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Enough Already with Conspicuous Consumption By Maria Grant

January 6, 2026 by Maria Grant Leave a Comment

When I do my year in review, examples of over-the-top spending at almost obscene levels come to mind.

A case in point. Jeff Bezos. Bezos owns a $165 million mansion in Beverly Hills; a $23 million home in DC; a $500 million superyacht featuring its own support yacht and helicopter pad; a $75 million private jet. His three-day wedding extravaganza reportedly cost $55 million and involved 90 private jets and 30 water taxis for the 250 VIP guests. The couple spent the holiday in Aspen before jetting off to St, Barts for some high-end shopping and mingling with the glitterati, including Leonardo DiCaprio and his girlfriend. I could go on.

Trump spent 15 days at Mar-a-Lago in December. He played golf at least 12 times, hosted a variety of gala dinners with excessive displays of fancy food, glitz, entertainment, etc. Last week, he had his motorcade veer from its usual route to the golf course to stop at a stone and tile shop so that he could select marble and onyx for his ridiculously large White House ballroom. During these little jaunts, helicopters fly overhead and increased security surround him.

Already Trump has spent half a billion dollars in tax funds for vanity projects such as a military parade, a statuary garden, an upgrade to Air Force One, Oval Office décor and furniture, plus all the gold and glitz he added throughout the white House. (I’ve read several articles that predict that the next President will spend a substantial sum of money getting rid of all these so-called “enhancements.”)

Trump’s plans for his spectacular birthday party in July 2026 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence are estimated to cost taxpayers $100 million.

Speaking of wasting tax-payer dollars, the National Guard deployments to L.A., DC, Portland, Chicago, and Memphis that nobody wanted are estimated to cost more than $473 million—a number that could pay for approximately 2,585 federal government employee jobs.

Meanwhile Trump has cut domestic spending by approximately $163 billion, including cuts to agencies charged with monitoring weather, scientific research, public health programs, and so much more. SNAP benefits and health care premiums have been negatively impacted and the costs to average Americans are predicted to continue to go much higher.

According to data from the Congressional Budget Office, wealth inequality has been rising steeply in the U.S. over the last 30 years. The top one percent of earners now owns nearly 30 percent of the total wealth in this country, with the bottom 50 percent owning only four percent of that wealth.

What happens when income inequality gets out of control? Social cohesion erodes, economic growth is hindered, and political polarization increases.

Specifically, the economic impacts include slower growth, reduced mobility, and increased debt. From a societal perspective, heightened inequality breaks down community bonds and trust between different economic groups. Health for many citizens worsens, and people’s self-worth and fulfillment are diminished.

So why is it so difficult for Americans to take steps to correct these disparities—steps such as increasing the minimum wage, taxing the rich more heavily, or providing basic income for all?

Sociologists claim that biases get in our way. Americans are often accused of zero-sum thinking—that is the belief that lifting someone else’s boat will cause their boat to sink lower. We also tend to blame personality traits rather than outside influences when people suffer from poverty. Labeling people who have not been given many privileges as lazy and unmotivated is an example of that behavior.

There is also something called the halo effect. We credit successful people with positive qualities that may not be relevant to their success.

So, what to do about all this income inequality? Sociologists suggest that we become more aware of our biases and understand how such thinking works against all of us. They suggest we slow down our biased thinking, imagine a better future together, and promote policy changes that drive down income inequality which would result in a happier and more cohesive society.

Plutarch famously stated, “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailments of all republics.”

Let’s hope our country gets serious about addressing the inequality issue in 2026.

Maria Grant, formerly principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm, now focuses on writing, reading, music, bicycling, and nature.

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

The Sunset Side By Jamie Kirkpatrick

January 6, 2026 by Jamie Kirkpatrick Leave a Comment

When one reaches a certain age, it becomes difficult, if not downright impossible, to not contemplate one’s own mortality. One minute, you’re walking along under blue skies, and the next, you’re face-to-face with a human being’s starkest reality: you will die. That’s harsh enough, but what makes it mean-to-the-bone is that there is no universal age for this phenomenon to occur. One of my writing pole stars, Norman McLean, wrote about his “Biblical allotment of years—three score and ten.” Actuaries—the professionals who make their living by calculating risks for insurance companies—have now set the bar for American men at 75.8 years, but the truth is mortality sets its own rules, has its own timetable. I’m now 77 years old, well on the sunset side of my life’s continental divide, and, maybe because I’m out in Montana, the landscape that Norman McLean loved so dearly, I’m beginning to discern my own horizon. That’s not a maudlin statement. It’s just a fact and I’m OK with it.

Before I go any farther, let me confess that in a few days, I’m scheduled to receive a new left knee. I still have all my original parts, but they’re beginning to wear out so I guess it’s time to start replacing them, or at least this particular one. Knee replacement surgery is common enough these days, but it’s still a milestone for me, so I imagine some of this mortality musing weighs more heavily on my mind than I give it credit.

