NEWS ROUNDUP: DDT IS GOOD FOR YOU AND THE BIG BANG NEVER HAPPENED and more good stuff

News Roundup
DDT IS GOOD FOR YOU AND THE BIG BANG NEVER HAPPENED
CP has had occasion to meet with and read about State Senator Andrew Harris, an articulate, intelligent, yet woefully conservative lawmaker who also happens to be an anesthesiologist. And he’s in the news again for arguing against a bill introduced by Sen. Brian E. Frosh, D-Montgomery, to set aside each May 27 as Rachel Carson Day in Maryland. The pioneering author of the influential book “Silent Spring” spent most of her life in Maryland and was born on May 27, a spring day, CP should add. Many credit the US Fish and Wildlife Service employee’s book for ushering in the modern environmental movement with its warnings about pesticides and DDT in particular.

According to The Capital, Harris said the banning of DDT had negative consequences and “is a valuable public health tool against malaria, and without it, millions of people have died worldwide.” Uhh yeah…but with it things were pretty bad too Senator. Not only that, while we banned it here for good reason, it is used elsewhere for bad reasons, and we may still end up eating food from those places where it is used. If CP recalls correctly, banning DDT has also helped bring about a resurgence in the once severely threatened populations of Osprey and Bald Eagles.

Harris said, "It's convenient for us in the United States, that does not have a problem with malaria ... to preach to the rest of the world.” CP would like to ask this Senator, who has a bust of Jesus Christ in his Senate office, whether or not he thinks it’s right for the US and the Catholic Church to preach to the rest of the world when it comes to uhh, let’ see, abortion? Family planning? Global warming???

His Earth is Flat view is about as weird as Sen. Janet Greenip (R-Anne Arundel) and Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Cecil) who declined to vote when Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George's) introduced John C. Mather, co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics to receive a resolution from the Senate. Mather won the prize for his work at Greenbelt’s Goddard Space Center in in providing the first tangible evidence to prove that the big bang started the universe. CP does not have a problems being a descendant of apes, but having those who are lesser primates sit in the Maryland Senate is something else.

New Head at Chesapeake Bay Program
New Chesapeake Bay Program Director Jeffrey L. Lape has a big, big job ahead to drive the lumbering, bureaucratic and often maligned Chesapeake Bay Program. CP served as the assistant to the former Director for 2.5 years in the 1990's and used to believe it was a worthy and productive organization with a valuable mission. CP now believes it may not even have a valuable mission. Lape has to play bureaucrat, scientist, manager, interpreter, politician and cheerleader to this massive aggregation of agencies, committees, sub committees, workgroups and Neptune knows what else!

According to The Capital, Lape says he passes a stream in his yard in Montgomery County and hasn't been shy about investigating problems in his stream and reporting potential polluters to authorities.

"I feel like the job comes home with us," he said.

Hmm. Well, that’s great that he has reported potential polluters, but CP is in complete agreement that the job does indeed come home with Lape if he drives to and from Annapolis and Montgomery County each day. That’s the problem! Millions of people in our watershed moving around in cars way too much and consuming and polluting way too much. If you’re not part of the problem, you’re part of the solution. Good luck to you Mr. Lape. And CP hopes that in addition to the hours you'll spend sitting in traffic, that you'll also enjoy sitting in meetings…lots and lots of them…and wading through reports, lots and lots of them. CP often asked why the 20 million dollars per year for the Bay Program would not have been better spent if it just shut down and bought forests, wetlands and farms. Needless to say, that was swallowed by the porcine bureaucrats like a poison truffle.


