John Hall Sworn In, Joe Holloway President, Matt Holloway Vice President

In a very enjoyable County Council Meeting, John Hall was sworn in to fill the seat of the late Bob Caldwell.

Joe Holloway was nominated to become the new Council President and Matt Holloway was nominated to become Vice President. Both were unanimously elected.

As the meeting went on and as many are seeing RIGHT NOW on PAC 14, Rick Pollitt has sent in his supporters on the Bennett Middle School construction or the hope thereof.

What ALL of you do NOT know is that County Executive Rick Pollitt has gone to the County Council and asked that Bennett Middle School construction project be brought back up on the agenda.

Now, he has also stated that IF they do NOT place it on the agenda, he will go to the State and attempt to bypass the County Council. THIS is why you're seeing people come out of nowhere to try and shame the Council into bringing it up again, knowing the County cannot afford it in any way, shape or form.

Congratulations Mr. Hall. There was an incredible field of qualified citizens being considered for this seat and I, for one, believe the Council made the right choice.

New Posts to fall below.

Sharee Sample Hughes Has Brain Fart During Council Meeting

Well, that's what we call it. I believe she stated that she had a mental lapse and wanted the public to know that she does NOT support Joe Holloway for Council President.

Hmmmmm, let's see... Sharee Sample Hughes has what level of education vs. Joe Holloway, yet he's Council President and she's never even been nominated!

Sharee went off months ago stating that ALL Council Members must at least have graduated High School. You see Folks, Joe Holloway NOR Joe Albero ever graduated from High School. Instead, we moved on with our lives, (some to help support our FAMILIES) and became extremely successful businessmen.

It's a piece of paper Sharee. It does NOT make you a better person. Some people have book smarts and some of us are what they call, street smarts. In my case, I retired at 40 years old. Nevermind, you get my drift. If ANYONE is a racist, well, I'll just leave it at that.

Sharee Sample Hughes needs to get out of politics. Congratulations Joe and Matt Holloway. Oh, by the way, they are not related.

Rating Doctors And Hospitals

Health and Human Services will let its vast store of Medicare data be used to rate doctors and hospitals. For the first time, the claims database will be available to employers, insurance companies and consumer groups, according to the Associated Press. They'll be able to create report cards on health care providers. Although individual doctors will be identifiable, patient data will stay anonymous. Doctors have objected to release of the data, worrying it could be misused. They'll have the right to review data before it is released publicly. Available data covers both primary care physicians and specialists.

Did FDR Provoke Pearl Harbor?

On Dec. 8, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt took the rostrum before a joint session of Congress to ask for a declaration of war on Japan.

A day earlier, at dawn, carrier-based Japanese aircraft had launched a sneak attack devastating the U.S. battle fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Said ex-President Herbert Hoover, Republican statesman of the day, “We have only one job to do now, and that is to defeat Japan.”

But to friends, “the Chief” sent another message: “You and I know that this continuous putting pins in rattlesnakes finally got this country bit.”

Today, 70 years after Pearl Harbor, a remarkable secret history, written from 1943 to 1963, has come to light. It is Hoover’s explanation of what happened before, during and after the world war that may prove yet the death knell of the West.

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Euro Crisis Destabilizing The Dollar

In response to pressure from Wall Street, the White House and central banks in Europe, the Federal Reserve last week drastically cut interest rates for currency swaps to benefit troubled European banks. This will flood world markets with more dollars and will soon mean rising prices for every American at the grocery store. This extra liquidity will temporarily ease the cash crunch for irresponsible bankers, but in the long run it will make the situation much worse for consumers all over the world. Equities markets registered big gains at the news, but only for a day. Make no mistake - this is not capitalism, and this is not how a free market operates. In a free market, bankruptcies happen, even to large banks. We must remember, free markets are the true and best regulators of financial mismanagement.

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World's Oldest Dog Dies In Japan

Pusuke, who was listed as the oldest living dog in Guinness World Records, died on Dec. 5, 2011 in Sakura, Japan. He reached the ripe old age of 26 years and 9 months.

Pusuke was certified for the Guinness title last December. The previous record was held by a 28-year-old beagle from the U.S. who died in 2003.

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NAACP Petitions UN Over 'Massive Voter Suppression'

The largest civil rights group in America, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is petitioning the UN over what it sees as a concerted effort to disenfranchise black and Latino voters ahead of next year's presidential election.

The organisation will this week present evidence to the UN high commissioner on human rights of what it contends is a conscious attempt to "block the vote" on the part of state legislatures across the US.

Next March the NAACP will send a delegation of legal experts to Geneva to enlist the support of the UN human rights council.

The NAACP contends that the America in the throes of a consciously conceived and orchestrated move to strip black and other ethnic minority groups of the right to vote. William Barber, a member of the association's national board, said it was the "most vicious, co-ordinated and sinister attack to narrow participation in our democracy since the early 20th century".

More here

Mugger Left Bloodied After Attempt On MMA Fighter

CHICAGO -- A convicted felon decided to mug an MMA fighter on the Southwest Side of Chicago, police say, and ended up paying a steep price.

Police did not release the victim's name but said he was able to ward off Anthony Miranda, 24, who ended up with two black eyes and a gunshot wound to the ankle after a tussle.

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Greedy Bastards Favorite Financial Innovation: The Swaps Market (Part 1)

Welcome to another episode of Greedy Bastards Antidote — a podcast series that zeroes in on “Greedy Bastardism” in our country, and highlights the people out there who are finding the “Antidotes.” Dylan will be talking to the heroes and the visionaries out there on the front lines of education, health care, the environment, trade, taxes, finance and government, all of whom are finding solutions to America’s biggest challenges — and doing it creatively and fearlessly.

This week, we’re focusing on the swaps market — not only to learn exactly what credit default swaps are, but why they’re one of the favorite financial products of Greedy Bastards. This is the one market that betrays every fundamental principal of American values — it is not transparent, it does not require collateral if you’re a AAA rated bank, and you can sell insurance globally on credit. This incentivizes clients to buy them by offering lower interest rates (and who doesn’t want that?)

To help define exactly what “swaps” are, we got to talk to someone who knows them inside and out — Christoper Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics and author of the book Inflated: How Money and Debt Built the American Dream. You can chat with him on Twitter @rcwhalen

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You Need To Know Your "WHY"

Nietzsche probably said it best when he declared that "he who has a why to live can bear almost any how". It helps to explain how Viktor Frankl could lose everything, including his family and life's work in a concentration camp to emerge and eventually become a highly influential psychiatrist. It helps us to understand how Nelson Mandela could spend 27 years in prison and still come out to be a leader and world changer. Both of these men had a dream, a purpose and a vision that even the most dire of circumstances couldn't erase. In fact, it could be argued that these dire circumstances actually fueled their purpose!

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Homeland Security's New Home Through The Roof

Delays in building the new Homeland Security Department headquarters are driving up the price of the project by at least half a billion dollars. Federal Times obtained the cost estimates. Budget cuts have caused a year's worth of delays in construction at the former St. Elizabeth's hospital site. The original plan accounts for $3.4 billion to build the DHS operations hub by 2016. Now the project could cost nearly $4 billion and take until fiscal 2021 to complete.

