I Just Couldn't Resist, Can You Blame Me For Posting This?

"im 20, ive lost my licance once due to demerits on my rechord, allmost lost it a second time all befor the age of 18. now im 20 in a profession and cant get a job because in my profession many companies require you to drive a work vehical. i guess its time to start looking for a new profession......
Thank you society"

Salisbury Police Department Press Release

On May 15, 2008 at approximately 8:00 am, Detectives from the Salisbury Police Department received information indicating that the below listed suspect had been seen by witnesses in Salisbury in possession of a handgun.

On the same date at approximately 11:57 pm, Officers of the Salisbury Police Department currently assigned to the fugitive/warrant squad located the suspect in a vehicle in the area of Eastern Shore Drive. The suspect abandoned the vehicle, and after a brief foot chase was apprehended by Salisbury Police patrol officers. Detectives searched the vehicle and located a loaded handgun beneath the driver seat. In addition, the suspect was currently wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant for drug violations.

ARRESTED: Arthur William Smith, 22 years of age Salisbury, Maryland

CHARGES:
Possession of a firearm with a past felony conviction
Handgun on person
Handgun in a vehicle
Outstanding Warrant:
Possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute
Possession of marijuana
Possession of CDS/paraphernalia
Eight (8) traffic violations related to evading police officer

DISPOSITION: Released to Central Booking CC # 200800009136, 200800017088

Which Paper Would You Prefer?

There are a multitude of FREE Newspapers throughout Ocean City and I have to be perfectly frank, their print quality is seriously 100% better than the Daily Times, in which you have to pay $ .50 a day for or $1.50 on Sunday.

The information is usually the same, especially based on the fact that one of them, (if not more) are owned by Gannett and they're free.

I got my hands on the second paper shown above and looked at the printing of the photos and thought, how the heck could these guys have a hundred percent better photos and printing than the Daily Times that charges for their paper?

It's no wonder so many people have dumped the Daily Times and have chosen to go to the Blogs instead. In this day and age, the Daily Times should be a free paper, especially since they charge as much as they do for advertising. I mean, that's how the Ocean City Papers can afford to give out so many papers each week.

Today's Wildlife Photo

Classic Car Weekend In Ocean City

Yesterday I took some time to myself and went to Ocean City to view some of the 6,000 vehicles expected to arrive over this weekend. Above are just some of the examples of vehicles you'll see there. The event will be held today at the Convention Center till 5:00 Pm and Saturday 10 to 5 and Sunday 10 to 2 at the Convention Center. I found a ton of vehicles at the Inlet Parking Lot and with such an early start, (Thursday) there were more cars there than I had ever seen in the past. Can you tell I'm a classic car buff? You can also go HERE to see more scheduled events over this weekend.

On a side note, be VERY careful with the Police this weekend. They won't hesitate to ticket anyone breaking the law, so don't say you weren't warned. They'll also be all over Rt. 50 all the way in and out of Town. If you've never been, trust me on this one, there aren't many younger kids that wouldn't enjoy seeing all these classic vehicles.

Placing Your Life In Hands You Can Trust

Notice Salisbury News in the helmet.







The day before yesterday I received a call in which I was invited to join several Fire Departments for what they call a controlled burn in Powellville.

When I arrived I was pleased to see so many Firefighters but what really caught my eye was the younger, (15 year old) Cadets hoping they would get their turn at this fire. You don't actually see many young Cadets in Salisbury like you do in the outlying areas. I'll produce more photos of them in another Post.

I was invited to go into the house and sort of scout out what, when, where and why they were about to do this drill and what rooms they were going to do it in. Hence the early photo I put up yesterday with Wayne and I siting on the couch.

Once they started burning rooms upstairs, we took some shots and then got out of there, hoping to catch a glimpse of each room on fire through the windows. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever expected one of the Firefighters to come up to me and say, wanna go in?

I stood there thinking, do I really want to do this? This isn't my line of work. I then started thinking about all those comments that had come in challenging me to come out and do their job, I was too much of a pussy.

It didn't take long for me to make the decision to accept their invitation and what made this really cool was watching so many Firefighters come together right away and offer a piece of equipment here, another there, they simply united immediately and I all of a sudden had a helmet, a hood, a lined jacket, pants, boots, a mask, gloves, and air tank, $5,000.00 later I was ready to go!

