Susan Rice As National Security Adviser? U.N. Ambassador Said To Be Front-Runner.

UNITED NATIONS — Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who lost out in a bruising bid for the job of secretary of state, may have the last laugh.

Rice has emerged as far and away the front-runner to succeed Thomas E. Donilon as President Obama’s national security adviser later this year, according to an administration official familiar with the president’s thinking. The job would place her at the nexus of foreign-policy decision making and allow her to rival the influence of Secretary of State John F. Kerry in shaping the president’s foreign policy.

The appointment would mark a dramatic twist of fortune for Rice, whose prospects to become the country’s top diplomat fizzled last year after a round of television appearances in which she provided what turned out to be a flawed account of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. 
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Are Attorney General Holder’s Statements On Banks And Drones Connected?

The Attorney General of the United States made the following 2 statements within 48 hours:
The president can assassinate American citizens on U.S. soil
The big banks shouldn’t be prosecuted, as that would destabilize the economy

These statements may – at first glance – seem unconnected. And the mainstream media is treating them as separate.

True, the government is hell-bent on keeping the giant banks afloat, even though virtually all independent economists, financial experts and bankers are calling for them to be broken up, and Americans overwhelmingly want the government to get tougher on prosecuting Wall Street fraud.

But there might be more to it then than that … and Holder’s statements may be intimately connected.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY 3-9-13

“I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy. And I think that is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large.”

Eric Holder, US Attorney General, 6 March 2013

How Letters From Strangers Saved A Teen's Life

COLUMBIA, Md. - Words have power. They can tear a person down, or build someone back up -- as we found on the road in Columbia, Maryland

Don't let the light fool you. Inside this home -- and too many others like it in America - it can get pretty dark.

"There are a lot of kids out there that suffer depression and anxiety," said seventh-grader Noah Brocklebank.

And not many are willing to talk about it on national television.

"Not many are willing to talk about it, period," said Noah.
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Google Finally Sheds Some Light on National Security Letters (NSLs)

For those that aren’t aware, National Security Letters (NSLs) are these shady Orwellianinstruments used by the FBI to spy on citizens without a warrant. The really creepy part about them is that you aren’t permitted to know if there is one out on you. It’s all one giant secret, you know, to get those terrorists. Well, Google has finally come out and given us some color on NSLs. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) gives us the scoop:

Of all the dangerous government surveillance powers that were expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act, the National Security Letter (NSL) power provided by five statutory provisions is one of the most frightening and invasive. These letters–the type served on communications service providers such as phone companies and ISPs and are authorized by 18 U.S.C. 2709–allow the FBI to secretly demand data about ordinary American citizens’ private communications and Internet activity without any prior judicial review. To make matters worse, recipients of NSLs are subject to gag orders that forbid them from ever revealing the letters’ existence to anyone.

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Fake Bomb Got Past Newark Airport Airport Screeners, Report Says

NEWARK, N.J. – An undercover Transportation Security Administration inspector reportedly brought a mock improvised explosive device stashed in his pants through two layers of security and was cleared to board a commercial flight last month.

The New York Post reports that the TSA's special operations team staged a mock intrusion at the airport on Feb. 25. The inspector brought the mock "bomb" through a magnetometer, which failed to detect the device, a source told the paper.

The other security check that failed to catch the mock device was a pat-down, according to the report.
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Chart Of The Day:

Let's try to spin this: "Gas demand is plunging on a soaring economy, a record DJIA and a more resilient consumer"... Hm, no, that didn't work. Let's give it another try: "Surge in sales of flaming paperweights known as Chevy Volts leads to a plunge in gasoline demand." Uh, no. One last try: "Consumers migrate to Flintstonemobiles, gas up what internal combustion engine cars they have with redbull vodka"... Sorry, we suck at this "spin" stuff - we will leave it to CNBC. They are the real pros.

Federal Workers Owe $3.5 Billion In Back Taxes

The number of federal workers and retirees who owed delinquent income taxes jumped by nearly 12 percent in 2011, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday.

Nearly 312,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3.5 billion in back taxes as of Sept. 30, 2011, the agency said. The year before, about 279,000 workers and retirees owed $3.4 billion.

Overall, the 9.8 million workers included in the data had a delinquency rate of 3.2 percent. That's better than the general public. The IRS says the delinquency rate for the general public was 8.2 percent.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development had the highest delinquency rate, at 4.4 percent. The Treasury Department, which includes the IRS, had the lowest, at 1.1 percent.
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The Right To Self-Defense

In all the noise caused by the Obama administration’s direct assault on the right of every person to keep and bear arms, the essence of the issue has been drowned out. The president and his big-government colleagues want you to believe that only the government can keep you free and safe, so to them, the essence of this debate is about obedience to law.

