Human feces contains gold and other precious metals that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, experts say.
Now the trick is how to retrieve them — a potential windfall that could also help save the planet.
"The gold we found was at the level of a minimal mineral deposit," said Kathleen Smith, of the US Geological Survey, after her team discovered metals such as platinum, silver and gold in treated waste.
A recent study by another group of experts in the field found that waste from one million Americans could contain as much as $13 million worth of metals.
Finding a way to extract the metals could help the environment by cutting down on the need for mining and reducing unwanted release of metals into the environment.
"If you can get rid of some of the nuisance metals that currently limit how much of these biosolids we can use on fields and forests, and at the same time recover valuable metals and other elements, that's a win-win," said Smith.
"There are metals everywhere — in your hair care products, detergents, even nanoparticles that are put in socks to prevent bad odors."
More than seven million tons of biosolids come out of US wastewater facilities each year: about half is used as fertilizer on fields and in forests and the other half is incinerated or sent to landfills.
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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
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Confirmed Case of Tuberculosis Reported at Salisbury University
"There is no risk of additional exposure to SU students, faculty or staff," according to Lori Brewster, Wicomico County Health Officer, "and the risk of infection from previous exposure to the student affected is small."
The student is currently under medical care and is no longer attending classes. Health officials and Salisbury University are collaborating on preventive health measures following the diagnosis.
According to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), in 2013 there were 178 cases of TB in Maryland and 224 cases in 2012.
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Four Juveniles Busted for Busting 30 Car Windshields
Police arrested and charged a three 14 year-old boys and a 16 year-old boy, all of Milford, stemming from multiple incidents that occurred from March 13, 2015 through March 23, 2015 throughout the city.
They were charged with 29 counts of Criminal Mischief Under $1000, 3 counts of Attempted Criminal Mischief Under $1000, 7 counts of Conspiracy 3rd Degree and one count of Resisting Arrest.
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WCSO Most Wanted 3-25-15
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• Black Female, 5’06” 178 lbs
• DOB 03/09/1979 36 years of age
• Black hair, Brown eyes
• Keene’s last known address was Salisbury MD but she may have left the state.
• Keene is wanted by the Sheriff’s Office on a District Court Arrest Warrant issued in September 2013 for Theft under $1000 and Theft under $100
• The state will extradite her from states surrounding MD
• White Male, 5’09” 150 lbs
• DOB 01/13/1978 36 years of age
• Brown hair, Brown eyes
• Tindall’s last known address was Felton DE
• Tindall also uses the name Christopher James Jonson and has multiple tattoos on both arms and legs
• Tindall is wanted by the Sheriff’s Office on a Child Support Body Attachment issued in April 2011 as Unable to locate
• The preset bond is $20,000 cash
• White Male, 5’09” 175 lbs
• DOB 11/09/1956 58 years of age
• Gray hair, Brown eyes
• Taylor’s last known address was Laurel, DE
• Taylor also uses the name Earl Wayne Byrd, Steve Lewis, or Doug Owen
• Taylor is wanted by the Sheriff's Office on a District Court Arrest Warrant issued in November 2013 for Failure to Comply with a Peace Order
• Taylor may be ARMED, should be APPROACHED WITH CAUTION and has history of DRUG ABUSE
• The state will extradite him from DE and VA
• Black Male, 5’03” 145 lbs
• DOB 10/12/1986 28 years of age
• Black hair, Brown eyes
• Price’s last known address was Kensington, MD
• Price is wanted by the Sheriff’s Office on a District Court Bench Warrant issued in January 2015 for Violation of Probation on charges of DWI Alcohol
• The preset bond is $10,000
• Price has a history of DRUG ABUSE
• Black Male, 5’10” 220 lbs
• DOB 01/09/1969 46 years of age
• Black hair, Brown eyes
• Morris’ last known addresses were in Baltimore and Hyattsville MD
• Morris is wanted by the Sheriff’s Office on a Circuit Court Bench Warrant issued for Failure to Appear in August 2010 for a Violation of Probation hearing on the charge of CDS Possess with Intent Distribute Narcotics
• There is no preset bond, he must be brought before the court
• Morris has a history of being a DRUG USER SELLER
Conservative Professors Losing Campus Culture War
Teresa Wagner recently notched a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court, but she can be forgiven if she doesn’t exactly feel like a winner.
Her lawsuit against the University of Iowa College of Law, in which she accuses the school of denying her a promotion over her conservative beliefs, has dragged on for six years. The case has taken a toll on her family and her finances, and she is running out of money to pay her legal bills.
Ms. Wagner is still working at the university, although no longer as a part-time legal writing instructor. In November, she was reassigned to the library after she told university officials that she found a supervisor rummaging through her backpack.
Even if Ms. Wagner prevails at trial and conservatives win the battle, there is little doubt they are losing the war. Those in the trenches say the assault on conservative ideas in higher education continues despite high-profile legal victories by academics over viewpoint bias.
“These victories are incredibly important to prevent the complete silencing of dissent. But we can’t kid ourselves in thinking that these victories are changing the culture,” said David French, senior legal counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice. “They’re just maintaining the toehold for dissenters.”
Mr. French scored an enormous win a year ago in his defense of Mike Adams, the conservative sociology professor who was awarded a promotion, a raise, $50,000 in back pay and $710,000 in legal fees in his seven-year fight against the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
“In the future, we obviously in the conservative movement have to do much bigger things. We have to start taking over universities,” said Mr. Adams, who also is a columnist at Townhall.com. “When you hear about a liberal cesspool like Sweet Briar College [in Virginia] going broke — conservatives need to buy them. We need our own universities because the fact of the matter is we’re battling against extinction.”
More here
Her lawsuit against the University of Iowa College of Law, in which she accuses the school of denying her a promotion over her conservative beliefs, has dragged on for six years. The case has taken a toll on her family and her finances, and she is running out of money to pay her legal bills.
Ms. Wagner is still working at the university, although no longer as a part-time legal writing instructor. In November, she was reassigned to the library after she told university officials that she found a supervisor rummaging through her backpack.
Even if Ms. Wagner prevails at trial and conservatives win the battle, there is little doubt they are losing the war. Those in the trenches say the assault on conservative ideas in higher education continues despite high-profile legal victories by academics over viewpoint bias.
“These victories are incredibly important to prevent the complete silencing of dissent. But we can’t kid ourselves in thinking that these victories are changing the culture,” said David French, senior legal counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice. “They’re just maintaining the toehold for dissenters.”
