Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Wednesday, February 07, 2018

Stanley Black & Decker Expanding Baltimore County Headquarters, Plans to Add Capacity to Support 400 New Jobs

Fortune 500 Company to Grow Baltimore Region Footprint

ANNAPOLIS, MD –
Stanley Black & Decker, the world’s leading provider of tools and storage, is expanding its Global Tools & Storage headquarters in Baltimore County. The company currently occupies 565,000 square feet in Towson and plans to add an additional 92,000 square feet in the Greenleigh development in Middle River. Stanley Black & Decker has approximately 2,300 employees in Maryland and this expansion project will support the addition of 400 new jobs.

“As Stanley Black & Decker continues to grow, we need to continually infuse our business with innovation-minded people who are excited about building the innovations that will change the world tomorrow,” said Jeff Ansell, president of global tools & storage for Stanley Black & Decker. “We continue to find those people right here in Maryland and we are proud to expand our operations in a place that we’ve called home for nearly 110 years. The state of Maryland and Baltimore County have been strong partners throughout this expansion process, and are working hard to help our innovative, high-performing company grow in Maryland.”

Named one of Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 2017, Stanley Black & Decker is a leader in tools and storage, commercial electronic security, and engineered fastening systems. An S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company, Stanley Black & Decker operates more than 30 manufacturing facilities in the United States, including one in Maryland. Last year, the company opened a brand new makerspace in Towson designed to help employees bring innovative new ideas to life, as well as serve as a resource for the greater Baltimore community to engage in meaningful maker experiences.

“Stanley Black & Decker has a long history in Maryland, and we are excited to be working closely with them on their expansion, which will support the addition of 400 new jobs,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “World-class companies like Stanley Black & Decker continuing to invest in our state is proof that our actions to grow our economy and ensure that Maryland is open for business are working.”

“For a highly-innovative company like Stanley Black & Decker to continue growing, we know that having the right workforce base is critical,” said Maryland Commerce Secretary Mike Gill. “Maryland offers one of the most highly-educated and highly-skilled workforces in the country that gives global companies like Stanley Black and Decker a competitive advantage.”

McDonald's french fries contain chemical that may cure baldness, study says

McDonald’s “world famous french fries” may be the cure for more than just hunger.

A Japanese stem cell research team may have found a way to eliminate baldness by using an ingredient in McDonald’s french fries.

The scientists from Yokohama National University discovered the chemical dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicone used in McDonald’s fry oil to prevent splashing, can be used to mass produce hair follicles on mice.

The “simple method” has proved widely successful in creating “hair follicle germs” (HFG), or cells that help grow hair follicles, according to the study.

The research team credits the use of dimethylpolysiloxane in the ground-breaking experiment that has resulted in thousands of simultaneous hair follicle germs.

More
http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2018/02/05/mcdonalds-french-fries-contain-chemical-that-may-cure-baldness-study-says.html

The Cost Of Illegal Immigration

In his State of the Union address on January 30, US President Donald J. Trump referred to the brutal murder of two 16-year-old girls from Long Island in December 2016 by members of the "savage MS-13 gang," responsible for a spate of other gruesome killings in the area, as well.

Many of these gang members, he explained, had entered the United States illegally. "For decades, open borders have allowed drugsand gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities," he said.

Calling on Congress "to finally close the deadly loopholes that have allowed... criminal gangs to break into our country," he listed the four pillars of his immigration-reform proposal:

A path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought to America by their parents.

The construction of a "great wall on the southern border" and enforcement by agents patrolling and securing the border.

Ending the visa lottery, "a program that randomly plans out green cards without regard for skill, merit, for the safety of American people."

Ending the "current, broken system" of chain migration of distant relatives, and limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children.

More

Is The 9-Year-Long Dead-Cat-Bounce Finally Ending?

Ignoring or downplaying these fundamental forces has greatly increased the fragility of the status quo.

The term dead cat bounce is market lingo for a "recovery" after markets decline due to fundamental reversals. Markets tend to bounce back after sharp declines as participants (human and digital) who have been trained to "buy the dips" once again buy the decline, and the financial media rushes to reassure everyone that nothing has actually changed, everything is still peachy-keen wonderfulness.

I submit that the past 9 years of market "recovery" is nothing but an oversized dead cat bounce that is finally ending. Here is a chart that depicts the final blow-off top phase of the over-extended dead cat bounce:

More

The Ghost Of 1987

Uncertainty is creeping back in the asset markets. In the US, the stock market volatility is staging a comeback. The yields of the long-term bonds are rising and the yield curve has flattened. On Friday, the stock markets were under heavy selling with the Dow Jones Industrial average suffering one of the worst one-day point declines in its history. Looking back, we find disturbing similarities with the period just before the biggest single-day stock market crash in history: the Black Monday in 1987.

The timeline of the crash

Before crashing in 19 October 1987, the stock markets were beating records. The bull market started in August 1982 and raged through the ‘Roaring Eighties’. The upward momentum was driven by fast economic growth, by the extensive growth of corporate profits, by the influx of new institutional investors which increased the demand for stocks and by tax breaks for mergers and buyouts. Although the interest rates were somewhat high (the federal fund rate was 7.5 %), they had much decreased since summer 1981 (around 19 %). Compared with the 1970s, inflation was actually low. It was the Goldilocks period of that time. Complacency took hold.

In early summer 1987 something changed. The interest rates started to rise. Doubts about the virility of the economic expansion started to linger during the fall. The growing trade deficit of the US and the declining value of the dollar raised concerns about inflation and the need for higher interest rates. Uncertainty was increasing.

