Kraft Recalls 137,000 Velveeta Shells & Cheese Cups Because Thin Pieces Of Wire Are Not Part Of Your Daily Diet

Kraft Foods has announced a recall of three varieties of Velveeta Shells & Cheese single serve microwaveable cups as a precaution due to the "possible presence of small, thin wire bristle pieces."

The three varieties are the original Shells & Cheese cups (in single 2.39 oz cups and four packs of said cups), Shells & Cheese with 2% milk (in 2.19 oz. cups and four packs) and Rotini & Broccoli (2.44 oz. cups) with the "best when used by" dates (found on the bottom of the package) listed in the chart below.

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THE TOP 31 THINGS THAT YOU WILL NEVER HEAR AN EASTERN SHORE BOY SAY:

>> 31. When I retire, I'm movin' north.
>>
>> 30. Oh I just couldn't, she's only sixteen.
>>
>> 29. I'll take Shakespeare for 1000, Alex.
>>
>> 28. Duct tape won't fix that.
>>
>> 27. Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken
>>
>> 26. We don't keep firearms in this house.
>>
>> 25. You can't feed that to the dog.
>>
>> 24. No kids in the back of the pickup, it's just not safe.
>>
>> 23. Wrestling is fake.
>>
>> 22. We're vegetarians.
>>
>> 21. Do you think my gut is too big?
>>
>> 20. I'll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits and gravy.
>>
>> 19. Honey, we don't need another dog.
>>
>> 18. Who gives a damn who won the Civil War?
>>
>> 17. Give me the small bag of pork rinds.
>>
>> 16. Too many deer heads detract from the decor.
>>
>> 15. I just couldn't find a thing at Wal-Mart today.
>>
>> 14. Trim the fat off that steak.
>>
>> 13. Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.
>>
>> 12. The tires on that truck are too big.
>>
>> 11. I've got it all on the C: DRIVE.
>>
>> 10. Unsweetened tea tastes better.
>>
>> 9. My fiance, Bobbie Jo, is registered at Tiffany's.
>>
>> 8. I've got two cases of Zima for the Super Bowl.
>>
>> 7. Checkmate
>>
>> 6. She's too young to be wearing a bikini.
>>
>> 5. Hey, here's an episode of "Hee Haw" that we haven't seen.
>>
>> 4. I don't have a favorite college team.
>>
>> 3. You Guys.
>>
>> 2. Those shorts ought to be a little longer, Betty Mae.
>>
>> AND THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT YOU WILL NEVER HEAR AN EASTERN SHORE BOY
>> SAY:
>> 1. Nope, no more beer for me. I'm driving a whole bus load of us down to
>> re-elect OBAMA!

Conn. Wife Allegedly Made Bank Bomb Threats to Hide Money Woes From Husband

A Connecticut woman is behind bars after allegedly making bomb threats to two banks to prevent her husband from discovering the couple’s financial problems, police said.

Nicolina McLean, 45, was arrested Tuesday and is facing three felony first-degree charges of threatening First Niagara Bank branches in Coventry and Mansfield, Conn. In addition to calling in bomb threats to two banks, she also left a hand-written note in a night deposit box at one of the banks that said there was a bomb in the bank, ABC Affiliate WTNH reported.

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Today's Survey Question

Do you believe the power of prayer heals?

Jamie Leigh Jones Ordered to Pay $145,000 in Court Costs After Failed Rape Claim

The same court that rejected Jamie Leigh Jones' claims against her former employer that she was drugged and raped, has ordered her to pay $145,000 in court costs this week.

Jones claimed she was raped in July 2005 in Baghdad while she was employed for military contractor Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) and filed a suit in 2007. On July 8 this year, a jury verdict rejected her claim against KBR and employee Charles Boartz that she was drugged and raped by several KBR firefighters.

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Surgeon Sues Former Fiancee for $73K Engagement Ring

Houston surgeon Craig Fischer is suing his former fiancée, Nichole L. Johnson, in an effort to recoup a $73,000 engagement ring plus money for a lease and wedding funds totaling $75,000, according to court documents.

The lawsuit, filed five days after the couple split, accuses Johnson of making defamatory remarks and seeks the return of a 4.06 carat diamond ring from Zadok Jewelers, $50,000 for a lease, and $25,000 from a joint checking account.

Unless Johnson "is ordered and enjoined by the Court from disbursing, diminishing or disposing the property," Fischer will have "no means by which to recover the property," the suit alleges.

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Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Art, Belongings To Be Sold

(AP) DETROIT — Paintings, writings and the iconic blue sweater of the audacious assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian are going up for auction, his attorney and close friend said Friday.

Lawyer Mayer Morganroth said the late pathologist's artwork and items will be sold in late October at the New York Institute of Technology. Scheduled for auction are more than 20 paintings, Kevorkian's art kit and the sweaters he became known for donning during his high-profile assistance in the suicides of dozens of people in the 1990s.

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New York Panel Wants Taxpayers To Foot The Bill For Gender Reassignment Surgery

NEW YORK – A state panel advising New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wants taxpayers to foot the bill for transgender residents to get "sexual reassignment surgery," allowing them to change their physical characteristics from a man to a woman or woman to man, The New York Post reported Thursday.

"Provide Medicaid coverage for transgender surgery/hormone replacement therapy and treatment," read the proposal submitted by the state's health disparities work group.

