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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Dems Call For Maxine Waters To Replace Nancy Pelosi, James Woods Says Yes Please

Following reports that more than half of House Democrats are calling for new leadership to replace Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, some have apparently floated the idea of promoting Rep. Maxine Waters.

Waters is the poster girl for the “impeach 45” movement and has represented Californians for numerous decades.

Conservative actor James Woods made it clear he’s a big fan of the idea

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Donors to GOP: No Cash Until Action on Health Care, Taxes

At least one influential donor has informed congressional Republicans that the "Dallas piggy bank" is closed until he sees major action on health care and taxes.

Texas-based donor Doug Deason has already refused to host a fundraiser for two members of Congress and informed House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., his checkbook is closed as well.

"Get Obamacare repealed and replaced, get tax reform passed," Deason said in a pointed message to GOP leaders. "You control the Senate. You control the House. You have the presidency. There's no reason you can't get this done. Get it done and we'll open it back up."

Indeed, there was a sense of frustration and urgency inside the private receptions and closed-door briefings at the Koch brothers' donor retreat this weekend in Colorado Springs, where the billionaire conservatives and their chief lieutenants warned of a rapidly shrinking window to push their agenda through Congress and get legislation to President Donald Trump to sign into law.

More here

Coast Guard medevacs teen 303 miles off Ocean City, MD

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard medevaced a 14-year-old from a cruise ship 303 miles east of Ocean City, Maryland, this morning.

Watchstanders in the 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth were notified by the captain of the cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway that a young man was suffering appendicitis-like symptoms aboard.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and an HC-130J aircraft crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, launched and arrived on scene.

The helicopter crew hoisted the teen from the cruise ship and transported him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. The patient's grandmother was also hoisted to accompany him to the hospital.

"The professionalism exhibited by the crew of the Norwegian Breakaway ensured that the Coast Guard was adequately informed of a life threatening situation aboard,” said Lt. j.g. Dan Dunn, the command duty officer at the 5th District Command Center. “Their willingness to alter their course inland ensured that the aircrew transported this young man to the appropriate medical facility in a timely manner, thus saving his life."

Bokhari: The Left Has Embraced Hate Speech — but Won’t Admit It

There is a word to describe speech that welcomes the death of “old conservative white men,” gleefully mimics the murder of a President, and cheers the shooting of Republicans. It’s a word invented by the left: hate speech.

“Let them f***ing die” was the response of Johnny Eric Williams, a professor at Trinity College, to the Congressional baseball shooting earlier this month. Attacking “white/cisgender/heterosexuals,” the professor wrote that “the time is now to confront these inhuman a*sholes and end this now.”

Meanwhile, on social media, New Jersey Democratic strategist James Devine created the hashtag “#HuntRepublicanCongressmen,” stating that we are “in a war with selfish, foolish & narcissistic rich people” and that it shouldn’t be a “shock” if “things turn violent.” He has yet to retract his statements or apologize.

More here

Governor Larry Hogan Opens New Bayside Boat Ramp in Ocean City

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan joined Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton and Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan today to officially open the public 64th Street Boat Ramp. This free facility, located at the base of the water tower, is operational 24/7, 365-days a year with access to and from Assawoman Bay.

“The boating industry is incredibly important to our state; it supports thousands of jobs and contributes $2 billion to our state economy,” said Governor Hogan. “We are committed to doing everything we can to expand opportunities for Marylanders and visitors to appreciate all that the coastal bays, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean have to offer, and I know that this new 64th Street ramp will provide even more Marylanders with the chance to make memories here in Ocean City, and out on the water.”


The joint state and local project was completed before the start of the 2017 boating season through a partnership between the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Town of Ocean City. The department’s Waterway Improvement Fund provided 50 percent grant funding for construction of the parking area, and a 100 percent grant for dredging. An additional $200,000 will help extend the channel from 64th Street into Assawoman Bay.

Report: FBI Collaborated with Dem Oppo Research Firm to Smear Trump

The D.C. firm that commissioned the Russia intelligence dossier smearing President Donald Trump is refusing to answer questions and provide records to the Senate panel investigating its connections to the Democratic Party, according to the New York Post's Paul Sperry. The so-called "dodgy dossier" helped spark the Russia scandal that has been bedeviling Trump since the election. Astonishingly, the FBI became involved with the dossier last summer, even though it knew the salacious report lacked credibility -- and now it is also stonewalling the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Fusion GPS calls itself a “research and strategic intelligence firm” but is well known in Washington to be an opposition-research group for Democrats. According to Sperry, the firm's founders are "more political activists than journalists" and have "a pro-Hillary, anti-Trump agenda."

