Oprah's Secret? She Has A Half Sister

Winfrey says during Monday's show she met Patricia on Thanksgiving

CHICAGO  — Oprah Winfrey has discovered she has a half-sister — a Milwaukee woman who was given up for adoption by Winfrey's mother nearly 50 years ago, when the talk show host was eight years old.

An emotional Winfrey introduced her newly found sibling to viewers Monday and explained the woman's persistent quest to find her birth mother.

Grio.com: Can Oprah's 'secrets' surprise us anymore?

"This, my friends, is the miracle of all miracles," Winfrey said before bringing out the 48-year-old woman, who throughout the program was identified only as Patricia, with no mention of her occupation or any other details.

After years of searching for blood relatives, the woman met Winfrey on Thanksgiving Day of last year.

GO HERE to read and see more.

Police Fear 'War On Cops'

At least 11 shot in 24 hours; death toll apace with 2010 uptick

A spate of shooting attacks on law enforcement officers has authorities concerned about a war on cops.

In just 24 hours, at least 11 officers were shot. The shootings included Sunday attacks at traffic stops in Indiana and Oregon, a Detroit police station shooting that wounded four officers, and a shootout at a Port Orchard, Wash., Wal-Mart that injured two deputies. On Monday morning, two officers were shot dead and a U.S. Marshal was wounded by a gunman in St. Petersburg, Fla.

On Thursday, two Miami-Dade, Fla., detectives were killed by a murder suspect they were trying to arrest.

"It's not a fluke," said Richard Roberts, spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations. "There's a perception among officers in the field that there’s a war on cops going on."

GO HERE to read more.

Crime Solvers Adds Two More "Known To Be Armed" Wanted Suspects

GO HERE to see the update.

Moscow Airport Terror Attack Kills 35, Wounds 180

MOSCOW – A suicide bomber carrying a suitcase walked into Moscow's busiest airport and set off a huge explosion Monday, killing 35 people and wounding 180.

The international arrivals terminal at Domodedovo Airport was engulfed by smoke and splattered with body parts after the mid-afternoon terror attack sprayed shrapnel, screws and ball bearings at passengers and workers. Hundreds of people were in the loosely guarded area at the time.

President Dmitry Medvedev immediately ordered authorities to beef up security at Moscow's two other commercial airports and other key transport facilities. He also canceled plans to fly out Tuesday to Davos, Switzerland, where he was going to promote Russia as a safe, profitable investment haven to world business leaders.

"Attempts were being made to identify" the suspected male suicide bomber, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said, adding that the attacker appeared to have been wearing the explosives in a belt.
The Interfax news agency said the head of the suspected bomber had been found.

GO HERE to read more.

Fruitland Police Department Press Release

Incident: Burglary – MDOP – CDS – Disorderly

Date: January 15, 2010

Location: N. Division Street, Fruitland, Md.

Accused: George Frazier B/M 55 YOA

Salisbury, Md.

Charges: Burglary

Possession of CDS

MDOP

Disorderly Conduct

Resume’ On the above date at approximately 4:15 p.m., Fruitland officers responded to the N. Division Street area reference a reported burglary. A description of the subject responcible was provided and while enroute officers observed a subject matching the description walking in the area of the traffic circle. Inquiry of the subject revealed him to be the accused and that he was wanted on an outstanding warrant from another agency and taken into custody. He was placed on the patrol car and officers proceeded the short distance to the burglary  scene. Investigation of the burglary incident revealed the accused threw a lawn ornimate against a house breaking it and entered the residence uninvited through the front door. When confronted by the occupant of the residence, the accused stated “I am here for you” among other things. The occupant then pushed the accused to the floor and dragged him out of the house. The accused began walking away until he was apprehended by officers. While in the patrol car, the accused became agitated and stated “I am your worse nightmare”, you will see”, you don’t know who I am”, and began kicking the console of the partol unit doing damage to some electronic equipment. The accused was transferred to another unit which was equipped with a prisoner separation cage and transported to WCDC. A subsequent search of the accused revealed him to be in possession of CDS. He was remanded to the custody of Central Booking and due to his disorderly behavior, was immediately placed in a cell.

