Some Common Sense on Church and State Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From CNSNews.com, November 30, 2006:

As religious groups continue to react to the exclusion of a Bible-based movie from a Chicago Christmas festival, Christian activists in Virginia are meeting no resistance as they move ahead with plans to screen the film in public school facilities.

...

Mount Vernon High School in Fairfax County, Va., is scheduled to host a screening of the "The Nativity Story" Thursday night, the day before its nationwide release. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, also in Fairfax County, will host a screening Friday night.

...

Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the group didn't have any objection to "voluntary events sponsored by outside organizations."

He said the voluntary nature of the screening "makes all the difference" and that if students were required to attend, Americans United would object.

...

ACLU Virginia spokesman Kent Willis said the screenings were "perfectly acceptable" as long as the schools were not sponsoring the event, they were not mandatory, and the Christian group was not getting any special treatment other student organizations would be unable to get.

Maybe we CAN all just get along....

New Haven Advocate: Voting for Bush, Severe Mental Illness Linked Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the New Haven Advocate, November 23, 2006:

Lohse, a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.

Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse’s study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person’s psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.

...

“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”

While this hypothesis might tend to explain this:



it does a inadequate job of explaining this:

Oliverwillis.com Press Conference Re: Affair Rumors Between Willis and Actress Jessica Alba Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From Oliver Willis at www.oliverwillis.com, Mr. Willis' focused effort to address apparent rumors of a torrid affair between the well-known Maryland-based liberal blogger and actress Jessica Alba:

MR. WILLIS: I want to thank everyone for being here. I've got a quick statement and then I'll take questions.

As you may have heard, the rumor that Jessica Alba and I, Oliver Willis are an item, has been running rampant over multiple Internets.

...

Q: Oliver, are you dating Jessica Alba?

MR. WILLIS: Schmaby.

...

SENIOR OLIVERWILLIS.COM OFFICIAL: 9-11 changed everything. Some people think we ought to just let terrorists kill us all. I think I ought to date Jessica Alba and have gloriously bronze-skinned babies instead. But that's just me, and I happen to love America. Maybe you guys in the press think it's okay to shove old ladies down steps.

I. Think. That's. Wrong.

God bless America.

Frederick News-Post on Veterans' Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Frederick News-Post, November 30, 2006 (HAT TIP to Ilona at DailyKos):

When Spc. Clayton, 29, returned from Iraq in May, he and his wife, Erika, were thrilled to finally reunite and have their family -- which includes daughters Paris, 3, and Skyler, 2 -- back together.

The couple thought he was in the clear, despite the brutal conditions of war. As an infantryman, Spc. Clayton was often in combat, shooting at people and being shot at, he said, and he had the only confirmed kill in his company during an attack on the unit.

...

He was rattled by loud noises and became uncharacteristically angry, suffering from mood swings that he said affected his entire family.

...

Paris said she, her mom and Skyler were the cats, but Dad was the big bear because he was mean and yelled all the time, Ms. Clayton said,

"That was a wake-up call for him," she said. "That was coming from a 3-year-old."

Crablaw thanks the Frederick News-Post for its coverage of this issue. There are actually three links to separate articles on PTSD in the News-Post, which you may find in the HAT TIP link above. (Even if you as a conservative normally don't like DKos, this particular diary is not a liberal or conservative policy piece, i.e. it is expositive rather than persuasive or rhetorical.)

Pillage Idiot: Concerning Starving the Homeless Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Pillage Idiot nails this one perfectly re: a ban on non-commercial donations of food to the homeless in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Washington Post: Car Sharing in the District On The Rise Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Washington Post, November 30, 2006:

Too much traffic and too little parking have already made Washington area drivers among the most enthusiastic adopters of car sharing -- and the two leading car-share companies are betting millions that many more area drivers are willing to give up their car keys.

Yesterday, one of the two major car-sharing companies that operate in the Washington region, Zipcar, announced a $25 million investment that will allow it to possibly double the 350 vehicles it already puts on area streets. In June, Zipcar's rival, District-based Flexcar, announced a major investment by a company started by AOL co-founder Steve Case.

...

Eric Hirshfield of Adams Morgan recently dumped his Jeep -- along with his $300 monthly payment, $100 monthly insurance bill and who-knows-how-much in gas, maintenance and parking tickets -- for a Zipcar membership. He says he uses car sharing a few times a week and figures he spends about $250 a month.

