AS AN EASTPORT RESIDENT, CP IS TIRED OF GUNSHOTS AS WELL...

EASTPORT RESIDENTS--LET'S TAKE TO THE STREETS! LET'S HAVE A MAJOR PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION IN FAVOR OF MORE POLICE, COMMUNITY POLICING, STATE ASSISTANCE--WHATEVER WE NEED TO CONFRONT VIOLENT CRIME IN OUR MIDST. OUR OWN MAYOR AND POLICE CHIEF SEEM UNABLE TO MAKE ANYTHING HAPPEN

Gunfire in Eastport, has become a common occurrence. Shock Trauma-bound helicopters from the State Police land and take off from the nearby Fire Station with increasing frequency, a related, though not necessarily always directly related phenomenon. One did so just this morning. It is one of the reasons why former Alderman and now County Councilman Josh Cohen and his family moved to West Annapolis. In nearly 28 years of living in Eastport, I have twice found guns or spent shells on the streets of Eastport. I am often woken up by gunfire. We have had murders in Eastport as well. Many other residents are growing weary and are trying to deal with this unbearable situation.

See The Capital for an article about what residents are doing and for some responses by readers, some of them quite pointed and heated: www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/readne/2007/12_18-18/TOP

Also, below I have posted a letter from an Eastport resident which after a month, has gone unanswered by the Mayor and City Council. The fact that this local activist and resident, who also happens to head up a non-profit organization, cannot get a reply, tells us a lot. The Mayor asks, "What are we missing?" but seems not to listen when she gets suggestions. Meanwhile, the police chief and she argue with the Housing Authority director. Residents are fed up with the ongoing crisis and ongoing, multi-generational failure of the plethora of public housing and its crime-related challenges. The Mayor calls for Segways and a horse and a change in police shifts. The police say they don't want the Segways or horses. The residents wants a more determined effort to get police on the force and out on the streets. The Mayor is in denial about this and continues to claim that we are not understaffed. The residents want community policing and more police in the problem areas. The Chief cannot elucidate what community policing means to him and continues to say that police presence should be dispersed evenly throughout the City of Annapolis.

We are the State Capital. We are closing this year with a record homicide rate. Aldermen are frustrated. Residents are angry. More police will retire in the coming year. It would seem that only the criminals would be pleased by the situation. They are probably laughing about it. We may need a Marshall Dillon or Spiderman or Batman to swing into town and clean things up. Mayor Moyer, until you come out of denial that the vacant police positions are the major issue, residents are unlikely to believe much else of what you say.

We can and must do better. This has reaching the boiling point. Stay tuned.

THERE IS STILL TIME TO HELP THE HOMELESS THIS SEASON

Linda Greenberg's famous efforts to help our local homeless men and women each December are underway. You can help! Visit www.homelessdrive.com/docs/HomelessFlyer.pdf to learn more. Donations and volunteers are needed.

TEEN WHO SHOT UP WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN (aka Annapolis Mall) GETS 65 YEARS

The shooting event at the mall, in which two were injured, including a Secret Service agent, has been one of the biggest stories of the year. Now the justice system has come around full circle, and a young man is paying the price for his moment of poor judgment and action.

See today's Capital for the story at: www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/12_21-45/TOP

According to The Capital, Judge Mulford gave a 100 year sentence and then suspended all but 65 years, saying he wanted to send a message. Wow--65 years for a 17-year old. Yeah, he was violent. Yeah, he shot people. Yeah, he should be severely punished. Yeah, he should go to prison. But for 65 years? Even with good behavior and parole, he'll still likely be an old man when he gets out. Yeah, he should have thought about that before, but he is only 17. We don't give him the right to vote or to drink, and barely give him the right to drive, but we treat him in the justice system as an adult.

I wonder, just wonder, if this "message" will somehow be sent to the other teens in violence-prone gangs. I wonder, will it will sink in? I wonder, if it sinks in, will it deter others? I wonder.

I wonder if we did not make it so easy to get a handgun, would this have happened?

I wonder what role the popular web-site MySpace had in all of this?

I wonder if the hundreds of thousands of dollars we'll be spending on him to rot in prison would have been better spent in social and educational programs and services that might have helped him do better in life? I wonder.

I am just glad that nobody was killed, but I wonder, will this teenager think 65 years in prison is less preferable to dying on the street, or in the electric chair? Yeah, I wonder.

