Salisbury News

Monday, August 13, 2012

Maryland Chick-fil-A Restaurant Vandalized

Someone sprayed glue and pasted marriage equality messages on the windows of the Chick-fil-A restaurant in Frederick overnight on Saturday, according to police.

The Frederick County Sheriff's Office responded to the restaurant, at 5501 UrbanaPike, early Sunday morning after the store reported destruction of property.

Cpl. Gregory Santangelo said the items glued to the store's windows included marriage equality stickers and an image with the American and gay pride flags combined. There were also several homemade signs, he said.

ADULT DODGEBALL League ($50 Team Fee)

8 player roster September 24th team Deadline
Adult Fall Basketball League ($50 Team Fee)

September 3rd team Deadline
Games will be played in Fruitland MD,

Monday & Wednesday
Contact Gary 443-735-5139

Hamas Leader's Kin Gets Israeli Medical Aid Even As Terror Group Blasts Jewish State

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has no problem calling for the destruction of Israel and blaming it for attacks linked to his own party, but when his relative needs life-saving heart surgery, only Israeli doctors will do.

The stunning hypocrisy comes to light after five Hamas-backed terrorists allegedly killed 16 Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula that borders Gaza. Although evidence points to a Hamas-backed terror operation, Haniyeh inexplicably blamed it on Israel. The suspects were later killed by Israeli Defense Forces when they tried to cross the Kerem Shalom border.

Lost Dog 8-12-12

Found Mini Pin Reddish color earlier this week. Found on Springhill Lane near Waller Road. Please call 410-873-2652.

Second ICE Staffer Claims Anti-Guy Bias By Napolitano

A second employee at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is suing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano over claims his career was curtailed due to anti-male bias at the agency.

Jason Mount alleges in court papers that he was denied 43 promotions because he’s a white male and that he took a lower-grade job because of “how serious the discrimination and retaliation had become,” according to The New York Post.

The Agriculture Department spent $2 million on an internship program in which only one intern was hired, according to a new inspector general report.

The finding was part of a larger USDA inspector general audit that focused on the agency’s multi-million dollar effort to improve information technology security.

The 32-page audit found the agency’s information systems “are still at risk” because the improvement projects were poorly managed “even after expending $63.4 million of funding increases received” in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

It's rare when a single photograph defines an historic event.

But one of those photographs is "The Kiss."

It's from Aug. 14, 1945, the day Japan surrendered to end World War II, when a sailor and nurse locked lips in Times Square.

Until just recently, their identities remained a mystery, but with the 67th anniversary of VJ Day coming up Tuesday, the time seemed right for CBS News to reunite them.

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Sacramento Area Officials Explore Using Eminent Domain To Aid Underwater Homeowners

Sacramento and Elk Grove officials are exploring a controversial plan to use their powers of eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages from private investors and slash the amounts borrowers owe.

The proposal, pushed by a San Francisco-based group of financiers called Mortgage Resolution Partners, is meant to alleviate the drag on local economies of thousands of homes worth far less than buyers paid. It's also meant to turn a handsome profit for investors who would advance the vast sums needed to buy the mortgages.

The proposal has infuriated opponents in themortgage industry. They call it an illegal use of eminent domain, a power that gives government the right to seize property for the public good while paying just compensation.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/11/4715792/sacramento-area-officials-explore.html#storylink=cpy

Desperate Democrats Reek Of Fear

In 2006, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stood before the United Nations and insulted our president: “The devil came here yesterday,” Mr. Chavez said of President George W. Bush, “and it smells of sulfur still today.” Now, in 2012, the Democrats may not smell sulfur exactly, but if you follow their desperate actions, you certainly can smell their fear.

Here’s why: Yet another so-called “Recovery Summer” has come and nearly gone and Americans are still reeling from the failures of Obamanomics. It’s been a full year since Treasury Secretary and admitted tax cheat Timothy F. Geithner announced, “Welcome to the recovery.” Recovery? The gross-domestic-product growth rate slowed to 1.5 percent. The unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent. Twenty-three million Americans are unemployed. A nearly $16 trillion debt looms large. A record 45 million Americans are on food stamps. More than 100 million are on some form of welfare. America’s credit rating has been downgraded.

The president’s response? “We tried our plan — and it worked.” This was his plan? Now his only plan is to attack Mitt Romney.

Gabby Douglas is really big in her hometown. Really big and painted on a wall.

The gold-medal-winning gymnast has a giant mural painted in her honor in Virginia Beach. And she loves it.

"WOW!!! This is amazing!! (hashtag)so honored," Douglas tweeted Friday from the Olympics in London, where the 16-year-old won two gold medals at the Summer Games.

How The GOP Establishment Stole The Nomination From Ron Paul

Many of the delegates Romney has won may be the result of dirty tricks and outright election fraud. IA: For the first time ever, the Iowa GOP changed the final vote count to a secret location. FL: The Florida GOP broke party rules by switching to a winner-take-all system. NV: After Paul won, Repugs formed "Team Nevada" to replace his delegation. CO: Romney supporters were caught passing out fake Ron Paul slates. Read more!

