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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Freddie Mac Tells Bargain Hunters To Buzz Off

Just because Freddie Mac has a glut of properties on its hands, buyers can't expect Costco prices. Most of the buyers approaching Freddie have been looking to buy at 40-60% off of market price, like the final weeks of a Borders liquidation sale. Instead, Freddie is sending them back this letter which says sorry, we're only taking less than 10% off.

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TSA Agents Accused Of Being Bribed With Gift Cards To Help Drug Dealers

The feds recently arrested 18 individuals accused of being involved in a mult-state drug trafficking ring. But along with the baker's dozen of alleged drug dealers caught up in the scheme were five folks — three TSA officers and two cops — who are usually supposed to stop this sort of behavior.

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Ban Proposed On Electronic Cigarettes On Planes

DOT secretary says ban would 'enhance passenger comfort,' clarify regulations

The Obama administration Wednesday proposed banning the use of electronic cigarettes on airline flights, saying there is concern the smokeless cigarettes may be harmful.

"Airline passengers have rights, and this new rule would enhance passenger comfort and reduce any confusion surrounding the use of electronic cigarettes in flight," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

The ban would clarify an existing Transportation Department rule prohibiting smoking cigarettes or similar products on airline flights.


Colleges Ban Sale Of Water Bottles, Create Controversy

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – What some are drinking on a Minnesota college campus is creating controversy and it has nothing to do with alcohol.

Nine campuses across the nation and two in Minnesota have banned the sale of plastic water bottles.

Macalester and St. Benedict College both banned plastic waterbottles from being sold.

While students can still bring bottles onto campus, they’re encouraged to use reusable ones. The schools say it saves money and the environment, while some students say it limits their choices.

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SAT Reading Scores Fall To Lowest Level On Record

Educators note more test-takers had a first language other than English

Scores on the critical reading portion of the SAT college entrance exam fell three points to their lowest level on record last year, and combined reading and math scores reached their lowest point since 1995.

The College Board, which released the scores Wednesday, said the results reflect the record number of students from the high school class of 2011 who took the exam and the growing diversity of the test-taking pool — particularly Hispanics. As more students aim for college and take the exam, it tends to drag down average scores.

Still, while the three-point decline to 497 may look small in the context of an 800-point test, it was only the second time in the last two decades reading scores have fallen as much in a single year. And reading scores are now notably lower than scores as recently as 2005, when the average was 508.

Average math scores for the class of 2011 fell one point to 514 and scores on the critical reading section fell two points to 489.

BYE BYE BAMA

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz declared last night that the seat vacated by disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner — and held by the party since 1920 — is a “very difficult district for Democrats.”

Republican Bob Turner defeated Democrat David Weprin 54-47 in the heavily Jewish district last night. The race is being viewed by many as a referendum on President Barack Obama’s policies, prompting the defensive remarks from the DNC chairwoman.

Speaker of the House John Boehner dismissed Wasserman-Schultz’s remarks, citing historical precedent and calling it a “very seriously Democrat district,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

“This is not a district that Republicans have any right to believe we could win,” he said.

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Millsboro Pair Arrested After Drug Investigation

Location: Residence in the 22000 block of Carey’s Camp Road, Millsboro, DE
Date of Occurrence: Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Defendants and Charges:   
-Marcus Dennis, 34, Millsboro, DE
-Robbery 1st Degree (2 counts)
-Burglary 1st Degree
-Assault 2nd Degree
-Aggravated Menacing
-Wearing a Disguise during the Commission of a Felony
-Conspiracy 2nd Degree (2 counts)
-Possession of a Controlled Substance
-Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited (2 counts)
-Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (3 counts)
-Maintaining a Drug Property
Arraigned at JP Court 2 and committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution for lack of $108,500 cash bail.
Tonya Carpenter, 37, Millsboro, DE
-Robbery 1st Degree (2 counts)
-Burglary 1st Degree
-Assault 2nd Degree
-Conspiracy 2nd Degree (2 counts)
-Possession of a Controlled Substance
-Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (3 counts)
-Maintaining a Drug Property
Arraigned at JP Court 2 and committed to the Delores Baylor Correctional Institution for lack of $94,500 secured bail.

Feds' $60B Sacrifice Might Not Be Enough

Federal employees have already made a "big sacrifice" with the two-year pay freeze, saving the government $60 billion over the next 10 years, said Jessica Klement, director of government affairs at the Federal Managers Association.
 
But the freeze might just be the beginning of cuts to federal employees' pay and benefits as the super committee finds ways to cut $1.5 trillion in the deficit over the next decade.
 
