The public comment period on the second draft plan ended last week. The 1974 enacting legislation that required the plan to be written makes PlanMaryland an executive issue, meaning it does not need approval from the General Assembly to take effect. But Senate President Mike Miller, under pressure from rural Republicans and perhaps more importantly, county officials from across the state, has asked for a Senate hearing in January.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Man Arrested for Boosting Butts With Cement, Fix-A-Flat
And, believe it or not, that man is the person pictured above.
The man is 30-year-old Oneal Ron Morrie.
Banks Closed In Iowa, La; 90 Failures In 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) - Regulators on Friday closed small banks in Iowa and Louisiana, lifting to 90 the number of bank failures in the U.S. this year.
The number of closures has fallen sharply this year as banks have worked their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession. By this time last year, regulators had shuttered 149 banks.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Polk County Bank, based in Johnston, Iowa, with $91.6 million in assets and $82 million in deposits. It also closed Central Progressive Bank, based in Lacombe, La., with $383.1 million in assets and $347.7 million in deposits.
Grinnell State Bank, based in Grinnell, Iowa, agreed to assume the deposits as well as the loans and other assets of Polk County Bank. New Orleans-based First NBC Bank agreed to acquire all the deposits and $354.4 million of the assets of Central Progressive Bank.
The failure of Polk County Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $12 million; that of Central Progressive Bank is expected to cost $58.1 million.
Polk County Bank was the first bank in Iowa to fail this year, while Central Progressive Bank was the first Louisiana lender to fail this year.
More
The number of closures has fallen sharply this year as banks have worked their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession. By this time last year, regulators had shuttered 149 banks.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Polk County Bank, based in Johnston, Iowa, with $91.6 million in assets and $82 million in deposits. It also closed Central Progressive Bank, based in Lacombe, La., with $383.1 million in assets and $347.7 million in deposits.
Grinnell State Bank, based in Grinnell, Iowa, agreed to assume the deposits as well as the loans and other assets of Polk County Bank. New Orleans-based First NBC Bank agreed to acquire all the deposits and $354.4 million of the assets of Central Progressive Bank.
The failure of Polk County Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $12 million; that of Central Progressive Bank is expected to cost $58.1 million.
Polk County Bank was the first bank in Iowa to fail this year, while Central Progressive Bank was the first Louisiana lender to fail this year.
More
New York Churches Shelter Occupy Protesters, Now Monitored By New York Police
With Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) ratcheting up police crackdowns on Occupy Wall Street this week, the New York Times reports that several churches in New York City are sheltering protesters who can no longer stay in Zucotti Park. About 46 protesters spent Wednesday night in the United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew. However, instead of respecting the sanctuary, police in plainclothes are entering churches to monitor their conduct.
DON’T TELL THE OCCUPY WALL STREET CROWD ABOUT THIS!
As Adam Smith noted in "The Wealth of Nations":
It is not, however, difficult to foresee which of the two parties must, upon all ordinary occasions, have the advantage in the dispute, and force the other into a compliance with their terms. The masters, being fewer in number, can combine much more easily; and the law, besides, authorizes, or at least does not prohibit their combinations, while it prohibits those of the workmen. We have no acts of parliament against combining to lower the price of work; but many against combining to raise it. In all such disputes the masters can hold out much longer. A landlord, a farmer, a master manufacturer, a merchant, though they did not employ a single workman, could generally live a year or two upon the stocks which they have already acquired. Many workmen could not subsist a week, few could subsist a month, and scarce any a year without employment. In the long run the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him; but the necessity is not so immediate.
But, Mr. Smith was speaking before the socialists created the welfare state!
It is not, however, difficult to foresee which of the two parties must, upon all ordinary occasions, have the advantage in the dispute, and force the other into a compliance with their terms. The masters, being fewer in number, can combine much more easily; and the law, besides, authorizes, or at least does not prohibit their combinations, while it prohibits those of the workmen. We have no acts of parliament against combining to lower the price of work; but many against combining to raise it. In all such disputes the masters can hold out much longer. A landlord, a farmer, a master manufacturer, a merchant, though they did not employ a single workman, could generally live a year or two upon the stocks which they have already acquired. Many workmen could not subsist a week, few could subsist a month, and scarce any a year without employment. In the long run the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him; but the necessity is not so immediate.
But, Mr. Smith was speaking before the socialists created the welfare state!
