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Chicken Scratch: This is (not) Sparta! by Elizabeth Beggins

November 8, 2024 by Elizabeth Beggins Leave a Comment

It’s Wednesday, November 6th, 2:00 AM. By the time you read this, polls for the 2024 American elections will have closed and results will be coming in. Some will be decisive, others not, but the expected outcome is that, eventually, a new president and numerous state-level officials will be determined.

Much as I considered holding off on this until after the dust settles, I decided against it. Nothing here is going to change because of this election. Tomorrow, and the day after, next week, and the week after, this message remains, as does my faith in our ability to make it happen.

_________________________

Agitated by a fresh litter of baby demons chewing at my insides, I make the unfortunate decision, a grave lapse in judgment to be sure, to give myself unbridled access to social media. I score a juicy political nugget in no time, comments ranging from solidaric to scurrilous that take the original post to a whole other level. Moments later, to virtual strangers, I’m winging verbal insults that start with f*ck and end with face.

What the hell? I take a breath, put the phone down, check myself. Where did that come from? This isn’t who I am. Or, at least, it isn’t who I want to be.

Socially, and metaphorically, this is Newton’s Third Law. Somebody shoves, I shove back. (Work with me, physicists; I know it’s not that simple.) We first test the theory as two-year-olds, hone it as teenagers, perfect it as adults–principally in politics, particularly in American politics.

This is us against them. This is Sparta!

The Siege of Sparta, Pyrrhus — Wikipedia, Public Domain

As a pernicious wave of political polarization threatens, though not for the first time in this country, to unravel what we have spent almost 250 years holding together, we want to know what’s driving it, where it’s coming from, and who or what to blame.

– Social media algorithms herd us into isolating bubbles that shimmer only from the inside.
– Cable news creates enduring political silos.
– Confirmation bias keeps us tethered to what we already believe, regardless of conflicting information.
– The two-party system forces us to separate into two camps.
– Our behavior is modeled after what we hear from our elected officials.
– The 1% want us divided so we are less focused on our massive economic disparities.
– All news, everywhere, is biased.
– Our country was built on the backs of displaced and enslaved people, and we’ve never fully addressed that.
– Wars rage and lives are shattered. Lives. Are shattered.
– Who can distinguish truth from lies anymore? Who bothers to try?

Now is a good time to emphasize, in case there’s any residual confusion, that this is, in fact, not Sparta, and any attempt at parallels should be cautionary, at best. Spartans lived in perpetual fear of being overtaken by the much larger, oppressed class of Helots. Only about 15% of the population were considered citizens, because to count as a Spartan citizen, you had to have a certain amount of wealth. The society practiced eugenics, kept and hunted slaves, was run by two kings and a handful of rich people.

So, there’s that.

Now back to assigning blame for the political mess we’re in, it seems no matter which direction we point our fingers, or which finger we point, we’ve been unable to diagnose the primary cause of our antipathy. But there is one abiding theme: We all think we are at risk of losing what is important to us. We all believe we are playing a zero-sum game against a perceived enemy.

Think. Believe. Perceive. Notice those words. They are important. And it is with that in mind that I want to make something eminently clear: Americans are not as polarized as we imagine ourselves to be.

Yes, there are extreme factions. Yes, some of our democratic functions have been incapacitated by division. Yes, our election process needs an overhaul to address things like pervasive gerrymandering and controversial campaign financing. But study, after study, after study, after study, after study shows that the vast majority of We the People want very much the same things for ourselves and our futures.

We believe in the right to vote, the right to equal protection under the law, the right to privacy, and the right to practice the religion of our choosing. The problem is not that our values don’t align, rather it is that we think they don’t. And why would we think otherwise, when so much of what we hear coming across our airwaves, see printed in our publications, and repeat on our social sites, tells us who we are, or aren’t?

Whether or not you ascribe to the notion that we are tribal by nature, there is no denying that we are prone to sort, cluster and categorize to make it easier for our brains to process and recall information. Neurologically, we appreciate these simplifications. When patterns recur and our expectations are substantiated, our reward centers ping, which further encourages the behavior.

Simplification sounds harmless, but it leads to stereotyping and othering. Attributing blanket traits to those who are different from us reinforces our own identity at the expense of someone else’s.

Fueled by news that tells us we are hopelessly divided, from entities that know if it bleeds it leads and for which attracting readers is a matter of survival, we find evidence of our disunion at every turn. In fact, we expect to find it, and it confirms what we already believe.

Conservative. Liberal. Gay. Straight. Old. Young. Female. Male. Black. White. The mere mention of the words brings to mind concepts, images, and assumptions for how a person in one group thinks, what another wants, and how they differ from or align with our own core values.

If you’re getting the idea that we are our own enemies here, good. Because unlike what happens on Capitol Hill, our own behavior is within our control. This is not a problem that is ours alone to solve, neither is the government the only form of power we can exercise. The more of us who train ourselves away from tribal psychology, the more capable we will be of healing our wounds. To put a finer point on it, we’re working to depose the f*ckface mentality.

The person who seems unable or unwilling to acknowledge the wisdom of our well-reasoned explanations for why their candidate is the wrong choice for the country: Not a f*ckface.

The person we were sure was well-studied enough to not be a single-issue voter: Not a f*ckface.

The person who voted for a third-party candidate because they didn’t want to support the status quo: Not a f*ckface.

We may have different backgrounds, belief-systems, and visions for what we want from our government. But our fears are likely very similar.

These are the people who file in with us to vote, the ones who sit behind the tables and make sure we are given the right ballot. These are the people who let us go before them in line, when we’ve got three items and they’ve got 30, the people who cheer next to us at the ballgame. They’re the ones who leave persimmons on our steps while we’re out, the ones we went to school with, the ones who pass us the green bean casserole at the Thanksgiving table.

