20060526 KDDC The 50 greatest conservative rock songs NRO

TOP 50 CONSERVATIVE SONGS

What a fun weekend quick read. Hat tip: Michelle Malkin calls our attention to a column by John J. Miller of the National Review Online in which he lists the top fifty all time best conservative rock songs.

TOP 50 CONSERVATIVE SONGS

By Michelle Malkin · May 26, 2006 09:21 AM

John Mellencamp? Sammy Hagar? Kid Rock? The Who? Yup, they're all on National Review's list.

Take a look--and bring your iPod.

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The 50 greatest conservative rock songs.

May 26, 2006, 6:59 a.m.

Rockin' the Right

By John J. Miller

EDITOR’S NOTE: This week on NRO, we’ve been rolling out the first five and now all 50 songs from a list John J. Miller compiled that appears in the June 5 issue of National Review . Here’s a look at #1 and get the whole list—complete with purchasing links—here.

On first glance, rock ’n’ roll music isn’t very conservative. It doesn’t fare much better on second or third glance (or listen), either. Neil Young has a new song called “Let’s Impeach the President.” Last year, the Rolling Stones made news with “Sweet Neo Con,” another anti-Bush ditty. For conservatives who enjoy rock, it isn’t hard to agree with the opinion Johnny Cash expressed in “The One on the Right Is on the Left”: “Don’t go mixin’ politics with the folk songs of our land / Just work on harmony and diction / Play your banjo well / And if you have political convictions, keep them to yourself.” In other words: Shut up and sing.

But some rock songs really are conservative — and there are more of them than you might think. Last year, I asked readers of National Review Online to nominate conservative rock songs. Hundreds of suggestions poured in. I’ve sifted through them all, downloaded scores of mp3s, and puzzled over a lot of lyrics. What follows is a list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs of all time, as determined by me and a few others. The result is of course arbitrary, though we did apply a handful of criteria.

What makes a great conservative rock song? The lyrics must convey a conservative idea or sentiment, such as skepticism of government or support for traditional values. And, to be sure, it must be a great rock song. We’re biased in favor of songs that are already popular, but have tossed in a few little-known gems. In several cases, the musicians are outspoken liberals. Others are notorious libertines. For the purposes of this list, however, we don’t hold any of this against them. Finally, it would have been easy to include half a dozen songs by both the Kinks and Rush, but we’ve made an effort to cast a wide net. Who ever said diversity isn’t a conservative principle?

So here are NR’s top 50 conservative rock songs of all time. Go ahead and quibble with the rankings, complain about what we put on, and send us outraged letters and e-mails about what we left off. In the end, though, we hope you’ll admit that it’s a pretty cool playlist for your iPod.

Read the entire list here: The 50 greatest conservative rock songs.

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20060525 KDDC Westminster Fire Department Big Money Raffle

Westminster Fire Department Big Money Raffle

Thursday, May 25^th, 2006

Thursday evening was the occasion of the Westminster Fire Department’s Big Money raffle. This is the major fund raising event of the year for the Fire Department.

Attached to this post are some photos that I took. Unfortunately, my camera battery died on me early in the event and these are the only photos that I got.

As usual, it was a sold out event. There are only 3000 chances sold for $10.00 each. In return the ticket holder gets all the fried chicken, hot dogs, potato chips, pretzels, macaroni salad and sauerkraut that they can eat and a chance to win any of nine prizes. First prize is $10,000.00. Second prize is $1250.00. Third prize is $1,000.00. Fourth prize is $500.00. Fifth and sixth prize is $250.00 and seventh, eighth and ninth prize is $100.00.

This year’s $10,000.00 winner is a well-known community leader that is sure to do good things with the money.

I’m not sure how many years we have had this raffle, but the idea is certainly not new. According to an article from the J. Leland Jordan Collection, c. January 1896, provided to me by Jay Graybeal of the Historical Society of Carroll County, 210 East Main Street, Westminster, Maryland 21157, a number of years ago:

“In 1840 the citizens petitioned the legislature to pass an act enabling them to hold a lottery to raise $5,000 to purchase a new fire engine, build a new engine-house, town hall and market-house, but nothing came of it.”

