Push to Politicize Impeachment May Backfire for Democrats in Midterms

The push by a number of prominent Democrats to completely politicize the impeachment process could backfire for them in the midterms, David Axelrod, the political adviser who helped elect Barack Obama to the Presidency in 2008, said on Sunday.

His comments came in a tweet one day before the FBI raided the offices of President Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen:

David Axelrod

✔@davidaxelrod

Dems should NOT commit to impeachment unless & until there’s a demonstrable case for one.
It is not just a matter of politics. It’s a matter of principle.
If we “normaiize” impeachment as a political tool, it will be another hammer blow to our democracy.https://nyti.ms/2GHbmqL 

9:56 AM - Apr 8, 2018

Republicans Seize on Impeachment for Edge in 2018 Midterms

Invoking the specter of President Trump’s impeachment has become a fund-raising and get-out-the-vote tactic for Republicans. Democratic leaders see the issue as a trap.

nytimes.com

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On Tuesday, the day after that raid, Axelrod sent out a tweet with a more nuanced view of the “rush to impeachment.”

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Syria - Any U.S. Strike Will Lead to Escalation

Yesterday's alleged 'gas attack' in east Ghouta likely never happened. A video shows a number of presumably dead kids in a basement or dark apartment. Another video shows an undamaged yellow gas cylinder which, we are told, was dropped from some unseen helicopter and crashed through a concrete roof. We do not know when or where these videos were made.

Besides those videos of murky origin we hear claims from two 'western' paid anti-Syrian propaganda organizations, the White Helmets and SAMS, which claim hundreds were wounded in a chlorine attack.

Interestingly the MI6 outlet in Coventry, the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights (SOHR), does not confirm a 'gas' incident. In its version of events some 40 people died after their shelter collapsed:
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights issued a higher death toll, saying at least 80 people were killed in Douma, including around 40 who died from suffocation. But it said the suffocations were the result of shelters collapsing on people inside them.

Main stream media, which have quoted SOHR for years, now ignore it and report of a 'chemical attack' as if it were a proven reality.

All this happens at a moment when the Syrian army is victorious and Trump had just announced that he wants the U.S. to leave Syria. We noted that something similar happened exactly a year ago when similar illogical claims were made:

We are told to believe that each time the U.S. pulls back from the war on Syria the Syrian government is responding with a 'chemical attack' that pulls the U.S. back in.

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Rep. Harris Issues Statement on Speaker Ryan's Retirement

WASHINGTON, DC: On April 11, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (WI-01) announced his plans to retire from Congress. Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01) released the following statement after Speaker Ryan’s announcement:

“Under Speaker Ryan’s leadership, the House passed our nation’s largest tax reform plan since 1986 and reignited the American economy. Paul Ryan has honorably served the people of Wisconsin and the United States as a whole, and I am thankful for his nearly 20 years of service in Congress. I have full confidence that our next Speaker will share Paul’s commitment to the American people.”

Zuckerberg’s got some ‘splainin’ to do on Diamond And Silk censorship

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is headed to Capitol Hill to testify about some social media matters, and answer questions from Congress about privacy and election interference and such.

Good. Maybe at the same time he can explain why his site’s censor gods think the black pro-President Donald Trump duo Diamond And Silk are considered a danger to society.

Seems an opportune time, anyway. Kill two birds and so forth, as they saying goes.

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Muslim group sues to block Trump terrorism report

Organization says mixing immigration and terrorism harms Muslims

Two anti-Trump organizations filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that a government report earlier this year linking immigrants to most of the country’s terrorism cases since 2001 is so misleading that it violates federal law.

The request seeks to recruit federal judges to police the accuracy of the administration, in what — if it’s successful — could become a model for anti-Trump groups to push back on a president they see as having a tenuous connection to the truth.

The January report concluded that 73 percent of the 549 people convicted of international terrorism between 2001 and 2016 were foreign born.

Activists were infuriated by the report at the time, and now two groups — Muslim Advocates and Democracy Forward — have sued, saying the investigation “misleadingly inflates the threat they pose to the United States,” and “inaccurately” focuses on Muslims.

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Recess making comeback in public schools: ‘Children do better when they have a break’

After a years of teetering on the brink, recess is making a comeback in public schools as state lawmakers move to reinstate playground time lost in the push for higher test scores.

