Missing Child UPDATE: FOUND

My thirteen year old niece has been missing since 5:00 this afternoon. If anyone sees her please call Salisbury Police or 410 548 3777 or 410 422 8456 She lives near downtown Salisbury and may be in that area. Thank you

The missing child has been found.

Come Celebrate Sarah Foxwell's Life & Birthday At 6 PM Tonight

Come join us at the Shorebirds Stadium at 6 PM tonight to celebrate Sarah's Life and Birthday.

Wicomico Council Says No to Night Meetings Again

Wicomico voters will have to continue to take off work if they want to watch their county government in action.  The Wicomico County Council again refused to hold at least one meeting peer month at night.

The vote was 3 – 3 (councilman John Cannon was absent due to the passing of his father).  Joe Holloway, Sheree Sample-Hughes, and Gail Bartkovich voted for the measure.  The resolution required 4 votes to pass.

16 Illegals Sue Arizona Rancher

The Washington Times 5/18/10

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes. Also named are Mr. Barnett's wife, Barbara, his brother, Donald, and Larry Dever, sheriff in Cochise County, Ariz., where the Barnetts live. The civil trial is expected to continue until Friday.

The lawsuit is based on a March 7, 2004, incident in a dry wash on the 22,000-acre ranch, when he approached a group of illegal immigrants while carrying a gun and accompanied by a large dog.

Attorneys for the immigrants - five women and 11 men who were trying to cross illegally into the United States - have accused Mr. Barnett of holding the group captive at gunpoint, threatening to turn his dog loose on them and saying he would shoot anyone who tried to escape.
The immigrants are represented at trial by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which also charged that Sheriff Dever did nothing to prevent Mr. Barnett from holding their clients at "gunpoint, yelling obscenities at them and kicking one of the women."

In the lawsuit, MALDEF said Mr. Barnett approached the group as the immigrants moved through his property, and that he was carrying a pistol and threatening them in English and Spanish. At one point, it said, Mr. Barnett's dog barked at several of the women and he yelled at them in Spanish, "My dog is hungry and he's hungry for buttocks."

The lawsuit said he then called his wife and two Border Patrol agents arrived at the site. It also said Mr. Barnett acknowledged that he had turned over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol since 1998.

In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.

Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times in a 2002 interview that he began rounding up illegal immigrants after they started to vandalize his property, northeast of Douglas along Arizona Highway 80. He said the immigrants tore up water pumps, killed calves, destroyed fences and gates, stole trucks and broke into his home.

Some of his cattle died from ingesting the plastic bottles left behind by the immigrants, he said, adding that he installed a faucet on an 8,000-gallon water tank so the immigrants would stop damaging the tank to get water.

Mr. Barnett said some of the ranch´s established immigrant trails were littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil - which supposedly is used to pack the drugs the immigrant smugglers give their "clients" to keep them running.

He said he carried a pistol during his searches for the immigrants and had a rifle in his truck "for protection" against immigrant and drug smugglers, who often are armed.

A former Cochise County sheriff´s deputy who later was successful in the towing and propane business, Mr. Barnett spent $30,000 on electronic sensors, which he has hidden along established trails on his ranch. He searches the ranch for illegal immigrants in a pickup truck, dressed in a green shirt and camouflage hat, with his handgun and rifle, high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie.

His sprawling ranch became an illegal-immigration highway when the Border Patrol diverted its attention to several border towns in an effort to take control of the established ports of entry. That effort moved the illegal immigrants to the remote areas of the border, including the Cross Rail Ranch.

"This is my land. I´m the victim here," Mr. Barnett said. "When someone´s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can´t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back."

A viewer writes: "This makes my blood boil. How can an illegal sue any American citizen? They have no "rights" and this should have NEVER been allowed in a courtroom........"

'President Obama Doesn't Care About White People!'

No, country star Taylor Swift didn't say that about the president. Nor did any of the entertainers who performed on a telethon to raise money for victims of the historic floods ravaging parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi. None accused the Obama administration of indifference or lack of attentiveness to these floods.

Swift, who contributed $500,000, was one of many stars who appeared on this fundraiser put on by the Nashville NBC affiliate, WSMV, and carried by other Tennessee stations.

In 2005, a Hurricane Katrina relief telethon was carried live on CBS, ABC, Fox, and NBC and more than 25 other channels. A separate telethon was broadcast on MTV, VH1 and CMT. During a Katrina fundraiser, rapper Kayne West accused President George W. Bush of indifference to the plight of those suffering. West said, "George W. Bush doesn't care about black people."

Hurricane Katrina was catastrophic. It caused over 1,500 deaths, with property damage estimated at near $100 billion and hundreds of thousands of people displaced. The failures of local and state responders, the widely criticized federal response and subsequent finger pointing made a tragically newsworthy story even more so.

And, at the moment, there is no shortage of significant news. Major stories include the naturalized American Muslim terrorist who admitted placing a car bomb in Times Square. An underwater oil rig erupted in the Gulf of Mississippi, creating the largest domestic oil spill since the Exxon Valdez. Arizona passed a controversial anti-illegal alien law that critics claim "legalizes racial profiling." Greece faces a financial collapse.

