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Thursday, July 19, 2018

Strangest Things: America Is 'The Upside Down'

Why should Trump give any credence to the intelligence agencies who first tried to prevent, and later subvert, his presidency?

You may not be able to alter reality, but you can alter your attitude towards it, and this, paradoxically, alters reality. Try it and see.
– Margaret Atwood

The above quote, attributed to the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale”, is seemingly representative of the elite establishment today in their dystopian zeal to erase the presidency of Donald Trump. How? By means of manufacturing an Attitudinal New Reality complete with Orwellian-style and Twilight Zone-type narratives reminiscent of the “Upside Down” , the other-worldly dimension of Netflix’s “Stranger Things”.

Of course, where we are today was likely inevitable from the start.

When businessman Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States, he was ridiculed by the political establishment, Hollywood, and the Corporate Mainstream Media. When it appeared that he could actually win, the U.S. Intelligence Agencies, under President Obama, spied on Candidate Trump and set up members of his team for a grand scheme of entrapment arranged by former CIA Director, and perjurist, John Brennan; even as corrupt high-ranking officials in the FBI, like James Comey, arranged for Hillary Clinton’s crimes to be swept under the political rug.

Soon, we heard about wiretaps at Trump Tower and illegal unmasking by former National Security Director Susan Rice, even as Wikileaks released the password to Vault 7, also known as: “The Largest Ever Publication of Confidential CIA Documents” where a program entitled UMBRAGE was revealed. It was a formerly top-secret initiative whereby American intelligence agencies could mimic internet hacks from other countries, including Russia.

Unsurprisingly, the alleged mastermind behind “Vault 7 was recently indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice after being arrested for child porn on his computer, just as the Pakistani-Intelligence operative , Imran Awan, was let off the hook by an Obama appointed judge; because there was “no evidence” that congressional computer systems were compromised by Awan after a Democratic Party caucus server was replaced by a look-alike.

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Comey: Anyone Voting Republican This Fall Is Un-American

Former FBI Director James Comey suggested over Twitter on Tuesday that anyone who votes Republican in the upcoming midterm elections is un-American.

"Ambition must ... counteract ambition," wrote Comey, adding "All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall. Policy differences don’t matter right now. History has its eyes on us."
This Republican Congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the Founders’ design that “Ambition must ... counteract ambition.” All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall. Policy differences don’t matter right now. History has its eyes on us.
In other words, any Republican who doesn't vote Democrat in November doesn't believe in American values.

Comey's comments come on the heels of what some interpreted as a call for a coup against President Trump after the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, when he tweeted"This was the day an American president stood on foreign soil next to a murderous lying thug and refused to back his own country," adding "

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The Cast of the View heading out to protest Trump


Police charge second man in alleged MS-13 murder in Annapolis

A Montgomery County man has been charged in the gang killing of a teenager who police say was one of three people killed by members of MS-13 in Anne Arundel County in the last three years.

Brandon Recinos-Guardado, 22, of Rockville, was charged July 10 with first- and second-degree murder as well as tampering with evidence as police wrote in charging documents he served as a lookout during the murder of 17-year-old Neris Bonilla-Palacios in August 2017 and burned evidence. Police revealed the arrest Tuesday following his extradition from Louisiana, where he was incarcerated, to Maryland. He’s being held without bond pending a bail review hearing Wednesday.

He is also charged with being a member of MS-13, a transnational gang law enforcement officials say is terrorizing Hispanic immigrant communities in the D.C. metropolitan area and elsewhere.

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Comey Meddles In 2018 Election

Former FBI Director James Comey said that “all who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats” and that Republicans have been “incapable” in a Tuesday tweet.

“This Republican Congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the Founders’ design that ‘Ambition must … counteract ambition.’ All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall. Policy differences don’t matter right now. History has its eyes on us,” Comey tweeted on Tuesday.

This Republican Congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the Founders’ design that “Ambition must … counteract ambition.” All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall. Policy differences don’t matter right now. History has its eyes on us.
— James Comey (@Comey) July 18, 2018

Comey, who was previously a registered Republican, has blasted President Donald Trump’s handling of the Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that Trump “stood on foreign soil next to a murderous lying thug and refused to back his own country” in a Monday tweet.

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Fire in West OC

IAFF Local 4269, Ocean City Career Firefighter Paramedics Association
9 mins ·

Fire Department units responding to a reported building fire at Decatur Diner in West Ocean City. Paramedic 2 on the scene reporting smoke showing from the roof with smoke inside resturant.(8:30pm). Chief Savage has command.

**UPDATE 8:42pm**. Situation under control. Fire contained to the stove area.

Maryland Fishing Report: July 18

Photo of Sandy Point full of patrons
Sandy Point State Park
We’ve all learned in our lives that nothing ever stays the same, and this certainly holds true for the Chesapeake Bay. She started out as a river valley and became flooded after the last ice age to become the largest estuary in the United States.

