Senate President Mike Miller is always a source of provocative quotes. And so he was at Thursday’s Maryland Chamber of Commerce policy conference in Cambridge. As usual, he led off with some amusing stories. Some of them might even be true.
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Monday, November 07, 2011
Wicomico County Sheriff's Office Press Releases 11-7-11
Incident: Theft
Date of Incident: 5 November 2011
Location: 23000 block of Marsh Road, Mardela Springs, MD
Suspect: Kevin James Kolb, 34, Salisbury, MD
Narrative: On 5 November 2011 a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office investigated the theft of prescription medication from inside a business establishment. The deputy learned that a man later identified as Kevin Kolb was present for the purpose of cleaning the carpets inside the building. After Kolb left, prescription medication turned up missing. A review of the surveillance video inside the establishment showed Kolb pick the medication up from the counter and put it in his pocket.
The investigating deputy obtained a warrant for Kolb’s arrest and located him the following day. Upon arrest, Kolb was taken to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, Kolb was released on Personal Recognizance.
Charges: Theft
Incident: Assault
Date of Incident: 5 November 2011
Location: 23000 block of Ocean Gateway, Mardela Springs, MD
Suspect: Dustin E. Walker, 30, Mardela Springs, MD
Narrative: On 5 November 2011 at 6:15 PM a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office responded for a problem at a residence in the 23000 block of Mardela Springs. Upon arrival the deputy learned that Dustin Walker had been involved in an altercation with his parents inside the residence when Dustin allegedly exited from the kitchen brandishing two knives and asked his father if he wanted to “say something now.” According to the father, he took defensive action to prevent himself from being cut with the knives. During this, Dustin’s mother attempted to call 911 but Dustin grabbed the phone from her hand. When she attempted to use another phone, he also grabbed that phone and tore the cord out.
The responding deputy placed Dustin under arrest and transported him to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Dustin in the Detention Center in lieu of $74,000.00 bond.
Charges: Assault 1st Degree
Assault 2nd Degree
Reckless Endangerment
Incident: Vandalism
Date of Incident: 5 November 2011
Location: 2700 block of Church Street, Whitehaven, MD
Suspect: David M. Sisk, 49, Whitehaven, MD
Narrative: On 5 November 2011 a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office investigated an act of vandalism that occurred in Whitehaven the previous evening. The deputy met with a victim who showed the deputy a broken out rear window and a punctured tire on a vehicle. The victim recounted to the deputy that the victim had been involved in a verbal altercation with a neighbor just prior to the infliction of the damage. The deputy interviewed the neighbor, David Sisk, who ultimately admitted to causing the damage.
The investigating deputy obtained a warrant for the arrest of Sisk who was arrested the following day. Upon arrest and transport to the Central Booking Unit, Sisk was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner released Sisk on Personal Recognizance.
Charges: Malicious Destruc
tion of Property (2 counts)
Date of Incident: 5 November 2011
Location: 23000 block of Marsh Road, Mardela Springs, MD
Suspect: Kevin James Kolb, 34, Salisbury, MD
Narrative: On 5 November 2011 a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office investigated the theft of prescription medication from inside a business establishment. The deputy learned that a man later identified as Kevin Kolb was present for the purpose of cleaning the carpets inside the building. After Kolb left, prescription medication turned up missing. A review of the surveillance video inside the establishment showed Kolb pick the medication up from the counter and put it in his pocket.
The investigating deputy obtained a warrant for Kolb’s arrest and located him the following day. Upon arrest, Kolb was taken to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, Kolb was released on Personal Recognizance.
Charges: Theft
Incident: Assault
Date of Incident: 5 November 2011
Location: 23000 block of Ocean Gateway, Mardela Springs, MD
Suspect: Dustin E. Walker, 30, Mardela Springs, MD
Narrative: On 5 November 2011 at 6:15 PM a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office responded for a problem at a residence in the 23000 block of Mardela Springs. Upon arrival the deputy learned that Dustin Walker had been involved in an altercation with his parents inside the residence when Dustin allegedly exited from the kitchen brandishing two knives and asked his father if he wanted to “say something now.” According to the father, he took defensive action to prevent himself from being cut with the knives. During this, Dustin’s mother attempted to call 911 but Dustin grabbed the phone from her hand. When she attempted to use another phone, he also grabbed that phone and tore the cord out.
The responding deputy placed Dustin under arrest and transported him to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Dustin in the Detention Center in lieu of $74,000.00 bond.
Charges: Assault 1st Degree
Assault 2nd Degree
Reckless Endangerment
Incident: Vandalism
Date of Incident: 5 November 2011
Location: 2700 block of Church Street, Whitehaven, MD
Suspect: David M. Sisk, 49, Whitehaven, MD
Narrative: On 5 November 2011 a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office investigated an act of vandalism that occurred in Whitehaven the previous evening. The deputy met with a victim who showed the deputy a broken out rear window and a punctured tire on a vehicle. The victim recounted to the deputy that the victim had been involved in a verbal altercation with a neighbor just prior to the infliction of the damage. The deputy interviewed the neighbor, David Sisk, who ultimately admitted to causing the damage.
The investigating deputy obtained a warrant for the arrest of Sisk who was arrested the following day. Upon arrest and transport to the Central Booking Unit, Sisk was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner released Sisk on Personal Recognizance.
Charges: Malicious Destruc
tion of Property (2 counts)
JCPenney's Black Friday Ad Is Out
If you want to see what kind of deals JCPenney is offering for the Black Friday sale this year, their entire 72-page ad just got uploaded.
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Sharon Bialek Accuses Cain Of "Sexually Inappropriate" Behavior
A Chicago woman accused Herman Cain on Monday of trying to get sexual favors more than a decade ago in exchange for his help finding her a new job just after she had lost her post at an arm of the restaurant association he was then running.
The woman, Sharon Bialek, is the fourth woman who has accused Cain of sexually inappropriate behavior in the late 1990s and the first to go public with her charges. She outlined her story at a high-profile New York City press conference at the Friars Club.