But has the traditional media devoted the time and attention warranted by the historic floods?

"We have been astonished by the lack of national coverage of this disaster," Elden Hale, general manager of Nashville's WSMV, told me. He acknowledged that the story competed with the Times Square terrorist and the Gulf oil spill. He said, "But still..."

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/_President-Obama-doesn_t-care-about-white-people__-93685924.html#ixzz0oIfiPVUK

GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY RELEASES ANNUAL BAY HEALTH REPORT CARD

GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY RELEASES ANNUAL BAY HEALTH REPORT CARD, LAUNCHES STREAMHEALTH WEBSITE

Bay receives highest mark since 2002; New website provides stewardship tools for citizens

Annapolis MD (May 18, 2010) — Governor Martin O’Malley today announced the Chesapeake Bay showed broad water quality improvements in 2009, receiving its highest mark since 2002 from the annual Chesapeake Bay Health Report Card. Joined by citizens, stakeholders and scientists alongside the Gunpowder River in Baltimore County, Governor O’Malley also launched StreamHealth, a new website to help Marylanders learn about the health of their streams and take action to improve them.

The report card — an annual analysis conducted through the EcoCheck partnership between University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office — is based on data collected by state and federal agencies through the Chesapeake Bay Program. The 2009 report noted improved conditions in eight Bay regions and degraded conditions in two, earning the Bay a grade of “C” for overall health.

“This report provides us with an independent look at how we in Maryland are living up to our commitment to restore the Bay,” said Governor O’Malley. “When integrated with our BayStat initiative, snapshots like this one help us hold ourselves accountable for meeting key milestones that will lead us to a healthier Bay. This is the Bay’s highest grade since 2002 and an improvement over 2008’s ‘C-minus.’ Through our continued acceleration of efforts on the ground that we will deliver the results we need to turn the Bay and its rivers around.”

Grades for 14 reporting Bay regions varied, ranging from “B-minus” (moderate-good) to “F” (very poor). The highest ranked region, for the third year in a row, was the Upper Western Shore, which includes the Bush and Gunpowder Rivers. The lowest ranked region was the Patapsco and Back Rivers.

Scientists attribute the overall improvements to last year’s unique regional rainfall patterns, continued efforts to reduce nutrient pollution within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the gradual rebound in Bay health since the historically poor conditions observed in 2003. Over the report's 24-year history, overall Bay health was rated at its highest in 1993 with a score of 57, and it lowest in 2003 with a score of 35. The 2009 rating of 46 falls in the top 25 percentile.

“Despite the record high rainfall in parts of Maryland and Virginia, the mainstem of the Chesapeake Bay improved last year,” said UMCES researcher and project leader Dr. William Dennison. “Normally, more precipitation means poorer Bay health. But last year, the Bay benefited from below average rainfall throughout Pennsylvania which appears to have reduced the amount of pollutants reaching the open waters of the mainstem Bay.”

To help citizens better understand their critical connection to Bay health and encourage them to take action, Governor O’Malley today launched StreamHealth, a powerful new web-based tool that provides resources for citizens, grassroots organizations, schools and scout groups to survey their streams, and receive technical guidance and funding opportunities to restore and protect them.

Developed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Maryland Environmental Service, Towson University, and the Maryland Departments of the Environment and Information Technology, the site’s interactive map provides information on individual stream health as well as the presence or absence of forested streamside buffers and impervious surfaces — two of the major factors influencing stream health.

“The health of the Bay is ultimately determined by what we do on the land -- in our cities and towns, on our farms and forests, in our schools and backyards,” said Governor O’Malley. “Through this website we are providing information that is real to people because they can see the status of the streams in their neighborhoods –- our lifelines to the Bay.”

“We must view our streams as ecological and aesthetic assets -- not just places where trash collects and flooding occurs,” said Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin.

Governor O’Malley also encouraged citizens to join the Stream Waders program, the volunteer arm of the Maryland Biological Stream Survey, an internationally acclaimed assessment program that provides data for the StreamHealth website as well as the Chesapeake Bay Health Report Card.

“Over the past 10 years, nearly 1,800 Stream Wader volunteers have sampled aquatic insect populations at about 6,000 stream sites, excellent indicators of stream health,” said Governor O’Malley. “Like our citizen tree-planting and oyster growing efforts, Stream Waders offers citizens an opportunity to take personal responsibility for the stewardship of our fragile, finite resources.”

Today’s announcements come less than a week after the Environmental Protection Agency released its new strategy for Chesapeake Bay Restoration. Under the leadership of Governor O’Malley, Maryland is well poised to meet the new strategy, with many effective efforts already delivering results. These include: recent actions on stormwater, steps to better manage poultry litter and power plant rules, action on blue crabs and oysters, continued full funding of Program Open Space, upgrades to wastewater treatment plants, installation of best management practices on farm land and targeting and tracking through BayStat. In another significant victory for Marylanders and the Bay, the 2010 General Assembly approved Governor O’Malley’s request for $20 million for the Chesapeake & Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, an essential component in achieving the State’s 2-Year Milestones.

More information about the 2009 Chesapeake Bay Health Report Card is available here, including region-specific data and downloadable graphics.

