Salisbury News

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Donald Trump to John Lewis: Focus on Your 'Crime-Infested District' Instead of Complaining About the Election

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that Democratic Georgia Rep. John Lewis should pay more attention to the crime plaguing his district than bellyache over the election results.

“Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “All talk, talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!”

Lewis’s district encompasses most of Atlanta, named as one of America’s top murder capitalsby the FBI. Here are a sampling of crime headlines from the first two weeks of 2017:

Debunking Loretta Lynch's One-Sided 'Chicago Cops Are Racist Villains' Statistics

Is it fake news when on MLK weekend Loretta Lynch issues a scorching 164 page report blasting Chicago police for using force on Blacks 10 times more often then Whites... but nowhere mentioning that Blacks are murdered 15 times more often than Whites, or that Blacks are the murders 20 times more often than Whites, or that Police are 30 times more often to be killed by a Black than by a White?

Seems like a shot in the face at Jeff Sessions and a gift to BLM and civil rights leaders, in the final hour...

Statistical Ideas' blog's Salil Mehta exposes the one-sided statistics outgoing AG Loretta Lynch used to villify Chicago Cops...

Outgoing Attorney General for the Department of Justice, Loretta Lynch, has distributed an environmentally-friendly, 164-page report that finds (after a year-long investigation) that my hometown Chicago Police Department "engages in a pattern or practice of using force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution."

The longwinded defense glosses over critical statistics to allow any reader to truly understand what is at the nucleus of their most scorching claim against the Chicago Police. That in addition to economic hardships for minorities (and is that 100% essential?), police use excessive force 10 times more often against Blacks as they do against Whites. And that's a deceptive headline shocker, which combined with selective data-mining, simply states what they feel is obvious with their constituents across the country. The leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement joined other civil rights groups in responding lockstep with the findings, demanding "we are not going to take it any more". What does that mean? Are the big concerns in life that (Chicago) police are simply villains? Life would be coziest if they used kids’ gloves? And why were these groups righteously hushed in recent months, as Blacks were multiple times caught on video group-assaulting Whites who "may have voted for Trump"? Look at the top of the chart -below- which shows this 10xrate for Blacks versus Whites, when it comes to use of excessive police force. Now we'll discuss some other self-computed statistics that should be considered, and which were not provided as meaningful background.
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Artist's Impression Of Obama's Farewell Address

Andrew Napolitano: Why the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton is back to front and center

The criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton is back front and center now that the FBI has released proof that her failure to safeguard state secrets caused the secrets to fall into the hands of foreign governments, some of which wish the United States ill.

Even though the case against her -- which was closed and then reopened and then closed again -- is old news and she obviously is no longer a candidate to become president of the United States and has been staying below the radar for the past two months, recent developments have regenerated the case.

Here is the back story.

On July 5, FBI Director James Comey announced publicly that the FBI would recommend against seeking an indictment of Clinton for espionage -- the failure to safeguard state secrets that had been entrusted to her. He argued that though the case against her was strong -- as secretary of state, she had been extremely careless with secrets; exposed hundreds of materials that were confidential, secret and top-secret; and used non-secure mobile devices while in the territory of hostile governments -- no reasonable prosecutor would take the case.

Why was the decision of whether to prosecute Clinton left to Comey?

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http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/01/12/andrew-napolitano-why-criminal-investigation-hillary-clinton-is-back-to-front-and-center.html

Talk radio hosts and bloggers may be included in White House press briefings

Trump administration’s proposal for new venue and inclusion of non-traditional media follows president-elect’s latest outbursts against mainstream reporters

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Monday, January 16, 2017

Trump supporters donate $366,000 to black college band to attend inaugural

Donald Trump supporters want to see the Talladega College marching band in the Inaugural Parade.

So much so, the band’s GoFundMe goal of $75,000 to attend the inaugural was surpassed by over 500%.

Fox & Friends reported Saturday morning that the “historically black” Great Tornado Band’s fundraising haul had reached $278,069.

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Rep. John Lewis Cashes In On Trump Flap

Rep. John Lewis Saturday cited the rift with President-elect Donald Trump in a letter to raise money for the Democratic National Committee, calling on supporters to help "stand up to injustice."

The letter was included in a tweet posted by Time magazine political reporter Zeke Miller:

"Today Donald Trump attacked me on Twitter," the civil rights icon and longtime Georgia congressman began. "He said that I’m 'all talk' and 'no action.'

"I’ve been beaten, bloody, tear-gassed, fighting for what’s right for America," Lewis said. "I’ve marched at Selma with Dr. [Martin Luther] King.

"Sometimes that's what it takes to move our country in the right direction.

"We refuse to stop now," Lewis continued. "We’re not done fighting for progress.

"We’re ready for the next four years," he added. "Join me and chip in whatever you can today to help Democrats stand up to injustice."

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"Mainstream Mediasaurus"

They once ruled the earth...

Sen. Joe Manchin: Rep. John Lewis’ rejection of Trump ‘uncalled for’

Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday called out Rep. John Lewis for saying President-elect Donald Trump would be an illegitimate president and refusing to attend the inauguration.

Mr. Manchin said the remarks from Mr. Lewis were “uncalled for.”

“I’ve got the utmost respect for Congressman Lewis. He’s an icon, if you will, and we all have the most respect for him. I just think that was uncalled for,” the West Virginia Democrat said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Mr. Manchin said the divisive rhetoric is playing into the hands of the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bid to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral process.

More here

U.S. To Pay Billions To Veterans Exposed To Contaminated Water At Marine Base

The Obama administration has agreed to provide more than $2 billion worth of disability benefits to veterans who were exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Up to 900,000 service members were potentially exposed to the ground water containing the volatile organic compounds: trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride. Contact and consumption of the water has been linked to adult leukemia, aplastic anemia, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as well as Parkinson’s disease.

