Picture this: A tribal leader from a distant country visits the US. He’s brought to a large apartment building in New York City. When he gets out of the car, he looks up at the great building and is quite impressed. A uniformed doorman exits the foyer and comes out on the sidewalk. The tribesman sees the gold braiding and brass buttons of his coat and immediately decides that this is a very important person. Again he looks up at the building and says to the doorman, “This is a very great home you have. You must be very important indeed.”
Of course, if we were present, we might chuckle at the tribesman’s naiveté. The owners of such a great building would never greet people at the entrance. They leave such trivial tasks to hired servants, whilst they run the real business without ever needing any direct contact with visitors as they enter the building. And, in addition, doormen come and go – they are, after all, disposable. The owners – those who control what happens in the building – retain their positions over the long term… and may remain anonymous, if they so choose.
We find this simple concept easy enough to understand, and yet we chronically have difficulty in understanding that, in most countries, the president, or prime minister, is not by any means the man who makes the big decisions in the running of the country.
We assume that, because we were allowed to vote for our leader, he must actually be our leader. But, as Mark Twain has at times been credited as saying, “If voting made any difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.”
Similarly, the man whose family took over the financing of Europe, Meyer Rothschild, said, “Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation and I care not who makes its laws.” His family has been calling the shots for centuries, but like the owners of the apartment building, they keep a low profile.
Remarkably, most people will nod their heads at the above quotes, yet somehow still imagine their elected leader to be in charge.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Monday, February 19, 2018
The Worst Threat We Face Is Right Here At Home
The Federal Reserve is ruining us...
Last week, volatility made a long-overdue return to the US and global equity markets.
It began with a 2-day back-to-back violent drop. Day 3 saw a big rebound, swiftly followed by two more days of gut-wrentching losses. And then finally, last Friday, the day saw massive swings both high and low, ending with a huge upside run.
During this period the S&P 500 lost more than 300 points. Since then, though, the market has been steadily rising.
Is the danger past? Are the markets safe once more?
And if so, did the markets recover organically? Or were they rescued by The Plunge Protection Team (PPT)?
The answer matters.
If such intervention was rare we could almost justify it, if it took the form of simple, pre-arranged circuit breakers that shut the market down for a "cooling off" after they’ve moved too far, too fast. Indeed, these already exist, and are sufficient in our view.
But if such market interventions are routine, persistent, and generally depended on by the major market participants, then they're highly destructive over the long term.
Sadly, we live with the latter.
Insiders get stinking rich by front-running the scheme (check). Normal adjustments are prevented (check), allowing dangerous bubbles of extreme overvaluation to form (check), while fostering malinvestment (check).
Do this long enough and you end up with a deformed economy, an eroded social structure, and markets that no longer function as appropriate mechanisms for capital distribution and economic signaling.
This is where we find ourselves today.
More
Last week, volatility made a long-overdue return to the US and global equity markets.
It began with a 2-day back-to-back violent drop. Day 3 saw a big rebound, swiftly followed by two more days of gut-wrentching losses. And then finally, last Friday, the day saw massive swings both high and low, ending with a huge upside run.
During this period the S&P 500 lost more than 300 points. Since then, though, the market has been steadily rising.
Is the danger past? Are the markets safe once more?
And if so, did the markets recover organically? Or were they rescued by The Plunge Protection Team (PPT)?
The answer matters.
If such intervention was rare we could almost justify it, if it took the form of simple, pre-arranged circuit breakers that shut the market down for a "cooling off" after they’ve moved too far, too fast. Indeed, these already exist, and are sufficient in our view.
But if such market interventions are routine, persistent, and generally depended on by the major market participants, then they're highly destructive over the long term.
Sadly, we live with the latter.
Insiders get stinking rich by front-running the scheme (check). Normal adjustments are prevented (check), allowing dangerous bubbles of extreme overvaluation to form (check), while fostering malinvestment (check).
Do this long enough and you end up with a deformed economy, an eroded social structure, and markets that no longer function as appropriate mechanisms for capital distribution and economic signaling.
This is where we find ourselves today.
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He Doesn’t Deserve the Media’s Efforts at Rehabilitation
“Our democracy is only as good as people trust the results,” former President George W. Bush declared in a presumably well-paid speech last week in the United Arab Emirates, a notorious Arab dictatorship. Bush is being exalted as if he is the second coming of George Washington thanks to his implied slams against the Trump administration. But Bush’s actions during his eight-year reign did far more to ravage democracy at home and abroad than most people realize.
Thanks to gushing media coverage, Bush is enjoying one of the greatest comebacks in modern American history. In the summer of 2008, only 22 percent of Americans approved of Bush and 41 percent said he was the “worst president ever.” Last month, a poll showed that 61 percent of Americans now approve of Bush, and his support among Democrats quintupled, from 11 percent in early 2009 to 54 percent now. If Americans want to understand current political challenges, they need to recall Bush’s forgotten debacles.
Speaking in New York in October, Bush called for “a new, 21st century American consensus on behalf of democratic freedom and free markets.” But when he was president, Bush’s policies assumed that spreading democracy gave him a license to kill.
Shortly before he invaded Iraq in 2003, Bush assured a Washington think tank:
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Thanks to gushing media coverage, Bush is enjoying one of the greatest comebacks in modern American history. In the summer of 2008, only 22 percent of Americans approved of Bush and 41 percent said he was the “worst president ever.” Last month, a poll showed that 61 percent of Americans now approve of Bush, and his support among Democrats quintupled, from 11 percent in early 2009 to 54 percent now. If Americans want to understand current political challenges, they need to recall Bush’s forgotten debacles.
Speaking in New York in October, Bush called for “a new, 21st century American consensus on behalf of democratic freedom and free markets.” But when he was president, Bush’s policies assumed that spreading democracy gave him a license to kill.
Shortly before he invaded Iraq in 2003, Bush assured a Washington think tank:
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Apartment Developer: 'There's An Acute Crisis Coming' In Housing Market
Nearly half of renters pay over 30% of income on housing
On Friday, the housing market received a strong bullish jolt from the latest starts and permits data, which however showed that while traditional single-family units barely budged, there was another sharp spike higher in multi-family, i.e. rental unit construction.
And, in light of prevailing asking rent prices, this rise in multi-family supply is a welcome development: with most Americans (and certainly Millennials) unable to afford traditional housing, demand for rental housing is off the charts, pushing average asking rents to all time high with supply sure to follow, which in turn will eventually push prices back down again.
All that is Econ 101. There is just one problem: developers are putting up the wrong kinds of buildings, focusing almost entirely on the luxury segment. However, as discussed here recently, the luxury market is by now largely overbuilt, while the shortage of affordable rental housing is growing, as developers remain hamstrung by the now record-high cost of construction.
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On Friday, the housing market received a strong bullish jolt from the latest starts and permits data, which however showed that while traditional single-family units barely budged, there was another sharp spike higher in multi-family, i.e. rental unit construction.
And, in light of prevailing asking rent prices, this rise in multi-family supply is a welcome development: with most Americans (and certainly Millennials) unable to afford traditional housing, demand for rental housing is off the charts, pushing average asking rents to all time high with supply sure to follow, which in turn will eventually push prices back down again.
All that is Econ 101. There is just one problem: developers are putting up the wrong kinds of buildings, focusing almost entirely on the luxury segment. However, as discussed here recently, the luxury market is by now largely overbuilt, while the shortage of affordable rental housing is growing, as developers remain hamstrung by the now record-high cost of construction.
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Mueller Worked with Lerner to Target Tea Party
Just when you thought the Deep State swamp couldn't get any murkier and the stench any more repugnant, we are reminded by Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton in a Feb. 13 tweet of how Robert Mueller's FBI worked with Lois Lerner's IRS to target Tea Party and other groups in the run-up to the Obama re-election campaign:
@JudicialWatch lawsuit uncovered how Mueller's FBI worked with Lois Lerner's IRS to try to prosecute the very groups Obama IRS was suppressing. Another reason I don't trust Mr. Mueller – or the FBI!
The treasure trove of documents detailing the weaponizing of powerful government agencies, including Mueller's FBI, by the Obama administration to target the Tea Party was obtained by Judicial Watch as a result of court orders stemming from Freedom of Information Act lawsuits after the political targeting of the Tea Party:
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@JudicialWatch lawsuit uncovered how Mueller's FBI worked with Lois Lerner's IRS to try to prosecute the very groups Obama IRS was suppressing. Another reason I don't trust Mr. Mueller – or the FBI!