Christopher Conner at cconner@umces.edu (443) 496-0095. UMCES is currently working with local watershed organizations to develop river-specific report cards to give residents a creek-by-creek look at their local waters.

For more information about StreamHealth, visit www.streamhealth.maryland.gov.

Four Years Ago Today

Three Years Ago Today

It was three years ago today we posted an article with the above documents whereas former Mayor Barrie Tilghman and Council President Louise Smith went after Bill Reddish from WICO.

Come Celebrate Sarah Foxwell's 12th Birthday TONIGHT

Today, Sarah Foxwell would have celebrated her 12th Birthday. The Foxwell Family wanted to do something special for not only Sarah Foxwell but they wanted ALL of you to come join them Tuesday night where it all began, the Shorebirds Stadium parking lot.

Sam's Club, Sheila's Crafts & Party World have donated biodegradable balloons to be released "without strings" and my guess is it will be one heck of a massive turn out. KCG, owner Ron Hopkins has donated two tanks of helium that will blow up 800 balloons total. Cakes By David will be providing a Birthday Cake, enough to serve 400 people. If you or someone else you know can provide additional balloons that would be fantastic.

I want to thank the Shorebirds for allowing this event to take place. Thousands of people gathered there on Christmas Day to help in the search for little Sarah and perhaps we can all celebrate her life as well as her 12th Birthday together.

So please return or join us tonight at 6:00 PM at the Shorebirds Stadium. You're welcome to bring your own biodegradable balloons if you'd like.

Auto Dealer Asks You Contact Your Senators

Take 5 minutes to contact Senator Cardin, and Senator Milkulski TODAY.

Below are two links to your Maryland State Senators, you can send them an email, or leave a phone message. THIS MUST BE DONE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! and will take 5 minutes of your time.

http://cardin.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

http://mikulski.senate.gov/Contact/index.cfm

Tell them to: Vote for and pass the Brownback Amendment!

As a Automotive Dealership employee that has served its community for 92 years, I strongly suggest you vote and pass the Brownback Amendment.

With 94% of all vehicles purchased being financed, taking away the Dealers right to facilitate and offer affordable financing to our customers will be devastating in an already tough economic climate.

Auto Dealerships are not financial institutions, banks, or direct lenders. Dealers are simply small businesses that are already highly regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Reserve, and State Attorney General. If the Brownback Amendment is not passed it will hurt consumers, raise auto interest rates, and give even more control and less competition to the banks themselves.

Vote and pass the Brownback Amendment!
Respectfully,


Chris HagelMarketing Director
Pohanka of Salisbury
P (410) 548-3411 ext 8030F (410) 742-5168
E ChrisRobinInc@aol.com
W http://www.pohankaofsalisbury.com/

Gay Couple Convicted Of ‘Unnatural Acts’

Men arrested in Malawi one day after celebrating their engagement

BLANTYRE, Malawi - A judge convicted a gay couple in Malawi Tuesday of unnatural acts and gross indecency after a trial that drew worldwide condemnation of this southern African country's colonial-era laws on homosexuality.

Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, had been jailed since their arrest Dec. 27, the day after they celebrated their engagement with a party that drew crowds of curious, jeering onlookers.

Blantyre Chief Resident Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa said the sentencing will take place on Thursday. The couple could be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

GO HERE to read more.

Lipstick on a Pig, Wrapped in the Flag

Weeks after the event, when the editors wrongly assumed that citizens had forgotten the FACTS of the case, the Daily Times decided to attack Salisbury councilwomen Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen for standing up for the rule of law and trying to protect the single family neighborhoods in Salisbury. The facts weren’t on the side of a notorious slumlord, a shady “drug counselor” or DT reporter Greg Lathshaw. So what to do? Smear some lipstick on that pig and wrap it up the American flag.

Latshaw wants us to believe that developer / slumlord Hebreux St. Fleur just wants to serve the veterans of the nation that is his adopted home. Since I can’t read St. Fleur’s mind, I won’t question his motives. Instead, I’ll examine his actions … and those of his cohorts.

READ MORE …

Rep. Souder Says He'll Resign Over Affair

The Indiana lawmaker won a bruising Republican primary on May 4

Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder says he'll resign from Congress effective Friday over an affair with a staffer.

Souder says in a statement provided by his office Tuesday that he has "sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff."

He scheduled a news conference to discuss his future.

GO HERE to read more.

If There Was No Salisbury News, Would Taxpayers Pay For A New Library?

In so many different cases over the past 6 years, Salisbury News has delivered information usually not seen in the public eye. The Daily Times and the MSM would simply state what THEY THINK is right and or simply provide a sound bite or quotes by politicians and encourage their way of thinking with their own agenda.

Isn't interesting how the Library had to make a move NOW, then all of a sudden they came up with an opportunity for an extension.

Ever since Salisbury News came about, there's been another VOICE, "We The People" have been able to express how WE feel about issues such as the Library and many of these projects were shut down, saving the taxpayers millions of dollars.

I believe WE have been able to clearly voice our opinions, create open debate and there's no question in my mind that our public officials are reading and listening to US for once.

