…Police are struggling to stop violence in West Baltimore, where officers have been routinely surrounded by dozens of people, video cameras and hostility while doing basic police work since the death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said Wednesday. (link)…

BALTIMORE – Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called the city’s recent spike in violence “disheartening” Thursday as police work to address a dramatic increase in homicides and nonfatal shootings.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” the mayor told reporters at a news conference. “It is disheartening, but I am still resolved to continue to reduce violent crime in our city.” (more…)

A school puts up posters promoting abstinence and warning young ladies to protect their virtue and “character” by not engaging in sex on prom night.  Planned Parenthood calls the advocacy program “despicable“, and encourages teen girls to dismiss the message.
Obviously the business model of Planned Parenthood has a vested interest in teen pregnancies.

Seventeen Magazine agrees with Planned Parenthood and supports all the girls having sex.

According to The Hill the Baltimore and Maryland politicians had a meeting today at the White House; described thusly:

Maryland officials meet at the White House to discuss Baltimore unrest: http://t.co/TB1jxWkB2w pic.twitter.com/ANjNsZa31y

— The Hill (@thehill) May 20, 2015

[…] Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D), Ben Cardin (D) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D), who represents Baltimore, huddled with White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and other top ranking officials to “discuss ways in which the administration can continue to serve as an active partner in supporting local priorities following the recent unrest in Baltimore,” the White House said in a statement. (more…)

Audacity, thy name is….

MARYLAND – Baltimore prosecutors shed new light on their rationale for some of the charges against the officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray, saying in a court filing that Gray had been illegally detained before officers found a knife in his pocket..
In announcing the charges this month, State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby said that the folding knife, which police initially described as a switchblade, was not illegal under state law, and so Gray should not have been arrested.
Defense attorneys for the officers who were charged with falsely arresting Gray, 25, have said prosecutors overlooked city law, which they say forbids possession of such a knife. They have used the distinction to argue that the case against the officers was rushed and flawed. (more…)

(Via The Hill) A federal judge has rejected the State Department’s proposal to not release thousands of pages of emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton until next year, instead calling for them to be released on a rolling basis.

[…]  Jeffrey Light, the lawyer for Vice News, which filed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for the emails, said the judge had given the Obama administration one week to provide a schedule for the public release of all the emails, including those pertaining to Benghazi, Reuters reported.
The State Department had proposed releasing the emails sometime before Jan. 15, 2016, in court documents filed Monday night.
Those emails, which were submitted to the State Department in paper form, will be viewable in redacted form on the department’s website, according to John F. Hackett, who handles FOIA requests for State. (more…)

The food is delicious comrade citizen, don’t you agree. Those stories and accompanying pictures of horrible school lunches do not actually exist. All of the delivered state nutrition is joyful, splendid and inspiring comrade.  Smiles everyone, smiles.

WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is pushing back against a campaign criticizing First Lady Michelle Obama’s school lunch rules by showing one picture of a somewhat appetizing child’s lunch.
“They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in the digital age we have ample opportunity to document and broadcast every moment, meeting and meal,” wrote Deborah Kane, the national director of the USDA Farm to School Program, in a blog post Thursday. “We have all seen those unappetizing photos of food served at school that quickly go viral. A lonesome whole wheat bun atop a sad fish fillet; a mysterious-looking meat mixture served next to an apple. It’s natural to ask, ‘Is this what they serve for lunch!?’ No, it’s really not.”

(more…)

IRAQ – The Iraqi city of Ramadi has fallen to Islamic State (IS) after government forces abandoned their positions, officials say.

The police and military made a chaotic retreat after days of intense fighting.  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered troops to stand their ground, saying he was deploying Shia militia to the city.
Ramadi is the capital of Iraq’s largest province, Anbar, and is just 70 miles (112km) west of Baghdad.
A statement purportedly from IS said its fighters had “purged the entire city”. It said IS had taken the 8th Brigade army base, along with tanks and missile launchers left behind by troops. (more…)

~ BACKSTORY ~

Link to Press Release
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