Circuit City Unplugged...Time to Charge on Over for Current Sales

The $10 billion dollar company with 34,000 employees is getting zapped! Liquidation sales are already underway. Get in line for the organized and legal looting of this 60-year old company based in Richmond, Va. You know there is a store on Jennifer Road. Let's see....I can use a new camera (lost the old one), always need disks, paper, cartridges, maybe an external hard drive too...hmmm....what else???...the old tv is real old....course, I ain't got no money to buy nuthin' either....and on a more sobering note...our credit crisis is quickly turning into a massive unemployment crisis...we can live without Circuit City but now 34,000 men and women will have to figure out where the next paychecks are coming from....Same thing with the great Steve and Barry's chain of discount clothing--CP went there a few weeks ago before their Glen Bunie store closed and got a down jacket for $9.00.....it's a great time to be a bargain shopper, a store liquidator or a foreclosure lawyer....and probably a banker too! California is about to go bankrupt...We have nothing to fear but fear itself. ..We have only one hope, only one person to turn to....OBAMAMAN to the rescue!!! Ta da! Well, maybe....maybe not.....But I'm sharpening' up my shovel....got my shovel ready just in case...only problem is the ground is frozen! Clunk. Let's pray for global warming to thaw things out...I need stimulus...I need stimulus...Actually, as the Ramones sang, I want to be sedated....

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Trudy McFall, Police Chief Pristoop On Lineup for Next Two Sip N' Blogs at Ahh, Coffee!

But first, some Kommentary........Karl Marx, in perhaps one of his more idealistic moods, once postulated about the glorious future of life in communist society saying that it would allow individuals "to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic"

Well, that's not exactly what CP has in mind for our increasingly popular Sip N' Blogs at Eastport's Ahh, Coffee! but it is a great place to meet neighbors and friends in the morning without hunting....for a parking space...especially if you walk or ride a bike or take a bus. And we tend to do our criticizing at breakfast time. But other than, we are exactly what Marx had in mind...at least those of us that fish in the afternoon or criticize after dinner....

Coming up at for our next Sip N' Blog on Jan. 22 is mayoral candidate Trudy McFall.
On Jan. 29 we welcome Police Chief Michael Pristoop

In recent Sip N'Blogs we have enjoyed coffee and conversation with Delegate Ron George, former Mayor Dean Johnson and then with Ward One Association President Doug Smith and Ward One Activist Bill Kardash.

MRE Passports will be checked at the bridge or at the door. See you there, Thursdays at Ahh, Coffee! in the Eastport Shopping Center at 8 am.

(If you wish to be a featured guest, do something worthwhile and important, have a special opinion or knowledge of something and you may get invited. Either that or send in a big donation...)

I'm using my web-site to spread Marxist propaganda. I guess that make me a dot-commie...the above image purposely placed left of center....

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The Official George Bush Presidential Librarium...Fun for All

The Official George Bush Presidential Librarium.....the entrance gives you two choices; You're With Us or You're Against Us....warning--if you think the last eight years of him have proven fruitful or effective or beneficial....you may not like this...but, if you think Bush has been a disaster, maybe you will like visiting his Librarium.

I especially like the "Prisoners of the Caribbean"where you're invited to "go offshore to this lawless paradise....You'll never want to get voted off this island and you never will..."

And there is the Stay the Course miniature golf, the Colin Powell statue where the pigeons decide what's right and the Golden Parachute Ride where you get to experience the Incredible Lightness of Being a CEO....experience the wondrous world of Bush at goodnightbush

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First Official Entry to Aldermanic Race?

A Ward Three Republican may be the first to enter the Aldermanic Race. Scott Bowling of Fairfax Avenue, a mortgage broker and political activist, previously ran unsuccessfully against Classie Hoyle in Ward Three. It is not known at this time whether Hoyle is seeking re-election or possibly considering a bid for mayor. Bowling writes sporadically from his blog "Talk of Annapolis". I received this information directly from Bowling but it was too late on Friday to confirm this with the City Clerk.

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Annie (as in Annapolis), Grab Your Shovel!

In case you have been hibernating all week, President Elect Obama is planning a huge economic stimulus package. Heck--it's in the newspaper!

