"Police and prosecutors have said the gunfire broke out when one group of people confronted another for staring at them.

12 people brandished firearms and at least six people fired weapons at the rally that killed a woman and injured nearly two dozen others."

Eldercare is a predatory business. The business model is to siphon your entire life savings as quickly as possible, then go after Medicaid. (Or toss you out because they don't take Medicaid)

A friend recently sold her home and moved into an independant living "cottage" rental because it was getting hard for her to keep up with lawnmowing, housecleaning, etc. It was a huge mistake. Her rent is about $4000 (about double the price for a comparable apartment) and for that she gets 1 meal per day. They provide additional meals, maid service and health care aids, billed separately at rates about double what she would pay on her own. By contract she can't bring in any outside help. Previously she had a very nice home with a $2000/mo mortgage including property insurance and tax escrow, + about $150/mot utility bill. For the $1850 difference she could be paying someone to mow her lawn and get lunch. But hey, there is BINGO on Wednesday nights and a shuttlebus to Target. She is not financially savvy and thought it was going to be like an all inclusive resort, with all her needs taken care of for the rest of her life for one low price. Didn't read the contract. She will be evicted soon because she can't afford her rent, as the little bit of equity from the sale of her house (to a "we buy houses fast" investor) has run out. Sad story.

The port cities decide whether they will mandate tugs and under what circumstances and conditions. Since the ports compete for traffic, they are reluctant to impose restrictions that will encourage shippers to choose another port. If Baltimore mandated tugs, some shippers would shift their traffic to another port that does not. uniform national standards would be a good start.

It sucks to trick them into being out of office, but I can also see where it makes sense from a security and safety standpoint. When you fire that many people, odds are high that someone is going to have a mental health crisis, and workplace violence is always a possibility. The fact that you need to fire that many people at once shows you weren't doing a good job of managing your workforce in the first place.

I think the more important question is how were the terminations handled? Was the news delivered with compassion and an appreciation for their contributions? Were they provided with resources to help with job search, EAP counseling, and an extension of health insurance to give them time to transition their health care? A little of that can go a long way.

One of my kids was laid last year with none of these important considerations. They fired a whole team, including recent hires who had just relocated for the job. They did it at the end of the month, so health insurance was terminated immediately, requiring them to cancel a surgery and postpone medication refills until COBRA coverage could be arranged (2 months, and a claims nightmare). Termination was by zoom meeting (by a HR person they had never met) so no written record of reason for termination. They were told it is against policy to provide a letter of recommendation or even that they left in good standing. All their personal job records (awards, commendations, letters of appreciation, job description) were in their google drive and access was cut immediately. I've learned that is typical in the corporate world today, unfortunately.

The squatters I have come across were straight out cons. They present forged leases and reciepts, sometimes even forged deeds, leaving the question about whether they were also victims conned by someone else. In many cases, the owner takes sympathy and gives them some time to find another place, which only extends the duration. When the owner pushes it all the way with an eviction, they often steal appliances and deliberately destroy property. I have never seen one go on for years, they just ride it out as long as they can then pick out another house and repeat.

"I understood, but the system is built to handle this case. There should be a log book from the notary, with everyones signature (as I understand it"

No it's not. The system sucks. Log books are optional in most states, and even where they are, a corrupt notary would simply falsify the logbook as well.

Notaries also cannot keep make copies of the documents they are notarizing. That is necessary for privacy reasons, but creates a huge opportunity for fraud. IMO, there should be a notary block on every single page, not just the last one. It is far too easy to swap out pages, completely altering the document. I worked a case involving an elderly woman (and an honest notary) who signed a limited power of attorney to allow her handyman to sell an old Buick, but afterwards, he switched the pages to give him access to all her financial accounts, then wiped her out and left town, in the Buick.

"NTSB estimates 2 years to complete the investigation. I expect it will come down to blaming either the Captain or the Pilot."

At this early juncture, I'm inclined to blame the carriers, who refuse to pay for tugboats. I don't know the numbers, but it does seem that an enormous amount of infrastructure damage occurs that could have been preventing by mandatory tugboat use invulnerable areas. I imagine any cost benefit analysis is skewed by the fact that the carriers can bankrupt themselves out of being forced to pay for the damage.

"Apparently the big crisis is that Biden has not flown to Baltimore yet."
I was wondering why he hadn't made an appearance. Marine One could have gotten him there in minutes. Shoot, he could have beaten Maryland State Police helos and Coast Guard. Imagine Uncle Joe himself dropping down in rescue bucket plucking survivors out of the frigid water. Missed opportunity for some serious Dark Brandon ---- there.

