DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Bono cheats death after jet door falls off
U2 singer 'extremely lucky' after plane's tailgate becomes detached during flight to Berlin with four friends
Bono and four friends cheated death yesterday when a rear door of their private jet fell off mid-flight.
The Irish rock star was on board the Learjet 60 D-CGEO making the two-hour afternoon trip from Dublin to Berlin.
He was the only member of U2 on the plane, as bandmates Larry Mullen, the Edge and Adam Clayton were due to fly separately late last night.
The group were lined up to accept an award at the Bambi International Music awards in Berlin, but Bono flew out early to attend a diplomatic function with the German minister of economic cooperation and development, Gerd Mueller.
But when Bono and his crew reached the German coast, flying at about 8,000ft, the tailgate of the plane became detached.
A source close to the singer told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘He was extremely lucky, the plane could have gone down. About an hour into the journey they heard a big thud coming from the rear of the plane.
‘They were startled for a bit but they continued on and made the descent into Berlin airport. When they landed they were horrified to learn that the compartment at the rear of the plane had completely detached.
‘The entire door along with Bono and his companions’ luggage had fallen out mid-air. They don’t know if the door and the contents landed over water or land but they were extremely lucky. They were at an altitude where anything could have happened and they are all feeling very lucky to be alive.’
More
Bono and four friends cheated death yesterday when a rear door of their private jet fell off mid-flight.
The Irish rock star was on board the Learjet 60 D-CGEO making the two-hour afternoon trip from Dublin to Berlin.
He was the only member of U2 on the plane, as bandmates Larry Mullen, the Edge and Adam Clayton were due to fly separately late last night.
The group were lined up to accept an award at the Bambi International Music awards in Berlin, but Bono flew out early to attend a diplomatic function with the German minister of economic cooperation and development, Gerd Mueller.
But when Bono and his crew reached the German coast, flying at about 8,000ft, the tailgate of the plane became detached.
A source close to the singer told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘He was extremely lucky, the plane could have gone down. About an hour into the journey they heard a big thud coming from the rear of the plane.
‘They were startled for a bit but they continued on and made the descent into Berlin airport. When they landed they were horrified to learn that the compartment at the rear of the plane had completely detached.
‘The entire door along with Bono and his companions’ luggage had fallen out mid-air. They don’t know if the door and the contents landed over water or land but they were extremely lucky. They were at an altitude where anything could have happened and they are all feeling very lucky to be alive.’
More
Cops: Drunk Motorist Hit Pedestrian, Kept Driving With Victim "Halfway Through The Vehicle's Windshield"
Responding to a report Monday of an erratic driver, an Ocean Township Police Department officer spotted an auto “with what appeared to be a person lying on the hood of the vehicle.” A cop initiated a traffic stop around 7 PM and found “a person halfway through the vehicle’s windshield,” according to prosecutors.
A subsequent investigation determined that driver Marcos Ortega, 33, struck the victim when he crossed onto the shoulder on Route 9. Cops estimated that Ortega drove “approximately 1.5 miles” with Kenneth Moeller, 61, lodged in the car’s windshield.
More
Which Cities/States Will Be The First To Default When The Economy Rolls Over?
What happens to local governments when the economy rolls over?
Though we're constantly reassured the "recovery" that's stumbled for five years has years of strong growth ahead, history suggests the "recovery" is due to roll over. Few recoveries last longer than 5 or 6 years, and the business cycle is graying fast: subprime auto loans are not exactly the foundation of "strong growth."
So what might push the economy over the cliff? The strong U.S. dollar is crimping overseas sales and profits, the global economy is already recessionary, mortgage applications have dried up, auto sales are being driven by subprime loans, and the valuation bubbles in stocks and real estate are due for a breather, if not an outright reversal. Retail sales are flat, and with all these headwinds, growing profits by 10% to 20% a year becomes impossible for the vast majority of enterprises.
So what happens to local governments when the economy rolls over? Tax revenues decline.
The consensus is that local governments are sitting pretty: sales and property values have risen smartly, pushing tax revenues higher, and the cost of borrowing money via tax-free municipal bonds has fallen. Nice, but these are all functions of expansion and rising tax rates.
The uneven nature of the "recovery" has left some cities and states more vulnerable to a downturn than others.Let's catalog the various risk factors that might become consequential as the global and U.S. economies weaken.
Though we're constantly reassured the "recovery" that's stumbled for five years has years of strong growth ahead, history suggests the "recovery" is due to roll over. Few recoveries last longer than 5 or 6 years, and the business cycle is graying fast: subprime auto loans are not exactly the foundation of "strong growth."
So what might push the economy over the cliff? The strong U.S. dollar is crimping overseas sales and profits, the global economy is already recessionary, mortgage applications have dried up, auto sales are being driven by subprime loans, and the valuation bubbles in stocks and real estate are due for a breather, if not an outright reversal. Retail sales are flat, and with all these headwinds, growing profits by 10% to 20% a year becomes impossible for the vast majority of enterprises.
So what happens to local governments when the economy rolls over? Tax revenues decline.
The consensus is that local governments are sitting pretty: sales and property values have risen smartly, pushing tax revenues higher, and the cost of borrowing money via tax-free municipal bonds has fallen. Nice, but these are all functions of expansion and rising tax rates.
The uneven nature of the "recovery" has left some cities and states more vulnerable to a downturn than others.Let's catalog the various risk factors that might become consequential as the global and U.S. economies weaken.
Report: $420M in U.S. Weapons, ‘Sensitive Items’ Go Missing in Afghanistan
Some 15,600 pieces of equipment—including “weapons, weapons systems, and sensitive items”—went missing in the past year from Army facilities in Bagram and Kandahar, accounting for around $419.5 million in losses, according to the report, which was issued in late October and marked “for official use only.”
The extent of these losses was only discovered following an internal audit by the Pentagon’s inspector general, who recommended that military leaders institute a series of reforms aimed at increasing transparency and strengthening mechanisms meant to detect such losses.
More
Megan Rothbauer facing bankruptcy because she was taken to the wrong hospital
A fully-insured Wisconsin woman may soon have to file for bankruptcy after she suffered cardiac arrest and was taken, while unconscious, to an emergency room that wasn't in her healthcare network.
Though Madison's St. Mary's Hospital was just three blocks away from where Megan Rothbauer was in September 2013 when she had a heart attack at just 29, it's not part of her Blue Cross-Blue Shield network.
Now, as Rothbauer recovers from the 10 days she spent in a medically-induced coma and the other six days she spent in a cardiac unit, she must also contend with whether she'll ever recover from its $50,000 price tag.
More
Though Madison's St. Mary's Hospital was just three blocks away from where Megan Rothbauer was in September 2013 when she had a heart attack at just 29, it's not part of her Blue Cross-Blue Shield network.
Now, as Rothbauer recovers from the 10 days she spent in a medically-induced coma and the other six days she spent in a cardiac unit, she must also contend with whether she'll ever recover from its $50,000 price tag.
More
Q105; A CHRISTMAS MUSIC TRADITION
“Starting in late October, listeners tell us they’re ready to hear Christmas music on the radio and via the iHeartRadio app,” stated Josh Wolff, Operations Manager. “We’re proud to fulfill their request and continue a Delmarva Christmas tradition: Christmas music around the clock on Q105!”
Fans can listen to Q105 FM for holiday music on-air and via the station's website, www.Q105FM.com as well as on iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia’s all-in-one digital radio service. iHeartRadio delivers everything listeners want in one free, fully-integrated service: instant access to more than 1,500 of the nation's most popular live broadcast and digital-only radio stations from 150 cities, plus user-created custom stations inspired by favorite artists and songs. iHeartRadio also offers listeners a "Perfect For" feature which allows users to choose from thousands of curated stations based on a range of moods and activities. New - iHeartRadio Talk feature (now in beta) offers on-demand listener-created talk content alongside popular news, celebrity and entertainment “audiosodes.” iHeartRadio Talk also features “Daily Pulse,” a customizable Talk channel featuring the most up-to-date news and culture highlights, to which users can add or remove content that is most important to them.
