Lewis

I went a couple times and had lunch with my 9 year old at her school.

WOW! Hi carb and grease. Very few vegies.

Healthier to brown bag it with PB and J and a apple like we did when we were kids.

Takes some effort but my kid has a lunch box now.

She has to take her own water anyway now as most public water systems are undrinkable.

Good points. Some of the schools up here actually had to bring in bottled water due to groundwater contamination, others had lead in their water. Lunches may be free for some, but they are still quite unhealthy.

Westport (MD)

Landover (MD)

Definitely huge!

St. Michaels (MD)

I just can't get to sleep. You do know lots of Texas towns though.

Happy weekend to you also.

Going to visit my family and go swimming!

Rockville (MD)

What does a free lunch really consist of should be the question...

At the school I work at the food is pretty nasty, not much has changed in about 30 years.

Eldersburg (MD)

Good one!

OAHU

Nottingham

Apex (NC)

Essex (MD)

Elkton (MD)

Annapolis

saw on the news also that a by stander said that when they pulled her out of the car, she reached for her crack pipe and try to take other hit.

hope the state takes her child away.

Seems like you are right about the crack, according to this new article.

Driver Used Crack Before Festival Crash, D.C. Police Say

Woman Laughed During Onslaught, Witnesses Say

By Robert E. Pierre, Sue Anne Pressley Montes and Yolanda Woodlee

Washington Post Staff Writers

Monday, June 4, 2007; Page A01

The woman charged with driving through a crowded Southeast Washington festival this weekend -- injuring dozens -- had been "smoking crack all day long," Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said yesterday, citing witnesses and the woman's statement to police.

(...)

Watching from her porch on W Street, Linda Greene saw the station wagon going down her street -- not at a great rate of speed, she said -- with its tires flattened and windows busted, trailed by police officers on bicycles and motorcycles. She said she saw the driver "with her head thrown back, laughing."

(...)

Investigators are trying to determine exactly what happened. How fast was Bell going? There are conflicting accounts about her speed. Where was she headed? Why didn't she stop? Was she high? If so, for how long? Police are seeking answers to those questions as they await toxicology tests results.

(...)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...dule⊂=AR

It's amazing that none of the injuries were life threatening or there was no loss of life.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Harp

Dos Equis

Love trying microbrews from the US, there are too many to list.

I used to do the homebrew thing, but have not made any for a couple of years.

aw, beat me!

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal...local-headlines

Another religious figure has stepped up to the challenge in Baltimore.

Vowing to decrease by half the number of murders in Baltimore this summer, the Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, whose youth and charisma have propelled him to celebrity status in the area's Christian community, announced yesterday plans for a new crime-fighting initiative called "Stop Sinning" - a play on the infamous inner-city mantra "Stop Snitching."

(")

Bryant said he hopes to meet his goal by hosting a gun buy-back June 1, conducting "'hood invasions," in which ministers and other community outreach personnel hit the streets to talk to young people - particularly young men who lack male role models - and pushing for local businesses, particularly the ones that the church patronizes, to offer jobs and internships to people in the community.

"Men and women of God, get from behind the pulpit and get on the street," Bryant roared to a crowd of congregants, city officials and police gathered at West North Avenue and Poplar Grove Street. He declared "war" on the "Stop Snitching" campaign, which gained notoriety when NBA player and Baltimore native Carmelo Anthony appeared in a video that urged crime witnesses to refrain from cooperating with the police. Anthony later apologized.

(")

Police have logged 110 homicides in the city this year, up from 101 at the same time last year.

(")

Bryant says his "Stop Sinning" movement was prompted after he watched an interview that aired last month on CBS' 60 Minutes. The rapper Cam'ron, who famously refused to cooperate with police after he was shot in Washington in 2005 while he was in town to celebrate Howard University's homecoming, said on the show that he adheres to a strict street code that prevents him from talking to law enforcement.

"If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me? No, I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him," Cam'ron said, according to a transcript of the interview.

(")

YAY Maryland!

Motto: Fatti maschii, parole femine (Manly deeds, womanly words)

State symbols:

bird Baltimore oriole (1947)

boat skipjack (1985)

crustacean Maryland blue crab (1989)

dinosaur Astrodon johnstoni (1998)

dog Chesapeake Bay retriever (1964)

beverage milk (1998)

flower black-eyed susan (1918)

fish rockfish (1965)

folk dance square dance (1994)

fossil shell ecphora gardnerae gardnerae (Wilson) (1994)

insect Baltimore checkerspot butterfly (1973)

reptile Diamondback terrapin (1994)

song “Maryland! My Maryland!” (1939)

sport jousting (1962)

team sport lacrosse (2004)

tree white oak (1941)

Nicknames: Free State; Old Line State

Origin of name: In honor of Henrietta Maria (queen of Charles I of England)

10 largest cities (2005 est.): Baltimore, 635,815; Frederick, 57,907; Gaithersburg, 57,698; Rockville, 57,402; Bowie, 53,878; Hagerstown, 38,326; Annapolis, 36,300; Salisbury, 26,295; College Park, 25,171; Greenbelt, 22,242

