20061026 Blogospheric recognition from George Washington’s IPDI

Blogospheric recognition from George Washington’s IPDI

Blogospheric recognition from George Washington University’s “Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet”

» WHO'S BLOGGING THE 2006 MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA ELECTIONS?

October 26th, 2006

THANKS! IPDI!

Grazing through my fellow Maryland Blogger Alliance member’s web sites yesterday, I noticed a post by my colleague Bruce Godfrey at Crablaw’s Maryland Weekly that caught my attention.

He wrote in a post titled “Congratulations to Maryland Blogger Alliance Member Kevin Dayhoff” :

“Maryland Blogger Alliance member Kevin Dayhoff was recognized by the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet for his coverage of the Maryland elections as a "must read" - I concur totally. Congrats, Kevin! posted by Bruce Godfrey at 10/24/2006 03:08:00 AM PERMALINK”

Holy Cow! That’s me.

Thanks a bunch Mr. Godfrey for calling it to my attention.

What an honor, especially since I look up to my colleagues with the Maryland Bloggers Alliance for what a great job they all do.

And it was not lost on me; after I followed the links graciously provided by Crablaw, that another MBA member, Free State Politics was also recognized. Congratulations.

So I humbly accept the recognition on behalf of all my colleagues with the Maryland Blogger Alliance and all the bloggers out there who slave away for long hours trying to make a difference and a contribution to our greater community by promoting facts and information, discussion and dialogue.

I am well aware of Dave Wissing’s excellent work at the Hedgehog Report. For all political junkies who appreciate numbers and commentary, there is no one better. And the work that the “Gang of Four” are doing with the elections in Howard County is cutting edge.

I finally had a chance this afternoon to take a cruise of all the sites and it is an impressive compendium of work. I got lots of value going through the Virginia bloggers’ sites and I recommend that you also find the time for that virtual cruise.

Congratulations to everyone who made the list.

Anyway, Here’s the skinny:

George Washington University’s “Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet” top 12 Maryland and Virginia political blogs.

» WHO'S BLOGGING THE 2006 MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA ELECTIONS?

Labor Day marks the official start of the political season, and the Institute has turned its attention to local and state races. This month, we look at who's blogging about Maryland and Virginia politics.

Below is our shortlist of six must-read blogs in Maryland and six in Virginia:

Maryland

Free State Politics – http://freestatepolitics.blogspot.com/Montgomery Public Schools – http://montgomerypublicschools.blogspot.com/Maryland Politics Now – http://www.mdpoliticsnow.com/?cat=1The Hedgehog Report – http://www.hedgehogreport.com/Blog Arundel – http://arundel.blogspot.com/Kevin Dayhoff – http://www.kevindayhoff.com/

Virginia

Not Larry Sabato – http://notlarrysabato.typepad.com/Raising Kaine – http://www.raisingkaine.com/frontPage.doCommonwealth Conservative – http://www.vaconservative.com/The Virginia Progressive – http://vaprogressive.com/Two Conservatives – http://twoconservatives.blogspot.com/Skeptical Observer – http://skepticalobservor.blogspot.com/

LEARN MORE and view our complete list HERE.

Whoa. Okay, talk with ya later. I’ve now gotta take out the trash, get dinner ready for my wife and do the dishes.

PS: Also please see:
Thanks to George Washington University’s Institute for Politics,…
Internet Accolade

“Soundtrack” Labels: Blogosphere, Elections 2006 MD, Erratum, Maryland Bloggers Alliance, Personal, Recognition, Virginia Issues

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org www.thetentacle.com Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report www.thewestminstereagle.com www.kevindayhoff.com has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

20061015 Who was Oriana Fallaci?

Who was Oriana Fallaci?

October 15, 2006

Author’s note: I finally had a chance to clean-up earlier “versions” and re-write the piece with no word limitations…

For my earlier posts about Ms. Fallaci, please see: “20060915 Italian lioness of letters Oriana Fallaci had died;” “20060917 Oriana Fallaci buried today Sun Sept 17 2006;” “20061003 Who was Oriana Fallaci?;” and here in The Tentacle: “Oriana Fallaci, a refreshing approach.”

_____

October 15, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff (1370 words)

On September 15, Oriana Fallaci, the Italian lioness of letters, died of cancer.

Although Ms. Fallaci was one of the world’s greatest artists of letters; she is today, relatively unknown in the United States.

A prolific – quite controversial - journalist and existential writer with an aggressive and indefatigable approach to life, she had been shot several times and left for dead, had torrid affairs and put on trial.

She never skipped a beat.