"It's still less than a car payment, no matter how you slice it," Hirshfield said. And he likes having the choice of vehicles. "I treat them as if they are my personal fleet."

What makes this work is the large pool of singles in DC, which Baltimore by contrast doesn't really have except maybe in Mount Vernon or Charles Village. Parents with kids will not use this service, unless the kids are almost teenagers; the car-seat hassle alone puts that out of play.

But it's a great idea and I am glad that market forces are driving its development while harmonizing with local parking and transit authorities. A lot of single or dual-income no kids households will take transit most of the time if they can still get access to a car twice a month for large shopping or complex trips. The fact that it is theoretically and, I think, practically possible to take the car one way and drop it in an authorized spot in another neighborhood is great; good connection to reliable rail transit facilitates this use (e.g. many won't mind a 4 block subway ride to the car.)

I would love for this to develop in Baltimore, but am not aware of any such enterprises in the City. Please let me know if you know of any such operations.

Russ Smith of the CityPaper on "Giving Offense" Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Russ Smith's Right Field of the Baltimore CityPaper, November 30, 2006:

Some conservative commentators and luminaries are guilty as well in transforming the cultural and political landscape into a pointless name-calling contest. The overt homophobia and immigrant bashing spouted almost daily by right-wing loudmouths is just as pernicious as the filth spewed forth by their counterparts on the left.

...

As for the film Borat, I must've missed the jokes.

I suggest reading the whole piece. He is more critical of the soft treatment that some liberal or Democratic commentators get for provocative or offensive comments as against analogous comments from conservatives, but showed good balance in my view. I don't agree with his every word (I think there is such a thing as a dangerous, theocratic "Radical Christianity" in this country, though it is a smaller in size that Rosie O'Donnell seems to think it is) but Smith hits his usual pragmatic, libertarian notes well.

Baltimore Examiner: Howard County Vigilant Against Horrific Scourge of "Pretend Gambling" in Bars Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Examiner, November 30, 2006:

Planning a poker game or a little roulette?

If it’s at a Howard County bar, forget it.

“It’s an extraordinary risk,” said Howard County liquor inspector Detective Martin Johnson, who enforces a law prohibiting activities such as card games, dice or roulette — even when money isn’t involved.

The law is a part of a state statute specific to Howard, and the liquor board recently handed out the first fine for a poker tournament. The liquor license holders for the Columbia Ale House received a $1,000 fine this month for hosting a Texas Hold ’Em Poker Tournament.

Even with no money involved, they will fine you.

The morons who wrote this pecksniff, school-marm law against adult behavior by adults are invited to note the mistletoe strategically affixed to my lower back.

Baltimore Sun: Offensive Online Frat Ad Brings 1 Year Suspension, 2 Months Community Service, Absolute Bar from Campus for Offending 18-Year Old Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 30, 2006:

A campus debate over race relations is evolving into one on free speech as a group of Johns Hopkins University students protested yesterday what they believe is the school's excessive punishment of a student for posting a "Halloween in the Hood" party invitation online.

The students, who have launched a Web site and petition drive in support of suspended junior Justin H. Park, say the university is caving in to public pressure to protect its image, rather than protecting one of its own.

...

Park is appealing a punishment that suspends him from the university until January 2008, during which time he can't come onto campus, he confirmed yesterday. He must also complete 300 hours of community service, read 12 books and write a paper on each, and attend a workshop on diversity.

...

The dispute springs from an invitation Park posted on the Facebook Web site to a Sigma Chi fraternity party Oct. 28. The invitation described Baltimore as "the hiv pit" and encouraged attendees to wear "regional clothing from our locale" such as "bling bling ice ice, grills" and "hoochie hoops."

...

Park's friends have said parts of the invitation were taken from a skit by black comedian Dave Chappelle.

So.

He has to write twelve papers, provide 2 months worth of free full-time labor (to whom), and cannot set foot on campus for 14 months (meaning he has to go find some other library from which to do research to write the twelve papers.)

All of this for a printed act (not even "printed" with ink, for the online) of colossal bad taste that neither invaded nor threatened the person or property of any person.

This conduct was not "harassment" or "intimidation" as those words are defined in English (the National Language of Taneytown), though it was in poor taste and offensive. Park harassed no one. Park intimidated no one. Park menaced no one, stalked no one, threatened no one. He wrote some pretty offensive bullshit drawing off of "rap" and "gangsta" motifs. It merits probation and maybe the sensitivity class, at most. Arguably it merits nothing at all.

