Salisbury News

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

WCSO Press Release 01-09-13

Culture, Integrity And Questioning Authority

If you want to have your strongest and most positive impact on your culture, the way to do it is to live with integrity – meaning that you know your principles and you live by them and speak from them.

There are solitary creatures like pandas and bumblebees and there are social animals like wolves and wildebeests but we are the only living creatures on Earth who have culture. Culture is created when your knowledge, wisdom and innovations can be transmitted and have an impact over time and space, beyond your immediate influence.

With culture, when a problem is solved by one person, it has the possibility of being solved forever, and throughout the entire culture, which means that the culture can change in significant ways over time. While our human nature has not fundamentally changed over the millennia, our human culture has.

A culture contains and expresses the qualities that are common to groups of people living and working together; it is the capacity that we as human beings have to engage one another in creating a more complex and more advantageous way of life.

Our human culture has developed differently in different places, and within different groups of people. (Even the prehistoric culture of the San Bushmen that I wrote about in The San People of the Kalahari have a different culture than they did many years ago, incorporating bits of metal in their toolmaking, for example.)

If a culture values integrity and trust, the people within that culture are supported and encouraged by that culture to behave with integrity and in ways that engender trust. If a culture values violence and irrationality, the people within that culture are supported and encouraged to be violent and irrational.

In America, we often talk about how our culture is going to hell in a handbasket. This is not a new development; I would venture to say this sentiment is one of the defining features of our culture.

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Morning Humor

Albero Announces Run For Mayor

Annoucement Remarks

QUOTE OF THE DAY 1-9-13

“When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe.”

Frederic Bastiat

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

GAWKER POSTS FULL LIST OF ALL 'A**HOLE' NEW YORK CITY LICENSED GUN OWNERS

In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, the Journal News in upstate New York published a map with the addressees of all gun permit holders in Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam. The nation was rightly outraged at this violation of basic privacy, and the threat implicit in the publication.

Just in case that was too subtle, Gawker has now published a complete list of every licensed gun owner in New York City. The headline? “Here Is a List of All the A**holes Who Own Guns in New York City.” Writes the author, John Cook:

Below is a 446-page list of every licensed gun owner in New York City. I obtained it from the NYPD two-and-a-half years ago via a Freedom of Information Law request. Because the NYPD is more interested in raping and/or eating ladies and spying on Muslims than it is in honoring public records law, the list contains only the names, and not the addresses, of the licensees…
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Is It Still Possible To Get Out Of Dodge?

People have been asking me about a get out of Dodge plan. The fact is, the US government is making it increasingly difficult to get out of Dodge, and those that have not already done so may well have left it too late. The government does not want its citizens living overseas, nor do they want its citizens having assets overseas. Currently there are some 6 million Americans living overseas, and they have assets and incomes that are difficult for the US government to control and tax, and the US government does not like that.

The US is the only country in the world (except for Eritrea) that has citizenship based taxation. No matter where you live, and no matter where you draw your income, the US taxes it. Every other country has residence based taxation – you are taxed only if you reside in the country or earn income in the country. For instance, if you are a Canadian working in the US, you will have no Canadian tax obligations, unless you have income from Canada. If you are an American working in Canada, you are liable for US tax on your Canadian income. If you are an “accidental American” – and there are potentially millions of these around the world – born to an American citizen overseas, or born to a foreign citizen who was travelling through the US at the time of the birth – you are a US citizen, and may not know it. The US does not care – and will happily seek you out and punish you for failing to file and pay US taxes. No leeway is given.

The US has a whole range of laws that penalize US residents that live outside the US. One law is the FBAR law – that law requires that foreign financial assets be reported each year, and requires that all accounts where the citizen is a signatory be reported. Financial assets include bank accounts, mutual funds, CDs, gold, etc. Failure to report these accounts can, and does, result in draconian fines, from $10,000 for non-will failure, to 50% of the balance of all accounts, for failure to report even one account. Per year. Simple errors can, and do, result in the penalties being applied. The signatory provision effects persons who work for an overseas company and can sign business checks. They must report the balances of the account, even though it is not their account. And even though there may be privacy law issues – the US does not recognize the privacy laws of other nations, and can and will prosecute those individuals for failing to breach the laws of the nation in which they live. Note that citizens that live in the US have no such requirements.