Now here are the last "I wonders" which may put the hyper-conservatives into conniptions (did I spell that correctly?): I wonder, what do most folks know about life in Robinwood? What do most folks know about what it's like for a young person in poverty, living in a place like that? I can glean an idea when I watch the kids at Annapolis Middle School and Annapolis High and when I look at their MySpace pages. I wonder. Yeah, I wonder why we don't do better in providing better schools, better living situations, better social and cultural programs for these troubled youth. Yeah, I wonder why we'll gladly recruit them into the armed services, put a rifle in their hands and send them overseas to kill-legally so, in the name of protecting us from terrorists.

Yeah. Protecting us from terrorists overseas and here while one of the main reasons we don't have en0ugh police and firefighters at home is because so many are overseas. Yeah, I wonder.

AN INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE ON THE WARD TWO RACE

The below unsolicited message was forwarded to me by a local Green Party member. See the below post for official results. This note is worth pondering:

If you were to take the ratio of registered voters in a certain party to number of votes for that party's candidate, you can get approximate measures of party support and the ability of the candidate to attract unaffiliated voters or those from another party.

Despite having the benefit of 49% of the registered voters, McKerrow only got 38% of the votes, or 78% party support; Paone had only 34% of the registered voters, but got 45% of the votes, for a value of 132% party support. But Karen, who only had 0.68% of the registered voters in the ward to draw on, collected 17% of the vote for a value of 2500% party support! She obviously did an excellent job of pulling in voters from outside our party.

CP continues to ask why we need (or don't need) partisan local elections. Any ideas???

FRED PAONE TO JOIN CITY COUNCIL...thanks for voting....all 947 of you

The newest member of the Annapolis City Council is Fred Paone who ran on the Republican ticket. Although only 947 Ward Two residents voted (the big disappointment, although not unexpected), Paone had what I believe to be a surprisingly strong victory.

Official results:

Fred Paone 427
Debbie Rosen-Mckerrow 358
Karen Jennings (Green) 162

CP thought the results would have been closer and that Jennings was going to do better, but on the other hand, she received about one out of every six votes, not bad at all for a third party contender in a three-way race. Rosen-Mckerrow who edged slightly ahead of Paone in one of the two precincts, was certainly hurt by the appearance of Jennings in the race. She lost by 69 votes, had almost twice as many as Jennings, but in the previous Ward Two race, she lost by 44 votes, in a two-way race. Rosen-Mckerrow is a an Annapolis native, and Paone is a long time Annapolitan. While there may be some folks (Democrats but not likely Republicans)complaining about this, I see this as a positive development, as long as we're going to have partisan local elections. Greens are making inroads in Maryland, and Jennings had a stalwart group of them backing her.

Although CP sponsored a candidates' forum, I took no other role in the campaign nor did I endorse, support or favor any candidate. I think we should all thank the three candidates for their commitment and willingness to serve. I don't think that either Jennings or Rosen-Mckerrow are going away (please keep up the good work), and we all expect continued involvement from them. As for Paone,I wish him the best and urge him to consider moderating the strident tone from his campaign. He was certainly a vibrant, entertaining presence in the race, and if he can follow through on his campaign rhetoric, he'll bring a welcome if not brash, as well as serious voice to the council.

However, he, like any other City Council member, is just one of nine votes. In order to be effective, he'll need to figure when to form voting blocs with the other, overwhelmingly Democratic members, who he took to task, however obliquely, but repeatedly, in his campaign. He is likely to be a quick ally of his long-time colleague, David Cordle, and perhaps Democrat Ross Arnett and Independent (fiercely so...) and fiscally conservative, Julie Stankivic.

I hope that all City Council members will rise above the growing swell of Mayoral campaigning and positioning for a race nearly two years away and focus on the important municipal issue of the day, namely public safety and transportation.

MORE ANALYSIS ABOUT RADICAL ARAB-ISLAMISM

CP received this note from an alert Eastport resident who wrote:

Subject: FW: Very Interesting - Worth Watching!

Here is a powerful and amazing statement on Al Jezeera television.
The woman is Wafa Sultan, an Arab-American psychologist from Los
Angeles. I would suggest watching it ASAP because I don't know how long
the link will be active. This film clip should be shown around the world
repeatedly!

http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=nul

CP agrees. This is not the first, nor will it be the last time that CP ventures outside of Annapolis to confront one of the top global issues (in addition to global warming)that should concern all people, and that is Arab-Muslim radicalism. Watch and listen to this cogent analysis by Wafa Sultan who has been featured in Time and is becoming better known for her views. Of course, Arab extremist apologists are all over her!