The woman, Sharon Bialek, is the fourth woman who has accused Cain of sexually inappropriate behavior in the late 1990s and the first to go public with her charges. She outlined her story at a high-profile New York City press conference at the Friars Club.
Ron Paul Wins Yet Another Straw Poll. So Why Are The Media Ignoring Him?
Ron Paul won a straw poll in Illinois Saturday, the latest in a string of such wins for the GOP presidential hopeful. Supporters say the mainstream media are ignoring him, but such polls are not scientific and they can favor an enthusiastic following like Paul's.
Ron Paul won another Republican straw poll this weekend, in Illinois this time.
It’s starting to become routine for Mr. Paul, points out The State Column, an online source of state political news:
“Paul has consistently demonstrated his ability to rally his supporters to straw polls throughout the nation. Paul took second place in the Ames Straw Poll in August, finishing just 1 percentage point behind Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Paul won a Values Voter Summit straw poll in October and a California Republican Party straw poll in September. On Saturday, October 22, Paul garnered 53 percent of the votes to win an Ohio GOP poll. Last weekend, Paul won an Iowa straw poll at the National Federation of Republican Assemblies in Des Moines, Iowa with 82 percent of the votes.”
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Ron Paul won another Republican straw poll this weekend, in Illinois this time.
It’s starting to become routine for Mr. Paul, points out The State Column, an online source of state political news:
“Paul has consistently demonstrated his ability to rally his supporters to straw polls throughout the nation. Paul took second place in the Ames Straw Poll in August, finishing just 1 percentage point behind Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Paul won a Values Voter Summit straw poll in October and a California Republican Party straw poll in September. On Saturday, October 22, Paul garnered 53 percent of the votes to win an Ohio GOP poll. Last weekend, Paul won an Iowa straw poll at the National Federation of Republican Assemblies in Des Moines, Iowa with 82 percent of the votes.”
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Hero Claim Rejected, Iowa Mom Guilty Of Murder
(AP) FORT DODGE, Iowa - An Iowa jury convicted a woman Monday of murder in the 2001 death of her 20-year-old neighbor, rejecting her claim that she shot him to protect herself and her three children during a home invasion.
Prosecutors maintained there was no home invasion and Tracey Richter, now 45, killed Dustin Wehde to keep him quiet about his role in a convoluted plot to frame her ex-husband. They said Richter lured Wehde to her home in Early in December 2001, had him write in a pink notebook that her ex-husband hired him to kill her and her son and then shot him nine times with two guns.
Prosecutors maintained there was no home invasion and Tracey Richter, now 45, killed Dustin Wehde to keep him quiet about his role in a convoluted plot to frame her ex-husband. They said Richter lured Wehde to her home in Early in December 2001, had him write in a pink notebook that her ex-husband hired him to kill her and her son and then shot him nine times with two guns.
OCEAN CITY POLICE COLLECT 26.5 POUNDS OF MEDICATION DURING OPERATION
The Ocean City Police Department’s recent participation in “Operation Medicine Drop” proved to be a success, yielding 26.5 pounds of medicine at the Ocean City location.
Joining officials from the Worcester County Sheriff's Office, Worcester County Health Department, Berlin Police Department and Assateague Coastal Trust/Coastkeeper, a total of 205 lbs of unused and expired medications was collected in Worcester County alone.
Operation Medicine Drop, which took place on October 29, 2011at six different locations in Worcester County, was part of the Fall National Drug Take Back Day. The bi-annual event, which last took place in the spring 2011, is a federal program which unites the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) with state and local law enforcement to encourage citizens to properly dispose of their prescription drugs.
“Operation Medicine Drop is a great opportunity to get unwanted, unused and expired prescription medication out of people’s cabinets and off of the streets,” commented Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino. “Not only does this event provide the public with an opportunity to safely dispose of unused medications, but it also keeps unused prescription drugs out of the hands of persons who shouldn’t have them, as well as out of
Maryland coastal bays and waterways.”
The October 29th event, which was the second local effort in Worcester County, saw an increase of over 70 pounds of unused pharmaceuticals since the spring 2011 event.
Worcester County’s “Operation Medicine Drop” partner agencies and groups look forward to a spring event in 2012 and will announce the date and locations as soon as a spring 2012 National Drug Take Back Day is announced by federal agencies.
Joining officials from the Worcester County Sheriff's Office, Worcester County Health Department, Berlin Police Department and Assateague Coastal Trust/Coastkeeper, a total of 205 lbs of unused and expired medications was collected in Worcester County alone.
Operation Medicine Drop, which took place on October 29, 2011at six different locations in Worcester County, was part of the Fall National Drug Take Back Day. The bi-annual event, which last took place in the spring 2011, is a federal program which unites the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) with state and local law enforcement to encourage citizens to properly dispose of their prescription drugs.
“Operation Medicine Drop is a great opportunity to get unwanted, unused and expired prescription medication out of people’s cabinets and off of the streets,” commented Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino. “Not only does this event provide the public with an opportunity to safely dispose of unused medications, but it also keeps unused prescription drugs out of the hands of persons who shouldn’t have them, as well as out of
Maryland coastal bays and waterways.”
The October 29th event, which was the second local effort in Worcester County, saw an increase of over 70 pounds of unused pharmaceuticals since the spring 2011 event.
Worcester County’s “Operation Medicine Drop” partner agencies and groups look forward to a spring event in 2012 and will announce the date and locations as soon as a spring 2012 National Drug Take Back Day is announced by federal agencies.
Effects Of Physical Discipline Linger For Adults
(CNN) -- Tara grew up thinking that spankings or a smack on the arm were normal punishments for breaking a plate or playing her music too loudly. She never knew what would set her father off, and her mother never intervened, so she did her best to avoid him, walking on eggshells whenever he was around.
Equality Or Diversity? Which One Do Leftists Want?
