DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Monday, February 28, 2011
110 Comments Since Noon
Looks like going back to anonymous comments was a good idea. Unfortunately we've had to reject quite a few of the former and traditional Idiots but I will admit, this is more fun. Enjoy!
Salisbury News Goes Back To Anonymous Comments
The main reason so many have asked us to do so is that they are afraid of retribution. Even though we explained that their information would not be accessed by any outside source, people are clearly afraid and I had to reconsider our position.
The final thing that convinced me to go back to anonymous comments is because it is extremely important, (to me) that comments help our community to openly discuss how they feel about a particular situation/post. If people are afraid, well, then only a certain group of people win and the topic fades away or simply drops.
That being said, we will simply reject the personal attacks, all capital letters and curse word comments. Give me 2 minutes and we'll be back to open comments.
New Posts will fall below this one.
Should Council Vote for a New Bennett Middle School?
We need to replace Bennett Middle School. I don’t think there is anyone arguing that we don’t. Accepting this, does that mean the Wicomico County Council should vote on Tuesday to include a new Bennett Middle School in the county’s capital budget? No.
There is no question that Wicomico County cannot afford the project this year. Why, then, should the council agree to include the project?
The argument goes something like this …
By putting the project in the capital budget now we are not committing to funding it. Unless the county’s financial picture changes, we don’t have to include it when the county passes its bond bill in the fall. However, if we don’t the county loses that flexibility. We will certainly face higher construction costs in the future AND we move to the bottom of the pile when seeking funding from the state.
All of this is true. In fact, if a majority of council votes to include a new Bennett Middle in the capital budget on Tuesday this is the same argument we will hear in the fall when passing the bond bill.
Betting On the “Come”
Given the last two rounds of property reassessments, and the current trend in income tax receipts, does any member of council honestly believe that the county’s financial picture will change sufficiently to justify borrowing this money in the fall? Of course not! Why include a project that you wouldn’t vote to fund … unless your real intention is to go ahead and add to the county’s dangerously high debt levels with no real plan for funding it? When voters elected 6 Republican, and supposedly conservative, council members last November they thought the days of “betting on the come” would end in Wicomico County. Tuesday’s council vote will let voters know if this is really true.
A Monument to John Fredericksen’s Ego
While the county’s less than rosy financial situation is reason enough to strip the Bennett Middle project from the capital budget, there is another very important reason for doing so. Superintendent John Fredericksen, and the Wicomico County Board of Education all need to be taught an important lesson – deceiving the council AND the voters of Wicomico County should not be rewarded.
In Monday’s Daily Times we are treated to the following:
School board President Michelle Wright and Superintendent John Fredericksen say there are good reasons to keep the project a possibility. It would give the school system and county more time to discuss cost-cutting ideas and to pursue alternative financing ideas, they say.
Really John? Really Michelle? Just last week the School Building Commission received a consultant’s report (costing the taxpayers almost $20,000) that outlined some very modest cost cutting measures in the proposed project. The BOE stance was that replacing brick pavers (expensive) with more modest concrete would harm the “ambiance” of the school. While I’m sure that the BOE will “discuss” cost-cutting ideas, they are only going to implement them if FORCED. Sadly, County Executive Rick Pollitt doesn’t possess the backbone to force the BOE to do anything.
In an earlier DT article, Wright is quoted:
Wright said though she was aware there was a perception the building was a "Taj Mahal" and more than needed, it was her understanding that all of its features were necessary to meet state construction guidelines and instructional needs.
Are we to believe that the state is REQUIRING brick pavers? I know that this is one minor example. However, it is illustrative. The public simply cannot trust the word of Fredericksen or most of the Board members. The building IS a “Taj Mahal”. The proposed project is a monument to the collective egos of John Fredericksen and the majority of his board members (along with numerous BOE bureaucrats).
We’re NOT Playing Politics
To add insult to injury, Fredericksen and his merry little band are using YOUR tax dollars to politicize the issue.
We shouldn’t forget that your tax dollars go to pay the salary of the wife of the Daily Times’ Managing Editor. Coincidentally (sure), the DT has run at least 3 articles on this subject in the past week!
In addition, tax dollars are being used to “communicate to parents” the “need” to move this forward NOW. Using tax dollars to “encourage” parents and board employees to lobby for more county spending (and debt) is legal, but ethically questionable.
However, we shouldn’t be shocked that board members such as retired teacher Ron Willey find no problem with this:
Board member Ron Willey said he didn't want the board to be perceived as running a political campaign, but he thought it was important to communicate to parents of students at BMS feeder schools that the project was in jeopardy.
The Bottom Line
Wicomico County simply can’t afford to build a new Bennett Middle this year. Even if we could, funding this monument to ego shouldn’t be funded REGARDLESS of the county’s current financial situation.
Fredericksen and Wright should be forced to come up with a REALISTIC and financially prudent plan BEFORE the council agrees to move this project forward. A vote by council to place this on the county’s capital budget is a vote to endorse the spendthrift ways of the WCBOE, a vote for more fiscal chicanery, and a signal that the taxpayers of Wicomico County simply don’t matter in comparison to the desires of the county’s largest bureaucracy.
Why Is Everyone So Afraid Of Fire?
So a structure burns down on the river, so what. As long as everyone gets out safely, who cares! A Fire Boat isn't going to STOP fires!
When you get to be my age, after paying for insurance over the past 30 years, why not get something out of it.
Instead, the wet pants liberals want to force a million dollar Fire Boat down our throats even though there hasn't been multiple fires on properties on the river in 20 or 30 years.
The again, are these homes and businesses not insured? If the are, let them burn and rebuild. At least it will boost the local economy. Heck, by the time the Fire Boat arrives it will be too late anyway!
All I can tell you Folks is, you better get out and vote tomorrow and you better vote for Cohen, Spies and Boda.
When you get to be my age, after paying for insurance over the past 30 years, why not get something out of it.
Instead, the wet pants liberals want to force a million dollar Fire Boat down our throats even though there hasn't been multiple fires on properties on the river in 20 or 30 years.
The again, are these homes and businesses not insured? If the are, let them burn and rebuild. At least it will boost the local economy. Heck, by the time the Fire Boat arrives it will be too late anyway!
All I can tell you Folks is, you better get out and vote tomorrow and you better vote for Cohen, Spies and Boda.
National Search For Missing Virginia Woman
Lauren Taylor has not been seen since she walked away from a Falls Church group home.
Lauren, who turns 21 today, was last seen early Monday morning of last week .
Fairfax County police spokesman Don Gotthardt says they have issued a national alert with the help of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center.
More
OCEAN CITY POLICE HOLDING ADDITIONAL APPLICANT TESTING
The Ocean City Police Department is seeking applicants to for seasonal police officers.
The department is holding a final testing on March 19-20 to find the most qualified
applicants for the job.
“The Ocean City Police Department has very high standards for both full time and
seasonal police officers,” said Chief Bernadette DiPino. “We see over 500 men and
women who apply to be police officers in Ocean City, but we only hire approximately 22 percent of those people. We hope that holding this additional applicant testing weekend will help us continue to find the most qualified individuals to uphold the Ocean City Police Department’s long standing tradition of professionalism and excellence.”
Applicant testing will be held at Ocean City Elementary School. Applicants must be at the testing location no later than 7:45 a.m.
For more information about the Ocean City Police Department’s testing process or to receive an application, please contact the Ocean City Police Department’s Training and Recruiting Section at 410-723-6612.
Wicomico County Prescription Discount Card Program
Clip out your FREE prescription discount card below and start saving on your prescription medicine TODAY!
Somali Pirates Capture Danish Ship With Seven On Board
COPENHAGEN – Somali pirates seized a Danish yacht with seven people on board, including three children, the Danish foreign ministry said Monday.
Salisbury's New Fire Boat Will Now Cost $1,000,000.00
The reason, Councilwoman Campbell will be flying to Harvard this morning to attend classes this week and she will not be present to vote. That means Comegys won't even need to be present to pass the purchase.
Nevertheless, the price is now $1,000,000.00, not $900,000.00. Surprise, Surprise!
SAPOA vs. CAMPBELL
And who ended up as the winning bidder, that would be the President of SAPOA and her Husband. So you might say, the Adams Family could be moving in next door?
Here's the worst part Folks. The home SOLD for $80,000.00! If there's ever a Post in which comments should fly, this is the one.
Will the Adams Family flip the home, move in or rent it? One thing is for sure, buying any home in the City of Salisbury is a Lose/Lose situation any more. The taxes on this home are over $1,600.00 per year, more than twice the mortgage payment per month. Add water and sewer and your getting close to triple.
If the Adams are spiteful, they'll rent it. If they're smart they'll flip it. If they're crazy they'll move in. No matter how you look at it, they got a great buy. God Bless America.
