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Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Police: Woman arrested after fighting with husband who wouldn't stop farting

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (WPEC) - A woman is facing a charge of battery for fighting with her husband who couldn't stop passing gas.

Donald Fitzroy Meikle told police his wife, Dawn, elbowed him on the arm when he passed gas in bed. This happened early in the morning on Dec. 11. Meikle said she eventually kicked him out of bed because his flatulence wouldn't stop.

The victim said his wife let him back into bed. He passed gas again, according to the report, and she started to kick and elbow him again. Meikle said he held his wife for his own safety. During the struggle, she suffered a split lip and he suffered several scratches across his chest.

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This Christmas D.C. Residents Will Have Their Trees and Smoke Them, Too

This Christmas, folks in Washington, D.C., seem to be interested in a different kind of “tree.” Marijuana, that is.

Initiative 71, approved back in February, made it legal for adults 21 years of age or older to possess small amounts of marijuana, grow up to six marijuana plants in their homes, consume marijuana on private property and transfer one ounce or less to another adult without the exchange of “money, goods, or services.”

In other words, it can be gifted.

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100 YEAR OLD CHRISTMAS LIST FROM A 7 YEAR OLD BOY SHOWS HOW MATERIALISTIC OUR SOCIETY HAS BECOME

Where did we go wrong?

If there were no presents at all, would you still want to celebrate Christmas?

100 years ago, a little seven-year-old boy named Homer Mellen sent Santa Claus a letter asking for “a box of paints, also a nine cent reader, and a school bag to put them in.” And he added that if Santa happened to have “any nuts, or candy, or toys to spare” that he would love to have some. My, how times have changed. Today, nearly all of us expect to be showered with presents on Christmas morning, and then almost immediately people begin posting photos of their “Christmas loot” on social media websites such as Facebook. And as you will see below, the “Rich Kids of Instagram” have taken boasting about wealth to an extreme that nobody has ever seen before. Our society has become deeply, deeply materialistic, and whatever “meaning” Christmas once may have had has become almost completely lost at this point.

When I first came across this 100 year old Christmas list, I was quite stunned. First of all, this young boy was able to express himself far better than most seven-year-old boys can today. Secondly, his letter to Santa reflected a sense of humility and thoughtfulness that is extremely rare in this day and age. In case you cannot read the letter that I have posted below, here is what it says

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Man Confronts Couple About Welfare Card......Right or Wrong? (Language Warning)


Man Confronts Couple About Welfare CardThe Philly Offensive(Person filming this video is NOT me.)Lil CrazedMineSet Brand
Posted by Lil Crazed on Tuesday, December 1, 2015
If video does not load click on the title of this post.

Miss Puerto Rico Suspended For Anti-Islam Rant Accusing Muslims Of ‘Terrorizing’ The USA

Miss Puerto Rico Destiny Velez has been indefinitely suspended by the official Miss America Organization after sending a series of offensive anti-Muslim messages on Twitter.

Velez, 20, launched an anti-Muslim tirade at filmmaker Michael Moore on Thursday after he shared a photo of himself outside of Trump Tower in New York City with a sign reading: 'We are all Muslim.'

Moore's photo was in response to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US, which inspired the hashtag #WeAreAllMuslim on social media.

The former beauty queen sent a number of tweets directed to Moore including one that said Muslims have 'terrorizing agendas,' according to a grab of the tweets obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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Here’s the Reason George W. Bush Didn’t Leave D.C. Until the day After Christmas



If there’s one thing President Obama is a master at, it’s taking tax payer funded vacations, doing what he does best: nothing.

The way Obama takes vacations, particularly around the holidays is in stark contrast to the way former President George W. Bush used to do things when he was in office.

Bush would never leave D.C. until the day after Christmas.

The reason why is awesome.

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**Update**Troopers Investigating Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash South of Laurel


Laurel- The Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is currently investigating a fatal motor vehicle crash that occurred this morning south of Laurel

Preliminary investigation indicates the crash occurred around 10:12 a.m., Wednesday December 23, 2015 as Nour-Eddine H. Baassiri, 31 of Salisbury, Maryland, was operating a 2014 Ford Taurus northbound in an unknown lane on US13, south of Salt Barn Road. A 42-year-old Downingtown, Pennsylvania man was operating a 2006 Scion TC southbound on US13 in the left lane, just south of Salt Barn Road. For unknown reasons, the Taurus exited the left side of the road and into the unprotected grass median where it slid out of control. The Taurus then entered the left lane of southbound US13 in front of the Scion where it was struck on the front passenger's side by the front bumper of the Scion. The Taurus then rotated counter-clockwise and came to a stop in the left lane, facing in a northerly direction. The Scion was redirected to the right and exited the right side of the road where it came to a stop.

Nour-Eddine H. Baassiri, who was properly restrained, was transported by EMS to Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) where he is currently admitted with non-life-threatening injuries. Upon his release he will be charged with two counts of Operation of a Motor Vehicle Causing Death, Inattentive Driving, Failure to Maintain Lane, and a Seatbelt Violation.

