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Friday, May 24, 2019

Troopers To Target Impaired, Aggressive, Distracted Drivers Over Memorial Day Weekend

(PIKESVILLE, MD) – With extra traffic expected this Memorial Day weekend, additional Maryland state troopers will be on patrol and using a variety of initiatives to keep traffic moving, respond quickly to highway incidents and take appropriate enforcement action when violations are observed that threaten the safety of travelers.

Beginning Friday, troopers from each of the 23 Maryland State Police barracks statewide will be focusing enforcement efforts on impaired driving, aggressive driving, speeding, distracted driving and other violations that often contribute to highway tragedies. Additional troopers will be working overtime assignments funded by highway safety grants from the Maryland Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office.

Last Memorial Day weekend, troopers conducted 7,496 traffic stops, made 121 DUI arrests, 40 criminal arrests and 66 warrant arrests. State police also issued 1,840 speeding citations, 188 seat belt citations, 3,009 additional citations and 4,420 warnings over last year’s holiday weekend, which spanned from May 25 to 28, 2018. Troopers also responded to 371 crashes, including two that were fatal over that span.

This year’s holiday weekend also coincides with the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign that has troopers and other law enforcement agencies focusing on seat belt enforcement efforts. The effort also included an additional focus on enforcement of “Move Over” laws. On May 16, a day where law enforcement specifically targeted such enforcement, Maryland State Police issued 77 citations and 372 warnings to Move Over law violators.

In addition to working enforcement in cooperation with local police departments, troopers will be working closely with personnel from the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration. MDOT SHA provides significant help arranging detours at crash sites and conducting courtesy patrols to assist motorists.

According to AAA, an estimated 918,000 Marylanders are planning a getaway for Memorial Day weekend, including 819,000 who plan to drive to their destination. This represents a 3.4 percent increase in travelers from a year ago.

With so many motorists expected to be on the road, drivers can check travel conditions and delays before traveling. SHA provides up-to-date traffic and road conditions at roads.maryland.gov, or chart.state.md.us. Traffic conditions are also available at md511.org, or by safely dialing 511 on your cell phone.

Every year more than 160 lives are lost and thousands more are injured in Maryland in crashes involving impaired drivers, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation. Please don’t drink and drive this weekend.

If you are attending a Memorial Day gathering:
  • Designate your sober driver in advance and give that person your car keys.
  • If you’re planning on driving, avoid drinking.
  • Consider using public transportation, call a taxi or use a ride-share service if you don’t have a sober driver.
  • Don’t let a friend drive if you think they are impaired.
  • If you see someone who you believe is driving impaired, call police.
  • Always buckle up.
  • Don’t text, use a cellphone that is not hands-free or drive distracted.
If you are hosting a Memorial Day gathering:
  • Remember, you can be held liable if someone you served alcohol to ends up in an impaired-driving crash.
  • Serve plenty of food and non-alcoholic beverages
  • Ensure sober drivers or alternative modes of transportation are set up in advance for guest who are planning to drink alcoholic beverages.
  • Have contact information for local taxi companies readily available.
  • Take away the keys from anyone who is thinking of driving impaired.

Men Paid More Than Women in Kamala Harris’s Senate Office and Campaign


A new plan from Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) to eliminate the gender pay gap would fine companies if they are unable to prove they're paying men and women equally, something Harris isn't currently achieving in either her official office or on her campaign, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found.

The policy proposal from Harris mandates large companies to obtain an "equal pay certification" by showing they are paying men and women equally. Companies would be fined 1 percent of their daily profits for every 1 percent of a gender pay gap that exists, unless they could prove the gap could be explained by other factors, such as experience or performance.

The California senator and presidential contender has some explaining to do.

Analysis found men were paid a higher median salary than women both in Harris's Senate office and on her campaign.

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PELOSI STUTTERS, GOES BLANK During Presser — After Trump BLASTS Her in White House

Where am I?

President Trump spoke with reporters on Wednesday morning following his meeting with Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.

This was also after Pelosi told reporters earlier that President Trump was involved in a “cover-up.”


President Trump left the meetings and held an impromptu press conference with the liberal White House press corps.

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The Deep State’s ‘Insurance Policy’ Was Obstruction – But President Trump Never Obstructed and Crushed Obama’s Deep State!

The Deep State players in the FBI left a clue of their plans when they called what they were doing an ‘Insurance Policy’. Their plans were to catch President Trump obstructing their fraudulent investigation. But the President outsmarted them and by not obstructing ended their soft coup!

