All-Time Lows for Bush, Cheney Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

According to CBS News

• President Bush is enjoying an approval rating of 34%, which is about 20% or more lower than that of President Clinton on any day during the impeachment proceedings
• Vice-President Cheney is doing his part with an 18% approval rating. Eighteen. You read it correctly.
• 3 out of 5 registered Republicans indicate opposition to the Dubai Ports deal.

What hurts Bush is not that he is a conservative ideologue; he is not one. Bush has:

• run up deficit spending with a Republican handmaiden Congress;
• compromised national security by promoting - defending with a nasty veto threat - the sale of strategic port access on two of three coasts;
• taken military personnel and material away from a real threat in Afghanistan to an obnoxious non-threat;
• acquiesced in if not ordered the blowing of a CIA operative's cover as a means of payback for her husband's unpleasant criticisms of the administration;
• attacked repeatedly state laws in liberal or moderate states to enforce a federal theocratic agenda; and
• undermined the rule of law, through public attacks and private subterfuge, regarding the power of Congress to pass laws to protect procedurally the Constitutional rights of American citizens.

Conservatives tend to support fiscal restraint, local decision making when possible, domestic supervision of domestic ports, military force only against actual rather than contrived military opponents, respect for the need for covert operations and the rule of law. Clinton was the last conservative to occupy that office - a cautious, highly competent conservative. What occupies the White House is not the child of the conservative movement of the last 40 years, but rather the bastard child of something else.

Conservatives are leaving Bush in the dust. The National Review has largely dumped him, Bob Barr (Impeachment Bob?) has lost interest, George Will is trying hard not to vomit when he discussed Bush on the talking head shows. I am not a big Hillary Clinton advocate per se, but she hit it on the head when she claimed that the Bush administration would be regarded as one of the worst in the history of the republic. Many conservatives will reluctantly agree with the junior Senator from New York on this point.

One gets the idea that for Bush, it's senior year, his grades are what they are and he is going to the beach, er ranch, to surf, er, cut brush.

No Way to Run a Railroad Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I boarded MARC local 408407 southbound at Halethorpe today at 6:33. By 6:43, two things were happening: the 410409 was making its regular 6:43 stop at Halethorpe 7 miles behind us, and the 407 was dead stopped due to mechanical failure. Apparently the 409 was unable to go around us on the multiple track line, due to lack of a switch or lack of communication, so both trains sat for two and a half hours, dark, cold and immobile.

The trains eventually got towed to Odenton, where the passangers froze until two Amtrak trains accepted the thousands of refugees there and transported us - slowly, behind the tow - to New Carrollton and DC. I got out at New Carrollton, since I had to go to northern Virginia (!!) to buy the pass that I needed for Maryland and DC. Including lunch, additional Metro rides and a ticket purchase in Rosslyn, I got to work at 12:30 despite boarding the train at 6:33.

This evening, MARC announced a boarding for the 517534 northbound, and the passengers mobbed onto the platform for a train, the doors of which did not open. The conductors seemed nonchalant about it, though maybe that was just my impression. After ten minutes the doors finally opened.

I called it an early day, figuring that it was better to write the day off than to start the week in a sleep deficit from working in DC past 8:30. Aggravating day to say the least. Oh well. When I consider my prior employment, however, it does not seem so bad to have one very bad commuting day.

Updated 03/01/2006. Many thanks to Craig Harman for editorial insight and efforts.

The Wages of Whiteness Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I sit now on a dead train somewhere just north of Odenton, so I am taking this as an opportunity to anger some people with an essay that I have been building up the nerve to write.

I wish white people as a group would disappear, they've never done anybody any good. Let me explain.

Whiteness as a personal identity has never defined people in a way that was categorically accurate, distinct and morally postive. "Categorically accurate" refers to attributes of whiteness common to most or all so-called white people. "Distinct" refers the alleged commonalities of whiteness distinguishing white people from non-whites, however defined. "Morally positive" refers to basic concepts of justice, equity and fair play.

Essentially, the only thing that consistently identifies white people as a class - including basically all whites, excluding all non-whites - is the fruit of white racism itself, white privilege. There is no "white music" for example. Yes, white people have made music, but that music is not a cultural attribute of a "white culture" that distinguishes white people as a class. Bluegrass was born of the experiences of "white" settlers into the Appalachians, but it does not distinguish white people as a group, i.e. most "whites" outside of Appalachia in Maine do not even listen to it, let alone identify with it as a white experience. Replace bluegrass with country music or surf music and you get the same result.

Conversely what unites white people as a group other than than the legacy of racism itself does not really distinguish white people from non-whites. Love of the flag? Black soldiers fought for the flag in every war. Baseball? The Negro Leagues persevered - despite the immorality of racism even in sport.

