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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

SPD Press Release 5-13-15 (PSA Off Road Motorcycles)

Baltimore Prosecutor Deliberately Heightens Racial Tensions

On May 1, Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby charged six police officers, including two black male officers and one female black officer, with 28 various charges, including murder and manslaughter over the death of Freddie Gray. Officer Caesar Goodsoon, the black driver of the van Gray rode in, was charged by the 35-year-old state’s attorney for Baltimore City with the most serious offense, “second-degree depraved heart murder,” which means indifference to human life. Baltimore is 64 percent black, and almost half of the Baltimore Police department is black.

The officers are accused of arresting and roughing up Gray, who is black, for no good reason, then neglecting his request for medical care as they took him to the police station. The officers arrested him because they believed he had a switchblade, which is illegal under Maryland law. Mosby declared that he did not have a switchblade, claiming there was no probable cause to arrest him. Mosby said while he was being transported in the back of the police van without a seatbelt on, he suffered a neck and back injury. He died a week later of the injuries. One of the officers charged, Garrett Miller, has said that Gray was arrested “without force or incident.”

Mosby announced the charges a mere 12 days after Gray’s death, only one day after receiving the results of the police internal investigation and almost immediately after receiving the medical examiner’s report. In contrast, a grand jury returned a decision of no indictment against Officer Darren Wilson more than three months later after his death.

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Black professor regrets comments critical of white students

BOSTON (AP) — An incoming Boston University professor who called “white college males” a “problem population” and was publicly criticized by the university’s president said on Tuesday she regrets making the remarks.

Black sociology professor Saida Grundy, who completed her doctorate at the University of Michigan last year, had declared on her now-private Twitter account that “white masculinity is THE problem for America’s colleges.”

In other recent tweets, she said, “Deal with your white (expletive), white people. slavery is a (asterisk)YALL(asterisk) thing,” and “Every MLK week I commit myself to not spending a dime in white-owned businesses. And every year I find it nearly impossible.”

Grundy on Tuesday said events in the United States over the past year have made “the inconvenient matter of race” an unavoidable topic, but she expressed remorse over what she had said.

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Hillary Gets ‘4 Pinocchios’ For Alleging Illegal Aliens Pay More In Taxes Than Corporations

When you need a story to back up your political beliefs, and don’t really have a good one – just make it up. That’s what Hillary Clinton did last week in a speech in Las Vegas. It’s a claim so false that Politifact has given it four Pinnochios.

“In New York, which I know a little bit about because I represented it for eight years and I live there now, our undocumented workers in New York pay more in taxes than some of the biggest corporations in New York.”

The claim, sourced to a post on the website of Clinton rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), ignores crucial facts—such as the billions that alleged tax-dodging corporations actually pay—and compares tax bills for a group of individuals and corporate entities, which obscures crucial distinctions, the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler found.

Even if Clinton incorrectly stated her talking point, this is a tendentious argument that is probably made even less relevant by 2014 tax data. (Note how the taxes paid by Verizon and Citicorp increased as the economy began to pick up.) If she is only talking about state and local income taxes, that’s just $186 million, according to the ITEP estimate for New York. Verizon and Citicorp still exceed that number on state and local taxes alone.

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Reagan Shooter John Hinckley's Lawyers Say He's Ready To Be Free

A lawyer for John Hinckley told a federal judge Tuesday that it's time to grant the thwarted presidential assassin the power to leave a psychiatric hospital and live full time with his elderly mother in Virginia.

"Every witness agrees that he's ready and every witness agrees that the risk of danger is decidedly low," lawyer Barry William Levine argued.

Levine said the depression and psychosis that fueled Hinckley's drive to shoot President Ronald Reagan, press secretary James Brady and two law enforcement officers outside a Washington, D.C., hotel in 1981 is "in full, stable, sustained remission" and has been so for more than 20 years. Since then, Hinckley has performed volunteer work, made new friends and started to compose rock 'n' roll music his brother describes as "stuck in the past."

Hinckley, who turns 60 years old this month, quietly listened to the court proceedings, sometimes drumming his fingers on the table. When the judge said he wasn't likely to see Hinckley again for a while, he genially replied, "That's correct."

The government's own experts agree it may be time for Hinckley to leave the institution for good. But prosecutors say that should happen only under rigorous supervision to ensure that Hinckley adheres to detailed itineraries — and with his phone and driving privileges monitored.

"We all know that Mr. Hinckley is not any person and he never will be," Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Kennedy said. "Mr. Hinckley's in a very small class of defendants and at present he is the only one found not guilty by reason of insanity."

Hinckley already enjoys 17-day visits to his mother's home in Williamsburg every month. The question for Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman is whether to take the next step and grant him full convalescent leave from St. Elizabeths Hospital.

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Ga. Army veteran arrested after smashing stranger’s car window to rescue dog

An Army veteran says he has no regrets after he was arrested in Georgia this week for smashing a stranger’s car window to give a trapped dog some fresh air.

Michael Hammons, who served in Desert Storm, said he jumped into action when he heard someone in an Athens shopping center say a dog was in distress, a local NBC affiliate reported.

Witnesses said a group of shoppers noticed the Pomeranian-mix in the hot Mustang without water and were waiting on police to arrive when Mr. Hammons grabbed his wife’s wheelchair leg and smashed the car window, the station reported.

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Six Questions..............

The following is incredible! I didn’t get one correct answer. Prepare for a shock at the answer and prepare yourself for the next election !! Six trivia questions to see how much history you really know. Be honest, it's kind of fun and revealing. If you don't know the answers make your best guess.Answer all of the questions (no cheating) before looking at the answers.