Mr. French scored an enormous win a year ago in his defense of Mike Adams, the conservative sociology professor who was awarded a promotion, a raise, $50,000 in back pay and $710,000 in legal fees in his seven-year fight against the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
“In the future, we obviously in the conservative movement have to do much bigger things. We have to start taking over universities,” said Mr. Adams, who also is a columnist at Townhall.com. “When you hear about a liberal cesspool like Sweet Briar College [in Virginia] going broke — conservatives need to buy them. We need our own universities because the fact of the matter is we’re battling against extinction.”
More here
Trooper First Class Joshua Kim
On Saturday, August 9, 2014 at 6:23pm, Trooper Kim was patrolling the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge, 90 feet above the Susquehanna River on I-95 in Hartford County, Maryland, when he noticed something was amiss. He spotted a man walking along the side of the busy bridge away from a nearby parked car. Trooper Kim immediately made a U-turn and went back to check on the man.
As soon as Trooper Kim pulled up behind the man, he turned and waved at Trooper Kim, and then began climbing over the three foot barrier to jump off the bridge. With no regard for his own safety, Trooper Kim darted from his vehicle and grabbed the man around his waist to prevent him from climbing over the concrete barrier. Relying on his past experience as a football player, Trooper Kim lowered his body as he grabbed the man so that he would not be pulled over the barricade with him. Trooper Kim handcuffed the man to prevent him from harming himself by running into traffic, before taking him to an area hospital for evaluation. Trooper Kim’s heroic rescue was caught on film by his vehicle’s dashboard camera.
Trooper Kim has been a Maryland State Trooper for approximately two and a half years and is assigned to the JFK Memorial Highway Barracks in Perryville, Maryland.
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Benefit For Tom Neal
Dear Folks,
Tom Neal lost his home, his dog and everything he owned in a tragic fire on February 16 2015. Tom has served both the integrators and poultry growers of Delmarva for over 3 decades. There are very few of us in the poultry community who do not know him. I would like to ask you to please step up and help him rebuild his life. A benefit will be held to help Tom on Saturday March 28 at the Hebron Fire Hall at 5pm. There will be a dinner by Emmings, a silent auction and door prizes. They tickets are 25.00 each, a small price to help some one rebuild their life. Please buy a ticket and come or just buy a ticket. The flyer attached has the information for contact. You need to confirm you are attending no later than Thursday afternoon.
Tom Neal lost his home, his dog and everything he owned in a tragic fire on February 16 2015. Tom has served both the integrators and poultry growers of Delmarva for over 3 decades. There are very few of us in the poultry community who do not know him. I would like to ask you to please step up and help him rebuild his life. A benefit will be held to help Tom on Saturday March 28 at the Hebron Fire Hall at 5pm. There will be a dinner by Emmings, a silent auction and door prizes. They tickets are 25.00 each, a small price to help some one rebuild their life. Please buy a ticket and come or just buy a ticket. The flyer attached has the information for contact. You need to confirm you are attending no later than Thursday afternoon.
Obama's Snub of Nato's Chief Has Europeans Worried
President Barack Obama has yet to meet with the new head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and won't see Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this week, even though he is in Washington for three days. Stoltenberg’s office requested a meeting with Obama well in advance of the visit, but never heard anything from the White House, two sources close to the NATO chief told me.
The leaders of almost all the other 28 NATO member countries have made time for Stoltenberg since he took over the world's largest military alliance in October. Stoltenberg, twice the prime minister of Norway, met Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa to discuss the threat of the Islamic State and the crisis in Ukraine, two issues near the top of Obama's agenda.
Kurt Volker, who served as the U.S. permanent representative to NATO under both President George W. Bush and Obama, said the president broke a long tradition. “The Bush administration held a firm line that if the NATO secretary general came to town, he would be seen by the president ... so as not to diminish his stature or authority,” he told me.
America's commitment to defend its NATO allies is its biggest treaty obligation, said Volker, adding that European security is at its most perilous moment since the Cold War.
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The leaders of almost all the other 28 NATO member countries have made time for Stoltenberg since he took over the world's largest military alliance in October. Stoltenberg, twice the prime minister of Norway, met Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa to discuss the threat of the Islamic State and the crisis in Ukraine, two issues near the top of Obama's agenda.
Kurt Volker, who served as the U.S. permanent representative to NATO under both President George W. Bush and Obama, said the president broke a long tradition. “The Bush administration held a firm line that if the NATO secretary general came to town, he would be seen by the president ... so as not to diminish his stature or authority,” he told me.
America's commitment to defend its NATO allies is its biggest treaty obligation, said Volker, adding that European security is at its most perilous moment since the Cold War.
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Zimmerman: Obama Turned Americans Against Me
George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot a black teenager three years ago, blames President Barack Obama's "racially charged comments" for turning many Americans against him.
In an interview recorded with the lawyer who worked on his 2013 divorce case, Zimmerman calls out the president's messaging following the fatal shooting.
"I think that throughout the process, the president should have done what he said he was going to do and not interject himself in a local law enforcement matter or a state matter and waited until the facts came out, instead of rushing to judgment, making racially charged comments, and pitting American against American," Zimmerman said.
The 31-year-old was asked to single out one "government agency or official" who placed "the highest level of unfairness" on the situation.
"By far, the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama. He had the most authority and in that sense I would hold him in the highest regard believing that he would hold that position and do his absolute hardest to not inflame racial tensions in America," Zimmerman replied.
More here
In an interview recorded with the lawyer who worked on his 2013 divorce case, Zimmerman calls out the president's messaging following the fatal shooting.
"I think that throughout the process, the president should have done what he said he was going to do and not interject himself in a local law enforcement matter or a state matter and waited until the facts came out, instead of rushing to judgment, making racially charged comments, and pitting American against American," Zimmerman said.
The 31-year-old was asked to single out one "government agency or official" who placed "the highest level of unfairness" on the situation.
"By far, the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama. He had the most authority and in that sense I would hold him in the highest regard believing that he would hold that position and do his absolute hardest to not inflame racial tensions in America," Zimmerman replied.
More here
White House Attorneys Scrambling Over Hillary Emails
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s email practices are now becoming a legal headache for the Obama administration, which for the first time has admitted to a court that the former secretary of state withheld her emails.
Administration attorneys are now scrambling to contain the damage by promising to redo what eventually could be hundreds of open records searches that were tainted by Mrs. Clinton’s email practices and those of her top aides, who, according to a New York Times report Monday, also occasionally used private emails to communicate.
The government attorneys, however, insist that the officials didn’t break the law or act in bad faith by not revealing to anyone that it never searched Mrs. Clinton’s emails, despite hundreds of requests for her electronic communications that were unable to be completely fulfilled because the department didn’t gain access to her messages until late last year.
