Sen. Tom Coburn tells Newsmax that Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell would “bring a lot to the table” to combat the “stupidity that goes on in Washington.”
The Oklahoma Republican, who considers himself a friend of President Barack Obama, also says Obama is a partisan president who is still on “the campaign trail,” but can use all the help he can get from Republicans in running the country.
Coburn believes no one can “reliably predict” if the GOP will take control of the House and Senate after the November elections. But he says it’s clear “the American people are now engaged. They’ve seen the waste. They’ve seen the stupidity. They’ve seen the lack of common sense coming out of Washington. They’re having to make hard choices themselves, but they’ve seen none of that happening in Washington.
“One of the reasons our economy is in trouble is that people don’t have much confidence in the future. So they’re looking for real leadership that will take on this nasty behemoth known as the federal government and start trimming it down.
“I think the elections are going to turn on who can best put forward what the American people really want. They’re afraid for the future and they want some grownups up here to start making the hard decisions, even though some of those hard decisions might have a small negative impact on them.”
Despite some early reluctance, Republicans are now fully supporting Christine O’Donnell’s run for the Senate in Delaware, says Coburn, who is backing O’Donnell and has offered to campaign for her.
“She’s not a career politician, and Washington is loaded with them,” he tells Newsmax.
Here's more of this interview
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Rutledge Extends Thanks To Our Supporters!
Jim Rutledge and his wife Kim wish to express their thanks to all of their friends and supporters who made this Campaign for Freedom memorable and gratifying. With your help, we received more than 73,000 votes in the face of being dramatically outspent by a formidable opponent who had the personal means and the will to take to the radio and television waves in the final push. In spite of the advertising onslaught, Jim Rutledge won victories in Washington, Frederick, Harford, Cecil, Worcester, Wicomico, and Montgomery Counties. All of these successes were attributable to the passion that you brought to the message of Constitutionally limited federal government.
Congratulations to Dr. Eric Wargotz on his victory. May God bless and guide
him and his family in these challenging times.
Live Free
Jim Rutledge
Former Candidate for the US Senate in Maryland
Congratulations to Dr. Eric Wargotz on his victory. May God bless and guide
him and his family in these challenging times.
Live Free
Jim Rutledge
Former Candidate for the US Senate in Maryland
Candidates to Follow!
Friends - I encourage you to help local and state-wide candidates with their campaigns. Here are a few I highly recommend you support.
Help the Harris Campaign immediately:
First: Contact the local coordinator and volunteer:
Western Shore: Kathy Szeliga at kszeliga@aol.com
Eastern Shore: John Findley at jfindl1@gmail.com
Second: Sign up at Andy's web site to receive important updates from the campaign: www.andyharris.com
Help the Campbell Campaign immediately:
First: Contact Bill directly and volunteer: whcampbell@verizon.net
Second: Sign up at Bill's web site to receive important updates from the campaign: www.whcampbell2010.com
Help the Holt Campaign immediately:
First: Contact the local coordinator and volunteer:
Hal Ashman at gokenholt@gmail.com Second: Sign up at Ken's web site to receive important updates from the campaign: www.kenholt2010.com
Third: Please attend Ken Holt's Campaign Organizational Meeting
Wednesday, 29 Sep 2010
7:00pm
Mount Peru
10627 Jones Road
Kingsville, MD 21087
O’Malley Aides Praise Each Other For Cover-Up…Then Go On Vacation
ANNAPOLIS – The Bob Ehrlich for Maryland campaign today released a second round of emails between Governor Martin O’Malley’s advisors that shed additional light on the O’Malley Administration’s strategy to cover up a July Jobs Report that repudiated O’Malley’s upbeat assessment of Maryland’s economy. The emails were obtained through Public Information Act requests.
“It’s bad enough that Martin O’Malley and his advisors have to make stuff up – now they actually have to cover stuff up,” said Ehrlich Communications Director Henry Fawell. “With 216,000 Marylanders currently standing in the unemployment line, the citizens of Maryland deserve to know government jobs reports have not been tampered with or suppressed by their governor’s advisors for campaign purposes. Clearly, that standard has been flouted under Martin O’Malley.”
Highlights of the newest emails include Governor O’Malley Cabinet Secretary Alex Sanchez congratulating his staff for suppressing the pessimistic jobs report and replacing it with an edited version that supported O’Malley’s campaign speeches. On the day the report is suppressed, Sanchez’s Communications Director notifies Martin O’Malley’s press secretary that he is going on, “an extraordinarily well-time vacation.” A complete list of the emails can be viewed by clicking here. Highlights include:
Friday August 20, 2010, 9:12 PM: O’Malley’s DLLR Cabinet Secretary Alex Sanchez emails DLLR staff with the subject line, “many, many thanks – and aftermath.” Sanchez states he wants to thank staff for all their hard work and “professionalism” that “pulled us through a difficult situation.” He concludes that he is very pleased with the fact that he can count on them “no matter what the circumstances.” (See page: 18)
Friday August 20, 2010, 9:06 PM: DLLR Communications Director Bernie Kohn emails Martin O’Malley’s spokesman, Shaun Adamec, letting him know that Washington Post and Baltimore Sun reporters are inquiring about the censored report. He goes on to remark about what an “ugly” day it had been and thanks Shaun for his “guidance in helping limit the damage.” He concludes this email by stating “I will be on an, if I may say myself, extraordinarily well timed vacation next week.” (See page: 19)
Friday August 20, 2010, 9:15 PM: Shaun Adamec replies to Bernie Kohn telling him to have “fun” on his vacation. (See page: 19)
Kratovil Continues Phony Negative Attacks While Ignoring His Own Record
SEVERNA PARK, Md. – Congressman Frank Kratovil yesterday continued his series of false, negative attacks on Andy Harris while ignoring his own vote for the job-killing, tax-hiking Cap and Trade Energy Tax.
In a letter to Kratovil last Friday, Andy Harris insisted Kratovil remove his misleading attack ad. In an evident reaction to the challenge, Kratovil amended his ad – only to include more incorrect information.
The study Kratovil sites in his ad was not done on the Fair Tax, but on a combination of both the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Simplified Income Tax Plan.
“It amazes me Frank Kratovil can lie to Marylanders and then ask for their vote all within a 30 second ad,” said Bill Lattanzi, Campaign Manager for Andy Harris for Congress. “Voters cannot trust someone who is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars spreading phony claims about his opponent.”
Frank Kratovil must have also forgotten about his vote for the outrageous Cap and Trade Energy Tax. A vote that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would increase household costs by $1,600 per year (CBO Testimony to Congress, 2009). A vote that Obama said would “necessarily skyrocket” the price of electricity (“Coal in your stocking,” National Review, Nov. 3, 2008).
“Frank Kratovil got so caught up in fabricating lies about Andy Harris he forgot about his vote for Cap and Trade, a mere 15 months ago,” said Lattanzi. “Cap and Trade will devastate the Eastern Shore and raise energy prices regardless of location or income. Maryland can thank Frank Kratovil for voting for a tax that will hit every single American.”
FACT CHECK:
Claim:“A Bush tax panel said families could pay $6,000 more a year.”
FACT:In an apparent refusal to study his own accusations, Kratovil missed an important fact in his research. The Bush Panel studied a combined system of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Simplified Income Tax Plan, not the Fair Tax. In the 272 page document, the term “Fair Tax” is not used once. For the second week in a row, Frank Kratovil lies explicitly. (The President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform)
58 Days Since Salisbury Safe Streets Legislation Introduced Still No Council Work Session
Mayor James Ireton, Jr. reminds the public, today, that 58 days have passed since he introduced the Salisbury Safe Streets Legislative Package. The package was introduced to the public and given to City Council on Monday, August 2nd, 2010.
