The Mumbai-Annapolis Connection

We are friends with Rabbi Nochum Light and his wife Hindy of the Annapolis Chabad Center and because Rabbi Light was a schoolmate and friend of the murdered Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivki of the Mumbai Chabad Center,the horror there has a connection to our lives here. Not only that, but because Jews were specifically targeted among the hundreds randomly murdered, Jews everywhere, including in Annapolis of course, feel an uncomfortable connection with this most recent act of terrorism. Whatever was the motive of the perpetrators of this violence, and whatever there reasons were for looking for Americans and British, we must never forget that when the antidemocratic, anti-Western, anti-secular terrorists go on a rampage, they specifically target Jews--not just Israelis, but Jews of any nationality. And that is when many of us ask, could it happen here?

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Eastporters Doing Good Things for Each Other

The "Girl's Club" of Eastport recently held a community celebration to highlight their activities for helping young ladies become more confident and successful. Please see the video at: Girl's Club

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CP's True Thanksgiving International Incident

This story took place one Thanksgiving many years ago when CP was guest at the home of the Australian Ambassador, whose son was a schoolmate. Foreign dignitaries and their families came, and the Ambassador consulted with American friends as to creating a "real" American holiday feast. The Ambassador called the 70 or so guests to their tables, welcomed them, made a few remarks about the future of Australian-American relations, and contrasted the differences between Australia's founding as "The Fatal Shore" for convicts versus that of America, as the land of hope and freedom etc., etc.

Toasts were made as I glanced around the room at the faces of the many different people from at least a dozen countries. Candles were lit, a prayer was said and the Ambassador called out, "Bring in the meal". Doors opened and a dozen chefs walked in with dishes, platters and bowls piled high with the scrumptious meal. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the ambassador's dog "Darwin" or at least I think that was his name, bolted up and made a mad dash for the kitchen, running into the head chef along the way. The chef teetered and slipped, his pan flew up as he elbowed the assistant chef who lost his balance, throwing his plates into the air, hitting the other chef right in the gut who fell sideways on to the ambassador's lap.

The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion but I remember it as if it were yesterday, including the pained and puzzled looked on the face of the ambassador's wife who instantly put her hands to her cheeks, screamed and broke into tears. Everyone scrambled to her aid and started to brush her off, help the chefs to their feet and somehow recompose the meal. The Ambassador took charge of everything, ordered champagne all around and we managed to somehow clean up and enjoy the evening, which otherwise went off without incident.

The next day I reported the entire incident which ran across the front page of The Washington Post as a banner headline:

International Collapse at Australian Ambassador's Home--Guests Witness The Downfall of Turkey, Splatter of Greece, Guinea Most Fowl, The Fall of Chile, and the Complete Breakup of China. Malta gets Milked, Masses Romania Hungary and ask for Samoa, Others demand to take it Togo, Question remains--Where Did The Ice-land? What About the Moldova the Floor? Is Sweden Low? Left-overs Placed on Iraq, Iran Away

Enjoy the holiday.....


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Intercity Bus Service Continues to Outpace Other Travel Modes....so why do we cut routes??

A new study by De Paul University shows that intercity bus service, that is service between one city and another, continues to show strong growth, reversing an earlier trend in the opposite direction. This growth trend began strongly in 2006, much of it attributable to fuel prices as might be expected.
So, the big question is, why did Governor Ehrlich cut the 210 route between Annapolis and Baltimore and why is the MTA now considering cutting other intercity, commuter routes, including the 921 serving Annapolis and new Carrollton. Governor O'Malley, please don't let it happen. We need these routes.

See the study at: IntercityBus

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From Our Police Reports...A Large and Growing Trend

6. TRAFFIC ARRESTS:

11/23 9:28 PM 2100 block of Forest Drive – a suspicious, occupied vehicle was checked. The driver was identified as Uziel Abisai Romero – Zepeda, 23, of Summerfield Drive. A check revealed that his license was suspended. He was charged with Driving On A Suspended License. (08-007337)

11/24 5:51 PM 1900 block of Forest Dr. - a traffic stop was made due to a car being driven with a faulty brake light. The driver was identified as Victor Salina Santiago, 20, of Severn Island Ct. A check revealed that he did not have a license. He was charged with Driving Without a License. (08-007351)

11/25 5:42 PM 1800 block of Forest Dr. - a traffic stop was made due to a car being driven with a faulty brake light. The driver was identified as Mario Merino De La Cruz, 32, of Tyler Avenue. A check revealed that he did not have a license. He was charged with Driving Without a License. (08-007371)

The three above are by no means unusual. They are indicative of a serious crime and public safety issue which anyone can see from the daily police reports. The emphasis of the names above in bold are mine, not that of APD.