The panel is submitting recommendations to Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign Team for possible inclusion in the governor's budget plan.

A state Health Department spokesman confirmed that requiring Medicaid to cover gender reassignment surgery is being considered.

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U.S. - US New York Football Coach Suspended for Taking Team to Cemetery

MARCELLUS, N.Y. – A junior varsity football coach suspended for making his players lie down in a central New York cemetery as a post-defeat motivational ploy said he borrowed the idea from a pivotal scene in the 2000 Denzel Washington film "Remember the Titans."

Craig Tice, superintendent of the Marcellus school district outside Syracuse, announced Thursday that coach Jim Marsh has been suspended for two weeks without pay for last weekend's spur-of-the-moment stop at a rural cemetery.

Marsh's team was returning from a loss last Saturday at neighboring Skaneateles when he had the bus pull over at a cemetery and told the 24 players to lie down between rows of graves. The coach then talked to them about the importance of playing hard.

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HP CEO Meg Whitman's salary: $1

EW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hewlett-Packard's new CEO, Meg Whitman, will receive an annual salary of $1. Meanwhile, her ousted predecessor, Léo Apotheker, is walking out the door with nearly $10 million cash in severance and bonuses.

But don't feel too sorry for Whitman: She's eligible for millions in cash bonuses and stock options, according to HP's regulatory filing late Thursday.

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Forecast Says Double-Dip Recession Is Imminent

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. economy is staring down another recession, according to a forecast from the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

"It's either just begun, or it's right in front of us," said Lakshman Achuthan, the managing director of ECRI. "But at this point that's a detail. The critical news is there's no turning back. We are going to have a new recession."

The ECRI produces widely-followed leading indicators which predict when the economy is moving between recession and expansion. Achuthan said all those indicators are now pointing to a new economic downturn in the immediate future.

His recession call puts him ahead of most other forecasters. A CNNMoney survey of economists this week pointed to a one-in-three chance of a new recession in the next six months. The most bearish predictions put the odds at 50-50.

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FIRST LADY KATIE O'MALLEY TO LAUNCH CHOPCHOP MARYLAND

FIRST LADY KATIE O’MALLEY TO LAUNCH CHOPCHOP MARYLAND

Will join “Let’s Move” Campaign’s Dr. Judith Palfrey and Founder and President of ChopChop Magazine Sally Sampson

ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 30, 2011) – On MONDAY, First Lady Katie O’Malley will join Dr. Judith Palfrey, head of the “Let’s Move” Campaign and Sally Sampson, founder and president of ChopChop Magazine to officially launch ChopChop Maryland, a new program to promote fun and healthy eating for Maryland families.

Every month for the next year, a new healthy and easy recipe will be featured using local Maryland ingredients. The recipes will be featured online, at local non-profits and health organizations around the State. Marylanders can also text to receive recipes and other information about the program.

At the event, families and children will prepare the first featured recipe using ingredients from local farmers and the Government House garden during a cooking session led by Sally Sampson.

John Travolta Is A Time Traveler? Evidence May Be On eBay

John Travolta: Time traveler? A new photograph being sold through an eBay auction claims to be definitive proof that the actor has been jumping between decades.

"For those of you who don't know, John Travolta is a Scientologist and many Scientologists believe in a type of reincarnation. Of course, time travel can't be ruled out as well," the seller wrote in the auction's description. Buyers are being asked to cough up $50,000 to own the photo.

"The thing that I always found striking about this photograph and I'm sure that you will too is the amazing identical eyes, hairline and most importantly John's very unique trademark chin," they added.

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Hundreds Of Plants, Animals Up For New Protections

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - The Obama administration is taking steps to extend new federal protections to a list of imperiled animals and plants that reads like a manifest for Noah's Ark _ from the melodic golden-winged warbler and slow-moving gopher tortoise, to the slimy American eel and tiny Texas kangaroo rat.

Compelled by a pair of recent legal settlements, the effort in part targets species that have been mired in bureaucratic limbo even as they inch toward potential extinction. With a Friday deadline to act on more than 700 pending cases, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service already has issued decisions advancing more than 500 species toward potential new protections under the Endangered Species Act.

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A Lie Detector Test For Online Reviewers

Fake reviews are proliferating, and researchers are developing new ways to identify them

In February, the owner of a home improvement company in Texas posted an advertisement online for “a writer who can write and post 25 positive reviews” on eight popular websites, including Yelp, Google Places, and Citysearch. A man in Chittagong, Bangladesh, won the gig and agreed to do 200 fake write-ups for $100. Within days, rave reviews for the company started popping up online. The business owner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, says he doesn’t feel bad about the deception. He says clients call all the time extolling his service, but they don’t post reviews.

The proliferation of fake reviews is a huge problem for e-commerce and recommendation sites that depend on user ratings. “At the end of the day, if consumers don’t trust the content, then there is no value for anyone,” says Vince Sollitto, a spokesman for the local review site Yelp. It’s not just consumers who become suspicious. British regulators are investigating the complaint by a company representing hoteliers that there are millions of phony reviews on the travel site TripAdvisor (EXPE), which says it’s cooperating. For some products, up to 30 percent of reviews can be fake, says Bing Liu, a computer science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Several big tech companies are sponsoring academic research on fake reviews. Liu worked with two researchers at Microsoft (MSFT), which put up $138,000 to study nearly 6 million Amazon.com (AMZN) reviews, among other things. They found many duplicate or near-duplicate reviews—a clear sign of fraud. Within those fake reviews, the team found telltale patterns. Spammers are likelier to post multiple reviews for one product or various products made by a single brand. They write very soon after products launch, and their views often differ sharply from most other users. The fake reviewers aren’t usually longtime members of a site. To expand the research, Liu is working with two engineers from Google (GOOG), which put up $50,000.

