COACHELLA VALLEY RETIRES NEARLY 100-YEAR-OLD 'ARAB' MASCOT FOLLOWING COMPLAINTS

Coachella Valley High School has retired an Arab mascot the school has used since the 1920s, following complaints from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in November that the mascot was stereotypical and offensive.

At Friday's opening season opening football game, the "bearded, snarling mascot with a large hooked nose who wears a headscarf," was not present after nearly 100 years of its existence at the school, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The belly dancing genie which would normally appear during half-time was also retired.

The school's Arab mascot was created nearly a century ago as gesture of recognition towards the desert-like region's reliance on date farming, which is both a signature crop of the Coachella Valley and a traditionally Middle Eastern crop.

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Another Ferguson? Wait, Wrong Race, No Interest

Why has there been no media interest in the police shooting of an apparently unarmed suspect in Salt Lake City?

Just two days after the shooting death of Michael Brown, an officer with the Salt Lake City Police Department shot and killed an unarmed 20-year-old. The Salt Lake City Police Department equips some of its officers with cameras. The department confirmed the officer who shot had a camera and that footage of the confrontation and shooting was captured, but they would not elaborate further, and the video of the encounter has yet to be released publicly. As with the Michael Brown case, this “lack of transparency” has caused some family members of the deceased to raise questions.

But what of the race of the decedent and of the cop?

The local newspaper, the Salt Lake City Tribune, reported the story this way:

“A wanted fugitive fatally shot by Salt Lake City police, who were looking for a man reportedly brandishing a handgun outside a convenience store, was unarmed and trying to comply with police orders when he was killed, his brother claims.

“Investigators, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation and need to protect evidence, remained mum on whether a gun was found at the scene of the Monday night shooting at a 7-Eleven store. … Police also would not discuss conflicting witness reports that Dillon Delbert Taylor, 20, appeared to have reached toward his waistband during the confrontation. …

“Taylor was facing a felony arrest warrant when police challenged him outside the store, court records confirm. But Taylor’s brother, 22-year-old Jerrail Pete Taylor — who court records show served time on a 2009 second-degree felony robbery count himself — insists that police did not mention the warrant when they approached him, his brother and a third man outside the store.

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Democratic Challenge

BREAKING NEWS: US military conducts operation against al-Shabaab in Somalia

U.S. military forces conduct operation in Somalia against al-Shabaab, Pentagon says.

‘Widespread Methane Leakage’ Coming From Hundreds Of Vents Off East Coast Ocean Floor

Of all the global warming gasses, methane is one of the very worst. Pound for pound, the Environmental Protection Agency says its effect on global warming is 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. And though its lifetime in the atmosphere is substantially shorter than carbon dioxide, it’s “more efficient at trapping radiation.”

Now scientists have determined that 570 vents, called seeps, are leaking methane gas in the most unlikely of all places: the ocean floor just off the East Coast. The findings, published on Sunday in Nature Geoscience, suggest they’re emitting as much as 90 tons of greenhouse gasses every year and appear to debunk earlier belief that there were only three East Coast seeps beyond the continental shelf.

And if there are more of these seeps — a lot more — it could represent a previously unknown source of damaging carbon emissions.

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World is Listening

‘Infidels!’: Three Churches Were Vandalized in One Night. But It’s What the Graffiti Said That’s Worrying Some People

Police in Columbus, Indiana, are investigating three acts of vandalism against local churches that unfolded Saturday night — a series of crimes that constitute an apparent first in the city.

But it’s the messages that were spray painted on the buildings that have some wondering if the acts were pranks or part of a more serious and pointed effort to deliver a message to Christian leaders and parishioners, according to WTHR-TV.

Consider the message painted on Saint Bartholomew’s Catholic Church. It read, “Infidels!” and included a Koranic reference: “Qur’an 3:151.”

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The Ride Back To The Western Shore On Labor Day

REVEALED: EPA developed secret map to claim oversight of puddles, ponds, and farm runoff

BISMARCK, N.D. — A map developed by the EPA and released to a U.S. House committee investigating controversial proposed water regulations should have citizens concerned, says U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer.

