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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Gannett Stock Price Plummets Again - Sets Another Record Low



The Gannett Corporation - (GCI trading symbol) - The Daily Times parent company - stock price set another record low again today. The stock price ended at $9.48/Share just .03 cents above its previous record low of $9.45 per share. Print medias across the nation have been decimated by newly emerging electronic news media.

Missing Maryland Woman Met Aruba Travel Partner Via Online Dating

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (WJZ)— A Frederick County woman who left her boyfriend at home to go on a trip with another Maryland man is missing in Aruba. That man is now suspected in her disappearance.

 Andrea Fujii has an update on the investigation.

 Aruban authorities say they asked the Montgomery County man about the woman’s possible drowning. After questioning his answers, they detained him.

The man she met on an online dating site is being held in Aruba Wednesday morning as a suspect in her disappearance.

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Why Allergy, Asthma Sufferers Should Beware Of The Gym

There are triggers at workout facilities that aggravate those with breathing issues, and we're not talking about sights of hardbodies rocking spandex. Those with allergies and asthmatics whose problems act up while working out may be able to point to the gym itself as the culprit.

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Extreme Couponer Arrested For Stealing 185 Newspapers

A woman who "just loves to save money" is in legal trouble after surveillance cameras caught her stealing bags of unsold newspapers from newspaper boxes. Her goal was to snatch up as many coupon inserts as possible.

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The Best Sandwich In The Universe – At Least For The Month Of August

Scorpacciata is a term that means consuming large amounts of a particular local ingredient while it's in season. It's a good way to eat. Let Mario Batali pronounce it for you.

A tomato and mayonnaise sandwich on store-bought white bread is the finest sandwich known to mankind.

This is not up for debate, and the ingredients are not negotiable. Salt and pepper are permissible, but if you try to get schmancier than that, you'll screw it all up, and your sandwich should be taken away from you until you learn to properly appreciate the simple perfection of this combination.

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Bernanke Has Thrown In Towel On Economy

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Is the Federal Reserve waving the white surrender flag? It sure looks that way.

The Fed made the unusual (and unprecedented) move on Tuesday to tell the market in plain English that it intends to keep rates near zero for the next two years!

Pessimism Hits Record: 73% Of Americans, All Time High, Think US Is Headed In Wrong Direction

Perhaps someone should staple the following latest poll from Reuters/Ipsos [2]to the office door of the Fed chairman in the Marriner Eccles building, according to which a record number of people or 73% of all Americans, believe the economy is headed in the wrong direction. This is the highest number measured since the poll started its survey in February of 2009. Only 21% believe the US is on the right track: we assume these are the few people who actually made money in the stock market in the past few months, in other words those long various precious metals [/sarcasm]. Additionally, 47% of respondents believe the worst is yet to come for the economy, the highest since the March 2009 low when the number was 57%. Furthermore, Obama's approval rating dropped from 49% to 45% over the past month. Perhaps it is time to kill Osama for the 3rd (or is that 4th?) time. Bottom line: pessimism is now at or near fresh all time highs. And this is the environment in which the true viceroy of the Americas, Goldman Sachs, has now decreed will proceed with QE3? If the American revolution was deferred back in November when QE2 was enacted, we fail to see how it will be avoided this time around when people realize that gasoline is headed for $9/gallon. Or roughly what Europeans pay today.

Visually:

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Jim Rogers Says US Needs To Face Reality, Not QE3

INTERNATIONAL. Legendary global investor and chairman of Singapore-based Rogers Holdings, Jim Rogers, spoke Monday about the Standard & Poor's credit rating downgrade of US sovereign debt, saying the 'no news' event has nothing to do with the markets plunging and will not affect his investment strategy.

He also discussed the Federal Reserve monetary policy, arguing that further money printing, better known as QE3, will bring more inflation, social unrest and will lead to lost decades for the United States. He urged investors to be prepared as 'more problems are coming'.

The only thing that will work, he said, is to face reality by letting people that are bankrupt go bankrupt.

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Wounded Warriors & President Bush

Faith In Wall Street And The Fed Has Eroded

The Debt-Junkie Market has been pulled from the pool, gasping for breath, but nobody thinks he's healthy: faith in the Fed and wall Street has been irrevocably lost.

Oversold rallies notwithstanding, the Debt-Junkie Market just stumbled into the pool and was barely saved from drowning. The stock market party isn't over for strictly technical reasons, though the technical damage is severe.

