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Saturday, September 12, 2015

All You Can Eat Breakfast Buffet.....Lunch To follow


Police: 5 family members found dead in Minnesota home

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Five family members, including three children, were found dead in their lakeside home in an upscale western Minneapolis suburb in what police said appeared to be a murder-suicide.

South Lake Minnetonka police went to check on the family at 12:21 p.m. Thursday after no one was seen or heard from in days, Interim Chief Mike Siitari told The Associated Press. Siitari wouldn't release any information on how the family members died but said there appeared to be "no threat or danger to the community."

The children had not been in school for the past two days, Siitari said. The request to check on the family came from a co-worker of the father, he said.

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Office Depot apologizes to woman over anti-abortion fliers

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP) — The CEO of Office Depot apologized Friday to a suburban Chicago woman who said the company discriminated against her religious beliefs when its employees told her that making copies of an anti-abortion prayer violated company policy.

Maria Goldstein, who is Roman Catholic, asked the Office Depot in Schaumburg last month to make 500 copies of “A Prayer for Planned Parenthood.”

The prayer was composed by the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of the anti-abortion group Priest for Life. It calls on God to “Bring an end to the killing of children in the womb, and bring an end to the sale of their body parts. Bring conversion to all who do this, and enlightenment to all who advocate it.”

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Goldman: This may push oil to $20

The risk that oil could fall as low as $20 a barrel is rising, with a persistent surplus requiring prices to remain lower for longer to rebalance the market, Goldman Sachs said, cutting its forecasts again.

"While we are increasingly convinced that the market needs to see lower oil prices for longer to achieve a production cut, the source of this production decline and its forcing mechanism is growing more uncertain, raising the possibility that we may ultimately clear at a sharply lower price with cash costs around $20 a barrel Brent prices," Goldman said in a note Friday.

The sources of stress: an abundance of oil coupled with a scarcity of storage space. The bank estimates the industry added around 240 million barrels of petroleum to storage tanks from January to August. It projects available identified storage capacity outside China at around 375 million barrels and expects an around 240 million barrel inventory build outside China between September of this year and the end of 2016.

"In the event that storage fills faster than we forecast or capacity is lower than we model, the potential downside to our oil price forecast from hitting storage capacity is significant ," it said.

But it noted $20 a barrel isn't its base case, even though risks that oil will fall that low continue to rise, especially as the bank expects only moderate production declines through the end of the year.

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Ohio church sues strip club for holding topless protests

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio church has sued a strip club and its scantily clad staff for protesting topless outside the house of worship during the past five years.

New Beginnings Ministries in Warsaw alleges that the protesters have been threatening church members, blocking church entrances and exits and violating their right to religious freedom and the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, according to the federal lawsuit filed last Friday by the church’s pastor, William Dunfee.

Young children were “forced to be exposed to multiple female topless defendants protesting” at the church, according to the lawsuit.

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In Autopsy Report, Medical Examiner Says Kayaker Was Victim of ‘Homicide’

The medical examiner’s conclusion is clear: Vincent Viafore, who the police say was killed by his fiancée during a kayaking trip on the Hudson River this past spring, was a victim of homicide caused by a “kayak drain plug intentionally removed by other.”

But the lawyer for the fiancée, Angelika Graswald, said the medical examiner’s office had overstepped its bounds with that determination. He said it was based on police speculation, not an examination of Mr. Viafore’s body.

“Clearly, the Orange County medical examiner failed to conduct any meaningful investigation of her own and relied on false information provided by the New York State Police,” the lawyer, Richard A. Portale, said on Thursday, referring to Jennifer L. Roman, who performed the autopsy for the medical examiner’s office in Orange County, N.Y.

“She ruled this a homicide without a scintilla of medical evidence,” Mr. Portale added.

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Baltimore Police: Shootings Kill 4, Injure 6, Including 9-Year-Old Girl

BALTIMORE (WJZ)— Police are investigating a rash of shootings that left 10 people shot, four of them killed since Friday night in Baltimore.

A 9-year-old girl is among the latest victims of the city’s mounting gun violence. It’s what city leaders are calling an outrageous crime that shocks the conscience.

WJZ’s Amy Yensi has the latest.

Shots rang out just before 10:00 p.m. in the 2400 block of Barclay Street. At the scene police found a 9-year-old girl suffering from a graze wound and 45-year-old Kirk Butler suffering from a gunshot wound. Butler later died at the hospital. Police say they are still searching for the shooter.

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Infant in Intensive Care After Drinking Baby Formula Mixed with Vodka

The baby's blood alcohol level was .294%

A roughly month-old baby was hospitalized this week after accidentally drinking baby formula mixed with vodka.

The incident happened Monday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a community about 30 minutes from Milwaukee. According to Fox 6, the baby's mother filled a container with water to mix formula. The baby's father, however, dumped out the water and poured vodka into the container.