If a black fraternity wanted to put on a skit or party about "Skip and Buffy's" WASP preppiness, their scotch-drinking Connecticut-bred mother or their snotty neighbors from nearby Roland Park, or to take hard shots at poor white trash like me, that would be bad taste too and offensive. (I would attend gladly, as I enjoy bad taste in moderation.) Not banishment for a year, where he gets arrested as a trespasser if he visits the campus bookstore, sees an old classmate or meets a professor for coffee in her office.

300 hours of community service is far more than what you get for a first-time DWI even in a conservative county. 40-60 is more like it for that crime even in front of hard judges.

I guess if Park had taken his politically incorrect references from "Barber Shop" rather than from Chappelle, Justin Park would have been outright expelled.

One of the worst things about this case in my view is how it magnifies the importance of fraternities themselves, which I regard as childish and antiquated. The offensive speech used to promote this fraternity event was apparently the Most Horrible Development Imaginable At This August University. Beer pong must shake them to the core of their souls too.

Congrats to Stephanie Dray on Publication of "Somewhere, Sometime on the Nile" Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Paradox Magazine, a journal of historical and speculative fiction, has just published "Somewhere, Sometime on the Nile" from Maryland writer, blogger, attorney and Renaissance woman Stephanie Dray, whose personal example proves that an attorney is sometimes capable of making the professional transition from lawyering to honest work.

Congrats Steph!

Steph Dray on Governor O'Malley Rejection of Irish Heritage Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Check out the "shame" of an Irish-American who has completely lost his self-respect, or so some would maintain.

Borat: Cultureless Drippings For Make Benefit turdCashpile in Glorious Revenue of Filmmaker Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I went and saw Borat, and left 3/4 of the way through.

I could stand the antisemitic tirades; they were asinine, but I could appreciate them as reflecting some actual research done on the nature of the fanatic demonization of Jews as malevolent monsters during the last 2,000 years of Christian, Muslim, Enlightenment, Right-Wing and Left-Wing Antisemitism.

I could stand some, but not all, of the sexual depravity. The homoerotic hotel scene between Borat and his manager was both "not my prurient interest" and depraved in the totality of its context. I guess the remarks about Borat's prostitute sister (4th best in all of Kazakhstan, apparently) sexually teasing their retarded caged brother were just a little beyond my tolerance.

The gotcha games that Borat, i.e. Sacha Baron Cohen, played on a lot of unsuspecting people who had nothing humiliating "coming to them" are getting him and his production company sued. While it's hard to feel sympathy for a man at a rodeo who advocates throwing gays in jail and throwing away the key for him to "disappear" there, or for fraternity brothers who complain about the abolition of slavery as a bad thing, the totality of this cinematic embarrassment exhausted me, and I left I guess with maybe a 1/4 or a 1/3 left to go.

The reality is that Kazakhs don't look like the impoverished Romanians whose Transylvanian village served as the fake "hometown" for Borat. Kazakh are Eurasian in appearance and cultural heritage. Their country is very large but much of it is desert, not cool, leafy mountainsides. They don't "follow the Hawk" but are mostly secular nominal Muslims. And they have a massive amount of oil in untapped and undertapped fields.

What bugged me about this movie is its arrogant rudeness and cruelty, disproportionate to any sense of decency or justice, and its over-the-top sexual depravity. That's saying a lot coming from the likes of me. My advice: don't bother, save your money, and save your time since life is short.

News From the The Posse List Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

As avid readers of this site may know, I do certain types of temporary legal work suiting my skill set, lifestyle, preferences and family situation. One of my resources for opportunities is The Posse List, a great free email resource for DC area temp work and beyond.

The Posse List has advised that market conditions are extremely hot now, borderline desperate, and there exists a great need for a large supply of both general-skill and specialist document attorneys. There are projects out now for Japanese- and Korean-fluent attorneys, paying extremely well, as well as a number of high-intensity general projects with lots of overtime.

Meta: Crablaw Update Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

Due to the pressures of work and career developments, and the time invested in household improvements, I have not moved forward as quickly as I would like to have moved on upgrading Crablaw. Nonetheless, progress continues.

The following is a rough outline of the changes to come.

PROPOSED STATIC PAGES

1) Blogging toolkit. There will be a page dedicated to tools and links to tools to help bloggers do what they do, a one-stop shop for you to use, refer to, etc. This is not a "Maryland toolkit" but a blogger toolkit.