A 28-year old male passenger in Baassiri's vehicle was not properly restrained and was pronounced dead at the scene. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. He was from Ocean City, Maryland.

The 42-year-old Downingtown man was properly restrained and removed from the scene by EMS. He was transported to PRMC where he later died from his injuries. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The Collision Reconstruction Unit is continuing their investigation into this incident. US13 southbound at Salt Barn Road was closed for approximately three hours while the crash was investigated and cleared.

Woman on $1700 of Welfare Makes INFURIATING Statement About Who She Blames

This woman is a real winner. She’s a Brit living on $1700 a month in disability disbursements from the government and incessantly complains she can’t live on that amount. She carps about all the Queen and the royals have, as if she should be entitled to their wealth somehow. This is a welfare queen who is just leeching off the government and has done so her whole life. She has a ton of excuses for not working; chief among them is that she doesn’t have any skills. Well, whose fault is that? You don’t have to be privileged or wealthy to make something of yourself. Instead she dresses like white trash and spends her days partying. Which by the way just got her an eviction notice.

A 46-year-old woman on government benefits sparked a firestorm across the pond after she appeared on a reality tv program called “Benefits Britain.”

Debbie Merton claims that she is unable to live on the roughly $1,700 a month she receives after a disability rendered her unable to work 24 years ago.

The Mirror writes that she appeared on the British television program saying:

“It’s bloody hard and the Government don’t really give a s***, they’re alright in their posh houses and eating lobster and caviar every night.

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Girl Calls 911 in Panic Over Elf on Shelf

A 7-year-old New Jersey girl called 911 in a panic when she did something that she thought would get her in trouble with Santa.

Isabelle LaPeruta, of Old Bridge, contacted cops after she accidentally touched her Elf on the Shelf -- a no-no, according to the popular children's book, because doing so means the Christmas magic goes away from the home.

A recording of the 911 call revealed the girl's concerns.

"Hello?" the 911 operator says.

"It's Isabella," the girl says.

"Hi. Hi, Isabella. Why are you calling 911?" the operator asks.

Suddenly, the girl panics.

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Last Chance: Will Mitt Romney Jump Into the Presidential Race?

The Republican establishment and its power brokers are starting to panic about the likelihood of Donald Trump winning the presidential nomination, and even the respected Club for Growth is now running ads against Trump. It is not so much Trump’s over-the-top statements that bother them, but the fact he could lose to Hillary Clinton. In general election polls, Trump is losing by as much as double digits to her, in contrast to a couple of the other Republican candidates who are tied or ahead of her. Many large donors have stayed out of the race, too unsure of the outcome. Notably, they include many of Mitt Romney’s 2012 National Finance Committee members.

The top brass in the GOP is now seriously talking about alternative possibilities to stop Trump — as well as Ben Carson, who is also seen as an outsider incapable of winning the general election. Some are even suggesting a brokered convention, to change the nomination to Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, or even Romney. While brokered conventions are rare, they can be radical game changers. In 1968, the Democrat Party picked Hubert Humphrey as their nominee at a brokered convention, even though he had not participated in the primaries.

A brokered convention is triggered if no candidate gets a majority of delegates from the state primaries, and the delegates cannot settle on one candidate after the first round of voting at the convention. After that, delegates are free to vote for any candidate in further rounds of voting.

Even if one candidate gets enough delegates from the primaries, if enough unpledged delegates are pressured to vote for someone else in the first round of voting, it could trigger a brokered convention. Of the total 2,380 Republican delegates, 1,719 are pledged delegates. The unpledged delegates have close ties to the GOP, so it is quite realistic they could be persuaded to change their votes to someone other than Trump.

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Federal Reserve Says State Minimum Wage Hikes Have Cost Up to 200,000 Jobs

Minimum wage hikes at the state level have reduced the number of jobs by as many as 200,000, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

The Fed study comes just less than two years after a study by the Congressional Budget Office asserted that increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would cost 500,000 jobs nationally.

Despite numbers from nonpartisan studies, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, as well as Democratic governors across the country, regard a minimum wage hike as a political winner. All three Democratic presidential candidates are running calling for a minimum wage hike.

The Federal Reserve study was conducted by David Neumark, director for the Center for Economics & Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine, and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

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Good for them: This nation’s voters just rejected gay marriage overwhelmingly

Is it a colossal shock to you that a country whose voters would reject gay marriage by an almost two-to-one margin would be a former Communist nation?

Slovenians rejected same-sex marriage by a large margin in a referendum on Sunday, according to near-complete results, in a victory for the conservatives backed by the Catholic Church in the ex-communist EU nation.

The results released by authorities show 63.5 percent voted against a bill that defines marriage as a union of two adults, while 36.5 percent were in favor.

Slovenia’s left-leaning Parliament introduced marriage equality in March, but opponents pushed through a popular vote on the issue. The “Children Are At Stake” group has collected 40,000 signatures to challenge the changes before any gay couples were able to marry.

“This result presents a victory for our children,” said Ales Primc, the group’s leader.

