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Thursday, March 29, 2018
Microsoft To Ban ‘Offensive Language’ & Monitor Your Private Account
Microsoft is cracking down on what people say while using their services online. According to a new services agreement written by the company, the tech giant is planning to ban accounts that use “offensive language” and will go through your private data to “investigate” users.
In a March 1 release, Microsoft is warning customers using Office, Xbox, Skype, and other products that the company is prohibiting offensive language and inappropriate content starting on May 1. “Don’t publicly display or use the Services to share inappropriate content or material (involving, for example, nudity, bestiality, pornography, offensive language, graphic violence, or criminal activity),” Microsoft warns in a portion of their new codes of conduct.
Microsoft also added that the company plans on “investigating” users who are accused of violating the new policy and will block content from being sent to other people. “When investigating alleged violations of these Terms, Microsoft reserves the right to review Your Content in order to resolve the issue,” the new policy states.
Internet privacy and civil rights advocates are already speaking out against the Microsoft service agreement; calling the upcoming policy an attack on free speech..
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In a March 1 release, Microsoft is warning customers using Office, Xbox, Skype, and other products that the company is prohibiting offensive language and inappropriate content starting on May 1. “Don’t publicly display or use the Services to share inappropriate content or material (involving, for example, nudity, bestiality, pornography, offensive language, graphic violence, or criminal activity),” Microsoft warns in a portion of their new codes of conduct.
Microsoft also added that the company plans on “investigating” users who are accused of violating the new policy and will block content from being sent to other people. “When investigating alleged violations of these Terms, Microsoft reserves the right to review Your Content in order to resolve the issue,” the new policy states.
Internet privacy and civil rights advocates are already speaking out against the Microsoft service agreement; calling the upcoming policy an attack on free speech..
More
Media Research Center Will Fact Check the Social Media Fact Checkers
The Media Research Center (MRC), a watchdog organization that tracks left-wing bias in the mainstream media, has announced a project to fact-check the myriad of fact-checking organizations that are relied upon by mainstream news and social media companies to verify factual claims in news stories.
MRC plans to monitor a range of fact-checking organizations, including PolitiFact.com, FactCheck.org, Snopes.com, Washington Post Fact Checker, AP Fact Check and CNN Fact Check.
In a statement, the MRC said:
As major news outlets increasingly rely on leftist “fact-checkers” to verify the credibility of news, the MRC will ensure the fact-checkers themselves are reliable, or exposed as liberal partisans if they aren’t.
While fact-checking the accuracy of news is needed, often it is used as a medium to push a political agenda..
More here
MRC plans to monitor a range of fact-checking organizations, including PolitiFact.com, FactCheck.org, Snopes.com, Washington Post Fact Checker, AP Fact Check and CNN Fact Check.
In a statement, the MRC said:
As major news outlets increasingly rely on leftist “fact-checkers” to verify the credibility of news, the MRC will ensure the fact-checkers themselves are reliable, or exposed as liberal partisans if they aren’t.
While fact-checking the accuracy of news is needed, often it is used as a medium to push a political agenda..
More here
Facebook ‘Transparency’ Function Blocks Users Who Get Too Curious
A Facebook tool designed to inform users about the advertisers trying to target them through the platform withholds key information from consumers that get too curious, even locking them out when they use it too many times, according to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek.
From Bloomberg Businessweek:
Rather than providing unfiltered transparency, this Facebook function is instead feeding users frequently misleading—and sometimes untrue—reasons for why they’ve been targeted, Bloomberg Businessweek tests of the function suggest. The findings are corroborated by a new academic study of thousands of test ads that found Facebook’s explanations, “often omitting key details that would allow users to understand and potentially control the way they are targeted.”
The report’s anecdotal test of Facebook’s function is backed up by a similar, larger-scale study by researchers.
“Across all our experiments, we consistently found that Facebook’s explanations are incomplete and sometimes misleading,” they wrote (italics included) of their research, which was funded in part by the U.S. government’s National Science Foundation.
More here
From Bloomberg Businessweek:
Rather than providing unfiltered transparency, this Facebook function is instead feeding users frequently misleading—and sometimes untrue—reasons for why they’ve been targeted, Bloomberg Businessweek tests of the function suggest. The findings are corroborated by a new academic study of thousands of test ads that found Facebook’s explanations, “often omitting key details that would allow users to understand and potentially control the way they are targeted.”
The report’s anecdotal test of Facebook’s function is backed up by a similar, larger-scale study by researchers.
“Across all our experiments, we consistently found that Facebook’s explanations are incomplete and sometimes misleading,” they wrote (italics included) of their research, which was funded in part by the U.S. government’s National Science Foundation.
More here
Teenagers Make Great Progressive Shock Troops
Progressivism, like its totalitarian cousins, is an ideology of melodrama and moral exhibitionism. The complexity and mystery of a flawed human nature and its actions are reduced to Lenin’s simple analysis: “Who, whom.” In the fight between righteousness and evil, who will win, the oppressor or his victim? The revolutionary is strengthened by his perceived own moral superiority, his certainty that he on the side of history’s angels. After all, he is struggling for the brave new world: heaven on earth, the utopia of radical equality and social justice, and the final banishment of misery and oppression. In such a cosmic battle, who has time for critical thought or empirical evidence?
This leftist melodrama has always been attractive for the callow young, as the hinge-year 1968 showed. Teenagers are prone to grandiose self-regard, impulsive behavior, and a preference for feeling rather than thinking. They are attracted to sentimentalism and melodrama, the emotion that validates their inflated egos rather than the thought that challenges their exaggerated self-importance.
More here
Facebook Under Investigation for the Lesser Data Breach
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) confirmed Monday that it’s finally investigating Facebook for allowing the data of 190 million people to be scooped up by Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign.
Just kidding.
The FTC is investigating how the data of a quarter that many people ended up in the hands of a consulting firm that did work for Donald Trump’s campaign.
According to The Hill, “Tom Pahl, the acting FTC bureau chief for consumer protection, said in a statement that the agency would be investigating whether the incident constituted a violation of a 2011 agreement that Facebook signed to settle charges over other privacy concerns.” Last we checked, the 2012 campaign came after the 2011 agreement, and Facebook was more complicit in Obama’s data mining than in the operation of Cambridge Analytica, the firm Trump used.
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Just kidding.
The FTC is investigating how the data of a quarter that many people ended up in the hands of a consulting firm that did work for Donald Trump’s campaign.
According to The Hill, “Tom Pahl, the acting FTC bureau chief for consumer protection, said in a statement that the agency would be investigating whether the incident constituted a violation of a 2011 agreement that Facebook signed to settle charges over other privacy concerns.” Last we checked, the 2012 campaign came after the 2011 agreement, and Facebook was more complicit in Obama’s data mining than in the operation of Cambridge Analytica, the firm Trump used.
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Blackburn Says Pro-Privacy ‘Browser Act’ Gaining Momentum in Wake of Data Scandal
House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is running for the U.S. Senate seat in Tennesse in 2018, called for the passage of the Browser Act in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News.
Blackburn claims the bill would give Internet users more control over their digital privacy.
Congresswoman Blackburn introduced the Browser Act last June, which would require Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast and Verizon as well as content providers such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter to obtain a user’s consent before collecting and selling their information for marketing.
Facebook’s reputation plummeted after reports revealed that the data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica used the social media platform to gain access to the personal data of more than 50 million users. A recent Reuters poll suggests that only 41 percent of consumers trust Facebook to comply with American privacy laws.
Chairman Blackburn contends that the recent Facebook scandal has garnered support for the Browser Act.
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Blackburn claims the bill would give Internet users more control over their digital privacy.
Congresswoman Blackburn introduced the Browser Act last June, which would require Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast and Verizon as well as content providers such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter to obtain a user’s consent before collecting and selling their information for marketing.
Facebook’s reputation plummeted after reports revealed that the data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica used the social media platform to gain access to the personal data of more than 50 million users. A recent Reuters poll suggests that only 41 percent of consumers trust Facebook to comply with American privacy laws.
Chairman Blackburn contends that the recent Facebook scandal has garnered support for the Browser Act.
