DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tighten Your Belts!
Chinese Yuan To Be Used For All US Traders
Joe:
Remember the video you put up a few days ago warning about America's impending economic disaster. Well right now on CNBC.com - there is a news release whereby China is now allowing US traders and citizens to open up Chinese bank accounts. The measure is to allow americans to buy Chinese goods in Chinese currency verses US currency. It plans to expand to all other countries.
GOVERNOR PROMOTES MARYLAND NATIONAL GUARD OFFICER TO MAJOR GENERAL
ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 12, 2011) – Governor Martin O'Malley today promoted James A. Adkins to the rank of major general in a private ceremony in the Governor's office under the historic portrait of General John Stricker. Maj. Gen. Adkins has served as adjutant general of Maryland since 2008 and also served as the state's Secretary of Veterans Affairs until 2009.
“This is an outstanding personal achievement for Maj. Gen. Adkins,” said Governor O'Malley. “His professional insight and strategic intuition have served Maryland well these last few years, and this promotion is well deserved.”
As the state's 28th adjutant general since 1794, General Adkins is responsible for formulating, developing and coordinating all policies, programs and plans for seven thousand men and women who make up the state of Maryland Military Department. The Military Department includes the Maryland Army National Guard, Maryland Air National Guard, Maryland Emergency Management Agency and the Maryland Defense Force. The Department employs more than 7,100 full-time and traditional Guard members and civilian state employees, contributing more than $353 million annually to Maryland’s economy.
The Maryland National Guard is tasked at both the federal level by the President of the United States and at the state level by the Governor to defend our country and state. Since 9/11, almost 9,000 Maryland Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen have been called to serve on active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and a wide range of natural disaster recovery efforts.
In 1993 the Maryland National Guard joined with Estonia in the State Partnership Program. The SPP was launched in Europe as part of the initial outreach by the United States to new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The partnership program emphasizes civil and military cooperation with civil control of a professional military.
Maryland has a key role in this international initiative to foster democracy, encourage market economies and promote regional cooperation and stability. In 2003, Maryland was selected to partner with Bosnia and Herzegovina, in part because of the state's previous success with Estonia.
The Maryland National Guard now has approximately 200 Soldiers and Airmen deployed overseas in a variety of theaters including Afghanistan, Iraq, Djibouti and others. Within the next six months, it will have up to 1,000
Service members deployed in peacekeeping, combat and support roles--the most it has had deployed since World War II.
District’s First Car Charging Station Opens
The big constant up at the North American Auto Show this week has been fuel economy and electric vehicles.
And now, if you want to jump on the green car bandwagon, there is a place in D.C. to charge up.
On Wednesday morning, Tesla Motors, the maker of the Tesla Roadster, helped to open the first residential electric car-charging station in D.C. The station has been installed at the 425 Mass Apartments by the Car Charging Group, Inc.
GO HERE to read more.
Anglican Priest Fired Over Porn
An associate rector at a prominent conservative Anglican church in Fairfax City was fired last month for repeatedly using a church computer to surf for pornography, a church official told the Washington Post.
The Rev. Marshall Brown, 57, who served as a priest at Truro Church for more than a decade and was the associate rector of pastoral care, was fired Dec. 31 after church officials discovered he had been "accessing websites that could be considered as pornographic," Warren Thrasher, Truro executive director, told the Fairfax Times.
Thrasher, who joined the church in 2008, said Brown told church officials in 2005 that he had an Internet addiction problem, and then-Truro rector and current Anglican Bishop Martyn Minns arranged for Brown to seek treatment at that time, according to the Times. But Brown never spelled out the problem, church officials said, and they didn't ask.
Minns, one of the leaders of Anglican conservatism, said in an interview with the Washington Post last week that in 2005, he didn't ask his then-assistant for details about what kind of sites he was using -- sexual or otherwise. The addiction experts who treated Brown told Minns that "there was nothing illegal or involving children," but beyond that, Minns told the Post, "I didn't ask too many questions."