About iHeartMedia
Governor-elect Hogan names Robert “Bobby” Neall and Carville Collins as senior members of his transition team
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor-elect Larry Hogan introduced two new senior members of his transition team at a press conference this afternoon at the Tawes State Office Building, home of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Mr. Hogan has chosen Baltimore native Robert “Bobby” Neall to head his budget and tax team during the transition period, and Carville Collins to serve as general counsel to the transition team.
Mr. Neall, who attended the press conference, is a former state senator, delegate, and Anne Arundel County executive—and a businessman. He has been called the “most respected fiscal mind” in the state and has a reputation for calling for fiscal restraint, a message that the Governor-elect emphasized throughout his campaign.
“Bobby left the Republican Party in 1999 to become a Democrat—we’re not gonna hold that against him,” the Governor-elect said with a smile. “There is no better person in my mind to put our fiscal house in order than Bob Neall,” he continued.
The Governor-elect also announced attorney Carville Collins as general counsel. Mr. Collins, who was not present at the conference, is a partner of the law firm DLA Piper in Baltimore and Annapolis and served on Governor Ehrlich’s transition team in 2002.
“We’ll build out a senior team, and we’ll grow as the days go by … Right now, these are the most trusted guys I have, and they’re going to help build the rest of the transition team,” said the Governor-elect.
Lieutenant Governor-elect Boyd Rutherford, who is leading the transition with Secretary Jim Brady, also made an announcement at the press conference about a new website, launched today, for those interested in applying for work with the state government. That website is hogantransition.com
Governor-elect Hogan also held meetings with the President of the Maryland Senate, Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., and Comptroller Peter Franchot today.
Mr. Hogan has chosen Baltimore native Robert “Bobby” Neall to head his budget and tax team during the transition period, and Carville Collins to serve as general counsel to the transition team.
Mr. Neall, who attended the press conference, is a former state senator, delegate, and Anne Arundel County executive—and a businessman. He has been called the “most respected fiscal mind” in the state and has a reputation for calling for fiscal restraint, a message that the Governor-elect emphasized throughout his campaign.
“Bobby left the Republican Party in 1999 to become a Democrat—we’re not gonna hold that against him,” the Governor-elect said with a smile. “There is no better person in my mind to put our fiscal house in order than Bob Neall,” he continued.
The Governor-elect also announced attorney Carville Collins as general counsel. Mr. Collins, who was not present at the conference, is a partner of the law firm DLA Piper in Baltimore and Annapolis and served on Governor Ehrlich’s transition team in 2002.
“We’ll build out a senior team, and we’ll grow as the days go by … Right now, these are the most trusted guys I have, and they’re going to help build the rest of the transition team,” said the Governor-elect.
Lieutenant Governor-elect Boyd Rutherford, who is leading the transition with Secretary Jim Brady, also made an announcement at the press conference about a new website, launched today, for those interested in applying for work with the state government. That website is hogantransition.com
Governor-elect Hogan also held meetings with the President of the Maryland Senate, Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., and Comptroller Peter Franchot today.
Upset Mom Finds Herself Contacting the News After Reading the Answers on Her Son’s Islam Worksheet
The sentence that bothered the mom the most stated, “Most Muslims’ faith is stronger than the average Christian.”
Read some of the other answers from the world history assignment below:
More
Press Release - TOUGH MAN, TENDER CHICKEN – BOOK DISCUSSION WITH MITZI PERDUE
Contact: Monique Snyder
Title: Communications Manager
Phone: 410.749.3612 ext. 155
Email: msnyder@wicomico.org
Tough
man, tender chicken – book discussion with mitzi perdue
Wicomico Public Library is honored to welcome Mitzi Perdue on Sunday,
November 16th at 2pm to discuss her latest book Tough Man, Tender Chicken - Business
and Life Lessons from Frank Perdue. A story of how poultry entrepreneur
Frank Perdue built Perdue Farms. The discussion will be held in the
Launch/SBY Entrepreneurial Center at the Downtown Library.
Mitzi Perdue holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard
University and a master’s in public administration from George Washington
University. For two decades she was a syndicated columnist, first for Capitol
News, writing about food and agriculture, and then for Scripps Howard, writing
about the environment. She has a lifelong interest in business and success,
having watched how her father, Ernest Henderson, along with his business
partner, Robert Moore, founded and built the Sheraton Hotel chain. She was a
commissioner on the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information
Science and a past president of American AgriWomen, the oldest and largest
American farm women’s organization. She spent decades growing rice in
California, and when Frank and Mitzi met, they decided that chicken and rice go
well together.
Wicomico Public Library has locations in Downtown Salisbury, the Centre
at Salisbury, in Pittsville, and the Library Bookmobile. Not only does Wicomico
Public Library offer numerous resources such as free Internet access, a variety
of classes and events, and an online virtual library with eBooks, but it
engages with the community by supporting learning, building community, and
enriching lives. You Belong @ Wicomico Public Library!
Common Core Reading: 'The New Colossus'
The Common Core State Standards are changing what many kids read in school. They're standards, sure — not curriculum. Teachers and districts still have great latitude when it comes to the "how" of reading instruction, but...
The Core standards explicitly require students to read "complex" material, and the fact is, many kids simply weren't doing that before the Core. What were they doing?
Teachers in Washoe County Schools (in and around Reno, Nev.) — and many districts nationwide — once used what they call a "skills and strategies" approach to teach reading. It was particularly common among poor schools where lots of kids struggled.
The idea was this: To learn how to be a good reader, kids needed to learn the skills and strategies that good readers use. Those include knowing how to find the main idea of a text, identifying key details, being able to draw conclusions, etc.
Teachers in Reno would begin each lesson by telling students the skill they'd be learning that day, says Cathy Schmidt, who taught elementary school.
"Like, today we're going to read to make inferences. Or, today we're going to predict. Or, today we're going to draw conclusions," says Schmidt.
More
The Core standards explicitly require students to read "complex" material, and the fact is, many kids simply weren't doing that before the Core. What were they doing?
Teachers in Washoe County Schools (in and around Reno, Nev.) — and many districts nationwide — once used what they call a "skills and strategies" approach to teach reading. It was particularly common among poor schools where lots of kids struggled.
The idea was this: To learn how to be a good reader, kids needed to learn the skills and strategies that good readers use. Those include knowing how to find the main idea of a text, identifying key details, being able to draw conclusions, etc.
Teachers in Reno would begin each lesson by telling students the skill they'd be learning that day, says Cathy Schmidt, who taught elementary school.
"Like, today we're going to read to make inferences. Or, today we're going to predict. Or, today we're going to draw conclusions," says Schmidt.
More
OFFICE of the SHERIFF for QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY Press Release 11-13-14
INCIDENT: TheftDATE / TIME: 11/11/14 @ 0300 Hours
LOCATION: 4H Park Road, Queenstown
VICTIM: RB Baker & Sons
ARREST: Darrell William Timms (30) of Denton, MD
Andrea Lynn Fauver (21) of Denton, MD
CHARGE: Theft scheme $1,000 to $10,000 value
Theft less than $1000 value (6 counts)
MDOP under $500 value.
NARRATIVE: Between Sunday 11/2 and Tuesday 11/11, RB Baker and Sons was the victim of theft on several different nights. Suspects were taking compressed “biscuits” of aluminum cans valued at approximately $18 a piece. Suspects took an average of 600 pounds each time, for a total of approximately 3600 pounds of aluminum metal stolen in a week. This equates ot over 180,000 aluminum cans.
A surveillance team set up on the location and at approximately 0300 hrs on the 11th a dark green Suzuki Vitara SUV was observed pulling into the business lot. A male suspect (Darrell William Timms) began loading metal into SUV with the female suspect (Andrea Lynn Fauver) acted as a lookout and assisted with loading. Both suspects were arrested after deputies watched them load several hundred pounds of aluminum in the SUV.Both subjects were taken into custody without incident and transported to Sheriff's Headquarters for processing. A check with pawn records data base has tied the two to earlier thefts. A District Court Commissioner later released Fauver on her personal recognizance and Timms was released after posting $10,000 bond.