But back to Montana. The West is old. Our own mark on this country is but a second gone on history’s atomic clock. Native peoples have been here much longer, but even they are relative newcomers to the mountains, rivers, lakes, and valleys that are the real time-keepers out here. Yes, they change, too, but they also endure in a way we do not. They are the sentinels and out here, they are more visible than what we see back east. In fact, it is impossible not to notice these landforms or to take them for granted. Awestruck, we pass through them, but they remain, commanding and impassive.

As far as I know, we are the only living species with the capacity to contemplate the span of our lives. On the sunrise side of our years, we don’t give a passing thought to our time together. But over here on the sunset side, I’m learning to appreciate the lost art of savoring moments: the laughter of children, the power of family, the evening light that paints these snow-covered peaks in etherial hues of pink and gold.

The irony in all this is, of course, that we only become aware of the passing of time when there is precious little left of it. I do not fear the other side of the last mountain; I just wonder what it looks like. Norman McLean didn’t write his first novel, “A River Runs Through It,” until he was 70 years old. That book defied literary norms because it blended separate genres of memoir, fiction, and narrative non-fiction. In the last decades of his life, he came to understand that writing, like life, is more about discipline than genius. He took great comfort in all that Montana had to offer him—its mountains, its rivers, its rising trout. Here is what he came to understand:

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops—under the rocks are the words and some of the words are theirs.”

I think I’m beginning to understand.

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. His editorials and reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. His most recent novel, “The Tales of Bismuth; Dispatches from Palestine, 1945-1948” explores the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is available on Amazon and in local bookstores. His newest novel, “The People Game,” is scheduled for publication in February, 2026. (It’s available for pre-order now on Amazon.) His website is musingjamie.net.

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

What Comes Next? By Al Sikes

January 5, 2026 by Al Sikes Leave a Comment

What comes next? America’s military might confronts a really bad guy and won. America has proven over and over that we are really good at military action, and we have proven that we are not so good at what comes next.

Well, Americans were good at figuring out what came next after fighting and winning the Revolutionary War. America was blessed with geniuses, and the geniuses were on the ground. We call them the Founding Fathers. They established a governing framework, our Constitution, and the General who led the revolutionary troops proved to be good at what came next, governance. Real good.

And George Washington did his best to avoid schismatic politics. And mostly his colleagues, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Franklin, Adams and others worked with him, not against him. There were disputes to be sure, but an overarching vision tended to force a high degree of collaboration. But, as we have been reminded in recent years by the Broadway colossus Hamilton, humans will be humans—as Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr faced off with guns.

So what do we do in Venezuela? Who are the Venezuela patriots? Which ones are wise, not just smart? Are there generals who are also plausible civilian leaders? And who does the picking? Elections I suspect are months if not years away. Should we look back to the last election won by Edmundo Gonzalez after Maria Machado was disqualified?

We, the people, will, of course, argue about whether America should have gone in. But I suspect few welcomed President Trump’s dismissive comments about Ms. Machado. Recall his statement when asked about the Nobel Prize winner Machado’s potential: “doesn’t have the support” and “doesn’t have the respect”. Recall: her electoral strength caused the Maduro gang to disqualify her from the ballot, and she went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and took a harrowing land, sea, and air trip to Oslo, Norway.

American authoritarian tendencies often leave us with a puzzle. Picture puzzles are hard to put together—I watch my wife do so with admiration. Venezuela is not America, except it’s quite big and complex. It bears no relationship to Iowa, North Carolina, or Maryland. And we should not forget that millions who might be best at building a new Venezuela decamped after the ruinous dictatorships of Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.

I worked for President George H.W. Bush and observed with interest his son, George W Bush, for eight years. When the Iraqis invaded Kuwait, President George HW Bush assembled an international counterforce and threw the Iraqis out. He then brought our troops home.

George W Bush, after 9/11, invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq and stayed to “run” both. To state the obvious, America and the two Middle Eastern countries did not work well together and in 2020 we suffered a terrible humiliation as we left Afghanistan on the run.

President Trump said in his Saturday news conference we are going to “run Venezuela” as he looked back at his Secretaries of Defense and State and his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. President, this is not the way to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.

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

Should a New Chesapeake Bay Passenger Ferry Leave the Dock? By David Reel

January 5, 2026 by David Reel Leave a Comment

Eighteen months ago, a consortium representing Anne Arundel County, Calvert County, Queen Anne’s County, Somerset County, and Saint Mary’s County released a feasibility study on a new Chesapeake Bay passenger-only (no cars) ferry boat service. The study was funded with a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, along with contributions from each of the four counties. The study concluded this new service would be used by roughly 50,000 people annually from May to September.

The grant for a feasibility study has not been the only federal money spent or approved on this matter. Another federal grant commitment of $3.9 million was approved for purchases of new “green “passenger ferry boats.