Brown told the Post he deeply regrets the way his tenure at Truro ended and the way his actions have affected his family and church. He declined to go into the specifics of what happened, but said, "The church, Bishop Minns, they've treated me fairly. If I were a denominational leader, I would do exactly the same thing," the Post reported.
GO HERE to read more.
Noteworthy Quotes
"If crazed gunmen are sadly a periodic characteristic of American culture, so are political vultures who scavenge political capital as they pick through the horrific violence." --historian Victor Davis Hanson
"Those who try to connect Sarah Palin and other political figures with whom they disagree to the shootings in Arizona use attacks on 'rhetoric' and a 'climate of hate' to obscure their own dishonesty in trying to imply responsibility where none exists. "But the dishonesty remains. ... [T]hose who purport to care about the health of our political community demonstrate precious little actual concern for America's political well-being when they seize on any pretext, however flimsy, to call their political opponents accomplices to murder." --law professor Glenn Reynolds
"If there is anything more frightening or sad about [the Arizona shootings], it is that anyone would try to lay the blame on anyone else's doorstep, other than that of the sick kid who carried this out." --Arizona's Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever
"This shouldn't happen in this country or anywhere else, but in a free society, we're going to be subject to people like this. I prefer this to the alternative." --John Green, the father of 9-year-old Christina Green, who was murdered in Tucson
More from the Patriot Post
"Those who try to connect Sarah Palin and other political figures with whom they disagree to the shootings in Arizona use attacks on 'rhetoric' and a 'climate of hate' to obscure their own dishonesty in trying to imply responsibility where none exists. "But the dishonesty remains. ... [T]hose who purport to care about the health of our political community demonstrate precious little actual concern for America's political well-being when they seize on any pretext, however flimsy, to call their political opponents accomplices to murder." --law professor Glenn Reynolds
"If there is anything more frightening or sad about [the Arizona shootings], it is that anyone would try to lay the blame on anyone else's doorstep, other than that of the sick kid who carried this out." --Arizona's Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever
"This shouldn't happen in this country or anywhere else, but in a free society, we're going to be subject to people like this. I prefer this to the alternative." --John Green, the father of 9-year-old Christina Green, who was murdered in Tucson
More from the Patriot Post
Troopers Investigate Four Car Crash In Wilmington
Location: US Rt. 202 (Concord Pike) at Murphy Road, Wilmington, DE
Date of Occurrence: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 10:55 a.m.
Operators/Vehicles:
Operator #1: Roger Turner, 46, Newark, DE
Vehicle #1: 2004 Chevrolet Malibu
Operator #2: Faith Tooley, 24, Crum Lynne, PA
Vehicle #2: 2003 Hyundai Elantra
Operator #3: Joseph Dinozzi, 58, Middletown, DE
Vehicle #3: 2007 Infiniti SUV
Operator #4: Lexter Herritt, 52, Nova Scotia, Canada
Vehicle #4: 2008 Volvo Tractor and trailer
Resume:
Wilmington- The Delaware State Police is investigating a four vehicle crash which occurred late this morning on Rt. 202 in Wilmington.
The incident happened as Lexter Herritt was operating a 2008 Volvo tractor and trailer and was northbound on Rt. 202 approaching Murphy Road. Herritt’s vehicle then struck the rear of a 2007 Infinity SUV that was stopped for a red light on northbound Rt. 202 and which was being operated by Joseph Dinozzi, 58, of Middletown, DE. Dinozzi’s vehicle, which overturned, was then pushed into the rear of a 2003 Hyundai Elantra that was also stopped on northbound Rt. 202 in front of the Infinity and which was being operated by Faith Tooley, of Crum Lynne, PA. Her vehicle was then pushed into the rear of a Chevrolet Malibu that was being operated by Roger Turner of Newark, DE.
Joseph Dinozzi was transported from the scene by EMS to the Christiana Hospital in Newark for injuries he sustained in the crash. His status is unknown at this point, however, his injuries are not believed to be life threatening. There were no other known injuries. This crash is still under investigation at this time. Rt. 202 northbound was partially closed in the area as the accident was investigated.