Last week, Arizona and Virginia approved bipartisan recess bills, following on the heels of Florida in June and Rhode Island in 2016, as pressure builds from parents who argue that all work and no play is hobbling student achievement.

Providing daily recess for elementary-school children “helps them with stress and built-up energy,” said Sylvia Tenney Allen, the bill’s sponsor and chair of the Arizona Senate Education Committee. “Studies prove that children do better when they have a break throughout the day.”

For Christine Davis of Phoenix, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to sign the bill Thursday represented the culmination of an effort that began three years ago when she asked her daughters what they did during recess — and was greeted with blank stares.

“I would ask my kids, ‘Hey, what did you do at recess today? Any tetherball? Any kickball?’ And they’d be like, ‘Well, not really. We only go once, and it’s only for 10 minutes,’” said Ms. Davis. “That’s when I went, what? And that’s when I learned also that so many parents and grandparents just have no idea.”

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Trump orders top-to-bottom review of welfare programs

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday for a government-wide review of welfare programs, with a goal of putting more people back to work, White House officials said.

The order directs all federal agencies involved in providing more than $700 billion in low-income assistance annually to study programs that are “failing Americans,” and to report back in 90 days with recommendations, said White House domestic policy council director Andrew Bremberg.

“Our country still struggles from nearly record-high welfare enrollments,” Mr. Bremberg said in a conference call with reporters. “President Trump endorses reforms that ensure those in need receive assistance, while eliminating the economic stagnation that has resulted from long-term government dependence.”

The executive order states that federal policy will be to reform welfare programs to empower people following “principles of economic mobility.” Those principles include:

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Paul Gosar Defends Pruitt: Democrats Think EPA Is ‘Pet Project’ They Have ‘Total Control Over’

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) said Democrats view the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as their “pet project” to “dictate and direct egregious actions against the American people” during a Friday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with host Rebecca Mansour and guest host Frances Martel.

Mansour asked Gosar if a dominant “progressive” culture within bureaucracies such as the EPA is a driver of criticism against Pruitt in political and news media circles.

Gosar said Democrats are politically territorial over the EPA: “They’re attacking him because this was their agency to dictate and direct egregious actions against the American people.” He also said, “This one’s the last pet project that they had total control over, in which they directed and did everything that had no scientific basis.”

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Commentary: Obamacare is now so terrible, people aren’t going to their doctors — even when sick

When the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, its supporters celebrated the legislation, calling it a landmark bill that would make Americans healthier and lower health care costs for families. Eight years later, it’s clearer than ever the ACA’s “Obamacare” exchanges have done quite the opposite. Not only are health care costs skyrocketing, the health insurance provided by Obamacare is so expensive for people to use that millions more Americans are now choosing not to go to the doctor — even when they’re sick or injured.

According to a survey by the West Health Institute and NORC at the University of Chicago, 47 percent of respondents said within the past 12 months they chose not to see a doctor or dentist because of the high cost of health care. Four-in-10 said they elected not to pursue a recommended medical treatment or test.

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Transgender weightlifter — expected to win women’s competition — injures arm, says career is over

Transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard — a biological male who made headlines after deciding to compete as a woman and proceeded to win two silver medals for New Zealand at a world championship in December — suffered a career-ending arm injury Monday during the Commonwealth Games.

The Guardian reported that Hubbard was expected to win the competition — and led the standings in the 90+kg (198+ pounds) division with a lift of 120kg (264.5 pounds). But Hubbard suffered an arm injury after attempting a 132kg (291 pounds) lift and was forced to withdraw, the outlet reported.

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Retired Blue Moon creator plans to launch pot-infused beer

The man who’s known for developing Blue Moon beer is crafting a new drink that he hopes will create a buzz among craft beer drinkers and pot smokers alike.

Keith Villa’s new brew will be THC-infused, but sans the alcohol.

“We’ll take the alcohol out and then replace it with THC and it will have the equivalent effect as beer,” Villa, retired head brewmaster at MillerCoors, told KCNC-TV. “It tastes like beer, smells like beer, but it doesn’t have alcohol.”

