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Learn Something New Today

This piece originally ran on October 11, 2021. The Biggest Lie and Its Undoing Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Howard County and in a growing number of places across the US. County Executive Calvin Ball made the announcement of the change in September of 2020. Howard County replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day “Indigenous and Native American history is embedded in our nomenclature and our geography — Patuxent, Potomac, Kittamaqundi. And yet there is a clear erasure of their history and their connection to our land,” Ball said. “Indigenous Peoples’ Day presents an opportunity of all ages and backgrounds to learn more about the people who were here before Columbus and colonization. Representation matters, but it must be more than a rallying cry.” It can be difficult for some of us to let go of the tales from our early years about brave explorers who discovered new lands. But all those stories are rooted in the basic falsehood that any places that Western Europeans didn’...
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Is King’s Contrivance Epic?

  I don’t know what I was expecting when I went to YouTube looking for local stories this morning but I most certainly didn’t expect to find this. The Chronicles of the Kingdom of King’s Contrivance, Arthur Kunkle, YouTube I don’t know Mr. Kunkle but it looks like he had a lot of fun with this piece, which he describes as a mock-epic local history. Every great kingdom has a founding legend. Rome had a she-wolf. Camelot had a sword in a stone. The Kingdom of King's Contrivance, a village in Columbia, Maryland, has a restaurant. A mock-epic (and affectionate) history of King's Contrivance: colonial land tracts with names like "Lost by Neglect" and "Mistake", the 1962 restaurant of Kingdon Gould Jr. (King", we are told), James Rouse's quiet purchase of a tenth of Howard County, a village proclaimed in 1973 and postponed indefinitely in 1974, three neighborhoods named for folk songs, Carl Sandburg and Emily Dickinson, and a royal marketplace with a lin...
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A Veritable Cornucopia of HoCoLocal Saturday Fun

  Weather forecasts are telling us it’s going to rain tomorrow. Alas, this means that HoCo PRIDE will not take place tomorrow but has been moved to November 1st. If you have any pull with meterological magicians then will you please put in a request for an absolutely beautiful day on November 1st? Thanks. Today it will be cloudy but perfectly fine Fall weather for getting out and about. Here are four opportunities that caught my eye this morning. At the HCLS Central Branch there’s a Game Fest from 12 - 3 PM. What do video game music, retro games, independent game developers, and 50 years of gaming history have in common? They're all part of this year's Game Fest at HCS Central Branch! We're excited to have three small ensembles from the Baltimore Gamer Symphony Orchestra providing live music for the second annual Howard County Library System Game Fest: Past, Present & Future on Saturday, October 10th. The event runs 12-3pm and music will be 12-1pm. Other activities incl...
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F ³: We Are Not Entitled

  A college student went missing. His family and friends were distraught. The community was encouraged to be on the lookout and spread the word.  Days passed.  They must have been agonizing days for those who cared about the missing student. Thoughts that foul play had been involved cannot have been far from their thoughts.  Then, at last, the student was found. Alive. The news was shared with the public.  So. Much. Relief. A family had been reunited with their child. Even though we know that life is complicated, I think it is okay to accept this as a happy ending and leave it at that.  But the world of social media says no. For every expression of joy at the news came questions and even judgement. It became clear to me that some folks felt entitled to an explanation. They wanted the backstory. It’s as though they felt that, by enlisting the help of the public on social media, the authorities now owed them all the details. Television dramas often weave curr...
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In the Locker Room

  Does football attract violence? Does football encourage violence?  I don’t know. I do know that it’s an inherently violent sport. The fact that the United States continues to celebrate football when the incidence of Traumatic Brain Injury in players (even under the age of 18) has been well-documented tells me that we tolerate violence.  It’s just a part of the game.  When I think about the activities that young people participate in at the high school level, I have a hard time coming up with any that have the culture of violence that football does.  To be clear: all kids can get into problems with drugs and alcohol. And even one or two charismatic and unkind classmates can turn any group into a toxic environment. It could be band, cheerleading, or the student business leaders. None are exempt because adolescence is a struggle.  But it seems to me that the behavior on display at Howard High School - - which has caused the cancellation of the rest of the ...
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The Missing Boutiques

  How would you define the word “boutique”? According to Merriam Webster: I’ve got boutiques on my mind this morning after reading about the opening of Victorian Flower Child.  Boutique offering vintage, handmade designs opens in Old Ellicott City , April Santana, Baltimore Sun Well, of course it’s in Old Ellicott City. Where else would it be? Victorian Flower Child is owned by Jenesse Wannall, longtime associate of designer Lee Andersen. Ms. Wannall describes her business on her Yelp listing as follows: We are a small batch clothing and accessory company that makes all of our clothes and accessories by hand here in our studio in Maryland. We also upcycle one-of-a kind pieces and fix and resell vintage pieces as well.  Please come and check us out soon at 8370 Main St. Right next to the Wine Bin! So, where is that, exactly? This map is courtesy of Mapquest because Google didn’t even know what the heck I was talking about. Close your eyes for a minute and think. Are there ...
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A Whole Lava Nothing

  Are you ready for some tabloid twaddle?  County Council erupts over inspector general’s access to county records , WBFF Fox 45 Really? “Erupts?” I didn’t know our local government was prone to eruption.  Actual eruption courtesy of ABC News  Did people shout and scream? Throw chairs? Stand on the dais? Did angry crowds of observers wave pitchforks and rush at the council? Against my better judgement I invested 3:49 seconds on this Fox News piece and there is NO ERUPTION. I’m not sure it even goes as far as “sparks flew.”  Members of the council disagreed. I guess that qualifies as an “alert the media” moment for the folks at Fox, especially if there’s even a remote possibility of making Black people in leadership look bad. Having watched the piece I feel qualified to ask a question.  The Inspector General says that she doesn’t have access to information she needs as the law stands now. Council member Opel Jones says she does have that access without chang...
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