Ferry? Monorail? And still no Commuter bus from Kent Island and Annapolis to Baltimore?
CP has posted about the proposal bubbling up in Annapolis to create a Bay ferry system. CP readers know that while CP is interested in the idea, CP would much rather see a solid bus system first. And after penning the term “ferry tale” to describe this idea, CP is pleased to see that in today’s front page of the Capital it has picked up, er borrowed its term. Read on…
“First came the ferry tales. Now, solutions to Bay Bridge traffic are looking a lot more like Disney World. Grasping at perhaps one of the last straws possible to relieve congestion on the bridge, Del. Michael D. Smigiel, R-Cecil, is proposing that the Maryland Department of Transportation examine the feasibility of creating a monorail to run from Annapolis to Kent Island.”

Please God, make it stop!!!! Every so often somebody comes around with some brilliant and visionary scheme to study or develop some type of waay cool futuristic transit system without actually knowing a darn thing about transportation, except that you turn the key and drive, and suddenly there’s a whole lot of interest in yet a new and revolutionary idea. Well, first off, CP will say again, can we please get some cheap and easily developed buses first? Let’s get real with a real bus transit system and then start talking about the next big thing. But we can’t even get a commuter bus from Kent Island to Annapolis and Baltimore!!! Puuuhlllleeeeze!!
By the way, monorails are not exactly new or revolutionary. CP has been on the system in Seattle which some have been trying to expand for years with limited success, and of course at Disney World and Disney Land, and of the new system in Indianapolis (CP was just there too!) and Las Vegas, which is privately funded by…guess who?
Okay, perhaps we should study a monorail, but maybe, just maybe we should stop sprawling all over the place which makes all these transit expansions so necessary. But a monorail???

GIVE BUSINESS OWNERS A VOTE??? WHY DON’T THEY MOVE HERE AND START TO THINK AND VOTE AS IF THEY WERE RESIDENTS??

From the roll your eyes category, The Capital reports today that the Annapolis Business Association (ABA) wants its own City Council seat to represent downtown businesses.

CP agrees with Mayor Moyer who reacted by saying, "They need to have an agenda as to what are some of the things they want to accomplish.” This must come directly from the Please Tell Me Something I Need to Hear But Don’t Want To Hear Department. Downtown businesses should get their act together and put their money where their mouths are. If they want to have a say, get organized and get active, but business owners already vote where they live, and if that’s not here, that’s too bad. Move here or let me vote where you live. After all, if I spend my money in your store which helped you buy your home, should I vote where you live? Actually, as with most Annapolitans, downtown stores are almost irrelevant in CP‘s daily life-which may account for some of the “problem". What if a downtown business owner also lives in town? Why should he or she get to elect two Aldermen? How will we define exactly what is a business owner? If CP rents a stall in an antique store, will he get a vote?

CP has in fact rented store space on West Street, in West Annapolis and on Maryland Avenue and is well aware of many of our local business challenges. Having grown up in a family in the retail business, CP is sympathetic to business owners who are working hard to earn a living and who sometimes feel at the mercy of local elected officials. But hey-that’s why they have trade associations, and chambers of commerce. When they work, they can be powerful and effective. When they have leaders who are willing to participate with their time and money, they are free to have a say. This does not give them a right to their own lawmaker. CP is of the opinion that businesses in general often have a great deal of access to lawmakers, and if they can’t get their own seat, let them buy their votes! (just kidding-but it happens in Congress)

Downtown business owners have rarely stepped forward with real money and real conviction. They work on many things, but do not always agree either, and as the Mayor says, they need an agenda. They have an Alderman representing downtown, The ABA, and they even have the headquarters of the Maryland Association of Retailers downtown. They have a Chamber of Commerce and a conference and visitors bureau (one of its vp’s is apparently leading this effort). There is also an Eastport Business Association, a West Annapolis Business Association, an association representing Maryland Avenue and State Circle merchants and there is an Inner West Street Business Association. CP figures two of those are “downtown”. And now with Main Street jeweler Ron George, they even have one of their own in the House of Delegates.

