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Sunday, July 27, 2008

Tomorrow's Posts

Ladies & Gentlemen, tomorrow is going to be a big day in Posts. Many, (if not all) of our Posts are big news and exclusive news as well. You will NOT see any of these stories in the Daily Times or in the morning's news casts on television. That will change in the afternoon as everyone will be scrambling to see if what I'm positing is in fact true. Remember though, pictures don't lie. Anyhow, it should be a very interesting day tomorrow. Enjoy!

More Rumors On The Wicomico County Detention Center

"Well rumor has it now that Major Mopey is telling the staff that the article in the Daily times is misquoting 3D and there will in fact not be any raise to CO's pay. But hell.. no one will ever know it that reads the paper. Good going Doug! Free PR and a feel good vibe from the public, that can just be retracted on page 20 in small print a week from now.

Another rumor is that chief investigator Hardin has been banned from the building. I wonder if the Director would comment on that in the Daily Times. I wonder who(m)was being investigated?"

FDIC Insurance Fund...Myth or Reality?

(RTTNews) - The FDIC is looking for ways to shore up its depleted deposit fund, including charging higher premiums on riskier brokered deposits, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said Friday.

However, that fund is "a myth," according to longtime banking consultant Bert Ely, and consumers may end up paying the price of what is expected to be a growing wave of bank failures.
NYU Economics Professor Nouriel Roubini predicts that Congress will have to intervene in order to bail out the deposit fund.

"They're going to run out of money, with certainty," he predicted. "Congress is going to have to recapitalize the FDIC, those $50 billion plus is not going to be enough, by no means."

Indeed, on Friday afternoon FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in an interview on C-SPAN television that banks holding brokered deposits may be charged higher premiums in order to bring back the reserve to an acceptable size.

"I think that is something we need to factor into our premiums and charge higher premiums to banks that fit that profile," she said in the interview, noting that the IndyMac failure was a big factor in the need for additional funds in the deposit insurance fund.

This means higher premiums for FDIC insured banks, analyst Ely noted, further complicating an already tenuous situation for the U.S. banking system. Banks will most likely pass the increased costs onto their customers, he said.

"Banks are going to pass it through to their customers through higher interest rates on loans, lower interest on deposit," Ely predicted.

The FDIC has around $53 billion set aside to back up bank deposits up to $100,000 per depositor, one of the ways the organization is designed to ensure confidence in the banking industry. However, according to Ely, that $53 billion is "not really available."

"The deposit insurance fund is as real as the social security trust fund," Ely said, noting that only a "small fraction" of the $53 billion is actually available and "any losses beyond that will be assessed on the banks."

(RTTNews) - The reserve, as of March 31, was valued at $52.843 billion, or 1.19 percent of the total insured deposits of $4.431 trillion. According to the Deposit Insurance Reform Act, the
FDIC must have at minimum 1.15 percent of all insured deposits in the fund, with a target rate of 1.25 percent.

The failure of IndyMac, which is estimated to cost the deposit fund at minimum $4 billion, brings the target below 1.15 percent, forcing the FDIC to adopt a restoration plan that will restore the Deposit fund to 1.15 percent within 5 years, according to the Reform Act.

"The $4 billion loss would drop the fund down to about 1.10 ratio," Ely explained. "The FDIC is going to be obligated of an increase in premiums to pay for that loss, so the only monies that are available $2.843 billion in the fund, of that $50.966 billion was not available."

Ely noted that any loss over $1.877 billion would have brought the ratio below 1.15 percent, meaning that losses are going to have to be assessed back to the banks.

by RTT Staff Writer

Another Police Officer Chimes In

Whoever wrote this article (keep it clean or i'll turn off the comments" is an enlightened man.

Unfortunately, many people dislike the police. And, further, hold them accountable for everything that goes wrong in their lives and have the ability to express their frustration on this blog.

However, first and foremost, to my understanding, the SPD officer has not been charged internally with anything to date. Further, the writer of the article is correct. Although it may violate departmental policy, it is not against the law to transport beer in a marked police vehicle.