The treasure trove of documents detailing the weaponizing of powerful government agencies, including Mueller's FBI, by the Obama administration to target the Tea Party was obtained by Judicial Watch as a result of court orders stemming from Freedom of Information Act lawsuits after the political targeting of the Tea Party:
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Time's Up: Anti-Trump Forces Face Their Day of Reckoning
Let's suppose for a minute that Hillary Clinton and all her fellow Resisters, along with all their allies in the Deep State, had accepted the results of the 2016 election, as has been the tradition and expectation. Remember Hillary's sneering question to Donald at the debates – whether he would accept the election results? At that time, nobody thought Hillary would be the one to throw the temper tantrum when she lost, much less organize a resistance movement.
Suppose that, instead of anger and outrage over losing the election and launching what is turning out to be a suicidal frontal assault on Donald Trump, Hillary and her minions had set about to co-opt him with flattering news coverage and invitations to all the most glittering social events. In the past, that's how it worked. The Powers that Be co-opted newcomers to the Executive and Legislative Branches of government with seduction – showering them with all the enticements within the political insider's bags of goodies. It's been done often before; the GOP is populated with legions of politicians who came to Washington promising the voters that they would be change agents. Instead, the so-called RINOs succumbed to the voices of the Sirens who control the media, the money, and the chairmanships. It is, as the saying goes, so much more pleasant and profitable "to go along to get along." After all, who wants to endure a ceaseless torrent of negative coverage in the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, and the rest of the MSM?
This time, finding no sealed divorce proceedings to crack open at the last minute to rig the election and failing in destroying their opposition with character attacks, the Hillary forces' insurance policy was to trump up charges of Russian collusion. I suppose it is the Arkansas-Chicago way. Plus, destroying your opponents does afford a certain amount of ego gratification. In fact, it's been obvious for a long time that the Clinton way is akin to Conan the Barbarian's – i.e., to "crush your enemies" is "what is best in life."
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Suppose that, instead of anger and outrage over losing the election and launching what is turning out to be a suicidal frontal assault on Donald Trump, Hillary and her minions had set about to co-opt him with flattering news coverage and invitations to all the most glittering social events. In the past, that's how it worked. The Powers that Be co-opted newcomers to the Executive and Legislative Branches of government with seduction – showering them with all the enticements within the political insider's bags of goodies. It's been done often before; the GOP is populated with legions of politicians who came to Washington promising the voters that they would be change agents. Instead, the so-called RINOs succumbed to the voices of the Sirens who control the media, the money, and the chairmanships. It is, as the saying goes, so much more pleasant and profitable "to go along to get along." After all, who wants to endure a ceaseless torrent of negative coverage in the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, and the rest of the MSM?
This time, finding no sealed divorce proceedings to crack open at the last minute to rig the election and failing in destroying their opposition with character attacks, the Hillary forces' insurance policy was to trump up charges of Russian collusion. I suppose it is the Arkansas-Chicago way. Plus, destroying your opponents does afford a certain amount of ego gratification. In fact, it's been obvious for a long time that the Clinton way is akin to Conan the Barbarian's – i.e., to "crush your enemies" is "what is best in life."
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John Kerry Approved Visas for Russian Operatives to Enter US in 2014 and 'Interfere' with Election
After sixteen months of investigations and over a year-and-a-half of the FBI and Obama administration spying on Donald Trump, his family, his business, his campaign, his transition team and his administration — Special Counsel Robert Mueller dropped an absolute nothing-burger today in announcing charges against Russian operatives who sullied the US election process.
The Mueller Special Counsel has yet to look at Saudi donations to Hillary Clinton or Clinton campaign collusion with Russia.
The Mueller Special Counsel has yet to look at the “hacked” DNC servers or have not attempted to contact Julian Assange from Wikileaks.
The indictment today contained the same Russian Facebook ads that were released in November 2017 by the House Intelligence Committee.
Mueller and Democrats want you to believe these Russian Facebook ads flipped the election to Donald Trump.
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The Mueller Special Counsel has yet to look at Saudi donations to Hillary Clinton or Clinton campaign collusion with Russia.
The Mueller Special Counsel has yet to look at the “hacked” DNC servers or have not attempted to contact Julian Assange from Wikileaks.
The indictment today contained the same Russian Facebook ads that were released in November 2017 by the House Intelligence Committee.
Mueller and Democrats want you to believe these Russian Facebook ads flipped the election to Donald Trump.
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FBI Had Killer Niklolas Cruz's Name From YouTube, Instagram, Facebook - Ignored It, Then Said They Could Not ID Him???
Florida officials including Republican Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi joined local officials again Thursday morning in Parkland, Florida after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
During the Thursday morning briefing the local FBI chief made comments on the threat shooter Nikolas Cruz made on YouTube in 2017.
Nikolas Cruz, the suspect in Wednesday’s horrific massacre at a Florida high school, was allegedly reported to the FBI in September after he left a comment on a bail bondsman’s YouTube channel saying that he was going to be a “professional school shooter.”
Nicolas Cruz posted this comment on YouTube.
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During the Thursday morning briefing the local FBI chief made comments on the threat shooter Nikolas Cruz made on YouTube in 2017.
Nikolas Cruz, the suspect in Wednesday’s horrific massacre at a Florida high school, was allegedly reported to the FBI in September after he left a comment on a bail bondsman’s YouTube channel saying that he was going to be a “professional school shooter.”
Nicolas Cruz posted this comment on YouTube.
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Does Mueller Indictment Mean Clinton Campaign Can Be Indicted for Chris Steele?
Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted foreign citizens for trying to influence the American public about an election because those citizens did not register as a foreign agent nor record their financial expenditures to the Federal Elections Commission. By that theory, when will Mueller indict Christopher Steele, FusionGPS, PerkinsCoie, the DNC and the Clinton Campaign? Mueller’s indictment against 13 Russian trolls claimed their social media political activity was criminal because: they were foreign citizens; they tried to influence an election; and they neither registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act nor reported their funding to the Federal Elections Commission.
First, if Mueller’s theory is correct, three things make Steele a criminal: first, he is a foreign citizen; second, he tried to influence an election, which he received payments to do (including from the FBI itself); and third, he neither registered as a foreign agent nor listed his receipts and expenditures to the Federal Election Commission. Also, according to the FBI, along the way, Steele lied…a lot, while the dossier he disseminated contained its own lies based on bought-and-paid for smears from foreign sources reliant on rumors and innuendo.
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First, if Mueller’s theory is correct, three things make Steele a criminal: first, he is a foreign citizen; second, he tried to influence an election, which he received payments to do (including from the FBI itself); and third, he neither registered as a foreign agent nor listed his receipts and expenditures to the Federal Election Commission. Also, according to the FBI, along the way, Steele lied…a lot, while the dossier he disseminated contained its own lies based on bought-and-paid for smears from foreign sources reliant on rumors and innuendo.
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Associated Press Sees Florida Shooting Conspiracy
After being fooled by the “white supremacist” conspiracy theorists, the Associated Press shifted to note that the NRA gave money to the Stoneman Douglas JROTC program, which, in turn, bought air guns, which, in turn, were used when Nikolas Cruz was part of the JROTC marksmanship program.
And a new conspiracy is born! If you connect enough dots, and are willing to equate casual with causal, then the NRA did something that may have benefited the JROTC at the time when Cruz was in it.
In other news, the National Rifle Association is dedicated to helping the JROTC because members of the group go on to be leaders in their communities and in the U.S. military. Cruz is an exception and was removed from Stoneman Douglas for “disciplinary reasons.”
The Associated Press gave Cruz’s disciplinary issues fleeting coverage then moved on to report how much money the NRA gives JROTC groups.
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And a new conspiracy is born! If you connect enough dots, and are willing to equate casual with causal, then the NRA did something that may have benefited the JROTC at the time when Cruz was in it.
In other news, the National Rifle Association is dedicated to helping the JROTC because members of the group go on to be leaders in their communities and in the U.S. military. Cruz is an exception and was removed from Stoneman Douglas for “disciplinary reasons.”
The Associated Press gave Cruz’s disciplinary issues fleeting coverage then moved on to report how much money the NRA gives JROTC groups.
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Rush: Gun-Free School Zones Mean Only the Attacker Is Armed
During the February 18 airing of Fox News Sunday Rush Limbaugh referenced the Florida shooting and observed that gun-free school zones mean that attackers are the only ones who are armed
Limbaugh noted how bewildering it is that “we have armed security at virtually every public entity in this country, except schools. For some reason, they are a gun-free zone and everybody that wants to shoot up a school knows that they are going to be the only one armed.”
In other words, law-abiding teachers, staff, and administrators are unarmed, which means the person who enters campus to commit heinous acts need not fear armed resistance.
This gun-free scenario led Limbaugh to observe that school shootings will not end until we “get serious” about stopping them, and he painted a distressing picture of what our future holds until we do get serious:
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Limbaugh noted how bewildering it is that “we have armed security at virtually every public entity in this country, except schools. For some reason, they are a gun-free zone and everybody that wants to shoot up a school knows that they are going to be the only one armed.”