Is This Blight?
Is there no pride? Or shall we look on the blight side and be thankful we have so much inventory.
Pothole Politics Could Drive Gas Tax Rise
Hit to localities' highway funds taking a toll on roads
A few years ago, when Maryland's economy was cruising along and the tax money was rolling in, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman could count on receiving about $16 million a year from the state to keep local roads in good repair.But this year, like the year before, he didn't even get $500,000. And unless the state can tap into a new stream of money, things aren't looking much better for 2012.
Howard County's story is typical of jurisdictions across Maryland. With the exception of Baltimore City, every jurisdiction in the state has seen its road repair money slashed by about 97 percent from levels in budget year 2007.
More
Tornado Watch Issued For D.C. Area
We'll see a major swing of temperatures once again Monday, and some severe weather is possible.
A tornado watch have been issued for most of the D.C. region until 4 p.m.
A strong cold front will be approaching the region by mid-afternoon, according to NBC Washington meteorologist Tom Kierein. Ahead of that front, we will likely have thunderstorms that could produce damaging winds, hail and possible tornadoes.
Some of these thunderstorms also may produce some brief periods of heavy rain.
The threat of severe storms is 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will be important to pay attention to the forecast throughout the day as watches and warnings could be issued.
Moose Lodge Donates To Sheriff's Department
Walker Explodes Union Lies On 'Meet the Press'
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he won't cave into union and Democratic demands he compromise on his effort to curb employee benefit programs. He also vows he won't "kick the can down the street" when it comes to dealing with his state's fiscal woes.
Appearing Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" with David Gregory, Walker laid out his plan to save his state from fiscal bankruptcy while destroying several false claims about his legislation that is being delayed by Senate Democrats who refuse to appear for a final vote.
Among the significant issues covered during his "Meet the Press" interview, Walker:
Denied he is destroying public employee unions.
Claimed that unions are not acting in good faith.
Explained the law helps local governments curb union demands.
Said public employee unions are making unusual demands on taxpayers.
Pointed out his new plan is consistent with how the federal government handles many employees.
Explained why police and firemen are exempt from his new law.
Read detail on each of these points here
Appearing Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" with David Gregory, Walker laid out his plan to save his state from fiscal bankruptcy while destroying several false claims about his legislation that is being delayed by Senate Democrats who refuse to appear for a final vote.
Among the significant issues covered during his "Meet the Press" interview, Walker:
Denied he is destroying public employee unions.
Claimed that unions are not acting in good faith.
Explained the law helps local governments curb union demands.
Said public employee unions are making unusual demands on taxpayers.
Pointed out his new plan is consistent with how the federal government handles many employees.
Explained why police and firemen are exempt from his new law.
Read detail on each of these points here
A Letter To The Editor
SAPOA’S REPLACEMENT FOR COMEGYS & SMITH – BODA & DRYDEN
Signage that has recently been placed at rental properties in Salisbury – such as one on Glen Avenue shown in these photo’s further confirms our suspicion, previously reported, that non resident landlords and their special interest group, SAPOA, have selected a slate of candidates for the City Council election. Although it seems that their slate has 3 candidates, it looks like Boda and Dryden are the “big two”, with Dixon a somewhat distant (but well-funded) member as well.
WICOMICO’S ENVIRO-TYRO BLASTS ANDY HARRIS ON CHESAPEAKE BAY CLEAN-UP FUNDING CUT
Michael Pretl has accused Congressman Harris of speaking out of both sides of his mouth.
Middle East Oil War Spreads. First Demos In Saudi Arabia, Iraqi Refinery Blasted
Iraq's biggest oil refinery at Baiji, 180 kilometers north of Baghdad, was blown up early Saturday, Feb. 26, by an Al Qaeda cell activated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Al Qods Brigades, debkafile's Middle East sources report. Tehran is using the Middle East turbulence to generate fuel shortages in Iraq and boost oil prices worldwide.
Thursday night, Feb. 24, saw the first signs of unrest in Saudi Arabia with demonstrations by young people demanding reforms of the kingdom's system of government and by Shiites living and working in the kingdom's oil-rich eastern regions. They demonstrated at Awwamiya in Qatif in solidarity with the protests in Libya and Bahrain. They also demanded the release of detainees rounded up by Saudi security authorities among the two million Shiites living and working in the main oil centers of Saudi Arabia to nip potential unrest in the bud.
Friday, in the Red Sea town of Jeddah in the west, a group calling itself "Jeddah Youth for Change staged a demonstration.
The slightest sign of unrest in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is bound to affect the price of oil. Iran is the biggest beneficiary of soaring prices. Day after day, as Arab capitals are beset by popular turbulence, Tehran is watching the damage caused its economy by international sanctions shrinking.
The gunmen shot four refinery guards and engineers and blew up the Al Shamal unit, its main kerosene and benzene producer, leaving sticky bombs in other operational units to explode after they fled. It took hours to put the fire out. The entire installation is now closed. "We are not talking about days," said a refinery official, "The damage is too severe."
The Baiji refinery working at 70 percent capacity produced 150,000 barrels per day. Oil experts estimate that Iraqi towns face a 35 percent decline in petrol supplies for several months, with an effect on world prices and domestic stability in the country.
More
Thursday night, Feb. 24, saw the first signs of unrest in Saudi Arabia with demonstrations by young people demanding reforms of the kingdom's system of government and by Shiites living and working in the kingdom's oil-rich eastern regions. They demonstrated at Awwamiya in Qatif in solidarity with the protests in Libya and Bahrain. They also demanded the release of detainees rounded up by Saudi security authorities among the two million Shiites living and working in the main oil centers of Saudi Arabia to nip potential unrest in the bud.
Friday, in the Red Sea town of Jeddah in the west, a group calling itself "Jeddah Youth for Change staged a demonstration.
The slightest sign of unrest in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is bound to affect the price of oil. Iran is the biggest beneficiary of soaring prices. Day after day, as Arab capitals are beset by popular turbulence, Tehran is watching the damage caused its economy by international sanctions shrinking.
The gunmen shot four refinery guards and engineers and blew up the Al Shamal unit, its main kerosene and benzene producer, leaving sticky bombs in other operational units to explode after they fled. It took hours to put the fire out. The entire installation is now closed. "We are not talking about days," said a refinery official, "The damage is too severe."
The Baiji refinery working at 70 percent capacity produced 150,000 barrels per day. Oil experts estimate that Iraqi towns face a 35 percent decline in petrol supplies for several months, with an effect on world prices and domestic stability in the country.
More
Greens, Reds And Cheeseheads
There is not much mystery in the fact that Big Labor and Big Green are both hard-left. The labor and green political coalitions are called “watermelon” for a reason, even by their members.
I’ve explored this for several years. In my book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism, Chapter 1 is “Green is the New Red.” Chapter 6 in Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud and Deception to Keep you Misinformed — titled with all the subtlety of an SEIU thug — goes into further detail, and in Power Grab, I drill down into the partnership as melded by Team Obama, in a chapter titled “Obama’s ‘Baptist and Bootleggers’: Unions and Greens Selling Out America.”
It simply is what it is. In America, these two groups are also the biggest hustlers for getting out the vote, manning phone banks, leafleting, and providing the Democrat Party with Astroturf. And amid the Madison, Wisconsin, rabble-rousing now metastasizing to other state capitals, their coalescence is as glaringly in-your-face right now as we have ever seen it.
They push left-wing policies, policies that everywhere have led to net job loss and economic harm but that have benefitted particular, parochial interests. Organized labor’s interest is growing its membership, not the overall workforce. And jobs resulting from federal employment or spending are de jure or de facto union jobs, thanks to Davis-Bacon and the like. That’s bad for us, but good for them.
In his piece in the Wall Street Journal, John Fund notes, “It is deeply symbolic that this epic battle over the direction of government is taking place in the Badger State. Wisconsin was the birthplace of the modern progressive state in the early 20th century under Gov. Robert ‘Fighting Bob’ LaFollette, who championed progressive taxation and the nation’s first worker’s-compensation system. In 1959, Gov. Gaylord Nelson made Wisconsin the first state to grant public employees collective-bargaining rights.”
The day before, Paul Taylor’s Eco-Politics column was titled and explored how “Enviros back unions in Midwest budget battles.” In it he noted:
As progressive nonprofits, an odd amalgam of green groups and labor organizations has emerged in the Midwest state budget battles. Eco-groups such as the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Blue-Green Alliance and the Union of Concerned Scientists are marching lockstep with traditional blue-collar unions. These include the United Steelworkers, Communications Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, AFL-CIO’s Plumbers and Pipefitters and Laborers International Union of North America, as well as dominant government employee unions. The “greens” and their big labor collaborators want to kill state attempts to cut unsustainable spending.
