FRIENDS OF WICOMICO PUBLIC LIBRARIES HONOR LOCAL LITERACY EFFORTS

The Friends of Wicomico Public Libraries hosted the Fifth Annual Light of Literacy Awards on Thursday, April 20th at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center in Salisbury. The morning’s program included a Boy Scout Flag Ceremony presented by Scouts from Troop 817 and a delicious breakfast provided by the Civic Center.

Over 280 individuals from the community came together to celebrate the work of individuals, businesses and non-profits. Keynote Speaker Peter Franchot, Comptroller, State of Maryland brought the impact of financial literacy to full light in his address. Best of all, many individuals and organizations supporting literacy in our community were honored. The stories of how these works make a community impact and improve lives demonstrate that literacy is key to a successful life.

By providing opportunities for individuals to improve their literacy skills the Library opens doors of opportunity. These opportunities are often under-utilized, because people simply do not know what a modern Library does, and what impact it can have on the community. Wicomico Public Libraries are as necessary and vital to the health of our community today as they were when the Library began in 1926.

Obama to Earn $400K Speaking Fee at Wall Street Conference

Former President Barack Obama has a big payday coming when he speaks at a Wall Street conference later this year.

According to Fox Business, Obama will be paid $400,000 to be the keynote speaker at an event put on by Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The network reports that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's fee for speaking at a private business was roughly half of Obama's.

Obama's participation at the healthcare conference has not yet been publicly announced, but Fox Business cites people who work at Cantor, an investment bank, as saying a contract has been signed.

"Is there an irony here because he spoke incessantly about the income gap and is now earning from those same people he criticized? Yes it is," Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told Fox. "Should we expect it? Yes, we should because all former presidents do this. He went on the attack against Wall Street and now he's being fed by those same people he called 'fat cats.' It's more hypocritical than ironic."

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Ocean City celebrating the 27th Annual Springfest Arts and Crafts Festival

Ocean City, MD – (April 25, 2017): It is officially the start of the season, as Ocean City celebrates the 27th Annual production of Springfest, May 4-7, 2017. Come to Maryland’s Eastern Shore for live music, art, crafts, food and more – all located along Ocean City’s historic Boardwalk and free beautiful clean beach. Springfest, one of the top Arts and Crafts Show in the United States, features over 250 vendors selling art and crafts.

Visitors’ should also bring their appetite as the event includes 30 food vendors serving a variety of delicious offerings, from famous Eastern Shore delicacies an assortment of ethnic food and gourmet offerings. Be sure to visit the Mid Atlantic Ford Dealers exhibit located just east of the outdoor stage.

Springfest comes to life with a variety of entertainment on two stages providing popular music all day long with anchoring headline acts. Springfest is located in the Inlet Lot at the south end of Ocean City’s famous Boardwalk. Springfest is fun for people of all ages and admission to the four-day event is free, including all entertainment, with the exception of the ticketed evening headline performances.

The Fabulous Hubcaps remind us that rock and roll is here to stay on Thursday night, May 4, beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are only $10 to $20 and will be available on the festival grounds at the Springfest ticket booth. Celebrated country recording artist, Josh Turner will perform to a full house Friday night in Springfest’s Berlin Automotive Group Entertainment Pavilion. On Saturday night, rocker Joan Jett & The Blackhearts will rock the stage at Springfest

Vanity Fair Rips Chelsea Clinton in Hilarious Column: ‘You’re a Public Hazard’

Don’t you just love it when the Libs eat their own? It saves us the trouble! In this case, a lefty Vanity Fair author really creamed Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, in a new column lashing out over the mainstream media’s demanding to keep the former first daughter front and center in Americas mind, following her mommies second loss at a Presidential run.

The column hits at a time when multiple media outlets are non-stop pushing out Clinton stories, profiles and photo shoots. Variety magazine even put the loser Clinton right on their front cover of the magazine. That, along with the constant questions of re-running for a THIRD time come 2020…

The column that we are going to focus on here is titled, “Please, God, Stop Chelsea Clinton From Whatever She Is Doing.” Sound desperate, much?

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LET TROOPERS DISPOSE OF UNWANTED PRESCRIPTIONS DRUGS NATIONAL DRUG TAKE BACK DAY, April 29, 2017

https://www.facebook.com/MarylandStatePolice

Democrat Big Wigs To Pro-Life Democrats: Get In Line Or Get Out

Abortion on Demand with no restrictions has long been the holy grail of the Democratic Party. No issue is bigger or more important for them. Everything returns to abortion. And most of the big shots have a message for pro-life Democrats

(Daily Caller) The 28 percent of Democrats who oppose abortion have no place in the Democratic party, according to two of the party’s leading figures.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin echoed party chair Tom Perez Sunday in saying that there is no room in the party for dissent on the abortion issue.

