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Saturday, February 25, 2017

State Police Make Arrest In Baltimore County Illegal Street Racing Event



(Woodlawn, MD) – Maryland State Police made an early morning arrest in an apparent illegal street racing event in Baltimore County.

The accused is identified as Keith Parker, 42, of Pasadena, Maryland. Parker was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, attempting to elude police on foot, disobeying a lawful order from a uniformed police officer, hindering a law enforcement officer in the performance of his lawful duties, participating in a speed race competition, stopping a vehicle where prohibited and unauthorized use of a Class 1A dealer registration. Parker was processed at the Golden Ring Barrack and later transported to the Baltimore County District Court Commissioner.

At 2:00 a.m. this morning, the Golden Ring Barrack received a call from a resident in the Woodlawn area with the report of illegalstreet racing behind their home. When the trooper arrived on scene, there were dozens of high performance vehicles blocking traffic and setting up for street races in the area of westbound I-70 near the Park and Ride in Baltimore County. Several vehicles were observed parked haphazardly on the shoulders of the roadway and in the Park and Ride parking lot, impeding the flow of traffic. The trooper noticed vehicles preparing for what appeared to be an illegal street race.

Tom Cotton: 'The Powerful and Elite Reap the Benefits of a Constant Influx of Low-Skill Labor'

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton responded toNew York Times columnist David Brooks over his claims that curbing mass immigration would cripple the U.S., tweeting that an influx of low-skilled labor hurts the employment prospects of young Americans, minorities, and established immigrants.

Cotton has sponsored a bill cutting annual immigration flows into the U.S. by half, by limiting entry to 500,000 foreign workers each years. It’s a popular position for a wide swath of voters: 54 percent want immigration halved or reduced to zero, including 22 percent who want a total moratorium. That includes 68 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of Democrats who want to see dramatic reductions in migration levels.

The foreign-born population is set to grow more than 700 percent from 1970s levels. Now, it stands at 42.4 million. Unless immigration controls are taken off autopilot, over 78 million foreigners will soon reside in the U.S.

Mass immigration from the Third World is crippling workers in the economy, as Breitbart News reported in July. Every single job created from 2000 to 2014 went to foreign-born workers residing in the U.S.

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Racist Note To Black Waitress Debunked As Fake


A man accused of writing a racist note on a black waitress’s receipt in Virginia last month says the receipt was fabricated.

Fox 5 news originally reported that the waitress, Kelly Carter, claimed a white male who dined at Anita’s New Mexico Cafe, a Mexican eatery in Ashburn, Virginia, signed his credit card receipt without leaving a tip on his $30.52 bill, and instead wrote “great service don’t tip black people” at the bottom of the receipt.

Attorney Daniel Hebda who represents the accused patron—whose name has not been disclosed—told reporters on Friday that his client received poor service from the waitress, but left her a penny and wrote “terrible service” on the bottom of the credit card slip, reported The Daily Caller.

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Vive la France

This actually happened to an Englishman in France who was totally drunk.

A French policeman stops the Englishman's car and asks if he has been drinking.

With great difficulty, the Englishman admits that he has been drinking all day, that his daughter got married that morning, and that he drank champagne and a few bottles of wine at the reception, and many single malts scotches thereafter.

Quite upset, the policeman proceeds to alcohol-test (breath test) the Englishman and verifies that he is indeed totally sloshed.

He asks the Englishman if he knows why, under French Law, he is going to be arrested.

The Englishman answers with a bit of humor, "No, sir, I do not! But while we're asking questions, do you realize that this is a British car and that my wife is driving on the other side?"

Trump won't attend White House Correspondents' Association dinner


President Donald Trump says he won't be attending the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner this spring.

In a tweet on Saturday, the president doesn't give a reason but says he wishes "everyone well and have a great evening!"

The annual fundraiser for college scholarships mixes politicians, journalists and celebrities.

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Thomas Jefferson smeared at his own home

David Barton argues no proof 3rd president had children with slave Sally Hemings

Author of the Declaration of Independence. Founder of the University of Virginia. Father of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

These were some of the accomplishments for which Thomas Jefferson wanted to be remembered.

But today, the first thing most people say about America’s third president is he had children by a slave, Sally Hemings. And now, even at Monticello, Jefferson’s beloved home and retreat, there is a new focus for visitors that emphasizes Jefferson’s alleged sexual relationship with a slave.

There’s only one problem. It’s not true, contends David Barton, historian and author of the controversial New York Times besteller “The Jefferson Lies.”

He denounced the decision by Monticello to put Jefferson’s purported relationship with Hemings at the center of the tourist experience.

A recent report by the Washington Post states baldly Hemings “was owned by Jefferson and had a long-term relationship with him.”