S Rory that didn't make much sense, I just couldn't resist the pun. I don't like ANY of the Kennedys. They are American royalty and IMO royalty is never a good thing.

I don't recall any news reports ruling out foul play. They simply said there did not appear to be evidence of it at that time. That is different. It is necessary to put something out there to prevent unwarranted panic.

If course there is a remote possibility that the power/electrical failure was due to sabotage. If so, it would be more likely disgruntled employee than terrorism. Terrirists would be more likely to choose a busier time, more cars = more terror. I'm sure the NTSB will analyze the evidence thoroughly to make a determination.

"he got out a map and drew a 5 mile circle around where he knew he'd be working, and SWORE he'd live in that circle, which he did until he passed at 78."

Ah, the days when you could build a career in one company, and look forward to a stable income and maybe even a defined benefit pension.

As a kid

"Yeah, back when I was a kid, the goal of my parents was to make my life better than theirs.imo, my parents succeeded.

#8 | POSTED BY LAMPLIGHTER AT 2024-03-24 10:11 PM | FLAG: "

Very hard for me to imagine you as a , sorta like young Sheldon?

No, it's not just like health insurance. Legislation prevents insurance companies from raising your health insurance rates to reflect the higher risk due to your preexisting condition. It didn't used to be that way. Cancer survivors were nearly uninsurablle, unless they were part of very large groups. It wasn't uncommon for a small business to get cancelled or have rates raised by an insurer because they employed a high risk person. That is not how home insurance works. Rates are based on an individualized risk assessment of the home.

#80 Building that bridge in the late 70s actually did relieve urban blight, at the time. It connected Dundalk and Sparrows Point, steel mill towns which were previously rather isolated, the the rest of the city. These areas will be isolated once again, and I think even the steel mills that unified those people are gone ( I could be wrong). It will be economically devastating.. I knew the area well at one time. Gritty, rough, hardscrabble blue collar people, but proud , with a strong sense of community.

It is interesting to watch the pilots disembark from a big ship, once they clear the harbor. While the ship is underway, The pilot will climb over the side and down a ladder and jump into a moving boat that takes him back to the port.

I used to live close to a port and could hear the ships horns. One night I awakened to five short blasts, repeating. Over and over. I asked my uncle, he told me that is a big ship talking to a little boat, and means, I'm a big effing ship and I can't stop or steer so you better get out of the effing way. Idiot pleasureboaters get much too close to ships.
.

Even with power, container ships aren't known for precise maneuverability. That is why tugboats are involved in close maneuvers. Generally a local pilot, familiar with local conditions is required to be on board to guide the ship out to open water, but having tugboats tethered at each end would be an additional safeguard. My uncle is a retired tugboat captain, and he is insistent they should be required everywhere but open sea.

Loss of steering and propulsion control? At the same time?

That should not be possible. But apparently it is.
#10 | POSTED BY DONNERBOY AT 2024-03-26 11:32 AM | REPLY

A). Weird how the barge/boat lost power, regained it,
lost it, regained it.

B). Also weird how after one of the power regains the
barge/boat looked to veer straight towards the nearest
pylon.

I certainly would not let go of any of the ship's
personnel until after a thorough questioning...

#14 | POSTED BY EARTHMUSE AT 2024-03-26 11:56 AM | REPLY | NEWSWORTHY 1.

Without power, there is no steering. That is just how boats work. Even the big ones.

Also, when it comes to fema flood insurance, the max is $250,000. Which means if a million dollar home is swept of the foundation or otherwise totaled, the maximum recovery is $250,000. You won't find too many waterfront homes that can be replaced for $250k

#15
They do. I currently own two homes, less than 5 miles apart. One is waterfront and boasts homeowners insurance premiums triple the premiums of the other home which is inland. Don't get me started about flood insurance or wind. I'm not complaining, just wanting to point out that the premiums are in fact, relative to the risk.

"Why should Hamas be the more civilized party?"

Ohhhhh, that was what they were trying to do all these years, those Jews just misunderstood their intentions.

"Israel was created by Imperial Fiat."
So was pretty much every other country on the planet. Your point?

"My best friend since childhood is Jewish. I had a boyfriend for 7 years who is Jewish and is still a good friend of mine. "

I bet you " have lots of Black friends" too.

Did you and your Jewish ex-boyfriend visit your friends in Palestine? Of course not, because you wouldn't have come back in one piece. It is a toss-up which one of you they mutilate first. Probably him, double score, Gay AND Jewish.