It is a difficult time to be an American. We have developed emotional attachments to our political parties which render us unable to separate our identities from our affiliations. Criticism of our beliefs feels like a personal attack. But many of us are also more engaged in politics than we’ve ever been before and driven to reconsider what we’ve been missing, who hasn’t been heard, and how we can make a difference.

Tell me I should be taking a stand for democracy, and I’ll tell you I’m looking for ways to uphold my convictions without typecasting or dehumanizing my fellow citizens. I’ll say that, best I can tell, the way we think about each other, and the words we use to talk about each other, are what ultimately play out around us. Our children learn from them. Our societies learn from them. Tell me that this is all someone else’s fault, and I’ll tell you that the only person I’ve got permission to change is myself.

Photo: eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels

Elizabeth Beggins is a communications and outreach specialist focused on regional agriculture. She is a former farmer, recovering sailor, and committed over-thinker who appreciates opportunities to kindle conversation and invite connection. On “Chicken Scratch,” a reader-supported digital publication hosted by Substack, she writes non-fiction essays rooted in optimism. To receive her weekly posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

From and Fuller: The eating of political crow with election predictions and the gender and race impact on the 2024 Election

November 7, 2024 by Al From and Craig Fuller Leave a Comment

Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment.

This week, From and Fuller discuss their failure to accurately predict the 2024 election outcome and Donald Trump’s remarkable campaign performance last Tuesday. Al and Craig also trade thoughts on the impact, or lack thereof, of both gender and race as factors that led to defeat for the Harris-Walz Democratic ticket.

This video podcast is approximately sixteen minutes in length.

To listen to the audio podcast version, please use this link:

Background

While the Spy’s public affairs mission has always been hyper-local, it has never limited us from covering national or even international issues that impact the communities we serve. With that in mind, we were delighted that Al From and Craig Fuller, both highly respected Washington insiders, have agreed to a new Spy video project called “The Analysis of From and Fuller” over the next year.

The Spy and our region are very lucky to have such an accomplished duo volunteer for this experiment. While one is a devoted Democrat and the other a lifetime Republican, both had long careers that sought out the middle ground of the American political spectrum.

Al From, the genius behind the Democratic Leadership Council’s moderate agenda which would eventually lead to the election of Bill Clinton, has never compromised from this middle-of-the-road philosophy. This did not go unnoticed in a party that was moving quickly to the left in the 1980s. Including progressive Howard Dean saying that From’s DLC was the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

From’s boss, Bill Clinton, had a different perspective. He said it would be hard to think of a single American citizen who, as a private citizen, has had a more positive impact on the progress of American life in the last 25 years than Al From.”

Al now lives in Annapolis and spends his semi-retirement as a board member of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (his alma mater) and authoring New Democrats and the Return to Power. He also is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School and recently agreed to serve on the Annapolis Spy’s Board of Visitors. He is the author of “New Democrats and the Return to Power.”

For Craig Fuller, his moderation in the Republican party was a rare phenomenon. With deep roots in California’s GOP culture of centralism, Fuller, starting with a long history with Ronald Reagan, leading to his appointment as Reagan’s cabinet secretary at the White House, and later as George Bush’s chief-of-staff and presidential campaign manager was known for his instincts to find the middle ground. Even more noted was his reputation of being a nice guy in Washington, a rare characteristic for a successful tenure in the White House.

Craig has called Easton his permanent home for the last eight years, where he now chairs the board of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and is a former board member of the Academy Art Museum and Benedictine. He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors and writes an e-newsletter available by clicking on DECADE SEVEN.

With their rich experience and long history of friendship, now joined by their love of the Chesapeake Bay, they have agreed through the magic of Zoom, to talk inside politics and policy with the Spy every Thursday.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Spy Daybook: How museums offer a cure for loneliness in modern America by Daedelus Hoffman

November 5, 2024 by Spy Daybook Leave a Comment

I believe the Academy Art Museum is more than a place where people look at art—it’s a place where people find each other. Art is a powerful connector, bridging gaps between strangers and building bonds that feel something like family. That’s what drives me: creating spaces where people aren’t just spectators but instead play an active role in building something bigger together. That thing is called community.

The importance of this work feels especially urgent today. Loneliness has become a silent epidemic, affecting Americans of all ages and backgrounds. According to a 2021 report by Harvard’s Making Caring Common project, over one-third of U.S. adults report feeling serious loneliness. In response, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has issued a stark warning: chronic loneliness is a public health crisis with risks to physical and mental health equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness isn’t just an emotional experience—it’s a health risk that shortens lives and leaves people vulnerable to conditions ranging from heart disease to depression.

One reason for this epidemic is the decline of “third places”—those public, community-centered spaces outside of work and home where people can naturally gather, relax, and connect. Sociologist Robert Putnam explores this concept in The Upswing, where he argues that third places like coffee shops, libraries, and yes, museums, are crucial for building social cohesion. Without these gathering places, people lose opportunities to connect in a meaningful way with others in their community. In their absence, isolation grows.

Museums are particularly well-suited to fill this gap. Daniel Weiss, in his book Why the Museum Matters, describes museums as “cathedrals of the imagination,” where visitors are encouraged to pause, reflect, and find meaning. Unlike many other public spaces, museums offer an environment that’s both welcoming and contemplative, where people can take their time, engage with ideas, and share their experience with others. Museums make space for thoughtful encounters that often lead to meaningful connections.

At the Academy Art Museum, we see this potential for community building firsthand. Our public programs, like a film screening or a lecture, bring people together in shared experiences. These events are more than just cultural outings; they’re opportunities to bond over mutual interests and form lasting friendships. When visitors come for a film screening or a lecture, they’re joining a gathering of people who share an appreciation for creativity, curiosity, and dialogue. It’s a chance to become part of something larger.

Beyond these public events, our adult classes and workshops offer another layer of connection. In a world where adult friendships can be hard to sustain, these programs offer a rare opportunity to meet people who share similar interests in art and creativity. Whether it’s a painting workshop or a photography course, these classes invite participants to engage deeply with a craft while connecting with others. It’s a different kind of learning environment, one that values collaboration and exchange as much as individual growth.

