Cemetery Watchman

I just wanted to get the day over with and go down to Smokey's.  Sneaking a look at my watch, I saw the time, 1655.  Five minutes to go before the cemetery gates are closed for the day.  Full dress was hot in the August sun.  Oklahoma summertime was as bad as ever--the heat and humidity at the same level--both too high. 

I saw the car pull into the drive, a '69 or '70 model Cadillac Deville, looked factory-new.  It pulled into the parking lot at a snail's pace..  An old woman got out so slowly I thought she was paralyzed; she had a cane and a sheaf of flowers--about four or five bunches as best I could tell. 

I couldn't help myself.  The thought came unwanted, and left a slightly bitter taste: 'She's going to spend an hour, and for this old soldier, my hip hurts like hell and I'm ready to get out of here right now!'  But for this day, my duty was to assist anyone coming in. 

Kevin would lock the 'In' gate and if I could hurry the old biddy along, we might make it to Smokey's in time. 

I broke post attention.  My hip made gritty noises when I took the first step and the pain went up a notch.   I must have made a real military sight: middle-aged man with a small pot gut and half a limp, in marine full-dress uniform, which had lost its razor crease about thirty minutes after I began the watch at the cemetery. 

I stopped in front of her, halfway up the walk. She looked up at me with an old woman's squint. 

'Ma'am, may I assist you in any way?' 

She took long enough to answer. 

'Yes, son. Can you carry these flowers? I seem to be moving a tad slow these days.' 

'My pleasure, ma'am.'  Well, it wasn't too much of a lie. 

She looked again.  'Marine, where were you stationed?'

'Vietnam, ma'am.. Ground-pounder. '69 to '71.' 

She looked at me closer.  'Wounded in action, I see.  Well done, Marine.  I'll be as quick as I can.' 

I lied a little bigger:  'No hurry, ma'am.' 

She smiled and winked at me.  'Son, I'm 85-years-old and I can tell a lie from a long way off..  Let's get this done.  Might be the last time I can do this.  My name's Joanne Wieserman, and I've a few Marines I'd like to see one more time.' 

'Yes, ma 'am.  At your service.' 

She headed for the World War I section, stopping at a stone.  She picked one of the flowers out of my arm and laid it on top of the stone.   She murmured something I couldn't quite make out..  The name on the marble was Donald S. Davidson, USMC: France 1918. 

She turned away and made a straight line for the World War II section, stopping at one stone.  I saw a tear slowly tracking its way down her cheek.  She put a bunch on a stone; the name was  Stephen X.Davidson, USMC, 1943. 

She went up the row a ways and laid another bunch on a stone,  Stanley J. Wieserman, USMC, 1944. 

She paused for a second.  'Two more, son, and we'll be done' 

I almost didn't say anything, but,  'Yes, ma'am. Take your time.' 

She looked confused..  'Where's the Vietnam section, son?   I seem to have lost my way.' 

I pointed with my chin. 'That way, ma'am.' 

'Oh!', she chuckled quietly.  'Son, me and old age ain't too friendly.' 

She headed down the walk I'd pointed at.  She stopped at a couple of stones before she found the ones she wanted.  She placed a bunch on Larry Wieserman, USMC, 1968, and the last on Darrel Wieserman, USMC, 1970.  She stood there and murmured a few words I still couldn't make out. 

'OK, son, I'm finished.  Get me back to my car and you can go home.' 

Yes, ma'am.  If I may ask, were those your kinfolk?' 

She paused.  'Yes, Donald Davidson was my father,  Stephen was my uncle,  Stanley was my husband,  Larry and Darrel were our sons.  All killed in action, all Marines.' 

She stopped..  Whether she had finished, or couldn't finish, I don't know.  She made her way to her car, slowly and painfully. 

 

 

I waited for a polite distance to come between us and then double-timed it over to Kevin, waiting by the car. 

 

 

 

Get to the 'Out' gate quick.. I have something I've got to do.' 

Kevin started to say something, but saw the look I gave him.  He broke the rules to get us there down the service road.  We beat her.  She hadn't made it around the rotunda yet. 

'Kevin, stand at attention next to the gatepost. Follow my lead.'  I humped it across the drive to the other post. 

