Enjoy Your 4th Of July Weekend

Just like many of you, we plan on enjoying this holiday weekend with Family and Friends. That being said, we'll be publishing articles throughout the weekend but will be tied up with Family and Friends. Therefore we'll be a bit slow in moderating comments. Yes, we too deserve a break and guess what, we're going to take it. Have a great weekend. 

What Are We Celebrating?

Phil Mickelson's money tied to money laundering case: report

Phil Mickelson may have more explaining to do after a report by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” named him as the bettor whose $2.75 million led a former handicapper to plead guilty to three federal counts of money laundering.

Although Mickelson is apparently not under investigation and has not been charged with any crime, “Outside the Lines” is citing two sources that say the five-time major winner used Gregory Silveira of La Quinta, Calif., as a conduit to place bets on sporting events with an illegal offshore gambling operation.

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Cop Buys Lemonade At Girl’s Stand; Returns Next Day, But Not To Buy More

Painesville, O.H - Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Zach Ropos stopped at a little girl’s lemonade stand while out on patrol in Ohio on Monday in Painsville, Ohio. After talking to her for a few minutes, he decided to give her a lecture before leaving. He returned the next day, but not to lecture her or even to buy a cup of lemonade.

“I talked to the little girl, gave her a speech about how courageous and admirable I think her efforts were to save up her money. I asked her how much she saved up, and she said she only had a few dollars,” Ropos told ABC News.

The girl said that she had more money, but her mom’s car ran out of gas. The girl then gave her mother the money she had so she could fill up her gas tank. Apparently, that struck a chord with the officer.
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In 'first', IS beheads two civilian women in Syria: monitor

The Islamic State group has beheaded two women in Syria on accusations of "sorcery," the first such executions of female civilians in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday.

"The Islamic State group executed two women by beheading them in Deir Ezzor province, and this is the first time the Observatory has documented women being killed by the group in this manner," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The Britain-based monitor said the executions took place on Monday and Sunday and involved two couples.

In both cases, the women were executed with their husbands, with each pair accused of "witchcraft and sorcery".

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11 Family Dollar Stores in Maryland Will Be Sold To Ensure Competition, Protect Consumers

Baltimore, MD - Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced a plan to protect Maryland shoppers affected by the pending purchase of deep-discount chain Family Dollar Stores, Inc. by competing retailer Dollar Tree, Inc. Under terms of a settlement agreement filed in federal court on Thursday, 11 Family Dollar stores in Maryland will be sold to a different company to maintain competition and low prices in neighborhoods most impacted by the acquisition.

"So many Marylanders rely on these stores for daily necessities like food and toiletries," Attorney General Frosh said. "This agreement ensures that in places where a Dollar Tree store and a Family Dollar store are close to each other, there will be two different companies operating them, with a built-in incentive to keep prices low."

The 11 stores will be sold to Sycamore Partners, which will be purchasing about 330 similar stores nationwide under the settlement. The stores will then be renamed "Dollar Express." Four of the stores are in the Baltimore City, six are in the DC suburbs, and one is in Salisbury.

This strange, glowing fish is more abundant than rats, chickens, and humans combined

With a global population of more than 7 billion, humans like to think they're a pretty big deal.

But in the race for the most abundant animal there's one little aquatic vertebrate that absolutely blows its competitors away.

There are likely thousands of trillions of bristlemouth fish in the world's oceans, according to The New York Times.

That's 18 zeros.

By comparison an estimated 24 billion chickens strut around the globe.

In some parts of the world rats seem like they outnumber everything. While no one has made an exact estimate on how many rats there are it's believed to be in the billions. But they probably outnumber humans.

Just for arguments sake say rats outnumber humans two to one, that puts them at 14 billion.

Then add on humans and chickens and that's 45 billion land vertebrates.

That's a lot.

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Turtle Derbies Pose Dangers for Humans and Herps

Turtle races or derbies are part of many Fourth of July celebrations, but the Maryland Department of Natural Resources cautions that these events pose a health risk to captive turtles, wild turtles and human participants.

