New Mexico Just Fined the Feds $54 Million

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico on Saturday levied more than $54 million in penalties against the U.S. Department of Energy for numerous violations that resulted in the indefinite closure of the nation’s only underground nuclear waste repository.

The state Environment Department delivered a pair of compliance orders to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, marking the state’s largest penalty ever imposed on the agency. Together, the orders outline more than 30 state permit violations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeastern New Mexico and at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The orders and the civil penalties that come with them are just the beginning of possible financial sanctions the Energy Department could face in New Mexico. The state says it’s continuing to investigate and more fines are possible.

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Teachers Go Door-Knocking In Nashville

In Nashville, several public schools are struggling to compete with nearby charters. To recruit more students, teachers are tearing a page from the charter playbook: going door to door.

It's Saturday in East Nashville, and LaTonya White finds herself knocking on a stranger's door. It's awkward. Someone peers out at her through the window. White looks away, pretending not to notice. After an uncomfortable few seconds, the door finally cracks open. White seizes her chance:

"My name is LaTonya White. I'm the principal at Rosebank Elementary School. How are you doing?" she asks, glancing at the clipboard in her hands. On it: a list of families in the area with soon-to-be kindergartners. "Yes, you should have a child ready to come to school soon."

Canvassing for potential students — and honing this kind of front porch pitch — is standard for charter schools. But, for traditional public school leaders like White, it's unfamiliar territory. Still, it may quickly become an expectation as urban districts around the country grapple with destabilization related — at least in part — to the growth of charter schools.

"I think we're just moving to the place where we do have to sell ourselves, where we do have to market ourselves, where we do have to say, 'Hey, look, this is what we're doing,' " White says.

Here's the challenge: Nearly half of all students in East Nashville don't attend their zoned school. Part of that is the district's own doing. Open enrollment, a rising trend in districts around the country, made it so that students in Nashville can attend school just about anywhere they want — as long as there's an open seat. And, in East Nashville, competition is fierce among a crowd of private schools and charters.

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Police Officer Demonstrates Proper Technique For Subduing Grand Jury

NEW YORK—Saying that the maneuver was 100 percent effective if administered correctly, police captain Matthew Carlson demonstrated the proper technique for subduing a grand jury to a group of younger officers Thursday. “First and foremost, it’s important to get a strong, firm hold on the state-level district attorney’s office before you do anything else—that way, you’re making sure you never put yourself in any direct danger,” said Carlson, who explained a series of self-defense moves that would ensure grand jurors interpret the law in such a way as to give police the widest latitude in justifying the use of force, adding that performing the moves correctly would cause jurors to submit to the officer’s will “in no time at all.” “When you’re out there facing a prosecutor’s questions about whether you were acting lawfully and with discretion, you won’t have time to think. And that’s why it’s important that all of you master this technique now, because inevitably, many of you will find yourselves in a situation where you’ll need to call on this training. But used properly, these methods will stop any prosecution in its tracks well before there’s an indictment.” Carlson went on to stress that subduing a grand jury is a last-ditch option, and that officers should always try to thwart any investigation well before there are official proceedings.

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8 U.S. Postal Workers Accused Of Swiping Packages Filled With Pot

While the sight of hundreds of packages filled with mystery goods going past you day by day might eventually prove too strong of a temptation, the job of a U.S. Postal worker depends on not pilfering those boxes and bags destined for others. That’s why eight USPS workers at a Long Island mail processing center have been arrested for allegedly stealing packages crammed full with marijuana.

And yes, you’re right — it’s illegal to mail marijuana, from California where it’s legal medically, or from anywhere, so maybe they thought no one would go asking questions about it?

Investigators say the eight accused figured out that the illicit packages were likely filled with pot based on the fact that they originated in California and were oddly shaped, reports the New York Daily News.

It all started when three empty Priority Mail packages were discovered in the backyard of an abandoned house nearby. A drug-sniffing police dog confirmed suspicions that that wacky smell was indeed, marijuana.

As it turns out, the packages had been sorted and processed at the facility nearby, where surveillance footage showed one worker sneaking out a fire escape door carrying three large packages that looked an awful lot like the pot packages found in the backyard.

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American Al Qaeda Captive Dead After Failed Rescue Attempt (UPDATE: Obama Says Why He Authorized Rescue)

UPDATE: President Barack Obama says he authorized the attempt to rescue American Luke Somers in Yemen because the U.S. had information that the American photojournalist’s life was in imminent danger.

That word from the White House came shortly before a security official in Yemen said al-Qaida militants had planned to kill Somers on Saturday.

Authorities said Somers and a South African aid worker died in the U.S. rescue attempt.