Both recalled for me the non-coincidence of then-Sen. Gaylord Nelson being the father of Earth Day, which is held on April 22, a date that we are told was randomly chosen. In his excellent book, my CEI colleague Iain Murray nailed the point:
[T]he instinct to broadly and aggressively apply the tools of Marxism — central planning and government control — lives on. The instinct is the same as it was when Marx articulated it in the 19th century, but the old justification just doesn’t fly. Free enterprise has proven itself not to oppress the working man, but to free him.
If the working man is no longer oppressed, the central tenet of Marxism no longer applies, but surely there must be another victim of capitalism to take its place? Women and minorities have advanced themselves under free enterprise just as surely as have the working man, and so they are not ideal candidates.
Luckily for the Left they have a victim ready on the shelf. This time it is one that will not exercise free choice in rejecting the ministrations of those who claim to speak for it. In the leftist’s world view, the worker has been replaced by “the Environment.”
The transition was seamless, because of a long history of co-operation between Marxists and environmentalists. Earth Day is held every year on April 22nd, a date deliberately chosen because it was Lenin’s birthday.
Read more
I’ve explored this for several years. In my book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism, Chapter 1 is “Green is the New Red.” Chapter 6 in Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud and Deception to Keep you Misinformed — titled with all the subtlety of an SEIU thug — goes into further detail, and in Power Grab, I drill down into the partnership as melded by Team Obama, in a chapter titled “Obama’s ‘Baptist and Bootleggers’: Unions and Greens Selling Out America.”
It simply is what it is. In America, these two groups are also the biggest hustlers for getting out the vote, manning phone banks, leafleting, and providing the Democrat Party with Astroturf. And amid the Madison, Wisconsin, rabble-rousing now metastasizing to other state capitals, their coalescence is as glaringly in-your-face right now as we have ever seen it.
They push left-wing policies, policies that everywhere have led to net job loss and economic harm but that have benefitted particular, parochial interests. Organized labor’s interest is growing its membership, not the overall workforce. And jobs resulting from federal employment or spending are de jure or de facto union jobs, thanks to Davis-Bacon and the like. That’s bad for us, but good for them.
In his piece in the Wall Street Journal, John Fund notes, “It is deeply symbolic that this epic battle over the direction of government is taking place in the Badger State. Wisconsin was the birthplace of the modern progressive state in the early 20th century under Gov. Robert ‘Fighting Bob’ LaFollette, who championed progressive taxation and the nation’s first worker’s-compensation system. In 1959, Gov. Gaylord Nelson made Wisconsin the first state to grant public employees collective-bargaining rights.”
The day before, Paul Taylor’s Eco-Politics column was titled and explored how “Enviros back unions in Midwest budget battles.” In it he noted:
As progressive nonprofits, an odd amalgam of green groups and labor organizations has emerged in the Midwest state budget battles. Eco-groups such as the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Blue-Green Alliance and the Union of Concerned Scientists are marching lockstep with traditional blue-collar unions. These include the United Steelworkers, Communications Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, AFL-CIO’s Plumbers and Pipefitters and Laborers International Union of North America, as well as dominant government employee unions. The “greens” and their big labor collaborators want to kill state attempts to cut unsustainable spending.
Both recalled for me the non-coincidence of then-Sen. Gaylord Nelson being the father of Earth Day, which is held on April 22, a date that we are told was randomly chosen. In his excellent book, my CEI colleague Iain Murray nailed the point:
[T]he instinct to broadly and aggressively apply the tools of Marxism — central planning and government control — lives on. The instinct is the same as it was when Marx articulated it in the 19th century, but the old justification just doesn’t fly. Free enterprise has proven itself not to oppress the working man, but to free him.
If the working man is no longer oppressed, the central tenet of Marxism no longer applies, but surely there must be another victim of capitalism to take its place? Women and minorities have advanced themselves under free enterprise just as surely as have the working man, and so they are not ideal candidates.
Luckily for the Left they have a victim ready on the shelf. This time it is one that will not exercise free choice in rejecting the ministrations of those who claim to speak for it. In the leftist’s world view, the worker has been replaced by “the Environment.”
The transition was seamless, because of a long history of co-operation between Marxists and environmentalists. Earth Day is held every year on April 22nd, a date deliberately chosen because it was Lenin’s birthday.
Read more
‘There Is Hate In Their Eyes’
If you’ve been a viewer of the Fox News Channel over the past week and a half and have paid attention to its coverage of the standoff between Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic members of the state Senate, you may have noticed the protest that has ensued in Madison, Wisc. has been less than hospitable to the cable news channel’s reporters.
On Saturday night’s broadcast of “Geraldo at Large,” Fox News correspondent Mike Tobin took some critical shots at protesters attempting to shout down and disrupt his broadcast. He told host Geraldo Rivera he has observed hate and an effort to shut out other viewpoints.
“One thing I think should make clear – the people coming after us from every live shot here, these people hate,” Tobin said.
“These are people who don’t respect diverse viewpoints. In fact, they’re so afraid I’ll present a diverse viewpoint, that’s why they try to heckle me and shut down every live shot. They’ve made it clear, that what they want to make it harder for me to do my job. They are proud of that when they disrupt a live shot, when they really trample over the First Amendment rights or the First Amendment’s obligations of a reporter.
Now, I am not saying that’s all of the people. Those are the people that come here and heckle and try to disrupt things. I look in their eyes – there is hate in their eyes. They don’t want to hear any kind of viewpoint that is different from their own. That’s why they do what they do.”
More details and video here
On Saturday night’s broadcast of “Geraldo at Large,” Fox News correspondent Mike Tobin took some critical shots at protesters attempting to shout down and disrupt his broadcast. He told host Geraldo Rivera he has observed hate and an effort to shut out other viewpoints.
“One thing I think should make clear – the people coming after us from every live shot here, these people hate,” Tobin said.
“These are people who don’t respect diverse viewpoints. In fact, they’re so afraid I’ll present a diverse viewpoint, that’s why they try to heckle me and shut down every live shot. They’ve made it clear, that what they want to make it harder for me to do my job. They are proud of that when they disrupt a live shot, when they really trample over the First Amendment rights or the First Amendment’s obligations of a reporter.
Now, I am not saying that’s all of the people. Those are the people that come here and heckle and try to disrupt things. I look in their eyes – there is hate in their eyes. They don’t want to hear any kind of viewpoint that is different from their own. That’s why they do what they do.”
More details and video here
Is Lawsuit About Defamation, Or Shutting Up The Right?
A battle over race, fraud, and character will be decided in a District of Columbia Superior Court, and the outcome threatens to chill a fledgling conservative movement, observers say.
Shirley Sherrod, a former Obama administration official, is suing new media mogul Andrew Breitbart for igniting a political firestorm she claims burned her good name and inflicted emotional distress.
But Breitbart, who runs several conservtive websites, and congressional supporters say the action is a nuisance lawsuit that is funded by liberals to squelch constitutionally protected free speech and conservative voices.
The drama initially unfolded last summer as a new Tea Party came to power amid cries of racism from the Left.
Breitbart sought to rebuff the claims by airing a video of a speech given by Sherrod that he said showed positive reactions to racism and discrimination against a white farmer by members of one of the Left’s most valuable allies, the NAACP.
Although Sherrod says the tape was heavily edited and that her speech was meant to instruct against racism, retribution from within her own ranks was swift, and she says she was fired after a call from the White House was made to her employer at the Agriculture Department.
Although she was later offered a better job within the agency, Sherrod declined to accept it and seven months later is suing Breitbart for damages.
Sherrod has declined to speak on the civil action publicly, but in a written statement said, “This lawsuit is not about politics or race. It is not about right versus left, the NAACP, or the Tea Party. It is about how quickly, in today's Internet media environment, a person's good name can become collateral damage in an overheated political debate,” Sherrod said.
But Breitbart says it’s no longer about any of that.
It’s all about Pigford, he says.
More here
Shirley Sherrod, a former Obama administration official, is suing new media mogul Andrew Breitbart for igniting a political firestorm she claims burned her good name and inflicted emotional distress.
But Breitbart, who runs several conservtive websites, and congressional supporters say the action is a nuisance lawsuit that is funded by liberals to squelch constitutionally protected free speech and conservative voices.
The drama initially unfolded last summer as a new Tea Party came to power amid cries of racism from the Left.
Breitbart sought to rebuff the claims by airing a video of a speech given by Sherrod that he said showed positive reactions to racism and discrimination against a white farmer by members of one of the Left’s most valuable allies, the NAACP.
Although Sherrod says the tape was heavily edited and that her speech was meant to instruct against racism, retribution from within her own ranks was swift, and she says she was fired after a call from the White House was made to her employer at the Agriculture Department.
