Carnival of Maryland -- 15th edition

Here we are at Pillage Idiot, hosting the Carnival of Maryland, which I last hosted back in March.

The Carnival of Maryland is a bi-weekly carnival run and hosted by members of the Maryland Blogger Alliance, an eclectic group of Maryland bloggers. You don't have to be a member to contribute to the carnival, but if you're a Maryland blogger, you have every reason to join. Just send me an email. In March, when I last hosted, we had 23 members. Now, we're at 34, which is almost a 50% increase.

Well, enough small talk. Here's the 15th Carnival of Maryland.

Sports

With fall around the corner, a young man's thoughts turn to baseball. Our very own loyal Orioles fan at Oriole Post went to an O's game at Fenway Park, only to find history being made. He writes an appreciative post about being a witness to Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz's no-hitter in only his second major league start: A Witness to History - the Orioles No Hit by Rookie Clay Buchholz. There's video at the link, too.

Needless to say, September also marks the beginning of the football season. Sadly, there seems to be an academic cheating scandal at the University of Maryland, involving a Terps football player. Inside Charm City reports on this scandal in Josh Portis, cheating, and a possible attempt at silencing the messenger?.

Arts

Charlie Dowd, artist and web designer, as well as blogger at C. Dowd's Blog, explains in Baltimore Sun Gameday Ads that his ads for "Baltimore Gameday Radio" on ESPN radio have appeared in the Baltimore Sun. Congratulations, Charlie!

Nature

The Ridger, at her blog, The Greenbelt, posts some great photos of the Japanese lantern trees in front of her apartment building. She complains, in Who speaks for the trees?, that the management company that runs her building has mutilated the trees without any real justification.

Marilyn Terrell, of Intelligent Travel, today's only non-member of the Alliance, cites a National Geographic editor's positive experience camping with the horses at Assateague, in Horsing Around on Assateague.

Personal

Mike Netherland, who runs the aptly named Mike's Nether Land, has a couple of gripes -- what he calls "peeves." He doesn't like clergy who preach political sermons, particularly from the political left, or for that matter, people who go to church in order to cough, and he really doesn't like karaoke "singers."

Stephanie Dray, whose Jousting for Justice has a great design, had to take her blog offline for a while because of "attacks by spammers and some other technical glitches." She originally came back online with a site design in basic blue. It was nice to have her back, but frankly, blue is blue. Now, she's back in full color: "We're Back In Color."

Local News and Events

Joyce Dowling, at Creating a Jubilee County, tells us what's happenin' in Prince George's County, where there is a lot taking place. Check out this list and see for yourself.

Politics

I've never really been satified with the "politics" category, so I've broken it down into local, state, and national politics. The trouble is that it's really broader than what's strictly politics -- the analysis of political candidates, which The Hedgehog Report, monoblogue, Maryland Politics Today, and Red Maryland, for example, do so well -- because it includes as well the relationship between people and their governments, which almost all of us write about. I'm going to need help reorganizing the categories in the future, but for now, let's treat the two facets together.

a. Local Politics

Wade Crodhil, at Politics, Hon, shows the latest poll results in the race for the nomination for Baltimore City Council President: Sarbanes Leading Princess Stephanie In Latest Sun Poll and offers the "Hon Endorsement" in the mayoral primary in Baltimore.

Bruce Godfrey, at Crablaw, really amused me with his non-endorsement of local politicians, Baltimore Elections 2007: No Endorsement from Crab Media. He writes: "My only regret is that I cannot vote for Mayor next week, in part because I am not a City resident and in part because I do not belong to the de facto single party of the City. My only wish is that everyone currently in elected City government - female or male, young or old, black or white, gay or straight, Democrat or Democrat - could be, somehow, caught in an embarrassing sexual act or solicitation inside a toilet, so all could depart in disgrace, yielding every office open for other City residents less obviously and immediately connected with machine politics, payoffs, financial misconduct and a sickening sense of inherited or other entitlement. Every last one of them." Tell us how you really feel, Bruce.

