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Saturday, September 23, 2017

Former Special Forces medic to receive Medal of Honor for mission long kept secret

If he hadn’t wanted to avoid the Marine Corps so badly, retired Capt. Gary Michael ”Mike” Rose might never have been on the secret 1970 operation that earned him the military’s highest award for valor.

On Sept. 11, 1970, a few minutes into the helicopter ride from his southeastern Vietnam base, then-Spc. Rose knew that they weren’t in Vietnam anymore.

“You get on a helicopter and you fly for 45 minutes, an hour west — when you know by helicopter the border’s only five minutes away — you know you’re in Laos,” Rose told Army Times in an Aug. 28 phone interview. ”It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”

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All Children Are Accounted For In Mexico City School, Official Says

A strong earthquake that hit Mexico City and other central areas has killed at least 273 people, officials say. Search teams are working feverishly to find any survivors who were trapped.

However, Navy Assistant Secretary Angel Enrique Sarmiento said there is no missing child at the collapsed Mexico City school that has been the focus of rescue efforts.

"We've done an accounting with school officials, and we are certain that all the children either died, unfortunately, are in hospitals or are safe at their homes," said Sarmiento as quoted by The Associated Press. He said 19 children and six adults were killed in the school collapse and 11 children were rescued.

Sarmiento said traces of blood and other signs suggest that an adult may still be alive in the rubble.

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'World's Wealthiest Woman,' Liliane Bettencourt, Dies At 94

Liliane Bettencourt, heiress to the L'Oréal cosmetics dynasty, has died at the age of 94.

In March, Forbes ranked Bettencourt the world's richest woman, putting her net worth at $39.5 billion.

Bettencourt's daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, confirmed the death in a statement to French media, saying her mother died "peacefully" at her home in France overnight Wednesday.

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PIERS MORGAN: Be mad at Kanye, not girls singing n***as

Twelve years ago, Kanye West had a massive hit with a song called 'Gold Digger'.

Featuring guest vocals by Jamie Foxx, it hit No1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, stayed there for ten weeks, was the second-longest running No1 on that chart for the entire year of 2005, and remains Billboard's sixth-longest running No1 ever.

'Gold Digger' smashed the record for most digital downloads in a week and was also the fastest-selling digital download of all time.

It won the 2006 Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance and was also nominated for Record of the Year.

The song lists at No60 on Billboard's All Time Top100 and has sold over three MILLION copies in the United States alone.

So we're talking about one of the most popular songs of this entire Millennium; one that literally hundreds of millions of people will have heard on the radio.

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After 2.5 Years, A Lawsuit To Unseal Draft Whitewater Indictments Against Hillary Gets Its Day In Court

After 2.5 years since its original FOIA request was filed in March 2015, Judicial Watch will finally get its day in court tomorrow to argue for the release of draft indictments of Hillary Clinton from the Whitewater scandal in the 1990s. As McClatchy points out, since March 2015 Judicial Watch has been engaged in a back and forth battle with the National Archives which argues that "the documents should be kept secret [to preserve] grand jury secrecy and Clinton’s personal privacy.”

Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that files Freedom of Information Act requests, wants copies of the documents that the National Archives and Records Administration has declined to release. It filed a FOIA request for the documents in March 2015 and in October 2015 the group sued for the 238 pages of responsive records.

According to Judicial Watch: “The National Archives argues that the documents should be kept secret, citing grand jury secrecy and Clinton’s personal privacy.”

But Judicial Watch says that because so much about the Whitewater case has already been made public, “there is no secrecy or privacy left to protect.”

The documents in question are alleged drafts of indictments written by Hickman Ewing, the chief deputy of Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel appointed to investigate Bill and Hillary Clinton’s alleged involvement in fraudulent real estate dealings dating back to the 70's.

Ewing told investigators he drafted the indictments in April 1995. According to Judicial Watch, the documents pertain to allegations that Hillary Clinton provided false information and withheld information from those investigating the Whitewater scandal.

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1 Million Ohio Public Employees Face Pension Cuts As Another Ponzi Teeters On The Brink

We've written frequently of late about the pension crisis in Kentucky where pensioners are facing potentially catastrophic benefit cuts as their politicians finally admit that they've been sold a fantasy for decades (see: Pension Consultant Offers Dire Outlook For Kentucky: Freeze Pension And Slash Benefits Or Else).

Unfortunately, Kentucky is not unique as there is a never-ending stream of similar pension failures popping up daily all around the country. The latest such example comes to us from Ohio as the Dayton Daily News notes that the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) has been forced to consider COLA cuts for its 1 million pensioners in order to keep the fund solvent.

Ohio’s biggest public pension system is considering cutting the cost of living allowances for its 1-million members as a way to shore up the long-term finances of the fund.

Ohio Public Employees Retirement System trustees on Wednesday discussed options that could affect all current and future retirees, including tying the cost of living allowance to inflation and capping it and delaying the onset of the COLA for new retirees.

No decision has been made and trustees will discuss the options again in October. So far, some 72,000 members responded to an OPERS survey about possible changes. OPERS spokesman Todd Hutchins said 70 percent of retirees responding to the survey report that they prefer that the COLA be capped, rather than frozen.

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Trump Working to Speed Up Deportation of Central American Teens

President Donald Trump's administration is at work on a policy to speed up the deportation of Central American teenagers who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border not accompanied by adults.

The Justice Department does not want to create another protected group, similar to those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, two sources told McClatchy DC.

More than 150,000 children who arrived at the border alone would be sent back to their countries when they turn 18 with a fast-track deportation, which means they would not go before an immigration judge first, according to McClatchy DC.

"The law, especially for the children, doesn't give the administration a lot of flexibility with how to deal with unaccompanied children," a U.S. official said.