Villa launched his new company, Ceria Beverages, just months after he retired from MillerCoors. He’s been working on his project from his home brewery.

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Guggenheim investment chief Scott Minerd sees a recession and a 40% plunge in stocks ahead

Guggenheim's head of investing sees a tough road ahead for the market and economy, with a sharp recession and a 40 percent decline in stocks looming.

Scott Minerd, who warned clients in a recent note that the market is ona "collision course with disaster," expects the worst of the damage to start in late 2019 and into 2020.

Along with the decline in equities, a rise in corporate bond defaults is likely as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates and companies struggle to pay off record debt levels.

"For the next year ... equities will probably continue to go up as we have all these stock buybacks and free cash flow," Minerd told CNBC'sBrian Sullivan in a "Worldwide Exchange" interview. "Ultimately, when the chickens come home to roost and we have a recession, we're going to see a lot of pressure on equities especially as defaults rise, and I think once we reach a peak that we'll probably see a 40 percent retracement in equities."

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Ron Paul: Progressives Should Defend Gun Rights

Progressives sincerely concerned about protecting minorities from oppressive gov’t should join libertarians and constitutional conservatives

Last week’s shooting at YouTube’s California headquarters is certain to add momentum to the push for more gun control. Even before the shooting, YouTube was working to undermine gun rights by banning videos promoting firearms, including videos teaching safe gun usage.

As is usually the case, this latest shooting took place in a state with restrictive gun laws. In fact, California’s gun laws may be the nation’s most onerous. California not only registers all firearm purchases, but California residents must obtain permission from their local police before they can legally concealed carry guns. Among the things a Californian must do to obtain permission to legally concealed carry a gun is show “good cause” why the government should allow him to concealed carry.

California’s Mulford Act prohibits lawful gun owners from openly carrying legal firearms. This law was passed in the late 1960s and signed into law by then-Governor Ronald Reagan. The impetus for the law was the Black Panthers’ armed patrols aimed at protecting the residents of African-American neighborhoods from police brutality.

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RIP? Many Believe That THIS Moment Is The Nail In Facebook’s Coffin

Zuckerberg may have just opened himself up to a world of legal hurt. Platforms are generally not held legally responsible for the content posted on those platforms – so liability issues ranging from copyright violation to slander aren’t serious concerns for platforms. You can’t sue AT&T if somebody slanders you on a telephone call carried by their satellites. But that’s not the case with publishers. Publishers are responsible for the content that is added to their platforms. The Daily Wire bears legal liability for the content that goes up at The Daily Wire.

If the same were held to be true for Facebook, the company would immediately become subject to hundreds of millions of dollars in legal liability. For example, copyright violation bears a statutory penalty of between $750 and $30,000 per violation. How many unlicensed photos are posted on Facebook daily? On a minute-by-minute basis? Now, instead of a photo journalist suing the person who posted the photo, the photo journalist could sue Facebook itself. And Facebook’s pockets are a lot deeper.

This is the problem with determining that you are going to treat your platform as a political outlet. Zuckerberg made that decision months ago in response to the 2016 election, as Wired detailed. Now his company could pay the price.

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Worcester County proposed tax hike to be advertised

Rate would cover projected $9 million budget shortfall

Ahead of the expected June 5 adoption of the Fiscal 2019 budget, the county government must advertise any proposed tax rate that exceeds the state-calculated constant yield rate of 82.7 cents per $100 of a property’s assessed value.

The Worcester County Commissioners approved the advertisement on Tuesday, including a tax rate that would cover the entire budget as it stands now — with a gap of almost $9 million gap between revenues and expenditures.

To cover that difference, a tax rate of 88.6 cents per $100 assessed will appear in the advertisement, but it is unlikely to remain that high. For the past four years, the commissioners have adopted a rate at or near the constant yield figure, and have not increased taxes to cover a shortfall in the proposed budget.

The rate shown in the ad would be an increase of 5.9 cents above the current rate of 83.5 cents per $100 assessed value, which was set in 2015. The commissioners also increased the income tax rate that year, with the rate going from 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent.

The commissioners have only begun to review the proposed budget and have yet to make changes to the documents developed by department heads and staff.