And as people learn together, something transformative happens—they build a community. In a museum setting, that community becomes woven into the larger fabric of the institution itself, bringing new life to the art on the walls and new stories to the people who walk through our doors.

So yes, art has the power to inspire, challenge, and provoke. But just as importantly, it has the power to connect. In a society increasingly marked by isolation, museums are one of the last places where people can meet face-to-face, share a moment of insight, and leave feeling a little less alone. At the Academy Art Museum, that sense of connection is central to everything we do, because we know that the arts are most impactful when they bring people together.

For those on the Eastern Shore, the Academy Art Museum is here for you—not just as a gallery of beautiful things, but as a space to belong, to connect, and to be part of something bigger. Whether you’re here for an exhibit, a program, or a class, we invite you to come as you are, and maybe, just maybe, leave with something unexpected: a new friend, a sense of purpose, and the feeling that you’re part of a community.

Daedelus Hoffman is the director of education at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Looking at the Masters: George Caleb Bingham

October 31, 2024 by Beverly Hall Smith Leave a Comment

George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) is a well-known American painter of jolly boatmen who transported furs and other cargo on rafts along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. He also painted several portraits. He is lesser-known as a politician and soldier. His political paintings convey his strong belief in Democracy with all its flaws and that slavery was immoral and a threat to the future of the Union.

He was born in Augusta County, Virginia. When the family lost their mill, they moved to Missouri. Bingham was educated by his mother. He was mostly a self-taught painter. By age nineteen he was painting portraits for $20; by age twenty-two he supported himself with his art. He opened his first studio in 1838 in St. Louis. He moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, but he remained there only for three months before moving to Washington, D.C., where he studied with Benjamin West and Thomas Sully from 1840 until1844. Bingham married his first wife, and they moved in 1845 to Arrow Rock, Saline County, Missouri. Their home is now a National Historic Landmark.

“Canvassing for a Vote” (1852)

Bingham became involved with politics as early as 1840, during the race for president between Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison. Over the next several years he painted six canvases in his “election series.” “Canvassing for a Vote” (1852) (25”x31”) (Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO) is one of the earliest. In front of the Arrow Rock Tavern, in his hometown, Bingham poses five men, a sleeping dog, and a horse’s rump, all within a triangular composition.

The candidate wearing a top hat, explains his position to the city gentleman with the cane, the country gentleman smoking his corn cob pipe, and the worker in the leather apron. The fifth man turns his back on the conversation; either he does not care, or he opposes the candidate’s thinking, or he could represent those who felt disenfranchised. These attitudes were prevalent at the time. Historians and art critics suggest that the sleeping dog may represent voters’ lack of enthusiasm, or the attitude toward the issue of slavery by the Missouri Legislation: “Let sleeping dogs lie.” One other idea has been proposed, that the approximate placement of the head of the candidate and the horse’s rump may represent Bingham’s estimation of politicians. Nevertheless, he knew the value of democracy, even with its flaws. Bingham ran as a Whig for the Missouri House of Representatives in 1848. The initial count resulted in three votes in his favor. He lost the recount and suspected vote tampering. He ran in the following year and won by a large margin.

“Stump Speaking” (1853-54)

“Stump Speaking” (1853-54) (43”x58’’) is a depiction of a politician trying to persuade a group of Missouri citizens to vote for him. The three figures dressed in white form a wide triangle. They are Bingham’s key to the painting. The Stump Speaker represents the current issues to be decided, and he reaches out to the crowd. The Outstanding Citizen, as Bingham refers to him, wears a white suit and top hat, and he sits across from the Speaker. He leans forward, one hand on his hip, and listens to the Speaker. He represents the past, and he is rigid is his opposition. The future is represented by the young, bare footed boy in the white shirt. He sits at the front of the composition. Both hands in front of him, his finger points into the palm of the other hand as he counts some coins.

The group of citizens includes men, women, and children of various ages and means. All are white. They surround the Speaker and sit or stand in natural positions. Bingham includes several portraits. The Stump Speaker resembles Erasmus Sappington, Bingham’s opponent in the previous election. The older, rotund figure wearing the green jacket resembles Meredith Marmaduke, the former governor of Missouri. The figure next to him is a self-portrait of Bingham, head down as he takes notes.

“The County Election” (1852)

“The County Election” (1852) (38”x52”) was the first painting in Bingham’s election series. Male citizens of all ages gather at the polling place. The inscription “The Will of the People, The Supreme Law” on the blue banner represents the artist’s belief. The scene is set outdoors in the light of day so that everyone could witness the vote. At the top of the stairs, the man in the orange shirt swears on a Bible that this is his only vote. Behind him on the stairs, the man tipping his top hat may be offering a bribe to the next voter. At the bottom of the stairs to the left, another man in a top hat drags a limp man, possibly drunk, toward the stairs so that he can vote. At the far right a drunk sits hunched over, his head bandaged, perhaps suggesting that elections could result in violence.

Behind the drunk, two men read a newspaper The Missouri Republican. When Bingham made a print of the painting, he had the title changed to The National Intelligencer to appeal to a broader audience. At the left front of the work, a man sits and drinks beer. Votes bought by liquor were common in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Two boys play mumblety-peg with a knife. With splayed fingers, the boys stab between them as quickly as they can without cutting themselves.

“The Verdict of the People” (1854-55)

“The Verdict of the People” (1854-55) (46”x55”) was the last painting in Bingham’s election series. The crowd gathers in front of the courthouse to learn the election results. Bingham’s usual set of characters include farmers, laborers, politicians, and immigrants. However, he has included women and African American slaves. The African American pushing a wheelbarrow is prominently placed in the left foreground of the painting. The presence of women is not as obvious. White and African American women look on from a balcony at the top right. None has the right to vote.

