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Saturday, June 18, 2011

We Don't Ask For Help Often But This Is A Worthy Cause

I have a Friend in Salisbury who is a very loving and caring person who has done so much in the past to Pay It Forward to others in need. Well, now its her turn to be the recipient of OUR help.

This Friend has a Son who has special needs. He recently hurt himself and was taken to PRMC where they allegedly made some mistakes on medication and was immediately flown to Shock Trauma.

Because her Son had an extended stay in Baltimore, she was forced to travel to Baltimore each day to be with her Son and in the mean time she lost her only business account and income.

Now, she's NOT reaching out asking for others to offer financial support. Instead, they have gone into every room of their home, attic, garage, sheds at 307 Washington Street in Salisbury and is holding a Yard Sale today and tomorrow.

We stopped by today to help out and plan on going there again tomorrow as well. If you have the time, PLEASE stop by and see if there isn't something you might want, need, or may never want and need, (if you get my drift).

Listen to her experience and I'm confident you'll open your wallets and pocket books to do whatever you can to help out. I personally love those people who don't have their hands out and instead are willing to sell you something instead. They have a 70" flat screen TV they're selling for only $300.00, (FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED). They have window a/c units, a very large fish tank with all kinds of new filters and so forth. There's too many items to mention here but again, take some time out of your day to at least go see if there isn't something you might need.

THANK YOU! 

Sobo's Open Father's Day From 11:30 AM To 7:00 PM

Facebook Friends

Every single day I am absolutely amazed at how many people send me messages to be friends on Facebook. As I have stated in the past, NO ONE can claim they have ever seen more beautiful women on their Facebook Friends List than the ones on my Friends list, seriously.

If you have access, take a look and see for yourself. While I admit, I rarely ever go to Facebook and chat on line, the volume of friends that I have is mind boggling! I do try to respond to personal messages sent to me and I did try once to hold a conversation but messages started coming from everywhere and I just couldn't keep up with them. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I don't know.

All I can say is, I am honored and humbled by all the requests and frankly I'm not kidding when I say, wow, these are some very beautiful women!

Presidential Candidate Tom Miller On Michele Bachmann

In a speech at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans yesterday, Michele Bachmann stated that she wanted our children to be taught intelligent design. As a Judeo-Christian Nation that believes our blessings and our freedoms come from our Creator, I will support creationism to be taught to our children. The acknowledgement of God is our foundation, not a politically correct matter of convenience.
 
Thomas J. Miller
 
Registered Candidate R., President of the United States of America 2012 
Federal Election Commission ID: P20001947
Principal Campaign Committee:
Reduce Government Miller for President ID: C00462010

Famous Voices Behind Cartoons

Animated Stars Unmasked!

Some are pretty obvious, some, not so much.

GO HERE to see who's behind the scene.

Toyota To Get Back Up To Full North American Production Levels In September

Car manufacturers took a major hit with facilities damage from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March, but Toyota predicts it will be able to shake off adverse effects and get back to 100 percent of North American production in September.

More »

Free Ocean City Events

Heading to Ocean City for vacation or a little R & R? Well, there’s plenty of free fun to be had.

Click on this link for this month’s list of free events.

Japanese Scientists Create Meat From Poop

Anyone up for some poop burgers?

Japanese scientist Mitsuyuki Ikeda from the Okayama Laboratory certainly doesn't believe in human waste.

He thinks that's perfectly good protein you're sending out to sea, and he's found a way to extract it, mix it with steak sauce and create a fecal feast fit for a king.

And despite the downside of having to add soya to bind it all together, Prof Ikeda thinks there's no reason why we shouldn't all tuck into his turd burgers.

Why would he even think of it, you might ask.

Because Tokyo Sewage asked him to. Tokyo is swimming in sewage mud, it seems, and there's only one way it can save itself and that's eat it.

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Obama Administration To End Health Care Waivers

Move could remove political distraction in 2012 elections

The Obama administration says it will end a controversial health care waiver program in September.

Officials announced Friday that all applications for new waivers and renewals of existing ones have to be in by Sept. 22.

That would remove a potential political distraction in the 2012 elections.

The waivers deal with a part of the new health care law that restricts annual dollar limits on coverage. They won't be needed when the law goes into full effect in 2014, because taxpayer-subsidized insurance will be broadly available.