OCPD REQUESTING ASSISTANCE IN LOCATING WANTED MAN

Ocean City Police are asking for the public’s assistance in apprehending a suspect who is wanted for charges that include fraud and failure to perform contract. Christopher Allen Tingen, 33, of Chestertown, MD, is wanted by five different agencies in Maryland and also by the Delaware State Police.

Tingen was recently living in the Ocean City area, but police believe he may have recently moved to his former address in Chestertown. Ocean City Police ask anyone with knowledge of Tingen’s whereabouts to contact the Ocean City Police Department at 410.723.6610.

The First Black Tea Party

Hezbollah Chooses Lebanon’s Next Prime Minister

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A prime minister chosen by Hezbollah and its allies was poised Monday to form Lebanon’s next government, unleashing angry protests, realigning politics here and in parts of the Mideast and culminating the generation-long ascent of the Shiite Muslim movement from shadowy militant group to the country’s pre-eminent political and military force.

A practical impact may be the realignment of Lebanon away from the United States, which treated the government of Saad Hariri as an ally. Hezbollah and its own allies now have the votes to back as prime minister Najib Miqati, a billionaire and former prime minister. The government he forms may in the end look much like past cabinets in this small Mediterranean country and, indeed, Mr. Miqati struck a conciliatory tone, calling himself a consensus candidate.

But the symbolism of Hezbollah choosing the country’s prime minister was vast, potentially serving as the beginning of a new era for a combustible country whose conflicts have long entangled the United States, Iran, Syria and virtually every country in the region.

By nightfall, angry opponents of Hezbollah took to the streets in Beirut, Tripoli and other cities, burning tires, shouting slogans and offering at least an image of what many feared that Hezbollah’s victory might unleash: strife among communities in a country almost evenly divided over questions of foreign patrons, posture to Israel and the relative power of Lebanon’s Shiite Muslims, represented by Hezbollah, and its Sunni opponents.

GO HERE to read more.

China Grooming Deft Politician As Next Leader

BEIJING — President Hu Jintao of China returned home this weekend after a trip intended to repair relations with the United States. But the next time the White House marches out the honor guard and polishes the crystal for a Chinese leader, it is unlikely to be for Mr. Hu.

Following a secretive succession plan sketched out years ago, Mr. Hu has already begun preparing for his departure from power, passing the baton to his presumed successor, a former provincial leader named Xi Jinping, now China’s vice president. While Mr. Xi is expected to formally take the reins next year in China, the world’s second-largest economy and fastest-modernizing military power, he remains a cipher to most people, even in China.

But an extended look at Mr. Xi’s past, taken from wide-ranging interviews and official Chinese publications, shows that his rise has been built on a combination of political acumen, family connections and ideological dexterity. Like the country he will run, he has nimbly maintained the primacy of the Communist Party, while making economic growth the party’s main business.

GO HERE to read more.

Google And Mozilla Announce New Privacy Features

Add two more Internet browser makers to the list of companies planning to offer Web users new ways to control how their personal data is collected online.

On Monday, Mozilla and Google announced features that would allow users of the Firefox and Chrome browsers to opt out of being tracked online by third-party advertisers. The companies made their announcements just weeks after the Federal Trade Commission issued a report that supported a “do not track” mechanism that would let consumers choose whether companies could monitor their online behavior.

In a blog post by Alex Fowler, Mozilla’s technology and privacy officer, the company unveiled a proposed feature for its Firefox browser that would send a signal to third-party advertisers and commercial Web sites indicating that a user did not want to be tracked. The mechanism, being called a Do Not Track HTTP header, would rely on companies that receive the information to agree not to collect data.

The approach differs from other options currently available to users that rely on cookies or user-generated lists. In December, Microsoft announced a feature called Tracking Protection for Internet Explorer 9 that would rely on lists that users create that indicate which sites they do not want to share information with.

“We believe the header-based approach has the potential to be better for the web in the long run because it is a clearer and more universal opt-out mechanism than cookies or blacklists,” said Mr. Fowler in the blog post.

GO HERE to read more.

