Guess

In regard to Charlotte Allen's commentary in support of Sarah Palin in the 2016 presidential election, even the Republicans aren't that stupid ("For president in 2016: Guess who?" Nov. 26). Governor Palin won't even get the nomination. Ed Brandt, Timonium

Meteorological winter begins Saturday (Dec. 1), and though it is expected to be a mild start to the season, snow may not be far behind. How snowy could it be? Your guess is as good as anyone else's. Share your guesses with the Maryland Weather blog in the comments, by e-mail or via Twitter , or even via snail mail at 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD, 21278. Make your guess by next Friday (Dec. 7), down to the inch or tenth of an inch -- the closest without going over wins.

Suddenly, on September 15, 2005 NEAL "Kidd" GUESS; beloved fiance of Debbie C. Aherne; devoted son of the late Mary Jane and Edward Guess; devoted father of Kerri Ann Guess; loving step-father of Jesse and Jordan Merlino; dear brother of Mary Jane Dietrich, Deborah Haubner and Eileen Reilly; loving uncle of Timothy, Shawn, Kerri, Ryan, Jennifer, Kimberly, Matthew, Christine and Lauren. A Funeral Service will be held at the family owned Leonard J. Ruck, Inc. Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Road (at Echodale)

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger was listed as limited in Wednesday's practice, which was interpreted as a boost in the arm for the Steelers who have dropped two straight games without their franchise quarterback. But a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review described Roethlisberger's workout as very brief, his light throwing ending even before some of his teammates reached the practice field. Does this mean that Pittsburgh will err on the side of caution and shelve Roethlisberger for at least another week to give his dislocated ribs and sprained right throwing shoulder more time to heal?

On June 14, 2004, EDWARD LEROY GUESS; beloved husband of the late Mary Jane (nee Bantz); devoted father of Mary Jane Dietrich, Deborah Haubner, Eileen Reilly and Neil Guess; loving grandfather of Timothy, Shawn, Kerri, Ryan, Jennifer, Kimberly, Matthew, Christine, Lauren and Kerri Ann; great-grandfather of Maggie, Jane, Alexander and Brennan; dear brother of Robert Guess, Jeanette Coop and Dorothy Minor. Friends may call at the family owned Leonard J. Ruck, Inc. Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Road (at Echodale)

The fatal shooting by a police officer of 14-year-old Simmont Donta Thomas is a tragedy.It is a tragedy for his family.It is a tragedy for Officer Edward T. Gorwell II, 24, a two-year member of the Baltimore police force, who fired the shot into the teen-ager's back as the youth fled from a stolen car early last Saturday in Gwynns Falls Park.And it is tragic for a city that would just like to close its eyes and then open them to find the ills of homicide and drugs and wasted youth gone. Lamentably, no one has come up with any more tangible antidote that can work fast enough.

His pro career began as inauspiciously as it is now promising.Signed out of Stanford University after being drafted on the second round in 1992, Brian Sackinsky was assigned to the Frederick Keys of the Single-A Carolina League . . . where he had trouble getting anybody out.An 0-3 record in five games. A 13.06 ERA. Twenty hits and six walks permitted in 10 1/3 innings."I just got off to a terrible start at Frederick. I guess I wasn't ready for the league," he said.Demoted to Rookie-level ball that summer, he began to get his act together.

Unlike most movies that insist on being cute, cloying or campy when they try out the fantasy-with-meaning genre, NBC's "Guess Who's Coming for Christmas?" does it right.The only way to make a movie like this work, as films from "It's a Wonderful Life" to "E.T." to "Field of Dreams" have proven, is to play it straight. Led by the superb work of Richard Mulligan in the lead, this cast and crew keep the proper tone from beginning to end.Unfortunately, in between beginning and end are some rather thin moments because this undeniably charming movie doesn't have quite enough story to sustain its two-hour length.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writer Don O'Briant, 62, was confronted Friday by a gunman believed to be Brian Nichols who stole his car, tried to abduct him and pistol-whipped him. Here is O'Briant's account of his encounter: It's funny how your mind goes through all these scenarios. How am I going to get out of this? Do I run now? Do I talk to him? Is he gonna shoot me and leave me lying here? When it was going on, I thought I was just involved in a routine carjacking. I had no idea he'd just killed people.

The votes are in. The "First, Non-Annual (Hopefully!) -- Guess the Next USF&G CEO Contest" is over. The winner?Well, no one knows for now. No one, that is, except the directors of USF&G Corp. and the next chairman and chief executive of the large Baltimore-based insurance company.Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. analyst G. Alan Zimmermann in New York began the "Guess the Next USF&G CEO Contest." The prize for naming longtime leader Jack Moseley's successor is a dinner for two or "any other form of evening entertainment you can sell us on."