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UPDATE: Fruitland Police Department Press Release 12-23-15 (Missing Person)

Thank you everyone for your help. Mr. Williams has been located. The media and public’s help is greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas 

Employee at Federal Agency in Gaithersburg on Suspected ISIS Hit List

An employee of a high-tech federal research agency in Montgomery County was listed on a suspected hit list by the terror group ISIS.

The woman, whose name has not been publicly released, is an employee at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce with a large campus and thousands of employees near Interstate 270 in Gaithersburg.

News4 has obtained federal law enforcement records showing the FBI investigated the case and warned the employee of the threat. Security was increased for the worker and no known connection to ISIS was revealed, according to police reports.

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End Of An Era In Ocean City For J/R’s, Owner Jack Hubberman

OCEAN CITY — After 37 years serving Ocean City, first at the Potato Shack and then J/R’s, Jack Hubberman, the founder and owner, has officially retired.

In 1977, Hubberman and his late wife Jackie came to Ocean City and opened The Potato Shack on 3rd Street and the Boardwalk. The Potato Shack wasn’t just a French fry stand, it was a one-of-a-kind establishment that served a uniquely prepared baked potato cooked in rosin.

“I remember seeing the machine and telling Jackie this is going to knock people’s socks off,” Hubberman said.

When The Potato Shack opened, Jackie would work the day shift from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Hubberman would work the evenings often until 2 a.m. to cater to the growing crowds.

The couple continued their culinary explorations and set out to open a full service, specialty restaurant featuring baby back barbequed ribs. They did their research and traveled to Texas, Florida and Virginia to learn about cuts of meat, cooking techniques and to gather the secret ingredients that became their signature barbecue sauce. They opened J/R’s, The Place For Ribs in the summer of 1980 at 62nd Street and Coastal Highway. Due to its popularity, JR’s opened a second location at 131st Street.

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Wicomico County Council Making Uneducated Decisions For One Reason

It turns out, many Council Members are CLUELESS as to items that are being brought in front of them at official Council Meetings because Council President John Cannon continuously keeps many items out of Work Sessions. Work Sessions are there to bring everything to the table and debate the details.

That's right, TWO of the main topics we brought up recently, Liquor Dispensary and Headquarters Live had NOT been brought up in a work session and decisions were made WITHOUT any real details. One such example, some Council Members thought the Dispensary was only asking for the shot testing once a year, NOT 28 times a year and not at every location. 

They key behind Cannon not presenting these items at Work Sessions is to keep County Executive Bob Culver completely out of the loop. This is yet another scheme for the Good Ol' Boys to get things through without the proper oversight. So when the TRUTH comes out and Culver refuses to participate, Cannon wants to make him look like he's always against everything.

Ladies & Gentlemen, even items like the City Council and Mayor appealing the recent 4 to 2 legislation is exactly why you need to really take your votes to heart. 

The City and County are throwing good money after bad money and it seems it's the same old people constantly connected. Same names, same outcome and none of them are in your best interest. 

I truly hope you people start respecting your votes more, especially in the upcoming Presidential Election. The GAMES need to end and the politicians who play them need to be stopped in their tracks. The mere fact that Matt Holloway didn't recuse himself in the Dispensary vote/support while his Father serves at the head of that department and sat right in front of him in that meeting should tell you, enough is enough.

‘Moderate Islam’ Isn’t Working

Over the past decade, the prevailing thinking has been that radical Islam is most effectively countered by moderate Islam. The goal was to find religious leaders and scholars and community ‘influencers’—to use the lingo of the counter-radicalization specialists—who could explain to their followers and to any misguided young people that Islam is a religion of peace, that the term jihad refers mainly to the individual’s personal struggle against temptation and for moral betterment, and that tolerance and interfaith cooperation should prevail. The presence of local Muslim luminaries, taking the lectern to announce that what had just happened bore no relation to true Islam, has become part of the ritual following any terrorist incident in a Western country.

As director of the RAND Initiative for Middle Eastern Youth, I was an early proponent of this approach. It assumed two things: first, that because of a lack of education, or poverty or other handicaps, many Muslims had developed an incomplete or incorrect understanding of their own religion; and second, that the extremists were so much louder and had backing from various maleficent sources, and therefore were gaining larger audiences. The task therefore was to help moderate Muslims spread the word. Multiple and expensive programs were launched to fund religious instruction, radio and television shows, community outreach efforts and more.

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Michael Moore’s “We Are All Muslim” Image Was Just Photoshopped, And It’s BRILLIANT

A couple of days back, documentary filmmaker and far-left political activist Michael Moore stood out front of Trump Tower in NYC holding a sign that read, “We are all Muslims.”

Moore wanted attention, and he got it.

Here’s the doofus photoshopped into another picture while holding his silly sign

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German Manhunt for 12 Migrants Using Fake Syrian Passports Similar to Paris Attackers

A manhunt is reportedly under way in Germany targeting 12 people who used fake Syrian passports to gain entry to the country before disappearing.

German news outlets say the fake Syrian passports were most likely taken by Islamic State (IS) operatives when the terrorist group captured the Syrian city of Raqqa — now the de facto IS capital — in 2013, reports The Independent. The German tabloid, Bild, says the stolen documents were provided to migrants by the same suppliers used by two of the Paris attackers.