Via the New York Post:

“These weren’t mercenaries or hired guns,” a congressional source familiar with the dossier probe said. “These guys had a vested personal and ideological interest in smearing Trump and boosting Hillary’s chances of winning the White House.”

Fusion GPS was on the payroll of an unidentified Democratic ally of Clinton when it hired a long-retired British spy to dig up dirt on Trump. In 2012, Democrats hired Fusion GPS to uncover dirt on GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. And in 2015, Democrat ally Planned Parenthood retained Fusion GPS to investigate pro-life activists protesting the abortion group.

More, federal records show a key co-founder and partner in the firm was a Hillary Clinton donor and supporter of her presidential campaign.

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Army Corps of Engineers Accepting Comments on Environmental Assessment for Navigation Improvement Project on Smith Island


The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District has opened a public comment period ending July 7 for an environmental assessment for a navigation improvement project at Rhodes Point in collaboration with Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Somerset County.

The Corps’ Baltimore District proposes to realign a portion of the federal navigation channel in Sheep Pen Gut through hydraulic dredging; construct two jetties to prevent shoaling in the channel and to reduce the continual need for dredging; and create a stone sill along the shoreline to prevent further erosion and contain the clean dredged material from the project. The construction contract is anticipated for award in late summer/early fall, if all necessary requirements are met.

“People living on Smith Island rely on channels for transportation to schools and the delivery of critical goods and services; the water supports their livelihoods,” said Col. Ed Chamberlayne, Baltimore District commander. “Severe erosion and shoaling have caused watermen to have to take inconvenient routes around Smith Island, increasing travel time and fuel costs. This project increases navigational clearance, so boaters don’t run aground due to shoaling, and it provides boaters from Rhodes Point and Tylerton with more direct access to the Chesapeake Bay.”

JFK: Democrat or Republican?

Powdered drywall mistaken for cocaine lands innocent Florida man behind bars for 90 days

OVIEDO, Fla. - Karlos Cashe thought he was facing a minor traffic ticket when he was pulled over by Oviedo police in March for driving without headlights.

When an officer saw white powder on his seat and floorboard, though, the situation became much more serious.

Cashe was on probation at the time on marijuana and cocaine charges from 2015.

He was put in handcuffs when court records showed he was out past his court-ordered curfew. Hours later, police realized the system was not up to date and Cashe had not violated his curfew.

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FBI cannot be trusted

The Federal Bureau of Investigation claims to be above politics, but that’s not so

Can anyone with a modicum of common sense trust the Federal Bureau of investigation? The answer to that question is a resounding “no.” The claim that the FBI strives to be above politics is today and has always been absurd. When former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover admitted in an interview that his “agents” had tapped the phones of 1964 Republican candidate Barry Goldwater and even bugged his campaign plane, Mr. Hoover told his interviewer, who wondered how someone in his position could so cavalierly ignore the law and the constitutional rights of American citizens, that when the president asks you deliver.

That and much else that Mr. Hoover ordered his “agents” to do during his too long tenure as FBI Director was bad enough, but in the years since he departed the scene, the FBI has developed a penchant for breaking the law without even requiring a wink and a nod from above. The Bureau picks its targets for whatever reason and goes after them, concocting evidence or setting them up to technically break laws that have nothing to do with the “reasons” for the original targeting.

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A ‘very credible’ new study on Seattle’s $15 minimum wage has bad news for liberals

When Seattle officials voted three years ago to incrementally boost the city's minimum wage up to $15 an hour, they'd hoped to improve the lives of low-income workers. Yet according to a major new study that could force economists to reassess past research on the issue, the hike has had the opposite effect.

The city is gradually increasing the hourly minimum to $15 over several years. Already, though, some employers have not been able to afford the increased minimums. They've cut their payrolls, putting off new hiring, reducing hours or letting their workers go, the study found.

The costs to low-wage workers in Seattle outweighed the benefits by a ratio of three to one, according to the study, conducted by a group of economists at the University of Washington who were commissioned by the city. The study, published as a working paper Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, has not yet been peer reviewed.

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VIDEO: Nancy Pelosi suffers multiple brain freezes during NYC appearance

As Nancy Pelosi struggles to beat back an insurgency by her House Democratic colleagues over a string of election losses, there are new questions over her health after she suffered multiple brain freezes during a recent appearance in New York City.

During a Sunday event at the 92nd Street Y, Pelosi would awkwardly stop mid-sentence repeatedly, stare at the audience, and then continue speaking.

