Caption This Photo: Be Nice

Is the Uber Bubble About to Pop?

Uber's shady practices have been the subject of much debate — and now they could be the subject of a court ruling.

The New York Times performed a public service over the weekend with the first two installments of a three-part series on the shady clauses in consumer and employment contracts that enable corporations to divert legal disputes into secret, extra-judicial arbitration panels. The corporation pays the arbitrators hearing the case, and the rulings, from what we can tell about this opaque process, favor the corporation, if only because an arbitrator siding with the people who do the hiring ensures them more work in the future.

It’s amazing that we’ve allowed corporations to build their own parallel legal system, rupturing the fundamental right of access to courts. “It’s in two amendments of the Bill of Rights,” said Sen. Al Franken, one of Congress’ leading critics of mandatory arbitration, on a conference call reacting to the Times series. “The Second Amendment is supposed to be important, but that’s one amendment. [Trial by jury] is really important, that’s in two amendments.” (It’s the Sixth and the Seventh, incidentally.)

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The New American Way Of Life.

Tom Cruise’s Nightmare Scientology Wedding: Leah Remini Opens Up About Her 'Reprogramming'

The former Scientologist said Cruise's antics are part of what forced her defection from the Church.

In a revealing interview with “20/20,” “King of Queens” star Leah Remini opened up about her break with Scientology in 2013, explaining that part of her decision to leave the church grew out of her discomfort with the attention that the organization lavished on its star member Tom Cruise, who she felt was embrarassing the Church with his frequent public antics.

“I was saying that I didn’t think he was becoming of Scientologists, jumping on couches, and attacking Matt Lauer, to attacking Brooke Shields,” she explained. “What the hell is this guy doing? We need to rein it in. We need to stop all this. And he just needs to be an actor.”

Remini details a story of church officials inviting her Tom Cruise’s home one night to teach him salsa dancing. When she got there, Cruise and his new girlfriend Katie Holmes were making out, and Remini joked that they ought to “get a fricking room.” Church officials then filed a “knowledge report” (basically an official complaint) about Remini, which the actress was forced to deal with in auditing sessions.

As she explains, she was “immediately dealt with” after the “incident,” with the Church implying that “the only reason you’re saying these things is because you have your own transgressions.”

“You immediately become guilty,” she added. “Being critical of Tom Ccruise is being critical of Scientology itself. You are a person who is anti the aims and goals of scientology, you are evil.”

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Across the Bay 10K Race to affect Bay Bridge traffic on Sunday

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —The Maryland Transportation Authority said the eastbound span of the Bay Bridge (US 50/301) will be closed temporarily to traffic on Sunday.

The eastbound spread will close for the Across the Bay 10K race. Officials said motorists should anticipate heavy traffic and delays.

Two-way traffic operations will be in place on the westbound span. One lane of traffic will operate in each direction on the westbound span, with the center lane closed to traffic.

MTA said the center lane may open to traffic intermittently to help reduce westbound delays.

In addition, two detours will be in place on the Eastern Shore because of to the race.

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More Americans Than Ever Use Prescription Drugs

More Americans than ever are taking prescription drugs — close to 60 percent of U.S. adults, according to new research.

And most seem to be related to obesity, with cholesterol and blood pressure drugs leading the pack, researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The single most popular drug is Zocor, a cholesterol-lowering drug in a class called statins, said Elizabeth Kantor, formerly of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and now at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The drug, known generically as simvastatin, is taken by 8 percent of the U.S. population.

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Lisa Blatt: The legal mind behind the Redskins ‘Take Yo Panties Off’ trademark defense

Lots of names were dropped in the comically vulgar but serious legal brief the Washington Redskins filed last week to defend their federal trademark registrations. How, the team’s lawyers demanded in an 82-page brief that galloped across the Internet, could the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board strip the Redskins of their registrations because the moniker offends some Native Americans, but preserve registrations for Take Yo Panties Off clothing, Midget Man condoms, TeensDoPorn.com, Baked By a Negro cookies and scores of other companies?

Those names — and many more too profane to publish here — were a provocative new wrinkle in the National Football League team’s long-standing legal argument that far worse monikers than the Redskins have trademark registrations.

But one other important name was also new in the brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond: Lisa S. Blatt. The 50-year-old Arnold & Porter partner is the Redskins’ new attorney in the case, and she’s a big-time advocate.

Blatt has argued 33 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court — more than any other female litigator in the country. She won 32 of them. The Web site 360 Law dubbed her Arnold & Porter’s “pugnacious powerhouse” and lauded her “ruthlessly martial brand of courtroom combat.”

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Toyota US Sales Surge in October

Toyota's sales surged 13% in October, compared to the same period a year earlier, as the company's mainstream brand and luxury nameplate enjoyed solid increases.

Sales of the Toyota brand rose 13%, reaching an all-time October high of 177,609 units. Sales of the luxury Lexus brand rose 13.2% to 26,436.

Pickup trucks, sport-utility vehicles and crossovers led the way for the Japanese automaker, posting a 16.7% gain for the Toyota brand and a 33.9% gain for Lexus.