In the most recent update on this proposed initiative, a consortium spokesperson said they hope to launch this new service in 2030. The spokesperson also said, “One of the things we really try to avoid is to create studies that are just done for the sake of a study. So, where we are now is trying to follow the recommendations of this study and see if we can’t take it to the next step.” The spokesperson also said, “If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be for a lack of trying.”

Lack of trying should be the least of the consortium’s concerns.

One concern is what the results of reviews by the Army Corps of Engineers will be regarding the ferry boats’ impacts on fish, wetlands, the overall aquatic habitat, and public health.

Another concern is the short- and long-term funding for this initiative, which is competing with other transportation projects in Maryland. The consortium projects the ferry system will need an estimated $8 million to buy the ferries, $4.8 million to fund necessary docking improvements. They also project the new system will sustain a net loss of $2.5 million in the first year of operations without a subsidy at the local, state, or federal levels and $5 million annually to operate the system.

How realistic is it to expect the Trump administration to approve 100% federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge as promised previously by the Biden administration? The Trump administration has already expressed concerns that the latest estimates for this essential rebuild project may cost $5.2 billion which is more than twice original estimates. There is no guarantee the Trump administration will approve any or all of those costs, nor is there any guarantee the final costs will not be even higher than the latest estimates.

How realistic is it to expect state funding for a new Bay passenger-only ferry boat service?

When the Maryland General Assembly convenes later this month, its focus will be on addressing a projected at least a $1.2 billion state budget deficit for this fiscal year, as well as projected future structural deficits. Still to be addressed by the General Assembly is a projected new revenue need of $4 billion annually to fully fund the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, also known as the Kirwan Plan.
With regard to far too many government-funded programs, expenses very rarely come in at or lower than projected. Instead, cost overruns are standard operating procedure.

There is another grave concern about the new publicly funded passenger ferry boat service on the Chesapeake Bay.

What will be the impact on privately owned and operated tour boat operators who already offer a wide range of tours on the Bay?

These tour boat operators offer regularly scheduled Bay tours as well as customized charter trips to and from Baltimore, Annapolis, St. Michaels, Crisfield, and Cambridge, among other Bay locations. These charter tours can be customized to go anywhere in the Bay that clients want to go, whenever they want to go, and for as long a time or as short a time they want to go. For example, last summer a small business in Easton chartered a tour boat for a round-trip on the Bay between Kent Island and the Inner Harbor in Baltimore for its employees. That trip included an Orioles game. By all accounts, this outing was a great success.

One has to ask if it is necessary to launch a new publicly funded boat tour service to compete with existing and successful privately owned businesses.

This proposal is a taxpayer-funded solution searching for a problem.

If this consortium and their supporters want to help solve a real problem, they need to look no further than assisting Maryland to owners and operators of recreational fishing charter boats. They have been struggling mightily due to government regulations that put draconian limits on recreational fishing for Striped Sea Bass, also known as Rockfish. Historically, boats chartered for recreational fishing of Rockfish in the Bay have attracted recreational fishing enthusiasts from across Maryland and from surrounding states. Unless or until those limits are modified or rescinded, these charter fishing boat operators desperately need new clients. They can, and they should be helped to transition to serving the predicted public demand in the Chesapeake ferry boat consortium’s feasibility study of roughly 50,000 people for Bay boat tours.

All these concerns lead one to ask THE single most important question on this issue. Should a launch of a new Chesapeake Bay passenger ferry boat system continue to be pursued simply to meet a consortium’s goals of “trying to follow the recommendations of this study and see if we can’t take it to the next step” and “If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be for a lack of trying”.

Peter F. Drucker has observed, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

Given the above concerns, pursuing a new Bay ferry boat system should NOT be done at all.

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

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

A Preview of Maryland Politics in 2026

January 2, 2026 by Len Foxwell Leave a Comment

The Christmas gifts have all been distributed, the tree now sits slumped and desiccated, and our attention now turns to seasonal matters such as postseason football, tax preparations and hearty Sunday stews.

For the political and cultural commentariat, this is the time when we can veer into one of two directions. Either we can look back at the year that was, or offer a glimpse, with speculation and predictions, at the one in the on-deck circle.

This writer cannot think of anything less appealing than revisiting a year that, from beginning to finish, has been shrouded in darkness. Rather than wasting time enumerating the American values that have been assaulted, the constitutional passages that have been shredded, the societal institutions that have lost legitimacy and the beloved souls who have been taken from us, let us just agree—if only within the confines of this space—never to speak of 2025 ever again.

Which leaves us looking ahead with trepidation to 2026. Which, potentially, will be one of the more fascinating years in the recent history of Maryland politics and government, with no end of issues, personalities and developments to watch in the coming year.

Gov. Wes Moore

As our ebullient governor heads into his re-election year, he is faced with both good and bad news. The most obvious good news is that he appears primed to win re-election by a decisive margin. The governor has sufficiently traveled throughout the state to deepen relationships with an electorate that is still getting to know him.

He has also earned intra-party plaudits for speaking out, with customary eloquence, against the poisonous policies of Donald Trump and their consequences. The only plausible GOP contender, former Gov. Larry Hogan, has done nothing to reassemble his political machine aside from occasional Facebook posts teasing a comeback.

