Poem to MOM

 My daughter came home from school one day,

 With a smirk upon her face.

 she decided she was smart enough,

 To put me in my place.

 'Guess what I learned in Civics Two,

 that's taught by Mr. Wright?

 It's all about the laws today,

 The 'Children's Bill of Rights.'

 It says I need not clean my room,

 Don't have to cut my hair

 No one can tell me what to think,

 Or speak, or what to wear.

 I have freedom from religion,

 And regardless what you say,

 I don't have to bow my head,

 And I sure don't have to pray.

 I can wear earrings if I want,

 And pierce my tongue & nose.

 I can read & watch just what I like,

 Get tattoos from head to toe.

 And if you ever spank me,

 I'll charge you with a crime.

 I'll back up all my charges,

 With the marks on my behind.

 Don't you ever touch me,

 My body's only for my use,

 Not for your hugs and kisses,

 that's just more child abuse.

 Don't preach about your morals,

 Like your Mama did to you.

 That's nothing more than mind control,

 And it's illegal too!

 Mom, I have these children's rights,

 So you can't influence me,

 Or I'll call Children's Services Division,

 Better known as C.S.D.'

 Mom's Reply and Thoughts

 Of course my first instinct was

 To toss her out the door.

 But the chance to teach her a lesson

 Made me think a little more.

 I mulled it over carefully,

 I couldn't let this go.

 A smile crept upon my face,

 she's messing with a pro.

 Next day I took her shopping

 At the local Goodwill Store.

 I told her, 'Pick out all you want,

 there's shirts & pants galore.

 I've called and checked with C.S.D ...

 Who said they didn't care

 If I bought you K-Mart shoes

 Instead of those Nike Airs.

 I've canceled that appointment

 To take your driver's test.

 The C.S.D. Is unconcerned

 So I'll decide what's best. '

 I said 'No time to stop and eat,

 Or pick up stuff to munch.

 And tomorrow you can start to learn

 To make your own sack lunch.

 Just save the raging appetite,

 And wait till dinner time.

 We're having liver and onions,

 A favorite dish of mine.'

 she asked 'Can I please rent a movie,

 To watch on my VCR?'

 'Sorry, but I sold your TV,

 For new tires on my car.

 I also rented out your room,

 You'll take the couch instead.

 The C .S.D. Requires

 Just a roof over your head.

 Your clothing won't be trendy now,

 I'll choose what we eat.

 That allowance that you used to get,

 Will buy me something neat.

 I'm selling off your jet ski,

 Dirt-bike & roller blades.

 Check out the 'Parents Bill of Rights',

 It's in effect today!

 Hey hot shot, are you crying,

 Why are you on your knees?

 Are you asking God to help you out,

 Instead of C.S.D..?'

Hat Tip; Kack

PRESS RELEASE SURF DOG RICOCHET RECEIVES 2010 AMERICAL KENNEL CLUB HUMANE FUND AWARD FOR CANINE EXCELLENCE!

SAN DIEGO, CA, September 16, 2010… Two year old, golden retriever Ricochet, the SURFice dog who surfs for fun, wins contests and most importantly, has been inspiring millions of people around the world with her paw it forward lifestyle, while raising funds and awareness for human/animal causes, received the 2010 American Kennel Club Humane Fund Award for Canine Excellence in the category of Exemplary Companion Dog.


The American Kennel Club Ace award is a national honor, given to only five dogs each year who have performed an exemplary act or series of acts, whether large or seemingly small, that have significantly benefited a community or individual.  One award is given in the following five categories: Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Therapy, Service, and Exemplary Companion Dog.


In addition to the prestige of being chosen from hundreds of entries, each of the five honorees receives a cash award of $1,000, an engraved sterling silver collar medallion and an all-expenses-paid trip for dog and owner to Long Beach, Calif., to be honored at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championships in December.  The engraved names of the five recipients will also be added to the ACE plaque that is permanently displayed on the AKC Library's "Wall of Fame" in New York City.

Ricochet was slated to be a service dog for a person with a disability, but due to her interest in chasing prey, she had to be released from that role. After proving she could surf by winning 3rd place in the 2009 Purina Incredible Dog Challenge, her title went from service dog to SURFice dog, and she began providing assistance to people with disabilities in a non-traditional manner.  She often surfs with disabled surfers from quadriplegic teenager, Patrick Ivison to a brain injured six year old, Ian McFarland.  She helps counter-balance the board to keep them from falling off, or motivates them to replace apprehension with excitement.

Shortly after her first fundraiser, a video of her journey titled "From Service Dog to SURFice Dog" was posted to YouTube, and un-expectedly went viral.  The attention the video garnered was immediately turned into a platform of helping others on a larger scale by re-directing the attention to numerous human/animal causes.  The video also served as a source of inspiration to the millions of people who viewed it, and found their own personal message, bringing them to tears.  Many of those people joined her Facebook page of 12,500+ incredibly supportive members.

In the 10 months that Ricochet's journey has changed course, she's raised almost $50,000 in donations, and awareness for her causes, which include people with disabilities, the Association of Amputee Surfers, Wheels 2 Water, Life Rolls On, Ocean Healing Group, Surfers Healing, Surfers for Autism, Pipeline to a Cure, Chase Away K9 Cancer, Morris Animal Foundation, Helen Woodward Animal Center, Pets for Patriots, Pets for Vets, Pay It Forward Day, Living The Dream Foundation, and more Ricochet is honored to receive the American Kennel Club ACE Award, and will continue her commitment to helping others, while encouraging them to focus on the CAN do's in life, and realize that disappointment can be turned into a joyful new direction!

To learn more about Ricochet's surfing, causes, and fundraisers, visit her website at http://www.surfdogricochet.com or contact Judy Fridono at pawinspired@aol.com

Absentee Ballot Envelopes Under Investigation In Worcester County

SNOW HILL — State prosecutors are investigating absentee ballots in connection with Worcester County's primary election, and county law enforcement and prosecutors are refusing to say what the investigation is about.

Worcester County State's Attorney Joel Todd said he was "made aware" Sept. 10 of a "potential issue" with absentee ballots cast by voters in District 2, which covers Snow Hill and parts of central Worcester. He requested the election board have staffers handle absentee ballots with surgical gloves as not to impact evidentiary value.

Of the 701 absentee ballots applied for in Worcester, 517 have been returned to the Board of Elections. On Thursday, staffers turned over to detectives with the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation144 envelopes returned by District 2 voters. The ballots themselves stayed with the Board of Elections.

Todd said the investigation is isolated to District 2 absentee ballots, and that he has "no reason to believe the Board of Elections has done anything wrong."

Todd said on primary day, Sept. 14, contacted the Office of the Maryland Attorney General for guidance. They in turn referred the case to the Office of the State Prosecutor, who will now be handling the still-undefined investigation.

He declined to speak further about what he called an ongoing investigation. The chief investigator with the state prosecutor's office, Jim Cabezas, also declined to comment.

www.delmarvanow.com

Gunman At Johns Hopkins Hospital Has Been Shot And Killed

BALTIMORE - A gunman who wounded a doctor at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore and then barricaded himself inside a room has been shot and killed, Baltimore police say.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the man was shot and killed by officers Thursday afternoon.

