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Obama Puts 31 Year-Old Kid Who’s Never Been Inside Auto Plant In Charge of Dismantling GM We’re in the best of hands. Barack Obama has a 31 year-old student dismantling General Motors and reshaping capitalism.Unreal. The New York Times made this stunning admission today:
It is not every 31-year-old who, in a first government job, finds himself dismantling General Motors and rewriting the rules of American capitalism. But that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry. Nor, for that matter, had he given much thought to what ailed an industry that had been in decline ever since he was born. A bit laconic and looking every bit the just-out-of-graduate-school student adjusting to life in the West Wing — “he’s got this beard that appears and disappears,” says Steven Rattner, one of the leaders of President Obama’s automotive task force — Mr. Deese was thrown into the auto industry’s maelstrom as soon the election-night parties ended.
UPDATE:
Change! FOX News’ Glenn Beck slammed Barack Obama’s General Motors Auto Task Force kid wonder and former George Soros employee, Brian Deese.This was brutal. It was honest, but it was brutal:
The New York Times reported that the 31-year-old Deese in a first government job finds himself dismantling General Motors and rewriting the rules of American capitalism.The kid’s never worked for anyone except if you count George Soros.We’re truly in the best of hands. Here’s the transcript.
I caught a bit of that and there were these workers saying, “How come these people get to lay us off. We never elected a car czar. Yet people out of nowhere that someone just appointed get to run our lives.” That’s what kills me most about all this stuff. We are being run by people who nobody elected, nobody wanted, and nobody with any sense would choose. And they get to mess us up. All they want.
Confirmed: Little Rock Recruiter Killer Abdulhakim Muhammad Trained In Yemen TERROR STRIKES IN LITTLE ROCK.Muslim convert studied in Yemen before gunning down Army recruiter in Little Rock.
The man who shot dead an Army recruiter and wounded another in Little Rock trained in Yemen.Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad converted to Islam and went to Yemen to study.He told police earlier that he hated the US military.
The suspect arrested in the fatal shooting of one soldier and the critical injury of another at a Little Rock, Ark., Army recruiting booth today was under investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorist Task Force since his return from Yemen, ABC News has learned. The investigation was in its preliminary stages, authorities said, and was based on the suspect’s travel to Yemen and his arrest there for using a Somali passport. The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, had changed his name from Carlos Leon Bledsoe after converting to the Muslim faith. Law enforcement sources said he offered no resistance when Little Rock police arrested him today.
It looks like Robert Spencer was correct. As of November 2007, the US had thwarted 19 terrorist attacks inside the US.Hat W.Yesterday was the first terror attack by an Islamic radical on US soil this year.It was the first successful terrorist attack against our military personnel on US soil since 9/11.
Remember the post in which the man had 21 kids at age 29? here's the outcome of his support hearing.
A man aged 29 has fathered 21 children with 11 different women, it emerged yesterday. Desmond Hatchett’s brood came to light after authorities in Tennessee in the U.S. took him to court for non-payment of child support. He has apparently set a U.S. record but said: ‘It just happened.’ Hatchett, who earns a minimal wage, told TV reporters he knows the names and ages of all his offspring. Their ages range from newborn to 11 years old. Authorities in Knoxville said they plan to take half of his monthly salary to pay for the youngsters but officials said that would work out to just over [$1.61] a week for each. His lawyer Keith Pope said: ‘The children can’t all be supported by Desmond, so the state of Tennessee has had to step in.’Many Knoxville residents called for him to be castrated. He even boasted of fathering four children by different women in the same year…” (source) I have to wonder what the staunchest Libertarian, or the Cato Institute, would say about this… How many kids do taxpayers foot the bill for before those taxpayers get a say? This is disgusting
I had to take my son to the orthopedic Dr. today for a sprained ankle that just wouldn't heal. The Dr. did all the things Dr.'s do and gave him a prescription for a ankle brace/support and told us to go to Apple Discount Drugs to purchase it.
We went to the store and to the pharmacy counter and gave the young lady behind the counter the prescription. She knew immediately what it was, and where it was, and walked us right to it.
She then explained that the braces come in several sizes and that my sons ankle would need to be measured and that she was not sure that the insurance would cover the cost of the brace. No big deal it was only 39 bucks and what do you do? He needed the brace.
She then walked us over to another counter for assistance with the insurance and the size of the brace. The young lady at that counter was extremely nice also but she didn't think the insurance would cover the cost of the brace but before just saying that we had to pay for the brace like many places, she promptly asked an associate if they were aware if our insurance would cover the cost. These people at Apple Discount Drugs went out of their way to make sure we received what we needed and if, or if not our insurance would cover the cost of the prescribed brace.
After a few minuets of very pleasant service the young lady advised us that the insurance would cover the cost. They promptly took care of the paperwork and then measured my sons ankle to determine the size brace he needed grabbed a brace off the shelf and actually put the brace on his ankle and explained how to adjust it and so on.
While we were in the store being serviced I had several pleasant conversations with the stores associates, I asked them a few questions that I had while there and again they were just simply amazingly polite and professional.
Also while waiting I had a gentleman come up to me and say hello and shook my hand and said "I thought I recognized you" he was a gentleman that his son goes to school with my son and they are good friends, me not being good with faces and feeling embarrassed he refreshed my memory and we talked for a moment and he went about his business.
Now, it's really a shame to be shocked at this kind of treatment in a retail store because I remember when this treatment was normal at nearly any retail establishment. We have become so desensitized to good treatment and the norm being; "if it's not here we don't have it", or "NO! your insurance will not cover this" without them taking the time to research or even checking at all that I was shocked and actually I had forgotten what real, good service is.
My hat's off to Apple Discount Drugs you are truly a great place to do business with and have exceptional, professional, courteous employees. Really all I can say about the service I received today is WOW!
Thank You Apple Discount Drugs employees, keep up the good--- no great work.
I wish we had an Apple Discount Drugs here in Pocomoke.
Hey Apple!! We have several very nice empty commercial buildings for sale or rent here. http://www.appledrugs.com/
This Father's Day weekend will mark the first of three fee-free weekends at National Parks across the nation. That means you can get into Assateague National Park without paying an entrance fee. Officials are hoping to increase tourism and boost the economy.The other two fee-free Summer weekends are July 18 and August 15.
PRINCESS ANNE, Md.- A former Manokin man convicted of murdering a Crisfield woman was sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison Monday by a Somerset County Circuit Court judge. Thirty-six-year-old Joseph Olandis Walter Hayman Jr. was indicted by a grand jury in August after police found the charred skeletal remains of Rhonda Lee Parks 10 feet from the rear of a house owned by a relative of Hayman, whom he lived with at one time.
Judge Daniel Long sentenced Hayman to life in prison but suspended all but 50 years on the first-degree murder charge and 10 years on the use of a handgun in a felony or violent crime charge. Hayman entered an Alford plea for both charges in April. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have sufficient evidence for a conviction. Parks was last seen in February 2006 at a Dash-In convenience store in Westover, and had been reported as a missing person to police. During the search for Parks, her purse, identification and jeans were located on a grassy shoulder area of northbound Route 13 in the Westover area. For two years, police had been searching for Parks. On April 10, 2008, the Somerset County Sheriff's Office received information from North Carolina concerning human remains that could be located at Hayman's previous address in the Manokin area. Approximately 10 feet from the rear of the vacant home located on the 8500 block of Fontaine Road in Manokin, police found a 55-gallon steel drum containing Parks' burned and badly decomposed skeletal remains. Prosecutors believe Hayman left for North Carolina in 2006, the same year Parks was reported missing. Hayman was extradited back to Maryland in July to face charges.
