So the Orioles had a chance to sweep the Nationals and prove once again that DC never deserved a team. Instead, Baltimore fans got to witness what I will now refer to as the "Perlozzo/Baez Loss-o-matic". This new device is normally deployed in the eighth inning of a close ball game. The machine tends to work better when the O's have stranded over 10 base runners, and in the case of Sunday's game, when two of your twelve hits and one of your three runs had to be taken care of by the starting pitcher.
Use of the "Perlozzo/Baez Loss-o-matic" is almost always followed by the immediate sounds of broken glass, beer foaming on the new carpet, and palms slapping against furrowed brows throughout the state of Maryland. After three to five pitches by Baez, this sound is followed by the resounding cacophony of televisions and radios turning off, and cigarettes lighting up.
Fascinating specimen, really.
5.21.2007
If I may Direct your Attention
This post could have easily been posted here as well. Some folks in Baltimore City are so desperate for solutions I think they have stopped considering the effectiveness and legality of their suggestions.
5.14.2007
Baseball Post: Sympathy for Jeremy Guthrie
This is bit of a deviation from my normal blogging, but after yesterday's O's-Bosox game I cannot hold my comments.
Sam Perlozzo needs a solid kick in the head, preferrably from Jeremy Guthrie, who threw an inspired game against Boston yesterday, holding the master sluggers to only 3 hits and no runs up to 1/3 of the way through the bottom of the 9th. It was amazing to watch this young kid plow through Red Sox hitters, aided by some good defense behind him.
Sitting in my Grandmother's kitchen in Arbutus, I watched Guthrie proceed to get a easy pop fly putout to the infield for the second out. Not really. Hernandez dropped the easy fly ball. Upsetting, but nothing to worry about with a 5 run lead and Guthrie on the mound. He had had several double play putouts that afternoon, and I hoped we would see something similar happen this time.
Then, Perlozzo comes to mound. Guthrie drops the ball into Perlozzo's hand.
WHAT? Excuse me, WTF?
Bad choice, but I can't fault Sam for wanting to go to his skilled closer, Chris Ray. But wait, its not Ray coming on, its Danys Baez, THE SET UP MAN? Why not at least put your BEST OUT for this extremely important game? Who knows.
Short story, Baez, and later Ray, blow the game rather quickly. Guthrie dashed to the lockroom, most likely to avoid beating Perlozzo's ass or spitting in his face or any number of appropriate actions after coming so close to pitching a career game against the best hitting team in the AL and his team's main rival, only to have it ripped from him for no sane reason. My heart is with you Jeremy. Perlozzo lost it for you.
Sam Perlozzo needs a solid kick in the head, preferrably from Jeremy Guthrie, who threw an inspired game against Boston yesterday, holding the master sluggers to only 3 hits and no runs up to 1/3 of the way through the bottom of the 9th. It was amazing to watch this young kid plow through Red Sox hitters, aided by some good defense behind him.
Sitting in my Grandmother's kitchen in Arbutus, I watched Guthrie proceed to get a easy pop fly putout to the infield for the second out. Not really. Hernandez dropped the easy fly ball. Upsetting, but nothing to worry about with a 5 run lead and Guthrie on the mound. He had had several double play putouts that afternoon, and I hoped we would see something similar happen this time.
Then, Perlozzo comes to mound. Guthrie drops the ball into Perlozzo's hand.
WHAT? Excuse me, WTF?
Bad choice, but I can't fault Sam for wanting to go to his skilled closer, Chris Ray. But wait, its not Ray coming on, its Danys Baez, THE SET UP MAN? Why not at least put your BEST OUT for this extremely important game? Who knows.
Short story, Baez, and later Ray, blow the game rather quickly. Guthrie dashed to the lockroom, most likely to avoid beating Perlozzo's ass or spitting in his face or any number of appropriate actions after coming so close to pitching a career game against the best hitting team in the AL and his team's main rival, only to have it ripped from him for no sane reason. My heart is with you Jeremy. Perlozzo lost it for you.
5.10.2007
O'Malley: "Drug Dealing is a Violent Crime"
O'Malley doesn't want to sign the drug sentencing reform that passed in the legislature this year. What an idiot. The Governor has no excuse not to sign this bill, aside from preserving his own ambitions for federal office. Mayor O'Malley would have signed this bill. Governor O'Malley "has reservations".
Instead of deliberation, we get a sound bite that could have been written by Karl Rove.
Drug dealing a violent crime eh? As I have said before, the Governor DOES NOT GET IT. Well, then perhaps the Governor should re-consider sending DRUG DEALERS to JAIL, where ILLEGAL DRUG USE AND SALE IS RAMPANT.
