NEWS
By Lane Windham | January 28, 2013
You wouldn't know it from our nation's debate over Obamacare, but the U.S. has had government-supported health care for nearly 80 years. Not only that, but our nation bolsters a retirement level well beyond the thin safety net provided by Social Security, and it even ensures Americans a path to a family-supporting wage. And, no, I have not mistaken the U.S. for a socialist European nation. Our government assures us these broad economic benefits by guaranteeing our right to form a labor union.
NEWS
January 14, 2013
The past few days, we've been wowed in the network news that since the Newtown, Conn. shootings, the NRA has recruited 100,000 new members. Impressive! Until you look at a few real stats: The number of NRA supporters is being touted as 4.2 million. I looked up the U.S. Census figures. The nation's 2012 population was 311,591,917. Those under 18 comprised 23.7 percent or 73,847,284. That means the total U.S. adult population is 237,744,633. If 4.2 million of those adults are members of the NRA, that means that 233,544,633 adults are not members of the NRA. That is, 98.2 percent of all U.S. adults choose not to join the National Rifle Association.
EXPLORE
November 13, 2012
The Scott Lee Foundation Inc. is sponsoring a free transitions job readiness workshop, "An Unemployment Makeover," on two days next month at Our Daily Bread Employment Center/Catholic Charities, 725 Fallsway, in Baltimore. Part 1 will be held Saturday, Dec. 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and part 2 is Saturday, Dec. 8, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. To register, go to thescottleefoundation.org and click on the register now button under workshops. The Scott Lee Foundation was founded by Portia Scott as a tribute to the memory of her daughter, Nicole Scott Lee, who believed in giving back to the community and served it through her membership in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
NEWS
Erica L. Green | November 7, 2012
In an examination of how strong teachers unions are across the nation, Maryland ranked 23rd, which is considered "average" when stacked against 50 states and Washington, D.C., but the state's bargaining units apparently have a strong "perceived influence. " In a report recently released by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education policy think-tank, researchers conducted a state-by-state analysis of teacher union activity across the country. In state-specific profiles, the authors of the report looked at the following indicators: resources and membership, political involvement, scope of bargaining, and state policies, and perceived influence.
NEWS
By Arthur Hirsch, The Baltimore Sun | June 23, 2012
Growing up in Dundalk, Kent Mosmiller knew about Sparrows Point Country Club. He spent summers on little boats along Bear Creek where he could check out the 40-foot cabin cruisers at the club marina and, beyond that, the green expanse of the golf course. It wasn't for him or his family. The club was an enclave for what he called "white hats" at Bethlehem Steel, which established the club as a benefit for supervisors in the 1920s. Neither Mosmiller nor his parents ever worked for the company.
NEWS
April 16, 2012
For those who missed it, the National Rifle Association's top executive got worked up into a full lather at the group's annual conference this weekend in St. Louis. Wayne LaPierre's ire was aimed at the "sensational" coverage of the Trayvon Martin killing - although he didn't mention either the victim or the shooter by name. The NRA's beef is essentially this: Lots of people are getting killed every day without nearly so much mainstream media coverage. Why so much attention to this particular case?