The party's over for a much deeper reason: faith that the Fed can fix the economy has faded, and participants no longer believe Wall Street's self-serving hype about the recovery and rising markets. Oh sure, people go through the motions of expressing faith in the market, in corporate profits rising forever, in official pronouncements of the Fed's omnipotence, and in whatever snapback rally is in play at the moment, but it's all for show; nobody really believes any of it, they just don't want to be the odd man out by confessing their loss of faith in the false idols. America Is Just Going Through the Motions [3](November 19, 2010).

The financial Status Quo has an unsolvable problem: reality isn't swayed by propaganda. Does anyone really believe another couple years of low interest rates and a snapback rally or two will fix what's broken in the U.S. and global economies?

Hasn't it been made abundantly clear that super-low interest rates only fuel speculation and malinvestment?

This loss of faith is not a temporary phenomenon but rather a sea change in the zeitgeist, somewhat akin to the loss of trust in a partner caught cheating: you can never go back to what existed before, even though you go through the motions of a return to normalcy.

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THE DAY THE DOLLAR DIED

PRICES ARE UP 449% SINCE NIXON CLOSED THE GOLD WINDOW IN 1971

This is a long but fascinating article by Roger Lowenstein, who wrote the epic When Genius Failed about how Long Term Capital almost brought the worldwide financial system down. Have you ever seen Ben Bernanke and other Federal Reserve talking heads blathering about the Fed’s independence? Well read this article and see how independent the Fed has been over the years. See how mindless, arrogant politicians have destroyed our country for their personal political gain. The biggest surprise in the article is provided by Paul Volcker. I lost the respect I had for this guy. HE CLOSED THE GOLD WINDOW in 1971. Read it and weep.

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For The First Time Ever, Most Americans Don't Believe Their Congressional Rep Deserves Reelection

Following years of destroying this country and acting as a spineless proxy only for Wall Street, Congress is facing a historic event: for the first time a majority of Americans are demanding a clean out of the House. The full poll indicating that yet another bloodbath is coming during the next election season can be found here [2], but here is CNN's commentary. "Only 41 percent of people questioned say the lawmaker in their district in the U.S. House of Representatives deserves to be re-elected - the first time ever in CNN polling that that figure has dropped below 50 percent. Forty-nine percent say their representative doesn't deserve to be re-elected in 2012. And with ten percent unsure, it's the first time that a majority has indicated that they would boot their representative out of office if they had the chance today." Time for a radical overhaul of the utterly criminal and corrupt American political system, preferably replacing it with one that will return democracy back to the system?

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UBS' Andy Lees On Why The US Economy Is, All Else Equal, Doomed

"With all the mess going on at the moment, I thought it was worth while stepping back a little and trying to look at the bigger picture." So begins Andy Lees' latest must read letter to clients whch explains succinctly virtually the entire story of where we were, how we got to where are now, how the current trajectory is unsustainable, why due to decades of capital misallocation anything that the Fed does now is essentially irrelevant, why our untenable debt pile does nothing but perpetuate an unsustainable ponzi scheme which will result in an unseen explosion in the true cost of capital: gold, and why the bond market will eventually, and inevitably, force an epic repricing in the cost of non-gold capital absent the arrival of the deux ex machina of real, actionable innovation that the Fed, and all global central planners, keep hoping for. Because the longer we keep plugging away with that worthless substitute, financial innovation, which is anything but, the greater the final collapse. Andy's conclusion: "Until the debt is cleared and capital starts to be properly allocated, economic growth per unit of additional debt will continue to sour. Until we get some real breakthrough technology, requiring large amounts of capital to both innovate and then roll out, we have no chance of supporting the economy." Too bad than that this absolutely spot on observation reflects precisely the opposite of what the Fed is pursuing. Which is why, all else equal, and it will be unless the Fed is finally eliminated from existence, America, and the entire western way of life, is doomed... But don't take our word for it. Here is Andy.

Why are we here: simple - years of central planning resulting in the greatest experiment in capital misallocation in history.

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Strike Kills Those Who Downed Chopper

Taliban forces killed in early Monday strike

WASHINGTON (AP) -- International forces killed the Taliban insurgents responsible for shooting down a U.S. helicopter and killing 38 U.S. and Afghan forces over the weekend, but they are still seeking the top insurgent leader they were going after in Saturday's mission, the top American commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday.

Marine Corps Gen. John Allen told a Pentagon news conference that an F-16 airstrike Monday took out fewer than 10 insurgents involved in the attack on the Chinook helicopter.

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Giant Bather Soaks In Hamburg

Mayor Ireton Believes Republican Congressman Andy Harris Wants The Mayors Parents On Vouchers

While a small group of uneducated finger pointing wet pants liberals picketed Congressman Andy Harris' Salisbury Office today, Mayor Ireton tried to grandstand the event by claiming he was there not as a public official but as someone who has been standing in Verizon Picket Lines supporting Unions. He stated that the President of Verizon makes more than $55,000.00 a DAY and that's not fair.

