Saturday, August 30, 2014
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Chasseur - Historical Maryland
The Pride was originally built as an authentic reproduction of a 19th-century Baltimore clipper schooner. She was not patterned after any particular vessel, but rather she was designed as a typical Baltimore Clipper as they were in their heyday. She was named, in a round-about way, for the legendary Baltimore-built topsail schooner Chasseur sailed by the privateer Thomas Boyle: The Chasseur was known as the "Pride of Baltimore" and participated in the War of 1812.from Wikipedia
One of the most famous of the American privateers, Captain Thomas Boyle sailed his Baltimore clipper, Chasseur, out of Fells Point, where she had been launched from Thomas Kemp's shipyard in 1812. On his first voyage as master of Chasseur in 1814, Boyle sailed east to the British Isles, where he harassed the British merchant fleet and sent a notice to George III, by way of a captured merchant vessel, declaring that the entire British Isles were under naval blockade by Chasseur alone! Despite its implausibility, this caused the British Admiralty to call vessels home from the American war to guard merchant ships sailing in convoys. Chasseur captured or sank 17 vessels before returning home to Baltimore on 25 March 1815. Perhaps her most famous accomplishment was the capture of the schooner HMS St Lawrence.
On her return to Baltimore, the Niles Weekly Register dubbed the Chasseur, her captain, and crew the "pride of Baltimore" for their achievement.
More on the audacity of a Maryland patriot.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
The International Corporatists Have Sold You Out
On June 19, the second anniversary of Julian Assange’s confinement to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, WikiLeaks rendered public the secret draft text for the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) Financial Services Annex. The document was classified not only during TISA negotiations, but for five years after it enters into force.- Slavoj Zizek
While the TISA negotiations have not been censored outright, they have been barely mentioned in the media— a marginalization and secrecy that are in stark contrast with the world-historical importance of the TISA agreement. TISA would effectively serve as a kind of legal backbone for the restructuring of the world market, binding future governments regardless of who wins elections and what the courts say. It would impose a restrictive framework on public services, making it more difficult both to develop new ones and protect existing ones.
Is this discrepancy between politico-economic importance and secrecy really surprising? Is it not rather a sad but precise indication of where we in Western liberal-democratic countries stand with regard to democracy? A century and half ago, in Das Kapital, Karl Marx characterized the market exchange between worker and capitalist as “a very Eden of the innate rights of man. There alone rule Freedom, Equality, Property and Bentham.” For Marx, the ironic addition of Jeremy Bentham, the philosopher of egotist utilitarianism, provides the key to what freedom and equality effectively mean in capitalist society. To quote The Communist Manifesto: “By freedom is meant, under the present bourgeois conditions of production, free trade, free selling and buying.” And by equality is meant the legal formal equality of buyer and seller, even if one of them is forced to sell his labor under any conditions, like today’s precarious workers. Today, freedom means the free flow of capital, as well as of the financial and personal data (both flows guaranteed by TISA). But what about democracy?
The main culprits of the 2008 financial meltdown now impose themselves as experts who can lead us on the painful path of financial recovery, and whose advice should therefore overcome parliamentary politics. Or, as former Italian prime minister and EU technocrat Mario Monti put it: “If governments let themselves be fully bound by the decisions of their parliaments without protecting their own freedom to act, a breakup of Europe would be a more probable outcome than deeper integration.”
Which, then, is the higher force whose authority can suspend the decisions of the democratically elected representatives of the people? As early as 1998, the answer was provided by Hans Tietmeyer, then the governor of the Deutsches Bundesbank, who held up “the permanent plebiscite of global markets” as superior to the “plebiscite of the ballot box.” Note the democratic rhetoric of this obscene statement: Global markets are more democratic than parliamentary elections, since the process of voting goes on in them permanently, rather than every four years, and globally, rather than within the limits of a nation-state. The underlying idea: When separated from this higher control of markets (and experts), parliamentary-democratic decisions are “irresponsible.”