While Republican hopeful Ed Hale’s messaging has been highly effective at tapping into the frustrations of Maryland’s minority party, he simply doesn’t possess the political experience or persona needed to upend a Democratic governor in a state where Democrats still outnumber the GOP by more than 2-1.

On the other hand, a poll conducted by UMBC’s Institute of Politics and its estimable pollster-in-residence, Mileah Kromer, indicate that while his approval ratings remained steady in 2025, his disapproval ratings have experienced a substantial uptick. The Governor’s relationship with the Democratic-dominated legislature has steadily devolved over time – over everything from reparations and redistricting to the sale of beer and wine in grocery stores – and can fairly be described as icy.

To add to this drama, a multibillion-dollar state budget deficit that had been slain in 2025 with a painful blend of service cuts and tax increases has now re-emerged, like Glenn Close from the bathtub in Fatal Attraction, to the tune of more than $1.4 billion. This, with a hefty balloon payment from the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education plan looming a year from now.

And Marylanders were startled last month by the new cost estimates for the new Francis Scott Key Bridge, which have jumped from less than $2 billion to as much as $5 billion. This has cast a fresh round of doubts upon the commitment of the federal government to wholly finance its construction, and to do so in a timeframe under which the new bridge would be open for service within the next five years.

How will the governor manage these and other landmines?

Can he harness his once-in-a-generation political talent to unify his restive party? Will he and legislative leaders find solutions to Maryland’s resurgent fiscal challenges that jeopardizes neither his anticipated margin of victory in 2026, nor his rising star on the national political stage?

Or will this session simply be the start of a desultory campaign toward a Pyrrhic victory that inflicts lasting political wounds? As was William Donald Schaefer’s in 1990?

For that matter, will he be the latest in a long, distinguished history of Democratic incumbents and frontrunners to deal with an annoying primary challenger? One who has no chance of winning but exists merely to dredge the latent disquiet within the party’s rank and file?

Many Annapolis insiders still recall the lonely campaign waged by grocery store clerk Bob Fustero against Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in 2002 – one which raised less than $2,000 but carried 20 percent of the statewide primary vote.

The Next Madam Speaker

Joseline Peña-Melnyk, a cerebral and highly respected lawmaker from Prince George’s County, brings more than her share of “firsts” to a new position.

The Dominican-born Peña-Melnyk, 59, is the first Afro-Latina and the first immigrant to be elected speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates. She is also the first speaker to hail from the Washington suburbs since the abbreviated reign of Hyattsville’s Perry O. Wilkinson from 1959–63.

Perhaps more importantly, the new speaker offers a portent of philosophical, administrative and generational change within the “People’s Chamber.” In less than three weeks, she has already overhauled the House’s leadership ranks and rearranged its organizational chart by subdividing one committee into two.

Peña-Melnyk has also demonstrated a willingness to fly outside the Democratic Party’s prescribed V-formation. In 2016, she mounted a surprisingly energetic and appealing challenge to longtime party stalwarts Anthony Brown and Glenn Ivey for the 4th District seat in Congress. Six years later, she bucked Prince George’s County’s vaunted Democratic establishment—one of the few remaining bastions of vertical machine-politics in Maryland —to support U.S. Rep. David Trone over her County Executive, Angela Alsobrooks, in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Ben Cardin.

What does all of this mean for the composition and flow of Democratic House priorities in 2026? It remains to be seen. What we do know is that Peña-Melnyk takes the gavel riding a wave of genuine enthusiasm, affection and goodwill from her colleagues, one that is truly uncommon in this grim political age. We know from her personal story that she is undaunted by challenges of the moment, and we have seen from her political life that she does not feel beholden to her party bosses.

Energy Crisis

Maryland’s energy policies are a mess, an exploding meth lab of illogic and wish-fulfillment fantasy.

In the laudable pursuit of clean energy, our state leaders have depressed electricity support by closing three coal-powered electricity plants in the past five years. This, even as local growth and economic development policies, coupled with the inevitable ravages of climate change, have caused demand to spike.

As a result of a ruptured balance between supply and demand, we are now forced to import 40 percent of our state’s electricity from out-of-state. Which is literally bought at an auction and is, therefore, prohibitively expensive. In a holiday spirit, this writer was almost tempted to omit the fact that this gold-plated electricity is generated at the same type of coal-fired plants that we have shut down. Note that I said almost.

Now, BGE—financially fortified by state laws that allow it to reward its investors with record profits, pass its mandatory costs down to the ratepayers, and operate in a literal market monopoly—is under the microscope. As are the governor and General Assembly, who must now brace for angry ratepayers brandishing unprecedented monthly bills, and who don’t want to hear hollow excuses, incremental policy reforms or yet another spate of “studies” that simply confirm the obvious.