This means City Council has had 58 days to place this on a Work session agenda and Council President, Louise Smith, has yet to do so. Mayor Ireton urges the public, in the wake of the current wave of violence, to contact Mrs. Smith and demand that the legislative package get a hearing. The mayor has asked that the package have an up or down vote by Thanksgiving of this year.
http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/CityGovernment/CityCouncilofSalisburyMD/tabid/80/Default.aspx - For links to Salisbury City Council Members
http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/Default.aspx?tabid=643 – Neighborhood Legislative Package Link
This means City Council has had 58 days to place this on a Work session agenda and Council President, Louise Smith, has yet to do so. Mayor Ireton urges the public, in the wake of the current wave of violence, to contact Mrs. Smith and demand that the legislative package get a hearing. The mayor has asked that the package have an up or down vote by Thanksgiving of this year.
http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/CityGovernment/CityCouncilofSalisburyMD/tabid/80/Default.aspx - For links to Salisbury City Council Members
http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/Default.aspx?tabid=643 – Neighborhood Legislative Package Link
Salisbury Police Department Press Releases
On September 27, 2010 at approximately 8:41 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the area of Naylor Street and US Rt. 50 for the report of an assault with a firearm. Upon arrival the officers met with an adult male victim who advised that he had been injured during an attempted robbery on Records St. The victim advised that when he was at the two hundred (200) block of Records Street, waiting for a friend, he was approached by two (2) suspects, each in possession of a handgun.
Suspect # 1 approached the victim and demanded the victim’s money, while suspect # 2 stayed behind suspect # 1, close to the street. The victim grabbed suspect # 1 and struggled with the suspect resulting in suspect # 1 striking the victim in the head area with the handgun. While the victim was struggling with suspect # 1, suspect # 2 fired three shots, one of which struck the victim in a buttock. Both suspects then fled from the area. The victim was transported to the Peninsula Regional Medical Center for treatment which was determined to not be life threatening. This incident is under investigation.
There was no property taken from the victim and the suspects were described as:
Suspect # 1: Caucasian or black male with light complexion, under eighteen (18) years of age, short in height, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.
Suspect # 2: Black male, taller than suspect # 1
CC # 201000038475
On September 28, 2010 at approximately 12:55 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to a residence on the six hundred (600) block of Lake Street for the report of shots fired. Upon arrival the officers met with the resident who advised that shots had been fired at their residence resulting in a minor injury to an adult male. The victim had been seated in the den area of the residence and sustained a graze wound to his lower back. Salisbury Emergency Medical Service responded but the victim refused treatment. The SPD officers were able to observe that five (5) gun shots had struck the residence. The resident advised that the occupants of the residence were not aware that shots had been fired until the victim realized that he had been struck and alerted the other residents. There were no other injuries. This incident is under investigation.
CC # 201000038497
On September 28, 2010 at approximately 12:58 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to a residence on the two hundred (200) block of Records Street for the report of a firearms incident. Upon arrival the officers met with the occupants of the residence who advised the officers that they were inside the residence when they heard several gunshots in close proximity to the residence. The officers checked the residence and found that unknown suspect(s) had shot the residence two (2) times, both shots in the front area. It was later found that a residence close to this residence also sustained gunshot damage. There were no injuries and this incident is under investigation.
CC # 201000038496
On September 28, 2010 at approximately 1:17 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to a residence on the one thousand (1000) block of Cecil Street for the report of a firearms incident. Upon arrival the officers met with occupants of a residence that had sustained gunshot damage. The residents advised that they had been located in the residence when they heard a vehicle approach followed by a number of gunshots. The officers checked the residence and found that the residence had been struck four (4) times. The residence sustained the damage to the front area. There were no injuries to any of the occupants and this incident is under investigation.
CC # 201000038498
If anyone has any information regarding any of these incidents, they are asked to contact the Salisbury Police Department at 410-548-3165 or Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776. Information may be left anonymously.
Suspect # 1 approached the victim and demanded the victim’s money, while suspect # 2 stayed behind suspect # 1, close to the street. The victim grabbed suspect # 1 and struggled with the suspect resulting in suspect # 1 striking the victim in the head area with the handgun. While the victim was struggling with suspect # 1, suspect # 2 fired three shots, one of which struck the victim in a buttock. Both suspects then fled from the area. The victim was transported to the Peninsula Regional Medical Center for treatment which was determined to not be life threatening. This incident is under investigation.
There was no property taken from the victim and the suspects were described as:
Suspect # 1: Caucasian or black male with light complexion, under eighteen (18) years of age, short in height, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.
Suspect # 2: Black male, taller than suspect # 1
CC # 201000038475
On September 28, 2010 at approximately 12:55 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to a residence on the six hundred (600) block of Lake Street for the report of shots fired. Upon arrival the officers met with the resident who advised that shots had been fired at their residence resulting in a minor injury to an adult male. The victim had been seated in the den area of the residence and sustained a graze wound to his lower back. Salisbury Emergency Medical Service responded but the victim refused treatment. The SPD officers were able to observe that five (5) gun shots had struck the residence. The resident advised that the occupants of the residence were not aware that shots had been fired until the victim realized that he had been struck and alerted the other residents. There were no other injuries. This incident is under investigation.
CC # 201000038497
On September 28, 2010 at approximately 12:58 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to a residence on the two hundred (200) block of Records Street for the report of a firearms incident. Upon arrival the officers met with the occupants of the residence who advised the officers that they were inside the residence when they heard several gunshots in close proximity to the residence. The officers checked the residence and found that unknown suspect(s) had shot the residence two (2) times, both shots in the front area. It was later found that a residence close to this residence also sustained gunshot damage. There were no injuries and this incident is under investigation.
CC # 201000038496
On September 28, 2010 at approximately 1:17 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to a residence on the one thousand (1000) block of Cecil Street for the report of a firearms incident. Upon arrival the officers met with occupants of a residence that had sustained gunshot damage. The residents advised that they had been located in the residence when they heard a vehicle approach followed by a number of gunshots. The officers checked the residence and found that the residence had been struck four (4) times. The residence sustained the damage to the front area. There were no injuries to any of the occupants and this incident is under investigation.
CC # 201000038498
If anyone has any information regarding any of these incidents, they are asked to contact the Salisbury Police Department at 410-548-3165 or Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776. Information may be left anonymously.
States Attorney Davis Ruark Asks For 35 New Officers In The City Of Salisbury
Having served as State’s Attorney for over twenty-three years and further having seen the evolving nature of crimes committed within the City of Salisbury and its immediate vicinity, I am hereby calling on the Mayor and City County, with the support of the State of Maryland and the United States Government to immediately fund a minimum of an additional thirty-five (35) sworn law enforcement officers for the City of Salisbury. There has been little growth in the number of sworn police officers over the past fifteen (15) years, even though the City has annexed land which has brought additional responsibilities upon its police department. The officers are responding from call to call on any given day and night in the City.
An additional thirty-five police officers would allow for more proactive approaches to crime within the City of Salisbury and would provide for additional resources to their Criminal Investigation Division to concentrate on unsolved crimes that require extensive investigation. With the numbers of reported crimes now occurring, neither the patrol officers nor the criminal investigators have adequate time or resources to devote to investigations before having to move on to other calls and reports.
In addition, to stem the turnover of sworn police officers I am calling on the Mayor and City Council to provide pay parity to other agencies operating in and around Wicomico County. It is imperative to keep the good, young officers here and to prevent them from being lured to other agencies for higher pay and a lesser work load.
I know that the burden upon the taxpayer may rise. However it is my belief that these measures are necessary to keep both our law enforcement officers as well as our citizenry safe while other measures are explored to decrease the nature and types of crimes that we are experiencing.
Davis
Davis R. Ruark
State's Attorney for Wicomico County
Circuit Courts Building
P. O. Box 1006
Salisbury, Maryland 21803-1006
Editor's Note: New posts will fall below this one for the day.
IRETON & COMEGYS WANT MORE SALISBURY TAXES AND FEES!
Even though he has not been on the scene in the Salisbury City Council’s meetings for several months, Mr. Comegys’ health concerns have not stopped him from doing the Democrat thing – trying to get more of our money into the public trough. As the head of the Maryland Municipal League he has issued a call to the mayors and CEO’s of its municipality members to push the Maryland Legislature for greater authority to impose additional taxes with another name – like, but in addition to the stormwater “fee” that Ireton wants and that new building inspection “fee” that he has requested.
And before you can say “tax cap” there’s a Resolution request from Ireton to the City Council for a plea to the Maryland General Assembly “to provide more diverse revenue raising authority to municipalities,” clever language to mask the purpose by avoiding the words “fees” and “taxes”.
