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Thursday, March 15, 2018

Viking settlement 'Hop' is in New Brunswick, claims archaeologist

A long lost Viking settlement known as 'Hop' is located in Canada, a prominent archaeologist has revealed.

Seafaring Scandinavians built a settlement in North America more than 1,000 years ago, 500 years before Christopher Columbus, it is claimed.

Three key things identify this mystical settlement - an abundance of grapes, salmon and canoes made from animal hide - according to legend.

Now, one expert claims the only place that matches this description is the Miramichi-Chaleur bay area in northeastern New Brunswick in Canada.

This would be the third Viking settlement claimed to have been found in North America, although it could be hard to conclusively prove the new theory.

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Trump Cures Cancer (CNN Parody)

Muslim teen watched jihadi videos, read Koran for 'courage' before Florida sleepover stabbings, cops say

A Florida teenager -- who had previously been investigated for "alleged violent tendencies" -- watched jihadist videos and read the Koran "to give him courage" before stabbing a 13-year-old boy to death and seriously injuring two others at a birthday sleepover Monday, cops said.

Corey Johnson, 17, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder after police said he confessed to the assault at the 13th birthday sleepover party at a BallenIsles Country Club home, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Jupiter Police, Palm Beach County School District police and the FBI previously received “intelligence gathering” on Johnson that prompted an investigation into his “alleged violent tendencies,” the Palm Beach Post reported.

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/14/muslim-teen-watched-jihadi-videos-read-koran-for-courage-before-florida-sleepover-stabbings-cops-say.html

Meet the Family That Dyes the Chicago River Green for St. Patrick’s Day

Bagpipes blare, shamrocks decorate throngs of people from head to toe, and “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” shirts abound — all in 20 degree temperatures. It’s just the typical Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, when the bustling sea of green found on the streets serves as a visual precursor for what will happen just moments later to the city’s iconic river.

Every year the 156-mile system of rivers and canals is dyed green in honor of the holiday — an event that has been garnering thousands of spectators ever since its 1962 inception.

It’s a tradition that Chicagoan Bob Rowan has been involved in for more than a decade — and one that his family has even deeper ties with.

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Man is found guilty of raping and murdering Ohio State student

A registered sex offender could face the death penalty after he was convicted Tuesday of raping and killing an Ohio State University Student.

On what would have been Reagan Tokes 23rd birthday, her family members wept in court as a Franklin County jury found Brian Golsby of the then 21-year-old.

At the time she was killed, Reagan was just three months from receiving her degree in psychology from the university.

Sentencing for the 30-year-old, who pleaded not guilty, will begin on Friday. If it is ruled the murder was premeditated he could receive the death sentence.

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Maryland state senator claims video from Irish pub shows harassment

A Maryland state senator has accused a lobbyist of groping her in a bar - and has claimed security footage proves her right.

Democratic Sen. Cheryl Kagan played the video from CastleBay Irish Pub in Annapolis during a press conference at the state senate on Tuesday.

She said it vindicates her claim that lobbyist Gil Genn put his hand on her back and 'slid it down to my tush' during an encounter that lasted about a minute and a half on March 1.

But Genn adamantly denies the allegations. He says the video shows he put his hand on her back but never groped her.

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NRA Asks Supporters To Take Action As Illinois Votes On Gun Control Bill

All three bills, HB 1465, 1467, and 1468 have passed in the Illinois Senate. The three bills will now go before Gov. Bruce Rauner.
HB 1468 - is declared passed. Calls for 72 hr. waiting period for handguns and a 24 hr. waiting period on long guns.
HB 1465 - having received the required constitutional majority, is hereby declared passed.
For specifics on each bill, the NRA has more information here.
***Original Post***

Gun control measures like new age restrictions on purchasing semi-automatic rifles and waiting periods after firearm purchases have been gaining popularity across the country. Florida’s governor recently signed a new gun bill that raised the age requirement for purchasing long guns to 21 and established a three day waiting period, but the state is now facing a federal lawsuit from the National Rifle Association (NRA). Now Illinois’ state legislature is considering similar pieces of legislation.