This, then, is where we stand with regard to democracy. The TISA agreements are a perfect example. The key decisions concerning our economy are negotiated in secrecy, out of our sight, with no public debate. And such decisions set the coordinates for the unencumbered rule of capital. This severely limits the space for the decisions of democratically elected political representatives, leaving the political process to deal predominantly with issues toward which capital is indifferent, like the outcome of cultural wars.
Consequently, the release of the TISA draft marks a new stage in the WikiLeaks strategy. Until now, its activity has focused on making public how our lives are monitored and regulated by intelligence agencies of the state—the standard liberal concern of individuals threatened by oppressive state apparatuses. Now, another controlling force appears—capital—that threatens our freedom in a much more twisted way, perverting our very sense of freedom.
Since our society elevates free choice into a supreme value, social control and domination can no longer appear to be infringing on subject’s freedom. Un-freedom, then, is cloaked in the guise of its opposite: When we are deprived of universal healthcare, we are told that we are given a new freedom to choose our healthcare provider; when we no longer can rely on longterm employment and are compelled to search for a new precarious work every couple of years, we are told that we are given the opportunity to reinvent ourselves and discover new unexpected creative potentials that lurked in our personality; when we have to pay for the education of our children, we are told that we become “entrepreneurs of the self,” free to invest in our own—and our children’s—personal growth and fulfillment.
Constantly bombarded by these imposed “free choices,” forced to make decisions for which we are mostly not even properly qualified or informed, our “freedom of choice” increasingly becomes a burden that deprives us of true freedom of choice—the choice (or rather, decision) to move beyond market-freedom into the freedom of collectively organizing and regulating the process of production and exchange. It is more and more becoming clear that only in this way will humanity be able to cope with antagonisms that threaten its very survival (ecology, biogenetics, “intellectual property,” the rise of the new class of those excluded from public life).
Perhaps this paradox throws a new light on our obsession with the ongoing events in Ukraine—events extensively covered by the media, in clear contrast to the predominant silence on TISA. What fascinates us in the West is not the fact that people in Kiev stood up for the mirage of the European way of life, but that they—seemingly, at least—simply stood up and tried to take their fate into their own hands. They acted as a political agent enforcing a radical change—something that, as the TISA negotiations demonstrate, we in the West no longer have the choice to do
Investor Warren Buffett is helping finance Burger King Worldwide Inc.'s planned takeover of Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Hortons Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, in a surprise twist that thrusts the billionaire into a debate over U.S. taxes.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Patriot Alert!
Please Join Us
August 26, 2014
7pm-9pm
Knights of Columbus Hall
23 Newport Drive
Forest Hill, MD 21050
All politics is local. And the responsibility of all citizens is to act locally to preserve their rights and freedoms. This month we discuss local issues that highlight the overreach of local government and how it affects you, your pocketbook, and your liberty.Waste Industries – Harford County wants to take over trash collection. Does government involvement render a more efficient service? Arm yourself with facts and then decide.Free Admission
Christina Trotta – More information on TIFs and other nifty ways elected officials move money from your wallet into someone else’s.
Scott DeLong – The dangers of a police state and the abridgement of Habeas Corpus.
Greg Johnson – Remember Ruby Ridge? This August marks the 22nd anniversary of government gone wild with deadly results for the Weaver family.
Cash Bar Available
Visit us at http://www.harfordliberty.org
Friday, August 22, 2014
Maryland History - Fox's Gap, September 14, 1862
The Battle of South Mountain—known in several early Southern accounts as the Battle of Boonsboro Gap—was fought September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, needed to pass through these gaps in his pursuit of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Despite being significantly outnumbered, Lee's army delayed McClellan's advance for a day before withdrawing.from Wikipedia
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Just to the south [of Turner & Crampton Gaps], other elements of Hill's division (most notably Drayton's Brigade) defended Fox's Gap against Reno's IX Corps. A 9 a.m. attack by Union Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox's Kanawha Division secured much of the land south of the gap. In the movement, Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes of the 23rd Ohio led a flank attack and was seriously wounded. Cox pushed through the North Carolinians positioned behind a stone wall at the gap's crest, but he failed to capitalize on his gains as his men were exhausted, allowing Confederate reinforcements to deploy in the gap around the Daniel Wise farm. Reno sent forward the rest of his corps, but due to the timely arrival of Southern reinforcements under Confederate Brig. Gen. John Bell Hood, they failed to dislodge the defenders. Union Maj. Gen. Jesse Reno and Confederate Brig. Gen. Samuel Garland, Jr., were killed at Fox's Gap. Union soldiers dumped 60 Confederate bodies down Farmer Wise's dry well, paying him $60 in compensation.