I say, B.S.! This is AMERICA and in Ireton's eyes, only democrats should be the breadwinners because they'll volunterily share their profits and give it back to the government. NOT!

Ireton went on to say that he too is a UNION worker and if people like Andy Harris keep voting the way he does, he doesn't want to see his parents in Ocean City on vouchers.

Wah, Wah, Wah! It's all Bush's fault, then it was all Reagan's fault. That was what the majority of protesters were saying. That is, until Palmer Gillis stepped up to the plate to challenge them right back. Gillis talked about regulations that put unskilled workers in the position of making the same amount of money as skilled workers on public school projects. This makes such projects at the Bennett Middle School costing taxpayers millions more than it should.

After listening to the finger pointing and blaming the republicans for everything wrong in this country right now, I finally stepped in showing support of Palmer Gillis. The crowd wanted more jobs, not tax cuts. I said, then get Americans off of Obama's 99 week welfare program, I mean UNEMPLOYMENT, sorry.

One woman said, where's the jobs. I replied, well, whenever I was out of a job in my youth my Mother, (God rest her soul) would wake me up at 6 AM and get me out the front door by 7 AM. She'd lock the door and say, you can come back in when you come home with a JOB!

America is FAILING because of these liberals crying the welfare blues. Americans have no pride any more. Their reply was, well, you had a very good Mother. I responded, what kind of Mother are YOU! I then went on to explain at the time my Mother was locking me out of the house, I WAS 16 YEARS OLD!

That's right, go to school full time and go directly to WORK! Mom was raising 5 kids on her own and there was NO SLACKING!

Each child was expected to go out and deliver a paycheck to support the WHOLE Family. Yeah, that was the America I grew up in. No welfare for the Albero Household. NO UNEMPLOYMENT! In fact, FOR THE RECORD, NO Albero has EVER been on Unemployment OR Welfare.

Yeah, it's all Bush's, Reagan's, Obama's fault, NOT! We, (as Americans) have to ALL come together for the betterment of our COUNTRY! It takes Families like the Albero's, (an many others like us) to stand firm and NOT give up. Jobs are out there, you just have to be hungry enough to WANT one. The problem today is, WHY! Why should someone who has been GIFTED with 99 weeks of Unemployment go back to work!

I blame ALL Americans for not standing firm and making their elected officials accountable. If anyone believes Andy Harris supports Obama with 99 weeks of unemployment, I'd say your NUTS. If you believe Andy Harris wants Jim Ireton's Parents on vouchers, you are nuts!

Finger pointing and passing off the blame is quite STUPID. Only LOSERS would sit there day in and day out pointing fingers and blaming each other. WINNERS do something about it. WINNERS get jobs because they EARN it. Even though we were flat broke as kids, we were NEVER homeless and we NEVER went hungry.

So my message to you Jim Ireton, grow up and stop pointing fingers. As the leader in a community, YOU SUCK! Oh, and if the voucher thing ever happens, go get a second or third job to support those who supported you!

"Why can one parent raise five children but five children can't raise one parent".

New Posts Will Fall Below This One Throughout The Day.

How Many Times a Week Is Normal?

One of the questions I get asked a lot as a sex therapist is - How many times a week is it normal to be having sex to have a normal sex life? The most important thing that I tell everyone is that it's personal, meaning that it's about YOUR level of desire and how often you want to be having sex coupled with how often your partner wants to be having sex.

If both of you are OK with having sex once a week or twice a week or twice a month, even-- great! As long as neither one of you is feeling deprived or feels you're missing out on having the sexual intimacy, your sex life is up and running and working for the two of you.

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Who's Really Downgrading America?

The decision by Standard & Poor's to strip the United States of its AAA credit rating, for the first time, has triggered a barrage of catcalls against the umpire from the press box and Obamaites.

S&P, we are reminded, was giving A ratings to banks like Lehman Brothers, whose books were stuffed with suspect subprime paper, right up to the day Lehman Brothers fell over dead.

Moreover, S&P made a $2 trillion error in its assessment of U.S. debt and used political criteria in making its downgrade.

All of which may be true. But none of which is relevant.

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Michele Bachmann Repeatedly Sought Stimulus, EPA, Other Government Funds


WASHINGTON -- Few candidates in the Republican presidential primary field have decried the federal government with as much gusto as Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). The three-term congresswoman has belittled the stimulus package, deemed the Obama administration both corrupt and "gangster," and lamented the "orgy" of spending she sees happening in Washington.

