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Friday, December 30, 2011

Somerset County Sheriff's Office Press Release 12-30-11

Richard Alan McGlothlin Jr. of Rising Sun, arrested 12-22-11 on a warrant regarding violation of probation. McGlothin was held without bond.

Randall Hanson Dykes of Salisbury, arrested 12-23-11 on a warrant regarding violation of probation. Dykes was held on a $150,000 bond.

Jeffrey Edward Webster of Deal Island, arrested 12-23-11 on traffic charges regarding driving without vehicle insurance, and displaying expired registration plates. Webster was released on citations pending District Court actions. The arrest was a result of a traffic stop conducted by Deputies on Ocean Highway in Princess Anne.

Michael Lamar Handy of Princess Anne, arrested 12-26-11 on a warrant regarding failing to appear in court. Handy was held on a $31,848.00 bond.

James Joseph Johnson Sr. of Princess Anne, arrested 12-26-11 on a warrant regarding violation of probation. Johnson was later held on a $25,000 bond.

Tyrie Lamar Henderson of Princess Anne, arrested 12-26-11 on warrants regarding failing to appear in court. Henderson was held on a $1,000 bond.

Leon Lorenzo White of Princess Anne, arrested 12-27-11 on warrants regarding failing to appear in court. White was held on a $1,000 bond.

Cynthia Dora Lester of Princess Anne, arrested 12-28-11 on traffic charges regarding driving without vehicle insurance, and a equipment violation. Lester was released on citations pending District Court actions. The arrest was a result of a traffic stop conducted by Deputies on Somerset Ave, Princess Anne.

Gregory Terrell Johnson Jr. of Princess Anne, arrested 12-29-11 on a warrant regarding failing to appear in court. Johnson was held on a $500.00 bond.

Dennis Lamont Daniels of Painter Virginia, arrested 12-29-11 on warrants regarding second degree assault, and reckless endangerment. Daniels was held on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

Arlen Deshawn Manley of Flanders New Jersey, arrested 12-20-11 on traffic charges regarding driving without a license, and speeding. Manley was released on citations pending District Court actions. The arrest was the result of a traffic stop conducted by Deputies on Ocean Highway, Westover.

Perry Draws Blank on Landmark Texas Anti-Sodomy Supreme Court Case


CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Texas Gov. Rick Perry admitted Thursday that he didn’t know about the Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas, a case decided while he was governor which struck down the state’s anti-sodomy law and similar laws in 13 others.
A voter at a meet and greet asked him to defend his criticism of limited government in the case.

How The Interventionists Stole The American Right

Thanks to Ron Paul, the Conservative movement is having an identity crisis. The old guard of the Conservative movement, which also happens to be the Republican Party establishment, still clings to the old creation myth of the Conservative movement. Namely, that there was no opposition to the New Deal-Liberal consensus until William F. Buckley and National Review came along in 1955, saving America from the American left, social democracy, moral turpitude and international Communism.

The modern gatekeepers of the movement, and the Republican Party officials, who fancy themselves as the keepers of the last word on the acceptable range of debate within the movement, cannot understand why the Ron Paul movement is more concerned with actually shrinking the size of government than with waging endless wars for endless peace. They cannot fathom that people claiming to be part of the American Right might actually be interested in rolling back government power to tax, wiretap, spy, arrest, imprison and feel up American citizens. This runs contrary to everything they have ever imbibed about what it means to be Conservative in America.

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GM Recalls 4,873 Sonic Cars In US, Canada

General Motors Co is recalling 4,873 of its current year Chevrolet Sonic subcompact cars in the United States and Canada for possible missing front brake pads, the company and federal safety regulators said on Friday.


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First Sears And Kmart Closings Of 2012 Concentrated In Midwest And South

Sears Holdings, owner of the perpetually troubled retailer power couple Sears and Kmart, has released the locations of 80 out of the 100 to 120 "under-performing" stores that will close in the coming months. Most of the stores on this first list are in the southern and midwestern U.S.

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Consumer Confidence Rose In December


(NEW YORK) — Americans are gaining faith that the economy is on the upswing.
An improving job outlook helped the Consumer Confidence Index soar to the highest level since April and near a post-recession peak, according to a monthly survey by The Conference Board.
The second straight monthly surge coincided with a decent holiday shopping season for retailers, though stores had to heavily discount to attract shoppers.


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'Synthetic' Marijuana Use Becoming Problem For U.S. Military

U.S. troops are increasingly using an easy-to-get herbal mix called "Spice," which mimics a marijuana high and can bring on hallucinations that last for days.

The abuse of the drug has so alarmed military officials that they've launched an aggressive testing program that this year has led to the investigation of more than 1,100 suspected users, according to military figures.


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Is The Free Market Hopeless?

Why free-market economics is a fraud ... If there's one thing everyone in America knows, it's that free-market economics is true and free markets are best. After all, we're not communists, are we? They starved and lost the Cold War because they believed otherwise. And their watered-down European cousins the socialists? More of the same, only less so. Even liberals get this nowadays. All hail the free market! Trouble is, things "everyone" knows are often wrong. And this is no exception. It's time to start getting honest about a very simple fact: Nobody, but nobody, really believes in free markets. That's right. Not the Republican Party, not the libertarians, not the "Wall Street Journal," nobody. Here's why: a truly free market is a perfectly competitive market. Which means that whatever you have to sell in that market, so does your competition. Which means price war. Which means your price gets driven down. Which means little or no profit for you. Oops! – World Net Daily

Dominant Social Theme: All this talk about the free-market makes us sick.

Free-Market Analysis: We have been watching what we call the Internet Reformation unfold for about a decade now – and as people begin to understand the Way the World REALLY Works, attacks on the concept of a free market have escalated.

As people in the West used the Internet to discover the one-world goals of the Anglosphere elites, all the regular tricks and tropes of those who seek a New World Order were triggered in the US, where the controversy is especially contentious.

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Alcohol And Your Health

When it comes to your health, is it better to drink or not to drink?

 It's becoming an even more complicated question, especially in the wake of several recent studies linking even a little drinking of alcohol to a higher risk of cancers.

 In one of them, researchers found that women who had as little as one drink a day boosted their risk of cancer of the breast, liver, rectum, throat, mouth, and esophagus. Meanwhile, numerous studies dating back decades show that alcohol and heart health have a positive relationship.

