Faster, better…

Archive for March, 2009

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. (March 31, 2009) — Police in Calvert County this afternoon issued a warning about a burglary scheme that has been occurring in the Northwestern portion of the county in recent weeks.

Click through to SOMD.COM to read the rest of the story. Neighborhood Watch groups attention!

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(WSJ.COM via DIGG) Researchers discover software capable of stealing information installed on computers in 103 countries, an apparently coordinated attack that targeted the office of the Dalai Lama and government agencies around the world. Suspect computers are almost all located in China.

Also see this article at the International Herald Tribune

read more | digg story

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(SOMD.COM Southern Maryland Online by Lauren C. Williams) WASHINGTON (March 29, 2009) — Maryland could be put on a drought watch if April doesn’t bring lots of showers.

Read this very interesting article with lots of relevant historical data on our local weather and water situation. Thank you SOMD.COM and Lauren Williams!

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Cool video about horseshoe crabs. These are really strange creatures. Most people think the tail is poisonous but it’s just for moving around and turning itself over.

read more | digg story

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Today I learned that that the man who called me coach died at age 70 of lung cancer.  James Powers, we all knew him as Jim died peacefully on March 23 in Rockford, Il. (His obituary is here.)

I met Jim on line in 1995. One day those many years ago he came across my Anti-Graffiti Web site and subscribed to the mailing list. We have corresponded off and on for some fourteen years sharing our interest

in the anti-graffiti cause. Jim was a long-time community activist in Rockford, giving far more than he ever took in return. He was that kind of guy.

When he found the Anti-Graffiti Web Page in 1995 Jim hung around extending his support and encouragement to graffiti victims, police officers, city and county abatement folks from around the world.  Jim is known internationally as an activist and a hero to the efforts directed at ending the tragedy of graffiti vandalism.

There were times, when as the Anti-Graffiti cause began to grow  I would get discouraged over things.  Jim wouldn’t have any of it.  He would always refer to me as “the coach” because so many people like us had gathered around the Anti-Graffiti Web Page and the NoGraf mailing list to battle vandalism in our communities. I would tell him I don’t deserve that title given his background but he insisted. For the fourteen years I knew him Jim called me coach.

In reality Jim was my coach. He also coached for the twenty-five years he was in the military, he coached as a father and a husband, he coached as a director and member  in the North End Square Neighborhood Association, he coached on the Rockford Fire and Police Commission, and he coached as a director of the Nograf Corporation.  Jim was indeed a community coach and Rockford named a nine-block stretch of Huffman Blvd. between Auburn St and Fulton Ave in his honor because of it.

I was clearly blessed to have Jim Powers as a friend and an ally all of these years. Even when I was finally forced by circumstances to minimize my involvement as Jim and Randy Campbell started NoGraffiti.com and the Nograf Corp, Jim stayed in touch. To him I was still the coach. Friends like Jim Powers are treasured and rare and Jim will always be my coach.

God bless you Jim and God bless your family and Rockford, Illinois at this time.

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Ron Miller is THE republican candidate that will un-seat tax and spend Mike Miller here in Maryland. I had a chance to see and hear Ron at the Solomon’s Tea Party and was IMPRESSED,  In this post at Ron’s website he details the on-going tax and spend antics of Maryland’s Democrats in Annapolis. Take a minute to read this post. Ron is right on the money, pun intended. Ron starts out, ” I participated in my second-ever protest last Sunday when I served as the master of ceremonies for the “Concerned Citizens” Tea Party at Solomons. God gave us a cool, sunny day, great speakers and a crowd Sheriff Evans estimated at between 500-600 people. The homemade signs were excellent and the crowd was anxious to be heard in Annapolis and Washington. The week’s events, however, suggest we’re going to have to turn up the volume because our public “servants” – and I use that term loosely – aren’t listening.”

Now click over to Ron Miller’s blog – Reflections for the rest of the story.