Delaware’s Unemployment Rate Drops to 8%

The unemployment rate in Delaware dropped by two-tenths of a percent in May, from 8.2 percent to 8 percent, the state Department of Labor reported on Friday.

But the department also reported a loss of 3,800 jobs in Delaware during the month based on a different survey of the employment market.

The conflicting signals underscored disagreement between the state and the federal government about how employment statistics are calculated.

READ MORE …

DOJ Approves Virginia Re-Districting Plan

The U.S. Justice Department has approved the newHouse of Delegates and state Senate districts drawn up by the General Assembly this spring.

Friday's approval means that all redrawn districts can be used in the upcoming primaries and November general elections.

Approval came on the 37th day after the attorney general's office submitted the redistricting plans to theJustice Department.

"We have believed from the beginning of this process that Virginia complied with all legal and constitutional requirements in adopting the new lines, and the decision of the Department of Justice simply confirms that belief," Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said.

Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, either the Justice Department or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia must approve Virginia's plan. Virginia is one of 16 states that fall under the act because of a history of racial discrimination.

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HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

Technology


How many of us give any thought as to how many innovations have been afforded us in our lifetime? Just think about the differences during you can remember, let alone in the last hundred years. A hundred years ago few people had a car, a telephone, indoor plumbing or electricity. If we had to go back and live as our forefathers lived, would we survive? Of course we would. A hundred years from now, people are going to wonder, like we do now, how in the world did people manage with all the antiquated contraptions we have to put up with.

People of a certain age remember how things were before many of our modern day conveniences. There are very few left that remember the “horse and buggy” days or the days of the outhouse. In fact, there are probably very few that remember the days before many things that we take for granted today. But, they remember enough to appreciate what we have today. The problem lies in how to use them.

Before cell phones that can even take pictures or videos and send them to a computer anywhere in the world, there was such a thing as a “party line”. This was a phone in your home that was connected by wires to a central telephone office. An operator had to physically make the connection. On a party line, you might find any one of ten people talking on the line. If this happened, you would either wait until the line was clear or, as happened many times, listen in to someone else’s conversation. The telephone operators early on connected two parties by a system of wires that were connected at a central telephone office. My grandmother was a telephone operator in 1906 or 1907; but she was quick to point out that she only handled local calls; the more experienced operators handled long distance. She spoke of it like it was high tech. And to her, it probably was. She lost her hearing during an illness in the 1920’s and never used a phone again. If she did, it was always her calling you. Her method was to dial your number, wait what she considered a reasonable amount of time and say into the phone that she wanted to see you and come right over.

Another modern device is the hearing aid. She had one of the early ones that had a large device that fit between her breasts and required batteries and had a wire that connected to an ear piece. It never worked to her satisfaction, so she gave up on it and never tried a newer model. She always said there wasn’t anything worth hearing anyway. If it was that important, she said it would be in the newspaper.

Today, many of us would be lost without our computers. There are so many applications that make our lives better. The internet is a fascinating thing. I am at an age where I am considered a techno dinosaur. I know just enough to get me in trouble. I have become comfortable with what I can do on mine and don’t try anything fancy. I made up my mind a long time ago that my computer is smarter than I am and I just stick to what I can do with it.

The small electronic devices that are available today are seemingly endless. Ten year olds are running around with cell phones, ipods and MP3 players. I remember when my son got a video camera to film my granddaughter. Then it dawned on me that I didn’t have a DVD player to watch the DVD’s it would produce. I got one and my son hooked it up for me. When I expressed some ignorance as to it’s operation, he said that Lily could operate hers and she was only four years old. I can’t wait until she turns ten and can help me with my computer.

So, the bottom line is: “Enjoy what you have today and don’t worry about what is coming next. They are inventing new things while you’re sleeping and you can never be completely up-to-date.”

Like my grandmother always said, “It’s a great life, if you don’t weaken.”

Today's Survey Question

What are your Father's Day plans?

Maryland Ranks Last In Pace Of Job Creation

Estimates show a nearly 20,000-job loss in past 12 months, but more are finding work — perhaps out of state

Hampered by a slowdown in federal spending, Maryland came in dead last in the nation for its pace of job creation over the past year, shedding almost 1 percent of its employment base — nearly 20,000 positions — the U.S. Department of Labor reported.

The figures released Friday show declines in Maryland in eight of the past 12 months. Twenty-two states added jobs during the past year.

The preliminary report, which could be revised, isn't uniformly bad. The Labor Department's survey of households suggests that more Marylanders are working, either by finding employment out of state or by starting new businesses, neither of which would show up in the separate jobs count.

