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I think I invented an oxymoron: "Mandatory option." That sounds like a figure of speech combining two normally contradictory terms -- you know, like jumbo shrimp, cruel kindness or Bush administration intelligence. I think the 15-minute nap should be a "mandatory option" for every American worker, by federal law. Unless someone has evidence otherwise, I'm taking credit for coining the phrase.
Look who's also pushing the great American nap: Dr. Weil
Thanks to reader Ron West for the link.
Pay no attention to the dullards and cynics who just don't have any fun anymore because Obama's in the White House. There are people out there with joie de vivre and a sense of humor and a belief in the future. Proof: The National Prevention of Tiredness Act (NAPTA), to make a daily 15-minute nap optionally mandatory in every American workplace, received overwhelming support by e-mail to this columnist yesterday and last night and again this morning. A sample of comments follows, with one writer offering to take a seat on the big comfy couch as National Nap Czar.
"Sign me up as a staunch supporter of your NAPTA proposal. Having gone
through life wishing I could take a nap, the movement comes too late for
my working years. It is still a great idea."
- Mitzi Tyrie
"I am writing you to offer my services as national nap czar. I would lead by example. I would even pen odes to naps, calling them my mistresses of mercy. Should my office be properly funded, I would hire assistants to also nap. I would go on your radio show to extol napping or even to nap.
"In this complex world, there are more bad things to do than good things, so a napper, by doing nothing, comes out ahead in life's moral combat. To me, napping isn't sloth. Sloth is when you accomplish little while awake. A napper is accomplishing what he or she sets out to accomplish, which is soothing refreshment. Napping is calorie free. It's nonpartisan, though in truth I can't quite see the virtue in that. Napping is free. In a quiet kind of way, it's fun. It's said that no one every died regretting not spending more time at the office. Surely, though, many have died regretting that they lived life tired.
" The energy drinks are pure bull. They may produce bursts of energy, but it is energy that, once spent, will leave the drinker in energy debt. Better to nap and thus to create and conserve energy.
"The perfect world is a combination of exercise (mental and physical) and naps. The body and mind need both.
"Naps are so beneficial and pleasurable that no one can remember his or her best one. They're all good. So says this nap czar applicant, a well-rested veteran of thousands of naps, who just this moment coined this slogan for sleepy drivers: 'Better rested than arrested.' Please, make me nap czar. I can do it." -- Patrick Lackey
"I love naps. We may be the only culture in the world, that doesn't take a break in the afternoon."
-- Margaret
"Your column reminded me of an email I received not long ago from one
of your former colleagues, (Raphael Alvarez), whose subject line was 'things
I have fought for in middle age.' I'll paraphrase him here: "1. not answering the phone (I was a reporter for 20 years; had a phone stuck up my a**) . . and 2. a daily nap."
He went on to say that those two things are the bedrocks of his
quality of life. I haven't figured out to work out #1 but sure as heck subscribe to #2.
Cheers!"
-- Lorraine L Whittlesey
"I Agree with you, Dan. Last Friday I was so tired that I said, 'If I had a million dollars I would be taking a nap right now.' The best things in life are free but I don't avail myself to sleep unless I am at the end of my rope."
Patti Jo from Dundalk
I got to introduce the great entertainer Joel Grey Monday night at the annual benefit for the Edward A. Myerberg Senior Center, held at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. Grey, 77, looked fit and trim -- "Let me answer your first question: Five-foot-five," he told the audience -- with time taking nothing off his physical energy and expression-rich face. He addressed the audience from the podium in the sanctuary, dressed in a dark suit, without a tie, and he told old stories about his journey from childhood in Cleveland to the Tony Award, and then Oscar, for his role in Cabaret in the 1960s and 1970s. Grey was very funny and, accompanied by Frank Fiore at the piano, sang some of those hilarious Borscht Belt songs his father, the Catskills comedian Mickey Katz, had made famous with Spike Jones and the City Slickers. Gray sang an interesting arrangement of Cabaret, and signed off with For All We Know. He took questions from the audience. A woman about 30 rows back announced that she had had the privilege of seeing Joel Grey in his signature role as the emcee in Cabaret. "And I had a really good seat in the front," the woman said, "but you spit all over me!" The audience roared with laughter as Grey stepped down, found the woman in the audience and . . . well, I couldn't tell if he hugged her or offered her a towel.
