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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

17.2% Increase In New Home/Apartment Construction?


"The Commerce Department said Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 17.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000 units. That was better than the 500,000-unit pace that economists had expected and came after construction fell in April to a record low of 454,000 units."


OK Folks, WHERE! Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of our government releasing such BS numbers any more. One day construction/sales are up, the next they're back down again and the following day they're back up again. That is, if you follow the Daily Times.


It's pretty simple. How many of YOU know someone who was transferred out of the area or even into the area. Take 10 friends you have known for quite a while and start doing the math. If ONE friend transferred to another area or moved here, that's 10%. Do YOU know of 17.2% of your friends that just had a new home built or purchased one? OK, so let's say that's bogus. Let's get to their point. If there's been a 17.2% increase in new homes/apartments, who's buying/renting them and where have they been built? 17.2% is a pretty HUGE number.


Even if YOU wanted to buy a new home right now your chances are slim you'll get financed. It reminds me of all the new Dodge/Chrysler Commercials now on television suggesting everything is now better for them and there's a bright light/future in the horizon. I can see it now. Honey, the MSM says new homes built are up 17.2% and Dodge says things are all OK now. I think it's time we make that big step, put the house we bought 2 years ago on the market, get rid of that 2007 Chevy we bought and get us a new Dodge too.


So tell me you have 17.2% of your friends THAT STUPID?


They go on to say, "A healthy home market is needed to support an economic recovery." So let's BS everyone into believing we're almost there and new home/apartment construction is up 17.2%. I highly doubt developers are going to buy their crap either.


The ONLY thing up 17.2% almost daily is gas prices. Thanks Obama. The only CHANGE we need is a President who won't lie to us any more. Not that the last few Administrations were any better but this one wants us to be STUPID.


Perhaps they forgot about all the properties going up for tax sale this week? Oh, that's right, they're not new either!

TRAFFIC ALERT

TRAFFIC ALERT - Emergency Road Closure of Asbury Road for Crossroad Pipes

Georgetown -- The Department of Transportation (DelDOT) announces an emergency road closure of Asbury Road between Racoon Ditch Road and Davis Road in Georgetown for the removal and replacement of crossroad pipes. The road closure will begin at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, June 17. The road will re-open by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, weather permitting.

Detour routes are posted. Local traffic and emergency vehicles will have access.

OC Incident

Park Place Hotel - 207 Atlantic Ave (Boardwalk). Possible DBA (dead before arrival) call went out from EMS at 2:23 PM.

This just in from Big Al.

Diligence On Victim’s Part Helps To Solve Fraud Case Quickly


State of Delaware
Department of Safety and Homeland Security
DIVISION OF STATE POLICE
Superintendent Thomas F. Mac Leish
http://www.dsp.delaware.gov/

Contact: Cpl/1 Jeff Whitmarsh - Public Information Office - 302.598.5188 -jeff.whitmarsh@state.de.us

Location of Incident: Several Wilmington Trust Branches in New Castle County
2371 Limestone Road, Wilmington, Delaware
100 North James Street, Newport, Delaware
507 Branmar Plaza, Wilmington, Delaware
107 Astro Shopping Center, Wilmington, Delaware
1207 North Union Street, Wilmington, Delaware

Date and Time of Occurrence: June 5, 2009

Suspect: Andile Makapela, 40, of the 1300 block of East 16th Street in Wilmington, Delaware

Resume: On June 10th, a Pennsylvania business owner responded to Troop 6 at Prices Corner to report a potential bank fraud.

The victim advised he was conducting a routine audit of his business account, which he holds with Wilmington Trust, and noticed several discrepancies. In all, the bank account was short $4,751.53. A further inquiry by the victim revealed the shortage was a result of five checks, all cashed on June 5th, at various Wilmington Trust locations throughout New Castle County. Strangely enough, an accounting of the victim’s check book revealed he was still in possession of the blank checks that were supposedly cashed.

An electronic online review of the cashed checks revealed they were fraudulent, manufactured checks, and although they contained all of the necessary account information, they did not look like the victim’s actual checks. All of the fraudulent checks were made out to Mr. Andile Makapela. One of the checks even had Mr. Makapela’s date of birth on it. Signature and photo comparisons confirmed that it was in fact Andile Makapela who cashed the checks.

Arrest warrants were completed for Andile Makapela charging him with five counts of Forgery (felony) and a single count of Theft (felony). On June 15th, he voluntarily surrendered to authorities at Troop 3 in Dover and was released on a $6,000.00 unsecured bond.

