Debate

People, I ask you whether all this absurd noise over contraceptives is worth our time and attention ("O'Brien's quixotic fight," Feb. 9)? This is the 21st century, for heaven's - or any other entity's - sake. What hypocrisy! What demagoguery! Enough! Mary Beacom Bowers, Baltimore

The quiet, staggering problem at the center of the General Assembly's gasoline tax debate was this: Maryland does not have the money to maintain our transportation system ("Unfinished business," May 16). In the fervor, it was easy to miss the reason for the debate. The crisis began when we consumers, in response to the recession, turned to cars with better gas mileage, to carpooling, to transit - any means to decrease our own pain at the pump. The Transportation Trust Fund, already weakened from regular budget raiding, was further diminished as the main funding stream, the per-gallon tax, dwindled.

The op-ed piece on the debate about President Obama by Erin Aubry Kaplan ("African-American divide," June 22) seemed targeted for blacks readers only, but I decided to read it anyway. What I learned is, well, not much. Because I am not black, I cannot understand the conflict that Mr. Kaplan suggests exists over assimilation versus black nationalism. But I do understand that other ethnic groups appear not to have this type of conflict. It seems that these groups can do both by assimilating into American ideals while maintaining their ethnic culture.

Greenberg potato skins, Greenberg potato skins, Greenberg potato skins ... jackpot! The Prime Rib is coming to the Maryland Live Casino — Greenberg potato skins, leopard-skin carpeting, baby grand piano and all. Established in Baltimore in 1965 by brothers Buzz and Nick Beler, the Prime Rib has is now a bona fide dining institution, with additional locations in Washington and Philadelphia. Attracting the Prime Rib to Maryland Live is a coup for the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., which had originally announced that the casino's premier steak house would be Ruth's Chris . "The Prime Rib kept coming up in internal conversations and on surveys," said Cordish managing partner Joe Weinberg, who is overseeing the casino's design, construction and operations.

I recently attended a debate between our congressman, Frank Kratovil, and his opponent, state Sen. Andy Harris. One would expect that all candidates would show respect when their opponent was talking. But when Congressman Kratovil was speaking, Mr. Harris' face made all sorts of grimaces and was actually mocking Congressman Kratovil. The scene was a disgrace and an embarrassment to many attendees. Harris' actions were what might have been expected of a teenager. Shame on you Mr. Harris.

Where was the business community when the debt ceiling debate was going on? Why weren't they piling into Washington with grim faces and falling charts showing Congress what was likely to happen if America continued make a spectacle of itself, looking to all the world like Ozzy Osbourne and his family had taken over the Capitol? Why are corporate lobbyists' fingers only on the speed dial buttons when fighting for corporate welfare but not for the welfare of the nation? Don't they realize that their corporate welfare is dependent on the welfare of the nation, and the welfare of the nation is dependent on the middle class?

In the purported analysis of the prosecutorial debate ("Prosecutor and challenger go head to head," Aug. 13), Tricia Bishop and Justin Fenton say of the lower than average conviction rate in Baltimore City that "The figures may say more about Baltimore jurors than prosecutors," and go on to cite a 2008 study funded by the Abell Foundation. That study was severely flawed, offering "conclusions" that were not supported by the data. The data simply compared conviction rates in different jurisdictions.

Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s announcement this week that he will seek a rematch against Gov. Martin O'Malley elicited strong responses from both sides. Read more and join the conversation at baltimoresun.com/secondopinion. Well, I'm all for O'Malley. After all, he gave us a $3.50 telecom charge to own a cell phone in Baltimore City because he couldn't balance the city's budget when he was mayor, then as Governor he gave us a 6 percent sales tax because he couldn't balance the state's budget.

I just don't get it! I certainly understand the viewpoint of the Catholic Church regarding birth control and abortion, and it is their right to religious freedom to believe as they wish. However, just making birth control available to their employees does not make any woman use them. This is the choice each woman has to make. This is her religious freedom. To spout that the government is taking away religious freedom is ridiculous! It is they who are taking away the freedom from women to their own privacy and the freedom to take control of their bodies.

