Salisbury News: 07/07/17

Friday, July 07, 2017

OCEAN CITY: Two arrested following video of assault, robbery in resort

Ocean City police arrested two men after they allegedly assaulted a visitor and stole his money and two portable radios last Friday night.

A patrol officer noticed a man yelling in Baltimore Avenue near Dorchester Street around 7:26 p.m. He told police that two men, later identified as Rodney Dotson, 31, of Salisbury and Jemanual Hudson, 25, of Seaford, Delaware, stole a can of money and his radios. The can had approximately $100 in it, according to the police report.

Witnesses who recorded the incident said that the pair had pushed the man down. While Dotson ran off with the can of money, Hudson allegedly pushed the victim down again to stop him from chasing after Dotson.

Police later Hudson near North Division Street, but a search failed to produce either the money or the radios. Police also said they released Hudson after he denied knowing anything about the incident.

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The Fast Track to “Carmageddon”

Back in the 1950s when GM had 50% of the auto market they always said that, “As General Motors goes, so goes the nation.”

That was obviously a tribute to GM’s economic muscle and its role as the driver of growth and rising living standards in post-war America’s booming economy. Those days are long gone for both GM and the nation. GM’s drastically reduced 20% market share of U.S. light vehicle sales in June was still an economic harbinger, albeit of a different sort.

GM offered a record $4,361 of cash incentives during June. That was up 7% from last year and represented 12% of its average selling price of $35,650 per vehicle, also a record. But what it had to show for this muscular marketing effort was a 5% decline in year-over-year sales and soaring inventories. The latter was up 46% from last June.

My purpose is not to lament GM’s ragged estate, but to note that it — along with the entire auto industry — has become a ward of the Fed’s debt-fueled false prosperity. The June auto sales reports make that absolutely clear.

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OCEAN CITY: Knives found more often than guns during arrests this year

Weapons arrests in Ocean City are tracking with statistics for the last two years, but law enforcement officers are seizing more knives through arrests than they did last year, according to Ocean City Police.

As of mid-June, 79 weapons arrests were made in the resort, a five percent reduction as compared to the 83 arrests made during the same period last year. Fourteen of those were firearms-related, which is up by one from this point last June.

So far, however, police have seized 77 knives, up 45 percent from this point last summer, where 53 knives were confiscated.

“Looking at the statistics, we see more knives than firearms,” Police Public Affairs Specialist Lindsay Richard said. “It just seems like there’s more firearms because we’ve had shooting incidents in such a concentrated period of time.”

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July 4, 2017 : Coldest July Temperature Ever Recorded In The Northern Hemisphere

Greenland just set the record for coldest July temperature ever reported in the Northern Hemisphere at -33C.

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Climate experts immediately responded to the record cold by saying Greenland is melting faster than expected at -33C.

Almost all of Greenland’s surface is gaining ice.

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In fact, Greenland has gained a near record amount of ice this year, and the ice is melting very slowly.

Compactors and pavers will be a regular sight for commuters on Route 113 between Snow Hill and Berlin as construction crews begin laying base asphalt on portions of the highway.

Maryland State Highway Administration spokesperson Bob Rager provided a status update on Phase 3 of the $86 million highway dualization project, which covers a 4.6-mile stretch of road between Massey Branch at the north end and Five Mile Branch Road.

“We just started paving last week,” he said. “The order of business for the rest of the summer is going to be paving, paving, paving.”

The initial base asphalt paving was done last week between Massey Creek and Langmaid Road, Rager said.

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Scarborough: Russia Had Nothing To Do With Trump Win, Calls Hillary A Terrible Candidate

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough said Wednesday that Russia did not tip the scales in the 2016 presidential election, and added former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has no one to blame but herself for the shocking defeat.

“We don’t think the Russians had anything to do with Donald trump winning the election,” said Scarborough.

“I think Hillary Clinton not going to Wisconsin and not listening to Bill Clinton, and not listening to Joe Biden, and not listening to a lot of other people who were telling her back in August. And Robby Mook deciding he’s not going to poll but instead he’s going to look at analytics.”

“There are a thousand reasons why Hillary Clinton lost starting with Hillary Clinton being a terrible candidate,” Scarborough said.