They had already done numerous drills upstairs and that portion was completed and they decided to do a drill downstairs. Here's how it works. They take diesel fuel and they spray the room they want to train in next. In this case it was the kitchen. The kitchen was designed like most homes, it was its own separate room with a single doorway to enter in and out of the kitchen from the rest of the house. I had the gear on, the air pack was tested and worked fine, it was time to go in.

As I followed Bryan Records through the door, I recognized several faces I knew I could trust and I walked in with complete confidence. They had started the fire in the kitchen and I made sure, (picture 2 & 3) I was up against the couch out of the way so the team in training could come in and do the job. As you can clearly see from those two photos, the flames were everywhere, floor, ceiling, walls, you name it, that room was fully engulfed and as I could hear the Chief's calling out for the next team to come in and put this fire out, there was no response. The decision was made right then and there, this thing was getting hot and it was time to get in there and put it out.

Chief Bryan Records turned to me and said, take the hose/line and get in there and follow my instructions. I truly thought to myself, OK, no big deal, I can stay on my knees OUTSIDE the room and spray it down, just like any other Firefighter would, right? WRONG! I got to the entrance of the room with flames flying out at me and Bryan said, go on, get in there! I thought, ARE YOU NUTS? However, I could certainly tell from the tone of his voice, this man meant business, therefore I went in. He said, "Flash The Ceiling." Flash, (to me) meant to give it a quick shot of water, so I did so. With flames now to the left and right of me and the kitchen truly engulfed with fire, Bryan said, now don't go to heavy but start lightly spraying to your left. I did so and I could quickly see how fast the fire was reacting to the water. In other words I quickly learned that although you see these movies where it looks like they're always using a ton of water, I was told in a room like the kitchen I was in, the fire could be put out with less than 5 gallons of water. Bryan then instructed me to go to the right and put out the fire that had now taken over the kitchen cabinets, I lightly sprayed that area and the fire was out.

At this point, all of a sudden I had time to think. Oh, that wasn't a good thing though Folks. All of a sudden as we were walking out of the house I could feel the pressure of the mask and oxygen flow and I started feeling very claustrophobic. With a little help we calmly took off the equipment, (mask) and I could breath normally once again. Bryan was quick to say, put it back on, we're going back in again. I did so and once inside I realized, wait a minute, this isn't my place. Still feeling the pressure of being claustrophobic I tapped Bryan on the shoulder and said, I'm going back out, OK? He shook his head yes and said he completely understood.

Joe Albero didn't need to be the center of attention a second time as these fine men and women were there to get training and I wanted to make sure that's exactly what they got.

There are some key topics I want to touch base on here so everyone understands and becomes educated towards what had just happened and why it's so important the relationship between the Firefighters and Salisbury News is understood.

If you were sitting there watching this home on fire and someone asks you, come on, we want you inside, throw on this gear. First off, would you do it? It may sound easy and cool but let me assure you, reality strikes you and guess what, THIS IS NO GAME. This is a real fire. Granted, it's controlled in the sense that you're surrounded by professional veterans that now exactly how to read a fire but let me assure you, for someone who's never been inside and instructed to walk right INTO the fire, if I had 2 minutes to have known about what was going to happen, there's no way I would have done it.

The team didn't show up and the fire needed to be put out. The decision was made for me to do so and following a man I obviously trust with my life, I did what was asked. When I was telling someone what it was like to go into a room fully engulfed in flames, (pictures 2 & 3) I said it was like being alive and going into your own crematory.

The lesson learned here is, assess your situation first. Much of that comes from experience and wisdom. Usually, (I'm told) you'll be on the Fire Department about 10 years before you'll actually experience fire to the level I did that evening in real life. What they were trying to describe to me was, you don't just join the Fire Department and jump in and fight fires. This is a serious business and you have to know what you're doing. Trust me, at this point I can't argue that in any way, shape or form. There's also the lesson of respect these Firefighters have towards the home. To think that the kitchen I was in could be put out with around 5 gallons of water, guess what? They were right! There was very little water used to put out a room fully engulfed with fire and you can see so from the photos above. Would I have done it differently with a garden hose at home? OH YEAH! First of all, the lack of pressure would have made it a joke to even try. However, how I would have done about it would have assured my home would have burned even more, even if I was there with a garden hose trying to put it out.