According to a document published in the federal register, any veteran that was stationed at the Marine base for at least 30 cumulative days between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987 and is suffering from one of the eight diseases linked to the water will be eligible. The estimated taxpayer cost of $2.2 billion is expected to be paid out over a five-year span.

Federal records show that Marine leaders were aware of the contaminants but were slow to act on this information. Evidence of the contamination was discovered in the early 1980’s, leading to the closure of some of the drinking water wells in 1984 and 1985. The documents show that the water was contaminated by fuel leaking from on-base tanks and chemicals from an off-base dry cleaner. The Marine Corps claims the contamination was unintentional and that it occurred when federal law didn’t place limits on toxins in drinking water.

In 2012, a bill was signed into law by President Obama to extend free V.A. medical care to affected veterans and their family members. However, veterans were not automatically provided disability aid or survivor benefits. According to the V.A., approximately 1,400 disability claims are already pending. Cash payouts are expected to begin in March of 2017 as a supplement to the health care already being provided to those affected.

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Sen. Rand Paul disagrees with ‘partisan’ John Lewis on Trump

Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday that Rep. John Lewis‘ status as a civil rights hero doesn’t make him immune to criticism.

“I do appreciate him being a civil rights icon, but I would also say that that doesn’t make us immune from criticism or debate,” the Kentucky Republican said on “CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“None of us actually want to be considered to be racially insensitive and so it’s a very, very important subject, but I think we shouldn’t ignore that people are partisan,” said Mr. Paul, who as a GOP presidential candidate clashed with Mr. Trump but later endorsed him as the party’s nominee.

“John Lewis is a partisan. I have a great deal of respect for him, but he’s a partisan and I disagree with him on issues,” he said. “I should be able to honestly disagree with him and not have it all come back to I have no appreciation for a civil rights icon because of this.”

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Mainstream Media Meltdown: 'Journalists' Seek 'Safe Space' To Discuss "How To Cover Trump"

After the president-elect's first press conference since the election this week, it appears the mainstream media is in need of a 'safe space'. As The Hill reports, so-called journalists from the Huffington Post, Slate, CNN, and Univision will gather days before Donald Trump’s inauguration to publicly discuss "how the news media can and should proceed to cover" the president-elect.

After this happened...

Source: Branco

Slate will host the event next Wednesday, called “Not the New Normal.” CNN’s Brian Stelter will moderate the panel at New York University. As The Hill details,

The focus of the discussion will include "how journalists and media companies at large can play a bigger role in making sure that fact prevails over fiction in the coming months and years," according to Slate.

Slate’s editor in chief Julia Turner and Slate Group chairman Jacob Weisberg — who hosts “Trumpcast,” a podcast dedicated to covering the president-elect — will participate in the panel.

Joining them will be Borja Echevarría, Univision Digital’s vice president and editor in chief; Huffington Post editor in chief Lydia Polgreen and New Yorker editor David Remnick.

Most of the panelists were staunchly critical of Trump during the campaign and since Election Day.

Tickets will cost $30, with proceeds benefiting the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Source

‘It’s time to come together’

Reince Priebus, the incoming White House chief of staff, called on President Obama to tell Democrats to stop trying to delegitimatize the election of President-elect Donald Trump.

“President Obama could step up,” Mr. Priebus said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Mr. Priebus said of the latest attack on Mr. Trump’s legitimacy form civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis, Georgia Democrat: “That’s insanity and it’s wrong.”

“The administration can do a lot of good by telling folks that are on their side of the aisle, ‘Look, we many have lost the election on the Democratic side, but it’s time to come together and stop questioning legitimacy,’” he said.

Democratic leaders increasingly have questioned the legitimacy of Mr. Trump, who is set to be sworn in Friday as president, citing evidence that Russian hackers attempted to interfere in the election and unproven allegations that Mr. Trump was involved.

Mr. Priebus stressed that Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper has said that there was no evidence that Russia affected the outcome of the Nov. 8 vote.

“Here’s the problem. We need folks like John Lewis and others who I think have been champions of voting rights to recognize the fact that Donald Trump was duly elected, is going to put his hand on the Bible in five days,” he said. “I think it is incredibly disappointing and irresponsible for people like himself to questions the legitimacy of the next United States president.”

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Trump vs. the Deep State

As President-elect Donald Trump fights off fierce assaults by the massed national security apparatus, Democrats, the neocon Praetorian Guard, and a host of other political foes, I am feeling a sharp sense of déjà vu.

Trump claimed that these attacks were like ‘living in Nazi Germany.’ Not so. The president-elect could have found a much better analogy: Moscow in August 1991.

I was in Moscow, Central Asia and the Caucasus covering the Soviet Union’s last days and meeting with senior KGB leaders. What a dramatic and exciting time it was. In fact, on my first night in Moscow a Russian friend and I, fired from drinking potent Georgian moonshine, managed to wake up the then director of KGB, Viktor Chebrikov, at two am by playing very loud music under his apartment. He kept stamping on the floor. My Russian-Georgian friend said, ‘just ignore the old fool.’

Two years later, another old Soviet fool, KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov, tried to overthrow the reformist leader Mikhail Gorbachev. A so-called ‘gang of eight’ of senior Communist Party officials, intelligence bigwigs, and military men secretly formed to overthrow party leader Gorbachev.

Reformist Gorbachev was trying to remake the Communist Party, end its brutal policies, stop the stalemated war in Afghanistan, and allow restive nationalities, like the Baltic peoples, to edge away from the USSR. Gorby also wanted to cut way back on military spending – then almost 40% of GDP – that was bankrupting the Soviet Union. He sought good, peaceful relations with the West.

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We will not be Trumped': Al Sharpton calls for protests against Jeff Sessions

Rev. Al Sharpton called for an occupation of senators' offices to call on them to block Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Session from becoming President-elect Trump's attorney general, chanting "We will not be Trumped."