By dusk, with Crampton's Gap lost and his position at Fox's and Turner's Gaps precarious, Lee ordered his outnumbered forces to withdraw from South Mountain. McClellan was now in position to destroy Lee's army before it could concentrate. Union casualties of 28,000 engaged were 2,325 (443 killed, 1,807 wounded, and 75 missing); Confederates lost 2,685 (325 killed, 1560 wounded, and 800 missing) of 18,000. The Battle of South Mountain was an important morale booster for the defeat-stricken Army of the Potomac. The New York World wrote that the battle "turn[ed] back the tide of rebel successes" and "the strength of the rebels is hopelessly broken." Lee contemplated the end of his Maryland campaign. However, McClellan's limited activity on September 15 after his victory at South Mountain condemned the garrison at Harpers Ferry to capture and gave Lee time to unite his scattered divisions at Sharpsburg for the Battle of Antietam on September 17.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Fit New American Dreams? Or Live in Another's Nightmare?
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses"It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Historic Cecil County
The Gilpin's Falls Covered Bridge is a Burr arch through truss wooden covered bridge near North East, Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The bridge was constructed by local Cecil County bridgewright Joseph George Johnson in the autumn and winter of 1860-61 across North East Creek. The bridge was erected adjacent to and upstream of Samuel Gilpin's mills and dam and crosses the millpond formed by it. This bridge has a span of 100 feet (30 m) and a total length of 119 feet (36 m) with its shelter panel overhangs, is 13.5 feet (4.1 m) wide, and is closed to all vehicular traffic.[2][3]More here.
The structure was restored in 1959 by the State Roads Commission and the Historical Society of Cecil County. In 2010 the bridge was rehabilitated by engineers Wallace, Montgomery & Associates, LLP; contractor Kinsley Construction; and specialist bridgwrighting subcontractors, Barns & Bridges of New England, the Truax Timberwright Woodworks, and New World Restoration.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
The Maryland Recovery...
BALTIMORE - July was rough in Maryland when it comes to unemployment.
The state experienced one of the largest job declines in the nation, as employers in Maryland cut 9,000 jobs last month.
The job losses mean Maryland’s unemployment rate has increased at 6.1 percent, according to the Department of Labor. Only Ohio lost more jobs in July while most of the country gained jobs.
The final numbers could change because jobs in education aren't measured during the summer.
Monday, August 18, 2014
America, Free Market Paradise?
Will the recent rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, be a tipping point in the struggle against racial injustice, or will it be a minor footnote in some future grad student’s thesis on Civil Unrest in the Early Twenty-First Century?-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, "The Coming Race War won't be about Race"
The answer can be found in May of 1970.
You probably have heard of the Kent State shootings: on May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on student protesters at Kent State University. During those 13 seconds of gunfire, four students were killed and nine were wounded, one of whom was permanently paralyzed. The shock and outcry resulted in a nationwide strike of 4 million students that closed more than 450 campuses. Five days after the shooting, 100,000 protestors gathered in Washington, D.C. And the nation’s youth was energetically mobilized to end the Vietnam War, racism, sexism, and mindless faith in the political establishment.
You probably haven’t heard of the Jackson State shootings.
On May 14th, 10 days after Kent State ignited the nation, at the predominantly black Jackson State University in Mississippi, police killed two black students (one a high school senior, the other the father of an 18-month-old baby) with shotguns and wounded twelve others.
