CP Publisher Paul Foer to Offer Class on Jewish Maritime History

Throughout their long history, the Jewish people have had more than a few celebrated sailors, naval officers, cartographers and even pirates. A whole lot more are mainly known only to scholars and historians.

Local writer and sailor Paul Foer will teach an adult class on Sunday April 6th at 9:30 am at Temple Beth Shalom in Arnold about this fascinating and colorful history from a modern perspective. Beginning with the familiar stories of Noah, Jonah and the baby Moses (whose name means "he who was taken from the water") we will explore King Solomons Navy and Jewish sailors in the Roman Empire, the importance of the "Catalan Map" made by Abraham Cresques and the maritime astrolabe and astronomical tables made by Rabbi Abraham Zacuto.

Among some of the questions we'll explore, for example, is if The Admiral of the Ocean Sea Christopher Columbus/Colon was a "secret" or converso Jew whose family fled the Spanish Inquisition. Was notorious pirate/privateer Jean LaFitte descended from Spanish Jews and were there other Jewish pirates or privateers? Why were events in Brazil in the 17th century so important to American Jewish history? Which three buildings at the Naval Academy named for Jewish Naval officers? Who was the man whose creation of the high speed "Cigarette" boats may have led to his mysterious murder? Which father and son were the first Americans to sail around Cape Horn in a boat under 30 feet? Which Chesapeake Bay boat became a focal point in the movement of Jewish refugees to Israel in 1948? Who was Isaac Solomon after whom Solomons Island, MD is named? Which Jewish officer became the highest ranking captain in the British Royal Navy? These are just some of the many stories to be uncovered in this class. Bring stories of your own to share.

The class is free. No reservations are necessary.
Sunday, April 6th 9:30 am
Temple Beth Shalom
1461 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd.
410 757 0552

The Capital's Teen of the Week: This Week It's the Son of the Columnist

This is an odd one. First off, I think The Capital's Teen of the Week (TOTW) column is a great column highlighting the cream of our youth. I have known some of the featured students. Maybe one day my children will be featured. I suppose if that happens, The Capital might stoop to mention something such as "The boy's father writes the incredibly popular, influential and always beautifully crafted local political blog which has had a tremendously positive influence on the Teen of The Week...." but, wait it's about a teenager, not the parent. Read on.

This week's TOTW is a bright, highly accomplished athlete scholar who is bound for the Naval Academy. The Capital writes that, "Phoenix Geimer, 17, son of Wendi Winters and Tod Geimer of Cape St. Claire, would seem destined for a sea-faring career."

What The Capital fails to tell you is that Wendi Winters, as you may not have noticed, is a regular freelancer for The Capital, usually writing none other than.....Teen of The Week! They left this out! However, at the end of the TOTW column, one reads, "Anyone can nominate a Teen of the Week. If you have a nomination, send it by e-mail to Wendi Winters at Teen@quantumstep.com. Questions? Contact Wendi at the same e-mail address."

It would appear that not only can anyone nominate a TOTW, you can also be chosen as TOTW, even if your mother normally writes the column.

Please--I'm not begrudging the young Mr. Geimer from this deserving recognition, and it might even be wrong to deny this honor to him solely on the grounds that his mother normally writes the columns. And in all fairness, this week's column is written by Barbara Mclaughlin, who is identified as a Capital staff Writer. But, whooaaaa, does it raise any red flags for you?

Take it a step further. Let's suppose my teenagers are deserving of such a recognition. Do you think The Capital might not consider them because their father writes that lousy, two-bit, useless, negative local blog whose URL shall not be mentioned???? The bottom line here is that even if it might be a "fuzzy" issue to choose or not to choose the young Mr. Geimer on account of his mother, at the very least, The Capital should have taken pains to make this very clear to we the readers--at the start of the article!

And, finally in the interest of full disclosure, CP is friendly with Ms. Winters and one of her children, who is also a school buddy of one of CP's children. I hope that has absolutely none, zero, nada, any effect whatsoever on having my boys chosen at TOTW......

Nine Times Our City's Annual Budget....Every Day

CP recently said the costs of this war folly in Iraq are too high to calculate. See what the American Friend's Service Committee says in a short video. I don't always agree with their extreme pacifist views or foreign policy ideals, but hey, they say it costs us $720 million per day.......and in local terms, that is more than 9 times our city's annual budget.....every day.....now going on five years...

www.afsc.org/cost/?gclid=CIHjjJuBrpICFRE0FQod-32ERg

Mea Culpa. Yes On One But Maybe Not On The Other

Earlier this week, CP wrote two posts:

Once Again, Capital's Eric Hartley Is Right On The Money...and on CP's Coat-tails

and

Did He Die Defending Freedom? Does His Death Enhance Our Security?