Suspect Dead After 2 Cops Killed, Marshal Wounded In Florida Home

Report: Firefight erupts as officers try to remove suspect from St. Petersburg attic

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The fugitive suspected of killing two police officers and wounding a marshal Monday morning was found dead inside a south St. Petersburg home where an intense firefight had erupted in attic where he was holed up, officials said.

St. Petersburg Police spokesman Michael Puetz said the suspect was found dead when officers went into the home Monday afternoon, about six hours after the shootout, the latest in a recent rash of shootings across the nation that have killed or wounded law enforcement officers.

The law enforcement agents came to arrest Hydra Lacy Jr., 39, around 7 a.m. on an aggravated battery charge, and investigators believe he is the one who opened fire on them, Puetz said. They had not confirmed Lacy was the shooter.

GO HERE to see more.

Olbermann Split Came After Years Of Tension

MSNBC never had any doubt about what it was getting when it made Keith Olbermann the face of the network in 2003: a highly talented broadcaster, a distinctive and outspoken voice and a mercurial personality with a track record of attacking his superiors and making early exits.

Even his own boss, Phil Griffin, offered this assessment in 2008, when Mr. Olbermann was being heavily criticized by supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton because he was urging her to drop out of the race to become the Democratic presidential candidate.

For Mrs. Clinton’s supporters, Mr. Griffin said in an interview with The New Yorker magazine, “It was, like, you meet a guy and fall in love with him.” But, he said, “then you commit yourself to him, and he turns out to be a jerk and difficult and brutal.”

Still, the news of his abrupt departure from “Countdown” — delivered by Mr. Olbermann on Friday night — came as a shock to his many fans, some of whom accused Comcast, the incoming owner of MSNBC’s parent, NBC Universal, of forcing out the host for political reasons.

GO HERE to read more.

Court Tosses Rahm Emanuel Off Chicago Mayoral Ballot

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A state appeals court on Monday threw the Chicago mayor's race into turmoil by ruling that front-runner and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel did not qualify for the February ballot.

Emanuel immediately responded that he would appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court and urged quick consideration. The ruling on Monday overturned decisions by a lower court and a Chicago elections board that allowed him on the February 22 ballot.

"I have no doubt that, in the end, we will prevail," Emanuel said at a news conference held at a downtown restaurant. "As my father always used to say, 'nothing is ever easy in this life.'"

"I do believe the people of Chicago deserve the right to choose who they want as the next mayor," Emanuel said.

GO HERE to read more.

GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY ANNOUNCES LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOCUSED ON JOB CREATION AND THE NEW ECONOMY

Agenda includes legislation creating a $100 million economic investment initiative to create jobs;

Governor recommits to renewable energy generation with new legislation;

Maryland to continue on path of leadership in federal health reform

ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 25, 2010) – Governor Martin O’Malley outlined his legislative agenda today focusing on job creation and the new economy, just days after submitting an FY12 budget proposal focused on those same priorities.  Governor O’Malley’s 2011 legislative agenda includes the creation of InvestMaryland, a $100 million initiative to grow the state’s knowledge-based industries and stimulate up to $100 million in venture capital investments, creating thousands of jobs. 

“We are in a fight for our economic future.  It is a fight in which every state has an important duty to fulfill in creating jobs through innovation in a hotly competitive global economy,” said Governor O’Malley.  “While cutting and balancing are important, they are not enough by themselves to create jobs in the new economy.  Effective decision making must also make and protect strategic investments for a stronger future.  Our legislative agenda focuses valuable resources on job creating initiatives, and harnesses Maryland’s competitive strengths to make this new economy ours.”

Governor O’Malley’s legislative agenda includes specific legislation to maintain Maryland’s leadership position on the implementation of federal health care reform.  Legislation that Lt. Governor Brown will help shepherd through the General Assembly creates a governance structure of a health insurance exchange, a recommendation of the Health Reform Coordinating Council, of which Lt. Governor Brown served as co-chair.