The doctor, who was shot in the stomach, was rushed to surgery and is expected to survive.

"The doctor will be OK," Guglielmi said. "He's in the best place in the world - at Johns Hopkins hospital."

Guglielmi does not know the relationship between the gunman, described as a man in his 30s, and the doctor.

The hospital said in a statement that the doctor is a faculty physician but it could not release more information because of privacy policies.

A small area of the hospital remains locked down and police are executing a tactical operation to capture the suspect.

Hopkins spokesman Gary Stephenson said the affected area was the eighth floor of the Nelson building, which is the main hospital tower.

According to the Hopkins website, the eighth floor is home to orthopedic, spine, trauma and thoracic services.

About a dozen officers wearing vests and helmets and carrying assault weapons prepared to enter the hospital at midday. The FBI is also helping Baltimore police, FBI spokesman Richard J. Wolf says.

The rest of the massive hospital, research and medical education complex in remains open, including the emergency department, and patients can report for treatment and appointments.

People with appointments in other parts of the hospital are encouraged to keep them.

Earlier, a hospital spokesman said the gunman had been caught. Police later said that was not the case.

A number of roads near the hospital have been shut down, including roads near Broadway, East Monument and North Wolfe streets, the Baltimore Sun reports.

With more than 30,000 employees, Johns Hopkins Medicine is among Maryland's largest private employers and the largest in Baltimore. The hospital has more than 1,000 beds and more than 1,700 full-time doctors.

www.wtop.com

Doctor Shot At Johns Hopkins Hospital In Baltimore

BALTIMORE (AP) - A suspect in the shooting of a doctor at Johns Hopkins hospital has been subdued and detained.

Hospital spokesman Gary Stephenson says the shooting was on the eighth floor of the main hospital building. He says that floor remains locked down. Earlier, Baltimore police said the hospital was being evacuated.

Police say they do not know the doctor's condition. However, the Baltimore Sun reports the doctor is in critical condition.

Portions of the Nelson Building, a thoracic center on its sprawling East Baltimore campus, have been placed on lockdown and other sections have been evacuated, the Sun reports.

www.wtop.com

Steele Says Tea Party Won't Hurt GOP In Key Va. Races

RICHMOND, Va. — Independent conservatives running with tea party backing in key Virginia House races won't be spoilers for GOP challengers to freshmen Democratic congressmen, the Republican National Committee chairman said Wednesday.

Candidates on the party's right championed by tea party groups beat establishment Republicans in New Hampshire and Delaware primaries Tuesday. A day later, Michael Steele dismissed suggestions that tea party-backed candidates in the 2nd and 5th Congressional Districts would dilute support for GOP nominees.

"Our folks don't need to run around being scared or afraid of the tea party," Steele told reporters before a rally with Chuck Smith, a longshot Republican challenger to nine-term Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va.

"A lot of these folks were card-carrying Republicans four or five years ago who felt that the party had walked away" from core principles including the Contract With America, Steele said.

The contract was a series of conservative reforms proposed in 1994 during a midterm election two years into Democrat Bill Clinton's presidency when Republicans gained control of the House and Senate.

But in the two House races Republicans are targeting in Virginia, there are tea party candidates on the ballot alongside the Democratic and Republican nominees.

Kenny Golden, a longtime Republican activist, is competing with Republican Scott Rigell to unseat Rep. Glenn Nye, a moderate Democrat, in the Hampton Roads 2nd District.

In central and Southside Virginia's 5th District, Jeff Clark, a poorly funded tea party favorite, is vying with state Sen. Robert Hurt to deny Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello a second term.

Asked if the tea party candidates could split the Republican and conservative vote, Steele shot back, "We don't know that."

"We'll see what happens. Everybody's got to state their case with the American people, the people in the various districts in the state," Steele said. "We don't get to pick and choose who represents the American people. Guess what? They do."

Democrats control six of Virginia's 11 U.S. House seats. The GOP took aim at Perriello and Nye from the moment they ousted Republican incumbents in the 2008 Democratic landslide led by Barack Obama, the first Democrat to carry Virginia in a presidential race since 1964.

Steele and Smith addressed about 100 people in a renovated art deco movie theater in a middle-class Richmond suburb.

www.usatoday.net

Town Hall Meeting To Be Held In Greenbackville

Congressional hopeful Scott Rigell will be holding a town hall meeting for Eastern Shore residents to attend and ask questions or express concerns for the 2nd district.

The town hall will be held this coming Monday, September 20 at the Cavaliers Cove Golf and Yacht Club at Captains Cove in Greenbackville in the Marina Club House. The town hall begins at 6:30 PM.

According to Rigell's Press Secretary Krystal Cameron, this will be his second of four town hall meetings. Rigell has invited all citizens of Virginias 2nd Congressional district to attend, including Congressman Glen Nye.

5 Kemp's Ridleys Released From Turtle Center

TOPSAIL BEACH, N.C. (AP) - All eagerly splashed around their tanks, almost sensing that their time to go home was growing near.

There was Warrior, who was recovering from a skull fracture; Surf City II, who had a bad experience with fishing gear; Tripod, who was missing a flipper; and two other sea turtles that also had finished their treatment at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.

But there was something unusual about this year's annual late-summer release from the Topsail Beach-based facility.

All five of the turtles being returned to the Atlantic on Tuesday afternoon were Kemp's ridleys.

"It's like this is the year of the Kemps," said team leader Karen Sota, noting that the hospital has seen more Kemp's ridley turtles this year than loggerheads and green turtles combined. "And we really don't know why."

They are considered the most endangered sea turtle in the world, are exceedingly rare visitors on North Carolina beaches and receive strict protection under both federal and state law.

Yet Kemp's ridley turtles have been showing up this year in increasing numbers in North Carolina's coastal waters and in fishermen's nets.

The result has been a surge of juvenile Kemp's ridleys finding their way to the sea turtle hospital suffering from an assortment of ailments and a potentially growing headache for state fisheries officials, who are struggling with how to keep fishermen fishing while staying in compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act.

That sea turtles and fishermen sometimes run into conflict while sharing the same bodies of water isn't unusual.

"The problem is we haven't seen a lot of Kemps until now," said Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel, noting that historically its been juvenile green turtles getting snared in the gill nets.

Because greens have been the sea turtles caught in the greatest numbers in the past, the federal "take" permit allowing the state's gill net fishermen to interact with the endangered animals allows the most leeway with that species.

But this summer, most of the observed incidents have involved Kemp's ridleys.

If that trend continues, it could prove challenging to keep the fishery open for very long especially under the number of Kemp "takes" the division has requested from National Marine Fisheries in its new gill net permit application.

But a study released this summer by the nonpartisan National Research Council found that a lack of solid data on sea turtle numbers can make it difficult for regulators to determine reasonable conservation measures.

There's little chance in the short term of more leeway, however, especially with the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Kemp's nesting beaches in the Gulf still unknown. So state fisheries officials are aggressively looking into ways to develop more turtle-friendly fishing gear and practices.

But no one knows if any innovation will be enough to keep the fisheries open if there is a dramatic increase in the number of Kemp's ridleys foraging in state waters during the warm-water months.