“I am committed to women’s rights under the law, reproductive rights certainly, and our party is [committed],” Durbin said in an appearance on CNN. “We’ve made that part of our platform and position for a long, long time. I know within the ranks of the Democratic Party there are those who see that differently on a personal basis, but when it comes to the policy position, I think we need to be clear and unequivocal.”

Those who personally believe abortion is wrong can be allowed in the party, Durbin added, “as long as they are prepared to back the law, Roe versus Wade, prepared to back women’s rights as we’ve defined them under the law.” That is: all members of the Democratic party are expected to publicly support abortion, regardless of what they personally believe.

I wonder if this would have applied to Senator Harry Reid who, for most of his career, was pro-life, thought Roe v Wade should be overturned, and generally refused to support abortion except in cases of incest, rape, or when the mother’s life was in danger.

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Clint Eastwood to Direct Film on Heroes Who Stopped Train Attack in Paris

Hollywood Director Clint Eastwood thrives on displaying patriotism on the big screen. His 2014 hit American Sniper, which told the story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who is credited with the most kills of any U.S. sniper, earned several Oscar nominations.

Eastwood is now prepared to direct a film about another crop of courageous Americans: the three young men who stopped a terror attack on a train in Paris, France. On August 21, 2015, friends Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone jumped into action to subdue a terrorist who was armed with an AK-47. The heroes expounded on their quick thinking in the book “15:17 To Paris: The True Story Of A Terrorist, A Train, And Three American Heroes.” Thanks to Eastwood it will now be turned into a movie.

Skarlatos and his buddies posted the following photo on Instagram with the famed director, along with a touching message.

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OH COME ON! Democrats Want To TAX Your Lawn!?

If it exists, you can rest assured that Democrats want to tax it.

Don’t think I’m serious? Well let’s look at the state of Illinois, which is looking to tax “landscaping services.” Have the little neighbor boy mow your lawn and pull weeds? The government is going to be there with their hands out, expecting “their cut.”

I’ll just be there waiting to see if government can come up with a way to tax breathing.

If it exists, you can rest assured that Democrats want to tax it.

Don’t think I’m serious? Well let’s look at the state of Illinois, which is looking to tax “landscaping services.” Have the little neighbor boy mow your lawn and pull weeds? The government is going to be there with their hands out, expecting “their cut.”

I’ll just be there waiting to see if government can come up with a way to tax breathing.

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Mike Rowe blasts Nordstrom for selling $425 'fake mud' jeans

Mike Rowe believes Nordstrom is just the latest enemy combatant waging a "war on work" in the United States.

Rowe, of "Dirty Jobs" fame, blasted the high-end clothing retailer for selling a pair of extra distressed jeans, caked in fake mud for the unreasonably high price of $425.

"Finally - a pair of jeans that look like they have been worn by someone with a dirty job…made for people who don't. And you can have your very own pair for just $425.00," he wrote on a Facebook post that was shared thousands of times.

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Hollywood writers vote to authorize strike as deadline looms

Current contract ends May 1; walkout would delay production of TV shows, movies

The viewing public may soon find themselves with a lot more time on their hands, and a lot fewer new TV shows and movies to watch.

That’s because the specter of a writers strike — which would shut Hollywood productions — is a step closer after the Writers Guild of America announced Monday that a walkout has been authorized in a vote by its members, with 96% support.

The strike may start as soon as next week; the current three-year contract expires on May 1. Contract negotiations between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — which represents studios and networks — are scheduled to resume Tuesday. Both sides say they are hopeful a deal can be reached this week.

“I voted to authorize the leaders of my union to call a strike that I desperately don’t want,” wrote John Eisendrath, a writer and executive producer on CBS Corp.’sCBS, -1.33% “The Blacklist,” in a Los Angeles Times op-ed Monday, in which he claimed that Hollywood writers’ wages have been “stagnant for a generation.”

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Shirtless female toddler on splash pad sparks debate

Las Vegas, Nevada —A mother says an employee made her put a shirt on her 3-year-old daughter while she played on the splash pad at Town Square. It's sparked a huge debate on whether or not female toddlers should be treated the same as male toddlers when it comes to what they're wearing.

Gwen Buckles said her 3-year-old daughter was playing on the splash pad in her clothes. She went up to her mom and said she was cold and asked if she could take her wet shirt off. Gwen thought nothing of it and allowed her daughter to take off her wet shirt. A few minutes later, an employee approached Gwen telling her it's policy that all girls must wear some sort of top.

"I said well what about my son and she said no well little boys are fine to run around without their tops. I looked at her and I said she's three and she's cold," Gwen said.

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Trump announces 20% Tariff on Canadian Softwood Lumber

Speaking during a first of its kind meeting dedicated only to members of the U.S. conservative media, including Breitbart News, OANN and Daily Caller, President Trump told reporters to expect a 20% tariff on softwood lumber coming into Canada.