Krauthammer: Massacre, Followed By Libel
The charge: The Tucson massacre is a consequence of the “climate of hate” created by Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, Obamacare opponents, and sundry other liberal bêtes noires.
The verdict: Rarely in American political discourse has there been a charge so reckless, so scurrilous, and so unsupported by evidence.
As killers go, Jared Loughner is not reticent. Yet among all his writings, postings, videos, and other ravings — and in all the testimony from people who knew him — there is not a single reference to any of these supposed accessories to murder.
Not only is there no evidence that Loughner was impelled to violence by any of those upon whom Paul Krugman, Keith Olbermann, the New York Times, the Tucson sheriff, and other rabid partisans are fixated. There is no evidence that he was responding to anything, political or otherwise, outside of his own head.
A climate of hate? This man lived within his very own private climate. “His thoughts were unrelated to anything in our world,” said the teacher of Loughner’s philosophy class at Pima Community College.
“He was very disconnected from reality,” said classmate Lydian Ali.
“You know how it is when you talk to someone who’s mentally ill and they’re just not there?” said neighbor Jason Johnson. “It was like he was in his own world.”
His ravings, said one high-school classmate, were interspersed with “unnerving, long stupors of silence” during which he would “stare fixedly at his buddies,” reported the Wall Street Journal. His own writings are confused, incoherent, punctuated with private numerology and inscrutable taxonomy. He warned of government brainwashing and thought control through “grammar.” He was obsessed with “conscious dreaming,” a fairly good synonym for hallucinations.
This is not political behavior. These are the signs of a clinical thought disorder — ideas disconnected from one another, incoherent, delusional, detached from reality.
These are all the hallmarks of a paranoid schizophrenic. And a dangerous one.
Furthermore, the available evidence dates Loughner’s fixation on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords back to at least 2007, when he attended a townhall of hers and felt slighted by her response. In 2007, no one had heard of Sarah Palin. Glenn Beck was still toiling on Headline News. There was no Tea Party or health-care reform. The only climate of hate was the pervasive post-Iraq campaign of vilification of George W. Bush, nicely captured by a New Republic editor who began an article thus: “I hate President George W. Bush. There, I said it.”
Finally, the charge that the metaphors used by Palin and others were inciting violence is ridiculous. Everyone uses warlike metaphors in describing politics. When Barack Obama said at a 2008 fundraiser in Philadelphia, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” he was hardly inciting violence.
Why? Because fighting and warfare are the most routine of political metaphors. And for obvious reasons. Historically speaking, all democratic politics is a sublimation of the ancient route to power — military conquest. That’s why the language persists. That’s why we speak without any self-consciousness of such things as “battleground states” and “targeting” opponents.
Indeed, the very word for an electoral contest — “campaign” — is an appropriation from warfare.
Read more here
[Charles Krauthammer is a syndicated columnist, an attorney, and an M.D. (a psychiatrist, specifically.) He is well qualified to express an opinion on this subject. -- Editor]
The verdict: Rarely in American political discourse has there been a charge so reckless, so scurrilous, and so unsupported by evidence.
As killers go, Jared Loughner is not reticent. Yet among all his writings, postings, videos, and other ravings — and in all the testimony from people who knew him — there is not a single reference to any of these supposed accessories to murder.
Not only is there no evidence that Loughner was impelled to violence by any of those upon whom Paul Krugman, Keith Olbermann, the New York Times, the Tucson sheriff, and other rabid partisans are fixated. There is no evidence that he was responding to anything, political or otherwise, outside of his own head.
A climate of hate? This man lived within his very own private climate. “His thoughts were unrelated to anything in our world,” said the teacher of Loughner’s philosophy class at Pima Community College.
“He was very disconnected from reality,” said classmate Lydian Ali.
