Category: MARYLAND

Indiana Legionnaires/Lawmakers Support Homeless Veterans

By

Cameran Richardson

FEB 11, 2020

American Legion Department of Indiana National Executive Committeeman Jerry Jordan helps during the homeless veterans donation drive at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on Monday, Feb. 10. Photo by Ben Mikesell/The American Legion

Data from the Department of Veterans Affairs shows that the homeless veterans population in the state of Indiana has increased by 6 percent in the last year. As a result, anywhere from 300 to 400 homeless or at-risk veterans visit the food pantry at the Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation (HVAF) in downtown Indianapolis every month.

Together, the American Legion Department of Indiana and state lawmakers are helping those veterans in need by creating 500 care packages filled with non-perishable food and toiletries.

“Who better to take care of homeless veterans than veterans who understand the struggle when you transition out of the military, essentially leaving behind your second family, and you have to recreate yourself and assimilate back into civilian society,” said Department of Indiana Adjutant John Crosby.

The Helping Our Hoosier Heroes Donation Drive brought Legion leadership and Legion Family members from across the state to the fourth floor of the Indiana Statehouse the morning of Feb. 10 to fill grocery bags with the 3,000 care items stacked on tables. HVAF will be one of four shelter destinations to receive the care packages for homeless veterans statewide.

“This is coming at a really great time for us because our donations are down for the pantry and demand is high,” said Ashlee Walls, vice president of Advancement at HVAF.

The opportunity for the Department of Indiana and state lawmakers to work together arrived when homeless veterans issues became the charitable cause for the House legislative year.

“We are just overwhelmed by the service of Hoosiers to our nation. So policymakers want to do everything that we can to help support those who served our nation and served our state as well,” said Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives Brian Bosma. “We all understand the importance of encouraging that (military) service and supporting our veterans. So we were thrilled that The American Legion of Indiana stepped forward and said, ‘We’ll help you with this.’”

Donations for the care packages poured in from the Legion Family, lawmakers and community. “There’s been a lot of community effort come together for this,” Crosby said.

As House Democrats and Republicans came out of legislative session, Legionnaires walked around the tables with them to fill grocery bags, discuss homeless veterans issues and get their picture taken.

“They appreciate what we stand for, what we do, what we’ve done and they want to help us help others,” said Tommy Goul, a Desert Storm Air Force veteran and member of Post 437 in Selma, Ind. “Anytime we can give back to veterans is great. And anytime I get a chance to be a part of this, I’m all in for it.”

The homeless veterans initiative at the Statehouse also served as an opportunity for members to discuss American Legion initiatives, legislative priorities and membership. Indiana American Legion 10th District Commander Ron Patterson spoke with Rep. Steve Davisson’s about the need for more county service officers to help veterans with their benefits claims. Crosby said currently the Department of Indiana represents about 63,000 of the 85,000 service-connected disabled veterans with claims.

“These care packages will help (the homeless veterans) for a few days, but the bigger idea here is that we get them in touch with a service officer and show them that there is help out there to get off the street and get rehabilitated,” Crosby said.

During their conversation, Patterson learned that Davisson’s son, Jay, is a disabled veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan war who currently is a full-time caregiver for his wife who has a terminal brain tumor. Patterson extended the invitation to invite Jay and his wife into the Legion Family by paying for his dues. “We will help take care of him,” Patterson said.

Davisson handed Patterson a business card to make the Legion Family connection happen.

“A lot of good things are going on here,” said Department of Indiana Commander Allen Connelly. “(The Helping Our Hoosier Heroes Donation Drive) really helps to shine a light on the veteran community and problems with homelessness.”

source

https://www.legion.org

2019 Internet Crime Report Released

Internet-enabled crimes and scams show no signs of letting up, according to data released by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in its

2019 Internet Crime Report

. The last calendar year saw both the highest number of complaints and the highest dollar losses reported since the center was established in May 2000.

IC3 received 467,361 complaints in 2019—an average of nearly 1,300 every day—and recorded more than $3.5 billion in losses to individual and business victims. The most frequently reported complaints were phishing and similar ploys, non-payment/non-delivery scams, and extortion. The most financially costly complaints involved

business email compromise

,

romance or confidence fraud

, and spoofing, or mimicking the account of a person or vendor known to the victim to gather personal or financial information.

Donna Gregory, the chief of IC3, said that in 2019 the center didn’t see an uptick in new types of fraud but rather saw criminals deploying new tactics and techniques to carry out existing scams.

“Criminals are getting so sophisticated,” Gregory said. “It is getting harder and harder for victims to spot the red flags and tell real from fake.”