“While some states are fighting federal health reform, we see the federal legislation as a unique opportunity to expand access, improve the quality of care and make health care more affordable for more Marylanders. We have enthusiastically accepted this challenge and are developing a national model to implement health reform. Our efforts to create a health benefit exchange and promote wellness and preventative care will make Maryland a healthier state,” said Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown. “Federal health reform will only be as successful as a state’s ability to implement it. Because of reforms already in place which has expanded coverage to more than 250,000 of our neighbors, federal health care reform will save Maryland $830 million over the next 10 years and cut the number of uninsured Marylanders in half.”

To promote and expand Maryland’s “green jobs” sector, Governor O’Malley introduced today legislation that promotes the purchase and use of electric vehicles in Maryland.  In addition, legislation will be introduced soon that will include solar hot water heaters under eligibility requirements for solar renewable energy credits.  The Governor also announced that he will soon introduce legislation that requires utility companies to award long-term contracts to procure between 400 to 600 megawatts of offshore wind energy, fueling Maryland’s “green jobs” sector and ushering in a new era of renewable energy innovation.

Governor O’Malley’s 2011 legislative agenda also includes public safety initiatives designed to continue Maryland’s progress of creating safer neighborhoods, including provisions that will reduce good time and dimunition credits for certain gun offenders.  Other legislation will add long guns to the definition of firearms, and create a separate criminal offense of child neglect.

Bill summaries are attached and available here.

Quantitative Easing Causing Food Prices To Skyrocket

As previously noted, interest rates have risen both times after the Fed implemented quantitative easing.
Graham Summers points out that food prices have also skyrocketed both times:

In case you’ve missed it, food riots are spreading throughout the developing world Already Tunisia, Algeria, Oman, and even Laos are experiencing riots and protests due to soaring food prices.
As Abdolreza Abbassian, chief economist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), put it, “We are entering a danger territory.”
Indeed, these situations left people literally starving… AND dead from the riots.

And why is this happening?
A perfect storm of increased demand, bad harvests from key exporters (Argentina, Russia, Australia and Canada, but most of all, the Fed’s money pumping. If you don’t believe me, have a look at the below chart:
http://www.infowars.com/quantitative-easing-causing-food-prices-to-skyrocket/

Salisbury Police Department Press Releases

On January 21, 2011 at approximately 5:30 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police were on routine patrol in the area of East Isabella Street and East Church Street and observed a vehicle operated by the below listed suspect speeding. The officers attempted to stop the vehicle which fled from the officers resulting in a short vehicle chase. The suspect vehicle stopped on Tilghman Street and the suspect exited the vehicle and fled from the area on foot. Following a substantial foot chase the suspect was apprehended on property posted against trespassing. The suspect was found to be driving without a license and a check of the vehicle revealed that the vehicle had been reported stolen to the Delaware State Police.

ARRESTED: Adrian Marquis Bowen, 18 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES:
Theft of a motor vehicle
Theft (over $ 10,000)
Trespassing (2 counts)
Fleeing and Eluding
Nine (9) Motor Vehicle Citations

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100002596

On January 22, 2011 at approximately 12:36 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police Safe Streets Unit were on routine patrol in the area of Baker Street and observed the below listed suspect involved in a possible CDS transaction. The officers stopped the suspect and observed the suspect discard a small bag. The bag was recovered by the officers and found to contain a quantity of suspected “crack”/cocaine.

ARRESTED: Ernest Henry Chisum, 56 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES:
Possession of cocaine
Possession of CDS/Paraphernalia

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100002646

On January 22, 2011 at approximately 10:35 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the three hundred (300) block of Delaware Avenue for a report of a suspect threatening victims with a knife. While responding, the officers were given a description of the suspect. The officers located the suspect on Delaware Avenue and the suspect was positively identified by the victims. A check of the suspect for weapons revealed a large knife in the suspect’s rear pocket. There were no injuries.

ARRESTED: George Wesley Wilson, 42 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES: Possession of a concealed deadly weapon

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100002684

On January 23, 2011 at approximately 12:48 am, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Monkey Barrel on South Salisbury Boulevard for the report of a fight. Upon arrival the officers observed that employees of the business were restraining the below listed suspect in the parking lot area of the establishment. The officers met with the employees and found that the suspect had assaulted the employees when told that he had to leave the establishment. While struggling with the employees, the suspect bit one (1) of the employees on the hand causing a deep cut. The suspect continued to act in a disorderly manner as the officers met with the employees.