The view from a drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge shows how much this treasure means to so many people — bulk carrier ships anchored and waiting to pick up their cargo, fleets of sailboats off the mouth of the Severn River, commercial crab boats tending their strings of traps, anglers fishing near the piers and throngs of people enjoying Sandy Point State Park.

More than 18 million people live in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The bay has had a difficult time putting up with us, but she always promises hope and keeps showing us that she is resilient.

It’s just a simple fact; we are all part of the bay’s problems and can be part of the solution. We’ve learned from our past mistakes and implemented policies and management that have seen the resurgence of underwater grass beds in the bay, protection and growth of critical forests and wetlands, and the restoration of fish populations. One thing doesn’t change – the bay teaches us that hope springs eternal.

Weekly Fishing Conditions Forecast Summary: July 18-24

Scarce oxygenated, cool water conditions continue to force bay rockfish into smaller and smaller areas. With the water getting closer to temperatures rockfish will avoid — 84 degrees or higher — stick to the mainstem of the bay and seek out the coolest water with adequate oxygen available that combines excellent structure, moving water and bait. Focus your fishing times to low light periods when nighttime temperatures provide limited relief for hungry gamefish.

Expect the continued hot, sunny weather to continue to push water temperatures toward the mid 80s. Anglers will experience typical summer temperatures in the mid to upper 80s for most of this upcoming week with a good chance of daily thunderstorms from Saturday through Tuesday. There will be above average tidal currents Monday and Tuesday as a result of the upcoming full moon July 28.

For the full weekly fishing conditions summary and more detailed and up-to-date fishing conditions in your area of the bay, be sure to check out Eyes on the Bay’s Click Before You Cast.


After Janus Ruling, States Rush to Make It Harder to Leave Unions

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to public unions in June, some states were making moves to soften that potential blow.

In May, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that limits the amount of time government employees can withdraw from their union. They now have just 10 days a year -- the ones immediately following their work anniversary -- to make that decision.

The ruling in the case, called Janus v. AFSCME, makes it illegal to require public workers who choose not to join the union to pay so-called agency fees to the unions that represent them in collective bargaining negotiations. It immediately impacts 21 states where the practice was still happening and is expected to cause unions to lose members -- and money -- because there is less incentive to belong to a union if they can get the same benefits without paying a nickel.

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Nacho 500


According to MSM


House Democrats vote 'present' on resolution supporting ICE

Most House Democrats voted “present” Tuesday on a resolution aimed at forcing them to clarify whether they support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, after some Democrats havecriticized the agency's role in enforcing U.S. immigration laws.

The House passed a nonbinding resolution saying lawmakers support the "officers and personnel who carry out the important mission of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement." A two-thirds majority was needed to pass it, and because Democrats voted "present" instead of "no," it passed easily in a 244-35 vote.

The final vote saw just 18 Democrats vote for the resolution, and 34 Democrats vote against it. But the vast majority of Democrats, 133, voted "present."

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*WANTED* Dakota Kiefrieder

The Delaware State Police Criminal Investigative Units in Kent and New Castle Counties have been conducting an investigation involving multiple burglaries that began on July 16, 2018.  It was discovered that during these burglaries, multiple suspects either attempted to, or were successful in entering the closed businesses by damaging the exterior of the buildings.  Upon entering the businesses, the suspects would remove keys belonging to vehicles on the lot, and then would remove the vehicles.
There have been a total of six burglaries between July 16 and July 26, 2018:
  • July 16, 2018 attempted burglary at the CAR Shop located at 2205 Mitch Rd. Wilmington.
  • July 17, 2018 attempted burglary at the Major Motors, located at 2010 Mitch Rd. Wilmington.
  • July 18, 2018 burglary at the C&D Auto Sales located at 4644 DuPont Highway Townsend, in which vehicle keys, temporary DE registrations, and a laptop was taken.  The suspects then removed a blue 2001 Chrysler 300 from the lot.
  • July 19, 2018 attempted burglary at the CMJ Motors located at 4324 DuPont Highway Townsend.
  • July 19, 2018 burglary at the Intellicar, located at 375 Gateway S. Blvd. Dover, in which the suspects removed various keys and key fobs from inside the business.  The suspects were then successful in removing a silver 2016 Volkswagen Passat, a white 2015 Ford Explorer XLT, a gray 2015 Ford Fusion, and a gray 2014 Nissan Pathfinder from the lot.
  • July 26, 2018 burglary at the Willy Auto Repair located at 416 South Maryland Avenue, Wilmington, in which the suspects removed keys and were successful in removing a silver 1998 Lexus ES300, a blue 2007 blue Subaru Legacy, a black 2005 Mercedes Benz C2, and a green 2004 Nissan Quest from the lot.
The charges include: Burglary Third Degree, Wearing a Disguise During the Commission of a Felony, Attempt to Commit Burglary Third Degree, Possession of Burglar Tools, Theft of a Motor Vehicle, Theft $1500 or Greater, Conspiracy Second Degree, Theft Under $1500, Criminal Mischief Over $1000, and Criminal Mischief  Under $1000.
The following individuals have been arrested for the incidents occurring at the CAR Shop, Major Motors, C&D Auto, CMJ Motors and Intellicar:
  • Devante Burton, 24 of Wilmington-arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and Committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution on $25,000.00 secured bond.
  • Elijah Pennewell, 16 of Wilmington-arraigned before Family Court and released to a guardian.
  • Daquane Woodruff, 20 of Wilmington-arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution on $27,000.00 secured bond.
  • Jalen Jackson, 20 of Wilmington-arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution on $29,500.00 secured bond.
  • Charles Bultron, 14 of Wilmington (C&D Auto incident only)-arraigned before Family Court and released to a guardian.
The following individuals have been arrested for the incident occurring at the Willy Auto Repair Shop:
  • Elijah Pennewell, 16 of Wilmington-arraigned before Family Court and released to a guardian.
  • Mercedes Pennewell, 17 of Wilmington-arraigned before Family Court and released to a guardian.
  • Jahlier Curtis, 15 of Wilmington-arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and  committed to the Ferris School on $5,000.00 secured bond.
  • Warrants are currently on file for Dakota Charles Khiefrieder,18 of New Castle regarding this incident.
If anyone has information on the whereabouts of Dakota Khiefrieder, they are asked to please contact Troop 2, Detective D. DeFlaviis at 302-365-8388.