Born in Italy on June 29, 1929 Ms. Fallaci served in the fascist resistance during World War II. She began her journalistic career in 1950 as a teenager and went on to be a war correspondent in Vietnam, the Middle East, South America and the Indo-Pakistani Wars.

According to published accounts, “During the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre prior to the 1968 Summer Olympics, Fallaci was shot three times, dragged down stairs by her hair, and left for dead by Mexican armed forces.”

She continued her career by interviewing many of the world leaders of our time and consistently took no prisoners. Her journalistic style is the stuff of mythology and legend.

Ms. Fallaci would often wax philosophical about existentialism and then abruptly switch to calmly delivered, aggressive questioning that disarmed the greatest men of words. The many world leaders she interviewed included Henry Kissinger, the Shah of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, Lech Wałęsa, Willy Brandt, Walter Cronkite, Omar Khadafi, Yasir Arafat, Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Sean Connery.

In later years she penned a series of books and articles in which she was critical of the Muslim religion and culture.

It was only by a cruel coincidence that she passed away three days after Pope Benedict XVI, in a speech on Sept. 12, at the University of Regensburg in Germany, recited the words of Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus; which reflect a view that the religion of Islam is spread by the sword.

Militant and extremist Muslims throughout the Middle East objected to that characterization by violently demonstrating, burning churches and killing innocent folks.

Hmmm. Okay, moving on,

Ms. Fallaci, an existentialist and an atheist publicly stated on August 27, 2005, her respect and admiration of Pope Benedict, specifically citing his 2004 essay entitled "If Europe Hates Itself,” after she met with the Pope in a private audience.

“Fallaci, who made her name interviewing statesmen (and not a few tyrants), believes that ours is "an age without leaders. We stopped having leaders at the end of the 20th century".”(Varadarajan, Telegraph, Apr. 9, 2005)

Ms. Fallaci, the subject of radical Islamists’ death threats, was diagnosed with cancer several years ago.

She was living in New York; in part, to avoid prosecution in her native Italy “under provisions of the Italian penal code for "vilipendio", or "vilification", of "any religion admitted by the state,” according to an article by Tunku Varadarajan in the Telegraph in Great Britain on April 9, 2005. (She quietly returned to Italy just days before her death, so that she could die in her native country.)

"When I was given the news, I laughed," Fallaci says of her indictment.

"Bitterly, of course, but I laughed. No amusement, no surprise, because the trial is nothing else but a demonstration that everything I've written is true." (Varadarajan, Telegraph, Apr. 9, 2005)

The article had the long descriptive title: “The moment you give up your principles, and your values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period.”

When Tunku Varadarajan interviewed Ms. Fallaci for the Telegraph article, shortly after an Italian judge had indicted her, she was in “her mid-seventies and stricken with a cancer that, for the moment, permits only the consumption of liquids - so yes, we drank champagne in the course of a three-hour interview.”

“She pauses to light a slim black cigarillo and take a sip of champagne…

She professes to "cry, sometimes, because I'm not 20 years younger, and I'm not healthy. But if I were, I would even sacrifice my writing to enter politics somehow." (Varadarajan, Telegraph, Apr. 9, 2005)

(This writer certainly understands “I would even sacrifice my writing to enter politics somehow.")

To add some punctuation to his article, Tunka Varadarajan then emphasized: "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder," the historian Arnold Toynbee wrote, and these words could certainly be Fallaci's. She is in a black gloom about Europe and its future: "The increased presence of Muslims in Italy, and in Europe, is directly proportional to our loss of freedom."

Tunka Varadarajan elaborated:

There is about her a touch of Oswald Spengler, the German philosopher and prophet of decline, as well as a flavour of Samuel Huntington and his clash of civilisations. But above all there is pessimism, pure and unashamed. When I ask what "solution" there might be to prevent the European collapse of which she speaks, she flares up like a lit match.

"How do you dare to ask me for a solution? It's like asking Seneca for a solution. You remember what he did?" She then gestures at slashing her wrists. "He committed suicide!" Seneca was accused of being involved in a plot to murder the emperor Nero. Without a trial, he was ordered by Nero to kill himself. One senses that Fallaci sees in Islam the shadow of Nero.

"What could Seneca do?" she asks, with a discernible shudder. "He knew it would end that way - with the fall of the Roman Empire. But he could do nothing."

The cause of her most recent problems surfaced in a book that she wrote in 2004, called: “The Force of Reason,” which has reportedly sold over a million copies worldwide.

Part of the problem is a particularly indelicate passage in which she said, Muslims "multiply like rats" and said "the children of Allah spend their time with their bottoms in the air, praying five times a day;" according to an Associated Press article written by Alessandra Rizzo and published the day she passed away.