You can probably guess what happened next. The mother accidentally mixed the formula with the vodka, and, well the rest is an unfortunate history.

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Rizzo, lost dog in Ocean Pines, reunited with owners in Pa.

After being lost in and around the woods of Ocean Pines for nearly a month, Rizzo the German shepherd is now happy, healthy and reunited with her owners in Pennsylvania.

Victoria Liptak said she and her family came to the area for a quiet beach vacation when the pup got loose in early August, triggering a communitywide search and dozens of wildly varying stories about what actually happened.

As it turns out neither Bigfoot – nor mischievous space aliens – had anything to do with the mysterious disappearance of the dog. Instead, Rizzo got loose after an accident at the beach involving Liptak and her other dog, Zuko.

“Zuko ran into me, and I couldn’t move my leg,” she said. “We went back to the beach house to drop off our dogs and the rest of our family, and my fiancé took me to the hospital. And while we were at the hospital, my sister took Rizzo outside to go to the bathroom, and she backed out of her collar and took off.”

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People like puppies, and it’s a big problem for the economy

One of the key missions of the world's central banks is to guard against dramatic movements in the price of goods. It's a job that's as much about psychology as it is economics: Public confidence in central banks to maintain stable inflation actually helps keep prices in check. Or so the thinking goes.

Now, a new paper led by Saten Kumar of Auckland University of Technology finds that many businesses in New Zealand do not have a clear understanding of inflation rates, much less the role of the central bank. Nor do they show much interest in learning about it: Google searches for puppies, the paper points out, are consistently more popular than searches for economic data.

That disconnect between popular perception and economic reality can wind up undermining the power of monetary policy, the paper argues.

New Zealand is a particularly useful case study. The country adopted an explicit goal for inflation 25 years ago, making it a pioneer of so-called “inflation targeting." The practice is now standard at central banks around the world, including the Federal Reserve, with the target typically set at 2 percent.

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OC Brewing Co. expands with vodka lineup

One is a novelty. Two is a trend.

Even as the Ocean City area continues to grow as a craft beer destination, it seems the cutting edge of the alcohol-tourism industry is now in distilled spirits.

Coming on the heels of Seacrets’ success with its own line of spirits, the Ocean City Brewing Company has recently expanded under the label of OC Distilling, introducing a line of flavored vodkas.

“I think it’s something that’s going to be really popular as Ocean City’s brand continues to grow,” said OCBC owner Josh Shores.

The beverages are being produced by a contract distiller in Florida, Shores said, but he plans to go through a process similar to that recently undertaken by Seacrets to allow on-site distilling in Ocean City.

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Where did the term "Politically Correct" come from?

Truman to MacArthur in WWII

For the last six odd years, almost all of the things I wanted to write or say have been stymied by that modern term referred to as ‘POLITICAL CORRECTNESS’..

Although I consider myself fluent in English, that term was not in my vocabulary.

Curiosity got the better of me so I decided to do a little research.
After two weeks of chasing fruitless leads, I found what I’d been looking for at the Truman Library and Museum in Independence Missouri .

An unnamed source there sent me copies of four telegrams between then-President Harry Truman and Gen Douglas MacArthur on the day before the actual signing of the WW2 Surrender Agreement in September 1945.. The contents of those four telegrams below are exactly as received at the end of the war - not a word has been added or deleted!

(1) Tokyo , Japan
0800-September 1,1945
To: President Harry S Truman
From: General D A MacArthur
Tomorrow we meet with those yellow-bellied bastards and sign the Surrender Documents, any last minute instructions?
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
(2) Washington, D C
1300-September 1, 1945
To: D A MacArthur
From: H S Truman
Congratulations, job well done, but you must tone down your obvious dislike of the Japanese when discussing the terms of the surrender with the press, because some of your remarks are fundamentally not politically correct!
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
(3) Tokyo , Japan
1630-September 1, 1945
To: H S Truman
From: D A MacArthur and C H Nimitz
Wilco Sir, but both Chester and I are somewhat confused, exactly what does the term politically correct mean?
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
(4) Washington, D C
2120-September 1, 1945
To: D A MacArthur/C H Nimitz
From: H S Truman
Political Correctness is a doctrine, recently fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and promoted by a sick mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end!

Now, with special thanks to the Truman Museum and Harry himself, you and I finally have a full understanding of what ‘POLITICAL CORRECTNESS’ really means

'I Am Just Extremely Grateful': Single Mom Receives $1,000 Tip From Truck Driver

A bartender in Nebraska said she was shocked when a truck driver left a $1,000 tip after closing his $89.72 tab.

Kari Anthony is a bartender at Quaker Steak and Lube in Grand Island. While working the evening shift last Thursday, she engaged in conversation with one of the customers.

“He was paying as he went and I let him know that he didn’t have to cash out every single time, and if he wanted he could put everything on a tab and cash him out at the end,” Anthony told the Grand Island Independent.

