Popular Posts

Friday, May 03, 2013

Princess Dreams Come True For 8-Year-Old Cancer Patient

Wishes do come true, at least for one Virginia girl diagnosed with brain cancer.

Friday night in Chantilly, people will line the streets as 8-year-old Tara parades through town in her very own horse-drawn carriage.

The "love flash mob," which has attracted thousands of Facebook fans, is organized by Stillbrave.org, a nonprofit that offers non-medical services to children with cancer and their families.

"Childhood cancer is not pink and it's not pretty," says Stillbrave's founder, Tom Mitchell.

More 

Time Inc. Layoffs Coming This Week

Here comes the news that Time Inc. employees have been dreading for months: Sources say the world's largest magazine publisher is expected to begin a significant round of layoffs this week.
More

Delaware Beaches Secure $30M For Replenishment Work

FENWICK -- Beaches in Delaware got a much needed shot in the arm this week with the announcement of up to $30 million in federal replenishment funds for damages caused by Hurricane Sandy last fall, while Ocean City awaits a formal timeline for its own beach restoration project.

Delaware officials this week unveiled a plan to utilize roughly $30 million in federal funding passed through the Army Corps of Engineers to repair and restore the beaches from Rehoboth and points north to Fenwick Island severely damaged and eroded by Hurricane Sandy last October. The funding will be provided to the Army Corps for Delaware through the federal Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 and will restore the First State’s beaches to pre-Sandy conditions.

Symbolically, Tuesday’s announcement came on the six-month anniversary of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy in the mid-Atlantic region. The plan calls for pumping almost two million cubic yards of sand back onto Delaware beaches. The sand will be used to restore Delaware beaches and repair the vast network of dunes.

More 

Somerset County Sheriff's Office Press Release 5-3-13

Justin Michael Scanlon Sr. of Ocean City, arrested 4-24-13 on three warrants regarding four counts of uttering forged currency, and theft scheme. Scanlon was returned to the Somerset County Detention Center on related charges.

Terry Larue Cheeks of Wilmington Delaware, criminal summons served for possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Cheeks was released on signature pending court actions.

Jennifer Marie Joseph of Princess Anne, arrested 4-25-13 on a Wicomico County warrant for violation of probation. Joseph was later released to Wicomico County Sheriff’s deputies.

Luvurnea Michelle Hodge of Princess Anne, criminal summons served for theft less than $1,000, and conspiracy to commit theft. Hodge was released on signature pending court actions.

Emmanuel James Hodge of Princess Anne, criminal summons served for theft less than $1,000 and conspiracy to commit theft over $1,000. Hodge was released on signature pending court actions.

David Thomas Wheatley of Wenona, arrested 4-26-13 on a warrant for violating a protective order. Wheatley was later released on personal recognizance.

Robert Lee Drummond of Princess Anne, arrested 4-27-13 on a warrant for violation of probation through the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office. Drummond was later released to Wicomico County Sheriff’s deputies.

Juvenile from the Pine Knoll Drive Development, Princess Anne arrested 4-27-13. Deputies were on patrol it the area of the development, and seen a hand to hand suspected drug transaction. Deputies later arrested the juvenile male for possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Deputies also recovered a large amount of suspected crack cocaine and marijuana that was placed among trash in a yard. The arrest is the result of complaints received their office regarding the increased drug activity in the area. The juvenile was later released to parents pending court actions.

Lindsay Marie Donophan of Salisbury, arrested 4-28-13 on a warrant for failing to appear in court. Donophan was released on personal recognizance.

Carla Ann Renee Ruf of Upper Hill, arrested 4-28-13 on a warrant for violation of probation, possession of suspected crack cocaine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Deputies were patrolling the area of the Somers Place Apartments, Princess Anne when they spotted Ruf hiding behind an apartment. After Ruf was arrested on the warrant, deputies recovered three baggies of suspected crack cocaine, and several used syringes. Ruf was later held without bond.

Thurman Travis Tyler 3rd. of Marion station, arrested 4-28-13 for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving while impaired by alcohol, failure to control speed to avoid a collision, and negligent driving. Deputies were called to the area of Old state Rd, Marion regarding a motor vehicle accident. Tyler was later released on signature pending court actions.

Jarrell Lashawn Parker of Princess Anne, arrested 4-29-13 on a body attachment warrant. Parker was held without bond.