To those who have killed innocents among us, obedience to law is the last of their thoughts. And to those who believe that the Constitution means what it says, the essence of this debate is not about the law; it is about personal liberty in a free society. It is the exercise of this particular personal liberty – the freedom to defend yourself when the police cannot or will not and the freedom to use weapons to repel tyrants if they take over the government – that the big-government crowd fears the most.

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Fairies In A Jar

How To Make Fairies In A Jar

This is something everyone will love! Just imagine the look on your childs face when they see this.

FAIRIES IN A JAR DIRECTIONS:
1. Cut a glow stick and shake the contents into a jar.
2. Add diamond glitter
3. Seal the top
4. Shake hard

This is something they will never forget so its worth a little work on this one.

Daily Times Misrepresents Council Candidate Cynthia Polk

In today's Daily Times they created an article suggesting Cynthia Polk might concede her run for Council, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE. 

Cynthia wanted to ask the OTHER Council Member Candidates to consider conceding and never told the Daily Times anything other than that.  

SD Gov Signs Into Law That Teachers Can Be Armed

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed into law Friday a measure allowing the state's school districts to arm teachers and other personnel with guns, the first of its kind since the Connecticut school shooting.

Supporters say the so-called sentinels could help prevent tragedies such as December's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 students and six teachers died. The law will go into effect July 1.

The bill's main sponsor, Rep. Scott Craig, R-Rapid City, said he started working with federal law enforcement officials on the measure in early November, and the Connecticut tragedy weeks later "only affirmed the rightness of this bill." He said the measure does not force a district to arm its teachers or force teachers to carry a gun.
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ANTI-ISRAEL HARVARD STUDENTS SEND DORM DEMOLITION NOTICES TO JEWS

While the anti-Israel left routinely claims that hatred for Israel is not anti-Semitism, students at Harvard would be hard-pressed to make that distinction in the aftermath of a recent incident highlighting anti-Israel anti-Semitism. Last week, Jewish students in the Harvard dormitories woke up to find flyers under the doors from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee informing them that they had been evicted from their dorm rooms.

“We regret to inform you that your suite is scheduled for demolition in the next three days,” the flyer read. There was no distinction made between Israelis and Jews, leftist Jews and conservative Jews, peaceniks or defense hawks. All Jews are the same to the anti-Israel crowd.

The Anti-Defamation League rightly condemned the disreputable tactic. “This tactic is designed to silence and intimidate pro-Israel advocates at Harvard and campuses around the country,” the group said in a statement.
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Community Plans Sunday Morning Search For Missing KI Woman

STEVENSVILLE – Robin L. Pope of Kent Island remains missing, and police have no new developments in the case, said Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley Thursday. Pope’s friends are determined to do what they can to help find her. Gina Knapp and Debbie Shaw are organizing a volunteer search for Sunday morning, if Pope has not been found before then.

Extensive ground, aerial and water searches have been conducted since Pope, 51, was reported missing early Saturday, March 2. She was last seen shortly before midnight Friday, March 2, at the Beach Road home in Kent Island Estates she shared with her husband Wayne until they separated in December, police said.

Robin's estranged husband said she had come by the house to pick up some belongings Friday night and he had left when she arrived. When he returned home her car was still in the driveway, but she was not at the home. Her keys, purse, credit cards and cash were still in her car. The Popes’ 11-year-old Great Dane, Bella, was also missing. Bella was found dead on the beach Saturday afternoon; police have not determined the dog’s cause of death.
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I Can't Thank You Enough

As I'm sure many of you are aware, I am going door to door introducing myself to literally thousands of Salisbury registered voters. Without getting long winded, thank you! 

Salisbury Voters Get It! There's going to be a change of guard, (so to speak) come April 2nd and as I have stated to each and every one of you I have met so far, I am a man of my word and I will keep my promises and commitments. 

Please make sure you get out and vote April 2nd.  

Telephone Sweepstakes Scam Alert in OC

The Ocean City Police Department is investigating a series of telephone scams involving fraudulent sweepstakes.

Police said the scam is perpetrated by a telephone caller who advises the victim that he or she has won a sweepstakes. The victim is told that to receive the large sweepstakes prize he or she must go to a convenience store or drug store and purchase a Green Dot Money Pac Reload Card for a certain amount of money usually between $200 and $500.

