Mayor Jim Ireton Gets Served Lawsuit, Throws Hissy Fit

Mayor Jim Ireton got served paperwork today and even after getting served he called me a "Delaware Blogger" in his radio interview with Bryan Russo.

Ireton throws a fit saying, do the taxpayers really have to foot the bill for this!

So much for his worries about it costing the taxpayers.

Could The Postal Service Become A Bank?

The cash-strapped Postal Service could turn a profit if it became a bank. Outside the United States, postal services get 22 percent of their revenues from personal banking services such as credit cards. But the practice ended decades ago in the U.S. Still, one professor who's studied the USPS financial problems thinks management should consider the idea. Sheldon Garon of Princeton tells Federal News Radio, the Postal Service ought to sell mutual funds and even small loans. But a Postal spokesman said the United States has enough banks already.

Obama Booed During Own Fundraiser: ‘I Understand, My Mistake’ (Updated with White House Spin)

One thing about Boston: the city loves its Red Sox baseball. The president learned that the hard way on Monday during a fundraiser.

While trying to connect with the crowd, Obama thanked the city for recently dealing one of its beloved stars — Kevin Youkilis — to his hometown Chicago White Sox. It didn’t go over well:

“Finally Boston, I just want to say, thank you for Youkalis.” The crowd booed.

“I’m just saying, he’s going to have to change the color of his socks,” the president said laughing.

“I didn’t think I was going to get any boos out here,” he said. “I should not have brought up baseball, I understand, my mistake, my mistake, you got to know your crowd.”

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ACLU to represent KKK in Ga. litter program fight

The American Civil Liberties Union will champion a Ku Klux Klan outfit's right to "adopt" a section of highway in Union County, an ACLU official said Tuesday — on the same day that key members of the KKK group acknowledged they live in a neighboring county.

Two weeks ago, the Georgia Department of Transportation rejected an application filed May 21 by Harley Hanson, who calls himself the exalted cyclops of the Georgia Realm of the International Keystone Knights of the KKK, and his wife.

In the application, Hanson said he could deliver at least six volunteers for road cleanup. He listed the group's address as a post office box in Blairsville. He didn't list any other names and has refused repeated requests by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to say how many are in the group.

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Putting An Unfortunate Event To Rest

Bryan Russo from Coastal Connections 88.3 FM Radio has completed his rounds of interviews and will air this special segment this Friday at 12:00 noon and 8:00 PM.

It should be one hell of a show.

Jury Awards Family $55M in Medical Malpractice Suit Against Hopkins

BALTIMORE -
A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury has awarded the family of a severely brain damaged 2-year-old boy $55 million in a lawsuit that alleged Johns Hopkins Hospital violated its standards by waiting too long to give the boy's mother an emergency caesarean section.

The verdict, announced Monday, settles a lawsuit filed in February 2011 by Rebecca Fielding and Enso Martinez. The couple filed the lawsuit after their son was born in March 2010 with severe disabilities.

Enzo is just a little more than 2 years old, but because of his disabilities, his mother says, it's like caring for a 4-month-old.

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Credit Card Hackers Accused In FBI International 'Carding' Crackdown

They went by online nicknames like "Cubby," "404myth," and "JoshTheGod."

One had details of more than 50,000 stolen credit cards, authorities said. Another sold malicious software that could record victims' computer keystrokes to siphon banking information. A third sold stolen credit card data in exchange for iPads, a camera and $250.

They were among two dozen alleged hackers who shared the latest techniques in cybercrime with each other in an online forum. And for the past two years, they also shared that information with the FBI, which created the forum as part of an undercover operation dubbed "Operation Card Shop."

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Is It OK to Stop Someone From Spanking Their Kids in Public? One Minn. Man Was Nearly Run-Over For Trying

A Minnesota man allegedly came close to being run-over after trying to stop a public spanking that he thought was over the line.

“When he hit [his son] in the butt his feet were pretty much parallel to his head and they came back and hit the ground. That’s not a spanking in my book…That’s too much,” the father of three explained.

“I just assumed he would have stopped and left. I didn’t know it would escalate to anything like that at all,” Jamie Godlewski said in retrospect.