“The Verdict of the People” is a depiction of two prominent issues in the 1854 election. Herman Humphrey’s book of 1828, Parallel between Intemperance and Slavery, explored the idea that alcohol and slavery were linked. The American Society of Temperance had been founded in1826, and the idea of abolishing alcohol was taking hold in several states by the 1850s. Bingham’s views were always anti-slavery; however, he considered abolishing alcohol to be wrong.

Bingham sent his election series to Washington, D.C., with the hope that the Library Committee of Congress would purchase the paintings. He wanted Americans to see his work and understand his ideas. The Library Committee of Congress did not purchase them. Bingham then lent them to the Mercantile Library Association in St. Louis, Missouri.

Abaham Lincoln was elected president in1861. Bingham was on the side of the Union during the Civil War; he fought and raised troops. The government of Missouri declared itself against slavery. The governor appointed Bingham to serve as Missouri State Treasurer in 1862. After the Civil War, Bingham was appointed President of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners. He became the first Chief of Police. He never stopped painting.

“To the beautiful belongs an endless variety. It is seen not only in symmetry and elegance of form, in youth and health, but is often quite as fully apparent in decrepit old age. It is found in the cottage of the peasant as well as the palace of kings.” (George Caleb Bingham)

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Fear and loathing at the Washington Post and LA Times by Hugh Panero

October 29, 2024 by Hugh Panero Leave a Comment

The news that the Washington Post and LA Times billionaire owners told their management not to endorse one of the presidential candidates caused a loud, primal media scream.

Both newspapers have described this 2024 Presidential election as one of the most consequential in history. Despite that, the paper’s owners told their editorial staff to ignore tradition and not express an opinion. Why? Fear and greed.

The lesson learned is that billionaire saviors of struggling newspapers do not have the same commitment to the ethos or moral nature that these newspapers were built on. They are scared. Trump, the would-be Mussolini, has embraced full-crazy and made it clear that if elected, he has an enemies hit list that these tech bros billionaires do not want to be on.

Newspapers have been under assault for decades, losing ad revenue and readership to digital alternatives. Many newspaper groups fear rocking the boat with a Presidential endorsement. LA Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who made his fortune in healthcare, has a not-so-healthy newspaper business, and he likely does not want to alienate his conservative readership and advertisers with a Kamala Harris endorsement.

The real drama was at the Washington Post. Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Post, appears to have made a last-minute decision to protect his more valuable non-newspaper business interests. It has been reported that a Harris endorsement was drafted.

The decision was particularly stinging coming from a newspaper of record for many of us. Since the announcement that the Post would not endorse a Presidential candidate, several staffers have resigned or stepped down from the company’s Editorial Board. According to NPR, “more than 200,000 people had canceled their digital subscriptions by midday Monday, according to two people at the paper with knowledge of internal matters, representing about 8 percent of the paper’s paid circulation of 2.5 million subscribers.” The number is rising.

Jeff Bezos today differs from the person who bought the Post for $250 million from Donald Graham in 2013. During the last decade, Bezos stepped away from day-to-day management at Amazon and divorced Mackenzie Scott (formerly Bezos), making her the third wealthiest woman in the US.

The Bezos I admired has vanished, and the person we see in the media today on his superyacht has gone full muscled cartoon tech-bro, self-absorbed with body image, bodybuilding, and his curvy, arm candy girlfriend. He is living his version of La Dolce Vita, armed with the most F you money in history.

In my head, I keep hearing the Simon and Garfinkle melody and lyrics to Mrs Robinson: “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?” followed by “Where have you gone, Jeff Bezos? Where have you gone, Katharine Graham and Ben Bradlee?

I remember when The Washington Post’s courageous Publisher and Executive Editor risked going to jail for defying Nixon’s threats during Watergate. What happened to Bezos, the business guru with the odd laugh, who, 30 years ago, started Amazon and the digital retail business industry and changed the world?

Bezos’ business empire includes monsters Amazon (2023 revenue $575B), AWS ($91B), and the privately held space company Blue Origin. The Washington Post is a nat—a stray media dog with a rich history he saved from extinction, which has become an annoyance. The calculation was simple. If the Post endorsed Kamala, and Trump wins, then Blue Origin, which lags way behind Space X (revenue $2B), would be shut out from government space contracts — end of story. Bezos denied that the Post’s recent endorsement policy decision was related to his other business interests. Yeh Right! Eights days before the election. If you believe that I have a rocket ship to sell you.

Bezos’ biggest tech bro competitor is Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), Tesla, and wait for it… SpaceX. Elon will perform any manner of business fellatio to pleasure Trump, including barnstorming with the crazy (“They’re eating cats and dogs”) X-President and donating $120 million to the Pro-Trump America Super PAC. The PAC is sponsoring a voter turnout gimmick that awards a daily $1 million lottery prize to registered voters in battleground states who sign his petition supporting the 1st and 2nd Amendments. The program is currently under review by the DOJ. A Trump return to the White House would help Musk and SpaceX get the SEC, DOJ, and other government institutions off his back.

I do not know how much a Presidential editorial endorsement impacts an election. My guess is not much; it primarily contributes to helping build perceived momentum for the endorsed candidate. In the last Presidential election cycle, in 2020, Biden received 47 major newspaper endorsements (circulation 9.6 million), Trump received seven endorsements (circulation 863,000), and 44 newspapers did not endorse anyone (circulation 5.2 million).

I also do not know the best recourse if you want to punish these newspapers for their cowardice. Do you cancel your newspaper subscription in a town with few local news alternatives? Do you cancel your $140 Amazon Prime account?

The list of newspapers that do not endorse a presidential candidate is growing. It now includes the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today, Minnesota Star Tribune, and Tampa Bay Times, among others. The New York Times stands alone among national newspapers that still have a policy of picking a Presidential candidate.

Part of me wants to take a tranquilizer and wake up on Wednesday, November 6, to a new, hopefully better world without daily polls, non-stop fundraising texts, cable news network talking heads, and narcissistic billionaires who inspire fear and loathing.