And, no, the answers to these questions aren't all“Barack Obama”.

1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
A. Karl Marx B. Adolph Hitler C. Joseph Stalin
D. Barack Obama E. None of the above

2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few...... And to replace it with shared responsibility, for shared prosperity."
A. Lenin B. Mussolini C. Idi Amin D. Barack Obama E. None of the above

3) "(We).....can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people."
A. Nikita Khrushev B. Joseph Goebbels C. Boris Yeltsin D. Barack Obama E. None of the above

4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own ... in order to create this common ground."
A. Mao Tse Tung B. Hugo Chavez C. Kim Jong II
D. Barack Obama E. None of the above

5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed."
A. Karl Marx B. Lenin C. Molotov
D. Barack Obama E. None of the above


6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched."
A. Pinochet B. Milosevic C. Saddam Hussein D. Barack Obama E. None of the above .


.........Scroll down for answers











And the answers are ~~~~~~~~~~~~~



(1) E. None of the above.
Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004

(2) E. None of the above.
Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007

(3) E. None of the above.
Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007

(4) E. None of the above.
Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007

(5 ) E None of the above.
Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007

(6). E. None of the above.
Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005

**** Want to know something scary? She may be the next president.

Baltimore Mayor announces free summer youth programs

BALTIMORE —Baltimore City officials have announced free summer programs will focus on giving kids more opportunity to help them stay out of trouble.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks officials met at a west Baltimore boxing gym Tuesday to announce free summer programs.

Jaden Williams, a 13-year-old seventh-grade student from Sandtown-Winchester, one of Baltimore's toughest neighborhoods, said he knows one bad decision can change his life.

"You can get into trouble if you just keep on standing outside and doing stuff with your friends and following them instead of playing sports," Williams said.

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Do We Talk Funny? 51 American Colloquialisms

Has American English become homogenized? Have our regional ways of saying particular things — sometimes in very particular ways — receded into the past? Or do we talk as funny as ever?

When I was researching an NPR History Dept. piece on lost American slang wordsrecently, slanguist Tom Dalzell — author of a raft of books, including Vietnam War Slang and Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang — told me: "For 100 years, we have trended away from regional slangs to a national slang. Radio, then television, then MTV and then the social media have all served to homogenize the slang that we use."

There is, Dalzell said, "very little regional slang left. Hecka or hella in Northern California or wicked or pisser in New England are examples of the few that survive." (Hecka, hella and wicked mean "very" or "really"; pisser means "stroke of bad luck.")

But what about nonslang regionalisms and colloquialisms? "There is a huge overlap between slang and colloquial and regional," Dalzell says. "Some would argue that coolis no longer slang but is so commonly used as to have lost the identity value and so is merely colloquial."

Cool.

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Family Of Baltimore Teen Accused Of Smashing Police Cruiser Says Bail Unfair

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — You saw the unforgettable images live on WJZ during the riots outside of Camden Yards. A Baltimore City teenager accused of smashing the windows of police cars is now out of jail.

Jessica Kartalija with why his family says his $500,000 bail was set way too high.

The family’s attorney says the 18-year-old’s bail–set at twice the amount of the officers charged with killing Freddie Gray–is unfair.

Allen Bullock sees footage on the news and goes to police two days later.

Kartalija: “Allen, what made you come forward and turn yourself in?”

Bullock: “I had to make an appeal visit anyway.”

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Verizon to buy AOL for $4.4B in Cash

Content and distribution are still king.

Fifteen years after AOL acquired Time Warner for $165 billion in a bold effort to put entertainment and advertising on the World Wide Web, the company that coined “You’ve got mail” is at it again.

This time, however, AOL is the company being acquired, and it is a mobile phone company trying to disrupt the media industry.

Verizon Communications agreed on Tuesday to buy AOL for $4.4 billion in an all-cash deal that will see today’s king of mobile acquire the one-time king of media. The rationale is the same as it was 15 years ago, but the platform is different.

Instead of aiming at desktop computers, Verizon and AOL want to put content and new advertising technology on today’s most ubiquitous computing device, the mobile phone.

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President Obama addresses poverty, stereotypes in panel discussion

WASHINGTON (AP) - It wasn't your typical panel discussion: President Barack Obama sat down Tuesday with leading thinkers from the left and right to reflect on poverty, income inequality and the stereotypes that get in the way of finding solutions.

"The truth is more complicated" than the caricatures of liberals just wanting to throw more money at undeserving "sponges," Obama said, and descriptions of "cold hearted" free-market types who see the poor as "moochers."

Obama told an audience of about 700 at Georgetown University that it makes him mad when he hears a "constant menu" of stories on Fox News Channel featuring poor people who want a "free Obama phone" or other easy benefits.

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Look Up

Obama presidential library to be built on Chicago's South Side

CHICAGO (AP) - President Barack Obama has decided to build his presidential library on the South Side of Chicago, where his political career began.

The Barack Obama Foundation announced in a news release early Tuesday that the library will be erected on park land that was proposed by the University of Chicago. The site was selected over bids made by Columbia University in New York, the University of Hawaii and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"With a library and a foundation on the South Side of Chicago, not only will we be able to encourage and affect change locally, but what we can also do is to attract the world to Chicago." Obama said in a video accompanying the release. "All the strands of my life came together and I really became a man when I moved to Chicago. That's where I was able to apply that early idealism to try to work in communities in public service. That's where I met my wife. That's where my children were born."

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Defense Bill Would Put 100,000 Untraceable Guns On Streets

WASHINGTON -- Psst. Want an untraceable gun? Courtesy of Congress and the U.S. military?

That may soon be possible thanks to a provision tacked onto this year's National Defense Authorization Act, which the House of Representatives is set to pass this week.