You can't have both
For the last couple or so decades the universities and colleges where I have taught – and by all accounts, most of them in the USA – have had two mutually exclusive social objectives. (Yes, Virginia, higher education is now mostly embarked upon pursuing social policies, not so much educating students.) These two are equality and diversity.
On the one hand, there is a big push toward eliminating any kind of inequality in the way students are being regarded and treated. Everyone is equal, just as Barrack Obama's Vice President Joseph Biden insisted in one of his rallying cries. As he put it in the course of a moving eulogy for his mother (according to the Associated Press), "My mother's creed is the American creed: No one is better than you," he said. "Everyone is your equal, and everyone is equal to you. My parents taught us to live our faith, and to treasure our families. We learned the dignity of work, and we were told that anyone can make it if they just try hard enough."
Of course, Mr. Biden didn't mean we are all equal today or will be tomorrow. What he meant is that in a rightly ordered world, one ruled by him and his associates, there would be total equality among human beings, on the model of, say, ants in their colony (excepting the chief ant, of course, just as this would be and has been the case with any large-scale egalitarian experiment). I am not exaggerating. Just go and read Vice President Biden's comment in full (here) and check out the many very prominently published books on the issue denouncing such dastardly inequalities, among others, as being more beautiful than someone else. Take, for example, Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth from the 1980s and the recently published work of Deborah L. Rhode, The Beauty Bias (2010).
But at the same time that the push for full equality among people is carried out with official support, we also find widespread academic support for the idea of diversity – an idea that assumes, of course, that people aren't the same at all but quite different – so our various prominent institutions must be inclusive of widely different people.
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For the last couple or so decades the universities and colleges where I have taught – and by all accounts, most of them in the USA – have had two mutually exclusive social objectives. (Yes, Virginia, higher education is now mostly embarked upon pursuing social policies, not so much educating students.) These two are equality and diversity.
On the one hand, there is a big push toward eliminating any kind of inequality in the way students are being regarded and treated. Everyone is equal, just as Barrack Obama's Vice President Joseph Biden insisted in one of his rallying cries. As he put it in the course of a moving eulogy for his mother (according to the Associated Press), "My mother's creed is the American creed: No one is better than you," he said. "Everyone is your equal, and everyone is equal to you. My parents taught us to live our faith, and to treasure our families. We learned the dignity of work, and we were told that anyone can make it if they just try hard enough."
Of course, Mr. Biden didn't mean we are all equal today or will be tomorrow. What he meant is that in a rightly ordered world, one ruled by him and his associates, there would be total equality among human beings, on the model of, say, ants in their colony (excepting the chief ant, of course, just as this would be and has been the case with any large-scale egalitarian experiment). I am not exaggerating. Just go and read Vice President Biden's comment in full (here) and check out the many very prominently published books on the issue denouncing such dastardly inequalities, among others, as being more beautiful than someone else. Take, for example, Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth from the 1980s and the recently published work of Deborah L. Rhode, The Beauty Bias (2010).
But at the same time that the push for full equality among people is carried out with official support, we also find widespread academic support for the idea of diversity – an idea that assumes, of course, that people aren't the same at all but quite different – so our various prominent institutions must be inclusive of widely different people.
More
Life Is Grand On Wall Street
The largest banks are larger today than when Obama took office and are returning to the level of profits they were making before the depths of the financial crisis in 2008, according to government data. Wall Street firms — either independent companies or the high-flying trading arms of banks — are doing even better. They’ve made more profit in the first 2½ years of the Obama administration than they did during the entire Bush administration, industry data show
DYING FOR A TAX REFUND
Little-known federal database helping crooks profit from deceased
ISAAC WOLF and THOMAS HARGROVE, Scripps Howard News ServiceWASHINGTON — A little-known but widely used federal database meant to protect Americans from fraud has itself become a major source of mischief and misery.
Crooks are pocketing fraudulent tax refunds after filing returns with personal information about recently deceased people found in the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, which is widely available on the Internet, federal authorities and consumer experts say.
The Internal Revenue Service — citing data it is making public for the first time at the request of Scripps Howard News Service — estimates that tax filers improperly submitted 350,000 returns on dead Americans this tax season, improperly seeking $1.25 billion in refunds.
Parents who recently lost a child are increasingly targeted by these thieves, experts say. Armed with the deceased child’s Social Security number and other personal information, the crooks falsely claim them as dependents and have the refunds routed to them.
Among the victims is Matt Pilcher of Potomac, Md., who still grieves over the 2010 death of his daughter, Ava, from lung disease following her premature birth. Pilcher’s 2010 income tax filing was rejected by the IRS because someone else claimed Ava as a dependent.
“All we really have is her memory and her name,” Pilcher said. “For someone to try to take that, to steal that, to appropriate that for themselves — it’s beyond reprehensible.”
The Death Master File contains the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of more than 90 million deceased Americans. It is updated every week and can be accessed for free at several genealogy websites.
“We were able to go on a website and found all her information there. The Death Master File is where they (crooks) got that information,” Pilcher said.
A relic of simpler times, the death file was created in 1980 under the new Freedom of Information Act at the request of U.S. businesses seeking a tool against identity theft. In that post-Watergate and pre-Internet era, it seemed like an open-government solution to the rising problem of consumer fraud.
But serious problems stemming from the Death Master File recently have come to light. The Social Security Administration, as part of an investigation by Scripps Howard, acknowledged in June that it accidentally lists about 14,000 living Americans each year in the death database.
People who are inaccurately listed as dead frequently fall into an Orwellian nightmare in which they have trouble getting jobs, opening bank accounts, buying cars, renting apartments, or even purchasing mobile telephones.
But the discovery that the database also has become a major source of tax fraud is an especially troubling wrinkle for federal authorities and consumer protection experts.
There is little grieving parents can do to protect themselves if thieves decide to take their dead child’s name, birthdate and Social Security numbers. Identity crooks need only file for a tax refund before the family can.
“Criminals have found the perfect loophole,” said Joanna Crane, former manager of the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft Program. “It doesn’t give the IRS time to detect that something is wrong. By the time they do, the money is already out the door.”