'Sexual-Scandal Blackmail' Alleged To Collect On Car Loan

A Chicago man who fell behind on his car payments claims that his lender deliberately tried to ruin his marriage then threatened a "sexual-scandal blackmail" scheme to collect, causing his wife and children to leave him.

Borrower Larnell Pillow now is suing Prestige Financial Corp of Salt Lake City, claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress. He claims an agent for the lender deliberately left a phone message that his wife intercepted, mentioning his secret girlfriend.

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Could This Be The Right Planet?

Astronomers may have found the "goldilocks" planet they've been looking for. They've been using the Kepler Space Telescope to find a planet that's not too hot and not too cold, with the potential for liquid water on the surface. USA Today reports the planet, called Kepler 22-B, circles a star about 600 light years away. It is about 2-1/2 times wider than Earth and has an average temperature of 72 degrees. What they can't tell yet is what the surface of the planet is like. They don't know if the world is rocky, water-covered or something else. The Kepler space telescope discovery team announced the find at a briefing at NASA's Ames Research Center in California.

Obama Pondering National Police Force ... Again?

The United States is probably the only nation that does not have national police. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) was created to achieve this goal. A counter move by concerned citizens was the "support your local police and keep them independent" movement. Older citizens may recall seeing bumper stickers and other advertising to that effect. The LEAA was abolished in 1982. Today, a new movement is afoot to nationalize our local police by stealth. In the [2009] campaign, Barack Obama advocated "a civilian police to match the size and power of our armed forces." More recently, Obama advocated enlarging the U.S. Marshal's Service into a "stability police." He is being assisted by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group has convinced many local police and sheriff's officials that conservatives are the enemy. – CJOnline

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The Chart That Proves The Fed's Policies Have Been A Failure

A few days ago we presented an analysis by ConvergEx [9]showing that due to the very close historical correlation between home prices and employment, it is the Fed's view that the only way to stimulate employment (aside from such BLS shennanigans as pretending that despite the natural growth of the labor force by 90k a month to keep up with population, those willing to work are in fact declining) is to raise home prices. Raising home prices be definition means either reducing supply - an event which is proving impossible with shadow inventory in the millions and rising, even as thousands of new delinquent mortgages appear each day while homebuilders keep on chugging out new homes that remain vacant for years, or increasing demand. It is the latter that the Fed targets, by attempting to make mortgage rates ever cheaper via LSAP, Operation Twist or other Treasury curve interventions that attempt to push down long-dated yields ever lower. This works in theory. In practice, however, as the chart below demonstrates, the Fed's entire ZIRP-targeting policy over the past several years has been one abysmal failure (for everyone expect those with immediate access to the Fed's zero interest rate capital - i.e., the Primary Dealers). As proof of this we present the following chart, which maps the SAAR in New Home Sales against the 30 Year Fannie Cash Mortgage. What appears very clearly on this chart is that despite ever declining mortgage rates, there is simply no interest in home turnover, and sales are at record low levels due to lack of demand, and lack of desire to sell into a bidless market, in essence causing the entire housing market to halt.

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The Department Of Justice Has Basically Given Up On Bringing Criminal Charges For The Financial Crises

Its been three years since major banks were bailed out and in that time Department of Justice officials have concluded that bringing criminal charges against financial executives may be futile, the Wall Street Journal reports.

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It's Time For Congress To Stop Paying People Not To Work

Do we really want paying people not to work for 99 weeks – nearly two years – to be a permanent feature of the American economic system? Is that what the American people voted for in the historic landslide election of 2010? If not, then why are Republicans poised to – for the first time since the election – extend this program?

The economic case for nearly two years of unemployment benefits is extremely weak. While supporters tout the demand-side effect of the benefit checks being spent, they ignore the much larger supply-side effect of creating a significant disincentive for work and consequently for economic production. The same Keynesians who brought us trillions of failed stimulus and a mountain of debt tell us the paying people not to work is a good way to grow the economy. Common sense – and the data – say otherwise.

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Pakistani Star Veena Malik Suing Magazine for 'Nude' Cover Photo

India and Pakistan are going nuclear over this magazine cover showing a naked Pakistani star wearing nothing but a provocative political tattoo.

Readers across the region dropped their jaws at the sight of actress Veena Malik on the cover of FHM India, flashing a smoldering gaze and the tattooed letters “ISI” — apparently in reference to Pakistan’s shadowy spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence

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Main Stream Media Claims Gas Prices Are Drastically Dropping

Yet here on the Eastern Shore, gas has risen 4 cents per gallon overnight. I saw an article this morning saying, "Gas prices double their drop". I guess we, (as Americans) will buy anything they tell us.

FRANK LUTZ - THE EDWARD BERNAYS OF OUR TIME

Watch for Frank Lutz’ new weasel words on Fox News and coming out of the mouths of Republican candidates. Paul Farrell basically uncovers the fraud of modern politics. Those in power in both parties think you are nothing but sheep. They know how to manipulate your mind with propaganda and misinformation. You just do some focus groups of clueless morons and then change a few words and phrases to convince the nitwits and numbskulls that inhabit this country that the shit being spewed at them by their HDTVs is actually the truth. It is nothing but lies, designed to convince you that those in power are not really screwing you and future generations.

Farrell is right. It has nothing to do with politics. Many of the Wall Street CEOs and Board members are Democrats (Rubin, Dimon). Both parties are bankrolled by the Wall Street banks. The authorities in cities across the U.S. that destroyed and bulldozed the OWS encampments were Democrats and Republicans.

This is about the massive inequality in this country which has occurred because the super rich elite have captured the economic and political system of this country through criminal means and continue to loot and pillage. They control the police, the monetary system and the media message. They think they’ve won. They have not.

A class/generational war is brewing. Those in power will not be giving up their control without a fight. Propaganda and weasel words will not work. The blood of tyrants will need to be spilled before this is over. Count on it.

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Smoking Can Make Your Nipples Fall Off

Anthony Youn, M.D., is a plastic surgeon in Metro Detroit. He is the author of “In Stitches,” a humorous memoir about growing up Asian American and becoming a doctor.

I cringe every time I see a patient for a breast lift who is a smoker. I’m deathly afraid that despite my warnings, she will smoke before or after surgery and cause her nipples to turn black and fall off.

Yes. Smokers who undergo breast lifts are at great risk of losing their nipples.

I’ve seen it before.

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Raising Taxes On the Rich: Not Whether, But How

Last week, the Senate rejected proposals by both Democrats and Republicans to pay for an extension of the 2 percent temporary payroll tax cut enacted a year ago. The Democratic plan to finance it with a 3.25 percent surtax on millionaires garnered significantly more votes than the Republican plan to cut the number of federal jobs and freeze the pay of federal workers.