Sharpton, speaking at a march in Washington organized by his National Action Network on Saturday, called on his supporters to take action to stymie Trump's agenda.

Read the full story here >

257 minutes: the time teens can spend on computers each day before harming wellbeing

Parents should worry less about the amount of time their children spend using smartphones, computers and playing video games because screen time is actually beneficial, the University of Oxford has concluded.

The rise in technology in the past decade has led to fears that teenagers could be damaging their social skills and mental health by spending increasing amounts of time online or immersed in a virtual world.

Yet when researchers at Oxford University quizzed 120,000 15-year-olds about their wellbeing and compared it to screen time, they found the use of gadgets had a positive impact.

In fact, wellbeing peaked at four hours and 17 minutes of computer use a day before starting to dip again, suggesting devices have a Goldilocks Zone where the amount of screen time is ‘just right.’ For smartphones the ‘sweet spot’ was around two hours and one hour 40 minutes for video games.

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Dow Chemical Wants Farmers to Keep Using a Pesticide Linked to Autism and ADHD

ON MONDAYS, MAGDA and Amilcar Galindo take their daughter Eva to self-defense class. Eva is 12 but her trusting smile and arching pigtails make her look younger. Diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, Eva doesn’t learn or behave like the typical 12-year-old. She struggles to make change, and she needs help with reading and social situations. Eva’s classmates are sometimes unkind to her, and Magda worries for her daughter’s feelings and her safety. So once a week, after they drive her from her middle school in Modesto, California, to her tutor in nearby Riverbank, the Galindos rush off to the gym where they cheer Eva on as she wrestles with a heavy bag and punches the air with her skinny arms.

The Galindos wish they could have protected their daughter from whatever originally caused her troubles, which began in infancy, when she screamed incessantly. As she got older, Eva was slow to talk and make friends. Nine years ago, when her pediatrician diagnosed her with autism, he told the Galindos that nobody really knew why children developed such problems. And in some ways, that is still true; both the causes of these neurodevelopmental conditions and their increase among American children remain mysterious.

But a study the family participated in when Eva was 3 has pointed to one possible culprit: chlorpyrifos, a widely used pesticide that was sprayed near their home when Magda was pregnant. At the time, the family was living in Salida, a small town in central California surrounded by fields of almonds, corn, and peaches. The Galindos could see the planted fields just down the street from their stucco house. And Magda could smell them from the patio where she spent much of her pregnancy. Sometimes the distinct essence of cow manure filled the air. At other times she sniffed the must of fertilizer. And there was a third odor, too — “the smell of the chemical,” said Galindo. “You can tell, it’s different from mulch and manure. When they sprayed, the smell was different.”

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Supreme Court considers suit over 2001 detention of Muslims

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ahmer Abbasi speaks softly as he describes the strip searches, the extra shoves, the curses that he endured in a federal jail in Brooklyn following the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I don’t think I deserved it,” Abbasi said during a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his home in Karachi, Pakistan.

Abbasi’s quiet, matter-of-fact tone belies his determination, even after 15 years, to seek justice in American courts — provided the Supreme Court will let him.

The justices on Wednesday are hearing an appeal from former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former FBI Director Robert Mueller and other former U.S. officials that seeks to shut down the lawsuit that human rights lawyers have filed on behalf of Abbasi and others over their harsh treatment and prolonged detention.

“Somebody has to be accountable, somebody has to be responsible,” said Abbasi, 42, who works in real estate in Pakistan.

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Getting Rid Of The Lawyers In His Cabinet May Be Trump’s Best Move Yet

As a lawyer, I can fairly describe this article as what lawyers refer to as a statement against interest. I have practiced law for 15 years since leaving my original field of engineering. Nevertheless, I believe the prospective cabinet of President-elect Donald Trump is an extraordinary and welcome break from a trend plaguing our government and society at large: the overrepresentation of lawyers in positions of power and leadership.

The Trump Administration represents leaders drawn from citizens at large, and not policy wonks who have made Washington policymaking their careers. It is a throwback to the “dollar-a-year” cabinet secretaries who left the business world and brought their experience to Washington in times of crisis. It is a perfectly timed experiment in citizen governance.

The Obama Administration has been shot through with lawyers in some of the most important government positions. All of the following are attorneys: President Obama; Vice President Biden; Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security; Janet Napolitano, former Secretary of Homeland Security; Tom Perez, Secretary of Labor; Tom Donilon, former National Security Advisor; Valerie Jarrett, one of the president’s closest advisors; John Kerry, Secretary of State; Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State; Ken Salazar, former Secretary of the Interior; Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture; Gary Locke, former Secretary of Commerce; Nancy DeParle, the health care czar; and several others. From health care to national security to foreign policy, lawyers have been at the center of policy making for the last eight years.

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Pence looks like he will be Trump’s inside man in Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Mike Pence landed in Congress after the 2000 election, he was a conservative agitator who often bucked President George W. Bush’s agenda. Seventeen years later, he’s the vice president-elect and Donald Trump’s inside man on Capitol Hill.

Pence, who spent a dozen years in Congress before becoming Indiana’s governor, is visiting frequently with lawmakers and promising close coordination after Trump’s inauguration Friday. In a sign of his attentiveness, Pence will have an office in the House as well as the traditional honorary office for the vice president in the Senate.

Pence’s role takes on greater importance, given Trump’s ascension to the White House without any experience in elective office.

Trump has few long-standing political alliances in Congress and a strained relationship with the Republican establishment, a hangover from the 2016 campaign. Trump’s agenda doesn’t always align with Republicans’ priorities, and his inflammatory remarks about immigrants, Muslims and women made many in the GOP cringe.

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Memo to Congress When Replacing Obamacare – Health Insurance Is Not Health Care

Healthcare and health insurance are different things. They are related but different products. Conflating the two was destined to create one failed product – Obamacare.