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Worcester’s listings down, sales prices up

The Coastal Association of Realtors delivered its annual report to the Worcester County Commissioners this week, and while the local market doesn’t quite reach 2007’s heights, the association’s view is that the county is now firmly a seller’s market.

And while prices and inventory are lower than they were during the boom, more homes have been sold, more new contracts have been signed and a greater volume of homes have been sold in 2017 than had been a decade before.

Worcester County, inclusive of its municipalities, has 4,332 active listings in 2017, which has been trending down since 2013 and is significantly down from 2007’s 6,716 active listings, according to the association’s report.

But, in 2017 2,385 homes were sold, up from 2013’s 1,703 and much higher than 2007’s 1,522 homes.

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Appeals Court Overturns Overdose Manslaughter Conviction; ‘State Failed To Establish A Casual Connection’

BERLIN — It remains possible and likely probable that prosecutors will continue to try and convict drug dealers when their customers die, but in at least one local case, a state appeals court has made it more difficult.

In what has become an increasingly utilized weapon in the battle over the growing heroin epidemic, prosecutors have been successful in gaining manslaughter convictions for drug dealers whose customers fatally overdose. There have been a handful of such cases already in Worcester County where heroin dealers have been found guilty of manslaughter when he or she supplied the drugs that ultimately caused the fatal overdose of another individual.

In one local case, however, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals last week reversed the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Patrick Thomas, now 61, of Berlin, for supplying the heroin that caused the fatal overdose of another local man in June 2015. Thomas was sentenced to 20 years for a possession with intent to distribute heroin and 10 years for the manslaughter conviction. He did not challenge the possession with intent to distribute conviction and will continue to serve his sentence on that count.

However, he appealed the manslaughter conviction on the grounds there was not a direct connection between his sale of heroin to the victim and the victim’s death at a different place and time from where the transaction took place. Last week, the Court of Special Appeals agreed with Thomas’ assertion and reversed the manslaughter conviction in what could prove to be a test for similar cases going forward. It’s important to note the Court of Special Appeals’ lengthy opinion in the Thomas case does not make any broad determination on similar prosecution efforts in the future, but in this particular case points out the state was not successful in illustrating a direct connection between the heroin sale and the victim’s death.

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More Route 50 Bridge Night Closures Planned For ‘Proactive Repair’

OCEAN CITY — The Harry W. Kelley Memorial Bridge, or Route 50 drawbridge into Ocean City, will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night starting Sunday, April 15 and throughout much of the following week.

Last weekend, the bridge was closed from 10 p.m. on Friday to 8 a.m. on Saturday as State Highway Administration (SHA) contracted crews made needed repairs to the structure. During a recent routine evaluation, SHA crews discovered a small crack in a single steel beam on the structure.

The bridge has been deemed safe and operable but the repairs are necessary to ensure reliability heading into the spring and summer seasons. At this point, it is not known if further damage was discovered during the maintenance project last Friday, or if the scheduled closures next week are precautionary to allow for more testing and maintenance checks.

According to SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar, there will be two crews working simultaneously next week, one on the east side and one of the west end. Gischlar said next week’s closure is a result of last Friday night’s inspection.

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Biggest Black Lives Matter Page on Facebook Was Fake, CNN Says

The biggest Black Lives Matter page on Facebook allegedly was fake, run by a white Australian man who used it to raise at least $100,000 for various causes, CNN reported.

Titled Black Lives Matter, the page was suspended on Monday after CNN inquired about it. The reportedly fake account came to light as Facebook grapples with its public relations nightmare of allegedly failing to protect personal data of its users and for sharing fake news.

Blogger Jerry Massler wrote about the website in December, after noticing that while it posted some content about the Black Lives Matter movement, it went off message at other times, posting items from right wing websites and conspiracy theory memes.

According to Massler, at the time the site had 695,000 followers while the official Black Lives Matter Facebook page had a little more than 300,000 followers.

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POLITICS Feds Raid Illegal California Grow Houses Run by Chinese Mob

California is now home to the largest legal state-regulated cannabis marketplace on the planet. But massive federal raids near Sacramento this week are serving as a reminder that the state is still home to an enormous unlicensed and unregulated market, too.