Traffic Stop Leads to Drug Arrest-Georgetown


Georgetown - The Delaware State Police have arrested two suspects after a traffic stop led to the discovery of drugs.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 at approximately 4:37 p.m. when Troopers were dispatched to the area of DuPont Boulevard, north of Georgetown, for a red vehicle bearing MD registration that was driving erratically. The suspect vehicle was located traveling southbound on DuPont Boulevard south of McColley's Chapel Road. A traffic stop was initiated and the driver initially failed to pull over. The vehicle subsequently came to a stop at the intersection of Seashore Highway. Upon contact with the driver, 26-year-old Shamone Price of Salisbury, it was evident that he was lethargic. Also in the vehicle was a passenger, 29-year-old Isiah Jordan of Salisbury.

During a search of the vehicle, a duffle bag was located containing 6,252 bags of heroin (approximately 43.76 grams) and over $3,000 in suspected drug proceeds. Jordon was also found in possession of over $400.00 in suspected drug proceeds.

Both Price and Jordan were transported back to Troop 4, where a DUI investigation on Price ensued.

Price was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession with Intent to Deliver, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Driving a Vehicle Under the Influence, and other traffic related offenses. He was arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $40,702.00 secured bond.

Jordan was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession with Intent to Deliver, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was arraigned before the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution $40,200.00 secured bond.

Housing Market Collapse 2.0 Has Begun

A summer storm is gathering against the housing market all across the US. More than a year ago, I predicted the collapse of Housing Bubble 2.0 and then predicted as soon as the housing market collapse had begun that it would see temporary reprieve until the summer of 2018.

Well, that reprieve has ended … two months ahead of the schedule I suggested as an outlier. The storm clouds are now evident across the entire nation. More importantly, lightning is already striking in the nation’s healthiest housing markets.

New-home construction deconstructs the housing market

New-home-construction starts are down 12.3% nationwide to a nine-month low due to the largest single-month drop in more than year and a half. That is a huge sign of a nationwide housing market collapse when you consider that this is the time of year when housing is usually on a tear because weather allows construction everywhere. Instead, construction in the US is down … way down … EVERYWHERE.

While that nine-month period back to the last low in construction was merely propped up by hurricane and wildfire rebuilds, as I said it would be (see articles listed below), we’ve already hit the point where those necessary rebuilds (still happening) are not strong enough to overcome the more general housing decline that is overtaking the nation and many other nations. Significant to that point, housing starts fell in all regions of the country. Both single-family and multi-family housing construction are losing momentum.

As an even clearer sign of where we are headed in the near future, housing construction permits are also down … for the third count (third month in a row). So, the decline in permits is now a trend. While single-family permits saw a small gain of 0.8% in June, multi-family permits dropped 7.6%. June had been expected by economists to bring a rebound that didn’t materialize, setting a new trend firmly in place.

Mortgage applications also fell nationwide this week.

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Rand Paul: The Only Person We Know Colluded With The Russians Is Hillary Clinton

‘Hillary Clinton… paid a British agent who paid Russians for information for the dossier.’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says the only person whom he and others “actually know colluded with the Russians” is former Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Rand was on Fox News Wednesday morning clarifying his stance on Russia’s election meddling and the intelligence community.

President Trump faced broad outrage over comments he made during the Helsinki, Finland, summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday. Trump was criticized for not being more forceful with the Russian leader and for not backing up U.S. intelligence findings of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump clarified his comments in a short statement at the White House on Tuesday.

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Conviction of Bruce Anding


Illegal Aliens Register to Vote in San Francisco

On Monday, the Department of Elections issued voter registration forms to illegal aliens to vote for members of the San Francisco Board of Education in the 2018 election, reports ABC7 News.

San Francisco is the first city in the state to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.

