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Monday, June 11, 2012

Farm Bill ‘Reform’ Stuffed With Pork

Every once in a while, Democrats and Republicans can work together. Witness Thursday’s 90-8 vote to bring a “bipartisan reform” farm bill before the Senate. In the expectation that the bill will garner the necessary 60 votes, the House Agriculture Committee has changed its schedule to allow a floor debate on the measure in July. The White House applauded. This is Washington’s version of the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

There’s just one little problem. Somehow, whenever the two parties work together, they end up spending a lot of other people’s money. The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, co-authored by Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., would be a 10-year, $969 billion package.

Stabenow boasts that her bill would produce $23.6 billion in savings from what Washington would spend under current law. “We examined every agriculture program to see what was working and what wasn’t,” said she. That’s all she could squeeze out of a $969 billion package? President Barack Obama proposed shaving $32 billion from that pot. The GOP House budget calls for a reduction of almost $180 billion over 10 years.

Stabenow does have one accomplishment over which she is free to crow, and she has: “The era of direct payments is over. We’re not going to be paying farmers for crops they don’t grow.” The end of the direct payments program should save taxpayers about $5 billion annually.

Alas, noted Citizens Against Government Waste spokeswoman Leslie Paige, “it’s like a Whac-A-Mole game with these programs.” Goodbye, direct payments. Hello, new crop-insurance subsidy.

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Eric Holder Claims Emails Using Words 'Fast And Furious' Don't Refer To Operation Fast And Furious

Only a man with absolutely no shame would publicly say that “Emails Using Words ‘Fast and Furious’ Don’t Refer to Operation Fast and Furious.” That man would be our very own Attorney General Eric Holder. Just another reminder of how things operate once your nation is taken over by criminal oligarchs and their puppets in the cesspool that is Washington D.C. Don’t just read the article below, make sure you watch the video embedded in it. You will see a weasel squirming under questioning from Representative Jason Chaffetz. This is what we are dealing with folks. These are the people that are running the nation. We a have a lot of work to do…

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The Top 10 Liberal Pick Up Lines

Since the taxpayers are paying for your contraception, it would be a shame not to use it.

Hey, wanna check out some headwinds?

My mom lives with ME

"Your parents' basement or my parents' basement?"

Do you occupy here often?

Nice looking gender gap ya got there.

Hey baby, how about I buy you a 16oz soda? I just cashed my unemployment check!

Your favorite book is 'The Audacity of Hope'? NO WAY, ME TOO!

I bought you an I Pod and I put all of Obamas speeches on it for you.

Can I pick you up on my bike?

TRIPLE CROWN

Boxing's Integrity Suffers Another Black Eye After Bradley-Pacquiao Split Decision

What’s that line from Forrest Gump? Stupid is as stupid does?

For a sport that is losing ground to MMA and UFC fighting, the only way to maintain integrity and respectability is to ensure fair play and fair assessment of play.

On Saturday night in Vegas, undefeated Timothy Bradley earned a split decision victory versus the much celebrated Manny Pacquiao. The fight scoring was 115-113 by all 3 judges, but 2 sided with Mr. Bradley while only one sided with Mr. Pacquiao.

Judging from experts and social media feedback, the official scoring was inconsistent with others’ perspectives:

- Yahoo! Sports scored the fight 117-111 for Pacquiao;

- Tim Dahlberg of the AP scored the fight 117-111 for Pacquiao;

- Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal scored the fight 117-111 for Pacquiao;

- Dan Rafael of ESPN scored the fight 118-110 for Pacquiao;

- HBO’s Harold Lederman scored the fight 119-109 for Pacquiao.

Furthermore, live streaming feeds which I followed on Yahoo Sports and ESPN during and after the fight were overwhelmingly lopsided in favor of Pacquiao.

According to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 34% of his punches compared to 19% for Bradley. Furthermore, Pacquiao landed 82 more power shots.

Unfortunately, it’s these sorts of results that make skeptics of us all. Make us wonder if someone within the sport thought they could drum up greater interest in a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch if Pacquiao lost the first bout. Seems far-fetched, but in light of the circumstances I wouldn’t blame anyone that draws this conclusion.

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House Democrats Are Looking Out For Working Class Americans

A group of lawmakers led by Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. have introduced legislation to raise the current minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10 an hour. The bill is named "The Catching Up to 1968 Act" since the minimum wage in 1968 would today be worth more than $10 an hour – three dollars more than where the minimum wage stands today.

Despite warning from Conservatives, several studies have shown that a boost in the minimum wage does not hamper job creation, but actually boosts the economy by increasing aggregate demand. In other words – when working people are earning higher wages, and have more money in their pockets – they spend more – thus increasing demand so businesses have to hire more people to make and deliver things.

Unfortunately – on the other side of the aisle – Republicans are actively trying to get rid of a minimum wage altogether – since they subscribe to an economic philosophy of giving the Romney-super rich everything and waiting for that money to trickle down on the rest of us. As thirty years of Reaganomics has taught us, though – trickle down economics only turns us into a nation of peons. Call your Member of Congress and tell them to raise the minimum wage.

Faith In The Supreme Court Has Fallen Off A Cliff

A New York Times/CBS News poll finds that only 44% of Americans approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing. Back in 1994 – the Supreme Court's approval rating was a whopping 80%. Three-quarters of Americans now, however, believe the justices on the high court rule based on their own political views and not on an impartial reading of the Constitution. Just like our Congress – which hit an all-time low approval rating of 10% earlier this year – the Supreme Court has been taken over by corporate interests. The Roberts Court – mores than any other court in recent history – has sided with big business over working people. And if Mitt Romney wins the White House – and is able to appoint more right-wing justices to the bench – this court will tilt even further toward the oligarchs.

A Study Shows That America's Biggest Banks Would Need Another $500 Billion Bailout Should Our Economy Fail Again

That $500 billion number is nearly equal to what the banksters at the top 6 banks got back in 2008 to prevent an economic calamity. "Too Big to Fail" is even bigger today – as Republicans in the House defund critical Wall Street reforms and cut spending for market regulators. Lather, rinse, and repeat.

