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Saturday, January 04, 2014

Ellicott City Man's Commercial a Finalist for $1 Million Super Bowl Contest

Raj Suri's Doritos spot could net him $1 million if it receives the most votes in the company's Super Bowl contest.

A commercial that cost $200 and took eight hours to shoot could result in a big payoff for an Ellicott City man.

Raj Suri's "Time Machine" commercial is one of five finalists for Doritos' annual Super Bowl commercial contest. The commercial that receives the most votes this month will be shown during the Super Bowl and its creators will receive $1 million.
 
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U.S. Judge Asks: Why Haven’t The Financial Executives Been Prosecuted?

As the five-year statute of limitations approaches for the wrongdoing that bequeathed us the Great Recession, the question of why no high-level executives have been prosecuted becomes more urgent.

You won’t find a better, more incisive discussion of the question than the one by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of New York in the current issue of the New York Review of Books.

In his new essay, Rakoff takes particular aim at the government’s habit of prosecuting corporations, but not their executives — a trend we railed against earlier this year.

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Why I’m Getting A Divorce In 2014

Before you start assuming I will be leaving my wife, let me just tell you that’s just simply not the case. I’m looking to leave someone else. Someone you may not know about. Someone who takes up most of my time, distracts me from spending time with my wife, and even spends time with me during the late hours of the night.

Her name is iPhone 5. She’s extremely smart, funny, reliable, and keeps me up to date with all the latest trends. And although she’s always by my side, I can’t help but notice that she is keeping me from spending time with the people who matter most in my life: God, my wife, my family, and my dreams.

She’s really good at keeping my attention. So much so that I’ve been known to completely ignore people when they are trying to have a conversation with me. She tempts me to use her apps while at church, weddings and funerals, instead of enjoying the moment un-distracted. She even keeps me from working on personal projects that have strict dead-lines.

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13 Problems Only Libertarians Will Understand — In GIFs

I Had No Clue What I Was Seeing In This First Picture. Then I Zoomed In And…OMG.

From a distance it’s quite hard to know what you’re seeing here, but as you look closer and closer you’ll see just how amazing mother nature can be.

Secession And Decentralizatio

Sooner or Later, the People Will Accept Secession and Decentralization

Some people think that my writing is a bit sarcastic. Well, my latest articles onLRC haven’t been too sarcastic.

But can you blame me?

I just want you to understand what it is we are up against when our federal government and its employees have a lot of power over us.

And then, perhaps too often my own emotions of fear and anxiety associated with the police state affect the way I express myself. Oh, well.

Now, it’s one thing that the NSA criminally intercepts your new computer or laptop from the online store warehouse to your home, in order to criminally install surveillance spying devices (and they may in fact be making illicit use of pre-installed technologies, and in some cases a manufacturer may be actively involved in aiding and abetting the NSA’s “security” racket although they deny such involvement).

But it’s another thing when U.S. Customs lummoxes go and destroy a virtuoso flutist’s hand-made musical instruments.

Is nothing sacred?

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PLANNED PARENTHOOD REP: CHRISTIANITY 'GOING DOWN'

For those of us so very blessed to have raised our personal white flag in mankind’s inherently fruitless struggle against the Creator, there can be no joy in watching God-deniers continue to labor under the grandest of all deceptions. Regardless of how nasty they may be as individuals, there can be only sadness, genuine pity and prayer.

Still, it is instructive.

When the atheist gives voice to his or her God-denial, it provides those in Truth a small glimpse into the same dark spirit – old as Adam – that prompted the psalmist to observe: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good” (Psalm 14:1).

Valerie Tarico is one such God-denier. She’s on a fool’s errand. A steadfast disciple to the unholy trinity of “LGBT,” atheist and pro-abortion activism, Ms. Tarico proudly sits on the Board of Advocates for Planned Parenthood – America’s premier one-stop-death-shop.

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On Bad Behavior: Nidal Hasan Whining About Jail

While sitting in jail awaiting his death sentence, Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan has been a major pain in the American taxpayer’s pocketbook and nearly an equal pain in his jailor’s neck.

An investigation into Hasan’s jail time revealed the U.S. government spent millions of dollars on unique security measures and privileges for the mass murderer, yet a long record of the inmate’s obstinate behavior has prompted exasperated jail officials to tell him, “You’re a grown man, act like it.”

Official records from Hasan’s 3-year stint at Bell County Jail in Texas, for example, reveal the inmate sent frequent complaints and demands to his jailors, insisted the temperature of his cell be kept at 70 degrees, asked for a thermometer to monitor it, harassed his caregivers and during one episode even began defecating in his trash can instead of the bathroom.
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'They Had No Idea If My Insurance Was Active Or Not!'

Hospital staff in Northern Virginia are turning away sick people on a frigid Thursday morning because they can't determine whether their Obamacare insurance plans are in effect.

Patients in a close-in DC suburb who think they've signed up for new insurance plans are struggling to show their December enrollments are in force, and health care administrators aren't taking their word for it.

In place of quick service and painless billing, these Virginians are now facing the threat of sticker-shock that comes with bills they can't afford.