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Why The 2012 Election Will Cost $6 Billion

Indiana lawyer James Bopp is on a mission to unravel the nation’s campaign laws.

The 2012 election is shaping up to be the most expensive ever, by a lot. Between congressional contests and the Presidential campaign, the 2008 race came in at about $5 billion. This go-round is on track to exceed $6 billion, thanks in large part to recent court decisions that relaxed limits on corporate and union spending. All that money sloshing around—much of it hard to trace to the giver—infuriates government accountability groups. But it absolutely delights the man most responsible for making it happen: James Bopp Jr.

Never heard of him? The 63-year-old proprietor of a small law firm in Terre Haute, Ind., Bopp is far from a household name. In Washington, though, he is revered by campaign fundraisers for his three-decade-long crusade to eliminate restrictions on political contributions, which Bopp, a conservative Republican, sees as a violation of free speech. It was Bopp who filed the initial Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission lawsuit that ultimately led the Supreme Court to rule, in 2010, that corporations and unions could spend unlimited amounts to support or oppose candidates as long as they didn’t give the money to the candidates themselves.

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Why Nighttime Calories Are Worse For Your Waist

I’m a world champion at sleeping, but I know my diet is worse when I don’t get my regular eight to nine hours. I tend to reach for more food—especially carbs—to help wake me up. It never works and probably makes me feel less energized.

Research now backs up why less sleep equals more calories.

Several studies have found that getting at least six hours of sleep appears to help us maintain a healthier weight. Researchers now know that brain hormones and chemicals responsible for hunger and fullness are closely tied to our natural circadian rhythms. When we get less sleep, appetite increases—as do cravings for high-calorie foods.

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For A Fun Time (and a fake girlfriend), Text This Number

Maybe you're lonely, maybe you're tired of being teased over your single status, or maybe you're just a bit odd — there are plenty of almost reasonable sounding excuses to get a fake girlfriend. And thanks to a new service, it's now easier than ever.

This service is called FakeGirlfriend.co — no, there really isn't supposed to be an "m" after the "co" — and it'll provide you with a fake girlfriend who'll send text messages and even call you.

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Why Some Of Us Are Terrible Singers

Despite a glut of TV singing shows from "American Idol" to "The Voice" to "The X Factor" to "The Sing Off" and even "Glee," 10 to 20 percent of the population fails to sing in tune, according to an often-cited expert estimate. But a new study suggests the number of horrible singers is actually much higher than that, and it explains the reasons why many folks are vocally challenged when it comes to music.

Truth be told, having a great set of pipes is no simple matter.

"Singing is a complex act," says Sean Hutchins, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research at the University of Montreal. Singing is complicated because you need to match a note with your voice and perceive it accurately, you need to figure out the right way to configure your vocal muscles, and you need to control those muscles well enough to belt out a tune, he explains.

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NYT: $22 Billion Federal Garage Sale To Cut Deficit

The White House figures that selling spare land, buildings and airwaves could raise up to $22 billion over 10 years, so the government is holding its version of a garage sale.

WASHINGTON — Like Americans trying to raise quick cash by unloading their unwanted goods, the federal government is considering a novel way to reduce the deficit: holding the equivalent of a garage sale.

Deep within President Obama’s proposals to raise revenue and reduce the deficit lies a method that has garnered bipartisan support, something rare in Washington these days. It involves selling an island, courthouses, maybe an airstrip, generally idle or underused vehicles, roads, buildings, land — even the airwaves used to broadcast television.

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Schwarzenegger Says Gov. Campaign Was An Impulse

Traditionally, when a political candidate declares that they are officially running for office, the announcement is meticulously planned, the speech carefully written, the ground tested. And they usually tell their spouse first.

But former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was not a traditional candidate nor did he have much of an appetite for carefully planned events. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Governator recounts the night he spontaneously announced his bid for the state’s top role on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

“I just thought, This will freak everyone out,” he told Vanity Fair’s Michael Lewis. “It’ll be so funny. I’ll announce that I am running. I told Leno I was running. And two months later I was governor.”

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Education Leaders Debate Expanded School Days

The next time you're singing the 9-to-5 blues, your kids just might chime in with the harmony.

That is, if they're among the students at Baltimore and D.C. area KIPP Charter Schools, or any of the other schools nationwide that have adopted expanded school days.

President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have advocated longer days and shorter summer breaks in the past and increasing support for the idea might force the District and surrounding areas to consider it more seriously.

But, while more time in the class

room may benefit children from disadvantaged backgrounds, is it right for everyone?

That's the question the New York Times posed to a group of heavy-hitters in education this week.

For Fairfax County, Va., teacher and National Mathematics Advisory Panel member Vern Williams, the answer is: maybe, but only if the extra time is used wisely.