On the evening of September 9, 2009, President Obama presented his namesake health plan to a joint session of Congress. He correctly identified the amount spent on underlying health costs (i.e. hospitals, physicians, labs and drugs) as the reason for skyrocketing insurance premiums, stating: “We spend one and a half times more per person on health care than any other country, but we aren’t any healthier for it. This is one of the reasons that insurance premiums have gone up three times faster than wages.”

However, the plan he put forth ignored this fundamental problem and merely addressed health insurance reform, the question of how those skyrocketing health costs were to be financed. The net result is our nation still spends “one and a half times more per person on health care than any other nation.."

Why aren’t healthy Americans buying Obamacare healthcare insurance? Put simply, from the consumers’ perspective, the costs and benefits to buying Obamacare healthcare insurance don’t make sense.

Furthermore, in the process of pushing a failed insurance product that consumers don’t want to buy, Obamacare has destroyed both the healthcare service and the healthcare insurance markets for the other 300 million Americans, and thereby created significant financial demands on the US economy.

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Former Talbot County Man Sentenced to Over 28 Years in Federal Prison for Sexually Exploiting a Child to Produce Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III sentenced Patrick Shawn Sutphin, age 44, formerly of Easton, Maryland, today to 345 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, after Sutphin pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child to produce child pornography. Judge Russell also ordered that upon his release from prison Sutphin must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Judge Russell ordered that Sutphin’s federal sentence is to be served concurrently to the sentence imposed in a related case in the Circuit Court for Talbot County.

The guilty plea and sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Talbot County Sheriff Joseph Gamble; and Talbot County State’s Attorney Scott G. Patterson.

According to his plea agreement, between August and November 2015, Sutphin engaged in sexual acts with a 13 year old girl. Sutphin purchased gifts for the girl, including jewelry and clothing. At one point Sutphin transported the girl to Pennsylvania, where he also engaged in sexual acts with the victim. Sutphin communicated with the girl using text messages, video chat and social media applications. In some of his communications Sutphin discussed the sexual conduct he had engaged in with the victim, and the conduct he wished to engage in in the future. On a number of occasions, Suphin used his cellular phone to take sexually explicit pictures of the victim.

On November 3, 2015, Sutphin’s abuse of the victim was reported to law enforcement officers and the next day a search warrant was executed at Sutphin’s residence. Law enforcement seized Sutphin’s cellular phone and a subsequent search revealed many images of the victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

“They’re on the world stage, every camera that’s available will be here photographing the inauguration and that first dance in the inaugural gown,” said Ann Stock. She should know; as a former White House social secretary and a former Bloomingdale’s executive, she believes that inaugural gowns tell an important story.

“It’s the history of who we are,” Stock told Braver. “it’s our humanity and our history unfolding before us.”

And so, the “First Ladies” collection at the National Museum of American History is one of the the most popular exhibits in the whole Smithsonian.

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Cooper: If a Republican Said About Clinton What John Lewis Said About Trump…

During a discussion on CNN tonight about John Lewis‘ comments about Donald Trump, Anderson Cooper couldn’t help but wonder how Democrats would have reacted if any Republican said the same about Hillary Clinton if she won.

Lewis said earlier today that he doesn’t consider Trump a “legitimate president,” citing Russian attempts to interfere in the election.

“I get he doesn’t like Donald Trump,” Cooper said, “I get he doesn’t accept the results of the election, but is this helpful in any way?… If a Republican had said this about President-elect Hillary Clinton, Democrats would be up in arms.”

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Confirmation hearings offer glimpse of possible Trump impact on Maryland

President-elect Donald J. Trump's choice for housing secretary, a longtime critic of government spending, assures lawmakers that he sees a role for the safety-net housing programs on which tens of thousands of Marylanders rely.

The likely next attorney general, who would be tasked with upholding the federal end of the consent decree signed Thursday by the city of Baltimore and the Justice Department to reform policing, says he's skeptical of such agreements.

After the parade of Senate confirmation hearings last week, the contours of the incoming Trump administration — and how its policies might affect Maryland — are beginning to take shape.

In some cases, the responses of the nominees have surprised adversaries and allies alike.

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Fake News: Wash Post Changes Story on Trump ‘Firing’ D.C. Nat’l Guard General

The Washington Post wrote on Friday that President-elect Donald J. Trump “fired” the commanding General of the D.C. National Guard who is heading up the military presence during the coming inaugural event — in the middle of the oath of office ceremony. Yet a second story on Saturday did not contain the claim.

The Post’s original report set off a wave of stories across the world, causing raised eyebrows over Trump’s “extremely unusual” decision to fire a general in the middle of the presidential oath of office ceremony, especially during these dangerous times.

The paper reported that Major General Errol R. Schwartz, an African-American who has commanded the D.C. National Guard since his appointment to the position by George W. Bush, was told to vacate his office the moment Trump says his “I dos” to the oath of office. The decision was presented to readers as unfathomable, if not dangerous, by a president who doesn’t know what he is doing.

In an interview, General Schwartz told the paper that his firing was strange. “The timing is extremely unusual,” the general said.

“My troops will be on the street,” Schwartz continued. “I’ll see them off, but I won’t be able to welcome them back to the armory.” The general added he would “never plan to leave a mission in the middle of a battle.”

Subsequent to the publishing of the paper’s story making Trump appear incompetent, news emerged that the incoming Trump administration offered to let General Schwartz keep his position through inauguration day, but it was the general himself who refused the offer, preferring instead to quit at 12 noon on January 20, the hour Trump takes his oath of office.

The general then ran straight to the media to “argue his case in the press,” as a recent Fox News report noted.

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For the Record: Atlanta Crime Rate IS Very High

Did you know?

The overall crime rate in Atlanta is 131% higher than the national average.

For every 100,000 people, there are 18.13 daily crimes that occur in Atlanta.

