Just curious, did he declare that from New Hampshire, Iowa or Wisconsin...just sayin'...

As I have said before, having that man as governor is in and of itself a state of emergency.

O'Malley is the only Governor with all out of state offices. I wish another state would adopt him.

Will this be eating through our snow-removal budget, like all the non-snow events last year did?

How about Don Dwyer - has he been convicted of negligence for his drunken boating debacle?

Has not been proven that Don was at fault yet. I don't think he was, looking at the boat damage.

Thank You, Honorable Governor O'Malley, as you know with hurricanes, they can change courses often, never know exactly where most damage will be done, thanks for getting the counties in the State Of Maryland prepared. Thanks to Honorable John Leopold A. A. Co. County Executive for getting in touch with BGE to make sure crews from out of state will be here prior to the hurricane predictions for here and thanks for emergency preparedness in opening shelters for those who will need it. Thanks for all of the pre warnings of getting extra flashlights, water and other emergency essentials as with the full moon, higher tides can be expected and wind does considerable damage and be careful, please do not drive through water on roads as you don't know how deep. Be careful everyone and look out for your family, friends and neighbors, during this hurricane high tides and winds.

I'd love to leave politics out of at least ONE story, esp. when it's about the weather. But as it HAS been brought in, I'm going to ask a non-partisan question - some forecasters are saying that power outages etc., if they occur, could last well into the week of November 5. Now - and serious replies only, please - does anyone have any idea how Election Day would be handled if large areas in several states would be affected if there WERE major disruptions in power? Can't remember that ever happening before, I was just curious.

Hey Mike, HELL NO! The monies will come from the revenues that are to be set aside for education from the new slots parlor! OWE MALLEY sayz, IT'S THE LAW!

Governor O'Malley acted early and deliberately to prepare MD to meet the challenges facing the state with on coming threat of major storm. Preparedness saves lives and property. Good for him. Governance is taking care of the people's business with competence and a good sense of priorities.

GREAT IDEA, Set Air Force One on auto-pilot and send Obama & Owe Malley into the storm! The country and state would be saved from any other damage!

Better safe than sorry, so I am glad with all the steps that Harford County and the state of Maryland are taking to prepare for this storm. I guess I don't understand the term "state of emergency" though. What is that supposed to initiate that wouldn't be done otherwise. In the past, I thought a "state of emergency" has always been called in response to a disaster that has already occurred.

Assuming a lot of the people who are commenting here are at their place of work. We are calling all of our clients and making sure they protect their computer systems in the event the storm does hit us. Please make sure the backup is completed and take a copy off-site just in case the office or place of business is damaged. If your office is prone to flooding move any computers off the floor. Turn off desktops and laptops, unless you need to access remotely. A few minutes of thoughtful planning before you leave tonight may save your company thousands of dollars.

I am glad the governor already declared a state of emergency. Too often we fail to act in a timely manner. Stay safe everyone.

It can be called in advance and I think facilitates federal assistance to the area in addition to putting existing emergency plans into effect. Not an O'Malley fan, but I'm glad he's on top of the situation.

I'm prepared beyond the flashlight, batteries & water meme, in ways the Gov wouldn't approve

need to get out and take advantage of early voting

(Disclosure - I am a Chef Judge (R) in Perry Hall but NOT a year round employee of the Board of Elections) The "Pole Books" (PB) that you check in at and "Touch Screen Polling Machines" (TSPM) you vote on do run on battery backups for many hours w/ a full charge, at least 8. My latest training 10/22, there was no power outage scenario specifically covered. If there is no power at a location and the batteries run out on the PBs & TSPMs, voters would be checked in by the printed copy of the PB & use "Provisional Paper Ballots" (PPB) that are normally used during regular voting hours. A request for more PPBs would be made to the BOE to be delivered before that happens. PBs and TSPM come to polling locations usually with at least a 98% charge.
"IF" poll hours are extended, there is separate PPB specifically for extended hours (Same ballot, just probably marked that they were taken during Extended Hours)

I am a unit judge in the general election in South County, as of this moment I have not been notified by the Board Of Elections as to how this would be handled. Extended poll hours have been mentioned, but this was before the weather forecast of Hurricane Sandy. Early voting is in affect as of now.

