Middletown Transcript

Gov. John Carney, on June 27, signed House Substitute 1 for House Bill 222 into law surrounded by members of the general assembly of both parties, law enforcement and advocates for gun safety.

This legislation, sponsored by Rep. David Bentz, allows a court to issue a lethal violence protection order in cases where a family member or law enforcement officer can show that the respondent poses a danger to self or others by owning, possessing, controlling, purchasing or receiving a firearm.   Continue reading “Delaware Governor Carney Signs “Red Flag” Legislation”

Washington Post – by DeNeen L. Brown

A lawyer representing the eldest son and two grandsons of Henrietta Lacks, whose “immortal cells” have been the subject of a best-selling book, a TV movie, a family feud, cutting-edge medical research and a multibillion-dollar biotech industry, announced last week that she plans to file a petition seeking “guardianship” of the cells.  

“The question we are dealing with is ‘Can the cells sue for mistreatment, misappropriation, theft and for the profits earned without their consent?’ ” said Christina J. Bostick, who is representing Lawrence Lacks, the eldest son of Lacks, and grandsons Lawrence Lacks Jr. and Ron Lacks.  Continue reading “Can the ‘immortal cells’ of Henrietta Lacks sue for their own rights?”

The Hill

Nevada legal brothel owner and HBO “Cathouse” star Dennis Hof, who won a GOP primary to run for the Nevada state Assembly earlier this month, was accused in a newly released police report of raping a sex worker at his brothel in 2005.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lyon County prosecutors closed the case due to a lack of physical evidence. Hof denied the incident.   Continue reading “Brothel owner who won GOP primary accused of raping prostitute”

The Great Recession

First I said I believed the US stock market would plunge in January, but I also said that January would not be the biggest drop, but just the first plunge that begins a global economic collapse: the big trouble for the economy and the stock market, I said, would show up in “early summer.” That’s when the stock market crash that began in January would take its second big leg down, and global economic cracks would become big enough that few could deny them.

(Now I’ll add a prediction — that even worse will unfold in the fall and early winter … unless summer becomes so bad that central banks rapidly reverse course on unwinding their balance sheets and raising interest; but I think they will stay their promised courses into the fall and winter and headlong into a global economic crisis.)   Continue reading “Epocalypse Ahead on Highway to Hell for Global Economy and US Stock Market”

Free Thought Project – by Jay Syrmopoulos

Fort Worth, TX – A 79-year-old veteran suffering from dementia was evicted from his long-time family home on Friday, and his belongings scattered across the front yard, after failing to pay a $6,000 property tax bill.

“All this is furniture from my living room,” Billie McGruder, who lived in the house for decades, told a crew from CBS DFW. “It’s out there for everybody to see.”   Continue reading “79-Year-Old Vet with Dementia Evicted by Gov’t from Home He OWNED Over Unpaid Property Taxes”

Free Thought Project – by Rachel Blevins

Annapolis, Maryland – Five people were killed in another mass shooting after a man opened fire at the Capital Gazette newspaper on Thursday afternoon, in what is being called a “targeted attack” by a deranged individual who reportedly went as far as mutilating his own fingers in order to keep police from identifying him.

Fueling conspiracy theories online, just one week before the shooting at the newspaper’s headquarters, the Capital Gazette reported that “Annapolis Police will be conducting an active shooter drill.”   Continue reading “Days Before Shooting, Capital Gazette Reported Police Would Be Conducting Mass Shooting Drills”

Boing Boing

Kudos to the Gates Foundation, seriously: after spending $775m on the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching, a Big Data initiative to improve education for poor and disadvantaged students, they hired outside auditors to evaluate the program’s effectiveness, and published that report, even though it shows that the approach did no good on balance and arguably caused real harms to teachers and students.

Cathy “Weapons of Math Destruction” O’Neil has given the report a close reading, and she found that the problems with the approach were pretty predictable: asking principals to rate teachers produces pretty uniform and meaningless five-star results, while the “value add” algorithms that are supposed to figure out how much of a student’s performance is attributable to a teacher are basically random number generators.   Continue reading “The Gates Foundation spent $775m on a Big Data education project that was worse than useless”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Congresswoman Maxine Waters – who earlier this week urged her supporters to accost members of the Trump administration at restaurants and other public venues – has been forced to cancel a pair of public events after receiving a “very serious death threat.” The Congresswoman told CNN on Thursday that she’s seen an increase in threats since she made the controversial comments.

Waters canceled appearances in Alabama and Texas this week after receiving “threatening messages” and “hostile mail” at her office, including “one very serious death threat” from an individual from Texas.   Continue reading “Maxine Waters Cancels Events Following “Very Serious” Death Threats”

The Organic Prepper – by J. G. Martinez D.

I find the most difficult aspect of survival is to keep a positive mindset. Definitely, it is. The crisis is not over when you escape the collapse. While I expected when I got my family out, our struggles were over, they have just begun.  Once you have been a successful professional, with an entire life ahead of you, and a good amount of the road already left behind, and find as refugees in a foreign country…this is where you really know about how strong you can be.

Or how weak, in my case. Don’t misunderstand me, please. I have been much more fortunate than many of my people, and I give thanks to God for that.   Continue reading “What Life Is Like for Venezuelan Refugees: The Crisis Isn’t Over When You Escape the Collapse”

Yahoo News

A man who police say opened fire at a Maryland newspaper office Thursday, killing five and injuring two others, had a long, acrimonious history with the newspaper, including a lawsuit and years of harassment of its journalists on Twitter.

Jarrod Warren Ramos, swiftly arrested by police after the attack, was charged Friday with five counts of first-degree murder.   Continue reading “Shooting suspect had bitter history with Maryland newspaper”

News & Observer

CHICAGO – Chicago’s City Council on Wednesday approved a $2.5 million settlement in an excessive-force lawsuit that accused police of traumatizing a 3-year-old girl by pointing a gun at her chest and striking her handcuffed mother.

A lawyer for Aretha Simmons, the girl’s mother, says upcoming Chicago Police Department reforms don’t address how officers treat children during arrests. Attorney Al Hofeld Jr. says “it is not even on CPD’s radar.” Continue reading “Council approves $2.5M payout for girl traumatized by police”

Task & Purpose – by Jared Keller

A new poll confirms that a significant number of Americans have the health of the Union on their mind.

A national survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports indicates that a full 31% of American voters believe the U.S. “will experience a second civil war sometime in the next five years,” while 59% of voters see the prospect of a nation-dividing conflict unlikely. Add in the (I assume) 10% of voters who had no opinion on the matter and that’s 69% of voters who aren’t worried — which is, you know, nice. I’m a glass half full kind of guy.   Continue reading “Nearly A Third Of Americans Believe A Second Civil War Is On The Horizon”