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(Editorial Opinion-  032809) xxxxxxBounty.com claims to be a site that permits graffiti victims to upload a bounty for taggers or graffiti vandals. A bounty is supposed to encourage people that know who the tagger is to act and turn in the tagger to xxxxxxBounty. This is odd, very unusual, and in my view not a very good idea. These were the things that crossed my mind when I looked over this website.

The likelihood that someone knows a tagger listed on this site then leaves their name to turn the tagger in for pennies is very remote. There’s no more incentive than one or two twenty dollar bills. I’m inclined to call it wishful thinking at best. In the meantime of course xxxxxxBounty is earning interest on the bounty funds.  Victims that are angry and fed up with vandalism might be tempted out of frustration to fund a bounty but they may never yield a result.

There is no process information anywhere on the site that offers any details or gives anyone what the probability might be that a vandal will ever be identified and prosecuted. There is no promise of anonymity either. Who in their right mind is going to act on a twenty-dollar bounty to identify a gang member’s graffiti?

Where is the profit in this business model? I have serious concerns about sending this company money. There is no company mailing address and there are no real names of corporate officers provided. All you can see are carefully crafted email contact addresses. I don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling about sending money into an Internet black hole.

Most communities with a graffiti problem have well established methods for citizens to report vandalism. The most common place to start is with the local police! What good is it going to do to send an anonymous company a $20 bounty?

I’m not at all impressed with their FAQ’s. Question number two asks, “Are you against graffiti artists?” There is no such thing. By definition graffiti is a crime. This site also considers art (produced in collaboration with a property owner) graffiti. Talk about confused.

The site says the two most important things you can do if you see vandalism in progress is to call the police and then contribute to a bounty. Wrong.  First you call the police and next find out how and when the vandalism is going to be abated. The community may have an abatement volunteer group that a citizen can join. Cleaning the vandalism or working to insist that local officials and businesses abate the vandalism is far more important than enriching a private company inserting itself into the law enforcement process.

These people and their so-called bounty could significantly hamper or interfere with law enforcement efforts. Witnesses to crimes should be working with their local police and not through a third party. When police are not cooperative graffiti victims should be going to their city or county elected officials with complaints.  In most places, police will work to capture vandals. This is  especially true in the State of California where some of the site’s current pictures originate.  My experience in abatement issues has been with some of the more superior agencies like San Jose and Santa Rosa Police in California. There are many more enlightened agencies out there with dedicated graffiti cops. Police have informants, sophisticated computer systems and even the assistance of other police agencies on difficult cases. Police will find the bad guys in time as long as citizens trust them to. Citizens might even be able to put a bounty of their own at a local bank and establish a local committee to work with the police when deciding to award the bounty – if such a tactic is even necessary.

Most bounty’s are rewards for information GIVEN TO LAW ENFORCEMENT that result in the arrest and conviction of a criminal. There is a formal process for evaluating information and establishing whether or not it was significant. I don’t see any mention of how this website’s owners establish bounty eligibility or make payments. Do a little what-if analysis of your own and I’ll bet you decide not to send them a dime.

This company is apparently in favor of legal graffiti areas. Legal graffiti zones have never worked, and will never work. This company has no understanding of the vandalism subculture and is encouraging actions that will only serve their interests. They might succeed in perpetuating an income if people do send them money by encouraging free walls because free walls have always contributed to additional vandalism and tagging in the vicinity of the free walls regardless of the rules. After reading the site it is clear to me these folks are probably opportunists not fully aware of the anti-graffiti strategies that have worked for years.

Anyone seriously involved in graffiti enforcement and abatement will tell you that publishing the picture of a tag on the Internet is not a good idea. Vandals love to see their work up where people can see it and that includes the Internet. This site features tags. It’s probably the first [place a tagger would go to determine his/her own popularity. A bounty for their tag would actually contribute to more vandalism.

This approach is wrong on many levels and it does not appear that the owners, whomever they are, really understand the problem. It seems to me they see a money-making opportunity at the obvious expense of the angry graffiti victim. I believe the best course of action is to remain well away from xxxxxxBounty.com. I regret not providing the complete URL. It is my way of warning you away from a site that appears to a poor abatement option while also not providing the site with any additional advertising than they already receive in various banner ads. When you run across the site just remember – caveat emptor.

