The idea that no bankers went to prison for crimes related to the financial crisis is a myth, according to the watchdog overseeing the federal government's bailout fund.
There have been 35 bankers sentenced to prison, said Christy Goldsmith Romero, the special inspector general for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (SIGTARP), in a report to Congress released Thursday.
More than $400 billion in TARP funds were distributed to banks that were in danger of failing during the financial crisis. The TARP inspector general has been prosecuting cases of fraud in the use of those funds.
Many of the crimes involved relatively small amounts of money at smaller banks, rather than massive fraud at Wall Street banks.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Friday, April 29, 2016
‘American Idol’ Owner Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
A top reality show producer, Core Media currently has $398 million in debt.
Core Media Group, the company behindAmerican Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York.
Core was founded a decade ago and was recently brought into a joint venture owned by 21st Century Fox and Apollo Global Management. But as Idol has now aired its last show, it appears as though Core envisions some restructuring. In the bankruptcy filing, the company says it owes $398 million to third parties including from two matured loans from Tennenbaum Capital Partners, Crestview Media Investors, Bayside Capital and Hudson Bay Capital Management.
Idol creator Simon Fuller is the company’s no. 1 unsecured creditor and is owed $3.37 million. A payment demand on April 11 from Fuller is one of the factors cited in the bankruptcy papers as contributing to the decision to file for bankruptcy. A declaration filed in court says that after Fuller left in 2010, he was given a profit share of his shows and money as a consultant. A statutory demand for payment served by Fuller in the U.K. brought the prospect that he could commence winding-up proceedings on Core affiliate 19 Entertainment.
As the second biggest unsecured creditor, former Core chief Marc Graboff, who is now overseeing studio operations at Discovery, is owed $1.32 million in severance.
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Core Media Group, the company behindAmerican Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York.
Core was founded a decade ago and was recently brought into a joint venture owned by 21st Century Fox and Apollo Global Management. But as Idol has now aired its last show, it appears as though Core envisions some restructuring. In the bankruptcy filing, the company says it owes $398 million to third parties including from two matured loans from Tennenbaum Capital Partners, Crestview Media Investors, Bayside Capital and Hudson Bay Capital Management.
Idol creator Simon Fuller is the company’s no. 1 unsecured creditor and is owed $3.37 million. A payment demand on April 11 from Fuller is one of the factors cited in the bankruptcy papers as contributing to the decision to file for bankruptcy. A declaration filed in court says that after Fuller left in 2010, he was given a profit share of his shows and money as a consultant. A statutory demand for payment served by Fuller in the U.K. brought the prospect that he could commence winding-up proceedings on Core affiliate 19 Entertainment.
As the second biggest unsecured creditor, former Core chief Marc Graboff, who is now overseeing studio operations at Discovery, is owed $1.32 million in severance.
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Ted Cruz's Carly Fiorina VP Pick Could Backfire--Badly
On Tuesday, Donald Trump crushed the opposition, winning 110 of the 119 bound delegates available in the “Acela primary” of northeastern states. Ted Cruz tried to bounce back by naming former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his Vice Presidential pick. Cruz is hoping that Fiorina’s roots in California could help him compete better in that state’s crucial June 7 primary. But the Fiorina pick could well assure Donald Trump the GOP nomination.
Donald Trump outperformed by 35 delegates in recent states
There’s no other way to put it: Donald Trump has been on a tear, strongly outperforming projections about his late April delegate count.
On March 21, FiveThirtyEight projected that Trump would gain 71, 31, 19, 10, 16, and 15 bound delegates in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, respectively. Instead, Trump gained 89, 38, 28, 10, 17, and 16, respectively: an outperformance of 35 delegates.
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Donald Trump outperformed by 35 delegates in recent states
There’s no other way to put it: Donald Trump has been on a tear, strongly outperforming projections about his late April delegate count.
On March 21, FiveThirtyEight projected that Trump would gain 71, 31, 19, 10, 16, and 15 bound delegates in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, respectively. Instead, Trump gained 89, 38, 28, 10, 17, and 16, respectively: an outperformance of 35 delegates.