"This is being viewed as a way to say that there will not need to be a new DACA. But this is far from decided..."

More here

Roy Moore: No Such Thing as ‘DREAMer’-- Program Was ‘Never Passed by Congress’

Anti-establishment Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore denounced the use of the term the open borders lobby and mainstream media have used to describe illegal aliens shielded by the Obama-created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Moore, during a debate with establishment-backed candidate Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL), said the term “DREAMer” to describe nearly 800,000 illegal aliens protected by DACA does not actually exist, because the temporary amnesty program was never approved by Congress.

“We don’t need to talk about DACA,” Moore said during the debate. “Obviously Congress did not do their duty on DACA, which was a mere memo from the Department of Homeland Security under Barack Obama, which violated the laws.”

“Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals – it’s very simple,” Moore continued. “DREAMer? DREAMer development, relief, education of alien minors. There’s no such thing as a DREAMer. You know why? It was never passed by Congress. And when it didn’t pass by Congress, Obama himself, through his Homeland Security, decided to implement a program and violate the law.

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Operation results in seizure of stolen gun, crack cocaine, heroin and prescription pills

(Cambridge, Maryland) On Friday, September 22, 2017 between 6:00 AM and 8:00 AM, members of the Maryland State Police Easton Barrack conducted a traffic safety operation for school buses and commuters transporting children to school.

During the the operation, more than 70 vehicles were stopped for various violations such as speed, distracted driving, cell phone usage while the vehicle was in motion, drivers/occupants not properly restrained by a seat belt and other violations.

Trooper Laham conducted a traffic stop at route 50 and Maryland Ave., Cambridge, Dorchester County, Maryland on a red Ford explorer for a seat belt violation. The driver was identified as Je’mar Gardner, 28 years of age from Cambridge, MD and the passenger was identified as Joshua Atkinson, 29 years of age from Cambridge, MD. It was learned that Gardner had an active arrest warrant. A probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted which resulted in the seizure of a 22 caliber revolver hand gun, several bags of crack cocaine, heroin, drug paraphernalia and prescription pills. It was learned that the 22 caliber revolver was reported stolen. Gardner and Atkinson were charged accordingly and taken before a Dorchester County District Court Commissioner. Gardner was held with no bond and Atkinson was released on his own recognizance.

The Maryland State Police Easton Barrack was assisted by the Cambridge Police Department, the Maryland Gun Center and the Dorchester County Drug Task Force.

The Maryland State Police would like to remind all drivers to be aware of speed limits, school buses transporting children to and from school, children using crosswalks and to use seat belts.

America’s Hamiltonian Empire of Lies

In his essay, “Anatomy of the State,” Murray Rothbard wrote of how states preserve their power with a number of tools, most notably an alliance with “intellectuals.” In return for power, positions, and pelf, the “intellectuals” work diligently to persuade “the majority” that “their government is good, wise and, at least, inevitable.” This is the “the vital stock task of the intellectuals.” The “molding of opinion” is what “the State most desperately needs” if it is to maintain is powers, wrote Rothbard. The citizens themselves do not invent theories of the benevolent state; that is the job of the “intellectuals.”

In his outstanding new book, How Alexander Hamilton Screwed Up America (foreword by Ron Paul), historian Brion McClanahan explains with sterling scholarship how one “intellectual” in particular, Alexander Hamilton, invented out of whole cloth a mythical founding of the American state that bears no resemblance at all to the actual, historical founding. His intellectual successors, most notably Supreme Court justices John Marshall, Joseph Story, and Hugo Black, cemented this myth of the benevolent, consolidated, monopolistic state through decades of legal opinions based on a mountain of lies.

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Wicomico County’s Autumn Wine Festival returns Oct. 21-22

SALISBURY, Md. – Taste wines from across the state of Maryland here in Wicomico County when the Autumn Wine Festival returns to Pemberton Historical Park this October.

The 15th annual Autumn Wine Festival will take place Oct. 21-22. The Wicomico County Recreation, Parks & Tourism event, which is produced in partnership with the Maryland Wineries Association, offers festivalgoers the opportunity to taste unlimited samples from nearly 20 Maryland wineries. Hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. each day.

The Autumn Wine Festival has also partnered with Women Supporting Women, a local nonprofit that strives to provide awareness, education and support to those affected by breast cancer. Women Supporting Women will be on-site all weekend hosting a variety of fundraisers under the Pink Party Tent.

The festival also features live music, regional cuisine, a variety of vendors and a Sports Zone.

“The Autumn Wine Festival has such a great atmosphere,” said Vanessa Junkin, assistant director of marketing and public relations for Wicomico County Recreation, Parks & Tourism. “You can sample different wines with your friends, listen to great music and help Women Supporting Women through fundraisers – all at the beautiful Pemberton Historical Park.”

Tickets for the festival are on sale now. Tasting tickets include a 6 oz. glass and as many samples as one can responsibly consume. In recognition of Wicomico County’s 150th anniversary, the first 150 people through the gate will receive a commemorative stemless wine glass featuring the 150 Year Celebration logo.

Early bird tickets are available for $25 for one day or $40 for both days. Regular tickets are $35 for one day or $60 for both days. Non-tasting tickets are also available; early bird non-tasting tickets are $5 and regular non-tasting tickets are $10.

Early bird sales end online, in person and by phone on Friday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m. Additional fees may apply to ticket prices. Ticket buyers also have the option of making a donation to Women Supporting Women at checkout.

Purchase tickets online at www.AutumnWineFestival.org or at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center Box Office, located at 500 Glen Ave. in Salisbury (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.). The Box Office can be reached at 410-548-4911.