The manhunt is far from unique in Germany. According to one government official the country is “seeing a loss of around 30 per cent of the refugees,” although he concedes that may not be the real total, admitting: “We don’t have the exact numbers. We don’t even know if they’re still in Germany.”

The latest manhunt follows last week’s arrests in neighbouring Austria of two people “on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organisation”. Those arrested at a refugee shelter in Salzburg were suspected of having links to the Paris attacks.

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Closed Minds on Campus

Today’s student protesters start with valuable observations, writes John H. McWhorter, but then they drift into a mistaken idea of what a university—and even a society—should be

From the aggrieved pitch of recent student protests against racism, the naive observer might be surprised that we are now 50 years past the 1960s. Today’s protesters have not endured the open hostility and dismissal that James Meredith did as the first African-American student at Ole Miss in 1962, when white students turned their backs on him in the cafeteria and bounced a basketball in the room over his at all hours of the night. As a black college student in the early 1980s, my experience felt different enough from his that it never occurred to me to characterize my school, Rutgers University, as a “racist campus.”

Of course, it was part of a racist America, and so I encountered discrimination here and there. The girl at the open-mic night who opened with “What do you call 150 black people at the bottom of the ocean? A good start!” The German teacher who told me I was in the wrong class the second I walked in and openly despised me for the rest of the semester. The frat boys yelling “Zebra!” as I passed with a white girl I dated.

But I was too busy with the other 99.7% of my life to really focus on such things—maybe being an introverted geek was part of it? Under the current campus Zeitgeist, I was nevertheless behind the curve. The new idea is that even occasionally stubbing your toe on racism renders a university a grievously “unsafe space” and justifies students calling for the ouster of a lecturer who calls for reasoned discussion (Yale) and even of a dean stepping down in shame for an awkwardly worded email (Claremont McKenna).

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Citing safety, commission considers hoverboard ban

The Ocean City Police Commission is leaning against Boardwalk “hoverboards,” devices that look like miniature Segways without the handle and have been the subject of numerous reports on their questionable safety.

Although no decision was reached at the commission’s Monday session, since one of the three councilmembers on the commission was absent, police commission chairman Councilman Doug Cymek suggested a ban on hoverboards on the Boardwalk.

When hoverboard use was discussed by the council last August, the main concern was reckless use. Now, it’s the possibility of the device catching on fire from its lithium-ion battery.

“It’s a fire hazard and a concern to pedestrian safety. Amazon and Overstock.com have removed them from their websites. It seems that all except the expensive ones are all the culprit,” Cymek said.

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A Viewer Writes: Daily Times flubs it again, Steve Marshall Hero Status.

Joe, 

I've been in Chesapeake Lodge # 147 since 1985. I've been in the Scottish Rite and the York Rite as a 32nd and York High Mason as a member. The Times reported Steve Marshall as a 'past member' of 147 in the obit who named Marshall as a 'hero'.

All this hype is oats whom has already gone through the horse. 

Marshall was in the process of becoming a member, not a member in good standing. He DID NOT stand the third degree which is a pre-requisite for membership as the members and the Master has to bestow full membership at the point he does the work before him with a positive result. He DID NOT so as a plebe who failed him nor his family can say he WAS a member when in fact he defaulted.

If I were the Daily Times staff, I'd endeavor to fact check before using an organizations name for no more in name only stolen valor.
I'm appalled whoever told this lie would include it in his obit.

How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti ­and Built Six Homes

Even as the group has publicly celebrated its work, insider accounts detail a string of failures

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF CAMPECHE sprawls up a steep hillside in Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. Goats rustle in trash that goes forever uncollected. Children kick a deflated volleyball in a dusty lot below a wall with a hand-painted logo of the American Red Cross.

In late 2011, the Red Cross launched a multimillion-dollar project to transform the desperately poor area, which was hit hard by the earthquake that struck Haiti the year before. The main focus of the project — called LAMIKA, an acronym in Creole for “A Better Life in My Neighborhood” — was building hundreds of permanent homes.

Today, not one home has been built in Campeche. Many residents live in shacks made of rusty sheet metal, without access to drinkable water, electricity or basic sanitation. When it rains, their homes flood and residents bail out mud and water.

The Red Cross received an outpouring of donations after the quake, nearly half a billion dollars.

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We Ran Hillary Clinton’s Symptoms Through WebMD And The Diagnosis Isn’t Pretty

Hillary Clinton’s health has become the focus of many people’s concerns, so, with the help of WebMD, The Daily Caller offers up the following diagnosis.

According to a WebMD diagnosis, the 68-year-old Clinton should really check to see if she has a urinary tract infection.

The symptoms, as observed by TheDC and entered into WebMD include fatigue, mood swings, swelling, weight gain, impaired judgment, confusion, slurring words, frequent urination, and bald spots.

These symptoms characterize such possible conditions as — in order of likelihood — urinary tract infection (UTI), medication reaction or side-effect, overeating, depression, Type 2 Diabetes, hypothyroidism, acute sinusitis or acute stress reaction.

