Holiday Season

As the holiday season quickly approaches, so does the open warfare of Robbery. B-more City has suffered a rash of Bar Robberies in the past couple weeks. Its not just B-more though, the southern Counties of MD are dealing with their share of Bank Robberies. What's interesting to note about the various area "rashes", all are reported being completed with 'military precision'.

excerpt from Sun article:

"Police say they believe the same men have held up eight bars in the past three weeks, usually the same way.

Either two or three men enter the tavern wearing gloves and masks or bandanas to cover their faces, according to police. One man, waving a gun, immediately jumps behind the bar and, in most cases, removes the entire cash drawer. Another man stands as a lookout and prevents people from leaving the bar."

Now, not too long ago I recall reading about some numbnut soldiers from APG committing carjackings and other such crimes. Is there some connection? or is this the work of gangs who have finally been organized to the point they finished training each other in the finer aspects of hooliganism? or could it be a combination of both considering the military has been infiltrated by gang members who take that training back to their "sets" ? or could it be a bunch of guys not connected to anything in particular who want a little money for Christmas gifts? Time will tell.

Speaking of Christmas gifts. Anyone else see the lines outside retail stores yesterday? Yes, people were literally camped out to purchase the few stocked newly arrived PlayStation 3 game console. In some areas around this here USA there were reports of shootings and other such madness. Boston however was smart enough to pass out tickets to the first line arrivals who went back home until the store opened. The employee who thought of that organized and safe procedure should get a hefty bonus, IMO.

The two men found shot dead in a Sparks medical firm appear to be employees. Police surmise it was some sort of murder-suicide. There was also a murder on the county side of Brooklyn Park, identity still unknown:

"The victim - believed to be 22 - was found shot shortly before 10 p.m. near Victory Avenue and 11th Avenue East as county officers investigated a reported shooting there, police said."

As for B-more, the murder count is somewhere around 240. You can check out the names and circumstances of each death at the City Paper's Murder Ink archive.

Accidents

An unnamed female Officer and unnamed man collided late last night.
Reports indicate the Officer was travelling with lights and sirens
activated. Both suffered serious injuries.

Read more here.

On another note, Channel 2 news states 'persons' will be out using
radar to capture the speed of passing City Officers. Maybe they have already done so.

Hey! What's up with all the college students and TB going around?

Local News

Editorial: Finish investigation of Dixon fast, please - Examiner.com

While Sheila "the shoe" Dixon gets ready to take over B-more City as interim Mayor, people are showing concern over the investigation into her contracting forays. All are waiting to see what the outcome of the investigation provides should it wrangle on too long. Its not good to have pending investigations should Dixon decide to run for full term Mayor.

From what I hear, she has much to worry about. It may just be bad "word" but I doubt it.

In other news Mayor O'malley has put together a small transition team made up of Lt. Gov. elect Anthony Brown and for some odd reason Tyler the City Solicitor. Is he still being paid to be City Solicitor or Executive transition team whatever while he's off doing something else?

While the team is looking for office space in Annapolis, the killings and shootings continue in Baltimore City.

Terror Plots

BBC NEWS | UK | MI5 tracking '30 UK terror plots'

"Today we see the use of home-made improvised explosive devices.

"Tomorrow's threat may - I suggest will - include the use of chemicals, bacteriological agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology."

Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of M15 (CIA), commented Britain has become the number one terrorist target. Does anyone else wonder with the changing of the political guard in the US we could move back to the number one spot? Hopefully not but only time will tell.

Iran warning over UN resolution

Mr Larijani warned that even if the Russian changes to the draft are not included, the UN resolution "will not make Iran change its mind" about its nuclear programme.

Iran says its enrichment work is aimed at generating electricity, but the US and other Western nations fear Iran is trying to acquire nuclear weapons.

Who is gonna have the nads in Washington to stop Iran? What will be given in exchange for cooperation? Hopefully not the safety of the American public.