'They had no idea if my insurance was active or not!' a coughing Maria Galvez told MailOnline outside the Inova Healthplex facility in the town of Springfield.

She was leaving the building without getting a needed chest x-ray.

'The people in there told me that since I didn't have an insurance card, I would be billed for the whole cost of the x-ray,' Galvez said, her young daughter in tow. 'It's not fair – you know, I signed up last week like I was supposed to.'

The x-ray's cost, she was told, would likely be more than $500.

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It’s Unfathomable That They Were Going To Kill Her. Especially When You See What Happened Next.

A malnourished and extremely pregnant dog named Mary was found at a kill shelter, awaiting euthanasia. Her time was up. However, thanks to a last-minute rescue and $1,000 in donations from people around the country, she was taken away from that awful place in put in a loving foster home. Once there, she went through an incredible journey to deliver a massive amount of puppies with her foster family.

This is Mary while she was in the shelter: terrified and emaciated.

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Comments I Feel Worthy Of A Post

Anonymous said...

D Shift started shoveling early and A Shift finished with some assistance from Public Works. Since you aren't even able to spell Taj Mahal, perhaps you could quit trying to be so devisive and offer to assist shoveling an entire block the next time it snows.

Despite the rantings of a few uninformed individuals on here, the career component of the Salisbury Fire Department is comprised of "dedicated" men and women who come to work at their job just as anyone else does. They're certainly not getting rich and work in a pretty stressful environment where they obviously get Monday Morning Quarterbacked to death by a group of individuals who either can't take the pay cut or can't pass the minimum testing and credentialing requirements in the first place to even attempt to do the job and actually see what it's all about.

Get over yourself and either become a career firefighter and actually do the job, or quit whining about them when you've not been one and earned the right to whine. Become a volunteer and help make a difference at least.

Ask the man who broke his leg last night at a fire about his dedication. And where were all the dedicated volunteers the city supposedly has to offer when their assistance was requested and help had to be obtained from Fruitland and Delmar? The few dedicated volunteers were there working along side the career men trying to make the best of a bad situation. Maybe 15 or 16. There are 130 or so listed on the roster. Where were all the rest of the "dedicated" ones?

Use facts to support your argument. Not hate or ignorance.

JoeAlbero said...

I was asked to pop on here and take a look at these comments. Allow me to share the OTHER side to 4:24's comment.

You can sit there and point fingers at VOLUNTEERS but let me just say this. YOU are the kind of blind eyed person that makes it an almost impossible work environment possible for Volunteers at Station 16.

Oh, it's EASY to sit on this Blog through comments and make it LOOK like you encourage Volunteers but IF that place was anywhere near what it was DESIGNED to be and had the proper LEADERSHIP and MANAGEMENT you'd have Volunteers lining up like it was DESIGNED to be in the first place.

Let me say this as well. WTF are YOU doing with 130 ALLEGED Volunteers on your roster IF they aren't SERVING to the level and commitment YOU require.

Stop the BS and start acting like real men and clean up house.

Yes, my name ins on my comment because guess what, I'm a real man, NOT an alleged hero. You guys watch too may Batman and Superman movies over there.


GO HERE to view the Post and comments.

Obamacare: Health Secretary To Dictate How Doctors Practice Medicine

HHS Secretary Sebelius, a bureaucrat with no medical experience, can tell your doctor how to treat patients starting in 2015

Despite President Obama’s claim that “you’re not going to have anybody getting in between you and your doctor,” a little known provision of Obamacare gives the health secretary broad authority to dictate how doctors practice medicine and treat their patients.

Starting in 2015, Obamacare will grant the Secretary of Health and Human Services, an unelected bureaucrat with no medical experience, power to decide what treatments are available to patients and if the doctor can perform procedures.

Section 1311(h)(1)(b) of Obamacare reads:

“Beginning on January 1, 2015, a qualified health plan may contract with … a health care provider only if such provider implements such mechanisms to improve health care quality as the Secretary may by regulation require.”

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North Salisbury M&T Bank Closing

I do not have the ability to scan this letter for you to see, but I was just notified that M&T bank will be closing their N Salisbury Blvd location on April 4th.

They claim that branch will consolidate with the Carroll St branch

Another empty building.

1942 ‘Time Capsule’ Apartment Discovered In Paris

This real-estate story sounds almost like a fairy tale or the beginning of a big Hollywood production.

Back in 2010 a Parisian apartment on the Right Bank, near the Opéra Garnier, left unoccupied since 1942 was discovered.

It was owned by Madame de Florian – a socialite and an actress – who fled to the South of France during the second world war, leaving everything behind. She never came back to Paris but kept on paying her rent until the day she died when she was 91.

It’s only after she died that someone – a Commissaire Priseur – Auctioneer – re-enter her apartment for the first time in over 70 years.

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“Just Say No To Governor Christie” Campaign

Trenton, New Jersey (My9NJ) - New Jersey’s “Weedman” Edward Forchion is out of jail for his ten day grace period where a judge actually allows him to get treatment for his bone cancer which involves medical marijuana.

The ironic part about this whole case is that Forchion is in jail for marijuana possession, yet he is still granted permission to leave jail once a month to use medical marijuana.