“As a parent myself and a former member of the SF Board of Education it is critical that the voices of all parents are at the table particularly those that have historically been denied a voice in the process,” said Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer who represents District 1.

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What Is Democratic Socialism?

The new rising star of the Democratic Party is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The 28-year-old former bartender doesn't know much about politics -- this week, she bungled her way through an interview answer by referring to Israeli "occupation" of Palestine and citing her lack of expertise on the issue despite her international relations degree. But she's young; she's energetic; and she speaks in glowing terms about rights to housing, food, college and health care. She's a charter member of the Democratic Socialists of America, a group, we're informed by The New York Times' Michelle Goldberg, that is on the rise. "Its growth has exploded since the 2016 election," Goldberg reports, "from 7,000 members to more than 37,000."

What exactly is democratic socialism, and what distinguishes it from socialism plain and simple? Ocasio-Cortez doesn't know. When asked about it by Meghan McCain on "The View," she stated that there is a "huge difference" between the two notions but then concluded, "I believe that in a moral and wealthy America, in a moral and modern America, no person should be too poor to live in this country." Which doesn't explain the difference at all.

The difference is truly between socialism and social democracy. Socialism suggests state ownership and control of all major resources -- and generally ends with the complete collapse and destruction of the productive population. Social democracy suggests redistribution of capitalistic gains -- more like Denmark or Norway or Sweden. It's unclear where Ocasio-Cortez lies on this spectrum considering that the DSA openly acknowledges its desire to abolish capitalism.

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If Not Russia, Who Is Hillary's 'Foreign Entity'?

I've long said Hillary Clinton is insufficiently stupid to have believed she could operate an unsecured home server without compromising the security of any data transmitted through it or stored on it.

For just as long, it has been my contention that the server was the faucet through which she pumped information she was selling (yes, selling) to foreign entities, both public and private.

I.T. security protocols would've easily flagged attempts at intrusion if targeted toward the State Department's secure servers, through which then-secretary of state Clinton ought to have conducted business. Likewise, the transfer or copying of said information from a secure server is a detectable act with access being tightly controlled and records kept of who looked at what and when.

"Convenience," the excuse proffered by Clinton for not following even the most basic of security procedures, is, in a way, a rare instance of Clinton telling the truth, just not in the way she would have us believe.

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Greenfield: More Democrats Believe In UFOs Than America

58% of Democrats believe in UFOs, but only 32% are proud to be American.

Only 37% of Republicans believe in flying saucers, but a full 80% are proud of their country.

Almost twice as many Democrats are willing to believe in being abducted by space aliens than in their country. Hillary Clinton had promised that if elected, she would find out the truth about the little green men and suggested that the planet had already been visited by aliens.

"Maybe we could have, like, a task force to go to Area 51," she suggested.

The chair of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, John Podesta, an obsessive UFO buff, appeared on an episode of Ancient Aliens which claimed that Hillary Clinton was defeated to suppress the truth about space aliens.

Like Podesta, the Democrat (space rather than illegal) alien obsession dates back to Bill’s era. When Bill Clinton appointed Webster Hubbell as his Associate Attorney General, he gave him two priorities.

"If I put you over at Justice I want you to find the answers to two questions for me," Hubbell recalled. "One, who killed JFK. And two, are there UFOs.”

Hubbell didn’t find any UFOs, but he had to resign after only serving a year and was sent to jail for fraud.

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Florida man dies from flesh-eating bacteria after eating bad oysters

A Florida man died from a flesh-eating bacteria after eating bad oysters, according to officials.

The Florida Department of Health said that the 71-year-old man in Sarasota died following his seafood meal July 8 at a local restaurant.

His death came two days after he ate oysters containing the flesh-eating bacteria known as Vibrio vulnificus, which can be found in raw shellfish,according to news station WWSB.

The illness is rare but can cause vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, according to the agency.

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Minnesota corrections officer attacked killed by inmate officials say

Officer Joseph Gomm, of the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater, was attacked by the inmate -- identified as Edward Muhammad Johnson -- around 1:30 p.m., the Minnesota Department of Corrections said.

Gomm, an officer at the prison for 16 years, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

"Joseph gave the ultimate sacrifice while working to protect the citizens of Minnesota," Sarah Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for the agency, said.

Edward Muhammad Johnson, 42, is suspected of killing a corrections officer at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater on July 18, 2018. (Minnesota Department of Corrections)

Johnson, 42, has been serving time for a homicide conviction.

The correctional facility, and surrounding prisons, were placed under lockdown until officials determined the incident was over.

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/19/minnesota-corrections-officer-attacked-killed-by-inmate-officials-say.amp.html

The 5 Worst Things about Being a Genius

Being intelligent beats being stupid. Probably. I mean, if you're really stupid, do you even know what you're missing? In any case, everyone thinks having a high IQ is great -- that it's all being ahead of the curve, solving mathematical equations and Einsteining it up and sh*t (I don't even know what that means, but it sounds cool, right?). Although there are definitely some big advantages to having a genius-level IQ, it's not all winning trivia night at the local bar and fixing the warp drive on the Starship Enterprise in five minutes because of something you learned in a Klingon math course.