New UN Chief

Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon stepped down from his post to become the UN's next top dog. On the forefront of his plate is UN reform and turmoil on the Korean peninsula.

"After being appointed as secretary general, I was somewhat scared and humbled to think that all issues in the world, such as UN reform, regional conflict, terrorism, and proliferation, are related to myself," he told his parliamentary colleagues.

One of the issues he is keen to focus on is greater internal accountability and transparency.

"The reform of the UN, which has been put off for the past 60 years, must be carried out in earnest," he said.

Have fun with that last part, I'm certain there will be much opposition to reform after decades of status quo.

Crab Season

Its almost the end of crab season so get out there and get your creepies Marylanders! Btw, this is a shameless plug for Lady Frances over on the East side (Essex) of Baltimore County. I kid you not, for 18 dollars a dozen I got crabs that would have cost 40 to 50 on the West side of the County. They were heavy, they were meaty, they were big, and they were seasoned to perfection. Unbelievable! ... and the steamed corn in the husk .... oooooh so good! Another shameless plug for LightHouse Inn in Federal Hill. Same reasonably priced fresh meaty treats for far less than other places. Another outstanding location!

Moral of this story... do not buy crabs from mostly minority sections of the State and City. You get half the crab for three times the price. Waaaaay overpriced. Ridiculous and most likely discriminatory! Damn shameful!

Election Results

The results are in, Gov Erhlich conceded a loss to O'Malley in the MD election. The citizens have spoken and they shall get what they voted for. We're expecting a rise in the tax rate, its too be seen how high it will go.

Well, now that all that is over, we can get back to regular stuff.

Waiting.....

I'm waiting on the MD election results with everyone else.

I found this BBC blog on US elections quite an entertaining read.

Oh, 11 Investigates is doing a segment on the BPD spending over its alloted yearly budget within just a few months.

In the meantime, you can always take a look at the BBC site. Saddam is supposed to be "hanged" by the end of the year for his crimes, if that catches your fancy. Plus China has pledged to help African nations with billions in aide support.

Its Heating Up

With only two days to go until the MD elections we're seeing the last ditch efforts to win voters approval. The Examiner and Sunpaper have announced the candidates will air national personalities in their last ads.

Clinton will speak on O'Malleys behalf and Guliani on Erhlichs. You can check out today's additions to read more.

Examiner Link

Baltimore Sun Link

More on Crime

More contention between politicals regarding the crime situation in B-More City. In todays Examiner article, Del Jill Carter takes an opposing side to O'Malley spokeswoman Guillroy on the level of improvement in the City. Here are a few excerpts:

The crime data in the report shows improvement for the city, said Raquel Guillory, spokeswoman for Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley.

“It shows we’re making progress,” she said. “But the job of making Baltimore safer is not done. The mayor came into office with the objective of making Baltimore safer, healthier and cleaner.”

State Del. Jill Carter, D-District 41, said she didn’t see much progress from O’Malley’s police tactics.

“It’s still the most murderous city in the country,” she said, citing Baltimore City’s 269 murders last year — the highest murder rate of any large city. “I don’t see where the progress is. Even if there is a minor level of progress, we don’t feel safer.”

There was an even more interesting Examiner article discussing the number of deaths where the manner was deemed "undetermined" in 2004. For Baltimore City, that number was recorded as 341 of the 807 determined as such in the State of Maryland. 2004 was the last year these specific statistics could be obtained. Some excerpts:

The classification “undetermined” means that while the cause of death is known, the actual manner of death cannot be classified after the investigation is completed. In Baltimore, 341 deaths were classified as “undetermined” in 2004, according to a report from the Baltimore-based State Medical Examiner’s Office obtained by The Examiner.

“In a major metropolitan area you, might have several dozen ‘undetermined’ cases at most, but 341 — no way” he said. “It’s a competent office, so there must be a reason,” he added.