Dagnabit, This Town Is Fed Up With Cursing

Mimi Duphily was hanging baskets of pink geraniums on antique street lamps downtown for the Middleborough Beautification and Activities Group when she noticed something else that needed cleaning up -- citizens' mouths.

"The cursing has gotten very, very bad. I find it appalling and I won't tolerate it," said Duphily, a civic leader in the otherwise quiet New England community, which calls itself the Cranberry Capital of the World. "No person should be allowed to talk in that manner."

Soon, Middleborough residents who do could risk a $20 fine.

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9 News Reporters Having Laughing Fits On Live TV

It's every news reporter's worst nightmare (aside from accidentally cursing on air). You're delivering the news and concentrating on your non-regional diction, when all of a sudden something random sparks a belly laugh and before you know it, you're doubling over just trying to get to the next segment.

This sort of thing happens to the best of them (Anderson Cooper, we're looking at you, bud), and when it does, thankfully YouTube is right there to catalogue it forever so we can all join in on the laughter. Check out our collection of reporters completely losing it on live television and uncontrollably cracking up while trying to deliver the news. Don't forget to vote on the funniest clip!

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Man Allegedly Whipped Stepson During Game Of Catch

A California water agency director has been arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse after a neighbor shot and posted online video of him whipping his stepson with a belt after he failed to catch a baseball.

Sheriff's Lt. Scott Sheppeard tells the Imperial Valley Press 34-year-old Imperial Irrigation District Director Anthony Sanchez was arrested Friday. He's being held on $100,000 bail.

Neighbor Oscar Lopez secretly shot the video Wednesday from inside his house. It shows the boy dropping the baseball, then Sanchez hitting him with the belt before Lopez starts shouting to stop. Lopez says he posted the video on Facebook and YouTube then gave it to authorities.

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New Kill Count in 'Eradicating Christianity' Campaign

A Muslim organization that has dedicated itself to eliminating Christians, and especially eradicating Christianity from its home territory in Africa, has turned in a new kill count of 19 more of the faithful.

Reports from Nigeria say that Muslims guerrillas this time killed at least that number with bomb attacks in the cities of Maiduguri and Kano.

The violence attributed to the Muslim group Boko Haram follows a weekend church suicide attack in the northern city of Bauchi.

Boko Haram claims responsibility for both episodes of violence.

The developments are alarming, experts say.

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Israel Starts Rounding up Africans for Deportation

Israeli authorities on Sunday began a roundup of South Sudanese migrants ahead of their deportation, three days after a court ruled that their lives were no longer threatened in their homeland.

"The deportation operation is getting under way. We are starting the job," Interior Minister Eli Yishai told independent television station Channel Two.

"We told the infiltrators from South Sudan to come voluntarily; whoever doesn't, with the Lord's help we shall get them all... they'll be put on a plane," he said.

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‘We Don’t Want to Offend Other Cultures’: N.Y. Principal Reportedly Scraps ‘God Bless the USA’ From School Program

The principal of a Brooklyn, N.Y. elementary school has reportedly pulled the song “God Bless the USA” from a kindergarten graduation ceremony so as not to offend other cultures, according to the New York Post.

The kindergartners had spent several months learning the song, which was set to close out the program, until P.S. 90 principal Greta Hawkins came into a recent rehearsal and told teachers to scrap it.

“We don’t want to offend other cultures,” teachers quoted Hawkins as saying, according to the Post.

Teachers and parents were reportedly shocked by Hawkins’ decision, particularly because the Lee Greenwood song has been sung at school events in the past — and because a rendition of Justin Bieber’s song “Baby” was kept in the program.

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Suicides Outpacing War Deaths For Troops

The suicide rate among the nation’s active-duty military personnel has spiked this year, eclipsing the number of troops dying in battle and on pace to set a record annual high since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more than a decade ago, the Pentagon said Friday.

Suicides have increased even as the United States military has withdrawn from Iraq and stepped up efforts to provide mental health, drug and alcohol, and financial counseling services.

The military said Friday that there had been 154 suicides among active-duty troops through Thursday, a rate of nearly one each day this year. The figures were first reported this week by The Associated Press.

That number represents an 18 percent increase over the 130 active-duty military suicides for the same period in 2011. There were 123 suicides from January to early June in 2010, and 133 during that period in 2009, the Pentagon said.

By contrast, there were 124 American military fatalities in Afghanistan as of June 1 this year, according to the Pentagon.

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Put Your Sign on The Ground and Step Away!

On Friday, June 8, while thousands of people gathered in public squares around the country to observe “Stand Up For Religious Freedom” day, at least one law enforcement agency responded by clamping down on the demonstrators’ freedom of speech.

Bryan Kemper of Stand True Ministries told WND police officers with the Sinclair Community College Public Safety Department in Dayton, Ohio, informed the organizers of the local Stand Up For Religious Freedom event that no signs of any kind could be held by individual members of the public attending the Sinclair campus rally, which was just getting under way.

All signs were ordered by police to be laid down on the ground.

“As the rally was starting, the campus police informed us that all the signs and banners people were holding must be put on the ground after a complaint from a homosexual advocacy group leader,” Kemper told WND. “The police walked around the crowd telling people to put their signs down, that they could not hold them in their hands.”

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US Commission On Civil Rights To Investigate "Stand Your Ground" Laws For Racial Bias

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced it will launch an inquiry into so-called "Stand Your Ground" legislation for racial bias. The laws, which gained notoriety after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, eliminated the duty to retreat from a confrontation that has existed as part of the common law for hundreds of years.

According to the Commission, there are "some indicators of racial bias" in how the laws have been implemented. From the release:

Data compiled by the Wall Street Journal shows a near-doubling of justifiable homicides from 2005-2011 in states where SYG [Stand Your Ground] has passed. Moreover, their data shows that while white killers of black victims comprises only 3.1% of all homicides, such cross-racial killing constitute 15.6% of justifiable homicides.

