War

If you're a big fan, you already knew what was coming in the season finale. But it didn't make it any easier -- or less heartbreaking -- to watch. The majority of the Season 3 "Downton" finale, or the "Christmas special" as its called in the U.K., took place in Scotland, where the whole family (minus Branson) visits the Highlands home of the Dowager's niece, Susan, and her husband, Shrimpy. Most of the trip included bagpipes, hunting, more bagpipes and Scottish reel dancing. But more on that later (and more on O'Brien meeting her Scottish lady's maid doppelganger)

Baltimore police seized three assault rifles and more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition in a drug raid on an East Baltimore house just north of Patterson Park. Francisco G. Milos, 29, reportedly told officers he had the weapons because he was "preparing for the war," according to charging documents. When one of the arresting officers, Sgt. Lennardo Bailey, asked him who was going to be part of the war, Milos did not reply, police say. The search warrant was executed on the home in the 100 block of N. Kenwood Ave. in the Baltimore-Linwood neighborhood at 9 p.m. Wednesday, the result of an investigation that included undercover purchases of marijuana from the location, police said.

The lady at the bank on Falls Road said the war was endin and wasn't it great? The man in line right behind her rolled his eyes and said it wasn't over, it was just a trick by Saddam Hussein.It was 9:05 Friday morning.The man at the drug store on St. Paul Street said he'd been listening to National Public Radio. The peace offer was a phony, he said. No way, said the woman behind the counter. She'd heard a diplomat interviewed on CNN who said it wasn't a final deal but at least it was a starting point.

Police and firefighters cordoned off a section of Fort Meade on Wednesday morning after utility workers discovered a piece of unexploded ordnance from the World War II era, base officials said. The workers were doing scheduled maintenance work in a residential section of the Army installation in Anne Arundel County around 10:30 a.m. when they found the mortar training round, officials said. The Fort Meade Department of Emergency Services cordoned off a 300-meter area near 2 n d Army Drive and Potomac Place, officials said.

Jessica Valenti's op-ed "A war on women" (March 5) would have been better titled "A war on Republicans. " Abortion is not for women, it is for men! Men who engage in sexual acts forced or consensual and take no responsibility for the intercourse that could result in pregnancy. Abortion is not a choice, it is a consequence. The slogan "A woman's right to choose" is erroneous. Many women do not show up at abortion clinics because they choose. Most women did not willingly plan an unwanted pregnancy, did they?

Baltimore saved the nation? Come on! The British were depleted and simply retreated. The fire went out of their belly. Like in all wars - there were no winners, only folks tired of the pandemonium, the burst cannons, the bombarded forts, the burned towns, the bullied helpless, so many men dead for nothing, cousins versus cousins, as usual - an extended family quarrel - extended beyond recognition as...

Why is the Baltimore Sun and all major newspapers and news networks ignoring the bipartisan bill H.R. 1212, the "Restoring Essential Constitutional Constraints for Libyan Action Involving the Military Act"? Thirteen members of the House have already added their names as co-sponsors of H.R. 1212 in order to improve its chances of getting out of committee and being debated and voted upon in the full House of Representatives. Is the White House pressuring media outlets to ignore this challenge to the president's war making freedom?

Commentator Jessica Valenti suggests that throughout history men have wanted to control women ("A war on women," Feb. 29). After following the Republican primaries recently, I tend to agree. I'm pro-life and anti-abortion but smart enough and anti-government enough to want law enforcement out of the situation. One would think those Republicans who clamor for less government would concur. I fail to understand why anyone - male or female - would oppose birth control. As much as our culture likes to believe we're all unisex and our differences have been erased, the reality is that nothing has changed.

I do not consider the Obama doctrine a good thing ("The Obama doctrine," March 29 ). Your Martha Stewart-inspired observation needs more substance than what your editorial provides. When I voted for Mr. Obama, it was for change we can believe in. Sadly, he has morphed into Bush III — and now even has his own "doctrine. " Recently I heard the expression "Obama doctrine" in connection with Libya and I felt sick. It's déjà-vu all over again! You were wrong in stating our military participated in the attacks on Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

Regarding your recent article about Baltimore's drug problem, anyone whom has visited a city courthouse, taken a police ride-along or grown up in one of the city's poorer black communities knows there is a war going on here ("Anti-drug-war cop wants Baltimore police commissioner opening," July 26). That war is being fought for unclear reasons with horrific results. The official name for it is the "war on drugs," but a more apt name would be the war on reason. Prohibition has failed, and the effects it is having on Baltimore are far worse than those of the city's high property tax rate.