The provision was added as an amendment during a late-night session at the end of last month during which the legislation authorizing the nation's military activities for 2016 was drafted.

According to a white paper prepared for Congress by the Army opposing the amendment, the measure would allow the unregulated distribution of up to 100,000 Colt .45s, more formally known as .45-caliber semiautomatic M1911 handguns.

The provision, added by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), changes parts of federal rules that were meant to boost rifle skills in the country under a program dating back to Teddy Roosevelt. Under existing law, which was updated in 1996, the Department of Defense makes surplus military rifles available to the public through something known as the Civilian Marksmanship Program, which has a regional headquarters in Rogers' state.

Rogers' amendment would change language in the law that specifies certain rifles allowed in the program to include the much broader category of "firearms."

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SPD Press Release 5-13-15 (Bank Robbery Investigation/Arrest)

Maryland is launching an ad campaign to convince people it's just as fun as its neighbors

The state's Office of Tourism Development wants visitors here to indulge in the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings of Maryland.

The office recently launched a new ad campaign, dubbed "Satisfy Your Five Senses," that highlights the sensory experiences across the state.

"A vacation is so much how you remember all those sensations,” said Liz Fitzsimmons, the office's assistant director of advertising and communications.

Bill Pencek, the state's acting tourism director, said the campaign also aims to overcome the perception that Maryland doesn't have as much to offer as surrounding states.

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Elon Musk denies scolding employee for taking time off to witness childbirth

Elon Musk has denied writing or speaking a quotation in which he supposedly chastised a Tesla employee for missing an event to witness the birth of his child. The quote — lifted from an authorized biography of the entrepreneur by business journalist Ashlee Vance and published by The Washington Post — reads: "That is no excuse. I am extremely disappointed. You need to figure out where your priorities are. We’re changing the world and changing history, and you either commit or you don’t."

Musk, however, said in a tweet that he had "never written or said this" and that Vance's book was "not independently fact-checked" and should be taken "[with] a grain of salt." He later added that the claim was "BS & hurtful" and that another quote used in the piece — in which Musk describes himself as a "samurai" — was also incorrect. The Washington Postdescribes the quotation as coming from "an anonymous Tesla employee recalling an email from Musk" — a somewhat tenuous line of attribution.

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Shootings Riddle Baltimore After Riots

Fifty people have been shot in Baltimore following the riots that started April 28, an average of three to four shot per day.

Besides the damaged buildings sprinkled across the battered city, Baltimore has seen a spike in shootings since the riots in late April that set much of the city on fire and injured several the Baltimore Sun reports.

The past weekend featured a shooting spree in the city with 10 shot on Sunday. Sunday night was particularly bloody, with three homicides in a one-hour span.

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Study: Americans becoming less Christian, more secular

NEW YORK — The number of Americans who don't affiliate with a particular religion has grown to 56 million in recent years, making the faith group researchers call "nones" the second-largest in total numbers behind evangelicals, according to a Pew Research Center study released Tuesday.

Christianity is still the dominant faith by far in the U.S.; 7 in 10 Americans identify with the tradition. However, the ranks of Christians have declined as the segment of people with no religion has grown, the survey says.

Between 2007 and 2014, when Pew conducted two major surveys of U.S. religious life, Americans who described themselves as atheist, agnostic or of no particular faith grew from 16 percent to nearly 23 percent. At the same time, Christians dropped from about 78 percent to just under 71 percent of the population. Protestants now comprise 46.5 percent of what was once a predominantly Protestant country.

Researchers have long debated whether people with no religion should be defined as secular since the category includes those who believe in God or consider themselves "spiritual." But the new Pew study found increasing signs of secularism.

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Demolition In Ocean City Today

Demolition of the former Melvin's Steak House building and most recently the Lazy Lizard Brew Pub is taking place today...

Posted by The Dispatch on Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Colburn leaves Federalsburg town manager position

FEDERALSBURG — Richard Colburn, Federalsburg’s first full-time town manager, has stepped down after 24 years on the job.

Colburn’s last day was Sunday, May 10. He said he resigned in order to pursue other opportunities, which he is not yet able to disclose.
 

Colburn said he personally gave Mayor Bill Beall and each member of the town council a copy of his resignation letter and a handshake during an April 20 workshop, and has offered to help the town find his successor.

“I am grateful I got the chance to get into government at the municipal level,” Colburn said in a phone interview. “That’s where it begins.”

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10 Signs That Your Child Is Spoiled

Spoil me rotten! They say you can't spoil a baby with endless amounts of holding, rocking, and cooing, but once that child passes the toddler years, overindulgence can make for one ill-behaved tot. It's easy to pick out the spoiled kid on the playground but much harder to turn a critical eye on ourselves. Here's a checklist of 10 signs that indicate that you may have a spoiled child on your hands.

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Report: UN, European Governments Funding Anti-Israel Groups

The United Nations and European governments are pouring millions into groups that promote anti-Israel and anti-Semitic views, according to report by a NGO watchdog released ahead of the 2015 Global Forum for Combatting Anti-Semitism in Israel.

The government-funded groups include several that have promoted anti-Semitic cartoons and published claims that Jews use Christian blood to make Passover matzah, according to the report by watchdog group NGO Monitor.

“The ongoing government funding for NGOs that engage in anti-Semitic activities and rhetoric, governments highlight a persistent double standard: Hatred of Jews is tolerated in a way that would be unthinkable for other racial, ethnic, or religious groups,” said NGO Monitor president Gerald Steinberg in a statement. “Jewish and Israeli targets are often denied the right to define what constitutes discrimination against them.”

