Salisbury News: 03/01/13

Friday, March 01, 2013

Members of Congress Call for GAO Investigation of Planned Parenthood

Led by Reps. Diane Black (R-TN) and Pete Olson (R-TX) and Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), 72 members of Congress are calling upon the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the amount of taxpayer funding Planned Parenthood receives and how the funds are being used.

A letter signed by the legislators asks for information on all affiliates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Population Council, the Guttmacher Institute, Advocates for Youth, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

Last year, PPFA performed a record 333,964 abortions and reported a record $1.2 billion in revenue generated. Taxpayer funding of the organization reached $538.5 million, 45.2% of PPFA’s total annual budget in 2011-2012. The prior year, taxpayer funding amounted to $487.4 million.
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USPS Hasn’t Paid Insurance Claim After 14 Months, Says “Investigations Take Time”

It can take months or years of investigation to bring a criminal matter to trial, and complicated insurance matters can often drag on for extended periods of time without resolution. But does the U.S. Postal Service really need more than a year to pay a $30 insurance claim?
That’s the question being asked by a California eBay seller, who shipped a package to a buyer in Italy in Dec. 2011. The package was last tracked by the USPS in New York City, but has long since vanished off the radar. Thankfully, the seller paid for insurance… right?

After all, USPS even told the man that the postal service in Italy had no record of the package being delivered, and the buyer received a refund on his purchase because he says it never arrived.

And yet, in spite of all evidence, USPS rejected his claim, insisting that the package was “delivered as addressed.”

A Texas high school student has filed suit against her school district, claiming she was punished for refusing to recite the Mexican national anthem and pledge of allegiance as part of a Spanish class assignment.

Brenda Brinsdon, then 15, told TheBlaze exclusively in 2011 that students in her intermediate Spanish class were instructed to recite the Mexican anthem and pledge individually in front of their peers at Achieve Early College High School in McAllen, Texas. Brinsdon refused, telling TheBlaze at the time that “Reciting pledges to Mexico and being loyal to it has nothing to do with learning Spanish.” She also provided TheBlaze with video she recorded of students taking part in the assignment.

As an alternative task to reciting the pledge and anthem, she was assigned an essay on the history of the Mexican revolution — an assignment for which she received a failing grade.
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Condo Association Taking Heat For Telling Soldier To Take Down American Flag

The property manager of a condo complex in Alabama is learning that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to demand that a resident, a Staff Sergeant, take down the American flag hanging outside of his home.
According to WHNT-TV in Huntsville, the soldier who lives in the condo (it’s apparently owned by a relative) with his wife, found the following message from his friendly neighborhood condo association:
“Resident,

It has come to our attention that you have items in plain sight that are not to be visible from the parking lot by rules and guidelines stated in the home owners association bylaws. Please remove the following listed item(s) as soon as possible to keep the community as tidy as possible:

[The rest is handwritten on the note]

Your flag attached to stairs has to be removed ASAP!”

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Police in Md. holding DNA On People Not Convicted Of Crimes

Even as the U.S Supreme Court reviews Maryland's law on police collection of DNA samples, many law enforcement agencies in the state are collecting and holding genetic material from murder victims and people never convicted of crimes.

The practices have raised concerns among some legislators and the public defender's office, who fought for privacy protections and other restrictions in a 2009 state law that allows DNA collection from people arrested on suspicion of serious crimes.

Now, those critics say, police are taking advantage of loopholes and using the genetic material in ways not contemplated by state law. The objections have emerged at a crucial moment for the law, which is up for renewal in Annapolis this year and was argued this week before the nation's highest court.
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Slumber Soundly In Vermin-Infested Hotels With This Bed Bug Sleeping Cocoon

Most of us are about a kajillion percent sure, or we should be, that the pillow where we lay our heads each night isn’t crawling with vermin. But what if Yelp fails you, and you end up at a hotel where things might be a bit dicey? Perhaps you just don’t trust the look of that roadside flophouse or maybe you’re paranoid — in either case, SkyMall has just the thing for you.

The Bed Bug Sleeping Cocoon is exactly what it sounds like and promises a night of worry-free rest (unless not being able to use your hands worries you). And hey, you can even “breathe naturally”! Whew:

Limit Sought On Boat Tax Might Help Struggling Industry, Hurt Waterway Fund

A state bill proposing to set a $10,000 maximum tax on boat sales sparked a tense debate due to its potential implications on Maryland’s struggling maritime economy and the Waterway Improvement Fund (WIF).

The bill was drafted with aims to stimulate local marine-related jobs and businesses and discourage out-of-state purchase of boats — a practice which has become increasingly common due to the lower sales tax of vessels in neighboring states.