In other words, law-abiding teachers, staff, and administrators are unarmed, which means the person who enters campus to commit heinous acts need not fear armed resistance.
This gun-free scenario led Limbaugh to observe that school shootings will not end until we “get serious” about stopping them, and he painted a distressing picture of what our future holds until we do get serious:
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Pedestrian Fatal Somerset County MD
On Sunday 2/18/18 at approximately 6:50 P.M. Troopers from the MSP Princess Anne Barrack responded to the area of MD Rt. 388 West Post Office Road and Freetown Road for a report of a single vehicle collision involving a pedestrian. Preliminary investigation revealed a passenger car driven by David Mitchell Jr was driving Eastbound on Maryland Rt. 388 when it struck a pedestrian that was sitting in the middle of the road. The pedestrian was declared deceased on scene by EMS Personnel and later by the responding forensic examiner. The pedestrian was identified as 53 year old female Kerri Eugenia Vaughan of Princess Anne MD. The on call Advanced Collision Investigator responded to the scene to take over the investigation. The road was closed for approximately 3 hours while the collision was being investigated. The investigation is currently ongoing.
Troopers Seek Assistance in Locating Wanted Sex Offender
George F. Morgan
Dover- The Delaware State Police Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration Unit (S.O.A.R) is currently looking for the following wanted sex offender.
George F. Morgan Jr., 36 of Seaford who is 5'03" tall, 130 lbs., with blond hair and blue eyes is a registered sex offender who is currently wanted for failure to re-register. His last known whereabouts is in the Seaford area.
If anyone knows the location of this subject, they are asked to please contact Detective M. Bailey at 302-741-8082. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the internet at www.delaware.crimestoppersweb.com.
Florida shooting: Gun control advocates rush to distort the truth about what happened in Parkland
Gun control advocates are only too sure that they occupy the moral high ground. In the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting that left 17 dead, they are accusing their opponents of having “blood on their hands.”
It’s no longer just activists such as Chelsea Handler who are spewing such vitriol. Even mainstream liberals such as political scientist Norm Ornstein use the phrase.
Gun control advocates’ new hot number is that there have been 18 school shootings so far this year, but this is a gross exaggeration.
To get 18, one has to count all instances from kindergarten through college where a gun was fired on or near school property. This includes a case of a police officer accidentally discharging his gun, as well as suicides – such as that of a 31-year-old military veteran with no connection to the school who killed himself in the school parking lot.
Excluding suicides, there have only been five cases where someone was actually shot at a K-12 school. Four actually involved a gun being fired on school property, and two of those resulted in fatalities.
In fact, gun control advocates’ proposals would do more harm than good. They are the ones opposing life-saving laws.
More/Video
It’s no longer just activists such as Chelsea Handler who are spewing such vitriol. Even mainstream liberals such as political scientist Norm Ornstein use the phrase.
Gun control advocates’ new hot number is that there have been 18 school shootings so far this year, but this is a gross exaggeration.
To get 18, one has to count all instances from kindergarten through college where a gun was fired on or near school property. This includes a case of a police officer accidentally discharging his gun, as well as suicides – such as that of a 31-year-old military veteran with no connection to the school who killed himself in the school parking lot.
Excluding suicides, there have only been five cases where someone was actually shot at a K-12 school. Four actually involved a gun being fired on school property, and two of those resulted in fatalities.
In fact, gun control advocates’ proposals would do more harm than good. They are the ones opposing life-saving laws.
More/Video
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/02/16/florida-shooting-gun-control-advocates-rush-to-distort-truth-about-what-happened-in-parkland.html
Pentagon's New Deploy-or-Out Policy Could Separate Up to 286K
The Pentagon's new "deploy-or-out" policy could result in the separation from military service of possibly 286,000 personnel who are currently deemed medically unfit for overseas duty.
"This new policy is a 12-month deploy or be removed policy," Robert Wilkie, the undersecretary of defense for Personnel and Readiness, told the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel Wednesday.
Wilkie said there would be exceptions for pregnancies and the services would also be able to retain wounded troops who are cleared by medical boards.
"On any given day, about 13 to 14 percent of the force is medically unable todeploy -- that comes out to be around 286,000 service members," Wilkie said.
The new policy grew out of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' directive last summer to the services to take steps to improve the "lethality" of the force in overseas operations. Mattis' guidance said the services' actions should be "designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future."
The solution the services came up with required service members to be deployable within 12 months or be forced out of the military.
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"This new policy is a 12-month deploy or be removed policy," Robert Wilkie, the undersecretary of defense for Personnel and Readiness, told the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel Wednesday.
Wilkie said there would be exceptions for pregnancies and the services would also be able to retain wounded troops who are cleared by medical boards.
"On any given day, about 13 to 14 percent of the force is medically unable todeploy -- that comes out to be around 286,000 service members," Wilkie said.
The new policy grew out of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' directive last summer to the services to take steps to improve the "lethality" of the force in overseas operations. Mattis' guidance said the services' actions should be "designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future."
The solution the services came up with required service members to be deployable within 12 months or be forced out of the military.
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DEA’s Ban on CBD Challenged in Federal Court
The triggering incidents, Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh later told reporters, was a child bringing home a piece of candy that contained CBD, or cannabidiol—a nonintoxicating compound present in the cannabis plant—and the resulting call to authorities from the child’s incensed parents.
But prior to December 7, 2016, neither Fitzhugh nor federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents would have been able to do anything about it.
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Retail Apocalypse Accelerates: 200 Winn-Dixie Stores To Close As Parent Goes Bankrupt
After shutting down more than 5,000 stores in 2017, store-closings are accelerating in 2018 with news that Bi-Lo LLC, the supermarket company that owns the Winn-Dixie chain, is preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing as soon as next month, and is planning to shut almost 200 stores as part of the move - either before or after the filing.
Winn-Dixie joins JCPenney, Bon-Ton, Toys R Us, Sam’s Club, Macy’s, Sears, Kmart and others in the growing list of 2018 shutterings as the 'great economy' that stocks foreshadow fails to show up in the retailer landscape.
As Clark.com details, the new year is shaping up to be another difficult one for traditional retailers.
J.C. Penney – 8 stores
After closing more than 140 stores in 2017, J.C. Penney is shutting down one of its distribution centers and eight more stores nationwide, The Dallas Morning News reports. Around 670 jobs will be cut with the closing of the distribution center in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, this summer. Meanwhile, around 480 employees will be affected by the eight stores that are closing, which follows a post-holiday review. The locations will be shut down between now and May, according to CNBC.
Bon-Ton – 42 stores
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., a department store chain, is closing more than 40 underperforming locations this year, including stores under all of the company’s nameplates. Store closing sales are scheduled to begin on February 1 and run for approximately 10 to 12 weeks, the company said in a news release. Associates at the affected locations will be offered the opportunity to interview for available positions at other stores.
Toys R Us – Up to 182 stores
Toys R Us, the iconic Wayne, New Jersey-based toy retailer, has announced that it will shut down up to 182 U.S. stores. Store closing sales are likely to begin in early February, with the bulk of the closures expected to take place by mid-April, according to a letter from the company’s CEO. However, some closures may be avoided if the store can negotiate more favorable lease terms.
Sam’s Club – 63 stores
Bad news for Sam’s Club members! The Walmart-owned warehouse club has abruptly shut down multiple locations across the country, according to local media reports. The retailer has confirmed that 63 clubs are closing and up to 12 of them will be converted to e-commerce fulfillment centers. Walmart said the impacted clubs will close over the next few weeks, leaving 597 Sam’s Club locations.
More
Winn-Dixie joins JCPenney, Bon-Ton, Toys R Us, Sam’s Club, Macy’s, Sears, Kmart and others in the growing list of 2018 shutterings as the 'great economy' that stocks foreshadow fails to show up in the retailer landscape.
As Clark.com details, the new year is shaping up to be another difficult one for traditional retailers.
J.C. Penney – 8 stores
After closing more than 140 stores in 2017, J.C. Penney is shutting down one of its distribution centers and eight more stores nationwide, The Dallas Morning News reports. Around 670 jobs will be cut with the closing of the distribution center in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, this summer. Meanwhile, around 480 employees will be affected by the eight stores that are closing, which follows a post-holiday review. The locations will be shut down between now and May, according to CNBC.
Bon-Ton – 42 stores
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., a department store chain, is closing more than 40 underperforming locations this year, including stores under all of the company’s nameplates. Store closing sales are scheduled to begin on February 1 and run for approximately 10 to 12 weeks, the company said in a news release. Associates at the affected locations will be offered the opportunity to interview for available positions at other stores.