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Iraqi Leader Under Saddam Hussein To Be Executed, Official In Baghdad Says

Baghdad (CNN) -- Tariq Aziz, who served as Iraq's top diplomat under Saddam Hussein, will be executed next year, after U.S. forces have pulled out of the country, an adviser to Iraq's prime minister told CNN on Monday.

"It will definitely take place, and it will take place after the Americans leave Iraq," said the adviser, Saad Yousif al-Muttalibi, about Aziz, who served as foreign minister.

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Defeated, Health Insurers Cut Lobby Costs, Thank You Obamacare!

It turns out that Republicans might be right about health reform costing some jobs. The jobs of health insurance company lobbyists. Aww. From the second to third quarter of this year, the health insurance industry is cutting lobbying budgets.

WellPoint Inc. ( WLP ), the largest health insurer based on membership, spent $870,000 on lobbying in the third quarter, up 9% from the prior-year quarter. However, the cost was down by a substantial 34% from the second quarter of 2011.

The second-largest health insurer based on membership and largest in terms of total revenue, UnitedHealth Group Inc. ( UNH ), also recorded a significant 18% year-over-year hike to $650,000, while it witnessed a sizeable 24% decline from the prior quarter.

Meanwhile, CIGNA Corporation ( CI ), the fourth largest health insurer on the basis of membership, bucked the trend by reducing its lobbying cost by a considerable 34% from the year-agoquarter to $470,000, while the amount was 24% higher than $380,000 spent in the second quarter of 2011.

Humana Inc. ( HUM ), which is the fifth-largest on enrollment basis, recorded a 43% year-over-year and 11% sequential decline in lobbying expenses to $160,000.

Now what could be causing this decline? Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that despite their best efforts,

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Fox Says 'Muppets' Brainwashes Kids

The villain in "The Muppets" is Tex Richman, an oilman who wants to tear down the Muppets theater in order to drill for oil underneath. Just a character and a storyline, or a secret liberal Hollywood plot to brainwash children?

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BREAKING NEWS: BUSTED!

While I'd LOVE to give the hat tip to the Salisbury Police Department, instead I have to tip my hat to the apartment owner who came out of the shower finding a robber in his apartment. A fight broke out whereas the tenant thought the robber was reaching for a gun and the robber broke loose. However, the tenant was able to catch up with the robber and threw him down a VERY long flight of stairs.

At this moment the SPD have several people in custody, one has already been taken away to the Police Department on a felony warrant from Worcester County. We're not positive at this moment if they have the right suspect in custody or under arrest but Police were on the scene within moments of the 911 call.

WMDT cameras outside their facility should pick up on the exact suspect but what an amazing threat.

You see, Code & Compliance and City Inspectors had just been out last week to this complex owned by Doug Church. There have been numerous complaints of water leaking from the roof into apartments in this building. However, one of the biggest problems tenants have been having is the front door, (supposed to be secured) is constantly swollen by moisture and they can't either close it OR get it open.

There are additional security issues at hand that need to be addressed.

Salisbury News has been the recipient of such complaints and we simply put those people in contact with the proper authorities. I will try to dig up that information and post it at a later time.

In the mean time, Good Work SPD!!!!!

Originally Posted at 4:00 PM

Why A Smart Tax On Soda Would Work

Sin taxes work. How do I know? Easy: Last night, when I went into a green market in my neighborhood in New York City, I noticed that an ordinary pack of Marlboros now sells for a stunning $14. "Have you noticed people buying less?" I asked the woman at the register.

She said: "Yes." So, QED, right?


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Obama To Echo Theodore Roosevelt In A Big Thematic Speech On Tuesday

Washington - Franklin Roosevelt had the New Deal. Harry Truman had the Fair Deal. John Kennedy had the New Frontier. Now President Barack Obama takes his stab at wrapping his presidency under one great mantle.

Looking to inject his economic agenda with the grand sweep of history, he'll travel Tuesday to the small town of Osawatomie, Kan., the same place where Theodore Roosevelt a century ago summoned the nation to a new progressive era under what he called a "New Nationalism."

The choice of the site is no accident. After planning the speech for more than a month, Obama will say the times of sweeping change that animated Roosevelt at the start of the 20th century — including a growing gap between the rich and poor, with a middle class squeezed and falling behind — are much the same at the start of the 21st.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY 12-6-11

“…a city in which justice and honor were for sale in the marketplace, and human beings writhed and fought and fell upon each other like wolves in a pit; in which lusts were raging fires, and men were fuel…for the game had never been fair, the dice were loaded. They were swindlers and thieves of pennies and dimes, and they had been trapped and put out of the way by the swindlers and thieves of millions of dollars.”
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

Extreme Makeover Crew Donates Winnings To Jusst Sooup

Jusst Sooup Ministry in Lewes is in line for a major donation thanks to the efforts of two ABC “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” crew members.

On the Nov. 17 edition of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” Paige Hemmis and Michael Moloney, who took part in the local build for the Dunning family, won $100,000 playing for the ministry.

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Fit Versus Fat: Which Matters More For Longevity?

Most of us are all too familiar with how much we weigh — but how many of us know how fit we are? And which matters more?

When it comes to lowering our overall risk of death and dying from heart disease, fitness may be just as important, if not more so, than weight. That's what researchers concluded after studying fitness, weight and mortality among 14,345 middle-aged men in an 11-year study.


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Md. Slots Revenue Down Slightly In November

BALTIMORE -- Slots revenue for the month of November was down a bit compared to October.
The state's two slots parlors drew a combined $12.2 million in November. In October, that total was $12.9 million, according to state revenue statistics.

The Hollywood Casino in Perryville continues to be the bigger draw with $9.1 million in receipts. In its first full year of operation, revenue has jumped nearly 20 percent, statistics show.

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Rehoboth Man Sinks Putt, Wins New Car

Defying long odds and mumbling naysayers, 18-year-old Logan Bellinger lit up Rehoboth Beach Convention Center Friday night when he sank a 50-foot putt and won a brand new Ford Focus SE worth $20,000.

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America's Shadow War On Drugs

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — The shady figures set up bank accounts in false names and fill them with drug money. They keep convicted criminals on their payroll, and watch guns smuggled over the border. And for those wanting to transport cocaine, they have trucks and ships available.

But these clandestine operators are not drug traffickers. They are the American agents paid to bust them.

As Mexico suffers from its worst drug violence in history, a series of scandals have erupted over American agents fighting the war against Mexican cartels on the frontline.

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Health Care Law Changing Behavior

WASHINGTON – More than 2.65 million Medicare recipients have saved more than $1.5 billion on their prescriptions this year, a $569-per-person average, while premiums have remained stable, the government plans to announce today.

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How To Survive In A Single-Income Household

The idea of a family that makes ends meet through a single paycheck seems as quaint as an episode of Leave it to Beaver, but folks find ways to make it work. There's little strategy involved to those who pull in megabucks, but subsisting on modest income takes some work.

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Gingrich And Trump Team Up

New York, New York (CNN) – Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich teamed up with mogul Donald Trump Monday and questioned his opponents who have refused to participate in the Trump-moderated debate in late December.

