Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Report: Md. Congressional Districts Among Most Spread Out in U.S.

Four of Maryland's recently redrawn congressional districts are among the 25 least-compact congressional districts in the country, according to a study expected to be released within the next week.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot on Tuesday condemned the districts as severely gerrymandered and urged voters to overturn them on the ballot next month.

The study, by Philadelphia geospatial analysis firm Azavea, looked at 428 districts across the country and measured their compactness four ways before averaging the scores for each district to get the final ranking. Maryland, Texas and North Carolina were the only states to have four districts in the top 25, according to Daniel McGlone, an analyst who worked on the study.

Recruiters Forged Diplomas, Threatened Arrests And Lied On Drug Tests To Get Teenagers To Enlist After 9/11

Editor's note: This is an excerpt from chapter two of "The Lonely Soldier: The Private War Of Women Serving In Iraq" by Helen Benedict. She is also the author of Sand Queen, which is based on the lives of women on both sides of the Iraq war. See more on her website.

Since 9/11 and the start of the Afghanistan War, the military has been targeting schools like Mickiela's—schools in communities where jobs are scarce and the students are poor or the citizenship of immigrants—and promising glamorous careers and citizenship to those who join. But by the time Mickiela was in eleventh grade, the government had given recruiters another advantage as well: the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The act stipulates that no public high school can qualify for federal money unless it gives the address and telephone number of every student to the military and allows recruiters access to the school. Any family that wants to keep its address private has to submit a form saying so, but most people don't know this. Once recruiters have this information, they court students like baseball scouts, calling them at home taking them out for meals, and making any promises they want. Recruiters can do this because the enlistment contract that every recruit must sign states that none of these promises have to be kept—something else most people don't know.

Threats To Assassinate Romney Explode After Debate

Obama supporters voice desire to kill Romney over fears food stamps will be taken away

Despite numerous media outlets attempting to downplay the issue, Twitter exploded last night following the debate with new threats from Obama supporters to assassinate Mitt Romney if he defeats Obama in the presidential race.

As we reported yesterday, in addition to threats by Obama supporters to riot if Romney wins, innumerable Twitter users are also making direct death threats against Romney.

The primary reason given for Obama supporters wanting to see Romney dead is the fear that he will take away food stamps.

If the tables were turned and conservatives were making death threats against Obama in these numbers, it would be a national news story. Indeed, the mere act of hanging empty chairs from trees as a reference to Clint Eastwood’s RNC speech was hyped by the media as a deadly sign that conservatives were out to lynch black people if Obama won.

Social Security Benefits To Go Up By 1.7 Percent

More than 56 million Social Security recipients will see their monthly payments go up by 1.7 percent next year.

The increase, which starts in January, is tied to a measure of inflation released Tuesday. It shows that inflation has been relatively low over the past year, resulting in one of the smallest increases in Social Security payments since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.

This year, Social Security recipients received a 3.6 percent increase in benefits after getting none the previous two years.

Random Thoughts

Random thoughts on the passing scene:

Not since the days of slavery have there been so many people who feel entitled to what other people have produced as there are in the modern welfare state, whether in Western Europe or on this side of the Atlantic.

Economist Edward Lazear has cut through all of Barack Obama's claims about "creating jobs" with one plain and inescapable fact – "there hasn't been one day during the entire Obama presidency when as many Americans were working as on the day President Bush left office." Whatever number of jobs were created during the Obama administration, more have been lost.

How are children supposed to learn to act like adults, when so much of what they see on television shows adults acting like children?

The know-it-all smirks and condescending laughs of Vice President Joe Biden, when Congressman Paul Ryan was speaking during their debate, were a little much from an administration presiding over economic woes at home and disasters overseas – and being caught in lies about both. Like Barack Obama, Joe Biden has all the clever tricks of a politician and none of the wisdom of a statesman.

If you truly believe in the brotherhood of man, then you must believe that blacks are just as capable of being racists as whites are.

One of the most foolish, and most dangerous, things one can do is to take love for granted, instead of nurturing it and safeguarding it as the prize jewel of one's life.

