GREED IS GOOD - RIGHT?

Two posts from Jesse that go hand in hand. Being rich does not make you bad. There are good people in the world and evil people in the world. It certainly appears that there are more rich evil people than poor evil people. Studies have proven it and what is happening in the real world has proven it.


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Red means 'go'? Careless Drivers Blow Past Stopped School Buses

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- With yellow lights flashing, a school bus in Montgomery County comes to a stop.

The exterior stop signs with flashing red lights on the bus extend out.

But some cars keep passing by the bus -- even as school kids cross the street.

Video from the Montgomery County Public School system, obtained by WTOP, shows this scene play out over and over again.

"It is very blatant, and the only thing I can figure is people don't consider that each time someone passes (the bus) it could be a tragedy for a child," Todd Watkins, director of transportation for Montgomery County Public Schools tells WTOP.

He calls the incidents a "daily occurrence."

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HAPPY LEAP DAY

Coast Guard copter crash: 1 dead, 3 missing

(CBS/AP)

MOBILE, Ala. - The U.S. Coast Guard says one crewmember is dead and three others remain missing following a helicopter crash in Alabama during a training mission.

Spokeswoman Petty Officer 2nd Class Elizabeth Bordelon says an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crashed Tuesday evening in Mobile Bay, near Point Clear, Ala. The Coast Guard initially said one person had been rescued but a news release issued early Wednesday said a crewmember was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead.

Bordelon says the MH-65C helicopter was on a mission out of the Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Ala. The three missing are Coast Guard members.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The Coast Guard says two helicopters, an airplane and several vessels are involved in the search for the missing crewmembers.

CBS affiliate WKRG-TV reported Tuesday night that the area involved had been placed under a dense fog warning. Although the fog had yet to arrive, it could end up hampering rescue efforts.
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BREAKING NEWS: Romney Takes Michigan Primary

Fox News projects Mitt Romney winner of Michigan's Republican presidential
primary

The Con Artist

The God Gap

There have been many “gaps” in modern politics. There is the gender gap, the generation gap and now the God gap, which is the gulf between people who take God’s instructions seriously and those who don’t. Which side of the gap you’re on could influence your vote.

The God gap is growing wider.

I asked Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum about this. In a telephone interview with me, Santorum, whose rhetoric is loaded with religious and cultural language, said, “While (such language) may be upsetting to some, there’s a hunger out there for talking about what’s true.”

How, then, would he explain a recent New York Times story that reported for the first time in our history, that “more than half of births to American women under 30 occur outside marriage.” Santorum acknowledged, “I’m probably talking to Republican audiences, so it’s a little different. I’m not talking to the general audience at this point. Marriage is on the decline. The culture is changing.”

The problem for presidential candidates — and for President Obama, who occasionally appeals to Scripture to justify his policies — is that fewer people are listening to the voice of God, or to voices claiming to speak for Him.

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Why Do People Procrastinate?

WASHINGTON -- You can't finish a job if you don't start it. It's a mantra procrastinators know all too well.

For those seemingly determined to wait until the last minute to complete tasks, the delay can be taxing on a procrastinator's coworkers, loved ones and the slowpoke himself.

So why do people procrastinate?

Time management and productivity experts think there may be many reasons, according to The New York Times.

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Cash Is Better Than Food Stamps in Helping Poor: Edward Glaeser

Newt Gingrich has been castigated for referring to President Barack Obama as the “best food-stamp president in American history.” I, too, dislike the former House speaker’s inflammatory phrasing.

Yet I am also troubled by the more than $100 billion designated for “food and nutrition” in the president’s 2013 budget. The current dominance of in-kind transfer programs, such as food stamps, Medicaid and housing support, relative to cash- based welfare programs, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and Temporary Aid to Needy Families, is based on politics rather than economics. A consolidated cash-based program could more efficiently deliver assistance and more effectively encourage employment.

Redistribution has costs -- direct ones that are paid by taxpayers and indirect ones, by discouraging earnings and savings -- but it also has benefits, particularly by creating a society with less painful poverty.