On April 3 and 4, hundreds of federal agents and local law enforcement officers descended on 74 houses in the Sacramento region, and filed civil forfeiture actions against more than 100 properties, in what’s being characterized as one of the largest residential forfeiture efforts in the nation’s history.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, this week’s raids and arrests targeted a vast and meticulously organized black market cannabis network.

According to authorities, that network involved millions of dollars in suspicious money transfers from China, large purchases of California real estate and the gutting hundreds of homes in quiet suburban or rural neighborhoods for use as secretive cultivation rooms. Ultimately, authorities say, the scheme shipped huge quantities of cannabis far from California’s regulated market to illicit distributors on the East Coast, where cannabis remains largely illegal.

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Changing Tactics: Cosby Defense Aggressively Attacks Accuser

As Bill Cosby stands trial a second time over allegations he sexually molested a woman in 2004, his new, high-powered Hollywood lawyer took a far more aggressive tone toward the accuser in his opening statement Tuesday.

Armed with a couple key rulings that could help the defense, Tom Mesereau told jurors that Andrea Constand is a "con artist" who framed his client because she was after "money, money and lots more money." Mesereau made the point repeatedly as he sought to cast Constand as the villain, and Cosby her victim.

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Pizza, Pad Thai and Pot: Home Delivery of Marijuana Is Legal in These States

It’s been legal to buy small amounts of marijuana in Colorado for over four years. But consumers can’t order buds, edibles or the marijuana concentrate called “shatter” through the mail — that’s illegal under federal law. And they can’t have weed delivered to their doorstep, like a pizza or an order of pad thai.

Lawmakers in Colorado and other states that pioneered recreational marijuana legalization have been reluctant to allow home delivery, even in an era when consumers are used to getting everything from diamond rings to toilet paper delivered.

Supporters say delivery makes it easier for medical marijuana patients to get their medicine, helps licensed marijuana businesses compete with the black market, and could reduce drugged driving. Opponents say delivery could make it easier for kids to buy drugs and could turn delivery cars into targets for thieves.

Skeptics also say launching a risky service could attract unwanted federal attention. Denver is concerned that marijuana delivery could cause additional safety issues and draw federal scrutiny, according to a statement from Eric Escudero, communications director for the city’s Department of Excises and Licenses. Earlier this year, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded Obama-era guidance that had told federal prosecutors not to target marijuana businesses that are licensed and regulated.

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Has the California backlash against liberal craziness finally begun?

In a state consumed by conservation and environmental issues, one highly endangered species has long gone unnoticed and unprotected – the California Conservative. Is it still possible to rescue them from the brink of extinction? Can their numbers be revived? And can they thrive here once again?

While the nation continues to view California as a homogeneous voting block of individuals in lock step with an increasingly progressive liberal agenda, for Common Sense Californians up and down the left coast state, there’s a sense that a different tide is rising.

The ripple began in Los Alamitos where the city council voted to opt out of California’s sanctuary law. And it was followed by Orange County who voted to join the U.S. Department of Justice in challenging the state’s sanctuary city laws. This decision was echoed by the city of Escondido and later this month San Diego County will also vote to join their ranks in this federal lawsuit. Other municipalities are lining up to consider doing the same.

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Felony Voting Laws Are Confusing; Activists Would Ditch Them Altogether

Her sentencing made headlines across the country this week: A woman, recently released from prison in Texas and still on felony probation, is set to head back to prison for another five years after she unknowingly broke the law by voting in the 2016 election.

Texas law prohibits people such as Crystal Mason from voting until they are no longer under supervision by corrections officers. Mason told the court she had no idea she was prohibited from voting. At her polling station, officials let her cast a provisional ballot.

The confusion over felons’ voting rights is not limited to Mason’s situation or to Texas. Across the country, state felon voting laws vary widely. Some states bar people from voting only while they are in prison, while others deny voting rights to people who are still under the supervision of a probation or parole officer. And some prohibit convicted felons from voting for the rest of their lives, unless they receive a pardon from the governor.

Only two states, Maine and Vermont, have no restrictions.

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Pennsylvania school district arms teachers with baseball bats: report

A Pennsylvania school district said it will arm 500 school teachers with baseball bats in response to the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, Erie News Now reported.

The Millcreek School district organized a training day on how to respond to a potential shooting and the 16-inch bats were handed out to each teacher, the report said. The district paid $1,800 for the bats.