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Longer holiday shows more police activity in Ocean City

With the Fourth of July falling on a Tuesday, thousands of visitors decided to make it a four-day weekend in Ocean City this year, causing a spike in police activity for the period.

From Saturday to Tuesday, Ocean City Police documented 3,279 calls for service, up 26 percent from 2016, when the holiday fell on a Monday. Last year, 2,588 recorded calls for service were made, which was 12 percent increase from 2015, when Fourth of July was on Sunday.

Police Public Affairs Specialist Lindsay Richard said despite the call volume, it was business as usual for the department.

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FACT CHECK: Does Planned Parenthood Use Medicaid To Fund Abortions?

The Washington Post claimed in an article Friday that Planned Parenthood does not use Medicaid funds for abortions. “As the nation’s largest abortion provider, the 100-year-old nonprofit has sustained attacks at both the state and federal level, although the clinic does not use Medicaid funding to provide abortion services,” the article states.

Verdict: False

The Hyde Amendment allows Medicaid funding exclusively for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger. The Washington Post’s claim that Planned Parenthood does not use Medicaid funds to cover abortions is false.

Fact Check:

The Washington Post’s article, covering Planned Parenthood closures in Iowa and the potential removal of governmental funds from abortion providers, mistakenly claimed that Planned Parenthood does not receive Medicaid funds for abortion services. The claim is in direct contradiction to a federal amendment, several state decisions, and Planned Parenthood’s website.

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Canoe Joust swings back into action in Snow Hill, Tomorrow

The Snow Hill Volunteer Fire Company’s annual Canoe Joust provides a new, and slightly wetter, spin on a favored sport from the Middle Ages.

This Saturday in Sturgis Park teams consisting of a pair of paddlers, along with the prerequisite jouster, will compete with foam-tipped sticks to see who can force their opponent to take a dive in the Pocomoke River.

The cost for day-of registration is $75 for each trio and begins at 9 a.m. in Sturgis Park. Participants receive free beverages and one meal ticket.

The action commences about 11 a.m. and the games are double elimination. First through third place honors will be awarded.

Howard Stephens, fire company secretary treasurer, said last year the annual event, as usual, was a fun and successful fundraising effort for the volunteer company.

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DCCC Plans To Take Back Congress With Some Pretty Lame Bumper Stickers

People are mocking the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for offering supporters bumper stickers with pretty uninspiring messaging.

In a fundraising email sent Wednesday, the DCCC asked its supporters to choose which bumper sticker the group should print next. However, people who got the email quickly began deriding the four choices and accused the DCCC of being unable to come up with compelling or unifying messaging.

The slogan on one sticker read, “I mean, have you seen the other guys?”

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New battle looming over permitting hog farm in PA

Last year, the Bivouac Swine Farm owners thought that by now, they would be wrapping up construction on their barns by a wooded stream in south-central Pennsylvania, and preparing to house 8,700 pigs in a new breeding facility.

Instead, the 224-acre operation near McConnellsburg is on hold, after neighboring residents and environmental activists concerned it would harm local water quality won a rare legal victory blocking it. An appeals board judge ruled last year that state regulators had failed to properly vet the farm’s plans for preventing pig waste from entering Big Cove Creek, a state-designated coldwater fishing stream that ultimately drains into the Potomac River.

The dispute may be about to resume, as a representative of Country View Family Farms, the parent company for the swine operation, said it planned to reapply in June to the Department of Environmental Protection for approval of its stormwater management plan for the site. Residents say they’re girding to oppose it again.

“I’ve lived here for more than 30 years,” neighbor Marjorie Hudson said. “My family is from here. I’m related to almost everyone in the county. I don’t think this is the right thing in the right place.”

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At Least 101 Shot And 15 Killed In Chicago During Bloody July Fourth Weekend

At least 101 people were shot and 15 were killed on the streets of Chicago over the long Fourth of July weekend between Friday afternoon and early Wednesday, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The carnage marks one of the most violent Fourth of July weekends in the Windy City in recent years.

The violence was mostly confined to the South and West sides of the city in districts where the Chicago Police Department deployed hundreds of overtime police officers to help quell the violence.

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House Dem IT Suspects Wanted Untraceable Payments — And Sure Enough, Millions Disappeared

A Pakistani family under criminal investigation by the U.S. Capitol Police for abusing their access to the House of Representatives information technology (IT) system may have engaged in myriad other questionable schemes besides allegedly placing “ghost employees” on the congressional payroll.

