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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Kratovil Protest: A Couple Of Over Zealous And Misguided Youth


While we at Salisbury News oppose Kratovil's liberal ideas, we absolutely do not condone this kind of behavior.

At one recent event Frank's Wife and Children attended the event and stood outside and answered questions and quite frankly they deserve a ton of respect for doing so.

Imagine if Mrs. Kratovil and her Children had attended this event and saw their Father hung in effigy. This is outrageous, uncalled for and those who enjoyed it should be ashamed of themselves.

While the majority of people attending yesterdays protest were much older, (by 90%) some miscreants came to this event, (in my personal opinion) angry and even in some cases aggressive.

Kevin Lawlor came out of Kratovil's Office and addressed each and every person with respect and did his very best to answer any and all questions, rarely saying they'll get back to you on questions.

In the mean time, I spoke with many people who wanted to attend the event but as soon as they saw this display they immediately walked away and wanted nothing to do with it.

My hat is tipped to ALL of the AFP individuals who chose to walk away as they refused to partake in such ignorance and abuse. You know me Folks, I call it like I see it.

I firmly believe in any one's first amendment rights. However, there comes a time when that right is abused and IMHO this is one of them.

To The Kratovil Family, my apologies for posting this image but it had to be done and these people had to be called out for their actions.

Originally posted at 9:00 AM

Dr. Frederickson, (WCBOE) Warns Citizens

Apparently there are some people going around trying to solicit books for sale and saying they're working with with the Board of Education. Dr. Frederickson is informing everyone that they have no affiliation with them whatsoever and to call the Police immediately.

Top House Democrats Struggling On Health Care Bill

WASHINGTON – Top House Democrats sought to minimize the impact of a near-certain missed deadline for health care legislation on Tuesday as the leadership struggled to ease the concerns of rank-and-file critics.

"I'm disappointed of course because I really hoped that we could have gotten a bill out of here by the end of this month," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and chairman of one of the three committees at work on the measure.


GO HERE to read more.

Judiciary Committee OKs Sotomayor For High Court

WASHINGTON – Pushing toward a historic Supreme Court confirmation vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice, over nearly solid Republican opposition.

The panel's 13-6 vote for Sotomayor masked deep political divisions within GOP ranks about confirming President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. Just one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, joined Democrats to support her, although four others have said they'll vote for Sotomayor when her nomination comes before the full Senate next week — and that number is expected to grow.

"I would not have chosen her, but I understand why President Obama did. I gladly give her my vote, because I think she meets the qualifications test," Graham said. Obama's choice to nominate the first-ever Latina to the highest court is "a big deal," he added, declaring that, "America has changed for the better with her selection."

GO HERE
to read more.

Now don't get me wrong

As a summer job this year, I am working as a nanny, and baby sitting the 2 most well behaved, adorable children I could ever ask for. Today I took them to a local shopping center to pick up a few items for the family, and what happened as we were walking in really made me angry.

Now I am all for animal rights, and I think PETA has done some fabulous things. But 99 percent of the time I think they are some of the dumbest people I have ever met. Today they were standing outside the store entrances handing out fliers. Now I am the type that will just politely decline, and go about my business, which was the case today. But then they tried to hand their fliers to the girls I watch over, who are 3 and 5 years old.

The pamphlets featured mutilated and abused animals. Luckily, I grabbed them before the girls could even look, and they didn't end up traumatized for life today.

Now what I am wondering, is why in the world would someone think it would be necessary to force 2 small girls to look at photos like this. I told the person who tried to hand the pamphlets to the girls to bug off and leave the children alone. They responded with "the children should know what is happening". Well I am sorry, but 3 and 5 year old children do not need to see gory, disgusting photos. Let children be innocent while they can. Don't force your beliefs upon them.

As I was leaving, the idiot handing out pamphlets was being escorted off the property, thank heavens.

Now I'm a vegetarian. I love animals. But I absolutely hate PETA. And the crap they pulled today made me want to go out and eat a cute animal just to piss them off.