"If teachers were given unencumbered classroom time to actually teach, perhaps the argument for a longer school day would become moot," Williams said. "I fear that if the school day is extended without real input from both core subject and elective teachers, the extra time might be used for activities that are nothing more than glorified recess or unstructured study halls."

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GOVERNOR O'MALLEY TO LEAD TRADE MISSION TO INDIA

First Maryland Trade Mission includes Meetings in Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad

ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 30, 2011) – To build on Maryland’s strong relationship and boost trade and investment with one of the world’s fastest growing economies, Governor Martin O’Malley today announced that he will lead a delegation of business leaders and elected officials on a six-day economic development mission to India in late November. This is the first economic development mission to India led by a Maryland governor, and will include Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker.

The Maryland trade mission will visit Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad, the country’s key centers of business and industry. Maryland has maintained a strong presence in India, and, under Governor O’Malley, reopened an office in Delhi in 2009 to build on shared strengths in biotechnology, IT and aerospace and defense.

The trade mission will be organized and executed by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), with strong support from the Office of the Secretary of State, Maryland-India Working Group, and U.S. Department of Commerce’s Baltimore Export Assistance Center.

“India’s economy is undergoing a rapid transformation and is expected to surpass all other countries to be the world’s largest economy by 2050,” said Governor O’Malley. “With their industries modernizing and a young and career-oriented middle class, it is an ideal time to promote Maryland as a U.S. headquarters for Indian companies, particularly those in biotech and cyber security, and also open new doors for trade for our small and mid-sized businesses.”

Earlier this year, Governor O’Malley led a 68-member delegation on a successful economic development mission to China, South Korea and Vietnam, which has so far resulted in $85 million in direct foreign investments in Maryland and trade deals for Maryland companies.

“I’m honored to join Governor O’Malley and Maryland’s business leaders on this economic development and trade mission to India,” said House Majority Leader Kumar Barve. “I want to commend the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and the Maryland-India Working Group over the last few months to ensure that this trade mission brings new opportunity and new investments back to Maryland.”

“A strategic economic development partnership with India is good business for the State of Maryland and Prince George’s County,” said Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III. “I am honored to join Governor O’Malley and County Executive Leggett on this economic development mission to India. Having a number of companies based in Prince George’s County already doing business with India, we look forward to strengthening established relationships and discovering new opportunities.”

“It is an honor to join Governor O’Malley on this business development mission to India and my goal is to promote Montgomery County’s competitive strengths in the life sciences, biotechnology, IT and defense sectors,” said Montgomery County Isiah Leggett. “These sectors align well with similar, fast emerging industries in India. Now is the time to aggressively target foreign direct investment from India, and other fast-developing economies like China and Korea, into the County.”

As part of the mission, the Governor and his delegation will meet with potential investment and trade partners and government leaders in each of the cities. While the itinerary is still being developed, Governor O’Malley is scheduled to give the keynote speech at the Convention on Pharmaceutical Ingredients India, one of the largest events in the pharmaceutical industry. The Maryland India Working Group, co-chaired by Bob Walker, Assistant Secretary for Business and Enterprise Development at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and Reza Jafari of the Governor’s International Advisory Council, are advising on the mission.

Between 2004 and 2009, Indian companies made eight acquisitions in Maryland, totaling $564 million, which is in addition to more than $100 million that Indian companies invested in Greenfield projects in Maryland. In 2010, India was Maryland’s 12^th largest export market with $233 million in goods and services, and was the State’s 13th largest import market, with more than $465 million. There are four major Indian companies in Maryland, including Sri-Sai Pharmaceuticals in Frederick; Bioserve Technologies in Beltsville; Lupin Pharmaceuticals in Baltimore; and Gene Logic in Gaithersburg. In addition, Maryland’s India office also has a U.S. location in the International Incubator at the University of Maryland, College Park to assist local companies open offices in India.

The O’Malley-Brown Administration has taken significant steps to ramp up the State’s international outreach, including opening a number of number of foreign offices in targeted countries, convening the Governor’s International Advisory Council to provide strategic direction and develop a plan to enhance Maryland’s global profile, expanding the capacity of the Port of Baltimore with a new 50-foot berth, and opening the State’s first International Incubator in 2009 at the University of Maryland, College Park to help foreign-owned companies launch U.S. operations.

In addition to India, the State has also recently opened foreign offices in Russia and Colombia to attract foreign-owned companies to Maryland and encourage trade opportunities. The offices, which are opened on a contingency basis with no up-front cost to taxpayers, are part of the State’s network of foreign offices which also include China (Shanghai), France (Paris), Israel (Haifa), South Korea (Seoul), Taiwan (Taipei), Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) and the Western Balkans (Montenegro).

Maryland is well-positioned for growth in the global market, with more than 300 foreign-owned companies from 30 countries currently calling Maryland home. Roughly 105,000 Marylanders, or 3.5 percent of the workforce, are employed by foreign-owned firms, with companies headquartered in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany as the top three foreign employers in Maryland.

Full Bladders, Wasabi Alarm Earn Lg Nobels

BOSTON (AP) - Driving while desperately needing to urinate isn't a crime, but maybe it should be.
Peter Snyder and his colleagues found that having a bladder at its bursting point reduced attention span and the ability to make decisions to the same degree expected with low levels of alcohol intoxication or 24 hours of sleep deprivation. The research earned them the 2011 Ig Nobel prize for medicine.

"When people reach a point when they are in so much pain they just can't stand it anymore, it was like being drunk," said Snyder, a professor of neurology at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

"The ability to hold information was really impaired," he said.

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Man Whose Car Plunged Off Cliff Found By Family

(CBS/AP)

CASTAIC, Calif. -- A 67-year-old man found alive days after his car plunged 200 feet off a mountain road built a makeshift camp, ate leaves and bugs and drank water from a nearby creek to survive, his daughter said.

Family members found David Lavau at the bottom of a ravine off Lake Hughes Road in the Angeles National Forest Thursday after conducting their own search, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Mark Savage.

Another vehicle was found nearby, but its driver did not survive the crash and there were no details on how the cars ended up off the road, said Savage.

David Lavau's daughter, Lisa Lavau, said her family had not heard from her father for several days and reported him missing to police.

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Wartime Contracting Commission Shutters This Week

The Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan is going dark tomorrow.

The congressionally-chartered commission will shut down at the close of business on Friday after three years, 25 hearings, and eight reports to Congress.
 
The Commission's most recent -- and final -- report said that as much as $60 billion has been lost to waste and fraud on wartime contracts.
 
The final report's recommendations are gaining traction on Capitol Hill, but Commission Co-Chair Christopher Shays says any further progress will have to come from the administration and congress.

Ron Paul, ACLU condemn Anwar al-Awlaki killing

White House hopeful Ron Paul and the American Civil Liberties Union each condemned the United States' killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen who has never been charged with any crime.

Al Qaeda's Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen

Paul, a staunch Libertarian, said in New Hampshire Friday that it's "sad" if "the American people accept this blindly and casually," adding that "nobody knows if he ever killed anybody," According to the Wall Street Journal. the Texas Republican lawmaker said United States officials "have never been specific about the crime."

The ACLU said the killing was a violation of both U.S. and international law.

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Former Chief Of The National Archives Arrested

A former chief of the National Archives audio-visual holdings is being charged with stealing what he was supposed to be protecting, according to the Associated Press. Leslie Waffen has been formally charged with filching nearly 1,000 sound recordings from the archives over a decade. Federal agents raided his home earlier this year, recovering dozens of boxes full of Archives property. The Archives have been criticized by its inspector general and government auditors for lax security and failing to safeguard sensitive information.

Cybersecurity Attacks On Utilities And Other Industries Have Tripled In One Year

Homeland Security officials said the methods of cyber attack are also growing more sophisticated. Deputy Undersecretary Greg Shaffer, who gave reporters a tour of the Idaho National Laboratory, said it has responded to 342 calls for help so far this year, compared to 116 last year. The lab houses an emergency response team and a watch-and-warning center. It employs cyber experts who test systems for weaknesses and analyze samples of malware.

Huge Yard Sale Tomorrow

Some of the items being sold include: Grill, Picnic, Bikes, Tvs, Recliners, Sofa, Fish Tanks, Kitchen Table, Dressers, Mirrors, Coffee Tables, Inversion Table, Wooden Hutch, T-Maxx RC Car, Snack Trays, Christmas Tree, Treadmill, Board Games, Workout Equipment, Books, Pictures, Clothes, Knick Knacks, Curtains, Small Tables, Lamps, Tent, Kitchen Items, Rollerskates, and much more! The larger items will be inside to view.

Tomorrow starting at 7am - till
1517 S. Division St., Salisbury

Guide To The Latest On Pakistan's Terror Ties

Longstanding tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan have recently kicked up, with more allegations flying and evidence emerging of Pakistan's ties to terrorist groups.

 

The U.S. has long had a love-hate relationship with Pakistan, sending it billions of dollars in aid while suspecting, and occasionally accusing, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI, of supporting terrorist groups.

The evidence and allegations of those connections have been coming so quickly it’s been hard to keep track of it all. What exactly are the United States' claims? What proof does it have, and which groups does it suspect the ISI has collaborated with? Here’s our breakdown of the basics. (And here’s an earlier guide [1] we did as well.)

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Federal Workers With Deployed Military Spouses Will Get Sweeter Benefits

Starting October 30, they'll be able to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, which will make it easier for them to take care of pressing family business. In amending policy under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Office of Personnel Management listed several reasons why a spouse might need extra time, including arranging child care or going to school meetings, preparing a will or making funeral arrangements

House Of Representatives Approved A Stopgap Spending Bill

A nearly empty House of Representatives approved a stopgap spending bill to prevent a government shutdown this weekend. It passed with unanimous permission of the three lawmakers in attendance; the rest were away on recess. The Senate already passed a continuing resolution, which funds the government through Tuesday, so now the measure awaits President Obama's signature. House members will then vote on a second Senate measure to keep the government running through November 18. Yesterday's three members were Maryland Republican Andy Harris, who presided. Plus Texas Republican John Culberson and Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen.

Dover NASCAR To Boost Volume On Bay Bridge

STEVENSVILLE, Md. (AP) -- This weekend's NASCAR races in Dover, Del. are expected to boost traffic volume on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The Maryland Transportation Authority says motorists should expect heavier traffic through Sunday.

The authority says it will monitor traffic conditions and allow two-way traffic on the westbound span to help alleviate potential delays if weather permits.