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Why Americans Who Love Authority Are More Likely to Vote Republican

It’s a truism in American politics that President Obama has a hard time appealing to white working-class voters, the assumption being that whether you support or oppose the president is a function of race and class (and, to a lesser degree, geography, since Southerners are less likely to vote for Obama).

But this demographic view of voting behavior, while not entirely wrong, fails to capture the nature of support for Obama among whites, and misses a crucial dynamic among the electorate more broadly. To a large extent, it is not class or education that explains political preferences. It is personality; specifically, the degree to which white voters believe in order and hierarchy. In fact, it turns out that plenty of less well-educated whites who tolerate ambiguity and disdain hierarchy are highly supportive of the president. Conversely, many well-off, college-educated whites who dislike ambiguity and embrace hierarchy oppose the president.

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Measurable Improvements

What exactly went wrong in Germany? Thomas Jefferson had been dead for 150 years when Adolf Hitler came to power. But he would have recognized the broad outlines of the problem. Jefferson: "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."

Too much security turned out to be as deadly to the people who created it as to those who fought against it. Even after the Germans had surrendered, the dying continued. The Allies turned their heads as 13 million Germans were expelled from Prussia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, and other nations in Eastern Europe. It was not a pretty sight. The Germans call it "die Flucht"...the biggest 'ethnic cleansing' in all history. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions — mostly women, children and old men — died en route. That too, was part of the cost of Germany's 'too much' reliance on military power. Once the downside began...it was a long way down.

But suppose the government had confined its activism to helping people rather than killing them? Suppose Heinrich Himmler put flowers in his hair and Adolf Hitler went to anger management sessions. Suppose they turned their energies from mass murder abroad to 'making a difference' at home?

Is there any limit to the good works they might have realized? Could the world ever have 'too much' improvement? Where's the downside?

You fill the tank of your car. Minutes go by as the big tank fills, with a deep gurgling sound coming from the mouth of the tank. It gets fuller and fuller, better and better. Then, you hear a different sound. The tone changes as the neck of the tank fills quickly. It is time to click the nozzle and stop.

Occupy Wall Street campers have made Halloween at a church in lower Manhattan simply too scary, church officials told FoxNews.com.

Citing an “abundance of caution,” the Rev. James Cooper of Trinity Church said the Episcopal parish at Broadway and Wall Street in Manhattan has canceled it popular Halloween activities due to safety issues arising from a sidewalk encampment in front of the place of worship.

“Canceling a beloved family event is not a decision taken lightly,” Cooper said in a statement issued Sunday. “Last year, more than 1,200 people took part. However, we are deeply concerned about the escalating illegal and abusive activity the camp presents.”

How Obamacare Is Costing My "Middle-Class" Family More In 2013

Obama’s medical insurance legislation that was first billed as not being a “tax” (hilarious given the number of “fees” and “surcharges” it levies; even the Surpreme Court could not pass up the opportunity to classify it as such), and also claimed that the plan would be “revenue neutral” (which it clearly won’t be if you look out a few years) also gave the impression that the costs would be primarily borne by business and the rich. Well, middle class Americans are bearing quite a burden as well, regardless of what you read in the ever-adoring mainstream media. See, in anticipation of the pending legislation, healthcare costs have skyrocketed leading into and shortly after it’s passage. It’s hard to believe, by my insurance costs (company sponsored by a large blue-chip) zoomed by 43% this year. Unbelievable huh?

Now, some critics will say that the cost increases had nothing to do with Obamacare and that they were increasing before hand. While I don’t think that is the case, let’s check out some of the other non-plan related hard costs our family is seeing since its passage. We make well less than the $250,000 per year that Obama calls the top of the middle class, so I’m not being hit with some of the surcharges and fees that more wealthy Americans are. But here are a few spots where I’m paying more out of pocket for medical coverage than I would have prior to Obamacare:

…continue reading How Much Obamacare Costs Middle Class Families

Will Obama Strike Libya In Delayed Pre-election War?