Klement outlined some of the proposals lawmakers are considering that will impact feds' pocketbooks:

  • Move from high-three to high-five annuity calculation Klement said she receives the most emails on this topic, but she also does not see this proposal as realistic of a threat as some others. First, the proposal is not part of any bill that has been introduced. Second, the amount saved is not as significant as other proposals.
  •  
  • Changes to defined benefits pension A bill introduced by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) would end the defined benefits pension portion for new hires starting in 2013. Under the plan, retirees' Thrift Savings Plan would not be affected.
    Another proposal, part of the FY2012 budget plan passed in the House, would increase retirement contributions from 0.8 percent to about 6 percent as part of a deficit reduction compromise. Klement said the change amounts to about a 5 percent pay cut.
  •  
  • Move to chained CPI to calculate cost-of-living The proposal, first recommended by the President's debt reduction commission, calls for a switch to a Chained Consumer Price Index to measure inflation. The Chained CPI operates under the assumption that consumers will buy lower cost alternatives in a down economy. The result will be a lower COLA for retirees that ignores rising costs in other areas, Klement said.
  •  
    "When was the last time your health insurance bill went down or your grocery bill or your gas bill?" she said.
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Nearly 50 Million Americans Lacked Health Insurance In 2010

Unemployment and an erosion in employer-provided benefits are some of the major reasons the amount of uninsured American rose to 49.9 million last year. That's 900,000 more than in 2009, according to Census data. Gone are the days that it was a given that your workplace handed you an insurance plan. In 2000, 64.1 percent of the population were covered by employer-provided insurance, but those ranks slipped to 55.3 percent last year.

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Analysis: Laws Restricting Teen Drivers Doing Little Good

According to a nationwide analysis of car crash data, heavier restrictions on the driving privileges of 16 and 17-year-old drivers haven't necessarily made the roads safer. Although deadly accidents involving the youngest drivers have fallen, the number of crash fatalities in 18 and 19-year-old drivers has doubled. The implication is that younger drivers, who are forbidden from driving at night or with passengers some states, are simply older when they're still dangerously inexperienced.

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New Libya Will Be Islamic

In Libya, forces opposed to former leader Muammar Gaddafi, backed by NATO air strikes, continued their attacks Tuesday on the Gaddafi strongholds of Sirte and Bani Walid of the National Transitional Council pledged to build a moderate Islamic state and urged his countrymen to seek reconciliation. – VOA

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Dylan Grice Deconstructs The "Perpetual Ponzi Machine" Of Global Finance, Sees Gold At $10,000 In A World Of Dishonesty

Everyone, especially various textbook "schools" of postmodernist Keynesianism which (in addition to apparently never having actually been in the real world) believe there is such a thing as a free lunch as long as a reserve currency can issue infinite debt, and stubbornly fail to see the creeping currency devaluation which ultimately represents itself in hyperinflation, should read the following note from SocGen's Dylan Grice who explains pretty much... everything, including why in world starved for honesty, gold is the benchmark, and is now worth $10,000.

Key extracts from: The market for honesty: is $10,000 gold fair value? (highlights ours)

Last week, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) pledged to buy ‚unlimited? amounts of foreign exchange to prevent the Swiss franc from further appreciating. In other words, it is willing to print 'unlimited? quantities of Swiss Francs, tolerating an 'unlimited' debasement of its currency. Why would the Swiss of all people, one of the world’s few remaining 'sound money' proponents make such a commitment? Because unlike its main ‘competitors’ in the market for currency (the major central banks), which are either debasing with abandon or looking as though they’re about to, Switzerland had been rewarded for its rectitude with an uncomfortable share of the world’s flight capital and a painful currency overvaluation. So the SNB has given up trying to be honest in a dishonest world.

So let me explain why I believe printing money to be a fundamentally dishonest endeavour. Think about how it works. When the central bank, at zero cost, increases the monetary base by 1%, where does that money go? Answer: into the market for government bonds. Since printing the money to buy government bonds costs nothing, government revenues are obtained ostensibly for free. Of course, it buys those bonds in the secondary market rather than from the government directly, and the pretense of an arm’s length transaction between government and central bank is thus maintained, with all parties claiming a separation of monetary and fiscal policy. But it’s only a pretense.

By issuing bonds to itself the government seems to have miraculously raised revenue without burdening anyone else. This is probably why the mechanism is universally adopted throughout the world’s financial system. Yet free money does not, and cannot, exist. Since there can be no such thing as a government, or anyone else for that matter, raising revenue "at no cost" simple logic tells us that someone, somewhere has to pay.

But who? This is where the subtle dishonesty resides, because the answer is that no-one knows. If the money printing creates inflation in the product market, the consumers in that product market will pay. If the money printing creates inflation in asset markets, the purchaser of the more elevated asset price pays. Of course, if the printed money ends up in asset markets even less is known about who ultimately pays for the government’s ‘free lunch’, because in this case the money printing sets off its own dynamic via the perpetual Ponzi machine that is the global financial system. The ‘free lunch’ providers will be the late entrants into whatever asset-bubble or investment fad the money printing inflates.

The point is we can’t know who will pay, only that someone will pay. Thus the government has raised revenues without even knowing upon whom the burden falls, let alone telling them. Compare this to raising explicit ‘honest’ taxes, which are at least transparent. We know who levied the sales tax or the income tax, when it was levied, when it is payable, and how much has to be paid. The burden of this money printing, in contrast, seeps silently into the  economy, falling indiscriminately but indubitably on unseen, unknowing victims.

