Three people were sitting in a parked car yesterday afternoon in the 6200 block of Mission Hill Road in Dorchester County when the car suddenly caught fire around 3:30 p.m..
According to the state fire marshal, all three were hurt in the fire, one seriously.
Everyone in the 2000 Pontiac, 2-door sedan were able to escape before a propane tank in the trunk exploded.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Sunday, December 23, 2012
O'Malley Frustrated By Lack Of Will To Address Transportation
Griping about gridlock is common in the Capital region, where commutes can last hours.
But Maryland lawmakers continue to struggle to offer a solution. And whether building more roads or expanding transit options, both require more revenue to refill the state's depleted Transportation Trust Fund.
During a year-end review with reporters this week, Governor Martin O'Malley expressed frustration with state legislators' unwillingness to boost the gas tax, which hasn't been increased since 1992.
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But Maryland lawmakers continue to struggle to offer a solution. And whether building more roads or expanding transit options, both require more revenue to refill the state's depleted Transportation Trust Fund.
During a year-end review with reporters this week, Governor Martin O'Malley expressed frustration with state legislators' unwillingness to boost the gas tax, which hasn't been increased since 1992.
More
50,000 GM UNION WORKERS TO BAG YEAR-END BONUSES
In 2009, General Motors scored a $49.5 billion bailout from the U.S. government.
Last week, the Treasury Department announced it will sell General Motors 200 million shares before 2013, reducing the government’s stake in GM from 26.5% to 19%. Over the next 15 months, the Treasury will sell its remaining GM holdings.
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WHITE HOUSE PETITION CALLS FOR…DEPORTING PIERS MORGAN OVER ANTI-GUN VIEWS
“British Citizen and CNN television host Piers Morgan is engaged in a hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment,” the petition states. “We demand that Mr. Morgan be deported immediately for his effort to undermine the Bill of Rights and for exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of American citizens.”
Morgan has battled pro-gun advocates several times on “Piers Morgan Tonight” in the wake of the Newtown shooting, even calling one gun lobby director a “dangerous man” who brings “shame” on his country.
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OBAMA TO BOEHNER: ‘YOU GET NOTHING — I GET THAT FOR FREE’
A Wall Street Journal report detailing the broken-down status of talks between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner on the year-end “fiscal cliff” reveals that Obama threatened to use both his inaugural and State of the Union speeches to blame Republicans if there’s no deal.
Negotiations reportedly came to a standstill after Boehner proposed increasing the tax rate on top earners:
Mr. Obama repeatedly lost patience with the speaker as negotiations faltered. In an Oval Office meeting last week, he told Mr. Boehner that if the sides didn’t reach agreement, he would use his inaugural address and his State of the Union speech to tell the country the Republicans were at fault.More
At one point, according to notes taken by a participant, Mr. Boehner told the president, “I put $800 billion [in tax revenue] on the table. What do I get for that?”
“You get nothing,” the president said. “I get that for free.”
Netanyahu Lauds Kerry Nomination For U.S. Secretary Of State Job
President Barack Obama nominated Kerry on Friday, calling the veteran U.S. senator the "perfect choice" as America's top diplomat.
Netanyahu said in a statement: "I congratulate John Kerry on being chosen for the position of U.S. Secretary of State. Kerry is very experienced and is a known supporter of Israel's security."
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Delmarva Christian High School Students Reach Out During Christmas Season
During a DCHS Nov. 15 chapel service, SHOES 2 SHARE cofounder and President Tim Wampler challenged DCHS students to fill three large bins with shoes of all sizes and styles in any condition. Within two weeks of the challenge, student donations easily filled the bins as well as two more.
The beneficiaries of the shoes will include international and domestic programs for at-risk youth, the elderly, disabled persons, homeless victims, veterans, disaster-relief efforts, clinics, hospitals, schools and orphanages.
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Census Of Agriculture To Gather Critical Information
Delaware’s farmers are being encouraged to complete the 2012 Census of Agriculture, a vitally important tool that helps agriculture advocates, policymakers and others make informed decisions about the future of agriculture.
For the first time, the census will gather specific data about conservation techniques, including conservation tillage, cover crops and conservation easements, to show the impact of farmers’ positive environmental practices. That information is vital to telling the complete story of agriculture’s contributions, Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee said in urging farmers to complete the census.
“The census is critical to helping everyone understand the scale and strength of Delaware agriculture, and it is critical that farmers complete it,” said Kee, who recently recorded a public service announcement about the census. “Farming is Delaware’s No. 1 industry, worth $8 billion, and the census is the best tool to help us gather information about it. It is an important snapshot of our industry’s growth and successes.”
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For the first time, the census will gather specific data about conservation techniques, including conservation tillage, cover crops and conservation easements, to show the impact of farmers’ positive environmental practices. That information is vital to telling the complete story of agriculture’s contributions, Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee said in urging farmers to complete the census.
“The census is critical to helping everyone understand the scale and strength of Delaware agriculture, and it is critical that farmers complete it,” said Kee, who recently recorded a public service announcement about the census. “Farming is Delaware’s No. 1 industry, worth $8 billion, and the census is the best tool to help us gather information about it. It is an important snapshot of our industry’s growth and successes.”