SALISBURY MAYOR TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW AT SALISBURY POLICE DEPARTMENT


Salisbury Mayor James Ireton, Jr., will hold a press conference at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, July 29, 2009, in the first floor conference room of the Salisbury Police Department, 699 W. Salisbury Parkway (at the corner of Route 50 and Delaware Avenue).

Mayor Ireton will talk about the announcement made earlier today by Governor Martin O’Malley, along with Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder, regarding a major American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding announcement for law enforcement agencies across the nation.

In Maryland, eight police departments are receiving a total of $23.2 million as part of the COPS Hiring Recovery Program of ARRA. The City of Salisbury will receive funding for 4 police officer positions for a total of $795,068.

COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) grants provide 100 percent funding for three years of entry-level salaries and benefits and are awarded to localities and/or police departments to hire or rehire additional career law enforcement officers.

Birthers, Beer And Stuck On 'Stupidly'

(July 28) -- The state of Hawaii and the U.S. House of Representatives are doing their best to put the Obama birthplace controversy to rest.
Fat chance.


White House spokesman Robert Gibbs admitted Monday that nothing will change the minds of the "birthers" -- those true believers who insist President Obama is not a natural-born American citizen and therefore is not eligible to hold the highest office in the land.


Despite Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann's attempt to block the vote, the House Monday passed a resolution that includes this declaration: "President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961."


And for good measure, Hawaii's health director issued a statement saying she has doubled-checked the "original vital records" and, yep, just as she said last October, Obama was born in Hawaii.


Fox's Bill O'Reilly has weighed in -- declaring the birth certificate flap "bogus" but defending CNN's Lou Dobbs, who's under fire from the left for questioning Obama's citizenship.


But what if Obama hadn't been born in the USA? "I wouldn't give a damn if Obama was born in a cave in Afghanistan," Mark McKinnon wrote in Tuesday's Daily Beast. The former Bush and McCain strategist added: "There is no more an American story than Barack Obama."



GO HERE to read more.

Amelia Earhart Mystery Solved?

Island May Hold Clues to Earhart's Fate

(July 28) -- Researchers plan to visit an uninhabited island in the Pacific next spring to search for clues that they hope will solve one of history's most enduring mysteries: the fate of aviator Amelia Earhart.

Researchers with the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, which goes by the name Tighar, are slated to go to Nikumaroro Island, about 1,800 miles south of Hawaii, in May and June to retrieve the personal effects of a castaway who died there, ABC News reported.

GO HERE to read more.

Delaware Electric Cooperative "Peak Alert"

URGENT “BEAT THE PEAK”




3 P.M. to 6 P.M., Today, July 28




Because of the warm weather over our region, between the hours of 3 P.M. and 6 P.M., today, we are asking you to delay the usage of all unnecessary lights and appliances during these hours as well as turning your thermostat up 3 degrees.



While the largest consumers of electricity in the home during these hours and during this time of year are cooling costs and lighting, other large consumers of electricity include major appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, clothes dryers, water heaters and stoves.



By delaying the use of unnecessary lighting and appliances as well as turning your thermostat up 3 degrees between 3 P.M. and 6 P.M., today, we can save energy resources, avoid high cost energy and help the environment.



We thank you for your help. Together we can “Beat the Peak”

Phelps Takes Silver


Michael Phelps finished second in his first final at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome.

A Great Comment Worthy Of A Post

"Joe,

Regarding anonymous comments:

We have jobs. We have bills. We have responsibilities to families etc. We understand that you have provided a financially secure life for yourself and family. You have the luxury of speaking out publicly about matters. We are glad you do it! Maybe some of us wish we could do it too.

However, our employers will fire us.

If we can't comment anonymously, then, many of us can't comment at all. We don't choose to comment anonymously because it is fun. We choose to comment. Once we make the choice to comment, we understand that it must be anonymously.

Why can't you understand?

The only reason the internet blogs work so well is because they serve a purpose. Specifically, they allow regular ordinary people to make public comments without fear of retaliation.