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Senator Wants To Cut Back Domain Names

One senator is calling on international regulators to scale back plans to expand the number of domain names on the Internet. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. NextGov reports, he's rallying other telecomm leaders to ask the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to change its plans. ICANN wants to roll out unlimited new generic domain names that could include names of companies, like dot-facebook. Rockefeller worries thousands of new domain names could cost business millions by forcing them to defend their brands and could increase Internet fraud

"Law Enforcement Expert" Says Pittsburgher Jordan Miles Must Have Known Cops Were Cops Before They Beat Him Lucy Steigerwald

In response to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Jordan Miles over a beating he suffered from Pittsburgh Police in January 2010, a "law enforcement expert" has declared that the cops' version of events is true. 


The aforementioned expert was hired by the city to fight the lawsuit from Miles, so it's not exactly surprising that he came to some familiar conclusions about why the cops just had to do what they did.


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U.S. Troops Getting High

A growing number of U.S. troops are getting high on the herbal mix known as Spice. Smoking the mixture mimics the effects of marijuana. The armed services have investigated more than 1,000 suspected users this year. Mark Ridley, deputy director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, says the Navy has a zero tolerance policy toward use of spice. Seven hundred sailors were suspected of using it this year. The Air Force has punished nearly 500 users. The Army doesn't track total figures but says it treated 119 soldiers medically for use of Spice. Spice is made from dried leaves of exotic Asian plants.

Visitors To New York's 9/11 Memorial Top 1 Million

New York (CNN) -- In the 16 weeks since it opened to the public, the September 11 Memorial in New York has seen more than 1 million visitors, officials announced Thursday.

The memorial plaza was opened to family members of victims on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, and to the general pubic the following day. A museum on site is still under construction, and it is expected to open September 11, 2012.

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CIA Claims Petraeus Wasn't Going To Quit

The CIA has issued a statement, saying director and former four-star Gen. David Petraeus did not consider resigning the Army over President Obama's withdrawal plans for Afghanistan. Earlier, we reported that a forthcoming biography of Petraeus said, he'd thought about it but decided against what he called grandstanding. It turns out, Petraeus was urged to quit by Max Boot, a conservative writer who frequently covers military affairs. The Associated Press describes the biography as part hagiography and part defense of Petraeus' counterinsurgency strategy. The book is co-authored by Paula Broadwell and Vernon Loeb of the Washington Post

Cities Turn Off Their Lights As Budgets Get Slashed And Revenues Decline

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — In a deal to save money, two-thirds of the streetlights were yanked from the ground and hauled away this year, and the resulting darkness is a look that is familiar in the wide open cornfields of Iowa but not here, in a struggling community surrounded on nearly all sides by Detroit.

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How To Wrap Gifts Fabulously With Style And Class

New Years Eve Menu At Sobo's

Click on image to enlarge.

Smigiel Dominates Early Legislation — Again

The General Assembly already has a pile of 47 bills that have been prefiled so members can get right to work when they convene next month. On the House of Delegates side, nobody has prefiled more than Del. Michael Smigiel.

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David Letterman's Blackmailer Gets New TV Job

Robert "Joe" Halderman, the former CBS News producer who went to jail for trying to blackmail David Letterman, has secured a job at "On the Case with Paula Zahn," a weekly news magazine on the Investigation Discovery Channel.


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O’Malley Says Gas And Flush Tax Hikes May Be Part Of 2013 Budget

Gov. Martin O’Malley told reporters Thursday that “yes, perhaps” tax hikes would be part of next year’s proposed budget as part of a “balanced approach,” but he declined to be more specific.

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North Korea Says No Change, No Talks With Seoul

(CNN) -- Prospects for a shift in relations on the Korean peninsula were dashed Friday when North Korea said a change in leadership would not mean a change in policy. "We solemnly declare with confidence that the South Korean puppets and foolish politicians around the world should not expect any change" from North Korea, the country's National Defense Commission said in a statement reported by Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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Need Help Avoiding Hangover? Less Booze, More H2O

CHICAGO (AP) - Attorney Colleen Gorman has a holiday ritual that doesn't involve buying presents or counting down to midnight: She goes online to look for new hangover remedies she hasn't tried.

She already has scratched off those big "prevention" pills, vitamins and chugging sports drinks, along with more quirky folk remedies including peanut butter sandwiches.

"My fiance says I should probably just drink less," said Gorman, 28, of Chicago.

Experts say that's good advice for everyone.

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Animal Cruelty Nets 18 Months

SNOW HILL -- Two days after getting sentenced to a combined 20 years for convictions on five counts of possession of child pornography, a Berlin man was sentenced last Thursday to an additional 18 months for animal cruelty stemming from an incident last August.

 On Aug. 24, Berlin Police received a tip that Greenberg was in possession of animals in compromised health conditions in direct violation of his probation for an animal cruelty conviction in Salisbury in August 2010.

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Dover International Speedway To Widen Seats

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Dover International Speedway in Delaware is hoping to make race fans' experience a little more comfortable by widening seats in the track's outdoor grandstands.

The speedway announced Thursday that the process of increasing seats from 18 inches to 22 inches will start next year and will be complete by 2014.

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Top 10 Parenting Fails Of 2011

(Parenting.com) -- Parenting's a hard job, we admit. But take heart; no matter how much you're struggling, you're probably doing better than these sorry moms and dads making headlines this year. Read through our list, and then congratulate yourself for doing a pretty good job, all things considered.

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Holidays Would Land On Same Day Under Proposed Calendar

WASHINGTON -- How would you like to have New Year's Eve on a Saturday every single year?

It's just one possible benefit touted by a pair of Johns Hopkins researchers who say the calendar should change and the world should get rid of time zones.

Astrophysicist Richard Henry and economist Steve Hanke say their calendar would not only be convenient, it would save money.

That's because with balanced quarters of the year based on two 30-day months, followed by one 31-day month, complicated calculations of how much interest you owe or the bank owes you, could get a lot simpler.

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Kelly Clarkson Endorses Ron Paul, Gets Twitter Hate Over Racism, Homophobia

The first "American Idol" has announced who she wants to be the next American president. Her choice isn't helping her approval ratings. "I love Ron Paul. I liked him a lot during the last republican nomination and no one gave him a chance," Kelly Clarkson wrote on Twitter and WhoSay on Wednesday. "If he wins the nomination for the Republican party in 2012 he's got my vote. Too bad he probably won't."

 Like Paul, Clarkson hails from Texas. And like Paul, Clarkson is a fan of limited government. But given her status as a pop star, she caught a lot of criticism from fans who were enraged over Clarkson's endorsement amidst the ongoing controversy over racist and homophobic newsletters that were sent out under Paul's name in the 80s.