Land area: 9,774 sq mi. (25,315 sq km)

That's interesting, I knew about jousting being the state sport but I did not know about milk being the beverage or about the square dance fact either! Maryland is a great place to live, "America in miniature". We have mountains, beaches, metropolitan areas, some great schools and plenty of jobs. Here is a list of some famous Marylanders below. Some are pretty notorious, one from the town that I live in now. (Booth)

Spiro T. Agnew vice president, Baltimore

Benjamin Banneker mathematician, astronomer, Oella/Ellicott City

John Barth writer, Cambridge

Eubie Blake musician, Baltimore

John Wilkes Booth actor, Lincoln assassin, Harford County

Francis X. Bushman actor, Baltimore

James M. Cain writer, Annapolis

Samuel Chase jurist, Sumerset Cty

John Dickinson statesman, Talbot Cty

Frederick Douglass abolitionist, Tuckahoe

Christopher Gist frontiersman, Baltimore

Philip Glass composer, Baltimore

Matthew Henson explorer, Charles Cty

Billie Holiday jazz-blues singer, Baltimore

Johns Hopkins financier, Anne Arundel Cty

Reverdy Johnson lawyer, statesman, Annapolis

Thomas Johnson political leader, Calvert Cty

Francis Scott Key laywer, author, Carroll Cty

Thurgood Marshall jurist, Baltimore

H. L. Mencken writer, Baltimore

Charles Willson Peale painter, naturalist Queen Annes Cty

Babe Ruth baseball player, Baltimore

Upton Sinclair author, Baltimore

Roger B. Taney jurist, Calvert Cty

Harriet Tubman abolitionist, Dorchester Cty

Leon Uris author, Baltimore

Frank Zappa singer, Baltimore

http://www.50states.com/bio/maryland.htm

Some of these calls for respect for the dead seem to be coming from the same people who rejoiced in the death of Saddam.

eta: not comparing Falwell to Saddam in any way, just saying you can't have it both ways.

True. It's working the other way around though, too.

I just can't understand rejoicing in anyone's death, Falwell included.

Very good point.

The man is dead, let it be. What is the point in reveling in someone's death, even if you hate them? Life in the US is so horrible, isn't it? Yeah, we have freedom of speech but do we have respect for the dead, even if we detest the dead person? Pitiful.

I don't know much about Falwell because I was not interested in what he had to say. I have my own personal beliefs which I keep to myself. If he was a hatemongerer while he was alive, it does not justify hatemongerers celebrating his death. There are many more creative, sophisticated and effective ways to affect political and religious change than ranting on a message board for immigration.

I guess I'm just an a$$hole then, right? There may be more creative, sophisticated ways to effect (not affect) change but it's not something I get into very deeply on a message board about immigration. It's not really the proper forum, and I don't feel that I have anything to prove in that respect anyway. That's just me, though.

Your interpretation is yours, not mine. No one is proving anything, it is not a contest here. My point is made.

The man is dead, let it be. What is the point in reveling in someone's death, even if you hate them? Life in the US is so horrible, isn't it? Yeah, we have freedom of speech but do we have respect for the dead, even if we detest the dead person? Pitiful.

I don't know much about Falwell because I was not interested in what he had to say. I have my own personal beliefs which I keep to myself. If he was a hatemongerer while he was alive, it does not justify hatemongerers celebrating his death. There are many more creative, sophisticated and effective ways to affect political and religious change than ranting on a message board for immigration.

DC definitely qualifies. Blinkers? Who needs those? Lots of hand gestures and aggressive driving there. Take the metro if you visit.

People need to be educated and alive in order to hold down (most) jobs.

There are jobs that don't require you to be alive?

yeap, paid voter in chicago

Interesting, dead people also voted in Baltimore in past elections, I don't know if they got paid though. Hendrix and Tupac are still making millions for their heirs along with countless other dead celebrities.

Just pointing out how complex the situation is in Baltimore. Raising the minimum wage is like putting a bandaid on a fire hydrant.

Raising the minimum wage in Baltimore again will not fix the crappy school system or bloated government. As of last Monday there were 101 homicides in Baltimore this year, most likely one of the highest totals per capita in the country. One of the biggest reasons it is cheaper to live in Baltimore is because of the crime risk. People need to be educated and alive in order to hold down (most) jobs. This new law has much to do with politics.

Are you using MD-only comparison (where Balto is cheaper than Rockville or Gaithersburg)?

Because it's certainly NOT cheaper to live in Balto than in some other high-job-market areas (Metro Atlanta, DFW Metroplex, RTP, Charlotte, ...) which DON't all have higher crime rates.

Yes, I was just referring to Maryland. I lived in Bmore for a few years. Yes, it is getting expensive. But you can still find affordable single family homes if you are willing to live in questionable neighborhoods. We considered Bmore for our house, then looked to Bmore county and finally settled on Harford. The big clincher was the school system and crime.