The people have spoken and it was an overwhelming NO to a new Library. Cheers to ALL of you for voicing your opinion. They can make all the excuses in the world as to why they are not moving forward but the steam rolling of citizens has come to a close. No more WWTP type of scams will ever happen again. Not as long as I'm around anyway.

New Castle Woman Charged With Stealing $290,000 From Employer

Location: Aquilla of Delaware, 1812 Newport Gap Pike, Wilmington, Delaware

Date of Occurrence: 2005 to 2010

Suspect(s): Karen C. Hunt, 48, of New Castle, Delaware

Resume: Yesterday afternoon, Ms. Karen C. Hunt responded to Troop 2 with her attorney to answer to charges of felony Theft and six felony counts of Falsifying Business Records.

This investigation was brought to the attention of detectives after a representative from the victim business in question, Aquilla of Delaware, went to Troop 6 on April 12th to file a theft report.

The business representative advised a recent audit showed a long standing series of internal thefts in which Billing Manager Karen Hunt had intercepted payments to the business and deposited them into her own bank account.

A more extensive audit was completed showing a total loss to the business over the five year period exceeded $296,000.

Ms. Hunt was arraigned on the aforementioned charges and released on a $1,600.00 unsecured bond.

Texas Doctors Opting Out Of Medicare At Alarming Rate

Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable.

Two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren't taking some new Medicare patients, new data shows 100 to 200 a year are now ending all involvement with the program. Before 2007, the number of doctors opting out averaged less than a handful a year.

“This new data shows the Medicare system is beginning to implode,” said Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the Texas Medical Association. “If Congress doesn't fix Medicare soon, there'll be more and more doctors dropping out and Congress' promise to provide medical care to seniors will be broken.”

More than 300 doctors have dropped the program in the last two years, including 50 in the first three months of 2010, according to data compiled by the Houston Chronicle. Texas Medical Association officials, who conducted the 2008 survey, said the numbers far exceeded their assumptions.

The largest number of doctors opting out comes from primary care, a field already short of practitioners nationally and especially in Texas. Psychiatrists also make up a large share of the pie, causing one Texas leader to say, “God forbid that a senior has dementia.”

The opt-outs follow years of declining Medicare reimbursement that culminated in a looming 21 percent cut in 2010. Congress has voted three times to postpone the cut, which was originally to take effect Jan. 1. It is now set to take effect June 1.

The uncertainty proved too much for Dr. Guy Culpepper, a Dallas-area family practice doctor who says he wrestled with his decision for years before opting out in March. It was, he said, the only way “he could stop getting bullied and take control of his practice.”

“You do Medicare for God and country because you lose money on it,” said Culpepper, a graduate of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. “The only way to provide cost-effective care is outside the Medicare system, a system without constant paperwork and headaches and inadequate reimbursement.”

Ending Medicare participation is just one consequence of the system's funding problems. In a new Texas Medical Association survey, opting out was one of the least common options doctors have taken or are planning as a result of declining Medicare funding — behind increasing fees, reducing staff wages and benefits, reducing charity care and not accepting new Medicare patients.

In 2008, 42 percent of Texas doctors participating in the survey said they were no longer accepting all new Medicare patients. Among primary-care doctors, the percentage was 62 percent.

Here is more

Cops: Dad Tries To Trade Baby For 40-oz. Beers

Maintenance man outside gas station convenience store calls police

CHICOPEE, Mass. - Authorities say a Massachusetts man offered to give his 3-month-old daughter to a maintenance man outside a gas station convenience store in exchange for a pair of 40-ounce beers.

Chicopee police say 24-year-old Matthew Brace of Northampton made the offer on Monday. The maintenance man called police, who found Brace hiding with the girl behind a trash container.

State child welfare officials took the baby into custody.

GO HERE to read more.

Wrinkles Scary Enough To Turn Bronzed Babes Pale As Ghosts

You'd think that surgery, scars, chemotherapy or even death might be enough to scare young women away from those ever-popular tanning booths, but new research says not so much.

Cancer's a bummer, for sure. But wrinkles? Those puppies are truly terrifying.

"They're not worried about skin cancer, but they are worried about getting wrinkled and being unattractive," says Dr. June Robinson, a dermatology professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and senior author of a new paper published today in Archives of Dermatology.

According to the National Center Institute, melanoma rates among 15 to 39-year old Caucasian women rose 50 percent between 1980 and 2004, enough to prompt the World Health Organization to bump indoor tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category -- up there with arsenic and mustard gas.

GO HERE to read more.

Rev. Wright: 'Obama threw me under the bus'

President's former pastor complains he is being ignored by the White House

NEW YORK - The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that he is "toxic" to the Obama administration and that the president "threw me under the bus."

In his strongest language to date about the administration's 2-year-old rift with the Chicago pastor, Wright told a group raising money for African relief that his pleas to release frozen funds for use in earthquake-ravaged Haiti would likely be ignored.

"No one in the Obama administration will respond to me, listen to me, talk to me or read anything that I write to them. I am 'toxic' in terms of the Obama administration," Wright wrote the president of Africa 6000 International earlier this year.

GO HERE to read more.

