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Showing posts with label The Tentacle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Tentacle. Show all posts
Friday, January 06, 2012
John Ashbury ed of The Tentacle sports his new mustache gift from Farrell Keough
The Tentacle, Media The Tentacle, Dayhoff Media The Tentacle, Journalists Ashbury John, Journalists Tentaclers,
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Friday, April 04, 2008
20080402 Campaign 2008: Past Tentacle columns about Sen. John McCain or former Maryland Lt. Gov. Steele
20080402 Campaign 2008: Past Tentacle columns about Sen. John McCain or former Maryland Lt. Gov. Steele
Campaign 2008: Past Tentacle columns about Sen. John McCain or former Maryland Lt. Gov. Steele
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The McCain Vice President Decision
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Speculation persists as to who presumptive Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain will choose as a running mate. This upcoming decision has sparked a growing debate among many political pundits for a number of reasons.
February 20, 2008
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In the wake of “Super Tuesday” and the “Potomac Primary,” all signs point to a November presidential contest between
February 13, 2008
Kevin E. Dayhoff
At this point in the Republican 2008 presidential primary campaign Senator John McCain has over three times as many Republican National Convention delegates as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Most people have resigned themselves to the fact that Senator McCain is the de-facto Republican nominee.
June 27, 2007
Striking a Blow for Free Speech
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Many are singing high praise of the Supreme Court's decision handed down Monday which took a bite out of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law.
November 1, 2006
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Monday brought more good news for the Michael Steele campaign for Maryland US Senator.
April 19, 2006
Guess Who’s Coming to the Election
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In a remake of the classic 1967 movie, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” the royal blue portion of Old Line State just doesn’t quite know what to make of the continuing success of Maryland’s Dr. Prentice – Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.
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Saturday, August 25, 2007
20070822 Edward Hopper: Poet of the ordinary
Posted Saturday, August 25, 2007
My Tentacle column for this past Wednesday, August 22, 2007 is on Edward Hopper: Edward Hopper: Poet of the ordinary
On a recent trip to
Although shows in recent years have featured portions of his work, it was the Whitney in 1980 that put together the last major comprehensive retrospective show of his work, “Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist,” took place at the Whitney. That show also toured
In 1999 an exhibition of fifty-six watercolors from 1923 until the mid-1940s debuted at the
Seventy of his paintings toured
[…]
The voyeuristic stark world of American Scene realist artist Edward Hopper was recently on view at the
While the exhibit ranges extensively from Mr. Hopper’s early prints, watercolor landscapes and scene paintings, to his iconographic oil paintings, the exhibition focused on a 25-year period of peak artistic expression from 1923 to about 1948. The show distributed about 100 pieces of art, in chronological order across 8 gallery-rooms, including 12 prints, 34 watercolors, 48 oil paintings, and two of his “ledger” notebooks containing his sketches and notes.
Art from 39 public and 13 private collections has been brought together to give visitors the opportunity to listen carefully for the “poetry” of Mr. Hopper’s otherwise famously spare, mute landscapes, blunt geometrics and austere interiors in which the beauty is in the common place, the unexpected, and the unexceptional.
[…]
The Tate restates that one of the many reasons Mr. Hopper remains relevant today is that he has “inspired generations of artists, writers, and filmmakers including David Hockney, Mark Rothko, Alfred Hitchcock, Todd Haynes, and Norman Mailer.”
Coinciding with the National Gallery of Art show will be yet another Hopper-inspired work of art - an opera, “Later the Same Evening: an opera inspired by five paintings of Edward Hopper,” by renowned composer John Musto and librettist Mark Campbell.
The opera will be performed November 15-18, 2007 at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, and December 2, 2007 at The National Gallery of Art
Additionally, the artistic impact of Edward Hopper’s work is the subject of a new documentary film that accompanies the exhibition.
It is narrated by actor, writer, and Hopper art collector Steve Martin and produced by the National Gallery of Art. In the
Read the entire column here: Edward Hopper: Poet of the ordinary
The Carroll County Arts Council is sponsoring a bus trip on September 25 to experience this must-see event in this year’s fall art calendar. Call the Arts Council at 410/848-7272 for details.