While email is still a common entry point, frauds are also beginning on text messages—a crime called smishing—or even fake websites—a tactic called pharming.

“You may get a text message that appears to be your bank asking you to verify information on your account,” said Gregory. “Or you may even search a service online and inadvertently end up on a fraudulent site that gathers your bank or credit card information.”

Individuals need to be extremely skeptical and double check everything, Gregory emphasized. “In the same way your bank and online accounts have started to require two-factor authentication—apply that to your life,” she said. “Verify requests in person or by phone, double check web and email addresses, and don’t follow the links provided in any messages.”

“Criminals are getting so sophisticated. It is getting harder and harder for victims to spot the red flags and tell real from fake.”

Donna Gregory, chief, IC3

Shifts in Business Email Compromise

Business email compromise (BEC), or email account compromise, has been a major concern for years. In 2019, IC3 recorded 23,775 complaints about BEC, which resulted in more than $1.7 billion in losses.

These scams typically involve a criminal spoofing or mimicking a legitimate email address. For example, an individual will receive a message that appears to be from an executive within their company or a business with which an individual has a relationship. The email will request a payment, wire transfer, or gift card purchase that seems legitimate but actually funnels money directly to a criminal.

In the last year, IC3 reported seeing an increase in the number of BEC complaints related to the diversion of payroll funds. “In this type of scheme, a company’s human resources or payroll department receives an email appearing to be from an employee requesting to update their direct deposit information for the current pay period,” the report said. The change instead routes an employee’s paycheck to a criminal.

The Importance of Reporting

“Information reported to the IC3 plays a vital role in the FBI’s ability to understand our cyber adversaries and their motives, which, in turn, helps us to impose risks and consequences on those who break our laws and threaten our national security,” said Matt Gorham, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “It is through these efforts we hope to build a safer and more secure cyber landscape.” Gorham encourages everyone to use IC3 and reach out to their local field office to report malicious activity.

Rapid reporting can help law enforcement stop fraudulent transactions before a victim loses the money for good. The FBI’s Recovery Asset Team was created to streamline communication with financial institutions and FBI field offices and is continuing to build on its success. The team successfully recovered more than $300 million for victims in 2019.

Besides stressing vigilance on the part of every connected citizen, the IC3’s Donna Gregory also stressed the importance of victims providing as much information as possible when they come to IC3. Victims should include every piece of information they have—any email addresses, account information they were given, phone numbers scammers called from, and other details. The more information IC3 can gather, the more it helps combat the criminals.

In 2019, the Recovery Asset Team was paired with the

Money Mule

Team under the IC3’s Recovery and Investigative Development Team. This effort brings together law enforcement and financial institutions to use the data provided in IC3 complaints to gain a better view of the networks and methods of cyber fraudsters and identify the perpetrators.

The new effort allowed IC3 to aggregate more than three years of reports to help build a case against an active group of criminals who were responsible for damaging crimes that ranged from cryptocurrency theft to online extortion. The ensuing investigation by the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office resulted in the arrest of three people.

Read the full

2019 Internet Crime Report

. To stay up to date on common online scams and frauds or report a crime, visit

ic3.gov

.

Select image to view full PDF report

Resources:

Full Report:

2019 Internet Crime Report

Press Release: FBI Releases the Internet Crime Complaint Center

2019 Internet Crime Report

Derek Sprague Named 2020 United States Junior Ryder Cup Team Captain

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.

(Feb. 13, 2020)

–

The PGA of America has named PGA Past President Derek Sprague, PGA as the Captain of the 2020 United States Junior Ryder Cup Team. The United States will face Team Europe in the 12th Junior Ryder Cup at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club near Milwaukee, Sept. 21-22.

A 2019 inductee into the PGA of America Hall of Fame, Sprague is the General Manager of TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where he has served since 2017. He previously was the Managing Director of Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey and oversaw the club’s preparation for the 2017 Presidents Cup. For 27 years prior, Sprague was the General Manager and Director of Golf at Malone (New York) Golf Club.

In 2019, he captained the United States PGA Cup Team to a stirring comeback victory over Great Britain & Ireland.

Through Sprague’s leadership as PGA President from 2014-16, the PGA was instrumental in growing the game through player development and youth programs, such as PGA Jr. League and the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship. In addition, he co-chaired the Ryder Cup Task Force, which created a long-term blueprint for success in the event. Sprague also served the Association as PGA Honorary President, PGA Vice President and PGA Secretary.

