Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says she will not seek re-election:

“We all know that this is a very critical time in our city; many important decisions lie ahead, both in recovering from April’s unrest and managing our city through the multiple trials that are coming up. Over the past few months as I’ve been making plans for what I know is a vigorous campaign I realize that every moment that I spent planning for a campaign or re-election was time that I was taking away from my current responsibilities to the city. To the city that I love and the city that I took an oath to serve, and because of that I’ve made the decision to not seek re-election.” (more…)

Reporter Andrew Knapp attended the first pre-trial hearing today.  He filed the following reports:

UPDATE: Defense argued that Walter Scott got on Slager during a struggle and pummeled him. Attorney Andy Savage said Michael Slager looks forward to clearing his name. Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson, though, said Slager became executioner and planted evidence, lying to make it look like self-defense.
UPDATE: Michael Slager bond hearing is over. No decision by the judge in impassioned, emotional three-hour hearing for Michael Slager, the former North Charleston policeman charged with murder in Walter Scott’s shooting death. (more…)

Activist Judge Barry Williams gave activist Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby a big assist in her goal to convict six Baltimore police officers.  Williams ruled against a venue change motion while saying there’s no evidence they will be unable to seat an impartial jury.
The pre-trial hearings continue this afternoon.

(Via Baltimore Sun) A Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled Thursday morning that the trials of six police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray will stay in Baltimore, saying the defense had failed to prove that the officers cannot receive a fair trial in the city.

“The citizens of Baltimore are not monolithic,” Judge Barry Williams said in his ruling. “They think for themselves.”

(more…)

Keep in mind:  ♦ no wrongdoing has ever been found;  ♦ Marilyn Mosby’s private attorney is the same attorney as Freddie Gray’s family;  ♦ The Gray family never filed a lawsuit, so this is not a “settlement” per se’;  ♦ The possibility of any police wrongful conduct being found during trial is quite probably nil; ♦ The maximum payout under Maryland state law, if lawsuit filed – and if police misconduct could be identified, would have been $400k.

UPDATE:  The nine-page agreement, obtained Wednesday by The Baltimore Sun, shows that Gray’s mother, Gloria Darden, will receive $5.36 million. Gray’s father, Freddie Gray Sr., will receive $640,000. The remainder, $400,000, will be paid to the “Estate of Freddie Gray Jr.”
The city agrees to pay $1.8 million within 15 days, to be divided proportionately among the parities, according to the document. Another $1 million must be paid by Nov. 1.
The remaining $3.6 million will be paid out in the next fiscal year. (link)
(more…)

There’s a ridiculous politically correct level of liberalism; then there’s a moonbat level liberalism; and then there’s somewhere so far out ahead of moonbattery that the light from where moonbat liberalism emanates wouldn’t reach it for a year.

A Bavarian town decides to house Mid-East “refugees” in the local grade school gymnasium.

Then the school sends home letters with the female grade-schoolers, telling the parents to insure their daughters dress appropriately so as not to provoke the sexual inclinations of the Muslim men being housed:

“The Syrian citizens are mainly Muslims and speak Arabic. The refugees are marked by their own culture. Because our school is directly next to where they are staying, modest clothing should be adhered to, in order to avoid discrepancies. Revealing tops or blouses, short shorts or miniskirts could lead to misunderstandings.” (link)

(more…)

Reports coming in from various European News Outlets are confirming mass migration rampage events by hoards of Islamists cloaked as “refugees”.

“Half an hour ago on the border between Italy and Austria i saw a huge crowd of immigrants. With all solidarity to people in difficult circumstances I have to say that what I saw arouses horror.This huge mass of people – sorry – but it’s an absolute wilderness … Vulgar, throwing bottles, shouting “We want Germany”. So what, Germany is now a paradise?
I saw an elderly Italian woman in a car that was surrounded by the immigrants. They pulled her by the hair out of the car and wanted to use it to go to Germany. They tried to topple the bus i was in. They threw feces at us, banging on the door for the driver to open it, spat on the glass. My question is- for what purpose? How do they want to assimilate in Germany? For a moment, i felt like in a warzone. I really feel sorry for these people, but if they would reach Poland – I do not think they would receive any understanding from us. (more…)

“We are the world… we are the children;  We are the one’s who make a better life, so let’s start giving….  There’s a dream we’re making, we’re saving our own lives, it true we’ll make a better world, just you and me….

Sound familiar?  Could you sing it if we only provided the first stanza?  Most likely the answer is yes.  The bigger question is “why”?

How about another one?  More subtle maybe; this one from 2011:

This week’s biggest Africa news isn’t from Africa. It’s from a massive online and social media campaign launched by the American advocacy group Invisible Children to capture indicted war criminal and Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. 

As with their previous campaigns Displace Me and How it Ends, Invisible Children launched Stop Kony 2012 on Tuesday to mobilize the next generation of young Americans to help end the conflict in northern Uganda – except this time, they called on their mostly white, privileged, and educated youth followers to get involved through web-activism on their Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube accounts. (more…)

Martin O’Malley was the Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 – 2007.  State Attorney Marilyn Mosby said in an interview this weekend the current explosive murder rate within Baltimore is his fault.
(Via Breitbart)  […]  During the taping of the local show “Square Off,” Maryland Shock Trauma physician-in-chief Dr. Thomas Scalea said the worsening violence in the city “seems temporally related to the riots.”
But Mosby completely disagreed with that assessment. “I think the violence was already going up. When you look at January, it was already like 28 murders,” she said.
Mosby claimed that O’Malley’s “zero tolerance” policies led to a climate of mistrust between residents and the police force and despite that O’Malley hasn’t headed the city for eight years, those sour feelings have somehow fueled the city’s violence this year. (more…)

Oh My !

Whoopsie, Ann Coulter is profoundly vindicated, Donald Trump has the pulse of the electorate, and Hillary Clinton’s “cattle-cars” talking point appears a little, well, out-of-touch with the majority of adult Americans.

(Via IBD) Immigration: When Donald Trump proposed mandatory deportation of illegal aliens, pundits and politicians on both sides of the political aisle were appalled. But on this issue it looks like Trump has the public on his side.
The fire from the right was almost as fierce as that from the left. “It’s not conservative and it’s not realistic and it does not embrace American values,” said Jeb Bush.
Sen. Lindsey Graham called it “absolute gibberish.”
Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer called the idea “crackpot” and “morally obscene.” (more…)

About three years ago, Shannon J. Miles was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after fighting a man at an Austin homeless shelter over the television remote control, said Joe Frederick, a prosecutor in Travis County, Texas.

Miles kicked and punched the victim, injuring his face, back and head, Frederick said. The deadly weapon used in the assault was his hands. (more…)