Hey Concerned Citizen of Laurel......to ashamed to use your real name???

Salam
Pepco are you prepared too ? Why I am not getting messages from the Montgomery alert system yet? just wondering

Has BGE called yet to ask for donations to fix the power lines if they go down??

Perfect winds to try out my flying squirrel suit.

Oil companies use weather events all the time to raise gas prices even if it's just on the " could happen " list.

Why would you think that? Repubicans are the ones who want the wells drilling, the Democrats are the ones keeping them capped off.

Everytime hurricanes "might" hit the gulf of mexico, they raise prices.

The Government should hold the oil companies to a " reasonable profit clause" dated back before Katrina.

Why don't you losers leave the man alone . He won fair and square. What would loser Ehrich do? Nothing? If you don't like it Leave it.

Fifa, Did you jeck his chain??

You all are very immature... this story was about a hurricane.. not your political views and name calling. Grow up Greenbelters.

Good police state practice anyway...

Boy do I wish my name wasnt Sandy right now. Annoying.

For those of you kittens that remember that magic carpet ride. An ode to Stephen Kay and those that have ever actually been on a hog.

Wake up in the morning
Wipe the cheetos off of my sofo blanket
Head out down the hallway
Looking for adventure and how many user names I can create today

Fire up the Mac that aunt Winnie bought me on Christmas
Start typing with all my aliases even those brought to the light of day
Yeah blogging going to make it happen
Going to put myself out there in many forms into cyberspace
Like a true Millenial child, i was born

Born to be a multiple account blogger

Got the Mac running multitask software
Can feel the keys of the keyboard as I tap away
Going to make my arguments even if it takes 24 hours out of the day
Making myself a patch hero the lord of cyberspace

Cause i was born....born to be a multi account blogger

Head out onto the information superhighway
Put myself and 10 other names into cyberspace

The State of Emergency is the ignorance of the public to the danger of Smartmeters that PEPCO has on their homes!
The fact that utility companies are minimizing the research that shows serious health effects like brain tumors, cancers and neurological problems!
That is the State of Emergency!

That public officials funded by the utilities are afraid to speak out!

We will all be paying in twenty years.

I am not usually the one to make extra preparations for storms as we always have enough supplies and camping gear to last a week without electric, but this one has me more on the alert. I am glad we got our generator a few months ago and now I have plenty of gas for it. Now we just need to bottle some more water.
I see a terrible time in the next few days.

Make sure your prepared. I heard this morning that it could dump up to 2-4 feet of snow in the western part of the state and in the ski areas just west of us.

I thought the nasty political arguments stayed within the political blogs, but I guess not.

Perhaps they should rename The Patch as "The Vent."

Hurricane, Schmurricane....... this is just going to be a good test for my home bunker that I built for the upcoming revolution. I've got 1,000 cans of Spam, 10,000 rounds of ammo, 42 back issues of Soldier of Fortune and some beer.

http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/

Just remember Boy Martin gets 6% of every battery and bottle of water sold to help keep Katie's mouth shut about his marital issues and to help pay his kids' private school tuition (so much for those #1 Maryland schools Marty you bumbling hypocrite)

No wireless in my house!
I have had an ElectroSmog radio frequency meter for months now and know my levels.
Do you?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/99701545/Santa-Cruz-Health-Services-Health-Risks-Associated-with-SmartMeters

Standing in from of the Smartmeter banks you can see the pulses they are sending out. Its no joke!
http://marylandsmartmeterawareness.org/

Steve, I thought you were a die hard Democrat and O'Shit was your buddy.

Well then, now you have the info you need to decide if you still want it.

Fires, overbilling and non-ionizing radiation! All in one package for you and your home!
I thought the Smart meter foes were crazy till I actually sat down and read.

Rat Sperm Smartmeters and radio frequency radiation!
Spermatozoa from exposed rats showed significant morphological changes in midpiece region, microtubules, outer dense fibers of mitochondria and membranes and distortions in sperm head,"
http://www.emf-portal.de/viewer.php?l=e&aid=21125

Maybe it is a UN plot to deal with overpopulation!