All that unites white people as white, including all and excluding all others, is white racism and its aftermath. That's why when you hear about an "Italian pride" event, it sounds like food and real music, an Irish festival sounds like ale and food and real music, a Polish festival will have likewise food and real music, but a "white pride" event will have a bunch of racist punks and Klan recruiters, no food and a bunch of racist hate music for sale out of the back of a truck. Even most racists would have no interest in taking their children to a white pride event.

Maybe in Hawai'i the experience of being a "haole" (white) is distinct, but it does not translate off the islands i.e. to where the other 99 percent of "white" people live. The only thing that both unites whites and distinguishes whites in the U S is reality of white racism, white privilege and their latter day effects.

It stands to reason that an identity limited to the enjoyment of social economic and political payouts of racism is either immoral, fake or both. Sadly, the more real the identity is, the more likely it is to involve actual injustice against non-whites. White identity, stripped of racist legacies and practices, has nothing truly distinct and unifying.

Black cultural identity is real i.e. Has natural content. Plenty distinguishes black Americans as a culture - from music, food, religious traditions, language, heroes, a common experience of racism itself, values, etc. The culture is distinct and would continue to be a culture if white racism - or even white people - vanished tomorrow. This is not to say that all black people share every single attribute of black culture, any more than all Irish or all Southerners or all Swedes, but black identity is real, not astroturf. Black culture may be "good" or "bad" but it is real.

Even jokes about how white people "can't jump" or "can't dance" show the lameness of white identity. Leaving aside the fact that such jokes are really about black cultural stereotypes, not white ones, they do not reflect a cultural identity at all. Ditto with jokes about the Winter Olympics; even in Colorado, the majority of "white people" are neither skiing or thinking about skiing and a pair of skis (hockey skates, curling stones) does not a culture make. I guess if 240 million self-identified white people but few others were following the Winter Olympics you could make a case, but they are not distinct enough as a "white event" or, this year, watched nearly enough by anybody to count.

Another example is multi-racial identity. There are African-Americans who also identify with one or more European cultures, such as the singer Alicia Keys who is both Black and Italian in ancestry and makes no secret of either fact. But we do not hear of such Americans being both black and white, because white identity is nothing except the legacy of white racist privilege which a person of African ancestry cannot enjoy without "passing for white," ie eliminating association with Black identity in the extreme and identifying with the privileged caste. 40 years of civil rights legislation have changed little with respect to these issues of identity.

Put it another way. "It's a white thing, you wouldn't understand.". What is the it? What universe of "its" could potentially, with a stretch, qualify?

It stands to reason that if white identity is eiither overinclusive, underinclusive, astroturf-fake or immoral, it should be discarded in favor of something real and morally just. If the only "payout" of white identity is white racism, we should stop playing the white identity slot machine.

I would welcome your comments below.

Jimmies - Boudreaux's Butt Paste Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

One can find a variety of wonderful delicacies in a well-stocked gourmet shop. Raspberry preserves, tapenades, aromatic cooking oils, wasabi-flavored popcorn, you name it. Generally an uplifting experience for me, a medium grade museum of food with changing exhibits.

I do not get the "vapors" easily when it comes to vulgar language. Friends know me to have one of the vilest, coarsest English dictions in use even for this foul age, a harshness which this blog restrains as a form of intellectual discipline and to keep the site child-tolerable. When I encountered in one Columbia gourmet shop a line of barbecue sauces with names like "[Rear] on Fire," vulgar portmanteaux of words such as "explosion" and references to "burning [the customer] twice," I was taken aback - not so much from the language, but rather its unlikely juxtaposition against a shelf of fine chutneys and wine openers.

A much milder surprise awaited me when my wife forwarded to me a recommendation of Boudreaux's Butt Paste as a salve for our children's diaper rash. She had learned about the product from her sister in Oklahoma, from whom such a name was no surprise. I, an unapologetically uptight and prejudiced Yankee, suspected that the product would be no good, due to its nominal implicit association with a) Louisiana; and b) the least cultured elements of the non-Louisiana South. What I would ordinary seek out would be "Expensive North Jersey Pharma-Balm for Infants."

The Butt Paste is wonderful for its intended use. "Two butts up" from our children. Go buy it if you need it. Unfortunately, Boudreaux's is suffering capacity issues due to Hurricane Katrina and they are not processing internet orders, but you can still find it in many stores.

2 Boys in the Hood Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

---

Nobody does it like Steve Gilliard, a master of captioning and cartoonish doctoring of photos for devastating effect. Check him out.

Ehrlich and the Ports Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Homeland Security balked at least initially at the Dubai Ports deal:

WASHINGTON Feb 25, 2006 (AP)-- The Homeland Security Department objected at first to a United Arab Emirates company's taking over significant operations at six [actually, it's 21] U.S. ports. It was the lone protest among members of the government committee that eventually approved the deal without dissent.

The department's early objections were settled later in the government's review of the $6.8 billion deal after Dubai-owned DP World agreed to a series of security restrictions.