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Live Video Chat While Driving? Might Be A Thing Of The Near Future

WASHINGTON -- There could be one more distraction to add to the list of gadgets that can distract drivers from the road.

Onstar is set to demonstrate in-car video chats and live video streaming in a Chevy Volt.

It says the prototype applications will be put in the demo car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in the second week of January.

At last year's show, the company said any video features would be designed to only be active in the back seat, unless the car is in park.

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'Amazing,' 'Baby Bump' Among Words Added To Michigan School's Banished list

(CNN) -- If you're thinking of setting up an amazing man cave or showing off a ginormous baby bump next year, think again.

 A northern Michigan school on Friday released its 37th annual list of words and phrases that it believes should be "banished" from the English language, and it suggests that some classic -- and perhaps hackneyed -- should get the ax.

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Doggie Dining Has No Takers

The story: The Dining Out Growth Act of 2011 took effect July 1, allowing restaurants to allow dogs in outdoor areas.

The update: No restaurant has made inquiries about allowing the pets to eat with their owners.

This year, the Maryland General Assembly loosened the leash on doggie dining at restaurants.

The Dining Out Growth Act of 2011 took effect July 1, but, as of early December, there had been no takers in Washington County.

"No one locally even made any inquiries about it," Washington County Health Department spokesman Rod MacRae said in a voice-mail message on Dec. 9.

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Bavarian Villagers Build Church Out Of Snow And Ice

A Church built entirely of snow and ice had its grand opening in the Bavarian village of Mitterfirmiansreut Wednesday night. Villagers built the church, which is made up of more than 49,000 cubic feet of  snow, to commemorate the construction of  a similar snow church in the village 100 years ago.


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Maryland Lawmakers May Consider Gas Tax Hike In 2012

BALTIMORE (WJZ)– The threat of a 15 percent gas tax hike could soon be a reality. It’s news drivers don’t want to hear but the governor says the money’s got to come from somewhere.

Meghan McCorkell has more on the increase.

The gas tax hasn’t gone up in Maryland in nearly two decades. Now, Governor Martin O’Malley says it’s time for a change today if Maryland wants a better tomorrow.

Tax hikes must be on the table in 2012. That’s the word from Governor Martin O’Malley.

“Somehow, we have to find a way to make the kind of modern investments that a modern economy requires to create jobs,” he said.

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Two Abortion Doctors Charged With Murder in MD

Two out-of-state doctors who traveled to Maryland to perform late-term abortions have been arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder under the state’s viable fetus law, authorities said.

Dr. Steven Brigham, of Voorhees, N.J., was taken into custody Wednesday night and is being held in the Camden County jail, according to police in Elkton, Md. Authorities also arrested Dr. Nicola Riley in Salt Lake City and she is in jail in Utah. Each is awaiting an extradition hearing.

The two doctors were indicted by a grand jury after a 16-month investigation, police said.

The investigation began in August 2010 after a botched procedure at Brigham’s Elkton clinic. An 18-year-old woman who was 21 weeks pregnant had her uterus ruptured and her bowel injured, and rather than call 911, Brigham and Riley drove her to a nearby hospital, where both were uncooperative and Brigham refused to give his name, authorities said.

A search of the clinic after the botched abortion revealed a freezer with 35 late-term fetuses inside, including one believed to have been aborted at 36 weeks, authorities said.

Brigham, 55, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy. Riley, 46, faces one count each of first- and second-degree murder and one conspiracy count.

The procedure authorities say was botched resulted in the murder case against Riley and three of the 11 murder charges against Brigham, prosecutors told the Cecil Whig in Elkton, Md. The other charges against Brigham relate to four other illegal abortions he performed there, prosecutors added.

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Alaska Teen Who Was Injected With Heroin Dies

(AP)  
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An Alaska teenager who was injected with heroin by a 26-year-old man died Thursday almost a week after the incident, Anchorage police said.
Jena Dolstad of Anchorage had been listed in critical condition since she was taken to the hospital last Friday with a drug overdose. The 14-year-old died at the hospital shortly after noon Thursday, police spokeswoman Anita Shell said.

Maryland Bill Would Make Parents Report Missing Kids

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- The Maryland General Assembly will consider a bill that would require parents or guardians to promptly notify police about dead or missing children.

The Cumberland Times-News reported Thursday that Delegate Kevin Kelly pre-filed the bill for the 2012 legislative session (http://bit.ly/szEFmk).

The Allegany County Democrat is calling it "Caylee's Law" in memory of Caylee Anthony, a 2-year-old Florida girl who died in 2008. Caylee's mother Casey Anthony didn't report her disappearance for a month. She was acquitted of murder in July.

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Warning: Don’t Mix Alcohol And Online Shopping


Drunk dialing, drunk texts, drunk Facebooking … there are many things one shouldn’t do while drunk. Add online shopping to the list.
Nowadays if you’re drinking, it’s advisable to hand over not only your keys, but your credit card as well, to a sober, responsible friend—ideally, one with good taste too. Why? The dangers of shopping while drunk.

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The Prepper Movement - Part 1

What is a prepper? Wikipedia defines a prepper as a survivalist preparing for man-made or natural apocalyptic disasters. While it is undeniable that the potential of man-made chaos increases with each passing day, the necessity for people to be prepared for naturally occurring phenomena exist and have existed since the beginning of time itself. The news - more importantly the internet - is full of information of things taking place all over the world that are waking people up to the fact that the need to prepare for bad situations, both man made and natural disasters, has never been more important. The number of people waking up to this reality increases everyday and is nothing less than a movement.

In my mind, prepping must consist of immediate, short term provisions AND long term sustainability of your life and the lives of your family members and/or those in your prepper "group". Remember, you can not effectively prep for long term survival on your own. We'll go into that in greater detail later. But for purposes of this article we will break prepping down into two basic types. Short term and long term.

Short Term

Prepping for short term survival should be a concern for every American. Even the U.S. Government thinks so. http://www.ready.gov/are-you-ready-guide

If you can read this and not become fully aware that even the Government expects disasters with which it cannot effectively handle, you may be among those who will perish in the aftermath. At this point, our federal government promotes the actions of preppers - to a degree.