DEPUTIES: Sgt. Morris "Sonny" Jones and Cpl. Jeremy Davidson of the Sheriff's Resource Unit
ASSIST: A/Sgt Green and DFC Ambrose from Patrol Division
CASE: 14-37250
Turtle West Sold Million Dollar Lotto Winner To Local Man, But State Still Waiting To Hear From Him
The new multi-state draw game’s top prize of $21 million was won by a player in New Jersey, which triggered a total of 14, $1 million prizes around the country. The Maryland Lottery last weekend announced one of the $1 million Monopoly Millionaire’s Club winning tickets had been sold at the Greene Turtle in West Ocean City, touching off some intrigue around the rather close knit community about the possible winner and the likelihood it was a local given the time of year and the location.
When Greene Turtle staffers were informed the establishment had sold a $1 million winning ticket, they checked the daily sales log and found that only five of the tickets had been sold in advance of the drawing last Friday. Three of the tickets were sold to employees and each confirmed it was neither of them. A fourth ticket was sold to another Greene Turtle denizen who also confirmed she had not won the $1 million prize.
More
Pennsylvania attorney general: 4 employees fired, 11 suspended over exchange of porn emails
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania's attorney general says four of her employees have been fired and 11 suspended without pay for involvement in a pornographic emails scandal that also prompted a state Supreme Court justice to step down.
Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Wednesday two others face possible termination.
Kane has said emails containing explicit material and pornographic photos and videos surfaced during an examination of how prosecutors handled the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case. She promised the review while running for office in 2012.
More
Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Wednesday two others face possible termination.
Kane has said emails containing explicit material and pornographic photos and videos surfaced during an examination of how prosecutors handled the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case. She promised the review while running for office in 2012.
More
Sheriffs to March on Washington in Protest of Illegal Immigration Lawlessness: "We're Tired of Being Marginalized"
As President Obama continues to double down on his plans to inappropriately use his executive authority to rewrite immigration law, Sheriffs around the country have had enough and are planning to make their voices heard with a march on Washington D.C. in December.
The march is being organized by Massachusetts Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, not border sheriffs as people might expect.
"Sheriffs across the country have reached a point where we're tired of being marginalized for protecting the citizens of our communities by a president who's saying 'look, I don't respect the immigration laws, I think people ought to be able to come here in violation of the laws' and expecting law enforcement to look the other way. This just can't be," Hodgson said in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren last night. "I think everyone in this country understands, legal residents as well as American citizens, that democracy exists only because we have a framework of laws."
More
The march is being organized by Massachusetts Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, not border sheriffs as people might expect.
"Sheriffs across the country have reached a point where we're tired of being marginalized for protecting the citizens of our communities by a president who's saying 'look, I don't respect the immigration laws, I think people ought to be able to come here in violation of the laws' and expecting law enforcement to look the other way. This just can't be," Hodgson said in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren last night. "I think everyone in this country understands, legal residents as well as American citizens, that democracy exists only because we have a framework of laws."
More
Obama Set To Infuriate Republicans, Give 5 Million Illegal Immigrants "Executive Amnesty", Work Permits
The "compromise" refrain from last week's devastating, for the democrats, midterm election result lasted about one week. Because according to the NYT, here comes Obama with a package of executive actions which will assure Congress full of furious Republicans, which will result in a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration enforcement system but more importantly,will result in up to five million potential democrat voter illegal immigrants "from the threat of deportation and provide many of them with work permits, according to administration officials who have direct knowledge of the plan."
Here are the key details of the latest set of Obama executive orders, which are assured to throw the nation into another politial crisis:
One key piece of the order, officials said, will allow many parents of children who are American citizens or legal residents to obtain legal work documents and no longer worry about being discovered, separated from their families and sent away.
That part of Mr. Obama’s plan alone could affect as many as 3.3 million people who have been living in the United States illegally for at least five years, according to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration research organization in Washington. But the White House is also considering a stricter policy that would limit the benefits to people who have lived in the country for at least 10 years, or about 2.5 million people
Extending protections to more undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, and to their parents, could affect an additional one million or more if they are included in the final plan that the president announces.
More
Here are the key details of the latest set of Obama executive orders, which are assured to throw the nation into another politial crisis:
One key piece of the order, officials said, will allow many parents of children who are American citizens or legal residents to obtain legal work documents and no longer worry about being discovered, separated from their families and sent away.
That part of Mr. Obama’s plan alone could affect as many as 3.3 million people who have been living in the United States illegally for at least five years, according to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration research organization in Washington. But the White House is also considering a stricter policy that would limit the benefits to people who have lived in the country for at least 10 years, or about 2.5 million people
Extending protections to more undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, and to their parents, could affect an additional one million or more if they are included in the final plan that the president announces.
More
A Little Catholic Humour
After getting all of Pope Benedict's luggage loaded into the limo, (and he doesn't travel light), the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb.
"Excuse me, Your Holiness," says the driver, "Would you please take your seat so we can leave?"
"Well, to tell you the truth," says the Pope, "they never let me drive at the Vatican, and I'd really like to drive today."
"I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! What if something should happen?" protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.
"Who's going to tell?" says the Pope with a smile.
Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 205 kms. (Remember, Pope Benedict is German.)
"Please slow down, Your Holiness" pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.
"Oh, dear God, I'm going to lose my license -- and my job!" moans the driver.
The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.
"I need to talk to the Chief," he says to the dispatcher.
The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going 205 kph.
"So bust him," says the Chief.
"I don't think we want to do that, he's really important," said the cop.
The Chief exclaimed, "All the more reason!"
"No, I mean really important," said the cop with a bit of persistence..
The Chief then asked, "Who do you have there, the mayor?"
Cop: "Bigger."
Chief: "A senator?"
Cop: "Bigger."
Chief: "The Prime Minister?"
Cop: "Bigger."
"Well," said the Chief, "who is it?"
Cop: "I think it's God!"
The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, "What makes you think it's God?"
Cop: "His chauffeur is the Pope!"
"Excuse me, Your Holiness," says the driver, "Would you please take your seat so we can leave?"
"Well, to tell you the truth," says the Pope, "they never let me drive at the Vatican, and I'd really like to drive today."
"I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! What if something should happen?" protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.
"Who's going to tell?" says the Pope with a smile.
Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 205 kms. (Remember, Pope Benedict is German.)
"Please slow down, Your Holiness" pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.
"Oh, dear God, I'm going to lose my license -- and my job!" moans the driver.
The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.
"I need to talk to the Chief," he says to the dispatcher.
The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going 205 kph.
"So bust him," says the Chief.
"I don't think we want to do that, he's really important," said the cop.
The Chief exclaimed, "All the more reason!"
"No, I mean really important," said the cop with a bit of persistence..
The Chief then asked, "Who do you have there, the mayor?"
Cop: "Bigger."
Chief: "A senator?"
Cop: "Bigger."
Chief: "The Prime Minister?"
Cop: "Bigger."
"Well," said the Chief, "who is it?"
Cop: "I think it's God!"
The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, "What makes you think it's God?"
Cop: "His chauffeur is the Pope!"
Governor-elect Hogan releases statement on missing Perry Hall resident, Jasmine Baker
ANNAPOLIS, MD – November 13 – Governor-elect Larry Hogan has canceled his 4 p.m. stop at the Perry Hall Square Shopping Center today out of respect for the FBI’s efforts to search for Jasmine Baker, a 12-year-old Perry Hall resident who has been missing since Tuesday, November 11. The sixth-grader left her home Tuesday morning around 7:30, walking her usual half-mile route to Perry Hall Middle School, and has not been seen since, reports Baltimore’s ABC 2 News.
“I trust the residents and law enforcement officials of Baltimore County and the state are doing everything they possibly can to support the FBI in its search for young Jasmine,” said Governor-elect Hogan. “My thoughts and prayers are with Jasmine, her family, and the community during this very stressful time. If you know anything at all about Jasmine or where she could be, please call Baltimore County Police at 410-307-2020 or the FBI at 410-265-8080.”
“I trust the residents and law enforcement officials of Baltimore County and the state are doing everything they possibly can to support the FBI in its search for young Jasmine,” said Governor-elect Hogan. “My thoughts and prayers are with Jasmine, her family, and the community during this very stressful time. If you know anything at all about Jasmine or where she could be, please call Baltimore County Police at 410-307-2020 or the FBI at 410-265-8080.”