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United States Coast Guard Press Release March 27, 2009: LOS ANGELES – As the weather in Southern California gets warmer and with the increase in daylight hours more and more recreational boaters are getting out on the water. “Before hitting the water, the Coast Guard urges boaters to make sure they have the required safety equipment and that it is in working order by taking advantage of a free Vessel Safety Check offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary,” said Anthony Turner a spokesman for the Coast Guard in Los Angeles.
The Coast Guard Auxiliary has been conducting free Vessel Safety Checks since 1947. Unaffected by recession or inflation they were free then and still free today.

Vessel Safety Checks are conducted by qualified members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and are the best way of learning about problems that might be a violation of state or federal laws and provide the boating public with additional safety tips that could possibly mitigate or eliminate preventable danger on the water. To find a Vessel Examiner go to www.safetyseal.org. Vessel Safety Checks can be conducted on any type of watercraft from boats, personal watercraft, to kayaks.

Lifejackets, fire extinguishers, and distress signals are just some of the items that are required by federal regulations. The Coast Guard also suggests boaters equip their vessels with a marine VHF radio, GPS device, and 406 MHz EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon).

Aside from being prepared for an emergency, another advantage of getting the free Vessel Safety Check from the Coast Guard Auxiliary is that there aren’t any penalties associated with not passing. Those who do pass will be able to display this year’s Vessel Safety Check decal on their boat.

According to Turner, the U.S. Coast Guard and local law enforcement also conduct their own inspections.

Unlike the inspections offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, if you fail to pass one conducted on the water by law enforcement you could face fines and be ordered back to the dock.

Now is also a great time to take advantage of one of the many boating safety courses offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary and become acquainted or reacquainted with basic boating skills, seamanship and the most current rules and regulations that may also save a live or prevent and accident.

For more information about boating safety visit the U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety Division website at: www.uscgboating.org/.

To locate a boating education course offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary visit http://www.d11s.org/PDF_files/PEclasses.pdf.

###

Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard — Proud History. Powerful Future.

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Seaman Danielle Fulmer and Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Kitchin pull a rescue dummy out of the water in Curtis Bay, Md., Thursday, March 26, 2009. Coast Guard members from Station Curtis Bay conduct training throughout the year to be prepared for an increase in boating accidents during the summer.

The Coast Guard urges all mariners to wear lifejackets while on their boats. A majority of boaters who drown were not wearing their lifejackets. In an emergency there may not be enough time to put one on, so wearing one at all times may save your life. (Coast Guard photo/ Petty Officer 3rd Class Ayla Kelley.)

America’s Guardians! Semper Peratus
Thank you for your service!

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Coast Guard announces advance notice of proposed rulemaking for Transportation Worker Identification Credential.

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Social Change Project Mercatus, State and Local Policy Project at George Mason University.

“This paper presents the first-ever comprehensive ranking of the American states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. We develop and justify our ratings and aggregation procedure on explicitly normative criteria, defining individual freedom as the ability to dispose of one’s own life, liberty, and justly acquired property however one sees fit, so long as one does not coercively infringe on another individual’s ability to do the same.”

” New York is the least free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California, and Maryland.”

Read the details here.

Download the study PDF file here.

Thanks to BobEhrlich.com and Ron Miller for the news.

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(Ron Miller – Huntingtown) There’s another thing in life that’s as sure as death and taxes; if politicians find out that people are angry about an issue, they swoop in like superheroes to declare they will save the day. When they do that, I suggest that rather than letting out a cheer, you tug on their capes and ask them, “What exactly are you going to do?”