More

Levin on FISA Controversy: Obama Likely Knew 'Hillary Clinton Paid for a Warrant'

Constitutional law expert and former Reagan administration official Mark Levin said Americans have been subjected to a "massive propaganda campaign" to protect Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.

Levin, whose program "Life, Liberty and Levin" premieres later this month on Fox News Channel, said Democrats and the media have been fighting to keep the FISA memo away from the public because it effectively shows that "Hillary Clinton paid for a warrant."

Sean Hannity said a new memo shows that a "phony, Russian-paid-for dossier" was used as a basis of obtaining the FISA warrant to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Levin said a new memo from Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) shows a connection between those involved in the dossier and the Hillary Clinton campaign, as well as the Obama State Department.

More

IG poised to reignite war over FBI’s Clinton case

Few people have heard of Michael Horowitz, but that’s about to change.

Horowitz, the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general, is an increasingly critical player in the controversy surrounding the FBI, President Trump and the Russia investigation.

With little fanfare, he has been conducting a sprawling probe of the FBI’s handling of the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. His full report, which could set off shockwaves, is expected by the early spring.

A political appointee in both the Bush and Obama administrations, Horowitz’s yearlong investigation already reportedly contributed to the early resignation of Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. And his work has been felt in other ways.

More

High School Cancels 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' Production After White Student Cast as Lead

A New York high school has canceled a production of Disney’sHunchback of Notre Dame after a white student was cast as Esmeralda.

A group of students at Ithaca High School has successfully derailed an upcoming production of Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. The students, who call themselves Ithaca High School’s Students United Ithaca, penned a letter demanding the production be recast or shut down after a white student was cast as Esmerelda.

Esmerelda is accurately depicted in the Disney musical, and is written for, a young woman of color. Esmerelda is a Roma, part of an oppressed class of people. It is her oppression, and that of her people, which allows her to better understand the perspective of the Hunchback and to ultimately advocate for him.

The students continued, complaining that the student who had been cast had “hazel eyes” and blonde hair.” “The young woman who was cast in this role has hazel eyes, blonde hair, and is the epitome of whiteness. This is an unfair position to put her in. At best, this is cultural appropriation. At worst, it is whitewashing, a racist casting practice which has its roots in minstrelsy,” they wrote. The students then explicitly demanded the show be shut down.

More

ICE, FBI fight to protect girls and women from mutilation and abuse

Today and everyday, members of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our FBI partners and citizens everywhere to demand the eradication of female genital mutilation and cutting around the world.

Feb. 6 marks the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, a day in which the global community recognizes that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation, or cutting.
“We continue to partner with the FBI, non-governmental organizations, and governmental partners both domestically and internationally to identify potential victims and those who conduct female genital mutilation,” explained unit chief Mark Shaffer, of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center. “If HSI can help prevent this from happening, it is a win for everyone.”

Female mutilation and cutting refers to cutting and other procedures that injure the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

“Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a violation of the rights of women and girls that leaves lasting mental, emotional and physical scars,” said Chris Hacker, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “The FBI’s work investigating human rights issues such as FGM/C is among the most important work we do, safeguarding children. We will continue to work with our partners at U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to protect vulnerable members of our community, and bring to justice those who have harmed young girls."

More

Nunes: "Clear Link" Between Democrats And Russia During 2016 Election

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) railed against Democrats and the FBI for the "clear link" between Russia and opponents of Donald Trump, who engaged in a literal conspiracy to smear Trump with the cooperation of Russian government officials.

Appearing on Fox News, Nunes traced the path directly from the Clinton campaign to the Kremlin:

“We have a clear link to Russia — you have a campaign who hired a law firm, who hire Fusion GPS, who hired a foreign agent, who then got information from the Russians on the other campaign,” said Nunes, adding “It seems like the counterintelligence investigation should have been opened up against the Hillary campaign when they got ahold of the dossier. But that didn't happen, either.”

More

Former Fort Hood, Texas, soldier pleads guilty to alien smuggling

US Army soldier was also previously deported

BROWNSVILLE, Texas —
A solider based in Fort Hood, Texas, pleaded guilty Jan. 29 for his role in a conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens, and illegally re-entering the United States after having been deported.

This guilty plea was announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick, Southern District of Texas. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP).

Victoriano Zamora-Jasso aka “Tata,” 51, from Mexico living in Houston made an appearance Jan. 29 in federal court on the eve of jury selection.

More

Maple Syrup Festival Returns to Cunningham Falls State Park

Mountain Maryland Tradition Sweetens Two March Weekends

Sweet aromas will waft through the Catoctin Mountain air as Cunningham Falls State Park hosts its 48th Annual Maple Syrup Making Demonstrations March 10-11 and 17-18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The festivities will take place in the William Houck Area, located at 14039 Catoctin Hollow Road in Thurmont. 

Youth Waterfowl Hunting Day Feb. 10

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is offering a Youth Waterfowl Hunt Day statewide Feb. 10.

Hunters 16 years of age or younger may hunt coots, ducks, geese and mergansers on both private and public land this day when aided by an unarmed adult, at least 21 years old. 

Gowdy hints Sidney Blumenthal leaked info to dossier author Steele

EXCLUSIVE – Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., strongly implied to Fox News Tuesday night that Clinton family confidant Sidney Blumenthal was a key link in a chain of information that helped create the controversial Trump-Russia dossier.

Gowdy told Fox News' "The Story" that "when you hear who ... one of the sources of that information is, you're going to think, 'Oh my gosh, I've heard that name somewhere before.'"

When host Martha MacCallum asked if he was referring to Blumenthal, Gowdy answered, "That'd be really warm. You're warm, yeah."