If you are driving through the Berlin area this week, State Police are warning you to take it slow. Sunday they launched the "Smooth Operator Enforcement Initiative."Troopers plan to crack down on aggessive driving through Saturday. They are hoping to increase traffic safety and reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents.
As this is a Worcester County "crack-down" will Pocomoke be included? if there's anything we need it's the strong enforcement of open-air drug sales here in Pocomoke. The dealers here are so in your face and uncaring of prosecution and have been for years. I hope Todd makes Pocomoke the next target of this program and somehow forces our officers to actually arrest the dealers or bring in the deputies. Then if we can just figure out how to stop a pocomoke City council member from bailing them out.
One community in Worcester County has been facing a growing drug trade problem and the community is fed up. Now numerous law enforcement agencies are joining efforts to fight back against drug dealing. The Worcester County State's Attorney's Office is spearheading an initiative - along with five police agencies - to crackdown on dealings.The initiative focuses on Bay and Flower Streets in Berlin. Mayor Gee Williams says brazen, open air drug trade has been a persistent problem in this neighborhood for many years, especially because of its close proximity to a Route 113."The folks that live there have had it," said Berlin Mayor Gee Williams.Area resident William Nick said, "I can see deals going down, as they say. People waiting for cars. They leave for thirty seconds and come back . I see them doing transactions."Under the initiative, first-time offenders would be able to skip jail time if they attend a public hearing with the community to explain their actions. But if that person commits the same crime again, they'll face double the charges. One resident says the program and greater police presence is working."There's been quite a bit of drug busts around 113 and the around the area. Police are going a good job," said Nick."We don't just look the other way after the operation is over. We continue to pay attention to that community. We get rid of the open air drug market and the we keep other drug dealers from coming back in their place," said Worcester County State's Attorney Joel Todd.Nearly a dozen people have been arrested since the program launched this winter. It's modeled after a similar program in North Carolina, but this is the first of its kind on the Eastern Shore. The Worcester County State's Attorney also says he plans to start a crime watch program for the town.
Elementary school teachers in Alameda, Calif., will introduce lesson plans to their educational curriculum beginning next year that address gay and lesbian issues, KCBS News in San Francisco reports. Kindergarten through grade 5 students throughout the county will be exposed to same-sex educational material aimed at promoting tolerance and inclusiveness. The curriculum –– which will include lessons to introduce students to “LGBT” (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual) issues –– will be designed to discourage bullying and teasing based on gay and lesbian stereotypes. The plan will be implemented despite objections by parents who complain children are too young to be exposed to the material. Many parents are condemning the lesson plan as sex education in disguise and are angered that they will not be allowed to exempt their children from the lessons. Opponents decry the curriculum plan as an effort to advance the gay, lesbian and transgendered agenda. Those opposed to sexual orientation lessons for children are so upset they are threatening to sue the school board, ABC News reports. Promoting gay, lesbian and sexual orientation should be a parents' rights issue, parents say, and is not an appropriate topic for school children. The Alameda school district's legal counsel, however, recommended the plan because the curriculum does not deal with health or sex education, which are topics that do require opt-out provisions. “It was the opinion of our legal counsel that this curriculum was not health or sex education curriculum,” school board president Mike McMahon told CNS New. “If a student responds that one family in the book is made up of a mother, a father, and two children and a cat, you may acknowledge that some families look like this, but ask students for other examples of what a family can look like.” School Board Member Trish Spencer, who voted against the plan, said she worries that its implementation could lead to the harassment of students who have religious objections to homosexuality. She cited that bullying due to religion is a bigger problem for the district than bullying based on homosexuality. Also adamantly opposed to the plan is Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families. “This will be done whether parents like it or not, and it shows the hostility against parental rights and traditional family values,” Thomasson, told CNS New. Last month, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, the voter-approved initiative to make same-sex marriage illegal that passed in November. The Alameda school board said it will review its decision to implement the curriculum at the end of next year’s school session.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Confronted by two holdup men, pharmacist Jerome Ersland pulled a gun, shot one of them in the head and chased the other away. Then, in a scene recorded by the drugstore's security camera, he went behind the counter, got another gun, and pumped five more bullets into the wounded teenager as he lay on the floor. Now Ersland has been charged with first-degree murder in a case that has stirred a furious debate over vigilante justice and self-defense and turned the pharmacist into something of a folk hero. Ersland, 57, is free on $100,000 bail, courtesy of an anonymous donor. He has won praise from the pharmacy's owner, received an outpouring of cards, letters and checks from supporters, and become the darling of conservative talk radio. "His adrenaline was going. You're just thinking of survival," said John Paul Hernandez, 60, a retired Defense Department employee who grew up in the neighborhood. "All it was is defending your employee, business and livelihood. If I was in that position and that was me, I probably would have done the same thing." District Attorney David Prater said Ersland was justified in shooting 16-year-old Antwun Parker once in the head, but not in firing the additional shots into his belly. The prosecutor said the teenager was unconscious, unarmed, lying on his back and posing no threat when Ersland fired what the medical examiner said were the fatal shots. Anthony Douglas, president of the Oklahoma chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called it an "execution-style murder" and praised the district attorney for bringing charges. Ersland is white; the two suspects were black. Parker's parents also expressed relief that Ersland faces a criminal charge. "He didn't have to shoot my baby like that," Parker's mother, Cleta Jennings, told TV station KOCO. But many of those who have seen the video of the May 19 robbery attempt at Reliable Discount Pharmacy have concluded the teenager in the ski mask got what he deserved. Mark Shannon, who runs a conservative talk show on Oklahoma City's KTOK, said callers have jammed his lines this week in support of Ersland, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel who wears a back brace on the job and told reporters he is a disabled veteran of the Gulf War. "There is no gray area," Shannon said. One caller "said he should have put all the shots in the head." Don Spencer, a 49-year-old National Rifle Association member who lives in the small town of Meridian, 40 miles north of Oklahoma City, said the pharmacist did the right thing: "You shoot more than enough to make sure the threat has been removed." Barbara Bergman, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law, likened the public reaction to that of the case of Bernard Goetz, the New Yorker who shot four teenagers he said were trying to rob him when they asked for $5 on a subway in 1984. Goetz was cleared of attempted murder and assault but convicted of illegal gun possession and served 8 1/2 months in jail. Bergman said those who claim they used deadly force in self-defense have to show they were "in reasonable fear of serious bodily injury." The pharmacy is in a crime-ridden section of south Oklahoma City and had been robbed before. The video shows two men bursting in, one of them pointing a gun at Ersland and two women working with the druggist behind the counter. Ersland fires a pistol, driving the gunman from the store and hitting Parker in the head as he puts on a ski mask. Ersland chases the second man outside, then goes back inside, walks behind the counter with his back to Parker, gets a second handgun and opens fire. Irven Box, Ersland's attorney, noted the outpouring of support for the pharmacist, including $2,000 in donations, and said: "I feel very good 12 people would not determine he committed murder in the first degree." Under Oklahoma's "Make My Day Law" — passed in the late 1980s and named for one of Clint Eastwood's most famous movie lines — people can use deadly force when they feel threatened by an intruder inside their homes. In 2006, Oklahoma's "Stand Your Ground Law" extended that to anywhere a citizen has the right to be, such as a car or office. "It's a 'Make-My-Day' case," Box said. "This guy came in, your money or your life. Mr. Ersland said, `You're not taking my life.'" The gunman "forfeited his life." Box said that another person might have reacted differently, but he asked: "When do you turn off that adrenaline switch? When do you think you're safe? I think that's going to be the ultimate issue." If convicted, Ersland could be sentenced to life in prison with or without parole, or receive the death penalty. Jevontia Ingram, the 14-year-old boy accused of wielding the gun in the robbery, was arrested Thursday. The district attorney on Friday filed a first-degree murder charge against him, as well as against a man accused of being the getaway driver, and another man suspected of helping talk the teens into the crime. The charges accuse all three of sharing responsibility for Parker's shooting death.