This just threw salt in a wounded relationship Ms. Fallaci had maintained since she published another best-seller, days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001: “The Rage and the Pride.” This book also drew condemnation by the militant Muslim world.

There was an unsuccessful effort in France in 2003, to ban the book. This effort in France came on the heels of a Swiss arrest warrant for Ms. Fallaci when Italy was asked to either extradite her or put her on trial themselves.

Part of what annoyed folks in Switzerland and France was Ms. Fallaci referring to Europe in “The Rage and the Pride,” as “Eurabia.” She describes latest wave of suicidal appeasement and pacifism sweeping “Eurabia” and calls it a continent that has collectively “sold itself and sells itself to the enemy like a prostitute… "Europe becomes more and more a province of Islam, a colony of Islam…”

Tunka Varadarajan quotes Ms. Fallaci: “You cannot survive if you do not know the past. We know why all the other civilizations have collapsed - from an excess of welfare, of richness, and from lack of morality, of spirituality.”

As much as I’m not sure that I agree with Ms. Fallaci’s strident views on the Muslim religion, or that the Pope’s remarks were productive towards a meaningful dialogue with the Muslim world community; the approach of the late Ms. Fallaci and the Pope towards the extremists and terrorists is never-the-less thought provoking - - a hallmark of Ms. Fallaci’s brilliant work, whether one agrees with her or disagrees. (This writer takes no position on her politics. I respect her First Amendment rights and admire her “genius;” her “life of letters” and her joie de vie.)

It is only an existential, if not quixotic, perversion of reality that a child of the persecution of World War II, for which she became a legendary member of the resistance, a veteran war correspondent who often wrote from first-hand knowledge in the combat theatre – and a celebrated woman of letters and words in her seventies and stricken with cancer is persecuted for uttering words, while the world’s community of pandering appeasers apologize for extremist folks who want to kill women and children and you.

Oriana Fallaci will be greatly missed on the world stage.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

####

20061003 Who was Oriana Fallaci?

Who was Oriana Fallaci?

My latest column is up on the Tentacle: “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.

Born in Italy on June 29, 1929, Ms. Fallaci served in the resistance during World War II. She began her journalistic career in 1950 as a teenager and went on to be a war correspondent in Vietnam, the Middle East, South America and the Indo-Pakistani Wars.

She continued her career by interviewing many of the world leaders of our time and consistently took no prisoners. Her aggressive journalistic style is the stuff of myth and legend.

Ms. Fallaci would often wax philosophical about existentialism and then abruptly switch to calmly delivered, aggressive questioning that disarmed the greatest men of words. The many world leaders she interviewed included Henry Kissinger, the Shah of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, Lech Walesa, Willy Brandt, Walter Cronkite, Omar Khadafi, Yasser Arafat, Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Sean Connery.

In later years she penned a series of books and articles in which she was critical of the Muslim religion and culture.

It was only by a cruel coincidence that she passed away three days after Pope Benedict XVI recited the words of Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos at the University of Regensburg in Germany, which reflect a view that the religion of Islam is spread by the sword.

Read the rest of the column here.

For my previous posts about this legendary journalist, go here and here.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org www.thetentacle.com Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report www.thewestminstereagle.com

www.kevindayhoff.com has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

20061001 Election Websites

20061001 Election Websites

October 1, 2006

Beard - Dennis Beard, candidate for Carroll County Commissioner

Brinkley Re-Elect David Brinkley, Dist.4 Frederick and Carroll Cos. Sen. David Brinkley

Cardin - Ben Cardin, candidate for US Senate from Maryland

Carroll County Board of Elections

Carroll County Republican Candidates And Contact Information

Carroll County Times 2006 Election Website

Craig - David Craig for Harford Co. Executive

Gouge - Re-Elect Carroll Co. Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge

Haines - Re-Elect Dist.5 Carroll and Balto. Cos. Sen. Larry Haines

Hogan, Patrick N, (R) Re-elect for Frederick Co. Dist 3A

Kittleman - Elect Dist.9 Howard and Carroll Cos. Sen. Allan Kittleman

League of Women Voters in Carroll County MD

Minnich - Re-Elect Carroll Co. Commissioner Dean Minnich

O'Malley for Maryland Governor election web site

Shewell - Elect Dist.5A Carroll Co. Del. Tanya Shewell

Steele - Elect Michael Steele for Maryland U.S.Senate web site

Stocksdale - Re-elect Dist.5A Carroll Co. Del. Nancy Stocksdale

Vote on Nov. 7, 2006. If you want an absentee ballot, click here

Webb, James - Democratic Candidate for US Senator from Virginia

Zimmer - Mike Zimmer, candidate for Carroll County Commissioner

20060928 New Bedford Herald

New Bedford Herald

THIS BLOG IS BEST VIEWED IN MOZILLA FIREFOX

September 28, 2006

New Bedford Herald - Other columns and articles by Kevin Dayhoff:

www.kevindayhoff.net or http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/index.html

