Troopers on the Scene of Plane Crash; One Person Dead One person Critical Condition
Location: Lore Wood Grove Road, Middletown, New Castle County, DE
Date of Occurrence: Friday, April 02, 2010 at approximately 6:35 p.m.
Resume:
Delaware State Police are currently on the scene of a single engine plane that has crashed off of Lore Wood Grove Road approximately 1 mile east of RT 896 approximately 5 miles north of Middletown
Preliminary reports indicate that a male has been pronounced dead at the scene and a female is in critical condition and has been flown to Christiana Hospital near Newark.
The investigation is still on going and Lore Wood Grove Road is closed in the area of the crash.
More information will be released as it becomes avalible.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Friday, April 02, 2010
The Secret Is Out – Democrats Don’t Care About the Constitution
“I don’t worry about the Constitution.” That’s a direct quote from Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL).
It’s bad enough that this guy thinks that the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution are the same thing. It’s bad enough that he doesn’t worry about little things like our Constitution. Here is the oath of office Rep. Hare took in January of 2007 AND 2009:
I, NAME, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
It seems that Phil Hare is one of those domestic enemies. At least local lefty Mike Pretl makes a pretense of adhering to the Constitution in claiming that ObamaCare is a good thing.
from Delmarva Dealings
STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY ON THE PASSING OF TOM WISNER
ANNAPOLIS, MD (April 2, 2010) – Governor Martin O’Malley issued this statement today following the passing of Tom Wisner, singer, songwriter, and educator devoted to raising awareness of the spirit and beauty of the Chesapeake Bay. Wisner was the co-founder of the non-profit Chestory, devoted to lifting the story of the Chesapeake Bay region up through the arts.
“Tom truly was the Bard of the Chesapeake, Chesapeake Born and Chesapeake Free.
“His life's work and his life's hope was to bring about a new era in our relationship to the land and the waters of the Bay. He challenged all of us to participate in the great work of restoring the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland will miss his heart, his voice, his poetry, his love and his passion for the beauty of creation.
“The river moves on, and bids us to follow her.”
“Tom truly was the Bard of the Chesapeake, Chesapeake Born and Chesapeake Free.
“His life's work and his life's hope was to bring about a new era in our relationship to the land and the waters of the Bay. He challenged all of us to participate in the great work of restoring the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland will miss his heart, his voice, his poetry, his love and his passion for the beauty of creation.
“The river moves on, and bids us to follow her.”
The Doctor Orders A Little Reality Therapy
A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care "elsewhere."
"I'm not turning anybody away — that would be unethical," Dr. Jack Cassell, 56, a Mount Dora urologist and a registered Republican opposed to the health plan, told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. "But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it."
The sign reads: "If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."
Estella Chatman, 67, of Eustis, whose daughter snapped a photo of the typewritten sign, sent the picture to U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the Orlando Democrat who riled Republicans last year when he characterized the GOP's idea of health care as, "If you get sick, America … Die quickly."
Chatman said she heard about the sign from a friend referred to Cassell after his physician recently died. She said her friend did not want to speak to a reporter but was dismayed by Cassell's sign.
"He's going to find another doctor," she said.
Cassell may be walking a thin line between his right to free speech and his professional obligation, said William Allen, professor of bioethics, law and medical professionalism at the University of Florida's College of Medicine.
Allen said doctors cannot refuse patients on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability, but political preference is not one of the legally protected categories specified in civil-rights law. By insisting he does not quiz his patients about their politics and has not turned away patients based on their vote, the doctor is "trying to hold onto the nub of his ethical obligation," Allen said.
A Day Late, Sorry
Remembering the Pacific War
Today marks the 65th anniversary of the invasion of Okinawa.
by Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online
Sixty-five years ago, on April 1, 1945, the United States Marines, Army, and Navy invaded Okinawa. The ensuing three months of combat resulted in the complete defeat and near destruction of imperial Japanese forces on the island, just 340 miles from the mainland.
The victory proved the most costly American campaign in the Pacific. Some 50,000 Americans were killed, went missing, or were wounded. The incredible carnage would help persuade the American government to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in hopes of avoiding an even more horrific invasion of the mainland.
Okinawa and the war in the Pacific are back in the news these days with the airing of a ten-part HBO series, The Pacific — a companion story to the 2001 series Band of Brothers, which was about the American advance from Normandy across the Rhine into Germany.
But recently, while hyping The Pacific’s upcoming broadcast, the actor Tom Hanks, co-producer of the fine new series, made some unfortunate — and ahistorical — remarks.
“Back in World War II,” Hanks said, “we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different.”
The Pacific war was about far more than being “different.”
Indeed, before and after the war, race was not a determining factor in American and Japanese relations. In World War I, the two nations were partners against the Germans and Austrians. And during World War II itself, we joined Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, and other Asians to stop Japanese aggression — often fueled by the country’s own particular notion of Japanese racial superiority. In the aftermath of World War II, the Americans helped rebuild Japan and once more were allied with it against the Communist Soviet Union.
And despite the deplorable internment of Japanese nationals and American citizens of Japanese descent during the war, racial difference still does not in itself account for the horror in the Pacific — or why we were there in the first place.
We entered the war, of course, because of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which angered Americans even more than Hitler’s aggression in Europe. More than two years of Nazi barbarity had still not provoked the United States to enter the war — none of our own territory had been attacked, much less in surprise fashion at a time of peace.
Conditions on the battlefield in the Pacific most certainly account for the horror of the war there.
For starters, Japanese militarists had updated the old samurai code of Bushido and grafted it onto a modern, industrial military dictatorship — brainwashing millions into thinking individual surrender on the battlefield was tantamount to national disgrace. Italian and even fanatical German forces might give up when surrounded, but campaigns in the Pacific ended only when the vast majority of Japanese soldiers were killed or severely wounded.
Logistics for the American force were also strained, given the vast distances across the Pacific. Tropical diseases were like nothing encountered in Europe. While most Americans had heard of Sicily, Italy, and France, most did not know what — much less where — a distant Guadalcanal, Peleliu, or Iwo Jima was.
The invasion fleet off Normandy Beach did not have to worry about airborne Nazi suicide bombers, but Kamikaze attacks off Okinawa killed thousands of American seamen.
American tactical bombing, massive artillery barrages, and armor thrusts were often less successful in the Pacific than in Europe, given the dense jungle, rough terrain, and nature of island fighting.
The result was often that combat was reduced to hand-to-hand and small-arms fighting between U.S. Marines and crack Japanese imperial troops, hardened from brutal service in China during the prior decade.
Given all these obstacles, it now seems incredible that an America that was half-armed in 1941 defeated Japan and utterly destroyed the idea of Japanese militarism in less than four years — a feat attributable in large part to the amazing courage and expertise of American soldiers.
The war in the Pacific was not about racism or due to the Japanese’s being “different,” nor even due to two nations’ having equally justifiable grievances against each other.
Instead, the brutal Pacific war was about ending an expansionary Japanese fascism that sought to destroy all democratic obstacles in its path. And we are indebted today to the relatively few Americans who once stopped it in horrific places like Okinawa — some 65 years ago this week.
Source
Today marks the 65th anniversary of the invasion of Okinawa.
by Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online
Sixty-five years ago, on April 1, 1945, the United States Marines, Army, and Navy invaded Okinawa. The ensuing three months of combat resulted in the complete defeat and near destruction of imperial Japanese forces on the island, just 340 miles from the mainland.
The victory proved the most costly American campaign in the Pacific. Some 50,000 Americans were killed, went missing, or were wounded. The incredible carnage would help persuade the American government to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in hopes of avoiding an even more horrific invasion of the mainland.