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Wicomico County Executive Bob Culver Announces: Evolution Craft Brewing Company Program ‘PINTS FOR THE PUPPIES’
‘PINTS FOR THE PUPPIES’ was a great way to raise funds for the Humane Society during their recent crisis. For every pint of beer purchased, EVO donated $1.00 to the program.
The Humane Society of Wicomico County and the community are very grateful for this thoughtful contribution to the rescued puppies.
SpaceX just landed a coveted $83 million military contract
Watch SpaceX rocket lift off with Jason-3 satellite
Elon Musk's SpaceX has been awarded an $82.7 million contract to send a U.S. Air Force satellite into space, shattering Boeing-Lockheed's long-held monopoly over military launches.
The contract to launch the Air Force's next generation GPS satellite in 2018 opens a lucrative new revenue stream for SpaceX, which plans to keep costs low by re-using its first-stage rockets.
A successful launch would also prove that the military has more than one option for sensitive launches.
Awarding the contract to SpaceX "achieves a balance between mission success, meeting operational needs, lowering launch costs, and reintroducing competition for National Security Space missions," said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space.
Elon Musk's SpaceX has been awarded an $82.7 million contract to send a U.S. Air Force satellite into space, shattering Boeing-Lockheed's long-held monopoly over military launches.
The contract to launch the Air Force's next generation GPS satellite in 2018 opens a lucrative new revenue stream for SpaceX, which plans to keep costs low by re-using its first-stage rockets.
A successful launch would also prove that the military has more than one option for sensitive launches.
Awarding the contract to SpaceX "achieves a balance between mission success, meeting operational needs, lowering launch costs, and reintroducing competition for National Security Space missions," said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space.
Curt Schilling: ESPN employs ‘some of the biggest racists in sports commentating’
Curt Schilling was fired by ESPN last week for “unacceptable conduct,” which was understood to involve his penchant for sharing politically controversial comments and memes via social media. Now the former pitcher is apparently free to train his fire squarely on the network that parted ways with him.
In an interview Wednesday with the “Breitbart News Patriot Forum” on Sirius XM radio, Schilling said, “Some of the most racist things that I’ve ever heard come out of people that are on the air at ESPN.
“There are some of the biggest racists in sports commentating, and you take it for what it is,” the 49-year-old continued. “You know who they are, you know what they are. I like that they are open because then you know who they are. You know that they exist.”
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In an interview Wednesday with the “Breitbart News Patriot Forum” on Sirius XM radio, Schilling said, “Some of the most racist things that I’ve ever heard come out of people that are on the air at ESPN.
“There are some of the biggest racists in sports commentating, and you take it for what it is,” the 49-year-old continued. “You know who they are, you know what they are. I like that they are open because then you know who they are. You know that they exist.”
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Subject: Congress Warned Against Sending Taxpayer Funds to Russia for Rocket Engines
Conservative advocacy groups warned members of Congress against lifting restrictions on the government’s purchase of Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines for use during national security space launches.
Leaders at Americans for Tax Reform and the Center for Individual Freedom appealed to members of the House Armed Services Committee ahead of a hearing Wednesday asking lawmakers to not allow the United States to send hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to a Russian manufacturer with ties to President Vladimir Putin.
Both groups reacted to suspicions that some members of Congress would propose lifting restrictions on the Pentagon’s purchase of the Russian-made rocket engines during a markup of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday.
“Besides the fact that America has launch systems more than capable of delivering our hardware into space well into the next decade, lifting the ban is a terrible mistake in terms of boosting one of our main international rivals and undermining the billions that we spend defending against Russia,” wrote Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, in a letter to Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Tx.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.
“Purchasing these engines would only serve to boost Vladimir Putin’s military-industrial complex and put our allies around the globe in further danger,” Norquist wrote.
At the heart of the issue is the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin based in Colorado with a major factory in Alabama that has received government subsidies to launch national security satellites for years. The alliance’s Atlas V rocket uses Russian-manufactured engines.
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Leaders at Americans for Tax Reform and the Center for Individual Freedom appealed to members of the House Armed Services Committee ahead of a hearing Wednesday asking lawmakers to not allow the United States to send hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to a Russian manufacturer with ties to President Vladimir Putin.