Once the victim has purchased the card, he or she is instructed to contact the scammer who is pretending to be a sweepstakes representative who will process the winning claim. The victim is asked to provide the Green Dot Money Pac Reload Card information over the telephone as a means of verification the victim has actually completed the task.
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Obama To Nominate Thomas Perez As Next Labor Secretary

President Obama plans to nominate Thomas E. Perez, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, to be the next secretary of labor, according to two people in the administration familiar with the decision.

Perez, 51, has strong labor support and served as Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley’s labor secretary from 2007 until 2009, when he was tapped for the Justice position. Perez, a Takoma Park, Md. resident also served on the Montgomery County Council and was the first Latino ever elected to the council. He has been the key official in Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department handling civil rights cases, the centerpiece of what Holder hopes will be his legacy.

Reached on the telephone Saturday, Perez said: “I can’t really discuss it, I apologize.” 
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Drunken Driver Sues Buddy, New Mexico Restaurants

SANTA FE, N.M. – A repeat drunken driver convicted in a crash that killed two teenagers has sued his drinking buddy and two Santa Fe restaurants that served him alcohol.

James Ruiz, 37, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in New Mexico District Court and is seeking monetary damages from the friend he was out drinking with as well as Applebee's and the Blue Corn Cafe, the Albuquerque Journal reported Friday.

The lawsuit, filed by Ruiz without a lawyer, claims the restaurants and his friend caused Ruiz emotional distress due to the loss of liberty and enjoyment of life after he was served drinks in 2010.
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Babies Need To Learn How To Survive

U.S. Weighs In Favor Of Right To Record Police

The Justice Department is urging a court to affirm individuals’ rights to record police under the First Amendment, filing a statement of interest in support of a journalist suing over his arrest while photographing Maryland officers.

In the statement filed this week in a federal court in Maryland, the Justice Department argues that not only do individuals have a First Amendment right to record officers publicly doing their duties, they also have Fourth and 14th Amendment rights protecting them from having those recordings seized without a warrant or due process. The DOJ urges the court to uphold these rights and to reject a motion to dismiss from Montgomery Co. in Garcia v. Montgomery Co., a case that has implications for an increasing crop of litigation on the subject in the era of ubiquitous smartphones.

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Hot chicks: At 60, Peeps more popular than ever

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- It's Easter morning. A boy rouses his younger brother, and they run to the living room to find their baskets filled with -- what else? -- Peeps.

"Peeps are THE candy of Easter," the excited boy tells his wide-eyed sibling, who pops a yellow marshmallow chick in his mouth.

"You can eat 'em, smash 'em, microwave 'em, deep fry 'em, roast 'em on a stick," the boy explains. That's not all. You can make "historically accurate Peeps dioramas ... Peeps pop art ... You can make a Peeps topiary." On he goes, all day and night. "Peeps jousting ... hide-and-go Peeps ... Peepshi ... that's sushi made out of Peeps."
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How Washington Could Make College Tuition Free (Without Spending a Penny More on Education)

It's been a glum few weeks in the world of higher education. We officially learned that states kept slashing their funding for colleges and universities in 2012, and tuition in turn kept on rising. Student loan debt expanded over the year, and more borrowers are falling behind on their debt. 

In other words, same as it ever was (same as it ever was). The price of a degree has been going up faster than family incomes for decades now, and nobody has a clear fix yet. So rather than bemoan college costs like most days, I thought we could have some fun mulling over a radical solution: What if Washington just went ahead and made tuition at state schools free (or close to it)?

It might be more doable than you think.

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Mayor Asks County To Remove Communication ‘Wall’

SNOW HILL -- The “wall” blocking communication between Ocean City and Worcester County came down, according to officials, when Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan visited the County Commission this week to make requests regarding a tax differential, grant funding and unrestricted tourism funds.

Channeling his best impression of President Ronald Reagan, Meehan asked that Commission President Bud Church open up communication channels between the county and the resort town that Meehan considered jammed currently.“Mr. President, I ask you to take down that wall,” said the mayor.

With the annual county budget process underway, Meehan made three requests on behalf of his town. A previous appeal for a property tax differential first made in 2007 was again brought up. Meehan argued that Ocean City deserves the differential under Section 6-306 of the Property Tax Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, which reads that “if a municipal corporation performs services or programs instead of similar county services or programs, the governing body of the county may grant a tax setoff to the municipal corporation.”
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Texas Forced to Admit Cutting Family Planning Funding was a Bad Idea

In a policy shift that should surprise no one (except right wing politicians), the state of Texas has been forced to backtrack on their move to de-fund women's health care and family planning. In eliminating $73 million of family planning funding, the Health and Human Services commission has projected that "over 20,000 unplanned births are on the horizon for women in poverty on Medicaid, at a $237 million cost to taxpayers."


