DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
Detroit Emergency Manager "Freezes" Pension Fund
So far, city employees of bankrupt Detroit have stoically withstood all direct and indirect eliminations of their entitlements and retirement benefits, which was to be expected: after all as per a recent finding, they are merely an unsecured claim in an insolvent entity. However, following the latest shot across the bow from Detroit's emergency manager Kevyn Orr, which freezes pension plans for all non-uniform employees, said stoicism will likely be acutely tested.
As Detroit News reports,
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has frozen the city’s pension plans for all non-uniform employees, closing the General Retirement System effective Jan. 1.
Orr’s Dec. 30 action freezes earned pension benefits for employees in the General Retirement System and creates a new 401(k)-style defined contribution retirement plan for existing and future city workers, according to a copy of the emergency manager’s order obtained by The Detroit News.
As part of the order, Orr also eliminated the pension “escalator,” effectively eliminating any future cost-of-living increases for all retired city employees in the General Retirement System.
The emergency manager’s order also closes the pension system’s Annuity Savings Fund, an added benefit for some municipal workers.
City employees who were not already vested in the retirement system “shall not be entitled” to pension benefits, according to the order.
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As Detroit News reports,
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has frozen the city’s pension plans for all non-uniform employees, closing the General Retirement System effective Jan. 1.
Orr’s Dec. 30 action freezes earned pension benefits for employees in the General Retirement System and creates a new 401(k)-style defined contribution retirement plan for existing and future city workers, according to a copy of the emergency manager’s order obtained by The Detroit News.
As part of the order, Orr also eliminated the pension “escalator,” effectively eliminating any future cost-of-living increases for all retired city employees in the General Retirement System.
The emergency manager’s order also closes the pension system’s Annuity Savings Fund, an added benefit for some municipal workers.
City employees who were not already vested in the retirement system “shall not be entitled” to pension benefits, according to the order.
More
OC Shooting Suspect Enters Alford Plea; Court Hearing Reveals Incident Details
Elvin Mendez-Espada appeared in Circuit Court in Snow Hill on Tuesday to face multiple charges, including attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault for his role in an altercation in downtown Ocean City on June 29 when he shot and wounded two men and fired other shots at a third man. Mendez-Espada entered an Alford Plea on Tuesday to one count of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. In an Alford Plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges the state has enough evidence to prosecute the case.
In this particular case, however, the entry of an Alford plea to the four counts was somewhat unconventional because there appeared to be differing versions of the statement of facts read into the record. After a plea is entered, prosecutors read into the record the agreed-upon statement of facts, and the judge then rules on the case and proceeds to the sentencing phase.
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Detroit Police Chief: More Legally Armed Citizens Deter Crime
Detroit Police Chief James Craig praised the benefits of an armed citizenry and explained how his views about concealed carry have evolved during a press conference Thursday.
The Detroit News reports that Craig recounted his experience when he became police chief in Portland, Maine in 2009, after 28 years on the Los Angeles police force.
“Coming from California, where it takes an act of Congress to get a concealed weapon permit, I got to Maine, where they give out lots of CCWs [carrying concealed weapon permits], and I had a stack of CCW permits I was denying; that was my orientation,” he said according to the Detroit News report.
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The Detroit News reports that Craig recounted his experience when he became police chief in Portland, Maine in 2009, after 28 years on the Los Angeles police force.
“Coming from California, where it takes an act of Congress to get a concealed weapon permit, I got to Maine, where they give out lots of CCWs [carrying concealed weapon permits], and I had a stack of CCW permits I was denying; that was my orientation,” he said according to the Detroit News report.
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Salon Writer Tops Harris-Perry In Comments About Romney’s Black Grandchild
The problem with this quasi-cerebral look at the complex issue of race in 21st-century America may trace its roots to Cooper’s skin color (black), her ideology (liberal), or some combination thereof. The title, “White supremacy wins again: Melissa Harris Perry and the racial false equivalence,” prepares the reader only slightly for the victimist claptrap that follows.
The essay, if it can fairly be called that, is neatly compartmentalized in terms of its ideas, all of which are as tired as they are predictable. First comes the de rigueur accusation that the GOP (blanket term for conservatives as a whole) is dishonest on questions of race and “averse at the policy level to the social and political condition of African-Americans, and this has been demonstrated in everything from attempts to disenfranchise black voters to the wholesale turn to obstructionism as a primary governing strategy.”
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The Real Father Of Universal Healthcare – Adolf Hitler
Otto von Bismarck, the authoritarian Chancellor of Germany, started socialized healthcare in 1883 with the “Reichsversicherungsverordnung” (Reich Insurance Act). However, only certain segments of the society were insured at that time, such as government workers and the elderly. It was Adolf Hitler, who actually completed the process and imposed socialized healthcare on the entire German population, as a part of nazification of the healthcare industry. The mass murders of the Holocaust began and the methods of mass killing were perfected in the hospitals of the German universal healthcare system, implemented by the Führer, Adolf Hitler.