As a result, the NRA is asking the people of Illinois to take action and contact their state legislators to oppose the series of bills, which will all be up for a vote on March 14.

Here’s the NRA’s statement (emphasis theirs):

On Wednesday, March 14th, the Illinois state Senate will consider a number of extreme gun control bills. These bills ban the possession of most semi-automatic firearms and magazines by law-abiding adults aged 18-20, requiring them to be surrendered within 90 days, impose a 72-hour waiting period on modern semi-automatic firearms, and ban certain firearm accessories and historical firearms. These bills have already passed the state House of Representatives and it is urgent that you contact your state Senator and ask them to OPPOSE House Bills 1465, 1467, and 1468….

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Shannon Watts And The Bigotry Of Identity Politics

Shannon Watts isn’t the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. In addition to thinking a bolt-action .22 is a deadly “assault rifle,” the anti-gun crusader also seems to be knee-deep in identity politics. For example, we have her argument that Bethany Mandel, a Jewish mother who has a backstory worthy of Hollywood tragedy, which includes her mother protecting her with a firearm, was only feeling safer with a firearm because of her “white privilege.”

Now, we have this little tidbit:
As noted over at Twitchy:

We read the MMFA transcript of Holton’s remarks and — in all honesty — we didn’t see the sexism. What Watts appears to be taking issue with is Holton’s mockery of her freaking out over a .22 caliber bolt action rifle — mockery she absolutely deserved. Holton concluded with this:

So here’s my message to Ms. Watts, which I would have tweeted to her, but alas anyone who disagrees with her gets blocked: Shannon, maybe you should just be quiet for a little bit. The adults are trying to work here.

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Food Drive. ............. Free school breakfast and lunch and EBT cards are not enough?

City of Salisbury's Youth Development Advisory Committee

On March 24, 2018, a network of community organizations and churches, known as 50ksouls, will be handing out food boxes to about 50 homes near the new community center on Truitt St. They will also be conducting surveys for a new community initiative focused on making Salisbury beautiful and united. They’ve been hard at work collecting food since the beginning of the month and they could use your help!

Starting today, we are asking you to help us by contributing anything you can to this amazing initiative. Check out the preferred food items list below and begin collecting as we work toward distribution day!

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes charged with $700m fraud

The founder of a US start-up that promised to revolutionise blood testing has agreed to settle charges that she raised over $700m (£500m) fraudulently.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, a top US financial regulator, saidElizabeth Holmes and Theranos deceived investors about the firm's technology.

The agency also said the firm had falsely claimed its products had been used by the US army in Afghanistan.

Ms Holmes will lose control of the firm and be fined $500,000.

An SEC official called the fallout an "important lesson for Silicon Valley".

"Innovators who seek to revolutionise and disrupt an industry must tell investors the truth about what their technology can do today - not just what they hope it might do someday," said Jina Choi, director of the SEC's San Francisco regional office.

Theranos was founded in 2003 when Ms Holmes was only 19, and sought to develop an innovative blood testing device.

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Critics Think 132 Hours Of Firearm Training For Teachers Is Too Little

A proposal is under discussion in Florida that would allow teachers to carry a firearm into the classroom. This is a good thing.

The bad thing about it is that it seems the current thinking is to require teachers to spend 132 hours in training, or 16.5 days, in order to carry a firearm inside the school. Unfortunately, there’s some concern that’s not enough training.

A proposal to arm teachers, administrators and school staff in Florida causes widespread concern about the minimal firearms training they would get — 132 hours — less than that of basic police recruits.

Critics said the proposal, part of a measure designed to help protect schools from shooters that awaits Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s signature, could put students and staff at risk.

Curt Lavarello, executive director of the School Safety Advocacy Council and a former SRO in Broward County, Fla., where the Parkland shooting took place, said 132 hours is not nearly enough to entrust educators with guns.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous to think that in 132 hours of training, you’re going to be prepared to take on a well-armed gunman who comes onto a campus to kill children,” he said.

