About 834,000 Marylanders are expected to travel this weekend for Memorial Day, a 2.3 percent increase from last year and the highest figure for the holiday weekend since 2005.
This year's projections from AAA Mid-Atlantic marks the sixth consecutive year of growth over the Memorial Day holiday. AAA defines the travel period as being between Thursday, May 25 and Monday, May 29.
If projections hold, this would be the third straight year that more than 800,000 Marylanders traveled 50 miles or more for the unofficial start of summer.
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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
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Survey finds Target's Customer Service Satisfaction Plunges
A new survey finds that customer satisfaction has plunged as retail giant Target continues to struggle to recover from its now one-year-old financial slide.
Target has gone four full quarters slipping in a variety of metrics from profits, stock prices, and even perception of its brand name. But a new survey by investment bank Cowen has also found that customer satisfaction has also tumbled.
The survey of 2,500 Target customers shows declines across the board, including customer service, merchandise selection, and overall quality. According to the survey, Target’s satisfaction level has fallen 383 points to 66.7 percent, MSN Money reported.
As MSN ruefully noted, “It appears unhappy Target shoppers could be taking their business elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, the company’s fortunes continue to decline.
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Target has gone four full quarters slipping in a variety of metrics from profits, stock prices, and even perception of its brand name. But a new survey by investment bank Cowen has also found that customer satisfaction has also tumbled.
The survey of 2,500 Target customers shows declines across the board, including customer service, merchandise selection, and overall quality. According to the survey, Target’s satisfaction level has fallen 383 points to 66.7 percent, MSN Money reported.
As MSN ruefully noted, “It appears unhappy Target shoppers could be taking their business elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, the company’s fortunes continue to decline.
More
Legislators: Older Delawareans should pay more in school taxes
DOVER — Budget-writing lawmakers on Monday opted to reduce a property tax break for older residents and declined to vote on proposals to increase the amount that current and former state employees would pay for health care insurance.
The Joint Finance Committee, scheduled to continue meeting through next week to beginning crafting a final budget, convened for about five hours and cut approximately $51 million from a large gap between projected revenue and spending.
The cuts were directly based on Gov. John Carney’s proposal, but legislators left arguably the most controversial portion for another day, choosing not to vote on health care insurance costs.
Gov. Carney’s recommended budget included what amounts to a cut of $6.5 million for health care subsidies by shifting, on average, 3 percent of the costs to state employees. Delaware currently covers 90 percent of the costs for health care.
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The Joint Finance Committee, scheduled to continue meeting through next week to beginning crafting a final budget, convened for about five hours and cut approximately $51 million from a large gap between projected revenue and spending.
The cuts were directly based on Gov. John Carney’s proposal, but legislators left arguably the most controversial portion for another day, choosing not to vote on health care insurance costs.
Gov. Carney’s recommended budget included what amounts to a cut of $6.5 million for health care subsidies by shifting, on average, 3 percent of the costs to state employees. Delaware currently covers 90 percent of the costs for health care.
More
Cal State San Marcos sued by pro-life students
Pro-life students at a state university in California sued their school over alleged unfair allocations of mandatory student activity fees.
The Students for Life at California State University San Marcos, a pro-life group, and the organization's president, Nathan Apodaca, took the legal action after the university denied the group access for funds to host a pro-life speaker on campus.
"This is yet another example of a university using their power, along with student fees, to restrict speech they don't agree with or particularly like, giving credence to the emerging fact that tolerance does not apply to pro-life or conservative speech," Kristan Hawkins, president of the national Students for Life of America, said in a statement.
The university used almost $300,000 in student fees to fund two LGBT-friendly centers on campus -- the Gender Equity Center and the LGBQTA Pride Center -- during the 2016-2017 academic year. But the school denied the pro-life Students for Life group the $500 it requested to host University of North Carolina-Wilmington Professor Mike Adams to speak on the topic, "Abortion and Human Equality: A Scientific and Philosophical Defense of the Pro-Life View," according to Christian legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom.
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The Students for Life at California State University San Marcos, a pro-life group, and the organization's president, Nathan Apodaca, took the legal action after the university denied the group access for funds to host a pro-life speaker on campus.
"This is yet another example of a university using their power, along with student fees, to restrict speech they don't agree with or particularly like, giving credence to the emerging fact that tolerance does not apply to pro-life or conservative speech," Kristan Hawkins, president of the national Students for Life of America, said in a statement.