The Tentacle: http://www.thetentacle.com/

Westminster Eagle (click on "Opinion"): http://news.mywebpal.com/index.cfm?pnpid=978

Westminster Eagle pieces on "Soundtrack": http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/search/label/Westminster%20Eagle

Winchester Report: http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?NPV2Datasource=mywebpal&pnpid=978&show=newscast&CategoryID=18298

Winchester Report Archives: http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?NPV2Datasource=mywebpal&pnpid=978&show=newscast&CategoryID=18298

art literature of the absurd

Sugarshoot

Existentialism

New Bedford Herald

Linkin Park - Numb

Andrew Bird - "Imitosis"

Andrew Bird - "Imitosis".

From the 2007 release "Armchair Apocrypha"

Directed by Britta Johnson

Produced by Xan Aranda

For more: Andrew Bird

20060927 KDDC Winchester Report on Local News in Spanish

My latest post on the Westminster Eagle blog, The Winchester Report, is up. It is: “Local news coverage, in Spanish, of the tragic accident in Westminster.”

09/23/06 By Kevin Dayhoff

Last Tuesday night there was a tragic accident in Westminster in which a bicyclist, a native of Mexico, was killed on Route 140.

The Carroll County Times published an article week by Ari Natter and Tomas Pagan-Motta in the print edition which referred the reader to the story – in Spanish – online.

The Times is to be congratulated for including an article in the language of the victim.

I only wish that the paper had been able to find the space to publish the Spanish version in the print edition. Better yet, I wish I had thought of it first.

[I added the hyperlinks…]

Read the rest of it here.

For pervious posts:

20060921 KDDC Spanish language coverage of the tragic traffic ...

22 Sep 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

In regards to the local news coverage of the tragic accident in Westminster in which a bicyclist was killed on Rte 140, the Carroll County Times published an article today by Ari Natter and Tomas Pagan-Motta in the print edition which ...

20060919 KDDC Bicyclist killed in late night accident on Rte 140 ...

20 Sep 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

A dark stretch of eastbound Rte 140 between the Rte 27 overpass and Center St . in Westminster was the scene of a fatal accident involving a bicyclist and a Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputy late Tuesday evening. ...

####

20060926 KDDC Krauthammer’s Law

Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise

Posted by Kevin Dayhoff Sept. 27^th, 2006

If you have not had a chance to read Charles Krauthammer’s latest column: “Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise,” it is a keeper.

Is it me, or does it seem that the senatorial contest in Virginia just keep getting curiouser and cuiouser?

Can anyone explain to me just what the fact that Governor-Senator Allen has Jewish ancestors have to do with the price of tea in China – or the Senate contest, for that matter? A glick hot dir getrofen.

“Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise”

By Charles Krauthammer

Jewish World Review Sept. 25, 2006 / 3 Tishrei, 5766

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com Strange doings in Virginia. George Allen, former governor, one-term senator, son of a famous football coach and in the midst of a heated battle for reelection, has just been outed as a Jew. An odd turn of events, given that his having Jewish origins has nothing to do with anything in the campaign and that Allen himself was oblivious to the fact until his 83-year-old mother revealed to him last month the secret she had kept concealed for 60 years.

Apart from its political irrelevance, it seems improbable in the extreme that the cowboy-boots-wearing football scion of Southern manner and speech should turn out to be, at least by origins, a son of Israel. For Allen, as he quipped to me, it's the explanation for a lifelong affinity for Hebrew National hot dogs. For me, it is the ultimate confirmation of something I have been regaling friends with for 20 years and now, for the advancement of social science, feel compelled to publish.

Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise. I've had a fairly good run with this one…

Read the rest here.

####

20060926 KDDC Kelsey Volkmann on the Hoff Barn

Kelsey Volkmann on the Hoff Barn

Posted by Kevin Dayhoff September 26th, 2006

Last Friday I missed a nice piece by Kelsey Volkmann in the Baltimore Examiner on the Hoff Barn.

If you missed it: “Historic barn to be rebuilt at museum,” is yet another in a series community newspaper work by Kelsey Volkmann that is worth going out of your way to check out. I periodically do a search on “Volkmann” in the Examiner web site to be sure that I have not missed any of her work.