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Your online identity sells for exactly $1,170 on the dark web
What is the asking price for your online identity? Now, we finally know.
Harvesting a few of your credit cards, your social security number, your billing address, and even the names of your children now has an exact price tag, almost like an Amazon shopping list. According to a new study by Privacy Central, it’s exactly $1,170 on the dark web.
Like an auction site or Craigslist, the Dark Web is a shopper’s paradise for hackers.
Netflix accounts, an Uber login, and access to your AirBnB credentials come cheap -- $10 each. And, how about your Gmail login? That sells for about a dollar. How about your iTunes account info? That’s exactly $15.38. PayPal account? $247.
All of these logins, credit card numbers, and account details are for sale, but security experts suggest the laundry list of items for sale is only going to grow -- and get more affordable.
The question to ask is -- how do you protect yourself?
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/03/28/your-online-identity-sells-for-exactly-1170-on-dark-web-heres-how-to-block-sale.html
Harvesting a few of your credit cards, your social security number, your billing address, and even the names of your children now has an exact price tag, almost like an Amazon shopping list. According to a new study by Privacy Central, it’s exactly $1,170 on the dark web.
Like an auction site or Craigslist, the Dark Web is a shopper’s paradise for hackers.
Netflix accounts, an Uber login, and access to your AirBnB credentials come cheap -- $10 each. And, how about your Gmail login? That sells for about a dollar. How about your iTunes account info? That’s exactly $15.38. PayPal account? $247.
All of these logins, credit card numbers, and account details are for sale, but security experts suggest the laundry list of items for sale is only going to grow -- and get more affordable.
The question to ask is -- how do you protect yourself?
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/03/28/your-online-identity-sells-for-exactly-1170-on-dark-web-heres-how-to-block-sale.html
Grain silo avalanche that killed father and son is commonplace on US farms
The tragic deaths of a Wisconsin dairy farmer and his 14-year-old son last week in grain silo avalanche sent a familiar chill through America's agriculture community, whose members know too well the grim dangers of of life on the family farm.
While entanglements with machines or falls are generally seen as the most frequent cause of injury or death on farms, grain silo avalanches – whether inside the silo itself or from a structural collapse – happen almost on a daily basis, experts say.
“The accident in Wisconsin over the weekend is just another wake up call that there are inherent dangers in production agriculture,” Keith Bolsen, a former professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University and the founder of the Keith Bolsen Silage Safety Foundation, told Fox News. “Silage and farming can be very dangerous.”
The dangers posed by silage collapses in silos have led the farming industry to move away from the towering structures toward storage in bunkers and large piles. Even so, experts say, these more current practices pose risks of large chunks of the grain caving in and burying farmers – and in some cases even large farm equipment – under numerous tons of feed.
More here
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/27/wisconsin-grain-silo-avalanche-that-killed-father-and-son-is-commonplace-on-us-farms.html
While entanglements with machines or falls are generally seen as the most frequent cause of injury or death on farms, grain silo avalanches – whether inside the silo itself or from a structural collapse – happen almost on a daily basis, experts say.
“The accident in Wisconsin over the weekend is just another wake up call that there are inherent dangers in production agriculture,” Keith Bolsen, a former professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University and the founder of the Keith Bolsen Silage Safety Foundation, told Fox News. “Silage and farming can be very dangerous.”
The dangers posed by silage collapses in silos have led the farming industry to move away from the towering structures toward storage in bunkers and large piles. Even so, experts say, these more current practices pose risks of large chunks of the grain caving in and burying farmers – and in some cases even large farm equipment – under numerous tons of feed.
More here
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/27/wisconsin-grain-silo-avalanche-that-killed-father-and-son-is-commonplace-on-us-farms.html
WSJ Rips Senate Dems for Blocking Votes on Trump Nominees
The Journal, in an editorial posted Tuesday night, noted the Senate is "sitting on 78 nominees who have already been vetted and passed out of committee but can’t get a floor vote."
The newspaper added: "Senate Republicans have been too slow to press the issue, though they are finally working on a way around Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s obstructionism."
Liberals are abusing the current rule and using it even for nominees with broad bipartisan support, the newspaper said.
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Congress Eases Regulatory Burden on MD-01 Farmers
“While the 2018 omnibus was a deeply flawed bill, I applaud the inclusion of a renewed exemption for farmers from the burdensome regulations of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Restoring this exemption protects farmers from the reporting requirements imposed on larger entities that release hazardous substances in significant quantities. As a cosponsor of the bipartisan Agricultural Certainty for Reporting Emissions Act, I recognize that the farmers in Maryland’s First District should be allowed to focus on their work instead of jumping through bureaucratic hoops.”
Kentucky House Passes Bill Restricting Abortions
The Kentucky House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday to ban a common abortion procedure beyond the 11th week of pregnancy, in what would be one of the strictest abortion limits in the United States.
The bill, which was approved by the state Senate last week, will now go for approval to Governor Matt Bevin, a Republican who has described himself as, "100 percent pro-life."
The House voted 75-13 in favor of the measure. It previously passed a similar version of the measure but had to approve changes the Senate made. Both bodies are controlled by Republicans.
The procedure covered by the legislation, known as dilation and evacuation, accounts for 16 percent of all abortions performed in Kentucky. It is primarily used for pregnancies in the second trimester. The new law makes an exception for medical emergencies.
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The bill, which was approved by the state Senate last week, will now go for approval to Governor Matt Bevin, a Republican who has described himself as, "100 percent pro-life."
The House voted 75-13 in favor of the measure. It previously passed a similar version of the measure but had to approve changes the Senate made. Both bodies are controlled by Republicans.
The procedure covered by the legislation, known as dilation and evacuation, accounts for 16 percent of all abortions performed in Kentucky. It is primarily used for pregnancies in the second trimester. The new law makes an exception for medical emergencies.
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Walmart Checkout Lines Remove Racy Magazine
Walmart has decided to remove Cosmopolitan magazine from its checkout lines going forward to keep what it calls “sexually explicit material” out of the hands of children.
The magazine will still be available in Walmart stores but will be shelved in the store’s regular magazine racks rather than at checkout lines where children could pick it up and read it, The Wrap reported.
The move comes after lobbying group the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said it found the content to be inappropriate for shoppers, especially children.
The organization took credit for Walmart’s decision, saying in a statement, “Protecting minors from the sexually explicit material that Cosmopolitan embodies and perpetuates has been a long term priority of NCOSE,” The Wrap reported.
“You can go through and buy your groceries with your family knowing you won’t have to be exposed to this graphic and often degrading and offensive material,” NCOSE Vice President of Advocacy and Outreach Haley Halverson said.
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The magazine will still be available in Walmart stores but will be shelved in the store’s regular magazine racks rather than at checkout lines where children could pick it up and read it, The Wrap reported.
The move comes after lobbying group the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said it found the content to be inappropriate for shoppers, especially children.
The organization took credit for Walmart’s decision, saying in a statement, “Protecting minors from the sexually explicit material that Cosmopolitan embodies and perpetuates has been a long term priority of NCOSE,” The Wrap reported.
“You can go through and buy your groceries with your family knowing you won’t have to be exposed to this graphic and often degrading and offensive material,” NCOSE Vice President of Advocacy and Outreach Haley Halverson said.
More
Spinal Surgery May Not Cut Painkiller Use
Most patients who take prescription opioids for chronic pain before lumbar fusion surgery continue taking them long-term after surgery, a new study suggests.
More than 77 percent continued long-term postoperative use, and 14 percent had occasional use, the study authors wrote in the journal PAIN.
“The important message here is that patients go into surgery thinking it will eliminate their need to take pain medication. But for this type of surgery, it’s unlikely that patients will end up stopping opioids,” lead author Dr. Richard Deyo of Oregon Health and Science University in Portland told Reuters Health by phone.
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, spinal fusion “(corrects) problems with the small bones of the spine (vertebrae). It is essentially a ‘welding’ process. The basic idea is to fuse together the painful vertebrae so that they heal into a single, solid bone.”
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More than 77 percent continued long-term postoperative use, and 14 percent had occasional use, the study authors wrote in the journal PAIN.
