was pow, right in the face. Most important, he did not in any way align himself with the proud Democrats and Republicans arrayed around him. He looked out at the crowd and said he was allied with them.
More here
Lead Baltimore police investigator in Freddie Gray case charged with assault
Taylor, 46, a veteran homicide detective, was charged Friday with two counts of second-degree assault.
A woman identified as Tonia Taylor is listed as the complainant, and the charges were approved by a District Court commissioner. Court records show a warrant was issued, and Dawnyell Taylor was released on her own recognizance.
Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith said Sunday that Taylor's police powers have been suspended.
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Now This Is Really Cool. Look Now Before CNN Takes It Down.
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/01/politics/trump-inauguration-gigapixel/
FAKE NEWS on Day One: TIME Reporter’s False Martin Luther King Bust Story
Miller had initially tweeted Friday that the MLK Jr. bust, which then-President Obama put in the Oval Office after removing a bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 2009, had been removed from the Oval Office.
Realizing his mistake, Miller tweeted a correction and apologized for spreading the false report..
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Pelosi says religious Republicans ‘dishonor’ God
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday that it is a misconception that Democrats are not “people of faith,” and that Republicans “dishonor the God who made them.”
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinsk sat down with Mrs. Pelosi for an Inauguration Day interview that addressed the Democratic Party’s recent electoral troubles. Mr. Scarborough asked the Californian how Democrats could “reconnect with middle America,” which prompted her break with “the spirit of the day of unity.”
“Thank you for asking that question,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “[There is a] cultural issue, especially when it comes to rural America — the isolation that some people feel there — plus they don’t think the Democrats are people of faith when the fact is we are.
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Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinsk sat down with Mrs. Pelosi for an Inauguration Day interview that addressed the Democratic Party’s recent electoral troubles. Mr. Scarborough asked the Californian how Democrats could “reconnect with middle America,” which prompted her break with “the spirit of the day of unity.”
“Thank you for asking that question,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “[There is a] cultural issue, especially when it comes to rural America — the isolation that some people feel there — plus they don’t think the Democrats are people of faith when the fact is we are.
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Mom sues to stop Bible study classes in West Virginia schools
A kindergartner's mother is suing her public school system in West Virginia, asking that it discontinue a 75-year practice of putting kids in Bible classes that violate the U.S. and state constitutions.
The woman, identified as "Jane Doe" in the federal lawsuit backed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, says her child will be forced either to take these weekly classes at her Mercer County elementary school or face ostracism as one of the few children who don't. Her daughter is called “Jamie” in the suit.
“Jamie will either be forced to attend Bible indoctrination classes against the wishes and conscience of Jane Doe, or Jamie will be the only or one of only a few children who do not participate,” the lawsuit says. “Jamie will therefore be made conspicuous by absence, and essentially be identified as a non-Christian or nonbeliever, subjecting Jamie to the risk of ostracism from peers and even school staff.”
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The woman, identified as "Jane Doe" in the federal lawsuit backed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, says her child will be forced either to take these weekly classes at her Mercer County elementary school or face ostracism as one of the few children who don't. Her daughter is called “Jamie” in the suit.
“Jamie will either be forced to attend Bible indoctrination classes against the wishes and conscience of Jane Doe, or Jamie will be the only or one of only a few children who do not participate,” the lawsuit says. “Jamie will therefore be made conspicuous by absence, and essentially be identified as a non-Christian or nonbeliever, subjecting Jamie to the risk of ostracism from peers and even school staff.”
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Lower tolls didn't cost Maryland as much as expected, transportation secretary says
That's a 35 percent drop. But a 9.4 percent increase in highway traffic helped defray that dip, according to figures released by the Maryland Transportation Authority. Revenue increases at other toll facilities helped keep the overall drop to $5.1 million, or less than 1 percent.
The MdTA said the tolls still exceeded the revenue forecast for 2016. The tolls were raised in the 2012 and 2014 fiscal years to finance construction projects.
Money from tolls supports the transportation authority and its construction projects. Some have expressed concern that the toll reductions would mean less money for infrastructure projects such as the planned replacement of the Harry W. Nice Bridge in Southern Maryland.
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The Crazy Left’s 4-Step Strategy To Ensure Trump’s Re-Election In 2020
The first Trump administration has [barely] even begun, and already people are planning to get him re-elected. I am not talking about Republican political strategists dreaming of the campaign ads to run starting in mid-2019. I am talking about seemingly the entire liberal political establishment, which is devoting itself wholesale to ensuring that the 2020 election is another victory for Donald Trump.
