Salisbury News: 09/20/12

Thursday, September 20, 2012

US Spends $70k On Ads Denouncing Anti-Islam Film

The American embassy in Islamabad, in a bid to tamp down public rage over the anti-Islam film produced in the U.S., is spending $70,000 to air an ad on Pakistani television that features President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denouncing the video.

The State Department said Thursday the embassy had compiled brief clips of Obama and Clinton rejecting the contents of the movie and extolling American tolerance for all religions into a 30-second public service announcement that is running on seven Pakistani networks. Obama and Clinton's comments, which are from previous public events in Washington, are in English but subtitled in Urdu, the main Pakistani language.

Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the aim was to get the messages to the widest possible audience in Pakistan, where tens of thousands of protestors angry about the film tried to reach the U.S. embassy before being turned back by Pakistani police. She said embassy staffers had decided the ads were the best way to spread the word. The seven networks have a potential audience of 90 million people, she added.

Hobby Shop Chain Faces Backlash For Stance Against ObamaCare

A Christian-owned chain of hobby shops is facing a bitter backlash after suing the Obama administration over new requirements to provide insured employees with contraceptive and abortion coverage.

Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby filed the suit Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, alleging that the ObamaCare mandate violates the religious beliefs of the company's owners. The suit followed similar suits by Catholic colleges and a Denver-based company whose owners also objected to the mandate on religious grounds. While a judge has not yet ruled on Hobby Lobby's suit, a Facebook page calling for a boycott of the company, which operates 500 stores in 41 states, has appeared online, and several other forums have featured posts urging customers to steer clear of Hobby Lobby.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/20/growing-boycott-against-retail-chain-hobby-lobby-after-lawsuit-against-health/

TEXAS HOMEOWNER HANGS EMPTY CHAIR REPRESENTING OBAMA IN FRONT YARD — AND WE TALKED TO HIM

A Texas man hung an empty chair from a tree in his front yard in a display he said was meant to represent President Barack Obama.

A man who identified himself over the phone as Bud Johnson of Austin, Texas confirmed to TheBlaze he was the homeowner written up in a Texas political blog who “lynched” an empty chair as a presidential effigy. Burnt Orange Report on Wednesday posted a photo of the folding chair hanging by a rope from a tree branch.

There are religions that promote turning the other cheek even when mocked, but it appears Islam is not one of them. According to one of the most prominent imams in North America, Islam never condones violence, but it also, under no uncertain terms, “everaccepts” speaking ill of the Prophet Muhammad.

In fact, so grave is mockery of the prophet considered, that the cleric – Mohammad Qatanani, who leads one of the largest mosques in New Jersey – even believes free speech that criticizes Islam poses a national security threat to the U.S. and that those responsible should be investigated by the Department of Homeland Security.

When Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen and the Government Accountability Institute reported that President Obama has attended less than half of his Presidential Daily Briefs (PDBs) on intelligence, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney called the findings "hilarious." The next day, U.S. Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens and three American staff members were murdered.

According to Mr. Carney, Mr. Obama doesn't need in-person briefings because the president gets the written version on his iPad:

He gets it every day, okay? The President of the United States gets the presidential daily briefing every day. There is a document that he reads every day when he is not -- well, he always reads it every day because he’s a voracious consumer of all of his briefing materials.

When Bill Clinton spoke at the Democratic National Convention, he took credit for balancing the budget. That Clinton basked in his achievement, of course, surprises no one. Nor is it surprising the media failed to remind people of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and his role in pulling this off.

Still, at one time, the media, without reservation, gave credit to Gingrich for making a balanced budget a priority -- and for pushing Clinton toward the center to achieve it. Back then, even when writing negatively about Gingrich, the major media routinely credited Gingrich with pushing a recalcitrant President Clinton toward a balanced budget.

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Table Games Bill Won’t Help Education Funds

While a ballot initiative expanding gambling in the state has been heralded as a measure that would generate more money for education, officials said added casino revenue will not boost its funds.