“The important message here is that patients go into surgery thinking it will eliminate their need to take pain medication. But for this type of surgery, it’s unlikely that patients will end up stopping opioids,” lead author Dr. Richard Deyo of Oregon Health and Science University in Portland told Reuters Health by phone.
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, spinal fusion “(corrects) problems with the small bones of the spine (vertebrae). It is essentially a ‘welding’ process. The basic idea is to fuse together the painful vertebrae so that they heal into a single, solid bone.”
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Gun Control Activists at March for Our Lives Register Thousands of Voters
The gun control activists behind Saturday’s March for Our Lives rally enlisted the help of several voter registration organizations with the aim of getting people to vote in favor of limiting Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
HeadCount, a 501(c)3 and 4945(f) organization that bills itself as a nonpartisan group that “promotes participation in democracy” partnered with the March for Our Lives and registered nearly 5,000 voters at March for Our Lives rallies throughout the U.S. in 30 cities.
A post on the group’s Facebook page announced that the organization registered “4,800 new voters” in one day at the March for Our Lives.
After the march, the organization announced that it would focus on getting high school students registered to vote. On Sunday, HeadCount released a guide on how to conduct school and community voter registration drives.
More here
HeadCount, a 501(c)3 and 4945(f) organization that bills itself as a nonpartisan group that “promotes participation in democracy” partnered with the March for Our Lives and registered nearly 5,000 voters at March for Our Lives rallies throughout the U.S. in 30 cities.
A post on the group’s Facebook page announced that the organization registered “4,800 new voters” in one day at the March for Our Lives.
After the march, the organization announced that it would focus on getting high school students registered to vote. On Sunday, HeadCount released a guide on how to conduct school and community voter registration drives.
More here
The Mystery of the Terrifying Xanax Resurgence in America
On a recent Saturday, photographer Nan Goldin and a band of roughly 100 fellow activists threw pill bottles into the reflecting pool near the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The space was funded by the Sacklers, the family that owns the drug Oxycontin's manufacturer Purdue Pharma, and the group was trying to call the clan to account for the opioid overdose catastrophe, a crisis spurred in part by aggressive marketing of that pill.
But the simultaneous rise of another potentially addictive and deadly prescription in America has received far less attention. Understanding why could shed light on the best way to manage both the opioid epidemic and this less-notorious one—and help prevent or at least mitigate future crises.
Between 1999 and 2016, as many Americans are now at least vaguely aware, the number of deaths from overdoses that included opioids quintupled. However, during roughly the same period, the number of OD deaths that involved benzodiazepines (a.k.a. "benzos") increased by a mind-boggling factor of nearly eight. In terms of the absolute number of deaths, opioids are more deadly, but it’s important to note that over 30 percent of opioid-overdose deaths are actually better described as fatal mixtures of the two classes of drugs.
More here
But the simultaneous rise of another potentially addictive and deadly prescription in America has received far less attention. Understanding why could shed light on the best way to manage both the opioid epidemic and this less-notorious one—and help prevent or at least mitigate future crises.
Between 1999 and 2016, as many Americans are now at least vaguely aware, the number of deaths from overdoses that included opioids quintupled. However, during roughly the same period, the number of OD deaths that involved benzodiazepines (a.k.a. "benzos") increased by a mind-boggling factor of nearly eight. In terms of the absolute number of deaths, opioids are more deadly, but it’s important to note that over 30 percent of opioid-overdose deaths are actually better described as fatal mixtures of the two classes of drugs.
More here
Link between mass shooters, absent fathers ignored by anti-gun activists
Gun control activists are quick to blame mass shootings on the proliferation of firearms, but are less likely to point to the proliferation of fatherless households.
Yet research shows that school shooters tend to come from broken homes, where one or more parent is absent, addicted or abusive.
Warren Farrell, co-author of the just-released “The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It,” said the frequency at which fathers are absent has been devastating for the development of boys. He pointed to research showing that boys without fathers fare worse than boys with fathers on more than 70 different metrics.
“They’re much more likely to drink, much more likely to do drugs, much more likely to be depressed, much more likely to be suicidal, much more likely to be violent, much more likely to be in prison,” Mr. Farrell said. “And they’re also much more likely to commit mass shootings.”
More here
Yet research shows that school shooters tend to come from broken homes, where one or more parent is absent, addicted or abusive.
Warren Farrell, co-author of the just-released “The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It,” said the frequency at which fathers are absent has been devastating for the development of boys. He pointed to research showing that boys without fathers fare worse than boys with fathers on more than 70 different metrics.
“They’re much more likely to drink, much more likely to do drugs, much more likely to be depressed, much more likely to be suicidal, much more likely to be violent, much more likely to be in prison,” Mr. Farrell said. “And they’re also much more likely to commit mass shootings.”
More here
Sarah Huckabee Sanders zings Stormy-obsessed press
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a gaggle of reporters this week that she was under no obligation to entertain their Stormy Daniels fixation.
The star of “Dumb Blonde” and her alleged sexual liaison with President Trump in 2006 was once again the focus of the White House press corps Tuesday, but new developments were in short supply.
Mrs. Sanders told CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny and a trio of his peers that different iterations of the same question would not elicit a different response.
“...The president has addressed this,” Mrs. Sanders replied. “We’ve addressed it extensively. There’s just nothing else to add. Just because you guys continue to ask the same question over and over and over again, doesn’t mean that we have to keep coming up with new things to say. We’ve addressed it. We addressed it significantly and there’s nothing new to add.”
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The star of “Dumb Blonde” and her alleged sexual liaison with President Trump in 2006 was once again the focus of the White House press corps Tuesday, but new developments were in short supply.
Mrs. Sanders told CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny and a trio of his peers that different iterations of the same question would not elicit a different response.
“...The president has addressed this,” Mrs. Sanders replied. “We’ve addressed it extensively. There’s just nothing else to add. Just because you guys continue to ask the same question over and over and over again, doesn’t mean that we have to keep coming up with new things to say. We’ve addressed it. We addressed it significantly and there’s nothing new to add.”
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Judge dismisses class-action challenge to travel ban
A federal judge in Washington who had been a thorn in the side of the Trump administration reversed course Tuesday and ruled she could not force the State Department to grant visa lottery approvals to would-be immigrants from Iran and Yemen.
The complicated case doesn’t directly challenge President Trump’s travel ban, but it does deliver a rare lower-court legal victory on one aspect of the ban, which has restricted visits and immigration from a number of majority-Muslim nations.
Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that the government had managed to run out the clock on would-be immigrants from Yemen and Iran, and there is no longer anything she can do to preserve their pathway to immigration.
“There is no longer any meaningful relief this court can provide. Therefore, it must dismiss this case as moot,” she wrote.
More here
The complicated case doesn’t directly challenge President Trump’s travel ban, but it does deliver a rare lower-court legal victory on one aspect of the ban, which has restricted visits and immigration from a number of majority-Muslim nations.
Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that the government had managed to run out the clock on would-be immigrants from Yemen and Iran, and there is no longer anything she can do to preserve their pathway to immigration.
“There is no longer any meaningful relief this court can provide. Therefore, it must dismiss this case as moot,” she wrote.
More here
DNC Chairman Equates Census Citizenship Question to Voter Suppression
DNC chairman Tom Perez equated the question regarding citizenship on the U.S. Census to voter suppression during an MSNBC interview on Tuesday.
Democrats have been opposed to plans by the Trump administration to reinsert a question as to whether or not the respondent was a United States citizen.
"They want to change it to count the number of U.S. citizens so that they can engage in very not subtle voter suppression," Perez said. "That is illegal and that is totally inconsistent with what the North Star of the census in Republican and Democratic administrations have been."
"This is just another divide-and-conquer effort. This is a first cousin of these voter ID laws sought to make sure that African Americans and Latinos can't vote," he added.
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Democrats have been opposed to plans by the Trump administration to reinsert a question as to whether or not the respondent was a United States citizen.
"They want to change it to count the number of U.S. citizens so that they can engage in very not subtle voter suppression," Perez said. "That is illegal and that is totally inconsistent with what the North Star of the census in Republican and Democratic administrations have been."
"This is just another divide-and-conquer effort. This is a first cousin of these voter ID laws sought to make sure that African Americans and Latinos can't vote," he added.