About 25,000 more Marylanders were working in May than were a year earlier, gains made largely in recent months.

The unemployment rate has trended downward as a result, from 7.4 percent in May 2010 to 6.8 percent last month. The rate was unchanged from April.

But that doesn't negate the job-creation problem facing Maryland. The state weathered the recession better than the nation as a whole, but it is now dealing with slowdowns and cutbacks to federal agencies and contractors — a key part of the regional economy — on top of a lackluster national recovery.

"The Maryland economy is weak," said Richard Clinch, director of economic research at the University of Baltimore's Jacob France Institute. "We need to see a broad-based national recovery, and until that happens, Maryland will lag. Government contracting is certainly not the same type of growth industry it's been over the last two decades."

The state's employers added nearly 10,000 jobs in April, according to data adjusted to account for normal seasonal changes in hiring and cutbacks. But that gain was more than wiped out by a 13,300-job loss in May that cut a swath across nearly every major sector.

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Woman Who Killed Husband Released After 29 Years in Prison

Twenty-nine years after being sentenced to life in prison for feeding her estranged husband Valium-laced macaroni salad before an accomplice fatally stabbed him, Judith Ann McBride is a free woman.

McBride, 65, was released from prison last week -- 10 months after Gov. Jack Markell commuted her sentence from "natural life [in prison] plus 10 years" to a "life sentence with the possibility of parole." The state Board of Parole, which had the last say on her release, granted her freedom recently. The board's chairman, Dwight F. Holden, did not return calls to explain the decision.

READ MORE …

Wells Fargo Is Next Bank To Dump Reverse-Mortgages

Wells Fargo is the next bank to announce that they are pulling out of the market of selling reverse-mortgages, a loan typically sold to to seniors that converts their home equity into a stream of monthly payments. The lender gets paid when the home is sold at the borrower's death or when they move. Without reliably rising home values, it's not a very profitable proposition for lenders.

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Micro-Chipping Your Pet

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA)--It's a pet owner's worst fear. Your 4-legged family member goes missing. You put up "Missing" signs and put ads in newspapers and post to the web. But as 9NEWS NOW's Andrea McCarren discovered, there's one preventative step you can take as well--micro-chipping.

If your missing pet ends up at the Washington Humane Society, the first thing staffers will do is scan it for a microchip.

"The microchip is just extra insurance," says Lisa Carroll with the Washington Humane Society.

The chip is the size of a grain of rice that holds all the information necessary to reunite a lost pet with its owner.

"It makes a huge difference. We get animals in all the time and it's so much faster to find that previous owner if that animal has been micro-chipped and the owner has registered the chip," says Carroll.

Every animal here gets a chip before being put up for adoption. We watched as Remy had her chip implanted. It took no longer than it takes for an animal to get a shot.

Rigell Proposes Solution to Tangier Erosion

U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell thinks he might have an answer to the erosion problems that threaten to wash away Tangier Island: anchor old barges along the shoreline, without any cost to taxpayers.

Rigell, a freshman Republican from Virginia Beach, also represents the Eastern Shore and Tangier Island. He says a local salvage company is willing to donate as many as four barges to act as breakwaters near the main channel leading into Tangier Harbor.

Wave action beats up many of the commercial fishing boats that call Tangier Island home. The fishing mecca in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay is losing between 4 and 12 feet a year to rising sea levels, exposure to storms, and sinking land.

READ MORE …

Bay Foundation: Conservation Cuts Hurt Farms, Bay

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Chesapeake Bay Foundation says a House vote to cut farm conservation programs is a significant blow not only to farmers but local economies and Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said Friday that the House voted to cut conservation programs for farmers and landowners by $645 million and reduce acreage in the Wetlands and Grasslands Reserve Programs by 160,000 acres. The bay foundation says it will work to restore the conservation funding when the Senate takes up the budget later this summer.