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Do Pets Know It's Christmas? You Bet!
Chase and Petey are getting stockings full of treats.
Sally just received a new home.
Participants in Capital Gazette Communications' annual Holiday Pets Photo Contest love their animals so much, they are going all out when it comes to Christmas. They buy presents, make treats and dress them up for holiday photos.
"He's like our third child, all 120 pounds of him," said Lanay Mierzeski of Pasadena, who owns Earl, an almost full-grown bloodhound.
This Christmas, Santa plans to give Earl a new stocking filled with the latest in chew-toy technology. They are also considering getting him water wings.
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Is Putting A Cop In Every School Even Possible, Or Wise?
As a former detective and current sheriff of Kentucky's McCracken County, Hayden remembers the 1997 school shooting at Heath High School in Paducah, a tragic precursor of the school shooting in Connecticut last week that prompted the NRA's call. The scene Hayden responded to is still fresh in his mind, and as sheriff, he makes sure every school in his jurisdiction is guarded by an armed police officer.
"I saw parents of the wounded and of the dead. I just remember their grief – their unbearable grief," Hayden said. Putting an officer in every school "would certainly amount to a cost increase, but when you spread those costs out over the entire tax base of a district, it seems a small price to pay for the safety of our children and the peace of mind of the parents.”
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Boeing Engineers Use Spuds To Improve In-Air Wi-Fi
While major airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi on many flights, the signal strength can be spotty. Airlines and aircraft makers have been striving to improve this with the growing use of wireless devices and the number of people who don't want to be disconnected, even 35,000 feet up.
Engineers at Chicago-based Boeing Co. used sacks of potatoes as stand-ins for passengers as they worked to eliminate weak spots in in-flight wireless signals. They needed full planes to get accurate results during signal testing, but they couldn't ask people to sit motionless for days while data was gathered.
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Don't Be Fooled by January Pay, Higher Taxes Loom
Workers probably won't feel the full brunt of next year's tax increases in their January paychecks, but don't be fooled by the temporary reprieve.
No matter what Congress does to address the year-end fiscal cliff, it's already too late for employers to accurately withhold income taxes from January paychecks, unless all the current tax rates remain unchanged, which is an unlikely scenario.
Social Security payroll taxes are set to increase on Jan. 1, so workers should immediately feel the squeeze of a 2 percent cut in their take-home pay. But as talks drag on over how to address other year-end tax increases, the Internal Revenue Service has delayed releasing income tax withholding tables for 2013.
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No matter what Congress does to address the year-end fiscal cliff, it's already too late for employers to accurately withhold income taxes from January paychecks, unless all the current tax rates remain unchanged, which is an unlikely scenario.
Social Security payroll taxes are set to increase on Jan. 1, so workers should immediately feel the squeeze of a 2 percent cut in their take-home pay. But as talks drag on over how to address other year-end tax increases, the Internal Revenue Service has delayed releasing income tax withholding tables for 2013.
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Tsunami Debris Team Reaches Dock On Wash. Coast
The team of tsunami debris experts is trying to confirm that the dock is from Japan and drifted for more than a year before winding up on one of the most remote beaches on the U.S. West Coast.
The team did not find an identifying plaque like the one found on a dock that washed ashore last June at Newport, Ore., said Kim Schmanke, a spokeswoman for the state Ecology Department. That dock was confirmed as debris from the March 2011 Japanese tsunami.
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Women Prisoners Endure Rampant Sexual Violence; Current Laws Not Sufficient
Allowing male guards to oversee female prisoners is a recipe for trouble, says former political prisoner Laura Whitehorn. Now a frequent lecturer on incarceration policies and social justice, Whitehorn describes a culture in which women are stripped of their power on the most basic level. "Having male guards sends a message that female prisoners have no right to defend their bodies," she begins. "Putting women under men in authority makes the power imbalance as stark as it can be, and results in long-lasting repercussions post- release."
Abuse, of course, can take many forms, from the flagrant - outright rape, groping, invasive pat-downs and peeping during showers or while an inmate is on the toilet - to verbal taunts or harassing comments. And while advocates for the incarcerated have long tried to draw attention to these conditions, they've made little to no headway. But that may be changing thanks to the promulgation of rules, finalized in June, to stem the overt sexual abuse of prisoners. The nine-years-in-the-making Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is the first law in US history to address the sexual abuse of those in lock-up, and its passage made clear that the sexual abuse of the incarcerated - men and women - is a pervasive problem in prisons throughout the 50 states. But let's hold off on PREA for a minute and first zero in on the reality of female incarceration more generally.
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Abuse, of course, can take many forms, from the flagrant - outright rape, groping, invasive pat-downs and peeping during showers or while an inmate is on the toilet - to verbal taunts or harassing comments. And while advocates for the incarcerated have long tried to draw attention to these conditions, they've made little to no headway. But that may be changing thanks to the promulgation of rules, finalized in June, to stem the overt sexual abuse of prisoners. The nine-years-in-the-making Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is the first law in US history to address the sexual abuse of those in lock-up, and its passage made clear that the sexual abuse of the incarcerated - men and women - is a pervasive problem in prisons throughout the 50 states. But let's hold off on PREA for a minute and first zero in on the reality of female incarceration more generally.