The university used almost $300,000 in student fees to fund two LGBT-friendly centers on campus -- the Gender Equity Center and the LGBQTA Pride Center -- during the 2016-2017 academic year. But the school denied the pro-life Students for Life group the $500 it requested to host University of North Carolina-Wilmington Professor Mike Adams to speak on the topic, "Abortion and Human Equality: A Scientific and Philosophical Defense of the Pro-Life View," according to Christian legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom.
More
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/05/22/cal-state-san-marcos-sued-by-pro-life-students.html
2006 MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden dead at 35
American motorcycle racer Nicky Hayden died on Monday from injuries suffered when he was struck by a car while riding a bicycle in Italy five days ago, the Maurizio Bufalani Hospital in Cesena, where he was being treated, has confirmed.
Hayden was on a training ride on the Rimini coast following a race at Imola when he was hit. He sustained multiple injuries in the accident, including severe cerebral damage.
Hayden was the 2006 MotoGP champion, and was competing in the World Superbike Championship this season.
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Hayden was on a training ride on the Rimini coast following a race at Imola when he was hit. He sustained multiple injuries in the accident, including severe cerebral damage.
Hayden was the 2006 MotoGP champion, and was competing in the World Superbike Championship this season.
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http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/05/22/2006-motogp-champion-nicky-hayden-dead-at-35.html
SPD Most Wanted 5-23-17
If you have information on the subjects below:
Call Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776 or
the Salisbury Police at 410-548- 3165
FBI says its malware isn't malware because 'we're the good guys'
(From last July 2016)
Another tale from the 'twisted and illogical' department...
The FBI does 'not believe' that the hacking tools it uses to break into computers of suspected criminals should be considered 'malware,' because it says they're used with good intentions.
In the court filing, first spotted by Julian Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, the FBI said that its hacking tools, so-called network investigative techniques (NIT), are not 'malicious.'
The legal brief written by the FBI last week said that: "A reasonable person or society would not interpret the actions taken by a law enforcement officer pursuant to a court order to be malicious.'
'For that reason I do not believe that the NIT utilized in this case pursuant to a court order should be considered to be malware," it added.
The case centers on Operation Playpen, which stirred controversy when it was revealed that federal agents had secretly broken into the child porn site and ran it from a government server. That was when agents destroyed its hacking tools to identify the site's users by exploiting a flaw in the Tor browser, use to access the anonymity network.
The FBI refused to deliver how the Tor exploit worked, so the judge tossed out the evidence.
MORE
Another tale from the 'twisted and illogical' department...
The FBI does 'not believe' that the hacking tools it uses to break into computers of suspected criminals should be considered 'malware,' because it says they're used with good intentions.
In the court filing, first spotted by Julian Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, the FBI said that its hacking tools, so-called network investigative techniques (NIT), are not 'malicious.'
The legal brief written by the FBI last week said that: "A reasonable person or society would not interpret the actions taken by a law enforcement officer pursuant to a court order to be malicious.'
'For that reason I do not believe that the NIT utilized in this case pursuant to a court order should be considered to be malware," it added.
The case centers on Operation Playpen, which stirred controversy when it was revealed that federal agents had secretly broken into the child porn site and ran it from a government server. That was when agents destroyed its hacking tools to identify the site's users by exploiting a flaw in the Tor browser, use to access the anonymity network.
The FBI refused to deliver how the Tor exploit worked, so the judge tossed out the evidence.
MORE
Chicago Public Schools to BORROW $389 MILLION to avoid ending school year early
Cuts are “not part of the conversation”
Chicago Public Schools plans to borrow $389 million to make it through the current school year, money officials hope to pay back with overdue state aid payments. The borrowing will be expensive because of the district’s junk bond rating, and would only serve to avert a financial crisis until next fiscal year, when CPS will face another massive budget deficit, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Chicago Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown said the board will vote Wednesday on a plan to borrow $389 million to help cover a $721 million payment to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund. The state owes the district $467 million in past due state aid payments, but CPS can only borrow up to 85 percent of that amount, Brown said.
District officials are banking on funds from a new $250 million pension property tax levy this summer to cover the rest.
“After a lot of hard work by the CPS and city financial teams, and many discussions with their lending partners, tomorrow we will brief aldermen on the district’s finances and the financial plan for the remainder of the CPS fiscal year,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s spokesman, Adam Collins, said in a statement.