Short term means days and weeks - up to several months. Know this and prepare accordingly. Many experts agree that if the power grid should collapse, up to half of our countries population would die within the first 30 days unless power is restored. Remember the rules of 3. 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Water will be scarce without electricity to pump it out of the ground. Food will be scarce without electricity to keep it cold. It will also disrupt food distribution channels without fuel for trucks to bring food to the masses. Think it can't happen. On a smaller scale think about New Orleans. Even closer to home - think about the ice storm here in the late 90's that left some without electricity for 2 weeks. I can remember vividly the signs in front of the homes on Mt. Hermon Rd. saying "Conective Where Are You?!" Fortunately, these were isolated outages and people could still drive to get fuel and fresh food. A prolonged nationwide electrical grid failure can present life threatening circumstances for everyone in this country - unless you prepare.

So where do you begin to prepare for a short term natural or manmade disaster? Short term disasters presume that for the most part law enforcement and social fabric remain intact. While law enforcement may be tied up saving lives and things of that nature, it still functions as part of that social fabric.The five most important areas of survival are Shelter, Food and water, Security, Medical, and Communication. For short term prepping, the first three are the most important.

Shelter - should I stay of should I go? There should be specific triggers that determine whether you should remain in your home or head for high ground (bug out). Everyones trigger point is different based in personal issues, such as small children, health conditions, etc. You should determine what your triggers are and make them part of your plan. If you plan to leave be sure to have the resources available to facilitate your evacuation - including a destination. DO NOT wait until evacuation time to think of a place to go. If you plan to stay be sure to have the resources available to facilitate that as well. Since most disasters include disruption of power, a generator is essential with plenty of fuel on hand. It would be preferable to have a diesel generator since diesel fuel can be stored for extremely long periods of time. Have your house wired well in advance and be familiar with how to disconnect the main breaker and direct the power supply to you electric panel. Ration your power useage so that you can run the generator for just an hour or two a day. Modern freezers keep food cold for long periods of time without power. Turn the power on only often enough to keep your freezer cold. While it is running, use the power to run your well pump to fill large containers (tub, barrels, jugs) with water and take care of hygiene requirements. Heat will be extremely important in the winter. Most generators won't create enough power to supply heat pumps, electric baseboard heaters, etc. It would be in your best interest to install a wood stove (not pellet) or a gas log fireplace to heat your house. Again, having plenty of fuel on hand will be at the top of the list of every succesful prepper.

Food and water - how much is too much? For most preppers, a good rule of thumb is 3-6 months worth of non-perishable foods. Canned goods should be maintained in a location that permits you to monitor expiration dates and to consume food using the FIFO method - First In, First Out. Once the stockpile is full you should use it as you normally would, replacing it as it is consumed. The idea that you will run out into the woods and kill enough food to feed your family is not just impractical as well as impossible, it is the same idea that 30,000 other people in Wicomico County will have. Stockpiling 3-6 months worth of food will allow you to focus on other important pressing issues that you will face. It will also allow you to help your neighbors who will not be as prepared as you. Charity is something you should consider constantly as you prepare. Water we covered above using well pumps while your generator is running. If you live in a city or town on the shore, you can still hand drive a well in your yard for "irrigation purposes only" ;-) with a pitcher pump. Keep in mind that in cases of flooding, it may be necessary to treat water before drinking. Water purification tablets can be obtained from Gander Mountain, Wal-Mart, or on-line at Cheaperthandirt.com and Cabelas.com.

Security - and we're not talking alarms here. That's right folks - guns. There, I said it. In a situation where lack of food, water, and possibly shelter intersects with a desperate population that has failed to prepare in the same manner you have, the need for personal security will become obvious in less than 72 hours. Law enforcement will not be able to protect you and your family. No excuses. Nothing you can say can obsolve you of your responsibility to protect yourself and your family from anyone who would harm you to take what you need to survive. This is where the rubber meets the road. Security doesn't mean buying a gun and shooting anyone who comes to your door. Security means developing a plan to keep your home, your family, and your supplies safe and implementing the plan using any and all necessary tools - including guns - to get it done. Security may mean a dog as an early alert. It may mean manning an LP/OP 24/7 until things return to normal. In all situations it means that someone remain awake at all times to alert others of any impending danger. It may mean inviting family and/or friends into your home to assure that there are enough people present to carry out this critical task. Security means that one is armed constantly while outdoors. It means that outdoors means on your property only - no wandering the country side. It means that larger properties - such as farms - need to be actually patrolled randomely, never routinely. It means that if at all possible, anyone going outdoors should do so with a partner. Prepping means becoming thoroughly familiar your weapons and your plan BEFORE an emergency arises. It means becoming an effective marksman.

It should be noted that security should be implemented as soon as the decision is made to either evacuate or stay. Incidentally, if you decide to evacuate you still must provide for the food/water and security aspects of survival while enroute to your bug out location and after you arrive.

Prepping isn't something you do a day a month or a week a year. Prepping is a way of life. Everyday you monitor the things going on in the world. You conserve and learn to conserve even more. You learn to be self sufficient. You learn to be compassionate and charitable. You learn to live in a way forgotten in the last 40 years

With any luck, after an incident such as the one mentioned above, electric companies and other utilities will make the necessary repairs and slowely life will return to some degree of normalcy as the infrastructure and food supply lines become re-established. Then we can all look back and appreciate the results of our efforts to be able to provide for our families. If they aren't repaired - if the food supply lines aren't re-established - the breakdown of our society will increase exponentially. The government will implement martial law and the military will take over all law enforcement functions. The constitution will be suspended - temporarily at first - and curfews will be implemented. Anarchy will be the flavor of the day. Our short term scenario has intensified and long term survival will the focus of all prudent preppers. In part 2 we will discuss preparation for long term survival, the development of a group of preppers, and the establishment of a trading/bartering network..

Senior Moment - Or Just Mulling A Response?


Seniors may be just as mentally agile as younger people. The reason their thinking appears sluggish is they mull things over longer, a new study shows.
Researchers have found that when people aged 60 and older are asked to make quick decisions, they respond as slowly as young children. And both groups react much more slowly than young adults, according to the study published in Child Development.

Iowa's Evangelicals Moving To Santorum

Signs that Rick Santorum is suddenly a contender in the race for the Republican nomination for president were all over Iowa on Thursday.

The former Pennsylvania senator - who has built his long-shot campaign around trying to appeal to evangelical Christians in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday - received a boost when several prominent preachers said their followers were coalescing behind Santorum.

Some preachers called on one of Santorum's chief rivals for the influential evangelical vote, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, to abandon her campaign, or fold hers into Santorum's.

"It seems to me that it's time for her to close down shop," said Cary Gordon, a Sioux City pastor who said the move would allow conservative Christians to speak with one voice - and possibly prevent a victory in Iowa by Mitt Romney or Ron Paul.