“It’s a con game. They’ve been caught in a con,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest law firm that filed 160 open-records requests that could have been tainted by Mrs. Clinton’s email practices. “The concern is there’s been misconduct and misrepresentation and fraud on the courts, and certainly on Judicial Watch.”
His organization has asked a court to reopen one case seeking Mrs. Clinton’s emails, saying the State Department couldn’t have completed a search last year because it never had her emails in the first place.
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Administration attorneys are now scrambling to contain the damage by promising to redo what eventually could be hundreds of open records searches that were tainted by Mrs. Clinton’s email practices and those of her top aides, who, according to a New York Times report Monday, also occasionally used private emails to communicate.
The government attorneys, however, insist that the officials didn’t break the law or act in bad faith by not revealing to anyone that it never searched Mrs. Clinton’s emails, despite hundreds of requests for her electronic communications that were unable to be completely fulfilled because the department didn’t gain access to her messages until late last year.
“It’s a con game. They’ve been caught in a con,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest law firm that filed 160 open-records requests that could have been tainted by Mrs. Clinton’s email practices. “The concern is there’s been misconduct and misrepresentation and fraud on the courts, and certainly on Judicial Watch.”
His organization has asked a court to reopen one case seeking Mrs. Clinton’s emails, saying the State Department couldn’t have completed a search last year because it never had her emails in the first place.
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Did Jeb Bush Fight Obamacare?
For many conservatives, the fight against Obamacare has been the defining battle of President Obama's years in the White House. For them, and probably a majority of the Republican base, fighting first against the passage of the Affordable Care Act and later pressing to repeal it have been so important because: A) they strongly oppose the substance of the law, and B) they see opposition to Obamacare as the best way to resist the president's overall expansion of government.
That the struggle has so far been a losing one has not changed the fact that conservatives require their presidential candidates to have solid anti-Obamacare bona fides.
Recently a well-known conservative activist, recalling the GOP effort to stop the Affordable Care Act in 2009 and 2010, asked:
"Where was Jeb Bush? I don't remember him being there when we were doing everything we could to derail Obamacare."
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That the struggle has so far been a losing one has not changed the fact that conservatives require their presidential candidates to have solid anti-Obamacare bona fides.
Recently a well-known conservative activist, recalling the GOP effort to stop the Affordable Care Act in 2009 and 2010, asked:
"Where was Jeb Bush? I don't remember him being there when we were doing everything we could to derail Obamacare."
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Larry Hogan says Maryland is already more business friendly
“They were changed to say, ‘Welcome to Maryland. We’re open for business,’” Hogan said Tuesday in a speech to Maryland Business for Responsive Government. “I think they used to say, ‘Welcome to Maryland. What’s in your wallet?’”
Maryland Business for Responsive Government is a political research and education organization supported by businesses, trade associations and chambers of commerce.
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‘Authorized Users’ Would Get ‘Complete Access’ to Patient Health Records
(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) has drafted “interoperability” legislation that would require private electronic healthcare record (EHR) companies to provide unrestricted, one-stop access to patient medical records.
Burgess, a physician, released a draft version of his bill on March 9 to solicit comments by March 13.
It would give “authorized users access to the entirety of a patient’s data from any and all qualified electronic health records (EHR) without restriction” - including “complete access” to health data “in one location, without the need for multiple interfaces (such as sign on systems).”
"Authorized users" include government officials, academic researchers, insurance companies and others besides health care providers.
Under his proposal, the secretary of Health and Human Services would establish a “Charter Organization” made up of representatives of standards development groups, health care providers, electronic record-keeping companies, insurers and group plans appointed by Congress to propose new interoperability rules.
The draft provides “incentives” for practitioners and hospitals that comply, and “penalties” for those who do not, including the loss of federal certification. The HHS secretary would also be required to report “any barriers that are preventing widespread interoperability” to Congress and document “specific steps” taken to overcome the barriers by July 1, 2016.
More here
Burgess, a physician, released a draft version of his bill on March 9 to solicit comments by March 13.
It would give “authorized users access to the entirety of a patient’s data from any and all qualified electronic health records (EHR) without restriction” - including “complete access” to health data “in one location, without the need for multiple interfaces (such as sign on systems).”
"Authorized users" include government officials, academic researchers, insurance companies and others besides health care providers.
Under his proposal, the secretary of Health and Human Services would establish a “Charter Organization” made up of representatives of standards development groups, health care providers, electronic record-keeping companies, insurers and group plans appointed by Congress to propose new interoperability rules.
The draft provides “incentives” for practitioners and hospitals that comply, and “penalties” for those who do not, including the loss of federal certification. The HHS secretary would also be required to report “any barriers that are preventing widespread interoperability” to Congress and document “specific steps” taken to overcome the barriers by July 1, 2016.
More here
Md. Lawmaker Wants In-Vitro Fertilization Benefits For Lesbians
Maryland State Delegate Terri Hill, a Democrat, has introduced a bill that is working its way through the General Assembly that would require state-regulated health insurance plans that cover pregnancy-related benefits to include benefits for in vitro fertilization for lesbians.
Current law includes language that says the sperm used for in vitro fertilization has to come from the husband of the woman using the treatment to become pregnant, according to a Mar. 18 article published in the Baltimore Sun.
Delegate Terri Hill, the bill’s chief sponsor, said the bill is necessary to make Maryland law consistent after the passage of The Civil Marriage Protection Act in 2012 that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.
"We're concerned that we correct the law to reflect Maryland's state on marriage equality," Hill told The Sun. "It was about making sure all Marylanders are treated in an equitable fashion."
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Current law includes language that says the sperm used for in vitro fertilization has to come from the husband of the woman using the treatment to become pregnant, according to a Mar. 18 article published in the Baltimore Sun.
Delegate Terri Hill, the bill’s chief sponsor, said the bill is necessary to make Maryland law consistent after the passage of The Civil Marriage Protection Act in 2012 that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.
"We're concerned that we correct the law to reflect Maryland's state on marriage equality," Hill told The Sun. "It was about making sure all Marylanders are treated in an equitable fashion."
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Governor Larry Hogan Celebrates Maryland Day
Governor Larry Hogan Celebrates Maryland Day
Visits Maryland State Archives, Issues Proclamation
ANNAPOLIS, MD – In observance of Maryland Day, Governor Larry Hogan today visited the Maryland State Archives and issued a statewide proclamation in recognition of March 25, 2015 as Maryland Day. The governor presented the Maryland Day proclamation to Acting State Archivist, Timothy D. Baker.
The holiday commemorates the day in 1634 when English settlers from the Ark and the Dove landed at St. Clements Island, in what is now St. Mary's County. The formal observance of Maryland Day began in schools in 1903 and was named a legal holiday by the Maryland General Assembly in 1916.