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Trademark case could set precedent for Redskins’ name battle

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the provision used to strike down the Washington Redskins trademark is unconstitutional.

The full Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling in a separate case filed by Simon Tam, a man who has been trying for years to get his band name, “The Slants,” trademarked.

He says the band of Asian-Americans aims to take back Asian stereotypes.

While the Federal Circuit agrees with the Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that the name is disparaging, the majority opinion finds that the legal provision allowing the government to reject trademarks that are disparaging to a substantial composite of the group referenced violates the First Amendment.

The court finds that the restriction is an impermissible government influence on freedom of speech. While the court says Tam would be free to use the name even without the federal trademark protection, he is less likely to use it.

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Christmas 2015: Will Syria & Iraq Become Washington’s Stalingrad?

73 years ago on Christmas Eve 1942 German troops sang Silent Night on a European wide radio Christmas program from the distant battlefields of Nazi conquest outside Leningrad in the North and from surrounded Stalingrad on the southern Eastern Front to the Middle East. Also all across Nazi occupied Europe, from Italy and Norway to the Atlantic coastlines of Fortress Europe the soldiers sang to their families and listeners back home starting to question the promises of Nazi victory propaganda.

The Dangers of Empire Overreach in 1942 & 2016

Yes Germany excelled at propaganda, as does the establishment cable and print news media in the United States today. Although the radio show had the intended propaganda effect of temporarily raising civilian morale, Germany and their fair weather allies were already stretched way too thin around the expansive parameter of Nazi conquered and occupied territory.

Now on Christmas 2015 there is a Washington military effort also stretched too far among our many distant conquests, peacekeeping missions, occupations and attempts to secure oil resources and pipelines. Our foreign policy is designed to perpetuate the failing petrodollar system. Like the Germans 70 plus years ago, our allies and local populations generally hate us and our attempts to go after local resistance groups only results in the growth of more anti-American groups we describe as terrorists.

In America Today Political Correctness Is Just Fascism By Another Name

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What happens when you don’t register your drone with the FAA

Starting today, all individuals who own drones that weigh .55 pounds or more will be required to register their devices with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The registration process costs $5, but the FAA, in an effort to foster compliance, has said that it will waive the processing fee for users who register by January 20th, 2016.

Given the safety implications of a sky filled with innumerable drones, the FAA is championing its registration process a way to “build a culture of accountability and responsibility.” Additionally, if there’s a security or safety incident involving a drone, the FAA wants to be able to trace the device back to its owner. In light of all that, the penalties for not registering a drone are much more severe than you might otherwise assume.

In conjunction with the FAA’s new registration guidelines, the agency recently put up an FAQ page for folks interested in learning more about the ins and outs of drone registration, or as the FAA calls them, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The section regarding penalties relays that failing to properly register an eligible drone can potentially result in both regulatory and criminal sanctions.

Specifically, the FAA may hit you with a civil fine up to $27,500. Criminal penalties, meanwhile, include fines that can go as high as $250,000 and the threat of “imprisonment for up to three years.”

Clearly, the FAA is not messing around.

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New York City unveils new rules on gender discrimination

NEW YORK (AP) — Restaurant owners can't require ties for male diners only. Gyms can't tell clients which locker room to use. And in most cases, an employer can't put "John" on a worker's ID if she prefers "Jane."

New York City's Human Rights Commission is establishing what advocates called some of the most powerful guidelines nationwide on gender-identity discrimination, releasing specifics Monday to flesh out broad protections in a 2002 law.

"Today's guidance makes it abundantly clear what the city considers to be discrimination," which can lead to fines of up to $250,000, Commissioner Carmelyn P. Malalis said in a statement. Officials said complaints about gender-identity discrimination have risen in recent years but couldn't immediately provide statistics.

Some cities around the country have added transgender people to anti-discrimination protections, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did likewise for his state this fall. Other communities have rebuffed them: Houston voters this fall defeated an ordinance that would have established nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people.

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**Traffic Advisory** Troopers Investigating Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash South of Laurel

Laurel - The Delaware State Police are currently on the scene of a fatal motor vehicle crash on Sussex Highway (US13) southbound at Salt Barn Road that occurred around 10:12 a.m. this morning.

Preliminary investigation indicates the crash involved two vehicles and one person has died at the scene. The State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is currently on scene and will assume the investigation.

US13 southbound is currently closed at Salt Barn Road. Commuters are advised to seek alternate routes of travel.

Further details will be released upon the conclusion of the investigation.

Seven Face Federal Gun Charges In Sweeping Federal Indictment

Seven men, including three convicted felons, face federal gun charges in an interstate scheme, arrests which Baltimore's top federal prosecutor says are part of a cooperation with city and state agencies.

“A supply chain that brought illegal guns to Baltimore City from Tennessee has been put out of business, and suspects who tried to smuggle weapons into Baltimore are now in federal custody,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said.