Pair Arrested In Attempted Robbery
Location: Arenas, 11791 Village Lane, Lewes, DEDate of Occurrence: Thursday November 17, 2011 at approximately 6:15 a.m.
Victim: Arenas Café
Defendant/Charges/Bond Information:
Courtney A. Clark, 20 of Rehoboth, DE
Theft Under $1,000.00
Conspiracy 3rd Degree
Falsely Reporting an Incident
Released on $1,500.00 unsecured bond
Defendant/Charges/Bond Information:
John R. Hellstern, 25 of Millsboro, DE (Photo Attached)
Theft Under $1,000.00
Conspiracy 3rd Degree
Released on $1, 000.00 unsecured bond on these charges but committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on outstanding capias
Resume:
Lewes, DE- Troopers respond to an early morning robbery at Arena’s Café that turned out to be false.
On Thursday November 17, 2011 at 6:17 a.m., Courtney Clark, 20, called 9-1-1 to report she had been robbed and had locked herself in the bathroom of Arena’s Café. Clark is an employee of Arena Café located at 11791 Village Lane, The Villages of Five Points, Lewes. Initially, Clark stated that she had no idea who the suspect was that robbed her, but it was later determined through the investigation that it was actually her boyfriend, John Hellstern, 25.
This incident started when Clark arrived at work shortly before 6:00 a.m. after being dropped off by Hellstern. While Clark was placing money in the register for the day, a white male then entered the business wearing a disguise and told Clark to hand over the money. Clark then gave him an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency and the suspect fled out the front door.
The investigation revealed the two suspects had talked about this robbery weeks earlier and Clark knew it was Hellstern that had come into the business this morning. It was reported to Detective’s that Hellstern was seen leaving the scene in Clark’s vehicle.
No weapon was displayed or threatened in this case.
Both suspects were processed and arraigned for the charges. Courtney Clark was released on $1,500.00 unsecured bond. John Hellstern was given a $1,000.00 unsecured bond but was committed to SCI an unrelated capias.
Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Press Releases 11-19-11
On 11/14/2011, at approximately 0650 hours, a Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Deputy was approached by a male subject in the area of Washington Street and Market Street Snow Hill, Maryland 21863. The subject was operating a 2001 silver Nissan truck. The subject stated to the Deputy that he may have warrants. The Deputy asked the subject his name and he stated he was Anthony Wayne 39 years of age form Fruitland Maryland. A check of the vehicle showed it was stolen from Wicomico County and Mr. Wayne was wanted for the theft of the vehicle. Mr. Wayne was held pending trial.
On 11/16/2011, A Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Deputy arrested Rebecca Lynn Bell, age 40, of Pocomoke City, Maryland on a District Court Bench Warrant for Failure to Pay a $257.00 traffic citation. Bell was later held at the Worcester County Detention Center on a $2,575 bond.
On 11/18/2011, A Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputy arrested Patricia Lynn Smack, 37, of Chincoteague, Virginia on a Circuit Court-Civil Body Attachment issued for Failure to Appear- Paternity Hearing. Ms. Smack was later held at the Worcester County Detention Center on $500 bond.
On 11/16/2011, A Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Deputy arrested Rebecca Lynn Bell, age 40, of Pocomoke City, Maryland on a District Court Bench Warrant for Failure to Pay a $257.00 traffic citation. Bell was later held at the Worcester County Detention Center on a $2,575 bond.
On 11/18/2011, A Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputy arrested Patricia Lynn Smack, 37, of Chincoteague, Virginia on a Circuit Court-Civil Body Attachment issued for Failure to Appear- Paternity Hearing. Ms. Smack was later held at the Worcester County Detention Center on $500 bond.
"Occupy Wall Street Crowd Blind To Benefits Of Capitalism"
By Gary Wolfram
William Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Hillsdale College
Whenever I watch media coverage of another Occupy Wall Street event I am reminded of an exchange between Jewish protesters in the 1979 Monte Python movie Life of Brian. One of the protesters asks another what the Romans have brought to the area and the conversation goes like this:
Question: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Answer: Brought peace?
Response: Oh, peace - shut up!
The point is that the Roman institutions brought a good deal to the area that was being overlooked by the protesters. The Wall Street protesters, in their hatred of capitalism, overlook things including the fact that over the last 100 years capitalism has reduced poverty more and increased life expectancy more than in the 100,000 years prior.
