Popular Posts

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Mayor Ireton & Police Chief Duncan Want Control Over The Liquor Board

During yesterday's City Council Work Session the Mayor and Chief of Police introduced a proposed ordinance that came out of nowhere but is now being targeted as something the City Council came up with. Know this right out of the gate, this has everything to do with the Mayor. It is the Council's job to review any ordinance the Mayor proposes but for those of you who are targeting the Council, you are out of line.

"It particularly targets bars, restaurants, and convenience stores. If a property owner has 2 “confirmed” cases (read charges, not convictions), including underage sale of alcohol to minors, within a 2 year period, the Salisbury Chief of Police can close the establishment."


It should be noted that the Liquor Board already has complete control over licences and now the Mayor wants control over the Liquor Board. One might ask, why? Could it be that the Mayor is upset with the Liquor Board over an alleged incident at MoJo's not that long ago? Could it be that the Mayor has interest in riverfront property and wants to control whether or not a certain establishment can stay open or not?

All I can tell you is, Big Brother wants to get even bigger and the community needs to fight this from beginning to end. Yes, some establishments have more problems than others but I can assure you that those establishments that do have more issues are desperately trying to manage those businesses as best as they can. To attempt to INSULT the Liquor Board by creating such an ordinance to overpower them has to be what I'd consider the last straw for this community or any other. 

You cannot have a controlling part time Mayor who pulls this kind of stunt to prove his/her power and control. Let the Liquor Board do their job. Let the Police Chief do her job and for goodness sake Mayor Ireton, stay out of local businesses business. It's no wonder Salisbury has the reputation it has. 

Salisbury News has learned that Frank Hannah will personally come up from Florida to fight this ordinance as well as corporate lawyers from WaWa, (and the fight just got started). 

Stop grandstanding Mayor Ireton. I keep telling everyone, Salisbury is NOT business friendly and that will change the very second I am elected.

Applebee’s Waitress Asks Patron For ID, Gets Own Stolen Driver’s License In Return

Imagine you're a waitress, out with friends on a night off, when you lose your wallet. Cash, credit cards, driver's license—all gone. Your bank later informs you that checks are being issued in your name.

It's a pain, but you carry on. Two weeks later, you're at work when four people walk in and sit in your section. They start ordering drinks. You ask to see their IDs. A woman in the group hands a driver's license to you. You look down, and it's yours.

That is precisely what police in Colorado say happened to Brianna Priddy, a server at a Lakewood Applebee's.

Priddy, though, didn't panic.

More 

Why Have Wine Tastings When There's Sequestration?

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is asking the Agriculture Department to explain. In a letter to Secretary Tom Vilsack, Coburn asks why USDA is sponsoring two events in California and Oregon wine country. He says they may be fun, interesting and even educational, but not a priority. USDA said it will furlough all employees, including food inspectors for up to two weeks. The food industry and powerful lawmakers fear that could slow down food production.

OBAMA ADMIN ARGUES FOR SAME-SEX PARENTHOOD AT SCOTUS

Just four years ago, candidate Barack Obama said he believed that marriage was between a man and a woman. "And God is in the mix." Who moved?

Say what you will about President Barack Obama's policies; millions of Americans voted for the man in no small part because his family represents a much yearned-for ideal. How much happier Americans would be if all our children lived in a stable, loving, married family with a mom and a dad--like the Obama family. Many writers expressed the hope that having these real-life Huxtables in the White House would turn around many devastating pathologies in America's cities--and in our rural areas, too.

But that was then. Last week, President Obama dropped the family friendly mask. He sent his Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli, up the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court with a simple message: Dump Dads. Lose Moms. That's because the Solicitor General speaks for the President. In the most august and formal way, it is this officer who carries the President's deepest convictions to lay them before the nation's High Court. What the Solicitor General actually said was this:

More 

GOP CONGRESSMAN MAKES CDC DIRECTOR SQUIRM AFTER CONFRONTING HIM ON CHILDREN’S VACCINE CUTS: ‘LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT…’

Representative Andy Harris (R-MD) is winning praise for tackling the director of the CDC over claims that sequestration will result in a drastic cut to children’s vaccinations in the state, RightScoop calling it a ”fantastic obliteration” and a “must watch.”

A medical doctor himself, Harris spoke with no hesitation when he began by asking whether the CDC had worked with the White House in crafting a memo blaming Republicans for the cut:

“Dr. Frieden, I have a great deal of concern about a document that my office got from the White House that talked about the cuts that were going to occur due to Republicans, affecting children… It says in Maryland about 2,050 fewer children will receive vaccines due to reduced funding for vaccinations of about $140,000. Did the CDC assist the White House in preparing that estimate?”
More 

Congressman Harris Confronts CDC Director Over Misleading White House Sequester Claims

President’s Proposed Budget Would Have Cut Vaccine Program More Than Sequester Does

WASHINGTON, DC
—Yesterday, Congressman Andy Harris, M.D., confronted Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about misleading statements by the White House regarding the impact on vaccines for children of sequestration.