Here's What BB&T's Acquisition Of Susquehanna Means For Maryland — And The East Coast
And that was the goal.
"Our desire is to be in the top five in the markets which we serve," BB&T President Ricky K. Brown said in an interview. "It was very nice from the perspective of a Maryland growth opportunity."
If approved by regulators, the deal announced earlier Wednesday between Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T (NYSE: BBT) and Lititz, Pa.-based Susquehanna (NASDAQ: SUSQ) would move BB&T closer to being the fourth-largest bank in the Baltimore market — it would trail Wells Fargo Bank for that position by less than 2 percentage points.
More
Trivia Night Returns to Station 7 Pittsville!
SFD Calls For Service 11-12-14
.jpg)
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 21:37 Nature: Auto Accident RescueAddress: Snow Hill Rd & Toadvine Rd Salisbury, MD 21801
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 20:15Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 20:05 Nature: Vehicle Accident w/InjuriesAddress: 315-Blk Naylor Mill Rd Salisbury, MD 21801
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 19:33Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 18:19Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 17:25Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 14:39Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Fruitland
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 12:31Nature: Mutual AidAddress: 13336 Wootten Rd Laur, MD 21801
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 10:11Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 08:01Nature: Assist Fire DepartmentAddress: 5419 Loch Ness Ter Hebron, MD 21830
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 05:48Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
- Wednesday November, 12 2014 @ 01:33Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
Feds aim to control virtually ‘any wet spot’
Feds aim to control virtually ‘any wet spot’
A rule change to the Clean Water Act proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency apparently would put “any wet spot” under Washington control.
A low spot in a farmer’s field that occasionally holds rainwater, a subdivision ditch that drains storm runoff or a mountain road that directs snowmelt all could face new layers of federal requirements and bureaucracy.
The change to the definition of water and water bodies could impact millions of landowners, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation, which has won water-related disputes at the U.S. Supreme Court.
“On its face, the proposed rule covers virtually every water in the nation,” the team told the government in a comment procedure in advance of any final decision on the plan.
“Under this rule, a prudent legal practitioner would have to advise his client that the only waters not covered are those few that are expressly exempt.”
Exemptions would include a swimming pool or a decorative pond.
More
A rule change to the Clean Water Act proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency apparently would put “any wet spot” under Washington control.
A low spot in a farmer’s field that occasionally holds rainwater, a subdivision ditch that drains storm runoff or a mountain road that directs snowmelt all could face new layers of federal requirements and bureaucracy.
The change to the definition of water and water bodies could impact millions of landowners, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation, which has won water-related disputes at the U.S. Supreme Court.
“On its face, the proposed rule covers virtually every water in the nation,” the team told the government in a comment procedure in advance of any final decision on the plan.
“Under this rule, a prudent legal practitioner would have to advise his client that the only waters not covered are those few that are expressly exempt.”
Exemptions would include a swimming pool or a decorative pond.
More
War Crimes of US Generals
In 1876, Gen. George Custer led his 7th Cavalry regiment to their demise in Montana. The Battle of Little Big Horn was one of the biggest defeats suffered by the U.S. Army in the war against the Indians. It is only in recent years that proper attention has been paid to the role of atrocities by Custer and other military leaders in stirring up the wrath of oppressed Indians.
I visited the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument 45 years ago during a cross-country trip as a 12-year-old boy to a Boy Scout Jamboree in Idaho. Like most Scouts, I subscribed to the Patriotic Version of American History. After visiting the battlefield, I scribbled (or copied) a note that the Seventh Cavarly’s “heroic defense made the nation yearn for details that no white man lived to tell.” Many years later, I learned that Custer’s men were wiped out in part because the Army Quartermaster refused to permit them to carry repeating rifles – which supposedly wasted ammo. The Indians didn’t have a quartermaster, so they had repeating rifles, and the rest is history.
Custer also played a leading role in the 1864 desolation of the Shenandoah Valley, where I was raised a century later. After failing to decisively vanquish southern armies in the battlefield, Lincoln and his generals decided to win the war by brutalizing civilians. In August 1864, Gen. U.S. Grant ordered the destruction of all the barns, crops, and livestock in the Shenandoah Valley. The etching to the left shows his troops after torching much of the town of Mt. Jackson, Virginia. The population of Warren County, my home county, fell by 20% during the 1860s. Did anyone who refused to submit to Washington automatically forfeit his right to live? The desolation from the war and the systemic looting in its aftermath (ironically labeled “Reconstruction”) helped keep the South economically prostrate for generations.
More
I visited the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument 45 years ago during a cross-country trip as a 12-year-old boy to a Boy Scout Jamboree in Idaho. Like most Scouts, I subscribed to the Patriotic Version of American History. After visiting the battlefield, I scribbled (or copied) a note that the Seventh Cavarly’s “heroic defense made the nation yearn for details that no white man lived to tell.” Many years later, I learned that Custer’s men were wiped out in part because the Army Quartermaster refused to permit them to carry repeating rifles – which supposedly wasted ammo. The Indians didn’t have a quartermaster, so they had repeating rifles, and the rest is history.
Custer also played a leading role in the 1864 desolation of the Shenandoah Valley, where I was raised a century later. After failing to decisively vanquish southern armies in the battlefield, Lincoln and his generals decided to win the war by brutalizing civilians. In August 1864, Gen. U.S. Grant ordered the destruction of all the barns, crops, and livestock in the Shenandoah Valley. The etching to the left shows his troops after torching much of the town of Mt. Jackson, Virginia. The population of Warren County, my home county, fell by 20% during the 1860s. Did anyone who refused to submit to Washington automatically forfeit his right to live? The desolation from the war and the systemic looting in its aftermath (ironically labeled “Reconstruction”) helped keep the South economically prostrate for generations.
More
For Want of a Grouper
Prosecutors charge a fisherman for throwing one back in the water.
We knew the sprawling reach of Sarbanes-Oxley would eventually regulate untold corners of the Earth, but the law has now officially gone under water. This fiasco of government overreach is in the hands of the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments Wednesday about whether a fisherman can be prosecuted for “shredding” a fish in Yates v. U.S.
John Yates is the captain of the Miss Katie who was trying to hook grouper in the Gulf of Mexico in 2007. His boat was pulled over and inspected by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commissioner who determined that the boat’s haul of some 3,000 fish included 72 undersized fish that didn’t meet the federal requirement of 20 inches for grouper.
When Mr. Yates brought his boat to shore, federal agents counted only 69 offending fish; three were missing and unaccounted for. The discrepancy spawned an investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which hypothesized that the undersized fish had been thrown back into the water in an attempt to destroy evidence.
More
We knew the sprawling reach of Sarbanes-Oxley would eventually regulate untold corners of the Earth, but the law has now officially gone under water. This fiasco of government overreach is in the hands of the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments Wednesday about whether a fisherman can be prosecuted for “shredding” a fish in Yates v. U.S.
John Yates is the captain of the Miss Katie who was trying to hook grouper in the Gulf of Mexico in 2007. His boat was pulled over and inspected by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commissioner who determined that the boat’s haul of some 3,000 fish included 72 undersized fish that didn’t meet the federal requirement of 20 inches for grouper.
When Mr. Yates brought his boat to shore, federal agents counted only 69 offending fish; three were missing and unaccounted for. The discrepancy spawned an investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which hypothesized that the undersized fish had been thrown back into the water in an attempt to destroy evidence.
More
Police Continue Search for Missing 12-Year-Old Girl
Baltimore County Police, along with the Baltimore office of the FBI and the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit, continue an exhaustive search for Jasmine Leighlin Baker, a 12-year-old White Marsh girl who has been missing since Tuesday morning.BCoPD has received more than 50 tips and has followed up each one. None of these tips has led police to the missing girl, but detectives continue to pursue the most substantial leads. Anyone with information about Jasmine Baker should call police at 410-307-2020.
The FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have assisted with publicity for this case; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will assist with analysis of the girl's social media activity.
More
Pension crisis looms
First we had the fiscal cliff, then the highway cliff. Now get ready for the pension cliff.