The man was a truck driver who had just finished his shift, Anthony said. He had a few people around him and paid for their meals and drinks as well.

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Microsoft Case: DoJ Says it Can Demand Every Email from any US-based Provider

Microsoft counsel addresses question of US search warrant for Hotmail emails stored in Ireland: ‘We would go crazy if China did this to us’

The United States government has the right to demand the emails of anyone in the world from any email provider headquartered within US borders, Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyers told a federal appeals court on Wednesday.

The case being heard in the second circuit court of appeals is between the US and Microsoft and concerns a search warrant that the government argues should compel Microsoft to retrieve emails held on a Hotmail server in Ireland.

Microsoft contends that the DoJ has exceeded its authority with potentially dangerous consequences. Organizations including Apple, the government of Ireland, Fox News, NPR and the Guardian have filed amicus briefs with the court, arguing the case could set a precedent for governments around the world to seize information held in the cloud. Judges have ruled against the tech company twice.

Counsel for Microsoft contends that the US search warrant should not have been used to compel it to hand over emails stored in Ireland. “This is an execution of law enforcement seizure on their land,” Joshua Rosenkranz, counsel for Microsoft, told the court. “We would go crazy if China did this to us.”

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Baltimore's police union is cheering Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's exit

Baltimore's police union will not miss Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Rawlings-Blake had barely finished announcing she would not seek re-election in 2016 when the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement that took a thinly veiled swipe at the mayor's leadership .

“Rank and file and City leadership must always work as a team so that Baltimore is a place people want to live, work and visit," FOP President Gene Ryan said in the statement. "We look forward to leadership that makes partnering with public safety a priority.”

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FBI-DHS Bulletin About ISIS Luring Female Fighters

Governor Larry Hogan Announces $25 Million for Local Road Investments

Counties and Municipalities Urged to Apply for Grants by September 30
ANNAPOLIS, MD – In an effort to support counties and municipalities with road improvements, local governments will be receiving applications in the mail soon that need to be submitted by September 30. These applications also can be downloaded online at this link.

Historically, 30 percent of all Highway User Revenues went to counties and municipalities to support their local transportation funding, but during the 2010 legislative session, the amount going to local jurisdictions was cut from 30 percent down to 9.6 percent.

“This administration remains committed to restoring funding levels for local road improvements and this $25 million investment is a step in the right direction,” Governor Hogan said. “Everyone in the state relies on Maryland’s roads, and this funding will help local governments deliver the quality infrastructure our citizens need and deserve.”

The time Donald Trump’s empire took on a stubborn widow — and lost

There once was a widow who lived in a house by the sea.

It wasn’t much of a place, just a fading, clapboard-clad box a few steps from the boardwalk in Atlantic City.

Yet, somehow, that house has turned into a clogged intersection of American celebrity and wealth, an odd mash-up of failed dreams, bombast, stubborn indignation, name-calling, angry taunts and legal bombardment.

The cast of characters populating that house’s curious history over the past three decades includes a friend and co-author of Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, a legendary pornographer, and a famed investor. But the central figures in its life and death saga are a feisty, obstinate woman named Vera Coking and a billionaire, the Republican presidential front-runner, Donald Trump.

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Governor Larry Hogan Announces Redistricting Reform Commission’s Public Meeting Schedule

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan has announced that the recently formed Maryland Redistricting Reform Commission will hold its first regional meeting on Tuesday, September 15, at Towson University. This is the first of five meetings to be held throughout the state this fall.

On August 6, Governor Hogan issued Executive Order 01.01.2015.21, which established the Redistricting Reform Commission. The commission is charged with examining the state’s redistricting process and making recommendations to improve election integrity and reduce political gerrymandering. The commission’s report is due to the governor and the presiding officers of the Senate and House by November 3, 2015.

“For far too long, the political gamesmanship of gerrymandering has stifled real political debate and deprived citizens of meaningful choices,” Governor Hogan said. “Through the work of this commission, my administration’s goal is to put Maryland’s redistricting process on a new path toward transparency, fair representation, and election integrity. I encourage all Maryland citizens to attend a regional meeting and share their thoughts and concerns on legislative and congressional redistricting.”

Untrained Receptionist Glues Toddler's Eye Closed In Medical Procedure

An understaffed clinic in Quebec is in hot water after a staff member allowed an untrained, part-time receptionist to perform a medical procedure that resulted in a 3-year-old's eye being glued shut.

On July 1, Julia Vavatsikos took her 3-year-old son, Vincenzo, to Clinique Médicale Privée Jean-Pierre Savaria et Associes to check out a minor cat scratch on the boy’s eyelid. Vavatsikos was told Vincenzo would need medical glue to seal the cut. Since it was Canada Day, however, there was only one doctor on duty in the clinic, so an office assistant, a part-time employee with no medical training, was tasked with gluing the child’s eye.