Under state law, about 50 percent of slot-machine revenue is earmarked for the Education Trust Fund — an account dedicated primarily to public schools, but also university capital projects. The new law would allow for a sixth casino to open in Prince George’s County and would permit expanded gaming options beyond just slot machines to Las Vegas-style table games. It will go before voters in the November election as question seven on the ballot.

The money earmarked for education, however, wouldn’t actually bring in more money for state schools, but would instead offset money in the general fund so it can be spent on other state projects. The state spent about $6 billion on education funding this legislative session, and that amount wouldn’t change despite the nearly $200 million slot machines have generated since the first casino opened in 2010. The money is “largely a drop in the bucket,”said Sean Johnson, the Maryland State Education Association’s political and legislative affairs managing director, because that $200 million in the general fund would be used for something other than education.

The Obama administration has nominated Cheryl Saban, wife of Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban to be the U.S. representative to the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Saban — a mega-donor who was at one time the top giver to the Democratic Party — has been intensely courted by the Obama campaign to try to level the playing field between the Democrats and big-money outside groups.

He was a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton in 2008, and largely sat out the general election that year after President Obama clinched the nomination. But this cycle, he wrote a check to the Obama campaign for the first time. And over the summer, he finally donated $1 million to super PACs backing Democrats.

Maryland’s Board of Public Works voted Wednesday to increase spending authority on health care benefits for state employees by nearly $390 million.

The original spending cap on the health care contracts was close to $5 billion over five years ending in June of 2014. Budget Secretary Eloise Foster said the increase would pay for more people joining the state’s plan since the original health care authorization in 2008.

The federal Affordable Care Act extended the age of eligible dependents to 26 creating a larger pool of participants along with the addition of more spouses of employees.

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If Passed, DREAM Act Would Not Bring Influx Of Students To University

The university may not see a large influx of undocumented immigrants enrolling should voters uphold the DREAM Act in the statewide referendum in November, according to university and state experts.

In part because of the requirements of this state’s DREAM Act, fewer than 1,000 undocumented immigrant students in the state would likely enter a two- or four-year college or university next fall, said Kristin Ford, an Educating Maryland’s Kids spokeswoman, based on the experience of states that have passed similar legislations.

EASTON — Town planners are considering a plan to revitalize the Easton Point area with an expansive public park with waterfront access to be a new hub of recreational, educational and cultural activity for the community.

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy presented its first schematic design of the 11-acre park — which would transform a town public works property — to the Easton Town Council Monday night. The park is planned for the area where Glenwood Avenue dead-ends near the Tred Avon River.

Salisbury Police Department Going From Bad To Worse

As many of you now know, the SPD has experienced some major problems recently but I have been informed it's getting a whole lot worse. Besides ALL of the Officers, (especially veterans) that have already left the SPD, 3 more recently quit. Two went to Salisbury University and one went to Harford County. That being said, FIVE more Officers, (veterans) are now very aggressively searching for jobs elsewhere as they can no longer tolerate the leadership and the Mayor. Or should I say the lack of any support from the Mayor. Things have become so harsh that Officers are working 48 hours straight. Let me explain. An Officer works a 12 hour night shift, then he's expected to be in court first thing the next morning. In some cases these Officer have no or very little sleep before they are expected to be back on their shift the next evening. After two days of this they are simply exhausted and cannot function on the job, creating a very dangerous situation. While the Police Chief and Mayor want to parade on PAC 14 stating they need all that extra money to RETAIN the Officers they currently have, guess what, MOST of those veteran Officers won't see a PENNY of those pay increases. These Officers are outraged and are handing in their badges and guns and moving on to other Police Departments. I have personally made numerous attempts to contact Chief Duncan but she has refused to respond to any text message or phone message for quite some time now. While we enjoyed regular discussions in the past, clearly Mayor Ireton has told her she can no longer speak to me. Mind you, I'm experiencing the same situation with other Department Heads. Ireton isn't about open government. He completely disrespects the Press, unless they're spewing everything he wants said out there. Salisbury is in a crisis situation at the expense of Public Safety. Salisbury News is the ONLY source out there that will tell the truth and even challenge the leadership. Censoring the Press is what will destroy Mayor Ireton. ALL of this has come down every since the alleged phone spoof and the questionable actions of the Police Chief filing false criminal charges against me to obtain my phone records. I think each and every one of you know the value I hold on keeping ANY phone numbers away from law enforcement. Again, there was NO criminal act, yet they went ahead and spend hundreds of man hours obtaining information they did NOT need. Salisbury desperately needs new leadership. You won't read this information elsewhere because the MSM is too afraid to buck the system. So much for retaining any one. They simply told the public what the public wants to hear but it's a load of garbage.