Imran Awan, his wife Hina, and brothers Abid and Jamal collectively netted more than $4 million in salary as IT administrators for House Democrats between 2009 and 2017. Yet the absence of signs of wealth displayed among them raise questions such as was the money sent overseas or did something other than paychecks motivate their actions?

Capitol Police revoked the Awans’ access to the congressional IT system in February 2017 after a major data breach was detected. Their access had allowed them to read emails and files of dozens of members, including many serving on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

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New Research Shows Increase In Strokes For Millennials

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — New research finds a startling increase in the number of strokes among young adults, which might come as a surprise to many.

Researchers say it is not clear what is causing this troubling trend.

Researchers have studied this upward trend of strokes among millennials for almost a decade, and the fact that they don’t have all the answers is one of their biggest concerns.

Health and fitness seems to be a priority for many millennials. So when new research revealed more millennials in the U.S. are having strokes, this is the sort of reaction WJZ’s Ava-joye Burnett got.

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New York Times, Associated Press Correct Claims that All 17 Intelligence Agencies Agreed on Russian Interference

The New York Times and Associated Press posted corrections last week walking back the widely reported claim that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies agreed that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election with the goal of helping Donald Trump.

Rather, the assessment involved information collected by the FBI, CIA and NSA, and was then published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which represents all the intelligence agencies.

The Associated Press published a "clarification" on June 30 about four different stories stating all 17 intelligence agencies agreed the Russians interfered in the election in order to help Trump. Instead, it acknowledged, not all those agencies were involved in that assessment:

In stories published April 6, June 2, June 26 and June 29, The Associated Press reported that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies have agreed that Russia tried to influence the 2016 election to benefit Donald Trump. That assessment was based on information collected by three agencies – the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency – and published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which represents all U.S. intelligence agencies. Not all 17 intelligence agencies were involved in reaching the assessment.

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Minimum wage hike set to reverse in Missouri

ST. LOUIS -- Cities all over the United States have been boosting their minimum wage. It's up to $15 an hour in Seattle, but it's going in the opposite direction in St. Louis, Missouri.

Amer Hawatmeh's family-owned restaurant in downtown St. Louis is struggling.

Along with rising sales taxes, and meat prices, a minimum wage hike to $10 an hour two months ago made it expensive to stay open. So he's cut back from five to two days a week for lunch. His hamburgers are smaller, his entrees pricier and his customers scarcer.

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Rep. Steve Scalise re-admitted to intensive care unit

Doctors at the hospital where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., has been recovering from a gunshot wound downgraded his condition from "fair" to "serious" Wednesday after he contracted an infection.

MedStar Washington Hospital Center said Scalise had been re-admitted to the intensive care unit. The hospital added that it would provide another update sometime Thursday.

Scalise and four others were hurt when a gunman opened fire on a GOP baseball practice in Virginia on June 14. The gunman, identified as James T. Hodgkinson, was fatally shot by Capitol police.

The congressman was struck in the hip and the bullet tore into blood vessels, bones and internal organs. He has undergone several surgeries.

Sources told Fox News that doctors had anticipated that Scalise would suffer an infection related to the shooting. Sources close to the congressman indicated that they had been told from the start that the Louisianan's recovery would have ups and downs.

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Indictments outline new charges against officers, new defendants

BALTIMORE —There are new federal charges and new defendants in a far-reaching corruption case against current and former Baltimore police officers.

The new indictments released Thursday lists more allegations of how officers used their authority to steal money and drugs.

The new indictments charge two civilians -- a cousin and a friend of a police detective -- with using the power and equipment of the Gun Trace Task Force to commit a home invasion of a store owner.

The new indictments stretches the allegations against officers in the city's Gun Trace Task Force to 2014.

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Breaking News: President Trump pressed Vladimir Putin on Russia's meddling in the U.S. election

In their meeting, President Trump pressed Vladimir Putin on Russia’s meddling in the U.S. election, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said

Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin met face-to-face on the sidelines of the Group of 20 gathering in Hamburg. Their encounter lasted more than two hours, far longer than expected.