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If you follow mainstream election coverage, you might think Mitt Romney has coasted to an honest, easy, well-deserved Republican nomination. Unfortunately for Republican voters, nothing could be further from the truth. The primary process has been an all-out slugfest and many of the delegates Romney has won may be the result of dirty tricks and even election fraud. The following narrative includes links to reports, first-hand testimonials, and video evidence highlighting actions taken by the GOP to ensure a Romney victory, at the expense of fracturing the party just prior to the general election. Party leaders at the county and state level have changed or violated party rules, cancelled caucuses, changed vote counts, thrown out entire counties of votes, counted public votes privately, called-in the SWAT team, and inexplicably replaced Paul delegates with Romney delegates to block Ron Paul from winning the nomination.

Iowa: Days before the caucuses, Paul held a commanding lead in the polls and all the momentum, with every other candidate having peaked from favorable media coverage and then collapsed under the ensuing scrutiny. Establishment Republicans, like Iowa's Representative Steve King (R), attempted to sabotage Paul's campaign by spreading rumors he would lose to Obama if nominated. Even though the Iowa GOP platform reads like a Ron Paul speech, shortly before the caucuses, Iowa Governor Terry Barnstad told Politico , "[If Paul wins] people are going to look at who comes in second and who comes in third. If Romney comes in a strong second, it definitely helps him going into New Hampshire". The message from the Governor to voters of his state was: a vote for Ron Paul was a wasted vote.

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The Dispossessed Majority

The bumper sticker on the beat-up pickup truck read: "Friends don't let friends vote Democrat."

The driver was obviously not affluent. Yet, despite all the news about mega-trillion dollar bankster bailouts, mega-million dollar bonuses for financial crooks and unimaginable compensation packages for corporate CEOs who have moved middle class jobs out of America, something made the down-and-out pickup truck driver associate with the political party of the super-rich.

As I wondered at this strange alliance of the dirt poor with the mega-rich, I remembered that in 2004 Thomas Frank wondered about how the Republicans had managed to convince the poor to vote against their best interests. Frank's answer, or part of his answer, is that the Republicans use "social issues," such as gay marriage and Janet Jackson's exposed nipple to work up indignation over the threat to moral values posed by liberal Democrats.

The working poor have been convinced by Republican propaganda that voting Democrat means giving the working poor's tax dollars to the non-working poor, to providing medical care and schooling for illegal aliens and being soft on terrorism.

To the pick-up truck driver, standing up for America means standing up for bankster bailouts and the military/security complex's multi-trillion dollar wars.

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Ron Paul's Legacy: A Complete Audit Of The Secretive Banking Cartel?

They only bubble up rarely, these scandals at the Federal Reserve System, but when they do, they're doozies, involving huge amounts of money, massive conflicts of interest, all-out manipulation, collusion, favoritism, dizzying cronyism.... And yet, over the 100 years that the Fed has existed, it has done an excellent job in one of its other primary functions, maintaining the dollar, which has lost only 96% of its value—instead of 100%.

The latest scandal is the Libor fiasco that is spawning worldwide investigations of the largest banks, going back years. The New York Fed under its President Timothy Geithner knew of the manipulations as early as 2007, and knew it involved banks of which it was one of the regulators. There were some hush-hush contacts with British regulators, and that was it. Nothing changed. Status quo maintained.

Just about then, the financial crisis began to expose the house of cards that financial institutions had become. Bear Stearns was saved. During the ensuing bailout mania of 2007 – 2009, the New York Fed, under the same management, handed trillions of freshly printed dollars to the same banks that it knew were manipulating Libor. It was done in secret, and the public wouldn’t have known who got what, how the decisions were made, why Lehman wasn’t bailed out though Goldman was, had it not been for the audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as authorized by the Dodd-Frank financial reform act [for some gory details, read... The GAO Audit of the Fed Doesn’t Call It ‘Corruption’ but it should.

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Study: Men Don’t Feel The Need To Spend As Much On Dates If There Are Plenty Of Women To Be Had

If you're the kind of lady who absolutely loves it when a guy goes totally nuts and splashes out on fancy dates and all that wining and dining that goes with it, you better head to somewhere with less women around, according to a new study. Researchers say if men detect a shortage of the ladyfolk, they're more likely to spend spontaneously in order to seem attractive. It's all about biology!

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Dish CEO Says His Customers Don’t Watch AMC Because “They Live In Farms & Ranches”

To all you Dish subscribers who have to go over to your friends' houses to watch Breaking Bad because you no longer have AMC, the satellite service's CEO has a message for you: Stop complaining and don't watch good TV, because he never has.

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Delaware Might Be Super Tiny But It’s Got The Fastest Internet, So There

Anyone pitying diminutive Delaware might want to think again — small though it may be, it's got the fastest average Internet connection speeds in the entire United States of America. That's what we call bragging rights, everyone.

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Deceased Man Recovered in Submerged Vehicle, Ingram Pond, Millsboro

Location:
Ingram Pond (area of Godwin School Road), Millsboro, DE

Date of Occurrence:
Sunday, August 12, 2012 at 5:30 a.m.

Victim:
68 year old male from Millsboro, DE

Resume:
Millsboro-The Delaware State Police continue an investigation into a deceased man found inside a completely submerged vehicle in the Ingram Pond, west of Millsboro, DE.