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Bank Of America: A Stop-Payment Isn't A Guarantee We Won't Process The Check Anyway

There's a funny little thing about putting a "stop payment" order on a check that most banks don't tell you about until it's too late: They often only last six months and the only way to guarantee that check never gets deposited is to close the associated checking account. This is a lesson being learned the hard way by a Bank of America customer who saw her account drained of its last few dollars after an old landlord cashed a 16-month-old check.

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Is Facebook Really Worth $100 Billion?

That’s the question many people are asking amid rising chatter that the booming social network plans to go public in 2012 and raise up to $10 billion in a deal that could value the company at more than $100 billion.

If Facebook’s IPO succeeds, it would be one of the largest public offerings in U.S. history and make the seven-year-old company worth more than iconic American firms like McDonald’s, Citigroup, and Kraft Foods. It would also turn founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg into one of the richest people in the world, with an estimated net worth of roughly $20 billion.


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SF To Be First City In US History To Set Minimum Wage Over $10

January 1 means many new things for many people across the country, but for San Franciscans making minimum wage, this date has historical resonance. For on January 1, San Francisco will be the first city in American history to offer a minimum wage over $10.

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Merry Christmas!

Ron Paul Goes For Gingrich Throat

World's Dumbest Fox News Question Shut Down By Ron Paul

Political Aide To Former Md. Gov. Found Guilty

BALTIMORE (AP) - A Baltimore jury has convicted a political aide to former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich of conspiring to suppress black voter turnout during the 2010 gubernatorial election.

Paul Schurick was found guilty Tuesday of four counts, including conspiracy to violate state election laws and attempting to influence a voter's decision whether to go to the polls through the use of fraud.

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Michigan's Cherry Knoll Elementary School Under Fire For Removing 'Gay' From 'Deck The Halls'

A Michigan music teacher's decision to censor the word "gay" from a traditional Christmas carol is being met with a frosty response.

The teacher, who has not yet been named in any of the published reports, allegedly removed "gay" from "Deck The Halls" after 1st and 2nd grade students kept giggling during preparations for a Christmas concert at Cherry Knoll Elementary School in Traverse City. Instead of the traditional lyric, the students were taught to sing "don we now our bright apparel," according to UpNorthLive.com.

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Ex-PG County Leader Gets 7 Years For Corruption

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) -- The former county executive of a large Washington, D.C., suburb was sentenced Tuesday to more than seven years in prison for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from developers doing business with the government during his eight-year tenure.

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Occupiers' Ignorance Exploited By The Left

Many Wall Street occupiers are echoing the Communist Party USA's call to "Save the nation! Tax corporations! Tax the rich!" There are other Americans, on both the left and the right — for example, President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner — who call for reductions in corporate taxes. But the University of California, Berkeley's pretend economist Robert Reich disagrees, saying, "The economy needs two whopping corporate tax cuts right now as much as someone with a serious heart condition needs Botox." Let's look at corporate taxes and ask, "Who pays them?"

Virginia has a car tax. Does the car pay the tax? In most political jurisdictions, there's a property tax. Does property pay the tax? You say: "Williams, that's lunacy. Neither a car nor property pays taxes. Only flesh-and-blood people pay taxes!" What about a corporation? As it turns out, a corporation is an artificial creation of the legal system and, as such, a legal fiction. A corporation is not a person and therefore cannot pay taxes. When tax is levied on a corporation, who pays it?

There's an entire subject area in economics, known as tax incidence, that investigates who bears the burden of a tax. It turns out that the burden of a tax is not necessarily borne by the party or entity upon whom it is levied. For example, if a sales tax is levied on a cigarette retailer, the retailer does not bear the full burden of the tax. Part of it will be shifted forward to customers in the form of higher product prices. The exact amount of the shifting depends upon market supply and demand conditions.

What about raising taxes on corporations as a means to get them to pay their "rightful share of government"? If a tax is levied on a corporation and if it is to survive, it will have one of several responses or some combination thereof. One response is to raise the price of its product, so customers share part of the burden. Another response is to lower dividends, so shareholders share a part of the burden. And a considerable portion of reduced dividend burden falls on ordinary non-rich people. According to the Tax Foundation, 19 percent of federal tax returns report dividend income but 42 percent of taxpayers older than 65 report dividend income. Therefore, it is people, not some legal fiction called a corporation, who bear the burden of the tax. Because corporations have these responses to the imposition of a tax, they are merely government tax collectors.

The largest burden of corporate taxes is borne by workers. We discover that by asking a simple question, such as: Which workers on a road construction project earn the higher pay, those employed moving dirt with shovels and wheelbarrows or those doing the same atop giant earthmovers? You'd guess the guys operating the earthmovers, but why? It's not because they're unionized or because construction contractors have a fondness for earthmover operators. It's because those workers have more capital (tools) to work with and are thereby more productive. Higher productivity translates into higher wages.

Tax policies that raise the cost of capital formation — such as capital gains taxes, low depreciation allowances and corporate taxes — reduce capital formation. As a result, workers have less capital, lower productivity and lower wage growth. In 1980, Joseph Stiglitz, now a Nobel laureate, said that workers share the highest corporate tax burden in the form of lower wages. A number of economic studies, including that of the Congressional Budget Office, show that workers bear anywhere from 45 to 75 percent of the corporate tax burden. Adding to the burden is the fact that capital has the kind of mobility that labor doesn't. Corporate capital can flee to other countries easily, but workers cannot.

Politicians and leftist elite get away with corporate tax demagoguery because economists haven't done well in making our subject understandable to ordinary people, not to mention that we have derelict news media people with little understanding.

Dead Friend Buried Beneath Christmas Presents: Patty White Accused Of Murder

Police arrested a woman they said killed her friend and hid her body under a pile of Christmas presents in Florida, TV station WBTV reports.

Then, the suspect, Patty White, hightailed it back to her home in South Carolina, making withdrawals with the dead woman's ATM cards along the way, according to TV station WJXT.

Police accuse White, 40, of beating and strangling Michele O'Dowd, 67, in the older woman's apartment. O'Dowd was found dead by her twin brother on Friday, who looked for her when she didn't show up for work according to FirstCoastNews.com.

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Test

This is an interesting test. It shows results in a number of ways. It indicates that the majority of Americans haven't the slightest idea as to what is going on.....

ANYWHERE! It's no wonder our politicians take such advantage of us. This is an interesting and simple test.

It's astonishing that so many people got less than half right.

The results say that 80% of the (voting) public does NOT have a clue and that's pretty scary.

There are no tricks here - just a simple test to seeif you are current on your information.

Test your knowledge with 13 questions, then be ready to shudder when you see how others did.

Click here: Test Your News IQ - Pew Research Center

PUBLIC NOTICE

CANCELLATION OF CITY COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE MEETING

THE CITY COUNCIL’S SECOND LEGISLATIVE MEETING OF THE
MONTH, DECEMBER 27, 2011, HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO
THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

Whitehaven Ferry Closing AGAIN

This time it will on 12-15 for 6 to 8 weeks.