These posts elicited the following response from a photographer at The Capital:

Hello Paul,
I considered writing the other day and defending the reputation of Capital writer (and colleague of mine) Eric Hartley, whom I know to be one of the finest reporters I've ever been lucky enough to work with. You didn't exactly use the "P" word in your post concerning similarities between his columns and your blog, but I get the feeling you wanted to.
Perhaps if I had written, you would have thought twice before posting a photograph today without any refrence (sic) to the photographer that captured the scene or the newspaper that originally published it. The excellent photo in question was shot by Baltimore Sun photographer Kim Hairston. The cutline on the Sun site is as follows : Ursula Bowen (center) stands outside St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church after the funeral of her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Collin J. Bowen, a member of the Maryland National Guard. Standing with Ursula are (from left) Erin, 13; Katelyn, 10, (Sgt. Bowen's daughters from a previous marriage) and Gabriela, 3. (Sun photo by Kim Hairston / March 25, 2008)
I know from experience that these photographs are neither easy to capture nor easy to live with afterwards. Proper credit should be given to Ms Hairston, and to the Sun for their work.
This blog is clearly a labor of love for you, it shows in your engaging stories and commitment to the community. And pointing out the follies of the local media is a service, especially when the media deserves it. Which I freely admit we often do. But you can't have it both ways when it comes to credit.
Thanks for your time,
Joshua McKerrow/Capital Newspaper Photojournalist
jmckerrow@hotmail.com

CP thanks Mr. McKerrow for his letter and for his criticisms as well as compliments. I think there are two issues here. The first one is the credit line to the Baltimore Sun. CP often writes about and responds to items in our local and two "regional" newspapers. Mr. McKerrow is correct. It should never have happened. My inadvertent mistake has been corrected.

The second concern is murkier. I have also heard from Mr. Hartley and have responded with an apology. In turn he has written back and I to him again. I think we both have come to better understand each other and our situation as a result. That correspondence shall remain between he and I, however, the record shows I have repeatedly praised his writings, mentioned his columns and referred many readers to The Capital's site where his columns are posted. I have also repeatedly written on the topic of overhauling and transforming public housing for many months before his column appeared.

I write this blog as an independent public service, and without compensation. Mr. Hartley writes for a multi-million dollar news media company and receives a salary, benefits and an office--and a visible readership. CP, on the other hand, has actually promoted Mr. Hartley and his columns and his paper, because I see this as part of my role as a public servant, in creating a forum for news. If I had never praised Mr. Hartley, this might be a different matter. If I had never referred readers to his columns, it would have been a different matter. And finally, and most importantly, if I had not felt that Mr. Hartley had written on similar topics after I had been writing about them, this would have been a different matter. That is likely a function of the "contagion" of news and our concern with pressing issues of local concern. Perhaps I was too sensitive about this.

To say, as I have said, that "Hartley is Right On The Money...and on CP's coat-tails" is hardly screaming "plagiarism" and certainly was not intended to be defamatory or negative. However, if anything, I am guilty of being obtuse.

Mr. McKerrow wrote that I "did not exactly use the 'P' word [by which he means plagiarism] but he is wrong in saying, "I get the feeling you wanted to". Plagiarism is an increasingly complicated topic, thanks to the internet, and it is a serious charge whose penalties can also be serious. Any readers who wish to know more are directed to study the definitions of plagiarism and of "coattails."

As always, CP strives to be fair and accountable, and since I consistently accused former Capital columnists Joe Gross and Eric Smith of rarely if ever being fair or accountable, I take Mr. McKerrow's concerns seriously. I will continue to point readers to Mr. Hartley's columns when they deserve special mention. Please feel free to send your comments.

Officer Hurt in Line of Duty. We Thank the Officer and Wish Him or Her Our Best

Early this morning, right in front of CP's home, two police cars, with lights flashing, stopped a loud truck and woke me up. I was curious and was able to hear why the truck was stopped. It was related to outsiders coming in to one of our public housing projects. The driver and occupant were questioned while outside the car. The story below from our police report, is probably unrelated, but it serves to shed some light on early morning activities in our neighborhoods.