Lastly, no doubt there is tension between SPD and WCSO. However, there are people externally that wish that tension to continue and are no doubt posting comments under anonymous to that effect. Those who are internally to policing posting negative comments about others in policing, including those in your own department, should be ashamed of yourselves. You are cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Administration of police agencies depend on internal strife to keep officers and deputies from banding together to take a stand against improper internal charging and intimidation from administration. If police officers put 1/2 the effort into banding together to form a solid union with teeth or have further muscle, benefits would improve as well as other perks. Also, administration would cease to create bullshit internals because they know that cops that stick together are much more formidable then a divided agency. I wouldn’t put it past administration to post some of these comments in order to keep officers and deputies separated internally. It’s a tried and true tactic for maintaining control over personnel.

In short, the more officer’s and deputies fight internally or amongst themselves, the more administrative power grows to suppress change for the better for you and your family. Think of dedicating yourself to the thin blue line instead of throwing mud at each other. We are all cops providing a service for the common good. We must protect ourselves against criminals, death, serious personal injury, and disreputable administrative tactics to suppress our success in supporting ourselves and our families. We need to stick together. Wave at each other in traffic. Back each other up on calls. Although we may not like each other individually, we must set this aside when we come to work and travel within the thin blue line each day.

- FTS

Another Interesting Comment On Delmarva Towing!

Just recently I was involved in a minor traffic accident, but my car was not driveable according to the police officer. I did not understand that because it seemed fine to me. But anyway after he told me that I asked him if he could call Grants towing for me. He said that he counld not and that he would have to call one of their companies for me. Now you tell me, is there a scam going an here or what? The tow company that came was,yes you guessed it. Delmarva Towing. I told him that I did not want his services but then he informed me that he was called to the accident and he was going to tow my car.I then requested that he take it to my house and he refused. He told me that because the car was involved in an accident that he had to take it to his storage lot. Sounds familiar does'nt it? I thought that there was not supposed to be no police officer to call or choose the towing company according to the SCP.My insurance company tried contacting them amd they did not answer the phone for two days, hence two more days storage. CHA CHING..After my insurance company fianally got in touch Mr. Eddie Tindall, the owner of Delmarva Towing thay wanted to come and pick up my car and take it to a repair shop. he had stated to them that he would tow over there because he did not know when he would be available at his lot.Sounds like another scam. Something needs to be done about some of the companies, not all of them, doing and getting away with is what you can just basically call theft.

WARNING About Pancake Mix

From Snopes:

I recently made a batch of pancakes for my healthy 14-year-old son, using a mix that was in our pantry. He said that they tasted 'funny,' but ate them anyway. About 10 minutes later, he began having difficulty breathing and his lips began turning purple. I gave him his allergy pill, had him sit on the sofa and told him to relax. He was wheezing while inhaling and exhaling.

My husband, a volunteer Firefighter and EMT, heated up some water, and we had my son lean over the water so the steam could clear his chest and sinuses. Soon, his breathing became more regular and his lips returned to a more normal color. We checked the date on the box of pancake mix and, to my dismay, found it was very outdated. As a reference librarian at an academic institution, I have the ability to search through many research databases. I did just that, and found an article the next day that mentioned a 19-year-old male DYING after eating pancakes made with outdated mix. Apparently, the mold that forms in old pancake mix can be toxic!

When we told our friends about my son's close call, we were surprised at the number of people who mentioned that they should check their own pancake mix since they don't use it often, or they had purchased it some time ago. With so many people shopping at warehouse-type stores and buying large sizes of pancake mix, I hope your readers will take the time to check the expiration date on their boxes.

Also, beware of outdated Bisquick, cake, brownie and cookie mixes.

PASS IT ON! This is TRUE--Check it out!

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/pancake.asp

It Is Now Legal To Cage Up Your Child


For a mere $69.99 you can now cage up your heathen child. The lines at K-Mart should be at least 2 to 3 hours long for this new gadget. I wonder if they're going to offer rain checks too? This company is going to make billions!

