Commentary

Maryland should be moving toward a New Center. Our politics is extremely polarized, and we need a politics which respects the 30% to 50% of the country which does not align with pure versions of either the Republican or Democratic Party or certainly extremist right-wing and left-wing perspectives. With 43% of the country identifying as independents according to a recent Gallup poll, the national dialogue about our red-coat/blue-coat war remains a serious distortion. Maryland in recent years has been a laboratory of change, deliberately or unintentionally, on the part of the voters and the politicians.

The recent Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n was aimed at a citizen’s right to carry a concealed handgun, or more aptly, the ability of a state to require a showing of cause or real apprehended danger before issuing a license to carry in public.  In essence, the court held a citizen must be permitted to carry a gun for defense outside the home—concealed or open carry must be allowed.  One or the other must be permitted; both modes of carry cannot be prohibited.

The data documents a radical decline in crab numbers — the lowest ever recorded. This nadir was reached after crab numbers dropped by 32 percent in 2020 and an additional 30 percent in 2021. We are now at less than one-third of the population of 30 years ago. Juvenile crabs declined three years in a row and in five of the past six years, denoting a serious recruitment failure likely leading to even fewer crabs. The radical decline in male crabs to the lowest recorded level is of grave concern. But the linkage to overall crab abundance from low sperm availability has been overemphasized.

Think disenfranchisement isn’t your problem? We live in Maryland, after all. You’re registered, a citizen, not trying to break any laws. You have voted your entire adult life. You’ve contributed. It could never happen to you, right? Think again! A North Carolinian by birth, my widowed, retired, cancer-survivor mother moved to be near me, her only daughter, and one of the first things she did as a Marylander in 2002 was register to vote. She had never missed an election.

One of the more unusual circumstances of Maryland’s primary election this year was the crowded race in the Democratic primary for governor featuring 10 slates of candidates. Wes Moore and his lieutenant governor running mate Aruna Miller have been recognized as winners with almost exactly one-third of the vote, followed by competitors with 29%, 21%, 4% and so forth down to 0.45%. But what if matters had gone quite differently? What if the 10 governor/lieutenant governor teams had split the vote more evenly and the winners received just 15% of the total or less? How would the 85% of Democrats who cast their ballots for candidates other than the top vote-getters feel about that?

As if we don’t have enough to keep us preoccupied, the world has a new virus to learn and worry about: monkeypox. Despite the sometimes alarmist news coverage, the current global outbreak of this well-known but previously rare virus is not a cause for panic. Unlike the situation with COVID-19 in 2020, this virus is not very contagious, has established treatments, and already has a safe, effective vaccine ready to use. Monkeypox is a member of a group of viruses called Orthopoxviruses, which also contains the viruses that cause smallpox and cowpox. The association with smallpox and our recent history with COVID is likely the source of the heightened anxiety around the current outbreak.

This Friday’s Mega Millions drawing, with its jackpot of more than $1 billion — one of the highest ever in the nation’s history — has launched a lot of daydreaming of what life as a billionaire might be like (or, more realistically, a third- or half- billionaire after taxes, depending upon whether the winner takes the cash or annuity option). With 303-million-to-one odds of winning the big jackpot (and pretty discouraging chances on smaller prizes, too), one presumes that most participants know they’ll be tossing their entries in the trash can by Saturday morning. All in good fun, right?