2) Maryland reference toolkit. My HTML and CSS skills have improved significantly since I wrote my last attempt at a Maryland link page. It will include some, but not all, of the link buttons which previously adorned the header of this site before I gave it a "crew cut" a few weeks ago. Goal being: Maryland politics and law junkies (lobbyists, General Assembly staffers, reporters...?) will go there first.

I am considering, but am not committing to, the following static page:

3) A Federal tool kit comparable to that of the Maryland toolkit.

Non-committal because I am not convinced that it will add enough value to be worth it.

I call these pages static because they are reference pages, rather than news or commentary or regular features, and will have periodic retooling but not routine updating, if you follow.

PROPOSED "ACTIVE" PAGES

I am considering, but am not committing to, the following.

3) A one-stop RSS consolidator page for law jobs, permanent and temporary, in Maryland and the District of Columbia, drawing from multiple resources. I have some business ideas on how to develop this further.

4) A blog dedicated to wine, a favorite topic of mine. I have a pretty good name for the page in mind but will not reveal it now. The page will also address related gourmet and non-gourmet food, and may occasionally mention other alcoholic beverages but wine in its glory, manufacture, economics, oenoculture, botany, law, politics, history and traditions will be its focus and, for me, a joy on which to write. This will not be a Maryland wine blog per se but Maryland wineries and wines will definitely be part of the discussion.

5) The biggest, probably hardest to maintain idea of them all, a Maryland-specific "wiki" on politics, law, economics and community life. Just implementing the "wiki" software itself takes some doing, (though fortunately no money since it is open source). I envision pages for elected officials at all levels and prominent public servants as well as local personalities. Some of this content will no doubt come from elected officials themselves, in a manner designed to make them look as good as possible. That's okay to some extent, though the strength of Wikipedia (the most prominent of the "wiki" projects) is its standard of a neutral point of view and community participation.

More to come.

Attila's New Coin Design for the District of Columbia "State" Quarter Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I cannot sample it without actually lifting the whole thing, but go check out the latest "puerile" (tm) and "sophomoric" (tm) offering at Pillage Idiot.

Washington Post: No Notice to Landowners Dislocated by Intercounty Connector Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Washington Post, November 28, 2006:

In the coming weeks and months, some property owners along the proposed route for the intercounty connector could find a surprise in their mailbox: a notice that state officials intend to acquire a part of their land to make way for the 18-mile highway.

Maryland transportation officials have known for months which properties could be subject to "partial acquisitions" but have not sent notices to nearly 200 landowners who may be forced to give up a slice of their property through eminent domain.

The state has held off because the right of way for several sections of the highway -- designed to link Interstate 270 in Montgomery County with Interstate 95 and Route 1 in Prince George's County -- has not been officially approved and could change, according to transportation officials.

...

To the McCarthys, however, the land is priceless. The trees and stream in their back yard are why they bought the property about 12 years ago, when it seemed as if the highway wouldn't come to fruition, Dale McCarthy said. It's where they spread their son's ashes after he was killed in a car accident 12 years ago at age 16.

Now they are worried that instead of a pastoral patch of woods behind their house, they'll have a six-lane highway running through their back yard. If they had known they were going to lose so much land, they would have sold the house a long time ago, Dale McCarthy said.

"There is no way we can stay in this house and watch the destruction of what we consider sacred land," she said. "Why didn't they tell us last year when the [real estate] market was better? It puts us in the worst position we could be in."

A political nightmare. The pet project of an outgoing, defeated Republican governor engendering bitter opposition from landowners in a county with 100% Democratic representation in Annapolis.

Not a nightmare for Crablaw, though. What's good for General Motors is good for America, they say? Well, what's good for blood on the political ice, on the legislative boxing mat, is good for Crablaw. Some cheer for the Republicans. Some cheer for the Democrats. Crablaw cheers for whatever will bring the trainer, the stretcher and the injury golf-cart onto the field. (Politically speaking only, of course.)

Baltimore Sun: Bribery Pleas, No-Show Jobs and a BIg Democrat Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 28, 2006:

The former president of a Baltimore construction company who was charged with bribing former state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell pleaded guilty today in federal court to racketeering, conspiracy and mail fraud charges and promised to cooperate in the continuing investigation of the case.

In an indictment returned last year, federal prosecutors accused Bromwell of steering millions of dollars in building contracts to the construction company, Poole and Kent, at the request of its president, W. David Stoffregen.