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‘Shrove Tuesday’ pancake dinner at Snow Hill church

Outside of the United States, in many of the former territories of Great Britain, Shrove Tuesday is often called “Pancake Tuesday” or “Pancake day,” while inside the U.S. it might be better known as “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi Gras.

Shrove Tuesday, this year on Feb. 28, is the day before Ash Wednesday — the start of Lent for many Christian denominations.

At the macro level, all of the assorted festivities have the same basic genesis — to clear out the cabinets, cupboards and pantries before the fasting season of Lent, marked by voluntary abstention and reflection, which ends on Easter.

In some places, carnivals are held, while in Snow Hill at All Hallows Episcopal Church at the corner of Church and Market Streets, they have a pancake dinner between 4:30 and 7 p.m.

Tickets are $7 each for adults and $4 for children aged 12 and under. Carryout is available, but eating in-house conveys all-you-can-eat pancakes and apples, while carryout has only fixed portions. Sausage will also be served.

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Teen wants to be guardian of sister after both parents die

After the death of their parents, 18-year-old Kyle Nester wants to be there for his 15-year-old sister, Madison.

On Christmas Eve 2015, their father, Roy, died of a heart attack. Just last week, mother Tammy died of kidney and liver failure.

The Ohio siblings are left with only each other.

"I'm going to try and take guardianship of her and make sure she has everything she needs through college and everything," Nester told CNN affiliate WSYX.

The mother had no insurance policy, so concerned members of the Groveport community started raising donations and organized a fundraiser at a local restaurant Thursday night.

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Klump Group Eyes New Volunteer Program

BERLIN – Officials with the Jesse Klump Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program have announced plans to start a volunteer liaison effort in schools across Worcester County.

Dina Jones, outreach coordinator for the non-profit, said the program is looking for volunteers to visit each public middle and high school in the county once every two or three months to provide resources and contact information on the topic of suicide.

“We would like to have one, hopefully two volunteers, for each school,” she said. “We will try to accommodate people in their area.”

Jones said the program realized the need for such material after giving a presentation on suicide to students at Snow Hill middle and high schools and Pocomoke High School.

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Exclusive—NFL Great Burgess Owens: The Left Destroyed Strong Black Communities

A member of the 1980-1981 Oakland Raiders Super Bowl winning team told Breitbart News at the Conservative Political Action Conference that it is time for African-Americans to reclaim their traditional conservatism.

“Today’s generation has been trained to think differently from my generation. We would stand for the flag in a heartbeat—because we realized the opportunities we had,” said Burgess Owens on Thursday.

Owens was an All-American safety at the University of Miami, who was drafted by the New York Jets in 1973 and played for the Jets until joining the Raiders for their run at Super Bowl XV.

Owens was at CPAC to discuss with people his new book “Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps” and attend a book signing.

“Today’s generation came from BET group—the BET has been talking down our country for the longest time.” Black Entertainment Television is the top cable channel focused on the African-American community.

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SBYNews Weather Alert

AKQ issues Severe Thunderstorm Warning [wind: 60 MPH, hail: 1.00 IN] for Dorchester, Wicomico [MD] till 5:30 PM EST

Chamber Opposes Paid Sick Bill, Seeks 120-Day Minimum Clause

OCEAN CITY — After being narrowly defeated at the 11th hour last year, a bill requiring businesses in Maryland to provide paid sick leave to most employees has returned largely intact this year, but the local business community is again rallying the troops in opposition.

The Maryland Healthy Working Families Act, cross-filed in both the House and Senate, would require a business with over 14 employees to provide a policy under which an employee earns at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours an employee works at the same pay rate which he or she normally earns. A similar bill made it out of the House last year but died before a vote by the entire Senate, but it’s back again this year largely in the same form.

The bill last year was fiercely opposed by the local business community because its one-size-fits-all approach was too restrictive and too onerous did not take into account the seasonal nature of the resort. Under the bill’s language, employees who work just 90 days would begin accruing paid sick leave time, which would include most seasonal workers in Ocean City, for example.

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Ohio LGBT Group Announces Plan to Target Churches for Homosexual Weddings

An LGBT organization in Ohio has announced plans to target churches if they refuse to offer their property to be used in a homosexual wedding. In opposing the Ohio Pastors Protection Act (HB-36), the group Equality Ohio announced that they would target churches, forcing them to rent church facilities to groups which oppose that church's beliefs. This despite the fact that all the Roman Catholic bishops in Ohio support the bill, and Catholics make up approximately 20 percent of the state's population.

When asked "if a church community has a church hall that they rent to couples who want to have that wedding reception in that hall ... should that church hall and church community be forced to rent that to someone who wants to use that building for something that's against that church community's belief system," anEquality Ohio spokeswoman said, "Sure, I would say that if that space is open and generally available to the public for a fee, yes that should be available to everyone."