“Working where I do, I have a front row seat to the recreational marine world, and the past few years have been alarming,” said Bill Brandon, who works at Tidewater Yacht Service in Baltimore. “Vessels that have been registered and kept in Maryland are being sold and shipped out of state at a rising rate.”
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5 Warning Signs That A Craigslist Rental Listing Is Probably A Scam

Even though it’s nothing new, we’ve recently started seeing a resurgence of reader e-mails asking if a really awesome-sounding rental listing on Craigslist might be a scam, so we figured it was time for a refresher course.
The scammy listings are often for completely fictional homes and the sole intent of the posting is to either steal your identity or swindle you out of a “fee” for a credit check that will never actually occur.

So with that in mind, here are the warning signs to look for when trying to determine if a listing is bogus:

Maryland Department of General Services Police say more than 2,500 people came to Annapolis today for a hearing on Governor Martin O'Malley's gun control bill.

A pair of House committees are hearing testimony from as many as 1,000 witnesses on both sides of the issue.

Earlier today, Governor Martin O'Malley addressed a rally of supporters of the bill.
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Sinkhole That Swallowed Fla. Man 'Unstable'

In a matter of seconds, the earth opened under Jeff Bush's bedroom and swallowed him up like something out of a horror movie. About the only thing left was the TV cable running down into the hole.

Bush, 37, was presumed dead Friday, the victim of a sinkhole -- a hazard so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger.

The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Bush's brother running.
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Congress Leaves Town After Failing To Stop Sequester

Missing another self-imposed deadline, Congress left town Thursday after rejecting two more deficit-reduction plans that would have prevented $85 billion in automatic cuts from kicking in Friday.

Both the House and Senate called it quits for the week despite warnings from both parties that the automatic cuts, known as the sequester, would devastate popular domestic programs and undercut the Pentagon's ability to protect the nation.

"We've tried everything we can," said Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
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OCPD UNDERCOVER OFFICER HONORED BY ELKS WITH CAMARENA AWARD

The Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia Elks Regional Association recently honored Ocean City Police Narcotics Detective Kyle Murray with the “Enrique S. Camarena Award.” Enrique S. Camarena was a DEA agent who lost his life during his crusade to lead Americans to drug-free communities. Each year, the Elks present the Enrique S. Camarena Award to a member of law enforcement who best exemplifies the qualities and principles for which Agent Camarena gave his life.

DFC Murray began his Ocean City Police career as a seasonal police officer for one summer before being hired full time in 2008. He spent two years in the OCPD Patrol Division and was transferred in 2010 into the Criminal Investigation Division’s Narcotics Unit.

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Mothers Of Murder Victims Testify On Behalf Of McDermott’s Bill

Tia Johnson could have been sentenced for up to 20 years in prison if Delegate Mike McDermott’s bill had been passed before Nov. 13, 2007, the day Christine Sheddy was murdered.

Johnson pleaded guilty Oct. 11, 2012 to being an accessory to murder and was given the maximum sentence of five years in prison.

“Five years is all,” said Lynn Dodenhoff, Sheddy’s mother who testified on behalf of McDermott’s bill during a hearing held by the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 19. “Five years is not enough.”

McDermott’s bill would increase the maximum penalties for being an accessory to murder in the first and second degrees. A person convicted of being an accessory to first-degree murder would be subject to imprisonment for up to 20 years, while someone convicted of being an accessory to second-degree murder would be subject to imprisonment of up to 10 years.
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Eastern Shore Mission Of Mercy Set For March 14-16 At The Wicomico Youth & Civic Center

The Eastern Shore Dental Society is very proud to have initiated and be sponsoring the inaugural Eastern Shore Mission of Mercy 2013, a totally free and comprehensive adult (must be 18 years of age or older) dental clinic at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center beginning Thursday, March 14 and concluding by Saturday, March 16. There are no appointments available and all services will be on a first come, first served basis. Absolutely no children will be permitted in the Civic Center during the clinic hours. Please make other arrangements for any necessary child care. The clinic will be staffed by fully licensed dentists and dental hygienists, supported by a variety of other medical professionals.

The actual dental clinic will open with a patient pre-screening on Thursday, March 14 from 1:00pm-4:00pm. Pre-screening services will be limited to patient registration, x-ray and preliminary examination. Patients who attend the pre-screening and who return for treatment on Friday and Saturday will be given first in line status. The full clinic will open for registration on both Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16 at 6:00am. Again, all services will be on a first come, first served basis and no children will be permitted on-site.

While the dental clinic will offer a full array of oral health care services including cleanings, fillings, extractions and dentures, there may be a limit to the extent of individual services that may be provided based on an individual’s condition, health and time constraints. Every attempt will be made to prioritize patient dental needs and resolve as many problems as possible within the time and physical limits of this clinic.