Every semester I ask my students: "What would you rather be? King of England in 1263 or you?" Turns out, students would rather be themselves. They enjoy using their iPhone, indoor plumbing, central heating, refrigerators and electric lighting. All of these things are available to the average person in America today and none of them were available to the aristocracy when the West operated under the feudal system.
How is it that for thousands of years mankind made very little progress in increasing the standard of living and yet today half of the goods and services you use in the next week did not exist when I was born? It wasn't that there was some change in the DNA such that we got smarter. The Greeks knew how to make a steam engine 3,000 years ago and never made one. The difference is in how we organize our economic system. The advent of market capitalism in the mid 18th century made all of the difference.
We need not just rely on historical data. Look at cross-section evidence. I try another experiment with my students. I tell them they are about to be born and they can choose whatever country in the world they would like to be born in. The only caveat is they will be the poorest person in that country. Every student picks a country that is primarily organized in a market capitalist system. No one picks a centrally planned state. No one says, "I want to be the poorest person in North Korea, Cuba, or Zimbabwe," countries which are at the bottom of the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom.
What does it mean to be poor in our capitalist society that the Occupy Wall Street crowd so hates? Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation has several studies of those classified as poor by the U.S. Census Bureau. He found that 80 percent of poor persons in the United States in 2010 had air conditioning, nearly three quarters of them had a car or truck, nearly two-thirds had satellite or cable television, half had a personal computer and more than two-thirds had at least two rooms per person.
Contrast this with what it means to be poor in Mumbai, India, a country that is moving rapidly towards market capitalism but was burdened for decades with a socialist system. A recent story in The Economist described Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai, where for many families half of the family members must sleep on their sides in order for the entire family to squeeze into its living space.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has shown a lack of understanding of how the market capitalist system works. They appear to think that the cell phones they use, food they eat, hotels they stay in, cars they drive, gasoline that powers the cars they drive and all the myriad goods and services they consume every day would be there under a different system, perhaps in more abundance.
But there is no evidence this could be or ever has been the case. The reason is that only market capitalism solves the two major problems that face any economy-how to provide an incentive to innovate and how to solve the problem of decentralized information. The reason there is so much innovation in a market system compared to socialism or other forms of central planning is that profit provides the incentive for innovators to take the risk needed to come up with new products.
My mother never once complained that we did not have access to the latest Soviet washing machine. We never desired a new Soviet car. The socialist system relies on what Adam Smith referred to as the benevolent butcher and while there will undoubtedly be benevolent butchers out there, clearly a system that provides monetary rewards for innovators is much more dynamic and successful. The profit that the Occupy Wall Street protesters decry is the reason the world has access to clean water and anti-viral drugs.
The other major problem that must be solved by any economic system is how to deal with the fact that information is so decentralized. There is no way for a central planner to know how many hot dogs 300 million Americans are going to want at every moment in time. A central planner cannot know the relative value of resources in the production of various goods and services. Market capitalism solves that problem through the price system. If there are too few hot dogs, the price of hot dogs will rise and more hot dogs will be produced. If too many hot dogs are produced, the price of hot dogs will fall and fewer will be produced.
Market capitalism is the key to the wealth of the masses. As Ludwig von Mises wrote in his 1920 book, Socialism, only market capitalism can make the poor wealthy. Nobel Laureate Friedrich Hayek in his famous 1945 paper, The Use of Knowledge in Society, showed that only the price system in capitalism can create the spontaneous order that ensures that goods will be allocated in a way that ensures consumers determine the use of resources. The Occupy Wall Street movement would make best use of its time and energy in protesting the encroachment of the centrally planned state that led to the disaster of the Soviet Union, fascist Germany, and dictatorial North Korea.
Source
William Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Hillsdale College
Whenever I watch media coverage of another Occupy Wall Street event I am reminded of an exchange between Jewish protesters in the 1979 Monte Python movie Life of Brian. One of the protesters asks another what the Romans have brought to the area and the conversation goes like this:
Question: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Answer: Brought peace?
Response: Oh, peace - shut up!
The point is that the Roman institutions brought a good deal to the area that was being overlooked by the protesters. The Wall Street protesters, in their hatred of capitalism, overlook things including the fact that over the last 100 years capitalism has reduced poverty more and increased life expectancy more than in the 100,000 years prior.