The five arrested:
Rodney Donell Henson, aka “Mook,” 28, of Odenton
Antonio Darnell Ennis, aka “Hawk” and “Peanut,” 32, of Glen Burnie
Alvin Gabriel Arciaga, 28, of Brooklyn
Delray Jamare Randall, aka “Black,” 34, of Odenton;
Ernest McCutcheon, aka “Ernie,” 32, of Baltimore;
Leopold Fosso Kengni, aka“Kenny C” and “Kenny G, 24, of Odenton
Leonard Eugene Goliday, aka “Lenny,” 43, of Laurel

In May, authorities arrested an immigrant who was in the U.S, without legal permission and was attempting to sell eight firearms in Baltimore. An investigation led to a second suspect who brought the weapons from Tennessee and sold them in Baltimore. Federal and Baltimore investigators found he was bringing many firearms up to Baltimore this way, and the seller was arrested in July while bringing 21 guns to Baltimore. Agents found the seller's customers and had undercover operatives offer them the opportunity to buy firearms. On Dec. 12, several of the men now accused allegedly came to the undercover-run location to buy handguns, silenced weapons, an automatic Glock handgun and other firearms. All were inoperable and police had a covert presence in the area. After each transaction was done, the purchasers were arrested.

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How the USDA Raises Your Grocery Bill

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is raising costs for American consumers by dictating to farmers the quality and quantity of crops they can sell. With fruit and vegetable prices rising, it’s time to take a new look at the market orders that control the produce that farmers are allowed to sell.

During the early 20th century, fruits and vegetables were cheaper than ever before. As a result, farmers’ revenues fell and some were driven into bankruptcy. These circumstances led to theAgricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937(AMAA).

The AMAA allows the USDA to issue “market orders” that cap the volume of fruits and vegetables sold, prescribe conditions regarding packaging, handling, and set quality standards. 

AMAA advocates argue that market orders help prevent dangerous swings in crop prices and protect consumer confidence.
 For example, without market orders, a particularly plentiful avocado harvest may mean that avocado farmers would be unable to earn enough money to cover their production costs. If returns were especially low, some avocado farmers might even be forced out of business. 

Prior to the AMAA, such prospects and incidents were a source of much concern to the agricultural community. The recovery of the agricultural industry following the AMAA’s passage at the end of the Great Depression lends credence to advocates’ arguments. Though it is undeniable that market orders helped prices climb back to their pre-Depression-era levels and prevent swings in prices, the AMAA’s effects are worrying. 

By restricting the supply of fruits and vegetables with market orders, growers are able to charge consumers higher prices. While good harvests may be risky for farmers, they can be valuable to consumers, especially those on the lower end of the income spectrum. 

The negative consequences of the AAMA have been well-documented. Over 30 years ago, in a 1981article for the New York Times, investigative reporter Ann Crittenden wrote the following:
“From afar, it looks like a red haze on the horizon. But after the car swings onto the Famoso strip, a swath of pavement amid the citrus groves of the San Joaquin Valley, it becomes clear that what lies in the distance really is mounds of oranges.

Stretching in all directions are millions and millions of navel oranges, some stamped with the Sunkist label, all abandoned to rot under the California sun. The oranges have been dumped under what is known as a Federal marketing order.”

When this article was published, 40 percent of California’s orange crop was prevented from being sold and wholesale orange prices were 12 percent higher than they were the year before. According to Crittenden, this market order effectively mandated the voluntary measures which the Sunkist cooperative has been supporting since the 1920s.

Today, the USDA has 20 fewer market orders than it did in 1981, yet it still maintains 28 on produce that ranges from Kiwis to pistachios. Eighteen of these orders regulate quality and handling. For example, one prevents misshapen kiwis from sale, even though people might like to buy these kiwis at a discount. Another mandates that only pears of certain sizes can be sold.

Read the rest here.

Wicomico County Executive Bob Culver Announces County Employees Collect Over 1 Ton of Food for the Maryland Food Bank

This holiday season, Wicomico County partnered with the Maryland Food Bank in hosting a County-wide employee food drive. The goal of the aptly named "1-Ton Challenge" was to collect one ton of food for the Maryland Food Bank. Over the course of the challenge, Wicomico County employees came together and surpassed the goal, collecting 2,317 pounds of food for the Maryland Food Bank. This food will provide 2,780 meals to Maryland residents.

"The Maryland Food Bank is a great organization that works to feed our hungry neighbors each year," says Wicomico County Executive Bob Culver. "It's been great to see Wicomico County employees get invested in the "1-Ton Challenge" to help the Maryland Food Bank this season."

The Maryland Food Bank is a nonprofit hunger-relief organization, leading the movement to end hunger throughout Maryland. For more than 35 years, the Maryland Food Bank has partnered with communities across the state to distribute food to individuals and families in need. The Food Bank is currently distributing more than 100,000 meals per day-nearly 37 million meals annually. For more information on the Food Bank, please visit www.MDFoodBank.org.

Thaaaank You, Janet Yellen!

Billionaire hedge funder Kenneth Griffin agreed in September to cough up roughly $200 million for three full floors of the 220 Central Park South condo tower, which is yet to be built. If this sky-high deal closes for that sum, it will shatter the record for an NYC condo’s price tag, set last year by the $100.5 million sale at nearby One57, and will reportedly deliver the newly divorced honcho a sprawling 18,000-plus-square-foot mansion in the sky.