Counties Decide To Push Back Against O’Malley Policies On Budget, Pensions, Land Use

County officials across Maryland are gearing up to push back against O’Malley administration policies that have cut state aid to the counties, piled on teacher pension costs with little say in how the pension system is run, and taken away local control over land use decisions.

The 2013 initiatives by the Maryland Association of Counties were formally adopted by the MACo legislative committee Wednesday and announced later that day on the association Conduit Street blog. The committee has 62 members, including all the major elected officials from each jurisdiction, but each county and Baltimore City gets only one vote.

“County governments have taken the deepest cuts of any part of the state’s budget during the Great Recession,” the MACo position said. “Local governments have lost some $1.8 billion in state support since Fiscal Year 2010, affecting nearly every essential local service: roads and bridges; law enforcement; health departments; and jails. Temporary cuts have been made permanent or extended with each budget cycle, and state administrative costs have been shifted to counties without any county control. In addition to aid reductions and cost shifts, the state’s recent teacher pension shift sends to counties massive new costs that lie completely outside the county government’s management.”

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OBAMA CAMPAIGN ACTUALLY REPLACES 50 STARS ON AMERICAN FLAG WITH CAMPAIGN ‘O’ LOGO

If you go to barackobama.com right now, you can buy your very own limited edition American flag print. But this isn’t any ordinary American flag; this is an American flag that replaces the 50 stars representing the 50 states with President Obama’s campaign logo.

The Obama campaign is selling the limited edition “Our Stripes: Flag poster ” for $35 on its official website. The screen print was designed by Ross Bruggink and Dan Olson, according to the site.

As Fox News’ Todd Starnes points out , there is also another print for sale called “Our Stripes: Country Print ” that also looks like an American flag but in the shape of the United States. Again, in the top left corner sits the Obama campaign logo instead of the 50 stars.

American Prison Labor Means Longer Unemployment Lines

Two southeast companies that make U.S. military uniforms are shedding hundreds of jobs, as the government looks to federal inmates for the fatigues.

American Power Source makes military clothing in Fayette, Ala., but its government contract expires in October. Federal Prison Industries – which also operates under the name UNICOR will snag the work, and leave the task to inmates. FPI has the first right of refusal for U.S. Government contracts, under a 1930 federal law.

American Apparel, the Selma, Ala., based military clothing manufacturer closed one of its plants and continues to downsize others due to the loss of some of its contracts to FPI. According retired Air Force colonel and spokesman Kurt Wilson, the company laid off 255 employees and cut the hours of 190 employees this year alone. So private workers end up losing their jobs to prisoners.

Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Press Release 9-20-12

On September 15, 2012, at approximately 10:55P.M.members of the Worcester County Criminal Enforcement Team were in the area of the Berlin V.F.W. located at 104 Showell Street, Berlin, Maryland. At that time an individual identified as Kasheem D. Purnell, Age 33, of Berlin, Maryland was acting in a suspicious manner when he observed law enforcement personnel and immediately walked behind a small cargo trailer parked on Showell Street. A member of the Criminal Enforcement Team approached this trailer and subsequently located a clear plastic bag which later was found to contain twenty two (22) individually wrapped bags of cocaine, totaling approximately nine (9) grams. Mr. Purnell subsequently fled on foot and was apprehended after a brief foot pursuit without further incident. Mr. Purnell was transported to the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office where he was processed and charged with the following offenses: Possession of cocaine Possession with intent to distribute cocaine Mr. Purnell was subsequently taken before a District Court Commissioner for initial appearance at which time he was released on a $5,000.00 unsecured bond. The Worcester County Criminal Enforcement Team was assisted by the Berlin Police Department and the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division.