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, four administration officials have commented that they are actively seeking a target and readying strike forces and drones as retribution for the Sept 11 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi. As AP reports [4], if the administration does find a target, officials say it still has to weigh whether the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on al-Qaida is worth the risk that such strikes could elevate the group's profile in the region, alienate governments the U.S. needs to fight the group in the future and do little to slow the growing terror threat in North Africa. The efforts show the tension of the White House's need to demonstrate it is responding forcefully to al-Qaida, balanced against its long-term plans to develop relationships and trust with local governments and build a permanent U.S. counterterrorist network in the region. The verbal rhetoric is escalating from Biden's last year comment that "if you do harm to America, we will track you to the gates of hell if need be." to "If America hits us, I promise you that we will multiply the Sept. 11 attack by 10," said Oumar Ould Hamaha, a spokesman for the Islamists in northern Mali. U.S. officials say covert action is more likely.

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In Another Blow For "Green Industry" A123 Files For Bankruptcy After Collecting Hundreds Of Millions In Government Grants

That troubled battery-maker A123 has just filed for bankruptcy (and no, in this case bankruptcy is not equal with deleveraging) should not be news to anyone who has followed the US government subsidized trainwreck of a company (especially since as we updated yesterday [8]it was known it would miss its bond payment today). Well actually we take that back. The bankruptcy may come as a surprise to the president. Recall that Obama called A123 Chief Executive Officer David Vieau and then-Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm during a September 2010 event celebrating the opening of the plant in Livonia, Michigan, that the company received the U.S. grant to help build. Surprise and epic humiliation that is. "This is about the birth of an entire new industry in America -- an industry that’s going to be central to the next generation of cars," Obama said in the phone call, according to a transcript provided by the White House. "When folks lift up their hoods on the cars of the future, I want them to see engines and batteries that are stamped: Made in America." Needless to say if the car is a flaming Fisker Karma or Chevy Volt, the hoods may be too hot to lift but that's another story. Most importantly, it will come as a big loss to the firm's equity holders (who have already lost their entire investment so hardly a surprise) creditors, who will likely be wiped out almost entirely (listed below), but most importantly US taxpayers, who funded the firm not on one occasion as conventional wisdom will have it, but with four distinct Federal and State agency grants, as is highlighted in the first day motion affidavit by David Pyrstash in support of the Chapter 11 petition.

Some more [9]on the actual bankruptcy:

A123 Systems Inc. (AONE), a maker of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, filed for bankruptcy after failing to make a debt payment that was due yesterday.
The company listed assets of $459.8 million and debt of $376 million as of Aug. 31 in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

The bankruptcy filing may fuel further political debate over government financing of alternative-energy and transportation businesses. Federal grants and loans to companies including A123, Fisker Automotive Inc. and Tesla Motors Inc. have drawn scrutiny from congressional Republicans following the September 2011 bankruptcy filing of solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC two years after it received a $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Energy Department.

Electric-vehicle sales since 2011 totaled fewer than 50,000 through September, just 5 percent of Obama’s target to have 1 million such vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said last month that Obama has picked “losers” for alternative-energy loans and grants. His running mate, Paul Ryan, has called for all green-energy subsidies to be eliminated.

A123 has posted at least 14 straight quarterly losses. Its shares have fallen 85 percent this year to 24 cents at yesterday’s close in New York and traded at 16 cents at 8:29 a.m. before the start of regular trading.