Okinawa and the war in the Pacific are back in the news these days with the airing of a ten-part HBO series, The Pacific — a companion story to the 2001 series Band of Brothers, which was about the American advance from Normandy across the Rhine into Germany.
But recently, while hyping The Pacific’s upcoming broadcast, the actor Tom Hanks, co-producer of the fine new series, made some unfortunate — and ahistorical — remarks.
“Back in World War II,” Hanks said, “we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different.”
The Pacific war was about far more than being “different.”
Indeed, before and after the war, race was not a determining factor in American and Japanese relations. In World War I, the two nations were partners against the Germans and Austrians. And during World War II itself, we joined Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, and other Asians to stop Japanese aggression — often fueled by the country’s own particular notion of Japanese racial superiority. In the aftermath of World War II, the Americans helped rebuild Japan and once more were allied with it against the Communist Soviet Union.
And despite the deplorable internment of Japanese nationals and American citizens of Japanese descent during the war, racial difference still does not in itself account for the horror in the Pacific — or why we were there in the first place.
We entered the war, of course, because of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which angered Americans even more than Hitler’s aggression in Europe. More than two years of Nazi barbarity had still not provoked the United States to enter the war — none of our own territory had been attacked, much less in surprise fashion at a time of peace.
Conditions on the battlefield in the Pacific most certainly account for the horror of the war there.
For starters, Japanese militarists had updated the old samurai code of Bushido and grafted it onto a modern, industrial military dictatorship — brainwashing millions into thinking individual surrender on the battlefield was tantamount to national disgrace. Italian and even fanatical German forces might give up when surrounded, but campaigns in the Pacific ended only when the vast majority of Japanese soldiers were killed or severely wounded.
Logistics for the American force were also strained, given the vast distances across the Pacific. Tropical diseases were like nothing encountered in Europe. While most Americans had heard of Sicily, Italy, and France, most did not know what — much less where — a distant Guadalcanal, Peleliu, or Iwo Jima was.
The invasion fleet off Normandy Beach did not have to worry about airborne Nazi suicide bombers, but Kamikaze attacks off Okinawa killed thousands of American seamen.
American tactical bombing, massive artillery barrages, and armor thrusts were often less successful in the Pacific than in Europe, given the dense jungle, rough terrain, and nature of island fighting.
The result was often that combat was reduced to hand-to-hand and small-arms fighting between U.S. Marines and crack Japanese imperial troops, hardened from brutal service in China during the prior decade.
Given all these obstacles, it now seems incredible that an America that was half-armed in 1941 defeated Japan and utterly destroyed the idea of Japanese militarism in less than four years — a feat attributable in large part to the amazing courage and expertise of American soldiers.
The war in the Pacific was not about racism or due to the Japanese’s being “different,” nor even due to two nations’ having equally justifiable grievances against each other.
Instead, the brutal Pacific war was about ending an expansionary Japanese fascism that sought to destroy all democratic obstacles in its path. And we are indebted today to the relatively few Americans who once stopped it in horrific places like Okinawa — some 65 years ago this week.
Source
DELMAR POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASE
Incident: Warrant Service
Location: Delmar Police Department
Date: March 31, 2010
Arrested: Roxanne E. Barger White female, 19 Laurel DE
On 03/31/2010 Barger was extradited from Wicomico county Maryland to Delmar Delaware in reference to a warrant being held by Delmar police. Barger was served with her warrant and held on $3100 bond. Barger was turned over to Delaware State Police in reference to two additional warrants they had for Barger.
Charges:
Assault Second Degree Recklessly or Intentionally Causes Phys. Injury Weapon
Terroristic Threatening
Reckless Endangering Second degree
Menacing
Criminal Mischief under $1000
Criminal Trespass Second Degree
Location: Delmar Police Department
Date: March 31, 2010
Arrested: Roxanne E. Barger White female, 19 Laurel DE
On 03/31/2010 Barger was extradited from Wicomico county Maryland to Delmar Delaware in reference to a warrant being held by Delmar police. Barger was served with her warrant and held on $3100 bond. Barger was turned over to Delaware State Police in reference to two additional warrants they had for Barger.
Charges:
Assault Second Degree Recklessly or Intentionally Causes Phys. Injury Weapon
Terroristic Threatening
Reckless Endangering Second degree
Menacing
Criminal Mischief under $1000
Criminal Trespass Second Degree
Chicago Does Socialism
Connect the dots of Obama’s first year — an ugly picture emerges.
by Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online
We can have a rational debate on any one item on President Obama’s vast progressive agenda, arguing whether adjectives like “statist” or “socialist” fairly describe his legislative intent. But connect all the dots and lines of the past year, and an unambiguous image starts to materialize.
New Programs
The problem is not individual legislation, whether passed or proposed, involving the gamut of issues: healthcare, bailouts, stimuli, education loans, amnesty, cap and trade. Rather, the rub is these acts in the aggregate.
The president promises a state fix for healthcare; then student loans; and next energy. There are to be subsidies, credits, and always new entitlements for every problem, all requiring hordes of fresh technocrats and Civil Service employees. Like a perpetual teenager, who wants and buys but never produces, the president is focused on the acquisitive and consumptive urges, never on the productive — as in how all his magnanimous largesse is to be paid for by someone else.
That Medicare and Social Security are near insolvency, or soon will be; that the Postal Service and Amtrak are running in the red; that a day at the DMV, county-hospital emergency room, or zoning department doesn’t inspire confidence in the matrix of unionized government workers and large unaccountable bureaucracies — all this is lost on the Obama administration.
Utility means nothing. So long as the next proposed program enlarges a dependent constituency and is financed by the “rich” through higher taxes and more debt, it is, de facto, necessary and good. Equality of result is to be achieved both by giving more to some and by taking even more from others.
Taxes
The same pattern emerges when it comes to taxes. Most Americans could live with Obama’s plan to return to the Clinton tax rates of about 40 percent on the top brackets. But that promise is never made in a vacuum. Instead, there is an additional, almost breezy pledge to lift caps on income subject to Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes — 15.3 percent in some cases — on top of the income-tax increase.
At other times, an idea like a new healthcare surcharge is tossed about — on top of the previous proposals for payroll- and income-tax increases. That new bite likewise, in isolation, perhaps is not too scary. But Obama is planning these 1-2-3 increases at a time when most of the states are already upping their own income-tax rates — in some cases to over 10 percent.
Once again, Obama never honestly connects the dots and comes clean with the American people about the net effect: On vast swaths of upper income, new state and federal taxes — aside from any rises in sales, property, capital-gains, or inheritance taxes — could confiscate an aggregate of 65 to 70 percent.
GO HERE to read more.
by Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online
We can have a rational debate on any one item on President Obama’s vast progressive agenda, arguing whether adjectives like “statist” or “socialist” fairly describe his legislative intent. But connect all the dots and lines of the past year, and an unambiguous image starts to materialize.
New Programs
The problem is not individual legislation, whether passed or proposed, involving the gamut of issues: healthcare, bailouts, stimuli, education loans, amnesty, cap and trade. Rather, the rub is these acts in the aggregate.
The president promises a state fix for healthcare; then student loans; and next energy. There are to be subsidies, credits, and always new entitlements for every problem, all requiring hordes of fresh technocrats and Civil Service employees. Like a perpetual teenager, who wants and buys but never produces, the president is focused on the acquisitive and consumptive urges, never on the productive — as in how all his magnanimous largesse is to be paid for by someone else.
That Medicare and Social Security are near insolvency, or soon will be; that the Postal Service and Amtrak are running in the red; that a day at the DMV, county-hospital emergency room, or zoning department doesn’t inspire confidence in the matrix of unionized government workers and large unaccountable bureaucracies — all this is lost on the Obama administration.