Smartmeters emit microwave radiation!

Indeed- I am in bed with teabaggers on this.. but only on this issue of the Dumbmeters.
They care about privacy, I care about health.

It's Owe'Malley's way of getting BGE to call in their army early so they can add the extra charges to our bills.

I opted out. I got some aluminum wiring in my house. I'm not taking the chance.

The sperm thing didn't work cause Fifa is still here, sorry.

Well how about a hamster.. would that work?

http://www.emf-portal.de/viewer.php?l=e&aid=19499

In comparison to the control group, a significant increase in the number of cells with aberant mitotic spindle apparatus was detected in the exposure groups (5 and 10 mW/cm2, frequency of aberant mitotic spindle apparatus increased significantly with increasing power density), but not in the temperature control groups. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly increased in both exposure groups (frequency of apoptotic cells increased significantly with increasing power density), while the mitotic index decreased, as compared to the sham exposed groups and the temperature controls. The temperature effect on the correct assembly of mitotic spindle apparatus was negliable up to 41°C. Apoptosis was induced only when the medium temperature achieved 40°C, thus exceeding the maximum value registered during exposure (ca. 38°C at 5 W/cm2 and ca. 39°C at 10 W/cm2).
The authors hypothesize that short term microwave exposures at 2.45 GHz cause alterations of the mitotic spindle apparatus in V79 cells and this represents, in turn, a pro-apoptotic signal.

or just a basic brain leakage situation
blood brain permeability
Would this be better?
http://www.emf-portal.de/viewer.php?aid=19140&l=e
"In the radiofrequency exposed rats, there was a somewhat increased leakage (in 25% of the animals), while the "extremely low frequency" and "radiofrequency + extremely low frequency" exposed groups were not significantly different from the control group.
The authors conclude that the use of external fans has not had any major influence upon the results they have accumulated during the past 20 years. The findings are in line with their previous work of increased blood-brain barrier permeability after nonthermal radiofrequency exposure especially at very low SAR levels, in this case more than 1,000 times lower than the recommended limit value of 2 W/kg."

I don't want anything on my house messing with my mitotic spindle apparatus nor making my brain leak!
OPT OUT before the election as MPSC hearings start on the 5th!
Educate yourself and decide for yourself!
http://marylandsmartmeterawareness.org/opt-out-news/option-to-defer-smart-meters/

It gets worse.
"Nerve cell damage in mammalian brain after exposure to microwaves from GSM mobile phones. "
Remember mobile phones and Smartmeters share similiar electromagentic emissions.
Smart Meters use the 900 MHz band communication as is in this study.
By: Salford LG, Brun AE, Eberhardt JL, Malmgren L, Persson BR
Published in: Environ Health Perspect 2003; 111 (7): 881 - 3 (
Main outcome of study"
A highly significant evidence for neuronal damage in the cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia in the brains of exposed rats was found.

http://www.emf-portal.de/viewer.php?aid=9462&l=e
Don't you think its curious that when utilities and Telecom fund the studies they how less than 50% effects but when they are independently funded they show over 70% effects?
weird huh...
thats why us consumers need to go to the science ourselves because the industry is not going to send us all the info . Decide how many of these studies you want showing such effects.... before you care about it.

Mary Jane- Who are you arguing with? The other guy must have fallen asleep on you.

Just trying to share the research. People need to educate themselves but cant if they are never shown the science.

I opted out. They said they did it to cut cost, but just not for us. Now they want to raise rates again. O'Malley will give them anything they want.

Im a grandmother and I want my grandchildren's families to be strong and healthy. Sadly I think Smartmters and cellphones are going to impact their generation quite seriously if people do not wake up.

Computer games started the down fall the kids getting fat. I played baseball all the time growing up, now it's computer games and texting. They will just grow up with curled up fingers and go on disablity.

thankfully they text more than put the phone to their ear. What I am talking about is the long latency period of brain tumors. Almost all studies have shown the association with cell phone and cordless phone use and tumors in heaviest users for longest use. Just wait until the 20 and thirty year studies come out.