Day Of Reckoning

The trigger that apparently caused the market meltdown was the ever-so-slight suggestion from Standard & Poor's that the US government's fiscal health might not be all that it is cracked up to be.

This was not a case of the little boy noting the emperor has no clothes. It is more like the little boy suggested that the emperor's clothes, while beautiful, might have been more carefully tailored to suit the imperial dignity. Hysteria followed, and the entire Obama cult called for the kid to be stoned.

Finally the emperor himself spoke in defense of his rainment. That's when the market crashed.

But the downgrading of a government's debt from AAA to AA+ can only have triggered a market avalanche if the truth is in fact much worse, and most everyone knows it.

S&P doesn't have clean hands, of course. It holds a government monopoly, wants higher taxes, and rated crazed housing bonds AAA. But imagine, for just a moment, that US government debt were rated in the same way that municipal bonds or regular corporate debt are. Imagine that government bonds, like normal bonds, carried a default premium. Imagine, in other words, that the Federal Reserve were not in a position to pay everyone from welfare recipients to banksters with newly created money.

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Sibling Fugitives Captured In Colorado

Three siblings wanted for an alleged armed bank robbery in Georgia and the attempted murder of a Florida police officer have been apprehended after a high-speed chase on a Colorado interstate Wednesday, authorities said.

Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor said the three were chased down by police on Interstate 25. The three were captured near Walsenberg, south of Pueblo, when their vehicle crashed. There were shots fired, Taylor said, but it isn't clear by whom. There was a report of a non-life-threatening injury but not to a law enforcement officer, Taylor said.

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Tough Decisions Ahead To Get AAA Rating Back

Credit rating agency opinions always provide the steps a company or government needs to take in order to improve its grade. ... S&P has already rebuked the political system that prevented the Administration from increasing taxes to begin to balance the budget. This rating agency made it clear that budget cuts alone are not sufficient but that taxes must be increased in order for the U.S. to regain its former credit rating. ... It may take a financial catastrophe – a day when America actually cannot raise money in the global capital markets – for voters to acquiesce to real austerity and higher taxes. – 24/7 Wall Street

BREAKING NEWS: Stocks Plummet Late, Dow Loses More Than 500 Points

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is flirting with its lowest level of the day Wednesday as the jarring volatility seen in recent sessions continues. With a few minutes to go before the closing bell, the Dow is off 458 points, at 10789, erasing all of Tuesday’s gains, and more.

A host of concerns sent stocks plunging Wednesday, erasing the hefty gains of Tuesday and introducing even more uncertainty and volatility into the equities market. Those concerns include the health of European banks, uneasiness about the Fed’s intent to keep rates unchanged for two more years, and the ongoing technical deterioration of the major market indices. The Dow lost 520 points (it’s ninth-worst point loss on record), the Nasdaq fell by 101 and the S&P 500 shed 52.

From Fox News

BREAKING NEWS: Dow Closes Down By More Than 500

Dow erases all of its Tuesday gains, closing down by more than 500 points on another roller-coaster day on Wall Street.
From Fox News

Caylee Anthony's Grandparents Mark Her Birthday


(CBS/AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. - The grandparents of Caylee Anthony, the toddler whose death led to the year's most high-profile murder trial, gathered with more than 100 members of the public to commemorate what would have been the child's sixth birthday.

CBS News affiliate WKMG-TV in Orlando reports that the crowd met Tuesday in George and Cindy Anthony's Orlando-area neighborhood, near a wooded area where the little girl's remains were found in December 2008.

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End In Sight For Housing Slump?

Home prices will slip further over the rest of the year, before beginning to rebound in 2012, according to a forecast by a leading housing market analyst. ... The fate of the housing market is crucial for the economy as a whole. The Great Recession was triggered by a massive loss of housing wealth following the bursting mortgage bubble, which led consumers to cut back on spending. That spending still hasn't picked up, which has prevented a robust recovery from taking hold. – Yahoo News

Governor Rick Perry: Big On Prayer, Not So Big On Charity


WASHINGTON -- Texas Governor Rick Perry sounded a humble note during his speech at hisnational prayer event last Saturday. In front of some 30,000 people, he pivoted away from the Tea Party rhetoric that had so typified -- and electrified -- his audiences during the past year. Instead, Perry opted for a vague plea for charity.

After introductory remarks, Perry gushed: "Like all of you, I love this country deeply. ... Indeed the only thing that you love more is the living Christ. But our hearts do break for those who suffer, those afflicted by the loss of loved ones, the pain of addiction, the strife that they may find at home, those who have lost jobs, who have lost their homes, people who have lost hope."


