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Monday, March 06, 2017

The 5 Filters of the Mass Media Machine

Flashback: Leaked Documents Reveal Expansive Soros Funding to Manipulate Federal Elections

Leaked funding documents reveal an effort by George Soros and his foundations to manipulate election laws and process rules ahead of the federal election far more expansively than has been previously reported.

The billionaire and convicted felon moved hundreds of millions of dollars into often-secret efforts to change election laws, fuel litigation to attack election integrity measures, push public narratives about voter fraud, and to integrate the political ground game of the left with efforts to scare racial minority groups about voting rights threats.

These Soros-funded efforts moved through dozens of 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) charities and involved the active compliance with civil rights groups, government officials, and purportedly non-partisan groups like the League of Women Voters.

The leaked documents also reveal deliberate and successful efforts to manipulate media coverage of election issues in mainstream media outlets like the The New York Times.

Conservatives and Republicans have no opposing effort or source of funds that represents even a small fraction in opposition to level of the Soros-led manipulation contained in the leaked documents.

The documents reveal that the Soros campaign fueled litigation attacking election integrity measures, such as citizenship verification and voter ID. It funded long-term efforts to fundamentally transform election administration -- including the creation of databases that were marketed to state governments for use in voter verification. It propped up left-leaning media to attack reports of voter fraud, and conducted racially and ideologically targeted voter registration drives.

The racially targeted voter registration drives were executed at the same time Soros dollars were funding other public relations efforts to polarize racial minority groups by scaring them about the loss of voting rights and the dangers of police officers.

There's much more here..

ACLU URGES OVERRIDE OF HOWARD COUNTY SANCTUARY VETO

HOWARD COUNTY, MD - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland has sent a letter to members of the Howard County Council, urging them to support all of their constituents, including vulnerable noncitizens, when voting on whether to override County Executive Allan Kittleman's ill-advised veto of sanctuary legislation that would prevent county police from acting as federal immigration enforcers.

"The time is now for local governments to protect vulnerable residents, as the Trump administration is prioritizing removal of every noncitizen in this country regardless of whether the individual has a felony conviction, or just a traffic ticket," said ACLU of Maryland Legal and Policy Counsel Nick Steiner. "We thank those councilmembers who voted in favor of CB-9, a bill that will allow local law enforcement to focus on community policing and the public safety of Howard County, not enforce the priorities of federal immigration authorities and participate in unconstitutional police practices. The bill will benefit all of the county's residents, including the most vulnerable, and we urge the two councilmembers who voted against the bill to reconsider given the tangible benefit this law would have on even those immigrant communities in Howard County that have legal status."

The ACLU letter includes a personal story of real fears experienced by noncitizen residents every day. Pratishtha Khanna is a long-time Howard County resident who testified in support of CB-9. Born in India, she traveled to the U.S. on a valid tourist visa when she was 10 years old, and has lived in the U.S. ever since. Despite being an exceptional student, her undocumented status made her ineligible for federal student loans to make higher education possible. The Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program under former President Barack Obama allowed Ms. Khanna to receive a social security number, work authorization, and legal presence. Yet, Ms. Khanna is still vulnerable to the immigration enforcement policies of the Trump administration. Like all people of color, she can be targeted because she fits the profile of being a foreigner in the United States.

Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 6-figure government payout under scrutiny

A government ethics expert wants the federal government to investigate former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s $138,000-a-year payout from a combination of worker's compensation and Social Security disability benefits.

The Chicago Tribune reported Jackson receives $100,000 per year in worker's compensation benefits because he has bipolar disorder and depression and another $38,400 per year in disability benefits. Craig Holman, from the watchdog group Public Citizen, called that amount of money "breathtaking" for a former congressman.

"I can't imagine in any way that his bipolar disorder would have been caused in any way by his congressional duties," Holman said. "It's really troubling to see someone who goes to prison for corruption coming out of prison (and collecting that money)."

Jackson was released from prison on 2015 after using his campaign fund for personal enrichment. He served in Congress for 17 years before quitting in 2012.

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Earnest Can't Deny Trump Tower Was Surveilled By Obama Admin

When pressed by ABC’s Martha Raddatz on Sunday, Josh Earnest opted not to categorically “deny that the Obama Justice Department” monitored Trump Tower during the 2016 election.

President Obama’s former press secretary opened his interview by calling reports that “President Obama ordered a wiretap” false, yet backpedaled when the “This Week” guest host asked him to “categorically deny” that President Trump’s campaign headquarters was under surveillance.

WATCH:

Trump Gives Commanders Power to Authorize Military Strikes

Following two days of airstrikes against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) targets in Yemen, it was revealed Friday that President Donald Trump has granted his military commanders the power to authorize military strikes in certain countries without his permission.

According to the Washington Examiner, Trump instituted the new approval process when he gave the go-ahead for a Jan. 29 special operations mission in Yemen that resulted in the death of Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens.

Commanders already had the authority to give the green light for operations in countries with a significant U.S. military presence, but that was not the case under former President Barack Obama in countries such as Yemen, which does not have many American military personnel. Commanders complained that the process for launching strikes in those countries was clunky and lengthy. The new rules make it more streamlined.