Don't you understand what Webster will do to us if he knows who we are? Don't you understand how corrupt this place has become? This isn't fun and games. This is real. Many of us have real comments to make.

Thank you for accepting our anonymous comments. Thank you for giving us a voice. And yes, thank you for being brave enough (and rich enough) to be our front person."

You make an excellent point. Might I say this however. I did NOT stand up to Chief Webster and Barrie Tilghman for Joe Albero. I stood up to them for ALL of YOU. I could have very easily paid each one of them $9,999.00 and walked away a much richer man. The legal fees I incurred was double what I could have paid them. I also created Salisbury News for all of you as well. While I can respect and understand your positions, I have done quite a bit and taken a lot of risks along the way to provide this community a more peaceful environment in which you should be able to say your peace without retaliation from these people. Believe me when I tell you, there isn't a Judge on the entire Eastern Shore that doesn't recognize their behavior and the odds of them winning anything against you at this point is very slim.

I will try to refrain myself from making further comments about anonymous comments with the hope that down the road we, together, can confirm that we are no longer in fear, especially from a man that was hired to protect us in the first place. I thank you for sending in your comment.

What Was That 'Stupidly' All About?

by Victor Davis Hanson
NRO’s The Corner


The Gates incident seems to have had little to do with race but a lot to do with the natural human misunderstandings that happen every day in police scenes — and its final twist has everything to do with insider privilege and aristocratic disdain.

Regarding the latter, here are the apparent facts: Both an African-American and a Hispanic officer were soon at the scene and seem to confirm the arresting white officer’s narrative, as do disinterested witnesses in the neighborhood (Cambridge, Mass., not being known as a hotbed of racist activity); a picture tells a thousand words, as one seems to show a handcuffed Gates screaming among a calm group of multiracial police; anyone who has had law enforcement come to his residence investigating a possible break-in knows that the one thing you do not do is begin insulting armed policemen who are tense and not sure exactly what is going down as they arrive; soon the machinery of Harvard University, the African-American mayor and governor, and ultimately the president all weigh in on behalf of Professor Gates in a way not true of most “I say/he says” disputes.

And when the president says the police acted “stupidly” he speaks without the facts of the case and is more right that he thinks: If someone were to call a policeman in Cambridge to investigate a possible entry by two African-American looking suspects into the home of the country’s leading emblem of racial theory and grievance, the officer would be entering a cultural minefield from which he might not escape unscathed: come too late to Professor Gates’s home: racist; come not at all to Professor Gates’s home: racist; come to Professor Gates’s home: racist.

When the healer President Obama casually characterizes law enforcement as acting “stupidly” and then blithely says we all know that African-Americans and Latinos are stopped disproportionately — without the corollary that we all know that African-American and Latino males also commit and are convicted of crimes in numbers higher than their general percentages of the population and therefore can naturally also become more likely suspects — then we simply regress on questions of race, though in frustration rather than due to the “cowardice” cited by the attorney general.

It is tragic that the officer did not say, “Sorry for bothering you, Professor Gates. Of course I recognize you and regret that I had to bother you while you were legitimately breaking into your own home. This won’t happen again.” (And of course, Professor Gates might have said, “No problem; I’m relieved you’re looking out for my house while I’m gone.”) But as the Romans said, sumus homines, non dei.

Bottom line: Professor Gates probably overreacted, insulted a police officer who was trying to ensure that his home was not being broken into as was first reported, wrongly alleged racism on the part of the officer, and got arrested for his disorderly conduct amid witnesses and fellow police officers who confirm the arresting officer’s narrative — and then assumed — quite rightly as it turns out — that his Harvard connections, personal friendship with the president, governor, and mayor would allow him latitudes not open to others.

Meanwhile, that the rest of the country is supposed to cringe and feel sorry that we are still a racist nation — as an African-American president, governor, and mayor all weigh in on the plight of an endowed African-American professor — seems odd. Sorry, but somehow I think most would tend to disagree.