Gowdy, who is among a host of Republican lawmakers not running for re-election is November, played a key role in the drafting of a recently declassified memo detailing alleged surveillance abuses by the federal government. The memo took specific issue with the FBI's use of information from the dossier, which was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and claimed to reveal deep ties between President Trump and Russian officials.

More

WH Chief of Staff Kelly: Some DREAMers 'Too Lazy to Get Off Their Asses' to Sign Up for DACA

In audio aired on Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” White House chief of staff John Kelly told reporters on Capitol Hill that some DREAMers were “too lazy to get off their asses” and register for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy.

While discussing the number of people who might qualify for immigration legislation compromises that could including a path to citizenship, Kelly said, “The difference between 690 and 1.8 million were the people that some would say were too afraid to sign up, others would say were too lazy get off their asses but didn’t sign up.”

More/Video

Attorney General Frosh Joins Coalition of Attorneys General Challenging Suspension of Clean Water Rule

Rollback of Clean Water Rule Violates Federal Law, Threatens To Undermine Decades of Clean Water Protections in MD and Across Country

BALTIMORE, MD –
Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today joined a coalition of 11 Attorneys General in opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) suspension of the 2015 “Clean Water Rule” – a federal regulation designed to ensure the nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands receive proper protection under the federal Clean Water Act. With its “Suspension Rule,” the Administration replaces the Clean Water Rule with confusing, nearly 40-year-old regulations that had been in place prior to the 2015 rule.

The Attorneys General charge that, in suspending the Clean Water Rule, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) violated federal law by taking action “with inadequate public notice, insufficient record support, and outside their statutory authority.”

“Maryland has sacrificed, worked and fought to save the Chesapeake Bay,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Suspension of the Clean Water Rule undermines decades of progress and threatens our supply of clean drinking water. This is another illegal assault on critical environmental protections by the EPA and Administrator Pruitt.”

Read more in the full press release:http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2018/020618.pdf

Former attorney sentenced to 7 years in prison for money laundering

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former attorney was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for conspiring to launder more than $2 million dollars derived from a business email compromise scheme and for attempting to launder funds he believed to be proceeds from alien smuggling and firearms trafficking. This case was investigated by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.

According to court documents, from at least March 2013 to February 2017, Raymond Juiwen Ho, 48, of Vienna, engaged in a large-scale money laundering scheme that resulted in millions of dollars being moved through bank accounts (some of which were attorney trust accounts) that Ho or his co-conspirators controlled. Specifically, between July and November 2014, Ho participated in a conspiracy in which co-conspirators sent emails from compromised or imitation accounts that duped victims into transferring money to accounts controlled by Ho and others. Ho then laundered these stolen funds, moving them through and to accounts located in the United States and abroad. Ho, who recruited others to aid his laundering activities, laundered more than $2 million in unlawfully obtained funds.

Ho engaged in his money laundering business despite multiple instances of banks closing his accounts due to fraud and inquiries by law enforcement. Eventually, in November 2015, HSI initiated an operation in which undercover HSI special agents sought Ho’s assistance in moving the proceeds of human smuggling and firearms trafficking between bank accounts located in the United States and overseas. Ho engaged in four such transactions between December 2015 and June 2016, involving more than $175,000 he believed to be the proceeds of illegal smuggling and trafficking activity.

More

Reality Returns to Wall Street

Barely a week after it set another record high, the Dow just suffered its worst one-day loss in its entire history.

While the latest turmoil hasn’t reached the crisis level by any means, I’ve been warning about a correction for months.

Warnings about an imminent collapse of developed economy stock markets, especially the U.S. markets, have been everywhere.

Whether you use Shiller’s CAPE ratio, Warren Buffett’s preferred market-cap-to-GDP ratio, or traditional P/E ratios, markets were overpriced and ready to fall. Of course, that did not mean they would fall anytime soon, or on anyone’s timetable.

As we saw in the dot.com bubble of 1996-2000, and the housing bubble of 2002-2007, so-called “irrational exuberance” can last longer than the skeptics believe. However, some warnings perhaps deserve more attention than others.

More

Cancer ‘Vaccine’ Wiped Out Tumors In Mice, Scientists Say

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Scientists at Stanford University’s School of Medicine have announced that tests of their new treatment for cancer successfully wiped out all of the tumors in a group of mice. Researchers are now hoping their experiments lead to a “vaccine” for human cancer patients.

The new treatment, which was directly injected into the tumor sites of 90 mice, cured 87 mice of the disease. Stanford’s formula contains two immune-stimulating agents which were so effective they eliminated the tumors they were injected into as well as reduced the tumors in untreated parts of the mice. The three subjects that relapsed were given a second shot of the new treatment which cleared up the tumors again.

“When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumors all over the body,” Dr. Ronald Levy, professor of oncology said in a university release. “Our approach uses a one-time application of very small amounts of two agents to stimulate the immune cells only within the tumor itself. In the mice, we saw amazing, bodywide effects.”

More

Little-known Black History Fact

Before there was Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin.

Most people think of Rosa Parks as the first person to refuse to give up their seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. There were actually several women who came before her; one of whom was Claudette Colvin.

It was March 2, 1955, when the fifteen-year-old schoolgirl refused to move to the back of the bus-- nine months before Rosa Parks’ stand that launched the Montgomery bus boycott. Claudette had been studying Black leaders like Harriet Tubman in her segregated school, and those conversations had led to discussions around the current day Jim Crow laws they were all experiencing.

When the bus driver ordered Claudette to get up, she refused. "It felt like Sojourner Truth was on one side pushing me down, and Harriet Tubman was on the other side of me pushing me down. I couldn't get up."

Claudette Colvin’s stand didn’t stop there. Arrested and thrown in jail, she was one of four women who challenged the segregation law in court.