This is something of a surprise. After the humiliating defeat of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, you would imagine liberals would learn to tell the difference between what works and what doesn’t. The paranoia, the sneering condescension, the celebrity-infused elitism, the relentless “othering” of tens upon tens of millions of Americans: this approach was a failure. Clinton lost the most winnable election in several generations.
So you might think that, in the run-up to the 2018 midterms and ultimately the 2020 presidential election, American progressives would try something different—anything different!
You would be wrong. Embarrassed, angry, and confused, the Left is simply doubling down on the behavior and the rhetoric that drove large numbers of Americans to vote for Trump in the first place. If you’re a liberal and you want to greatly increase Trump’s chances for re-election in 2020, here are four easy steps you can take to make that a reality.
1. Deny the Legitimacy of the Election Results..
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This is something of a surprise. After the humiliating defeat of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, you would imagine liberals would learn to tell the difference between what works and what doesn’t. The paranoia, the sneering condescension, the celebrity-infused elitism, the relentless “othering” of tens upon tens of millions of Americans: this approach was a failure. Clinton lost the most winnable election in several generations.
So you might think that, in the run-up to the 2018 midterms and ultimately the 2020 presidential election, American progressives would try something different—anything different!
You would be wrong. Embarrassed, angry, and confused, the Left is simply doubling down on the behavior and the rhetoric that drove large numbers of Americans to vote for Trump in the first place. If you’re a liberal and you want to greatly increase Trump’s chances for re-election in 2020, here are four easy steps you can take to make that a reality.
1. Deny the Legitimacy of the Election Results..
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MISSING GERMAN SHEPHERD MIX: UPDATE
AREA OF RIVERSIDE DRIVE
AND
SHARPS POINT ROAD SALISBURY, MD
-Responds to "Grace"
-Very friendly
-Wearing a light colored collar
-Jumped the fence of her yard earlier this morning, 1/22/2017
-If located, please contact Charlotte at 352-318-7709
-Very friendly
-Wearing a light colored collar
-Jumped the fence of her yard earlier this morning, 1/22/2017
-If located, please contact Charlotte at 352-318-7709
ESPN Offers Their Social Media Sites as Platform for Leftist Activists
ESPNW, the site which focuses on women’s sports, has apparently also decided to start focusing on women’s political activism.
ESPNW chose Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day to tweet out a call for people participating in Saturday’s Women’s March to share their stories with the “sports” network.
The organizers of the Women’s March are radical leftists who have billed the march as an effort to support every leftist initiative under the sun. Here’s how Women’s March co-chair Carmen Perez describes the purpose of the march:
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ESPNW chose Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day to tweet out a call for people participating in Saturday’s Women’s March to share their stories with the “sports” network.
The organizers of the Women’s March are radical leftists who have billed the march as an effort to support every leftist initiative under the sun. Here’s how Women’s March co-chair Carmen Perez describes the purpose of the march:
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Many Arrested Inauguration Day Protesters Will Face Felony Rioting Charges
Most of the approximately 230 protesters arrested on Inauguration Day will be charged with felony rioting, federal prosecutors said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The office said most of those arrested will be released without having to post bail and must return to court in February.
A first group of 10 men appeared in Superior Court just before 3 p.m., and their lawyer entered a not guilty plea on their behalf. A judge released all of them on the condition they not get re-arrested in the District of Columbia.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The office said most of those arrested will be released without having to post bail and must return to court in February.
A first group of 10 men appeared in Superior Court just before 3 p.m., and their lawyer entered a not guilty plea on their behalf. A judge released all of them on the condition they not get re-arrested in the District of Columbia.
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Fake News: Three Mainstream Media Lies on Trump’s First Day
The mainstream media lost no time in attempting to undermine President Donald Trump, as opposed to actually reporting information.
After eight years of kowtowing to Obama, they have suddenly discovered a civic responsibility to hold the government accountable. But they are focusing on minutiae, and in some cases actually telling lies, both of omission and commission. That risks alienating the public even further — making it harder, actually, for the media to act as watchdogs.
Lie #1: President Trump was focused on the crowd size at the inauguration. He mentioned it in passing in his speech at the CIA, and Press Secretary Sean Spicer took the media to task for trying to downplay attendance figures. But to say — as CNN’s Anderson Cooper did — that crowd size was Trump’s focus on his first day in office is simply absurd. On Cooper’s program Saturday, CNN played a clip of Spicer’s first press conference that only mentioned the crowd size issue — leaving out Spicer’s preceding comments taking a journalist to task for reporting, falsely, that Trump had a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. removed from the Oval Office. The crowd issue was secondary — but CNN chose to focus on it because it was less of a slam-dunk against the media than the bust. Whatever the numbers on Inauguration Day, Spicer’s point was that the media were more interesting in undermining Trump, and promoting anti-Trump protests, than in covering the actual news of the day.