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District 30 Requests that MTA Route 921 Be Spared

CP provides a copy of a letter just sent to state officials from the District 30 delegation urging the MTA not to cut the 921 bus route. CP would like to thank the delegation and especially Delegate George for his leadership. Now it's time for each of us to call the governor. By the way, I recently read an article about how the Governor and his long-time pal, Michael Enright, who serves as his chief of staff, met while at a bus stop--in high school! Never underestimate the power of public transit to connect people and communities. For contact info: State House

November 25, 2008

Mr. Paul Wiedefeld
Maryland Department of Transportation
6 Saint Paul Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202-1614

Dear Mr. Wiedefeld,

We are very concerned about the negative impact the termination of the 921 commuter bus route from Annapolis to New Carrollton could cause. As the delegation representing District 30, we have been receiving numerous concerns from constituents regarding this proposal and had staff attend the hearing in Annapolis last week.

We also are acutely aware of the budget constraints facing your department, and understand the need for cost savings. However, the 921 offers a link between Annapolis and the DC metro region that other busses do not. Some riders have no other choices due to their schedule or where they are going. We ask for consideration of the following suggestions:

* Currently, two buses offer 20 trips/day. Though this schedule offers choices to patrons, eliminating one round would still offer the route while cutting costs.
* Increase fares to reduce subsidy. Riders seem to be willing to pay more to keep the service.
* When the bus contract is renegotiated, consider using a smaller bus based on ridership statistics.
* Increase publicity of the 921 service with particular emphasis on the fact that this bus stops at a Metro and Marc Train Station (New Carrollton).

We respectfully urge you to retain the 921 Commuter Bus Route in some form, or at a minimum delay termination until results of any proposed modifications are assessed. As we encourage citizens to use public transportation to lessen pollution and congestion, removing an important link between state and national capitals is not preferred.

We thank you for being open to input from the public, and look forward to working with you to provide services to our citizens while managing fiscal reality responsibly.

Sincerely,

John C. Astle
State Senate

Michael E. Busch
Speaker of the House

Virginia P. Clagett
House of Delegates

Ronald A. George
House of Delegates


Cc:Governor Martin O’Malley
Secretary John Porcari
Mr. Glenn Litsinger, MTA

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City Manager....The Time Approacheth

The biggest issue on the table at last night's City Council meeting was:
A: Who will get the lease for the boat show?
B. Will we have a city manager/council form of government?

Based on the crowd that came out regarding A versus those testifying about B, we can only conclude that clearly A is most important. What is wrong? Many of us have written and spoken about this issue and a recent poll on CP showed overwhelmingly strong support. So what happened last night? A few observations:

1. There are a number of amendments floating around, including a ridiculous one submitted by three potential mayoral candidates to basically obfuscate the entire thing, so even some of the most informed are a bit confused. A Rules Committee meeting today may clarify. Or maybe not.

2. While some two dozen people strongly supported a city manager form of government, about a handful spoke against it. Of them, one was brief and erroneously claimed it would add another layer of bureaucracy. Another was rambling, incoherent and almost laughable in its confused and meandering claims. Don-Lamb Minor, a special advisor or consultant (she seems to have a few of these....are these sole-source contracts? Talk about accountability...) to the mayor claimed that while there are tens of thousands of cities and counties, only about fifteen percent of them by total have chosen this style of government. The former delegate should have identified himself as a consultant working for the mayor and his point was not relevant. Former Alderman and now County Councilman Josh Cohen was concerned that the oft-touted city's increase in complexity was not relevant, considering how larger governments operate without such a system. What Cohen fails to realize is that with AA County, which he used as an example, Mr. Leopold does not sit on the council, much less chair that body, while in our city, the mayor serves as chief executive AND council chair. Community activist Rob Eades used his testimony to again question the motives of those wishing to transform public housing but he did explain why he supported having a strong mayor--clear accountability.