It’s especially embarrassing that a federal anti-fraud database enables the crimes.
“This is such a mess,” concluded Nikki Junker, a victim adviser for the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center. “Identity theft is growing very quickly. It’s just insane, all of these public sites that are posting this information.”
The Social Security Administration says it is powerless to act.
“The information that is released via the public (Death Master File) is the information that must be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act,” Social Security spokesman Mark Hinkle said. “Congress would need to amend FOIA laws in order for us to limit the amount of information that we are obligated to make public under the law.”
Other federal authorities question whether the law forces the agency to remain so passive.
“If the SSA feels it must ask the court that entered a consent judgment in a 1980 FOIA case to modify the judgment, it should do so,” said Nina Olson, head of the IRS’ internal watchdog office.
The database poses a dilemma for major genealogy firms.
“We understand that there is some sensitivity around this database, which is why we only disclose information provided by the Social Security Administration that has already been made public,” said Heather Erickson, spokeswoman for Ancestry.com, which claims to be the world’s largest genealogy site.
Officials at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) said the federal government does not allow them — or others — to redact Social Security numbers they post on the site they administer, FamilySearch.org.
“By contract, the records received from the Social Security Administration must be posted in their entirety,” said Chief Genealogical Officer David Rencher in Salt Lake City. “This same subscription service is also used by organizations including banks, credit unions and credit bureaus to protect against identity fraud.”
Without directly responding to Rencher’s comment, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Commerce, which distributes the death file, provided a copy of the agreement users must sign. It says users must make regular updates to the “full file” so that it is “up to date with SSA’s records.”
For years, watchdogs have railed on the Death Master File. In a scathing 2008 audit, Social Security’s Inspector General’s Office urged the agency to:
– Wait at least a year before posting private information about deceased Americans. Such a delay would improve the accuracy of the information and decrease its usefulness to tax cheats.
– Limit the amount of information released in the list, especially to “explore alternatives to inclusion of the full” Social Security number.
The audit also addressed concerns about the 14,000 living Americans whose names and SSNs are released each year, saying the agency breaks federal law by releasing that private information. In these cases, the report called on the agency to notify living Americans of the mix-ups.
Social Security officials asked the Inspector General to keep its report secret since it “highlights the issue” that the Death Master File can be used for fraudulent purposes and “could encourage misuse.” The agency agreed to consider the recommendations, but so far, has not enacted any of them.
“While we believe that wider notification (to people at risk) is a piece of that protection, we also believe that narrowing the range of information included in the public release, delaying the public release to allow for corrections, and similar actions are at least as important,” Assistant Inspector General Jonathan Lasher told Scripps Howard.
Lasher said his office earlier issued a new review this year criticizing Social Security for not acting on its recommendations which “are based on concerns that more can be done.”
Pilcher, the Maryland dad, wants policy changes — and justice. Although federal authorities refuse to provide any details about who claimed Ava on their tax return — the IRS says it cannot divulge private information about anyone’s tax filings — Pilcher vowed to find the culprit.
“I don’t care how long it takes,” he said. “I’m going to find out who did it!”
The Magic Of Reality
In an age of wizards and vampires, children need to rediscover the wonder of the real world
Magic has three meanings. There’s the supernatural magic of fairy-tale spells, magic of the kind that can turn a frog into a prince or a pumpkin into a glittering conveyance to his ball. There’s stage magic — conjuring — which is nothing but clever tricks and illusions. And then there’s the magic of a thunderstorm over Grand Canyon, of the Milky Way on a cloudless night far from light pollution or of a scanning electron micrograph of an ant’s face. Or, for that matter, the magic of a lover’s kiss.
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Magic has three meanings. There’s the supernatural magic of fairy-tale spells, magic of the kind that can turn a frog into a prince or a pumpkin into a glittering conveyance to his ball. There’s stage magic — conjuring — which is nothing but clever tricks and illusions. And then there’s the magic of a thunderstorm over Grand Canyon, of the Milky Way on a cloudless night far from light pollution or of a scanning electron micrograph of an ant’s face. Or, for that matter, the magic of a lover’s kiss.
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It’s Looking Like A Ravens Year In The AFC North
Joe Flacco was handed the ball 92 yards away from the end zone, with 2:16 left, needing a touchdown to win in Pittsburgh.
That’s a situation the Steelers defense would gladly sign up for every time.
On this latest Sunday night classic between the Ravens and Steelers, Pittsburgh wasn’t up to the task. The Ravens won 23-20 on Torrey Smith’s 26-yard score with 8 seconds left.
JoePa Didn't Do Enough To Stop Abuse,Official Says
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Football coach Joe Paterno and other Penn State officials didn't do enough to try to stop suspected sexual abuse of children at the hands of a former assistant football coach, the state police commissioner said Monday.
Paterno might have fulfilled his legal requirement to report suspected abuse by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, state police Commissioner Frank Noonan said, "but somebody has to question about what I would consider the moral requirements for a human being that knows of sexual things that are taking place with a child."
Paterno might have fulfilled his legal requirement to report suspected abuse by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, state police Commissioner Frank Noonan said, "but somebody has to question about what I would consider the moral requirements for a human being that knows of sexual things that are taking place with a child."
PUBLIC NOTICE
SPECIAL MEETING SCHEDULED
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 Wednesday, November 9, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. for consideration of a resolution authorizing the mayor to take all action necessary to settle the MTBE litigation, including the execution and delivery of documents and certificates.
This special meeting will be held in Conference Room 306 of the City/County Government Office Building (125 N. Division Street).
Mom, 2 Others Killed Picking Up Daughter's Birthday Cake
What should have been a quick trip to pick up a 2-year-old's birthday cake turned into a triple murder over the weekend, when gunfire tore through three people inside a vehicle outside a Chicago bakery, reports say.
A 17-year-old boy was later arrested but has not yet been charged, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Witnesses said the bullets came from a car that drove past the bakery.