Richard Myers, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents 75 big-city police forces in the USA and Canada, said he has discussed arming teachers with many of the group’s members. “I’ve yet to hear a police chief think that’s a good idea,” he said.

Myers said cops aren’t trained just to use firearms but to know when not to use them. “It’s not just about shooting holes in targets,” he said. “It’s about de-escalation. It’s about ‘Shoot, don’t shoot.’ “

One hundred and thirty-two hours isn’t enough to train teachers to carry a firearm? Look, I’m not in favor of a 132-hour training class either…because it’s ridiculous. It’s way longer than should be required. These aren’t police officers.

Of course, it seems that part of the problem is that Florida police officers have to have more training.

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Man in 'Elsa' costume helps move police vehicle that got stuck in snow

Indiana boy salutes fallen deputy's memorial

An Indiana boy who raised nearly $7,000 for fallen Deputy Jacob Pickett’s family was captured in a touching photo saluting the officer’s memorial on Sunday.

Malachi Fronczak, 6, of Kokomo, spent Friday and Saturday selling hot cocoa and lemonade to help the family of Pickett, who was shot and killed in early March while attempting to apprehend a suspect. Pickett was the first officer killed in the line of duty from the Boone County Sheriff's Office since 1935.

Malachi and his family went to Boone County to visit a memorial set up for Pickett. At one point, Malachi was pictured saluting Pickett’s memorial. The photos were posted on the child's Facebook page.

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/12/indiana-boy-salutes-fallen-deputys-memorial-in-touching-photo-after-raising-nearly-7g-for-family.html

NH Dems Want to Unseat Dem Secretary of State for His Voter Fraud Prevention Efforts

Colin Van Ostern, the failed 2016 Democratic nominee for New Hampshire governor, announced his intention this week to unseat a fellow Democrat for collaborating with the Trump administration to prevent voter fraud.

Van Ostern officially launched his campaign against the state's top election official, Secretary of State Bill Gardner, invoking the latter's participation in President Donald Trump's defunct voter fraud commission as a rallying call, the Concord Monitor reported Tuesday.

On Wednesday, in a tweet announcing his candidacy, Van Ostern said he was running to "protect voting rights," "fight back against false attacks" by Trump, and protect New Hampshire's elections.

In recent years, Gardner has angered progressive Democrats for accepting an appointment to Trump's now-defunct voter fraud commission. Garnder has also backed legislation by Republican lawmakers to ensure that individuals voting in New Hampshire are legal residents of the state.

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Astronaut Has Different DNA Than His Identical Twin After One Year In Space

Astronaut Scott Kelly set a record for the longest single spaceflight in history and now NASA is saying the trip made him a “new man” as well. A study of Kelly and his identical twin brother found that spending nearly a year in space significantly changed the astronaut’s DNA.

Kelly spent 340 straight days aboard the International Space Station from 2015 to 2016. When the NASA veteran returned to Earth, researchers immediately noted that he had grown two inches in height. A new study comparing Scott to his identical twin, Mark — who is also a NASA astronaut and stayed on Earth during the 340-day trip — has revealed that long-term space travel alters more than just your height.

More here

BREAKING NEWS: Pedestiran Bridge Collapses, Several Killed


MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Florida International University’s massive new pedestrian bridge collapsed Thursday afternoon in West Miami-Dade.

The bridge, located at 109th Ave and 8th Street, collapsed on a number of cars.

Florida Highway Patrol confirms several people are dead due to the collapse.

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Federal Judge Delaying Trial of Scandalous IT Man Imran Awan

Last Thursday, March 8, Imran Awan was supposed to appear in federal court on bank fraud charges. The decision to push the case to May 4 left many wondering what, exactly, is going on with the Democrats’ favorite IT man. Quite a bit, as it turns out, and not just bank fraud.

