DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
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Friday, November 25, 2011
Twilight ‘Breaking Dawn’ Scene Allegedly Causing Seizures
Explosion In Lebanon Destroys Hizbullah Facility Said To Contain Missiles
Lebanese security sources said a Hizbullah arsenal outside the southern port city of Tyre was blown up on Nov. 23. The sources said the
facility was believed to contain hundreds of missiles and rockets for the Hizbullah military.
“Given these findings, the explosion was most likely caused by a mine or a cluster bomb,” the Lebanese Army said on Nov. 23.
Hizbullah responded quickly to the blast and sealed off the Tyre-area village of Sidiqin. Lebanese security forces and United Nations
peacekeepers stood hundreds of meters away and watched the Hizbullah cleanup. Later, Hizbullah denied that its facility was bombed.
This marked the second major blast of a Hizbullah facility in three months. In July, an explosion rocked Hizbullah headquarters in a suburb of
Beirut.
Hizbullah has usually blamed Israel for the explosions. The Israeli military has been monitoring the Hizbullah buildup in southern and eastern
Lebanon, said to have resulted in an arsenal of more than 50,000 missiles.
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4 Tips To Snagging Cyber Monday Deals Online
Israeli Civil Defense Exercise To Simulate Bio-weapons Attack
The Defense Ministry has approved an exercise in northern Israel meant to defend against a biological or chemical weapons attack from Lebanon or
Syria. The two-day exercise, called Orange Flame-6, would seek to coordinate between military and civilian authorities.
“Exercise Orange Flame-6 will take place as part of a number of exercises in the field of unconventional terrorism,” the Defense Ministry said on Nov. 22.
The statement said the exercise, scheduled for Nov. 30 through Dec. 1, would simulate the outbreak of a biological weapons attack meant to spread an unspecified contagious disease in four cities in northern Israel. During the drill, the Defense Ministry, responsible for protection against any weapons of mass destruction attack, would work with the Health Ministry to identify the threat and counter any epidemic.
“The aim of the exercise is to improve and increase the capabilities of the state of Israel to handle an unconventional terror attack,” Deputy Defense Minister Zev Snir said. “It is important that Israeli citizens know that there are people in the defense establishment, as well as the other relevant authorities, whose permanent job is to prepare the state of Israel to handle these types of threats.”
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Keeping Your Tail Warm At Your Tailgate
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow can stop a postal worker, but they will drop a tailgate dead in its tracks. Cold weather, though, can be manageable. The chef has an obvious advantage while quarterbacking the grill, but what do you do if you’re a role player on the tailgate roster?
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Newt: There's No Amnesty In My Plan
"There is no path to citizenship in my Tuesday night comment on immigration," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Newsmax. "There is a path to non-deportation for certified, very long-term community members but they would not have the right to vote.
Gingrich's latest comments, contained in a statement released to Newsmax, came in response to a charge from Rep. Michele Bachmann that he was advocating citizenship for illegals. It was the latest attack on the plan by a GOP presidential contender.
"He's saying that all people who are here as illegal workers would be given that status, that's over 11 million people who are here," Bachmann said on Fox News.
But when a reporter challenged her with Gingrich's actual position, which applies only to those who have been here for "decades," Bachmann said Gingrich had previously advocated blanket amnesty.
"That would be a contradiction of the statement that the speaker made earlier," Bachmann said. "That's two different statements that the speaker is making."
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Pepper Spray Nation
The details may differ between Davis and Cairo, but the underlying struggle is fundamentally the same: It is not just youth against age, freedom against repression, innocence against cynicism, hope against fear, dreams against nightmares - it is all that and more. But it is also something historically much more specific. It is the neo-liberal promise against its own grim reality, represented in the street battles in and around Tahrir Square, as well as the pepper-spraying of docile students at UC Davis.
Brick-And-Mortar Stores Aim To Nail Down Sales Tax
Jason Brewer, vice president of communications and advocacy for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, explains what happens next: “He uses his smartphone to take a picture of the bar code on the back of the item, and then, right in front of the sales person, he checks prices and orders the item online.”
Why? Because most online outlets don’t charge sales tax, unlike traditional bricks-and-mortar stores. Buying online, especially when it comes to jewelry, cameras, computers and other high-end electronics, can save consumers a hefty chunk of change. But the costs to traditional retailers, not to mention state and local governments, are mounting.
“Not only does the retailer lose the sale, but the sales staff just lost 30 minutes telling the customer about the product,” Mr. Brewer said.