1. You Can Come Off as a Huge @sshole

If you want a lot of people to hate you, STAND OUT in some way that makes them feel inadequate. Be extremely good looking, extremely successful, extremely famous or extremely intelligent and a certain percentage of people who don't feel like they measure up will HATE YOUR GUTS. This is doubly true for intelligence because nobody ever really seems to think that he’s dumb. You can have 60 IQ points on someone and he still believes he knows more than you do about any subject. Also, nobody wants to be out-argued or proven wrong, which geniuses can usually do. On top of that, nobody likes a “know-it-all.” But, what if you really do know it all compared to most people? They’re going to think you’re an @sshole. So, geniuses learn to dumb it down a lot to try to fit in, which isn’t a lot of fun, but is still better than being thought of as an @sshole.

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Three Bands, Free Pool, NO COVER CHARGE

Friday night is sure to be an incredible night at OC Billiards @ Trader Lee's. The Hooplas are an all original music band that has the biggest following of any band we have ever had. Don't get me wrong though, the Swell Fella's and Future Thrills have an incredible following as well. If you're looking for an enjoyable night out this weekend. be sure to come by and support some incredible local talent. 

GOP Volunteers Kicked Out Of Uber As Driver Says ‘Welcome To The Resistance’

Six Republican campaign volunteers say they were kicked out of an Uber on Saturday as their driver told them “welcome to the resistance.”

The six volunteers were told halfway to their destination in Raleigh, North Carolina, to exit the vehicle at a gas station because the driver “had the right to deny [them] service,” Mary Russell, one of the riders in the Uber, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The six riders exited the car and were told, “Welcome to the resistance,” as the driver drove away.

“It was clear based on our mild conservative political talk that the driver realized we were Republicans,” Russell, who was the rider who ordered the Uber, told The DCNF. After the incident, she received a message from Uber saying that she was inappropriate towards her driver.

“I reviewed the relevant policy of Uber and we did not use ‘inappropriate and abusive language or gestures’ that would result in the early termination of a ride,” Russell said. “This type of discrimination against politically oriented conservatives should be against the policy of Uber.”

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Alexander: Beware of Republican Primary 'Pretenders'

Across our nation, there are a few hotly contested federal and state Republican primaries in which genuine conservative candidates are facing wealthy pretenders who are recasting themselves as “conservative.” These imitators can fund unlimited advertising and social media buys for their makeovers.

Some “conservative” candidates are, at best, moderates.

A case study of how such pretenders operate is the primary campaign between those seeking to become Tennessee’s 50th governor. One candidate, Randy Boyd, hails from a well-heeled family and is a likable candidate. He is a husband and father, and he has supported some initiatives that have helped his community of Knoxville, Tennessee.

But he is not a “conservative Republican,” despite the facade that he and his handlers have erected for their campaign to defeat an unpretentious and unapologetic conservative, Rep. Diane Black.

Let me be clear: My objection is not that Boyd is a moderate. I am a pragmatist and sometimes a moderate is the best a primary has to offer. My objection is that he’s a pretender who is endeavoring to dupe millions of conservative Tennessee voters into believing he’s one of them. He self-identified as a “moderate” when he was exploring his candidacy, but he now insists he’s a “lifelong conservative” and his brand is “Conservative for Governor.” The political campaign deceptions he condones demonstrate a serious underlying character flaw.

This example of re-fabrication is being repeated in other Republican primaries across the nation.

Perhaps this opinion/analysis of one such campaign will inspire the exposure of other pretenders.

US Housing Bubble Enters Stage Two: Suddenly-Motivated Sellers

Stage One is long and (initially) slow, fueled by excess central bank money creation or foreign demand or some other source of liquidity that encourages large numbers of people to buy houses. At first, sellers remember the peak prices from the previous bubble and aren’t willing to sell at anything less than that (in finance-speak, they’re “anchored” at the highest price they could have gotten last time around). So demand initially outstrips supply, causing home prices to rise, slowly at first and then explosively as increasingly-desperate buyers become willing to pay any price while mortgage lenders, seduced by fat fees and confident that they can securitize and offload any kind of dicey mortgage, lower their standards to include pretty much the whole of society.

Stage One usually ends with price spikes in the hottest markets so extreme that they generate headlines. Like these:

San Diego home prices spike

Home Prices Spike Near Murrieta, SoCal Median Hits Record Level

Orlando Home Prices Spike 10 Percent Annually in April

Another month, another record for Denver home prices

Phase Two of a typical US housing bubble begins when sellers read these headlines and note that prices are now above what they could have gotten in the last bubble. With the memory of how badly, during the subsequent bust, they’d wished they’d sold at the peak still reasonably fresh, they realize that they’ve been given a second chance to cash out, move to a cheaper, less-frenetic place, and coast on their real estate riches. So they call a realtor and list their house. As do a bunch of their neighbors. Supply, out of the blue, jumps.