ASSAULT ON OFFICER, VEHICLE PURSUIT
March 27th, 2008

On March 27th at 2:45 AM, an officer on foot patrol saw a drug
transaction occur between a motorist and a pedestrian in the 1800 block
of Bowman Court. The officer approached the driver and tried to stop
him, but the suspect backed his truck up, striking the officer with the
mirror of the vehicle as he did so. The officer was struck on the arm
and chest area, and the mirror broke off of the truck. The officer ran
after the truck, and it stopped briefly. The suspect again began to
drive off, and the officer broke out the driver*s side mirror with his
flashlight. The officer reached in the truck and tried to put it into
park while telling the suspect that he was under arrest. The suspect
accelerated, knocking the officer backwards, and sped off. The suspect
then fled the scene. An officer in a marked police car was at Admiral
Drive and Bowman when the suspect left Bowman Drive. That officer tried
to block the suspect*s path, but the suspect left the roadway, driving
up over a curb and around the police car. Officers pursued as the
suspect went on West Street, to Old Solomon*s Island Road, then to
Forest Drive, and onto Southbound Route 2. Anne Arundel County and
State Police joined in the pursuit. State Troopers deployed * stop
sticks*, which are devices that flatten a car*s tires. The suspect
drove his truck over the device and his tires were deflated. The suspect
continued driving on the flattened tires for approximately one mile,
before coming to a stop in the 400 block of West Chesapeake Beach Road
in Friendship, Maryland. The driver was identified as Derek James Ward,
21, of Tracy*s Landing. He was arrested and charged with First Degree
Assault, numerous Traffic Offenses, and other related offenses. The
original officer suffered minor injuries. (08-001780)

Did He Die Defending Freedom? Does His Death Enhance Our Security?

Ursula Bowen (center) stands outside St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church after the funeral of her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Collin J. Bowen, a member of the Maryland National Guard. Standing with Ursula are (from left) Erin, 13; Katelyn, 10, (Sgt. Bowen's daughters from a previous marriage) and Gabriela, 3. (Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston / March 25, 2008)





Although Sergeant Bowen served and died in Afghanistan, CP openly opposed this war of folly in Iraq by protesting in public and by writing letters to the newspaper and elected officials. I wondered why we did not send divisions to Afghanistan, rather then the few brigades or so we have there now. The Taliban and Al Qaida, our real enemies, were in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but there was no oil to be had. Only poppies. Instead, we invaded Iraq and it has been a disaster in every way imaginable. I have always said the other real enemies are Saudi Arabia and Iran. They need to be dealt with. They hate us. Diplomacy needs to be applied. We have only ruined Iraq and helped Iran and the Al Qaida.

Meanwhile, China watches and laughs, paying our debts, hosting the Olympics and cracking down on Tibet. Talk about invading a country! Where is the outcry about Tibet? I guess we don't hear much because they have not yet pinned it on "The Zionists" and there are no poor Arabs or Palestinians there....or no oil (that's my slam against the left and peace weenies in case you did not notice..).

I could have chosen a photo of a soldier from MD who died in Iraq instead, but this allows us the opportunity to think about Iraq versus Afghanistan, about a "good" war or a "bad" war. To be clear, I am not a peace-weenie pacifist. I think World War 2, about which I have read a lot, and in which my father and all my uncles served, was crucial to human freedom. I think we were justified in dropping the A and H bombs which saved lives and saved Japan.

However, that war came about in many respects, because we allowed it, such as letting Hitler run into Spain in the 30's, not dealing properly with Japan, and we were unprepared. But I digress. When I warned how Iraq would be "another Vietnam" some people said I did not know my history, but my brother served during the Vietnam era, and I remembered the nightly news broadcasts, the protests and the war here at home. Yes, we had a war at home! A few years ago, I had a neighbor, a Marine officer, who was sent to Kuwait and Iraq. We spent nearly every day with his family while he was overseas. Another Marine officer on my street was upset that all of his "guys" as he put it, were over there and he was not. I have seen this war at home too.

Five years later, four-thousand American dead, and trillions and trillions spent. Division at home. Deficits. Families torn apart. Police and fire fighters sent away. Iraq in shambles. The entire Middle East in worse shape than before. We fought a war against vastly more powerful enemies on two global fronts from 1941 to 1945 and we defeated them in less time.