Again, this isn't news to anyone that can do simple math. The more a state restricts access to women's health services that include contraceptive access and family planning information, the more babies will result. While the original move was intended to “defund the ‘abortion industry,’”
it actually delivered a devastating blow to low income women with few to no other options across the state of Texas. In finally arriving at the conclusion the rest of us have known since the beginning, Texas politicians finally appear to be backtracking.

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City Transportation Pricey, But Doing Better Than Rest Of State

Despite heavy subsidies from state and federal grants – and having a much more fiscally efficient operation than other jurisdictions in the state – Ocean City’s transportation system will still need a $1.85 million boost from the town’s general fund for fiscal year 2014, the City Council heard this week.

The system’s overall operating budget, not including capital purchases and improvements, is projected at $5,546,343, according to city Public Works Director Hal Adkins, who conducted the budget hearing this week as a requirement of the Maryland Transit Authority. The MTA largely funds and oversees the city’s public transit structure via federal mandate.

Adkins pointed out, however, that Ocean City is also projected to bring in $2,443,618 in fare revenue, meaning that ridership pays for 46 percent of the operation. This ratio, known as the farebox recovery ratio, is generally seen as a gauge of how effective a public transportation system is.
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Lora Gala Tonight/Saturday Matinee Question?

What Movie Star do you look like?

10-Year Sentence For Identity Theft

SALISBURY -- A Salisbury man was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week after leading an identity theft scheme targeting at least 100 mental health patients and employees of a program that treated them.

U. S. District Judge Catherine Blake last week sentenced Christopher Andre Devine, 34, to 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to use the personal information of dozens of individuals in a mental health program to open bank accounts and fraudulently obtain cash, merchandise and services.

According to his plea agreement, from December 2008 to December 2011, Devine and his co-defendants, Quanisha Williamson-Ross, Lenee Williamson and Quashona Williamson, opened or recruited others to open checking accounts at banks and obtain check cards. The conspirators then deposited fraudulent checks into the accounts and used the associated check cards at ATM machines to make cash withdrawals.
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Asteroid To Fly Past Earth This Weekend

An asteroid the size of a city block will pass by Earth this weekend, but have no fear: There's no danger of it hitting our planet.

The 80-meter (262 feet) wide asteroid makes its closest approach to Earth on Saturday afternoon in the United States. It will be about 975,000 kilometers (604,500 miles) away, said Don Yeomans, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. That's about 2 1/2 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.

"It's a pretty good size, but it's not getting that close, at least by recent standards," Yeomans said.

Coloring Eggs

Instead of buying those dying kits, use kool-aid. One pack of Kool-aid and 2/3 cups water and you've got awesome egg dye. Two bonuses: it's cheaper than those boxes of egg dye and it smells great!!
*Side note: if you use the lemonade flavor, mix it with a little bit of orange to get a better yellow color, otherwise it's too light.*

Is Facebook Losing Its Cool? Some Teens Think So

 Baret Steed is tired of Facebook. She’s had an account since she was 13, but isn’t a fan of the fact that the social network now includes not only her friends, but also her parents, aunts, and uncles. “It’s almost like they’re the only ones on there,” she says. “All your relatives are constantly commenting on your stuff. I appreciate the gesture and wanting to keep up with my life, but it’s kind of annoying.”

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Ben Carson Courts Controversy, Draws Praise At A Md. Legislative Prayer Breakfast

Ben Carson, the prominent neurosurgeon with Johns Hopkins University who made headlines last month at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, shared his disdain for political correctness with Maryland lawmakers during an event Friday in Annapolis.

“We are moving further and further away from God,” Carson said at an annual Legislative Prayer Breakfast held near the State House. “God is becoming politically incorrect in our nation. ... You live in a society today where we have the secularists and the people who fear God.”

Carson recounted how he was once prohibited from putting up a sign for his scholarship fund in a public school because its motto contained the word “God” and was told this violated the First Amendment. 
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Spring Forward

Kansas Bill Would Ban Abortion Clinic Employees From ‘Bringing Cupcakes’ To Their Child’s School

Kansas Republicans are once again resuming their war against a woman’s right to choose and this time they are targeting abortion clinic employees in a very personal way.