For that reason, Adolf Hitler should rightly be called the *real* father of universal healthcare, at least, in the western world. He was the first to regulate the healthcare industry for the entire population in Germany. Of course, the Soviet Union had a universal healthcare system already by 1921, but they were communist, the entire system was socialized. The abuse of the Soviet universal healthcare system, for example, to diagnose political dissidents as insane and confine them in hospitals, is yet another horror story of universal healthcare, when the Government dictates healthcare policy.
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For that reason, Adolf Hitler should rightly be called the *real* father of universal healthcare, at least, in the western world. He was the first to regulate the healthcare industry for the entire population in Germany. Of course, the Soviet Union had a universal healthcare system already by 1921, but they were communist, the entire system was socialized. The abuse of the Soviet universal healthcare system, for example, to diagnose political dissidents as insane and confine them in hospitals, is yet another horror story of universal healthcare, when the Government dictates healthcare policy.
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Terror Chief Dubbed Russia's Osama Bin Laden 'Will Target Britons At Olympics'
Athletes and spectators from Britain will be the target of ‘Russia’s Osama Bin Laden’ at next month’s Winter Olympics, a secret intelligence report warns.
The document, drawn up by Canadian counterterrorism agencies and shared with British intelligence, says Doku Umarov poses the greatest terror threat for the Games at Sochi in southern Russia.
Umarov, 49, is the Chechen jihadist leader blamed for the two suicide bombings in Volgograd in Russia over Christmas.
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The document, drawn up by Canadian counterterrorism agencies and shared with British intelligence, says Doku Umarov poses the greatest terror threat for the Games at Sochi in southern Russia.
Umarov, 49, is the Chechen jihadist leader blamed for the two suicide bombings in Volgograd in Russia over Christmas.
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Church Fire Victim Released From Hospital; Community Plans Benefit Friday
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The benefit for Dana Truitt will be held Jan. 10, from 5-9 p.m. at Seacrets on 49th Street. The event will include lite dinner fare, beer and wine, live music, a silent auction and 50/50 raffle.
Marianne Buas, owner of the Buckingham Motel, along with her husband, Spiro, are spearheading the fundraiser as Truitt and her fiancé have been long-time employees of the hotel.
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Md. Superintendent Cyberbullied Over Opening Schools
Some tweets were funny; others were threatening to superintendent and his family
The superintendent of schools in Montgomery County, Md., became the target of cyber bullies for the second time in less than a month after deciding to keep the county's schools open during Tuesday's record low temperatures.
Following news that an arctic blast would bring record-breaking temperatures and wind chills near minus 20 degrees to the area, many school districts in the area canceled classes for Tuesday. But D.C. Public Schools and Montgomery County Schools announced classes would be in session.
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The superintendent of schools in Montgomery County, Md., became the target of cyber bullies for the second time in less than a month after deciding to keep the county's schools open during Tuesday's record low temperatures.
Following news that an arctic blast would bring record-breaking temperatures and wind chills near minus 20 degrees to the area, many school districts in the area canceled classes for Tuesday. But D.C. Public Schools and Montgomery County Schools announced classes would be in session.
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Doctor: You Don't Have ADHD. No One Does
Self Diagnoses Skyrocketing With Patients Seeking Stimulant Drugs
Do you take Adderall or Ritalin to deal with your inability to concentrate? Do you often proclaim that you, or your child perhaps, can’t sit still? You can’t concentrate or focus on tasks? Have you been diagnosed with ADHD? Well a new book written by neurologist Richard Saul is something you might want to pay your scant attention to.
The new book is titled “ADHD Does Not Exist: The Truth About Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder” and it’s likely to cause some people to actually pay attention. After his long career of treating patients, many self diagnosed, with short attention spans, Saul believes that ADHD is actually a collection of symptoms, not a disease. He doesn’t believe that it should be listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
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Do you take Adderall or Ritalin to deal with your inability to concentrate? Do you often proclaim that you, or your child perhaps, can’t sit still? You can’t concentrate or focus on tasks? Have you been diagnosed with ADHD? Well a new book written by neurologist Richard Saul is something you might want to pay your scant attention to.
The new book is titled “ADHD Does Not Exist: The Truth About Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder” and it’s likely to cause some people to actually pay attention. After his long career of treating patients, many self diagnosed, with short attention spans, Saul believes that ADHD is actually a collection of symptoms, not a disease. He doesn’t believe that it should be listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
More
How Under Armour and Nike play ball with UMd., UVa. and Virginia Tech
A big component of the argument surrounding the way colleges and universities treat their student-athletes is based on the amount of money big-time college football programs collect for their schools. Programs take in money by the millions, often propping up the rest of a school’s athletic department. But how does that money come into the program and where does it go?