Every semester I ask my students: "What would you rather be? King of England in 1263 or you?" Turns out, students would rather be themselves. They enjoy using their iPhone, indoor plumbing, central heating, refrigerators and electric lighting. All of these things are available to the average person in America today and none of them were available to the aristocracy when the West operated under the feudal system.
How is it that for thousands of years mankind made very little progress in increasing the standard of living and yet today half of the goods and services you use in the next week did not exist when I was born? It wasn't that there was some change in the DNA such that we got smarter. The Greeks knew how to make a steam engine 3,000 years ago and never made one. The difference is in how we organize our economic system. The advent of market capitalism in the mid 18th century made all of the difference.
We need not just rely on historical data. Look at cross-section evidence. I try another experiment with my students. I tell them they are about to be born and they can choose whatever country in the world they would like to be born in. The only caveat is they will be the poorest person in that country. Every student picks a country that is primarily organized in a market capitalist system. No one picks a centrally planned state. No one says, "I want to be the poorest person in North Korea, Cuba, or Zimbabwe," countries which are at the bottom of the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom.
What does it mean to be poor in our capitalist society that the Occupy Wall Street crowd so hates? Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation has several studies of those classified as poor by the U.S. Census Bureau. He found that 80 percent of poor persons in the United States in 2010 had air conditioning, nearly three quarters of them had a car or truck, nearly two-thirds had satellite or cable television, half had a personal computer and more than two-thirds had at least two rooms per person.
Contrast this with what it means to be poor in Mumbai, India, a country that is moving rapidly towards market capitalism but was burdened for decades with a socialist system. A recent story in The Economist described Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai, where for many families half of the family members must sleep on their sides in order for the entire family to squeeze into its living space.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has shown a lack of understanding of how the market capitalist system works. They appear to think that the cell phones they use, food they eat, hotels they stay in, cars they drive, gasoline that powers the cars they drive and all the myriad goods and services they consume every day would be there under a different system, perhaps in more abundance.
But there is no evidence this could be or ever has been the case. The reason is that only market capitalism solves the two major problems that face any economy-how to provide an incentive to innovate and how to solve the problem of decentralized information. The reason there is so much innovation in a market system compared to socialism or other forms of central planning is that profit provides the incentive for innovators to take the risk needed to come up with new products.
My mother never once complained that we did not have access to the latest Soviet washing machine. We never desired a new Soviet car. The socialist system relies on what Adam Smith referred to as the benevolent butcher and while there will undoubtedly be benevolent butchers out there, clearly a system that provides monetary rewards for innovators is much more dynamic and successful. The profit that the Occupy Wall Street protesters decry is the reason the world has access to clean water and anti-viral drugs.
The other major problem that must be solved by any economic system is how to deal with the fact that information is so decentralized. There is no way for a central planner to know how many hot dogs 300 million Americans are going to want at every moment in time. A central planner cannot know the relative value of resources in the production of various goods and services. Market capitalism solves that problem through the price system. If there are too few hot dogs, the price of hot dogs will rise and more hot dogs will be produced. If too many hot dogs are produced, the price of hot dogs will fall and fewer will be produced.
Market capitalism is the key to the wealth of the masses. As Ludwig von Mises wrote in his 1920 book, Socialism, only market capitalism can make the poor wealthy. Nobel Laureate Friedrich Hayek in his famous 1945 paper, The Use of Knowledge in Society, showed that only the price system in capitalism can create the spontaneous order that ensures that goods will be allocated in a way that ensures consumers determine the use of resources. The Occupy Wall Street movement would make best use of its time and energy in protesting the encroachment of the centrally planned state that led to the disaster of the Soviet Union, fascist Germany, and dictatorial North Korea.
Source
Worcester County Bureau Of Investigation:
Rape of a Juvenile
LOCATION: Train Station Road
Stockton, MD
CHARGES: Rape - 2nd Degree
Sex Offense - 3rd Degree
Assault - 2nd Degree
Child Abuse – 2nd Degree
Incest
ACCUSED: Alvin FULLER B/M 55yoa
New Church, VA
NARRATIVE:
Today, Alvin FULLER was safely taken into custody without incident with the
assistance of members of the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office. This closes a
joint investigation involving members of the Worcester County Bureau of
Investigation and the Worcester County Child Advocacy Center.