The NGO Monitor report cites Amnesty International, Sabeel, and Human Rights Watch as several of the groups that engage in anti-Israel rhetoric.

More here

Robert Woodson: If All Whites Moved Out of USA, How Would It Solve Inner-City Problems?

(CNSNews) - The solution to poverty begins in the neighborhoods and the people affected by it, says Robert Woodson, the founder and president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise.

"You always have to begin with a solution in mind," Woodson told CSPAN Tuesday morning in a discussion on poverty. "I tell people, what is your solution? If all whites tomorrow were to move to Canada and Europe, tell me how it would affect the black on black crime rate, how would it it affect the out-of-wedlock births, how would it affect the spread of AIDS? How would it affect those issues?" he asked.

"What I'm saying to Black America, we must stop victimization. We must stop complaining about what white folks have done to us in the past. We must go into ourselves, as Dr. King said, and find indelible ink -- our own emancipation proclamation."

Woodson's organization goes into low-income communities and seeks out leaders and "moral mentors" to help solve the problems they understand so well.

"When you bring people together where you are motivated by solutions and not complaining about what others have done, it is amazing how much entrepreneurial energy exists within these high-crime neighborhoods," he said.

"Young men who have been to prison...if they can drive, it means they can drive taxicabs in high-crime areas. My point is, we should be using all of our energy to try and promote innovative approaches to poverty rather than just trying to find excuses. There's nothing more lethal than a good excuse for failure -- institutional racism, whatever that means.

More here

School Freaks Out Over Boys Baseball Storage Shed

You’d best get out your hip waders, folks – we’re about to wade through a steaming pile of government balderdash.

The controversy surrounds a storage shed built by the baseball booster club at Arbor View High School in Las Vegas. The youngsters needed a place to store their bats and balls and bases.

The boosters had wanted to build a clubhouse for the teenage ball players, but after months of delay they came up with an alternative plan.

One of the parents knew the owner of a company that made precast one-story buildings. The company offered to donate the manpower and materials to build the boys a shed.

Carl Pastrone, whose son is a pitcher and outfielder for the Arbor View Aggies, told me they pitched their plan to school administrators and were promptly given a green light. That was in 2014.

The storage shed was erected last September. Boosters installed doors and gave the shed a coat of paint – nothing elaborate.

“It cost the booster club zero,” Carl told me.

And that was that – until a few months ago.

That’s when officials with the Clark County School District showed up at the school and demanded that the storage shed be torn down.

More here

Maryland governor signs police accountability laws

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed legislation Tuesday aimed at increasing police accountability during a ceremony that had been delayed because of Baltimore riots after the death of a man injured while in police custody.

State legislators passed the measures this session in response to the police killing of a man in Missouri last year. Now, with six Baltimore officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, advocates are pushing for further action.

One of the measures requires a commission to develop a policy for police use of body cameras by Jan. 1. Billy Murphy, an attorney who represents Gray’s family, said the bill was a step in the right direction but more must be done.

“Ferguson was viewed as a distant problem someplace else until Freddie Gray,” Murphy said after attending the bill-signing ceremony. “Now, it’s in our own backyard, and we’ve got to deal with it.”

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The fake meat industry is exploding

Sales of meatless and vegetarian products are soaring, although only 7% of U.S. consumers call themselves vegetarian.

The hunger for fake meat — or meatless meat — is getting bigger. So much so that the latest sales numbers of plant-based meat alternatives reached $553 million in 2012,representing a growth spurt of 8 percent from 2010. “We are doubling the business annually,” said Ethan Brown, CEO of Beyond Meat, which makes non-animal food products like the Beast Burger and has an active group of investors that includes Bill Gates and former Twitter execs Biz Stone and Evan Williams.

“We’re growing like a weed and expect to keep growing,” said Martha Pincoffs, founder of Minnesota-based Hot Dang Grain Burgers that makes meatless items, such as the “Big Tex,” a grain burger ready made for the barbecue. Her products are sold in many Whole Food stores across the country.

Why the increase in meatless meat? Those in the know say better health habits among consumers, along with tastier products, are providing a healthy financial benefit for businesses and investors. Also, there is a growing sense that the meatless meat industry is more environmentally friendly.

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The federal government is taxing marijuana businesses to death

Voters in four states and Washington, DC, have approved marijuana legalization. But the drug remains illegal under federal law, creating all sorts of legal hurdles that state-legal marijuana businesses have to overcome.

One of those hurdles is federal taxes. Due to a section of the tax code known as 280E, many state-legal marijuana businesses have to pay taxes on basic expenses like rent, employee salaries, and utility bills — unlike other legal businesses, which are allowed to deduct these types of expenses.

For some businesses, this can drive their effective tax rates to 70 to 90 percent of their profits, which is enough to force many shops out of business. In comparison, other types of businesses can expect effective tax rates closer to around 30 percent.

The New York Times's Jack Healy reported on one medical marijuana business in Seattle that paid nearly 87 percent of its profits to federal taxes:

In Seattle, John Davis earned $53,369 in profits last year from his medical marijuanadispensary, the Northwest Patient Resource Center. Because he complied with all of the tax rules prohibiting deductions, he said, he ended up owing $46,340 in taxes.

"It's basically a dagger at the throat of the entire legal cannabis industry," Steve DeAngelo, co-founder of California-based medical marijuana dispensary Harborside Health Center, told me.

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At least 7 bodies in New Britain serial killer case; single suspect identified

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Eight years after authorities first located the remains of three women behind a strip mall, the partial remains of at least four more people have been found.

Members of a task force investigating the case are focusing on a single suspect already locked up in prison, law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said.