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Where The US Republican Presidential Candidates Stand On Peace

Where do the Republican presidential candidates stand on negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy as a means of solving intractable international conflicts? Reading reports about Governors Perry and Romney and Representative Michelle Bachman as the leading Republican candidates, one sees very little about their foreign policy positions, their negotiating skills, or their positions on war and peace. Early indications of how each would respond to an international conflict crisis may be based on past public statements. None of the candidates have made any public statements about their foreign policy positions or their attitudes towards peace. Instead, we must infer their thinking from their public statements around military defense. Here are some selected statements and analysis of where each candidate seems to stand. Also included is Texas Representative Ron Paul because he has such a startlingly different position from the other candidates and therefore provides a useful contrast of philosophy about peace.

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3 Del. Events Named Among The Best For 2012

DOVER, Del. (AP) -- State officials say three Delaware events have been named as part of a group's top events.

Delaware tourism officials say that the American Bus Association is honoring the World Championship Punkin Chunkin, the Sea Witch Halloween & Fiddler's Festival and the Apple-Scrapple Festival as part of its Top 100 Events in North America for 2012.

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Power Of Courts, Or Power Of Prayer?

Should the courts convict people for believing in the power of prayer instead of providing medical care for their children, when it results in the death of the child?

 

Send your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. We'll read some of your answers on the air at 6:45.

 

This is a not freedom of religion but instead of not providing due care in the eyes of our society, two different issues. They are charged for extreme medical abuse of minors leading to death and not the religious 'motive' why they acted so. -- James, Rosedale

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YARD SALES

CLICK HERE for the upcoming yard sales in the area.

If you have a yard sale you would like to post, please email me at atlanticjw@aol.com

Mid Guilty Of Rape, Lying To Officials

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Naval Academy midshipman was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a classmate and lying to investigators during a court-martial at the Washington Navy Yard Wednesday.

A seven-member military panel, the equivalent of jury in a civilian trial, also found Midshipman 3rd Class Patrick Edmond not guilty on counts of sodomy.

He will be sentenced Thursday and could face punishment ranging from nothing to confinement for life, dismissal from the naval service, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a fine

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A Nation Of "Suspects"

In the wake of COINTELPRO and the Watergate scandal, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas sent a letter to a group of young lawyers at the Washington State Bar Association. "As nightfall does not come all at once," he wrote, "neither does oppression. In both instances there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."[1]

The recent dramatic expansion of intelligence collection at the federal, state and local level raises profound civil liberties concerns regarding freedoms and protections we have long taken for granted. If people generally appear unaware of "change in the air," a large part of the reason is the unparalleled resort to secrecy used by the government to keep its actions from public scrutiny. According to the new American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) report, "Drastic Measures Required," under President Obama (who had vowed to create "an unprecedented level of openness in Government" when he first took office), there were no fewer than 76,795,945 decisions made to classify information in 2010 - eight times the number made in 2001. 

There are layers of secrecy that cannot even be penetrated by most members of Congress. In the recent debate over the re-authorization of three sections of the USA Patriot Act with sunset provisions, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), who is a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee, declared in the Senate in May 2011 that there was a secret interpretation of Patriot Act powers that he could not even tell them about without disclosing classified information. [2] "When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry," said Wyden. The determination of the Obama administration to imitate its predecessor and maintain a wall of secrecy around anything that could be connected (however tenuously) with "national security" is evident in the zeal with which it has pursued whistleblowers and its use of the state secrets privilege in judicial proceedings, including in the recent court challenge to the FBI use of the informant Craig Monteilh to spy on mosques in Orange County, California.

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"Occupy Wall Street" Protest Links Up With Locked-Out Teamsters

Expanding their reach beyond the confines of Wall Street, a dozen activists from the ongoing Occupy Wall Street action disrupted an art auction at Sotheby’s last week.

The protest supported 43 union art handlers, members of Teamsters Local 814, who were locked out August 1 by the tony art seller.

Occupy Wall Street, organized mostly through social media, began protests in lower Manhattan 12 days ago, calling on “the 99%” to confront the “greed and corruption of the 1%.”

Disguised as potential bidders, the activists entered the building and interrupted the auctioneer one at a time as bidding on an item reached $130,000.

The protesters staggered their interruptions through a period of 75 minutes with shouts to “end the lockout” and “make Wall Street pay.”

They were escorted off the premises by security with no arrests.

“What’s being done to the art handlers is plain wrong,” said Will Russell, a Hunter College student. “Sotheby’s made $690 million in gross profit last year—but they can’t afford to pay their workers a fair wage?”

Actress Ashley Straw also participated. “The greed in this building is a direct example of the corporate greed that has ruined our economy,” she said.

Source

Crony Capitalism: $737 Million Green Jobs Loan Given to Nancy Pelosi's Brother-In-Law

Despite the growing Solyndra scandal, yesterday the Department of Energy approved $1 billion in new loans to green energy companies -- including a $737 million loan guarantee to a company known as SolarReserve:

SolarReserve LLC, a closely held renewable energy developer, received a $737 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee to build a solar-thermal project in Nevada.

The 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes project, near Tonopah, Nevada, will use the sun’s heat to create steam that drives a turbine, the agency said today in a e-mailed statement. SolarReserve is based in Santa Monica, California.

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Trump Casino Offers $25K Plastic Surgery Prize

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - The latest casino promotion in Atlantic City gives new meaning to "going bust."