Toys R Us – Up to 182 stores
Toys R Us, the iconic Wayne, New Jersey-based toy retailer, has announced that it will shut down up to 182 U.S. stores. Store closing sales are likely to begin in early February, with the bulk of the closures expected to take place by mid-April, according to a letter from the company’s CEO. However, some closures may be avoided if the store can negotiate more favorable lease terms.
Sam’s Club – 63 stores
Bad news for Sam’s Club members! The Walmart-owned warehouse club has abruptly shut down multiple locations across the country, according to local media reports. The retailer has confirmed that 63 clubs are closing and up to 12 of them will be converted to e-commerce fulfillment centers. Walmart said the impacted clubs will close over the next few weeks, leaving 597 Sam’s Club locations.
More
Former CIA Chief Admits US Meddling In Foreign Elections "For Their Own Good"
Former CIA chief James Woolsey appeared on Fox News to push the narrative of how dastardly 'dem Russkies' are in their meddling with the sacred soul of America's democracy.
Woolsey did his patriotic deep-state-duty and proclaimed the evils of "expansionist Russia" and dropped 'facts' like "Russia has a larger cyber-army than its standing army," before he moved on to China and its existential threats.
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Woolsey did his patriotic deep-state-duty and proclaimed the evils of "expansionist Russia" and dropped 'facts' like "Russia has a larger cyber-army than its standing army," before he moved on to China and its existential threats.
More/Video
Mitt Romney Hasn’t Learned Anything
Here we go again.
It’s a day that ends in “y,” so Mitt Romney is running for office again. He’ll be running for Senate, not in Massachusetts, where he invented Obamacare as governor after having lost a Senate campaign in which he ran as a Republican who opposed the Reagan administration. He isn’t even running in New Hampshire, where he moved prior to the 2012 Republican presidential primaries. Instead, Romney will seek election to the United States from Utah, where he attended college in the 1960s and has lived since six weeks ago.
It’s a day that ends in “y,” so Mitt Romney is running for office again. He’ll be running for Senate, not in Massachusetts, where he invented Obamacare as governor after having lost a Senate campaign in which he ran as a Republican who opposed the Reagan administration. He isn’t even running in New Hampshire, where he moved prior to the 2012 Republican presidential primaries. Instead, Romney will seek election to the United States from Utah, where he attended college in the 1960s and has lived since six weeks ago.
Romney kicked off his campaign with a flaccid video replete with political platitudes and bizarre references to “our state” and “our can-do pioneering spirit” despite Romney’s having lived virtually the entirety of his life outside the state in places like Michigan and Massachusetts. When Romney isn’t wasting syllables on meaningless pandering such as “we’re known as a people who serve, who care,” he’s attacking President Donald Trump for enforcing the rule of law. In one particularly jarring moment, Romney asserts, “Utah welcomes legal immigrants from around the world; Washington sends immigrants a message of exclusion.” Perhaps Romney is unaware that immigrants constitute a larger percentage of the U.S. population than any time since the 1890s, and President Trump is deporting illegal aliens at a slower pace than did Barack Obama.
Sarah Palin on Florida School Shooting: ‘We Need to Discuss the Failure of the FBI,’ Not Second Amendment
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin offered comments about Wednesday’s mass murder at a Florida high school when she spoke with Breitbart News’s Senior Editor-at-Large Rebecca Mansour on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight on Friday. “It’s not a Second Amendment gun issue at all,” Palin said, adding, “What needs to be discussed is the failure of the FBI.”
Incompetence at the FBI — not agitation against the Second Amendment — should be a national focus related to the mass shooting in Florida, said Palin.
Adding to that assertion, Palin stated, “What needs to be discussed is the failure of the FBI. This kid who murdered all these innocent people could not have waved more red flags in front of law enforcement’s face – all those things that he did with posts, with his threats. Law enforcement called 39 times in the last number of years at his family’s home. There were so many red flags. I’m embarrassed for the FBI. The rank and file guys and gals, they work so hard. It’s the top brass. It’s a matter of priorities in the FBI, and that’s where I think the discussion needs to go.”
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Incompetence at the FBI — not agitation against the Second Amendment — should be a national focus related to the mass shooting in Florida, said Palin.
Adding to that assertion, Palin stated, “What needs to be discussed is the failure of the FBI. This kid who murdered all these innocent people could not have waved more red flags in front of law enforcement’s face – all those things that he did with posts, with his threats. Law enforcement called 39 times in the last number of years at his family’s home. There were so many red flags. I’m embarrassed for the FBI. The rank and file guys and gals, they work so hard. It’s the top brass. It’s a matter of priorities in the FBI, and that’s where I think the discussion needs to go.”
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Rush Limbaugh on Florida Shooting: Gun-Free School Zones Mean Only the Attacker Is Armed
Limbaugh noted how bewildering it is that “we have armed security at virtually every public entity in this country, except schools. For some reason, they are a gun-free zone and everybody that wants to shoot up a school knows that they are going to be the only one armed.”
In other words, law-abiding teachers, staff, and administrators are unarmed, which means the person who enters campus to commit heinous acts need not fear armed resistance.
This gun-free scenario led Limbaugh to observe that school shootings will not end until we “get serious” about stopping them, and he painted a distressing picture of what our future holds until we do get serious:
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Donald Trump: ‘Get Smart America!’ Moscow ‘Laughing Their Asses Off’
President Donald Trump urged Americans to move beyond the partisan attacks based on Russian attempts to meddle in the election.
“If it was the GOAL of Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams,” he wrote on Twitter. “They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America!”
Trump fired off a series of messages on Twitter in response to Robert Mueller’s decision to indict 13 Russian online trolls for meddling in the election. In a pair of messages he “thanked” ‘Liddle’ Adam Schiff for pointing to President Barack Obama’s failure to stop the Russians.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Friday that there was no evidence that there was any American who was a “knowing participant” with the indicted Russians and that their efforts did not alter the outcome of the 2016 election.
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“If it was the GOAL of Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams,” he wrote on Twitter. “They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America!”
Trump fired off a series of messages on Twitter in response to Robert Mueller’s decision to indict 13 Russian online trolls for meddling in the election. In a pair of messages he “thanked” ‘Liddle’ Adam Schiff for pointing to President Barack Obama’s failure to stop the Russians.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Friday that there was no evidence that there was any American who was a “knowing participant” with the indicted Russians and that their efforts did not alter the outcome of the 2016 election.
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The FBI looks like the Federal Bureau of Incompetence after ignoring warning about Florida gunman
Wasn’t there something eerily and disgracefully familiar about the news that the FBI had a highly specific warning about the murderous intentions of Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who has confessed to shooting and killing 14 students and three adults at a Florida high school Wednesday?
Doesn’t it remind you of the way that after nearly every single one of the Islamist terror attacks of the last few years – whether in America, in Britain or elsewhere – a devastating phrase soon emerges? The attacker was “known to the authorities.”
Just take the case of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers. We learned soon afterwards that the Russian authorities handed the FBI a file on one of them, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in 2011 detailing his links to radical Islam.
In congressional testimony, the then-director of the FBI – yes, it was our old friend Robert Mueller – also admitted that Tsarnaev had come to the attention of the FBI on two previous occasions. Worse, the FBI received two tips in 2012 regarding Tsarnaev’s links to extremists connected to a Boston mosque.
Despite all these specific warnings to the FBI, Tsarnaev and his brother went on to mount their vile attack. Three people died and hundreds were injured, including 16 who lost limbs.
More/Video
Doesn’t it remind you of the way that after nearly every single one of the Islamist terror attacks of the last few years – whether in America, in Britain or elsewhere – a devastating phrase soon emerges? The attacker was “known to the authorities.”
Just take the case of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers. We learned soon afterwards that the Russian authorities handed the FBI a file on one of them, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in 2011 detailing his links to radical Islam.
In congressional testimony, the then-director of the FBI – yes, it was our old friend Robert Mueller – also admitted that Tsarnaev had come to the attention of the FBI on two previous occasions. Worse, the FBI received two tips in 2012 regarding Tsarnaev’s links to extremists connected to a Boston mosque.
Despite all these specific warnings to the FBI, Tsarnaev and his brother went on to mount their vile attack. Three people died and hundreds were injured, including 16 who lost limbs.
More/Video
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/02/17/fbi-looks-like-federal-bureau-incompetence-after-ignoring-warning-about-florida-gunman.html
Georgia school to drug-test students by using hair samples
A private school in east Georgia intends to start drug-testing its oldest students.
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that Brookstone School in Columbus recently announced that the drug-testing of students in grades 8-12 will be voluntary next school year - and then mandatory in succeeding years.
Brookstone plans to use students' hair samples which are sent to Psychemedics Corp. to conduct the testing, the newspaper reported. The Massachusetts-based company would then provide test results within a few days.