The clinic’s only on-duty doctor, Jean Therrien, was in charge of the "crucial medical act of holding the boy in place," Dr. Marie-Andree LeBlanc, one of the clinic’s owners, told CBC. Unfortunately, the receptionist missed the laceration and proceeded to glue the child’s eye shut.

“My son was yelling, 'Mommy, mommy.' He couldn't open his eye and also the doctor looked like he was panicking,” Vavatsikos told CBC. “He was trying to open my son's eye with water and his fingers. He was even swearing at that point. I've never met any doctors that swear. At that point, I knew something was really wrong.”

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White Marlin Open featured in 60 Minutes spot airing this month

The White Marlin Open, one of — if not the — premier sportfishing events in the world, was featured in a segment on 60 Minutes Sports on Tuesday, but will be run several times this month on Showtime channels, and available on demand through the Showtime Anytime service.

“It’s really nice how they portrayed the tournament and Ocean City,” founder Jim Motsko said. “We’ve been working on this since last October and I’m enjoying a little bit of the afterglow.”

The segment was hosted by Mo Rocca, a correspondent for “CBS This Morning,” a regular panelist on NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” and former correspondent on “The Daily Show.”

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Russian 5-year-olds dig tunnel out of nursery 'to buy Jaguar'

Two five-year-old Russian boys used spades to dig their way out of their kindergarten and set off on a mission to buy a Jaguar sports car, Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported Tuesday.

The two boys disappeared as their group took part in a supervised walk in the grounds of the kindergarten in the city of Magnitogorsk in the Urals region, the tabloid reported.

Chelyabinsk regional interior ministry confirmed the boys' escape from kindergarten to AFP.

"We don't have any details yet, we can only confirm the fact itself," a spokesman told AFP, adding that the incident took place several days ago.

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An alternative medicine conference ends in chaos after 29 attendees take a hallucinogenic drug

An alternative medicine conference at a hotel in the town of Handeloh, Germany ended abruptly after a group of 29 men and women took a synthetic psychedelic drug and started experiencing hallucinations.

The group of "Heilpraktikers" — German for "healing practitioner," a holistic medicine profession in Germany — were reportedly "“staggering around, rolling in a meadow, talking gibberish and suffering severe cramps," at the August 4 conference, according to the Independent.

The practitiners all tested positive for 2C-E, a synthetic psychedelic that is a schedule 1 controlled substance in the United States, according to Erowid Center, a non-profit psychoactive drug information center.

According to an Erowid forum run by users who have taken 2C-E, the drug has been likened to LSD and can cause muscle tension and aching, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and paranoia in some users. The drug is called Aquahurst in Germany and has been illegal there since last year, the Independent reports.

150 medical staff members, ambulances, and police had to come to the hotel to corrall the "raving" specialists — who ranged in age from 24 to 56, the Independent added. Some were suffering from delusions, breathing problems, racing hearts, and cramps.

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China: USA Must Take More Syrian Refugees; We’ll Take Zero

“The United States should take its responsibility in the disheartening refugee crisis in Europe as its controversial Middle East policies resulted in wars and chaos that displaced large numbers of people,” hectors China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua.

They dwell on the photo of the drowned Syrian toddler — who was not in the process of fleeing from Syria when he died — and the horrid deaths of 70 refugees in a smuggler’s truck in Austria.

China is not generally noted for its genial indulgence of lawbreakers, especially when there are national security implications, but it expects the United States to throw caution to the winds. “Even though it has remained relatively ‘quiet’ on this matter, the United States actually has an inescapable responsibility on what happens today in Europe and the Middle East,” Xinhua pontificates.

“As a solution, peace and stability should be established in the region,” Xinhua concludes. “But it can not be done unless the United States shoulders its responsibility and corrects its mistakes.”

If you’re waiting for some massive groundswell of public sympathy for refugees to change the Chinese Politburo’s mind about settling some Syrians in their territory, the Hong Kong Free Press notes that the Chinese public is “overwhelmingly against the idea,” because they think “China is not responsible for turbulence in the Middle East, many Chinese people are still living in poverty and that the refugees won’t want to come to China anyway.”

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Fall 2015 Berlin Comunity News

Netanyahu: ISIS Militants Causing Middle East to 'DISINTEGRATE'

Arriving in Downing Street for talks with Prime Minister David Cameron, Mr Netanyahu stated his belief that Israel and Britain can work together to “roll back the tide of militant Islam both in the Middle East and in Africa.”

Discussions are set to be dominated by the question of how to combat the rise of the Islamic State, or ISIS, in Syria as well as the nuclear deal recently agreed between the UK, its Western allies and Iran.

Mr Netanyahu, who is a bitter critic of the nuclear agreement, told Mr Cameron: “The Middle East is disintegrating under the twin forces of militant Islam – militant Sunnis led by ISIS and militant Shi-ites led by Iran.”