Mr. Hopper’s art may have been relatively mute in its spare commentary yet it continues to inspire the viewer to lend their own story to each enigmatic piece and artists in other media continue to add an interpretation of their own. The National Gallery exhibition is a must see event in this fall’s art and culture calendar.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org or kevindayhoff AT gmail.com
His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion; www.thewestminstereagle.com and Winchester Report.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
20070711 "90 seconds"
July 11th, 2007
My Tentacle column is up on the web site.
Writing this column was rather poignant for me…
The jarring juxtaposition of visiting the United States Military Academy at West Point and seeing the dedication and sense of service and sacrifice on the hallowed grounds and then to read, on the same day, the sanctimonious twaddle of the New York Times editorial last Sunday, “The Road Home” was enough to make your head spin and spew pea soup…
I had wanted to write a simple “travelogue” of
Especially since there is a profound disconnect in reading about the successes, efforts and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform in harms way from the military blogs and what is being reported in the mainstream media.
"90 Seconds" by Kevin E. Dayhoff, July 11, 2007
It was nothing short of cruel irony that I happened to be on a guided tour of the
The editorial, "The Road Home," opened with this: "It is time for the
We live in an era where irony rules, the truth is illusory, paradox pervades and the 90-second difference between reality and perception continues to become "curiouser and curiouser."
To witness the impressive grandeur of West Point and the omnipresent homage to past graduates who have fought for our way of life and the freedoms we have come to take for granted - just days after the 4th of July - and then to read the New York Times, just 90 seconds after leaving the post, was mind boggling.
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20070711 "90 seconds" or click on http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2007/07/20070711-90-seconds.html
Click here: 20070610 The United States Military Academy at West Point for a number of pictures from my recent visit to
Friday, April 20, 2007
20070420 This week in The Tentacle
This week in The Tentacle
April 20th, 2007
"...which governs least"
Insanity and Common Sense Patricia A. Kelly
Frontier Justice Lingers On Edward Lulie III
The Crux of the Matter Tony Soltero
Congressman Roscoe Bartlett: One Who Listens Kevin E. Dayhoff
Crossing the Color Barrier
General Assembly Journal 2007 - Volume 13 Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Looking To Retirement? Tom McLaughlin
Molly Ringwald as 'Charity Hope Valentine' Three for the Aisle
Translations, Please! Chris Cavey
Helen Thomas: Press' Grand Dame Coming to McDaniel
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Friday, April 20, 2007
"You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people."
Patricia A. Kelly
In 1982, I was living and working as a school nurse on a military base in the
Edward Lulie III
Once in
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Tony Soltero
One of the most common arguments that employers use to justify the hiring of illegal immigrants is that "you can't find an American citizen to do the work." This is repeated so often by those who game the system that it's retransmitted in the media without question. But it's a completely inaccurate statement as it stands - it's in need of a small adjustment.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Demonstrators recently gathered at Congressman Roscoe Bartlett's
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Branch Rickey competed with Eleanor Roosevelt as maybe the best subject I never wrote about; the material was there, in a Washington Post reporter's notebook. We had done the interviews.
Monday, April 16, 2007
General Assembly Journal 2007 - Volume 13
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
The 423rd Session of the Maryland General Assembly will be known more for what didn't get accomplished than for what did. In past years, I've suggested that sessions are often measured as much by the bad stuff that doesn't happen as the good stuff that does. Here's a twist on that idea.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Tom McLaughlin
Humor by Tom McLaughlin - Baby boomers are rapidly coming to retirement. I am glad I am at the tail end of this group because they will pave the way once they discover what their golden years are really like.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Molly Ringwald as 'Charity Hope Valentine'
We deal today with the bloody, bloody Bard, a movie's intellectual jokes and pranks, and the welcome return of a musical from Broadway's Bob Fosse-Golden age.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Chris Cavey
Late Monday the 423rd session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned Sine Die. In modern legal context, it means there is nothing left to do, so no date for further proceedings is set. It is the end of the session. Deo gratias! (thanks [be] to God!).
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Press' Grand Dame Coming to McDaniel
Kevin E. Dayhoff
A curmudgeon without peer, a celebrated author, a reporter who covered the White House through nine presidents, and now a columnist with the Hearst organization, Helen Thomas could easily be called the press' grand dame.