Salisbury News Ranks #1 Blog In State Of Maryland Again

Maryland's Most Influential Political Blogs

1 Salisbury News
2 Delmarva Dealings
3 Maryland Politics
3 Free State Politics
5 monoblogue
6 Brian Griffiths
7 Pocomoke Tattler
8 Maryland Politics Watch
9 Delusional Duck
10 Duck Duck Goose
11 Politicker MD
12 Lost On The Shore
13 WorcesterRight
14 The No BS Zone
15 Baltimore Reporter
16 Maryland Moment
17 Capital Punishment
18 Charles County Cafe
19 Gunpowder Chronicle
20 On The Record

Salisbury News also ranked #3 in the state of Delaware this week. We were recently added to Delaware on Blognetnews.

Keep It Clean Or I'll Turn Off The Comments

"Joe, this is a letter in response to "blutojthetotmoms" recent comments of your SPD story. I want to get a few facts straight and I have a couple questions for her that I feel need to be addressed. I am in no way affiliated with the SPD and in all honesty do not know a single officer in that department. I hope that this post doesn't start more of a discussion about that current situation because that is not what this post is about. I don't know about that situation and don't know the Officers involved. The problem I have are in regards to some of "blutos" comments concerning it.

To begin, I have seen many stories on your site about personal use of government/local/business vehicles. There are many different agencies/departments that allow the use of work vehicles for personal use. I am not going to sit here and try to act like I know all of the individual agencies policies regarding their use off duty. I will say however that some policies are pretty much the same for everyone. I think what a lot of people don't understand is that these vehicles are part of an employees benefits for working for that agency/department. Lets take MSP for example. MSP certainly does not have the best salary in the state when it comes to law enforcement, they are far from it. One of the attractions/benefits that they have to entice individuals to work for them is that they will receive a take home vehicle. This is basically a part of their salary/benefits. It is no different then a hair dresser getting a discount when they get their hair cut at their place of employment, or a restaurant worker getting a percentage off of food if they decide they want to take something home that night. Every job has its perks and fringe benefits, this use of a vehicle happens to be one of them for certain Police Officers. That being said, is there anything wrong with an MSP employee using their take home vehicle to go grocery shopping? ABSOLUTELY NOT! That is part of their salary package. Now, when they do this there are definitely policies and procedures they have to abide by. Every department is different but MSP for example requires that you wear a certain type of clothing, carry your service weapon, and be available to respond to calls, among many other policies. Once again, I don't know these policies for every department/agency that has take home vehicles but these are some examples. So when people are crying about tax dollars paying for someone to take their kids to socc er practice they need to realize that if the vehicles weren't allowed to be used for that they would have to raise the salaries of the individuals. One way or another an agency's benefits have to be competitive so that they can hire/retain employees.

I have an issue with the ignorance shown in some of "blutos" posts. First, you stated, "There is no excuse EVER for a cop breaking the law". Please show me any evidence that the Officer's in question broke ANY law. If you can show me the law that says that a Police Officer in the State of Maryland can't purchase or transport alcohol purchased by them in a Police vehicle I will eat my words right now. The reason you won't be able to find it is because it is NOT AGAINST THE LAW. It is a violation of their agencies administrative policies and that is it. I don't know what you do for a living but it is no different than say a Wal-Mart employee ringing themselves up for something that they were personally purchasing. It is a violation of their companies policies and that's it! Would you be causing the same fuss if you heard that a Wal-Mart clerk bought a pair of sunglasses from Wal-Mart and rang herself up for it? Of course you w ouldn't. I am in no way condoning what they did, they violated their policy and it should be handled accordingly, administratively. Do I think they should be suspended/fired, of course not. That is definitely a little harsh for buying some beer while in a police vehicle, especially considering they weren't in uniform or consuming it until later. But the main point is that NO LAW HAS BEEN BROKEN.