“This day commemorates the 381st anniversary of settlers landing on Maryland soil,” said Governor Hogan. “Today, I am reminded of those brave first Marylanders, who came to this land seeking freedom and opportunity when the Ark and the Dove landed at St. Clements Island. While the challenges facing us today are different, I know that the courage and spirit of Marylanders is the same.”
As part of Maryland Day, Governor Hogan visited the Maryland State Archives and viewed historic records, representing Maryland’s four centuries of history including:
- A Relation of the Successfull Beginning of the Lord Baltemore's Plantation in Mary-land – volume of the original account by Father White of the arrival of the Ark and the Dove to St. Clements Island in 1634 and the original settlement of the Maryland Colony.
- Documentation identifying enlisted men who comprise the “Maryland 400” – currently being studied as part of an effort to identify the soldiers from Maryland who defended Long Island in Battle of Long Island during the Revolutionary War.
- Birth record for Frederick Douglass, contained in a slave ledger of 1818.
- Mace from Constitutional Convention of 1967; the ceremonial mace used during Maryland's last constitutional convention.
Ron Paul: After a Twelve Year Iraq Mistake, Time to March Home
Twelve years ago last week, the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq, an act the late General William Odom predicted would turn out to be "the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history."
Before the attack I was accused of exaggerating the potential costs of the war when I warned that it could end up costing as much as $100 billion. One trillion dollars later, with not one but two "mission accomplished" moments, we are still not done intervening in Iraq.
President Obama last year ordered the U.S. military back into Iraq for the third time. It seems the Iraq "surge" and the Sunni "Awakening," for which General David Petraeus had been given much credit, were not as successful as was claimed at the time. From the sectarian violence unleashed by the U.S. invasion of Iraq emerged al-Qaeda and then its more radical spin-off, ISIS. So Obama sent the U.S. military back.
We recently gained even more evidence that the initial war was sold on lies and fabrications. The CIA finally declassified much of its 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which was the chief document used by the Bush Administration to justify the U.S. attack. According to the Estimate, the U.S. Intelligence Community concluded, "[W]e are unable to determine whether [biological weapons] agent research has resumed... the information we have on Iraqi nuclear personnel does not appear consistent with a coherent effort to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program."
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Before the attack I was accused of exaggerating the potential costs of the war when I warned that it could end up costing as much as $100 billion. One trillion dollars later, with not one but two "mission accomplished" moments, we are still not done intervening in Iraq.
President Obama last year ordered the U.S. military back into Iraq for the third time. It seems the Iraq "surge" and the Sunni "Awakening," for which General David Petraeus had been given much credit, were not as successful as was claimed at the time. From the sectarian violence unleashed by the U.S. invasion of Iraq emerged al-Qaeda and then its more radical spin-off, ISIS. So Obama sent the U.S. military back.
We recently gained even more evidence that the initial war was sold on lies and fabrications. The CIA finally declassified much of its 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which was the chief document used by the Bush Administration to justify the U.S. attack. According to the Estimate, the U.S. Intelligence Community concluded, "[W]e are unable to determine whether [biological weapons] agent research has resumed... the information we have on Iraqi nuclear personnel does not appear consistent with a coherent effort to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program."
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Thomas Sowell: A Simple Question
The two Democrats immediately sidestepped the question and started reciting their talking points in favor of Hillary. But O'Reilly kept coming back to the fact that nothing they were talking about was an accomplishment.
For someone who has spent her entire adult life in politics, including being a Senator and then a Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has nothing to show for all those years -- no significant legislation of hers that she got passed in the Senate, and only an unbroken series of international setbacks for the United States during her time as Secretary of State.
Before Barack Obama entered the White House and appointed Mrs. Clinton Secretary of State, Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq had notified their higher ups, stationed in Pakistan, that their cause was lost in Iraq and that there was no point sending more men there.
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New Trend: ‘Radically Inclusive’ Churches That Embrace All Religions And All Lifestyles
If you want as many people to attend your church as possible, why limit yourself to just Christians?
If you want as many people to attend your church as possible, why limit yourself to just Christians?
All over America, “radically inclusive” churches that embrace all religions and all lifestyles are starting to pop up.
Church services that incorporate elements of Hinduism, Islam, native American religions and even Wicca are becoming increasingly common. And even if you don’t believe anything at all, that is okay with these churches too.
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If you want as many people to attend your church as possible, why limit yourself to just Christians?
All over America, “radically inclusive” churches that embrace all religions and all lifestyles are starting to pop up.
Church services that incorporate elements of Hinduism, Islam, native American religions and even Wicca are becoming increasingly common. And even if you don’t believe anything at all, that is okay with these churches too.
More
Traffic Deaths In Md. Fell To 66-Year Low Last Year
Transportation officials said at a news conference Tuesday that traffic deaths in Maryland fell to 442 last year. That’s the lowest amount of traffic deaths in the state since 1948.
The year with the most traffic deaths was 1968, with 872 fatalities.
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Mocking the Obese Should be Illegal, Says Expert
An obesity expert has called for mocking the overweight to be made illegal, putting poking fun at fat people on a par with sexism and racism.
“Our results indicate that discriminatory experiences contribute to poorer psychological wellbeing in individuals with obesity, but there are currently no laws prohibiting weight discrimination,” Dr Sarah Jackson told the Daily Mail.
“If weight was a protected category it might help to reduce the prevalence of weight-related discrimination and thereby improve quality of life and wellbeing for a significant proportion of obese individuals,” added Jackson, calling for the Equality Act 2010 to be amended to protect the obese from “discrimination”
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Where's the 'Dreariest' Place in America?
Last week, meteorologist Brian Brettschneider created a map of Seattle's not-so-rainy climate that made a lot of people inexplicably mad.
Well, he's now produced another assessment of America's lousy weather, and it isn't going to make Northwesterners any less peeved. Using a formula that takes into account annual precipitation, number of days with precipitation, and cloudiness, Brettschneider has determined that the "dreariest" place in the United States to live is ... Seattle.
At least it has company. Seattle shares the dishonor of Nation's Gloomiest Suck-Pit with Buffalo, according to this index, with each city logging high dreary scores of 27. Coming in second are Pittsburgh and Portland, Oregon, followed by Cleveland, Cincinnati, Lexington, and Boston—ensuring Brettschneider will now be hated on both coasts.
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Facebook Reveals its Master Plan – Control All News Flow
In recent months, Facebook has been quietly holding talks with at least half a dozen media companies about hosting their content inside Facebook rather than making users tap a link to go to an external site.