A separate study by the FBI found "34% of cases involving a white shooter killing a black person were deemed as a justifiable homicide. Meanwhile, in similar situations, when the shooter was black and the victim was white, the homicide was ruled justifiable only 3.3% of the time."

The committee plans to hold hearings and release the findings of their study within one year.

In the last 7 years, 23 states have adopted "Stand Your Ground" legislation at the urging of the right wing American Legislative Exchange Council.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has also convened a committee to study Stand Your Ground but has stacked the group with supporters of the law.

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Blogger Busts EPA's Fake Fuel Figures

Blogger Lindsay Leveen at Green Explored explains, in layman's terms, how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has created data "that disobey the laws of thermodynamics so that the worthless government policy of favoring plug in vehicles over gas or diesel powered vehicles can be supported by the public." The key, according to Leveen, is that the EPA deliberately ignores energy losses at each stage of the electrical process--meaning that the EPA's claim of 118 miles per gallon (MPG) for the Honda Fit means less than 41 MPG in reality.

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Aircraft Incident Near Delmar

Location: 38000 block of Contentment Lane, Delmar, DE

Date of Occurrence: Monday June 11, 2012 at approximately 12:53 p.m.

Resume:
Delmar, DE- The Delaware State Police responded to an incident this afternoon where a plane overturned in a farmer’s field.

The incident occurred at approximately 12:53 p.m. as small single engine aircraft landed in a field in the area of the 38000 block of Contentment Lane near Delmar, DE. After the plane landed and was taxiing forward, it flipped over prior to coming to a stop. The single occupant of the plane, the pilot, was able to free himself and was not injured in the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration will be investigating this incident.

Store Enacts "Two Students At A Time" Limit To Curb Shoplifting

Here in Philadelphia — and in a number of cities around the country — you hear several stories a week about some small deli or convenience store being suddenly overwhelmed by crowds of students with the intention of swiping armfuls of Pepsi Max, Sun Chips, Snickers bars and whatever else can be grabbed during the brief raid. One store has apparently had enough and enacted a two-student limit to cut down on the theft.

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Pro-Obama Groups Launch $4 Million Ad Blitz Attacking Romney in Spanish

The 2012 presidential election will most certainly be won or lost based on American voters' perception of the economy and which candidate is the more trusted steward to lead the country to sturdier economic ground.

But it will also be about the country's rapidly evolving demographics.

One week after Mitt Romney unveiled the leadership of his campaign's Hispanic outreach, two pro-Obama groups are launching a major offensive aimed at defining Romney in a negative light to U.S. Hispanics.

The pro-Obama super PAC, Priorities USA, and the Service Employees International Union are using Romney's own words from the 2011-2012 Republican nomination season in a new round of television and radio ads going up today and running through the summer in Florida, Colorado and Nevada, three critical battleground states where Hispanic voters will have a major impact on the outcome. The groups are spending $4 million on the ad campaign.

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Puppy Found At Lowe's


Hi Joe! Not sure if this is the right way to do this but...this puppy was just found at Lowes in Salisbury..contact customer service if it is yours..

Air Plane Crash In Delmar


Target, 'Clearance Sale' Apparently Means 424% Price Hike

Someone at Target has once again brought out the Bizarro Pricing Gun for the clearance sale price on this pack of Windex Electronic Wipes.

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Suddenly, Many Ways For Romney to Reach 270 Electoral Votes

The Obama campaign wants to make the 2012 contest a “choice” between its candidate and the Republican party; the Romney campaign wants to make the vote a referendum on Barack Obama. Mitt Romney is laying low, letting the election revolve around Obama--and winning.  While his campaign pushes back against Obama and the mainstream media, Romney is shaking hands on the trail--and winning support in key swing states.


At the outset, Romney’s path to victory seemed a narrow one. It was universally agreed that the 2012 contest would be fought in roughly ten swing states. But Obama’s weak economic performance, and Romney’s quietly effective campaign, has narrowed the field of play. It is now reasonable to imagine that Romney will win in North Carolina and Florida--two states that Obama won in 2008 and that he will likely lose this time around.

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Health Care Is Getting So Expensive, Young Adults Would Rather Just Skip It

Who needs silly things like prescriptions and MRIs when health care costs so much? Not the millions of young adults who are skipping necessary care and treatment because of the rising cost of getting medical attention, says a new report.

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Hitler Finds Out That Scott Walker Won The Wisconsin Recall Election

Farm Bill

The 2013 farm bill will hit the Senate floor this week, and a small but controversial catfish inspection program will likely be on the chopping block. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has added an amendment to the farm bill to do away with the USDA program. He says it's duplicative, since the Food and Drug Administration already randomly inspects some imported catfish. Doing away with the program would save $14 million. It could also prevent a possible trade war with Vietnam where most imported catfish comes from. But domestic catfish groups say imported catfish poses a salmonella risk and that all catfish should be inspected. The amendment to end the program has garnered bipartisan support and is expected to pass.

Annie Oakley's Gun Fetches $143,400 at Auction

A shotgun that once belonged to Western sharpshooter and entertainer Annie Oakley sold for more than $143,000 at an auction in Dallas on Sunday.

The trove of about 100 of the icon's items headlining Heritage Auctions'"Legends of the Wild West" event brought in nearly $520,000, according to the auction house.

The items included several guns, her Stetson hat, photographs and letters. Oakley's great-grandnieces put up the items and had inherited them from their mother, who died in 2009.

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ANOTHER PLANE DOWN

yes, this is the THIRD report in one day. We're now being told a Drone Plane went down on Cedar Hill Park area. Westsikde FD has confirmed.

Bank Gives Man Counterfeit Money, Refuses To Refund It!

This story from the Huffington Post is unbelievable. The bank itself, whose sole business is to deal with “money,” is not responsible for the fact that they provided their own customer with a counterfeit bill. No, in the United States of Banana Republic the banks are never wrong! It is your fault for somehow not knowing the bill was counterfeit. I mean this takes things to another level. So if a department store is selling fake Hermes bags is it the customers fault for buying it? This is so sick.