In return, federal prosecutors allege, Bromwell's wife, Mary Pat Bromwell, was paid a salary for a fake job at Namco, a subcontractor controlled by Stoffregen. Stoffregen was fired in March 2005 when he refused to cooperate with the federal criminal investigation, court papers say.

...

In the criminal indictment unsealed in October 2005, the Bromwells are charged with racketeering, mail fraud and extortion. Stoffregen faced similar charges. Forti and his wife pleaded guilty to using Namco, a certified female-owned business, as an illegal front and have agreed to help authorities against the Bromwells and Stoffregen.

Bromwell, once one of the most powerful politicians in Annapolis, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, as has his wife. The former Baltimore County Democrat continues to serve as president and chief executive officer of the Maryland Injured Workers' Insurance Fund, a quasi-public agency whose board is appointed by the governor and manages $1.3 billion in assets and reserves.

I half expect to see Christopher Moltisanti come around the corner with a tire iron and Artie Bucco cloyingly shoving food into the faces of Rosalie and Carmela.

"...got myself a gun...."

Baltimore Sun: Harford Deputy Dies in Automobile Accident Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 28, 2006:

A Harford County sheriff's deputy was killed just before midnight Monday after his police cruiser ran off a road and careened down an embankment into a shallow creek. It was the first time in more than 100 years that a county deputy has been killed in the line of duty.

Deputy First Class William H. Beebe, 28, was on his way to assist other deputies on an attempted suicide call when his vehicle left a road in an Abingdon neighborhood. He was pronounced dead at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center about 1 a.m. today.

...

Beebe, who was known to friends as Billy, had been engaged to be married. He had been active in his fiancée's 9-year-old son's life, including coaching and Boy Scouts, Golding said.

...

Sheriff's department spokesman Robert B. Thomas said the agency's last death in the line of duty was more than 100 years ago, when Deputy Sheriff Frank Bateman was shot in downtown Bel Air in 1899.

...

Harford County Executive David R. Craig also ordered flags flown at half-staff.

R.I.P.

Video of U.S. Humanitarian Relief Efforts in Iraq Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

G-d bless the United States of America.

Baltimore Sun: Maryland Court of Appeals to Allow Webcasting of Proceedings Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 27, 2006:

Maryland's highest court is poised to begin live Webcasting of its oral arguments, making the staid proceedings widely and immediately available for the first time to people outside its Annapolis courtroom.

The first Webcast is tentatively planned Thursday -- in time to iron out kinks for arguments in a case involving gay marriage Dec. 4. With interest groups and constituencies on both sides of the issue, that case is expected to draw a bevy of viewers, unlike most other cases.

...

"The gay marriage case, that might be watched, maybe a death penalty case might be watched," said law professor William Reynolds, who teaches Internet law at the University of Maryland.

...

But the Webcasts would be useful teaching devices, especially in law school classes in appellate advocacy and constitutional law -- as well as to depict the shaming of attorneys hauled before the top court on disciplinary charges, Reynolds said.

I think that this is an excellent idea for a host of reasons. One of them is naked self-interest, of course, as court proceedings are excellent content for a Maryland law blog and would be public domain (I think).

While it is tough for attorneys to be on camera, if you don't want your professional name on major appellate cases, in print or on camera, I would say choose a lower-profile professional environment than the Court of Appeals.

The shaming effect of end-stage disciplinary hearings of attorneys would be most welcome. It's one thing to read a dry opinion that "Joe Boggs, Esq.", attorney and embezzler, misappropriated and forged signatures; it's another to know that former colleages will hear Chief Judge Bell say his name out loud and discuss the evidentiary details of his embezzlement as found by the applicable Circuit Court that held the fact proceeding. It would be cathartic to the victims of such predatory attorneys; attorneys who get caught in financial dishonesty are frequently not prosecuted criminally, just disbarred. And a "home movie" of disbarment orders spoken aloud or questioning of disciplinary respondents' counsel - with live names - would earn the rapt attention of every professional ethics student, bar admittee and "minor" disciplinary respondent.

Baltimore Sun: Jessica Long, 14, Paralympian Swimmer Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 27, 2006:

From the Baltimore Sun, November 27. 2006:Jessica Long's proficiency in the pool is apparent after a few strokes. Bobbing up and down on the breaststroke, she's indistinguishable from the practice partners in her lane, but something seems missing from her otherwise impeccable freestyle form.