Ted Cruz ‘Consumer Choice’ Amendment Could Save Senate Healthcare Bill

Senator Ted Cruz’s amendment to the Senate Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) could save the bill’s prospects of passing through the Senate.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) will continue to push for an amendment that would allow health insurers to sell plans that do not comply with Obamacare insurance regulations if they sell plans that do comply with those regulations. Cruz’s amendment would allow insurers to sell more flexible and affordable health insurance plans.

Conservative leaders such as Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows (R-NC) have endorsed the Cruz plan, citing the amendment’s effort to offer more affordable health care plans. Meadows told reporters, “If the Cruz consumer choice amendment gets there, yes I can support it without the MacArthur amendment in there, because I think it gives everybody some options.”

“Right now I’m looking at the Cruz consumer choice amendment as the primary vehicle that makes the most sense to me,” Meadows said, “and I applaud him for stepping out,” Meadows added.

Meadows’ endorsement serves as an important stamp of approval, as the House would have to approve the Senate BCRA if it passes through the upper chamber.

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Philadelphia police: Casket with infant organs came from New Jersey funeral home

NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) --Philadelphia police say a casket found earlier this week, which had embalmed infant organs inside, came from a funeral home in New Jersey.

The casket was found in the 3000 block of West Clearfield Street, across from the Mount Vernon Cemetery, just after 9 p.m. Monday.

Officers arrived to find a small, white, closed casket. When they opened it, they found a plastic bag containing what the Medical Examiner later confirmed to be two embalmed human organs from an infant.

"It was shocking to say the least," Capt. Malachi Jones said. "It begs the question: Where is the baby?"

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Proceeds Of Hill IT Suspects Disappeared

14 Facts That Show America's System Of Public Education Deserves An 'F' Grade

One thing that almost everyone can agree upon is that our system of public education is broken. We spend far more money on public education than anyone else in the world, and yet the results are depressing to say the least.

Considering how much we are putting into education, we should be producing the best students on the entire planet, but it just isn’t happening. Personally, I attended public schools from kindergarten all the way up through law school, and the quality of education that I received was extremely poor. Even on the collegiate level, most of the courses were so “dumbed down” that even the family dog could have passed them. And of course millions of other people all over the country would say the same sorts of things about their own educations. Many refer to what is happening to our society as “the dumbing down of America”, and if we don’t get things fixed the United States is on course to become a second class nation.

If you believe that I am exaggerating, I would like you to consider the following numbers. The following are 14 facts that prove that America’s absolutely pathetic system of education deserves an “F” grade…

#1 Somewhere around 50 million students attend public schools in America today.

#2 Education is the most expensive item in 41 different state budgets.

#3 The latest PISA tests show that U.S. students are below average compared to the rest of the industrialized world…

One of the biggest cross-national tests is the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which every three years measures reading ability, math and science literacy and other key skills among 15-year-olds in dozens of developed and developing countries. The most recent PISA results, from 2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the U.S. ranked 30th in math and 19th in science.

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CNN Staff Reeling After Personal Info Leaked

“Frustration” is the predominant feeling inside CNN, The Mirror has learned

Several anchors and reporters at CNN have had their home addresses published and have received threats of rape and other violence in the wake of a story published by Andrew Kaczynski, who heads up the network’s investigative K-FILE team. Anti-network trolls are encouraging viewers to wrongly accuse CNN staffers of pedophilia and child pornography. There is also “tons of anti-Semitism.”

“Frustration” is the predominant feeling inside CNN, The Mirror has learned.

Kaczynski published a story on the 4th of July in which he appeared to threaten to publish the name of a Reddit user who parades around anonymously as “HanAssholeSolo.” HanAssholeSolo claimed to be the originator of the wrestling video tweeted by President Trump in which POTUS flattened a wrestler whose face was a CNN logo.

Trump has long accused CNN of being “fake news” and “very fake news.”

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New holes in Loretta Lynch’s story on the Hillary probe

When former Attorney General Loretta Lynch testified last year about her decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information, she swore she never talked to “anyone” on the Clinton campaign. That categorical denial, though made in response to a series of questions about whether she spoke with Clintonworld about remaining attorney general if Hillary won the election, could come back to haunt her.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which has launched a bipartisan investigation into Lynch for possible obstruction of justice, recently learned of the existence of a document indicating Lynch assured the political director of Clinton’s campaign she wouldn’t let FBI agents “go too far” in probing the former secretary of state.