All professional services will be provided through the generous donation of time by dentists and hygienists from the mid-Atlantic region. There will be no charge for services and no insurance is required.

Based on the number of patient cases that are served by the clinic on both Friday and Saturday, the registration tables may be closed earlier than the close of the clinic itself and we apologize or anyone who is unable to benefit from this amazing community service program.

In addition to the dental clinic, a general health and wellness fair will also be offered attendees while they are waiting for dental services. This health fair will include medical professionals from regional hospitals and institutions offering higher education, medical curriculum.

The Mission of Mercy (MOM) program was developed in Virginia in 2000 and since has spread to many state dental societies across the country. The Maryland State Dental Society has promoted three MOM programs; two in Western Maryland and one in Southern Maryland this past June. The three Maryland clinics each served approximately 800 adult patients during their two days of operations. Larger metropolitan MOM clinics have been able to serve upwards of 2,000 individuals. It is anticipated that the Eastern Shore Mission of Mercy will serve approximately 1,200 individuals.

This Mission of Mercy program will be made possible through the generous donation of time from hundreds of community volunteers along with the donations of funds, goods and services to support the anticipated $125,000 overall budget cost for this service. We are most pleased to be partnering with the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore who will receive all donations on a tax deductible basis.

Should you have any further questions, or need additional information, please feel free to check out our web site at www.easternshoremissionofmercy.org.

DR. BEN CARSON RAILS AGAINST ‘POLITICAL CORRECTNESS’ AND OPENS UP ABOUT HIS WORLDVIEW ON THEBLAZE TV

He was already a renown neurosurgeon but also became a conservative icon essentially overnight after delivering a powerful speech critical of President Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this month while the president sat only a few feet away. Now, Dr. Ben Carson is slated to speak at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and will likely become one of the events shining stars.

To learn more about how he developed his belief-system, Glenn Beck hosted Dr. Carson on his program Thursday evening to discuss the the surgeon’s upbringing and influences: his mother, and Booker T. Washington.

Dr. Carson credited his mother with nurturing an environment in which he and his siblings read avidly (despite wishing to play outside with friends instead) and were opened to new worlds of achievement.
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“Dodgeball Madness” Tournament

Delaware Law Enforcement For Special Olympics Hosting “Dodgeball Madness” Tournament at Caesar Rodney High School, Camden DE

Location:
Caesar Rodney High School
239 Old North Road
Camden, DE 19934

Date of Occurrence:
Saturday, March 23, 2013

Time:
Check in at 8:00 a.m.
Competition begins at 8:30 a.m.

Resume:

Delaware Law Enforcement for Special Olympics is hosting a Dodgeball Tournament to benefit the athletes of Special Olympics Delaware on Saturday, March 23, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m. The tournament will be held in the Caesar Rodney High School Gymnasium.

The tournament will consist of the first 36 teams to register. Each team is guaranteed to play in at least nine games. The minimum age to participate is 16 years old. Teams must consist of six players and may have two alternate players. Teams can consist of all male, female, or co-ed members. Games will be played under the rules and regulations of the National Dodgeball League. Food and refreshments will be available to purchase on site.

Dodgeball Madness has raised over $20,000.00 for Special Olympics Delaware.

The entry fee for each team member is $50.00. All team members will receive a Dodgeball Madness event t-shirt. Deadline to register is Thursday, March 14, 2013. To register for the event, please visit www.sode.org or call Special Olympics Delaware (302)-831-3482.

Berlin Approves New Site For First Wind Turbine

BERLIN -- The historic town’s skyline is about to look a little eco-friendlier with the town’s first wind turbine approved for installation on Old Ocean City Boulevard.

Until Monday, the fate of a proposed 85-foot, 50-killowatt turbine had been up in the air since creator and DDU Magnetics President Doug Richards offered to install his new design in Berlin for a severely reduced cost. The town would get the turbine for a fraction of its actual value because it would function as a model that Richards could show to potential investors.

The original site on Schoolfield Street considered back in January, however, was dropped due to push-back from residents. Many in the neighborhood signed a petition protesting the turbine and residents also attended several council meetings. They complained that they were not given enough notification or information on the turbine and feared that it would be an eyesore, noisy and diminish property values.
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Fire Alarm And Smoke At Ocean City Elementary

Smoke in the Ocean City Elementary school caused the evacuation of the building. After being outside for a while, kids were moved to the Gym. The cause has been determined to be an HVAC motor that burned up in the kindergarten pod. Dismissal will be like any other day.