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Goldman Sachs: "QE3 Is Now Our Base Case"

While there is speculation whether today's historic announcement by the Fed in which it dated the beginning of the end of ZIRP, and in reality just the beginning of the beginning, is some form of shadow QE3, what is certain is that there is no Large Scale Asset Purchasing component to it yet. As such while the market immediately discounted the impact of 2 years of duration risk elimination (roughly 70 ES point equivalent), this has now been priced in, and the market must now look to mechanisms by which the it will have to absorb ~ $2.0 trillion in debt issuance over the next year without Fed help (and to those sticking to some modified version of MMT, keep in mind there is only $1.6 trillion in excess reserves so even a full recycling thereof would be insufficient to match demand of funds). Enter Goldman Sachs which puts the argument to bed: "We now see a greater-than-even chance that the FOMC will resume quantitative easing later this year or in early 2012." Why? Because what was lost in the noise today is that the US economy is contracting and the unemployment rate is rising: i.e., we are reentering a recession. And what the Fed did today is absolutely powerless to change this even from the Fed's point of view. Quote Hatzius: "This would probably mean more QE if their forecast converged to our own modal view of a flat-to-higher unemployment rate through the end of 2012, let alone our downside risk case of a renewed recession." But what about the historic dissent? Ah, therein lies the rub: "We view Chairman Bernanke's willingness to live with the dissents as a strong signal that he and the rest of the Fed leadership view the need for renewed easing as more important than the institutional norm of consensus decisionmaking." So there you go. The market will wake up tomorrow with a hangover, and say the one word it always does: "More." Absent that, the slide will, as predicted, resume, and it is none other than Goldman Sachs who has once again, just like back in 2010, set the strawman up for the Fed doing simply more of the same which does nothing to actually fix the economy, but bring us all closer to that epic meltdown discussed by Andy Lees earlier, and by Zero Hedge over the past two and a half years.

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Breaking News: FIRE

4-5 acre fire off of Paw Paw Creek Road near Snow Hill in Worcester County.
Brush trucks cannot get to the fire...forestry units have been called in with a bull dozer to gain access.

Theresa Erickson And Two Others Plead Guilty In California 'Baby-Selling Ring'

SAN DIEGO -- A California lawyer who specializes in reproductive law is the latest of three women to plead guilty for taking part in what federal prosecutors called a "baby-selling ring" that charged a dozen couples more than $100,000 to adopt babies born from surrogate pregnancies.

Theresa Erickson, 43, of Poway pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge William McCurine.

According to her plea agreement, Erickson along with a Maryland-based lawyer who also specializes in reproductive law and a Las Vegas woman, recruited women to travel to the Ukraine to be implanted with embryos created from the sperm and egg of donors.


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Salisbury Police Department Press Release

On August 9, 2011 at approximately 5:53 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police were on routine patrol in the area of Ward Street and Commerce Street and stopped a vehicle operated by the below listed suspect for traffic violations. During the initial stop, the suspect gave the officers false identification information. A K-9 was requested from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office to check the vehicle and gave a positive indication for contraband. The vehicle was searched and resulted in the discovery of suspected "crack"/cocaine in the driver’s area of the vehicle and in the trunk. The officers were able to positively identify the suspect and learned through a records check that the suspect was driving on a suspended and revoked license.
ARRESTED: Anthony James Jones, Jr., 37 years of age
Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES: Possession of cocaine
False statement to a police officer
Obstructing and hindering an investigation
Driving suspended

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking
CC # 201100031135

Make-Or-Break Time For GOP Presidential Field

(CNN) -- We will know a lot more about the GOP field of candidates for president very soon -- shortly after the Ames, Iowa, straw poll this weekend.

We'll probably see several dropouts and, at least with Rick Perry, a likely addition to the roster.The Ames straw poll is not a very good predictor of who the ultimate nominee will be (George H.W. Bush won the poll in 1979, Ronald Reagan was the 1980 nominee; Pat Robertson won the poll in 1987, George H.W. Bush was the 1988 nominee; Mitt Romney won the poll in 2007, John McCain was the 2008 nominee).

But it does have a tendency to fuel and give life to campaigns, and it has a second tendency to tell other candidates whether this year is worth their continued efforts or not. For example, Lamar Alexander and Dan Quayle both dropped out shortly after their low finishes in 1999 in Ames.

Today's Ride Into Work



Recession 2.0 Would Hurt Worse


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The risk of double dip recession is rising.

And while economists disagree on just how likely the U.S. economy is to fall into another downturn, they generally agree on one thing -- a new recession would be worse than the last and very difficult to pull out of.