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Frosh asks Homeland Security to declare Maryland courts, schools and hospitals 'safe harbors' for immigrants

Anticipating stepped-up efforts to deport people who are in the country illegally, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh wrote to federal authorities Thursday asking that they declare the state's courts, schools and hospitals off limits to immigration agents.

In a letter to the heads of the Department of Homeland Security and immigration and border enforcement agencies, Frosh wrote that the lives of people in the country illegally could be put in danger if they are scared to use the justice system or get medical help.

Frosh, a Democrat, wrote that he was sending the letter in response to new immigration guidelines issued by the Trump administration that greatly expand the number of people considered a priority for removal from the country.

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Democrats Hypocritical on Recusal

Newly installed Attorney General Jeff Sessions is being harshly castigated over conflict of interest allegations that link him to last year’s non-scandal Russia scandal. Unsurprisingly, those Democrats who aren’t calling for his immediate removal from office are urging Sessions to recuse himself from any investigations into Donald Trump’s links to Russia. And, to his credit, that’s just what Sessions did late Thursday.

As the National Review editors write, “Government officials ought to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Given that that standard has been honored mainly in the breach over the past eight years — especially in the Justice Department — Sessions’s decision is a marked improvement on the conduct of his most recent predecessors.”

On that note, let’s step back and evaluate several conflicts of interest the Leftmedia sidestepped when Barack Obama was in power. Let’s start with Justice Elena Kagan. Before her promotion to the Supreme Court, Kagan served as Obama’s solicitor general. Her job was to convince the High Court on the legality of Obama’s agenda. After her ascension to the Supreme Court, however, Kagan refused to recuse herself from NFIB v. Sebelius, the contentious ObamaCare case. This is critical because, despite the administration’s assurances, she was clearly involved in defending the health care overhaul as solicitor general. That ruling, you’ll recall, was 5-4, and it had a far bigger impact than any meetings Sessions had with Russian officials.

Then there’s Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

A nude photo scandal has shaken the entire Marine Corps

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine Corps is investigating allegations an unspecified number of military personnel and veterans allegedly distributed nude photos of female colleagues and other women as part of a perverse social media network that promotes sexual violence.

The explosive revelation was first reported by The War Horse and published Saturday via Reveal, part of the Center for Investigative Reporting. Potentially hundreds of Marines may be caught up in the scandal, which has shaken top Pentagon officials and prompted death threats against the Marine veteran who disclosed it. An undetermined number of nude photos were shared online by way of a Facebook group titled Marines United, according to the report. The community has nearly 30,000 members, mostly comprising active-duty U.S. Marines, Marine Corps veterans and British Royal Marines.

The unseemly episode is deeply embarrassing for the Marine Corps and the Defense Department, proud institutions that, like many college campuses around the country, have struggled to curtail widespread problems with sexual assault. At the same time, it exposes an unsettling rift within a segment of American society consistently regarded as reputable, honorable and trustworthy.

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Breaking News: The Republican replacement for Obamacare scraps mandated insurance in favor of incentives for people to buy it on the open market

House Republicans unveiled their long-awaited plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, scrapping the mandate that nearly all Americans have health insurance and replacing it with a system of tax credits aimed at enticing Americans to purchase health care on the open market.

Watch: Mets Prospect Snags Flying Bat with One Hand

Major League Baseball’s spring training is underway again, and New York Mets shortstop prospect Luis Guillorme is already making an impression on the big league club.

Thursday, Miami Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria swung and lost the bat..

Watch what happened next..

Canadian Border Patrol Union Says Border Like ‘Swiss Cheese’

Just a day after Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale gave a thumbs-up to border security “enforcing the law,” the president of the union representing border officers said the border is like “Swiss cheese” and that the federal government is misrepresenting the numbers of illegals getting through.

Jean-Pierre Fortin, president of the Canadian Customs and Immigration Union, said his members are passing on figures that are inconsistent with the ones the immigration officials are releasing — “they’re higher.”

“The frontline officers are actually the ones giving me the numbers and they’re slightly different. They’re higher right now,” Fortin told CTV News Sunday.

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What To Do When Pulled Over: A New Chapter For Driver’s Ed?

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Deadly encounters between police officers and motorists have lawmakers across the country thinking driver’s education should require students to be taught what to do in a traffic stop.

Legislators in North Carolina and at least three other states are considering bills this year designed to teach new drivers how to interact appropriately with police. Another bill in Virginia awaits the governor’s signature.

Illinois passed a similar law recently. Its updated “Rules of the Road” publication could provide a model about proper driver behavior. A spokesman for the Illinois driver’s license agency says it’s all about using common sense and not being confrontational.

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Kellyanne Conway Fires Back After Dem. Congressman Makes Crude Sexual Remark About Her

By Carmine Sabia, BizPac Review

Kellyanne Conway has spoken out after a Democrat congressman made, what to many sounded like, a crude sexual remark about her.

At a Washington Press Club Foundation Dinner on Wednesday Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana said Conway “familiar” with being on her knees.

The True Tale of Misty, Stormy, and maybe the worst nor’easter of them all

The deluge lasted three long days and stretched across five high tides right at the time of the full moon. More than 90 percent of Chincoteague Island flooded. The water ran six feet deep at times on Main Street in downtown Chincoteague. The island’s chicken industry was destroyed–an estimated 350,000 birds died in the storm. Chincoteague’s famous ponies suffered horribly as well. By the time the rain stopped, more than 100 of them had died.