Donald Trump’s War on Maryland

Of all the uninformed, asinine political rhetoric that has infected our civic discourse over the past year, perhaps the dumbest are the utterances of those who—motivated either by legitimate fears or bad-faith partisanship—have begged Gov. Moore to please stop poking the bear, because he might just retaliate against US.

Respectfully, those who would actually say something like this in a public forum have no business managing their own finances. Indeed, one can imagine this graceless vulgarian rising out of bed and wondering how his national policies can work specifically to the disadvantage of the State of Maryland.

His DOGE-fueled crusade to dismantle the U.S. government has already cost Maryland about 15,000 federal jobs. According to one George Mason University study, as many as 50,000 public and private sector jobs have already been lost.

Trump’s war on scholarship resulted in an $800 million loss of funds at Johns Hopkins University, which in turn has led to more than 2,000 layoffs while placing lifesaving or life-changing research at risk. More than $2.3 billion was slashed at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, threatening jobs, careers and the fundamental mission of the agency.

His administration has reneged on a deal to build the new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, has paused offshore wind projects in places such as Ocean City, and inexplicably refused to authorize federal disaster aid to communities in Western Maryland that were destroyed by floods last spring.

To top it off, the three most visible, highest profile victims of this administration’s ethnic cleansing, perpetrated under the rubric of immigration reform, happened to be Maryland residents – Miguel Abrego Garcia, Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal and Melissa Tran.

How will our state’s leaders respond in 2026?

Will there be new laws proposed to, if not curb, at least expose the barbaric behavior of sworn ICE agents on Maryland streets and in school drop-off lanes? Will they impose deep financial sanctions upon those counties that have established agreements to cooperate with ICE?

How, and to what extent, will our state, federal and local leaders challenge these and other ruinous policies in the courts?

We, The People

Amid all of this dystopia, Marylanders can be excused for their mood as we head into 2026. According to a UMBC-Kromer poll, we believe the following conditions will be even worse in the coming year than in the hellish one we are about to mercifully discard:

Social divisiveness
American democracy
Our quality of life
Our daily sense of stability

That doesn’t leave much room for optimism. And it begs a question of existential importance: Given the pervasive gloom that Marylanders feel about the current state of our politics, and the sense that things are not going to get better in the near future, how will that affect the civic engagement that is the lifeblood of any healthy system of government?

Bereft of the opportunity to vote against Donald Trump in this gubernatorial election year, will people be motivated to volunteer and vote for the local candidates? Burdened by a sense of fatalism about daily existence, will they still summon the will to advocate for legislation that will make their communities better, and challenge those bills that would have the opposite effect? Will our political leaders, many of whom have been appointed to their elected offices and are insulated by the comfort of districts that were drawn for maximum partisan advantage, do whatever they wish in 2026 simply because they can?

Or will they have the humility to have an honest conversation with constituents who simply believe the system no longer works for them – and actually listen to what they have to say?

The answers to these questions will begin to take shape in a mere matter of days, as the Maryland General Assembly will convene once again on January 14. Ready or not, business is about to pick up.

Len Foxwell is the principal of Tred Avon Strategies, a communications and political consulting firm in Annapolis. A Johns Hopkins lecturer and HopStart director, Len previously served as Chief of Staff to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Salisbury University, where he also served as Special Assistant to the President.

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

Fire By Angela Rieck

January 1, 2026 by Angela Rieck Leave a Comment

The new Avatar movie uses fire as its theme. Fire is a transcendent part of our culture. Without fire we wouldn’t have had light, heat, create technological advantages (e.g., chemical reactions, tools), or be able to cook foods. It was especially important to early humans who probably used fire to protect them from dangerous animals. So, I got to wondering, how long has fire been a part of the human culture?

A long time, it turns out.

Scientists unearthed sediment that indicated fire might have been used in Kenya about 1.5 million years ago. Researchers suggested a red sediment could hint at early fire use. There are two sites in Israel dated approximately 800,000 years ago that had burnt animal bones and stone tools.

Archaeologists found evidence of burning at cave sites in France, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine and the U.K., and then more widespread use of fire in Europe, Africa and the Levant (the region around the east Mediterranean) 200,000 years ago.

But it is one thing to use fire and another to create it. For example, it is believed that the earliest humans may have gathered fire from natural sources (e.g., lightning strikes or forest fires). They may have stored it using certain fungi which can smolder and are portable, thereby keeping a fire going for a period of time.

Some scientists are convinced that Neanderthals were the world’s first innovators of using stone strikes to create fire, based on tiny specks of pyrite found at a more than 400,000-year-old archaeological site in Suffolk, England. (Of course, evidence of another method of creating fire, rubbing two sticks together, would not survive.)

The Barnham dig site in England yielded stone tools, burnt sediment and charcoal from 400,000 years ago. In a study published in the journal Nature, the researchers revealed that the site contained the world’s earliest direct evidence of fire-making by Neanderthals.