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LAW ENFORCEMENT GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENT

Who:
  • 83rd Delaware State Police and 74th Municipal Recruit Class
When:
  • Friday, September 16, 2011 at 2:oo p.m.
Location:
  • Delaware State University Education Humanities Building (Auditorium)
  • 1200 North DuPont Highway Dover, Delaware
Dignitaries Addressing the Graduates:
  • Lt. Governor Matthew Denn
  • Senator Thomas Carper
  • Secretary Lewis D. Schiliro
  • Colonel Robert M. Coupe
Key Agenda Events:
  • Class Speech:
  • Trooper Brian McDerby, Delaware State Police
  • Officer Kenneth Odom, Newark Police Department
  • Keynote Speaker:
  • Senator Chris Coons
Resume:
Dover, DE- Delaware State Police Superintendent Colonel Robert M. Coupe announces the Graduation Ceremonies for the 83rd Delaware State Police and 74th Municipal Recruit Class.
The ceremonies will celebrate and recognize the successful completion of Law Enforcement training of 14 Delaware State Troopers and 17 Law Enforcement Officers representing the Capitol Police Department, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (Environmental Control Unit), Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (Parks and Recreation Unit), Dover Police Department, Frankford Police Department, Harrington Police Department, Milton Police Department, and the Newark Police Department.
The ceremonies will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the Delaware State University Education Humanities building Dover, Delaware.

TRAFFIC ALERT - Bridge Painting Will Require Lane Closures on Savannah Road

Lewes -- The Department of Transportation (DelDOT) is announcing sandblasting and painting of the drawbridge over the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal will require lane closures on Savannah Road in Lewes. The work will begin on Monday, September 19 and end the week of December 12, pending weather.

Lane closures will occur on the bridge on Monday, September 26. Lane closures will be 24 hours per day, Monday through Friday. After 4 p.m. on Friday, the bridge will be open to two lanes of traffic over the weekend until Monday morning at 7 a.m.

The project includes the removal of the existing paint material and priming/recoating with a lead-free paint on the steel bridge. The contractor for these improvements is Marinis Brothers, Inc. of New Castle, Delaware.

Israel Jaunts Set Record For Most Costly Trips

The American Israel Education Foundation has spent a record amount to send members of Congress and their staff to Israel in 2011, even before all the numbers are in.

AIEF has spent nearly $1.5 million on congressional travel already in 2011, primarily on a series of trips by members of Congress to Israel over the August recess. 

The organizations have been sending members of Congress to Israel during the August recess every other year for about 20 years. This year, the trip was broken into three separate groups. A group of about 30 Democrats traveled to Israel the second week of August, followed by two different groups of Republicans in the following weeks. The total cost to AIEF for the August trips alone has already reached more than $1 million, and about two dozen people have yet to file disclosures detailing the costs for their travel.
Only once before has any organization broken into seven-figure spending on trips for members of Congress and their staff in an entire year. In 2009, AIEF spent nearly $1.2 million on congressional travel, with more than half of that total going toward the the August trips.

Former Lobbyists Working For Congress Outnumber Elected Lawmakers

Former lobbyists currently working on the congressional payroll helping to craft legislation significantly outnumber members of Congress, according to an exhaustive new analysis by the non-partisan group LegiStorm.
In all, 605 current congressional staff - out of about 14,000 total member, committee and leadership staff - have lobbied in the past decade. They are among the nearly 5,400 current and former congressional staffers that LegiStorm has discovered have gone through the lobbying "revolving door" in the past decade alone.
The numbers in the new analysis are far greater than any previous analysis has been able to demonstrate.

"For every person the American people have elected to sponsor legislation of public benefit, special interests have more than one former legislative advocate now working on the inside in Congress," said Jock Friedly, founder and president of LegiStorm. "That represents a large network of people to influence decisions and to provide valuable intelligence."

This conclusion and others come after a comprehensive analysis of hundreds of thousands of records and research into more than 130,000 people who have worked as lobbyists or congressional aides since 2000. The analysis was backed by two years of research into the biographies of tens of thousands of individuals. Daily updates of this revolving door database, as well as biographical information about current and former congressional staffers and much more, are available to subscribers of a new service LegiStorm launched today.

Even Republicans Rejected Info About Obama's Past

What would you do if you knew that the top Democrat running for president was lying about his past?

That is the question I was faced with in 2008. I had met the young Barack Obama while he was a sophomore at Occidental College, and I knew that his commitment to socialism was deep, genuine, and longstanding. See my earlier article on American Thinker.

I had been a leader of the Marxist students at Occidental College myself, starting in 1976 when I founded the precursor of the Democrat Socialist Alliance on campus. The young Obama I knew was a Marxist socialist who would have been quite comfortable with Communist party members like his Hawaii mentor Frank Marshall Davis, retired domestic terrorists like Bill Ayers, or active socialist politicians like Illinois State Senator Alice Palmer.

The Obama I knew was nothing like the lifelong pragmatic centrist that he was pretending to be in the 2008 presidential campaign. When I talked politics with the young Obama, he expressed a profound commitment to bringing about a socialist economic system in the U.S. -- completely divorced from the profit motive -- which would occur, in his lifetime, through a potentially violent, Communist-style revolution. In this context, I saw my report on young Obama as a key piece of evidence suggesting a profound continuity in his belief system.

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Maryland’s Law Enforcement To Receive Coveted Service Award

Highway Safety Efforts Recognized at Annual Conference in Ocean City

[Ocean City, Maryland]— Maryland has a problem. A culture problem. The culture of Maryland’s motorists has been one that exudes aggressiveness, has an acquired taste for speed, and has a tendency to get into motor vehicle crashes. Over the past several years, that culture has been slowly reigned in by Maryland’s law enforcement community, as evidenced by the decrease in automobile crash fatalities in the state. Fatalities continued a four-year decline in 2010, resulting in 496 fatalities, down from 652 in 2006.
Additionally, alcohol-related fatalities have dropped significantly from 241 in 2006 to 177 in 2010.