ARRESTED: Michael Thomas Hryckewycz, 21 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES:
First degree assault
Second degree assault (2 counts)
Reckless endangerment
Disorderly conduct

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100002768

On January 23, 2011 at approximately 5:25 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police Department received a call to respond to a residence on the eight hundred (800) block of East Church Street for the report of a burglary in progress. As the officers arrived, they observed the below listed suspects attempting to exit the porch of the residence. The suspects fled from the area on foot but were apprehended by the officers after a foot chase. The suspects were positively identified by witnesses as the suspects attempting to break into the residence.

ARRESTED #1: Juvenile, 17 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES:
Trespassing
Malicious destruction of property

ARRESTED #2: Juvenile, 15 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES:
Trespassing
Malicious destruction of property
Failure to obey a lawful order
Obstructing and hindering an investigation

DISPOSITION: Both released to parents/guardian CC # 201100002836

The Simpsons' Final Episode

Happy Monday

Finally, It’s The Fed That Has Become Too Big To Fail

We’re still not sure whether CNBC was making a joke or simply advertising its ignorance with a recent headline, “Accounting Tweak Could Save Fed from Losses,”   This was a tweak about as subtle and ingenuous as Bernie Madoff’s balance sheet.  What the central bank did was revise and advantage its own rules so that if some financial catastrophe were to inflict huge losses on the Federal Reserve System, the U.S. Treasury would take the hit, not the Fed itself.  Oh, and taxpayers needn’t be concerned about the presumptuousness of this coy arrangement, since the changes provide for the Fed to pay back the losses with future profits.  Do we really need to point out to CNBC et al. that any such profits would have to come almost entirely from…interest income on Treasury bills, bonds and notes held by the Fed?

GO HERE to read more.

Seven Men, Nine Days, One New Monetary Cartel, Pt. 2

Thus, on a wintery day in November 1910, seven men retreated to JP Morgan’s private Jekyll Island resort to plan a system of banking that would address all of these problems, while simultaneously expanding their power and influence over the US banking system.

G. Edward Griffin, in The Creature From Jekyll Island, puts their primary goals as the following:

1)    To stop the growing influence of smaller banks and increase the Anglo-American banking giants’ grip on the US financial system

2)    To shift US banking to a more “loan heavy” structure thereby expanding the monetary base more dramatically (making money more “elastic”)

3)    To pool all national banks reserves and set nation-wide standards for loans to reserves ratios, thereby minimizing the risks of bank runs and failure

4)    To establish a means of shifting the losses from bank failures away from the banks and onto the public

And finally…

5)    To develop a PR campaign that would result in the US populace accepting the implementation of a full-scale private banking cartel

GO HERE to read more.

In Case Of Tech Bubble, Do Not Break Glass

Even if bloated valuations of Facebook and Groupon point to another bubble bound to burst, the Fed shouldn't head it off but prepare for the fallout

In Silicon Valley, it's beginning to feel like déjà vu all over again. Much as in the early-to-mid-90s, a euphoria is surrounding new consumer technologies. Then, it was early Internet software, such as Netscape, and such dot-com darlings as eBay (EBAY) and Yahoo! (YHOO). Now the excitement involves mobile devices such as Apple's iPhone and iPad and social network services such as Facebook.

Tech valuations are once again soaring: Apple (AAPL) recently became the second most valuable company in the world, behind ExxonMobil (XOM), with a market cap of $305 billion. Even more striking is the $50 billion valuation that private investors have placed on Facebook. Groupon, a cyber-coupon company, turned down a $6 billion takeover offer from Google (GOOG) last month, and it's now considering an IPO that could reach $15 billion. "We may be on the cusp of another technology-driven boom," says Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the MIT Center for Digital Business.

