Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Iran Defies Nuclear Deal With Latest Ballistic Missile Test

Iran's weekend test firing of yet another long-range ballistic missile is amplifying congressional calls for the Trump administration to formally declare Iran in violation of the landmark nuclear agreement, a move that would lay the groundwork for the United States to abandon the agreement.

Iran claims to have successfully test fired a new long-range ballistic missile in response to threats by the Trump administration to leave the nuclear accord.

President Donald Trump criticized Iran during his first speech before the United Nations last week, singling out the Islamic Republic as one of the leading global threats. The speech prompted tough talk by senior Iranian leaders and military officials, who vowed to boost the country's capabilities.

More

Flashback: NFL Denied Cowboys' Request to Honor Cops Slain In Dallas

The NFL was fine with Colin Kaepernick wearing socks which portrayed police as pigs

Protesting thugs being shot by police is A-OK, but honoring police shot by thugs is forbidden, at least according to the NFL.

As Fox News reported on August 12, 2016:

The NFL denied the Dallas Cowboys’ request to wear a decal on their helmets during the season that would have paid tribute to the five police officers killed last month in an ambush.

The team had been wearing a decal with the words “Arm in Arm” since the first day of training camp this summer. Dallas police Chief David Brown and Mayor Mike Rawlings paid the team a visit on that day, according to Fox 4 News.

The NFL’s strict rules on uniforms forced the league to deny the Cowboys’ request to wear the decal for the upcoming season.

[…]The Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation told TMZ they were “extremely upset” over the NFL’s decision.

“The NFL had an opportunity to be leaders and advocates for change in law enforcement,” Sgt. Demetrick Pennie, president of the foundation, told the website. “”These are our friends and our loved ones … it hurts to not have the NFL fully support us.”

More/Video

MSNBC Leaves Out Tennessee Shooter’s Nationality

MSNBC has refused to tell its viewers that the gunman in the Tennessee church shooting is a Sudanese immigrant, instead identifying him as being from Tennessee.

In the seven mentions of the shooter’s identity on the network from Sunday afternoon when the shooting occurred until Monday morning, MSNBC never mentioned his status as an immigrant. They did share his name, age, photo, and his residence in Murfreesboro, TN.

25-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson is originally from Khartoum, Sudan and legally immigrated to the United States in the 1990s. Samson attended high school in Tennessee.

More

Bannon: Elites Help Destroy This Country

Steve Bannon held nothing back when he appeared on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday, blasting the “elites” who for allowing “economic hate crimes” to be committed against working Americans in the heartland.

Bannon said, “The elites, represented by Mitch McConnell, right, they think I’m a bad guy. They think I’m a dangerous guy.”

More/Video

11 pigs test positive for swine flu at second Maryland fair

Health officials have detected swine flu in 11 pigs in a second Maryland county fair, just a week after seven people contracted the flu from infected pigs at the Charles County fair. The Maryland Department of Agriculture said Sunday that the 11 sick pigs at the Great Frederick Fair are now in quarantine, WTOP reported.

“The symptoms were high fevers, coughing, reluctance to move and mouth-breathing,” Dr. Mike Radebaugh, of the state’s agriculture department, told WTOP.

More

Before Football Players Kneeled on the Playing Field, They Fell on the Battlefield

Men on battlefields fell defending the flag. Millionaires on playing fields refuse to rise to honor the flag.

This rubs many Americans raw. It also represents an end-around of sorts on the tradition of football.

The first intercollegiate football game took place between Princeton and Rutgers four years after the last internecine battle of the Civil War. This did not occur by coincidence. Boys who missed the cutoff for the battlefield mimicked what they saw there on the playing field.

More

FBI Arrests NCAA Coaches, Adidas Executive In Crackdown On College Basketball Corruption

In a broad crackdown on college basketball corruption, U.S. prosecutors unveiled charges Tuesday against 10 coaches, managers, financial advisers and representatives of a sportswear company, accusing them of bribery, fraud and corruption in recruitment in college basketball. Additionally, a key part of the case includes allegations that an executive at a global apparel company bribed students to attend universities where the company sponsored athletic programs.

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that college basketball coaches at University of Arizona, Auburn, University of Southern California, and Oklahoma State University had been arrested, as well as managers, financial advisors, and representatives of a major international sportswear company. The defendants include coaches at top U.S. college basketball programs, one agent, one financial adviser and a former referee. The coaches are Lamont Evans, an assistant at Oklahoma State University, Emanuel Richardson, an assistant for the Arizona Wildcats, and Chuck Person, associate head coach at Auburn University.

Jim Gatto, director of global sports marketing for basketball at Adidas, was also named as a defendant. According to the complaint, Gatto allegedly conspired with coaches to pay high school athletes to play at universities sponsored by Adidas (or as it is referred to in the complaints, "Company 1").
According to Business Insider, Gatto and four other defendants have charged with "making and concealing bribe payments" to high school student athletes and/or their families. In one instance, Gatto and the other defendants reportedly funneled $100,000 to the family of a high school basketball player to convince the player to sign with a "public research university" in Kentucky.

In another case, Gatto and other defendants allegedly agreed to make payments up to $150,000 from Adidas to convince the player to join another team sponsored by the apparel company, a private university in Florida, according to filings. The university is not named, but based on information provided is likely University of Miami, which entered into a 12-year partnership with Adidas in 2015.

More

Sex diseases in US surge to record high

Washington (AFP) - Sexually transmitted diseases surged to a record high in the United States last year, with more than two million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis nationwide, officials said Tuesday.

This was "the highest number ever," said the annual Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report released today by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Most of the new cases -- 1.6 million in 2016 -- involved chlamydia, a bacterial infection that affects both men and women.

Gonorrhea also increased among men and women last year, but the steepest rise was among men (22 percent), said the report.