As previously reported, a portion of the approximately 10,000 texts messages sent between FBI agent Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page were released in 2017. Among the messages is an exchange revealing Strzok and Page discussed an ‘insurance policy,’ against a Trump presidency.

The text from Peter Strzok to Lisa Page said this:

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US Attorney John Durham Examining Documents Generated by Inter-Agency “Fusion Cell” Set up by John Brennan in Mid 2016

According to DOJ sources, US Attorney John Durham is examining documents generated by an inter-agency “fusion cell” that former CIA Chief John Brennan set up in mid 2016.

Attorney General Barr appointed special prosecutor John Durham to investigate the origins of Spygate and it was recently revealed the probe is much broader than previously known.

Barr and Durham are working closely with CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray on surveillance issues related to Trump’s 2016 campaign.

This suggests a broader inter-agency effort is underway which is why former CIA Director John Brennan, whose fingerprints are all over Spygate, is lashing out at Trump and Barr on Twitter and in media appearances.

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Photo Release: Governor Hogan Celebrates Start of Summer In Ocean City

ANNAPOLIS, MD - Governor Larry Hogan today celebrated the unofficial beginning of summer by placing the first umbrella of the season on the beach in Ocean City, Md., bringing back a special event that took place more than 70 years ago. This ceremonial event first took place in 1946, when Maryland Governor Harry O’Connor joined Ocean City Mayor Daniel Trimper Jr. to officially start the summer season in Ocean City by placing an umbrella in the sand. Governor Hogan was joined by Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan as well as Ocean City Council Members.
umbrella
“Today, I’m pleased to join Mayor Meehan as we bring back a great Ocean City tradition and officially plant the first beach umbrella of the summer season,” said Governor Hogan. “There are a total of 100 umbrellas here today to represent the 100 days of summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.”
photo
Ocean City receives around eight million visitors annually, with the majority visiting during the summer months. Visitors can enjoy up to ten miles of beach, a three-mile boardwalk, seventeen championship golf courses, and over 200 restaurants. You can find a list of free summer family events here.

Mexican national, 19, 'stabs to death a grandmother, 75

A 19-year-old man has been arrested on a capital murder charge in Texas after police say he confessed to stabbing a 75-year-old woman for refusing to help him fix his broken-down truck.

Marco Cobos, who is a Mexican national living in Houston, was arrested on Monday night in the death of Etta Nugent after returning to the scene of the crime.

Cobos is homeless and had been living in a stolen truck in the area of Nugent's home in the 8100 block of Neff Street for at least two days leading up to the deadly home invasion.

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Democrat Congresswoman Accuses Border Patrol Of Murdering Kids In Bizarre Rant

I’m sure this will spawn dozens of breathless fact checks in the media right?

Today, acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan was testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, specifically dealing with the emergency on the border. Then things got really weird.
“Why do these tragedies keep happening,” Rep. Underwood asked
I just want to point out how ludicrous this question is. We have over 100,000 people a month crossing the border illegally. Some of those people arrive sick, dehydrated, or otherwise dealing with physical ailments brought on by the brutal journey north. It’s actually a minor miracle that more people aren’t dying given the circumstances.
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George Washington's Error and the Corruption of Banking

President George Washington received a bill that would create a national bank if he didn't veto within 10 days. National-government power to print money not backed 100% by reserves of gold or silver had been voted down by Washington's Constitutional Convention by a supermajority of 9 to 2. Four short years later, Treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton claimed the opposite: that the Constitution implies that the national government can create a national bank that prints fractional-reserve money. Washington ran with this, didn't veto, and instead signed the bill creating the national bank.

President Andrew Jackson received a bill that would renew the charter of a national bank that printed fractional-reserve money if he didn't veto within ten days. Jackson vetoed.

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In Money We Trust?

Look at the dollar bills in your wallet. They say they are "legal tender for all debts."

But are they? What makes them valuable? What makes them worth anything?

Each bill says, "In God We Trust." But God won't guarantee their value.

The $20 bill depicts the White House. Congress is on $50s. But neither guarantees the value of our dollars.

I wouldn't trust them if they did. I don't trust politicians, generally, but I especially don't trust them with money. Since President Richard Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard, the dollar has lost 80 percent of its value.

So what makes money trustworthy? 