Is Obama Toast? Handicapping The 2012 Election
Americans are usually forgiving when they vote a man into the White House and he wants a second term. Of the last eight elected presidents, all but two — George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter — got their four more years. Which is why the conventional wisdom long held that Barack Obama would most likely weather his midpresidency slump to win another term.
Then came the debt-ceiling debates of July and August, which seemed to crystallize Obama’s vulnerabilities in a way that even the Democrats’ midterm disaster of 2010 did not. It’s probably because he handled the situation so poorly, simultaneously managing to annoy his base, frustrate swing voters, concede a major policy victory to Republicans and — through the fear imported into the market by the brinksmanship in Congress and the credit-rating downgrade that followed — further imperil the economic recovery. On Aug. 12, a week and a half after the debate ended in Congress, Obama’s stock on Intrade, a popular political betting market, dipped below 50 percent for the first time. It has hovered just below the 50 percent threshold, usually at about 48 percent, ever since.
Obama has gone from a modest favorite to win re-election to, probably, a slight underdog. Let’s not oversell this. A couple of months of solid jobs reports, or the selection of a poor Republican opponent, would suffice to make him the favorite again.
The 22-Year-Old Who Led the Charge Against Bank of America
When Bank of America announced that it would charge customers a $5 monthly debit-card fee in late September, it probably did not count on a 22-year-old woman standing in its way. But for Molly Katchpole, a 2011 college graduate who works two part-time jobs in Washington, D.C., and lives paycheck to paycheck, the annual increase of $60 was just plain unacceptable. "I heard the news about the fee and was like, 'That is it. I'm sick of this,' " says the daughter of a Rhode Island machinist and a physical therapist. "On the one hand, they are running a business, but on the other hand, it is people's money they are working with, and some people don't have a lot of money. It's not like they are just selling toothbrushes — it goes much deeper than that."
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Debunking The Iran "Terror Plot"
At a press conference on October 11, the Obama administration unveiled a spectacular charge against the government of Iran: The Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, right in Washington, DC, in a place where large numbers of innocent bystanders could have been killed. High-level officials of the Qods Force were said to be involved, the only question being how far up in the Iranian government the complicity went.
The US tale of the Iranian plot was greeted with unusual skepticism on the part of Iran specialists and independent policy analysts, and even elements of the mainstream media. The critics observed that the alleged assassination scheme was not in Iran’s interest, and that it bore scant resemblance to past operations attributed to the foreign special operations branch of Iranian intelligence. The Qods Force, it was widely believed, would not send a person like Iranian-American used car dealer Manssor Arbabsiar, known to friends in Corpus Christi, Texas as forgetful and disorganized, to hire the hit squad for such a sensitive covert action.
But administration officials claimed they had hard evidence to back up the charge. They cited a 21-page deposition by a supervising FBI agent in the “amended criminal complaint” filed against Arbabsiar and an accomplice who remains at large, Gholam Shakuri. [1] It was all there, the officials insisted: several meetings between Arbabsiar and a man he thought was a member of a leading Mexican drug cartel, Los Zetas, with a reputation for cold-blooded killing; incriminating statements, all secretly recorded, by Arbabsiar and Shakuri, his alleged handler in Tehran; and finally, Arbabsiar’s confession after his arrest, which clearly implicates Qods Force agents in a plan to murder a foreign diplomat on US soil.
Court To Decide On Juvenile Life Terms
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether juveniles convicted of killing someone may be locked up for life with no chance of parole, a follow-up to last year's ruling barring such sentences for teenagers whose crimes do not include killing.
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A Hidden Toll As States Shift To Contract Workers
Grand Rapids, Michigan - Like many states and local governments struggling to cut costs, Michigan hopes to replace some government employees with contract workers who will do the same job for less.
Ginny Townsend, 41, took a job in January as a nursing assistant in the state-run home for veterans here.
Technically, she works for a private company that supplies some employees to the veterans home under a state contract. She makes $10 an hour, about half the wage of the public employees working at the facility.
“I love my job, and I appreciate the opportunity to be here,” Ms. Townsend, a former home health care aide, said on a recent afternoon as she cheerfully delivered fruit and a newspaper to an 85-year-old resident in a sun-drenched solarium.
With the national unemployment rate at roughly 9 percent, Ms. Townsend says she feels lucky just to have a job. But on her low wages, she is barely scraping by. She said she was raising four grandchildren under 11 with her unemployed sister and could not support them without the $300 in food stamps she collects every month.
Now, the state wants to dismiss 170 nursing assistants on the public payroll at the veterans home and replace them with more contract workers like Ms. Townsend, prompting a legal dispute and much personal anguish.
Calling In Sick: 15 Weird Excuses
Claiming your young daughter stole your car is just one of many bizarre excuses to miss work(CareerBuilder.com) -- It's that time of year when the weather gets colder and people start missing work because of illness.
Or because of bats in the hair. Or deer bites. Or from back injuries sustained while chasing a beaver. Yep, these were just some of the excuses people used when calling in to their boss to say that they'd be out for the day.
Today's Top Stories 11-7-11
BLOOMBERG
From alternative fuels to clean air, President Obama’s record is a disappointment to environmentalists, who helped get him elected and now are threatening to sit out his re-election bid in 2012.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou spoke to the main opposition leader today as the two men worked out details of a unity government to secure outside financing and avert a collapse of the country’s economy.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi struggled to hold on to power and prove he can implement austerity measures pledged to European Union allies as reports of his imminent resignation sent Italian stocks surging.
France unveiled tax increases and spending cuts amounting to $9.6 billion for next year to defend its AAA rating as growth slows and Europe’s debt crisis deepens.
Danish firms are entreating banks in the Nordic country to step up their efforts to find funds that can be channeled into corporate lending as a lack of credit threatens to choke business, kill jobs and trigger a recession.
Jefferies Group climbed as much as 8.5 percent after it cut gross holdings in sovereign securities of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain by almost 50 percent since last week’s close of trading to show how easily it can reduce funds at risk.