Many evangelicals see Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, as too moderate and Paul, a Texas congressman backed by libertarians, as unelectable. The winner of the Republican nomination faces Democratic President Barack Obama in November.

"The reality is, we are divided and being conquered, so to speak, if we don't coalesce around one candidate," Gordon said.

In perhaps the most significant sign that Santorum had arrived as a contender, Texas Governor Rick Perry - the third candidate in the GOP field who has made a special point of attracting evangelicals - launched a negative radio ad against Santorum.

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5 Great Uses For Old Computers

So you have recently upgraded to Windows 7, or maybe even a new Mac, but what should you do with the old Windows XP clunker that is taking up space in your living room? Older computers can still be put to another couple years of good use before they make the trip to computer heaven. For example, older computers can be set up as media center systems, with audio/video hookups to your surround sound system and TV. Another popular option is trying out a Linux operating system on the older computer. I have 2 custom built desktops, both XP era, which are running newer Linux distributions.

One option for the more technologically adept is to set up a home server, especially if you have several computers in your house. You can pay for a system such as Windows Home Server, or use a free one such as FreeNAS or Ubuntu Server. The free ones are solid competitors, but lack the graphical interface that most home PC users are comfortable with.

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-20087202-285/5-great-uses-for-your-old-windows-computer/?tag=epicStories

Mike's Tech Service
mdtechservice@comcast.net

Thank God Its Friday 12-30-11

What will you be doing this weekend?

Avoiding The New Year's Hangover

New Year's Eve for many is a night of celebration (I on the other hand will probably be home and in bed by 10:00 p.m.) and some take that celebrating a littletoo far. The champagne may taste great that evening but the headache and sometimes nausea at the dawn of the New Year is more than most people can take. 


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Voting / Election Districts

Joe,

I have been following this 2010 reorganization of voting districts and am clueless as to the “agenda” Well, maybe just against the “agenda” is a better way to state it. Currently, our governor wishes to draw zig zaggy lines around populated areas delineating lines between neighborhoods according to race. Why? What about LGTB’s? or Jews/ Catholics? Or murderers vs. robbers? Or Repubs vs Dems? Jeeze! What ever happened to the idea set forth in the Constitution that sets areas according to….wait for it…. POPULATION!!!! What are we and our congressmen and Governors even talking about “up there”?

Please encourage your congressmen and Governor to politely read and obey the Article I section II which is in the first 3 paragraphs. Takes longer to find and open the book than it takes to read it. By the way, they did take an oath when they took this job to read and obey this…

This crap is happening nationwide tight now and needs to stop and be done correctly, sorry.

Gary Bullard

Arizona Parents Arrested Over Alleged Facebook Images Of Duct Tape-Bound Children


Two northern Arizona parents were arrested after photos of their young children allegedly being abused were posted on Facebook.
An anonymous Facebook user reportedly alerted authorities on Wednesday after seeing two children, an infant and a toddler, bound with duct tape around their wrists and ankles in photos posted to the social networking site, Fox affiliate KSAZ-TV reported. 


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Man In China Spends $16,000 On Virtual Sword For Video Game


Most people wouldn’t blow $16,000 on a real antique sword from ancient China, let alone a virtual sword for a video game set in ancient China.
Not only did a man cough up enough cash for a mid-sized sedan, he did it for a game that’s not even out yet: Age of Wulin, soon to be released in Mainland China by Snail Games. The game is a fantasy MMORPG, or massively multiplayer online role-playing game, not unlike the immensely popular World of Warcraft.

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Middletown's Hummers Parade Promises To Poke Fun At Everyone

While other places are canceling their New Years festivities due to budget cuts, the longstanding tradition of the Hummer's Parade lives on in Middletown.

While the Mummer's parade is serious business, the Hummers Parade, a long-standing tradition in Middletown, has a sense of humor.

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Don't Forget To Sign Up For This Tournament

Troopers Probe Rehoboth Area Robbery

Location: Colonial Lane, Colonial East, Rehoboth, DE

Date of Occurrence: Friday, December 30, 2011 at 2:50 a.m.

Suspects:

Two white males approximately 30 years of age (no further description)

Victim:

48 year old Rehoboth, DE man

Resume:
Rehoboth, DE- The Delaware State Police are currently investigating the robbery of a Rehoboth man who was pushed from a moving vehicle early this morning.

The incident happened at approximately 2:50 a.m. this morning, December 30th, after a 48 year old Rehoboth, DE man was at the Wawa Convenience Store located at SR 1 and SR 24 in Rehoboth. The victim, who had driven to the store, realized that he did not have money in order to purchase gas for his vehicle. He then asked two male suspects for a ride to his residence, located in the unit block of Colonial Lane, in Rehoboth, in order to obtain money for fuel. The suspects agreed and drove the victim to his home. After obtaining money from his house, the victim got back into the suspect’s car at which time one of the suspects began to assault him. The suspect then took money from the victim and pushed him out of the car as it was moving. Both suspects then fled in an unknown direction.

The victim was transported by EMS to the Beebe Memorial Hospital where he was treated for his non life threatening injuries.

The Delaware State Police are asking anyone who may have any information in reference to this incident to contact Troop 7 at 302-644-5020. 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 http://www.tipsubmit.com/.

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

Everyone agrees the United States needs to improve its education system dramatically, but how? One of the hottest trends in education reform lately is looking at the stunning success of the West's reigning education superpower, Finland. Trouble is, when it comes to the lessons that Finnish schools have to offer, most of the discussion seems to be missing the point.


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Doh! The Top 10 Tech 'Fails' Of 2011

(CNN) -- Can't win 'em all, can you? The highs were pretty high in the tech world in 2011, as new gadgets, updates and advances delighted the masses. I mean, Facebook made a change that most people (so far) seemed to actually like. What are the odds?

 But the lows were lower. For every moment of digital bliss, it seemed, there was a clunker of equal or greater magnitude.

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Arizona Clinic Won't Take Credit Cards Over The Phone, Euthanizes Cat Instead

An Arizona man didn't have the $400 for his injured cat's vet care, and the Humane Society clinic he visited wouldn't take his mother's credit card information over the phone or wait for . So he did what he thought was the best thing for 9-month-old Scruffy: surrender ownership to the organization so she would receive treatment. He was told that he could adopt her back later on. A lack of resources meant that Scruffy, whose injuries were not life-threatening, was euthanized instead.