“We’re going to be putting a 20 per cent tax on softwood lumber coming in — tariff on softwood coming into the United States from Canada,” tweeted Charlie Spiering of Breitbart Media.

Trey Yingst of OANN tweeted that according to Trump “Canada has treated us very unfairly” and also threatened a tax on Canada’s dairy industry.

According to the WSJ, Wilbur Ross said the tariff will be applied retroactively and imposed on Canadian exports to the U.S. of about $5 billion a year. He said the dispute centers on Canadian provinces that have been allegedly allowing loggers to cut down trees at reduced rates and sell them at low prices. "The determination that Canada improperly subsidizes its exports is preliminary, and the Commerce Department will need to make a final decision. In addition, the U.S. International Trade Commission will need to find that the U.S. industry has suffered injury. But even a preliminary decision has immediate real-world consequences, by discouraging importers from buying lumber from Canada."

Or, as a WSJ associate editor put it, "Blame the Chinese, but tax the Canadians:"

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Drone racing coming to Dover during NASCAR weekend

The International Drone Racing Association will hold an event in conjunction with Dover’s NASCAR race weekend. The race will be free and open to the public in Dover’s FanZone.

The race will feature 16 professional teams from around the world, competing to earn points toward the World Championship. The three-year agreement provides IDRA with the opportunity to showcase the growing sport of drone racing in Dover.

“Dover International Speedway is an incredible opportunity for IDRA,” said Justin Haggerty, the founder and CEO of IDRA. “Showcasing the sport, during a major NASCAR weekend, to tens of thousands of motorsports fans is the best opportunity that IDRA could ask for. To IDRA, the drone racing community is the sport’s most valuable asset and it is set to grow after the Dover race.”

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Anti-Semitic Incidents Up 86 Percent Compared With Same Time Last Year

A Jewish advocacy organization expects a staggering increase in anti-Semitic incidents by the end of 2017. That projection comes after the Anti-Defamation Leaguecounted an 86 percent spike in attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions so far this year, according to a report released Monday.

In its Annual Audit of Anti-Semitic incidents, the civil rights organization found 541 acts of vandalism, violence and harassment against American Jews already reported in 2017. This recent increase follows last year's total of 1,266 acts, by the organization's count, a 34 percent spike over 2015.

Moreover, the league reports 369, or nearly a third of these incidents, occurred in the last two months of 2016.

It also linked 34 incidents directly to the 2016 election, including an instance of graffiti that read "Kill the Jews, Vote for Trump" and a Florida confrontation where a man said, "Trump is going to finish what Hitler started."

"There's been a significant, sustained increase in anti-Semitic activity since the start of 2016 and what's most concerning is the fact that the numbers have accelerated over the past five months," said Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt in a statement accompanying the numbers.

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Muslim who warned “Be terrified” finally facing charges

Wearing a t-shirt saying, “I’m American, I’m a Muslim, I open carry, I conceal carry, and I’m dangerous only if you’re stupid,” Ehab Jaber went into a Christian event while they were discussing the Islamic persecution of Christians. Once there, he caused a stir.

When asked to leave, the Muslim man born in Saudi Arabi proceeded to make not-so veiled threats, the shocking behavior captured by his own posts on Facebook while sitting outside the Sioux Falls, S.D. Hilton on April 19.

“Ya’ know, if you want to be really scared?” Jaber said before showing off various handguns. When he pulled out an AR-15 and extended magazine, he said, “Be scared… be f***ing terrified.”

Jaber’s threatening behavior at the Christian Conference was investigated by local police and the the FBI, who determined that Jaber had not broken any laws. They decided not to arrest him.

The following Friday, he was finally was charged with making terrorist threats.

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United ripped me out of my seat and threw me in the back of the plane

The once-friendly skies just keep getting nastier.

​A Manhattan socialite whose pals include first daughter Tiffany Trump ​​is suing United Airlines saying she was traveling to London last year ​when she was yanked out of business class​ by an attendant​, cursed at and ​ultimately ​forced into a middle seat in the back of the plane.

Karen Shiboleth, the Instagram-loving daughter of wealthy New York lawyers, was headed to the UK from Newark Liberty International Airport to start a master’s degree program in international relations at Kings College on Sept. 10, 2016.

She’d originally paid $1,500 for a window seat in economy. Then she used American Express points plus $500 in fees to upgrade to an economy plus seat. Finally, when she was at the airport, she upgraded again, forking over an additional $1,150 for business class seat 1B.

The 24-year-old, whose mother was general counsel to Revlon, says she paid the extra money to be near the front of the plane because she was traveling with “heavy luggage and large carry-on bags which contained a significant amount of her personal belongings and valuables.”

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Laurel Man is Maryland’s Newest Millionaire

For someone who spends his days searching for things underground, a Prince George’s County man who became Maryland’s latest Lottery millionaire is now flying plenty high. A spur-of-the-moment Lottery purchase last week changed his family’s future and provided him with the makings for a great surprise.