Canada’s dollar rose to C$1.0158 versus its U.S. counterpart in Toronto as crude oil advanced.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the world’s largest custody bank, is in early stage talks with federal prosecutors to settle accusations the bank overcharged customers for foreign-exchange trading, according to a person briefed on the discussions.
AP Top Stories
The rich aren’t just getting richer, but wealthy older Americans are noticeably better-off than their counterparts from three decades ago in several areas like income, employment, home ownership and housing values.
High-profile discrimination attorney Gloria Allred says another woman has come forward accusing Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain of sexual harassment. The woman would be at least the fourth to accuse Cain.
Nineteen Occupy Atlanta protesters were released from police custody today after a raucous night of protesting, in which protesters skirmished with cops in riot gear, on horseback and on motorcycles.
New laws requiring voters to show photo identification are set to take effect in Kansas, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. And Democrats, who as a party are staunchly opposed to voter ID laws, are already ramping up their efforts to combat the new laws.
The Israeli military says it opened fire at a group of militants planting explosives along Gaza's border with Israel. Tank shrapnel wounded three Palestinians, one of whom was in critical condition.
Ron Paul won another Republican straw poll this weekend, in Illinois this time.
In Connecticut, about 50,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity by Monday morning, nine days after the storm.
People's visits to fast-food joints increased along with their incomes, and that poor people were spending fewer dollars on fast food than lower-middle and middle-income Americans.
Derivatives exchange ICE said it would launch its new Brent crude oil futures and options contract on December 5 with a first trading contract of December 2012 rather than February 2013 as initially proposed.
Older Americans Are 47 Times Richer Than Young
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Older Americans are now 47 times richer than the youngest generation, marking the largest wealth gap ever recorded between the two age groups.
In 2009, households headed by adults 65 years and older held a median net worth of $170,494, while households headed by adults 35 years and younger held a net worth of $3,662, according to a report by the Pew Research Center.
Why Athletes Can't Have Regular Jobs
1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me."
2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."
3. And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the 'Skin's say: "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl," Matt Millen of the Raiders said: "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too."
4. Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treat us like mens. He let us wear earrings.."
5. Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
6. Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh : "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes."
7. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height.." And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, and then line up in a circle."
8. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton .."
9. Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes."
10. Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regimen of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning, regardless of what time it is."
11. Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt.
12. Frank Layden , Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I asked him, 'Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.'"
13. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."
14. In the words of NC State great Charles Shackelford: "I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious."
15. Former Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she's too damn ugly to kiss good-bye."
Judge Blocks Graphic Images on Cigarette Packs
A judge on Monday blocked a federal requirement that would have begun forcing tobacco companies next year to put graphic images on their cigarette packages to show the dangers of smoking.
BREAKING NEWS: Jackson's Doctor Guilty Of Manslaughter
Dr. Conrad Murray found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in death of pop star Michael Jackson
From Fox News
From Fox News
SALISBURY CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA
NOVEMBER 9, 2011
6:15 P.M.
CONFERENCE ROOM 306
GOVERNMENT OFFICE BUILDING
Continuing discussion of Board of Zoning Appeals procedures – Paul Wilber/Bill Holland/Tom Stevenson/Jack Lenox
Continuing discussion of rental inspection program – Tom Stevenson
General discussion/upcoming agendas
Adjournment
WBOC Says Business Is Up 7%
Unfortunately, I just took the above business images minutes ago showing two more businesses closing their doors. From what I could see, the Bike Shop is already gone, unfortunately.
Look, if you want to consider WBOC Delmarva's News Leader, well, you go right ahead. In my opinion they're clueless at the top. It's a shame to see this happening in Salisbury but it is reality.
Duo Charged In Lincoln Home Invasion Style Robbery
Location:
· 8000 block of Flounder Drive, Lincoln, DE
Date of Occurrence:
· Saturday, November 5, 2011 12:10 a.m.
Victim:
· 25 year old male from Lincoln, DE
Defendants/Charges/Bond Information:
· Daniel L. Hunter-22 of Frederica, DE
· Robbery First Degree
· Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (2 counts)
· Burglary First Degree
· Conspiracy Second Degree
· Criminal Mischief
· Hunter- Committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $150,000 Cash Bond.
Resume:
Lincoln-Delaware State Police Detectives have charged a Felton woman and Frederica man in connection with a contrived set up style home invasion that took place early Saturday morning on November 5, 2011.
Delaware State Police Detectives have charged Tiffany L. Huntenburg-19 and Daniel L. Hunter with a total of 12 charges related to Robbery First Degree, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (2 counts), Burglary First Degree, Conspiracy Second Degree, and Criminal Mischief. Huntenburg was committed to Baylor Women’s Correctional Center on $50,750 Cash Bond and Hunter was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $150,000 Cash Bond.
The incident started on Friday, November 4, 2011 at approximately 11:45 p.m. when the 25 year old male victim received a phone call from an acquaintance identified as Tiffany Huntenburg. Both made plans and agreed for Huntenburg to watch a movie at the victim’s house later that evening. Approximately 25 minutes later, on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 12:10 a.m., Huntenburg arrived at the victim’s residence located in the 8000 block of Flounder Drive, Lincoln, DE. When the victim opened the door to let her in, he was greeted by Daniel L. Hunter who was armed with a handgun, with Huntenburg standing behind him. Hunter forced his way through the door and into the house, pointing the handgun at the victim’s head, demanded his wallet in which the victim complied. Hunter then threw the victim onto a bed and rifled through his pockets. During the struggle, the victim attempted to use his cell phone. Hunter struck the victim in the head with the handgun, taking the cell phone and breaking it. Hunter then demanded the victim’s “Percocet” prescription medication. It was determined that Huntenburg had knowledge that the victim possessed the medication and had given this information to Hunter. Hunter continued to ransack the residence and then he and Huntenburg fled on foot with the victim’s bottle of Percocet prescription medication and wallet that contained an undisclosed amount of cash. The victim received minor injuries as a result of the assault, but declined medical treatment at the scene. The victim was able to identify both Huntenburg and Hunter as the assailants.