Nationwide, gonorrhea cases reached 470,000, with a large share of new gonorrhea cases among men who have sex with men.

More

Nutball College Feminists Lose Amazingly Stupid Title IX Lawsuit

A federal district judge in Virginia has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of feminist students who were sad and angry because officials at a taxpayer-funded university refused to stifle speech by other students that offended the feminist group.

The kerfuffle which gave rise to the failed lawsuit occurred on the campus of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg back in the fall of 2014. It involved the now-defunct social media app Yik Yak. The app provided a forum for students on individual campuses to post messages anonymously.

Five student plaintiffs who belonged to the student club Feminists United on Campus said they asked Mary Washington administrators to ban Yik Yak on campus. Some students were using the app to make “hundreds” of “threatening” and “sexually hostile” remarks about posted flyers which sought to raise awareness about sexual assault,” reports Campus Reform.

When the administrators said they could not limit speech just because it was offensive, the feminist students sued in return, alleging that the public school failed to protect them “from a sexually hostile school environment.”

More

Awan Funneling ‘Massive’ Data Off Congressional Server, Dems Claim It’s Child’s HOMEWORK

Democratic congressional aides made unauthorized access to a House server 5,400 times and funneled “massive” amounts of data off of it. But there’s nothing to see here, Democrats told The Washington Post: They were just storing and then re-downloading homework assignments for Imran Awan’s elementary-school aged kids and family pictures.

A congressional source with direct knowledge of the incident contradicted the Post’s account, saying that now-indicted IT aide Imran Awan and his associates “were moving terabytes off-site so they could quote ‘work on the files'” and that they desperately tried to hide what was on the server when caught, providing police with what law enforcement immediately recognized as falsified evidence and an indication of criminal intent.

The Post described the amount of data improperly flowing out of the congressional network as “massive.” One congressional source told Circa it was “terabits.”

More

All that kneeling ignores the real cause of soaring black homicides

The FBI released its official crime tally for 2016 on Monday, and the data flies in the face of the rhetoric that professional athletes rehearsed in revived Black Lives Matter protests over the weekend.

Nearly 900 additional blacks were killed in 2016 compared with 2015, bringing the black homicide-victim total to 7,881. Those 7,881 “black bodies,” in the parlance of Ta-Nehisi Coates, are 1,305 more than the number of white victims (which in this case includes most Hispanics) for the same period, though blacks are only 13 percent of the nation’s population.

The increase in black homicide deaths last year comes on top of a previous 900-victim increase between 2014 and 2015.

Who is killing these black victims? Not whites, and not the police, but other blacks.

More

NFL anthem superstar pulled wounded U.S. soldiers from Taliban fire

Americans rally around 'patriot' and 'hero' who defied team on 'Star-Spangled Banner'

Former U.S. Army Ranger officer Alejandro Villanueva – the Pittsburgh Steelers player who is being hailed as a hero after he defied his whole team Sunday and stood for the national anthem – actually earned his true hero status three years before he played professional football.

Villanueva – an NFL player who’s painfully aware that “freedom isn’t free” – earned a Bronze Star with valor after he reportedly pulled three wounded U.S. soldiers out of the line of Taliban fire in 2011.

During a 2014 interview with ESPN, Villanueva recalled a Aug. 25, 2011, event in Afghanistan when he was a lieutenant, 23-year-old Army football player and rifle platoon leader of the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

More

Jim Kunstler On "The Devastating Effect Of 'Multiculturalism'"

There’s a lot to complain about in this deranged republic - if it even still is one - but the burdens of being a multimillionaire football player would not be at the top of my list.

Personally, I find it a little peculiar that we have to play the national anthem before any sporting event. All it really shows is how insecure we are as a nation that we have to display our love of country in this obsessive manner.

Same with congressmen and their stupid flag lapel pins, or the flag in front of Denny’s chain restaurants. Are eaters of the “lumberjack slam” so disoriented when they leave the place that they need to be reminded what country they’re in? “Oh, look hon, were in the USA after all….”

More

U.S. Government Reveals Which 21 States Russia Targeted During 2016 Election

Minnesota was one of 21 states whose election systems were targeted by Russian-affiliated hackers before last year's elections, the federal government revealed Friday.

"Entities acting at the behest of the Russian government" made the hacking attempt in the period leading up to the 2016 election, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement. The revelation came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

State computers recognized the IP addresses that scanned the system and blocked them, so the breach attempt was foiled.

Last year, the federal government told the Associated Press that hackers thought to be Russian agents had targeted more than 20 states before the 2016 elections. Friday's calls from Homeland Security to election officials in 21 states were the first official confirmations of the affected states.

"This afternoon I received a phone call from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security informing me of its determination that Minnesota was among 21 states targeted," wrote Simon, who has overseen a number of security updates to Minnesota's election system. "DHS confirmed to my office that there was no breach and no attempt to breach Minnesota's election system."

More

The Rise of Fentanyl, the Drug Driving Up Deadly Overdoses Across the City

NEW YORK CITY — Fentanyl, a synthetic painkiller originally used to help dying cancer patients, has provided deadly fuel to the city's opioid epidemic over the past few years.

The drug, which is 50 times more powerful than heroin, was linked to nearly half of all fatal overdoses across the city last year, as sellers mix it in to batches to increase potency and drive up profits, experts said.

"Dealers have figured out that they can make much more money by adding in fentanyl because it's much cheaper," Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon told DNAinfo New York. "Fentanyl is accessible and it's profitable."

Part of the reason for the spike in deaths is that it takes a much smaller amount of fentanyl to cause an overdose than heroin, experts said.

Last year, 1,374 people died from overdoses across the New York City — a 46 percent increase from 2015 — and fentanyl was found in 44 percent of those cases, according to the Department of Health.

