WASHINGTON – Thousands of federal workers who have been put on administrative leave for more than a month have been allowed to collect a paycheck, accrue vacation days and pensions benefits while taxpayers were forced to foot the $775 million bill, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
Some government employees who broke the rules – meaning they were cited for being untrustworthy or had ongoing issues with co-workers or their bosses - were allowed to remain on leave for large chunks of time while they challenged their demotions, the 62-page report said.
The study, released publicly on Monday, marks the first time auditors have taken a look at the scope of administrative leave and its cost to taxpayers.
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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
Monday, October 20, 2014
BREAKING NEWS: Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta dies at 82, AP confirms
Renowned fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, who designed dresses for numerous Hollywood stars and first ladies, has died at the age of 82.
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A Letter To The Editor: City stinks!!!!!
Cannibals With Cutlery
Carolyn Brewer was startled by the unannounced presence of an armed man in her bedroom. Her mood didn’t improve when the intruder sternly ordered her, “You don’t get up.” That directive was issued in the interest of “officer safety,” which presumably would have been undermined if the 74-year-old woman had somehow roused herself from her sickbed.
“I was in bed and it was dark, and he came in and announced who he was,” Brewer recounted to me. “He had a big spotlight and just said, `It’s Fish and Game, we came here we have to search your room.’ I asked why, but he wouldn’t tell me why. I told him that I’m a widow, and I’m sick, and that I didn’t want him in my room. But he searched it anyway.”
Brewer rents a room in the Caldwell, Idaho home of Kenneth and Carrol Watson. She was sleeping when Lori Alley, one of the couple’s adult daughters, knocked on the bedroom door to tell her that an officer from the Idaho Department of Fish & Game wanted to search the room. Brewer groggily replied that she wanted to be left alone, and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, she told me, the officer “startled me awake” by barging in despite the elderly woman’s desire to be left in peace.
The imposition was brief, but thoroughly unpleasant. The officer went through Brewer’s closet and tried to look under her bed. While pawing through the victim’s belongings the officer knocked over a heater, an act of heedless negligence that could easily have led to a catastrophic fire (for which he would not have been held liable, given that he is imbued with that magic property called “qualified immunity”).
Finding nothing of interest, he left without a word of explanation or apology, leaving a traumatized septuagenarian in his wake.
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“I was in bed and it was dark, and he came in and announced who he was,” Brewer recounted to me. “He had a big spotlight and just said, `It’s Fish and Game, we came here we have to search your room.’ I asked why, but he wouldn’t tell me why. I told him that I’m a widow, and I’m sick, and that I didn’t want him in my room. But he searched it anyway.”
Brewer rents a room in the Caldwell, Idaho home of Kenneth and Carrol Watson. She was sleeping when Lori Alley, one of the couple’s adult daughters, knocked on the bedroom door to tell her that an officer from the Idaho Department of Fish & Game wanted to search the room. Brewer groggily replied that she wanted to be left alone, and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, she told me, the officer “startled me awake” by barging in despite the elderly woman’s desire to be left in peace.
The imposition was brief, but thoroughly unpleasant. The officer went through Brewer’s closet and tried to look under her bed. While pawing through the victim’s belongings the officer knocked over a heater, an act of heedless negligence that could easily have led to a catastrophic fire (for which he would not have been held liable, given that he is imbued with that magic property called “qualified immunity”).
Finding nothing of interest, he left without a word of explanation or apology, leaving a traumatized septuagenarian in his wake.
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Michele Bachmann Given Security Detail Over ISIL Threat
An online threat against Bachmann emerged recently, according to multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the situation. Last week, Bachmann was provided a security detail in response, according to the sources.
Members of the U.S. Capitol Police’s Dignitary Protection Division were briefed on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The police security will continue until Bachmann, who will retire at the end of this Congress, is no longer in office.
A police detail of this type typically means 24-hour protection when a member of Congress is on Capitol Hill or back in the home district.
