[VIDEO] Baltimore Mayor Lashes Out At Fox News Reporter Asking About Violence, WH Answer More Gun Control!

If anyone could shoot the stink eye, that’s Stephanie Rawlings-Blake trying to roast Fox’s Leland Vittert. Then Josh Earnest tries to argue for more gun control to address criminals shooting people. Because criminals are known for paying attention to laws. Maryland already has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. But never let a crisis go to waste…

Via: Weasel Zippers

Biker Shootout: Libs Going Wacko over Race in Waco

Leftists are upset about what they view as a double standard with respect to the Baltimore/Ferguson affair and the recent Waco gang shootout. They’re right, too—there sure is a double standard.

And, as usual, it’s their own.

Consider, for example, an Associated Presspiece by one Jesse J. Holland titled “Differing perceptions of Waco, Baltimore bothering some.” Holland starts out writing that the “prevailing images of protests in Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, over police killings of black men were of police in riot gear, handcuffed protesters, tear gas and mass arrests. The main images of a fatal gun battle between armed bikers and police in Waco, Texas, also showed mass arrests—carried out by nonchalant-looking officers sitting around calm bikers on cellphones.” The idea is that while the black thugs in Baltimore and Ferguson received harsh treatment and coverage, the primarily white thugs in Waco were, relatively speaking, handled with kid gloves.

But pardon my tongue, this brings us to another complaint. Holland cites people who say that while Barack Obama and other politicians called the Baltimore miscreants “thugs,” no such descriptive is applied to the white Waco punks. He mentions in particular radio and TV commentator Roland Martin, who tweeted, “So the mainstream media refuses to talk (hashtag)WacoThugs, huh?” And Martin has a point: While the black Baltimore rioters and looters were called thugs, no white Waco rioters and looters were thus characterized. I wonder, why might that be?

Oh, yeah, that’s right: there are no white rioters and looters in Waco.

Minor details such as this seem to escape the notice of two-brain-cell journalists in search of a story, but a prerequisite for having “police in riot gear” is actually having, you know, a riot. The incident in Waco was an unforeseen event, meaning, the cops had no time to don any kind of special gear.

Perhaps they don’t teach proper analogizing in journalism school, but the Waco biker thugs aren’t analogous to the Baltimore rioter thugs; rather, they’re analogous to the person the latter were rioting over: drug dealer Freddie Gray. And no one went out of his way to call Gray a thug.

Via: Canada Free Press

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How The New Deal Created The Ghetto

A recurring theme on this blog has been that big government creates problems that often necessitate even bigger government to solve.

(A quick example: Wage and price controls — coupled with favorable tax treatment for businesses to provide health insurance — linked health care with employment, a distortion that resulted in the skyrocketing the cost of health care. Eventually, this government-created problem had to be fixed, by — you guessed it! — more government.)

In the wake of the Baltimore riots, it is appropriate to consider government’s role in creating a tinderbox that perpetuates poverty and a cycle of abuse. Not only was Jim Crow state-sponsored segregation, but — 50 years after the repeal of those horrific laws — ghettos that were specifically and intentionally created by government are still trapping Americans and destroying lives.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how “progressive reformers” were to blame for Baltimore. And, more recently, Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, was on NPR’s Fresh Air to further explain how “explicit, racially purposeful” policies contributed.

Via: Daily Caller

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How Big Data failed Baltimore

Gyalwang Drukpa, a Buddhist leader from South Asia, prays in front of a mural of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Md., May 7, 2015. 

Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters

In the days following the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who sustained a fatal spinal injury in Baltimore police custody, I was taken back to my time in Baltimore, at the height of America’s “tough on crime” era. 

I arrived in the city in 1999 as a federal employee, sent to the city health department to support a crumbling local public health infrastructure. I had a deep sense that I wanted to fight the good fight, but at 27 years old – just two years older than Freddie Gray – I had little understanding of what that meant. No sooner had I arrived in Charm City than the Baltimore Sun broke the story that would shape my years there. The headline went something like this: Baltimore’s children are canaries in a coalmine: City does little to combat child lead poisoning.

No one could have known it then but Freddie Gray, who would have been about 10 years old at the time, was one of those poisoned kids in Sandtown-Winchester.