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‘Black Power’ Administrator Costs University $4.8 Million

A historically black college in St. Louis, Mo., has been forced to cough up $4.85 million to a fired professor when a court found the woman was fired for being white.

Beverly Wilkins was a professor at Harris-Stowe State University’s College of Education from 2001 until 2010, when she was fired. In 2012, though, she struck back with a lawsuit, saying her departure wasn’t for budgetary or performance reasons but instead was due to an administrator’s vendetta against the white race.

According to Wilkins’ lawsuit, she started to be pushed out at Harris-Stowe after the college hired Latisha Smith as a faculty member in 2007. Smith was quickly promoted to assistant dean and then dean of the College of Education, and Wilkins said she subscribed to a “black power” ideology that drove her to purge the college of all whites. In 2010 Wilkins was fired, with Smith blaming the move on state budget cuts. Wilkins says every white professor at the school was ultimately let go, except for one protected by tenure. Meanwhile, only one black professor was let go, and it was due to a sex crime conviction.

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Wisdom At Its Best

Auditors troubled over city's handling of $6.2M in federal grants

BALTIMORE —Auditors with the Baltimore City Comptroller's Office are questioning the Housing Authority of Baltimore City's handling of $6.2 million in federal grants.

Auditors said they find the lack of internal controls troubling, and there's concern that the city may have to pay some or all of the money back to the federal government.

The audit found discrepancies in the agency's handling of federal energy assistance grants it doled out to eligible low-income households.

"In this case, in our sample, we found 24 missing folders -- they didn't provide them for us -- and approximately 90 that had missing parts," City Auditor Robert McCarty said.

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CAMPAIGN 2016: FOX Business Network announces participants in the Nov. 10 Republican presidential debates

FOX Business Network announces the participants in its two Republican presidential debates on Tuesday, Nov. 10, in Milwaukee, Wisc. The participants in the first debate, at 7 p.m. ET will be: Gov. Chris Christie, Fmr. Gov. Mike Huckabee, Fmr. Sen. Rick Santorum, and Gov. Bobby Jindal. The participants in the prime-time debate at 9 p.m. ET will be: Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz, Fmr. Gov. Jeb Bush, Fmr. HP CEO Carly Fiorina, and Sen. Rand Paul. Both debates on Nov. 10 will air live on FOX Business Network, and will be made available to base subscribers of most cable and satellite providers. Both debates also will stream live on FOXBusiness.com and FoxNews.com.

WCSO Crime Statistics For October 2015

•  Sector 1 - Salisbury, Allen, Deer Harbour, Fruitland, Fox Chase

• Sector 2  - Wicomico Regional Airport, Parsonsburg, Delmar

• Sector 3 - Delmar, Log Cabin, Adkins Rd.

• Sector 4 - Nanticoke, Waterview, White Haven, Tyaskin

• Sector 5 - Booth Street, Reservation

• Sector 6 - Hebron, Mardela Springs, Sharptown

• Sector 7 - Pittsville, Willards, Powellville

Unsure of your WCSO Sector? For an interactive crime map click here.

Barack Obama is not seeking "legacy"

To the many gullible souls out there who truly think that Barack Obama is "legacy building" in his all-out assault on America, I implore you to bow out of the conversation because you are not seeing clearly.

The term legacy carries positive connotations of something bequeath that is to the receiver's benefit. Everything that Barack Obama does is calculated to destroy America, which he despises. This man no more cares about legacy than he fears being properly prosecuted by the white political leaders whose responsibility it is to remove him from office.

I focus on white leaders, because whites are still in the majority and they fill the majority of political offices. If the majority of political operatives were of some other ethnicity, I would lodge my complaint against that group. Ethnicity is an issue only because Obama is half-black and he uses that fact to intimidate guilt-conflicted white people. Otherwise, he would have been impeached and likely in prison for treason by now.

Barack Obama's sole aim has been, since he first entered politics and continues as he winds down this presidency, the complete destruction of America as it was founded.

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Featured In Ocean City, Veteran’s Art Reveals Depth Of Internal Struggles

OCEAN CITY – Joe Merritt carries an old military backpack that is similar to the one he carried during two deployments in Afghanistan. But these days, that backpack is filled with paintbrushes and paper, rather than weapons and rations.

He admits while the weapons may have saved his life a time or two in war, the paintbrushes and paper have absolutely saved him now that he’s home.

Like many war veterans, the 30-year-old Denton native had trouble readjusting to civilian life after spending the better part of three years overseas fighting in America’s war in the Middle East.

“Art has brought me a long way, because I couldn’t bring myself to talk about what I experienced,” said Merritt, “but when I found art, I realized I was able to show people how I was feeling. It changed the way I was able to communicate with the world.”

A gallery of Merritt’s art work called “The Things I Carry” will debut in the Galleria at the Ocean City Center for the Arts’ 94th street location at 5 p.m. on Friday night and will be showcased throughout the month of November.

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ISIS Tweets out Praise for Muslim UC Merced Stabbing Suspect

Faisal Mohammad, the deranged, depraved — and very dead — Muslim stabber who attacked a bunch of fellow students at UC Merced in California just got some high praise from radical Islamic terror group ISIS.