Although she was later offered a better job within the agency, Sherrod declined to accept it and seven months later is suing Breitbart for damages.
Sherrod has declined to speak on the civil action publicly, but in a written statement said, “This lawsuit is not about politics or race. It is not about right versus left, the NAACP, or the Tea Party. It is about how quickly, in today's Internet media environment, a person's good name can become collateral damage in an overheated political debate,” Sherrod said.
But Breitbart says it’s no longer about any of that.
It’s all about Pigford, he says.
More here
Obama Not Just Above The Law-- He Is The Law
President Obama's brazenly calculated move to unilaterally abandon the federal Defense of Marriage Act showcases his attitude that he is above the law.
DOMA defines marriage as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" for purposes of all federal laws, rules and regulations (Section 3). It specifies that no state shall be required to honor laws of other states that treat same-sex relationships as legal marriages -- effectively carving out an exception to the Constitution's full faith and credit clause (Section 2).
Congress passed this law by enormous majorities (Senate 85-14, House 342-67) in response to political pressure in some states to redefine marriage, especially a Hawaiian court's decision suggesting the Hawaii Constitution conferred the right to same-sex marriage. Congress was worried that, among other things, same-sex couples living in other states might go to Hawaii to marry and demand that their home states recognize their marriages.
It seems that in enacting this law, the federal government was quite scrupulous in deferring to the sovereignty of the states by pronouncing a federal standard for marriage applicable to federal laws but not presuming to encroach on states' authority to set their own standards. It affirmed the states' prerogative by providing that their marriage laws would not be abrogated or diminished by conflicting laws of other states but did not preclude them from honoring, if they so choose, laws of other states validating same-sex marriages.
During his presidential campaign, Obama stated that he did not support same-sex marriage but that he did believe that DOMA should be repealed. He gave no hint that he would take it upon himself to issue a presidential edict, without a congressional bill placed before him, forbidding the executive branch from enforcing the law. But that is precisely what he did this week.
To understand the magnitude of Obama's action, we must consider the fact that both chambers of Congress passed DOMA by overwhelming majorities reflecting the will of the people that marriage be defined, for legal and policy purposes, as it always had been. Also, no federal appellate court has ruled the statute unconstitutional.
As he has in so many other areas (EPA, the offshore drilling ban, IMF), Obama has usurped the authority of the other two coequal branches of government to make himself, in effect, not just chief executive but super-legislator and a supreme judicial authority.
So now we have an imperial president who is refusing to enforce a law passed by powerful congressional majorities while persisting in enforcing a law (ObamaCare) that two federal courts have already invalidated.
The only common denominator is that Obama believes he is the law.
More from attorney David Limbaugh
DOMA defines marriage as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" for purposes of all federal laws, rules and regulations (Section 3). It specifies that no state shall be required to honor laws of other states that treat same-sex relationships as legal marriages -- effectively carving out an exception to the Constitution's full faith and credit clause (Section 2).
Congress passed this law by enormous majorities (Senate 85-14, House 342-67) in response to political pressure in some states to redefine marriage, especially a Hawaiian court's decision suggesting the Hawaii Constitution conferred the right to same-sex marriage. Congress was worried that, among other things, same-sex couples living in other states might go to Hawaii to marry and demand that their home states recognize their marriages.
It seems that in enacting this law, the federal government was quite scrupulous in deferring to the sovereignty of the states by pronouncing a federal standard for marriage applicable to federal laws but not presuming to encroach on states' authority to set their own standards. It affirmed the states' prerogative by providing that their marriage laws would not be abrogated or diminished by conflicting laws of other states but did not preclude them from honoring, if they so choose, laws of other states validating same-sex marriages.
During his presidential campaign, Obama stated that he did not support same-sex marriage but that he did believe that DOMA should be repealed. He gave no hint that he would take it upon himself to issue a presidential edict, without a congressional bill placed before him, forbidding the executive branch from enforcing the law. But that is precisely what he did this week.
To understand the magnitude of Obama's action, we must consider the fact that both chambers of Congress passed DOMA by overwhelming majorities reflecting the will of the people that marriage be defined, for legal and policy purposes, as it always had been. Also, no federal appellate court has ruled the statute unconstitutional.
As he has in so many other areas (EPA, the offshore drilling ban, IMF), Obama has usurped the authority of the other two coequal branches of government to make himself, in effect, not just chief executive but super-legislator and a supreme judicial authority.
So now we have an imperial president who is refusing to enforce a law passed by powerful congressional majorities while persisting in enforcing a law (ObamaCare) that two federal courts have already invalidated.
The only common denominator is that Obama believes he is the law.
More from attorney David Limbaugh
Top 10 Labor Union Outrages
No wonder approval ratings for unions are at an all-time low.
Here are the Top 10 Labor Union Outrages.
Islamic Indoctrination On U.S. Taxpayers' Tab
A large network of jihad-preaching schools dots the American landscape, and it's being paid for by taxpayer dollars.
The network of more than 100 facilities in 27 states is the result of the work of Turkish expatriate billionaire Fethullah Gulen, who lives in a heavily guarded compound near Saylorsburg, Pa.
Terrorism analyst, author and Family Security Matters contributing Editor Paul Williams explains that Gulen left Turkey under a cloud, and came to the United States carrying an agenda
"Fethullah Gulen is a chap who fled Turkey in 1998. He was attempting to avoid prosecution from the secular government at that time; he wanted to set up an Islamic government," Williams explained.
"He moved to Pennsylvania and established a mountain fortress around Saylorsburg, which is in the heart of the Poconos," Williams explained.
Court records from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania's federal courts indicate that Gulen won his removal case against Homeland Security by showing that he was an "alien of extraordinary ability," and that by staying in the United States he could pursue his work of "authoring articles and providing guidance 'to fellow scholar in the fields of theology, political science, Islamic studies, and education.'"
Williams says Gulen had help
"The Department of Homeland Security uncovered that Gulen has over $25 billion in assets. That's more money than many countries have. Most of this money has been channeled to Gulen from the CIA," Williams asserted.
Koinonia Institute senior analyst Steve Elwart says Gulen was helped by a number of different factors.
"He was denied his visa the first time around by DHS by saying that he didn't have any experience since he was trying to come in as an educator. DHS said that he really didn't have the qualifications to hold himself out as an educator," Elwart observed.
Elwart says there was another concern.
"There were also concerns about his ties to the CIA and that as it turned out, those concerns were apparently valid, because when he appealed the decision, he got two letters of recommendation from the CIA," Elwart continued.
"That would strengthen the position that he did seem to have those ties," Elwart added.
Williams explains that U. S. officials may have had a reason for funneling money to Gulen.
"I'll tell you why the CIA is funding him. These countries (referring to the Middle East and former Soviet Central Asian Republics) have vast natural gas and oil reserves. They are afraid of where those reserves will go, so we want to gain some control over the supplies," Williams claimed.
Now his fingerprints are all over schools across Asia – and dozens more charter schools across the United States. Those are schools that are run on the taxpayers' money, but have private teaching agendas, often using the subtle inferences in social studies courses to advocate for Islam, observers report.
Read more
The network of more than 100 facilities in 27 states is the result of the work of Turkish expatriate billionaire Fethullah Gulen, who lives in a heavily guarded compound near Saylorsburg, Pa.
Terrorism analyst, author and Family Security Matters contributing Editor Paul Williams explains that Gulen left Turkey under a cloud, and came to the United States carrying an agenda
"Fethullah Gulen is a chap who fled Turkey in 1998. He was attempting to avoid prosecution from the secular government at that time; he wanted to set up an Islamic government," Williams explained.
"He moved to Pennsylvania and established a mountain fortress around Saylorsburg, which is in the heart of the Poconos," Williams explained.
Court records from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania's federal courts indicate that Gulen won his removal case against Homeland Security by showing that he was an "alien of extraordinary ability," and that by staying in the United States he could pursue his work of "authoring articles and providing guidance 'to fellow scholar in the fields of theology, political science, Islamic studies, and education.'"
Williams says Gulen had help
"The Department of Homeland Security uncovered that Gulen has over $25 billion in assets. That's more money than many countries have. Most of this money has been channeled to Gulen from the CIA," Williams asserted.
Koinonia Institute senior analyst Steve Elwart says Gulen was helped by a number of different factors.
"He was denied his visa the first time around by DHS by saying that he didn't have any experience since he was trying to come in as an educator. DHS said that he really didn't have the qualifications to hold himself out as an educator," Elwart observed.
Elwart says there was another concern.
"There were also concerns about his ties to the CIA and that as it turned out, those concerns were apparently valid, because when he appealed the decision, he got two letters of recommendation from the CIA," Elwart continued.