If the victims are eventually all linked to the same suspect, he or she would be the most prolific serial killer in Connecticut since Michael Ross, who was convicted of killing four young women and girls and who admitted killing four others. Ross was executed in 2005.

At a news conference Monday afternoon, New Britain police identified one of the bodies as Seymour resident Melanie Ruth Camilini, who was last seen in Waterbury in January 2003.

Camilini, who was 29 when she disappeared, would have celebrated her birthday Monday, police Chief James Wardwell said.

In a statement read to the gathered media by a Seymour detective, Camilini's family thanked the police and the state's attorney's office for their work on the case and asked for privacy as they mourn.

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Lost Dog: UPDATE

Good morning Joe. Our beagle, Bernie got out this morning as our boys were leaving for school. They will be devasted if I cannot locate him before they come home from school. He has a camo collar with tags. Lost in the Websters Estates area on Oorter Mill Road. Please post. Thanks 443 880 4337 or 443 944 2046

Attempt to Force Obamacare Expansion on States Backfires

Trying to force Obamacare expansion onto Florida by cutting funding for an existing Medicaid program has backfired on President Obama.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, is suing Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services over plans to stop funding the state’s Low Income Pool program, which compensates hospitals for seeing uninsured patients.

Almost immediately, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback announced they would join the suit against HHS.

Christie Herrera, senior fellow at Florida’s free-market Foundation for Government Accountability, told Watchdog.org the Obama administration has “awakened a sleeping giant.”

“They’ve raised the ire of all these other states that are in Florida’s exact position, and that’s why you’ve seen Kansas and Texas filing amicus briefs in the lawsuit,” Herrera said during a phone interview.

More here

Get ready for another oil price dip: Goldman Sachs

The rally in oil over the last couple of months has derailed a rebalancing of the commodity's price and will cause it to weaken, Goldman Sachs warned Tuesday. (Tweet This)
"We believe that the recent price rally is premature" the investment bank's commodities team, led by Damien Courvalin, said in a note published Tuesday morning.

"Prices need to sequentially weaken, to resume the oil market rebalancing as well as help correct the still intact imbalance of too much capital looking for opportunities in the energy space."

The price of oil collapsed from near-$120 a barrel in June last year to lows of around $45 a barrel in January, although it has since bounced back to around the $60-a-barrel level. Analysts are now contemplating oil's "new equilibrium," with a slew of market watchers predicting that prices could climb to around $70 before the end of the year.

However, Goldman Sachs said the price may have gotten ahead of itself and warned that oil was now trading at a premium compared to to its own "still weak fundamentals."

These weak fundamentals include rising stockpiles of oil, it explained, and production growth is expected next year from low-cost producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Russia.

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AGENDA COUNTY COUNCIL OF WICOMICO COUNTY 5-14-15

The Wicomico County Council will be holding a budget session Thursday, May 14th and will be entering into a closed work session with the Internal Auditor after the budget session…the agenda for the closed session is attached…

The budget session begins at 9:30 a.m. with the closed work session to begin tentatively around 11:30 a.m



AGENDA
COUNTY COUNCIL OF WICOMICO COUNTY, MARYLAND
Room 301, Government Office Building, Salisbury, Maryland
LEGISLATIVE SESSION 2015-10

May 14, 2015 11:30 a.m.
11:30 a.m.    John T. Cannon, President
Call meeting to order
Opening Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance
11:31 a.m. Closed Work Session:
Internal Auditor:  Cell Phone Follow-Up, RedSpeed, Hotline Update, WINTF Audit Memo, Banking Audit Report, ESG Contract Compliance Report, DOC Pest Control, Enterprise Funds, Audit Pipeline
The County Council reserves the right to close a portion of this meeting as authorized by Section 10-(508)a of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
 

Maryland to Issue 365-Day Recreational Fishing Licenses

Today, Governor Larry Hogan signed into law a bill that authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to issue recreational fishing licenses for 365 days from the date of purchase, rather than for the calendar year. Created by Senate Bill 666/House Bill 785, the new law takes effect October 1.

“By giving anglers the added value and flexibility of choosing their annual license’s start date we expect they’ll spend more days on the water, which will benefit Maryland businesses associated with the sport fishing community, such as tackle shops and charter boats, as well as the food service, fuel and hotel industries,” said DNR Secretary Mark Belton.

Currently, recreational fishing licenses are good for a calendar year. As a result, Marylanders who purchase fishing licenses late in the year often buy short-term three- or seven-day licenses, which cost less, but limit their options for going out. The new law will encourage these anglers to buy annual licenses ─ a better value.

Sport Fishing Advisory Commission Vice Chairman David Sikorski, who championed the legislation, said, “This is a win for the recreational fishing community. Maryland now joins a handful of states leading the movement to offer the increased value and flexibility of a 365-day license.”

The new law covers recreational tidal and nontidal fishing licenses, including the popular Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Boat License.

Anglers will be able to purchase these licenses through the online COMPASS license system, compass.dnr.maryland.gov/dnrcompassportal.

Baltimore Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Under Fire For Personal Conduct

Marilyn Mosby, the Baltimore City State Attorney in charge of prosecuting six police officers for the death of Freddie Gray, Jr., is coming under increasing criticism from defense attorneys and legal scholars who think she is politicizing the case and using her prosecutorial power to create her own celebrity.

Ms. Mosby has raised eyebrows in several quarters with a media blitz that has spanned from a CNN interview that focused on her courtship with her city councilman husband to her decision to appear on stage with Prince during a rock concert for a song dedicated to Mr. Gray.