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GOP proposal aims to end insurance mandate in 'Obamacare'

WASHINGTON —A draft Republican bill replacing President Barack Obama's health care law would end its Medicaid expansion, scrap fines on people not buying insurance and eliminate taxes on the medical industry and higher earners.

Instead, it would create tax credits worth up to $4,000, allow bigger contributions to personal health savings accounts and impose a new levy on expensive health coverage some employees get at work.

The 105-page measure largely tracks talking points that House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., unveiled last summer and a similar outline that GOP leaders recently gave lawmakers. The document is 2 weeks old, and GOP aides said it is subject to change.

Still, it provides some new details of Republican thinking and reaffirms others, such as blocking federal payments to Planned Parenthood for a year.

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Brexit Leader on Trump: The EU Is ‘Absolutely Terrified of Him – Good’

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party, told PJM that there is “nothing to be lost” with President Trump meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that Trump has to show he’s “not going to be a pushover.”

“Well, he has to show he wants to have a better relationship with Russia. He believes we have shared common interests in dealing with Islamic terrorism and issues like that but he’s not going to be a pushover — that’s what you’ve got to show,” Farage said during an interview Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington.

“He’s going to say, ‘Look, you’ve behaved badly but we want to form a grown-up relationship with you.’ One thing is for certain, there’s nothing to be lost with him meeting Putin. Nothing at all,” he added.

Farage rejected the notion that the U.S. cannot make a good deal with Russia.

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Report Shows OC Crime Data Continuing Downward Trend

OCEAN CITY — After 2015 set a 25-year low benchmark for crime rates in Ocean City, the figures dropped again significantly in 2016, according to the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) annual report released this week.

OCPD Chief Ross Buzzuro presented the annual crime report for 2016 to the Mayor and Council on Tuesday and the 14-page document showed crime rates in most categories continued to trend downward. The 2015 report showed crime in most statistical categories had dropped to 25-year lows, but the 2016 report released this week showed the rates dipping further by an average of 14 percent.

“The continued drop in crime rates is a true testament to the hard work of the men and women of this department,” he said. “Our personnel work extremely hard every single day to ensure the safety of the residents and visitor of Ocean City and the statistics and accomplishments highlighted in this report prove that to be true.”

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The Democrats' Last Hope

Their attorneys general may be the president's most redoubtable foe.

Democrats were decimated at nearly every level of government over the past six years. Republicans control the House and may well do so for the foreseeable future; the party is looking at a very favorable Senate map in 2018. Democrats control just 31 of the 99 state legislative chambers across the country and have a measly 16 governorships.

The opposition’s glimmer of hope: Democrats have 22 state attorneys general—enough to gum up the works for President Donald Trump's agenda when congressional Democrats can't.

And these AGs aren't humble about this point.

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Trump Executive Order Seeks To Eliminate 'Job-Killing Regulations'


(WASHINGTON) -- President Trump signed an executive order for regulatory reform on Friday, directing government agencies to set up task forces to look into ways to eliminate or scale back regulations.

Trump said that the order is “one of many ways” the administration will remove “job-killing regulations.”

"This directs each agency to establish a regulatory reform task force which will ensure that every agency has a ... real team of dedicated people to research all regulations that are unnecessary, burdensome and harmful to the economy and therefore harmful to the creation of jobs and business. Each task force will make recommendations to repeal or simplify existing regulations,” the president said.

Trump explained that any existing or proposed regulation will have to meet certain conditions.

"Every regulation should have to pass a simple test: Does it make life better or safer for American workers or consumers? If the answer is no, we will be getting rid of it and getting rid of it quickly. We'll stop punishing companies for doing business in the United States; it will be absolutely just the opposite,” he said. “They'll be incentivized to doing business in the United States. We're working hard to roll back the regulatory burden so that coal miners, factory workers, small business owners and so many others can grow their businesses and thrive.”

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Microaggression and Macrononsense

Another social science failure

Every few weeks, it seems, a new crack appears in the seemingly impenetrable wall of social-science dogma. The latest appeared last month with the publication of a paper by the well-known research psychologist Scott Lilienfeld, a professor at Emory University and coauthor of the indispensable primer 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology. Among other things, he is a great debunker, and he has trained his skeptical eye on “microaggressions."

Sophisticated, affluent people in the United States (SAPs) have been trained through years of education to respect whatever is presented to them as "science," even if it's not very good science, even if it's not science at all. Their years of education have not trained them how to tell the difference. Sophisticated and affluent Americans, as a group, are pretty gullible.

