Mess

Mitt Romney and I are competing in a new Olympic event that involves proffering unvarnished criticism of the Olympics themselves. We're the Lochte and Phelps of this event -- appearing united when necessary and when it serves us both, and appearing divided when Mitt says something really stupid. Last week, I blamed cronyism for the awarding of the sole-source security contract for the entire Olympic Games to a company that failed to deliver, requiring the British military to step in at the last minute to pick up the slack.

The amount of subjectivity in the valuation of real estate is destroying the confidence of real estate owners and real estate lenders, and it is killing owners' and buyers' ability to finance or refinance property. Worse, the lack of consistency is significantly damaging the industry's ability to recover. Also, and to make matters worse, there is no consistency between an independent licensed appraiser's value and the value of a municipal tax assessment. The inconsistency of the results is in part due to the limited knowledge of the appraisers.

BGE officials continued to scramble Sunday to restore power to nearly more than 257,000 customers as the area suffered with temperatures near 100 degrees for a third day and braced for a chaotic Monday-morning commute. After the state was rocked Friday night by a fast-moving series of storms, Gov. Martin O'Malley said he would closely monitor the restoration work of Baltimore Gas and Electric, as well as Pepco, and would urge them to beat their own projections. The power companies have said they could restore power to nearly all area homes by this weekend.

All too often, I hear that President Barack Obama inherited this economic mess that we're in right now. Let's get the story straight for a change. He helped create this mess. In 2005, President Bush tried to push legislation through Congress to place regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Mr. Bush knew that these organizations' policies involving the lending of mortgage money to those that couldn't afford it were going to cripple the economy if not regulated. It was the efforts of Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd and Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, accompanied by Sen. Barack Obama, that were successful in blocking these regulations by threatening to filibuster.

The Sun can propagate all the feel-good rhetoric it wants, but it won't change the truth ("Doing better than 'fine,'" June 12). The private sector is not fine, has not been fine for the past 3 1/2 years, and if President Barack Obama is re-elected, it will remain not fine. The Sun's editorial board should be ashamed of itself for the blatant manner in which it tried to make it appear as if Mr. Obama is doing a "fine" job. Your subscribers are not stupid (as you are) and know what a pathetic mess this country is in. The Sun should be honest enough and non-partisan enough to admit it. Gail Householder, Marriottsville

At first glance, Pimlico Race Course 's infield didn't look quite as trash-filled as Yolanda Wade is used to seeing it the Sunday morning after the Preakness, despite record crowds this year. It was an illusion. With more tents than in previous years, there was more room for the detritus of 121,300 fans to hide, turning the annual clean-up into a kind of warped treasure hunt. The tents "camouflaged the trash," said Wade, a fill-in supervisor for Pritchard Sports & Entertainment who works at Pimlico and the Laurel Park racetrack year-round.

Here's another reason to file your tax returns as early as possible: an identity thief might beat you to the money. Identity thieves are filing fake federal returns using taxpayers' Social Security numbers and claiming tax refunds worth billions of dollars. The taxpayers only find out about it when their returns are rejected by the IRS because someone already received a refund using their identity. It's a big problem — and one that's rapidly growing, according to a report this month from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

As they get older and feel the press of time, some men need to condense into a short span all that they feel they've missed before it's too late; they worry about their legacy and what the eulogist might say of them. Others are more relaxed about the whole thing; they fear neither time nor public opinion. They realize they can't change the world and look around with wonderment at those who do. Take Mike Miller - please. He's the president of the Maryland Senate who, with a great mane of white hair, looks in profile like a founding father, or perhaps an early 19th Century politician in the spirit of Clay and Calhoun, names he uttered in the State House last week after the 2012 General Assembly ended badly, without a budget compromise.

The modern age of Maryland political corruption ranges from the early 1970s and the epic and repugnant crimes of Spiro T. Agnew in Baltimore County to the creepy and nutty (and pending) misconduct charges against John Leopold in Anne Arundel County. Mr. Agnew was old-school greedy and arrogant; he took cash bribes as county executive, as Maryland governor and even as vice-president of the United States (in the Executive Office Building next to the White House). He was an extortion all-star, and good friend of Frank Sinatra.

"Ninja Gaiden 3" Developer: Team Ninja Publisher: Tecmo Koei Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Score: 5/10 "Sometimes I forget you're a ninja. " - Mizuki, "Ninja Gaiden 3" The irony of "Ninja Gaiden 3" is that it's supposed to be a story about Ryu Hayabusa's connection to humanity, when in fact the game possesses a glaring lack of soul. The "Ninja Gaiden" series has been stripped down to basics, but not in a way that pays homage to 1988's original.