Hugh Panero, a tech and media entrepreneur, was the founder and former CEO of XM Satellite Radio. He has worked with leading tech venture capital firms and was an adjunct media professor at George Washington University. He writes about Tech and Media and other stuff for the Spy.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Food Friday: Simply frightful

October 25, 2024 by Jean Sanders Leave a Comment

Halloween isn’t until next week, on a school night no less, so now is the time to celebrate, before you start eyeing the Trick or Treat candy in the bowl in the front hall. First things first – scary pizza and cocktails for the grownups.

I had a ghoulish meander around the internet trolling for Halloween treats and tricks. There is nothing like repourposing an everyday ingredient in an eye-catching way. Look at the genius who thought of carving minute skulls from mushrooms! They look like wee shrunken heads – so creepy! And what crazy person discovered that blueberries could be frozen in round ice cubes? They look like so many bobbling eyeballs! I’ll need another drink, thanks.

Pizza is a food group universe in our house: carbs + dairy + grease + toppings = happiness. We started making pizza at home when our children were young, and malleable. Pizza to them was not a treat or a ceremonial meal marking an auspicious occasion. They had cafeteria pizza for lunch in school. There were class pizza parties to celebrate honor roll announcements. Our children were growing up on expensive, cardboard, industrial-complex-pizzas that had no soul. And these were the grandchildren of original New Haven Sally’s Apizza aficionados after all, so we had to indoctrinate them.

We started slowly, making pizza dough from a recipe in The Joy of Cooking, of all places, but those were the olden days before the internet, and Joy was my go-to. The children enjoyed the process of rolling out the dough, playing with the flour, spooning the sauce and scattering the cheese. And finally, the eating. Our Friday night ritual was firmly established. At least until they grew taller than me.

Our dough these days, which has been evolving for 20-something years, is a variation on a Mark Bittman recipe. We have been using a “00” flour, as suggested by my brother, the original family pizzaiolo, who still eats in New Haven pizzerias with regularity, and who bakes a mean pie. This flour has made a huge difference in the texture of the crust – it is lighter, and more flavorful, and makes an excellent, crisp crust. For these formative years, though, we used all-purpose flour or bread flour, and made perfectly delicious pizzas. We are just showing off now.

Our take on pizza dough:
3 cups “00” flour
1 tablespoon yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup warm water (I warm it in a teapot that has a thermometer – to about 120°F – any warmer and you will kill the yeast)

I use a fancy KitchenAid stand mixer, which would probably offend Sally’s soul, but the romance of kneading dough by hand wore off decades ago. I mix all the dry ingredients, then add the oil, and finally the cup of water. Sometimes I have to add a little more water, until the shaggy mess forms a dough ball. I take the ball of dough out and knead it on the counter, just to tidy of the ball. I put it in a mixing bowl, with a drizzle of olive oil, and cover the bowl with Saran Wrap, and pop it into the microwave for a day of rest. The microwave is a nice safe place; the dough is off of the counter, and the temperature stays constant. By around 6 o’clock, it has risen nicely, and is ready for transformation.

When we first started making pizza at home we had a standard issue electric oven. Now we have a slightly fancier gas oven. First we pop a pizza stone into the oven, and pre-heat to 550°F. Once the temperature reaches 550°, we set a timer for 30 minutes. We don’t have a coal-fired oven like Sally’s, but we can pretend. We started off using a basic cookie sheet, then graduated to a round pizza pan. Now, after all these years, we have lots of esoteric equipment: a metal pizza peel, a French rolling pin, the pizza stone, a pizza steel, a stainless steel bench scraper, a squeeze bottle for oil, a gigantic pizza cutter, and newly acquired pizza shears.

While the oven is heating, I grate an 8-ounce block of mozzarella cheese. Sometimes we also use fresh mozzarella, but fresh tends to contain a lot of moisture, and can make a soggy pizza: use judiciously. We also employ freshly-grated Parmesan cheese with abandon.

I like pepperoni pizza best, and Mr. Sanders is a bon vivant who likes sausage, meatball, salami, Prosciutto, ham, speck, kale, broccolini, peppers – you name it. Have these wild cards lined up on the counter, too. We cheat enormously with the pizza sauce; we stockpile jars of Rao’s Pizza Sauce when it is on sale. But leftover homemade spaghetti sauce is also a family fave. Use what makes you happy.

On a floured surface, divide the dough in half. We freeze one half, for emergency, mid-week pan pizza, or garlic knots. Then Mr. Sanders stretches the pizza dough. (It took years to achieve a circle shape, so do not despair if you produce amoebas.) Drapping the dough over the rolling pin, he places it gently on the corn meal-covered pizza peel, which is essential to his art. Don’t forget the corn meal. (There is no other way to transfer an uncooked pizza to a hot pizza stone without a peel. We have been using a metal pizza peel for a couple of years which is much easier to ply than our old wooden one.)

Once the dough is on the pizza peel, Mr. Sanders squirts a couple of tablespoons of garlic-infused olive oil onto the dough, and spreads it around evenly with the back of a spoon. Then Mr. Sanders spoons on some sauce, not lots, because you want the pie to stay light and crisp. You’ll develop an eye. Then he scatters the mozzarella cheese, and judiciously arranges the toppings. In your travels stop by a pizza joint, not a fancy place, and watch how the journeymen pizza guys scatter the cheese and toppings. They are fast, spare, and economical. Less is better.

Then transfer the pizza from the peel to the blazing hot pizza stone. This takes some practice. Set the timer for 8 minutes. Add some frozen eyeballs to your drink, light the candles, and prepare for glory. Homemade pizza. Happy Halloween!