A Tribute To Robin H. Holloway


WHEREAS, Robin H. Holloway has served Wicomico County Public Schools faithfully and loyally as a member of the Board of Education for ten years from 2001 to 2011, serving as its president from 2006 to 2009; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Holloway has consistently supported the mission of the school system "to provide all students an educational foundation and a set of skills which will enable them to become responsible and productive citizens in our society;”and

WHEREAS, during the 2007-08 School Year, President Holloway gave unselfishly of her personal time and talents to engage the Board and the community in an aggressive superintendent of schools’ selection process utilizing a national search firm to ensure that the best possible candidate would be selected to the position of superintendent and chief executive officer of the Wicomico County Public Schools; and

WHEREAS, during her tenure year on the Board, Mrs. Holloway has served as a member of the School Building Commission, the Board’s Audit and Budget Committee, the CTE Advisory Committee, the School Health Council, and the Superintendent’s Facilities Task Force; and

WHEREAS, during her tenure on the Board, Mrs. Holloway also served on the Board of Directors of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, serving as a member of its Legislative Committee as well as the Federal Relations Network Committee, the Charles W. Willis Memorial Award Committee, the Budget and Audit Committee, the Conference Planning Committee, and a participant and graduate of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education’s Leadership 1 and 2 Programs; and

WHEREAS, her professional expertise has helped to guide the Board's decision-making and policy-setting processes and has helped to establish programs for other school systems to emulate; and she has consistently supported the commitment of the school system to help ensure a safe and productive school environment for all students and staff by advocating for all safe school initiatives; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Holloway has strongly advocated support for adequate funding of public education locally and throughout the state of Maryland, and with her expertise in business and finance, she has consistently advocated that the Board and the school system must be vigilant in the use of public funds; and

WHEREAS, she has been enthusiastically involved in the long-range plans of renovating and building new school facilities to improve the quality of education for all Wicomico County students; such as Salisbury Middle School, Willards Elementary School, North Salisbury Elementary School, Prince Street School, and the James M. Bennett High School; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Holloway supported the establishment of the School Construction Savings Plan which will provide future funding for capital construction projects of Wicomico County Board of Education’s Capital Improvement Program as needed; and

WHEREAS, she has encouraged parental and community involvement in public education as evidenced by her commitment during her children’s public education experiences, her support of and participation in activities of the school system, and while serving as a mentor at Prince Street Elementary School; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of Wicomico County expresses its gratitude to Robin H. Holloway for her ten years of dedicated service; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of Wicomico County publicly recognizes Mrs. Holloway’s contributions to local education and to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education; and be it further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this tribute be presented to Robin H. Holloway and a copy be spread upon the minutes of the Board of Education of Wicomico County this 14th day of June 2011.

McDonnell Says Colleges to Add 6,000 In-State Slots

Virginia's public colleges and universities will add about 6,000 slots for in-state students this fall, Gov. Bob McDonnell said Thursday as he signed the "Top Jobs" legislation that seeks to more closely align higher education and economic development.

About two dozen college students watched the signing of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2011, which also will establish metrics for students to gauge the value of their degrees in the workforce.

The ceremony was held at the headquarters along the James River of Dominion Resources Inc., whose CEO,Thomas F. Farrell II, is chairman of the governor's higher education commission.

Farrell, former rector of the University of Virginia, told the commission after the signing that he hoped next year the General Assembly would "once and for all set aside the idea" of mandating in-state and out-of-state student ratios.

He credited funding incentives in the legislation for the increased in-state slots for the next academic year, including at U.Va. and the College of William and Mary. Both schools are frequent targets of complaints to lawmakers by parents who say out-of-state students take slots their children should have received.

READ MORE …

STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY ON U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY’S CHANGES TO SECURE COMMUNITIES PROGRAM


ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley released the following statement on the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement of changes to its Secure Communities program:

"I am pleased that the Department of Homeland Security is being responsive to the concerns of state officials and community advocates regarding the implementation of the Secure Communities program. It is important that the program be focused on meeting its stated goal -- the removal of dangerous criminals from the United States."

Jerry Brown Vetoes Budget - Democrats "Dismayed"

With just two weeks left until the start of the fiscal year, California's budget plans stalled Thursday after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a spending proposal by Democratic legislators, saying it was inadequate, and insisted that Republicans compromise on taxes.

"California is facing a fiscal crisis, and very strong medicine must be taken," Brown said while rejecting the budget that Democratic legislators passed Wednesday as an alternative to his plan. "I don't want to see more billions of borrowing, legal maneuvers that are questionable and a budget that will not stand the test of time."

Brown blamed Republican lawmakers for "obstructing" a vote by Californians on his plan to extend and raise taxes to balance the budget and prevent deeper cuts to education and courts. But it was Democratic legislative leaders who reacted angrily to Brown's action, saying they were "deeply dismayed."