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Wrong banner calling for "no" vote on GOP health care bill sails over West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.V. — (WCHS) -- It wasn’t a banner day for the banner flyover in Charleston, West Virginia.

A banner flown by a plane over the capital city on Monday said, “Sen. Heller: Keep Your Word. Vote No On Trumpcare.” The banner should have been for U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who represents the Mountain State.

The message traveling across Charleston should have been sailing over Las Vegas, Nevada, for U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev.

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Deceased Body Found In Pocomoke River Update

On Monday 6-26-17 at about 1030 Hrs. a kayaker was paddling in the Pocomoke River about a mile south of Snow Hill when they came across a body floating in the river. The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, the County Bureau of investigation and the Snow Hill Fire department responded to the area and recovered the body of an African American male. The identity of the subject has not been determined.

The Maryland State Police forensics unit responded and processed the scene. The subject has been transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

If anyone has any information regarding this case please contact the Worcester County Bureau of investigation at 410-632-1111.
  

Birds use cigarette butts for chemical warfare against ticks

Is this a cigarette habit with some benefits? A species of urban bird seems to harness the toxic chemicals in cigarette butts in its fight against nest parasites – although there is a downside to the practice.

Constantino Macías Garcia at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and his colleagues, have spent several years studying the curious cigarette habit in urban house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus). Initial evidence hinted that nicotine and other chemicals in the butts might help deter insect pests from moving into the nests – nicotine does have anti-parasite properties – but it wasn’t conclusive.

To firm up the conclusion, Macías Garcia and his team experimented with 32 house finch nests. One day after the eggs in the nest had hatched, the researchers removed the natural nest lining and replaced it with artificial felt, to remove any parasites that might have moved in during brooding. They then added live ticks to 10 of the nests, dead ticks to another 10 and left 12 free of ticks.

They found that the adult finches were significantly more likely to add cigarette butt fibres to the nest if it contained ticks. What’s more, the weight of cigarette butt material added to nests containing live ticks was, on average, 40 per cent greater than the weight of cigarette butt material added to nests containing dead ticks.

More here

Drive on: New Virginia law changes punishment for marijuana possession

RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — On Saturday, several new laws will go into effect in Virginia.

One will help more people keep their driver’s license after being charged with marijuana possession. It will allow a judge to opt for additional community service instead of automatically suspending someone’s driver’s license for six months. HB 2051 / SB 1091 impacts adults who were not operating a vehicle at the time of the offense.

It’s something Ryan Johnson wishes had been in place when his license was suspended. When he was in college, he was caught with marijuana at a party.

“It definitely took me by surprise when I found out that my license was going to automatically get suspended for something that didn’t involve a car,” he said.

That’s why he rallied behind the push to get the law changed. He emailed representatives, went to the General Assembly, attended hearings and gave his testimony in front of lawmakers.

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Three CNN Employees 'Resign' Over 'Russia Collusion' Fake News Retraction

A few days ago we noted that CNN was forced to retract one of their bombshell 'Russian collusion' stories when it was apparently revealed that the whole thing was nothing more than their latest, anonymously-sourced fake news debacle. Like most CNN stories on the topic, this one carried a salacious title ("Congress was investigating a Russian investment fund with ties to Trump officials") which implied some nefarious plot by the Trump administration to stage a coup in the United States.

Within 36 hours, however, CNN was forced to retract the story and issue an apology to Anthony Scaramucci (presumably for the whole libel thing).

That story did not meet CNN's editorial standards and has been retracted. Links to the story have been disabled. CNN apologizes to Mr. Scaramucci.

Now, according to a new report from the Washington Post, the fake story has resulted in the 'resignation' of three CNN 'journalists, including the Pulitzer Prize winner, Thomas Frank

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Another Sexual Assault Occurred At Hartley Hall Nursing Home!

Court date is June 30th. 
Police served Peace Orders Monday.

What's Happening 6-27-17

Let everyone know what is happening in the area.  The good, the bad and the ugly

11501 Progress Lane, Deal Of The Decade


Lobbyists locked out of Republican process

It took secrecy to lock out the lobbyists.

The health care bill was drafted behind closed doors by Senate Republican leaders, drawing howls from Democrats who said they were shut out of the process.

Also left outside, however, was the army of health care industry lobbyists who helped draft Obamacare in 2009 and 2010 but didn’t get a say this time.