Why Women Are Warming Up To Romney

Mitt Romney has surged to a 4-percentage-point lead in 12 crucial swing states, largely because he has erased President Obama's lead among women voters, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday. The battle for women has been a major focus of both campaigns, and is expected to figure prominently in their closing arguments in Tuesday night's debate and in TV ads during the last three weeks before election day. As a group, women tend to wait longer than men to choose their candidates, which makes them — especially blue-collar "waitress moms" hit hard by the economy's troubles — a key swing vote. Women overwhelmingly backed Obama throughout the campaign, so why are they suddenly warming to Romney? Here, five theories:

1. Romney showed them he's not crazy
Romney's "humor and authority" in the first presidential debate changed everything, says Tim Stanley at Britain's Telegraph. His pledge to protect Social Security, Medicare, and financial regulation reassured them "that while he is a traditional Republican, he isn't crazy." Romney reinforced that image after stepping off the stage, by saying he has no plans to pursue federal anti-abortion legislation, making it harder for Obama to "portray Romney as an antediluvian conservative who would swap sex-ed classes for chastity belts." Obama might be able to change all that, says Digby atHullabaloo, if he points out that the real Mitt is all about "destroying Medicare, Medicaid, and calling half the country a bunch of dependent losers he doesn't have to care about."

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How Obama Got Elected... Interviews With Obama Voters

Today's Advertiser Of The Day 10-17-12

Portugal Decriminalized All Drugs Eleven Years Ago And The Results Are Staggering

On July 1st, 2001, Portugal decriminalized every imaginable drug, from marijuana, to cocaine, to heroin. Some thought Lisbon would become a drug tourist haven, others predicted usage rates among youths to surge.

Eleven years later, it turns out they were both wrong.

Over a decade has passed since Portugal changed its philosophy from labeling drug users as criminals to labeling them as people affected by a disease. This time lapse has allowed statistics to develop and in time, has made Portugal an example to follow.

First, some clarification.

Portugal's move to decriminalize does not mean people can carry around, use, and sell drugs free from police interference. That would be legalization. Rather, all drugs are "decriminalized," meaning drug possession, distribution, and use is still illegal. While distribution and trafficking is still a criminal offense, possession and use is moved out of criminal courts and into a special court where each offender's unique situation is judged by legal experts, psychologists, and social workers. Treatment and further action is decided in these courts, where addicts and drug use is treated as a public health service rather than referring it to the justice system (like the U.S.), reports Fox News.

Democrats Call For Investigation Of Dream Act Opponents

Maryland Democrats are calling for a probe of a group running ads against the Dream Act.

Just three weeks from the election lawyers for the state Democratic party have sent a formal request to the state prosecutor and the state elections board asking for the investigation.

They contend that a group opposing the legislation is in violation of the law because they claim the group failed formally to register a ballot initiative committee with the state.

Today's Survey Question 10-17-12

Do you dress your pet up for Halloween?

Milford Man Arrested For Rape

Location: Unit Block of Weeping Willow Court, Dover, DE

Date of Occurrence: July 20 – 21, 2012

Victim:

10 year old male

Defendant, Charges, and Bail Information:

Ronald G. Luttrell, 54, Milford, DE (Photo Attached)

Rape 1^st (2 counts)

Attempted Rape 1^st

Unlawful Sexual Contact (3 counts)

Attempted Unlawful Sexual Contact

Endangering the Welfare of a Child (2 counts)

Indecent Exposure 1^st (2 counts)

Arraigned at JP2 and committed to JTVCC on $280,000.00 secured bail

Resume:

Dover, DE- Delaware State Police Detectives have arrested a 54 year old Milford man in connection with allegedly raping a 10 year old male.

On Monday September 24, 2012, an investigation began when Detectives learned that Ronald G. Luttrell, 54 of Milford, had allegedly raped a 10 year old male victim while staying at a residence on Weeping Willow Court in Dover. The victim reported the sexual assaults to a family member after he was sure Luttrell had moved out of the house. The incidents occurred over a two day period as the victim was staying with a relative at the residence. Luttrell, who was an acquaintance of the home owner, was temporarily staying at the house where the sexual assaults occurred.

Detectives conducted a comprehensive and thorough investigation into the complaint and obtained a warrant for Luttrell’s arrest. On Monday October 15^th, Luttrell was picked up at a residence in Milford. He was brought back to Troop 3 near Dover and was charged with the above listed offences. He was committed to JTVCC on $280,000.00 secured bond.