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Sussex Grants Extension To Homes

Permits had expired or were about to do so soon

Sussex County Council narrowly voted Tuesday to give an automatic, across-the-board extension to more than 12,000 home permits throughout the county that would have expired soon -- or already have expired -- under the normal permit process.

The council's two coastal representatives fought the controversial plan, but were defeated on a 3-2 vote.

South Korea Says Shots Fired From North Korea, Fires Back

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea fired back at North Korea on Wednesday after it said three shots from the North hit waters close to the maritime border.

There were no casualties reported, the South Korean defense ministry said.Tensions between the neighbors heightened last year after 50 South Koreans were killed in two separate incidents.In November, the South accused North Korea of shelling Yeonpyeong Island, near the border between the two sides.

The incident killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.

BREAKING NEWS: Mayor Ireton Vetoes City Council PAC 14 Funding

Even though the City Council passed an optional funding reduction from 30% to 20% to PAC 14 on its second reading Monday night, Mayor Jim Ireton vetoed their vote.

Unless a majority of the Council votes to override to Mayor's veto, it will stand where it is today and that's that.

Will Hybrid Fire Trucks Be Next?

The Obama administration has proposed rules for heavy vehicles to cut fuel they use and fumes they belch. The new rules would apply to concrete mixers, tractor-trailers, heavy-duty pickups and even fire trucks. The toughest standards would be for heavy-cargo haulers, which would have to cut fuel consumption 23 percent, by 2018. The White House projects savings of 530 million barrels of oil and $50 billion in fuel costs over the lives of the vehicles covered by the new standards.

Your Hostile Workplace May Be Killing You

"My job is killing me." Who among us hasn't issued that complaint at least once? Now a new study suggests that your dramatic grousing may hold some scientific truth.


The 20-year study, by researchers at Tel Aviv University, sought to examine the relationship between the workplace and a person's risk of death. Researchers recruited 820 adults who had undergone a routine physical exam at a health clinic in 1988, and then interviewed them in detail about their workplace conditions — asking how nice their colleagues were, whether their boss was supportive and how much autonomy they had in their position.


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Anne Arundel County's Soaring Health Expenses Spark Concerns

Using Young Girls To Market Adult Fashion Borders On Pedophilia, Former Model Says


In the financially-strapped world of fashion, younger and younger girls are appearing in adult fashion ad campaigns.


A 10-year-old so-called "supermodel" recently graced the glossy pages of French Vogue, all dolled-up, suggestively positioned on a couch with a sultry stare. 13-year-old actress Elle Fanning posed for high-fashion designer Marc Jacobson, looking wise beyond her years as she glared vacantly into the camera clutching a purse. Her sister Dakota, at 17 an industry vet, is featured in an ad for Marc Jacobs’ new perfume “Oh Lola!” with the flower-blooming bottle positioned between her legs.


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Get This Woman Out Of The Army

9 More Spots Still Need To Be Filled On Debt Committee

Washington (CNN) -- It's three down, nine to go in naming the members of a new congressional "super" committee charged with crafting a plan to cut the country's deficit, as a new poll Wednesday showed a majority of Americans support a combination of higher taxes on the wealthy and deep spending cuts to tackle the problem.

The Senate's top Democrat, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, said Tuesday that he would appoint Democratic senators Patty Murray of Washington, Max Baucus of Montana and John Kerry of Massachusetts to the powerful 12-member bipartisan panel created in last week's debt ceiling deal that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

The Honeymoon Is Over

You know the honeymoon is over when the comedians start to attack.

The liberals are asking us to give Obama time.
We agree...and think 25 to life would be appropriate.
Jay Leno

America needs Obama-care like Nancy Pelosi needs a Halloween mask.
Jay Leno

Q: Have you heard about McDonald's new Obama Value Meal?
A: Order anything you like and the guy behind you has to pay for it.
--Conan O'Brien

Q: What does Barack Obama call lunch with a convicted felon?
A: A fund raiser.
... Jay Leno

Q: What's the difference bet Obama's cabinet and a penitentiary?
A: One is filled with tax evaders, blackmailers, and threats to society. The other is for housing prisoners.
--David Letterman

Q: If Nancy Pelosi and Obama were on a boat in the middle of the ocean and it started to sink, who would be saved?
A: America!
--Jimmy Fallon

Q: What's the difference between Obama and his dog, Bo?
A: Bo has papers.
--Jimmy Kimmel

Q: What was the most positive result of the "Cash for Clunkers" program?
A: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road.
--David Letterman

Solution to the problem in Libya: They want a new Muslim leader, Give them ours.

98-Year-Old Woman Becomes First Woman Ever To Earn Judo's Highest-Degree Black Belt


Is earning a black belt on your life list? Then this elderly woman in San Francisco just might be your ultimate hero.