Mr Cameron assured the Israeli premier that Britain “remains staunch in our defence of Israel's right to exist and to defend itself".

On the eve of his visit, although not repeated today, protestors gathered outside Downing Street clashed with pro-Israeli groups.

He today repeated his recent declaration that he was "ready to resume direct negotiations with the Palestinians with no conditions whatsoever to entering negotiations ... immediately".

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Caption This Photo 9-12-15


Kim Davis vs. Judicial Tyranny

"If the law supposes that, the law is a ass — a idiot."

Charles Dickens gave that line to Mr. Bumble in "Oliver Twist."

And it sums up the judgment of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis about the Supreme Court's Obergefell decision, which said the 14th Amendment guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry.

Davis refused to provide marriage licenses to gay couples lined up at her clerk's office and was sent to jail for five days by a federal judge for contempt of court.

Good for her. We need more like her.

For behind her defiance are more authoritative sources than the five justices who gave us Obergefell: the Old and New Testaments, Natural Law, two millennia of Christian teaching and tradition, and the entire body of U.S. federal and state law up to Y2K.

Moreover, Kentucky never enacted a law authorizing same-sex marriage. Nor did the Congress of the United States.

Whence, then, did this "law" come?

Answer: This is a creation of a Supreme Court that has usurped the legislative power to impose a secularist anti-Christian ideology on a nation, much of which still rejects it, but has no recourse against it.

A right to same-sex marriage was no more in the Constitution as written or amended than was a woman's right to have an abortion.

The Court has lately been declaring to be constitutional rights things that used to be regarded as shameful crimes.

This is judicial tyranny. And Kim Davis' defiance is as old as the republic.

More here

Abortion Survivor: ‘I Should Have Been Another Statistic'

(CNSNews) – Melissa Ohden, founder of the Abortion Survivors Network, testified Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee that she survived a procedure that was intended to scald her to death “from the inside out.”

Ohden noted that according to Planned Parenthood’s 2013-2014 fiscal report, the nation’s largest abortion provider performed 327,653 in one year.

“Based on these numbers, 897 children will lose their lives to an abortion completed by Planned Parenthood each and every day. Why do I find this horrific? Because I have a lot in common with these children. I was meant to be one of them. I should have been just another statistic, but by the grace of God, I am more than a statistic,” said Ohden.

“You wouldn’t know it by looking at me today, but in August of 1977, I survived a failed saline infusion abortion,” said Ohden. “A saline infusion abortion involves injecting a toxic salt solution into the amniotic fluid surrounding the preborn child. The intent of that salt solution is to scald the child to death, from the outside in.”

Ohden discovered that after five days of soaking in a “toxic salt solution,” her biological mother’s labor was induced, and she “should have been delivered dead, as a successful abortion.”

It was her maternal grandmother, a nurse, who delivered her at St. Luke’s Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa, but when her grandmother realized the abortion did not kill Ohden, her grandmother “demanded that I be left to die.”

“I may never know how, exactly, two nurses who were on staff that day found out about me, but what I do know is that their willingness to fight for medical care to be provided to me ultimately sustained my life,” Ohden testified.

She said children like her who were born alive at St. Luke’s were usually left to die in a bucket of formaldehyde in a utility closet.

More here

Inquiry’s Trail: From George Washington Bridge to United’s Executive Offices

It was a traffic jam that, in the end, rerouted the career of the chief executive of the world’s fourth-largest airline, and how one led to the other is a tale of power, politics and New Jersey wheeling-dealing.

Until Tuesday, Jeff Smisek was the chief executive of United Airlines. Mark Sokolich is the mayor of the borough of Fort Lee, N.J., which was gridlocked two years ago this week after allies of Gov. Chris Christie ordered lanes to the George Washington Bridge closed.

As improbable as it may seem — as improbable as they were to begin with — the lane closings that were intended to punish Mayor Sokolich set off a chain of events that eventually led to Mr. Smisek’s surprise resignation, and those of two top lieutenants.

Like a never-ending thread, the federal investigation into the lane closings led prosecutors to look into the dealings of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge, and its chairman at the time, David Samson. This revealed his close relationship with officials at United, the largest carrier at Newark Liberty International Airport, which the authority runs.

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Labor Day ends traditional season on high note

Sunny skies and clear weather paved the way for one of the best summers in years, according to local merchants and business leaders, culminating in an end-of-summer Labor Day bonanza.

“I think the crowds were fantastic and it had to be one of the busiest Labor Day weekends in a long time,” Mayor Rick Meehan said. “I was on the Boardwalk and up and down Coastal Highway and it was as crowded as I’ve ever seen it.”

To his surprise, Meehan said that crowd lingered.

“A lot of people stayed late. [Monday] night I saw a surprising amount of people” still on the Boardwalk and still patronizing local businesses.