“You know how it is when you talk to someone who’s mentally ill and they’re just not there?” said neighbor Jason Johnson. “It was like he was in his own world.”
His ravings, said one high-school classmate, were interspersed with “unnerving, long stupors of silence” during which he would “stare fixedly at his buddies,” reported the Wall Street Journal. His own writings are confused, incoherent, punctuated with private numerology and inscrutable taxonomy. He warned of government brainwashing and thought control through “grammar.” He was obsessed with “conscious dreaming,” a fairly good synonym for hallucinations.
This is not political behavior. These are the signs of a clinical thought disorder — ideas disconnected from one another, incoherent, delusional, detached from reality.
These are all the hallmarks of a paranoid schizophrenic. And a dangerous one.
Furthermore, the available evidence dates Loughner’s fixation on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords back to at least 2007, when he attended a townhall of hers and felt slighted by her response. In 2007, no one had heard of Sarah Palin. Glenn Beck was still toiling on Headline News. There was no Tea Party or health-care reform. The only climate of hate was the pervasive post-Iraq campaign of vilification of George W. Bush, nicely captured by a New Republic editor who began an article thus: “I hate President George W. Bush. There, I said it.”
Finally, the charge that the metaphors used by Palin and others were inciting violence is ridiculous. Everyone uses warlike metaphors in describing politics. When Barack Obama said at a 2008 fundraiser in Philadelphia, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” he was hardly inciting violence.
Why? Because fighting and warfare are the most routine of political metaphors. And for obvious reasons. Historically speaking, all democratic politics is a sublimation of the ancient route to power — military conquest. That’s why the language persists. That’s why we speak without any self-consciousness of such things as “battleground states” and “targeting” opponents.
Indeed, the very word for an electoral contest — “campaign” — is an appropriation from warfare.
Read more here
[Charles Krauthammer is a syndicated columnist, an attorney, and an M.D. (a psychiatrist, specifically.) He is well qualified to express an opinion on this subject. -- Editor]
The Day Of Reckoning For Public Employees Unions Is Here
In July 2009, economist Barry Bluestone wrote an op-ed article for the Boston Globe warning that his state's public employees unions were on the same path to economic and political decline as the United Auto Workers was back in the mid-1980s.
Voters, he warned, would no longer accept wages and benefits for government employees that had grown more generous than their own. They would no longer pay for public services whose costs were growing half again as fast as the cost of services in the private sector.
Nor would the public tolerate continued union resistance to efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of government services. Through tax caps, outsourcing and charter schools, governments were already finding ways to circumvent public employees unions and limit their political power. Unless the unions moved quickly to strike a new "grand bargain" with government officials and taxpayers, Bluestone wrote, they would soon face an even more painful "day of reckoning."
Barry Bluestone is not just any economist. He is the son of Irving Bluestone, a legendary UAW negotiator, a reliably liberal, union-friendly scholar who has spent a career studying the declining fortunes of the American working and middle class. And since his op-ed, things have only gone from bad to worse in terms of the financial distress now faced by all levels of government. The "day of reckoning" that Bluestone forewarned has now arrived.
A recession-weary public is now well aware of New York firefighters who retire after 20 years at half pay, of California prison guards who rake in $120,000 a year and of New Jersey teachers who pay little or nothing for health insurance. A parade of actuaries and economists has stepped forward with estimates of unfunded retiree obligations for state and local governments that now top $1 trillion.
GO HERE to read more.
Nor would the public tolerate continued union resistance to efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of government services. Through tax caps, outsourcing and charter schools, governments were already finding ways to circumvent public employees unions and limit their political power. Unless the unions moved quickly to strike a new "grand bargain" with government officials and taxpayers, Bluestone wrote, they would soon face an even more painful "day of reckoning."
Barry Bluestone is not just any economist. He is the son of Irving Bluestone, a legendary UAW negotiator, a reliably liberal, union-friendly scholar who has spent a career studying the declining fortunes of the American working and middle class. And since his op-ed, things have only gone from bad to worse in terms of the financial distress now faced by all levels of government. The "day of reckoning" that Bluestone forewarned has now arrived.