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NYC Department of Education: ‘Individualism’ Is ‘White Supremacy Culture’

The New York City Department of Education has instructed its teachers that “objectivity” and “individuals” are “white supremacist” concepts.

According to a report from the New York Times, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza gave a presentation about “white supremacy” culture. In the lesson, Carranza claims that concepts like “perfectionism,” “paternalism,” and “objectivity” are part of “white supremacy culture.”

Surprisingly, documents from Carranza’s presentation do little to tie these concepts to “white supremacy.” A graphic from Carranza’s lesson explains why “objectivity” is a negative concept. “This can lead to the belief that there is an ultimate truth and that alternative viewpoints or emotions are bad, it’s even inherent in the ‘belief that there is such a thing as being objective,'” the graphic reads.

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Pete Buttigieg: Acting in America’s Interests Not Always Right

Mayor Pete Buttigieg believes that choosing America first is not always “the right thing to do.”

Buried in a glowing Newsweek profile of his military service, Buttigieg chose Graham Greene’s The Quiet American to dissect American foreign policy.

To me, it’s about how Americans can persuade ourselves to do all kinds of things, based on the idea that our interests by definition are good, and morally good. And it just doesn’t work that way. Even for an exceptional country like us, it is not true as a matter of course that anything that appears to make America better off is the right thing to do.
The main character in The Quiet American is a CIA agent who tries to overthrow the ruling regime in Vietnam using guerrilla tactics.

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Legalization Gave Police Time to Fight Real Crime

A key promise of legalization is that it will free up police resources to fight real crime.

That appears to have happened in the first two legalization states, Washington and Colorado.

In a 2018 study in Police Quarterly, ‘Marijuana Legalization and Crime Clearance Rates’, an independent Washington State University research team crunched the FBI’s crime statistics and saw “no negative effects of legalization on crime clearance rates. … Moreover, evidence suggests some crime clearance rates have improved.”


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BETO SPREADS FALSEHOODS ABOUT TRUMP IN CNN TOWN HALL

Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke shared multiple statements during his town hall on CNN Tuesday night that were false. O’Rourke tried using this town hall, among other recent media hits, to jumpstart his campaign.

O’Rourke referenced a debunked claim about President Donald Trump in his answer to the first question asked by an audience member.

“Describing those immigrants who come to this country as rapists and criminals, though they commit crimes at a far lower rate than those who are born in this country, describing asylum seekers as animals or an infestation — an infestation is how you might describe a termite or a cockroach, something you want to stamp out, something less than human,” he explained.

O’Rourke’s claim that Trump referred to immigrants as “animals,” was a reference to a statement the president made during an immigration roundtable back in May, 2018. In the full clip of Trump’s remarks, it becomes clear that the president specifically called MS-13 gang members “animals.” The hoopla began when a shortened clip, that cut out a participant’s comment about the gang, went viral.

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Black man, 27, 'LAUGHED from behind bars in calls to his girlfriend about the white woman he shot dead

A suspect charged with fatally shooting a woman and wounding seven others at a Nashville church in 2017 reportedly laughed about it with his then-girlfriend.

The October 2017 calls were replayed in court Thursday in the trial of 27-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson. The shooting rampage killed 38-year-old Melanie L. Crow of Smyrna, Tennessee.

She was shot in the church parking lot while heading to her car to get a cough drop, and dropped her Bible and notes from the worship ceremony that had just concluded, Deputy District Attorney Amy Hunter said.

Jurors began deliberating in the afternoon and will resume Friday. A transcript of the calls shows Samson said he heard the shooting victims saying 'some funny (expletive)' when he was on the floor of Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in September 2017 after being shot during a tussle with a churchgoer.

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Joe Biden’s Shift on Marijuana Came Days Before Fundraiser With Pro-Legalization Donor

Former vice president Joe Biden's policy reversal on marijuana, which he just a few years ago called a "gateway drug," came just a few days before a Tuesday night fundraiser with Florida mega-donor and marijuana legalization advocate John Morgan.

Morgan is a well-known political fundraiser in Florida who raised millions of dollars for Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016. He has also used his wealth to fund ballot initiatives in support of liberal policies such as legalizing medical marijuana. Morgan spent over $9 million on the 2016 ballot initiative that legalized medical marijuana in Florida and recently expressed his desire to commit resources to a potential 2020 recreational legalization ballot measure. Morgan has now begunorganizing and donating to efforts to get a recreational marijuana legalization initiative on the Florida ballot in 2020.