Forchion’s latest endeavor is the “Just Say No To Governor Christie” campaign.

“Governor Christie made a political point to be opposed to the marijuana laws and cannabis laws and just taking a cue from the “Just Say No” campaign I figured I would put out the ads nationally to opposed Governor Christie’s campaign for presidency,” Forchion said.

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A Surprise Success

As of Dec. 28, a total of 18,257 Marylanders had enrolled in a private health plan from the exchange, a jump of 6,542 people since Dec. 21. That’s great progress — it’s the largest weekly increase since the exchange’s Oct. 1 launch — but it’s the Medicaid numbers that really have officials falling all over themselves.

On New Year’s Day, 111,148 people officially became new Medicaid enrollees. Here’s the breakdown of that group:

91,570 Marylanders had signed up for Primary Adult Care (PAC), a Medicaid-lite program that automatically enrolled those individuals in full Medicaid coverage beginning Jan. 1. Another 19,578 people signed up for Medicaid directly through the exchange, once the website determined they were eligible based on their income.
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Obesity Rates Soar To 'Alarming' Levels In Developing Countries

The extent of the world's obesity epidemic has been thrown into stark relief as a report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) puts the number of overweight and obese adults in developing countries at more than 900 million.

Future Diets, an analysis of public data about what the world eats, says there are almost twice as many obese people in poor countries as in rich ones. In 2008, the figures were 904 million in developing countries, where most of the world's people live, compared with 557 million in industrialised nations.

"The growing rates of overweight and obesity in developing countries are alarming," said the report's author, ODI research fellow Steve Wiggins. "On current trends, globally, we will see a huge increase in the number of people suffering certain types of cancer, diabetes, strokes and heart attacks, putting an enormous burden on public healthcare systems."

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Murder Rates Lower Where Concealed Weapons Allowed

A recent study showing a reverse correlation between concealed weapons and murder rates has renewed the contentious national debate about the effect of gun controls on violent crime.

Reason magazine reported last week on economist Mark Gius' study of gun controls, published in the journal Applied Economics Letters showing states with restrictions on concealed weapons had higher gun-related murder rates than other states.

The study looked at the effects on murder rates of both state-level assault weapons bans and concealed weapons restrictions from 1980 to 2009.

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Wallops To Launch Rocket Next Week To Space Station

WALLOPS ISLAND — Another significant launch event is set for next week from the Wallops Island Flight Facility with Orbital Sciences expected to send up an Antares rocket carrying needed supplies to the International Space Station.

Four the second time in about four months, NASA and its private sector partner Orbital Sciences is expected to launch a major Antares rocket from the Wallops Island Flight Facility along the Virginia coast just south of the resort area. The launch is tentatively set for Tuesday at 1:55 p.m. and, weather permitting, should be visible across the mid-Atlantic region from New York to the Carolinas with the best vistas of the rocket streaming across the Tuesday afternoon sky in areas in close proximity to Wallops including Assateague and Ocean City.


The Antares rocket will carry Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. The cargo craft will be fitted with 2,780 pounds of supplies for the station, including vital science experiments to expand the research capability of the Expedition 38 crew members aboard the orbiting laboratory along with crew provisions, spare parts and experiment hardware.

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‘Affordable Care’ Meltdown: Patients Across Rhe Nation Unable To Receive Care

Americans realizing Obama lied about more things than just “If you like your plan you can keep it”

The nation is quickly learning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is neither protective nor affordable.

Weeks before the federal initiative’s deadline, Americans reeled from sticker shock as many saw their health care premiums double and even triple. Some even witnessed individual-market rates quadruple.

And that’s just the people that were able to keep their old plans. Millions of other Americans received letters of cancellation from their insurers telling them their plan no longer met federal guidelines.

In the final days of 2013, millions flooded the government’s online healthcare exchange scrambling to “get covered” before the new year. Two months into the website’s rollout, technicians were still worried that the back-end of the site was still broken, and data passed on to private insurers was “practically useless,” “corrupted by errors, duplication or garbles,” reported the Associated Press.

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Dems, GOP Enter 2014 Out Of Sync With America

It appears the inmates are running the asylum in both major parties, based on what's being planned by Democrats and Republicans for 2014. Okay, not the inmates, but it must be folks who can't see beyond the Hudson or the Potomac.

As the Washington Examiner's Brian Hughes reports this morning, a lot of Democrats think newly elected New York Mayor Bill de Blasio -- the progressives' progressive -- points the way for their party nationally.

"Some Democrats say taking de Blasio’s message nationally would be an effective political tool. They say the party would appear more in tune with the plight of the working poor, while tapping into public frustration over soaring compensation for the wealthiest Americans," Hughes reports.

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Murder Rate In Baltimore County Hits 35 Year Low

Baltimore County Police say there were 19 homicides in the county in 2013.

Chief Jim Johnson says that reflects about a 17% decrease from 2012 and you would have to go back to 1976 to find a year with similar numbers.

