George H. W. Bush Shaves His Head: The Touching Reason Why

 

Former President George H.W. Bush shaves his head in 

solidarity with 2-year-old leukemia patient

41 poses with the members of his Secret Service detail who have also shaved their heads to support little Patrick

No, this isn’t Photoshop. Former President George H. W. Bush did shave his head, but not for the same reasons he decided to go skydiving. The photos below show Bush 41 with a shaved head in a touching tribute to a young cancer patient. Two-year-old Patrick is the son of a member of the Bush Protective Division and has leukemia.

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Rand Paul Delivers Payback To Cheneys

Rand Paul's strong endorsement of incumbent Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi — over primary challenger Liz Cheney — was payback for former Vice President Dick Cheney's strong support of Paul's opponent three years ago.

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Can't Stop Giggling!

DHS Nominee Under Investigation For Allegedly Helping Hillary Clinton's Brother

Authorities are investigating the man President Obama tapped to take over the second highest spot at the Department of Homeland Security for allegedly using his position and power to unfairly obtain U.S. visas for foreign investors in a company run by Hillary Clinton’s brother, FoxNews.com has confirmed.

Alejandro Mayorkas, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, was named by Homeland Security's Inspector General's Office as a target in an investigation involving the foreign investor program run by USCIS, according to an email sent to lawmakers late Monday.

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Obamacare’s Branch Of The NSA

President Obama has had a poor record of job creation, but at least one small economic sector is doing well: community organizing.

The Department of Health and Human Services is about to hire an army of “patient navigators” to inform Americans about the subsidized insurance promised by Obamacare and assist them in enrolling. These organizers will be guided by the new Federal Data Hub, which will give them access to reams of personal information compiled by federal agencies ranging from the IRS to the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration. “The federal government is planning to quietly enact what could be the largest consolidation of personal data in the history of the republic,” Paul Howard of the Manhattan Institute and Stephen T. Parente, a University of Minnesota finance professor, wrote in USA Today. No wonder that there are concerns about everything from identity theft to the ability of navigators to use the system to register Obamacare participants to vote.
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Drop In Number Of First-Time Home Buyers Is Cause For Concern

The notion of buying your first home, building equity, and eventually moving up the property ladder is still something many young Americans aspire to, but between more stringent underwriting procedures, lingering student loan debt, competition from real estate speculatorsand higher interest rates, first-time buyers are being squeezed out of the market.
According to the National Association of Realtors, first-time buyers have represented around 40% of home sales over the course of the last three decades, but in the last year, that has dropped to only 30%.

The simple fact is that it’s more difficult for first-time buyers to make that big-ticket purchase right now.

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Lyme Disease Crawls Into New Parts Of Region

Lyme disease infection rates in this region are among the highest in the country, and the disease is beginning to show up in areas where it was seldom seen before.

Virginia and Maryland are among the 13 states that accounted for 96 percent of reported cases in 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC statistics for 2012 are not available yet. But Dr. Paul Auwaerter, clinical director for the Division of Infectious Disease at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, detects some disturbing trends.

He says Lyme disease is being seen in parts of Virginia where it was not common before. It is also on the march in Maryland.
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Alternate Zimmerman Juror: Passions Didn't Influence Verdict

An alternate juror in the George Zimmerman murder trial said he understands the public's passion following the not guilty verdict on charges Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin, but jurors were right not to let such passions influence their decision.

"As a juror, you're not allowed to do that," Juror E-54 said Monday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity."

The jury instructions say emotions and feelings can't be considered, he said. "I know it had to be hard for those jurors to overcome that."

The alternate juror sat with the six female jurors who ended up deciding the case, but he was allowed to go home after closing arguments were made in the high profile case.

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MD Car Service Busier After Recent Bay Bridge Accidents

STEVENSVILLE, Md. (WJLA) -- It was calm on the beach below, but there was tension on the bridge above. The Bay Bridge soars like a highway, but unlike a normal thoroughfare, a mere railing separates throngs of vehicles from the edge and a potential plunge into the water far below.

A collision just last Friday actually did send a car and a woman over and into the water, which has made drivers even more afraid to drive over the Bay Bridge.

Peggy O’Brien prefers to drive in the middle lane across the bridge, a trip she made regularly. But then an anxiety attack a few years ago changed her travel plans permanently. She now has a hired driver. More

How Does America’s Middle Class Rank Globally? #27

We are number 1 right? USA! USA! No one can beat our wealth creation machine, our economic dynamism, our level playing field and our bastions of higher education. We have a middle class that is the envy of the world, right?

Well, like so much of the “American dream” we have been force fed for a generation or more, this perception is not based in reality whatsoever. Sure it may have been the case for a couple of decades immediately after World War 2. Before the military-industrial-Wall Street complex fully took over the political process, but it certainly isn’t true any longer. Myths die hard and this one is particularly pernicious because it prevents people from changing things. As James Baldwin said:

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

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Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary

FOR IMMEDIATE-URGENT RELEASE JULY 24, 2013
CONTACT: SHARON DONOVAN, BOARD MEMBER
908.612.2928
SAFE HAVEN HAS A FUTURE


After restructuring the Board and operations, Safe Haven is deferring closure, and will continue to operate and to perform duties under the Dog Control contact with Kent County. Support from the public is now more important than ever if Safe Haven is to protect and rehome animals in their care, which is often the last hope these animals have for safety. On Friday, staff was reduced, to save costs.