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Trump Ends Temporary Amnesty for Nearly 1K Liberian Nationals
President Trump is ending temporary amnesty for nearly 1,000 Liberian nationals who have been allowed to stay in the United States for almost three decades.
In a new directive to his Department of State and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Trump announced that thousands of Liberian nationals will need to return to Liberia after being allowed to stay in the U.S. since 1991 when thousands were first granted temporary amnesty due to a civil war in the African country.
DHS officials told Breitbart News that about 840 Liberian nationals will need to return to their home country by March 2019, at the latest.
Trump writes in ending the temporary amnesty:
Through consultation with appropriate executive departments and agencies and my advisors, I have been informed that conditions in Liberia have improved. Liberia is no longer experiencing armed conflict and has made significant progress in restoring stability and democratic governance. Liberia has also concluded reconstruction from prior conflicts, which has contributed significantly to an environment that is able to handle adequately the return of its nationals. The 2014 outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease caused a tragic loss of life and economic damage to the country, but Liberia has made tremendous progress in its ability to diagnose and contain future outbreaks of the disease.
Accordingly, I find that conditions in Liberia no longer warrant a further extension of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), but that the foreign policy interests of the United States warrant affording an orderly transition (“wind-down”) period to Liberian DED beneficiaries. In consultation with my advisors, I have concluded that a 12‑month wind‑down period is appropriate in order to provide Liberia’s government with time to reintegrate its returning citizens and to allow DED beneficiaries who are not eligible for other forms of immigration relief to make necessary arrangements and to depart the United States.
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In a new directive to his Department of State and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Trump announced that thousands of Liberian nationals will need to return to Liberia after being allowed to stay in the U.S. since 1991 when thousands were first granted temporary amnesty due to a civil war in the African country.
DHS officials told Breitbart News that about 840 Liberian nationals will need to return to their home country by March 2019, at the latest.
Trump writes in ending the temporary amnesty:
Through consultation with appropriate executive departments and agencies and my advisors, I have been informed that conditions in Liberia have improved. Liberia is no longer experiencing armed conflict and has made significant progress in restoring stability and democratic governance. Liberia has also concluded reconstruction from prior conflicts, which has contributed significantly to an environment that is able to handle adequately the return of its nationals. The 2014 outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease caused a tragic loss of life and economic damage to the country, but Liberia has made tremendous progress in its ability to diagnose and contain future outbreaks of the disease.
Accordingly, I find that conditions in Liberia no longer warrant a further extension of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), but that the foreign policy interests of the United States warrant affording an orderly transition (“wind-down”) period to Liberian DED beneficiaries. In consultation with my advisors, I have concluded that a 12‑month wind‑down period is appropriate in order to provide Liberia’s government with time to reintegrate its returning citizens and to allow DED beneficiaries who are not eligible for other forms of immigration relief to make necessary arrangements and to depart the United States.
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WCSO Press Releases - Mar. 27, 2018
Incident: Assault 1st Degree
Date of Incident: 19 March 2018
Location: 201 Long Avenue, Salisbury, MD
Suspect: Male Juvenile, 16, Salisbury, MD
Charges: Attempted First Degree Assault, Assault 2nd Degree, Wear/Carry a Concealed Deadly Weapon, Dangerous Weapon on School Property, Wear/Carry a Deadly Weapon with the Intent to Injure, Disorderly Conduct, Affray
Date of Incident: 19 March 2018
Location: 201 Long Avenue, Salisbury, MD
Suspect: Male Juvenile, 16, Salisbury, MD
Narrative: On 19 March 2018 a deputy began an investigation into an altercation between students in a breezeway at Wicomico High School. During this investigation, the deputy learned that one of the students involved, a 16-year-old subject, pulled a knife from his pocket and began waving it towards other students in the vicinity while making statements that were interpreted as threatening.
The deputy placed this subject under arrest for the felony assault and charged him as an adult per Maryland statute. The subject was transported to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. Following an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained the subject in the Detention Center without bond.
The deputy placed this subject under arrest for the felony assault and charged him as an adult per Maryland statute. The subject was transported to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. Following an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained the subject in the Detention Center without bond.
Charges: Attempted First Degree Assault, Assault 2nd Degree, Wear/Carry a Concealed Deadly Weapon, Dangerous Weapon on School Property, Wear/Carry a Deadly Weapon with the Intent to Injure, Disorderly Conduct, Affray
'A slap in the face to the US'
As US passes legislation cutting aid to PA if it continues to support terror, PA's latest budget no longer tries to hide terror payments
It has been revealed that the new Palestinian Authority budget continues paying salaries to terrorists and families of terrorists, and was released around the same time as the U.S. passed the Taylor Force Act, which cuts off nearly all US aid to the Palestinian Authority if it continues its ‘pay to slay’ policies encouraging bloodshed and murder.
The PA even reversed a policy of hiding the payments and returned to directly and openly paying the Commission of Prisoners, which pays the salaries to terrorist prisoners.
After studying the recent PA budget, Director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) Itamar Marcus and Palestinian Media Watch’s Head of Legal Strategies Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch brought it to the attention of Knesset Israel Victory Caucus (KIVC) Chair MK Oded Forer to collaborate with his counterparts in the Congressional Israel Victory Caucus (CIVC), especially Rep. Doug Lamborn, who introduced the Taylor Force Act, to bring this to the attention of the American authorities that can trigger the clauses in the law.
“That the Palestinian Authority brazenly and openly boasts of its payments to terrorists as the Taylor Force Act was being passed into law is Mahmoud Abbas’ official response to it and is a slap in the face to the U.S.,” MK Forer said. “This can not go unanswered and amply demonstrates the necessity of the Taylor Force Act and a similar law we will pass in the Knesset. The outrageous and shameless commitment to murder and the funding apparatus surrounding it are signs that the Palestinian Authority leadership feels immune from international reproach for its bloody policies, and this must stop immediately.”
More here
It has been revealed that the new Palestinian Authority budget continues paying salaries to terrorists and families of terrorists, and was released around the same time as the U.S. passed the Taylor Force Act, which cuts off nearly all US aid to the Palestinian Authority if it continues its ‘pay to slay’ policies encouraging bloodshed and murder.
The PA even reversed a policy of hiding the payments and returned to directly and openly paying the Commission of Prisoners, which pays the salaries to terrorist prisoners.
After studying the recent PA budget, Director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) Itamar Marcus and Palestinian Media Watch’s Head of Legal Strategies Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch brought it to the attention of Knesset Israel Victory Caucus (KIVC) Chair MK Oded Forer to collaborate with his counterparts in the Congressional Israel Victory Caucus (CIVC), especially Rep. Doug Lamborn, who introduced the Taylor Force Act, to bring this to the attention of the American authorities that can trigger the clauses in the law.
“That the Palestinian Authority brazenly and openly boasts of its payments to terrorists as the Taylor Force Act was being passed into law is Mahmoud Abbas’ official response to it and is a slap in the face to the U.S.,” MK Forer said. “This can not go unanswered and amply demonstrates the necessity of the Taylor Force Act and a similar law we will pass in the Knesset. The outrageous and shameless commitment to murder and the funding apparatus surrounding it are signs that the Palestinian Authority leadership feels immune from international reproach for its bloody policies, and this must stop immediately.”
More here
'Snipers will open fire on Gaza infiltrators,' warns IDF chief
Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gadi Eizenkot has warned that the army has been given authorization to open fire ahead of mass protests on the Gaza border planned for Friday.
Eizenkot said reinforcements, including special forces snipers, had been deployed to the border to counter what he said was the most serious risk of conflict since he took up his post in 2015.
A series of incidents in recent days, including two infiltrations, one by three armed Arab terrorists who penetrated some 20 kilometers (12 miles) inside Israel, has already sent tensions soaring on the volatile frontier.
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Eizenkot said reinforcements, including special forces snipers, had been deployed to the border to counter what he said was the most serious risk of conflict since he took up his post in 2015.
A series of incidents in recent days, including two infiltrations, one by three armed Arab terrorists who penetrated some 20 kilometers (12 miles) inside Israel, has already sent tensions soaring on the volatile frontier.