The American team is vying for its seventh straight victory in the biennial competition with Europe, and the United States holds an overall record of 7-3-1 in the event. Among the Junior Ryder Cup alumni are major champions, PGA Tour players and LPGA Tour players including: Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Hunter Mahan, Tony Finau, Lexi Thompson, Alison Lee and Brittany Altomare of the United States; and Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Nicolas Colsaerts, Suzann Pettersen, Emily Pedersen and Carlota Ciganda of Europe. The European Team recently named 1999 U.S. Open Champion Paul Lawrie as its Captain.

The U.S. Team will feature six boys and six girls who are U.S. citizens and members of the high school graduating class of 2021, or younger. All potential players must compete in the 2020 Girls or Boys Junior PGA Championship to be eligible unless exceptional circumstances prevent the player from competing. There will be 10 players who qualify as exemptions and two Captain’s picks. The final U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team will be announced by the PGA of America on Monday, Aug. 3, following the 45th Girls Junior PGA Championship.

“It is a great honor to represent the United States and captain a team of the finest junior golfers in our country,” said Sprague. “I look forward to our team competing against Europe’s top players, led by their distinguished Captain Paul Lawrie, in this special international event.”

The idea for the Junior Ryder Cup came about in 1995, when a team of Europeans, including Sergio Garcia, played an informal exhibition match against the Central New York PGA Section and area juniors. Two years later, the Junior Ryder Cup was formally introduced as an event, at Alcaidesa Links Golf Course, in Cadiz, Spain, and won by the United States, 7-5.

The United States captured the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup at Disneyland Paris 12 1/2 to 11 1/2 for its sixth consecutive victory.

For more information on the Junior Ryder Cup, visit

JuniorPGAChampionship.com/junior-ryder-cup

or contact Championship Manager Trenton Blundell, PGA at (561) 624-8490.

CNB SPORTS NEWS: Lexus, and the Metropolitan Golf Association, will Host Complimentary Golf Clinics

(NAPSI)—As golf remains a significant piece of business and social culture, it’s important for women to feel confident on the course. Knowing the basics of the game could encourage participation in key business decisions taking place on the course every day. Nearly 5 million women play golf these days and if you’re among them—or would like to be—here are a few facts and tips you should know.

Lydia Ko, the youngest player in golf history to be ranked No. 1 in the world.

Where To Turn

Lexus, in partnership with the Metropolitan Golf Association, will host another round of complimentary golf clinics this season to familiarize women in the tristate area with the game and spur their love for the sport.

• On May 8, 2019, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Golf & Body NYC with a special guest speaker.

• On June 20, 2019, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Bethpage State Park.

• In July 2019 in the Westchester, N.Y. and Conn. area (check the website

www.mgagolf.org/wgolf

for the latest details).

During each event, attendees are taught the basics of putting and chipping, then offered one-on-one counsel from golf pros.

For further inspiration, there are TED-style talks from female golfing legends. The evening also includes light refreshments, gift bags, and the opportunity to meet other professional women in a fun and casual setting.

What’s Being Done

This is just part of Lexus’s involvement with women’s golf. The company sponsors such legends as:

• Lydia Ko, the youngest player in golf history to be ranked No. 1 in the world.

• Annika Sörenstam, considered the greatest female golfer of her generation.

• Natalie Gulbis, one of the most popular players on the LPGA Tour.

The car company says that they, like it, carefully hone their craft every day, remain focused on their game and strive for perfection.

Useful Tips

To help your golf game:

1. Swing high. Swing the clubhead several inches off the ground so you’re more likely to swing around your body instead of up and down.

2. Aim to go through, not to, the ball.

3. Give yourself room. Set up with a wide stance, ball forward, weight on your right side and a tilt in your shoulders. Hold the driver far enough away from your body to allow for a big, powerful swing.

4. Follow through. When you finish your swing, 90 percent of your weight should be on the left side, with your hips and chest left of the target.

Learn More

For more information, visit

www.mgagolf.org/wgolf

and

www.lexus.com

.

Protecting Your Ability To Drive Safely

It may be the safest, wisest course to get help with your driving before you have to give it up.

(NAPS)—Driving a car means maintaining independence for many older adults. Driving allows you to shop, see friends and family, keep up with medical appointments, and avoid social isolation. But sometimes staying safe behind the wheel as you age can be a challenge.

Age-related physical and mental changes can affect your ability to drive safely. If you’re alert to these changes and manage them carefully, you may be able to continue driving safely for some time.

To keep your skills as sharp as possible, consider following these suggestions from experts at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), healthcare professionals dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of older people:

Check your eyesight to keep it as sharp as possible by getting a complete annual eye exam once you turn 60. Test yourself to monitor your vision:

•    Do you have problems reading street signs?

•    Are you having difficulty seeing road or pavement markings, curbs, or other vehicles or pedestrians, especially at dawn, dusk, and nighttime?

•    Is glare from oncoming headlights making it hard to see when driving at night?

