Common Sense

Thank you for your editorial "Bay crabs: protect the females," (Aug. 16). I have been crabbing in Maryland since 1967 and have never kept a female crab. Once I found out how to tell males from females, it was a "no brainer" to release any females that I caught. It is also easy to do because probably only about one in every 10 crabs I catch is a female -- are they rarer, or just smarter than the males? If I could tell the difference between male and female fish I would likely do the same.

I was very happy to see that additional development was barred at Green Spring Station and that common sense prevailed in our county's decision making. Anyone who travels through this intersection during the week days, especially rush hours, can tell you this is a failing intersection that it fully deserves its "F" rating. To those legislators who upgraded it as a "D" rating, I would suggest that without major improvements in place beforehand, any further development at Green Spring Station would overnight decrease its rating to a "F". For this reason, I believe the restriction that prohibits development only near "F" rated intersections should be expanded to include "D" rated roadways and intersections; this is only common sense, guys.

While I was pleased to note that current redistricting in Maryland is going smoothly, I certainly did not see this when I, along with 100,000 more citizens, were forced out of the Eighth District in Maryland into the Fourth District where the eventual representative did not represent the concerns of her new constituency. The reapportionment was a classical display of gerrymandering with incomprehensible borders and a forced fit that could not be fitted. Redistricting is fine when needed to accommodate population changes to make each district comparable in number, but to stretch common sense is doing so not only is an affront to those who are involved but deprives them of their voice in Congress.

Let me get this straight: Dr. Ben Carson is not an acceptable speaker for Johns Hopkins, but the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is OK? ("Hopkins looking for replacement for Carson," April 12.) Has anyone listened to the inflammatory rhetoric that spews from Jeremiah Wright? Obviously not. Apparently, Dr. Carson has far too much intelligence and common sense to compete with the terrible things that Jeremiah Wright espouses. Clay Seeley, Owings Mills Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

We in Maryland have good gun control with the exception of those moving to Maryland and bringing their firearms. My suggestion to improve the situation: Upon moving to Maryland, you must register your firearms within 30 days. That regulation, along with existing regulations on private sales of guns, would help to track the rest of the legal guns in the state. As for additional legislation on firearms, we don't need them. Just enforce the laws we have. Any legislation, new or existing, is moot unless it is enforced.

I read about state Sen. Andy Harris' decision to oppose the construction of the mosque in New York. Mr. Harris is simply siding with the American public, who seem to have been silenced recently on issues such as this and the Arizona immigration law. This country lacks leadership; the president continually takes positions that are the opposite of the citizens of the United States and expects us to follow suit. The Muslims do have the right to build the mosque. However, in defense of the families who lost their loved ones on 9/11, is it really a good idea to place a mosque, a religious space in which many of the terrorists held meetings before that horrible morning in 2001, so close to that graveyard?

The report on the legal wrangling over the Druid Ridge Cemetery in Pikesville demonstrated the extreme remove of professional legal minds from ordinary common sense ("Neighbors see threat to cemetery," Feb. 17). The disputed text from a deed required "That the said property be maintained and operated as a cemetery. " Any reasonable person would suppose that "the said property" was a parcel described precisely earlier in the document, not some fraction of it currently in use, but the entire parcel, as nothing else could be "the said property.

Thank you for publishing the interview with Steve Walters ("If Baltimore cuts property tax rate, they will come," Jan. 23). His plan makes sense, and I hope the city's elected officials are paying attention. As a 30-year resident of Baltimore, I have watched with sadness as many friends and colleagues have chosen to live in the surrounding counties rather than the city. Most often one of the primary reasons they look elsewhere is because of the city's exorbitant property tax rate.

I appreciate James McGarry's attempt to inject some common sense into the discussion of climate change, and I agree with many of the actions he proposes ("Climate change? Forget it," Nov. 14). However, these actions presume that all parties agree that climate change is caused by human activities — specifically, by burning fossil fuels. Although the science on this point is quite firm, the skeptics continue to deny that climate change has anything to do with human activities.

The legislature is close to finishing another of its illustrious sessions, and this one has had its proper share of contentious debates. If we are really being honest , we must admit that in all of the political opinions expressed from around the state, it is the issue of justice that most often provokes the passionate responses we have come to see in the Readers Respond section of The Baltimore Sun. We expect things to be "fair. " Yet no one can agree what "fair" really is for any given issue.