Like other post-industrial cities, Baltimore’s famous row houses were riddled with the stealthy neurotoxin. Deceptively sweet like manna from heaven, lead paint permanently rewired the developing minds of kids in East and West Baltimore who ate the dulcet chips and breathed in their dust. In the poorest neighborhoods, kids moved from leaded-home to leaded-home as their families were evicted, fathers incarcerated, mothers fended for themselves.

Of course, violence, drug-addiction and despair were common. At the time, one in eight Baltimore residents were addicted to heroin, the evidence of which could be found near City Hall where “poppers,” the small needles long-time addicts used to inject the drug just under the skin on their hands, could be found all over the sidewalks and alleys. The dominant narrative confirmed that the city traded in despair: HBO’s “The Corner” aired in 2000 and “The Wire” followed two years later. 

Via: MSNBC

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About TWO DOZEN Murders Have Happened In Baltimore Since Freddie Gray Fell Into Coma

 

The city of Baltimore, Md. has been home to roughly two dozen murders since police arrested Freddie Gray on April 12 for possession of an illegal switchblade.

At some point while police were transporting Gray in a police van, he fell into a coma. Police then took the 25-year-old man to a trauma center, where he died 10 days later.

Meanwhile, searchable data from The Baltimore Sun shows that 26 homicides have occurred in the city limits of Baltimore during the last 30 days — or since April 9.

The cause of death in one murder case was blunt force, police say. The victim in that case was two-year-old Tyleah Fenwick, according to local NBC station WBAL-TV.

Via: Daily Caller

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MARYLANDERS BUYING 1,000 GUNS A DAY BEFORE NEW GUN LAWS TAKE EFFECT

In anticipation of the implementation of new gun control laws next week, Marylanders have been scooping up 1,000 guns a day. 

According to the Baltimore Sun, 1,000 guns a day have been sold every day for the last two weeks and this week promises to be more of the same. 

Starting next week, bans will prohibit the sale of "assault rifles" and "fingerprints and a license" will be required to buy a handgun. 

State senator Nancy Jacobs (R-Dist. 34) says the new laws go too far and will only "make it...much more difficult for law-abiding citizens to get firearms without jumping through a million hoops."

Jacobs bought two handguns in time to beat the new laws too--and one of them has an "extended magazine."

Maryland State Police say background check requests for all the people trying to beat the sales ban and gun control laws have overwhelmed their system. This month alone background check requests are at "a pace roughly seven times that during the same time last year." 

Moreover, over "102,000 gun purchase applications have been submitted so far this year." A number which represents twice the applications that were coming in during 2011.

Via: Breitbart

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'OBAMA EXPRESS' GROCERY STORE CAUGHT IN FOOD STAMP TRAFFICKING

After Obama's election in 2009 a small grocery store/convenience store in Florida changed its name to the Obama Express. Several other stores across the country did the same thing. One of those was a location in Baltimore, Maryland. Now, in 2013, the Maryland outlet is under investigation, accused of illegally trafficking in food stamps.

On September 17, WBAL reported that nine retailers in Baltimore County had been arrested for illegally redeeming food stamps for cash and kicking back a portion to food stamp recipients. The retailers did not sell them any merchandise or food.

One of those indicted was one Abdullah Aljaradi who allegedly obtained $2 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cash from Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

Abdullah Aljaradi, age 51, of Baltimore; Second Obama Express and D&M Deli and Grocery, 901 Harlem Avenue, Suite A and B, respectively. From October 2010 through July 2013, Aljaradi allegedly obtained more than $2 million in payments for food sales that never occurred.

The office of the US Attorney, District of Maryland, has further information on the charges:

The indictments allege that the defendants exchanged EBT benefits for cash, in violation of the food stamp program rules. The indictments allege that the defendants typically paid half the value of the EBT benefits in cash. To avoid detection, the defendants often debited the funds from the card in multiple transactions over a period of hours or days. As a result of unlawful cash transactions, the defendants obtained more than $6,898,000 in EBT deposits for transactions in which the stores did not provide food.

If convicted, the nine retailers could get 20 years each in jail.

Via: Breitbart

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‘IS THIS AMERICA?’: PARENT ‘MANHANDLED’, ARRESTED WHILE SPEAKING OUT AGAINST COMMON CORE AT PUBLIC FORUM

A parent in Towson, Md., was arrested Thursday night at a public forum after vocally expressing his concerns about the Baltimore County School District’s plan to use Common Core standards in its curriculum.