Remember, Bryan started me off by flashing the ceiling. This was done to take control of the fire and not have it be in control instead. Once the flames came off the ceiling, everything toned down and was much easier to get a handle on. Having people behind you in which you know, if something goes wrong, they're right there for you. That's a comfort level indescribable, unless you truly understand teamwork and commitment.

Do I have a new respect for Firefighters. ABSOLUTELY! The invitations over the past several months to come do what they do, I would have never truly understood the meaning of such had I not got into the fire/kitchen like I did. We could have battled for years back and forth and I would have never understood and I admit that. Now, do we still disagree on certain issues, absolutely. However, will we be able to sit down from this point forward and hear eachother out with all due respect, absolutely. An example of one of my beef's with the Fire Department is protocol on how many Fire Trucks show up at a scene of a small fire. I think 8 Trucks at a 800 sq. ft. home is excessive but who knows, maybe they'll be able to convince me I should feel differently about that issue? The lines of communications are now open and Salisbury News, (IMO) is a tool to educate everyone. I've at least been in the fire and I look forward to additional training exercises in which I can learn even more about how things work.

I have been recently invited to more training programs in which I'll gladly participate in. However, although I'll have more to say about my experience the other day in other posts about this subject, it's important everyone come to understand that just because I did what I did doesn't make me qualified to say "I know" just because I was in there. Granted, I know a little more about what these guys do but trust me when I say, little means just that, LITTLE!

I want to thank each and every Firefighter there, especially Chief Records and Wayne Barrall. There are so many names I could put on here but it would taken up several inches of space and everyone knows, this is a longer than usual post for me anyway. To Powellville, Pittsville, Willards, Salisbury and so many other Volunteers that were there offering up their personal equipment to let me get a taste of the real thing, I Personally Thank You! It was an experience I'll never forget and I was honored and humbled to be one of you, even if it was only for a few brief seconds. My hat is tipped to each and every one of you and as I know all of you know, unless you've experienced being in that flame or a room completely surrounding you in flames, they're not going to understand, just like I didn't.

I'll close with this. The equipment I was wearing just to go into the fire cost more than $5,000.00! That's per person. I'd also like to thank Wayne Barrall for providing ALL of the photos above. More to come........

I'm adding onto this post as I'm recalling some topics I wanted discussed as well. You know, once you're in gear, there is NO black and white, yellow or red! Once that equipment is on, just like I had stated months ago in a post, an address has no color. When you're in gear, you're a team and I don't care where you are on the line, if you're there, you're needed! In the last two photos, Chief Bryan Records wanted to take down the two chimneys that were still standing after the fire had burned the house completely down. We hooked up a 1 1/2" line and opened that puppy up as Bryan wanted me to experience just how much pressure was on one of those lines. It took 4 of us to COMFORTABLY handle that line, 4 grown and decent size men! OK, maybe I was the biggest? LOL Nevertheless, the chimney's came down and again, it was a very cool experience.

Courageous Christopher's 5k Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the Big Day at Asbury Church as the Courageous Christopher 5k kicks off at 10am! Registration and packet pick up begins at 8:30 am.

The last time I talked with Christopher's mom Karen on Wed. she told me that there 285 people already registered and I'm sure that number is over 300 now. Lets add the race day entrants and that is going to be a lot of people coupled with their guests. This is poised to be an amazing event and a great 5k field!

Following the race a fun filled family event, which everyone is invited to, has been planned. There will be a pig roast and plenty of food for everyone for lunch. A snow cone machine, ice cream, cotton candy, and popcorn will also be there for every one's snacking needs. Even your dogie, if you bring him, will have treats available.

For the kiddies there will be 4 bounce houses, Sunshine the Clown, face painting, balloons, and fire trucks, and more.

Musical entertainment will be provided by Red No Blue and there will be gift drawings for all those who have entered!

The course starts at Asbury Church and snakes its' way through the Dogwood/Riverside area. Asbury church parking lot to Wesley, left on Dogwood to Pinebluff, right onto Pinebluff to Woodland, right on Woodland to Riverside Dr., left on Riverside to Fountain (pass Christopher's house) to Woodland, right on Woodland to Pinebluff, left on Pinebluff all the way back to Asbury.

