20080820 This week in The Tentacle
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
A Civil Affair at Saddleback
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Saturday I took a two-hour break from total Olympics immersion therapy to watch Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum on the presidency.
Emergency Room Retrofit
Tom McLaughlin
Throughout the past few years, there has been a blasting of the Canadian healthcare system. Many conservatives point to the “awful” conditions up north as an example of what can happen if the government gets involved.
From the desk of The Publisher!
John W. Ashbury
In yesterday’s column by Roy Meachum, the last name of the president of France was misspelled. It should be Sarkozy. The Tentacle regrets the error.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
No Sabers to Rattle
Roy Meachum
A chance encounter. While Pushkin and I were taking a downtown stroll, an impossibly young captain out of the Point four years and returned recently from the Middle East. His USMA graduate-father along and a pretty wife; she wanted to talk to the pleased English pointer. She and Pushki retreated just beyond the conversational range.
Passing on Pollsters
Norman M. Covert
My son assures me that I should feel no guilt in hanging up on telemarketers. It is not alright, he says, to listen to pre-recorded messages about my car’s warranty, or Part D Medicare insurance and such. In that state of mind, I should have “passed” on a recent political phone call that probably verged on the sophomoric.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Summer Thoughts
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
I became a grandfather back in January. It's almost as great as everyone has ever said. I describe it this way: It's all of the love you had for your own children, without the crushing burden of responsibility!
Counting Students
Steven R. Berryman
The argument continues: Let’s count the children who are from families that are not paying into Frederick County Public Schools so that we can get our arms around the problem of looming budget deficits.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Evil Demagogue
Roy Meachum
The evil in John "Lennie" Thompson's soul became public when he prolonged a hearing past midnight; he knowingly kept children up who wanted to sleep. But their mothers desperately needed a school and a place to worship. But they were only Muslims and mostly foreign-born. They were, however, legal residents.
O’Malley Seeking Gold!
Katie Nash
Gov. Martin O’Malley should take a lesson from Baltimore super swimmer Michael Phelps. The governor is drowning and there is no life saver in sight.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A Prime Rib Sandwich
Joan McIntyre
Do the terms Generation X or Y, or Baby Boomers mean a thing to you? Didn't mean much to me until I realized I could be the poster child for the thing they call The Sandwich Generation.
National Pride: Just Wonderful
Chris Cavey
Almost everyone who has laid finger to keyboard has written about the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; however, the story for me is viewing the quadrennial bubbling of national pride and knowing its juxtaposition with local heroes.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
They shoot dogs, don’t they?
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In Prince Georges County on the evening of July 30, the home of the Berwyn Heights’ Mayor Cheye Calvo was the scene of a home invasion.
Beer Olympics
Tom McLaughlin
They’re back! After watching the March Past during the opening of the games in Peking (old spelling), I settled in to watch some of the sports. And wonders of wonders who did I see? Those two great representatives of American dirty old men, Misty May and Kerri Walsh. They were playing the great American sport – beach volleyball.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Media Furies
Roy Meachum
The Bruce Ivins tragedy starkly revealed the trashy shape of America's media. Print and electronic alike, they have become modern versions of Greek playwright Aeschylus's Eumenides; the Furies of ancient Rome, they resound still in the Yiddish phrase: Kein eine horah. "Not one listening" is a prayerful cautionary against the 40,000 beasties that always hover waiting to strike all those who earn praise.
Perception Often Worse Than Truth
Farrell Keough
Perceptions are a tricky thing. There are times in life when a person can feel so strongly about a situation they are willing to suffer the consequences of people believing they are either wrong or have some nefarious intent.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Hanging it up…
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
…a stethoscope, that is. On August 8, Dr. Wayne Allgaier snapped the closure on his leather medical kit for the last time. Last Friday, he hung the stethoscope up for the last time.
T. Boone & Slim Pickens
Steven R. Berryman
What does a famous Texas oil baron do to ensure some personal legacy at age 80? He becomes an alternative energy activist, and starts a web site with a link to his own MySpace page, of course!
They’re Not Just Athletes…
Derek Shackelford
Last Friday the 2008 Summer Olympics games opened in Beijing, China, where the government has come under scrutiny because of proclaimed human rights violations. The air quality – to some degree – has been deemed unhealthy. The government has been criticized for neglect of some of its citizens and the economic disparity is widely known. And its capital punishment policy has been questioned.
Showing posts with label People Cavey-Chris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label People Cavey-Chris. Show all posts
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
20080416 This week in The Tentacle
This week in The Tentacle
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Tomorrow the Carroll County Board of Commissioners will deliberate in open session and – hopefully – make a decision regarding the offer from
In recent separate interviews with Carroll County Public Works Director Mike Evans, and Carroll County Commissioners Mike Zimmer and Dean Minnich, the conversation quickly turned away from the actual choice to the intellectual, critical criteria necessary in order to make such a legacy decision.