Instead, 30-year-old Justin Watson reportedly told him, “What are you going to do about it?” before running back to his car with his two sons, flooring the gas, and starting to chase Godlewski around the parking lot of a local bowling alley.

“I mean he was going so fast his tires were smoking,” Godlewski recalled.

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New Disability Regs Limit Slope of Mini Golf Holes, Require Businesses to Admit Mini Horses as Guide Animals

Although the Justice Department has extended the deadline for America’s hotels to comply with regulations regarding handicap access to swimming pools, new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines are already being applied at miniature golf courses, driving ranges, amusement parks, shooting ranges and saunas.

Among the provisions in the "Revised ADA Standards for Accessible Design," which went into effect on March 15, is one requiring businesses to allow miniature horses on their premises as guide animals for the disabled. Another limits the height of slopes on miniature golf holes.

“The new standards, for the first time, include requirements for judicial facilities, detention and correctional facilities, and recreational facilities,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said during a conference in Baltimore on June 7.

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Big Brother Goes on Spanking Binge

Swatting little Johnny on the bottom to make sure he doesn’t try again to put a fork in an electrical socket soon could make mom or dad a criminal subject to the penalties of child-abuse laws in Delaware.

And an international family rights organization says it not only opposes the idea, it will be working with state organizations to try to defeat the plan.

At issue is Delaware’s Senate Bill 234, which has been approved by the Senate and now is working its way through the House.

“Senate Bill 234, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins (District 7), creates a definition of the term ‘physical injury’ in the child abuse and neglect laws to include ‘pain,’” according to a new report from the Home School Legal Defense Association.

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Obama Prepping Thousands of Lawyers For Election

President Barack Obama's campaign has recruited a legion of lawyers to be on standby for this year's election as legal disputes surrounding the voting process escalate.

Thousands of attorneys and support staffers have agreed to aid in the effort, providing a mass of legal support that appears to be unrivaled by Republicans or precedent. Obama's campaign says it is particularly concerned about the implementation of new voter ID laws across the country, the possibility of anti-fraud activists challenging legitimate voters and the handling of voter registrations in the most competitive states.

Republicans are building their own legal teams for the election. They say they're focused on preventing fraud - making sure people don't vote unless they're eligible - rather than turning away qualified voters.

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Bipartisanship: Some Democrats Will Support Contempt Charges Against Eric Holder

Now that the politically potent National Rifle Association is keeping score, some Democrats may join House Republicans if there’s a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in a dispute over documents related to a the botched gun-tracking operation “Fast and Furious.”

The chief Democratic House head counter, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, declined to tell reporters how many defections he expected, but acknowledged that some in his party would consider heeding the NRA’s call for a “yes” vote.

One of those Democrats, Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah, said, “Sadly, it seems that it will take holding the attorney general in contempt to communicate that evasiveness is unacceptable. It is a vote I will support.”

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GAO: $1 Billion in Tax Credits Went to Cheats

Tax cheats were given $1.4 billion in government-backed mortgage loans under President Obama’s economic stimulus, and the government doled out at least an additional $27 million in tax credits to delinquents who took the first-time-homebuyer tax break, according to a government audit released Tuesday.

Under government rules, delinquent taxpayers are supposed to be ineligible for the mortgage insurance program unless they have reached a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service. But the Federal Housing Administration didn’t have the right controls to weed out bad applications, said the Government Accountability Office, Congress‘ chief investigative arm.

That meant FHA insured $1.4 billion in mortgages for 6,327 borrowers who collectively owed $77.6 million in unpaid taxes, or an average of more than $12,000 each.

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Restaurants Showcase 'Baytriotism' to Celebrate Old Bay

Restaurants across Baltimore and Annapolis are showing their love for local favorite Old Bay this week.

The Taste of Baytriotism promotion runs through Saturday and is a way to celebrate the signature spice of Baltimore.
Find participating restaurants 
Take the Baytriotism quiz 

Participating restaurants will feature Old Bay menus that have special food items and beverages made with the spice.