More

California Lady Moves to Red State, Suddenly Sends Unexpected Message to Lib Friends Back Home

Flyover country. Bible belt. Middle America. Coastal elites in liberal cities have all sorts of terms for “red states,” but they all seem to convey one message: Conservative areas of the country are somehow backward and should be avoided.

That’s the impression one California writer had about America’s heartland. Leah Singer never imagined that she would end up in Trump Country… but when she moved to Indiana not long ago, her entire perception changed.

In an editorial piece published last weekend in the Indianapolis Star, the author sent a clear message to liberal friends back in California and throughout the country: You might be wrong about “red states.”

More

Violent Crime in U.S. Rises for Second Consecutive Year

Violent crime, including homicides, rose for the second consecutive year in 2016, driven by increases in a few urban centers including Baltimore, Chicago and Las Vegas, according to F.B.I. data released Monday.

Violent crimes increased nationally last year by 4.1 percent and homicides rose by 8.6 percent, one year after violence increased by 3.9 percent and homicides jumped by 10.8 percent. A total of 17,250 people were murdered in 2016, the F.B.I. said.

While crime over all and violent crime remain well below their levels of the 1980s and 1990s, last year was the first time violent crime increased in consecutive years since 2005 and 2006, according to the F.B.I. data, which is collected from local police departments around the nation and released annually.

Police officials and criminologists continue to express puzzlement about the upsurge. There is disagreement not only about the reasons for the increases, but also about how law enforcement should respond and whether the figures represent a blip or the start of a long-term trend. The figures come against a backdrop of steady crime reductions nationally during the last 25 years.

More

'Fatberg' found in Baltimore sewer system after overflow

A massive "fatberg" made up of congealed fat, wet wipes and other waste has been named as the culprit in a sewer overflow in Baltimore.

The overflow discharged about 1.2 million gallons of sewage into the Jones Fall stream last week.

The Baltimore Sun reported Monday that the fatberg was discovered in a sewer main near Baltimore Penn Station.

Public works officials said the walls of a century-old 24-inch wide pipe were caked with oils, grease and congealed fats. Up to 85 percent of the pipe was clogged, blocking the flow of sewage.

The fatberg has been mostly scraped off and sent to a landfill.

More

A Viewer Writes: Let's kneel for real issues

Joe,

Some statistical facts:

In 2015, 995 people were shot and killed by police officers. Of that, 732 were white, 381 were black. In 2016, 963 people subdued by deadly force: 466 white, 258 black, 160 Hispanic. So far this year, 730 deaths-by-cop: 326 white, 165 black, 112 Hispanic.

Let those numbers sink in for a second.... and i'm not even trying to make a white/black comparison - it is what it is. yes, i know the ratios are higher for blacks. That's not my point. Read on...

Now, digest these stats: In those same years, 490, 762, and 320 murders( 2017 is on track for last years stats), respectively occurred in Chicago. That's right, way more than double the number of blacks killed by cops in each of those years - IN ONE CITY.

Where's the outcry from the MSM, the NFL, the NAACP. Nothing but silence. yes, we see it on the news, but no one is screaming out to change it. This is the real epidemic that no one want to talk about. (seems easier to blame white folk and Don Trump, right?)

So, instead of continuing to blame others, why not take a knee for the killings of black youth in our inner cities!?!? Many of the NFL players came from inner cities, but all you hear about is that Trump is racist for encouraging patriotism and white people are not allowing blacks a chance to get ahead.

Stop tearing down statues. Stop blaming others for your woes. Stop bitching about the President. Just stop. Stop and take a good look at yourselves. Why are other minority races progressing while the African-American race seems to continually regress?

For one, you continue to blame others for your problems. Everyone knows that the first step of 12 is admitting you have a problem- the other 11 steps don't start until you do that. Admit to the problems and try to fix them from the inside out, instead of blaming others.

So, when the protesting NFL athletes start to help to change their inner city youth, and make a show of force on the field by leading by example, then...just maybe, i'll come back to the NFL. Until then, there are lots of other things to do on Sundays that don't insult my patriotism and my love of my flag and country.

MAKE 'THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE' GREAT AGAIN!!!

Don't Send Taxpayer Money to Insurance Companies

It was a "whoa!" moment for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Monday night when Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) said something about health care on which they both agree:

"The biggest winner under Obamacare is insurance companies, not patients, and I intend to change that," Graham told a CNN-sponsored town hall on health care.

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! I like that!" Sanders said, jumping to his feet.

Graham and Sanders agree that taxpayer dollars should not be enriching insurance companies, but that's where the agreement ends.

Sanders advocates a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system of health insurance, while Graham argued for his Republican plan to send Obamacare funds to the states in the form of block grants. Graham said that would improve accountability and encourage innovation.

Graham's plan is unlikely to pass, given the three Republicans who have said they will vote against it. Likewise, Sanders' plan will go nowhere in a Republican-led Congress.

The town hall debate shed no new light on the two sides' firmly held positions, but at least it allowed the Democrats and Republicans to argue their points civilly and publicly.

Here's one exchange between Graham and Sanders:

State Medicaid Adviser Says Graham-Cassidy Bill Will Stabilize Marketplace

A state Medicaid adviser told lawmakers on Monday that the Graham-Cassidy bill to replace Obamacare would stabilize the health care marketplace by combining Medicaid populations with younger, healthier individuals.

Dennis Smith, senior adviser for Medicaid and health care reform for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, said at the Senate Finance Committee hearing today that the Congressional Budget Office has predicted in 2017 there would be 35 million nonelderly individuals enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Because of the Affordable Care Act, Smith explained, there would be 15 million more added to that number. Now, however, there are 69 million nonelderly individuals on Medicaid and CHIP.

"So the individuals that CBO predicted would be receiving subsidies over in the marketplace in fact are in Medicaid instead," Smith said. "As Congress searches for answers for how to stabilize premiums for those in the individual market, it should consider where people actually went for coverage."