Published in today's (January 16th) local newspaper:

Annapolis has $75 million in 'shovel-ready' projects

I published about it here on January 9th, one week earlier:

Shovel Ready- Stimuli...the kind of change we can believe in...I am stimulated...I am stimulated...

Maybe our local newspaper needs to get its news shovel out of the shed. Yeah, my shovel's ready. How about yours?

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Arundel Muckraker: Cheerleading money vanished; nepotism found in school transportation office

From our "sister blog" The Arundel Muckraker:

School investigators found employees hired family to do work. Officials say missing cheer money has been recovered.

A county school system employee inappropriately hired her family to do some odd jobs around her office during the last school year, and a Glen Burnie coach embezzled money from the school's cheerleading program, documents obtained by The Muckraker show and you can read at:
arundelmuckraker

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Phillips Seafood Out---Hell Point and Sailing Hall In at City Dock

The Washington Business Journal reports that The Phillips restaurant in Annapolis will close this month to be replaced by Hell Point Seafood. Some of the space, which includes outdoor seating,  is under contract by the National Sailing Hall of Fame. The real estate is valued at $2.9 million, according to state property records.

For the rest of the story, you can Go Straight To Hell Point  Right Now.

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Curb Your Dog. Curb Your Car. Curb Your Enthusiasm, We're Getting Sued Again.....for a curb

CP has repeatedly and consistently maintained that nobody yet everybody is in charge of managing parking in this city. Responsibilities are thinly spread between the police, transportation, finance and other departments, and now we find Public Works as well. Oh could I tell you stories. CP used to sit just a few feet away from the computer that stored all the daily parking fine and revenue data. On most days, finance department employees based in the transportation department handled the daily backup. On days that person was absent, I did the backups. Despite my requests to the Transportation Director, no system was ever put in place to see the tapes got backed up and on days both Finance employees and I were absent, I would return to work to find there had been no backups (They may have been backed up elsewhere--for example the server at the contractor who handled collections...???)

It gets worse and has led to a lawsuit. See today's local paper for a story that will make you wonder even more....see:
curb your enthusiasm. In this story, the newspaper reports that "Steve Kling, acting city attorney, and Mr. McAlister, who oversees such parking restrictions for the city, did not return calls for comment."

Ohh. Curb my surprise. Kling was probably busy not reviewing the boat show lease at the time.

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It's Cold Outside....But Mayoral Race Heats Up.....

Like a battleship appearing off the coast, the official entry of  the well-funded and well-organized Trudy McFall into our mayoral race has caused a bustle of activity for those on shore and at sea. (Damn-did I really say that? I hate those "battle" and "war" analogues! Last time--I swear!) Another player just sailed into view as Alderman Sam Shropshire will announce his candidacy for Mayor at the Alex Haley Memorial at Annapolis City Dock this Friday, January 16, 4:00 p.m. . Shropshire has a web-site, friendsofsam, by authority of Carrie Clemmer, Treasurer.

Shropshire writes, "I have a vision for Annapolis that I believe will make it one of the most progressive cities in the nation. But with today's economic and financial challenges, my first priority will be to strengthen the city's economy, bring work to the citizen's of Annapolis and address some of the serious infrastructure problems," he said. "You have to take care of the basics, before you can take a city forward. Ask me about the vision. I think you'll be pleased and surprised. Work with me to solve our problems, and together we will solve create a better future for this and future generations."

Rumors abound concerning Josh Cohen's possible entry into the race and that of Dick Israel as well. Today I received numerous communications from reliable sources informing me that Israel has decided NOT to pursue the big chair, but to stay in his current seat on city council. I'll try to confirm. Cohen remains officially on the fence, but another reliable source has told CP that he has an official campaign manager already. Cohen would not confirm or deny--he is weighing his options. However, in an email today, Cohen writes, "I wish Sam the best and he certainly brings strong environmental credentials to the campaign (Not an endorsement, just a statement). I am unable to attend his announcement tomorrow due to a work obligation. Otherwise I would be there. Just don't want you to read anything into my presence at Trudy's announcement but absence from Sam's."

The only thing CP reads into it is that it's another reason why a Friday afternoon is always a bad time to announce anything--especially an election campaign--and Shropshire only got the word out about this in the last day or two. But outside on a Friday afternoon in January? Contrast that with McFall's recent Thursday evening party in a restaurant with invitations mailed out weeks in advance.....oh boy, is it going to be cold at City Dock tomorrow... CP will try to attend to diligently report how Shropshire will warm things up.