Read the rest at Ron’s Reflections

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(New York Post via Drudge via Digg) COULD actress Natasha Richardson’s tragic death have been prevented if her skiing accident had occurred in America rather than Canada?

read more | digg story

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When my spouse and I left the San Francisco Bay Area in September 2001 for our new home in Maryland we left behind what I always considered real conservative AM radio. I had listened to radio station KSFO for many years. Their line up of presenters both local and national was impressive. I remember Melanie Morgan AM radio host.  Melanie went on to become a significant behind –the-scenes political leader whom we still see interviewed on many TV news programs. Her co-host Lee Rodgers still hosts the morning program at KSFO.  Barbara Simpson was another big favorite of mine. All of these folks were brighter than the average bulb. They absolutely captured my attention and kept me informed.

Perhaps my favorite host was Mr. Geoff Metcalf. Metcalf’s style was unique. Through the news of the day, he was able to capture and keep your attention on subject matter that really mattered. When he had guests on his program his interview techniques contributed to that guests success on-the-air success with each listener. I recall particularly his interviews with former military leaders. Having been in the service of our country himself, Geoff extracted from each guest interview the heart and soul of the subject at hand.

Metcalf read the news, but more than that he dotted the i’s and cross the t’s and tied all of the minutia together in a tight analytical package. On the national level this was done by Bill O’Reilly on his radio show but with much less detail in a much shorter time span. That’s been the trouble with national programs. Radio is timed so people can tune in and tune out so only a few important details are repeated over and over again or covered very quickly in very simple terms. This is often not enough for my more complicated mind.

Geoff Metcalf challenged your brain. His analysis was more akin to Brit Hume’s if I had to find a comparison. Some intellect is required to follow thoughtful analysis. What Geoff always did was to give you the background in sufficient detail so that you could follow his train of thought. You had to listen to his show to get the entire benefit.

Recently I checked to see if Metcalf was on the air here in Maryland. I had heard him guest host a program locally some time back. Mr. Metcalf, it turns out, is in-between gigs as it were. I certainly hope his program gets picked up by broadcasters in Maryland and the D.C. Metro area. He is well worth the listen.

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Twitter user CNSCampusNotes reports that as of 0845 AM March 26, 2009, 157.901 people have signed the protest petition to the college president at Notre Dame University.

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An attendee of the Solomon’s Island, MD Tea Party was waving the Gadsden flag with its Don’t Tread on Me slogan. The message in that flag was so appropriate under the circumstances that my family has adopted it as our “flag-pole” protest against out-of-control spending. Don’t tread on me.

 This is the brief history of the flag taken from the Humphrys Flag Company from which I purchased our flag: “ Named after Colonel Christopher Gadsen of South Carolina, was flown early in 1775 by Commodore Esek Hopkins of Rhode Island, first Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Fleet. Its inscription represented a warning by the colonists to the British.  ”

In our case, flying the Gadsden flag is a message to the far left in this country that uncontrolled spending and high taxes are not in anyone’s best interest.

Consider purchasing your own Gadsden Flag and fly this historic flag proudly in support of your principles and values.

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(BaltimoreSun.com via DIGG) Consider it an excuse to clean out your closet. Donate a pair of gently worn or new shoes to charity at Foot Solutions in Annapolis and save $10 off the purchase of a new pair!
The store is collecting for Soles4Souls, an organization that has distributed more than 4 million pairs of shoes to needy people in more than 100 countries around the world

read more | digg story

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(TechnologyReview.com via DIGG)Zymetis is testing genetically modified bacteria that efficiently convert biomass into sugar. A tiny microbe found in the Chesapeake Bay is the focus of intense study for a biotech startup in College Park, MD.

read more | digg story

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(DailyPress.com via DIGG) Citing insurmountable government roadblocks, the Virginia Seafood Council on Tuesday abandoned its effort to introduce Asian oysters into the Chesapeake Bay.

read more | digg story

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Some Catholics are outraged at the new President’s position on certain faith-related issues. They do not want the President honored with an honorary doctorate degree because of it. A website called http://www.notredamescandal.com/ exists so concerned Catholics can sign an on-line petition requesting that the college not follow through.

Click here for more information.

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(FoxNews 032509) – DENVER — A parrot that alerted his owner about a baby who was choking was recognized as a hero by the Red Cross.