The culprit was the Ash Wednesday storm of March 6 to 8, 1962.

The most famous of Chincoteague’s ponies managed to survive the storm. A pregnant Misty was living at that time on the Beebe Farm in Chincoteague. Floodwaters did, in fact, reach her barn, but before that happened Ralph and Jeannette Beebe moved Misty into the kitchen of their home. She stayed there for three days. The aerial photo here shows how things looked at the Beebe Farm during the flooding.


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Hypocrisy Alert: Trump Advisors Not Alone as Russian Ambassador at Center of Brouhaha Also Met with Numerous Democrats

Democrats were aghast after learning Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice, as a senator, with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. without telling Congress at his confirmation hearing – but it turns out Sergey Kislyak is no stranger to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The longtime Russian ambassador met with seven then-Democratic senators in a single sit-down in 2013, among other discussions – and reportedly was a frequent visitor to the Obama White House.

As House Speaker Paul Ryan put it Thursday, “We meet with ambassadors all the time.”

The central issue dogging Sessions is not so much that he met with the ambassador but that he claimed during his confirmation hearing he had no “communications” with Russian officials during his time as a Trump campaign surrogate. In a press conference, though, Sessions rejected claims he misled Congress and suggested he was answering in the context of campaign-related discussions, which he maintains he never had.

But some Sessions critics nevertheless portrayed meetings with Kislyak, whose country was accused of meddling in the 2016 campaign, as a rare summit, particularly for a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee like Sessions.

The most forceful such statement came from Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who tweeted that she had “been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years. No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com.”

That was quickly proven untrue.

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Help for helpers: Recovery center for firefighters opens in Md.

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Firefighters face a tough job. Sometimes they see tragedy unfold and put their lives at risk while working to save others. Such experiences may leave indelible impressions that can be difficult to process.

The International Association of Firefighters Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health was created to specifically help this branch of first responders cope with work-related traumatic stress.

“They have to be able to deal with it at a moment in time, but it doesn’t mean that some of these images and experiences don’t stay with them,” said Harold Schaitberger, IAFF president. “Sometimes they’ll use firehouse humor to kind of cover up their pain. Unfortunately, sometimes they turn to alcohol or drugs, other sources of addiction to try to tamp down that pain that they’re feeling internally.”

Bordered by tranquil forest and farmland in Upper Marlboro, Schaitberger says the recovery center is a place for firefighters to heal.

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Obama Officials Are Waging War On The Trump White House

NOAH ROTHMAN, Commentary Magazine

For a president who has a uniquely hostile relationship with the press, positive news cycles are both rare and fleeting. The Trump team displayed remarkable discipline by refusing to step on the president’s well-received address to a joint session of Congress. A lot of good discipline did them. Just 24 hours after Trump’s address, a series of troubling reports involving links among those in Trump’s orbit to Russian officials reset the national discourse. Those stories make for a trend, though, that has little to do with Trump and a lot to do with his predecessor. 

ICE: 6 charged in gang-related area killings face deportation

WASHINGTON — Federal immigration officials have cast a watchful eye on Northern Virginia’s recent string of suspected MS-13 gang killings. Federal authorities have identified for possible deportation five men and a woman who have been charged in connection with two recent deaths in Fairfax and Prince William Counties.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged detainers on four adults charged in the January death in Fairfax County of Damaris Reyes Rivas, a 15-year-old resident of Gaithersburg, Maryland, according to Carissa Cutrell, a spokeswoman for ICE.

Detainers have been filed on Cindy Blanco Hernandez, 18; Wilmer A. Sanchez-Serrano, 21; Aldair J. Miranda Carcamo, 18; and Jose Castillo Rivas 18.

Castillo Rivas and Sanchez Serrano were charged with murder in connection to the teen girl’s death.

Six other juveniles have been charged in that case; two of them were charged with murder.

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Harry Reid, 1993 — ‘No Sane Country’ Would Give Illegal Immigrants Citizenship

Republicans in Maine, Utah want Trump to undo monuments

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Republican leaders in Maine and Utah are asking President Donald Trump to step into uncharted territory and rescind national monument designations made by his predecessor.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 doesn’t give the president power to undo a designation, and no president has ever taken such a step. But Trump isn’t like other presidents.

Former President Barack Obama used his power under the act to permanently preserve more land and water using national monument designations than any other president. The land is generally off limits to timber harvesting, mining and pipelines, and commercial development.

Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine last summer on 87,500 acres of donated forestland. The expanse includes part of the Penobscot River and stunning views of Mount Katahdin, Maine’s tallest mountain. In Utah, the former president created Bears Ears National Monument on 1.3 million acres of land that’s sacred to Native Americans and is home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings.

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Photo Contradicts Pelosi's Statement About Not Meeting Russian Ambassador Kislyak

By Kyle Cheney, Politico

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday that she's never met with the current Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.

"Not with this Russian ambassador, no," Pelosi told POLITICO's Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer during a Playbook interview, when asked whether she had ever met with the Russian envoy.

Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower phones

President Trump made a startling claim Saturday that former President Barack Obama had Trump Tower phones tapped in the weeks before the November 2016 election.