MIDDAY TODAY: April 27, 2009 88.1 fm WYPR WYPO WYPF
Noon-1:00 pm
With the 2009 legislative session behind him, Governor Martin O'Malley joins me in Studio A to answer your calls and take your questions. Questions can be e-mailed in advance of the show at midday@wypr.org
1:00-2:00 pm
In Gringo, Rhodes scholar Chesa Boudin charts two journeys: the sweeping transformation of Latin American politics of the last decade, and his own travels across the Americas while trying to come to terms with his complicated, politicized past. He'll be in Baltimore to read at Red Emma's Bookstore, and visiting Studio A as well.
Following up on Sunday's column: It wasn't until I sat in the Maryland medical examiner's office some years ago, and went over gun death facts, that I understood something -- guns were used each year in almost as many suicides as homicides. In Maryland, at the height of Baltimore's murder problem in the 1990s, the number of teenaged boys who killed themselves with guns was roughly the same as the number of boys shot by others in street violence. Bob Herbert of the New York Times mentioned guns' facility in suicides in his column Saturday.
After a recent column and radio show on the connection between income disparity and the nation's historic economic trends, a Midday listener, Larry Markle, wrote: "The rich forgot they need the middle class. Folks that own businesses or run major corporations need the middle class to be financially well and prosperous. When they are, they buy goods and services from small businesses and corporations, and this makes the economy work well. Small business entrepreneurs and corporations obtain their income and bonuses from successful sales, supported mostly by the middle class. The middle class is the largest market to sell to. Why can’t the wealthier of us Americans get this? If the middle class is prosperous, the wealthy make money and get to keep their jobs.”
Thought you would enjoy this photo, snapped about 4:30 pm Wednesday, by Kurt Kolaja near Crumpton on the Eastern Shore.
In follow-up to today's column on gun violence, some statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice in recent years:
State and local law enforcement agencies reported 14,831 murder victims to the FBI in 2007.
Of the homicides in 2007 for which the type of weapon was specified, 72.9 percent of the offenses involved the use of firearms. Handguns comprised 87.8 percent of the firearms specified.
The homicide rate nearly doubled from the mid 1960's to the late 1970's. In 1980, it peaked at 10.2 per 100,000 population and subsequently fell off to 7.9 per 100,000 in 1984. It rose again in the late 1980's and early 1990's to another peak in 1991 of 9.8 per 100,000.
From 1992 to 2000, the rate declined sharply. Since then, the rate has been stable.
Like the homicide rate generally, gun-involved incidents increased sharply in the late 1980's and early 1990's before falling to a low in 1999. The number of gun-involved homicides increased thereafter to levels experienced in the mid 1980's.
Gun homicides by adults 25 and older declined through 1999, but have increased since then.
Few homicides involve multiple offenders and fewer involve multiple victims.
Homicides are more likely to involve multiple offenders than multiple victims.
The proportion of homicides involving multiple offenders rose dramatically in the late 1980's and early 1990's and remains high; it was 11.5% in 1976 and 20.3% in 2005.
The proportion of homicides involving multiple victims increased gradually during the last two decades from 3.1% of all homicides in 1976 to 4.4% in 2005.
The number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty has declined since the early 1970's. Most law enforcement officers are killed with firearms, particularly handguns.
About 11% of murder victims were determined to have been killed by an intimate. In general, guns are most often used in intimate homicide but weapon type varies by relationship. From 1990 to 2005 -- over two-thirds of the spouse and ex-spouse victims were killed by guns.