Both groups reacted to suspicions that some members of Congress would propose lifting restrictions on the Pentagon’s purchase of the Russian-made rocket engines during a markup of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday.
“Besides the fact that America has launch systems more than capable of delivering our hardware into space well into the next decade, lifting the ban is a terrible mistake in terms of boosting one of our main international rivals and undermining the billions that we spend defending against Russia,” wrote Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, in a letter to Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Tx.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.
“Purchasing these engines would only serve to boost Vladimir Putin’s military-industrial complex and put our allies around the globe in further danger,” Norquist wrote.
At the heart of the issue is the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin based in Colorado with a major factory in Alabama that has received government subsidies to launch national security satellites for years. The alliance’s Atlas V rocket uses Russian-manufactured engines.
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Legal Aid Challenges Ban at Maryland Farm
A Maryland orchard and police unconstitutionally prevented a nonprofit from informing migrant workers about their rights and social services, legal aides claim in a federal complaint.
The Legal Aid Bureau Inc, which also goes by Maryland Legal Aid, says its employees make a point of reaching out to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers at least once a year to discuss minimum wage and other rights noncitizens might not know about.
With seasonal workers often living in employer-controlled housing, Legal Aid might be their only access to free legal advice concerning overtime, safe housing, workplace health and safety, and social services, according to the April 20 complaint.
Legal Aid and one of its attorneys, Nohora Rivero, say they ran into an obstacle this past summer, however, while trying to visit Fruits and Vegetables by Lewis Orchard, better known as Lewis Orchards, in Dickerson.
When Rivero and a summer clerk visited the Lewis Orchards on Aug. 18 to speak with its 12 noncitizen workers, farm owners Linda and Robert Lewis "ordered the Legal Aid employees to leave," according to the complaint.
"Linda Lewis immediately called the Montgomery County Police Department, which dispatched Officer Kettering to the scene," the complaint states.
In addition to the Lewises and their farm, Legal Aid's lawsuit names Montgomery County as a defendant, plus Police Chief J. Thomas Manger and Officer Alexander Kettering.
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The Legal Aid Bureau Inc, which also goes by Maryland Legal Aid, says its employees make a point of reaching out to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers at least once a year to discuss minimum wage and other rights noncitizens might not know about.
With seasonal workers often living in employer-controlled housing, Legal Aid might be their only access to free legal advice concerning overtime, safe housing, workplace health and safety, and social services, according to the April 20 complaint.
Legal Aid and one of its attorneys, Nohora Rivero, say they ran into an obstacle this past summer, however, while trying to visit Fruits and Vegetables by Lewis Orchard, better known as Lewis Orchards, in Dickerson.
When Rivero and a summer clerk visited the Lewis Orchards on Aug. 18 to speak with its 12 noncitizen workers, farm owners Linda and Robert Lewis "ordered the Legal Aid employees to leave," according to the complaint.
"Linda Lewis immediately called the Montgomery County Police Department, which dispatched Officer Kettering to the scene," the complaint states.
In addition to the Lewises and their farm, Legal Aid's lawsuit names Montgomery County as a defendant, plus Police Chief J. Thomas Manger and Officer Alexander Kettering.
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Networks Blackout Hassan Scandal
National news networks have ignored the sex scandal that has dominated headlines in the New Hampshire Senate race, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found.
The Boston Globe’s March revelation that Gov. Maggie Hassan’s husband Tom hushed up a sexual misconduct scandal while working as principal of the Phillips Exeter Academy has stirred controversy in the Granite State.
The story, published by the newspaper’s Spotlight division—the subject of an Academy Award-winning film of the same name—led to several other allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers. One teacher has been forced to resign. The story has come to dominate headlines and broadcasts of local media, but has so far failed to capture any attention from national outlets despite its role in a key Senate race.
The story appears to have all of the necessary ingredients for significant media attention. Campus sexual assault controversies have dominated headlines in recent years. Hassan is running against freshman Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in a race that could determine the Senate majority in November. Still, national outlets have failed to cover the story.