When the Cadillac came puttering around from the hedges and began the short straight traverse to the gate, I called in my best gunny's voice: 'TehenHut!  Present Haaaarms!' 

I have to hand it to Kevin; he never blinked an eye-- full dress attention and a salute that would make his DI proud.
  
She drove through that gate with two old worn-out soldiers giving her a send-off she deserved, for service rendered to her country, and for knowing duty, honor and sacrifice. 

I am not sure, but I think I saw a salute returned from that Cadillac. 

Instead of 'The End,' just think of 'Taps.' 

As a final thought on my part, let me share a favorite prayer:  'Lord, keep our servicemen and women safe, whether they serve at home or overseas.  Hold them in your loving hands and protect them as they protect us.' 

Let's all keep those currently serving and those who have gone before in our thoughts..  They are the reason for the many freedoms we enjoy. 

 
Sorry about your monitor; it made mine blurry too! 


If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under! 


Hat Tip; Eric 

GUMBORO MUDBOG SATURDAY.........

VISIT THE GUMBORO MUDBOG THIS SATURDAY

September 18, 2010

Gates open @ 11:oo am

Races begin @ 1:00 am


ADMISSION $7.00

Refreshments available

ATTENTION BIG AND SMALL TIRE MODIFIED CLASSES!
On September 18, there will be a first place prize of $750 for BOTH Big and Small Tire Modified Classes! (Entry fee will be $50 for these two classes)


For more info go to http://www.gumboromudbog.com/

SEE YOU THERE !!

'As The World Turns' Ends Today

It's not just the end of "The World," but the end of a TV legacy.

After the final "As The World Turns" Friday, Procter & Gamble won't have a daytime drama on the airwaves for the first time in 77 years, since "Ma Perkins" aired on radio in 1933.

"You could say it's the death of the soap opera, because it's the last soap still produced by a soap company," said Sam Ford, 27, a Kentucky native who has taught "As The World Turns" classes at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

When the show debuted in 1956, P&G had "Ma Perkins" on radio and four other TV shows: "Search For Tomorrow," ''The Edge Of Night," ''Guiding Light" and "The Bright Day." (CBS canceled "Guiding Light" in 2009.)

The story of the Hughes family in fictional Oakdale quickly caught on with viewers, becoming the top-rated daytime serial from 1958 to 1978. Fans are mourning the loss.

Melanie Cosgrove, 38, of Delhi Township, Ohio, hasn't missed an episode in 18 years. She started watching while pregnant and ordered to bed rest in 1992.

"I am so sad it's ending. It's been a constant in my life," said Cosgrove, whose daughter turns 18 on Thursday. "I'm already emotional about losing my baby when she leaves for college next summer, and I'm losing my TV 'friends' of 18 years."

Pat Heasley, 58, remembers watching with her mother as a child in Fort Wright, Ky.

"Mom would fill me in during the school year with what was going on," said Heasley of Anderson Township.

Heasley recalls watching young Julianne Moore on the show. Meg Ryan, Kevin Bacon, Marisa Tomei, Martin Sheen, James Earl Jones, Dana Delany, Parker Posey and Ming-Na also played early roles there.

Marie Masters, who has played Dr. Susan Stewart on the show for 35 years, remembers Moore having braces on her teeth, and Posey "wearing ripped T-shirts and scuzzy flip-flops."

Masters believes the bubble could burst soon for the six soaps that will be left on TV. Viewers have plunged by 80 percent - from 6.4 million to 1.3 million - since 1991, according to Nielsen.

"I don't think the rest of the shows have long to go. People have moved on," she said.

The world has changed radically since "The World" started spinning stories in 1956 sponsored by Oxydol or Duz detergents, P&G spokeswoman Jeannie Tharrington said.

"Not only are a lot of women not home anymore, there's also competition from cable, DVRs and online videos like YouTube," she said.

P&G has shifted pursuit of consumers to producing quarterly family movies on NBC with Walmart; working with producer America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") on MTV's new "Pedro & Maria" telenovela; producing the "People's Choice Awards"; and making "My Black Is Beautiful" for BET. P&G has produced more than 50 TV movies and miniseries, plus "Circus of the Stars" and other specials.