Utility means nothing. So long as the next proposed program enlarges a dependent constituency and is financed by the “rich” through higher taxes and more debt, it is, de facto, necessary and good. Equality of result is to be achieved both by giving more to some and by taking even more from others.
Taxes
The same pattern emerges when it comes to taxes. Most Americans could live with Obama’s plan to return to the Clinton tax rates of about 40 percent on the top brackets. But that promise is never made in a vacuum. Instead, there is an additional, almost breezy pledge to lift caps on income subject to Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes — 15.3 percent in some cases — on top of the income-tax increase.
At other times, an idea like a new healthcare surcharge is tossed about — on top of the previous proposals for payroll- and income-tax increases. That new bite likewise, in isolation, perhaps is not too scary. But Obama is planning these 1-2-3 increases at a time when most of the states are already upping their own income-tax rates — in some cases to over 10 percent.
Once again, Obama never honestly connects the dots and comes clean with the American people about the net effect: On vast swaths of upper income, new state and federal taxes — aside from any rises in sales, property, capital-gains, or inheritance taxes — could confiscate an aggregate of 65 to 70 percent.
GO HERE to read more.
IMPORTANT REQUEST TO WICOMICO AFP MEMBERS
WORCESTER COUNTY CHAPTER, AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY
IMPORTANT REQUEST TO WICOMICO AFP MEMBERS
Note: underlined text is 'links' to the Internet
We have had some setbacks and disappointments, but November is coming. Folks if Pelosi, Reid and Obama win in November it's all over. DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!
We are disappointed by the lack of response and support for what could be America's Last Stand, the upcoming elections. If we don't raise enough to lock in a site soon, it will be too late to get a maximum exposure Route 50 location for the summer tourist season
We need your help! As a joint effort of the Wicomico and Worcester AFP chapters, we are renting a billboard to display the AFP November is coming message to the Ocean City vacationers as they travel Route 50. We can reach tens of thousands with our billboard message.
Please donate at least ten dollars to this project which is sure to have maximum impact on the November elections. Contact Worcester AFP member DENNIS EVANS for details. We need to get moving on this so that we can lock in the best location. Contact Dennis ASAP with your pledge, and feel free to suggest wording for our billboard message.
Also, we'd like to invite our Wicomico counterparts to the Worcester County TAX DAY TEA PARTY which will be held Saturday April 17th at noon, routes 50 & 611 intersection in West Ocean City (The Trader Lee's complex). The Rally will be approx 90 minutes, followed by a candidates meet/greet/social for those who want to hang around.
IMPORTANT REQUEST TO WICOMICO AFP MEMBERS
Note: underlined text is 'links' to the Internet
We have had some setbacks and disappointments, but November is coming. Folks if Pelosi, Reid and Obama win in November it's all over. DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!
We are disappointed by the lack of response and support for what could be America's Last Stand, the upcoming elections. If we don't raise enough to lock in a site soon, it will be too late to get a maximum exposure Route 50 location for the summer tourist season
We need your help! As a joint effort of the Wicomico and Worcester AFP chapters, we are renting a billboard to display the AFP November is coming message to the Ocean City vacationers as they travel Route 50. We can reach tens of thousands with our billboard message.
Please donate at least ten dollars to this project which is sure to have maximum impact on the November elections. Contact Worcester AFP member DENNIS EVANS for details. We need to get moving on this so that we can lock in the best location. Contact Dennis ASAP with your pledge, and feel free to suggest wording for our billboard message.
Also, we'd like to invite our Wicomico counterparts to the Worcester County TAX DAY TEA PARTY which will be held Saturday April 17th at noon, routes 50 & 611 intersection in West Ocean City (The Trader Lee's complex). The Rally will be approx 90 minutes, followed by a candidates meet/greet/social for those who want to hang around.
SU Foxwell Scholarship Release For Approval
I had several conversations with Teri Darby Thursday regarding this event and the motorcycle club that was hosting it. Based on information we, the Blue Knights International Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club, Inc. , gleaned from a meeting we decided to not participate. It was our observation that the MC club involved was, at best, a haphazard un-organized group that was looking to have a party and have someone else pay for it. They had no legal standing with the State of Maryland or the IRS and were apparently a splinter group from some other MC club.
The Blue Knights is an organization of over 20,000 active and retired law enforcement men and women that has been in existence for 35 years. During that time the Blue Knights have raised several million dollars for a multitude of charitable organizations. I say this to establish the fact that we have some experience with fund raisers and, being law enforcement professionals, we thoroughly investigate any charity we are asked to participate in. As it was initially presented, we decided to opt out of this event. I posted our opinion as a comment to an announcement regarding this event by Salisbury News.
Since then, the founder of the event, Teri Darby, and I have had several conversations during which she has informed me that the MC club that was initially involved is no longer part of this fundraiser. The foundation that organized the event is legitimate and will move forward without the involvement of others and I support their efforts.
Craig Theobald, Treasurer
Past President
Blue Knights International Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club Inc., Maryland V
The Blue Knights is an organization of over 20,000 active and retired law enforcement men and women that has been in existence for 35 years. During that time the Blue Knights have raised several million dollars for a multitude of charitable organizations. I say this to establish the fact that we have some experience with fund raisers and, being law enforcement professionals, we thoroughly investigate any charity we are asked to participate in. As it was initially presented, we decided to opt out of this event. I posted our opinion as a comment to an announcement regarding this event by Salisbury News.
Since then, the founder of the event, Teri Darby, and I have had several conversations during which she has informed me that the MC club that was initially involved is no longer part of this fundraiser. The foundation that organized the event is legitimate and will move forward without the involvement of others and I support their efforts.
Craig Theobald, Treasurer
Past President
Blue Knights International Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club Inc., Maryland V
STATEMENT FROM GOP CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE ISAAC HAYES ON UNEMPLOYMENT REPORT
CHICAGO - The Republican Nominee for Illinois 2nd Congressional District Isaac Hayes released the following statement today:
"For the past year, Americans have suffered the collateral damage of unemployment due to a deaf ear from partisan ideologues who were more concerned with taking over the health care industry than putting people back to work. Still it appears Democrats haven’t gotten the message as they are now seeking to take over the energy industry. This administration’s number one priority should be jobs, jobs, jobs. Americans recognize this political power grab at their expense and they will deliver pink slips to Congressional Democrats in November."
"For the past year, Americans have suffered the collateral damage of unemployment due to a deaf ear from partisan ideologues who were more concerned with taking over the health care industry than putting people back to work. Still it appears Democrats haven’t gotten the message as they are now seeking to take over the energy industry. This administration’s number one priority should be jobs, jobs, jobs. Americans recognize this political power grab at their expense and they will deliver pink slips to Congressional Democrats in November."
School Teacher Charged with Sexual Offenses
Locations: Various locations in New Castle County
Date of Occurrence: Various times in 2009
Involved Parties:
Suspect- Umar Ahmad, 37, of Denny Circle in Newark, Delaware
Victim #1- 14-year-old female
Victim #2- 15-year-old female
Resume: In October 2009, detectives from the State Police Criminal Investigative Unit were contacted by Colonial School District representatives who advised a parent of a student reported his child had a sexual relationship with a school teacher employed at McCullough Middle School.
The father said that while checking his then 14-year-old daughter’s cell phone, he came across concerning text messages between a McCullough School math teacher, Umar Ahmad, and his daughter. The parent brought his findings to the attention of school officials who in turn immediately called police.