City officials had threatened to cut days off the end of the school year to balance the budget, but Collins said Friday that cuts are “not part of the conversation” with aldermen, NBC Chicago reports.
More here
Chicago Public Schools plans to borrow $389 million to make it through the current school year, money officials hope to pay back with overdue state aid payments. The borrowing will be expensive because of the district’s junk bond rating, and would only serve to avert a financial crisis until next fiscal year, when CPS will face another massive budget deficit, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Chicago Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown said the board will vote Wednesday on a plan to borrow $389 million to help cover a $721 million payment to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund. The state owes the district $467 million in past due state aid payments, but CPS can only borrow up to 85 percent of that amount, Brown said.
District officials are banking on funds from a new $250 million pension property tax levy this summer to cover the rest.
“After a lot of hard work by the CPS and city financial teams, and many discussions with their lending partners, tomorrow we will brief aldermen on the district’s finances and the financial plan for the remainder of the CPS fiscal year,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s spokesman, Adam Collins, said in a statement.
City officials had threatened to cut days off the end of the school year to balance the budget, but Collins said Friday that cuts are “not part of the conversation” with aldermen, NBC Chicago reports.
More here
Dissolving the dead A radical alternative to burial and cremation
For decades, most people arranging a funeral have faced a simple choice - burial or cremation?
But in parts of the US and Canada a third option is now available - dissolving bodies in an alkaline solution.
It will arrive in the UK soon.
Its technical name is alkaline hydrolysis, but it is being marketed as “green cremation”.
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But in parts of the US and Canada a third option is now available - dissolving bodies in an alkaline solution.
It will arrive in the UK soon.
Its technical name is alkaline hydrolysis, but it is being marketed as “green cremation”.
More
Professor awarded taxpayer-funded grant to research 'microaggressions'
The National Science Foundation awarded over $200,000 in taxpayer dollars to a professor who plans to research microaggressions.
First reported by The Daily Caller, Mary Atwater, a professor of science and mathematics education at the University of Georgia, received $229,061 to study the implications of microaggressions and look at minority participation in science and math, according to a statement from the University of Georgia.
“There has been little research in this area in science education,” said Atwater, also the Sachs Distinguished Lecturer in residence at Teacher’s College of Columbia University. “In fact, there is very little microaggression research that has been done in which the participants are people of European-American descent.”
"Microaggression," a common term on college campuses, refers to actions or comments that subtly -- and often unintentionally -- show a bias toward a minority or other "marginalized" group. The term also is a big part of the national debate over whether free speech on college campuses is being stifled in the interest of sensitivity.
More
First reported by The Daily Caller, Mary Atwater, a professor of science and mathematics education at the University of Georgia, received $229,061 to study the implications of microaggressions and look at minority participation in science and math, according to a statement from the University of Georgia.
“There has been little research in this area in science education,” said Atwater, also the Sachs Distinguished Lecturer in residence at Teacher’s College of Columbia University. “In fact, there is very little microaggression research that has been done in which the participants are people of European-American descent.”
"Microaggression," a common term on college campuses, refers to actions or comments that subtly -- and often unintentionally -- show a bias toward a minority or other "marginalized" group. The term also is a big part of the national debate over whether free speech on college campuses is being stifled in the interest of sensitivity.
More
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/22/professor-awarded-taxpayer-funded-grant-to-research-microaggressions.html
BREAKING: Brennan Admits NO TRUMP PRESSURE To End Russia Investigation
Schiff asked:
In respect to a number of allegations made recently that the president or his aides may have sought to enlist the help of members the IC [intelligence community] or Director Comey himself to drop the Flynn investigation. Have any members of the IC shared with you their concerns that the president was attempting to enlist the help of people within the intelligence community to drop the Flynn investigation?
Brennan answered, “No, sir.”
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Sarah Netanyahu Tells Melania Trump of Common Bond: ‘Media Hate Us but the People Love Us’
The Times of Israel reports: After their husbands praised the “unbreakable bond” between Israel and the US at the welcome ceremony for US President Donald Trump, Sara Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, told US First Lady Melania Trump that the two couples had more in common than pure geopolitical interests.