For the latest updates on the festival, information on volunteering and fundraising opportunities for Women Supporting Women, visit www.AutumnWineFestival.org.

Police use of ‘StingRay’ cellphone tracker requires search warrant, appeals court rules

A device that tricks cellphones into sending it their location information and has been used quietly by police and federal agents for years, requires a search warrant before it is turned on, an appeals court in Washington ruled Thursday. It is the fourth such ruling by either a state appeals court or federal district court, and may end up deciding the issue unless the government takes the case to the U.S. Supreme Court or persuades the city’s highest court to reverse the ruling.

The case against Prince Jones in 2013 involved D.C. police use of a “StingRay” cell-site simulator, which enables law enforcement to pinpoint the location of a cellphone more precisely than a phone company can when triangulating a signal between cell towers or using a phone’s GPS function. Civil liberties advocates say the StingRay, by providing someone’s location to police without court approval, is a violation of an individual’s Fourth Amendment right not to be unreasonably searched. The D.C. Court of Appeals agreed in a 2 to 1 ruling, echoing similar rulings in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and federal district courts in New York City and San Francisco.

“This opinion,” said Nathan F. Wessler of the American Civil Liberties Union, who helped argue the case with the D.C. Public Defender Service, “joins the growing chorus of courts holding that the Fourth Amendment protects against warrantless use of invasive, covert technology to track people’s phones. … We applaud today’s opinion for erecting sensible and strong protections against the government violating people’s privacy in the digital age.”

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Need Vendors for local Craft Sale


Why your cholesterol test can lie

If you really want to find out the risk your cholesterol levels pose, you shouldn’t rely on a traditional lipid panel to do the job. Such cholesterol tests measure total LDL, HDL, and triglycerides, and they’re what most doctors will order—but they’re outdated!

Granted, standard blood lipid tests are useful for determining whether your ratio of total HDL to LDL cholesterol is within a healthy range. But those cholesterol tests won’t tell you about your HDL and LDL fractions (that is, whether you have predominantly small dense cholesterol particles, or large buoyant ones).

Particle size is extraordinarily important, because research shows that small dense LDL cholesterol is inflammatory and toxic to blood vessels. Even more troubling is a high level of Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a)—the most dangerous blood lipids. Lp(a) is a specific type of small LDL cholesterol particle that inflames the blood and makes it sticky—patients with Lp(a) are more prone to clotting.

The Best Cholesterol Tests..

A Look At How Nestle Makes Billions Selling You Groundwater In A Bottle

A few weeks ago we shared with readers a lawsuit filed in Connecticut against Nestle Waters North America, Inc. alleging that the water they marketed as Poland 'Natural Spring Water' was actually just bottled groundwater...the same water that runs through the taps of many American households.

Now a new investigation from Bloomberg Businessweek reveals how large water bottling companies choose their plant locations based not on the steady supply of pristine, natural drinking water, as their labels and other marketing campaigns would lead you to believe, but based on which economically depressed municipalities offer up the most tax breaks and have the most lax water laws.

As an example, even in the drought stricken state of California, Bloomberg notes that Nestle was able to strike a sweetheart 20-year supply agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to pay roughly $0.000001 for the water in each bottle that consumers blindly drop a couple bucks to purchase.

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Dallas School Board Designates Founding Fathers As Having "Confederate Links"

"Just if we saw Confederacy named in it, we then highlighted it" says a school board spokesperson while describing a list which contained Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Sam Houston.

The Dallas Independent School District is in damage control mode after an internal school board list was obtained by local press which shows schools under consideration for name changes due to possible "connections with slavery or the Confederacy." News of the list, obtained by the Dallas Morning News early this week, caused outrage for the fact that it includes Texas revolutionaries and founders such as Sam Houston, James Bowie and William Travis, as well as Dallas pioneers James Gaston and William Brown Miller. It further names other early American figures who very obviously lived long before the existence of the Confederacy such as U.S. presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and, inexplicably, Ben Franklin.

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Not Just Another 'Pretty Face'

Melania Trump said on Wednesday that peace, human rights, and human dignity — especially for vulnerable children — will be the pillars of the work she does in her role as first lady of the United States.

But she repeatedly said that it is, first and foremost, parents’ responsibility to raise their children to be moral, charitable, and to have love of country.

Speaking to the spouses of dignitaries from around the globe who attended the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the first lady said family is at the heart of instilling values in children. Trump said:

"Show me the loving bonds between your families today and I will show you the patriotism and moral clarity of your nation tomorrow. Our choices on how we raise and educate our children in fact provide the blueprint for the next generation. If we do not advocate a love of country to our children and generations to come, then why would our children grow up to fight for their countries?”

The first lady said parents’ priority should be “loving, educating and bringing up our next generation be happy, productive and morally responsible adults.”

She then outlined the threats that children face around the world in her remarks:

Rep. Franks: N. Korea Doesn't Want to Fight Us, It Wants to Extort Us

Commenting on President Donald Trump's remarks Tuesday at the United Nations, particularly regarding Communist North Korea, House Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) said the North Korean regime "does not want to fight the United States" but it does "want to extort the United States."

“North Korea does not want to fight the United States," said Rep. Franks in a press release. "They want to extort the United States."

"They watched Bill Clinton pay their ransom when he negotiated an agreement with North Korea that ultimately gave them time to develop nuclear weapons," said Franks. "They watched Barack Obama make a deal with them that gave North Korea the time to develop their nuclear missile capability. They watched Barack Obama compensate Iran with billions of dollars that now facilitates the relentless march by the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism to a full-blown industrial nuclear weapons capability."