As the Maryland National Guard prepares for what could be its final deployment to Afghanistan, its commander sees a "pivotal point" in the nation's history. More than a decade of deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and other battlegrounds since Sept. 11, 2001, has produced a highly skilled and deeply experienced generation of warriors. But with the United States out of Iraq and planning to leave Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. James Adkins sees a new challenge. "Many of the soldiers that are serving now have known only war," he said Thursday from Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where members of the 244 t h Engineer Co. are training for a deployment starting later this year.

Joe Tropea thought he was writing a research paper on the Catonsville Nine, a group of Catholic anti-war activists who set draft records ablaze outside a Selective Service office in 1968. But what he was really working on was a movie script. "I just got hooked on telling the story," Tropea says of the six-year film project, undertaken with co-director Skizz Cyzyk, that will be getting its local premiere during this week's 15th Maryland Film Festival. The festival starts Wednesday and runs through Sunday.

Regarding Dan Rodricks ' commentary on drugs at the city detention center, don't opinion columnists belong on the op-ed page, not in the news section ("Scandal at jail another symptom of war on drugs," April 27)? Mr. Rodricks blames a large share of crime and corruption on the drug war, and he advocates for decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana, cocaine and heroin. That would lead to a world of addicted people roaming the streets and driving cars in a drug-induced haze, with no motivation to work or be productive members of their families or of society.

Franklin W. Littleton Jr., a retired career Air Force officer and a businessman who was a big-band and Dixieland music aficionado, died April 20 of complications from dementia at Nichols Eldercare, an Edgewood assisted-living facility. The Bel Air resident was 91. The son of a contractor and a homemaker, Franklin Walter Littleton Jr. was born in Baltimore and raised on Clearspring Road in Forest Park. He was a 1939 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and studied law at the University of Baltimore at night while working at Montgomery Ward and the Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River.

Herbert A. Davis, a Baltimore real estate broker and decorated World War II veteran, died Monday of progressive supranuclear palsy at Keswick Multi-Care Center. He was 87. "Herb was always very enthusiastic and just a great guy," said Dorothy F. "Patsy" Ross, who works in real estate sales for Chase Fitzgerald & Co. "He was enthusiastic, positive and was always thinking on the bright side, and he really knew the business," said Mrs. Ross. "He was a great salesman. " Judy L. Bushong, a real estate agent, worked with Mr. Davis for 28 years.

Let me start with this: If not for the absurd war on drugs — by far, the nation's longest war — we would not have had so many killings on the streets of Baltimore over the years. The United States leads the world in incarceration. Without the war on drugs, thousands of men and women would be home with their families instead of in cellblocks; they might even be employed. There would be less social dysfunction and community upheaval. There would be less crime overall. If not for the war on drugs, now in its fifth decade, we would not have gangsters, like the reputed Black Guerrilla Family leaders Eric Brown and Tavon White.

In his recent column, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. ("The Obama doctrine: Passivity where leadership is needed," Oct. 14) believes he has shown that weakness is an integral part of the Obama administration's foreign policy. While it is true that the government of Syria has created a vicious regime that engages in torture and murder of its own people, it is also true that military action by the United States is a bad idea and will result in needless death as well squandering billions of tax dollars.

Now that the celebrations of the War of 1812 are under way, it seems that the Sun's message to its readers is clear: Enjoy the celebrations, and ignore the facts ("Commemorating the War of 1812," June 10). But while The Sun's eagerness to celebrate a famous moment in Maryland history is understandable, its continually misrepresenting the historical facts is quite troubling. The headline on an article in the special section about the conflict, for example, called it "America's successful 'second war for independence,'" which is wrong on two counts: First, the war was not successful, and secondly, it was not a war for independence.

Agnes Crowley McCartney, an assistant in a Towson legal office who was a British World War II defense worker, died of cancer April 17 at Stella Maris Hospice. The Cockeysville resident was 90. Born Agnes Crowley in Glasgow, Scotland, she began work alongside her grandparents in a bakery they operated. Her family said Mrs. McCartney recalled living through the Depression of the 1930s. During World War II, she went to work at a shipyard and helped make anti-aircraft guns. "She remembered the V-2 missile bombings when she would hide in a shelter and listen for the popping sounds of the missiles approaching," said her daughter, Catherine Preller of Hunt Valley.

Reigning national champion Salisbury has won the past 11 meetings and 14 of the last 15 with Washington College. But as the two sides prepare for the latest installment of the “War on the Shore” series Wednesday night in Chestertown, Sea Gulls coach Jim Berkman said he and his players have no intention of overlooking the Shoremen. “They've got a win over a team that beat us,” Berkman pointed out Monday. “They beat [Washington and Lee], 8-4, and we lost to W&L, 7-6. So they have a couple good wins on their schedule.