Only 2% of the cities in the United States are safer than Atlanta.
In Atlanta you have a 1 in 16 chance of becoming a victim of any crime.

The number of total year over year crimes in Atlanta has decreased by 5%.

(Source)

[Atlanta is in Georgia's 5th Congressional district, represented by John Lewis (D-GA) --Editor]

Smackdown: Jennifer Holliday backs out of Trump inauguration performance

Broadway star Jennifer Holliday has backed out as a performer at next week's presidential inaugural, saying she did not realize that her participation would be interpreted as a statement of support for President-elect Donald Trump.

Holliday, best known for her Tony-winning role in Broadway's "Dreamgirls," faced pressure from her gay, lesbian and black fans when it was announced she would sing at a Thursday concert at Washington's Lincoln Memorial.

Holliday said in a statement Saturday that she apologized for her lapse of judgment, for being uneducated on the issues and causing heartbreak for her fans.

"My only choice must now be to stand with the LGBT Community and to state unequivocally that I WILL NOT PERFORM FOR THE WELCOME CONCERT OR FOR ANY OF THE INAUGURATION FESTIVITIES!" she wrote.

The performer, who most recently starred on Broadway in "The Color Purple," said she was hurt by the angry backlash, which included calls to boycott her music. Others called her "Uncle Tom" and there was even a suggestion that she take her own life.

"It just really made my heart drop to my feet," Holliday said. "How could I have this much hate spewing at me, and I haven't even done anything? I guess it's not like those old days when political views were your own and you had freedom of speech.."

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Border tunnels left unfilled on Mexican side pose security risk

Mexican drug cartels have burrowed dozens of tunnels in the last decade, outfitted them with rail and cart systems to whisk drugs under the U.S. border and, after being discovered by authorities, abandoned them.

But some of the illicit passageways live on.

At least six previously discovered border tunnels have been reactivated by Mexican trafficking groups in recent years, exposing a recurring large-scale smuggling threat, according to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials.

The breaches of border defenses, most recently in December, occur because Mexican authorities, unlike those on the American side, do not fill the tunnels with concrete once they have been discovered. Mexican authorities say they lack the funds.

Instead, only the tunnel openings are sealed. That allows traffickers to simply dig a new entry point to access the largely intact subterranean passageways leading to the U.S. border.

The security lapse is a boon for traffickers, experts say, saving them time and money and reducing their risk of being caught as they haul away dirt.

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Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Due To Close In May After 146 Years

ELLENTON, Fla. (WJZ/AP) — After 146 years, the curtain is coming down on “The Greatest Show on Earth.” The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus told The Associated Press that the show will close forever in May.

The iconic American spectacle was felled by a variety of factors, company executives say. Declining attendance combined with high operating costs, along with changing public tastes and prolonged battles with animal rights groups all contributed to its demise.

“There isn’t any one thing,” said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment. “This has been a very difficult decision for me and for the entire family.”

The company broke the news to circus employees Saturday night after shows in Orlando and Miami.

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Report Reveals Massive Indoctrination of Students at Universities

Students at hundreds of colleges and universities are being systematically indoctrinated into the “New Civics” of social justice activism, according to a report released this past week by the National Association of Scholars.

The report’s findings suggest that the suppression of free speech on college campuses that is making headlines is only the tip of a very large iceberg. What lies beneath the surface is a massive, publicly funded program of indoctrination through a remaking of the curriculum as a vehicle for advancing the political agenda of progressivism.

The full NAS report, MAKING CITIZENS: HOW AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES TEACH CIVICS, can be found here.

The “New Civics” can accurately be called indoctrination because it is far more ambitious and open than the left-liberal bias in classroom instruction encountered by students for decades. Yes, 90% of college faculty in the liberal arts and humanities are liberal and progressive, and classroom propaganda is a growing problem, but the “New Civics” has ambitions for transforming the entire institution and all academic disciplines into “change agents.”

The “New Civics” is replacing traditional “civic literacy,” and it’s campus-wide ambitions have the endorsement and support of university administrators. In public institutions like the four cases documented in the MAKING CITIZENS report, it sees no conflict in using taxpayer dollars to accomplish its progressive mission.

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Six False Accusations by John Lewis, Hero-Turned-Hack

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) is a civil rights hero. He is also one of the most partisan members of the Democratic Party, and frequently accuses his political opponents, falsely, of racism.

Lewis also uses his iconic stature to deflect criticism when he is called out for these false attacks, exploiting — and, arguably, demeaning — the civil rights movement.

Here are five of the worst recent examples of what has become, for Rep. Lewis, a shamefully routine practice.

2008: Falsely accused Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Gov. Sarah Palin of racism. .

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Trump: Dems 'most angry' that 'Obama Democrats' voted for me

President-elect Trump tweeted Sunday that Democrats are angriest of all that "Obama Democrats" voted for him.

"The Democrats are most angry that so many Obama Democrats voted for me," Trump wrote. "With all of the jobs I am bringing back to our Nation, that number ... will only get higher. Car companies and others, if they want to do business in our country, have to start making things here again. WIN!"

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Sharpton calls for protests against Sessions

Al Sharpton called for an occupation of senators' offices to call on them to block Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Session from becoming President-elect Trump's attorney general, chanting "We will not be Trumped."

Sharpton, speaking at a march in Washington organized by his National Action Network, called on his supporters to take action to stymie Trump's agenda.

"We've come not to appeal to Donald trump, because he's made it clear what his policies are and what his nominations are," he said. "We come to say to the Democrats in the Senate and in the House, and to the moderate Republicans, to get some backbone and get some guts."

"We didn't send you down here to be weak-kneed and to get in the room and try and make friends. We sent you down here to stand up."

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EPA Says it Can't Pay Economic Damages From Mine Spill

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday it will not repay claims totaling more than $1.2 billion for economic damages from a mine waste spill the agency accidentally triggered in Colorado, saying the law prohibits it.