So when their leaders in journalism, academia, and business announce a new truth of human nature, SAPs around the country are likely to embrace it. The idea of microaggressions is one of these. It was first popularized a decade ago, and now the pervasiveness of microaggressions in American life is taken as settled fact.

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Facts are Facts

Maybe it's time Salisbury got a clue! See below: "...the most failed U.S. Cities have Democrat Mayors..." 

Council Approves Brew Fest Event For Inlet In Late April

OCEAN CITY — The growing craft beer craze in the local area and around the region will have another outlet this spring after resort officials this week approved the inaugural O.C. Brew Fest in conjunction with the half marathon in late April.

The Mayor and Council in Tuesday approved the O.C. Brew Fest special event at the Inlet lot on April 29 after getting some assurances the local craft brewing industry would be included and the Inlet parking lot will remain open to non-participants. The event organizer, Steve Ryan of Masiv, hopes to feature at least 15 local breweries, each of which will provide two types of beer to sample in three-ounce servings. The event will also feature food vendors, live music and interactive games.

It is set for Saturday, April 29 from noon to 8 p.m. at the Inlet parking lot where the Springfest tents will be in place. The O.C. Brew Fest is being held in conjunction with the Island to Island Half-Marathon produced by OC Tri-Running on the same day. The half-marathon, which runs from Assateague to a finish line at the Inlet lot, will be held in the morning and will dove-tail into the O.C. Brew Fest later that afternoon and evening. Special Events Coordinator Lisa Mitchell told the Mayor and Council the O.C. Brew Fest organizers were working in partnership with OC Tri-Running to coordinate the events.

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Main Street Gym Golden Gloves

Pictured from left to right are, Thomas Mottinger, Russell Griffith, Jordan Brown, Gavin Brown, Brendan Narranjo,, Markese Hines, James (Matt) McMurdo, and Corey Moore

Golden Gloves Tournament Starts

Across the country and in cities like New York, Dallas, Cincinnati and many more, the oldest, most popular boxing tournament in the history of the sport has begun, the 2017 Golden Gloves.

Started back in 1923, the Golden Gloves began when a sports editor of the Chicago Tribune wanted to have a citywide tournament to find the best amateur boxers in the city. In 1927 Chicago challenged New York City in a competition and soon cities across the nation were holding Golden Glove Tournaments.

Eventually it got more organized and boundaries were drawn to hold city championships, regional championships and finally the National Golden Gloves Championships.

The names of Golden Glove Champions are a list of the who’s who of boxing, including, Joe Louis ,Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, Thomas Hearns, Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield, Marvin Hagler and many more.


The Washington D.C. Golden Gloves got under way last week at the Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, MD., and will have bouts each Saturday evening until the Championships.
This year, Main St Gym of Salisbury has eight boxers entered in the event. There are three basic divisions. They are junior, novices, and open class. Only Novices and Open Class advance to the Regional Championships and only Open Class are qualified to advance to the National Championships. 

Last Saturday, two of Main St. Gym’s boxers were entered. Brendan Naranjo walked away with the 2017 132lb Junior Championship, and in Novice Division, Markese Hines got a solid win to advance in this week's competition.


Competing this Saturday, February 25, will be the brothers, Jordan and Gavin Brown of Delmar, and Russell Griffith of Salisbury. Waiting for their division to start are Salisbury’s Corey Moore in the 152lb Open division, James Mathew McMurdo, a Prince St School teacher, and super heavyweight in the Novice division and Thomas Mottinger, who who last year’s Regional Novice Golden Glove , is fighting this year in the open class heavyweight division.

Two Washington, D.C., police officers shot, suspect killed

Feb. 24 (UPI) — Two Washington, D.C., police officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and a suspect died during an exchange of gunfire in the northeast part of the city, police officials said.

The uniformed officers were shot in Washington’s Trinidad neighborhood late Thursday. They responded to a reports of shot fired earlier in the day, Police Chief Peter Newsham said, and officials are determining if there was a confrontation or exchange of gunfire.

“Our two best witnesses are at the hospital now,” Newsham said, referring to the unidentified police officers. One officer was in surgery late Thursday. Gregg Pemberton, a D.C. Police Union leader, reported early Friday that both officers, hospitalized with lower body injuries, were in stable condition and in good spirits.

Police recovered a weapon from the scene, believed to have been used by the suspect. Several blocks of the neighborhood were cordoned off for an investigation.

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Four Agencies To Abolish (Along With The Department Of Education)

In the wake of the Senate's confirmation of the appointment of Betsy DeVos, the protests from the left prompted Republican Congressman Thomas Massie to offer them a way to get rid of DeVos: eliminate the Department of Education.

According to Massie, he'd been planning to introduce the bill for more than a year, and the controversy over DeVos appeared to be as good a time as any.