All of which leads CP to suggest that the real “problem” if there is one in this story are that businesses are not clear about what they collectively want now, or about the future of downtown. Wake up and smell the Starbucks as Parole is looming like an August thunderhead-and it won’t bring a boom to downtown! Let’s not forget, businesses may have some over-arching interests, but they are competing against each other as well and they don‘t always get along. As a longtime resident, activist and former city employee who often worked with downtown business owners and leader, it was clear as a Main Street store window that businesses were never well organized or collectively committed to any big goals. In 1979 when CP worked on a big charter boat and spent beaucoup bucks downtown for liquor and wine to stock the boat, he attended meetings with local business owners who complained about everything even back then from parking to crime to trash removal.

They still are good at pointing fingers at each other, at residents, or at city officials. CP frequently asked why there were so many different business associations. CP asked why they did not really get serious, put their money together, hire an executive director and get an office. When CP was a city employee, he organized a meeting for business owners and brought in an expert from New York to help them set up a Business Improvement District. CP also witnessed similar internal dissent within the other handful of local business associations. CP tried repeatedly to meet with different presidents of the ABA but they were always too busy to be bothered. The Annapolis Business Association has made progress and has accomplished good things, but if it’s serious enough to suggest a special Alderman, why not a business improvement district or an executive director?

Despite inconsistencies in executing it mission, the city’s Economic Development Office has grown and helped in a number of areas. Due to city efforts, many things have improved downtown and along with crowds they bring, businesses have benefitted. If they are not getting what they want, perhaps it is because they cannot agree upon what they want-which of course would put a “special” alderman in a constantly weird position.

Whose next? Eastport will want one, West Annapolis will want one……or maybe taxi drivers will say they need an Alderman. Perhaps the guys who live in Edgewater and sand boat bottoms and drink Natty Bo’s will need a special boat sanding-Natty Bo drinking member of City Council. Maybe all the old timers who were born here and remember Sam Lorea’s will need their own Alderman as will the blue blooded yachties who have million dollar boats but don’t get a vote”. (One man may have one vote, but may one man have one boat?)

We would essentially get a downtown Alderman for residents and one for businesses. This will open a Constitutional can o’ worms! As for the argument that non-resident property owners in some beach resort towns have a vote, CP says those small places have huge seasonal jumps made possible by throngs of non-residents visiting and non-residents owning property. Virtually their entire municipal concerns asnd budgets focus on the resort issues. Even so, those votes are for non-resident property owners and NOT non-resident business owners.

If downtown businesses get a special Alderman, can they make a special seat for bloggers who opine about city issues? CP is definitely a special interest and thinks one of ten votes for its own interests is a good ratio. Take this to its logical conclusion whereby every individual is a special interest and voila, you get total Democracy. Everything voted by plenary, by referendum. Hey, wait a minute, this is a Republic. What was CP thinking?

WHAT DO WE WANT FOR $12,600 PER YEAR?

With budget season underway, today’s Capital lead story is about newly sworn Aldermen Sheila Finlayson and Ross Arnett who are just settling into the swivel chairs at the front of City Council chamber. (By the way, when, oh when will we ever replace the missing letter from the front of the mayor’s seat??? Everyone in Council Chambers sees it when they look at her. Go see for yourself.) The story begins with Finlayson expressing her surprise about not getting stationery! Here in the capital of one of the wealthiest and most educated states in the USA, our city council members earn a paltry $12,600 per year and don’t even get to have much less share an office, a desk, telephone or a secretary in City Hall. Aldermen do get an email account but while some have websites, read email, and even answer it, others are less adept or less willing to make use of this tool. Dick Israel prefers to meet at a regular time and place with any and all constituents.

The ability to serve and devote time to service means different things to different Aldermen. Arnett and Israel are retired and seemingly quite focused on their work, while Dave Cordle and Mike Christman work and have families. Finlayson, as noted by The Capital, teaches English, and Julie Stankivic has a full-time job in Baltimore, but has no children. Sam Shropshire has referred to his role as “performing community service with a stipend” and devotes nearly full-time, and perhaps more, to his work. He is also employed with the Annapolis Maritime Museum.

