An ace in the hole: Dealing with the race card in Aberdeen

This is a story about hotdogs and why they are occasionally given out for free.

Since Matt already brought it up in an earlier comment, I suppose it’s time to discuss some racial implications that have worked their way into Aberdeen politics.

In case you missed it, there was a brief and seemingly innocuous statement printed in The Record newspaper a few weeks ago at the bottom of an election story. The blurb, attributed to Mayor S. Fred Simmons and buried in the final paragraph, indicated the mayor, who had already announced his intentions to seek re-election, was investigating the possibility of opening a second polling place for the upcoming Nov. 6 municipal election.

At face value, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it sounds like a damn fine idea – giving Aberdeen residents more opportunity and more convenience in voting, which would hopefully bolster what has typically been an abysmal voter turnout for city elections. But, as with most things in life, this idea unfortunately cannot be taken simply at face value. Continue reading An ace in the hole: Dealing with the race card in Aberdeen

Who Said That Local Politics Can’t Be Fun?

What took so long?

It’s been six months or so since Aberdeen Mayor S. Fred Simmons, who is also a local airport owner and insurance agent, erected a billboard on Route 40 at the city’s eastern border for his State Farm Insurance business. It wasn’t until this week, however, that the billboard, which features a nine-foot tall photo of Simmons’ head, was defaced.

The first time I saw the billboard, I was driving into Aberdeen with the rest of the westbound traffic on Pulaski Highway. I was immediately struck by several thoughts: Continue reading Who Said That Local Politics Can’t Be Fun?

Fear and Loathing at Campsite 100

The weekend started like this: me, stopping the car at an intersection in the middle of a 44,000-acre state forest, gray dust rolling past the windows. “Do you want to try it?” I backed up the car and eased the 1997 Nissan Maxima (manual, with spoiler) onto the brown dirt ski slope that is Kirk Road. A Coleman lantern, filled to the brim with kerosene, dangled from the rear view mirror. There was an hour of daylight left, and as battery acid leeched into my veins, I pushed the car harder and harder up and down the impossible rocky hills of the off-road trail.

About five minutes after I had yelled at the guys in the car to shut up, I pulled to a stop at the zenith of a rollercoaster-looking drop-off; I turned off the engine, jumped out and lit a cigarette. Brian and Scott – cooler heads than mine – set off running down the road while I tried to calm down. We were off to a bad start.

Over the next two days we would evade the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police twice, rescue a pair of lost dirt bikers, catch and release a rare wood turtle and a hognose snake, survive an insane 40-mph ride through the woods in the bed of a drunken redneck’s pickup truck, and hone our skills at axe tossing. But first, Brian would have to run off the hippie squatters at Campsite 100, and my poor old sedan would have to traverse the final grueling 400 yards of Kirk Road. Later that night, significantly, after we had laid hotdogs and beans on top of frayed nerves, we hiked out into the black woods, and gazed up at the Milky Way. “How can we see it if we’re in it?” I asked. Not 24 hours later, I was drunkenly calling out foreign moons like Karaoke requests around the fire, imploring the brains among us to retell the icy details: “Do Io again, man…Now do Europa!”

America’s Workaholic No Longer Trendy: Take a Nap

You’ve just had lunch. You’re at your desk, ready to steam engine your way through the rest of the afternoon with a lot of hard work, but before you know it that dreaded Sandman sneaks around the corner of your cubical and you’re suddenly nodding off. When you catch yourself a few moments later, you pray that your boss didn’t notice. From this point on, you begin the inevitable battle of keeping your eyes open for the rest of the day. Maybe you get a cup of coffee from the break room or pop some caffeine pills, but your progress is slow going no matter what you do.

You’re not alone. People all across America are experiencing the same thing, and because of globalization, so are many others in countries where the Western workaholic attitude is catching on. The good news is that more companies are starting to recognize the positive results of giving their employees their much needed nap time.

Nap Centers:

Believe it or not, there are Wellness Centers looking to make a buck off your mini siesta. In Manhattan, Yelo and MetroNaps are two such organizations. As featured in such articles as MSNBC and Portfolio, Yelo offers customers a nap and spa setting for $24 for 20 minutes. MetroNaps charges $14 for the same amount of time, but without the fancy treatment of a day spa.

The idea is slowly becoming a trend, despite old taboos about napping and laziness. Some centers are even offering customers portable beds that they can rent and take to work. Continue reading America’s Workaholic No Longer Trendy: Take a Nap

From Blitzkrieg to Voltron; Local CEO Plans European Domination

Sitting through a State of the Company address when you work for a successful corporation can be interesting and off-putting at the same time. Just recently I was privy to one of these gatherings. And over the span of four hours, my demeanor gradually transitioned from bored to appalled.