Assess your physical fitness to drive by asking yourself:

•    Can I comfortably turn my neck to see over my shoulder when I change lanes?

•    Can I easily move my foot from the gas pedal to the brake? Can I easily turn the steering wheel?

•    During the past year, have I fallen one or more times?

•    Do I regularly walk more than a block a day?

•    Can I raise my arms above my shoulders?

Perform a reality check on your attention span and reaction time:

•    Are you overwhelmed by signs, traffic signals, and car and pedestrian traffic, especially at busy intersections?

•    Does it seem harder to merge into traffic on the highway?

•    Do you take any medications that make you sleepy, dizzy, or confused?

•    Do you feel less confident about driving at highway speeds?

•    Do you react slowly to cars entering your roadway, or to cars that have slowed or stopped in front of you?

Pay attention to changes and warnings:

•    Have friends or family members expressed worries about your driving?

•    Have you ever gotten lost on familiar routes or forgotten how to get to familiar destinations?

•    Has a police officer pulled you over to warn you about your driving?

•    Have you been ticketed for your driving, had a near miss, or a crash in the last three years?

•    Has your healthcare provider warned you to restrict or stop driving?

Consider Getting a Professional Driving Assessment

If you’ve experienced driving problems like these or are worried about your ability to be a safe driver, consider getting a professional assessment of your skills.

Occupational therapists trained as driving rehabilitation specialists can evaluate your driving skills and strengths, as well as any physical, visual, and cognitive challenges you may face. They can also evaluate your ability to operate a vehicle safely and, if needed, recommend ways to reduce your risks.

Driving rehabilitation specialists are trained to evaluate older drivers for:

•    Muscle strength, flexibility, and range of motion

•    Coordination and reaction time

•    Judgment and decision-making skills

•    Ability to drive with special devices that adapt your vehicle to your needs

The specialist may recommend ways for you to drive more safely after the evaluation. Suggestions may include getting special equipment for your car or helping you sharpen your skills.

Not sure how to find a driving rehabilitation specialist? Talk to your healthcare provider or contact the American Occupational Therapy Association for a directory. You can also visit the AGS’s public education website,

https://www.healthinaging.org/driving-safety

, for more safe driving resources for older adults and caregivers.

STUDY: Kratom May Have Therapeutic Effects And Relatively Low Potential For Abuse Or Harm

(

John Hopkins Medicine)

(February 2020)–Using results of a survey of more than 2,700 self-reported users of the herbal supplement kratom, sold online and in smoke shops around the U.S., Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers conclude that the psychoactive compound somewhat similar to opioids likely has a lower rate of harm than prescription opioids for treating pain, anxiety, depression and addiction.

Kratom Leaves (left)  Young kratom trees in Indonesia (right) Credit: American Kratom Association

In a report on the findings, published in the Feb. 3 issue of

Drug and Alcohol Dependence,

the researchers caution that while self-reporting surveys aren’t always entirely reliable, they confirmed that kratom is not regulated or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and that scientific studies have not been done to formally establish safety and benefits. They say that U.S. drug agencies should seek to study and regulate rather than ban kratom sales outright because of its seemingly safe therapeutic potential, and as a possible alternative to opioid use.

The American Kratom Association (AKA), a consumer advocacy group, estimates that 10-16 million people in the U.S. regularly use kratom by either eating its ground leaves in food or brewing them in tea. Kratom is a tropical plant related to coffee trees, and grown mainly in Southeast Asia. It contains a chemical called mitragynine, an alkaloid that acts on the brain opiate receptors and alters mood. In Asia, where use has long been widespread, people use it in small doses as an energy and mood booster, similar to coffee use in the West. They use larger amounts for pain, or recreationally like beer and wine.

Kratom products are unregulated and nonstandardized, and reports — although sparse — have linked its use to hallucinations, seizures and liver damage, when combined with alcohol or other drugs. In 2016, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) proposed banning commercial sale and use, and the FDA has advised categorizing it as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has no proven medical application and has a high risk of abuse. These agencies were met with public and supplement industry pushback, and no action was taken. A salmonella contamination outbreak in 2018 among users increased concerns.

However, says

Albert Garcia-Romeu, Ph.D.

, instructor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the new survey findings “suggest that kratom doesn’t belong in the category of a Schedule I drug, because there seems to be relatively low rate of abuse potential, and there may be medical applications to explore, including as a possible treatment for pain and opioid use disorder.”

“There has been a bit of fearmongering,” he adds, “because kratom is opioidlike, and because of the toll of our current opioid epidemic.”

A 2015 study in Thailand that reported that people in Asia have been using kratom successfully to treat opioid addiction for decades renewed interest among researchers in the U.S.