To government watchdogs, the level of complaints from lobbyists is a sign of progress — the sound of the Washington swamp draining. But the lobbyists, who represent a vast array of interests — including insurance companies, patient advocates and business owners — argue that Americans’ voices aren’t being heard in the backrooms on Capitol Hill.

Dick Woodruff, senior vice president of federal advocacy at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said nobody from the health care industry had a seat at the table to write the bill.

“I’m not kidding. Nobody,” Mr. Woodruff said.

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Jeff Sessions's Reefer Madness

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently penned an opinion article in the Washington Post. He wrote that the illegal drug business generates violence and violent crime. True enough.

He further noted that violent crime is down by half since the War on Drugs peaked in 1991. Again, this is true.

Then he noted that as marijuana laws and federal sentencing guidelines have been relaxed, violent crime rates have increased. He noted that “In 2015, the United States suffered the largest single-year increase in the overall violent crime rate since 1991.” That is also true, but it is highly misleading, to say the least. It is like claiming that you have never dealt with the Russians only to find out that you have dealt with the Russians on several occasions and then used a semantic trick to prevent yourself from going to jail.

The violent crime rate in 1996 was 637 per 100,000 of population. In 2015, the violent crime rate was 373, a decrease of over 40%. Over this period there were a few years of small increases, but most years saw noteworthy declines. In 2014 there were 1.15 million violent crimes and in 2015 there were 1.20 million violent crimes in the United States. That moved the violent crime rate from 361.6 in 2014 to 372.6 in 2015, or an increase of 11 violent crimes per 100,000 population, or an increase of 3% in the violent crime rate.

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‘Julius Caesar’ Actor on Trump-Stabbing Play: ‘This Is Resistance’

Actor Corey Stoll has opened up about his experience starring in the Public Theater’s controversial staging of Julius Caesar this summer, explaining that performing the play in the wake of protests and criticism was itself a form of “resistance.”

In an essay for Vulture, the 41-year-old House of Cards star, who played Marcus Brutus in the play, wrote that he initially did not know the Caesar character would be a stand-in for President Donald Trump, complete with blonde hair and business suit. The character’s resemblance to the president sparked outrage when, as happens in the Shakespeare classic, the Trump-like Caesar is brutally stabbed to death by his associates in the Senate. The controversy led two sponsors of the Public Theater, Delta Air Lines and Bank of America, to pull their funding, while hecklers interrupted the performance during its final few nights.

“The protesters never shut us down, but we had to fight each night to make sure they did not distort the story we were telling,” Stoll wrote. “At that moment, watching my castmates hold their performances together, it occurred to me that this is resistance.”

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Feminist Magazine Demands White Women Abort Their Babies to Solve Racism

"The white family unit must be destroyed"

A feminist magazine is calling on white women to solve historical racism and white supremacy by aborting all their babies.

In an article entitled, Beyond Pro-Choice: The Solution to White Supremacy is White Abortion, writer Nicole Valentine blames “white families” for standing in the way of a “progressive society” by “initiating their parasitism” to exert “full dominion over the enslaved and oppressed people of color.”

“Whites are embedded from birth with the sense of common white identity, and this identity conditions them to replicate the white family unit, thus furthering the cycle of white supremacy in America. That is why the white family unit must be destroyed,” writes Valentine.

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Vessel Runs Aground In Marsh, Leading To Search Effort

WEST OCEAN CITY — A Virginia man was arrested and charged with operating a vessel while impaired after running a 28-foot boat hard aground on a marsh early Sunday morning touching off an extensive search for its eight occupants.

Around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) received a call regarding a boat hard aground on a section of marsh just south of Snug Harbor in Sinepuxent Bay. The caller told the NRP the vessel had a lot of people on board and its lights were flashing on and off.

NRP officer responded and found a 28-foot Hydrosport boat with twin outboards in the marsh about 40 yards from the water’s edge and no one on board. NRP officers, with the help of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and members of the Berlin Fire Company began trying to find the occupants through an extensive land- and water-based search.

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Witch Hunt

"CNN Caught Cold" In Undercover Sting - Producer Admits Russia Fake News Story Pushed For Ratings

Update: President Trump has noted the series of CNN 'Fake News' stories once again...
Fake News CNN is looking at big management changes now that they got caught falsely pushing their phony Russian stories. Ratings way down!
So they caught Fake News CNN cold, but what about NBC, CBS & ABC? What about the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost? They are all Fake News!
*  *  *
Content originally published at iBankCoin.com

The investigative journalists at Project Veritas have done it again! Known for their undercover sting operations, such as the one which exposed the DNC's highly organized network of professional agitators sent to disrupt Trump rallies, voter fraud, or the undercover operation which led to the arrests of Antifa thugs planning to disrupt an the inauguration "deploraball" event.