As Frank Miniter noted in Forbes, Imran Awan was born in Pakistan and got a green card through the immigration lottery system, similar to Sayfullo Saipov, the Uzbeki terrorist who killed eight people in New York in October. Awan became a U.S. citizen in 2004 and earned an IT degree from Johns Hopkins. He did not work for any of the six officially vetted IT firms that perform work for congressional offices.

Even so, DNC boss Debbie Wasserman Schultz not only brought Awan aboard but hired his wife Hina Alvi and other family members, though none had degrees in information technology. Of all the IT people in all the companies in all the world, this was the squad the Democrats wanted.

The unvetted Awan enjoyed access to the computers of 45 members of Congress, including members the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees, but as Andrew McCarthy noted, Awan could not possibly have qualified for a security clearance. Luke Rosiak of the Daily Caller found evidence that Imran Awan “was doing his job remotely from Pakistan.”

Capitol police eventually banned Awan from the congressional computer system. Some Democrats fired the IT man but Debbie Wasserman Schultz duly kept Awan on her payroll for more than six months, charging that he was “put under scrutiny because of his religious faith,” and that “the right-wing media circus fringe” was jumping to conclusions.

Awan’s attorney Chris Gown, a former aide to Bill and Hillary Clinton, said Awan’s arrest for bank fraud was “clearly a right-wing media-driven prosecution by a United States Attorney’s Office that wants to prosecute people for working while Muslim.”

More here

Police to ‘ping’ phones with digital driver’s license

(NEWS JOURNAL) — Delaware could be among the first states to use mobile driver’s licenses.

The Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles has launched a mobile driver’s license pilot study that will run for six months, according to a release from the Delaware Department of Transportation.

The six-month pilot study will include about 200 state employees and stakeholders.

Read the full story ›

Weekly Fishing Report

We are less than a week from the official first day of spring, and the recent switch to daylight saving time gives us an extra hour of daylight to enjoy some fishing after school or work.

Daffodils are blooming and so are the fishing prospects.

There is plenty of fun trout fishing to be had, and your favorite fishing hole has a variety of freshwater fish that are raising up their activity levels after a cold winter. There is still good fishing for post-spawn yellow perch and the white perch runs will start soon.

In the upper bay region, the water flows through the Conowingo Dam have become more moderate this week and water clarity has greatly improved. 

U.S. pressing China to cut trade surplus by $100 billion: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is pressing China to cut its trade surplus with the United States by $100 billion, a White House spokeswoman said on Wednesday, clarifying a tweet last week from President Donald Trump.

Last Wednesday, Trump tweeted that China had been asked to develop a plan to reduce its trade imbalance with the United States by $1 billion, but the spokeswoman said Trump had meant to say $100 billion.

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Prager: USA Is Best Place in History for Racial Minorities

At the City College of New York in the late 1930s, my father, an Orthodox Jew, wrote his senior class thesis on anti-Semitism in America.

He delineated common realities of the era, such as Jews’ admission to law firms, country clubs and colleges being denied or restricted, and various other manifestations of popular and institutional anti-Semitism.

Yet he taught his two sons—my older brother and me—to believe that we, as Americans, were the luckiest Jews in Jewish history.

With the obvious exception of Jews living in Israel, he was right. I can state this with some authority, having written a book on anti-Semitism and taught Jewish history at Brooklyn College.

Despite the existence of anti-Semites and anti-Semitism in America, American Jews are indeed among the luckiest Jews in Jewish history. Even with the re-establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel, many more Israeli Jews have moved to America than American Jews have moved to Israel.

This is not a reflection on Israel, which is a country with a high quality of life that is an unparalleled blessing in Jewish life; rather, it is a reflection on America and how good it is for Jews.

Likewise, despite the existence of racists and racism in America, black Americans are among the luckiest blacks in the world. A distinguished black journalist, Keith Richburg of the Washington Post, fully acknowledged the horror and cruelties of slavery. Nevertheless, he thanked God his ancestors made it possible for him to be born and live in America, not Africa.