William Hall, the district’s superintendent, told the paper that the bats were primarily symbolic, but a “last resort,” and “an option and something we want people to be aware of.”

Nikolas Cruz, 19, is charged in a 34-count indictment with killing 17 people and wounding 17 others in the Feb. 14 attack. He faces the death penalty if convicted, but his public defender Melisa McNeill had said he would plead guilty in return for a life prison sentence.

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Maryland, Washington Join Other States in Automatic Voter Registration

Maryland on Thursday became the 11th state to adopt automatic voter registration, legalizing a system that adds residents to voter rolls when they interact with various state offices.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan allowed the bill to become law without his signature; it takes effect in July 2019.

Ten other states and the District of Columbia automatically register qualified voters when they get an ID through their departments of motor vehicles. People must opt out of registering to vote, rather than needing to check a box saying they would like to register.

Maryland’s law is broader than most, as people who receive social services from the state or buy insurance on the health exchange will also be added to voter rolls.

Washington state also recently adopted automatic voter registration as part of a broad voting rights package that also included pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds and Election Day registration.

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Mississippi's First Female Senator, A Republican, Takes Office Needing To Win Over Her Own Party

Mississippi's new senator is making a name for herself in the state's history books as the first woman to represent the Magnolia State on the Hill.

Cindy Hyde-Smith landed the spot as Mississippi's junior senator last month, when Gov. Phil Bryant, also a Republican, appointed her to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Thad Cochran's retirement. The appointment came in spite of calls from GOP leaders, including President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for Bryant to appoint himself, according to The Washington Post.

Cochran retired after a 40-year career for health reasons and officially left on April 1. Hyde-Smith was sworn in Monday by Vice President Pence.

The Senate Hyde-Smith is joining has more women than ever before. She brings the count to 23 — a record.

The former Democrat enters office and steps onto the campaign trail at the same time as she will be fighting to maintain her appointed Senate seat in November. In fact, she got a campaign website before an official Senate site.

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Mark Zuckerberg Tells Senate: Election Security Is An 'Arms Race'

Mark Zuckerberg faced dozens of senators — and the American television audience — to take "hard questions" on how Facebook has handled user data and faced efforts to subvert democracy.

"We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I'm sorry," the co-founder and CEO of Facebook, uncharacteristically wearing a suit, said in his opening remarks. "I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here."

Zuckerberg testified Tuesday before a joint session of the Senate commerce and judiciary committees.

He spoke for more than four hours. If you want the full experience, you can watch the video above, or on C-SPAN here.

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Teachers Union Threaten Wells Fargo, Ditch NRA or Lose Our Business

The president of a nationwide teachers union demanded that financial services giant Wells Fargo cut all ties with the National Rifle Association and firearm manufacturers or lose her organization as a client, the Washington Times reported.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said Saturday that Wells Fargo can either have American teachers in their mortgage market or offer loans and other services to the NRA.

"They can't do both," Weingarten said, according to the Washington Times.

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan floated a meeting with Weingarten to discuss her concerns, saying "when dealing with the safety of our families [and] children... there are no easy or satisfying solutions."

Sloan added that he believes the public does not want banks dictating what products American can or cannot purchase.

"What we can pledge is that Wells Fargo will be a thoughtful participant in the dialogue," he said, adding that the San Francisco-based banking institution will always take "all points of view" seriously.

Weingarten later offered Sloan an ultimatum, saying in part that "if Tim [Sloan] doesn't ditch his guns business, we'll ditch Wells Fargo."

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Luongo: "The Coup Is Complete - Trump Is Done"

If there is one thing the last 48 hours have proved to me, it’s this. Donald Trump is no longer acting President. The coup against Trump has been completed.

I’m going to keep this simple. Follow the dots and try to keep up.

1. The Deep State’s lies are being unraveled in real time thanks to the collective intelligence of the ‘internet’ and our ability to synthesize data in real time.

2. The Skripal poisoning and the latest Syrian “chemical weapons” attack share the same thing — both set government officials off rushing to judgment and action before any official investigation could debunk them.