You may recall that a few years back, Comegys and his City Council sidekick then, Mikey Dunn, wanted to impose a “food tax” that resulted on public outcry and was abandoned. Comegys can’t be trusted not to tax and fee us to the poorhouse with Ireton’s willing and eager assistance despite their differences on other matters. On “tax & spend” these two career government employees are simpatico.
They know – based on what happened when Barrie Tilghman got Louise Smith, Comegys and Shanie Shields to push through a property tax increase several years ago -- that another one would result in revolt, so they have turned to new and higher fees and special charges to squeeze every cent out of City residents, developers and property owners. Have you seen your water and sewer bill lately – if not be sure to sit down before doing so (it’s going up, again, this year).
Salisbury residents would be wise to ask the General Assembly candidates in the upcoming election to state whether they would vote to give the City authority “to raise own-source revenues to reduce the reliance . . . on the property tax to fund municipal government services.” Despite the innocent sound of that phrase, guess where and from whom those “own-source revenues” would come from.
And don’t say that you were not warned in advance by this blog!
Candidate Matt Maciarello Wow's Republican Club
Matt took questions from the audience and received a fantastic applause at the end. It was a standing room only crowd as some stood just outside the doorway to hear Matt speak.
OBAMA RECORDS RADIO AD FOR O'MALLEY
Says O'Malley "Made the Tough Decisions to Put Education, Safety, and Job Creation First"
Baltimore, MD (September 28, 2010) -- President Barack Obama has recorded a new radio ad for Governor Martin O'Malley praising O'Malley's efforts to create jobs, invest in education, and improve public safety. In the 60 second ad, which will run in the Baltimore market beginning today and in the D.C. market beginning next week, Obama lays out the "choice" for Maryland voters between moving forward with Governor O'Malley or slipping backwards.
The release of the ad follows yesterday's visit by Governor O'Malley to the White House for the signing of the Small Business Jobs Act. The jobs bill was based in part on an O'Malley-Brown administration loan guarantee program, which has helped to leverage more than $2.2 billion of private sector financing over the years for Maryland businesses. O'Malley has made small business lending and hiring initiatives a priority, helping Maryland produce the best rate of January to August job growth since 2000.
Survey: Many Americans Know Little About Religion
A new survey of Americans' knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.
Forty-five percent of Roman Catholics who participated in the study didn't know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ.
More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. And about four in 10 Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the greatest rabbis and intellectuals in history, was Jewish.
The survey released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life aimed to test a broad range of religious knowledge, including understanding of the Bible, core teachings of different faiths and major figures in religious history. The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world, especially compared to largely secular Western Europe, but faith leaders and educators have long lamented that Americans still know relatively little about religion.
Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.
GO HERE to read more.
Mexican Mayor Stoned To Death In Drug-Plagued State
MORELIA, Mexico -- A small-town mayor and an aide were found stoned to death Monday in a drug-plagued western state, the fifth city leader to be killed in Mexico since mid-August.
Michoacan state Attorney General Jesus Montejano said the bodies of Tancitaro Mayor Gustavo Sanchez and city adviser Rafael Equihua were discovered in a pickup truck abandoned on a dirt road near the city of Uruapan.
Montejano's spokesman, Jonathan Arredondo, said initially that the victims were hacked to death with a machete, but the attorney general said they were killed with stones.
Arredondo said police were trying to determine a possible motive.
Tancitaro, a town of 26,000 people, is in a region where soldiers have destroyed more than 20 meth labs in the last year and several police officers have been killed by suspected drug gang members.
GO HERE to read more.
CIA Ramps Up Drone Attacks In Pakistan Amid Terror Plot
Reuters- In an effort to foil a suspected plot against several European targets, the CIA has increased missile strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal regions, officials say. The attacks represent a rare use of drones to preempt a possible attack on the West.
GO HERE to read more.
Biden: Democratic Base Should 'Stop Whining'
Vice president says party will win in November if they focus on progress made
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Campaigning for Democratic candidates in New Hampshire, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday the party's base should "stop whining."
Biden attended a fundraiser for Rep. Paul Hodes, who is running for the Senate; Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, who is seeking re-election to a third term; and the state Democratic Party.
He said Democrats can win both races if they draw clear distinctions between themselves and their Republican opponents, and he urged Democrats to "remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives. This president has done an incredible job. He's kept his promises."
GO HERE to read more.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Campaigning for Democratic candidates in New Hampshire, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday the party's base should "stop whining."
Biden attended a fundraiser for Rep. Paul Hodes, who is running for the Senate; Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, who is seeking re-election to a third term; and the state Democratic Party.
He said Democrats can win both races if they draw clear distinctions between themselves and their Republican opponents, and he urged Democrats to "remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives. This president has done an incredible job. He's kept his promises."
GO HERE to read more.
Gulf Coast Depression Spikes Post-BP Oil Spill
Depression cases up up more than 25 percent among coastal residents, Gallup says
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Before the BP oil spill, the Gulf Coast was a place of abundant shrimping, tourist-filled beaches and a happy if humble lifestyle. Now, it's home to depression, worry and sadness for many.
A Gallup survey released Tuesday of almost 2,600 coastal residents showed that depression cases are up more than 25 percent since an explosion killed 11 people and unleashed a gusher of crude into the Gulf in April that ruined many livelihoods. The conclusions were consistent with trends seen in smaller studies and witnessed by mental health workers.
GO HERE to read more.
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Before the BP oil spill, the Gulf Coast was a place of abundant shrimping, tourist-filled beaches and a happy if humble lifestyle. Now, it's home to depression, worry and sadness for many.
A Gallup survey released Tuesday of almost 2,600 coastal residents showed that depression cases are up more than 25 percent since an explosion killed 11 people and unleashed a gusher of crude into the Gulf in April that ruined many livelihoods. The conclusions were consistent with trends seen in smaller studies and witnessed by mental health workers.
GO HERE to read more.
100 Arrested At White House Protest
More than 100 protesters were arrested outside the White House Monday. They were part of a large demonstration against mountaintop removal mining.
The impassioned group called on President Barack Obama and Congress to ban what they believe to be an environmentally unsafe practice.
Mountaintop mining involves clearing forests. Explosives are used to blow holes in the earth to expose the coal. Machines then scoop out the coal. Sometimes the debris is then dumped into streams.
The protestors were arrested and taken to a bus. Supporters cheered them on as they were led away. Most went peacefully, but a few resisted. The arrest charges ranged from crossing police lines to non-compliance of demonstration regulations.
Source
The impassioned group called on President Barack Obama and Congress to ban what they believe to be an environmentally unsafe practice.
Mountaintop mining involves clearing forests. Explosives are used to blow holes in the earth to expose the coal. Machines then scoop out the coal. Sometimes the debris is then dumped into streams.
The protestors were arrested and taken to a bus. Supporters cheered them on as they were led away. Most went peacefully, but a few resisted. The arrest charges ranged from crossing police lines to non-compliance of demonstration regulations.
Source
BREAKING NEWS
Gunfire on University of Texas campus
KLBJ radio says gunman shoots himself in library building
Gunfire erupted Tuesday on the University of Texas at Austin campus, according to local media reports.
The Austin American-Statesman newspaper quoted university spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon as saying there was "an armed suspect in the Perry-Casteneda Library."
Citing university officials, KLBJ radio reported that a gunman had shot himself on the sixth floor of the library building.
NBC station KXAN reported that students who live on campus were being asked to stay indoors.
Hundreds Protest FBI Raids On Anti-War Activists
MINNEAPOLIS — Protesters gathered outside FBI offices in Minneapolis and Chicago, bearing signs and shouting chants condemning the agency's searches of anti-war activists in both cities.
About 150 people protested in Minneapolis on Monday, holding signs reading: "Stop FBI harassment. Opposing war is not a crime." Roughly 120 people marched in Chicago.
Search warrants had indicated investigators were looking for connections between the anti-war activists and radical groups in Colombia and the Middle East.
Many of those searched tell The Associated Press they've had ties to activist groups and have traveled in the Middle East or Colombia. All denied contributing any money to terrorist groups.
A leader of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, Jess Sundin, says at least 13 people have been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago.
Source
About 150 people protested in Minneapolis on Monday, holding signs reading: "Stop FBI harassment. Opposing war is not a crime." Roughly 120 people marched in Chicago.