She begins her article: “Westminster - For more than two centuries, the Hoff barn withstood thunderstorms, blizzards and even a fad in the late 1800s to demolish structures like it because they were considered old-fashioned.

Now, the barn on a New Windsor dairy farm has survived long enough to become one of the oldest log barns in Maryland and earn a spot at the Carroll County Farm Museum, an architectural historian said.

“It’s a large part of what the county was and who the people were who came here. It’s like looking back in time,” said Ken Short, a former historian with the county who is writing a report for the museum on the barn.”

Be sure to read the rest of her piece here.

For past posts by me on the Hoff Barn go:

20060913 KDDC Hoff Memorial Barn ceremonial groundbreaking on ...

13 Sep 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

In the earlier KDDC piece on May 6th, 2006, titled “Historic Hoff Barn Relocation and ... Contributions can be mailed to “The Hoff Barn Project,” PO Box 124 ... Put the words, “The Hoff Barn Project” in the subject line. ...

20060506 Historic Hoff Barn Relocation and Restoration Solicitors ...

7 May 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

Contributions can be mailed to “The Hoff Barn Project,” PO Box 124, Westminster, MD 21158. ... Put the words, “The Hoff Barn Project” in the subject line. ... Marlin K. Hoff ran Coldsprings Farms, the largest dairy operation in the ...

####

20060925 KDDC Cartoon on Carroll County primary elections

“A little group of lit’l green people have landed in my soup”

© Kevin Dayhoff Sept. 13th, 2006

Of schadenfreude and irony

September 25^th, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

Perhaps the cartoon above will explain the results of the Carroll County primary elections. It is as if a group of little green people have landed in Carroll County to provide us with the proverbial “fly in the ointment” to our quality of life.

I’m not really sure if this past Carroll County primary election is a few clowns short of a circus or an experiment in artificial stupidity.

To repeat a wonderful observation by the Washington Post some time ago – that I sure wish I had written: “The numbing repetition of uncorrected falsehoods creates a phony atmosphere of uncertainty around key questions... Eventually voters throw up their hands and accept the fact that they’ll never know for sure what the truth is, and confusion ensues.”

Confusion as to what is real and what is nefarious mythology reigns in Carroll County today and there is plenty of blame for everyone.

Hopefully soon, our community leaders will take heed to the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a January 8th, 1940 speech, in which he said: “The future lies with those wise politicians who realize that the great public is interested more in government that in politics.”

We would all like to think that misrepresentations about the issues or the legacy and performance of a particular candidate or candidates is foreign to what we hold dear as Carroll County values.

That said; our history is replete with examples to the contrary. But that doesn’t mean that in the past such misrepresentations prevailed to sway the outcome of the election or that such negative campaigning represents our values.

To be sure there have been many pivotal elections in Carroll County’s history. Only history will decide if this is one. But looking back 150 years ago to the Carroll County of 1856 is worthy of note.

When Carroll County was formed in 1837, the nation was dealing with the “Panic of 1837,” one of the worst recessions in our nations history.

The late 1840s and early 1850s witnessed many new folks move into Carroll County and roads and infrastructure, jobs creation and access to markets became hotly contested political issues. The new folks agitated aggressively for changes.

It was in this time period that the “Know-Nothing Party” reared its ugly head against immigrants; the scope, size and role of government; local decision making versus federal or centralized state decisions; and just a generalized anger about anything that moved or wanted to move.

The challenge for the elected leadership was the lack of revenue to execute the changes for which many clamored. As the revenue picture brightened, everyone wanted everything for which they had waited for so many years.

The 1837 recession lasted well into the 1840s. In 1851, the form of government in Carroll County was changed from nine commissioners appointed by the governor to three commissioners elected locally to two year terms.

But the acrimony and turmoil of the cry for changes continued, fueled by what some historians call the great Carroll County newspaper war, in which the warring camps fought it out in the newspaper, that is, when they weren’t verbally and physically assaulting each other. And the newspapers certainly threw gasoline on the fire…

Fast-forwarding to the present; my definition of negative campaigning is either a concerted whisper campaign to distort the performance of a candidate or the outright publication of such distortions, either by political ads and literature or by an advocacy oriented newspaper(s).

Selective quotation and trivialities trumping substance in an obvious attempt to distort the facts seem to be the rule of the day. It is always the source of amazement to observe folks who, in the same utterance, plead for understanding and tolerance for their views and then demonize anyone who doesn't agree with them.