The lame-duck session will determine the fate of so-called multi-employer pensions. With many of these plans skittering toward insolvency in the next decade, nervous employers want to get out while the getting is still good. Pension reform advocates fear that if Congress fails to intervene before the end of this year, employers will stampede out of the plans, costing the Treasury billions.
Multi-employer plans are defined-benefit pension plans maintained not by a single company but by several companies, typically within a single industry, and by at least one union.
“In some industries, if nothing is done this year, they will have to take a look at what their alternatives are,” said Randy DeFrehn, executive director of the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP), a nonprofit trade group. One clear alternative is to pull out.
The imminent retirement of two key congressional figures — Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R- Mich.) — doesn’t help. Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), another point person on multi-employer pensions, is ending his term as chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
More
The lame-duck session will determine the fate of so-called multi-employer pensions. With many of these plans skittering toward insolvency in the next decade, nervous employers want to get out while the getting is still good. Pension reform advocates fear that if Congress fails to intervene before the end of this year, employers will stampede out of the plans, costing the Treasury billions.
Multi-employer plans are defined-benefit pension plans maintained not by a single company but by several companies, typically within a single industry, and by at least one union.
“In some industries, if nothing is done this year, they will have to take a look at what their alternatives are,” said Randy DeFrehn, executive director of the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP), a nonprofit trade group. One clear alternative is to pull out.
The imminent retirement of two key congressional figures — Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R- Mich.) — doesn’t help. Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), another point person on multi-employer pensions, is ending his term as chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
More
MIKULSKI CALLS ON SENATE TO PASS HER BIPARTISAN BILL TO HELP AMERICAN FAMILIES ACCESS SAFE, AFFORDABLE AND QUALITY CHILD CARE
Senator introduced bipartisan legislation to support CCDBG which serves more than 1.5 million children every month, including 19,000 in Maryland
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today called on the Senate to take up and pass the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014. This bipartisan bill will improve the quality of child care for the more than 1.5 million children and families, including 19,000 in Maryland, who benefit from the federal child care subsidy program. The Senate is scheduled to take a procedural cloture vote on the legislation on Thursday. A vote on final passage is expected to occur late this week or early next.
“Before I was the Senator for Maryland, I was a social worker for Baltimore families and worked with children and the elderly. Today, I’m a social worker in Congress, working to build opportunities for families throughout America. Every family deserves child care that is affordable, accessible and exceptional,” Senator Mikulski said. “This bill reforms and refreshes important child care legislation, so moms and dads of modest means can afford child care while they go to work or school. Child care is something all families worry about, regardless of income or zip code. People want care that is reliable and undeniable, safe, affordable, and accessible. This bill helps ensure that all children get the care they need and deserve so they and their families can have a better, brighter future.”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today called on the Senate to take up and pass the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014. This bipartisan bill will improve the quality of child care for the more than 1.5 million children and families, including 19,000 in Maryland, who benefit from the federal child care subsidy program. The Senate is scheduled to take a procedural cloture vote on the legislation on Thursday. A vote on final passage is expected to occur late this week or early next.
“Before I was the Senator for Maryland, I was a social worker for Baltimore families and worked with children and the elderly. Today, I’m a social worker in Congress, working to build opportunities for families throughout America. Every family deserves child care that is affordable, accessible and exceptional,” Senator Mikulski said. “This bill reforms and refreshes important child care legislation, so moms and dads of modest means can afford child care while they go to work or school. Child care is something all families worry about, regardless of income or zip code. People want care that is reliable and undeniable, safe, affordable, and accessible. This bill helps ensure that all children get the care they need and deserve so they and their families can have a better, brighter future.”
Lame Duck Dems Pushing Liberal Appointments
Twenty-four new federal judges by Christmas? That’s what outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants in the lame duck session of Congress.
Faced with an incoming Republican majority, Reid and Barack Obama want to stack the judiciary in yet another egregious power grab. Reid also wants to get a budget done, get a deal on tax extenders, and another twenty-six or so executive branch nominees.
Adding insult to injury, these appointments will once again be made in violation of Senate rules, which state it takes sixty votes to close debate on any matter. These nominations will be confirmed with simple majorities – even though Senate rules were never technically modified, which would have taken a two-thirds vote.
As a result, Republicans will be unable to block them.
But Reid won’t be in the majority anymore, so what does he care?
Chalk it up to one more reason why the congressional session should begin immediately following an election.
More
Faced with an incoming Republican majority, Reid and Barack Obama want to stack the judiciary in yet another egregious power grab. Reid also wants to get a budget done, get a deal on tax extenders, and another twenty-six or so executive branch nominees.
Adding insult to injury, these appointments will once again be made in violation of Senate rules, which state it takes sixty votes to close debate on any matter. These nominations will be confirmed with simple majorities – even though Senate rules were never technically modified, which would have taken a two-thirds vote.
As a result, Republicans will be unable to block them.
But Reid won’t be in the majority anymore, so what does he care?
Chalk it up to one more reason why the congressional session should begin immediately following an election.
More
Rand Paul Hints Hillary's Age Could Deter Presidential Bid
Is Hillary Clinton too old to be president? Sen. Rand Paul hints that he thinks she might be.
During an interview with Politico, Paul — a Kentucky Republican who has yet to say publicly whether or not he will run for president in 2016 — said Clinton's age, 67, could be a factor in her campaign if she decides to join the race.
"I think all the polls show if she does run, she'll win the Democrat nomination," said Paul, 51. "But I don't think it's for certain. It's a very taxing undertaking to go through. It's a rigorous physical ordeal, I think, to be able to campaign for the presidency."
Last week, Paul was critical of Clinton on the night of the midterm elections in the form of several tweets.
As the votes were being counted and it was becoming clear that Republican candidates beat Democrats in several key races, Paul tweeted photos of Clinton posing with six Democrats who lost. Each carried the hashtag #HillarysLosers.
"Her main Achilles' heel is that she didn't provide an adequate defense for our consulate in Libya," Paul told Politico. "And also, she didn't think through the unintended consequences of getting involved in the Libyan war."
More
During an interview with Politico, Paul — a Kentucky Republican who has yet to say publicly whether or not he will run for president in 2016 — said Clinton's age, 67, could be a factor in her campaign if she decides to join the race.
"I think all the polls show if she does run, she'll win the Democrat nomination," said Paul, 51. "But I don't think it's for certain. It's a very taxing undertaking to go through. It's a rigorous physical ordeal, I think, to be able to campaign for the presidency."
Last week, Paul was critical of Clinton on the night of the midterm elections in the form of several tweets.
As the votes were being counted and it was becoming clear that Republican candidates beat Democrats in several key races, Paul tweeted photos of Clinton posing with six Democrats who lost. Each carried the hashtag #HillarysLosers.
"Her main Achilles' heel is that she didn't provide an adequate defense for our consulate in Libya," Paul told Politico. "And also, she didn't think through the unintended consequences of getting involved in the Libyan war."
More
Princeton makes it official — USA Has Become Oligarchy
Top 1% reshaped fundamentals of American life, culture and above all politics
American media is fond of speaking about “Russian Oligarchs” as if Russia were the only nation that allowed accumulation of such unprecedented wealth. The Yeltsin days of dis-order and collapse indeed saw the rapid rise of many fortunes and oligarchs—persons of very much wealth. Some of them have proven patriotic citizens, some like Khodokorvsky or the late unlamented Boris Berezhovsky proved to be loveless gangsters. A new study, however by a Princeton University Professor of the influence of very wealthy or economically powerful persons on American political policies makes clear for the first time that a genuine American Oligarchy has staged a slow coup d’etat over US foreign and domestic policy over the past three decades since the era of Ronald Reagan. This American oligarchy today is the major force for war and dis-order across the planet.
I completed by undergraduate university studies in one of America’s most elite universities, Princeton. It was during the early 1960’s and classmates came from elite preparatory private schools like Andover or Exeter. Classmates with names like Firestone or Prince Faisal were attending. Then tuition cost $650 a year, the price I paid for my used 1956 Chevy. I was only able to pay that because I was awarded a full university scholarship, raised by a working mother with modest income. Today tuition for one year at Princeton costs $41,820. Princeton speaks of money and elite families. So I noted with great interest a new study published by two Princeton professors on wealth in America since 1981.