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Meet Hillary Clinton's New Campaign Weapon — Bill

At a Manchester, N.H., watch party following Saturday's Democratic primary debate, Hillary Clinton stood side by side with the man she called her "not so secret weapon" — her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Voters are about to see much more of him, she said.

"We're going to cover as much ground in New Hampshire as we possibly can," Clinton said. "See as many people, thank everyone who's going to turn out and vote for me to try to get some more to join them."

Bill Clinton said he was "proud" of his wife, and he told New Hampshire voters "we got to be out there every single day" after the New Year.

Family members of candidates are the most valuable validators a politician running for higher office can have. They presumably know the candidate better than anyone. Usually the family member is a child — think Ivanka Trump — or a spouse — a female spouse. This year, voters have seen Donald Trump's wife, Melania, at campaign events. Heidi Cruz is campaigning full throttle for her husband, Ted Cruz. Candy Carson sang the national anthem at a campaign event for her husband, Ben Carson. But on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has a spouse like no other — her husband, otherwise known as former President Bill Clinton.

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Chris Christie's Pro-Islamic Views Worry Israel Supporters

Chris Christie is rising in New Hampshire polls, thanks to tough talk on fighting terrorism and ISIS — but some national security critics say he has a weak record as New Jersey's governor in confronting Muslim extremism.

"This issue definitely has the potential to hurt his credibility on national security in the presidential campaign without a doubt," Ryan Mauro, a national security analyst for the Clarion Project, told Newsmax in an interview. Clarion monitors Islamic terrorism and their supporters in the U.S.

Mauro has written extensively on Christie's strong ties to the Muslim community, a growing force in New Jersey politics with an estimated 3 percent of the state's population.

Christie has been close to some questionable New Jersey Muslim leaders, including Mohammad Qatanani, an imam who has been fighting deportation by the Department of Homeland Security for not disclosing that Israel convicted him of being a member of the Hamas terrorist group.

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U.S. lets in four times as many suspected terrorists as it keeps out

The Obama administration insists that it is safe to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees because we have “very extensive screening procedures” in place. “It involves our intelligence community, our national counterterrorism center, extensive interviews, vetting them against all the available information,” deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes recently declared.

He left out one fact: Those screening procedures are so broken that, State Department records show, they let in more than four times as many suspected terrorists as they keep out.

The Obama administration insists that it is safe to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees because we have “very extensive screening procedures” in place. “It involves our intelligence community, our national counterterrorism center, extensive interviews, vetting them against all the available information,” deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes recently declared.

He left out one fact: Those screening procedures are so broken that, State Department records show, they let in more than four times as many suspected terrorists as they keep out.

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Passenger Says Muslims Protected Christians in Islamist Attack on Kenyan Bus

Somali Islamist militants sprayed a Kenyan bus with bullets on Monday, killing two people, but a passenger said he and fellow Muslims defied demands from the attackers to help identify Christians travelling with them.

The attack took place in Mandera, in northeast Kenya. A year ago, al Shabaab gunmen stormed a Nairobi-bound bus in the same area and killed 28 non-Muslim passengers execution-style.

Abdi Mohamud Abdi, a Muslim who was among the passengers in Monday's incident, told Reuters that more than 10 al Shabaab militants boarded the bus and ordered the Muslim passengers to split away from the Christians, but they refused.

"We even gave some non-Muslims our religious attire to wear in the bus so that they would not be identified easily. We stuck together tightly," he said.

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In Wake Of Attacks, U.S. Cities Step Up Terrorism Simulations

The recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have put pressure on local authorities to show they're ready for that kind of violence. Some jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles, are stepping up exercises and terrorism simulations.

There's a hill near downtown L.A. — it's kind of a mesa, overlooking Dodger Stadium. There's a big parking lot up there — and right around 3 p.m. last Friday, the lot started filling up with police cars.

This is a "muster" — a surprise test by the L.A. Police Department brass to see how quickly they could get their on-duty police to converge at a central point. The cops show up already wearing helmets and ballistic vests and carrying their big guns — there a few hundred of them, and as they form up into ranks, they look like an army. The deputy chief in charge of counter-terrorism, Michael Downing, steps up to a microphone and delivers a speech about how peace officers sometimes have to act like soldiers.

"For that small amount of time that we're asking you to go out and interdict and put down a threat, you become a soldier," he says, as a police helicopter swings in overhead, with two tactical officers hanging off the side, looking armed and ready. "When you're involved in your mission, you're gonna have these guys above you."

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Obama Warns Campus Protesters Against Urge To 'Shut Up' Opposition

In a wide-ranging interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep, President Obama had some advice for college protesters across the country.

Over the past several months, protests have occurred at schools such as the University of Missouri, Yale and Ithaca College over issues ranging from offensive Halloween costumes, to the racial climate and the lack of minority faculty at schools, to school administrators' responses to racially insensitive vandalism and other incidents on campuses. Many of these protests have been led by students of color and draw inspiration from the Black Lives Matter movement.