Johnson says the 2013 homicide numbers were well below the previous 5 year average as well and the homicide rate for the past 4 years in Baltimore County is comparable to the period of 1976 through 1979.
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IMF Paper Warns Of 'Savings Tax' And Mass Write-Offs As West's Debt Hits 200-Year High

Debt burdens in developed nations have become extreme by any historical measure and will require a wave of haircuts, warns IMF paper

Much of the Western world will require defaults, a savings tax and higher inflation to clear the way for recovery as debt levels reach a 200-year high, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF working paper said debt burdens in developed nations have become extreme by any historical measure and will require a wave of haircuts, either negotiated 1930s-style write-offs or the standard mix of measures used by the IMF in its “toolkit” for emerging market blow-ups.

“The size of the problem suggests that restructurings will be needed, for example, in the periphery of Europe, far beyond anything discussed in public to this point,” said the paper, by Harvard professors Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff.

The paper said policy elites in the West are still clinging to the illusion that rich countries are different from poorer regions and can therefore chip away at their debts with a blend of austerity cuts, growth, and tinkering (“forbearance”).

The presumption is that advanced economies “do not resort to such gimmicks” such as debt restructuring and repression, which would “give up hard-earned credibility” and throw the economy into a “vicious circle”.

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The Contraception Mandate And The Constitution

The administration and its allies have profoundly twisted the meaning of the Constitution.

Of all the cases that can be wielded against the casual use of propaganda, perhaps the strongest is that, eventually, it will make us all stupid.

For a beautiful example of this principle in action, one need look no further than to the paucity of the arguments that progressives are deploying in favor of the so-called “contraception mandate.” It has now been nearly two years since the hapless HHS secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, announced the measure, and since that time the lawsuits and the rulings have piled up, the Supreme Court has taken up the case, and the issue has been discussed interminably on cable news and beyond. And yet, despite the issue’s having been front and center for nearly two years, the Left’s performances have arguably become worse, not better. Time, it seems, is running backwards.

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NSA Developing Computer To Crack Privacy Codes

(Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency is trying to develop a computer that could ultimately break most encryption programs, whether they are used to protect other nations' spying programs or consumers' bank accounts, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The report, which the newspaper said was based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, comes amid continuing controversy over the spy agency's program to collect the phone records Internet communications of private citizens.

In its report on Thursday, The Washington Post said that the NSA is trying to develop a so-called "quantum computer" that could be used to break encryption codes used to cloak sensitive information.

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BE CAUTIOUS OF SCHOOL BUSSES WHILE TRAVELING

With the holiday vacation ending and Worcester County students heading back to school on January 6, the Ocean City Police Department would like to remind motorists to be cautious while traveling. Motorists should do their part to keep children safe while they are getting on and off school busses.

Citizens are reminded that school bus pick-up and drop-off times may vary, however; citizens can generally expect to see busses on the road between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. then again between 2:45 p.m. and 4 p.m. While on Coastal Highway, motorists traveling in the same direction as a school bus must stop when the bus activates flashing red lights.

“Additional OCPD patrols are continuously assigned to enforce school bus safety each school day,” said Ocean City Police Chief Ross Buzzuro. “Drivers are reminded slow down and be especially alert in residential neighborhoods and school zones. Also, take extra time to look for children at intersections, on medians and curbs. Children should remember to stay off the street while waiting for the bus and wait for the bus driver’s signal before crossing in front of the bus.”

Where Are The Police When You Really Need Them?

With one of my New Year’s resolution being to blog at CopBlock.org, I thought I’d start with two recent stories that left me wondering, “Where are the police when you really need them?”

The first story comes from Dallas where, according to the local Fox station (see video below), five men armed with guns attempted to rob a convenience store. They got a little more than they bargained for when the store owner opened fire on them, wounding one of the would-be robbers.

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A Letter To The Editor 1-4-14

Dear; Andy Harris

I am a resident of Wicomico County Maryland and I reside at 7370 Division Street, Maryland, 21874. I am a teacher in Worcester County but I reside in Wicomico County. I am writing to get your support on an issue that is very near and true to my heart, Veterans Day. I am a retire U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer and I am completely disappointed with the State of Maryland for allowing public schools the remain open on what I feel is one of the most important holidays of the year.

I have decided to launch “Operation School Closing” I plan to gather support by having citizens of the great State of Maryland to sign a petition to prompt local State Representatives and State Senators to draft and enact legislation which would prohibit public schools from being open on Veterans Day. At the present time the decision is left with the individual county. When I first decided to addressed this issue I went to my local teachers association meeting to see who made the decision for Worcester County Schools. I found out there is a committee that decides what days the school will be open and which holidays the schools will be closed. After finding out the decision was at a local level, I started thinking this should not be left to the individual counties. I decided ALL State public schools should be closed for Veterans Day not just the county I teach in.

I therefore respectfully solicit your support to immediately develop and enact legislation to require public schools to close on every November 11, each year in observance of Veterans Day. I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully Submitted;

Floyd F Azbell Jr. USCG CWO3 Ret.


I have started an online petition. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/503/008/743/support-closing-maryland-school-on-veterans-day/

Mike McDermott has agreed to draft legislation to assist me.

Man Killed In Fiery Crash Involving Tractor Trailer East Of Millsboro

Location: John J. Williams Highway (SR24) west of Maryland Camp Road (CR304), Millsboro, DE

Date of Occurrence: Saturday, January 4, 2014 at 8:08 a.m.