Chatting candidly on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport on Monday, Sara Netanyahu said that, like the Trumps, Israel’s “first couple” had been treated unfairly by the media but were loved by the people. “You know in Israel all the people like us. The media hate us but the people love us,” Netanyahu told the first lady in a recording that picked up their private conversation. “Like you.”
“We have a lot in common,” Trump replied. Netanyahu, with a broad smile on her face, promised to continue the discussion “over dinner.”
Read more here.
Chatting candidly on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport on Monday, Sara Netanyahu said that, like the Trumps, Israel’s “first couple” had been treated unfairly by the media but were loved by the people. “You know in Israel all the people like us. The media hate us but the people love us,” Netanyahu told the first lady in a recording that picked up their private conversation. “Like you.”
“We have a lot in common,” Trump replied. Netanyahu, with a broad smile on her face, promised to continue the discussion “over dinner.”
Read more here.
Eyewitness Shares Account Of Fatal Pedestrian Accident In Ocean City
OCEAN CITY – A man who performed lifesaving efforts on a pedestrian killed along Coastal Highway during last weekend’s Cruisin’ Ocean City event described scene of the fatal accident.
Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers and EMS personnel responded to the scene of a fatal pedestrian collision that occurred near the intersection of 45th Street and Coastal Highway at 2:24 a.m. Sunday.
According to police, the pedestrian, identified as James R. Ednie, 23, of Kelton, Pa., was crossing Coastal Highway from west to east when he was struck by an oncoming vehicle traveling northbound. Ednie did not use a crosswalk at the time of the collision.
The OCPD said nearby witnesses initiated lifesaving efforts before police and EMS arrived at the scene. Ednie was transported to Atlantic General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
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Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers and EMS personnel responded to the scene of a fatal pedestrian collision that occurred near the intersection of 45th Street and Coastal Highway at 2:24 a.m. Sunday.
According to police, the pedestrian, identified as James R. Ednie, 23, of Kelton, Pa., was crossing Coastal Highway from west to east when he was struck by an oncoming vehicle traveling northbound. Ednie did not use a crosswalk at the time of the collision.
The OCPD said nearby witnesses initiated lifesaving efforts before police and EMS arrived at the scene. Ednie was transported to Atlantic General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
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We just discovered why the “Russia” storyline is about to DISAPPEAR
You are no doubt exhausted by the constant barrage of stories regarding supposed links and collusion between Donald Trump, his campaign, his associates and The Russians. (Hey, does anyone else remember that movie “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming”, or is that ancient history?)
Wouldn’t it be great if that was all finally put to bed, and liberals found something else to complain about? It might well be. In fact this story might make it all disappear overnight.
Let’s roll back briefly to last summer, when Wikileaks published a bunch of emails showing corruption in the DNC, leading to Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepping down, and exposing the collusion between the DNC and the media.
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Wouldn’t it be great if that was all finally put to bed, and liberals found something else to complain about? It might well be. In fact this story might make it all disappear overnight.
Let’s roll back briefly to last summer, when Wikileaks published a bunch of emails showing corruption in the DNC, leading to Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepping down, and exposing the collusion between the DNC and the media.
More
After State Makes Drug Testing MANDATORY For Welfare Recipients: They Discover Results FAR WORSE Than Expected…
This growing culture in America who that think government should be financially responsible for the well-being of individuals receiving government entitlements is really obnoxious. Responsible adults who pay taxes vent their frustrations about drug users qualifying for ‘free money’ all the time. There’s one state who’s doing something about that.
Lawmakers in North Carolina are beholden to those taxpayers and want to make sure that their expenditures don’t become a reward to drug users. Now, welfare applicants are required to take a drug screening test, in order to qualify for benefits.
SOME BACKGROUND
2013: North Carolina lawmakers pass a law requiring state temporary cash assistance recipients to go through drug screening to receive their benefits.
2015 to 2016: nearly 30,000 residents apply for the state’s Work First Program (or temporary cash assistance). Each applicant went through drug screening (interview, questionnaire, etc.) and based on the results of the screening, 400 applicants were required to get drug tested. Fifty applicants tested positive (about 12% of those required to get tested) which is less than 1% of those screened.
More
Lawmakers in North Carolina are beholden to those taxpayers and want to make sure that their expenditures don’t become a reward to drug users. Now, welfare applicants are required to take a drug screening test, in order to qualify for benefits.