MIDDAY TODAY: April 16, 2009 88.1 fm WYPR WYPO WYPF
1:00-2:00 pm Eastern: What's your favorite poem and, within that poem, what is your favorite verse or passage? What's your favorite paragraph or sentence in all of literature? I'd like to hear it. Brief poems welcome. Verses or passages welcome. Take a minute this morning and think about it. Try not to think of pirates, or the Orioles losing 19-6, or the check you had to mail off to the IRS yesterday. Let go of recession anxiety for a moment. Try to think of some little piece of verse -- or prose -- that brings you a little peace. Today's second hour notes National Poetry Month and, coming this Saturday, the Baltimore City Lit Fest. So we're going to indulge ourselves with a little poetry, or a wonderful passage from a short story or novel, maybe a great opening line or two. I'll read yours if you send it here or send it by e-mail to the radio station. The address is midday@wypr.org
Please, we can only read short excerpts on the air. Take a moment. Make my day, and yours.
Jon Stewart apparently has sent hordes of Americans to Google for "muppet scat" ever since mentioning the phrase in one of his Daily Show rants. Here's a man who appreciates a great American musical genre -- rat puppets going "beep-bop-a-doo-wah" as they dance around a greasy-spoon kitchen. It's Ratatouille with jazzy vocal improv. Thanks for the memory, J.S. Everyone should take a muppet scat break today. . . . . I also recommend starting off board meetings with a television theme sing-along: "Flintstones, Meet The Flintstones" works all the time. (Like John Candy on the bus in one of my favorite films, Planes, Trains and Automobiles.) Give it a try.
I dunno who's behind the joke -- I doubt it's the Orioles' owner himself -- but the person filing Tweets under the name Peter_Angelos on Twitter is one of the wittiest Twits out there:
http://twitter.com/Peter_Angelos
Advice to the Twit behind the curtain: Stay out of the bathroom with your humor. Your best stuff is the totally random and clever. Bathroom and underpants humor is cheap. You'll last a lot longer and gain a bigger following with more of this: "Perhaps you'd like to join me in the owner's suite for Wii bowling and spring gazpacho," and this: "I've ordered Brian Bass to give the first 5,000 fans through the Eutaw St. gate free piggyback rides to atone for yesterday."
Here's how the Maryland Public Interest Research Group assesses the 2009 session of the Maryland General Assembly: Mixed bag. MD PIRG's state director, Johanna Neumann, says: "Powerful interests continue to wield tremendous power in Annapolis. Although lawmakers made some progress this year, many common-sense reforms that protect everyday Marylanders were blocked by industries acting in their own self-interest."
For the good:
On the down-side:
More comments from MD PIRG:
MIDDAY TODAY: April 14, 2009 88.1 fm WYPR WYPO WYPF
What's your favorite "law movie"? And I mean, besides Twelve Angry Men and To Kill A Mockingbird . . . Send me an email today at midday@wypr.org
1-2 pm Eastern: Taunya Lovell Banks is the Jacob A. France Professor of Equality Jurisprudence and the Francis & Harriet Iglehart Research Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. She teaches constitutional law, torts, and seminars on citizenship and critical race theory -- and the law in popular culture (film or literature). Today on the show: Prof. Banks treats us to her observations and comments about Hollywood's depictions of attorneys over the years. From overachieving, idealistic law students to burned-out attorneys seeking justice, we'll look at what cinema has had to say about those who practice law.
Today's column on Dumpster diving's new wave ("Treasure in the garbage heap") suggests 200,000 backyard and community gardens in Baltimore. To advance that, budding urban gardeners might want to attend the first-ever URB AG GALA -- Urban Agriculture Gala -- this Friday, 7-10 pm, at 2640 St. Paul (St. John's Church). You get live music, local food, and an open mike for anyone to walk up and share their gardening and composting experiences. Yee-haw!
Among the many responses to yesterday's column about the lost battle over gun control and the unwillingness of leaders, including President Obama, to even speak about all the bloodshed this spring:
"I expect more bad times to come. I bought my first and only gun a few weeks before the election. A friend of mine bought a shotgun to go with his Glock right before the election. We are highly educated. He has a bachelors and his wife and I have our graduate degrees. They both voted for Obama. They are not cynical but hopeful that things will turn. However, they know what could be in store if it doesn't get better.
"I'm preparing for more civil unrest as the job losses keep piling up. Civil unrest goes hand in hand with a bad economy. It's pretty predictable, if you are a student of history. I actually told my freinds back in November that we'd start to see more civil unrest as the recession deepens.