This week, as Maryland’s law enforcement executives converge in Ocean City for their annual Chiefs of Police and Sheriff’s Association Training Meeting, no doubt countless strategies will be exchanged, including, among other things, ways to further reduce the annual carnage on Maryland’s roadways. However, this year, the feds will be in town, specifically, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), to recognize Maryland’s unique law enforcement efforts towards improving highway safety.

NHTSA (pronounced Knit-Zuh) will be awarding the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association and the Maryland Sheriffs Association with the distinguished Public Service Award for their united efforts in reducing the number of motor vehicle crashes and associated injuries and fatalities.

"We honor Maryland law enforcement officials for their long standing and continued commitment to improving traffic safety throughout the state," said Deputy Administrator, Ronald Medford, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  "Maryland’s roads are safer as a result of their leadership, dedication and state-wide efforts to reduce crashes, save lives and prevent injuries."

This coveted award is rarely given out, but ironically, this is the second time a Maryland law enforcement entity has received the award. The Baltimore County Police Department received the award in 2008 for their implementation of a geographical mapping tool that graphically analyzes and correlates crime and vehicular crashes, and aids in targeting deployment of personnel, the results of which had significant nationwide impacts on policing strategies.

"It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized for doing our jobs. While it’s not the most glamorous aspects of our job, Traffic Safety is truly public safety," said Sheriff Gary Hoffman, President of the Maryland Sheriff’s Association. "Communicating that mantra to our front line employees is imperative to changing the driving culture in our state."

"It used to be officers were relegated to Traffic Enforcement details as punishment, often leading to less than enthusiastic officers" said the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association president, Chief Bernie Gerst. "With the help of our federal and state partners, including the Maryland Highway Safety Office, we’ve been afforded the opportunities and resources to raise the profile of this important aspect of law enforcement."

Baltimore's Edgar Allan Poe Museum Closing/

Creepy literary great Edgar Allan Poe's old home in Baltimore has long been a macabre tourist attraction, but the museum is about to go dark because of budget problems.

Poe, who died in 1849, lived in the home at 203 North Amity Street with his aunt, grandmother and two cousins, one of whom, Virginia, would later become his wife. The museum is located in a public housing complex miles away from the city's main tourism district. Still, about 5,000 people per year visit.

The city stopped funding the museum two years ago, and the private donations that kept it running are drying up. A feasibility study, to be completed by December, will explore ways to make the museum self-sustaining. More likely than not, the museum will close at the end of June 2012.

"It would be an embarrassment to the city to have thousands of people come to the city to see a boarded-up house," museum curator Jeff Jerome told Reuters.

AT&T Upgrades Mean No Wireless Service At Home For 6 Months

Colleen is a longtime AT&T Wireless customer. If her account were a person, it would be old enough to drive. She's had no problems until this year, but the problem is a big one: she no longer has service in or anywhere near her home. She didn't move to the side of a remote mountain: she lives in the Atlanta metropolitan area. While AT&T has given her a refund of two months' service for her trouble, they can't tell her when she'll be able to make phone calls from her own house.

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Satellite Failure Knocks Out Dish's HD Channels Nationwide

A satellite system malfunction forced Dish Network customers to go without HD programming Tuesday night, forcing those affected to suffer the indignity of having to watch Sons of Anarchy in standard definition. The problem affected satellite location 129, which includes many HD channels, such as Comedy Central, FX, Cartoon Network and ESPN 2, and was expected to be fixed this morning.

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CAUSE OF DEATH DETERMINED FOR WOMAN FOUND IN SOMERSET CO.


(PRINCESS ANNE, MD) – An autopsy has revealed the cause and manner of death for a missing Wicomico County woman whose body was found in Somerset County last Sunday.

The victim was identified on Monday as Alice E. Davis, 55, of the 3500-block of Allen Road, Eden, Md. Her body had been found on September 11th, in a wooded area in the 13000-block of Loretto Road, Princess Anne, Md. She had been missing from her home since September 5, 2011.

An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore has revealed the victim’s cause of death was blunt force trauma. The trauma had been sustained on the back of the victim’s head. The item used to inflict the trauma has yet to be identified. Doctors ruled the victim’s manner of death was homicide.

Maryland State Police investigators have returned to the scene today where the victim’s body was located. They are conducting an additional search of the area for any evidence that may still be there.

Investigators from the State Police Homicide Unit are working in cooperation with the Wicomico County Bureau of Investigation, which was handling the original missing person investigation. The investigation is continuing.

Original Post went up at 2:00 PM.

Energy Department Picks Winners And Losers?

Energy Department and White House officials are set to appear before a House Energy and Commerce committee hearing today. The committee is looking into Energy's loan guarantee program, which lost $500 million after betting on high-profile solar panel manufacturer, Solyndra, which went bankrupt last week. Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said the government should not try to pick winners and losers. Executives from Solyndra were invited but are expected to appear next week. Some lawmakers suggest politics was behind the loan guarantee, since a major Solyndra investor also raised money for the president's 2008 election campaign.