There was no national outcry. The nation was not mobilized to do anything. That heartless leviathan we call History swallowed that event whole, erasing it from the national memory.
And, unless we want the Ferguson atrocity to also be swallowed and become nothing more than an intestinal irritant to history, we have to address the situation not just as another act of systemic racism, but as what else it is: class warfare.
By focusing on just the racial aspect, the discussion becomes about whether Michael Brown’s death—or that of the other three unarmed black men who were killed by police in the U.S. within that month—is about discrimination or about police justification. Then we’ll argue about whether there isn’t just as much black-against-white racism in the U.S. as there is white-against-black. (Yes, there is. But, in general, white-against-black economically impacts the future of the black community. Black-against-white has almost no measurable social impact.)
Then we’ll start debating whether or not the police in America are themselves an endangered minority who are also discriminated against based on their color—blue. (Yes, they are. There are many factors to consider before condemning police, including political pressures, inadequate training, and arcane policies.) Then we’ll question whether blacks are more often shot because they more often commit crimes. (In fact, studies show that blacks are targeted more often in some cities, like New York City. It’s difficult to get a bigger national picture because studies are woefully inadequate. The Department of Justice study shows that in the U.S. between 2003 and 2009, among arrest-related deaths there’s very little difference among blacks, whites, or Latinos. However, the study doesn’t tell us how many were unarmed.)
This fist-shaking of everyone’s racial agenda distracts America from the larger issue that the targets of police overreaction are based less on skin color and more on an even worse Ebola-level affliction: being poor. Of course, to many in America, being a person of color is synonymous with being poor, and being poor is synonymous with being a criminal. Ironically, this misperception is true even among the poor.
And that’s how the status quo wants it.
The U.S. Census Report finds that 50 million Americans are poor. Fifty million voters is a powerful block if they ever organized in an effort to pursue their common economic goals. So, it’s crucial that those in the wealthiest One Percent keep the poor fractured by distracting them with emotional issues like immigration, abortion and gun control so they never stop to wonder how they got so screwed over for so long.
One way to keep these 50 million fractured is through disinformation. PunditFact’s recent scorecard on network news concluded that at Fox and Fox News Channel, 60 percent of claims are false. At NBC and MSNBC, 46 percent of claims were deemed false. That’s the “news,” folks! During the Ferguson riots, Fox News ran a black and white photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with the bold caption: “Forgetting MLK’s Message/Protestors in Missouri Turn to Violence.” Did they run such a caption when either Presidents Bush invaded Iraq: “Forgetting Jesus Christ’s Message/U.S. Forgets to Turn Cheek and Kills Thousands”?
How can viewers make reasonable choices in a democracy if their sources of information are corrupted? They can’t, which is exactly how the One Percent controls the fate of the Ninety-Nine Percent.
Worse, certain politicians and entrepreneurs conspire to keep the poor just as they are. On his HBO comedic news show Last Week Tonight, John Oliver ran an expose of the payday loan business and those who so callously exploit the desperation of the poor. How does an industry that extorts up to 1,900 percent interest on loans get away with it? In Texas, State Rep. Gary Elkins blocked a regulatory bill, despite the fact that he owns a chain of payday loan stores. And the politician who kept badgering Elkins about his conflict of interest, Rep. Vicki Truitt, became a lobbyist for ACE Cash Express just 17 days after leaving office. In essence, Oliver showed how the poor are lured into such a loan, only to be unable to pay it back and having to secure yet another loan. The cycle shall be unbroken.
Dystopian books and movies like Snowpiercer, The Giver, Divergent, Hunger Games, and Elysium have been the rage for the past few years. Not just because they express teen frustration at authority figures. That would explain some of the popularity among younger audiences, but not among twentysomethings and even older adults. The real reason we flock to see Donald Sutherland’s porcelain portrayal in Hunger Games of a cold, ruthless president of the U.S. dedicated to preserving the rich while grinding his heel into the necks of the poor is that it rings true in a society in which the One Percent gets richer while our middle class is collapsing.