A recession-weary public is now well aware of New York firefighters who retire after 20 years at half pay, of California prison guards who rake in $120,000 a year and of New Jersey teachers who pay little or nothing for health insurance. A parade of actuaries and economists has stepped forward with estimates of unfunded retiree obligations for state and local governments that now top $1 trillion.
GO HERE to read more.
You Can't Say It Isn't Slick Out There
HELP WANTED
Water Conditioning Service Tech
Peninsula Water Conditioning is looking for a dependable, hard working individual to service and install water conditioning equipment. This is a full time, long term position.
Must have a clean driving record and be able to pass a drug test. Apply in person at 404A IRL Lane Fruitland MD.
We are located in the Fruitland Industrial Park off of S. Division Street.
Salisbury Police Department Press Releases
On January 10, 2011 at approximately 3:30 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Family Dollar Store on South Salisbury Boulevard for the report of a shoplifter. Upon arrival the officers met with store management who advised that store employees had observed the below listed suspect attempt to take property from the store without making payment. The items were recovered and returned to the store.
ARRESTED: Bobby Ronald Goodwine, 43 years of age Salisbury, Maryland
CHARGES:
Theft (under $ 100)
DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100001174
On January 11, 2011 at approximately 5:08 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Walmart Department Store on North Salisbury Boulevard for the report of a theft. Upon arrival the officers met with store security who advised the officers that they had observed the below listed suspects participate in a scheme to take televisions from the store without payment. Store security advised that the suspects were observed taking two (2) televisions, then taking one (1) from the store and returning the second for cash. The suspects were apprehended and both televisions were recovered.
ARRESTED #1: Vadim (nmn) Svca, 22 years of age Ocean City, Maryland
ARRESTED #2: Ana (nmn) Buzu, 22 years of age Ocean City, Maryland
CHARGES (Both): Theft (under $ 1000)
DISPOSITION: Both released to Central Booking CC # 201100001287
ARRESTED: Bobby Ronald Goodwine, 43 years of age Salisbury, Maryland
CHARGES:
Theft (under $ 100)
DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 201100001174
On January 11, 2011 at approximately 5:08 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police received a call to respond to the Walmart Department Store on North Salisbury Boulevard for the report of a theft. Upon arrival the officers met with store security who advised the officers that they had observed the below listed suspects participate in a scheme to take televisions from the store without payment. Store security advised that the suspects were observed taking two (2) televisions, then taking one (1) from the store and returning the second for cash. The suspects were apprehended and both televisions were recovered.
ARRESTED #1: Vadim (nmn) Svca, 22 years of age Ocean City, Maryland
ARRESTED #2: Ana (nmn) Buzu, 22 years of age Ocean City, Maryland
CHARGES (Both): Theft (under $ 1000)
DISPOSITION: Both released to Central Booking CC # 201100001287
MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN UNDERAGE DRINKING IN WICOMICO COUNTY
(Salisbury, MD) – Do you want to make a difference in underage drinking in Wicomico County? If you do, then you need to be part of the Wicomico County Strategic Prevention Framework Planning Group. The purpose of this framework is to reduce the misuse of alcohol by youth and young adults in Maryland, as measured by the following indicators: Reduce the number of youth, ages 12-20, reporting past month alcohol use; Reduce the number of young persons, ages 18-25, reporting past month binge drinking; Reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes involving youth ages 16-25.