“But magic is like pizza: even when it’s bad it’s pretty good.”
—Neil Patrick Harris

Sally’s Apizza

Blueberry eyeballs

Mushroom Skulls

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Looking at the Masters: Winslow Homer

October 24, 2024 by Beverly Hall Smith Leave a Comment

American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was the son of Bostonians Charles and Henrietta Homer. She was an amateur watercolor painter and Winslow’s primary teacher. His youth was spent mostly in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he graduated from high school. His artistic talent was obvious. Apprenticed to a Boston commercial lithographer, he produced numerous sheet music covers and advertisements. He established a free-lance career by 1857 that resulted in an offer of employment from Harper’s Weekly. Instead, he opened his own studio in Boston. He said, “I have no master, and never shall have any.”

He moved to New York City in 1859 and attended drawing school in Brooklyn. Harper’s Weekly commissioned him to draw images of the Civil War, and he was assigned to Major General George B. McClellan. Homer’s oil paintings of the Civil War invited him to membership in the National Academy of Design. He received full membership in 1865, including the exhibition of one of his Civil War paintings. The painting was also exhibited in the International Exhibition in Paris. Homer visited Europe in 1867, and he was able to observe the French Barbizon landscape paintings.

“A Fair Wind” (“Breezing Up”) (1876)

“A Fair Wind” (“Breezing Up”) (1876) (24”x38”) (National Gallery of Art) was exhibited during the American Centennial. After Homer returned to Gloucester, he began to paint American scenes of life along the Atlantic coast. Originally titled “A Fair Wind,” meaning smooth sailing ahead, the painting presented a positive, optimistic, and hopeful view of America’s future. The catboat, named the Gloucester, is steered by a young boy holding the tiller, rather than the older man in the boat. The boy steers toward the horizon, and the future. By adding the anchor, Homer further represents security and hope.

When “A Fair Wind” was shown at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, it was recognized as a positive expression of America’s future. Henry James, the writer, and Homer’s good friend, was critical of the painting: “We frankly confess that we detest his subjects…he has chosen the least pictorial range of scenery and civilization; he has resolutely treated them as if they were pictorial…and, to reward his audacity, he has incontestably succeeded. There is no picture in this exhibition, nor can we remember when there has been a picture in any exhibition, that can be named alongside this.” The National Gallery of Art purchased the work in 1943, and “Breezing Up” became the commonly used title of the painting. The Gallery describes the painting on its web site as “one of the best-known and most beloved artistic images of life in nineteenth-century America.” The United States Postal Service issued in1962 a commemorative stamp to honor Homer with the image of “Breezing Up.”

“Clear Sailing” (1880)

By 1873 Homer had begun to use watercolor for sketches of subjects for finished oil paintings. “Clear Sailing” (1880) (8”x11”) (Philadelphia Museum of Art) is one of his pencil and watercolor sketches. In the summer of 1880, Homer lodged with the lighthouse keeper at Ten Pound Island, located in the middle of Gloucester Bay harbor. He observed the sailing ships, small boats, and all the activity associated with a busy harbor. Homer included a fully rigged ship in the distance. His view from the light house offered a closer look at ships and boats. Three young boys sit and stand on the beach and enjoy watching the scene. A sea gull soars across the sky.

“The Life Line” (1884)

“The Life Line” (1884) (29”x45’’) is a depiction of another side of life along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Homer and others who lived on the coast witnessed the dangers of ocean voyages. Immigrants, visitors, and cargo were at the mercy of the restless sea. Many stories of shipwrecks were reported in the newspapers. The wreck of the ship Atlantic in1873 that carried 962 people, resulted in the loss of 562 passengers and crew. Homer witnessed the newly invented breeches buoy system that was first employed in 1883 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to safely transfer people to shore.

In the painting the storm rages, the waves are intense, and a woman is held tightly in the breeches buoy by a strong male figure. The woman’s windblown red scarf centers the composition and provides a bold contrast to the treacherous dark green and white waves. “The Life Line” is a depiction of the American male hero saving the life of the helpless woman. This type of story was popular in the 19th Century. Homer painted this work after seeking out eyewitnesses and hearing their accounts of the events.

Homer had witnessed new life saving methods while he was in England, and he brought information about them to America. The United States was unique in organizing beach patrols and using new lifesaving techniques. The exploits of the new American heroes, the coast guards, were illustrated in several publications after 1878. “Life Line” was exhibited for the first time in 1884 at the National Academy of Design in New York, and the painting was immediately purchased for $2,500.

“The Gulf Stream” (1899)

Homer spent several summer vacations with fishing fleets in the Bahamas. He spent time near Florida, Cuba, and the Caribbean. He painted “The Gulf Stream” (1899) (28’’x49’’) (Metropolitan Museum) during his first trip to the Caribbean in 1885. “I painted in watercolors three months last winter at Nassau, & have now just commenced arranging a picture from some of the studies.” A boat, its mast broken, floats rudderless on the restless ocean. Homer wrote, “I have crossed the Gulf Stream ten times & I should know something about it.” A single negro lies on the deck, described by Homer as “dazed and parboiled…and the sharks have been blown out to sea by a hurricane.”

Homer sent “The Gulf Stream” to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1900. He sent the painting to the National Academy of Design in 1906; the members of the academy jury wanted the Metropolitan Museum to purchase the painting. Newspaper reviews were positive and negative. One Philadelphia newspaper critic wrote that people were laughing at the “Smiling Sharks.” Another called attention to the “naked negro lying in a boat while a school of sharks [are] waltzing around him in the most ludicrous manner.” In response to concern expressed about the outcome of the story, Homer said, “You can tell these ladies that the unfortunate negro who now is so dazed & parboiled, will be rescued & returned to his friends and home, & ever after live happily.” The Metropolitan Museum purchased the painting that year.

“After the Hurricane” (1899)

“After the Hurricane” (1899) (15’’x21’’) (Art Institute of Chicago) was one of Homer’s finished watercolors. It is not clear if this work was painted before or after “The Gulf Stream,” but it depicts an event resulting from a hurricane. Whether the negro in the wrecked boat is dead or alive is not certain, but the devastation caused by the hurricane is evident.