The election is still many, many months away, but right now, I want to see us adopt a city manager-council style of government. Shropshire is for it--and confirmed that as such today. Cohen is against it. They are close friends, going back to their days as the founders of the Maritime Republic of Eastport. Cohen in the race will make for interesting grist for the mill--and for a wider airing of the city manager issue. That could be good. But beware--if the popular Cohen enters the race, he must contend with the ghost of Moyer past and present...and future....if that's not reason enough to think twice, he may never be able to live down the rather remarkable feat of leaving office not once, but twice in mid-term....within just three years...Cohen is more like a submarine prowling the coast, but will he dive or surface? Or maybe he's more like an amphibious plane circling above. Will he fly away or touch down on the land or on the water??Oh damn, not another war and battle metaphor!!! Last time! I swear...Up periscope.....battleship sighted, bearing 009 TRUDYrection....

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City Attorney Tells Council He Had Not Read Boat Show Lease

According to two sources who attended the recent city council meeting where a new lease for the boat shows was adopted, "acting" City Attorney Steve Kling (you remember him no doubt...) admitted to not having read the lease. And the council was voting on it....and did vote on it. Hmm....must be on this messy desk somewhere.....it's only worth a few million dollars to the city...not to mention that many of Kling's clients in private practice are boating businesses--some of whom, it is quite possible, are paying vendors at the popular October shows....

Speaking of the leases, rather than negotiating them in the standard manner in which a building or mall owner might do, which is to say, you get everything down but the signature in closed-door sessions so that the potential lessees don't know the other's terms....and then the lessor decides which lease to take..., we did things differently...and by the way, how much money has Hartman and his family who are the owners of the shows donated to the mayor and other elected officials either through the boat show enterprise or their Watermark Cruises company--which also negotiates a big lease with the city?.....and by the way, what was the big hurry with ratifying this lease anyhow???

A Third Source Weighs In...(CP received this comment from loyal reader Bob McWilliams after posting the original article above.)

I saw the Council meeting on tv, and was slack jawed when Kling fumbled around and finally said that he hadn't read the lease.

First, he doens't know if he's a lawyer or not, and now, he doesn't bother to read a million dollar lease that's to be voted on by the Council.

When Alderman Paone asked Kling a question about the lease, only to have Kling admit that he hadn't read it, the issue should have been tabled until the next meeting.

When the competeting lessee for the shows said in the Capital that he hadn't been given due process, he was right.

The lease hasn't been reviewed by the Economic Matters Committee; heck, the City Attorney hadn't even read the damn thing.

It's no wonder the Moyer administration is in the middle of 5 or 6 major lawsuits. Their gross incompetency was on full display at the last Council Meeting.

Bob McWilliams
_______________

Indeed. What Mr Kling demonstrated was the same kind of competency and organizational skills he demonstrated to me when he represented the defendants in a lawsuit when I was the plaintiff--and for which they finally settled and gave exactly what I had originally asked. But let us not forget that he likes horses and he has contributed money to Mayor Moyer. That's what gets you jobs in the Moyer Administration. I highly recommend him as a lawyer for anyone on the OPPOSITE side of a legal matter.

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Local Inaugural Events Information

Please visit the city's web-site at Inauguration for details.

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Patrick McGoohan-The Prisoner--In Memoriam "I am not a number. I am a free man...."

Truth may be stranger than fiction. Indeed. Many readers may recall actor Patrick McGoohan, best known for his role in "The Prisoner" a 17-episode tv series from the late 1960's (my new theme-here 60's shows...) and now a cult phenomenon. McGoohan died yesterday.

Enjoy the video below. Does it remind you at all of Annapolis? Shades of a city council meeting in the beginning? Intrigue toward the end? Yes. It all takes place in a quaint, waterfront village.....where an election campaign begins....:




"In an attempt to escape from a world of secret agents and double dealings, Patrick McGoohan finds himself imprisoned in a strange village...." and this...."We start our election campaign today......Elections? In this place?...are you going to run? Like blazes. The first chance I get" ...and..."I want to know what he had to sell and to whom he was going to sell it."
...and..."What do you want?....Information....You won't get it...By hook or by crook, we will."