More
American media is fond of speaking about “Russian Oligarchs” as if Russia were the only nation that allowed accumulation of such unprecedented wealth. The Yeltsin days of dis-order and collapse indeed saw the rapid rise of many fortunes and oligarchs—persons of very much wealth. Some of them have proven patriotic citizens, some like Khodokorvsky or the late unlamented Boris Berezhovsky proved to be loveless gangsters. A new study, however by a Princeton University Professor of the influence of very wealthy or economically powerful persons on American political policies makes clear for the first time that a genuine American Oligarchy has staged a slow coup d’etat over US foreign and domestic policy over the past three decades since the era of Ronald Reagan. This American oligarchy today is the major force for war and dis-order across the planet.
I completed by undergraduate university studies in one of America’s most elite universities, Princeton. It was during the early 1960’s and classmates came from elite preparatory private schools like Andover or Exeter. Classmates with names like Firestone or Prince Faisal were attending. Then tuition cost $650 a year, the price I paid for my used 1956 Chevy. I was only able to pay that because I was awarded a full university scholarship, raised by a working mother with modest income. Today tuition for one year at Princeton costs $41,820. Princeton speaks of money and elite families. So I noted with great interest a new study published by two Princeton professors on wealth in America since 1981.
More
Woman Charged With Arson After Setting Underwear On Fire In Jail
Shawn J. Soper, News Editor
OCEAN CITY -- A Bishopville woman is facing first-degree arson, malicious burning and other serious charges after allegedly setting a fire in her holding cell in Ocean City last night.
Around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, an Ocean City police officer on patrol was approached by a cab driver who informed the officer he just had a female passenger jump from his vehicle in the area of 64th Street. The cabbie told police the fare that had jumped from his cab was a white female around 50 years old with a red shirt and brown hair. The cabbie told police he picked up the fare at a downtown bar and was taking her to a residence in Bishopville when she jumped out of the vehicle. The cabbie told police the woman was intoxicated and was last seen crawling in a parking lot.
The officer responded to the area and found the woman, later identified as Lisa Kerstetter, 53, of Bishopville, in the parking lot of the 64th Street shopping center. The officer approached Kerstetter and asked if she was okay. According to police reports, she was incoherent and could not respond to the officer’s questions. Her purse and belongings were strewn about the parking lot.
More
If You Have Received This, It's A Hoax!
Hello,
I'm sorry for not writing you sooner i had to make a sudden trip to Philippines due to an emergency. I need your help. I lost my pouch containing my bank card,my cell phone and the little cash I had with me, so I can't access the ATM as planned. I'll appreciate whatever you can give right now if not all. It's really urgent, please get back to me asap, I'll advise on how to send it.
Many thanks.
Susan Seidel Tilghman
Seidel, Baker & Tilghman, P.A.
110 N. Division Street
Salisbury, Maryland 21801
Phone: (410) 865-8176
I'm sorry for not writing you sooner i had to make a sudden trip to Philippines due to an emergency. I need your help. I lost my pouch containing my bank card,my cell phone and the little cash I had with me, so I can't access the ATM as planned. I'll appreciate whatever you can give right now if not all. It's really urgent, please get back to me asap, I'll advise on how to send it.
Many thanks.
Susan Seidel Tilghman
Seidel, Baker & Tilghman, P.A.
110 N. Division Street
Salisbury, Maryland 21801
Phone: (410) 865-8176
Transgender Student: ‘I’m Fighting For My Right To Use The Correct Restroom’
.jpg)
“Though I was assigned female at birth, that’s not the case. I’m a boy,” 10th grader Gavin Grimm told WAVY.com.
Grimm, who attends Gloucester High School, came out as transgender over the summer. At school, he was initially told to use the nurse’s bathroom, then he was allowed to use the boys restroom.
The 15-year-old told WAVY.com, “however, there have been some parents in the community, or rather adults, that have had a problem with this. So, I’m fighting for my right to use the correct restroom … the men’s restroom.”
More
The Republican Senate Will Love Loretta Lynch
fter the news broke of Eric Holder’s departure from the DOJ, I called on President Obama to nominate Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, based on his exemplary record of defending consumers and citizens from predatory banks, big oil, insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical industry. My more cynical readers commented that Obama was too much of a corporatist to nominate Hood, and that whoever Holder’s successor would be, they would be completely subservient to the banks. And after the news of Lynch’s nomination and looking into her past, I can say with confidence that those readers were right.Right after graduating from law school, Lynch went to work as a litigation assistant for the prestigious New York-based law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel between 1984 and 1990. CG&R attorneys represented some of the more notorious figures behind the Savings and Loan Scandal of the 1980s and 1990s, including a man who had personal dealings with Charles Keating. In its profile of Lynch, the DOJ’s own website describes her as someone with extensive experience in “white collar criminal defense.” It’s very likely that Lynch went from Harvard straight to defending some of the worst financial criminals the country had ever seen at the time. On CG&R’s website, the “securities litigation and white collar defense” section describes the kind of crooks the firm defends:
Recent matters include the alleged manipulation of the US Dollar London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and multi-billion dollar federal and state court class and individual actions involving subprime and structured finance products.… We have handled some of the most significant investigations arising from existing and emerging regulation in the white collar arena, including for some of the largest transnational companies and banks as well as the largest securities rating agency.… Our securities litigation and white collar defense practice is top-ranked by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 and Benchmark Litigation.
Lynch basically got her first six years of white collar criminal defense experience working at the firm that is currently responsible for keeping the bankers behind the great subprime mortgage grift out of jail. CG&R is also defending the financial institutions that jacked up interest rates on everything from student loans to home loans out of greedy self-interest. They even defended the agencies that knowingly rated worthless mortgage-backed securities as AAA, setting up millions to lose their retirement savings in a snap.
More
Wounded anti-Iraq War veteran Tomas Young dies at 34
(CNN) -- Shortly after the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War, paralyzed veteran Tomas Young spoke with me about why he intended to end his life.
He didn't know what people would say about him after he was gone. All he wanted, really, was to be remembered as a nice guy.
He spoke with me by phone as a pump at his side helped him inject painkillers. His speech was so distorted that I had difficulty understanding him. He sent me photos showing how long and thick his hair and beard had grown. He said he seldom left his bed and that he popped a dizzying assortment of more than 30 different pills every day.
More
He didn't know what people would say about him after he was gone. All he wanted, really, was to be remembered as a nice guy.
He spoke with me by phone as a pump at his side helped him inject painkillers. His speech was so distorted that I had difficulty understanding him. He sent me photos showing how long and thick his hair and beard had grown. He said he seldom left his bed and that he popped a dizzying assortment of more than 30 different pills every day.
More
.jpg)
Concept Pitched To Market Ocean City As Major Fishing Destination
On Monday afternoon, Scott Lenox of Fish In OC, LLC., who is also a host of Hooked on OC, pitched the travel show concept of Fish In OC to the Tourism Commission.
“Scott [Lenox] approached me several months ago about a concept to market Ocean City as a destination for fishing similar to Ocean City Golf Getaway, which is a market co-op of all the golf courses. It really is an industry that is scattered … with real no cohesive effort to push fishing,” Tourism Director Donna Abbott said.
More
**Traffic Advisory** Troopers Investigating Fatal Crash, Greenwood
Greenwood, DE – Troopers are currently on the scene of a fatal crash on Nine Foot Road north of Hickman Road (SR16) that occurred around 9:00 a.m.
Preliminary investigation indicates the operator has died as a result of the crash which involves a single vehicle. The State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is currently on the scene and will assume the investigation.
Nine Foot Road between SR16 and Wheatfield Road is currently closed and commuters are urged to find alternate routes while the investigation continues.
Information regarding the crash will be released later this afternoon.
Preliminary investigation indicates the operator has died as a result of the crash which involves a single vehicle. The State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is currently on the scene and will assume the investigation.
Nine Foot Road between SR16 and Wheatfield Road is currently closed and commuters are urged to find alternate routes while the investigation continues.
Information regarding the crash will be released later this afternoon.