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‘I Shouldn’t Have Brought It Up’ — Joe Biden
Former Vice President Joe Biden backed down from a fight with President Donald Trump, clarifying that he never meant to challenge the president to a physical fight.
“I shouldn’t have brought it up again because I don’t want to get down in the mosh pit with this guy,” Biden said in an interview on the podcast Pod Save America.
Biden clarified his comments, pointing out that he specifically said he would have taken Trump behind the gym if they were both still in high school and he heard the president use rough language about women.
“The idea that I would actually physically get in a contest with the president of the United States or anyone else now is not what I said and not what this was about,” he said. “But I should have just left this alone.”
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“I shouldn’t have brought it up again because I don’t want to get down in the mosh pit with this guy,” Biden said in an interview on the podcast Pod Save America.
Biden clarified his comments, pointing out that he specifically said he would have taken Trump behind the gym if they were both still in high school and he heard the president use rough language about women.
“The idea that I would actually physically get in a contest with the president of the United States or anyone else now is not what I said and not what this was about,” he said. “But I should have just left this alone.”
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CAIR: Asking U.S. Residents If They’re American Citizens Is a ‘White Supremacist Agenda’
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is the latest left-wing organization to lambast the Commerce Department’s decision to begin asking United States residents on the 2020 Census if they are American citizens.
This week, President Trump’s administration announced in a historic decision that it would put the citizenship question back on the U.S. Census — a question that has not been included since 1950 — a move that will provide Americans with more accurate data on unemployment, the number of citizens in the country, and a better look into the foreign-born population.
The open borders lobby, though, is blasting the decision, as it threatens states with large illegal alien populations like California, New York, and Florida. Those states are at risk of losing congressional seats if redistricting is based upon counting citizens rather than the current model, which counts all residents, including illegal aliens.
CAIR — an organization that has repeatedly defended suspected terrorists — says that merely asking U.S. residents if they are citizens is a “white supremacist agenda.” The organization wrote in a statement, “This is yet another political move by the Trump administration to implement its white supremacist agenda and to drag our nation back to the false ‘white paradise’ of the 1950s.”
More here
This week, President Trump’s administration announced in a historic decision that it would put the citizenship question back on the U.S. Census — a question that has not been included since 1950 — a move that will provide Americans with more accurate data on unemployment, the number of citizens in the country, and a better look into the foreign-born population.
The open borders lobby, though, is blasting the decision, as it threatens states with large illegal alien populations like California, New York, and Florida. Those states are at risk of losing congressional seats if redistricting is based upon counting citizens rather than the current model, which counts all residents, including illegal aliens.
CAIR — an organization that has repeatedly defended suspected terrorists — says that merely asking U.S. residents if they are citizens is a “white supremacist agenda.” The organization wrote in a statement, “This is yet another political move by the Trump administration to implement its white supremacist agenda and to drag our nation back to the false ‘white paradise’ of the 1950s.”
More here
Study: Only 10% of D.C. ‘March for Our Lives’ Protesters Were Teenagers
Research by University of Maryland sociologist Dana R. Fisher has revealed that about than 10% of the participants in the main “March for Our Lives” anti-gun protest in Washington, DC, on Saturday were under 18 years old.
The average age of participants, Fisher said, was “just under 49 years old.”
Fisher, who is studying the demographic makeup of the so-called “Resistance” to President Donald Trump, published an op-ed in the Washington Post on Wednesday morning summarizing her findings:
Contrary to what’s been reported in many media accounts, the D.C. March for Our Lives crowd was not primarily made up of teenagers. Only about 10 percent of the participants were under 18. The average age of the adults in the crowd was just under 49 years old, which is older than participants at the other marches I’ve surveyed but similar to the age of the average participant at the Million Moms March in 2000, which was also about gun control.
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The average age of participants, Fisher said, was “just under 49 years old.”
Fisher, who is studying the demographic makeup of the so-called “Resistance” to President Donald Trump, published an op-ed in the Washington Post on Wednesday morning summarizing her findings:
Contrary to what’s been reported in many media accounts, the D.C. March for Our Lives crowd was not primarily made up of teenagers. Only about 10 percent of the participants were under 18. The average age of the adults in the crowd was just under 49 years old, which is older than participants at the other marches I’ve surveyed but similar to the age of the average participant at the Million Moms March in 2000, which was also about gun control.
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Andrew Pollack Has a Mission to Make Schools Safer… Without Grabbing Guns
Before his daughter was shot and killed in her high school, Andrew Pollack was living a simple life in Florida.
He was semi-retired, worked real-estate on the side, coached lacrosse, ate right, went to the gym twice a day and spent part of the day training his dog and spent time with his kids.
“I went from blessed to cursed,” he says about the tragic day that his daughter Meadow, a high school senior, was murdered by a psychotic former student who walked into her school with a rifle. Now his life has changed forever, and Pollack is on a mission to make schools safer, but not by marching to demand more gun control.
Instead, Pollack went to work with Florida state legislatures, met with the Speaker of the House with simple messages, viz; Make our schools safer. Secure our children.
His efforts ended in landmark legislation passing in Florida.
Pollack traveled to Washington with his family to attend the March for Our Lives, spending the week meeting with Trump’s cabinet members, Members of Congress, and political allies with the same message.
He felt hope after his message was well received in meetings across town, but when his son Hunter was denied a chance to speak at the march, he was frustrated.
“I guess he didn’t have the right agenda, I don’t know, I’m frustrated,” he said. “When my kid is frustrated, I get frustrated.”
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He was semi-retired, worked real-estate on the side, coached lacrosse, ate right, went to the gym twice a day and spent part of the day training his dog and spent time with his kids.
“I went from blessed to cursed,” he says about the tragic day that his daughter Meadow, a high school senior, was murdered by a psychotic former student who walked into her school with a rifle. Now his life has changed forever, and Pollack is on a mission to make schools safer, but not by marching to demand more gun control.
Instead, Pollack went to work with Florida state legislatures, met with the Speaker of the House with simple messages, viz; Make our schools safer. Secure our children.
His efforts ended in landmark legislation passing in Florida.
Pollack traveled to Washington with his family to attend the March for Our Lives, spending the week meeting with Trump’s cabinet members, Members of Congress, and political allies with the same message.
He felt hope after his message was well received in meetings across town, but when his son Hunter was denied a chance to speak at the march, he was frustrated.
“I guess he didn’t have the right agenda, I don’t know, I’m frustrated,” he said. “When my kid is frustrated, I get frustrated.”
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Easter Kids Fun Fair Planned For Weekend In OC
OCEAN CITY — The 19th Annual O.C. Easter Art, Craft and Kids Fun Fair will be held at Ocean City’s Roland E. Powell Convention Center this weekend. Hours of operation are Friday, March 30, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, March 31, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Art and Craft Fair will feature more than 70 vendors from near and far, a wide variety of creative and unique gifts and accessories galore. The fair offers an early opportunity to shop for that special Mother’s Day gift.
The Easter Kids Fun Fair offers two fun filled days for children and their families to enjoy continuous festivities including more than 15 Easter egg hunts, Beanie the Easter bunny, jelly bean guesses, coloring tables, musical chairs, hula hoop contests, fastest dresser relays, limbo contests, egg spoon races, magic shows, juggling shows, lessons and performances with Cascading Carlos, balloon-a-mania and appearances by Sponge Bob. Sign up is requested at the show for the Easter egg hunts.
Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors 60-plus and students ages 4 and 18 and kids 3 years old and younger are free as are military, police and fire personnel with identification.
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The Art and Craft Fair will feature more than 70 vendors from near and far, a wide variety of creative and unique gifts and accessories galore. The fair offers an early opportunity to shop for that special Mother’s Day gift.
The Easter Kids Fun Fair offers two fun filled days for children and their families to enjoy continuous festivities including more than 15 Easter egg hunts, Beanie the Easter bunny, jelly bean guesses, coloring tables, musical chairs, hula hoop contests, fastest dresser relays, limbo contests, egg spoon races, magic shows, juggling shows, lessons and performances with Cascading Carlos, balloon-a-mania and appearances by Sponge Bob. Sign up is requested at the show for the Easter egg hunts.
Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors 60-plus and students ages 4 and 18 and kids 3 years old and younger are free as are military, police and fire personnel with identification.
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Howard University admits to 9-year financial aid scandal
WASHINGTON — Howard University confirmed Wednesday that six employees have been fired for “misappropriation of funds” in its financial aid department.
President Wayne A.I. Frederick’s statement came 10 months after university officials learned about that misappropriation and one day after an anonymously sourced web article alleging misconduct.
“I was alerted in December 2016 that there may have been some misappropriation of university-provided financial aid funds,” Frederick said in the statement. “From the moment I was alerted that there may have been a misappropriation of funds, I have taken this situation extremely seriously.”
Frederick did not indicate how much exactly was misappropriated.
An outside auditor, RSM, was hired to investigate, according to that statement. They found that from 2007 to 2016, university employees who received tuition remission also received grants. The combination of these actually exceeded the total cost of attendance. As a result, they pocketed the difference.
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President Wayne A.I. Frederick’s statement came 10 months after university officials learned about that misappropriation and one day after an anonymously sourced web article alleging misconduct.
“I was alerted in December 2016 that there may have been some misappropriation of university-provided financial aid funds,” Frederick said in the statement. “From the moment I was alerted that there may have been a misappropriation of funds, I have taken this situation extremely seriously.”
Frederick did not indicate how much exactly was misappropriated.
An outside auditor, RSM, was hired to investigate, according to that statement. They found that from 2007 to 2016, university employees who received tuition remission also received grants. The combination of these actually exceeded the total cost of attendance. As a result, they pocketed the difference.
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I'm Sorry Folks
'He Was Planning Something Horrible:' Foreign National on Student Visa Accused of Plotting School Shooting
A foreign exchange student from Taiwan was arrested after allegedly threatening to “shoot up” a Pennsylvania high school, local police say.
An Tso Sun — an 18-year-old in the U.S. on a student visa — is accused of making a threat to another Bonner Prendergast Catholic High School student, saying he was plotting a shooting spree on May 1, according to The Inquirer. Afterward, the foreign exchange student said he was “just kidding.”
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An Tso Sun — an 18-year-old in the U.S. on a student visa — is accused of making a threat to another Bonner Prendergast Catholic High School student, saying he was plotting a shooting spree on May 1, according to The Inquirer. Afterward, the foreign exchange student said he was “just kidding.”
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*Update #2* Homicide Suspect Apprehended
Bridgeville - The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit received information on Wednesday, March 28, 2018, that the U.S. Marshals Task Force had their homicide suspect, Jared C. Mitchell, 31 of Greenwood in custody. Mitchell was located at a residence in the 4500 block of Petit Lane, Horntown, VA. With the assistance of the Accomack County Sherriff’s Office and the Eastern Shore Drug Task Force, a search warrant was executed on this residence in which drug evidence was recovered.
Mitchell remains in custody in Virginia on drug charges and a fugitive warrant, pending his extradition back to Delaware.
This case continues to remain under investigation.
Mitchell remains in custody in Virginia on drug charges and a fugitive warrant, pending his extradition back to Delaware.
This case continues to remain under investigation.
Breaking News: Major Hazmat Incident In Cambridge
Founder's Quote
"The advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation ... forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of." —James Madison (1788)
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A Viewer Writes: ECI
This is every ATM customer’s worst nightmare
Harrowing bank surveillance footage shows the moment a teen murder suspect approached an unwitting ATM customer from behind — seconds before the bloodied victim collapsed in a parking lot.
The footage shows Marcine Bernard Hill, 17, calmly approaching an ATM in North Miami Beach in November. Clad in a black Ecko jacket emblazoned with the words “Kill Batman,” Hill saunters up behind victim Dillon Bud Calvin Steve, who turns around to notice Hill at the last moment.
Steve, 26, quickly glances at his mother’s van in the parking lot before dropping the cash and lunging at Hill. He’s then seen grasping his chest while staggering toward the van before collapsing. He later died at a hospital.
The Miami Herald reports that the footage was released by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office as a grand jury indicted Hill earlier this month on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery.
Hill, who remains in custody, is not eligible for the death penalty since he was a minor at the time of the fatal shooting, but could face up to life in prison if convicted. Initial charges of first-degree murder were filed against him Nov. 21, online records show.
Hill’s attorney declined to comment on the video, according to the Miami Herald.
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The footage shows Marcine Bernard Hill, 17, calmly approaching an ATM in North Miami Beach in November. Clad in a black Ecko jacket emblazoned with the words “Kill Batman,” Hill saunters up behind victim Dillon Bud Calvin Steve, who turns around to notice Hill at the last moment.
Steve, 26, quickly glances at his mother’s van in the parking lot before dropping the cash and lunging at Hill. He’s then seen grasping his chest while staggering toward the van before collapsing. He later died at a hospital.
The Miami Herald reports that the footage was released by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office as a grand jury indicted Hill earlier this month on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery.
Hill, who remains in custody, is not eligible for the death penalty since he was a minor at the time of the fatal shooting, but could face up to life in prison if convicted. Initial charges of first-degree murder were filed against him Nov. 21, online records show.
Hill’s attorney declined to comment on the video, according to the Miami Herald.
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West Virginia tests secure mobile voting app for military personnel
West Virginia is testing a new secure mobile voting application to help active-duty military members vote in the upcoming May primary election.
Secretary of State Mac Warner (R) announced the pilot program on Wednesday afternoon. It will initially be limited to military voters and their spouses and children who are registered to vote in Harrison and Monongalia counties. However, the state plans to expand the program to all 55 counties in the upcoming November general election if the pilot proves successful.
The app is powered by Blockchain, a type of technology used to secure cryptocurrency that has gained increased attention with the rising popularity of digital currencies such as bitcoin. The technology has already been deployed in health care and other industries to secure data.
Security experts in the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election have increasingly pointed to blockchain technology as a way to secure election systems and ensure confidence in future votes.
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Secretary of State Mac Warner (R) announced the pilot program on Wednesday afternoon. It will initially be limited to military voters and their spouses and children who are registered to vote in Harrison and Monongalia counties. However, the state plans to expand the program to all 55 counties in the upcoming November general election if the pilot proves successful.
The app is powered by Blockchain, a type of technology used to secure cryptocurrency that has gained increased attention with the rising popularity of digital currencies such as bitcoin. The technology has already been deployed in health care and other industries to secure data.
Security experts in the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election have increasingly pointed to blockchain technology as a way to secure election systems and ensure confidence in future votes.
More
Dems Spuriously Claim Census Citizenship Question Is 'Illegal'
After a 70-year hiatus, the census — a constitutionally mandated national survey commissioned by the federal government every 10 years — is officially set to renew a query of U.S. residents’ citizenship status.
In a Monday letter, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “determined that re-instatement of a citizenship question on the 2020 decennial census is necessary to provide complete and accurate data.” He reasoned that “for the approximately 90 percent of the population who are citizens, this question is no additional imposition. And for the approximately 70 percent of non-citizens who already answer this question accurately on the [American Community Survey], the question is no additional imposition since census responses by law may only be used anonymously and for statistical purposes.”
His last point especially underscores the foolishness of the leftist-infused vitriol that quickly emerged. California’s Democrat Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Secretary of State Alex Padilla penned an op-ed in which they scorned the question as “not just a bad idea” but as “illegal.”
It’s remarkable they can even say this with a straight face considering their state perpetually breaks federal law by harboring illegal immigrants...
More here
In a Monday letter, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “determined that re-instatement of a citizenship question on the 2020 decennial census is necessary to provide complete and accurate data.” He reasoned that “for the approximately 90 percent of the population who are citizens, this question is no additional imposition. And for the approximately 70 percent of non-citizens who already answer this question accurately on the [American Community Survey], the question is no additional imposition since census responses by law may only be used anonymously and for statistical purposes.”
His last point especially underscores the foolishness of the leftist-infused vitriol that quickly emerged. California’s Democrat Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Secretary of State Alex Padilla penned an op-ed in which they scorned the question as “not just a bad idea” but as “illegal.”