More here

Swamp Worries That a Luther Strange Defeat ‘Could Prompt Some GOP Senators to Retire’

The Washington Post reports that, although President Donald Trump and his staff were hesitant to campaign in Alabama for establishment-friendly Luther Strange, Swamp Republicans forced the president’s hand — fearing that a victory for Judge Roy Moore would motivate several allies to retire from the Senate rather than face Breitbart-backed challengers in 2018.

From the Washington Post:

White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, who has tried to control what information Trump receives about the Alabama race, was initially wary of the president appearing with a senator who might lose. He preferred Trump spend his time on policy initiatives such as tax reform rather than rousing crowds at political rallies. Likewise, Bill Stepien, the White House political director, urged caution and at first recommended that Trump stay out of the state, administration officials said.

Senate Republicans, however, were unwilling to let the president turn his attention elsewhere. A Strange defeat, they worried, could prompt some GOP senators to retire to avoid facing the wrath of anti-establishment voters and the likes of Bannon’s Breitbart News..

More here

Lewis: Trump ‘Made It Very Comfortable for People to Put on Those Hoods, Put on Those Sheets’

Thursday at the Congressional Black Caucus Town Hall on Civil Rights, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) said the election of President Donald Trump emboldened racists to “to put on those hoods, put on those sheets.”

Lewis said, “When we had this most recent election, it helped create the climate and environment to bring out something that had been a little asleep, and people feel like now they can just get away with doing everything.”

He added, “The man that some people voted for just made it very comfortable for people to put on those hoods, put on those sheets, and I tell you, if we’re not mindful or watchful, we are going to go back.."

More here (with video)

Melania Trump - Classy Lady, Great Choice President Trump

The Black Family Is Struggling, and It’s Not Because of Slavery

That the problems of today’s black Americans are a result of a legacy of slavery, racial discrimination, and poverty has achieved an axiomatic status, thought to be self-evident and beyond question.

This is what academics and the civil rights establishment have taught. But as with so much of what’s claimed by leftists, there is little evidence to support it.

The No. 1 problem among blacks is the effects stemming from a very weak family structure.

Children from fatherless homes are likelier to drop out of high school, die by suicide, have behavioral disorders, join gangs, commit crimes, and end up in prison. They are also likelier to live in poverty-stricken households.

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Disease-carrying mosquitoes could swarm 75% of the US

More than 75 percent of the United States is in danger of an outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases, according to a new CDC report.

Researchers analyzed county-level data of the presence and potential range for either Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquitoes across the entire country.

They presented their results in the form of a map - which ominously shows the majority of the nation to be at-risk Zika, dengue, and yellow fever.

The findings, published late on Thursday, are a rallying cry to health officials to continue efforts against disease-carrying mosquitoes despite waning public interest about Zika.

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Voter Fraud Evidence Is Emerging – And the Media Wants to Hide It

If you have no idea what happened at the second meeting of President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in New Hampshire on Sept. 12, I’m not surprised.

Though a horde of reporters attended the meeting, almost all of the media stories that emerged from it simply repeated the progressive left’s mantra that the commission is a “sham.”

Almost no one covered the substantive and very concerning testimony of 10 expert witnesses on the problems that exist in our voter registration and election system.

The witnesses included academics, election lawyers, state election officials, data analysts, software experts, and computer scientists.

The existing and potential problems they exposed would give any American with any common sense and any concern for our democratic process cause for alarm..

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Sen. Cassidy: Graham-Cassidy ‘Returns Power to the State and the Patient’

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) joined SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam on Thursday’s Breitbart News Daily to talk about the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill and its prospects in the Senate.

Kassam asked why the federal government still has a role to play in health insurance under Cassidy’s reform plan. “Why aren’t we looking at straight repeal?” he inquired.

“Because we can’t pass straight repeal,” Cassidy replied bluntly. “Believe me, I would like to do something different. We failed on straight repeal in August. We came in at 49 votes and it stopped at 50. What we’re trying to do is not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

Cassidy said his bill “drives a stake in the heart of single-payer and just eviscerates Obamacare, the power that it’s brought to Washington, DC, and returns the power to the state and the patient.”

He explained that under his plan, taxpayer money “does not go to insurance companies unless the patient or the state decide it does.”

More here

Mueller team under fire for 'brass-knuckle' tactics

When a report surfaced that federal agents picked the lock on Paul Manafort’s front door for a surprise raid over the summer while the former Trump campaign chairman was in bed, it was also a wake-up call for prominent Houston attorney Tom Kirkendall.

“Here is a United States citizen where the FBI is coming in, picking his lock, and raiding his home in the early morning, over what? It doesn’t matter which side you’re on. It’s just crazy. We’re not the Soviet Union. It’s appalling,” said Kirkendall, who has worked on cases involving one of the special counsel’s key investigators, Andrew Weissmann.

The intensity of the focus on Manafort is widely seen as a potential effort by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team to pressure him into providing information on others, possibly President Trump himself, in the Russia probe.

But the “brass-knuckle” tactics have raised eyebrows in the legal community.

The Manafort investigation has been the subject of numerous leaks, including new details about the so-called FISA warrant reportedly used to eavesdrop on his calls last year. Warrants issued by a FISA court, which stands for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, are supposed to be highly secret.

More here

What This Is, Need Not Be

There is something so terminally exhausting about our “healthcare” debate, which rests primarily on a deeply stupid and economically illiterate set of assumptions—namely that insurance coverage for routine and pre-planned medical expenses is a necessary part of our economy. It is not—or rather, it need not be the case. But that seems to be the only framework in which we can debate “healthcare,” by which we generally mean “health insurance,” but which actually means “expensive co-payment plan for things that would be much cheaper if we just paid for them out-of-pocket.”