Obama says U.S. forces conducted the rescue operation in partnership with Yemen’s government.

The president also says the U.S. “will spare no effort” in trying to rescue any American held hostage anywhere in the world. And he’s promising that terrorists who try to harm U.S. citizens “will feel the long arm of American justice.”

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Reports of military sexual assaults rise 8 percent this year

A Rand Corporation survey suggests victims are more willing to file complaints than in years past. The survey shows about a quarter of victims filed reports in 2014, compared to just one-tenth in 2012. Lawmakers have pushed to change how the Pentagon handles cases of sexual assault. And Pentagon officials say they see a decline in the actual number of sexual assaults. They estimate 19,000 service members are victims of unwanted sexual contact this year. That's down from 26,000 two years ago.

The Surprise - Wife Surprises Marine Husband During His Return From Year-Long Deployment

The media is full of military men and women surprising their families upon their return from deployment, but it is very rare to see a military member get surprised by their loved ones. My husband has been in Afghanistan for the last year. He was one of the last group of Marines to come back from the war. Because he is stationed in California and our kids and I live in Maryland, he didn't think that anyone would be there when he returned. But I showed him! I left Maryland Wednesday afternoon to make sure I arrived there in time to see his arrival on Thursday, and then came home on Friday. It was a short trip, but it was the best! I love you babe!

SSA Conformation Could Be Stalled

Confirmation of President Obama's choice to head the Social Security Administration could be stalled over a $300 million computer project that doesn't work. 

The project launched before Carolyn Colvin became acting commissioner in February 2013. But Republican senators on the Finance Committee think they've been mislead by Social Security officials over details of the troubled project. 

They vow to block a vote on Colvin's nomination until they get more answers. Obama nominated Colvin to a six year Commissioner's term in June. Before becoming acting commissioner, she was the deputy for three and a half years.

1980's Tv Quiz

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Now Obama working on jobs plan for illegals

International trade deal would boost farm jobs, cut manufacturing

UNITED NATIONS – Now that President Obama has started his executive amnesty program to legalize five million low-wage workers, the White House and GOP leaders are discussing what essentially amounts to a jobs program that will benefit them.

Obama met Wednesday with Sen. Mitch McConnell, who will be the Senate majority leader in the new Congress in January, and House leaders to discuss fast tracking the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a NAFTA-like global economic integration plan.

Just last month Secretary of State John Kerry said the pact will help further merge the U.S. economy with Mexico and 10 other nations, including Canada, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Islamic Sultanate of Brunei.

In that speech, Kerry said TPP will make an “enormous difference” and it is supposed to “bring everybody up.”

But the U.S. government’s own analysis of the pact shows the TransPacific Partnership Agreement amounts to a jobs program for low-paid, largely immigrant farm labor.

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Obamagration

Maryland Casino Revenue Surpasses $90M In November

Maryland casinos brought in a record $90.2 million in November, but revenue decreased year-over-year when excluding Horseshoe Casino Baltimore which opened in August.

Not including the Horseshoe, casino revenue declined 0.6 percent, or $40,567, from a year ago, the state's Lottery and Gaming Control Agency reported Friday.

Compared with October, casino revenue increased nearly 4 percent from $86.8 million.

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Dear Media: This Elizabeth Lauten Nonsense Is Why Everybody Hates You

Last week, President Barack Obama pardoned a turkey prior to Thanksgiving Day, as is tradition. And as in previous years, his teenage daughters Malia and Sasha stood by his side. The daughters are cute as can be — and Malia is growing into an absolutely beautiful young woman.

They are, however, teenagers. And they were, I guess, engaged in some mild teenage behavior — eye-rolling and smirking and what not. I watched a video of the event and didn’t really notice anything worth commenting on (apart from the interesting annual practice of Obama signing the cross over the turkey). But one minor Capitol Hill staffer thought the girls were dressed inappropriately and acted a bit churlish. And then, for some reason, she wrote about it on Facebook.

At which point some people lost their everliving minds. Her comments were posted on Twitter where the social media mob fed their hankering for constant outrage. There were petitions calling for her to be punished. And worst of all the media wrote and broadcast story after story after story about the matter. Elizabeth Lauten lost her job for saying mean things about President Obama’s children.

Now, Lauten is in communications and her job presumably included an assumption that she wouldn’t embarrass her boss. Besides, in a city where you can keep your job even if you’re involved in serious scandals at the IRS, State Department, Veterans Affairs or the Department of Justice, an actual job loss is refreshing, in its own way. She even gave a full-throated apology — within hours of the initial post — for being mean, not one of these “I’m sorry if” constructions that politicians frequently use.