Just two years before her 100th birthday, Sensei Keiko Fukuda has become the first woman to achieve a tenth-degree black belt—the highest rank in the martial art and combat sport Judo. Fukuda is now one of only four living people who've earned the tenth-degree (or dan) black belt. To put the accomplishment into better perspective, throughout history, only sixteen people have ever achieved this honor.

Fill In The Blank 8-10-11

My Wife/Husband Has The Best _______________.

Do Wives Cause Husbands' Sexual Problems? What New Study Says

(CBS) Are wives to blame for their husbands' sexual problems?

In a provocative new study, researchers have linked erectile dysfunction and related problems in middle-aged and older men to a relationship dynamic called "partner betweenness." That's when a wife is closer to her husband's friends than he is.


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2012 Re-Election Poster

Scientists: Japan's Tsunami Broke Off Chunks Of Antarctica


The remnants of the giant wave that hit Japan crashed into and fragmented an Antarctic ice shelf after the original tsunami, scientists say.


The same earthquake that devastated the island nation on March 11 also caused water swells only a foot tall to cause large chunks of Antarctica's Sulzberger ice shelf to break off and form icebergs, some almost as big as Manhattan.


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Malicious Destruction Of Property Incidents

The Salisbury Police Department is currently investigating a series of incidents involving damage to local businesses that began on August 6 and continued through August 8. During that period of time, several local businesses had front windows shot and destroyed by projectiles consistent with glass marbles or pellets. At a number of the businesses, responding officers located and recovered damaged marbles. The marbles seemed to have been fired by a device similar to a paint ball type gun or slingshot. The affected businesses were located along the Rt. 13 corridor of Salisbury.

Anyone with any information regarding these crimes is asked to contact the Criminal Investigation Division of the Salisbury Police Department at 410-548-3165 or Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776. Information may be left at both locations anonymously.

Petition Calls For Sesame Street's Bert And Ernie To Be Married


Although Sesame Street's creators have never said that the two characters are gay, viewers have long speculated that roommates Bert and Ernie are more than just friends.

Perhaps the petition, started by Illinois resident Lair Scott, was prompted by the changing tide in the U.S.: In June, New York became the sixth — and largest — state to legalize same-sex marriage.


Or maybe people just want Sesame Street to continue with its progressive message that has seen the show deal with sensitive topics of race, death and self-acceptance. Some people might think that if Archie Comics can introduce itsfirst gay character, then Sesame Street, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2009, should certainly let its two "gayest" characters marry.


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Proof-reading Is A Dying Art....

iPad

There’s still a few left!

 
If you are interested in getting an iPad I can get hold of them through a contact.
They are from a cancelled Hospital contract due to the Government cutbacks.
The numbers are limited
- he has twenty iPads going for less than half price so its first come first served.

He has already sold one (pic is attached below so you can see what you are getting)
.
Get back to me as quickly as you can if you want one.

Full spec as below............

scroll down



















Freddie Mac, More, More, More!

Freddie Mac is losing more money, and wants more help. The mortgage financing company posted a $2.1 billion second-quarter loss. It's asking for another $1.5 billion from the Treasury Department to stay afloat, The Washington Business Journal reports.

Lockheed Martin Snared $84 Million Deal With The Air Force

The defense contractor will supply the service with four weapons systems trainers, The Washington Business Journal reports. The trainers will support Air Mobility Command, Air Combat Command and Air Force Special Operations Command. Lockheed's Global Training and Logistics business unit will supply the machines, which are used to train maintenance workers and aircrew for the C-130J.

The Daily Show: Couple "Forecloses" On Bank Of America

The couple who "foreclosed" on Bank of America got The Daily Show treatment last night. John Oliver caught up with the homeowners to find out how they showed up with repo men and sheriff's deputies at a Bank of America branch office and got the bank to pay them money they were owed. It all began when the bank tried to foreclose on them, even though they had no mortgage at all, and owned their home free and clear.

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The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment." He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But he was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that clerk was right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana .
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But he's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.
We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Music Festival Give Back To The Bay

Love Great Music and the Chesapeake Bay? Then buy your tickets THIS WEEK to attend the Silopanna Music Festival

During THIS WEEK from August 8-14, organizers of the Silopanna Music Festival will donate one dollar from every ticket sold to the Chesapeake Bay Trust to fund projects and programs that clean up the Chesapeake Bay.  Silopanna Fest, which takes place August 27 at the Anne Arundel Fairgrounds, is a one day music festival with three stages and 20 bands for all ages, including Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Matt & Kim, Fitz and the Tantrums and Harper Blynn, among many others.