It’s infuriating to store owners, but after years of griping about the lack of fairness, this may well be the last holiday shopping season when bricks-and-mortar stores operate under a sales-tax handicap. A bipartisan consensus appears to be forming in Congress in favor of legislation that would close the tax loophole.
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How Do We Know OWS Is Winning? Elites Are Desperate To Suppress It
Curbing Class-Action Suits That Benefit Lawyers, But Not Plaintiffs
You get nothing, but the lawyers who brought the lawsuit will be paid handsomely, and some obscure charities also get big financial windfalls.
This is precisely what happened not long ago to 66 million plaintiffs covered by a 2009 class-action lawsuit against America Online. The good news, however, is that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out this settlement and in the process placed some much-needed curbs on the use of class-action settlements as vehicles to create charitable slush funds.
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Resort Saloon Fined For Employees’ Late-Night Drinking
“Just so you understand, this is a bad violation,” said Board of License Commissioners (BLC) President William Esham.
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Report: Russia Sent Syria Super-Advanced S-300 Missiles
Despite the mounting opposition in the West and even in the Arab world against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad for his assaults on protesters seeking to unseat him as leader of the country, Russia maintains its support for Assad, the report said. Russian and Syria military officials are working together to maintain Assad's rule, and to deflect a possible attack by NATO or the U.S and EU.
Along with the missiles, the report says that Russia has installed advanced radar systems in all key Syrian military and industrial installations. The radar system also covers areas north and south of Syria, where it will be able to detect movement of troops or aircraft towards the Syrian border. The radar targets include much of Israel, as well as the Incirlik military base in Turkey, which is used by NATO.
The S-300 system is regarded as one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems available. The system's radar is able to simultaneously track up to 100 targets while engaging up to 12. Deployment time for the S-300 is five minutes, and they have a very long life span, with no maintenance needed.
Russia had attempted to sell the system to Iran, but that sale was cancelled due to pressure by the U.S. and Israel, with Russia returning Iran's deposit. According to the report, the Iranians paid for Syria's S-300 missile system. It is not known if some of the missiles have reached Iran as well.
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Berlin Brewery Adds Capacity, Eyes Local Distribution Soon
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Western Powers Warn Citizens, Leave Syria Now
The U.S. Embassy in Damascus issued a heightened to alert to all American citizens who are still in the country to leave on any commercial flight that might still be available.
The message posted on the Internet, entitled, "Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens: Significant decrease in the number of commercial flights from Syria," was grim. It included a directive to Wardens that "Transmission by phone is mandatory."
Dated Wednesday, the message urged Americans in Syria to "depart immediately while commercial transportation is available. The number of airlines serving Syria has decreased significantly since the summer, while many of those airlines remaining have reduced their number of flights."
Americans were asked to enroll in the U.S. "Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which makes it easier for the embassy/consulates to contact them in case of emergency, and for them to be in touch with the Bureau of Consular Affairs' Emergencies and Crisis.
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Woman’s Generosity Still Helping Mounted Unit
At the conclusion of Monday evening’s Mayor and City Council meeting, City Solicitor Guy Ayres announced some good news.
A few years back, Ocean City resident Virginia Murray passed away and left a large amount of money to be used specifically towards the Ocean City Police Department’s Mount Patrol.
In the past, Ayres has delivered the city two checks, equaling up to $300,000 from Murray’s estate.
“I have the final distribution from that estate,” Ayres said. “I have a check here tonight for $27,416.85, which means the total under her will of $327,416.85.”
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Gay Marriage Could Bring Shifts In Republican Race
State lawmakers plan to take up a measure to repeal the law allowing same-sex couples to wed and a vote is expected at some point in January -- the same month as New Hampshire holds the nation's first Republican presidential primary contest. Already, candidates have been put on the spot over the divisive social issue when most, if not all, would rather be talking about the economy, voters' No. 1 concern.
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Sides Agree Divided Body Needs Better Relations
Ever since the changing of the guard that took place last spring when the council saw the induction of two new members and the election of a new president, the council majority and Mayor Jim Ireton have been at odds.
“They’re pushing buttons on both sides,” said Councilwoman Laura Mitchell, a member of the council minority.
Ireton has made a number of allegations against the council majority and President Terry Cohen specifically. He has accused the group of attempting to obscure facts and cut the public out of government. Additionally, Ireton claims the majority has purposefully been dragging their feet on a number of perennial city issues, such as defining a police towing ordinance and making decisions regarding the intersection of Onley Rd. and Bateman St.
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A Guide To Packing Away Those Leftovers
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State Board Approves Lower Shore Land Easements
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Are The Arts Irrelevant To The Next Generation?