Lie #2:
After eight years of kowtowing to Obama, they have suddenly discovered a civic responsibility to hold the government accountable. But they are focusing on minutiae, and in some cases actually telling lies, both of omission and commission. That risks alienating the public even further — making it harder, actually, for the media to act as watchdogs.
Lie #1: President Trump was focused on the crowd size at the inauguration. He mentioned it in passing in his speech at the CIA, and Press Secretary Sean Spicer took the media to task for trying to downplay attendance figures. But to say — as CNN’s Anderson Cooper did — that crowd size was Trump’s focus on his first day in office is simply absurd. On Cooper’s program Saturday, CNN played a clip of Spicer’s first press conference that only mentioned the crowd size issue — leaving out Spicer’s preceding comments taking a journalist to task for reporting, falsely, that Trump had a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. removed from the Oval Office. The crowd issue was secondary — but CNN chose to focus on it because it was less of a slam-dunk against the media than the bust. Whatever the numbers on Inauguration Day, Spicer’s point was that the media were more interesting in undermining Trump, and promoting anti-Trump protests, than in covering the actual news of the day.
Lie #2:
NPS: Cleanup ‘going well’ after inauguration, Women’s March
The National Park Service has been working to get the area back to its original condition, removing trash, taking down the fencing and pulling up the decking for the recent activities.
“We’ve had our maintenance team out there since last night when they already did a pass,” National Park Service spokeswoman Emily Linroth said Saturday. “Today, they are really going through with a fine tooth comb and picking up what’s left. They do this every July Fourth, so they are pros at it.”
This time around, officials say, visitors were tidier than prior years. Linroth says so far, the cleanup is going well.
“Fortunately, a lot of people, even though, the trash cans were full, have stacked the trash neatly as close to the trash cans as they could get them, so that is making our job easier,” Linroth said.
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It has been a really bad week for journalism
It has been a particularly embarrassing week for the press, and it's only Saturday.
For an industry that's as disliked and distrusted as Congress, there's a lot of work that media need to do to win back viewers' trust. There's no room for error, especially now that there's a subgenre of "news" that has zero basis in fact, and is created from thin air for the sole purpose of generating cash.
But learning to be more careful and even-handed is apparently difficult for some in media, and this week was especially rough for newsrooms that are already struggling to regain credibility.
In no particular order, here are some of the most embarrassing media moments from this week:
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For an industry that's as disliked and distrusted as Congress, there's a lot of work that media need to do to win back viewers' trust. There's no room for error, especially now that there's a subgenre of "news" that has zero basis in fact, and is created from thin air for the sole purpose of generating cash.
But learning to be more careful and even-handed is apparently difficult for some in media, and this week was especially rough for newsrooms that are already struggling to regain credibility.
In no particular order, here are some of the most embarrassing media moments from this week:
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Gov. Larry Hogan seeks to eliminate gerrymandering
Hogan introduces Redistricting Reform Act legislation
In many parts of Maryland, people living next door to one another have different members of Congress.
Gov. Larry Hogan wants to eliminate gerrymandering, which would make more districts politically competitive.
During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump claimed that a lot of things were rigged in politics.
"We have a rigged system, folks," Trump told supporters.
Hogan said he wants to fix one aspect of it.
"We've been singled out for having some of the worst gerrymandered districts in the United States of America," Hogan said.
The map of Maryland's congressional districts, drawn by Democrats in 2011, all but guarantees that Democrats will win seven of eight House seats. A judge once called oddly shaped District 3 a broken-winged pterodactyl.
Hogan wants lawmakers to pass the Redistricting Reform Act.
"This legislation will provide for a nonpartisan, redistricting commission and create a fair, nonpartisan, open and transparent redistricting process," Hogan said.
"If we don't fix gerrymandering, we're not going to restore the faith we have in our democracy," said Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, with the ethics watchdog Common Cause.
Bevan-Dangel said gerrymandering harms moderate politicians.
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In many parts of Maryland, people living next door to one another have different members of Congress.
Gov. Larry Hogan wants to eliminate gerrymandering, which would make more districts politically competitive.
During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump claimed that a lot of things were rigged in politics.
