Update on my life

Hello folks. It has been a long time since my last post, and it will most likely be a long time until my next one. As you can see by the new subheading, I have returned to my hometown of Westminster, where my girlfriend and I can afford to rent a very nice townhome.

I am currently working at AFSCME Maryland, training to be a union organizer. Its exciting to start this new journey. Before today, I had spent the last 6 months working for Progressive Maryland, a wonderful community organization some of you may be familiar with. If you are looking for a way to get your foot in the door when it comes to political/community organizing, Progressive Maryland is a fabulous place to start. The people who make up PM are amazing, and I will miss spending my days with them in the trenches. Thanks to everyone there for all the great work you continue to do.

Life goes on. Thanks for checking in.

Energy Deregulation

What a horrible mess. We all lose, except for Constellation Energy. Constellation leads all Fortune 1000 energy companies in both revenue and profits.

Oh yeah, PRICES GO UP AGAIN tonight. We can't count on FERC to do anything, as our federal system of checks and balances has been gutted in favor of partisan appointments. I would encourage you to call your legislator to demand action and hope they are not one of the many who have taken monetary support from Constellation or one of their numerous affiliated companies and subsidiaries.

You Need to Watch This RE: Obama

Yeah, I am sure everyone is posting it, but this speech is awesome. This is the perfect response to that reverend bullshit.

Update on my Life

As readers of this site (and Freestatepolitics) may have noticed, I have been almost completely absent from the internet lately. The reason for my extended absence is that I have recently gotten a new job with Progressive Maryland as a field canvasser. The schedule is what has kept me from blogging, as the work is in the evenings, and my mornings are filled with two things, catching up on sleep and engaging in some sort of leisure activity for at least a moment. As a result of this schedule, my blogging will be infrequent (as always).

Currently, at Progressive Maryland we are campaigning for publicly financed elections. SB 593 is currently being held up in committee, and we are collecting signatures and donations of support for PM, so we can continue putting pressure on the wary legislators.

Well, thats all for now. I will continue to blog sporadically when the urge strikes me, but at this point, I want to focus on my new job, one that is finally in politics.

Homicides Down in Baltimore

I must say, this is a rather refreshing interview with Commissioner Bealefeld. Lets hope that this slowdown in murders continues, no matter what the reason.

This is making Dixon look really good.

One Place that is Screaming for Development

The Inner Harbor, really? The former home of a toxic and polluting chromium plant, "Harbor Point" is another feather in the cap of the Struever Bros. The kickbacks can now begin. Morgan Stanley gets $4 mil.

Of course, this all was able to happen because the Feds decided Corporations shouldn't have to clean up the messes they make:

The federal government's concession not to sue developers for future environmental cleanups at the former chrome plant paves the way for one of former Mayor William Donald Schaefer's pet projects to finally reach fruition.

Delightfully toxic, just like this City.

"Demonic, destructive suction tube."

Dr. King, describing the effects of the Vietnam war on federal programs to help the poor. A bit more:

Then came the build-up in Vietnam. And I watched the program broken as if it was some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war. And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money, like some demonic, destructive suction tube. And you may not know it, my friends, but it is estimated that we spend $500,000 to kill each enemy soldier, while we spend only fifty-three dollars for each person classified as poor, and much of that fifty-three dollars goes for salaries to people that are not poor. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor, and attack it as such.

I call that leadership. I am reminded of those who voted for the Iraq war, particularly Democrats, who now spend their time working for votes claiming they have the best interests of the poor and middle class at heart, and how many lies they must be forced to tell every single day.

Flawed Sun Poll Inflates Death Penalty Support in Maryland

A newSun poll shows that 57% of Marylanders support the Death Penalty. This isn't surprising, seeing as the poll was crafted to get that answer. The reporters at the Sun know this, and they even put it in their article (though far below the headline).

But support for capital punishment drops precipitously when pollsters introduce the alternative sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.

Asked in 2006 whether death or life without parole is the better penalty for murder, 47 percent chose the death penalty and 48 percent picked life without parole, according to the Gallup poll.

In Maryland, a poll of 625 registered voters conducted in February by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research revealed a similar drop. In that statewide survey, commissioned by the Maryland Catholic Conference, which opposes capital punishment, 56 percent expressed support for the death penalty while 34 percent opposed it. But asked a follow-up question, 61 percent said they thought life without parole is a suitable alternative to a death sentence.

It would be nice to see a poll commissioned by an independent observer that asks the same follow up, or at least forces poll respondents to choose between life in prison with no parole and a death sentence. That is the argument we are having, so that should be the question that is asked. It seems like no-brainer to me.