While Mom & Dad Still Help, Students Are Taking On More Of The Costs Of A College Education

The image of students riding high on the hog, flush with cash from mom and dad while partying through college might not be so true to life these days, as a new study shows that students are taking more financial responsibility for paying college costs, whether from their own pockets or through borrowing.

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Dirty Air Conditioner Filters Could Be Blowing Your Money Away

Has anyone else noticed that it's been pretty hot this summer? As such, your air conditioner is probably getting quite the workout. But it's important to make sure you're getting the most out of it as you can so it can do its very best to cool you down instead of just running up your electric bill. That goes for your dehumidifier as well. One easy way to optimize those appliances? Cleaning out your dirty filters.

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Food Stamp Ad

The Agriculture Department has cancelled a soap-opera-style ad campaign that let Spanish speakers know about food stamps. The radio dramas followed characters as they considered applying for the food-assistance program. The "novelas" came under fire from conservatives. The Daily Caller noted USDA was not making comparable soap operas in English. USDA told the conservative website: it removed the ads because they were 4-years old and did not meet the department's standards for outreach. It said its ad campaigns target communities at greatest risk of hunger.

Federal Judge Imposes Racial Quota on FDNY, Responding to Minorities Who Failed Entrance Exams

A federal judge is ordering the New York City Fire Department to implement racial quotas to address grievances from minorities who failed entrance exams.

On July 5 in Brooklyn, Nicholas G. Garaufis, a Clinton-appointed judge for the Eastern District of New York, issued a ruling that requires two of every five newly hired fireman to be black and one of every five, Hispanic -- until the department has fulfilled the court-ordered quota of 186 black and 107 Hispanic hires.

The ruling allows back pay -- totaling an estimated $128.7 million -- for minorities who failed written tests.

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Clinton Set To Sign U.N. Treaty To Disarm America, Advance Global Government

On July 27 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, acting on behalf of the United States of America is expected to sign an international treaty through the auspices of the United Nations that is known as the Arms Trade Treaty, which will be represented by the Obama Administration as being a way to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals and would have no effect on private gun ownership in America.

First of all, have you even heard about such a treaty, do you approve of an inept, anti-American agency like the United Nations having anything to do with gun control in America or anyplace else?

Secondly, we've seen the abject failure of what happens when inept politicians and bureaucrats get involved in the firearms business. Just look at what happened with Eric Holder’s, yes Eric Holder’s, it was his department and his responsibility, Fast and Furious debacle. Do you honestly think the UN would do any better as corrupt as it is?

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Missing Dog 7-17-12: UPDATE

Feds Make Unprecedented Move to Regulate Credit Scoring

File this under “What could possibly go wrong?”

The companies that determine Americans’ credit scores are about to come under government oversight for the first time.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said Monday that it will start supervising the 30 largest firms that make up 94 percent of the industry. That includes the three big credit reporting firms: Equifax Inc., Experian, and TransUnion.

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Energy Dept. 'Unable to Locate' $500,000 in Equipment Bought With Stimulus Money

An audit conducted by the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General was "unable to locate" $500,000 worth of equipment purchased with stimulus money by a recipient of funds distributed through the deparment's “Advanced Batteries and Hybrid Components Program,” according to an audit report published by the OIG.

The DOE said it would not be "appropriate" to release the name of stimulus-money recipient where the $500,000 worth of equipment could not be located.

The program was given nearly $2 billion in stimulus funds "to support the construction of U.S. based battery and electric drive component
manufacturing plants." As of June, DOE had "expended" about $1.2 billion of that money and had made grants to "30 for-profit manufacturers," according to the July 10 audit report.

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Iowa Town Makes Web Appeal for Money to Fix Levee

An Iowa town that was flooded last year is hoping a unique email and video campaign brings a deluge of donations to help fix the levee that saved it.

The town of Hamburg, Iowa, rolled out a campaign on Monday to raise as much as $4.6 million to fix the barrier that stands between it and the unforgiving Missouri River. Last year, the levee was built up an additional 8 feet with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and held back waters that reached 17 feet during a 120-day period in which the river swelled. But now, the feds say the extra dirt must either come off or the entire levee must be rebuilt permanently.

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Law of the Sea Treaty Now Dead, DeMint Says

The United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty now has 34 senators opposed to it and thus lacks the Senate votes needed for U.S. ratification, a key opponent of the treaty announced Monday.

But the treaty’s main Senate proponent denies the treaty is sunk, saying plenty of time still exists to win support before a planned late-year vote.