Feds Face Tougher Rules

Some feds could be facing tougher rules when it comes to interacting with lobbyists. The Office of Government Ethics wants to get rid of exceptions that allow political appointees to attend events or accept gifts of less than $50 a year from lobbyists. A proposed rule in the Federal Register would expand a 2009 executive order. It stops appointees from using exceptions to accept gifts of less than $20 at one time or $50 a year. It also bans them from going to widely attended gatherings or accepting the social invitations of lobbying groups. OGE is accepting comments through Nov. 14.

Bank Of America To Pay $930,000 Restitution To Whistleblower Who Was Fired For Reporting Fraud At Countrywide

We hardly needed confirmation that a) Bank of America is a den of criminals and thieves, that b) its toxic $1.3 trillion mortgage division, better known as Countrywide, is an even scarier and more putrid den of criminals and thieves, and that c) it retaliates against anyone who dares to remind the bank that there are such things as laws, and the aforementioned criminals and thieves actually have to follow these. Yet this is precisely what we just got after the Department of Labor said that it must pay $930,000 to an employee who led internal probes of abuses at its Countrywide Financial unit and was fired in violation of whistleblower protections.  Bloomberg reports "the employee, who also must be reinstated, had claimed that people who tried to report fraud to Countrywide’s employee- relations department suffered persistent retaliation, the agency said today in a statement. He was fired after Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America’s 2008 purchase of Countrywide, according to the statement." So is it possible that the general public can now get the documentation that said whistleblower was fired for attempting to bring to his retaliating superiors' attention? And just how damaging will this development be to a bank which is already embroiled in litigation with virtually every single entity that has every transacted in mortgages both in America, and now abroad [5]?

Poverty

U.S. poverty totals hit a 50-year high Census Bureau's grim statistics show recession's lingering effects, as young adults move back home and 1 million more Americans go without health insurance ... In a grim portrait of a nation in economic turmoil, the government reported that the number of people living in poverty last year surged to 46.2 million — the most in at least half a century — as 1 million more Americans went without health insurance and household incomes fell sharply. – Los Angeles Times

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Obama's $500 Billion Jobs Plan

If this doesn’t explain Obama’s new $500 billion jobs plan, nothing will.


Take a look at the Top Ten biggest political donors in America today…
ActBlue
$55,059,076
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees
$45,792,853
AT&T Inc
$41,660,104
National Assn of Realtors
$40,020,510
Service Employees International Union
$37,130,289
National Education Assn
$36,433,425
American Assn for Justice
$34,094,421
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
$33,824,355
Laborers Union
$31,415,067
American Federation of Teachers
$31,342,403
(Based on data released by the FEC on April 25, 2011.)

Two, AT&T and Realtors – split donations pretty evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The other eight on the top ten list are hard left, giving almost 100% to Democrats in every election cycle. With the exception of Justice (the union of leftist trial lawyers), they are all labor unions.

Eliminate labor unions and you have eliminated eight of the top ten political donors in American politics, and the Democrat Party along with them.

http://www.thepostemail.com/2011/09/14/obamas-labor-union-spending-orgy-to-continue/

ROLL AWAY YOUR STONE


What is your interpretation of the lyrics? Macbeth, Christ’s resurrection, the Prodigal Son?

QUOTES OF THE DAY 9-14-11

“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer.”
Ernest Hemingway

“Courage is grace under pressure.”
Ernest Hemingway

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
Ernest Hemingway

“Never confuse movement with action.”
Ernest Hemingway

“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.”
Ernest Hemingway

“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”
Ernest Hemingway

PUBLIC NOTICE


THE CITY COUNCIL WILL ENTERTAIN A VOTE, DURING THEIR SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 WORK SESSION, TO CONVENE IN CLOSED SESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF A FOLLOW-UP DISCUSSION TO CONSULT WITH LEGAL COUNSEL TO OBTAIN LEGAL ADVICE ON A CONTRACTUAL MATTER AS PERMITTED UNDER THE ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND SECTION 10-508(A)(7).

THE SESSION WILL BE HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM 306 OF THE GOVERNMENT OFFICE BUILDING (125 N. DIVISION STREET) FOLLOWING THE ADJOURNMENT OF THE CITY COUNCIL’S SECOND SPECIAL MEETING (FIRST SPECIAL MEETING SCHEDULED FOR 4:00 P.M.).

Maryland Feels Sting Of National Poverty Spike

Maryland hit a poverty rate of 10.8%, the highest in nearly two decades, according to a report Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Maryland's statistics are well below the national rate of 15.1% -- yet the state's poverty rate has increased 12.5% from 2009 to 2010, the period measured by the annual census report.

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PUBLIC NOTICE

SPECIAL MEETING


In accordance with §SC2-4 of the Salisbury City Charter, a majority of the City Council have called for a Special Meeting to be held on Monday, September 19, 2011 to consider the following ordinances for second reading:
Ordinance No. 2173 – approving an amendment of the FY12 General Fund Budget to provide for the deposit of a Local Government Insurance Trust claims check and a donation check for the repair and/or replacement of electrical equipment serving the Winter Wonderland exhibits
Ordinance No. 2174 – approving an amendment to the FY12 General Fund Budget to revise restrictions on Urban Salisbury funding

This special meeting will be held after the conclusion of the 4:00 p.m. special meeting in Conference Room 306 of the City/County Government Office Building (125 N. Division Street).