Your kids may get a bang out of Bing — and that's not a good thing, Internet safety experts warned on Monday.
Bing, Microsoft's new search engine (www.bing.com), went live in the U.S. this weekend, aiming to challenge and possibly unseat industry titan Google. But bloggers and Internet safety experts quickly discovered that one of Bing's "features" is that it takes only a few clicks for anyone — of any age — to view explicit pornographic videos without even leaving the search engine. In its bid to beat Google, Microsoft has unveiled a slate of convenient features for Bing, including an "autoplay" tool that lets users preview videos simply by hovering a mouse over them.
That asset may become a liability, because users can get a taste of porn videos on Bing instead of having to go to a smutty Web site — an innovation other search engines have yet to offer. • Click here for FOXNews.com's Personal Technology Center.
Technology blogger Loic Le Meur noticed the issue early Monday after testing video search on Bing. What he found was a cornucopia of pornography that he said transformed the search engine into its very own pornographic Web site. "You are now on a porn site without leaving Bing. Amazing," Le Meur wrote on his blog. Bing, like other major search engines, lets users set filtering preferences at one of three levels — strict, moderate or simply off. Online safety advocates argue that search engines need to do much more to cut off underage access to pornography — because the filters can be circumvented easily with just one click.
"It's a no-brainer for any kid," said Donna Rice Hughes, president and chairwoman of Enough Is Enough, a group that works to help parents protect children from online porn. "From the standpoint of the new state-of-the-art search engine, [the video preview] is a really neat thing of course," Hughes said. "The flipside of that is that you've got an abundance of pornography out there." Content-filtering companies have also been reviewing Bing — and have found the same gaping problems. With adult-content filters turned off, "Bing.com does at this point allow users to watch pornographic videos without ever leaving the site," said Forrest Collier, CEO of InternetSafety.com.
Parental filtering software such as SafeEyes, which is produced by Collier's company, can block any explicit or unwanted search results, he said.
CyberPatrol, another major safe software manufacturer, confirmed to FOXNews.com that its early tests had successfully blocked all illicit media during searches with Bing. Hughes, the director of Enough Is Enough, said Microsoft and other search engines "need to make their filtered searches much more prominent and have an option for password protection" that parents could use to prevent kids from switching the controls around.
Microsoft said in a statement that it was up to users to turn off the filters, and provided instructions on how to toggle the settings on its blog.
"By default, Bing filters out explicit image and video results. Consumers must take action to turn off the Safe Search filter in their settings in order for explicit image or video content to appear in Bing's results," the statement read.
Other major search engines like Yahoo and Google come up with similar video and image results when electronic filters are turned off — but don't provide automatic playing of videos within the search-results page.
The abundance of pornography is something child health experts say is simply a fact of life. "Kids can access pornography on the Internet no matter what the search engine is," Dr. David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, told FOXNews.com. Walsh said it's particularly important that kids be protected from the worst excesses of pornography during their formative years.
"Because they're at the very age when they are developing their whole attitudes about sex and sexuality," he said, it's bad for them to be visiting porn sites, "where sex is basically a commodity to be bought and sold and where women are treated like objects. The attitudes that they're going to pick up there are not the attitudes we want them to have for life." Protecting kids from pornography or other potentially harmful materials must ultimately rest with parents, Walsh added.
"I don't know that search engines can be programmed to do the job that parents need to," he said.
When Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) learned that President Obama was heading up to the Big Apple for a weekend visit, he took the opportunity to make a rather unfortunate wisecrack to a New York Daily News reporter. "Make certain he doesn't run around East Harlem unidentified."The joke makes reference to the latest racially tinged incident to befall New York City, when a black off-duty police officer, Omar Edwards, was in Harlem and discovered someone attempting to steal his car. Dressed in street clothes, the officer drew his gun and gave chase to the would-be thief. Another officer, Andrew Dunton, who is white, happened upon the scene, mistook Edwards as the bad guy and shot his fellow officer dead. Rangel also said of the incident and Obama's New York trip,
"Whether it's me, whether it's the attorney general, or indeed, whether it's the President of the United States, running for a bus can jeopardize you - just because of your color - in a community like ours."
At a rally with the Rev. Al Sharpton, Rangel added,
"The President of the United States knows while he is in this town this weekend [that] if he did not have Secret Service with him, they would not know he was the President of the United States."
While there is a kernel of truth to what Rangel is on about, his over-the-top way of putting his case is regrettable. Running down 125th Street brandishing a pistol is not as innocent as running to catch a bus. And why add fuel to this fire by creating a silly hypothetical about what would happen to President Obama if, by some outlandish Hollywood plot turn, he suddenly found himself in East Harlem without his Secret Service detail, running for a bus?
"I have great respect for Charlie Rangel, but in this case, he's just plain wrong. This was a tragedy. Our Police Department is diverse and they train. Sometimes things happen and they're inexplicable.
The president's spokesmen rightfully refused to comment on a story he never should have been brought into in the first place. The book of relations between the NYPD and New York's black community is filled with terrible chapters of tragedy and recrimination. Viewing it in its totality, one would be have to be blind not to see a disturbing pattern of bigotry over the years. But one must also be careful not to overinflate those incidents that may simply be accidental. Was race a deciding factor Omar Edwards' death? Perhaps. Then again, maybe it wasn't.
** Martini to celebrate first 5 months of spending binge- $9.00** 2 tickets to Joe Turner’s Come And Gone, a play about a man coming to terms with the history of slavery- $120** 3 private flights to Manhattan- $45,000 ** Taking your wife out on a date on the US taxpayer’s dime- Priceless.
The Daily Mail reported: That’s for three private jets, two helicopter rides, extra planes for security and closing roads for motorcade It was a campaign pledge that Barack Obama didn’t dare break - a promise to take his wife out for dinner and a show once the election was over. So on the weekend he booked a babysitter, asked Michelle to put on a little black dress and swept her off for a date… The romantic jaunt is estimated to have cost the taxpayer more than £45,000 in transport and security costs - because the date was in New York. The President used three planes, one to carry the couple and two to ferry aides and reporters all the way from Washington.The cost of each flight was thought to be nearly £15,000. The bill was pushed even higher with the use of two helicopters, one to take the Obamas to catch their plane in Washington and another to zip the party into Manhattan from JFK airport. It seems like it was just yesterday that Barack Obama was telling us that everyone was going to have to sacrifice for the greater good.
