Showing posts with label Heather Mizeur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heather Mizeur. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

'Brassiere, Queer, and Volunteer'





Happy election day! Seems as good a time as any to revisit Jon Cardin's Coast Guard proposal,* the $90 million Anthony Brown lost* trying to implement our health-care exchange and Doug Gansler's teen booze party* caught on video. Me, I'm voting for the lesbian with the fangs.

The pregnant woman beaten to death in Rosedale was identified as Summer Smith. The Sun's original Facebook teaser stated that Smith's own mother was a suspect, but references to that appear to have now been scrubbed.

Friends are perplexed as to how Daniel Waldhaus of Shelton, Connecticut, wound up murdered in a car in Baltimore.*

New faces at the Liquor Board-- O'Malley bucked the patronage system to appoint 87-year-old Judge Tom Ward, perhaps best known previously for restraining a criminal in Bolton Hill,* and lawyer Dana Moore, whose law firm represents "Texas-based Scott Wizig, the target of an $8 million suit by six community groups who allege that he (or entities he controls) owns 57 vacant, dilapidated properties."

Tyrone West
Tyrone West's family has filed a lawsuit, and revealed that the same officers who killed him had beaten motorist Abdul Salaam* three weeks prior, for failing to buckle his child's seat belt. Salaam has joined the suit.

Timothy Virts pleaded "not criminally responsible" to murder and kidnapping charges, his lawyer says he's criminally insane. He and his daughter Caitlyn were found at the Colonial Inn in Florence, South Carolina.

A pizza delivery driver was stabbed in Essex.
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Friday, June 13, 2014

"James"

"James"
A man was shot in the head* at Caroline and East Biddle Streets. Eight murders this past week.

Kevin Simpson, alleged killer of Oscar Torres, 15, and Shanizya Taft, 12, is now a suspect in the murder of Martel Jackson,* shot behind a Citgo.

Police have released a sketch of a Belair-Edison sex assailant who may go by "James." His victim talked to Fox, telling them "James" left his clothes outside her window, broke in and sucked on her breast. He went outside to dress and she called 911, but police didn't arrive in time. *shudder*

One Alphonso Russell Jr., 57, has been charged with 88 counts related to breaking into more than 20 cars downtown,* "just days after he received a 6-month jail sentence for breaking into cars on April 4." So.. what was he doing out and about in the first place? Some kind of Piper Kerman situation where you get sentenced but don't have to report to prison for a while?

So much for speed camera reform: Brekford, which still operates in Hagerstown, Salisbury and Laurel in spite of its Baltimore City system* issuing speeding tickets to cars that weren't moving, issued a press release crowing that their old contract still applies and that they can still operate on the bounty system for tickets.

Early voting is going on from now until June 19, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and apathy is running high. Here's your sample ballot. For what it's worth and if you care, this blog endorses Heather Mizeur for governor (or Hogan, if that's how you swing), Brian Frosh for Attorney General, Elijah Cummings, Gregg Bernstein for State's Attorney, and Page Croyder for Judge, skipping #5, Alfred Nance.

Media blabber: Sun editor Andy Rosen is leaving to work for the Boston Globe, today's his last day.
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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Sun Develops Gonads, Ovulates

Holy shit you guys, did you see the slams of Anthony Brown in the Sun today? Usually the Sun's opinions are hedged, bridled and given a shot of go-go juice before they go onstage, but their critiques of Brown have been heating up,* then yesterday someone replaced some editor's Preparation-H with Tiger Balm and today they're as are sore as a Tennessee horse. David Zurawik's takedown of Brown* is the hardest-hitting pan I've seen in a legitimate media source since Pete Wells went to Guy's American Kitchen and Bar, and the paper printed his answer to the health-care exchange question verbatim.*
     I've been a reporter, believe it or not, and the only reason you ever transcribe and print someone verbatim without prettying it up (and the only reason your editor would ever let you do that) is because you and your paper are thoroughly done with said someone. Because basically almost everyone sounds like a mutard verbatim, and no one will ever talk to you again if you print them full mutard. If you don't believe me, record yourself opining on any topic and transcribe it, you'll sound like Mr. Ed with a fishhook in your lip.
Get back to twerk!
   For what it's worth the Sun hasn't been softballing Gansler either, calling out his "sleek, well-fed look of upper-middle-class suburban privilege," a barb well-earned since he sent his kid to George Huguely IV*'s alma mater, a $34,1601-a-year school for aspiring date-rapists in a district so safe their schools don't even have recurring trash can fires or race riots. And they didn't gloss over the fact that Gansler dug himself deeper trying to explain that Bethany beach-house underaged ass-grinding teen-drinking party as being more acceptable because his progeny was a penis- toting American,* or that as Attorney General he doesn't need to take responsibility for other people's children (which would explain his continual employment of Carl Snowden, yet not why he keeps trotting out that poor 11-year-old sexually-molested girl every time he opens his beerhole. Isn't using some stock-photo model in public ads as "sexually molested girl" kind of molest-y in itself? Imagine her parents' surprise. "Oh look, a residual check! I wonder what Video Blocks used that adorable footage of Ashleigh playing that with that dinosaur for? OH MY GOD!!")
   Wait, what was my point?
   Could it be that Sun reporters and editors are just like us, tired of these entitled legacy candidates thinking they can roll in and that one beer and a beach house is enough for us to let them grind on our butts? Could the Sun really endorse Mizeur? Could she really win?
    Conventional wisdom (aka my Dad) says she has no chance. The Sun will never endorse her because the Tribune Corp would never allow it happen, she's not the establishment's person. Our rural jurors will never vote for her because she's a pro-pot lesbian. Dudebros and self-loathing ladies will hesitate to vote for any female candidate because deep down they've already concluded she's either too weak or too pushy. This is the Sun's last whinny before backing establishment candidate A or B.
  What do you think?
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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