"That would strengthen the position that he did seem to have those ties," Elwart added.
Williams explains that U. S. officials may have had a reason for funneling money to Gulen.
"I'll tell you why the CIA is funding him. These countries (referring to the Middle East and former Soviet Central Asian Republics) have vast natural gas and oil reserves. They are afraid of where those reserves will go, so we want to gain some control over the supplies," Williams claimed.
Now his fingerprints are all over schools across Asia – and dozens more charter schools across the United States. Those are schools that are run on the taxpayers' money, but have private teaching agendas, often using the subtle inferences in social studies courses to advocate for Islam, observers report.
Read more
Obama To Face Shariah Court?
President Obama must embrace Islam as a way of life or face the consequences of a trial under the Shariah Islamic court system, declared British extremist cleric Anjem Choudary.
Choudary, founder and former chief of two Islamic groups disbanded by the British authorities under anti-terror legislation, is planning a Washington protest later this week in which he says he will call on American Muslims to revolt against the country and implement Shariah law.
Speaking in an interview with investigative reporter Aaron Klein on his program on New York's WABC Radio, Choudary claimed Obama was waging a war against Islam.
"[Obama] has promised all Muslims to be released from Guantanamo Bay. They are still languishing there even though he knows they are completely innocent," Choudary claimed.
"On top of that, he's increased the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, so he is a warmonger just as his predecessor was.
And thirdly and more importantly," Choudary said, "the Muslims don't want democracy and freedom. Democracy and freedom are anathema to Islam and the Shariah."
Choudary said that at his protest, scheduled to take place Thursday in front of the White House, he will call on Obama and all Americans to "embrace Islam, not only as a religion but as a way of life."
More details and audio
Choudary, founder and former chief of two Islamic groups disbanded by the British authorities under anti-terror legislation, is planning a Washington protest later this week in which he says he will call on American Muslims to revolt against the country and implement Shariah law.
Speaking in an interview with investigative reporter Aaron Klein on his program on New York's WABC Radio, Choudary claimed Obama was waging a war against Islam.
"[Obama] has promised all Muslims to be released from Guantanamo Bay. They are still languishing there even though he knows they are completely innocent," Choudary claimed.
"On top of that, he's increased the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, so he is a warmonger just as his predecessor was.
And thirdly and more importantly," Choudary said, "the Muslims don't want democracy and freedom. Democracy and freedom are anathema to Islam and the Shariah."
Choudary said that at his protest, scheduled to take place Thursday in front of the White House, he will call on Obama and all Americans to "embrace Islam, not only as a religion but as a way of life."
More details and audio
USDA Offers Settlement To Women, Hispanic Farmers
The Obama administration is offering at least $1.3 billion to settle complaints from female and Hispanic farmers who say they faced discrimination from the Agriculture Department.
The Agriculture and Justice departments announced Friday that farmers who could prove discrimination could receive up to $50,000. The proposal comes after the government settled with American Indians over similar discrimination issues last fall and Congress provided money for the second round of a black farmers settlement.
Like the black and American Indian farmers, the thousands of minorities and women say local USDA offices for years denied them loans and other assistance that routinely went to whites.
The government first announced its intent to settle the complaints in May. The more detailed offer announced Friday does not cap the number of farmers who may receive awards and waives some application fees.
Lawyers for both the women and Hispanic farmers said their clients deserve more money. Indian farmers were offered up to $250,000 each to settle claims.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said any Hispanic and women farmers not pleased with the settlement can still pursue their cases against the government.
More
The Agriculture and Justice departments announced Friday that farmers who could prove discrimination could receive up to $50,000. The proposal comes after the government settled with American Indians over similar discrimination issues last fall and Congress provided money for the second round of a black farmers settlement.
Like the black and American Indian farmers, the thousands of minorities and women say local USDA offices for years denied them loans and other assistance that routinely went to whites.
The government first announced its intent to settle the complaints in May. The more detailed offer announced Friday does not cap the number of farmers who may receive awards and waives some application fees.
Lawyers for both the women and Hispanic farmers said their clients deserve more money. Indian farmers were offered up to $250,000 each to settle claims.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said any Hispanic and women farmers not pleased with the settlement can still pursue their cases against the government.
More
Report: Israel's 'Iron Dome' Nears Completion
The Iron Dome rocket defense system is near completion, and may be operational within weeks, according to a report in Globes. The system recently passed a trial run by the Israeli Air Force, after previously passing tests created by its designers.
Defense officials plan to order four or five Iron Dome systems. United States President Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve $205 million in aid for the project.
The report of the system's readiness follows rocket attacks on Be'er Sheva and Netivot. Gaza terrorists targeted both cities in recent weeks for the first time since the Cast Lead counterterror operation of early 2009, which crippled Hamas' weapons stores, rocket factories and infrastructure.
The Defense Ministry has touted Iron Dome as a solution to terrorist attacks from Gaza. However, the system can only successfully target rockets with a flight time of approximately 15 seconds or more, while Gaza terrorists can hit several Israeli communities with rockets that have a shorter flight time, including the city of Sderot.
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Defense officials plan to order four or five Iron Dome systems. United States President Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve $205 million in aid for the project.
The report of the system's readiness follows rocket attacks on Be'er Sheva and Netivot. Gaza terrorists targeted both cities in recent weeks for the first time since the Cast Lead counterterror operation of early 2009, which crippled Hamas' weapons stores, rocket factories and infrastructure.
The Defense Ministry has touted Iron Dome as a solution to terrorist attacks from Gaza. However, the system can only successfully target rockets with a flight time of approximately 15 seconds or more, while Gaza terrorists can hit several Israeli communities with rockets that have a shorter flight time, including the city of Sderot.
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UNIVERSAL LAWS
1. Law of Mechanical Repair
After your hands become coated with grease,
your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.
2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped,
will roll to the least accessible corner.
>3. Law of Probability -The probability of being watched is directly
proportional to the stupidity of your act
>4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never
get a busy signal and someone always answers.
>5. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for
work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire..
>6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes),
the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every
time).
>7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water,
the telephone rings.
>8. Law of Close Encounters -The probability of meeting someone you
know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen
with.
>9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that
a machine won't work, it will.
>. 12. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot
coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee
is cold.
>14. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich
landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of
the carpet or rug.
>18. Wilson's Law of Commercial
Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you
really like, they will stop making it.
After your hands become coated with grease,
your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.
2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped,
will roll to the least accessible corner.
>3. Law of Probability -The probability of being watched is directly
proportional to the stupidity of your act
>4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never
get a busy signal and someone always answers.
>5. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for
work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire..
>6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes),
the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every
time).
>7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water,
the telephone rings.
>8. Law of Close Encounters -The probability of meeting someone you
know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen
with.
>9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that
a machine won't work, it will.
>. 12. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot
coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee
is cold.
>14. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich
landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of
the carpet or rug.
>18. Wilson's Law of Commercial
Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you
really like, they will stop making it.
>19. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well, make an appointment
to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. But don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick.
to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. But don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick.
Survivor Texas Style
Due to the popularity of the "Survivor" shows, Texas is planning to do one entitled, "Survivor, Texas-Style!" The 8 contestants will all start in Dallas , then drive to Waco, Austin, San Antonio, over to Houston and down to Brownsville ... They will then proceed up to Del Rio, El Paso, Odessa, Midland, Lubbock, and Amarillo. From there they will go on to Abilene , Fort Worth and finally back to Dallas . Each will be driving a pink Volvo with bumper stickers that read: "I'm a Democrat," "Amnesty for Illegals," "I love the Dixie Chicks," "Boycott Beef", "I Voted for Obama", " George Strait Sucks," "Hillary in 2012" And........"I'm here to confiscate your guns." The first one to make it back to Dallas alive wins. God Bless Texas ! |
Brooklyn Smoker Grows Own Tobacco To Avoid Cigarette Taxes
Frustrated by the tax-fueled rising costs of cigarettes, a Brooklyn woman has developed a private tobacco garden to feed her addiction frugally. She buys her seeds for $2 online and plants her tobacco along with roses and geraniums in her back yard. She expects to yield a total of 45 cartons of cigarettes from crops planted in 2009 and last year, saving her $5,000 from what she'd pay at retail.
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Video Of Bully Debt Collector Crumbling
This is two videos, one of debt collector threatening this man's wife and kids over a debt he had already repaid, and two, when he calls them back and takes them to task. The debt collector says he's an "officer" with the "ULPD," which is the "United Legal Processing Division" but the name sounds like it was chosen to make it sounds like law enforcement. Note how quickly they fold once he starts asking questions like "Who are you," "who do you work for," and "what proof do you have." Then think about how if that's all it takes to get them to back off and move on to the next soft target, how these bullying tactics must be working for them.