There is an even bigger takeaway from this. I think the primary driver in all of this is to discourage the use of cash. Remember the story about the Tennessee cop stealing the New Jersey man’s cash for no reason on the highway? This it to ingrain in people’s minds that cash is bad. That’s right serfs, be obedient little subjects and stay in your digital dollars.

Key Quotes:
Imagine withdrawing money from a bank and then finding out that the money is counterfeit and cannot be refunded.

Hagman withdrew $2,500 from his savings account at TD Bank in February, according to the Star-Ledger. Then he went to Bank of America to deposit the money, only to find out from the teller that one of the $100 bills was counterfeit.

He reported it to the Secret Service and went back to TD Bank to get a refund, but the supervisor said that was against the bank’s policy, since he already had left the bank with the cash. “I asked why a bank customer, me in this case, should have to serve as this bank’s ‘quality control officer,’” Hagman told the Star-Ledger.

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Some Thoughts on Guns and Civil Rights

My son and I went to Gander Mountain today and fired off 300 rounds on my beloved Sig Sauer Mosquito Sport. One of the great advantages of a .22 pistol is that you can shoot 300 rounds and not have to worry about the cost. I shot these bullets at 21 feet:

I’ve written before about the fact that relatively late in life, I became interested in firearms. In the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s, gun control was one of the Left’s major priorities. The ultimate objective was to ban the private ownership of handguns, and for quite a while it seemed that the demise of gun ownership was only a matter or time, sort of like gay marriage. The anti-gun mood of that era was reflected in the law, which more or less ignored the 2nd Amendment and gave little protection to the right to keep and bear arms.

But then something changed. People started looking more favorably on gun ownership, and especially the use of firearms in self-defense. Democrats who ran on a gun control platform started losing consistently, and the Left essentially gave up on the issue. Today, gun ownership is flourishing as never before. Ruger recently stopped taking orders for new firearms because they couldn’t produce enough in their factory to satisfy demand.

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Pair Of Public Workshops Planned For The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway

Dover -- A series of three (3) Public Workshops are being held along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway (HTURB). This is the last in a series of Public Workshops held (first series in November 2011, second in March 2012) for the HTURB Corridor Management Plan (CMP) development.

The workshop dates are Tuesday, June 19, at the Old State House on The Green in Dover; and Wednesday, June 20, at the Wilmington Friends Meeting House, 401 N. West Street in Wilmington. The hours of each meeting are from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

The Public Workshops are a vital component to the success and effectiveness of the Corridor Management Plan (CMP). The goals, concerns, and wishes of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway community will be summarized and presented in the CMP, and the Public Workshops provide the forum for gathering and summarizing these items. The Public Workshops provide the public with the opportunity to ask questions, voice their concerns, and help make the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway CMP a valuable and effective document that will truly be the voice of the corridor and its communities.

What are the Scenic Byway Limits?
The HTURB corridor is approximately 90 miles travelling through the State of Delaware. The corridor passes through the communities of Sandtown, Camden, Dover, Smyrna, Clayton, Townsend, Middletown, Odessa, Port Penn, Delaware City, New Castle, and Wilmington.

The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway Corridor Management Plan (CMP) is a collaboration of efforts between the Delaware Department of Transportation, the Underground Railroad Coalition, residents, business owners, and any other individuals with a vested interest in the HTURB.

What is a Corridor Management Plan (CMP)?
The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway CMP is a document that is required as a State of Delaware Scenic Byway and for future designation as a National Scenic Byway (NSB) or an All-American Road (AAR). The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway (HTURB) Corridor Management Plan (CMP) is intended to provide a collection of information that will assist in the preservation, promotion, interpretation, enhancement, and management of the intrinsic resources found throughout the HTURB corridor. This CMP will attempt to foster economic planning and activity within the HTURB communities and provide direction and foresight as to the proper course of promotion, use, and preservation of the corridor's resources.

What are the Benefits of Scenic Byway Designation?
Some of the benefits of Scenic Byway Designation are:
* Promotion
* Preservation
* Partnerships
* Pride
* Funding
* Community Visioning

What are the Next Steps?
The Public Workshop Series #3 will allow for the Project Team to capture input and feedback regarding the Draft CMP. The input received at these Public Workshops will be incorporated into the Final CMP.

Inquiries regarding the public meetings or any aspect of the Harriet Tubman Byway can be made by calling Ann Gravatt, Delaware's Byways Program Coordinator at 302-760-2254 or visiting: www.harriettubmandelaware.com

This Just In From A Viewer

Delmar just went out on a plane down on Delmar road. Ambulance just arrived on scene and said plane on its top in field.

No Elegant Technical Fixes For Distracted Driving

When does a smartphone make you dumb?

When you're driving.

Dialing or texting on a phone is a proven distraction when you're behind the wheel. And as "smart" as today's phones are, they can't compensate for human folly. Phone makers and software developers are making a valiant effort to create elegant technical solutions, but, try as they might, they've yet to solve the problem of distracted driving.

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Lost Cat





Delegate D. Page Elmore Memorial Golf Tournament

On June 16, 2012, the Somerset County Republican Club is sponsoring the Delegate D. Page Elmore Memorial Golf Tournament at the Great Hope Golf Course in Westover, Maryland. The tournament is a means to honor Delegate Elmore's hard work for not only the lower Eastern Shore but for the State of Maryland as a whole. Delegate Elmore fought strongly for watermen, farmers and small businesses so they could have a voice in Annapolis. Delegate Elmore believed in conservative values and the Somerset County Republican Club will be utilizing the proceeds of the golf tournament to help spread the conservative message and help elect candidates that will continue to work for better, not bigger government. For more information Click Here, or call 410-726-6583.

2012 Delmarva Chicken Festival - June 15&16

Mark your calendars for the 63rd Annual Delmarva Chicken Festival on June 15 and 16 at The Centre at Salisbury. Presented by Toyota, this year's festival is guaranteed to have plenty of attractions for the whole family to enjoy. A Carnival Preview Night will be held on Thursday, June 14, 2012 from 6:30-10:00 pm and will include special prices on wristbands. Bring your family and friends and enjoy discounted prices. Attractions taking place daily at the festival will include the Giant Fry Pan, Home & Trade Show, Arts & Crafts Show, Community Resources Show, Educational Exhibits, Carnival Rides, Classic Car Show, numerous children's activities and much more. Admission is free! This annual celebration of the region's chicken industry is sponsored by Toyota, Mountaire Farms, Comcast and The Pohanka Automotive Group. For more information, visit www.dpichicken.org.