That’s not hyperbole; statistics prove this to be true. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center report, just half of U.S. households are middle-income, a drop of 11 percent since the 1970s; median middle-class income has dropped by 5 percent in the last ten years, total wealth is down 28 percent. Fewer people (just 23 percent) think they will have enough money to retire. Most damning of all: fewer Americans than ever believe in the American Dream mantra that hard work will get them ahead.
Rather than uniting to face the real foe—do-nothing politicians, legislators, and others in power—we fall into the trap of turning against each other, expending our energy battling our allies instead of our enemies. This isn’t just inclusive of race and political parties, it’s also about gender. In her book Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies and Revolution, Laurie Penny suggests that the decreased career opportunities for young men in society makes them feel less valuable to females; as a result they deflect their rage from those who caused the problem to those who also suffer the consequences: females.
Yes, I’m aware that it is unfair to paint the wealthiest with such broad strokes. There are a number of super-rich people who are also super-supportive of their community. Humbled by their own success, they reach out to help others. But that’s not the case with the multitude of millionaires and billionaires who lobby to reduce Food Stamps, give no relief to the burden of student debt on our young, and kill extensions of unemployment benefits.
With each of these shootings/chokehold deaths/stand-your-ground atrocities, police and the judicial system are seen as enforcers of an unjust status quo. Our anger rises, and riots demanding justice ensue. The news channels interview everyone and pundits assign blame.
Then what?
I’m not saying the protests in Ferguson aren’t justified—they are. In fact, we need more protests across the country. Where’s our Kent State? What will it take to mobilize 4 million students in peaceful protest? Because that’s what it will take to evoke actual change. The middle class has to join the poor and whites have to join African-Americans in mass demonstrations, in ousting corrupt politicians, in boycotting exploitative businesses, in passing legislation that promotes economic equality and opportunity, and in punishing those who gamble with our financial future.
Otherwise, all we’re going to get is what we got out of Ferguson: a bunch of politicians and celebrities expressing sympathy and outrage. If we don’t have a specific agenda—a list of exactly what we want to change and how—we will be gathering over and over again beside the dead bodies of our murdered children, parents, and neighbors.
I hope John Steinbeck is proven right when he wrote in Grapes of Wrath, “Repression works only to strengthen and knit the oppressed.” But I’m more inclined to echo Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues,” written the year after the Kent State/Jackson State shootings:
Inflation no chance
To increase finance
Bills pile up sky high
Send that boy off to die
Make me wanna holler
The way they do my life
Make me wanna holler
The way they do my life
Friday, August 15, 2014
Sweden - Socialist Paradise?
Fas-3 is part of the program for dealing with unemployed. One has to go through Fas-1 & 2 first, and if after that You are still unemployed then Fas-3 comes into effect. So, in simple terms You must be unemployed for approx 450 days before FAS-3. The FAS-3 placement can last up to 2 years, and you are paid 65% of, and I cannot remember which, either a-kassa or previous salary? It is not just for any work or employer, the Arbetsförmedlingen do a control check on each employer before they accept that a placement can be given.
And Yes ... as an employer and you do not require specific skills, it can be a way of getting temporary labour at a cheap price! In fact there are many examples of how some companies have pocketed/saved millions from being part of the program, without ever giving any full time jobs afterwards.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Historic Harford
Concord Point Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in Maryland that is accessible to the public. Pooles Island Light (built 2 years earlier) is within Aberdeen Proving Ground and off-limits. Built by John Donahoo, the 2 lighthouses are very similar, from the local granite construction to the mahogony doors. The original Keeper's Dwelling still exists at Concord Point and has been fully restored to its 1884 version. Concord Point Lighthouse is open to the public from April to October on weekends, weather permitting.More here.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Harry, you broke it, now it's time you bought it...