A more basic question is where are the turtles coming from, and why now

According to state records, North Carolina saw zero Kemp's ridley nests last year and only three so far this year.

Biologists said that's normal, since the turtles rarely come ashore here to nest.

So where are all of the juvenile turtles coming from? Are they fleeing the oil spill in the Gulf, or is this just a one-year anomaly, possibly tied to the exceedingly warm ocean temperatures we've seen this year?

Or is it simply the case of the conservation measures that began several decades ago finally bearing fruit?

While she hopes that's the case, sea turtle hospital Director Jean Beasley on Monday cautioned that one good year doesn't make a trend especially with a population so fragile as the Kemp's ridleys.

"But it is a good sign," she said. "Considering where they were, we'll take it."

www.wavy.com

Arlington Buries 3 (more) In Wrong Graves

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three people were buried in the wrong graves at Arlington National Cemetery, the Army said Wednesday as it followed up an investigation into bookkeeping problems and burial mix-ups at one of the nation's most hallowed sites.

After a report issued in June found that the problems could potentially affect thousands of graves, defense officials received about 1,100 calls from worried families.

One of those callers, the widow of an Army staff sergeant, led to the exhumation of three graves late last month. The three remains in those graves, all former members of the armed forces, were found to be in the wrong place, said Gary Tallman, an Army spokesman.

"The families are satisfied that the problem was fixed," Tallman said Wednesday.

A fourth grave was opened Wednesday in a different section of Arlington. At the request of his father, the grave and casket of Marine Pfc. Heath Warner of Canton, Ohio, were opened. The site was found to hold the remains of Warner, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, Tallman said.

"We're gratified that the outcome was positive and they were able to gain some closure," Tallman said of Warner's family members.

Tallman said he was not aware of any other requests for exhumation.

The investigation into cemetery mismanagement marred the reputation of one of the nation's best-known burial grounds. Army Secretary John McHugh announced that the cemetery's two civilian leaders would be forced to step aside, and appointed a new chief to conduct a more thorough investigation to sort out the mix-ups.

Each year almost 4 million people visit Arlington, where more than 300,000 remains are buried, including those of troops from conflicts dating back to the Civil War, as well as U.S. presidents and their spouses and other U.S. officials.

www.wavy.com

Having A Sister Can Be Good For Your Emotional Health

Sisters can fend off ex-boyfriends, mean gossip — and also, apparently, depression.

Having a sister protects young teens "from feeling lonely, unloved, guilty, self-conscious and fearful," according to a study to be released Monday in the Journal of Family Psychology. Researchers from Brigham Young University studied 395 families from Seattle with two or more children. At least one child in each family was between ages 10-14.

The research, conducted in 2007 and 2008, found that affectionate siblings have positive influences on each other no matter their age, gender, or how many years they are apart.

Loving brothers and sisters promote behaviors such as kindness and generosity. They also protect against delinquency and depression, says Laura Padilla-Walker, assistant professor in BYU's School of Family Life.

According to the study, having a sister prevents depression more than having a brother. This may be because girls are better at talking about problems or are more likely to take on a caregiver role, Padilla-Walker says.

The study also found that siblings have twice as much influence than parents over performing good deeds — including volunteering, doing favors for others and being nice to people.

"Siblings matter even more than parents do in terms of promoting being kind to others and being generous," Padilla-Walker says.

However, siblings who fight can have the opposite effect. Brothers and sisters who exhibit hostility toward each other are more likely to portray aggressive behaviors in other relationships, says James Harper, BYU professor in the School of Family Life.

Parents should be doing everything they can to help their children get along, he says.

"I would try to eliminate hostile name-calling, yelling as much as I could in sibling relationships and get them to exhibit more cooperative behavior," he says.

But no matter how much a parent intervenes, siblings have a unique power over each other.

"Siblings are people that a child lives with every day and yet we haven't really seriously considered their influence," Harper says.

The researchers say they were surprised to find sibling influence was stronger in families with two parents than one.

Padilla-Walker says a child with a single parent may become a "parent figure" to a younger sibling, which changes the typical brother or sister role.

www.usatoday.com

Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation Teams With Pepsi To Help Youth

Our friends at The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation are partnering with communities across America to design and facilitate the creation of Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation Youth Development Parks.

We have enjoyed sharing our successful groundbreaking events in Baltimore and Fredericksburg with you so far, and are hoping you can help us continue to make this happen in five neighborhoods!

Many urban ball fields have experienced decades of abuse and neglect. Fields have become overrun with trash and are frequently used as a market place for various forms of criminal and delinquent activity.

With your help, we can continue to build new ballparks to be shared with youth serving organizations and leagues providing a safe place for kids to play and learn. Upon completion of each project, the parks are gifted to the youth serving partner so the children have access, ownership, and pride for their park. The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation will continue to have a presence at these fields and implement character education programming and clinics for youth.

The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation has been given a very exciting opportunity from Pepsi and their Pepsi Refresh Campaign to be awarded the money to “refresh” the following five neighborhoods and supporting partners.

Baltimore, MD – minimum of 3 fields in partnership with the Y of Central MD, Boys & Girls Club of Metro Baltimore, Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Living Classrooms Foundation

Collier County, FL –in partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of Collier County

Fredericksburg, VA – in partnership with the City of Fredericksburg

Houston, TX – in partnership with SpringSpirit Baseball

Richmond, VA – in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond

You can vote once a day and it’s a quick and easy way to have a postive impact for youth in need. We thank you all for your help and support!

http://www.refresheverything.com/safeplacestoplay

www.charmcitycurrent.com

New Antiseptic

This cartoon originated nearly 3 months ago in Scotland ..

It looks like most of the world is laughing at our nation's leadership?

How Sad the world is laughing at the US ..... while we sit by and watch and wonder what will happen next!

Hat Tip; Kack

Computer Problem Slows Baltimore County Tally

Katie A. Brown, Baltimore County election director, says the vote-counting problems -- which have delayed results in several close council races -- were due to computer glitches, as well as human error.

The computer program that counts votes off the memory cards in voting machines kept crashing Tuesday night, so officials had to slow down, she said this morning. Each memory card takes about two minutes to upload, and there are more than 2,000 machines in the county, so uploading one memory card at a time onto the election board's computers would take about six or seven hours after polls closed.

"It got to the point where we could only do about one card at a time," she said.

Meanwhile, in four or five precincts, judges left the memory cards in the machines.

Today, election board workers are going to those precincts, including one at the Charlestown retirement community, to retrieve the memory cards and upload those votes.

"This does happen, it has happened in the past," she said. "Every election, there's a problem. There's always a precinct or two that doesn't bring back a card."

Brown expects the votes to be tallied by this afternoon, but even then they won't be official.

Even as the election board officials set out to tally the missing votes, some candidates were checking results. Shown here at the board offices are Councilman Kenneth Oliver, a Democrat from Distrct 4, and Rebecca Dongarra, a Democrat from District 1.

www.baltimoresun.com

Northampton Sheriff's Office Offers FREE Child Safety Seat Inspections

The Northampton County Sheriff's Office will be sponsoring free child safety seat inspections during the 2010 National Child Passenger Safety Week, which will be September 18-25.