The amount of redistribution that you think is appropriate depends on your attitudes toward inequality and paying for equality. I’m not a preacher, a philosopher or a politician, and I won’t try to convince you that the U.S. should do more or less for its poorer citizens. I am interested in a better-designed welfare system

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Gas Prices Aren't Rising, The Dollar Is Falling

Enough.

This whole, blame the evil oil companies for this gas spiral.

Enough.

People who know better sounding like they have brains made out of butter.

I've heard the prattling on, now time for some basic facts to sink in.

Gas prices aren't rising.

The dollar is falling.

Let me explain that.

Oil is priced in dollars.

Dollars are getting cheaper.

It takes more of them to buy oil.

So oil gets more expensive.

Gas gets more expensive.

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UVA Students Enter 10th Day of Hunger Strike

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - More than a dozen students are in their tenth day of a hunger strike at the University of Virginia, as part of the Living Wage Campaign.

Students are demanding higher living wages, safer working conditions and better job security for the university's employees.

Students are asking that the living wage under University policy be changed to $13 per hour.

In an interview with thelivingwageatuva.org, striker and third-year undergraduate student Luis Oyola said after his fourth day he is getting a lot thinner and feeling a lot weaker.

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AP Source: Israel Won't Warn US Before Iran Strike

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli officials say they won't warn the U.S. if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, according to one U.S. intelligence official familiar with the discussions. The pronouncement, delivered in a series of private, top-level conversations, sets a tense tone ahead of meetings in the coming days at the White House and Capitol Hill.

Israeli officials said that if they eventually decide a strike is necessary, they would keep the Americans in the dark to decrease the likelihood that the U.S. would be held responsible for failing to stop Israel's potential attack. The U.S. has been working with the Israelis for months to convince them that an attack would be only a temporary setback to Iran's nuclear program.

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To Hire Seasonal Workers, 575 Pages Of New Rules

Employers who rely on low-skilled workers from abroad have a new set of rules to digest. On Feb. 10, the Labor Dept. issued 575 pages of regulations for its H-2B visa program that U.S. employers use to bring foreign nationals to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. H-2Bs generally allow for a maximum 10-month stay and are often used by small, seasonal businesses such as housing contractors, landscapers, and seafood processors. The application process, which involves filing paperwork with the Labor Dept. and Immigration authorities, has been growing steadily more complicated and time-consuming. Now it’s even tougher.

Among the biggest changes in the new rules, which go into effect on April 23: They’ll have to demonstrate to state agencies—not merely attest—that they weren’t able to locate enough U.S. workers. They’ll have to post the jobs in a national online registry administered by the Labor Dept. and start advertising in local publications about two weeks earlier than in the past. And they’ll also be responsible for employees’ travel costs to and from their home countries, provided the worker completes a certain number of days on the job.

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Giants to Host Wednesday NFL Season-Opener to Avoid Obama’s Speech at DNC

The New York Giants will host the first game of the National Football League season on a Wednesday night to avoid conflicts with U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, the league said in a news release.

The NFL schedule usually starts on Thursday, when the president would be speaking. The most recent NFL game to start on Wednesday was a September 1948 game between the then-Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions, the league said.

The opponent for the Giants in the Sept. 5 game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, wasn’t disclosed. The Giants, who won the Super Bowl championship this month, last hosted the season opener in 2008, after winning the previous season’s title game

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Bankrupt Kodak Asks Court To Let It Slash Retirees' Health Benefits

A month after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Eastman Kodak Co. asked a federal court Monday to allow it to cut health care benefits for thousands of retirees.

Kodak said in a letter to its retirees that ever since it filed for bankruptcy protection, it had sought to "balance the needs of our retirees with the needs of the Company."

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Now They Tell Us: WashPost Documents Threats, Violent Incidents From Occupy D.C. Camp

When the Occupy movement was going strong, the Washington Post devoted generally positive coverage to the Occupy D.C. camp, complete with a front-page puff piece on love (lust?) at Occupy D.C., a Style section puff piece on Occupy propaganda posters, and an "Occupied" Style section front pager gushing about the nascent hippie village-- complete with kitchen and library -- at the McPherson Square squatters camp.

