From the National Rifle Association:

House Bill 517, Maryland’s ammunition serialization bill, received an “unfavorable” status in the House Judiciary Committee and was formally withdrawn on Friday, February 29.

HB517, introduced by State Delegate Emmett Burns (D-10), would have required ammunition manufacturers to encode a serial number on all ammunition for regulated firearms (handguns and “assault weapons”) sold in the state and would require the registration of the ammunition to the purchaser. Only shotgun ammunition would have been exempted. All non-encoded ammunition privately possessed would have to be disposed of by January 1, 2009. HB517 would have also allowed the State Police to create an extensive and intrusive database on all ammunition purchasers, paid for by a tax of 5 cents per round.

Every now and then, a victory is scored in favor of the good guys.

One of the more popular canards being thrown around during this election season -- by Republican and Democrat candidates alike -- is that we can build a new "green" economy through "sound" environmental policies that focus on diminishing man's "contribution" to global warming.  Wait... they don't call it global warming, they call it "climate change" now.

NOTE:  Before long, they will be claiming that global cooling is caused by man, too.

But it is all hogwash, and if you value our way of life, you should be mad.  Really mad.  "Kick a candidate in the crotch" mad.

The Baltimore Business Journal is reporting today that PSC Chief Steve Larsen charged Constellation Energy with misleading "ratepayers" in the costs to decommission the nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs.

Two points I want to address.

First, the "ratepayers" were misled.  You don't say?  Where in the hell have you been?

Second, define "ratepayers".

We are Stasi.  If you don't remember the good old days of the Cold War, you might not recognize the term "Stasi".  The Stasi was the East German Secret Police force.  One of the strengths of the Stasi was compelling East German citizens to spy on each other and report what they learned back to the Stasi.  It was estimated that at one time, the Stasi had over seventy-percent of East Germans spying on their neighbors, family and friends.  The German government is still dealing with the vast archives of the Stasi and the information contained within -- over 40 years of spying by neighbors on neighbors.

Erich Hoeneker would be immensely proud of the Maryland Senate and its child abuse bill.

Daily Tech has the dish on new empirical, measurable evidence that we are experience global cooling, whose effects on the planet have the potential to be much worse than warming...

The goose that has been laying the golden egg in Maryland politics as of late has been the computer services industry.  The state has seen unprecedented growth in this industry since 2001 -- largely due to increased Federal spending on IT services required by the War on Terror -- but it all trickles down to provide businesses in and around the state outstanding services and spin-off businesses.  It also has dramatically increased income tax collections, since these employees (like myself) typically earn more than manufacturing and government jobs.

But O'Guvnah's computer services sales tax -- added in the dark hours of the Special Session by his dark lords in the Senate and House -- are about to kill that goose.

O'Guvnah will go down in history as the governor of Maryland that presided over the destruction of the state's economy and quality of life, unless he begins to learn a little economic theory.  I suggest he start with Part I of the Center for Freedom and Properity's series on the Laffer Curve:

It's been a tough week for Rick Pollitt, the County Executive for Wicomico County, Maryland.  One could say that the next few weeks will be serious leadership challenge for the small-town City Manager turned County Executive.  And the decisions he makes over the next few days will determine without question the course of his term for the next three years until the next election.

There are days when I have to wonder what O’Guvnah is up to.  Not two months after calling a totally unneeded and worthless Special Session that launched a new round of rapacious and devastating taxation on the State of Maryland, O’Guvnah is now in the process of screwing over every single Maryland regardless of class, color, race, creed, or income level.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Terry E. Cohen, Member - Salisbury City Council
410-845-0296, Terry@TerryCohen.com

Councilwomen Campbell and Cohen to Hold Open Government Public Input Meeting

In response to ongoing constituent feedback regarding open government, Councilwomen Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen invite citizens to share their ideas and concerns about increasing transparency in Salisbury city government during a public input meeting Thurs., Feb. 21, from 7-9 p.m. at Las Palmas Restaurant in the Goliath Shopping Center, next to Giant Food.

The scope of the topic runs the gamut from how meetings are conducted to gaining access to various types of information. Attendees are encouraged to bring a friend. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

The two council members have also launched a newsletter currently in distribution. An online version can be viewed at: www.onyoursidesby.blogspot.com. For more information, contact Councilwoman Campbell at 410-860-0893 or Councilwoman Cohen at 410-845-0296.