Hacker Breached U.S. Army Database Containing Sensitive Information on Dams

A hacker compromised a U.S. Army database that holds sensitive information about vulnerabilities in U.S. dams, according to a news report.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ National Inventory of Dams contains information about 79,000 dams throughout the country and tracks such information as the number of estimated deaths that could occur if a specific dam failed. It’s accessible to government employees who have accounts. Non-government users can query the database but cannot download data from it.

The breach occurred in January, according to the Free Beacon, a nonprofit online publication, which first published the news.

More 

5 Vehicles Collide In Route 50 Crash, Injuring 3

 
QUEENSTOWN, Md. —Five vehicles collided on U.S. Route 50 on the Eastern Shore Thursday evening, injuring at least three people.

State troopers shut down Route 50 just before the Route 50/301 split in Queenstown, Queen Anne's County shortly after 2:30 p.m.

State police said a sport utility vehicle was traveling the wrong way in the eastbound lanes when it collided with a tractor-trailer head-on. The SUV then crossed all eastbound lanes and hit two other vehicles, one of which crossed into the median and struck a pickup truck.

Three people were flown to Shock Trauma: Mary Kathryn Greer, 77, of Queenstown, Herbert Tidus Jones, 56, and Gale Patrice Jones, 54, both of Princess Anne. Police identified Greer as the driver of the SUV, and the Joneses as driver and passenger of a vehicle struck by the SUV.


Read more

Three Teens Starved, Tortured And Killed At Gay Conversion Camp

Three ‘gay and effeminate’ teens have died after being starved and tortured at a camp designed to turn them into ‘men’.Only ten weeks prior to this photo being taken, the teen’s parents enrolled him at the Echo Wild Game Rangers training course in South Africa in perfect health.

When he was admitted to hospital, Buys was severely malnourished, dehydrated, his arm was broken in two places and there were burns and wounds all over his body. He stayed in intensive care for four weeks until he died.

Camp leader, Alex De Koker, 49, and employee Michael Erasmus, 20, are on trial for charges of murder, child abuse and neglect, along with two cases of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm in relation to Buys’ death.

‘I sent my son on this course to make him a better man, to give him a better future,’ Buys’ mother said. ‘I trusted Alex De Koker with his life.’

More

Way2Go Maryland Hosts Event For Local Students May 4 At SU

Have questions about college? It’s never too soon to learn the answers. The University System of Maryland’s (USM) Way2GoMaryland program hosts a free event for Eastern Shore students in fifth through 10th grades 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at Salisbury University’s Guerrieri University Center. Programs, starting at 10:30 a.m., include a college fair, a panel of USM students who discuss their paths to college, and special sessions on paying for college, high school coursework, and choosing academic majors and careers. Check-in begins at 9 a.m.

Machen Found Not Guilty Of Beer Can Assault

The Ocean City woman who was accused in February of assaulting her fiancé with a can of beer left jail Wednesday after being found not guilty.

Kathleen T. Machen, 47, was charged with second-degree assault on Feb. 5 after allegedly attacking Joseph Webster with a can of beer in a room at a 12th Street inn.

The next day, Machen allegedly attacked him again, this time with a can of beans. In that incident, Webster had been asleep when Machen allegedly began to hit him. According to Ocean City police, she struck his head repeatedly with the can, causing several bleeding wounds.

More 

Inspiring: Alabama Senate Votes To Nullify Unconstitutional Federal Gun Laws

Our movement is a law-abiding one. It is a movement that respects the laws of the land, even when our so-called leaders don’t. People will sometimes misconstrue our advocacy as an advocacy of lawlessness or of law-breaking. Our point is exactly the opposite; we advocate not that citizens ought to break the laws. Instead, our reverence for law and order run so deep we encourage everyone to obey the law- even legislators and law enforcement.
The Second Amendment is the supreme law of the land concerning the right to keep and bear arms. The Second Amendment is astonishingly simple and outlines, essentially, that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. Further, Supreme Court decisions in Heller and McDonald v. Chicago have affirmed that the right to keep and bear arms applies as an individual right and that it applies to citizens of all states, respectively.

We urge everyone to obey the law and that means following the spirit, intention, and letter of the Constitution.