The 37-year-old husband and father works as a location technician – one of the folks you call before you dig a big hole in your yard. He found himself near Lucky’s Superette at 1101 Odenton Road in Odenton, a store that he knew sold Lottery tickets.

“I really enjoy scratch tickets,” he said. “My wife gets on me about playing them, but they’re fun.”

This time he chose a 100X The Cash ticket because he said the $20 game has treated him well in recent weeks.

“I was scratching the ticket outside the store, leaning against what I call the lucky spot on my car when I saw the dollar amount I’d matched.”

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Sen. Paul, Scott Bullock: Civil Forfeiture has Ruined Countless Lives. It's Long Overdue for Reform

Government agents should not profit from seizing property, especially if that property was taken from the innocent

Justice Clarence Thomas made headlines last month when he criticized civil forfeiture, a notorious police practice that allows law enforcement to confiscate property, even from people who have never been charged with a crime. “This system,” he wrote, “has led to egregious and well-chronicled abuses.”

Hearing one of the Supreme Court’s most conservative members denounce such a shameful violation of our civil liberties gives us hope that civil forfeiture can be drastically curtailed.

To prevent future abuses, I, along with Rep. Tim Walberg, reintroduced the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act (FAIR Act) in March. The FAIR Act would dramatically reform federal civil-forfeiture laws to respect the American people’s Fifth Amendment rights while maintaining the ability of courts to order the surrender of proceeds from crime.

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Holocaust evidence preserved in newly dedicated Bowie facility

BOWIE, Md. — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has cut the ribbon on a state-of-the-art conservation and research center where evidence of the Holocaust is being preserved.

“With the rise of anti-Semitism and various forms of Holocaust denial, the role of the evidence is taking on even greater significance and urgency,” said Tom Berstein, chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Survivors of the Holocaust gathered with family members to dedicate the David and Fela Shapell Family Collections, Conservation and Research Center. The highly secured, 80,000 square-foot facility of laboratories and climate-controlled rooms sits at the end of a winding road, behind a black iron fence and vehicle barriers.

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The big, amazing list of people Obama spied on

Ace reporter Attkisson reveals eye-popping timeline

WASHINGTON – “Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: ‘Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time it’s enemy action.'” – From “Goldfinger” by Ian Fleming.

The Obama administration isn’t accused of gathering intelligence information to spy for political, and other, purposes just once. Or twice. Or even just three times.

A remarkable timeline assembled by ace investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson shows just how often the Obama administration apparently spied on friend and foe alike.

With all of this information gathered in one place, WND then compiled a list gleaned from Attkisson’s timeline of all those whom the Obama administration is suspected of targeting either by spying, or investigating and/or prosecuting using intelligence information.

And the list is impressive.

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Police warn of Lowe's coupon scam on Facebook

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) - Lynchburg Police are warning of a scam making the rounds on Facebook.

Police say the scam involves a $50 coupon to Lowe's for Mother's Day.

Officials say the scam started back in 2015, with the link to a fraudulent website adorned with the Lowe's logo.

The scam requires victims to pass it to their friends, officials say.

The Better Business Bureau gave these tips:

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Our State-Corporate Plantation Economy

We've been persuaded that the state-cartel Plantation Economy is "capitalist," but it isn't. It's a rentier skimming machine.

I have often discussed the manner in which the U.S. economy is a Plantation Economy, meaning it has a built-in financial hierarchy with corporations at the top dominating a vast populace of debt-serfs/ wage slaves with little functional freedom to escape the system's neofeudal bonds.

Since I spent some of my youth in a classic Plantation town (and worked on the plantation as a laborer in summer), the concept of a Plantation Economy is not an abstraction to me, but a living analogy of the way our economy works.

Wal-Mart and the Plantation Economy (August 24, 2010)

Colonizing the Plantation of the Mind (August 25, 2010)

We Need a Social Economy, Not a Hyper-Financialized Plantation Economy (November 12, 2015)

Loving Our Servitude in America's Plantation Economy (February 10, 2017)

The Plantation Economy is extremely hierarchical. Corporations and the state are both extremely hierarchical.

In the Plantation Economy, the Company has access to nearly unlimited credit. Small businesses serving the employees and the employees have enough credit to live on but not enough to buy productive assets. As a result, the Corporation can always buy up any productive assets, expanding its monopoly.

The state also has an essentially unlimited line of credit which it can use to fund its favored cartels and state fiefdoms.

In the Plantation Economy, the Company suppresses any innovation that threatens its monopoly and the state enforces whatever means the Corporation deploys: buying up patents and small companies, predatory pricing to bankrupt competitors, etc.

The Plantation Economy is a mono-culture of large corporations and their partner in rentier skimming, the state. Our economy is a state-cartel finance-debt system; it's only capitalist on the margins, that is, in the fringes that aren't profitable enough for corporations to control.