Stop Sign Cameras Coming To Maryland?

Baltimore is no stranger to speed cameras or red light cameras but could stop sign cameras be coming to the area too?

Washington D.C. will be installing 16 stop sign cameras by the end of the year and Maryland may be next.

D.C. is following the lead of California, where photo enforced stop signs have been raking in the dough.

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A Letter To The Editor 9-29-12

Dear County Council members, I see that a $12.5 million bond is being obtained for the new Bennett school. The question I am asking is when the county council is going to do something about the out of control construction costs of these school projects. We have one Taj Mahal Bennett school and we do not need another one. The BOE have people on their staff that has experience in school construction and costing to develop a functional school that does not have all the bells and whistles that the BOE thinks they need. Are these people being told by the higher levels to not design a cost efficient design or just let the architectural firm do what they want and we will sell this to everyone as what we need. The BOE has more major school projects in the long term schedule and if they are not put to task about cost control, we (the taxpayer) will be looking at Taj Mahal III & IV. It is amazing how everyone seems to fall for the smoke and mirror show that the BOE puts up every time they WANT SOMETHING. I want my tax dollar spend in a cost effective manner. The BOE will come into council meeting or public forums and say “this is for the children”. No, this is for the BOE ego, so they can say “look what we have given you for the children”. A Taj Mahal building will not teach students. A functional school building with proper learning technology inside the building being used by qualified, experienced teacher will produce students who will go out and become an asset to the community. The BOE is currently hiring inexperienced new teachers fresh out of college because they are cheaper than experienced teachers. The money saved is going to new non-teaching positions at the central office. If you looked at the staffing level at the central office, you would wonder how they all fit in the building. I wonder how many positions could be cut out if the BOE would do what every business has had to do with cut backs and personal being able to do multi jobs. All the department in Wicomico County have had cutbacks and staff reduction, so why not the BOE? We know that the BOE submits a budget to the council. Their budget would take a CPA to figure out what each line item is for. The BOE has become an expert in hiding money in line items that will never be used. A teacher can go thru the budget and find that 10% of the line items are bogus. I have had principals tell me the BOE knows exactly where they are hiding money in the budget. All this raises questions about the BOE and the way they do business and how true is the information being released to the public. As far the comment made about this project putting local construction workers to work. There are NO general contactors on the eastern shore who can handle a major school project. The general contractor who will get this project will be from the western shore (Whiting Turner). The general contractor will use his own hand picked subcontractors on a majority of the work and a few local subcontractor may get a small percentage of the work. Most local subcontractors WILL NOT bid this work because of the wage scale rates and paperwork. A wage scale rate job will make the local subcontractor have to borrow money for startup to pay salaries until he receives this first draw of money from billings. The general contractor (Whiting Turner will most likely get this project) will make the local subcontractor jump thru hoops with paperwork to get his money. So, comments about putting construction workers to work made by the BOE can be very misleading. Times are tough and they will not get better for a few years. The taxpayers are tired of our money not being spent in a proper manner for school construction projects. We expect a response from the BOE, but they can save their comments and quotes and let their actions speak. We are expecting the County Council to also let their actions speak. Concerned Taxpayer William M Davenport

Baltimore Ranked Third Dirtiest City In America

Baltimore comes in at No. 3 on a list of dirtiest cities in America, according to Travel and Leisure magazine.

Travel and Leisure readers ranked 35 metropolitan areas total, based on factors like overall cleanliness, smoking in public areas, and littering.