The incident occurred on Sunday, August 12, 2012 at approximately 5:30 a.m. as Troopers were checking the general area for a reported missing person investigation. Troopers located a submerged vehicle with its lights on at the bottom of the Ingram Pond.

Members of the Millsboro and Selbyville Fire Company Dive Teams responded and entered the water for recovery operations for both the vehicle and the occupant, while the Delaware State Police Aviation Helicopter Trooper 2 provided support by air.

Divers located the vehicle submerged in approximately 5’ of water, approximately 90’ from the area where the vehicle entered the pond. The 68 year old male was found deceased inside the vehicle. The body was recovered and turned over to the Delaware Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the exact cause of death.

Foul play is not suspected and the incident is being investigated as an apparent suicide at this time. Troopers continue their investigation.

Police: Walmart Worker Followed Suspected Shoplifter Out, Ran Him Over With Car

A month ago in Houston, a high school student briefly considered committing a crime. He grabbed some DVDs and headed for the door. He says that he changed his mind near the door and left almost-ill-gotten goods behind in the store. That didn't stop a store employee from following him out of the store as he walked home, then intentionally hitting him with his car. The teen only suffered a bruised back, and the driver is longer employed at Walmart. He's also in jail on $30,000 bond, charged with aggravated assault.

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BREAKING NEWS: Egypt's President Names New Officials, Cancels Amendments

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi orders defense minister and chief of staff to retire, cancels constitutional amendments that gave military wide powers and appoints new vice president and defense minister, spokesman says.

From Fox News

Anne Arundel Legislators Express Reservations About New Gaming Bill

Anne Arundel County lawmakers at a hearing peppered the governor’s chief lobbyist with their misgivings about the gaming expansion bill introduced Thursday and its impact on the state’s largest casino at Arundel Mills. For over an hour, chief legislative officer Joe Bryce fielded lawmakers’ reservations about language for a sixth gambling [...]

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Audio: Pit Bull Owners Demonstrate And Testify On Legislation

Duane Keenan for MarylandReporter.com provides this audio report on the demonstration and then the hearing on legislation to overturn a court ruling that declared all pit-bulls as inherently dangerous dogs. The ruling does not sit well with owners of friendly pits. They point out that it is wrong to discriminate against one particular kind of dog. Also, holding landlords responsible for the actions of pet-owning tenants means some dog owners may have to get rid of their four-footed family members.

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Crack Down On Food Stamp Fraud

The Agriculture Department launches a fresh effort to crack down on food stamp fraud. USDA is giving itself new powers to penalize retailers who traffic in food stamps. Now fraudsters can face both a fine and disqualification from the system. Plus, USDA will require states to use federal prison and death databases to insure only eligible people receive food stamps. In recent years, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has grown into an 80 billion line item. Forty six million people receive SNAP benefits. Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon says fraud now runs at less than 1 percent.

More Than 4,100 Career Postmasters Have Taken A $20,000 Buyout And Early Retirement

They represent 20 percent of all postmasters. Federal Times reports, 38 hundred are already gone, and the rest will leave by the end of September. A handful were not eligible to retire but took the buyout anyhow. The Postal Service announced the offer in May. Career postmasters who stick around run the risk of being laid off after September 2014.

'Crisis Of Confidence' As USPS Posts $5.2B Quarterly Loss

The Postal Service lost $5.2 billion in the third quarter of this year, bringing its year-to-date tally of red ink to $11.6 billion for the first nine months of 2012. The USPS chief financial officer said the organization's liquid assets are running perilously low. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe (pictured) faults an "inflexible" business model and urged action by Congress.

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Washington Puts Its Money on Proxy War: The Election Year Outsourcing That No One’s Talking About

In the 1980s, the U.S. government began funneling aid to mujahedeen rebels in Afghanistan as part of an American proxy war against the Soviet Union. It was, in the minds of America's Cold War leaders, a rare chance to bloody the Soviets, to give them a taste of the sort of defeat the Vietnamese, with Soviet help, had inflicted on Washington the decade before. In 1989, after years of bloody combat, the Red Army did indeed limp out of Afghanistan in defeat. Since late 2001, the United States has been fighting its former Afghan proxies and their progeny. Now, after years of bloody combat, it's the U.S. that's looking to withdraw the bulk of its forces and once again employ proxies to secure its interests there.

From Asia and Africa to the Middle East and the Americas, the Obama administration is increasingly embracing a multifaceted, light-footprint brand of warfare. Gone, for the moment at least, are the days of full-scale invasions of the Eurasian mainland. Instead, Washington is now planning to rely ever more heavily on drones and special operations forces to fight scattered global enemies on the cheap. A centerpiece of this new American way of war is the outsourcing of fighting duties to local proxies around the world.