SERIOUS AND PRACTICAL CRIME-FIGHTING SOLUTIONS...ignored by Mayor and City Council

The below letter (unedited by CP) from Kate Rollason, an Eastport resident, was mailed on November 19, 2007, but there has been no response from either the Mayor or City Council members. While reading this, keep in mind that it was many months ago when the Mayor, responding to crime concerns, asked in desperation, “What are we missing here. Tell me what we‘re missing”? Well, in this case, a response to this letter is missing, but that’s only for starters.



The Honorable Ellen Moyer,
The Honorable Richard Israel, Alderman
The Honorable Classie Gillis Hoyle, Alderwoman
The Honorable Sheila M. Finlayson, Alderwoman
The Honorable David H. Cordle, Alderman
The Honorable Julie Stankivic, Alderwoman
The Honorable Samuel Shropshire, Alderman
The Honorable Ross Arnett, Alderman

November 19, 2007

Dear Mayor, Aldermen and Alderwomen:

To say that I am very concerned, frightened, scared and appalled about the recent shooting in Eastport, would be greatly understating my feelings and thoughts.
We, as a City, have been grappling with the crime and drug dealing issues for quite some time. We have had numerous committees and task forces as well. I personally served on one.
But we’re now at a totally different level. For someone to shoot a police officer, well, that should be the strongest wake up call ever. Since I live on Jefferson Street, it certainly is for me.
There are many ideas floating around on these issues. And now, I’m adding mine. I do want to stress, however, that talk is not what we need right now. We need action and we need it now! I want for my retired, elderly neighbors to not be afraid to leave their homes. And yes, I want for the vast majority of people in public housing to not be afraid.
I know that there is a great deal of talk that ‘crime near public housing’ is not worse than anywhere else in the City. My neighbors and I drive President’s Street daily. We see the crime on a daily basis. It is very real, very frightening.
Because this is such a complex issue, I believe we need to address this on both a short term basis AND long term basis. And while I know that the drug problem fuels violence, the violence is what I find most concerning. That can kill.
Short term:
Fill the vacancies in the Police Department as rapidly as possible. Will it take more money? I’m sure. Do we need to offer housing bonuses to those who sign up? $ 25,000, better yet $50,000, awarded at the end of 2 years, with repayment if the cadet does not serve a minimum of 10 years?
Get police officers out of their cars and walking or biking the streets. Let them get to know and develop trust with the citizens in that area. Make their ‘beats’ consistent, daily. This would be true community policing, recommended by numerous citizens.
Have local residents provide input into the problems in their communities. Make us part of the solution. This is the other very important aspect of community policing.
Recognize and embrace the fact that true community policing will help everywhere in our City, not just in public housing. It will help the merchants on West Street, in apartment complexes, in our historic district, as well as everywhere else. The newly appointed police commissioner of Baltimore City recently said that, “The first step is to get their rear ends out of police cars and on the streets talking to folks. We have to break out of this just going from call to call.”
The Housing Authority has offered space for police sub-stations in each of its properties. Do this NOW!
Do not, under any circumstance, just pick one or two areas for increased vigilance. That only drives the problems to other areas. It takes no time for the word to spread, for example, ‘Stay away from Robinwood, too many cops there. C’mon over to Eastport Terrace.’ It must be a coordinated and totally comprehensive effort. It must be totally visible everywhere.
I also need to add here that, if necessary, I am willing to pay more taxes. Is that the issue? Can I help write ‘start up grants?’ Public safety is the number one priority here.
Support the efforts of the Housing Authority to restrict parking to residents. Laud the work that the Housing Authority has been undertaking to rid the properties of non-residents. Numerous residents of those properties are developing great confidence in Eric Brown’s work..
All parties need to immediately cease and desist the public ‘feuds’ and disagreements about whose fault these problems are. It is far past time. This is the time to roll up our shirt sleeves and produce action. This also applies to garnering the necessary dollars for the atrocious ‘sinkholes’. If HUD refuses to step up to the plate, what can we do? Politically lean on HUD? Find the dollars elsewhere?
Strongly support the collaborative efforts of Tony Spencer and Eric Brown to provide job training, such as for painters. These can be very well paying jobs
Longer term:
Continue to ‘grow social programs,’ that are aimed at our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. We must give our teens, single moms, etc., hope for a brighter future. Help the teens to see that someday they can get good jobs, they do not need to take to the streets for immediate monetary gain. Help single moms access job training, day care, transportation, so that they too can hold down jobs.
Continue to also ‘grow’ after school tutoring and recreational programs to provide options to ‘just hanging out.’ Give structure.
Provide more role models. I have a cab driver that I ride with often. He grew up in public housing. He supports his family. I believe we need more role models whose lives are achievable, as viewed by our citizenry. Everyone does not grow up to be a doctor or lawyer, although those are also very laudable goals.
Long term:
Begin to question now why we as a City congregate and segregate our poorest in large public housing properties. Does that not devalue the citizens’ potential contributions? Does that not inherently send the message that they are not wanted in the rest of Annapolis? Is this not ‘NIMBYISM?”
Re-define public housing to reflect not just buildings, but also other types of subsidized housing. The use of mainstream vouchers to pay rent, for example, also comes from public dollars. Help people who want to move to do so. I am not saying that we should kick people out (except criminals). We need to work very hard with HUD to identify all available resources. There are programs to help people do this. And there are people who want to leave the public housing properties.
Help poor people to own their own homes. Again, there are HUD programs to help this to occur, and it is currently occurring on a very limited basis in the Clay Street area, an important first step.
Can some of the units vacated become affordable housing for first responders and teachers? Rental complexes in other parts of the County offer very deep discounts on rent to have police car presence in the parking lots. And, mixed income housing should, in my estimation, be our goal.
I am sure there are many, many other ideas. Greater minds than mine weigh in on these issues all the country. But I cannot stress enough that this is the time for action. And the priority, immediately, is on protecting public safety. Any way in which I can help, please call on me. I’ve been a resident of Annapolis for over nine years now. I love our City. But we have much work to do. I hope these ideas are useful.