The leaders, who spent most of the year taking direction on a budget strategy from the governor, appeared blindsided by the governor's veto, which marked the first time in California history that a governor had taken such action.

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Talbot Public Schools Cuts 18 Positions for FY 2012

Talbot County schools cut 18 positions Wednesday night in approving the school budget, but only one staffer will be laid off, Talbot County Public Schools said Thursday. The other workers will take vacant positions elsewhere in the school system.

Dr. Karen Salmon said Thursday she would not reveal what specific positions were eliminated.

The school system gave a general outline of the cuts in a press release. The 18 positions being eliminated include one senior staff administrator, 5.5 mid-level administrators, 4.5 support staffers and seven instructional staffers.

Instructional positions include teachers; support staff includes maintenance, transportation and secretaries; and mid-level administration positions include school principals, assistant principals and school managers.

The cuts account for 2 percent of instructional staff, 3 percent of the support staff and 10 percent of mid-level administration, with salaries and benefits for those posts totaling more than five percent of the operating budget.

READ MORE …

Court Overturns Firing of Elsmere Police Chief

The Delaware Supreme Court on Friday reversed Elsmere's 2009 vote to fire then-Police Chief Liam P. Sullivan, ordering a new hearing because a councilman with a perceived bias against the chief participated in the termination hearing.

The high court ruling promises to immerse the town of 6,100 south of Wilmington into more controversy. The town council, criticized by residents when Sullivan was fired, recently raised concerns about nepotism among some law-enforcement authorities in Delaware when it hired Laura M. Giles, the wife of town manager John S. Giles Jr., also a former chief, to the $72,000-a-year post.

In their 18-page opinion issued late Friday, the justices overturned a July 2010 ruling by Superior Court Judge Mary Johnston that upheld the town council's 7-0 vote to remove Sullivan for alleged financial and administrative improprieties.

READ MORE …

Prisoner Walks Away from Work Release

A Catonsville man who is serving an eight year sentence for violating the terms of his probation did not return from his work release assignment in Towson on Wednesday, according to state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

Mark Randolph, 35, was working at a Towson business as part program that employees offenders nearing the end of their sentence. He was at an unsupervised location, and officials said he did not return to the Baltimore Pre-Release Unit on Greenmount Avenue by 4:30 p.m.

Randolph has faced numerous drug-related and assault charges over the past few years but most were dropped until he pleaded guilty in 2006 to drug distribution charge, according to court records. He received a 12 year sentence but only served several months. He was convicted of violating his probation and was sent back to prison in 2007.

from Jessica Anderson @ the Baltimore Sun

Leopold Fights with Anne Arundel Superintendent Over Teacher Pay Raises

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold urged the County Council on Friday to reject Schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell's plan to give $5.5 million in pay raises to county teachers, saying it's untenable for teachers to get raises while most county employees get furloughed.

The County Council approved $936.8 million in operating funds last month for the school system — $6.3 million less than it provided last year — and it did not include Maxwell's request for the pay increases, which a school system representative said are in accordance with a mediated labor settlement.

    But the school board can move money around as part of the budget process, and on Wednesday adopted a budget that made several cuts — including the loss of 26 positions, $1.27 million in health care funding and $1 million in textbook funding — to make room for the 1 percent pay increase. There were no layoffs.

    In a letter to Council Chairman Richard Ladd, Leopold requested a public hearing on the issue.

    READ MORE …

    Maryland Ranks Last in Pace of Job Creation

    Hampered by a slowdown in federal spending, Maryland came in dead last in the nation for its pace of job creation over the past year, shedding almost 1 percent of its employment base — nearly 20,000 positions — the U.S. Department of Labor reported.

    The figures released Friday show declines in Maryland in eight of the past 12 months. Twenty-two states added jobs during the past year.

    The preliminary report, which could be revised, isn't uniformly bad. The Labor Department's survey of households suggests that more Marylanders are working, either by finding employment out of state or by starting new businesses, neither of which would show up in the separate jobs count.

      About 25,000 more Marylanders were working in May than were a year earlier, gains made largely in recent months.

      The unemployment rate has trended downward as a result, from 7.4 percent in May 2010 to 6.8 percent last month. The rate was unchanged from April.

      But that doesn't negate the job-creation problem facing Maryland. The state weathered the recession better than the nation as a whole, but it is now dealing with slowdowns and cutbacks to federal agencies and contractors — a key part of the regional economy — on top of a lackluster national recovery.