Eric Holder’s Perfect Successor
It would be difficult to imagine any Attorney General nominee who could guarantee a more seamless transition from the Eric Holder years than Loretta Lynch, who has been the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York since 2010. Her uncanny ability to detect phantoms of white racism lurking ominously around every corner is proof-positive of her fitness to serve as Holder’s successor in the Obama administration.
Lynch believes that voter ID laws are part of a racist effort to suppress minority turnout at the polls. “Fifty years after the civil rights movement,” sheavers, “we stand in this country at a time when we see people trying to take back so much of what Dr. [Martin Luther] King fought for … and [to] reverse the [gains] that have been made in voting in this country.” Consequently, Lynch is eminently “proud” that the Justice Department has filed suit against states which have enacted voter ID laws “seek[ing] to limit our ability to stand up and exercise our rights as citizens.” Lynch also supports efforts to restore the voting rights of (disproportionately black) convicted felons who “have served their debt to society”—a measure that would “en[d] the chain of permanent disenfranchisement that visits many of them.”
More
Lynch believes that voter ID laws are part of a racist effort to suppress minority turnout at the polls. “Fifty years after the civil rights movement,” sheavers, “we stand in this country at a time when we see people trying to take back so much of what Dr. [Martin Luther] King fought for … and [to] reverse the [gains] that have been made in voting in this country.” Consequently, Lynch is eminently “proud” that the Justice Department has filed suit against states which have enacted voter ID laws “seek[ing] to limit our ability to stand up and exercise our rights as citizens.” Lynch also supports efforts to restore the voting rights of (disproportionately black) convicted felons who “have served their debt to society”—a measure that would “en[d] the chain of permanent disenfranchisement that visits many of them.”
More
Hogan Should Hold the Line Against 16-Mile $2.5B Rail Project
It is barely four days since the upset election of a Republican governor in the usually-blue state of Maryland, and pressure is already building on Larry Hogan to break his campaign promises to put the Free State on a fiscally responsible path.
Friday’s Washington Post called for Hogan to approve the Purple Line, a 16-mile light rail project just north of Washington D.C. that is anticipated to cost $2.5 billion. If Hogan approved the project, he would break faith with the voters who elected him to the surprise of the nation and the pollsters.
There is no quicker way for Hogan to destroy his reputation than to approve the costly Purple Line. Maryland has funding for roads, but not for inefficient light rail. In September Hogan said, "We're going to focus on building roads, and that's something this administration has not done."
More
Friday’s Washington Post called for Hogan to approve the Purple Line, a 16-mile light rail project just north of Washington D.C. that is anticipated to cost $2.5 billion. If Hogan approved the project, he would break faith with the voters who elected him to the surprise of the nation and the pollsters.
There is no quicker way for Hogan to destroy his reputation than to approve the costly Purple Line. Maryland has funding for roads, but not for inefficient light rail. In September Hogan said, "We're going to focus on building roads, and that's something this administration has not done."
More
Did the U.S. Just Secretly Fly in an African Ebola Patient?
You won’t likely find this story on Fox News or CNN, but it could be a critical warning of what is coming.
There are overwhelming suspicions that an African Ebola patient landed at 11:59 PM Sunday Night near Atlanta. This might signal the start of things to come with Barack Hussein Obama making Ebola patients one of our chief imports.
For those who have been following the Ebola story, you surely understand that the real story might be the plans andpolicies in place that will assure Ebola eventually gains a foothold in America. Not only is Obama refusing to ban flights to and from Ebola hot zones, the administration has admitted that it plans to bring non-American Ebola patients here for treatment.
On October 17th Judicial Watch issued a warning:
Judicial Watch has learned that the Obama administration is actively formulating plans to admit Ebola-infected non-U.S. citizens into the United States for treatment. Specifically, the goal of the administration is to bring Ebola patients into the United States for treatment within the first days of diagnosis.
More
There are overwhelming suspicions that an African Ebola patient landed at 11:59 PM Sunday Night near Atlanta. This might signal the start of things to come with Barack Hussein Obama making Ebola patients one of our chief imports.
For those who have been following the Ebola story, you surely understand that the real story might be the plans andpolicies in place that will assure Ebola eventually gains a foothold in America. Not only is Obama refusing to ban flights to and from Ebola hot zones, the administration has admitted that it plans to bring non-American Ebola patients here for treatment.
On October 17th Judicial Watch issued a warning:
Judicial Watch has learned that the Obama administration is actively formulating plans to admit Ebola-infected non-U.S. citizens into the United States for treatment. Specifically, the goal of the administration is to bring Ebola patients into the United States for treatment within the first days of diagnosis.
More
Only a handful of people were able to speak on a proposal that could make the tiny Massachusetts town of Westminster the first in the nation to ban all sales of tobacco products when boos and shouts from the crowd shut down the public hearing Wednesday night.
Sixty or more residents in the packed Westminster Elementary school gymnasium were registered to share their opinions.
Some among the audience of several hundred toted signs opposing the ban; some had participated in a rally earlier.
More
Sixty or more residents in the packed Westminster Elementary school gymnasium were registered to share their opinions.
Some among the audience of several hundred toted signs opposing the ban; some had participated in a rally earlier.
More
AG Gansler Secures Settlement With Verizon Over Misleading FiOS Offers
AG Gansler Secures Settlement with Verizon Over
Misleading FiOS Offers Consumers estimated to
get $1.375 million in restitution
Baltimore, MD - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that his Consumer Protection Division has entered into a settlement agreement with Verizon over allegations that it misrepresented the actual cost consumers were charged to utilize FiOS television, internet and phone services.
"Verizon's activities when it was rolling out FiOS established it as one of our office's biggest complaint generators," said Attorney General Gansler. "I'm pleased that Verizon is changing its marketing practices to accurately reflect the total cost of its services and that a significant number of consumers will receive restitution as a result of this agreement."
Hillary Donor Under Investigation in Counterintelligence Probe
A former high-ranking diplomat and Clinton ally at the center of an FBI counterintelligence probe was a registered foreign agent for the Pakistani government up until just days before she was appointed to run the U.S. State Department’s Pakistan aid team.
The Washington Post reported last week that the State Department’s aid coordinator for Pakistan, Robin Raphel, is the subject of a counterintelligence investigation and has had her security clearance revoked.
The FBI has not specified the nature of the probe, although the Post indicated that it could be espionage-related. She was reportedly placed on administrative leave last month, and the State Department said she is no longer employed by the agency.
Raphel previously served as an assistant secretary of state under President Bill Clinton and rejoined the State Department in August 2009 to focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan aid issues. She is also close to Hillary Clinton and contributed $2,000 to her presidential campaign in 2007.
From 2007 until 2009, Raphel worked for the lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates, where her clients included the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
Cassidy & Associates stated in lobbying disclosure records that Raphel stopped conducting work for Pakistan in November 2007.
More
The Washington Post reported last week that the State Department’s aid coordinator for Pakistan, Robin Raphel, is the subject of a counterintelligence investigation and has had her security clearance revoked.
The FBI has not specified the nature of the probe, although the Post indicated that it could be espionage-related. She was reportedly placed on administrative leave last month, and the State Department said she is no longer employed by the agency.
Raphel previously served as an assistant secretary of state under President Bill Clinton and rejoined the State Department in August 2009 to focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan aid issues. She is also close to Hillary Clinton and contributed $2,000 to her presidential campaign in 2007.
From 2007 until 2009, Raphel worked for the lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates, where her clients included the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
Cassidy & Associates stated in lobbying disclosure records that Raphel stopped conducting work for Pakistan in November 2007.
More
America's Next Economic Bonanza: Bigger Butts
The U.S. booty business is getting a big bump, as AP reports companies are cashing in on growing demand from women seeking the more curvaceous figures of their favorite stars. While Millennials may spend most of their day sitting on their Minaj-esque "big fat butts" playing Kardashian, the business of boosting butts is bursting. From padded panties and gym classes that promise plumper posteriors to the "Brazilian butt lift," in which fat is sucked from a patient's stomach, love handles or back and put into their buttocks and hips, French sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann says "there's a trend to show off the buttocks in place of breastsdue to the rise of Beyonce," Jennifer Lopez, and more recently Meghan Trainor. The bottom line - butt lifts and implants are the fastest growing plastic surgery, helping GDP at a cost of $10-13k each.