This time, the organization led by James O'Keefe has infiltrated CNN...

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‘Rally for Peace’: Trump Supporters Condemn Left’s Climate of Violence

Trump supporters gathered at the White House Sunday afternoon to protest political violence at a “Rally For Peace,” calling out establishment journalists for creating a climate of partisan hatred that has recently exploded with a shocking attack near the nation’s capital.

The “Rally For Peace” was held in Washington, DC, by Trump supporters and conservatives aiming to protest political violence and the media voices that incite it. The recent shooting at a congressional baseball practice in which five were wounded and Republican politician Steve Scalise was hospitalized was a topic of discussion at the event, as well as the riots caused by radical leftist antifa groups at conservative events across the country, including former Breitbart Senior Editor Milo Yiannopoulos’s event at Berkeley in February.

The event was organized by conservative political activist Jack Posobiec and Mike Cernovich, independent author and InfoWars radio host.

Cernovich challenged activists on the left to a public debate, offering up $1 million to charity in exchange for a live broadcasted debate between Cernovich and Sam Harris and Alex Jones and Keith Olbermann.

Cernovich said that despite this offer, the leftist commentators refused to respond to the debate request:

Congress Explained


Congressman Harris Applauds Supreme Court Decision to Allow Travel Restrictions

WASHINGTON, DC: On June 26, the United States Supreme Court announced its plan to consider a case on the President’s authority over immigration. The Supreme Court also unanimously decided today to partially enact President Trump’s Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States. Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01) issued the following statement in support of these decisions:

“I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case on President Trump’s executive order that would restrict entry into the United States from six countries with a heightened risk of terrorism. While the case is pending, I also support the Court’s decision to allow the President to immediately implement restrictions on the entry of foreign nationals without clear ties to the United States. As we have seen in recent months, groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda are very real threats to the safety and security of the American people. The Federal Government should utilize all available resources to protect its citizens.”

Ellison Connects Trump to Scalise Shooting: He’s Created Culture Where Crazed People ‘Go Off the Rails’

Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) connected the rhetoric of President Donald Trump to the mass shooting targeting congressional Republicans this month, saying Monday that he has created a "culture of incivility" where crazed individuals can "go off the rails."

Trump's language, the Democratic National Committee deputy chair said on MSNBC's "All In," is fueling some of the "ugliest, most pernicious elements in our society."

Host Chris Hayes then addressed the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) and others this month by a fervent left-wing supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), which led to renewed discussion about the charged language in American politics.

"There are folks who want to make the connection between that rhetoric and violence as well, and I wonder if you feel like it applies in both directions, or is the president doing something unique?" Hayes asked.

More here

Smith Island losing land, population and now its shepherd

They stand in a tidy church graveyard in the main town of Ewell, adorned with U.S. flags and fresh wreaths, their shiny coatings a rebuke to the battering winds and rising tides. The headstones bear the surnames of Smith Island: Bradshaw, Somers, Evans, Corbin. Hardy stock, all. Their descendants are still there, sticking it out on Maryland’s last inhabited offshore Chesapeake Bay island, while dozens of other isles have succumbed to the seas.

On a sunny June day, a new name joined: Johnsen. Though he’d only lived on Smith for five years and hadn’t been back in some time, Roy Johnsen declared that this weathered watermen’s island was where he wanted to be buried. An idiosyncratic veteran of two wars, a pilot, a sailor and a humanitarian, he felt most at home right here.

“When he would come to the island, no matter how long it had been, people would say, ‘Hey, Roy, welcome home,’” said Pastor Rick Edmund after he had dug the small grave for Johnsen’s cremated remains. “I’m sure that feeling is one of the reasons he wanted to be buried here.”

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Trump Slams Latest CNN "Fake News" Scandal: "What About All The Other Phony Stories?"

Last week, CNN's "anonymous sources" finally came home to roost when the entertainment channel was forced to retract one of its "bombshell" Russian collusion stories, when it was apparently revealed that the whole thing was nothing more than CNN's latest, anonymously-sourced fake news debacle. Like most CNN stories on the topic, this one carried a salacious title ("Congress was investigating a Russian investment fund with ties to Trump officials") which implied some nefarious plot by the Trump administration to stage a coup in the United States. Within 36 hours, however, CNN was forced to retract the story and issue an apology to Anthony Scaramucci (presumably for the whole libel thing).