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Golf’s New No. 1: Is Tiger’s Era Over?
The decline of the Tiger Woods era overshadows Martin Kaymer’s ranking as the world’s newest number one golfer.
Comptroller Spends $489 Million On Office Space
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has signed a new 15-year lease. The Washington Business Journal reports the agency is slated to take over 640,000 square feet of space at the Constitution Center, for nearly $489 million. About one thousand workers will be moving into the building on Seventh Street in SouthWest in the fall of 2012. OCC is growing thanks to the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. It will take over the Office of Thrift Supervision in July.
Avoiding A Government Shutdown
Work to fund the government takes place on two fronts this week. In the House, lawmakers debate a 14-day continuing resolution proposed by Republicans. It would cut $4 billion from FY 2011 spending. Reductions would come from cuts already proposed by the president, plus the elimination of earmarks. In the Senate, Democrats propose a seven-month continuing resolution. It would also cut earmarks. National Journal reports the Senate proposal would also accelerate about $25 billion in cuts by having them occur in 2011. The president requested the cuts for 2012. Congress has until Friday to pass a funding bill to avert a federal government shutdown.
NOMINATIONS BEING ACCEPTED FOR 2011 OUTSTANDING PUBLIC HEALTH LEADER AWARD
Nominations are being accepted for the 2011 Outstanding Public Health Leader award. This award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the public health of the citizens of Wicomico County. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday, April 7, 2011.
Nominations can be submitted online at http://www.wicomicohealth.org/. Nomination forms can be obtained by visiting the website or by calling (410) 334-3480. Nominations are due by Monday, March 28, 2011. Late submissions cannot be accepted.
Nominations can be submitted online at http://www.wicomicohealth.org/. Nomination forms can be obtained by visiting the website or by calling (410) 334-3480. Nominations are due by Monday, March 28, 2011. Late submissions cannot be accepted.
You Have More Money In Your Wallet Than Bank Of America Pays In Federal Taxes
Today, hundreds of thousands of people comprising a Main Street Movement — a coalition of students, the retired, union workers, public employees, and other middle class Americans — are in the streets, demonstrating against brutal cuts to public services and crackdowns on organized labor being pushed by conservative politicians. These lawmakers that are attacking collective bargaining and cutting necessary services like college tuition aid and health benefits for public workers claim that they have no choice but than to take these actions because both state and federal governments are in debt.
But it wasn’t teachers, fire fighters, policemen, and college students that caused the economic recession that has devastated government budgets — it was Wall Street. And as middle class workers are being asked to sacrifice, the rich continue to rig the system, dodging taxes and avoiding paying their fair share.
Frank Buckles, Last Surviving U.S. World War I Veteran, Dies
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — Frank Buckles, who was one of Jefferson County’s most famous citizens and was the last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, died Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for a Washington, D.C., funeral home where Buckles’ body was being held Sunday night.
Buckles, who lived in Charles Town, died at about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, but it was unclear if he was at home at the time, said Michelle Tanner, receptionist for Joseph Gawler’s Sons Inc., at 5130 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.
No arrangements had been made as of late Sunday, Tanner said.
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Maryland Off-Track Betting Parlors Struggle
Cracked Claw OTB could close without help
URBANA — A mostly gray-haired crowd of gamblers scans dozens of TV sets and places bets on horse races broadcast from tracks around the country at the Cracked Claw restaurant in this Frederick County community.
One longtime patron, Chris Kovin, said he comes because he prefers to hoist a beer and socialize while watching the races, rather than placing online bets from home. But, he acknowledges, the Cracked Claw "has definitely seen better days."
The state's four remaining off-track betting facilities are struggling along with the declining horse-racing industry, itself hobbled over the years by the sport's waning popularity and by competition for gambling dollars from nearby slot-machine parlors and casinos.
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One longtime patron, Chris Kovin, said he comes because he prefers to hoist a beer and socialize while watching the races, rather than placing online bets from home. But, he acknowledges, the Cracked Claw "has definitely seen better days."
The state's four remaining off-track betting facilities are struggling along with the declining horse-racing industry, itself hobbled over the years by the sport's waning popularity and by competition for gambling dollars from nearby slot-machine parlors and casinos.
Giant Food Workers Worry About Job Losses At Jessup Facility
New operator C&S Wholesale Grocers calls concerns 'speculative'
Hundreds of workers at Giant Food distribution center in Jessup worry that their jobs are in danger because a New Hampshire company will take over operations of the facility next month.The company, C&S Wholesale Grocers, laid off 1,100 workers at a subsidiary in New Jersey earlier this month when it shut down six food distribution centers. Unionized Giant workers fear they could face the same fate just as their contract is slated to expire May 14.
About 600 of the workers and union organizers gathered at a Teamsters union hall Sunday to discuss how to fend off possible job losses that could impact more than 1,000 workers.
An executive with C&S contacted by phone later in the day said any decision about the plant will be made during contract negotiations.
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Volunteers: You Broke Our Fire Truck, Now Fix It
County won't pay for repairs to Deale firefighters' engine
Deale volunteer firefighters say their 18-year-old engine was in perfect working order when it went to the county garage for a routine test. Now the motor is destroyed, and the county has no plans to replace it.
The volunteers have asked nicely for some of the $2.65 million fund the county sets aside for such repairs. They've had their councilman lobby on their behalf. They've gone to state lawmakers.
They say if the county doesn't take responsibility for the damage, they'll only have two options: run the Deale station short one piece of equipment or face a decade's worth of carnivals, oyster roasts and haunted houses to raise the money to replace it.
"All we want is an engine fixed that was working perfectly well when it was sent up the road," said Ray Mudd, board member of the Deale Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue squad.
More
The volunteers have asked nicely for some of the $2.65 million fund the county sets aside for such repairs. They've had their councilman lobby on their behalf. They've gone to state lawmakers.
They say if the county doesn't take responsibility for the damage, they'll only have two options: run the Deale station short one piece of equipment or face a decade's worth of carnivals, oyster roasts and haunted houses to raise the money to replace it.
"All we want is an engine fixed that was working perfectly well when it was sent up the road," said Ray Mudd, board member of the Deale Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue squad.
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Sunday, February 27, 2011
Lost Dogs
Hi I'm writing on behalf of my friend, Craig. He just recently lost his dogs, they escaped through this fence on Calhoun Dr. in Salisbury, MD. I am writing because he has no computer and this remains the fastest way to get results for these situations, never the less he is missing two dogs one a husky that's white with tannish brown markings and responds to Sasha and the second is a lab/pit mix that is mainly white with black markings and responds to Jordan. So if anyone finds them then feel free to contact either me by email or Craig directly with the following number, (443) 783-7844.
They were last seen in the upper Salisbury area near Delmar, by the Maryland state police barracks, the super Wal-mart north, WaWa, and Chili's. Thank you for everyone's help and time and I hope we can return his animals to him asap he misses them greatly.
Michael Poe
They were last seen in the upper Salisbury area near Delmar, by the Maryland state police barracks, the super Wal-mart north, WaWa, and Chili's. Thank you for everyone's help and time and I hope we can return his animals to him asap he misses them greatly.
Michael Poe
Americans: War Is Coming, Cut Off Aid To Arabs
Most Americans think that the political upheaval spreading throughout the Arab world may wind up drawing the United States into a new large-scale war, a Rasmussen Reports poll found. The poll also found most Americans favor cutting off aid to Arab countries.
A new national telephone survey found that 58% of American adults believe the unrest in the Middle East will lead to a major war involving the US, with 26% saying it is "very likely."
Thirty-one percent see such a scenario as "unlikely," but that number includes only four percent who say it is "not at all likely."
Seventy-seven percent of Americans are "concerned that radical Islamic terrorists may try to exploit the unrest in these countries to further their violent aims," versus 18% who do not share that concern, Rasmussen Reports said. These numbers include 53% who are "very concerned" and only 4% who are "not at all concerned."
Just 29% of adults believe a change of government in any of the Arab countries undergoing upheavals will be good for the United States. However, the poll also shows that 67% of Americans say the US should "stay out of the situation over there."
Rasmussen Reports also found that most Americans want to end US aid to all Arab nations in the Middle East. Just over half favor continuing aid to Israel, however.
Only 20% of American adults think the US should continue providing foreign aid to Arab countries in the Middle East, while 58% say that aid should come to an end. Twenty-one percent are not sure.
Fifty-one percent of Americans, on the other hand, favor continued foreign aid to Israel. One-in-three adults (32%) oppose further aid for Israel, and 17% are undecided.
More from INN
A new national telephone survey found that 58% of American adults believe the unrest in the Middle East will lead to a major war involving the US, with 26% saying it is "very likely."