Maryland Businesses Received $16M In SBA Loans Following 9/11 Attacks

After the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon a decade ago, the U.S. Small Business Administration gave out nearly $16 million in loans to 116 Maryland-based businesses who claimed to be hurt by the disaster. Many of the loans were not repaid, and at least a dozen of the companies are out of business.

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Is Bank Of America A Zombie?

Early on in the financial crisis, economists warned that the biggest danger of the bailouts was that we would end up with zombie banks - institutions kept alive by government bailouts, but essentially doomed to rot away. Recent news about Bank of America raises the question as to whether B of A has turned into a classic zombie. On Monday, Bank of America announced that it was planning on eliminating 30,000 positions in the next two and a half years. It is also expected to close as many as 750 branches. Does this make Bank of America a Zombie Bank?

If you want to know if it matters that Bank of America may or may not be a Zombie Bank, you need to talk to Steve Cook in Vassar, Michigan. Or at least I did. Cook owns the only car dealership in Vassar - American of course; GM. Last year, Bank of America closed its only branch in Vassar, Michigan. In fact it was the only branch the bank had in all of Tuscola County. Cook says the bank closing hasn't been a big immediate hit to the local economy. There's still a Chase branch in town, which is where he goes for his borrowing. What's more, a community bank has moved into the old Bank of America space, and Cook thinks most people are probably happier with a local bank. But community banks generally don't make small business loans, or at least not a lot of them. And Cook says businessmen like to see two big lenders in their home market - you get better pricing that way. (There is a Citizen bank in the town as well, but Cook says he hears troubles at that bank are significantly curtailing the number of loans it makes.) And so Cook sees the exit of Bank of America as another potential step down for his home town. Cook says when he first came to Vassar there was 20 or 30 local business owners who would buy his most expensive cars. Now it's down to a handful.

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A Letter To The Editor 9-14-11

Joe,
 
I have a friend who has been fighting ovarian cancer for about 10 years.  She started Chemo again in July with the drug Doxil which is in short supply.  Treatment was supposed to be once monthly for a period of several months.  She had the one treatment and has been unable to receive more treatments because they can't get the drug.  They have not offered an alternative drug and she is panicking.
 
My friend is in her late 70's, past the age of 76 which I understand that in the Obamacare policy that anyone over the age of 76 will not get cancer treatment.  Is this policy already in effect without any of us knowing it, and if that isn't the case, why have they not offered an alternative treatment until Doxil becomes available for her?
 
I guess I am just trying to reach out to help her and perhaps anyone else in her shoes.

Sarah Palin Hooked Up With Glen Rice?

Former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had sex with National Basketball Association (NBA) star Glen Rice in 1987, according to an excerpt from a new book written by investigative journalist Joe McGinniss.

The encounter – which stemmed from a rumored “fetish” Palin had for black men – allegedly occurred during a basketball tournament in Alaska that featured Rice’s Michigan Wolverines. Palin was a sports reporter for a local television station at the time – and was already dating her future husband, Todd.

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Dewey Beach Town Manager Steps Down

Commissioners begin search for replacement

Dewey Beach Town Manager Diana Smith will no longer be a staple at town hall or take her seat at the middle of the council table at commissioners' monthly meetings.

Justice Ginsburg, Other Passengers Evacuated From United Flight

Passengers on a United Airlines flight — including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — were evacuated from a United Airlines jet on Wednesday, NBC News has learned. The pilot reportedly deployed the plane's emergency chutes after reporting an engine issue to the tower.

"Justice Ginsburg was evacuated safely with the other passengers," a Supreme Court spokesperson told NBC News.

"We're reviewing the situation," United spokesman Mike Trevino told msnbc.com.

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Montgomery County Executive Confident Curfew Will Pass

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett says he is confident that a bill designed to establish a youth curfew has enough support to pass the county council.

Leggett on Tuesday met with council members to discuss the plan. During the meeting, Leggett pointed to a large fight in Silver Spring in July that involved about 70 people and led to a woman being stabbed.

The proposed measure would ban anyone under 18 in public places starting at midnight on weekends and 11 p.m. during the week. First offenders would be fined $100.

Bodies Hanging From Bridge In Mexico Are Warning To Social Media Users

(CNN) -- It was a chilling message: two bodies with signs of torture found hanging from a pedestrian bridge in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.Two posters left near the bodies declared that the pair -- a young man and woman -- were killed for denouncing drug cartel activity on a social network.

Bloggers who specialize in sharing news about trafficking have been threatened in the past, but this could be the first time that users of such social networks have been targeted.

Sussex County Adopts New Windmill Ordinance

GEORGETOWN, Del. (AP) -- The Sussex County Council has adopted new rules that will make it easier to have windmills and wind turbines in residential areas.

The council voted on Tuesday on an ordinance designed to better define the county's regulation of windmills and wind turbines.

Officials say that applicants will now need just a county building permit, instead of board approval. However, each application will need engineering certification, be subject to inspection and meet other criteria such as setbacks from property lines.

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Departmebt Of Defense Failed To Report Misspent Funds, Lawmakers Claim

The Defense Department has failed to properly notify Congress of hundreds of millions of dollars in misspent funds, several lawmakers wrote Tuesday in a letter to the Pentagon's chief financial officer and comptroller.
 
The letter to undersecretary of Defense Robert Hale, written by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and co-signed by 12 other senators and representatives cites violations of the Antideficiency Act totaling $817 million. The violations were identified by DoD but were never reported to Congress, the lawmakers wrote, citing reports by the DoD Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office.
 