SOME BACKGROUND
2013: North Carolina lawmakers pass a law requiring state temporary cash assistance recipients to go through drug screening to receive their benefits.
2015 to 2016: nearly 30,000 residents apply for the state’s Work First Program (or temporary cash assistance). Each applicant went through drug screening (interview, questionnaire, etc.) and based on the results of the screening, 400 applicants were required to get drug tested. Fifty applicants tested positive (about 12% of those required to get tested) which is less than 1% of those screened.
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What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know
At 97, Ben Ferencz is the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive and he has a far-reaching message for today’s world
It is not often you get the chance to meet a man who holds a place in history like Ben Ferencz. He's 97 years old, barely 5 feet tall, and he served as prosecutor of what's been called the biggest murder trial ever. The courtroom was Nuremberg; the crime, genocide; the defendants, a group of German SS officers accused of committing the largest number of Nazi killings outside the concentration camps -- more than a million men, women, and children shot down in their own towns and villages in cold blood.
Ferencz is the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive today. But he isn't content just to be part of 20th century history -- he believes he has something important to offer the world right now.
"If it's naive to want peace instead of war, let 'em make sure they say I'm naive. Because I want peace instead of war."
Lesley Stahl: You know, you-- have seen the ugliest side of humanity.
Benjamin Ferencz: Yes.
Lesley Stahl: You've really seen evil. And look at you. You're the sunniest man I've ever met. The most optimistic.
More
It is not often you get the chance to meet a man who holds a place in history like Ben Ferencz. He's 97 years old, barely 5 feet tall, and he served as prosecutor of what's been called the biggest murder trial ever. The courtroom was Nuremberg; the crime, genocide; the defendants, a group of German SS officers accused of committing the largest number of Nazi killings outside the concentration camps -- more than a million men, women, and children shot down in their own towns and villages in cold blood.
Ferencz is the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive today. But he isn't content just to be part of 20th century history -- he believes he has something important to offer the world right now.
"If it's naive to want peace instead of war, let 'em make sure they say I'm naive. Because I want peace instead of war."
Lesley Stahl: You know, you-- have seen the ugliest side of humanity.
Benjamin Ferencz: Yes.
Lesley Stahl: You've really seen evil. And look at you. You're the sunniest man I've ever met. The most optimistic.
More
Anne Arundel Co. police employee suspended for Facebook post about college student murder
Police said Welby Burgone, a former police academy recruit and civilian employee assigned to the department’s Communcations Section, posted a photo of a crab that appears to be holding a knife with the caption “You mess with crabo You get a stabo” in the thread of a Facebook post that contained racial epithets mocking the fatal stabbing of Richard Collins III. University of Maryland student Sean Urbanski has been charged with Collins' murder and authorities are investigating it as a possible hate crime.
Police said they were made aware about Burgone’s post on Monday and began an investigation that resulted in Burgone’s suspension.
More
Seth Rich Plot Thickens: "DC Insider" Speaks Of "Complete Panic" At Highest Levels Of DNC
Last week, Fox News dropped a bombshell report officially confirming, via anonymous FBI sources, what many had suspected for quite some time, that murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich was the WikiLeaks source for leaks which proved that the DNC was intentionally undermining the campaign of Bernie Sanders. In addition to exposing the corruption of the DNC, the leaks cost Debbie Wasserman Shcultz her job as Chairwoman.
Of course, if it's true that WikiLeaks' emails came from a DNC insider it would end the "Russian hacking" narrative that has been perpetuated by Democrats and the mainstream media for the past several months. Moreover, it would corroborate the one confirmation that Julian Assange has offered regarding his source, namely that it was "not a state actor."
Meanwhile, the plot thickened a little more over the weekend when Kim Dotcom confirmed via Twitter that he was working with Seth Rich to get leaked emails to WikiLeaks.
Of course, if it's true that WikiLeaks' emails came from a DNC insider it would end the "Russian hacking" narrative that has been perpetuated by Democrats and the mainstream media for the past several months. Moreover, it would corroborate the one confirmation that Julian Assange has offered regarding his source, namely that it was "not a state actor."
Meanwhile, the plot thickened a little more over the weekend when Kim Dotcom confirmed via Twitter that he was working with Seth Rich to get leaked emails to WikiLeaks.
I knew Seth Rich. I know he was the @Wikileaks source. I was involved. twitter.com/seanhannity/st…
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