The new proposal by Facebook carries another risk for publishers: the loss of valuable consumer data. When readers click on an article, an array of tracking tools allow the host site to collect valuable information on who they are, how often they visit and what else they have done on the web.
And if Facebook pushes beyond the experimental stage and makes content hosted on the site commonplace, those who do not participate in the program could lose substantial traffic — a factor that has played into the thinking of some publishers. Their articles might load more slowly than their competitors’, and over time readers might avoid those sites.
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TWO OFFICERS HONORED BY AMERICAN LEGION AND KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
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| Pfc. Aaron Morgan |
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| Pfc. Nathan Kutz |
Two Ocean City police officers were recently honored by the American Legion Post 166 and Ocean City Knights of Columbus. Police Officer First Class (Pfc.) Nathan Kutz received the Officer of the Year award from the American Legion on March 16 and Pfc. Aaron Morgan r eceived the similar honor from the Knights of Columbus on March 18. Both officers are members of the Ocean City Police Department’s Traffic Safety Unit and were recently finalists for the Neighborhood Watch Officer of the Year.
“Pfc. Kutz and Pfc. Morgan are both excellent members of the Traffic Safety Unit and are very deserving of these awards,” commented Chief Ross Buzzuro. “They are both exemplary officers and are dedicated to the safety of our roadways.”
Pfc. Kutz began his career with OCPD as a seasonal officer in 2009 and was hired as a full-time officer in 2012. He joined the Traffic Safety Unit shortly after and has gone through advanced training in traffic crash and impaired driver investigations. Pfc. Kutz is recognized by the State of Maryland as a Smooth Operator and has earned numerous awards from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.). He was recently promoted to Police Officer First Class in January 2015.
Pfc. Morgan joined OCPD as a full-time officer in 2006 and is highly trained in traffic safety. He has been a M.A.D.D. DUI award recipient for six consecutive years, State of Maryland DUI award recipient for five consecutive years and is a three-time Smooth Operator Award winner. Also, in 2014, Pfc. Morgan was one of only two officers in the State of Maryland to receive the ACE Award. The ACE Award is given to officers that have arrested at least 100 impaired drivers in a year.
Zimmerman: A person in his circumstances can't feel guilty
George Zimmerman has said he can't feel guilty over surviving a confrontation like the one he had with Trayvon Martin three years ago.
In a new controversial new video released on Monday by law firm Ayo and Iken, the 31-year-old criticized President Barack Obama's reaction to the case involving the death of the unarmed 17-year-old.
It is the first time he has spoken since the Department of Justice cleared him of Civil Rights violations in connection with youngster's death.
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In a new controversial new video released on Monday by law firm Ayo and Iken, the 31-year-old criticized President Barack Obama's reaction to the case involving the death of the unarmed 17-year-old.
It is the first time he has spoken since the Department of Justice cleared him of Civil Rights violations in connection with youngster's death.
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Don't chew gum or use silly string: strange things cities ban
When we think of things on that are on the wrong side of the law, we tend to imagine crimes, weapons and other things linked to violence. There’s a natural inclination to associate laws with danger, but truthfully, this isn’t always the case. Over the years, cities around the world have banned a host of behaviors and objects, from the seemingly mundane to completely bizarre, that might not necessarily deserve it.
While we haven’t encountered a real-life “Footloose” plot just yet, there are still dozens of strange laws out there. Some come with at least some logic, like the New York City law that prohibits residents from keeping ferrets as pets. Other bans, however, make less sense.
Before your next trip, here are some rules that should be on your radar:
In Melbourne, Australia, you can only use your vacuum cleaner during certain hours of the day.
The city of Melbourne cares a lot about noise control. It has a whole list of Environment Protection (Residential Noise) Regulations, which includes prohibited hours for certain “noisy” acts: Power tools, lawn mowers, amplified musical instruments … and vacuum cleaners.
According to this document, residents are not allowed to vacuum their homes between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. On weekends and public holidays, the forbidden morning hours are extended until 9 a.m. So if you’re an early bird who likes to get chores done on Saturday morning: Tough luck.
You can basically drive as fast as you want on the German Autobahn, but don’t run out of gas.
It seems crazy to get fined for something that could happen purely accidentally, butrunning out of gas on the Autobahn in Germany is illegal. This law comes with a painfully ironic catch-22 because walking along the Autobahn is also illegal. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
E-cigarettes are facing serious scrutiny in more place than one
While once considered a “healthier” alternative to actual cigarettes, this electronic version has been under fire lately. Boston Attorney General Maura Healey is seeking to ban the sale of e-cigs to all minors, using the same laws as cigarettes themselves.
In Delaware, a bipartisan bill was filed this week that would ban people from smoking e-cigarettes indoors. The reasoning: Though e-cigs don’t emit a thick cloud of smoke, they still emit dangerous chemicals such as nicotine, chromium and nickel.
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While we haven’t encountered a real-life “Footloose” plot just yet, there are still dozens of strange laws out there. Some come with at least some logic, like the New York City law that prohibits residents from keeping ferrets as pets. Other bans, however, make less sense.
Before your next trip, here are some rules that should be on your radar:
In Melbourne, Australia, you can only use your vacuum cleaner during certain hours of the day.
The city of Melbourne cares a lot about noise control. It has a whole list of Environment Protection (Residential Noise) Regulations, which includes prohibited hours for certain “noisy” acts: Power tools, lawn mowers, amplified musical instruments … and vacuum cleaners.
According to this document, residents are not allowed to vacuum their homes between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. On weekends and public holidays, the forbidden morning hours are extended until 9 a.m. So if you’re an early bird who likes to get chores done on Saturday morning: Tough luck.
You can basically drive as fast as you want on the German Autobahn, but don’t run out of gas.
It seems crazy to get fined for something that could happen purely accidentally, butrunning out of gas on the Autobahn in Germany is illegal. This law comes with a painfully ironic catch-22 because walking along the Autobahn is also illegal. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
E-cigarettes are facing serious scrutiny in more place than one
While once considered a “healthier” alternative to actual cigarettes, this electronic version has been under fire lately. Boston Attorney General Maura Healey is seeking to ban the sale of e-cigs to all minors, using the same laws as cigarettes themselves.
In Delaware, a bipartisan bill was filed this week that would ban people from smoking e-cigarettes indoors. The reasoning: Though e-cigs don’t emit a thick cloud of smoke, they still emit dangerous chemicals such as nicotine, chromium and nickel.
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ARMY AND MSM LAUNCH DISINFO PSYOP AGAINST AMERICAN PEOPLE
Special Operations leadership attempts to downplay military drill listing Texas as "hostile"
Alex Jones breaks down the current disinfo psyop being launched by the federal government in conjunction with Army Special Forces leadership and mainstream media outlets.