"We have a rigged system, folks," Trump told supporters.
Hogan said he wants to fix one aspect of it.
"We've been singled out for having some of the worst gerrymandered districts in the United States of America," Hogan said.
The map of Maryland's congressional districts, drawn by Democrats in 2011, all but guarantees that Democrats will win seven of eight House seats. A judge once called oddly shaped District 3 a broken-winged pterodactyl.
Hogan wants lawmakers to pass the Redistricting Reform Act.
"This legislation will provide for a nonpartisan, redistricting commission and create a fair, nonpartisan, open and transparent redistricting process," Hogan said.
"If we don't fix gerrymandering, we're not going to restore the faith we have in our democracy," said Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, with the ethics watchdog Common Cause.
Bevan-Dangel said gerrymandering harms moderate politicians.
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Volunteer Firehouses Struggle to Find Recruits
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Everybody in this fire station was sleeping one recent morning when the alarms started blaring. Six firefighters hopped out of their bunks and pulled their gear over their pajamas. The sun was still coming up when they reached a house where smoke was rising from the basement.
Afterward, back in their pajamas, the young men gathered in the station’s control room. The chief’s son wrote up the report: furnace malfunction in the basement, no injuries, no damage. Then the bantering began — about girlfriends, the holidays and work.
This all-volunteer fire station and the two others in Shippensburg, a factory and university town of about 5,500 people in a central Pennsylvania valley, are vestiges of the past. Firefighters sit around on weekdays playing rummy, and people gather for bingo Friday nights. Yet, the stations are much quieter than they were decades ago, when they felt like the center of the town. And as the community’s interests have shifted from the fire stations, the number of volunteers has fallen.
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Afterward, back in their pajamas, the young men gathered in the station’s control room. The chief’s son wrote up the report: furnace malfunction in the basement, no injuries, no damage. Then the bantering began — about girlfriends, the holidays and work.
This all-volunteer fire station and the two others in Shippensburg, a factory and university town of about 5,500 people in a central Pennsylvania valley, are vestiges of the past. Firefighters sit around on weekdays playing rummy, and people gather for bingo Friday nights. Yet, the stations are much quieter than they were decades ago, when they felt like the center of the town. And as the community’s interests have shifted from the fire stations, the number of volunteers has fallen.
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Publishers Notes: Funny, no mention of departments like Salisbury discouraging volunteers in order to achieve a fully stocked PAID fire department.
Rep. Brown paying down state loan with unusual method
Rep. Anthony G. Brown is slowly making progress paying back the $500,000 he borrowed from a union in the waning weeks of his unsuccessful 2014 run for governor — but he is doing so in an unexpected way.
Brown, who sailed to victory in the heavily Democratic 4th Congressional District last fall, returned $160,000 of the loan from the Laborers Political Education Fund in 2016, state campaign finance reports filed last week show.
At the same time, Brown was being repaid money he had lent his campaign for Congress.
A review of state and federal campaign finance reports by The Baltimore Sun indicates that Brown is paying off the state debt to the union at the same time he is being paid back by his federal congressional account — often in identical sums of money.
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Brown, who sailed to victory in the heavily Democratic 4th Congressional District last fall, returned $160,000 of the loan from the Laborers Political Education Fund in 2016, state campaign finance reports filed last week show.
At the same time, Brown was being repaid money he had lent his campaign for Congress.
A review of state and federal campaign finance reports by The Baltimore Sun indicates that Brown is paying off the state debt to the union at the same time he is being paid back by his federal congressional account — often in identical sums of money.
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Road hazzard on bypass
Should Social Media Be Banned in Prison?
State prison inmates plan a work strike on Saturday in conjunction with a march in Washington to protest corporate food giant Aramark, which provides meals at more than 500 correctional facilities in the country. Their means of organizing: social media.
Planning for Saturday’s protest duplicates how inmates in 24 states used Facebook,Twitter and YouTube in September to stage a work strike on the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising to protest prison conditions, which they called “modern-day slavery.”
“We connected from our social media platforms,” Bennu Hannibal, an inmate serving a life sentence for murder in Alabama, told Vice News, using a smuggled cellphone to conduct the interview. “All those platforms allowed us to connect with different people and different organizers from around the world.”
In most states, prison officials want to prevent inmates from having easy access to the outside world via social media — and not just to avert prison strikes. They fear prisoners could use social media to stalk a former victim, run crime rings, threaten a witness, arrange contraband drops or find out personal information about prison guards and officials.