Yet O'Malley thinks we should send small time drug dealers, often addicts as well, to prison as a punishment. Sounds like we are sending them to the party (not really, but acting as if prison will "clean these folks up" is a JOKE).
The fact of the matter is, O'Malley is not a judge, neither is the legislature. Judges should not be constrained by mandatory minimum sentences, particularly when dealing with such an important population, criminals with the possibility to be reformed. These addicts could receive treatment, therefore, slightly negating their reason for selling drugs in the first place. The profit motive remains, but at least treatment would give these men and women a chance for redemption, as well as open space for the more violent members of the massive drug market in Maryland.
All of this said, I find O'Malley's position disgusting and out of character. I also find his waffling insulting. Its almost as if O'MALLEY WANTS TO MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS VETO, hence his apparent publicity tour discussing it. He made his comments on Sirius satellite radio, but was sure to let the Washington post know.
I hope the Governor comes to his senses and signs this modest, but important reform into law. If he vetoes it, we will know it has everything to do with O'Malley's desire to look "tough on crime", and nothing to do with actually preventing it.
Instead of deliberation, we get a sound bite that could have been written by Karl Rove.
"I'm not sure that I can sign a bill that would do away with the penalties we have in Maryland -- or lessen the penalties -- for second-time drug dealers," the governor said on the Bill Press Show on Sirius satellite radio. "I think drug dealing is a violent crime."
Drug dealing a violent crime eh? As I have said before, the Governor DOES NOT GET IT. Well, then perhaps the Governor should re-consider sending DRUG DEALERS to JAIL, where ILLEGAL DRUG USE AND SALE IS RAMPANT.
The 1990 Census revealed that 7 out of 8 institutions conduct urine tests on inmates to detect drug use. Of the tests conducted between July 1, 1989, and June 30, 1990, evidence of drug use among State prison inmates was detected in about--
* 1 in 16 tests for marijuana
* 1 in 28 tests for cocaine
* 1 in 50 tests for methamphetamines
* 1 in 75 tests for heroin.
Among tests conducted among Federal prison inmates, positive test results were found in approximately--
* 1 in 100 tests for marijuana
* 1 in 250 tests for cocaine
* 1 in 250 tests for heroin
* 1 in 1,000 tests for methamphetamines.
Yet O'Malley thinks we should send small time drug dealers, often addicts as well, to prison as a punishment. Sounds like we are sending them to the party (not really, but acting as if prison will "clean these folks up" is a JOKE).
The fact of the matter is, O'Malley is not a judge, neither is the legislature. Judges should not be constrained by mandatory minimum sentences, particularly when dealing with such an important population, criminals with the possibility to be reformed. These addicts could receive treatment, therefore, slightly negating their reason for selling drugs in the first place. The profit motive remains, but at least treatment would give these men and women a chance for redemption, as well as open space for the more violent members of the massive drug market in Maryland.
All of this said, I find O'Malley's position disgusting and out of character. I also find his waffling insulting. Its almost as if O'MALLEY WANTS TO MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS VETO, hence his apparent publicity tour discussing it. He made his comments on Sirius satellite radio, but was sure to let the Washington post know.
I hope the Governor comes to his senses and signs this modest, but important reform into law. If he vetoes it, we will know it has everything to do with O'Malley's desire to look "tough on crime", and nothing to do with actually preventing it.
5.01.2007
Dixon's Crime Plan will Fail
Mayor Dixon, in association with your local media, has rolled out another plan to stop crime in Baltimore City. I am sure this one will fail as miserably as every other plan brought forward by "experts" called criminologists.
The particular criminologist in this case is David Kennedy. You may remember his failed "crime plans" from the 1980's or his study in 1997 which came to the stunning and revolutionary conclusion that "criminals commit crimes". Thats right, it took a few years of study for this expert criminologist to find out that most violent crime in Baltimore is committed by a core group of 4,000 criminals. Groundbreaking, really. I was under the impression that crime was a product of each and every Baltimore citizen performing at least one crime a year.
There are some positive aspects to the program, but they are afterthoughts, not central points. Drug treatment and community involvement is mentioned. Quality of life arrests are no longer the focus, and arrests without charges are down.
However, the Mayor's plan in no way addresses the root of the violence in Baltimore City, in exorbitant profits that can be made in the illegal drug trade. Because of this, criminals are organized, powerful, and their ranks are CONSISTENTLY REPLENISHED. Programs to dissuade young men from joining gangs or slinging will be grossly ineffective as long as much of the city remains in poverty and the drug trade is so easily accessible and so very profitable.