As Infowars reported last week, a “realistic” military training exercise involving Navy Seals, the Green Berets and the 82nd Airborne Division known as “Jade Helm 15″ will be conducted throughout Texas, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and Colorado from July 15 to September 15.
The exercise, which will include role-players “wearing civilian clothes and driving civilian vehicles,” lists both Texas and Utah as “hostile” territory.
USASOC spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria responded Monday by labeling Infowars’ reporting as “alarmist” while failing to mention the disturbing designation placed on Texas and Utah.
The exercise is one of many in recent years that not only attempts to acclimate the public to seeing military personnel on American streets, but to also condition troops to feel comfortable operating domestically.
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Alex Jones breaks down the current disinfo psyop being launched by the federal government in conjunction with Army Special Forces leadership and mainstream media outlets.
As Infowars reported last week, a “realistic” military training exercise involving Navy Seals, the Green Berets and the 82nd Airborne Division known as “Jade Helm 15″ will be conducted throughout Texas, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and Colorado from July 15 to September 15.
The exercise, which will include role-players “wearing civilian clothes and driving civilian vehicles,” lists both Texas and Utah as “hostile” territory.
USASOC spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria responded Monday by labeling Infowars’ reporting as “alarmist” while failing to mention the disturbing designation placed on Texas and Utah.
The exercise is one of many in recent years that not only attempts to acclimate the public to seeing military personnel on American streets, but to also condition troops to feel comfortable operating domestically.
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Activist Lawyer Says He’s Behind ‘Whites Only’ Stickers in Austin
Adam Reposa, 40, posted an expletive-filled video on YouTube blasting the media for fixating on the offensive language of the stickers instead of looking into the deeper message.
“They’re getting pushed out, and pretty quick. This area of town is turning into whites only,” Mr. Reposa said in the clip. “Not by law like it used to be, and everyone’s going to jump on, ‘That’s racist!’ ‘that’s racist!’ Man, this town, the way [expletive] works is racist! And I knew I could just bait all of y’all into just being as stupid as you are.”
The sticker reads: “Exclusively for white people. Maximum of 5 colored customers, colored BOH (Back of House) staff accepted.” The sticker also includes the City of Austin logo and says the message is “sponsored by the City of Austin Contemporary Partition and Restoration Program,” the station reported.
More here
9,000 Mainers lose food stamps under new rules
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state’s food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements late last year, officials said.
The number of people that have been dropped from the program has exceeded even the administration’s expectations.
About 12,000 adults who aren’t disabled and don’t have children were in the program before Jan. 1. That number has dropped to 2,680 this month, David Sorensen, spokesman for the Department of Health and Services, told The Associated Press.
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The number of people that have been dropped from the program has exceeded even the administration’s expectations.
About 12,000 adults who aren’t disabled and don’t have children were in the program before Jan. 1. That number has dropped to 2,680 this month, David Sorensen, spokesman for the Department of Health and Services, told The Associated Press.
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Boehner 'Baffled' By Reports Of Israeli Spying
The Ohio Republican told reporters Tuesday he was "not aware of that at all," and was "shocked" by the news reports that the information obtained by Israel was leaked to members of Congress.
"I'm not sure what the information was," Boehner told reporters. "But I'm baffled by it."
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EPA gives poor marks to Pa. on protecting Chesapeake Bay watershed
For the second time in as many years, Pennsylvania’s efforts to reduce agricultural pollution damaging the ecological health of Chesapeake Bay have received failing grades.
The latest report, released last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the bay pollution control programs of Pennsylvania and Virginia have “significant deficiencies that will have to be rectified if clean-up goals are to be achieved.”
According to the EPA, only about 30 percent of Pennsylvania’s 40,000 farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed comply with existing regulations to limit runoff of animal manure and manure fertilizer into streams and rivers.
The report notes that Pennsylvania has relied on voluntary compliance with the agricultural pollution regulations; does not have a consistent strategy or spend sufficient resources to ensure that farmers comply with the law, and that the state only inspects farms in response to complaints.
As a result, the EPA report said, the state has failed to meet the 2013 agricultural pollution reduction targets that were established by the EPA’s “Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint.” The agency set those targets to speed up reductions of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment discharges into the bay’s tributary rivers and streams after President Barack Obama, responding to the slow pace of Chesapeake restoration efforts, issued an executive order in May 2009.
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The latest report, released last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the bay pollution control programs of Pennsylvania and Virginia have “significant deficiencies that will have to be rectified if clean-up goals are to be achieved.”
According to the EPA, only about 30 percent of Pennsylvania’s 40,000 farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed comply with existing regulations to limit runoff of animal manure and manure fertilizer into streams and rivers.
The report notes that Pennsylvania has relied on voluntary compliance with the agricultural pollution regulations; does not have a consistent strategy or spend sufficient resources to ensure that farmers comply with the law, and that the state only inspects farms in response to complaints.
As a result, the EPA report said, the state has failed to meet the 2013 agricultural pollution reduction targets that were established by the EPA’s “Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint.” The agency set those targets to speed up reductions of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment discharges into the bay’s tributary rivers and streams after President Barack Obama, responding to the slow pace of Chesapeake restoration efforts, issued an executive order in May 2009.
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Feds Urge Banks To 'Call Police On Customers'
The Justice Department, which already requires banks to alert on customers who make withdrawals of large sums of cash, is now suggesting they go a bit further in the fight to uncover financial shenanigans – call the police, one blogger reported.
Simon Black, an investor and financial blogger, wrote of a “senior official from the Justice Department [speaking] to a group of bankers about the need for them to rat out their customers to the police,” at Sovereignman.com.
Infowars.com then reported assistant attorney general Leslie Caldwell actually pressed banks to “alert law enforcement authorities about the problem” of suspicious customers who withdraw $5,000 or more so that police might “seize funds” or “initiate an investigation.”
Aside from withdrawing large amounts of cash, suspicious activity can also be defined as “transactions conducted or attempted by, at, or through the bank (or an affiliate) and aggregating $5,000 or more,” Black wrote, citing the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council.
More here
Simon Black, an investor and financial blogger, wrote of a “senior official from the Justice Department [speaking] to a group of bankers about the need for them to rat out their customers to the police,” at Sovereignman.com.
Infowars.com then reported assistant attorney general Leslie Caldwell actually pressed banks to “alert law enforcement authorities about the problem” of suspicious customers who withdraw $5,000 or more so that police might “seize funds” or “initiate an investigation.”