Sincerely,

Kate Rollason
krollason@thearcccr.org

cc: Eric Brown, HACA Exec. Director
Mayor

FILL OUT THE SURVEY FOR THE MARYLAND TRANSPORTATION PLAN

Here is your chance to tell state transportation officials what you want. Now look into my eyes....your eyelids are getting heavy....you want more public transit....more bus rapid transit....light rail...expanded Metro....lots and lots of lanes for bicycling...improved sidewalks....buses....now go complete the form.....
http://www.marylandtransportationplan.com/MTPsurvey.html

THESE NUMBERS ADD UP!! ANNAPOLIS HIGH STUDENTS EXCEL IN MATH COMPETITION

Let's hear it for our own public school. Here is some good news from Annapolis High School which now leads the third round of the annual five-part Anne Arundel County High School Mathematics Competition at Anne Arundel Community College (that's a lot of ann's..), capturing first place for a third consecutive round. AHS is whipping the other public and those fancy, private schools! 134 students from 15 public and private schools competed along with a team of home-schooled students nicknamed the Independents. Round winner Annapolis High scored 8.33. Other Round 3 scores were: Broadneck High, 7.33; Old Mill High, 6.67; tied at 5.33 were Archbishop Spalding High, Chesapeake High, Key School, Meade High and Severn School; Southern High, 5.0; South River, 4.67; Northeast High, 4.33, North County High at 3.33; Arundel High, 3.0. Tying with a score of 2.67 were Severna Park High and Indian Creek School followed by the Independents with 1.0.

The only student achieving a perfect score was Huaiyu Wu of Annapolis High. Wu also earned six correct answers in rounds one and two.

The year-to-date scores have Annapolis High in first place with 30.33; followed by Archbishop Spalding High, 23.33; and Key School, 22.0. Other scores: Severn School, 21.0; Chesapeake High, 20.33; South River High and Broadneck High, tied at 19.33; Meade High, 18.67; Southern High, 17.0; North County High, 16.0; Northeast High and Old Mill High, tied at 12.67; Arundel High, 10.0; Independents, 8.67; Severna Park High and Indian Creek School, tied at 8.33.

The next competition on Jan. 12 takes place on the Arnold campus, 101 College Parkway. For information call Evie Robbins, AACC associate professor of mathematics and the competition director, at 410-777-2556 or e-mail ebrobbins@aacc.edu.

HEY WARD TWO----PLEASE VOTE!!!!