Psychemedics automatically will test Brookstone students for 18 types of drugs. Alcohol isn't among them, but parents and guardians may request their child's test to include alcohol screening, the newspaper reported.
More here
[This kind of accountability will be a strong deterrent. --Editor]
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that Brookstone School in Columbus recently announced that the drug-testing of students in grades 8-12 will be voluntary next school year - and then mandatory in succeeding years.
Brookstone plans to use students' hair samples which are sent to Psychemedics Corp. to conduct the testing, the newspaper reported. The Massachusetts-based company would then provide test results within a few days.
Psychemedics automatically will test Brookstone students for 18 types of drugs. Alcohol isn't among them, but parents and guardians may request their child's test to include alcohol screening, the newspaper reported.
More here
[This kind of accountability will be a strong deterrent. --Editor]
Loan Shark Nation: Forcing Our Kids To Choose Between Student Loans And Everything Else
It’s mid-winter, which means millions of high school seniors are winding up their childhoods and planning for what comes next. For many this next stage is college.
But in yet another example of how we baby boomers have rigged the system in our favor at the expense of pretty much everyone else, student loans – barely necessary when most boomers graduated 40 years ago – have become a life-defining problem for our kids and grandkids.
A college degree is now so expensive that for most students it requires massive borrowing. But the starting salary in most fields has risen so slowly that growing numbers of indebted grads can’t reduce – let alone pay off – their loans. From today’s Wall Street Journal:
Jumbo Loans Are New Threat in U.S. Student Debt Market
During the housing boom of the 2000s, jumbo mortgages with very large balances became a flashpoint for a brewing crisis. Now, researchers are zeroing in on a related crack but in the student debt market: very large student loans with balances exceeding $50,000.
A study released Friday by the Brookings Institution finds that most borrowers who left school owing at least $50,000 in student loans in 2010 had failed to pay down any of their debt four years later. Instead, their balances had on average risen by 5% as interest accrued on their debt.
As of 2014 there were about 5 million borrowers with such large loan balances, out of 40 million Americans total with student debt. Large-balance borrowers represented 17% of student borrowers leaving college or grad school in 2014, up from 2% of all borrowers in 1990 after adjusting for inflation. Large-balance borrowers now owe 58% of the nation’s $1.4 trillion in outstanding student debt.
But in yet another example of how we baby boomers have rigged the system in our favor at the expense of pretty much everyone else, student loans – barely necessary when most boomers graduated 40 years ago – have become a life-defining problem for our kids and grandkids.
A college degree is now so expensive that for most students it requires massive borrowing. But the starting salary in most fields has risen so slowly that growing numbers of indebted grads can’t reduce – let alone pay off – their loans. From today’s Wall Street Journal:
Jumbo Loans Are New Threat in U.S. Student Debt Market
During the housing boom of the 2000s, jumbo mortgages with very large balances became a flashpoint for a brewing crisis. Now, researchers are zeroing in on a related crack but in the student debt market: very large student loans with balances exceeding $50,000.
A study released Friday by the Brookings Institution finds that most borrowers who left school owing at least $50,000 in student loans in 2010 had failed to pay down any of their debt four years later. Instead, their balances had on average risen by 5% as interest accrued on their debt.
As of 2014 there were about 5 million borrowers with such large loan balances, out of 40 million Americans total with student debt. Large-balance borrowers represented 17% of student borrowers leaving college or grad school in 2014, up from 2% of all borrowers in 1990 after adjusting for inflation. Large-balance borrowers now owe 58% of the nation’s $1.4 trillion in outstanding student debt.
Amateur Driver Day Nurburgring Race Track, Germany
Once a year, amateurs can drive their personal road cars on the Nürburgring race track in Germany. This is the results.
Florida Teacher of the Year: Parents Need to ‘Step Up’ and Control Their Kids’ Behavior
A Florida middle school teacher who was named Teacher of the Year at her school said that parents need to “step up” and control their kids’ behavior.
Kelly Guthrie Raley, who was selected as Eustis Middle School’s Teacher of the Year 2017-2018 last month, wrote on Facebook Thursday in a now-viral post that as an educator, the lack of compassion and increase in violence she has noticed among students are caused by a “lack of parental support”:
“Parents, it’s time to step up!” Raley wrote, adding:
"Be the parent that actually gives a crap! Be the annoying mom that pries and knows what your kid is doing. STOP being their friend. They have enough “friends” at school. Be their parent. Being the “cool mom” means not a damn thing when either your kid is dead or your kid kills other people because they were allowed to have their space and privacy in YOUR HOME."
She said the trend of parents not wanting to take responsibility for their children’s behavior has to change if violence in the classroom is to be stopped.
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Kelly Guthrie Raley, who was selected as Eustis Middle School’s Teacher of the Year 2017-2018 last month, wrote on Facebook Thursday in a now-viral post that as an educator, the lack of compassion and increase in violence she has noticed among students are caused by a “lack of parental support”:
“Parents, it’s time to step up!” Raley wrote, adding:
"Be the parent that actually gives a crap! Be the annoying mom that pries and knows what your kid is doing. STOP being their friend. They have enough “friends” at school. Be their parent. Being the “cool mom” means not a damn thing when either your kid is dead or your kid kills other people because they were allowed to have their space and privacy in YOUR HOME."
She said the trend of parents not wanting to take responsibility for their children’s behavior has to change if violence in the classroom is to be stopped.
More
FBI Stopped Cannabis User, Not School Shooter
Separate instances emblematic of priorities gone mad
If you were given the choice between stopping a cannabis user who had already been working in the White House for a long time without issue or a potential school shooter, which would you pick? If you answered the school shooter, you might be too smart to be an FBI agent, and I’m sad to say that’s no joke.
While the famous but incompetent FBI were spending thousands of our tax dollars to uncover that the Trump Administration Special Assistant to the President for International Energy and Environment is a cannabis user and then deny him a security clearance, it was ignoring warnings that it had received about the recent school shooter from Florida, Nikolas Cruz. It’s not the first time the agency has faced stern criticism for failing to act on intel before a tragedy either. Indeed, the bureau was warned about the Boston Marathon Bombers by Russian authorities who tipped them off that the Tsarnaev brothers had the training in Dagestan.
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If you were given the choice between stopping a cannabis user who had already been working in the White House for a long time without issue or a potential school shooter, which would you pick? If you answered the school shooter, you might be too smart to be an FBI agent, and I’m sad to say that’s no joke.
While the famous but incompetent FBI were spending thousands of our tax dollars to uncover that the Trump Administration Special Assistant to the President for International Energy and Environment is a cannabis user and then deny him a security clearance, it was ignoring warnings that it had received about the recent school shooter from Florida, Nikolas Cruz. It’s not the first time the agency has faced stern criticism for failing to act on intel before a tragedy either. Indeed, the bureau was warned about the Boston Marathon Bombers by Russian authorities who tipped them off that the Tsarnaev brothers had the training in Dagestan.
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UberEATS deliveryman wanted after gunning down customer
ATLANTA — Investigators are searching for a delivery food driver who they say opened fire and killed a customer just outside metro Atlanta.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as 30-year-old Ryan Thornton of Atlanta.
Local media report that according to the Atlanta Police Department, Thornton ordered delivery from UberEATS on Saturday and went outside a Buckhead apartment complex, about 8 miles north of Atlanta, at 11 p.m. to pick up his food.
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The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as 30-year-old Ryan Thornton of Atlanta.
Local media report that according to the Atlanta Police Department, Thornton ordered delivery from UberEATS on Saturday and went outside a Buckhead apartment complex, about 8 miles north of Atlanta, at 11 p.m. to pick up his food.
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US developing high-powered LASER DRONES to counter North Korea ‘direct threat’
Military commanders say the new weaponry has the potential to be a “game changer” in the theatre of missile defense.
Making the case for funding, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said: “Recent escalation of the threat from North Korea has demonstrated an advanced and accelerated capability.
The Low Power Laser Demonstrator (LPD) program has been tasked with producing an aerial drone fitted with a 150-kilowatt laser cannon.
Engineers are planning to mount the weapon on one of the United States’ brand new Avenger drones, a bigger, more stealthy model than the fearsome Predator drones used in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But they still need to overcome a number of problems before it would be combat-ready, including the weight of current laser weaponry and the amount of power they require.
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These Chinese military innovations threaten U.S. superiority, experts say
The Chinese New Year began with the traditional lighting of firecrackers on Friday, but the country's military has been working on incendiaries on an entirely different scale.
Over the past year, the nation that invented gunpowder has been rolling out an array of high-tech weapons that some experts say could threaten the global superiority of the United States.
"The U.S. no longer possesses clear military-technical dominance, and China is rapidly emerging as a would-be superpower in science and technology," said Elsa B. Kania, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army "might even cut ahead of the U.S. in new frontiers of military power," she added.