More

Recent Decatur Grad To Run For New House Delegate Seat

BERLIN -- A Worcester County native has thrown his hat into the ring as a potential state delegate for the new 38C district, which will cover parts of Worcester and neighboring Wicomico County.

Though only in his mid-twenties, Mike Hindi hopes to defy the tradition of voting older, politically experienced candidates into the House of Delegates.

A 2006 Stephen Decatur High School (SDHS) graduate, Hindi may be a political neophyte but believes that his genuine passion and fresh approach will be more valuable to voters than a candidate with a lengthy political pedigree.

More 

NBA Player ‘Comes Out’ — But Tolerance Cuts Both Ways

Compared to the hell Jackie Robinson went through, Jason Collins is getting a ticker tape parade.
Collins, a 12-year National Basketball Association player, recently wrote a column in which he announced that he is gay: “I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay (male) athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation.”

When comedian Ellen DeGeneres came out in 1997, she appeared on the cover of Time magazine with the earth-shattering headline, ‘Yep, I’m Gay.’ With a general population that surveys put at about 4 percent homosexual (although estimates run as high as 5 to 10 percent), is anyone surprised that, in a country of 10,000 or so pro athletes, gay male athletes exist? After all, the WNBA, the NBA’s sister league, features several openly gay players. When the league’s top draft pick, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, recently “came out,” the media and fans said “ho-hum.” But when Collins came out, he became front-page news as the first male to do so.

More

More Government Fraud

Two former Commerce Department employees pleaded guilty to submitting false claims for relocation expenses and work not performed. Rachel Ondrik and Kirk Yamatani were special agents in the inspector general's office. They were transferred from Atlanta to Washington. They charged the government for thousands of dollars in househunting trips that they never went on and other moving expenses they did not encounter. The agents resigned a month ago. The plea deal requires them to pay $42,000 and be sentenced to probation.

MONTIRE BROWN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS FOR RAPE

On May 3, 2013, Montire Brown, age 35, of Salisbury, Maryland was sentenced to 25 years for Rape in the first degree involving a juvenile victim. Mr. Brown was also found guilty of two counts of Sex Abuse of a Minor, for which he received a sentence of 25 years each, to run concurrent with the 25 he will be serving under the top count. He was also sentenced to an additional 20 years for Rape in the second degree, also to run concurrent with the top count. These crimes occurred between 2007 through 2011, in Salisbury, Maryland. He had been previously convicted of these crimes by a Wicomico County jury in March of this year.

JASON BRUCE CONVICTED OF ASSAULT 2ND

On May 2, 2013, Jason Bruce, age 34, of Mardela Springs, Maryland tendered a guilty plea to assault in the second degree. The charge arose from an incident involving a minor at Wicomico High School. Mr. Bruce faces a maximum penalty of 10 years and/or $2500 fine for assault 2nd. Sentencing is expected to occur on Wednesday, May 15, 2013.

Today's Survey Question 5-3-13

Would You Get A Tattoo Of Your Employer’s Logo?

Middle-Aged Suicide Rate Surges

The suicide rate among middle-aged Americans climbed a startling 28% in the last decade as the rates in younger and older people held steady. This period dominated by two stock market crashes, a real-estate crash, and a hyper-repressive Fed saw a stunning 40% surge in the suicide rate among 35-64 year old white men and women (with non-Caucasian rates steady). 39 out of 50 states registered a statistically significant increase in suicide rates among the middle-aged.

Suicide prevention efforts have tended to concentrate on teenagers and the elderly, but research over the past several years has begun to focus on the middle-aged. As AP reports, the CDC report contained surprising information about how middle-aged people kill themselves: During the period studied, hangings overtook drug overdoses in that age group, becoming the No. 2 manner of suicide. But guns remained far in the lead and were the instrument of death in nearly half of all suicides among the middle-aged.

During the 11-year period studied, suicide went from the eighth leading cause of death among middle-aged Americans to the fourth, behind cancer, heart disease and accidents. Today's payrolls data will do little to lift the spirits of the middle-aged worker; we live in cruel and unusual times.

More

A Maryland Moon Shines Brightly On The Kentucky Derby

A chance to shine on Thoroughbred racing's biggest stage. It's what any breeder dreams of.

Thanks to Malibu Moon and his son Orb, Bel Air's Country Life Farm and the Pons family has just that chance this first Saturday in May.