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007
20070214 President Harry Truman and Gauging a presidential legacy
20070214 President Harry Truman and Gauging a presidential legacy
My Tentacle column for this week is up: Gauging A Presidential Legacy
Pictured to the left is the executive director of the Little White House Museum, in
February 14, 2007
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Recently political pundits have spent a great deal of effort pondering the legacy of President George W. Bush. Of course, those of us who consider ourselves to be students of history understand that history needs much more time and distance in order to accurately gauge the legacy and historical impact of any particular president.
Yet, uncannily, there are many parallels shared in the legacy of our 33rd president, Harry S Truman and President Bush, our 43rd president; and it is only understandable that the comparisons persist.
I took the opportunity Monday to tour President Truman's
After the tour I interviewed the executive director of the Little
Mr. Wolz says, with a certain "I told you so" confidence, that it is "remarkable that President Truman has gone from the least popular president of all time to the fifth most successful."
President Truman first arrived in
Read the rest here: Gauging A Presidential Legacy
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Florida Key West, President George W. Bush, President Harry S Truman, The Tentacle, History American Presidents
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
20070131 An inventory of my Tentacle columns from June 22nd, 2005 through January 31st, 2007
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The Tentacle
An inventory of my Tentacle columns from June 22nd, 2005 through January 31st, 2007
Kevin E. Dayhoff
January 31, 2007
Who was Deborah Orin-Eilbeck? Last Saturday, the New York Post's Washington bureau chief, Deborah Orin-Eilbeck, passed away. Published accounts noted that she died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of stomach cancer.
January 24, 2007
The State of the Union Address Perhaps not since Matt Drudge broke the Monica Lewinsky scandal a couple of days before President Bill Clinton's State of the Union address in January 1998 has there been such an anticipated annual address by an American president.
January 17, 2007
"NUTS!"Last Thursday President George W. Bush addressed the nation with his long awaited "New Way Forward in Iraq."
January 10, 2007
"A Message to Speaker Pelosi" Last Wednesday our nation witnessed an historic first when California Rep. Nancy Pelosi was elected to be the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives.
January 3, 2007
Castro Watch We have many things to look forward to in 2007 and certainly at the top of the list is the eventual demise of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
December 27, 2006
It's a Wonderful Life Sixty years ago on December 20, 1946, the timeless Frank Capra Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life" had its premier at the Globe Theater in New York City.
December 20, 2006
An Uneasy Truce Christmas is within a week and my thoughts and prayers go out to the men and women in uniform who are deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
December 14, 2006
Time to Support A Wounded Protector Maryland State Trooper First Class Eric D. Workman, 36, from the Westminster Barrack, has family traveling to Maryland from all over the country. They are staying in Baltimore while he is hospitalized at Maryland Shock Trauma Center after being shot early Tuesday morning in Woodlawn, in Baltimore County.
December 13, 2006
Farmers' Friend Turning In Political Plow Shares Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Lewis R. Riley announced last week at the Maryland Farm Bureau Convention in Ocean City that he plans to retire in January.
December 6, 2006
Go Ask Stuckey The Associated Press' Tom Stuckey, one of the venerable and distinguished members of the Maryland Statehouse press newsroom has retired.
November 29, 2006
Blackwater and municipal red ink run deep The state announced in November it was going to purchase hundreds of critically sensitive acres in the vicinity of the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County on the Eastern Shore.
November 22, 2006
Now Comes The Hard Part With the Maryland general elections over and one for the history books, the really hard part begins for Maryland Governor-elect Martin O'Malley, currently mayor of Baltimore: the business of governing.
November 15, 2006
A Marine Corps Birthday Present The United States Marine Corps has had significant participation in every American armed conflict since November 10, 1775; and its role as a rapid deployment force to fully defend our nation against terrorist threats and to effectuate foreign policy has never been more important than today.
November 11, 2006
Veteran's Day Today is Veterans Day: a day originally set aside to pay respect to the veterans who fought in World War I.
November 8, 2006
Rumsfeld must stay Just in time for the mid-term elections, the Military Times Media Group, which publishes the Army Times, Marine Times, Air Force Times and Navy Times, ran an editorial last weekend which pronounces: "Rumsfeld must go."
November 1, 2006
Michael Steele Endorsement Last Monday brought more good news for the Michael Steele campaign for Maryland US Senator.
October 25, 2006
When It Rains Frogs Perhaps I have my head in the sand and suffer from a great reality disconnect, but I'm just not buying the grand Democratic Wave Theory that is being drubbed into everyone's head these days by the main stream media.