As a recent letter to the editor noted, studies have shown that a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide, murder and accidents ("Arming school employees only raises danger," April 7). As a footnote to all the media coverage about the massacre that occurred in Newtown, Conn., it should be noted that had Adam Lanza's mother taken the precautions needed and necessary to having guns in her home with an unstable individual having access to them, just maybe this terrible shooting would not have occurred.

Last week, a federal district judge in New York ruled that girls younger than 17 should be allowed to purchase the Plan B contraceptive pill over the counter. Unlike the Obama administration, Judge Edward Korman got this one right. The 2011 decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to restrict access for younger girls not only denied them a safe and legal means to prevent unwanted pregnancy but ignored all scientific evidence that supported its access. Emergency contraceptive pills, commonly known as "Plan B," are drugs that work to prevent pregnancy if taken shortly after sexual intercourse.

It seems that everyone has an opinion regarding having armed personnel at schools, whether or not to ban certain weapons and magazines, requiring licensing for possessing a hand gun along with finger printing of the purchasers ("Gun advocates detail plan to arm teachers," April 3). I have no agendas, so these views are based on common sense. As a grandparent, I would love to see an armed person at my grandchildren's schools. I don't necessarily think it should be an educator but maybe someone that has experience in protecting such as veteran who has served and protected a nation.

When our elected officials announced something needed to be done about gun violence, I had hopes that we would see real solutions. On March 29, I abandoned all hope ("Gun bill advances to floor of House," March 30). Gov. Martin O'Malley's "gun safety bill" had amendments to enhance penalties and remove good time credit voted down. Actually, the amendment was approved, then the Democratic leadership strong armed delegates into re-voting and voting it down. Further, an amendment to allow off-duty police officers to carry their firearms on school grounds was voted down.

Long Reach has two contenders for the CA Board of Directors. Ed Coleman, the incumbent, is pledging to serve with a balanced approach of Long Reach interests. Looking for initiatives combined with common sense and solid management approaches he provides an innovative yet logical view. As a former Long Reach representative on the CA Board, I believe planning for the future but keeping the fiscal and representative interest of the constituents a priority is of the utmost importance.

Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon should not re-enter the political world. If not for a particularly egregious lapse of common sense (thieving gift cards intended for less fortunate people), people would very likely remember her in a more positive light. She could have murdered another, and I believe I would not see her in a lesser light. If memory serves me correctly, Ms. Dixon pilfered the gift cards around the Christmas and Kwanzaa season. For me to think that she literally and figuratively stole Christmas or Kwanzaa from a child makes me nauseated.

I am writing in response to Thursday's editorial "A matter of equal rights" (Dec. 17). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered couples and allies in Maryland are celebrating the historic passage of the marriage equality bill in Washington, D.C. This is proof that despite any recent setbacks, there is a strong momentum behind the efforts to advance equal marriage protections for all couples. Many same-sex couples in Maryland want the right to legally marry because they want to honor their relationship in the greatest way our society has to offer, by making a public commitment to stand together in good times and bad, through all the joys and challenges family life brings.

Energy is at the forefront of the minds of many Americans today. Many are nervous about the high price of oil — both at the pump and geopolitically — as well as concerned about the viability of nuclear power. In this uncertain climate, the Maryland legislature is taking the extraordinarily prudent step of moving legislation that will create market opportunities for facilities that make energy from waste. Senate Bill 690 (which has passed the Senate 47-0) and House Bill 1121 (which has unanimously passed the Public Utilities Subcommittee)

Each week The Sun's John McIntyre presents a relatively obscure but evocative word with which you may not be familiar, another brick to add to the wall of your working vocabulary. This week's word: RISIBLE Perhaps, like Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins , you love to laugh. If so, you would be marked by risibility , an inclination to laughter, or possessed of risibility, a sense of the amusing. The adjective risible  (pronounced RIZ-uh-buhl) can mean inclined to laugh or causing laughter.

Nobody asked me, but here are my six recommendations in the matter of the highly publicized, closely watched, widely criticized, rift-causing lawsuit brought by the Waterkeeper Alliance against the Hudson family poultry farm over alleged pollution in a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on Maryland's Eastern Shore: •Everybody calm down, starting with the Maryland General Assembly. Already, the House of Delegates has authorized $300,000 — taxpayer dollars — for the legal fees of Alan Hudson, the farmer.