The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort plans to give $25,000 worth of plastic surgery to a winner from a player's card contest. The lucky one can mix and match surgeries including breast enhancements, tummy tucks, liposuction and face lifts until the total hits $25,000.

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Fill In The Blank 9-30-11

Friday's are like_____!

Don't Forget The Salisbury Farmers Market Tomorrow Morning

Letters: Public Needs To Hear Truth About Postal Service Deficit

The U.S. Postal Service has almost hit its debt ceiling of $15 billion, but why haven't the facts come out? Is there a plan to destroy an institution that was started in 1775 to bind the country together? I think so and the plan started in 2006 (Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act).

There are other factors that haven't help the USPS, the Internet (mail volume declined), the worst recession since the Great Depression, mandate to deliver to every address in this country, which keeps growing, and the large increase in gasoline prices.

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FDA Warns Seattle-Based Coffee Company That Rat Poo Is Not Part Of A Seasonal Blend

In 2008, Seattle-based Zoka Coffee, which operates four stores and also sells packaged coffee and tea, was named Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine. In 2011, that same company is on the receiving end of a very detailed warning letter from the Food & Drug Administration after inspectors found way too many violations, including more than 1,500 bits of rodent poop.

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Oregon Couple Convicted In Faith-Healing Trial

(AP)

OREGON CITY, Ore. - A couple who prayed and rubbed olive oil on their sick infant rather than seek medical care for the dying boy was convicted Thursday of manslaughter, becoming the latest members of an Oregon faith-healing church to be blamed in their child's death.

Dale and Shannon Hickman, both 26, are members of the Followers of Christ Church, which has a history of rejecting medical care for congregants' children and relying instead on techniques such as prayer and anointing the sick with oils.

Five other church members have been convicted in Clackamas County for crimes related to the rejection of medical care for their children, said Greg Horner, chief deputy district attorney.

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Study: Woman Better at Using Social Media to Keep in Touch

If women are from Venus and men are from Mars, then it seems as if Venusians are much better at using social media to stay in touch with those who are closest to them. A recent study has revealed that more women than men use social media like Facebook and Twitter to update friends and family about their lives.

According to the survey, 68% of women use social media to connect with friends, as opposed to just 54% of men. For both genders, it's a lower number when connecting with family: 60% of women, and a much smaller 42% of men, with work colleagues falling even further for both—just over a third of the women polled against just over a fifth of the men.

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Articles of Faith: Is the Death Penalty in Keeping with Catholic Doctrine (and Should Justice Scalia Resign)?

September has been execution season in the United States. In the past month, Texas executed two prisoners, Florida and Alabama each sent an inmate to the death chamber, and in Georgia, the controversial lethal injection of Troy Davis went forward despite last-minute consideration of his case by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The justices did halt the scheduled executions of two other Texas inmates, and Republican Governor John Kasich commuted the death sentence of an Ohio prisoner.

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FBI Arrests Boeing Plant Workers in Prescription Drug Sting

FBI agents raided a military helicopter factory outside Philadelphia Thursday morning and arrested three dozen people for the illegal distribution and attempted possession of prescription drugs, including the powerful painkiller Oxycontin.

The Boeing Rotorcraft Systems plant in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania makes the H-47 Chinook and the V-22 Osprey for the U.S. military. All but one of those charged are employees or former employees, said Zane Memeger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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Wall Street Journal Changes Privacy Policy To Track Users' Browsing Data Without Consent

Because News Corp. has apparently given up any pretensions to respecting the privacy of others, it recently updated the privacy policy for the Wall Street Journal website to allow the company to connect personally identifiable information with Web browsing data without user consent.

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The Myth Of American Freedom

Does the government work for us or do we work for the government? Is freedom in America a myth or a reality? Tonight, what if we didn't live in a free country?

What if the Constitution were written not to limit government, but to expand it? What if the Constitution didn't fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence, but betrayed it? What if the Constitution actually permitted the government to limit and constrict freedom? What if the Bill of Rights was just a paper promise, that the government could avoid whenever it claimed the need to do so? What if the same generation – in some cases the same people – that drafted the U.S. Constitution enacted laws that violated it? What if the merchants and bankers who financed the American Revolution bought their way into the new government and got it to enact laws that stifled their competition? What if the civil war that was fought in the name of freedom actually advanced the cause of tyranny?

What if the federal government were the product of 150 years of stealing power and liberty and property from the people and the states? What if our political elites spent the 20th century importing the socialist ideas of big government Statism from Europe? What if our political class was adopting the European political culture from which our founding fathers fought so hard to break free?

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How "Free" Really Works Online

On this poster, "Facebook" should really be a fill-in-the blank option. I can think of several other instances where this is true. If you're not paying for a service online, then you're what's being sold to advertisers and marketers, either in the form of ads being served, your data being sold, or both. So, in the case of the Facebook redesign backlash, that was the pig complaining about the barn getting a paint job and a new rope swing.

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Transgender Kids: Painful Quest To Be Who They Are

Berkeley, California (CNN) -- One of the first things Thomas Lobel told his parents was that they were wrong.The 3-year-old had learned sign language because he had apraxia, a speech impediment that hindered his ability to talk. The toddler pointed to himself and signed,

"I am a girl.""Oh look, he's confused," his parents said. Maybe he mixed up the signs for boy and girl. So they signed back. "No, no. Thomas is a boy."But the toddler shook his head. "I am a girl," he signed back emphatically.