The less splash swimmers make with their hands, the faster they go, but Long's kick leaves a curiously scant trail.

The 14-year-old from Middle River has mastered the pull and push of water well enough to set multiple world records, but her athleticism is fully comprehended only on the pool deck. A double amputee below the knees, Long walks on prosthetic legs.

...

At 10, she joined a swim team sponsored by the Dundalk/Eastfield Rec Council. At 11, Long competed in her first national competition for disabled athletes. At 12, she was training at the Knight Diver Aquatic Center in Edgewood, which created a neat coincidence.

The North Baltimore Aquatic Club's satellite operation in Harford County rented that pool in 2004. The NBAC group included Katie Hoff, who became the youngest member of the U.S. contingent at the Athens Olympics.

...

The Paralympic movement, which began after World War II, has grown to 13 categories, according to disability. Those restricted to wheelchairs compete in the 1, 2 and 3 classes, while 11, 12 and 13 are for the blind and visually impaired. Hoff's S8 class includes other multiple amputees.

Crablaw has thus far reserved the "Good Crabbing" awards to those who have served others in a concrete and dynamic way. There should be a similar award for those who, in their individual achievement, manifest strong character and a good example. Perhaps "Hard Shell Award" would do it.

Best wishes to Ms. Long for success in her upcoming competitions.

Baltimore Sun: Baltimore One of "Worst Cities" in the United States Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 27, 2006:

Baltimore? Dave Gilmartin clearly has yet to "Get in on it."

Contrary to the city's new tourist slogan, contrary to its being named last year as one of the top 10 summer travel destinations in the world, and maybe just plain contrary, Gilmartin has proclaimed Baltimore one of "The Absolutely Worst Places to Live in America."

...

"Detroit may get most of the press, but it's Baltimore that boasts the nation's highest big-city murder rate," Gilmartin wrote in the book. "Meanwhile, murder convictions have plummeted to an all-time low, due mainly to the fact that witness intimidation (i.e., more murder) is something of a cottage industry."

The book includes brief comments from the Internet contributors, all of which are genuine, Gilmartin says, though not all have real names attached to them.

In the case of Baltimore, at least two of them are real.

"Baltimore: the city where people get mugged in church," wrote Michael Tully, a self-described writer/director/musician/house painter who lives in Mount Airy and says he has been a friend of Gilmartin's for several years. Tully also offered his two-cents worth on Dundalk in the book: "White Trash Ghetto at its most terrifying. Shirtless four-year-old children stomp down the sidewalks with the authority of a hardened criminal."

Hey, make sure you "get in on it." And he did not even mention the podunk, half-assed "loser city" approach to public transit system that Baltimore has embraced for 30 years.

You want to know why the west side of the Baltimore Beltway is absolutely jammed in the morning? It's western suburbanites going to jobs in the western suburbs, in Columbia and in the DC suburbs to the southwest. The traffic isn't into Baltimore so much but to points west and south, which is why the outer loop is so much worse than I-95 inbound. Even law firms with city practices are moving to the suburbs; Piper Rudnick moved from Charles Street to Mount Washington years ago, even though it takes them out of the downtown action. The property tax rates are abysmal (yes, O'Malley's rate reduction reduces the ten-finger choke to nine-and-a-half fingers), local government is infamously incestous and corrupt and no one with both a conscience and a choice sends their kids to middle school in the City. A few send their kids to local boutique elementary schools, and a few choose magnet high schools if their kids can get in to Poly, Western or BCC, especially after paying upper elementary private or parochial tuition for a couple years. But middle school? Forget it, who wants to risk their kid getting raped, stabbed with a knife or a discarded needle or outright shot? Nobody.

So who leaves? Middle and upper-middle class parents in their forties who have jobs and want better return for their taxes. Where do they go? Anywhere, except Baltimore City. Who stays with pre-teen kids in the City? A few BIG wallets in Mount Washington and Roland Park who are sending their kids to private school no matter what, some Orthodox Jewish families whose religious obligations strongly promote urban housing patterns and a few political families whose political futures require voter registration in the City. Everybody else flees to Timonium, Owings Mills, Woodlawn, Ellicott City, Fallston, Millersville, Randallstown, Sykesville. Why? Because they have a choice and a conscience.

Baltimore Examiner: Miracle on Baltimore's 34th Street Returns Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Examiner, November 27, 2006:

“Each year, it gets to be a little more,” said Patsy Dailey, a lifelong resident of 34th Street in Hampden.