Lynch’s lawyer says she is cooperating with committee investigators, who are seeking answers to several questions, as well as relevant documents. Among other things, they want to know if she or any of her Justice Department staff “ever communicated with Amanda Renteria,” who headed Clinton’s political operations during the campaign. Renteria, who has been identified in the document as the senior Clinton campaign aide with whom Lynch privately communicated, has also been asked to testify.

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Perfect weather equates to profitable July 4 celebration

Sunny skies and good weather brought another crowded Fourth of July weekend to Ocean City, even though the one-day interval between the holiday itself and the weekend saw some visitors departing before the grand finale Tuesday.

“Ocean City was bustling this weekend,” said Jessica Waters, Town of Ocean City communications manager. “It was great to see so many people take advantage of a long weekend and using the holiday to spend time with their family and friends in Ocean City. The crowds on the Boardwalk were great and traffic was heavy, which indicates that people were out and about.”

Melanie Pursel, executive director for the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, said most hotels were at capacity based on the limited number of calls received about vacancies.

“The town was pretty packed and the weather was nice,” Pursel said. “It was a very successful Fourth. People came in early and did make a weekend out if it. Sunday was packed with a lot of families on the beach. By all accounts, it was a great weekend.”

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The County Executive Speech Word For Word No One Else Would Publish

“Yesterday morning at 11:50 AM, our County Attorney, Paul Wilber, sent an email to all Council members, advising them not to go forward with the hearing on the forensic audit because it was based on false statements. You will see there was no fraud in an attachment to the forthcoming press release.

Council’s conduct has been legally reckless and financially irresponsible as they pursued this fruitless witch hunt! They have defamed innocent employees for a political hit job against me. Their actions are appalling and dishonorable considering their positions in our government.

While we have a policy of transparency, no further comment will be made, because this is and always has been a personnel issue, subject to privacy protections under State and Federal law. Further, there is a strong likelihood of litigation from one or more damaged employees.”

Supreme Court ruling property rights

Liberty is slowly dying in this nation. The battles where liberty dies are mostly not the headline grabbing stories, but instead small cuts that help reduce this nation to despotism.

One of the cornerstones of liberty in America is property rights. In other nations, past and present, the sovereign could take a citizen’s property and the citizen was simply out of luck. Our founding fathers so feared the power of the government to take private property that they included what is known as the “takings clause” in the Fifth Amendment.

The Fifth Amendment is one of the most expansive amendments to the United States Constitution and it includes the takings clause; which states, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Recently, the committee of nine unelected lawyers known as the Supreme Court gutted the Fifth Amendment. The case was called Murr v. Wisconsin.

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Does The Salisbury Police Department Have Something To Hide

It's been more then a week since the SPD published any updates on their calls for service since June 28th. As you know, we like to keep tabs on the weekly crime but clearly we cannot do so if they keep hiding the crime reports.

Chief Clinton Strategist: Democrats Should Abandon the Left

In an op-ed in the New York Times Thursday, Mark Penn and Andrew Stein argue that the “path back to power for the Democratic Party today, as it was in the 1990s, is unquestionably to move to the center and reject the siren calls of the left, whose policies and ideas have weakened the party.” Penn is the former chief strategist of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and was a prominent advisor to President Bill Clinton. Stein is a former New York City Council president.

Their Democratic party credentials are not in question, and yet they all but call for an explicit repudiation of “Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and a host of well-funded groups [that] have embraced sharply leftist ideas” while acknowledging the “need to … adopt an agenda of renewed growth, greater protection for American workers and a return to fiscal responsibility.

Further, the op-ed makes a specific point of arguing that Democrats have lost voters due to an embrace of political correctness and large-scale efforts by the party to demean and diminish the role of religion in public life. Specifically, they argue Democrats need to support free speech on campus, and that their strong positions on issues like sanctuary cities and transgender bathrooms have cost them electorally. At times the op-ed reads as if they are encouraging Democrats to poach significant elements of Donald Trump's platform, urging Democrats in Congress to cooperate on infrastructure issues, bolster manufacturing, and get behind tough-on-crime measures.

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Maryland's first medical marijuana dispensary opens

FREDERICK, Md. —Maryland's first medical marijuana dispensary is open for business.

State regulators are giving the Wellness Institute of Maryland in Frederick the green light to open, even though the medicinal marijuana will not be available for months.