The People vs Winter

WCSO Press Release 3-1-13

Miller Says Administration-Backed Transportation Bill Coming

A day after meeting with the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly, Gov. Martin O’Malley may soon introduce a bill that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars for transportation projects.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert and Prince George’s, said Friday that he expects O’Malley to have legislation ready to be introduced when both houses of the legislature convene Monday at 8 p.m. A spokeswoman for the governor said later that there was nothing to announce yet.

Details of an administration-backed plan have not emerged. Miller introduced his own bill last month that would create a new 3 percent tax on wholesale gasoline purchases while simultaneously hiking the per-gallon fee to 28.5-cents from 23.5-cents. Miller’s plan also calls for the creation of regional authorities in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas that could raise property taxes to pay for light rail projects.
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THE OLD PATHS

I liked the old paths, when

Moms were at home.

Dads were at work.

Brothers went into the army.

And sisters got married BEFORE having children!

Crime did not pay;

Hard work did;

And people knew the difference.

Moms could cook;

Dads would work;

Children would behave.

Husbands were loving;

Wives were supportive;

And children were polite.

Women wore the jewelry;

And Men wore the pants.

Women looked like ladies;

Men looked like gentlemen;

And children looked decent.

People loved the truth,

And hated a lie.

They came to church to get IN,

Not to get OUT!

Hymns sounded Godly;

Sermons sounded helpful;

Rejoicing sounded normal;

And crying sounded sincere.

Cursing was wicked;

Drugs were for illness.

The flag was honored;

America was beautiful;

And God was welcome!

We read the Bible in public;

Prayed in school;

And preached from house to house.

To be called an American was worth dying for;

To be called an American was worth living for;

To be called a traitor was a shame!

I still like the old paths the best!

Bonnie Franklin, star of TV's 'One Day at a Time,' dies at 69

Bonnie Franklin, the actress who created an indelible television character playing a divorced, working mother of two headstrong daughters on the long-running series “One Day at a Time,” died Friday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 69.

The cause was complications from pancreatic cancer, her family announced.

By the mid-1970s, Franklin was a theater veteran who had earned a Tony nomination for her performance in the Broadway musical “Applause” when she was offered a different kind of role, one that was not then the usual fare on network television.
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Maxine Waters Warns 170 MILLION Jobs Could Be Lost Due to Sequestration Cuts — But There’s a Huge Problem With Her Estimate

If Congress allows sequestration cuts to take effect, more than 170 million Americans could lose their jobs, according to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

“If sequestration takes place, that’s going to be a great setback. We don’t need to be having something like sequestration that’s going to cause these job losses — over 170 million jobs that could be lost,” Waters said.

She went on to say cuts must be done “over a long period of time.”
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A Black Woman's Perspective On Gun Control

Supreme Court Hears Salisbury DNA Case

The U.S. Supreme Court this week heard testimony on a landmark Maryland DNA testing law rooted in a Lower Shore rape dating back to 2003 and although no opinion has yet been rendered, at least one justice called the case the most important the high court has heard in decades.

In July 2010, Alonzo Jay King, Jr., now 29, was found guilty of first-degree rape after he broke down the door of a residence in Salisbury armed with a gun and wearing a mask over his face and sexually assaulted a 52-year-old female victim. In September 2010, King was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but quickly appealed the conviction based on an alleged DNA sample collection that connected him to the 2003 rape in Salisbury.

In 2009, King was arrested after photographic and fingerprint evidence identified him as a suspect in an unrelated assault case. Under Maryland’s relatively new law, a DNA sample was taken and entered into the state DNA database and that DNA sample ultimately connected King to the unsolved 2003 rape case. King appealed his conviction in the rape case, arguing the DNA sample collection violated his constitutional right against unreasonable searches.
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COMMUNIST MENTOR OBAMA BACKERS TRYING TO HIDE

Astonishing story 'no one could make up' explains radical president
When a biographer sets out to understand a president, he naturally begins with mentors, the people who helped shape his character, career and worldview, notes author Paul Kengor.

But when it comes to explaining Barack Obama, the establishment media has shown virtually no interest in delving into the life of the man the president himself held up as a guiding and affirming voice at every major point in his life.

Cut The Hysteria

As the President runs around the country fear mongering and stirring up hysteria over the prospect of $85 billion in cuts in THE GROWTH OF a $3.6 trillion budget, here are just a few ways to control the budget growth sensibly. These come from the House Majority Whip’s Office and a few more from Senators Tom Colburn and Rand Paul. Remember that with all the hype, the budget will actually GROW by $15 billion .

As the President runs around the country fear mongering and stirring up hysteria over the prospect of $85 billion in cuts in THE GROWTH OF a $3.6 trillion budget, here are just a few ways to control the budget growth sensibly. These come from the House Majority Whip’s Office and a few more from Senators Tom Colburn and Rand Paul. Remember that with all the hype, the budget will actually GROW by $15 billion .