During questioning, Congressman Harris asked Director Frieden whether they had been consulted about the state by state figures released by the White House recently about the effects of the sequester – specifically vaccines for children in Maryland. The White House’s figures claim roughly 2,050 fewer children will be vaccinated at a cost of $140,000 because of the sequester. Dr. Friedman said he did not know if the CDC had been contacted or contributed to these figures.

Congressman Harris proceeded to ask about the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 decreased budget request for the program versus the sequester and how both affect the Section 317 Immunization Program. President Obama’s prospective FY 2013 budget would have cut roughly $58 million from the program while the sequester cut around $30 million. Despite President Obama’s budget cutting nearly twice as much as the sequester, Dr. Friedman testified that the CDC would be able to maintain vaccination levels under the President’s budget. He would not comment whether the CDC could maintain current vaccination levels under sequestration even though the amount being cut is less.

The interaction took place during an oversight hearing for the Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies that looked into funding for various organizations that do medical research.

QUOTES OF THE DAY 3-7-13

“History teaches us that the capacity of things to get worse is limitless. Roman history suggests that the short, happy life of the American republic may be coming to its end… [the US will probably] maintain a facade of constitutional government and drift along until financial bankruptcy overtakes it.

Of course, bankruptcy will not mean the literal end of the United States any more than it did for Germany in 1923, China in 1948, or Argentina in 2002-03.

It might, in fact, open the way for an unexpected restoration of the American system, or for military rule or simply for some development we cannot yet imagine. Certainly, such a bankruptcy would mean a drastic lowering of our standard of living, a loss of control over international affairs, a process of adjusting to the rise of other powers, including China and India…”

Chalmers Johnson, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, 2007
“Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country.

When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank…You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out.”

Andrew Jackson, Andrew Jackson and the Bank of the United States (1928) by Stan V. Henkels

“Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.”

John Henry Newman

Michelle Obama and John Kerry to Honor Anti-Semite and 9/11 Fan

On Friday March 8, Michelle Obama will join John Kerry at a special ceremony at the State Department to present ten women the Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award. The award, says the press release, is given to “women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for women’s rights and empowerment, often at great personal risk.”

Five of these awards are being given to women from Muslim-majority countries, underscoring the unique plight of women in those countries. The only problem is that one of the women to be recognized is an anti-Semite and supports the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
 

Samira Ibrahim, as the State Department’s profile describes her, “was among seven women subjected by the Egyptian military to forced virginity tests in March 2011.” The press release further notes that Samira “was arrested while in high school for writing a paper that criticized Arab leaders’ insincere support to the Palestinian cause.” Apparently, the State Department is unaware of her other convictions. 
More

HOW DID THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA COVER RAND PAUL’S HISTORIC FILIBUSTER?

 Late Wednesday night, as Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster entered its 12th hour, there was significant reaction from people all across America.
  • C-Span experienced viewership levels rarely seen
  • The hashtag #IstandwithRand topped the Twitter charts.
  • Even Liberals like Van Jones, actor John Cusack the far Left group Code Pink were supporting the filibuster.

Of course, as soon as TheBlaze caught word of the Senator’s filibuster, we covered it all the way until it ended. (He spoke from 11:47am Wednesday until 12:40am Thursday.) Almost 13 hours without sitting or taking a bathroom break:

More 

Maryland Bill Would Raise Tobacco Tax To $3 Per Pack

Maryland cigarette smokers would see the price per pack jump $1 and other tobacco users could see taxes more than triple under a proposal being considered by the state House of Delegates.

Maryland already has one of the highest cigarette taxes in the nation, and under a bill from Del. Eric Luedtke, D-Montgomery County, it would jump from $2 per pack to $3. The tax rate on other tobacco products would leap from 30 percent to 95 percent of their wholesale price.

By comparison, New York has the highest statewide cigarette tax at $4.35 per pack, and Virginia has the lowest at 30 cents per pack.

More 

Eric Holder: Some Banks Are So Large That It Is Difficult For Us To Prosecute Them

While it is widely assumed that the too-big-to-fail banks in the US (and elsewhere) are beyond the criminal justice system - based on simple empirical fact - when the Attorney General of the United States openly admits to the fact that he is"concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them," since, "it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy," one has to stare open-mouthed at the state of our union. It appears, just as the proletariat assumed, that too-big-to-fail banks are indeed too-big-to-jail.
GRASSLEY: On the issue of bank prosecution, I'm concerned that we have a mentality of too-big-to-jail in the financial sector of spreading from fraud cases to terrorist financing and money laundering cases -- and I cite HSBC. So I think we're on a slippery slope.