Operators/Vehicles: Operator 1: Unidentified adult male (Deceased. Name to be released pending positive identification and NOK)
Vehicle 1: 1988 Mercedes Benz 300

Kim B. Smith-55 year old male from Salisbury, MD (properly restrained and not injured)
Vehicle 2: 2006 International Tractor Trailer hauling Pepsi Cola products

Resume
Millsboro-The Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is investigating a fiery crash that has left one dead on John J. Williams Highway (SR24) east of Millsboro earlier this morning.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the incident occurred at approximately 8:08 a.m. this morning as an unidentified adult male was operating a 1988 Mercedes Benz 300 traveling John J. Williams Highway westbound west of Maryland Camp Road and appears to have lost control on the icy roadway. The Mercedes rotated counter clockwise crossing the center dividing line into the path of an eastbound 2006 International Tractor Trailer being operated by Kim B. Smith-55 year old male from Salisbury, MD. The front center of the Tractor Trailer struck the passenger side of the Mercedes. After the impact, both vehicles traveled off of the south side of the roadway into a field where the Mercedes and tractor portion of the tractor trailer became engulfed in flames. The unidentified male operator of the Mercedes was unresponsive and trapped in the vehicle due the severity of the impact. Kim was able to exit the tractor trailer and made several unsuccessful attempts to rescue the man from the Mercedes by utilizing an onboard fire extinguisher in an effort to extinguish the engulfed car.

The unidentified adult male operator of the Mercedes remained trapped in the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. Name to be released pending positive identification and notification of next of kin.

Kim B. Smith was properly restrained and not injured.

SR 24 between Maryland Camp Road and Hollyville Road was closed for approximately 4.5 hours while the crash was investigated and cleared.

The Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit continues to investigate this incident.

Sens. Wyden And Udall Call For End To NSA Dragnet Phone Surveillance

Not every federal lawmaker is content to step aside and watch impotently as the executive branch erects a prison state with citizens as suspects and subject to constant surveillance.

In a recent New York Times op-ed, Senators Ron Wyden (left, D-Ore.) and Mark Udall (right, D-Colo.) call for an immediate end to the National Security Agency’s (NSA) dragnet collection of the phone records of Americans. In the opening paragraph, the senators explain the basis of their opposition to this unconstitutional program:

[The] framers of the Constitution declared that government officials had no power to seize the records of individual Americans without evidence of wrongdoing, and they embedded this principle in the Fourth Amendment. The bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records — so-called metadata — by the National Security Agency is, in our view, a clear case of a general warrant that violates the spirit of the framers’ intentions. This intrusive program was authorized under a secret legal process by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, so for years American citizens did not have the knowledge needed to challenge the infringement of their privacy rights.

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Worcester’s Property Values Continue Downward Trend

Property reassessment notices for roughly one third of Worcester landowners hit mailboxes this week, and while the average values continued to decline this year, the rate of decline has slowed after a few years of deep drops across the county and much of the state.

Assessments of real estate values in the south end of Worcester along with a vast section of West Ocean City that was added to the area to create relatively equal areas in terms of numbers of accounts were completed this fall and residential and commercial property owners received their new assessment notices this week.


While most in the current reassessment area saw their property values decline again for the three-year cycle, the average level of decline has slowed somewhat.
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Feds List 141 New Regulations In Only Three Days

It’s a new year and you know what that means — new regulations. The Obama administration has wasted no time in writing them.

The website Regulations.gov lists 141 regulations that have been posted by federal agencies in the last three days alone. Of these regulations, 119 are “rulemaking,” meaning they establish a new rule. Twenty-three are “non-rulemaking,” meaning the regulations does not establish a new rule.

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It’s Not Just Your Phone Calls - It’s YOU They Are Listening To

You, like most Americans, are friendly and like to mind your own business. You have 2.3 kids, a mortgage, and a loving spouse.

But, this is the 21st Century. A grand era of technology. Buck Rogers and H.G. Wells would be so proud of our technological advancements.

But so would Stalin, Mao and Hitler. The NSA’s recently leaked shopping catalog is chilling and would “harsh the mellow” of any regular Joe.

Let’s start with you.

You have a phone that you call home with. The NSA can listen in to your phone using PICASSO. It knows your phone book, your recent calls, where you’ve been, your PIN numbers that you’ve used, and can block your calls. Like if you’re being chased by black SUV’s and you want to call 911 – tough luck, they’ve shut down your phone.

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Caption This Photo 1-4-14


A Sound Message


GLENN GREENWALD vs RUTH MARCUS

FBI Watched As Pike Wells Fargo Was Robbed

An FBI SWAT team observed while three men allegedly robbed the Wells Fargo at Columbia Pike and S. George Mason Drive at gunpoint on Tuesday, apprehending the suspects a block away after the robbery had been committed.

The men — two from Maryland and one from Washington, D.C. — had been under FBI surveillance after being suspected of committing several bank robberies around the D.C. area, according to federal prosecutors.

The men left the bank with $47,000, but were apprehended a block north on George Mason Drive. They have been charged with armed bank robbery.