Gangs are responsible for many of the killings recently in the city. And of course, this program apparently will "target gangs". But will it really? This program does nothing to address the root of gang violence in Baltimore City, the illegal drug trade. I mean, these gangs make money somehow, and I have a feeling most of it is coming from selling heroin, as well as other drugs.
Of course the solution then, seems to be to target heroin dealers, and shut them down. I would argue that stopping the flow of illegal drugs into America, therefore, into Baltimore, therefore into Park Heights, while preserving civil liberties at all levels is completely impossible. A joke, really.
Instead of presenting more of the same the City, the Mayor could do the right thing (political suicide or not). She could send a letter, along with community activists and city police, to the Governor and the Legislature, to the Congress and the President. In this letter, she must admit the complete impossibility of continuing the federally and state mandated Drug War to a successful conclusion. Dixon could join with the Mayor's of every major US city, all of which are gripped with drug related violence.
She should ask the congress and the President to consider revisiting our drug laws, and re-writing them in a way that allows for the removal of the profit motive from the illegal drug trade. This could be done in numerous ways, from the creation of monopolized market, to the wholesale legalization of controlled substances. The key must be to REMOVE THE PROFIT MOTIVE from illegal sale. IMO, I think it would be unjust to reintroduce that profit motive into the legal market for things such as heroin, cocaine, or meth. For this reason, the creation of a monopolized narcotics, cocaine, and methamphetamine market would be ideal. Addicts need to be able to get their fix in a safe, non-violence encouraging environment. Treatment is also important, but ending the violence relies on removing the illegal profit motive and nothing else.
There is NOTHING that would end the violence faster than the removal of the profit motive from the illegal drug trade, short of a comprehensive and effective plan to revitalize the urban poor in our cities. Poverty is a great contributor to violence, and the reason that poor urban areas become such havens for drug activity.
Drug legalization cannot be a replacement for a war on poverty. Poverty has played a major part in this cycle, and must be addressed.
Still, I cannot hold my tongue when the people of Baltimore are being fed the same line, over and over on crime prevention. Don't get me wrong, I am completely aware that the ideas prescribed here are well outside of the mainstream, and not likely to be proposed by anyone interested in having a political career in most of America in the next 15 years.
So when it comes to crime fighting plans in Baltimore City, we can expect more of the same for some time to come. I will assume that those who disagree with me on drug legalization will herald this as a good thing. I must remind them that the murders will not stop either, or be reduced considerably for a long time. That doesn't sit well with me, and it shouldn't sit well with Baltimore politicians who continue to rely on tactics that do not work.
Update:To be clear, GANG ACTIVITY IS A DIRECT OUTGROWTH OF THE ILLEGAL NARCTOTICS TRADE. Eliminate this trade, you eliminate the reason for these gangs' existence.
Yep.
Update 2:While reading the article I posted in the update, it is clear that the Drug Trade is more than a get rich quick scheme. For many, it is a conscious career choice. Gangs in Baltimore are highly organized in their recruitment, much like a powerful corporation. They seek employees in likely areas, prison blocks and blighted city blogs, places where hopelessness is all around. Those who join are set for life, and are expected to remain for that period of time. Drug dealing for gang members is a career, living. Older gang members see their gangs as community organizations.
Don't be naive. These groups are most likely funneling money into the coffers of Maryland and Baltimore politicians. What intelligent and successful multi-million dollar local business wouldn't be doing so?
The particular criminologist in this case is David Kennedy. You may remember his failed "crime plans" from the 1980's or his study in 1997 which came to the stunning and revolutionary conclusion that "criminals commit crimes". Thats right, it took a few years of study for this expert criminologist to find out that most violent crime in Baltimore is committed by a core group of 4,000 criminals. Groundbreaking, really. I was under the impression that crime was a product of each and every Baltimore citizen performing at least one crime a year.
There are some positive aspects to the program, but they are afterthoughts, not central points. Drug treatment and community involvement is mentioned. Quality of life arrests are no longer the focus, and arrests without charges are down.
However, the Mayor's plan in no way addresses the root of the violence in Baltimore City, in exorbitant profits that can be made in the illegal drug trade. Because of this, criminals are organized, powerful, and their ranks are CONSISTENTLY REPLENISHED. Programs to dissuade young men from joining gangs or slinging will be grossly ineffective as long as much of the city remains in poverty and the drug trade is so easily accessible and so very profitable.