Recently, our sister publication in Portland ran an exhaustive look at how apparel companies fit into this equation. What staff reporter Matt Kish found was a system that “raises serious questions about ethics, possible conflicts of interests and the increasing influence of money on college campuses.” The Portland Business Journal also published a database of every apparel contract they were given after a public records request. Three high-profile football programs tied to the D.C.-area — the University of Maryland, University of Virginia and Virginia Tech University — submitted apparel contracts to Portland’s database. We decided to take a deep dive into those deals, which show only a fraction of how much money goes into university athletic programs.
Anyone who casually follows Maryland athletics knows that Under Armour outfits the team. CEO and founder Kevin Plank is a Maryland alum, but the company pays at least two other schools — the University of South Carolina and 2013 BCS championship participant Auburn University — more than it pays Maryland.
Under the deal, Under Armour Inc. supplies Maryland with $1.9 million in equipment and apparel, along with $1.475 million in cash.
More
Recently, our sister publication in Portland ran an exhaustive look at how apparel companies fit into this equation. What staff reporter Matt Kish found was a system that “raises serious questions about ethics, possible conflicts of interests and the increasing influence of money on college campuses.” The Portland Business Journal also published a database of every apparel contract they were given after a public records request. Three high-profile football programs tied to the D.C.-area — the University of Maryland, University of Virginia and Virginia Tech University — submitted apparel contracts to Portland’s database. We decided to take a deep dive into those deals, which show only a fraction of how much money goes into university athletic programs.
Anyone who casually follows Maryland athletics knows that Under Armour outfits the team. CEO and founder Kevin Plank is a Maryland alum, but the company pays at least two other schools — the University of South Carolina and 2013 BCS championship participant Auburn University — more than it pays Maryland.
Under the deal, Under Armour Inc. supplies Maryland with $1.9 million in equipment and apparel, along with $1.475 million in cash.
More
Colonial Williamsburg Historian To Speak At Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Area Annual Meeting
Salisbury, MD – The Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Council will hold its Annual Luncheon Meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. Dr. Carl Lounsbury, author and senior architectural historian for Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, is slated to be the Keynote Speaker and will be speaking on his recent bookChesapeake House. The event is open to the public with advance paid registration.
Dr. Lounsbury is an active member of the Architectural Research Department at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation since 1982 and has been responsible for long term research, historic projects. He is a consultant in design and architectural research for museums and historical societies and state agencies. Designs include 17th century church for Jamestown Settlement, report on rowhouses for Jamestown Rediscovery, courtroom fittings for Prince William County, Va., jail investigations for Currituck Co., NC Historic Society and investigation of several houses for the Historic Charleston Foundation. In addition to research, Dr. Lounsbury is author to several books and has taught at University of Mary Washington, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia. He is currently coordinator of the NIAHD program at Colonial Williamsburg and is a Associate Professor at William and Mary College.
The event includes talk by Dr. Lounsbury, full luncheon, silent auction fundraiser and Heritage Awards presentation. Advance cost is $25 per person by Friday, Jan. 10. After that, $30 in advance. Deadline for paid registration is Monday, Jan. 20. Cash or check only. For more information and to make your advance paid reservation for this exciting event, email leshc1@aol.com or call 410-677-4706.
Dr. Lounsbury is an active member of the Architectural Research Department at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation since 1982 and has been responsible for long term research, historic projects. He is a consultant in design and architectural research for museums and historical societies and state agencies. Designs include 17th century church for Jamestown Settlement, report on rowhouses for Jamestown Rediscovery, courtroom fittings for Prince William County, Va., jail investigations for Currituck Co., NC Historic Society and investigation of several houses for the Historic Charleston Foundation. In addition to research, Dr. Lounsbury is author to several books and has taught at University of Mary Washington, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia. He is currently coordinator of the NIAHD program at Colonial Williamsburg and is a Associate Professor at William and Mary College.
The event includes talk by Dr. Lounsbury, full luncheon, silent auction fundraiser and Heritage Awards presentation. Advance cost is $25 per person by Friday, Jan. 10. After that, $30 in advance. Deadline for paid registration is Monday, Jan. 20. Cash or check only. For more information and to make your advance paid reservation for this exciting event, email leshc1@aol.com or call 410-677-4706.
Baywater Animal Rescue Have A Heart Event Going to the Dogs & Cats
Boom For Guns Likely To Trigger Rush On Ammo
More than 21 million applications were run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System last year, marking nearly an 8 percent increase and the 11th straight year that the number has risen.
Background checks serve as a proxy for the number of gun sales, which soared in the months immediately after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. But NICS checks plummeted in November and December compared with a year earlier, suggesting that the boom may be over.