The findings "are particularly noteworthy given that in recent testimony before Congress, you have testified that ...generally, our violations of the Antideficiency Act... are quite low, very much lower I might add, than non-defense agencies taken as a whole.'", the legislators wrote. "Further, you have indicated that how positively DoD has performed in terms of ADA violations is evidence that the Department is generally doing well on financial management."
 
The violations were related to budgets in 2005 and 2008, according to a statement from Carper's office.

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Seventh City Officer Pleads Guilty To Extortion

Charges dropped against another man

Baltimore Police Officer Jhonn S. Corona pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of conspiracy and extortion for accepting kickbacks from the owners of an auto repair shop in a scheme that spread through the department.

Seventeen officers were charged in the case through a criminal complaint, and 10 of them were also indicted by a grand jury, though more charges could be coming. Prosecutors indicated in a court filing last month that they intend to file a "superseding indictment in the fall."

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GROUND BROKEN FOR NEW CIVIC CENTER PARKING LOT

Over 30 local and state officials, business owners and stakeholders came together at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center (WY&CC) this morning for a groundbreaking ceremony.  The ceremony marked the commencement of a Parking Lot Expansion Project.  This project will develop the 5-acre tract of land purchased by Wicomico County in 2010 using funding made available through Program Open Space.

Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr. along with Recreation, Parks, Tourism and the WY&CC Director Gary Mackes, stressed the important role that Maryland State Officials and the Department of Natural Resources’ Program Open Spaced played in bringing this project to fruition.  Mackes shared project details…explaining that, under the guidance of project engineer Parker & Associates; the contracting firm AP Croll & Son of Georgetown, DE will oversee the development of the land which includes both paving and lighting as well as the introduction of clearly marked parking spaces.

Representing the State, Delegate Norm Conway described today as another “Delmarvalous Day” here in Wicomico County.  He stressed the important role multitudes of people have played in both the success of this project and so many projects brought to fruition in Wicomico County with funding provided by Program Open Space.   Program Open Space, in existence for over 40 years, is funded through a transfer tax assessed to every property sale.  Wicomico County alone has benefited enormously through the program, as it has received and spent over $11,000,000 to buy land and develop its park system.   

WY&CC Commission President Ed Urban, as the last speaker of the morning, emphasized the growth potential the parking lot project brings to the WY&CC.  With over 400 events a year and over 250,000 patrons entering the building, attendance is limited due to parking constraints.  The parking lot expansion project, as just another example of how the venue continues to grow, will increase parking capacity by 33% allowing for a total of 1,500 spaces.

Bringing the ceremony to a close, Delegate Conway, Executive Pollitt, County Council President Gail Bartkovich, Councilwomen Stevie Prettyman, Sheree Sample-Hughes and WY&CC Commission President Ed Urban came together to ceremoniously turn the dirt for the Parking Lot Improvement Project.

Methadone Clinic Considers Offering Cash To Addicts

Northeast Baltimore program says it wants to attract users to treatment and reduce crime

A Northeast Baltimore clinic that once pitched on-demand methadone to desperate addicts during the late-night hours is focusing on a new idea — paying addicts to come in for treatment.

"We are targeting a non-traditional population of addicts that isn't so interested in treatment," said the Rev. Milton Williams, who runs Turning Point Clinic, housed in his New Life Evangelical Baptist Church. "This will be an incentive."

The state has yet to approve the original on-demand, or "open access" idea, citing federal rules that require, for example, a lengthy examination of anyone getting methadone, a Schedule 2 narcotic. The incentive, $20 supplied by a private foundation or other group yet to be named, is a "Plan B," one Williams believes doesn't need any special approvals because the program would be run as a traditional clinic, just at night with no appointments.

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Going Green

Day in and day out we're seeing more and more people walking to and from the local grocery stores. What other signs do you need people. Gas is too expensive and back in the day this is how it was done. Go figure.

Gasoline Tanker Stolen In Maryland

Authorities in Maryland say a tanker truck carrying more than 3,000 gallons of gasoline has been stolen.

Kent County Sheriff’s Sgt. Glenn Owens says the FBI is assisting with the search. He says nothing about the investigation points to terrorism, but in light of a possible threat linked to the 9/11 anniversary and the proximity to Washington, they are taking precautions.

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Casey Anthony's Lawyer Joins Gary Giordano Defense In Aruba Case

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) -- The lawyer who gained fame in the Casey Anthony murder trial in Florida said Tuesday that he will now help a U.S. businessman jailed in Aruba in the presumed death of his travel companion.

Jose Baez said he has been retained to defend Gary Giordano in the Dutch Caribbean island. Baez confirmed his hiring in a text message to The Associated Press but declined to provide details about his role in the Aruba case.

Green Jobs Economy Has Hits And Misses In Maryland

Uneven growth may improve in future

Dirty, used oil promises to bring some badly needed jobs to Baltimore, one recycling company says. But energy-saving light fixtures aren't proving to be the growth business that another company thought they were — at least not yet.

FCC Environmental, a Houston-based company, recently announced plans to build a $50 million plant in Fairfield to recycle used motor oil, hiring 30 people to reclaim a waste normally burned in industrial boilers.