In early Saturday morning tweets that began at 6:35 a.m., the president said the alleged wiretapping was “McCarthyism” and “Nixon/Watergate.”

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism,” Trump wrote.

“Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tapping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” he said in another tweet.

“Just out: The same Russian Ambassador that met Jeff Sessions visited the Obama White House 22 times, and 4 times last year alone,” he also wrote.

More here

Flashback-Schumer: ‘It Didn’t Matter’ AG Lynch Met with Clinton During Email Probe

After then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch confirmed she met with former President Bill Clinton on a plane last June, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) dismissed calls for an independent prosecutor to take over the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Today, however, Schumer called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign and demanded a special prosecutor because of a report Sessions had met with the Russian Ambassador in 2016, something he did not disclose during his confirmation hearings.

Sessions denies the report and says he “never met with any Russian officials to discuss the issues of the (Trump presidential) campaign.”

“I think it didn’t matter,” Schumer said regarding the then-attorney general’s private meeting with Clinton – even though the former president’s wife, Hillary, was running for president and had been endorsed by Lynch's boss, President Barack Obama.

The FBI was investigating Mrs. Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state, amid concerns that she mishandled classified information, and it was up to Lynch to sign off on that investigation.

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Obama’s State Department Sponsored 2016 Meeting of Russian Ambassador with Sen. Sessions

President Barack Obama’s Department of State sponsored the July event in Ohio where Sen. Jeff Sessions met the Russian ambassador for the second time in 2016, according to the organizers of the event.

The July 20 meeting in Cleveland was used by the Washington Post’s March 1 headline to double the number of meetings where Sessions met with Russians in 2016. “Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose,” said the headline, which has created a mini-scandal as Democratic partisans push for Sessions’ resignation from his post as the nation’s Attorney General, amid Democratic claims that the Russian government helped Donald Trump win the 2016 election.

The two-day event was hosted by a civic organization, Global Cleveland, whose website cites the state department’s role:

Barbra Streisand: Trump 'is making me gain weight'

Barbra Streisand snarked that she is packing on the pounds — and President Trump is to blame.

"Donald Trump is making me gain weight. I start the day with liquids, but after the morning news, I eat pancakes smothered in maple syrup!" the singer tweeted Saturday.

"Trump just accused Obama of tapping his phones. Seriously crazy times," Streisand tweeted minutes later. "Time for more pancakes."

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Mo Brooks: Claim That Deadly Yemen Raid Was a Bust Is 'Fake News'

A report that a recent U.S. raid in Yemen in which dozens were killed garnered no valuable intelligence are "made up fake news," Rep. Mop Brooks, a member of Armed Service & Foreign Affairs Committees, tells Newsmax TV.

"It's just fake news by the news media. They have no idea whether there was good intelligence gained or not," Brooks, an Alabama Republican, said Friday to Steve Malzberg on "America Talks Live."

"They do not have access to that kind of classified information, so in effect, probably out of partisanship more than anything else, the news media is just making it up pretty much out of thin air or based on rumors and gossip as opposed to substantive evidence."

More here

Trump Administration Considering Separating Women, Children at Mexico Border

Women and children crossing together illegally into the United States could be separated by U.S. authorities under a proposal being considered by the Department of Homeland Security, according to three government officials.

Part of the reason for the proposal is to deter mothers from migrating to the United States with their children, said the officials, who have been briefed on the proposal.

The policy shift would allow the government to keep parents in custody while they contest deportation or wait for asylum hearings. Children would be put into protective custody with the Department of Health and Human Services, in the "least restrictive setting" until they can be taken into the care of a U.S. relative or state-sponsored guardian.

President Donald Trump has called for ending "catch and release," in which migrants who cross illegally are freed to live in the United States while awaiting legal proceedings.

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Breaking News: President Trump issued a more limited executive order on immigration. The changes are meant to help it withstand a court challenge.

President Trump on Monday signed a revised version of his executive order banning migrants from predominantly Muslim nations, removing Iraqi citizens from the original travel ban at the urging of the State and Defense departments.

The order, which comes about a month after federal judges blocked Mr. Trump’s haphazardly implemented ban in January on residents from seven Middle Eastern and African countries, was delayed for about a week as the White House sought to better coordinate its activities with federal agencies.

HYPOCRISY: 7X More Coverage for Sessions Debacle than Holder Contempt

If you ever doubted that the media see the news through a partisan prism, consider this: in less than two days, ABC, CBS and NBC devoted nearly 7 times as much coverage to Jeff Sessions meeting with the Russian Ambassador in his role as a U.S. Senator than they did when then-Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress in June 2012.

On March 2, Democrats accused Sessions of misleading Congress by not disclosing that he met with the Russian ambassador to the United States twice while he was serving as Senator. Despite admitting that the statements Sessions made to Congress “would not be considered false under the law” (Jan Crawford, CBS Evening News, March 2), ABC, CBS and NBC devoted more than 1 hour and 12 minutes to this topic, just on the morning and evening shows of March 2 and the morning shows of March 3.

According to Fox News, the Obama Administration arranged at least one of the two meetings between then-Senator Sessions and the Russian Ambassador: at a “Global Partners in Diplomacy” conference hosted by the State Department. The “meeting” that took place at the conference? “Apparently, after Sessions finished speaking, a small group of ambassadors—including the Russian ambassador—approached the senator as he left the stage and thanked him for his remarks.”