And if the public comes away with any lasting impression, it will be that an impromptu Obama, for all the post-racial rhetoric, still sees controversies in prisms that reflect stereotyped us/them racialism rather than looking at each incident empirically.

There were no winners in this comic tragedy — but one clear loser: last week, the president of the United States.

Source

Spread The Love People


There are much better ways to make a point!

The After Hours Fix




It was around 5:30 PM last night when I was walking down the Plaza and noticed, (once again) the fountain was empty. However, this time I noticed that the water was still slowly running into the pond area and then I saw the white pipe lying on the bottom of the pool. I stepped into the pool and simply placed the pipe back into the hole and bam, problem fixed. Now I highly doubt the pipe simply fell over because it does have quite a snug fit. I mention this because I'd like to ask those of you who travel this area often to keep an eye on this because people like to steal the money that has been put into the fountain and this is an easy way for them to drain the pool and walk right in and collect the coins. Community Policing, right Chief?

China Wok Robbery


Location of Incident: China Wok, 715 Rehoboth Ave, Rehoboth, Delaware, Sussex County.

Date of Occurrence: Monday, July 27, 2009 at approximately 10:40 p.m.

Suspect(s): One black male suspect approximately 5’6’ to 5’7’, and between 130 and 140 pounds, wearing a black shirt, black pants, and a red bandana. The suspect was armed with a handgun.

Resume: Troop 7 Detectives are investigating a robbery that occurred last evening at the Rehoboth China Wok.

In this incident, the suspect entered the store and approached the front counter wearing a red bandana to conceal his identity. The suspect then brandished a handgun and demanded cash. The employee of the store complied by turning over an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect then fled out of the front door of the business traveling in an unknown direction. Surveillance video is not available.

No further information at this time as the investigation continues.

Anyone with information pertaining to this incident is asked to call investigators at 302-644-5020. Callers may remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333. or on line at www.tipsubmit.com.

Robbery Suspect Sought (originally released July 21st)



Woodside (Kent County)- Authorities have obtained the following surveillance images from a July 20th robbery at a Woodside liquor store- Liquor Warehouse. Unfortunately, because of the video format, the video itself can not be disseminated.

It became apparent by watching the surveillance film that a second party was driving the get away car.

Anyone who may recognize this subject or who may information pertaining to this case is asked to call Troop-3 at 302-697-4454 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333.

Well, So Much For Watching Progress



It's amazing what a couple of days and one post can bring you. While Salisbury News has been keeping a close eye on the progress of the 6 foot tall pipe coming into the River, construction workers have now constructed a barrier in front of where the pipe is supposed to come out, (least impact I'll assume) but perhaps there's a good/better reason for spending this much time and money to create such a wall. Nevertheless, it is what it is I guess.

Obama Press Sec. Exasperated Over “Birther” Issue

The New York Times claims the Obama birth certificate issue is “a rumor that has been widely discredited,” and yet the state of Hawaii, where Obama was allegedly born, refuses to release the primary birth certificate document, instead offering this image, declared to be a Photoshop fake.


It is an obvious fake for the following reasons: 1) the document does not have a raised, embossed seal 2) it is not signed (take a look at your birth certificate and see if it has the signature of a physician or hospital officials) 3) there are no creases from folding in the scanned version above 4) the certificate number is redacted 5) the document claims to be a “certification of birth,” not a “certificate of birth,” and 6) the date supposedly bleeding through the back of the document says 2007, not 2008, when it was allegedly released.

GO HERE to read more.

Money From Iraqi Jobs Program Siphoned To Insurgents

The top U.S. aid agency has suspended a $644 million Iraq jobs program after two outside reviews raised concerns about misspending, including an inspector general’s audit that found evidence of phantom jobs and money siphoned to insurgents.

The Community Stabilization Program, launched in 2006, was designed to tamp down the insurgency by paying Iraqis cash to do public works projects such as trash removal and ditch digging. International Relief and Development (IRD), a Virginia-based non-profit corporation, ran the program, one of many it manages for the U.S. government.