Baltimore council members earn in the neighborhood of $100,000 as do our own department directors. Make of that what you will.

The council is fairly diverse in terms of gender, race and expertise. The female members including Finlayson, Hoyle and Mayor Moyer have backgrounds in education and/or education administration and lobbying while Stankivic is a health care specialist. Arnett is a retired federal health care economist. Cordle is chief investigator with the prosecutor’s office and Shropshire has a long career in non-profits and community activism. Israel is a retired assistant attorney general and Christman, a former Navy helicopter pilot, is apparently the only member in business. Christman and Cordle are Republicans, Stankivic is Undeclared, and the others are Democrats.

This is what Mayor Moyer had to say about her colleagues: "We've got some really good public servants on the council, and if we are all driven by public service as opposed to political dynamics, there is no end to what we can achieve in the next three years," Ms. Moyer said. "Each one ought to be able to talk proudly with their constituents about things they are able to bring to the table."

CP does not disregard the noble intents of our council members or the mayor, but all kidding aside, when has Ellen ever put politics aside? When has she ever demanded anything less than 100 percent loyalty? When has she ever been able to distance herself from or overcome that nasty business known as “politics”? It’s her stock in trade. Political dynamics? She is an expert in it. It’s almost always her way or the highway. She is also a public servant, and a pretty good one in many respects, but CP will again say, her thin skin and unwillingness to listen is her political--and personal Achilles heel. She talks a good game about talking-- as long as it’s her doing the talking. CP has seen it soooo many times in soooo many places. Some less progressive elements in our fair city may express shock and fear when Moyer says, “There is no end to what we can achieve…” but CP is not so worried. Despite a strong Democratic majority, she’ll likely find a way to alienate and upset most of them for one reason or another. Eventually it will translate to votes.

MINORITY RECRUITMENT LAGS AT NAVAL ACADEMY AND OTHER SERVICE ACADEMIES

The Capital reports on this ongoing cause for concern and suggests through a caption beneath a photo of Mids that the makeup of its midshipmen should look “like the enlisted ranks they will lead and the nation they will defend.”

CP wonders if enlisted ranks look like the national population or if they reflect those who are generally underserved, unable to get better educations or see the military as an option because other options look closed. Well, if the military overall is open, and seemingly very much open to minorities, certainly the service academies need to figure out what they are doing wrong--if that is what they want to figure out.

Well, look what just happened to Lamar Owens, whose case has been taken up locally. Would this have happened if his father or grandfather or great grandfather were Admirals? The military serves many purposes and both can lead or follow when it comes to social change. Eisenhower integrated the Army and two generations later, Colin Powell became the top officer in the US Army and then Secretary of State. The service academies have long been elitist bastions run by old boy networks, some of whom no doubt, were unhappy with and hesitant to follow commands from civilian leaders and Congress to admit women.

STUDENTS FEEL UNSAFE IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS

New reports say students continue to feel unsafe in middle schools. Bullies become bullies for many reasons, including bad parenting, poor self-esteem, being beaten or bullied at home or elsewhere or in some cases, they may be mentally challenged. Whatever the cause, schools and their communities need to take this very seriously and provide assistance such as counseling to both victims and perpetrators, and to punish bullies when appropriate--which is to say anytime they threaten, intimidate or physically abuse anyone.

As a former middle-schooler and the parent of middle schoolers, CP has a special hatred for bullies, whether in schools or in the political arena.

Parents need to teach their children not to be bullies and how to stand up to them when appropriate, or how to defend others who are threatened. Schools need resources. Why is our President talking about a troop surge in Iraq when what we really need is a surge in teachers and counselors in our schools? Well, maybe middle schools are seen as good training ground for bullies who can then go on to the military? Okay-CP is admittedly somewhat facetious and merely speculating, and CP recognizes many fine people and leaders in our military and our service academies.