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Latest military lab concerns involve plague bacteria, deadly viruses

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's most secure laboratories may have mislabeled, improperly stored and shipped samples of potentially infectious plague bacteria, which can cause several deadly forms of disease, USA TODAY has learned.

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionflagged the practices after inspections last month at an Army lab in Maryland, one of the Pentagon's most secure labs. That helped prompt an emergency ban on research on all bioterror pathogens at nine laboratories run by the Pentagon, which was already reeling from revelations that another Army lab in Utah had mishandled anthrax samples for 10 years.

Army Secretary John McHugh ordered the research moratorium on Sept. 2, Pentagon officials say, out of an abundance of caution.

Moreover, officials point out that continuing testing has shown the suspect samples of plague contain a weakened version, and not the fully virulent form that was of concern to lab regulators at the CDC.

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Perkins: Religious Freedom a 'Central Issue' in 2016 Elections

Religious freedom must be a key issue in the 2016 presidential race, especially with America's bedrock of liberty eroding so quickly, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, tells Newsmax TV.

"This is a central issue and should be a central issue in the 2016 election," Perkins said Friday.

"Not just domestic religious freedom, but we have seen over the last 24 months, in particular under the leadership of President [Barack] Obama, how religious persecution has spread like wildfire around the globe.

And America has basically sat on the sidelines and been silent. For Americans, we understand this is a fundamental, this is our first freedom."

Perkins said all of the nation's freedoms, including freedom of speech and freedom of association, hinge on religious freedom.

"We've seen the court, five lawyers on the Supreme Court, have created this dilemma where you see this conflict between a new right that they have created and a fundamental, clearly enumerated right of the 'freedom of religion', the ability to exercise your religion," Perkins said.

"The left wants to quarantine this within the four walls of our churches. That is not freedom of religion. Freedom of religion is the ability to live your life according to your faith. We should be free to believe and live according to those beliefs."

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1 lawmaker expelled, another resigns after affair coverup

LANSING, Mich. — One socially conservative Michigan lawmaker has been expelled and another resigned early Friday after the two were embroiled in scandal over their extramarital affair and a coverup attempt.

Republican Rep. Todd Courser announced his resignation, effective immediately, and was escorted out of the chamber. His decision came amid a marathon overnight session in the House over whether he and Rep. Cindy Gamrat should stay in their jobs. Gamrat was expelled shortly after Courser's resignation.

"I just felt like it was the appropriate moment to do it," Courser told reporters. "I put everybody through a whole bunch — across the state, my own family, the constituents, the people in this room. ... Whether it was the third vote or the fourth vote or the fifth vote, they were going to eventually get me."

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Office Depot Refuses to Print Copies of Anti-Abortion Prayer

A suburban Chicago woman says Office Depot discriminated against her Roman Catholic faith, charging staffers refused to run copies of an anti-abortion prayer because it violated company policy.

Maria Goldstein, 42, asked the Office Depot in Schaumburg, Ill., to make 500 copies of "A Prayer for Planned Parenthood" to distribute at her parish last month, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The handout also included statistics about abortion in the United States and at Planned Parenthood.

The prayer calls on God to "Bring an end to the killing of children in the womb, and bring an end to the sale of their body parts. Bring conversion to all who do this, and enlightenment to all who advocate it," the Tribune reports.

It also decries "the evil that has been exposed in Planned Parenthood and in the entire abortion industry."

By refusing to copy the material for her, Office Depot "is trying to silence my freedom of speech and my freedom of religion," she tells The Daily Caller.
Company lawyer Robert Amicone counters the refusal had nothing to do with Goldstein's religious beliefs.

In a letter from Amicone obtained by The Daily Caller, he writes that certain language, such as "the killing of children in the womb" and "the grisly trade of body parts" as well as referencing the "death camps in our midst" is graphic hate speech by Office Depot's standards.

Read more here

WCSO Press Releases - September 10, 2015

Incident: WCSO Arrests

Date of Incident: 8 Sep 2015

1.     On 8 September 2015 a deputy arrested Sean Christopher Hudson, 30 of Felton, DE,on a Circuit Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Hudson failed to appear for a violation of probation hearing in a Handgun in Vehicle case. Hudson was detained on a bond on $1,000.00.

2.     On 8 September 2015 a deputy arrested Tyron L. Tucker, 30 of Salisbury, MD, on two Circuit Court Bench Warrants. The warrant were issued after Tucker violated the terms of his probation in a Handgun in Vehicle case and a CDS Possession with the Intent to Distribute case. Tucker was detained on a bond of $50,000.00.

3.     On 8 September 2015 a deputy arrested Joseph J. Thomas Jr., 28 of Salisbury, on a District Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Thomas failed to appear for a Driving Suspended case. Thomas was released on Personal Recognizance.

4.     On 8 September 2015 a deputy arrested Julie Ann Grosse, 31 of Pittsville, MD, on a District Court Bench Warrant. The warrant was issued after Grosse violated the terms of his probation in a CDS Possession case. Grosse was detained on a bond of $10,000.00.