Search warrants had indicated investigators were looking for connections between the anti-war activists and radical groups in Colombia and the Middle East.
Many of those searched tell The Associated Press they've had ties to activist groups and have traveled in the Middle East or Colombia. All denied contributing any money to terrorist groups.
A leader of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, Jess Sundin, says at least 13 people have been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago.
Source
Leahy Pushes Internet Censorship Bill
Sen. Patrick Leahy has introduced a bill affecting the Internet that could have a “dangerous impact on freedom of speech,” according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) introduced by the Vermont Democrat, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, requires Internet Service Providers, Domain Name System providers, and others to block Internet users from reaching certain websites.
The legislation, which seeks to curb online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods, would create two “blacklists.” The first is a list of all websites hit with a censorship court order from the Attorney General. The second is a list of domain names that the Department of Justice determines are “dedicated to infringing activities” that violate copyright laws.
COICA requires blocking for domains on the first list and “strongly suggests” that domains on the second list should be blocked as well by providing legal immunity for those who do block access to websites, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit civil liberties organization.
“This is a censorship bill that runs roughshod over freedom of speech on the Internet” and could have a “dangerous impact on freedom of speech,” the EFF observes.
More details here
The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) introduced by the Vermont Democrat, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, requires Internet Service Providers, Domain Name System providers, and others to block Internet users from reaching certain websites.
The legislation, which seeks to curb online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods, would create two “blacklists.” The first is a list of all websites hit with a censorship court order from the Attorney General. The second is a list of domain names that the Department of Justice determines are “dedicated to infringing activities” that violate copyright laws.
COICA requires blocking for domains on the first list and “strongly suggests” that domains on the second list should be blocked as well by providing legal immunity for those who do block access to websites, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit civil liberties organization.
“This is a censorship bill that runs roughshod over freedom of speech on the Internet” and could have a “dangerous impact on freedom of speech,” the EFF observes.
More details here
RSC Update
The question on the mind of every American and small business owner is a simple one: “what will my tax burden look like in 2011?” It is incumbent upon this Congress to answer that question with a firm commitment and a vote today to prevent a massive tax hike next year. Instead, Democrats are feeding the uncertainty in our economy by wavering and preparing to adjourn without a vote on this issue. That is unacceptable.
Speaker Pelosi is willing to toss this issue into an unpredictable and politically loaded lame duck session. Such an action does not respect our nation’s job creators who are already sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what taxes, mandates, and other regulatory impediments Congress will impose on them.
Before adjourning, Congress must also vote on a continuing resolution to keep the government open and functioning. This is because Democrats have failed to even propose a budget this year, not to mention follow the normal appropriations process. Predictably, this continuing resolution is ripe for the Democrat leadership to ram through additional, unrelated spending that will add even more to our nation’s debt. The RSC has put forth a better solution. Our plan would fund the government for the entire year while reducing spending to 2008 levels, before the era of bailouts and stimulus. It would also defund ObamaCare.
We cannot stay on the same path toward insurmountable debt while taking money away from hard-working American families and job creators. We must put our fiscal house in order today to ensure or our children and grandchildren have the same opportunities for success tomorrow.
Congressman Tom Price
Chairman, Republican Study Committee
Speaker Pelosi is willing to toss this issue into an unpredictable and politically loaded lame duck session. Such an action does not respect our nation’s job creators who are already sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what taxes, mandates, and other regulatory impediments Congress will impose on them.
Before adjourning, Congress must also vote on a continuing resolution to keep the government open and functioning. This is because Democrats have failed to even propose a budget this year, not to mention follow the normal appropriations process. Predictably, this continuing resolution is ripe for the Democrat leadership to ram through additional, unrelated spending that will add even more to our nation’s debt. The RSC has put forth a better solution. Our plan would fund the government for the entire year while reducing spending to 2008 levels, before the era of bailouts and stimulus. It would also defund ObamaCare.
We cannot stay on the same path toward insurmountable debt while taking money away from hard-working American families and job creators. We must put our fiscal house in order today to ensure or our children and grandchildren have the same opportunities for success tomorrow.
Congressman Tom Price
Black GOP Poised To Score Historic Election Victory
Riding a fierce anti-incumbent wave, Republicans have an opportunity to make history by electing a record number of black conservatives to Congress this November. Fourteen black Republicans have received the GOP’s nomination in their respective congressional districts. If just three of them win, it would mark the first time since Reconstruction that more than two African-Americans from the Republican Party have served in Congress
"We're pretty confident that at least two of those individuals will make it for sure,” Dr. Timothy Johnson, co-founder of The Frederick Douglass Foundation, tells Newsmax. “And I'm looking upwards to as many as five or six. I could be surprised, it could be more."
Many black Republicans eschew the hyphenated African-American modifier when describing themselves, emphasizing the point that they are first and foremost Americans.
The Foundation, a public-policy and educational group that promotes free markets and helps bolster black GOP candidacies, says the last time more than one black Republican served in Congress was in 1995-1997, when GOP Rep. Gary Franks and Rep. J.C. Watts were both elected.
“This will be the most successful election cycle for African-American Republicans in at least the last 20 years,” Republican Ken Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of state, tells Newsmax.
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"We're pretty confident that at least two of those individuals will make it for sure,” Dr. Timothy Johnson, co-founder of The Frederick Douglass Foundation, tells Newsmax. “And I'm looking upwards to as many as five or six. I could be surprised, it could be more."
Many black Republicans eschew the hyphenated African-American modifier when describing themselves, emphasizing the point that they are first and foremost Americans.
The Foundation, a public-policy and educational group that promotes free markets and helps bolster black GOP candidacies, says the last time more than one black Republican served in Congress was in 1995-1997, when GOP Rep. Gary Franks and Rep. J.C. Watts were both elected.
“This will be the most successful election cycle for African-American Republicans in at least the last 20 years,” Republican Ken Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of state, tells Newsmax.
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Poll: O'Donnell Helped By Castle Write-In
Support for Democrat Chris Coons drops below 50 percent if Castle enters race as write-in.
A new poll out Monday shows that if Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) were to wage a write-in bid in Delaware's Senate race this November, it could make the contest more winnable for Tea Party-backed Christine O'Donnell (R).
The Rasmussen poll found New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) still leading O'Donnell by nine percentage points in a hypothetical three-way race, but the Democrat's support came in under 50 percent.
The numbers have Coons ahead with 49 percent to O'Donnell's 40 percent. Castle gets just 5 percent of the vote as a write-in option, but most of that support appears to come away from the Democrat rather than O'Donnell.
The numbers should be taken with a grain of salt given the difficulty in polling a write-in contest. Rasmussen said the automated survey asked respondents their choice in a two-way race between Coons and O'Donnell with no mention of Castle. Only when the response options were listed were respondents given the choice of voting for Castle. More
A new poll out Monday shows that if Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) were to wage a write-in bid in Delaware's Senate race this November, it could make the contest more winnable for Tea Party-backed Christine O'Donnell (R).
The Rasmussen poll found New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) still leading O'Donnell by nine percentage points in a hypothetical three-way race, but the Democrat's support came in under 50 percent.
The numbers have Coons ahead with 49 percent to O'Donnell's 40 percent. Castle gets just 5 percent of the vote as a write-in option, but most of that support appears to come away from the Democrat rather than O'Donnell.
The numbers should be taken with a grain of salt given the difficulty in polling a write-in contest. Rasmussen said the automated survey asked respondents their choice in a two-way race between Coons and O'Donnell with no mention of Castle. Only when the response options were listed were respondents given the choice of voting for Castle. More
Hunt: Tea Party Defines U.S. Elections Agenda
With the U.S. midterm elections five weeks away, the tea party already is the big winner of 2010.
This anti-government, grassroots Republican offshoot has rattled the party establishment -- making former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin its most prominent 2012 presidential contender --and dominated the debate this campaign season.
The tea partyers believe they’re on the cutting edge of a revolution: the “future of politics,” as Palin says. More likely, they’re a short-term catalyst for Republicans and a long-term problem.
Nevertheless, their victories are impressive -- toppling the Republican Party’s choices in Senate races from Alaska to Delaware, with Nevada, Colorado and Kentucky in between. Scores of House candidates around America have embraced the tea party agenda.