Aside from withdrawing large amounts of cash, suspicious activity can also be defined as “transactions conducted or attempted by, at, or through the bank (or an affiliate) and aggregating $5,000 or more,” Black wrote, citing the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council.
More here
A Comment Worthy Of A Post 3-25-15
10:36 you are absolutely wrong. As soon as the legislation was passed but before the law went into effect on 10/1/14 states attorneys met with people from the AG's office and had a great deal of discussion about the new marijuana law. The Legislature's failure to address the issue relating to paraphernalia was discussed in great detail. Legislation on related paraphernalia will is forthcoming, I assure you. There were other issues discussed as well. Interestingly enough, there were as many opinions on how to enforce the new law as there were attorneys present. I agree that this is nothing more than a stepping stone to total decriminalization and legalization. But there are many more serious issues that currently face the law enforcement officers as they try to enforce these "civil" issues. One that comes immediately to mind is probable cause to search. The definition of probable cause has been similar for decades. Probable cause is that amount of evidence available to a reasonable and prudent police officer in light of his training, knowledge, and experience, to lead him to believe that a crime has been or is being committed and that the person to be arrested or search commited that crime.
Imagine this scenario: A police officer watches someone smoking a joint. He approaches the suspect and when the suspect sees the police officer, the suspect puts the joint out and puts it in his pocket. The officer sees this and reaches into the suspects pocket and retrieves the joint because it is evidence. Legal, right? Good search? I would suggest that as soon as a good attorney gets a case like this, he will challenge the search. You see, probable cause relates specifically to crimes being committed. NOT civil infractions. But the officer (not the States Attorney because they will not be present during this civil proceeding) could argue that the possession of the marijuana is still a crime under Federal Law. See how this gets muddy? Now lets say that when the officer reaches into the suspects pocket, the suspect swats the officers hand in protest of the search. Does a citizen have a right to resist an unlawful arrest or search? Now lets say the officer gets his hand swatted and attempts to arrest the suspect for second degree assault. Good arrest or bad? If the suspect resists and is seriously injured, should the officer be responsible for carrying out the procedure established by the AG's office? This law was so ill prepared or thought through that it should be immediately repealed. Make marijuana legal or illegal. Anything in between is utter non-sense.
What's Gone Wrong With Democracy?
The Economist magazine recently published “What’s gone wrong with Democracy … and what can be done to revive it?” The suggestion is that democracy is some kind of ideal for organizing human conduct. That’s a popular misconception.
The ideal way to organize human conduct is to create a system that maximizes personal liberty for all. Liberty and democracy are not synonymous and most often are opposites. In Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison explained, “Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” Democracy and majority rule confer an aura of legitimacy and respectability on acts that would otherwise be deemed tyrannical.
Let’s look at majority rule, as a decision-making tool, and ask ourselves how many of our life choices we would like settled by majority rule. Would you want the kind of car you own to be decided through a democratic process, or would you prefer purchasing any car you please? Ask that same question about decisions such as where you shall live, what clothes you purchase, what food you eat, what entertainment you enjoy and what wines you drink. I’m sure that if anyone suggested that these choices be subject to a democratic process, we would deem it tyranny.
Our Founders saw democracy as a variant of tyranny. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, “…that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.” John Adams said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Alexander Hamilton said, “We are now forming a Republican form of government. Real Liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of dictatorship.”
By the way, the word democracy appears in none of our founding documents.
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The ideal way to organize human conduct is to create a system that maximizes personal liberty for all. Liberty and democracy are not synonymous and most often are opposites. In Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison explained, “Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” Democracy and majority rule confer an aura of legitimacy and respectability on acts that would otherwise be deemed tyrannical.
Let’s look at majority rule, as a decision-making tool, and ask ourselves how many of our life choices we would like settled by majority rule. Would you want the kind of car you own to be decided through a democratic process, or would you prefer purchasing any car you please? Ask that same question about decisions such as where you shall live, what clothes you purchase, what food you eat, what entertainment you enjoy and what wines you drink. I’m sure that if anyone suggested that these choices be subject to a democratic process, we would deem it tyranny.
Our Founders saw democracy as a variant of tyranny. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph said, “…that in tracing these evils to their origin every man had found it in the turbulence and follies of democracy.” John Adams said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Alexander Hamilton said, “We are now forming a Republican form of government. Real Liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. If we incline too much to democracy, we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of dictatorship.”
By the way, the word democracy appears in none of our founding documents.
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A Comment From Yesterday's Students Win Right To Hold “American Pride”
When last I looked, being American meant being a citizen of the U.S.A. who not only accepts, but embraces the concept and implementation of becoming an American and promoting the Republic. Was I asleep when it became a constant national celebration and embracing of the tenets of from where the citizens came and some official acknowledgement and wholesale adoption of those countries' national and religious endeavors, that America is not the "melting pot", but a place where those secular and religious activities of countries of origin must be adopted?
Certainly, over the centuries, America has adopted those, but in a very gradual manner and only in ways that served to strengthen the Union, not to fragment it into bits and pieces comprised of segments with widely differing values.
Is it gone, that time when people came to the United States to become Americans, to join the masses who had a grand sense of patriotism for their new found country, who BECAME Americans by choice, and expected all others to do the same?
My sense of pride comes from being an American. Not a something-or-other American (insert religion or country of origin), but an American, a product of belief in the Constitution of The United States, the notion that democracy isn't perfect but it's the best show in town, and that America is built upon the ideologies not only of the Founding Fathers, but of the best of the ideas of those who followed them, ideas that promoted and enriched the functions of our national identity.
It's all well and good that you or your people came from whatever country. They/we all did. All of them/us. What matters is that we became and are ONE people, the American people.
Celebrate being whatever as subset of being an American, but do so with the conviction that you are or have become an American, not that you are a (insert country of origin/religion/color/creed) living in America. There's a difference, one that seems to escape the recognition of too many.
Eagle Cam Captures Eggs Hatching Just Over Md. State Line
An eagle cam captured their eggs hatching Tuesday morning.
You can see the little gray eaglets moving around a bit in the nest.
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"Shores of Tripoli"
Why the Marine Hymn Contains the Verse "To the Shores of Tripoli"
Muslim pirates of the past:
Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago, the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!
Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago, the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!
At the height of the eighteenth century, Muslim pirates were the terror of the Mediterranean and a large area of the North Atlantic.
They attacked every ship in sight, and held the crews for exorbitant ransoms. Those taken hostage were subjected to barbaric treatment and wrote heart breaking letters home, begging their government and family members to pay whatever their Mohammedan captors demanded.
These extortionists of the high seas represented the Islamic nations of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers – collectively referred to as the Barbary Coast – and presented a dangerous and unprovoked threat to the new American Republic.