In the annals of surreal television, John Stossel's show the other night had to be one of the weirdest. Instead of simply interviewing Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul about his positions, Fox hired an impersonator of President Barack Obama to debate Paul. Just surreal. The actor did a nice job, but what, exactly, was the point of this activity?  If it was supposed to prove that Paul can beat a fake Obama in a debate, I suppose it did that. But it didn't prove that Paul could beat the real Obama in a debate.

Proposed changes to the student behavior policy for Baltimore County schools sparked a lively debate among county Board of Education members at a work session Tuesday night - with some arguing for their immediate passage and others requesting more time to review them. The considered changes would tweak the school system's current policy, namely to allow principals to use their own discretion when considering how to punish a student for committing infractions that currently require the student be expelled or assigned to an alternative academic program.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker was wrong and President Barack Obama is right: Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital deserves closer scrutiny by voters. Whether a brief television ad accomplishes this is another matter. Presidential campaigns are seldom pretty. And this year's race is certain to be worse than most. The rise of super PAC spending and the prospect of tens of millions of dollars spent pounding on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's more inflammatory sermons or the creation of more websites devoted to the plight of the Romney family dog are especially depressing thoughts.

The ongoing debate over youth crime in downtown Baltimore has sparked a war of words over race — overshadowing a debate over the police response to disturbances and objections from city politicians who say the issue is vastly overblown. Since a state delegate introduced the term "black youth mobs" in reference to hundreds of teenagers mobbing downtown on St. Patrick's Day, discussions from living rooms to online forums have been dominated by race. That has left little room for discussion of the real issues, all sides agree.

How ironic that a divorce will be remembered for strengthening the rights of all Marylanders to be married regardless of sexual orientation. With its slam-dunk 7-0 opinion issued Friday in the matter of two women seeking a divorce, the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that Maryland must recognize same-sex marriages legally certified elsewhere. It's a huge victory for the ongoing efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland and adds a whole new dimension to this fall's referendum.

Maryland trainer Chris Grove knows all too well that racehorses sometimes take fatal missteps. It happened to one of his best horses last summer during a morning workout, and Grove likens the experience to losing a child. To Grove, the animals' broken bones are mostly unpredictable, unexplainable - and ultimately unpreventable. "They're kind of like kids - they find ways of hurting themselves," said Grove, a Frederick resident and former trainer of Sweet Goodbye, a six-year old, Maryland-bred mare with career earnings topping $600,000.

I want to thank Ms. Nina Platt of Homeland for providing me with a copy of her outrageous water bill - and her neighbor's - because, until this happened, I was feeling left out of the Great Baltimore Water Bill Commiseration. It seems like everybody in the city but me has a goofy and outrageous water bill to brag and gripe about. My bill looks normal, boring and puny compared to what I see here: $813.75 due by May 29 for Ms. Platt, who lives alone, and $1,219.06 for the family of four next door.

Baltimore radio talk show host Larry Young announced on his program this morning that Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. have agreed to a debate on WOLB. It will be broadcast live on the station from 8 to 9 a.m. Oct. 21. O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese confirmed O'Malley's participation, and Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said Ehrlich also has agreed to the debate. Young, a Democratic former city senator friendly with both candidates, has worked for months to secure a debate for his Radio One station.

The whole process of "debt ceiling" negotiations between President Obama and Congressional Republicans has baffled me. The White House explanation seems to be that the president is trying to be "the adult in the room" while letting the Republicans act like children, hopefully to their discredit. But I have a different view. The Republicans are not behaving like children. They are behaving like thugs. Thugs running a protection racket. So we need more than an adult in the room. We need the cop on the beat!

Almost 500 Emory University faculty and students have expressed their dismay that their commencement speaker on Monday does not toe the ideological line when it comes to evolutionary biology. Yes - gasp - the renowned Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson does not believe in evolutionary theory. Not only that, but biology professors at Emory and their supporters also accuse Dr. Carson of committing a thought crime because he allegedly "equates acceptance of evolution with a lack of ethics and morality.

In her letter objecting to the Catholic Church's support of the petition to bring the same-sex marriage law to referendum. Anna Harrison asks "whatever happened to separation of church and state?" ("The Catholic Church has become a hurtful and hypocritical institution," May 3). Perhaps Ms. Harrison should re-read the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.