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U.S. Monitoring Possible North Korean Military Base in Syria

The United States is monitoring information indicating that North Korea may be running a large underground military base in Syria that could be used for advanced weaponry and nuclear-related work, according to regional reports and U.S. officials tracking the situation.

Regional reports have begun to surface indicating North Korea has neared completion of the construction of an underground military base located near Qardaha in Syria, the hometown of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"According to … satellite images and a military source the underground facility has been under construction for seven years, started by the beginning if the Syrian revolution in March 2011," Zaman Al Wasl, a Syrian news outlet, reported earlier this month. "The high level of secrecy and tight guard in the North Korean base raise speculations whether it's a nuclear facility or overseas depot for North Korean weapons."

U.S. officials told the Washington Free Beacon they are monitoring these reports and efforts by North Korea to help Assad rebuild Syria's chemical weapons factories.

"We are aware of reports regarding possible DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] assistance to Syria to rebuild its chemical weapons capabilities," a State Department official, speaking on background, told the Free Beacon..

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Brexit: Why Britain Left the European Union

Nation of Islam lashes out at 3 black members of Congress-- 'sellouts'

The Nation of Islam is lashing out at three black members of Congress who have denounced its leader, Louis Farrakhan, for making anti-Semitic and anti-white remarks in a recent speech.

In an open letter on the group's website, Representatives Gregory Meeks, Barbara Lee and Danny Davis, who have disavowed Farrakan's anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric, are accused of being sellouts to Farrakhan's critics -- derided as "Satanic Jews" -- and the Nation of Islam leader is compared to Jesus Christ.

“Remember, it was the same Satanic Jews of yesterday that conspired against Jesus and had him killed by the ruling authority of the Roman Empire," the letter reads. "They hated Jesus because he told the truth. Jesus was ridiculed, falsely charged, lied on, evil spoken of and called a hater and a bigot.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Farrakhan pushed the same message, tweeting: "Why do the Jews hate me with so much passion? Because Jesus, my brother, who was their last prophet, was 2,000 years too soon. I am on time."

More here


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/14/nation-islam-lashes-out-at-3-black-members-congress-calling-them-sellouts-for-denouncing-farrakhan.html

The Most Fortunate Minorities in the World

“We are either a United people, or we are not. If the former, let us, in all maters of general concern act as a nation, which have national objects to promote, and a national character to support. If we are not, let us no longer act a farce by pretending to it.”George Washington

Editor’s Note: Mark Alexander is out for several weeks researching a long-overdue book project on Liberty. Standing in for him today is Dennis Prager, who makes some observations about how fortunate religious and ethnic minorities are to live in our great nation today, compared to the rest of the world. Of course, you would not know that based on the Democrat Party’s tried and truedivide-and-conquer strategy to “victimize” dependent constituency groups based on race, religionand gender. As Alexander has documented well, much of the “disunity” Democrats foment is based on the failure of their so-called “Great Society” statist initiatives, which directly resulted in the institutional impoverishment of generations of minority Americans.

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World’s their oyster as cousins revive Chesapeake beds: Strange Inheritance

When cousins Ryan and Travis Croxton came into 200 acres of Chesapeake Bay oyster beds once farmed by their great-grandfather, they also inherited a warning passed down through the family over the years:

This is a dead business – don’t even think about it.

The Croxton cousins ignored that advice. They tell their story in the latest episode of “Strange Inheritance with Jamie Colby.” It premieres on FOX Business Network on Monday March 19 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.

In 1899 James Croxton leased from the Commonwealth of Virginia two acres of oyster beds at the mouth of the Rappahannock River. When he died in 1961, he bequeathed a sweet business to his son Bill – Ryan’s and Travis’ grandfather.

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https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/worlds-their-oyster-as-cousins-revive-chesapeake-beds-strange-inheritance

Woman Found Guilty Of Manslaughter for Injecting Her Father with Heroin

On March 14th, 2018, Justeen Nichole Whittaker, 29, of Dover DE., was found guilty of manslaughter for her involvement in the October 24th, 2017 death of her father, Nathaniel Whittaker, 50, also of Dover, DE.