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The Pursuit Of Forced Amity

Amity Seems to be Running Faster than We Are

“One of the nice things about reality is that it is what it is, no matter what anybody says it is.”—the eminent philosopher James Morris

Pondering the smoking ruins of American racial policy, I wonder whether it isn’t time to say publicly what many, if not most, of both races know: It isn’t working. It isn’t going to work. If it were, it would have. If it were working, we would not need the unending laws to force the races together when they don’t want to be together. If people wanted diversity, it would happen without compulsion..

The hope that black and white would mingle amicably if only segregation were dismantled relied on a peculiarly American inattention to life and history, and on a belief that people will behave as we want them to, instead of how they observably do behave. Human nature remains human nature, no matter how hard one holds one’s breath and turns blue.

It is not an easy thing that we try to do. Frequently, far smaller disparities than those between black and white lead to bloody conflict. Catholics and Protestants, Shia and Sunni, Jew and Christian are often virtually indistinguishable, yet share a history of internecine butchery of each other. Is there anywhere an example of two groups so large and utterly different as blacks and whites successfully merging?

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Antarctic Ice Shelf Melt 'Lowest EVER Recorded, Global Warming Is NOT Eroding It'

Human CO2 just not a big deal at Pine Island Glacier

Scientists at the British Antarctic Survey say that the melting of the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf in Antarctica has suddenly slowed right down in the last few years, confirming earlier research which suggested that the shelf's melt does not result from human-driven global warming.

The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica and its associated sea ice shelf is closely watched: this is because unlike most of the sea ice around the austral continent, its melt rate has seemed to be accelerating quickly since scientists first began seriously studying it in the 1990s.

Many researchers had suggested that this was due to human-driven global warming, which appeared to be taking place rapidly at that time (though it has since gone on hold for 15 years or so, a circumstance which science is still assimilating).

However back in 2009 the British Antarctic Survey sent its Autosub robot probe under the shelf (famously powered by some 5,000 ordinary alkaline D-cell batteries on each trip beneath the ice, getting through no less than four tonnes of them during the research). The Autosub survey revealed that a previously unknown marine ridge lay below the shelf, over which the icepack had for millennia been forced to grind its way en route to the ocean. However in relatively recent times the ice had finally so ground down the ridge that the sea could flow in between shelf and ridge, freeing the ice to move much faster and warming it too.

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BREAKING NEWS: Barbara Bush Released From Hospital

Former first lady, 88, had been hospitalized in Texas for respiratory illness.

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Judge Andrew Napolitano On The Tenth Amendment

Inflation Is Already Here… But It's Being Masked

Since 2007, the world’s Central Banks have collectively put more than $10 trillion into the financial system since 2008. To put that number into perspective, it’s equal to roughly 15% of global GDP.

This kind of money printing is literally unheard of in modern history. And it has set the stage for a roaring wave of inflation to hit the financial system. Indeed, the first signs are already showing up... not in the “official” Government data (which is bogus) but in how those who run businesses around the globe are acting.

Most people believe that when inflation hits, prices have to go higher. This is true, but higher prices can be manifested in multiple ways. Firms usually do not simply raise prices in nominal terms as price elasticity can kill revenues because it would hurt sales.

Instead, companies resort to a number of strategies to maintain profit margins without hurting their sales. One of them is to simply leave part of a package EMPTY, thereby selling LESS product for the SAME price (a hidden price hike).

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RAND PAUL TO LEAD CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST OBAMA OVER NSA SPYING

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is leading a class-action lawsuit with hundreds of thousands of Americans against President Barack Obama’s National Security Agency (NSA) over its spying on the American people, Breitbart News has learned.

Sen. Paul will be discussing the lawsuit in an exclusive appearance on Fox News with host Eric Bolling at 10 PM ET on Friday. Breitbart News has learned that Paul will file the class action lawsuit soon in the D.C. District Court and that he will be filing it as an individual, not as a U.S. Senator. For a U.S. Senator to file a such a class action lawsuit against the President of the United States would be extremely rare.

This lawsuit allows the American people to join together in a grassroots manner against President Obama’s NSA with a sitting U.S. Senator at the helm. Two prior class action lawsuits were filed in June. Classes have not yet been certified in those cases.

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O’Malley Fundraising During 2006 Legislative Session Cited In Fight Over What’s Legal In 2014

In the fight over who can raise money during Maryland’s legislative session, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) might be Exhibit A for the defense.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) pointed to O’Malley’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign when asked about the controversy during a television interview last week.

O’Malley, who was mayor of Baltimore in 2006, raised more than $1 million for his gubernatorial campaign during that year’s 90-day legislative session, and nobody objected.
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Does Being Cold Make You Sick?

Why Isn’t DNI (Director of National Intelligence) James Clapper Investigated By A Grand Jury?

An oath is an oath. It is not an option. You swear to tell the truth, we expect you to do so and failure to do so has consequences….or at least is supposed to have consequences.

If you lie under oath about something material (not something inconsequential), you commit perjury. That is a felony.

It is that plain and simple.

The process is also plain.