"Did you know that the four Oakland officers shot dead was the single greatest loss of uniformed police in one day since 9-11? It's true. That's significant and it's also noteworthy that three Pittsburgh officers were shot dead not long after.
"I was brought up by my grandparents, and they prepared me for this type of apolocoyptic moment."
-- Justin Proctor
As pointed out in today's column, in this bloody spring of gunfire and death, there's one piece of good news on the gun control front, and it comes from the Maryland General Assembly. Under a new law passed this session by the legislature, judges will now have the power to take guns from people who abuse their spouses. It was Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, among others, who testified for giving judges the authority to confiscate guns from suspected abusers in temporary protective orders as well as in final protective orders.
Brown testified about his cousin, who was was shot to death last summer by an estranged boyfriend. There was also the high-profile case of Gail Pumphrey, a Howard County mother who was so terrified of her estranged husband that she carried a picture of his .22-caliber rifle to every court hearing. Despite a protective order, judges did not take the man's gun away. On Thanksgiving Day in 2007, at a park in Frederick County, he killed his three children and then himself.
Richard Spicknall shot his two children while they were strapped into their car seats in the back of his Jeep near a bridge over the Choptank River on the Eastern Shore on Sept. 8, 1999. He bought the gun at a Prince George's County pawnshop, despite a protective order obtained by his then-wife, Lisa Spicknall. Under Maryland law, Richard Spicknall should have been barred from purchasing a firearm, but information about the protective order was improperly entered into the state police database. Those kinds of clerical errors were occurring less frequently, according to an audit conducted a few years ago, and the state since provided some grants to 24 local police agencies to ensure even more accurate and prompt entry of protective order data.
Having written reflections on the meaning of the Portuguese word, saudade (miserable joy -- the mixture of feelings one experiences at the most ordinary moments, or landmark events, of life), I was happy to see this notice about the latest Carlos Saura film, and its Baltimore premier this weekend:
"Cinema Sundays at the Charles Theater continues on April 12 with Fados, directed by Saura, completing his musical trilogy of award-winning films (Flamenco, 1995; Tango, 1998). Using Lisbon as a backdrop, Saura explores Portugal’s most emblematic musical genre (fado) and its haunting spirit of saudade (melancholy). Tracing its African and Brazilian origins up to the new wave of modern faudistas, he ingeniously deploys mirrors, back projections, lighting effects, and lush colors to frame each song, ranging from a campfire ringed by sinuous dancers to a balletic catfight between two jealous women to a thrilling desgarrada (musical duel) in a fado café. The result is a ravishing fusion of cinema, song, dance and instrumental numbers. . . . . Fados contains homages to such legends as Maria Severa and Amália Rodrigues, as well as stunning turns by modern stars like Mariza and Camané; but Saura also expands the songs (which traditionally involve just a singer and a guitarist) with dance and encompasses other nationalities (with a special emphasis on performers of color from Portugal’s former colonies) and idioms (such as hip hop, flamenco and reggae). This inclusive, non-purist approach conveys a grand vision of music’s power to break down boundaries: between Iberian neighbors Spain and Portugal, Old World and New, white and black, young and old, rich and poor -- a celebration of fado as World Music in the fullest sense of the term. Under the musical supervision of Carlos do Carmo, Fados features one of the finest World Music soundtracks to date."
Hear some samples through this link: http://www.fados-saura.com/
I was going to make a joke about the Utz potato chip guy accused of selling guns to gangs, but there's nothing funny about this, so forget it. . . . And here's something that should give every American (except for gun nuts) a chill: Our latest mass killers had permits.
This is a lost cause. There's nothing any of us can do but be on the lookout.
Or pack some heat of our own.
Crazy? Not at all. The more mass killings, the more others will want to be armed in the hopes of defending themselves. (And don't think for one moment that this kind of twisted logic has entered the minds of the guns-at-all-costs crowd. Nothing sells guns like fear -- acute or low-simmer.)
Steve Kropkowski blew his top on the phone with a representative from Wells Fargo this week and his justified outburst might have saved him from foreclosure. I wrote about Kropkowski's situation last week. His wife has brain cancer. The Kropkowskis, who have two small children, fell behind on mortgage payments and their lender, Wells Fargo, demanded they catch up by March 27 or face foreclosure. Steve Kropkowski mailed the company $3,000 of the more than $8,000 he owed last week.