On October 24th, 2017, Detectives with the Ocean City Police Department responded to room 308 of the Americana Hotel located in Ocean City, MD. for report of a man suffering a cardiac arrest. Mr. Whittaker was found lying face up on the far side of the bed furthest from the door. EMS arrived on scene and attempted life-saving efforts, but ultimately he was pronounced dead on scene.

A search of the bedroom produced multiple drug related items indicative of heroin consumption. Detectives learned that the room was being shared by Mr. Whittaker and his daughter, Justeen Whittaker. She was interviewed by the Detectives and ultimately confessed to injecting her father with heroin at his request, as he was too intoxicated to inject himself.

An autopsy was performed by The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for Maryland. The opinion of the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy was that Mr. Whittaker died as a result of a fentanyl overdose.

After having been found guilty, prosecutors proceeded straight to sentencing. The sentencing guidelines were submitted as calculated by the Maryland Sentencing Commission and they indicated a guidelines range of two to seven years of incarceration.

At sentencing, Interim State’s Attorney Bill McDermott asked the court to send Ms. Whittaker to prison. “The community needs to know, that as quickly as heroin can steal a life, this Office will seek to take your freedom if you knowingly deal, distribute or administer drugs and it results in someone’s death”.

Circuit Court Judge, Thomas C. Groton, III sentenced Ms. Whittaker to 10 years suspend all but three years in the Department of Corrections with two years of supervised probation to follow her release.

McDermott thanked The Ocean City Police Department as well as Detective Karsnitz, Detective Perry and Detective Cpl. Runkles. He also thanked Assistant State’s Attorney Joaquin Cabrera.

Penn law professor keeps job after disparaging black students

A white University of Pennsylvania law school professor who said she has never seen a black student graduate in the top quarter of the class during her 17 years at the institution, has been removed from teaching a required first-year law course.

'I don't think I've ever seen a black student graduate in the top quarter of the class, and rarely, rarely in the top half,' tenured law professor Amy Wax said during an interview with Brown University economics professor Glenn Loury, which was recorded on September 10, 2017.

Penn Law school dean Ted Ruger announced on Tuesday that Wax will no longer be teaching required first-year law courses.

Ruger said through an email to students and faculty that was published by Philadelphia Magazine that Wax spoke 'disparagingly and inaccurately' about the performance of black students during the interview, which was centered on her view that there is a 'downside of affirmative action.'

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WH Official Tells Media: Yes, Drunk-Driver Illegals Will Be Sent Home

White House officials are not backing down as pro-immigration reporters pressure them to drop the administration’s growing campaign against dangerous sanctuary cities.

On Monday and Tuesday, reporters prodded White House officials to relax their commitment to repatriate illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities who are also dangerous drunk-drivers, even when the drunk drivers have secretly lived in the United States for several years, or have a family in the United States.

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Ohio town must pay back millions of fines collected from speed cameras, court rules

A small Ohio town that lived by the red light camera could soon die by it, after a federal court ruled the speed trap has to pay back more than $3 million in automated speeding tickets.

The case of New Miami, population 2,321, highlights the controversy behind the tickets, which make stoplight-running motorists see red, but help keep the budgets of cities and towns in the black. New Miami will almost certainly go bankrupt if the Supreme Court doesn’t reverse a lower court’s ruling and spare it from refunding tens of thousands of tickets at $180 apiece plus interest.

“The village enacted this unconstitutional scheme primarily as a money making venture,” Josh Engel, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the New Miami case, told Fox News. “They increased their spending significantly after the scheme was put in place and it was basically used to fill holes in their budget that would traditionally have come from raising taxes.”

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/14/ohio-town-must-pay-back-millions-fines-collected-from-speed-cameras-court-rules.html

Breaking News: The Trump administration announced new Russia sanctions, in its most significant response so far to election meddling and other cyberattacks

The sanctions came at the same time the Trump administration joined a collective statement with Britain, France and Germany on Thursday denouncing Russia for its apparent role in a nerve gas attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter on British soil, calling it a “clear violation” of international law. But the statement included no joint action in response.

