DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Friday, February 01, 2013
Will the Daily Times EVER Report the News on Salisbury?
If I want to read fiction, I'll go to Barnes & Noble and buy a novel. Sadly, our friends at Gannett's local outpost - the Daily Times - seem to think that when it comes to writing (it surely isn't reporting) about Salisbury and its city government, its more important to tell THEIR STORY rather than report the news. Jeremy Cox's article about Wednesday's NAACP candidate forum is but the latest in a long line of sad examples.
As we noted yesterday, Ireton chose to call opponent Joe Albero a racist rather than argue the merits of his vs. Albero's plans for Salisbury's future. Cox had no choice but to admit this as he had already said as much on Twitter Wednesday evening:
Ireton comes out swinging, calling Albero racist: "It’s become abundantly clear that my opponent on his website is someone who sees color."
Yet, today Cox manages to twist the story by bending the rules of time. Perhaps Cox watches too much Doctor Who:
“It’s become abundantly clear,” Ireton said, in a message that appeared calculated for the audience, which was about one-third African-American, “that my opponent on his website is someone who sees color.”
Albero didn’t immediate respond, but later said the city needs a “leader who won’t stand up on a soapbox and call people racists.”
NAACP chapter President Mary Ashanti urged the men back on the political high ground, saying: “We will not having you come in here to be insulted whether you’re in the audience or on here.”
Cox wants his readers to infer that Ashanti admonished both candidates. In reality, Albero's comment about standing on a soapbox came much later in the debate. (examine Cox's realtime Twitter feed) In addition, Albero's statements were based in fact rather than opinion or scurrilous assertion. Ireton is on record implying that the majority of council are racists because they disagreed with his desire to build quarter million dollar apartments in one of Salisbury's worst neighborhoods. and ... Ireton is on record implying that another political opponent, this time Albero, is also a racist. While Ashanti did not call Ireton out by name, it was clear to the audience that her comments were directed towards Ireton. After the debate we learned that Ashanti was also referring to some nasty questions clearly submitted by Ireton surrogates.
Even more telling that what Cox chooses to write is what he chooses to OMIT. There is no mention of Ireton falsely claiming that he "has always given credit to [council president] Terry Cohen for bringing the Safe Streets program to Salisbury. There is also no mention of Ireton spending the second half of the debate (again, falsely) blaming the city council for all of the Salisbury's woes.
In his coverage of the District 2 council candidates, Cox does much the same. He implies a negative on incumbent Debbie Campbell:
Of the three District 2 contenders, incumbent Debbie Campbell appeared at odds with opponents Jake Day and Jack Heath on most issues. For their part, Day and Heath did little to suggest any philosophical daylight between each other.
Yet, on the night of the debate, Cox wrote: "Little daylight between Day and Heath on issues. Seem to agree on most. Mainly, that they are against everything Campbell has done." Note the change in tone. In print, Campbell is "at odds" with her opponent. The truth is much closer to Cox's spontaneous tweet that (Day and Heath) "are against everything Campbell has done."
I can understand Jim Ireton crawling into the political gutter. His record does not warrant re-election, so he believes that he must resort to the same type of attacks thrown at him in 2009 regarding his sexual orientation. However, I would remind Ireton that he won the election, in part, because voters refused to vote for a candidate who was tied (however loosely) to those attacks. That does not explain Cox grinding the grist of hatred and derision.
On Wednesday night I was on Twitter as well:
@Jeremy_Cox did great job tweeting NAACP forum. Hope it is as balanced when printed in DT (@MyDelmarvaNow) #SalisburyMD...
It obviously wasn't. I still hope that Jeremy can learn to report balanced news of this year's Salisbury elections. I'll keep hoping; but it looks like we'll have to continue settling for Jeremy Cox, novelist.
MENENDEZ PROSTITUTION SCANDAL: DONOR MELGEN'S POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS EXPLODED AFTER IRS FILED TAX LIEN
Melgen was a political donor from as far back as the early 1990s. According to Federal Election Commission records published on the Center for Responsive Politics website OpenSecrets.org, Melgen made his first political donation to a young first-term Democratic U.S. Congressman: Bob Menendez. After that $500 donation, Melgen’s friendship with Menendez developed further (the two were reportedly close before Menendez first took office).
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Less Housework Means More Sex For Married Men, Study Finds
A study published in the February edition of the American Sociological Review concludes that husbands who engaged in more traditionally masculine chores — yard work, trash collection, home repairs — tend to get more action in the bedroom than those who gravitated to the more feminine tasks around the house — cooking, cleaning, etc.