October 18, 2006
Barbra! Shut Up and Sing Last June it was announced that Barbra Streisand would begin a fall North American tour on October 4. The tour, her first since 1994, is scheduled to have 20 shows.
October 11, 2006
A Sale from Hell In the wee early morning hours of Monday, PNC, a $94.9 billion bank based in Pittsburgh announced that an agreement had been reached to purchase Maryland's largest independent bank, Mercantile Bankshares Corporation, in a $6 billion deal.
October 4, 2006
Oriana Fallaci: A Refreshing Approach On September 15, Oriana Fallaci, the Italian lioness of letters, died of cancer. Although Ms. Fallaci was one of the world's greatest conservative artists of letters; she is - to this day - relatively unknown in the United States.
September 27, 2006
Mike Miller: He's a Contender Last Wednesday evening, the telephone wires and computer screens lit-up across the state screaming that Maryland Senate President Thomas V. (Mike) Miller, Jr., (D., Calvert and Prince George's) took offense at a land-use hearing in southern Maryland at someone's verbal support of the Senator Miller's opponent; and it was alleged that he hauled-off and punched him.
September 20, 2006
Lamoned, again The conduct of Maryland's primary election on September 12 is a national disgrace. We've been "Lamoned!" Linda Lamone, that is. You know - the Democrats' state elections administrator for life.
September 13, 2006
Fenno's Paradox In the acid acrimony and caustic commentary of today's political arena, many Moms and Dads at the kitchen table are wondering who to trust - or more to the point, in which candidates or political party to place their faith for the future.
September 6, 2006
An Apple for The Governor It certainly appears that improving education in Maryland is developing into one of the main election issues for Marylanders this fall.
August 30, 2006
Why go negative? The election season is upon us and - like a horde of ravaging locusts - the negative campaigners are out in full force this cycle. Why?
August 23, 2006
Good planets are hard to find! If anything has become evident since the United Nations cease-fire took affect August 14 in the latest go-round between Israel and Hezbollah, it is that no-one won and everybody lost. Ultimately things aren't looking good for the home planet.
August 16, 2006
London's calling On Tuesday, August 8, Connecticut voters got confused on their dates and thought that it was really September 10, 2001.
August 9, 2006
Joe Lieberman v. The Lemmings By the time you read this, the Connecticut primary will be over and we will know whether or not Democrat Sen. Joe Lieberman will be moving on to the General Election in November.
August 2, 2006
Confirm Joltin' John Bolton On March 7, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Baltimorean John R. Bolton to be the United States ambassador to the United Nations. It is time for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - as well as the entire upper chamber - to confirm our Maryland-bred leadership in the U.N.
July 26, 2006
Sharing the Joys of Black Bears A recent event in our neighboring city of Rockville provided another reminder of legislative high-jinks and a caution to Maryland voters in the upcoming election.
July 19, 2006
Fruits and Vegetables for Peace On June 25, in the lower end of the Gaza Strip, very near the border with Egypt, militant Palestinian members of Hamas attacked an Israeli watchtower and two armored vehicles at Kerem Shalom. Two of the Palestinian gunmen were killed as well as two Israeli soldiers. Three other Israeli soldiers were wounded and one soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, was taken hostage.
July 12, 2006
Is it time for Japan to Re-Arm? On the 4th of July, North Korea attacked the Sea of Japan with seven missiles - to the chagrin of the United States and Japan which had repeatedly warned it to discontinue its ballistic missile and nuclear armament program.
July 5, 2006
4th of July Yesterday was the 4th of July and hopefully you had an opportunity to spend the day with your family and loved ones and took time to reflect upon our nation's birthday and the freedoms and opportunities that we have come to understand as inalienable rights.
June 28, 2006
Operation SHAFT Once again, The New York Times has exposed another top secret anti-terrorism plan put in place to protect Americans.
June 27, 2006
The Running Mate Decision As the July 3rd filing deadline approaches, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., will officially announce his candidacy for re-election tomorrow in Arbutus.
June 21, 2006
Mr. Smith: Back to Gaithersburg On June 11, Robert J. Smith referred to homosexuality as ‘‘social deviancy” during a political round-table discussion on a Montgomery County Channel 21 cable show.