It was learned through this investigation that in the months leading up to the 2009 – 2010 school year, Ahmad and the student had exchanged text messages with one another. In October of 2009, the relationship allegedly turned sexual.
As this investigation continued, it was learned that Ahmad had also solicited another student (15-years-old at the time of the offense) at McCullough and asked her to send him nude pictures of herself via cell phone.
Earlier this morning, detectives responded to Umar Ahmad’s home and successfully took him into custody. He was transported back to Troop 2 where he was formally charged with Rape 1st (felony) and Sexual Solicitation of a Child (felony).
Mr. Ahmad was ordered held by the Department of Corrections on a $40,000.00 secured bail.
There is no mug shot available for this subject. Questions regarding Mr. Ahmad’s status with the school should be directed to representatives from the Colonial School District.
Date of Occurrence: Various times in 2009
Involved Parties:
Suspect- Umar Ahmad, 37, of Denny Circle in Newark, Delaware
Victim #1- 14-year-old female
Victim #2- 15-year-old female
Resume: In October 2009, detectives from the State Police Criminal Investigative Unit were contacted by Colonial School District representatives who advised a parent of a student reported his child had a sexual relationship with a school teacher employed at McCullough Middle School.
The father said that while checking his then 14-year-old daughter’s cell phone, he came across concerning text messages between a McCullough School math teacher, Umar Ahmad, and his daughter. The parent brought his findings to the attention of school officials who in turn immediately called police.
It was learned through this investigation that in the months leading up to the 2009 – 2010 school year, Ahmad and the student had exchanged text messages with one another. In October of 2009, the relationship allegedly turned sexual.
As this investigation continued, it was learned that Ahmad had also solicited another student (15-years-old at the time of the offense) at McCullough and asked her to send him nude pictures of herself via cell phone.
Earlier this morning, detectives responded to Umar Ahmad’s home and successfully took him into custody. He was transported back to Troop 2 where he was formally charged with Rape 1st (felony) and Sexual Solicitation of a Child (felony).
Mr. Ahmad was ordered held by the Department of Corrections on a $40,000.00 secured bail.
There is no mug shot available for this subject. Questions regarding Mr. Ahmad’s status with the school should be directed to representatives from the Colonial School District.
Ocean City Fire Department
Good Morning Joe
I would like to share with you and your readers a positive note about a local fire department.
I am the secretary of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Ocean City. As I am sitting in my office this morning I am watching the generous and community minded Ocean City Fire Department help us as a congregation do something that is very important to our congregation. We have a very large flag pole that we proudly fly and American Flag 24 hours as day 365 days a year. Because of the age of our flag pole and the salty air it is at times a challenge to change the flag and that is what we encountered yesterday. Our gentleman that take care of the changing of the flag went to do so yesterday and were unable to. The suggestion was made that if we knew someone with a bucket truck we could do the task, then someone thought out loud and suggested maybe the fire department would help us with the ladder truck, we called headquarters on 15th Street and sure enough, they were more than willing to help. They told us they would be here tomorrow morning and help us change the flag. At 9:00 am just as they had stated they were here with Tower 6 and a three member crew and proceeded to change the flag.
Some might say a waste of tax payer funds to have the truck and crew come up to 103rd street from 15th street just to change a flag, but we call it a community working together to help one another display pride in our great country. If any of your readers, which I am sure there are, live in the OC area please join us in thanking and being proud of our Fire Department, a chief and firemen that mean what they say and truly serve their community.
Michelle Miller
Parish Secretary
I would like to share with you and your readers a positive note about a local fire department.
I am the secretary of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Ocean City. As I am sitting in my office this morning I am watching the generous and community minded Ocean City Fire Department help us as a congregation do something that is very important to our congregation. We have a very large flag pole that we proudly fly and American Flag 24 hours as day 365 days a year. Because of the age of our flag pole and the salty air it is at times a challenge to change the flag and that is what we encountered yesterday. Our gentleman that take care of the changing of the flag went to do so yesterday and were unable to. The suggestion was made that if we knew someone with a bucket truck we could do the task, then someone thought out loud and suggested maybe the fire department would help us with the ladder truck, we called headquarters on 15th Street and sure enough, they were more than willing to help. They told us they would be here tomorrow morning and help us change the flag. At 9:00 am just as they had stated they were here with Tower 6 and a three member crew and proceeded to change the flag.
Some might say a waste of tax payer funds to have the truck and crew come up to 103rd street from 15th street just to change a flag, but we call it a community working together to help one another display pride in our great country. If any of your readers, which I am sure there are, live in the OC area please join us in thanking and being proud of our Fire Department, a chief and firemen that mean what they say and truly serve their community.
Michelle Miller
Parish Secretary
O'Malley's Energy Plan
Have you read about the latest plan to increase your energy costs in the major media? I didn’t think so. The following comes from the Senate Republican Caucus. And when the rates go up, the same people who promote this stuff will be demonizing the energy producers for raising prices.
Ellen
During the 2006 campaign, Martin O'Malley issued a clarion promise to reduce the electric bills of Maryland's citizens. In a well-crafted television ad, O'Malley proclaimed that he had an energy plan that would roll back electric rates throughout the state. Four years later, consumer energy bills are higher than ever.
In fact, O'Malley's energy plan has been partially responsible for higher costs to consumers. On Thursday, Senate Republicans spent almost an hour engaged in floor debate to amend a bill proposed by O'Malley as part of his statewide energy policy (Senate Bill 277 - Renewable Energy Portfolio - Solar Energy). In effect, this bill creates a $1 billion energy tax on Maryland's consumers over the next fifteen years.
The bill requires Maryland's energy companies to purchase a certain percentage of energy from solar providers and, if not, pay a penalty. As explained by Republican Senators on the Senate floor, this level of solar capacity does not exist in Maryland. The bill is inherently structured so that the renewable energy thresholds cannot be achieved and, therefore, penalties are assessed that are then passed through to customer's bills.
"This is a tax bill - this is a solar tax on our utility users," said Senator EJ Pipkin, emphasizing the $1 billion estimate of costs to consumers. "You might as well just call this the 'Renewable Energy Portfolio Tax.'"
Senator Andy Harris questioned the Democrat floor leaders of the bill about how much this "mandatory fee increase" will cost ratepayers. During the committee hearings, estimates were presented that the bill would cost ratepayers over $500 million in the BGE service area, $300 million in the PEPCO area and additional millions throughout the rest of the state. In response, Democrat advocates for the bill failed to dispute the validity of the $1 billlion in additional costs to consumers. Harris offered an amendment to insure that no penalties could be passed onto consumers.
Frederick County Senators Alex Mooney and David Brinkley both noted that an economic storm-cloud hovered over the floor debate from the announcement this week that BP Solar, a manufacturer of solar panels, was closing its Frederick, Maryland plant. In prior years, the renewable portfolio energy legislation was viewed as a spur to local economic development but that argument has weakened now that most manufacturing has moved overseas.
Noting that the Public Service Commission confirmed that the solar capacity does not currently exist, Senator Mooney offered two amendments to defer implementation of the bill and to defer penalties on consumers until the solar capacity actually exists in Maryland. Senator Nancy Jacobs advocated for an amendment to return any funds received from penalties to the ratepayers as a tax credit. In offering his amendment, Senator Brinkley stated that the funds from penalties already paid by utility consumers were "harvested" by O'Malley this year to balance the state budget instead of used to promote solar energy development.
By the end of the second reader debate, all amendments to eliminate the high tax consequences on consumers were rejected by the Democrat majority. The bill will be voted on third reader on Friday, April 2nd. The Republican Senators have taken a unanimous caucus position in opposition to Senate Bill 277.