The Wicomico County Health Department and Drug Free Wicomico Coalition will mobilize and convene a diverse county level Wicomico County Strategic Prevention Framework planning group comprising local policy makers, stakeholders, prevention, treatment and youth development advocates, community members, organization leaders, youth, etc. to:
Review jurisdictional and community level data to document the nature and extent of underage drinking, youth binge drinking and alcohol-related crashes in the jurisdiction; Identify and assess the underlying causes/contributors to underage drinking, youth binge drinking, and alcohol-related crashes in the jurisdiction; Conduct a jurisdiction-wide resource assessment to identify existing assets, programs, coalitions, community groups, etc. that are currently addressing substance use and consequence-related issues in the jurisdiction; Use the findings from the assessment activities above to identify communities with high prevalence of underage drinking, youth binge drinking, and/or alcohol-related crashes;
Communities with a high level of readiness to reduce substance use and consequences through implementation of the Maryland Strategic Prevention Framework process; Select a community with both a high prevalence of underage drinking, youth binge drinking, and/or alcohol-related crashes and a high level of readiness to implement the Wicomico County Strategic Prevention Framework process; and Develop the jurisdiction’s Wicomico County Strategic Prevention Framework Jurisdiction-Wide Assessment Final Report for submission to Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration. This report will serve as the jurisdiction’s request for competitive Maryland Strategic Prevention Framework Community Implementation Grant funding on behalf of the selected community.
Meetings begin in January 2011. For additional information, contact Cindy Shifler at (410) 219-7544.
The Wicomico County Health Department and Drug Free Wicomico Coalition will mobilize and convene a diverse county level Wicomico County Strategic Prevention Framework planning group comprising local policy makers, stakeholders, prevention, treatment and youth development advocates, community members, organization leaders, youth, etc. to:
Review jurisdictional and community level data to document the nature and extent of underage drinking, youth binge drinking and alcohol-related crashes in the jurisdiction; Identify and assess the underlying causes/contributors to underage drinking, youth binge drinking, and alcohol-related crashes in the jurisdiction; Conduct a jurisdiction-wide resource assessment to identify existing assets, programs, coalitions, community groups, etc. that are currently addressing substance use and consequence-related issues in the jurisdiction; Use the findings from the assessment activities above to identify communities with high prevalence of underage drinking, youth binge drinking, and/or alcohol-related crashes;
Communities with a high level of readiness to reduce substance use and consequences through implementation of the Maryland Strategic Prevention Framework process; Select a community with both a high prevalence of underage drinking, youth binge drinking, and/or alcohol-related crashes and a high level of readiness to implement the Wicomico County Strategic Prevention Framework process; and Develop the jurisdiction’s Wicomico County Strategic Prevention Framework Jurisdiction-Wide Assessment Final Report for submission to Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration. This report will serve as the jurisdiction’s request for competitive Maryland Strategic Prevention Framework Community Implementation Grant funding on behalf of the selected community.
Meetings begin in January 2011. For additional information, contact Cindy Shifler at (410) 219-7544.
Loughner's Violent Tendencies Go Way Back
The police were sent to the home where Jared L. Loughner lived with his family on more than one occasion before the attack here on Saturday that left a congresswoman fighting for her life and six others dead, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on Tuesday.
A spokesman, Jason Ogan, said the details of the calls were being reviewed by legal counsel and would be released as soon as the review was complete. He said he did not know what the calls were about — they could possibly have been minor, even trivial matters — or whether they involved Jared Loughner or another member of the household.
A friend of Mr. Loughner’s also said in an interview on Tuesday that Mr. Loughner, 22, was skilled with a gun — as early as high school — and had talked about a philosophy of fostering chaos.
The account by Mr. Loughner’s friend, a rare extended interview with someone close to Mr. Loughner in recent years, added some details to the emerging portrait of the suspect and his family.
“He was a nihilist and loves causing chaos, and that is probably why he did the shooting, along with the fact he was sick in the head,” said Zane Gutierrez, 21, who was living in a trailer outside Tucson and met Mr. Loughner sometimes to shoot at cans for target practice.
The new details from Mr. Gutierrez about Mr. Loughner — including his philosophy of anarchy and his expertise with a handgun, suggest that the earliest signs of behavior that may have ultimately led to the attacks started several years ago.