HOLDER: The concern that you have raised is one that I, frankly, share. And I'm not talking about HSBC now. That (inaudible) be appropriate.

More

You Are NOT Going To Believe This Article

OC Fire Dept. Embroiled In ‘Turmoil’; City Manager To Form Focus Groups; Employees’ Spouses Create Support Group

OCEAN CITY -- Armed with concerns over hostile workplace conditions for Ocean City career firefighter-paramedics and deteriorating morale, a group of more than a dozen spouses has been formed to provide support and promote an improved direction for the city’s first responders.

The creation of the support group is the latest controversy to embroil the Ocean City Fire Department (OCFD), leading Chief Chris Larmore in an interview Monday to refer to the current state of affairs as “turmoil”.

In recent months, serious accusations have been made about the OCFD and its alleged culture of stress and negativity, including several grievances filed against leadership and recent decisions, but it was not until this week that the specific concerns were vocalized, confirming further these are tumultuous times for the OCFD.

Arkansas Adopts US's Most Restrictive Abortion Law

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas now has the nation's most restrictive abortion law -- a near-ban on the procedure from the 12th week of pregnancy -- unless a lawsuit or court action intervenes before it takes effect this summer.

Lawmakers in the Republican-dominated Legislature defied Gov. Mike Beebe, overriding the Democrat's veto. The House voted 56-33 on Wednesday to override Beebe's veto, a day after the Senate voted to do the same.

The votes come less than a week after the Legislature overrode a veto of a separate bill banning most abortions starting in the 20th week of pregnancy. That bill took effect immediately after the final override vote, whereas the 12-week ban won't take effect until this summer.

More 

GOP BARRED From Benghazi Survivors!

Republican lawmakers are blasting the White House for not allowing access to the survivors of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya — many of whom are still recovering at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington.

“We want to talk to the survivors — they won’t do that,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah told Fox News on Wednesday. “And then the president has the gall to go on television and say ‘Oh, we’re providing all the access’? Baloney. Bull-crap. That is not happening.”

Chaffetz told Fox that he had spoken to a “handful of people” when he visited Benghazi not long after the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans but has not been able to gain access to the survivors since returning to the US.
More

CNN'S RACHEL NICHOLS: NASCAR MAY LOSE APPEAL TO 'MAINSTREAM' AUDIENCE WITH NRA DEAL

Rachel Nichols, whom CNN chief Jeff Zucker hired from ESPN to anchor the network's weekend sports show that is in the works, hardly took any time espousing the network's elitist and liberal views by implying the National Rifle Association, which Gallup found to be more popular than President Barack Obama, was not a mainstream organization and could potentially repel "mainstream" viewers away from NASCAR.

On a panel on CNN's Monday edition of "Piers Morgan Tonight" that discussed the NRA's sponsorship of an April 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Texas, Nichols said the NRA sponsorship could be a step backwards for NASCAR after the success it has had in drawing new viewers to the sport after Danica Patrick became the first female driver in history to win a pole when she did so at Daytona. 

More 

Bumble Bee And Chicken Of The Sea Recall Tuna Cans Due To Possible Contamination

Bumble Bee Foods Issues Voluntary Recall On Specific Codes Of 5-Ounce Chunk White Albacore And Chunk Light Tuna Products Due To Loose Seals


Contact
Consumers:
800-800-8572

Media:
Della Sweetman/Erika Ulring
(Fleishman-Hillard)
619-237-7700
della.sweetman@fleishman.com
erika.ulring@fleishman.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 6, 2013 - Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, has issued a voluntary recall on specific codes of 5-ounce Chunk White Albacore and Chunk Light Tuna products. The recall has been issued because the products do not meet the company’s standards for seal tightness.
Loose seals or seams could result in product contamination by spoilage organisms or pathogens and lead to illness if consumed. There have been no reports to date of any illness associated with these products.
CLICK HERE  for products subject to recall

Bus Crash Sends Six Children To Hospital, Seaford

Location: Cool Branch Road west of Kaye Road, Seaford, DE

Date of Occurrence: Thursday March 7, 2013 at approximately 3:15 p.m.

Operator and Vehicle Information:

Operator #1: Susan M. Burgess, 41, Magnolia, DE
Vehicle #1: 2008 Freightliner School Bus (Owned by Chambers Bus Company)
Six students from Seaford School District ranging from 10 to 17 years old

Resume:
Seaford, DE- The Delaware State Police are investigating a bus crash that occurred earlier this afternoon east of Seaford.

The incident occurred around 3:15 p.m. as Susan M. Burgess was operating a 2008 Freightliner School Bus southeast on Cool Branch Road entering a slight curve just west of Kaye Road. For unknown reasons, the bus left the right side of the roadway on the curve and into a farm field where it became stuck in the mud. Six students from Seaford School District were transported from the scene by EMS to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Burgess, who was properly restrained, was not injured and was cited for Failure to Maintain a Single Lane and No Proof of Insurance.