Ellen
During the 2006 campaign, Martin O'Malley issued a clarion promise to reduce the electric bills of Maryland's citizens. In a well-crafted television ad, O'Malley proclaimed that he had an energy plan that would roll back electric rates throughout the state. Four years later, consumer energy bills are higher than ever.
In fact, O'Malley's energy plan has been partially responsible for higher costs to consumers. On Thursday, Senate Republicans spent almost an hour engaged in floor debate to amend a bill proposed by O'Malley as part of his statewide energy policy (Senate Bill 277 - Renewable Energy Portfolio - Solar Energy). In effect, this bill creates a $1 billion energy tax on Maryland's consumers over the next fifteen years.
The bill requires Maryland's energy companies to purchase a certain percentage of energy from solar providers and, if not, pay a penalty. As explained by Republican Senators on the Senate floor, this level of solar capacity does not exist in Maryland. The bill is inherently structured so that the renewable energy thresholds cannot be achieved and, therefore, penalties are assessed that are then passed through to customer's bills.
"This is a tax bill - this is a solar tax on our utility users," said Senator EJ Pipkin, emphasizing the $1 billion estimate of costs to consumers. "You might as well just call this the 'Renewable Energy Portfolio Tax.'"
Senator Andy Harris questioned the Democrat floor leaders of the bill about how much this "mandatory fee increase" will cost ratepayers. During the committee hearings, estimates were presented that the bill would cost ratepayers over $500 million in the BGE service area, $300 million in the PEPCO area and additional millions throughout the rest of the state. In response, Democrat advocates for the bill failed to dispute the validity of the $1 billlion in additional costs to consumers. Harris offered an amendment to insure that no penalties could be passed onto consumers.
Frederick County Senators Alex Mooney and David Brinkley both noted that an economic storm-cloud hovered over the floor debate from the announcement this week that BP Solar, a manufacturer of solar panels, was closing its Frederick, Maryland plant. In prior years, the renewable portfolio energy legislation was viewed as a spur to local economic development but that argument has weakened now that most manufacturing has moved overseas.
Noting that the Public Service Commission confirmed that the solar capacity does not currently exist, Senator Mooney offered two amendments to defer implementation of the bill and to defer penalties on consumers until the solar capacity actually exists in Maryland. Senator Nancy Jacobs advocated for an amendment to return any funds received from penalties to the ratepayers as a tax credit. In offering his amendment, Senator Brinkley stated that the funds from penalties already paid by utility consumers were "harvested" by O'Malley this year to balance the state budget instead of used to promote solar energy development.
By the end of the second reader debate, all amendments to eliminate the high tax consequences on consumers were rejected by the Democrat majority. The bill will be voted on third reader on Friday, April 2nd. The Republican Senators have taken a unanimous caucus position in opposition to Senate Bill 277.
Dick Morris: Donating To RNC 'Waste Of Money'
Fox News commentator and bestselling author Dick Morris says the profligate spending spotlighted by the RNC's "strippergate" scandal indicates that "When you give money to the Republican National Committee, you're wasting your money."
He says donors should instead send money to other conservative organizations that directly contact voters on behalf of GOP candidates.
Morris stops short of saying RNC Chairman Michael Steele should step down. Steele has endured harsh media criticism following the news that $2,000 of RNC money was spent, without his knowledge, at a bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood, Calif. But the real problem is the RNC's entrenched bureaucracy, Morris says.
"They have a bureaucracy there, and consultants who are sort of getting used to being at the trough," says Morris in an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV's. "The shocking statistic to me… is that from the beginning of this year's cycle, which was Election Day '08 until now, the Republican National Committee has raised $101 million -- which is great.
"But they've spent $107 million, which is terrible. And that means before there's an election, before they do any advertising, any voter content, any get-out-the-vote activity, they have wasted $100 million on overhead. And to me, that's the problem. I don't care where the nightclub is, I don't care if they're going to the Christian charity nightclub, as far as that's concerned. They shouldn't be spending money on anything other than direct content with the voters," he says.
Morris, who serves as a pro bono strategist for the League of American Voters, another political organization that raises donations from conservatives, predicts that the image problems caused by the revelations won't hurt conservative candidates.
"But I do think that what hurts them is that $100 million is gone, it walked out the door," he adds.
More here
He says donors should instead send money to other conservative organizations that directly contact voters on behalf of GOP candidates.
Morris stops short of saying RNC Chairman Michael Steele should step down. Steele has endured harsh media criticism following the news that $2,000 of RNC money was spent, without his knowledge, at a bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood, Calif. But the real problem is the RNC's entrenched bureaucracy, Morris says.
"They have a bureaucracy there, and consultants who are sort of getting used to being at the trough," says Morris in an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV's. "The shocking statistic to me… is that from the beginning of this year's cycle, which was Election Day '08 until now, the Republican National Committee has raised $101 million -- which is great.
"But they've spent $107 million, which is terrible. And that means before there's an election, before they do any advertising, any voter content, any get-out-the-vote activity, they have wasted $100 million on overhead. And to me, that's the problem. I don't care where the nightclub is, I don't care if they're going to the Christian charity nightclub, as far as that's concerned. They shouldn't be spending money on anything other than direct content with the voters," he says.
Morris, who serves as a pro bono strategist for the League of American Voters, another political organization that raises donations from conservatives, predicts that the image problems caused by the revelations won't hurt conservative candidates.
"But I do think that what hurts them is that $100 million is gone, it walked out the door," he adds.
More here
RNC Chairman Meets Immigration Group, Sides Differ On Outcome
So what exactly happened when the chairman of the Republican National Committee met with immigration activists Wednesday? According to a news release put out by the activists, he said he would try and recruit Republican support for comprehensive immigration legislation.
The RNC says he made no such commitment. The immigration activist who led the meeting said he did, but then backpedaled after being signaled by a staffer that he may have gone too far.
Everyone agrees that Michael Steele, RNC chairman, met with a group of activists from the Fair Immigration Reform Movement. Afterwards, FIRM put out a statement implying that Steele was firmly in their camp. The statement said that the activists “walked away with a commitment from Steele to work with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and the party’s leadership to enlist another Republican senator’s support for comprehensive and bipartisan immigration reform.”
Graham is working with Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York on an immigration bill, but has made it clear that he wants at least one other Republican on board before they introduce it. So far, that Republican has been hard to find. So news that Steele was helping with the recruitment was notable. And, from the other end of the political spectrum, it’s significant given the deep opposition among many Republicans to comprehensive legislation, which will surely include a path to citizenship for people who came to the U.S. illegally.
So did Steele walk into another sticky political mess?
No, the RNC said. Asked about the statement, RNC spokesman Doug Heye said “none of it is right” and said the meeting was an opportunity to listen to concerns and discuss the GOP’s “strong support of legal immigration.”
“Any claim that the RNC made any policy commitments is a clear misrepresentation,” Heye said in an email. He declined to answer further questions about the meeting.
Mary Moreno of the Center for Community Change, who released the original statement, referred Washington Wire to two of the activists who were in the room.
Read more here
The RNC says he made no such commitment. The immigration activist who led the meeting said he did, but then backpedaled after being signaled by a staffer that he may have gone too far.
Everyone agrees that Michael Steele, RNC chairman, met with a group of activists from the Fair Immigration Reform Movement. Afterwards, FIRM put out a statement implying that Steele was firmly in their camp. The statement said that the activists “walked away with a commitment from Steele to work with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and the party’s leadership to enlist another Republican senator’s support for comprehensive and bipartisan immigration reform.”