"Each man has his breaking point, you know. And you are no exception...ahhh, you react..."


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Local Attorney Judd Legum--New Blogger on The Block

CP is most pleased to publish this letter from reader Judd Legum, an attorney in private practice in Annapolis, and to inform you about his new blog covering MD state politics. Check it out at http://www.juddlegum.com/blog/:

Dear Paul,

I wanted to let you know that I have really enjoyed reading you blog over the last several months. I don't agree with everything you write, but I respect that you always express your views directly and honestly. I've also been impressed to see stories that I've originally read on Annapolis Capital Punishment show up in national print outlets the next day. It's a credit to your site and the hard work you put into it.

I also wanted to let you know that today, I've started my own blog focusing on Maryland politics and policy. You can read it here: http://www.juddlegum.com/blog/ . Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks,

Judd Legum

____________

Thank you very much Judd and good luck with blogging. We love letters like that and need more!!! ...or send money. I remember a tv show from the late 60's about a lawyer called "Judd for the Defense". The show dealt with a lot of controversial topics. Were you named for him? (No, I am not going to make comments about other famous "Judd's..." ) "CP"

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BWI Planes Mistakenly Taxi On To Runways....oops

As reported by The Arundel Muckraker.....Confusing signs and markings on BWI Airport’s airfield caused two planes to mistakenly taxi onto runways last year, according to records obtained by The Muckraker.

One pilot was even cleared for takeoff while a larger plane was still on the runway, records show.

Jump to Arundel Muckraker at Rodger Rodger, Over, Over, You Have Clearance, Clarence for the complete story

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What Is Newport Doing About Public Housing?

In case I have said it enough, Annapolis and Newport, RI are so much alike in so many ways, we really should be sister-cities--real sister cities. (Not like the ceremonial ones we get so the mayor can have an excuse for travel). Oh yeah--Newport has a city council-city manager form of government. We don't. We need it. I've posted about this before. Now, please read this recent news article about major changes underway in its public housing. You might find it encouraging. The comments from readers following the article are...well... so familiar.

See: newport public housing

And there is this piece as well:

Newport workers might have to pay more for health care
Police officers, firefighters, teachers and other municipal employees in the state would have to pay at least 25 percent of their health insurance costs if Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s recent budget proposal is adopted by the General Assembly. The requirement would apply to any labor contract executed after Jan. 1.

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City Managers Come In Different Colors and Genders....just like mayors...they just have more experience in management

We continue to educate the public about the issue of a city manager style of government. Regardless of what Mayor Moyer and the consultants we pay for and she hires to tell us otherwise, a city manager form of government is not an assault on representative government. I am happy to publish opposing viewpoints, and have done so and will continue to do so, but this important policy issue and city charter amendment must be argued on its merits, or lack thereof, instead of the brazen b.s. undertaken by the mayor.

Enjoy reading about some of these city managers who serve their cities every day:

Daly City, CA
Patricia E. Martel (below) is the City Manager of Daly City, (pop. 103,000) the largest and most diverse full-service community in San Mateo County. Ms. Martel was appointed City Manager in May, 2005.

Ms. Martel has held executive management positions with several California municipalities including the cities of Inglewood, South San Francisco and Daly City where she previously served as the Assistant City Manager from 1995-2001.

A graduate of the University of Southern California, Martel holds a B.S. degree in Public Affairs and a Master’s degree in Public Administration.

Austin, TX City Manager Marc A. Ott (left). Austin is of course, a state capital, as is Annapolis.



Another state capital is Topeka, Kansas. Norton N. Bonaparte, Jr. ( right) was appointed the City Manager of Topeka, KS in March 2006. As city manager, Mr. Bonaparte serves as the city’s chief executive officer, responsible to the Mayor and City Council for managing the day-to-day operations of the city’s 1,400 employees and $190 million budget.

Now let us explore our own state of Maryland:

To the right is Scott Ullery of Rockville, one of Maryland's largest towns, where he has served since 2004. Ullery, 54, has 26 years of government experience. He had served as deputy county administrator in Santa Barbara County since 1997. Santa Barbara County has an estimated population of 403,134 and approximately 4,300 county employees. Rockville’s population according the 2000 U.S. Census is 47,388 and the City has about 500 full time employees.