A rule among classier community leaders prohibits promoting oneself by personally sniping at someone who holds a different point of view than yours. It is not only bad form but smacks of bullying and could wind up hurting your own cause, as you only look like someone with the warmth and humanity of a water moccasin.

However, it is fascinating to now see folks who have in the past participated in negative campaigning now write columns suggesting the horror of it all in righteous indignation.

In the scalding criticism and politics of personal destruction that passes for contemporary political realism and the social commentary of the day, it is important that we take out a moment to appreciate what a great county we live in and all the positive things for which we have to be thankful.

Not a day passes when we don’t read scathing criticism of someone who has taken time away from his or her family to try and make our community, municipality, county or country a better place. One can be sure that this certainly doesn’t encourage other good folks to step forward and volunteer time for their community.

Any community leader, whether we agree or disagree with his or her ideas, needs to be respected for sticking their head above the crowd to try and make a difference and contribution. It is important to confine our disagreement to their ideas and leave the person, their chosen profession and their family out of it. Remember, you can’t get to heaven based on the sins of others.

The sea change on the part of Carroll County citizens against residential growth in Carroll County has long-since taken a turn for the ugly – and this didn’t take place over-night.

The seeds for the unpleasantness of this past primary election were sown in the 2002 elections when good folks were simplistically demonized in a smear campaign to promote another approach to managing growth in our county.

As much as I continue to have no interest in any hardly any new housing development in Carroll County - - you can’t take away a person’s property rights by plebiscite or an angry mob.

I have grown exhausted with the erosion of our quality of life. Not only the traffic, mind you – but the pollution that pervades the public discourse about residential growth.

Folks seem to feel indemnified to be painfully unpleasant because of their righteous outrage over any new development in the county. Often, but not always, they are the very same folks, who travel to the public hearing from their half-a-million dollar home in what was once a beautiful farm.

However demonizing developers and real estate professionals is a non-starter. Personally attaching an elected official because they have a different point of view about growth, taxation or the size and scope of government, should also be off the table.

The fascinating thing about the primary election for the Carroll County Commissioners is that the one commissioner that was most respectful to those with a different point of view was Commissioner Perry Jones – the only commissioner to not make it through the primary. Go figure.

The worst thing that can happen to a community is that everybody thinks the same way all the time.

But it will be catastrophic if potential leaders are unwilling to step out of the comfortable cocoon of their lives to assume a leadership role or proffer a different point of view for fear of the politics of personal destruction.

If you have the negative energy and the time, anything or anyone can be criticized. It takes only a little misplaced imagination.

Saint Francis of Assisi, who lived back in the 13th Century, said where there is hatred you have to send love; where there is doubt you have to send faith; where there is injury you have to send pardon...

The answer to the problems we face personally and as a society is in being able to bring a higher, more loving, more spiritual energy to whatever it is we confront. When we do, slowly, inch-by-inch, we will become a better society, a better people, and a better world.

A community cannot prosper if individuals fail and we don't rediscover some sense of civility and practice daily acts of kindness to one another.

The answer lies in the ability to listen with respect to those with whom we deeply disagree, in an attempt to catch in their remarks some truth we may have missed, in order to find a meaningful compromise.

Misrepresenting history, comparing our neighbors to nefarious folks from the past and calling folks names is not a good place to begin the healing process for Carroll County. Such righteous indignation, often by the very same folks who have participated in negative campaigning in the past, only perpetuates a negative climate and atmosphere in our community.

Participatory grass roots democracy, open and transparent dialogue is not for the weak of heart. However, if we have learned anything from history, hopefully we have learned that name-calling, pointing fingers, rumor mongering and being impolite, loud, bizarre and disagreeable is not the best way of solving problems.

It is extremely important that we explore alternative ways of peace, positive conflict resolution and nonviolence. It is not necessarily the challenge that counts nearly as much as the thoughtful and well considered response to the challenge.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org www.thetentacle.com Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report www.thewestminstereagle.com www.kevindayhoff.com

20060926 KDDC Russell Mills A Dream Keeper gets recognized

Russell Mills - A Dream Keeper gets recognized

Posted by Kevin Dayhoff on September 26^th, 2006

Speaking of great community oriented newspaper work, it was no surprise for me that when someone called to my attention that there was an article written about the great work of fellow Carrollinian, Russell Mills, Jr., I found the excellent article to be written by Ellie Baublitz: “'Mr. Lion' gets a roar of support,”

Ms. Baublitz must have started writing for the Baltimore Sun when she was in elementary school as I have clippings of her work going back forever…

It would be great if more Baltimore Sun writers took her approach. She has been one of my favorite journalists for quite some time.

On September 24^th, 2006, she penned a great piece about the wonderful community work of Russell Mills, Jr.