The legal experts say Ms. Mosby is in danger of running afoul of the Maryland Bar standards barring prejudicial conduct by prosecutors, or at the very least traveling down a well-worn path of failed celebrity prosecutions like those involving O.J. Simpson, George Zimmerman or the Duke lacrosse players.

“She’s a young prosecutor in the starlight with an agenda, which is not solely focused on prosecution,” said Mark O’ Mara, the Florida criminal defense attorney who successfully defended Mr. Zimmerman against charges he shot an unarmed black man in a trial that turned the tables on the prosecutors.

“If she wants to prosecute cops, that’s a gargantuan task in itself,” he added. “If she’s going to be the standard in which we prosecute police, then do it responsibly, don’t open yourself to undue criticism. A lot of lawyers are probably asking, why are you on stage with Prince — why aren’t you working?”

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Election Commission Dems Want Power to Regulate Conservative Media

Former Republican chairman charged his Democratic replacement with playing politics and trying to belittle foes to get her way

Bristling at claims that GOP opposition has made the Federal Election Commission “worse than dysfunctional” in the eyes of the Democratic chairwoman, Republicans counter-charge that the left is frustrated because it hasn’t succeeded in regulating conservative Internet sites, media and right-leaning super PACs.

In an escalating fight on the politically-divided FEC, the former Republican chairman on Monday charged his Democratic replacement with playing politics and trying to belittle foes to get her way.

“In Washington, people have a way of vilifying anything they disagree with in the most unflattering labels,” wrote Republican Commissioner Lee E. Goodman in a column for Politico. It was in response to claims by Democratic Chair Ann Ravel that the GOP is thwarting her bid to clean up politics.

“Commissioner Ravel believes that there are too many instances where the commissioners have evenly divided their votes, and that the bipartisan safeguards that prevent one party from politicizing or misusing the agency to punish political enemies stand in the way of meaningful enforcement,” wrote Goodman.

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Just 9 Days in U.S., Refugee Tries to Rape Woman

The U.S. screening process for foreign refugees has once again failed to stop a criminal from entering the country, as indicated by the case of Tchalim Koboya Lidawo of Togo.

Lidawo was in the U.S. only nine days when he was arrested in Virginia and charged with two counts of attempted rape and one count of abduction with force related to an incident on Dec. 4, 2014.

Just nine days after the West African man was settled into his apartment near Leesburg in northern Virginia, he accosted a woman who lives in the same complex.

He was sentenced to 10 years with an additional five years of suspended time, according to officials. He must also pay a $5,000 fine.

Lidawo is the latest in a long line of refugees the government has brought in from overseas who have run afoul of the law.

Hundreds of former refugees have come to the U.S. and ended up being charged with providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations or other criminal acts.

The country with the worst record is Somalia. So many Somalis have have been arrested or sought by authorities that U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Andrew Luger, concluded last month that the state “has a terror recruitment problem” among its growing Somali-American community. The community is about 50,000 strong in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area, made up of Somali refugees and their sons and daughters.

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Early estimate of Baltimore riot damage: $9 million

BALTIMORE (AP) — The government’s first estimate of damage from rioting last month in Baltimore puts the cost at $9 million.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s office said Tuesday the preliminary estimate comes from a Small Business Administration survey of 284 businesses and two homes damaged during riots following the death of Freddie Gray.

Mikulski’s office says the agency found that 30 businesses and one home sustained major damage. Another 254 businesses and one home sustained minor damage.

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Critics Want Crackdown on Immigrant Asylum Claims

Immigration critics are demanding that border security start with tighter restrictions on people claiming political asylum, Fox News reports.

An internal Department of Homeland Security report obtained by the House Judiciary Committee last year showed that at least 70 percent of asylum cases contain proven or possible fraud, the Washington Times reports.

"Almost anyone at all can call themselves an asylum seeker and get in. It's a global joke," Kenneth Palinkas, president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council, told Fox News. "It's not border security if anyone can recite the magic words and get waved right on in."

Current policy allows immigrants caught at the border without documentation to claim asylum and get authorization to work in the United States, Fox News reports.

The work permit then allows the person to get a Social Security card and some taxpayer-funded benefits, including Supplemental Security Income, SNAP/food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Medicaid, according to Fox News.

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BLACK, DEMOCRAT SHERIFF: OBAMA FUELING RACIAL DIVISION FOR FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF POLICE

"Obama started this war on police intentionally, right in line with his community agitating," he tweeted

President Obama is fueling racial tensions between African-Americans and the police to justify a federal takeover of local law enforcement, warned Milwaukee’s Democratic Sheriff David A. Clarke.

Sheriff Clarke, an African-American who’s been in office since 2002, sent out a series of tweets warning that the Obama administration was exploiting recent police shootings, including the deaths of two Hattiesburg, Miss., police officers on Saturday, to incite racial division so the Justice Dept. could expand federal control over local police.

“Obama’s reaction will be to sic [the DOJ] on Hattiesburg P.D. to look for patterns of racism,” he said about the Hattiesburg shootings.

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Watchdog: Congress Committed 'Fraud' to Avoid ACA Requirement

Congress engaged in outright fraud to escape a requirement that everyone on Capitol Hill buy individual health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, and the White House played along, says a government watchdog who calls the congressional Obamacare dodge an under-reported scandal.

The Obama administration let Congress, which employs thousands of people, classify itself as a small business so that lawmakers and hill employees could keep heavily subsidized, federally funded coverage that would not have been available to them as individuals, Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment, told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner on Newsmax TV on Monday.

"This is quite literal fraud," said Kerpen. "These are documents, formal documents, that were filed with the D.C. health exchange — the Obamacare exchange in the District of Columba — certifying that the House of Representatives only has 45 employees and the United States Senate also only has 45 employees.