Traffic in the area of Cool Branch Road was impacted for approximately one hour as the crash was investigated and cleared.

Holder Gives Paul Assurance On Drones

In response to Sen. Rand Paul's 13-hour filibuster, Attorney General Eric Holder sends letter clarifying that the president does not have the authority to use a drone to kill a noncombatant American citizen on U.S. soil.

DELEGATE MIKE MCDERMOTT PRESS RELEASE

‘Delegate McDermott’s Legislation Passes the House’
(ANNAPOLIS) -- Today the Maryland House of Delegates passed three bills sponsored by Delegate Mike McDermott (R-Worcester & Wicomico). 

One of the bills that passed, HB 709, the “Sheddy-Bennett Act,” alters the maximum penalty for being an accessory after the fact to murder in the first and second degree. A person convicted of being an accessory after the fact is subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years for a murder in the first and second degree. The bill is not retroactive and cannot be applied to any offense committed before October 1, 2013, when it would go into effect if signed into law. The bill is named after two homicide victims from the lower shore whose cases prompted the need for change in the law. “Ms. Sheddy and Ms. Bennett suffered a cruel death and for those who helped dispose of evidence and their remains to only receive a 5-year sentence was inexcusable”, said Delegate Mike McDermott. “This bill does not bring these victims back to their families, but it will help bring some sense of justice for future families who must endure such a tragedy in their lives.”

The second bill to pass, HB 147, will allow local law enforcement officers, upon approval of the Comptroller, to destroy contraband tobacco products. As Delegate Mike McDermott (R-Worcester & Wicomico) explains, “In the past the Comptroller’s office has collected contraband tobacco products from the local law enforcement offices, but because they cannot market them, they have stopped collecting them and the burden to transport them has fallen on the local law enforcement agencies. Storage room is running out as the local law enforcement agencies have no way to lawfully dispose of the products.”

A third bill, HB-719, was also passed by the House today. While current law allows the prosecution of anyone who intentionally makes a false bomb threat by either the county in which the communication was made or the county in which it was received, this can be difficult to determine. This bill extends the authority to prosecute to the county in which the destructive device or toxic material was allegedly located. “As criminals become increasingly mobile, deciding the location where a threat originated has become complicated”, stated Delegate McDermott.”This bill will allow for common sense application of the law at the location most impacted by these criminal acts.”

Interesting U.S. Immigrant Story

Revealed: How immigrants are gaining U.S. citizenship by getting married on Skype - to people thousands of miles away

Online global unions via webcam are the first step to attaining a visa or citizenship for a non-American spouse

Many fear that such proxy weddings will help facilitate marriage fraud, as well as see an increase in the number of sex trafficking victims
A rise in Skype weddings is allowing immigrants to legally gain American citizenship by exchanging vows from opposite ends of the globe, it was revealed today.
Many fear that the proxy online marriages, which allow a couple to wed in the absence of one or both spouses, will help facilitate marriage fraud, as well as see an increase in the number of sex trafficking victims.
The growing practice has so far flown under the radar of immigration authorities, who are yet to provide extra inspection to ensure video chat marriages are not misused.

HERE ARE ALL THE GOP SENATORS THAT PARTICIPATED IN RAND PAUL’S 12+ HOUR FILIBUSTER… AND THE ONES WHO DIDN’T

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday staged an incredible nearly 13 hour filibuster to block President Barack Obama’s CIA nominee John Brennan, but mostly to bring attention to potential drone strikes against Americans in the U.S.

Attorney General Eric Holder, in a letter to Paul, said in an emergency the federal government could execute a drone strike on U.S. soil. The revelation resulted in Wednesday’s filibuster, the senator’s way of ringing the alarm bell. Paul made it clear repeatedly throughout the filibuster that he would end it once the White House admitted that drone strikes against Americans on U.S. soil are “unconstitutional.”

The White House had nothing to say on Wednesday.

Several GOP senators joined Paul in his crusade, however, many others didn’t and were not in attendance. Further, very few Democrats participated.

More 

Don't You Think Your Mayor Should Have To Work As Hard As YOU Do?

Throughout my campaign I have clearly stated that I will make the Mayor's position a full time job. When you have a budget as large as Salisbury does, working part time simply doesn't cut it.  

However, as I have witnessed over the past 8 years of running Salisbury News and attending hundreds of Council Meetings over the years, you wouldn't believe the volume of items that are hidden in different departments that total in the millions of dollars Council Members were clueless about.