If anyone has any information in reference to this incident or any other similar to this involving Ronald G. Luttrell, they are asked to contact the Criminal Investigations Unit at Troop 3 at 302-697-2104 or Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333. Information may also be provided via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com

Send an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."

Franchot Calls On Voters To Reject Congressional Districts

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot is urging voters to reject the state's congressional map, which will be on the ballot in November.

Franchot, a Democrat, spoke out against the map Tuesday on WBAL Radio's The C4 Show.

The comptroller says the redistricting process has embarrassed the state and further eroded public confidence in the state's political process.

Will (L) and Luke (R) Reinbold of Cambridge celebrated their 7th birthday by having their friends bring gifts for the homeless pets at Baywater Animal Rescue instead of gifts for them. What a great example of compassion!

Thanks so much for your support!

'Pull 'Em Up' Campaign Attempting To Stop Saggy Pants

Low-slung pants are meeting resistance where you might not suspect.

Many high school students at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Md. say they think saggy pants that show a little too much underwear is a gross fashion statement.

The Take Charge Program, a non-profit based in Forestville, Md., has decided to help students pull up their pants by collecting and distributing belts at various locations in Prince George's County like Northwestern High. They are calling the initiative the "Pull 'Em Up" campaign.

Wicomico Recreation & Salisbury University’s ‘Be The Match’ To Host Charity Zombie Run & Adult Halloween Social October 27

Salisbury, MD – Get ready to run for your life! Wicomico Recreation and Salisbury University’s ‘Be The Match’ will host a charity Zombie Run on Saturday, October 27 at 5:00pm at Cedar Hill Park in Bivalve, MD. Runners be warned – the two-mile course through the woods may be more treacherous than it appears. Participants will have to dodge zombie attacks and cross the finish line with their flag intact to survive, all others will be considered dead on arrival.

The registration fee for the Zombie Run is $25 per person, $20 for Salisbury University students. Registration fee includes a tee shirt and admission to the Adult Halloween Social immediately following the Zombie Run. Register now at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center Box Office, 500 Glen Avenue, Salisbury, MD 21804 or online at www.WicomicoRecandParks.org.

Running (or zombies) not your thing? Celebrate at the Adult Halloween Social following the Zombie Run at 6:00pm. The social will feature live entertainment, hay ride, haunted trail, bonfire, costume contest and other “grown-up” Halloween games. Food and beer will also be available for purchase. Tickets for the Adult Halloween Social are $10 and may be purchased at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center Box Office, online at www.WicomicoRecandParks.org or at the event.

The Zombie Run and Adult Halloween Social are open to adults ages 18 & up. Proceeds will benefit ‘Be The Match,’ a non-profit organization which helps patients receive life-saving bone marrow and cord blood transplants, and the Westside Community Center in Bivalve. For more information, visitwww.WicomicoRecandParks.org or check out the event on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WicomicoRec. Questions can be directed to Kelly Rados, Program Director at krados@wicomicocounty.org or 410-548-4900 x108.

PPP/Daily Kos Poll: Romney Leads Obama

A Democratic-leaning poll conducted by Public Policy Polling for The Daily Kos website contains what is so far the worst news of the week for President Barack Obama, as he trails Mitt Romney by 4 percentage points heading into the candidates' second presidential debate tonight.

Whereas most polls show the race has stabilized in the past week — or even Obama gaining a bit on Romney and reversing his post-debate slump — the PPP poll finds that Romney's lead is actually expanding.

Maryland Prepares For Great Southeast Shakeout

Maryland will participate in the first ever Great SouthEast Shakeout Thursday morning at 10:18.

In the wake of the August 23, 2011 earthquake that was centered in Virginia, Maryland is joining four other coastal states and the District of Columbia for the earthquake exercise. Many schools and colleges, businesses, government offices and others will simulate an earthquake at that time and “Stop, Drop and Hold On.”

They Hate Us For Our Prisons

There was a time when US schoolchildren, a few short years before they were loaded up with $60,000 a year in unrepayable federal debt (used mostly to purchase various iTrinkets) to pay for community college, were taught that all those people outside the continental US hate its residents "for our freedoms." It must then come as quite a shock for all these kids to learn that what they really meant is that "they hate us for our prisons."