The EPA said the claims could be refiled in federal court, or Congress could authorize payments.

But attorneys for the EPA and the Justice Department concluded the EPA is barred from paying the claims because of sovereign immunity, which prohibits most lawsuits against the government.

"The agency worked hard to find a way in which it could pay individuals for damages due to the incident, but unfortunately, our hands are tied," EPA spokeswoman Nancy Grantham said.

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Records show timesheet falsifications at NSA

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — The National Security Agency’s internal watchdog has found more than 100 cases in five years in which civilian employees and contractors falsely claimed to have been at work.

Details about the cases were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Baltimore Sun (http://bsun.md/2iuZO9g ). An NSA spokesman says the incidents cost the agency almost $3.5 million, though about 80 percent of the money lost to the fraud has been recovered.

Investigators in the agency’s inspector general’s office substantiated allegations in 44 “civilian time and attendance cases” and 68 “contractor labor mischarging cases,” according to the records.

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Top Bishop: Europe Will Soon Be Muslim Because of Our Stupidity

Everyone in Italy and the rest of Europe will “soon be Muslim” because of the country’s “stupidity”, a prominent Italian archbishop has said.

Monsignor Carlo Liberati, Archbishop Emeritus of Pompeii, said that Islam will soon become Europe’s main religion thanks to the huge number of Muslim migrants alongside the increasing secularism of native Europeans.

Speaking to Italian Catholic journal La Fede Quotidiana, the archbishop said: “In 10 years we will all be Muslims because of our stupidity. Italy and Europe live in a pagan and atheist way, they make laws that go against God and they have traditions that are proper of paganism.

“All of this moral and religious decadence favours Islam.”

“We help without delay those coming from outside and we forget many poor and old Italians who are eating from the trash,” the archbishop said. “We need policies that take care of Italians first: our young people and the unemployed.

“I am a protester. If I were not a priest, I’d be out there demonstrating in the squares. What is the point of so many migrants that instead of thanking for the food we give them, they just throw it, spend hours with their cell phones and even organise riots?”

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Latinos Set to Toast Tequila to Trump

A group of patriots, who happen to be Hispanic, will gather to celebrate the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

It will be the kind of moment that runs counter to the narratives of the political and the media elite, but to those of us in the room, our celebration makes perfect sense.

If news of our inauguration party surprises you, recall that 29 percent of the Hispanic vote went to Trump. Remember, too, that Latinos are feeling the sharp pain of economic adversity that Trump has convincingly promised to change.

Remember also that one of the great economic beacons of hope for Hispanic Americans is small-business ownership, which is in precipitous decline in this country. Most traditional politicians have done nothing but pay lip service to small-business growth for a generation or more.

Finally, recall that Hispanic parents, like all American parents, want to be empowered to make the choice of sending their children to the best schools possible.

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Soros’ Son Quietly Steps Up as Major Liberal Donor

Alexander Soros, the son of liberal billionaire George Soros who acts as the managing partner for Soros Brothers Investments, has quietly emerged as a major donor to Democratic campaigns and causes.

Alexander has remained relatively unknown in the world of political giving thanks to his father garnering a bulk of the family’s attention. However, Alexander has stepped up his political contributions even as his father continued to pour tens of millions into the coffers of Democratic campaigns and political action committees.

Alexander gave more than $4.5 million to Democratic campaign committees and political action committees in 2016, according to campaign finance records. The millions in donations from Alexander throughout the past election cycle is a sharp increase from years past.

The Senate Majority PAC, the political action committee of former Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.), was the biggest recipient of cash from Soros’ son. Between August and November 2016, Alexander cut four checks to Reid’s leadership PAC totaling $3.5 million.

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Md. school district fires employee after sassy tweet

WASHINGTON — Frederick County Public Schools has fired an employee over her reply to a student’s Jan. 5 tweet to “close school tammarrow PLEASE.”

Katie Nash told the The Frederick News-Post, that she was terminated from her $44,000-a-year job as web experience coordinator after replying, “But then how would you learn how to spell ‘tomorrow?’ :)”.

The clever reply got quite a bit of attention on Twitter before it was deleted. It even inspired the hashtags “#KatiefromFCPS” and — after Twitter feared she was no longer running the account — “#FreeKatie.”

But while even the recipient of Nash’s reply thought the tweet was in good fun, the district apparently wasn’t comfortable with her approach and dismissed her Friday.

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The Inauguration War

The Left prepares its counter-attack on American democracy.

According to Gallup, the average presidential honeymoon lasts seven months. This is a window when the losing party declares a partisan peace, allows the incoming president to pick his cabinet and launch the agenda his victory mandates. Presidential honeymoons are not only a venerable American tradition they are one of democracy’s pillars. For generations they have been ceremonial supports for the peaceful transition of power, and the peaceful resolution of partisan conflicts.

Not this election year. There will be no honeymoon. This year even before Trump arrives in the Oval Office, the opposition cry has been Resist! Block! Reject! It is not just anti-American radicals like Michael Moore, who has indeed called for “100 days of resistance” to the Trump presidency, but by the leadership of the Democratic Party which has vowed to fight Trump’s appointments, has attacked the election result as an expression of popular racism, attempted to discredit the Electoral College by falsely calling it a legacy of slavery, and even accused Trump of being a Russian agent, a pawn in the chess game of its dictator Vladimir Putin. It is a sad day for America when the world’s oldest political party, whose name proclaims it a partisan of democracy, comes out in force as a saboteur of that same system.

Nor is all this simply a fit of Democratic absent-mindedness. Instead, it is the culmination of a long developing shift in Democratic Party politics, a shift symbolized by the current favorite to become its next leader. Keith Ellison is a Muslim radical who spent his formative adult years as a vocal supporter of the anti-American, anti-Semitic racist Louis Farrakhan. Ellison reflects the power of the Bernie Sanders radicals in the Democratic Party who according to recent Gallup polls now represent its majority, even though they lost a rigged primary election which would have made him the party’s presidential nominee.