"And guess what?" he said on the phone yesterday. "They sent it back. The representative on the phone said they don't take partial payment. That's when I went off. I lost it. I said, 'What? You're foreclosing on my house and you won't take money from me?'"
The Wells Fargo rep turned the call over to a supervisor, and Kropkowski explained his situation. He'd done this several times before, pleading for more time or a new payment plan with bank representatives in some distant call center, but to no avail.
This time, the Wells Fargo representative was more open to working something out. "And we did," said Steve. "I'm going to mail in a check for $3,000 again, then make a payment of $2,500. The guy from Wells Fargo said someone from HUD will be calling me to work something out. They're going to waive the late fees and back-end some of the interest I need to make up."
So it looks like this matter may be resolved. We'll see.
Thanks to the numerous readers -- private individuals, local bankers, financial advisors, a title attorney and one regional HUD official -- who have called or written here to express empathy with the Kropkowskis and offer them advice or donations. I have passed along all e-mails and calls to Steve's father, George Kropkowski, who was the man who first informed me of his son's and daughter-in-law's situation. Steve has asked people to make donations to the American Cancer Society.
MIDDAY TODAY: April 8, 2009 88.1 fm WYPR WYPO WYPF
Noon-1 pm Eastern: Baltimore developer David Cordish revealed last week that he intends to bid for Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness Stakes, all of which are up for sale by their bankrupt owner. Cordish has also proposed building a slots casino and entertainment coplex at Arundel Mills Mall. Should he succeed, he will be in the enviable position of reaping slots profits not only for his casino but for the race tracks he would end up owning. But the Cordish Company is not the only horse in this race; there are other bidders. And now the governor of Maryland seeks eminent domain to keep the Preakness in Baltimore. E-mail questions and comment to midday@wypr.org
A Sun reader named Ed Jeunette writes:
"Got my state tax refund the other day, signed by none other than the
great William Donald Schaefer. Included along with the check was some 'Refund Advice,'
also signed by Willie Don over the printed name of Peter Franchot. Am I the
only Marylander who got a check from Mr. Schaefer? Is it any good? Does Peter Franchot know
about this?? Long live Don Donaldo!"
See "comments" for reassurance from the comptroller's office --
In February, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, of Maryland's 7th District, sent a letter to Alex Rodriguez asking him to attend the "Powered by ME!" anti-steroid conference in Timonium, Md. later this month. "In light of your recent acknowledgment that you used steroids in the past," Mr. Cummings wrote, "I believe you are in a unique position to send a strong message out to our young people that they should refrain from using performance-enhancing substances."
Mr. Cummings wants to impress kids with the dangers of steroids, and that's good. But I suggested in this space that, instead of A-Fraud, he ought to invite a professional baseball player who has done just fine ($11 million a year now) in the era of banned steroids, someone who has presumably managed to perform well without juicing, someone who came up to the show after Major League Baseball banned and started testing for steroids. I suggested the Orioles' Nick Markakis, and guess what? The congressman took my advice, invited Markakis and Markakis accepted. The annual Powered By ME! conference ("Playing Safe, Fair & Sober") takes place Thursday April 23, from 8 am until 3 pm at the Timonium Crown Plaza.
My old friend Bush Hog left Baltimore County for retirement in Arizona, and we miss him. But he appears to be having a good time taking in the scenery, bird watching and shooting the landscape. Here's a great shot of a burrowing owl taken during recent trips to the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge and the Joshua Tree National Park, both in California. "Amazing what's out there when I take time to notice."An ex-offender named Kevin writes: "I was released from prison in October 2008 and yet to find a job. I've tried using agencies and programs set up by the state. None of the re-entry programs have the resources they promise upon release. When I do find a job of interest, my background check ends the process. My record isn't violent and I had drug problems that I'm working on now. I have a wonderful education and working skills to complete or work in any environment. Is there any advice or help you can give me?"