The words “Phillips Exeter Academy” appeared in national media markets just three times since the Globe story broke, and zero times in the news division of the largest networks, according to IQ Media, a television-monitoring database. CNBC mentioned the private boarding school in a rerun of Undercover Boss on April 23, while Oprah’s OWN network mentioned it during broadcasts of Undercover Boss: Canada and Family Feud.
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The Boston Globe’s March revelation that Gov. Maggie Hassan’s husband Tom hushed up a sexual misconduct scandal while working as principal of the Phillips Exeter Academy has stirred controversy in the Granite State.
The story, published by the newspaper’s Spotlight division—the subject of an Academy Award-winning film of the same name—led to several other allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers. One teacher has been forced to resign. The story has come to dominate headlines and broadcasts of local media, but has so far failed to capture any attention from national outlets despite its role in a key Senate race.
The story appears to have all of the necessary ingredients for significant media attention. Campus sexual assault controversies have dominated headlines in recent years. Hassan is running against freshman Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in a race that could determine the Senate majority in November. Still, national outlets have failed to cover the story.
The words “Phillips Exeter Academy” appeared in national media markets just three times since the Globe story broke, and zero times in the news division of the largest networks, according to IQ Media, a television-monitoring database. CNBC mentioned the private boarding school in a rerun of Undercover Boss on April 23, while Oprah’s OWN network mentioned it during broadcasts of Undercover Boss: Canada and Family Feud.
More here
Maryland colleges rank among the most affordable in the country, but that’s changing
The study, a collaboration between the Higher Education Policy Institute, Vanderbilt University and the University of Pennsylvania, examined how dwindling state investment in higher education and the subsequent rise in tuition has pushed college out of reach for low-income and middle-income families across the country. Researchers found that despite the economic recovery, college is far less affordable than it was before the 2008 recession.
The state grants and scholarships that made it possible for the neediest students to obtain a degree have dried up, just as the families of those students contend with stagnant wages that make it difficult to cover costs.
“No state will be able to really meet their projected workforce needs unless they educate these low-income students. That realization just hasn’t hit yet,” said Joni Finney, director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania and a co-author of the study.
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Ben Carson Hates To See Genocidal Slave Owner Andrew Jackson Replaced On The $20 Bill
He thinks Harriet Tubman should go on the rarely circulated $2 bill instead.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has a pretty terrible suggestion for how to get a woman on U.S. currency without bumping Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill: put Harriet Tubman on the rarely used $2 bill instead.
After news broke that the U.S. Treasury intends to replace Jackson with Tubman, the former GOP presidential hopeful told Fox Business’ Neil Cavuto he disagreed with the decision.
“Andrew Jackson was the last president who actually balanced the federal budget, where we had no national debt,” Carson said in an interview Wednesday. “In honor of that, we kick him off of the money.”
“I love Harriet Tubman, I love what she did,” Carson continued. “But we can find another way to honor her. Maybe a $2 bill.”
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Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has a pretty terrible suggestion for how to get a woman on U.S. currency without bumping Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill: put Harriet Tubman on the rarely used $2 bill instead.
After news broke that the U.S. Treasury intends to replace Jackson with Tubman, the former GOP presidential hopeful told Fox Business’ Neil Cavuto he disagreed with the decision.
“Andrew Jackson was the last president who actually balanced the federal budget, where we had no national debt,” Carson said in an interview Wednesday. “In honor of that, we kick him off of the money.”
“I love Harriet Tubman, I love what she did,” Carson continued. “But we can find another way to honor her. Maybe a $2 bill.”
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Doctors without Borders: At least 14 killed in airstrike on Syria hospital
International aid organization Doctors Without Borders said at least 14 patients and staff were killed by an airstrike on a hospital it supports in Syria on Thursday.
It said the facility in Aleppo was hit by a direct strike and among the dead are at least three doctors, including a pediatrician.
It said the death toll is expected to rise. It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the strike.
"We condemn the destruction of the Al Quds hospital in #Aleppo, depriving people of essential healthcare. Hospitals are #notatarget, #Syria," the organization, which also goes by the French moniker MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières), tweeted.