WICHITA, Kan. (June 1) —A man suspected of fatally shooting abortion doctor George Tiller in church was in jail Monday while investigators sought to learn more about his background, including his possible connections to anti-abortion groups. Tiller, 67, was serving as an usher during morning services Sunday when he was shot in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church, police said. The gunman fired one shot at Tiller and threatened two other people who tried to stop him.
The suspect, identified by one law enforcement agency as Scott Roeder, was taken into custody some 170 miles away in a Kansas City suburb about three hours after the shooting.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston (FOHL'-stuhn) indicated that charges will not be filed Monday. Foulston noted that the state has 48 hours to charge anyone who is in custody and said she planned to take the full two days to decide. She said any charges would be filed in state court.
"We have taken jurisdiction," she said.
Also, a law enforcement official says investigators have searched two homes as part of the inquiry into Tiller's killing. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation, says the homes are in Merrian, Kan., and the other is in Kansas City, Mo. The official did not know what turned up during the searches.
Tiller had been a lightning rod for abortion opponents for decades. The women's clinic he ran is one of three in the nation where abortions are performed after the 21st week of pregnancy, when the fetus is considered viable, and has been the site of repeated protests for about two decades. A protester shot Tiller in both arms in 1993, and his clinic was bombed in 1985.
Roeder, 51, was returned to Wichita and was being held without bail on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Outside the clinic Monday morning, flowers were placed along a fence, and the anti-abortion group Kansas Coalition for Life left a sign saying members had prayed for Tiller's change of heart, "not his murder." In Washington, the U.S. Marshals Service said that as a result of Tiller's shooting, Attorney General Eric Holder had ordered it to "increase security for a number of individuals and facilities." It gave no details. Tiller himself last had protection from the U.S. marshals in 2001, and he and other doctors received such protection at different times in the 1990s. A man with the same name as the suspect has a criminal record and a background of anti-abortion postings on sympathetic Web sites. In one post written in 2007 on the Web site for the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, a man identifying himself as Scott Roeder asked if anyone had thought of attending Tiller's church to ask the doctor and other worshippers about his work. "Doesn't seem like it would hurt anything but bring more attention to Tiller," the post said. But police said Sunday that all early indications showed the shooter acted alone. Operation Rescue condemned the killing as vigilantism and "a cowardly act," and the group's president, Troy Newman, said Roeder "has never been a member, contributor or volunteer." He may have posted to the organization's open Internet blog, Newman said, but so have thousands of nonmembers. But Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, whose protests have often targeted Tiller, called the slain doctor "a mass murderer," adding: "He was an evil man — his hands were covered with blood."
In 1996, a 38-year-old man named Scott Roeder was charged in Topeka with criminal use of explosives for having bomb components in his car trunk and sentenced to 24 months of probation. However, his conviction was overturned on appeal the next year after a higher court said evidence against Roeder was seized by law enforcement officers during an illegal search of his car. At the time, police said the FBI had identified Roeder as a member of the anti-government Freemen group, an organization that kept the FBI at bay in Jordan, Mont., for almost three months in 1995-96. Authorities on Sunday night would not immediately confirm if their suspect was the same man. Morris Wilson, a commander of the Kansas Unorganized Citizens Militia in the mid-1990s, told The Kansas City Star he knew Roeder fairly well. "I'd say he's a good ol' boy, except he was just so fanatic about abortion," Wilson said. "He was always talking about how awful abortion was. But there's a lot of people who think abortion is awful." The slaying quickly brought condemnation from both anti-abortion and abortion-rights groups, as well as President Barack Obama. "However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence," Obama said in a statement. Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said Tiller apparently did not have a bodyguard with him in church, although the doctor was routinely accompanied by one. An attorney for Tiller, Dan Monnat, said the doctor's wife, Jeanne, was in the choir at the time of the shooting. Monnat said in early May that Tiller had asked federal prosecutors to step up investigations of vandalism and other threats against the clinic out of fear that the incidents were increasing and that Tiller's safety was in jeopardy. However, Stolz said authorities knew of no threats connected to the shooting. Church members said anti-abortion protesters have shown up outside the church on Sundays regularly. "They've been out here for quite a few years. We've just become accustomed to it. Just like an everyday thing, you just looked over and see them and say, 'Yup they're back again.'" The last killing of an abortion doctor was in October 1998 when Dr. Barnett Slepian was fatally shot in his home in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y. A militant abortion opponent was convicted of the murder. One of Tiller's lawyers and friends, Dan Monnat, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that Tiller had been supported by his wife and children in his decision to continue providing abortion services. "If Dr Tiller is not going to service a woman's right to chose, who will do it?" Monnat said. "Many of those have been terrorized and run off by protesters," he said about other abortion providers.
The Coast Guard rescued three adults from a sinking boat approximately two miles from the third island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, just before dark.A 911 dispatcher contacted Station Cape Charles watchstanders at 8 p.m., stating they received a call from someone aboard a sinking 19-foot boat. A 25-foot rescue boat was launched from the station to search for the boat.A rescue helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and boat crews from the Virginia Marine Police and the Virginia Beach Fire Department also searched for the boat.Reported Petty Officer 1st Class John Soderstrom, the rescue boat coxswain, "When we got to the third island of the bridge tunnel, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel police were searching from the island and there were several recreational boats in the water. We didn't see anything around the island, so we were about to start a search pattern with the last 10 minutes of light that we had remaining."Then, Petty Officer 3rd Class Aron Flavin saw something about two miles from the island. With binoculars, they saw a man waving at them from the bow of a partially-submerged boat and two other adults clinging to it in the water. The station crew pulled them out of the water and transported them to Lynnhaven Marina in Virginia Beach.All three passengers of the sinking vessel had life vests.
Worcester County residents on Saturday, June 6 will again be hearing the emergency alert signals from their local fire sirens. County officials say they have taken this step to provide additional means to warn the surrounding communities of imminent danger and the need to tune to either radio, television or the Internet for information in the event of emergencies. Sirens are tested the first Saturday of each month. Residents will hear a steady alert tone sound at 10 a.m. for approximately one minute. Officials say that since the end of the Cold War, most serious threats to areas of the Eastern Shore have been weather related, and the emergency alert sirens have gone unused. However, emergency alert sirens continue to be employed in tornado-prone areas of the country where they are used to warn residents that a tornado has been spotted and to take cover. Officials say the reinstitution of the emergency alert siren in Worcester County can be viewed as an additional form of early warning system to protect area residents in the event of a disaster.
The three men accused of the October arson of a Pocomoke City public works facility have each been sentenced to 18 months in jail for their roles in the incident.
Charles E. Furst, 19, and Matthew A. Depaolis, 20, each pleaded guilty Monday morning to one of the 13 charges levied against them for the destruction of the Young Street maintenance garage on October 5. The third defendant, Nicholas J. Depaolis was sentenced to 18 months for malicious destruction of property at a plea hearing in May. In a deal with the state, Furst had 42 months suspended of the five year imprisonment penalty for first degree malicious burning of property. The Pocomoke City resident — who confessed to law enforcement that he lit the fire with a Zippo lighter — will also pay $286,000 to the city in restitution. Matthew A. Depaolis received the same sentence as Nicholas, his brother.