June 14, 2006
Flag Day Today is Flag Day in the United States. The Second Continental Congress passed the "Flag Act of 1777" on June 14 that year. It is a mere 32 words: "Resolved, that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."
June 7, 2006
Electrocuting The Elephant In response to a judge's decision on May 30 to overturn Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s "April Plan," to phase-in increases in electric rates, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) decided last Friday to go back to the original "March Plan" to phase in Baltimore Gas & Electric's deregulated electric rates due to go into effect July 1.
May 31, 2006
The Great Mexican Maginot Line Last Thursday, the United States Senate passed the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006" by a vote of 62 to 36. The legislation has sparked rigorous and rancorous debate as it supports a bi-partisan, multi-disciplinary approach to the challenges of immigration reform embraced by President George W. Bush.
May 24, 2006
Lest We Forget! Monday is Memorial Day. It was almost 140 years ago that the tradition of setting aside a day to honor our country's fallen heroes began with Gen. John A. Logan's May 5th, 1868 General Order No. 11 to adorn the graves of Union soldiers with flowers.
May 17, 2006
The Water Wars Are Heating Up The increasing problems over water availability as a key component of the current warfare over growth are only going to continue to be complex, contentious and difficult.
May 10, 2006
A Tale of Double Standards Two well-known national personalities, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D., RI) were recently in the news for suffering from the misuse of prescription medicines. The two events had different outcomes. You be the judge as to why.
May 3, 2006
Congressional Pork: The Other Red Meat A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll provided insight into the mind of the electorate. We are tired of pork, otherwise known as “earmarks.” And, rightfully so.
April 26, 2006
Baltimore’s Sun Still Dimming April Fool’s Day has come and gone, however, the spirit of the day lives large in the way we get our news the rest of the year. Some will say that for too long, the joke has been on us.
April 19, 2006
Guess Who’s Coming to the Election In a remake of the classic 1967 movie, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” the royal blue portion of Old Line State just doesn’t quite know what to make of the continuing success of Maryland’s Dr. Prentice – Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.
April 12, 2006
Governor Crothers, Meet Dan Rodricks Recently Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks wrote a remarkable column that may earn itself an Olympic honorable mention in the annals of populist political propaganda: “Legislators grabbed power to put public back in Public Service Commission (PSC).”
April 5, 2006
Shock and Amps – the Second Candle Members of the Maryland General Assembly’s leadership deserve a lifetime achievement award for ducking their responsibilities, scapegoating and obfuscating the truth in their response to the rate caps coming off Baltimore Gas and Electric as a result of the 1999 electric deregulation legislation.
April 4, 2006
Shock and Amps The recent power surge of Maryland General Assembly legislative initiatives in response to the end of the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company’s electric rate price freeze ought to be referred to as the “Omnibus Rolling Blackout Acts of 2006.”
March 29, 2006
Who was Gordon Parks? On March 7, a cultural icon and one of America’s greatest artists, Gordon Parks, passed away at the too-young age of 93. Born in abject poverty, Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks came into this world on November 12, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas, a new addition to a tenant farming family.
March 22, 2006
The Art of Community Quality of life issues, including, but certainly not limited to, growth and sprawl, traffic congestion, overcrowded schools, art and cultural opportunities, and local community employment are on the minds of citizens throughout Maryland.
March 15, 2006
Who is Wendi Thomas? In an internal memo distributed to Baltimore Sun employees last Friday, it was announced that Wendi Thomas, an award winning newspaper columnist from Memphis, will be joining the newspaper in April replacing former Michael Olesker, who retired in January.
March 8, 2006
An Oscar Tribute to the Maryland National Guard Like most Americans, I missed the Oscars Sunday night. I was too busy sorting my socks according to color.
March 1, 2006
A Worm in An Apple In the theater we know as Maryland state government, House Bill 588 and Senate Bill 793 should be referred to as the “Common Sense Ethics Act of 2006.” This legislation involves three issues dear to many voters – farming, ethics and the environment. Otherwise stated, regulations to protect the Chesapeake Bay are only as good as the availability and capability of the professionals hired to implement the laws.
February 24, 2006
Kelly’s Dream Deferred On February 16, it became official that a longstanding friend of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., conservative Western Maryland Democratic Del. Kevin Kelly, would not have his name submitted to fill the judicial vacancy of the District Court of Maryland for Allegany County.