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Welcome To Medicaid For All
Obamacare’s expansion of poor care, dependency, and insolvency is not a recipe for success.
The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein has found what he thinks is a bright spot amid the gloomy Obamacare news. When you hear what he’s enthusiastic about, you’ll perhaps understand why I wonder if there is any common ground at all between liberals and conservatives. Klein reports that Obamacare’s “biggest success” is that 4 million new enrollees signed up for Medicaid as of November and the number should be even higher when December’s statistics are tallied. “If the point of health-care reform is covering people who need health insurance, the expansion of Medicaid should be a huge win.”
Sorry, but the expansion of dependence on government is never cause for rejoicing. Conservatives acknowledge that a safety net is necessary for the poor, but we regard only the number of people leaving a government program like Medicaid as cause for celebration, not adding to the numbers who receive benefits. Klein is hardly alone. Nancy Pelosi described unemployment benefits as the greatest possible “stimulus” to the economy. By that logic, we should put everyone on unemployment, right?
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The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein has found what he thinks is a bright spot amid the gloomy Obamacare news. When you hear what he’s enthusiastic about, you’ll perhaps understand why I wonder if there is any common ground at all between liberals and conservatives. Klein reports that Obamacare’s “biggest success” is that 4 million new enrollees signed up for Medicaid as of November and the number should be even higher when December’s statistics are tallied. “If the point of health-care reform is covering people who need health insurance, the expansion of Medicaid should be a huge win.”
Sorry, but the expansion of dependence on government is never cause for rejoicing. Conservatives acknowledge that a safety net is necessary for the poor, but we regard only the number of people leaving a government program like Medicaid as cause for celebration, not adding to the numbers who receive benefits. Klein is hardly alone. Nancy Pelosi described unemployment benefits as the greatest possible “stimulus” to the economy. By that logic, we should put everyone on unemployment, right?
More
Mount St. Mary's Seeks Recognition As Religious To Avoid Obamacare Contraception Mandate
The university’s position hangs on the definition of religious, Mount St. Mary’s President Thomas Powell said in a telephone interview.
Although the university does not mandate religious education and sacraments, it operates one of the nation’s largest seminary for Catholic priests and was founded by a Catholic who fled religious persecution in France, Powell said.
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Candidate For Best Comment Of The Year
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Survived By Wife":
My wife spent $200 at the beauty shop the other day, and that was just for an estimate.
My wife spent $200 at the beauty shop the other day, and that was just for an estimate.
Democrats Peddle Bogus Rationale For Obamacare Even After Study Debunks It
"More bad news for Obamacare and its proponents. A new study from Oregon" published in the journal Science found that expanded Medicaid coverage "increased-rather than decreased-both the number of folks crowding emergency rooms and" the number seeking emergency "care for conditions that clearly were not emergencies. Many . . . who supported the Affordable Care Act had predicted the opposite outcome," reported Scientific American. Obamacare subsidizes a vast expansion of Medicaid through billions more in government spending.
"Obamacare supporters, including the president himself, predicted that the Affordable Care Act would reduce the number of trips to expensive hospital emergency rooms, but as The New York Times reported on Friday, that may not be the case," notes CNS News. "An experiment in Oregon found that newly insured people went to the emergency room 'a good deal more often' than those without insurance." "Those who gained coverage made 40 percent more visits to the emergency room than their uninsured counterparts . . .The findings cast doubt on the hope that expanded insurance coverage will help rein in emergency room costs . . . And they go against one of the central arguments of the law's supporters, that extending insurance to large numbers of Americans would reduce emergency room use, and eventually save money."
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"Obamacare supporters, including the president himself, predicted that the Affordable Care Act would reduce the number of trips to expensive hospital emergency rooms, but as The New York Times reported on Friday, that may not be the case," notes CNS News. "An experiment in Oregon found that newly insured people went to the emergency room 'a good deal more often' than those without insurance." "Those who gained coverage made 40 percent more visits to the emergency room than their uninsured counterparts . . .The findings cast doubt on the hope that expanded insurance coverage will help rein in emergency room costs . . . And they go against one of the central arguments of the law's supporters, that extending insurance to large numbers of Americans would reduce emergency room use, and eventually save money."
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As Cohabitation Gains Favor, Shotgun Weddings Fade
Soon-to-be-released government figures show a major cultural shift since the days of "shotgun weddings" aimed at avoiding family embarrassment. With marriage on the decline, the shift is helping redefine the traditional notion of family.
"The emergence of cohabitation as an acceptable context for childbearing has changed the family-formation landscape," said Christina Gibson-Davis, a sociology professor at Duke University. "Individuals still value the idea of a two-parent family but no longer consider it necessary for the parents to be married."
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