More
Milk For Kids: 2 Cups A Day, No More And No Less
Milk, it does a body good. But how much milk does the most good?
According to new research from the University of Toronto, while milk builds bones, too much may not be so great for children’s iron levels.
Milk is fortified with vitamin D, which can be hard to manufacture naturally without sufficient exposure to sunlight. But for some reason that’s not entirely clear, drinking milk can decrease iron stores; kids who slurp up lots of milk tend to have severe iron deficiency.
The solution? More specific guidelines for how much milk children should drink, advice that doesn’t currently exist in any helpful form for parents. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises vitamin D supplements for kids who aren’t drinking four cups of milk a day. But the AAP’s iron recommendations state children should be drinking just two to three cups.
“One of the most common questions pediatricians get from parents is how much milk should my child be drinking?” says lead author Dr. Jonathon Maguire, a researcher at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. “The amazing thing is, children’s doctors don’t know.”
According to new research from the University of Toronto, while milk builds bones, too much may not be so great for children’s iron levels.
Milk is fortified with vitamin D, which can be hard to manufacture naturally without sufficient exposure to sunlight. But for some reason that’s not entirely clear, drinking milk can decrease iron stores; kids who slurp up lots of milk tend to have severe iron deficiency.
The solution? More specific guidelines for how much milk children should drink, advice that doesn’t currently exist in any helpful form for parents. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises vitamin D supplements for kids who aren’t drinking four cups of milk a day. But the AAP’s iron recommendations state children should be drinking just two to three cups.
“One of the most common questions pediatricians get from parents is how much milk should my child be drinking?” says lead author Dr. Jonathon Maguire, a researcher at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. “The amazing thing is, children’s doctors don’t know.”
More Embassy-Security Funds
State Department officials appealed yesterday to Congress for more embassy-security funds. Two deputy secretaries testified in back-to-back hearings on the security lapses that led to the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya. William Burns told lawmakers: the agency had learned some hard lessons and is acting on them. Senate Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) said the department had clear warning signs of the danger, but Congress should be blamed for failing to provide enough funding. The State Department wants $1.4 billion for increased security next year.
The Astonishing Ron Paul
As 2012 draws to a close, it's hard not to be reminded that 2013 will begin with Ron Paulretired from Congress. For all those years he was a fearless truth-teller, who exposed and denounced the horrors, domestic or foreign, of the regime. His farewell address – something practically unheard of for a congressman in the first place – will continue to be read years from now, as future Americans look back with astonishment that such a man actually served in the US Congress.
For most of his career, those speeches were delivered to a largely empty chamber and to audiences of modest size around the country. A man of Ron's intelligence could have grown in stature and influence in no time at all had he been willing to play the game. He wasn't. And he was perfectly at peace with the result: although he wasn't a major political celebrity, he had done his moral duty.
Little did he know that those thankless years of pointing out the State's lies and refusing to be absorbed into the Blob would in fact make him a hero one day. To see Ron speaking to many thousands of cheering kids, when all the while respectable opinion had been warning them to stay far away from this dangerous man, is more gratifying and encouraging than I can say. I was especially thrilled when a tempestuous Ron, responding to the Establishment's description of his campaign as "dangerous," said, you're darn right – I am dangerous, to them.
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For most of his career, those speeches were delivered to a largely empty chamber and to audiences of modest size around the country. A man of Ron's intelligence could have grown in stature and influence in no time at all had he been willing to play the game. He wasn't. And he was perfectly at peace with the result: although he wasn't a major political celebrity, he had done his moral duty.
Little did he know that those thankless years of pointing out the State's lies and refusing to be absorbed into the Blob would in fact make him a hero one day. To see Ron speaking to many thousands of cheering kids, when all the while respectable opinion had been warning them to stay far away from this dangerous man, is more gratifying and encouraging than I can say. I was especially thrilled when a tempestuous Ron, responding to the Establishment's description of his campaign as "dangerous," said, you're darn right – I am dangerous, to them.
More
Brazil Agriculture Boom Mato Grosso
Since World War II, the U.S. has been hailed as the world's breadbasket, pumping grains and meat from its fertile heartland out to the world.
But another country is snatching that mantle away: Brazil.
In 2001, Brazilian agricultural exports totaled $16 billion, according to USDA analyst Oliver Flake. By 2010 exports had climbed to a record $62 billion and reached approximately $80 billion in 2011.
That represents an increase of 400 percent over 10 years. Comparatively, U.S. exports rose about 175 percent over the same period, Flake says.
What's their secret?
A place called Mato Grosso.
But another country is snatching that mantle away: Brazil.
In 2001, Brazilian agricultural exports totaled $16 billion, according to USDA analyst Oliver Flake. By 2010 exports had climbed to a record $62 billion and reached approximately $80 billion in 2011.
That represents an increase of 400 percent over 10 years. Comparatively, U.S. exports rose about 175 percent over the same period, Flake says.
What's their secret?
A place called Mato Grosso.