A Kansas House committee passed HB 2253 on Wednesday along party lines, with Republicans pushing the bill through while Democrats opposed it. The bill is a broad spectrum of anti-abortion laws sponsored by GOP state Rep. Lance Kinzer, who is the poster boy for many of the outrageous abortion bills introduced and passed in Kansas these days. Included in the bill are measures declaring that life begins at conception, measures that keep women from deducting the cost of abortion procedures on their tax forms, and measures that affect “information the Kansas Department of Health and Environment distributes on abortion and fetal development,” according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

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WCSO Press Release 3-9-13

• 3/6/2013 CDS Arrest - Ratti
• 3/5/2013 CDS and Traffic Arrest - Johnson

SPD Press Release 3-9-13

WBI Press Release

The Wicomico Bureau of Investigation has been conducting an investigation into numerous daytime burglaries in the Wicomico County area. During this past week, investigators made several arrests in connection to these crimes. To date, the arrests of the four suspects listed below have led to the closure of 6 burglary/theft cases from the southeastern part of Wicomico County. Detectives have recovered between $75,000 to $100,000 in stolen property jewelry and guns.

On Wednesday, March 6, 2013, while conducting one such investigation, detectives learned of yet another new burglary that had occurred on Glen Avenue that had not been reported as of yet. As a result of this investigation, Detectives had reason to believe that the home owner had come into harm’s way. Deputies from the Wicomico Sheriff’s Office responded to the address and made entry. They found the 89 year old female home owner bound and gagged and left under a coffee table on the living room floor of the residence. She lives alone and had been left defenseless for approximately 9 hours. She was transported to PRMC where she is listed in stable condition.

The WBI learned during the investigation that the suspects entered the home and found the victim to be present. While controlling the victim’s movements, the suspects spent several minutes in the residence collecting jewelry the victim had been acquiring for a lifetime. They filled a duffle bag they had brought with them with the victim’s jewelry, and just prior to leaving, they bound and gagged the victim and apparently left her to die. While searching for one of the suspects, the Wicomico Bureau of Investigation and the Maryland State Apprehension Team located him as he returned to his residence. After executing a Search & Seizure warrant on the home, detectives from the WBI recovered all the property the suspects had taken from this victim.

The Fruitland Police Department Detectives have been working with the WBI to bring these cases to closure.

The WBI is asking anyone with information to call the WBI at 410-548-4898 or crime solvers at 410-548-1776.

 

Bowden, Brandon - 26 years old - Salisbury, MD

 Miller, Jacob - 23 years old - Salisbury, MD

Rayfield, Joshua - 23 years old - Salisbury, MD

Fisher, Robert - 38 years old - Salisbury, MD 

Troopers Begin Traffic Checkpoints In Accomack County To Find Arson Leads

State troopers, sheriff's deputies and local police will conduct traffic checkpoints in Accomack County for the next five nights to help find the arson or arsonists who started 64 fires in the county since November.

Uniformed law enforcement personnel will be on patrol and conducting informational gathering checkpoints at random locations around the county. On Friday night, 140 law enforcement officers conducted five checkpoints. WAVY.com has learned those checkpoints will be staffed until 1 a.m.

Troopers will be handing out fliers featuring the McCormack County Arson Tip Line and reward information, as well as soliciting any information or concerns motorists may have concerning the fires, said State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
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30 Facts On The Coming Water Crisis That Will Change Everything

The world is rapidly running out of clean water. Some of the largest lakes and rivers on the globe are being depleted at a very frightening pace, and many of the most important underground aquifers that we depend on to irrigate our crops will soon be gone. At this point, approximately 40 percent of the entire population of the planet has little or no access to clean water, and it is being projected that by 2025 two-thirds of humanity will live in "water-stressed" areas. But most Americans are not too concerned about all of this because they assume that North America has more fresh water than anyone else does. And actually they would be right about that, but the truth is that even North America is rapidly running out of water and it is going to change all of our lives. Today, the most important underground water source in America, the Ogallala Aquifer, is rapidly running dry. The most important lake in the western United States, Lake Mead, is rapidly running dry. The most important river in the western United States, the Colorado River, is rapidly running dry. Putting our heads in the sand and pretending that we are not on the verge of an absolutely horrific water crisis is not going to make it go away. Without water, you cannot grow crops, you cannot raise livestock and you cannot support modern cities. As this global water crisis gets worse, it is going to affect every single man, woman and child on the planet. I encourage you to keep reading and learn more.

The U.S. intelligence community understands what is happening. According to one shocking government report that was released last year, the global need for water will exceed the global supply of water by 40 percent by the year 2030...
This sobering message emerges from the first U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment of Global Water Security. The document predicts that by 2030 humanity's "annual global water requirements" will exceed "current sustainable water supplies" by forty percent.

Oh, but our scientists will find a solution to our problems long before then, won't they?

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