But now the Post is finally getting around to detailing the violent tendencies of the movement, including the fact that an article circulating at an Arizona camp entitled "When Should You Shoot a Cop?" caused a homeland security bulletin to alert local authorities of potential violence in early November of last year.

Tim Craig's 29-paragraph story graced the front page of today's Metro page, but was placed below-the-fold and bore a bland headline: "Protesters, police have had tense relations." In other news, the Pope is Catholic, water's wet, and the sun rises every morning in the east:

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Keeping Gas Pumps Honest

Think you watch every penny at the pump these days? You’ve got nothing on Elizabeth Koncki.

“All inspections are unannounced.”

Every day, Koncki is on the road inspecting gas stations for Maryland’s Department of Agriculture.

And, boy, can she stop the meter on a dime -- or in this case, a penny.

“My greatest job skill is being able to stop exactly at five gallons and 10 gallons,” she said with a shy smile.

To make sure customer aren’t getting shortchanged, Koncki uses specially calibrated containers that look a lot like old fashioned milk jugs.

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Waste

First Do No Harm

Help us protect Baltimore County and Maryland

UPDATE: County Executive Kevin Kamenetz signed the Transgender bill into law on Thursday, Feb. 23. It is scheduled to take effect in 45 days from enrollment unless we stop it.

Your help is urgently needed to overturn by petition a dangerous law. The petition will put the issue on the ballot in November, if successful.

PLEASE VOLUNTEER FOR THE PETITION AGAINST THE TRANSGENDER LAW

On Tuesday, Feb. 21, the Baltimore County Council passed in a 5-2 party-line vote, a controversial bill which will expand rights for homosexuals and crossdressers. On the surface, it may sound benign to some. But the unintended consequences and hidden agendas are what make this a dangerous law for women, children, businesses, churches, and our schools.

The undefined language in the law could open the door to abuse of the law by pedophiles and predators gaining lawful access to women's and girls’ restrooms and locker rooms. You don't have to dress like a woman to enter women's facilities under this new law.

It could require transgender issues being written into children's school curriculum and the mandatory hiring of transgender teachers, permitted to crossdress in the classroom.

It could become an overwhelming financial burden for small businesses, already struggling in the current economy.

And it could force churches and religious institutions to accept a behavior which is not only listed as a disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, but in direct conflict with the teachings of their faith. This would amount to a clear violation of our constitutional right to Freedom of Religion.

All right here in Baltimore County, brought to us by five councilmen who voted for irresponsible legislation in order to appease a national, multi-million dollar LGBT lobby conglomerate.

PLEASE HELP OVERTURN THE BALTIMORE COUNTY TRANSGENDER LAW

Here's how you can help:

• Please call the number below and volunteer to help with the petition drive.
• Learn about the issue. See info and articles on the subject at the website.
• Help spread the word. Email this flyer to your contact list, especially teachers, parents and churchmembers.

The petition requirements are extremely stringent, with a short timeframe in which to accomplish the task. We don't have much time. Please act now.

More info and volunteer to help:

Website: www.firstdonoharm7.blogspot.com

Volunteer by phone or email (Leave your name, email, phone, and council district):

Email firstdonoharm7@comcast.net or call 443-595-7020 and leave message.

Thank you for helping in this critical work for our state and county!

US to Send Mexican Migrants Back to Home States

MEXICO CITY (AP) - The U.S. government says it will begin flying detained Mexican migrants back to their home states instead of dropping them off at the border, where many are victimized by drug traffickers.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters in Mexico City on Monday that the U.S. will pay to deport migrants by plane to airports in Mexico and the Mexican government will arrange the last leg of the journey home.

The program is to start in April.

Many immigrants from Mexico and Central America are robbed or forcibly recruited by members of organized crime groups on their northbound trip through Mexico, or on the way home.

The U.S. says a record 400,000 people were deported, mostly to Mexico, during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

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