Prior to his work in Santa Barbara, Ullery spent 18 years with the City of Tucson. He was the assistant city manager of Tucson from 1994 to 1997 and was the assistant to the city manager from 1992 to 1994. He held several responsible positions prior to that in the Department of Budget and Research.

Ullery received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona and is a graduate of the University of Arizona's Eller School of Management Executive Development Program.

Gaithersburg, MD is also in one of our state's largest cities. To the left is City Manager Angel L. Jones

Education: Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia - Bachelor of Science in Accounting

Experience: Appointed Gaithersburg City Manager September 29, 2008; Interim City Manager/Assistant City Manager, City of Eugene, Oregon, 2007 -2008; Executive Director of Library, Recreation and Cultural Services, City of Eugene, Oregon, 1999 - 2006; Acting Director/Deputy Director, Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, City of Richmond, Virginia, 1993 -1999; Financial Manager/Analyst, Public Utilities, City of Richmond, Virginia, 1987 - 1993; Senior Auditor, Coopers & Lybrand, 1984 -1987.

To the right is Doug Miller who has served as city manager of Aberdeen, MD
since March, 2006. Before coming to Harford County, he served as the Town Manager in La Plata, Maryland for eighteen years, and before that, served as the Town Manager in Snow Hill, Maryland.

Doug grew up in central Maryland spending his childhood in Howard County and spending his high school years in Anne Arundel County (CP Notes: !!!). He is a graduate of Roanoke College as well as the University of Baltimore where he received a graduate degree in Public Administration. Doug is a Full Member of the International City and County Management Association and is also active with the Maryland Municipal League where he has served on various committees.

Takoma Park, MD Barbara Burns Matthews (above) assumed the role as City Manager on July 12, 2004. She brings 18 years of local government experience, where she last held the position as City Administrator of Manchester, Missouri. Matthews has held positions with the cities of Kansas City, Gladstone, and Kirkwood, Missouri. She has an extensive background in all areas of municipal operations, including economic development, finance and budgeting, and labor relations. Matthews has a bachelor's degree in economics and government from the University of Virginia and a master's degree in public affairs from Indiana University.


Crisfield, MD Mr. Cabby Dize (left) currently serves as the City Manager for Crisfield. He is a Salisbury University graduate and taught in the public school system from 1970 to 1978. Later Mr.. Dize was a DMV Consumer Service Investigator from 1978 - 2000.


Greenbelt, MD City Manager Michael P. McLaughlin (left) first came to work for the City of Greenbelt in October 1979 where he started out as an administrative assistant. He became the assistant city manager in 1986 and was appointed the deputy city manager/city treasurer in 1991. In 1996, Mr. McLaughlin was appointed City Manager.

Mr. McLaughlin has a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA and a Masters in Public Administration from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Taneytown, MD's City Manager James Schumacher directs the daily operations of the city government under the supervision of the Mayor and City Council, including the Police Department, Public Works Department, Finance Department, Planning/Zoning Department, Parks Department, and the City Clerk's Office. The City Manager also prepares and coordinates general projects including the City’s annual operating budget (currently $3.53 M), annual capital projects, six-year Capital Improvement Program, state / federal grant and funding programs, and special reports to address and correct city problems. The population is 7,200.


Pocomoke City, Bowie, and Glenarden, MD also have city managers.

Below are a few profiles of city managers from some other cities:


Charles P. Austin, Sr., (above) has been city manager of Columbia, South Carolina which adopted the City Manager System in1950. Austin has served since 2003 and is a former police officer. Population: 116,278 (2000 U.S. Census)

Mike Hein, Tucson, Arizona, population over 500,000. Hein has been city manager since 2003. He is assisted by Deputy Mike Letcher (below top) and Assistant City Manager Richard Miranda (below bottom:

What do you think?? We could do a lot worse than having professionals such as these highly qualified men and women manage and administer the daily affairs of our government. Wait a minute, we are doing a lot worse!!!

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Newspaper Spends Too Much Time in Coffee Shops

CAFFEINATED CAT READS CAPITAL...or writes for it.... prrrrr.....prrrrr

I've not done a scientific study, but our local newspaper must think that more news is being brewed in coffee shops (or is that shoppes?) than anywhere else. It frequently writes about these urban oases for the sipping of stimulating drinks. A couple weeks ago, it did a huge, front page story about the sale of a coffee shop. Today it has another huge story about the same company's operation but at a different location. Does it own stock in this place or what? Makes me wonder how it decides what's newsworthy. But did you see the piece about ghosts recently? Somebody out there off Moreland Parkway must be over caffeinated.