On the weekend of November 1 and 2, 2024, Chestertown will celebrate Down Rigging and enjoy the glory of the tall ships docked in our harbor.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Here’s a concept: Let’s exploit two natural disasters for political gain by Maria Grant

October 15, 2024 by Maria Grant Leave a Comment

Just when you thought they couldn’t stoop any lower, they did. As we all know, two massive hurricanes occurred over a two-week period—Helene and Milton. The devastation was horrific. More than 227 people died as a result of Hurricane Helene, and at least 17 people died as a result of Hurricane Milton.

Both Donald Trump and J.D. Vance decided to make up stories about the Biden/Harris response to the hurricane.

Here are a few of Trump’s lies. He claimed that Biden did not answer calls from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. He said that the Biden administration was going out of its way not to help North Carolinians who live in Republican areas. In a social media post, he wrote that Biden and Harris were being given poor grades for the way that they are handling the hurricane, especially in North Carolina. He claimed that Harris spent all her “FEMA money” on housing illegal immigrants. He then said that one billion dollars was stolen from FEMA for migrants and has gone missing. Next, he said that the federal government is only giving $750 to people who lost their homes. After that, he said that there are no helicopters, no rescues in North Carolina.

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial by J.D. Vance in which he railed about the total incompetence of the Biden/Harris response to the hurricane and accused them of misplaced priorities. He too claimed that the White House directed FEMA money away from U.S. citizens and “toward aliens who either have no legal right to be here or whose legal status depends on the say-so of the Biden Harris administration.”

Other MAGA Republicans got on the same band wagon, many of whom recently voted against FEMA funding. And Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that the Democrats are controlling the weather for their own benefit.

As a result of these falsehoods, FEMA had to launch a rumor response page on its website, debunking one claim after another. Republican and Democratic leaders in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia denied the Trump/Vance baseless claims and stated that the response was quick, and they were getting the help they asked for and more.

Here are the facts. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, more than 6,300 National Guard members from a dozen states rescued hundreds of people and cleared roads across the Southeast. They used helicopters, high-water vehicles, and boats to do so. They cleared thousands of miles of roads and opened dozens of places to distribute supplies. The economic impact of Hurricane Helene could be as much as $160 billion. FEMA spent $9 billion in more than a week.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, more than 50,000 line workers and 1,000 federal workers were on the ground to respond. More than 1,000 people have been rescued since the storm made landfall. The damage from Milton is estimated to be about $50 billion. In addition, hundreds of people are volunteering their services, and many Americans have donated to various relief organizations. Please consider donating to help hurricane victims.

Biden is asking Congress to return to Washington early and pass additional FEMA funding. So far, Speaker Johnson has not responded. Biden held a briefing in the White House situation room late last week to update the nation on all relief efforts and debunk the misinformation that was proliferating over the airwaves.

Lies for political gain are dangerous. And they are demoralizing for the thousands of workers who work night and day to repair the damage that these hurricanes have caused. Some workers have not returned home to their families for days.

In contrast, let me refresh your memory about some of Trump’s activities while he was President. He diverted about $38 million from the FEMA disaster relief fund to give to Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE). As you may recall, that was during the time he was separating children from their parents. After Hurricane Maria decimated the island of Puerto Rico, Trump threw paper towels to a crowd of people at a relief center. He claimed everyone was having a good time while he did so. During an Oval Office presentation, Trump used a Sharpie to alter an official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) map to include Alabama in Hurricane Dorian’s trajectory. When visiting California after devastating wildfires, Trump said he “doesn’t think science knows if climate change is real.” (Scientists claim that climate change is responsible for a 40 percent increase in the intensity of storms like Milton. In earlier climates, they estimate it would have made landfall as a Category 2.)

Sir Walter Scott once wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

The spidery tentacles of the Trump/Vance web have traveled far and wide. Here’s hoping America frees itself from this web of deceit before it is too late.

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, piano, and nature.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Thoughts on smart phone restrictions in schools By David Reel

October 14, 2024 by David Reel Leave a Comment

A recent Pew Research Center survey reports that ninety five percent of teenagers have a smart phone or have access to one. It also reports that forty five percent of teenagers say they are online nearly all the time.

Many have suggested this has resulted in a measurable and serious negative impact on the learning environment in middle and high school classrooms. Others have suggested this has resulted in a serious negative impact on standardized student achievement test scores.

As a result, two thirds of the school districts in Maryland have put or will be putting new or more restrictions on student smart phones during the school day. Talbot County may be next.

I understand and respect these decisions. At the same time, I suggest they are not addressing more deeply seated roots of the problem.

In his most recent book, “The Anxious Generation How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” social psychologist Jonathan Stephen Haidt does a deep dive on a measurable surge in anxiety, depression, and suicidality among American youth.

In his book Haidt references research showing a measure of anxiety for individuals between ages of 8 to 25 has increased 139% between 2010 and 2020.The measure for depression during the same period, often the result of an inability to resolve interpersonal conflicts or relationship difficulties, has increased 106%.

Haidt suggests three reasons why.

The first is the decline of the what Haidt calls play-based childhood. He maintains children need lots of free play time to prepare them for success as an adult. Out of fears for their safety, many American parents and guardians have reduced children’s access to unsupervised free play. The loss of free play and the rise of continual (some may say “smothering”) adult supervision has deprived children of what they needed most to overcome the normal fears and anxieties of childhood: the chance to explore, test and expand their limits, build close friendships through shared adventure, and learn how to judge risks for themselves.

The second is what Haidt calls rise of the phone-based childhood, which began in the late 2000s and accelerated in the early 2010s. Haidt notes this was precisely the period during which adolescents traded in their flip phones for smartphones. These smartphones were loaded with social media platforms supported by the new high-speed internet and unlimited data plans that has drastically reshaped the social media landscape for adolescents.

