Carnival of Maryland 47

Yes boys and girls I continue to roll sevens. I enjoy playing host to the Carnival of Maryland every few months – whenever the C of M number ends in seven – because it gives me an excuse to read and comment on some of the best the Free State’s blogosphere has to offer and maybe introduce readers to places they hadn’t seen yet. (Even I found a couple I wasn’t aware of.) So welcome and enjoy the reading!

I’ll begin with the humor this time and get serious someplace along the line. Having just celebrated Thanksgiving with friends of mine, I can relate to at least the title of Kevin Dayhoff’s contribution to this effort, A Waist Is A Terrible Thing To Mind. And yes, it is a humorous look at some of the holiday traditions both in and outside of Kevin’s family.

When I do the Carnival, submissions come to me through my e-mail. One submission this time around came from the originator of the Carnival himself, “Attila” of Pillage Idiot. However, in his e-mail inbox he recently became a recipient of a Nigerian solicitation to end all Nigerian solicitations. Naturally he found the humor in what he called Post-modernism meets the Nigerian e-mail scam.

Okay, getting sick is rarely humorous, but the blogger who goes by the curious handle of “Bake My Fish” (I need to find out the story behind THAT) managed to find some humor amidst all the nasty stuff at our State Fair earlier this summer. The post is called I Went to the Animal Fair; the Germs and the Microbes Were There and comes from Boomer Twilight. Fortunately he’s recovered enough to send me the post!

While the title of Wanna be a Rocket Scientist? may lead one to believe that I’m onto another humorous post, “The Patriot Sharpshooter” at Common Sense doesn’t find the financing situation in Maryland’s Washington County all that funny – in fact he asks “are all the bureaucrats so inept that we are past the point of saving our society?” TPS also remarked to me that one could “substitute your city/county/state and the results are similar.” Unfortunately, I think he’s right.

In other Maryland county news, considering her home county of Prince George’s voted just under 89% for the guy, residents there are quite pleased that Barack Obama won his bid for the Oval Office. But on the Race Matters blog, PG County resident Joyce Dowling isn’t quite convinced we’ve seen the end of racism despite Obama’s win and asks the incoming administration to make ending it a priority.

Something that the writer of The Political Octagon would like to see end is the Republican Party straying from its principles, using the example of the Citigroup bailout as a case study for the party losing its way. As a member of the Grand Old Party myself I happen to agree that leadership by RINO should be killed off but our conservative brand should live on.

Conservative may not be the word for Maryland’s fiscal policy, as “Zinzindor” notes on Leviathan Montgomery. Instead, Maryland ranks number one in the fiscal policy ratings by the Cato Institute – that is, if you’re counting from the bottom as he was.

Nor is Maryland’s recently-concluded commission to study the death penalty spared a firing squad, and Soccer Dad is the trigger man with his critique called Killing Logic. There he hammers on Governor O’Malley for following the Maryland General Assembly’s example of the recently-passed video slots referendum and seeking a fig leaf to cover a lack of leadership.

Shifting gears from the political to the musical, Clark Bjorke of Clark’s Picks brings traditional jazz pianist and “bell gal” Sweet Emma Barrett to the blogosphere, where we see her sing I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None Of My Jellyroll.

Joyce Dowling returns again with a post about TDRs (transferable development rights) in her home county of Prince George’s. In her latest look at environmental news on Creating a Jubilee County, a pitched battle pitted environmentalists against developers and farmers, with the developers winning – for now.

Seeking an abundance from the land as well is Steve, who is all for setting up a new class of liquor license that will encourage the Maryland wine industry to prosper. While the blog is called Steve Likes to Curse, he also notes, “This could be a rare and welcome example of our representatives in Annapolis actually doing something positive for their constituents.” Sounds more like a commentary than a curse, although he does do a smattering of what the site is named for in the post. (We’ll call that a caution.)

Another regular C of M contributor and certainly one who treasures the environment is The Ridger. As is normally the case, she has a sharp eye for avian life and a ready camera for her two contributions from her site The Greenbelt, Shiny and Staying Very Late. I also need to add that as long as she doesn’t see the post up here, it’s never too late for her submissions.

A Maryland-based blog I wasn’t aware of that deals in financial issues is called Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, and Jim came through with two submissions on high-yield savings accounts and next year’s federal energy tax credits. (As always, actual results may vary – but I admire entrepreneurism.) And it was really nice of Jim to provide me the bridge from environmental posts to my last post, which comes from the host. (That would be me, from the recent archives of monoblogue.)

Last week I asked the question, “how much green does ‘green’ really save?” You’ll have to forgive me for not bowing at the altar of the environmental movement, but readers old and new should be aware I don’t take things at face value, nor an I in foursquare with the green building requirements which now seem to be in vogue and affecting the world of architecture where I make my living.

It’s on that particular point I will close the 47th edition of the Carnival of Maryland. As always, I appreciate those who submitted items to me and thank you for reading it.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

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