Tonight's County Council Meeting

AGENDA COUNTY COUNCIL OF WICOMICO COUNTY, MARYLAND Room 301, Government Office Building, Salisbury, Maryland LEGISLATIVE SESSION 2011-24 December 6, 2011 6:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. Gail M. Bartkovich, President Call meeting to order Opening Prayer
6:03 p.m. Proclamation: Special Agent David Rivello Day presented by Matt Maciarello, State’s Attorney 6:08 p.m. Approval of Minutes of November 15, 2011
6:10 p.m. Swearing in of John B. Hall, District 4 by Mark Bowen, Clerk of Court
6:15 p.m. Election of Officers
6:25 p.m. Matthew Creamer: Council Administrator:
1. Internal Auditor Annual Report by Steve Roser, Internal Auditor
2. Resolution 135-2011-Extending the date for the submission of the Capital Improvement Program from December 20, 2011 to January 17, 2012
3. Resolution 136-2011-To authorize an appropriation of Thirty-Eight Thousand Dollars (38,000) from the Tourism Fund Balance to Tourism Capital for improvements to athletic fields
4. Resolution 137-2011-To authorize an appropriation of Eighty-Two Thousand, Six Hundred Seventy Dollars ($82,670) from the fund balance to Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport for improvements to the Piedmont Hanger Complex
5. Resolution 138-2011-To make an appropriation of funds to various Sheriff Department accounts from unanticipated revenue in the amount of Thirty-Three Thousand Dollars ($33,000)
6. Resolution 140-2011-Approving and publishing the dates of the official holidays for County employees for the year 2012 6:30 p.m. Edgar A. Baker, Jr., County Attorney:
a. Public Hearing and Approval: Resolution 139-2011-To authorize the County Executive to execute on behalf of Wicomico County, a lease to S&H Farms, Inc.
b. Introduction: Legislative Bill 2011-12-An act to temporarily amend Chapter 200, titled “Subdivision of Land” to extend for a period of two years, the approvals and deadlines for certain permits issued by Wicomico County for development projects
6:30 p.m. Public Comments-Please limit all public comments to five minutes or less; any presented material may be submitted to Council members-Please include eight copies.
6:55 p.m. Council Comments
7:05 p.m. Council President’s Comments 7:10 p.m. Adjourn
7:15 p.m. Open Work Session: Enterprise Budget-Recreation, Parks and Tourism by Gary Mackes, Director Elected School Board
8:00 p.m. Closed Work Session: Economic Development The County Council reserves the right to close a portion of this meeting as authorized by Section 10-(508)a of the State Government Articles of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

"The Honorable" Jon Corzine To Tesify On Thursday Over MF Global Collapse

It's official - the man who has been more invisible in the past month than Slimer the friendly ghost, aka former Goldman and MF Global (and let's not forget New Jersey) CEO "The Honorable" Jon Corzine, is now officially on the Thursday, December 8 docket, of witnesses to tesitfy at the House Agirculture Committee hearing examining the MF Global bankruptcy. In what could be the most popular televized hearing out of Congress since Carl "Shitty Deal" Levin went to town on Lloyd and Vini, the entire world will be watching with baited breath first whether Corzine will even appear, at which point things get tricky of the Obama administration, best known recently for using Corzine as a distinguished financial advisor, and secondly, his explanation of just how it is that buying Italian bonds in zany off-balance sheet schemes while commingling billions of client funds to mask capital deficiency is legal.

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Former Syracuse Basketball Coach Accuser Admits To Sexually Abusing Boy

PORTLAND, Maine – A man who accused former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting him admitted Monday that he sexually abused a boy in Maine.
Zach Tomaselli, of Lewiston, told The Associated Press that he sexually abused the boy when the victim was 13 and 14 years old. Tomaselli said he knew the boy and worked as a counselor at a camp the boy attended.

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Surveillance Photos Of Robbery Suspect Released

Location: Vanity Fair Outlet, 36716 Bayside Outlet Drive, Rehoboth Beach, DE

Date of Occurrence: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 6:20 p.m.

Suspects:

Black female, 20-28 years of age, 5’01” tall, 125 lbs, with a thin build. (Pictured in photos with cap on her head)

Black female, 20-28 years of age, 5’03” tall, large build. (Pictured in photos with striped shirt)

Black female (no further description)

Black male (no further description)

Victim:

31 year old Frederica, DE man


Resume:
Rehoboth Beach, DE- The Delaware State Police are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a shoplifting suspect who attempted to assault a security guard at the Rehoboth Outlets in September.

The incident occurred at approximately 6:20 p.m. on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 as two female suspects were inside of the Vanity Fair Outlet Store located in the 36000 block of Bayside Outlet Drive in Rehoboth Beach, DE. One of the suspects, described as a black female in her twenties, removed two pairs of jeans from a display rack and proceeded to place them in a plastic shopping bag that she had in her possession. Both female suspects then left the store.

It was at this point that a 31 year old Frederica, DE man, who was employed by the store in the Loss Prevention Department, confronted the female suspect with the stolen pants. He then asked the suspect to return to the store and to give back the stolen pants. However, she refused and attempted to punch the loss prevention officer, but missed. The officer then grabbed the plastic bag from the suspect as she and the second female fled to a silver car which was parked in the parking lot and which was being operated by another black female and also occupied by a black male. As the victim approached the vehicle, the black male subject got out of the car and ordered the victim to stay away and implied that he was armed with a gun. No weapon was ever displayed however. All of the suspects then fled from the lot in the silver car. There were no injuries.

The Delaware State Police are asking anyone who may know the identification of the pictured suspects to contact Corporal Fred Chambers at Troop 4 at 302-856-5850. Citizens may also provide a tip by texting keyword “DSP” plus your message to 274637 (CRIMES). Tipsters may also provide information through lines maintained by Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333. Callers can also submit information via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com.

Baltimore City Fire Station Named "Busiest In America"

It's somewhat of a dubious honor.

A Baltimore fire station has been named the "Busiest In America" according to firehouse magazine.

Melinda Roeder tells us more about the busy fire house on Eutaw Street, where crew members say it's never boring.

Source

CBS.com Launches Search For Next Great Local Band

LOCAL BANDS GIVEN A CHANCE TO WIN A PERFORMANCE SLOT ON "GRAMMY® LIVE" BY ENTERING CBS.COM's "FROM YOUR GARAGE TO GRAMMY® LIVE!" CONTEST

CBS today launched “From Your Garage to GRAMMY® Live,” a contest* that gives aspiring bands across the country the chance of a lifetime – to be featured during GRAMMY® LIVE, a three-day online live streaming event starting Feb. 10, 2012, covering all the best GRAMMY-related events.

Beginning today through Jan. 2, 2012, bands can go to CBS.com/band to upload a video, which can be voted on by music fans from around the world. Submissions will be initially divided into the following regions: Pacific, Mountain, Midwest, Middle Atlantic, New England, South Atlantic and South. The voting will begin on Jan. 3, 2012 and close Jan. 16, 2012. From the uploaded bands, a finalist will be picked from each region for the second round of voting, which will start Jan. 17, 2012 and close Jan. 23, 2012. A final winner will be chosen on Jan. 24, 2012.

