Vote early (and often)!

Your vote has a bigger impact in local and midterm elections. There are lots of important issues that affect your daily life. Don't wait for 2012!


Registration information here. Most states require you to register in October for November elections. Check your state's rules here.


Get your absentee ballot - information here.

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Early voting in Maryland - information

I found it really disappointing that the County is doing such a lousy job getting out information about early voting. The latest Paperless Airplane covers voter registration, which expired in August, not the ongoing primary. Primary voting information is not an option on the menu at 240-777-8683 (VOTE), although you have to take the extra time to listen to them assure you that the options are updated often so you should wait and listen to them all each time (press 0).
It's not on the website for the Silver Spring Center, one of five early voting spots: http://www.silverspringcenter.com/voter.htm

Thank goodness I got the call from My Representative Chris Van Hollen telling me about it.

Here is the top-sectret brochure. http://www.elections.state.md.us/documents/Final_English_Spanish%20Brochure.pdf

Even the Washington Post is not helping, hiding it under the cute but hard to find headline, "early bird specials." Here is the story. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090305866.html

The hours are 10am-8pm

If you care about the Chesapeake Bay, vote for Roger Manno. If you care about honesty and integrity, vote for Martin OMalley, not Robert Ehrlich.

Obama in Silver Spring!

Obama makes an unannounced visit today to Viers Mill Elementary School.
Right wing wackos commenting on WaPo hope the diverse group of little children don't grow up to VOTE!

"So help me God"

The oath of office of the President, dictated by the Constitution, is 35 words long and reads: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

There never was a "So help me God." Historians have searched for support for the urban legend that George Washington added it, but no one has been able to support the theory.

Nevertheless, U.S. Dist. Judge Reggie B. Walton refused to grant an injunction in a lawsuit brought by a group who were seeking to prohibit public prayers and all references to God at the ceremony. Judge White ruled the reference to God was a quaint historical reference that had little religious weight.

Wait...?

That's right. Judges can't exactly say that it's okay to favor one religion over any religion or no religion. That's clearly unConstitutional. So, to get the result they want, in order to leave the religious references undisturbed, they have to say sacred symbols are meaningless historical references of limited religious importance.

Surprised? Don't be. This Supreme Court has already ruled that affirming a belief in a Supreme Being is a quaint but mostly meaningless historical tradition. Here is an explanation:

The Supreme Court determined that a city's inclusion of a creche in its Christmas display merely recognizes NOT religion but ''the historical origins of this traditional event long [celebrated] as a National Holiday,'' 167 and that its primary effect was not to advance religion. The benefit to religion was called ''indirect, remote, and incidental...''

In some countries, suggesting that the holiest day of the year is significant only because some offices close that day might start a riot. Here, people ignore the suggestion that the holiest day of the year is a cute little tradition in order to get the chance to shoehorn a creche on a plot of government land at taxpayer expense. Instead they could proudly show off their freedom of speech and religion in their own front yard.

Like this guy, every year, near the DC line in Silver Spring.

How impressed would Jesus be with knowing that a group of taxpayers, even a majority of taxpayers, was forcing other taxpayers to help foot the bill for his celebration?

Here is a good wrap up of what is allowed under almost all interpretations of the First Amendment.

MS 13 comes to downtown Silver Spring and Montgomery Blair HIgh

The Tai Lam memorial spot in downtown Silver Spring on Sunday evening.

Arrest made in murder of Tai Lam.
County police arrest Takoma Park man
By Kiera Zitelman, Online Editor-in-Chief 11/08/2008

See also the stories here and here.

Around 7 p.m. on Friday, Montgomery County police arrested Hector Mauricio Hernandez, 20, of Takoma Park, for the murder of Blair freshman Tai Lam, according to Lieutenant Robert McCullagh. Detectives obtained a warrant for first degree murder. Hernandez is a member of the MS-13 gang, though police are still investigating whether gang involvement played a role in the shooting. He is being held without bond.

Lam, 14, and two others, 14 and 15, boarded a Ride On bus in Silver Spring with a large group of friends on Nov. 2. The three boys were shot around 11 p.m. after a verbal exchange with a group of four to five older men. When the bus stopped at Arliss Street and Piney Branch Road, the older group exited the bus. One of them fired into the back of the bus, hitting Lam and the two other boys, who attend Blair and Northwood High School.

The nature of the verbal exchange is still under investigation. "For unknown reasons...as one of those subjects was getting off, he turned and fired a handgun from the area of the rear door of the bus into the bus striking the three teens," according to a police press release. "That subject has been identified as Hernandez."

Lam died later that night, while the other boys were taken to Georgetown University MedStar Hospital in critical condition. Both have since been released and are recovering from their injuries.

Police are still searching for others on the bus and expect to make more arrests, according to McCullagh. "We are still looking for associates as witnesses or defendants," he said.

