Yesterday, news broke that the US government has awarded a whopping $104 million to convicted felon and former inmate Bradley Birkenfeld.
It was a big headline and you likely saw the news… but it’s worth a deeper look. Because if there is one story that neatly summarizes what is wrong with the US these days, it is the case of Mr. Birkenfeld.
Birkenfeld, as you may recall, is a former private banker at UBS. For several years, his job at the bank was to help clients evade taxes, including one now famous instance in which he snuck diamonds hidden in a tube of toothpaste into the United States on behalf of one of his clients.
It turns out that Uncle Sam had his eye on Birkenfeld. Big time. And when the government started leaning on him, Birkenfeld sung like a canary… confessing not only his own transgressions, but also those of his clients.
Birkenfeld was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 40 months. And based on the volume of information he provided, a number of his former clients were also charged, imprisoned, and forced to pay steep penalties to the government.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Friday, September 14, 2012
BREAKING NEWS: Protesters in Tunisia Reportedly Rampage Inside US Embassy Compound
Reuters reports protesters scale walls of US Embassy compound in Tunis, Tunisia, break windows and set fires. Meanwhile, Associated Press reports Marine team being sent to secure US Embassy in Yemen.
From Fox News
From Fox News
‘GOT A SPARE COUCH OR BED?‘ OBAMA CAMP’S LATEST EMAIL ASKS SUPPORTERS TO HOUSE CAMPAIGN WORKERS FOR ELECTION — NO LIE
The odd request begins by asking the Obama supporter to give up their privacy to some “dedicated organizers”:
A Letter To The Editor 9-14-12
Yesterdays death of a kid riding his dirt bike on the road as tragic as it was should be a wakeup call to all parents, everyday kids are flying up and down city and county roads on dirt bikes 90% of the time with no protection on, by the time you call the Sherriff or city police they are long gone or take off down dirt trails.
I did my fair share of riding on BACK country roads on a dirt bike between trails when I was a kid, but I also respected cars and rode on the grass when any traffic was coming which was rare and I wore my helmet anytime I got on the bike. These days kids are doing wheelies down main city roads with no helmets on, it is almost like they are daring someone to pull out in front of them.
Now you have a bus driver and other people in that bus and neighbors that are traumatized for the rest of their lives having to live through that and see what they saw, I do not wish that upon anyone. We also have 2 families that are affected by this tragedy, hopefully the other young boy pulls through this.
What can we as a community do to help save these kids lives? Would taking a picture or video from a cell phone be of any help to the police?
It is a shame when you know something like this is going to happen, you just don't know when or how and now I am asking myself could anything have been done to prevent it.
I did my fair share of riding on BACK country roads on a dirt bike between trails when I was a kid, but I also respected cars and rode on the grass when any traffic was coming which was rare and I wore my helmet anytime I got on the bike. These days kids are doing wheelies down main city roads with no helmets on, it is almost like they are daring someone to pull out in front of them.
Now you have a bus driver and other people in that bus and neighbors that are traumatized for the rest of their lives having to live through that and see what they saw, I do not wish that upon anyone. We also have 2 families that are affected by this tragedy, hopefully the other young boy pulls through this.
What can we as a community do to help save these kids lives? Would taking a picture or video from a cell phone be of any help to the police?
It is a shame when you know something like this is going to happen, you just don't know when or how and now I am asking myself could anything have been done to prevent it.
Welcome To The American Gulag: Using Involuntary Commitment Laws To Silence Dissenters
What happened to 26-year-old decorated Marine Brandon Raub – who was targeted because of his Facebook posts, interrogated by government agents about his views on government corruption, arrested with no warning, labeled mentally ill for subscribing to so-called “conspiratorial” views about the government, detained against his will in a psych ward for standing by his views, and isolated from his family, friends and attorneys – has happened many times throughout history in totalitarian regimes.
As Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum observes in Gulag: A History: “The exile of prisoners to a distant place, where they can ‘pay their debt to society,’ make themselves useful, and not contaminate others with their ideas or their criminal acts, is a practice as old as civilization itself.”