      READ MORE …

      Motorcycle Event To Cause Bay Bridge Traffic

      A motorcycle benefit event is expected to create high traffic volume at the Bay Bridge.

      About 1,200 to 1,500 motorcycles are participating in a benefit event for the Anne Arundel County Burn Foundation's Benefit Motorcycle Ride on Saturday morning.

      They're expected at the bridge about 10 a.m.

      Maryland Colleges Prepare for DREAM Act

      The DREAM Act may soon be put on hold by a statewide petition effort, but community colleges are making plans for the law to go into effect as planned on July 1.

      At Anne Arundel Community College, officials don't expect too many illegal immigrant students will try to take advantage of the lower tuition rates established by the DREAM Act.

      "I don't think it's going to be that terribly difficult to administer," said John Grabowski, assistant dean for enrollment services at AACC. "I'm guessing there will not be hundreds of individuals. There will be a few."

      The DREAM Act was one of the most controversial bills approved by state lawmakers during their 90-day General Assembly session earlier this year.

      It passed by a narrow margin and was signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

      READ MORE …

      Clagett Ponders Run for Comptroller

      Del. Galen R. Clagett (D-Dist. 3A) of Frederick is anticipating running for state comptroller if the incumbent, Peter Franchot, runs for governor, as many anticipate.

      Clagett told me in a wide-ranging interview the other day that he definitely does not want to run again for delegate, and that he could “do more good“ for Frederick County as comptroller than as a delegate.

      The comptroller is a member of the powerful state Board of Public Works, which includes the governor and the state treasurer. The position has a big say on bond issues and funding for construction projects, including schools.

      Of course, everything would depend on how well Franchot, who has been traveling the state for two years testing the waters, does in his bid to win the Democratic nomination. Anthony Brown, the lieutenant governor to O’Malley who gave a stemwinder of a speech at the recent Democratic dinner in Frederick even though he was not the keynoter, is making a big push.

      READ MORE …

      O’Keefe Speaks to Harbor League

      James O’Keefe and his surreptitious videos have helped bring down the ACORN community organization and the top executives at NPR, and he’s caused immense grief for the New Jersey teachers union and Planned Parenthood.

      “There’s a debate about what to call me,” O’Keefe told a meeting of the Harbor League at a Timonium hotel Wednesday night. Sean Casey of WCBM suggested he was one of the “citizen journalists.” Jeff Ferguson, vice president of Harbor League, a conservative free-market organization, said he’s “an entrepreneur” and “investigative journalist.”

      “I like to call myself a community organizer,” O’Keefe said to laughter, somewhat half jokingly referring to one of Barack Obama’s previous jobs. It also refers to the techniques he’s borrowed from Saul Alinsky, the late radical community organizer: “Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.”

      But as O’Keefe described his tactics and strategy – leaving out a few crucial details such as what kind of hidden cameras he uses – it became clear that what he really is is an “anti-journalist,” not just a conservative activist trying to deflate the liberal establishment.

      “There’s no such thing as journalism anymore,” O’Keefe, 26, said. “There’s no such thing as investigative journalism.” Journalists in general are “biased and corrupt,” and are not journalists at all. “They’re political operatives.”

      He made his point strongly with a video PowerPoint that showed how the “mainstream media” mishandled the release of his clandestine videos.

      READ MORE …

      BREAKING NEWS: U.S. In Talks With Taliban

      Afghan president says his government and US are engaged in peace talks with Taliban.

      Ocean City Reconsiders Free Gas Promotion

      The Town of Ocean City announced today that it will not move forward with a proposed gas promotion.

      After reflection, the council established that gas giveaway promotions in place throughout the local business community are effective and a town-sponsored giveaway would only be of benefit to a small number of visitors.

      “The proposed gas giveaway was an idea to promote Ocean City and bring visitors to our beautiful town,” said Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan. “However, after the council weighed the pros and cons, it was established that by continuing to promote our many town-sponsored free events, we are enhancing the value of an Ocean City vacation for all of our visitors. We feel it is important, now more than ever, to make sure that we provide the best vacation experience and value possible.”

      The Town of Ocean City encourages visitors to take advantage of current gas card offers, promotions and incentives being offered by local businesses. More information can be found by going to www.ococean.com/rodney-saves/accommodations and checking the “Rodney’s Roadside Assistance” box. For a full listing of free events, visit www.ococean.com/freeforall.