The effect on non-tea party Republicans is palpable. The party’s 2008 presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, has shifted right on issues from immigration to tax cuts after being challenged by a tea party-type candidate. The former maverick is going to the Tucson tea party’s rally Oct. 9.
Presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, always a good weathervane, is assiduously courting the group. Immediately after tea party candidates Sharron Angle in Nevada and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware won upset primary victories, Romney embraced them with campaign contributions.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a non-movement right conservative, has embraced the tea party’s general anti- immigration posture; he actually endorsed changing the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution to bar citizenship for children born in America to undocumented immigrants.
Karl Rove, once an arbiter of conservative sentiment, in a moment of serious analysis on Fox News, criticized O’Donnell the night she won the primary, saying her extremism made her unelectable. Tea party Republicans assailed Rove, who quickly backtracked and then bragged about funneling money to O’Donnell’s campaign. There are shades of the French Revolution here.
The tea party agenda isn’t well defined, though it is anti- government, anti-spending, anti-immigration and anti-compromise politics. In an America beset by a 9.6 percent unemployment rate and plenty of anxiety and anger, there is a receptive audience.Here is more
This anti-government, grassroots Republican offshoot has rattled the party establishment -- making former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin its most prominent 2012 presidential contender --and dominated the debate this campaign season.
The tea partyers believe they’re on the cutting edge of a revolution: the “future of politics,” as Palin says. More likely, they’re a short-term catalyst for Republicans and a long-term problem.
Nevertheless, their victories are impressive -- toppling the Republican Party’s choices in Senate races from Alaska to Delaware, with Nevada, Colorado and Kentucky in between. Scores of House candidates around America have embraced the tea party agenda.
The effect on non-tea party Republicans is palpable. The party’s 2008 presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, has shifted right on issues from immigration to tax cuts after being challenged by a tea party-type candidate. The former maverick is going to the Tucson tea party’s rally Oct. 9.
Presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, always a good weathervane, is assiduously courting the group. Immediately after tea party candidates Sharron Angle in Nevada and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware won upset primary victories, Romney embraced them with campaign contributions.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a non-movement right conservative, has embraced the tea party’s general anti- immigration posture; he actually endorsed changing the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution to bar citizenship for children born in America to undocumented immigrants.
Karl Rove, once an arbiter of conservative sentiment, in a moment of serious analysis on Fox News, criticized O’Donnell the night she won the primary, saying her extremism made her unelectable. Tea party Republicans assailed Rove, who quickly backtracked and then bragged about funneling money to O’Donnell’s campaign. There are shades of the French Revolution here.
The tea party agenda isn’t well defined, though it is anti- government, anti-spending, anti-immigration and anti-compromise politics. In an America beset by a 9.6 percent unemployment rate and plenty of anxiety and anger, there is a receptive audience.Here is more
Obama Again Omits Our ‘Creator’
Just seven days after he sparked controversy by omitting the word “Creator” when he closely paraphrased the passage from the Declaration of Independence that says all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,” President Barack Obama again omitted the Creator when speaking about the “inalienable rights” that “everybody is endowed with.”
This time the president was speaking at a Sept. 22 fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, and his reference to “inalienable rights” was not as close a paraphrasing of the Declaration as it had been the week before.
“And what was sustaining us was that sense that, that North Star, that sense that, you know what, if we stay true to our values, if we believe that all people are created equal and everybody is endowed with certain inalienable rights and we’re going to make those words live, and we’re going to give everybody opportunity, everybody a ladder into the middle class, every child able to go as far as their dreams will take them--if we stay true to that, then we’re going to be able to maintain the energy and the focus, the fight, the gumption to get stuff done,” Obama said at the DCCC/DSCC event, according to the transcript posted by the White House.
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This time the president was speaking at a Sept. 22 fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, and his reference to “inalienable rights” was not as close a paraphrasing of the Declaration as it had been the week before.
“And what was sustaining us was that sense that, that North Star, that sense that, you know what, if we stay true to our values, if we believe that all people are created equal and everybody is endowed with certain inalienable rights and we’re going to make those words live, and we’re going to give everybody opportunity, everybody a ladder into the middle class, every child able to go as far as their dreams will take them--if we stay true to that, then we’re going to be able to maintain the energy and the focus, the fight, the gumption to get stuff done,” Obama said at the DCCC/DSCC event, according to the transcript posted by the White House.
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Hawaii Dems Silent On Obama Eligibility Status
It long has been documented that when Barack Obama was picked by the Democratic Party to be its 2008 presidential candidate, only one state – Hawaii – was sent a document from Nancy Pelosi certifying that he was qualified under the requirements of the U.S. Constitution.
Now a series of blogs reports are heating up the issue again, this time revealing documents that showed it apparently was Hawaii's local Democratic Party that refused to include that certification on its paperwork naming Obama as its candidate.
Even today, the Hawaii Democratic Party was staying mum, declining attempts by WND to obtain a comment on why it handled the 2008 presidential race paperwork as it did.
The original report came from a commentator at Canada Free Press who revealed the Democrats failed to certify their candidate's eligibility in 49 of the 50 states.
"In most states," writer JB Williams said at the time last year, "it appears that the DNC never certified constitutional eligibility for Barack Hussein Obama, despite their many claims of proper vetting and certification, all of which we now know to be false."
More here
Now a series of blogs reports are heating up the issue again, this time revealing documents that showed it apparently was Hawaii's local Democratic Party that refused to include that certification on its paperwork naming Obama as its candidate.
Even today, the Hawaii Democratic Party was staying mum, declining attempts by WND to obtain a comment on why it handled the 2008 presidential race paperwork as it did.
The original report came from a commentator at Canada Free Press who revealed the Democrats failed to certify their candidate's eligibility in 49 of the 50 states.
"In most states," writer JB Williams said at the time last year, "it appears that the DNC never certified constitutional eligibility for Barack Hussein Obama, despite their many claims of proper vetting and certification, all of which we now know to be false."
More here
1/3 Of Blacks Back Tea-Party Movement
A new poll released this week soundly contradicts critics' claims that the tea-party movement is "fringe," "white" and "racist."
PJTV's Tea Party Tracking Poll has monitored nationwide sentiments toward the tea party on a weekly basis since Aug. 2. The poll's most recent reports reveal the following results:
* The number of people who identify as "members" of the tea party has more than tripled over the last month alone, up to 21 percent of likely voters;
* Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said they support the tea parties based on the movement's positions on the issues;
* Among the likely voters who are black, 32 percent said they would vote for a candidate backed by the tea parties.
The last statistic caught the attention of PJTV.
"Questions of racism within the tea party have been raised for months now," said PJTV's Polling Director Vik Rubenfeld in a statement. "Our survey found that more than one in three African-Americans support the movement. Moreover, the data revealed that 32 percent are also likely to vote for a congressional candidate whom the tea party supports."
Joe Hicks, PJTV host and former executive director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said the poll "shows that, for many black voters, race no longer serves as a rationale for supporting policies that undermine their economic interests."
Here is more info
PJTV's Tea Party Tracking Poll has monitored nationwide sentiments toward the tea party on a weekly basis since Aug. 2. The poll's most recent reports reveal the following results:
* The number of people who identify as "members" of the tea party has more than tripled over the last month alone, up to 21 percent of likely voters;
* Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said they support the tea parties based on the movement's positions on the issues;
* Among the likely voters who are black, 32 percent said they would vote for a candidate backed by the tea parties.
The last statistic caught the attention of PJTV.
"Questions of racism within the tea party have been raised for months now," said PJTV's Polling Director Vik Rubenfeld in a statement. "Our survey found that more than one in three African-Americans support the movement. Moreover, the data revealed that 32 percent are also likely to vote for a congressional candidate whom the tea party supports."
Joe Hicks, PJTV host and former executive director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said the poll "shows that, for many black voters, race no longer serves as a rationale for supporting policies that undermine their economic interests."