If someone is suspected of lying under oath, that person is referred to a grand jury where the grand jury considers the evidence and decides whether the person should be indicted for perjury.

If indicted, the defendant will have an opportunity to defend himself / herself at trial.

Here is what transpired on March 12, 2013 at a Senate hearing where DNI Clapper was under oath and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth:

Senator Wyden then asked Clapper, “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?” He responded, “No, sir.”[32] Wyden asked “It does not?”[32] and Clapper said “Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps, collect, but not wittingly.” [from Wikipedia]

The above response by DNI Clapper is false. No one denies it is false – even Clapper himself admits now that it is false.

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GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY LOOKS FORWARD TO EATING NORTH DAKOTA PASTA

GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY LOOKS FORWARD TO EATING NORTH DAKOTA PASTA ONCE TOWSON BEATS NORTH DAKOTA STATE IN FCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Maryland crab cakes, North Dakota pasta up for grabs in Saturday’s FCS Championship match-up

ANNAPOLIS, MD
– Governor Martin O’Malley made a friendly wager with Governor Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota on the outcome of Saturday’s FCS Championship game between the Towson University Tigers and the Bison of North Dakota State University.

Governor Dalrymple and Governor O’Malley have each wagered a dish from their home state as part of the friendly contest. When Towson University returns to Maryland victorious, Governor Dalrymple will send a case of North Dakota-made Dreamfields low-carb pasta to Annapolis. In the highly unlikely event of an NDSU victory, Governor O’Malley will send Faidley’s crab cakes to Bismarck.

“There’s nothing more delicious than Maryland crab cakes, and the award-winning ones from Faidley’s are among the best. I would really hate to part with them, but I know I won’t have to, because the Towson Tigers are going to win on Saturday,” said Governor O’Malley. “Regardless of the outcome, this game is an excellent opportunity to highlight our great State and the universities in it. On behalf of our State, we wish the Towson Tigers, coach Rob Ambrose -- and everyone associated with the NDSU Bison -- the best of luck on Saturday. And Governor Dalrymple, we look forward to enjoying pasta for dinner soon.”

“What the Bison have accomplished this year is very impressive and returning for their third national title game makes it even more special,” Dalrymple said. “In friendly wagers with the governors of Minnesota, Texas and South Dakota the Bison have always come out on top and I’m looking forward to another victory and Gov. O’Malley’s fresh crab cakes.”

The FCS Championship Game is scheduled to take place at 2:00 PM EST on Saturday, January 4, 2014, in Frisco, Texas.

Stop The Bailout - NOW

Republicans can end Obamacare by stopping the impending bailout of insurance companies.

First order of business for the returning Congress: The No Bailout for Insurance Companies Act of 2014.

Make it one line long: “Sections 1341 and 1342 of the Affordable Care Act are hereby repealed.”

End of bill. End of bailout. End of story.

Why do we need it? On December 18, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers was asked what was the administration’s Plan B if, because of adverse selection (enrolling too few young and healthies), the insurance companies face financial difficulty.

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Two Kinds Of Hospital Patients: Admitted, And Not

Judith Stein got a call from her mother recently, reporting that a friend was in the hospital. “Be sure she’s admitted,” Ms. Stein said.

As executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, she has gotten all too savvy about this stuff.

“Of course she’s admitted,” her mother said. “Didn’t I just tell you she was in the hospital?”

But like a sharply growing number of Medicare beneficiaries, her mother’s friend would soon learn that she could spend a day or three in a hospital bed, could be monitored and treated by doctors and nurses — and never be formally admitted to the hospital. She was on observation status and therefore an outpatient. As I wrote last year, the distinction can have serious consequences.

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A Comment Worthy Of A Post 1-4-14

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Is This What Ireton Plans To Do Once The Parking L...":

I had to laugh about an article claiming all the supposed successes Sby is experiencing. It was in the OC paper. Sounds as though you people over there are half witted and fond of electing the like. This goof ball went on and on about bike paths and other insignificant drivel when the fact stands that unemployment is through the roof, it's the top of the list for foreclosures and every other social ill known to mankind. It takes not only a big person but an honest one willing to admit that Sby is on a downward spiral for anything of any significance to occur.

When kids are robbed at gunpoint for their skateboard and all they do is talk spin, some serious character flaws are going on.

David Craig/Jeannie Haddaway New Years Introduction

First You Laugh: Rules For The Knockout Game

They always laugh, these Knockout Game artists. That is why they call it a game. The fun is more important than the violence.

But lots of media reports ignore that.

The latest example of the Knockout Game in Charlottesville, Virginia illustrates all of the features of this increasingly popular past time. Let’s start with the central organizing feature of the mayhem: First, the attackers were black.

Jeanne Doucette and her boyfriend Marc Adams were enjoying the holiday season in downtown Charlottesville when Adams tripped. As he tried to get up, three black people came upon them, one said something, perhaps even offering him a hand up.

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Your Rights When The Cops Pull You Over Explained In One Brilliant Infographic

Getting pulled over can make even the most law-abiding citizen's heart race. You should understand what you can and can't do.

Most people know they don't have to take a breathalyzer. But in 26 states, you don't have to show an officer your ID during detention either. And refusing a search doesn't serve as an admission of guilt.