Yeah, Kevin, you may want to drop your present email address, part of which includes the term, "ovadose." If you use that in letters to certain people, particularly prospective employers . . . might be a turnoff. You know what I'm sayin'? I don't think that's what the fellowships mean when they advise those in recovery to "keep your addiction in front of you."
I sent Kevin my ex-offender help kit, now about 20 pages long, and a little out of date because so few employers have come forward to say they're willing to hire adults with records. It's tough out there, and fierce is probably a more accurate word in this recession.
That was an amazing act of self-exoneration by AIG founder and former CEO Hank "Not Me" Greenberg, the octogenarian who went to Washington Thursday to set the record straight. Talk about a "fault swap," as a Post headline described it. The Post's Dana Milbank caught the exchange between Greenberg and Elijah Cummings, who sits on the House oversight committee that heard his testimony.
"Let me be clear," Greenberg said. "AIG's business model did not fail. Its management did."
"When you refer to management, are you including yourself in that category?" asked Cummings.
"No," Greenberg answered without hesitation.
"You don't see your role in the company as being part of the failure -- is that what you're saying?"
"Yes," Greenberg replied. "When I left the company, it was a healthy company. . . . We had no problems."
Cummings pointed out that just one day after Greenberg left, AIG's debt rating was downgraded -- the event that precipitated the unraveling -- "as a result of the failures that occurred on your watch."
"Do you accept any responsibility at all for the events leading up to that critical moment?"
"No, I don't," Greenberg replied. "Nothing to do with me whatever."
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Comment of Peter Morici, economist and professor of business at the University of Maryland, on today's news that U.S. companies slashed another 663,00 jobs last month. He says the real numbers confirm the recession has moved into depression:
"Unemployment reached 8.5 percent, and adding in discouraged adults who have left the labor force and part-time workers who would prefer to work full time, the real unemployment rate is closer to 17 percent. Simply, investors and employers lack confidence in the overall likely effects of Treasury Secretary Geither’s plans to stabilize banks and President Obama’s stimulus package and budgets proposals.
"Without systemic reforms, unemployment will soar well above 10 percent, many college graduates will not find meaningful work, high school graduates will be trapped in low wage jobs and dependent on federal government largess, and older workers, abandoned by companies without adequate health care and pensions, will accept low wage jobs to supplement social security and work beyond the age of 70. Retirement will be for government workers and a few otherwise fortunate private sector workers but more generally, retirement will be the stuff of history books."
Brian Razzaque, a local Internet entrepreneur, reports something out of the Jamaican Bobsled arena of life -- a Baltimore broomball team that went to broomball country in Minnesota last weekend and actually won a couple of games, and even made it to division finals. "By far," Razzaque said when I asked if his had been the Southern-most team in the north-country tournament. The Baltimore Broomball Club fielded two teams (Co-ed Rec B and Men's D divisions) at the 2009 USA Broomball National Championships in Richfield, Minnesota. Razzaque says it was the tournament's largest field ever, with 54 teams on the ice. "This was the second entry for the Co-Rec team -- a new look, new players and a new attitude, all of which paid off with a big opening round win against Miami University of Ohio," Razzaque reports. "Our team finished 1-3 on the weekend, with a tough loss in the semi-finals but impressed the mostly Minnesota-based teams.
"This was our first entry for a men's team from the BBC, and the team impressed many participants and fans. After strong opening-round play, finishing the first day 1-1, the men's team came back on Saturday, finishing 2-0 with convincing wins again a New York team, that went 4-1 in the tournament, and a heavily-favored Minnesota team that was undefeated.
"The team proudly represented the Co-Rec team and the city of Baltimore in the Men's D finals, but ultimately lost, 4-1."
Razzaque, who grew up playing ice hockey and now runs a business in Baltimore, says both teams plan to travel to additional tournaments over the course of the year and return to the Broomball National Championships in 2010. The BBC was founded in the fall of 2007 by Michigan-native Beth Vanderhoff after a group of friends discovered that there was a National Broomball Tournament each year and that the sport was much more than than the recreational half-ice version played here under the auspices of the Baltimore Sports and Social Club or the Patterson Park Recreational League.