Montgomery Co. Student Diagnosed With TB

Kennedy High School has confirmed that one of the Montgomery County school's students has been diagnosed with tuberculosis.

The student tested positive last month and has not returned to class since learning they were sick.

Students who came in close contact with the infected student will be tested for TB in about two weeks.

GO HERE to read more.

Caption This Photo

Sears And Kmart Want To Buy Your Gold

The next time you want to sell some old gold jewelry, you can just take it to your nearest Kmart or Sears. The retailers have announced a partnership with something called Pro Gold Network, which basically amounts to, "You can pick up a mailer and instructions at our jewelry departments." Remember, though, that mail-in services almost always pay less than what you can get locally from a jeweler or pawn shop, or by selling to a refinery directly. Here's what Pro Gold Network will pay so you can compare rates.

More »

Public Invited To Troop 2 Spring Open House

Location: Delaware State Police Troop 2, 100 LaGrange Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19702 (on Route 40, just east of Route 896 across crom Glasgow Park)

Date of Occurrence: Upcoming event- Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 from 12 noon until 4:00 p.m.

Resume: The Christiana Fire Company, in partnership with the Delaware State Police, will host the annual Spring Open House on Saturday May 22, 2010 from 12 noon until 4:00 pm.

This event will be held at Delaware State Police Troop 2, 100 LaGrange Avenue in Newark, Delaware, across Route 40 from Glasgow Park.

Local fire companies will offer fire prevention and life safety displays. There will be a vehicle rescue demonstration. Other participating agencies include New Castle County Paramedics, the Delaware Air National Guard, the American Red Cross as well as other public safety providers.

Senior Corporal Jeff Whitmarsh says, “This is a terrific way for citizens to meet and interact with public safety professionals from throughout New Castle County. This free event is fun for the entire family.” There will be a moon bounce, face painting, balloon animals and free hot dogs, sods and chips!

Docs, Dentists Push Cosmetic Care

Patients say they resent pressure for elective treatments

When Carla Morelli made an appointment for a routine checkup at the Kentlands Dental Care in Gaithersburg, she didn't request a cosmetic consultation. But that didn't stop clinic staffers from offering up beauty advice.

First to weigh in was the hygienist who cleaned her teeth. After telling Morelli how much prettier she would look if she got her teeth straightened, she urged her to consider being fitted for Invisalign, clear plastic braces that would slowly move her teeth into place.

"Until she told me, I never knew there was a problem with my smile," recalled Morelli, 39, owner of a Gaithersburg financial services consultancy. She pulled down her lower lip to expose a slight buckling of her front bottom teeth.

GO HERE to read more.

How Much Is That Doggie In The White House?

A sturdy leash: $15.

A couple of chew toys: $10.

A pet to fill the White House with love and joy: $1,600?

GO HERE to read more.

'Dangerous' Sex Offenders Can Be Imprisoned Indefinitely, Supreme Court Rules

In a span of just a few minutes Monday morning, the Supreme Court exhibited the breadth and complexity of the nation's sentencing laws. In one ruling, the justices declared that juvenile defendants may not be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for non-capital crimes. And in the other ruling, the justices declared that some mentally ill sex offenders may be kept indefinitely in "civil confinement" despite already having done the time for their crimes.

With the latter decision, the court gives great comfort to prosecutors, the police and victims' rights groups, who have pushed for decades now to better protect communities from recidivism among sex offenders. With its former decision, the justices take away from prosecutors, the police and victims' rights groups the rationale for continuing to push juvenile defendants into adult courts to get tougher sentences. As a result of both cases, we'll have fewer juvenile prisoners serving longer sentences and more sex offenders serving long past what judges gave them.

The juvenile sentencing ruling (Graham v. Florida) strikes down 37 state laws, plus federal law and the law of the District of Columbia. But, as Justice Anthony Kennedy noted, only 129 men and women around the country were sentenced as juveniles to life in prison without parole. No fewer than 77 of them are in Florida. This, the justice declared, meant the practice was actually "exceedingly rare," touching upon Florida and only 10 other states, and thus unconstitutionally "cruel and unusual" under the Eighth Amendment's punishment clause.

Focusing on how many juveniles are actually being sentenced to life without parole instead of on how many states permit the practice, Justice Kennedy emphasized the relative "lack" of maturity and "underdeveloped sense of responsibility" that juvenile offenders often have. As was the case five years ago, when he wrote the majority opinion striking down capital punishment for juvenile offenders, Justice Kennedy focused on the developmental differences between adults and teenagers.

He wrote: "... [D]evelopments in psychology and brain science continue to show fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds. For example, parts of the brain involved in behavior control continue to mature through late adolescence." And then he reiterated his empathetic view. A life sentence, he wrote, "means a denial of hope" for juvenile offenders. Thanks to a 6-3 ruling (in which Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the majority on the case but argued in a separate opinion that it should not set precedent) Monday, those juvenile offenders now may hope for new sentencing hearings.

Ruling on Sex Offenders

GO HERE to read more.

The GOP's Dilemma: Fight Kagan Or Go Along?

There's an intense debate going on behind the scenes among Republicans involved in the Elena Kagan Supreme Court nomination. It's about whether the GOP should to try to stop Kagan, because that's what Democrats would do in the same situation, or whether Republicans should concede that Kagan is qualified and vote to confirm her because the president has the right to expect the Senate to approve qualified nominees.