The block lit up this weekend for the Miracle of Lights, an 18-year-old tradition, in which the households in the 700 block elaborately adorn their lawns and porches.

The tradition is believed to have started when a few young girls would knock on everyone’s door to ask when neighbors planned to put up decorations, said Dailey. “Then everyone got into it,” she said.

Crablaw may post pictures of Hampden's 34th Street and of the Chanukah House on Park Heights Avenue later this month.

Ravens Maul Steelers in Shutout, 27-0 Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

What more need be said? I don't know that I have ever seen a more comprehensive thrashing of an offense, ever, even in games that were more lopsided with more changes of possession. So many defensive players cry out for recognition - Corey Ivy, Adalius Thomas, even Chris McAllister looked great despite a couple of awkwardly timed penalties. Ray Lewis was back in the game physically and especially mentally, that was completely obvious.

Supposedly Brian Billick showed the defense a "home movie" the night before the game of a bunch of clips of the Ravens pummeling offensive units as well as clips from famous boxing bouts. I would pay dearly for a copy of that tape.

Baltimore Sun: Steelers Wary of McNair Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 25, 2006:

No NFL quarterback knows the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as Steve McNair does.

McNair has opposed the Steelers 14 times since breaking into the NFL 11 years ago. He's won in the playoffs against them, an overtime game in Nashville in January 2003, and has been difficult to defend because of his size and arm strength.

To Steelers coach Bill Cowher, it is obvious that McNair has made a difference to the Ravens (8-2), who lead the Steelers (4-6) by four games with six to play in the AFC North. The teams play Sunday in Baltimore, the first of their two games in the next five weeks.

...

"Good teams bring out the best in you, and that's what Pittsburgh has done in my career, going against those guys," McNair said. "When you can have a team like Pittsburgh with the players and personnel they have, you get up for those games because of the greatness they have on defense. I think that's what makes this so special."

They may be wary of McNair, but I am wary of Matt Stover. His recent missed field goal gives me the willies, and the Ravens are in the full-time business of almost losing football games.

Baltimore Sun: Black Friday in Maryland Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 25, 2006:

The parking lot at The Mall in Columbia, which opened at 6 a.m., was full by midmorning. There was barely a seat in the food court. There was little room to walk past the shoppers loaded down with boxes and bags.

The Prime Outlets mall at Hagerstown experimented with a midnight opening for the first time this year and got a much better response than anticipated. Traffic backed up for several miles at other Prime Outlets throughout the country. The chain opened 12 centers at midnight, including its shopping mall in Queenstown, on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

About 30,000 cars had flooded the Hagerstown parking lot by 3 a.m. - double the count expected, said spokeswoman Rachia Green:

"The response that we got far exceeded our expectations."

Hundreds of customers lined up outside Circuit City on Pulaski Highway hours before its 5 a.m. opening, hoping for bargains on digital cameras, MP3 players and flat-screen televisions. Three police cars were on guard at the store, and a food and coffee truck served the sleep-deprived and caffeine-seeking customers.

When the doors opened, people rushed into the store; some walked quickly while others ran. It took 11 minutes for all the customers to get inside.

I am a non-Christian, though raised in a nominally Christian culture growing up. I feel simultaneously feel grateful that the people of our country are free and prosperous enough to fill these stores, and vaguely uneasy at the seeming excess.

Consumer goods are a good thing; I type this blog on a consumer good, an inexpensive laptop. But those Christians who take offense at the phrase "Happy Holidays" from retail merchants instead of the traditional American English greeting "Merry Christmas" might do well to ask whether the pressure aimed at the seller of the XBox, the PlayStation and the big-screen TV might be better aimed elsewhere. Perhaps I am simpleminded but I see little theological content emitting from the sale of a plasma TV, one way or another.

Perhaps a more theologically sound message would be not "Merry Christmas, That Does Come With Batteries" but "Stop Shopping and Take Care of Your Family" or "Drop the Credit Card, Pick Up a Soup Kitchen Ladle" or "You Bought The Big Screen TV, How About Kicking In $25 To Help A Teenager Kick Drugs?" But the opinion of a non-Christian about how to celebrate Christmas is not particularly valid.

I am informed that not all Christians consider the Christmas holiday a holy day. Armenian Orthodox Christians, I am told, do not universally regard the day as holy. Evangelical Christian friends of mine tone the day down dramatically with their children and do not associate the day with the popular mythology of Santa Claus, reindeer or presents beyond a very modest level. For them, Easter is the more important day. Some do not consider Jehovah's Witnesses Christians; without regard to that debate, Jehovah's Witnesses do not observe the day.