For more information on THE 54th ANNUAL GRAMMY awards, please visit: CBS.com/grammys.

Temper Tantrums: There’s Method To The Madness

Getting through temper tantrums are a rite of passage for many parents of young children. The long-lasting screams, snarls and pants seem to come in random spurts, and parents are left dodging an emotional minefield.

But new research suggests that there may be a method in the madness.
A study published in the journal Emotion found that tantrums have specific sounds and rhythms that can suggest distinguishable emotions.

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When Art Becomes Blight, Take It Down

Gas Prices High — Time to Export?

U.S. is on pace to be a net exporter of petroleum products for the first time in 62 years, as domestic prices at the pump are at a record high for this time of year.

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Another Tractor Trailer Where It Doesn't Belong

To those nay sayers who think this kind of traffic should be allowed Downtown, this tractor trailer just came through the Downtown Plaza. NOW, do YOU think that should be allowed, as restricted as the Plaza is space wise?

My Ride Into Work This Morning 12-6-11

Blagojevich Hoping Shame Lightens Sentence

CHICAGO - He was convicted of a shocking crime: trying to sell the president's former Senate seat. He eroded the public trust, supposedly lied to jurors and has shown no remorse. Yet Rod Blagojevich says he also did good while he was Illinois' governor, and he has two young daughters to support and no previous criminal record.

Judge James B. Zagel will weigh such factors Tuesday as he begins calculating how much time the disgraced former governor should spend behind bars. He's said he'll pronounce his sentence Wednesday, concluding what could be a surprise-filled hearing in which Blagojevich may beg for mercy or dig in his heels yet again to protest his innocence.

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A Comment Worthy Of A Post 12-6-11

Joe Forsthoffer, Corporate Communications Manager, Perdue has left a new comment on your post "SaveFarmFamilies.org Continues Grassroots Fundrais...":

To claim that Perdue provides its farm partners with “ZERO help” could not be further from the truth. Perdue AgriRecycle will clean out and recycle chicken litter — free of charge — for any grower who does not have sufficient land to appropriately apply it as fertilizer or a market to sell it to other farmers who can use it. NO grower is "stuck" with surplus litter. Further, through the Clean Waters Environmental Initiative, a first-of-its-kind agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Perdue is working with its growers to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and to promote environmental best practices related to their poultry operations. I invite you to learn more about Perdue AgriRecycle through this short video: http://www.youtube.com/perduechicken#p/c/3156FAD73D2F02C7/2/9J_v734e2_U

American Shoppers Are Back To Using Their Credit Cards

When the economy jumped head-first into a drained pool in 2008, many American shoppers turned away from using their credit cards to make purchases, instead opting to use debit cards and cash. But during the last six months, the numbers show that we've returned to pressing the "credit" button at the checkout line.

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Burglary Suspect Arrested

Date & Time: 12/03/2011 @ 0200 A.M. Case #:11-0285
Location Occurred: Evans Road, Berlin, Worcester County, Maryland

Crime or Violation: 1st Degree Burglary, 4th Degree Burglary, Malicious Destruction of Property Under $500, Possession of Heroine, Possession Paraphernalia
Victim: Dorothy Warren
Accused: Kyle Barton Brittingham W/M 1520 Ingleside Avenue, Perryville, MD 21903

Narrative:
On 12/03/2011 at 0230 Hrs, investigators from the Worcester County Bureau of
Investigation responded to Evans Road, Berlin, Worcester County Maryland to investigate a burglary. Investigation revealed that the suspect, who was later
identified as Kyle Barton Brittingham, entered the residence on Evans Road and
attempted to steal a “safe” located beside the victim’s bed. A description and
positive identification was made by the victim and Brittingham was subsequently
located and arrested at the residence next to the victim’s. Brittingham was
charged with First and Fourth Degree Burglary, Malicious Destruction of Property
Under $500, Possession of Heroine, and Possession of Paraphernalia.

Brittingham was taken to the Snow Hill Commissioner where he was held on $25,000 bond.

Rick Santorum Has Tense Exchange On Gay Rights And Health Care In Iowa

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – Rick Santorum is usually quite amiable on the trail, but Monday evening at a campaign event at a small Christian college in Sioux Center, he had some tense back-and-forth exchanges with one student and another graduate of the college.
Jason Kornelis, a 23-year-old recent graduate of Dordt College, asked the former Pennsylvania senator about his anti-same sex marriage stance comparing it to when interracial marriage was illegal in this country.
Clearly agitated, Santorum seemed astounded when Kornelis said he couldn’t contemplate how this would “be a hit to faith and family in America.”
“You can’t think of any consequence?” Santorum asked.

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Buy A Frappuccino With Food Stamps At Oregon Starbucks In Grocery Stores

While food stamp programs may vary from state to state, it would seem logical to restrict usage of those stamps to actual food items. Not so in the case of Starbucks located inside grocery stores in Oregon, where you can use stamps to purchase cold beverages like a Frappuccino.

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Home-Born Baby Boom Causes Concern

A dramatic rise in home births by unlicensed practitioners, as well as in the number of people requesting United States birth certificates for babies born that way, has led a state agency to issue a statement on health and safety guidelines for women wanting to deliver their children at home.

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OC Parrottheads "Hots For Tots" Raise Over 300 Toys For OCPD Toy Drive

Thank you to the Ocean City Parrottheads, whose annual "Hots for Tots" event raised over 325 toys for the Ocean City Police Department's Christmas Toy Drive.

Source

Fill In The Blank 12-06-11

If I had ____ I would be _____.

Norfolk Southern Railroad Will Close Clark Street Crossing In Harrington For Repairs

Harrington -- As a public courtesy, the Department of Transportation (DelDOT) wants to inform area residents that Norfolk Southern Railroad will close the railroad crossing on Clark Street between Delaware Avenue and Railroad Avenue in Harrington for the replacement of the crossing. The crossing will be closed at 7 a.m. on Monday, December 19. The crossing will reopen by 5 p.m. on Friday, December 23, pending weather.

Detour route:

Route 13 south to Delaware Avenue, west on Center Street to south on West Street, west on Route 14/Vernon Road

DelDOT will post signs to alert motorists of the closure and the accompanying detour routes.

For further information, please contact Tom Little of Norfolk Southern Railroad at (302) 398-5001.

WaPo Columnist As Apologist For The Police State

WaPo columnist Petula Dvorak is hailing the "professionalism" of the police (U.S. Park Police) who arrested protesters at Occupy DC, who refused to leave a structure they assembled at the occupation site.

Under the headline: Police maintain professionalism in Occupy D.C. confrontation, Dvorak tells us:

All day and into the night, the police were being taunted. Insults and sometimes water bottles were hurled their way. Cameras were pointed at them from every direction.

Yet, as they have done throughout the downtown drama known as Occupy D.C., the U.S. Park Police and D.C. officers displayed remarkable discipline and restraint Sunday during their confrontation with protesters in McPherson Square.
I was there. This simply did not happen. Although at times the occupiers chanted to the police that they (the police) were "part of the 99%, no insults were hurled at the police. And it is a complete outright lie to report that "water bottles were hurled their way".