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Nathan Chapman Set For Release

Figure at center of pension scandal imprisoned 41/2 years

Nathan A. Chapman Jr., the once-prominent money manager whose fraudulent investments in his own companies caused a scandal for Maryland's public employee pension system, is scheduled to be released from federal custody Friday after serving 41/2 years.

Chapman, convicted by a federal jury in 2004 on 23 counts of fraud and filing false tax returns, was most recently assigned to an undisclosed halfway house run out of Annapolis Junction, according to a Bureau of Prisons website.

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Worcester County Sheriffs Office Press Release

On 12/22/2011 the Worcester County Sheriffs Office responded to Lilac Lane in Pocomoke reference a Missing Person.

The Sheriffs Office is requesting assistance with locating Carol Ann Comegy Chandler, W/F age 40. Ms Chandler was recently investigated by the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation and charged reference Theft. Ms Chandlers husband stated that she fled the residence shortly after 0230 hrs.

Ms Chandler was last observed in blue pajamas and a West Virginia sweatshirt. When Mr. Chandler awoke on 12/23 his wife had left the residence.

Please contact the Worcester County Sheriffs Office at 410 632 1112 with any information.

Fill In The Blank 12/30/11

My fantasy date for New Years Eve would be ______.

Unbelievable Snowmobile Hill Climb

GO HERE to view.

A White House Christmas

Beretta Jetfire .22 Short

At a 'best pistol for self defense forum', the question came up: what is the smallest caliber you trust to protect yourself...

My personal favorite bear defense gun has always been a Beretta Jetfire .22 short! I've found over the years when hiking in bear country I never leave without it in my pocket. Of course we all know the first rule when hiking in the wilderness is to use the "Buddy System". For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this it means you NEVER hike alone, you bring a friend or companion, even an in-law, that way if something happens there is someone to go get help. I remember one time hiking with my brother-in-law in Alaska. Out of nowhere came this huge Grizzly and man was she MAD! We must have been near one of her cubs. Any way if I had not had my little jetfire I am sure I would not be here today.

That's right, one shot to my brother-in-law's knee cap and I was able to escape by just walking at a brisk pace. That's one of the best pistols in my safe!

Delegate Mike McDermott On Plan Maryland


Once again, the O’Malley administration and its apologists have sown division in our state with another program, they claim, we cannot live without: Plan Maryland. Those who naively claim the plan does not remove local authority need to follow the money. If a local governing body gets out of step with the governor’s cadence, state money will serve as the whip of conformity.

There is nothing wrong with planning. In fact, communities are required to maintain Comprehensive Plans for growth and development in Maryland and the state has always provided guidance and support. They are reviewed periodically and updated by the folks who know and recognize the dreams, hopes, and desires of their affected community.

I get concerned when the state wants “more teeth” in planning laws and guidelines. That is code for “inflexibility” or the desire to make land use decisions that are etched in stone rather than drawn on paper. In America and a free Maryland, we use to value the private property rights of each other. In fact, we use to understand their importance to our foundational moorings. The idea that more governmental control and bureaucracy enhances or increases my freedom would prove anathema to the ears of Presidents Washington, Adams, or Jefferson.

Who has the right to declare that your city or town can only grow to a certain line? What if a crossroads decides to be something more? What if a farmer decides he wants to diversify and divide up his property? Where did our cities and towns come from in the first place? Why should these decisions fall to bureaucrats in Annapolis and Baltimore? Ironically, it was royalty who first directed their growth.

These matters would be tragic enough if they came through an elected General Assembly, but the governor is enacting them by Executive Order...he simply wills them to be so. These are not the actions of a representative government. Considering the overwhelming bi-partisan rejection of the O’Malley septic plan last session, its clear the governor has decided to bypass the people and go straight to dictating.

By way of example, only 7.24% of Worcester County is developed and 69% of our total land and water resources are already controlled by the government. Plan Maryland says, “that is not enough”. The plan calls for “saving” 300,000 acres of farmland over the next 25 years. The only way the land can be “saved” is by a taking. Farmers will lose their property rights and future development will not occur...all in the name of “freedom” and a “greater good”.

New technology is rendering obsolete the notion that owner operated septic systems cannot be environmentally neutral and state of the art farming techniques continue to enhance output while protecting the environment.The fact is, technology is outpacing our best planning efforts and rendering the science, conjectures, and cost-benefit analysis null and void.

Through Plan Maryland, proponents call upon the government to “use any means necessary” to demand that growth only occur in existing cities and towns, and bureaucracy, once created, results in freedom lost one code at a time.

We would do well to remember that a benevolent tyrant is a tyrant none the less.

Marylanders, take back your state!

Another Great Pohanka Experience


Joe,

Thanks for recommending that I contact Chris Hagel at Pohanka Automotive to find a good car for my daughter. Its the best car buying experience I ever had. Not only did he find the perfect car for her and interest rate I never expected but the whole process took only 2 hours for my daughter to drive out with a better vehicle than she expected for quite a bit less money.

Thanks again Joe, I will definitely recommend Pohanka to my friends and coworkers.

Have a good new year.

Local MSM Go At It Again Concerning Campbell & Charlie


Ocean City Today and the Coastal Dispatch headlined Earl Campbell and Chief DiPino for yet another week.

“Would they have sold the dog for $1 if it didn’t need surgery? Why would they have a gag order against them talking about him needing surgery to begin with?” Campbell asked.

Meanwhile the allegations of misconduct made on the Salisbury News blog are still anonymous and Jim Hall said the absence of a bill for the surgery creates more questions about the situation.

“Whether the dog had surgery or not, that’s now between the officer and the dog,” Hall said. “Nobody is willing to stand up and sign their name to this blog. It’s up to the chief to do the investigation up there and find if she’s got a problem.”


It's good to know Joe Hall follows Salisbury News. However, there were quite a few people who signed their names to comments, just to set the record straight. I find it most interesting, however, that Hall makes such a comment KNOWING there's a gag order on Police Officers and what would happen to them IF they used their name to speak up. Like a typical politician, he wants to attempt to cast doubt in people's minds that these comments are or are not credible.

Well Joe Hall, you keep mentioning a "blog". How about the Daily Times Grapevine? How about an admitted internal investigation on a matter that is NOT criminal? How about a Police Force making illegal calls demanding information on a matter that is not only not criminal, they do NOT own the animal. How about the FACT that Campbell NEVER asked to be reimbursed. How about the Department forcing their Officers to fill out a "95" formal report stating if you did or didn't make a comment on a "blog". They never mentioned comments on WBOC, WMDT, Facebook, Twitter or the Daily Times, they said, Blog.