Gangs are responsible for many of the killings recently in the city. And of course, this program apparently will "target gangs". But will it really? This program does nothing to address the root of gang violence in Baltimore City, the illegal drug trade. I mean, these gangs make money somehow, and I have a feeling most of it is coming from selling heroin, as well as other drugs.
Of course the solution then, seems to be to target heroin dealers, and shut them down. I would argue that stopping the flow of illegal drugs into America, therefore, into Baltimore, therefore into Park Heights, while preserving civil liberties at all levels is completely impossible. A joke, really.
Instead of presenting more of the same the City, the Mayor could do the right thing (political suicide or not). She could send a letter, along with community activists and city police, to the Governor and the Legislature, to the Congress and the President. In this letter, she must admit the complete impossibility of continuing the federally and state mandated Drug War to a successful conclusion. Dixon could join with the Mayor's of every major US city, all of which are gripped with drug related violence.
She should ask the congress and the President to consider revisiting our drug laws, and re-writing them in a way that allows for the removal of the profit motive from the illegal drug trade. This could be done in numerous ways, from the creation of monopolized market, to the wholesale legalization of controlled substances. The key must be to REMOVE THE PROFIT MOTIVE from illegal sale. IMO, I think it would be unjust to reintroduce that profit motive into the legal market for things such as heroin, cocaine, or meth. For this reason, the creation of a monopolized narcotics, cocaine, and methamphetamine market would be ideal. Addicts need to be able to get their fix in a safe, non-violence encouraging environment. Treatment is also important, but ending the violence relies on removing the illegal profit motive and nothing else.
There is NOTHING that would end the violence faster than the removal of the profit motive from the illegal drug trade, short of a comprehensive and effective plan to revitalize the urban poor in our cities. Poverty is a great contributor to violence, and the reason that poor urban areas become such havens for drug activity.
Drug legalization cannot be a replacement for a war on poverty. Poverty has played a major part in this cycle, and must be addressed.
Still, I cannot hold my tongue when the people of Baltimore are being fed the same line, over and over on crime prevention. Don't get me wrong, I am completely aware that the ideas prescribed here are well outside of the mainstream, and not likely to be proposed by anyone interested in having a political career in most of America in the next 15 years.
So when it comes to crime fighting plans in Baltimore City, we can expect more of the same for some time to come. I will assume that those who disagree with me on drug legalization will herald this as a good thing. I must remind them that the murders will not stop either, or be reduced considerably for a long time. That doesn't sit well with me, and it shouldn't sit well with Baltimore politicians who continue to rely on tactics that do not work.
Update:To be clear, GANG ACTIVITY IS A DIRECT OUTGROWTH OF THE ILLEGAL NARCTOTICS TRADE. Eliminate this trade, you eliminate the reason for these gangs' existence.
Sgt. Ted Friel runs a four-officer gang intelligence unit in the Eastern District, the first such mini-unit in the city. Other districts have begun to create their own.
"For the most part, the existing drug territories and the gang stuff goes hand in hand," Friel said. "The drug organizations have become the gangs."
Yep.
Update 2:While reading the article I posted in the update, it is clear that the Drug Trade is more than a get rich quick scheme. For many, it is a conscious career choice. Gangs in Baltimore are highly organized in their recruitment, much like a powerful corporation. They seek employees in likely areas, prison blocks and blighted city blogs, places where hopelessness is all around. Those who join are set for life, and are expected to remain for that period of time. Drug dealing for gang members is a career, living. Older gang members see their gangs as community organizations.
Don't be naive. These groups are most likely funneling money into the coffers of Maryland and Baltimore politicians. What intelligent and successful multi-million dollar local business wouldn't be doing so?
4.30.2007
Take Back the Blog
Bruce Godfrey and a huge number of dedicated bloggers have organized a "take back the blog" blogswarm over at Crablaw. The volume and diversity of posts is freaking amazing. Check it out!
4.23.2007
Why don’t we honor our fallen servicemembers? -By Army Sgt. Jim Wilt
Via thinkprogress. Its not the specific content, but a simple statement of the obvious that makes this article so moving. Tragedies of the VT magnitude are daily occurrences in Iraq. What makes the article even more powerful is that Wilt does not use this point to make political hay. There are no calls to support any strategy or ideal, only a demand that Americans begin to mourn the losses of Iraq. While television screens still echo with the names and dreams of the 32 killed at VT, the continually mounting tragedies in Iraq are now tossed aside quickly, be it to make way for Anna Nicole coverage or to report on the latest car-bombing. When this horrible misadventure in Iraq finally ends, perhaps America will be able to start mourning the thousands we have lost. Sgt. Wilt is simply asking why these young people and their families must wait for a fitting tribute.
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