Then overnight, we reported that "the most trusted name in news" announced on Monday afternoon that three network officials are leaving their jobs over the incident: Frank, the reporter on the story; Eric Lichtblau, a recent CNN addition from the New York Times who edited the piece; and Lex Haris, the executive editor of “CNN Investigates.” The moves follow an investigation carried out by CNN executives over the weekend, with the conclusion that longstanding network procedures for publishing stories weren’t properly followed. “There was a significant breakdown in process,” says a CNN source. “There were editorial checks and balances within the organization that weren’t met.”

The official CNN statement: “In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published on CNN.com, CNN has accepted the resignations of the employees involved in the story’s publication.”

Regarding the personnel changes, a CNN source said, “The individuals all stated that they accepted responsibility and wanted to resign.” A compelling wrinkle in the saga of the story springs from the careful language in the editor’s note: “That story did not meet CNN’s editorial standards and has been retracted. Links to the story have been disabled. CNN apologizes to Mr. Scaramucci,” it reads. CNN is not bailing on all the factual representations in the story, however. “We pulled it down not because we disproved it,” says a CNN source, adding that there was “enough concern” on some factual points that “given the breach in process, we decided to pull it down.”

This was not the first time CNN has been caught reporting fake news recently (see "Looks Like CNN's Anonymous Sources Got This One Wrong") and we doubt it will be the last.

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Anti-Trump Leak Campaign Damaging U.S. and Allied Operations

A new wave of leaks targeting the Trump administration has actively endangered ongoing intelligence and military operations being conducted by the United States and its allies, sparking anger and concern inside and outside the White House, according to multiple conversations with senior U.S. officials intimately familiar with the situation.

The classified leaks, which are being handed to sympathetic journalists by former Obama administration officials who left the government and by holdovers still serving in the Trump administration, have damaged a number of ongoing operations, ranging from American efforts to prevent Russian infiltration of the United States to Israeli efforts against ISIS, sources said.

A recent Washington Post story disclosed classified secrets as part of a larger story about Obama administration cyber efforts against Russia. It was published days after a New York Times story, which revealed details of a secret Israeli cyber operation that Trump is said to have leaked to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Anger is running so high that multiple current U.S. officials have named some of the former Obama officials they believe are behind the unauthorized disclosures, which Trump officials say are aimed at kneecapping the current administration and also rewriting the record of the Obama years.

The leaks have been traced to a number of former Obama administration officials, including Ben Rhodes—the former National Security Council official responsible for creating an in-house ‘echo chamber' meant to mislead reporters and the public about the landmark nuclear deal with Iran—and Colin Kahl, former Vice President Joe Biden's national security adviser.

Another source, this one a senior administration official who is also intimately familiar with the situation, confirmed the assessment to the Washington Free Beacon.

"Those responsible for the disastrous foreign national security policy of the Obama administration for the last years—Ben Rhodes, Colin Kahl—they provide the marching orders to a broader group of people that are associated with the broader [Democratic Party] Podesta-Clinton network, and now they're trying to rewrite history at the cost of American national security," the official said.
More here

Wicomico County Press Releases

Wicomico County Government Offices

Salisbury, MD ... Wicomico County Government Offices will be closed Tuesday, July 4, 2017, in observance of the holiday.

CONVENIENCE CENTER & LANDFILL HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

Salisbury, MD ... On July 4th, 2017, the Newland Park Landfill and all external convenience centers will be closed. The Convenience Center located at the Newland Park Landfill will be open normal hours 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

For more information, please contact the Newland Park Landfill at 410-548-4935.

Hackers strike across Europe, sparking widespread disruption

PARIS (AP) — Hackers have caused widespread disruption across Europe, hitting Ukraine especially hard.

Company and government officials reported serious intrusions at the Ukrainian power grid, banks and government offices. Russia's Rosneft oil company also reported falling victim to hacking, as did Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk.

"We are talking about a cyberattack," said Anders Rosendahl, a spokesman for the Copenhagen-based group. "It has affected all branches of our business, at home and abroad."

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Seattle Min Wage Hikes Crushing The Poor: 6,700 Jobs Lost, Annual Wages Down $1,500 - UofW Study

Just last week we noted that McDonalds launched plans to replace 2,500 human cashiers with digital kiosks like the ones below (see:McDonalds Is Replacing 2,500 Human Cashiers With Digital Kiosks: Here Is Its Math):

Of course, no matter how much anecdotal and/or hard evidence is presented to liberals on the negative consequences on higher minimum wages they simply can't be convinced it's a bad idea. Somehow, the basic economic concept that raising the price of good (i.e. wages) would somehow destroy demand (i.e. employment levels) for that good just does not compute in the minds of progressives.