Granting a dispensing license is a major milestone for the state's controversial program, which is being challenged by two lawsuits over how the state chose which firms to license. So far, the state is giving the green light to just one grower.

The plant medicine is expected to be available sometime between Labor Day and Halloween.

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Supreme Court orders CO, NM courts to revisit private school cases ‘in light of Trinity Lutheran’

The U.S. Supreme Court is ordering lower state courts to reconsider rulings in light of its decision Monday that ruled Missouri’s Blane Amendment violated the U.S. Constitution.

The Blane Amendment, versions of which are included in other state constitutions, specifically prohibits public funds from flowing to religious entities, but the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Monday against Missouri using the amendment to block a religious school from participating in a state grant program.

Trinity Lutheran Church sued the state after officials denied its application for a grant program to rubberize school playgrounds, and many school choice proponents believe the Supreme Court decision will have far broader implications for voucher programs nationwide, EAGnews reports.

Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority that “the exclusion of Trinity Lutheran from a public benefit for which it is otherwise qualifies, solely because it is a church, is odious to our Constitution … and cannot stand.”

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered courts in Colorado and New Mexico to review cases currently pending for appeal in light of Monday’s ruling.

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India Gives Israel a Firm Embrace

Even to the casual observer, the symbolism of Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel this week was hard to miss. But the visit also reflects deep changes in India’s domestic politics. Traditional opponents of a closer India-Israel relationship have lost in the court of public opinion.

Mr. Modi’s three days in Israel, the first visit ever to the Jewish state by an Indian prime minister, unfolded as a series of carefully choreographed photo-ops designed to emphasize the warmth that exists between New Delhi and Jerusalem. Accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Modi paid tribute to Holocaust victims and to Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism.

The two leaders underlined their common opposition to Islamic terrorism by meeting a 10-year-old Israeli boy whose parents were murdered by Pakistani terrorists during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which claimed 166 lives. Mr. Modi also traveled to Haifa to honor Indian soldiers who died helping liberate the city during World War I.

It’s easy to attribute India’s dramatic shift over the past quarter century—from reflexive support for the Palestinians to an intense partnership with Israel—to changing global circumstances.

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Zimbabwe 2.0: South Africa President Proposes Land "Expropriation Without Compensation"

With every passing day the formerly booming nation of South Africa is getting ever closer to the formerly banana republic of Zimbabwe.

On Wednesday, South Africa's ruling African National Congress proposed at its 5th annual national policy conference that in addition to potentially nationalizing the country's central bank, that land expropriation without compensation should be allowed where it is "necessary and unavoidable," President Jacob Zuma said.

There was a hard push from supporters of President Jacob Zuma for a decision on the redistribution of land without compensation‚ which would necessitate a change to the constitution. But as the Sunday Times reported, according to the ANC’s economic transformation subcommittee head‚ Enoch Godongwana‚ both this proposal and the current system of redistribution with compensation remain on the table for debate by branches. Zuma‚ however‚ hinted in his closing address that there could be legislative changes for expropriation without compensation.

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NY Times Questions Statistic Provided by Trump, Admits He Was Right a Paragraph Later

A New York Times report published Thursday seemed mystified about where President Donald Trump got a statistic, only to confirm Trump was correct in the next paragraph.

Trump attacked China for ramping up trade with North Korea in a Wednesday tweet, saying that "trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter."

But Trump did not say 40 percent; he said "almost" 40 percent. In the very next paragraph, the Times reported that he was in the right ballpark and provided the source.

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Our Political Parties Are Obsolete

When the parties do finally implode, the general mood will be: good riddance.

History informs us that once something is obsolete, it can disappear far faster than anyone expected. While we generally think of obsoleted technologies vanishing, social and political systems can become obsolete as well.

Should a poor soul who entered a deep coma a year ago awaken today, we must forgive his/her astonishment at the political wreckage left by the 2016 election. The Democratic Party, a mere year ago an absurdly over-funded machine confident in an easy victory in the presidential race, is now a complete shambles: its leadership in free-fall, its Fat-Cat donors disgusted, and its demented intoxication with pinning collaboration with Russia on the Trump camp eroding whatever feeble legacy legitimacy it still holds. What the party stands for is a mystery, as its Elites are clearly beholden to insiders, special interests and Corporate donors while glorifying the worst excesses of globalism and the National Security State's endless war on civil liberties.