Mr. Gutierrez said his friend had become obsessed with the meaning of dreams and their importance. He talked about reading Friedrich Nietzsche’s book “The Will To Power” and embraced ideas about the corrosive, destructive effects of nihilism — a belief in nothing. And every day, his friend said, Mr. Loughner would get up and write in his dream journal, recording the world he experienced in sleep and its possible meanings.
“Jared felt nothing existed but his subconscious,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “The dream world was what was real to Jared, not the day-to-day of our lives.”
And that dream world, his friend said, could be downright strange.
“He would ask me constantly, ‘Do you see that blue tree over there?’ He would admit to seeing the sky as orange and the grass as blue,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “Normal people don’t talk about that stuff.”
He added that Mr. Loughner “used the word hollow to describe how fake the real world was to him.”
As his behavior grew more puzzling to his friends, he was getting better with a pistol. Starting in high school, Mr. Loughner honed his marksmanship with a 9-millimeter pistol, the same caliber weapon used in the attack Saturday, until he became proficient at handling the weapon and firing it quickly.
More here
A spokesman, Jason Ogan, said the details of the calls were being reviewed by legal counsel and would be released as soon as the review was complete. He said he did not know what the calls were about — they could possibly have been minor, even trivial matters — or whether they involved Jared Loughner or another member of the household.
A friend of Mr. Loughner’s also said in an interview on Tuesday that Mr. Loughner, 22, was skilled with a gun — as early as high school — and had talked about a philosophy of fostering chaos.
The account by Mr. Loughner’s friend, a rare extended interview with someone close to Mr. Loughner in recent years, added some details to the emerging portrait of the suspect and his family.
“He was a nihilist and loves causing chaos, and that is probably why he did the shooting, along with the fact he was sick in the head,” said Zane Gutierrez, 21, who was living in a trailer outside Tucson and met Mr. Loughner sometimes to shoot at cans for target practice.
The new details from Mr. Gutierrez about Mr. Loughner — including his philosophy of anarchy and his expertise with a handgun, suggest that the earliest signs of behavior that may have ultimately led to the attacks started several years ago.
Mr. Gutierrez said his friend had become obsessed with the meaning of dreams and their importance. He talked about reading Friedrich Nietzsche’s book “The Will To Power” and embraced ideas about the corrosive, destructive effects of nihilism — a belief in nothing. And every day, his friend said, Mr. Loughner would get up and write in his dream journal, recording the world he experienced in sleep and its possible meanings.
“Jared felt nothing existed but his subconscious,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “The dream world was what was real to Jared, not the day-to-day of our lives.”
And that dream world, his friend said, could be downright strange.
“He would ask me constantly, ‘Do you see that blue tree over there?’ He would admit to seeing the sky as orange and the grass as blue,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “Normal people don’t talk about that stuff.”
He added that Mr. Loughner “used the word hollow to describe how fake the real world was to him.”
As his behavior grew more puzzling to his friends, he was getting better with a pistol. Starting in high school, Mr. Loughner honed his marksmanship with a 9-millimeter pistol, the same caliber weapon used in the attack Saturday, until he became proficient at handling the weapon and firing it quickly.
More here
Lone Star Rodeo
The Lone Star Rodeo brings intense competition, live music by the
Bo Dickerson Band and Trick Riding to the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center
Bo Dickerson Band and Trick Riding to the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center
(Salisbury, MD) Cowboys and girls of all ages are invited to the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center on Friday, January 21 and Saturday, January 22 for the Lone Star Rodeo’s 2011 United Nations Tour, presented by Cheerwine the sparkling soft drink. Dad’s Work Wear of Laurel, Delaware invites you to join them for live music, exhilarating rodeo action, and entertaining trick riding the whole family will enjoy.
This genuine rodeo offers a thrilling line-up of riding, timed and entertainment events. Timed events include Bareback Bronc Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, and Brahma Bull Riding. Cowgirl’s Barrel Racing and Steer Wrestling along with Team, Tie Down and Breakaway Roping round out the evening with timed events. The amazing roaming riding and bull whipping of the talented Team Karson will help lighten the mood between the rodeo’s action-packed competitions.