It’s remarkable they can even say this with a straight face considering their state perpetually breaks federal law by harboring illegal immigrants...
More here
Minnesota Candidate Faces Backlash From Fellow Democrats After She Named Sexual Harasser
A Democratic Minnesota House of Representatives candidate went from being a rising star to a persona non grata within her party after she was perceived to have contributed to the fall of former Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.).
In November 2017, Lindsey Port and another woman spoke out about being grabbed from behind by State Sen. Dan Schoen at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party event two years earlier. The allegation, part of the larger #MeToo movement, led to Schoen's resignation.
But shortly thereafter, in mid-November, Franken faced sexual harassment allegations of his own and eventually resigned in January. Even though Port had nothing to do with those charges, the Minnesota Post reports she received backlash regardless.
"People started suggesting Franken’s accusers were paid to take him down, and before long, Port said she was being accused of being paid as well. Some people even argued her own story ‘softened the ground' for Franken’s eventual ouster, she said," the Post reported.
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In November 2017, Lindsey Port and another woman spoke out about being grabbed from behind by State Sen. Dan Schoen at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party event two years earlier. The allegation, part of the larger #MeToo movement, led to Schoen's resignation.
But shortly thereafter, in mid-November, Franken faced sexual harassment allegations of his own and eventually resigned in January. Even though Port had nothing to do with those charges, the Minnesota Post reports she received backlash regardless.
"People started suggesting Franken’s accusers were paid to take him down, and before long, Port said she was being accused of being paid as well. Some people even argued her own story ‘softened the ground' for Franken’s eventual ouster, she said," the Post reported.
More here
Study: Number of High-Skilled Immigration Visas Quadruples Legal Cap
More than 345,000 visas for high-skilled employment immigration were awarded in 2016 under the H-1B program, over four times the legal cap of 85,000, a new report from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) has found.
Additionally, among the top 20 H-1B requesting firms, those which were "H-1B dependent" (i.e., more than 15 percent of employees were H-1B recipients) paid their immigrant employees less on average and employed fewer immigrants with at least master's degrees, lending credence to accusations that some firms were using the program to crowd out U.S. citizens.
The H-1B program issues visas to certain high-skilled workers, primarily those with at least bachelor's degrees in fields that require complex, specific skills, like engineering or computer science. According to MPI's analysis of newly released data from U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, the majority of those petitioning for an H-1B visa are from India, with additional large numbers of applicants from China.
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Additionally, among the top 20 H-1B requesting firms, those which were "H-1B dependent" (i.e., more than 15 percent of employees were H-1B recipients) paid their immigrant employees less on average and employed fewer immigrants with at least master's degrees, lending credence to accusations that some firms were using the program to crowd out U.S. citizens.
The H-1B program issues visas to certain high-skilled workers, primarily those with at least bachelor's degrees in fields that require complex, specific skills, like engineering or computer science. According to MPI's analysis of newly released data from U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, the majority of those petitioning for an H-1B visa are from India, with additional large numbers of applicants from China.
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Study: 21,000 Have Died Waiting for Medicaid
At least 21,000 Americans have died waiting to enroll in Medicaid, thanks in part to the expansion of the government healthcare program under Obamacare, according to a recently released report from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA).
Medicaid waiting lists currently sit around 650,000 individuals, FGA estimates. By contrast, more than 28 million able-bodied adults are now enrolled in the program, using resources that might otherwise be allocated to individuals on the waiting list.
The report focuses primarily on the waiting lists generated by the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver program. That program, created in 1981, allows states to extend Medicaid services to individuals in their home and/or community, meaning they do not need to be cared for in a nursing home or similar institutions. HCBS recipients tend to be those with severe intellectual disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and mental illnesses.
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Medicaid waiting lists currently sit around 650,000 individuals, FGA estimates. By contrast, more than 28 million able-bodied adults are now enrolled in the program, using resources that might otherwise be allocated to individuals on the waiting list.
The report focuses primarily on the waiting lists generated by the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver program. That program, created in 1981, allows states to extend Medicaid services to individuals in their home and/or community, meaning they do not need to be cared for in a nursing home or similar institutions. HCBS recipients tend to be those with severe intellectual disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and mental illnesses.
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ANALYSIS: Constitution Compels Sessions Dismiss Mueller From Non-Campaign Cases
Paul Manafort‘s legal team brought a motion to dismiss on Tuesday, noting that Rosenstein could not appoint Mueller to any investigation outside the scope of the 2016 campaign since Sessions did not recuse himself for anything outside the campaign. I agree with this take on Mueller’s authority. If we follow that argument that would mean Sessions himself has exclusive authority to appoint a special counsel for non-collusion charges, and Sessions has taken no such action. Sessions himself should make that clear to Mueller, rather than await court resolution. Doing so would remove three of the four areas of inquiry from Mueller’s requested interview with President Trump.
Sessions formally notifying Mueller that he does not have authority to act outside of campaign-related cases and cases related to obstruction of Mueller’s investigation would be doing what the Constitution compels: enforcing the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Additionally, Sessions notifying Mueller that he does not have authority to act outside of campaign-related cases would be exercising Sessions’ court-recognized Constitutional obligation to “direct and supervise litigation” conducted by the Department of Justice. Furthermore, Sessions notifying Mueller that he does not have authority to act outside of campaign-related cases protects against the inappropriate use of the federal grand jury that defendant Manafort now rightly complains about.
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Sessions formally notifying Mueller that he does not have authority to act outside of campaign-related cases and cases related to obstruction of Mueller’s investigation would be doing what the Constitution compels: enforcing the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Additionally, Sessions notifying Mueller that he does not have authority to act outside of campaign-related cases would be exercising Sessions’ court-recognized Constitutional obligation to “direct and supervise litigation” conducted by the Department of Justice. Furthermore, Sessions notifying Mueller that he does not have authority to act outside of campaign-related cases protects against the inappropriate use of the federal grand jury that defendant Manafort now rightly complains about.
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Most Blessed Sacrament School Principal Mark Record Arrested For DUI
Name: | RECORD, MARK JELLISON |
| Address: | 2 PENDERS CT |
| City: | BERLINState:MDZip Code:21811 |
| Race:WhiteSex:MaleHeight:6'2"Weight:207 |
| DOB:12/24/1953 |
Attorney(s) for the Defendant |
| Name: | WIMBROW 3rd, PETER AYERS |
| Address Line 1: | PO BOX 56 |
| City: | OCEAN CITYState:MDZip Code:21843 |
Involved Parties Information |
Plaintiff
| Name: | State of Maryland |
Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff |
| Name: | State's Attorney - Worcester County |
| Address Line 1: | 106 Franklin Street |
| City: | SNOW HILLState:MDZip Code:21863 |
Officer - Arresting/Complainant
| Name: | LANE, K |
| AgencyName: | MSP-BARRACK V (BERLIN) |
| Address: | 9758 OCEAN GATEWAY |
| City: | BERLINState:MDZip Code:21811 |
Court Scheduling Information |
| Event Type | Event Date | Event Time | Court Location | Court Room | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trial - Officer Scheduling | 05/03/2018 | 09:00:00 | Worcester District Court - Snow Hill | Courtroom 1 |
Charge and Disposition Information |
| Charge No: | 1Statute Code:TA.21.902 A.1i.i |
| Charge Description: | DRIVING VEHICLE WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL PER SE |
| Speed Limit: | 0 | Recorded Speed: | 0 | Location Stopped: | ISLE OF WIGHT PARK |
| Probable Cause Indicator: | No | Contributed to Accident: | No | Personal Injury: | No |
| Property Damage: | No |
| Mandatory Court Appearance: | YesFine Amount Owed:$0.00 |
| Vehicle Tag: | 5BY3973 | State: | MD | Vehicle Description: | 13TOYO02 BLUE COROLLA |
| Convicted Speed: | Contributed to Accident:Personal Injury: |
| Plea: | Plea Date: |
| Disposition: | Disposition Date: |
My Last Motorcycle Ride
While riding my Harley, I swerved to avoid hitting a deer, lost control and ended up in a ditch, severely banging my head.