Morgan endorsed Biden shortly after he officially entered the Democratic primary, calling him a "compassionate capitalist" and "a man of character." But his support of marijuana legalization puts him at odds with Biden, who has a long record opposing measures supported by marijuana legalization advocates.

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Trump unloads on Nancy Pelosi: 'She's a mess'

President Trump unloaded on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, calling her "a mess" as the White House escalates political attacks over Democratic investigations of Trump.

"She's a mess, look, lets face it," Trump said, accusing Pelosi of not understanding the pending United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade, which must pass the House.

"She does not understand it. And [administration trade officials] sort of feel she is disintegrating before their eyes," Trump said.

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Feinstein Had Dinner Meeting With Iran's Foreign Minister

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) had a dinner meeting with Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, Politico Playbook reported Thursday morning—a move even the left-leaning media outlet called “unusual.”

Feinstein’s staff told Politico the meeting, which took place a few weeks ago, was “in consultation with the State Department” but it was not at State’s request that she go.

"The office was in touch with State in advance of the meeting to let them know it was happening and to get an update on U.S.-Iran activity," the California Democrat’s office said.

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Dems Tied to Obama’s Pro-Iran ‘Echo Chamber’ Spread Terror Regime’s Anti-Trump Talking Points

A cadre of former top Obama administration figures and their allies in Congress have been working to amplify anti-Trump talking points issued by a senior Iranian regime official in what sources have described as an effort by Obama's pro-Iran echo chamber to drive a wedge between President Donald Trump and his national security team.

As tensions mount between the United States and Iran, leading Democrats have become embroiled in controversy for widely repeating anti-Trump talking points first issued by Iran's hardline regime.

Additionally, former top officials from the Obama administration have taken to social media and other outlets to push a narrative that Trump is at odds with his hawkish National Security Adviser John Bolton over how far to go in punishing Tehran for its global support of terrorism and continued efforts to secure contested nuclear technology.

The effort to push this narrative to the media has gained steam following a war of words between Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who is said to have been in contact with top Democrats in Congress and their allies in the Obama administration, sources said.

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Human Composting, Liquid Cremation: People Want to Go Green, Even After Death

Katrina Spade grew up on a dead-end dirt road in New Hampshire. Her family raised cows, and they ate what they raised. She watched the animals die -- sometimes naturally, sometimes slaughtered for food. Spade’s parents worked in the health-care industry and often spoke about their patients’ end-of-life struggles and their deaths. None of it was morbid to Spade. “From an early age,” she says, “I always had a good idea of the cycle of life.”

Later on, while she was pursuing a degree in architecture, Spade began thinking about Western death rituals. Dying is an inherent, natural part of life. Why, she wondered, did humans insist on being cremated or else embalmed with formaldehyde, sealed inside a lacquered casket and entombed in the ground? Both practices are harmful to the environment.

“They didn’t feel meaningful to me,” she says. “Back when I was thinking about cremation and burial, I didn’t want the very last thing I did on this earth to be toxic.”

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Governor Hogan Announces Legislative Actions