Here are five of China's most eye-grabbing innovations:
Over the past year, the nation that invented gunpowder has been rolling out an array of high-tech weapons that some experts say could threaten the global superiority of the United States.
"The U.S. no longer possesses clear military-technical dominance, and China is rapidly emerging as a would-be superpower in science and technology," said Elsa B. Kania, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army "might even cut ahead of the U.S. in new frontiers of military power," she added.
Here are five of China's most eye-grabbing innovations:
Billy Jack Haynes says he witnessed 1987 Arkansas murders
A former professional wrestler has come forward to say he witnessed the unsolved 1987 murder of two teens, implicating local law enforcement and high elected officials in the crime.
Billy Jack Haynes, 62, made his bombshell claims in video statements and interviews released this week, speaking out about the murder of 17-year-old Kevin Ives and 16-year-old Don Henry.
'Now August 23, 1987, thirty years ago, I was on the railroad tracks in Alexander, Arkansas, and witnessed everything that happened to two young boys on the tracks,' Haynes said in a video he recorded in early December, KATV reported.
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Billy Jack Haynes, 62, made his bombshell claims in video statements and interviews released this week, speaking out about the murder of 17-year-old Kevin Ives and 16-year-old Don Henry.
'Now August 23, 1987, thirty years ago, I was on the railroad tracks in Alexander, Arkansas, and witnessed everything that happened to two young boys on the tracks,' Haynes said in a video he recorded in early December, KATV reported.
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Wakanda, the New Black Homeland
A fictional answer to whites’ real-world success.
James Baldwin, perhaps the most influential black literary figure of the last century, confessed in Notes of a Native Son that blacks feel alienated and inferior no matter where they travel in the modern world. Each black person, he mourned, is but a “stranger in their village,” a global village shaped by others—especially by whites.
He wrote:
"For this village, even were it incomparably more remote and incredibly more primitive, is the West, the West onto which I have been so strangely grafted. These people cannot be, from the point of view of power, strangers anywhere in the world; they have made the modern world, in effect, even if they do not know it. The most illiterate among them is related, in a way that I am not, to Dante, Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Aeschylus, da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Racine; the cathedral at Chartres says something to them which it cannot say to me, as indeed would New York’s Empire State Building, should anyone here ever see it. Out of their hymns and dances come Beethoven and Bach. Go back a few centuries and they are in their full glory—but I am in Africa, watching the conquerors arrive." (Notes of a Native Son, p. 164)
Despite the rantings of Afrocentrists, Baldwin’s heartfelt confession is an honest analysis of the impact of race on world history, an assessment you will never hear from any person in power today, whether white or black. The uncomfortable truth is that the civilization created by whites that dominates the globe was built independently of black people.
But in today’s media culture, image is reality. Thus, the mainstream media is attempting to reverse Baldwin’s reflections on real world history via the fantasy land of Wakanda, and the massive marketing campaign for the new film Black Panther. Wakanda represents a spiritual homeland for blacks everywhere, a fantastical balm designed to soothe black self-esteem and emotionally support a people alienated from the world whites created.
Much more here
James Baldwin, perhaps the most influential black literary figure of the last century, confessed in Notes of a Native Son that blacks feel alienated and inferior no matter where they travel in the modern world. Each black person, he mourned, is but a “stranger in their village,” a global village shaped by others—especially by whites.
He wrote:
"For this village, even were it incomparably more remote and incredibly more primitive, is the West, the West onto which I have been so strangely grafted. These people cannot be, from the point of view of power, strangers anywhere in the world; they have made the modern world, in effect, even if they do not know it. The most illiterate among them is related, in a way that I am not, to Dante, Shakespeare, Michelangelo, Aeschylus, da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Racine; the cathedral at Chartres says something to them which it cannot say to me, as indeed would New York’s Empire State Building, should anyone here ever see it. Out of their hymns and dances come Beethoven and Bach. Go back a few centuries and they are in their full glory—but I am in Africa, watching the conquerors arrive." (Notes of a Native Son, p. 164)
Despite the rantings of Afrocentrists, Baldwin’s heartfelt confession is an honest analysis of the impact of race on world history, an assessment you will never hear from any person in power today, whether white or black. The uncomfortable truth is that the civilization created by whites that dominates the globe was built independently of black people.
But in today’s media culture, image is reality. Thus, the mainstream media is attempting to reverse Baldwin’s reflections on real world history via the fantasy land of Wakanda, and the massive marketing campaign for the new film Black Panther. Wakanda represents a spiritual homeland for blacks everywhere, a fantastical balm designed to soothe black self-esteem and emotionally support a people alienated from the world whites created.
Much more here
Trump Taunts Oprah After 60 Minutes Panel: ‘Hope’ She Runs ‘so She Can Be Exposed and Defeated Just like All of the Others’
President Donald Trump taunted Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night via Twitter, egging the nationally known talk show host on in an effort to get her to run against him for president in 2020.
Winfrey on Sunday evening’s 60 Minutes hosted a panel of 14 Michigan voters, the second time she has hosted this gathering, to get their thoughts on the election in 2016 and what has happened since then. Michigan is a state in which Trump shocked Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, beating her for the first time a Republican has won the Rust Belt state in decades.
Trump also won Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin, key Rust Belt states on his pathway to 306 electoral votes and a victory. He came within a few thousand votes of victory in other battleground states like Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, and more—again shocking the political world.
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Trump also won Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin, key Rust Belt states on his pathway to 306 electoral votes and a victory. He came within a few thousand votes of victory in other battleground states like Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, and more—again shocking the political world.
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DEBUNKED: Mainstream media claims Florida shooter ‘trained by the NRA.’ But here’s the truth.
However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
What are they saying?
The New York Daily News, a notoriously liberal newspaper, pushed the claim on its front cover on Saturday. “Trained By The NRA: School shooter excelled in marksmanship program sponsored by gun group,” the cover said.
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Blowing off Obamacare — Idaho shows how
Congressional Republicans failed to repeal or replace Obamacare. But one state has come up with a way to get around it. Idaho is dealing with Obamacare by just blowing it off. If it works, other states seem likely to follow.
Idaho’s Republican governor, Butch Otter, signed an executive order last year paving the way for non-Obamacare-compliant health insurance plans to be sold in his state, and Lt. Gov. Brad Little has since cobbled together what is sure to be the nation’s most controversial healthcare initiative. Their principal intention is to give the people of their state a way of avoiding Obamacare’s monstrous increases in insurance premiums. They want to put affordable insurance plans on the market again.
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Idaho’s Republican governor, Butch Otter, signed an executive order last year paving the way for non-Obamacare-compliant health insurance plans to be sold in his state, and Lt. Gov. Brad Little has since cobbled together what is sure to be the nation’s most controversial healthcare initiative. Their principal intention is to give the people of their state a way of avoiding Obamacare’s monstrous increases in insurance premiums. They want to put affordable insurance plans on the market again.
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Eastern Shore Parents Should Take This Course
The web address above is FEMA's Run Hide Fight training. It is free, it takes an hour and it is worth the time to learn how to survive an Active Killer Event. The most important thing to remember is students/teacher need a "mental hall pass". If they find themselves in a Hostile Event what the student/teacher do until help arrives will determine if they live or die. We are fortunate to have well trained highly motivated first responders but, the statistics show for the first 12-18 minutes you are on your own. Run Hide Fight is not a linear process, they are situation based options. Please take time to take the training it could save your life!
Gingrich: Here's a practical proposal to protect our children
Wednesday’s tragic attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is a deeply painful reminder of how much we have failed to honestly confront the problem of school shootings in America.
Putting up “Gun-Free Zone” signs is not a solution. It is an act of self-deception. By definition, the determined killers carry their guns past the signs. They are not slowed down for one second by community sentiment.
The current strategies of responding to a violent threat by either freezing students in place or accelerating student evacuation both carry seeds of disaster. Freezing the students in place simply sets them up to be killed methodically by a brutal, evil or mentally ill person. Having them flee may lead them to run right into the path of the killer.
In “Day of Wrath,” a novel by Bill Forstchen, there is a vivid description of how dangerous our current school policies are in setting up the innocent to be killed. In this stunning depiction of a methodical radical Islamist assault targeting American schools, the moral and intellectual dead-end of the current policies is made clear.
America is not going to become gun-free. Firearm-specific bans, such as bans on semi-automatic rifles, won’t have an impact because the majority of mass shootings in the United States are committed with semi-automatic handguns..
More here
Putting up “Gun-Free Zone” signs is not a solution. It is an act of self-deception. By definition, the determined killers carry their guns past the signs. They are not slowed down for one second by community sentiment.
The current strategies of responding to a violent threat by either freezing students in place or accelerating student evacuation both carry seeds of disaster. Freezing the students in place simply sets them up to be killed methodically by a brutal, evil or mentally ill person. Having them flee may lead them to run right into the path of the killer.