“Our findings suggest the importance of gender display for sexual frequency in heterosexual marriage: couples where men participate more in core tasks — work typically done by women — report lower sexual frequency,” the researchers wrote. “Similarly, couples where men participate more in non-core, traditionally masculine tasks report higher sexual frequency, suggesting the importance of gender-typed participation in household labor.”
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Twitter Also Hacked This Week, Up To 250,000 Accounts May Have Been Compromised
It's been a rough week for security breaches, and Twitter has just announced it was a victim of attacks this week as well. In a blog post, the company states that during this past week it detected "unusual access patterns" that led it to uncover unauthorized attempts to access user's data. Twitter even discovered one attack as it was happening, and was able to shut it down shortly thereafter. However, Twitter's post-mortem revealed that the perpetrators of the attack may have had access to account information for approximately 250,000 different users. According to the company, "usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords" would have been available.
Twitter has reset the passwords and revoked session tokens for all such accounts; affected users should be receiving emails notifying them of the reset shortly. Users wil be required to create new passwords from scratch.
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Twitter has reset the passwords and revoked session tokens for all such accounts; affected users should be receiving emails notifying them of the reset shortly. Users wil be required to create new passwords from scratch.
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Over 4 Dozen Detroit Parks Closing
Bitter temperatures have kept the kids away from O'Hair Park on Detroit's west side, but in the summer months the place is packed.
"The kids come over here and use the park every day. I see them play in the park every day," said Jimmy D.
The park has seen better days. Some of the play equipment is broken and some areas have become a dumping ground, but neighbors try to keep it up and now they're worried what will happen when it closes.
"If you look at it, how vast it is, could you imagine four, five feet high grass? They could throw bodies in there," Jimmy D said.
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"The kids come over here and use the park every day. I see them play in the park every day," said Jimmy D.
The park has seen better days. Some of the play equipment is broken and some areas have become a dumping ground, but neighbors try to keep it up and now they're worried what will happen when it closes.
"If you look at it, how vast it is, could you imagine four, five feet high grass? They could throw bodies in there," Jimmy D said.
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Some Md. Legislators Compare O’Malley’s Gun Control Bill To Poll Tax
Gun control was in the sights of the state of the state address.
“I ask you to require a license for the purchase of all handguns,” O’Malley said.
Thursday, there was backlash.
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Big Government 101: Federal Subsidies Create Glut Of College Grads
Higher Education: A new study finds almost half of Americans with college degrees are working at jobs that don't require one. It's the latest example of how federal subsidies are creating a massive higher-education bubble. The study, by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, found that an incredible 48%...
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ARMED GUARD STOPS SCHOOL SHOOTER AFTER HE OPENED FIRE AT ATLANTA MIDDLE SCHOOL
Multiple shots were fired in the courtyard of Price Middle School just south of downtown about 1:50 p.m. and the one boy was hit, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said. In the aftermath, a teacher received minor cuts, he said.
The wounded boy was taken “alert, conscious and breathing” to Grady Memorial Hospital, said police spokesman Carlos Campos. Grady Heath System Spokeswoman Denise Simpson said the teen had been discharged from the hospital Thursday night. Campos said charges against the shooter were pending.
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Bloody Weekend Pushes Chicago To 40 Homicides In January
CHICAGO — A bloody weekend in which seven people were killed and six wounded has put an abrupt end — at least for now — to hopes that Chicago was at least putting a lid on its frightening homicide rate.
With a few days left in the month, the nation's third-largest city now finds itself on the cusp of its deadliest January in more than a decade. The news comes just after Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy had announced that after several violent months, Chicago had seen a drop in homicides at the end of 2012 and for the first few weeks of 2013.
Police say the homicide rate is a reflection of the city's gang problem and a proliferation of guns. Chicago has for years tried to cut off the flow of guns. It has what city officials have called the strictest handgun ordinance in the U.S. But police officials say more needs to be done, and that penalties for violating gun laws should be stiffer.
Among those killed over the weekend was 34-year-old Ronnie Chambers, who was shot in the head with what police believe was an assault weapon. Such guns are banned in Chicago but can be purchased legally in the suburbs or nearby states. Chambers is the fourth child of Shirley Chambers to fall victim to gun violence.
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Immigrants In The U.S. Sending $120B Back Home
More than $23 billion went to Mexico, $13.45 billion to China, $10.84 billion to India and $10 billion to the Philippines, among other recipients, The Daily Mail reported Thursday.