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Md. Gun Show: Long Lines, Short Supplies, 'Get 'Em Before They're Gone' Desperation

I took a ride up to Frederick, Maryland this weekend to meet a friend at the Fairgrounds for the gun show. What we found was similar to what gun shows and gun dealers are experiencing across the nation: lines and limited supplies.

AR15's were scarce as were most guns. Ammunition was limited and prices were inflated. The lines were long to get in and the tables were packed.

Gun enthusiasts were buying whatever ammo was available. Magazines were flying out of dealers' hands.
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Why The Fights Over Disaster Relief In Congress Keep Getting Worse

All week, Congress has been bickering over a $60 billion aid package for super-storm Sandy. It started when the House GOP failed to take up the bill last session, triggering angry outbursts from Republicans in the Northeast. ”Shame on you. Shame on Congress,” said New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The dispute is now slowly getting resolved. The House passed the first $9.7 billion piece of aid Friday, largely to cover flood-insurance claims. Lawmakers will then hold a vote on the larger, $51 billion chunk of relief Jan. 15., though many Republicans are still skeptical of that bigger bill.

At this point, though, it’s worth stepping back and noting that these sorts of disaster-aid fights in Congress have become much more high-stakes over the past decade. According to a new report by the New York Fed, the federal government now plays a far bigger role in hurricane relief than it used to:

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Bank of America Freezes Gun Manufacturer's Account, Company Owner Claims

Bank of America has reportedly frozen the account of gun manufacturer American Spirit Arms, according to its owner, Joe Sirochman.

In a Facebook post dated December 29, Sirochman wrote the following:

“My name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms...our Web site orders have jumped 500 percent causing our Web site e-commerce processing larger deposits to Bank of America. So they decided to hold the deposits for further review.

“After countless hours on the phone with Bank of America, I finally got a manager in the right department that told me the reason that the deposits were on hold for further review -- her exact words were -- ‘We believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the Internet.’”(emphasis added)
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Has The Fight For Abortion Rights Been Lost?

In January 1973, the Supreme Court made access to abortion a federally protected right. As I write in this week’s TIME cover story, that seemingly decisive victory 40 years ago kicked off a war that the pro-choice movement has been losing ever since. In many parts of the country today, obtaining an abortion is more difficult than at any point since the 1970s.

There are fewer doctors willing to perform the procedure and fewer abortion clinics open for business. Pro-choice activists have been outflanked by their prolife counterparts, who have successfully lobbied for state-based regulations that limit access. Scores of states now require women to undergo counseling, waiting periods or ultrasounds prior to obtaining abortions. Minors across the country must often get permission from their parents if they want to terminate pregnancies. And pro-life state legislators are passing laws that require clinics to comply with arcane requirements—such as a hallway having to be more than five feet wide— that make it difficult for them to stay open.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America's latest annual report for 2011-2012 says that its affiliated clinics performed 333,964 abortions in fiscal 2011.

That works out to an average of one abortion every 94 seconds.

The 333,964 abortion Planned Parenthood did in fiscal 2011 is an increase of 4,519 from the 329,445 abortions it did in 2010, according to a fact sheet that Planned Parenthood published last year.
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Pro-Life And Feminism Aren’t Mutually Exclusive

From its early beginnings, feminism was a young women’s movement. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Charlotte Lozier and so many others began their suffragist work in their 20s. These women — the original feminists — understood that the rights of women cannot be built on the broken backs of unborn children. Anthony called abortion “child murder.” Paul, author of the original 1923 Equal Rights Amendment, said that “abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.”

So the pro-life movement hasn’t changed the meaning of feminism, as has been suggested. It was the neo-feminists of the 1960s and ’70s who asked women to prize abortion as the pathway to equality.