Hernandez will be brought before a grand jury for indictment, and the next step would be a Montgomery County circuit court trial. "They will eventually stand trial in Montgomery County for murder," McCullagh said.

Police are asking anyone with information related to the case to call (240) 773-5070. Callers may remain anonymous.

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is bad news for Maryland and for troops

BRAC concentrates traffic, funding headaches while removing our soldiers from communities around the country

• GAO: Military Base Realignments and Closures: Estimated Costs Have Increased and Estimated Savings Have Decreased, by Brian J. Lepore, director, defense capabilities and management, before the Subcommittee on Readiness, House Committee on Armed Services. GAO-08-341T, December 12. Highlights (pdf)
  
• Gazette: Navy Med expansion has issues: World-class medical center could be marred by traffic and unsafe intersections while money for potential fixes is uncertain
  
• WaPo: Naval Hospital Patients to Double: Move From Walter Reed to Bethesda Could Worsen Traffic, Add $70 Million in [unpaid] Road Work.
  

Resources for info:

• MDOT & BRAC
  
• Paying for BRAC (WaPo)
  
• Official BRAC - Home Page (MD); Montgomery County
  
• (Obsolete) State report (pdf)
  

Silver Spring not so Forward: Birchmere in doubt

Only one side of the street of downtown Silver Spring is renovated, while the other side contains an ugly hulking space of the old JC Penney building. There is a huge outpouring of support for the anticipated arrival in the space for the Birchmere, shown by groups like silverspringforward.org.

The latest news is the county has cancelled its negotiations with the Birchmere for the space, according to the Express, the Gazette and the Washington Business Journal.

Take action:

• Find out if your county representative supports the Birchmere in Silver Spring. Contact the Council today.


• Sign the E-Petition simply by sending a supporting e-mail to: editor@silverspringforward.org

NYT on Silver Spring

A Dose of Art and Entertainment Revives a Suburb

By EUGENE L. MEYER Published: June 13, 2007

Photo by Steve Ruark for The New York Times
Sara Nathan, right, and her son Seth, 3, cool off in a fountain in a newly redeveloped section of downtown Silver Spring. Md.

SILVER SPRING, Md., June 12 — Washington’s first suburban shopping district had its heyday here in the 1950s, but as people moved farther out and new malls sprouted to serve them, retailers and then offices left in droves, sending Silver Spring into a decades-long decline.

But now this once-ailing suburb, which abuts the District of Columbia and is linked to downtown Washington by subway, is enjoying a renaissance, a result of public involvement and private investment that is turning it into an arts and entertainment center, anchored by the Discovery Channel and the American Film Institute and including new offices, hotels, theaters, restaurants and housing.

As recently as the mid-1990s, such a rebirth would have seemed a pipe dream. The streets were often deserted; the vacancy rate stood at 39 percent for offices and about 25 percent for stores, and there seemed little reason for hope.

Douglas M. Duncan, then the Montgomery County executive and now vice president for administrative affairs at the University of Maryland in College Park, recently recalled that when he pledged to revitalize the area, “the attitude from the public was why bother, no one will ever come to Silver Spring.”

Gary Stith, the county’s Silver Spring coordinator, said that back then the city offered nothing to do when the workday ended and people left their offices. “We didn’t have the amenities,” Mr. Stith said. “There was no reason to stay.”

In addition, he said, there was an image problem, stoked by the fear that crime would creep in from Washington. “We used to say Silver Spring is safer than it looked,” he said. (Silver Spring still has its somewhat shabby side, which includes auto body shops, greasy spoons, a tattoo parlor and used book and record stores, but they are now considered part of its charm.)

Mr. Duncan feared that if nothing was done, the problem would spread to other areas. So, undaunted by a series of ambitious but failed plans that included a proposal by the Mall of America’s Canadian developers to build a huge mall in Silver Spring, the county acquired much of the downtown core and turned the project over to a private joint venture of the Foulger-Pratt and Peterson Companies, both major developers in the Washington area.

With $1.2 billion in public and private investment over the last six years, including $187 million from the county, much has been done. “I can’t think of any downside to this project,”said Bryant F. Foulger, a principal of Foulger-Pratt.

In April 2003, the American Film Institute, which has its main office in Los Angeles, moved from the Kennedy Center in Washington into a renovated 1938 movie theater, adding two more screens and bringing celebrities like Clint Eastwood for the grand opening and Martin Scorsese, Jane Fonda, Danny Glover and even Al Gore to town for presentations. The institute occupies 7,000 square feet of office space and has 25 full-time and 40 part-time year-round employees.

Full story here.
Nice feedback here on the Thayer Avenue blog.

WaPo's Community Guide for Montgomery County, MD

Things to do listed in the Community Guide (and here's community events).