If Browder v. Gayle became the court case that successfully overturned bus segregation laws in both Montgomery and Alabama, why has Claudette’s story been largely forgotten?

At the time, the NAACP and other Black organizations felt Rosa Parks made a better icon for the movement than a teenager. As an adult with the right look, Rosa Parks was also the secretary of the NAACP, and was both well-known and respected – people would associate her with the middle class and that would attract support for the cause. But the struggle to end segregation was often fought by young people, more than half of which were women.

More here

SPD Crime Reports 1-29-18 thru 2-6-18

Numbers From 3 weeks ago
17 Violent Crimes
26 Property Crimes
3 Quality of Life Crimes
3 Other Crimes

Numbers From 2 weeks ago
16 Violent Crimes
38 Property Crimes
1 Quality of Life Crimes

Numbers From Last Week
17 Violent Crimes
50 Property Crimes
4 Quality of Life Crimes
1 Other Crime

SPD Crime Reports 1-29-18 thru 2-5-18

Violent Crimes (11)

Assault
300 Block E VINE ST
00450-ASSAULT: SIMPLE, NOT AGG
Feb 5, 2018
around 9 PM

Assault with Deadly Weapon
2600 Block N SALISBURY BLVD
00420-ASSAULT: KNIFE
Feb 5, 2018
around 8 PM

Assault
100 Block E CARROLL ST
00450-ASSAULT: SIMPLE, NOT AGG
Feb 5, 2018
around 4 PM

Robbery
500 Block S PARK DR
00341-ROBBERY: STRNGARM, HWY
Feb 5, 2018
around 4 PM

Assault
600 Block W SALISBURY PKWY
00440-ASSAULT: HANDS, INJURY
Feb 5, 2018
around 3 PM

Assault
1000 Block FAIRGROUND DR
00440-ASSAULT: HANDS, INJURY
Feb 5, 2018
around 10 AM

Assault
400 Block E CHURCH ST
00450-ASSAULT: SIMPLE, NOT AGG
Feb 3, 2018
around 12 AM

Robbery
900 Block GATEWAY ST
00341-ROBBERY: STRNGARM, HWY
Feb 2, 2018
around 9 AM

Robbery
800 Block PRISCILLA ST
00341-ROBBERY: STRNGARM, HWY
Feb 2, 2018
around 8 AM

Assault
1300 Block MT HERMON RD
00450-ASSAULT: SIMPLE, NOT AGG
Feb 1, 2018
around 9 AM

Assault
500 Block SPRING GARDEN
00440-ASSAULT: HANDS, INJURY
Jan 30, 2018
around 6 PM

Property Crimes (30)

New York Times Runs FBI Agent’s Angry Resignation Column, Neglects To Inform Readers Of Agent’s Ties To Democrats

The FBI special agent who penned a scathing takedown column that ran in Saturday’s New York Times, in which he laid out his reasons for leaving the bureau and cited his disgust with Republicans’ “relentless attacks” on the agency, apparently declined to disclose his history of donating to Democratic candidates.

A Federal Election Commission search for Joshua Campbell, who claimed he is leaving “so I can join the growing chorus of people who believe that the relentless attacks on the bureau undermine not just America’s premier law enforcement agency but also the nation’s security,” gave $100 in November to ActBlue, the Somerville-based Democratic Party fund-raising arm, to be earmarked to the then-candidacy of recently elected Alabama Democratic U.S. Senator Doug Jones.

Campbell announced his resignation on the same day that a politically-charged memo released by the White House suggests partisan politics played a role in the decision by top FBI and Justice Department officials to apply for and obtain a warrant to conduct electronic surveillance on a member of then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign team in 2016.

“Scorched-earth attacks from politicians with partisan goals now threaten that support,” he wrote, referring to the “public backing” the bureau “needs to succeed in its work,” criticisms he claimed are “now raising corrosive doubts about the integrity of the FBI that could last for generations.”

More

DeVos: Apprenticeships, Vocational Education are Top Trump Priority

Expanding apprenticeship and vocational education are a priority of the Trump administration, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said Tuesday in a meeting of the Department of Labor's specially chartered Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion.

"Apprenticeship expansion is a priority for President Trump, as he demonstrated by establishing the task force last summer," DeVos said. "In the State of the Union address, he called on everyone, not just the Department of Education, or Labor, or Congress, or Washington, everyone to invest in workforce development, and job training, and great vocational schools so our students and future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential."

The task force was chartered in accordance with a June executive order, and is now jointly chaired by DeVos, Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Other members represent a diverse group of educational, labor and industry interests, focused around the question of how to diversify skills education in the U.S. economy.

Acosta cited the growing "skills gap," the disparity between the demand for labor with certain skills and the supply of that labor, as the reason for the task force's creation.

More

Cancer ‘Vaccine’ Eliminates 97% of Mice Tumors

Stanford University researchers have reported 97 percent laboratory success eliminating metastasized tumors in mice by injecting vaccines directly into tumors to activate T cells.

Ronald Levy and Idit Sagiv-Barfi have led a team at the Stanford University School of Medicine to develop what they believe could be a possibly wide-ranging cancer treatmentthat involves injecting microgram (one-millionth of a gram) amounts of two immune-stimulating agents directly into solid tumors.

The discovery was published in Science Translational Medicine on Jan. 31.

The researchers did not disclose the two-part cocktail being injected into tumors, but they did acknowledge that one agent has already been approved for human use, and the other agent has been approved for human testing in several unrelated clinical trials.

More

IG poised to reignite war over FBI’s Clinton case

Few people have heard of Michael Horowitz, but that’s about to change.

Horowitz, the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general, is an increasingly critical player in the controversy surrounding the FBI, President Trump and the Russia investigation.