Barack Obama and the Democrats have railed against the “do-nothing Congress” (translation: House Republicans) for nearly six years. So what are the facts? Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) recently addressed the charge:
Currently, 352 bills that passed the House are awaiting action on Harry Reid’s desk. Of these bills:And still, Harry Reid refuses to bring them up for a vote.
- 98% passed with bipartisan support
– Nearly 70% passed with 2/3rds support or more
– Over 50% passed with no opposition at all
- And 55 were introduced by Democrats
So, surely the Democrats are confused, right? Of course they’re not; when you and your president have zero very little on which to run, blame the other guys for your failures. Politics 101, right, Harry?
A Dog Ate My E-Mails...Twenty Times
Twenty different Obama officials, including Lois Lerner in the IRS and Marilynn Tavenner at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, have lost their emails – which is against the law.
The National Review reported:
The revelation that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Marilynn Tavenner did not retain her e-mails means that more than 20 witness in the Obama administration to lose or delete e-mails without notifying Congress, according to the top House investigator.
“The Obama administration has lost or destroyed e-mails for more than 20 witnesses, and in each case, the loss wasn’t disclosed to the National Archives or Congress for months or years, in violation of federal law,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) said ofTavenner’s lost e-mails.
“It defies logic that so many senior Administration officials were found to have ignored federal recordkeeping requirements only after Congress asked to see their e-mails,” he continued. “Just this week, my staff followed up with HHS, who has failed to comply with a subpoena from ten months ago. Even at that point, the administration did not inform us that there was a problem with Ms. Tavenner’s e-mail history. Yet again, we discover that this administration will not be forthright with the American people unless cornered.”
From February of 2010 to November of 2013 — one month after the launch of theHealthCare.gov website, as the Daily Caller’s Patrick Howley noted — Tavennerdidn’t maintain copies of her e-mails as required.
Beautiful Harford County - Susquehanna State Park
Located along the Susquehanna River valley with its heavy forest cover and rocky terrain, Susquehanna State Park offers a wide variety of outdoor recreational opportunities as well as points of historical significance. The park is home to some of the most popular mountain biking trails in Maryland and the river itself beacons fishermen and boaters alike. Susquehanna State Park also contains a very family friendly campground with traditional campsites and cabins. History buffs will be drawn to the restored Rock Run Historic Area with its working grist mill, the Carter-Archer Mansion, Jersey Toll House and the remains of the Susquehanna Tidewater Canal.
The river offers excellent fishing opportunities, including pike, perch, and bass for shoreline anglers or boating anglers who launch from the Lapidum Boat Ramp.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Medical Malpractice?
HIV/AIDS accounts for just one out of every 146 U.S. deaths
It killed just 74 children under age 13 in 2007 out of 40,000 total, or one in 542.
That year twice as many infants died of other diseases as the total number of Americans who died of AIDS.
HIV/AIDS gets about $200,000 per patient death in the NIH research budget, according to calculations from the FAIR Foundation (Fair Allocations in Research). We spend 21 times more per AIDS death than cancer death. Pancreatic cancer will strike about 43,000 Americans this year and is essentially a quick death sentence. It gets 1% of the funding per death as AIDS.
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are the nation’s sixth and 14th-leading causes of death of death respectively, yet HIV/AIDS gets 34 times and 25 times more per fatality respectively.
The disparity is all the worse when trends are considered. While AIDS cases and deaths remain level, those of Parkinson’s inexorably climb while Alzheimer’s fly off the chart.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Finding Ever More Excuses to Prevent Economic Development
Eight Democratic members of Maryland's congressional delegation wrote President Obama Monday urging him to reconsider his administration's plan to allow seismic testing for oil and gas off the mid-Atlantic coast.
In a jointly signed letter, the eight called seismic testing the first major step toward opening the Atlantic Ocean to offshore drilling, which carries the risk of oil spills. But they warned that the tests themselves would be "incredibly harmful to marine mammals and fisheries in the region," generating "dynamite-like" blasts of compressed air underwater that could hurt whales, dolphins and fish.