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The Americans With No Abilities Act

The minority Democratic Senate is considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many more Americans. The Americans With No Abilities Act is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills and ambition.

“Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society,” said California Sen. Barbara Boxer. “We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability (POI) to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing.”

In a Capitol Hill press conference, Nancy Pelosi pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has an excellent record of hiring Persons with No Ability (63 percent).

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million mid-level positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance.

Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability (POI) into middle-management positions, and give a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the Americans With No Abilities Act contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the non-abled, banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as, “Do you have any skills or experience that relate to this job?”

“As a non-abled person, I can’t be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them,” said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Mich., due to her inability to remember “righty tighty, lefty loosey”. “This new law should be real good for people like me. I’ll finally have job security.” With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Sen. Dick Durbin, II: “As a senator with no abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her inadequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation and a good salary for doing so.”

This message was approved by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer & Nancy Pelosi. Along with a number of other idiots.

WICOMICO PUBLIC LIBRARIES HOSTS MONEY SMART WEEK

Wicomico Public Libraries is hosting several free financial programs during Money Smart Week®, April 22-29, 2017at all three Library branches. Programs for children and teens include Making Your Own Money, Managing Bills on a Tight Budget, Junior Achievement Storytime and Teen Retro Movie Night. There is also a program for adults entitled Small Steps to Health and Wealth. For information on any of these programs please visit our website - WicomicoLibrary.org.

Money Smart Week is a public awareness campaign to promote financial education across all age groups. Launched in 2002 by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the program is now active in all 50 states through national partnerships with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Cooperative Extension and the American Library Association.

Money Smart Week events are open to the public at businesses, financial institutions, schools, libraries, nonprofits and government agencies throughout the country on topics including kids and money, unemployment, managing student debt and retirement. To learn more about Money Smart Week® visit, www.moneysmartweek.org

Wicomico Public Libraries are located in Downtown Salisbury, the Centre at Salisbury, in Pittsville, and the Library Bookmobile. Wicomico Public Libraries offer numerous resources such as free Internet access, a variety of classes and events, and an online eBooks library, and it engages the community through education, economic development and through various community events. You Belong @ Wicomico Public Libraries!

New Poll Finds Record Number Of Americans Want More Government In Their Lives

In a poll conducted a few days ago by NBC News / Wall Street Journal, a record 57% of Americans responded that they want MORE government in their lives, and that the government should be doing more to solve people’s problems.

That’s the highest percentage since they started asking this question in 1995.

In fact, 57% is nearly double what people responded in the mid-90s.

Furthermore, the number of Americans who feel the opposite, i.e. responded that the government is doing too many things that should be left to private businesses and individuals, fell to a near record-low 39%.

Bottom line: people want more government.

It’s hard to even know where to begin with this.

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Bill Maher Says College Anti-Free Speech Warriors Are the Liberals' Version of Book Burning

[Warning: This video contains adult language.]

Bill Maher is a liberal, but even he doesn't like the fact that liberals have silenced conservative speakers on college campuses. The latest victim of the social justice warriors' attack on our civil rights is Ann Coulter, who was set to give a speech at UC Berkeley. Maher said that the anti-debate and anti-education nonsense at our college campuses is the liberals' version of book burning. Let's put aside the fact that most of the historic book burnings have been perpetrated by liberals, and focus on the one liberal, Bill Maher, actually standing up for our civil liberties.

https://pjmedia.com/video/bill-maher-says-college-anti-free-speech-warriors-are-the-liberals-version-of-book-burning/

BART takeover robbery: 40 to 60 teens swarm train, rob weekend riders

A recent string of robberies on BART trains took a frightening turn when dozens of juveniles swarmed an Oakland station over the weekend and commandeered a train car, forcing passengers to hand over bags and cell phones and leaving at least two with head injuries, witnesses told the transit agency.

The incident — the first of its kind in recent memory — occurred around 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Coliseum Station.

According to a police officials, witnesses said 40 to 60 juveniles flooded the station, jumped the fare gates and rushed to the second-story train platform. Some of the robbers apparently held open the doors of a Dublin-bound train car while others streamed inside, confronting and robbing and in some cases beating riders.

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U.S. HITS SYRIA WITH SANCTIONS OVER CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK

Treasury secretary vows to "relentlessly pursue" and "shut down" financial networks

According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. companies are now barred from doing business with 271 employees of a Syrian government agency said to be responsible for the development of chemical weapons. The targets, deemed “highly educated” members of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), will also have any potential assets held abroad frozen by U.S. banks.

The more than 200 employees have been described as having “expertise in chemistry and related disciplines and/or have worked in support of SSRC’s chemical weapons program since at least 2012.”

During a conference call with reporters, Mnuchin vowed to “relentlessly pursue” any financial networks linked to the alleged continuation of Syria’s chemical weapons program.