The advent of psychiatry eliminated the need to exile political prisoners, allowing governments instead to declare such dissidents mentally ill and unfit for society. For example, government officials in the Cold War-era Soviet Union often used psychiatric hospitals as prisons in order to isolate political prisoners from the rest of society, discredit their ideas, and break them physically and mentally through the use of electric shocks, drugs and various medical procedures.
In addition to declaring political dissidents mentally unsound, Russian officials also made use of an administrative process for dealing with individuals who were considered a bad influence on others or troublemakers. Author George Kennan describes a process in which:
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As Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum observes in Gulag: A History: “The exile of prisoners to a distant place, where they can ‘pay their debt to society,’ make themselves useful, and not contaminate others with their ideas or their criminal acts, is a practice as old as civilization itself.”
The advent of psychiatry eliminated the need to exile political prisoners, allowing governments instead to declare such dissidents mentally ill and unfit for society. For example, government officials in the Cold War-era Soviet Union often used psychiatric hospitals as prisons in order to isolate political prisoners from the rest of society, discredit their ideas, and break them physically and mentally through the use of electric shocks, drugs and various medical procedures.
In addition to declaring political dissidents mentally unsound, Russian officials also made use of an administrative process for dealing with individuals who were considered a bad influence on others or troublemakers. Author George Kennan describes a process in which:
More
Facebook Llike' Leads To Md. Fugitive's Capture
TAZEWELL, Va. - A Maryland fugitive is in custody after his girlfriend's
"like" of a Virginia sheriff's Facebook page led authorities to him.
The Tazewell County Sheriff's Office says 29-year-old Dyllan Otto Naecker was captured Wednesday at his girlfriend's residence near Bluefield.
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The Tazewell County Sheriff's Office says 29-year-old Dyllan Otto Naecker was captured Wednesday at his girlfriend's residence near Bluefield.
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Entrepreneurship On Wheels
Recently, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranked Maryland #1 in the nation for entrepreneurship and innovation. With our world-class universities and centers of learning, highly-skilled and educated workforce and continued investment in innovation, we know this to be true. But yesterday, an even more visible sign of our entrepreneurial strength hit our roads.
Run by Startup Maryland, “Pitch Across Maryland” is a statewide bus tour and business pitch contest that highlights Maryland’s many incubators, economic development centers, universities and our most important asset: the talents, skills, ingenuity and creativity of our people. At each stop, the tour will host rallies, talk about resources and connect entrepreneurs with business experts who can provide them with the guidance and help they need to get started and be successful.
To learn more and for a full schedule of events, visit the Startup Maryland website. You can also follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #PitchMD
I’ll be joining them next week in Baltimore as part of our “Jobs and Opportunity” tour and look forward to meeting more of Maryland’s great entrepreneurs.
SALISBURY CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA SEPTEMBER 17, 2012
CONFERENCE ROOM 306
GOVERNMENT OFFICE BUILDING
GOVERNMENT OFFICE BUILDING
1:30 p.m. Policy on Safety Shoes – Teresa Gardner/Jeanne Loyd
2:00 p.m. Budget Amendment for Police Salaries – follow-up discussion with Mayor
2:45 p.m. Briefing on End-of-Month Reports – John Pick/Bill Holland
3:15 p.m. Break
3:30 p.m. Ordinance Permit – Daycare at St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Church – John Pick/Jack Lenox
4:00 p.m. Parking Discussion
4:30 p.m. Vote to convene in closed session for consultation and legal advice with counsel
and staff in accordance with the Annotated Code of Maryland §10-508(a)(7)(8)
- Amended Consent Order (MDE)
5:15 p.m. General Discussion/Upcoming Agendas
Adjournment
Obamacare: 18 Pages To Find Out If You Work Full-Time
Oh yeah...this is going to work out well:
In the latest indication of how complicated putting the Affordable Care Act into action will be, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Internal Revenue Service issued 18-pages of regulations just to describe what a "full-time employee" is.