A farm group in North Dakota is calling the maps a “gall darn can of worms.”

“It is certainly alarming the EPA would develop these maps in secret and only release them after being confronted by members of Congress,” Cramer, a Republican, said in a news release accompanying his office’s release of the maps. “The EPA has been hiding information which could upset the public and jeopardize its massive power grab of unprecedented authority over private and public water.”

The maps were released by the EPA to the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, on which Cramer serves. One map shows perennial bodies of water in blue and intermittent bodies of water in yellow. A second regional map including North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah uses blue to show each state’s “wetlands inventory.”

On that map, nearly the entire state of North Dakota is in blue.

Critics of the proposed rule have suggested the EPA intends to use it to expand regulation far beyond permanent bodies of water to lands that hold water only some of the time.

“It doesn’t take much of a leap to conclude these highly detailed maps developed with taxpayer funds are for the purpose of enforcing this rule,” Cramer said.

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Stuffed Dog Attacks Real Dog

ISIS in Mexico? Feds DENY watchdog group's claim that the terror group is operating in Juarez and plans 'imminent' car-bomb attacks on US targets

The Department of Homeland Security quickly denied claims on Friday from a watchdog group that the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has militants stationed in Juarez, Mexico who plan an 'imminent' attack against the United States.

A DHS spokesman was bewildered, telling MailOnline that 'we are aware of absolutely nothing credible to substantiate this claim' made by Judicial Watch, a center-right group.

'In Mexico?' the official said on the phone. 'I haven't seen that at all.'

An hour before Judicial Watch's report surfaced, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said publicly that his agency and the FBI 'are unaware of any specific, credible threat to the U.S. homeland' from the terror network.

And during a late-morning media briefing, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said flatly that 'the most detailed intelligence assessment that I can offer from here is that there is no evidence or indication right now that [ISIS] is actively plotting to attack the United States homeland. That’s true right now.'

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1 Common Link Among World's Most Brutal Terrorists

Radical Islam expert Brigitte Gabriel says ISIS is capable of anything from shopping-mall shooting sprees to nuclear attacks in the U.S. and believes the best way to ward off calamity is for Americans to wake up their elected officials and demand they “throw political correctness in the garbage can” and confront the radical threat as it truly exists.

She also revealed the one common link motivating the worst terrorists in the world today: the words of the Quran.

Gabriel was a victim of terrorism in her native Lebanon. She is founder and president of ActForAmerica.org and is author of numerous books, including “They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It.” She said the danger to the U.S. posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, is significant but the threat is nothing new.
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Female teacher who had sex with students sentenced to six months in jail

A 25-year-old former math teacher who had sexual contact with two students at a Tacoma high school has been sentenced to six months in jail.

The News Tribune reports that former Lincoln High School teacher Meredith Powell cried and apologized Friday in court.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Frank Cuthbertson says he believes Powell is remorseful, which is why he suspended all but six months of a five-year sentence and ordered her into a sex offender program open to first-time offenders.

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Lesbians Tend to Be Obese. Gay Men Tend to Be Toned. The Feds Have Paid Close to $3 Million Trying to Figure Out Why

Uncle Sam has been giving the National Institutes of Health millions of dollars to study how sexual minorities grapple with weight — “Why Lesbians Are Fat,” in blunt language — and the Washington Free Beacon’s Elizabeth Harrington has been tracking the project’s ballooning budget, from $1.5 million to $2.2 million to, as of her report Friday, $2.87 million.

What have taxpayers gotten for their money?

A handful of research papers delivering some small insights into homosexual health.

Gay and lesbian kids were up to 76 percent less likely than straight youth to play on a sports team, one paper reported, due largely to issues with “gender nonconformity and athletic self-esteem.”

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Obama ISIS Strategy

Ruppersberger Defends Obama On ISIL 'Strategy'

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday defended President Barack Obama’s much-criticized Thursday remark that when it comes to taking on the Islamic State extremist group in Syria, “We don’t have a strategy yet.”

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the Maryland congressman said the Obama administration is working to develop a plan and that “when the time is right, we will do what we have to do.”