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Planning for Saturday’s protest duplicates how inmates in 24 states used Facebook,Twitter and YouTube in September to stage a work strike on the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising to protest prison conditions, which they called “modern-day slavery.”
“We connected from our social media platforms,” Bennu Hannibal, an inmate serving a life sentence for murder in Alabama, told Vice News, using a smuggled cellphone to conduct the interview. “All those platforms allowed us to connect with different people and different organizers from around the world.”
In most states, prison officials want to prevent inmates from having easy access to the outside world via social media — and not just to avert prison strikes. They fear prisoners could use social media to stalk a former victim, run crime rings, threaten a witness, arrange contraband drops or find out personal information about prison guards and officials.
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Seattle Area Moves Closer to Legalized Heroin Shooting Galleries
King County, Washington, could soon be home to the country’s first legal heroin shooting galleries.
According to the Seattle Times, the health board there has unanimously given preliminary approval for at least two heroin injection sites in the county, which is home to 2 million people and includes the city of Seattle. The mayor and the county executive will now consider the issue.
The injection sites would allow opioid users to take their drugs under medical supervision and without fear of arrest. Though such operations exist in 27 cities around the world, there are none in the United States where there were an estimated million heroin users in 2014.
Proponents of the injection sites argue that addicts will use heroin regardless of its legality and that opening a safe place to do drugs can drive down crime in urban areas, prevent fatal overdoses and help guide users toward drug treatment and other health care.
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According to the Seattle Times, the health board there has unanimously given preliminary approval for at least two heroin injection sites in the county, which is home to 2 million people and includes the city of Seattle. The mayor and the county executive will now consider the issue.
The injection sites would allow opioid users to take their drugs under medical supervision and without fear of arrest. Though such operations exist in 27 cities around the world, there are none in the United States where there were an estimated million heroin users in 2014.
Proponents of the injection sites argue that addicts will use heroin regardless of its legality and that opening a safe place to do drugs can drive down crime in urban areas, prevent fatal overdoses and help guide users toward drug treatment and other health care.
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One Big, Fat, Ugly Bubble
The establishment is setting up Donald Trump.
The mainstream media hates him. Hollywood hates him. The “Intellectual Yet Idiot” academia class hates him.
The CIA hates him. So does the rest of the Deep State, or the permanently entrenched “national security” bureaucracy.
They did everything possible to stop Trump from taking office. None of it worked. They fired all of their bullets, but he still wouldn’t go down.
Of course, the Deep State could still try to assassinate Trump. It’s obvious the possibility has crossed his mind. He’s taken the unusual step of supplementing his Secret Service protection with loyal private security.
The Deep State’s next move is to pin the coming stock market collapse on Trump. When people think “Greater Depression,” they’ll think “Donald Trump.”
The economy has been on life support since the 2008 financial crisis. The Fed has pumped it up with unprecedented amounts of “stimulus.” This has created enormous distortions and misallocations of capital that need to be flushed.
Think of the trillions of dollars in money printing programs—euphemistically called quantitative easing (QE) 1, 2, and 3.
Meanwhile, with zero and even negative interest rates in many countries, rates are the lowest they’ve been in 5,000 years of recorded human history.
This is not hyperbole. We’re really in uncharted territory. (Interest rates were never lower than 6% in ancient Greece, and ranged from 4% to over 12% in ancient Rome.)
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The mainstream media hates him. Hollywood hates him. The “Intellectual Yet Idiot” academia class hates him.
The CIA hates him. So does the rest of the Deep State, or the permanently entrenched “national security” bureaucracy.
They did everything possible to stop Trump from taking office. None of it worked. They fired all of their bullets, but he still wouldn’t go down.
Of course, the Deep State could still try to assassinate Trump. It’s obvious the possibility has crossed his mind. He’s taken the unusual step of supplementing his Secret Service protection with loyal private security.
The Deep State’s next move is to pin the coming stock market collapse on Trump. When people think “Greater Depression,” they’ll think “Donald Trump.”
The economy has been on life support since the 2008 financial crisis. The Fed has pumped it up with unprecedented amounts of “stimulus.” This has created enormous distortions and misallocations of capital that need to be flushed.
Think of the trillions of dollars in money printing programs—euphemistically called quantitative easing (QE) 1, 2, and 3.
Meanwhile, with zero and even negative interest rates in many countries, rates are the lowest they’ve been in 5,000 years of recorded human history.
This is not hyperbole. We’re really in uncharted territory. (Interest rates were never lower than 6% in ancient Greece, and ranged from 4% to over 12% in ancient Rome.)
More
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