Reduce Improper Payments: In 2011, by its own estimates, the federal government made $115 billion in improper payments. These are instances where people receive benefits or payments they are not entitled to receive or for which proper documentation hasn't been provided.
Reduce Duplication: According to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, the federal government administers 94 federal initiatives to foster green building; 15 significant financial literacy programs across 13 agencies; 173 STEM education programs across 13 agencies; and 47 job-training programs. Consolidating these programs would improve their effectiveness and save taxpayers billions of dollars.
Reduce Government Waste: The federal government wastes billions of taxpayer dollars every year, including:
Free Cell Phones: This program cost $2.2 billion in 2013 alone.
ObamaCare Promotion: The federal government spent $51.6 million last year promoting ObamaCare and paying public relations firms.
IRS TV Studio: The IRS has a full-service TV production studio which costs $4 million annually to operate.
Vacation Getaways: The 183 Conferences paid for by federal agencies over the last several years cost taxpayers more per attendee than the infamous October 2010 GSA conference in Las Vegas, NV.
Property Maintenance: The federal government spent $1.7 billion in 2010 to maintain property that is not in use or underutilized.
EPA Grants to Foreign Countries: The EPA has given more than $100 million in grants to foreign countries over the last ten years.
Pay to Play Video Games: The National Science Foundation spent $1.2 million paying seniors to play "World of Warcraft" to study the impact it had on their brain.
Smoke Up! The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $47,000 on a cigarette smoking machine that holds up to 40 cigarettes at a time.

The President would raise your taxes for the second time in eight weeks, rather than consider these bipartisan alternatives:
Reduce Medicaid Loopholes: By reforming the Medicaid provider tax, we could save at least $9.8 billion.
Increase Medicare Means Testing for Upper-Income Earners: By asking the upper-income to pay more for Medicare, we could save approximately $20 billion.
Make Federal Retirement Match the Private Sector: By updating the federal employee retirement system to more closely track with the private sector, we could save approximately$21 billion.
Require the Return of Over payments: By requiring that individuals return over payments for exchange subsidies in ObamaCare, we could save approximately $44 billion.
Eliminate Slush Funds: By eliminating the Public Health Slush Fund in ObamaCare, which Democrats have supported reducing, we could save approximately $10 billion.

Require Food Stamp Eligibility: While ensuring those who need food stamp support get it, we can save approximately $26 billion by simply requiring recipients prove eligibility.

Here is a partial list of items that should be cut from Republican Senator Tom Coburn:

n $91 million in tax loopholes to the NFL, the NHL, the PGA – all are wealthy sports leagues.

n $27 million for Moroccan pottery classes

n $300,000 to promote caviar consumption and production

n $325,000 for robotic squirrels

n $505,000 to promote specialty shampoos for cats and dogs

n $1.3 million in corporate welfare to snack-food producer PepsiCo, Inc.

n $350,000 for a study on imagination techniques for golfers.

n $516,000 for a video game to relive prom night.

And from Rand Paul

*** Reducing federal employee travel by 25%. Every year, the federal government spends $9 billion on federal employee travel. When many Americans are cutting back on their own travel budgets, we can certainly cut back on employee travel;

*** Focusing military research on military needs. Unfortunately, the Pentagon is not immune to waste. They even spent $5.2 million on goldfish studies to see if we could learn about democracy from goldfish;

*** Requiring competitive bidding for federal contracts. By ending laws that force the federal government to pay bloated Davis-Bacon wages and requiring bidding to take place, we can save billions;

*** Cutting taxpayer handouts to foreign countries by 50%. We spend more than $40 billion a year on foreign aid. When we're dealing with a budget crisis here at home, it's only responsible to bring this money home. This provision would eliminate half the foreign aid budget.

SPD Press Release 3-1-13

Mediterranean Diet Reduces Heart Disease Risk

The results of a five-year-long clinical trial appear to prove once and for all that we should all be eating like the Greeks.
The study, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that while people ages 55-80 on the Mediterranean diet did not lose any weight, their risk of heart disease and stroke decreased by almost 30 percent compared to those on a typical low-fat diet.

The study took place in Spain, where scientists randomly assigned 7,447 people who were either overweight, smokers, diabetic, or had any other heart disease risk factors to follow the Mediterranean diet or a low-fat one.

It was particularly significant because it was considered to be the first major clinical trial to measure the diet's effect on heart risks. The results were so clear that by the end of five years, it was thought "unethical" to continue the study.