GO HERE to read more.

Court Ordered Terror Suspect To Lose Hand, Foot

N.C. drywaller’s punishment was eventually overturned by Pakistan court

RALEIGH, N.C.
- American Daniel Patrick Boyd faced a stern punishment after being convicted of robbing a bank in Pakistan: Losing a hand and foot.

He avoided the sentence when his conviction was overturned. Two decades later, the 39-year-old Boyd is accused of organizing a group in the U.S. with international terrorist aspirations, and he faces life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors say Boyd's time in Pakistan also included terrorist training that he brought back to North Carolina, where over the past three years he recruited followers willing to die as martyrs waging jihad — the Arabic word for holy war. Seven members of the group, including Boyd and two adult sons, were arrested Monday and charged with providing material support to terrorism and "conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad."

GO HERE to read more from MSNBC.

ASA 16U Eastern Nationals Brings 63 Teams To Salisbury This Week

(Salisbury, MD) The Amateur Softball Association 16U Eastern Nationals will be held in Salisbury, MD this week. The tournament, which runs through August 2nd will bring over 63 teams from around the country to compete.

Arriving teams bring their families, friends and fans, with them to Wicomico County. Their stay is projected to infuse over a million dollars of economic impact into our community by staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants, shopping and playing lots of softball!

OPENING CEREMONIES: Open to the Public!

Who: Media representatives, General public

Where: Arthur W. Purdue Stadium

Time: 5:00pm

The Teams and families will be welcomed by Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt. There will be a parade of participating teams followed by an evening of activities, games and entertainment! A big thank you to the Delmarva Shorebirds, Pepsi, The Ramada and the many other local and regional sponsors who helped to make this tournament possible.

This tournament brings the best of the best to the Eastern Shore for a chance to walk away as a champion. Tournament games begin tomorrow (Wednesday, July 29) at 8:00am at the Henry S. Parker Complex. Pool play continues throughout the day with games being played at several area fields. For a full schedule, please contact Kate Roth.

For further information please contact Sports Marketing Manager Kate Roth at 410-548-4914 or katemroth@comcast.net

Hawaii Reasserts Obama ‘Natural-Born’ Citizen


State officials say they've checked and confirmed the birth records

HONOLULU
- State officials in Hawaii on Monday said they have once again checked and confirmed that President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen, and therefore meets a key constitutional requirement for being president.

Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said she hoped to end lingering rumors about Obama's birthplace.

"I ... have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen," she said in a brief statement. "I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago."

GO HERE to read more from MSNBC.

Suicide Bridge Restaurant

I received a call this morning informing me that the Suicide Bridge Restaurant in Secretary Maryland was closing their doors. This is absolutely incorrect! I spoke with the manager who answered the phone at 8:00 AM and I shared with him the information I had been told and with great pleasure, (on my behalf) he chuckled and said, no, we're actually having a fantastic season.

What started as a small restaurant, (I'm told back in the 1960's) was purchased by Dave Nickerson in the mid 1980's where he expanded the restaurant and turned it more upscale. In 1997 they added the Riverboat Cruises and even though we've seen quit a dip in the economy, Suicide Bridge Restaurant is going very strong and will be around for many more years to come.

So if you're one of those people who had been told they were closing their doors, let everyone know this absolutely is not the case. If you'd like to learn more about this restaurant go to their website at, http://www.suicidebridge.com.

FRANK KRATOVIL – “BLUE DOG” OR DEAD PUPPY?


Many folks who voted for Mr. Kratovil were happy that he won the election last year, but that euphoria has vanished. They are not happy that he supported the Cap & Trade nonsense. Whether he proves to be a true conservative Democrat and votes to kill ObamaCare will be decisive to his future in the First District.

If he marches to the tune of the Pelosi-Hoyer cabal, he may get a few goodies and a junket or two from the National Democrat leadership before the 2010 congressional election, but he won’t be reelected to the seat he now holds. It’s his to lose.