OAK HALL — Officials have released the name of a Kegotank Elementary School student who was killed instantly in a two-vehicle accident on U. S. Route 13 about 10 p.m. Friday.
Daniynah Shae Nocks, 6, of New Church, died at the scene after a 2004 Dodge Durango driven by her mother, Roshanda Chisum, hydroplaned on the wet highway and crossed into the northbound lane just north of Withams Road in Oak Hall. The vehicle then was struck by a northbound 2004 Jaguar and rolled, semi-ejecting Nocks and crushing her under the vehicle. Nocks was not wearing a seatbelt, state police spokeswoman Michelle Cotten said. Nocks was a kindergarden student at Kegotank Elementary School. Principal Faye Williams said Monday morning that the school had implemented its crisis plan and said counseling and the school psychologist were being made available to students and staff. “We will greatly miss her. She was an adorable kindergarden student,” Williams said of Nocks, adding, “We have a very strong staff here. We are all family and our children are family, too.” The Jaguar’s driver, whose name police did not immediately release, also sustained minor injuries, Cotten said. Chisum was charged with reckless driving and other charges are pending based on the commonwealth’s attorney’s review of the case, Cotten said. No alcohol was involved in the accident, but investigators are looking into whether excessive speed was a factor, she said.
Someone please tell me this info is inaccruate! There's no way on Gods green earth our police chief shoud make $100,000.00 per year.if he does how much does the city manager make?
I've been working hard to find a local Virginia source for news and happenings, I have only stumbled upon a couple. I would like to add local Virginia news and happenings so I ask, if anyone in the Virginia shore area would like to contribute please shoot me a email. You can find my address at the right side of the page.
Published on 5/28/2009 in the Riverside Press The above ad appeared in several national newspapers this week including the The Wilmington News Journal on page A18, Thursday, May 28, 2009, and The Riverside Press.The ad is in support of the Chrysler National Dealer Council.Exit82 reported:
The ad is a full page and reads like a BS account of why the elimination of dealers was necessary, good for Chrysler, so sorry it had to happen to some of our friends, blah, blah, blah. I believe this ad was part of a nationwide ad buy in many papers because it is written to a antional audience. My BS meter pinged immediately. The following people/dealers were listed at the bottom of the ad, supposedly supporting it. We should study the list to see the if they were retained and what party they donated to: Mickey AndersonBaxter Chrysler Jeep DodgeOmaha, NE Jim ArrigoArrigo Dodge Chrysler JeepWest Palm Beach, FL Sid DeBoerLithia Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Inc.(Bingo—a Lithia member)Medford, OR Chuck EddyBob & Chuck Eddy C-D-JAustintown, OH Hayden ElderElder Chrysler Dodge JeepAthens, TX Charlie FoulkeCherry Hill DodgeCherry Hill, NJ Bill GollingGolling Chrysler Jeep, Inc.Bloomfield Hills, MI Carlos HidalgoFolsom Lake DodgeFolsom, CA Mike LowryAllen Samuels DodgeNorth Richland Hills, TX Bill McSkimmingRiver Front Chrysler JeepNorth Aurora, IL Jon MyersNaples Dodge and ChryslerNaples, FL Eric NielsenFranklin Sussex Auto MallSussex, NJ Andy PalmenPalmen Motors, Inc.Kenosha, WI Gary PanteckBrunswick Auto Mart, Inc.Brunswick, OH John SchendenPro Chrysler JeepThornton, CO Bill ShepherdGreenbrier Chrysler JeepChesapeake, VA Joel SpornWestbury C-JWestbury, NY The ad also announced a website called ChryslerDealerSupport.
Here’s what was found on the dealers on the list: 1. Mickey Anderson is a GOP donor.2. Carlos Hidalgo and McSkimming gave no money to candidates, but their local Dodge competitors will be closed down. They will each be the only chrysler dealers in their areas.3. John Myers gave no money to candidates, but their local Jeep competitor will close. Myers will be the only local Chrysler dealer in the area. Since 2007, the following dealers gave money to candidates: 1. Jim Arrigo gave $3,300 to Ron Klein (D)2. Chuck Eddy gave $500 to John Boccieri (D)3. Charles Foulke gave $6,900 to Robert Andrews (D) and $6,300 to various Democrats from 1994-20004. Andrew Palmer gave $750 to Russ Feingold (D) and $500 to Paul Ryan (R)5. John Schenden gave $900 to Joan Fitz-Gerald (D) So the democratic dealers who were left untouched and those dealers who lost local competitors support the Chrysler closings.What a shock! Here’s another look at the dealers from Open Secrets: Mickey Anderson- $2,000 GOP candidatesJim Arrigo- $3,300 Dem candidatesSidney DeBoer- $18,900 Dem candidatesChuck Eddy- $500 to Dem candidatesHayden Elder- no recordCharlie Foulke- $13,000+ to Dem candidates (1993-2000)Bill Golling- no recordCarlos Hidalgo- no recordMike Lowrey- $8,050 GOP, $250 Ron PaulBill McSkimming- no recordJon Myers- $850 Dem candidatesEric Nielsen- $5,600 GOP candidatesAndrew Palmen- $750 Dem candidate (Russ Feingold)Gary Panteck- $2,500 to Car Dealers Assn.John Schenden- $900 Dem candidates, $5,000 Car Dealer Assn.Bill Shepherd- no recordJoel Sporn- no record Conclusion: 7 gave to Dem candidates– 3 gave to GOP candidates including Ron Paul. Josh Painter asks: “If, as the Obama apologists claim, that most car dealers are Republicans, why does the Chrysler Dealer Council have more than twice as many dealers on it who donated to Democrats than those who gave to GOP candidates?”
Perceptions of racism -- from being treated with suspicion in a store to unfairness in employment or housing -- can heighten stress levels and affect health, research has shown. A new study from Boston University links these smoldering signs of racism to weight gain in black women, suggesting a possible explanation for the their higher obesity rates compared to white women. Yvette Cozier, an epidemiologist at the Slone Epidemiology Center at BU, led a survey of more than 43,000 women enrolled in the long-running Black Women's Health Study. Writing in the June issue of Annals of Epidemiology, she and her co-authors describe participants' reports on their weight, body mass index, and perceptions of racism. At the beginning of the eight-year study, the women were asked if they sometimes felt they were treated poorly in a restaurant or store, whether they thought people considered them dishonest or less intelligent, and if they had felt unfairness on the job, in housing, or from police. The women, 21 to 69 years old at the study's outset, were placed in four groups based on how frequently they said they experienced these signs of racism. Their weight was recorded every two years from 1997 through 2005. Their waist circumference was measured at the beginning and end. At the end of the trial, all the women had gained weight. But the women who said they felt higher levels of racism gained more weight and had bigger waist-size increases compared to the women who felt the least racism. That held true after accounting for factors such as education, geographic region, and beginning body mass index. "Racism is real and it has real effects," Cozier said in an interview. "It can result in real changes in the body." Higher stress changes hormone levels that influence food choices and where in the body fat is stored, the authors write. That makes an association between the stress of racism and weight gain, particularly around the waist, fit with other research in humans and animals, they say. Cozier said she was interested in learning whether there was another reason beyond diet and exercise that could explain why black women tend to be heavier than white women. Her study did not include white women, so a direct comparison is not possible, she said, but the unique experience of racism appears to be a potential contributor to the difference. Her findings are in line with other research on the impact of discrimination, particularly as it relates to premature aging and high blood pressure, Dr. Joseph Betancourt, director of the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in an interview. He was not involved in the BU study. "We are learning more and more about the mind-body connection and the impact of perceptions of discrimination, whether they be large episodes or these micro-insults on a day-to-day basis, including walking down the street and having somebody cross over the street" to avoid you, he said. "Discrimination turns into stress and it can have an incredible impact on the body." Clinicians should understand that racism may affect their patients in ways they might not expect, Cozier said. "It is useful for us in America to just understand that racism hasn't gone away," she said. "It's gotten better, but it's still here."