"In 2007, after only practicing full-ice with the proper USA Broomball rules for approximatley four hours, the team went to Blaine, Minn. to see how it would do in the tournament," Razzaque says. "Needless to say, the team did not come away with any wins, but it came back to Baltimore more educated about the game and fired up to organize a group that would play the game in its proper form.
The BBC now has 125 members. "There are varying skill levels and all are welcome," says Razzaque, who is in recruitment mode for next season. "Veteran players help new players learn the rules and strategy of the game. The equipment includes 'brooms,' which are lacrosse shafts with a hard plastic triangular end, a ball about the size of a large grapefruit, broomball shoes with rubber webbing on the bottom to you run on the ice, helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, and shin guards."
The year-old Reisterstown Sportsplex is the BBC's home, with sessions running September through May. "The season is about wrapped up," says Razzaque, "but we will be having pick-up games and clinics through the summer so people can try out the game before the fall sessions."
For some pics and videos check out these links.....
Co-Rec: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J20yTYI0-8
Men's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcR4PjU0teo
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/baltimorebroomballclub/
More evidence of the need for mandatory draft into public or military service:
"We thought this would be something fun for the students to do, especially since we're getting close to the end of the semester. We're a college movie theater and we thought it would bring out the students."
-- Lisa Cunningham, program coordinator for the Hoff Theater at College Park, explaining the "thinking" involved in the decision to show a pornographic film there
MIDDAY TODAY: April 2, 2009 88.1 fm WYPR WYPO WYPF
Here's what Baltimore needs: A Tamale Guy (or Tamale Gal) hitting the late-night bars.
1 pm Eastern: One of our favorite guests (and not just because he always brings food) is Henry Hong, the Food Nerd, chef, blogger and contributor to the Baltimore City Paper's Eat Me column. This time, Double-H takes us on the tamales circuit around the metropolitan area, following up on his fun cover story (delightful City Paper cover photo, left) in the March 4-11 edition of the CP: A guide to Baltimore's best Latin food, after the news from NPR at 1.
Trivia quiz: Who exclaimed, "I just love tamales in the spring!"?
To all the overwrought, self-righteous lecturers out there who wrote nastygrams (some of them profane) about Sunday's column -- all I can say is: Easy does it. You can lighten up on the outrage pedal, OK? I don't think TWD is a good idea. I think it's foolish. I confessed to doing it because I think I'm one of many who've developed this modern condition, and I'm tired of hearing about how it's mainly a phenomenon among teens. It has become widespread among adults, too, from my observations, yet most won't admit that they TWD. For the record: I'm on record as favoring a prohibition against hand-held cell phones in cars, and wrote the first columns advocating such a law a good decade ago -- and received a storm of nastygrams about that, too. I continued doing it, anyway, and got caught up in the techno-info revolution like millions of others.
Onward and upward and all that :)
MIDDAY TODAY: April 2, 2009 88.1 fm WYPR WYPO WYPF
12 pm Eastern: How did kids' sports become so competitive and so dominated by parents who push their children often beyond what their bodies and minds can bear? Why are some moms and dads so caught up in youth sports that they make their kids play until it hurts? And why are college coaches now scouting lacrosse and basketball players in middle school? Those are some of the questions former Sun sportswriter Mark Hyman, poses and tries to answer in a new book about America's obsession with youth sports and the harm it's causing. Hyman talks about his personal experiences as a baseball coach and tells stories that make rational people cringe. Among his subjects: the pain Michael Phelps' sister, Whitney, suffered as a teenager training to be an Olympic swimmer. Hyman, a Baltimorean who writes about sports for BusinessWeek, will be my guest today after the NPR news at noon.
Many readers responded to Tuesday's column on the Kropkowski family of Harford County -- they are facing foreclosure after falling behind on mortgage payments during a time when the mom, Rebecca Kropkowski, has brain cancer. The dad, Steve Kropkowski, has asked his lender, Wells Fargo, to give him more time to catch up on the mortgage, but so far the bank has said no. Most people who wrote to me about the Kropkowskis expressed sympathy and some empathy, with several readers saying they had experienced the stress of having a loved one disabled by a life-threatening illness, the loss of household income and the pileup of medical bills. Almost all letter-writers said they wanted to help out in some way, even at this time when everyone seems to be holding tight, waiting on the recession to bottom out. More than any other point in the column, that such a thing could happen to anyone -- even to those who have been prudent in financial matters -- struck a chord with a lot of readers.