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Free Stuff

The folks who are getting the free stuff, don't like the folks who are paying for the freestuff,

Because the folks who are paying for the free stuff,

Can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuffand their own stuff,

And,

The folks who are paying for the free stuff,

Want the free stuffto stop.

and the the folks who are getting the free stuff,

Want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!

Now...  The people who are forcing the people who Pay for the freestuff,

Have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff,

That the people who are PAYING for the free stuff

Are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So... the people who are GETTING the free stuff,

Have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff,

By the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff,

And giving them the free stuff in the first place.

We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are

Now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.

Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide

somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded.  The reason?

The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing

people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 231 years ago. The number of people now

getting free stuffoutnumbers the people paying for the free stuff. We have one chance to change that

in 2012. Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

Rick Santorum made $239K from Fox News

Rick Santorum had harsh words for Fox News’s coverage of the presidential race last week, but he was raking in almost a quarter-million dollars from the network as recently as this spring.

News Corp., the station’s parent company, paid Santorum $239,000 to contribute to Fox News in 2010 and the first half of 2011, according his personal financial disclosure report out Thursday. By contrast, Sarah Palin reportedly has a $1-million contract with Fox.

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Census Bureau Admits It 'Artifcially Inflated The Number Of Same-Sex Couples'

The Census Bureau admitted Tuesday that it had “artificially inflated the number of same-sex couples” in the United States, initially reporting a number that was about 40 percent higher than what it now believes is accurate.

The original data published by the 2010 Census set the number of same-sex households in the U.S. in 2010 at 901,997, including 349,377 same-sex married couple households and 552,620 same-sex unmarried partner households.

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Schools Say No To Tea Party's Constitution Lessons

Earlier this year, tea party groups sparked a bit of an uproar when they announced plans to pressure public schools into teaching their version of constitutional history during the federally mandated Constitution week that began September 17. Led by a large umbrella group, Tea Party Patriots, activists planned to pressure local school officials into using controversial curriculum developed by theNational Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS).

The NCCS was founded by Glen Beck's favorite pseudo-historian, W. Cleon Skousen, who argued in his book The 5,000 Year Leap that the creation of the US was a divine miracle. When the news got out, liberal legal groups expressed outrage and urged schools to reject the plan.

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Lost Dog

Hi Joe

My sister in law has a yellow lab that has been missing for four days. She lives in Westbrook off of Nanticoke Road. His name is Cooper.  If found or anyone has seen him call her me at 610-304-8917

Parties To Pay $22.6M To Settle Whistleblower Suit

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- The Justice Department says two companies and three individuals have agreed to pay $22.6 million as part of a whistleblower lawsuit that accused several companies and individuals of rigging a contract at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

The 2009 lawsuit, filed in federal court in Mississippi, claimed three current or former federal employees conspired to steer a computer contract to a team of companies that included Lockheed, which is based in Bethesda, Md., San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp., and Applied Enterprise Solutions, based in Slidell, La.

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Man Who Wanted Murder of Ex-Girlfriend to Look Like Bear Mauling Jailed

MALONE, N.Y. – A New York man who had abused his ex-girlfriend and then plotted to kill her and make it look like she had been mauled by a bear was sentenced to prison for trying to hire someone to kill her in a staged car crash.

Clyde Gardner gave up on his first idea: Kill a bear, skin it and wear the pelt while using its claws to kill the woman as she took out her garbage. The plan included him wearing the bear's paws on his feet so no human footprints would be left behind.

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BREAKING NEWS: Gloomy Economic Reports Spark Selloff; Dow Slides 150

Ominous economic data from across the globe dimmed sentiment on Wall Street,
sending traders out of equity markets and into safe havens.  Minutes after the
opening bell, the Dow tumbled 150 points, or 1.3%, and the S&P 500 slid 1.5%,
while the yield on the 10-Year Treasury note dropped to 1.9%.

From Fox News

Man Critically Injured In Car-Scooter Collision

REHOBOTH, Del. (AP) -- Delaware State police say a man riding a scooter was critically injured when he collided with a car in Rehoboth.

Troopers say about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday, a car driven by 55-year-old old Linda Reese of Lewes was trying to make a left turn from westbound Route 24 onto southbound Angola Road. Police say the front of Reese's car hit the front of a scooter operated by 40-year-old Timothy Darlin of Rehoboth Beach. Officers
say Darlin, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from the scooter.

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BREAKING NEWS: CIA Directed al-Awlaki Strike

Fox News confirms CIA directed the attack on Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki’s in Yemen, firing two Predator drones and Hellfire missiles at his convoy.

Lost Dog-Delmar: UPDATE

Our Greyhound-Shepherd mix, Scooby, got out of the yard late last night and is on the run. We live near the high school, but he loves to run and could be pretty far if he found something to chase.
He's brown with a green collar and has tags, though the collar is new and I'm not sure it has our number on it. Very friendly and very fast!

Please be on the lookout. 302-846-2909.

Thank you!!

Wicomico Humane Society Has New Executive Director

The Wicomico Humane Society has hired a new Executive Director David Fitzgerald. Davis was previously with Emergency Management Services in Worcester County.