Zombie Homes Are Devouring Entire Neighborhoods

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — The nation’s housing market is on the mend. In many neighborhoods the only problem is lack of inventory for sale. And then there is a starker, darker reality: 127,021 homes nationally are what real estate data company RealtyTrac calls zombies, and that is one in every four homes in the foreclosure process. They are strangling neighborhoods, even some towns.

A zombie happens when the homeowner has packed up and moved out - but the mortgage holder has not taken title to the property. What that means is that, usually, all maintenance stops. Lawns aren’t mowed. Snowy sidewalks are not shoveled. Broken window panes are not replaced. Thieves may steal the piping, wiring, sometimes even appliances. Squatters may occupy the dwelling. The house very quickly becomes an eyesore - and a rule of real estate thumb is just one derelict eyesore on a block can ruin the whole block. And a few in a neighborhood can lower the property values throughout the community.

Don’t think the brisk housing market has cured the zombie problem. RealtyTrac numbers make clear this continues to be a huge issue - in at least some areas of some states.

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Two Out of Three Hispanics Oppose Immigration Increase

Two out of three Hispanics oppose the establishment’s campaign to increase the annual inflow of migrants into the United States., according to an Aug. 20 report by Gallup.

That’s good news for Donald Trump, who has made pro-American immigration reform the centerpiece of his campaign.

It is bad news for Jeb Bush, who claims he can boost the one-in-four Hispanic support for the GOP by inviting more foreign blue-collar and college-graduates to compete for the jobs sought by American Hispanics.

Only 34 percent of U.S.-born Hispanics, and 33 percent of foreign-born Hispanics, want to increase legal immigration, said the Gallup report.

Sixty-four percent of each group of Hispanics want migration to be reduced or leveled, said Gallup.

Twenty-six percent of self-identified Hispanics born in the United States, all of whom can vote, want legal migration to be reduced. However, the percentage of Hispanics opposing increases may be much higher, partly because a growing number of Hispanics now identify themselves as core white Americans.

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Statement from Governor Larry Hogan on Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today released the following statement:

“It takes courage and strength to lead one of America's great cities, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake stood up and has served the city she loves over the course of two decades. I value my working relationship with the mayor and thank her for her service. Our administrations will continue working together to make Baltimore a better and stronger city.”

These are the schools driving America's student loan crisis

In August 2014, network technicians opened a special connection between computers at the federal departments of Education and Treasury. On nights and weekends throughout the month, that connection delivered to Treasury some 46 million pieces of information about student borrowers in the United States, including their financial situations when they started and left college, their incomes after school and whether or not they kept up with their loans.

After taking pains to protect the privacy of individual students, Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis, Adam Looney, and a Stanford University economics graduate student named Constantine Yannelis began sifting the loan data for patterns. They wanted more information on what many political leaders have dubbed an economic and educational crisis in the United States - a spike in the number of students who have defaulted on their loans in recent years.

“It was just constant amazement," Looney said in an interview. "You see things for the first time. It is very hard to see what’s going on in the loan market from published statistics and what you can find online."

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Teen Boy Kissed Girl on a Dare. Now He Faces Assault Charges.

A Pikesville, Maryland, 13-year-old will be charged with second-degree assault for kissing a 14-year-old girl on a dare. The "assault" happened at Pikesville Middle School on Friday. Police were called to the scene.

According to WBFF:
School officials took a report regarding a 13-year-old boy who kissed a 14-year-old girl during school hours. The unwanted kiss was allegedly the result of a dare made by students.


Police confirm that the boy is now facing a second-degree assault charge as a juvenile. No one was injured during the incident, police say, and disciplinary actions related to suspension or expulsion will be handled by the school system.
No one was injured. Is that really surprising? 
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Turning Lemons Into Lemonade


Bike Week @ Oasis


Community Event

Soroptimist International of Salisbury will be sponsoring a Bingo - Featuring Baskets, Bags, Bucksand other fabulous prizes. The Bingo will be held October 8, 2015 (Thursday) Salisbury Moose Lodge. Doors Open at 5:30 Bingo begins at 6:30 pm. Tickets $20 in advance or $25 at the door. 20 Games plus 2 coverall. Baskets and Bag items come filled. Multiple games for Cash, one cover all $100. Instant Bingo tickets available. Homemade Soups, Sandwiches, Cakes and bake goods available for purchase. Benefiting Local Community Service Projects. Contact Kitty’s Flowers 410-749-5142, Debbie Jenkins 410-334-2904 or Sue Green (Hebron Savings Bank) 410-749-1185. Must be sixteen or older to attend and at least eighteen to play.