The Biofuel Subsidy Scams
Corporate subsidies, in an era of fiscal-cliff attacks on Social Security and Medicare, have dodged attention despite their magnitude and absurdity. Take the renewable-fuels subsidy ecosystem—and a train of tankers filled with biodiesel that shuttled back and forth across the border between Sarnia, Ontario, and Port Huron, Michigan, twelve times, without unloading its cargo. It generated millions of dollars in profits.
The mystery train was an outgrowth of the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard mandate that requires oil companies to blend (subsidized) biofuels with (subsidized) fossil fuels—or alternatively, purchase Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs, as offsets.
Each RIN is a serial number for a batch of biofuel, such as biodiesel or ethanol. RINs are generated when the biofuel is produced or imported. Under the mandate, oil companies must blend 1 billion gallons of biodiesel a year into the fuel stream. Each refiner’s contribution is determined by its market share. If a refiner doesn’t want to comply, it can instead buy RIN credits from biodiesel producers. Hence, a $2 billion market for biodiesel RIN credits, policed by the ever so vigilant EPA. But RIN credits can be traded independently from the batches of biofuel that generated them. And this has opened up some opportunities.
Last year, Clean Green Fuels in Maryland was accused of selling 32 million fake biodiesel RIN credits to oil companies and brokers. In June 2012, CEO Rodney Hailey was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and of violating the Clean Air Act.
More
The mystery train was an outgrowth of the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard mandate that requires oil companies to blend (subsidized) biofuels with (subsidized) fossil fuels—or alternatively, purchase Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs, as offsets.
Each RIN is a serial number for a batch of biofuel, such as biodiesel or ethanol. RINs are generated when the biofuel is produced or imported. Under the mandate, oil companies must blend 1 billion gallons of biodiesel a year into the fuel stream. Each refiner’s contribution is determined by its market share. If a refiner doesn’t want to comply, it can instead buy RIN credits from biodiesel producers. Hence, a $2 billion market for biodiesel RIN credits, policed by the ever so vigilant EPA. But RIN credits can be traded independently from the batches of biofuel that generated them. And this has opened up some opportunities.
Last year, Clean Green Fuels in Maryland was accused of selling 32 million fake biodiesel RIN credits to oil companies and brokers. In June 2012, CEO Rodney Hailey was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and of violating the Clean Air Act.
More
FOURTH TURNING EERIE QUOTES OF THE DAY
WELCOME TO THE FOURTH TURNING
“An impasse over the federal budget reaches a stalemate. The president and Congress both refuse to back down, triggering a near-total government shutdown. The president declares emergency powers. Congress rescinds his authority. Dollar and bond prices plummet. The president threatens to stop Social Security checks. Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling. Default looms. Wall Street panics.”
The Fourth Turning - Strauss & Howe – Page 273 – Written in 1996
“In retrospect, the spark might seem as ominous as a financial crash, as ordinary as a national election, or as trivial as a Tea Party. The catalyst will unfold according to a basic Crisis dynamic that underlies all of these scenarios: An initial spark will trigger a chain reaction of unyielding responses and further emergencies. The core elements of these scenarios (debt, civic decay, global disorder) will matter more than the details, which the catalyst will juxtapose and connect in some unknowable way. If foreign societies are also entering a Fourth Turning, this could accelerate the chain reaction. At home and abroad, these events will reflect the tearing of the civic fabric at points of extreme vulnerability – problem areas where America will have neglected, denied, or delayed needed action.” - The Fourth Turning - Strauss & Howe
“Imagine some national (and probably global) volcanic eruption, initially flowing along channels of distress that were created during the Unraveling era and further widened by the catalyst. Trying to foresee where the eruption will go once it bursts free of the channels is like trying to predict the exact fault line of an earthquake. All you know in advance is something about the molten ingredients of the climax, which could include the following:
Economic distress, with public debt in default, entitlement trust funds in bankruptcy, mounting poverty and unemployment, trade wars, collapsing financial markets, and hyperinflation (or deflation)
Social distress, with violence fueled by class, race, nativism, or religion and abetted by armed gangs, underground militias, and mercenaries hired by walled communities
Political distress, with institutional collapse, open tax revolts, one-party hegemony, major constitutional change, secessionism, authoritarianism, and altered national borders
Military distress, with war against terrorists or foreign regimes equipped with weapons of mass destruction”
The Fourth Turning - Strauss & Howe
Strauss & Howe provide four possible outcomes to our current Crisis:
This Fourth Turning could mark the end of man. It could be an omnicidal Armageddon, destroying everything, leaving nothing. If mankind ever extinguishes itself, this will probably happen when its dominant civilization triggers a Fourth Turning that ends horribly. For this Fourth Turning to put an end to all this would require an extremely unlikely blend of social disaster, human malevolence, technological perfection and bad luck.
The Fourth Turning could mark the end of modernity. The Western saecular rythm – which began in the mid-fifteenth century with the Renaissance – could come to an abrupt terminus. The seventh modern saeculum would be the last. This too could come from total war, terrible but not final. There could be a complete collapse of science, culture, politics, and society. Such a dire result would probably happen only when a dominant nation (like today’s America) lets a Fourth Turning ekpyrosis engulf the planet. But this outcome is well within the reach of foreseeable technology and malevolence.