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It said the facility in Aleppo was hit by a direct strike and among the dead are at least three doctors, including a pediatrician.
It said the death toll is expected to rise. It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the strike.
"We condemn the destruction of the Al Quds hospital in #Aleppo, depriving people of essential healthcare. Hospitals are #notatarget, #Syria," the organization, which also goes by the French moniker MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières), tweeted.
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Can We Liberate Our Kids From Traditional Schooling?
The last thing dedicated teachers want to think is that they’re fulfilling all the duties of a babysitter and not much else, says educator Mac Bogert.
“I’m often reminded of Mark Twain’s quote: ‘I never let my schooling interfere with my education,’ ” Bogert says. “Learning is among the most exciting and enjoyable experiences we have in life, yet many students and teachers herded into our school systems view school as something to be endured, as if the school day is one long detention.”
Recent findings illustrate the problem. In 2015, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed a decline in math comprehension from fourth- and eighth-graders for the first time since 1990.
“If you want to know how effective schools are, ask a teenager,” Bogert says. “Why do smart kids who enjoy reading and learning find school boring? We don’t need to make people learn, we need to free them to learn.”
Bogert, author of “Learning Chaos: How Disorder Can Save Education,” (www.learningchaos.net), and president of AZA Learning, which encourages an open-learning process for all participants, says our educational system is outdated. He proposes new methods parents can use to resurrect a love of learning from their kids.
• Ban rote learning. When preparing to teach within a traditional framework, we aren’t stimulating a child’s curiosity. Rather, we’re serving the framework of control. This sort of top-down, listen-without-interrupting teaching is limiting and alienates many types of learning personalities. Instead, foster engagement, which means an open environment where kids feel free to participate.
• Encourage children to sound off. Ever see an interesting news discussion on television? If no one is saying what you want to say, you can become frustrated to the point of turning off the conversation. Students who are shy or otherwise discouraged from engaging can shut down in a similar way. But when they’re included and encouraged to participate in a lesson, their minds stay focused. They feel they have a stake in the lesson.
• Take a cue from the Internet. We’re not starved for information; we’re starved for stories, which have lessons embedded within them. Simply sharing a story invites learning. That’s why you should allow a child’s narrative of inquiry to be more democratic than controlled. Allow him or her to pursue a line of thought wherever it may go, rather than controlled, assigned resources.
“Ideally, your child will be a participant within a hotbed of ideas, rather than a passive listener in an intellectually sterile environment,” Bogert says. “That may not always be possible at school, but this kind of encouragement at home will help them later in life.”
“I’m often reminded of Mark Twain’s quote: ‘I never let my schooling interfere with my education,’ ” Bogert says. “Learning is among the most exciting and enjoyable experiences we have in life, yet many students and teachers herded into our school systems view school as something to be endured, as if the school day is one long detention.”
Recent findings illustrate the problem. In 2015, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed a decline in math comprehension from fourth- and eighth-graders for the first time since 1990.
“If you want to know how effective schools are, ask a teenager,” Bogert says. “Why do smart kids who enjoy reading and learning find school boring? We don’t need to make people learn, we need to free them to learn.”
Bogert, author of “Learning Chaos: How Disorder Can Save Education,” (www.learningchaos.net), and president of AZA Learning, which encourages an open-learning process for all participants, says our educational system is outdated. He proposes new methods parents can use to resurrect a love of learning from their kids.
• Ban rote learning. When preparing to teach within a traditional framework, we aren’t stimulating a child’s curiosity. Rather, we’re serving the framework of control. This sort of top-down, listen-without-interrupting teaching is limiting and alienates many types of learning personalities. Instead, foster engagement, which means an open environment where kids feel free to participate.
• Encourage children to sound off. Ever see an interesting news discussion on television? If no one is saying what you want to say, you can become frustrated to the point of turning off the conversation. Students who are shy or otherwise discouraged from engaging can shut down in a similar way. But when they’re included and encouraged to participate in a lesson, their minds stay focused. They feel they have a stake in the lesson.
• Take a cue from the Internet. We’re not starved for information; we’re starved for stories, which have lessons embedded within them. Simply sharing a story invites learning. That’s why you should allow a child’s narrative of inquiry to be more democratic than controlled. Allow him or her to pursue a line of thought wherever it may go, rather than controlled, assigned resources.
