Milk Board Scraps Ad Campaign To Promote Milk As Cure For PMS

The California Milk Processor Board behind the famous "Got milk?" ad campaign is apologizing after it launched a controversial site promoting milk as a cure for menstrual problems.

The site, called "Everything I Do Is Wrong," was launched in early July, along with billboards and spots on National Public Radio.

The organization has issued an apology and has scrapped the ads just two weeks after the campaign's launch, according to the Orange County Business Journal. The campaign was supposed to run through August.

The campaign came under fire by critics who said the latest ad was sexist and fed into the tired stereotype of the irrational female.

The site, which appeared to poke fun at the symptoms of PMS, included a feature that tracked the "global PMS level" and another that allowed men to create apology pictures using the "Puppy Dog-Eye-Zer."

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Talbot Group Wants to End Liquor Sales at Grocers

EASTON, MD - A group working to reform Talbot County's liquor code dropped a restriction on single sales, a cap on the number of off-sale licenses and agreed to an underserved market test at a meeting last week.

It kept, however, a proposal to end sales at grocery and drug stores, including businesses that already have licenses. Talbot County has granted six licenses at grocery stores since 1994, and the group's recommendation would end those licenses after two years.

Talbot County Chamber of Commerce President Al Silverstein said he can't support that proposal, as alcohol sales are a significant part of revenue for those businesses.

Proponents of the proposal argued that sales in those stores expose children to alcohol. Others pointed to the uniqueness of Talbot County's liquor code, which was enacted in 1973 and last revised in 2005. Talbot allows sales at grocery stores, which no other county permits.

Talbot County Councilman Corey Pack said he wanted to include that recommendation, and see what the public says at a future hearing.

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BREAKING NEWS: Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise In June

Contracts for pending sales of previously-owned homes rose by 2.4% in June from May. Economists had expected a 2% decline.
From Fox News

Warren Buffet Offers Best Suggestion Ever

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes I've heard in all this drama about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election."

GOP Bill Would Prioritize Payments to Interest, Social Security and Military Pay

WASHINGTON - A group of congressional Republicans unveiled the “Ensuring the Full Faith and Credit of the United States and Protecting America’s Soldiers and Seniors Act” on Tuesday. The legislation would require the Treasury secretary to prioritize payments on interest on the national debt, Social Security and military pay.

“What our bill would do is it would instruct the Treasury secretary in the event that the debt ceiling is not raised prior to August 2 to make certain obligations priorities so that they will be paid in full, on time, and without delay,” Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) said during a Capitol Hill news conference announcing the legislation.

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Boonies Special Final Night TONIGHT

Missing Dog: UPDATE

Her name is Diamond. She went missing Thursday night. She is missing from 801 Lake Street, on the corner of Lake Street and Booth Street. She is a Rat and Fox Terrier mixed breed. Around her face she has white patch around her nose. Her color is not completely tan but it is a light brown color. Her tail is also the brown color but it fades to black. Her collar is black with pink dog paws on it. She also has her SPCA tag on her collar, but it is slightly chewed. It is a green tag, but due to the chewing it has turned silver.

My name is Alice Ward-Arroyo and my phone numbers are 443-523-8774 and 443-944-8253

Women Argued With Slain Man Over Money, Police Claim

DENTON, MD - Caroline County District Court records reveal more details on what happened the night Denton resident Louis R. Nichols allegedly was murdered and his body dumped in the Choptank River.

Police charged Charlene Ruth Weddle, 45, and Mary Sue Chider, 34, both of Denton, each with first- and second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the case. Chider, listed in court documents as Weddle's girlfriend, also faces counts of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and various conspiracy charges.

According to court records, Nichols, 71, lived at 312 S. Fourth St. with Weddle, the daughter of his deceased wife Ruth Nichols, and Chider. Police said the trio got into an argument which led to Nichols' death sometime between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

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TRAFFIC ALERT - Ashland Covered Bridge Damaged By Oversized Vehicle Will Require Daytime Closure For Repairs

Yorklyn -- In order to perform emergency repairs to the Ashland Covered Bridge, the Department of Transportation (DelDOT) will close Barley Mill Road from Creek Road to Brackenville Road at the Ashland Covered Bridge from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Wednesday, August 3. The rain date will be Thursday, August 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The bridge beams were damaged by an oversized vehicle.

Traffic will be detoured as follows:

*Northbound traffic on Barley Mill Road can turn left on Brackenville Road, right on Old Wilmington Road, right on Sharpless Road, and left on Creek Road.

*Southbound traffic on Barley Mill Road can head south on Sharpless Road, turn left on Old Wilmington Road, left on Brackenville Road, and right on Barley Mill Road.

DelDOT will post signs to alert motorists of the closure and the accompanying detour routes.

Harris, Mikulski Outline Differing Views on Debt Limit

WASHINGTON - During a speech Wednesday morning in the Senate, U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., urged her colleagues to reach a decision to prevent a default and downgrade of U.S. debt. In the meantime, the House of Representatives was tweaking its plan on how to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

"We are less than one week away from reaching our debt limit. If we fail and we falter, the United States of America will be irrevocably fractured," Mikulski said. "We're destroying ourselves by a self-inflicted wound because of political dysfunction, political rigidity and political ideology.