Back on June 28, 2012, then-Attorney General Eric Holder became the first Cabinet member to be held in contempt of Congress for withholding documents from the House investigation into the Obama administration's Fast and Furious scandal.

But that unprecedented move failed to rouse the interest of the broadcast networks..

More here

Obama Advisor Rhodes Is Wrong: The President Can Order A Wiretap, And Why Trump May Have The Last Laugh

Following Trump's stunning allegation that Obama wiretapped the Trump Tower in October of 2016, prior to the presidential election, which may or may not have been sourced from a Breitbart story, numerous Democrats and media pundits have come out with scathing accusations that Trump is either mentally disturbed, or simply has no idea what he is talking about.

The best example of this came from Ben Rhodes, a former senior adviser to President Obama in his role as deputy National Security Advisor, who slammed Trump's accusation, insisting that "No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you." He also said "only a liar" could make the case, as Trump suggested, that Obama wire tapped Trump Tower ahead of the election.
No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you.https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/837989835818287106 

It would appear, however, that Rhodes is wrong, especially as pertains to matters of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, and its associated FISA court, under which the alleged wiretap of Donald Trump would have been granted, as it pertained specifically to Trump's alleged illicit interactions with Russian entities.

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Second Lawsuit Filed Against OC Condo Over Legionnaire’s Disease

OCEAN CITY — A Florida woman this week filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court seeking damages against an Ocean City high-rise condominium after she was afflicted with Legionnaire’s Disease while at the facility in October 2015.

On Monday, Mary Ann and Ronald Budra of Bonita Springs, Fla. filed suit in U.S. District Court alleging negligence by the Golden Sands Condominium in north Ocean City after she became ill and was diagnosed with Legionnaire’s Disease in October 2015. The suit is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages against the condominium exceeding $75,000, according to court documents.

The suit filed on Monday in U.S. District court is the second against the Golden Sands for the same outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease in 2015. In November, Virginia couple Clara and Ronnie Offer filed suit against the condominium after Clara Offer was diagnosed with Legionnaire’s and the two complaints are both being handled by the same Timonium law firm and contain nearly identical language.

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Breaking News: The Supreme Court ruled that confidential jury deliberations must be disclosed if there's evidence of racial bias by jurors

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that courts must make an exception to the usual rule that jury deliberations are secret when evidence emerges that those discussions were marred by racial or ethnic bias.

“The nation must continue to make strides to overcome race-based discrimination,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority.

Mark Meadows: Congress Ill-Equipped To Help Trump’s Mandate

President Donald Trump has been leading America for some 45 days, and Democrats are hysterical in using every trick in their book to make governance impossible.

They have slow-walked nominations, systematically leaked damaging, classified information to friendly reporters , disrupted Republican town halls, “flynned” Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and threw a cultural fit because Hillary Clinton lost and they don’t want to give up power.

Republicans, with the largest Republican majorities in Congress since 1928, were expected to repeal Obamacare — exposing Obama’s malfeasances — re-limit the federal government and help Trump with his mandates. Instead, as some have labeled them, the Republican Congress is becoming a “Do-Nothing Congress” or the “Silence of the Lambs Congress,” unwilling or unable to help Trump govern the nation.

Demonstrating his own courage and independence, North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows spoke to The Daily Caller News Foundation this week about the state of play between the White House and the Congress.

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White House Demands Congressional Probe Whether Obama Ordered Wiretaps

With Trump so far providing no follow up comments to his dramatic accusation from Saturday morning that Obama bugged the Trump Tower in October 2016, spending Saturday night at Mar-A-Lago where he had dinner with AG Jeff Sessions, he resumed the attack on Sunday morning when he went after the Democratic National Committee and President Obama in a series of early morning tweets.

In his first tweet, the president questioned rhetorically whether the DNC refused to let the FBI have access to its servers (as FBI director Comey confirmed previously, the DNC did in fact do that) after it learned it had been hacked: "Is it true the DNC would not allow the FBI access to check server or other equipment after learning it was hacked?" Trump asked. "Can that be possible?"
Is it true the DNC would not allow the FBI access to check server or other equipment after learning it was hacked? Can that be possible?

He followed up with questions about President Barack Obama's own ties with Russia, referencing the infamous March 2012 "hot mic" video in which Obama told former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev he would have more "flexibility" after his re-election: "who was it that secretly said to Russian President, 'Tell Vladimir that after the election I'll have more flexibility?'" he tweeted.

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The Coming Great Wealth Transfer

In the past, I've warned about the coming Great Wealth Transfer. But now we need to talk about it in the present tense, because it’shere.

And it will only accelerate from here on out. The Rich will get richer at the expense of everybody else.

This isn't personal. It's simply a feature of what happens near the end of a debt-based monetary system run by corruptible humans.

Of course, those in charge don't think of themselves as corrupted or villainous. I'm sure that Federal Reserve Chairs Greenspan, Bernanke and Yellen all think of themselves as good and decent people doing "God's work". But the truth is they've irrevocably harmed millions -- if not billions -- of innocent people.