Smith says the Graham-Cassidy bill will stabilize the market because it puts both populations together and includes a pool with 22 million individuals who are relatively young and healthy.

More

A Viewer Writes: Leaning to the Left

Joe-

I don't know if you were watching Special Report on Monday evening, but it was very noticeable that, when reporting on the church shooting in Tennessee and identifying the gunman (who confessed to it), they made NO mention of the fact that he was black, nor did they mention that he was an immigrant from Sudan.

Brett Baier seemed to pause for a second as he finished the story, like he felt he needed to say more.

I'd guess his bosses felt otherwise. The network seems to be moving more to the left every day.

Stirring racial divisiveness instead of sticking to the news

The president-bashing liberal media ignore a church shooting and distort constructive efforts in Puerto Rico

The left works overtime to control everyone’s sense of reality. They have lost the hearts and minds of Americans so all they can do now is arrange various public Kabuki dramas insisting that America (and Americans by default) are no good and not worth standing for.

For media that remain pathologically fixated on their hatred for the president, having to cover other news is anathema to them. Who knows, events they could cover might help President Trump; or if they stop attacking him for a few days people might have a moment to consider the president without him being slathered in media crazy sauce.

So, as Mr. Trump received praise for guiding the nation through hurricanes, which played a part in his approval ratings rise, it’s no surprise the left lurched forward and decided more racial division and complaining about America were necessary.

“Taking a knee” has become the new “Hands up, don’t shoot” scenario for liberal activists. As their hero Hillary Clinton wanders around the country continuing her “Tour J’accuse,” major league football players decided to kneel (again) during Sunday’s football games.

Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the “protest,” the fact of the matter is, it wasn’t much of a protest at all. The Daily Caller reports only 12 percent of NFL players sat or kneeled during the anthem. That’s the story, but one you won’t hear from the legacy media.

A scramble to smear the president is all this is. They choose to cover the contrived NFL protest about inequality, but where are they covering another weekend of bloodshed in Chicago? Forty people were shot this past weekend in Chicago, with 12 fatalities.

More here

Trump Deploying Resources to Aid Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

President Donald Trump is moving to apply the full resources of the federal government to assist in the Hurricane Maria relief efforts underway in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

FEMA officials told Breitbart Texas that progress is being made, “but there is still a long way to go.”

“We’re working closely with our federal partners to support Governors Mapp & Rossello, in their response efforts,” a Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) told Breitbart Texas in a written statement. “Hurricane Maria had devastating effects on the islands, seriously impacting communications, power and logistical access. While significant progress is being made, there is still a long way to go. As access to ports, airfields, and roads continues to become available, additional resources will continue to flow into hard-hit areas.”

In addition to military resources being deployed by the president, FEMA deployed more than 500 people to both of the U.S. territories affected by the category 4 hurricane that slammed ashore last week. FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force members saved or assisted 557 people and two pets during a search of more than 2,600 structures.

One high priority success was the restoration of power to the Centro Médico Hospital in the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan.

“The Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital in St. Croix and the Schneider Regional Medical Center in St. Thomas are re-energized and re-established as mobile hospitals,” the FEMA spokesman stated.

More here

Lawmakers Zero In on Obama Unmasking Scandal

Senior congressional leaders are renewing their focus on an investigation into efforts by the Obama administration to obtain highly classified intelligence information on Trump administration allies in what many allege was an effort to undermine the president and his national security team, according to conversations with multiple senior U.S officials familiar with the situation.

The recent admission by Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice that she requested the unmasking of Trump associates named in highly classified intelligence community reports has placed renewed attention on an investigation into why this information was obtained and then leaked to the press.

In addition to Rice, former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power and other senior Obama officials made hundreds of similar unmasking requests in what many allege was a campaign to handicap the incoming Trump administration's national security agenda, according to multiple sources familiar with the ongoing investigation into the matter.

The unmasking requests—a score of which were made in the final year of the Obama administration—could be just one part of a larger effort by the former administration to monitor the activities of Trump associates in the lead up to the 2016 election, according to these sources.

More here

Crossover Voters in AL Sen Primary Warned: ‘Fraud’

EVERGREEN, Alabama – On Election Day afternoon, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill warned voters who participated in last month’s Democratic primary in Alabama’s U.S. Senate special election were not eligible to vote in today’s GOP primary runoff between former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL).

Merrill noted in a letter distributed to the media that voting in the Democratic primary last month and in today’s election would constitute voter fraud, which was a felony by statute.

“Any person who votes or knowingly attempts to vote or assists another person in voting when they when not entitled to do so shall be guilty upon conviction of a Class C felony,” Merrill wrote. “A class C felony carries a sentence of not less than one year and one day and not more than ten years imprisonment, and may include a fine not to exceed $15,000.”

At a heavily Democratic precinct in Evergreen, AL, the county seat of rural Conecuh County, crossover voting doesn’t appear to be an issue. Shortly before 1 p.m. local time, a poll worker told Breitbart News they had a total of 10 voters, and only one voter attempted to vote but was denied when a list revealed she had voted in last month’s Democratic primary.

Voters that did not vote in either the Democratic or Republican primaries are eligible to vote in today’s contest.

However, as 2 p.m. local time in Alabama, turnout appears to be relatively low statewide.

Entire warning letter as follows:

Update on Victim of Industrial Accident of September 19, 2017

It is with deep sadness that we advise James Blodgett passed away in the early hours this morning as a result of complications from the injuries he sustained while on assignment at the Wicomico County Solid Waste facility. The Wicomico County Executive and all County Staff express their deepest condolences to Mr. Blodgett’s family.

Obama hauls in millions from Wall Street, media don’t say a word

It’s the height of hypocrisy.