"Our community has been more than amazing. The overwhelming support and interest in this cause and in helping Christopher has been truly remarkable. Dravet syndrome is a terrible illness - this race and our community have given some sort of peace and purpose to our family. We are blessed and it is because of Salisbury! The biggest and best thing Christopher and our family can say is a huge THANK YOU!!" - The Mull Family

Remember doggies and your children are encouraged to participate! Please come out and celebrate your family and community tomorrow morning and throughout the afternoon! I'm proud to see the altruistic gift giving by Salisbury as a whole for this event and all the other events that have been going on of late!

And please drive with caution if you will be in the course area that day!

Happy Birthday Sherman the Shorebird!

Tonight is Sherman's birthday at Perdue Stadium tonight when the Birds take on the Greensboro Grasshoppers! The Birds are 20-18 and are 4.5 games back of first place, 25-14, Lake County Captains. The first 1,000 fans will get a free Sherman the Shorebird baseball cap. To help celebrate his birthday Sherman's friends Sammy The Seagull, Harry Hawk, and Q-Bear, and Froggy the 99.9 Frog will be out and about! Game time is 7:05 with the gates opening at 6:05.

Tomorrow night is the final Sylvan's "Hit The Books Night" which honors Wicomico County Students. Students will given the chance to parade around the field and there will be a Froggy 99.9 Fireworks display. Each of these firework shows have been awesome and each of the "Hit the Books Nights" have been great successes and have had tons of fans for the game! Even a Nintendo Wii will be given away at the end of the game! Game time is 7:05 and gates open at 6:05.

Question of the Day, Fri 5/16

Have you ever quit something addictive?
Smoking? Alcohol? Caffeine/Coffee/Sodas? Salt? Chocolate/Junk Food?
How did you do it? Do you miss it? How many times did you relapse before
coming to grips with your addition?

California Supreme Court Recognizes Same Sex Marriage

BobBarr2008.com
For Immediate Release – May 15, 2008

Bob Barr, former Member of Congress from Georgia and current candidate for President for the Libertarian Party, today issued the following statement in reaction to today's decision by the California Supreme Court allowing for the recognition of same sex marriage in that state:

"Regardless of whether one supports or opposes same sex marriage, the decision to recognize such unions or not ought to be a power each state exercises on its own, rather than imposition of a one-size-fits-all mandate by the federal government (as would be required by a Federal Marriage Amendment which has been previously proposed and considered by the Congress). The decision today by the Supreme Court of California properly reflects this fundamental principle of federalism on which our nation was founded.

"Indeed, the primary reason for which I authored the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 was to ensure that each state remained free to determine for its citizens the basis on which marriage would be recognized within its borders, and not be forced to adopt a definition of marriage contrary to its views by another state. The decision in California is an illustration of how this principle of states' powers should work."

Paid for by the Bob Barr 2008 Presidential Committee
900 Circle 75 Pkwy. Suite 1280 Atlanta, GA 30339
Not printed at government expense
BobBarr2008.com

Men's Lax Overpowers Cabrini

Salisbury University jumped out to a 4-1 start and a 8-2 halftime lead keeping Cabrini unable to pick-a-way effectively to win the game at a final of 15-7. The Gulls, now 20-0, will face 17-2 Gettysburg Sunday at 1pm at Seagull Stadium.

The Gulls put up their effective overpowering first few minute drive through the end of the 2nd period which effectively kept the ball out of Cabrini's pockets. After this half the fans thought it was over but SU had a bit of a lackadaisical 3rd giving up 4 goals and only putting up 2 making it a 10-6 game. SU roared back controlling the ball pretty much for the whole quarter and scoring 5 goals to put the game away for the win. Cabrini seemed to refuse to attack the ball on defense and squandered precious time that they needed to get the score closer during the quarter.

Greg Titus scored 5 goals and Matt Hickman put in 4 to pace the Gulls Scoring.

SU beat Gettysburg earlier in the season in a comeback win 11-8 at Gettysburg. Gettysburg beat Cabrini only 9-8 in overtime in a early season match up. This will be a great game!

