Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Monday, April 28, 2014

If A Dog Was The Teacher

Nice way to think of things.. especially when the time comes for our pets...
A guide for life.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker.  The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer.

I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

Pennsylvania Dems Take Obama's Advice, Defend Obamacare

Unlike many in their party across the country, Democrats in Pennsylvania vying for governor are embracing Obamacare, Politico reports.

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz has perhaps taken the boldest stand in favor of the law, according to Politico, touting her work to get it passed and slamming incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett for refusing to accept federal Medicaid expansion. She's also attacked fellow primary contender Tom Wolf, a wealthy businessman she has been trailing in the polls.

Wolf responded by tweeting a link to an op-ed he wrote about healthcare, as well as other messages of support for the law, while former state environmental protection director Katie McGinty's campaign accused Schwartz of having actually worked to "weaken" the law, making Schwartz's latest position "mind-boggling." Wolf characterized Schwartz as a "frenemy" of Obamacare.

More

Woman charged with taking toy from child's grave

Police in northern Ohio have charged a woman who was seen on a surveillance video taking a stuffed animal from a child's grave.

Ontario police say 54-year-old Frieda Kay Shade turned herself in Wednesday after the cemetery surveillance video was widely viewed on the Internet and TV news.

Shade told authorities that she took a stuffed toy duck from the grave of 14-month-old Hayden 'Tank' Cole Sheridan on Saturday because a dog was running loose in the area, and she didn't want it to destroy the toy.

More

What Consent of the Governed?

Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Likely U.S. Voters now fear the federal government, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Forty-seven percent (47%) do not, but another 17% are not sure.

Perhaps in part that’s because 54% consider the federal government today a threat to individual liberty rather than a protector. Just 22% see the government as a protector of individual rights, and that’s down from 30% last November. Slightly more (24%) are now undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

As recently as December 2012, voters were evenly divided on this question: 45% said the federal government was a protector of individual rights, while 46% described it as a threat to those rights.

More

How to See Without Glasses

Divers discover horror of conditions onboard sunken South Korean ferry

The bodies of 48 young girls wearing lifejackets have been discovered in a single cabin of the doomed South Korean ferry, as government officials were forced to admit they sent the wrong bodies home to several grieving families.

As frustrated relatives of those missing on the Sewol ferry vented their anger at the pace of the search efforts, rescuers said the bodies of the 48 girls had been discovered in a cabin with a capacity of 30.

In a further blow to shattered families, the South Korean government has also been forced to admit that it in some cases bodies of the victims were 'wrongly transferred.'

Bodies will now be identified through DNA and finger-print testing to ensure the correct victims are sent home for burial.

The bungle heightened public outrage even further, as families wait to confirm the loss of up to 300 mainly young lives in the disaster.

More

Catherine Engelbrecht Gives A Heart Wrenching Testimony

Emails show CNN producers worked to make Rahm Emanuel a star

Chicago is no stranger to corruption so perhaps it's unsurprising that recently released emails show how CNN worked with city officials to portray Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a positive light for 'unscripted' documentary series 'Chicagoland'.

The Chicago Tribune obtained more than 700 emails that reveal how the CNN production team filming the eight-hour series worked with the mayor's office to develop storylines - getting their input on details like camera angles and the wording of press releases for the show.

The emails are made all the more inflammatory by the fact that Emmanuel is currently running for re-election in 2015, and the documentary appears to be reinforcing his campaign.

More

Middle school teacher gives student 'full-contact' lap dance in class

A 42-year-old middle school teacher is facing charges for giving one of her students a birthday lap dance during class.

Felicia A. Smith allegedly performed a 'full-contact' lap dance for the boy as he sat in a chair in the front of the classroom at Stovall Middle School in February.

Smith ended the dance by hugging the boy and saying, 'I love you baby, happy birthday,' according to court documents.

More

You think English is easy?

You think English is easy?

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture..

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

Barack Obama warns Kim Jong-un of consequences of fourth nuclear test

North Korean authorities say are holding a U.S. tourist after he apparently tried to claim asylum in the pariah state.

The 24-year-old was arrested for improper behaviour while he was bring processed to enter the Communist dictatorship as a tourist, state media reported.

The arrest was announced as Barack Obama issued a stark warning to North Korean despot Kim Jong-un of fresh economic sanctions over his nuclear ambitions.

The U.S. President said he would stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with South Korea in opposing the North's plans for a fourth nuclear test.

More

Pentagon To Destroy $1 Billion Worth Of Ammo. This Makes Sense Because…?

Why is the Pentagon to destroy ammunition for our men and women in uniform while the Department of Homeland Security is buying up millions of rounds of ammunition? As we asked last week, why are we decimating our military while many government agencies are arming up?

You really have to wonder why, according to USA Today, “The Pentagon plans to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition although some of those bullets and missiles could still be used by troops, according to the Pentagon and congressional sources. It’s impossible to know what portion of the arsenal slated for destruction — valued at $1.2 billion by the Pentagon — remains viable because the Defense Department’s inventory systems can’t share data effectively, according to a Government Accountability Office report obtained by USA TODAY. The result: potential waste of unknown value.”
Read More

Study: State tax giveaways to big business don't really bring jobs

OSAWATOMIE, Kan. — By the time theMcQueeny Group signed up for tax breaks through Kansas’ primary economic development engine, vice president Rod Slump said the business was already looking to make a move.

Tax breaks provided through Promoting Employment Across Kansas were just icing on the cake.