With little fanfare, he has been conducting a sprawling probe of the FBI’s handling of the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. His full report, which could set off shock waves, is expected by the early spring.

A political appointee in both the Bush and Obama administrations, Horowitz’s yearlong investigation already reportedly contributed to the early resignation of Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. And his work has been felt in other ways.

Horowitz also uncovered a series of text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page that led special counsel Robert Mueller to remove Strzok from his team. Those texts have fueled accusations among GOP lawmakers that Mueller’s probe is tainted by partisanship.

More here

Trump Makes Fun of Nancy Pelosi and Democrats!

FBI Asst. Dir.: 'The Clinton E-Mail Investigation Was Not a Real Investigation'

Commenting on the anti-Trump bias at the senior levels of the FBI when James Comey was bureau director and Andrew McCabe was deputy director, former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker said that is not how the FBI "as a whole operates," and added that bureau veterans "know that the Clinton e-mail investigation was not a real investigation."

James Comey served as FBI director from September 2013 to May 2017, when he was fired by President Donald Trump. Andrew McCabe, a hardcore leftist, started in the FBI in 1996 and was removed as deputy director last week just prior to the release of a memo, by the House Intelligence Committee, documenting the anti-Trump bias and and FISA court malfeasance by senior FBI officials.

McCabe was Comey's second-in-command fore more than two years and was responsible for overseeing the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton and her mishandling of classified documents and her illicit use of a private e-mail server while Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

Chris Swecker joined the FBI in 1982 and served there for 24 years. He was the assistant director of the FBI from 2004-2006.

On Fox & Friends on Feb. 4, co-host Ed Henry asked Swecker, “Defenders of James Comey have said, ‘oh, it was not a big deal that he and Andrew McCabe were drafting this exoneration statement for Hillary Clinton months before they even interviewed her. I’m am outsider, we’re outsiders, we don’t know how the FBI does it job. Is that the proper way? I mean, people on the outside here that and say, ‘three months before she was exonerated, they were already drafting the statement.’ Doesn’t that sound like it was cooked?"

More

Hillary Clinton: Trump Using FISA Memo As 'Scapegoat’ For Russia Probe

Meanwhile, memo details evidence of Clinton campaign colluding with FBI, DoJ, State Department

Two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton alluded to President Trump using the declassified FISA memo as a “scapegoat” to end the Russia investigation.

Speaking to students at Georgetown University, Clinton said her loss is attributed to “misogyny and sexism” of Trump’s campaign which she outlined in her book What Happened.

“So any of you who’ve read my book about what happened know that I think misogyny and sexism was part of that campaign. It was one of the contributing factors,” Hillary said Monday.

“Some of it was old fashioned sexism and a refusal to accept the equality of women and certainly the equality of women’s leadership, and some of it as an outgrowth of all of this anxiety and insecurity that is playing on some people and leading them on a hunt for scapegoats.”

More

Charleston Black Lives Matter leader shot, killed in New Orleans, niece says

A Charleston Black Lives Matter leader who made headlines for attempting to steal a Confederate flag died Tuesday after being shot in New Orleans, his family said.

Muhiyyidin Moye, 32, of Charleston, was shot in the leg while riding his bike around 1 a.m. in the Louisiana city, his niece told WCSC-TV. She said Moye tried to keep riding his bike after being shot but eventually died at a nearby hospital.

Other circumstances surrounding the shooting, including a possible motive, were unclear.

In February 2017, Moye was arrested after trying to snatch a Confederate flag from a protester in downtown Charleston after jumping over yellow police tape — an incident that was recorded during a live broadcast

More

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/06/charleston-black-lives-matter-leader-shot-killed-in-new-orleans-niece-says.html

Angel Mom Praises Breitbart News Coverage of Angel Families: 'Y'all Are the Ones That Are Letting the Word Come Out'

“Y’all are the ones that are letting the word come out,” Angel Mom Rhonda West told Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Rebecca Mansour during a Friday interview on SiriusXM’sBreitbart News Tonight. West contrasted this outlet’s coverage of Angel families’ stories with widespread disinterest across the broader news media landscape.

“There are so many Angel families out there, the word is not getting out,” said West. “Y’all are the ones that are letting the word come out. There are so many news stations that are not even reporting it. They’re not even reporting the crimes. It’s almost like it’s just brushed under the rug.”

Mansour expressed Breitbart News’s ongoing commitment to offering platforms to Angel families.

“I’ve got to tell you, my heart breaks for the Angel families,” said Mansour. “Not only is it the disgust at this crime that could have been prevented, it’s the complicity, the government officials; they all let you down. They won’t give you a platform. They won’t listen to you. It’s like you have to suffer in silence. You have my promise … we will always give a platform to your families. We hear you at Breitbart, and we will always listen to you guys and put you at the top of the queue when it comes to discussing this issue.”

More

A Viewer Writes: Blah Blah Bullsh!t

Government set to borrow nearly $1 trillion this year, an 84 percent jump from last year

It was another crazy news week, so it's understandable if you missed a small but important announcement from the Treasury Department: The federal government is on track to borrow nearly $1 trillion this fiscal year — President Donald Trump's first full year in charge of the budget.

That's almost double what the government borrowed in fiscal year 2017.

Here are the exact figures: The U.S. Treasury expects to borrow $955 billion this fiscal year, according to a documents released Wednesday. It's the highest amount of borrowing in six years, and a big jump from the $519 billion the federal government borrowed last year.

Treasury mainly attributed the increase to the "fiscal outlook." The Congressional Budget Office was more blunt. In a report this week, the CBO said tax receipts are going to be lower because of the new tax law.