The Law of the Sea Treaty, which entered into force in 1994 and has been signed and ratified by 162 countries, establishes international laws governing the maritime rights of countries. The treaty has been signed but not ratified by the U.S., which would require two-thirds approval of the Senate.

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ANOTHER Order Of Tee Shirts Has Been Placed

Another supporter came in today proudly showing off his Tee Shirt.

We started out with about 250 Tee Shirts and as you can see the rack is almost bone dry. I don't care who you are, that's a lot of shirts and we're still 8 months away from the election.

I want to thank all of you for stopping by and showing your support. Everywhere I go I hear people talking about how they were here or there and they saw Tee Shirts. One said they were at the Baltimore Airport and saw on there. Another said they saw one over the weekend in Ocean City.

I called in another order today so we should fill back up again very soon.

Would-Be Chicago Cop Collects $500k in Disability

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Donald E. Barnes Jr. has collected roughly $500,000 in tax-free disability payments over the past fifteen years, after sustaining an injury during a “slow jog” at the Chicago Police training academy.

He had been in training for a mere ten days when the injury occurred, according to the report, and never actually served a day as a police officer.

 The report relates that then-30-year-old Barnes had accomplished five blocks of the three-mile jog when he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with heat stroke and placed in intensive care due to kidney and liver failure.

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One-Third of Obama’s Earnings 2009-2011 From Foreign Sources

During the time that President Obama has been in office, he has earned some $2,711,340 from foreign sources. That’s 30.1 percent of Obama’s total income during that time. During that period, Obama forked over $87,429 to foreign countries. Most of that cash comes from book sales.

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Drought Now Grips More Than Half of the Nation

The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading, with more than half of the continental United States now in some stage of drought and most of the rest enduring abnormally dry conditions.

Only in the 1930s and the 1950s has a drought covered more land, according to federal figures released Monday. So far, there's little risk of a Dust Bowl-type catastrophe, but crop losses could mount if rain doesn't come soon.

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Judge on Gorder Agent: Looks Like Misdemeanor

A team of advocates for U.S. Border Patrol Agent Jesus E. “Chito” Diaz Jr. is demanding his immediate release from prison after an appeals court judge said during oral arguments in the case that the officer’s actions may have been a misdemeanor.

“We, LEOAC, have long investigated this pattern of government protecting illegal alien drug cartel smugglers by the Justice Department [which] prosecutes Border Patrol agents instead of bad guy,” said Andy Ramirez, president of the Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council.

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Florida City Removes American Flags From Fire Trucks

Demonstrators waving American flags protested outside a fire station in Seminole, Fla. after the city ordered American flags removed from all fire trucks.

City officials said the flags were removed after they received complaints that the flags were being “inappropriately displayed.”

The flag was being displayed from the back of a ladder truck. After it was removed, city officials received a second complaint about smaller flags that were being displayed from truck windows.

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Clinton Breaks World Record

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will break a world record this morning when her plane touches down at Andrews Air Force Base. It will end a 13-day epic journey. In less that two weeks, Clinton flew 27,000 miles. That's 2,000 miles more than the circumference of the Earth. She visited Europe, Asia and the Middle East. One Clinton staffer told the Associated Press: the itinerary was "especially absurd ... even for us." Some have wondered if the miles were catching up to Clinton when she suffered a coughing fit in Hanoi last week. Clinton has visited 102 countries since becoming secretary of state.

Be Careful Of The Speed Camera Up At Parkside

Missing Dog: UPDATE

A special thanks goes out to the employees of Food Lion.

Joe,

My co-workers dog got out of the back yard in the Chesapeake Heights neighborhood near Old Ocean City Road and Park Road in Salisbury. He is a 2 year old male Husky with blue eyes. He has tags. If found please call Susan at 443-880-6580. He has been missing for about an hour to hour and a half. Thank you so much for posting this for your readers.

Obama Runs From Obamacare, Claims 'Stabilized Economy' Greatest Achievement

During an interview with Charlie Rose the President backed away from claiming his own health care law as his signature achievement. Instead, he claims that the non-existent stability of the American economy is his real achievement.

President Obama said his proudest achievement over the past three and a half years is stabilizing the economy, not his signature health care reform law.

The President roared only recently "The law I passed is here to stay!" and the campaign distributed "Because of Obamacare" literature at an event earlier this month. However, after witnessing the sheer unpopularity of the law the President and his surrogates are now working feverishly to distance him from it, going so far as to brand the term "Obamacare" as Racist™.

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