As for Baltimore, readers are pointing to the city's "army of cats" and an uptick in complaints about rats roaming the streets.

City officials on Wednesday said people's behavior is to blame.

MORE HIDDEN MARYLAND TAXES

Bought 4 new tires last week. I anticipated the $8.00 “tire disposal” fee which is charged on any tire removed from it’s rim ($2.00 each) but also had to pay a “Maryland new tire fee” ($.80 each, total $3.20). Why should I buy Michelin tires in Maryland when Delaware is only 8 miles away—about the same distance as the MD tire dealer??

Western Md. Zoo Fights License Suspension

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A zoo near Cumberland is fighting a 45-day suspension ordered by the U.S. Agriculture Department for repeated violations of the Animal Welfare Act from 2006 to 2010.

Tri-State Zoological Park owner Robert Candy said Wednesday he did nothing wrong. He says zoo regulations are vague and open to interpretation.

The agency announced the action Monday.

The Emerging Obamacare Truth Is Disarray

A remarkable truth about Obamacare is how many aspects of its initial programs and initiatives are already in disarray. The Obama team is woefully behind its own schedule for implementing features of the legislation. The critical regulations outlining what the Obamacare insurance benefit will look like was supposed to be out more than six months ago. Now it looks like this regulation won't be dropped until after the election. This is just one key aspect of the program that is way behind the administration's own timeline. These facts alone should give proponents of the law pause. But the early experience with the elements of Obamacare that have already kicked in is downright dismal.

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Target To Hire Up To 90,000 For Holiday Rush

Target Corp. plans to hire 80,000 to 90,000 seasonal employees for the Christmas shopping season — a bit less than last year.

Minneapolis-based Target (NYSE: TGT) hired 92,000 holiday workers last year.

Good Ole Salisbury

I was in Orlando, Fl ....and saw a bumper sticker on a parked car that read 'I miss Salisbury'. So I broke the window, stole the radio, took a laptop, the GPS and tires, then left a note that read, 'I hope this helps!!!

Lance Armstrong Joins Md. Cancer Benefit Triathlon

Lance Armstrong says he'll participate in a charity triathlon near Baltimore next month, about six weeks after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency stripped him of seven Tour de France titles for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong and the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults said Wednesday that he will compete with other cancer survivors in the Half Full Triathlon in Ellicott City on Oct. 7.

Rocker Adam Lambert To Headline Maryland Same-Sex Marriage Benefit

Adam Lambert, the glam-rocker who rose to prominence on television’s “American Idol,” is the latest celebrity to be enlisted by the campaign to uphold Maryland’s same-sex marriage law.

Lambert has been booked next week for a benefit concert at the 9:30 Club in the District, with proceeds to go to Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the group leading the campaign for November’s ballot measureknown as Question 6.

Tuesday’s fundraiser featuring Lambert, who is openly gay, follows a star-studded eventpulled together to benefit the same group last week in New York. That gathering included the likes of actress Susan Sarandon, former first daughter Barbara Bush and hockey star Sean Avery.

BAROFSKY TELLS THE TRUTH ABOUT TARP

Neil Barofsky on “Too Big to Fail” and the Next Financial Crisis

Hera Research is pleased to present a sobering interview with Neil Barofsky, Senior Research Scholar, Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law. From December 2008 until March 2011 Mr. Barofsky served as the Special Inspector General for the $700 billion U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that bailed out the U.S. banking system in 2008.

In his role as Inspector General, Mr. Barofsky’s mandate was to root out and prosecute waste, fraud and abuse. He gained nationwide recognition for his courage and willingness to stand up to the most powerful people and institutions in Washington D.C. and on Wall Street and for his relentless criticism of U.S. Treasury Department officials, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Prior to his role as Inspector General, Mr. Barofsky served as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for more than eight years. In that office, he headed the Mortgage Fraud Group as Senior Trial Counsel, to investigate and prosecute all aspects of mortgage fraud, from retail mortgage fraud cases to investigations involving potential securities fraud with respect to collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).