Blending “no-kill” with an animal control contact is an unusual and challenging combination of operations. Most shelters with dog control contracts are “high” kill shelters. SH has chosen to take a more difficult road by giving animals a chance for a new home and a good life. Euthanasia of any healthy animal is not an option. Second chances, however, are not without cost.

Many animals picked up under the contract are not ready to re-home. Many require re-socialization and/or medical care. This is where the cost is outside the contract and born by Safe Haven. For this reason, community support is essential. Under our dog control contract, SH has adopted out over 400 dogs and cats who would have almost certainly been euthanized under the previous contractors. More

Boeing's New Spy Plane

Footage Shows Bay Bridge Crash Survivor On Rocks Waiting For Help

WASHINGTON - Dramatic footage taken moments after a crash on the Bay Bridge sent a car into the water shows the woman who survived the fall clinging to rocks and waiting for help.

WTOP listener Scott Fortney says he was three cars behind Morgan Lake's Chrysler Sebring on Friday before Lake's car was struck by a tractor-trailer and knocked into the Chesapeake Bay 40 feet below.
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Should You Be Worried About The Safety Of Amusement Park Rides?

After a woman was thrown from a roller coaster and killed last Friday at Six Flags Over Texas, thrill seekers might be feeling a bit hesitant to indulge in their favorite loop-de-loops. While it’s natural to think about safety in the aftermath of such an unfortunate event, those in the know say injury and death from such rides are rare.

Consider this: According to the National Safety Council Research and Statistical Services Group for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (otherwise known as the longest group name I’ve typed in recent memory), there were around 1,415 injuries on amusement park rides in 2011.

But take into the account that people took about 1.7 billion rides in the same year, reportsUSA Today.

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Maryland Ranked 19th In Growth In Government Spending, Tax Foundation Says

Government spending in Maryland grew 30.5% over 10 years beginning in 2001, according to a nonprofit group that researches tax policies.

The Tax Foundation report ranks Maryland 19th overall in terms growth of government spending, which spans the administrations of three governors – Parris Glendening, Bob Ehrlich, Martin O’Malley — and two political parties.

“Louisiana leads the pack with a 63.6% increase in spending, followed by Wyoming (50.7%) and New Jersey (48.7%),” wrote the Tax Foundation Communications Associate Richard Borean in a July 22 blog post. “On the other end of the spectrum, Alaska’s direct spending grew 8.9%, the lowest in the country,” he continued. “Close behind are West Virginia at 14.2% and South Carolina at 16.8%.”
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Reader Returns Overdue Library Book After 41 Years, Pays $299 Fine

Some people need a little more time than others to read a book, like the person who had been holding on to an overdue library book for 41 years but recently decided to turn it in, along with hundreds of dollars in fines.
According to the stamp on the book’s endpapers, the borrower checked The Real Book About Snakes out of the Champaign County Library in Ohio on July 17, 1972. He returned it exactly 41 years later, along with an apologetic note and his overdue fine in cash.

“Sorry I’ve kept this book so long, but I’m a really slow reader!” reads the note. “I’ve enclosed my fine of $299.30 (41 years, 2 cents a day). Once again, my apologies.”

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Maryland School Assessment Scores Drop

Maryland School Assessment scores for elementary and middle school students have dropped this year as the state transitions to new national learning standards, according to data released Tuesday by the Maryland State Department of Education.

The data reveals the percentage of elementary students scoring at the proficient levels in reading fell from 88.2 percent in 2012 to 86.4 percent this year. The percentage of elementary students scoring in the proficient levels in mathematics dropped from 87.7 percent to 83.9 percent.

While the percentage of middle school students scoring at proficient levels in reading improved from 82.1 percent last year to 83.4 percent this year, officials say their scores in mathematics in the proficient range dropped from 76.2 to 72.2 percent.         
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Are These The Final Days Of Door-To-Door USPS Deliveries?

Inscribed above the entry to the James Farley Post Office in Manhattan are the famous words, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” But you’ll notice that this unofficial postal carrier creed doesn’t specify that your mail will actually be brought to your door.
CNNMoney reports on efforts by both the USPS and legislators to curb — and possibly put an end to — door-to-door mail delivery.

Citing its authority to create cluster mailbox units (or CBUs, if you prefer postal parlance) in new areas where routes did not previously exist, USPS has started notifying people in new residential developments that they will not get mail delivered to their door, but to a nearby unit containing individual mailboxes for each address; basically what you’d find at an apartment building or some condo complexes.

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MVA Emailing Driver's License Renewal Notices

GLEN BURNIE, Md. — The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration wants your email address.

The MVA is sending out driver’s license renewal notices, and it hopes to process more of them electronically to save money on printing and postage.

Drivers who provide an email address on the MVA’s website will get an emailed renewal notice 90 days before their licenses expire. If they don’t renew within two weeks of the email, the MVA will mail a paper notice.

The MVA says it started emailing renewal notices last year and has since saved $65,000.

MVA administrator John Kuo says drivers appreciate the ease and efficiency of email renewals.

BREAKING NEWS: Prince William And Kate Middleton Name Baby

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their son George Alexander Louis. He will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.
From Fox News