[5]

From Max Raskin, Bloomberg [6]:

The U.S. has the world’s highest incarceration rate, with Department of Justice data showing more than 2.2 million people are behind bars, equal to a city the size of Houston.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows that, with a rate of 730 people per 100,000, the U.S. jails a higher proportion of its citizens than any other country, according to data from the International Centre for Prison Studies, an independent research center associated with England’s University of Essex.

“The model is, if you build it they will come,” said Daniel D’Amico, a professor of economics at Loyola University New Orleans. “Because we have all these prisons and all of these other resources funneled into our criminal justice system, we have this ability to enforce things that would otherwise be unenforceable.”

“That includes the drug war, but it’s also including everything from the Martha Stewart types to immigration policies,” D’Amico said. “The scope of things that are now criminal in corporate law is exponentially higher than it was merely twenty years ago.”

Romney Closing Obama's Lead In Pa.

The morning of the second presidential debate opened with another grim poll for President Barack Obama, this time showing him losing ground to his Republican challenger

Mitt Romney in the once-safe state of Pennsylvania.

The new survey, released by Quinnipiac University Tuesday, finds that Romney has closed Obama's lead in the Keystone State to four points, and now trails the president 50 percent to 46 percent, down from a 12-point gap last month.

The American And British Governments Knew - Down To The Day - Of The Coming Japanese Attack On Pearl Harbor

Preface: We don’t contest that World War II was – in many ways – a “good war”.

The Nazis, imperial Japanese and fascist Italians were nasty folks trying to take over the world, who brutalized millions within their own borders and in the nations they occupied.

But a full an honest account of World War II shows that some big American banks funded the Nazis [4]. And America dropped nuclear bombs on Japan when top U.S. military officials said it wasn’t needed.

And – as shown below – we probably knew about the coming Pearl Harbor attack, but let it happen to justify America’s entry into World War II.

The White House apparently had – a year before Pearl Harbor – launched an 8-point plan to provoke Japan into war against the U.S. [6] (including, for example, an oil embargo). The rationale for this provocation is that the U.S. wanted to aid its allies in fighting the Nazis and other axis powers, and decided that an attack by Japan would be the most advantageous justification for the U.S. to enter WWII.

Moreover, Honolulu newspapers warned of a possible attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor:

Debate Set For 5 Maryland Senate Candidates

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The managing director of the Salisbury University's Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement says a debate has been scheduled with five candidates in Maryland's Senate race.

Leah Reynolds said Tuesday the debate has been scheduled for Oct. 30 in Salisbury.

Superintendent’s Open Door Session Today

Board of Education Building

Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Fredericksen will hold a Superintendent’s Open Door Session from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the Administrative Conference Room of the Board of Education Building, Mt. Hermon Road and Long Avenue, Salisbury. Open Door Sessions provide the opportunity for people to meet one-on-one with the superintendent. People may express concerns, offer comment, or ask questions on any issue involving Wicomico schools. No appointment is needed. Each visitor will have approximately 15 minutes to meet with the superintendent. Follow-up sessions will be held if there are more visitors than there is time on the scheduled night. Additional Open Door Sessions for this school year are scheduled for Nov. 14, Dec. 12, Jan. 16, Feb. 13, March 13, April 24 and May 15. 410-677-4495

On October 12, 2012 an officer of the Salisbury Police Department arrested the below subject on (3) three outstanding arrest warrants.

Arrested: Corey Kinta Fells Jr., 35 years of age
Easton, Maryland

Charges: Bench Warrant – Driving Without a License
Bench Warrant – Failure to Appear; Theft Less $1,000
Arrest Warrant – Bad Check / Uttering, Theft Less $1,000

Disposition: Released to Central Booking

On October 15, 2012 at approximately 9:55 P.M. an officer of the Salisbury Police Department responded to the 400 block of Cypress St. in reference to an assault with a beer bottle. During the investigation it was determined that the victim and her boyfriend had been consuming alcohol when they got into a verbal argument. During the argument the male struck the victim in the head with a beer bottle. The victim was treated at PRMC for a laceration on her head and the subject was taken into custody.