The third is what Heidt calls an overreliance on technology that has all but eliminated unstructured face to face interactions from the lives of children and adolescents.

Heidt concludes the negative impact of all three reasons was made worse by many well-intentioned parents, including himself. He writes: “We did not fully understand what was happening in children’s virtual worlds and did not grasp that tech companies had designed their online products to be addictive.”

As a result, Haidt asserts that all these trends combined, have robbed entire generations of opportunities to develop the resilience, coping skills, and independence needed to navigate everyday stressors, and in turn, created unprecedented levels of anxiety at a societal level.

He says these generations have not learned from valuable opportunities to engage in and learn from manageable risks, typical setbacks, failures, and healthy social challenges.

What can be done going forward?

Haidt offers the following proactive suggestions for parents and guardians of children in elementary, middle, and high schools.

Instead of a giving younger students smartphone as their first phone, give them a basic phone.

Do not give them a smartphone until high school. Delay the opening of accounts on nearly all social media platforms until the beginning of high school, at least.

Will his suggestions be popular with students? Not likely, especially given the immense power of peer pressure that characterizes life for students in schools at all levels.

One school in Maryland recently surveyed seniors on a new more restrictive smart phone policy to limit the overuse of smart phones during the school day. The questions and answers were: “Do you know overuse of cell phones is harmful? Yes. Do you want to give it up? No.”

Are Haidt’s suggestions still necessary since efforts are underway when an increasing number of schools are adopting on new or more restrictive rules on smart phone access? Yes.

Despite best intentions and best efforts, schools alone cannot address this problem. One Maryland school district superintendent has observed with thinly disguised frustration — “Students are in school for just 20% of their week. We can’t control the other 80% of the time that we don’t have them.”

Those with some control over most of the other 80% of student’s time outside of school are parents and guardians.

Going forward, parents and guardians need to fully embrace two concepts. Success for them is not based on winning a popularity contest with those whom they are entrusted with their care and upbringing. Success for them is measured in part by a willingness to make sometimes unpopular, but necessary decisions on reasonable limits for a young person’s own good.

In preparing all our young people for success, they, and our society deserve nothing less.

David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant in Easton.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The utter shamelessness of the Trump agenda by J.E. Dean

October 9, 2024 by J.E. Dean Leave a Comment

Last night, I had a dream that I was in the spin room following a Trump rally. Spin rooms are set up at political events to provide journalists with a place to ask questions about a politician’s speech. Typically, aides answering the questions spin the information in hopes of getting positive press.

In my dream, the Trump spin room was filled with Trump campaign staff. One staffer got my attention. She was a tall woman wearing a large button that read, “Ask me about the concentration camps.” I know Trump is right-wing, but he is not a Holocaust denier. So why did I hear someone say his plans for a second term include setting up “concentration camps” as part of his plans to “close the border?”

I walked up to the woman and introduced myself. I smiled and asked, “Tell me about the concentration camps.” She returned the smile and proceeded to tell me, with more than a hint of excitement in her voice, that to deport more than five million “illegals” from America quickly, they will have to be “rounded up” and housed in large camps built to keep them from escaping before they are transported to “whatever shithole country they came from.”

The woman did not wince at using the words “concentration camps” or “shithole.” When she noticed my discomfort she offered, “Don’t forget how many of these people came here illegally after being released from jails and insane asylums.” She looked pleased that I wrote that down.

I asked if the Trump campaign had any projections on how many “illegals” would go to which “shithole countries.” She responded, “You know, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and a bunch of other places—I can’t remember them all.”

I responded, “I see,” before asking if it was a good idea to call the camps “concentration camps” given the Holocaust.

The woman, still smiling, but not as much as before, said, “We are not going to gloss over what needs to be done. Nobody is planning to kill any illegals; we are just going to get them out of the country. They do not belong here.”

I responded, “I see,” before thanking her. She asked for my card, and I gave it to her. But as I walked away, I worried about what the Trump campaign might do with my information. I have read about plans for “retribution” and know it includes journalists, but how seriously should Trump’s rhetoric be taken?

In my dream, I continued my tour of the spin room and had another conversation, this one with a bald-headed young guy who wore a badge reading, “Ask me about getting transgenders out of woman’s sports.” I was curious but continued walking until I met another guy, also in his 20s, wearing a MAGA cap and a red tie that extended three inches below his belt with a badge reading, “The Ukraine War ends when we win. Ask me how?”

I took the bait but was not prepared to hear how simple ending the war might be. Without notes, he told me, “Trump will phone Zelensky on election day, right after he wins, and tell him to either quit or wait for America to give Russia weapons.”

I waited for more, but he was done, so I asked, “Are you sure?” He was. “Yes, I heard it from Trump himself. He hates wars and to stop the killing will do whatever it takes to end the war, even if that means switching sides.”

Nodding my head, I asked a final question: “So, Trump is okay with Putin having invaded Ukraine?”

The Trump aide paused, looked at the floor, and then looked back at me. “That is Zelensky’s problem. We here in America don’t care.”

With that gem still in my mind, I woke up. I realized my dream is not that far from reality. Donald Trump has no shame regarding any of his policies. He believes in doing whatever it takes to win. And for Trump, “winning” means Trump winning even when he knows so many others could lose.

It is easy to imagine every question—no exceptions—about Trump’s policies being answered with shameless admissions or blatant lies.

As I think about who Trump is and what he plans for his second term, I realize that he is, as Kamala Harris says, a threat to democracy. But Trump is more than that, he is a threat to decency, empathy, and for many people who will get caught up in his policies—his political enemies, undocumented migrants, transgender folks, and many others—a threat to their lives.

Election day is now 27 days away. Don’t assume Harris will win. She will not win the election by default. She must win it the hard way—by earning it. And she can only do that with the help of people who feel the same way about Trump’s agenda as I do. We must do what we can to mobilize the electorate and encourage all people to vote.

J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant. He writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

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