In “Day of Wrath,” a novel by Bill Forstchen, there is a vivid description of how dangerous our current school policies are in setting up the innocent to be killed. In this stunning depiction of a methodical radical Islamist assault targeting American schools, the moral and intellectual dead-end of the current policies is made clear.
America is not going to become gun-free. Firearm-specific bans, such as bans on semi-automatic rifles, won’t have an impact because the majority of mass shootings in the United States are committed with semi-automatic handguns..
More here
Google flexed its muscles with new ad-blocking rules
The idea behind this move is pretty straightforward: If users don't have to deal with intrusive ad experiences, they may be less likely to download third-party ad blockers. Ad blockers crush revenue opportunities for websites that rely on ads to make money while also affecting the bottom line of ad providers like Google, which pays a fee to whitelist its ads in popular services like Adblock Plus.
While Chrome's new policy is widely lauded, Google's dominance of the online ads business — in conjunction with the dominance of its Chrome browser and its influence on the group that selected which ads count as "intrusive" — raises some thorny questions.
One company, deciding what we see..
A Viewer Writes: Jim Ireton Mayor pay raise - ARE WE ALL STUPID!
THEN ! All of a sudden... he quits the County Clerk's race AND he votes to override Jake Day's veto on the pay raise...
All of a sudden Ireton is FOR a pay raise.
Well Well.... are we all that stupid!
Trump Lashes Out At FBI And HR McMaster In Saturday Night Tweets
President Trump took to Twitter Saturday night and laid into both the FBI and his National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster - shredding them within 15 minutes of each other over recent failures.
First, Trump excoriated the FBI for missing "all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter," and knocking the agency for "spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion."
The FBI was warned about Cruz after he posted on YouTube saying he was going to become a “professional school shooter.” The agency said they couldn’t identify the user who made the threat, despite Cruz posting under his own name.
The FBI also received a more recent tip on January 5 from someone close to Cruz that he owned a gun and had discussed committing a school shooting. The bureau acknowledged on Friday that it failed to investigate the tip - saying that the call should have been assessed and forwarded to the Miami FBI field office, according to the New York Times. Less than six weeks later, Cruz pulled the fire alarm at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and began shooting his former classmates with his AR-15.
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First, Trump excoriated the FBI for missing "all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter," and knocking the agency for "spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion."
The FBI also received a more recent tip on January 5 from someone close to Cruz that he owned a gun and had discussed committing a school shooting. The bureau acknowledged on Friday that it failed to investigate the tip - saying that the call should have been assessed and forwarded to the Miami FBI field office, according to the New York Times. Less than six weeks later, Cruz pulled the fire alarm at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and began shooting his former classmates with his AR-15.
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US terror victims hold banks liable for Iranian terror funds
Families warn US banks that they have served a citation on Iran and will be responsible to victims for any Iranian funds held overseas
.
Legal rights organization Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center has sent warning letters to eleven banks believed to maintain frozen accounts for Iran, they announced Wednesday, advising them that the funds are still restrained for the benefit of terror victims who hold unsatisfied judgments against the Islamic Republic.
The letters caution the American branches of the foreign banks that the funds in the accounts may not be transferred despite the anticipated lifting of financial sanctions by the Obama Administration.
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Publishers Notes: As Obama/Clinton released the US taxpayers monies - then Israeli lawyers step-in to seize it - and it is working.
No wonder Obama/Clinton were funneling US taxpayers monies trying to throw the election and unseat Benjamin Netanyahu - during his re-election campaign.
Legal rights organization Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center has sent warning letters to eleven banks believed to maintain frozen accounts for Iran, they announced Wednesday, advising them that the funds are still restrained for the benefit of terror victims who hold unsatisfied judgments against the Islamic Republic.
The letters caution the American branches of the foreign banks that the funds in the accounts may not be transferred despite the anticipated lifting of financial sanctions by the Obama Administration.
More
No wonder Obama/Clinton were funneling US taxpayers monies trying to throw the election and unseat Benjamin Netanyahu - during his re-election campaign.
Ole Benjamin though was one step ahead of them - and took the fight before the US Congress - when he appeared and made his plea before Congress.
TEL-AVIV BASED CIVIL RIGHTS CENTER FILES LIEN AGAINST BOEING
TEL-AVIV BASED CIVIL RIGHTS CENTER FILES LIEN AGAINST BOEING, RESTRAINING IRANIAN INTEREST IN BOEING/IRAN AIR AIRPLANE DEAL ON BEHALF OF TERROR VICTIMS HOLDING JUDGMENTS AGAINST IRAN
“AMERICAN COMPANIES LIKE BOEING SHOULD NOT BE PROFITTING FROM BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES WITH IRAN WHILE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FEDEAL COURT JUDGMENTS FOR IRANIAN TERROR VICTIMS REMAIN UNPAID.”
On December 13, 2016, the Tel-Aviv based Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center served aerospace giant, The Boeing Company, with an Illinois Citation to Discover Assets, restraining Iran’s interest in the just finalized $16.6 billion contract for Boeing’s sale of 80 airplanes to IRANAIR, the Iranian national airline. This is the first business deal for aircrafts with an American company since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Shurat HaDin organization, which represents hundreds of families of terror victims, alleges that there are billions of dollars in unsatisfied US court judgments, which Iran needs to pay off before it can purchase the planes. In June this year, when the multi-billion dollar deal was first announced, Shurat HaDin warned Boeing that terror victims would place liens against any property Iran purchases from Boeing to execute their judgments. At that time, Shurat HaDin Director, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, said “We are going to seize all 100 airplanes. If Boeing thinks it will simply sell to IRANAIR, which is 60% owned by the Iranian government, and pretend it is providing some sort of humanitarian civilian aid to a non-governmental entity, we will reveal the truth.”
Attorneys for Shurat HaDin have litigated numerous cases in the US courts against Iran for its sponsorship of Middle Eastern terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestine Islamic Jihad. The cases, brought on behalf of victims and families killed and injured in Iranian-sponsored terrorist attacks, have resulted in multi-billion dollar federal court judgments against Iran and its Defense Ministry. Only a small portion of the judgements have been collected upon. It is believed that there are almost $43 billion in unsatisfied American judgments against Iran.
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“AMERICAN COMPANIES LIKE BOEING SHOULD NOT BE PROFITTING FROM BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES WITH IRAN WHILE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FEDEAL COURT JUDGMENTS FOR IRANIAN TERROR VICTIMS REMAIN UNPAID.”
On December 13, 2016, the Tel-Aviv based Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center served aerospace giant, The Boeing Company, with an Illinois Citation to Discover Assets, restraining Iran’s interest in the just finalized $16.6 billion contract for Boeing’s sale of 80 airplanes to IRANAIR, the Iranian national airline. This is the first business deal for aircrafts with an American company since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Shurat HaDin organization, which represents hundreds of families of terror victims, alleges that there are billions of dollars in unsatisfied US court judgments, which Iran needs to pay off before it can purchase the planes. In June this year, when the multi-billion dollar deal was first announced, Shurat HaDin warned Boeing that terror victims would place liens against any property Iran purchases from Boeing to execute their judgments. At that time, Shurat HaDin Director, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, said “We are going to seize all 100 airplanes. If Boeing thinks it will simply sell to IRANAIR, which is 60% owned by the Iranian government, and pretend it is providing some sort of humanitarian civilian aid to a non-governmental entity, we will reveal the truth.”
Attorneys for Shurat HaDin have litigated numerous cases in the US courts against Iran for its sponsorship of Middle Eastern terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestine Islamic Jihad. The cases, brought on behalf of victims and families killed and injured in Iranian-sponsored terrorist attacks, have resulted in multi-billion dollar federal court judgments against Iran and its Defense Ministry. Only a small portion of the judgements have been collected upon. It is believed that there are almost $43 billion in unsatisfied American judgments against Iran.
More
DUI press release 02-12-2018 to 02-18-2018
Name Hometown Date Time Age Location of Arrest Accident Yes or No?