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The Danger of "Public" Education

The key issue in the entire discussion is simply this: shall the parent or the State be the overseer of the child?

An essential feature of human life is that, for many years, the child is relatively helpless, that his powers of providing for himself mature late. Until these powers are fully developed he cannot act completely for himself as a responsible individual. He must be under tutelage. This tutelage is a complex and difficult task. From an infancy of complete dependence and subjection to adults, the child must grow up gradually to the status of an independent adult. The question is under whose guidance, and virtual "ownership" the child should be: his parents' or the State's? There is no third, or middle, ground in this issue. Some party must control, and no one suggests that some individual third party have authority to seize the child and rear it.

It is obvious that the natural state of affairs is for the parents to have charge of the child. The parents are the literal producers of the child, and the child is in the most intimate relationship to them that any people can be to one another. The parents have ties of family affection to the child. The parents are interested in the child as an individual, and are the most likely to be interested and familiar with his requirements and personality. Finally, if one believes at all in a free society, where each one owns himself and his own products, it is obvious that his own child, one of his most precious products, also comes under his charge.

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Time to Appoint a Second Special Counsel

John C. Eastman, Founding Director of the Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and a man who has represented 17 parties before the Supreme Court, has some advice for President Donald Trump: fight fire with fire.

“Perhaps it is time to make good on that old pledge to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the Clinton ‘matters’ after all,” he writes. “And while you’re at it, add in referrals to the grand jury for the contempt of Congress committed by the IRS’s Lois Lerner and former Attorney General Eric Holder, an FBI investigation of the destruction of government documents and servers in the midst of the IRS scandal, an investigation into alleged perjury committed by IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in testimony about those matters given under oath to Congress, an ‘obstruction of justice’ investigation against former Attorney General Eric Holder and others (and related perjury charges against Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez) for allegedly ordering that an egregious voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party be dropped shortly before a default judgment was about to be entered in the government’s favor, etc., etc., etc.”

Eastman’s ire is driven by the appointment of Robert Mueller and the broad latitude he has been given to conduct his investigation. Latitude Eastman likens to a “writ of assistance” and the power to exercise a “general warrant” against Trump, his family, his business associates and his campaign and transition teams, “to see if any crime can be found (or worse, manufactured by luring someone into making a conflicting statement at some point),” he explains.

“That is the very kind of thing our Fourth Amendment was adopted to prevent,” he adds..

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Florida Sheriff: 'Get a concealed firearms license and carry it'

Another Florida sheriff is urging citizens to arm themselves and fight back if they should find themselves in an active shooter situation.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told WFTS ABC News that while running and hiding can be a good option during some active shooter attacks, he hopes people will prepare if they should need to fight back themselves.

“If you’re not afraid of a gun, get one,” Judd said. “Become proficient. Get a concealed firearms license and carry it. And if you need to shoot somebody, shoot ‘em a lot.”

“The armed assailant doesn’t plan on you fighting back,” he said. “He plans on having a gun, doing all the shooting, and you’re just the sitting duck. Well, the ducks need to shoot back.”

Polk resident Mary Dailey disagrees with Sheriff Judd.

“That’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” Dailey said. “I’m all for your right to own a gun if you are a responsible person, but you should have to prove it.”

Judd’s statement came days after a fellow Florida law enforcement officer, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, made similar comments, calling on citizens to arm themselves and fight back in the event of another attack.

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Feds interview Tangier watermen, look into oyster sales records in Crisfield

Officers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visited several watermen on Tangier Island and seafood businesses in Crisfield last week as part of an investigation they are conducting related to oysters.

The federal officials interviewed watermen on the Virginia island, asking for records related to oyster sales to Crisfield businesses. They took copies of records but did not seize any bivalves; it’s not harvest season.

Federal officials would not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, saying that’s their policy. But Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, did confirm “federal law enforcement activity” in Crisfield and Tangier last Wednesday.

Tangier Mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge said the officials came in two boats and a helicopter; at first, he said, he thought President Donald Trump had arrived. Trump famously phoned the mayor earlier this month, having seen a program on CNN about how Tangiermen didn’t believe in climate change – their problem was erosion – and had overwhelmingly voted for him.

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Judge Jeanine: The Left’s Hate Is a ‘Danger to Us All’

During her Saturday “Opening Statement” on Fox News Channel’s “Justice,” host Jeanine Pirro responded to the rise in the left’s calling for violence against President Donald Trump, calling the Democratic Party a “party of hate and destruction.”