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Breaking News: The Supreme Court has vacated an appeals court ruling in favor of a transgender boy in light of a move by the Trump administration

The Supreme Court on Monday announced that it would not hear a major case on transgender rights after all, acting after the Trump administration changed the federal government’s position on whether public schools had to allow transgender youths to use bathrooms that matched their gender identities.

Starbucks’ Move To Hire 10,000 Refugees May Come At A Cost, Survey Finds

Starbucks’ recent decision to hire 10,000 refugees within the next five years may result in a loss of profit for the company.

According to a recent YouGov BrandIndex survey, Starbucks’ consumer brand perception has dropped by 66 percent since the announcement in January.

YouGov questions approximately 4,800 individuals daily in an attempt to determine the U.S. population’s views on a variety of brands.

The Starbucks survey did not ask specifically if those polled had heard the refugee announcement, but rather if they had heard anything — positive or negative — about the brand.

The answers provided allowed YouGov to establish a “Buzz score” based on consumer perception.

“Since the January 29th hiring announcement, Starbucks’ consumer perception levels fell by two-thirds,” YouGov said in a statement Wednesday.

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"This Is Watergate": Trump Accuses Obama Of Wiretapping The Trump Tower

President Trump on Saturday morning alleged that his predecessor Barack Obama had “wire-tapped” the Trump Tower in October, before the election: “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” he wrote.

“Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” he added in subsequent tweets. “I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!”

Trump compared Obama's alleged activity to Nixon's bugging of the Watergate hotel. "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!"

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The New DNC Chair Had a Hillary Clinton-Esque Email Scandal

Democrats and members of the media have seized on a Thursday report that Vice President Mike Pence used a personal email account while serving as Indiana's governor, attempting to brand Pence as a hypocrite for attacking Hillary Clinton's use of an unsecured private email server throughout the campaign.

Pence said that there was "no comparison whatsoever" between what he did and what Clinton did. His office has called the attempt to compare his email use to Clinton's as "absurd," noting that it was legal for him to use the account, that he was using a commercial AOL account rather than a private server, and that he was not handling classified information.

A more apt comparison to Clinton would be to the newly elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez, who as a lawyer at President Obama's Department of Justice frequently used his personal email account to conduct agency business.

Congressional investigators found that Perez used his personal email account to conduct DOJ business 1,200 times since 2009, and the department conceded in a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that Perez had committed at least 34 violations of the Federal Records Act.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), who chaired the committee at the time of the investigation, issued a subpoena for the 1,200 emails, but his demand was ignored by Perez.

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Law Group Finds More Illegal Aliens on Voter Rolls in Virginia

A public interest legal group has discovered more illegal aliens on the voter rolls in Virginia.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation, an Indiana-based group that litigates to protect election integrity, provided the Washington Free Beacon with several examples of illegal immigrants on the voter rolls in Virginia. The examples were unearthed as a result of the group's efforts to ascertain the total number of non-citizens on voter rolls.

PILF provided a voter registration form showing that the registrant answered "No" to the question, "Are you a citizen of the United States of America?" All personal information on the form has been redacted.

In a second example provided by PILF, the registrant did not answer the citizenship status question.

In a third example, the registrant did not answer if he was a U.S. citizen, did not mark his place of birth, and refused to say if he had been convicted of a felony.

All three voters were found on the voter rolls in Manassas, Virginia.

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New Bill Would Give First Responders Freedom To Save An Animal’s Life

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — It’s currently a crime for firefighters to give medical aid to pets rescued from burning buildings.

If a new bill in Annapolis passes, it would give immunity to firefighters who make split second decisions for their primary duty: to save lives.

A standing Maryland law prohibits first responders from rendering emergency care to animals, only a licensed vet could do that.

If firefighters gave medical care to a pet, they’d be breaking the law. Various groups want the rule to change so firefighters will have immunity.

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Islamists Building ‘Parallel Society’ in Sweden Aided By PC Culture of Silence

Aided by a politically correct culture of “tolerance”, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is secretly building a “parallel” society in Sweden by infiltrating organisations and political parties, a government report has concluded.

Surprisingly, the document takes aim at “political elites” for fostering a doctrine of multiculturalism and silence, which can help and facilitate the nefarious ends of anti-democratic organisation like the Brotherhood.

Somewhat predictably, however, the publication of such claims in Sweden – where open criticism of liberal, multicultural ideals is rare – has caused a row, with critics labelling the report “conspiratorial” and claiming it misrepresents Islam.

Published Friday, the document was commissioned by Sweden’s Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), part of the country’s Ministry of Defence, which is responsible for civil protection and public safety.

The paper’s authors claim the Brotherhood is working to increase the number of practicing Muslims in Sweden, encouraging tension with Secular society, and targeting political parties, NGOs, academic institutions and other civil society organisations.

They also slam the “established structure of values among the country’s political elite [which] places a high value on ‘acceptance’ and ‘tolerance’ of citizens who are in some sense different from the mainstream”.

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Loretta Lynch: Need more marching, blood, death on streets

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration’s former Attorney General Loretta Lynch has made an impassioned video plea for more marching, blood and death on the streets – a video that was later posted on the Facebook page of Senate Democrats as “words of inspiration.”