That being said, don't think for a second that the Council Members missed something, it was carefully hidden. I can recall one year where two or three Fire Trucks were somehow buried in their budget and not one Council Member knew about it. I red flagged it to the Council and when they called to find out if what I was saying was true, they were told it was not. The more they insisted and pushed the matter they finally got the TRUTH and what I had stated from the beginning was absolutely a fact. 

That is just one of many examples out there. I am not suggesting taxpayers pay me more money than the part time salary, I'm simply suggesting you elect a Mayor that can and will work full time. You need a Mayor that knows exactly what department heads are doing on a daily basis. You need a Mayor who is proactive and not reactive. You need a Mayor who can answer your call in your time of need. 

If you are happy with the way things have been run for the past 16 years, vote for Jim Ireton. If you are interested in an instant change, you won't have to wait 2 1/2 to 4 years, I'll change things the FIRST WEEK. I'll work just as hard as you do, if not harder.

You need to ask yourself, would YOU hire a part time CEO to run your $50,609,306.00 a year company budget? I rest my case.

Catastrophic LEGO Incident Leaves West Virginia Highway Strewn With Bricks

If you thought stepping on a LEGO with your bare feet was bad, imagine the scene in West Virginia, where a tote filled with the tiny bricks spilled across a highway and held up traffic for hours on Sunday. More importantly, it made imaginations run wild, wondering how that many LEGO could end up strewn across a highway on a snowy day.

Minimum Wage Battle: Lawmakers Looking To Raise Minimum Wage

WASHINGTON (AP) - House and Senate Democrats want to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, more than a dollar higher than President Barack Obama proposed in his State of the Union address.

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and California Rep. George Miller say their bill, introduced Tuesday, would boost the minimum from its current rate of $7.25 an hour by 2015. It then calls for automatic annual increases tied to changes in the cost of living.

Obama's proposal last month called for an increase to $9 an hour, but Harkin says that doesn't go far enough.

Continue reading

Maryland Truckers Say Transportation Bill Would Increase Costs, Hurt Jobs

The massive transportation funding bill proposed by the state’s top lawmakers will reduce trucking jobs and drive up the price of consumer goods, Maryland trucking officials say.

Senate Bill 1054 and House Bill 1515, projected to raise $3.4 billion for transportation costs over the next five years, would not lower the diesel fuel excise tax the same way it would reduce the gasoline excise tax.

Under the new legislation — unveiled this week by Gov. Martin O’Malley, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch — the gasoline excise tax would be reduced from 23.5 cents per gallon to 18.5 cents per gallon. The state would then add a 2-percent sales tax on a gallon of gasoline on July 1, that would increase to 4 percent in July 2014.

 More

Get My Daughter A Full-Time Job And I’ll Give You 500 Bucks

Sorry, that’s not a direct offer from Consumerist: we don’t have daughters, or $500. A 36-year-old Southern California woman who has spent the last decade and a half as her mother’s caregiver after a car crash is looking for a job now that her mother is well enough to live alone. Her mother has put up a $500 reward to anyone who is able to get her a job.
Sixteen years ago, a drunk driver hit the mother’s car in what didn’t seem like a very serious crash. Later, doctors found that she had dementia due to head trauma. The daughter rushed to her side and has stayed there ever since. They lived on disability benefits, money from the daughter’s part-time work, and government funds paid to family caregivers. The mother still can’t work, but recently got a doctor’s approval to live alone. That means that the caregiver money has run out, but also that the daughter is free to get a full-time job for the first time in her adult life.

Child Support Administrators Make Progress On Reforms

Within the past few months, the Department of Human Resources has made significant progress in resolving the issues raised by the Office of Legislative Audits concerning their Child Support Enforcement Administration.

The department has corrected seven of the 11 mistakes discovered by auditors during their evaluation of the child support system, and it is expected to remedy the final four problems by the end of April, according to the Office of Legislative Audits. The office released a 2011 report revealing that state authorities were not using all of the enforcement tools at their disposal to get parents to pay child support.

Now, however, the department has become more aggressive about collecting child support, and it has increased child support collections to a record high.

More 

Chicken Processing Plant Worker: I Will Never Eat Fast Food Nuggets Again

While there are plenty of people who would rather not imagine where their food comes from, many of us would like to know more about how, for example, a chicken goes from clucking and pecking to one of four shapes of Chicken McNugget. During a recent “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit, a current employee of a Perdue chicken processing plant was glad to answer questions, as well as admit he or she will never eat chicken nuggets from a fast food joint ever again.

Idea To Replace National Anthem Just Plain Wrong

At a charity game this week, Washington Wizards players Garrett Temple and Martell Webster decided on a whim to sing “The Star Spangled Banner,” and like a lot of other celebrity and noncelebrity performers, their rendition is memorable as they sang the high notes off key.

But, oh, say, can you see changing America’s national anthem to a song written and produced by R. Kelly?