As most CEOs like to start out, this particular head honcho decided to crack a few jokes. None were interesting enough to remember, but all of his cronies laughed, as I am sure they were instructed to. Finances, product changes, future plans and the history of the company were all covered in great length, hence the four hours. But my eyes were prompted to grow wide in shock when a few points were hit:

Shock Point #1: One of the CEO’s right-hand men proclaimed that the company is planning on changing the cultural landscape of Europe and steamrolling across the continent. This comment struck a chord in my brain and I was reminded of a German-style military tactic called the Blitzkrieg. I turned to a co-worker on my right and inquired, “what is this the Third Reich?” He looked back at me with the same wide-eyed expression I adorned and said, “I was just about to say the same thing.” Continue reading From Blitzkrieg to Voltron; Local CEO Plans European Domination

SEEN: Chuck Boutin

Now that he’s been comfortably nestled in the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings for a few months, we’ve been wondering what’s up with the Honorable Chuck Boutin, former Aberdeen mayor and state delegate and erstwhile member of the Maryland Public Service Commission.

I spotted him, his massive skull nodding like a mutant head of cabbage, standing outside Klein’s in the All-America City on a recent afternoon. He was standing by the entrance, dominating the conversation with a diminutive woman who looked a bit past middle-age. When I came out, they were standing out in the parking lot, old Chuckles still yammering away at the lady, like she’d tried to get to her car and he’d followed her. I’m sure he was explaining how he managed to win himself the Great Reward in the Sky for all local politicians: a ridiculously cushy state job. And, how he then managed to hang on, somehow convincing O’Malley to shuffle him into a position as an Administrative Law Judge, rather than just give him the boot.

Boutin’s head really is huge. Like if you stood four NFL regulation-size footballs on end and bound them together with duct tape. Then filled them with hot air (you saw that coming, right?). Continue reading SEEN: Chuck Boutin

40-Love: An Aberdeen Archrivalry Lives On

Fact: Early in 2006, Aberdeen’s interim city manager Don Brand abruptly resigned from his post.

Backstory: A high-ranking city official close to the situation told me Brand was abruptly “resigned” after he allegedly became belligerent in the lobby of city hall upon learning the “interim” tag was going to stick and that he had been passed over for the permanent city manager position. His profanity-laced tirade apparently drew the attention of several city employees and passersby and left this elected official with no other choice but to tell Brand the ride was over. Adding to the disgrace, Brand, who decided he would pack up his things and leave on the spot, had been driving a city-owned vehicle to work and had to bum a ride home from city police chief Randy Rudy. So Rudy drove a just-fired Brand and all his office belongs home in the city car, dropped him off and then returned to Aberdeen with the vehicle - leaving a very recently-unemployed Brand no doubt explaining to his wife why he was home in the middle of the afternoon. Continue reading 40-Love: An Aberdeen Archrivalry Lives On

Remember, remember, the 11th of September

It’s September 11, 2007 and it’s going to be a big day in Baltimore, but here’s my question: what will be the biggest deal in Baltimore today - the city’s mayoral Primary Election, the much-anticipated, head-to-head double-release of the new Kanye West and 50 Cent albums or the ho-hum sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01?

Let’s take a closer look.

There is a lot at stake in today’s mayoral Primary Election in Baltimore. Sheila Dixon, who was city council president until former mayor Martin O’Malley was elected governor last year, has been interim mayor of Baltimore and looks to become the first woman ever elected to the office. Also at stake are the membership of the Baltimore City Council and the post of City Council President. Today is actually just the party Primary Election day - meaning Democrats run only against the other Democrats and Republicans against Republicans to determine which candidates will represent their respective parties in the Nov. 6 General Election. Because Baltimore City politics are dominated by Democrats, however, it is very likely today’s winner will be the city’s next mayor. About a half-dozen Democratic candidates are running, but it is largely acknowledged to be a two-horse race between Dixon and city councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr. While Dixon leads in all the polls, neither candidate has been particularly stellar - Dixon is leading a city on pace for a record-breaking murder rate this year and Mitchell fired his father as his campaign treasurer after more than $50,000 disappeared from his campaign account. While you might not like the options, one of these people, by the end of the day, will be poised to become the next mayor of Baltimore. Continue reading Remember, remember, the 11th of September

Introductions

Dagger: The double-edged blade. We have built and launched this blog as an experiment, and test case for what might happen when we distill years of conversation into published material. It is our hope not to fire missives from the distance, but to get up close to each subject; so close that we might twist a blade in its side.

We will publish news, rumor, opinion, style, substance, informal correspondence. We are a group of like-minded writers, musicians, photographers and agitators living in and around Baltimore; we are The Dagger and you can’t mess with us.