OCEAN CITY POLICE RAAM ENFORCEMENT LEADS TO NINE ARRESTS & APPROXIMATELY 50 CITATIONS

On Thursday, June 7, 2012, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Ocean City Police responded to the 200 block of 142nd Street for a report of a loud party with approximately 100 people. Plain clothes officers working RAAM (Reducing the Availability of Alcohol to Minors) enforcement observed loud noise, including voices yelling, from approximately 200 feet before approaching the residence.

In addition to a noise ordinance violation, officers observed several people standing in and around the residence with alcoholic beverages. As additional officers arrived on scene and approached the residence several individuals fled the area.

Nine tenants of the property were arrested and charged with violation of the noise ordinance of the Town of Ocean City. Five were identified as Alexander Reed Pastorius, 18, ofForest Hill,MD, Walter Norman Weihous, 18, ofParkville,MD, Jack Reagan Bechtold, 18, Lutherville, MD, Garret Lawson Walther , 18,Towson,MDand Alexander William Church, 18,Lutherville,MD. Four of the tenants were juveniles.

Along with the nine arrests for noise violations, officers on scene issued approximately 50 civil citations or uniform juvenile civil citations to the individuals who were inside the unit. At the time of this release, Pastorius, Weihous, Bechtold, Walther and Church were awaiting an initial appearance in front of an Ocean City District Court Commissioner, while the four juvenile subjects have been released to the custody of their parents.

Ocean City Police will continue to strictly and aggressively enforce the Town of Ocean City noise ordinance. In addition, uniformed and plain clothes officers will continue RAAM enforcement in order to reduce the underage drinking.

Today's Fill In The Blank 6-11-12

I wish I had more spare time to ______.

Amazing 1800s Baseball Photos

The New York Public Library has a treasure trove of really old baseball pictures.

As it turns out, the ones from the 1800s are strangely captivating.

The blog Ptak Science Books first uncovered them, and then io9 picked it up.

We pulled out a mix of action shots, team photos, and portraits with floating baseballs (they're actually dangling from strings) that we simply couldn't stop looking at.

We can't tell exactly what makes them so awesome.

Maybe it's the silly uniforms. Maybe it's the mustaches. Or maybe it's the old-school photography.

But they're great

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Breaking News

We have reports of a plane that has gone down. We will update this as we get more information.

This is in Dorchester County

The World Before Central Banking

In today’s world, there are many who want government to regulate and control everything. The most bizarre instance, though — more bizarre even than banning the sale of large-sized sugary drinks — is surely central banking.

Why? Well, central banking was created to replace something that was already working well. Banking panics and bank runs happen, and they have always happened as long as there has been banking.

But the old system that the Fed displaced wasn’t really malfunctioning — unlike what the defenders of central banking today would have us believe. Following the Panic of 1907, a group of private bankers led by J.P. Morgan successfully bailed out the system by acting as lender of last resort. The amount of new liquidity disbursed into the system was set not by academics like Ben Bernanke, but by experienced market participants. And because the money was directed from private purses, rather than being created out of thin air, only assets and companies with value were bought up.

The rationale of the supporters of the Federal Reserve Act was that a central banking liquidity mechanism would act as a safeguard against such events, to act as a permanent lender-of-last-resort backed by government fiat. They wanted something bigger and better than a private response.

Yet the Banking Panic of 1907 — a comparable market drop to both 1929 or 2008 — didn’t result in a residual depression.

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Magnet Testing And Reporting Update

In an effort to ensure open communication with regard to the Magnet process, I am writing to inform you that we are required to make adjustments to the Magnet timeline due to the fact that we have not yet received student scores from the Pearson Education Company for the Naglieri Non-verbal Assessment Test (NNAT2) that was administered to all Wicomico County Public School second graders during the first week of May. All student scores were expected to go home with students on the last day of school with their report cards on Friday, June 8th. Since we will not have the Naglieri scores by the last day of school, we will now be sending the scores to each second grader’s current mailing address as soon as we receive and process them. Additionally, students who qualify for the Magnet program for the 2012-2013 school year can expect to receive their invitation by the first week in July, a week later than was initially indicated on the Magnet timeline posted on the Wicomico County Board of Education’s website.

I appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter,

Lori A. Bock
Supervisor of Accelerated Learning Programs K-12

Today's Advertiser Of The Day 6-11-12

Today's Advertiser Of The Day 6-11-12


Power Hours are Back!


Starting Monday, June 11
Get your favorite All You Can Eat Crabs at an awesome Power Hour price!

Monday - Friday: 5:30 - 6:30 get $5 off All You Can Eat Crabs

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4:00 - 5:00 get $3 off All You Can Eat Crabs

Hurry in! Power Hour will be available for a limited time only... don't miss your chance to save!

*For reservations or group bookings call 410.546.5443

OBAMA DECRIES SENSELESS MURDERS IN SYRIA

Tea Party Preps for Other Big Labor State Battles

Next stops for the tea party after Wisconsin: Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Fresh off last week’s seismic victory against Big Labor, conservative activists are revving up their ground game in key presidential swing states where unions have long dominated. The goal: secure big wins in the House, Senate and the White House.

The effort could turn presidential battleground states into mirrors of the Wisconsin recall race, where conservatives coupled a robust ground game with an overwhelming fundraising push to beat back labor’s presumed advantage when it came to getting voters to the polls. And with unions under attack from state lawmakers and reeling from Scott Walker’s win, right-wing activists see opportunities all over the map.

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Election-Year Trickery


GOP Oversight asks Obama Administration to Clarify "Green Jobs" Definition

Today's Survey Question 6-11-12




Vote. And give us a reason why A or B is your choice.

It's a science thing.