“Ideally, your child will be a participant within a hotbed of ideas, rather than a passive listener in an intellectually sterile environment,” Bogert says. “That may not always be possible at school, but this kind of encouragement at home will help them later in life.”
National Governors Association Selects Maryland as Model State for Improving Well-Being of Children and Families
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland has been selected by the National Governors Association (NGA) to serve as the model state for an NGA best practices learning lab. The learning lab—“Fostering Cross-Sector Collaboration to Address the Health and Success of Children and Families”—is an opportunity for states to learn from key staff in another state that has already made significant strides on its policy priorities. In Maryland, the Governor’s Office for Children and Children’s Cabinet have been working to promote the well-being of children, youth, and families since 1978.
“I want to congratulate the staff at the Governor’s Office for Children on the honor of being selected by the NGA as a model for the rest of the nation,” said Governor Hogan. “The Office for Children plays a big part in our administration’s goal to change Maryland--especially the lives of children and families--for the better, and I’m pleased they will have the unique opportunity to share their best practices with other states.”
Today and tomorrow, the Governor’s Office for Children will host officials from the NGA and other states at the Governor Calvert House in Annapolis. The Office will showcase what it and the Maryland Children’s Cabinet are doing to help achieve Governor Hogan’s priorities of making Maryland a better state for families and children to thrive, including getting the most vulnerable kids and families on a pathway to economic stability and opportunity.
The NGA will provide nine months of technical assistance to teams from Virginia, Illinois, and Iowa, who are interested in learning from Maryland and fostering cross-sector collaborations to address educational, social, economic, and environmental factors that improve the health and overall success of children and families in their respective states.
About the Governor’s Office for Children
The Governor’s Office for Children works with State agencies and Local Management Boards to promote a stable, safe, and healthy environment for Maryland’s children, youth, and families.
VA policy unfair to some former service members
Bart Stichman, joint executive director at the National Veterans Legal Services Program, talks with Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu on Federal Drive with Tom Temin about a Veterans Affairs Department policy his group says is unfairly denying health care and compensation to more than 100,000 former service members.
GO HERE to listen to interview.
GO HERE to listen to interview.
Report: Israel Hunting Chemical-armed ISIS Terrorists in Golan
Israeli intelligence officials are concerned that an ISIS terrorist cell operating in the southern Golan Heights - along the border with Israel - has obtained chemical weapons.
According to a Channel 10 report, Israel is hunting the cell, located on the Syrian side of the border, amid fears the jihadists have imminent plans to use the chemical weapons in their possession.
The report added that the jihadists are not believed to be planning on using the chemical agents against Israel, but against their enemies inside Syria, of which there are no shortages. ISIS in Syria is currently fighting a multi-pronged war against the Assad regime, rival jihadists from Al Qaeda, other Syrian rebels, and, in northern Syria, against Kurdish forces.
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According to a Channel 10 report, Israel is hunting the cell, located on the Syrian side of the border, amid fears the jihadists have imminent plans to use the chemical weapons in their possession.
The report added that the jihadists are not believed to be planning on using the chemical agents against Israel, but against their enemies inside Syria, of which there are no shortages. ISIS in Syria is currently fighting a multi-pronged war against the Assad regime, rival jihadists from Al Qaeda, other Syrian rebels, and, in northern Syria, against Kurdish forces.
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Activists Tried to Defeat the Maryland Congressman Who Messed With DC’s Pot Laws. Here’s Why They Failed
Harris’s win was a blowout—he finished with 79 percent of votes cast in Maryland’s First Congressional District, which encompasses the Eastern Shore and is the state’s only reliable GOP stronghold. Michael Smigiel, a former state lawmaker who the DC activists supported because of his libertarian stance on drug policy, limped into second place with 11 percent of the vote.
That Harris, who was first elected in the 2010 Tea Party wave, had an easy win is no shock. The First District is Maryland’s most reliable GOP stronghold and the part of the state where Donald Trump performed best in the presidential primary. (Trump did well across Maryland, but romped on the Eastern Shore with nearly 63 percent.) What’s leaving Smigiel’s now-former DC supporters bummed is the magnitude of his loss.