Here is more info
Quote Of The Day
"The constitutionality and propriety of the Federal Government assuming to enter into a novel and vast field of legislation, namely, that of providing for the care and support of all those ... who by any form of calamity become fit objects of public philanthropy. ... I cannot find any authority in the Constitution for making the Federal Government the great almoner of public charity throughout the United States. To do so would, in my judgment, be contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution and subversive of the whole theory upon which the Union of these States is founded." --President Franklin Pierce (1804-1869)
U.S. Looking To Expand Internet Wiretapping
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
Federal officials are working on a bill that would allow the government to wiretap the Internet – aiming specifically at peer-to-peer communication networks.Whistleblower Raising Eyebrows In Voter Intimidation Case
Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com
Former Justice Department official Christopher Coates alleged the department doesn’t apply equal standards to all cases of voter intimidation.2 Md. Teens Charged After Toddler Shoots Himself
HAGERSTOWN, Md. - Police in Hagerstown have charged a 16-year-old with firearm and theft violations after his 2-year-old brother accidentally shot himself in the chest with a stolen handgun hidden under a bed.
The victim was in critical condition Monday at Children's Hospital in D.C. after the early morning shooting at an apartment on Little Elliott Drive in Hagerstown.
GO HERE to learn more.
The victim was in critical condition Monday at Children's Hospital in D.C. after the early morning shooting at an apartment on Little Elliott Drive in Hagerstown.
GO HERE to learn more.
Starbucks' Prices Going Up
Citing a 13-year high in the price of its coffee beans, plus "significant volatility" in other ingredients like dairy, Starbucks last week said it plans to raise prices on certain "labor-intensive and larger-sized" beverages. The small tall coffee will remain at its current price for now, says the company. I wonder if those truncated menus the company introduced a few weeks ago were really about hiding the least expensive option from consumers, especially since it isn't being included in the price hike?
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Blog: Hogan Predicts Sunset For O’Malley Administration
As the sun slowly set over Beards Creek in Edgewater Saturday evening, Bob Ehrlich’s former appointment secretary Larry Hogan made a prediction. “In 38 days, you’re going to see the sun finally set on the O’Malley administration,” he said.
GO HERE to read more.
GO HERE to read more.
NY Bar Rules It's Ethical For Lawyers To Scour Facebook For Damaging Info
The New York Bar Association has decreed that it's okay for lawyers to troll through Facebook and other social media sites for damaging info on their opposition. There is an important caveat, though. It's only ethical if the info is publicly available. "Friending" someone for the purpose of accessing data the person only makes available to their "friends" is not kosher, nor is it cool to ask someone else to do it for you.
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Community Fest
Cross Pointe Church of the Nazarene is the host site for the first annual Community Fest on Saturday, October 9 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at 27765 Nanticoke Road in Salisbury, Maryland.
This family-oriented day will include fun for all ages!
The event is co-sponsored by the Tabernacle of Prayer Church, Rockawalkin United Methodist Church, Cross Pointe Church of the Nazarene, Westside Intermediate and Pemberton Elementary Schools, as well as many Community Service organizations.
Featured will be carnival type activities for children; Sunshine the Clown; an antique and classic car and truck show; oyster and crab cake sandwiches, French fries, snow cones, ice cream, baked goods and more; live entertainment; Froggy 99 remote broadcast, and many community service displays.
A Maryland Food Bank truck will also be on the premises for donations during the festival – drop off canned goods, paper goods, diapers and cleaning supplies.
To include your not-for-profit community service organization or to register for the car and truck show, contact Cross Pointe at 410-742-3840.
This family-oriented day will include fun for all ages!
The event is co-sponsored by the Tabernacle of Prayer Church, Rockawalkin United Methodist Church, Cross Pointe Church of the Nazarene, Westside Intermediate and Pemberton Elementary Schools, as well as many Community Service organizations.
Featured will be carnival type activities for children; Sunshine the Clown; an antique and classic car and truck show; oyster and crab cake sandwiches, French fries, snow cones, ice cream, baked goods and more; live entertainment; Froggy 99 remote broadcast, and many community service displays.
A Maryland Food Bank truck will also be on the premises for donations during the festival – drop off canned goods, paper goods, diapers and cleaning supplies.
To include your not-for-profit community service organization or to register for the car and truck show, contact Cross Pointe at 410-742-3840.
Accident On Naylor Mill Rd.
Dear Joe,
This evening around 8pm turning left off of Zion Rd. onto Naylor Mill Rd. I saw an older light silver/grey minvan fly through the light, turning right onto Zion, and speed off. The vehicle was smoking and damaged.
On Naylor Mill, I came up upon an accident scene. A vehicle had been t-boned, and a family with two little girls were in the car. The front passenger seemed to be the only one with injuries, but the car was totaled. I gave my statement, but wasn't much help without a tag # or actually seeing the accident.
I find myself hoping the police did find the other vehicle, but I thought I'd ask you to post this in case some one else saw the accident or a smoking van speeding down the road in that area...just makes me sick someone could hit a car and flee the scene without a hesitation.
Thanks
This evening around 8pm turning left off of Zion Rd. onto Naylor Mill Rd. I saw an older light silver/grey minvan fly through the light, turning right onto Zion, and speed off. The vehicle was smoking and damaged.
On Naylor Mill, I came up upon an accident scene. A vehicle had been t-boned, and a family with two little girls were in the car. The front passenger seemed to be the only one with injuries, but the car was totaled. I gave my statement, but wasn't much help without a tag # or actually seeing the accident.
I find myself hoping the police did find the other vehicle, but I thought I'd ask you to post this in case some one else saw the accident or a smoking van speeding down the road in that area...just makes me sick someone could hit a car and flee the scene without a hesitation.
Thanks
Citizens' Group Helps Uncover Alleged Rampant Voter Fraud In Houston
When Catherine Engelbrecht and her friends sat down and started talking politics several years ago, they soon agreed that talking wasn’t enough. They wanted to do more. So when the 2008 election came around, “about 50” of her friends volunteered to work at Houston’s polling places.
“What we saw shocked us,” she said. “There was no one checking IDs, judges would vote for people that asked for help. It was fraud, and we watched like deer in the headlights.”
Their shared experience, she says, created “True the Vote,” a citizen-based grassroots organization that began collecting publicly available voting data to prove that what they saw in their day at the polls was, indeed, happening -- and that it was happening everywhere.
“It was a true Tea Party moment,” she remembers.
Like most voter watchdog groups, she said, her group started small. They decided to investigate voting fraud in general, not just at the polling places, and at first they weren't even sure what to look for -- and where to look for it.
“The first thing we started to do was look at houses with more than six voters in them" Engelbrecht said, because those houses were the most likely to have fraudulent registrations attached to them. "Most voting districts had 1,800 if they were Republican and 2,400 of these houses if they were Democratic . . .
"But we came across one with 24,000, and that was where we started looking."
It was Houston's poorest and predominantly black district, which has led some to accuse the group of targeting poor black areas. But Engelbrecht rejects that, saying, "It had nothing to do with politics. It was just the numbers.”
The task was overwhelming. With 1.9 million voters and 886 voting precincts, Houston’s Harris County is the second largest county in the country -- and the key to Texas elections.
The group called for help and quickly got 30 donated computers and “tens of thousands of hours” of volunteer work. And then the questions started to arise.
“Vacant lots had several voters registered on them. An eight-bed halfway house had more than 40 voters registered at its address,” Engelbrecht said. “We then decided to look at who was registering the voters."
Their work paid off. Two weeks ago the Harris County voter registrar took their work and the findings of his own investigation and handed them over to both the Texas secretary of state’s office and the Harris County district attorney.
Most of the findings focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Sean Caddle, who also works for the Service Employees International Union. Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid.
The other registrations included one of a woman who registered six times in the same day; registrations of non-citizens; so many applications from one Houston Voters collector in one day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability; and 1,597 registrations that named the same person multiple times, often with different signatures.
Caddle told local newspapers that there “had been mistakes made,” and he said he had fired 30 workers for filing defective voter registration applications. He could not be reached for this article.
"The integrity of the voting rolls in Harris County, Texas, appears to be under an organized and systematic attack by the group operating under the name Houston Votes," the Harris voter registrar, Leo Vasquez, charged as he passed on the documentation to the district attorney. A spokesman for the DA's office declined to discuss the case. And a spokesman for Vasquez said that the DA has asked them to refrain from commenting on the case.