Secondly, you go on to say "do they cut any slack?Do they ever stop a guy who has just had one beer out at dinner and say "OK,just let your wife drive "HELL F--K NO!" Wow, are you seriously that oblivious? You obviously have some rage and frustration pent up against the Police. You mean to tell me that you've never been stopped for a traffic violation and received a warning? I guess that isn't cutting any slack? You really think that we lock up driver's after having one beer with dinner? I guess as soon as an Officer smells alcohol on a driver he just pulls him out and puts handcuffs on him. He doesn't give him/her any type of field sobriety tests or a preliminary breath test, nothing, he just locks them up. You can't be serious can you? If an Officer locked up everyone that had one beer at dinner he certainly wouldn't have a job for very long. That would look real good in court,

Judge: "Officer, what was the defendant's blood alcohol level at the time of the incident."
Officer: ".02 BAC your honor"

I suggest you do a ride a long sometime with an officer, hell Joe knows who I am and I'll be willing to allow you to do a ride a long with me. You can see just how much slack we cut to people on a daily basis, I think you would rethink your stance then.

"I am tired of people defending cops when they break the rules they make the rest of us abide by.Thats why I cut them no slack and think no one else should." Since when have you been charged/arrested/cited for buying alcohol, putting it in a cooler, and putting it in the trunk of your car? You could be on the clock, in whatever uniform/attire you wear to work, tell your boss you're tired of his $h*t, use a company vehicle, and go and purchase a dozen 30 packs of beer and stick them in the trunk and you still aren't violating any law. So please tell me when you have been made to abide by this "rule", that you are so pissed off at these Officers for breaking??? You mean to tell me that you have never stopped on your way home from work and purchased a bottle of wine or a 6 pack of beer for the evening? You know how many times I've been on my way home and wanted to stop by the gas station and grab a 6 pack to relax for the evening? All the time, but I don't because my department policy doesn't allow it. Have you ever had to think about what you were wearing or what you were driving or what you do for a living when wanting to purchase alcohol?

You obviously have some serious issues with the Police and I would imagine it stems from the fact that you can't stand it that some people have a job where they get to tell you what you can and can not do. It eats you alive and builds up an obviously large amount of resent in your body. You can't stand knowing that if you get pulled over by the Police it is up to them to decide whether or not you get a citation or a warning that evening and that kills you.

Like I said, if you ever do want to know what we deal with on a daily basis or how much "slack" we cut people, please feel free to give Joe a call and ask him who I am so that you can come ride along with me one night. Then you can have your opinions.

-Anonymous"

The Daily Times & Ocean City

You would never think there was any thing peculiar going on by the looks of today's Daily Times article regarding the opening of Gateway Grand Condominum.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080726/NEWS01/807260329&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

Does it sound familiar? The Billboard in front of the boarded up units on the River Wicomico had 50% sold-out signs.

OCEAN CITY IS HAVING SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH RENTAL UNITS

Joe,

For a long time I performed service work in OC servicing many units HVAC for several realtors.

Thursday night I asked a rental sales agent how things were going in OC. She has been in charge of rentals for years there.

She informed me that for the first time she has experience significant problems. I asked her what could be so serious? She informed me so far this season she has had (5) different groups of people lay down deposits on rental units and that they paid, prior to, arrival. The funds from the Rental Department were then distributed to what she thought were the unit owners. Turns out when the people arrived to occupy the units, they had been foreclosed upon and that the former owners kept the money. She had to find other units to set them up in.

Delmarva Towing Sucks

Hi Joe

A lot as been posted about how businesses are operating in the area. Here is a good example on bad business practice and poor attitude of Delmarva Towing.
I was leaving Shorebird Stadium tonight and two elderly ladies had a flat tire. They asked if I would find the tow truck that just came in the parking lot and see if they would come and help them. I found them, it was Delmarva Towing, and explain that two elderly ladies had a flat and if he would help them. He stated he would tow them but he did not change tires. They could call AAA and they would come and help them. This is very poor business practice and customer service. If they have this kind of attitude, I would not recommend them at all. I would encourage all the readers to think hard before calling Delmarva Towing for any reason. If this is the way they treat people in need, how would they treat your vehicle if you were not present? I ask myself how trust worthy is Delmarva Towing when they have this mentality. Money is not always what keeps a business in business.