Some turtles raced in derbies are collected from the wild and, if diseased, can infect pet or other wild turtles when released. A particular concern is Ranavirus, an emerging infectious disease that has caused localized die-offs in Eastern Box Turtles, other native turtles, and some frogs and salamanders.

“We hope all Marylanders have a safe and happy holiday, and that they enjoy the wonder of wild turtles and frogs without the health risks associated with these events,” said Jonathan McKnight, associate director of DNR’s Wildlife & Heritage Service. “However, if you are planning to participate, we urge that you help protect Maryland’s wild reptiles and amphibians from disease by using only pet turtles, and not releasing them into the wild.”

County Health Agency Issues Reminders About Rabies; Rabid Raccoon Recently Killed In Berlin

BERLIN – A rabid raccoon in downtown Berlin served as proof of what health officials have been saying all along — the deadly disease can show up anywhere.

“We never know where the next call’s going to come from,” said Janet Tull, rabies coordinator for the Worcester County Health Department.

Tull said the county documented its sixth confirmed case of rabies this year when a raccoon carrying the disease was picked up off Main Street. According to Tull, the health department was contacted by a resident whose dog killed the rabid raccoon.

The dog’s rabies vaccination was up-to-date, but by law the animal was still required to receive a booster shot and had to remain in quarantine at the owner’s home for 45 days.

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A Lot Has Changed Since Then, Eh?

Why you should stop waving the rainbow flag on Facebook

I remember one of the first times I thought I might be gay. I was about 10, walking with my mom through Chelsea – New York City’s preeminent gayborhood – and saw a rainbow flag hanging from a pharmacy storefront. The sight of the flag made me deeply uncomfortable. Even then, I knew it somehow represented me and marked me as different. I was only a kid, but I understood that if I identified with that flag, I’d be in for a hard life.

This past weekend, I saw more rainbow flags than I had previously seen in the 26 years of my life combined. Everything – the White House, corporate logos, and especially my Facebook feed – suddenly was covered in the colors of gay pride. Since Friday, an astonishing 26 million people have overlain their profile pictures with semitransparent rainbow stripes, a feature Facebook created to celebrate gay pride after the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.

But the more flags I saw last weekend, the more uncomfortable I felt.

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MSP Press Release 7-3-15 (Motor Vehicle Collision - Fatal)

Healthy 24-Year-Old Granted Right to Die in Belgium

Doctors in Belgium are granting a healthy 24-year-old woman who is suffering from depression the right to die, as she qualifies for euthanasia, even though she does not have a terminal or life-threatening illness.

The 24-year-old female, known simply as Laura, has been given the go ahead by health professionals in Belgium to receive a lethal injection after spending both her childhood and adult life suffering from "suicidal thoughts," she told local Belgian media.

Laura has been a patient of a psychiatric institution since the age of 21 and says she has previously tried to kill herself on several occasions. She told journalists: "Death feels to me not as a choice. If I had a choice, I would choose a bearable life, but I have done everything and that was unsuccessful." The date of Laura's death is yet to be decided.

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Here’s One Rape Culture The Media Wants To Be Fake

“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

With that colorful statement two weeks ago, Donald Trump declared his views on illegal immigrants. Since then, several media outlets have spent countless ounces of ink and innumerable seconds of air time raging at the real estate mogul for his comments — particularly his rape assertion.

Whenever The Donald is invited to defend his views for the umpteenth time, the questioning usually veers to the rape angle, as it did when Trump was interviewed by CNN’s Don Lemon Wednesday night. During the interview, the presidential hopeful brought up a Fusion article that reported that 80 percent of women coming into the U.S. illegally are sexually assaulted.

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And they complain about a flag

Google apologizes for mis-tagging photos of African Americans

Google was quick to respond over the weekend to a user after he tweeted that the new Google Photos app had mis-categorized a photo of him and his friend in an unfortunate and offensive way.