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Mental Health Issues Put 34,500 on New York’s No-Guns List
The database, established in the aftermath of the mass shooting in 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and maintained by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, is the result of the Safe Act. It is an expansive package of gun control measures pushed through by the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The law, better known for its ban on assault weapons, compels licensed mental health professionals in New York to report to the authorities any patient “likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others.”
But the number of entries in the database highlights the difficulty of America’s complicated balancing act between public safety and the right to bear arms when it comes to people with mental health issues. “That seems extraordinarily high to me,” said Sam Tsemberis, a former director of New York City’s involuntary hospitalization program for homeless and dangerous people, now the chief executive of Pathways to Housing, which provides housing to the mentally ill. “Assumed dangerousness is a far cry from actual dangerousness.”
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12 Charts That Show The Permanent Damage That Has Been Done To The U.S. Economy
Most people that discuss the “economic collapse” focus on what is coming in the future. And without a doubt, we are on the verge of some incredibly hard times. But what often gets neglected is the immense permanent damage that has been done to the U.S. economy by the long-term economic collapse that we are already experiencing.
In this article I am going to share with you 12 economic charts that show that we are in much, much worse shape than we were five or ten years ago. The long-term problems that are eating away at the foundations of our economy like cancer have not been fixed. In fact, many of them continue to get even worse year after year. But because unprecedented levels of government debt and reckless money printing by the Federal Reserve have bought us a very short window of relative stability, most Americans don’t seem to concerned about our long-term problems. They seem to have faith that our “leaders” will be able to find a way to muddle through whatever challenges are ahead. Hopefully, this article will be a wake up call. The last major wave of the economic collapse did a colossal amount of damage to our economic foundations, and now the next major wave of the economic collapse is rapidly approaching.
#1 Employment
The mainstream media is constantly telling us about the “employment recovery” that is happening in the United States, but the truth is that it is just an illusion. As the chart below demonstrates, just prior to the last recession about 63 percent of all working age Americans had a job. During the last wave of the economic collapse, that number dropped to below 59 percent and stayed there for a very long time. In the past few months we have finally seen the employment-population ratio tick back up to 59 percent, but we are still far, far below where we used to be. To call the tiny little bump at the end of this chart a “recovery” is really an insult to our intelligence…
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In this article I am going to share with you 12 economic charts that show that we are in much, much worse shape than we were five or ten years ago. The long-term problems that are eating away at the foundations of our economy like cancer have not been fixed. In fact, many of them continue to get even worse year after year. But because unprecedented levels of government debt and reckless money printing by the Federal Reserve have bought us a very short window of relative stability, most Americans don’t seem to concerned about our long-term problems. They seem to have faith that our “leaders” will be able to find a way to muddle through whatever challenges are ahead. Hopefully, this article will be a wake up call. The last major wave of the economic collapse did a colossal amount of damage to our economic foundations, and now the next major wave of the economic collapse is rapidly approaching.
#1 Employment
The mainstream media is constantly telling us about the “employment recovery” that is happening in the United States, but the truth is that it is just an illusion. As the chart below demonstrates, just prior to the last recession about 63 percent of all working age Americans had a job. During the last wave of the economic collapse, that number dropped to below 59 percent and stayed there for a very long time. In the past few months we have finally seen the employment-population ratio tick back up to 59 percent, but we are still far, far below where we used to be. To call the tiny little bump at the end of this chart a “recovery” is really an insult to our intelligence…
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Jesus painting, Removed From School, Now On Lit Sign
The sign was finished Tuesday. It is lit from within, so it can be seen at night, said Jeanette Moll, a Zanesville, Ohio, lawyer who helped organize the effort to get the sign.
The image is the same as that of the Good Shepherd painting, which depicts Jesus in a field of lambs, that came under fire last year after a senior John Glenn High School in this town of 1,700 people about 70 miles east of Columbus, Ohio, asked for it to be taken down.
"We're excited to have this piece of our own history back up," Moll said.