For the current survey, Garcia-Romeu says, he and his team enrolled 2,798 people to complete an online survey on their use of kratom. They recruited participants online and through social media, as well as through the AKA. Overall, users were mostly white, educated and middle-aged. Some 61% of users were women, and 90% were white. About 6% reported being multiracial, 1.5% reported being Native American or Hawaiian, 0.5% reported being Asian and 0.4% said they were African American. Participants were an average age of 40. About 84% of participants reported having at least some college education.

Of these participants, 91% reported taking kratom to alleviate pain on average a couple times a day for back, shoulder and knee pain, 67% for anxiety and 65% for depression. About 41% of survey responders said they took kratom to treat opioid withdrawal, and of those people who took it for opioid withdrawal, 35% reported going more than a year without taking prescription opioids or heroin.

As part of the survey, participants completed a Substance Use Disorder Symptom checklist to assess whether their use qualified as a substance use disorder according to the American Psychiatric Association

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition

guidelines. Fewer than 3% of responses met the criteria for moderate or severe substance use disorder for abusing kratom, but about 13% met some criteria for kratom-related substance use disorder. This is comparable to about 8%–12% of people prescribed opioid medications who became dependent, according to statistics from the U.S. National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA).

“Both prescription and illicit opioids carry the risk of lethal overdose as evidenced by the more than 47,000 opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2017,” says Garcia-Romeu. “Notably there’s been fewer than 100 kratom-related deaths reported in a comparable period, and most of these involved mixing with other drugs or in combination with preexisting health conditions.”

A third of the survey participants reported having mild unpleasant side effects from kratom, such as constipation, upset stomach or lethargy, which mostly resolved within a day. Only 1.9% reported that side effects were severe enough for them to seek medical treatment, such as feeling withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, depression or insomnia when the kratom wore off. Fewer than 10% of participants reported notable kratom-related withdrawal symptoms.

“Although our findings show kratom to be relatively safe according to these self-reports, unregulated medicinal supplements raise concerns with respect to contamination or higher doses of the active chemicals, which could increase negative side effects and harmful responses,” says Garcia-Romeu. “This is why we advocate for the FDA to regulate kratom, which would require testing for impurities and maintaining safe levels of the active chemicals. Otherwise, unregulated products run the risk of unsafe additives and dosing problems, which could be like getting a shot of grain alcohol when you were trying to order a beer.”

Garcia-Romeu adds that data is scant on whether one can overdose on kratom alone, or how it interacts with alcohol or other drugs. The researchers also say rigorous clinical research needs to be done to test kratom for its potential therapeutic benefits, for behavioral intoxication effects and adverse side effects to further help inform government policy and regulation. They also suggest that people err on the side of caution and not mix kratom with any other drugs or medications, and to always talk with their health care provider before taking any supplement.

Aside from Garcia-Romeu, authors on the study include David Cox, Kelly Dunn and Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins and Kirsten Smith of NIDA.

Support for this study was provided in part by grants from NIDA (R01DA003889 and R01DA035246).

Dunn has consulted for Grünenthal.

Georgia Governor Kemp Loses Vote Purge Suit Brought by Reporter Greg Palast

A Major Win in the Battle Against Voter Suppression

[Atlanta-Feb 11, 2020]

In an extraordinary and unexpected move, Federal Judge Eleanor Ross has declared Gov. Brian Kemp the loser in a lawsuit brought by investigative journalist Greg Palast for the State of Georgia to open up its complete files on the mass purge of over half a million voters from the rolls.

Surprising all parties, the judge ruled that Kemp’s defense was so weak that no trial is needed.  The judge acted \”sua sponte\”—on her own initiative, unrequested by Palast’s attorneys.

Greg Palast & Helen Butler, co-plaintiffs in Kemp lawsuit

Palast has been fighting Kemp to release his hidden purge lists and methods for six years, for

Rolling Stone

,

al Jazeera

,

Salon

,

Democracy Now

and currently,

The Guardian

.

Palast said, \”Kemp and the new Sec. of State of Georgia want to keep the lid on their methods for removing literally hundreds of thousands of low-income, young and minority voters on the basis of false information.  They cannot hide any more.  This is a huge win and precedent for reporters trying to pry information from the hands of guilty officials.\”

A key issue at stake are the \”Interstate Crosscheck\” purge lists secretly provided to Georgia by the Kansas Secretary of State in 2015 and 2017.  Kemp had turned over Georgia’s voter rolls to Kansas official Kris Kobach, who worked closely with Donald Trump, and is known for his racially biased vote suppression techniques.