A Pennsylvania newspaper should be expecting a visit from the Secret Service soon. The Warren Pennsylvania Times-Observer published an ad on Thursday that called for the assassination of President Barack Obama.
It wasn't like the ad was a want ad for an assassin; rather, it was one of those small personal ads that you might see run in the classified section of a local paper, but rather than saying something like "Happy Birthday, So-and-So," the ad said "May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley & Kennedy!" All four of those presidents, of course, were assassinated in office.
We all wonder why we pay so much tax yet the government stays broke, they say you may not get your SS retirement because it will run out of money. Well this is why. You think He voted Obama?
This is a lone rock that sits along a highway somewhere here in the U.S. I forgot exactly where. This artist decided he wanted this rock to be something special and he went to work and performed his magic. I think this is one of the best things I have ever seen. Enjoy
Justice Department political appointees overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense of wielding a nightstick and intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place last Election Day, according to documents and interviews.
The incident - which gained national attention when it was captured on videotape and distributed on YouTube - had prompted the government to sue the men, saying they violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scaring would-be voters with the weapon, racial slurs and military-style uniforms.
Career lawyers pursued the case for months, including obtaining an affidavit from a prominent 1960s civil rights activist who witnessed the confrontation and described it as "the most blatant form of voter intimidation" that he had seen, even during the voting rights crisis in Mississippi a half-century ago.
The lawyers also had ascertained that one of the three men had gained access to the polling place by securing a credential as a Democratic poll watcher, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Times.
The career Justice lawyers were on the verge of securing sanctions against the men earlier this month when their superiors ordered them to reverse course, according to interviews and documents. The court had already entered a default judgment against the men on April 20.
A Justice Department spokesman on Thursday confirmed that the agency had dropped the case, dismissing two of the men from the lawsuit with no penalty and winning an order against the third man that simply prohibits him from bringing a weapon to a polling place in future elections.
The department was "successful in obtaining an injunction that prohibits the defendant who brandished a weapon outside a Philadelphia polling place from doing so again," spokesman Alejandro Miyar said. "Claims were dismissed against the other defendants based on a careful assessment of the facts and the law."
Mr. Miyar declined to elaborate about any internal dispute between career and political officials, saying only that the department is "committed to the vigorous prosecution of those who intimidate, threaten or coerce anyone exercising his or her sacred right to vote."
Court records reviewed by The Times show that career Justice lawyers were seeking a default judgment and penalties against the three men as recently as May 5, before abruptly ending their pursuit 10 days later.
People directly familiar with the case, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because of fear of retribution, said career lawyers in two separate Justice offices had recommended proceeding to default judgment before political superiors overruled them.
Tensions between career lawyers and political appointees inside the Justice Department have been a sensitive matter since allegations surfaced during the Bush administration that higher-ups had ignored or reversed staff lawyers and that some U.S. attorneys had been removed or selected for political reasons.
During his January confirmation hearings, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said that during his lengthy Justice Department tenure, the career lawyers were "my teachers, my colleagues and my friends" and described them as the "backbone" of the department.
"If I am confirmed as attorney general, I will listen to them, respect them and make them proud of the vital goals we will pursue together," he said.
Justice officials declined to say whether Mr. Holder or other senior Justice officials became involved in the case, saying they don't discuss internal deliberations.
The civil suit filed Jan. 7 identified the three men as members of the Panthers and said they wore military-style uniforms, black berets, combat boots, battle-dress pants, black jackets with military-style insignias and were armed with "a dangerous weapon"and used racial slurs and insults to scare would-be voters and those there to assist them at the Philadelphia polling location on Nov. 4.
The complaint said the three men engaged in "coercion, threats and intimidation, ... racial threats and insults, ... menacing and intimidating gestures, ... and movements directed at individuals who were present to vote." It said that unless prohibited by court sanctions, they would "continued to violate ... the Voting Rights Act by continuing to direct intimidation, threats and coercion at voters and potential voters, by again deploying uniformed and armed members at the entrance to polling locations in future elections, both in Philadelphia and throughout the country."
To support its evidence, the government had secured an affidavit from Bartle Bull, a longtime civil rights activist and former aide to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. Mr. Bull said in a sworn statement dated April 7 that he was serving in November as a credentialed poll watcher in Philadelphia when he saw the three uniformed Panthers confront and intimidate voters with a nightstick.
Inexplicably, the government did not enter the affidavit in the court case, according to the files.
"In my opinion, the men created an intimidating presence at the entrance to a poll," he declared. "In all my experience in politics, in civil rights litigation and in my efforts in the 1960s to secure the right to vote in Mississippi ... I have never encountered or heard of another instance in the United States where armed and uniformed men blocked the entrance to a polling location."
Mr. Bull said the "clear purpose" of what the Panthers were doing was to "intimidate voters with whom they did not agree." He also said he overheard one of the men tell a white poll watcher: "You are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker."
He called their conduct an "outrageous affront to American democracy and the rights of voters to participate in an election without fear." He said it was a "racially motivated effort to limit both poll watchers aiding voters, as well as voters with whom the men did not agree."
The three men named in the complaint - New Black Panther Chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz, Minister King Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson - refused to appear in court to answer the accusations over a near-five month period, court records said.
Justice Department Voting Rights Section Attorney J. Christian Adams complained in one court filing about the defendants' failure to appear or to file any pleadings in the case, arguing that Mr. Jackson was "not an infant, nor is he an incompetent person as he appears capable of managing his own affairs, nor is he in the military service of the United States."
Court records show that as late as May 5, the Justice Department was still considering an order by U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell in Philadelphia to seek judgments, or sanctions, against the three Panthers because of their failure to appear.
But 10 days later, the department reversed itself and filed a notice of voluntary dismissal from the complaint for Malik Zulu Shabazz and Mr. Jackson.
That same day, the department asked for the default judgment against King Samir Shabazz, but limited the penalty to an order that he not display a "weapon within 100 feet of any open polling location on any election day in the city of Philadelphia" until Nov. 15, 2012.
Malik Zulu Shabazz is a Washington, D.C., resident.
Mr. Jackson was an elected member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee, and was credentialed to be at the polling place last Nov. 4 as an official Democratic Party polling observer, according to the Philadelphia City Commissioner's Office.
Efforts to reach the Panthers were unsuccessful. A telephone number listed on the New Black Panthers Web site had been disconnected.