This is a brutally simple and easy-to-understand argument, which is presumably why everyone—politicians, normal citizens, liberal, conservative, moderate, everyone—ignores it. We have been trained to believe that the healthcare economy is some kind of magical alternate-universe industry in which the normal economic principles don’t apply. “Under [the Graham-Cassidy bill],” writes Hawaiian senator Brian Schatz, “pregnancy will cost you an extra 17K.”

Readers, Daniel Payne is here to tell you that this financial figure is, to put it delicately, complete and utter bullsh**t. I don’t mean the price tag—I am certain that our idiot medical system cheerfully charges new mothers tens of thousands of dollars to give birth. I mean, rather, the perceived immutability of the price tag, the idea that, without legislative intervention and subsidized insurance, pregnancy and childbirth are financially-ruinous endeavors.

They are not. This is simply fact. For the birth of our first, my wife and I shelled out around $5,000, all told—that’s prenatal, birth, and postpartum combined. This, mind you, was entirely out-of-pocket..

More here

Salisbury-Ocean City Airport gets new checkpoint technology equipment

Salisbury–Ocean City–Wicomico Regional Airport gets new state-of-the-art Advanced Image Technology checkpoint screening equipment

SALISBURY, MD --
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has installed the latest checkpoint screening technology equipment at Salisbury–Ocean City–Wicomico Regional Airport (SBY).

With the addition of the new Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machine at SBY, the airport is able to further strengthen security for passengers flying out of the area. The machine is state-of-the-art equipment with automated target recognition software that uses bright yellow boxes to indicate to a TSA officer the location of an alarm on a generic “cookie cutter” image of a passenger. This way the officer knows exactly where to check for a possible threat item. If the machine indicates no threats, then a green screen appears that indicates the passenger is cleared to pass through the checkpoint.


The monitor on the left shows yellow boxes where the screening equipment has detected an alarm. The screen on the right shows that the passenger is clear to go. (TSA photos)

AIT technology is designed to enhance security by safely screening passengers for metallic and non-metallic threats—including weapons, explosives and other objects concealed under layers of clothing.

There is a generic image of all passengers who are screened through the new automated image technology checkpoint screening equipment. It’s the same generic image for all passengers, regardless of their gender, height or weight and is designed to enhance passenger privacy. The image looks very much like the outline of a cookie cutter.

Imaging technology screening is safe for all travelers, and the technology meets all known national and international health and safety standards. In fact, the energy emitted by millimeter wave technology is 1,000 times less than the international limits and guidelines.

Rep. Maxine Waters: 'Impeachment Is About Whatever the Congress Says It Is'

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who previously has called for the impeachment of Donald Trump, on Thursday told a Congressional Black Caucus Town Hall on Civil Rights that she expects other members of the black community to back her up:

“Don't come here and tell me, ‘Maxine, you keep on doing what you do.’ But when you gonna give me some support?” she asked. “How many of you in your organizations have said, 'Impeach 45' ?”

Waters urged the crowd not to get hung up on what law to invoke in the impeachment process:

Impeachment is about whatever the Congress says it is. There is no law that dictates impeachment. What the Constitution says is “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and we define that.

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Aaron Hernandez autopsy revealed 'severe' case of CTE, lawyer says

A lawyer for Aaron Hernandez said Thursday that the former NFL player — who committed suicide in prison — had suffered from a “severe” case of the degenerative brain disease CTE.

The attorney said that an autopsy showed that Hernandez, who died at 27 while serving life in prison, had a disease common in players called chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

A lawyer for Aaron Hernandez said Thursday that the former NFL player — who committed suicide in prison — had suffered from a “severe” case of the degenerative brain disease CTE.

The attorney said that an autopsy showed that Hernandez, who died at 27 while serving life in prison, had a disease common in football players called chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

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Six Proven Ways to Manage Pain Without Medication

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the opioid epidemic in August highlighting the need to rein in the random prescribing of powerful drugs to deal with chronic and severe pain.

In 2016 alone, drug overdoses killed more Americans than the entire Vietnam War. But a study by the National Institutes of Health found that one in three people in the United States have experienced pain of some sort in the past three months, notes Gaetano Morello, a board-certified naturopathic doctor who is a contributing author to “A Textbook of Natural Medicine.”

“Of these, approximately 50 million suffer from severe or chronic pain,” Morello says. “Therefore it is not surprising that many reach out for drugs that can be damaging or addictive.

“The good news is that there are alternative treatments that offer help with symptoms of pain and can keep your liver, stomach and brain healthy and are not addictive.”

Here are some examples:

Disturbing Video Shows Brutal Assault On Elderly Teacher By Middle School Students

Reports indicate school officials whitewashing incident

A disturbing video showing students viciously hitting an elderly teacher has emerged from Floyd County, Georgia.

The female teacher appears to be attempting to diffuse an argument between two middle schoolers when they launch into a brutal assault with the woman caught in the crossfire, where she sustains a barrage of slaps and punches to the head and face.

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There's Something Wrong With Hillary

Scope of Anthony Weiner’s Pedophilia Unveiled by Prosecutors, Laid Out in Gruesome Detail

To make sure that Weiner ends up in jail, the US Attorney for the district of New York has laid out—in gruesome detail—the specifics of his pedophilia.

This week, the prosecution documents were filed and released on the disgraced former Congressman, who was charged with obscene crimes against a minor in a pedophilia scandal that Hillary Clinton names as one of the reasons she lost the election. Anthony Weiner, who was once a strong contender to be the mayor of New York has been exposed, thanks to these newly released court records, as a sicko who needs to be in prison.

Prosecutors filed these documents in Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday asking that the judge use the sentencing as an opportunity to send a message to other perverted pedophiles.