February 22, 2006
Annex This Once again the Maryland General Assembly is being asked to step between municipalities and county governments over an issue that threatens the peace and tranquility that should exist between them. This time another crisis is building over growth and development.
February 16, 2006
It’s Really Opera! – Part 2 Mark Twain wrote: "The only difference between fiction and nonfiction is that fiction should be completely believable." Is there evidence that Mr. Twain ever visited the Maryland General Assembly?
February 15, 2006
It's really opera! Join in the Fun Many phrases have been used lately, to describe the Maryland General Assembly: political theater, drama, intrigue, melodramatic and entertaining. The answer to the question as to what it really is: it’s opera!
February 8, 2006
Why Tax Military Pensions? In his State of the State address, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich mentioned an important legislative proposal to “exempt from state taxes military retirement income earned by those with two decades of service.”
February 1, 2006
Who is Donna Brazile? Donna Brazile, campaign manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000, recently was the featured speaker at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Celebration at McDaniel College, in Westminster.
January 26, 2006
An Upside Down World The problem with words… The war over what words are appropriate for online versions of newspapers hit The Washington Post last week. Whether we like it or not, it is a drama that will come to our local newspapers soon.
January 25, 2006
How is Internet media held accountable? On January 19 The Washington Post put an abrupt end to one of the components of the latest experiments in this grass roots democracy dynamic we call blogs – the real-time, live “comment” section.
January 18, 2006
''We all share a dream'' The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was born 77 years ago on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, GA. He is best remembered as a courageous civil rights leader in the tumultuous era of the late 1950s and 1960s when America finally addressed the scourge of racism and worked to transform our country into a more just and humane society for everyone.
January 12, 2006
The Kool-Aid Acid Test As this column is being written, the opening session of the Maryland General Assembly is still a couple of days away. It is looking increasingly like “Open Season” rather than “Opening Day.”
January 11, 2006
Journalism in 2005 When one thinks of the mainstream media in 2005, the consistent theme is that of a reluctant, haughty and often pretentious dinosaur with its out-of-touch editorial boards. One can only hope 2006 is better.
January 4, 2006
A Tale of Two Introductions Tim Franklin was brought on board by Baltimore’s Sun in January 2004 to navigate the paper through the treacherous waters that has become the newspaper business in a new era. In December 2005, Bo Harmon was brought on board to navigate Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich through the treacherous waters that we have come to know as Maryland politics for the next election.
December 28, 2005
Operation Mata Hari In the war against terrorism, folks, whose only goal is to promote themselves in total disregard for our safety, recently launched “Operation Mata Hari.”
December 23, 2005
Anther Envy Merry Christmas. As an incredible year draws to a close, we learn that the gender of Santa’s reindeer is in question, Barbie dolls in England are being tortured, Kathy Afzali has uttered the words “Merry Christmas” in public and – in Belgium – they are napalming the Smurf village.
December 21, 2005
Who is Max Cleland? The Maryland Democratic Party’s election campaign website, otherwise known as Baltimore’s Sun (BS), ran a “news story” December 10 on Bo Harmon, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich’s selection to be his campaign manager.
December 14, 2005
Politics in the Enchanted Forest The political silly season has already begun in Howard County, known as the former home of the "Enchanted Forest." In our neighboring county, politics have recently started to resemble the storybook theme park that prospered in Ellicott City from 1955 to 1988.
December 8, 2005
The Lieutenant Governor Decision Now that Lt. Gov. Michael Steele is off and running to be our next U.S. senator from Maryland, many are wondering just who would make a good choice for a running mate for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich. Never mind that the election is almost a year away.
December 7, 2005
Why We Have a Lieutenant Governor How did Maryland ever survive without a lieutenant governor? In over 371 years, there has been a constitutional office for that job for only 38 years.
November 30, 2005
Winning Over Hearts and Minds Folks who want to draw broad sweeping partisan conclusions from the results of Frederick’s recent election – or for that matter, Virginia’s or New Jersey’s elections, are grasping at straws. “All politics are local.”
November 21, 2005
Time to put 2005 behind us As the holidays approach, it is time to learn the lessons of 2005 and put it behind us. 2006 will be another long year. If the liberal media and the Democratic Party are setting their sights on the mid-term elections in 2006, they will need to do better than this fall’s bad polling numbers.