There's no harm in Massie introducing the bill, of course, although as I've noted here, the odds of Republicans offering much help to Massie in passing the bill are pretty low.

But as long as we're identifying cabinet-level agencies for the chopping block, why stop with the Department of Education?

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Sending toddlers to childcare could make them stressed

Young children who spend too long in childcare suffer from stress which could make them shyer in later life.

A study has found the stress levels of toddlers in creches are around a third higher than those who stay at home.

While children at home with a parent become more relaxed over the course of the day, those in childcare grow more anxious.

Children who spend more than eight hours in childcare are the most stressed, based on saliva samples taken by researchers and tested for the stress hormone cortisol.

A study suggests this is because they miss their parents and have upsetting conflicts with other children.

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Panel shows concern about local social issues

The state of race relations on the Eastern Shore was the topic of a panel discussion during the Democratic Woman’s Club of Worcester County’s monthly meeting on Monday at the Ocean Pines Community Center.

The capacity crowd heard panelists Worcester County NAACP President Roxie Dennis Acholonu, Wicomico County NAACP President Mary Ashanti and Kathy Zieger of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Delmarva, discuss the struggle for racial equality in the region.

SURJ is a national movement organizing white people to fight for racial justice and Salisbury native Zieger told the audience she gained her perspective from her mother, who was the head nurse of a racially segregated floor at Peninsula General Hospital.

“We weren’t color blind,” she said of her family, “but we learned to be accepting.”

Zieger said her mother’s floor handled newborns through geriatrics.

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Illegal Clinton Fundraiser Made Videotape Because Feared Assassination

Johnny Chung, a Chinese-American businessman, recorded videotaped testimony about his involvement in funneling money from Chinese government officials into former President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign because he feared being assassinated, according to a new report.

The Daily Mail obtained excerpts of a video of Chung from author and historian Doug Wead for his new book Game of Thorns. The book outlines Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign failures and the Chinese government's long-running scheme to buy political influence in Washington, D.C.

The video was recorded while Chung was in hiding in 2000. Chung, a former Clinton fundraiser, filmed the video with the help of Bob Abernethy, a friend from his church. He then smuggled the video to trusted friends and family, telling them to release the tape to the media "in the event of his untimely death," the Daily Mail reported.

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Want To Live To Be 100?

If you long to live until 100, then you’re in the right place. We have some of the most common health tips that centennials around the world follow. As you will soon see, it’s easier than you’d think.

Dan Buettner, the author of The Blue Zonesand The Blue Zone Solution, identified parts of the world that have the highest concentrations of centennials and named them blue zones. Not only do these places have the highest concentration of people over 100, but they also have extremely low rates of chronic diseases. There are currently five blue zones: Loma Linda, California; Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and the Ogliastra region of Sardinia.

Here are some tips from the blue zone population:

Exercise every day: By exercise, they don’t necessarily mean that you need to hit up the gym every single day. Rather, make a habit out of staying active—when you have the chance, choose to walk instead of drive. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, plant a garden, do anything as long as it keeps you active and not sitting down all day.

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Tales from the Far Left

ALERT FROM DC: A serious situation is taking place at the White House as the Trump Administration once again goes beyond the executive branch's powers and causes a major Constitutional Crisis!

It seems President Trump has dared to change the bathroom toilet paper from Scotts to Charmin. The change comes on the heels of the Kleenex boycott launched by Liberals throughout the country after last week's budge meeting catastrophe.

Several retailers plan to yank Charmin from their shelves due to Trump's apparent endorsement of the brand. The company's spokesperson exclaimed, "Mr. Whipple would not be pleased."

On the Hill, minority leaders from both Congress and the Senate are outraged by this egregious act by the Trump Administration. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have called for a temporary ban on all toilet paper in all federal buildings until a congressional investigation can be launched by Elijah Cummings to get to the bottom of this apparent constitutional crisis that's reeking havoc within the Federal government.

"We can't let President Bush just go around, picking and choosing whatever toilet paper brand he likes. That's not going through the appropriate channels," reflects the disgruntled Schumer. "We have specific procedures for important matters such as this...What Trump did is an absolute travesty to our democracy!"

'Grassroots' protesters are plotting several protests throughout America to rebuke Charmin as Trump's choice of presidential bathroom paraphernalia.

Just another day in Democrat Hysteria as they continue their Trump Deranged Syndrome.

More lies at 5, 6 & 11...

Upcoming Pro Trump Rally In Ocean City

You're in Luck!
OUR FIRST RALLY IS ALMOST HERE and THREE LUCKY  PARTICIPANTS WILLWIN $50 GIFT CARDS TO THE FABULOUS SUNSET GRILLE.
We won the election, but the America haters haven't given up . . . will you allow them to change public opinion?  Will you allow them to stop our President's America First policies?  They are in the streets by the hundreds, the thousands, and they are who the voting public sees.  
Will you allow their message to be the only message heard? 
SATURDAY MARCH 11, 8:45 am SHARP, LOOK FOR OUR RALLY CAPTAINS WHO WILL BE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STREET IN FRONT OF FOOD LION PARKING LOT ( ROUTE 611 JUST OFF ROUTE 50 EAST-BOUND) AND YOU WILL BE DIRECTED TO PARKING AREAS.  BRING YOUR PRO-AMERICA, PRO-TRUMP, PRO-WALL, PRO-EXTREME VETTING, etc SIGNS . . . AND WEAR YOUR GREEN, OUR AUDIENCE WILL BE ON THEIR WAY TO THE OC ST PADDY'S DAY PARADE. 
Gift cards awarded for best sign content/message/appearance, best St Paddys/issue oriented outfit, and for a random drawing (a ticket will be issued to each participant).  One award per.
EMAIL US AT DoNothing.LoseAll @gmail.com FOR COMPLETE DETAILS. 

The Minority Report - Week 7 - The Half-Way Point

The Minority Report
2017 Session Update - Week Seven


Greetings from the 437th Legislative Session! We want to connect with you to keep you informed on caucus initiatives and the latest in Annapolis. Please feel free to share this with friends, family, and colleagues, and on your own social media sites.


The 45th Day: Halfway There!

 
Saturday, February 25th marks the halfway point of the 2017 Session. With less than 50 days left to go, much remains unresolved.

The only bill that must be passed during the legislative session is the budget - that is the only consitutional requirement. There are still many important pieces of legislation under consideration that have not yet moved forward.

The Governor has introduced a number of important pieces of legislation including, redistricting reform, a repeal of the disastrous Road Kill Bill, initiatives to increase transparency in government and reform ethics - all still sit in committee with no action taken.

There is still much work to do.

Working Across the Aisle


In a political climate that grows more divided by the day, it can seem as though Republicans and Democrats can never work together on anything. While  passions and convictions run deep, the members of our caucus still find opportunities to work in a bipartisan fashion with their Democratic colleagues.

Delegate Matt Morgan (District 29A, St. Mary's County) has partnered with Delegate Erek Barron (District 24 , Prince George's County) on a bill to combat cyber crime. House Bill 340 specifically targets what is know as "ransomware" - viruses that attack computers and networks and require some type of payment in order to regain access and function to your system. It was ransomware that crippled the computer system at MedStar Health last spring, and similar attacks have happened across the country. HB 340 makes the creation of "ransomware" a felony, punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Delegate Brett Wilson (District 2B, Washington County) and Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary (District 13, Howard County) are sponsoring HB 483, the "Outcry Law". Delegate Wilson said the bill will  "allow the first adult to hear a child's disclosure of serious sexual or physical abuse to testify to that disclosure. Often, a grandparent, temporary caregiver or other adult will be the first to whom a child victim cries out. That moment is not presently admissible in a trial of child molestation or abuse. Without it, juries are left to wonder how a case began. This law has existed in Texas for several years. Maryland's children deserve to be heard.My thanks to the grandparents and caregivers who testified, and, my good friend Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary for co-sponsoring."

Police body camera video shows traffic stop with councilman

BALTIMORE — A police body camera captured the encounter of a Baltimore City councilman who was pulled over in a traffic stop.

The stop includes questions about the consumption of alcohol.

Police released the body camera video Friday afternoon. It shows what happened around 11:15 p.m. on Feb. 9 near the 2200 block of McElderry Street.

Officers stopped the car because it had two lights out in the back and the driver ran a stop sign, police said.

The traffic stop begins with an introduction with the officer saying, "You got a couple of lights out."

"I'm Councilman (Robert) Stokes," the driver said.

"How you doing Councilman Stokes?" the officer said.

The officer further explained why he initiated the traffic stop.

"You didn't stop at stop sign. You failed to use a turn signal. Quite a few things. You've had a couple of drinks tonight?" the officer said.

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Important Legislation Reforms the County Liquor Board Nominating Process Following a String of Corruption Scandals

Note: Senate Education, Health, And Environmental Affairs Committee to Hold Hearing on SB 684 on February 24, 2017, 1:00 PM  
“These local liquor board and liquor inspector jobs are the last vestiges of an archaic political patronage system which for many decades has been controlled and run by state senators and their local political party, central committees. Given the recent indictments of both liquor board member and legislators it has become clear that it is finally time to clean up this mess.” Governor Larry Hogan, January 19, 2017
Governor Hogan Pledged That He Would Restore Integrity To Annapolis

Candidate Larry Hogan:
“On Day One We Are Going To Get To Work On Cleaning Up The Mess In Annapolis And Restoring Integrity To Our State Capital.” (“Larry Hogan Gubernatorial Announcement Speech,” Change Maryland, 1/31/14)

The Hogan Administration Has Worked To Root Out Corruption Across The State

Following His Inauguration, Governor Hogan Acted Quickly And Signed An Executive Order To Hold Public Officials Accountable; Executive Order Outlined The Standards Of Conduct For All Members Of The Executive Branch.


Executive Order Barred Members Of The Executive Branch From Certain Activities. "Less than three hours after taking office, Hogan had already signed his first executive order. It bars state employees from the executive branch from soliciting any kind of gift from anyone doing business with the state, and he ordered state employees not to give anyone any special treatment. ‘My first act as Governor holds all those who serve in the Executive Branch of state government to the highest possible ethical standards,’ Governor Hogan said in a news release announcing the executive order.” (“Larry Hogan Sworn In As Maryland’s 62nd Governor,” WBAL, 1/21/15)

Governor Hogan Worked In Conjunction With State And Federal Partners To Target Corruption At The Eastern Correctional Institution; Efforts Led To The Arrest Of 80 Individuals Involved In A Racketeering Conspiracy, The Largest Federal Indictment In State History. “Federal authorities have won indictments against 80 people, including corrections officers and inmates, in an alleged conspiracy to sneak heroin, cocaine, cellphones, pornography and other contraband into the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover. The largest federal indictment in Maryland history is the latest to allege that officers and inmates used sex, drugs and violence to run a criminal enterprise out of a state prison facility.” (Kevin Rector, Justin Fenton, and Jessica Anderson, “Feds Indict 80 People - Including 18 Corrections Officers - In ‘Massive’ Maryland Prison Corruption Case,” The Baltimore Sun, 10/5/16)

Governor Hogan: “The indictments announced today are a clear victory in the fight against corruption, and I want to thank all the hardworking federal and state law enforcement officers whose tireless dedication and sacrifice made it possible. This morning, I spoke with Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein and personally commended him for his work and partnership with our state investigators to successfully execute this complex operation. While running for office, I made it clear that the systemic corruption that had been allowed to take hold in our state prison system was unacceptable, and I promised Marylanders that our administration would combat it head on. Today, together with our federal partners, we have taken decisive action to make good on that promise.” (Press Release, “Statement From Governor Larry Hogan On Eastern Correctional Institution Corruption Indictments,” Office Of The Governor, 10/5/16)

There Has Been Widespread, Bipartisan Agreement That Reforms Need To Be Made Concerning County Liquor Board Corruption; Governor Hogan’s Proposal Addresses This

Media attempts to paint CPAC attendees as pro-Russian flag wavers, but it immediately backfires

During President Donald Trump’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a man was caught on camera handing out little flags that resembled the Russian flag with the word “Trump” emblazoned on it. Unwittingly, some of the attendees watching the speech began waving the flag around.
Snapchat’s Head of News Peter Hamby caught a few of these photos, and reported that attendees were waving around Russian flags.

It was soon revealed by James O’Keefe that the person handing them out was a man named Ryan Clayton. Clayton works for a man named Bob Creamer who heads up the group “Americans Take Action,” which was at one point the subject of a sting by O’Keefe. Creamer’s group allegedly had illegally used campaign expenditures from then Democratic candidate for President Hillary Clinton for advertising projects.
According to O’Keefe, Creamer and Project Veritas have had run ins in the past. Upon being discovered, Creamer was ejected from the conference.

SBYNews Survey

Even though you now have an electric toothbrush, do you still move the brush rapidly from side to side and up and down as if it's the manual brush you grew up with, as if it were that same brush?

Currently In West Ocean City

Sunset Grill is just up on the left hand side. The harbor area is very fogged in but if you head west, (away from OC and the water) a quarter of a mile and it's sunny, bright and warm. 

Maryland’s veteran crab manager fired after watermen complain to Hogan


Maryland’s veteran manager of the state’s blue crab fishery was fired this week after a group of watermen complained to Gov. Larry Hogan about a catch regulation that they contend hurts their livelihood — but that scientists say is needed to ensure a sustainable harvest.

Brenda Davis, crab program manager for the Department of Natural Resources and a 28-year state employee, said she was informed Tuesday that her services were no longer needed.

In an interview Wednesday, Davis said Fisheries Director Dave Blazer gave no reason for her summary dismissal. But it came after Hogan met last week with about a dozen Dorchester County watermen who had been pressing Davis and the DNR for a change in a long-time regulation setting the minimum catchable size for crabs.

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The Horror Stories are Real. Don’t Give Your Children a Smartphone

For parents who wish to rescue their children from the cyber-jungle or spare them the pain that is engulfing millions, there are a number of answers. But for today, I just want to push one: Don’t give your children smartphones.