One reader said he was not surprised to see Wells Fargo identified as the bank in this story.
"I have been the director of community assistance for Churchville Presbyterian Church for several years," wrote J. Scott Seippel. "I have spoken to Wells Fargo on behalf of my clients and witnessed their writings to people who are behind in payments. One case that I worked on was a family with five children; they were two months behind (father just let-go from his job and mom was a stay-at-home). They asked for an extension and were denied by Wells Fargo, but given two weeks to come up with the entire amount or foreclosure would begin. The family sent checks to them (not sure how many) but each was denied and sent back by Wells Fargo, indicating all or nothing.
"Needless to say, the foreclosure went through and the family had to move out and the property vacated. It should be noted that, as of today, the house is still empty and Wells Fargo has not made a sale. It ignored the pleas of a family that was willing to pay as much as they could each month to catch up.
"So what was gained? Heartache and extreme stress that presented being homeless (which did not happen due to relatives helping out) for a family, and greed and the lack of humanity from Wells Fargo."
FOLLOWING UP ON TUESDAY'S MIDDAY . . .
March 31: 1:00-2:00 pm Eastern
We discussed the practice, in Maryland, of charging parolees $40 a month for their supervision. A new report from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, supported by the Open Society Institute, says the practice creates an unnecessary risk of ex-offenders violating their parole conditions and returning to jail or prison. The requirement just creates debt for a largely indigent population, presenting another obstacle to ex-offenders as they attempt to re-enter society and live within the law. The fees ought to be abolished. Our guests included the co-author of the report, Rebekah Diller, deputy director of the Justice Program at the Brennan Center, and Michael Pinard, re-entry policy expert and professor of law at the University of Maryland.
Here's an e-mail from a listener I didn't get to read on the air:
"The entire parole and probation system is INSANE! As an assistant
public defender, I represented hundreds of people in front of
various parole commissioners, and the punishment meted out is utterly
arbitrary and dependent, above all, on the whim of the commissioner.
"I always requested fees to be waived, and argued that
violations for failure to pay fees were illegal. There were some
commissioners who routinely agreed, and some who were confounded by my
argument. But no one in that room knew the law except me (and
sometimes my client). Certainly, the agents didn't know it, and they
often violated folks SOLELY for failure to pay - even when they
complied with all of the other onerous conditions. Outrageous. One
of the big problems here is failure of DP&P to hire smart, capable
people. But I guess that would mean they'd have to start paying
more. Maybe that would be a good place to channel these fees."
-- Olga Brand Beier
MIDDAY TODAY: April 1, 2009 88.1 fm WYPR WYPO WYPF
12 pm Eastern: Last month, after a run of 70 years, the historic Senator Theater in North Baltimore went dark. The owner of the art-deco cinema, Tom Kiefaber, is more than $1 million in debt, hasn't made loan payments in months, and a foreclosure auction looms in three weeks. Once again, Kiefaber and Senator fans are trying to patch together a rescue plan. The city of Baltimore apparently is poised to bail out the Senator if a viable nonprofit organization takes over. Should taxpayers be involved in reviving the old movie theater? What should this cultural landmark become in the future? And what role, if any, should Kiefaber have in all this? We'll ask him, right after the noon news from NPR . . .
1 pm Eastern: President Obama has made his first overseas trip to take part in the G20 summit in London. This is his first opportunity to meet his Russian counterpart, Dmitri Medvedev. Washington urgently needs Moscow's help in achieving key foreign policy goals, from rooting out terrorists in Afghanistan to containing Iran's nuclear ambitions. But the meeting of Presidents Obama and Medvedev comes at a time when, according to my guest, anti-American sentiment in Russia is the highest it’s been since the cold war. Douglas Birch, Moscow Bureau Chief for the Associated Press, and how Barack Obama might take the frost off American-Russian relations . . after the news from NPR.