\”Kemp tried to hide the Crosscheck lists which he got from his crony Kobach. The lists are at least 99.9% wrong.  Kemp’s office claimed he did not use the lists to purge voters, an assertion contradicted by his GOP predecessor.  Moreover,  Zach D. Reports of the Palast investigative team obtained the Georgia 2013 purge list provided by Kobach through (legal) investigative techniques—so we know, and the judge knows, he has more squirreled away.

\”Kemp finally turned over evidence that he purged 106,000 voters, overwhelmingly voters of color, that were on the Crosscheck list.  But that’s just the tip of the purge-berg.\”

Palast’s co-plaintiff Helen Butler is the Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda, a non-partisan group founded by civil rights legend Rev. Joseph Lowery.  Lowery, commenting on the Crosscheck purge system, told Palast, \”It’s Jim Crow all over again.\”

Oddly, one of Kemp’s defenses was that he turned over Georgia’s confidential voter information to Kobach so it could be used to purge voters in 29 other states, but not Georgia.  Kobach’s list showed thousands of Michigan voters supposedly also registered or voted in Georgia.  Michigan removed tens of thousands of voters with names like \”James Brown\” and \”Mohammed Mohammed\”—almost all with mis-matched middle names.

The Michigan purge of Georgia voters was key to Trump’s official victory margin of 10,700 in Michigan, putting Trump over the top in the electoral college.

While Palast says, \”The evidence is overwhelming that Kemp used the Crosscheck list in some way to purge Georgians — 106,000 is not a ‘coincidence’— I do want to find out why Kemp was using Georgia voter rolls to remove voters in

other states

.\”

The Crosscheck list identifies over half a million Georgians — including one in seven African-Americans in the state — as having moved out of Georgia, according to an investigative report on Kemp and Kobach published by Palast in

Rolling Stone

in 2016.

\”My job as an investigative journalist is not to change laws or affect elections, but to expose official shenanigans.  I thank my lawyers Brian Spears of Atlanta and Jeanne Mirer of New York for taking this case pro bono to rip the cover off Kemp\’s and the state of Georgia’s racially poisonous undermining of democracy.\”

The Palast team is providing investigative reports to

The Guardian’s

\”Fight for the Vote\” series.

*     *     *     *     *

The Palast team is completing work on our short film of how exactly Brian Kemp illegally eliminated 340,134 voters from the rolls, stealing the election from Stacey Abrams.   The Palast film then takes us to Wisconsin where the \”Kemp\” techniques are the center of a push block 247,000 voters, mostly Democrats and thereby keep Wisconsin, the swing state of swing states, in the Trump column.

source press release

CNB Business: How to Choose Quality Cannabis

CBD OILS

or marijuana

(CNBNewsnet)(February 17, 2018)–On January 23, 2018, New Jersey

Governor Murphy issued Executive Order #6

, which calls on the Department of Health to “undertake a review of all aspects of New Jersey’s medical marijuana program, with a focus on ways to expand access to marijuana for medical purposes” and to reduce barriers that patients face when they are seeking access to medical

marijuana

. It will also include a review of regulations.

Additionally,

the recommendations issued by the Medicinal Marijuana Review Panel

concerning the addition of debilitating medical conditions that qualify for the medical marijuana program are also under review. The State of New Jersey\’s medical marijuana law was passed in 2010. Presently there are 15,000 residents enrolled in the program, over 5,000 of those individuals signed on in the past year.

Nearby Pennsylvania began its medical marijuana program on February 15, 2018.  According to the Pennsylvania Health Department when fully implemented, the Medical Marijuana Program will provide access to medical marijuana for patients with a serious medical condition through a safe and effective method of delivery that balances the patient need for access to the latest treatments with patient care and safety.

Many of those enrolled in these programs have no idea about the different marijuana strains. In the hope of clearing up this problem

cannaporium.ca/

released the following information.

So, perhaps you have learned the visual differences between marijuana strains and how to properly store your weed, but you still fail to tell the visual differences between poor and top-notch marijuana? At our website, we constantly receive many questions from our puffing community on choosing quality cannabis-based only on photos or the strain’s appearance alone. And while there is not and cannot be an exact study for selecting potent cannabis (most of the deal seems to come down to personal opinion), there is still quite a number of visual cues you can and MUST search for when scanning the proposed buds at the dispensary and figuring out if the stuff is good quality cannabis or just Nah.

How to choose the best marijuana: Low-Quality Buds

Low-quality weed is usually transported in the form of compact bricks, which in its turn results in a whole mass of shaken, heapy, and compressed herbs. Typically, such products can only be found on the black market or from unscrupulous suppliers. Concerning the color, such trashy stuff appears to be less colorful than the medium-quality marijuana, often having more brown than green color (thus it was given a nickname Bobby Brown). Its aroma is quite dry and earthy with a taste that can be both harsh and spicy as opposed to the sweeter and more like floral notes of the high-grade pot.

