Welcome to The Now

 

 About Twelve (especially if they have to lie about what happened):

 

 Seems like the answer is,  "Like 'Orange is the New Black,' but way worse":

 Um, wow: Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s one-time chief of staff Roy McGrath has died after a nationwide, three-week manhunt for him ended Monday in a confrontation with the FBI in Knoxville, Tennessee, according to McGrath’s attorney. McGrath, who served as the top aide to Hogan, a Republican, for a few months during the summer of 2020, faced charges related to an alleged scheme to bilk Maryland out of more than $276,000. McGrath pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was released on bond, the US Marshals Service has said. An arrest warrant had been issued for him in mid-March after he failed to appear for his scheduled trial in Baltimore. McGrath’s death was confirmed on Monday by his attorneys. The FBI confirmed an “agent-involved shooting” early Monday afternoon and said McGrath “sustained injury and was transported to the hospital” but did not provide additional details . “The FBI has confirmed that Roy succumbed to the injuries inflicted earlier in the evening. It is a...

 Or in this case, the very definition of "antisemitism" so a state/country can be exempt . Imagine being called a racist for pointing out what America did abroad in reaction to 9/11. Or being called anti-Catholic for calling out how the Vatican played a part in covering up pedophilic priests.   How else can you respond to a stories about using " AI-powered guns at checkpoints " or " drones ?"

  Another day, another city suffers for being majority poor and/or non-white : JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Carey Wooten spent nearly seven weeks hunting for safe drinking water for herself, her two children and three dogs after clocking out each day as a Taco Bell manager, so Gov. Tate Reeves’ announcement that the water is clean again in Mississippi’s capital came as welcome news. But the crisis in the city of Jackson isn’t over, even if its boil-water advisory was lifted on Thursday. While the state plans to stop handing out free bottled water at sites around the city Saturday night, the city said water pressure still hasn’t been fully restored, and state health officials said lead in some pipes remains so worrisome that pregnant women and young children should still use bottled water. [SNIP] Jackson had already been under a state health department boil-water notice for a month when torrential rain fell in August, flooding the Pearl River and overwhelming the treatment system. Water pr...

Interesting quotes .

I'm sure Gov. O'Malley can find someone besides his brother to nominate as chair of the MD Democratic Party , but there ya go.

As Oliver and TPM both note, MD has a new representative who is complaining about not getting his job-related government health care. The irony/hypocrisy of this story is that he ran against "Obamacare," which he once called "entitlement." I'm longing for the day when a majority of our representatives actually practice what they preach (or preach against).

WTF, Jack Johnson ? WashPost has more .

Goes to show that even MD politics can get dirty .

Really ? County drivers working to plow the roads in Prince George's County were accosted Thursday around 10 a.m. by several residents, who told them that if their streets didn't get plowed they were going to "throw them out of their trucks and beat them up," said Susan Hubbard, spokeswoman for the county's Department of Public Works and Transportation. The incident happened in the southern part of the county, outside the Beltway, but Hubbard declined to name a specific neighborhood. She said police were notified and have responded to the area to make their presence known, though Hubbard did not believe any arrests were made. A call to county police officials for more information was not immediately returned. "We had reports that three or four of the drivers in this one particular area," were threatened, Hubbard said. "It's ridiculous. ...Men and women are working as hard as they possibly can. ... I understand people are frustrated. ... It...

FYI: I got this message this morning from my local councilman: 9:15 am Wed Feb 10th Again, my staff and I are monitoring phone calls to the office (301) 952-3887 and emails that we receive. We are forwarding concerns directly to the personnel supervising the snow removal teams. I am getting these emails on my Blackberry - your message is being read and dealt with. I will be trying to get a new status report this morning. At this moment, i do not have new information. Yesterday, the focus was to finish getting to ALL residential streets, including continuing that effort during the early parts of the new storm. Unfortunately, that means making streets "passable" not clear. That has just been the reality of the magnitude of this storm. I have personally checked on many of the residential streets that people have complained about, and I have gotten equipment out there by working with the DPWT leadership. Nonetheless, many of these streets that are "passable" result in...

I think it would go without saying that this is bad and unprecedented . Yet I've seen some jerks claim that where they're from, this is "normal" and they wouldn't panic. Well, I suppose if Maryland, DC, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania had blizzards every damn winter these states (and the people who live there) would be more prepared. So let me ask these "blizzard experts:" how prepared is your town/state for a flood? A tornado? An earthquake? Would you still just brush it off, or would you maybe feel a bit overwhelmed?

As in, the 40th happiest state in the union . Hey, we gotta have a goal to strive for, right?

It's not over yet . WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regulators on Friday shut down banks in California, Maryland and Minnesota, pushing to 84 the number of bank failures this year amid the soured economy and rising loan defaults. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the three banks: Affinity Bank, based in Ventura, Calif., with about $1 billion in assets and $922 million in deposits; Baltimore-based Bradford Bank, with $452 million in assets and $383 million in deposits; and Mainstreet Bank, based in Forest Lake, Minn., with assets of $459 million and deposits of $434 million. Pacific Western Bank, based in San Diego, agreed to assume the deposits and assets of Affinity Bank. In addition, the FDIC and Pacific Western agreed to share losses on about $934 million of the failed bank's loans and other assets. Affinity Bank's branches in San Francisco and San Mateo will reopen Saturday as offices of Pacific Western Bank; the remaining branches will reopen Monday, the FDI...

Makes one look at the whole "firefighter seduction fantasy" in a new light : PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- A D.C. fire captain accused of sexually assaulting a woman who had passed out at a party at his stepdaughter's house has been convicted of second-degree rape. A Calvert County jury deliberated nearly 13 hours before returning the verdict Wednesday night. Forty-eight-year-old Tony Sneed of Upper Marlboro was charged with attacking the 23-year-old woman, a friend of his stepdaughter, in August. Sneed's attorney says Sneed testified that the two had sex but that she was the aggressor. Prosecutors say Sneed was convicted under the notion that the woman was "mentally incapacitated or physically helpless" and could not have consented.

But in the meantime, let's be glad O'Malley is doing something newsworthy : ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 19, 2009) - Governor Martin O’Malley today joined Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and House Speaker Michael E. Busch to sign a number of public safety measures into law, including legislation that takes firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers and legislation enacting stricter penalties for drunk drivers and establishing speed cameras in highway work zones to protect drivers and road workers. In addition, Governor O’Malley signed into law today a provision that positions Maryland as the nation’s leader in developing Health Information Technology, enhancing the safety and efficiency of our health care system. “One of our most solemn obligations as public servants is the safety of the citizens we serve, whether in our homes, throughout our neighborhoods, or on our roadways,” said Governor O’Malley. “The legislation signed today enhances public safety by improving safety...

Apparently prisons aren't the urine-filled hellholes the movies make them out to be : Eric Brown wanted lobster, and as a gang leader in a Maryland state prison, he seemed to think he was entitled to it. After all, with the help of prison employees, the inmate already had access to champagne and Grey Goose, federal prosecutors said yesterday. In a phone call this month to his wife, as investigators secretly listened in, Brown complained that his smuggling operation had come up short -- that he had to settle for salmon with shrimp and crab imperial. And, prosecutors said, he asked her for a "good cigar" to go with his top-shelf vodka. Brown is among two dozen defendants, four of them current or former state prison employees, charged with drug conspiracy and other offenses in indictments unsealed yesterday. U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein called the investigation the biggest federal probe of prison corruption in Maryland in recent memory. Prosecutors said the gang known as ...