.........FormalPress release below
ANNAPOLIS, MDGovernor Larry Hogan today announced in letters to General Assembly leaders that, in accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution, he has vetoed the following legislation passed during the 2019 legislative session:
HB 66/SB 252 - Railroad Company - Movement of Freight - Required Crew “Maryland cannot afford to be at a competitive disadvantage to our neighboring states. The increased costs associated with this legislation, negative impact on the approximately 37,300 jobs generated by port activity, and potential to jeopardize the livelihood of Maryland workers who depend on a thriving Port of Baltimore is too harmful to allow these bills to become law.” Read the governor’s letter here.
HB 262/SB 537 - Higher Education - Tuition Rates - Exemptions To build on the success of that program, I proposed legislation to establish the Promise Plus Program, expanding available scholarships and giving all eligible Maryland students—United States citizens, permanent resident immigrants, and undocumented 'Dreamers' alike—the opportunity to receive free tuition for the remaining two years at a public four-year institution. Inexplicably, the General Assembly refused to support this common sense expansion to help all Maryland students. Instead, you adopted legislation that only narrowly expanded existing law to the total exclusion of all Maryland students holding U.S. citizenship or permanent resident ('Green Card') immigration status. This is unfair and unacceptable.” Read the governor’s letter here.
HB 720/SB 830 - Natural Resources - Fishery Management Plans - OystersMy administration strongly opposes secret backroom dealmaking that will endanger the State’s long-term oyster restoration efforts, especially at a time when we are just making measurable progress.” Read the governor’s letter here.
HB 994/SB 839 - Labor and Employment - Criminal Record Screening Practices (Ban the Box) “Employers have the right, and often the need, to know the criminal history of applicants they may hire. Senate Bill 839/House Bill 994 prohibits businesses from requiring an applicant to disclose this important information until the first in-person interview. This would result in costly and time-consuming human resources work that ultimately goes nowhere.” Read the governor’s letter here.
HB 1343/SB 1000 - Public Safety - Handgun Permit Review Board - RepealWhen given an opportunity this year to adopt tougher sentences for repeat violent gun offenders, the legislature refused to act. However, abolishing the Handgun Permit Review Board is not a solution to violent crime problems. It is just another in a long series of politically-motivated and ill-conceived power grabs.” Read the governor’s letter here.
HB 891 - State Personnel - Grievance Procedures This is yet another ill-advised attempt by the General Assembly to insert themselves into the collective bargaining process and to interfere with the good faith efforts by our Administration to negotiate an agreed upon grievance process with the state employee unions.” Read the governor’s letter here.
HB 1281 - Transportation - Bikeways Network Program and Central Maryland Regional Transit Plan“In the final days of the legislative session, language was unfortunately added to House Bill 1281 that fundamentally and inexplicably changes the scope of the Central Maryland Regional Transit Plan, creates unnecessary and costly bureaucratic hurdles, risks federal funding, and impedes our progress to improve transit services in the Central Maryland region.” Read the governor’s letter here.
SB 751 - Governor’s Appointments Office, Appointing Authorities, and the Secretary of Budget and Management - Duties and Reports This unconstitutional law will impede the Executive Branch’s ability to do business and have a chilling effect on our efforts to recruit qualified candidates. Personnel matters are confidential by law for a reason. Applicants for jobs trust their potential employer to be discreet and professional in every way. Having every movement logged and reported will have a detrimental effect on applicants for positions that affect every Marylander.” Read the governor’s letter here.
Also today, in accordance with Article II, Section 17(c) of the Maryland Constitution, Governor Hogan announced that a number of measures will become law without his signature.
  • For a complete list of House bills that Governor Hogan will allow to become law without his signature, click here.
  • For a complete list of Senate bills that Governor Hogan will allow to become law without his signature, clickhere.

Operation “Royal Flush” Disrupts the Illegal Drug Trade Nets 16 in Multi-Agency Drug Investigation


Editor's note: This is an extremely long press release.  Please click the 'READ MORE' to view the entire release.


Sussex County, Delaware –  Operation Royal Flush was a multi-jurisdictional investigation into an illegal heroin trafficking organization involving multiple suspects. This operation was conducted by 11 agencies in Delaware and Maryland and has culminated with the arrest or indictment of 16 individuals on 71 charges. Multiple search warrants were executed and over 800 grams of raw heroin along with two firearms were seized.

On April 22nd, 2019 members of the Worcester County Criminal Enforcement Team, Maryland State Police Heroin Investigation Unit, Delaware State Police (DSP Sussex County Drug Unit and the DSP Governor’s Task Force) concluded an eight-month joint heroin trafficking investigation with the presentment of a multiple count indictment in Sussex County.  An additional seven count indictment was issued in Worcester County, Maryland on April 23, 2019.
The following supportive law enforcement agencies played a significant role in the overall success of the joint investigation: Delaware Department of Justice, Worcester County States Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Ocean City Police Department, Delaware Department of Correction, Pocomoke Police Department and the Millsboro Police Department.
The investigation revealed that Prince Gordon who was living in Ocean Pines, Maryland was the head of a Drug Trafficking Organization distributing quantities of heroin throughout the Sussex County Delaware and the Worcester County Maryland areas. The Drug Trafficking Organization was successfully dismantled as a result of the extensive collaborative efforts of several supporting federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  Through the exhaustive efforts, detectives conducted lawful searches of the following locations:

Missing Person In Delmar

Please contact the Delmar Police Department if you have seen this Missing Person, Alexis Outten. Call 410-896-3131. She was last seen 6:30PM Thursday Night. 74-19-1990

Half TON of Methamphetamine Seized at Texas Border Bridge

Rio Grande Valley Sector Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly a half-ton of methamphetamine at a port of entry in Pharr, Texas. Officials reported the value of the drugs at nearly $19 million.