The video is less than a minute long and begins by stating that people are experiencing “great fear and uncertainty,” with the unstated implication it is due to Donald Trump’s takeover of the White House.

Without offering any specifics, Lynch goes on to say that “our rights” are “being assailed, being trampled on and even being rolled back.”

Lynch, who is scheduled to receive the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal of Law from the University of Virginia, goes on to say: “It has been people, individuals who have banded together, ordinary people who simply saw what needed to be done and came together and supported those ideals who have made the difference. They’ve marched, they’ve bled and yes, some of them died. This is hard. Every good thing is. We have done this before. We can do this again.”

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NOI 3/4/17 Somerset Mobile Home Fire Green Hill Lane

NOTICE OF INVESTIGATION

Date:  March 4, 2017
Time:  8:30 a.m.
Location / Address:  8550 Green Hill Lane, Westover, Somerset Co.
Type of Incident:  Fire
Description of Structure / Property:  12’ x 70’ mobile home
Owner / Occupants:   George Richardson
Injuries or Deaths:   85-year-old male
Estimated $ Loss: Structure:  $5,000                      Contents: $2,000
Smoke Alarm Status:  Unknown
Fire Alarm / Sprinkler Status:  n/a
Arrests(s):  None
Primary Responding Fire Department:  Princess Anne
# of Alarms:  1     # Of Firefighters:  20
Time to Control:  30 minutes
Discovered By:  Occupant
Area of Origin:   Living room
Preliminary Cause: Accidental, overload of power strip
Additional Information:  The victim was transported via Princess Anne EMS to PRMC where he was treated and released.

‘Racist!’ U.S. colleges infected with spreading ‘victimhood’ fever

'There is a case of this happening at nearly every campus'

The vast majority of college campuses have been liberal bastions for decades, but those politics have now morphed into a “victimhood Olympics” that threatens people not affiliated with an allegedly oppressed group and even puts the future of America in doubt.

Colleges are making headlines on a regular basis for reasons unrelated to the curricula. Efforts by minority students to rename buildings, demand safe spaces and intimidate free speech appear to be an every-day occurrence.

“There is a case of this happening at nearly every college campus,” said Daily Caller Deputy Editor Scott Greer, author of the new book “No Campus for White Men: The Transformation of Higher Education into Hateful Indoctrination.”

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Video – Jackie Mason Rips GOP on Obamacare: They Needed 8 Years, Give Me 10 Minutes

In these trying times, Jackie Mason is the Voice of Reason.

In this week’s exclusive clip for Breitbart News, Jackie takes Republicans to task for what he claims is severe dysfunction surrounding their effort to repeal and replace Obamacare.

“There was supposed to be a doctor for every person, and you could keep your doctor… turns out, your doctor’s now a plumber, and you can’t find him, and if you find him, he has nothing to say to you because you’re getting on his nerves, because he’s working for practically nothing,” Jackie says.

“And you could keep your doctor… but you’ll have to keep him in the basement because otherwise he’s gettin’ the hell out of there.”

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RED ALERT: Democratic Party Colluding With Deep State, They Must Resign

We are experiencing the left’s pure propagandized turbulence

RED ALERT-THIS IS NOT A DRILL –
The Democratic Party has been seen with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak recently.

Again this is not a drill- Kislyak also visited Former Democratic President Obama’s White House 22 times between 2009 and 2016 an election year. Please ignore all common sense, this is not a drill.

Perhaps this is the way the we should approach the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Maybe then the Democratic Party behind the mass hysteria damaging President Donald Trump’s cabinet will perk up their clogged ears and listen.

Hang on to your seats America. We are experiencing the left’s pure propagandized turbulence.

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FLASHBACK: FBI Files Document Communism in Valerie Jarrett’s Family

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) files obtained by Judicial Watch reveal that the dad, maternal grandpa and father-in-law of President Obama’s trusted senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett, were hardcore Communists under investigation by the U.S. government.

Jarrett’s dad, pathologist and geneticist Dr. James Bowman, had extensive ties to Communist associations and individuals, his lengthy FBI file shows. In 1950 Bowman was in communication with a paid Soviet agent named Alfred Stern, who fled to Prague after getting charged with espionage. Bowman was also a member of a Communist-sympathizing group called the Association of Internes and Medical Students. After his discharge from the Army Medical Corps in 1955, Bowman moved to Iran to work, the FBI records show.

According to Bowman’s government file the Association of Internes and Medical Students is an organization that “has long been a faithful follower of the Communist Party line” and engages in un-American activities. Bowman was born in Washington D.C. and had deep ties to Chicago, where he often collaborated with fellow Communists. JW also obtained documents on Bowman from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) showing that the FBI was brought into investigate him for his membership in a group that “follows the communist party line.” The Jarrett family Communist ties also include a business partnership between Jarrett’s maternal grandpa, Robert Rochon Taylor, and Stern, the Soviet agent associated with her dad.

Jarrett’s father-in-law, Vernon Jarrett, was also another big-time Chicago Communist, according to separate FBI files obtained by JW as part of a probe into the Jarrett family’s Communist ties..

More here


[This Judicial Watch news release was originally issued on JUNE 22, 2015]

Media Blackout Cedric Richmond's Attack On Kellyanne Conway

The New York Times, ABC News and NBC News are all keeping their readers in the dark about a Democratic congressman’s sexist attack on White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.