Although the Rodeo doesn’t start until 7:30pm, the fun begins shortly after the doors open at 6:30pm. On Friday night only, The Bo Dickerson Band will set the tone for an exciting evening with a live performance beginning at 6:45pm. Bringing together country, southern rock and classic rock, the Laurel, Delaware based band includes Bo Dickerson on vocals, David Hastings on guitar/backup vocals, Rick Adkins on drums, Jordan Harper with his guitar, Brian Licinski on bass and W.D. Whaley on the fiddle/mandolin. On Saturday, pre-show entertainment includes a ‘Best Dressed Cowboy and Cowgirl Contest’ and Gold Rush for children ten and under.
Tickets for the Rodeo are still available. As a special offer, all general admission tickets are only $10. Upgraded VIP tickets (which include lower level reserved seating) are available for $22 each night. Additional taxes/fees may apply to all ticket prices. Purchase your tickets now at www.WicomicoCivicCenter.org, by phone at 410-548-4911 or in person at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center Box Office.
The 2011 United Nations Tour is brought to you by the sparkling soft drink Cheerwine, Dad’s Work Wear of Laurel, Delaware, Burke Equipment Company, Microtel, Mitchell’s Martial Arts, Chicks Discount Saddlery and Bryan & Brittingham.
What Obama Might Say Tonight
What Obama might say tonight, per his past speeches and his predecessors’… Does he talk about civility or save it for his State of the Union?... Obama’s speech in Arizona is at 8:00 pm ET… Palin breaks her silence… Bottom line: In her video on Saturday's tragedy, she expresses sadness but doesn’t apologize for her map or her rhetoric… Contrasting Palin and Obama on civility in American politics… And House to consider resolution honoring Giffords and the other victims.
What Obama might say tonight: From his past speeches on tragedy and unprovoked violence, from the guidance we’ve received from the White House, and from the addresses by his predecessors, we have a pretty good idea what President Obama will probably say in tonight’s speech on Saturday’s shooting in Arizona. As he did in his 2009 address at Fort Hood, he will honor the fallen, the injured and the heroes, and will share anecdotes he's heard in his personal calls to the families of victims. “We pay tribute to 13 men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home... So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service.” He also surely will condemn the violence, as he did at Ft. Hood. “It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know -- no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. For what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice -- in this world, and the next.”
GO HERE to read more.
What Obama might say tonight: From his past speeches on tragedy and unprovoked violence, from the guidance we’ve received from the White House, and from the addresses by his predecessors, we have a pretty good idea what President Obama will probably say in tonight’s speech on Saturday’s shooting in Arizona. As he did in his 2009 address at Fort Hood, he will honor the fallen, the injured and the heroes, and will share anecdotes he's heard in his personal calls to the families of victims. “We pay tribute to 13 men and women who were not able to escape the horror of war, even in the comfort of home... So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity. We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service.” He also surely will condemn the violence, as he did at Ft. Hood. “It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know -- no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. For what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice -- in this world, and the next.”
GO HERE to read more.
Tax Audits On The Rise — Be Prepared
The chances are slim of getting a call from the IRS, but best to be prepared
It's no secret that the IRS is ramping up the number of audits in an attempt to close the "tax gap." That's the term the IRS is using to account for the difference between the taxes it believes it should have collected and what it actually managed to collect. For 2001 (the last year for which data is available), the tax gap was $350 billion.
While the chances of being chosen for an audit are still generally low, your chances of being selected are on the rise. Don't get caught by surprise. Here's what you need to know in order to be prepared.
The most basic question is what kind of audit the IRS is seeking. Audits can be divided into two general categories: paper audits and people audits.
GO HERE to read more.
A Letter To The Editor
I sent the following comment to the Daily Times Grapevine.
Today’s paper date Tue Jan 12 th??????
Is the Daily Times hiring? I have a trained monkey looking for work.
HE KNOWS THE DATE!!!!!!!!!!!
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