“[W]e are now in a danger zone of complete hatred and chaos unlike anything we’ve witnessed in American history,” Pirro stated. “The normalization of calling for the assassination, decapitation or the beating of any president is simply shocking. And it is the extension of this hatred that trickles down and motivates people like the shooter of Congressman Scalise. That shooter wasn’t crazy. That’s too easy. He hated Republicans and thought they should die.”

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Loretta Lynch faces possible felony if alleged DNC emails exist: Judge Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano says former Attorney General Loretta Lynch could be facing jail time for obstruction of justice if emails to former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz reportedly about furthering DNC interests surface.

“It is alleged, this document has not seen the light of day yet, if it exists that there is one or several emails between Debbie Wasserman Shultz and Loretta Lynch concerning the behavior that Loretta Lynch will take to further the DNC interests while Mrs. Lynch was the Attorney General, that if it happened, would be misconduct in office,” he said.

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http://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/06/26/loretta-lynch-faces-possible-felony-if-alleged-dnc-emails-exist-judge-napolitano.html

Thank you, Congressman Harris

Click to enlarge images.





Incitement. 'Meathead' Rob Reiner Calls for ‘All Out War’ to Resist Trump

Actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner was shredded by social media users over the weekend after he called for an “all out war” to resist President Donald Trump.

Writing on Twitter Sunday, the All in the Family star mentioned a Fox News report about the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 election.

“When Fox says that DT colluding with the enemy is not a crime, the fight to save Democracy is now an all out war. US-Stay strong. #Treason,” he wrote.

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Any Minute Now...


Supreme Court Signaling

by Thornton Crowe

The Supreme Court's reinstatement of the Trump Administration travel ban was  high win for Americans yesterday as it could mark the beginning of the end of this massive judicial overreach we've seen since Thurgood Marshall's days on the bench.

Marshall was known for his blatant politically-charged opinions and abuse of power but given he was the first Black Justice, many turned a blind eye to it. The backlash of such negligence has caused many problems throughout the years since. Unfortunately, many Liberal politicians saw this as a way to enact legislature that they [politicians and special interest groups] knew wouldn't curry favor with the voting public.

With the 9th and 4th Circuit, the insane liberal bent on bringing in people who wish to terrorize and move us towards other governing principles like Sharia Law, only proves the lower courts contain people who do not take their positions on the bench (or oath) seriously. They see it as more of a political position rather than a judicial one. This is very dangerous for our society as we've seen for decades; however, as of late, it's far more damaging.

Yesterday's Supreme Court decision should be rattling many judicial activists' cages because it can be seen as a signal the high court will no longer sit idly by while they play politics with our jurisprudence. In his well-penned opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas made a strong statement about the separation of powers and the need honor it regardless of personal politics. Furthermore, the 9-0 concurrence demonstrated the Court's dedication to the US Constitution for which this separation is clearly defined.

Perhaps we will now witness a new trend; however, many lower court judges won't follow this commitment to our jurisprudence without a massively expensive struggle. Think about it, all these court cases cost Americans billions to retain what has been our Rule of Law for well over a two centuries. This is simply unacceptable in both short term and long term goals because it takes away what the courts were really designed to oversee - uphold our laws and righting wrongs.

Should President Trump revisit Thomas Jefferson's truculent actions in 1803 by abolishing some of these lower courts in order to preserve our governance principles? While it would create much scuttlebutt from the Left, our country is far too valuable to just let unelected ideologues go unmolested.

Maybe the time has come for us to re-commit in total to our Constitution and stop tromping on majority's rights and freedoms to placate the minority. Perceived freedom for the few shouldn't be at the expense of freedom for the many.

Harris and Norton Introduce Legislation Honoring Frederick Douglass

WASHINGTON, DC: On June 21, Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01) in conjunction with Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At large) introduced H.R. 2989, the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission Act. This legislation will establish a commission to study and recommend to Congress activities that are fitting to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of Frederick Douglass’ birth. Congressman Harris released the following statement on the legislation:

“Frederick Douglass is the father of the civil rights movement, and all Americans can benefit from studying his remarkable life. Born on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, through his own hard work and determination, Douglass rose out of slavery to become an author, journalist, abolitionist, and symbol for equality. Frederick Douglass’ long record of government service further demonstrates the need to honor his civic contributions. His lifelong dedication to freedom and equality should serve as an inspiration to all Americans, and these values must be shared with generations to come.”