According to the Department of Interior's estimates, they said, the use of air guns for testing would injure about 138,000 marine mammals and disrupt their feeding, calving, breeding and other activities.
Signing the letter were Sens. Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski, who have long made known their opposition to testing and drilling off the Atlantic. Joining them were Reps. Elijah Cummings, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Chris Van Hollen, John Sarbanes, Donna F. Edwards and John K. Delaney.
Not signing the letter were Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the House Minority Whip, and Rep. Andy Harris, the state's long Republican member of Congress, whose 1st District encompasses Maryland's Atlantic shore. Mariel Saez, Hoyer's press secretary, said he supports testing to update an assessment that's more than 30 years old of how much oil and gas could be off the Atlantic Coast. The testing also can help with siting offshore renewable energy projects, she said.
"He recognizes the risks of seismic air guns and believes the administration should ensure that appropriate environmental controls are in place when this testing method is used," Hoyer's spokeswoman said.
Harris could not be reached for comment, but last year he signed a letter with 41 other member of Congress supporting "safe, environmentally protective seismic assessment" of oil and gas resources off the Atlantic.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Tell Harford Government to Mind It's OWN Business!
As a Waste Industries customer and a citizen of Harford County, we wanted to make sure you were aware of the current discussions in your government that could put an end to free market competition, leaving you without a choice in who provides your waste and recycling collection.
The Harford County government is seeking to take away your right to decide which company you believe has earned the privilege of your business. Don’t give up your right to choose. We want to earn your business each and every day!
How Each Solution Works
PRIVATE COLLECTION
You Pick the Hauler
- You pick your hauler based on who does the best job.
- If your hauler fails to do a good job, you can switch haulers, forcing every hauler to earn your business.
- You control how much you will pay, selecting a hauler based on your personal needs.
- Haulers are forced to compete for your business, forcing better prices and better service every single day.
GOVERNMENT RUN
Government Picks the Hauler
- The government picks the hauler for you and your neighbors. You have no choice.
- If the hauler fails to do a good job, you cannot switch haulers. You are forced to use the government option.
- The government controls your billing, meaning they set the price and you are required to pay it without a choice.
- There is no ongoing competition until the contract period ends, so if you have a problem, you’re stuck with that vendor.
Tell Your Government Waste Collection is Your Choice!
Harford County held public meetings to discuss their plan on July 15. If you weren’t there, you have until August 15th to let the government know that you do not want them to control who collects your waste! Here’s how you can make sure your voice is heard:
Send an Email Before August 15th:
env@harfordcountymd.gov
Call Your Government Before August 15th:
410.638.3343
And Say: “I OPPOSE HARFORD COUNTY CONTROLLING WHO COLLECTS MY WASTE”
Earning your business has been the greatest honor imaginable. We want to keep collecting your waste not because the government says we, or anyone else, has to. We want to do it because we’re earning the title of Best Waste Hauler available. Keep your freedom to choose. Reach out to your government today!
From Harford County government:
The Harford County Department of Public Works held a community input meeting at the McFaul Activities Center located at 525 W. MacPhail Road, in Bel Air, Maryland on July 15, 2014.
Representatives of the Harford County Department of Public Works presented information on the Harford County 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan, discussed existing facilities and limitations, explained future challenges, and solicited input from the community on the County solid waste and recycling programs during the next 2015 – 2024 planning period.
A copy of the presentation is available on the Harford County Website at www.harfordcountymd.gov. Citizens have until August 15, 2014 to submit comments electronically at env@harfordcountymd.gov.
For more information please call 410-638-3018.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
President Vows to Act Alone on Immigration.... AGAIN!
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) is a memorandum authored by the Obama administration on June 15, 2012. It was implemented by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. It directs U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to practice prosecutorial discretion towards some individuals who immigrated to the United States as children and are currently in the country illegally.from Wikipedia
A grant of deferred removal action does not confer lawful immigration status, alter an individual’s existing immigration status, or provide a path to citizenship.
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