November 16, 2005
Insensitive Moment Many have routinely enjoyed reading Charles Krauthammer’s syndicated columns in The Washington Post since 1985. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for distinguished commentary. His column appears in 150 newspapers across the nation and many enjoy his commentary as a regular on Fox News’ Special Report with Brit Hume.
November 11, 2005
Veterans Day “My family is going to go to Gettysburg on Veterans Day. What’s Veterans Day?” The words come from a little sandy-haired child as I was leaving an elementary school in Westminster after giving a talk to two third grade classes on “Living in Carroll County.”
November 9, 2005
The Appalling Silence We're waiting. The time is now. Responsible leaders of the Democratic Party must denounce the blatant racism being used in reference to the United States senatorial candidacy of Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.
November 2, 2005
Gray Ladies Down American newspapers are in deep trouble. I have mixed feelings about this. For many of us who have hit the half-century mark, we remember the days when the bulk of our news was delivered by several newspapers in a single day. This gave us the news from many different points of view.
October 26, 2005
Frederick's Future Is Here For the past several years many have said that Frederick needs to do things differently in the future. On Election Day, next Tuesday, the future is now. It's time to begin all over again.
October 19, 2005
“The Sun and the Bay” A big advantage of advancing age is that you get to recognize news media silliness when it happens. Many in the agriculture community did not find the July 26th article in Baltimore’s Sun by Tom Pelton to be silly and are quite annoyed.
October 12, 2005
Working on the Farm On September 20 the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) released its long awaited olive branch to the agriculture community in Maryland. CBF was founded in 1967 and their website reports that it "is the largest conservation organization dedicated solely to saving the Chesapeake Bay watershed."
October 5, 2005
Kurosawa's History of Hurricane Katrina American Anthropologist Ernest Albert Hooten once said: "History is principally the inaccurate narration of events which ought not to have happened." How will history record Hurricane Katrina?
September 28, 2005
What You Did Not Know about California San Diego – September 15 - Greetings from the conservative bastion of California. As I have quickly learned, California’s reputation as a left-wing redoubt is overly simplistic and certainly not totally correct.
September 21, 2005
One Small Step for Civility "In a decent society that wishes to survive as a self-sustaining democracy, there must be a high degree of civility, because that mirrors the respect that we have not only for our constitutional order but for our fellow citizens."
September 14, 2005
Katrina – Who Did What and When? The intemperate criticism directed at the Hurricane Katrina response – the rescue and recover efforts – is more polluted than the floodwaters of New Orleans and contributes nothing to a noble American tradition of coming together at a difficult time and helping fellow Americans in a time of need.
September 9, 2005
Shut up and call the cavalry Compassion exceeds all else in importance on the Gulf Coast in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Only the truly heartless can be left untouched. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and the rescuers.
September 7, 2005
The 2005 Maryland Luddite Act Competition is stiff as to which piece of legislation dropped in the hopper during the 420th session of the Maryland General Assembly, was truly the most thoughtless and imprudent - bar none! House Bill 514/Senate Bill 401 wins the 2005 Luddite Bill of the Year Award.
August 31, 2005
Respect for Conscience U. S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R., TN) is currently the target of an advertising campaign in Iowa criticizing him for voting his conscience and backing expanded embryonic stem cell research.
August 24, 2005
Cindy Sheehan’s Texas Quagmire Just when you thought that Dr. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was one fry short of a happy meal, in walks – stage left, way-left – Cindy Sheehan to super-size the totally bizarre state of political discourse in our great country.
August 17, 2005
A Ray of Hope in an Age of Arrogance When Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, (Order of Canada), passed away on August 7, it was the passing of an era for the traditional “Big Three” televised news broadcasts.
August 12, 2005
Maryland Agriculture’s Seat at the Table - Part 3 Last February, Gov. Robert Ehrlich announced that he would be conducting a forum on the issues of Agriculture in Maryland on February 13, 2006, at the Prince George's County Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro.
August 11, 2005
Maryland Agriculture's Seat at the Table - Part 2 When it comes to Maryland Agriculture, we are in a deep hole and need to climb out. Moreover, it seems that the hole has been getting deeper while we have tried to turn things around.
August 10, 2005
Agriculture's Seat at the Table - Part 1 When Gov. Robert Ehrlich first took office, one of the many welcome things he said was that agriculture in Maryland "had a seat at the table."