When the product is not compacted into the brick crap, those low-quality buds turn out to be light, leafy, and really thin. Logically, the concentration of cannabinoids in such stuff is likely to be extremely low due to poor environmental conditions, like, for instance, high temperatures and some other variables.

Finally, the effects from low-quality weed when consumed tend to be quite mellow, relaxing even lazy, and intensively sleep-inducing (because of the CBN). It is not so uncommon for a user to experience strong headaches and a range of other side effects from poorly cultivated and cared-for marijuana.

How to choose the best cannabis: Medium-Quality Buds

Now medium-quality kush is exactly where the bigger deal of domestically-grown cannabis strains lie. Mediocre cannabis might be identified by its spectrum of green hues and the obvious presence of bright pistils. Such product showcases purple tone, moderate flavor qualities and sugary aftertaste. Experiencing a smoking session with medium-quality cannabis may definitely vary, but oftentimes if the genetics are pretty strong, the effects turn out to be potent enough and enjoyable.

How to choose quality cannabis: High-Quality Buds

Well, we’ve finally got to some good quality weed! Every provider claims to possess only high-grade products in stock, yet how can you confirm it yourself? First of all, the most essential thing you certainly need to know is that top-shelf marijuana will stand out in its sea of green. Apart from the diverse range of colors that premier genetics tend to show, truly awesome quality and sophisticated flavors of really dank weed will be screaming “choose me!” Moreover, you need to understand that truly outstanding weed has no price cap – you can probably come across some luxury items like old French wine and, thus, prices may reach extreme levels. The high-quality herb should be quite sticky still without being moisturized or anyhow wet. When grounded, the buds must break apart without turning into a pile of dust and if burnt, those should leave white ash behind.

Source:

https://cannaporium.ca/

RELATED:

Is Recreational Cannabis Coming to New Jersey?

Related:

CNB Business News

Sports betting at its best

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(February 11, 2020)–Sports betting are a part of big and famous games for decades. This is not new to sports and there are many parts of the world where it is legal and considered as a source of income for both casinos and country. When a better puts his money on the winning chances of a player or a team in a given match then people call it sports betting. Moreover, there are several sports wherein a sport betting takes place. Earlier it was more common in competitive racing sports but now there are many sports wherein betting is made legal in many parts of the world. People are getting access with the platform to play the game like

Sbobet88

.

And if we talk about online betting then the internet is flooded with websites and applications that have attracted a huge number of customers. The only question arises is to identify the right place to put your money. In this article, we are going to mention most of the aspects related to online betting and the top applications which you can trust and put your hard-earned money in. And we would like to recommend our readers to use sbobet88 and bet88 to enjoy the essence of betting.

Different stakeholders in the process

There are two major stakeholders in the betting process. There is one who puts his money on a bet and the other one who acts as a bookmaker. A bookmaker is an online betting scenario is an application. He is the medium through which one can usually bet. You put the money in your betting account to the account of the bookmaker. Now if you lose the bet, you

lose your entire money

. And in case if you win then you get the money. You can bet on one number of games. Earlier it was only confined to racing games but now most of the big sporting money games are a part of this industry.

Henceforth, our readers might have got a basic understanding of betting in sports. This is loud and clear that online betting has certain merits over its traditional counterpart and has become the medium to look for betting. Moving further in the article now we are going to talk about the betting applications in brief.

Sports Betting Sites – at a glance

The emergence of many online betting platforms is a testimonial to the growth of the industry. These websites are instrumental in making betting a household affair.

Sbobet88

Ever since its inception, it has remained one of the most trusted online gambling avenues. It is known to cover major sports such as cricket, football,

racing games

. And to go with that it covers some minor ones as well. This comes as an opportunity for a wide range of betting fanatics. This application makes it convenient for users to install and use. It is compatible with most of the mobile platforms. One can easily deposit money in different ways.

Betway

It has been a long time since it was introduced in the market. It is one of the most comprehensive betting applications that have a large number of sports on its board. This gives you an experience of an online casino where you can choose from a large list of sports to make a bet. The only issue is that their application is not as user-friendly as sbobet88.

Now we are going to talk about the best time where people like to make a bet. There is no written or devised formula but it depends on an individual when he feels that he can make a right and profitable bet.

When is the best time to make a bet?

These applications are instant

winning or losing

games. What you need to do is to finalize the bet you want to play on, make the deposit and start playing your play. However many people wonder about the difference between betting at a different time in a day. Does it make any difference betting at different times has remained a big question in from of the giants? But there is no certain answer to this. However, in this article, we are going to mention the common thinking of people who consider playing this game.