The Fourth Turning could spare modernity but mark the end of our nation. It could close the book on the political constitution, popular culture, and moral standing that the word America has come to signify. The nation has endured for three saecula; Rome lasted twelve, the Soviet Union only one. Fourth Turnings are critical thresholds for national survival. Each of the last three American Crises produced moments of extreme danger: In the Revolution, the very birth of the republic hung by a thread in more than one battle. In the Civil War, the union barely survived a four-year slaughter that in its own time was regarded as the most lethal war in history. In World War II, the nation destroyed an enemy of democracy that for a time was winning; had the enemy won, America might have itself been destroyed. In all likelihood, the next Crisis will present the nation with a threat and a consequence on a similar scale.
Or the Fourth Turning could simply mark the end of the Millennial Saeculum. Mankind, modernity, and America would all persevere. Afterward, there would be a new mood, a new High, and a new saeculum. America would be reborn. But, reborn, it would not be the same.
“An impasse over the federal budget reaches a stalemate. The president and Congress both refuse to back down, triggering a near-total government shutdown. The president declares emergency powers. Congress rescinds his authority. Dollar and bond prices plummet. The president threatens to stop Social Security checks. Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling. Default looms. Wall Street panics.”
The Fourth Turning - Strauss & Howe – Page 273 – Written in 1996
“In retrospect, the spark might seem as ominous as a financial crash, as ordinary as a national election, or as trivial as a Tea Party. The catalyst will unfold according to a basic Crisis dynamic that underlies all of these scenarios: An initial spark will trigger a chain reaction of unyielding responses and further emergencies. The core elements of these scenarios (debt, civic decay, global disorder) will matter more than the details, which the catalyst will juxtapose and connect in some unknowable way. If foreign societies are also entering a Fourth Turning, this could accelerate the chain reaction. At home and abroad, these events will reflect the tearing of the civic fabric at points of extreme vulnerability – problem areas where America will have neglected, denied, or delayed needed action.” - The Fourth Turning - Strauss & Howe
“Imagine some national (and probably global) volcanic eruption, initially flowing along channels of distress that were created during the Unraveling era and further widened by the catalyst. Trying to foresee where the eruption will go once it bursts free of the channels is like trying to predict the exact fault line of an earthquake. All you know in advance is something about the molten ingredients of the climax, which could include the following:
Economic distress, with public debt in default, entitlement trust funds in bankruptcy, mounting poverty and unemployment, trade wars, collapsing financial markets, and hyperinflation (or deflation)
Social distress, with violence fueled by class, race, nativism, or religion and abetted by armed gangs, underground militias, and mercenaries hired by walled communities
Political distress, with institutional collapse, open tax revolts, one-party hegemony, major constitutional change, secessionism, authoritarianism, and altered national borders
Military distress, with war against terrorists or foreign regimes equipped with weapons of mass destruction”
The Fourth Turning - Strauss & Howe
Strauss & Howe provide four possible outcomes to our current Crisis:
This Fourth Turning could mark the end of man. It could be an omnicidal Armageddon, destroying everything, leaving nothing. If mankind ever extinguishes itself, this will probably happen when its dominant civilization triggers a Fourth Turning that ends horribly. For this Fourth Turning to put an end to all this would require an extremely unlikely blend of social disaster, human malevolence, technological perfection and bad luck.
The Fourth Turning could mark the end of modernity. The Western saecular rythm – which began in the mid-fifteenth century with the Renaissance – could come to an abrupt terminus. The seventh modern saeculum would be the last. This too could come from total war, terrible but not final. There could be a complete collapse of science, culture, politics, and society. Such a dire result would probably happen only when a dominant nation (like today’s America) lets a Fourth Turning ekpyrosis engulf the planet. But this outcome is well within the reach of foreseeable technology and malevolence.
The Fourth Turning could spare modernity but mark the end of our nation. It could close the book on the political constitution, popular culture, and moral standing that the word America has come to signify. The nation has endured for three saecula; Rome lasted twelve, the Soviet Union only one. Fourth Turnings are critical thresholds for national survival. Each of the last three American Crises produced moments of extreme danger: In the Revolution, the very birth of the republic hung by a thread in more than one battle. In the Civil War, the union barely survived a four-year slaughter that in its own time was regarded as the most lethal war in history. In World War II, the nation destroyed an enemy of democracy that for a time was winning; had the enemy won, America might have itself been destroyed. In all likelihood, the next Crisis will present the nation with a threat and a consequence on a similar scale.
Or the Fourth Turning could simply mark the end of the Millennial Saeculum. Mankind, modernity, and America would all persevere. Afterward, there would be a new mood, a new High, and a new saeculum. America would be reborn. But, reborn, it would not be the same.
OBAMA'S BLUE CHRISTMAS
How could we do this to the Person of the Year and Nobel Peace Prize winner? He was supposed to fly off to Hawaii for a two week multi-million dollar taxpayer funded (actually China funded) vacation. I sure hope this little fiscal cliff thingy doesn’t give him a Blue Christmas.
