Tea

John-John Williams IV has a story in Wednesday's Taste section about the revival of the formal afternoon tea tradition. Afternoon tea is not to be confused with high tea. Afternoon tea has various applications in England, depending on class. But let's say that there is the domestic version, performed in households, and the institutional version, performed in fancy hotels. That version let's call formal afternoon tea. It's that version that's the focus of Williams' story . The tradition comes and goes in Baltimore.

Great conversation while dinning on delicate cucumber sandwiches. Hot, buttery scones fresh from the oven. Zesty smooth lemon curd. And don't forget the clotted cream. There's nothing like a traditional afternoon tea. Long associated with ladies of leisure, tea has experienced a resurgence in recent years at area tea rooms as people looking for a slowed-down celebration of refinement have discovered the pastime. It's not just elite, pinkie-raised women sipping on a cuppa — a new generation of women is embracing the afternoon tea as a venue for baby showers, bridal showers, gatherings of friends, and even weddings.

As a tea party guy, I was offended by Susan Detwiler's letter ("Proud of the protesters," Oct. 11) in which she mischaracterized the difference between the Occupy Wall Street movement and "the [tea party] movement bankrolled by billionaires," suggesting Wall Street occupiers are more mainstream. My wife and I marched in the tea party rallies in Washington, and we never saw a dime from any corporation. We got our notice of events through sharing e-mails with like-minded people, same as the Wall Street occupiers.

Brian Phillips is the head of communications for the NYC General Assembly, the group primarily responsible for occupying Wall Street. I learned about him while listening to National Public Radio's "Morning Edition. " According to NPR, Phillips is "an ex-Marine with a bachelor's in computer science. Today he is wearing a sock on his head. " "My political goal," Phillips says, "is to overthrow the government. " Note: That's not some random nut job pulled from his Lyndon LaRouche desk or tricked-out refrigerator box/time machine.

If you're a history buff but don't fancy walking up and down Ellicott City's hills, take note of the new literary (and stationary) tour at Tea on the Tiber. Now you can have a seat and a sweet in the charming teahouse while listening to stories of famous folks who passed through the mill town, such as H.L. Mencken, Washington Irving, Davy Crockett and Robert E. Lee. Even the Union soldiers encamped on the hill in 1862 had something to say about their time spent here: “By rugged hills and busy mills, over dams and rocks a splashing; From wooded plains, the rumbling trains, come 'round the mountains dashing.” To hear the rest of the poem and the stories of the people mentioned above and more, register with the Ellicott City Restoration Foundation.

Gossip takes on a life of its own in Robert Anderson's "Tea and Sympathy. " Although this 1953 play speaks to the reputation-shattering consequences of gossip at a boys boarding school, it still speaks to the presumably more open-minded contemporary audience at the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre. The subject of all that malicious gossip is a 17-year-old student, Tom Lee (Justin Johnson), whose shy personality and cultural interests prompt his fellow students to persecute him for allegedly being gay. Just as the "is he or isn't he" speculation fuels plenty of dormitory rumors, the audience vicariously mulls over the anecdotes and opinions that insistently fly around.

What will it take to get Republican tea party congressmen and liberal Democrats to morph into representatives of the people willing to compromise for the common good? Answer: a new election. It's easy for the voting public to see that a change of scenery (the unemployment line) for a lot of current politicians is sadly needed. The next election is right around the corner. John McCartin, Parkville

I keep hearing Tea Party people and other Republicans talking about the need to return to small government. How can such an idea work in such a large and diverse nation? I understand that Republicans are aware of the first couple of chapters of U.S. history as they are always talking about the Founding Fathers. They are aware that the country was started by 13 tiny colonies along the Eastern seaboard with a combined population of 2.5 million people in 1776. Republicans seem to be less aware of the continuing saga of American history of the past 200 years.

I am only about 2,000 news cycles behind with this post. But I was working on another project since Monday and did not have time to write about the GOP candidates debate hosted by CNN and the Tea Party Express. I thought I would get over it, but I continue to be troubled by the criticism CNN received in some quarters for partnering with the Tea Party to bring this debate to a prime time audience. I am troubled by the ideological nature of the criticism, as well as the hypocrisy and less than stellar reporting that characterized some of it. Look, I am not going to go on and on with my explanation as to why CNN should have been commended rather than criticized for partnering with the Tea Party, but let me just offer a piece of it. One of the primary roles of the media is to bring citizens reliable information that they can use to make informed choices in their lives, and didn't CNN (with the help of the Tea Party)

Congratulations, The Sun got it right: On one page we have UMBC's extreme left professor Thomas F. Schaller taking a flippant jab at tea party types "slapping a Support the troops bumper sticker on a gas guzzling SUV" ("9/11 changed everything - or did it?" Sept. 6), and on the previous page we have a tea party guy from Frederick who does not fit the good professor's perception of the people in the tea party movement ("Voting for the Republican, by default"). All we (the tea party)