"We're certainly proud of 'As The World Turns.' The legacy soaps that got us into production created a chance for us to do other shows," Tharrington said

P&G wanted to keep "As The World Turns" on the air for "another year or two," she said, but CBS canceled it. The soap will be replaced on Oct. 18 by "The Talk," a "View"-like show with Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete and Leah Remini.

P&G tried to move the show to another network, cable, syndication or online without success, she said.

"It's a shame P&G got out of the soap opera business. I became a fan of the company because of the exposure to their products during commercials," said Bonnie Shelley, 58, of Deerfield Township, Ohio.

"As The World Turns" ends with main character Dr. Bob Hughes (Don Hastings) retiring. The taping was "chaotic and crazy. People were crying and laughing and breaking down," Masters said.

"They respected the format. I liked that. Life in Oakdale goes on," Masters said. "But there will never be closure. It's heart-breaking that they (P&G) are out of the business."

www.citizen-times.com

Worcester District 2: Absentee Envelopes Collected

SNOW HILL -- Detectives confiscated dozens of envelopes that had contained District 2 absentee ballots, launching what officials described in vague terms as a voting integrity probe.

The Worcester Bureau of Investigation officers placed empty ballot envelopes into evidence bags and sealed them with red tape, after county election officials tallied the votes on the ballots they had contained.

Members of the Board of Elections wore surgical gloves while counting all of the absentee ballots and separately counted ballots from District 2, which stretches from the outskirts of Berlin to Pocomoke City, covering mostly unincorporated areas of Worcester County.

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. He requested the election board have staffers handle absentee ballots with surgical gloves so as not to affect their evidentiary value.

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

The Office of the State Prosecutor, not the Worcester State's Attorney's Office, is leading the investigation, Todd said. The chief investigator with the state prosecutor's office, Jim Cabezas, declined to comment.

Jeffrey Cropper, an attorney for the county Board of Elections, said he could not comment on the substance of the complaint or who made it.

Two candidates' names appeared only on District 2 ballots, and not in other districts: County Commissioner incumbent James Purnell and challenger Edward S. Lee, both Democrats. The race between them turned out to be the only one in Worcester in which one candidate led among ballots cast in person, but another candidate leads among absentee votes counted so far.

After early voting and Election Day ballots were cast, Purnell held a comfortable lead, with 525 votes to Lee's 250 votes. Lee, the former head of the Worcester County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, had won just 32 percent of votes cast as of Tuesday night.

But absentee voters gave much more support to Lee, giving him 76 percent of their votes. Still, the additional 87 absentee votes for Lee and 27 absentee votes for Purnell didn't knock Purnell off the top spot; Purnell still leads 552-337. No Republican ran for commissioner in the district.

Only 184 absentee ballots sent out to Worcester voters in all seven election districts remain unreturned. Any more absentee ballots received in the mail by 10 a.m. Sept. 22 will be counted that day, along with provisional ballots used for in-person voting. Election officials must certify the results no later than Sept. 24.

Lee, asked to comment, said: "I have no comment at this time. You're telling me something I don't know about and have to look into."

Purnell, in a brief interview, said: "I hope it's not true. It looks bad on the district."

For statewide Maryland elections, people voting absentee can have someone pick up a blank ballot on their behalf, help them fill it out and also turn it in, as long as a "designation of agent" form is filled out. The voter's assistant can't be a candidate on the ballot, the voter's employer or an officer of the voter's union.

In two recent Worcester County municipal elections, candidates won seats when their support among absentee voters skyrocketed compared to the ratio of votes cast in person. In April 2009, Pocomoke City Council candidate Tracey Cottman split the in-person vote with candidate Stephanie Burke at 58 votes apiece, but won the seat on the strength of her 178 absentee votes to Burke's 4 votes. A special investigation of the vote by Todd's office found no wrongdoing by any candidate but urged the town to stop the practice of individually numbering absentee ballots and their envelopes, making it possible to name who cast which ballot. The investigation also found the town's own Election Board didn't keep an accurate list of voters.