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There's A New Whacked Out Conspiracy Theory Being Lodged At President Obama

This one is coming from Obama-obsessed hack author Jerome Corsi who is alleging there's evidence the President used to be married to another man. Corsi says that before he met Michele, Obama was married to his former Pakistani roommate. As for proof – Corsi points to pictures that supposedly show Obama in college sitting on his roommate's lap, in addition to pictures that supposedly show Obama wearing a wedding ring before he married Michele back in 1992. As Corsi explains in a video posted to a Tea Party website, "The question is not to condemn Obama here for being bisexual or gay, if that's in fact what he is, but to wonder why he's gone to the extent of hiding it, especially when he now is supporting same sex marriage what's the duplicity? What's the hypocrisy?" Rumor has it – Donald Trump already has his crack team of investigators on the case.

Meet Florida Governor Rick Scott

A guy who's spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars defending laws written by corporations. Right now, Scott is defending the Firearm Owners' Privacy Act, which prohibits doctors from asking patients about gun ownership. The law was struck down by a federal judge in July – who ruled that it violated the First Amendment Rights of doctors. But since the law was created by the NRA and has ties to the Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, Governor Scott is throwing sack-fulls of tax payer money to defend it. He's doing the same thing with other ALEC-written legislation passed under his watch that have been struck down in courts including laws to require drug tests for welfare recipients, prison privatization, and voter suppression. Governor Scott is one of the most loyal servants in the American corporatocracy.

Corporations Are Bribing Foreign Government Officials

On the heels of news earlier this year that a subsidiary of Wal Mart was caught bribing government officials in Mexico in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, another corporation has been caught doing the same thing. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for making improper payments to government officials in China, Croatia, Kazakhstan, and a series of other nations in exchange for laxer regulations and quick formulary approvals. Like Wal Mart, Pfizer is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, which is currently lobbying to weaken the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and give transnational corporations free rein to bribe foreign governments for better business deals. Of course, thanks to Citizens United, corporations can already legally bribe government officials here in the United States.

Global Weirding

Americans should be getting used to hearing this by now, but we're coming off the hottest month ever recorded in the history of the United States. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the month of July was the hottest ever recorded going all the back to 1895. The average temperature for that month was 77.6 degrees – more than three degrees higher than the century average. At the same time, 63% of the nation is mired in an historic drought that's threatening not only our nation's food supply, but the rest of the world's too. Stay tuned, this is just the beginning of climate change-induced global "weirding."

No Nukes!...At Least For A Little Bit

On Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it would temporarily freeze any new licenses or renewal of licenses for nuclear power plants around the country. That decision by the NRC was prompted by a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling back in June that the NRC has insufficiently dealt with the problem of nuclear waste material - thus violating the National Environmental Policy Act. Currently, the NRC provides licenses under the assumption that it will find ways to dispose of nuclear waste in the future when it becomes "necessary" or that nuclear waste can be safely stored at reactors sites. As we're seeing in Japan, there are a lot of problem with nuclear waste stored inside the reactor building – and the U.S. Court of Appeals recognized as much when they issued their ruling against the NRC. One of the main litigants in the case against the NRC – Stephen Smith, the executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said about the NRC's decision, "We believe it is appropriate to halt nuclear licensing decisions and stop creating an inter-generational debt of nuclear waste that will burden our children and grandchildren for centuries to come."

Should Bloggers Have To Disclose Financial Interests In Their Writing?

Yesterday, it was reported that a judge is requiring Google and Oracle to disclose any journalists and bloggers they pay, as a result of a series of intellectual property lawsuits unsuccessfully filed by Oracle. From the article:

In a surprise order, U.S. District Judge William Alsup said “the court is concerned” that Oracle and Google may have hired authors to comment about their ongoing court case. Now, Judge Alsup wants the parties to submit a list of their paid propagandists.

The unusual request comes months after the “World Series” of intellectual property trials in which Oracle unsuccessfully sued Google for billions.

The trial was remarkable not only for the large damage figures but for Oracle’s decision to hire Florian Mueller, a self-described “patent analyst” who also takes money from Microsoft. In his FOSS Patents blog, Mueller wrote a series of one-sided posts over the course of the trial such as “Oracle Java patent rises like Ph0enix from the ashes.”

Despite a lack of legal training, Mueller holds himself out as a patent expert to the media and typically does not disclose that he is paid by the companies he reports on (he disclosed an Oracle relationship briefly at the outset of the trial but did not do so subsequently or to other media). Mueller has also blocked me and other journalists who have questioned his impartiality from viewing his Twitter feed.

LA Times Feeds Into Obama’s Wedge Politics, Says 2012 Is Up To ‘Women And White People’

David Lauter’s column featured in the LA Times today was a disgraceful pivot to whittle the 2012 election to say it’s really hinging on women and white people. They’re the gatekeepers. We should forget about hispanics, high unemployment, healthcare, trillion dollar deficits, and anemic economic growth because they no longer the core issues of the election. It’s wedge politics 101 being played out here.

It does play into Obama’s current modus operandi of lying to keep his job. They prevaricated on officially condemning Sen. Harry Reid’s lies about Romney’s taxes. They truly think Romney is responsible for giving Joe Soptic’s wife cancer in Priorities USA’s despicable new ad. Now, it’s time to rehash the war one women and start drinking beer with the white folks.