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

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20060525 KDDC 1974 Carroll County Office Building

January 8th, 1974 Carroll County Office Building

Recently Ralph Green, the Director of General Services for Carroll County, sent out an e-mail about a construction project at the Carroll County Office Building at 225 North Center Street, which is going to close the main rear entrance of the building from May 30^th, 2006, for approximately two weeks.

Apparently the ramp and rear entrance are going to be completely replaced?

The e-mail brought back memories as I worked on the Carroll County Office Building when it was first built in 1973-1974.

The picture attached to this post was taken by me on January 8^th, 1974. I worked on the Carroll County Office Building from December 31, 1973 to April 11, 1974. I worked for F&S Masonry as a mason’s tender and one of the jobs I had during that time period was helping set all the cap stones on the building.

Somewhere, I have a bunch of pictures from when I worked on the building – and I have a history of the building written-up. Sometime in my spare time, I’d like to dig those pictures and that information out…

Oh – are you aware that the County Office Building was built on swampland. There was a house there that I remember. I do have a very poor aerial photocopy of a photograph of the area…, which shows the house and the out-buildings. I think that I can get a better copy of the photograph…

As a matter of fact, as I wrote in my January 25^th, 2006 Westminster Eagle column, “Days of swine and ice cream greeted 20th century Westminster:”

Mrs. S. LaRue Crowl recently wrote to share with me that her grandfather, J. David Crowl, "owned and operated an ice cream factory on Center Street - the very spot where the Carroll County Office Building is now located.

"I don't know the exact dates of operation," she said, "but am assuming it was somewhere from 1910 through the 1920s.

"He died in 1931. My father, Ernest Crowl, would often tell how, as a boy, on Sundays he would deliver a half gallon of ice cream to the homes on Willis Street for a quarter."

Folks may be surprised to know – at least as I understand it - that Center Street did not go all the way to Rte 140, when Rte 140 was built.

I was not quite one year old when Rte 140 was dedicated, although I remember “Crowl Town” well. So some of this is from folklore and the memory of a small child.

Center Street only went to Crowl Town, which was a large group of houses between the stream that parallels Rte 140 and Rte 140 itself.

At the stream, there was a wooden bridge that allowed access to Crowl Town, but I do not believe that Center Street went all the way to Rte 140. If anyone remembers this differently, let me know.

Now, does anyone remember the name of the gas station at the corner of Center Street and Rte 140?

Meanwhile I’ll paste the rest of Mr. Green’s e-mail below, for those who need to visit the office building in the next several weeks.

“

The temporary public entrance effective Tuesday, May 30th and during the construction time will be at the lower level at the Public Hearing Room 003/004. Handicap access as well as parking will be designated and signs will be posted for directional purposes. Public parking will also be designated in that area.

Employees with access cards can continue to use all other entrances to enter the building.

The bailiffs will relocate to the lower level entrance and will direct visitors to other areas of the building via the public elevators. Anyone not sure of where they are going or the bailiffs don't know which office to send them to will be directed to the public information desk on the first floor via the public

The existing public parking area can be used by staff during this time so our customers can park and access the temporary entrance to conduct business.

The areas the contractor will be working in and staging materials in will be taped off to accommodate construction needs. Parking is permitted in any area not taped off and can be used by staff as well as visitors to the building. Remember to park in designated parking spaces only so construction equipment and deliveries can access the aisles of the parking lot.

Facilities will be taping off areas and installing temporary directional signs, handicap parking signs, etc., tomorrow afternoon, Friday, May 26^th, in preparation for the construction to begin on Tuesday when you return to work from the Memorial Day Holiday.

Any changes, as well as more information, will be communicated via e-mail to everyone by Tom Rio, Bureau of Building Construction.

I appreciate your cooperation and we will make this inconvenience as short as possible.

Thank you!