National Security Leaks

The Justice Department has designated two U.S. attorneys to lead criminal investigations into national security leaks. Classified information has made its way out from both the executive and legislative branches in recent weeks. The FBI has already launched the probes. Attorney General Eric Holder assigned Ronald Machen, the U.S. attorney for D.C., and Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, to lead them. President Obama has denied purposefully leaking cyber and drone warfare information that flatters the administration.

Holder says he'll back the prosecutors no matter where their investigations lead.

The "Solution" Is Collapse

So the root problem is the system, human nature, blah blah blah. There are no "solutions" that can fix those defaults. Thus the "solution" is collapse.

Policies create incentives and disincentives. Some are intended, some fall into the category of unintended consequences. Regardless of their intention, policies that create windfalls ("easy money") or open spigots of "free money" (or what is perceived as free money by the recipient) quickly gather the allegiance of everyone reaping the windfall or collecting the free money.

This allegiance is soon tempered into political steel by self-justification: humans excel at rationalizing their self-interest. Thus my share of the swag is soon "absolutely essential."

Humans don't need much incentive to pursue windfalls or free money--seeking windfalls in the here and now is our default setting. Taking the pulpit to denounce humanity's innate greed, avarice and selfishness doesn't change this, as seeking short-term windfalls has offered enormous selective advantages for hundreds of thousands of years.

That which is painful to those collecting free money will be avoided, and that which is easy will be pursued until it's painful. Borrowing $1.5 trillion a year from toddlers and the unborn taxpayers of the future is easy and painless, as toddlers have no political power. So we will borrow from the powerless to fund our free money spigots until it becomes painful.

It won't become painful to borrow from our grandkids for quite some time, and it will probably not become progressively painful, either, because we will suppress the pain with superlow interest rates and other trickery. The pain will more likely be of the sudden, unexpected, "this can't be happening to me" heart-attack sort: the free-money machine will unexpectedly grind to a halt in some sort of easily predictable but always-in-the-future crisis.

"Solutions" that turn off the free money spigots are non-starters, not just from self-interest but from ideology. Any attempt to tighten the spigots steps on ideological toes, as each spigot is ideologically sacred to one political camp or another.

Liberals don't want to hear about scamming of their sacred "we must help everyone in need" welfare programs, and conservatives don't want to hear about cartel looting of their sacred "free enterprise" system.

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Cutting The Budget?

House members may want to cut your budget, but they voted to keep their own budget level.


They voted 3-1 to maintain a budget of 3.3 billion dollars for congressional operations. But the portion of that figure that goes to House staff and travel is down 13 percent from two years ago.


For the coming year, the House voted to reduce spending only on a maintenance project for the Capitol dome. After passing their own budget, members departed for a weeklong recess.

Court Used to Deliver Latest 'SWAT' Attack

A homosexual activist from Maine has used a court to deliver the latest “SWAT” attack on a pro-family ministry, obtaining a “protective” order even though the defendant, Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance, never had contacted him, according to a new ministry report.

“SWAT” attacks on pro-family and pro-faith ministries have developed lately, and they involve someone using a telephone program and calling authorities purporting to be from the ministry or ministry leader’s location. They “report” a murder, or shooting, or similar event.

SWAT teams from local police jurisdictions then descend on the unsuspecting ministry leader and his family with guns drawn, creating high levels of danger for the innocent people.

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Believe

The Bell Tolls For The Government Unions

In 1919, after Boston police went on strike to protest the city's refusal to recognize their new union, Gov. Calvin Coolidge ordered the National Guard into the streets.

Sam Gompers, the legendary father of American labor, wrote the governor that the Boston police had been denied their rights.

Coolidge's terse reply put him in our history books:

"Your assertion that the Commissioner was wrong cannot justify the wrong of leaving the city unguarded. ... There is no right to strike against the public safety by anyone, anywhere, any time."

Ronald Reagan's firing of the striking air traffic controllers, whose union had been among the few to endorse him, marked him as a leader willing to act against a powerful union if the public interest commands it.

Gov. Scott Walker is now in that tradition. He has just routed a recall campaign that began with state senators disgracefully fleeing to Illinois rather than provide a quorum and mobs occupying his capitol.

Walter's victory is a fire bell in the night for the public-sector unions. It reflects a rising realization among all Western peoples that to continue accommodating the demands of government unions is to risk our survival as free and prosperous nations

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ELLICOTT CITY MAN CHARGED BY OCPD FOR ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF A HANDGUN


On June 4, 2012, at approximately 12:36 a.m., Ocean City Police bike patrol officers, encountered three suspicious subjects in the parking lot at 108 Philadelphia Avenue. The subjects were first observed standing near a blue Pontiac and a silver colored Honda CRV.

While police were interviewing the suspects, who included the owner of the Honda CRV, later identified as Mark Anthony Joseph Mahroney, 22, of Ellicott City, Maryland police searched the CRV and located a large amount of U.S. Currency hidden in the wheel well of the vehicle.

As the officers continued interviewing the suspects, two unrelated citizens came to the scene and got into the blue Pontiac that was parked next to the CRV and drove away. When the Pontiac left the scene, police officers observed a handgun on the pavement near Mahroney. Officers attempted to detain the suspect at the scene, at which point Mahroney fled from police.

The suspect (Mahroney) ran east towards the boardwalk and was eventually apprehended at 3rd Street and Washington Lane in the parking lot of Park Place Hotel. Investigation by police revealed that the Honda CRV contained over $7000 in U.S. currency as well as a handgun ankle holster.

During the investigation police utilized an OCPD K-9 team and conducted a drug scan of the Honda CRV as well as the cash recovered from the vehicle. The K9 alerted to the presence of controlled dangerous substance on both the vehicle and the money indicating the presence of illegal drugs. Police continued to search the vehicle locating only a small amount of suspected CDS residue.

Police arrested Mahroney and charged him with illegal possession of a handgun. Because of the all of the circumstances the vehicle and the U.S. Currency were seized pending further investigation.

Mahroney was seen by an Ocean City District Court Commissioner and was released on his own recognizance.