Only $5.1 billion was sent back to the U.S. by the 2.4 million American citizens working abroad.
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BREAKING NEWS: ATTORNEY GENERAL TELLS MAYOR IRETON, GO LISTEN TO YOUR CITY ATTORNEY
Maryland Attorney General Defers to Salisbury City Attorney on Fire Chief’s Acting Status – Term Expired January 22 Emergency Session Set for Mon., Feb. 4, 11 a.m. SALISBURY
– Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton’s December 17, 2012, request for an opinion from the Maryland Attorney General regarding the acting status of the fire chief has been answered with a letter, dated January 3, 2013. The letter states that the Office of the Attorney General defers to the “municipal counsel with respect to matters involving the construction of local law.”
Ireton did not inform the Council that the Attorney General’s office had responded. The Council learned of it after Council President Terry Cohen followed up and received her own letter from the Attorney General at the end of the day on January 28, 2013, including the response to Ireton.
City Attorney Mark Tilghman analyzed the language of the City’s official Employee Handbook, which limits acting status terms to a maximum of six months, unless approved for a longer period by the City Council. The Employee Handbook also notes that any increase in pay for serving in an acting status is considered “temporary.” Tilghman wrote that acting status cannot be “indefinite,” which is not “temporary.”
The legal opinion means approval for the status of the acting fire chief expired on January 22, 2013. The same is true of approval for the acting deputy fire chief.
On January 29, Ireton sent an email to the Council, stating, “We do not agree with the municipal attorney….”
“This isn’t the first time the Mayor has withheld information from the Council. It’s not the first time the Mayor has created a legal crisis for the City. It’s not the first time the Mayor has allowed an issue to go unaddressed past its expiration date,” said City Council President Terry Cohen. “The Mayor’s action, or lack of it, has left me not knowing whether I have the legal authority to sign off on the pay disbursements for these two positions, although by the Charter only one signature is required.”
“Due to the Mayor’s actions and refusal to honor the official legal opinion he himself requested and the legislative intent of the City Council, the Mayor has created a difficult and time-consuming crisis that must be addressed immediately. This crisis situation has been caused by the Administration failing to provide Council with the information needed, potentially creating legal jeopardy for the City. This is the detrimental environment in which the Council has been trying to get its work done for two years,” Cohen added.
The Council will be convening in an emergency legislative meeting on Monday, February 4, at 11 a.m. to discuss and consider taking legislative action to address the time-sensitive issue of legal interpretation and legislative intent regarding the application of Section 0308 of the Employee Handbook. The meeting will be held in Room 306 of the Government Office Building at 125 N. Division St.
The Agenda & Materials are posted on the website at the link below.
http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/cityclerk/briefingbook/SplMtg2113.pdf
– Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton’s December 17, 2012, request for an opinion from the Maryland Attorney General regarding the acting status of the fire chief has been answered with a letter, dated January 3, 2013. The letter states that the Office of the Attorney General defers to the “municipal counsel with respect to matters involving the construction of local law.”
Ireton did not inform the Council that the Attorney General’s office had responded. The Council learned of it after Council President Terry Cohen followed up and received her own letter from the Attorney General at the end of the day on January 28, 2013, including the response to Ireton.
City Attorney Mark Tilghman analyzed the language of the City’s official Employee Handbook, which limits acting status terms to a maximum of six months, unless approved for a longer period by the City Council. The Employee Handbook also notes that any increase in pay for serving in an acting status is considered “temporary.” Tilghman wrote that acting status cannot be “indefinite,” which is not “temporary.”
The legal opinion means approval for the status of the acting fire chief expired on January 22, 2013. The same is true of approval for the acting deputy fire chief.
On January 29, Ireton sent an email to the Council, stating, “We do not agree with the municipal attorney….”
“This isn’t the first time the Mayor has withheld information from the Council. It’s not the first time the Mayor has created a legal crisis for the City. It’s not the first time the Mayor has allowed an issue to go unaddressed past its expiration date,” said City Council President Terry Cohen. “The Mayor’s action, or lack of it, has left me not knowing whether I have the legal authority to sign off on the pay disbursements for these two positions, although by the Charter only one signature is required.”