Coast Guard repatriates 202 Haitian migrants

MIAMI — The Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma crew repatriated 202 Haitian migrants Wednesday to Cap Haitian, Haiti.

The repatriation is a combination of two separate interdiction cases, which Coast Guard aircrews and cutter crews located and rescued these migrants.

A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew located an overloaded 50-foot freighter Sunday approximately 30 miles east of Great Inagua Island, Bahamas. The cutter Tahoma crew was diverted to the scene, and safely interdicted and embarked 86 migrants. In addition, the Tahoma crew interdicted another overloaded 50-foot Haitian sail freighter with 115 migrants aboard Monday 33 miles east of Great Inagua, Bahamas with assistance by a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew deployed to Great Inagua.

“The waters of the Caribbean and Florida Straits are dangerous and unforgiving for migrants on illegal voyages, in overloaded vessels with little or no safety gear, needlessly placing lives at risk,” said Rear Adm. Peter Brown, commander of Coast Guard 7th District. “The Coast Guard and its partner agencies continue to maintain a strong presence along our maritime border and will continue to interdict and rescue those who embark on these illegal and ill-advised voyages in these unsafe vessels.”

Once aboard Coast Guard cutters, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and medical attention.

Approximately 1,040 Haitian migrants have attempted to illegally migrate to the U.S. via the maritime environment since Oct. 1 compared to 1,869 Haitian migrants in fiscal year 2017. These numbers represent the total number of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and Atlantic.

The cutter Tahoma is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Get back to basics in healthcare -- through barbershops

We spend more money per capita in the United States on healthcare as a percentage of GDP than any other industrialized nation in the world. Yet our clinical outcomes are no better than the average (and worse than many countries that spend far less than we do). Our system is far more complex than others, much more expensive, and often difficult to access. Many patients struggle to engage and partner with a healthcare provider and the logistics of attending a visit with a physician can be difficult for the working poor, those with families and others with multiple obligations and roles to play in the family.

This past week at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Sessions, one of the most important clinical trials in decades was presented. The trial did not involve a new expensive drug or a new expensive test or surgery. It simply examined how outcomes improved when patients were engaged around a particular chronic disease on their own turf.

In the study, researchers from Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles found that if they counseled patients and actually had pharmacists take medicines to black males in their local barbershops, that they had a much more significant reduction in blood pressure as compared to those who did not receive the same service. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the trial involved more than 300 patients who were either entered into an intensive counseling and treatment program with pharmacists (conducted at the local barbershop). The other group (control) received lifestyle modification encouragement (such as seeing their doctor regularly) by the barbers on duty.

A huge difference was seen between the groups..

Open Mic Night A Great Success

Last night we kicked off another open mic night. One thing that stood out were all the new faces in the crowd and the new musicians. 
Yesterday some customers came in after they had heard we had pool tables and heat. The billiard room area has never had heat or A/C. I added a radiant heating system allowing the entire facility to now be open year round. 
Coming soon will be our new restaurant, Taco Junction. Permits and engineer drawings were filed with the county yesterday, it won't be long before we swing our doors. 

If it has been a while since you visited Trader Lee's, stop in and take a look at the major renovations. We're confident you'll enjoy your experience. Remember, Friday is our $1.00 drafts and $2.00 rail drinks. Saturday, (St. Patrick's Day) we'll have plenty of specials as well as "The Georgia Flood" band will start playing at 8:00 PM.

If you have any questions you are welcome to call me at 410-430-5349.

Your Right to Free Speech, Like My Right to Self-Defense, Isn’t Open to Debate

Today, some students, teachers, and other Americans who share their views are walking out of classes across the country to call for limits on the right of free assembly. Wait, strike that. They're walking out of classes to call for further restrictions on protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Nope, that's not it either. Wait, I have it: they're protesting for greater regulation of self-defense rights. Yup, there we go.