Both commissioners bristled over the political threats and emotional advocacy and pleaded for more scientific information.
Commissioner Minnich immediately identified science and long-term safety as a decision driver. Commissioner Zimmer also identified science; and both commissioners agreed that a thorough public education and discussion process was critical.
And what an education process it has been so far. In a series of recent conversations with a few old-timers, all agreed that we have never witnessed such an exhaustive and open public discussion and education process on any public policy decision or environmental issue.
Bear in mind, a review of my files indicates that this is my fourth go-round regarding what to do with trash in
Read the entire column here: How to Make Trash Go Away
Tom McLaughlin
Viva
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Roy Meachum
After the cardinals' votes are counted, a white plume from the Sistine Chapel tells St. Peter's Square and the world "We have a pope!" "Havemus Papam," in Latin, once the customary language within the
Nick Diaz
As your son or daughter and their friends were moving from elementary school to middle school, you may have noticed that a number of them did not want to be identified as “smart kids” – even though they had always done rather well during their elementary years. Some of them were afraid that they would be picked on by other students if it were known that they were bright. Others just wanted to fit in.
Monday, April 14, 2008
General Assembly Journal 2008 – Volume 9
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
It never ceases to amaze. The Maryland General Assembly Session is 90 days long, as defined in the state constitution. Legislators are summoned to
Steven R. Berryman
I would never pretend to write a biography or obituary for Charlton Heston, and certainly have nothing first hand to offer as does The Tentacle’s Roy Meachum, but I have been affected by his life and his death. And his work.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Roy Meachum
Lurking in newspapers' back pages, correspondents report there are riots along the
Roy Meachum
Much to my surprise, "Smokey Joe's Cafe" enchanted and George Clooney's new flick did not.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Chris Cavey
This week the General Assembly was dismissed from
An Open Letter to the Commissioners
Joan McIntyre
I want to thank you in advance of the adoption of next year’s budget. I do this primarily because I know this may well be the most difficult budget year in many of your careers. There will be very little thanks in this particular portion of your job.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wendi Peters – Mount Airy’s Steel Magnolia
Kevin E. Dayhoff
People were delighted to see former Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., last Friday when he came to
Tom McLaughlin
I have trouble equating human life with money. It’s like combining an apple and an orange to make a new fruit. Shakespeare and algebra simply will not go together in a publishable book.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Bemoaning Rick Weldon's Farewell
Roy Meachum
The legislative process, state or federal, frequently invokes the image of grass growing; it is generally long and tedious, unmemorable. The real trick for a journalist comes from watching out for "moles," the bills that work slightly undercover, like the fuzzy critters.
How to Avoid Getting Run Over…
Farrell Keough
Sometimes you are the bug and sometimes you are the windshield. It seems that recently we taxpaying residents of
Monday, April 7, 2008
Steven R. Berryman
Enabling legislation passed by our Maryland General Assembly will allow
The Yin and the Yang of Annapolis
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
This place is really odd. There is just no more appropriate one-word definition. We begin our legislative session in middle of winter’s icy grip, and we end it in all of spring’s emerging glory.
Roy Meachum
Charlton Heston and I met a couple of times in
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
20080305 This week in The Tentacle
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Making Trash Go Away – Part One
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On February 26, the
One outcome of the meeting was the Frederick County Commissioners voted to extend a 45-day window of opportunity for the
This comes after two days of hearings in mid-December in which hundreds participated. Then on December 13, in response to requests that
Indeed, the best research and studies are already readily available from the European Union (EU), in addition to over two decades of study and deliberations on the matter in
This is not the first time that the two counties have discussed joining forces to deal with trash. The waste-to-energy option had earlier been investigated in 1984 with Howard and Carroll counties.
Read the rest here: Making Trash Go Away – Part One
Tom McLaughlin
I have started to go back to bars. In my drinking days, I loved them, but with all the medication I take now, it puts a damper on that exercise.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Pundits and people alike figured the Democratic presidential primaries would be all over after last month's "Super Tuesday." But today we face another Tuesday that shapes up even more "super."
Nick Diaz
Why do I ride motorcycles? Many who have been riders for a while often ask themselves that question, and every time what seems to be the same old answer reappears in their minds.
Monday, March 3, 2008
General Assembly Journal 2008 – Volume 3
The Mid-way Point
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
No, the title does not refer to the famous naval battle involving bombardment of the island in World War II. I’m talking about being halfway through the 425th Session of the Maryland General Assembly.