The newly awakened citizen would also marvel at the chaotic war zone of the Republican Party, in which the Insider Warlords are battling insurgent Outsiders, while the same Elites that fund the Democratic machine are wondering what they're buying with their millions of dollars in contributions, for it's unclear what the Republican Party stands for: it's for Small Government, except when it's for Bigger Government, which is 95% of the time; it's for more law enforcement and the militarization of local police, and more intrusion into the lives of the citizenry; it's for stricter standards for welfare, except for Corporate Welfare; it's for tax reform, except the thousands of pages of give-aways, loopholes and tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations all remain untouched, and so on: a smelly tangle of special interests masked by a few sprays of PR air freshener to the millions left behind by the globalization that has so enriched Corporate America and the class of financier-owners, bankers, insiders and technocrats--the same group that funds and controls both political parties.

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Trump vs. CNN - #CNNBlackmail Meme Compilation

Democrat-Controlled States Face Debt Crisis

Longtime Democrat-controlled state governments are running out of other people’s money. Three states in particular are in varying degrees of budgetary crisis. Illinois, Connecticut and New Jersey are swimming in debt and yet Democrats’ only solution is to call for tax increases, not spending cuts. Illinois is especially bad, finding itself staring at a growing debt crisis owing primarily to the cost of public pensions. It recently passed a massive tax hike, though Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the bill over its failure to deal with the root cause of the problem — the public employment system. But the state senate’s Democrat majority overrode Rauner’s veto, displaying once again that Democrats dance to the tune of big unions over and against the interests of citizens. Is it any wonder that Illinois has seen its population decrease by over 500,000 since 2010?

Both Connecticut and New Jersey find themselves in similar predicaments..

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Georgia neighbor kills man and dog over dog feces

A Georgia man allegedly killed his neighbor early Sunday morning after believing his dog was leaving feces in his yard.

Larry Russell Bates, 46, from Auburn, is facing charges of felony murder and animal cruelty for shooting and killing Paul Allen Wilson, 44, and one of Wilson's dogs.

Bates was arrested after the Auburn Police Department received a call about a neighborhood dispute on Crest Pointe Court in Auburn at about 1.16am, Lt Chris Hodge told the Gwinnett Daily Post.

He added that the officers were aware that one of the neighbors had a gun.

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Breaking News: U.S. employers added 222,000 jobs to their payrolls in June, more than expected. The jobless rate edged up to 4.4 percent.

The Labor Department released the June hiring and unemployment figures on Friday morning. This is the latest official snapshot of the state of the American economy.

• 222,000 jobs were added last month. Wall Street economists had expected employment gains of 175,000.

• The unemployment rate was 4.4 percent. May’s jobless rate was 4.3 percent.

• The average hourly wage grew by 2.5 percent from a year earlier.

North Korea’s ICBM Warhead

Photographic analysis of North Korea’s new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) reveals the nose cone of the nuclear-capable rocket appears similar to a suspected Chinese-supplied warhead for a Pakistani nuclear-capable missile.

Missile analyst Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, tells Inside the Ring the warhead stage of the new ICBM, dubbed Hwasong-14 and flight-tested with great fanfare July 4, appears very similar to the last stage of a missile tested in January by Pakistan.

The Pakistani medium-range Ababeel missile was flight-tested Jan. 24 and is assessed to be capable of carrying either a conventional or nuclear warhead.

The warhead stage similarities suggest “there is a real possibility that North Korea and Pakistan are continuing their historic cooperation in the development of long-range ballistic missiles,” Mr. Fisher said.

Mr. Fisher said Asian intelligence sources told him that the third warhead stage of the Ababeel is liquid-fueled and was launched atop two solid-fuel stages developed from Pakistan’s Shaheen II or Shaheen III medium-range missiles.

The new Hwasong-14 appears to use three liquid-fuel stages, and the nose cone shown in state-run North Korean video reveals it is nearly identical to the new Pakistan missile nose cone.

“What is important to note is that, according to Indian sources, Ababeel demonstrated either a multiple-warhead capability or the ability to deploy decoys along with a single warhead,” Mr. Fisher said.

The multiple-warhead capability for the Ababeel is likely sourced to China, which has provided Pakistan with nuclear weapons and other missile technology for several decades, he added.