THE REAL PERSON OF THE YEAR
Yes, you deciphered those words correctly, simpleton news-reader: Every human in the year two thousand and twelve—beyond myself, of course—was not only unworthy of this news-paper’s Person of the Year distinction but deserved my very deepest scorn and contempt. Reader, did you really harbor the thought, somewhere in your porridge-stuffed head, that your favorite photo-play actress, law-maker, or pious holy man might actually be worthy of special commendation? Your childlike naïveté amuses me almost to the point of laughter, a sensation I have not physically experienced since the sinking of theLusitania in 1915.
There is no Person of the Year. How dare you even presume there might be?
The task of choosing a Person of the Year has vexed me since I first invented the honor in 1896, and each year subsequent has filled me with an ever-increasing dread. Why, I recall 1938, when the mule-brained busybodies who laughably refer to themselves as my editorial staff recommended three candidates forThe Onion’s Person of the Year: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, and Jesse Owens. Understandably enraged at the prospect of choosing between a meddling, blue-blood cripple, a proof-scribbling Kraut, and a grotesquely expeditious Negro, I did the only sensible thing and awarded the prize to Adolf Hitler, and proudly so. If Mr. Hitler were breathing today, I would likely bestow the honor on him again, but, regrettably, the wheels of history had other plans.
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Traffic Stop Leads To Marijuana Arrest
Location: Coverdale Road, Bridgeville, DE
Date of Occurrence: Saturday, December 22, 2012 at approximately 2:40 p.m.
Victim:
4 year old female
Suspect and Charges:
Harrell L. Richards Jr., 33, Seaford, DE (No Photo Available)
Tampering with Physical Evidence
Possession of Marijuana
Endangering the Welfare of a Child
Resisting Arrest
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
Driving While Suspended or Revoked
Operating a Vehicle with Improper Window Tint
Arraigned at JP3 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $3,001.00 secured bond.
Resume:
Bridgeville, DE- The Delaware State Police arrested a Seaford man after he fled from troopers on a traffic stop and tried to hide marijuana.
A trooper patrolling on Coverdale Road yesterday around 2:40 p.m. observed a black Buick Century with illegal window tint. As the trooper initiated at traffic stop in a private driveway, the operator, who was later identified as Harrell L. Richards Jr., fled the vehicle on foot. As he was running away, he was observed throwing a small bag of marijuana under a car. The trooper retrieved the bag which contained 4.0 grams of marijuana and remained with Richards’ vehicle since he left his 4 year old daughter in the car unattended.
Richards returned to the car shortly thereafter and was placed in custody without further incident. He was transported to Troop 5 in Bridgeville where he was charged with the above listed crimes. He was arraigned at JP3 and committed to SCI on $3,001.00 secured bond.
The 4 year old, who was unharmed, was turned over to a grandparent at the scene.
Date of Occurrence: Saturday, December 22, 2012 at approximately 2:40 p.m.
Victim:
4 year old female
Suspect and Charges:
Harrell L. Richards Jr., 33, Seaford, DE (No Photo Available)
Tampering with Physical Evidence
Possession of Marijuana
Endangering the Welfare of a Child
Resisting Arrest
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
Driving While Suspended or Revoked
Operating a Vehicle with Improper Window Tint
Arraigned at JP3 and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $3,001.00 secured bond.
Resume:
Bridgeville, DE- The Delaware State Police arrested a Seaford man after he fled from troopers on a traffic stop and tried to hide marijuana.
A trooper patrolling on Coverdale Road yesterday around 2:40 p.m. observed a black Buick Century with illegal window tint. As the trooper initiated at traffic stop in a private driveway, the operator, who was later identified as Harrell L. Richards Jr., fled the vehicle on foot. As he was running away, he was observed throwing a small bag of marijuana under a car. The trooper retrieved the bag which contained 4.0 grams of marijuana and remained with Richards’ vehicle since he left his 4 year old daughter in the car unattended.
Richards returned to the car shortly thereafter and was placed in custody without further incident. He was transported to Troop 5 in Bridgeville where he was charged with the above listed crimes. He was arraigned at JP3 and committed to SCI on $3,001.00 secured bond.
The 4 year old, who was unharmed, was turned over to a grandparent at the scene.
Idiots?
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... An 80 year old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a Muslim woman in a burka is only subject to having her neck and head searched.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... You can get arrested for expired tags on your car but not for being in the country illegally.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if... Your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more of our money.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... A seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for calling his teacher "cute" but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if..... The Supreme Court of the United States can rule that lower courts cannot display the 10 Commandments in their courtroom, while sitting in front of a display of the 10 Commandments.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... Children are forcibly removed from parents who appropriately discipline them while children of "underprivileged" drug addicts are left to rot in filth infested cesspools.
You know you live in Country run by idiots if.... Working class Americans pay for their own health care (and the health care of everyone else) while unmarried women are free to have child after child on the "State's" dime while never being held responsible for their own choices.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... Hard work and success are rewarded with higher taxes and government intrusion, while slothful, lazy behavior is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid and subsidized housing, and free cell phones.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... The government's plan for getting people back to work is to provide 99 weeks of unemployment checks (to not work).