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Another Mighty Conundrum

The sanctuary city movement, and all its baggage, terminates in one troublesome idea: that the USA should have open borders and that anyone from a foreign land who manages to get here by whatever means is home-free-all. The most recent Democratic nominee for president said just the other day that she dreamed of open borders. The much-abused word dream has been at the center of our discourse about immigration, a purposefully sentimental manipulation of language for a culture struggling to ascertain the boundaries of reality in an era of universal wishful thinking.

Anyone who listens to National Public Radio, for instance, may notice the care they take to keep the boundary as fuzzy as possible vis-à-vis the status of people here from other lands. “Undocumented” has been the favorite trope, a dodge that implies that the people in question are victims of a clerical error — someone over in the Document Division forgot to hand them the right paperwork. Or else they are all simply labeled “immigrants,” leaving out the question of whether they are in the country legally or not. Do not suppose it is mere sloppiness.

Lately, there is the matter of census-takers asking the people they interview — theoretically everybody who resides in the US — whether they are citizens or not. It would seem to be within the legitimate interests of demographic statisticians to ask that question, but it has ignited a firestorm of opposition. All manner of casuistry has been applied by that opposition to rationalize why we wouldn’t want to know whether people here are citizens or not. It all seems to come down to a cynical political calculation that the voter rolls can be eventually padded in favor of the Democratic Party (of which I remain an unhappy registered member, in order to vote in the New York state primary election).

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Meet the Coventry woman who claims she cured her cancer with cannabis oil

Joy Smith said she had never taken drugs before but the cannabis oil was a miracle cure

A Coventry woman who claims she cured her terminal cancer with cannabis oil and won £84,000 in a competition she entered whilst ‘stoned’ has said she will do everything she can to legalise the drug that saved her life.

Doctors gave Joy Smith six weeks to live when she was diagnosed with cancer in her stomach and bowel, but almost two years later she is close to getting the all clear.

She claims that regular doses of THC cannabis oil, which is illegal in the UK, have destroyed her inoperable tumours leaving doctors stunned by her miraculous recovery.

“When you’re told you have six weeks to live you’ll try anything, trust me,” Joy, 52, said.

“I was a bit sceptical about the oil at first as I’d never taken drugs or anything like that - but I know I would not be here today without it. I want to tell everybody.

“Cannabis oil should be legalised for medical purposes - people are dying and the chemotherapy isn’t curing them.”

'I didn't know what it was'

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The Eastern Shore

Loretta Lynch Throws Comey Under The Bus – ‘Concerns Were Not Raised’

Loretta Lynch cast aspersions on James Comey’s congressional testimony, in which he suggested the former attorney general had told the former FBI director to refer to the Hillary Clinton email probe as a “matter, not an investigation.”

“He said it made him feel strange,” NBC’s Lester Holt asked Lynch in an interview first previewed Monday. “He noted it. What did you mean when you said matter instead and not a investigation?”

WATCH:

Open Mic Night Was Incredible Last Night

We're going to miss all these individuals coming in to show off their incredible talent as we only have one more week left, (next Wednesday). Many of these individuals are a part of a band where their season is about to begin for the summer. Put next Wednesday on your schedule as I'm sure it's going to be a huge blowout. See you then. 

Trump Berates 'Stupid Trade' Between China and United States

President Donald Trump explained his frustration on the trade disparity between the United States and China by highlighting the unfair tariffs on automobile sales.

Trump highlighted the 2.5 percent tariff for cars coming to the United States from China while there was a 25 percent tariff for cars heading to China from the United States.

“Does that sound like free or fair trade?” Trump asked. “No, it sounds like STUPID TRADE – going on for years!”

Trump continues pressing China with tariffs in response to intellectual property theft and a massive multi-billion dollar trade deficit. On Sunday, he appeared optimistic that a deal with China could be made.

“President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade,” he wrote. “China will take down it’s trade barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become reciprocal and a deal will be made on intellectual property. Great future for both countries!”

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Mo Brooks Drives CNN's Camerota Crazy

CNN’s Alisyn Camerota took issue with Republican Rep. Mo Brooks’ statement on illegal immigration and tried to go head-to-head with the Alabama congressman Friday on “New Day.”

Camerota read Brooks’ statement about the caravan of illegal immigrants making their way to America’s southern border, and called him out for referring to it as an “invasion by foreign nationals.”