“We take Syria’s disregard for innocent human life very seriously, and will relentlessly pursue and shut down the financial networks of all individuals involved with the production of chemical weapons used to commit these atrocities,” Mnuchin said.

Mnuchin further asserted that the sanctions would “hold the Assad regime accountable for its unacceptable behavior.”

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Officials want feds to help address Baltimore's aging water infrastructure

BALTIMORE —Seven jurisdictions in Maryland all get their water from Baltimore City, which on Monday joined counterparts across the country in making a plea for more help from the feds.

Baltimore City supplies water in some capacity to 1.8 million people. That's 32 percent of our state's population.

It all flows through Baltimore City's public system, which includes three water treatment plants, and 4,000 miles of water and sewer pipes.

"(These) are sort of out of sight out of mind. These are buried assets underground, water pipes as well as sewer pipes that's been there for decades and some of them are certainly reaching 100-plus years old," Department of Public Works Director Rudolph Chow said.

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The Troubling Link Between Allergies and Suicide

Early in his career, Teodor Postolache, a psychiatry professor at the University of Maryland, was struck by a peculiar trend that comes up again and again in suicide research. Across decades and in various countries, suicide is much more common in the spring and early summer than other times of year.

Now, Postolache and other researchers believe they have found a curious link between the season and self-harm: pollen-induced allergies.

In 2005, Postolache and his collaborators found that the suicide rate among young women doubled during peak pollen season, and the rate among older women went up by more than four-fold. Last year, researchers in Texas similarly found that suicide attempts in women rose with daily tree pollen counts in the Dallas area. And just last month, a paper published in Environmental Researchfound that increased pollen in the air raised the risk of suicide in women in Tokyo—meaning this dark trend might apply across cultures.

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Watters' Words: The mainstream media exposed... again!

Bill O’Reilly says the truth about harassment charges will leave listeners ‘shaken’

Bill O’Reilly remains defiant in the face of mounting criticism and salacious accusations of sexual harassment after being fired from Fox News. He told listeners that they would be left “shaken” after the truth came out. O’Reilly made the comments from his new podcast released Monday.

In a 19 minute audio post on his website, O’Reilly said that he would be developing his website as a way to reach his audience. “We’ll have guests and things like that,” he explained, “and this will become longer and longer and longer, into a genuine news program.”

O’Reilly also addressed leaving Fox News, saying, “I am sad that I’m not on television anymore. I was very surprised how it all turned out. I can’t say a lot, because there’s much stuff going on right now.”

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Garland terror victim to FBI: Did you sit on your hands while I got shot?

A man shot in the leg during a 2015 terrorist attack is pushing the FBI to explain why one of its agents was at the scene and did nothing, and if the agent was filming the incident for the terrorists as part of his undercover work of trying to infiltrate the group.

Bruce Joiner was working security for the controversial "Draw Muhammad" event in Garland, Texas, when two radical Islamic extremists, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, pulled up to the parking lot checkpoint where he was stationed. The two opened fire at the checkpoint.

Simpson and Soofi were wearing body armor and had arrived at the event in a car stocked with firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. But because the "Draw Muhammad" event was so controversial, it was also well-guarded.

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Wash Post poll hides: Trump still beats Clinton, 43%-40%

A new Washington Post poll that declares President Trump as "the least popular president in modern times," waits until the second to last paragraph to reveal another tidbit: He'd still beat Hillary Rodham Clinton if the election were held today and in the popular vote, not just Electoral College.

The poll found that Trump's polls continue to be upside down, with a 42 percent approval and 53 percent disapproval.

Also unchanged: His base still likes him.

It's not until the second to last paragraph of the long story that it's shown Clinton would still lose to the president, despite the high disapproval ratings and problems with his first 100 days detailed by the paper. It reads:

The new survey finds 46 percent saying they voted for Clinton and 43 percent for Trump, similar to her two-point national vote margin. Asked how they would vote if the election were held today, 43 say they would support Trump and 40 percent say Clinton.

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Clintonland's response to tell-all book accidentally proves book's entire point

Hillary Clinton's inner circle is not happy about the release of a new book alleging her failed presidential run was plagued from the get-go by infighting, pessimism and chronic dysfunction.

Staffers and confidants have pushed back on the book, Shattered, with a counternarrative alleging that, actually, the 2016 Clinton campaign was great fun.

"I feel so lucky to have worked for the right candidate — a woman who still inspires us — with an amazing group of talented true believers," the campaign's deputy communications director, Christina Reynolds, wrote in ablog post. "I hope that no book, no impugned motives, no stories about staff bickering takes that away from any of those amazing coworkers. In the end, I'm still very proud to be with her. And with them."

However, the tell-all bookpaints the former secretary of state's 2016 campaign in a very different, and unflattering, light.

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‘The Ideas Made It, But I Didn’t’

Pat Buchanan won after all. But now he thinks it might be too late for the nation he was trying to save.

