NEWS
August 29, 2011
Del. Ron George, in his naive anti-Sharia diatribe ("Sharia law is a real threat to American liberties," Aug. 24), seems to overlook the obvious remedy - the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Since Mr. George, surprisingly an actual member of the Maryland House of Delegates, claims to be one of those "who seek to safeguard liberty," he might want to check out the document that our founders wrote for this very purpose and be reassured that there is absolutely no way Sharia law or any other religious dogma could ever be recognized as having a legal basis in America.
NEWS
November 12, 2011
The article "Md. bishops call on Catholics to oppose same-sex marriage" (Nov. 10) would be comical if it weren't so sad. Seems the bishops in charge think they can lie to their congregations by stating that their First Amendment rights would be violated if same sex marriages would be recognized by Maryland. So, by allowing the state to recognize same sex marriages, others' rights would be violated? This makes no sense. No one is suggesting the Catholic church marry gay or lesbian couples.
NEWS
May 31, 2011
I'm writing regarding your Saturday, May 28th front page news article titled "Harbor leafleting flap raises First Amendment questions. " As one who fiercely guards and treasures my First Amendment rights, I want to commend Bruce Friedrich and his six like-minded friends who on Sunday, May 22nd, believing they were exercising their First Amendment protected rights, handed out leaflets near the National Aquarium at the Inner Harbor. That security guards asked them to leave, and a Baltimore police officer threatened to arrest him, was astonishingly reprehensible and came perilously close to unconstitutionality.
NEWS
December 8, 1991
Next Sunday marks the 200th anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These guarantees of individual rights were deemed a necessary promise in 1789 when states were debating whether to ratify the Constitution itself. Upon ratification of the Constitution, the first Congress promptly wrote 12 amendments and sent them to the states. The first two amendments, dealing with apportionment of House seats and congressional salaries, were rejected. The others were adopted on Dec. 15, 1791, 810 days after submission, and became the familiar Bill of Rights.
NEWS
March 6, 2012
In arguing the First Amendment right of employers to choose what coverage they should be exempt from providing based on conscience, the Republicans who supported the Blunt amendment (and the three Democrats who sided with them) are guilty of short-sightedness and an absence of humility. The essence of the First Amendment is the right of all to their own interpretation of religion, not just the right to their own convictions. To maintain that order of tolerance, the First Amendment mandates that the government must not establish religion, but rather allow the practices of all people.
ENTERTAINMENT
By David Zurawik and The Baltimore Sun | July 18, 2011
If you want to get a sense of how desperate things have become in Rupert Murdoch's empire, take a look at this editorial in today's Wall Street Journal. To cast what is happening in the UK -- and what certainly seems headed for the US -- as the work of Murdoch's commercial and ideological enemies might seem mad to reasonable journalists. But not to Murdoch and his chieftans. That is all they seem to know: attack, attack and try to destroy your opponents. Providing reliable and trustworthy information to citizens so that they can make reasoned decisions about their lives is not on this gang's daily to-do list.