Seriously, it could not be any more hypocritical, or it would just sound made up.

Former President Barack Obama is hauling in millions from Wall Street banks — the very institutions he harangued throughout both of his presidential campaigns.

Throughout their political careers, both Hillary Clinton and Mr. Obama berated banks and the “fat cats” who run them as heartless corporations (while filling their own pockets with their cash). Mrs. Clinton made millions giving speeches to the huge financial institutions, swatting away charges of hypocrisy. This apparently didn’t really sell with Mr. and Mrs. America, who didn’t elect her president.

Now it’s Mr. Obama’s turn to make bank.

Last month he spoke to clients of Northern Trust Corp. for about $400,000, a person familiar with his appearance told Bloomberg News.

But that’s not a one-off. “Last week, he reminisced about the White House for Carlyle Group LP, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, according to two people who were there,” Bloomberg wrote.

Bloomberg went on to note that he would “give a keynote speech at investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s health-care conference,” which happened Monday.

You can bet they brought a hefty chunk of change: The Cantor Fitzgerald speech was worth about $400,000, according to Agence France-Presse, citing “a person briefed on Obama’s planned appearance.”

And not every paid appearance by Mr. Obama is even known..

More

Challenging the Racist Cops Myth

NFL players kneeling in protest during the national anthem was a movement steadily gaining momentum. It suddenly exploded last weekend after Donald Trump called out the protesting players for disrespecting the American flag. Now the Leftmedia elite are blaming Trump for causing “division.” But the truth is Trump hit upon an issue that has become deeply offensive to many Americans: Multi-millionaires are protesting supposed injustice and racism in America that is simply not backed up by the facts. Those protesting are demanding that Americans concede to accepting a reality that amounts to a lie. And what is that lie? That police across the nation are systemically racist against blacks. It’s the Democrat war on cops.

Any time an issue like racism is raised, it evokes high degrees of emotion and passion, because it hits at two fundamental truths. First, an individual has absolutely no control over their ethnicity; quite literally they are “born that way.” Second, people naturally gravitate toward and relate to those with whom they share the most in common. And neither of these truths are inherently wrong or evil. When these realities are raised as ultimate delimiters and primary identifiers between people, that’s when the ugly problem of racism emerges. In other words, friction happens when people are taught to attribute everything about themselves and others primarily to the lowest common denominator of race. For example, the reason you got in trouble was because you’re black, or the reason you got into a good school is because you are Asian, etc.

It is precisely this flawed race-based mindset that has been behind the current NFL anthem protests..

More here

MSNBC Cuts Off Moore Victory Speech Because He’s Talking About God

MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell cut off the victory speech of Roy Moore on Tuesday night because he was talking about God.

Moore, who won the Alabama Senate Republican primary over Sen. Luther Strange (R., Ala.), delivered a victory speech shortly after being the projected winner.

"We have become a nation that has distanced ourself from the very foundation," Moore said. "[George] Washington said of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion, and morality are indispensable … We've got to recognize that we've been separated by something that separation of church and state doesn't stand for. It doesn't separate us from God. Nothing can separate us from God."

Moore went on to talk about the importance of the United States becoming unified, noting the protests and racial strife gripping the country.

"We are all created in the image of God. I recall what Harry Truman said in his inaugural address. The American people stand firm in the faith which has inspired this nation from the beginning. We believe that all people are created in the image of God and from that faith we will not be moved. We've been moved," Moore said, before O'Donnell cut into his speech and noted that he was talking about God "almost exclusively."

More here

Walter Williams: Not a Day Care

Our college-age population consists mostly of 18- to 30-year-olds, and likewise our armed forces. I wonder whether they shared common responses to the 2016 presidential election.

Many college administrators provided students with therapy dogs, play dough, coloring books, bubbles, videos of frolicking kittens and puppies, and soft music. They even canceled classes and postponed exams so that their 18- to 30-year-old snowflakes could better cope with the election results. There are numerous internet photos and videos of these youngsters screaming and in outright grief and panic.

Here's my question: Were our military leaders as accommodating as college administrators? Did commanding officers of our aircraft carriers provide their young people with therapy dogs, play dough, crayons and coloring books, and soft music? Were sea training exercises canceled? Were similar accommodations ordered by commanders of our special forces, such as the Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and Delta Force?

I'm guessing and hoping that our military leaders, unlike many college administrators, have not lost their minds. That brings me to this column's title: "Not a Day Care." That's the title of a new book written by Dr. Everett Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Piper reminds us that today's law students are tomorrow's lawyers and judges. Based on what they are taught, there's no mystery why lawyers and judges seek to legislate from the bench. Students who want to rid college curricula of dead old white men such as Plato, Aristotle, Voltaire and Kant will be on tomorrow's school boards or be professors. This doesn't bode well for our nation's future.

Many colleges have become hotbeds of what might be labeled as enlightened racism..

More here

Globalists Seize Control of White House Trade Shop

President Donald Trump will likely find it harder to put in place trade policies designed to protect American jobs and technology thanks to chief of staff John Kelly’s latest maneuver.

Kelly has put the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, run by economist Peter Navarro, under the National Economic Council, headed by former Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn, Politco reports. The move means that Navarro, a strong voice for nationalist trade policies inside the White House, will now report to Cohn, who has led the opposition to many of the policies–such as tariffs–proposed by Navarro.

In other words, the globalists have mounted a hostile takeover of the nationalist trade office in the White House.

Giving Cohn supervision over the trade shop is a strange choice. Trump has expressed frustration at the pace of change when it comes to trade policy, telling Kelly “I want tariffs.” CNN reported that Trump has directed much of his frustration about the lack of progress on trade at Cohn. Now Cohn will be the boss of the main advocate of tariffs in the White House.