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Doubts Over Harvard Claim Of 'Jesus' Wife' Papyrus

Is a scrap of papyrus suggesting that Jesus had a wife authentic?

Scholars on Wednesday questioned the much-publicized discovery by a Harvard scholar that a 4th century fragment of papyrus provided the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus was married.

And experts in the illicit antiquities trade also wondered about the motive of the fragment's anonymous owner, noting that the document's value has likely increased amid the publicity of the still-unproven find.

The Revolution From Above

Today the Western peoples are experiencing the destruction of their well being that is comparable to what the one percent in Rome imposed on Roman citizens and conquered peoples. Here is how John Williams (shadowstats.com, 9-12-12) phrases the wipeout of Americans' hopes:

"Consumers simply cannot make ends meet. Inflation-adjusted, or real, median household income declined for the fourth-straight year, plunging to its lowest level since 1995. Deflated by the CPI-U, the 2011 reading actually stood below levels seen in the late-1960s and early-1970s."

"At the same time, despite the ongoing nature of the economic and systemic-solvency crises, and the effects of the 2008 financial panic, income dispersion − the movement of income away from the middle towards both high- and low-level extremes − has hit a record high, instead of moderating, as might be expected during periods of financial distress. Extremes in income dispersion usually foreshadow financial-market and economic calamities. With the current circumstance at a record extreme, and well above levels estimated to have prevailed before the 1929 stock-market crash and the Great Depression, increasingly difficult times are likely for the next several years."

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Scaramucci: Mitt Romney Will Still Win

The author of this guest post is one of 8 national chairs of Mitt Romney's finance committee, and he is the founder of Skybridge Capital.

Since Mother Jones published a video of Presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a fundraiser discussing why 47% of the country will not vote for him, pundits from both sides of the aisles have declared his campaign dead in the water.

The facts of this election, however, tell a very different story...

The campaign is far from over. Both sides know that the Governor is actually gaining traction in the important states and the national polls. Moreover, he has the best people working on his campaign. Despite the attacks and the coroners in the main stream media attempting to declare it over, it is fair from over. In fact Governor Romney, and Rep Ryan will be taking the oaths of the respective offices on Jan 20th.

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Scientific Weaknesses Of Evolution

Former children's television host and scientist Bill Nye recently captured national media attention when he blasted Americans who believe in creationism and reject Darwin's theory of evolution.

The scientific concept of evolution holds that each species on Earth developed from a process of natural selection acting on random genetic mutation.

Obviously there's loads of scientific evidence that supports evolution. But we wanted to understand the main contentions.

First, there are several different varieties of creationists.

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Today's Fill In The Blank 9-20-12

When I splurge I tend to buy ______.

The Inexplicable American Consumer Is Putting The Screws To Health-Care Expenses

There has been anecdotal evidence. But now The Wall Street Journal [8] in its story about GE’s quandary confirmed it: the toughest creature out there that no one has been able to subdue yet, the inexplicable American consumer, is apparently accomplishing a miracle: putting the screws to runaway health-care costs. One of their targets: over-used, over-hyped medical services, such as MRIs and CT scans—an industry bubble that has been ballooning by the double digits for decades. Motive? Profit.

It may be early for a victory lap: critics contend that “the health-care system is still overrun by unnecessary imaging at prices that are much higher than in other countries,” the Journal writes. “A study by the International Federation of Health Plans found that US fees for an MRI were about 80% higher than Germany’s.”

American health care costs are beyond legendary. Employer plans that cover a family of four are expected [9] to break the sound barrier of $20,000 this year, up 7% from 2011, and up 117% from ten years ago. The country is spending $2.6 trillion [10] on health care a year, or 17.9% of GDP! Yet, in terms of life expectancy, these expenditures don’t add up. Depending on who is counting, the US ranks somewhere between 38th and 51st place. On the latter list [11], US life expectancy of 78.49 years is almost 11 years lower than Monaco’s.