Todd's report specifically cleared Lee, who supported Cottman's candidacy, of any wrongdoing in the 2009 Pocomoke election, saying Lee "was not and is not the 'subject' of this investigation." A blog post published by Burke claimed Lee was a subject of it.

In May 2009, resident David Suznavick said the two Snow Hill candidates, Rebecca Bowman and Gerald Shockley, handed in dozens of voters' sealed absentee ballot envelopes for them, prompting Suznavick to ask the Circuit Court to invalidate the election. A judge declined to do so, saying Snow Hill's election laws didn't prohibit what the candidates did.

www.delmarvanow.com

Book Claims Michelle Obama Stated Life In White House Is Hell

Michelle Obama thinks being first lady is "hell" and that she "can't stand it," according to juicy revelations put forth in a new book.

In the new book, written by Michael Darmon and Yves Derai, France's first lady Carla Bruni claims she asked Obama about being the president's wife during a private discussion earlier this year, according to London's Daily Mail newspaper.

"Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!" Obamareplied, according to Bruni's bombshell account in excerpts obtained by the newspaper.

Details of the closed-door conversation -- which took place during a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last March to the White House -- are part of the book, "Carla And The Ambitious."

Obama's spokeswoman, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, said today that the first lady never described her White House life as "hell."

The French Embassy in Washington also released a statement denying that Obama ever said those words. The Embassy said Bruni "distances herself completely" from the book, which is due out Friday.

According to the Daily Mail, the outspoken Bruni, 42, also laces into French government officials, accusing them of trying to "kill" her husband by loading him up with work -- and that Sarkozy lets himself be "bullied" into doing it, the newspaper reported.

Aside from dishing dirt on Obama and her hubby, Bruni also takes a swipe at Princess Diana when discussing a recent visit to an Aids hospital in Africa.

Bruni married Sarkozy in 2008 after the French president divorced his wife.

Their quickfire relationship raised eyebrows in France at the time -- especially given Bruni's assertion in a 2007 magazine interview that she was "crazily bored by monogamy."

Asked about that famous comment in a recent TV interview, Bruni pointed out that Sarkozy was her first husband.

"Well I was never married, so I think monogamy has to do with marriage, right?" she said.

Bruni once described herself as a "man tamer" and has had a number of affairs with intellectuals and rock stars, including Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, and has a young son from a previous relationship.

In the book, Bruni said she refused requests by French cameramen to snap a photograph of her carrying a baby in her arms "like Lady Di" -- adding that there is "something obscene in promoting yourself when you are giving of yourself."

The book, released to combat an unauthorized biography of Bruni out this week, will hit French store shelves later this year.

www.nypost.com

Accomack County Board Of Supervisors Want To Use Grant Money To Increase Teacher Salaries

In the Accomack County Board of Supervisors meeting in Accomac on Wednesday night the Board of Supervisors postponed a budget amendment that would have given Accomack County Schools an additional $5-8 million in revenue from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Supervisors had a host of questions regarding what is normally a routine adoption of the meeting's agenda, most notably how the money will be spent. The Supervisors wanted as much of the money as possible to be devoted towards teacher salaries before approving the amendment. However, the funds are tied to education initiatives and are not allowed to be used to increase teacher salaries.

The Board unanimously passed a motion to ask for a report on how the funds would be used as well as how the funds raised by a tax increase the Board passed in April before voting for the revenue.

Supervisor Sandy Hart Mears then asked for Accomack County Schools to refund the $730,000 from the tax increase passed in April to the County of Accomack if the additional State Revenue is received.

However, the money in question is not additional money according to Accomack County Schools Finance Director Beth Charnock. The $5-8 million is a lump sum used to fund 30-40 different programs, such as "No Child Left Behind." These programs and initiatives are appropriated into the budget every year and will not give Accomack County any additional funds. The Commonwealth of Virginia as well as the Department of Education have very strict rules and guidelines for the uses of the funds and increasing salaries is not a viable option.

The Board will revisit the amendment at the October Board meeting.
www.shoredailynews.com

Nye Introduces Bill To Block Closure Of JFCOM

U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye, D-2nd District, said Wednesday he has introduced a bill to block closure of the Joint Forces Command, and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., pledged to do the same in the coming days.