Detectives continued their investigation and on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at approximately 3:00 p.m. were able to locate Hunter at a residence in Frederica, and Huntenburg at a residence in Harrington. Both were taken into custody without incident. Detectives continue their investigation into this incident.
The Business of 'Murderabilia': Websites Selling Murder Memorabilia
Have you ever wanted to own a lock of Charles Manson's hair? Or a painting by John Wayne Gacy?
Probably not, but for those who have, there are six websites in the United States currently selling "murderabilia," or murder memorabilia, from almost any killer imaginable.
Can My Job Only Pay Me For 8 Hours Instead Of 9 Because Of Daylight Saving Time?
A man says that he worked on Sunday, and, because of daylight saving time, his boss only wants to pay him for 8 hours instead of the 9 he worked. Is this legal?
More »
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Iran On Brink Of Nuclear Capability, Report Says
ntelligence provided to U.N. nuclear officials shows that Iran's government has mastered the critical steps needed to build a nuclear weapon, receiving assistance from foreign scientists to overcome key technical hurdles, according to Western diplomats and nuclear experts briefed on the findings.
Georgia Mayor Sues City Over Hike In Water And Sewer Rates
The mayor of East Point, Ga., is suing her city over a water and sewer utility rate increase that will cost most households an average $47 more per month.
Mayor Earnestine Pittman told MyFoxAtlanta that she is trying to help residents who can't afford a major rate increase.
"I stand with the people when the city errs, and in this instance they have made a great error," she said.
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Mayor Earnestine Pittman told MyFoxAtlanta that she is trying to help residents who can't afford a major rate increase.
"I stand with the people when the city errs, and in this instance they have made a great error," she said.
More
Salisbury Settles MTBE Lawsuit For $900,000.00
While most, (if not all) of you were unaware the City was participating in a class action lawsuit, one well in the City that was shut down in November of 2010 had a reportable level of MTBE. 20 Cities across the country participated in the class action suit against Big Oil Companies in which they added a chemical, (MTBE) to gasoline. Mind you, every one of you should be aware that while there was a reportable contamination level in just one well, the numbers were hardly something to be afraid of.
If a person drank 2 liters of water containing 2 parts per billion (ppb) of MTBE every day, it would take 46 years to consume one drop of MTBE. The City well that was shut down only supplied 33% of the drinking water in the City.
The cause was based on underground storage tanks as service stations and contaminated groundwater throughout the United States. The City has in place new filters that will trap the MTBE's and are adding to their filter system with funds from this lawsuit.
Although the settlement was for $900,000.00, the City's portion after attorney fees will be $700,000.00. To prove his confidence in the new filtration system, Mayor Ireton took a glass and filled it with water directly from the well at the Zoo and Ben's Red Swings and guzzled it down without hesitation.
The long and short of this is, your drinking water is safe and the City got on a free roller coaster ride and walked away with $700,000.00 and in my honest opinion, I'm proud of Wilber and Ireton for taking advantage of a good situation to relieve taxpayers while providing even more safety measures for the City's drinking water.
BREAKING NEWS: Verdict Reached In Trial Of Michael Jackson's Doctor
Jury in involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray reaches verdict, due to be read at 4 p.m. ET
From Fox News
From Fox News
Rt. 13 Shut Down North And South For The Moment
PUBLIC NOTICE
The work session will be held in Conference Room 306 of the Government Office Building (125 N. Division Street) for continuing discussion of 1) Board of Zoning (BZA) procedures and 2) rental inspection program.
Multiple #OccupyDC Protesters Hit by Car: DC Police Admit They Only Interviewed Two 'Non-Involved' Witnesses
Many thanks to Adam Green for getting this video together.
I was at this press conference last night with the Assistant DC Police Chief.
The Sippel Family, two mothers, one pregnant and their 13-year-old son in from Dayton, Ohio were mowed down by a driver near a Koch brothers protest at their Americans for Prosperity conference in DC on Friday night. They were taken to the hospital where they were issued citations (while being wheeled into a CT scan) for going against the "don't walk" sign and obstructing an intersection. The driver of the car was let go with nocitations at all.
Oklahoma Man Walking Billboard For The Mother Road
TULSA, Oklahoma -- One of Oklahoma's own has taken body art to a new level. Ron Jones turned his skin into a walking billboard of sorts for the Mother road.
"My first tattoo was the Route 66 shield with part of the highway running through it. What the second was, I couldn't tell ya. After you get so many you lose track," Ron said.
Wisconsin Reborn
Remember the violent and disgusting demonstrations over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker doing away with collective bargaining for Teacher's unions? The results are in. Some school districts went from a $400,000 deficit to a $1,500,000 surplus as a result. They are even hiring new teachers, not firing like the Liberals said would happen. Why?
It seems that the insurance company that provided all the "so-called" benefits to the teachers was an insurance company owned and operated by the teacher's union. Since the outfit was guaranteed to get the insurance business from the teachers, and the State had to pay for it (not the teachers) the insurance company was increasing annual costs every single year to become the most expensive insurance company in the state. Then the company was donating millions and millions of dollars to its favorite democrat politicians who, when they got elected, guaranteed to keep funding the union's outrageous costs. In other words, the insurance company was a "pass through" for Wisconsin taxpayer money directly to the democrat politicians.
Nice racket, and this is the racket that is going on in every single State that allows collective bargaining. No wonder the States are taking it away. Now the State of Wisconsin is free to put the insurance contract out for bids and, lo and behold, they have saved so much money it has turned deficits into surplus amounts. As a result, none of the teachers had to be laid off, everyone got a raise, etc., etc., and the taxpayers of Wisconsin don't have to pay more taxes to fund the union's political ambitions.
If you weren't aware of the reasons Gov. Walker was fighting to take away collective bargaining, it gives you an idea of the problem the Republican Party has. Outside of one or two, none of them know how to speak up and explain properly what the problem was. We could sure use a Ronald Reagan now, someone who could explain things for people to understand, since we know that people don't like to read anymore.