Barnham was first recognized as a Paleolithic human site in the early 1900s after ancient stone tools were discovered. But recent excavations uncovered evidence of ancient human groups occupying the area more than 415,000 years ago. In one corner of the site, archaeologists found a concentration of heat-shattered hand axes as well as a zone of reddened clay. Through a series of scientific analyses, the researchers discovered that the reddened clay had been subjected to repeated, localized burning, which suggested the area may have been an ancient hearth.

The key discovery of a fire starter came when flecks of iron pyrite were found. Pyrite, also known as fool’s gold, is a naturally occurring mineral that can produce sparks when struck against flint. (While it is commonly believed that striking two pieces of flint together can create a spark, in fact that spark is too cool to produce a flame.) A metal such as pyrite is needed. Pyrite is rare in the Barnham area, suggesting that pyrite was brought to the site, most likely to build a fire.

While this was an important discovery, questions remain about the nature of early fire use: When did fire use become a regular part of the human behavioral repertoire? Was it ubiquitous or was usage scattered in a few groups? Were Neanderthals the first to discover it? Did they share it with Homo Sapiens? There are more questions than answers, but it makes you think more about the history of fire, something that we take for granted.

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

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

What Will Trump’s Legacy Be? By J.E. Dean

December 31, 2025 by J.E. Dean Leave a Comment

President Trump is obsessed about his legacy. He told one reporter, in an offhand comment, that he was building the White House ballroom as a memorial to himself “because nobody else will.” Construction on a huge arch, located in front of Arlington National Cemetery and modeled after Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, already is being referred to as the “Arc de Trump,” just as I suspect the President intends. And let’s not talk more about the Trump-Kennedy Center and the self-described “Peace President” adding his name to the building that once housed the U.S. Institute for Peace, an agency DOGE pretty much destroyed.

The President has a problem. His words and actions will be more important to his place in history than whatever buildings he names after himself. Adolf Hitler named all kinds of things after himself, including one of the main streets in Berlin (Adolf Hitler Strasse). Once Germany was defeated, Hitler disappeared from streets, postage stamps, coins, buildings, and much more. There is a lesson here for Trump—you will be judged by what you did and said more than on the size of your ballroom or phony peace prizes.

In particular, future historians will dive deeper into the events of January 6, 2021, despite the President’s aggressive attempts to recast that insurrection as a protest of peaceful protesters who were upset that Trump lost the 2020 election. Historians also will study the criminal prosecutions brought against Trump, including his convictions in New York. And biographers will study how Trump made billions as President, allegedly by manipulating federal policy to enrich himself, his family, and his friends and political supporters.

Let’s not forget the issue of civility—or should we say complete absence of civility. The compendium of Trump’s offensive social media posts is perhaps the best evidence of the state of American politics in 2025. Our civil discourse is in the gutter, which is why our democracy is in danger.

Finally, historians will ask themselves why voters chose a 78-year-old man as President, especially after that same man brutally attacked his predecessor as senile and too old to serve. With more than three years left in his second term, Trump regularly falls asleep in meetings, forgets names and facts, and appears ready to start using a wheelchair.

Some believe that Trump’s “decoration” of the White House with gold is the product of a deranged man—think what historians will say about the “Presidential Walk of Fame” and Trump’s holding a military parade to honor his own birthday—June 14th, currently Flag day, but likely to be recast as “Trump’s birthday” within the next 36 months.

I could go on and write about abuses of the pardon power, the appointments of misfits like Pam Bondi, Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem, Ka$h Patel (yes, that is how he sometimes writes his own name), and the sinister-looking nut case, Stephen Miller. These personalities will be remembered in the future as aberrations—ridiculous appointments that would never have been made by a sane president.

In a word, the prospects for Trump’s future are “bleak.” Is he the worst President in American history? Yes. And even if almost-as-bad J.D. Vance succeeds him, Trump’s place in history is secure.

Happy New Year.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, goldendoodles, and other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean is an advocate for democracy, sanity, and the rule of law.

Special Note to Spy Readers: This is my last regular weekly column. My pieces will now appear occasionally—and hopefully will comment on good things happening in 2026 and focus more on how to make things better than on what I see as the mess we are in. Thank you to those of you who have regularly read my pieces. And I wish everyone, including my detractors, a happy and safe new year.

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

Let’s Resolve to Solve Our Nation’s Woes By Maria Grant

December 30, 2025 by Maria Grant Leave a Comment

The end of the year is a good time to take stock and identify what’s working and what’s not. This year such an exercise is especially important as, in my opinion, there is much that is not working. We cannot afford to repeat 2025. Here are some actions to consider as we enter 2026.

Get out the Vote! We need many more Americans to vote in 2026 than voted in 2024. Several initiatives are underway to do just that. Also, a detailed analysis of swing districts on which to focus is important. Get involved in supporting these efforts. Become a poll watcher or join forces with constituents who are taking steps to ensure election integrity.

On Maryland’s Eastern Shore, hopes are high that the First District will be much more competitive if a Blue Wave occurs. Andy “Handgun” Harris, who pledged to serve no more than six terms in the House and has now served eight, could be defeated once and for all.

Embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Administration’s efforts to dismantle the progress we have made in these areas undermine democracy and rob America of the contributions made from large swaths of our population. Such divisive efforts promote racism and discrimination. One of the things that makes America great is its diversity–its melting pot roots. Returning to White male supremacy or embracing oligarchy is a huge mistake. Let’s celebrate and embrace our differences and reject efforts to return to a white-bread world order.

Preserve our environment. The damage this Administration has done to the environment is downright unconscionable. Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. He has rolled back or weakened numerous regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, replacing them with less stringent rules. He has championed coal, oil, and gas production, opening tracts of public lands and ocean waters to new drilling. He has discouraged renewable energy projects. He has rolled back the Clean Water Act and protections for wetlands and streams. He has weakened the Endangered Species Act. He has undermined science and research by cutting critical research funding, firing government scientists, and removing climate change information from federal websites.

Specifically on the Eastern Shore, because of Trump’s policies, the city of Crisfield has lost $36 million in federal funding from the FEMA program aimed at flood mitigation and managing rising sea levels. The Administration has actively sought to block the development of Maryland’s first offshore wind farm near Ocean City. It has also proposed drastic cuts to the Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Program and weakened federal clean water regulations which could eliminate protections for thousands of acres of wetlands and headwater streams vital to the Bay’s health. The Administration’s regulatory rollbacks have weakened limits on mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants and coal ash disposal, posing risks to air and water quality in our region. Plus, the removal of climate and research data is hindering access to information vital to plan for specific impacts of climate change.

Fighting these environmental rollbacks involves a multi-pronged approach including legal actions, state level initiatives, public advocacy, and civic engagement. Do your research and get involved. It’s important.

Support the Arts. We on the Eastern Shore are the lucky ones to have top-tier music and art at our fingertips. These nonprofit organizations need your support to thrive and continue to bring culture at its best to the public at large. Do what you can to contribute to their funding drives. Also encourage your friends and neighbors to attend concerts and gallery openings. It’s vital to keep the momentum going.

This year the options are plentiful. Check out Chesapeake Music’s website for information on its many concerts next year, including concerts in February and March, a Competition in April, June Festival concerts, Interlude concerts throughout the year and more; Gabriela Montero’s concert series at the Ebenezer Theater; Mid-Atlantic Symphony performances; the Avalon Theater’s bountiful programming; the Art Academy’s many exhibits; and the numerous galleries and shops open on Easton’s First Friday Gallery Walks.

If the past year has taught us anything, it’s the importance of community engagement to address issues and promote workable solutions. Freedom is not free. We must work to preserve democracy, civility, empathy, and justice.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The future depends on what you do today.”

Peter Drucker, the revolutionary Austrian American management consultant, educator, and author, once wrote, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

And perhaps most importantly, Plato told us, “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

Amen.

Maria Grant, formerly principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm, now focuses on writing, reading, music, bicycling, and nature.

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

Postcard From Whitefish By Jamie Kirkpatrick

December 30, 2025 by Jamie Kirkpatrick Leave a Comment

Deep in the northwest corner of Montana, Whitefish is the gateway to the jagged peaks, lakes, and glacier-carved valleys of one of America’s most pristine treasures: Glacier National Park. The town of Whitefish and its eponymous ski resort lie just west of the Continental Divide on what was once the shared ancestral hunting grounds of three Native American tribes: the Kutenai, the Bitterroot Salish, and the Pend d’Oreilles. Trappers and traders crisscrossed this remote wilderness beginning in the middle of the 19th Century, but it was the logging industry that made the country literally go BOOM in the the 1890s. And when the Great Northern Railway found a gentler route through the mountains in 1904, Whitefish—then known as Stumptown—became a new dot on the map of the American West.

This is our clan’s second visit to Whitefish. We came last year, liked it, and so now here we are, back again, “only” twenty-four of us this time, scattered among two rented houses and the local ski lodge. Twenty-three of us are out on the slopes today despite a thermometer that reported the local temperature was -2. (Insert freezing emoji here.) Me? I’m in front of the crackling fire in the great room of the lodge with my computer, a book, and my cup of black coffee. Couldn’t be happier!

It wasn’t easy getting here. In our parcel of the party, there were seven sleepy adults and seven excited kids (age range four-to-twelve) on a 4am flight to Minneapolis, a two-hour lay over there, then another three hour flight to Kalispell, Montana. You can imagine all the ski bags, checked luggage, carry-ons with stuffed animals and all manner of winter weather gear, but we made it without losing anyone or anything. I think. And by the way, a great big shoutout to all those kind and hard-working Somali folk in the MSP Airport; that place could not function without you!