For full complete box score please go here -
http://www.suseagulls.com/sports/mlax/2007-08/stats/SALMLX20.HTM

And for those who said I got the time wrong...nough said!

United We Stand

The photo above was taken last night of Wayne Barrall and I sitting as some of the last people to sit in this home before it was burned down last night.

I will have a post up later today describing my experience on the scene that will take your breath away, I hope. Nevertheless, I have things to do today and I'll be back later to share some incredible photos as well as my personal experience with many fine men and women in our local Fire Departments.

A Response to a Comment on Salisbury Moving to Division I

From Anon:

"Congratulations to Coach Berkman for being the "winningest" NCAA men's lacrosse coach of any division!! "Yea, but it's a whole lot easier if you refuse to move your team to Division I, where they belong.Berkman likes to win. I guess you can't blame him if he refuses to face real competition from Division I teams."

This is taken directly from the beast known as the NCAA from their official website http://www.ncaa.org/.

"In August 2007, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors used its emergency authority to adopt Proposal No. 2007-10-- NCAA Membership-- Division I Membership Moratorium. The proposal created legislation that for a four-year period beginning August 9, 2007, no institution may begin the Division I provisional or reclassification membership process (including the exploratory process), nor shall an institution begin the multidivisional membership reclassification process or petition to create a new single sport or multisport conference to be elected to Division I conference membership.

As such, NCAA Division I is not accepting any membership applications at this time. For additional information regarding this issue, please refer to the frequently asked questions document or contact NCAA Membership Services at 317/ 917-6222."


"Q: May an institution reclassify from NCAA Division III to Division I?

A: No. Current rules would require a Division III institution to initially reclassify to
Division II prior to reclassifying to Division I."

The NCAA is completely bound by rules, no matter how mundane or inconsequential the rule is. The process is not over night, and I could write a thesis on how and how long it takes to move a school or a single sport to D1 from D3. I do not have that time right now.

As for your original comment, the moratorium makes everything a moot point. Dr. Vienna in the athletic department is a brilliant man who has painstakenly made SU a better instution for athletes, athletics, and a school as a whole!

It is no fault of Salisbury that the other Conference schools have not kept up. We still have a tough schedule with the likes of Gettysburg, Washington College, and the rotation of ranked teams that we play each year. And remember teams change and have up and down years. We're still in the middle of a dynasty for lacrosse and Berkman is doing a heck of a job with recruiting to keep the influx of talent coming in and getting the job done on the practice field. SU Lax has never had this much sustained winning ever in their history with both regular and NCAA Tournament seasons.

And always in sports, to have this type of success, no matter what division is hard to do because everyone is gunning for you. How many institutions at any level and any sport have that kind of success? Not many, its hard to do! To keep that type of pace going game after game shows something about these men coming in and the Coaches. Keep it up SU!

GO GULLS!

Thanks to the NCAA for the information!


This is a nice chart that I found -
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/resources/file/eba6994a0d770f7/chart_memreq.pdf?MOD=AJPERES


http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/governance/division_I/DI_Membership_Info/Joining_DI/di_mem_q_a.pdf

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4g38nYBSYGYxqb6kWhCjggRX4_83FR9b_0A_YLc0IhyR0VFAFbsIBQ!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvUUd3QndNQSEvNElVRS82XzBfMktE?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/NCAA/About%20the%20NCAA/Membership/

Socialism?

The Great Wicomico / Salisbury Pay Raise Scam of 2008

At first glance, it appears that we should give three cheers to the Daily Times op-ed staff for today's editorial calling for the removal of all pay raises from the FY 2009 Wicomico County budget. While sounding as if they are taking bold steps on behalf of the taxpayer, their call for true fiscal restraint rings a bit hollow.

Note that there is only mention of the Wicomico County budget. Where is the criticism of Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman's budget? Not only does the Mayor include pay raises in her budget, she is handing out some fat raises within her own office. I guess that Tilghman press secretary Laura D'Alessandro failed to notify her co-workers that Tilghman has budgeted over $100,000 MORE in her budget for the bureaucracy of the Mayor's office than she has for street repairs.

Now that the campaign to re-elect Barrie Tilghman (or elect Gary Comegys) for Mayor seems to have begun we can hardly expect too much scrutiny of Salisbury fiscal affairs. Of course, there wasn't much scrutiny before.