Here is the article: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/07/wisconsin-schools-buck-union-cut-health-costs
It seems that the insurance company that provided all the "so-called" benefits to the teachers was an insurance company owned and operated by the teacher's union. Since the outfit was guaranteed to get the insurance business from the teachers, and the State had to pay for it (not the teachers) the insurance company was increasing annual costs every single year to become the most expensive insurance company in the state. Then the company was donating millions and millions of dollars to its favorite democrat politicians who, when they got elected, guaranteed to keep funding the union's outrageous costs. In other words, the insurance company was a "pass through" for Wisconsin taxpayer money directly to the democrat politicians.
Nice racket, and this is the racket that is going on in every single State that allows collective bargaining. No wonder the States are taking it away. Now the State of Wisconsin is free to put the insurance contract out for bids and, lo and behold, they have saved so much money it has turned deficits into surplus amounts. As a result, none of the teachers had to be laid off, everyone got a raise, etc., etc., and the taxpayers of Wisconsin don't have to pay more taxes to fund the union's political ambitions.
If you weren't aware of the reasons Gov. Walker was fighting to take away collective bargaining, it gives you an idea of the problem the Republican Party has. Outside of one or two, none of them know how to speak up and explain properly what the problem was. We could sure use a Ronald Reagan now, someone who could explain things for people to understand, since we know that people don't like to read anymore.
Here is the article: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/07/wisconsin-schools-buck-union-cut-health-costs
Fast Food's Biggest Customer: Not The Poor, But The Middle Class
Contrary to popular wisdom, eating at McDonald's isn't exactly cheap, costing some $28 for a family of four. Which might help explain the results of a recent study from the University of California, Davis, which found that people's visits to fast-food joints increased along with their incomes, and that poor people were spending fewer dollars on fast food than lower-middle and middle-income Americans.
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Wilson Proposes Easing Requirements On Builders
GEORGETOWN — At least one Sussex County councilman wants to amend the performance bond process that ensures developers finish infrastructure work and amenities.
At the Nov. 1 meeting, Councilman Sam Wilson, R-Georgetown, introduced an ordinance that would allow developers to construct improvements without a bond under the condition that no building permits or property transfers be issued until all work was completed. In addition, if a developer had completed only part of the improvements, they would have the option to obtain bonding to complete the work so lots could be sold and building permits issued.
Main Street Gym Fights A Huge Success Again
If you went you enjoyed a full evening of fights with exciting results. The Main Street Gym is one of those quiet gems in our community. Fernando and Alex Guerrero were there coaching these young men and women.
Give credit where credit is due. Pohanka and Robinson's Family Businesses were the key sponsors to this event and it couldn't have been the success that it was without them.
Some Belated Parental Advice To Protesters
Marybeth Hicks
Columnist
The Washington Times
Columnist
The Washington Times
Oct 20, 2011
Call it an occupational hazard, but I can’t look at the Occupy Wall Street protesters without thinking, “Who parented these people?”
As a culture columnist, I’ve commented on the social and political ramifications of the “movement” - now known as “OWS” - whose fairyland agenda can be summarized by one of their placards: “Everything for everybody.
Thanks to their pipe-dream platform, it’s clear there are people with serious designs on “transformational” change in America who are using the protesters like bedsprings in a brothel.
Yet it’s not my role as a commentator that prompts my parenting question, but rather the fact that I’m the mother of four teens and young adults. There are some crucial life lessons that the protesters’ moms clearly have not passed along.
Here, then, are five things the OWS protesters’ mothers should have taught their children but obviously didn’t, so I will:
• Life isn’t fair. The concept of justice - that everyone should be treated fairly - is a worthy and worthwhile moral imperative on which our nation was founded. But justice and economic equality are not the same. Or, as Mick Jagger said, “You can’t always get what you want.”
No matter how you try to “level the playing field,” some people have better luck, skills, talents or connections that land them in better places. Some seem to have all the advantages in life but squander them, others play the modest hand they’re dealt and make up the difference in hard work and perseverance, and some find jobs on Wall Street and eventually buy houses in the Hamptons . Is it fair? Stupid question.
• Nothing is “free.” Protesting with signs that seek “free” college degrees and “free” health care make you look like idiots, because colleges and hospitals don’t operate on rainbows and sunshine. There is no magic money machine to tap for your meandering educational careers and “slow paths” to adulthood, and the 53 percent of taxpaying Americans owe you neither a degree nor an annual physical.
While I’m pointing out this obvious fact, here are a few other things that are not free: overtime for police officers and municipal workers, trash hauling, repairs to fixtures and property, condoms, Band-Aids and the food that inexplicably appears on the tables in your makeshift protest kitchens. Real people with real dollars are underwriting your civic temper tantrum.
• Your word is your bond. When you demonstrate to eliminate student loan debt, you are advocating precisely the lack of integrity you decry in others. Loans are made based on solemn promises to repay them. No one forces you to borrow money; you are free to choose educational pursuits that don’t require loans, or to seek technical or vocational training that allows you to support yourself and your ongoing educational goals. Also, for the record, being a college student is not a state of victimization. It’s a privilege that billions of young people around the globe would die for - literally.
• A protest is not a party. On Saturday in New York , while making a mad dash from my cab to the door of my hotel to avoid you, I saw what isn’t evident in the newsreel footage of your demonstrations: Most of you are doing this only for attention and fun. Serious people in a sober pursuit of social and political change don’t dance jigs down Sixth Avenue like attendees of a Renaissance festival. You look foolish, you smell gross, you are clearly high and you don’t seem to realize that all around you are people who deem you irrelevant.
• There are reasons you haven’t found jobs. The truth? Your tattooed necks, gauged ears, facial piercings and dirty dreadlocks are off-putting. Nonconformity for the sake of nonconformity isn’t a virtue. Occupy reality: Only 4 percent of college graduates are out of work. If you are among that 4 percent, find a mirror and face the problem. It’s not them. It’s you.
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