Friday, February 29, 2008
My opinion on the subject is known. It was formed in part by stupidities like the Walkersville resident warning the town would become a new
George Bernard usually precedes the headline's "Shaw," as if the three words are irretrievably wed. The famous playwright receives as handsome a homage as he's ever been awarded currently at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. As you will read, I was thoroughly delighted with "Major Barbara," which opened at
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Joan McIntyre
Budget time is here. Moratorium is in the works. Last year was spent nickel and dime-ing the property owners, fighting with municipalities and the delegation. So many issues, so little time, what’s a commissioner to do? I’ve got the answer. Say no to out of control budget requests. Stop the “tax-n-spend” mentality.
Inside The Smoke-Filled Back Room…
Chris Cavey
The world of party politics is a strange entanglement of political clubs, candidate campaigns, entourages of elected officials and the organized political party apparatus. Many know the value and can recognize the former; but few understand the organization of the party faithful consistently struggling in the trenches – the state central committee.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last weekend the nation’s governors met in
Tom McLaughlin
The Town of Ocean City has come up with a brilliant idea to lower their taxes by $14 mil or so, and to raise the taxes of the good people of
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
We saw each other on
Farrell Keough
Over the next few articles, we are going to explore the issues and possible solutions to illegal immigration. During this process, we will ensure correctness of documentation as well as making certain we are not allowing a sense of racism to infect our perspectives.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
At a Farm Bureau/Pomona Grange legislative luncheon a few weeks ago, audience members were treated to a little surprise along with their roast beef and ham.
Steven R. Berryman
A presidential primary campaign is upon us now, much earlier in impact than in years past. The issues that are forced “off the table” are, in some cases, the ones that should be the defining ones. Shame on us for not forcing them back into the light of day for our proper examination.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
20071003 This week in The Tentacle
This week in The TentacleWednesday, October 3, 2007
It all began with President Harry Truman
Sixty years ago, on October 5, 1947, an American president delivered a speech live on television.
History reflects that the speech delivered by President Harry S Truman was hardly memorable. According to an article on the event in "American Heritage," by Christine Gibson, "the October 5 broadcast did have a large effect on the free world, just not in a way Truman, or anyone at the time, could have predicted."
Today, most people take for granted a world dominated by cell phones, instant messaging, computers, and cable TV. News and entertainment travels around the world in minutes, if not seconds; but in 1947 much of the news was disseminated by way of the radio or newspapers.
Ever since, television has played an integral role in politics, especially presidential politics. By around 1960, more people got their news from television broadcasts than newspapers - or the radio.
It has only been as recent as the 2000 presidential election that television's stranglehold on maintaining the dominant narrative which shapes much of public opinion on national politics has been slowly but surely replaced by the Internet.
In a parallel dynamic, television and the Internet - and newspapers - are slowly but surely merging. However it was President Truman's 1947 speech which set the political landscape on its head.
Read the rest: It all began with President Harry Truman
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Farrell Keough
A funny thing happened on the way to the Editorial Store. I got replies to my inquiries and did not have to make a purchase. No really, there is an Editorial Store! But they are expensive and have terrible business hours.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Tom McLaughlin
The place is like walking into a hospital. It is soooooooo clean. There is a hefty fine for depositing a piece of paper or cigarette remains. One cannot buy chewing gum. Drug runners receive the mandatory death sentence.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Norman M. Covert
One of the perquisites of being hors de combat for many months is preoccupation with what ails you. Henry David Thoreau would have penned his musings in solitude - not an option here. Somehow the recovery room's Zenith found the Frederick County Board of Commissioners on COMCAST.
George Wenschhof
The end of September brings a lot of excitement to major league baseball fans for the long (162 game) schedule is coming to an end. Wishful hopes abound that their team will win the division or capture the wild card slot. Their team would then make the play-offs with a chance to win the Fall Classic in Sports, the World Series.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Chris Cavey
This evening is the "All-American Presidential Forum" at
Derek Shackelford
Here we go again with the issue of race surfacing over the last couple of weeks. It is not enough that much attention was given to shock jock Don Imus and his comments about the
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Priceless Right to Free Speech
It has certainly been an interesting week for the exercise of our sacred right to freedom of speech in the
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Our blue-eyed, blonde-hair culture becomes more antagonistic as our numbers decrease as a proportion of the population. There are those among us who hate all those darker-hair, brown-eyes who are popping up everywhere.
Farrell Keough
Global Warming, Global Cooling, Climate Change, et al are the headlines of the crisis de jour. Most people do not involve themselves in this debate as it seems too complicated and all the scientists agree, so it must be true.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
I really wanted to write about the Great Frederick Fair, but Patricia Kelly did such a great job on last Thursday's Tentacle, I wouldn't pretend to try.
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