So why is Governor Ehrlich reversing his position and supporting the Dubai Ports deal?

My own suspicion - not fact, suspicion - is that Ehrlich is more scared of running out of favor with Bush or hurting Bush than he is of the voters, i.e. he needs Bush's cash and if Bush looks terrible, Ehrlich can't win anyway. There is no reason to support this ports deal now. At minimum, Ehrlich should be smart enough not to give O'Malley and Duncan a free kick at his buttocks. Support for this ports deal is around 17% nationwide, and it is difficult to imagine that it is higher here in the very blue port city of Baltimore.

Light Rail Double-Tracking Completed Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

The Baltimore Sun has reported that the double-tracking of Baltimore's light rail line has been completed, with double tracking covering all but minute tracks sections whose single track will not impede service. I am no fan of the Sun per se but this front page article summarizes well the status and history of this underachieving line. Double-tracking alone will not turn this line into a success, but increased irdership, decreased headways and new successful commercial development at Hunt Valley give reason for some hope.

My own view is that the current north-south line would do better if there were a one seat ride into the business district of Baltimore, which the light rail corridor on Howard Street brushes but does not enter. An east-bound stretch at Baltimore Street on top of the subway line would help, perhaps extending into Fells Point through the Inner Harbor. This is roughly th route of the planned "Red Line" but a one seat option is possible not only from the western suburbs but from the north and south with proper switching and engineering. In other words, three routes jutting from east of the current light rail line, one north and south each on the current line and one of new construction going west, with appropriate switching as needed. A transfer station would not be bad either, but inferior to the foregoing for several reasons. If they wanted to keep a limited service as well on the current north-south line without the east-bound turn, fine.

Howard Street's light rail corridor has a number of small shops but none with appeal to a long-distance commuter or shopper. There is an Antique Row, but large antiques do not travel particularly well on a light rail train. There are a few ordinary stores but few appealing to northern suburbanites. This blog has noted previously the challenges faced by public transit in Baltimore, but this double-tracking is a good first step towards an overdue, comprehensive upgrade.

Mishonda! - MD-3 Democratic Candidate Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I have found a Democratic candidate for Congress in Maryland's 3rd District - my district, the one gerrymandered like an M. C. Escher figure - who really impresses me. A Columbia resident, Mishonda Baldwin is a military veteran, an licensed Maryland attorney, a current divinity school student at Wesley Theological Seminary and has a broad background in public service and community affairs. While I have not examined her precise positions on different issues, what she has accomplished speaks volumes to me, knowing what I know about the effort it took me to get through law school alone. This is not an endorsement at this time, just a statement that I may well become active in the campaign of this very impressive candidate, i.e. full disclosure to you.

UPDATE 2/25/2006: Having met the candidate and her senior staff, I am sold, this is now an endorsement. I will be assisting this campaign as an ad hoc volunteer as time permits.

Early riser Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I woke up at about 3 this morning, after a previous night of literally zero sleep. 5 hours of sleep since Monday 9:30, despite a stiff hot toddy made for me by my sweetie to stave off this nasty cold. Can't possibly be prudent.

Sam, our toddler, was grunting, also awake, unusual for him too. So I went into his room, curled up next to him on the frog tent bed that his mother so ingeniously designed, and snuggled him almost to sleep, with a minimum of upset when I left. I failed to snuggle myself to sleep though either there or in my bed for the following 40 minutes. So I showered at 4, dressed and took off.

I went to the Giant - open 24 hours!! - on Route 4O near Rolling Road, and bought a mess of medicine, drinks and a frozen lunch. I blog from the second earliest train that MARC offers on the Penn Line, the earliest one that would not leave me wandering in Farragut North or Union Station for an hour before my job opens.

The sky is black and will remain so for about another 6 minutes, then it will turn navy, then medium dark blue, then some screaming yellow will sneak past. The Dayquil generic that I have double dosed on will probably kick in and, ironically, put me to sleep before I see that yellow. The sky is actually the color of the house with the lights out - there is no "light" but somewhere light must exist.

The Mallet - Bartenura Moscato d'Asti Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

The Mallet returns for more hedonistic delight, this time discussing wine.

The following is a discussion of an alcoholic beverage. If you do not, or should not, consume alcoholic beverages, you may wish to skip this one. If you want to stop drinking, and find that you cannot, Crablaw strongly urges you to explore getting some practical help.

Bartenura is an Italian wine brand of kosher wine giant Royal Wine Corporation. For those whose experience of kosher wine is limited to the ice cream syrupish vintages of the New York and New England high-sugar content concord grape, note well that nothing in Jewish law requires kosher wine to be sweeter than cake frosting. Kosher wine must be handled from harvest to pouring by Shabbat-observant Jewish vintners, unless boiled (Hebrew mevushal), which renders it to a different, more flexible status under Jewish law. But the world of kosher wine is much larger than the traditional North American Passover seder wines from Manischewitz and other similar brands.