Graham is working with Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York on an immigration bill, but has made it clear that he wants at least one other Republican on board before they introduce it. So far, that Republican has been hard to find. So news that Steele was helping with the recruitment was notable. And, from the other end of the political spectrum, it’s significant given the deep opposition among many Republicans to comprehensive legislation, which will surely include a path to citizenship for people who came to the U.S. illegally.
So did Steele walk into another sticky political mess?
No, the RNC said. Asked about the statement, RNC spokesman Doug Heye said “none of it is right” and said the meeting was an opportunity to listen to concerns and discuss the GOP’s “strong support of legal immigration.”
“Any claim that the RNC made any policy commitments is a clear misrepresentation,” Heye said in an email. He declined to answer further questions about the meeting.
Mary Moreno of the Center for Community Change, who released the original statement, referred Washington Wire to two of the activists who were in the room.
Read more here
We'll Remember In November: Take The 2010 Voter PledgI
November may be eight months away, but congressional candidates need to know which way the wind is blowing, says WND Editor and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Farah.
And that's the purpose of a new petition – the 2010 Voter Pledge.
"There's nothing complicated about this pledge," says Farah. "It's very simple. If your No. 1 litmus test for voting this year is overturning the illegal, unconstitutional, outrageous health-care legislation, you need to sign this petition."
Farah says it's not just a matter of bad legislation that is counterproductive, expensive and a threat to the greatest health-care system in the world.
"It's been a long time since we had a law passed by the Congress and signed by the president that is so patently unconstitutional," he says. "The idea of fining Americans who choose, for whatever reason, not to purchase a particular kind of insurance stands on its head everything for which this country stands."
Farah says the health-care legislation may have been the electro-shock treatment Americans needed to awaken them from a long sleepwalk away from the Constitution, the rule of law and the will of the people.
"I am very optimistic Americans have seen the light – a light that will result in a political tsunami the likes of which we have not seen in 100 years," he says.
Farah wants Americans to remember in November how they felt after all the debate, all the betrayal and all the corruption that preceded the health-care vote in House of Representatives this month.
"Signing this petition is the first step," he says. "It's time for Americans to stand up, sign up and speak up."
The petition reads:
"Whereas, the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States of America reached a new low watermark in 2009 and 2010 in approving legislation in direct contravention of the U.S. Constitution, I, an American citizen eligible to vote in my state, do solemnly pledge the following:
"Refuse to vote for any congressional candidate, House or Senate, who supported the so-called "health-care reform package" approved in Congress;
"I will only consider voting for congressional candidates who pledge to overturn the unconstitutional health-care legislation;
"I will only consider voting for congressional candidates who vow to apply the strict test of constitutionality to all future legislation;
"I will enthusiastically support with my vote and financial support those congressional candidates who offer an aggressive legislative program for taking America back to its constitutional moorings in self-government and the rule of law."
Sign the petition now.
And that's the purpose of a new petition – the 2010 Voter Pledge.
"There's nothing complicated about this pledge," says Farah. "It's very simple. If your No. 1 litmus test for voting this year is overturning the illegal, unconstitutional, outrageous health-care legislation, you need to sign this petition."
Farah says it's not just a matter of bad legislation that is counterproductive, expensive and a threat to the greatest health-care system in the world.
"It's been a long time since we had a law passed by the Congress and signed by the president that is so patently unconstitutional," he says. "The idea of fining Americans who choose, for whatever reason, not to purchase a particular kind of insurance stands on its head everything for which this country stands."
Farah says the health-care legislation may have been the electro-shock treatment Americans needed to awaken them from a long sleepwalk away from the Constitution, the rule of law and the will of the people.
"I am very optimistic Americans have seen the light – a light that will result in a political tsunami the likes of which we have not seen in 100 years," he says.
Farah wants Americans to remember in November how they felt after all the debate, all the betrayal and all the corruption that preceded the health-care vote in House of Representatives this month.
"Signing this petition is the first step," he says. "It's time for Americans to stand up, sign up and speak up."
The petition reads:
"Whereas, the House of Representatives and Senate of the United States of America reached a new low watermark in 2009 and 2010 in approving legislation in direct contravention of the U.S. Constitution, I, an American citizen eligible to vote in my state, do solemnly pledge the following:
"Refuse to vote for any congressional candidate, House or Senate, who supported the so-called "health-care reform package" approved in Congress;
"I will only consider voting for congressional candidates who pledge to overturn the unconstitutional health-care legislation;
"I will only consider voting for congressional candidates who vow to apply the strict test of constitutionality to all future legislation;
"I will enthusiastically support with my vote and financial support those congressional candidates who offer an aggressive legislative program for taking America back to its constitutional moorings in self-government and the rule of law."
Sign the petition now.
Commerce Bashes Companies Crying Foul On Obamacare
The Obama administration is firing back against claims that the healthcare law will cost companies billions in taxes.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in a Thursday op-ed in The Wall Street Journal called out companies for being "disingenuous" in arguing that the rescission of a particular healthcare tax deduction would cause their taxes to jump.
"Critics have seized on this accounting adjustment to suggest these costs — as much as $1 billion in one company's case — are going to place immediate and substantial cost burdens on America's businesses. This is disingenuous," Locke wrote.
Boeing on Wednesday announced the accounting change would make it take a $150 million tax hit.
AT&T recently announced a $1 billion tax charge because of the accounting rule change. Caterpillar and John Deere expect tax increases of $100 million and $150 million, respectfully. 3M claimed the accounting change would boost its tax payments by roughly $87 million.
Locke wrote that the actual cash flow impact of the provisions would begin in 2013 and would only represent a tiny fraction of the accounting charge-offs.
He also pointed to a story in the Journal that said that one company that had calulated a $100 million hit to its first-quarter earnings would actually see closer to a $7 million hit each year. Locke said that was less than 1 percent of the company's profits.
Under the healthcare law, businesses still receive the tax-free subsidy, but they can no longer deduct it from their taxes as they did in the past. In most cases, companies cannot deduct tax-free subsidies from their taxes.
"This is how virtually every other federal subsidy for businesses and individuals is treated by the IRS," Locke wrote, adding, "When you look past the hype and the overheated rhetoric, the benefits of the health reforms for America's businesses large and small far outweigh the impact of this small provision."
Republicans are pressing the argument that the healthcare law is a jobs-killer that will raise taxes, and reports from the companies have bolstered their public case.
Locke's op-ed is a sign of Democrats trying to push back.
Read more here
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in a Thursday op-ed in The Wall Street Journal called out companies for being "disingenuous" in arguing that the rescission of a particular healthcare tax deduction would cause their taxes to jump.
"Critics have seized on this accounting adjustment to suggest these costs — as much as $1 billion in one company's case — are going to place immediate and substantial cost burdens on America's businesses. This is disingenuous," Locke wrote.
Boeing on Wednesday announced the accounting change would make it take a $150 million tax hit.
AT&T recently announced a $1 billion tax charge because of the accounting rule change. Caterpillar and John Deere expect tax increases of $100 million and $150 million, respectfully. 3M claimed the accounting change would boost its tax payments by roughly $87 million.
Locke wrote that the actual cash flow impact of the provisions would begin in 2013 and would only represent a tiny fraction of the accounting charge-offs.
He also pointed to a story in the Journal that said that one company that had calulated a $100 million hit to its first-quarter earnings would actually see closer to a $7 million hit each year. Locke said that was less than 1 percent of the company's profits.
Under the healthcare law, businesses still receive the tax-free subsidy, but they can no longer deduct it from their taxes as they did in the past. In most cases, companies cannot deduct tax-free subsidies from their taxes.
"This is how virtually every other federal subsidy for businesses and individuals is treated by the IRS," Locke wrote, adding, "When you look past the hype and the overheated rhetoric, the benefits of the health reforms for America's businesses large and small far outweigh the impact of this small provision."