FULLER’s been charged with the above crimes for his repeated course of conduct
with a relative’s 14 year old daughter over a period of nearly a year. FULLER
befriended the victim over a lengthy period of time and learned how to
manipulate and prey on her during this period.
FULLER’s been arraigned before a Virginia Commonwealth Magistrate and is being
held WITHOUT BOND pending an Extradition Hear to be held at a future date.
Hudson Farm Lawsuit Updates
http://www.actforbays.org/PressRoom/Events/lawsuit.html
Check out their officers & directors – here:
http://www.actforbays.org/WhoWeAre/Board/board.html
and their “funders: - here:
http://www.actforbays.org/WhoWeAre/funders.html
and former “funders” and persons involved – here:
http://www.actforbays.org/WhoWeAre/Docs/2007%20Annual%20Report.pdf
http://www.actforbays.org/PressRoom/Docs/ACT_2010review.pdf
Check out their officers & directors – here:
http://www.actforbays.org/WhoWeAre/Board/board.html
and their “funders: - here:
http://www.actforbays.org/WhoWeAre/funders.html
and former “funders” and persons involved – here:
http://www.actforbays.org/WhoWeAre/Docs/2007%20Annual%20Report.pdf
http://www.actforbays.org/PressRoom/Docs/ACT_2010review.pdf
ARMED ROBBERY SPREE ENDS IN ARREST
(PERRYVILLE, MD) -- A joint investigation by the Maryland State Police, Baltimore County, Perryville, Aberdeen, and Havre de Grace police departments led to the arrest last night of a Cecil County man police believe is responsible for a string of armed robberies.
The suspect is identified as Michael R. Malpass, 25, of the 1500 block of West Old Philadelphia Road, Charlestown, Md. He was arrested without incident shortly after 7:00 p.m. yesterday for robberies in three northeastern Maryland counties. He was in the custody of Maryland State Police JFK Highway Barrack investigators awaiting an initial appearance before District Court commissioner for armed robbery, assault and theft charges. Charges from other jurisdictions are pending.
State Police have charged Malpass in connection with an armed robbery that occurred on November 9, 2011, at the Maryland House Travel Plaza Exxon station on I-95 near Aberdeen. The suspect entered the station shortly after 12:30 p.m., confronted the clerk and showed what appeared to be a handgun tucked in his waistband before fleeing with cash. The suspect was seen leaving in a silver vehicle.
During the next week, other armed robberies involving similar circumstances and a similar suspect description occurred in Harford, Cecil, and Baltimore counties. They include the November 11th robbery of Shell gas station on Middleton Road in Aberdeen, the November 13th robbery of the Royal Farms Store on Pulaski Highway in Perryville, the November 14th robbery of a 7-Eleven store on Belair Road in Overlea, and the November 15th robbery of a Rite-Aid Pharmacy on Pulaski Highway in Havre de Grace. Investigators believe the same suspect was also responsible for the armed robbery of a Walgreen’s Pharmacy on Harford Road in Parkville on the morning of November 17th. No one was injured during any of the robberies.
After working together and comparing evidence and information, police prepared a Metro Crime Stoppers bulletin with a photo of the suspect taken during a Baltimore County robbery. The suspect’s photo was also broadcast on Baltimore television stations and published on media websites and in newspapers. Numerous tips were received from concerned citizens and Malpass was identified as the suspect.
Malpass was arrested following the stop of a 2008 Chevrolet Impala on Pulaski Highway in Perryville by investigators from the Maryland State Police - Criminal Investigation Division State Apprehension Team (SAT) and the Gang Enforcement Unit (GEU). A short time later, troopers from SAT and GEU, along with investigators from the JFK Highway Barrack and the Baltimore County Police Department, served a search warrant at a residence in Charlestown. Evidence recovered by investigators linked Malpass to the string of robberies. The Chevrolet Impala was identified as the getaway vehicle in the reported robberies. The investigation into the robberies continues.
The suspect is identified as Michael R. Malpass, 25, of the 1500 block of West Old Philadelphia Road, Charlestown, Md. He was arrested without incident shortly after 7:00 p.m. yesterday for robberies in three northeastern Maryland counties. He was in the custody of Maryland State Police JFK Highway Barrack investigators awaiting an initial appearance before District Court commissioner for armed robbery, assault and theft charges. Charges from other jurisdictions are pending.