Smartmeters emit the same pulsed radiation 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Do we need more of this in our environment?
We should have a choice.
Just as I choose to remove WIFI from my home and get a corded phone ....
Just as I choose not to eat crappy food all the time, we should be able to choose which carcinogens and when!

And hmmmm
which representatives do we in Maryland have with large donations from the utility companies. Anyone want to do that research?
It won't be too hard.

Have no fear.
PEPCO will find a way to have us pay for all their "preventative " work.

I pray for all the people affected by this storm

All the people that are on the coasts i hope yall find some shelter

FYI: Who's going to pay the bill? Last time around during the June violent windstorm, consumers had to pick up the tab for PEPCO's inefficiency instead of deducting the days they were without power from their bill. However, maybe the tide is turning. Thanks to the active efforts of PowerUpMontCo and the town of Somerset (MoCO), the Maryland Public Service Commission issued an expedited order on Friday forbidding PEPCO to charge customers for lost power - something they have been doing on a regular basis to years.

When is O'Malley's killer storm getting here? I want to be ready.

I will be the first to admit that Chris Christie is not one of my favorite governors, but I'll give him credit where it is due. It is due here talking to Steve "Douche" Doocy of Fox. Sorry ladies, it is in my nature.

"Over the last couple of months, you have appeared throughout the country, Governor, on behalf of Mitt Romney," Doocy remarked to Christie. "[W]e hear that perhaps Mr. Romney may do some storm-related events. Is there any possibility that Gov. Romney may go to New Jersey to tour some of the damage with you?"

"I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested," Christie replied, immediately shutting down the idea. "I've got a job to do here in New Jersey that's much bigger than presidential politics and I could [sic] care less about any of that stuff."

Christie talking about coordination with FEMA that Romney wants to kill and disaster relief that Republicans want to kill.

"The president was great last night [at midnight]," Christie continued. "He said he [Obama] would get it done [declaring NJ a disaster area]. At 2 a.m., I got a call from FEMA to answer a couple of final questions and then he signed the declaration this morning. So I have to give the president great credit. He's been on the phone with me three times in the last 24 hours. He's been very attentive, and anything that I've asked for, he's gotten to me. So, I thank the president publicly for that. He's done -- as far as I'm concerned -- a great job for New Jersey."

FEMA, W.H. send storm victims to Internet.
"When President Barack Obama urged Americans under siege from Hurricane Sandy to stay inside and keep watch on ready.gov for the latest, he left out something pretty important — where to turn if the electricity goes out.

Despite the heightened expectation of widespread power and cable television failures, everyone from the president to local newscasters seem to expect the public to rely entirely on the Internet and their TVs for vital news and instructions."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/83024.html#ixzz2Ana9ybhj

During the GOP primary, Mitt Romney called federal disaster relief "immoral" for adding to the national debt.

"But now that Hurricane Sandy is hitting the U.S. just before election season, Romney has reversed his earlier statements."

"By contrast, the GOP-controlled House has proposed cutting FEMA's budget by $87 million in 2011 and by an additional $182 million in 2012. Efforts to fund disaster relief were opposed by tea party Republicans, who demanded cuts from other programs in exchange."

Just the facts, no spin.

So when yalls gunna quit arguin and help the peolpe that needs it

We all remember when Bush said "Great job Brownie." We remember how the left went apoplectic and went on and on for months and now years about that line as some have shown here.

Not a word about Biden Obama or Bloomberg saying the exact same thing while bodies are still being found, no electric or gasoline or food. People dumpster diving for sustenance. Thousands homeless and more displaced.

Joe Biden says,FEMA is doing “one helluva of a job.”
Biden said “I think FEMA is doing an incredible job,”
Biden said. “So, this is working like it’s supposed to,”
Bloomberg Turns Down Offer of FEMA Assistance for NYC
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/27/1151343/-Bloomberg-Turns-Down-Offer-of-FEMA-Assistance-for-NYC

This is Obama's very own "Mission Accomplished" affair.