JOIN US WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

JOIN US WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 from 6-8pm at Henson Hall on the campus of University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne,

https://www.facebook.com/events/1625517891057127/

POULTRY INDUSTRY EXPANSION, COMMUNITY HEALTH & LOCAL CONTROL 

How Delmarva citizens are combining their voices and power to keep their rural communities and local waterways healthy.

Assateague Coastal Trust and the Assateague COASTKEEPER present this Town Hall meeting as an educational and informative presentation to the general public who have concerns about the expansion of the poultry industry on Delmarva and how it may affect their lives, their health, their communities and their environment.

The intent is to give a sense of empowerment to local citizens who might otherwise think they have no ‘say’ in what happens to their community, by enlightening them to successful efforts in Somerset County and introducing them to others who are working for ‘local control’ in VA, DE and PA.

JOIN US WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 from 6-8pm at Henson Hall on the campus of University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, MD for this exciting Town Hall public discussion, moderated by Marc Steiner, host of “The Marc Steiner Show”, a production of the Center For Emerging Media.

Marc will be interviewing a panel of public health experts from Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future; Eastern Shore environmental justice community advocates; along with MD, DE and PA residents active in organizing ‘local control’ zoning strategies through the adoption of “Animal Feeding Operation Health Ordinances.”
You will learn why, in the face of unprecedented poultry industry expansion on Delmarva, your counties need to proactively adopt AFO Health Ordinances into their zoning codes in order to provide communities and poultry feeding operations room to co-exist.

Currently there is a void in the public health discussion - zoning setbacks only address land use one parcel at a time. Health Ordinances addresses a broader set of issues like density, intensity, and cumulative impacts to neighbors and waterways.

We are strongly suggesting that the folks across the Eastern Shore attend the Town Hall meeting on Sept 16th, whether you are from DE, VA or MD.

It’s extremely rare to have available all the expertise that will be in this room - from public health experts, human rights leaders, environmental justice groups, attorneys, media and like minded citizens trying to protect their communities.

Take advantage of this opportunity to create relationships and network with people who can genuinely give valuable help as you protect your water, health, property values and quality of life.

This IS the silver bullet. Your strength is your united voice. Do not let this opportunity go by. There is power in numbers and it is too important to sit on the sidelines and hope someone else will fight for you. We have an obligation to protect the places we live and love-for future generations.

Worcester County Tea Party Speaker Series and Meeting

Event: Worcester County Tea Party Speaker Series 2015

Speaker: Thomas Locastro & Mathew Locastro, Co-Founders, Locastro Design, LLC

Topic: Two young filmmakers will introduce their latest expose on the hot topic of "Civil Asset Forfeiture". Could it happen to you?

Date: Thursday September 17, 2015

Time: Meeting begins at 7PM, doors open at 6:30PM

Location: Worcester County Library - Ocean Pines Branch, 11107 Cathell Rd., Ocean Pines, MD 21811

Admission: Free and Open to the Public.

For more information email WCTPPatriots@gmail.com, go to the web sitewww.worcestercountyteaparty.com, https://www.facebook.com/WorcesterCountyTeaParty or call 443-614-7214

Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center Labor of Love Banquet

The Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center will be hosting its 11th Annual Labor of Love Fundraising Banquet on Thursday evening, October 15, 2015, at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center, 500 Glen Avenue, Salisbury, Maryland, presenting the theme, “Stand in the Gap for Life.” Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with a catered dinner beginning at 7 p.m.
 
Speaking will be Pastor Charles Flowers from The Great Turnaround Ministry, an organization founded by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson to help pregnancy center ministries raise much needed funds.
 
Pastor Flowers,  speaking on the banquet theme of “ Stand in the Gap for Life,” is theSenior Pastor of Faith Outreach Center International, in San Antonio, Texas, thePresident of the San Antonio Association of Churches, and President of The Gathering of Pastors and Leaders.
 
For reservations, to be a liaison for your church, or to offer to host a table for eight, please e-mail info@espc.comcastbiz .net , or call the Center at 410-546-5433.
 
The Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center offers compassion and support to those facing the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy. Their services include free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, teen parent support group, mentoring, and assistance with baby and maternity supplies. All services are offered free of charge and are funded by local churches and community individuals. The Eastern Shore Pregnancy Center does not receive any government funding.

GO RAVENS


Legal Immigrant Households Account for 75 Percent of Immigrant Welfare Use

Households headed by legal immigrants are more likely to tap into America’s welfare system than their native-born counterparts, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies.

In a companion analysis to last week’s CIS study looking at all immigrant welfare use, Thursday CIS is set to release a follow up report breaking down welfare use separately for legal and illegal immigrant households.

According to the report, provided to Breitbart News in advance of its release, 49 percent of households headed by a legal immigrant participated in at least one welfare program in 2012, compared to 30 percent of native-headed households and 62 percent of illegal immigrant-headed households.

While there are restrictions on immigrant welfare use, the report highlights that such bars have not been particularly effective due to a wealth of exceptions.

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