The outcome of the efforts grew in importance the day after Vasquez made his announcement. On the morning of Aug. 27, a three-alarm fire destroyed almost all of Harris County’s voting machines, throwing the upcoming Nov. 2 election into turmoil. While the cause wasn’t determined, the $40 million blaze, according to press reports, means election officials will be focused on creating a whole new voting system in six weeks.
Just how they do it will determine how vulnerable the process becomes.
Make A Fruit Fly Death Trap With Apple Cider Vinegar And Dish Soap
Fruit flies can be an annoyance but you can get rid of them using stuff right from your kitchen, no tools required. One method is to pour apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a glass along with some dish soap. Come back after leaving it out for a few hours and you'll have yourself a nice cup of dead fruit flies.
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Children Can Now Stay On Parent's Health Care Policies Until Age 26, And 3 Other Health Care Reforms That Just Kicked In
Several of the provisions of the health care bill's provisions went into effect on September 23rd, one of the most popular of them being the fact that kids can now stay on their parent's health care policies until age 26, but there also three other important ones too!
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Millions Were Misspent by Arizona Sheriff’s Office Facing Federal Lawsuit, Officials Say
Officials in Maricopa County, Ariz., say its controversial sheriff, Joe Arpaio, misspent between $60 million and $80 million in funds.
GO HERE to read more.
Obama Administration Criticizes Slow Payments By Gulf Spill Claims Czar
The pace of BP claims payments is called unacceptably slow, and the official in charge promises new procedures to speed up the program.
In an unusual rebuke to the White House's hand-picked candidate for managing damage claims from the Gulf oil spill, the associate U.S. attorney general wrote a strongly worded letter [1] to claims czar Kenneth Feinberg describing the pace of his payments as "unacceptable" and demanding that he improve his operation.
"Many of these individuals and businesses simply do not have the resources to get by while they await processing by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility," Associate AG Thomas J. Perrelli wrote on Sept. 17. "As the present pace is unacceptable, the GCCF needs to devote whatever additional resources -- or make whatever administrative changes -- are necessary in order to speed up this process."
GO HERE to read more.
In an unusual rebuke to the White House's hand-picked candidate for managing damage claims from the Gulf oil spill, the associate U.S. attorney general wrote a strongly worded letter [1] to claims czar Kenneth Feinberg describing the pace of his payments as "unacceptable" and demanding that he improve his operation.
"Many of these individuals and businesses simply do not have the resources to get by while they await processing by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility," Associate AG Thomas J. Perrelli wrote on Sept. 17. "As the present pace is unacceptable, the GCCF needs to devote whatever additional resources -- or make whatever administrative changes -- are necessary in order to speed up this process."
GO HERE to read more.
STATE HOSPITAL PATIENT CHARGED WITH MURDER
(Jessup, MD) – Maryland State Police homicide investigators are charging a patient at a state hospital with murder tonight after their investigation implicated him in the murder of a female patient at the hospital late last night.
The accused is identified as El Soundani El-Wahhabi, also known as Saladin Taylor, 46, who is a patient at the Clifton T. Perkins State Hospital in Jessup, Md. After consultation with the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office, El-Wahhabi is being charged tonight with first and second degree murder. He is expected to appear before a court commissioner later this evening for a bond hearing.
The victim is identified as Susan Sachs, 45, who was also a patient at the same hospital. The victim’s body has been transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy.
Maryland State Police at the Waterloo Barrack were contacted this morning by hospital staff after the victim was found deceased in her room. Members of the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit responded to the scene and are conducting the investigation.
The preliminary investigation reveals that at about 8:30 a.m. today, a hospital nurse went to Sachs’ room to check on her after she failed to go to breakfast. The nurse found the victim face down in her bed with a string ligature around her neck. Medical assistance was immediately summoned and doctors determined the victim was deceased.
State Police investigators and crime scene technicians have been at the hospital throughout the day processing the scene, collecting evidence and conducting dozens of interviews. Evidence gathered by investigators led to the arrest of El-Wahhabi this afternoon.
Both the accused and the victim had rooms in the same hallway of a hospital housing unit. Both had been court committed to the hospital as a result of previous criminal trials for murder.
A motive for the murder is not known at this time. The investigation is continuing.
The accused is identified as El Soundani El-Wahhabi, also known as Saladin Taylor, 46, who is a patient at the Clifton T. Perkins State Hospital in Jessup, Md. After consultation with the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office, El-Wahhabi is being charged tonight with first and second degree murder. He is expected to appear before a court commissioner later this evening for a bond hearing.
The victim is identified as Susan Sachs, 45, who was also a patient at the same hospital. The victim’s body has been transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy.
Maryland State Police at the Waterloo Barrack were contacted this morning by hospital staff after the victim was found deceased in her room. Members of the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit responded to the scene and are conducting the investigation.
The preliminary investigation reveals that at about 8:30 a.m. today, a hospital nurse went to Sachs’ room to check on her after she failed to go to breakfast. The nurse found the victim face down in her bed with a string ligature around her neck. Medical assistance was immediately summoned and doctors determined the victim was deceased.
State Police investigators and crime scene technicians have been at the hospital throughout the day processing the scene, collecting evidence and conducting dozens of interviews. Evidence gathered by investigators led to the arrest of El-Wahhabi this afternoon.
Both the accused and the victim had rooms in the same hallway of a hospital housing unit. Both had been court committed to the hospital as a result of previous criminal trials for murder.
A motive for the murder is not known at this time. The investigation is continuing.
Highlighted Events This Week In Wicomico Schools
Up with People Seeks Host Families
Cast to Perform in Salisbury Oct. 12; Host Families Needed Oct. 10-14
Families in Salisbury will have the unique opportunity to bring a bit of the world into their own homes between October 10 and 14 when an international cast of Up with People arrives in Salisbury, a stop on their 2010 world tour. The Salisbury visit of Up with People is sponsored by the Wicomico County Board of Education.
Local families in the Salisbury area are being sought now to sign up to host the cast members between Sunday, Oct. 10 and Thursday, Oct. 14. Those interested in hosting are encouraged to contact Liz Davis on the Salisbury Advance Team at ldavis@upwithpeople.org or by calling 410-677-4400 and asking for Up with People, or 505-850-3113.
Host families are being sought to keep one or more students from Cast B 2010, the 90-member Up with People cast and staff which represents 17 countries and more than 25 states. The opportunity to stay with local families during their stay in each community is a centerpiece of Up with People’s 22-week program. The giving goes both ways…while families share their traditions and local attractions; the cast members share their experiences and cultures. Those with smaller children or young teens in their home often find that the Up with People cast members are wonderful role models and provide a glimpse into other countries, cultures and traditions they might not often experience in Salisbury.
Local host families are asked to provide a bed, local transportation at the beginning and end of each day, as well as breakfast and most dinners. While gone during the day, participating in regional learning, community service and show preparation, most evenings cast members will be home with the family to participate in their activities and interests.
In addition to many wonderful experiences with their new “son” or “daughter,” each host family will receive two complimentary tickets to the Up with People Show which will be held at Wicomico High School on Tuesday, October 12 at 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 1
Mid-Term Progress Reports Sent Home
Cast to Perform in Salisbury Oct. 12; Host Families Needed Oct. 10-14
Families in Salisbury will have the unique opportunity to bring a bit of the world into their own homes between October 10 and 14 when an international cast of Up with People arrives in Salisbury, a stop on their 2010 world tour. The Salisbury visit of Up with People is sponsored by the Wicomico County Board of Education.
Local families in the Salisbury area are being sought now to sign up to host the cast members between Sunday, Oct. 10 and Thursday, Oct. 14. Those interested in hosting are encouraged to contact Liz Davis on the Salisbury Advance Team at ldavis@upwithpeople.org or by calling 410-677-4400 and asking for Up with People, or 505-850-3113.
Host families are being sought to keep one or more students from Cast B 2010, the 90-member Up with People cast and staff which represents 17 countries and more than 25 states. The opportunity to stay with local families during their stay in each community is a centerpiece of Up with People’s 22-week program. The giving goes both ways…while families share their traditions and local attractions; the cast members share their experiences and cultures. Those with smaller children or young teens in their home often find that the Up with People cast members are wonderful role models and provide a glimpse into other countries, cultures and traditions they might not often experience in Salisbury.