CourtWatch Endorses Mizeur

From Steve J. Gewirtz of Charles Village Court Watch:

While I was actively doing a court watch, the one thing that I consistently noticed was that most violent crime had an addiction to illegal drugs at its root.  For example, when John Wagner murdered Stephen Pitcairn, Wagner and most of his apartment mates including Lavelva Merritt had spent the morning high on drugs and alcohol, and the robbery that led to the murder clearly was an effort to get money for drugs.  Police Commissioner Batts, having worked previously in California where a lot of gangs started, has made the point that gangs are at the root of our increase in murders this year, and those gangs exist largely to run drug operations.
When the 18th amendment to the U.S. constitution instituted prohibition of alcohol in the roaring 20s, it provided for concurrent enforcement by the states and the federal government. All but one of the then 48 states adopted prohibition.  The one that did not is our state -- Maryland.  Thus, enforcement of prohibition in Maryland came only from the federal government, and the Baltimore Sun named Maryland "the free state."  As we know, prohibition was a colossal failure that led to a lot of violence (think of Al Capone) and was repealed by the 21st amendment.  We should have learned something from prohibition, namely that trying to ban something that a lot of people want is not possible and that resulting black markets are accompanied by fights over territory in which to sell the something.  When prohibition was repealed, the violent crime subsided.
Today, our country jails more than 2 million people, many for violations of the prohibition of drugs.  We incarcerate people at the highest per capita rate in the world.  Yet people who want drugs still can get them.  In addition, every study shows that the rate of use of illegal drugs is the same for whites as for blacks, but blacks are charged with and jailed for drug crimes far more than whites.
At the same time, far more people die from legal drugs, namely tobacco and alcohol, than from all illegal drugs combined.
For these reasons, it has long been my view that most recreational drugs should be decriminalized.  Get rid of the black markets and we can get rid of much of the violence.  The war on drugs has been a colossal failure.  At the same time, I do believe in cracking down on violent criminals, especially multiple offenders, but if drugs were legal under appropriate safeguards,  there would be a lot less violent crime.  We would save much of the money now spent on prisons.  We also would be able to make drug treatment truly available on demand for anyone who needs it.  Many addicts would need to try more than one program to find one that works for them.
A good place to start is to end the prohibition of marijuana.  Two states so far, Colorado and Washington, have legalized the possession of small amounts, and both states plan to raise money by taxing the sale of marijuana.  There are problems to work through, especially since marijuana is still illegal under federal law.  For example, I understand that banks in Colorado will not accept deposits from marijuana dealers, and I suspect that this is because under federal law, knowingly accepting a deposit from a marijuana dealer constitutes the federal crime of money laundering.  Also, we need to plan for vigorous enforcement of laws against driving under the influence of marijuana -- think of the horrendous accident some years ago in Chase, Maryland because a train operator who was high on pot failed to begin to stop for a signal until it was too late. The first time I tried marijuana, I bicycled afterwards from one dorm to another, and I found myself coming up suddenly on stop signs.  Therefore, when the accident in Chase occurred, I knew exactly how it had come about.
Fortunately, marijuana is generally not an addictive drug. Addiction can be hard to break.  For years, I consumed huge amounts of caffeine, and it took numerous tries to break my addiction.  But I never had to worry about getting busted for buying a fix, and my addiction did not interfere with a career.
While we think about reducing crime, let me mention another issue. I have tutored a few students at the Waverly Library (before it was closed for renovation).  I can recall tutoring a fifth and a sixth grader in math and noticing that they would add two one digit numbers by counting on their fingers.  As far as I can tell, nothing is done for such students by the school system, and the ones I encountered at least were going for tutoring.  My guess is that when students get too far behind and see no future for themselves, that becomes the signal to join a gang and to get involved with drugs. We need to break this cycle.
In the gubernatorial race, one candidate so far has come out for legalization of marijuana, namely Delegate Heather Mizeur.  She would create a legal market for marijuana, would tax it, and would use the money to fund prekindergarten education.  This would be an excellent first step in reducing crime centered around the drug trade and in giving our children a jump on getting the education they need to feel that they have a future.  Kids from middle and upper class homes reach kindergarten already knowing the letters of the alphabet, but too many kids from poverty begin learning the letters in kindergarten.  She has also spoken of the need to end the system that sends too many kids into the court system rather than into college and careers.  I expect that we will see more details on what she plans to do, and I hope that other candidates will also discuss the issue.
As you may guess from what I have written above, I am supporting Heather Mazeur and her running mate Delman Coates for governor and lieutenant governor.  Heather will be speaking at a meeting at 7:30 p.m. next Monday, December 16 of the Old Goucher Community Association at Lovely Lane Methodist Church at 2200 St. Paul St. in Baltimore.  I hope that people will attend and will hear a really dynamic and inspirational speaker.  One of the things I most like about her and her running mate is that I expect them to do more than any recent governor to inspire all of us to do more to make our communities and our city and state a much better place.  They believe in government, as do I, but government cannot do everything.  We all need to contribute our time.
To learn more about Heather, go to her web site: http://www.heathermizeur.com/ If you are interested in meeting two members of the cast of The Wire, she has a fundraiser next Tuesday, December 17, and you can click on EVENTS to get details.
Steve
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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Factually challenged