More

Usain Bolt stopped the interview to hear the U.S. anthem

"This Is Not A Time To Buy Anything" - Sam Zell Warns Retail Real Estate Market Is A "Falling Knife"

CNBC's cheerleading staff had a very difficult time finding the silver lining in retail investing this morning as they relentlessly pressed Sam Zell on the value of commercial real estate. Asked to offer up his thoughts on where retail real estate is headed over the next five years, Zell highlighted the significant excess inventory in the U.S., 4-5x more per capita than Europe, and said investing in the space right now is like catching a "falling knife."

"Like a falling knife. You start with the fact that the U.S. has 4 or 5 times the amount of square footage per person of retail as anywhere else in the world. So we start with an enourmously large inventory of retail."

"3 years ago your could buy an 8% mall...you could buy a B-mall and it was probably an 8% cap rate. The same mall, 3 years later, is now selling at 13% and 14%. So you've seen enourmous erosion of value."

"When the knife falls there's going to be plenty of opportunities for people to step up and say 'what are alternate uses?'"

Pressed on whether now just might be the time to take a contrarian view on the collapsing retail space, Zell again was unable to satiate the desires for positive news from his eager hosts.

"An area that's in this much disarray, with so many weak players, is not an area where I would want to deploy capital at this time. And I'm generally a contrarian but I think what we're dealing with here is very significant."

Now I have had enough - Why The Flag Means So Much To Americans

BREAKING NEWS: CANADIAN COMPANY NAT-PHEN TO OPEN MANUFACTURING FACILTY ON EASTERN SHORE

Global food additives manufacturer for livestock feed will locate in Salisbury, bring 25 new jobs

ANNAPOLIS, MD –
Nat-Phen International, a manufacturer of natural food additives for livestock feed, today announced that it has chosen Wicomico County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore as the site of a new manufacturing facility. The Quebec-based Nat-Phen expects to invest $10 million in the new facility over the next five years and create up to 25 jobs, with the potential for more new jobs once the site is fully operational. Governor Larry Hogan met with the company today in Montreal as part of a regional economic development mission to Canada. 

“Wicomico County, Maryland's central location, the commitment of Salisbury and Wicomico officials and the strong partnership with the economic development folks have made this decision easy,” said Yves Marchand, principal of Nat-Phen International. “We're thrilled to be setting up operations on Maryland's Eastern Shore and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

Nat-Phen produces plant-based, polyphenol additives to enhance the feed given to swine, poultry, cattle and other livestock and keep the animals healthy. The company’s Maryland operations will focus on the poultry industry. Nat-Phen expects to begin its Maryland manufacturing operations within the next 18 months, producing finished products for the U.S. domestic farming market.

"Maryland has a long, proud history of farming and manufacturing, and we’re proud to have Nat-Phen become the latest business to carry on that legacy,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “Maryland’s strategic location and access to highly-qualified employees, as well as our thriving agricultural industry will provide Nat-Phen with a competitive advantage to help the company expand into the U.S. market and attract new customers.”

“We welcome global company Nat-Phen to Maryland and look forward to helping them to grow in our state,” said Maryland Commerce Secretary Mike Gill. “They’ll make a great addition to Team Maryland, and will be a great partner for our state's farming industry.”

The American food market is constantly striving to provide higher-quality products, particularly meat, eggs and milk, and American consumers are increasingly concerned about the ethical treatment of
animals. Nat-Phen’s food additives improve both the quality of food production and the health of livestock while increasing the efficiency of food production.

About Maryland Commerce

The Maryland Department of Commerce stimulates private investment and creates jobs by attracting new businesses, encouraging the expansion and retention of existing companies, and providing financial assistance to Maryland companies. The Department promotes the State's many economic advantages and markets local products and services at home and abroad to spur economic development and international investment, trade and tourism. Because they are major economic generators, the Department also supports the arts, film production, sports and other special events. For more information, visit commerce.maryland.gov.

Unsportsmanlike


Tonight At Seacrets

Join the staff here at Elect Mike McDermott tonight (5pm-7pm at Seacrets Jamaica USA Sand Bar) for an amazing sunset, lite fare and Happy Hour hosted by Leighton & Rebecca Moore! Meet your next Worcester County Sheriff Mike McDermott and join the campaign to Keep Worcester County Great! — with Mike McDermott and Seacrets Jamaica USA at Seacrets Jamaica USA.

Suddenly, Democrats Are Very Into Expressing Love For Country

The always Excitable Don Lemon encapsulates the (fake) feelings of leftists

(Mediaite) Don Lemon led CNN Tonight with a monologue about how President Trump can’t force Americans to embrace a homogenous view of patriotism and First Amendment rights.

As Trump continues to spar with athletes who kneel during the National Anthem, Lemon noted that the protests of Colin Kaepernickwere never about disrespecting the American flag or the military. Lemon said that kneeling is a constitutionally protected expression, and that Trump is only trying to link the protests to the flag in order to justify the profane insults during his rally for Luther Strange:

“Here is what this is about. It’s about focusing attention on racial injustice, focusing attention on racial injustice. It’s about challenging our country to extend the promise of that flag to all citizens, including the citizens whose ancestors were slaves. You may not agree with Colin Kaepernick or the scores of players who take a knee or took a knee this weekend. And that is okay, you don’t have to agree with them. But that’s not really the point here. No American gets to tell another American how to express their love for this country.”

More

Breaking News: The Trump administration waived a law that officials said was slowing efforts to get food and medicine to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

The Trump administration said on Thursday that it would waive the Jones Act for Puerto Rico, a century-old shipping law that Puerto Rican officials said was slowing efforts to get supplies to the island.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, announced the decision on Twitter, saying that President Trump had authorized the waiver after a request from Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló of Puerto Rico.
Read More »

78 Obama appointees ‘burrowed’ into career jobs, watchdog finds

A government watchdog found that 78 political appointees of President Barack Obama managed to “burrow” into career government jobs over a six-year period.