Ruppersberger said dealing with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, in Syria was very different than dealing with the group in Iraq, where “the government wants us to come in.” Syria, he said, has sophisticated air defense systems, and the United States has limited intelligence about potential targets in the war-ravaged country.

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These Burglars Picked the Wrong Church to Rob Because the PASTOR WAS ARMED

When two copper thieves tried steal metal from the Greater Morning Star Baptist Church in New Orleans they got more than they bargained for as the pastor of the church was armed and in no mood to play games with thieves.

The pastor smashed one thief on the head and fired his weapon at the other. Naturally the police are now charging the pastor when all he was doing is rightfully defending his life and property.

A New Orleans pastor shot a burglar in the head Wednesday when two criminals reportedly tried to burglarize his church.

Pastor W.L.T. Littleton hit one suspect in the head and fired at another outside his Greater morning Star Baptist Church around 5 p.m., The Times-Picayune reports.

The investigation is ongoing, but according to church members, Littleton fired in self defense. Micquell Dillon, 25, said she heard eight gunshots, then saw Littleton in his Lincoln Navigator pursue two men in a pickup truck.

Police took possession of the bullet-riddled truck. It’s back window was shattered and there was a large dent in the truck bed, the Times reports. The wounded suspect, 50, was reported in stable condition at a nearby hospital. The other, 34, was arrested on charges of copper theft.

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O’Malley Directs State-Run Jail To Cut Back On Immigrant Detentions

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has instructed a state-run jail in Baltimore to stop honoring federal requests to detain inmates beyond their scheduled release dates in order to explore potential immigration violations, unless there is probable cause that those who are being held have broken the law.

The new policy followed an opinion by the Maryland attorney general’s office that such detentions in local and state-run jails could be unconstitutional, in light of recent federal court rulings.

The decision, conveyed in a letter this week, was hailed Friday by immigrant-rights advocates, who said it should help scores of immigrants picked up for traffic violations or other minor infractions and then held for potential deportation.

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Officials Say Illegals Enrolling in Local Schools are Older, Even With Gray Hair!

Now we have illegals in the 30s and 40s coming to the USA and enrolling in our local schools for Obama’s free education, so said a city mayor in Massachusetts.

The story comes from Lynn, Massachusetts mayor, Judith Flanagan Kennedy. She says that now that Obama has thrown open our borders and promised illegals all sorts of freebies, some of the “students” enrolling in her town schools are getting older and older.

The mayor of a city in Massachusetts has claimed that some illegal immigrants who have entered from Guatemala and are enrolled in public schools have greying hair and more wrinkles than her.

Judith Flanagan Kennedy, mayor of Lynn, said that many attending the schools are not children, but federal government will not allow officials to verify their ages.

One of the students was revealed to be 35 years old, while others are clearly much older than 21–the oldest at which you are entitled to attend public schools in Massachusetts–Ms Kennedy said.

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Free Vascular Screenings for People 55+

The Guerrieri Heart & Vascular Institute at Peninsula Regional Medical Center will be sponsoring free vascular screenings for people 55 or older on Thursday, September 11, 2014. All screenings will be performed by Peninsula Regional medical professionals in the Medical Center’s Vascular Lab between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. A total of fourteen, 30 minute screenings sessions are available on a first come basis. Appointments are required.

The free screenings will include testing for carotid artery blockage, peripheral artery disease and also abdominal aortic aneurysm. The screening will be offered to individuals who exhibit at least three prominent risk factors or one symptom. Risk factors for vascular disease include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, heart disease and a family history of vascular disease. Symptoms include leg pain when walking, numbness in the leg or foot, stroke-like symptoms (numbness, weakness, dizziness and difficulties with speech or vision), a family history of aneurysm and unexplained abdominal or back pain.

Those currently under a physician’s care for vascular or arterial health issues and those who have participated in this screening in the past are not eligible to participate.

If you are 55 or older, please call the Guerrieri Heart & Vascular Institute at 410-543-7123 to find out if you qualify for the free vascular screenings and to reserve a date and time.

Those who are unable to register for an appointment on this screening date may inquire about future screenings, which will be held the second Thursday of every other month at the Guerrieri Heart & Vascular Institute at Peninsula Regional Medical Center.