Jacky Alciné, a Brooklyn computer programmer of Haitian descent, tweeted a screenshot of Google's new Photos app showing that it had grouped pictures of him and a black female friend under the heading "Gorillas."

"Google Photos, y'all f****d up. My friend's not a gorilla," Alciné wrote.

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Toyota's top female executive resigns after arrest in Japan

TOKYO — Julie Hamp, Toyota's most senior female executive, has resigned following her arrest in Japan on suspicion of drug law violations, the automaker said Wednesday.

Hamp tendered her resignation through her attorneys on Tuesday, and Toyota Motor Corp. accepted it because of "the concerns and inconvenience that recent events have caused our stakeholders," the company said.

Hamp, a 55-year-old American who was Toyota's newly appointed head of public relations, was arrested on June 18 on suspicion of importing oxycodone, a narcotic pain killer, into Japan. The drug is tightly controlled in the country.

Toyota declined to disclose other details, noting the investigation was ongoing.

Hamp, who previously worked for Toyota's U.S. operations, remains in custody and has not been available for comment. Police have said she denied she tried to bring in an illegal drug.

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Principal Takes Students iPhone 6 Won't Give It Back To Parent

We Talk To The Owner of a Massive Car Hoard About Why Things Aren’t For Sale

There’s a lot of resentment against people who have our dream cars. It’s intensified if the cars appear to just be sitting around, subject to the harsh realities of time. As we rant and rage about the waste, we all love those photos of vehicles sinking back into the earth, sun faded and wrapped in vines. What’s the deal? Why do people hold on to things they don’t use, and why does it make us so mad, yet unable to look away?

I didn’t set out to answer that question when Brandan and I stopped at a hilly property somewhere along State Route 41 in Mississippi during our Power Tour prerun this week. We stopped because we spotted a buttery yellow 1950s Mercury parked behind a white 1930s Dodge and when we got closer, we saw numerous rusting machines of various vintages in a field loosely ringed with barbed wire. As we poked around, trying to gauge at exactly which point our curiosity would become justified-shooting trespassing, a sleepy-looking man came out of the main house with a cup of coffee in his hand and a puzzled expression on his face. I explained who we were (HOT ROD Magazine), and why we had stopped (big car show coming through), and suddenly we were not suspicious characters up to no good on his property, we were fellow car nerds, and welcome to roam through the field, pet the horse, and ask about all the vehicles sitting in the weeds.

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“Traditional Basket Making To Be Taught In Class In Mardela Springs”

You may think baskets are pretty ordinary, even mundane, things! Well, think again!! Hand woven baskets, made of reed, thin wooden strips, bits of leather, and other materials, are much more than useful. They are works of art! And for a growing number of people basketry is a craft to be learned and perfected, as well as a relaxing pastime.

On August 2, Sunday you can try it for yourself! Westside Historical Society will be offering a class in basket weaving , taught by master basket-maker Susan Taylor, in Mardela Springs. This class is part of the Saving Our Traditions Series, and not only will you learn to make a beautiful basket, but you get to keep your work of art! Taylor, a New Jersey native, now lives in Hurlock. She has a well earned reputation as the skilled weaver of traditional baskets, enthusiastic teacher of the art, and serious defender of this traditional craft. The mother of three and grandmother of five generously shares her talents to share this important art form and piece of our cultural history.

The study of basket making as art was virtually ignored until the 20th century ; many thought it to be ordinary and simply a part of domestic life and functional use. But historians see it as a key to learn about the daily lives of people and their lifestyles and very worthy of study and research. And in recent years, basket making has been elevated to a fine art, with exhibits of beautiful hand-woven baskets featured in the Smithsonian and other major museums. The National Basketry Organization promotes basketry as contemporary art nationally. In Maryland, those who hope to save this craft and art form have realized we are losing our basket-making traditions and cultures. The skills, patterns, materials, and forms of baskets woven by Native Americans, watermen, and farmers are being saved and passed on to new generations. The functions of baskets vary widely, from containers for fish and eels, apples and eggs, flowers and herbs to drying tobacco and a host of other items.