Thirty-one percent see such a scenario as "unlikely," but that number includes only four percent who say it is "not at all likely."
Seventy-seven percent of Americans are "concerned that radical Islamic terrorists may try to exploit the unrest in these countries to further their violent aims," versus 18% who do not share that concern, Rasmussen Reports said. These numbers include 53% who are "very concerned" and only 4% who are "not at all concerned."
Just 29% of adults believe a change of government in any of the Arab countries undergoing upheavals will be good for the United States. However, the poll also shows that 67% of Americans say the US should "stay out of the situation over there."
Rasmussen Reports also found that most Americans want to end US aid to all Arab nations in the Middle East. Just over half favor continuing aid to Israel, however.
Only 20% of American adults think the US should continue providing foreign aid to Arab countries in the Middle East, while 58% say that aid should come to an end. Twenty-one percent are not sure.
Fifty-one percent of Americans, on the other hand, favor continued foreign aid to Israel. One-in-three adults (32%) oppose further aid for Israel, and 17% are undecided.
More from INN
WOLF: Organized Medical Fraud In Wisconsin
“Primum nil nocere.” First, do no harm. This bedrock principle in medicine is a foreign language to most politicians and, sadly, to some Wisconsin doctors, who have violated their oath and the public trust as they have defrauded Wisconsin taxpayers.
Several University of Wisconsin family physicians donned their sacred white coats and were caught distributing fraudulent “sick notes” free for the asking quite literally by the boxful - I wonder who paid for that printing - to teachers and others who skipped work to engage in political protest at the state Capitol in Madison. Whatever the merits of the teachers’ protest, there’s a word for what these doctors and teachers are perpetrating: fraud.
An army of citizen-journalist bloggers, including Tim Daniels of Left Coast Rebel and Ann Althouse, captured and publicized photographs and video allegedly of publicly funded University of Wisconsin doctors Kathy A. Oriel, James H. Shropshire, Lou Sanner, Hannah M. Keevil, Patrick McKenna and Elizabeth Kvach as they disseminated these fraudulent notes to Wisconsin’s publicly funded teachers so the teachers could have a publicly funded day off.
“I’m a doctor. Need a note?” read one sign held high near Dr. McKenna as he openly defrauded taxpayers. “We see a lot of sore throats from speaking out, sore feet from walking, a lot of people kind of chilly, under stress. We say the best thing you can do is be with a large support group,” said Dr. Sanner in a pathetic rationalization despite video confirmation that neither he nor his colleagues examined any throats or feet before making their diagnoses and issuing doctor’s notes.
Meanwhile, taxpayers and students are paying dearly. According to the Department of Education, two-thirds of Wisconsin public school eighth-graders cannot read at a proficient level. And yet, while the average total compensation of a Milwaukee public school teacher is a staggering $100,005 per year, these entitled teachers demand that taxpayers pay them, quite literally, to agitate for more tax money.
If this degree of financial fraud were perpetrated against health insurance companies, the doctors would face civil and criminal charges. Taxpayers deserve at least as much protection.
More here
Several University of Wisconsin family physicians donned their sacred white coats and were caught distributing fraudulent “sick notes” free for the asking quite literally by the boxful - I wonder who paid for that printing - to teachers and others who skipped work to engage in political protest at the state Capitol in Madison. Whatever the merits of the teachers’ protest, there’s a word for what these doctors and teachers are perpetrating: fraud.
An army of citizen-journalist bloggers, including Tim Daniels of Left Coast Rebel and Ann Althouse, captured and publicized photographs and video allegedly of publicly funded University of Wisconsin doctors Kathy A. Oriel, James H. Shropshire, Lou Sanner, Hannah M. Keevil, Patrick McKenna and Elizabeth Kvach as they disseminated these fraudulent notes to Wisconsin’s publicly funded teachers so the teachers could have a publicly funded day off.
“I’m a doctor. Need a note?” read one sign held high near Dr. McKenna as he openly defrauded taxpayers. “We see a lot of sore throats from speaking out, sore feet from walking, a lot of people kind of chilly, under stress. We say the best thing you can do is be with a large support group,” said Dr. Sanner in a pathetic rationalization despite video confirmation that neither he nor his colleagues examined any throats or feet before making their diagnoses and issuing doctor’s notes.
Meanwhile, taxpayers and students are paying dearly. According to the Department of Education, two-thirds of Wisconsin public school eighth-graders cannot read at a proficient level. And yet, while the average total compensation of a Milwaukee public school teacher is a staggering $100,005 per year, these entitled teachers demand that taxpayers pay them, quite literally, to agitate for more tax money.
If this degree of financial fraud were perpetrated against health insurance companies, the doctors would face civil and criminal charges. Taxpayers deserve at least as much protection.
More here
Iran Nuclear Plans: Bushehr Fuel To Be Unloaded
Iran has confirmed it is having to remove nuclear fuel from the reactor at the Bushehr power plant, the latest in a series of delays to hit the project.
On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had new information on "possible military dimensions" to Iran's nuclear plans, which Iran says are purely peaceful.
The IAEA will supervise the unloading of fuel from Bushehr, Iran's nuclear envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh said.
Iran began the Bushehr project in 1976.
Iran's Fars news agency says the fuel is being removed for "technical reasons".
The fuel at Bushehr is being provided by Russia, which built the plant and whose engineers will carry out the unloading, under the supervision of the IAEA.
"Upon a demand from Russia, which is responsible for completing the Bushehr nuclear power plant, fuel assemblies from the core of the reactor will be unloaded for a period of time to carry out tests and take technical measurements," Mr Soltanieh said, according to the semi-official Isna news agency.
The BBC's Tehran correspondent, James Reynolds, says diplomats suggest the entire core of the Bushehr plant is being replaced - potentially a serious problem.
There has been some speculation that the Stuxnet computer virus may be responsible, our correspondent says.
Analysts say Stuxnet - which caused problems at another Iranian enrichment facility last year - has been specially configured to damage motors commonly used in uranium-enrichment centrifuges by sending them spinning out of control.
Some experts believe that the problems at Bushehr call into question the safety and effectiveness of Iran's nuclear facilities as a whole, our correspondent says.
More
On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had new information on "possible military dimensions" to Iran's nuclear plans, which Iran says are purely peaceful.
The IAEA will supervise the unloading of fuel from Bushehr, Iran's nuclear envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh said.
Iran began the Bushehr project in 1976.
Iran's Fars news agency says the fuel is being removed for "technical reasons".
The fuel at Bushehr is being provided by Russia, which built the plant and whose engineers will carry out the unloading, under the supervision of the IAEA.
"Upon a demand from Russia, which is responsible for completing the Bushehr nuclear power plant, fuel assemblies from the core of the reactor will be unloaded for a period of time to carry out tests and take technical measurements," Mr Soltanieh said, according to the semi-official Isna news agency.
The BBC's Tehran correspondent, James Reynolds, says diplomats suggest the entire core of the Bushehr plant is being replaced - potentially a serious problem.
There has been some speculation that the Stuxnet computer virus may be responsible, our correspondent says.
Analysts say Stuxnet - which caused problems at another Iranian enrichment facility last year - has been specially configured to damage motors commonly used in uranium-enrichment centrifuges by sending them spinning out of control.
Some experts believe that the problems at Bushehr call into question the safety and effectiveness of Iran's nuclear facilities as a whole, our correspondent says.
More
The Israeli Rabbi's Letter To The Egyptian People
Along with the rest of the world, Rabbi Donniel Hartman has been following recent historical events in our neighboring countries anxiously, but with no real way to influence what has been happening.
Last week, though, he decided to do something about it.
Hartman, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, was inspired by the role that the Internet and social networks have played in the Egyptian uprising. He used the SHI website to publish an open letter to the Egyptian people. In his letter he pleaded with our southern neighbors to uphold the peaceful status-quo that has developed over the course of 30 years.
Here's what he wrote:
"We don't really know who you are. We've spoken with your leaders, but they don’t speak for you. For nearly 35 years now, we have lived in peace with each other. It hasn’t been the warmest peace, but as we say in the Jewish tradition, 'dayenu.' It was enough.
"We Israelis, while always aspiring for more, deeply valued it nonetheless. This peace must become the rule instead of the exception.
“I hope we do not need to relive the experiences of our grandparents and parents in order to learn yet again that war is not a solution. I pray that we will use the change in the status quo as a catalyst to move us forward. We have a unique opportunity to change the rules of the game, to speak and even push each other to find a new status quo."
"I am writing to you to again say, hello," he wrote, "and that we look forward to speaking with you soon. Until then, we wish that your transition to freedom be a peaceful and beneficial one to all your citizens and that your freedom be a blessing to you, and to the whole world. Amen."