The White House petition to “deport” CNN host Piers Morgan from the United States has acquired more than 100,000 signatures. For his own reasons, Morgan invited the man behind the petition, Infowars’ Alex Jones, to discuss the reason for the petition and gun control on his show Monday night.

At many times throughout the segment, Jones got heated and began hollering about the seriousness of the threat to the Second Amendment. He said he created the petition to bring attention to the fact that we have “all these foreigners” arguing for gun control while the government stockpiles guns.

“When they get our guns they can have their world tyranny, while the government buys 1.6 billion bullets, armored vehicles, tanks, helicopters, predator drones,” he added. “The Second Amendment isn’t there for duck hunting, it’s there to protect us from tyrannical government and street thugs.”
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Rape In India: A Result Of Sex Selection?

The horrific gang rape and murder of a 23-year old medical student in New Delhi may seem unrelated to fundamental demographic forces, but it isn’t. The public outcry following the victim’s death from catastrophic internal injuries has rightly focused on calls to reform India’s criminal justice system. Yesterday, five men were formally charged and the case is being put on a fast track set up in the wake of the incident to handle crimes against women, in contrast to the years of delay rape victims often face.

But behind the angry protests is an even deeper story: the preference for male babies in India and much of the world may be at the root of this senseless violence.

And The Answer Is??

Answer for the post at 2:30 pm

Secret Service Plans for Inauguration

The Secret Service has released its security plans for the presidential inauguration and will impact the waterways around D.C.:
57th Presidential Inaugural

The United States Secret Service in cooperation with its local, state and federal security, public safety and military partners, has developed an overall security plan for the 57th Presidential Inaugural. Inaugural activities will take place beginning on Sunday, January 20 through Monday, January 21, 2013, with the Inaugural ceremonies scheduled for Monday, January 21.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated the Inaugural as a National Special Security Event (NSSE). When an event is designated an NSSE, the Secret Service assumes its role as the lead federal agency for the design and implementation of the operational security plan. The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Park Police as well as a number of other local, state and federal agencies, will play a critical operational role in securing the Inauguration and resources will be deployed to maintain the appropriate level of security.
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Online Reviewers Beware: You Can Get Sued

Jane Perez, a retired captain in the military from Fairfax County, VA, was not happy with her home contractor, so she wrote reviews on Yelp and Angie’s List explaining why. She said he had done a poor job on her renovations and billed her for work he did not perform — and that he may have stolen her jewelry. She warned readers: “Bottom line: do not put yourself through this nightmare of a contractor.”

The contractor, Christopher Dietz, filed a $750,000 defamation suit and got a judge to order Perez to rewrite the reviews. The Virginia Supreme Court recently reversed that decision, saying that reviews should not be censored — and that if they were defamatory, Dietz should focus on getting money damages.

Del. Dan Morhaim, chairman of the Government Operations subcommittee, plans on introducing a bill to beef up the regulatory powers of the Open Meetings Compliance Board, allowing it to fine public bodies for illegally closing meetings.

The civil penalties could be up to $1,000 for the first offense and up to $10,000 for a third offense. Even if the board chooses not to impose the fines, the members of any public body violating the act would have to personally sign an acknowledgement that the Open Meetings board had ruled against them. The findings of the three-member board could also be admitted as evidence in a lawsuit.

“Currently their opinions are only advisory and tend to be ignored,” Morhaim said. He pointed out there is a new, online course on the workings of Open Meetings Act “so excuses of not knowing the act are less convincing.”
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Our Personalities Are Constantly Changing, Even If We Think They’re Not

It’s rare that scientific journals explicitly engage philosophical conundrums, but a paper in this week’s Science magazine begins with the question: “Why do people so often make decisions that their future selves regret?” At age 18, that skull-and-crossbones tattoo seems like an unimpeachably cool idea; at 28, it’s mortifying. You meet the man of your dreams at 25 — except that your dreams have become so different by 35 that you end up divorced.

“Even at 68, people think, Ugh, I’m not the person I was at 58, but I’m sure I’ll be this way at 78,” says one of the Science study authors, Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of the book Stumbling on Happiness.

Attention