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NIH Supported Journal Publishes Landmark Study Linking Fluoride to Low IQ

A landmark new study published in a prestigious government-supported journal has found a significant link between fluoride and lower IQ in children.

Increased levels of prenatal fluoride exposure have been linked to lower intelligence in children, according to the results of a new study.

In the eye-opening new peer-reviewed study, published on September 19, 2017, in the Journal ofEnvironmental Health Perspectives, researchers found strong evidence of a link between fluoride and lower cognitive function in children.

With an impact factor of 9.78, Environmental Health Perspectives is one of the most highly ranked journals in Toxicology, Public, Environmental and Occupational Health, and Environmental Sciences.

The researchers found that “higher levels of maternal urinary fluoride during pregnancy (a proxy for prenatal fluoride exposure) that are in the range of levels of exposure in other general population samples of pregnant women as well as nonpregnant adults were associated with lower scores on tests of cognitive function in the offspring at 4 and 6–12 y old,” according to the study.

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Trump Wants a July 4th Military Parade Down Pennsylvania Avenue

“France is a great country, it's a beautiful country,” President Donald Trump told President Emmanuel Macron of France when they met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.

Trump praised the dinner the two leaders had on top of the Eiffel Tower, and he also mentioned being Macron’s guest at France’s Bastille Day parade – “one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen,” Trump said, adding that he wants a military parade in Washington:

It was two hours on the button, and it was military might, and I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France. And people don't know what great warriors they are in France, but when you see that and you see all the victories, it was a tremendous thing.

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Rep. Maxine Waters: 'Impeachment Is About Whatever the Congress Says It Is'

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who previously has called for the impeachment of Donald Trump, on Thursday told a Congressional Black Caucus Town Hall on Civil Rights that she expects other members of the black community to back her up:

“Don't come here and tell me, ‘Maxine, you keep on doing what you do.’ But when you gonna give me some support?” she asked. “How many of you in your organizations have said, 'Impeach 45' ?”

Waters urged the crowd not to get hung up on what law to invoke in the impeachment process:

Impeachment is about whatever the Congress says it is. There is no law that dictates impeachment. What the Constitution says is “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and we define that.

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Israel's Marijuana Industry May Have Breakthrough in Autism Treatment

Trials are reportedly underway in Israel on autistic children to determine the effectiveness of medical marijuana, an area of growing research in the Jewish state — with encouraging signs.

According to Haaretz, Israel has been positioning itself as a leader in the field of medical marijuana research, bolstered by a Health Ministry that encourages research — and an increase in the number of growers.

Unlike the United States, Israeli researchers are not constrained by the drug's designation as dangerous, and has been drawing the international investors looking to get potential treatments to market, Haaretz reported.

In trials of marijuana oil underway at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, children are given a strain of medical marijuana developed by the Israeli company Breath of Life Pharma, also known as Bol Pharma.

"Autism is still there, it's part of him," the mother of one of the doctor's patients told Haaretz. "But there's no doubt: the marijuana saved us."

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Maryland residents see race relations in decline, poll says

Maryland residents are pessimistic about race relations, with a strong majority saying in a new poll that the situation has recently "gotten worse" in the state. Sixty-one percent of people surveyed in a Goucher Poll released Thursday agreed there was a decline in race relations here.

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Hillary Clinton is Funding Antifa Via Dark-Money PAC

LEGENDARY COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER 9-23-17


The Nurses
Few in Salisbury now can remember the Peninsula General Hospital School of Nursing. Now, aspiring candidates receive their training at Salisbury University. Medical care has become so specialized that a nurse cannot perform across the board remedial care that they once did. I am sure that anyone of a certain age can remember when a nurse was thought of as a substitute doctor. The person in that stark, crisp white uniform commanded total respect from everyone. Each wore a cap that signified from where they had graduated. It was a badge of honor and pride.

The former School of Nursing was started in January, 1905, shortly after the hospital was opened in 1904. The Superintendent of Nurses was Helen Van Devanter Wise. She got the school up and running, leaving in 1909, to return to her home town of Leesburg, VA. She moved on to private duty in Baltimore and Philadelphia, before returning to her Alma Mater, the University of Maryland School of Nursing, in 1917. In May of 1919, she returned for good to Salisbury. She is also credited with the development of the Salisbury Municipal Park as well as the establishment of the Children’s Home. She retired in 1933, but the benefits of her endeavors remain around and with us.

In 1904, Miss Wise organized a Training School to help meet the nursing needs of the hospital and the community. The first class of three students entered in January, 1905, all of these composing the first graduating class in 1907, leaving behind six “underclassmen”.

Miss Wise saw the need for a nursing home for the nurses in training and also for more classroom space. She brought the idea before the Board of Directors. In 1906, they decided to build one. It was completed, with students occupying it on February 13, 1908. Students lived on the second and third floors, with classrooms on the first floor. When it was completed, the entire property was valued at $100,000.

The first class to graduate from the new School of Nursing was in 1910. There were just three graduates. The graduation totals did not advance much in the early years as evidenced by the following years of graduation and the number of graduates: 1911 ( two graduates), 1912 ( three graduates), 1913 (no graduates), 1914 (one graduate), 1915 (five graduates), and so forth. It was ten years before the graduating class had grown to seven and six more years before it reached its highest number of ten.

Before they graduated, they were known as “probationers” and, along with classes, performed various duties in the hospital for familiarization. The four years of intense study and training made them more than prepared to meet the medical needs of our community.

Wow! 2014 Clinton Foundation tax return. They took in $177 million, donated $5 million, spent $86 million doing it, and kept the $86 million change

WARNING! Before reading this, find a big, strong clothespin. Check that. Find a large steel industrial clamp. Clamp both nostrils shut before you begin reading, as a stench is going to fill the room the likes of which you have never experienced before and will never want to experience.