“This is truly a huge, notable interception of hard narcotics accomplished by our front-line officers in the cargo environment,” Port Director Sylvia Briones said in a written statement. “Our officers’ mindset and dedication is genuinely apparent as evidenced by this outstanding seizure.”

Officers assigned to the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility observed a tractor-trailer approach for entry into the U.S. on May 17. The driver reportedly said he was transporting a load of carrots. The officers referred the driver to a secondary inspection station where a K-9 officer alerted to an odor. Officers utilizing non-intrusive imaging equipment also noted anomalies in the trailer section.

Officials did not provide any information about the driver of the rig — including the driver’s nationality, citizenship, and/or immigration status.

That same day, CBP officers in Laredo, Texas, discovered nearly two tons of marijuana in a tractor-trailer at the World Trade Bridge.

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Lindsey Graham: Pelosi may be 'delusional'

Sen. Lindsey Graham said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that President Trump wants to be impeached is nonsense.
"When she says the president wants to be impeached. I don’t buy that. When she says her caucus is not divided. I don’t buy that. She’s either delusional or misrepresenting where her caucus really is," the South Carolina Republican told reporters on Thursday.

Pelosi said Trump abruptly walked out of a White House meeting Wednesday on infrastructure because he was frustrated Democrats were not planning to impeach him. “The White House is just crying out for impeachment,” the California Democrat said during a press conference. “That’s why he flipped yesterday.”

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Pennsylvania Church Defaced With Pro-Choice Graffiti

A Catholic church in Swarthmore, Penn., was defaced with pro-choice messages spray-painted on its outside walls and doors over the weekend.

Vandals painted phrases including "You do not have the right to decide how others live" and "#ProChoice" on Notre Dame de Lourdes parish, CBS Philly reports.

"It was very shocking to come up to the church and see that. I’d have to say the first half of Mass was me crying the whole time because I was so upset somebody would do that to the church," parishioner Jessica Prince said about the incident.

"If people wanted to come and stand outside our church and protest our beliefs, go for it," Prince continued, "but vandalizing a property, I think, is taking it way too far."

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TRUMP ADMIN PUSHES BACK ON REPORT CLAIMING THEY’VE BUILT LESS THAN 2 MILES OF WALL

The Trump administration is disputing a new report that claims they’ve built less than 2 miles of border wall with nearly $2 billion in funding.

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the U.S. government has managed to erect just 1.7 miles of bollard fencing with the $1.57 billion appropriated by Congress for wall construction in FY18. The figure came from a court filing by a lawyer for the U.S. House of Representatives and made its way onto the Drudge Report.

However, members of the administration say the report fails to fully capture the wall construction that is taking place at the southern border.

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White Democrats Oppose Charter Schools; Minority Dems Support

New data shows likely fault line in 2020 primary

While Democrats are often thought of as opponents of school choice, new data show the story is not so simple: an examination of trends from 2016 through 2018 revealed that while white Democrats have grown staunchly opposed, their Black and Hispanic peers remain in favor of charter schools.

In an already hot 2020 campaign, charters have become targets for left-leaning candidates. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in a speech Saturday called for an end to federal funding of for-profit charter schools, and a prohibition on funding of new charter schools, including not-for-profits. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) sided with Sanders, calling for-profit charters in particular "a real problem right now."

Sanders and Warren are, broadly speaking, in line with the majority view of their party. Education Next, a pro-reform journal, has polled Americans on their views on charter schools since 2013, providing detailed data on party breakdown since 2015. Their polls indicate that charters are consistently more popular with Republicans than with Democrats, and that the schools have slipped to being net unfavorable with the latter group in recent years.

Opposition to charters may have already cost Democrats not only votes, but at least one major election. Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R.) narrow victory over Andrew Gillum (D.) in Florida's 2018 gubernatorial election was partially thanks to a surprisingly high number of votes from Black women: 18 percent gave him their support, double the backing Sen. Rick Scott (R.) received.

The reason for this, William Mattox of the Marshall Center for Educational Options argued in the Wall Street Journal, was DeSantis's support for school choice.

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'The campus has become seriously radicalized'

President Trump and his Cabinet are speaking rarely at this year’s college graduations, even as the annually lopsided measure of liberal versus conservative commencement speakers seems more balanced than usual.