Both lawmakers said their legislation - if approved - would not permit Defense Secretary Robert Gates to proceed with closing the command, known as JFCOM, until he provides a detailed analysis of the budgetary and military impact and benefits of the shutdown.

"This legislation is going to force Secretary Gates to do what he should have done from the beginning," Nye said in a statement.

Webb said his bill would require Gates to provide "full justification to Congress before any action is taken."

Hampton Roads political and business leaders have been critical of Gates since he announced last month that he would close JFCOM within a year as part of an effort to redirect its budget to other defense areas.

Local leaders, including the congressional delegation, argue that Gates hasn't provided any analysis to back up how the closure would save money or improve defense operations. They also question whether he has the authority to close a command without congressional oversight.

The command, with facilities in Norfolk and Suffolk, provides about 6,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue in the region.

www.hamptonroads.com

Mar-Va Downtown Fall Festival

FALL FESTIVAL

COME OUT FOR A DAY OF FUN !!

Saturday, September 18, 2010
10:00 AM --- 4:00 PM
DOWNTOWN POCOMOKE CITY, MARYLAND

- Local Artists
(Art Show held at Discovery Center)
- Kid's Arts & Crafts
- Mar-Va Kids Theater show
- Dance Loft kids will perform
- Antique cars and trucks on display
- Face Painting

Free Admission:

- Delmarva Discovery Center
- Sturgis One Room Schoolhouse

Police Say Son Was Upset Over His Mother's Care

Paul Warren Pardus spent restless nights with his ailing mother at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and when he believed doctors had failed her, the 50-year-old shot her physician before killing his mother and himself.

Pardus was a fixture in the room since last week, after his 84-year-old mother, Jean Davis, was brought there for surgery related to cancer treatment. While speaking to Dr. David B. Cohen around 11 a.m., Pardus pulled a semiautomatic handgun from his waistband, shot Cohen in the abdomen and ran into her hospital room.

Cohen was rushed into surgery but is expected to recover. For three hours after the shooting, police treated the situation as a standoff, in which some parts of the sprawling East Baltimore campus were locked down and others were evacuated. Snipers took to the roofs, as people in surrounding buildings were ordered to stay away from windows and to draw the blinds. Images from the scene were relayed live over international television.

In the end, investigators believe Pardus and Davis were dead the whole time. After sending in a robot with a camera, they discovered the bodies — the bedridden Davis with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, Pardus on the floor, shot through the mouth.

Several Hopkins personnel, some who worked on the eighth floor of the Nelson building, said that Pardus blamed Cohen for paralyzing his mother during surgery. According to one witness who spoke with detectives, he yelled, "You ruined my mother."

"He thought it was [the doctor's] fault, but it wasn't," said a nurse, who did not want to give his name because staff members at the hospital were discouraged from discussing the incident with news media.

Pardus was a single man whose mother had moved into his tiny home in Arlington, Va., about three miles west of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Neighbors said he was a driver for a service for disabled people, but his first obligation was to his beloved mother.

"He was a very kind-hearted man, as far as we could see," said neighbor Teresa Green, 44. "The love he had for his mother showed."

Records show he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Virginia, and he did not appear to have a criminal record beyond traffic violations. In 1998, he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and a website lists him as the holder of a copyright for a screenplay and lyrics to a song called "I Love the Lord." Pardus had identified himself to hospital staff as Warren Davis, his middle name and mother's last name.

Vanessa Allen, who lived across the street from Pardus, said she didn't know him well but also saw him often with his mother.

"I always admired him, how he took care of her. That's why I was so shocked when I found out it was him," Allen said. "I can't believe he would shoot his own mother."

Thursday's shooting brought activity at some parts of the busy Hopkins hospital to a standstill. By midafternoon, floors of the Nelson building had been evacuated and the police perimeter around the hospital had extended several blocks. Police were shuffling groups of people away — some police officers even pushed patients in wheelchairs away from the scene themselves — and employees were visibly shaken and calling family members as they hurried away from the hospital.

Michelle Burrell, who works at a coffee bar in the hospital lobby, said she sent text message to a friend in a room on the eighth floor of the Nelson building shortly after the shooting. She and others had locked themselves in.