More

VFW Post #194 To Hold Very Important Meeting

On this coming Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 2:00PM the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #194 located in Salisbury, MD. will be holding their monthly membership meeting to discuss very important topics. 

Make sure that if your a eligible member of VFW Post #194 to clear your calendar so you can attend! The main discussion that will be tabled is the Eligibility Requirements from our National VFW Organization to be followed correctly by this post. Remember, it is not the dues you pay but the price we paid to become eligible!

Ron Paul: What the FBI/FISA Memo Really Tells Us About Our Government

Be skeptical of both parties; with few exceptions they are not protecting liberty but promoting its opposite

The release of the House Intelligence Committee’s memo on the FBI’s abuse of the FISA process set off a partisan firestorm. The Democrats warned us beforehand that declassifying the memo would be the end the world as we know it. It was reckless to allow Americans to see this classified material, they said. Agents in the field could be harmed, sources and methods would be compromised, they claimed.

Republicans who had seen the memo claimed that it was far worse than Watergate. They said that mass firings would begin immediately after it became public. They said that the criminality of US government agencies exposed by the memo would shock Americans.

Then it was released and the world did not end. FBI agents have thus far not been fired. Seeing “classified” material did not terrify us, but rather it demonstrated clearly that information is kept from us by claiming it is “classified.”

More

State Police Arrest Juveniles in Stolen Vehicle

(JOPPA, Md.) – Maryland State Police arrested two juveniles suspected of stealing a van in Baltimore City before driving it to Harford County on Monday.

The female suspects, ages 15 and 17, were charged as juveniles with unlawful taking of a vehicle. After being processed at the Maryland State Police Bel Air Barrack, the juveniles were taken to the Thomas J.S. Waxter Children’s Center on Laurel.

Shortly before 3 p.m. on Monday, a plain clothes trooper observed a blue Dodge van enter the parking lot of the Wawa on MD-152 at I-95 in Joppa, Md. The trooper observed two females park at the Wawa and walk toward a liquor store, stop and then proceed back to the vehicle. The trooper also observed abnormal behavior and suspected possible criminal activity.

The trooper contacted the Bel Air barrack and requested a registration check which revealed the vehicle was stolen in Baltimore City earlier in the day. According to investigators, the vehicle was stolen by the suspects after the vehicles owner left it running unattended outside their home in the 5800 block of Willowton Avenue.

The trooper maintained visual contact as the vehicle was driven to the corner of Mountain and Philadelphia roads and entered the Carroll Fuel gas station on 900 block of Philadelphia Road. Troopers responded as the covert trooper dispatched a physical description of the females as they entered the attached store.

Troopers detained the females without incident. The juveniles were identified and are known to law enforcement.

Both females were wearing monitoring anklets. A monitoring officer with the Department of Juvenile Services contacted the Bel Air Barrack and requested the juveniles be transported to DJJS for retake. Several credit cards were found in the juveniles’ possession with others’ names. The credit cards appear to have been stolen within the past week from several different victims.

Wicomico Real Estate Market Report

Currently, there are 351 active residential listings in the county, which includes single family, townhomes, condos, and duplexes.
Short Sales and foreclosures in Salisbury and Wicomico County make up 22.8% of available residential properties.

Nunes Trolls CNN Reporter On Memo: ‘Democracy Dies In Darkness, My Friend'

House Intel Committee Chairman repurposes WaPo’s tagline

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) dismissed a CNN reporter by invoking the Washington Post’s cringeworthy tagline, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

CNN reporter Manu Raju caught up to Nunes at Capitol Hill to ask him about the White House’s role in crafting the newly declassified FISA memo.

“Democracy dies in darkness, my friend. Get to work,” Nunes replied.

The California congressman was referring to The Washington Post’s now-infamous tagline:

More/Video

Democrat Sen. Carper: Discard Millions of Americans so Illegals Can Get Jobs

Democratic Sen. Tom Carper says ‘dreamer’ illegal immigrants should be hired to replace millions of Americans who supposedly are too unskilled, uneducated, unethical or drugged up to work for companies.

“I think the business community is saying that to the administration [and] they are certainly saying that to those of us in the Congress, and we should focus on that,” Carper told MSNBC.

“We have a moral responsibility to them,” Carper said about the roughly 690,000 ‘dreamer’ illegals, not about Americans. Carper added, “doing a deal with the dreamers is as much about — as I said earlier — is about making sure we have the folks who can go to work tomorrow.”

Carper continued:

Trump Is Repealing Obama’s Harmful Water Rule. Why Efforts to Stop Him Are Misguided.

In 2015, the Obama administration finalized its infamous “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule—also known as the Clean Water Rule—that sought to regulate almost every type of water imaginable under the Clean Water Act.

To its credit, the Trump administration is taking action to get rid of this rule by withdrawing it and then issuing a new definition of what waters are covered under the Clean Water Rule.

This process, though, will require significant litigation as lawsuits pile up in an effort to block the administration from protecting the environment in a manner that also respects property rights, federalism, and the rule of law.

In fact, the litigation is already getting underway.

More

Understanding Our Transgender Moment

How did we get to this point in our country where a child decides what gender they should be? In your opinion, what was the pivot point?

The immediate pivot point was Obergefell v. Hodges. After LGBT activists had redefined marriage, they immediately turned to redefining sex and gender. It’s no coincidence that the Obama Department of Justice/Department of Education “Dear Colleague” letter on bathrooms and locker rooms was issued when it was.

The longer-term pivot has its roots, oddly enough, in second-wave feminism. Chapter 7 of my book, “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment,” goes through this intellectual history. It explains how first-wave feminism was a campaign to liberate women from an overly restrictive concept of gender, so they could be free to fulfill their nature, but it gave way to a movement seeking to make women identical to men.