SavWatt USA, meanwhile, is having trouble finding enough work to expand its fledgling light-emitting-diode light assembly plant near M&T Bank Stadium. The Baltimore-based firm has 30 workers, but hoped to have 100 to 150 by year's end, according to its CEO.

Such are the vagaries of the "green" economy that government officials and some economists have long touted as the employment wave of the future.

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House Weighs Bill To Make Gun Permits Valid Across State Lines

Lawmakers are considering a House bill that would give Americans who hold permits to carry firearms in their home states the right to carry their weapons across state lines.

Although many states have entered into voluntary agreements, there is no nationwide framework for honoring permits and licenses uniformly. A bipartisan bill, co-authored by Reps. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and Heath Shuler, D-N.C., aims to change that. 

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Federal Board Urges Cell Phone Ban For Commercial Truckers

Washington (CNN) -- In an action that could affect millions of truckers, the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday recommended that commercial drivers be prohibited from using both hand-held and hands-free mobile phones while driving on the job.
The recommendation is the most far-reaching yet by the safety board, which has previously recommended that young drivers and bus drivers be prohibited from using cell phones while at the wheel. The new recommendation calls for a ban on all cell phone use by people holding commercial driver's licenses while operating their vehicles, except in emergencies.

Cherokee Indians: We Are Free To Oust Blacks

US government wants second-largest Indian tribe to recognize as citizens 2,800 descendants of slaves that were held by Cherokees

The nation's second-largest Indian tribe said on Tuesday that it would not be dictated to by the U.S. government over its move to banish 2,800 African Americans from its citizenship rolls.

"The Cherokee Nation will not be governed by the BIA," Joe Crittenden, the tribe's acting principal chief, said in a statement responding to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Crittenden, who leads the tribe until a new principal chief is elected, went on to complain about unnamed congressmen meddling in the tribe's self-governance.

Do You 'Exist' Or 'Live'?

The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation ~Thoreau

If you have eyes to see, you’ll see it everywhere. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear it. Most times, logging into Facebook provides an overwhelming dose of it.

Desperation.

It looks a lot like the person who can’t wait for the weekend.

It sounds like the person who walks into the office saying “I hate Monday!!”.

It’s the person who hates their job but needs the money.

And it’s that friend who is miserable in their marriage but can’t stand to be single.

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101-Year-Old Detroit Woman Evicted In Foreclosure

Her son failed to pay the mortgage and disregarded eviction notices

A 101-year-old woman was evicted from the southwest Detroit home where she lived for nearly six decades after her 65-year-old son failed to pay the mortgage.

Texana Hollis was evicted Monday and her belongings were placed outside the home. Her son, Warren Hollis, said he didn't pay the bill for several years and disregarded eviction notices.

$54 Billion Closer To Our Next Financial Crisis

After a couple years of austerity, we’re again racking up credit card debt at an alarming clip.

According to a new study from CardHub.com, we’re on track to increase our collective credit card debt by $54 billion in 2011. We added only $9 billion in new credit card debt in 2010, and actually reduced our credit card debt in 2009 — so this is a significant reversal. All told, Americans now have roughly $772 billion in outstanding credit card balances.

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Posts Until Midnight And Many Inbetween


Its another big day for news. One thing is for sure, there's no reason to go anywhere else. Delmarva's News Leader means we're delivering you more real time news and information than ANY other news source in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Alexis Guerrero!

Couple's Web Cam Woes Goes Viral

An elderly couple mistakenly become a YouTube hit after recording themselves trying to use a web cam.

Easy-Bake Loses Its Bulb With 100-Watt Phase-Out

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) - This is not the Easy-Bake Oven you remember.

The latest version of the famous toy oven first marketed in 1963 with a carrying handle and a fake stove top is now all curves and purple and snazzy graphics. And _ perhaps most shocking of all _ it comes with a new instruction: No light bulb necessary.

Chalk it up as an unintended consequence of the federal government's move to phase out the incandescent light bulb. The compact fluorescents that are becoming the new standard for household use are so energy efficient that they're useless in baking a brownie _ or any of the other miniature treats the Easy-Bake has been cooking up for nearly 50 years.

Initially, news of the death of the 100-watt bulb prompted rumors that the Easy-Bake might be going the same way. Instead, the toy got its 11th redesign, at the heart of which is a new heating element much like that of a traditional oven.

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Wal-Mart Launches Initiatives To Support Women

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, is launching measures Wednesday that it says will help out women around the world in the next five years.

The retailer said it will spend $20 billion over that period on goods and services from U.S. businesses owned by women. It also plans to double the amount it pays women-run suppliers overseas, though it didn't give a total.

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Republican Upset Win In N.Y. May Be Bad Omen For Obama

(CNN) -- Republican Bob Turner on Tuesday won the special election in New York's heavily Democratic ninth congressional district -- pulling a huge upset that few would have predicted just months ago.

Turner ran against Democrat David Weprin in a heated, summer-long race that ignited Democratic fears of a quiet election morphing into a referendum on the party and President Barack Obama, ahead of next year's elections.

"We've asked the people of this district to send a message to Washington, and I hope they hear it loud and clear," Turner said at his election party in Queens with a packed room, many of them Orthodox Jews.

"Mr. President, you are on the wrong track."

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Fill In The Blank 9-14-11

I did ____ on the Birthday I turned legal drinking age.