Fishing at Jonas Green - Many Firsts

As you probably know by now my son loves to fish more than anything else in the world.  He'd rather go fishing than eat.  What's really funny is that he hates eating fish.  He just does it for the sport.

One of his favorite places to fish is at Jonas Green Park in Annapolis.  It's just under Route 450 that crosses the Severn River into Annapolis.  The old Route 450 bridge was dismantled with a section remaining to be used by recreational fishermen.

Getting there is always fun.  We always happen to go on a Saturday, so we want to beat the Ocean City-bound traffic.  This means we have to get up at 5am and hit the road as soon as possible.  We pulled out of the driveway at 5:39am.  And not too surprisingly, there's a lot of traffic heading east on Route 50.  We got to Anglers right off of Route 50 at about 6:30.  They were fresh out of peelers (crabs that do not have a hard shell yet).  He offered us two dead soft shell crabs for the price of one and a half gallon of razor clams.  He said they really work.

We started off on the bridge and weren't catching anything.  Meanwhile, Sydney, James, and LeRoy were catching fish.  Not fair.  Then Sydney caught a toad fish.  I've heard about them, but have never seen one.  I told him that I wanted to catch one.  He said, "What the hell for?  They bite your finger off!"  I told him that it would be cool to say we caught one.  Moments later, my son caught one.  He's an ugly fella.

Then my son decided to go off and fish on the rocks alongside the bridge.  I could see him by looking over the side of the bridge.  There was an older black man next to me.  To strike up conversation I said, "My son can't sit still.  He has to move and fish from one place to another."  That did it.  He gave me the first degree.  "Why the hell ain't you over there fishing with him?  Things happen.  You need to be over there teaching him how to fish!"  "But he fishes better than me!"  "Then you need to be over there learning from him.  What's he gonna do if he catches an eel?" "He'll bring it over here for me to get off." "What about a toad fish or a blue fish?  They'd bite is finger off or jump up and bite his face.  You should be over there spending time with your son.  A father and son need to spend time together......"  And on and on and on and on.  "Okay, okay! I'll go over there."  Meanwhile all the other older black men on the bridge are laughing!  "He's givin' you the business!"

So now we're on the rocks fishing.  My son proceeds to catch a menhaden (his first), a little schooling fish, then a flounder, then a white perch, then a spot, then a 14 inch striped bass.  We move to the other side and time passes. Finally around 2pm the fish REALLY start biting. I catch my first white perch.  Then I catch a spot.  Then another.  Then I catch two at one time.  My son is catching fish like crazy.  I think he got up to 23 fish total.  He ends the day with a 15 inch red drum.  Anyone who fishes at Jonas Green knows that this is a prize.  Unfortunately, he's too small to take home.

We finally leave around 4pm.  Tired.  9 hours of fishing.  But a good time.  It's fun for a father to spend time with his son.

Special Session

Today is the first day of the Maryland Special Session, called on by our handsome, yet deceiving and condescending Governor, Martin O'Malley. Is this true? Yes, Martin O'Malley is handsome.

O'Malley has a bad habit and he has chosen to deal with his habit. He wants to be honest with the public. Yes - he has a problem. He loves to spend our money. In fact, he wants to spend so much of our money, that he's run out of money to spend. Now, O'Malley has a plan to deal with this problem. O'Malley has proposed an estimated 4,183 new taxes do deal with his bad habit.

Fortunately, 80% of Marylanders will pay less taxes under his new plan. Unfortunately, the other 95% will pay more.

For example, under his new plan, which is the largest tax increase in the history of the state of Maryland, only people that spend money will suffer from the 20% increase in sales tax. Additionally, only people that buy cars will fork over the 14% increase in vehicle registration taxes. This is on top of the 70% increase in electricity that he planned on stopping. That was, of course, until he planned on not stopping that 70% increase.

Many voters are outraged at these increases. Analysts show that these taxes will proportionally hit the lower and middle class the hardest. In fact, these taxes are so unpopular that O'Malley's approval rating has actually plunged. Fortunately for him, his mirror told him that he's still the fairest one in the land.

However, his growing unpopularity has caused him to strike back. He is soaking us with condescending commercials of an average middle class couple who know that O'Malley's huge appetite for spending lots of money is our previous governor's fault. And since the new tax package will affect businesses and the wealthy the most, then it must be okie-dokie!

And these commercials come with threats. "If you don't approve my threats, I'm going to punch you below the belt!" he appears to be saying. O'Malley says that if we don't start nodding happily at his massive tax increases, he will remove the police from our streets, fire our teachers, and have to stop giving medical attention to our elderly. Though for Baltimore City residents, the first 2 threats seem okay.

And everyone hates businesses. They're all greedy. That's why they hired us and pay us money so that we can buy SUV's and go out drinking every night - those bastards! And most of us don't work for wealthy people - we work for the poor, the uneducated, and the homeless, right? Oh, wait - that's liberal propaganda spewed in reverse. (We'll just ignore their flawed logic here.)

I have been searching for the time when the public can weigh in on this financially hurtful package. The public should have a say on such consequential legislation, right? After all, this will help determine if we buy new shoes and medication and feed our children or live in the dark and walk to work. However, no. There will be no public input. If you fear for your well-being - contact your state legislatures immediately. Tell them to tell O'Malley - "No, thanks!".

To find out who your elected officials are (because I know most of you don't vote and don't have a clue as to who determines your fate), go to this site:

http://mdelect.net/electedofficials/

Your elected representatives will appear on the left. You can then go to this page and contact your state legislator:

http://mlis.state.md.us/cgi-win/mail32.exe/

Good luck!

Silence!!

A grand theft has occurred in Annapolis. We suspected that Martin O'Malley was on crack. The evidence to support this supposition is the fact that he supports giving in-state tuition for criminals, he supports giving convicted felons the right to vote (only because they vote Democratic), and he seems stunned that the electric rate is going up 58% in June, just like he agreed to before the election.

Now, the crack pipe has been passed to Baltimore City. The city council is considering passing a bill that if the police were called to your residence two times for noise disturbance, you can be kicked out of your house for up to a year - even if you own your home. To make matters worse, the decibels level of the noise disturbance does not have to be any higher than 55 decibels to warrant an arrest. For those of you who went to Baltimore City schools, a decibel is a measurement of sound.

How loud is 55 decibels? A jet engine is 160. A rock concert is 140. Power tools average about 110. A busy street is around 65. Face-to-face conversation is 55. A quiet office is 50. So, if you have a vindictive neighbor, they're going to call the police on you for having a conversation in your back yard. Small children will be run out of the city. Barking dogs will be arrested. I wonder if this new law will allow the police to arrest those noisy rats you see running down Orleans street. Noisy garbage trucks - yeah they'll be a thing of the past. Construction - too noisy. What if you live next to a fire department? Can you call and complain that they're being too noisy? Those noisy stadiums need to go.

Here's the plan - everyone in Baltimore (the ones that can read) - call the police and complain about the noise levels at these people's houses: Sheila Dixon, Mary Pat Clark, and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Wait two days, then call again. We will continue this list with other nuisance politicians until we have kicked them all out of the city.