The restaurant with the most innovative menu will win 70 pounds of Old Bay in honor of the more than 70 years the seasoning has been around. A panel of experts has been put together to judge the menus.

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Oreo Cookies Go Gay on Facebook

This image was posted yesterday on Facebook to the Oreo fan page, apparently by representatives of the company that makes the “world’s favorite cookie.” While the cookie depicted is not available for consumption, this decision by representatives of such an iconic snack to support gay pride has prompted (perhaps unsurprisingly) quite a high level of controversy. The Guardian reports:

While most commenters were in support of the multi-coloured equal rights cookie, others disagreed with Oreo’s tolerant stance, some even threatening a biscuit-boycott.

“This is absolutely disgusting,” opined Desean Washington. “Your attempt to ‘normalize’ the behaviour of homosexuals has cost you a customer.”

Steven Osoria was another to express displeasure with the post, which provoked such a violent response that he had decided he was “never eating an oreo ever again”.

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Should Citizens Warn Drivers?

Should volunteers stand up against these speed cameras and warn drivers so law enforcement will get a clue that citizens really don't want them?

This is becoming a growing trend across America. Citizens are finding ways of fighting back by volunteering their time. Things that make you go, hmmmmm.

The Other Executive Privilege--and Why It Doesn't Protect Eric Holder

Some Republican leaders have made the mistake of saying that President Obama’s invocation of executive privilege over Attorney General Eric Holder is an admission that the White House has been involved in Operation Fast and Furious. The reality is that there is a form of executive privilege that a president can invoke even when he is not at all involved in a situation. But that privilege will not protect Holder, so the truth will eventually come out, and Obama will pay the price.

The reason even many Washington insiders and lawyers are unaware of this second form of privilege is that it has been clearly articulated only by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, not the Supreme Court. That’s because most executive privilege fights tend to change after each election, so most battles don’t last long enough to reach the Supreme Court. But most executive privilege lawsuits are filed in D.C., so the D.C. Circuit’s decisions on this suvbject are every bit as binding as Supreme Court decisions, unless or until the Supreme Court chooses to take up this matter. 

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QUOTE OF THE DAY 6-27-12

“The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustained growth and recovery. If the suffering becomes great enough, change will inevitably come, but it may not be orderly or as controllable as the moneyed interests often like to think.” – Jesse

Fmr. Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce: ‘9/11 Would‘ve Been Averted’ if Federal Government Enforced Immigration Law

Former Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, who was instrumental in getting Arizona’s controversial immigration law passed, appeared on CNN’s “Starting Point” on Tuesday and told Soledad O’Brien that “9/11 would’ve been averted” if the federal government had enforced immigration law.

Pearce was reacting to the Supreme Court’s ruling on SB-1070, which resulted in three out of four provisions being declared unconstitutional but left one key component in place, the so-called “show me your papers” provision. He said he is “disappointed” the Court did not uphold all of the immigration law but reaffirmed that Arizona will continue enforcing section 2b, which allows police officers with “reasonable suspicion” to check on a person’s immigration status.

Condescendingly, O’Brien asked Pearce how police in Arizona would implement the remaining portion of the bill. “How is it going to be enforced? How’s it going to work? What does it look like? Someone’s driving in a car and they are stopped with a broken taillight – what happens?”

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STUDY: Switching To Natural Gas Adds $26 Billion To The US Economy

Replacing 1 million bbls per day of crude oil with the 6 billion cubic feet (bcf) equivalent of natural gas would generate approximately $25.6 billion of consumer surplus for the US economy over one year.

So concludes a group of energy analysts calling themselves the Yale Graduates in Energy Study Group in a recent paper.

This is how they got there (don't worry, it's pretty basic arithmetic):

Gas wellhead price of $5/mcf, multiplied by 6 to get a per bbl of oil equivalent (“boe”) of $30 of cost, the savings is $70/bbl ($100/bbl - $30/boe).
Current US consumption of crude oil is approximately 15.0 million bbls per day.
If you replace 1 million bbls per day of crude oil with the 6 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas annually ($70/bbl X 1 million bbls X 365 days), you get $25.6 billion.
This isn't necessarily the best news for producers. But for consumers, it doesn't get much better.

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