Andile Makapela

Kid Narrowly Misses Death By Meteorite

A schoolboy thanked his lucky stars after a meteorite hurtling to Earth clipped his hand.
Gerrit Blank was heading to class when he saw a "ball of light" falling towards him.
The pea-sized space rock left a three-inch scar on the 14-year-old's hand - and smashed a foot-wide crater in the pavement.
The lad, of Essen, western Germany, said: "I felt a pain in my hand and it knocked me flying.

"Then there was an enormous bang like a crash of thunder."
Scientist Ansgar Korte, of the nearby Walter Hohmann Observatory, said the chances of Tuesday's incident were one in 100 million.
He said: "Most meteorites evaporate or land in water."
The only other known person to survive a strike was a US woman in Alabama in 1954.
From The Sun


Do You Pick Your Own Produce?


Do u-pick produce such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and other local produce. Sometimes farms do it by word of mouth and don't advertise because of the expense.


If you DO pick your own produce, tell us where to go for each item.

CAN YOU FIGURE THIS ONE OUT???

THIS IS THE COOLEST

TRICK. TRY IT...I DARE YOU!
This will drive you nuts, if you let it.

Now Blognetnews Is 4 Hours Behind In Maryland

Their latest Post, (one) is up, Posted: June 16, 2009, 5:00am EDT. This was at 9:00am this morning. Perhaps they have their hands tied and can't keep up with their mission any longer.

What used to be a prime location to gather the news in each State has become a joke any more. Well, my complaint yesterday about the Delmarva Site woke someone up because they seem to be current this morning but they fell asleep in Maryland.

WEATHER WARNING

When you walk out the door in the morning and see this in the sky......


......just go back inside, have another cup of coffee, and stay home. It's NOT going to be a good day.

That?s, we?ll?????? You Mean That's and we'll, right?

Featured Jobs


"Buckle up, hit the open road and start making hungry people happy as a delivery driver for Pizza Hut®. That?s right, we?ll pay you"
This was on today's home page of the Daily Times. Hey, who knows. Maybe they did this to get the extra attention and got it? Either way, you ain't be gotten to bee a speller two's be drivin a delibery scooter foe Pizza Hut.

Stolen ATV Owner Fails To Pay Out Reward

Hi Mr Joe

First I'd like to say that although I don't read your blog faithfully like my co-workers, I do enjoy reading some of your articles that give me a different insight on certain topics. One article I remember reading in January was about a man asking for help in finding his wife's stolen ATV's and the story ended in a good Samaritan finding those said stolen goods in the Priscilla St area. Well that good citizen happens to be a very good friend of mine, Mr David Bowling. And during a recent visit with him I asked about that 'written published reward' the husband of the ATV's owner promised with the return of them.

To my surprise Mr. Bowling has not even heard from the ungrateful man. I mean a simple thank you would have been enough...end of story. But this fella starts talking big & making promises he doesn't intend to keep??? I find that very appalling & down right rude to say the least. I know for a fact that Mr. Bowling is not really worried about the monetary because he is no stranger to God and that it will come back to him ten fold but I want to be a voice for this young man. I want to call this man out on his unfulfilled reward and if not money at least an apology from this man to the unselfish citizen that made his wife a much happier woman on January 2, 2009. If you could just post this on your blog perhaps he will see it and actually have a heart like Mr. David Bowling had that morning!

Thank you


http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2009/01/atv-stolen.html
Article on stolen ATV.




http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2009/01/sbynewscom-solves-case-for-salisbury.html
Article moments later when David Bowling found it.

The next step is blasting the owners name all over this Blog exposing who they are and the fact that they have refused to pay out the REWARD they offered in the first place.

NASA SETS NEW LAUNCH DATES FOR SHUTTLE, LRO AND LCROSS


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA managers have scheduled the next launch attempt of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission for 5:40 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 17. The launch will take place at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

As a result, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, are set to lift off together aboard an Atlas V rocket on Thursday, June 18. There are three launch opportunities from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida: 5:12 p.m., 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.

NASA managers postponed Endeavour's planned June 13 liftoff because of a leak associated with the gaseous hydrogen venting system outside the shuttle's external fuel tank. The system is used to carry excess hydrogen safely away from the launch pad.

The LRO and LCROSS launch was moved to June 18 to accommodate Endeavour's June 17 liftoff. If Thursday's liftoff of LRO and LCROSS is postponed 24 hours, the launch times Friday are 6:41 p.m., 6:51 p.m. and 7:01 p.m. Saturday's opportunities are 8:08 p.m., 8:18 p.m. and 8:28 p.m.

Endeavour's 16-day STS-127 mission to the International Space Station will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

LRO is scheduled for a one-year exploration mission at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, the closest any spacecraft has orbited the moon. The primary objective of LRO is to conduct investigations to prepare for future explorations of the moon.