More

Question Of The Day 2-7-18

What Year and Why?

"I'd Love To See A Shutdown": Trump Threatens Schumer With Shutdown Over Immigration Laws

Speaking live from the White House on Tuesday, President Donald Trump told reporters that "I'd love to see a shutdown" if Democratic leaders refuse to back his immigration proposals - specifically his push to tighten illegal immigration laws to make it more difficult for immigrants to sponsor relatives - a phenomenon Trump has called "chain migration."

As Reuters reported, Trump said during a meeting with law enforcement officials that focused on gang violence, adding that his ultimate goal is to change immigration laws to stem the flow of dangerous MS-13 gang members into the US.

He also reiterated his demands that funding for the border wall be a part of a hoped-for immigration deal. Last month, the White House submitted a proposal for $18 billion in funding to start construction on the first 700 miles of the wall.


"If they don't want to take care of our military then shut it down," Trump said.

"We need much better border mechanisms and much better border security. We need the wall. We're going to get the wall," Trump said. "If we don't have the wall, we're never going to solve this problem."

He also said he'd welcome a shutdown if Congress can't pass a plan - demanding by Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows - to separate out defense spending from the continuing resolution in order to make an appropriation that would cover the remainder of he year.

More/Video

Mountaire employees to receive up to $1,000 bonus due to tax reform

Mountaire Farms is awarding its employees with a one-time cash bonus of up to $1,000 along with other benefits following the passage of President Trump's new tax law.

The bonus amounts will be determined based on an employee's length of service, similar to many other companies. Hourly employees employed up to 180 days will receive a one-time $500 bonus, and then full-time employees who have been employed for more than 180 days will receive a one-time $1,000 cash bonus.

"The President of the United States and the Republican Congress have reduced taxes for businesses and individuals for 2018, and I'm extremely excited about what this means for the company and all of our employees," explained Ron Cameron the owner and chairman of Mountaire Farms.

More

Publishers Notes: It's nice of Perdue to let their employees know that the competition appreciates their employees while employees are hearing rumors that they may not get the lousy $200.00 “profit sharing” bonus they dole out to them each year.

Salisbury Maryland Police Department Interactive Video

Black History Month Community Leaders Awards Nominations

Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism Accepting Nominations for Black History Month Community Leaders Awards

WHAT:

In celebration of Black History Month, the Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism has announced the inaugural Black History Month Community Leaders Awards. Nominations are currently being accepted for this award until Wednesday February 7, 2018 at midnight. This program recognizes Maryland-based, African American-founded organizations that provide volunteer service to improve Maryland communities for all Marylanders.

Nominated organizations must meet the following requirements to be considered:
The nominee's volunteer service must occur in Maryland and must be for the direct benefit of Maryland citizens and/or the environment.
Organizations and groups must have been operational for two years to be eligible for this recognition.
The volunteer service must not be provided for the sole benefit of a for-profit business.
Activities relating to political advocacy do not qualify for this award.
Self-nominations by the organization or group, or nomination of family members/spouses will not be accepted.
No more than three nominations will be accepted from any individual nominator.
If a nominator submits multiple submissions for the same organization or group, only the most complete and/or most recent nomination will be accepted.For more information on the awards or to nominate, please visit: http://gosv.maryland.gov/blackhistorymonth/

WHO:

Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism

WHEN:

Nominations Due by Wednesday February 7, 2018 at midnight

Awards ceremony held on February 26, 2018 at the Banneker-Douglass Museum, 84 Franklin St, Annapolis, MD 21401

About the Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism

The Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism is dedicated to supporting the mission of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to serve our neighbors in need. This coordinating office funds AmeriCorps programs supporting disaster relief, economic opportunity, education, veterans and military families, public safety, health, and the environment in Maryland. A unit of the Governor's Office of Community Initiatives, it has honored more than 200,000 Maryland volunteers on behalf of the Governor.

YOU CANNOT UNSEE THIS

Open Mic Night Tonight At Trader Lee's

Has it been a long winter, or what? Break out your instruments and come to Trader Lee's tonight and join dozens of local artists jam their hearts out. 

Saturday night you can also enjoy Rick & Lennon Live starting at 8 PM. 

FLASHBACK: CNN’S CHRIS CILLIZZA CALLED TRUMP ‘BONKERS’ FOR SAYING CLINTON AND FBI WERE BEHIND DOSSIER

CNN’s Chris Cillizza called President Donald Trump and his followers “bonkers” and “crazy” last year for believing the FBI and the Clinton campaign were involved in the now-infamous Steele dossier.

Cillizza chastised Trump and his cadre of followers in October of last year for suggesting and supporting the idea that Democrats and elements inside the FBI were involved in funding the dossier. He called them conspiracy theorists at the time.

“He is suggesting that a dossier prepared by a former member of British intelligence has not only been totally discredited … but that it might have been funded by some combination of Russia, the Democratic Party and, wait for it, the FBI!” Cillizza wrote in a missive at the time.

Trump has mercilessly lambasted CNN in the past for what he calls promulgating fake news – the 24-hour news network won the president’s fake news award in early January. Cillizza has been a frequent critic of the Trump administration. He implored Republicans in his October article to dismiss the president’s alleged conspiracy theories.

“You can love Donald Trump and still believe that the idea that the Russians, the Democrats and the FBI co-funded a dossier designed to discredit Trump’s 2016 campaign is totally bonkers,” said Cillizza, a former writer with The Washington Post who fashions himself a type of advocacy journalist.