As for the Wicomico County budget, there is no question that the 3.5% raise for county employees should be put on hold. What about Board of Education employees? While the Gannett gang may claim that teachers and WCBOE staff are included in this, they certainly don't explicitly advocate for flat BOE wages.

There has been some talk of the Wicomico County Council making line item cuts in the BOE budget. I hope that this is the case. IF the County Council actually spent time pouring through the BOE budget, I am sure that spending hawks like Joe Holloway and Stevie Prettyman could find a fair chunk of fat to cut despite the claims of the BOE that EVERY dollar is well spent. If you add the expertise of Councilwoman Gail Bartkovich, who always seems to find the facts no matter how deeply buried, the taxpayers could wind up with a material savings.

There may be one problem. I am not sure if the Wicomico County Council (or County Executive Rick Pollitt) has the authority to make line item cuts in the BOE budget. I believe that this is the sole responsibility of the Board of Education itself. I hope that I am mistaken.

IF the County Council cannot make line item cuts in the BOE budget, the board will simply take money from their true mission - educating our kids - while maintaining already agreed to pay raises for WCBOE employees and continuing to feed the bureaucracy. Our elected representatives should have the final say, not appointees (no matter how well intentioned) who will almost always side with the Superintendent and his staff.

There is also no mention of the Sheriff's office. While I certainly don't begrudge our deputies their promised pay increase, it is important that EVERYTHING is on the table. This also means that IF council decided to fund pay raises (in whole or in part) in the Sheriff's office that they should not necessarily fund other pay raises "to be fair". Our elected officials are there to pass laws and to set priorities.

Hopefully, the Wicomico County Council will reach the correct conclusion. As for the Salisbury Council, I've pretty much given up on America's most irrelevant legislature.

cross posted at Delmarva Dealings

Technorati Tags: Maryland, Wicomico, Salisbury, politics, Wicomico politics, fiscal policy, Joe Holloway, Stevie Prettyman, Gail Bartkovich, media, Daily Times, Gannett

It's Not Called Anti Semitism, It's Called Pro Fairness

60 Years ago today the State of Israel was formed.

How many of you know how that occurred? We can read lots of different versions on the events of the day, but after 60 years things that may have been done wrong at the time are overlooked and written off, especially from those who benefit from the situation.

60 years ago today after World War II and the atrocities that happened to the Jewish People in Nazi Germany and throughout Europe. The United Nations, and the United States with the urging of the Jewish People it was decided that a homeland was needed. After much discussion the Jewish People said that they had only one homeland and that was the Holy Land, where much of their ancient history took place. Thus with the support of the UN and the US the State of Israel was formed. It was formed dead center in the Holy Land where Christs very feet had trod. Where Solomon’s Temple once stood, where Jesus and Peter walked on water, and eventually where Christ died.

The only problem was, this area was owned and occupied by a nation called Palestine.

The Palestinians had lived there since Biblical Times as well, however due to issues that the Hebrews had they were exiled from their land, and after regaining their freedoms they scattered all over the earth, mostly Europe where they became very successful businessmen and woman.

Since the Palestinians had lived in this land for nearly two thousand years, they built homes and offices and schools, and gas stations and grocery stores, and manufacturing plants, and all of the things that go along with living in a country. These places belonged to these people.

Between the years of 1947 and 1949 over 700,000 civilians were displaced as an act of ethnic cleansing and over 149 villages were raised. To make way for their new inhabitants.

When it was decided that there was to be formed a Nation of Israel our Government and the UN went into Palestine and we bulldozed peoples home where people were living and sleeping. We bulldozed business’ where people were working, and after the bulldozing was finished we helped install barbed wire to keep the Palestinians out of this newly formed nation.

Our country supplied thousands of trailers for the new Israeli settlers to live in, and as an act of humanity we supplied the Palestinians with tents and blankets. The Palestinians became more than a little pissed and the two began fighting and they fight to this day.

The US has supported the State of Israel to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year, not to mention equipping their military with the finest equipment money can buy.

Additionally, we have supported them in their quest for nuclear power and weaponry.