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Keith Ellison Claims National Borders Create ‘An Injustice’

Democrat Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, the deputy chair of the Democrat National Committee (DNC), claimed on Wednesday that America’s national borders create “an injustice” by keeping Mexican workers from traveling to the United States to look for higher-paying jobs.

Ellison claimed in an interview with progressive activist Rabbi Michael Lerner that America’s “prosperity is based on the want that is experienced in other parts of the world” and complained that “people, regular people, cannot go back and forth across the border seeking out the highest wages.”

Ellison sported a T-shirt calling for the elimination of national borders while walking in a parade in May. The next month, he posed for a picture next to a sign that read, “No human being is illegal on stolen land.”

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New law in Baltimore bars sodas from kids' menus

You can't get your child a soda when you are paying for a meal.........but they can use food stamps to buy soda. Makes NO SENSE!

Cardinal McCarrick’s accusations remind us of "Spotlight"

It was 17 years ago this summer that a team of investigative reporters at The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” section were working feverishly on an explosive story.

If all of the allegations could be verified, it appeared that Boston’s Catholic hierarchy, up to and including Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law, was complicit in covering up or otherwise mishandling a shockingly high number of sexual abuse charges.

This investigation was going to send shockwaves through the American Catholic Church, not to mention Irish America. And no American city was more thoroughly Irish Catholic than Boston.

The September 11 attacks delayed the release of the Globe series, but eventually, the impact was as profound as it was sad.

All of this was chronicled by Irish American director and writer Tom McCarthy in the 2015 Academy Award-winning film Spotlight.

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Arnold Ahlert: Standing Against the Rainbow Mafia's Speech-Squelching Agenda

Republican Gov. Paul LePage of Maine "just said no" to a plank of the homosexual agenda.

A funny thing happened on the way to another progressive effort, led by the Rainbow Mafia, to restrict Americans’ freedom: Republican Gov. Paul LePage of Maine “just said no.” He vetoed a bill that would have banned state therapists from working with individuals troubled by feelings of same-sex attraction or the idea that their gender identity and chromosomal reality are a mismatched set — a.k.a. gender dysphoria.

LePage’s reasons for doing so couldn’t be clearer. “This [bill] is so broad that licensed professionals would be prohibited from counseling an individual even at the individual’s own request,” he wrote. “We should not prohibit professionals from counseling an individual even at the individual’s own request. We should not prohibit professionals from providing their expertise to those who seek it for their own personal and basic questions such as, ‘How do I deal with these feelings I am experiencing?’”

He also struck a blow for religious freedom and parental rights. “Parents have the right to seek counsel and treatment for their children from professionals who do not oppose the parents’ own religious beliefs,” he added. “Because the standard of practice for these professionals already prohibits any practice or therapy that would amount to physical or mental abuse, what we are really trying to regulate are the private, consultative conversations between a licensed provider and a client.”

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State Department Gives Up Case Against 3D Printed Gun Pioneer

The Department of State settled with the Second Amendment Foundation, Cody Wilson, and his company Defense Distributed on Wednesday, dropping claims that posting firearms designs on the internet violated an arms export law.

In the settlement, the State Department has agreed to waive prior restraint, which wasimposed in 2013 against the plaintiffs, allowing Wilson and Defense Distributed to begin posting gun designs on the internet again. They also agreed to pay for what plaintiffs described as a "significant portion" of their attorney's fees. Defense Distributed will also be refunded the $10,000 in registration fees it had paid to the State Department.

In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, Wilson said he believes the settlement was inevitable because he believes the State Department had a bad case.

"I think by the end DOJ realized they don't actually want to argue with this because it's such a stinker from a First Amendment point of view," Wilson told the Free Beacon. "So, I really think they needed to get out from under it and they already had the export control reform so they literally offered me a modification of the ITAR. They literally rewrite the ITAR for Defense Distributed in an anticipation of the change in the rules. Who knows when that happens, like a year from now. I don't know. All this suggests they really needed to run away from it because we took it down to the mat."

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Papa John's founder John Schnatter blames n-word scandal on 'extortion' attempt

Papa John’s founder John Schnatter is punching back.

The pizza mogul who was accused of using a racial slur during an internal conference call in May is claiming the marketing firm that set up the call tried to extort $6 million from the chain to keep quiet about the slur.

“They wanted $6 million to make it go away,” Schnatter told a Louisville, Ky., CBS affiliate about Laundry Service, the Los Angeles-based marketing firm since fired by Papa John’s.

“‘If I don’t get my f–king money, I’m going to bury the founder,’ said one of the executives,” Schnatter told WLKY. “I’m not for sale,” Schnatter continued. “We held firm and they ran to Forbes, which printed it.”

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NFL Players Association PAC’s First Round of Donations Slightly Favor Republicans

The NFL Players Association’s political action committee first round of political donations slightly favor Republicans, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The NFLPA One Team PAC, which was created in 2016, reported $723,537 in contributions and did not disburse any money to political candidates until May 30. From late May to mid-June, the PAC donated money to six politicians, including four Republicans and two Democrats.