The purpose of the safety seat inspection is to reinforce child seat safety. Certified technicians will inspect the seat to ensure proper seat installation, proper fit for the child, check for manufacturer recalls and check for defects.

The goal of the week is for all children and adults to be properly and safely restrained in the automobile.

The child seat safety inspections will take place at ACE Home Center in Exmore on Monday, September 20th from 4-7 PM. On Thursday, September 23rd inspections will be in the parking lot across from Little Italy in Nassawadox from 3-6 PM, and on Friday 24th, inspections will take place at the Food Lion in Cape Charles from 3-6 PM.
www.shoredailynews.com

New Jersey City Sues Mosque Imam

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Union City, N.J., sued the imam planning the controversial Islamic center in New York, saying he is a "terrible landlord" to his tenants there.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Hudson County Superior Court is unrelated to the dispute over the so-called Ground Zero mosque, a proposed cultural, sports and religious center two blocks from the World Trade Center site, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported.

Union City officials say that Feisal Abdul Rauf ignored citations for violations of housing codes in two buildings for years, including 12 violations of fire codes handed out a year before a fire.

"He's a terrible landlord who's unresponsive to the residents who live in his building," said Mark Albiez, a city spokesman. "City officials and inspectors have reached out to him to express the urgency in correcting problems in his buildings, and it's unfortunate that it's gotten to this point, but it's our responsibility to insure that residents receive the care that is needed."

The city is seeking to put the two buildings into receivership, using rents from tenants to make repairs. The larger building has been empty since the fire in 2008.

www.upi.com

France Passes Bill Banning Islamic Veils

PARIS — The French Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill banning the burqa-style Islamic veil in public, but the leaders of both parliamentary houses said they had asked a special council to first ensure the measure passes constitutional muster amid concerns its tramples on religious freedoms.

The Senate voted 246 to 1 Tuesday in favor of the bill, which has already passed in the lower chamber, the National Assembly. It will need President Nicolas Sarkozy's signature.

Legislative leaders said they wanted the Constitutional Council to examine it.

"This law was the object of long and complex debates," the Senate president, Gerard Larcher, and National Assembly head Bernard Accoyer said in a joint statement explaining their move. They said in a joint statement that they want to be certain there is "no uncertainty" about it conforming to the constitution.

Many Muslims believe the latest legislation is one more blow to France's second religion, and risks raising the level of Islamophobia in a country where mosques, like synagogues, are sporadic targets of hate. Some women have vowed to wear a full-face veil despite the law.

The measure would outlaw face-covering veils in streets, including those worn by tourists from the Middle East and elsewhere. It is aimed at ensuring gender equality, women's dignity and security, as well as upholding France's secular values — and its way of life.

Kenza Drider, however, says she'll flirt with arrest to wear her veil as she pleases.

"It is a law that is unlawful," said Drider, a mother of four from Avignon, in southern France. "It is ... against individual liberty, freedom of religion, liberty of conscience," she said.

"I will continue to live my life as I always have with my full veil," she told Associated Press Television News.

Drider was the only woman who wears a full-faced veil to be interviewed by a parliamentary panel that spent six months deciding whether to move ahead with legislation.

Muslim leaders concur that Islam does not require a woman to hide her face. However, they have voiced concerns that a law forbidding them to do so would stigmatize the French Muslim population, which at an estimated 5 million is the largest in western Europe. Numerous Muslim women who wear the face-covering veil have said they are now being harassed in the streets.

Expert: it 'will officialize Islamophobia'
Raphael Liogier, a sociology professor who heads the Observatory of the Religious in Aix-en-Provence, says that Muslims in France are already targeted by hate-mongers and the ban on face-covering veils "will officialize Islamophobia."

"With the identity crisis that France has today, the scapegoat is the Muslim," he said.

Ironically, instead of helping some women integrate, the measure may keep them cloistered in their homes to avoid exposing their faces in public.

"I won't go out. I'll send people to shop for me. I'll stay home, very simply," said Oum Al Khyr, who wears a "niqab" that hides all but the eyes.

"I'll spend my time praying," said the single woman "over 45" who lives in Montreuil on Paris' eastern edge. "I'll exclude myself from society when I wanted to live in it."

The law banning the veil would take effect only after a six-month period.

The Interior Ministry estimates the number of women who fully cover themselves at some 1,900, with a quarter of them converts to Islam and two-thirds with French nationality.

The French parliament wasted no time in working to get a ban in place, opening an inquiry shortly after Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy said in June 2009 that full veils that hide the face are "not welcome" in France.

Fine also for forced use
The bill calls for 150 euro ($185) fines or citizenship classes, or both, for any woman caught covering her face.

It also carries stiff penalties for anyone such as husbands or brothers convicted of forcing the veil on a woman. The 30,000 euro ($38,400) fine and year in prison are doubled if the victim is a minor.

It was unclear, however, how authorities planned to enforce such a law.

"I will accept the fine with great pleasure," said Drider, vowing to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if she gets caught.

www.msn.com

Eiffel Tower Reopens

The Eiffel Tower has reopened for tourists today after some 2,000 people were evacuated from around the Paris landmark because of a bomb threat from an anonymous caller.

Explosives experts scoured the tower and Champs de Mars park overnight but found nothing suspicious. No additional security measures are in place today, several news outlets reported.

The threat came in a phone call just after dark Tuesday night to a private company that runs security at the tower. Hours later, the Saint-Michel train station -- the site of a deadly attack in 1995 -- was also briefly evacuated after a similar threat. Nothing was found there either.

No one has claimed responsibility for the threats, but the French government had issued an increased alert about possible threats from al-Qaida in August and the first half of September. Tuesday's false alarm also came on the same day France's Senate voted overwhelmingly to ban full Islamic veils in public.

www.aolnews.com

American Woman Set Free After $500,000 Bail Deal

TEHRAN, Iran – In just a few dizzying hours, American Sarah Shourd exchanged a cell in Tehran's Evin Prison for a private jet crossing the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, after an apparent diplomatic deal to cover a $500,000 bail and secure a release that seemed in jeopardy from the start.

Shourd was met by her mother and U.S. diplomats at a royal airfield in the capital of Oman, which U.S. officials say played a critical role in organizing the bail payment and assuring it did not violate American economic sanctions on Iran.

Shourd stepped off the private Omani jet and into the arms of her mother in their first embrace since a brief visit in May overseen by Iranian authorities — and her first day of freedom in more than 13 months. Shourd smiled broadly as they strolled arm-in-arm through the heat of the late summer night along the Gulf of Oman.

"I'm grateful and I'm very humbled by this moment," she said before boarding the plane in Tehran for the two-hour flight to Oman.

The whirlwind departure of the 32-year-old Shourd brought little change for two other Americans — her fiance Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal — who remained behind bars while authorities moved toward possible trials on spy charges that could bring up to 10 years in prison if they are convicted.

The three were detained along the Iraq border in July 2009. Their families say they were innocent hikers in the scenic mountains of Iraq's Kurdish region and if they did stray across the border into Iran, they did so unwittingly.

"All of our families are relieved and overjoyed that Sarah has at last been released, but we're also heartbroken that Shane and Josh are still being denied their freedom for no just cause ... They deserve to come home, too," said a statement by the three families.