We see no progress in Iraq. We have not calculated the real costs. They are too high.

The only reason we have not reacted and put a stop to this as we finally we were able to do in Vietnam in the early 70's is simple. We are not being asked to pay for this now. We are not being drafted. Yet has anyone noticed how the disproportionate numbers of soldiers with Hispanic names who have been killed? That says a lot. Draw your own conclusions. The same is porably true for black soldiers.

Bush and company are liars. Plain and simple. The vast right wing conspiracy that worked overtime to destroy Clinton and found little after great cost and great energy was wasted, has ignored the lies and follies and unpatriotic behavior of the worst president in American history. I don't like that Clinton wagged his finger at me and lied and fooled around at his Oval office desk, but really. Let's be honest. It pales in comparison.

These same Republican liars that tried to label Clinton as a draft dodger ignored Bush's entire Texas Air National Guard schemes and lies. They instead went after John Kerry, who volunteered for dangerous duty in Vietnam and tried to pin him as a phony. They destroyed a real patriot, a disfigured veteran named Max Cleland of Georgia. Even Al Gore went to Vietnam. So he went as a journalist and his tour was short, but he and Kerry went there while Bush and his chicken hawk buddies got out. Kennedy was a decorated war hero, whose name, home state and war duty were similar to Kerry's and he ran against Goldwater who also served honorably in the Army Air Force and was a reserve general. And if you remember, George McGovern was a decorated war hero, a bomber pilot. Daddy George Bush was shot down over the water. Nixon served in the Navy in The Pacific. Se what I am getting at here?

I just had to get this out after seeing the photo of the three year old girl from Perry Hall whose father came home in a coffin.

America is on the way out. Our century has ended, sped on by Bush and company who reversed progress in so many areas and poisoned the well of respect we once enjoyed. Wiretapping. Torture. Firing federal prosecutors. Chasing young and older officers out of the military. Wiping out our military abilities. Bankrupting us. Allowing China to ascend globally. Making it hard for us to fill the ranks of police and firefighters. And then he has the audacity to tell us last week that the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice did so to secure peace.

It's the oldest lie in the book.

Remember this--when they torture abroad, we will be the next victims.

And we continue to swallow their lies.

Look at the widowed woman and her daughter.
HOW DOES THAT STRENGTHEN AMERICA????????

It's Never Too Late To Receive A Compliment

Today, "Anonymous" left a new comment on my post "MIDEAST PEACE....A GLIMMER OF HOPE" It was in response to a posting I made back in November during the "Annapolis Mid-East Peace Summit" in which I praised the visit and words of a brave and strong Egyptian woman named Nonie Darwish who calls upon her fellow Muslims to accept and make peace with Israel. Since then, many people have come to read my posting from her website, www.arabsforpeace.com Below is the nice comment I received:

"Read Nonie Darwish's book as a Book Club assignment. The discussion will be tonight. From that I went to her website which brought me to yours. So glad to learn more about others working together..and a web page can be very powerful..
Thanks."

Once Again, Capital's Eric Hartley Is Right On The Money...and on CP's Coat-tails

CP has called for a complete overhaul of our public housing "communities", as recently as Friday, March 21 writing, "We can throw money and resources at it but what we must do is discuss the long term transformation of public housing into something that is good for everyone and uplifts everyone. It cannot and must not remain anything like the way it has been for years. It only hurts those who live there and those who are affected by its negative aspects."

A couple of weeks ago, CP ran a poll on this topic, attracting some 55 respondents. Along comes The Capital's Eric Hartley, a columnist who has been mentioned and praised more than once at this blog, and whose writings have also been mentioned more than once for mirroring many things about which CP had already written. This time it is no different. In today's column, Hartley takes on our local public housing. His column is titled, Public housing needs overhaul, not a facelift and he says:

"Some people are talking about a radical solution: spreading subsidized housing throughout the city, rather than concentrating it in designated neighborhoods. There are a million questions to be answered about how it could happen. But the best argument for such an approach might be the simplest one: Nothing else has worked."

Maybe one day Eric will refer readers to one of CP's columns, or give CP some credit or at least acknowledge CP for writing repeatedly and consistently about local topics before he put pen to paper and published his column. Maybe.

Yet again, I shall refer readers to his column at www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/03_23-53/COL
and perhaps he'll do the same.....one day.....maybe....perhaps....could happen..who knows?