53 beers on tap

Who's going to care for the viaduct?

When I saw the headline of this article, I thought it was going to mean a little bit more.  Sadly, it doesn't.

Very nice the Preservation Howard County has added Elkridge's Thomas Viaduct to its list of most endangered historic sites in the county.  The notariety means something.

However, the organization itself lacks the resources to actually do anything about any of the sites on its list.  The distinction is meant to provide publicity to the condition of the sites with the hope that some action  will be taken by public officials, local community associations, etc.

I grew up close to the Thomas Viaduct and it has always been one of my favorite sites in all of Howard County.  There are some folks working to help restore it, as the article indicates.  Hopefully some more good stuff will be happening there soon, due to action on this side of the river.

Jury out on the new GGP boss

GGP has a new VP for properties that include Columbia, replacing the departed Greg Hamm.  Here is an article from the Sun about John DeWolf.

OK, so he seems like he has a good background for the job.  People say nice things about him.  Uh, I'm hoping maybe he'd offer me use of his cell phone if he saw me broken down on the side of the road....

I think I'm going to withhold judgement, indeed opinion itself, on this man until I've actually seen him, oh, I don't know, DO something in the job!  Less than a week on the job, no one should be too giddy, nor too morose.

Check with me again in November and let's see how I feel.

HCC going smoke free! Tee-hee!

While semi-aimlessly surfing the web awhile back, I came across this very interesting announcement from Howard Community College.  The campus is going smoke free-- totally smoke free-- as of May 31st.  Moreover, the college is offering to help people quit, and is suggesting it's existing counseling and employee assistance services to help staff, faculty and students deal with the transition to the new, smoke-free reality.

This is a pretty hardcore policy.  People can't even smoke in their own vehicles.  Dang!  Moreover, the college will issue citations with $50 fines to violators, and violators may also be subject to being cited by the county, which could be an additional fine of up to $250!  Double dang!  That certainly would make me want to switch to the gum.  And it looks from the policy that the gum may be the only tobacco-esque product allowed at HCC.

Nice idea for HCC to enact this policy, and I've been known to enjoy my occasional cigar, don't cha know?  But that's in the privacy of my own home (or the total non-privacy of a Ravens tailgate).  Smoking's a serious public health issue and this step isn't too bold a one to take.

bin Laden done died

Osama bin Laden is dead.  Those words greeted me Monday morning.  Didn't stay up late enough Sunday night, I guess.  At least, they never said anything about it during the stupid Caps game.

What does that mean to me?  A lot has been written on the topic already, some of it by fellow local bloggers, and the local media have jumped on the bandwagon too.  But, OK, a few days later, what does it REALLY mean?

First off, I note the tremendous work done by all those military personnel who carried out the mission.  I can remember the failed operation to rescue the Iranian hostages in 1980; that this operation went so smoothly with no loss of American life and not much loss of materiel is impressive!

Second, kudos to the Obama administration for having the cajones to pull this one off.

Third, thank goodness this jackass is D-E-A-D dead, dead, DEAD!!! I don't revel or make light of the loss of another human life-- any life-- but as I've written before, some mens' crimes are worthy of the ultimate sanction.  And no one was more deserving than Osama bin Laden.

So now the euphoria is over.  How much safer is the world now?

My thoughts?  For now, a bit safer.  The worst terror network on Earth has lost it's leader.  But, like a hydra, another head will emerge.  Just like the Cold War, when Stalin eventually begat Kruschev who eventually begat Brezhnev... so it'll be with this war on terror.  The war isn't over.  It's just become different.

And for the familes who've lost loved ones, be it on 9/11, OEF, OIF, etc.-- does bin Laden's death really matter?  Too much blood has been spilled on these efforts.  And I mean Iraqi and Afghan as well as American and Allied.  If I had a loved one who died in the War on Terror, I think I would find bin Laden's death small consolation.

So yes, it's been a good week because Osama bin Laden has bit the big one.  But the world, sadly, isn't as changed as it was on that bright Tuesday morning in September almost 10 years ago.

The cameras are coming

I'm not going to totally rehash what people already know.  The County Council approved the speed camera legislation Monday night and the cameras are going to be in operation this fall.

I am still a little in the dark about the how and where the cameras are to be used.  I will say what I've said in the past: I can be OK with speed cameras if they are really shown to improve safety.  I do think speeding is a huge problem in Howard County.

I agree with Councilperson Sigaty that I'd like to see speed cameras installed outside of school and construction zones, but apparently that's not an allowable option in Maryland.  Yet.  So we'll have to settle for hillbillies and cowboys booking through school zones.

Still have a little bit of the skeptic's hat on with respect to this one, but OK, let's see what happens.

Welcome back Dr. Cousin!

Due to a lot of stuff this past weekend having to do with other people who share my last name, I fell behind just a teense on posts.  Too bad for me.

Anyway, to catch up[ on my posts, I offer just one.  Welcome back to Dr. Sydney Cousin, Howard County Schools Superintendent, who returned to work late last month.  Awesome news after his four month hiatus to focus on his health!

Saturday's CA elections: New Hope for the New City?

I'm giving an official, Marshmallow Man shout-out from the highest mountaintops to the following cool people (they're not the only cool people I'm sure, but they're the only ones getting the shout-out right now) who were elected to Columbia office yesterday as a result of the village elections:

Abby Hendrix, Phil Engelke, Marcia White, Julia McCready and Kristin Huza to the Oakland Mills Village Board

Bill Santos (aka Columbia Compass guy) to the Wilde Lake Village Board

Nina Basu to the Long Reach Village Board

Tom Coale to the CA Board, representing Dorsey's Search

My heartfelt congratulations to these fantastic stewards of their communities!