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Baltimoreans Rank High On Least-Attractive List

WASHINGTON -- Baltimore may be a nice-looking city when you're entering town and looking at the skyline, but one travel website's readers say the people in it aren't much to look at.

Travel + Leisure posted its annual rankings of which cities and towns have the most and least attractive people in the U.S., and Baltimoreans come out as the fourth-least attractive, behind -- or ahead of? -- only Oklahoma City, Memphis and, least-fair of them all, Detroit.

Travel + Leisure doesn't give a whole lot of reasons for its picks -- they're just based on readers' votes -- so there's plenty of room for argument.

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Denver the Guilty Dog has struck again.....

Post by Denver Our Guilty Dog.

Buchanan: Boehner Beholden to Businesses That Want Amnesty

Former presidential adviser and political commentator Pat Buchanan ripped into House Speaker John Boehner, saying the Ohio Republican won't stop the president's amnesty plan for illegals because he's in the pocket of businesses that want it to move forward.

"John Boehner and those folks up in the Hill are going to follow the people that pay their room, board and tuition," Buchanan said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

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Resort Penthouse Burglar To Serve 2 Months In Jail

SNOW HILL — A Falls Church, Va. man, arrested in June after entering a resort hotel penthouse, cooking and eating food, drinking wine and using a bed and hot tub, pleaded guilty this week in Worcester County Circuit Court to burglary and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Around 11:30 a.m. on June 22, Ocean City Police responded to the Days Inn on Baltimore Ave. for a reported burglary. OCPD officers learned a suspect later identified as Ludrwin Machado-Rivera, 24, had allegedly entered the hotel’s penthouse unit sometime the night before or in the early morning hours. The hotel manager observed Machado-Rivera and detained him until police arrived.

The investigation revealed Machado-Rivera had climbed a fence blocking access to the hotel’s roof and climbed the stairs to the patio of the penthouse unit. He then entered the penthouse through a sliding door. When the hotel manager saw Machado-Rivera at the penthouse unit, he called police and detained the suspect.

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NYT: Working-Class Disgust with Democrats Hitting 'Dangerous Levels'

Progressive New York Times columnist Thomas B. Edsall wrote on Tuesday that Democrats' embrace of Obamacare's redistribution scheme has angered and alienated working-class and middle-class Americans.

"Even though midterm elections favor Republicans, the 2014 results show middle and working-class dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party rising to dangerous levels, which threatens the party's growing demographic advantages," wrote Edsall.

As Breitbart News reported last Wednesday, the latest Gallup poll finds that President Barack Obama's approval rating with working-class white voters has hit an all-time low 27%. Moreover, the Gallup poll's findings were taken from opinion data collected prior to racially-charged riots in Ferguson, Missouri.

Edsall cites numbers showing that working-class and middle-class Americans fully understand that Obamacare takes money from the working class and gives it away to the lower class, thereby making things "worse for people like you and your family."

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SFD Calls For Service 12-5-14

• Friday December, 5 2014 @ 22:31Nature: Automatic AlarmAddress: 1325 Treetop Dr Salisbury, MD 21801
• Friday December, 5 2014 @ 20:08Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Friday December, 5 2014 @ 20:07 Nature: Vehicle Accident w/InjuriesAddress: 2601 N Salisbury Blvd Salisbury, MD 21801
• Friday December, 5 2014 @ 19:51Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury
• Friday December, 5 2014 @ 19:11Nature: Medical EmergencyCity:Salisbury

Yes, You Should Be Skeptical about the UVA Rape Story

Truth matters more than the narrative

‘The truth may be puzzling,” wrote Carl Sagan. “It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what’s true.”

And the hecklers shouted, “Idiot!”

Such, at least, was the reaction of Jezebel’s Anna Merlan to the news that two free-thinking writers had begun to ask whether an explosive Rolling Stone article that purported to reveal a hideous gang-rape at the University of Virginia was, in fact, entirely true. Having initially failed to “question the incident itself,” Reason’s Robby Soave wrote on Monday, he had come to find “some of the details . . . perplexing on subsequent re-reads.” “I’ll be following any and all developments in this case,” Soave promised, “and am eager to see this particular story either confirmed as true or exposed as a hoax.” A week or so earlier, a formerGeorge editor named Richard Bradley had noted for the record that “nothing in this story is impossible,” but contended nonetheless that he had serious questions. “To believe it beyond a doubt, without a question mark — as virtually all the people who’ve read the article seem to — requires a lot of leaps of faith,” Bradley submitted. In both cases, the men explained why they were suspicious and vowed to look more deeply into the case. In both cases, the pair were dismissed as rubeish and misogynistic dilettantes who, in Merlan’s words, have “no idea what they’re talking about.”

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