In addition to the exceptional performances, the Silopanna Music Festival will also feature 30 unique vendors, misting tents, face painting, food and beverages, free parking, and a “green” eco-friendly focus. Games will also be available, including a Dunking Booth, with all proceeds going to benefit the Chesapeake Bay Trust and its grant programs. To purchase your tickets from August 8-14, visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lgIUL6OKIjLPL9I&s=bfIIJPOsH9LNK3OzFmG&m=hrLTJ3NJKeKJI6J.

As if helping the Bay wasn't enough, all tickets purchased THIS WEEK will be entered into a drawing to win two free tickets to an upcoming performance at Rams Head Live, Rams Head On Stage or Pier Six Pavilion. To see the full line-up and learn more on the Silopanna Music Festival, visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=otK0JfPWLjIMLcK&s=bfIIJPOsH9LNK3OzFmG&m=hrLTJ3NJKeKJI6J. More information about the Chesapeake Bay Trust is available at http://www.cbtrust.org/.  Thank you and see you at the show!

Independence Card Abuse.

ONE of THESE


AT one of these





Will get you some of THESE!


In 1928, Hoover promised "A Chicken in Every Pot." In 2011, The Dept. of Human Resources promises "Crabs for Everyone." I know this subject has been beat to death on this blog, and I know there are massive inequities in the system, but this is so blatantly arrogant that I have to re-visit it. I thought the original intent of Food Stamps was to provide lower income individuals with basic food staples such as bread, milk, and eggs; not crabs, flounder and cream of crab soup. This is exactly why we are having debt problems in this country. If you feel as passionate as I do about this subject, please contact your representatives and tell them that you are tired of the reckless fraud of the orange card and that new guidelines need to be adopted that will change this kind of taxpayer abuse.

Tax Flight A Reality For Frederick Business Owner

Our story last week on a national study, “Tax flight is a myth,” produced more reader comments than any we’ve posted this summer. Some supported the study’s conclusion, but most scoffed. One of the comments came from Frederick County businessman Mark Gaver, for whom fleeing from Maryland taxes is now a personal reality.

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Chesapeake Crab Assessment Focuses On Females

BALTIMORE - Big male crabs fetch the highest prices, but when it comes to ensuring the Chesapeake Bay will continue to produce them, researchers are increasingly paying attention to how many females are harvested.

A new assessment released Tuesday recommends how many females should be in the bay and how many can be taken to maintain a sustainable population. Biologists have previously said about 200 million adult crabs were needed to ensure a healthy population.

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Southwest Leads Airfare Rollback Following Return Of Taxes

Late last week, when legislators took a vacation from vacation to hammer out a deal that put FAA employees back to work and millions of tax dollars back into federal coffers, a number of you expressed skepticism about predictions that airlines would lower their fares to where they were before the FAA lost its authority to collect taxes. But it looks like all the major airlines have now rolled back their prices over the last two days.

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1st Black Secret Service Agent Dies At Age 82

WASHINGTON (AP) - Charles L. Gittens, who in 1956 became the first black Secret Service agent, has died. He was 82.

The McGuire Funeral Home in Washington confirmed that Gittens died July 27 in Maryland. A spokesman for the Secret Service confirmed that Gittens was the first black agent but said no further details would be immediately available.

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Today's Survey Question 8-10-11

Do you believe local seafood companies should be accepting Independence Cards?

Defense Department Starts Investiugation Of Helicopter Shot Down

The Defense Department has begun its investigation into last weekend's shoot-down of a helicopter filled with special operations soldiers. General James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, has appointed Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt, deputy commander of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., to lead the investigation. Investigators believe the helicopter, which was transporting reinforcements, was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. But they want to know why the troops were called in, and whether the chopper was on a dangerous flight path. Thirty Americans and eight Afghans died. A military dog was also killed.

Landlord Suspected Of Releasing Thousands Of Scorpions To Get Tenants Out

A man named Chen woke up recently to find a scorpion crawling over his body. Snapping on the bedroom light, he found his bedroom to be full of scorpions. He gathered his family and worked to capture several hundred of the arachnids. When they left the apartment, they found their neighbors had been battling the poison-tipped beasts, and their landlord, who wants them out to make way for a construction project, is suspected of letting them loose.

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Economy Focus Of Harris Town Hall


The meeting came a day after the stocks plunged around the world, including a 634-point drop from the Dow Jones industrials following the downgrade of the United States' credit rating by Standard and Poor's.

About 30 Talbot County residents attended the meeting at the St. Michaels branch of the Talbot County Free Library. Harris answered questions and spoke about the national economy.

ST. MICHAELS The dismal economy dominated a Tuesday morning town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.-1st.