Read the rest of your rights when interacting with police below:

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Is This What Ireton Plans To Do Once The Parking Lots Are Sold?

Parking rules pushing workers out of downtown happy hour


Nic Conde would love to stay in downtown Norfolk for a drink after work.

Instead he’s rushing to get his car out of a city-owned garage by 6 o’clock, or he’ll have to pay more.

“No one really comes out after they go to work since they have to get out at a certain time,” Conde of Norfolk said.

To turn downtown workers into holiday shoppers, the city of Norfolk pushed back the get out time to 8 pm last month.

Bil Rice manages a handful of restaurants along Granby Street, and says he saw more people coming in for happy hour.

“It’s conduive to those people if they don’t have to rush and the city made it so they didn’t have to and it was very successful,” Rice said.

In the new year, the old rules are still in place, get out by six.

“They’re leaving here as soon as possible,” said Antonio Caruana, who works at Luce on Granby Street.

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Op-Ed: The Case Against Rudy Giuliani For Evidence Destruction On 9/11

Regardless of where one stands on the 9/11 debate, the complete, sudden destruction of the Twin Towers and Building 7 at the very least qualifies as an unprecedented engineering event.

As such they merited an exhaustive, unhurried study of the forensic evidence by scientists and engineers worldwide.

This did not happen, and instead the key evidence which might have told the story — the structural steel — was scooped up and sent to China and India on ships in record time. 99.5 percent of the steel was then melted, after being sold at a bargain rate of $120 per ton, rather than the going market rate of at least $150 for especially high-grade steel.
Therefore to this day we do not know all that we could know about the destruction of the Towers. The government's contention that the evidence was examined by FBI agents as it was trucked into Fresh Kills landfill, its first destination after removal from Ground Zero, and pieces picked out which warranted further examination as “evidence,” is a joke. In criminal law, and in scientific investigation, all evidence is equally important, as one never knows which piece might ultimately provide the key to the puzzle.

Judicial Watch Announces List Of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians” For 2013

With the New Year’s celebration, it’s time for Judicial Watch’s annual roster of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.”

As Judicial Watch demonstrated in our recent survey, conducted in partnership with Breitbart.com, the American people are very concerned about a federal government that is completely out of control. I’m afraid a review of Washington’s worst offenders won’t allay these concerns.

However, this list, which is widely distributed by the press, serves an important purpose – to educate Americans about the bipartisan problem of corruption in Washington and about Judicial Watch’s critical work in holding corrupt politicians accountable to the rule of law.

And so, without further delay, the 2013 list in alphabetical order includes:
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH)
CIA Director John Brennan
Senator Saxby Chambliss
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Attorney General Eric Holder
Former IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller / Former IRS Official Lois Lerner
Former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano
President Barack Obama
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Group Of Shoplifters Rob Gucci Store At Queenstown Outlets

QUEENSTOWN, Md. (WJZ)—Authorities say the Gucci store at Queenstown Premium Outlets was robbed by a gang of people last Saturday.

It happened Dec. 28 around 7:30 p.m. when a group of 10-15 people entered the high-end store.

While some of the group distracted the store employees, others were removing security tabs and shoplifting numerous items.

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The Enigma Of Barack Obama

Put me down in the Roger Simon camp on this one: without wandering into Birther territory or the inconclusive musings of Jerome Corsi… who the heck is this guy, really?

To put it bluntly: nobody knows nothin’ about the president of the United States, aka the leader of the free world. And what little we do know is highly uninformative and often contradictory.

In a world where every phone call, email, text message, Tweet, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook post, YouTube, Vimeo, LinkedIn link, Google + post, blog post, semaphore, morse code, Braille, and probably burp has been recorded digitally for posterity and beyond, nobody knows what Barack Obama even got in freshman English. (Well, maybe the NSA does, but they’re not telling.)

Does this matter? I don’t know – and that’s the point. In an administration that once proclaimed that it would be transparent like no other, but now has lied like no other, one can only guess.

Obama’s unseen college and graduate school records (Occidental, Columbia, Harvard Law) are only one part of the Mystery of the Shrouded POTUS – another is the Khalidi tape, its possibly anti-Israel contents locked in a vault at the L.A. Times – but those academic records are certainly a significant part.

Has there been a modern presidential candidate about whom we know less than the former Barry Soetoro? Other than what he’s told us about himself in Dreams from My Father — a book proven even by sympathetic biographers to be filled with fabrications (“a man one step removed from his own life,” according to David Maraniss)? Has anyone ever had the audacity to run for national office without a thorough vetting by the national media, replete with quotes from those who knew him then, interviews with his high-school classmates, examples of his writing, anecdotes, etc.? Would a dope-smoking member of the Choom Gang ever have even made it into the Senate were that aspect of his background widely known? What about his alcoholic, bigamist father?

One way to look at Obama is as a man of remarkable political skills who has overcome a “compelling personal story” that would have sunk anybody else. The problem, of course, is that the media fell for the other “compelling personal story” — its own. “When the legend becomes fact,” goes the famous line from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, “print the legend.” And, boy, did they ever…

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