Obama seems to be trying to “bork” Romney with his stop in Colorado to talk about contraception in what appears to be an attempt to widen the gender gap amongst unmarried women. At one campaign rally, the president said, “when it comes to a woman’s right to make her own healthcare choices, they [Republicans] want to take us back to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century.” This statement, coupled with Obama pimping out Sandra Fluke, who introduced him in Denver, makes it a nice and divisive Kennedy reach around.

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Harry Belafonte: Romney Victory Would Mean 'End Of Civilization'

Harry Belafonte, the 85-year-old singer known for the Banana Boat Song, said a Romney victory would mean the "end of civilization," according to an interview published by the Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.

When asked if he would like to see Romney become the next president, Belafonte responded: "Only if I would like to see the end of civilization. No, absolutely not. Mitt Romney is not my cup of tea at all."

He also said that "[u]nbridled capitalism" is the greatest enemy the country faces.

"What we did during the Bush period, what we still continue to do, even with Barack Obama, is the continuency (sic) of not changing the paradigm, of not changing the view," he said. "We still have laws that encourage torture, we did not change Guantanamo, we have laws that allow the police to arrest you at any time, not having to tell you why, and take you wherever they want. This kind of capitalism is taking us to the doorstep of [a] Fourth Reich, I think."

Belafonte made his comments while at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where he received a "Golden Leopard Honor Award."

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Is Obesity A Disease Or A Moral Failing?

And what are we to make of the fact that an affliction of the rich is now predominantly a problem of the poor?

Obesity – being very fat – is a condition that is at the much disputed border between medicine and moral weakness. No one doubts that being very fat is bad for you, that is to say has deleterious consequences as far as pathology and life expectancy are concerned, to say nothing of aesthetics, but is it a disease in itself, and are doctors their patients’ keepers? To this no final answer can be returned, for it lies not in the realm of physic but of metaphysic. One answers as much according to one’s philosophical predilections and presuppositions as to empirical evidence.

Many people take obesity as a mass phenomenon (if I may be allowed a little pun of doubtful taste), not just among the American but among the world population, as evidence that people are not really responsible as individuals for what they put into their mouths, chew, and swallow, but rather victims of something beyond their control. If they are not so responsible, of course, it is rather difficult to see what they are or even might be responsible for. But the impersonal-forces point of view is well expressed in an editorial in a recent edition of the New England Journal of Medicine by a public health doctor and an expert in “communication,” by which I suppose is meant advertising and propaganda.

The concern [about the increasing obesity of the population] prompted the recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, “Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation.” The groundbreaking report and accompanying HBO documentary, “The Weight of the Nation,” present a forceful case that the obesity epidemic has been driven by structural changes in our environment, rather than embrace the reductionist view that the cause is poor decision making by individuals.

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5 Things That Will Be Different If Mitt Romney Defeats Barack Obama

My latest Townhall column is called, 5 Things That Will Be Different If Mitt Romney Defeats Barack Obama. Here’s an excerpt from the column.

Far too much of the campaign season so far has revolved around trivia. That’s largely Barack Obama’s fault. Obama wants to see more of Mitt’s tax returns. Who cares? Obama’s rich, but Mitt’s really rich; so we should hate him because he has more money than we do — or something. After Mitt left Bain, some company went bust, some random guy lost his health care and later got it back, but it wasn’t as good as it was at Bain; so Mitt killed his wife somehow or another? On the other hand, while Mitt’s campaign has at least focused on meaningful issues, the ad dollars have mostly been spent highlighting the sea of incompetence that has been Barack Obama’s first four years in the White House, as opposed to what Romney would do when he gets elected. On top of that, neither candidate has exactly been a model of consistency when it comes to his views. So, it’s worth asking the question: What will be different if Mitt Romney defeats Barack Obama?

1) Businesses will feel more comfortable hiring and spending money: As William Henry Harrison noted, “The prudent capitalist will never adventure his capital… if there exists a state of uncertainty as to whether the government will repeal tomorrow what it has enacted today.” Barack Obama has introduced just that kind of uncertainty into the economy with his demonization of business, Obamacare, the fiscal cliff, and the threat of tax increases in his second term. That’s why American corporations have piled up record cash reserves instead of using that money to increase production and hire new workers. Romney will be business-friendly, will oppose tax hikes, cut regulations, and reassure these companies that they’re not going to be under attack for the next four years. In and of itself, that should significantly improve the economy and help create jobs.

Once again, you can read it all here.

Maryland Had Highest Rate Of New Foreclosure Filings In U.S.

The rate of new foreclosure filings in Maryland far exceeded any other state's this spring, a spike caused in large part by the national robo-signing legal settlement that unleashed a flood of new cases.

Almost 20 in every 1,000 home loans in Maryland — twice the national average — were drawn into the foreclosure process during April, May and June, according to survey data released Thursday by the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association.

"If you look at what's going on in foreclosure starts, Maryland now has exceeded Florida, has exceeded Georgia — some of the states that have been up there at the top in terms of the percent of loans on which foreclosure actions have started," said Jay Brinkmann, the trade group's chief economist.

Holder: Sikh Temple Shooting ‘An Act of Terrorism’

U.S. Attorney Eric Holder, speaking at the Sikh Temple shooting memorial service in Oak Creek, Wis., on Friday, called the tragedy “an act of terrorism, an act of hatred,” and “a hate crime that is anathema to the founding principles of our nation and to who we are as an American people.”