Mr. Hall, I lived in Ocean City and owned three residences there for many years. Here's what I'm seeing, so you, the Mayor and the rest of the Council know ahead of time. I have seen enough crooked crap in one City over many years that I have decided to expand Salisbury News into Ocean City in 2012.

There are more drug problems, under age drinking, good old boy network and multiple other code violations in which its about time someone like Salisbury News come to town and wake the public up to reality, just like we have done in Salisbury for so many years.

I can recall a few years ago when Mayor Rick Mehan said, "you're not planning on opening up shop in Ocean City, are you". At that time I said no. At this time I say, absolutely, yes.

So to ALL of the Ocean City residents reading Salisbury News, if you'd like to come on board and give back to your community, we're looking for a few good writers willing to go to meetings. Please contact me at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com. Let's give the OC Today, Dispatch and the Daily Times a run for their money. Let's report the REAL NEWS and not the Good Ol' Boy news. Here's the cool part too, YOU can remain anonymouse, (if you like).

To those Ocean City businesses interested in advertising with Salisbury News, know this up front. We are NOT controlled or dependent from our advertisers. We break news like no other news source out there and we have never been afraid to tell it like it is. Therefore, IF someone thinks they're going to come on board in the hope of influencing what we say or do, DON'T CONTACT US. We reserve the right to deny ANY advertiser for ANY reason. We take much pride in the people we choose to join our Family of Advertisers as they know who and what we're about.

2012 will prove to be yet another incredible year for Salisbury News. Look out Boys and Girls, things are about to get even more interesting here on the Eastern Shore.

I want to add, why is the OC Today and Coastal Dispatch so afraid to truly challenge the Mayor, Police Chief and Council? Is it not plain to see that this dog belongs to Earl Campbell and not the City? Is it not plain to see that Veterinarian documents WERE provided to assure the dog was injured enough to retire the dog before they signed over ownership? Is it not plain to see that the orders from the Chief were out of line, since there was no criminal charges and since Campbell never asked to be reimbursed?

While I too would like to see a formal receipt, Campbell is under NO obligation to provide any such receipt. Why do these newspapers continue to produce "SAFE" stories in which they stay neutral on both sides. I believe this is what is causing the failure of the Main Stream Media today. Go back 30 years and look at how the news was delivered then. That's what Salisbury News delivers today and that's why this "Blog" is blowing away the rest of the media on the Shore. Just look at how the MSM attacks the "gossip" comments on a Blog, yet they have been doing the exact same thing for years through the Grapevine, fulfilling their own political agenda.

Wake Up People.




New Posts to fall below.

Foreigners Dump Record Amount Of US Treasurys In Past Month

With year end fund flows making absolutely no sense for the most part, thank you global central planning, as the euro plunges and the market refuses to follow, with risk assets rising on speculation the ECB (and/or Fed) are about to restart printing yet gold collapsing (on one or two hedge funds liquidating, yet econ PhDs already rewriting their theses on why the "gold bubble has popped"), and finally with Treasurys soaring to near all time highs (10 Year under 1.9% yesterday even as stocks surged on data from the National Advertisers of Realtors, aka NAR, of all fraudulent and corrupt entities), here is the latest observation to make the confusion complete. As the Fed's critical H.4.1 weekly update [5]shows (which is leaps and bounds more accurate than the Treasury's TIC international fund flow data), in the week ended December 28, foreign investors sold the second highest amount of US bonds in history, or $23 billion, bringing total UST custodial holdings to $2.67 trillion, a level first crossed to the upside back in April. This number peaked at $2.75 trillion in mid-August, and as the chart below shows the foreign holdings of US paper have been virtually flat in all of 2011, something which is in stark contrast with what the price of the 10 Year would indicate vis-a-vis investor demand. And going back further, the last week is merely the latest in a series of Custodial account outflows. In fact, in the last month (trailing 4 weeks), foreigners have sold a record $69 billion in US paper, a monthly outflow that was approached only once - in the aftermath of the US downgrade (when erroneously it is said that a surge in demand for US paper pushed rates lower - obviously as the chart shows nothing could be further from the truth).

So here is the conundrum for today: did China continue to dump US paper in the year end, something we saw started with the October TIC data, or was it French banks continuing to sell off any non-EUR assets, and in the process repatriate proceeds, keeping the EUR higher. We don't know, nor frankly, in this uber-centrally p(l)anned market, do we care much any longer.

Chart 1 - total UST holdings in Fed custody:

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Obama Administration Sets Up New Hotline For Immigration Detainees

(CNN) -- In the latest volley between the federal government and states pushing anti-illegal-immigration laws, the Obama administration announced Thursday it was establishing a new hotline for immigration detainees who feel they "may be U.S. citizens or victims of a crime."

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QUOTE OF THE DAY 12-30-11

“The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.”

Lord Acton

Kasey Kahne Apologizes For Berating Breastfeeding Mom


NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne called the sight of a breastfeeding mother at a supermarket "nasty" and then had some nasty things to say to a Twitter follower who questioned his comment.
Now Kahne has issued an apology for the breastfeeding brouhaha.

LESS DEMOCRACY, MORE TOTALITARIANISM

Chris Powell: Financial Repression
10:35p ET Thursday, December 29, 2011

Referring to Financial Times editor Gillian Tett’s December 22 column, “Ties Between Sovereigns and Banks Set to Deepen,” to which the GATA Dispatch called your attention the other night with the headline “Citing ‘Financial Repression,’ FT’s Gillian Tett Sounds Like Jim Rickards and Rob Kirby” http://www.gata.org/node/10828, a friend asks:

“Is the message here that governments have determined that the only way to stay in power is:

“To fund their excess through the banking system, at the expense of the private sector;

“And to go along with the gold price suppression scheme so that the only alternative to that system is not attractive either?

“If the Chinese, Indians, Japanese, and others buy into this power-preservation scheme, then it appears — as you have long said — there really is no true market left, and we’re all screwed, no? This is not particularly what I want to believe, but if that’s where we are, then I guess I need to deal with it.”

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Medicaid Family Planning Benefits To Expand In Md.


ANNAPOLIS (AP) More low-income women will be eligible for Medicaid family planning services in Maryland next week when a new law takes effect.
The expansion will allow Maryland women who are at or below 200 percent of the poverty level and under 51 years of age to be eligible for services such as pelvic exams, screenings for breast and reproductive cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes. Tests for sexually transmitted diseases, counseling and prescriptions for contraception also are provided.