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... Being self-sufficient is considered a threat to the government.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... Politicians think that stripping away the amendments to the constitution is really protecting the rights of the people.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... The rights of the Government come before the rights of the individual.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... Parents believe the State is responsible for providing for their children.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... You can write a post like this just by reading the news headlines.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... You pay your mortgage faithfully, denying yourself the newest big screen TV while your neighbor defaults on his mortgage (while buying iphones, TV's and new cars) and the government forgives his debt and reduces his mortgage (with your tax dollars). Your government can add anything they want to your kid's water (fluoride, chlorine, etc.) but you are not allowed to give them raw milk.
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... Being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you "safe".
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if.... You have to have your parents signature to go on a school field trip but not to get an abortion.
Troopers Make Arrests In Rehoboth Robbery
Location:
Unit block of Bryan Drive, Midway Estates, Rehoboth, DE
Date of Occurrence:
Saturday December 22, 2012 at 1:37 a.m.
Victim:
30 year old male
Defendants, Charges, and Bond Information:
Shawn L. Godwin, 17, Lincoln, DE (No Photo Available)
Robbery 1st
Conspiracy2nd
Arraigned at JP3 and released to the custody of his parent.
Alexander Jones, 17, Lincoln, DE (No Photo Available)
Robbery 1st
Conspiracy 2nd
Arraigned at JP3 and released to the custody of his parent.
Suspect and Charges:
Artez D. Sheppard, 18, Lincoln, DE (Photo Attached)
Robbery 1st
Conspiracy 2nd
Sheppard also has two active Capiases out of Sussex County Family Court. He may possibly be residing in Burton Village Apartments in Rehoboth.
Resume:
Rehoboth, DE-Delaware State Police Detectives have arrested two teens and are looking for a third in the Saturday morning robbery of a man.
Shawn L. Godwin, 17 of Lincoln was arrested early this morning after a female relative saw the news of an individual that was robbed near Midway Estates. When the relative saw that Godwin had an iPhone that he never had before, she questioned him about it and learned that he had gotten it from a Hispanic male. Her growing concerns made her contact Troop 7 in Lewes who sent a trooper to the residence in Lincoln where Godwin was taken into custody without incident after he produced the 30 year old victim’s wallet and iPhone.
Through the investigation it was revealed that Alexander Jones, 17 of Lincoln and Artez D. Sheppard, 18 of Lincoln also took part in the robbery. Jones was picked up by troopers at his residence early this morning without incident. A BB gun, which resembled a black semi-automatic handgun, was also turned over to troopers at the house. This gun was later learned to be the weapon that was used to commit the crime.
Jones and Godwin were arrested for Robbery 1st and Conspiracy 2nd. They were arraigned at JP3 and released to the custody of their parents pending an arraignment in Sussex County Family Court.
Artez D. Sheppard is currently wanted on the charges of Robbery 1st and Conspiracy 2nd. He also has two Capiases out of Sussex County Family Court. Sheppard may possibly be living in the Burton Village Apartments in Rehoboth. Anyone knowing his whereabouts is asked to contact Troop 7 at 302-644-5020 or Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333. Information may also be provided via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com
Send an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."
Unit block of Bryan Drive, Midway Estates, Rehoboth, DE
Date of Occurrence:
Saturday December 22, 2012 at 1:37 a.m.
Victim:
30 year old male
Defendants, Charges, and Bond Information:
Shawn L. Godwin, 17, Lincoln, DE (No Photo Available)
Robbery 1st
Conspiracy2nd
Arraigned at JP3 and released to the custody of his parent.
Alexander Jones, 17, Lincoln, DE (No Photo Available)
Robbery 1st
Conspiracy 2nd
Arraigned at JP3 and released to the custody of his parent.
Suspect and Charges:
Artez D. Sheppard, 18, Lincoln, DE (Photo Attached)
Robbery 1st
Conspiracy 2nd
Sheppard also has two active Capiases out of Sussex County Family Court. He may possibly be residing in Burton Village Apartments in Rehoboth.
Resume:
Rehoboth, DE-Delaware State Police Detectives have arrested two teens and are looking for a third in the Saturday morning robbery of a man.
Shawn L. Godwin, 17 of Lincoln was arrested early this morning after a female relative saw the news of an individual that was robbed near Midway Estates. When the relative saw that Godwin had an iPhone that he never had before, she questioned him about it and learned that he had gotten it from a Hispanic male. Her growing concerns made her contact Troop 7 in Lewes who sent a trooper to the residence in Lincoln where Godwin was taken into custody without incident after he produced the 30 year old victim’s wallet and iPhone.
Through the investigation it was revealed that Alexander Jones, 17 of Lincoln and Artez D. Sheppard, 18 of Lincoln also took part in the robbery. Jones was picked up by troopers at his residence early this morning without incident. A BB gun, which resembled a black semi-automatic handgun, was also turned over to troopers at the house. This gun was later learned to be the weapon that was used to commit the crime.
Jones and Godwin were arrested for Robbery 1st and Conspiracy 2nd. They were arraigned at JP3 and released to the custody of their parents pending an arraignment in Sussex County Family Court.
Artez D. Sheppard is currently wanted on the charges of Robbery 1st and Conspiracy 2nd. He also has two Capiases out of Sussex County Family Court. Sheppard may possibly be living in the Burton Village Apartments in Rehoboth. Anyone knowing his whereabouts is asked to contact Troop 7 at 302-644-5020 or Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333. Information may also be provided via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com
Send an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."