Over at Red Maryland, streiff looks at a bill introduced before the Baltimore County Council that, he says, is The Right Decision for the Wrong Reason. The bill requires that a "need" be shown before the county issues another license to a towing company, but the reason was that the sponsor, Councilman Kenneth Oliver, wanted to break up a "monopoly" of white-owned businesses.

Matt Johnston, at Going to the Mat, describes a 25-year-old 5-4 Supreme Court ruling requiring local communities to provide public education to children who are illegal immigrants and explains that Frederick, in an effort to force reconsideration of that ruling, is considering a bill that would deny funds to help them attend public schools.

Zinzidor writes at Leviathan Montgomery about the need to lower housing costs by permitting "self-housing" -- which means allowing people to build simple, functional houses for themselves, either literally by themselves or by barter with professionals, as opposed to forcing them to clear many regulatory hurdles.

Meanwhile, David K. Kyle, at The Candid Truth, cites the case of a homeowner in Anne Arundel County who built an addition to his house without obtaining the necessary permits. The county is seeking a court order requiring him to take it down. Here's a link to the column David refers to. (See? I provide full service writeups here.)

Stan Modjesky, at blogger 1947, says "In the Future, everyone will be declared a criminal" for relatively minor offenses. He starts with London -- that's in England, folks -- moves to Los Angeles, and then reaches Maryland with Caroline County and Annapolis.

On a more subdued note, Kevin Dayhoff posts a link to his column in The Tentacle about a fire in Mount Airy. Kevin discusses what the town that at one time was "the town that could" and has become "the town that fights." And he expresses hope that Mount Airy can regain its ability to cope.

b. State Politics

P. Kenneth "Kenny" Burns, at Maryland Politics Today, tells us that Franchot Should Have Stayed A Delegate: Peter Franchot, the Comptroller of Maryland, the official responsible for supervising the state's fiscal condition, has been advocating against slots. "Why," Kenny asks, "is the Comptroller of the state of Maryland doing something that is not in his job description?"

At Howard County Maryland Blog, Jim Walsh asks why, if Maryland has become the state with the highest median income, our state government is fighting large structural deficits: The Wealthiest State in the Nation.

Michael Swartz, at monoblogue, writes Rethinking O’Malley, which is an extended meditation on this same subject of high income and deficits. Michael looks at it from a personal perspective and concludes with the idea that education, which is the target of the largest statewide expenditure, could benefit from free-market reforms.

Soccer Dad, a/k/a David Gerstman, writes in amazement that Nancy Grasmick, the state superintendent of schools, has proposed that students who repeatedly fail the state tests required for high-school graduation be allowed to graduate without passing them, if the students do a project instead.

Finally, Rachel Sawyer, at Tinkerty Tonk, has a story that happened a few months ago, but it's really timeless: How just about everything can go wrong when you're dealing with the MVA, the sheriff's office, your insurance company, and the guy who's impounded your car. I had to close my jaw manually after reading it.

c. National Politics

Kevin Dayhoff, in Rashid Ari Rebellion and the Battle of Habbaniya, writes about the historical complexities in Iraq, and wonders whether our armed forces are given an historical primer of the region.

David Wissing, at The Hedgehog Report, writes that there was a Republican straw poll at the state fair, and Ron Paul won it: MD: Ron Paul Wins Straw Poll. How did he win? People could vote in the poll "regardless of party affiliation."

More Ron Paul: At Pillage Idiot, I wrote that I noticed Ron Paul signs on overpasses over I-95 northeast of Baltimore. In The reverse of love, I wondered why the signs, which read "Ron Paul Revolution," have the letters "evol" in the word revolution written backwards, as if it were an ambulance sign. I have a couple of frivolous ideas about that.

Conclusion

Well, that's all folks!

The 16th edition of the Carnival of Maryland is scheduled for Sunday, September 23, and is being hosted at abolitionofman.com. You can submit your posts through this convenient form at Blog Carnival.