There are a million-plus-1 reasons why President Obama shouldn’t change the national anthem — and surely not bow to a replacing it with the Kelly song “Ignition (remix),” which wreaks of fellas and honeys bouncin,’ bumpin’ and grindin.’

Why are we even discussing this?

Some people who have too much time on their hands have created an online petition, courtesy of the White House’s We the People website, to press the issue with the Obama administration.

More 

Wicomico Recreation’s Eggstravaganza & Adult Easter Social To Return This Month

Salisbury, MD – Wicomico Recreation will hold two Easter programs in March for the young and the young at heart. Eggstravaganza will feature an egg hunt for children 12 and under and Easter activities for the whole family, while the Adult Easter Social will allow adults to be a kid again with a “grown-up” egg hunt, adult beverages and live entertainment.

Eggstravanganza

Kids, the Easter Bunny is laying eggs all over Pemberton Park! Wicomico Recreation’s Annual Spring Eggstravangaza is scheduled for Sunday, March 24 from 1:00-3:00pm. Four egg hunts will take place during the afternoon for children 12 and under. (Please bring your own basket.) The whole family can take part in Easter crafts, egg dyeing, egg toss, bunny hop and more! The fee for ages 3 & under is $2.00 and ages 4 & up is $4.00. Admission will be accepted at the entrance to the event, advanced registration is not required. Pemberton Park is located at 5561 Plantation Lane in Salisbury. For more information, visit www.WicomicoRecandParks.org.

Adult Easter Social

Adults, want to be a kid again this Easter? Grab your basket and come to Wicomico Recreation’s Adult Easter Social on Thursday, March 28 for an evening of "grown-up" Easter fun. The Adult Easter Social will be held at the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex (711 Naylor Mill Road, Salisbury) from 8:00-10:00pm. The evening will kick off with a "grown-up" egg hunt starting promptly at 8:15pm where participants will search for 1,000 eggs filled with raffle tickets and instant prizes. After the hunt, enjoy craft beer, light fare and live music from Clayton Perry while prizes are raffled off throughout the night. The grand prize will be an IPad. Tickets to the Adult Easter Social are $25 per person, registration is open now at www.WicomicoRecandParks.org and at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center (500 Glen Avenue, Salisbury; M-F, 8:00am-6:00pm). Participants must be 21 or older to register.

Bottle Bill Seeks To Boost Recycling Rates

A new environmental measure is taking some of the older senators back to their childhood days — a bottle deposit program proposed by Sen. Brian Frosh.

“I remember when you could bring empty bottles back to the store and you’d get ten cents for each one — me and my friends used to save them up to go to the movies,” said Sen. Joanne Benson. “Whatever happened to that?”

In an effort to further boost recycling in Maryland, Frosh has taken that old, familiar program and modernized it in his bill. He presented the bill during a Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs committee hearing on Tuesday.

More 

Our Condolences To The Polk Family

We sadly express our condolences to Candidate Cynthia Polk and her immediate Family as Cynthia unfortunately lost her husband this morning. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Families Furious Over TSA Decision

Mother of 9/11 hero furious that TSA will allow small knives and golf clubs onto planes as they loosen security regulations
Parents of 9/11 victims are speaking out after TSA announced plans to allow small knives onto commercial planes starting on April 25

The Association of Professional Flight attendants blasted 'poor and shortsighted decision'
'Yoghurt's more dangerous than a pen knife!' says outraged 9/11 mother
Families of victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks are outraged over the proposed changes to TSA policies that will now allow small knives and large athletic equipment like lacrosse sticks of golf clubs on board commercial airplanes. 
'I'm really horrified and I would say the majority of 911 family members are really shocked by it,' said Sally Regenhard, the mother of firefighter Christian Regenhard who died trying to save people in the World Trade Center. 
Ms Regenhard is just one of the relatives of 9/11 victims who cannot believe that the Transportation Security Administration would allow so many more items past security now after they announced just yesterday that the changes will go into effect because of a review of U.S. regulations. 

Experts: Va. Plan Better For Cheaper Gas, Easing Gridlock

O'Malley's relies heavily on flagging gas tax for Maryland

Virginians would benefit from lower gasoline taxes and, experts say, better prospects at congestion relief than their peers in Maryland as the neighboring states weigh plans to raise badly needed money for infrastructure.

Sitting on Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's desk is a transportation funding overhaul that eliminates the state's 17.5-cents-per-gallon gas tax but replaces it with a new tax on wholesale gasoline, a sales tax increase and a litany of higher taxes in Northern Virginia. Not to be outdone, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed lowering the state's 23.5-cents-per-gallon gas tax to 18.5 cents and adding a wholesale sales tax to gasoline.