Obama Administration Failing To Contain Iran

Respected Middle East expert Walid Phares tells Newsmax.TV that Iran is playing a “very dangerous game” by threatening to close the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route – a move that the Obama administration is unprepared to stop.

“The Iranian regime does saber rattling, thinking this is a good strategy. But at the same time this is a very dangerous business because they may choose to stop shipments coming to the [Persian] Gulf or through the Gulf as a result of our sanctions and that of course is going to draw United States, Eurpoean, NATO and international response,” Phares warns in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

“The Iranians are playing a very dangerous game here even by issuing those statements and by deploying some of their ships in the Gulf.”

And, Phares said, the Obama administration has clearly failed to contain the Iranian regime thus far. The situation in the Middle East is looking increasingly bleak just as the nation is pulling out of Iraq.

“The Obama administration tried. It had done some sanctions. It made statements, but the results are in what we see on the ground,” according to Phares. “The Iranian regime today is stronger than it was ever before.”

While the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq has been accomplished, Phares says that the country is now much more vulnerable to Iranian influence and is being used to help bolster Bashar Assad's besieged government in Syria.

“Let’s put it very simply. Iran today has a great influence over politics and national security in Iraq and that is a strategic failure for us,” he said. “The reason why the Assad regime is not crumbling is because the Iranians are capable of supporting it. They have been sending logistics and money and revolutionary guards to assist the Syrian regime in the suppression of its own people.”

In addition to its alliances with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Assad in Syria, Iran also has reportedly been supportive of an uprising in northern Yemen and has been active in Africa.

“And as we all know, they now have a strategic alliance with [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez’ regime in this hemisphere,” adds Phares.

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Today's Survey Question 12-30-11

What will be your New Years Resolution?

Va. Mother Sentenced In Death Of Child Left In Hot Car

DANVILLE, Va. - A woman whose son died after she left him in a hot car in Danville will spend 10 years in prison.

Media outlets report that Danielle Clark was sentenced Wednesday in Danville Circuit Court for involuntary manslaughter. The judge suspended a five-year sentence on abuse charges.

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Five Maryland Toll Bridges To Receive Security Upgrade

Five state-owned toll bridges will be getting an $11 million security upgrade, including new lighting, sensors to detect stopped vehicles and cameras to peer above and below the spans.

Work on the bridges — Bay, Key, Nice, Tydings and Hatem — is expected to begin in late winter and take 18 months. The contract went to SAIC, a Virginia company with offices in Laurel, said Maryland Transportation Authority spokeswoman Teri Moss.


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The Growing Police State: When Will They Handcuff You?

No question, there is a new crazed empowerment that many police officers and other government officials feel. If the state gets completely out of control, whose side do you think these out-of-control juiced up officials will be on?:

This couple were arrested for asking directions:



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Church Nativity Scene With Gay Figures Vandalized

CLAREMONT, Calif. – Vandalism of a church's Nativity display that includes depictions of gay and lesbian couples was being investigated as a hate crime, police said. The damage at Claremont United Methodist Church occurred late Saturday or Sunday morning.

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A Liberal Explains How Ron Paul Runs His Congressional Office In A Way That's Different From Other Congressmen

Matt Stoller, who was the former Senior Policy Advisor to Rep. Alan Grayson and is currently a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, writes:

My perspective of Paul comes from working with his staff in 2009-2010 on issues of war and the Federal Reserve. Paul was one of my then-boss Alan Grayson’s key allies in Congress on these issues, though on most issues of course he and Paul were diametrically opposed. How Paul operated his office was different than most Republicans, and Democrats. An old Congressional hand once told me, and then drilled into my head, that every Congressional office is motivated by three overlapping forces – policy, politics, and procedure. And this is true as far as it goes. An obscure redistricting of two Democrats into one district that will take place in three years could be the motivating horse-trade in a decision about whether an important amendment makes it to the floor, or a possible opening of a highly coveted committee slot on Appropriations due to a retirement might cause a policy breach among leadership. Depending on committee rules, a Sub-Committee chairman might have to get permission from a ranking member or Committee Chairman to issue a subpoena, sometimes he might not, and sometimes he doesn’t even have to tell his political opposition about it. Congress is endlessly complex, because complexity can be a useful tool in wielding power without scrutiny. And every office has a different informal matrix, so you have to approach each of them differently.

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Obama To Hold Live Web Chat During Lowa Caucuses

He may not be able to recapture the euphoria of his 2008 Iowa caucus win, but President Obama will have a role as the first votes of the 2012 presidential campaign are cast next Tuesday.
The Obama campaign is mapping out plans for the president to speak to his supporters via live web chat at locations across Iowa Tuesday night. A campaign official told CBS News the effort will use technology that was not available four years ago. Screens will show the president, in Washington, communicating with people simultaneously at various gathering places in the Hawkeye State. 

Samoa to Skip Friday And Switch Time Zones

The Pacific island nation of Samoa and its even tinier neighbor Tokelau are skipping Friday this week, jumping westward in time across the international date line and into the shifting economic balance of the 21st century.

The time change, officially decided in June, is meant to align Samoa with its Asian trading partners; it moves the islands’ work days further from the United States, which dominated its economy in the past.

In this giant-step version of daylight saving time, the island’s 186,000 citizens, and the 1,500 who live in Tokelau, will go to sleep on Thursday and wake up on Saturday. The government has decreed that those who miss a day of work on Friday will be paid all the same.

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Two Dudes Cleaning Inc


O'Malley Looks Back, Forward For Maryland

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Gov. Martin O'Malley hosted an end-of-the-year press roundtable Thursday to discuss Maryland's challenges, opportunities and successes, and to give a preview of the year ahead.

O'Malley says he doesn't believe there's anything he will be more grateful about in public service than the fact that Baltimore's murder rate has been dropping over the years. The number of murders in the city stands at 195, with just days left in the year.

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Klingenschmitt: 'Ron Paul Does Not Have Any Republican Support'

For the last several years, Ron Paul has regularly won the straw polls at conservative events like CPAC and the Values Voter Summit but Religious Right organizers and activists have always been quick to dismiss these wins as flukes and assert that Paul does not actually represent the views of the movement.

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D.C. Touts Lowest Homicide Rate In Nearly 50 Years

WASHINGTON - District of Columbia officials are trumpeting what they say is the lowest homicide rate in nearly half a century.

The decline mirrors a nationwide trend of falling rates in major American cities. But it's startling in a city ravaged more than two decades ago by the crack epidemic and where homicides totaled 479 in 1991. There were 108 homicides as of Thursday. He says the number hasn't been that low since the early 1960s.

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