"These are signed under penalty of perjury, and since they were signed, 13,700 people have signed up for [coverage in] the supposed 'small businesses' with 90 total employees," he said. "So, this is pretty blatant fraud here on the part of Congress."

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Another fourteen black on white murders

We have been working to create a comprehensive look at black on white murders for the years 2014 and 2015

We have been working to create a comprehensive look at black on white murders for the years 2014 and 2015. Many media bosses openly admit that they censor black on white crime. We have been working to collect the biggest sample size of black on white murders possible.

From information we have already collected, many important conclusion can already be drawn. People who drive taxi cabs, deliver pizza, or deliver other food items are probably in much greater danger of being killed on the job than police officers. The overwhelming majority of these killings seem to be black on white and black on Asian. For people who delivery food or drive a cab, this is important information that they should be aware of. They should not be put in greater danger by having this information censored in the name of political correctness.

Also, large numbers of young white males and females are being murdered while trying to buy marijuana off of black dealers. The perps never acquire any significant monetary gain from the murders. They simply kill the victim for the fun of it and to gain street cred. The media often blames the white victim and calls it “a drug deal gone bad.”

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Officials: Scanner helps find heroin in woman's vagina

FREDERICK, Md. —The Frederick County Sheriff's Office said a body scanner helped discover a bag of heroin hidden in a woman's vagina after she was arrested on drug charges following a traffic stop.

A deputy initiated a traffic stop for a traffic violation on Interstate 70 in the area of Linganore Road at 1:40 p.m. Saturday. During the stop, a Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit was called out and detected an odor of a narcotic. During a search of the vehicle, deputies said they found suspected heroin, which was seized.

Officials said they arrested Brittany Ann Sapp, 23, of Hagerstown, and she was taken to the Frederick County Adult Detention Center’s Central Booking Unit for processing. While there, authorities conducted a body scan, which picked up inconsistencies. After investigating, authorities said a baggie with 1.7 grams of heroin was found in Sapp's vagina.

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Another Local Vehicle Accident Involving A State Trooper

It's been reported that a Maryland State Trooper was struck from behind on Tilghman Road and Rt. 50 moments ago. 

This would be the 5th accident in the past week.

The Bin Laden Raid Was A Work Of Fiction, And Barack Obama Should Immediately Resign

Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has uncovered one of the biggest lies in modern American history

Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has uncovered one of the biggest lies in modern American history.

It turns out that much of what the American public was told about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden was a blatant lie.

According to Hersh, Osama bin Laden had been captured by Pakistan all the way back in 2006, and he was being held by the ISI as a prisoner at the Abbottabad compound that the Seals ultimately raided in 2011. In addition, Hersh says that the ISI and Pakistan’s military knew about the Seal raid in advance. Arrangements were made so that the Black Hawk helicopters could travel through Pakistani airspace safely, and the ISI guards at Osama bin Laden’s compound were pulled away before the Seals got there. And by that time, Osama bin Laden was reportedly in such bad health that he was essentially a cripple. There was no “firefight” at all – only a turkey shoot. Afterwards, Osama bin Laden’s body never made it to the USS Carl Vinson for a “burial at sea”. That was all just part of the cover story according to Hersh. Of course the White House and Obama’s lackeys at CNNare strongly denying all of this, and they will continue to deny the truth for as long as they possibly can. But there are individuals in the U.S. military and in the U.S. intelligence community that can come forward and tell us what really happened. Let us hope that at least some of those individuals still care enough about this country to do that.

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BREAKING NEWS : Death toll raised to 6 in Amtrak derailment

The death toll has been raised to 6 in the derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Temple University Hospital officials say.

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Rand Paul Plans To Filibuster Patriot Act

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said this week that he intends to mount a fight against the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, the post-Sept. 11 law that gives the National Security Agency much of its authority to conduct surveillance programs.

"I'm going to lead the charge in the next couple of weeks as the Patriot Act comes forward. We will be filibustering. We will be trying to stop it. We are not going to let them run over us," Paul told the New Hampshire Union Leader on Monday.

The Patriot Act expires June 1, but Congress must effectively renew the law by May 22nd because of a scheduled weeklong break. Paul, a civil libertarian who hopes to capture the 2016 Republican nomination for president, has consistently spoken against reauthorizing the law, going so far as to oppose a 2014 bill that would have ended controversial NSA phone record collection because it left the government's broad authority to conduct surveillance intact.

It's unclear whether Paul plans to vote to block reauthorizing the surveillance law, or whether he intends to mount a traditional "talking" filibuster that would eat up valuable time on the Senate floor. A request with the senator's spokesperson for more details was not immediately returned.

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Free Youth Fishing Derby Returns to Salisbury City Park on Saturday, June 6

Salisbury, MD – Cast your rod at Salisbury City Park on Saturday, June 6 during Wicomico Recreation's Annual Youth Fishing Derby. This free event is open to children 15 and under. Registration will begin Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. (advanced registration is not necessary) and fishing starts promptly at 9 a.m. Each child must bring their own rod and bait. Prizes and trophies will be awarded for the biggest fish, most fish caught, most unusual catch and more.

In preparation for the Derby, the Department of Natural Resources will help stock the pond at Salisbury City Park. Approximately 500 blue gills will join the pond's current inhabitants including catfish, large-mouth bass, perch and carp.

Lunch will be provided for all youth participants at the end of the competition. For more information, visit www.WicomicoRecandParks.org or contact Program Director Cortney Kline at 410-548-4900 x109 or email ckline@wicomicocounty.org.