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House Committee Votes to Require Women to Sign Up for Draft
The House Armed Services Committee voted on Wednesday to require women to sign up for the draft during a mark up of the fiscal 2017 defense policy bill.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said the proposal he introduced is not about women serving in combat, something he said he is against. Instead, Hunter said he wanted to force a conversation about whether 18 to 26-year-old women should have to register for the Selective Service now that the administration has opened all combat positions to women.
"Right now the draft is sexist. Right now the draft only drafts young men," Hunter said.
Hunter's amendment achieved bipartisan support, with Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., saying that she too supported universal conscription, even as one of the "coffee house liberals" Hunter said would be against the bill.
"While you may be offering this as a gotcha amendment, I think there's great merit in recognizing each of us have an obligation to be willing to serve our country in time of war and provide some period of time when we do some kind of service," she said.
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Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said the proposal he introduced is not about women serving in combat, something he said he is against. Instead, Hunter said he wanted to force a conversation about whether 18 to 26-year-old women should have to register for the Selective Service now that the administration has opened all combat positions to women.
"Right now the draft is sexist. Right now the draft only drafts young men," Hunter said.
Hunter's amendment achieved bipartisan support, with Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., saying that she too supported universal conscription, even as one of the "coffee house liberals" Hunter said would be against the bill.
"While you may be offering this as a gotcha amendment, I think there's great merit in recognizing each of us have an obligation to be willing to serve our country in time of war and provide some period of time when we do some kind of service," she said.
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Maryland’s onetime mental hospitals cost the state millions of dollars annually
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Six miles outside of Annapolis lie the decaying bones of a dinosaur.
They don’t belong to a prehistoric animal, but to Crownsville Hospital Center, a mostly vacant former asylum that costs the State of Maryland around $1 million a year.
Many of the methods used to treat mental illness when Crownsville opened in 1911 have essentially gone extinct.
The availability and quality of medications have increased, and providers are trending toward treatment through community-based services, like psychiatric rehabilitation, housing and vocational programs, according to Jeff Richards, the incoming president of the Mental Health Association of Maryland and the CEO of Mosaic Community Services.
“There’s so many people that probably 20, 30, 40 years ago would have lived out their lives in one of those large institutions [who] are living in the community and doing great with the right range of support available to them,” Richardson said.
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They don’t belong to a prehistoric animal, but to Crownsville Hospital Center, a mostly vacant former asylum that costs the State of Maryland around $1 million a year.
Many of the methods used to treat mental illness when Crownsville opened in 1911 have essentially gone extinct.
The availability and quality of medications have increased, and providers are trending toward treatment through community-based services, like psychiatric rehabilitation, housing and vocational programs, according to Jeff Richards, the incoming president of the Mental Health Association of Maryland and the CEO of Mosaic Community Services.
“There’s so many people that probably 20, 30, 40 years ago would have lived out their lives in one of those large institutions [who] are living in the community and doing great with the right range of support available to them,” Richardson said.
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Coastal Highway Project Looks To Be Complete By Cruisin’ Weekend
In March, the State Highway Administration (SHA) embarked on an ambitious plan to mill and repave both sides of Coastal Highway from 62nd Street to the Delaware line and in the weeks since, the roadway has been a maze of orange barrels, lane closures and directional signs as crews work practically around the clock. With the calendar flipping over to May this weekend and Springfest and other major events to follow, SHA officials said this week the major repaving project is ahead of schedule for the promised Friday before Memorial Day deadline and it now appears the finishing touches could be in place for the spring Cruisin’ event, which begins in May 19.
“We were hoping originally to be done by May 12, but with this last round of unfavorable weather, May 19 is a more realistic date,” said SHA Media Relations Manager David Buck. “If we get really bad weather the next full week or more, we may also work weekends and this might go closer to May 26. Right now, we are comfortable with the May 19 completion.”
Buck said the project essentially moved south from the Delaware line to 62nd Street and is now heading north along the same stretch of Coastal Highway.
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