"She just let me know she was safe, and that's all I was worried about," Burrell said. She said the scene in the lobby of the hospital was chaotic, with people running for cover, locking themselves in rooms.

Jacqueline Billy, a nurse who works in respiratory care, was on the seventh floor and got in an elevator that took her up to the eighth. She was greeted by police, guns drawn, who ordered her to shut the door.

"I was petrified — the door opened and there are a bunch of guns. You never expect that," she said.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said that tactical teams, which included the Baltimore city police and SWAT teams, the FBI, and Baltimore County SWAT teams, were called in, and had set up a command center within 45 minutes after the incident.

"By all evaluations, everything worked as designed," Bealefeld said.

In the School of Nursing across the street, students sat in a computer room and study lounge, speaking in hushed tones about the scene unfolding across the street.

A group of students, peering through the blinds, noted that large X's had been placed in several windows, presumably to note rooms that were clear. One girl read aloud a text message that said the doctor had died, information that would prove to be incorrect.

Amy Wilson, wearing purple hospital scrubs, sat on the floor of the nursing school's main lobby, beneath a flat screen TV notifying students of a "shooting incident" and instructing them to stay tuned for updates. A member of the support staff in the intensive-care unit, Wilson said staff members often have to call security or police when fights break out among family or others visiting the hospital, but she had never heard of such an attack on a medical professional.

"It's a scary reality" of working at a big institution, said Ashley Salamone, also a nurse in the intensive-care unit.

Cohen was continuing to receive treatment Thursday night. Those who work with him said he was a well-liked and respected orthopedic surgeon who has worked at the hospital for more than a dozen years and was known for performing magic tricks. They said he is a Hunt Valley resident and a father of two whose wife is a nurse at Hopkins.

Ashley Davis, an emergency room employee, said that she saw Cohen as he was rushed off to surgery. "By the time I saw him, he was on a stretcher and people were all around him," Davis said, adding that she didn't see any blood and that Cohen appeared to be conscious. When asked to describe the scene in the emergency room, she just said, "It was frightening."

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake commended the rapid response of law enforcement officials, saying that she was "very troubled by the incident" but that "the safety and security of Johns Hopkins employees was paramount throughout this whole incident."

"Hopkins is the best medical institution in the world, and this incident, as tragic as it is, is not going to change that," Rawlings-Blake said.

Although Hopkins has long made safety a priority at its medical campus in East Baltimore, located in one of the city's most dangerous areas, the hospital does not require patients or visitors to pass through metal detectors. An exception is the Emergency Department, where guards conduct searches and wave a metal-detecting wand over visitors.

Metal detectors are rare in American hospitals, and security experts say they are generally not feasible or desirable.

"We're trying to strike a balance to make our institutions warm, open and inviting, and at the same time protecting everybody who comes through," said Joseph Bellino, president of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety, a professional organization based in Illinois.

"Most of the time we do a very, very good job," he said. "Every now and then we get these events that are anomalies."

Police are not sure when Pardus shot himself and his mother. Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman, said there were no witnesses who heard the gunshots. After he was shot, Cohen collapsed outside the doorway, and the shooter barricaded himself and his mother in the room.

"He was last seen running into the room, brandishing the handgun in the direction of his mother, who was confined to the bed," said Bealefeld.

He said police had not communicated with Pardus at any point, and investigators believe the shooting was swift. About 2 p.m., the robot camera showed the bodies, at which point police communicated, "Subject shot." That led a spokesman to initially tell reporters that police had shot Pardus, which was later corrected.

It was not clear just how grim the news delivered by Cohen was, but Pardus apparently decided a quick death was the only resolution. Investigators believe he shot his mother in the back of the head so she would not see it coming — one officer suggested that it was a "mercy killing."

"It was sad," said one official who viewed the scene.
www.baltimoresun.com

Don't Miss This At The Mar-Va !

Friday, Sept 17th Sat, Sept 18th
Time: 7 p.m.
Tickets: $5

PLOT:
While trying to get pregnant, a happily married woman realizes her life needs to go in a different direction, and after a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey.
Rated PG-13

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