The legendary Maryland Thoroughbred breeding farm, nestled in the rolling hills of Harford County, is abuzz with excitement as an off spring of one its biggest stars is one of the favorites in the 139th Kentucky Derby.

 More

SAFE KIDS LOWER SHORE MARYLAND AND MOPS HOLD FREE CHILD SAFETY SEAT CHECK

WHO: Safe Kids Lower Shore Maryland, Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS)

WHAT:
FREE CHILD SAFETY SEAT CHECK. Have a certified child safety seat technician inspect your childs safety seat for free! 

WHEN:
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

WHERE:
Sailwinds Play Park
200 Byrn Street, Cambridge, Maryland

WHY:
To educate parents on the importance of correct use of child safety restraints. 

Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 14 and under. Each year, more than 1,700 children die and an additional 265,000 are injured as occupants of motor vehicles. Among children who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2000, 56% were completely unrestrained.

After Sandy, Homeowners Say Generators Worth The Investment

Six months ago Superstorm Sandy knocked out power to millions in the Northeast and the homes of Consumer Reports readers were no exception. When we spoke to 8,389 of our subscribers who live in the affected areas of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, 76 percent said they lost power for at least a day and the median number of days without power was seven. A fortunate few, 19 percent, used generators during the outage and, in part, because of the unavailability of fuel, those who owned portable models fared worse than those with stationary models.

More

Navy unveils first squadron of drones

CORONADO, Calif. (AP) -- The Navy is inaugurating its first squadron with unmanned aircraft, formally adopting drone technology amid debate over its growing use in warfare.

Military officials will launch the maritime strike squadron called "Magicians" on Thursday at the Naval Air Station North Island base on Coronado, near San Diego.

More

23rd Annual Springfest Underway In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City is celebrating the start of the season with the 23rd Annual Springfest, the four-day festival filled with arts and crafts, live entertainment and delicious food that began yesterday and runs through Sunday, May 5.

Springfest is located in the Inlet Lot at the south end of Ocean City’s famous Boardwalk. With a continuous variety of musical performances on two stages, Springfest is fun for people of all ages. Admission to the four-day event is free, including all entertainment, with the exception of the headline acts.

One of this year’s headlining acts is Foreigner, a British-American band formed in 1976 by Englishman, Mick Jones in New York City. Foreigner will take the stage at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 4. In the 80s, they dominated the charts with songs like “Waiting for a Girl Like you,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Urgent” and “I Want To Know What Love Is.” With a career spanning over thirty years, Foreigner continues to release new music and tour. Their music continues to get airplay on popular and classic rock radio. Tickets are sold out.

More 

Scary Endorsement?

For political candidates, endorsements from notable public figures can make or break an election. Well, former Governor Mark Sanford just received one endorsement that he may not want. This week, Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler Magazine, formally endorsed Sanford as his pick for South Carolina's next Congressional Representative. Flynt praised Sanford for "exposing sexual hypocrisy." According to Flynt, Sanford's 2008 Argentinian affair demonstrated "that traditional values are shameful and that he will not live by such rules." No word yet on whether Mark Sanford has thanked Mr. Flynt for his glowing endorsement, or how conservative voters in South Carolina feel about electing the nation's first candidate to be endorsed by Hustler. We think Mark Sanford should be honored by the endorsement...after all, Larry Flynt sure knows how to pick a boob.

Profits Going Straight To The Top

Most of us are still feeling the effects of a struggling economy, but the corporate elite and the Wall Street banksters are doing better than ever. Many corporations have seen record profits in recent years, which have fueled buying sprees on Wall Street, pushing the DOW Jones to it's all-time high. But, the income gap between workers and CEOs, which has gone up almost 20% since 2009, shows that all that profit is going straight to the top. This is exactly why many people don't feel the effects of the modest economic recovery - because this recovery is not our recovery – all the gains are going directly to the top 1%. And this is why corporations are actively fighting the part of the Dodd-Frank act, that directs corporations to report the income differential between workers and CEOs. In 1960, the average CEO was paid about 40 times as much as the average worker. By 1990, CEOs were raking in over 100 times the amount that workers got. And by 2011, some corporate executives – like the one who works for JC Penny's – were making more than 1700 times the salary of an average worker. A Bloomberg analysis indicates that everyday employees are the only ones who are not benefiting from the historic profits seen since the 2008 economic meltdown. This is not only unacceptable, but it's undesirable – without a broad, inclusive economic base, long-term economic growth is impossible. It's time to stop the economic locusts who are sucking every last bit of profit out of our economy for the benefit of themselves alone. Dodd-Frank is forcing the oligarchs to disclose the income disparity, now let's start working to correct it. Let's implement a Wall Street transaction tax, set limits on executive pay, and start taxing those who are obsessed with hoarding money.