Or another tech bubble. The last one ended badly—for stockholders, when the tech-heavy Nasdaq index fell from more than 5000 in March 2000 to 1100 in late 2002, and for everyone else in the recession that followed. Now, as investors grow giddy again, odds are the Federal Reserve Board will confront far sooner than expected one of the most difficult and divisive issues in central banking: Should it attempt to deflate an asset price bubble before it grows large enough to threaten the financial system and economy when it pops?

GO HERE to read more.

The End Of Credit Cards Is Coming

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Credit cards may soon be as outdated as vinyl records. (Remember those?) And this is the year that the slow, steady march to oblivion begins.

You can already use your iPhone, Droid or BlackBerry to buy a hotdog at the ballgame, buy your Starbucks latté, or give a friend a few bucks by Bumping phones. But by the end of the year you may not even think twice about reaching for your phone to pay at the register instead of fumbling for your credit card.

GO HERE to read more.

Marxism In America

The Need For The Next Generation

The federal government faces a growing number of employees eligible to retire - almost half by 2015. What are agencies doing to bring on the next generation of federal employees? And, can government jobs be cool enough to attract and retain young feds?  

Read Full Story

Report: 10 Dead In Moscow Airport Explosion

UPDATE: Death toll rises to at least 23 in blast at Moscow's busiest airport, agency reports

Many more said to have been injured in explosion; news agency says blast caused by suicide bomber

MOSCOW — At least 10 people were killed and 20 injured in a suicide bomb blast at Moscow's Domodedovo airport Monday, Interfax news agency reported.

Moscow police were checking the subway and other places where large numbers of people gather to try to avert possible follow-on attacks, Interfax said, citing an unnamed source.

GO HERE to read more.

Brother, Sister Die In Crash On Way To Stepmother's Funeral

Chester Mills was supposed to bury his wife in Indiana earlier this week.

But while two of his children were driving from Georgia to attend their stepmother's funeral, their car spun out on a snowy highway and was broadsided by an oncoming tractor-trailer. The crash killed them and a friend who was driving the car.
GO HERE to read more.

Could A Little Pink Pill Guarantee Her Orgasm?

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a screening of a documentary called Orgasm, Inc. The film, by Liz Canner, chronicles the race for pharmaceutical companies to get FDA approval on “pink Viagra” -- that is, a pill for female sexual dysfunction.

What is female sexual dysfunction (FSD), you may ask? Good question -- and one that no one is quite sure how to answer. Some people liken female sexual dysfunction with male sexual dysfunction, but there are major flaws with this comparison. With men’s sexuality, we can easily tell when there’s premature ejaculation, and we can easily tell when there’s erectile dysfunction: It’s all very show-and-tell. Female sexuality is quite different. We don’t really get obvious physical signals when a woman is aroused or moving through the stages of “normal” sexual response.

GO HERE to read more.

Tri-County Council Bldg - Former Comtech Bldg.

Here we go again - another private sector building taken over by local government and improvements being financed with State funds.  You'll notice that the language of the bill includes language that will allow public funding for A&E services.  This is only the beginning of a bottomless pit that is laced with hard earned taxpayers dollars.  It is also yet another example of  another private sector building and lands being confiscated by government expansion.  It is no wonder our State is in the financial condition that it finds itself in. 

I hope SBYnews blows the lid off of these type of closed door governmental scams.  Taxpayers of Wicomico, Somerset, & Worcester County - take heed!

HOUSE BILL 85

Bill is in the House - First Reading Appropriations

File Code: State Debt (Bond Bills)

Sponsored By:

Delegates Conway and Cane

Entitled:

Creation of a State Debt - Wicomico County - Tri-County Multi-Purpose Center

Sponsored By:

Delegates Conway and Cane

Entitled:

Creation of a State Debt - Wicomico County - Tri-County Multi-Purpose Center

---

Synopsis:

---

History by Legislative and Calendar Date
Any actions occurring today are available in the proceedings and hearing schedule

House Action

1/21

First Reading Appropriations

Senate Action

No Action

Legislative date is used to record history occurring in the Chambers otherwise Calendar date is used.