The Bartenura Moscato d'Asti arrived on my table with good and bad baggage behind it. On the one hand, I love Moscato d'Asti generally, having become acquainted with my wife early in our marriage (B.C. - before children) with another such wine at an Italian restaurant/delicatessen in Pikesville that sadly went out of business. Like crackheads who cannot find a hit to match their first, we went searching for other Moscato d'Asti without success at many local liquor stores, and only sporadically at a few. Every bottle of Moscato d'Asti that comes into our homes reaches me as both a friendly and grouchy customer, due to friendly disposition and high expectations. Bartenura did not disappoint.

Moscato d'Asti is a sweet wine best served very cold, and is very refreshing on a hot, humid evening. It is quite fine when the temperature is 35 degrees as well. Bartenura's was actually slightly less sweet than many that I recall sampling, which may make it more accessible to sweet wine skeptics. The wine is very aromatic, delightfully so, but perhaps not the best accompaniment to very delicate meals with subtle flavoring. I would recommend it with most Mediterranean cuisine, with Mexican food or spicy Chinese food. Very highly recommended.

Personal Update on the Crab Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Life is sweet like wine. How fortunate I feel to be alive. I don't mean that in a stupid, Pollyanna way, but rather that life is going well and seems full of potential like a berry full of juice. Time is the tightest resource. All other resources seem plentiful, or at least adequate.

I am sick, nasty snot cold, and will have a long commute in a few hours with that cold. Work is a long commute, Sam's special education has had a few hiccups (one ill-trained bus attendant, it would seem). My wife is tired a lot of the time, with two in diapers. Yet life is sweet and good. I am sitting in a comfortable office that I share with my wife. To any soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan, my life is a paradise.

My efforts towards better, simpler organization continue. I almost bought a lot of equipment from Staples today, but limited my purchases to two sets of labels for the laser printer instead. My system is Outlook downloading to Blackberry and vice versa, with paper files for projects and traditional "filing" and a project list as to-do items on Outlook-Blackberry. One gripe: Blackberry does not support a sophisticated To-Do list, or at least not as sophisticated as the Palm. But it works well enough, especially if I print out the formal Outlook list as a companion. I have also created a brainstorm sheet for organizing new to-do items, presumably while I am on the commuter train. You may download it here and modify it for your use without limitation or royalty.

Updates to the Blog Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Please note the reformatting of the blog. You may note an increase of black design lines, adjustments to the header and body alignments, some minor changes to the sidebar links and an email link built into the "posted by" signature line at the bottom, which will accommodate remote blogging slightly, regardless of who may blog in the future.

There is a new section of links called "Justice and Equity." This section is for links to non-profit organizations favored by Crablaw. In the Crab's view, the Hebrew term for charitable contributions - "tzedakah," meaning "justice" but with an equitable emphasis - is superior in meaning to "charity" in connotation. Hence the awkward heading "Justice and Equity." You will note an emphasis on issues of sexual violence, and links to such organizations state-wide will appear. As readers may note, the Crab has a son with autism, but due to differences among autism advocacy groups, the Crab will withhold links to such organizations pending further review.

BLOG ENVY. The blog mentioned in a recent post that makes me green with envy is Subtraction, the site of a blogger associated with the New York Times. I have very little of the content as the sheer beauty of the site continues to dazzle me. The very modest changes in this blog were inspired by that blog.

Steele Campaign Leadership Quitting Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

As reported in today's Baltimore Sun, the campaign of Michael Steele has lost two key leaders this month - its campaign director Graham Shafer and its communications director Leonardo Alcivar.

The Washington Post has reported that the Shafer departure was associated with the entry of GOP insiders in DC into the campaign, pushing out local supporters such as Shafer and Alcivar.

I posted earlier this week about the possibility that Steele is both dead and aware of his deadness, and that he may be angling for a post-elected office chair in a lobbying shop or think tank under GOP auspices. It would not surprise me at all if the departures of the part of local campaign team came from the same realization, leaving the national GOP the only one willing to manage the campaign for strategic purposes, i.e. to make sure that Cardin spends as much Democratic money as possible in defense, and to turn out the base for Ehrlich.

You cannot indirectly compare both NIH and Hopkins to Auschwitz and their stem-cell researchers (or researcher wannabes) to Josef Mengele and win a Senate seat in Maryland. Maybe that sort of thing works in Texas, where stem-cell research might be considered mass murder but shooting a man in the face, neck and chest with a shotgun gets you a $7.00 quail permit fine (compare to tapping someone's bumper in Maryland, by comparison, carries a fine of $120.00 prepayable and 3 points.) Maybe Steele should move to Houston, I am sure the good old boys will go out big for him.

-- Bruce Godfrey

Oh Just Give Them The Keys to All Our Ports, Dammit! Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I have suspected for some time that while liberal activists are getting more vocal and organized against the Bush Administration daily, it will be the conservatives who will ultimately bring Bush to his knees.