It is only fitting and proper that the article came out at the beginning of Fallfest, because when thinks of folks who are the dream keepers in our community, Mr. Mills makes the “A” team quickly and easily.

It is always good to recognize the folks who make this community a wonderful place to live and congratulations are in order for Mr. Russell Mills and a big thank you for Ellie Baublitz for calling to our attention his award.

Among several excerpts that are worthy of your attention are: “Mills was chosen out of 26 nominees for the annual honor at an awards ceremony at the new North Carroll Senior and Community Center.”

“Next month will mark 31 years as a Westminster Lion for Mills. He has been president twice, vice president, fundraiser committee chair, district chair, board member, youth chair, and this year, zone chair, responsible for circulating news to six regional clubs.”

“Ron Brewer, a fellow Lion who nominated Mills, said, ‘He does everything and anything for the Westminster club and any other club he can help out.’”

Read the rest of Ms. Baublitz’s article: “'Mr. Lion' gets a roar of support,” here.

When ya run across Mr. Mills, thank him for everything that he does for our community and be sure to thank Ms. Baublitz for all her good work also.

####

20060924 KDDC Commissioner Candidate Dennis Beard on the issues

Carroll County Commissioner Candidate Dennis Beard on the issues
September 24th, 2006

I recently ran across one of the three Democratic candidates for Carroll County Commissioner, Dennis Beard, at the annual Fallfest parade. Then the other day, he sent me a link to his new web site.

On the issues, Mr. Beard writes:

For the Record: The Issues We Face
1. Accountability
2. Agriculture
3. Economic Development
4. Education
5. Growth
6. Parks and Recreation
7. Public Safety
8. Roads
9. Taxation
10.Water

These 10 issue areas will require working together with many different groups. It will require a Board of Commissioners who can work together, and who can respect each other, even if they have individual differences in points of view. It will require commissioners who can work with municipalities and communities, through the Council of Governments. It will require commissioners who can work effectively with the Board of Education to ensure a quality education for all children in Carroll County. It will require commissioners who can work together with emergency services volunteers to plan for the future, so that lives can be saved. It will require commissioners who can work effectively with state officials on a wide variety of projects, and regional officials in a spirit of cooperation.

It will also require a Board of Commissioners to commit to an open government policy that encourages citizens to be part of their government. This is your government – the commissioners are there to serve you – but at the same time we will need your help. We will not be able to tackle all of these issues without your help and your involvement.

Read the rest of Mr. Beard’s narrative on the issues here.

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20060926 KDDC Frog salad

Frog salad
Posted September 26, 2006

With all the recent media attention to the outbreak of E. coli in spinach and the folks who have become sick as a result; along comes this image above of a frog in the salad, being circulated around the internet. Perhaps it has come to an inbox near you.

Hopefully that by the time I get this up on the web site, the image is big enough to see it, but if you look closely at the package and look just below the words "Fresco Lavado"...

The explanation that circulates with the image did not make me real comfortable. “What probably happened is, the water which the lettuce was washed in, contained polliwogs and these became fresh new frogs, right in the packages. So if you're looking for salad fixins with a little more body, then be sure and try this brand.”

Good gracious. If the water in which the lettuce was washed contained polliwogs, just what else could possible be in the water?

Hat Tip: Grammy

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PS: “Polliwog” is a great word. I’ve met a few “polliwogs” in the political world…

20060926 KDDC My day with The plight of the tooth Valkyries

My day with “The plight of the tooth Valkyries”

“The plight of the tooth Valkyries”

(c) www.kevindayhoff.com Sept. 26th, 2006

When I awakened this morning to the “Flight of the Valkyries,” I was all ready to quixotically do battle with whatever windmills presented themselves.

The only problem is that my front tooth never got that memo and it would appear that in my advancing age, one of my front teeth is annoyed with my body corpus and raising a ruckus.

Ever curious as to what could possible be the problem, I went to the x-ray program in Adobe Photoshop and immediately found the problem.

Now I’m eagerly awaiting for the miracle of amoxicillin to do battle with the guy with the chisel.

I call it my day with “The plight of the tooth Valkyries”

PS: This was placed on the blog so that the wonderful folks at Drs. Eden and Young, D.D.S., P.A., Family Dentistry, 715 Baltimore Blvd. (Rte. 140), Westminster, MD 21157; may access it and get a little advanced notice of the perils they face tomorrow morning when they do battle with the guy with the chisel in an attempt to alleviate my discomfort.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org http://www.thetentacle.com/ Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report http://www.thewestminstereagle.com/ http://www.kevindayhoff.com/

20060925 KDDC Dennis Beard event at Piney Run Park on October 1 2006

Dennis Beard event at Piney Run Park on October 1, 2006

20060925 KDDC Some Fallfest pictures

Some Fallfest pictures

Posted September 25th, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

I did not take nearly as many pictures at this year’s Fallfest as I have in the past. Too much to do and too little time in which to do it.