Gun Grabbers Call For Re-Education Programs In Public Schools
Was the shooting of 20 students in Newtown, Connecticut the Neo-Liberal version of 9/11? The question merits considerable thought, but let me explain further what I mean. In the aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, a sense of shock and awe sunk into the minds of the American populace like nothing seen in decades. This overwhelming fear, this logic crippling terror, infected the public to more destructive ends than any deadly virus in existence.
Conservatives were especially vulnerable to the infectious symptoms of the event, abandoning all reason and even their small government values to support the fascist inklings of the Bush Administration; a Neo-Con (fake conservative) driven presidency with ambitions of constitutional reversal. Whatever you may believe about the true causes and culprits behind 9/11, no one can deny that Bush and his ilk sought to exploit the tragedy to gain political capital to be used in the destruction of American civil liberties.
More than a decade later, the Neo-Liberal (fake liberal) Obama Administration and its minions continue the Bush legacy by exploiting our latest tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary as a means to an end; a political opportunity to assert federal authority as more valuable than constitutional freedom.
The onset of the illegal wars thrust upon the Middle East after 9/11 brought with it mass resistance from the “left” side of the political spectrum. Protests abounded, dissenters were numerous, and Bush responded in kind with unprecedented domestic surveillance programs and attacks against free speech. Democratic leaning citizens saw the criminality of it because they were unhindered by bias. The archetypal manipulation of 9/11 and the fear mongering of the terrorist myth was less effective on them. However, times have changed...
With a Democratic president in the White House, the left has grown addicted to their perceived (but illusory) social leverage. The intoxicating symptoms of power overdose have clouded their vision, and that which they fought against in the Bush years now appears rather fair and acceptable to them today. Obama has so far committed every war atrocity that Bush was ever guilty of in his tenure, while expanding on liberty nullifying pieces of legislation Bush set into motion. Liberals cry out in horror at the deaths of 20 children in Connecticut while cheering a man like Obama, who orders predator drone strikes that result in the deaths of children everyday. Of all the people in this country, self proclaimed “progressives” are the most hypocritical and the most disappointing as human beings.
Adding to that disappointment, Obama’s more aggressive socialist support base (useful idiots) along with the establishment controlled mainstream media are attempting to squeeze every last ounce of political advantage from the Newtown massacre to gain superiority in a battle over one of the last portions of the Constitution that people still seem willing to fight and die for: The 2nd Amendment.
More
More than a decade later, the Neo-Liberal (fake liberal) Obama Administration and its minions continue the Bush legacy by exploiting our latest tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary as a means to an end; a political opportunity to assert federal authority as more valuable than constitutional freedom.
The onset of the illegal wars thrust upon the Middle East after 9/11 brought with it mass resistance from the “left” side of the political spectrum. Protests abounded, dissenters were numerous, and Bush responded in kind with unprecedented domestic surveillance programs and attacks against free speech. Democratic leaning citizens saw the criminality of it because they were unhindered by bias. The archetypal manipulation of 9/11 and the fear mongering of the terrorist myth was less effective on them. However, times have changed...
With a Democratic president in the White House, the left has grown addicted to their perceived (but illusory) social leverage. The intoxicating symptoms of power overdose have clouded their vision, and that which they fought against in the Bush years now appears rather fair and acceptable to them today. Obama has so far committed every war atrocity that Bush was ever guilty of in his tenure, while expanding on liberty nullifying pieces of legislation Bush set into motion. Liberals cry out in horror at the deaths of 20 children in Connecticut while cheering a man like Obama, who orders predator drone strikes that result in the deaths of children everyday. Of all the people in this country, self proclaimed “progressives” are the most hypocritical and the most disappointing as human beings.
Adding to that disappointment, Obama’s more aggressive socialist support base (useful idiots) along with the establishment controlled mainstream media are attempting to squeeze every last ounce of political advantage from the Newtown massacre to gain superiority in a battle over one of the last portions of the Constitution that people still seem willing to fight and die for: The 2nd Amendment.
More
Ex-Marine Jon Hammar Back On US Soil After Release From Mexico Prison
Jon Hammar Sr. has confirmed that his 27-year-old son, a Marine combat veteran, is back on U.S. soil and with him in a rented car in Brownsville, Texas.
Hammar Sr. said his son was released from the notorious CEDES prison at 8 p.m. local time and made it back across the bridge between Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville, Texas by around 8:30 p.m.
More
National Flood Insurance Policy Update
Mr. Albero,
Please consider posting the following information on SBYnews.com. It could be beneficial to your readers.
Have questions about your National Flood Insurance Policy? FEMA has a National Flood Insurance Specialist at the Crisfield Disaster Recovery Center (#2 Mill Lane in Crisfield, MD) who has access to technical resources and can research individual policy holder information.
Please consider posting the following information on SBYnews.com. It could be beneficial to your readers.
Have questions about your National Flood Insurance Policy? FEMA has a National Flood Insurance Specialist at the Crisfield Disaster Recovery Center (#2 Mill Lane in Crisfield, MD) who has access to technical resources and can research individual policy holder information.