Robert Small, a concerned father, was forcefully removed from the meeting by a police officer after he interrupted Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance during the question-and-answer portion of the forum.

The meeting apparently didn’t allow parents to stand up and ask questions or comment. Parents and other attendants were instead asked to write their questions on a piece of paper and officials would read them.

However, Small began speaking out against the district’s use of Common Core, prompting a security guard, who was also a police officer, to approach him and order him to leave. “Let’s go!” he said sternly.

(YouTube)

When Small didn’t immediately comply, the officer began pulling his arm and pushing him towards the exit. Some audience members gasped at the cop’s use of force.

“Don’t stand for this,” the father said as he was dragged out. “You are sitting here like cattle! Is this America?”

Via: The Blaze

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If The Sun Doesn’t Blast It, Comet ISON Will Soon Light Up The Sky

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BALTIMORE (WJZ)— A comet looping behind the sun could emerge this fall as a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, or it may not. Mike Schuhhas more on what he calls the “intergalactic snowball.”

Educators have a different take.

“It’s called Comet ISON,” said Jim O’Leary of the Maryland Science Center.

NASA provided an image of ISON (agove). It has a small head and a big tail.

“That tail can get tens of millions of miles long, so it’s huge,” O’Leary said.

Three miles is large enough to comfortably fit between the shores spanned by the Bay Bridge and its approach ramps.

“It could be the comet of the century,” O’ Leary said. “That is what some people are calling it, and we’re not that far into the century you know.”

It’s certain to light up the winter sky. That is, unless it doesn’t. They don’t know if the sun will blast it to shreds.

Via: CBS Balitmore

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Vice President Biden Awards $10 Million Grant To The Port Of Baltimore

OBAMA "SHIPS" BIDEN OUT OF WASHINGTON

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Vice presidential visit. Joe Biden comes to the Port of Baltimore with a $10 million check.

Alex DeMetrick reports it’s just the latest investment in a port positioning itself for the future.

The dockside applause may not have been heard by longshoremen unloading one of the largest container ships ever to call at the Port of Baltimore.

“And all indications are they’re going to get larger,” said Jim White, the port’s executive director.

Millions have already been spent on cranes massive enough to serve the mega-ships coming with the expansion of the Panama Canal.

Biden announced the federal government will now spend another $10 million on a port that is already ahead of most others when it comes to handling super-sized vessel.

“The Port of Baltimore is going to continue to send ships out over the horizon, but it’s not just Baltimore. The rest of the country has got to catch up with you. The rest of the East Coast has got to catch up with you because the opportunities are immense,” said Vice President Joe Biden.

Much of the money will be spent underwater, widening and straightening the shipping channel into the port.

Via: CBS Baltimore

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Baltimore MD., City school credit, procurement cards show culture of spending

Nearly $500,000 in charges include expensive dinners, extensive travel, and student lunch at Hooter's

Jerome Oberlton, the head of the Information Technology Department, will have to personally reimburse the system $5,000 for charges school officials deemed inappropriate. (Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun / April 26, 2012)

Despite tightening school budgets and a perpetual rallying cry for more funding, Baltimore school administrators spent roughly $500,000 during the past year and a half on expenses such as a $7,300 office retreat at a downtown hotel, $300-per-night stays at hotels, and a $1,000 dinner at an exclusive members-only club, credit card statements show.

City school officials defend the majority of the credit card expenditures — outlined in statements and receipts obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a Maryland Public Information Act request — as "the cost of doing business," saying only a handful of "outliers" show questionable judgment or disregard for taxpayer money.

"We are working around the clock to engage our partners and move our agenda forward," said Tisha Edwards, chief of staff for the school system. "Every transaction has a business purpose in mind."

Among those transactions were a $450-per-person office retreat at the downtown Hilton, during which the 16 employees of the Information Technology Department were also treated to a $500 dinner at Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chao; and a $264 lunch for students at Hooter's.

A review of credit card transactions and receipts by The Sun found that the bulk of the expenditures — about $300,000, generated by 16 central office employees — were made under a new procurement-card program that has operated with virtually no controls or oversight since it began in January 2011.

Card statements show that many of the expenditures violated the school system's own protocols and restrictions for use of the cards, such as a prohibition on using them for travel or to buy gifts for employees.

Via: The Baltimore Sun

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