Camerota took issue with this part of his statement:

I fully support President Trump’s use of our military to secure the border against invasion by foreign nationals. Recent highly publicized caravans of thousands of foreigners heading for America’s borders emphasize that it is past time for Congress to reform laws that entice and reward foreign nationals who illegally invade America.

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Dershowitz on Cohen Raid: 'This Is A Very Dangerous Day Today for Lawyer-Client Relations'

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz reacted to the raid of Trump attorney Michael Cohen by stating, “this is a very dangerous day today for lawyer-client relations.”

Dershowitz said, “Look, this is a very dangerous day today for lawyer-client relations. I deal with clients all the time. I tell them on my word of honor that what you tell me is sacrosanct. And now they say, just based on probable cause, even though there was cooperation with Cohen, they can burst into the office, grab all the computers, and then give it to another FBI agent, and say, ‘You’re the firewall. We want you now to read all these confidential communications, tell us which ones we can get and which ones we can’t get.’ You know, if this were — the shoe were on the other foot, if this were Hillary Clinton being investigated, and they went into her lawyer’s office, the ACLU would be on every television station in America jumping up and down. The deafening silence of the ACLU and civil libertarians about the intrusion into the lawyer-client confidentiality is really appalling.”

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Russia Investigators Curious Of Brennan

A book published in March offered a startling but little-noticed revelation about former CIA Director John Brennan. According to “Russian Roulette,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid believed Brennan was using him as a conduit to publicize possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Russian government.

Brennan’s contacts with Reid — and other activities during the 2016 presidential campaign — are of “significant” interest to congressional investigators trying to figure out the ex-spy’s early role in the Russia investigation, The Daily Caller News Foundation is told.

“By his own account, Brennan played a prominent role in starting the investigation of Trump’s team,” a congressional source with direct knowledge of the House of Representatives’ Russia investigations tells TheDCNF.

“Investigators in Congress suspect there are important details about his role that he hasn’t revealed, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it.”

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Parkland student who was shot FIVE times blames sheriff and school superintendent

A student gravely wounded while saving his classmates' lives by blocking a door during the Florida school massacre said Friday that the county sheriff and school superintendent failed the victims by not arresting the shooter before the attack and by allowing him to attend the school.

An attorney for 15-year-old Anthony Borges read a statement from him during a news conference criticizing Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and Superintendent Robert Runcie for the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that killed 14 students and three staff members.

Borges was shot five times, suffering wounds to the lungs, abdomen and legs. He was released from a Fort Lauderdale hospital Wednesday morning, the last of the 17 wounded to go home.

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Rapper Lizk jailed for brandishing gun in music video

A rapper has been jailed for 30 years to life for a third strike felony after being convicted of firearms offences stemming from a video featuring him carrying a gun.

Deandre Marquis Rogers, 25, who goes by the 'Lizk', appeared in the video his song 'No Air' brandishing a weapon as he raps about gun violence and feud with a fellow rapper.

The video also features a police officer describing the ongoing search of a gang member's car, who is currently on parole.

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Quote of the Day

"Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

I Think I See Jim Ireton, Chuck Cook, Jake Day, Sharee Sample Hughes, Laura Mitchell, Barrie Tilghman, I Could Be Wrong...

Who do you see?

Starbucks

'This has gone too far!' White House says Trump believes Cohen raid was unfair

President Donald Trump is considering firing of deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein – and made moves to fire special counsel Robert Mueller late last year following reports of a subpoena of his financial records.

The president lashed out privately about Rosenstein, who he blames for approving the warrant application that allowed FBI officials to raid Cohen's office, home and hotel room.

CNN reported Trump is considering firing Rosenstein, who oversees the Mueller probe thanks to Attorney General Jeff Sessions's recusal. The report called Rosenstein Trump's most likely target, although firing Sessions is also a possibility. It cited people familiar with the discussions.

Advisors believe Rosenstein crossed a 'red line' by signing off on the Cohen raid – an action that reportedly included targeting documents relating to a porn star and a former Playboy model who each got payoffs and have claim they had affairs with Trump and signed nondisclosure agreements.

At two different periods Trump was prepared to make moves against Mueller, the New York Times reported.

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