Arrested: Willie Frazier Jr., 60 years of age, Salisbury, Maryland

Charges: Assault First Degree, Assault Second Degree, Reckless Endangerment

On October 16, 2012 at approximately 12:55 A.M. an officer of the Salisbury Police Department responded to the 100 block of Second St. in reference to an assault. During the investigation it was determined that the victim and his girlfriend were involved in a verbal argument. During the argument the female grabbed a knife and threatened to cut the victim. The victim was able to get his girlfriend to put down the knife but the argument continued. The female then threw a chair at the victim striking him in the head knocking out two of his front teeth. The female was taken into custody.

Arrested: Geraldine Jones-Exum, 52 years of age, Salisbury, Maryland

Charges: Assault First Degree, Assault Second Degree, Reckless Endangerment

Navy Lacrosse Team Salute to WWII Vets Goes Viral

This post is from the Navy Athletics Facebook Page. Currently the post has over 21,500 likes and has 4,800 shares.

The Navy men's lacrosse team flew back to BWI airport today after playing Notre Dame in a fall lacrosse game on Saturday. While at BWI, the team encountered 67 World War II veterans. After having the opportunity to shake their hand and thank them for their service, the team lined up and saluted them as their buses passed by. It put the entire trip in perspective.

Video From Benghazi Consulate Shows Organized Attack

Footage from the night of Sept. 11 might be the clearest evidence yet of a military-style assault on the consulate in Benghazi. Eli Lake reports.

Video footage from the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya, taken the night of the Sept. 11 anniversary attacks, shows an organized group of armed men attacking the compound, according to two U.S. intelligence officials who have seen the footage and are involved in the ongoing investigation. The footage, which was recovered from the site last week by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, offers some of the most tangible evidence yet that a military-style assault took place, according to these officials.

The Obama administration has been studying the videos, taken from closed-circuit cameras throughout the Benghazi consulate’s four-building compound, for clues about who was responsible for the attack and how it played out. The two officials tell The Daily Beast that analysts are hoping to decipher the faces of the attackers and match them up with known jihadists.

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BREAKING NEWS: Lance Armstrong Steps Down As Livestrong Chairman

Lance Armstrong steps down as chairman of his cancer-fighting charity Livestrong amid new doping allegations.

From Fox News

A Message From Bill Clinton

From	Bill Clinton
To	Joe Albero alberobutzo@wmconnect.com

Joe --

No matter how much you support President Obama, no matter how much you support the smart policies he's proposing, keep this in mind:

It won't amount to a hill of beans unless you dig deep and help him win this close race.

Chip in $5 or more right now, before the last and most important FEC fundraising deadline of this campaign:

Thanks for stepping up,

Bill Clinton

Feds Threaten Cuts To Illegal Immigration Program

A program aimed at deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes could be getting the ax.

The initiative, known as 287 (g), allows local police to coordinate with federal officials to determine the immigration status of anyone they arrest. Sixty-two communities participate in the $17 million program, which is facing a cutback for fiscal year 2013.

Prince William County was among the first communities to use the program, and Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart is angry about the cut. He credits 287 (g) with helping to decrease violent crime in his county by 48 percent since 2007.

Raul Castro Is Letting Cubans Travel

Fidel Castro's little brother Raul is continuing to loosen restrictions in Cuba, now letting his people take a vacation.

According to the Daily Mail, the Communist party paper Granma announced Cubans would no longer need an exit visa. As of January 14, citizens of the country can go abroad with only a passport, and stay wherever they like for up to 24 months without risk of losing property.

For the past 51 years, even if someone got the required documents, which could cost up to $350, they weren't always allowed to actually leave the country.

Attention

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Footage from the night of Sept. 11 might be the clearest evidence yet of a military-style assault on the consulate in Benghazi. Eli Lake reports.