While there are MANY more pictures I could have put up showing the first floor vacancies in Downtown Salisbury, you wouldn't believe the 2nd and 3rd floor space available in many of the buildings Downtown as well.

Last night I ran into a young man who has been waiting on permits to a new home he built in the City, (rare as that may be) GET THIS, he's been waiting TWO YEARS and actually had to threaten to sue the City. His Bank was about to call his construction loan because he couldn't get his final permits. It had something to do with the end of his driveway meeting the street and the elevation the City felt could cause some kind of flooding.

After his attorney threatened to file suit, (go figure) the City finally gave him his final permit to occupy the home. TWO YEARS Folks! The young man told me he and ALL of his friends were voting for me. He explained how he wrote Jim Ireton time and time again trying to get help but the Mayor did nothing.

"This is not Joe Albero's election to lose, it's the citizens' election to lose".

Jim Ireton is completely out of touch and in way over his head. He has no business sense, NOR do most of the department heads being paid the big bucks to run portions of the City. When someone completes a home and has to wait TWO YEARS for a final permit, heads need to roll. When buildings sit vacant for the past 16 years and the current Mayor made promises to change all that, 4 years later, does it look any better to you? NOW all of a sudden he has an opponent that knows what he's talking about and once again Jim wants to tell you Downtown is revitalized!

Jim is a nice guy, (most of the time) no one will argue that. But he's a part time government employee who knows NOTHING about running a business and clearly many department heads don't know either. Too many of them have forgotten where they came from and you have my word, I'M GOING TO CHANGE THAT IMMEDIATELY.

Again, if your happy with the way things have been run in Salisbury for the past 16 years, vote for Jim Ireton. If you are truly ready for revitalization, vote for Joe Albero.

QUOTES OF THE DAY 3-1-13

“The first duty of a man is to think for himself”
― José Martí

“Societies in decline have no use for visionaries.”
― Anaïs Nin

“Occasionally the tree of Liberty must be watered with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants.”
― Thomas Jefferson

“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are
presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new
evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is
extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it
is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize,
ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.”
― Frantz Fanon

“Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.”
― Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.”
― Aristotle

“A little rebellion is a good thing. ”
― Thomas Jefferson

BREAKING NEWS: WOMAN IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER 5 PIT BULLS ATTACKED

A woman and the Director of the Wicoimico Humane Society were injured by 5 pit bulls who were fighting. The woman tried to break it up and the dogs attacked her. David Fitzgerald tried to break the dogs away from the woman and he too was "torn up" according to sources. The incident happened on Marine Road in Salisbury.

The Wicomico Sheriffs Deputies had to shoot three of the dogs. More to come...

TROOPERS INJURED WHEN STRUCK BY DRUNK DRIVER

(COLLEGE PARK, MD) – Two Maryland State troopers are recovering from injures sustained after their marked patrol car was struck by a vehicle operated by an impaired driver, just after midnight.

The troopers are identified as Trooper First Class Manuel Moreno, 42, a four year veteran and Trooper John Cabrera, 34, a three year veteran, both are assigned to the College Park Barrack. Tfc. Moreno and Tpr. Cabrera were transported by Prince George’s County, emergency medical personnel to Prince George’s Hospital with non life threatening injuries.

The driver of the 2001 Pontiac Sunbird is identified as Arcenia D. Macklin, 48 of the 9000 block of Cherry Lane, Laurel, Maryland. Macklin refused medical treatment at the scene. She was taken into custody and later charged with driving under the influence.
The preliminary investigation indicates that shortly after 12:00 a.m., Tfc. Moreno and Tpr. Cabrera were investigating a crash which occurred northbound Interstate 95 in the area of Sandy Springs Road in Prince George’s County, Maryland. After establishing a flare pattern warning oncoming traffic, both troopers returned to their marked Maryland State Police patrol vehicle with its emergency equipment activated. While completing the necessary reports, a 2001 Pontiac Sunbird proceeded through the flares and struck the patrol unit in the rear. The crash injured both troopers. Emergency medical personnel from Prince George’s County were called to the scene.

Arcenia Macklin has been charged with driving under the influence and for violating the move over law.

Both troopers were transported to Prince George’s Hospital and are being treated for non life threatening injuries.

Md. School Sued Over Attack By Alleged Cannibal

A man attacked by a baseball bat-wielding college student is suing the school where the attack happened, saying it failed to protect the community from the suspect who was later accused of cannibalism.

Joshua Ceasar, 23, was left partially blind after the attack on the campus of Baltimore's Morgan State University in 2012. It came days before the student, Alexander Kinyua, told authorities he killed a man staying with his family and ate the man's heart and parts of his brain.