Launching with LRO is LCROSS, a partner mission that will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket, about the size of a sports utility vehicle, to impact part of a polar crater in permanent shadows. LCROSS will fly into the plume of dust left by the impact and measure the properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.

Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout the shuttle mission and landing. To access the NASA News Twitter feed, visit: http://www.twitter.com/nasa

The STS-127 mission commander, Mark Polansky, has a Twitter account named Astro_127, and can be followed online at: http://www.twitter.com/Astro_127

For information about NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:
https://mail02.ndc.nasa.gov/owa/redir.aspx?C=944bce57149049c68270b307936aa932&URL=http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about the space station, visit:
https://mail02.ndc.nasa.gov/owa/redir.aspx?C=944bce57149049c68270b307936aa932&URL=http://www.nasa.gov/station

For the latest information about the STS-127 mission and its crew, visit:
https://mail02.ndc.nasa.gov/owa/redir.aspx?C=944bce57149049c68270b307936aa932&URL=http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

To learn more about the LRO and LCROSS missions, go to the mission home pages at:
http://www.nasa.gov/LRO

http://www.nasa.gov/LCROSS

The Great Salisbury Election Date Scheme

Monday's editorial in the Daily Times calls for a change of Salisbury's municipal election dates back to November. This seems to reflect the sentiment posed by former city council candidate Muir Boda in a recent letter to the editor. This all works for me, but I would suggest that both Mr. Boda and the staff of the Daily Times do a little research before they dive headlong into this fray.

Contrary to the claims of the Daily Times, the real purpose behind moving the elections back to spring was not some half-hearted attempt to drive voter turnout. Only imbeciles buy into an argument that a spring election, following a winter campaign, increases turnout. Simply look at the turnout numbers from the last city election held in November to see. Then research other areas that have done the same. Spring elections depress turnout. Former mayor Barrie Tilghman was masterful in her drive move the elections. The city didn't want to comply with federal and state deadlines. They moved to non-partisan elections. The Wicomico County Board of Elections had problems with the Tilghman-imposed scheme. Therefore, Tilghman had ample excueses to move the elections to spring. Depressed turnout worked in her favor, until her opponents learned how to target voters.

Mr. Boda calls for a city election to occur at the same time as the federal and state cycle. The Daily Times implies much the same. There are advantages to such a move. However there are myriad problems with such a move, not the least of which is cost.

Beginning in 2010, we will be going back to optical scan ballots. Since many precincts in Salisbury encompass not only Salisbury but unincorporated portions of the county, and because Salisbury holds non-partisan elections, three sets of ballots would have to be printed for each split prencict for the primary and two sets for the general election. There is also the high probability of confusion and possibility of fraud in precincts where county residents are not entitled to vote in city elections or if city voters are not permitted to vote in the Salisbury races.

Another problem will occur if Maryland chooses to hold an early primary again in 2012. In addition, city deadlines will have to be in sync with the state and federal filing deadlines. A simple phone call by either the Daily Times or Boda to the Wicomico County Board of Elections would have shown the problems with this scheme.

The Daily Times argues that the most pressing reason for having November elections is because of the Salisbury budget process. Such a move would eliminate the possibility of an outgoing mayor using the budget as a tool for political retribution as we saw Tilghman do this year. This is a very strong argument, in and of itself. Coupled with the other benefits of a November election, Mayor Jim Ireton and the Salisbury council should definitely consider such a move.

However, such a move should be to November of odd numbered years. This would eliminate the problems mentioned above. In addition, they should also consider allowing District 1 voters to vote at Harvest Baptist Church, along with the west side polling place (assuming Harvest remains a polling place). Given that a majority of east side District 1 voters are literally a stone's throw from Harvest Baptist, District 1 turnout could grow immensely.

To accomplish this, both branches of city government would have to agree on extending the terms of the mayor and all council members by approximately seven months. While my views on the current council majority are well known, I believe that this is a small price to pay to eliminate the possibility of another budget fiasco (despite my belief that a Mayor Ireton would never engage in such behavior) and possibly increase voter turnout in the city.

cross posted at Delmarva Dealings

The History Of The Middle Finger



I never knew this before, and now that I know it, I feel compelled to send it on to my more intelligent friends in the hope that they, too, will feel edified.


Isn't history more fun when you know something about it?


Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as 'plucking the yew' (or 'pluck yew').


Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew!


Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentals fricative F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute!


It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as 'giving the bird.'


IT IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE SALUTE TO THE FRENCH TODAY!

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing