Earlier this year, in the wake of the near-fatal shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, I wrote two columns about violent rhetoric and actions in America. At the time, the convenient narrative in the mainstream media was that violent talk emanated equally from both sides of the political spectrum.
|
|
Maryland's uneducated high school graduates - May 10, 2011
Bio | E-mail | Recent columns
Terps hope to avoid repeat of 2009 matchup with Syracuse - May 16, 2011
Bio | E-mail | Recent columns
Want to fix the Preakness? Fix Pimlico first - May 14, 2011
Bio | E-mail | Recent columns
We are on the 2011 Student Freedom Riders bus rolling toward Augusta, Ga., watching "The Murder of Emmett Till," a PBS documentary on the savage 1955 lynching of a black boy in the nothing town of Money, Miss. On the old newsreel footage, white person after white person spews the grotesque bigotry...
Last week, longtime University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams announced his retirement, and very quickly Maryland announced that Texas A&M; Coach Mark Turgeon will replace him. No one doubts that during contract negotiations, Turgeon had lawyers advising and representing him.
Imagine being told your employer is closing its doors for good in two days, but you'll get paid for the next 60 days. Then imagine discovering that your paycheck for those 60 days is cut nearly in half.
Congress' recent efforts to balance the federal budget give new meaning to "women and children first." The $500 million cut to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) that President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to as part of last month'...
The search for Osama bin Laden lasted more than 10 years, through three U.S. presidencies. Under President Bill Clinton in the mid-1990s, our intelligence agencies began their relentless pursuit of bin Laden. The death of almost 3,000 innocent men, women and children on Sept. 11, 2001, intensified...
The life I experience as a 30-year resident and homeowner in Northeast Baltimore is quite different from the picture painted recently in The Sun. I've worked in community development for 16 years and know the Northeast Baltimore neighborhoods well. I have seen them evolve from quasi-suburban...
The way Maurice McClain tells it, he was driving to his ex-wife's house in the Gwynn Oak area of Baltimore County on Friday afternoon and, approaching that destination, noticed a boy who appeared to be walking home from school. The boy appeared to be about 10 years old, alone and upset. He looked...
As the wave of revolution continues to sweep through the Arab world, the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad could be its next victim. While many in the United States and Israel appear hesitant to support Syria's anti-regime forces — basing their thinking on the old maxim that the devil you know...
Whether it's the U.S. president ordering the killing of an Islamist extremist in Pakistan, a Long Island congressman scheduling hearings on the radicalization of Islam in America, or mullahs in Afghanistan exhorting mobs to violence in response to a Florida preacher burning a copy of the Quran, it's...
Osama Bin Laden's death reminds me of a middle school essay competition I participated in last fall. It was titled: If you could choose to go back in time and witness any historic event, which event would it be and why?
A growing coalition of environmentalists, public health advocates and sustainable businesses including renewable energy companies and composters are urging Gov. Martin O'Malley to veto legislation that would qualify trash incineration as a "Tier 1" renewable energy source on par with solar and...
I live about three-quarters of a mile from the Inner Harbor and have for close to seven years now, but I would not say it's one of my favorite places to frequent on a Friday night — or any other night. Sure, the harbor offers great waterfront views and a number of upscale restaurants, but most...
Fourteen thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven.
Thor, the Marvel Comics superhero, hammered his way into movie theaters over the weekend, saving the world, winning Natalie Portman and grossing about $66 million. Kenneth Branagh's "Thor" is based on Stan Lee's Thor, which is based on the Thor of Norse mythology — god of thunder and protector...
Maryland now has a hard-fought "Dream Act" that offers undocumented-immigrant young people in-state tuition for post-high school education — but with many limitations, including that these "dreamers" must enroll first in Maryland community colleges.
Osama bin Laden once argued that the U.S., in its "Global War on Terror," was "like the one who plows and sows the sea: he harvests nothing but failure." Bin Laden made this assertion in his video titled "The Solution," which was released Sept. 7, 2007, in advance of the sixth anniversary of Sept....
(The following is inspired by "Birches," with apologies to Robert Frost.)
Today is Mother's Day, and millions of kids across the country will spend time celebrating that irreplaceable figure in their lives. Many of these mothers, despite surmounting challenges, manage to support and serve as the backbone of their families.
Killing Osama bin Laden is a strange way to start a presidential campaign season, but that's where we are.
Only in America would a president respond to the public celebrating over the killing of Osama bin Laden with the sports cliche he used: "We don't need to spike the football."
The Maryland legislature has deferred a decision on offshore wind pending a "summer study." Here are questions that businessmen and prudent investors would typically ask before making a large, long-term commitment: How much will it cost? What are the benefits? Where is the plan to get to low...
Good riddance, Osama bin Laden.
As the judge in charge of the Baltimore City District Court Drug Court for the past 17 years, and the current chairperson of the state's Judicial Conference Commission on Problem Solving Courts, I am disturbed by recent articles in this paper and elsewhere attacking drug courts as ineffective,...
Shortly after House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin unveiled his plan to convert federal Medicaid funding to a block grant — which has since passed the House — Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and 16 other governors issued a letter to congressional leaders to say they...
President Barack Obama, who takes an Osama bin Laden victory lap at Ground Zero today, ought to just come out and say the plan was to kill the guy all along. Stop with all the who-struck-John about what happened during the "firefight" inside bin Laden's lair in Pakistan — whether the world's...
Baltimore school officials were wise to suspend the rule stating that only Western High School students accepted at four-year colleges could participate in this year's graduation ceremonies. Given that some Western students' college application efforts were botched by the school's failure to send...
The attack on a transgender woman in a Rosedale McDonald's has led to widespread condemnation of her assailants and bewilderment at the inaction of bystanders — including a (now former) McDonald's employee who videotaped the whole incident. But the question of whether the attack should result...
Few historical figures are deserving of greater public recognition and tribute than Maryland's own Harriet Tubman. Although typically mentioned in history books as a conductor of the Underground Railroad, the many accomplishments over her long life — and her connection to her native state &#...
Maryland law allows small political contributions to be bundled together and reported as "lump sums" in disclosure reports, and to hear defenders of the practice talk about it, the tactic is merely the campaign finance loophole for the little guy. The fat cats have their limited liability...
Anybody who has ever tried to figure out a Baltimore water bill likely had a simple reaction to news last week that the city's Department of Public Works was going to improve billing procedures and upgrade its water meters: It's about time.
If you thought last month's battle over a budget deal was scary, just wait for what could be coming this summer as the nation creeps closer to reaching its self-imposed limit on government-issued debt.
When the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (now properly known as the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge) opened in 1952, motorists paid $2.80 for a round-trip. Had that Opening Day toll been tied to inflation, the same commute would cost $23.61 today.
Baltimore City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot unveiled an ambitious initiative this week aimed at improving the overall health of Baltimore citizens by 2015. It sets practical goals for reducing the most serious health risks and acknowledges that achieving them will take the combined efforts of...
Baltimore needs a better way to handle juveniles who are charged as adults. The current system of housing them in a wing of the city's detention center is dangerous and inefficient. But a new report from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency confirms what youth activists have been saying for...
Even the staunchest admirers of corporate CEOs — you know, the star-struck junior executives who buy the ghost-written biographies and how-to-manage books — will have to admit that there's something downright cathartic about seeing oil company executives grilled by a congressional...
Baltimore City schools CEO Andrés Alonso says he's not concerned about the "optics" of hiring 16 new highly paid headquarters staff at a time when school budgets are shrinking and the system is shedding hundreds of "excess" teachers and other personnel through buyouts.
Maryland is heavily invested in restoring the Chesapeake Bay's oyster population, as well it should be. The tasty bivalves are not only prized by epicures and the watermen who harvest them but also by all those who care about the bay's health because, as filter feeders, oysters remove excess...
The lunchtime drama that played out Wednesday in downtown Baltimore offered fresh evidence that the city needs to get its act together regarding food trucks.
Put yourself in the shoes of honor student Lindsay Michocki, the C. Milton Wright High School senior who found out she lost a $3,000 scholarship last week. That was just four days after committing herself to the University of Maryland in order that she might take advantage of that state-funded...
Talbot County residents are no doubt sleeping easier after the school system used a policy of zero tolerance for deadly weapons to crack down on two high school lacrosse players who were caught with a small penknife and a lighter used to repair their sticks. However, we feel it important to warn...