You know that sinking feeling you get when you find out you have to go to the DMV, jury duty, the Social Security Office? You realize you have to block out half the day to deal with the ultra-friendly public servants.
Well, best stay healthy...Going to the doctor's office is on deck.
America 'Was Warned Of Embassy Attack But Did Nothing'
American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential.
The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the "safe house" in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed "safe".
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The Victims Of 9/11 Should Not Be Forgotten
Obama says victims will never be forgotten as 9/11 remembrances begin ... President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that the September 11 victims would be remembered "no matter how many years pass" as Americans marked the 11th anniversary of the attacks in which nearly 3,000 people were killed by airliners hijacked by Islamist militants. Two of the passenger jets brought down the Twin Towers of New York City's World Trade Center, another hit the Pentagon outside Washington and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania when passengers aboard that flight fought back against the hijackers. − Reuters
Dominant Social Theme: 9/11 was a terrible tragedy.
Free-Market Analysis: There is a steady drumbeat of suspicions that simply refuses to subside when it comes to 9/11.
911Truth.org, Patriots Question 9/11 and hundreds of other websites continually question what really happened on 9/11. Majorities in numerous countries do not believe the current US narrative. Many in the US do not believe it, either.
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Dominant Social Theme: 9/11 was a terrible tragedy.
Free-Market Analysis: There is a steady drumbeat of suspicions that simply refuses to subside when it comes to 9/11.
911Truth.org, Patriots Question 9/11 and hundreds of other websites continually question what really happened on 9/11. Majorities in numerous countries do not believe the current US narrative. Many in the US do not believe it, either.
More
Cui Bono Fed: Who Benefits From The Federal Reserve?
Europe's chicken or egg problem is about to strike with a vengeance. As a reminder, the biggest paradox of the recently conceived "make it up as you go along" bailout of Europe is that "in order to be saved, Spain (and Italy) must first be destroyed". Sure enough, the markets have long since priced in the "saved" part with the Spanish 10 year sliding to multi-month lows, but in the process everyone forgot about the destruction. Because as has been made quite clear, secondary market bond buying will not be activated without a formal bailout request by a country, in essence admitting its insolvency, and handing over domestic fiscal and sovereign control to the IMF and other international entities. As a further reminder, many, Goldman Sachs especially, had hoped that Spain would request a bailout as soon as Friday. To wit: "With a large (and uncovered) redemption looming at the end of October (and under pressure from other Euro area governments), we expect Spain to move towards seeking support." Alas, as we expected, this is now not going to happen, and the pricing in of the entire "saved" part will have to be unwound as Spain is forced to accept being "destroyed" first. To wit: "I don't know if Spain needs to ask for it," Rajoy told parliament in a debate session, referring to an international rescue for Spain."
Source
Source
NUCLEAR WAR
We know because they danced and cheered as Americans leapt to their deaths from the burning towers, “our purpose was to document the event.” We know because they said, “Very good,” as 3,000 Americans perished. We know because the President of the United States admitted having prior knowledge of 911 in a press conference. Don’t listen to what he says, listen to how he reacts.
I’ve always been quite willing to crawl out on a limb and saw the limb off behind me over the last 11 years of running this website. Every piece I have ever written is still posted on the archives page so if someone feels like throwing rocks, they can.
I wrote an unusual piece on the 11th of March 2007 predicting a nuclear war within 30 days. The Zionist paid trolls immediately began attacking me. You see, Americans are not allowed to be critical or speak the truth about Israel or Zionism. The 30 days passed and no nuclear war ensued. There was no false flag operation. Or was there?
Let me give you a little of my background that not a lot of people are aware. I was in the US Marine Corps from 1964 until 1970. I was an F-4B pilot but I was also what the military calls a 0202; a military intelligence officer. I spent from July of 1968 until March of 1970 in combat in Vietnam. I had over 800 combat missions, more than any fixed wing pilot has flown in the US military in any war ever. I had over 55 personal decorations. I know war and I know intelligence.
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I’ve always been quite willing to crawl out on a limb and saw the limb off behind me over the last 11 years of running this website. Every piece I have ever written is still posted on the archives page so if someone feels like throwing rocks, they can.