3. It's not necessary to recount the testimony of the many more people, including CP, who spoke on behalf of a city manager style. What was most telling was the behavior of the mayor, whose words and actions not only make her into her own worst enemy, they actually bolster her opponents by showing how executive power can be misused. And we are the ones who get misused...Almost every speaker was browbeaten by the mayor who insisted on arguing, questioning details, and making sure she could get the last word. The consistent level of disrespect shown toward we the people was outrageous.

4. Longtime resident and activist Bob Slawson of Eastport boldly used Marketgate as an example, asserting that a city manager would have had the professional and executive ability to have averted such a crisis. Oops. Even CP was shocked. Of course, the mayor then let in to a diatribe about how it was the city council who messed that one up. See my point? It is behavior such as that shown last night that underscores the need for a seasoned executive. The buck has to stop somewhere. So if it's not the Market House, let's talk about the police station. And we must mention, were any city employees who contributed to any of those messes held accountable?

6. The most unusual and perhaps most telling of all testimony came from a former cable company lawyer who spoke of his experiences negotiating contracts in different US cities. He made a strong case in favor of a city manager form of government for a variety of convincing reasons, which he carefully explained.

7. One highlight of the evening for CP was when former mayoral candidate Gil Renault stood up to say how long he has supported a city manager style of government. CP supported Renault in his bid for mayor and urged him to let CP draft a position statement strongly in favor of a city manager. Renault agreed. I went to work. Renault sat on the paper. And sat. After a couple of requests to act, Renault finally decided he did not want to come out publicly in favor of such a proposal. But last night, he must have remembered events somewhat differently. At least we can say that this mayor who defeated Renault is not afraid to act.

8. Representatives from the Ward 1 and Eastport Civic Association as well as the Eastport Business Ass'n and Annapolis Business Ass'n spoke in favor of a city manager. That covers the two largest business and two largest citizen's group in the two most wactive city wards. That's a pretty strong statement.

The mayor sees this as a referendum about and as a challenge to her. Not so--as many of us have testified. But the more she acts like that, the more it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. While Arnett, Shropshire, Cordle and Stankivic are behind a city manager style and are not considering a run for mayor, it may very well be that Finlayson, Cordle and Hoyle are considering that, which may explain a few things. So which "caucus" is playing politics? Hmmm.....

There are those who believe this should go to a referendum and/or perhaps become the big issue in the mayoral race. "Let the people decide" they say. Okay, so instead of a republic, we'll have a plebiscite in operation. Why don't we all serve on city council instead of electing a small group? How ironic and telling it is that while many dozens and dozens made a stand about the boat show lease, as soon as that was over, the Council Chambers cleared out. Referendum indeed! We get the government we deserve. (By the way, reports are that the mayor's Friday afternoon "Let's Talk" sessions are attracting zero to three or four residents each week.)

Eric Hartley, columnist for our local newspaper opined that we just need a new mayor, not a new form of government. CP thinks he has not been in this town long enough to see the deeper side of this issue, which he is skirting anyhow. It's this form of government which allows a mayor to have too much of an impact and influence--and power. And it's this form of government which does not insist upon professional management expertise. He seems to forget that it takes four years to wear out a mayor-and sometimes eight, whereas an under-performing city manager can be terminated by a council majority. And finally, he played right into the mayor's hand so she can now say, "I told you so. They're just trying to get back at me....etc...etc...ad infinitum...ad nauseum....Eric--I have often praised your pieces but you're wrong on this one. However, thanks for mentioning me in your columns, but geeze--could you not have at least provided the name of the blog? Otherwise why even bother mentioning me as a blogger?

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Robocalls From The Mayor/Magazines from the Mayor

Many of us are getting "robocalls" from Mayor Ellen Moyer telling us about the imminent arrival of the city magazine. Yawn. Why did she wait until the end to identify herself and say it was paid for by Friends of Ellen Moyer? I guess that answers part of the question about why she is raising money. It' so she can call to tell us that we are getting a magazine that tells us all the good things she is doing...so she can get more money from some of us...and then tell us more about what she is doing....or something like that. At least she did not use it to tell us to vote against the City Manager Charter Amendment.
It will be interesting to see if the Transportation Department--the one department visibly absent from the last issue-and the only one with a full-time marketing person--makes a submission to this issue. I have praised this particular magazine in a previous post. There is a lot of good to be said about it and it came out of the idea of saving money on printing multiple publications from various departments, mainly parks and recreation. Although I find the issues to be very "busy" and overfilled with lots of teeny photos, and much of it is the mayor tooting her own horn, it does fill a valuable purpose in informing us about our government.