Of course, they're exercising their free speech rights in the process, and that's as it should be (although at least some of the kids have been conscripted into exercising somebody else's free speech rights by school officials who expect that their charges will adhere to officially endorsed positions). After all, the exercise of individual rights shouldn't be subject to popular opinion or debate.

Why shouldn't the exercise of individual rights be subject to popular opinion or debate? Well, that's a philosophical question. From my perspective, as well as that of many libertarians and classical liberals, individuals are sovereign beings free to do as they please so long as they don't cause each other actual harm. To the limited extent that government has any legitimacy, it can act only to prevent people from injuring one another—"the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others," as John Stuart Mill put it. The potential for injuring one another in the exercise of our liberty isn't enough to justify government action since that's inherent in just being alive and the having the ability to contemplate mischief.

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GOP Cites Numerous Issues at Polling Sites Ahead of Likely Pennsylvania Recount

Republicans are citing numerous problems at polling sites in Tuesday's special election in Pennsylvania, which remains too close to officially call but appears to be trending toward an extremely narrow victory for Democrat Conor Lamb.

Lamb currently leads Republican Rick Saccone by just 627 votes and there are still absentee and provisional ballots that have not been tabulated, but Republicans are already preparing for the likely recount and even a possible lawsuit regarding issues at polling sites, according to a Republican source familiar with the deliberations.

"We’re actively investigating three instances and likely to file court action on them," the source said.

Among the listed concerns are "mis-calibrated" voting machines in Allegheny County, the only county of four in the district that went for Lamb, according to the source, who said there have been many reports of voters who intended to vote for Saccone ending up casting a ballot for Lamb.

Furthermore, Republicans say their attorneys were ejected from polling sites as the absentee ballots were still being counted..

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Black Racism Doesn’t Get a Pass

The first black president, numerous black members of congress and key intersectional leaders, the folks most likely to lecture us on racism, were caught hanging out with an anti-Semitic racist. And now the media is full of hatesplaining hot takes justifying alliances with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

Most of them come down to two themes. The Nation of Islam does some good things. And condemning racism is a lot harder when they’re your racists. Or as Terrell Jermaine Starr writes at The Root, “They are our cousins, friends and the dude at the barbershop.” But Klan members were also the cousins, friends and barbershop dudes of white southerners. Yet they were expected to disavow them.

Why can’t we expect black people to disavow their racist cousins the way that whites are expected to?

Black activists condemning white racists isn’t anti-racism. Black activists disavowing black racists is. Anyone can condemn a racist from another race who hates them. There’s no inner struggle in that.

Absent the legal sanctions of the civil rights movement era, it’s the easiest thing in the world.

But too many black activists seem to think that ranting about “white supremacy” today is a great act of political courage. But don’t ask them to root out the racism in their own communities. That’s too hard..

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Pollak: Five Lies About the Student ‘Walkout’ for Gun Control

Thousands of students “walked out” of classrooms at schools across the country on Wednesday to protest for new gun control legislation in the wake of last month’s mass shooting at Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The mainstream media are celebrating the “walkout” as an authentic expression of outrage that demands a response from political leaders. But it is not, and there are at least five lies they are telling you about it.

Lie #1: The “walkout” is being staged by students.

Levin: School walkouts put public education’s leftist propaganda on full display

On his radio show Wednesday night, LevinTV host Mark Levin discussed a major problem with the nationwide student walkouts to oppose the second amendment.

The widespread public demonstrations by high school students, Levin said, display a much deeper issue with American public education, mainly that it has become, in many ways, a vehicle to indoctrinate our schoolchildren with leftist ideas.

“These efforts in these schools are never to advance liberty or constitutionalism or private property rights or capitalism generally,” Levin remarked. “It’s always to advance the Left’s agenda.”

“These government schools have become propaganda mills,” Levin added, while noting many Americans have no choice but to send their children to these same schools, due to financial or time constraints.

“How did we get here?” Levin asked.