Speaking Wednesday at a Washington Press Club Foundation dinner — which was emceed by MSNBC’s Greta Van Susteren — Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond said that Conway looked “familiar” on her knees, referring to a picture of the White House staffer kneeling on the Oval Office couch.

Richmond’s comment earned himself the condemnation of both Republicans and Democrats alike. Chelsea Clinton called Richmond’s remark “despicable” and said Conway deserves an apology.

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Donald Trump Questions ‘Sick Guy’ Barack Obama for ‘Wire Tapping’ His Campaign

President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping his campaign headquarters during the election in a series of messages on Twitter.

“Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory,” he wrote on Twitter. “Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”

Trump questioned whether it was legal for Obama to be wiretapping a presidential candidate while he was still in office.

“How low has President Obama gone to tapp (sic) my phones during the very sacred election process,” he wrote. “This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy! Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tapping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!”

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Who is Valerie Jarrett?

Trying to figure out Valerie Jarrett’s mysterious hold on Barack and Michelle Obama is a favorite guessing game in the parlors and dining rooms of Washington. No other White House official in history has enjoyed such a unique relationship with both a president and a first lady, and yet the mainstream media have ignored Jarrett’s enormous influence over the shape and direction of the Obama administration.

Jarrett’s official title — senior adviser and assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public engagement — doesn’t begin to do justice to her unrivaled status in the White House. She is Ground Zero in the Obama operation — the first couple’s first friend and consigliere, the last person to leave the Oval Office after meetings, and the only White House official who dines with the first family in their private quarters at night.

“Valerie is the quintessential insider,” one of her longtime friends told me during an interview for my book, The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House. “She functions as the eyes, ears, and nose of the president and first lady. She tells them who’s saying what about who, who’s loyal and who’s not. She advises them about who they should see when they visit a city or a foreign country. She determines who gets invited to the White House and who is left out in the cold.”

In the White House pecking order, Jarrett has more clout than the president’s chief of staff.

She has also been responsible for much of the incompetence and amateurism that have been the hallmarks of Obama’s time in office. Indeed, Jarrett has been on the wrong side of practically every consequential issue to come across the president’s desk.

Some examples of her bonehead advice:

Is Obama the First U.S. President Ever to Try to Topple His Successor?

This post won't debate whether Trump or Obama are good or bad guys. It will simply ask a historical question ...

The Daily Mail claims:

Barack Obama is turning his new home in the posh Kalorama section of the nation’s capital – just two miles away from the White House – into the nerve center of the mounting insurgency against his successor, President Donald J. Trump.

Obama’s goal, according to a close family friend, is to oust Trump from the presidency either by forcing his resignation or through his impeachment.

And Obama is being aided in his political crusade by his longtime consigliere, Valerie Jarrett, who has moved into the 8,200-square-foot, $5.3-million Kaloroma mansion with the former president and Michelle Obama, long time best friends.

According to the family source, Obama was at first reluctant to assume the role of leader of the opposition.

‘No longer the most powerful man in the world, he was just observing Trump and not liking what he saw,’ said the source.

‘He was weary and burned out after eight years in office. But Valerie convinced him that he didn’t have any choice if he wanted to save his legacy. And, as usual, he bowed to Valerie’s political wisdom and advice.’

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The Fed’s Getting Ready to Raise into Weakness

[Ed. Note: Jim Rickards’ latest New York Times bestseller, The Road to Ruin: The Global Elites’ Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis, is out now. Learn how to score your free copy here. This vital book transcends geopolitics and rhetoric from the Fed to prepare you for what areas in gold, markets and more you should be watching now.]

I was surprised this week that the stock market reached new highs — despite the fact that expectations of a March rate hike by the Fed moved from 40% to 60% in three days. Today those expectations are about 75%.

But I’ve been calling a March rate hike since late December. I was almost alone in that view. Wall Street analysts were paying lip service to the idea that the Fed might raise rates twice before the end of the year, but said the process might begin in June, not March. Market indicators were giving only a 25% chance of a rate hike within the past couple weeks.

Is it because I’m smarter than all these other analysts?

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Very Interesting!


Auto Lending Update - Someone Please Explain How This Is Not A Bubble

Experian recently released their Q4 2016 Automotive Finance Market update which includes a lot of statistics that seem to confirm our frequently documented concerns about the sustainability of the current level of annual auto sales (see here, here and here for our recent notes on the topic).

First, there is the staggering growth of auto loans outstanding. It should be readily apparent to almost anyone that a 21% expansion in credit issuance over the course of just two years likely implies there has been at least some degradation in underwriting standards.

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Molecular Biologist Explains How THC Kills Cancer Completely

Dr. Christina Sanchez, from the Compultense University in Madrid, Spain, has been studying the anti-tumor effects in THC, the main psychoactive ingredient within cannabis.

Dr. Sanchez’s findings have given information that describes how THC can successfully eliminate cancer cells—without any side effects towards healthy cells. In addition to other studies, such as British scientist, Was Liu, an oncologist at the University of London’s St. George’s medical school. Liu’s extensive research has shown how THC includes ‘potent anti-cancer activity,’ and will ‘target and switch off’ ways that allow cancer to grow.