His first date with his future wife was spent in aNew Hampshire motel room drinking Wild Turkey into the wee hours with Hunter S. Thompson. He stood several feet away from Martin Luther King Jr. during the “I Have a Dream” speech. He went to China with Richard M. Nixon and walked away from Watergate unscathed. He survived Iran-Contra, too, and sat alongside Ronald Reagan at the Reykjavík Summit. He invaded America’s living rooms and pioneered the rhetorical combat that would power the cable news age. He defied the establishment by challenging a sitting president of his own party. He captured the fear and frustration of the right by proclaiming a great “culture war” was at hand. And his third-party candidacy in 2000 almost certainly handed George W. Bush the presidency, thanks to thousands of Palm Beach, Florida, residents mistakenly voting for him on the “butterfly ballot” when they meant to back Al Gore.

If not for his outsize ambition, Pat Buchanan might be the closest thing the American right has to a real-life Forrest Gump, that patriot from ordinary stock whose life journey positioned him to witness, influence and narrate the pivotal moments that shaped our modern world and changed the course of this country’s history. He has known myriad roles—neighborhood brawler, college expellee, journalist, White House adviser, political commentator, presidential candidate three times over, author, provocateur—and his existence traces the arc of what feels to some Americans like a nation’s ascent and decline. He was 3 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and 6 when Harry Truman dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now 78, with thick, black glasses and a thinning face, Buchanan looks back with nostalgia at a life and career that, for all its significance, was at risk of being forgotten—until Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States.

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Medway Foundation Trust aim to dispel birth misconceptions

Thousands of women could be saved from debilitating injuries thanks to a new midwife-led programme that aims to dispel the misconception that women in labour need to push.

The simple protocol has reduced unintentional damage caused to the body during delivery by 85 per cent in some maternity wards.

Nine in ten women suffer some form of tearing during childbirth, but in more serious cases the injuries can render new mothers incontinent and suffering lifelong nerve problems.

The new programme, designed by staff at Medway Foundation Trust in Kent, has cut the incidence of traumatic tearing from seven per cent to just one per cent of patients.

It encourages mothers-to-be to slow down during delivery and consider alternative positions.

It was initiated in response to a call for action by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives following an alarming rise in severe perineal tearing affecting nearly 14,000 women in 2013 to 2014.

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Complaint: Rep. Hank Johnson Violated Rules Assisting Former Aide Jon Ossoff

An ethics watchdog will notify congressional investigators on Monday of its finding that Rep. Hank Johnson (D., Ga.) used his office's taxpayer-funded resources to assist the campaign of Jon Ossoff, a former Johnson aide, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) says Johnson violated congressional ethics rules that ban members from using their office for partisan campaign activities, and will submit its complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics.

FACT says links to positive stories about Ossoff were posted on Johnson's official congressional website. Ossoff has worked both for Johnson's office and as Johnson's campaign manager in the past.

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Ron Paul Rages At Trump: "Assange Is A Hero... Don't Declare War On The Truth"

“I love Wikileaks,” candidate Donald Trump said on October 10th on the campaign trail. He praised the organization for reporting on the darker side of the Hillary Clinton campaign. It was information likely leaked by a whistleblower from within the Clinton campaign to Wikileaks.

Back then he praised Wikileaks for promoting transparency, but candidate Trump looks less like President Trump every day. The candidate praised whistleblowers and Wikileaks often on the campaign trail. In fact, candidate Trump loved Wikileaks so much he mentioned the organization more than 140 times in the final month of the campaign alone! Now, as President, it seems Trump wants Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sent to prison.

Last week CNN reported, citing anonymous “intelligence community” sources, that the Trump Administration’s Justice Department was seeking the arrest of Assange and had found a way to charge the Wikileaks founder for publishing classified information without charging other media outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post for publishing the same information.

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Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Press Release

On April 22, 2017 at approximately 1746 hours a Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputy observed a Chevrolet Tahoe stationary at the stop sign at the intersection of Sandyfield Road and Nine Pin Branch Road. The Deputy further observed a white male operator who was identified as Frederick Dennis Parker, 60, of Newark, Md. unconscious in the driver seat with the vehicle running. The Deputy was able to wake Mr. Parker after knocking on the driver’s window several times. Upon speaking with Mr. Parker the Deputy believed Mr. Parker to possibly be under the influence of an alcoholic beverage. Mr. Parker did poorly on field sobriety tests and was arrested. Mr. Parker was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving while impaired by alcohol. Mr. Parker was released pending trial.

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Hundreds of Illegal Voters Uncovered in North Carolina in 2016

Investigation finds cases of felon and non-citizen voting, double voting, voter impersonation in 2016 election

Hundreds of illegal voters participated in the 2016 general election in North Carolina, according to a new report.

The post-election audit report, released by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), an independent and bipartisan agency that oversees elections in the state, found hundreds of illegal votes, including votes cast by felons and non-citizens, double voting, voter impersonation, and irregularities that affected mail-in absentee ballots.