August 3, 2005
Cowadunga! More Absurdity! In the far away distant land of California, concern about air quality has spawned a new law requiring air permits for all agricultural operations whose methane gas emissions exceed a certain threshold. I'm not making this up.
July 29, 2005
A Quiet Family Nags Head Vacation – Part 3 Today, the treasure to be found on the Outer Banks is in the form of real estate. The place in which we are staying is on the market. The fiscal conservative in me naively wanted to inquire, thinking perhaps, that if we are going to keep coming down here, year after year, for many years in the future, we may as well own the place and rent it out the balance of the year, and get our vacation free.
July 28, 2005
A Quiet Family Nags Head Vacation – Part 2 Many folks use the term “Nags Head” to generically describe what is really North Carolina’s “Outer Banks.” They consist of 125 miles of narrow islands just off the Atlantic coast.
July 27, 2005
A Quiet Family Nags Head Vacation - Part 1 As I keyboard this, I am on a private, intimate and quiet vacation with my wife, and, uhm, 15 members of my extended family, in a "small vacation cottage" in Nags Head, North Carolina, a favorite vacation destination for many folks. I guess "private, intimate and quiet" are relative terms. All right, it is NOT private, intimate or quiet, but I sure am enjoying myself.
July 21, 2005
A Skunk by Any Other Name Still Stinks If there was ever proof that evolution can go in reverse, it is the news that House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., have actually (for real, I’m not making this up) appointed a committee of inquiry to look “into the personnel polices of the Ehrlich administration.”
July 15, 2005
Local Government’s Nuclear Option – Part 3 Immediately after the U. S. Constitution was adopted, few questioned the public taking of land for a new national capital. Two hundred years later, I am not quite sure our Founding Fathers meant to allow a Donald Trump to convince the Atlantic City government to condemn the home of an elderly widow so he could build a limousine parking lot.
July 14, 2005
Local Government’s Nuclear Option – Part 2 Before 1954, eminent domain issues were primarily focused on the government’s ability to lawfully obtain private land for public projects and just compensation. Since 1954, in the current era of the eminent domain mess, the issue has been extended to deal with the expansionist liberal Supreme Court’s interpretation of the definition of public use to include: “highest and best use” private sector economic development.
July 13, 2005
Local Government’s Nuclear Option – Part 1 I have heard it said that no property, money or individuals’ rights are safe when the Democrat-controlled Maryland General Assembly is in session. After June 23, 2005, perhaps we can expand that to say: or when the U.S. Supreme Court is in session.
July 6, 2005
July 4th's Rights and Responsibilities The 4th of July has always been one of my cherished holidays. As a student of history, I have accepted July 4th as the celebration of the American Spirit.
July 1, 2005
Moving the Primary Date – It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again – Part 3 Westminster – Governor Spiro Agnew was the 55th governor of the State of Maryland since 1776. My research indicates that he was the 14th Republican governor (if you include the five ‘Democrat-Republican’ governors between 1801 and 1812 and you count Governor Thomas H. Hicks (1858 – 1862), who started out a Democrat and later changed parties to Republican. Seems that there have been so few Republican governors, that the Democrats react very badly every time it happens.
June 30, 2005
Moving the Primary Date - It's Déjà Vu All Over Again - Part 2 Westminster - Most all Marylanders were proud when Gov. Spiro Theodore Agnew (born Spiro Anagnostopoulos) was elected vice-president of the United States in 1968. (The second Marylander to hold such a high office if you include John Hanson, the 1st President of the United States, November 5, 1781 to November 4, 1782, under the Articles of Confederation.)
June 29, 2005
Moving the Primary Date – It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again – Part 1 Westminster - And now the Democrats in Annapolis, in all their wisdom, have introduced a House of Delegates’ bill to fulfill their blind obsession to change next year's Maryland State primary from the second Tuesday in September to June 20; “in the voters’ best interests”. But of course!
June 22, 2005
Mark Felt is No Hero Westminster - So Mark Felt, once the second highest-ranking FBI officer in America, has decided to come clean after 32 years. In a Vanity Fair magazine article, he wore his best pair of flip-flops and now admits that he was, after all the denials for over three decades, "Deep Throat". (Remember his remarks in 1974: "It was not I, and it is not I.")
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