As AP reports,
Gym classes that promise a plump posterior are in high demand. A surgery that pumps fat into the buttocks is gaining popularity. And padded panties that give the appearance of a rounder rump are selling out.
The U.S. booty business is getting a big bump. Companies are cashing in on growing demand from women seeking the more curvaceous figures of their favorite stars, who flaunt their fuller rear ends.
More
As AP reports,
Gym classes that promise a plump posterior are in high demand. A surgery that pumps fat into the buttocks is gaining popularity. And padded panties that give the appearance of a rounder rump are selling out.
The U.S. booty business is getting a big bump. Companies are cashing in on growing demand from women seeking the more curvaceous figures of their favorite stars, who flaunt their fuller rear ends.
More
Former Goldman Banker Reveals The Path To The Next Depression And Stock Market Collapse
A funny thing happened on the way to the ‘end’ of the multi-trillion dollar bond buying program known as QE - the Fed chronicles. Aside from the shift to a globalization of QE via the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan (BOJ) as I wrote about earlier, what lingers in the air of “post-taper” time is an absence of absence. For QE is not over. Instead, in the United States, the process has simply morphed from being predominantly executed by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to being executed by its major private bank members. Fed Chair, Janet Yellen, has failed to point this out in any of her speeches about the labor force, inflation, or inequality.
The financial system has failed and remains a threat to us all. Only cheap money and the artificial inflation of asset values can make it appear temporarily healthy. Yet, the Fed (and the Obama Administration) continue to perpetuate the illusion that making the cost of (printed) money zero by any means has had a positive effect on the population at large, when in fact, all that has occurred is a pass-the-debt-ponzi-scheme co-engineered by the Fed and big US bank beneficiaries. That debt, caught in the crossfires of this central-private bank arrangement, is still doing nothing for American citizens or the broader national or global economy.
The Fed is already the largest hedge fund in the world, with a book of $4.5 trillion of assets. These will plummet in value if rates rise. Cue the banks that are gearing up their own (still small in comparison, but give them time) role in this big bamboozle. By doing so, they too are amassing additional risk with respect to interest rates rising, on top of all their other risk that counts on leveraging cheap money.
Only the super naïve could possibly believe that the Fed and its key banks haven’t been in regular communication about this US Treasury security shell game. Yet, aside from a few politicians, such as former Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Sherrod Brown and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the notion that Fed policy has helped bankers, rather than other people, remains largely divorced from bi-partisan political discussion.
Adding more fuel to the central-private bank collusion fire, is the fact that the Fed is a paying client of the JPM Chase. The banking behemoth is bagging fees for holding and executing transactions on the $1.7 trillion New York Fed’s QE mortgage portfolio, as brilliantly exposed by Pam Martens and Russ Martens.
More
The financial system has failed and remains a threat to us all. Only cheap money and the artificial inflation of asset values can make it appear temporarily healthy. Yet, the Fed (and the Obama Administration) continue to perpetuate the illusion that making the cost of (printed) money zero by any means has had a positive effect on the population at large, when in fact, all that has occurred is a pass-the-debt-ponzi-scheme co-engineered by the Fed and big US bank beneficiaries. That debt, caught in the crossfires of this central-private bank arrangement, is still doing nothing for American citizens or the broader national or global economy.
The Fed is already the largest hedge fund in the world, with a book of $4.5 trillion of assets. These will plummet in value if rates rise. Cue the banks that are gearing up their own (still small in comparison, but give them time) role in this big bamboozle. By doing so, they too are amassing additional risk with respect to interest rates rising, on top of all their other risk that counts on leveraging cheap money.
Only the super naïve could possibly believe that the Fed and its key banks haven’t been in regular communication about this US Treasury security shell game. Yet, aside from a few politicians, such as former Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Sherrod Brown and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the notion that Fed policy has helped bankers, rather than other people, remains largely divorced from bi-partisan political discussion.
Adding more fuel to the central-private bank collusion fire, is the fact that the Fed is a paying client of the JPM Chase. The banking behemoth is bagging fees for holding and executing transactions on the $1.7 trillion New York Fed’s QE mortgage portfolio, as brilliantly exposed by Pam Martens and Russ Martens.
More
Md. to high court: State has a right to tax all out-of-state income to support local services
Maryland’s acting solicitor general told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the state has the right to tax all income that residents earn in other states in order to help pay for local government services they enjoy, such as schools and police and fire protection.
Maryland allows shareholders of some companies a credit on their state income tax returns for taxes paid in other states. But that credit does not apply to the “piggyback tax” — the segment of the income tax that Maryland collects and distributes to its 23 counties and Baltimore City.
A Howard County couple, Brian and Karen Wynne, are challenging that policy. In 2006, the Wynnes held a 2.4 percent stake in Maxim Health Care Services, a Howard-based home-care and medical staffing company doing business in 39 states. About half of the Wynnes’ $2.7 million income that year came from their share of Maxim’s distributions of out-of-state earnings.
The Wynnes claimed an $84,550 Maryland credit for taxes paid in those states. But Maryland officials disallowed a credit against Howard’s 3.2 percent piggyback income tax. As a result, the Wynnes contend, they were subjected to about $25,000 in illegal double taxation.
More
Maryland allows shareholders of some companies a credit on their state income tax returns for taxes paid in other states. But that credit does not apply to the “piggyback tax” — the segment of the income tax that Maryland collects and distributes to its 23 counties and Baltimore City.
A Howard County couple, Brian and Karen Wynne, are challenging that policy. In 2006, the Wynnes held a 2.4 percent stake in Maxim Health Care Services, a Howard-based home-care and medical staffing company doing business in 39 states. About half of the Wynnes’ $2.7 million income that year came from their share of Maxim’s distributions of out-of-state earnings.
The Wynnes claimed an $84,550 Maryland credit for taxes paid in those states. But Maryland officials disallowed a credit against Howard’s 3.2 percent piggyback income tax. As a result, the Wynnes contend, they were subjected to about $25,000 in illegal double taxation.
More
"The other side still thinks they can take down Obamacare"
Dear Mr. Obama, "The other side"?
You see Mr. President, (and may I use that term lightly) this is OUR COUNTRY. If you mean my being "the other side" as a non Muslim and instead a Christian, well, I guess we are enemies then and you CAN consider me "the other side".
If because I/We do not collect welfare, food stamps, affordable housing, disability makes us the "other side", then I/We are guilty as charged.
The mere fact that you and your people send me at least FOUR e-mail messages a day begging for money to support YOUR agenda brings me to a boiling point. Now I/We are the enemy because we have a LEADER who has no clue how to agree to disagree and instead calls our own people "the other side".
You need to be impeached. I Thank God you will be out of Office soon and with all hope Americans finally put someone in Office with some EXPERIENCE & WISDOM instead of he/she, black/white.
I'm not "the other side", I am an AMERICAN who has paid MILLIONS in taxes and I deserve a President who respects me, not a President who labels me because I simply disagree.
Participants Sought for 2015 Wicomico Schools Redistricting Task Force
The task force will include parents/guardians and community members from throughout the county, as well as staff members. People who served on the Redistricting Task Force in 2009-2010 are invited to return, and new members are welcome. The Redistricting Task Force will meet approximately twice a week from early January through late February.
Anyone interested in serving on the Redistricting Task Force may call 410-677-4495, or send an e-mail to comments@wcboe.org. Please share a little information about your background, your location and your interest in serving on the Task Force. This will assist the Board in appointing a Task Force whose members represent the many facets of the community.
Redistricting is necessary from time to time as the school system experiences changes in school facilities (such as the opening of the new Bennett Middle in Fruitland next August), programs, and enrollment. The Redistricting Task Force, starting from Targets for Establishing Student Attendance Areas, will examine enrollment numbers and other data to develop a redistricting proposal. There will be many opportunities for public input during and after the Task Force’s work. A final Board of vote on a redistricting plan is anticipated in the spring.Throughout the redistricting process, the Board will keep the community up to date with a redistricting page at www.wcboe.org. Public input may be made at any time by calling 410-677-5251 or e-mailing to comments@wcboe.org.