A Government Accountability Office report obtained by The Washington Times Wednesday shows that seven of Mr. Obama’s political appointees switched to career jobs without obtaining necessary approval from the Office of Personnel Management. Of those, four were later denied the jobs by OPM and three left their posts.

Congressional Republicans warned Mr. Obama last year against moving political appointees into career positions, and President Trump has stated frequently that he believes some employees in the federal workforce are Obama holdovers working against his agenda.

The practice of political appointees “burrowing” into career jobs is permissible when laws and regulations governing career appointments are followed. Administrations prior to the Obama administration also have converted dozens of political appointees into career government jobs.

Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said he requested the GAO report in part “to make sure executive branch employees knew they were being watched for improper burrowing.”

More here

A Viewer Writes: Foreclosures

10 foreclosures sold in Sept. bringing it down to less than 10% on the market.
 
 
 date        for sale                   foreclosure                 foreclosures
                wicomico              %                     #
 
9/26         372                          9.70%                     36
9/18         376                          12.20%                   46
9/11         374                          12.30%                   46
9/5           362                          11.90%                   43
8/28         362                          11.90%                   43
8/23         352                          10.80%                   38
8/14         352                          11.30%                   40
8/7           365                          11.40%                   42
7/31         365                          12.60%                   46
7/24         375                          10.70%                   40
7/17         368                          11.40%                   42
7/3           363                          11.30%                   41
6/26         364                          11.50%                   42
6/19         356                          11.20%                   40
6/12         372                          12.60%                   47
6/5           366                          13.10%                   48
5/30         370                          12.70%                   47
5/1           363                          14.90%                   54
4/24         366                          13.70%                   50
4/17         370                          14.60%                   54
4/10         361                          13.90%                   50
4/3           361                          13.90%                   50
3/27         382                          13.60%                   52
3/20         382                          13.40%                   51
3/13         396                          13.40%                   53
3/6           409                          14.20%                   58
2/28         405                          15.80%                   64
2/13         402                          15.20%                   61
2/6           395                          13.70%                   54
1/24          389                           13.80%                    54

Planned Parenthood Fights For Right to Abort Down Syndrome Babies – And Wins

This is abhorrent. In Indiana, a judge has ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood in a suit involving a state law banning gender-selective abortions and those based on a prenatal diagnosis of disabilities such as Down syndrome. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, who was appointed by Barack Obama, has just issued a permanent injunction against Indiana’s “Sex Selective and Disability Abortion Ban” in a 22-page decision. In it she outrageously states that provisions of the law “violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

HEA 1337 was signed into law in 2016 by Governor and now Vice President Mike Pence. It banned abortions based on gender or race. It also stopped abortions based on a prenatal diagnosis of “Down syndrome or any other disability.” The law also mandated that aborted babies be disposed of in a dignified and humane fashion, instead of being thrown in the trash. This judge had the gall to defend gender-selection and aborting a baby based on a disability. She proclaimed that “it is a woman’s right to choose an abortion that is protected, which, of course, leaves no room for the State to examine, let alone prohibit, the basis or bases upon which a woman makes her choice.”

More

From Facebook of Kimberly Fox- Yoder

Wow....

"You graduated high school in 2011. Your teenage years were a struggle. You grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Your mother was the leader of the family and worked tirelessly to keep a roof over your head and food on your plate. Academics were a struggle for you and your grades were mediocre at best. The only thing that made you stand out is you weighed 225 lbs and could run 40 yards in 4.2 seconds while carrying a football. Your best friend was just like you, except he didn’t play football. Instead of going to football practice after school, he went to work at McDonalds for minimum wage. You were recruited by all the big colleges and spent every weekend of your senior year making visits to universities where coaches and boosters tried to convince you their school was best. They laid out the red carpet for you. Your best friend worked double shifts at Mickey D’s. College was not an option for him. On the day you signed with Big State University, your best friend signed paperwork with his Army recruiter. You went to summer workouts. He went to basic training.

You spent the next four years living in the athletic dorm, eating at the training table. You spent your Saturdays on the football field, cheered on by adoring fans. Tutors attended to your every academic need. You attended class when you felt like it. Sure, you worked hard. You lifted weights, ran sprints, studied plays, and soon became one of the top football players in the country. Your best friend was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. While you were in college, he deployed to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice. He became a Sergeant and led a squad of 19 year old soldiers who grew up just like he did. He shed his blood in Afghanistan and watched young American men give their lives, limbs, and innocence for the USA.

You went to the NFL combine and scored off the charts. Your hired an agent and waited for draft day. You were drafted in the first round and your agent immediately went to work, ensuring that you received the most money possible. You signed for $16 million although you had never played a single down of professional football. Your best friend re-enlisted in the Army for four more years. As a combat tested sergeant, he will be paid $32,000 per year.

You will drive a Ferrari on the streets of South Beach. He will ride in the back of a Blackhawk helicopter with 10 other combat loaded soldiers. You will sleep at the Ritz. He will dig a hole in the ground and try to sleep. You will “make it rain” in the club. He will pray for rain as the temperature reaches 120 degrees.

On Sunday, you will run into a stadium as tens of thousands of fans cheer and yell your name. For your best friend, there is little difference between Sunday and any other day of the week. There are no adoring fans. There are only people trying to kill him and his soldiers. Every now and then, he and his soldiers leave the front lines and “go to the rear” to rest. He might be lucky enough to catch an NFL game on TV. When the National Anthem plays and you take a knee, he will jump to his feet and salute the television. While you protest the unfairness of life in the United States, he will give thanks to God that he has the honor of defending his great country.
To the players of the NFL: We are the people who buy your tickets, watch you on TV, and wear your jerseys. We anxiously wait for Sundays so we can cheer for you and marvel at your athleticism. 