Republicans are pressing the argument that the healthcare law is a jobs-killer that will raise taxes, and reports from the companies have bolstered their public case.
Locke's op-ed is a sign of Democrats trying to push back.
Read more here
Tea Party Unveils 'Contract From America' Planks
You won't find many surveys that involve over 365,000 respondents, but that's how many online forms were completed to determine the top three planks of the tea-party movement's platform released Thursday as part of the new "Contract From America."
Leading the list as issue No. 1: "Protect the Constitution: Require each bill to identity the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does."
That proposal won the approval of 80.7 percent of the survey responses collected so far. Voting will continue through Monday at ContractFromAmerica.com.
The second most popular of the 21 issues that are up for a vote: "Reject cap and trade: Stop costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation's global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures."
The goal of that plant, tea party officials say, is to block any imposition of the cap and trade tax, whether by congressional fiat or by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has threatened to act unilaterally if Congress fails to do so. The issue won the support of 70.8 percent of respondents.
Issue No. 3 was unveiled Thursday based on the survey responses: "Demand a balanced budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike." That plank received the approval of 69.9 percent of respondents.
Ryan Hecker is the 29-year-old Houston attorney who came up with the Contract From America concept even before the tea party movement was launched in February 2009. He says the ultimate objective is to influence the outcome of the midterm elections the way the Contract With America did in 1994, only more so:
"My dream, my hope," Hecker tells Newsmax, "is that economic conservative candidates and those who want to be economic conservatives in the future will sign on, and that we get a bunch of blue-dog Democrats and tons of elected officials onboard, and that they recognize that any document they craft themselves won't be as powerful as one coming from the people.
So I'm hoping this will be the legislative agenda, coming from the people, for the 2010 elections."
The Contract From America proposal first emerged at CPAC in February, promising a legislative agenda bubbling up from the grass-roots rather than down from legislators. Since then, Hecker his colleagues at the Tea Party Patriots and other grass-roots organizations have sifted through a small mountain of proposals submitted from voters across the United States.
Using more than 5,000 surveys mostly completed by members of the grass-roots movement, they winnowed the ideas down to 21 proposals.
Next they posted the list online in the form of an extended survey, and directed voters to the ContractFromAmerica Web site to select the top 10 ideas.
The 10 proposals that the grass-roots voters deem the most important will be included in the full ContractFromAmerica proposal, which will be unveiled on April 15 during the massive Tax Day Tea Party rally being conducted in the nation's capital. Reflecting the widespread, de-centralized power of the tea party movement, the Contract From America also will be simultaneously revealed in Houston, Austin, Atlanta, and 80 other locations in the country.
More here
Leading the list as issue No. 1: "Protect the Constitution: Require each bill to identity the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does."
That proposal won the approval of 80.7 percent of the survey responses collected so far. Voting will continue through Monday at ContractFromAmerica.com.
The second most popular of the 21 issues that are up for a vote: "Reject cap and trade: Stop costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation's global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures."
The goal of that plant, tea party officials say, is to block any imposition of the cap and trade tax, whether by congressional fiat or by the Environmental Protection Agency, which has threatened to act unilaterally if Congress fails to do so. The issue won the support of 70.8 percent of respondents.
Issue No. 3 was unveiled Thursday based on the survey responses: "Demand a balanced budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike." That plank received the approval of 69.9 percent of respondents.
Ryan Hecker is the 29-year-old Houston attorney who came up with the Contract From America concept even before the tea party movement was launched in February 2009. He says the ultimate objective is to influence the outcome of the midterm elections the way the Contract With America did in 1994, only more so:
"My dream, my hope," Hecker tells Newsmax, "is that economic conservative candidates and those who want to be economic conservatives in the future will sign on, and that we get a bunch of blue-dog Democrats and tons of elected officials onboard, and that they recognize that any document they craft themselves won't be as powerful as one coming from the people.
So I'm hoping this will be the legislative agenda, coming from the people, for the 2010 elections."
The Contract From America proposal first emerged at CPAC in February, promising a legislative agenda bubbling up from the grass-roots rather than down from legislators. Since then, Hecker his colleagues at the Tea Party Patriots and other grass-roots organizations have sifted through a small mountain of proposals submitted from voters across the United States.
Using more than 5,000 surveys mostly completed by members of the grass-roots movement, they winnowed the ideas down to 21 proposals.
Next they posted the list online in the form of an extended survey, and directed voters to the ContractFromAmerica Web site to select the top 10 ideas.
The 10 proposals that the grass-roots voters deem the most important will be included in the full ContractFromAmerica proposal, which will be unveiled on April 15 during the massive Tax Day Tea Party rally being conducted in the nation's capital. Reflecting the widespread, de-centralized power of the tea party movement, the Contract From America also will be simultaneously revealed in Houston, Austin, Atlanta, and 80 other locations in the country.
More here
A Comment Worthy Of A Post
The two at large C/C members are needed as much as the P.I.O. It is funny went the knife hits the bone just who pops out of the wood work. I see a lot people with the "Me" syndrome that has ruined this country.
Those three people we call for their blood. How can any of us that can afford a computer sit here and demand the livelyhood of another person. Look at what we have become. A bit of adversity and we want people to walk the plank. Hell someone has to pay right. Who cares about the families of these people in hard economic times.
I find it funny that McCain is not running this term. Who paid for the room at the Civic Center ?? Bill can you answer this.
If we wnt to throw people under the bus. Lets start with the perfect storm that has been brewing in this county for twenty years. We are seeing the cold hard facts of the Peterson & Craemer debacle and past councils. The recent crew inherited a mess, but have really done nothing to improve the quailty of life for anyone other than themselves.
The Landfill theft ring going on for years. Who was the watch. This county will surely be laying off people this July. Start with those who litterly stole from the county that are still employed. Start with the obvious crooks then go after the elected ones that created it.
Americans are tired of Politicians force feeding us bullshit with a sprinkle sugar hoping it goes down o.k.
On a side note I guess the passing of judgement on Jen Foxwell paid off. I hear through the grapevine she has suffered a major breakdown. Instead of attacking the beast that committed the crime we let our anger go far and wide. If this women kills herself have we garnered a victory. I do not think so. I would not want that on my hands.
As Easter approaches I know my heart is heavy with the state of the country and county.
Remember ones life is worth more then a hand full of coin.
The Wicomican
Those three people we call for their blood. How can any of us that can afford a computer sit here and demand the livelyhood of another person. Look at what we have become. A bit of adversity and we want people to walk the plank. Hell someone has to pay right. Who cares about the families of these people in hard economic times.
I find it funny that McCain is not running this term. Who paid for the room at the Civic Center ?? Bill can you answer this.
If we wnt to throw people under the bus. Lets start with the perfect storm that has been brewing in this county for twenty years. We are seeing the cold hard facts of the Peterson & Craemer debacle and past councils. The recent crew inherited a mess, but have really done nothing to improve the quailty of life for anyone other than themselves.
The Landfill theft ring going on for years. Who was the watch. This county will surely be laying off people this July. Start with those who litterly stole from the county that are still employed. Start with the obvious crooks then go after the elected ones that created it.
Americans are tired of Politicians force feeding us bullshit with a sprinkle sugar hoping it goes down o.k.
On a side note I guess the passing of judgement on Jen Foxwell paid off. I hear through the grapevine she has suffered a major breakdown. Instead of attacking the beast that committed the crime we let our anger go far and wide. If this women kills herself have we garnered a victory. I do not think so. I would not want that on my hands.
As Easter approaches I know my heart is heavy with the state of the country and county.