Wednesday, December 19 is the day from 7 am to 8 pm. You can vote at either West Annapolis or Germantown Elementary Schools. Make your vote worth something by actually voting. Don't let the ignorant and apathetic win. Hundreds, if not a few thousand Ward Two voters have the opportunity to choose the newest member of City Council, a person whose vote will amount to about 11 percent of the votes on City Council, but hey--he or she will be your representative to local government. Show the rest of the City that the Ward Two voters are serious!

You may vote for Debbie Rosen-Mckerrow, Democrat or Fred Paone, Republican or Karen Jennings, Green.

CP has remained neutral in this race in order to maintain credibility as a journalist and as convener of the recent public candidate's forum. CP's personal "educated guess" is that the race will be very close, to be decided by perhaps as few as two dozen votes--so your vote counts either way! I only hope that whoever becomes the next Alderman will be mature, responsible and committed to civil discourse and good government.

Mike Huckabee.....be afraid, be very afraid...He's the antichrist!

He wears red. "Silent Night" plays in the background. Notice (how can you help but notice?) the window pane behind him...a big cross, and see how it moves to frame him as the camera moves? Mike talks about how what matters most this time of year is the birth of Christ. Yeah Mike, but what about Santa Claus and the energizer bunny? Don't they count? Vote for Mike. He has accepted Jesus into his life. Jesus is Lord and Saviour.

Vote Jesus in the Iowa primary. Mike works for Jesus. So does George Bush, but his time as president is coming to end due to godless, secular, human law--gash dawnit! Shouldn't you work for Jesus and vote for Mike too? And with all this, he tries to come off as just being a regular guy, but boy oh boy was this ad about as highly stylized as any ever made.

NEWS FROM SAUDI ARABIA...YET FURTHER PROOF OF THE ARAB WORLD'S BACKWARD CULTURE..as if we needed more

News reports yesterday and today tell of the so-called "moderate" king of so-called "moderate" Saudi Arabia, an oil-rich despot of a desert fiefdom if there ever was one, who has apparently "pardoned" a woman for being raped. You heard that right. The poor woman known simply as "Qatif girl" was abducted and raped by a group of men and was sentenced to prison and lashings of the whip--200 as reported. The king, in his benevolent wisdom, has seen fit to "pardon" the woman for her crime.

Just do a web search under "Saudi king pardons" to see all the reports. The King's justice minister is quoted as saying:

"The king always looks into alleviating the suffering of the citizens when he
becomes sure that these verdicts will leave psychological effects on the convicted
people, though he is convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair," he said.

Oh yeah--prison and 200 lashes is fair punishment for allowing yourself to be raped. He is concerned about the psychological suffering of the woman. By the way, the rapists managed to get as much as nine years in prison, but were not actually convicted on rape charges.

The Arab Islamic world hates and fears women, much as it hates and fears Jews, secularists and Christians (This repugnant hatred and fear kind of reminds me of Ann Coulter or Pat Buchanan). Remember now, the 9-11 criminals came from Saudi Arabia. This is the same country whose representatives made a big deal out of refusing to shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert here in Annapolis last month. This is the kind of law and justice we can come to expect if Arab Islamists continue to penetrate and influence here, much as they have done in Europe. And yet we call them the "moderates."

GLOBAL WARMING IS A FACT: STOP WHINING ABOUT IT BEING SOME SORT OF "LIBERAL" FANTASY..we are wasting valuable time

Annapolis Politics http://annapolispolitics.blogspot.com/2007/12/mayor-moyer-seeks-to-impose-new-green.html is worried that a proposal being considered to improve building codes to reduce global warming impacts will cost money. Here is what Brian Gill says (in red):

“There is certainly not consensus about climate warming….”

He also says:

“Folks, this stuff is expensive. First, home prices will go up, as will commercial rents, which we will pay for in the form of higher prices. Also, we will no doubt have to fund another inspector in city government to make sure all of the buildings are meeting the new green code.”

Brian is right to be wary of more and more government, especially as practiced by both our liberal, Democratic Mayor Moyer and that of our hyper-conservative, Republic President.

However, he is incorrect to claim that global warming is not occurring or that government should not take action. There IS consensus that global warming is happening and that it is human induced. The only people outside that consensus are politically motivated and unwilling to face facts, science and reality.