More 

Banks Not Lending More Even Though Rates Are Low

The effort to use low interest rates to re-energize the economy may be backfiring, warns a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

The Federal Reserve’s long-running loose monetary policy — including multiple rounds of quantitative easing and Operation Twist is designed to encourage banks to lend.

Yet it might be doing the opposite, Fortune reports.

More

House Subcommittees Begin Cutting O’Malley Budget

House Appropriations subcommittees began the process of cutting Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposed $37 billion budget Wednesday, but the reductions were relatively modest.

Under Maryland’s executive budget process, legislators can only cut from the governor’s proposal, and the House of Delegates initiated the process this year.

Health care takes biggest hits

The Health and Human Resources Subcommittee took between $40 million and $50 million in cuts, largely from health programs, said Subcommittee Chair Mary-Dulany James. The Harford County Democrat said her committee often takes the most cuts from the budget.

More 

Arson #62 in Accomack Co.

ACCOMACK COUNTY - Firefighters were out early Thursday battling smoke and flames in a vacant commercial building in the 29500 block on Lankford Highway. Va. State Police investigators say the fire was spotted around 4:00 a.m.

That's the 62nd suspicious fire in Accomack County since November 12, 2012. Investigators say nearly three-quarters of the fires have been discovered between 6:00 p.m. and midnight and most of the targeted structures have been on primary and secondary routes, which gives the arsonists easy access to come and go without being detected.

More 

Md. Mountains Get More Than A Foot Of Snow

FROSTBURG, Md. (AP) -- Residents of far western Maryland are shaking off more than a foot of snow.

Twelve and a half inches fell Wednesday in Frostburg, prompting Frostburg State University to close for the day.

State police says several tractor-trailers got stuck in the wet snow, including one on Interstate 68 at Big Savage Mountain.

More 

Michelle Obama Says Children Living In Dangerous Neighborhoods Should Exercise Indoors

First lady Michelle Obama said Monday that kids living in unsafe neighborhoods should find creative ways to exercise indoors.

'We as the community, the adults surrounding these kids, we’ve got to get creative,' Obama said during a Google Hangout Monday. 'I would encourage parents that if they also find themselves in a situation where they can’t get outside, then let’s figure out what we can do indoors because it doesn’t take the great outdoors to be moving every day.'

Obama made the remarks in response to a parent who voiced concerns over the recent shooting death of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago girl who was killed at a park near her school.

Maryland Bond Sale News Release

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland State Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp announced that the Board of Public Works (BPW), composed of Governor Martin O’Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Kopp, completed the sale of $665,135,000 million of General Obligation bonds today in two series.

Treasurer Kopp said, “The State of Maryland was very successful in today’s sale of General Obligation bonds, achieving a very favorable interest rate of 2.333%. This low interest rate means that Maryland’s schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons and cultural projects can be built at an unusually reduced cost. This is good news for the taxpayers of Maryland.”

Competitive sales for Series A and Series B occurred at today’s BPW meeting. The State received bids for the $500,000,000 of Tax-Exempt Bonds (Series A) and the $165,135,000 of Tax-Exempt Refunding Bonds (Series B). The Series B Refunding Bonds will reduce the State’s debt service costs by approximately $8 million.

In today’s competitive sales: $500 million in tax-exempt bonds in Series A sold at a true interest cost of 2.333%; the winning bidder was Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and the net premium was $79,378,441.
$165,135,000 of Series B refunding bonds sold at a true interest cost of 1.087%; the winning bidder was J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and the net premium was $33,533,378.

There were six bidders on Series A and Series B.

“Today’s results were very satisfying. Despite the uncertainty at the federal level and the greater impact that sequestration and federal budgetary constraints can have on Maryland, the market recognized the top quality of Maryland’s Triple AAA-rated debt. There was high demand, and the sale resulted in a very favorable and low interest rate. Maryland taxpayers benefit not only from saving millions of dollars because of the State’s low interest rates, but also from the investment in our infrastructure that the bond proceeds provide.”

Maryland is one of only nine states to currently hold the AAA rating, the highest possible rating, from all three bond rating agencies. The Triple AAA was affirmed as recently as February 26, 2013, in anticipation of this bond sale.

The Maryland State Treasurer’s Office expects to conduct another bond sale in July or August 2013.

The Quote Of The Decade

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."

Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006

Local Governments Fight Requirement For Public Notices In Newspapers, But Publishers Push Back

Local governments are once again trying to change a requirement that they post legal notices in print newspapers, arguing that in the electronic age they should be able to post online and save taxpayers millions.

Currently, municipal and county governments are required to pay a local newspaper to publish every legal notice and every change to the city law — no matter how minor. The origins of this law are rooted in government transparency, but the Maryland Municipal League (MML) argues that it is outdated and, in some cases, even damaging to municipal legislation.