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More News From Newport, Rhode Island

In previous posts I have written about similarities between the best candidate for our sister city, focusing on how that other colonial era seaport operates with a city manager form of government AND which has just installed its first female mayor, only seven years after Annapolis did the same (I hope the similarities between the two mayors end there). We are decades behind them in terms of creating a city manager system. Today I look at a few items from the Newport Daily News:

1. The town solicitor of nearby Tiverton gave advice to about 50 elected and appointed officials during a workshop on public records, open meetings and ethics. Here is what the newspaper said: "We wish more public officials exercised common sense — or simply stuck to the letter of the law — when it comes to making information public or withholding it. All too often, officials refuse to release information that should be made public as a matter of routine in order to avoid looking bad — or, in some cases, looking silly or stupid. That almost always seems to backfire, as the controversy created by not releasing information often is far worse than the information itself.......Public scrutiny is what keeps public officials accountable. Let’s hope for more of both in 2009." See: accountability

2. Newport is now liable for $142.84 million in promised health care benefits for all active and retired municipal and school employees in future years, according to a consultant who addressed a joint meeting of the City Council and the School Committee Wednesday night. See: Promises

Yikes! I wonder if we have ever done a study of our total dollar figure for such benefits????

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Delegate Ron George Among Jewelers Targeted

Ron George, a delegate and owner of a jewelry store on Main Street as well as a new one in Severna Park, is among many jewelers who were targeted by police for allegedly buying second-hand gold jewelry without filling out required paperwork. This was part of what appears to be a fairly large investigation to stop fencing of stolen jewelry. Here is what George had to say (from our local newspaper):

Mr. George, R-Arnold, who also operates a jewelry store in Severna Park, admits he did not fill out the proper paperwork when he paid the undercover detectives $60 for a piece of old jewelry.

"I was in my Christmas season. I didn't have time to do the paperwork," he said, complaining the form is complicated and hard to find on the Web.

---

---

Mr. George, who said he will do the paperwork in the future,
added he rarely buys second-hand gold from people off the street and that he only did it this time because the officer asked on two separate occasions and looked embarrassed.

"This guy was almost begging me," he said, recalling how he probably gave the officer too much for the item. He added the officer looked like a family man down on his luck, not a drug addict or criminal. "I felt sorry for the guy," he said.

For $60!!! George said the website and paperwork was complicated. I believe Ron, and I know what I'm talking about. I worked for Ron and in my family's jewelry business, spending many, many long hours selling jewelry during the December madness. For police to carry out their scam/scheme during that time is unconscionable (recently I wrote how stupid it was of local gov't to sponsor a forum on downtown businesses in the same month). The police seemed to be doing it zealously. Perhaps if they applied the same zeal to capturing or preventing the gold from being stolen, they could have averted this investigation. What they are really going after these jewelers for is not filling out paperwork. Do they have any idea how hard George and other jewelers work, especially during December? George is even busier serving us in the House of Delegates (And to be fair-we properly went after the "Acting" city attorney for not filling out required paperwork, but that was one piece of paper required to keep him legally certified to do what he did--which was basically filling out paperwork).

I worked an entire holiday season in Ron's Main Street store and I completely respect his integrity and his business principles and ethics. He has always treated me, his employees and his customers with respect and fairness--and same for the way he works as a lawmaker. Yet somehow the police must balance their priorities when conducting their business. They should remember that George and others are also trying to conduct THEIR business--and it is their business which provides the wealth and the tax base to pay our police, whose business is to protect OUR business--which includes that of Ron George and the other jewelers.

I was approached regularly at Baltimore's Inner Harbor by thieves and fencers while simply walking along. I asked them where they got the goods. They smiled and said, "Sleight of hand. Mainly from Gordon's Jewelers." I wondered if it had been stolen from my family's store. Who knows how much of the "second hand" gold was lifted from George or the other jewelers being investigated because they were so busy serving customers, and maybe even dealing with the zealous police investigators while chains were being lifted by thieves? It's something to ponder.