Dazed and confused I crawled out of the ditch to the edge of the road when a shiny new convertible pulled up with a very beautiful women who asked, "Are you okay?"
As I looked up, I noticed she was wearing a low cut blouse with cleavage to die for.
"I'm okay I think," I replied as I pulled myself up to the side of the car to get a closer look.
She said, “Get in and I’ll take you home so I can clean and bandage that nasty scrape on your head.”
"That's nice of you," I answered, “but I don't think my wife will like me doing that!
"Oh, come now, I’m a nurse," she insisted. "I need to see if you have any more scrapes and then treat them properly."
Well, she was really pretty and very persuasive. Being sort of shaken and weak, I agreed, but repeated, "I'm sure my wife won't like this."
We arrived at her place which was just few miles away and, after a couple of cold beers and the bandaging, I thanked her and said, "I feel a lot better, but I know my wife is going to be really upset so I'd better go now."
"Don't be silly!" she said with a smile, while unbuttoning her blouse exposing the most beautiful set of boobs I’ve ever seen. "Stay for a while. She won't know anything. By the way, where is she?"
"Still in the ditch with my Harley, I guess."
Dazed and confused I crawled out of the ditch to the edge of the road when a shiny new convertible pulled up with a very beautiful women who asked, "Are you okay?"
As I looked up, I noticed she was wearing a low cut blouse with cleavage to die for.
"I'm okay I think," I replied as I pulled myself up to the side of the car to get a closer look.
She said, “Get in and I’ll take you home so I can clean and bandage that nasty scrape on your head.”
"That's nice of you," I answered, “but I don't think my wife will like me doing that!
"Oh, come now, I’m a nurse," she insisted. "I need to see if you have any more scrapes and then treat them properly."
Well, she was really pretty and very persuasive. Being sort of shaken and weak, I agreed, but repeated, "I'm sure my wife won't like this."
We arrived at her place which was just few miles away and, after a couple of cold beers and the bandaging, I thanked her and said, "I feel a lot better, but I know my wife is going to be really upset so I'd better go now."
"Don't be silly!" she said with a smile, while unbuttoning her blouse exposing the most beautiful set of boobs I’ve ever seen. "Stay for a while. She won't know anything. By the way, where is she?"
"Still in the ditch with my Harley, I guess."
THE TIME IS NOW: Maryland General Assembly Must Pass Comprehensive Crime Legislation
Governor Calls On Legislators To Support Important Legislation To Remove Repeat Violent Criminals Off Of Our Streets - Place Them Behind Bars Where They Belong
“This is a very comprehensive crime bill. I believe it will make a tremendous difference in gun crime, murder rate, and violent gang activity that is taking place, not just in Baltimore City, but in other places across the state.” - Governor Larry Hogan, March 6, 2018
Omnibus, Bipartisan Crime Legislation, The Comprehensive Crime Bill Of 2018, Includes Numerous Policies Supported/Introduced By Governor Hogan
Governor Hogan Introduced Truth-In-Sentencing Legislation, The Accountability For Violent Criminals Act Of 2018, To Ensure That Repeat Violent Offenders Serve Their Full Sentence And Are Ineligible For Parole; The Comprehensive Crime Bill Of 2018 Removes Parole For Repeat Violent Offenders. “(2) (I) On conviction for a second time of a crime of violence committed on or after October 1, 2018, a person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for the term allowed by law, but not less than 10 years, if the person: has been convicted on a prior occasion for a crime committed before October 1, 2018; and served a term of confinement in a correctional facility for that conviction. The court may not suspend all or part of the mandatory 10-year sentence required under this paragraph. A person sentenced under this paragraph is not eligible for parole except in accordance with the provisions of § 4-305 of the Correctional Services Article.” (“Senate Bill 122,” Maryland General Assembly, 3/8/18)
Governor Hogan Introduced Legislation To Increase Penalties For Repeat Violent Offenders Who Use Firearms To Commit Crimes; Administration’s Proposed Legislation Increases Sentence For Repeat Offenders From 5 To 10 Years And Makes The Use Of A Firearm In Commission Of A Violent Crime A Felony, Increases Maximum Penalty From 20 to 40 Years; Comprehensive Crime Act of 2018 Includes Similar Provisions. “(c) (1) (i) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and, in addition to any other penalty imposed for the crime of violence or felony, shall be sentenced: for a first offense, to imprisonment for not less than 5 years and not exceeding 20 years; or for a second or subsequent offense, to imprisonment for not less than 10 years and not exceeding 40 years. The court may not impose less than the minimum sentence of 5 years for a sentence imposed under subparagraph (i)1 of this paragraph. The court may not impose less than the minimum sentence of 10 years for a sentence imposed under subparagraph (i)2 of this paragraph. The court may not suspend the first 5 years of a mandatory minimum sentence imposed under subparagraph (i)2 of this paragraph.” (“Senate Bill 122,” Maryland General Assembly, 3/8/18)
“This is a very comprehensive crime bill. I believe it will make a tremendous difference in gun crime, murder rate, and violent gang activity that is taking place, not just in Baltimore City, but in other places across the state.” - Governor Larry Hogan, March 6, 2018
Omnibus, Bipartisan Crime Legislation, The Comprehensive Crime Bill Of 2018, Includes Numerous Policies Supported/Introduced By Governor Hogan
Governor Hogan Introduced Truth-In-Sentencing Legislation, The Accountability For Violent Criminals Act Of 2018, To Ensure That Repeat Violent Offenders Serve Their Full Sentence And Are Ineligible For Parole; The Comprehensive Crime Bill Of 2018 Removes Parole For Repeat Violent Offenders. “(2) (I) On conviction for a second time of a crime of violence committed on or after October 1, 2018, a person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for the term allowed by law, but not less than 10 years, if the person: has been convicted on a prior occasion for a crime committed before October 1, 2018; and served a term of confinement in a correctional facility for that conviction. The court may not suspend all or part of the mandatory 10-year sentence required under this paragraph. A person sentenced under this paragraph is not eligible for parole except in accordance with the provisions of § 4-305 of the Correctional Services Article.” (“Senate Bill 122,” Maryland General Assembly, 3/8/18)
Governor Hogan Introduced Legislation To Increase Penalties For Repeat Violent Offenders Who Use Firearms To Commit Crimes; Administration’s Proposed Legislation Increases Sentence For Repeat Offenders From 5 To 10 Years And Makes The Use Of A Firearm In Commission Of A Violent Crime A Felony, Increases Maximum Penalty From 20 to 40 Years; Comprehensive Crime Act of 2018 Includes Similar Provisions. “(c) (1) (i) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and, in addition to any other penalty imposed for the crime of violence or felony, shall be sentenced: for a first offense, to imprisonment for not less than 5 years and not exceeding 20 years; or for a second or subsequent offense, to imprisonment for not less than 10 years and not exceeding 40 years. The court may not impose less than the minimum sentence of 5 years for a sentence imposed under subparagraph (i)1 of this paragraph. The court may not impose less than the minimum sentence of 10 years for a sentence imposed under subparagraph (i)2 of this paragraph. The court may not suspend the first 5 years of a mandatory minimum sentence imposed under subparagraph (i)2 of this paragraph.” (“Senate Bill 122,” Maryland General Assembly, 3/8/18)
China Moves to Destroy US Dollar As They Launch the Gold-backed Petro-Yuan
China has just launched the petro-yuan, a gold-backed currency directly challenging the US dollar signaling the beginning of the end of the American greenback.
In a massive move against the global dominance of the U.S. dollar, China’s highly anticipated Petro-Yuan has been launched in Shanghai. With China being the world’s largest consumer of oil, this new currency is an international game-changer that was a predicted move by China to directly compete—and subsequently devalue—the US dollar.
Analysts call the plan, announced by Beijing in September, a huge move against the dollar’s global dominance – and reserve currency status.
More
In a massive move against the global dominance of the U.S. dollar, China’s highly anticipated Petro-Yuan has been launched in Shanghai. With China being the world’s largest consumer of oil, this new currency is an international game-changer that was a predicted move by China to directly compete—and subsequently devalue—the US dollar.
Analysts call the plan, announced by Beijing in September, a huge move against the dollar’s global dominance – and reserve currency status.
More