Among those Christians who observe the day, there is a great variety in customs. The "All-American" Christmas Tree is, in fact, a German cultural artifact originally bearing live-fire candles that hearkened to the worship of ancient Germanic gods at the Winter Solstice; its use was known in England but was far less common. Various cultural saints and figures from Saint Vaclav (aka Wenceslaus), St. Lucia and others populate the imagination of Western Christianity. In Greece, the solemnity of the day is not in doubt, with few or no lively displays comparable to those of, for example, 34th Street in Baltimore.

A Jewish acquaintance of mine actually plays Santa at a local shopping Mall every year for free; he does out of good will to help Christians celebrate their holiday which his family and he explicitly do not observe. Other Jewish acquaintances have told me that ordering Chinese food and going to the movies are Jewish customs on Christmas. To me, that sounds like an eminently sane way to spend the day.

I do look forward to our boys opening up their gifts, though for Sam the best gift he would ever want would be a large stick and something to smack the stick against loudly. Maybe a pot, or a bowl. My mother, we hope, will be strong enough to make the traditional fried bread; dough fried in vegetable oil and smeared with raspberry jam, butter or you name it. She is going in for a second knee replacement this January and so she may not be up for that cooking. What I hope is that we can focus not on spending money, which for us is more plentiful than in prior years, but on spending time, which is rarer. Time is so precious.

Baltimore Sun: NASA Launch from Assateague Island in December Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the Baltimore Sun, November 25, 2006:

The Dec. 11 blastoff of one of the most powerful rockets ever launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia could also boost the region's ambition to become a commercial spaceport.

With good weather, the morning flight of the 69-foot, four-stage Minotaur I rocket should be visible for hundreds of miles as it rises to place two satellites into an orbit 254 miles high.

If it's successful, the spacecraft will be the first in 21 years to reach orbit from Wallops Island, just south of Assateague Island. The last attempt, in 1995, ended in a spectacular, explosive failure 48 seconds after liftoff.

The December launch will also be the inaugural flight from the little-known Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS).

The commercial launch pad was built on NASA property in 1998 by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority. Maryland joined the venture in 2004 to help spur growth of the aerospace and launch service industries on both sides of the state line.

Meta: New Designs for Crablaw Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

I am currently working on an evolving page ("http://www.crablaw.com/newcover.htm") that will serve as the entry page for newcomers to Crablaw.

Crablaw is expanding into new endeavors.

I tried maintaining a separate "Magazine" blog page on the site but it has not worked out as I would have hoped. I will not "tear down" that page but will keep it as an example of "lessons learned".

What you will be seeing, however, is a new set of pages and blogs on different topics, linked through common link elements and a simple home/entry page. Some will be entertainment and recreation, others will explore other issues. The new entry page will give you a taste of what's to come, as matters develop.

It's too late to stay at this much longer. To bed.

NY Times: White House Confirms No Civil War Exists in Iraq Click HERE to Bring Up Full Post

From the New York Times, November 25, 2006:

Defying a government curfew, Shiite militiamen stormed Sunni mosques in Baghdad and a nearby city on Friday, shooting guards and burning down buildings in apparent retaliation for the devastating bombings that killed more than 200 people the day before in the capital’s largest Shiite district, residents and police officials said.

...

White House officials ignored the Sadr bloc’s threats to withdraw from the government, and said there were no plans to cancel the president’s meetings with Mr. Maliki scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. “Securing Baghdad and gaining control of the violent situation will be a priority agenda item when President Bush meets with Prime Minister Maliki in just a few days,” said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman. "These ruthless acts of violence are deplorable. It is an outrage that these terrorists are targeting innocent civilians in a brazen effort to topple a democratically elected government. These killers will not succeed.”

He also repeated the administration’s insistence that Iraq was not in a civil war. “We’re constantly asked that question, and while the situation is serious, Prime Minister Maliki and President Talabani have said they do not believe it is a civil war,” he said.

Thank goodness there is no civil war. I appreciate the White House making that clear, otherwise there could be massive sectarian violence and killings.

If everyone just thinks really hard, really really hard, against civil war, we can stop it.

We've all done it before, especially in Baltimore. You know, "Romper, bomper stomper boo."