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Another Shooting in Annapolis

UPDATED ON November 23rd, 2008 12:30 PM

Release Date: November 22nd, 2008
Release Time: 9:50 PM

RE: SHOOTING UPDATE
The victim’s name is still being withheld. He is a local ( though not a resident of the area of the shooting) man in his mid - 20's. His condition is considered to be non life - threatening.
There is still no suspect or motive information, as detectives continue to investigate the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the Annapolis Police at 410-268-4141.

ORIGINAL RELEASE:
At approximately 8:42 PM on November 22nd, 2008, Police Dispatch received a report of a shooting in the 1300 block of Tyler Avenue. A male victim was found on the scene suffering from a gunshot wound(s). The victim was flown to Shock- Trauma in Baltimore. His condition is unknown at this time.
Police are in the initial phases of the investigation at this time, checking for physical evidence and attempting to locate witnesses. The victim’s name is being withheld pending suitable time for family notifications. There is no suspect, motive, or further information available at this time. Further details will be released as they become available.

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Ward One Civic Association President Weighs in On The City Manager Debate

By invitation from CP, Ward One Civic Association President Doug Smith offers his views on the latest "city manager" legislation sponsored by Ald. Cordle, Finlayson, and Hoyle. [CA-06-08]. CP is in complete agreement with Mr Smith (except for his suggestion that we focus on light rail transit)and continues to fully support council members Arnett and Israel on this very important piece of legislation. As it stands now, members Cordle, Hoyle and Finlayson, an unlikely trio if there ever was one, and at least two if not all of them considering a run for mayor, are trying to derail this growing citizen-led demand for change.

I have learned from one reliable source that neither Finlayson nor Hoyle had read the legislation upon which their names appear and that Cordle had little to do with drafting it. This, I am told, was mainly done by City Administrator (can you say sinecure) Bob Agee and by Moyer associate and former Delegate Don Lamb Minor. It is highly unlikely that the International City Management Association would recognize the reality of the trio's proposal as a Council Manager form of government and no certified city manager would take the job. Where would that leave us? At this point, Alderman Paone appears to be the remaining swing vote as Stankivic and Shropshire are likely to align with Israel and Arnett and the mayor, well that would be pretty obvious. Please attend the city council hearing this Monday night and testify. And now, Mr Smith:

In the paragraphs below, I have highlighted some of the elements of this newest submission, and then I offer a comparison to the Arnett/ Israel document. [CA-05-08]. In short, these two bills are about as different as night and day. I will state up front that I strongly support the Arnett/ Israel legislation that establishes a true Council-Manager structure, utilizing a professionally –trained city manager. Both versions can be read in full on the city web site.

The Cordle/Finlayson/Hoyle [CA-06-08] legislation reinforces what we have today. The job title ‘city administrator’ changes to ‘city manager.’ However, a title change does nothing to change the structure of city government. The office of the mayor retains 99% of the power.
Compensation of each director must be approved by the mayor.

The city manager shall be a direct subordinate of the mayor
The city manager shall be appointed by the mayor
The city manager may be removed from office by the mayor.
The compensation of the city manager shall be fixed by the mayor
The city manager can exercise supervisory authority over department directors, [my observation – but final authority for hiring, firing and compensation rests with the mayor.]

Comparison to legislation offered by Ald. Arnett, Israel, Stankivic, and Shropshire [CA-05-08]

What changes if we adopt the Arnett/Israel amendment?

CA-05-08 would amend the city charter to adopt the Council-Manager form of government. The choice of words is important. The ‘Council’, (mayor and aldermen) are clearly responsible for the direction of the city, as our elected representatives. The ‘Manager’ refers to the city manager position. The city manager would report to the council. In our case, the position of city administrator would be eliminated and replaced with a professionally trained City Manager.

