today’s news and information gleanings from here and there! Today’s Weather!   Today in History!

Quote for today… “Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.  ~ George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, “Maxims: Education,” 1905

• “Record year for Tornadoes” says the York Daily Record. Extreme weather can happen anywhere!!!
• It’s why we keep posting these kinds of items. Responsible charitable non-profit organizations are transparent; all of them have to be held accountable: “Newt Gingrich Charity Paid Cash To Gingrich For-Profit Business“
• from LancasterOnline.com: “New Turkey Hill – Turkey Hill Minit Markets has a new store with a unique look next to the recently opened Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia. The Lancaster-based convenience store chain added its 61st Lancaster County locationbeside the Third and Linden streets Experience, a tourist attraction that tells the story of Turkey Hill Dairy, a sister company.

  “With 20 employees, the new 4,000-square-foot Minit Market operates the usual 24 hours a day. But it has a brick exterior to complement the brick Experience building — which was a 19th-century silk mill — and the neighborhood.

  “The Columbia store, developed at an undisclosed price, also is among the first Minit Markets to offer fried chicken and rotisserie chicken, said spokesman Erin Dimitriou Smith.”

• From the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era: LETTER TO THE EDITOR – from Columbian, Venia McFadden – – – “Absolutely unbelievable! As I continue to try to make sense and understand this jury’s verdict, I still am in a state of disbelief, anger and disgust.

  “The defendant, Pedro Plata, was acquitted of burglary, indecent assault and criminal attempt of a sex act and found guilty of criminal trespass — really?

  “Let’s see now, my understanding of trespass is to enter another person’s property without permission of the owner. Then to put the word criminal in front of trespass, that would make it a crime. Hmmm, if one is invited in, why leave your shoes outside?

  “This jury erred in its decision. As I look at the calendar to make sure it’s 2011 and not back in a time of racial indifference, I find myself questioning the makeup of the jury and its motive for the decision that was made by them.

  “The incorrect decision of this jury basically assaulted District Judge Kelly Ballentine again.

  “To the sexual-assault victims that don’t come forward, this jury justified why you shouldn’t. They turned a victim into a defendant and made the punk defendant into a victim — unbelievable!

  “I sincerely hope I am never a victim of sexual assault, because I can assure you that I will not trust that a jury from Lancaster will get it right.

  “To the defendant in this case, you will probably sexually offend again and, if you do, I wonder how the jury that let you off of these charges will feel.

  “Serve your time for whatever you get for the criminal-trespass conviction, then if you have any common sense, on the day that you are released, you will have your family pack up your belongings, have them ready for you and leave Lancaster. You can’t stay here! Period!

  “There is one part of The Pledge of Allegiance that I never recite, and that is the part that says: “And justice for all”. There is no justice for all and there was no justice in this case.

  “And, yes, I have served on a jury and, yes, we got it right.

  “As for the comments about District Justice Ballentine’s reaction to the unjust verdict, first and foremost, she is a human being and a woman who showed natural emotion.

  “Anyone who believes her reaction to this unjust verdict in some way disrespected the office in which she serves is simply wrong and just as asinine as the verdict.”