When A Criminal Yanked A Woman From Her Mercedes, Little Did He Know What Was About To Happen

An Orem, Utah man is dead after he tried to forcibly commandeer a woman’s Mercedes. The 26-year-old man was allegedly involved in a series of crimes prior to the attempted carjacking. He was shot by a heroic bystander with a concealed carry permit.

Western Journalism reports:

According to recent KSTU reports, a man is dead after attempting to forcibly commandeer a woman’s Mercedes. The deceased 26-year-old had allegedly taken part in a series of criminal acts along with several accomplices, culminating with the fateful carjacking attempt.

Authorities say reports of a fight Saturday morning at an Orem, Utah, apartment complex ended when the now-deceased suspect and four other individuals drove away in one vehicle.

A short time later, the group disbanded. The vehicle is seen on surveillance footage hitting a curb, at which point four occupants are shown fleeing on foot as the driver steals a truck parked nearby. He reportedly drove to a supermarket in the area, where he ditched the stolen truck and attempted to take an occupied vehicle.

“Suspect gets out of the truck,” Orem Police Capt. Ned Jackson said, “goes over and pulls the lady out of the silver Mercedes, starts to get in the car. She’s screaming for help.”

From there, Jackson explained, the situation took a drastic turn for the worse for the suspect. An armed man reportedly witnessed the altercation and stepped in to protect the targeted motorist.

“Our citizen goes up at gun point, has him get out of the car,” Jackson explained. “The guy gets out of the car. The suspect lunged and tried to get the gun from him; so at that point, he’s trying to protect himself and shoots the gentleman.”

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National Safe Boating Week Kicks off May 16th in West Ocean City Maryland

Ocean City MD: On May 16th from 9:00 -1100 AM members of the United States Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary and Maryland Natural Resources Police will kick off National Safe Boating Week (NSBW) at the West Ocean City Boat Ramp at the foot of the commercial channel. Mayor Richard Meehan will present a Proclamation that states:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Richard W. Meehan, Mayor of the Town of Ocean City, Maryland, do hereby support the goals of the North American Safe Boating Campaign and proclaim May 16 – 22, 2015 as NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK in Ocean City and the start of the year-round effort to promote safe boating. I urge all those who boat to take boating safety courses, get a free vessel safety check, always wear a life jacket and practice safe boating habits.

National Safe Boating Week serves as a reminder to the recreation boating community to always boat responsibly and always wear your life jacket.

Also in attendance will be Maryland Delegate Mary Beth Carozza, Maryland State Senator Jim Mathias, Worcester County and a representative from US Congressman Andy Harris’ office. The dignitaries will arrive from Coast Guard Station Ocean City to the West Ocean City Boat Ramp aboard a 47’ Motor Life Boat (MLB). The 47’ MLB is one the primary Search and Rescue (SAR) vessels stationed in Ocean City. After the brief comments by the dignitaries, the 47’ MLB will be available for public tours.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary will also be performing free courtesy Vessel Safety Inspections and providing safe boating tips at the ramp every Saturday and Sunday morning throughout the recreational boating season.

The theme of this year NSBW is “Take the Pledge”

Take the pledge

Make this summer safe.

The Worst Year I've Ever Experienced, You?


Messianic Rabbi’s Warning To America Goes Viral

Celebrated speaker and New York Times bestselling author of The Harbinger and The Mystery of the Shemitah Jonathan Cahn issued a warning to the nation last week from the heart of the U.S. Capitol building. Video of Cahn’s short remarks has already been viewed over 5 million times online.

Cahn, speaking at the annual “Washington: Man of Prayer” event on April 29, delivered a message in the vein of Israel’s ancient prophet Jeremiah about what he believes the future of the nation holds, short of a major course correction.

Quoting the prophet, he asked, “Has a nation ever exchanged its gods? Yet my nation has exchanged their glory for that which cannot help them.”

To the members of Congress and others gathered in the Capitol’s famed Statuary Hall, he first made the case that the United States was dedicated to God by the Founders.

Cahn pointed out that the very date they were meeting was the anniversary of the first settlers planting a cross at Cape Henry, Virginia, and dedicating the nation to God on April 29, 1607.

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RARE COLOR FOOTAGE FROM BERLIN, 1945

At least 5 dead as Amtrak train derails in Port Richmond

At least five people were killed and more than 50 were injured when a northbound Amtrak train derailed Tuesday night in Port Richmond, Mayor Nutter said.

Scores of emergency personnel swarmed over more than a half-dozen toppled train cars, trying to reach injured and dazed passengers.

Some people were reported trapped in the train, and crews were cutting into the cars to try to free the injured.

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This Simple Technology Is Going To Make History: Meet The LifeStraw

One rarely considers how valuable clean, purified water is until they are in a third world country, hiking and in search of fresh water, or without electricity and a flowing supply of aqua. But for the 884 million people in the world that live without safe water to drink, becoming sick from a contaminated stream is a daily concern.

Many third world countries suffer the burden of unclean water and pay drastically for the luxury easily taken for granted in developed nations. It is estimated that nearly one in five deaths (1.5 million) is due to diarrhea-related sicknesses that may stem from an unclean stream. In fact, according to LifeStraw, Diarrhea kills more young children than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. This situation is tragic, but will be changed thanks to a new invention.

The LifeStraw, a 22 cm-long purification pipe, was originally developed by Danish manufacturers in 2005 as a solution to the devastating problem of unsafe drinking water in lesser developed countries. Because it is a tool that can save lives, it was named the Best Invention in 2005 by Time Magazine and Invention of the Century by Gizmag. In 2006 it was heralded by the New York Times as a ‘water purifier that could save lives’, and Forbes Magazine also labeled it as ‘one of the ten things that will change the way we live’.

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