The complaint said that the three men were deployed at the entrance to a Philadelphia polling location wearing the uniform of the New Black Panther Party and that King Samir Shabazz repeatedly brandished a police-style nightstick with a contoured grip and wrist lanyard.
According to the complaint, Malik Zulu Shabazz, a Howard University Law School graduate, said the placement of King Samir Shabazz and Mr. Jackson in Philadelphia was part of a nationwide effort to deploy New Black Panther Party members at polling locations on Election Day.
The New Black Panther Party reportedly has 27 chapters operating across the United States, Britain, the Caribbean and Africa. Its Web page said it has become "a great witness to the validity of the works of the original Black Panther Party," which was founded in 1966 in Oakland, Calif.
It's always nice to read some good news from time to time. Mr Frank Crawford has proved to be an honest citizen on what sounds like many occasions from the write-up in the Times. Thanks Mr Crawford and to the Times for publishing this good deed. Something I'd love to see more of.
On Memorial Day, my husband and I ventured to Pittsville to pick strawberries at a wonderful "U-pick" patch. My husband paid for the berries using my wallet, while I was loading the car. We made more stops before returning home.
When we arrived at home, there was a message on our machine from Frank Crawford, saying he had found my wallet on Line Road --we did not even know the wallet was missing. Crawford found loose contents on the road, but nothing was missing. Apparently he has found many billfolds over the years and always returned them to their owners.
We were grateful and offered him a gift of appreciation, but he would accept no money. An angel in the form of Frank Crawford of Frankford was watching after us that morning and we were blessed.
If you have never seen these boats race it's a sight to behold. If the wind holds and the sea is fairly calm that turbine boat will put on a show like no other. With 40+ foot long boats being pushed with almost 4000 horse power yet they are still no match for the great ocean if she decides to not cooperate. These massive vessels with their extreme power will get plenty of air. Don't miss it if you can make the trip, you wont be disappointed.
If boats took steroids, these would be the juicers. Bigger, faster and badder, these horsepower freaks, in town for the first leg of the Miss GEICO Offshore Triple Crown on Sunday, look like they ate a skipjack for lunch before devouring a catamaran for dinner.
These machines, which cost upwards of $1 million, look too pretty to touch and too fast to have been sitting still, but parked in West Ocean City's Sunset Marina, spectators were welcome to inspect the 40-foot-plus boats and talk to the crews that operate them.
"Fan-wise, Ocean City is the best race we do," said Scott Begovich, throttle man for the Miss Geico. "They have the best crowd, the most knowledgeable fans, because they are all boaters."
On Sunday, when Begovich straps into the cockpit of his 44-foot ride, the New Jersey native will have the power of two Apache helicopter engines at his fingertips. The 3,700-horsepower turbine engines, which were purchased from a military surplus supplier, will be the only of its kind entered in the race.
"It's very exciting, it's very exhilarating (to ride)," Begovich said. "It's very scary at the same time. It's a thrill like nothing else on the planet."
Just like all of the other Offshore Powerboat Association racers, Begovich's biggest concern is the weather and how choppy the waves of the Atlantic Ocean will be.
"Last year in Ocean City, it was rough," Begovich said. "It was extremely exhausting. My legs were all wobbly when I got off the boat."
This year, Begovich hopes the seas will be more cooperative.
"The forecast is calling for 2- to 3-foot waves, so that is not to bad. It should be a pretty easy day, but if it is anything bigger, then it gets to be a long day."
The weather will effect Miss Geico's speed.
"When we are running in calm water on a straight-away," Begovich said, "we will hit in excess of 190 mph. That's basically a football field a second."
At those speeds, bad things are bound to happen. Begovich has been involved in three significant crashes, but the second-generation boater has been able to walk away from all of them.
"They made some pretty cool videos though," Begovich said while chuckling. "You always have to worry about the big wave. You always have to be prepared for the big wave, but normally you don't see it coming until it is to late."
Ok folks, it's time to email or call to voice our opinion to the facility, One African immigrant should NOT be able to dictate on how we celebrate. if the Flag offends the African immigrant she can go back to her homeland. Wha say you?
Debbie McLucas comes from a patriotic family – her husband and both of her sons served in the U.S. military, and her daughter is currently deployed to Iraq on her second tour of duty as a combat medic.So when McLucas arrived at work at a Texas hospital last Friday, she was stunned to be told that the Stars and Stripes she had hung in her office in advance of Memorial Day were offensive, and that the flag had been removed. “I got into work, I was met by my supervisor and told that there had been multiple complaints, that people found the flag very offensive and it had been taken down,” McLucas said.“I went to the office to retrieve it and found the flag wrapped around the pole, sitting in the corner on the ground. I was speechless.”McLucas, a supervisor at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield, Texas, had displayed the 3-by-5-foot flag in the office she shares with the hospital’s three other supervisors. McLucas said one of her colleagues, a woman who immigrated to the United States from Africa 14 years ago, complained about the flag to upper management, and the hospital decided to take down the flag. “I was told that as long as my flag offended one person, it would be taken down,” McLucas saidShe said the hospital told her that the American flag flying outside the building would have to suffice. “I was told, ‘There is a flag hanging out front, everyone can see that one. Is that not enough?’”No, she said, that wasn’t enough. “It is more than I can even fathom, that you would find the American flag offensive, in America,” McLucas said.
The Salisbury Ethics Commission has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday after a city resident and blogger filed a complaint against two councilwomen alleging they violated municipal code.
Jonathan Taylor, a 36-year-old blogger known for his Web site, The Salisbury Grinch, sent the complaint to City Administrator John Pick on Tuesday after the City Council voted on next year's budget.
The complaint states Councilwoman Terry Cohen violated the code when she voted on the budget, which includes funds for health insurance for council members. The complaint also names Councilwoman Debbie Campbell, who Taylor states advocated for the health insurance benefits during work sessions.
Campbell did not vote on the budget. She was ill, and therefore absent from the meeting, she said.
"It's a part-time job," Taylor said in an interview. "They don't need full-time benefits."
The complaint filed by Taylor references the conflict of interest section of the municipal code, which prohibits officials from participating in any "decision-making process" that would have a direct financial impact on them and prohibits them from using their position for their own or another's benefit.
Cohen and Campbell are not the only council members receiving health benefits. A third councilwoman, Shanie Shields, was not named in the complaint.
Taylor said he did not name Shields because she has publicly stated that she plans to discontinue her health insurance with the city.
Shields said she was told she had to wait for the open enrollment period, late summer or early fall, to cancel the insurance.
Taylor's complaint marks the second complaint to the Ethics Commission -- a panel of five residents appointed by the mayor and approved by the council -- regarding health benefits for city employees.
Shields asked the commission to review the council's request to vote on reinstating health benefits on May 20, but rescinded the request the following day.
"I just wanted to move forward with the budget because we had other pressing issues," Shields said.
Tensions over the more recent health insurance debate smoldered when the $27,000 allotment for the benefits for the three councilwomen were not included in former mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman's proposed 2010 budget, which she submitted before leaving office.
Funds to cover the council members' insurance made its way back into the budget by way of a $21,429 budget amendment before the vote Tuesday.