The painting had been hanging in the school office since 1971, donated as a memorial to former English teacher Margaret Barnett, but the American Civil Liberties Union sent district officials a letter telling them they had to remove the painting by law.
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10 Rules For Better Manners That Every Guy Should Commit To Memory
Manners are a way of behaving toward others. We could all use a manners refresher. The following are ten basics of manners.
1. Anytime you ride in the car with a woman, you need to open the door for her.
2. When you want something, say 'please'.
3. When you get something, say 'thank you'.
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1. Anytime you ride in the car with a woman, you need to open the door for her.
2. When you want something, say 'please'.
3. When you get something, say 'thank you'.
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Four frightening ways costume contact lenses can ruin vision
To avoid a real-life Halloween horror story - going blind because of a costume accessory - the Delaware Academy of Ophthalmology, along with the American Academy of Ophthalmology, is warning the public against wearing costume contact lenses purchased without a prescription. These illegally sold cosmetic lenses may not be sterile and can cause a host of serious eye problems capable of morphing a fun Halloween night into a nightmare.
Tiger eyes, checkered pupils: nonprescription decorative lenses (also called cosmetic, costume or plano contact lenses) come in many different patterns and colors. In 2005, after reports of them causing eye injuries and infections, the federal Food and Drug Administration classified all contact lenses as medical devices and restricted their distribution to licensed eye care professionals, effectively banning sales of non-prescription contact lenses. Despite that, these items remain available on the internet, in convenience stores and at flea markets.
Non-prescription decorative lenses can hurt eyes in several ways: scratches or corneal abrasions, eye sores called corneal ulcers which can scar over and permanently affect vision, infections known as keratitis, and blindness.
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Tiger eyes, checkered pupils: nonprescription decorative lenses (also called cosmetic, costume or plano contact lenses) come in many different patterns and colors. In 2005, after reports of them causing eye injuries and infections, the federal Food and Drug Administration classified all contact lenses as medical devices and restricted their distribution to licensed eye care professionals, effectively banning sales of non-prescription contact lenses. Despite that, these items remain available on the internet, in convenience stores and at flea markets.
Non-prescription decorative lenses can hurt eyes in several ways: scratches or corneal abrasions, eye sores called corneal ulcers which can scar over and permanently affect vision, infections known as keratitis, and blindness.
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Here’s Info Justice Dept. Won’t Give Congress in Fast & Furious
For more than two years, the Justice Department has ignored Congressional requests to disclose where all of the Fast and Furious weapons are turning up. Now, documents withheld from Congress, but provided to me by a source, give a predictably disturbing picture of the violent landscape in which the weapons are being used.
Uriel Patino is a chief firearms trafficking suspect whom ATF secretly advised U.S. gun shops to sell weapons to. According to trace documents, guns that Patino trafficked are associated with 128 firearms traces to date, including 15 cases in 2014. A trace indicates a firearm likely turned up at a crime scene.
Among the Patino traces in 2014 are 11 incidents in Mexico and four in the U.S.
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Uriel Patino is a chief firearms trafficking suspect whom ATF secretly advised U.S. gun shops to sell weapons to. According to trace documents, guns that Patino trafficked are associated with 128 firearms traces to date, including 15 cases in 2014. A trace indicates a firearm likely turned up at a crime scene.
Among the Patino traces in 2014 are 11 incidents in Mexico and four in the U.S.
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Police Saw Tons of Cars Whiz by Their Speed Trap but They Didn’t Pull Them Over. The Cops Probably Didn’t Expect Someone to Record Their Conversation About It.
If you try telling the state trooper who just pulled you over that you’re speeding because you’re late for a conference, you probably won’t receive any mercy.
But if you’re a fellow cop, you might not get pulled over in the first place.
A video posted to YouTube on October 8 contains police scanner chatter between an aircraft and waiting police on the ground in rural Washington state, capturing the officers’ reports on speeding vehicles — and their sad realization that the unsafe speeding cars were driven by fellow police, all late for a drug recognition conference.