The gunman, identified as Wade Michael Page, shot nine people at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin – killing six and injuring three others. Page, a suspected white Supremacist, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

OFFICER IMPRISONED FOR CHALLENGING OBAMA TELLS STORY

Defend the Constitution Demanded That I Sacrifice My Career” is Lt. Col. Terry Lakin’s moving first-hand account of faith and patriotism that led to court-martial, imprisonment and the stripping of all military rank and privileges, including his Army pension.

Lakin, an Army flight surgeon, was court-martialed because he refused to obey deployment orders, arguing Barack Obama had not documented his eligibility for the presidency under Article 2, Section 1, of the Constitution.

“What I do not understand and still don’t,” Lakin writes, “is why Obama did not just come forward with his key documents and be done with it. Instead, he ordered all of his important records to be kept under seal.”

Jury: Shop Owner Justified In Walla Walla Shooting

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- A jury found John Saul justified in shooting Cesar Chavira to death back in May in Walla Walla's New York Store.

An attorney for Chavira's family stated a wrongful death civil suit will be filed against Saul.

Walla Walla's prosecuting attorney will be reviewing case and decide what the next step is.

Owner John Saul said he caught Cesar Chavez stealing belts and buckles red-handed before unloading as many as five shotgun rounds into the 22-year-old.

Nine years after a battle over a stone monument listing the Ten Commandments inside a state court building in Alabama, the state Supreme Court chief justice who was removed from office by a state judiciary panel is the leading candidate – to be the state Supreme Court chief justice.

Judge Roy Moore had installed the 5,280-pound stone monument as part of an acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty over American life, and when he refused to haul it away as a federal judge wanted, a state judicial panel removed him from office.

But after a stunning upset victory over two better-funded competitors for the GOP nomination for the office, incumbent Chuck Malone and former state Attorney General Charlie Graddick, Moore now is leading in the statewide race in Alabama, where voters choose the chief justice.

Md. Senate Oks Strict Liability For All Dog Bites

The Maryland Senate has voted to change a state law so that it creates a strict liability standard for owners of all dogs, not just pit bulls.

The change was in response to a court ruling that determined pit bulls are "inherently dangerous" animals.

The Senate voted on the measure Friday. The House must vote next.

Yes We C.A.N. (Christian Activism Now!)

Can a true Christian really stand by and watch this country get any worse? And it has been getting worse for 50 years now. This is the 50th anniversary of prayer being taken out of school (taking away a practice that set a nice tone to the start of the school day), and the pill gaining popularity, (the start of separating women from their natural biology). And the year after prayer was taken out of schools, the pregnancy rate for girls under 15 increased from 5,000 per year to 27,000 per year, and SAT scores plummeted.

1962 was also right before the Beatles and the “British invasion” started with innocent enough music that eventually devolved and led to such damaging social movements as free love, feminism, homosexuality, and the sexual revolution.

Obama Says He Wants to Repeat Auto Takeover in Every Industry

Have you heard Obama? He said: “I want to nationalize other industries just like I did General Motors and Chrysler.” Yeah. He didn’t just come out and admit it, he came out and advocated it. He suggested it and talked about how he could do it and “save” other industries like he has “saved” the automobile industry.

Folks, he’s serious. Barack Obama is serious. “I want to do the same thing with manufacturing jobs. Not just in the auto industry, in every industry.” Does that mean, for example, that Obama…? And you watch, by the way, if anybody on television picks this up. It might have happened last night. Today. On the Sunday shows or next week, if anybody on our side on television engages to have a serious discussion on it and to take Obama at his word, you watch how they’ll be pooh-poohed.

Hoping? President Barack Obama’s team has apparently been waiting for a Paul Ryan vice presidential pick.

The president’s campaign wasted no time labeling the Wisconsin congressman as “severely conservative” calling his budget proposal “a sham” and blaming his economics for “crash[ing] our economy.” The attacks came from a website launched while Ryan was giving his speech in Norfolk, Va. accepting the position of Mitt Romney’s running mate. The website houses a full-on coordinated multimedia attack framing the Romney Ryan ticket as The Go Back Team . The site is fully equipped to trash Ryan, Romney and their collective record.

Apple Slices Recalled Due To Listeria Danger

Sliced apples distributed to fast-food and grocery chains across the country are among packaged products being recalled due to possible listeria contamination.

No illnesses have been reported, but listeria was found on equipment used to produce apple products by Missa Bay LLC, owned by Ready Pac Foods Inc. of Swedesboro, N.J.

Packaged apple slices distributed to McDonald's and Burger King in some states are included in the recall, as are some packaged fruit, veggies, salads and sandwiches containing apples distributed to Wawa convenience store and Wegman's grocery chains, as well as various apple and fruit snacks with "Ready Pac" labels and apple salad kits with a "Safeway Farms" label.

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Calling In Sick

Something You Should Know

The guy you see above, George Chevallier has been a dear friend of mine for many years now. George joined us years ago with open arms and has shared Eastern Shore history as a volunteer every Saturday morning on Salisbury News.

George was approached not long ago to write for someone else and they even offered to pay him for each article, George refused.