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Salisbury Resident Named One Of The Top 15 Engineering Students Around The World

Michelle Rosen, a Salisbury, MD resident and engineering student at the University of Maryland was recognized by National Engineers Week as one of the top 15 engineering students from the United States and around the world in New Faces of Engineering College Edition.

NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK FOUNDATION AND PARTNERS HONOR TOP COLLEGE ENGINEERING STUDENTS

First Annual New Faces of Engineering College Edition

Recognizes the Most Promising

Engineering Professionals of Tomorrow

WASHINGTON DC, (December 5, 2011)– Reflecting the increasingly critical role engineers are destined to play in shaping the world of tomorrow, 15 of the most promising college engineering students from the United States – and across the world - have been recognized by National Engineers Week Foundation and its partners, through its first annual New Faces of Engineering College Edition.

Since 2003, National Engineers Week Foundation has honored young engineering professionals with its New Faces of Engineering award. This is the first year the popular initiative has expanded to recognize the best and brightest college engineering students.

The 15 winners, all third, fourth or fifth year engineering students, represent a cross-section of interests, specialties and backgrounds. Winners are recognized for academic excellence, leadership within student organizations, outstanding communication skills, non-engineering related community service and involvement in the engineering industry.

Winners include students from the University of Lagos and British University in Egypt. One winner is leading a team of 100 engineering students to develop ways to make the world more sustainable. Others tutor and mentor children in their communities, thus inspiring the next generation of engineers. Winners include past participants in National Engineers Week Programs, such as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.

Michelle Rosen - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
University of Maryland
4th year

Michelle volunteers to get more elementary, middle and high school girls interested in engineering by leading them in fun, hands-on challenges.

HAS RICK POLLITT KILLED THE ELECTED SCHOOL BOARD IN WICOMICO COUNTY?

Like the avowed Democrats in Salisbury City Government (Ireton, Mitchell and Shields), the Republican members of the Wicomico County Council want to have a non-binding referendum – in the latter case on the method for selection of the County’s school board. It seems that most, possibly all members of the County Council, with the exception of Ms. Hughes, of course, prefer an elected school board, rather than the current system (appointed by the Governor).

So back in October Gail Bartkovich wrote to Delegate Rudolph (“Rudy”) Cane asking that the Wicomico County Delegation sponsor legislation in the upcoming session of the General Assembly to authorize a non-binding referendum. Knowing that would not sit well in his Democrat majority district and could jeopardize his status as an O’Malley puppet in Annapolis, Mr. Cane has responded – apparently without polling the other members of the Delegation – stating that HE would submit the legislation only if it was “endorsed by the Wicomico County Executive.”

Ms. Bartkovich also asked Rick Pollitt to support the referendum legislation, and he has responded in a magnum opus to justify his decision “not to join this effort,” in which he states the he has “long shied away from simplistic actions to address complicated issues.”

But the substantive basis stated by Mr. Pollitt for his refusal is his belief that those who want an elected school board should use the available petition process that is available to put something to a referendum. Both he and a majority of the Salisbury City Council who have rejected the Ireton-Mitchell-Shields scam to have a non-binding referendum should be applauded for taking that position.

Let’s play by the rules, not revise or disregard them to placate certain special interest groups, either liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican.

Playing With Fire

Obama’s risky oil threat to China.

When it comes to China policy, is the Obama administration leaping from the frying pan directly into the fire? In an attempt to turn the page on two disastrous wars in the Greater Middle East, it may have just launched a new Cold War in Asia -- once again, viewing oil as the key to global supremacy.

The new policy was signaled by President Obama himself on November 17th in an address to the Australian Parliament in which he laid out an audacious -- and extremely dangerous -- geopolitical vision. Instead of focusing on the Greater Middle East, as has been the case for the last decade, the United States will now concentrate its power in Asia and the Pacific. “My guidance is clear,” he declared in Canberra. “As we plan and budget for the future, we will allocate the resources necessary to maintain our strong military presence in this region.” While administration officials insist that this new policy is not aimed specifically at China, the implication is clear enough: from now on, the primary focus of American military strategy will not be counterterrorism, but the containment of that economically booming land -- at whatever risk or cost.

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Murray Rothbard: The Truth About Newt Gingrich

Murray Rothbard wrote the following Op-Ed for the Washington Post on December 30, 1994. As always, the amazing Rothbard was able to see into the core of a man so that what he wrote about Gingrich nearly two decades ago reads as fresh as if it was written for this morning's paper.

Newt Gingrich is No Libertarian

By Murray N. Rothbard

Friday, December 30, 1994 ; Page A17
E. J. Dionne is wrong in identifying the Republican elites, in particular the Gingrich faction, with the libertarian revolution {op-ed, Dec. 6} . The truth is that since we have been stuck with a two-party system, any electoral revolution against big government had to be expressed through a Republican victory. So it is certainly true that Newt Gingrich and his faction, as well as Robert Dole, have ridden to power on the libertarian wave.

But to speak, as Mr. Dionne does, of "the rise of libertarians as a key party constituency and the centrality of libertarian ideas to many of the party's new leaders" is going a bit too far.

As Ralph Nader -- no libertarian -- pointed out, it took less than a month for Gingrich, Rep. Dick Armey and the others to betray the new revolution by collaborating with President Clinton and a discredited Congress to push through the World Trade Organization, which institutionalizes government management of world trade, complete with punitive sanctions and fines.

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Troopers Seek Help In Locating Burglary Suspect

Location: Seacoast Motors, 11148 S. DuPont Highway, Felton, DE

Date of Occurrence: Friday, December 2, 2011 at 8:30 p.m.

Defendant:

17 year old Milford, DE female

Charges:

Possession of Burglary Tools
Receiving Stolen Property
Conspiracy 2nd Degree

Arraignment information is not available at this time.

Suspect:

Curtis Brown, 22, Frederica, DE
Black male, 5’08” tall, 160 lbs, with black hair and brown eyes.

Charges:

Burglary 3rd Degree
Possession of Burglary Tools
Theft of a Motor Vehicle
Receiving Stolen Property
Conspiracy 2nd Degree
Resisting Arrest
Multiple traffic offenses


Resume:
Felton, DE- The Delaware State Police have arrested a Milford teen and are searching for a male suspect in connection with the burglary of a car dealership last week.

The investigation began at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Friday, December 2, after troopers responded to the Seacoast Motors dealership located in the 11000 block of S. DuPont Highway in Felton for the report of a burglary. Upon arriving at the business, troopers were advised that someone had pried open the rear door of the dealership garage. Once inside, the suspects stole a key to a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero and proceed to drive it off of the car lot.