Giving away the keys to most of our container ports to a foreign government - an Persian Gulf Islamic monarchy! - will not do much to ease the feelings of most security-minded conservatives.

So it's OK to tap my Reisterstown phone no warrant no apology screw you Congress for the good of the homeland, but giving the keys to the Port of Baltimore to the ruler of Dubai, his fifty cousins and their state-owned corporation is just fine. I mean, if we are going to subcontract homeland security to the non-homeland, how about the Aussies? How about the British? No, the Sultan, Emir or Sheik of Dubai will protect the Port of Baltimore from worldwide Islamic fascists.

I cannot make this up. I lack the talent and, really, the nerve.

-- Bruce Godfrey

Technical update Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

It appears that I can provide a hotlink from my Blackberry to this site, but only if I can grab the page first on the Blackberry Internet Service. In other words I go to a site, copy its bookmark, paste it into an email and add text around it, then email it to this site. Less efficient than on a regular Web Browser, and I cannot modify the text of the link w/o destroying it (cannot create a hotlink out of a phrase like "This neat page" etc.)

I am 36, soon to be 37. I recall the arrival of handheld calculators costing over a hundred 1974 dollars. Now $30 will get you a mind numbing array of electronic functions. When I was in college, the Internet did not exist for practical civilian use, and I bought a Mac SE for maybe $1400 with a student loan. I believe the laptop sitting at home on my desk has 512 times the processing power for about the same price (less w inflation factored.)

Perhaps computing power will be everywhere like drinkable water in the U.S. when my kids grow up, and they will be astonished that people actually went out and bought home computers at a store.

--- Bruce Godfrey

Dumb Growth Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

According to the Sun, there is a plan to move the State Department of Planning from the state office complex at Preston Street in Baltimore down to PG County, the home county of Audrey Scott, a former Republican PG County Council member and now Planning Secretary. About 150 employees work at State Center for that Department.

The State Office Complex sits on both the light rail and metro lines, and is tolerably close to Penn Station in a neighborhood undergoing revitalization. One wonders: why would the state relocate this large office to PG - and agree to pay its workers a reported $3,000.00 each to relocate from Charm City to a higher-income, hugh expense region 30 miles away?

This does not seem very smart planning or growth to the Crab, however, whether analyzed from a liberal, pro transit perspective or a conservative, fiscally cautious eye. In the absence of other factors, political expedience seems more like the answer, especially in an election year when Baltimore City is already hopeless territory for the Republican governor's reelection strategy.

--- Bruce Godfrey

Daily Crab Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

The Baltimore Sun has reported that Michael Steele compared stem cell research to the Holocaust in a recent presentation to the Baltimore Jewish Council.

The following week, Steele told a reporter that he did not believe that he was now required to discuss issues in his campaign, that for now he would be trying to have Marylanders get to know him as a person.

If memory serves, I spoke with Michael Steele at length once, back when he was the Maryland Republican Party chairman. I know that the person I spoke with for 45 minutes on the phone was the GOP chairman for the state, so at the time it would have to have been Steele. We discussed a purely local dustup involving the Libertarian Party and a local GOP activist, not really relevant. The gentleman I spoke with over the phone 8 years ago seemed reasonable, smart and responsible.

The politician who compares stem cell research to the Holocaust is not reasonable, smart or responsible. Some things are comparable to the Holocaust - the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Communist mass murder in China and the Soviet Union. Not much else. By extension that makes researchers at NIH and Hopkins, I guess, SS guards logically. I suspect that most registered voters working at those institutions do not think of themselves as agents of the Third Reich.

The comments were horrible politics as well. Maryland's Jewish community is about 5 percent of the state's residents, but they are disproportionately registered active voters. Steele and Ehrlich did quite well in that community last round, unusally well for Republicans. Joan and Gary's Bagel Shoppe
in Pikesville was a major campaign supporter and event stop. Now every Marylander whose family had Holocaust victims or survivors - probably the entire Jewish community if you could extended family and relatives by marriage - will hear what an idiot Steele proved himself to be.
Breathtakingly bad. A gift to Democrat Ben Cardin, whose family's leadership in Jewish philanthropy, community affairs and advocacy is internationally recognized.

Likewise any politician who thinks irrelevant his positions on public issues is not smart responsible or reasonable. Earth to the Liertenant Governor - you are in the issues business. Sure it's important not to be perceived as a lifeless issue wonk, but Steele should be telling voters why issues matter TO THE VOTER and why Steele will have the voters' backs when it counts. Voters listen to WII-FM - what's in it for me? And actually telegraphing to the Sun that you think you don't have to talk about issues is mindnumbingly stupid.