The face of this new Democratic Party was revealed during a seminal moment in the second Clinton-Trump presidential debate.

Bikers for Trump Ready to Stand up to Protesters

A motorcycle group led by a South Carolina chainsaw artist will ride into the nation’s capital on Inauguration Day in support of the 45th President of the United States.

Bikers for Trump, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts, will likely be toeing the line with protesters, who are also expected to be at the event.

“The bikers are certainly used to being outnumbered and we are prepared to form a wall of meat,” Chris Cox, the founder of the organization, told the FOX Business Network.

However, Cox said he doesn’t foresee any problems occurring during the event, especially after the group’s experience at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where police successfully maintained order between Trump’s supporters and protesters.

“We’re anticipating a celebration here. We don’t anticipate any problems. We have a strict code of conduct where we don’t condone violence. But again in the event that we’re needed, you can certainly count on the Bikers for Trump,” Cox said.

He added: “The backbone of the biker community is the veteran. So these are guys that aren’t really used to backing down. You certainly won’t see bikers out there screaming, calling for destruction of private property or the death of police officers.”

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Pelosi blames Bush for trillions of debt amassed during Obama tenure

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has a theory on who should shoulder the blame for over $9 trillion in debt the nation has amassed over the last eight years: former President George W. Bush.

Social Security, Medicare, and ballooning costs for unfunded federal mandates were not singled out on Friday by Mrs. Pelosi during a press conference as the prime drivers of U.S. debt. Instead, the California Democrat said Mr. Bush was culpable for debt incurred during President Obama’s time in the White House.

“When President Obama stood on the steps on the Capitol eight years from next week, the [budget] deficit was $1.4 trillion — one year deficit,” Mrs. Pelosi said, the Washington Examiner reported. “It’s reduced by 70 percent in his administration. Much of the increase in the national debt that has occurred from this time still springs from two unpaid-for wars, cost that we owe our veterans following that, giveaways that they gave to the pharmaceutical industry, and the high-end tax cuts that have carried forward without any job production. Absent the work of President Obama, this national debt would be even higher.”

Mrs. Pelosi also blamed Republicans under Mr. Bush for abandoning a pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) law that theoretically saved the federal government one dollar for every dollar spent.

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Obama’s Purge: Why Has Frank Marshall Davis Been Quietly Removed From Dreams From My Father?

[This article originally appeared on October 3, 2012]

In 1995, an aspiring politician named Barack Obama published an autobiography called Dreams from My Father. There, Obama acknowledged the people who influenced him throughout his life. Among the most prominent influences was a figure that Obama gingerly acknowledged only as “Frank.” Remarkably, however, not once in the entire book did Obama divulge Frank’s full name. Even more mysterious, in 2005, a presidential aspirant named Barack Obama released the audio version of Dreams from My Father where, this time, “Frank” was purged altogether, as Jack Cashill called attention to in column on my book last July.

How did this happen? And who is “Frank?” The answer helps explains Obama’s concealment.

As readers of The Blaze know, Frank Marshall Davis (1905-87) was a mentor to a young Barack Obama throughout the 1970s, the period of Obama’s adolescence. Davis was also a literal card-carrying member of the Communist Party—Party number 47544. My book on Davis, The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis, The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor, was published this summer by Mercury Ink.

Davis edited and wrote for Party-line publications such as the Honolulu Record and the Chicago Star, which included contributors who served as actual agents to Stalin’s Soviet Union. Davis did outrageous Soviet propaganda work in his columns, at every juncture agitating and opposing U.S. attempts to slow Joseph Stalin.

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Obama's Transparent Presidency

We learned precisely who he is.

President Barack Obama promised that his would be the most transparent administration in US history.

And the truth is, it was. At least in relation to his policies toward the Muslim world, Obama told us precisely what he intended to do and then he did it.

A mere week remains of Obama’s tenure in office.

But Obama remains intent on carrying on as if he will never leave power. He has pledged to continue to implement his goals for the next week and then to serve as the most outspoken ex-president in US history.

In all of Obama’s recent appearances, his message is one of vindication. I came. I succeeded. I will continue to succeed. I represent the good people, the people of tomorrow. My opponents represent the Manichean, backward past. We will fight them forever and we will prevail.

Tuesday Obama gave his final interview to the Israeli media to Ilana Dayan from Channel 2’s Uvda news magazine. Dayan usually tries to come off as an intellectual. On Tuesday’s show, she cast aside professionalism however, and succumbed to her inner teenybopper. Among her other questions, she asked Obama the secret to his preternatural ability to touch people’s souls.

The only significant exchange in their conversation came when Dayan asked Obama about the speech he gave on June 4, 2009, in Cairo. Does he still stand by all the things he said in that speech? Would he give that speech again today, given all that has since happened in the region, she asked.

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Protest group vows to block inaugural ceremony, parade

WASHINGTON — The 58th Presidential Inauguration on Friday seems certain to draw plenty of protesters. One group that is expected to be among the most active inaugural week has vowed to try to block President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural ceremony and inaugural parade.

The group DisruptJ20, which references the Jan. 20 date of Inauguration Day, is spending time this weekend in training sessions wherein veteran protesters share their experience.

While the workshops are being conducted on the campus of American University, the university banned news media from reporting on the two-day sessions, which are being held in the atrium of the School of International Service.

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Woodward: Trump Is Right – Intel Community Attacking Him With Garbage

Bob Woodward blasted as "garbage" an unsubstantiated dossier released by U.S. intelligence agencies that alleges deep ties between President-elect Donald Trump and Moscow.

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," the celebrated Washington Post editor said he sided with Trump in his fight with intel agencies on the salacious document.

"I’ve lived in this world for 45 years where you get things and people make allegations," he added. "That is a garbage document."