“We have heard from some cities that they basically have stopped making changes — even though it’s necessary — in their charters, because it costs too much to go through the whole process of publicizing it,” said Jay Davis, MML president.

More 

You Decide

'YOU decide which of your parents goes to jail for truancy': Judge tells schoolboy to make agonising decision
Teen gets ultimatum after playing truant for most of school year
The parent he chooses will spend a month in prison
The 15-year-old had repeated warnings about the consequences
An Irish teenage boy was ordered to make the heart-breaking decision to send either his mother or his father to jail for failing to ensure he attended school.

Judge Alan Mitchell told the youth he must choose who will be jailed for 21 days and who will receive a suspended sentence during a case brought against the boy's parents at Galway District Court.
The 15-year-old from Galway is a repeat truant and continued bunking off even after he was made aware of the possible legal consequences for his parents.

Oyster Luncheon--- Saturday March 9th


 St  Andrews Methodist
400 E. Vine St.,  Salisbury , MD
 
Time:   10:00 a.m.  till 2:00p.m.
Cost:     $7.50  for Oyster sandwich
Additional Items:   
Chicken Salad 
Vegetable  Beef Soup, 
Bean Soup, Hot Dogs
 and   Bake  Table.
 
Carry Outs  Available!

Entitlements

Lets put some of these ENTITLEMENTS on the table and call them what they are and put a cap on them.

Salary of retired USPresidents .............$180,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of House/Senate .....................$174,000 FOR LIFE This is stupid
Salary of Speaker of the House ............$223,500 FOR LIFE! This is really stupid
Salary of Majority/Minority Leader ..... $193,400 FOR LIFE! Ditto last line
Average Salary of a teacher .............. $40,065
Average Salary of Soldier DEPLOYED IN AFGHANISTAN .......$38,000

Think about this.

Nancy Pelosi will retire as a Congress Person at $174,000 Dollars a year for LIFE.

She has retired as SPEAKER at $223,500 a year.

PLUS she will receive an additional $193,400 a year as Minority Leader.

That’s $803,700 Dollars a year for LIFE including FREE medical which is not available toUS...the taxpayers?

She is just one of the hundreds of Senators and Congress that float in and out every year!

I think we found where the cuts should be made!

Md. Bills Provide Punishments For Bogus Tickets

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Many drivers hate speed cameras, especially after an investigation last year found bogus tickets being issued in Baltimore city.

Now, two bills being considered in the Maryland House Environmental Matters Committee would attempt to punish jurisdictions in similar situations.

Under a bill from Delegate Jon Cardin, D-Baltimore, jurisdictions would be fined $1,000 for each bogus ticket.

"That doesn't mean (it applies) when the judge says, 'I'm not sure, not guilty.' No, it's obviously when it falls through the cracks," Cardin says.

More 

Dunkin' Donuts Worker Halts Would-Be Thief By Throwing HOT COFFEE On Him

A Dunkin' Donuts employee in Connecticut has stopped a would-be robber with the nearest weapon available: hot coffee.

The worker, identified only as Angelica, threw a cup and then a pot of coffee at the man after he tried to force his way through the drive-through window of the West Haven branch of the fast-food chain.
The man drove up to the window at 11 p.m. on Saturday, took out a $100 bill and asked for change, but the worker refused, according to Sgt. David Tammaro, of the West Haven Police Departmen
More, including video.

LEGAL ANALYST: DEPT OF AGRICULTURE EMAILS PROVE 'IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE'

Judge Napolitano discusses emails from the Department of Agriculture that proves the sequester cuts are not predetermined therefore by doing things like releasing prisoners, laying off soldiers or not inspecting meat President Obama is putting the American public in danger, which is impeachable.
VIDEO HERE

A Republican Revolt Against Karl Rove


Twenty-one-year-old Karl Rove was a portrait of earnestness and ambition when Dan Rather interviewed him about Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign for CBS News on Jan. 18, 1972. Sporting owlish glasses and long sideburns, the president’s youth vote director held up a bumper sticker rebranding the GOP as the Generation Of Peace and explained how college students were the key to the election. “You can’t get some 35-year-old to teach the Republican Party how to get young people,” said Rove, supremely confident even then.
Over the next 40 years, Rove became the party’s most influential, admired, and feared strategist. For the first time in his career, that status is threatened. Tea Party activists are challenging the traditional party structure and have turned on Rove. Leaders who just months ago praised his 2012 fundraising machine as the model for modern campaigns fault the strategist for failing to deliver Mitt Romney to the White House and a Republican majority to the U.S. Senate. A study by the Sunlight Foundation, which tracks campaign expenditures, found that Rove’s two groups, American Crossroads and Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, spent more than $175 million in the 2012 general election. None of the candidates they supported won. Rove’s record in November was “just beyond abysmal,” says Brent Bozell, a prominent conservative activist.