Although we love to watch you play, we care little about your opinions until you offend us. You have the absolute right to express yourselves, but we have the absolute right to boycott you. We have tolerated your drug use and DUIs, your domestic violence, and your vulgar displays of wealth. We should be ashamed for putting our admiration of your physical skills before what is morally right. But now you have gone too far. You have insulted our flag, our country, our soldiers, our police officers, and our veterans. You are living the American dream, yet you disparage our great country. I am done with NFL football and encourage all likeminded Americans to boycott the NFL ." Amen

HOLY CRAP! Feisty Black Author Cuts NFL Down To Size

Mason Weaver, author of “It’s Okay To Leave The Plantation: The New Underground Railroad,” couldn’t sit back and let the NFL disrespect America, the national anthem, and the soldiers who fought for the flag, died for the flag, and had their caskets covered by the flag.

Like most people in the United States, he just want players to check their political beliefs at the door and play the game that they’re being paid to play. Just like actors and actresses should stop preaching politics and just act.

Also like millions of Americans, he is refusing to watch the NFL games this season because he doesn’t care for being preached at by millionaires who aren’t actually doing anything to make the nation better, or to improve the situation of people they claim to be representing while they kneel.

More/Video

It’s A National Bonfire: Fans All Over America Are Burning Jerseys To Show Their Anger With The NFL

Does the NFL actually think that it can go to war with the national anthem and the American flag and win? Many are trying to frame this controversy as a “protest against Trump”, but the truth is that owners, coaches and players can speak out against President Trump any time that they want. They have huge platforms and the mainstream media would soak up every word. So there is absolutely no need to “take a knee” when our national anthem is being played and the American flag is being honored. As I explained a couple days ago, the national anthem and the American flag are symbols that represent the entire country. When someone disrespects those symbols, they are disrespecting our great land, everyone that lives here, and everyone that ever fought, bled and died for America.

Everyone involved with the NFL that participated in that absolutely shameful display on Sunday needs to apologize to all of the rest of us immediately. In 2017, many Americans no longer understand the importance of the national anthem and the flag, but there are still millions of us that do. And the outrage that has been unleashed as a result of this controversy is off the charts. If you go on to YouTube, you will finddozens of videos of fans burning their NFL jerseys. There is even a new hashtag (#NFLburnnotice) that has gone viral over the past couple of days because so many people are doing this, and many mainstream news outlets are publishing reports on this phenomenon

More

Hillary Clinton Suggests Trump May Start ‘Killing Journalists’

Former Democratic Presidential nominee and sore loser Hillary Clinton likened President Donald Trump’s leadership style to that of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that he has “authoritarian tendencies.”

This is ironic coming from a woman who is perfectly okay with having the government in charge of healthcare, the environment, education, etc., but what do I know?

Meanwhile, the rest of us are rolling our eyes at her outrageous claims, pearl-clutching, and fear-mongering tactics. Her base might be the only people inclined to believe this garbage, but I want to believe that even they aren’t that stupid.

More

OUR National Anthem

Democratic Congressman Al Green plans to force vote to impeach Trump over NFL comments

I love how Democrats are trying to find literally any little thing to throw to the impeachment wall, praying to a God they booed at their convention that it sticks. It would be comical if it wasn’t so darn sad.

Now Democratic Representative Al Green is once again calling for Trump’s impeachment. His basis?

Trump’s comments in regards to the NFL.

Yes, I’m serious.

He claims that he plans to force a vote in the House at some point next week to impeach President Trump because he thinks that Trump’s comments about NFL players who kneel during the national anthem are mean.

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to denounce these comments that have been made because they have brought discourse to a new low. Mr. Speaker, this is a level of indecency that is unbecoming the presidency,” he said. “Mr. Speaker, I rise to say to the world that this is not what America is all about. Calling people SOBs, and we know what a B is. It’s a dog. Mr. Speaker, I rise because my heart tells me I must do something.”

More

Liberals at The Root: “Patriotism is for White People.”

Are you sick of the unending bickering going on everyday when you see the latest news report? Everything is absolutely on fire, and nothing is held sacred, just, or even true anymore. In some phenomenon, American society – or at least how the media and many others have portrayed it – has decided to turn away from anything that connects level thinking with facts and truth. Everyone is just so twisted up and ready to pop, that it seems that we seek every opportunity to fight, scream, and protest.

It seems as if it has become a psychosis.

There are so many voices out there that state opinions, but so many state opinion, and treat it as fact. Emotions run high, and any sense of having a discussion is quickly thrown out in the effort to just ‘win the argument.’ Well folks, if there is one thing that we can do without, it’s opinions, stated as facts.

Take the website ‘The Root’ for example. They recently posted a Tweet:

More

NFL national anthem protests spark Marine veteran, a Colts fan, to torch season tickets: 'I'm done'

A Marine veteran from Indiana further highlighted the NFL’s public relations nightmare this week by burning season tickets over the league’s tolerance of national anthem protests.

Rodney Heard of Carmel is making waves with Indianapolis Colts fans over a Facebook video that shows the destruction of his season tickets. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran’s angry message for the NFL was featured bylocal Fox News and CW affiliates after players took a knee during Sunday’s game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I’ve loved the NFL, I always have,” Mr. Heard said in a video posted Monday. “I’ve always been a huge fan. Wish I could’ve played in the NFL if I’ve had the athletic ability. Instead, I went into the Marine Corps. I served my country, my grandfather served our country, both of them served in WWII. There’s a lot of people that fought and died for that flag and to be disrespected yesterday, like we did, and I’m done.”

The Facebook clip was viewed nearly 125,000 times within 24 hours, not counting those who saw it on local newscasts.

More/Video

Upcoming Oasis Event