"Let's stop being Democrats. Let's stop being Republicans. Let's really call us what we should be called: Americans. Let's make the tough decisions. Let's put politics aside, put America number one, and get us back on track."

Political wrangling continued Wednesday in D.C. during legislative efforts to fund U.S. debt and to keep the federal government working. At stake is the country's bond rating and status in the financial markets of the world.

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NASA To Launch Spacecraft Towards Jupiter Next Week

NASA has attached its next spacecraft bound to explore Jupiter to the rocket that will launch the unmanned probe towards the gas giant next week.

Technicians wheeled NASA's Juno probe to its launch pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this morning (July 27), then mated the craft to its Atlas 5 launch vehicle.

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Continental Cancels Flights After Pilots Come Down With Mystery Illness

Some sort of mysterious flu bug must be circulating the in cockpits of Continental flights. The airline has been forced to cancel 24 flights today because too many pilots called in sick.

A rep for the United Continental Voltron, which has, coincidentally, been negotiating a contract with pilots, said that most of the cancelled flights originate out of the Continental hub in Newark, NJ, and that the airline is trying to book passengers on other flights, ones that presumably have pilots to fly them.

The rep wouldn't say whether or not the airline views the rash of sick calls as an orchestrated "sick out" by pilots and a rep for the Air Line Pilots Association union didn't return Reuters' calls... probably because they were out sick too.

Continental cancels 24 flights for pilot sick calls [Reuters]

from Chris Morran @ The Consumerist

Is Pet Insurance Worth It?

A significant number of pet owners (41 percent) are extremely or somewhat worried they could not afford the medical bills for a sick cat or dog, according to a survey. Is pet insurance the answer?

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BREAKING NEWS: Arrest In Alleged Plot To Attack Ft. Hood

Fox News has learned that at least one U.S. military serviceman -- and possibly three -- is under arrest allegedly for plotting an attack on Fort Hood, Texas,  the site of a 2009 shooting that left 13 people dead, 30 wounded.

From Fox News

Hoyer: House GOP ‘Continues to Hold Hostage’ U.S. Economy

At his weekly pen-and-pad session on Tuesday, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) expressed harsh criticism for Republicans in the House of Representatives.

“Unfortunately, we are not yet having an adult moment,” Hoyer said.

“Unfortunately, we continue to hold hostage the credit of the United States and the economy of the United States and, indeed, the global markets," he said.

Hoyer characterized the current budget battle between Republicans and Democrats as a “sorry, irresponsible spectacle.”

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Man Uses Phone Glitch To Bond Out Of Florida Jail

TAVARES, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say an inmate at a central Florida jail used a glitch in the facility's phone system to bond himself out.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office says 32-year-old Larry Stone discovered the glitch earlier this month. The phone system charges inmate accounts for calls but refunds the money if the call doesn't go through. But the system was reimbursing inmates twice for incomplete calls.

Authorities say Stone repeatedly made calls and hung up until he had more than $1,250 _ enough to bond out of jail. Stone had been arrested in April on property-crime charges.

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Man Gets 54 Years for Shootings Outside Hopkins

A man who opened fire outside Johns Hopkins Hospital in September 2009, injuring a bystander, was sentenced Wednesday to 54 years in prison, the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office announced.

Timothy Gaskins, 44, fired five shots that day, striking a woman's handbag, a man's trouser leg and an employee of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, who was leaving work. She was struck in the hand.

Police said at the time that they believed the shooting was related to a fight between teen-age girls that drew in their fathers. One girl's father tried to break up the squabble, while Gaskins reacted with violence, police said.

He was convicted in May of attempted, second-degree murder, assault and related charges after a jury trial.

from Tricia Bishop @ the Baltimore Sun

BREAKING NEWS: Jobless Claims Fall Below 400,000

New claims for unemployment benefits fell to 398,000 last week from 422,000 the week prior, checking in at the lowest level since the week ending April 2.
From Fox News

Maryland Completes Deal To Borrow $512.4M In Bond Sale

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland completed its effort to borrow $512.4 million Wednesday by selling general obligation bonds, getting a good response from investors despite the financial uncertainty churning around the debt limit debate in Washington.

Maryland Treasurer Nancy Kopp reacted with relief and confidence to the investor response, after Maryland and four other states were warned last week by Moody's Investors Service that their triple-A bond ratings could be lowered if the nation's bond rating is downgraded.

"We are the first triple-A state to go out since this business started in Washington," Kopp said, referring to the state's reaching out to the bond market. "Thus far, I am very happy to say the investors, particularly Maryland investors but all others have been able to tell the difference between the state of Maryland and some people down Route 50, and they're investing in us."

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U.N. Group Calls for Abortion for Children, Decriminalization of Prostitution for Youth

Y-PEER, a youth initiative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has issued a call to make access to abortion and contraception an international human right for children as young as 10 years old.

The U.N.-affiliated group also issued what U.N. analysts say is a call for the decriminalization of prostitution and drug use, and for “confidentiality” in health-care services for youth.

The “Joint Youth Statement on the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Young People” was released in preparation for the U.N. Youth Conference, which began Wednesday in New York.

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