Before the Revolutionary War, U.S. Merchant ships had been under the protection of Great Britain. When the U.S. Declared its independence and entered into war, the ships of the United States were protected by France. However, once the war was won, America had to protect its own fleets.
Thus, the birth of the U.S. Navy. Beginning in 1784, seventeen years before he would become president, Thomas Jefferson became America’s Minister to France. That same year, the U.S. Congress sought to appease its Muslim adversaries by following in the footsteps of European nations who paid bribes to the Barbary States, rather than engaging them in war.
In July of 1785, Algerian pirates captured American ships, and the Dye of Algiers demanded an unheard ransom of $60,000. It was a plain and simple case of extortion, and Thomas Jefferson was vehemently opposed to any further payments. Instead, he proposed to Congress the formation of a coalition of allied nations who together could force the Islamic states into peace. A disinterested Congress decided to pay the ransom.
In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met with Tripoli’s ambassador to Great Britain to ask by what right his nation attacked American ships and enslaved American citizens, and why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.
The two future presidents reported that Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja had answered that Islam "was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise."
Despite this stunning admission of premeditated violence on non-Muslim nations, as well as the objections of many notable American leaders, including George Washington, who warned that caving in was both wrong and would only further embolden the enemy, for the following fifteen years, the American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to over twenty percent of the United States government annual revenues in 1800.
Jefferson was disgusted. Shortly after his being sworn in as the third President of the United States in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli sent him a note demanding the immediate payment of $225,000 plus $25,000 a year for every year forthcoming. That changed everything.
Jefferson let the Pasha know, in no uncertain terms, what he could do with his demand. The Pasha responded by cutting down the flagpole at the American consulate and declared war on the United States. Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers immediately followed suit. Jefferson, until now, had been against America raising a naval force for anything beyond coastal defense, but having watched his nation be cowed by Islamic thugery for long enough, decided that is was finally time to meet force with force.
He dispatched a squadron of frigates to the Mediterranean and taught the Muslim nations of the Barbary Coast a lesson he hoped they would never forget. Congress authorized Jefferson to empower U.S. Ships to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli and to “cause to be done all other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war would justify.”
When Algiers and Tunis, who were both accustomed to American cowardice and acquiescence, saw the newly independent United States had both the will and the might to strike back, they quickly abandoned their allegiance to Tripoli. The war with Tripoli lasted for four more years, and raged up again in 1815. The bravery of the U.S. Marine Corps in these wars led to the line “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine Hymn, and they would forever be known as “leathernecks” for the leather collars of their uniforms, designed to prevent their heads from being cut off by the Muslim scimitars when boarding enemy ships.
Islam, and what its Barbary followers justified doing in the name of their prophet and their god, disturbed Jefferson quite deeply. America had a tradition of religious tolerance, the fact that Jefferson, himself, had co-authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, but fundamentalist Islam was like no other religion the world had ever seen. A religion based on supremacism, whose holy book not only condoned but mandated violence against unbelievers was unacceptable to him. His greatest fear was that someday this brand of Islam would return and pose an even greater threat to the United States.
This should bother every American. That Muslims have brought about women-only classes and swimming times at taxpayer-funded universities and public pools; that Christians, Jews, and Hindus have been banned from serving on juries where Muslim defendants are being judged, Piggy banks and Porky Pig tissue dispensers have been banned from workplaces because they offend Islamist sensibilities. Ice cream has been discontinued at certain Burger King locations because the picture on the wrapper looks similar to the Arabic script for Allah, public schools are pulling pork from their menus, on and on in the newspapers….
It’s death by a thousand cuts, or inch-by-inch as some refer to it, and most Americans have no idea that this battle is being waged every day across America. By not fighting back, by allowing groups to obfuscate what is really happening, and not insisting that the Islamists adapt to our own culture, the United States is cutting its own throat with a politically correct knife, and helping to further the Islamists agenda.
Sadly, it appears that today’s America would rather be politically correct than victorious.
Any doubts, just Google - Thomas Jefferson vs the Muslim World.
Any doubts, just Google - Thomas Jefferson vs the Muslim World.
I don't know who wrote this piece, but I found it to be very interesting.
Not much has changed, has it?
State Board Sets Process For School Calendar Waivers
Board Authorizes State Superintendent To Make Decisions
The Maryland State Board of Education today voted to allow local school systems to apply for waivers of up to three days from the 180-instructional day requirement, and authorized the State Superintendent to make the waiver decisions on a case-by-case basis.
The Board asked that each local system include in its waiver request an outline of modifications made to the system’s calendar to meet instructional needs of students.
“Instructional time is critically important as educators throughout the State work to strengthen student achievement,” said Dr. Charlene Dukes, president of the Maryland State Board of Education. “But the reality is that our systems were forced this winter to make some tough closing decisions for the safety of their students and staff. That required us to take this important step.”
No timetable has been set for decisions on the waiver requests. Eleven school systems have already requested waivers, and others may do so in the coming weeks.
Maryland residents – and Maryland school systems in particular – have again been working through an active winter, particularly late in the season. Many school systems exceeded the number of inclement weather days that had been built into their calendars.
The Maryland State Board had already allowed school systems to open classrooms on holidays to make up for some of the lost instructional time. The State has granted approval to four systems to open on the Monday after Easter, a State school holiday.
The State Board has been confronted with confounding weather before. In calendar year 2009-2010, and again last school year, Maryland schools dug through more extreme winters than in 2014-15. The State Board authorized the State Superintendent to waive up to five instructional days those two years.
LegalShield Lunch and Learn at the WY&CC on Wednesday, April 15
Salisbury, MD – LegalShield Independent Associate Ritchie Russell will host a Lunch and Learn on Wednesday, April 15 from 12 - 1 p.m. at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. Attendees will learn how LegalShield can provide access to affordable legal and identity theft advice and services, in order to worry less and live more.
Those planning to attend the event are encouraged to RSVP by Friday, April 10 to Scott Russell at 803-795-9483.
Those planning to attend the event are encouraged to RSVP by Friday, April 10 to Scott Russell at 803-795-9483.
Save the Bees!!!
I urge you to call the Obama administration TODAY and tell them what toxic pesticides are doing to our bees.
Let's show the administration that we will stand up to save our bees and our food system.
This pilot hit the nail right on the head in his open letter
By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot
I've been trying to say this since 911, but you worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.
On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers.
The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.
How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbors and children?
The events of September 11 changed the answer.. It is not MY responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.
I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether or not you love America ..... Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation; that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah will destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America?? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America. Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent.... No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do for America - our great country - at this time of crisis, at this time of war?
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