Like numerous other firms who have relocated to Kansas to take advantage of PEAK benefits, Overland Park-based McQueeny Group has been handed thousands in tax breaks for creating new jobs — more than $160,000 since 2011, according to the Kansas Department of Commerce.

More

NRA Set To Battle Bloomberg’s Gun Control Lobby To Secure Support From Women

Organizers behind Everytown for Gun Safety, the new advocacy group backed by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, say one of their top priorities is to turn guns into a women’s issue, akin to abortion or health care, and mobilize mothers ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Women at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting this weekend said, “Bring it on!”

“It shouldn’t be an issue and you should be able to just have your Second Amendment and be able to live your life,” said Linda Elliott, 25, a spokeswoman for 1 Million Moms Against Gun Control.
More

In Landmark Ruling, Jury Says Fracking Company Must Pay $3 Million to Sickened Family

A Texas family claiming they were sickened because of pollution from hydraulic fracturing operations near their home should be awarded $2.95 million for their troubles, a jury ruled on Tuesday.

The Parr family had sued Aruba Petroleum Inc. in 2011, alleging the oil and gas producer exposed them to hazardous gases, chemicals and industrial waste that seeped into the air from 22 wells drilled near the family’s 40-acre plot of land, which sits atop the Barnett Shale.

The jury returned a 5-1 verdict saying Aruba “intentionally created a private nuisance,” awarding $275,000 for losses on property value, $2 million for past physical pain and suffering, $250,000 for future physical pain and suffering, and $400,000 for mental anguish.

“They’re vindicated,” David Matthews, one of the Parr’s attorneys, wrote on his firm’s blog Tuesday. “I’m really proud of the family that went through what they went through … It’s not easy to go through a lawsuit and have your personal life uncovered and exposed to the extent this family went through.”

A statement provided to ThinkProgress from Aruba on Wednesday lamented the jury’s verdict, but did not indicate whether it would appeal.

More

Pediatrician Arrested for Sex Offenses and Child Abuse – Possibility of Additional Victims a Concern



Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department-Family Crimes Division have arrested and charged Leslie Boyd Altstatt, age 83, of the 10600 block of Lombardy Road in Silver Spring, with numerous sexual offenses/acts and child abuse. The abuse occurred between the years of 1964 and 1996 and the three female victims were related to Altstatt.

In late February of 2014, the three female victims notified Montgomery County Police of sexual abuse that had occurred when they were younger. Investigation has revealed that Altstatt committed sexual offenses and acts against the three victims between the years of 1964 and 1996. One victim reported that her abuse occurred between the ages of six to fifteen and that she was abused hundreds of times.




On April 25, Altstatt was arrested by Family Crimes detectives on the strength of arrest warrants and transported to the Central Processing Unit. Since that time, he has been released on bond. Altstatt has been charged with with five counts of committing a third degree sex offense, child abuse, and six counts of committing an unnatural and perverted sex practice.

Leslie Altstatt was employed as a pediatrician and researcher at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center located at 6900 Georgia Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C., from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s. Because of Altstatt’s position as a pediatrician and his access to children, detectives are concerned that there may be additional victims of Altstatt. Anyone who feels that he/she was victimized by Altstatt is asked to contact the Family Crimes Division at 240-773-5400.

Detectives Locate, Charge Wal-Mart Peeping Tom; Suspect A Truck Driver Arrested In Del.

BERLIN — Surveillance video and some good detective work last week led to the arrest of a Pennsylvania man wanted in connection with a Peeping Tom incident at the Wal-Mart in Berlin in early April.

Around 9:30 a.m. on April 3, the Maryland State Police received a call from Wal-Mart Security advising a white male had entered the ladies’ room and used a cell phone to take photographs or video of a victim who was using the restroom. While the victim was using the restroom, she observed a cell phone suddenly appear under the stall door and immediately confronted the suspect.

The suspect, described as a white male, roughly 35-40 years old and about 275-300 pounds, exited the restrooms and the Wal-Mart store and began running toward the Home Depot store adjacent to the Wal-Mart. The victim and Wal-Mart employees continued to follow the suspect until they lost sight of him.

MORE

SAFE STREETS OFFENDER SENTENCED TO FOURTEEN YEARS IN PRISON

On April 28, 2014, Safe Streets Offender Kevin Rashaan Horsey, Sr., age 22, of Salisbury, Maryland, was sentenced on a charge of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. Horsey had pleaded guilty to this offense on February 12, 2014. Horsey’s sentencing was deferred until this morning, April 28th. At his sentencing hearing, a Wicomico County Circuit Court judge sentenced Horsey to a total of fourteen years of active incarceration in the Maryland Division of Corrections. Horsey was also ordered to forfeit a total of $1,442 of suspected drug proceeds which had been seized during his arrest. This sentence was ordered to run consecutively to several other sentences which Horsey is currently serving for drug offenses and a violation of probation.

Horsey had been pending charges related to his October 2, 2013 arrest by members of the Maryland State Apprehension Team who were seeking Horsey on three open and active warrants. When investigators located and apprehended Horsey, he was found to be carrying the $1,442 and approximately 57 grams of cocaine on his person. 

Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matthew A. Maciarello commended the Maryland State Apprehension Team for their work in the investigation and prosecution of this case. The Maryland State Apprehension Team includes, among other agencies, the Maryland State Police, the Salisbury Police Department, and the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Maciarello also thanked James L. Britt who prosecuted Horsey.   

Green Bay police officer Derek Wicklund goes too far... Warning, Foul Language

You Got Grounded!!