What say you, Mr. Kratovil?

Outstanding Individual

Mr. Albero -

I would like to share with you a first-hand incident I witnessed downtown on the Plaza last Thursday morning. After the storm we had the night before there must have been some downed-limb issues along the Plaza whereas City Public Works crews needed to clean up for the benefit of motorist using the thoroughfare. I know for a fact because I had attempted to park down on the Plaza but was unable to pass due to a City truck stopped collecting limbs. No big deal to me, I just parked along Division Street. As I was walking back from one of the offices there I heard a horn blowing but didn't think much of it. As I got further down the plaza I see someone stopped in their truck waiting for the City crew to get out of their way. They continued to blow their horn and eventually a gentleman - and I mean this is the truest sense of the word - from the Public Works crew approached and kindly informed the motorist that it would be a few more minutes and they would be out of the way. Regardless, this individual unloaded a barrage of expletives to this man, even bringing his mother's name into the fray. In an astonishing display of professionalism and Christian character, the City employee thanked the man for his understanding and asked him to have a blessed day. Even after that he endured yet another verbal attack from this 'man'. Look, say what you will about the City's departments (I for one have been critical at times to them personally) but when I see the good, I have a moral obligation to recognize it as well. I made a point to contact Mr. Messick about the incident in hopes that it would get to the right people in the Department so that this Gentleman would receive the recognition he deserves. I just hope that this City employee understands that his work is appreciated and similarly, I hope that the arrogant individual giving him a hard time sleeps well at night feeling better about himself by giving a hard time to a good, hardworking Christian man.

Bruce Giordano - GM
Bennett Construction, Inc.
Green Advantage Certified - Commercial

Ho Be Yo nxt Doc

Ho Be Yo nxt Doc

My name be Eboneesha Li Herenandez, an African Hispanic Asiatic-American Girl who just got an award for being the bess speler in class. I got 67% on the speling test and 30 points for being black, 5 points for not bringin drugs into class, 5 points for not bringin guns into class, and 5 points for not gettin pregnut during the cemester. It be hard to beat a score of 120% White dude who sit nex to me is McGee from Ocala .. He got a 94% on the test but no extra points on acount of he have the same skin color as the opressirs of 150 years ago. Granny ax me to thank all Dimocrafts and Liberuls for suportin Afermative action. You be showin da way to true eqwallity. I be gittin in medical skool nex an mabe I be yo doctor when Barrac take over da healtcare in dis cuntry.

Letter To The Editor

Joe,

I'm wondering if you or any of your readers could answer something for me concerning where privacy begins and ends medically.

On Saturday I attended a class at Hancock's. From the moment I arrived it was extremely awkward for me. There was another woman arriving at the same time as I. Due to her walking slowly I took another aisle to go around her. This is where her childish behavior started. As soon as she saw that I had gone in a different direction she sped up and actually tried to cut me off at the door. She made sure what she had to say about me to her friend was loud enough for me to hear. I did try to explain that I had something heavy with me that I wanted to put down which is why I was in a hurry. I could see that her friend was uncomfortable with the situation since this woman continued to make comments.

After the class several of us were lingering around so we could talk one-to-one with the teacher. During this time what happened next shocked me. This woman told her friend that she had done my mammogram. I had to leave the room for a few in order to keep from saying something in front of the others.

Is this common practice for those people you trust at the PRMC, doctor's offices, etc to tell others that you go to them? Due to her not being a doctor or a nurse I'm not sure if the privacy rule even exist. I've given it lots of thought since returning home. Before my next mammogram I will find another location due to PRMC only having that one woman (or she's the only one who has been working when I've been). Before I have been seen I've always had to sign the privacy paper. I'm now confused what the paper covers. If there is someone out there who can fill me in please do.

Thank you.

The 5 Best Sentences You'll Ever Read

This is probably the 5 best sentences you'll ever read. This is one
paragraph that should be in every book in every school room in every city in
every state in our great Union. Our educators should make a lesson plan on
this one statement and beat these words into every head in every class in
every state in these United States of America.