The only thing I can think to make sense of these gaffes is that Steele already has his federal executive branch job or lobbying position lined up for 2007 and is going through the motions to churn up and turn out the religious right base for the rest of ticket. Insulting the memory of Holocaust victims at a Jewish community meeting while showing loyalty to the stem cell issue is a good way to play on the theocrat team and bring out those voters for Ehrlich and local races.

--- Bruce Godfrey

Crabster's Dictionary - Shootenfreude Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

The joy that critics of the Bush administration take in learning that the Vice-President shot a fellow hunter wearing an orange hunting vest in the face, neck and chest while purportedly trying to shoot at released quail.

Related terms - Chappaquailick.

All jokes aside rapid recovery to the victim.

--- Bruce Godfrey

Now working? Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

test Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

This is a test of the new email blogging system.  Were this an actual blog, you would be reading sarcastic, witty content from a proud nerd/shyster/Dada.  This is only a test.

 

-- Nerd/Shyster/Dada

Technical difficulties Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I have been experiencing technical difficulties with the blog; three posts have failed to make it to this blog. If difficulties continue I will contact Blogger for assistance. Thanks for your patience.

-- Bruce Godfrey

Experiment complete Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Appears that I cannot make a hypertext link from my BlackBerry except by typing a naked email address or www address. Should work out well enough anyway.

--- Bruce Godfrey

New feature - Blogging by Rail Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Your intrepid Crab takes two commuter trains daily to and from DC. Time for blogging has been frustrating scarce of late. Having figured out how to email posts into my website when not logged on, I expect to do more blogging this way.

One mild inconvenience is the challenge of dealing with hypertext on a <a href="www.blackberry.com">BlackBerry</a> screen. If you see the word "BlackBerry" hyperlinked above, then it did work. This post is sort of a test.

-- Bruce Godfrey

CRABLAW FAQ Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

In response to several e-mails I have received, the following is a brief FAQ of Crablaw Maryland Weekly, effective as of June 24, 2007. The content of this FAQ will not necessarily be updated contemporaneously with changes to Crablaw's activities or content, and no one should rely on the accuracy of this FAQ without confirming specific details with Crablaw.

What is Crablaw?

http://www.crablaw.com/ is a internet domain owned and managed by Bruce Godfrey, aka The Crab. The largest site in that domain is Crablaw Maryland Weekly.

Who is Bruce Godfrey?

I am an attorney licensed to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia and, barring four years in exile in central New Jersey, a life-long Marylander. Bruce Godfrey is my real name (Theodore Bruce Godfrey to be precise.) My family and I live in Reisterstown and I work in the District.

What is Crab Media?

Crab Media is a blanket term describing all of Bruce Godfrey's online media projects, including Crablaw Maryland Weekly, Crabernet and other projects.

What is Crablaw Maryland Weekly?

Crablaw Maryland Weekly is a regularly updated web log on politics with a substantial but not exclusive Maryland focus. It is currently a solo project but benefits greatly from the comments and suggestions of readers; such comments are explicitly welcome.

What is "Weekly" about Crablaw Maryland Weekly?

At present, not much. It is unusual for CMW to go more than 48 hours without a post. When I first started CMW, I was reluctant to commit to posting more than weekly, though I usually did post more often. As my focus turned from traditional law practice issues to a broader focus on political process and policy questions, I found it easier to post more frequently.

Why the name Crablaw?

The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus, Lt. for "savory beautiful swimmer") is the official state crustacean of Maryland and is widely recognized as a characteristic delicacy of Maryland (though one hesitates to use the word "delicacy" for something eaten with so little daintiness as a hard-shell crab.) Most Marylanders live within 35 miles of the Chesapeake Bay. I am trained as an attorney and this site deals with legal issues, among others.

I suspect that the Crab's hard shell may reflect my personality, though some of the politicians criticized on this blog may associate me more with the bottom-feeding nature of the blue crab's nutrition.

What is Crabernet?

Crabernet is a project of Crab Media under the subdomain name www.crabernet.crablaw.com. It is a wine blog, plain and simple.

Does Crablaw accept advertising?

Yes. Please email Crablaw for details on opportunities for low-cost advertising for your business or practice.

What is the Maryland Bloggers Alliance (aka "the Alliance")?

The Maryland Bloggers Alliance is a loose association of about a dozen bloggers of largely, but not absolutely, conservative bent. Crablaw is probably to the left of its political center of gravity, though not absolutely so in all cases. I am pleased to be associated with those fine men and women.

What is the comment policy on Crablaw?

Comments are very welcome, especially comments that point out errors or omissions or gaps in logical reasoning, or provide links to germane material online. You may comment anonymously but I would prefer that you select a pseudonym rather than go anonymous (i.e. if you want to be "Elmer Fudd", have a vewy vewy nice time.)

I don't delete comments unless I think the comment outright violates the privacy rights of someone or otherwise seriously promotes illegal activity or will get me subpoenaed or talking involuntarily with the government. I will not delete your comment for telling me I am an idiot; that's fine, maybe I am an idiot.