After spending four days at the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Summit in Houston, Texas, my brain is very tired. We heard lectures on neuroscience, human trafficking, sexual abuse, child exploitation, and so much more. And we heard many, many lectures on the poison that is seeping in everywhere, fueling sexual abuse, destroying relationships, breaking down the ability of men to function, and obliterating childhood: pornography.

I’ll be writing a lot more about what I’ve learned (read my reports from the conference here, here, and here) but for now I’d like to make one simple plea to parents, something nearly every speaker and every lecturer advised: don’t give your children smartphones.

It’s crazy to think that a decade ago, smartphones were uncommon. Many people didn’t even own a cell phone. Now, as we heard from Vanity Fair journalist and author ofAmerican Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers Nancy Jo Sales, nearly every social interaction – and sexual interaction – of teenagers is shaped by the tiny, always-throbbing devices they carry with them wherever they go. This has given rise to cyber-bullying and a spate of suicides, sexting and sexual exploitation of teens by teens, and the nearly non-stop viewing and amateur production of pornography. Teenagers – and children – are pulled into the social webs woven from Facebook to Instagram, from Snapchat to a half-dozen other underground cyber-settings, the interactions and content curated only by the children who populate them, free of parental or adult supervision.

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A Viewer Writes: Sanctuary/Welcome Cities

Sheriff Clarke stated this at CPAC today and it was posted on f/b. Salisbury a Sanctuary/Welcome City...Not happening period. Arrest the leadership of these cities. As Per Sheriff Clarke at CPAC today : U.S. Code 1324, titled 'Bringing in and harboring certain aliens.' The law reads in part that “punishment” can be dealt to:

Any person...knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.

Local officials who encourage sanctuary cities, Sheriff Clarke said, do exactly that. In addition, Clarke quoted another section of the code that puts sanctuary cities on the wrong side of the law:

...encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law;

“I'm telling you right now folks,” Clarke said to applause, “you charge one mayor, one governor, one council president that adopts these laws, this stuff is going to end right away.”

Starbucks Brand Crashes After Announcement of Plan to Hire 10,000 Muslim ‘Refugees’

The Starbucks Coffee brand has taken a major hit since the company’s announcement that it would hire 10,000 Muslim “refugees” in response to President Donald Trump’s temporary travel moratorium in January.

Starbucks was one of those early to criticize President Trump for putting a temporary hold on immigration from a list of seven terror-torn countries flagged by the Obama administration. In response, the coffee house giant pledged to hire 10,000 Muslim refugees over five years in protest against Trump’s order.

But since the company issued its anti-Trump statement its brand name has lost its luster with customers. Perception levels of the Starbucks brand name fell by an incredible two-thirds since its January announcement, according to a YouGov survey, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

The survey measures how potential customers feel about a company’s brand and asks if they have “heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative.”

In the week before the company’s January refugees announcement, 30% of respondents said they would consider spending money at Starbucks. But after the statement that number fell to 24 percent, the survey discovered.

The company’s announcement immediately sparked a #BoycottStarbucks movement on Twitter and brought condemnation from coast to coast.

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Yes, Childhood Sexual Abuse Often Does Contribute to Homosexuality

What do Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, George Takei and Milo Yiannopoulos have in common? They are all out and proud gay men, and they were all sexually abused as underage minors. Sadly, this is an extremely common occurrence, as there is frequently a connection between childhood sexual abuse and adult homosexuality.

To say such a thing, of course, is to invite a hailstorm of fierce criticism and ridicule: “You bigoted homophobe! These men were born gay, not made gay, and their sexuality is a gift from God, not the result of sexual abuse. Plus, there are plenty of gay men who were never abused and plenty of straight men who were abused as boys and never turned gay.”

Putting the name-calling aside, there is some truth to these statements.
Numbers Don’t Lie

Not all gay men were molested as boys (since there are multiple causes for homosexuality) and not all boys who are molested turn out gay (probably because they were less predisposed towards homosexuality). Still, it cannot be denied that a disproportionately high number of gay men were abused as boys, and that certainly contributed to their sexual and emotional development.

That’s why it was no surprise when Dr. Robert Epstein, the pro-gay editor-in-chief of Psychology Today, noted that gay readers who were upset with an ad that ran in his publication in 2002 sent him letters asserting “that gays have a right to be rude or abusive because they themselves have been abused” (this obviously included being sexually abused).

And that’s why it was no surprise when a 2009 report prepared for a bisexual health summit revealed that 74 percent of bisexuals had been sexually abused as children. (For other studies focusing specifically on the connection between childhood sexual abuse and homosexuality, see here.)

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