The debate began almost immediately after Kagan stood next to Barack Obama at the White House announcement May 10. In an interview with MSNBC, Kenneth Starr, the former judge, independent counsel and solicitor general, urged the Senate to confirm Kagan, whom he called "so smart and so able."

"President Obama has chosen someone who is very qualified," Starr concluded.

A few days later, former Bush appeals court nominee Miguel Estrada sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging that Kagan -- a friend from their days together at Harvard Law School -- be confirmed. (At the same time, Estrada pointed out that Kagan is without doubt a liberal, no matter the spin about her supposed centrism.) "Elena Kagan is an impeccably qualified nominee," Estrada wrote. "[She] possesses a formidable intellect, an exemplary temperament and a rare ability to disagree with others without being disagreeable."

Estrada's letter resonated among Republicans because to many in the GOP, he is the living symbol of a conservative judicial nominee mistreated by Senate Democrats. Smart, credentialed, with a fine record and impressive personal story, he was nominated by George W. Bush for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals in May 2001. Democrats blocked his nomination and ultimately resorted to a filibuster against him in 2003. In September of that year, Estrada withdrew his nomination. (Despite their friendship, Kagan, then a law professor at Harvard, didn't write a letter on Estrada's behalf.)

Today, the conservative expressions of support for Kagan have disappointed a number of Republicans who want a shootout over the nomination. They fully expect Democrats to cite that support ("Even Ken Starr says ...") over and over again during Kagan's confirmation hearings.

But the bigger problem conservatives see is that the pro-Kagan statements put Republicans at a disadvantage before the confirmation even begins. "What Miguel and Ken are trying to demonstrate is that the president deserves to have his nominees confirmed as long as they are qualified," says one GOP Senate aide. "The problem is the Democrats don't do that, and so you unilaterally disarm."

Read more at the Washington Examiner:

Flaming Poop Prank Results In Charges

A Colorado student's flaming dog poop prank landed him in the hot house with arson and other charges, police said.

Police said University of Northern Colorado student Andrew Charles Donahue, 18, was spotted in Greeley walking toward the front porch of Wayne Pickens, 57, with a paper bag of doggie droppings and a book of matches on hand, The Denver Post reported Wednesday.

Greeley Police spokesman Sgt. Joe Tymkowych said Donahue was immediately arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree arson, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and possession of alcohol by a minor.

"He was intoxicated," Tymkowych said of the suspect.

Source

The Guy Who Flew Thousands Of Passengers As A Fake Pilot

This is Thomas Salme, a maintenance engineer who became a Boeing 737 pilot by flying a few nights in a flight simulator and printing a fake airliner pilot license. Amazingly enough, he flew passengers for thirteen years without any incidents.

Thirteen years of back and forth from Sweden to everywhere else in Europe. Nobody noticed until a couple of months ago, when Salme was caught by the police as he was getting ready for take off. He was in the cockpit of a Boeing 737, with 101 passengers at Amsterdam's Schipol airport. He admits that it was all a crazy idea:

"I got the crackpot idea to apply as a co-pilot at a real airline so I made myself a Swedish flying permit with a logo out of regular white paper. It wasn't laminated, and looked like something I'd made at home. It was surprisingly easy. The documents look different everywhere in Europe. An Italian airline doesn't know what a Swedish license looks like. And you can forge all the IDs you need. I'd train there for two or three hours at a time—at least 15 to 20 times over one and a half years."

Despite putting the lives of thousands at risk, Salme only got fined a couple thousand dollars and was banned from flying for a year.

More

US Court Grants Asylum To Obama's Illegal Immigrant Aunt

A U.S. immigration court has granted asylum to President Barack Obama's African aunt, allowing her to stay in the country, her attorneys announced Monday.

The decision was mailed Friday and comes three months after Kenya native Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama's late father, testified at a closed hearing in Boston, where she arrived in a wheelchair and two doctors testified in support of her case.

The basis for her asylum request hadn't been made public. People who seek asylum must show that they face persecution in their homeland on the basis of religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group.

Her lawyer, Margaret Wong of Cleveland, said last year that Onyango first applied for asylum "due to violence in Kenya." The East African nation is fractured by cycles of electoral violence every five years.

In a November interview with The Associated Press, Onyango said she was disabled and was learning to walk again after being paralyzed from Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder.

Onyango moved to the United States in 2000. Her first asylum request was rejected, and she was ordered deported in 2004. But she didn't leave the country and continued to live in public housing in Boston.

Onyango's status as an illegal immigrant was revealed just days before Obama was elected in November 2008. Obama said he did not know his aunt was living here illegally and believes laws covering the situation should be followed.

A judge later agreed to suspend her deportation order and reopen her asylum case.

Wong has said that Obama wasn't involved in the Boston hearing. The White House also said it was not helping Onyango with legal fees.

More here

Obamacare Kills 60 Hospitals , With 200 More On Life Support

Buried in the recently passed health-care reform bill is a new law granting one of the nation's largest corporate lobbyists what it has been targeting for years: Death to its competition, and, consequently, a heavy blow to patient choice.