Are you concerned about the future of the fine arts? New research from Norway suggests you have every right to fret.
A study just published in the journal Poetics suggests art forms such as literature and classical music “are becoming increasingly more irrelevant for most students’ cultural lives.” This points to “an increasingly precarious position for traditional highbrow culture,” according to a trio of researchers led by the University of Bergen’s Jostein Gripsrud.
Gripsrud and his colleagues conducted two surveys of students enrolled at the major institutions of higher learning in the Norwegian city of Bergen: the University of Bergen, the Norwegian School of Business Administration, Bergen University College, and the National College of Art, Bergen. The first survey, conducted in late 1998 and early 1999, produced responses from 1,113 students.
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Is The Federal Government Helping To Bust Unions?
For the third time in three years, defense contractor Honeywell International Inc. is deploying union-busting tactics in a government-affiliated workplace—and a federal agency is failing to stop the corporation’s behavior. This raises questions about whether Honeywell, a top contributor to the Democratic Party in the 2010 midterm election cycle, is wielding political influence to successfully weaken unions.
In 2009, Honeywell threatened to bring in federal troops to replace Honeywell contractors threatening to strike at a military facility in Jacksonville, Fla. In 2010, the company brought in scab replacement workers to operate a uranium facility in Metropolis, Ill. (The federal government later ruled that Honeywell cheated on qualification tests so that it could replace striking United Steelworkers union members.)
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What Drugs Was Your Thanksgiving Turkey On?
So far, 2011 has not been a great year for turkey producers. In May, an article in Clinical Infectious Diseases reported that half of U.S. meat from major grocery chains--turkey, beef, chicken and pork--harborsantibiotic resistant staph germs commonly called MRSA. Turkey had twice and even three times the MRSA of all other meats, in another study.
In June, Pfizer announced it was ending arsenic-containing chicken feed which no one realized they were eating anyway, but its arsenic-containing Histostat, fed to turkeys, continues. Poultry growers use inorganic arsenic, a recognized carcinogen, for "growth promotion, feed efficiency and improved pigmentation," says the FDA. Yum.
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Did Michele Bachmann Really Expect To Get Away With Her Jesse James Story?
Bachmann probably never expected anyone to fact check her little family history story, but that's exactly what I did. And, as I suspected when I first heard her telling it at Iowa's "Rediscover God in America" conference back in March, her story was far from the truth, as I detailed in a piece I wrote in April. Then, in August, Ryan Lizza included a summarized version of my debunking of Bachmann's story in his New Yorker article, "Leap of Faith: The making of a Republican front-runner."
Now, you'd think the realization that her fantastic family history stories were, indeed, being fact checked would have stopped Bachmann from using them. But, no. She's just kept on using them.
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Good Samaritans Pull Woman From Burning Car On Thanksgiving
The Prince George's County Fire Department say a three-car crash happened on Watkins Park drive near Keverton Drive around 9 a.m. -- with one of the cars bursting into flame immediately.
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Army Says Oldest 4-Star General Has Died At 98
Spokesman Don Manuszewski says retired Gen. Ralph E. Haines Jr. died Wednesday at San Antonio Military Medical Center. Manuszewski says Haines had been the oldest living four-star general.
Haines was vice chief of staff of the Army from 1967 to 1968. He also served as commanding general of the 1st Armored Division and the III Corps at Fort Hood.
A 1935 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, Haines served 37 years in the Army.
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Black Friday Shoppers Pepper-Sprayed In Calif.
Twenty people, including children, were injured when a woman at a San Fernando Valley Walmart store used mace against other customers in what authorities referred to as a "competitive shopping" incident.
The Los Angeles Times reports that a scuffle broke out shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday night, just before shopping was to begin, among customers waiting to buy Xbox gaming consoles and Wii video games.
Website Offers Text Messages From Fake Girlfriend
A new website can offer you a little companionship in the form of text messages from a fake girlfriend.
The site, appropriately called "Fake Girlfriend," is a free service.
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Keen: Government Should Print Money To Pay Off Our Debts
Robertson: Is Mac 'N' Cheese 'A Black Thing?'
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has been set straight on Thanksgiving comfort food.
"The 700 Club" founder showed a clip of Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday. Robertson's host, Kristi Watts, asked what dish the former secretary of state had to have on Thanksgiving. Rice replied macaroni and cheese.
Watts reacted enthusiastically, adding "Sister, that is my dish..."
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Parents Sue D.A. for Charging Their 6-Year-Old Son With a Felony After He Played Doctor With a 5-Year-Old Girl
Anne Arundel Officers Seek Handicapped Parking Violators
It was just after noon on a recent weekday, the parking lots at the Annapolis Westfield Mall were already full, and a woman in a dark sedan weaved through the swelling traffic, looking for a place to park.
Jessica Lawrence, a Glen Burnie resident, saw what she was looking for — a single, empty handicapped space near the front entrance to Sears.
She pulled in, killed the engine and breathed an apparent sigh of relief.
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Ron Paul - Civil Liberty's Last Hope
4 People Struck By Car At MD Home Depot
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5 Great Recipes For Those Thanksgiving Leftovers
It's after Thanksgiving, and there's a refrigerator full of leftover food.
Here are five ways to use those ingredients to offer a completely different eating experience, saving you both time and money.
Award-winning chef Michael Feker knows the value of food and how it can connect people. At his restaurant Il Mito in Wauwatosa, Wis., he not only offers great meals, in his teaching kitchen he shows others how to make them.
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Anxiety: Friend Or Foe?
Few among us haven't laid awake at night, staring at the ceiling as the worries start to crowd our minds — from unpaid bills to the unstable economy to a loved one's recent cancer diagnosis. We know how anxiety feels, and it doesn't feel good.
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Local Delegate Part Of Legal Challenge To Redistricting Plan
The districts lump people from such different communities into the same congressional district in such a way that representative government becomes meaningless, according to Republican Del. Ron George and five other plaintiffs.
Gerrymandering undermines local communities and ignores established political boundaries, according to pleadings in the case. As an illustration, under O'Malley's plan, George's state legislative district, District 30, is divided into three congressional districts - 3, 4 and 5.
"It is just plain wrong, you are not respecting what the people want you to do," George said yesterday.
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Woman Charged For Telling Airline Her Ex-Lover Was Terror Threat
LOS ANGELES -A California woman surrendered to the FBI Wednesday on charges that she called an airline to report a fake terrorist threat hours before her ex-lover was to board an international flight, authorities said.
Temple City resident Lizet Sariol called United Airlines on Sept. 25 to say there would "be an emergency" on a
Las Vegas to Paris flight, according to a criminal complaint filed by the federal government.
Prosecutors allege the 45-year-old woman was seeking revenge on a man who she'd had sexual encounters with over four meetings -- and who had just unfriended her on Facebook, among other rejections.More
How The Finns Stole Thanksgiving
NO TRASH PICK UP NOTICE and LEAF PICK UP SERVICE REMINDER
THERE WILL BE NO TRASH and RECYCLING
PICK UP
ON THURSDAY, NOV 24th
DUE TO THE
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
IT WILL BE PICKED UP
MONDAY NOV 28th ONLY
TRASH WILL BE PICKED UP AS SCHEDULED ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH
DO NOT BLOW LEAVES INTO THE STREET…
PLEASE CALL THE SERVICE CENTER AT
410-548-3177
FOR MONDAY LEAF PICK UP!!
Obama Leaves God Out of Thanksgiving Address
President Obama did not include any reference to God during his weekly address titled, “On Thanksgiving, Grateful for the Men and Women Who Defend Our Country.”
His remarks were void of any religious references although Thanksgiving is a holiday traditionally steeped in giving thanks and praise to God.
The president said his family was “reflecting on how truly lucky we truly are.”
For many Americans, though, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on how blessed and thankful they are.
Rescuers Searching For Pieces Of Plane, Remains Of Victims
"It's a very arduous process, without being too descriptive, because of the explosion," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said. "The remains are being handled with great care and compassion."
What's Killing America? U.S. Ranks 28th In Life Expectancy (lower than Chile and Greece) While It Pays The MOST For Health Care
The U.S. healthcare system is more effective at delivering high costs than quality care than other developed nations, according to the study, conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.
It found first-rate treatment for cancer but insufficient primary care for other ailments.
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New Study Suggests Climate Change May Be (Slightly) Less Severe Than Feared
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Occupy Movement Does Thanksgiving Nationwide
SAN FRANCISCO - Most Americans spent Thanksgiving snug inside homes with families and football. Others used the national holiday to give thanks alongside strangers at outdoor Occupy encampments, serving turkey or donating their time in solidarity with the anti-Wall Street movement that has gripped a nation consumed by economic despair.
In San Francisco, hundreds of campers at Justin Herman Plaza in the heart of the financial district prepared turkey dinners that were handed out by volunteers, church charities and supporters of the movement against social and economic inequality.