Obama did not get into specifics about any particular recent protests and punted when asked whether schools like Harvard and Yale should get rid of symbols linked to slavery. But he did say that protesters on college campuses need to engage people they don't agree with, even as they protest.

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BREAKING UPDATE: JFM Adams Housing, LLC v. The City of Salisbury, Maryland Notice of Appeal

No one will mention this from the City or the "mainstream media," or the Fire-starter Independent/Daily Independent. The City is appealing the Federal Court ruling that held the Ireton Administration unconstitutionally applied the Housing Code. As many may recall, enforcement of the Housing Code was one, if not the, primary focus of the Ireton Administration. The Notice of Appeal was filed today.

Rather than simply apply the Housing Code constitutionally, or make a meaningful attempt to reach a fair settlement, the City has decided to appeal a case (at significant expense) that it already lost in Federal Court. The Appeal itself will be ruled upon in Richmond, VA.

Ultimately, the City will incur hundreds of dollars per hour for legal fees. While much is covered by insurance, the economic burden will inevitably be felt by taxpayers.

This is another example of the City (through the Ireton Administration) insisting it is right, despite the Courts and countless neutral outside sources trying to explain why it is clearly wrong.

U.S. District Court

District of Maryland
Notice of Electronic Filing

The following transaction was entered by Shearer, Victoria on 12/22/2015 at 9:25 AM EST and filed on 12/22/2015
Case Name:

Adams Housing, LLC v. The City of Salisbury, Maryland

Case Number:

1:15-cv-01011-JFM<https://ecf.mdd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/DktRpt.pl?312274>

Filer:

The City of Salisbury, Maryland

WARNING: CASE CLOSED on 11/30/2015

Document Number: 23 https://ecf.mdd.uscourts.gov/doc1/09317352024?caseid=312274&de_seq_num=69&magic_num=34603338>

Organized Effort To Help Homeless During Holidays Exceeds Goal

BERLIN – Neely James wasn’t surprised when her first grader told her he wanted to do something for someone else this Christmas.

She was thrilled to know they were thinking along the same lines. With the help of her son, Reed, the owner of Mother’s Cantina launched a community-wide effort to fill backpacks with supplies for the homeless.

“We decided it was the right thing to do to help people,” James said.

On Dec. 21, James and a number of volunteers from throughout the community gathered at Urban Nectar in Berlin to put the hundreds of supplies that were collected during the past two weeks into backpacks for the area’s homeless. Items packed up ranged from blankets and toiletries to art supplies.

James said donations of items poured in after she advertised her effort at Mother’s Cantina and her friends at Urban Nectar did the same at the Berlin shop.

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Ron Paul: Do We Need The Fed?

Stocks rose Wednesday following the Federal Reserve’s announcement of the first interest rate increase since 2006. However, stocks fell just two days later. One reason the positive reaction to the Fed’s announcement did not last long is that the Fed seems to lack confidence in the economy and is unsure what policies it should adopt in the future.

At her Wednesday press conference, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen acknowledged continuing “cyclical weakness” in the job market. She also suggested that future rate increases are likely to be as small, or even smaller, then Wednesday’s. However, she also expressed concerns over increasing inflation, which suggests the Fed may be open to bigger rate increases.

Many investors and those who rely on interest from savings for a substantial part of their income cheered the increase. However, others expressed concern that even this small rate increase will weaken the already fragile job market.

These critics echo the claims of many economists and economic historians who blame past economic crises, including the Great Depression, on ill-timed money tightening by the Fed. While the Federal Reserve is responsible for our boom-bust economy, recessions and depressions are not caused by tight monetary policy. Instead, the real cause of economic crisis is the loose money policies that precede the Fed’s tightening.

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FDA Ends Across-The-Board Ban On Blood Donations From Gay, Bisexual Men

Exactly a year ago this week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was going to eventually change its guidance on blood donations that had barred any man who had been intimate with another male at any time in the previous three decades from donating. Today, the FDA finalized that change, which still requires that all male donors abstain from same-sex intimacy for a year before donating.

Dominican-Americans Seek a Political Say

NEW YORK — Inside the sprawling South Beach restaurant in Washington Heights, Dominican immigrants are crammed in every cranny, watching telenovelas on big screens and wearing expressions of patience wearing thin. They’re waiting to register to vote with the Dominican Republic Central Board of Elections, which has set up shop to enroll as many expatriates as it can before the Dominican Republic’s next presidential election, in May.

As they wait, another group is competing for their attention: A band of canvassers is working the crowd, urging them to register right here in the U.S., so they can vote in the 2016 elections. The canvassers cajole; they entreat. “Tu voto es poder!” they say. “Your vote is power.”

“Our goal is to educate, register and mobilize the Dominican-American community to vote,” said Eddie Cuesta, New York City director of Dominicanos USA (DUSA), a nonpartisan voter registration group. “Dominicans are like the sleeping giant that all of a sudden people are recognizing.”

Immigrants face a number of hurdles — especially if they are black — in moving to the U.S. and integrating society. As Stateline has reported this year in a four-part series, black immigrants who come from Africa find themselves overeducated and underemployed. And refugees can be met with dwindling federal and state support for their resettlement.

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