George is a man who is irreplaceable. He's a man loaded with wisdom and I want to take this moment to express my gratitude towards George for all that he has given us over all these years.

No, George isn't going anywhere. I just wanted to offer my thanks as well as give everyone else the opportunity to share their thoughts with George. He could have easily moved on to another opportunity but he instead chose to share his wealth of information with the biggest audience on the Shore.

They don't get any better than George Chevallier and you can bank on that.

5 Members Of Ariz. Family Get Married On Same Day

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - It's a mega wedding day for a Mesa, Ariz., family with five siblings walking down the aisle on the same day.

The East Valley Tribune ( http://bit.ly/P39zqT) reports the five Waldie children all got engaged within a few months of each other.

While trying to plan wedding dates with out-of-state family and guests, dad Doug Waldie suggested they all marry on the same day.

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BREAKING NEWS: Iran Quake Death Toll Reportedly Hits 180

State TV reports at least 180 were killed and 1,350 injured in major earthquakes that struck northwestern Iran, leveling at least six villages.

From Fox News

Ocean Downs Casino Sets New Revenue Record

The July figures for the Casino at Ocean Downs were released this week, revealing the greatest month ever in the nearly two-year history of the gaming facility along Route 589 just south of Ocean Pines.

While lawmakers were preparing to convene for a special session on the future of casino gambling in Maryland this week, Video Lottery Commission officials on Tuesday released the July figures for the three operating casinos in the state, including Ocean Downs. The Casino at Ocean Downs in July collected $5.75 million in gross revenue in July, the single busiest month in the history of the facility.

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Vehicle Vandals Sought In Berlin

BERLIN -- Berlin Police this week are investigating a rash of vehicle damage and destruction cases along the town’s typically quiet streets.

Over a two-day period from Wednesday to Thursday, Berlin Police responded to eight different cases of malicious destruction of property to vehicles and two other cases of tampering with vehicles in different areas around the town. In most of the cases, the suspect or suspects have been cutting the tops of convertible vehicles and, in some cases, cutting motorcycle seats.

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Meet The Man And His Dog Behind Viral Photo in Bayfield Wisconsin

They say dogs are man's best friend. John Unger and Schoep are proof of that.

Their friendship started when Unger adopted Schoep from a shelter as a puppy 19 years ago. It turns out Schoep wasn't the only one who needed to be rescued.

"He's been my guardian for a number of years," Unger said.

Time has given them memories, but it has also taken a toll on Schoep's body.

Video and More HERE

PUBLIC NOTICE 8-11-12

The City Council has scheduled an additional work session for Monday, August 13, 2012 following the conclusion of the Council’s 6:00 p.m. Legislative Session in Council Chambers (Room 301) of the Government Office Building (125 N. Division Street).

The purpose of the work session is a follow up discussion on the development of the City’s application for a Maryland Enterprise Zone, a real estate and income tax credit program for businesses.

Aqua To Open Soon

One thing you can't say about the new owner is that he's lazy. Phil has been working his butt off renovating the old space and preparing it for his new Bar/Restaurant on the Downtown Plaza.

You can expect a soft opening with friends and family some time in the next week or so. Then, they'll swing their doors with food only. A delay in paperwork has slowed down their getting a hearing with the Liquor Board. This gives them the time to finish the Bar details and before you know it they'll be up and running.

Several restaurants have come and gone on the Plaza. Phil gutted the entire kitchen and rebuilt it to deliver a quality product in a very clean environment, similar to his Downtown Deli across the street on the Plaza.

It will take community support to keep this business alive, along with good food and service, of course. Phil wants a few weeks of being open before he gives the go ahead to announce they're open for business and quite frankly this is a very smart move. Get all the kinks out ahead of time. One local restaurant didn't do the same and unfortunately people got the wrong impression of their product and service.

We'll keep you posted and we wish Phil the very best. He's worked very hard and he's earned it.

The Truth About The Coming Public Employee Pension Crisis

In fiscal year 2010, public pension funds as a whole were only 75 percent funded and had a shortfall of $757 billion between what they should have set aside to pay for the benefits promised to workers and retirees and what they had on hand. While some states, like New York, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, have well-funded and well-managed plans, the majority of states face significant challenges. Thirty-four states were less than 80 percent funded -- a threshold many experts recommend for health pension systems.

This problem is the result of a decade of states taking pension holidays and raising benefits without paying for them, not the Great Recession. Investment gains of 20 and 13 percent in 2009 and 2010, respectively, were not nearly enough to overcome losses from the financial crisis, and pension funding levels continued to drop. The weak returns of less than 1 percent at the end of 2011 also show how hard it will be for states to invest their way out of this crisis. Initial projections suggest that funding levels will be stagnant in fiscal year 2011, and in some states will continue to drop...

Source

Sen. Rand Paul Speaks Out Against Senators Voting Without Reading The Bills

23 ADULT TRUTHS

1 Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind-of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front.

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

The Apocalyptic Vision Of The Road

What is the "means of production" and what significance does it have to society? How is it created, expanded, or merely sustained? What is the relationship between the prevailing moral order of a society and its accumulation of capital?