I’m not an accountant, but how the hell do you receive $177 million in contributions and spend $86 million in expenses to donate a measly $5 million in actual charity donations? The uber-corrupt Clinton Foundation managed to that in 2014. And they kept the $86 million change! WTF!?

From Thomas Ventimiglia

This should be investigated: Spent $86 million in salaries and expense to donate $5.1 million.

Read it again!

And when she didn’t win, the donations completely stopped and they closed the business.

Read it again!

Wonder why the Clinton Foundation folded so suddenly after she was no longer in a position of influence perhaps will give some insight into the crooks.

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The world is definitely going to end — just probably not Saturday

First the bad news: The world is going to end one day and there is nothing we can do about it. The good news: We could have a billion years to enjoy ourselves here before that happens.

Humans have long been obsessed with "The End." Since the dawn of civilization, people claiming to know when the big day is coming have stirred up trouble, sparked panics and started cults. The latest apocalyptic anxiety is being drummed up by David Meade, a devout Christian who predicts the Rapture as foretold in the Book of Revelations is coming Saturday (what a bummer doomsday couldn't at least fall on a Monday).

There is no scientific evidence to support the theory espoused by the self-described "specialist in research and investigation."

There are, however, several scenarios in which humans could be wiped out. And even if we manage to avoid all of those, the sun will die one day.

"A lot of people have written books about all the ways that the universe can get us," said Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Fortunately those are all very low probability. But, the one certainty is that the sun will not last forever."

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After Hurricane Harvey, what will happen to the hundreds of thousands of flooded cars?

Open the car door and the stench is enough to knock you off your feet. Mold has started to bloom on the doors and there is still water in the cup holders. Three weeks after floodwaters in Houston have receded, evidence of the flood is everywhere — especially in the cars the storm left littered along highways and roads.

More than 500,000 cars are estimated to have been flooded during Harvey, and incredibly some of them may end up in an online ad or a car lot near you.

At McCree’s Ford in Dickinson, more than 1,000 vehicles flooded. “All but nine vehicles,” said Mitchell Dale, McRee’s owner. The new cars will be crushed. Used cars will be sent to salvage. Still more customer cars, flooded in the service department, await their owner’s insurance company to come decide what’s next.

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/21/after-hurricane-harvey-what-will-happen-to-hundreds-thousands-flooded-cars.html

Baby whose mother chose to give birth over chemotherapy dies

A Michigan baby who was born at 24 weeks gestation after her mother fell into a coma while suffering from brain cancer has died, her family members said. Life Lynn DeKlyen died Wednesday at University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, less than two weeks after her mother's death.

Sonya Nelson annouced her niece's death on the "Cure 4 Carrie" Facebook page, where relatives were keeping supporters updated on the infant's health.

"It is with great sadness and a absolutely broken heart that I tell you Life Lynn passed away last night," Nelson posted on Thursday. "Carrie is now rocking her baby girl. I have no explanation of why this happened, but I do know Jesus loves us and someday we will know why. The grief we feel is almost unbearable, please be praying for our family."

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http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/09/21/baby-whose-mother-chose-to-give-birth-over-chemotherapy-dies.html

'Tell That Son of a B***h He's Fired': Trump Blasts NFL Anthem Kneelers

President Trump railed against National Football League players who have knelt during the national anthem.

Trump said that he and Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), who he was stumping for in Huntsville, are "unified" by "great American values."

"We're proud of our country and we're proud of our flag," he said.

He said players who disrespect the flag and kneel for the national anthem should be ejected from the stadium and cut from the team.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say 'get that son of a b***h off the field right now - he's fired'," Trump said.

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http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/09/22/donald-trump-blasts-nfl-flag-kneeling-get-sob-field

Today's Survey Question 9-23-17

Could you get to work car-free if you had to?

Bernie Sanders: 'Thank you, John McCain'

Sen. Bernie Sanders gave a shout out to Sen. John McCain at a rally Friday to support a government-run healthcare system, saying he wished that the Senate's other Republicans lawmakers were more like the stubborn Arizonan.

"Thank you, John McCain," Sanders, the Senate's only avowed socialist and a Vermont independent, said at a San Francisco rally hosted by National Nurses United, a leftist union. The comment drew a tepid response from the crowd..

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Kim Jong Un: ‘Deranged’ Trump will ‘pay dearly’ for threat

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in an extraordinary and direct rebuke, called President Donald Trump “deranged” and said he will “pay dearly” for his threats, a possible indication of more powerful weapons tests on the horizon.

Hours later, North Korea’s foreign minister reportedly said his country may test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean to fulfill Kim’s vow to take the “highest-level” action against the United States.

Kim, in his statement, said Trump is “unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country.” He also described the U.S. president as “a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire.”

The dispatch was unusual in that it was written in the first person, albeit filtered through the North’s state media, which are part of propaganda efforts meant to glorify Kim. South Korea’s government said it was the first such direct address to the world by any North Korean leader.

Some analysts saw a clear sign that North Korea would ramp up its already brisk pace of weapons testing, which has included missiles meant to target U.S. forces throughout Asia and the U.S. mainland.

“I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the U.S. pay dearly for his speech calling for totally destroying the DPRK,” said the statement carried by North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Friday morning.

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Trump says there's still 'a chance' to pass Obamacare overhaul bill without John McCain

President Trump said there is still a chance to repeal and replace Obamacare, even after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., announced he would not support a measure to overhaul the Affordable Care Act.

"That was a totally unexpected thing. Terrible. Honestly, terrible," Trump said in response to McCain's decision. "Repeal and replace. Because John McCain, you look at his campaign, his last campaign was all about repeal and replace, repeal and replace. So he decided to do something different, and that's fine."