Only in Baltimore: "police say they stopped residents 123,000 times last year* but found only nine handguns." WHat?? Also, Batts spoke at some panel in NYC and did some fact rewrites. "Stop and frisk was taking place until I came into the picture.. but now my murder rate is going up. ... that puts me in a political hotbed."Dude, no. FB III stopped stop and frisk, and he brought the murder rate down. Batts is bringing back illegal stops,* and now the rate is up. No. Confidence. Zero!

Game change? Plucky gubernatorial hopeful Heather Mizeur has declared her support for legalizing and taxing marijuana, with the proceeds to go to paying for pre-K, a notion approved by 92% of people browsing WJZ's web site during the work day. You'll recall rival Anthony Brown also wants pre-K, but with no plan to pay for it. Of course as governor Mizeur wouldn't be able to draft or pass any legislation, and as long as lapdog of the bail bonds industry Joe Vallario Jr. has the power to smother bills in committee it ain't happening. Still, with numbers like that, this proposal very well might make Mizeur an actual contender.

"Blood spattered on carpets and walls. An actual ring where dogs were being fought. Dogs chained to the walls." Five people arrested, 15 dogs seized at a suspected dogfighting venue on West Lafayette Avenue.

The Wells Fargo bank on York Road in Lutherville was robbed.



































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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Grownups Gone AWOL

Smoke
Durrell "Smoke" Gaskins, 25, was stabbed to death reportedly as he tried to break up a fight* amongst Forest Park HS students.

Gwendolyn Johnson, 24, was shot to death in the housing projects of old Latrobe.*

Nelson B. Clifford
Nelson B Clifford, sex offender extrordinaire, once again is claiming that the sex he had* with a stranger after he broke into her apartment was consensual.

Andre "Redrum" Roach, of the Bloods Roaches, has pleaded guilty to racketeering, of the federal kind of racketeering,* and so shall now make his home in Cumberland or thereabouts for thirty years henceforth.

Letting a bunch of private-school teenage twats trash a beach house* is surely mind-bogglingly boneheaded for anyone over the age of 22. Buuuut it must be said, if the O'Malley administration put half as much effort into transparency for citizens and reporters as they are putting in to ferret out the deets on Doug Gansler, perhaps our fair state would not be such a D-minus, and perhaps state officials such as Doug Gansler would think twice before making extremely poor life decisions. I so hope news sources will start covering Heather Mizeur's campaign in any kind of way, because with a year to go I am already sick as a tray of Jell-o shots of hearing about these dudebros riding their douche canoes down Mt. Shitsandwich. 

And here, have a bonus numbnuts: Matthew Mitchell, 30, a drunk dad who drove with his 4-month-old on his lap and wrecked his car, putting the baby in the hospital. I hate you all and Im going to take a nap now.
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