See? Saying “radical Islamic terror” isn’t that difficult after all, Mr. President!

Yeah, this sort of nuttiness kind of destroys the wacky progressive narrative that Islam is a “religion of peace,” don’t you think?

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SPD Press Release 11-5-15 (Needles In Halloween Candy Determined A Hoax)

Homeowner Assn. Says Remove Christmas Display

Jeremy Morris, of Hayden, Idaho, loves to go all out for Christmas.

Think Clark Griswald on steroids.

His annual Christmas display includes tens of thousands of lights, a Living Nativity, a 22-voice choir and a camel named Dolly.

Folks travel from all over town to experience the larger-than-life Christmas display – and spectators say it is indeed something to behold.

But the West Hayden Estates First Addition Homeowners Association does not share Jeremy’s yuletide cheer.

Last year, he purchased a home in their neighborhood – with hopes of making his annual holiday event bigger and better.

The HOA objected to the lavish display and put Jeremy on their naughty list.

They were especially upset about the religious nature of Jeremy’s display – as noted in a certified letter he said he received from the homeowner’s association board.

“I am somewhat hesitant in bringing up the fact that some of our residents are non-Christians or of another faith and I don’t even want to think of the problems that could bring up,” the letter read.

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HEROIN DEALER SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS WITHOUT PAROLE

On November 4, 2015, a Wicomico County Circuit Court judge sentenced Jacqueline Nicole Sheppard, age 40, of Salisbury Maryland to a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in the Maryland Division of Corrections. The 15 year minimum mandatory, non-parole eligible sentence is based upon Sheppard’s status as a repeat offender and her convictions for Possession of a Large Amount of Heroin and CDS Drug Trafficking.

On October 5, 2015, a Wicomico County jury convicted Sheppard of Possession of a Large Amount of Heroin, Importation of Heroin into the State of Maryland, two counts of Possession with the Intent to Distribute Heroin, two counts of Possession of Heroin, Drug Trafficking, Wear/Carry a Firearm During the Commission of a Drug Trafficking Crime, Wear/ Carry and Transport a Handgun in a Vehicle, Illegal Possession of a Regulated Firearm, Possession of a Rifle by a Disqualified Person, and three counts of Possession of Paraphernalia.

The charges against Sheppard arose out of a traffic stop on June 9, 2015, by the Wicomico County Narcotics Task Force and several assisting law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement officers followed a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta as it traveled from Delaware into the State of Maryland. Once in Wicomico County, Maryland, officers effectuated a traffic stop on the vehicle and were able to identify Sheppard as the driver and a male as the front seat passenger. Based on statements made at the traffic stop and a positive K-9 alert on the vehicle, a search was conducted on the 2014 Volkswagen Jetta. The search resulted in the recovery of 201 grams of heroin and a Davis Industries P-380 semi-automatic handgun with a magazine containing two live rounds of live ammunition. The 201 grams of heroin was located in a shoe box on the front passenger floor board. The handgun was located in the center console next to Sheppard’s purse.

A subsequent Search and Seizure Warrant was executed on Sheppard’s home located at 223 New York Avenue, Salisbury, Maryland. Upon execution of the warrant, members of the Task Force located a Central Machinery kilogram press with trace amounts of heroin, a digital scale with trace amounts of heroin, paraphernalia and a POF USA Rifle with a magazine and ten live rounds of ammunition. The kilogram press was located in a detached garage located behind the home. The rifle was located in the master bedroom under the bed.

Sheppard has prior convictions on her record which prohibited her from possessing a handgun or rifle on June 9, 2015.

The facts at trial revealed that Sheppard and Williams had traveled to New Jersey to buy the heroin. The jury was able to conclude that based on the quantity and packaging of the heroin, when combined with the handgun, scale, kilogram press and paraphernalia, that Sheppard possessed the heroin for distribution.

Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matthew Maciarello commended the Wicomico County Narcotics Task Force, the Maryland State Police Gang Enforcement Unit, the Maryland State Police Apprehension Team and the Drug Enforcement Administration for their work in this investigation and their assistance with this prosecution.

Mr. Maciarello also thanks the citizens of Wicomico County and Senior State’s Attorney, Patrizia J. Coletta, who prosecuted the case.

Troopers Investigate Vehicle Crash Involving a School Bus

Laurel, DE – Troopers are investigating a vehicle crash that occurred east of Laurel late this afternoon involving a Laurel School Bus.

The preliminary investigation revealed the incident occurred around 3:29 p.m. today, Thursday, November 05, 2015, as Jami Baker, 22 of Laurel, was operating a 2002 Oldsmobile Alero eastbound on Shiloh Church Road in the area of Chipsmans Pond Road directly behind the school bus. Pamela Johnson, 53 of Laurel, was operating a 2006 Blue Bird school bus and was stopped at the stop sign facing eastbound. The Alero failed to stop and struck the rear of the bus with the front bumper.

Jami Baker was treated and released at the scene with minor injuries. She was cited for Following to Closely.

The bus driver, Pamela Johnson, and six students on board the bus were uninjured in the collision.