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Caption This Photo 7-7-17

Thank God Its Friday 7-7-17

What will you be doing this weekend?

Reminds Me Of The Daily Times

CNN's Ratings Collapse As Primetime Shows Draw Less Viewers Than Re-Runs Of "Yogi Bear"

A series of fake news articles (see here, here and here), black mail of anonymous Reddit users who had the audacity to poke fun at them and a couple of undercover videos from Project Veritas revealing CNN producers admitting their own news is "mostly bullshit," seems to be taking a toll on CNN's ratings.

As The Federalist notes in the table below, for the week of June 26th - July 2nd, CNN's primetime shows (Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon) managed to draw about 6% fewer viewers than multi-decade old re-runs of "Yogi Bear," "Full House," and "Friends" which air in the same time slots on Nick-At-Nite.

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Dog Found In Eden

Found dog on Stockyard road, Eden, Md. If this is your dog, please contact Ashleyandsasha@gmail.com. Proof of ownership required.

Arrest made after 3 people killed in shooting, chase in downtown Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV/WSPA) – Savannah Police say one person is in custody and will be charged with three counts of murder after a shooting that ended with a chase and crash.

Police say three people are dead and four people were injured downtown.

News 3’s Darius Johnson was downtown when the shooting happened. He reports a white SUV pulled up at the City Market on Julian and Jefferson Streets. Someone inside the vehicle then fired several shots.

Police report that 4 people were injured, including one person who showed up at a hospital later with non-life threatening injuries.

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CNN's Falsehoods And Lies Vol 1

This Is How It's Done Salisbury

Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Press Release

On Wednesday, July 6 at 12:04PM a Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Deputywas dispatched to the area of Public Landing Road near McCabes Corner Road, Snow Hill, for reported dirt bikes riding up and down Public Landing Road.

The Deputy located 2 individuals on unregistered dirt bikes in that area riding on the roadway. The Deputy attempted to stop the vehicles at which time they fled. One of the subjects drove west towards US 113 and refused to stop. The Deputy followed the dirt bike as it turned south on US 113 on the north-bound paved shoulder. The dirt bike then left the roadway and fled into a cornfield. While checking that area Deputies located and impounded the blue 2005 Yamaha 80cc dirt bike the suspect was riding.

The suspect was later located by a Deputy walking near the woods a short distance away on US 113 near Brick Kiln Road. The suspect was identified as Dantwyne Taylor, 33 y/o of Salisbury, Maryland. Mr. Taylor was arrested and charged with fleeing and eluding and taken before a District Court Commissioner where he was held on $5,000 cash bond.

While Ringling Brothers Shuts Down, Another Circus Has Begun

WORCESTER COUNTY: Special Weather Statement

...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT NORTHEASTERN WORCESTER COUNTY...

At 445 AM EDT, radar indicated strong thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles northwest of Berlin to near Newark to Snow Hill. Movement was east at 35 mph. Wind gusts in excess of 30 mph and brief heavy rain can be expected with these storms. These storms will be near... Newark around 450 AM EDT. Berlin around 455 AM EDT. Ocean Pines around 500 AM EDT. Ocean City and Cape Isle Of Wight around 510 AM EDT. Other locations impacted by these storms include Bishop, West Ocean City, Boxiron, Ocean City Municipality, Cedartown, Bishopville, Public Landing, Ironshire, Mount Wesley and Showell.

Sue Me

Whenever Mom Gets Behind The Wheel...

Literally

Would You Shake The Machine?

Chicago police express frustration after more than 100 shot in violent Fourth of July weekend

The Chicago Police Department says it is conducting "a very comprehensive review" after the city experienced one of its most violent Fourth of July weekends in recent years, with at least 102 people shot between late Friday afternoon and early Wednesday.

"We're doing a debriefing," said chief police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. "The mood here is frustration."

The review will include an analysis of how "amateur fireworks" might have affected the ShotSpotter system, which captures audio of gunfire and attempts to pinpoint its location for quicker deployment of officers. The system is deployed in the Englewood and Harrison districts, traditionally among the city's most violent.

"It's perplexing," Guglielmi said. "We deployed some very successful tactics over the Memorial Day weekend." Yet those same tactics did not seem to work as well over the Fourth holiday.

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