Efforts to Relax Pot Rules Gaining Momentum in US

Catharine Leach is married and has two boys, age 2 and 8. She has a good job with a federal contractor and smokes pot most every day.

While she worries that her public support for marijuana decriminalization and legalization could cost her a job or bring the police to her door, the 30-year-old Warwick resident said she was tired of feeling like a criminal for using a drug that she said is far less harmful than the glass or wine or can of beer enjoyed by so many others after a long day's work. Like others around the nation working to relax penalties for possession of pot, she decided to stop hiding and speak out.

"I'm done being afraid," she said. "People in this country are finally coming around and seeing that putting someone in jail for this doesn't make sense. It's just a changing of the time."

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Democrats filibustered The 1964 Civil Rights Act

On this day in 1964, Everett Dirksen (R-IL), the Republican Leader in the U.S. Senate, condemned the Democrats' 57-day filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Leading the Democrats in their opposition to civil rights for African-Americans was Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV). Byrd, who got into politics as a recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan, spoke against the bill for fourteen straight hours. Democrats still call Robert Byrd "the conscience of the Senate."

In his speech, Senator Dirksen called on the Democrats to end their filibuster and accept racial equality. The Senate and House votes for passage showed that Republicans supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act much more than did the Democrats.

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2011-12 School Year Ends With Good News for Bennett Middle School

Bennett Middle School staff and its 925 students had plenty of good news to celebrate as the 2011-12 school year came to an end.

Students left Bennett Middle School Friday, June 8 to begin the summer break. The school won’t stay quiet or empty for long, though, because on Saturday, June 9 a volunteer team from Oak Ridge Baptist Church will spend all day giving the school a much needed face lift.

Oak Ridge is Bennett Middle’s faith-based community partner. From 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Saturday, numerous Oak Ridge volunteers will work at Bennett Middle to create three moveable murals for the cafeteria, put 118 motivational quotes above lockers, redo the staff lounge, and renovate the courtyard to create three 30-student outdoor classroom areas. The Oak Ridge team will also repair damaged lockers and clear lockers of any items left by students.

“We want to make this school as warm and inviting as we possibly can for the students who are here now and for the next two to three years,” Principal Liza Hastings said.

Bennett Middle staff, students and parents were pleased to learn recently that Del. Norman Conway had helped secure $10 million in Fiscal Year 2012-13 funding from the Maryland Board of Public Works. The school system’s request for FY 2012-13 state funding for the BMS project was fully funded. The state will pay 96% of eligible construction costs for the project – the highest percentage in the state.

Pending the approval of county funding for the project later this year, the groundbreaking for the replacement Bennett Middle School could take place as soon as January 2013. The replacement school will be built on a 36-acre property on South Division Street in Fruitland. The school is being designed to be LEED Silver. It will have an enrollment capacity of 937. The estimated completion date is currently August 2016.

State funding for the Bennett Middle project is good news for Bennett Middle School and many others. Many students currently attending Prince Street Elementary, Fruitland Primary and Intermediate, and Pinehurst Elementary, as well as students in a few other schools, can begin looking forward to attending the new school instead of a middle school that is 46 years old, lacks air conditioning, and has less advanced instructional technology than many of the elementary schools that feed into it.

Once the replacement Bennett Middle opens, the current Bennett Middle can be demolished to allow for the completion of the James M. Bennett High School project. The date will also move closer for the major renovation of West Salisbury Elementary, whose students also learn in a school without air conditioning.

“I’m really excited about the replacement school project because I feel it’s what’s best for our students,” Hastings said. “It will benefit not just our students but the community as a whole, because we will be able to offer access to technology that right now we cannot offer, and a building that will be welcoming for students and the community.”

In the meantime, with the replacement school still a few years away from opening, the school is working hard to make the current Bennett Middle School more pleasant. Already this spring, art teacher Laverne Harmon, as a member of the Parent Involvement Committee, secured a $2,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant to fund a mural project for the school. Student designs were chosen for nine different mural panels with themes such as education and academics, character counts, the BMS Viking, and striving towards success.

The mural project, called “S.U.S. – Students Uniting to Succeed,” engaged more than 80 people in an effort to beautify the aging school, instill school pride, and provide a chance for students to demonstrate their creativity. The project increased school pride and student connections to the school, and will benefit the school community for many years to come, as the panels will be moved to the replacement Bennett Middle once it is built.

OC Air Show






Pictures of the Air Show in OC.

Larry Murphy
Hebron, Md.

Content Removed

CONTENT REMOVED

Several readers expressed their belief that the content of this post was offensive.

After consulting with several leaders in the area's minority community we chose to remove the post.

Our Apologies,

DETROIT IS BROKE - CAN YOU SPARE A FEW MILLION?

Detroit To Run Out Of Cash By June 15 Without State Revenue Sharing, Officials Say

Detroit is once again facing a budget emergency, as Mayor Dave Bing and Chief Financial Officer Jack Martin say the city could run out of cash in seven days.

A recent flap over the consent agreement between the city and the state has the Michigan Treasury set to withhold revenue-sharing payments for Detroit and allow debtors to collect on bonds that are keeping the city afloat. If that happens, Detroit officials say the city could run out of cash by next Friday.

“If our city runs out of money there is no bigger crisis facing our city,” Bing told reporters Friday morning.

According to MLive, Martin said the city would likely make payroll June 15, but would then find itself operating on a deficit for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

An unbalanced city budget would violate the terms of Detroit’s consent agreement, and could trigger the imposition of an emergency manager.

Avoiding a state takeover in the form of an emergency manager pushed Bing and city council to approve the consent agreement in April, but its that same document that’s at the center of the revenue-sharing fight.

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45TH ANNIVERSARY OF ISRAEL ATTACKING AMERICA

NEW YORK – On the fourth day of the 1967 Arab Israeli War, the intelligence ship ‘USS Liberty’ was steaming slowly in international waters, 14 miles off the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli armored forces were racing deep into Sinai in hot pursuit of the retreating Egyptian army.