"In the six months leading up to the attack, Morgan State ignored the escalating warning signs that Mr. Kinyua was unstable and violent and posed a threat to others," said the 20-page lawsuit filed Thursday.
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Ben Swann Is Optimistic About The Internet Reformation

Wicomico Approves Affordable Housing Accord

SALISBURY -- Wicomico officials last week approved a payment-in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) program for a vast affordable housing project in the county after getting assurances from the new owners certain conditions would be met in the final agreement.

Last Tuesday, the Wicomico County Council approved an agreement with Tryko Partners on a PILOT program for the company’s Pine Bluff Village project, a vast affordable housing community of 151 homes for the elderly and disabled in the county along with associated amenities including an on-site community service coordinator, food services, laundry services and other features. The village is proposed on the former Pine Bluff Sanatorium owned by the state.

Last June, the Wicomico Council approved a PILOT agreement with the state continuing the lessee-operator agreement first reached in 2007. However, now that Tryko Partners is seeking to renovate and restore the former state-owned property with an attractive affordable housing project for the elderly and disabled, the company came before the Council seeking the same payment-in-lieu agreement offered by the state.
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Six-Year-Old Transgender Girl's Parents Take Legal Action After School Tells Her She Must Use Boy's Restroom

First-grader Coy Mathis, from Fountain, Colorado, made the transition from boy to girl when she was four years old
A six-year-old transgender child is fighting alongside her parents for the right to be recognized as a girl at school.

Coy Mathis, who was born male but has identified as female since the age of four, was barred from using the girls' restroom at Eagleside Elementary School in Fountain, Colorado in December.

On a special edition of the Katie show, her parents Jeremy and Kathryn Mathis revealed that they are now pursuing legal action over the the school district's decision to force Coy to only use the boys' bathroom, gender-neutral faculty bathrooms or the nurse's bathroom.

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Meet The Man Who Makes $100K A Year Begging By Pretending To Be Mentally Handicapped

A man who pretends to be mentally and physically handicapped while he goes around the streets begging claims he makes up to $100,000 a year from his panhandling.

Gary Thompson, from Texas, gets around Lexington, Kentucky, in a wheelchair which he says he needs because he has difficulty walking.
He also maneuvers his hands in a way that would lead the untrained eye to believe he had difficulty using them.

SNOW HILL -- State and local enforcement officials gathered in Snow Hill this week to present united support for a pending piece of state legislation that would drastically increase penalties for smuggling cigarettes.

Senate Bill 69, which has passed the state Senate and is pending in the House of Delegates, would triple the current fine per carton for cigarette smuggling for first offenders and double the increased fine for repeat offenders.

“The tool we desperately need to combat this wave of smuggling is tougher penalties for those who commit these crimes,” said State Comptroller Peter Franchot this week. “Far too often our agents with local law enforcement arrest a smuggler and we find out it’s the third, or fourth, or fifth time they’ve been arrested for the same offense.”
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All Of This Whining About The Sequester Shows Why America Is Doomed

If we can't even cut federal spending by 2.4 percent without much of the country throwing an absolute hissy fit, then what hope does America have? All of this whining and crying about the sequester is absolutely disgraceful. The truth is that even if the sequester goes into effect, the U.S. government will still take in more money than ever before in 2013 and it will still spend more money than ever before in 2013. So it is a bit disingenuous to call what is about to happen "a spending cut", but for the sake of argument let's concede that point. Even if the budget really was being "cut" by 85 billion dollars, that only would only amount to a "cut" of 2.4 percent to federal spending. It would barely make a dent in the federal budget deficit for 2013.

The U.S. government would still accumulate about as much new debt in fiscal year 2013 as it did in all the years from the inauguration of George Washington to the inauguration of Ronald Reagan combined. Our debt to GDP ratio would continue to soar. The sequester cuts would essentially only be a minor bump on the road to financial oblivion. But if you listen to Barack Obama and his allies, they would have you believe that we are facing a great national crisis because of these impending cuts. They would have you believe that hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs and that many government agencies will no longer be able to operate effectively. They would have you believe that "granny won't get her lunch" and "roofs blown off by Hurricane Sandy won't get repaired".

Well, if all of that is true, then what in the world would our country look like if we actually cut a trillion dollars from the federal budget this year and started living within our means?

Have you ever known people that are already hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and yet go out and regularly blow thousands more dollars on wild shopping sprees?

Such debt addicts may be very proud of their new homes, their new cars, their new clothes and all of their fancy electronic gadgets, but it was all purchased with debt. When a "day of reckoning" finally arrives, many debt addicts lose absolutely everything and end up in the street.

That is what America is like today.

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Its Time For A New Mayor

Thank God Its Friday 3-1-13

What will you be doing this weekend?