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Professors Organize National ‘Teach-In’ to Challenge ‘Trump-ism’

Some 25 colleges and universities – many of them public – have answered a call by professors at UCLA to use their regular class time to “teach, organize, and resist” what they view as the discriminatory political agenda of President-elect Donald Trump.

Slated for Wednesday, January 18, the teach-in, dubbed #J18, is taking place between the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and Trump’s inauguration. The event’s planners say:

Let it be known that on #J18 and beyond, universities, colleges, and high schools refused to bear silent witness to the politics of hate and fear; that in these times, these places of teaching and learning not only served as a sanctuary for its students and workers but also stood up to proclaim the power of knowledge on the front lines of social justice.

On January 18, the professors are calling upon their colleagues to “Teach, Organize, Resist,” and “affirm the role of critical thinking and academic knowledge in challenging Trump-ism.”

They continue:

'There's a media campaign to bring down the government'

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening issued a lengthy statement on his Facebook page about recent media publications on the issues on which he is being probed. These include the transcripts of conversations between him and Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon (Noni) Mozes that have been published by the media in recent days, as well as other reports about the second probe, which deals with alleged gifts Netanyahu received from wealthy tycoons.

“In recent days, there has been an orchestrated media campaign, unprecedented in its scope, to bring down the Likud government under my leadership. This propaganda campaign is designed to pressure the Attorney General and other factors in the prosecution to indict me.

“The method is simple: Every day and every night carefully filtered transcripts and intentional lies are distributed on both issues on the agenda.

“Of course, as long as the investigation is ongoing, I cannot defend myself. I cannot tell the public the real story behind these things, which makes it clear that there was no crime here.

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You Can't Even Give The Daily Times Away

When you go into the Berlin WalMart you'll find the Daily Times display along with all the FREE newspapers and magazines. You see, if it's not rung up from its bar code, WalMart doesn't have to pay the Daily Times. Mind you, this is just before you walk out the door.

Image Released of Man Wanted In Connection With Murder of 53 Cowboys in Arlington, Texas

The Arlington and Dallas police dept have revealed to us an artists sketch of the suspect that is believed to be responsible for the murder of over 53 Cowboys and emotionally assaulting millions of people at home VIA the Television.

We are unsure of exactly how this is going to be handled, but a visibly shaken and crying Tony Romo was not able to be consoled on the sidelines after Sunday's game.

The man named in the murder is Aaron Rodgers. He's typically seen throwing hail marys or filming awful TV commercials. He could be hiding anywhere. Please keep an eye out.

Source

Auto Stocks Slump After Trump Threatens German Carmakers

Shares in German carmakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen fell on Monday after United States President-elect Donald Trump warned he will impose a border tax of 35 percent on vehicles imported from abroad to the U.S. market.

All three carmakers have invested heavily in factories in Mexico, where production costs are lower than the United States, with an eye to exporting smaller vehicles to the U.S. market.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild on Sunday, Trump sharply criticised the German carmakers for failing to produce more cars on U.S. soil.

"Freetrade is certainly under threat. But everyone in Europe knows - especially in Germany - that as an export nation, the U.S. has more leverage. They have the bigger market and a stronger domestic economic activity. They do not depend on exports as much as Germany does. And if they decide to tighten the thumbscrews we will not have a choice but to obey. Because otherwise jobs in Germany will face difficulties. So car makers will think about more investment in the U.S. now to calm down Mr. Trump", said Robert Halver, head of capital markets analysis at Baader Bank.

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It's No Wonder Why He Took So Many Family Vacations

Alec Baldwin, Michael Moore, Mark Ruffalo, More to Protest Outside Trump Hotel in NYC Before Inauguration

Not their president. Michael Moore tweeted on Saturday, January 14, that he, Alec Baldwin,Mark Ruffalo and other celebrities will be staging a protest against Donald Trumpoutside his NYC hotel the night before the inauguration.

“Mark Ruffalo, Alec Baldwin & myself will be holding a massive rally in NYC in front of Trump International Hotel this Thursday, 6 pm! Come!” the 62-year-old filmmaker tweeted. He later retweeted an NBC News story that other big names like New York Mayor Bill de Blasio,Rosie Perez and the Rev. Al Sharpton will also be joining in on the protest on Thursday, January 19.

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How Martin Luther King Jr. Changed The Life Of A Street Kid In Kenya

When Kennedy Odede was a kid, he lived on the streets of a slum in Kenya.

He'd grown up in tough circumstances. His stepfather was violent. There wasn't enough food to go around. He wasn't sent to school. A friend convinced him he'd do better out on his own. He'd have his freedom, he'd be able to find his own food.

So when he was around 10, Kennedy left home. His new world was a world of violence. He was caught up in gang fights. He remembers being stabbed in the arm: "I still have the scar," he says.

Then one day, when he was 12 or so, he met Martin Luther King Jr. — on the pages of a book that an older friend at a community center gave him.

"I was looking for hope in my life," says Kennedy, who's now in his early 30s. "When I read the story of Dr. King, it was a powerful story. Dr. King gave me a reason to believe you can change your own life and change your own community. His idea is that you don't have to wait. Anyone's path can change. For me that was really powerful."

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Legislator in Minnesota takes Oath on a Quran

Minnesota-Somali Muslim Legislator, Ilhan Omar was elected to be a State Representative for District 60B November 8, 2016 and she just took her oath on a giant Quran.

Omar is a refugee who came to the U.S. when she was 12 years old.

Asad Zaman who is the Executive Director for Muslim American Society of Minnesota said:

The Muslim community needs a win. The ethos of America that can embrace a Somali American, Hijab clad woman as their representative…I think that says something amazing about America.

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http://jwvsw.org/carriers.pdf

Attention

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that Democratic Georgia Rep. John Lewis should pay more attention to the crime plaguing his district than bellyache over the election results.

Monday, January 16, 2017