---

Sponsored by:

Bill indexed under the following Subjects:

Delegate Norman H. Conway, District 38B

Delegate Rudolph C. Cane, District 37A

---

Community Development

State Bonds

Tri-County Council

Wicomico County

As a general rule - the A&E fees usually run anywhere from 3% - 5% of the overall construction cost of the improvement.  If the state legislative grant amount is $300,000 - then extrapolating that figure would give a general construction cost estimate for the renovation of the former Comtec facility at about 10,000,000 taxpayers dollars.

I wonder how this will bode with Wicomico, Worcester, & Somerset County residents during this time of so called budget crisis. 

Presidential Candidate Tom Miller Finally Getting Recognized

My Friend Tom Miller is being placed right next to Obama and Palin on a nationally recognized Website announcing Presidential Candidates and potential candidates for 2012 http://2012.presidential-candidates.org/.

Salisbury News has been a supporter of Mr. Miller for years now and we look forward to working with Tom throughout his campaign. Its a grass roots campaign geared to take back America. You can see his Website and link on the left hand side of Salisbury News.

So What's UP?

You think English is easy??? Read to the end… a new twist! 
 1) The bandage was wound around the wound.  

 2) The farm was used to produce produce.

 3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

 4) We must polish the Polish furniture. 
 5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

 6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

 7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. 

 8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

 9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object. 

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid. 

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language! 
There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neitherapple nor pine in pineapple. 
English muffins weren't invented in England or French Fries in France. 
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. 
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? 
 
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people  recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? 
 
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why when the stars are out they are visible but when the lights are out they are invisible.

P.S. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick'?
You lovers of the English language might enjoy this…

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP'.
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.  In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost ¼^th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time  but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. 
 
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.  When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP! When is rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When is doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so… it is time to shut UP! 

Oh… one more thing: 

What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?  U-P!

Fitness Guru Jack LaLanne Dies At 96 In California

(Reuters) - Jack LaLanne, a one-time sugar-holic who became a television fitness guru preaching exercise and healthy diet to a generation of American housewives, died on Sunday at age 96, his daughter said.

LaLanne, who became U.S. television fixture in his close-fitting jumpsuit starting in 1959 and came to be regarded as the father of the modern fitness movement, succumbed to pneumonia following a brief illness at his home in Morro Bay, along the California's central coast.

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Check This Out!

Obama recently bragged that he is going to work to cut 100 million dollars of spending out of the Federal  Budget. 

Trust me,  you have to watch this demonstration by a college student - I promise you'll end up  smarter in just a minute and thirty-eight seconds.
             
< http://wimp.com/budgetcuts/ >

Pani Pizza Now Delivers

Veteran's Golf

Darwin Awards

This Year's Darwin Nominees Are:

   

Well, folks, it's that time of the year again.  (Make the sound of a drum roll on your computer desk.)  Once a year the best of the best are weeded out of the ordinary to receive the coveted Darwin Award.  Here are this year’s contestants and the winner:
  
Nominee No. 1 (San Jose Mercury News):  An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriend's windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.
    
Nominee No. 2 (Kalamazoo Gazette):  James Burns, 34, a mechanic, of Alamo, MI, was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck."  Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise.  Burns' clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft."
    
Nominee No. 3 (Hickory Daily Record):  Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC.  Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson .38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.
    
Nominee No. 4 (UPI, Toronto):  Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death.  A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the building’s windows to visiting law students.  Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength, according to police reports.  Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the best and brightest" members of the 200-man association.
    
Nominee No. 5 (The News of the Weird):  Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously.  He had spent several years awaiting South Carolina's electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison.  While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.
    
Nominee No. 6 (The Indianapolis Star):  A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk, IN.  A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzle loader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriff's investigators said.  Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM.  Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a .54 caliber muzzle loader that had not been firing properly.  He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder ignited.
  
Nominee No. 7 (Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario):  A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death.  "Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheelchair when the accident occurred," said Inspector Darcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police.  "It appears that the chair moved and he went over the balcony," Honer said.
  
And finally, THE WINNER! (Arkansas Democrat Gazette):  Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday.  Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday.  Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog-catching trip.  On an overcast Sunday night, Poole's pickup truck headlights malfunctioned.  The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older model truck had burned out.  As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering wheel column.  Upon inserting the bullet, the headlights again began to operate properly and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge.  After traveling approximately 20 miles and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged and struck Poole in the testicles.  The vehicle swerved sharply right, exited the pavement and struck a tree.  Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended.  Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released.  "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his b---s off or we might be dead," stated Wallis.