10 Places to Eat That You Should Know About

1. Tower Oaks Lodge, 2 Preserve Pkwy., Rockville. 301-294-0200. http://www.clydes.com
2. Sunshine General Store, 22300 Georgia Ave., at New Hampshire Avenue, Brookeville. 301-774-7428.
3. The Inn at Brookeville Farms, 19501 Georgia Ave., Brookeville. 301-924-6500. http://www.brookevilleinn.com.
4. East Gude Drive, between Norbeck Road and Southlawn Lane, Rockville
   Jon Won Restaurant (1613 E. Gude Dr., Rockville, 301-309-1870) and Arirang Restaurant (1326 E. Gude Dr., Rockville, 301-279-0023) both feature light wood in small, tidy spaces. Jon Won has tables with grills built into the middle for cooking Korean barbecue. Both specialize in Korean soups.
   The seafood scallion pancake at Arirang was the freshest and best I have found in the Washington area, and the restaurant's version of dulsot bibimbap (rice with beef and vegetables in a hot stone pot) is not only generous in size, but the pot arrives at the table so hot that the rice forms the prized crust in the bottom of the bowl that is the hallmark of this dish.
5. Fox Chapel Shopping Center, Germantown
   Yuraku Japanese Restaurant (19773 Frederick Rd., 301-515-7440)
   India Palace (19743 Frederick Rd., 301-540-3000) and
   Cafe Tacuba (19741 Frederick Rd., 301-540-8310).
6. Rockville Pike, from Twinbrook Parkway to Ritchie Center
   Try Sichuan at Joe's Noodle House (1488-C Rockville Pike, 301-881-5518, http://www.joesnoodlehouse.com);
   Taiwanese dim sum at A & J Restaurant (1319-C Rockville Pike, 301-251-7878);
   Mexican at El Mariachi (765-D Rockville Pike, 301-738-7177. http://www.elmariachirestaurant.com);
   Spanish at Sol de Espa?a (838 Rockville Pike, 240-314-0202);
   Japanese at Temari Cafe (1043 Rockville Pike, 301-340-7720);
   Urban Bar-B-Que Co. (2007 Chapman Ave., 240-290-4827, http://www.urbanbbqco.com).
   Las Americas International Market (785-E Rockville Pike, 301-424-9550)
7. Downtown SilverSpring
   Jackie's (8081 Georgia Ave., though the entrance is on Sligo Avenue, 301-565-9700)
   Ray's the Classics (8606 Colesville Rd., 301-588-7297) has
8. DowntownWheaton
   Pearl Seafood Restaurant (11230 Grand View Ave., 301-962-8888).
   Ruan Thai (11407 Amherst Ave., 301-942-0075)
   Nava Thai (11315 Fern St., 240-430-0495)
   Nut House Pizza (11419 Georgia Ave., 301-942-5900)
   Max's Kosher Cafe and Marketplace (around the corner at 2319 University Blvd. West, 301-949-6297, http://www.shalomgroup.com)
9. DowntownBethesda
   David Craig (4924 St. Elmo Ave., 301-657-2484, http://www.dcbethesda.com),
   Persimmon (7003 Wisconsin Ave., 301-654-9860, http://www.persimmonrestaurant.com).
   Cafe Gelato (4823 St. Elmo Ave., 301-913-0050)
10. Two Wine Places
    Finewine.com (20A Grand Corner Ave., Gaithersburg, 301-987.5933, http://www.finewine.com)
    Adega Wine Cellars & Cafe (8519 Fenton St., Silver Spring, 301-608.2200, http://www.adegawinecellars.com)

Birchmere coming to Silver Spring

To those of us who groan at the thought of driving the 15 miles through Tyson's traffic to get to the Birchmere, it is coming to Silver Spring!

Birchmere support group: http://www.silverspringforward.org/

Downtown Silver Spring: http://www.downtownsilverspring.com/

The Celebrate Silver Spring Foundation: http://www.silverspringdowntown.com/

Bethesda Magazine loves Silver Spring:

67 Things We Love About Bethesda: Bethesda Magazine’s editors pick the things they love about Bethesda.

(3) The Birchmere coming to Silver Spring. The missing link in the Bethesda-area’s arts and entertainment scene. Finally, a place to hear top-name musical performers in our own back yard.
(10) Strathmore Concert Hall. It’s everything that CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl promised. His programming from around the world draws new audiences to the arts (and Strathmore), and opens the eyes and minds of regular audiences.
(19) Strosniders. It’s expensive, it’s crowded, it’s claustrophobic, but you’ve got to love a place where knowledgeable adults help you find the right tool or part, and spend as much time with a person looking for a screw as a $5,000 grill.
(21) Robin Ficker. Come on, politics wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without him.
(23) Lunch at Redrock Canyon Grill in Silver Spring. Sit at the bar and order one of their terrific salads. Jason, the bartender, introduces himself, shakes your hand, and provides terrific, friendly service.
(31) The Republican Party in Montgomery County. If we don’t love them, who will?
(63) Congressman Chris Van Hollen. Get a glimpse of him now because he’s going places—and fast.