And some here had the gall to declare this event "over".

...and to think, Chris Christie was Mitt the Mexican's first pick as VP.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83254.html?hp=t1

Seems like FEMA is working pretty well
https://www.facebook.com/tristateweather?fref=ts

Look at the difference. President Obama's Director of FEMA started out as an EMT and worked his way up through Emergency Services

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/us/the-man-behind-femas-post-katrina-makeover.html

Bush's Director, Michael "Can I Quit Now?" Brown was a Show Horse Judge.

http://articles.cnn.com/2005-11-03/us/brown.fema.emails_1_international-arabian-horse-association-marty-bahamonde-e-mails?_s=PM:US

What are you doing patting Obama on the back for what he is supposed to do? Relief services should be done by the states, not the federal government. That would save millions from the federal BS.

Smartmeters are Microwaves!
Much experimental evidence of non-thermal influences of microwave radiation on living systems has been
published in the scientific literature during the last 30 years – relating both to in vitro and in vivo studies – and
were reviewed just recently by the STOA commission of the European Parliament (STOA 2001). From the use
of microwave wireless technologies e.g. the following non-thermal biological effects have been reported:
!" Changes in the electrical activity in the human brain,
!" Increase in DNA single and double strand breaks from HF exposure to 2.45 GHz,
!" Increased lymphoma rates (2 fold) in transgenic mice exposed twice a day exposed to 30 minutes of
cell phone (GSM) signals over 18 month,
!" Increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier in rats,
!" Observation of an increase in resting blood pressure during exposure,
!" Increased permeability of the erythrocyte membrane,
!" Effects on brain electrochemistry (calcium efflux),
!" Increase of chromosome aberrations and micronuclei in human blood lymphocytes,
!" Synergistic effects with cancer promoting and certain psychoactive drugs,
!" Depression of chicken immune systems,
!" Increase in chicken embryo mortality,
!" Effects on brain dopamine/opiate electrochemistry,
!" Increases in DNA single and double strand breaks in rat brain,
!" Stressful effects in healthy and tumor bearing mice,
!" Neurogenetic effects and micronuclei formation in peritoneal macrophage.

yes indeed.

Except cellphones are not like Smartmeters- emitting 24 hours a day 7 days a week radiofrequency microwave radiation full body exposure , more or less depending on where it is placed on your home.

Sounds like an effort to control population growth in the long run MaryJane...

I have considered this concept Buck... :)
Perhaps a way to manipulate the DNA pool

It would almost be the perfect Darwin move as some would have Smartmeters and some would not..... those opting out I assume would be more thoughtful.... more protective of their offspring and future generaions

This works with the cellphone issue but with Smartmeters, the health issue impacts even those who opt opt. In places like apartment complexes it effects folks who did not make the decision either way.
Families who live on the end of townhouses get all the meters along their bedroom wall but it was not for lack of education....
If you live in the basement with a wall of Smartmeters facing your bedroom it is simply because of the location of your home, not your thoughtfulness or increased reasoning..
yikes...

directions on how to opt out here
http://marylandsmartmeterawareness.org/opt-out-news/option-to-defer-smart-meters/

Fyi, the psc sent me a letter back when i opted out that there were no studies done on Smartmeters health impacts except a small short term utlity funded company study and that there were no plans for more research. sigh...
Surely public health is more important than this!
a Class 2 b carcinogen on your wall. only because research is in its infancy! more is on its way..
i imagine if the IARC had come out with its opinion before they started manufacting these devices the companies would have stopped but in 2011 they were in deep.
They will defend it to no end now. Just as they have for EMFs from high voltage lines.
Want to read some depressing stuff read about that!

http://www.childhoodcancer2012.org.uk/slides/session7.3-henshaw.pdf

Childhood Cancer 2012 Conference presentation on EMF and Childhood Cancer.
So depressing.

You should capture these thoughts and publish a short read MaryJane...in the interest of public education at a crucial time..

Spread the word.
Education is our only defense.
The brain shows changes with the absorption of this radiation. Not much more is needed to convince me to take precautions.