By all accounts, this year’s Fallfest was another great success.

The Carroll County Times carried a nice article on Fallfest in the Monday, September 25th edition. Find it here: 'Quality time' at Fallfest by Diane Reynolds, Times Staff Writer, “Brian Kasik's goal is nothing less than to make Fallfest the best event in the area…”

From top to bottom, here is sampling of some of the photos that I took. I’ll get more up on the site as soon as I beg and borrow the time…

Audrey and Joe Cimino staff the Fallfest information booth on September 22nd, 2006.

Bob Keefer helps out in the Lions Club food stand on September 22nd, 2006

Greene helps out in the Lions Club food stand on September 22nd, 2006

Westminster Police officers Andy Hundertmark and Keith Benfer guard the Kettle Corn stand on September 22nd, 2006

Jane Schroeder enjoys an ice cream cone at Fallfest on September 22nd, 2006

Kevin and Caroline display a purple teddy bear at the entrance sign for Fallfest on September 23rd, 2006.

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20060923 KDDC The Linda Lamone Vote-o-matic

The Linda Lamone Vote-o-matic.

© Kevin Dayhoff September 23^rd, 2006

Linda Lamone unveils her plan for Maryland’s Nov. 2006 general election.

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20060923 KDDC Lamoned again and again

Lamoned again and again

September 23rd, 2006

Photo credits: left photo, “Linda Lamone answers questions at the Board of Public Works meeting (Photo by WBAL's Scott Wykoff)”

Right photo: YouTube: “Linda Lamone: I’m the boss.”

Much has been written about the elections meltdown in several jurisdictions in Maryland during the September 12th, 2006 Maryland primary elections.

Throughout it all, Maryland state elections administrator Linda Lamone has remained relatively unscathed by the awkward series of events.

In my Tentacle column on Wednesday, September 20th, 2006, “Lamoned, again,” I noted: “The Baltimore Sun is quick to say in a September 14th, 2006 article: “Lamone, for her part, said she was "horrified" by the problems that snarled the start of voting on Tuesday … but she attributed most of the problems to the largely autonomous local election boards -- especially in Montgomery County and Baltimore -- not to anything that her office or its staff did wrong.”

I also called to the reader’s attention: “Then in a letter to the Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran (D), (on September 13th, 2006) Ms. Lamone says, “As you know, the local election boards are gubernatorial appointments, the local boards appoint the local directors and they are locally funded…””

Last Wednesday, September 20th, 2006, Ms. Lamone was asked to address the election challenges with the Board of Public Works in Annapolis. WBAL Radio carried an article about the meeting on its web site: “State Election Director Grilled; Schaefer Says 'This Is The Dirtiest, Stinking Game I've Ever Known’” by
WBAL Radio's Scott Wykoff.

In Mr. Wykoff’s piece, he reported, “Tough questions Wednesday for the state elections chief who went before the Board of Public Works.

Linda Lamone and other election officials have been criticized for widespread problems on primary election day.

Lamone was questioned for more than a hour by Governor Ehrlich, Comptroller Schaefer and Treasurer Kopp.”

As far as responsibility for the election problems, the WBAL article said: “When asked by Comptroller Schaefer who is to blame, she said she was not here to point figures.”

WBAL went on to say: “Meanwhile, new audio has emerged from testimony Lamone gave before the Virginia legislature in July 2005. Testifying about elections in Maryland, Lamone told lawmakers there, "...in Maryland, the authority to run elections is centralized. I am the boss. The buck stops with me. I'm the one who gets in trouble when anything happens. The counties have to use the voting systems that the state selected. They have to follow state procedures."

Lamone's comments seem to conflict with statements she's made since last week's primary election. Lamone has been saying elections in Maryland are decentralized and local boards have the most authority.”

WBAL Radio’s web site has a link to the audio of Ms. Lamone’s presentation in Virginia in July 2005 - - but now, [Hat Tip: TSL, September 22nd, 2006, “Marbella Misses Lamone Concession”] a video has surfaced.

It is on YouTube: “Linda Lamone: I’m the boss.” It is a very enlightening snippet of her presentation.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org http://www.thetentacle.com/ Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report http://www.thewestminstereagle.com/ http://www.kevindayhoff.com/