These are questions that economists and political philosophers have considered throughout the history of economic thought. If you have ever enquired into the differences between capitalism and socialism you will have heard of the means of production, and you will be aware that this is very important to the organization of society. You might have heard of this, but you might not have spent much thought on the relationship between capital and moral order. Indeed, why should ordinary people care about such things? Isn't the means of production just something that one reads about between bong hits in the dorm rooms at university? Or is it perhaps something that is the domain of accountants and corporate managers, concerned with the proper techniques of double-entry bookkeeping? What is its great significance?

For those who are not sure, or don't care, The Road by Cormac McCarthy gives us a chilling glimpse of a society without capital or moral order – a world without a "means of production." It is a terrifying vision, and a wake-up call to those who regard questions of capital accumulation as being merely the dry and technical subject matter of economists. The novel is set in a postapocalyptic world devastated by a catastrophe of some kind that has destroyed the natural environment. It tells the story of a man and his young son trying to survive the dangers of the new world and retain their sense of goodness in the face of its horrors.

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Gazillions

Gazillions. That’s the number of times the federal government has spied on Americans since 9/11 through the use of drones, legal search warrants, illegal search warrants, federal agent-written search warrants and just plain government spying. This is according to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who, when he asked the government to tell him what it was doing to violate our privacy, was given a classified briefing. The senator – one of just a few in the U.S. Senate who believes that the Constitution means what it says – was required by federal law to agree not to reveal what spies and bureaucrats told him during the briefing.

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Wawa Pays $12,500 To Kicked-Out Customer With Service Dog

Many people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey speak highly of the Wawa chain of convenience stores. Which is why it was a bit of surprise to folks in the area when a man was kicked out of a store earlier this summer because he brought his service dog into the building. Now the chain has not only agreed to fork over a bit of cash to the customer, but to also make sure its employees don't repeat the mistake.

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The Sunstein Farewell Lecture

It hasn't gone viral, but a new You Tube video (watch below) is how the administration's outgoing regulations chief sums up his tenure. Cass Sunstein has been running the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In a kind of farewell lecture, Sunstein gives a brief history of regulatory activity going back to the Clinton administration. He uses a white board and cartoon illustrations to make his points. Sunstein says the Obama administration has made fewer rules than Clinton or George W. Bush. But he says the economic benefits of the rules, at $90 billion, dwarfs previous administrations. Sunstein heads back to Harvard Law School.

IRS Screws Up

The Internal Revenue Service has been rubber-stamping taxpayer ID applications instead of screening for fraud. A new study by the tax inspector general says the practice risks billions in improper payments and also has national security implications. The IDs are available to non-citizens who must file tax returns but can't get a Social Security Number. The IG, J. George Russell, says IRS employees are encouraged to process as many applications as possible. His report says IRS stopped using proven anti fraud procedures.

Bill Clinton Blasts Romney's "Disappointing" New Welfare Claim

Mitt Romney spent Tuesday on a media blitz claiming that President Obama is out to “gut welfare reform.” An ad released by the Romney campaign first pointed to President Clinton as having successfully reformed welfare, before excoriating Obama. However, in a statement, Clinton called Romney’s charge against Obama “disappointing” and “not true”:

Governor Romney released an ad today alleging that the Obama administration had weakened the work requirements of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. That is not true. [...]

The recently announced waiver policy was originally requested by the Republican governors of Utah and Nevada to achieve more flexibility in designing programs more likely to work in this challenging environment. The Administration has taken important steps to ensure that the work requirement is retained and that waivers will be granted only if a state can demonstrate that more people will be moved into work under its new approach. The welfare time limits, another important feature of the 1996 act, will not be waived.

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Getting Screwed On Taxes

When corporations don't pay their fair share in taxes, the rest of us get screwed. As reported by the Huffington Post, America's ten most profitable corporations paid an average income tax rate of just 9% last year. The top two corporations not paying their fair share in taxes are oil companies – with ExxonMobil – the most profitable corporation in the history of the world paying a mere 2% income tax rate – and Chevron paying 4%. Those numbers clock in well below the 35% income tax rate corporations should be paying in America, but almost never do. Over the last few decades, corporate taxes as a share of government revenue have plummeted, forcing working people to pay more and more taxes to cover the gap. Plain and simple, giving tax breaks to corporations that pollute our skies, offshore our jobs, and deny us healthcare is not just crazy – it's immoral.

Good Jobs Are Hard To Find

A new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research finds that our economy has lost one-third of its ability to create what are defined as "good jobs." A good job is one that pays at least 37,000 dollars a year and offers health insurance and a retirement plan. And the data shows that since 1979, Americans workers of all education levels have lost these good jobs. That includes workers with less than a high school degree and workers with more than a college degree. Why is this happening? Well, the report concludes: "The real culprit is the systematic decline in the bargaining power of workers — reflected in a drop in... the minimum wage, a collapse in the unionization rate in the private-sector, the deregulation of previously well-paying industries, the privatization of state and local government jobs, a series of business-biased trade deals, a dysfunctional immigration system, poor enforcement of already weak labor standards, and high unemployment." In other words, Reaganomics is to blame.

Attention

Monday, August 13, 2012

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Saturday, August 11, 2012