Senator Ben Cardin - SOPA supporter/sponsor?

Not two weeks ago I sent a kudos out on Senator Ben Cardin for opposing the NDAA this year, not one month ago did this happen on Twitter, he stood his ground and voted for the Freedoms that make America Great, ie no indefinite detention of American Citizens. So I felt good about the guy and the senator for my state. Now I'm having second thoughts because he is a sponsor of PiPA

In the long run, the indefinite detention of American Citizens is much worse than SOPA/PiPa, but not by much because it really has no purpose but to pander to the MPAA, RIAA and the drug companies. It won't stop piracy, nor really do anything but allow for court orders and the attorney general to pull down websites on the 'suspicion' of piracy. The suspicion then doesn't compensate for website losses, potential losses or for real supporting data, evidence or a trial. Basically the NDAA goes after people for imprisonment and SOPA goes after websites in the same manner. This is especially confusing for a Maryland Senator because there isn't a strong movie, music or drug industry in the state.

So what it comes down to is I believe Senator Cardin needs to explain why, and not in a press release, does he think this is good for Maryland Voters. Why would our Senator become involved in a technically inaccurate and poorly written bill that allows for egregious violations of the first amendment on the whim of a corporation, especially one who's numbers have been thoroughly debunked by the GAO with the writeup by Kevin Fogarty on the actual costs

The one bit that strikes me most from the press release is the following

"remaining a cosponsor of the bill provides me the opportunity to be an active participant in the process of addressing the most serious concerns raised by my constituents"


I fail to see how anything in this bill helps the state of Maryland, his constituents or anyone other than old school big business which doesn't evolve, change or evolve and wants to maintain their monopoly on entertainment instead of changing.

I'm looking for advice, or thoughts on what to do. I plan on writing and depending on how this plays out either supporting Senator Cardin in the next election due to his stance on NDAA and changes to PiPA, otherwise his actions will have me supporting his opponent, and contributing $100 since it appears politicians only respond to who gives them money, not their constituents.

Collection Of my Local Routes

Hey there fellow runners, so I've become a Cyclist as well as a runner now so there will be a new feature when i have some sort of knowledge on what I'm doing when biking. For those curious, this is my new bike a Felt Z6 and I LOVE IT! Smooth ride, but this is to post some of my local routes here in Waldorf.

From shortest to longest, these are part of my regular staple runs when I need a day off or a light run with the last being my base run most of the time. For anyone curious, Dorchester is a neighborhood loop nearby about a mile long.
TSID - To School Inner Dorchester It's a nice little run, about 3.6 miles, low on hills and has a path the whole way
TSOD - To School Outer Dorchester This one is best described as when I feel okay around the 3 mile mark, and want to push another mile out of the route even though its an off day.
Loop Run Eventually this will be my standard daily run, when I get back in shape here.

First run from my new Home

So this past week was the move from Palmyra, NY to Waldorf, Md. This drive down wasn't too bad other than the monsoon outside, but hey...at least it wasn't snow. The town of Waldorf itself is a nice bedroom community, most people here work north in DC or south at Lexington Park. That translates to a lot of 4-6 lane roads, with center medians and paved sidewalks along those same roads. From my random driving around, I'm pretty sure i can string together 20-30 miles of paved sidewalk throughout the town but that'll be later.

The first run here will probably be my standard, it's a nice 5.75 mile loop that's almost entirely on the paved sidewalk, and it's a relatively pleasant run. Of the four roads, only Smallwood dr is developed with the other three roads appearing to be brand new and wooded on both sides, in fact the Middletown Road portion has some small ponds and marshland below which seem to be bird sanctuaries so there's at least some scenery. My only issue is that the sidewalk disappears upon turning from Middletown Rd to Billingsly for about a mile until you turn back onto St Patricks. The route starts and ends at my complex, and is predominantly flat, so I'll need to find some hills. As always the route's posted below..

Normal Run in Waldorf (5.75 miles)