Betting during off-hours

If you want to have a definite answer to this question then you should consider the inverse correlation theory. So if the number of players who are betting together increases, then it decreases the chances of getting a good bet. Hence this theory is in support of playing the bet during quiet hours as the number of contenders would be lesser. And this increases the chances of winning the bet much more. This works similarly to probability.

Bet when you feel lucky

The activity of betting is indeed a game of chances. Your luck and your knowledge would determine whether you win or lose the game. So it is up to you to decide whether you are feeling lucky enough to play the bet. If you believe in this way then you can choose your bet and modify the bets as per your wish. This is a theory if you are feeling lucky then there is no reason why you should not play the bet.

Bet at any time of the day

This is one of the most relevant but tricky questions. Moreover, it is next to impossible to give an appropriate answer to this question. As in a traditional setting when you bet physically in a casino, you can judge your timing. The applications have gone online, and late midnight hours have become a busy time for betters. You can finalize to bet as early as possible when there is lesser gentry. But it becomes extremely difficult while playing it online. But your experience would come as your savior. You can observe the winning chances at different times during a day and then take your decision. In this way, you can take care of your convenience as well.

It is no brainer that sports betting have been a regular activity. And since the emergence of online platforms wherein a person can bet it has become a household affair. In this article, we have mentioned many aspects of betting and we would like to recommend to our readers to put their money with sbobet88 or bet88. These are certainly one of the most reliable avenues to put your money.

Dealing With The Global Energy Crunch

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(February 11, 2020)–Since a very young age, we have learned how we could classify energy resources into two categories- renewable and non-renewable. To jog your memory up, renewable resources of energy are those sources of energy that can be renewed or replenished. Non-renewable sources of energy are the ones that once depleted can never be brought back. The world has come to the point of a massive energy crunch, and there is an urgent need of addressing this extremely pressing issue at hand. Renewable sources of energy or not, nothing lasts forever. Just because we have been taught from early on that renewable sources of energy have the power of replenishing themselves, it does not assure us that we can deplete the Earth of its reservoirs. Human beings have done enough to push the planet to the abyss of darkness, and now is the time to act responsibly and take up the mantle to repair the damages. In light of the topic, it is essential to mention the ways in which Latin-America is trying to mitigate the energy crisis. Their ideas are unique, fresh, and the people seem to have taken the cause of energy and climate emergency personally. When you think about it, this is how the approach should be in every other part of the world. We might be doing all that we can in our own little ways to address the issue, but perhaps it would do us good to learn a thing or two from Latin-America.

Increase In Mergers And Acquisitions In The Energy Sector:

One of the most noteworthy actions of the countries in Latin-America is that the number of mergers and acquisitions dealing with the energy crisis has doubled over the past couple of years. Industries and business organizations have become mindful of their actions and are trying to put pen to paper in a bid to take measures that can mitigate the crisis. This is definitely a step that should be taken note of. In a world where industries and factories are only hell-bent in coming up with newer technologies and in the process are sabotaging the condition of the atmosphere, a move as such by the Latin-American countries is definitely a welcome relief.

Countries Are Trying To Limit The Carbon Di-Oxide Emissions:

The countries in Latin-America are ceaselessly trying to reduce the carbon emission, which is what primarily leads to the depletion of the ozone layer. Also, with an excessive expenditure of carbon dioxide, you slowly start depleting the reservoirs of the planet’s energy. Therefore, we are not only harming the Earth’s climate but also exhausting its energy resources. We could all take notes from the countries in Latin-America that are trying to reduce the carbon emissions every day. The governments in these regions are also a step ahead in dealing with the energy crunch by offering investors models of low-risk energy to invest in.

Optimal Usage of The Energy Resources:

It is one thing to figure out ways to save energy and then put the energy into better uses in the future, and a completely different ball game to optimally use the already existent energy resources. The countries in Latin-America are already rich enough in oil and various other sources of energy. However, they are just better than some of their other counterparts in putting these resources of energy to optimal uses. Norway, in some ways, shares the same gene with Latin-America. For instance, they have some of the best plans for electricity and the people in Norway take the efforts to subscribe to the plans that can save several units of energy. Take a look at the website of

this Norwegian power company

to understand what they have got to offer to their people.

Conclusion:

We are definitely in the midst of severe energy and climate crisis. Some of us are smart enough to acknowledge the truth, and some do not want to face the truth. However, it is time that we come together and share the responsibility for our actions. The planet only has a few more years left to repair the damages, and we must act now before it is too late.