Angel Leagh Hudson Ocean Pines, MD 2/15/2018 149AM 23 Coastal Hwy & Channel Buoy N
Stephen Patrick Young Reinholds, PA 2/15/2018 859PM 52 N. Division & Baltimore N
Jerome David Mitchell Snow Hill, MD 2/16/2018 439AM 44 Casino at Ocean Downs N
Sean Reynold Palmer Lewes, De 2/16/2018 845PM 48 Bishopville RD & Old Stage RD N
Walter Glenn Pippen Joppa Town, MD 2/16/2018 941PM 63 MD 90 & US 113 N
Kimberly Theresa Deboy Ocean Pines, MD 2/17/2018 1234AM 40 MD 90 St Martins Bridge Y
Armondo Olivas Gonzalez Mexico 2/17/2018 653AM 42 MD 346, E/O US 113 N
Amanda E Villafane Brooklyn, NY 2/18/2018 1030PM 30 Philadelphia Ave & N. Division St N
Angel Leagh Hudson Ocean Pines, MD 2/15/2018 149AM 23 Coastal Hwy & Channel Buoy N
Stephen Patrick Young Reinholds, PA 2/15/2018 859PM 52 N. Division & Baltimore N
Jerome David Mitchell Snow Hill, MD 2/16/2018 439AM 44 Casino at Ocean Downs N
Sean Reynold Palmer Lewes, De 2/16/2018 845PM 48 Bishopville RD & Old Stage RD N
Walter Glenn Pippen Joppa Town, MD 2/16/2018 941PM 63 MD 90 & US 113 N
Kimberly Theresa Deboy Ocean Pines, MD 2/17/2018 1234AM 40 MD 90 St Martins Bridge Y
Armondo Olivas Gonzalez Mexico 2/17/2018 653AM 42 MD 346, E/O US 113 N
Amanda E Villafane Brooklyn, NY 2/18/2018 1030PM 30 Philadelphia Ave & N. Division St N
Report: Modern Culture Is Not Just Revealing Transgenders, ‘It Is Creating Them’
Writing for the Catholic World Report, Anne Hendershott chronicles an exploding “transgender industry” illustrated by a massive surge in the number of referrals for gender-identity treatment, in some cases increasing by as much as 2800 percent in less than ten years.
Western societies such as the UK, Sweden, Australia, and the USA have seen a spectacular rise in the number of persons, especially young people, seeking treatment for gender identity issues, paralleling the attention given to gender theory in communications, medicine, and the entertainment media.
In the U.S., the percentage of adults who currently identify as transgender is double what is was in 2011, according to the best estimates.
None of this should come as a surprise, Hendershott notes. In the year 2000, bio-ethicist Carl Elliott published a ground-breaking article in the Atlantic Monthly titled “A New Way to be Mad,” which foretold this rapid growth in gender-identity issues by comparing them to past psychological epidemics.
“Why do certain psychopathologies arise, seemingly out of nowhere, in certain societies and during certain historical periods, and then disappear just as suddenly?” he asked.
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Sarah Sanders Torches The Washington Post For Criticizing Trump’s Visit To Injured Children
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders savaged the Washington Post for criticizing President Trump’s visit with Florida shooting victims.
Trump visited a hospital near Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida Friday night to comfort and meet the families of students injured after a deranged gunman rampaged through the high school with a semi-automatic rifle. Trump and the first lady visited with staff and families and first responders.
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Trump visited a hospital near Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida Friday night to comfort and meet the families of students injured after a deranged gunman rampaged through the high school with a semi-automatic rifle. Trump and the first lady visited with staff and families and first responders.
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Florida Senate Committee Taking Up Bill to Arm Teachers
The bill was proposed by Sen. Dennis Baxley (R-12) before the February 14 attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but remained idle.
USA Today reports that Sen. Greg Steube (R-23) stepped in following the attack, seized the bill, and pushed it to the forefront. They quote Steube saying, “I don’t feel gun-free zones protect anyone but criminals, and there is no evidence that says otherwise.”
The bill would allow the principal of a school to designate persons to carry firearms on campus.
The committee hearing comes as Senate President Joe Negron (R-25) displays openness to doing whatever must be done to keep schools safe. The day after the Stoneman Douglas High attack, he said he pushing “for more money for school safety and to allow district superintendents to act in their schools’ best interests.”
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Maxine Waters Attended Farrakhan Speech
Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters attended a Nation of Islam convention where the hate group’s leader, Louis Farrakhan, defended Palestinian suicide bombers.
The convention, which took place in California in 2002, is just the latest tie to emerge between Democrats and the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist group known for being viciously anti-Semitic.
“We have Maxine Waters here,” Farrakhan told the convention audience, gesturing to the seats behind him, “our great congresswoman from this area.” The audience cheered Waters’ name.
Later in his speech, Farrakhan excused Palestinian suicide bombers and defended Iran for arming Palestinian terrorists.
Farrakhan criticized the United States for providing Israel with planes and other weapons, which he indicated was to blame for Palestinian suicide bombers.
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The convention, which took place in California in 2002, is just the latest tie to emerge between Democrats and the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist group known for being viciously anti-Semitic.
“We have Maxine Waters here,” Farrakhan told the convention audience, gesturing to the seats behind him, “our great congresswoman from this area.” The audience cheered Waters’ name.
Later in his speech, Farrakhan excused Palestinian suicide bombers and defended Iran for arming Palestinian terrorists.
Farrakhan criticized the United States for providing Israel with planes and other weapons, which he indicated was to blame for Palestinian suicide bombers.
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Judge Jeanine: 'The FBI Needs a Complete Overhaul, a Complete Cleansing'
Fox News Channel “Justice” host Jeanine Pirro took aim at the FBI in response to their failure to act on two different tips they received regarding Parkland, FL, shooter Nikolas Cruz.
“The FBI needs a complete overhaul, a complete cleansing,” Pirro began her Saturday opening statement.
She continued, “In any company or organization that runs afoul of its mission or is tainted by corruption and politics, the CEO and the board of directors would go. Likewise, the utter failure of the FBI in September and January regarding shooter Nikolas Cruz is so monumental that the same rule must apply. The killing of young innocence. teachers and coaches, gunned down in a school — a place that should be a haven in a heartless world, lays at the hands of the FBI.”
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“The FBI needs a complete overhaul, a complete cleansing,” Pirro began her Saturday opening statement.
She continued, “In any company or organization that runs afoul of its mission or is tainted by corruption and politics, the CEO and the board of directors would go. Likewise, the utter failure of the FBI in September and January regarding shooter Nikolas Cruz is so monumental that the same rule must apply. The killing of young innocence. teachers and coaches, gunned down in a school — a place that should be a haven in a heartless world, lays at the hands of the FBI.”
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LeBron: I Mean Too Much To Society
LeBron James said in an interview Saturday that he just means “too much to society” to not share his political views.
WATCH:
WATCH:
Texas Superintendent Prefers Teachers Meet Deadly Threats with Pistols, Not Pencils
Keene ISD Superintendent Ricky Stephens said he supports arming his Texas school personnel because it is better to meet deadly threats with pistols rather than pencils.
He made this observation as armed school personnel receive increased attention following the attack on Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
WFAA reports that Keene ISD and other school districts in Texas are allowed to arm certain school personnel via the Protection of Texas Children Law (2013). The law allows districts to created/designate “school marshals” for their campuses. Those marshals are chosen from school employees and are put through special training to carry and use a firearm on campus.
Superintendent Stephens praised the creation of “school marshals,” saying, “Administrators and teachers are going to be the first ones who arrive, so do you want them to arrive with a pencil or a pistol?”
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He made this observation as armed school personnel receive increased attention following the attack on Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
WFAA reports that Keene ISD and other school districts in Texas are allowed to arm certain school personnel via the Protection of Texas Children Law (2013). The law allows districts to created/designate “school marshals” for their campuses. Those marshals are chosen from school employees and are put through special training to carry and use a firearm on campus.
Superintendent Stephens praised the creation of “school marshals,” saying, “Administrators and teachers are going to be the first ones who arrive, so do you want them to arrive with a pencil or a pistol?”
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University of Wisconsin-Madison 'Problem of Whiteness' and 'Social Justice and Hip-Hop' Courses Spark Debate
A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison known for his “Problem of Whiteness” course is facing criticism again for his new course on the relationship between social justice and hip-hop.
University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Damon Sajnani, who is best known for his course called “The Problem of Whiteness,” has introduced a new course this semester called “Global HipHop and Social Justice.”
When Sajnani introduced “The Problem of Whiteness” course, it sparked a backlash around Wisconsin. “Race is an ideological structure created for the purpose of global European domination,” Sajnani wrote in a piece on race. “It is designed to be fixed and permanent; to reify the contingent relations of colonial subjugation into immutable identities.”
According to the new course description, students will learn about more than just hip-hop. The course will also cover topics such as colonialism and imperialism.
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University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Damon Sajnani, who is best known for his course called “The Problem of Whiteness,” has introduced a new course this semester called “Global HipHop and Social Justice.”
When Sajnani introduced “The Problem of Whiteness” course, it sparked a backlash around Wisconsin. “Race is an ideological structure created for the purpose of global European domination,” Sajnani wrote in a piece on race. “It is designed to be fixed and permanent; to reify the contingent relations of colonial subjugation into immutable identities.”
According to the new course description, students will learn about more than just hip-hop. The course will also cover topics such as colonialism and imperialism.
More
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