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy
out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another
person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to
anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because
the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets
the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get
what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any
nation.

5. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

Adrian Rogers, 1931*

Op-Ed: Health Care Status Quo Would Be Disaster For Middle Class

By House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

Washington, DC — How’s this for a health care plan? It will make your premiums go up—in fact, it will double health costs over the next ten years. It will strip millions of Americans of their coverage. It will send our deficit through the roof.

That, as President Obama recently pointed out, is the health care plan we choose by doing nothing. That is the status quo, and it will be the health care plan we end up with if health insurance reform fails.

And although no one will come out and argue for a plan that doubles costs and cuts coverage, we are being pushed in just that direction by transparent attempts to kill reform for partisan gain. As one Republican Senator put it, “If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” Another said this about efforts to cover millions more Americans: “We can stall it. And that’s going to be a huge gain for those of us who want to turn this thing over in the 2010 election.”

Failure to reform health care might be a boon for some members of Congress, but it would be a disaster for middle-class families, for the 47 million uninsured Americans, and for small businesses across America.

That’s why Democrats are working hard to get a health care bill to President Obama’s desk this fall. The details of that bill are still under strong debate—which is healthy considering the historic challenge we face. But Democrats are unshakably committed to four driving principles: health insurance stability, affordability, quality, and patient choice.

GO HERE to read more.

Blonde Guy Joke

The very first ever Blonde Guy joke..... And well worth the wait !!!!

An Irishman, a Mexican and a Blonde Guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building.
They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, 'Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch, I'm going to jump off this building.'

The Mexican opened his lunch boxand Exclaimed,' Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too.'

The blonde opened his lunch and said, 'Bologna again! If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too.' < /B>

The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage, and jumped to his death.

The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a burrito, and jumped, too.

The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well.

At the funeral, the Irishman's wife was weeping. She said, 'If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!'

The Mexican's wife also wept and said, 'I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated burritos so much.'

(Oh this is GOOD!!)?

Everyone turned and stared at the blonde's wife. The blonde's wife said,

'Don't look at me. He makes his own lunch.'

Senators Allegedly Told Of Countrywide Favors

Conrad, Dodd were given special deals, rates by mortgage lending giant

WASHINGTON
- Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation’s largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.

Both senators have said that at the time the mortgages were being written they didn’t know they were getting unique deals from Countrywide Financial Corp., the company that went on to lose billions of dollars on home loans to credit-strapped borrowers. Dodd still maintains he got no preferential treatment.

Dodd got two Countrywide mortgages in 2003, refinancing his home in Connecticut and another residence in Washington. Conrad’s two Countrywide mortgages in 2004 were for a beach house in Delaware and an eight-unit apartment building in Bismarck in his home state of North Dakota.

GO HERE to read more.

NFL Reinstates Michael Vick On Conditional Basis


(CNN) -- Nearly two years after he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia, Michael Vick was reinstated to the National Football League on a conditional basis, according to an NFL statement Monday.

Michael Vick will be considered for full reinstatement based on his progress by the sixth week.

1 of 2 Vick "will be considered for full reinstatement and to play in regular-season games by Week 6 based on the progress he makes in his transition plan," the statement said. Week 6 of the NFL season is in October.

Vick may participate in practices, workouts and meetings and may play in his club's final two preseason games under the conditions of his reinstatement, the league said.

Vick, in a statement, thanked the league's commissioner and former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, who has served as his mentor.

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Commissioner [Roger] Goodell for allowing me to be readmitted to the National Football League," Vick said in a statement. "I fully understand that playing football in the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have been given."

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Do You Save Fuel When You Slow Down?

With gas prices rising, gas-saving advice abounds: Drive more gently, don't carry extra stuff in your trunk, combine your shopping trips.

This is all sound advice but there's one driving tip that will probably save you more gas than all the others, especially if you spend a lot of time on the highway: Slow down.

In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon.

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