Standard Mischief

So is Maryland part of the South, or part of the North? Everyone up north of here knows we’re below the Mason-Dixon Line, but everyone south of here knows we stayed with the Union. What many people don’t know about Maryland and the War Between the States is that there was a ring of cannons placed by President Lincoln around Baltimore, facing inwards.

Lincoln probably grew a beard after his election but before he took office partly because he had to sneak through the state of Maryland, noted at the time for its strong southern sympathizers, to take his Oath of Office. He even alighted from his train at Baltimore well before the station and snuck through the city, leaning on a companion to hide his height. His confederates cut the telegraph line between Philadelphia and Baltimore so news of his imminent arrival might be kept secret. That really didn’t work, because his empty rail car was still mobbed upon arriving at the station. [1]

The first casualties of the War Between the States happened in Baltimore. Union troops shot rioting civilians on April 19th. [2] The red and white parts of the Maryland flag were contributed by Southern sympathizers and Maryland troops fighting for the south. [3] Fortunately, so far no group has automatically equated this symbol of our heritage with the reprehensible practice of slavery. For now, no one complains when our flag is flown over our capital.

Of course, I can’t blame anyone for not realizing this. Even I, a product of the state run school system, was never taught this stuff. Some people in Maryland are apparently ashamed of our past.

Instead, the state run indoctrination centers had us learn uncontroversial Maryland citizen-type-stuff like that the state bird was the Baltimore Oriole and the state flower was the Black-eyed Susan. We were taught that the state motto was “Manly deeds, womanly words”, and they made damn well sure we knew how sexist that phrase was [4]. Oh, and we had to know the title of our state song, “Maryland, my Maryland”, but we were never taught, nor did we ever sing it.

Read the lyrics to see why.

[1] Philip Van Doren Stern (Ed.) (1961). Prologue to Sumter (1st Edition) Chapter 8, Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, Inc. LC #61-7262

[2] Baltimore riot of 1861. (2006, June 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 22, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_riot_of_1861

[2] The History of the Maryland Flag. (2006). From Maryland’s Office of the Secretary of State website. Retrieved June 22, 2006, from http://www.sos.state.md.us/Services/FlagHistory.htm

[4] it’s really “Fatti maschi, parole femmine”, and has a few different translations.

Rivrdog points me to a series of photos from inside North Korea. For example, here’s one I found interesting:

This is a bridge, and as an aid to fend off an invading army, the local defenders can quickly drop these huge blocks down in the roadway to slow the advance of the attackers.

There’s a bunch more, just click on the above picture (or here) to go to the forum where the photos are posted.

The photos remind me of when Robert A. Heinlein wrote about his experience visiting Soviet Russia, particularly parts where the old decrepit housing is hidden by buildings and screens, and how the tourist is shadowed by the official tour guide during the entire trip, and all the patriotic monuments and stadiums that were always offered up as highlights to be visited.

Well worth taking a look at, but there’s a lot of photos, It may take a bit to load the entire pages.

Note: for the non-native speaker, and the subtle humor impaired, I’ve also wrote up this post in HSUL (hypothetical snark-up language). This is the original page.

Subtle humor in the form of snide remarks is used frequently here at the Standard Mischief blog, and although I can’t do this for every single post, hopefully this will count as fulfilling the “reasonable accommodation requirement” towards ADA (Americans with disabilities Act).

[snark]Wow,[/snark] look at this from the WaPo:

The number of rapes per capita in the United States has plunged by more than 85 percent since the 1970s, and reported rape fell last year even while other violent offenses increased, according to federal crime data. This seemingly stunning reduction in sexual violence has been so consistent over the past two decades that some experts say they have started to believe it is accurate, even if they cannot fully explain why it is occurring.

(Note: Includes both attempted and completed rapes. Click on image to go to the DoJ Rape Statistics page)

[snark]Oh, wow, [/snark]so does anyone have any idea [snark]at all [/snark]why there is such a dramatic decrease?

One school of thought holds that rape has declined for the same reasons that other violent offenses have: a reduction in the lawlessness associated with crack cocaine, a shrinking population of young people and an increased number of criminals in jail.

Hmm, lock up crackheads, and they can’t rape. [snark]OK, there’s a good one.[/snark]

Another, more hopeful, explanation is that Americans have actually changed the way they think about sexual assault: Women have been taught to avoid unsafe situations, and both boys and girls have been drilled to understand the rules of consent.

Ah, yes, education. [snark]That’s a good excuse too.[/snark]

Many criminologists and victims’ advocates say that these numbers could be a statistical mirage, because rape is still underreported and poorly understood.

[snark]Heh, OK, the decline in rape has to do with the fact that for some mysterious reason, the reporting rate of these rapes may be down. [/snark] No real evidence is submitted.