Fizzle

If electric cars are The Future, why are so many automakers – quietly – backing away from them?
GM has decided against mass production of its Adam electric city-car. Audi has kiboshed the Tesla-esque electric R8 that had been scheduled for a launch sometime this year or next. Nissan has slashed the base price of its Leaf electric car from $35,200 to $28,800 – hoping to defibrillate flat-lining sales.

But the real canary in the coal mine is Toyota, which has dropped plans to mass-produce the electric eQ – stating it had “misread” market demand for such a vehicle. Maybe 100 of these things will ever see the light of day, according to the latest statements from Toyota. “The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society’s needs, whether it may be the distance the cars can run, or the costs, or how it takes a long time to charge,” explained Toyota Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada. (Reuters news story here.)

Instead, the world-leader in hybrid cars will concentrate on bringing out … more hybrid cars. Twenty-one of them by 2015 – vs. one all-electric car (the electric version of the RAV4, which Toyota – optimistically – expects to sell about 2,600 of during calendar year 2013).

More

O'Malley, Leaders Meet On Jail Hearings; Committee Member Criticizes Possible Delay

Governor Martin O'Malley has met with the presiding officers of the Legislature to discuss hearings about last week's sweeping federal indictment of 25 people at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

O'Malley met with House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller on Thursday.

Miller, D-Calvert, says the hearings will involve lawmakers from the House of Delegates and the Senate. Miller says he believes a solution will involve looking at the entire personnel system.

More 

Where The Jobs Were In April

For those lucky enough to not be male and aged 25-54, and having been able to get a job in April, the following chart is redundant. For everyone else, curious which industries were adding jobs in April, here is the full breakdown. With the bulk of job additions in such "high paying" sectors as leisure and hospitality, temp help and retail, one can see why corporate revenues are going nowhere fast.

Guantanamo Attorney Found Dead In Apparent Suicide

An attorney who represented prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay was found dead last week in what sources said was a suicide.

Andy P. Hart, 38, a federal public defender in Toledo, Ohio, apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Hart left behind a suicide note and a thumb drive, believed to contain his case files. It is unknown where Hart died, what the suicide note said or whether an autopsy was performed.

Hart’s death comes amid escalating chaos that has engulfed Guantanamo over the past three months—from a mass hunger strike to military commissions and renewed pressure on the White House to shut down the prison facility. Hart was one of three-dozen Guantanamo attorneys who signed a letter in March urging Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to take immediate action and bring about an end to the hunger strike.

More

QUOTE OF THE DAY 5-3-13

Billionaire Bankster Breaks into Obama’s Cabinet By Greg Palast May 2, 2013

You made fun of me when I suggested that President Barack Obama would nominate a confessed bank scammer, a loan-sharking mortgage predator, to his cabinet. But thar she blows!


Today, Obama has named Penny Pritzker Secretary of Commerce. As the President says, It’s a milestone: the first female fraudster to hold that post. No longer will criminal bankers have to lobby the administration – because now they’ll have one of their own in the Cabinet.