The only other case in which I will delete a comment is if I am talking about a legal case, and you are a represented party, I may delete your comment if it's about unless the communication is verified and approved by your attorney. For the same reason, I don't entertain email exchanges with represented parties regarding active cases. Why? Because I don't want to be a facilitator of the breakdown of lawyer-client relationships, period, or to get subpoenaed. This is not hypothetical; it has happened twice.

Are there unusual terms or words here at Crablaw that a new reader should know?

Yes. Among them are the following:

Artemia - a small crustacean farmed as feedstock for other seafood, relentlessly and mistakenly marketed to Crablaw by a Chinese aquaculture sales representative Mr. Zhu despite multiple emails to him denying any Crablaw aquaculture activities or investments. Used to mark Crablaw gaffes, "Bad Crab, No Artemia."
Chicken-Necker - a faker or cheater, after the "cheating" method used by some hobbyists to catch crabs.
Editor-in-Chief - Crablaw's mysterious overpaid sole employee, whose threats to bring in the SEIU to unionize Crablaw have met with brutal scorn.
Good Crabbing Awards - an award by Crablaw for being unusually or remarkably decent when not being decent would have been cheap, easy or predictable.
Jimmies - occasional series on useful or enjoyable goods and services for children, named after the colloquial term for very young blue crabs.
The Mallet - occasional series on gustatory or other pleasures, named after the low-tech wooden device used to crack (NOT crush) the shell of a hard crab.
Wonkter (Wkt) - a relative scale of nerditude, geekitude or wonk toolishness. 0 would be the scene in Animal House where Bluto Blutarsky fashions himself into a human-size zit; 10 would be a discussion of the more esoteric elements of algebraic number theory. Based roughly on the Richter scale for seismic events.

Who is Sunday Godfrey?

My wife, the mother of our two boys Sam and Noah and the owner of Sunday's Very Best, a home-based eBay brokerage.

Do you accept or receive consideration for what you write?

Yes; this is a recent change.

Previously, I did receive a copy of Markos Moulitsas and Jerome Armstrong's Crashing the Gate from its publisher, gratis, with a request that I review the book, which I did.

Recently, I have signed on with NewsTex.com, a blog aggregator, for the non-exclusive syndication of my blog content. They don't tell me what to write and I don't ask them either; if NewsTex's customers want to copy CMW material, they may do so for a fee, of which I receive a royalty. I have no idea who NewsTex's customers are, and don't want/need to know.

What do you know about the law of crabbing, i.e. recreational or commercial harvesting of crabs?

Essentially nothing. Not my field. Crablaw knows little about crab law. Please contact the Department of Natural Resources of Maryland for information regarding crabbing laws and regulations.

What types of legal advice can you offer me?

As the manager of Crab Media and owner of this Maryland Weekly site, none.

I do practice law in Maryland and DC, but this site is not an element of or vehicle for my professional practice. I cannot offer you legal advice in this forum and would urge you to seek counsel. I would be happy as a member of the Bar to help anyone at no charge find competent counsel for his or her needs.

Are you affiliated with any political organizations?

To the extent that Maryland law permits me to do so, I register to vote with the Libertarian Party of Maryland. I am probably on the left wing of that party; I could probably be comfortable as a libertarian-leaning Democrat.

Although I have never registered as a Republican, and remain bitterly critical of many elements of the Republican Party, I supported a Republican candidate for State's Attorney in Anne Arundel County in 2006. I am still, technically, Treasurer of that essentially campaign committee and intend to withdraw from that nominal role shortly.

What are your future plans for Crab Media?

Crab Media will continue to expand and refine its defined "projects" both large and small to provide more readers a reason to visit and linger. Keep an eye on us.

STTAR Center New Website Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Sexual violence and abuse are very important social issues in the U.S. and Howard County, Maryland is no exception. I served for several years as a board member of the STTAR Center, Howard County's sexual assault crisis, counseling and information center. A pet peeve of mine was the website, which in my view did not adequate meet the needs of the organization.

STTAR has made an upgrade of its site and I am awestruck with its new beauty and function. Go take a look, and then donate to this fine non-profit.

-- Bruce Godfrey

Recommended Book - Getting Things Done Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Those who know me know that organization is not my forte, but this book has done the improbable for me and my wife. Go buy it.

David Allen has assembled a comprehensive method for processing the "stuff" of life - bills, notices, papers, junk, you name it - into easy-to-use, easy-to-find organization that, when used properly, is foolproof. We have too much in our minds these days, and Allen's rigid but effective methods allow us to free our minds from "stuff" to higher-level thinking.

You can check out more about David Allen at his company's website, if you like. Check it out.

-- Bruce Godfrey

Back to Business - Where Has the Crab Been? Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

To my readers I apologize for the extended absence from posting during the past several weeks. I have had unusual duties in a number of areas both professional and personal, including a lot of weekend work, child care responsibilities and the like. I am staying up too late now to complete this post, but delaying would be worse than staying up late.