When they do speak, they are opposed by students such as those who walked out Saturday at Taylor University, a Christian liberal arts school in Indiana, unable to abide Vice President Mike Pence as a speaker at their graduation ceremony.

For most of the past 50 years, presidential speeches at graduations have been a staple of America’s spring landscape. President Barack Obama, for example, gave 24 graduation speeches during his eight-year presidency on campuses large and small.

Mr. Trump hasn’t been invisible among the caps and gowns, but bigger public stages, such as those at Ohio State and Rutgers universities, have been closed to Mr. Trump. Both schools invited Mr. Obama.

“The campus has become seriously radicalized in the last few years, and the eggshell-thin temperament of some students won’t tolerate this president, even though most schools would usually be delighted to get the sitting president to address them,” said Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, a conservative group.

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President Trump and Melania visit Arlington National Cemetery

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump paid a surprise visit to Arlington National Cemetery Thursday afternoon to honor fallen soldiers.

The president and the first lady left the White House shortly after 2:00 p.m. to head to the cemetery, where Trump and members of the military placed American flags at grave sites. They visited the section of the cemetery where Gen. John J. Pershing, the American commander in Europe during World War I, and Frank Buckles, who had been the last living veteran of World War I, are buried.

The president's visit comes just before Memorial Day weekend. Trump and the first lady are scheduled to travel to Tokyo, Japan this weekend for meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a state banquet with Japan's imperial family.

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A Viewer Writes.......

I am confused???
Since I was able to understand (84 years ago)conversations, and I was taught that in order to vote you were required of the following;

1) be a citizen or  be NATURLIZED citizen
2) be able to read and write our language (English)
3) be a resident  of the US 

Why  are there efforts to print our election ballots in a language other than English, specifically Spanish in Florida as
indicated by a Florida judge.

Do I need  to be re-advised?

Judge rules to unseal court records in Jussie Smollett case

A judge ordered records to be unsealed from “Empire” star Jussie Smollett’s criminal case, a move that will reveal more information about the controversy surrounding the 36-year-old actor.

Cook County Judge Steven Watkins made the decision Thursday after attorneys representing media outlets pushed to get the records unsealed.

Smollett was accused of hiring two individuals to fake a hate crime against him for his personal benefit and was charged with 16 felonies. The records were sealed after all charges against Smollett were suddenly dropped in March by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

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TRUMP AUTHORIZES $16 BILLION TO FARMERS AFFECTED BY TRADE WAR

President Donald Trump authorized the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Thursday to give $16 billion to U.S. farmers suffering from Chinese tariffs, saying that his administration is fighting for farmers “on every front.”

The White House outlined programs intended to help farmers while giving the president time to work out a beneficial trade deal with China. The funding is intended to help farmers hurt by China’s “unjustified trade retaliation,” according to a White House press release.

“On every front, we are fighting for our great farmers, our ranchers, our growers,” Trumpsaid in a statement Thursday.

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Trump signs memorandum requiring immigrant sponsors to pay for social services

President Trump is signed a memorandum Thursday that will enforce a 23-year-old provision requiring sponsors of legal immigrants in the U.S. to reimburse the government for any social services such as Medicaid or welfare used by the immigrant, Fox News has learned.

The provision was part of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and Welfare Reform laws that were signed by then-President Bill Clinton, but despite being enshrined in federal law, the rule has not been enforced.

Under the provision, each future sponsor of an immigrant would need to sign an affidavit that would spell out the financial responsibilities for the sponsored immigrant and create a collection mechanism to recover funds from the sponsor. The Department of Health and Human Services is to collect the data of the sponsors and the immigrants, while the Treasury Department would collect the funds.

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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-memorandum-requiring-immigrant-sponsors-pay-social-services

Thank God It's Friday

What will you be doing this holiday weekend?

Enjoy Your Memorial Day Weekend At Caribbean Joe's


Well, for once we're going to enjoy a beautiful Memorial Day weekend where the weather is actually going to cooperate. We expect Ocean City to be a mad house. That being said, do like others do and enjoy West Ocean City where you don't have to deal with the traffic and lights every 30 yards. 

Come enjoy the Caribbean atmosphere, great food and great music all weekend, (including Monday). There's no $40.00 cover charge to get in. In fact, there's no cover charge at all. Did you know that Seacrets took in almost $850,000.00 last year with the $40.00 cover charge alone just to get in.

Either way, I hope everyone has an incredible weekend.