The Journal describes the inherent conflict between GE’s health-care division, which generates $18 billion in revenues by selling MRI machines, CT scanners, and the like, and the health insurance program for its employees, which costs $2.5 billion. While the health-care division wanted to sell as many imaging devices as possible, cost cutters wanted to contain the spiraling health-care costs. The cost cutters won—and introduced high-deductible health plans. After two years, the use of imaging technologies dropped by as much as 25%.

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QUOTES OF THE DAY - HUXLEY ON WAR, HISTORY & TRUTH

What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood.
Aldous Huxley

The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own.
Aldous Huxley

The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.
Aldous Huxley

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Aldous Huxley

Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. By simply not mentioning certain subjects… totalitarian propagandists have influenced opinion much more effectively than they could have by the most eloquent denunciations.
Aldous Huxley

An unexciting truth may be eclipsed by a thrilling lie.
Aldous Huxley

Idealism is the noble toga that political gentlemen drape over their will to power.
Aldous Huxley

A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be democratic. No country can be really well prepared for modern war unless it is governed by a tyrant, at the head of a highly trained and perfectly obedient bureaucracy.
Aldous Huxley

So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly arise and make them miserable.
Aldous Huxley

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.
Aldous Huxley

The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.
Aldous Huxley

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.
Aldous Huxley

One of the great attractions of patriotism – it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what’s more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.
Aldous Huxley

Oh Really?

Today's Advertiser Of The Day 9-20-12

Royal Farms In Hebron Is Closed

Royal Farms in Hebron is closed due to power outage. No current estimate on when they will reopen.

2 U.S. Supreme Court Justices - And Numerous Other Top Government Officials - Warn Of Dictatorship

Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter told University of New Hampshire School of Law that the “pervasive civic ignorance” in the U.S. could bring dictatorship:

I don’t worry about our losing a republican government in the United States because I’m afraid of a foreign invasion. I don’t worry about it because of a coup by the military, as has happened in some other places. What I worry about is that when problems are not addressed people will not know who is responsible, and when the problems get bad enough — as they might do for example with another serious terrorist attack, as they might do with another financial meltdown — some one person will come forward and say: ‘Give me total power and I will solve this problem.’

That is how the Roman republic fel. Augustus became emperor not because he arrested the Roman senate. He became emperor because he promised that he would solve problems that were not being solved.

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Seven Of Nation’s 10 Most Affluent Counties Are In Washington Region

The Washington region has emerged from the recession looking even more affluent compared with the rest of the country, boasting seven of the 10 counties with the highest household incomes in the nation, new census numbers show.

With a median household income surpassing $119,000, Loudoun County heads the list. Fairfax County, at nearly $106,000, is second. Both have held the same positions for several years running.

More surprising, Arlington County leapfrogged from the fifth spot to third, with a median household income of almost $101,000, a $6,000 gain in one year. Four in 10 households in the county are single person, leaving Arlington with a relatively small share of residents whose affluence comes from two incomes, compared with Loudoun and Fairfax.

NATO Pullback Heightens Doubts About Afghan Strategy

(Reuters) - NATO's decision to scale back joint operations with Afghan forces may protect the lives of Western troops increasingly targeted by "insider attacks," but it raises troubling new questions about President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilize Afghanistan.

After ramping up Afghan security forces at a breakneck rate to allow for a drawdown of Western troops, NATO is coming to grips with a rash of deadly assaults by Afghan recruits who turn their guns on Western allies. Muslim rage over a film insulting the Prophet Mohammad has further stoked the risk.

The White House and NATO leaders have stressed that the suspension of some mentoring operations announced on Tuesday is only a temporary step, limited in scope, that does not alter America's withdrawal timeline. It applies to front-line missions involving units smaller than an 800-strong battalion, and even then, there will be exceptions.

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Today's Survey Question 9-20-12

As a family, how many times a week do you enjoy a home cooked meal?

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Thursday, September 20, 2012