Archive for June 2013

In a 7-2 vote the Supreme Court has struck down an Arizona law that required voters to prove they are United States citizens in order to vote. In the name of public safety our phone calls and emails are now monitored.  (Maybe, in response to my daughter’s call today, the NSA will stop at the…

Earlier this week Montgomery County, Maryland dedicated what is possibly the first public school in the country named after a Holocaust survivor, the Flora M. Singer Elementary School. Is the popular Game of Thrones HBO series too violent? As David Gibson wrote in the Washington Post, George R.R. Martin (author of Game of Thrones) doesn’t…

Today, Congressman John Dingell, (D-Michigan), becomes the longest serving Member of Congress, passing the record set by the late Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV).  Elected in 1955, he has served 57 years, five months and 26 days.  I had the pleasure of working on his committee in the 1970’s; he was, and remains, a force…

David “Deacon” Jones died Monday.  He was 74.  An eight-time Pro Bowler and nicknamed the “Secretary of Defense”, he was called the greatest defense end ever to play football.  Part of the L.A. Rams “Fearsome Four” (along with Merle Olsen, Rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy), he invented the term “sack” for tackling quarterbacks.  His signature…

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that police may take DNA samples of  those arrested for serious crimes, narrowly upholding a Maryland law.  This could lead to more widespread collection of DNA by police. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman and former lieutenant governor of Maryland, says he may run for Maryland governor in 2014.…

My eldest son, Josh, arrived back home this weekend, having recovered from his law school graduation festivities.  He starts studying for the Maryland Bar Exam, which he’ll take at the end of July.  Then, after a short break to catch his breath, he’ll start a clerkship at Montgomery County’s Circuit Court. My daughter Sarah is…