In regard to Charlotte Allen's commentary in support of Sarah Palin in the 2016 presidential election, even the Republicans aren't that stupid ("For president in 2016: Guess who?" Nov. 26). Governor Palin won't even get the nomination. Ed Brandt, Timonium

It's okay to don your Terrell Suggs jersey for Sunday's game against the Houston Texans, but don't be disappointed when all of his face time on TV is spent on the sidelines. He's not going to play and he never was, but there probably is some method to the seeming madness of an indication that he might. The Ravens can say all they want that they seriously doubt Suggs will play, but I'm guessing that the coy indication that he could get into the game isn't just the usual overly optimistic projection of an injured player who is aching to get back in action.

Rain tires are meant for wet racetracks. Slick tires drive best on a dry course. It doesn't take a Firestone engineer to figure that out. What had Ryan Hunter-Reay muttering a prayer to Mother Nature early in Sunday's IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Baltimore, though, was the fact that only one tire type is equipped to safely handle both surfaces. And they weren't the ones zipping his Andretti Autosport car around a wet Baltimore course at nearly 90 mph. "These cars are very stiffly sprung and they're 700 horsepower, and to put that down on a city street when it's wet is one of the tougher things in racing, I think," Hunter-Reay said minutes after a controversial first-place finish.

Six months after the game's initial release, the whispers of the first expansion pack for Bethesda Softworks' "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" have finally been confirmed . The pack is titled "Dawnguard. " The name is, as far as we know, unique within the Elder Scrolls universe, and isn't referenced in any in-game literature (according to the very useful Elder Scrolls Wiki ). If you consider the "Dawn" part of the name, the location immediately seems to point to the northern Skyrim city of Dawnstar, which is near the edge of the current playable map. Of course, "Dawn" could point to time, not location.

They start the show with a ridiculous graphic of Gavin in his rowboat on the dance floor, getting overwhelmed by a giant wave. Oh, silly dancing show, it's fun when you have a little bit of a big budget. It's Motown night and one can only hope that they've managed to rescue 71-year-old Fontella Bass for a performance on Motown night. That song is absolutely on my "Desert Island Jukebox. " Oh, cool - they've got a  spotlight replica of the Motown logo on the dance floor. And we start off with a performance from Smokey Robinson, "Tracks of My Tears" while the troupe dances.

Ravens safety Ed Reed's comments last night about his future to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, one of The Sun's sister papers, reminded me of something team owner Steve Bisciotti said last month. Asked whether he had gotten a definitive indication from Reed that he planned to return for the 2012 season, Bisciotti said Feb. 1 at the State of the Ravens address: “Ed doesn't give definitive answers.” Bisciotti then chuckled, but the point remains. Trying to predict what the always-interesting safety is going to say or do next is an exercise in futility.

LOS ANGELES -- For the first time, a U.S. Labor Department program to highlight apparel companies taking extra steps to shun sweatshops has instead singled out a suspected slacker: Los Angeles-based Guess Inc.The Labor Department said Wednesday that it put Guess, the leading garment manufacturer in Southern California, on probationary status with the agency's "Trendsetter List" of "good guy" garment makers and retailers.The wage and hour division said four Southern California contracting shops that sew garments for Guess were judged to be violating minimum wage and overtime requirements.

To predict the sex of their babies, many couples turn to tradition. They swing a ring over the mother's belly, watch the way she carries the baby, listen to her heart rate, examine her fingernails and track patterns of her morning sickness.Guess what? The techniques all work -- about as well as flipping a coin."This is the silliest study I've ever done, but perhaps the one with the most interest," said Dr. Janet DiPietro of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, who recently tested the accuracy of methods handed down in the centuries before ultrasound.

Most people as heavily embroiled in litigation -- extremely public litigation -- you probably don't join Twitter and start Tweeting about the very topics of your legal trouble. But Mark G. Midei does. The disgraced cardiologist, accused of performing unnecessary medical procedures, has been breezily Tweeting away for weeks now. Find him @markgmidei. He Tweets funny stuff. He Tweets medical stuff. And re-Tweets articles he finds interesting. And quite a bit of stuff relating to hearts and stents -- the very thing his critics say he placed in patients who didn't need them.

Despite a five-game winning streak that has helped build his young team's confidence and the addition of two important players that have given the Terps depth and flexibility, coach Mark Turgeon is still not sure who he will start from game to game. The first-year coach has played five different starting lineups in 11 games, and he could add a sixth when Maryland (8-3) hosts Samford (3-8) Saturday at 2 p.m. "Every day is different with this team," Turgeon said Friday.