Anthony Gonzalez, a former player for the Indianapolis Colts, is running as a Republican in Ohio’s 16th congressional district in an attempt to win the seat vacated by Rep. Jim Renacci. Gonzalezreceived a $2,700 donation from the PAC on May 30 and another $2,300 contribution the following day.

Colin Allred, a former NFL player for the Tennessee Titans, is running in Texas’s 32nd congressional district as a Democrat. Allred received a $2,700 donation from the PAC on May 30 and $2,300 on May 31, the filings show.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (D.,N.Y) and Republican Reps. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Will Hurd (Texas) each received a total of $5,000 in donations from the PAC. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ken.) was given $2,700.

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Feinstein Loses State Party Endorsement to Kevin de León

Sen. Dianne Feinsten (D., Calif.) lost the California Democratic Party’s endorsement for her reelection to the Senate on Saturday. The fifth-term senator lost to state Sen. Kevin de León.

The vote was expected to be close, according to The Intercept, but de León secured the endorsement by receiving 65 percent of the vote, surpassing the 60 percent threshold needed to secure the party's endorsement. Feinstein only received 7 percent of the vote while 28 percent voted for no endorsement.

The vote was decided by 333 executive board members.

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Virginia's Efforts To Restore Seaside Grasses May Be A Worldwide Model

Sea grass worldwide is in trouble. Losses are estimated at an area the size of a football field every half-hour.

Along the Atlantic, near the very tip of the DelMarVa Peninsula, scientists and conservationists have been working for a decade to restore one underwater sea grass that succumbed to disease and the hurricane of 1933.

When you hear “bay” you probably think of the Chesapeake Bay. But on the the Atlantic coast of Virginia's Eastern Shore there are tiny coastal bays between the barrier islands where there used to be thousands of acres of lush underwater meadows of eel grass.

Scientists thought they were extinct. Then in 1999 came a discovery. "For the first time in almost 70 years, someone found a small patch of eel grass just east of here behind the north end of Wreck Island," says Bo Lusk, a scientist with the Nature Conservancy who grew up on the Eastern Shore.

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House Democrat Calls For ‘Military Folks’ To Stop Trump

Democratic Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen on Monday called for the “military folks” to save America from President Donald Trump after Trump’s much-criticized press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Where are our military folks? The Commander in Chief is in the hands of our enemy!” Cohen wrote on Twitter, using language suggestive of a military coup.

(Screenshot/Twitter)
“Where are our military folks? The Commander in Chief is in the hands of our enemy!” (Screenshot/Twitter)
Cohen later said that he was in no way calling for a coup. “No coup called for,” he wrote, claiming it unlikely that someone would call for a coup on Twitter.

Cohen’s bizarre tweet was similar to one from former Obama CIA Director John Brennan, who claimed on Monday that Trump’s press conference was “treasonous.”

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Ohio woman arrested for spray painting racial slurs on neighbor's house

An Ohio woman was arrested on Friday for spray painting a racial slur, "Hail Trump" and a swastika on the front of her neighbor's home.

Patricia Edelen was caught on another neighbor's surveillance cameras Friday night spray painting the offensive words on the Ogden Ave. home in Toledo, ABC 13 reported.

Toledo Police Sgt. Paul Davis said Edelen had multiple warrants and tried to run away from officers during the arrest.

"The officers were forced to make forced entry into her residence and took her in to custody without further incident," Davis said, according to the news outlet.

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Ron Paul Warns When The "Biggest Bubble In History" Bursts, It'll "Cut The Stock Market In Half"

When this bubble finally bursts, will we witness the biggest stock market crash in U.S. history? “The bigger they come, the harder they fall” is a well used phrase, but I think that it is very appropriate in this case. From a low of 6,443.27 on March 6th, 2009, we have seen the Dow nearly quadruple in value since the last financial crisis. It has been a remarkable run, and it has lasted far longer than virtually any of the experts anticipated. But what goes up must come down eventually.

This stock market bubble was almost entirely fueled by easy money from the Federal Reserve, and now that easy money has been cut off. The insiders can see the handwriting on the wall and they are getting out of the market at a pace that we haven’t seen since 2008. Could it be possible that the day of reckoning is finally at our door?

Of course we have been hearing warnings like this for a very long time. In fact, I have been warning about a market crash for a very long time. Just the other day, one of my readers insisted that if something was going to take place that “it would have happened by now”. In the Internet age, we have been trained to have very short attention spans, but financial bubbles don’t care about the length of our attention spans. They all inevitably come to a bitter end, but they don’t reach that end until they are good and ready.

And without a doubt we are on borrowed time, but meanwhile so many of us that are continually warning about what we are facing are getting a lot of heat for it.

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It Is Actually Not Sexist to Want Pelosi to Step Down

Editor’s note: The opinions in this article are the author’s, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of MSN or Microsoft.

Apparently taking a page out of Hillary Clinton’s handbook, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi has suggested that the calls for her to step down from her position are sexist.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Pelosi was asked if she had ever considered not running for speaker if the Democrats were to win control of the House.