Two days ago, when we arrived in Whitefish, postcard snow was gently falling, but today, the sun is shining although it’s still bitterly cold. The skiers don’t seem to care; they’re up and out as early as the chaos allows. All bundled up, it’s difficult to tell who belongs to whom, but some innate parental instinct kicks in and off they all go. I pour myself another cup of coffee and throw another log on the fire. I’ll admit that up here in the lodge, I’m once-removed from all that chaos of skis and boots, helmets and googles, but, as I’ve said before, I’m an excellent vicarious skier and prefer to listen to everyone’s adventures over our evening meal. Plus, it’s warmer here and I’m not likely to hurt myself or anyone else, for that matter.

So, here we are, three generations, separate branches on a boisterous family tree: wild and free on the mountain, cozy and close around the dinner table. There is an ebb and flow to life here, a few tears but plenty of joy and memories that will last lifetimes. Yes, I may be once-removed from the maelstrom, but then someone has to write this postcard.

Wish you were here.

I’ll be right back.

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

How Much will Appearance Matter in the Next Presidential Elections? By David Reel

December 29, 2025 by David Reel Leave a Comment

In 1960, then-U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy and then-U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon were opponents in the Presidential election. It was hard fought contest that led to Kennedy being declared the winner with a winning popular vote margin of 0.17%.

Then and still today, political observers suggest an event that was pivotal in that outcome was the first televised presidential debate featuring the candidates rather than surrogates debating on their behalf.

The first of three-hour-long debates held in 1960 was watched by an estimated seventy million viewers at a time when almost the same number (68,638) of the U.S. population actually voted in the subsequent presidential general election.

As presidential candidates, Nixon and Kennedy had much in common. Both were intensely ambitious, close in age — Kennedy was forty-three, and Nixon was forty-seven, World War II veterans, elected to serve as members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, and both were seasoned campaigners.

Polling done after the first debate had starkly different results on who won and who lost.

Many of those who watched the first debate thought Nixon did poorly and “lost” the debate. They thought Nixon appeared old, haggard, and even menacing due in part to a five o’clock shadow beard made worse by his refusal to wear makeup.

Many of those who watched the first debate thought Kennedy did well and “won” the debate. They thought Kennedy appeared young, vigorous, and tanned due to pre-debate tanning sessions.

Conversely, many who listened to the first debate on the radio thought Nixon did well and “won” the debate and many who listened thought Kennedy did poorly and “lost” the debate.

Only years after the debate did it become well known that appearances can be deceiving.

John F. Kennedy had numerous, lifelong, chronic, and serious medical conditions, all of which were carefully hidden by himself and his campaign advisors.

Among other things, he had Addison’s disease, colitis, ulcers, autoimmune issues, back issues requiring several operations, and depression, all treated with regular and copious amounts of painkiller pills and injections.

Some medical professionals have suggested his Addison’s Disease alone could have led to an early death had he not been assassinated.

As often happens with public opinions, first impressions are lasting impressions.

That reality was duly noted by Richard Nixon, who, despite his ethical lapses, was an astute and shrewd politician.
In 1968, Nixon ran for president again and narrowly defeated then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey, winning the popular vote by 0.7%.

In the 1968 election, Nixon effectively rebranded himself using a television commercial blitz that is discussed in detail by Joe McGinnis in his bestselling book, “The Selling of the President.”

Despite Nixon’s landslide re-election in 1972, in which he won with a 23.2% popular-vote margin, he could not overcome the fallout from Watergate, which ended his presidency.

Fast forward to today.

Campaigning for the next cycle of presidential primaries and the 2028 presidential election is well underway.

A recent article by Holly Otterbein and Alex Thompson, published on the Axios website, featured the following headline: “Makeovers are part of the prep for Dems eyeing 2028.”

The article offers observations on several potential Democratic presidential candidates for 2028 with respect to their appearance in three areas: weight, fashion, and facial hair.

With regard to weight, they mention Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and United States Senator Elissa Slotkin, both of whom have lost substantial weight.

With regard to fashion, they include observations by Derek Guy, the editor of “Put This On” and a writer on men’s fashion.

Guy had this to say about Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro — “When Shapiro was elected governor in 2022, his clothes looked like clothes that you bought in the ’90s. Shapiro’s suits [now] are more tailored and modern, but not flashy. Shapiro sometimes ditches a tie, has swapped out his old glasses for a trendier, rectangular pair, and often wears sneakers.”

Guy also had this to say about California Governor Gavin Newsom — “He dresses pretty well. I particularly like his ties but wonder if that look might be too stylish for some voters.”

Otterbein and Thompson wrote that United States Senator from Connecticut Chris Murphy and former United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg are now sporting beards.

The Axios article also includes this cogent observation from veteran Democratic campaign consultant and political pundit James Carville: “No one’s going to say, ‘I’m not going to vote for someone because they’re not attractive’… but it certainly matters.”

Yes indeed, it does matter.

After the next cycle of presidential primary elections and the 2028 presidential general election it will be interesting to review and analyze exactly how much candidate appearances and exactly how much candidate issue positions mattered on voter thinking and behavior.

David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant. He is also a consultant for not for- profit organizations on governance, leadership, and management matters. He lives in Easton.

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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