Local host families are asked to provide a bed, local transportation at the beginning and end of each day, as well as breakfast and most dinners. While gone during the day, participating in regional learning, community service and show preparation, most evenings cast members will be home with the family to participate in their activities and interests.
In addition to many wonderful experiences with their new “son” or “daughter,” each host family will receive two complimentary tickets to the Up with People Show which will be held at Wicomico High School on Tuesday, October 12 at 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 1
Mid-Term Progress Reports Sent Home
A POEM WORTH READING
He was getting old and paunchy And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,Telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he once fought in And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; They were heroes, every one.
And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly For they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer, For he has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer For a Soldier died today.
He won t be mourned by many, a few friends, his children and wife.
For he lived an ordinary, Very quiet sort of life.
He held a job and raised a family, Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing, 'Tho a Soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing, And proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell of their life stories From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier Goes unnoticed, and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution To the welfare of our land,
Someone who breaks his promise And cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country And offers up his life?
The politician's stipend And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate, To the service that he gives.
While the ordinary Soldier,Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal And perhaps a pension, small.
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."
And he sat around the Legion,Telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he once fought in And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; They were heroes, every one.
And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly For they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer, For he has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer For a Soldier died today.
He won t be mourned by many, a few friends, his children and wife.
For he lived an ordinary, Very quiet sort of life.
He held a job and raised a family, Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing, 'Tho a Soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing, And proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell of their life stories From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier Goes unnoticed, and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution To the welfare of our land,
Someone who breaks his promise And cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country And offers up his life?
The politician's stipend And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate, To the service that he gives.
While the ordinary Soldier,Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal And perhaps a pension, small.
It is not the politicians With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom That our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out, With his ever waffling stand?
Or would you want a Soldier-- His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier, Who would fight until the end?
He was just a common Soldier, And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us We may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles That the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage At the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline In the paper that might say:
Who won for us the freedom That our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out, With his ever waffling stand?
Or would you want a Soldier-- His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier, Who would fight until the end?
He was just a common Soldier, And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us We may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles That the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage At the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."
"Moving America Forward" Rally
The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius To Attend a "Moving America Forward" Rally at the University of Maryland
WASHINGTON, DC - The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius will headline a rally at 5:45 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, September 28 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland as President Barack Obama kicks off a series of "Moving America Forward" organizing rallies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. With critical midterm elections in less than two months, President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius will lay out the stakes for the country and the clear choice for voters this November: whether to support Democratic leaders and continue to make progress for American families and small businesses-or to return to the failed, Bush-era policies that nearly drove the nation into a second Great Depression. Sebelius will stress the need for young voters in particular to be engaged in the political process and to vote in the elections this fall.
Following the opening program, Kathleen Sebelius will link into a telecast of President Obama's remarks at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, joining more than one hundred campus-based watch parties around the country.
Also on Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, Hilda Solis and Ron Kirk will attend similar events at college campuses across the country to engage and mobilize young voters.
WHAT: "Moving America Forward" rally with the Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
WHO: The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
WHEN: Tuesday, September 28
Pre-set is at 5:00 PM EDT; Program begins at 6:00 PM EDT
WHERE: University of Maryland
The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, Orem Ballroom A
College Park, MD
Since taking office in January 2009, the Obama Administration has made major strides on behalf of young people nationwide-including streamlining the student loan system to eliminate predatory lenders, increasing the size of Pell Grants, reforming health care to permit young people to stay on their parents' insurance plans until the age of 26, and strengthening credit card regulations that protect college students from excessive interest rates and fees.
Organizing rally will focus on engaging college students and young voters; Among more than 100 campus-based watch parties scheduled nationwide
WASHINGTON, DC - The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius will headline a rally at 5:45 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, September 28 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland as President Barack Obama kicks off a series of "Moving America Forward" organizing rallies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. With critical midterm elections in less than two months, President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius will lay out the stakes for the country and the clear choice for voters this November: whether to support Democratic leaders and continue to make progress for American families and small businesses-or to return to the failed, Bush-era policies that nearly drove the nation into a second Great Depression. Sebelius will stress the need for young voters in particular to be engaged in the political process and to vote in the elections this fall.
Following the opening program, Kathleen Sebelius will link into a telecast of President Obama's remarks at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, joining more than one hundred campus-based watch parties around the country.
Also on Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, Hilda Solis and Ron Kirk will attend similar events at college campuses across the country to engage and mobilize young voters.
WHAT: "Moving America Forward" rally with the Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
WHO: The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
WHEN: Tuesday, September 28
Pre-set is at 5:00 PM EDT; Program begins at 6:00 PM EDT
WHERE: University of Maryland
The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, Orem Ballroom A
College Park, MD
RSVP TO BRANDI HOFFINE - HOFFINEB@DNC.ORG
Organizing rally will focus on engaging college students and young voters; Among more than 100 campus-based watch parties scheduled nationwide
Martin O’Malley: Still Making Stuff Up
It’s bad enough that Martin O’Malley misled Marylanders by breaking his promise to “stop the 72% rate hikes” in his first campaign for Governor. Now he’s making stuff up – and covering up the truth – about Maryland’s economy.
· The Cover Up: Emails recently obtained from Martin O’Malley’s government reveal that his high level advisors actively suppressed an accurate, taxpayer-funded economic report whose findings repudiated O’Malley’s campaign message about Maryland’s economy.
· Emails from O’Malley’s Department of Labor, Licensing, & Regulation (DLLR) even show that orders to suppress the report were, “coming straight from the top” and with full knowledge of Governor O’Malley’s office. That same employee wrote “whatever we can do to make it [the jobs report] disappear, we need to do it.” Copies of the emails can be viewed by clicking here.
· Making Things Up: After O’Malley’s advisors pulled the report from public view, they actually rewrote it to make it support O’Malley’s campaign theme that Maryland’s economy was stronger than it really was.
· “Insulting Voters:” The (Baltimore Sun) editorial board wrote that the O’Malley Administration “insulted voters’ intelligence” and asked, “If the professionals in the department think there is cause for concern, do we not have a right to know?” -- The Sun, August 25, 2010
· Shockingly, one day after O’Malley’s aides suppressed the report and replaced it with a politicized version, O’Malley delivered an upbeat assessment of Maryland’s economy in Ocean City – an assessment in direct conflict with the report his aides had suppressed.
· Bottom Line: Martin O’Malley will do and say anything to get re-elected, including making stuff up about Maryland’s economy to mislead the public and force public employees to suppress the truth. With 216,000 Marylanders unemployed and 3,000 small businesses closed on O’Malley’s watch, Maryland’s economy is stuck -- even if Martin O’Malley doesn’t want you to know it.
O'MALLEY-BROWN CAMP. RESPONDS TO DESPERATE EHRLICH ATTACKS
New TV Ad Will Set the Record Straight
Baltimore, MD (September 27, 2010) -- In response to Bob Ehrlich's misleading TV attack ad and desperate attempt to score political points at a press conference this morning, O'Malley-Brown Deputy Campaign Manager Rick Abbruzzese issued the following statement:
"This is embarrassing for the failed former governor: Bob Ehrlich has spent this election season misleading voters about his failed record of increased taxes and spending, and now he's trying to blame Governor O'Malley for the failures of his own Public Service Commission.
"Everyone knows a fee is a tax, and everyone knows it was Ehrlich's cronies at the PSC that failed to do anything about the 72% BGE rate hike. When voters fired Ehrlich, Martin O'Malley stepped in to clean up Ehrlich's mess and won $2 billion in rebates from the electric companies, all while Ehrlich was enriching himself to the tune of $2.5 million working for a lobbying firm representing special interests.
"Now Ehrlich is trying to play the same desperate blame game with economic statistics and betting against Maryland's future success. Here are the facts: since January, over 33,000 jobs have been created in Maryland. It's the best job growth in a January to August period in Maryland since 2000."
To set the record straight about BGE rate increases, the O'Malley-Brown campaign today is launching a new TV ad, "Real Record," available for viewing here.
To set the record straight about BGE rate increases, the O'Malley-Brown campaign today is launching a new TV ad, "Real Record," available for viewing here.
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