Iran, however, has shown no hints of clemency for the two 28-year-old men. Indictments on espionage-related charges have been filed and Tehran's chief prosecutor has suggested the cases could soon move into the courts, with Shourd tried in absentia.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he welcomed Shourd's release "and I appreciate the flexibility of Iranian government."

"At the same time, as secretary-general of the United Nations, I would sincerely hope that Iranian government will again very favorably consider releasing the remaining two American hikers so that they could join their families as soon as possible," he said in an interview in New York with AP and AP Television News.

Any other scenario could bring more unwanted attention to the growing rivalries inside Iran's Islamic leadership.

Even the gesture to release Shourd on health grounds — first raised as an act of Islamic benevolence last week by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — turned into a spectacle of high-level political bullying and sniping over who controlled her fate and the overall wisdom of letting her go.

The open bickering seemed to harden the divisions that have been developing since the brush with chaos after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election last year.

On one side are Ahmadinejad and his allies, led by the vast military and economic network of the Revolutionary Guard — what some analysts have called the "militarization" of the Islamic state. The other pole reflects the old guard of Iran's once-unchallenged authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the traditional pillars of the theocracy such as the judiciary.

In Shourd's case, the judges came out on top. They humbled Ahmadinejad and set the ground rules for her release with a staggeringly high bail.

But in the wider sense, the feuds display the fraying consensus among Iran's conservative leadership — with Ahmadinejad's critics increasingly outspoken in their claims he is trying to expand his reach and redraw Iran's political map.

Such rifts could eventually make it harder for Iran to speak in one voice on key issues, such as its nuclear program and any future overtures to end 30 years of diplomatic estrangement with the United States.

"Iran's leadership managed to put down the opposition after Ahmadinejad's election, and now they are fighting among themselves," said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, a professor of Iranian affairs at Syracuse University.

Ahmadinejad may have felt the sting from the judiciary over the handling of Shourd's release. But he came away with the outcome he sought: a goodwill gesture less than a week before he is scheduled to arrive in New York ahead of the U.N. General Assembly.

Ahmadinejad has said Shourd was being released on compassionate grounds. Her mother says she has serious medical problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.

Shourd's release, some analysts say, could be used by Iran as a way to deflect the international outcry over a stoning sentence for a woman convicted of adultery and the continued crackdown on opposition groups — which led two Iranian ambassadors in Europe to quit this week and seek asylum.

"Ahmadinejad is possibly trying to make the environment less hostile in New York," said Rasool Nafisi, a researcher on Iranian affairs at Strayer University in Virginia.

Even in the last minutes, Ahmadinejad tried to put his stamp on the release. His adviser on women's affairs, Maruyam Mojtahedzadeh, was on hand to greet Shourd at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport.

In a statement to Iran's state-run Press TV before boarding the flight to Oman, Shourd thanked Ahmadinejad and other Iranian leaders for "this humanitarian gesture."

"I want to really offer my thanks to everyone in the world, all of the governments, all of the people, that have been involved," added Shourd, wearing a maroon headscarf and a tan coat.

Upon arrival in Oman, Shourd also thanked the sultan for his help and said she would turn her efforts to trying to win the release of her companions. Her immediate travel plans were unclear. A U.S. official said she would be in Oman for at least a day.

Shourd, who grew up in Los Angeles, Bauer, who grew up in Onamia, Minn., and Fattal, who grew up in Elkins Park, Pa., were detained on July 31, 2009, and accused of illegally crossing into Iran and spying in a case that has deepened tensions with Washington.

Up until the moment Shourd was led outside the gray walls of Evin Prison, it was unclear whether the opening for her release could just as suddenly close.

A day earlier, a commentary by a news agency linked to the Revolutionary Guard called the bail an insult to Iran's security and intelligence forces. Shourd's family then said they couldn't afford the amount and the State Department noted it would not offer financial help.

Then came the unexpected news from Tehran's chief prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, that bail had been paid to Iran's Bank Melli in the Omani capital Muscat. Shourd's family has not disclosed the source of the funds — opening speculation that a diplomatic pact was cut with Oman.

A U.S. official said neither the U.S. government nor the families of the hikers put up the money, but could not say who else might have paid it.

All signs pointed to Oman, both a close Western and Iranian ally that wraps around the southeast corner of the Arabian peninsula.

Oman is seen as an important diplomatic bridge with Tehran because the two nations share close bonds as guardians of the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, the seaway for an estimated 40 percent of the world's oil.

Another U.S. official said Omani negotiators had played a critical, behind-the-scenes role, working with Iran's judiciary and Swiss diplomats who handle U.S. affairs in Iran. Oman was key in coordinating the bail payment, the official said — suggesting some kind of channel to avoid violating American sanctions on Iran.

Both U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

U.S. sanctions put blanket restrictions on transactions with Iran's main state bank, Bank Melli, which has been the channel for past bail payments to Iranian courts by foreign detainees. Washington accuses the bank of helping fund Iran's ballistic missile development and its nuclear program, which the U.S. says could eventually lead to atomic weapons. Iran says it only seeks peaceful nuclear reactors for energy.

In a statement, Oman's government said it "welcomes" Shourd's release and hoped "other positive steps will follow in the course of the Iranian-American relations."

President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton both thanked Oman for its assistance.

Oman "in recent days and weeks became a key interlocutor to help us work this case with the Iranian government," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "And we are very grateful to the role that Oman has played."

He could not say if any money had changed hands in winning Shourd's release, but noted that "arrangements were made that satisfied Iranian requirements under their judicial system."

At the same time, Crowley said the U.S. government had no information to suggest any U.S. or international sanctions on Iran had been violated.

"I am very pleased that Sarah Shourd has been released by the Iranian government, and will soon be united with her family," Obama said in a statement.

Shourd's mother, Nora, said she has hoped and prayed for this moment for 410 days.

"Sarah has had a long and difficult detainment and I am going to make sure that she now gets the care and attention she needs and the time and space to recover," she said. "I can only imagine how bittersweet her freedom must be for her, leaving Shane and Josh behind."

www.yahoo.com

Woman Finds Latex Fingertips In Bottle Of Dr. Pepper

NORFOLK - Elizabeth Perkins says she found more than just soda inside a bottle of Dr. Pepper she bought.

Floating in the bottle were two fingers from a latex glove. What's even more disgusting is that Elizabeth was actually drinking from the bottle that she had bought at a grocery store. In fact, it was almost halfway gone before she noticed the large clumps of latex.

"I took a couple of swigs of it, put the cap back on and when I arrived at work, there was something that was floating on the top that resembled, well it was just very jumbled plastic stuck together.

At first glace, Elizabeth wasn't sure what was floating in her Dr. Pepper.

She says, "At first, I thought it was some kind of worm."

After Elizabeth took a photo, she realized there were two latex glove fingers, cleanly sliced, floating in her soda.

"This is like, one and a half knuckles up on a glove. There are inch long pieces, inch and a half even, of latex glove fingertips," Elizabeth says.

Latex is obviously not an ingredient in Dr. Pepper, and that got Elizabeth wondering what else could be in the bottle.