[snark]Meanwhile, In totally unrelated news, [/snark]here’s an interesting map from the NRA.

(Click on image to go to the NRA Right-to-Carry 2006 page)

Red states are “shall issue” states. That means that if a person applies for a concealed carry permit and that person is qualified (i.e. not a felon and perhaps have undergone a class on firearms laws), then that person can not be denied a permit. Blue states are the same, except that even the requirement to get the government issued “permission slip” is waved. If you aren’t a felon, you can carry.

[snark]If course, I’m sure that this virtual total turn-around in the laws of this country since 1987, when Florida passed the first of an new waves of “shall issue” laws, is completely unrelated to the decline in rape.[/snark]

Wow, look at this from the WaPo:

The number of rapes per capita in the United States has plunged by more than 85 percent since the 1970s, and reported rape fell last year even while other violent offenses increased, according to federal crime data. This seemingly stunning reduction in sexual violence has been so consistent over the past two decades that some experts say they have started to believe it is accurate, even if they cannot fully explain why it is occurring.

(Note: Includes both attempted and completed rapes. Click on image to go to the DoJ Rape Statistics page)

Oh, wow, so does anyone have any idea at all why there is such a dramatic decrease?

Hmm, lock up crackheads, and they can’t rape. OK, there’s a good one.

Ah, yes, education. That’s a good excuse too.

Many criminologists and victims’ advocates say that these numbers could be a statistical mirage, because rape is still underreported and poorly understood.

Heh, OK, the decline in rape has to do with the fact that for some mysterious reason, the reporting rate of these rapes may be down. No real evidence is submitted.

Meanwhile, In totally unrelated news, here’s an interesting map from the NRA.

(Click on image to go to the NRA Right-to-Carry 2006 page)

Red states are ?shall issue? states. That means that if a person applies for a concealed carry permit and that person is qualified (i.e. not a felon and perhaps have undergone a class on firearms laws), then that person can not be denied a permit. Blue states are the same, except that even the requirement to get the government issued “permission slip” is waved. If you aren’t a felon, you can carry.

If course, I’m sure that this virtual total turn-around in the laws of this country since 1987, when Florida passed the first first of the new wave of ?shall issue? law, is completely unrelated to the decline in rape. (correction by Xrlq in comments, thanks)

Well it doesn’t, except when there seems to be some mischief going on.

Yea, I’m still talking about that protest I kinda sorta attended. In an earlier post I gave some estimates, but I feel the need to state that some of that was based on hearsay. The National Park Service gave up on providing official estimates from all the flack they got over marches like the first ?Million Man March? (million in name only, apparently).

The press reports seem to have concentrated on close-ups, even at one point getting a shot of blue eyes through the eyehole of a Klan hood. Nowhere did I see the press photo showing the entire area of either the protesters or the counter-demonstrators. Estimates from around the web vary also.

Bill White (who is head of NSM) seems to put forth his count over at Nikki’s Nest in the comments:

There were 52 white activists there, 44 on our side, 8 on the counter side — and 13 counter demonstrators.

Okay, not sure exactly what he means by that. Is he claiming 44 or 52?

While Daryle Lamont Jenkins of the One People’s Project claimed:

Close to thirty hatemongers gathered in the Mumma Farm section of the park as twice that number gathered across from them in a grove where officials set up a counter protesting area.

This isn’t the whole box, but I doubt there’s sixty counter-protesters.

My comment (the first comment) was:

Since no one seems to agree on numbers, a few honest photos of each protest area should remove all ambiguity. I was there, and would have loved to have issued a accurate count with photograph evidence to back it up, but the NPS would not let me get close.

It’s worth noting that Daryle’s first-hand account includes no photos. IsisDC, in comments gives various reasons why she, although right there in the protester box, couldn’t get a good shot of the press box or the counter-protester box. Bill White promised to have photos and video up himself, but there’s nothing yet.

People, this isn’t rocket science.

So okay, here’s some of the counter-protesters, presumably walking to the protest area, taken by someone from the Herald-Mail

(click on image thumbnail to go to a bigger photo on the Herald-Mail website)

And here’s some video coverage from http://wjz.com/ (channel 13 in Baltimore). It’s shown in a tiny little flash box on the site, but I pulled a little standard mischief and got a deep link:

mms://cbstv.wmod.llnwd.net/fc/a716/e1/n3c/0014/225700200606101148_000520p4000754p5.wmv

That’s a Multi Media Stream URL, and I have no idea how you watch it on a Mac or a MS Windows box. Sorry, you are on your own.

(Click on the picture for higher-rez picture (113 KB), as a pop-up if you allow javascript)

Here’s a screen shot from that video. At some point the protesters must have lined up for a group shot. I count 19. Unfortunately, there isn’t a good one of the counter-protesters, though.

Oh yea, a few random thoughts below the fold.
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