Roadie Joe's Opens TONIGHT

It's a whole new atmosphere and a whole new concept. Roadie Joe's replaces the old Aqua on the Downtown Plaza. Designed more like a sports bar, this adult only bar/restaurant will be open 7 days a week and will now serve more of a bar food menu, hamburgers, wings, subs, etc..

DELEGATE MIKE MCDERMOTT PRESS RELEASE 3-1-13

‘HB 837 -- Protecting Maryland’s Farm Families’
(ANNAPOLIS) -- “The farming community plays an important role in our state’s economy. Since farmers are particularly vulnerable in these difficult economic times, we should not hesitate to ease their burden wherever we can, and stave off the frivolous environmental lawsuits taken against them. HB 837 seeks to do just that,” declared Delegate Michael McDermott (R-Worcester and Wicomico Counties).

“The traditional family farm is a recognized heritage and treasure,” stated Delegate McDermott, “and farmers have proven themselves to be the original conservationists, continuing a strong tradition of protecting natural resources.” But a farm family today of limited means can find itself in court up against a multi-million dollar environmental group with endless resources at its disposal. As the cost of attorney fees runs up, the expense of the litigation alone can crush a farm into bankruptcy, regardless of its culpability in the case.

Under current law, a federal court can award legal expenses on behalf of a farm cleared of a clean-water regulatory violation, but no such recourse is available for a case in the state courts. HB 837 (Family Farm - Prevailing Party - Attorney’s Fees and Expenses) allows a court to award reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses to a family farm that is sued for causing water pollution but is successful in the case outcome. This law would cover cases similar to the one that was brought against the Hudson Family Farm. In 2010, the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic, the Assateague Coastkeeper, and the Waterkeeper Alliance filed a suit against Alan and Kristin Hudson, alleging that the farm’s operations were polluting Maryland’s waters. The Hudson Farm In December 2012, the judge ruled in favor of the Hudsons, since there was insufficient evidence to show that their farm was the source of the pollution. However, the Hudsons now face $3 million in legal fees and expenses.

The bill does not apply to local governments and does not undermine their authority and duty to enforce local environmental laws. It does however, protect farms from spurious suits by putting the burden of paying legal expenses on the prosecution.

Yesterday HB 837 was heard in the House Judiciary Committee. Both the Maryland Farm Bureau and Delmarva Poultry Industry voiced their strong support for the bill. HB 837 has not yet received a vote from the Committee.

“Sadly, this is something that Maryland has never had to contemplate before, but today we must take action to insure that our future farmers will have the hope of carrying on their family legacy. The time has come to stand up and draw a line in the sand.” said Delegate McDermott.

Proposed Law Would Force School Boards To Heed Parents’ Petitions For School Reform

National education reform advocates support a Maryland bill that would mandate reform for failing schools whenever a majority of parents petition for intervention, but the state superintendent and the state teachers union oppose the idea.

The bill is one of many “parent trigger” laws that have been proposed in states throughout the nation as they struggle to fix failing schools and remedy inequities in the education system. At a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday, impassioned reformers faced arguments from professional educators who warned the bill could lead to chaos in the school system.

Joy Pullmann, the managing editor of School Reform News, a publication sponsored by the conservative Heartland Institute, told the committee that parents ought to have more influence in school reform.- See more

Food Card Recipients Stockpile Huge Balances On Taxpayers’ Dime

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Some local families who tell the state they're desperate to put food on the table are instead racking up thousands of dollars, and they can use some of that money however they want – and you’re paying for it.

Every single month in Washington state, more than a million of your neighbors are buying more than a hundred million dollars’ worth of basic food with a state-issued food stamp card called EBT-- or electronic balance transfer.

Could Be, Then Again, Might Not Be, So, One Never Knows, Does One

The Supreme Court says you can't sue the government for spying on you....unless you can prove the government is spying on you...which they'll never tell you. The Court issued a 5-4 decision in Clapper v. Amnesty International today, and said that a group suing to overturn the 2008 expansion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act lacks standing to fight the law's constitutionality. Essentially, because the group of attorneys, human rights groups, and media organizations couldn't show that the government actually monitored their conversations, there was no way to prove their rights were violated. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito delivered the majority opinion, saying "respondents merely speculate and make assumptions about whether their communications with foreign contacts will be acquired." Justice Steven Breyer wrote the dissenting opinion, saying, "the majority is wrong when it describes the harm threatened plantiffs as 'speculative'." And so, the legal catch 22 of FISA and all government surveillance continues. If you can't prove the government is listening, you'll never be able to say it's unconstitutional. And I wouldn't expect the Feds to admit their listening any time soon.

Attention

Friday, March 01, 2013