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Electric ride: New powered-up bike share system coming to DC

WASHINGTON — If you’ve always wanted to make the switch to a bike commute, but a daunting uphill ride has held you back, you’re in luck. Shared electric bicycles are coming to D.C. on Monday, Sept. 25.

Brooklyn-based bike-share company Social Bicycles Inc. is bringing the “smart e-bikes” to the District as part of the JUMP DC program.

Each e-bike has a 250-watt electric motor that can boost riders with a maximum speed of 19 mph. Bikes also have GPS to help locate them and integrated U-locks.

“We’re excited to give people in D.C. a fun, new option for getting around,” said Ryan Rzepecki, CEO and founder of Social Bicycles/JUMP Mobility, in a news release Thursday.

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Maryland Teen Dances From Hospital Bed 6 Days After Receiving Life-Saving Heart Transplant

While laying in his hospital bed, 15-year-old Amari Hall started to dance — just six days after his surgery in March.

“All his life he has been a fighter,” his mom, Juaquinna Hall, told CNN. “He remained positive throughout it all.”

Hall, from Capitol Heights, Maryland, who was born with a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, didn’t let tubes and cords get in the way of his dance party. His aunt, Charawan Hunter, posted the video on May 18, which shows the nurses also joining in on the fun.

“Organ donation is so important,” Hunter told CNN. “I think that a lot of people are scared of organ donation.”

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Governor Hogan Announces Widening of I-270, Capital Beltway (I-495), and Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295)

$9 Billion Traffic Relief Plan, Largest Highway P3 in North America RFI Released Today

ANNAPOLIS, MD –
Delivering on his commitment to provide innovative transportation solutions for Maryland, Governor Larry Hogan today announced the administration’s plans to add four new lanes to I-270, the Capital Beltway (I-495), and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295). The $9 billion Traffic Relief Plan for these three major state highways will reduce congestion for millions of drivers and mark the beginning of a historic and transformative effort to significantly improve the traffic conditions on some of Maryland’s most traveled roads and highways for years to come.

“These three massive, unprecedented projects to widen I-495, I-270, and MD 295 will be absolutely transformative, and they will help Maryland citizens go about their daily lives in a more efficient and safer manner,” said Governor Hogan. “Today, we are turning Maryland’s celebrated innovation into real action. These projects will substantially and dramatically improve our state highway system and traffic in the region.”

Joining the governor were Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Secretary Pete K. Rahn, MDOT State Highway Administrator Greg Slater, Maryland Transportation Authority Executive Director Kevin Reigrut, as well as elected officials and community and business representatives from throughout the Baltimore-Washington region.

Today’s announcement officially begins the process to solicit the Public-Private Partnership (P3) industry for input and solutions to provide major congestion relief to these key transportation routes. With the total project estimated value at $9 billion, the P3 portion to add four new lanes on both I-495 and I-270 is the largest proposed P3 highway project in North America. The P3 will be seeking private developers to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain new lanes on I-495 between the American Legion Bridge and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and on I-270 between I-495 and I-70. Once completed, the Traffic Relief Plan will deliver new express toll lanes, in addition to existing lanes, on I-495, I-270, and MD 295.

“Using innovation and partnering with some of the greatest minds in the world, Maryland is going to finally get some congestion relief by investing $9 billion in three of the most congested highways in the state,” said Secretary Rahn.

The first step to build new express toll lanes on MD 295 will begin with the transfer of MD 295 from the U.S. Department of the Interior to the Maryland Transportation Authority. Governor Hogan has already personally started this process during a recent meeting with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and has directed MDOT officials to move forward with the transfer negotiations. Following the transfer, the Maryland Transportation Authority would then build, operate, and maintain the new lanes and maintain existing lanes between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The Traffic Relief Plan announced today is critical to spurring increased economic development and restoring quality of life for countless Marylanders who have been negatively affected by years of traffic congestion. Maryland has the second-longest commuting times in the country, and the National Capital Region is the most congested region in the nation based on annual delay and congestion cost per auto-commuter. The statewide cost of congestion based on auto delay, truck delay, and wasted fuel and emissions was estimated at $2 billion in 2015. This is an increase of 22 percent from the $1.7 billion estimated cost of congestion in 2013. More than 98 percent of the weekday congestion cost was incurred in the Baltimore/Washington region.

In making this announcement today, Governor Hogan has directed MDOT to issue the Request for Information to the P3 industry and continue the transfer process with the U.S. Department of the Interior.

CVS Limiting Opioid Prescriptions Amid National Addiction Epidemic

Opioid prescription rates have more than tripled in the last two decades contributing to the nation’s current opioid addiction crisis, according to CVS. Now, the country’s largest pharmacy chain plans to do something about it by limiting opioid prescriptions. 

5 Things We Learned About How Aldi Can Compete With Grocery Stores

The battle between Aldi and other grocery chains has been raging for a while now; from the price war with Walmart to earmarking $1.6 billion to upgrade stores to be more Whole Foods-esque. But just how can the relatively small supermarket chain compete with bigger chains and win over customers

Study: Unfunded Debt 12 Times Higher in Democratic-Run States

States with liberal one-party control have average liability of $22,214 per taxpayer vs. $1,814 in red states

The nation’s Democratic-controlled states have unfunded debt that is 12 times greater than the burden on taxpayers in states under total Republican control, according to a study released Tuesday.

The nonprofit group Truth in Accounting published “Financial State of the States,” which analyzes the public finances of all 50 states. The group found that state governments have accumulated $1.5 trillion in long-term debt nationwide, mostly due to unfunded employee pension and retiree health benefits.

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