The following is taken from the Chapter, “Penny’s from Heaven?” you’ll find in my bestseller, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits.
“We never heard of this guy Barack Obama until 2004. Less than three years before taking the presidency, he was in the Illinois state senate, a swamp of scammers, backhanders, and party machine tools – not a stellar launch pad for the White House. And then, one day, state Sen. Barack Obama was visited by his fairy godmother. Her name is Penny Pritzker.
Pritzker’s net worth is listed in Forbes as $1.8 billion, which is one hell of a heavy magic wand in the world of politics. Her wand would have been heavier, and her net worth higher, except that in 2001, the federal government fined her and her family $460 million for the predatory, deceitful, racist tactics and practices of Superior, the bank-and-loan-shark operation she ran on the South Side of Chicago.
Superior was the first of the deregulated go-go banks to go bust – at the time, the costliest failure ever. US taxpayers lost nearly half a billion dollars. Superior’s depositors lost millions and poor folk in Sen. Obama’s South Side district lost their homes.
Penny did not like paying $460 million. No, not one bit. What she needed was someone to give her Hope and Change. She hoped someone would change the banking regulators and the Commerce Department so she could get away with this crap.
Pritzker introduced Obama, the neophyte state senator, to the Ladies Who Lunch (that’s really what they call themselves) on Chicago’s Gold Coast. Obama got lunch, gold and better – an introduction to Robert Rubin. Rubin is a former Secretary of the Treasury, former chairman of Goldman Sachs and former co-chairman of Citibank. Even atheists recognized Rubin as the Supreme Deity of Wall Street.
Rubin opened the doors to finance industry vaults for Obama. Extraordinarily for a Democrat, Obama in 2008 raised three times as much from bankers as his Republican opponent…

Read the rest here.

Mumps Outbreaks Reported At College Campuses In Va., Md.

Mumps is a nasty viral infection and there are occasional outbreaks this time of year, even though most people receive childhood immunizations to guard against the condition.

But more than 100 cases have been reported in Virginia, most of them at the University of Richmond.

And more than 70 cases have been reported in Maryland, most at Loyola University in Baltimore.

"It's most common in cases in teenagers, where they're in school, they get exposed to another person who has it," says Dr. Vincent Hayes, an emergency room physician at the Washington Hospital Center.

More 

Corrections Officer Allegedly Used Gun To Threaten Man

Baltimore County police said the dispute over payment for sex
A Maryland State Department of Corrections employee is charged after Baltimore County police said he threatened another man with a gun during a dispute over payment for sex.

Police said William Hawkins, 26, of Halethorpe agreed online to pay a 19-year-old man for sex. The man told police that he performed a sexual act on Hawkins, who was wearing a uniform with no badge or name tag, but Hawkins left the man's house without paying.

More

Ron Paul & Jim Rogers: "There's More Chaos To Come"

These are clear warnings signs that a rational person simply cannot ignore.

Bottom line, Nations are going bust. And the worse things get, the more desperate their tactics become. This isn't the first time that the world has been in this position. This time is not different. History shows that there are serious, serious consequences to running unsustainably high debts and deficits. And those consequences have almost invariably involved pillaging people's wealth, savings, livelihoods and liberties... either directly or indirectly.

What's happening right now is playing out in textbook fashion. More taxes, more debt, more printing, more confiscation, less freedom. I’m not talking about the end of the world here, I’m talking about difficult times ahead, and the things that go beyond economics. It’s time to face facts and look at how society will change (and has already changed).

Many people will resist the change and instead cling desperately to the old system - the cycle of debt and consumption that provided jobs, stability, and prosperity. These people will have their lives turned upside down because that system is gone forever. And in case it still weren't obvious, here is three minutes of clarity from Ron Paul and Jim Rogers..."I would expect that there is going to be a lot more chaos still to come." - Ron Paul; “They won’t take our bank accounts…they will take our retirement accounts.” - Jim Rogers

More

As We Get Older

As I approach my twilight years, I am struck by the inevitability that the party must end. And one clear, cold morning after I'm gone, my spouse will awaken in the warmth of our bedroom and be struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't "anymore."
No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more "just one minute."

Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used up and goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, or say "I love you."

So while we have it, its best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage.....and old cars, and children with bad report cards, and dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep -- like a best friend who moved away or a son-in-law after divorce. There are just some things that make us happy, no matter what.

Life is important, like people we know who are special. And so, we keep them close!

Suppose one morning you never wake up, do all your friends know how you really feel? The important thing is to let every one of your friends know your true feelings, even if you think they don't love you back.

So, just in case I'm gone tomorrow, please rest assured I voted against that a-hole, Obama, both times.

Salisbury’s Assessable Base Declined 22% In Four Years

SALISBURY – The mayor’s proposed budget for the upcoming year calls for an increase in the tax rate to the constant yield but to minimize the impact on taxpayers it also calls for a decrease in water and sewer utility fee.

Mayor Jim Ireton presented the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) Proposed Budget to the City Council last week.