Here is something else to ponder. Many years ago when my brother was in army boot camp, he met a fellow boot from our native town of Washington, DC. They got to talking and the conversation got around to the recent riots that burned much of DC in April, 1968.

The fellow recruit the volunteered where he was."I was burning and looting a jewelry store on 14th street"

My brother did not say a word. Our father's store was on 14th street and it got burned to nothing. Was the boot talking about our store? My father, and my brother have been zealous proponents of civil rights and racial equality. My father served in the Navy and believed that all Americans deserved equal respect and protection under the law, especially after seeing them serve in uniform. He was always fair in his hiring and employee practices. And there was my brother and his fellow recruit in Fort Bragg, North Carolina training to serve in the Army that supposedly would protect and defend the United States of America. My brother served stateside. I wonder where his fellow recruit, a Black man served. Odds were that his country sent him to Vietnam.(Okay, I'm a little off subject here, but at least I did not title the story "Defending the Family Jewels.")

You can read the full story in the local paper at all that glitters .

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An Allegory And Perhaps A Lesson For Gaza

There was this bully in junior high school, and he liked to follow me around, make fun of me and then drop a penny in my hair. That's right--in my hair. I had a big head of curly brown hair, sometimes referred to as a "Jew-fro." You read that right. Some even said my hair reminded them of a Brillo pad, sort of like Bernie from the show "Room 222" (You can do a web search, but Bernie's hair was red. Mine is brown). I have less hair now and I wear it shorter but as an adolescent it made me a bit of a standout, even in those much more hirsute days of the 1970's.

Anyhow, before growth spurts evened things out in high school, this rather over-sized basketball player towered above the somewhat smaller than average me. He was a basketball jock, while my size was more befitting of a jockey.

"Hey-can I put a penny in your hair?" he'd taunt me.

What I jerk I thought to myself, "If you do, I'll keep the penny", I chided him back.

That's what smaller and weaker people on the receiving end of bullydom have been doing for centuries. We try to use our wit or sarcasm to outmaneuver and get the better of our tormentors without getting hurt. Consider the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck or RoadRunner--meep meep! Yes, it's been a survival mechanism of the Jewish people for centuries as well. I was merely acting it out yet again. The mass of curly hair did not help matters much.

"Hey what would happen if I put a penny in your hair" he'd ask. And do.

This went on for maybe a week or two, but true to form, each time I told him I'd keep the penny. And I did. Back then one could get a stick of a gum for a penny or two. At least he did not demand I give the penny back, or worse--put gum in my hair.

Then I decided to put a stop to it. "Look you stupid, idiot, jerk, butt-faced jock, pea-brained moron (yes I am exaggerating here for poetic effect), I am warning you right now. If you put a penny in my hair, I'm going to punch you and I'm going to hurt you. So for the last time, leave me alone", I demanded.

He did not listen. He dropped a penny in my hair. I turned around. I balled my hand into a fist. I slugged him as hard as I could right in the gut. I enjoyed feeling my energized fist going in somewhere between his belly button and solar plexus. He gasped. He bent over. He tried to catch his breath. I walked away. He followed me, grabbing his hurt abdomen with one hand, and his other hand became a threatening fist.

He followed me. "Hey-what did you do that for? Why'd you do that? Why'd you do that? Huh? Why'd you do that? You'll be sorry.....", he whined. I noticed a few tears streaming down his face.

It was not the time to feel bad for him. "I warned you and I warned you but you didn't stop. It''s your fault. Now leave me alone," I demanded.

As I recall, he followed me down the hallway still threatening me with his fist. But he did not hit me. He did not bother me again. Problem solved. Lesson learned. For both of us.

There are two types of people in the world. Those you can talk to and those with whom you cannot talk. Or perhaps another way to put it is there are those who can reason, compromise, negotiate, make a deal, "talk turkey", smoke the peace pipe, and engage in diplomacy. And there are those who only respond to or respect force.

I was angry at the jock for making me use force. That was his way, not mine. While dropping a penny in someone's hair is of course not the same as launching a missile at someone, perhaps Hamas ought to think about what happens when it repeatedly provokes Israel. Israelis who are almost always of two minds about how to respond to bullies in their neighborhood are now less likely to believe in land for peace with enemies intent on hurting them and forcing them to resort to violence...again...and again.

See my previous musings about bullying at:

Bullies-They Come in All Shapes And Sizes...in all times and places

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