More

AMERICANS OWN NOTHING: FLORIDA COUPLE PROVES GOVERNMENT CLAIMS OWNERSHIP OF THEIR HOME

Nancy Nemhauser and Ludomir Jastrzebski were fined $100 per day for the crime of painting their home and property fence like a Van Gough piece of art. The mural is stunningly artistic, but the city is basically claiming Nemhauser and Jastrzebski don’t own their home by fining them over $8000.

The daily fines will continue until the painting, an homage to Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” is removed from private property. Mount Dora, Florida officials say the mural violates the city’s sign ordinance. The homeowners have been fighting the city for months to keep the mural on their home. But should the courts (owned by the government) declare the mural removed, it means the homeowners don’t own and cannot do with their property as they see fit. They may only ask permission to alter government property. The dictatorship many fear is already here.

More/Video

Grassley: "2nd Dossier" Fed To Christopher Steele By Obama State Dept, Routed Through Clinton Crony

A heavily redacted document just released by the Senate Judiciary Committee confirms the existence of a second anti-Trump dossier which - much like the first dossier published by Buzzfeed - relied on information from Russia's FSB, the state security service. Said otherwise, actual Russian collusion in an attempt to sway the 2016 election.

Shockingly, this second dossier went from Clinton "hatchet man" Cody Shearer, who gave it to an unnamed official in the Obama State Department, before it was routed it to former British Spy Christopher Steele. It is unknown what happened to the document after that.

According to the referral, Steele wrote the additional memo based on anti-Trump information that originated with a foreign source. In a convoluted scheme outlined in the referral, the foreign source gave the information to an unnamed associate of Hillary and Bill Clinton, who then gave the information to an unnamed official in the Obama State Department, who then gave the information to Steele. Steele wrote a report based on the information, but the redacted version of the referral does not say what Steele did with the report after that.

Published accounts in the Guardian and the Washington Post have indicated that Clinton associate Cody Shearerwas in contact with Steele about anti-Trump research, and Obama State Department official Jonathan Winer was a connection between Steele and the State Department during the 2016 campaign. -Washington Examiner

Of note, Shearer's brother served as an ambassador during the Clinton administration, and his late sister was married to Strobe Talbott, the chief authority on Russia in President Bill Clinton’s State Department, according to ProPublica.

More

Family believes Tamiflu led to teen’s suicide

An Indiana teen took his life, just days after being diagnosed with the flu. His family worries the medicine prescribed to help him may be to blame.

Charlie Harp’s loved ones say he was thriving in his classes and excited about his involvement on the wrestling team. They say they believe the extreme decision to commit suicide may have been caused by severe side effects from the medicine he was taking for the flu.

“He’s an amazing child full of life, happy all the time; you just never see him without a smile on his face,” said Jackie Ray, Charlie’s aunt and guardian.

The 16-year-old boy was diagnosed with the flu last Thursday, and like many flu patients, he was prescribed Tamiflu.

"We started it right in the car, get it in him and get him started,” said Ray.

Less than 24 hours later, Ray said she texted the teen but did not get a response..

The Tamilfu warning label clearly states pediatric patients may be at an increased risk of confusion or abnormal behavior. The Rays say they weren’t properly warned about what that could mean.

More here

U.S. asylum system facing rampant ‘fraud and abuse’ from illegals

Homeland Security has reached a “crisis” in the asylum system with illegal immigrants gaming the system, the department said Wednesday, announcing new changes to try to speed things up so undeserving applicants can be deported.

The backlog reached 311,000 cases as of Jan. 21, “making the system increasingly vulnerable to fraud and abuse,” said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency within Homeland Security that handles legal immigration.

To try to make headway, USCIS said it will prioritize the latest applications for the fastest review.

“Delays in the timely processing of asylum applications are detrimental to legitimate asylum seekers,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “Lingering backlogs can be exploited and used to undermine national security and the integrity of the asylum system.”

Analysts say prioritizing new applications for fastest review is a way of speeding up deportations for those who don’t qualify for asylum. If those back home see people being turned away for frivolous requests, they may decline to make the journey in the first place.

The move is the sort of executive action President Trump can make on his own, without Congress, to try to change the incentives that are feeding the new wave of illegal immigration.

Those who are applying for asylum are granted work permits, giving them a foothold in the U.S. while they await cases that can take years to complete..

More here

Fact-Check: No, Fall River, Massachusetts, Was Not 'Built by Immigrants'

Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) claimed the host-city of his response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, Fall River, Massachusetts was “built by immigrants.”

Fact-Check: MOSTLY FALSE

What is now Fall River was first established in the 1600s by English settlers who were not “immigrants” but colonists. A native-born family, the Bordens ran a mill in what became the town for generations before and after the American revolution. Industrialization began when Col. Joseph Durfee, a native-born Revolutionary War hero built the first factory in 1811. Later, at the end of the 19th Century a wave of immigrants swelled the town’s population. Immigrants, however, never made up a majority of the population of Bristol County, where Fall River lies, even at their early 20th Century peak.

Source

Indiana man sues after being ticketed for giving state trooper the finger

An Indiana man has reportedly filed a federal lawsuit claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was ticketed for giving an Indiana State Trooper “the finger.”

Mark May, of Terre Haute, is seeking unspecified damages against Police Master Trooper Matt Ames, the Tribune-Star reported, citing a complaint filed in court on Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

May said in the lawsuit that on Aug. 21, 2017, he flashed his middle finger at the state trooper after he claims he was cut off by Ames, who was pulling over another driver on U.S. Route 41.

May was issued a “provocation” ticket — which carries a fine of up to $500 — after he gave the trooper the rude gesture, which Indiana Criminal Code states is issued when “a person who recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally engages in conduct that is likely to provoke a reasonable person to commit battery commits provocation.”

More
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/04/indiana-man-sues-after-being-ticketed-for-giving-state-trooper-finger.html