She says, "It was awful to think that someone could have possibly lost two figures on a Dr. Pepper line and they didn't stop production or make sure none of that stuff got into the bottle is just, is disturbing to me."

Elizabeth called Dr. Pepper to let them know what she found. Dr. Pepper officials responded to Elizabeth by sending her a letter stating that they regret the inconvenience that this has caused. They also sent her a coupon for a free 12-pack of Dr. Pepper.

"They weren't necessarily interested in my welfare," Elizabeth says, "You know, did I have to go to the hospital? You know, was anything else in there? Nothing like that was asked."

Instead, the company told Elizabeth they wanted her to send the bottle back to them so that they could examine it. Elizabeth hasn't decided what she's going to do with the bottle or the latex fingertip. But she says she has learned something from this experience.

"I don't drink pop without pouring it into a see-through glass. No soda pop without a see-through glass. It's just my rule," she says.
www.wtkr.com

Family Tried To Stop Driver

POCOMOKE CITY -- After friends and family made a late-night attempt to prevent him from driving drunk, police said, Jesse James Mason drove off anyway, dragging a friend who was hanging onto his truck, killing him.

Mason, 24, of Pocomoke City is being held on $100,000 bond after being charged in the death of Hunter Lee Stonnell. Mason was attempting to drive out of a parking lot Friday night, police allege, when Stonnell, who was trying to keep him off the road, was thrown from Mason's vehicle.

In an interview with police, Mason said he "began drinking earlier in the afternoon, before driving with Stonnell to Virginia, where he consumed another five to six beers," according to District Court charging documents.

After returning to his house in Pocomoke City, Mason and his wife became involved in an argument, because she didn't want him to drive, according to court records.

He returned to his vehicle. His wife called Mason's father for help and asked Stonnell to drive her to the parking lot where Mason's car was parked, charging documents say. Arriving at his car, Mason was met by his wife, his father and Stonnell.

When Mason refused to not drive, Stonnell grabbed onto the side of the truck, according to court documents. Mason reportedly told him to "hold on" and began to accelerate out of the parking lot.

Witnesses said the victim was hanging out of the driver's side of Mason's white Ford pickup truck, attempting to prevent him from driving, when he was thrown from the vehicle.

Mason told police he knew Stonnell had to be injured, but continued driving to his home, according to court documents.

Charges against Mason include homicide by motor vehicle, negligent homicide by auto while impaired, negligent manslaughter by auto, negligent auto homicide under the influence of alcohol, reckless endangerment, driving under the influence and related charges. The Worcester County Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation that led to the charges.

Mason has two previous alcohol-related charges in Worcester on his court record, including one in February 2006 for possession of an intoxicating beverage under the age of 21 and in September 2006 for possession of an alcoholic beverage under the age of 21. In both cases, he pleaded guilty and paid court-imposed fines.

Stonnell, 21, was born in Oklahoma to parents who made their home in Westover. He graduated from Crisfield High School in 2007 and was working as a heavy equipment operator with the Vulcan Materials Co. in Pocomoke City. He belonged to Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Pocomoke City.

Funeral services will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at Bradshaw & Sons Funeral Home in Crisfield.

www.delmarvanow.com

From Poem To Lyrics- "The Star Spangled Banner"

On Sept. 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem after witnessing how Fort McHenry in Maryland had endured a night of British bombardment during the War of 1812; that poem, "Defence of Fort McHenry," later became the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner," the American national anthem.

Mother Made Son Eat Feces And Vomit (excuse me- ALLEGEDLY

WHAT A BEAST THIS MOTHER IS!!

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland woman has been indicted on 12 counts for allegedly beating and cruelly treating her two 14-year-old sons, prosecutors say.

According to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason's office, Talthina Jackson, 37, of Cleveland, was indicted on charges of felonious assault, endangering children, domestic violence, and aggravated menacing for assaulted one of her 14-year-old sons by choking him, biting his face, and striking him in the head with an iron.

Prosecutors say Jackson attacked the teen because he was playing on the computer in her bedroom without permission, and she thought he was stealing from her.

A neighbor that called police reported the teen had blood running down his head as he ran from the family's home on Crenell Avenue. Authorities say the teen has multiple scars over his body from being beat with a pole by Jackson.

Prosecutors alleged that Jackson abused her other 14-year-old son on several occasions this year, making the teen lick up urine from the floor, eat cat food and eat his own vomit and feces.

Jackson was arraigned on the charges on September 8th and has posted a $35,000 bond. She has a pre-trial hearing set for September 14th.

www.wtkr.com

Arrest Made In Duck Inn Robery

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. - A man has been arrested in connection to an armed robbery. Worcester County authorities have arrested Wayne Tyler Jr., 32, of Pocomoke City on charges of armed robbery and assault.


They say Tyler allegedly robbed the Duck Inn store in Pocomoke at gunpoint back on August 19th. Tyler is being held at the Worcester County Jail on $250,000 bond.

Authorities also say the Duck Inn store was robbed again a week later, on April 28th.

Anyone with information about that robbery is asked to call The Worcester County Bureau of Investigations at (410) 352-3476 or Pocomoke City Police Dept. at (410) 957-1600.

www.wmdt.com

Police Calls- Thursday-Sunday ACCOMACK

On Thursday, Sept. 9 at 9:49 a.m., the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an assault and battery at 29471 Thornton Road, Temperanceville.

On Thursday, Sept. 9 at 11:49 p.m., the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of discharging weapons at 10522 Lankford Highway, Temperanceville.

On Saturday, Sept. 11 at 2:14 a.m., the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of assault and battery at Shucker’s Roadhouse, Onancock.

On Saturday, Sept. 11 at 4:46 p.m., the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a suicide on Madison Avenue, Keller.

On Sunday, Sept. 12 at 9:04 p.m., the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of shooting into a dwelling at 19394 Lankford Highway, Parksley.

On Sunday, Sept. 12 at 9:14 p.m., the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of shooting into a dwelling at 30148 Chesser Road, Temperanceville.

On Sunday, Sept. 12 at 10:14 p.m. the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an attempted suicide on Corbin Street, Hallwood.

www.easternshorenews.com

Tangier Islands ESPN Commercials Will Air During Monday Night Football

TANGIER ISLAND — A series of ESPN3 commercials featuring Tangier Island began airing on national television Monday, introducing viewers to the remote Chesapeake Bay island — which, as Town Manager Renee Tyler says in one commercial, has “507 residents, one school and no cars.”

Eight episodes of the advertising campaign posted on YouTube had already been viewed by thousands of people Monday morning.

The commercials will air during Monday Night Football on ESPN and are also posted on ESPN’s Facebook page, according to a spokeswoman for the Richmond-based Martin Agency, which created the advertising campaign.

The campaign bills Tangier as “the biggest sports town in America per capita.” The commercials show watermen going about their work and familiar island landmarks including the airstrip and the water tower.

They feature Tangier residents including Mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge, Tyler and others touting the recent arrival on the island of broadband Internet access, including the ability to view live sports programming on ESPN3.

“Electronics enable Tangier to be as in touch as anyplace in the world, for good or for bad,” said John Pruitt, a retired journalist who grew up on the island. Pruitt is the founder of Tangier Pride Inc., a non-profit organization formed two years ago to support the preservation of the island and its unique way of life.