Section 6001 of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is responsible for Obamacare's first casualties: a reported 60 physician-owned hospitals, which had promised to offer an innovative alternative to big, corporate and non-profit facilities, but under the new law are now "virtually destroyed," according to advocates. Another 200-plus doctor-owned hospitals already in existence may soon be put out of business by the health-care reform law.

To Molly Sandvig, executive director of Physician Hospitals of America, the move to cut doctor-owned hospitals out of the national health-care system is a foolish blow to both the industry and the patients it serves.

"The American people need more access, not less," she said in a statement. "We need high quality, efficient, patient-centered care, not more of the same high-cost, inefficient, bureaucratic-minded care. The impact of the health-care reform bill on physician-owned hospitals is truly illogical and unfortunate."

The new law is a victory, however, for the American Hospital Association, ranked by The Center for Responsive Politics as the sixth-biggest lobbyist presence in Washington, which has been trying for years to get government to squash the physician-owned hospital movement.

Ellen Pryga, director of policy at the AHA, told Investor's Business Daily, "The provision is a good one that will stem the tide of an entrepreneurial approach to medicine that is potentially fatal."

On the flip side, CEO Don Burman of the physician-owned Heartland Spine & Specialty Hospital in Overland Park, Kan., told the Kansas City Business Journal, "Because we have built a better mousetrap and because we have challenged the conventional wisdom, we are being punished."

Under Obamacare and in the name of "transparency," after Dec. 31 doctors will no longer be able to refer patients to hospitals in which they have a financial interest, or face being ruled ineligible to receive payments for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Only physician-owned hospitals already operating before the deadline will be allowed to continue.

Furthermore, even the existing hospitals will not be allowed to expand or add facilities except under extreme demographic circumstances that are nearly impossible to meet.

This means dozens of doctor-owned hospitals currently under construction across the country have completely wasted their efforts.

Dr. John Dietz, owner of the Indiana Orthopedic Hospital, for example, tells Investor's Business Daily that because of the new law, he now has a useless, empty building.

"It is an expansion of our hospital that is three-quarters finished; it had three operating rooms for outpatient surgery," he said. "Now it can't be used for that purpose. We'll have to figure out an alternative for it."

More here

Tuesday Reminder Budget Hearing

Tonight's the NIGHT.....
Tuesday night at 7:00
Reminder:

SOMERSET BUDGET HEARING
Copies Available at door
Commissioners' Office in County Building
(Old Washington H.S. in Princess Anne)

Ask your questions, share your concerns, question ineffective cuts

Demand Fiscal Responsibility

Your follow your budget so should the county

Did you approve the marina purchase?
Did you approve the ball park purchase?
Have you allocated funds to build a museum?

Your taxes will rise since these properties are no longer on tax rolls.

How many departments have cut their budgets?

DEMAND 2% CUTS ACROSS THE BOARD!
Spending levels in line with last year is unacceptable!

Tell the Commissioners to CUT,CUT,CUT!

Tonight, Tuesday at 7:00
Let your VOICES be heard!

Today's Nature Photo By Scott Phoebus

Loon Lodge, Maine

A Must See

NINE WORDS WOMEN USE

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh:This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome'. That will bring on a 'whatever').

(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying _ _ _ _ YOU!

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to #3.

Car Seat Check

Reading Test This Week

Evaluation and Placement Process for This Year’s Second Graders Under Way; Reading Test This Week

The parents and guardians of all second-graders in Wicomico County Public Schools received a letter last week updating them on the placement process for grade 3, including the process for invitation to participate in the Magnet Program.

The process of evaluating all second graders for appropriate placement for the 2010-11 school year will continue through June, and parents and guardians will receive a letter July 9 either inviting their child to participate in the Magnet Program, or stating that the child will attend the regularly assigned school.

As part of the evaluation and placement process, all second-graders will take the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test for Word Decoding, Word Knowledge and Comprehension on May 18 and 19. Second-grade students in private and parochial schools may also take these tests; parents and guardians should call the Division of Instruction at 410-677-4559 to determine the school at which their child would be tested. Math skills and knowledge will be assessed through the Second Grade Cumulative Assessment, to be administered in late May.

Meeting the needs of high performing learners has been discussed in detail for the past several months by the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Addressing the Needs of High Performing Learners in Wicomico County Elementary Schools. The committee’s work is ongoing, but has already yielded the revised set of criteria for identifying high performing learners that will be used in determining grade 3 student placement for next year in both the Magnet Program and other schools. (No changes are planned in the Grade 4 and 5 Magnet Program for next year.)

Current second graders will be considered for the Magnet Program for the 2010-11 school year based on multiple measures including grades, scores on Reading and Mathematics assessments, teacher ratings, and other factors. Between now and the end of the school year, a team at each school will evaluate each child’s educational qualifications for third grade. A district-level High Performing Learners Placement Committee will review the evaluation of each second grader to determine which students would be best suited for the Magnet Program.