Here are the key differences to our current structure:

1. The decision-making authority for the city would now be shared across all members of City Council. (mayor and aldermen).
2. The City Manager, hired by and reporting to the council, would serve at the pleasure of City Council, would be measured on performance, and would implement the policies a set by our elected officials.
3. All department heads would report to the City Manager, who would have authority for hiring, firing, and compensation. The City Manager is responsibility for good day-to-day operations of the city; accountable for job performance of all city employees; and has the authority to reward people for good work and make changes where necessary.

Why is this better government?

One of the most important advantages to this change is a balancing of power across all of our elected officials. Today, power is very heavily concentrated in the office of mayor.

By having the City Manager report to City Council, your aldermen will have a stronger voice in the major decisions affecting our city. For voters, this means greater representation and a stronger voice in the direction we would like to see. We (voters) will be just as involved and just as active with the Council-Manager structure as we are today.

We will benefit by having the day-to-day operations of the city managed by a skilled professional, with experience and training in public finance, public administration, and municipal management. A candidate for city manager would be hired on the basis of education and prior job performance. This is not a political appointment.

You would want to retain a good city manager from one administration to the next. If a particular city manager does not work out, that person can be terminated at any time, based on performance – there is no waiting for the next election cycle.

Considering the size and complexity of managing the city of Annapolis, it is unrealistic to expect a candidate for mayor – or even a group of aldermen – to have both political leadership skills as well as in-depth management experience in public administration. The proposed change enables us to attract good political leaders for the positions of mayor and alderman, and at the same time hire a very competent city manager who is directly accountable to our elected officials.

Why do we need to make a change now?

The Annapolis budget has grown from $54.6 M in 2002, to our current budget of $81M. We have approximately 530 employees. We have quickly become a large and complex organization. Other cities of our size have experienced the same growing pains and have found the Council-Manager structure to be very successful. In fact, over 3,500 cities use this structure today, with 40-50 cities moving to this structure every year.

We face significant financial challenges with reduced tax revenue and the growing need for expensive infrastructure repair. The city faces significant challenges in terms of traffic, parking, mass transit, economic development, etc. These are exactly the types of problems where a skilled city manager can be of tremendous help to the next administration. With the downturn in the economy, the city needs to tighten its belt just like everyone else. We need a professional manager to look for ways to reduce cost and find more effective ways to deliver city services.

We all benefit with increased accountability and transparency at all levels of government. The Council-Manager structure will give the aldermen more accountability for our government process. We will have clear accountability for operations with a city manager.

How will this change the role of mayor, alderman, or citizen involvement?

The voters remain the ultimate, final authority on how we want the city of Annapolis to be managed. Our elected officials reflect the wishes of the voters. We will continue to look to the mayor and aldermen to set policy, make decisions, pass legislation, and map out the vision for the city. The city manager will be responsible for implementing the direction set by our elected officials.

The mayor’s role is critical as the political leader of the city. By shifting day–to-day operations to city manager, the mayor would provide leadership, working with the aldermen, to focus on the major (big) policy issues facing the city, such as parking, traffic flow, light rail transit, a plan for City Dock, revitalization of public housing, etc. The mayor will have an increasingly important responsibility to build strong working relationships with county, state and federal officials, as we tackle regional transportation issues, alternative energy sources, and development of properties within and around Annapolis.

Citizens will continue to interact with the city as they do today. We can talk to whomever we wish - the mayor, our aldermen or city hall. Citizen commissions and active volunteer organizations will continue to be just as important as ever.

Next Steps

On Nov. 24, we all have an opportunity to speak at the public hearing. We believe the recommended change to Council-Manager represents a major improvement and evolution in the structure of our city government.

Following the Public Hearing, the legislation goes to the Rules Committee. We would expect a vote by City Council in early January.

Doug Smith, President Ward One Association

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Don't Let the MTA Kill the 921 Bus. We Must Go to the Governor!

CP has been writing about this for weeks and last thursday night, I joined some fifty other bus supporters to urge the MTA NOT TO CUT the 921 Bus. Did they listen? They have a job to do and that is to cut something to save money. Transit is an easy target. Commuter routes are even easier. Commuter routes that are not as heavily used as others are easiest. However, ridership and revenue are up on this route.

This is what our local newspaper had to say:

Annapolis resident Paul Foer encouraged residents to take their concerns beyond the meeting and to Gov. Martin O'Malley. He encouraged everyone to stand and raise their hands if they wanted to keep the bus route.