Pruitt said the commercials remind him of the folksy Ocean Spray juice ads that feature two men standing in a cranberry bog, “but these are real people,” not actors.
One episode highlights ESPN3’s college football programming and features resident Harold Pruitt, calling him “the island’s biggest FSU fan.” Pruitt concludes with a Florida State University Seminoles’ tomahawk chop.

In another, Dorthia Pruitt, wearing a Crimson Tide T-shirt, confesses to having a crush on University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban.

The distinctive Tangier dialect is prominent throughout the commercials, each of which begins with a snippet of a sea chantey recorded by the Smithsonian Institution in the 1950s.
“It was really a once-in-a-lifetime experience to get immersed in life on Tangier Island and meet and work with such great people,” said the campaign’s creative director, Rob Shapiro of the Martin Agency.

Shapiro and a production crew spent a week on Tangier in late July filming the commercials, all of which use actual island residents, not professional actors.

The agency contacted the Eastern Shore of Virginia Tourism Commission in June about doing a campaign on Tangier after the Virginia Film office connected the two, Tourism Director Donna Bozza said at the time.

“We kept our fingers crossed that they would go for the ad campaign based on the authenticity of our wonderful Tangier and are so thrilled they did,” she said.

The tourism commission in the next two weeks or so will be posting on its website, http://www.esvatourism.org/, a behind-the-scenes video about the making of the commercials, Bozza said. That footage also will be sent to media outlets as a way to promote the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Tangier.

To see the commercials, search “Tangier ESPN” on YouTube.

www.delmarvanow.com

Mongols Motorcycle Gang Leader Pleads Guilty To Gun Charge

The head of the Virginia Beach chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club pleaded guilty Monday to the illegal sale of a fully automatic machine gun that once belonged to the Iraqi army.

Justin "Itchy" Wilson, 29, of Virginia Beach pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to possession and transfer of a machine gun. He faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 3.

Wilson admitted in court that he sold the Russian-made machine gun in 2008 to an undercover agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Wilson told an undercover operative that he had taken the machine gun as a "souvenir" during his tour of duty in Iraq several years ago, according to a court document.

At the time, federal agents had infiltrated the gang to obtain evidence of illegal activity. Since then, authorities have made more than two dozen arrests of motorcycle gang members on various charges, including drug distribution, firearms possession and assault.

Wilson has been in the Navy since 1998 and was a petty officer 1st class working as a machinist at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth at the time of his arrest.

www.hamptonroads.com

Cuccinelli Compares Obama To King George

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli accused President Barack Obama on Sunday of respecting liberty less than the British crown did in the years before the Revolution.

“King George III and the parliament of Great Britain that we rebelled against respected the liberty of the colonists of America more than the Congress and the president of the United States of America,” he told thousands of tea party activists gathered on Washington’s National Mall for the 9/12 rally.

Cuccinelli, who has become a darling of the right because of his eagerness to butt heads with the administration, called the health law “the greatest erosion of liberty in my adult lifetime.” His office filed suit against the federal government on the day Obama signed the health care bill into law.

The analogy came during a condemnation of the new mandate that individuals buy health insurance, a key provision in the bill Obama signed into law this March. In 1774, after the first Continental Congress boycotted goods, Cuccinelli said the solicitor general told the British Crown that the government couldn’t mandate subjects buy products like tea.

“If the federal government can order you to buy health insurance, they can order you to buy anything,” he said.

The health care law has become one of the biggest issues galvanizing conservative voters, and Republicans hope to capitalize on polls that show the new law remains unpopular with a majority of voters to make traction with independents in the coming midterms. The individual mandate was included in the bill as a cost-control measure.

“Make no mistake about it: this lawsuit is not about health care,” he said, wearing a full business suit and black cowboy boots on a sweaty afternoon. “It’s about liberty and preserving liberty as the Founding Fathers understood it, not as the people who occupy this building rewrite it every week…all that stands between us and the end of federalism is one lawsuit.”

He told the conservative activists who had come from around the country that he hopes to argue his case before the Supreme Court in about a year-and-a-half.

www.hamptonroads.com

Prison Sentences For Two On Charges Of Transporting Over 700 Pounds of Marijuana

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - On Monday, a man and woman were sentenced in Norfolk federal court on conspiracy charges involving over 700 pounds of marijuana seized in Virginia Beach and Nashville.

Ashlee Gina Bunn, 29, formerly of Virginia Beach, was sentenced to nine years in prison, and Antonio Allen Anderson, 29, of Newport News, was sentenced to one year and three months in prison.

According to court documents, Bunn was involved in transporting 200 pounds of marijuana from Tennessee to Virginia Beach for distribution. She recruited Anderson to help move the marijuana from Newport News to Virginia Beach. After her arrest, she recruited another person in Tennessee to remove 500 pounds of marijuana from the home she rented there.

Search warrants in Virginia Beach and Tennessee resulted in the recovery of over $50,000 in currency and 500 pounds of marijuana. Bunn will be transferred to federal court in Tennessee for trial there with another co-conspirator.

Bunn and Anderson previously pled guilty in May 2010.

www.wavy.com

About Half Of Our Nation's Veterans Don't Use G. I. Bill Benefits

Recognize this car? Did you see it at the Nascar race held in Richmond this past Saturday night?

If you are a veteran do you know any more about your G.I. Bill benefits than you did before this car was built?

Can anyone tell me why they had to build a car in order to inform the Veterans?

Do you suppose alot of those Veterans NOT using the G.I.Bill might be homeless, sick, and not near any reading materials at all? Has the government tried to contact them?

Read below and find out WHAT that one car was supposed to be all about! Do you think it brought some much needed publicity to the issue?The good news: As of May, Nearly 28,000 Virginia veterans and their dependents were enrolled in post-secondary education programs on the federal government's dime -- more than 19,000 of them on the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill.

But according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than half of the service members eligible for G.I. Bill benefits aren't using it.

www.dailypress.com

Virginia officials hope this changes when NASCAR comes to Richmond this weekend for the Chevy Rock and Roll 400.

The Post 9/11 G.I. Bill has been named as the presenting sponsor for the NASCAR weekend.

"This will bring some much-needed publicity to the program," said Annie Walker, director of the State Approving Agency for Education and Training under the Virginia Department of Vetearns Services.

Generally, military sevice members qualify for Post 9/11 G.I. Bill benefits if they served at least 90 aggregate days on active duty after Sept. 10, 2001. Unlike student loans,G.I. Bill benefits do not have to be repaid.

Benefits include $335.50 per credit hour, $1,000 a year for books and a housing allowance.

Studies Show That Sanitizers Do Not Ward Off Colds

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Applying an alcohol-based hand sanitizer may not limit your chances at catching a cold or the flu.

That's the finding of a University of Virginia study reported by The Daily Progress newspaper.

Every 100 study subjects who used hand disinfectants had 42 rhinovirus infections. That compares to 51 infections for every 100 subjects who went without hand sanitizers.

The rates of influenza were about the same between the two groups, 12 versus 15 cases per 100 subjects.

Dial Corp. sponsored the study. The results were to be expected to be announced during the weekend's Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Boston.