“Due to the Mayor’s actions and refusal to honor the official legal opinion he himself requested and the legislative intent of the City Council, the Mayor has created a difficult and time-consuming crisis that must be addressed immediately. This crisis situation has been caused by the Administration failing to provide Council with the information needed, potentially creating legal jeopardy for the City. This is the detrimental environment in which the Council has been trying to get its work done for two years,” Cohen added.
The Council will be convening in an emergency legislative meeting on Monday, February 4, at 11 a.m. to discuss and consider taking legislative action to address the time-sensitive issue of legal interpretation and legislative intent regarding the application of Section 0308 of the Employee Handbook. The meeting will be held in Room 306 of the Government Office Building at 125 N. Division St.
The Agenda & Materials are posted on the website at the link below.
http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/cityclerk/briefingbook/SplMtg2113.pdf
PUBLIC NOTICE
THE SALISBURY CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 2013 WORK SESSION MEETING TIMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED. THE FIRST WORK SESSION OF THE MONTH ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2013 WILL BE HELD AT 1:30 P.M. THE SECOND WORK SESSION OF THE MONTH ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013 WILL BE HELD AT 4:30 P.M.
HHS Official: Administration Changed Name Of Obamacare ‘Exchanges’ Because ‘Marketplaces’ Is Better In Spanish
’12 million of the people eligible [for Obamacare] speak Spanish’The Obama administration has stopped using the word “exchanges” to describe a feature of the Obamacare health care overhaul law because it does not translate well into Spanish, a Department of Health and Human Services official explained Thursday.
“We’re going to use the word ‘marketplace’ because it actually makes sense to people. ‘Exchange’ doesn’t translate to anything in Spanish, but ‘marketplace’ does,” Anton Gunn, HHS director of external affairs said during a Families USA conference in Washington, D.C., according to The Hill.
According to Gunn, the department wants to communicate effectively about the Affordable Care Act with Spanish-speaking Americans.
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Obama Administration Repositioning Homeland Security Ammunition Containers
Reader Don sent this in recently:
Jim – I passed a convoy of olive drab unmarked 40 foot tractor trailers each with four 10 yard ammo bunker boxes chained to them and unmarked armored Hum-Vee’s heading north on I-95 in Brevard County, Florida this past Thursday morning. The “govt” is positioning these ammo storage boxes, I have been told, in strategic places in population centers around the country. They are usually painted olive drab and are unmarked except for indistinguishable numbers/letters probably for inventory, routing, etc.
Obma’s Homeland Security Department has purchased 1.4 billion rounds of ammunition – that is not a typo — during the last six months.
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Mayor Calls Rumors ‘Local Politics At Its Dirty Worst’
BERLIN -- Looking to quiet what he referred to as a “whispering campaign” by political enemies, Berlin Mayor Gee Williams spoke out Monday at a Mayor and Council meeting about rumors that he said have recently been circulating in the community portraying him as a reckless alcoholic.
“I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended by these rumors because for them to be true I would have to be a 64-year old superman, and one of the most influential elected public figures in the nation to cover up all of these rumors,” Williams said.
There actually only seems to be one rumor, continued Williams, but one that is animated and constantly changing in reaction to facts coming to light.
“The rumor has evolved into different versions all based on the allegation that I have an out-of-control drinking problem that has resulted in serious misbehavior or illegal actions on my part in recent months or possibly on New Year’s Eve,” the mayor said.
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“I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended by these rumors because for them to be true I would have to be a 64-year old superman, and one of the most influential elected public figures in the nation to cover up all of these rumors,” Williams said.
There actually only seems to be one rumor, continued Williams, but one that is animated and constantly changing in reaction to facts coming to light.
“The rumor has evolved into different versions all based on the allegation that I have an out-of-control drinking problem that has resulted in serious misbehavior or illegal actions on my part in recent months or possibly on New Year’s Eve,” the mayor said.
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Arizona Bill Would Require HS Students To Swear Constitutional Oath Under God To Get Their Diplomas
A bill making its way through the Arizona state legislature would require public high school students to swear an oath to defend the Constitution before they receive their diplomas.
The legislation was introduced Tuesday by a group of Republican lawmakers and referred to several state House committees. If passed, it would require principals to verify in writing that a student had recited the following oath before they were allowed to graduate, beginning in the 2013-2014 school year:
I, _________, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge these duties; So help me God.
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The legislation was introduced Tuesday by a group of Republican lawmakers and referred to several state House committees. If passed, it would require principals to verify in writing that a student had recited the following oath before they were allowed to graduate, beginning in the 2013-2014 school year:
I, _________, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge these duties; So help me God.
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