‘Liberty,’ a World War II freighter, had been converted into an intelligence vessel by the top-secret US National Security Agency, and packed with the latest signals and electronic interception equipment. The ship bristled with antennas and electronic ‘ears’ including TRSSCOMM, a system that delivered real-time intercepts to Washington by bouncing a stream of microwaves off the moon.

‘Liberty’ had been rushed to Sinai to monitor communications of the belligerents in the Third Arab Israeli War: Israel and her foes, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.

At 0800 hrs, 8 June, 1967, eight Israeli recon flights flew over ‘Liberty,’ which was flying a large American flag. At 1400 hrs, waves of low-flying Israeli Mystere and Mirage-III fighter-bombers repeatedly attacked the American vessel with rockets, napalm, and cannon. The air attacks lasted 20 minutes, concentrating on the ship’s electronic antennas and dishes. The ‘Liberty’ was left afire, listing sharply. Eight of her crew lay dead, a hundred seriously wounded, including the captain, Commander William McGonagle.

At 1424 hrs, three Israeli torpedo boats attacked, raking the burning ‘Liberty’ with 20mm and 40mm shells. At 1431hrs an Israeli torpedo hit the ‘Liberty’ midship, precisely where the signals intelligence systems were located. Twenty-five more Americans died.

Israeli gunboats circled the wounded ‘Liberty,’ firing at crewmen trying to fight the fires. At 1515, the crew were ordered to abandon ship. The Israeli warships closed and poured machine gun fire into the crowded life rafts, sinking two. As American sailors were being massacred in cold blood, a rescue mission by US Sixth Fleet carrier aircraft was mysteriously aborted on orders from the White House.

An hour after the attack, Israeli warships and planes returned. Commander McGonagle gave the order. ‘prepare to repel borders.’ But the Israelis, probably fearful of intervention by the US Sixth Fleet, departed. ‘Liberty’ was left shattered but still defiant, her flag flying.

The Israeli attacks killed 34 US seamen and wounded 171 out of a crew of 297, the worst loss of American naval personnel from hostile action since World War II.

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College Avenue Roadwork Begins June 11

SALISBURY, MD---Road construction on College Avenue will begin on Monday, June 11, and continue through Friday, June 22. During the construction period, College Avenue from U.S. Route 13 to Camden Avenue will have one lane or portions of one lane open.

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Officers Shoot Man at Maryland Park-And-Ride

A Myersville, Md., man was in critical condition Sunday evening at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore after he pointed his gun at two police officers and the officers fired their weapons, authorities said.

The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. at the park and ride at Mapleville Road and Interstate 70, authorities said. The park and ride is between Smithsburg and Boonsboro.

Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore said the man, James Jacob Jardina, 45, was shot at least twice, in the upper torso and hip areas. He had surgery earlier Sunday morning, Mullendore said.

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QUOTES OF THE DAY 6-11-12

“I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. . . . Through diplomatic channels we refused to accept their explanations. I didn’t believe them then, and I don’t believe them to this day. The attack was outrageous.”
— US Secretary of State Dean Rusk

“Accidents don’t occur through repeated attacks by surface vessels and aircraft. It obviously was a decision made pretty high up on the Israeli side, because it involved combined forces. The ship was flying an American flag. My judgment was that somewhere along the line some fairly senior official gave the go ahead. I personally did not accept the Israeli explanation.”
— US Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Recorded interview, www.ussliberty.org

“…the board of inquiry (concluded) that the Israelis knew exactly what they were doing in attacking the Liberty.”
— CIA Director Richard Helms in his book A Look Over my Shoulder

“It was no accident.”
— CIA Director Richard Helms in interview for Navy Times, 6/26/2002. Asked to say more, Helms remarked that he did not want to spend the rest of his life testifying in court about the attack.

“To me, the picture thus far presents the distinct possibility that the Israelis knew that the Liberty might be their target and attacked anyway, either through confusion in Command and Control or through deliberate disregard of instructions on the part of subordinates.”
— CIA Deputy Director Admiral Rufus Taylor

That the attack was deliberate “just wasn’t a disputed issue” within the National Security Agency
— Former NSA Director retired Army Lieutenant General William Odom on 3 March 2003 in an interview for Naval Institute Proceedings

Former NSA/CIA Director Admiral Bobby Inman “flatly rejected” the Cristol/Israeli claims that the attack was an accident
— 5 March 2003 interview for Naval Institute Proceedings

“I have never believed that the attack on the USS Liberty was a case of mistaken identity. That is ridiculous. Israel knew perfectly well that the ship was American.”
— Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, former Chief of Naval Operations and later Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff writing for Americans for Middle East Understanding, June 8, 1997

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About 21,000 High Earners Paid No Federal Income Tax

A new report from the IRS shows that nearly 21,000 American households with incomes of $200,000 and up didn't owe federal income taxes.

If you're like me, your first question is: How can that be?

Your possible next question: Can I get that kind of tax treatment?

Tax experts say it's not that difficult to avoid owing federal income taxes. And it doesn't require giving up U.S. citizenship, a step that Facebook's co-founder took last year, reportedly to lower his tax bill.

Most likely, no single tax move by these households — among the top 3 percent of U.S. earners — allowed them to sidestep taxes. Instead, tax experts say, these filers just had the right mix of deductions and credits.

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New Elections Demanded After Chaotic Va. Democrat Convention

The Democratic Party of Virginia convention that descended into chaos, discord and finger-pointing has prompted a formal complaint against the state party that demands a new election for two of the state’s representatives to the Democratic National Committee and the ouster of three top party officials.

Gail Gordon Donegan, an 8th District delegate, accused the party last week of rules violations during what attendees described as a tumultuous, confusing election at the party’s convention June 2 in Fairfax County.

“What I saw was just appalling,” Ms. Gordon Donegan said. “It was the worst-run meeting/convention I’ve ever attended. Somebody had to do something — bottom line.”

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BREAKING NEWS: US Commerce Secretary Cited In Hit-and-Run Crashes

US Commerce Secretary John Bryson cited for felony hit-and-run by police in San Gabriel, Calif., after he allegedly caused two car accidents that left him hospitalized.

From Fox News