Researchers say other studies show hand sanitizer does curb gastrointestinal disease.

www.wavy.com

Gov. McDonnell Seeks Aid From Federal Government For Farmers

Gov. Bob McDonnell has asked the U.S. agriculture secretary to help farmers who suffered through a record hot and dry summer.

The appeal seeks to have 37 Virginia localities designated as disaster areas, in addition to seven already sought.

McDonnell wrote Secretary Tom Vilsack this month that the designation would give growers access to emergency assistance programs.

The localities range from Albemarle and Bedford Counties to the city of Suffolk.

"I can't say it's the worst summer I've seen but it's certainly bad," Agriculture and Forestry Secretary Todd Haymore said Sunday. "It's been a very difficult year for producers around the state."

Corn and soybeans have wilted under the hot, dry conditions, while grapes, tobacco and apples have fared better, he said.

Virginia sweltered under its hottest summers on record. The city of Richmond recorded 10 days of triple-digit temperatures. Drought conditions have also been widespread around the state.

Haymore said counties are assessing the agricultural losses and they should be known later this year. He said a federal disaster designation can make low-interest loans available to farmers as well as other assistance.
www.shordaileynews.com

NASA Rocket Launch Postponed Indefinitely

The rocket launch of NASAs suborbital rocket scheduled for Wednesday, September 15 has been postponed indefinitely, according to NASA officials.

The reason for delay is to extend testing of the payload system which is used to examine new technologies on the rocket.

The Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital sounding rocket was originally set for Tuesday morning before being pushed back to Wednesday.

It's Always Nice To Meet New Racers And See New Faces

Friday Night Dirt Drag at Melson's

Melson's is always happy to have new drivers bring their trucks to the events. In fact, the more the merrier.

This weeks new driver was Nick with his Dodge Cummins diesel.

Keep in mind that alot of the trucks that visit Melson's are built for mud tracks but not all. Nick's Dodge really ran good for its first-ever dirt drag.

He should really give himself a pat on the back.

Take a look at these videos.........

I'd say that's not bad at all for the first time.

Hope you enjoyed yourself, Nick, and hope you will be back again.

Don't forget: If you have a truck, jeep or anything (just about) that will roll bring it to Melson's and try it out on the sand drag. See website for rules www.melsontractorpull.webs.com

Pocomoke; Homicide By Motor Vehicle

On 9/10/10 at approximately 09:16pm, the Pocomoke City Police Department responded to the parking lot of 1701 Market Street, Pocomoke, MD for a subject that was thrown from a moving motor vehicle.

Upon their arrival, they learned from two independent witnesses that the victim was hanging from the driver's side door of mason's vehicle while it was in motion. mason had been consuming alcoholic beverages throughout the evening and the victim was attempting to stop mason from driving.

The suspect accelerated rapidly from the parking lot and the victim was thrown from the vehicle causing fatal injuries.
Due to the nature and circumstances of the investigation, the worcester county bureau of investigation was contacted to assist with the investigation.

Mason was subsequently charged with homicide by motor vehicle, negligent homicide by auto while impaired, negligent manslaughter by auto, negligent auto homicide under the influence of alcohol, reckless endangerment, dui and related charges

VIA: WMDT

Dirt Drag At Melson's Friday Night

Action At Melson's

These two drivers are quite competative when it comes to mud racing and get the chance to run side by side in the 200 ft. dirt drag Friday night.

"Cowpatty" and "Short and Sassy"

jmmb

Medal Of Honor Goes To Living Soldier

The White House announced today that President Barack Obama will award the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration, to an Army sergeant who will be the first living soldier to receive the honor since the Vietnam War.

The president personally called Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, an Army specialist in Afghanistan at the time the events took place, to let him know of the decision, the White House said in a statement. He was awarded the medal for placing his life in danger when he and fellow paratroopers were ambushed by the Taliban in 2007.

"When an insurgent force ambush split Specialist Giunta's squad into two groups, he exposed himself to enemy fire to pull a comrade back to cover," the White House statement about the award reads. "Later, while engaging the enemy and attempting to link up with the rest of his squad, Specialist Giunta noticed two insurgents carrying away a fellow soldier. He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other, and provided medical aid to his wounded comrade while the rest of his squad caught up and provided security."

Awarding the Medal of Honor to Giunta, 25, carries symbolic weight beyond the individual decision to award it to a living service member. Only a handful of the medals have been awarded, even posthumously, to service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A more detailed description of Giunta's heroic actions has been pieced together through interviews with him and other soldiers present that day in 2007, when they were ambushed by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.

Giunta "was knocked flat by the gunfire; luckily, a well-aimed round failed to penetrate his armored chest plate," The Washington Post reports. "As the paratroopers tried to gather their senses and scramble for a shred of cover, Giunta reacted instinctively, running straight into the teeth of the ambush to aid three wounded soldiers, one by one, who had been separated from the others."

A New York Times Magazine article, which provided a blow-by-blow description of the ambush and ensuing battle, described Giunta as a "quiet Iowan lofted into a heroism he didn't want."

Fewer than 3,500 Medals of Honor have been awarded since 1863.

www.aolnews.com

Neighbors Called Womans Son Odd And Aggressive

Residents in Darby, Pa., were only mildly shocked to hear that a local man was arrested on murder charges last week in Worcester County, after police said he pushed his elderly mother out of his van and deliberately ran her over several times.

Steven Molin, 58, was charged with murder on Sept. 1 in the death of his mother, 85-year-old Emily Molin. He told police his mother fell out of his work van while they were driving down a country road outside Berlin and he must have hit her when backing up to go look for her, but the police said the evidence pointed to a deliberate act.

Neighbors living in the Pennsylvania town of Darby, where the Molins lived, were saddened by the news of Emily Molin’s death. But few were truly shocked to learn that her son was accused of killing her in such a bizarre and violent manner.

“It was kind of a shock to me that he would go to this length, but then again, I’m not really all that shocked,” said Paula Brown, a former mayor of Darby who has known the Molins for more than 30 years. “He has been quite a character. He’s quite aggressive. If you didn’t agree with his point of view he would get very, very aggressive with you.”

According to the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation, Molin allegedly ran over his mother two or three times. The story he told police that she accidentally fell out of his van did not add up with the evidence.

Emily Molin was a sweet woman who did not deserve to die in that manner, Brown said. She said Steven was extremely controlling with his mother when they lived together, often refusing to let her speak with the neighbors, and social services had moved Emily out of their home. He has an odd personality that made many people in the town uncomfortable, she said.

“He controlled her all the time. If I would go to the door to hand out information when I was on council and the mayor, he would sometimes push her in the house if he didn’t want her to speak to you any more,” Brown said. “A lot of people in Darby are very sad over this. Mrs. Molin was a lovely person.”

Molin is a self-employed handyman in Darby. His arrest in Worcester County was not Molin’s first brush with the law. In 1982, he was convicted on aggravated assault charges, according to online court records, and three years later, he was sentenced to two to four years in prison for receiving stolen property. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to harassment charges. He also burned down a dentist’s office he was working on in Darby.

Molin is being held at the Worcester County Jail with no bond. A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for Sept. 30 in Snow Hill District Court. The residents of Darby will be keeping a close watch on the case, Brown said.

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