Parents and guardians of second graders have also been invited to fill out and return to the school a Student Profile Form listing awards, achievements and activities that help provide a fuller picture of the student. The Student Profile Form (also available at www.wcboe.org under Parents) must be returned to the child’s current school by May 28. This form will be forwarded to the committee that will recommend students for the Magnet Program. The form will also be forwarded to either the student’s regularly assigned school for third grade, or the Magnet Program in which the child enrolls. Parents and guardians of second-grade students in private and parochial schools who wish their child to be evaluated for grade 3 placement in Wicomico County Public Schools should fill out and return the Student Profile Form to Mrs. Susan Jones, Director of Elementary Education, Wicomico County Public Schools, PO Box 1538, Salisbury, MD 21802, by May 28.

Many frequently asked questions about the student placement process for grade 3 and the Magnet Program are answered below. Anyone with additional questions should contact the student’s current principal or, if the student currently attends a private or parochial school, the Division of Instruction at 410-677-4559.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MAGNET PROGRAM

What is the Magnet Program?

GO HERE to read more.

New Restroom Equipment

Highlighted Events This Week In Wicomico Schools

Beginning May 17
High School Assessments (HSAs) and Modified High School Assessments (Mod-HSAs)
All Wicomico Secondary Schools

Students enrolled in HSA-assessed courses, and students who previously took but did not pass one or more of the HSA/Mod-HSA exams, will take the HSAs/Mod-HSAs starting on May 17. HSAs/Mod-HSAs will be administered in high schools and in middle schools. Passing all four HSAs/Mod-HSAs, or achieving a combined score of 1602 or successfully completing a Bridge Plan for Academic Validation , is a Maryland requirement for graduation.

The HSA and Mod-HSA paper tests will be administered May 17-21, excluding May 19. A single date has been designated for each content-area test. Schools administering the paper/pencil HSAs must give the HSAs on the following schedule: May 17 Biology, May 18 Algebra/Data Analysis (HSA/MSA), May 20 Government, May 21 English (HSA/MSA). On-line testing for the HSAs and Mod-HSAs will be administered according to a flexible schedule set by each school within the state-mandated testing window of May 17-June 4.

Schools have planned to give the HSA as follows:

All computer testing for HSAs and Mod-HSAs: Wicomico High, Mardela Middle and High, all other middle schools.

Computer and paper/pencil testing for HSA: Parkside High students will take the paper/pencil test except those students who are being retested and Mod-HSA, who will take the tests on computer. James M. Bennett High will administer the paper/pencil test for all students except those receiving special education services and others taking the MOD-HSA; these will be done on the computer.

Check with the school guidance office for additional information.

Wednesday, May 19
Evening High School Commencement
Beaver Run Elementary

Evening High School students who have successfully completed the requirements to earn a Maryland high school diploma will participate in commencement at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 19, at Beaver Run Elementary School. 410-677-4537.

Wednesday, May 19
Eastern Shore Reading Council Spring Dinner
Arthur W. Perdue Stadium

Don't miss the Eastern Shore Reading Council's Spring Dinner at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium (home of the Delmarva Shorebirds) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 19. Hear Kathy Bumgardner speak on Reading IS Thinking: Comprehension Strategies and Literacy Tools That Really Work! Tickets are $15 for members, $20 for non-members. Please make checks payable to ESRC. For more details or a flier, email gsmith@wcboe.org.

Thursday, May 20
Public Budget Hearing
Board of Education Auditorium

The Wicomico County Board of Education will hold a public budget hearing at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 20, in the Board of Education Auditorium. The Board will take input on the budget for fiscal year 2010-11 as it prepares to adopt a final budget by June 30. 410-677-4561.

Friday, May 21
Multi-cultural Fair
North Salisbury Elementary

Fifth graders at North Salisbury Elementary School will put on a Multi-cultural Fair from 9-11 a.m. Friday, May 21. At this “Welcome to the World!” event, the fifth graders will showcase the culture, food, games, arts and highlights of other countries for the North Salisbury students in grades 3 and 4, and for grade 5 parents and guardians. 410-677-5807.

Bats

10 Marriage Commandments

Commandment 1
Marriages are made in heaven.
But then again, so is thunder and lightning.

Commandment 2
If you want your wife to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say, talk in your sleep.

Commandment 3
Marriage is grand -- and divorce is at least a 100 grand!

Commandment 4
Married life is very frustrating.
In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the neighbors listen.

Commandment 5
When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing:
Either the car is new or the wife is.

Commandment 6
Marriage is when a man and woman become as one; The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

Commandment 7
Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you said .
After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish.

Commandment 8
Every man wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding, economical, and a good cook.
But the law allows only one wife.

Commandment 9
Marriage and love are purely a matter of chemistry. That is why one treats the other like toxic waste.

Commandment 10
A man is incomplete until he is married. After that, he is finished.

The Number Of Days You've Lived

This will give you a jolt

Click here: How many days old are you?

A Jeep Owned By A Marine

A Beautiful Story

Once upon a time, a Prince asked a beautiful Princess.... 'Will you marry me?'


The Princess said, 'NO !!! '


And the Prince lived happily ever after and rode motorcycles and went fishing and hunting and played golf and drank beer and scotch and had tons of money in the bank and left the toilet seat up and farted whenever he wanted.

The End