The letter makes it clear that its writer is not just a peace lover but probably a hopeless optimist as well.
But even Rabbi Hartman, a philosopher in his free time, could not predict what the letter would lead to.
"I wrote this letter on a very personal note," he says. "I was not even sure whether anyone would read it, or whether I was just talking to myself. I thought I'd be rewarded if a single Egyptian surfer changed his mind after reading my appeal."
The first response came from American Deborah Harris, who expressed regret over the presumed fact "that the people who are directly involved, in this case the Egyptian people, never get to hear these thoughts directly."
The following comments, though, soon dispelled that notion and proved that the Egyptian people could indeed hear Rabbi Hartman loud and clear.
Read the comments and the rest of the story here
Last week, though, he decided to do something about it.
Hartman, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, was inspired by the role that the Internet and social networks have played in the Egyptian uprising. He used the SHI website to publish an open letter to the Egyptian people. In his letter he pleaded with our southern neighbors to uphold the peaceful status-quo that has developed over the course of 30 years.
Here's what he wrote:
"We don't really know who you are. We've spoken with your leaders, but they don’t speak for you. For nearly 35 years now, we have lived in peace with each other. It hasn’t been the warmest peace, but as we say in the Jewish tradition, 'dayenu.' It was enough.
"We Israelis, while always aspiring for more, deeply valued it nonetheless. This peace must become the rule instead of the exception.
“I hope we do not need to relive the experiences of our grandparents and parents in order to learn yet again that war is not a solution. I pray that we will use the change in the status quo as a catalyst to move us forward. We have a unique opportunity to change the rules of the game, to speak and even push each other to find a new status quo."
"I am writing to you to again say, hello," he wrote, "and that we look forward to speaking with you soon. Until then, we wish that your transition to freedom be a peaceful and beneficial one to all your citizens and that your freedom be a blessing to you, and to the whole world. Amen."
The letter makes it clear that its writer is not just a peace lover but probably a hopeless optimist as well.
But even Rabbi Hartman, a philosopher in his free time, could not predict what the letter would lead to.
"I wrote this letter on a very personal note," he says. "I was not even sure whether anyone would read it, or whether I was just talking to myself. I thought I'd be rewarded if a single Egyptian surfer changed his mind after reading my appeal."
The first response came from American Deborah Harris, who expressed regret over the presumed fact "that the people who are directly involved, in this case the Egyptian people, never get to hear these thoughts directly."
The following comments, though, soon dispelled that notion and proved that the Egyptian people could indeed hear Rabbi Hartman loud and clear.
Read the comments and the rest of the story here
ARE CERTAIN CANDIDATES IN SALISBURY BEING SECRETLY FUNDED – AND BY WHOM?
Required disclosure of the funds contributed to candidates in the upcoming election for Salisbury’s City Council has revealed that a “slate” of candidates – Boda, Dixon and Dryden – are being supported largely by a small group, most of whom live outside the City and some outside of Wicomico County and the State of Maryland. These dozen or so “super-donors have contributed about 73% of the funds received by the trio named above.
It’s especially interesting that substantial contributions have been made by four persons from Lexington, South Carolina – their desire to influence the outcome of the election has caused them to contribute a total of $1,000 to Dixon and Dryden. Why?
And why would Bret Hopkins from Fairfax Station, Virginia contribute a total of $450 to Boda, Dizon and Dryden. Even closer to town, why would Charlene Lococo of Berlin donate a total of $600 to the trio.
Someone from elsewhere might donate funds to a particular candidate who is a good friend or relative, but if someone donates substantial sums to 2 or more candidates, you wonder why – and if they are simply serving as a conduit for some other source of funds (can you say “SAPOA”?). What do you know about this?
For more details (names, etc.) about these and the other “super-donors” see our earlier post at: http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2011/02/who-are-these-super-donors-in.html
IS “DR. FREDDY” USING STUDENTS TO PRESSURE THE WICOMICO COUNCIL?
Although I have not seen it yet, sources have reported that Wicomico County’s superintendent of schools sent students home last week with a note to urge their parents to pack the County Council’s meeting on Tuesday and take other action to coerce the members to vote to proceed with building that new “Taj Mahal” called the Bennett Middle School. We don’t know whether every student in the County was given the note.
If Frederickson gave even one student such a note, his pay should be docked for the cost of producing it unless he paid that cost himself.
If you have a note of the kind mentioned above, please send it to me -- by e-mail if possible.
HB1107 Part II
The final pages of the bill is all completely new wording which details what can and cannot be approved for Residential Subdivision.
Under this bill not only will there be no major subdivision approved unless served by a public sewerage system and no minor subdivision unless served by a nitrogen removal devise as approved by the department. But here’s another change is how the discharges must be approved. Currently any land application discharges must not discharge nitrogen that will raise the nitrogen levels above the drinking water standards of 10 milligrams. Now in this bill the combination of the treatment and the land application system must remove 100% of the nitrogen and phosphorus. This means that since the treatment plant using today’s technology will not remove the nitrogen much lower than 3 milligrams under optimal conditions, the vegetation of the land application system must remove the rest. One might say, will that’s no problem because plants us the nitrogen. And this is true under optimal conditions. However, during the winter months treatments plants do not operate at optimal conditions due to cold water and the nitrogen uptake of the plants is little to none. Therefore there will be a much larger storage area required to hold the treated sewage since you cannot discharge if the nitrogen is not 100% removed before it reaches the groundwater. This will require much larger land application areas and storage ponds which uses up a lot more land for the purpose of waste disposal. Understand this just a simple analogy of the process, it’s really much more complicated than this, but you get the point.in the end, the cost for the systems raise substantially. So what do we get, no new developments and no new tax base & no help from the State even though they pass regulations that the counties must live with, but that’s nothing new. Now we move to the minor subdivision. Although those located in the critical area already have to nitrogen removal units they now are requiring even those properties outside of the critical area to have one also with no mention of monetary help from big brother. Right now every tax payer in the state must pay an annual $30 fee to the state to fund the installation of these units, however, the critical area properties are the only one who can receive the funds. Oh, except for the farmers who gets 5 million dollars every year from the fund except an additional 5 million for the farmers as which is supposed to be a onetime deal a couple of years ago. Now that’s not to say the farmers actually got the money because you see, it has to be given out by the department of agriculture, another government agency, who decides who actually gets the money. Now you remember the definition of the minor subdivision, “less than five lots”, well even that’s not totally a given. If after July 1, 2011 if you decide to divide one lot off of your property for a son or daughter you will not be able to do the other 3 lots, why, because the new regulation states that the residential minor subdivision my not be re-subdivided or further subdivided; and the remainder parcel or tract of land my not be subdivided.
Folks, this is a bad bill that does not help anyone. It does however, effectively stops all growth, and eliminates the possibility of increasing the tax base. Therefore the only way government can increase revenue to pay for their programs is to raise taxes on those who are already over taxed, existing property owners. This is your government at work and I thought it was supposed to be by the people and for the people.
GO HERE to read Part I.
GO HERE to read Part I.
Lost Dog
Mr. Albero,
We spoke on the phone yesterday about my two logs that have been lost since Feb 16th. They were last seen on RT. 50 near Perdue Stadium.
This morning the older dog was waiting at our door step. She has lost weight and was clearly sprayed by a skunk. I can only assume that the intense smell must have hindered their ability to pick up the proper scent to get home.
While I am very happy to have one of my dogs home it also increases the concern for the other dog. Normally they would not be apart unless something happend. I have combed the roads all over my area and thankfully have not found her on the side of the road hit by a car.
The remaining dog is named Isis and she is a 9 year old Border Collie mix female. I have enclosed pictures and you can choose which you would feel is best to post.
My name is Phillip Adkins
6858 Zion Church Rd.
Salisbury.
My home Phone is 443-859-8580, my work phone is 410-749-5417 (Mon - Fri 9Am-5:30pm) and my Cell number is 443-235-2184.
Thank you for your assistance.
Phil Adkins
Candidate Muir Boda Sends Final Message Before Primary
The key issues in this campaign are crime, economic development and fiscal integrity. However, nothing can be accomplished on any of these issues unless we return civility and respect in our discourse among the differing opinions of individuals. All three of our main issues are intertwined and we must be successful for the future of our city.
We need to take a three pronged approach to addressing the root causes of crime, which must be approached as a regional problem. This requires us to focus long term on Education, Economic Opportunity and Engaging our Faith Based Community. Each part is critical to our success.
Short term requires us to develop strong, multi-jurisdictional partnerships on targeting gangs, organized crime and our most violent offenders. After all, criminals know no boundaries and neither should our approach in dealing with them.
To learn more on where I stand and how I approach the issues, visit my website at www.boda4salisbury.com.
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