State Police have charged Malpass in connection with an armed robbery that occurred on November 9, 2011, at the Maryland House Travel Plaza Exxon station on I-95 near Aberdeen. The suspect entered the station shortly after 12:30 p.m., confronted the clerk and showed what appeared to be a handgun tucked in his waistband before fleeing with cash. The suspect was seen leaving in a silver vehicle.
During the next week, other armed robberies involving similar circumstances and a similar suspect description occurred in Harford, Cecil, and Baltimore counties. They include the November 11th robbery of Shell gas station on Middleton Road in Aberdeen, the November 13th robbery of the Royal Farms Store on Pulaski Highway in Perryville, the November 14th robbery of a 7-Eleven store on Belair Road in Overlea, and the November 15th robbery of a Rite-Aid Pharmacy on Pulaski Highway in Havre de Grace. Investigators believe the same suspect was also responsible for the armed robbery of a Walgreen’s Pharmacy on Harford Road in Parkville on the morning of November 17th. No one was injured during any of the robberies.
After working together and comparing evidence and information, police prepared a Metro Crime Stoppers bulletin with a photo of the suspect taken during a Baltimore County robbery. The suspect’s photo was also broadcast on Baltimore television stations and published on media websites and in newspapers. Numerous tips were received from concerned citizens and Malpass was identified as the suspect.
Malpass was arrested following the stop of a 2008 Chevrolet Impala on Pulaski Highway in Perryville by investigators from the Maryland State Police - Criminal Investigation Division State Apprehension Team (SAT) and the Gang Enforcement Unit (GEU). A short time later, troopers from SAT and GEU, along with investigators from the JFK Highway Barrack and the Baltimore County Police Department, served a search warrant at a residence in Charlestown. Evidence recovered by investigators linked Malpass to the string of robberies. The Chevrolet Impala was identified as the getaway vehicle in the reported robberies. The investigation into the robberies continues.
Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, The Son Of Former Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi, Reportedly Captured In Libya.
A Libyan militia commander has told reporters at a press conference that Muammar Qaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Qaddafi has been captured in southern Libya.
From Fox News
From Fox News
Great Sale On TV's
The Holiday Inn Express in Delmar has upgraded all of the TV's in hotel.
The TV's are 27" Phillips and are being sold for $ 35.00 on Saturday from 9am- Noon.
This would be a great gift for Christmas. Great condition.
No phone calls, please.
The TV's are 27" Phillips and are being sold for $ 35.00 on Saturday from 9am- Noon.
This would be a great gift for Christmas. Great condition.
No phone calls, please.
HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER 11-19-11
MarblesThey have probably been around for thousands of years. Now you don’t see any children playing with them. I’m talking about marbles. They were real popular back in the 1950’s. At every recess, you could find any number of circles drawn in the dirt with several boys gathered around waiting for their turn to plunk the opponent’s marble out of the ring. Some boys had a real knack of zeroing in on a desired marble and making it just fly out of the ring. I was never very good so I usually didn’t play “for keeps”.
Along the way certain marbles were declared ineligible. “Steelies” gave the shooter a distinct advantage due to the weight difference, so they were not allowed. These were actually ball bearings. “Bummies” were oversized marbles and were also not allowed. Their larger size made for a distinct advantage. Your shooter was usually slightly larger but not to be mistaken for a “bummie”. I always liked the “cat’s eye” type of marble. They remind you of some of the paper weights of the day. Very pretty.
Just about every boy had his marble bag with his treasured marbles. It was really a very simple game and the ability of a boy to knock one out of the ring and “stick” was an advantage. If you just hit one that went just short of the ring line, the next shooter could get that one real easy. The techniques used by the shooters varied. Some boys seemed to have just the right method of aiming and hitting anything they shot at, while making their marble stick in the ring.
Early marbles were made out of clay. Some clay marbles have been found that are 2-3,000 years old. Like I said, it is a simple game and can be played by any boy with any degree of skill. Of course, like me, if they played for keeps, they quickly lost all their marbles.
The old marbles can be quite beautiful. Several placed in any type of clear glass container make for a nice and colorful display. They can be found at flea markets, antique shops and any number of venues for a variety of prices. They don’t have to be expensive to be very attractive.
The game of marbles is all but forgotten by the youth of today. Electronic games have taken over their interests. Of course, if I want my computer straightened out, I have to ask a young person. Maybe they are smarter, but I’ll bet they don’t have as much fun.
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