My wife Sunday has redone our shared office amazingly to allow two very busy people to engage in all of their respective activities without damage to either. Out of this office are run a household budget and records for 2 adults 2 kids, the record keeping burden for a special needs child, my wife's eBay activities replete with supplies, scales, etc., my more limited eBay sales of old books, my narrow solo practice and, well, this blog. Two desks, two computers and a beautiful layout. I am still awestruck. I may blog a post just on these upgrades - thank you Sunday!!

I have been doing some upgrading of my own, making a number of personal, professional, administrative and political decisions during the past several weeks.

Personally, I have decided to make an effort to reconnect with old friends as a matter of policy. Positive, uplifting friends and companions with shared values are among the finest pleasures in life. My wife has given the green light to socializing with old friends here and we are going to get a chance to be with more uplifting, positive people. I have enjoyed the pleasure of looking up and chatting with old friends, it is better than old wine.

Professionally, I have decided to explore and execute a skill upgrade. I am exploring options including the study of difficult/rare languages, probably Arabic, and taking efforts to upgrade my skills as a political operative.

Written Arabic does not look like Hebrew but both are Semitic languages with some shared grammar and vocabulary. I know enough Hebrew to barely follow along in a Jewish service, and can roughly translate maybe 35% of a paragraph of the Hebrew Bible. Arabic is difficult but I suspect it is easier than Japanese, which I studied with some difficulty at Princeton, while harder than German, which was for me a total piece of cake and by which I now make my living. According to my DC spies, Condoleeza Rice has announced that Urdu, Arabic and Mandarin Chinese are the new priorities for State Department work/foreign service work, which means that net demand both public and private will increase for even minimally skilled speakers/readers of those languages. I have also thought about taking Chinese, since Japanese has many Chinese roots similar to the way that Latin roots inform English vocabulary. I think I will pass on the Urdu, however, enough is enough. Also a university or community college is an excellent place to make contacts. Had I known how true this is when I was in college, I would have had my Blackberry organizer with me at all times. Oh, wait, college was 15 years ago. Yikes. Returning students, even non-degree part-timers like I would be, are great contacts, especially since they tend to have a diverse background.

In another area, I am looking to increase my skills as a political operative. I am volunteering on DailyKos's Las Vegas convention as legal counsel on copyright and vendor issues. While that is legal work, not operative work, it connects me with the most dynamic sector of liberal political activism in the US and I am excited to get to know these interesting activists more, especially since Bush and the GOP will be bleeding for a while. A recent poll indicates that voters would choose a Democrat over a Republican for their Congressional representative by a 3-2 margin, which means that the Dems are a long-shot but a real-shot to take both houses of Congress.

Going to the opposite end of the spectrum, I will probably be active in a very local Republican race; while I am not a Republican and have no particular sympathies for that party, the candidate is a challenger to an incumbent I want knocked out (and hard) for purely personal reasons and I figure if I am going to work as a political operative for libertarian and liberal causes in the future, some experience on the other side of the fence in a minor race might be useful, sort of like how good defense attorneys come out of the State's Attorneys Office. We'll see how much time both of these projects take away from my family, which comes first. Skills as a political operative - fundraising, tactics, organization, field work - increase my universe of accessible Washington decision makers, perhaps more long-term than short-term. Such skills make me more credible to lobbying/law firms, non-profit and advocacy agencies and the support industries and consultants serving same, either for direct hire or for solving my constant biggest challenge - lack of contacts.

Administratively, Fortress Godfrey has undergone an organizational upgrade. I will blog soon about a great book on organization which my wife and I have each implemented and continue to implement so that we do not lose our minds in the midst of organizational challenges. Friends of mine will be skeptical of any claim of organization on my part and rightly so, as I am not a natural organizer of flow of "stuff" any more than I am a natural swimsuit model or ballet dancer. But we are enjoying the results and I am enjoying better sleep (if not tons of it) than I have in a VERY long time. I guess the best way I can describe it is that my desk feels like a well-operating control panel. More on this soon.

I have two library books on web design on my shelf and I would love to dig into them, but scarce time remains to get everything done. I want to get past the "new whiteboard" motif into some really smart design that looks gorgeous. I would welcome the input of the Bad Dudes who have admin privileges on this site to talk about making this site breathtaking, rather than operating-room sterile.

Overall things are looking better and better here. Our 3 year-old son Sam just started at school for kids with autism, and seems to like it and to be at least as well adjusted there as here. Noah, 10 months, is a little oiled-snake of a wiggle-worm, makes for great fun on the changing table, seems like a psych patient in a diaper straight jacket but fighting it. I feel better than I have felt in ten years. Amazing what good things happen when you move from a chronically negative environment to a positive one.

-- Bruce Godfrey