ROBINWOOD and CLAY STREET DRUG BUST

We are glad to see law enforcement action taken recently. More needs to be done, perhaps with state and even federal assistance. Send a strong message and clear out the apparent source of our violent crime. This recent bust apparently came following on the heels of a closed-door meeting with the mayor, county exec, school superintendent and city police chief, CP has one question: Why did you leave out the public housing authority director?


AMERICAN DREAM BECOMING NIGHTMARE?

This is what The Capital reported recently about local home prices. There is a flipside. While the housing affordability has gone down and down in our area, the “dream” side of the equation in that many homeowners have become wealthy through equity growth and appreciation. This is of course good news if you are in a home you bought a few years ago or before, but if you are looking to move here now? And what will happen when throngs of baby boomers go to unload the homes they have been in for a generation? Will there be a huge “correction” whose signs have only just begun? Reporting on this local angle on this increasingly national phenomena almost always begins and ends with questions about financing and affordability.

In a country where Republican leaders and businesses fight even a modest increase in the minimum wage while corporate CEO’s reap millions, what do we expect? Many studies have shown that the rich are getting richer while the rest of us…… so of course it’s harder to buy a home!

CP asks if we need to build more, what about the quality of life and degradation of our air, land and water? More people want to live here but can’t afford it, so, where will the give and take occur? Will they move to once “outlying” areas and build them up and clog our roads more? Will we continue to sprawl forever? CP asks if these huge homes being built and built and overbuilt will eventually be turned into multi family homes, or is that already happening? CP wonders if we are seeing the beginnings of a housing and land use revolution, the likes of which are as far reaching as post World War 2 sub urbanization brought about by soldiers returning home, economic expansion and the interstate highways. The factors in place today to “drive” a housing revolution include soaring home and land costs, rising commuting costs, changes in employment pattern and options, smaller family size and the rebirth of our older and inner cities. And then there is immigration. We live in interesting times and here in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, CP predicts more people, more building, more traffic….and yes, higher home values.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT-THE MOST POWERFUL VOICE IN BLOGGING

If Rush Limbaugh can say he is the most powerful voice in broadcasting and Howard Stern thinks he has undergone some kind of entertainer apotheosis, Capital Punishment can speak in hyperbole too. Giving further credence to the increasing relevance of responsible and credible blogging, Capital Punishment has been referred to or mentioned recently in The Baltimore Sun as well as The Capital, which labeled your CP publisher as an “Annapolis politico.” CP is not quite sure what to make of such a label from our local newspaper where CP has published hundreds of letters (and not a single one as “anonymous”) before the blogosphere was born. CP will have to ruminate on that label for a while, but for the time being, is grateful to The Capital.

CP postings have been amplified on other Maryland blogs including FreeState Politics, Lefty Blogs (Maryland) all of which is to be expected as part of the contagion of the Maryland photosphere. Now, CP has gone national--and perhaps international when its recent post on global warming legislation in the Maryland Senate was picked up on FreeState Politics and then again amplified in of all places, the prominent, mega blog, The Huffington Post.

Most important of all is the increasing relevancy and impact CP has and will continue to have where it matters most--right here on the shores of Chesapeake Bay in historic Annapolis, MD. Our web stats show a steadily increasing number of visits and from word on the street and from comments, CP is becoming the forum for commentary and analysis here in Annapolis. CP as always, welcomes your feedback and comments. However, one caveat-no anonymous postings! It is not fair to the community of readers or to CP that anonymous postings be accepted. So far CP has graciously posted all postings but is getting tired of the nasty, cowardly and mean-spirited rants of those who for some “reason” feel they can whine and moan by remaining unknown.

CP is considering blocking and rejecting all such posts. Maybe it’s better to include them and CP can enjoy shooting back comments in the light at those who only crawl out in the dark corners of cyberspace. Stay tuned.