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The Direct Connection Between Devoutness in Islam and Violence

It is commonplace for Leftists and Islamic apologists in the West to claim that jihadis are ignorant of Islam, and indifferent to it. “Terrorists don’t kill for their religion,” asserted an article published in the World Economic Forum last year, just one of many that claim the same thing. Yet again and again we see just the opposite: jihadis are devout, informed Muslims.

Here is yet another example: According to the Times Ledger, a Muslim named Ahmed Parveg “pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn federal court last month to helping the overseas terrorist organization ISIS.” Parveg “traveled to Saudi Arabia [in] June 2017 to celebrate the Islamic religious holiday Ramadan, then attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIS.”

Parveg was a fan of the now-dead jihad mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki, and had bookmarked on his computer a recording of a sermon in which al-Awlaki preached: “Jihad must continue and fighting must go on until the Final Hour comes. Fighting is only increasing as prescribed by Allah -- now it is time to carry the battle to further lands outside of Arab countries.”

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UK selects Scottish site for first spaceport

The UK has selected the site for its first ever spaceport. The chosen location is Sutherland, on the A’Mhoine peninsula on the north coast of Scotland. Local business development agency, the Highlands and Islands Enterprise, will receive £2.5 million in funding ($3.3 million) from the UK government, with the first rocket launches planned for the early 2020s.

The spaceport is being built with the hope that the UK can grab a slice of the growing market for small satellite launches. The country is already home to many component and satellite makers, like Printech Circuit Laboratories and Surrey Satellite Technology, and adding the ability to launch satellites locally would increase its international appeal.

In recent years, a new breed of small satellites has created a boom in the space industry. These satellites are often the size of a shoebox or smaller, and far more technologically capable than older, larger models. This means they’re cheaper to launch and can be put to a range of uses: from communications, to weather monitoring, to scientific experiments. It’s estimated that the global market for such launches (including supporting infrastructure) is currently worth $339 billion, and will grow eightfold by 2045 to $2.7 trillion.

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Congress Wants Recognition of Israeli Sovereignty Over Golan Heights

Despite failed bid, hearing will press Trump admin to support Israeli ownership of contested land

Congress is renewing efforts to press the Trump administration into recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the contested Golan Heights region on Israel's northern border with Syria, bucking efforts by GOP leadership to kill the effort, according to conversations with lawmakers.

The House's National Security Subcommittee, led by chairman Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) will hold a hearing Tuesday to examine how recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the territory could bolster U.S. national security efforts to stem the flow of terrorists in the Jewish state and elsewhere in the region by giving the Jewish state unilateral control over the Syrian territory, where Iranian-backed fighters and other jihadists have been spotted since the start of a bloody civil war.

The push to have the Trump administration formally recognize Israel's sovereignty over the territory comes following a Monday afternoon press conference between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladamir Putin, where the two leaders discussed efforts to decrease tension in Syria.

When DeSantis and other Republicans pushed a congressional resolution recognizing Israeli control over the Golan Heights in May, it was nixed by GOP leadership who were seeking to prevent such a vote on the heels of the Trump administration's successful effort to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

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Not ‘Crumbs’: Cookie Maker Hires 5, Raises Pay, Expands Under Tax Cuts

The overhaul of the tax code by congressional Republicans didn’t produce just crumbs for the business of a popular cookie maker based in Florida.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has meant hiring, raises, investment in new equipment, and expanded operations, he says.

“It has had a direct impact on us,” Joseph Semprevivo, founder, CEO, and president of Joseph’s Lite Cookies, told The Daily Signal in a phone interview.

“We have added five more positions, we’ve expanded our factory, exclusively for … the sugar-free pancake syrup [and] we are launching into another business, a honey business,” Semprevivo said.

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The Left's dismally weak case against Brett Kavanaugh

The venerable Washington Post, the newspaper that brought down a Republican president and spawned at least two Hollywood movies, a paper backed by the resources of the wealthiest man in America, sicced three reporters (including a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter) and six researchers on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

This fearsome team produced two exposes on the nominee revealing that — drum roll, please — Kavanaugh drinks Budweiser at his local pub and used a credit card to buy season tickets to his hometown baseball team.

When NARAL, the multimillion-dollar abortion lobby, trained its resources on the man, they came up with — another drum roll, if you please — a tweet mocking his name and calling him a frat boy.

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The real racists in the Trump era, Harvard discriminates against Asian-Americans

In modern America, certain elites believe that engaging in racial discrimination is not only acceptable, but desirable. Such racism comes not from President Trump, who is daily lambasted as a racist by his critics. Rather, it is practiced systematically by one of the most prestigious institutions in the country: Harvard University.

Let us begin with anecdotal evidence.

Richard Jenkins, an 18-year-old from Philadelphia, made national news recently when he was accepted into Harvard. As a child, he battled poverty, health problems, and homelessness. He decided to focus on his studies and believed school to be his path to a better life. When it came time for college, Harvard sent him an email encouraging him to apply for admissions. He did, and was accepted on a full scholarship.

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