Ireton began by acknowledging the impact of assessable base losses over the past four years. Since FY 2011 there has been a decrease of $551 million in the assessable base. The City of Salisbury’s assessable base has dropped 22.1 percent in four years, equating to $4.8 million in lost property tax revenue.

“In order to make up that difference, the departments have cut $1.7 million out of their operating budgets for fiscal years FY10 through 14, and through General Fund budget cuts, furlough days and frozen and unfunded positions they have put $5.3 million back into the city,” the mayor said. “Notice how we have weathered that storm.”

More 

This Is What It Means To Be Free In America

I really hate to be negative... but this is positively revolting. Disgusting. Indescribably offensive.

In the Land of the Free recently, a California couple had their child kidnapped by the state. At gunpoint.

It all started in mid-April when Anna and Alex Nikolayev took their 5-month old son Sammy to the hospital in Sacramento to be treated for flu symptoms.

The parents didn’t particularly care for the treatment that their son was receiving. Doctors were pumping him full of antibiotics and soon began talking about performing surgery.

Anna and Alex argued with the doctors and said that they were going to get a second opinion; they took the baby and went to another hospital where another physician deemed it perfectly safe for the child to return home with his parents without the need for surgery.

The next day, with the family resting comfortably at home, the police showed up with Child Protective Services.

Alex, the father, went outside to talk to them where he was thrown to the ground by police. Officers then relieved him of his house keys and proceeded to let themselves into the house with hands on their pistols.

Then, still with their hands on their pistols, they told the mother “I’m going to grab your baby, and don’t resist and don’t fight me…”

More

Grocery Costs Rise 35 Pct To 39 Pct In Decade

Shoppers are paying between 35 percent to 39 percent more for groceries than they did a decade ago.

A look at the numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds a family of four with two school-aged children is paying between $40 to $81 more per week, depending on their budgets.

Those families with the ability to spend the most on groceries and who include more expensive cuts of meat and seafood in their diets are paying $81 more a week -- or 39 percent more.

More 

Thank God Its Friday 5-3-13

What will you be doing this weekend?

Yard Sale 5-3-13 UPDATE

Huge two family Sale FRIDAY 5/3 from 5PM until 7 PM AND SATURDAY 5/4 FROM 8 AM until 12:15 PM. 12838 LORETTO ROAD. East off Rt. 13 between Fruitland and Princess Anne. `1 mile from Rt. 13. Collectables, jewelry, household, Gun Cabinet, Electric tile saw, carpet power stretcher, bikes, stereo speakers, books, glassware, MUCH MUCH MORE! DON"T MISS THIS ONE! Drive into the driveway, parking and turnaround is easy. PLEASE NO EARLY ARRIVALS. Thanks.


515 N Main St
Hebron, MD 21830
(Chapel Branch)
7:00 am –
Lots of household items
Furniture, electronics, linens, decorative items, bikes, and more!

The Beach Boys Eye OC Return

OCEAN CITY – The Town of Ocean City has announced that tickets for The Beach Boys, who will perform at Sunfest 2013, went on sale to the public on Thursday, May 2. Tickets for The Beach Boys performance on Saturday Sept. 21 range between $30 and $59.

Since their first song debuted in 1961, The Beach Boys have continued to create and perform with the same bold imagination and style that has defined their explosive 50-year career. The band’s 2003 Capitol Records release, Sounds of Summer, and its 2007 companion The Warmth of the Sun marks a resurgence in Beach Boys interest that has again rocked the world.

Tickets for the show will be on sale at the Ocean City Convention Center Box Office on 40th St. Box office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tickets will also be available at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-551-7328.

More 

Delaware Well Tainted With Exotic Toxin Linked To Superfund Site

A hard-to-remove toxic chemical that surfaced in a deep new Artesian Water Co. well south of New Castle has heated up debate over financial responsibility for fouled public water supplies and the effectiveness of a more-than-30-year Superfund cleanup effort.

State and federal officials say they are confident the high levels of the likely carcinogen 1,4 dioxane, found in an Artesian well under Llangollen Estates, escaped from the Delaware Sand & Gravel Landfill federal Superfund site, nearly a mile to the north off Grantham Lane.

Artesian shut down the well before it went into regular use, but officials acknowledged Monday that lower levels of the same chemical were detected last year in other wells that are part of the utility’s large regional supply complex around Llangollen Boulevard.

More