"I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me.  I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened," said Snyder.
  
Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole's wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck?  Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure, as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did in fact effectively remove himself from the gene pool.

Prostate Check-up

An old guy goes to his doctor for his physical and gets sent to the Urologist as a precaution. When he gets there, he discovers the Urologist is a very pretty female doctor.

The female doctor says, "I'm going to check your prostate today, but this new procedure is a little different from what you are probably used to. I want you to lie on your right side, bend your knees, then while I check your prostate, take a deep breath and say, '99'.

The old guy obeys and says,"99".

The pretty doctor says, "Great. Now turn over on your left side and again, while I repeat the check, take a deep breath and say, '99'."

Again, the old guy says, '99'."

The doctor said, Very good. Now then, I want you to lie on your back with your knees raised slightly. I'm going to check your prostate with this hand, and with the other hand I'm going to hold on to your penis to keep it out of the way. Now take a deep breath and say, '99'.

The old guy begins, "One ... Two ... Three" ...
You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing!!!

Fannie, Freddie Leave $160 Million In Legal Bills To Taxpayers

'We need to be doing everything we can to minimize any further exposure to the taxpayers associated with these companies'

Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud.

The cost was a closely guarded secret until last week, when the companies and their regulator produced an accounting at the request of Congress.

The bulk of those expenditures — $132 million — went to defend Fannie Mae and its officials in various securities suits and government investigations into accounting irregularities that occurred years before the subprime lending crisis erupted. The legal payments show no sign of abating.

Documents reviewed by The New York Times indicate that taxpayers have paid $24.2 million to law firms defending three of Fannie’s former top executives: Franklin D. Raines, its former chief executive; Timothy Howard, its former chief financial officer; and Leanne Spencer, the former controller.

Late last year, Randy Neugebauer, Republican of Texas and now chairman of the oversight subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, requested the figures from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It is the regulator charged with overseeing the mortgage finance companies and acts as their conservator, trying to preserve the company’s assets on behalf of taxpayers.

GO HERE to read more.

Group Promotes Immigration Reform To Save Bay

In a new report, the Federation for American Immigration Reform is blaming the overpopulation of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and the resulting environmental destruction, on the influx of immigrants coming into the area. But bay advocates scoffed at the notion that growth and immigration are to blame for the area’s environmental problems.

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Car Dealers Roll Out Cheap Financing

It sounds like a bad commercial for a local car dealership: "These rates are so low, we're barely making money!" But more than three years after the recession threw car sales into a tailspin, many dealers have started offering loans at interest rates so low they don't make much of a profit -- and that's turning conventional car-buying wisdom on its head.

Not long ago, car dealerships were the last place you'd want to get a car loan. You could get a better deal at a bank. But today, with bank lending still tight, dealers' lending arms are stepping in with more of their own loans at much more attractive rates. The current average interest rate on a car loan is 5.9%, but the rates offered through dealers are much lower, at 4.2% on average, according to interest-rate trackers HSH Associates and Edmunds.com. Some dealers are offering loans at or near 0%. And unlike past low-interest financing offers, these rates are increasingly available on longer loans for a wider variety of cars, including luxury vehicles and across popular brands like Toyota ( TM: 82.01, -1.35, -1.61% ) and Honda.

For consumers, this means a dealership is suddenly a viable place to get a loan. "Nothing beats 0%," says Paul Taylor, chief economist at the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Indeed, the savings for consumers could be considerable. On the 2011 Toyota Camry sedan, with a base model price of about $20,000, consumers can get 0% financing for up to 60 months at some dealers. Put $2,000 down on a five-year loan (the average length of most auto loans) at 5.9% and you'll shell out $840 more in interest over the duration of the loan than a dealer-financed borrower who locks in 4.2% and around $2,820 more than a buyer who scores a 0% interest rate. (Find your monthly payments with our car loan calculator.)

GO HERE to read more.