Willie the parrot was given the Animal Lifesaver Award during the “Breakfast of Champions” event attended by Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper.

Read the rest of the story.

(Ed Note: My spouse and I are kept by two parrots. This article and the FoxNews special on Willie this morning prompted me to share this with everyone. We think our parrots would also do their best to alert us to danger.)

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My time is as valuable as his so after one hour in the waiting room chair I got up and left. Yesterday I had a routine office appointment. A few days earlier this doctor’s office called me to remind me. Great. I was about fifteen minutes early. More times than I can remember arriving early has been a benefit to me and the doctor so to respect his time I always arrive a bit early. I signed in. The receptionist never looked up.

Over the next hour, those of us in the waiting room were subjected to an obnoxious day-time television program. Ignoring the TV as best I could, I scanned every magazine I could find but started to feel like some appreciable time had already passed. Lots of folks had gone in ahead of me. A nice lady sitting nearby looked at me and said, “What time was your appointment?” I said, “Two-thirty.” She said mine was at Two.” When I asked what time it was she said just after three o’clock.

I got up after sitting there for an hour and told the receptionist I was leaving and to reschedule me. My daily errands, being home in time to greet my spouse when she got home from work were all timed and based on the agreed upon appointment time. Already I had wasted one hour of my day in the waiting room. A new appointment was scheduled twenty days out. There was no apology and no regret expressed.

I believe that patients have a right to know when the doctor is way behind schedule. This office made no attempt whatsoever to set my expectations. When I rescheduled I didn’t appreciate the stares or the attitude. I could tell they felt my time couldn’t be nearly as important as the doctor’s. Well I’m done being treated like a faceless name when I PAY for a professional service. I’m sick of being treated like I should be privileged that I’m allowed to be their customer. Keep me waiting I’ll either reschedule or find a new doctor.

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I’m curious. Did anyone else get an unexpected delivery of heating oil at the end of March? Oddly enough I did even though there was over 100 gallons in the tank. The bill came to $252. This has never happened before. This last year the oil delivery company insisted upon a payment or cash to guarantee the lowest price and there was a big per-gallon price reduction when the price of oil plummeted. Why would an oil company deliver oil when our use of the heater has been reduced to a few mornings in the entire month?

Very puzzling. I hadn’t planned on this in my monthly budget so they will be getting an ear full from me today on the telephone.

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(RegularFolksUnited.com – by Ron Miller) “As we approach the end of the 21st century’s first decade, we are reaping the whirlwind brought about by one of the most deceptive and cunning politicians to come upon the scene in my generation. A man barely known outside of Illinois in the summer of 2004 is the President of the United States in 2009, becoming the leader of the world’s most powerful nation through an illusion not unlike the Wizard of Oz, all the while deflecting attention from the man behind the curtain.”

Read the rest at RegularFolksUnited.com

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We keep hearing that financial people on Wall Street earn HUGE bonuses in the millions because they work with complex derivatives.

We pay police, fire fighters, soldiers, teachers, and nuclear power plant operators a pittance in comparison. Wealthy sales and marketing folks are a lofty privileged class supported and promoted by their own kind at the great expense of the business and the economy. These derivative folks and these mortgage folks as well as an incompetent Congress created the current economic downturn so in my view they are not all entitled to the bonuses really smart people are entitled to.

What I understand from having worked in business over the years is that the people close to the money work very hard to pay themselves more and equally as hard to pay those that maneuver for them a lot less. The notion that hard work reaps great benefit is true to a point but there is probably a law of diminishing returns.

The bonus money these so-called experts receive are obscene. This problem cannot be fixed by Congress. It must be fixed by the corporations. There must be a corporate conscience. Can you imagine the success a company might have if they had the funds to pay everyone a living wage that were also hard at work everyday?

Every company I ever worked for based bonuses on my performance and in the off chance our sales were low bonuses were not paid or dramatically reduced in amount. The bonus was reasonable based on my management contributions and not excessive.

Corporate America has some soul searching to do.

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