At approximately 11:00 p.m. a trooper on routine patrol noticed what appeared to be a disabled vehicle parked on the shoulder of DE Rt. 1 just north of the Barkers Landing Bridge in Dover. As the trooper pulled up behind the vehicle, a male subject, who had been sitting in the driver’s seat, exited the vehicle and fled on foot. He was last seen running northbound on DE Rt. 1 and then entering a marshy area. The female subject, later identified as a 17 year old Milford, DE teen, was apprehended at the scene. It was then learned that the vehicle that the subjects were in was the 2001 Mitsubishi that had been stolen earlier in the evening from Seacoast Motors.

The 17 year old female was arrested and charged with the above list of crimes. Her arraignment information was not available at the time of this release. State troopers, with the assistance of the Delaware State Police helicopter Trooper 2, and the Dover Police Department attempted to locate the male subject, later identified as Curtis Brown, 22, of Frederica, DE, but were unable to find him. Troopers obtained warrants charging Brown with the above list of crimes.

The Delaware State Police are asking anyone who may have any information in reference to the location of Curtis Brown to contact Troop 3 at 302-697-4454. Citizens may also provide a tip by texting keyword “DSP” plus your message to 274637 (CRIMES). Tipsters may also provide information through lines maintained by Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333. Callers can also submit information via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com.

Tractor Trailer Traffic Must Be Stopped On Market Street

Yesterday we experienced a very close call at 300 W. Main Street. A tractor trailer came down Mill Street and turned right onto Market Street and couldn't make the turn, so what else is new, right.

This time, however, he scraped the bottom of my overhang as he made the turn and rode up onto the sidewalk.

I have asked the Mayor and City Council to please consider denying ANY tractor trailer traffic onto this roadway as it is only a matter of time before serious damage occurs. There is absolutely no way for these larger vehicles to make the turn, period.

The Council has brought this up in a work session but nothing has been done about it yet. Too close for comfort!

The US Education Bubble

In the world of finance, there is always talk of bubbles – mortgage bubbles, tech stock bubbles, junk bond bubbles. But bubbles don’t develop only in financial markets. In recent years, there's been another one quietly inflating, not capturing the attention of most observers.

It's an education bubble – just not the one of student debt that has graced the pages of the New York Times and so many other publications in recent months.

The problem is not that we are overeducating ourselves as many would have you believe. Rather, it’s that we are spending a fortune to undereducate ourselves.

The United States has always been a very educated country. But it is becoming less and less so, especially in the areas that matter to our individual and collective economic futures. Our undereducation begins with a stubbornly high dropout rate among secondary education students. About a quarter of those who begin high school don't finish.

In an educational system where graduation from high school at a minimum level often means no grasp of mathematics beyond basic arithmetic, no training in basic personal finance, and no marketable professional skills, this is an obvious problem We can and should do more to prepare high school graduates for the world they now live in.

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Former Governor Jesse Ventura takes on the US government

Jesse Ventura first entered the public eye as a professional wrestler, but in 1999 he was elected governor of Minnesota as an independent. His diverse career also includes service in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, movie and television acting, lecturing as a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and hosting a talk-show.

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The Most Endangered Federal Tax Deductions

CNBC has put together a list of tax deductions that may be eliminated as the deficit swells. It's not certain where cuts in deductions will come, but the below list provides a good guide as to deduction eliminations that are being proposed by various individuals. Read it and weep:

1. A higher capital gains tax is a possibility. While current rates expire at the end of 2012, the Obama administration would like to raise capital gains rates.

2. Both the administration and Congress have proposed raising the R&D tax credit as well as the related alternative simplified credit or ASC, a simpler way for businesses to calculate the credit.

3. Congress extended the IRA charitable donation provision through 2011, but it will lapse in 2012 if lawmakers don’t act. Donors older than 70 ½ may contribute up to $100,000 of IRA assets directly to one or more qualified charities. While there’s no deduction, the gift is excluded from income.

4. Under the current tax exemption for employer-sponsored health insurance, your employer’s portion of your health premium is tax exempt. If, however, the subsidy was axed and your employer instead gave you a raise to cover those health costs, you’d have a higher taxable income or higher tax bill.

5.A deduction of up to $4,000 for qualified education expenses expires at the end of 2011.

6. Interest paid on a mortgage is tax deductible if itemized. Roughly a quarter of all tax filers claim the popular tax deduction. There is much talk about eliminating this deduction.

7.The state sales tax deduction is scheduled to expire at the end of 2011.

Source

Today's Survey Question 12-6-11

Is your Christmas Tree real or fake?

Justice Department: Diversity Trumps 1964 Anti-Discrimination Law

The Justice Department is telling university administrators they can grant valuable university slots to people in favored races and ethnic groups.

The department’s legal advice, announced late on Friday, says “race can be outcome determinative for some participants in some circumstances,” when administrators are weighing who gets acceptance letters from private and government-funded universities.

But the letter also highlights advocates’ growing worries about a pending Supreme Court decision that could ban the use of race in awarding university slots.

More importantly, the court could also damage the idea of “diversity” that progressives have used in universities and politics to attack conservative ideas and conservative political clout.

The 10-page report argues that diversity in the classroom is so important to universities that its trumps the plain language of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

The report was issued by the social-regulation divisions of the justice and education departments. It is titled “Guidance on the voluntary use of race to achieve diversity in postsecondary education.”

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BP Accuses Halliburton Of Destroying Evidence Following Gulf Spill

NEW ORLEANS -- BP has accused Halliburton of destroying damaging evidence about the quality of its cement slurry that went into drilling the oil well that blew out last year and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
In a court filing, the oil company alleged that Halliburton did inadequate cement work. BP also asked a federal judge to punish the oilfield services company.
The accusation raises the stakes ahead of a trial, expected in late February, to assign blame and damages for the April 2010 blowout of the Macondo well, which triggered the spill.

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Paul Ryan: Replace ‘Timid’ Congressmen With ‘Bold Conservatives’

Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan says he’s on a mission to help elect “more conservatives in Congress to save the country” and plans to endorse candidates in congressional races where there are “clear cut cases between reformers and career people.”

“We’re going to try to get behind people who are coming here to save the country and fight for limited government and economic freedom,” Ryan said in an interview with The Daily Caller about his political action committee, Prosperity PAC.

In a memo obtained by TheDC, the Wisconsin congressman plans to ask supporters to donate to his Prosperity PAC to help elect members of Congress “who aren’t afraid to make the tough, but necessary, decisions to secure our fiscal future, and, when necessary.”

“We need to replace timid Members of Congress with bold conservatives who know what needs to be done,” Paul writes in the memo.

Ryan, whose PAC is also used to defend his “Plan to Prosperity” budget plan, also said his donations will be used to “fight Democrats’ lies and demagoguery with the facts.”

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FDA Weighs Request To Put Morning-After Pill On Drugstore Shelves, Eliminate Age Restriction

The Food and Drug Administration reportedly is reviewing a request from morning-after pill Plan B's manufacturer to put the pill on drugstore and supermarket shelves, where it can be purchased without a prescription.
Plan B is currently available in the pharmacy department and requires women to produce either a prescription or proof that they are at least 17 in order to obtain the emergency contraception without a doctor's order, the Washington Post reports. Anyone younger than 17 need a prescription.


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