The audit uncovered 441 cases where suspected active felons voted during the 2016 elections.

"In late January 2017, NCSBE sent letters to suspected felon voters identified through data audits, notifying recipients that they may have illegally voted and their registrations would be canceled in 30 days unless they objected in writing and presented evidence that they are not active felons," the report states.

"Currently, 441 files of suspected felon voters remain open after an initial screening and contacts or attempted contacts with the voters."

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Sears Closing 50 Auto Centers, 92 Kmart Pharmacies

Like a sinking ship that keeps jettisoning cargo in the hope of staying afloat, Sears Holdings will soon be ridding itself of 50 Sears Auto Centers and 92 Kmart Pharmacies.

Sears Holdings announced the plans Friday, noting that the 142 closures are intended to increase its cost savings target from from $1 billion to $1.25 billion, suggesting that despite several multi-million loans from CEO Eddie Lampert’s other ventures, $250 million is enough to right the retailer’s course.

Already this year, Sears revealed plans to close 150 stores, sold its well-known Craftsman brand, attempted to combine its DieHard brand with its Auto Centers, laid off countless employees, and turned sales floors into barren wastelands or big piles of boxes.

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Jonathan Haidt on the Cultural Roots of Campus Rage

An unorthodox professor explains the ‘new religion’ that drives the intolerance and violence at places like Middlebury and Berkeley.

New York

When a mob at Vermont’s shut down a speech by social scientist Charles Murray a few weeks ago, most of us saw it as another instance of campus illiberalism. Jonathan Haidt saw something more—a ritual carried out by adherents of what he calls a “new religion,” an auto-da-fé against a heretic for a violation of orthodoxy.

“The great majority of college students want to learn. They’re perfectly reasonable, and they’re uncomfortable with a lot of what’s going on,” Mr. Haidt, a psychologist and professor of ethical leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business, tells me during a recent visit to his office. “But on each campus there are some true believers who have reoriented their lives around the fight against evil.”

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Amazon Now Working On Self-Driving Vehicles For Deliveries

Between drones, leased planes, and its own fleet of Flex drivers, Amazon has a decent foothold in the transportation-and-delivery market. But now the company apparently has an eye on the future, and it involves driverless vehicles. 

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Supreme Court: General Motors Can’t Use Bankruptcy To Avoid Lawsuits Over Deadly Ignition Defect

The Supreme Court has denied General Motors’ legal efforts to use its 2009 bankruptcy to block lawsuits over injuries and financial losses related to the carmaker’s long-ignored ignition switch defect.

When GM, with more than a little help from taxpayers, clawed its way out of bankruptcy in 2009, it did so with an understanding that the “New GM” had purchased all the old assets of pre-bankruptcy “Old GM,” under the condition that the new company would be “free and clear” from liability for claims against the old company.

So the massive ignition recall presented a difficult question, in terms of which GM should be blamed. Some people at the car company knew of the defect — which could result in a vehicle being suddenly turned off, rendering it very difficult to control — as far back as 2001, before the affected cars even went into production.

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Report: 25% Of Americans Won’t Have A Traditional TV Subscription By 2018

TV viewers have been snipping the cord and freeing themselves from traditional TV subscriptions offered by satellite and cable companies for years, so it may come as no surprise that the flood of customers fleeing to streaming video shows no signs of easing. 

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Tesla To Double Number Of Supercharger Stations In Advance Of Model 3 Launch

Tesla will roll out its first mass-market vehicle — the $35,000 Model 3 — later this year, significantly increasing the demand for charging stations. That’s why the company says it’s going to double the number of Superchargers available worldwide by the end of this year. 

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Caption This Photo 4-25-17

The Real Reason We Have Kids...

Bondage?

Pit bull that mauled boy had terrorized town: neighbors

A ferocious pit bull that has previously terrorized residents of a Rockland County town attacked a toddler as he played with other kids on an area street, leaving him mauled on the face and in need of stitches, officials said Friday.

Surveillance footage of the horrific attack, posted online, shows the dog charging at the 3-year-old, dragging and tossing him around like a rag doll at around 6 p.m. Thursday on North Cole Avenue in Spring Valley.

The boy, identified as Eli Mendlowitz, can then be seen struggling to crawl away before the dog pounces on him a second time.

Moments later, people can be seen rushing over to help, with one man pulling the canine away by its collar.

“I see the dog run across the street and bite the child. I was shocked. I was saying, ‘Oh my gosh! What happened over there?’ I saw him bite his neck. People were screaming. It was one second. It was a very, very wild dog,” said witness Motty Deutsch.

Rachel Brown, a neighbor, said that the charging pit bull missed her 7-year-old son “by a second.”

“My son feels so crazy right now. He couldn’t sleep. They were just playing,” said Brown, who added, “There was blood. Eli was screeching and then he calmed down.”

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