"It's unforgivable that a state agency would be cutting routes," Mr. Foer said. "Only making a lot of noise to the governor is going to make a difference."

What the newspaper did not say is that all of you did indeed raise your hands and stand up. All of you did! Let us all join together and go to Governor O'Malley. You have already collected a petition. Excellent--now let's get that to him right away. Contact your state delegates and senators. Some of you have already done so and some of them are writing to MTA and maybe even the governor...but the governor needs to see you and to hear you. I am not a regular customer, but those of you that are must band together and get active. Let me know how I can help.

See the newspaper story at: 921

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In Today's Religion News.....

We read that a "Malaysian Islamic body bans yoga for Muslims" and ask why not? It has already banned tomboys and non-Muslims from saying "Allah." See: What's next on the list? Yogurt? Blogging?

We also learn that the "Vatican forgives John Lennon for Jesus quip. In 1966, Lennon said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ." See: All we are saying is give peace a chance

Whether your day of rest is Friday or Saturday or Sunday, we wish you well. Thanksgiving is coming and then we won't be able to do anything but shop and buy and hear stupid jingles for weeks.

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Forget Rail...Focus on Our Bus System....

For years, CP has been urging local leaders and citizens to stop screaming for rail, streetcars, trams, gondolas or whatever other transit flavor of the month option suits their fancy. Instead, we must rebuild our existing bus system that we already own and operate. Then CP found this opinion piece online from a recent edition of the Durham, NC newspaper in which a very informed writer says the same thing for his community. Read on:

Forget rail, let's update our existing TTA system

By Mike West : Guest columnist ,The Herald-Sun, Nov 23, 2008

I can understand how it is "sexy" to talk and day dream about a proposed $1-billion rail transit system and contemplate "updated" trolleys for downtown Durham.

But what the Herald Sun editors, business and government supporters of these grandiose and costly proposals fail to address or even discuss, is how best to utilize, deploy, and improve our existing transit systems -- especially the Triangle Transit Authority bus system.

Here is my modest proposal for suggested changes and improvements to the TTA bus system:

* Replace the pitifully inadequate Durham bus stop signs with actual pedestrian shelters with seating.

* Provide curb realignment so buses can pull out of the traffic lanes to load passengers.

* Employ bus rapid transit (BRT) dedicated bus lanes that operate separate from all other traffic modes along the I-40 corridor.

* Install electronic signage at the main downtown bus station that announces approaching buses and that update bus schedules in real time. Provide bus schedule signage at all TTA bus stops.

* Invest more money into sidewalk construction and connect those sidewalks that "go nowhere" - especially to other transportation nodes like bus stops, taxi stands and train platforms.

* Offer some amenities on the bus. How about music (jazz or soft rock) and complimentary newspapers? At the very least, bus schedule brochures should be made available to all bus riding patrons.

* Allow seniors to ride free on selected days and offer back-to-school ride specials to returning Duke, N. C. Central and other school students at the start of semesters. Offer other free ride days to generate awareness and excitement.

* Work together with RTP businesses to offer morning and afternoon express bus routes from downtown Durham to RTP business sites.

* Do a better job of marketing and promoting our local Durham TTA bus system as a viable transit option.

* Restart stalled negotiations with both Raleigh and Chapel Hill on a tri-city regional bus system that would benefit the entire region.

You can tell me these are all impractical and impossible to implement, but consider this point. We have Herald-Sun editors, business and government leaders who are eager and ready to spend our taxpayers' money on a $1 billion boondoggle.

There is now discussion to have local officials bypass the public (once again) and move forward with transit funding from taxpayers' sources that do not require voters' approval. The Herald-Sun's justification is that our leaders know how best to spend our money.

Obviously as one attempts to navigate a car along Durham's crumbling pavement and potholed streets while local officials plead for taxpayers' money to build baseball museums, our leaders have their spending priorities straight -- don't they?

My modest proposal may not be popular and certainly few city or local business leaders are publicly discussing this alternative transit option. But doesn't it make more sense to take a fraction of the proposed $1 billion and instead of dumping it into a huge sinkhole called rail, invest it into improving our existing TTA bus system?

It's not rocket science folks, just some common sense.

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