I wrote an unusual piece on the 11th of March 2007 predicting a nuclear war within 30 days. The Zionist paid trolls immediately began attacking me. You see, Americans are not allowed to be critical or speak the truth about Israel or Zionism. The 30 days passed and no nuclear war ensued. There was no false flag operation. Or was there?
Let me give you a little of my background that not a lot of people are aware. I was in the US Marine Corps from 1964 until 1970. I was an F-4B pilot but I was also what the military calls a 0202; a military intelligence officer. I spent from July of 1968 until March of 1970 in combat in Vietnam. I had over 800 combat missions, more than any fixed wing pilot has flown in the US military in any war ever. I had over 55 personal decorations. I know war and I know intelligence.
More
O’Malley Hires Adviser For New PAC
As he ponders a political future beyond Maryland, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is bringing on board a seasoned Democratic strategist to help guide his new federal political action committee.
Stephen Neuman, who has most recently worked for North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue (D), will soon start as a senior adviser to O’Malley’s PAC, according to several people familiar with the hire.
Neuman also worked on President Obama’s 2008 campaign in North Carolina, where he upset Sen. John McCain (D-Ariz), becoming the first Democrat to carry the Tar Heel State since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
White House: Aid to Egypt Will Continue
The White House is flatly rejecting calls from House conservatives to halt U.S. aid to Egypt after a slow response from Cairo in rebuking violent attacks on the U.S. Embassy there Tuesday night.
A group of House conservatives, led by freshman Rep. Jeffrey M. Landry, Louisiana Republican, is calling for foreign aid to both Libya and Egypt to be stripped from a six-month federal funding bill up for a vote Thursday.
Egypt is second only to Israel in the amount of assistance it receives from the U.S., an estimated $2 billion a year, but the White House has no plans to curtail its investment there.
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A group of House conservatives, led by freshman Rep. Jeffrey M. Landry, Louisiana Republican, is calling for foreign aid to both Libya and Egypt to be stripped from a six-month federal funding bill up for a vote Thursday.
Egypt is second only to Israel in the amount of assistance it receives from the U.S., an estimated $2 billion a year, but the White House has no plans to curtail its investment there.
More
Feds Work A Month Less Per Year Than Private Sector
Federal employees work about a month less per year than private sector workers,
according to a report by
conservative think tank Heritage Foundation.
The report found federal employees work on average of 38.7 hours a week, compared with 41.4 hours per week in the private sector. That difference adds up to 3.8 fewer weeks per year that feds work compared with private sector workers.
"From a budgetary perspective, shorter work hours in the public sector may cause governments to be less efficient in converting tax dollars into public services. More broadly, the perception that government employees do not work as hard as private-sector employees runs counter to the spirit of public service," according to the report.
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The report found federal employees work on average of 38.7 hours a week, compared with 41.4 hours per week in the private sector. That difference adds up to 3.8 fewer weeks per year that feds work compared with private sector workers.
"From a budgetary perspective, shorter work hours in the public sector may cause governments to be less efficient in converting tax dollars into public services. More broadly, the perception that government employees do not work as hard as private-sector employees runs counter to the spirit of public service," according to the report.
More
Yard Sales 9-14-12
Fruitland
112 Hayward ave
7am-noon
Kids clothes, boys (4 & 5) AND girls (mostly 6's and 6x),
Very good condition toys (Weebles & Little people- Playsets and figures, practically brand new),
black and decker toy tool bench w/ tools,
Little Tykes lawn toys,
Littlest Pet Shop Set (brand new, never opened)
Girl's elevated platform bed (desk underneath with book cases),
Large and Extra Large Ladies Scrubs,
DVD recorder,
Air compessor,
Tools (cordless drills and etc),
Bear WhiteTail 2 compound Bow,
Candy molds
112 Hayward ave
7am-noon
Hunters Mill Community Yard Sale 7am - 11am 9/15/12
Community Block Party for residents to follow 11am-2pm
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