When Mayor Jim Ireton added the insurance money back into the budget, he corrected what Cohen called an "error" by Tilghman. Cohen said Tilghman did not have the authority to remove the funds without a vote by the council.
"The mayor doesn't have the authority to make policy," Cohen said. "That's what the council does. (The mayor's) job is to administer policy."
Tilghman could not be reached for comment Friday evening.
The violations Taylor references in his complaint are not applicable, Cohen said, saying, technically, she was merely voting on next year's operating budget and not specifically for the restoration of health insurance benefits.
"I didn't vote to change the policy," Cohen said. "All (I) did was vote on the budget. I voted on something that, by policy, I was legally entitled to. There's nothing unethical about voting on the budget."
Some council members said they were unclear on whether the municipal code was violated. Council President Louise Smith said she would like to set up an ad hoc committee to study the issue. Discussion about a potential committee to review the issue is tentatively scheduled for a council work session July 6.
Damaging wind, large hail and ground lightning are the primary threats of a severe storm system moving across the Lower Shore and into southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina until 10 p.m. Friday. The warning was previously in effect until 8 p.m.
The storm is capable of producing quarter-size hail and destructive winds in excess of 70 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was near Parsonsburg and moving east of Salisbury at 25 mph about 7:40 p.m.
Ground lightning also is occuring with the storm, and people should remain indoors.
All Lower Shore Maryland counties are in the storm region.
Expect lows Friday in the upper 50s.
Sunshine returns Saturday with highs in the lower 80s
Former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., lashed out at Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor Thursday for her remarks suggesting that "wise Latinas" are better decision makers than white men.
Appearing on CNN, Tancredo, known mainly for his staunch opposition to giving illegal immigrants amnesty and citizenship rights, talked about Sotomayor's activism on behalf of La Raza, an immigrant rights group whose name translates literally to "The Race." He called it "a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses."
Barack Obama's great uncle offered some blunt language as to why his nephew is visiting the memorial at the former Buchenwald concentration camp next week during his trip to Europe and the Middle East.
“This is a trip that he chose, not because of me I'm sure, but for political reasons,” Charles Payne told the German magazine Spiegel. “Perhaps his visit also has something to do with improving his standing with (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel. She gave him a hard time during his campaign and also afterwards.”
Obama will visit Saudi Arabia, make a long-awaited speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, travel to Dresden and the Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp in Germany, and attend D-Day commemorations in France. His uncle said he'd love to tag along if he gets a lift on Air Force One.
Payne, 84, is no stranger to Americans: The Obama campaign used his WWII experiences last year to burnish the candidate’s all-American upbringing. But Obama made a gaffe when he said his great uncle liberated Auschwitz. In fact, Payne was part of the force that liberated Ohrdruf, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp, in April 1945.
Payne told Spiegel that he was shocked to see his war experience, especially his "liberation" of a concentration camp, used in campaign commercials. He said he had never spoken with his nephew about the matter, nor did Obama ever express any interest in Payne's experience.
“I was quite surprised when the whole thing came up and Barack talked about my war experiences in Nazi Germany,” Payne said. “We had never talked about that before.”
Payne doesn’t know where Obama came up with the fictitious Auschwitz connection.
“He couldn't have gotten it from me since we had never talked about this particular episode in the war,” said Payne. “My sister and her husband were both great storytellers and sometimes made up the details to go along with it.
“They told him about my deployment with the 89th Infantry Division and apparently they mixed up a few details,” Payne said. “Of course it came out immediately that he was wrong since there are enough people in America who know that Auschwitz is in the East and that the camp was liberated by the Red Army.”
After the mistake was made, Obama called Payne to get the correct details.
“He wanted to know where this camp was that I had helped liberate,” Payne said. “I told him that it was Ohrdruf and that it was a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. I described a little bit of what I had seen.”
Payne stressed that he has no political ax to grind. He is a life-long Democrat, but said he isn’t particularly close to his famous relative.
“Our relationship is warm and friendly, but I'm not part of his inner circle. We always have an interesting chat when we get in the same room together. He doesn't call me up and ask what I have to say about world policy or anything. And I never offer my opinions on any of this.”
In the article, Payne described an incident very similar to what many members of the “Greatest Generation” had experienced. A young man from Kansas, he had little knowledge of the world and few opinions about Germany or foreign policy in general before landing in Europe for the liberation.
“Everybody who was able-bodied was drafted,” Payne recalled. “I went down right at the time I graduated and told the lady that ran the Selective Service office. I said, ‘I'm ready to go,’ and she said: ‘Don't you worry about it, honey. You're on the list.’ Since I had been colorblind since birth, I was first turned down by the Air Force, then by the Navy and the Marines. Only the Army didn't care and put me into the infantry.”
Raised in Kansas, Payne did his basic training at North Camp Hood, Texas.
“What did you think about the Germans at the time?” Spiegel asked him.
“I am unable to tell you what I was thinking then. That was a long time ago, and as I told you, until Barack misspoke, I hadn't thought about any of this for a very, very long time,” Payne said.
“They were the enemy, evil incarnate, and we were the good guys coming to save the world. We were all for the war. We all wanted to be in it. That doesn't mean we enjoyed being in it, though,” he said. He then described his experiences in Europe.
“At first there was no front,” he said. “Because there were no facilities for our ship, we couldn't anchor in the harbor. Le Havre had been summarily bombed. They finally took us off in the middle of the night on landing barges. It was bitter cold and snowing. There was about three or four inches of water sloshing around in the bottom. So we landed at Le Havre in bitter cold with wet feet. Soon afterwards we had a large number of people who suffered from frostbite. The camp doctors were forced to amputate fingers, toes, and feet and send these soldiers back to the United States. For them the war was over.
“Ohrdruf was in that string of towns going across, south of Gotha and Erfurt,” Payne said, describing his arrival near the concentration camp. “Our division was the first one in there. When we arrived there were no German soldiers anywhere around that I knew about. There was no fighting with the Germans, no camp guards. The whole area was overrun by people from the camp dressed in the most pitiful rags, and most of them were in a bad state of starvation. The first thing I saw was a dead body lying square in the middle of the front gate.
“Inside the gate was an area where a bunch of the camp inmates had been machine gunned and were all lying on the ground,” Payne continued. “Each one had their tin cup in their hand or lying next to them.”
The interviewer asked him to describe his feelings when he was "confronted with these images.”
Payne said he doesn’t like to think about it, and hadn’t for a long time until Obama’s gaffe caused all the harsh memories of that time to come back in force.
“You know, I am unable to tell you what I was thinking then,” Payne said. “That was a long time ago, and as I told you, until Barack misspoke, I hadn't thought about any of this for a very, very long time. In fact, I guess I prefer not to think about it. I can assure you I was horrified by the lengths to which men will go to mistreat other men. This was, to me, almost unbelievable. There was more: There were sheds full of dead bodies that had been stripped and thrown in and then stacked up on top of each other. I don't know how many, but many high and the whole length of the room. They sprinkled lime to keep the smell down. That's about the extent that I remember actually seeing.
“I am puzzled by intelligent people who stand by and allow their country to be taken over and run by extreme radical types,” Payne said. “I'm still somewhat puzzled by that. And I am fully aware that it could happen and has almost happened in this country. You know, I lived through the McCarthy era in the 1950s, when it was getting dangerously close to that sort of thing.”