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Poll: Democratic Party hits 30-year low
Record 51% now have unfavorable impression
(ABC NEWS) Barack Obama and his political party are heading into the midterm elections in trouble. The president’s 40 percent job approval rating in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll is the lowest of his career – and the Democratic Party’s popularity is its weakest in polling back 30 years, with more than half of Americans seeing the party unfavorably for the first time.
The Republican Party is even more unpopular. But benefitting from their supporters’ greater likelihood of voting, GOP candidates nonetheless hold a 50-43 percent lead among likely voters for U.S. House seats in the Nov. 4 election.
These and other results are informed by an array of public concerns on issues from the economy to international terrorism to the Ebola virus, crashing into a long-running crisis of confidence in the nation’s political leadership. Almost two-thirds say the country is headed seriously off on the wrong track. Even more, three-quarters, are dissatisfied with the way the political system is working.
(ABC NEWS) Barack Obama and his political party are heading into the midterm elections in trouble. The president’s 40 percent job approval rating in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll is the lowest of his career – and the Democratic Party’s popularity is its weakest in polling back 30 years, with more than half of Americans seeing the party unfavorably for the first time.
The Republican Party is even more unpopular. But benefitting from their supporters’ greater likelihood of voting, GOP candidates nonetheless hold a 50-43 percent lead among likely voters for U.S. House seats in the Nov. 4 election.
These and other results are informed by an array of public concerns on issues from the economy to international terrorism to the Ebola virus, crashing into a long-running crisis of confidence in the nation’s political leadership. Almost two-thirds say the country is headed seriously off on the wrong track. Even more, three-quarters, are dissatisfied with the way the political system is working.
Harris, Tilghman Present Differing Visions
The two candidates answered questions from the Leagues of Women Voters of Kent, Queen Anne’s and the Mid-Shore, which hosted the event. They also responded to questions from the audience.
On how to deal with the threat posed by Islamic State militants, Harris and Tilghman took markedly different tones.
“The bottom line is we are losing the war on terror,” Harris said. The problem with the Islamic State, he said, started when President Obama did not leave a residual force behind in Iraq, a decision that Harris said went against advice from his generals. The Iraqi army then collapsed in the face of Islamic State attack.
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Leaders-??
“Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.” Unknown
Kim Jung UnKim Jung Un had NO military experience whatsoever before Daddy made him a
four-star general.This snot-nosed twerp had never
accomplished anything in his life that would even come close to military leadership.He hadn't even so much as led a Boy Scout troop, coached a sports team, or commanded a military platoon.So he is made the "Beloved Leader" Of North Korea .Terrific!-Oh crap! Never mindI'm sorry.I just remembered that we did the same thing.We took an arrogant community organizer, who had never worn a uniform, and made him Commander-in-Chief.A guy, who had never had a real job, worked on a budget, or led anything more than an ACORN demonstration, and we made him "Beloved Leader" of the United StatesTWICE!!!I'm sorry I brought this up.Never mind.
BROWN SKIRTS PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENTS
“I’m not trying to be evasive, let me tell you this, there’s one election right now, for obvious reasons, that I am focused on almost 99.99 percent of my waking hours and that’s the general election Nov. 4, 2014, and I think the people of Maryland deserve that,” Brown said in a phone interview on Friday.
Brown is facing O’Malley-weary voters in an attempt to become the first lieutenant governor in Maryland’s history to gain a promotion to Government House via the ballot box.
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JUST IN: Jesse Matthew To Be Charged In Fairfax County Sexual Assault
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Police have said previously that they have evidence linking Matthew to the death and disappearance of Morgan Harrington, whose case is linked by DNA to the Fairfax case. Matthew is also charged with abduction with intent to defile in connection with the disappearance of Hannah Graham.
In the City of Fairfax case, the victim was abducted while walking home from a grocery story on Jermantown Road. The then 26-year-old woman was assaulted in the pool area of a townhouse complex, police have said.
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