Each year the violence escalates, the Israelis’s give back a little land, then they take it back , then they give back a lot of land and build the biggest wall we have ever seen next to the Great Wall. This wall now divides neighborhoods. Imagine if a wall was placed between old town Pocomoke and Walmart, and in order to get to Walmart you had to wait in line to get through the gate that was manned by armed guards who wanted to see your passport, birth certificate, and tax bill to make sure you were current before you could pass to go and get your food. Oh and I almost forgot. Imagine if the wall opening was only 18 inches wide, and you had to leave your car on your side of the wall.

This is what life is like in Israel and Palestine each and every day. Instead of making it one country where they can peacefully coexist the government interfered and took these people properties and gave them to someone else.. They didn’t go in and buy them at a fair market and say something like “Hi, I’m a Jewish settler and this where my people were originally from and I would like to buy your house and your business” . No, the UN and the US helped them take it from the current owners and put them behind fences like animals.

Have you ever wondered why they just can’t get along? Plain and Simple…this is why.

How would you respond?

An interesting note. there is a group of older Jewish woman who have taken up the call to monitor the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints to make sure that the Palestinians are being treated fairly. Much abuse has been suffered at these checkpoints from completely ignoring the people trying to get through for hours on end to physically abusing and sometimes killing them. These women feel that their presence helps the situation because they are old and remind the soldiers of their grandmothers or aunts and they would never behave that way in front of them so they are hesitant to behave that way in front of these ladies. The group calls themselves Grandmothers Against the Occupation.

They believe that what the Israeli government is doing is occupying and think that it isn’t right. They go as far as demonstrating on the streets and asking that the occupation be abandoned as they feel that what the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian People is no different than what Hitler did to them.

To see a map and see the Israeli and Palestinian prospective from the people who live there click here and view the map. It is incredible Is our involvement serving humanity? Is our involvement serving justice? Is this something we need to continue to be involved in? Is this how we want to be perceived around the world

Question of the Day, Thur 5/15

IF Clinton was to become president someday, what would Bill's title be?

I'm sure there are a few choices other than "first lady."

Village At Tony Tank Creek Misappropriated Funds

As you might be aware, the Village at Tony Tank Creek Homeowners Association was reimbursed all of its funds that had been previously diverted to a third party. This diversion of funds was discovered about six weeks ago. Due to the diligent efforts of the Board of Directors and the attorney for the Association (M. J. Caldwell) the Association received all of its monies back that had been diverted for other uses, together with all interest and costs incurred by the Association. These costs included attorney's fees, rental of the Hampton Inn facility for a meeting, etc. As a matter of fact, through the diligence of the Board and legal counsel, the Association was made entirely whole with interest, and has not suffered the loss of one penny. Bravo to the Board of Directors and M. J. Caldwell for a job well done.

Thank you for a chance to correct the misconceptions that seem to be out there. Keep up the good work with the BLOG.

A homeowner in the Village at Tony Tank Creek Homeowners Association.

A Follow Up On The Ocean City Fire Department

I contacted Fire Chief Chris Laramore to see how things were going and asked for a brief follow up as to the "mood" of things and how everyone is responding to the changes. Chris was kind enough to immediately respond with the following.

"Joe,

The City Council, Fire Company Board of Directors, and each sides respective legal council are finalizing the agreement, ie: the "MOU", and hopefully it will be ratified within the next week. I have met with City Manager Dennis Dare twice thus far, and have found him to be very supportive and cognizant of the interests of all parties, and yet responsible to the taxpayers and citizens we protect. In addition, the membership of the Volunteer Fire Company has voted to accept the agreement as presented, as well as the Mayor and City Council pending the review of the final draft. I have also met with representatives of the Career Firefighter Paramedics Association, the Fire Marshals Office, and have found them to be cooperative and enthusiastic, and quite willing to do their part to guarantee the success of this plan. In closing, I am very confident the Fire Service in Ocean City, is well on it's way to becoming one of the best and most progressive combined services on the east coast."

Thanks

Chris Laramore

Governor Martin O'Malley Continues Blame Game....

In case you were not within an ear shot of the nation’s capital,
Governor Martin O’Malley made a couple of radio runs this past week,
where he took ample opportunities to take shots at his predecessor,
now-former Governor Robert Ehrlich.

Read the rest of my column at PolitickerMD.com.