Remember ones life is worth more then a hand full of coin.
The Wicomican
WICOMICO COUNTY EXECUTIVE ANNOUNCES 4TH ANNUAL BUDGET ‘PREVIEW’ MEETING
Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr., announced today that he will hold his 4th annual budget preview meeting on Thursday, April 8th beginning at 7:00 P.M. in the Flanders Rooms of the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. As always, the public is invited and encouraged to attend.
Mr. Pollitt said, “The current Fiscal Year 2010 operating budget is $120.7 Million. That is $8.8 Million below the budget for FY 2009 and $11.3 Million below the first budget I proposed for FY 2008. Due to a drastic decrease in property and income tax revenue as well as in state funding, I am estimating that this year’s proposal will be significantly lower, probably somewhere around $110 Million. The major portion of the county budget is dedicated to education and public safety.”
“The budget for next year is still evolving,” continued Pollitt, “and I am eager to share the progress thus far with our citizens at the meeting on April 8th. We have many challenges in front of us and we need to move forward together.”
Mr. Pollitt will submit his proposed budget to the Wicomico County Council on or before April 15th
Mr. Pollitt said, “The current Fiscal Year 2010 operating budget is $120.7 Million. That is $8.8 Million below the budget for FY 2009 and $11.3 Million below the first budget I proposed for FY 2008. Due to a drastic decrease in property and income tax revenue as well as in state funding, I am estimating that this year’s proposal will be significantly lower, probably somewhere around $110 Million. The major portion of the county budget is dedicated to education and public safety.”
“The budget for next year is still evolving,” continued Pollitt, “and I am eager to share the progress thus far with our citizens at the meeting on April 8th. We have many challenges in front of us and we need to move forward together.”
Mr. Pollitt will submit his proposed budget to the Wicomico County Council on or before April 15th
96 Rock Is Now 95.9 The Sports Animal!
Joe,
As of this morning, 96 Rock was replaced with 95.9 The Sports Animal. This station becomes the only FM Sports talk station on Delmarva. It carries a feed of ESPN Radio, with a local sports show called "Off The Bench" featuring local personalities Whiskey and Randy Scott every day from 4pm-7pm. If you would please make this a post it would be fantastic to let the readers know. Thanks!
As of this morning, 96 Rock was replaced with 95.9 The Sports Animal. This station becomes the only FM Sports talk station on Delmarva. It carries a feed of ESPN Radio, with a local sports show called "Off The Bench" featuring local personalities Whiskey and Randy Scott every day from 4pm-7pm. If you would please make this a post it would be fantastic to let the readers know. Thanks!
START OF GRASS/WEED SEASON
The City of Salisbury wants to remind property owners that grass/weeds & noxious growth shall not be in excess of 8” according to Chapter 8.08 of the Salisbury Municipal Code. Every owner of any area, lot or parcel of land shall cut, trim or otherwise remove or cause to be cut, trimmed or otherwise removed all grass, weeds, brush or plant growth thereon in excess of eight inches. Property owners of any lot or land located in the city shall maintain their respective curbs, gutters and sidewalks bordering their parcels of land in such condition as to be clear of all growth of grass, weeds, brush or plant growth within the curb, gutter and sidewalk.
First notice of violation affords a ten day compliance window. Second notice of violation offers a seven day compliance window, a third or subsequent violation will result in the city securing a contractor to perform the necessary work. All charges/fees etc. will be placed against the property in the form of a tax lien. The City of Salisbury is also authorized to write a Municipal Citation in the amount of $25 for the first day of noncompliance and $50 for each additional day of noncompliance, not to exceed $500.00.
NSCC accepts calls for service (complaints) regarding violations of Chapter 8.08. To contact Neighborhood Services & Code compliance please call (410) 341-9550 Monday thru Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
First notice of violation affords a ten day compliance window. Second notice of violation offers a seven day compliance window, a third or subsequent violation will result in the city securing a contractor to perform the necessary work. All charges/fees etc. will be placed against the property in the form of a tax lien. The City of Salisbury is also authorized to write a Municipal Citation in the amount of $25 for the first day of noncompliance and $50 for each additional day of noncompliance, not to exceed $500.00.
NSCC accepts calls for service (complaints) regarding violations of Chapter 8.08. To contact Neighborhood Services & Code compliance please call (410) 341-9550 Monday thru Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Yard Sales 04/02/10
GO HERE for this weekend's yard sales. Everyone have a wonderful sunny warm weekend.
If you have a yard sale that you would like featured here, please email me, SunnyInOC, at atlanticjw@aol.com. Please type "yardsale" in the subject of your email. Many thanks.
If you have a yard sale that you would like featured here, please email me, SunnyInOC, at atlanticjw@aol.com. Please type "yardsale" in the subject of your email. Many thanks.
GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY HONORS BLACK SAGA COMPETITION WINNERS
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley honored the winners in the 2010 Black Saga Competition today, at a recognition ceremony for the contestants and their supporters. The Governor presented citations to the academic teams consisting of elementary and middle schools students from around the state.
The Black Saga Competition is a competitive learning activity that tests student’s knowledge of the African American experience as a part of history. The competition is based upon Black Saga – The African American Experience: A Chronology written by Dr. Charles M. Christian. The book documents the African American experience in the United States from colonial times to the present in brief entries, arranged in chronological order.
“Working together as One Maryland, we are making real progress to improve the education of every child and to expand opportunities to more Marylanders,” said Governor O’Malley. “Together with programs like the Black Saga Competition, we are strengthening our kids’ skills, preparing them to compete in a global economy and building on the progress we have already made in our public schools.”
Each elementary and middle school that registers for the competition may select no more than two teams, with three members each, supported by the school principal and teacher coordinators. After a challenging in-school competition, two winning teams emerge to compete in the statewide competition held at Towson University during spring break in March.
At the statewide competition, the 10 teams on each level with the highest scores from the first round of competition advance to the championship round. In the championship round, each team answers 10 questions and those scores are used to establish 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Students on 1st place teams receive $300 each, students on 2nd place teams receive $200 each and students on 3rd place teams receive $100 each.
The 1st place elementary school receives $300 as does the 1st place middle school.
Each of the top 10 elementary and middle schools receive a plaque for display.
The Black Saga Competition is sponsored by Coppin State University, Towson University and the Maryland Geographic Alliance at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
The Black Saga Competition is a competitive learning activity that tests student’s knowledge of the African American experience as a part of history. The competition is based upon Black Saga – The African American Experience: A Chronology written by Dr. Charles M. Christian. The book documents the African American experience in the United States from colonial times to the present in brief entries, arranged in chronological order.
“Working together as One Maryland, we are making real progress to improve the education of every child and to expand opportunities to more Marylanders,” said Governor O’Malley. “Together with programs like the Black Saga Competition, we are strengthening our kids’ skills, preparing them to compete in a global economy and building on the progress we have already made in our public schools.”
Each elementary and middle school that registers for the competition may select no more than two teams, with three members each, supported by the school principal and teacher coordinators. After a challenging in-school competition, two winning teams emerge to compete in the statewide competition held at Towson University during spring break in March.
At the statewide competition, the 10 teams on each level with the highest scores from the first round of competition advance to the championship round. In the championship round, each team answers 10 questions and those scores are used to establish 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Students on 1st place teams receive $300 each, students on 2nd place teams receive $200 each and students on 3rd place teams receive $100 each.
The 1st place elementary school receives $300 as does the 1st place middle school.
Each of the top 10 elementary and middle schools receive a plaque for display.
The Black Saga Competition is sponsored by Coppin State University, Towson University and the Maryland Geographic Alliance at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.