Annapolis Politics goes on to say, “There is certainly not consensus about climate warming. The very measurements we use to determine climate patterns may not be reliable, and even given a pattern of warming, the link between human effect on this warming is debated. It takes a great deal of arrogance to accept that a couple of generations of humans can alter the cyclical climate patterns that have been going on for tens of thousands of years. Aren't we still coming out of an ice age? For a great post on this subject, click here.”

Wrong again. The “great post” is none other than RedMaryland, another hyper-conservative blog that rehashes the same old tired, and discredited rants by climate maniac who have been funded by coal and other energy firms for years. It is their rants that have slowed the progress we need to move on this. This is further proof that it is only a tiny minority of hyper-conservative ideologues who dispute that human-induced global climate change is happening here and now. Why does Annapolis Politics say, “it takes a great deal of arrogance to accept that a couple of generations of humans can alter the cyclical climate patterns that have been going on for tens of thousands of years.”? That is the boiling pot calling the cauldron frozen, if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor. The only arrogance being exhibited here is the arrogance that continues to believe it is perfectly fine to continue laying waste to out precious planet.

Annapolis Politics continues with, “Liberals, especially Mayor Moyer, disregard any debate on the issue and accept the responsibility of humans to challenge mother nature as their divine birthright.” What? There is no debate on cold, hard, scientific facts (or should we say hot facts?) gathered over many decades by thousands of scientists, not to mention things we are all seeing and feeling. So stop there. It’s not liberals who are disregarding debate. The problem is conservatives who are disregarding science. As for your statement about accepting the responsibility etc., etc., I cannot even figure out what you are trying to say. Are you suggesting that by claiming we are creating global climate change, we are challenging mother nature? Huh? We have challenged mother nature by laying waste to the planet? What are you talking about here?

Finally, you say, “Think of how many small businesses will shut down because they cannot afford to implement the new designs. Now think of how they will feel in 50 years when it is determined that the LEED designs have no impact on climate change!”

How will you feel in fifty years when there is no economic activity because we are under water, unable to produce food, unable to fight new diseases, expanded desertification and drought, etc., etc?. How will you feel when the buildings the LEED will affect will be under water? It is quite possibly that serious.

We must err on the side of caution by being conservative--yes conservative! We must conserve resources, plan ahead and begin saving and investing now rather than eating up our natural resource asset base. Make fun of all liberals if you wish, but I say the problem lies (lies!) with those that are unwilling to believe that we are making global impacts. The real fear of conservatives is simply that a global challenge will require a global commitment and global cooperation to address. That's what scares ultra conservatives-the US and China and India working together. What scares them is the political aspects, yet they claim that those who are warning about global warming are merely being political. What garbage!

I urge the few remaining unconvinced ultra conservatives to get off their high horse and see how the polar ice caps are melting, how temperatures are rising, how coral reefs are dying, etc. etc. THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF, not some game promulgated by liberals, or some conspiracy. Do the worried conservatives recommend we keep burning more and more fossil fuels, stripping the planet of forests and laying waste to our planet--our very source of life? Do they think this cannot have a global impact? Or will they continue to argue that to do anything is bad for business?

Even those who smugly rely on conservative economic theory must realize that all wealth is derived from our natural resource assets. Without water, air, soil, minerals, trees etc., there is no wealth. If they believe it is sound investment and business practice to squander and waste it, then so be it, but don't go around claiming it is has no impact or they have some sort of right to do so. Global warming is real--and its economic and human costs are already mounting. They will be staggering. So quit whining about governmental action and take a cue from the business world, we can see how business may actually lead the way to make these necessary changes in how we do business. More and more businesses understand the need to move on this and are doing so. Allstate Insurance was probably among the first right here in Maryland, but more and more businesses understand what is going on here. The proposed LEED is probably good for business development, as will much of the business and government-induced new technologies that we will have to develop to deal with this crisis by using new energy sources and new ways to reduce consumption. Burying our heads in the sand will do nothing.

I will go on the offensive against any writer (hyper conservative or in the unlikely event of being otherwise) who tries to squirm and whine his way out of this one. Human-induced global warming is fact. Not only is it a fact, but it is becoming increasingly evident--and worrisome that it is happening more rapidly than we may have ever imagined. The impact of a new government regulation designed to slow these impacts will be nothing--absolutely nothing compared to the impacts if even the most moderate fears about may come do become reality. Think that will be bad for business? Just wait and see.

Having said this, I urge you to view this video on Youtube which presents a classical cost-benefit analysis to doing something, versus not doing anything. I think you'll find it interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDsIFspVzfI