Be Thankful

Be Thankful

December 1, 2008

Watching the TV and reading the newspapers, blogs and magazines; has become fairly tedious recently. It seems like one endless competition as to who can be more pessimistic or a bigger naysayer or bigger bearer of doom and gloom.

And yet we have so much to be thankful.

Several years ago, during a Westminster mayor and Common Council meeting, a councilmember accused me of being an eternal Pollyanna. It was a criticism for which I have always been proud.

Over the Thanksgiving holidays I ran across the following words, which are applicable most anytime, however, in today’s environment, could not be more appropriate. KED

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

Author unknown.

20081201 Be Thankful


Kevin Dayhoff Westgov.Net: Westminster Maryland Online

The automakers in your grill for a bailout

The automakers in your grill for a bailout

November 23, 2008 by Kevin Dayhoff

In the 1890s, William (Billy) C. Durant, a high school dropout and grandson of Michigan Governor Henry H. Crapo, manufactured horse drawn wagons in Flint, Michigan.

By September 16, 1908, 100 years ago, he had plowed headfirst into the horseless-carriage business and formed General Motors (GM) as a holding company on for Buick.

He subsequently took on overwhelming debt by purchasing the manufacturers of Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Elmore, and Oakland. Greatly overextended, after a dramatic drop in automobile sales, Mr. Durant lost control of the company in 1910 to one of the many powerful bankers’ trusts of the time.

Undaunted, Mr. Durant, went on to form the automobile manufacturer Chevrolet by forming a partnership with Louis Chevrolet and through a series of events involving intrigue and the force of his will; he regained control of GM - only to lose it again, for good after another downturn in the market.

A quarter of a century later, the United Auto Workers was founded in May 1935, during the depths of the Great Depression. Within two years, it gained recognition and clout by a series of strikes against GM and Chrysler. It would be six difficult years before it gained collective bargaining rights from Ford, in 1941.

A hundred years after the formation of the model of automobile manufacturing began in 1908, the management of the “Detroit Three,” Ford, GM and Chrysler, have essentially lost control of their destinies - and companies to the United Auto Workers (UAW.)

The day after the November 4th, presidential election which swept the Democrat Party’s nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama into office and cemented a firm control over Congress, the Detroit Three and the UAW asked to be rewarded for their support by asking for a $25 billion bailout.

Various estimates run as high as $80 million to be the amount of money that the UAW alone raised for now President-elect Obama.

This comes as our nation’s taxpayers are still reeling from the passage of the $700 billion bank bailout in order to reward august financial leaders and conglomerates who behaved badly.

After decades of being blackmailed with the threat of crippling union strikes, the Detroit Three finds itself with uncompetitive work rules. It manufactures products which continue to languish with the perception that they lack the quality of its competitors. It offers vehicle models of which the American consumer has no interest. It makes these products with enormously uncompetitive salaries and benefits and now, the American taxpayers are being charged to bail them out.

No, I’m not making this up and this is not a script from “Saturday Night Live.” It’s real.

However, if you will recall, this is the same union that went on strike a year ago, in September 2007. According to a CBS news account: “While the strike may look like a test of wills, it is really a portrait of weakness, on both sides, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.

“GM hasn't had a profit since 2004. It lost $12 billion over the last two years. And while it's making profits this year, they're coming from sales abroad, not here. For the UAW, it's lost 150,000 jobs at GM over the last 10 years amid repeated rounds of concessions, adds Reynolds.”

A year later, the Detroit Three expects the American taxpayer to reward this lunacy by bailing them out. Now that the Democrat Party is relishing being fully in charge of the Oval Office, a majority of the governorships, and both houses of congress, it did not take them long to put the election rhetoric aside.

Recently columnist Charles Krauthammer observed that saving “Detroit means saving it from bankruptcy. As we have seen with the airlines, bankruptcy can allow operations to continue while helping shed fatally unsupportable obligations.

“For Detroit, this means release from ruinous wage deals with their astronomical benefits (the hourly cost of a Big Three worker: $73; of an American worker for Toyota: $48), massive pension obligations, and unworkable work rules such as ‘job banks,’ a euphemism for paying vast numbers of employees not to work.

To revisit what I wrote in another column in “The Tentacle” on November 19, 2008; according to a recent International Herald Tribune news account: “The big U.S. companies employ about 240,000 workers and their suppliers an additional 2.3 million, amounting to nearly 2 percent of the nation's work force.

“The outright failure of General Motors would eliminate the biggest auto employer and more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs. That is about the number of jobs already lost this year at U.S. automakers and their suppliers.

“But many industry experts say the big foreign makers are established enough to take control of the industry and its vast supplier network more quickly than is widely understood.”

Underreported in the last several weeks has been the fact that the auto manufacturers in right-to-work states in the south are not clamoring for a bailout.

According to Mr. Thomas: James Sherk of The Heritage Foundation reports that these Japanese car companies provide their employees with good jobs at good wages: “The typical hourly employee at a Toyota, Honda, or Nissan plant in America makes almost $100,000 a year in wages and benefits, before overtime.”

In the end, the $50 billion corporate welfare, that Congress is asking the American taxpayer to reward the union and corporate leadership for decades of failed leadership, would be better spent on providing support, training and educational benefits to be directed to the American workers affected by the reorganization of the Detroit Three.

Against the backdrop of the Detroit Three threatening the end of the financial and manufacturing world as we know it; the clamor in Washington to reward the bad behavior of the Detroit Three has resulted in the further deterioration of whatever confidence Americans had left in either the government or the corporate captains of finance and industry.

####

20081201 The automakers in your grill for a bailout

Associated Content: Tony Snow, Writing, Libertarianism and Me By Kevin Dayhoff

Associated Content: Tony Snow, Writing, Libertarianism and Me By Kevin Dayhoff

Reflections Upon Being an Aspiring Writer, Tony Snow, Libertarianism, and What If…

Photo: That’s Tony Snow in the 1970s…

I originally wrote this piece on October 31, 2008, after I had stopped by the "Carroll County Times" to drop off a piece of art for the Carroll County Times Newspaper in Education annual auction.

It was published by Associated Content Nov 26, 2008…

[…]

* As an aspiring writer, who stumbled around for several years after I dropped out of Elon College in 1973 to be a "writer," I could easily relate to what Tony Snow may have gone through after he graduated from Davidson and "shuffled from job to job."

* After Mr. Snow graduated from Davidson, he went to work in 1979 for "The Greensboro Record."

* That paper, now "The Greensboro News and Record," is owned by Landmark Communications.

* I interviewed at "The Greensboro Record" in 1973. I had just dropped out of Elon "to be a writer."

* I have followed Mr. Snow's career for many years and I am amused when the media felt the need to label him as a "conservative." He was a libertarian. There is a difference.

Read the entire piece here: Tony Snow, Writing, Libertarianism and Me by Kevin Dayhoff Published 11/26/2008


20081126 AC Tony Snow Libertarianism and me

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1217390/tony_snow_writing_libertarianism_and.html?cat=49

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/34274/kevin_dayhoff.html

Test December 1 2008 under construction

http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ reset in the blogger publishing tab to publish to http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/

December 2, 2008

20060628b-under-constructio

20080331 Click here to go to my new blog Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack

Click here to go to my new blog Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack

December 1, 2008 - March 31, 2008

THIS BLOG IS BEST VIEWED IN MOZILLA FIREFOX

Click here to go to the new blog: For my latest posts – please see http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ - “Kevin Dayhoff – Soundtrack Division of Old Silent Movies.”

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff http://www.livejournal.com/

E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org or kevindayhoff AT gmail.com

His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - http://www.thetentacle.com/; Westminster Eagle Opinion; http://www.thewestminstereagle.com/, Winchester Report and The Sunday Carroll Eagle – in the Sunday Carroll County section of the Baltimore Sun. Get Westminster Eagle RSS Feed

“When I stop working the rest of the day is posthumous. I'm only really alive when I'm writing.” Tennessee Williams

September 27, 2006 / December 20th, 2006 / January 31st, 2007 / December 31, 2007 / December 31^st, 2009

Former CIA insider to speak at McDaniel by Karen Kemp, Carroll County Times Staff Writer

Former CIA insider to speak at McDaniel by Karen Kemp, Carroll County Times Staff Writer

Sunday, November 30, 2008

A former CIA insider is visiting McDaniel College on Monday to discuss the corruption and politicization of U.S. intelligence that led him to resign from the agency in 1990.

Nearly two decades later, the agency’s weaknesses continue to put the country and its citizens at risk, said Melvin Goodman, who served as division chief and senior analyst at the CIA’s Office of Soviet Affairs from 1966 to 1990.

“[Sept.] 11 shouldn’t have been such a surprise,” said Goodman, calling the 2001 terrorist attacks an intelligence failure.

Goodman’s talk at the college’s ninth annual Resnick Lecture on Monday will relate to a new undergraduate course called “September 11th and Its Aftermath,” which explores why the attacks happened and analyzes the response of the Bush administration, according to political science professor Christianna Leahy, who is teaching the course.

[…]

If you go

What: Ninth annual Resnick Lecture

When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1

Where: McDaniel Lounge at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster

Topic: “The Failure of Intelligence in a World at Risk” by former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman

Cost: Free

[…]

Read Ms. Kemp’s entire article here: Former CIA insider to speak at McDaniel

20081130 Former CIA insider to speak at McDaniel

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2008/11/30/news/local_news/newsstory6.txt

A Waist is a terrible thing to mind

A Waist is a terrible thing to mind

Wednesday November 26, 2008 Westminster Eagle column by Kevin Dayhoff

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to tomorrow because it will be the first holiday in which my extended family gets together with the presidential election finally behind us.

Like many families, our family was divided over whether to vote for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama or Arizona Sen. John McCain. As a matter of fact, a few cousins were involved with Senator Obama’s national campaign efforts.

Tomorrow, crow will be served for the members of the family who voted for Senator McCain.

Oh, the political discussions will be good-natured. President-elect Obama is our president now and we’re all loyal Americans.

We also have vegetarians in our extended family. This is a great. Every family ought to have as many vegetarians as possible. It means that much more turkey for the rest of us.

Tomorrow we will be delighted to serve our vegetarian family members roasted pinecones in a béarnaise sauce; a side plate of dandelion greens in a fat-free raspberry pureed dressing, some anorexic carrots, and squash that tastes like spiced mud, topped with mulch.

Right before Thanksgiving, the vegetarians in the family were happy that a turkey was once again pardoned by President George W. Bush.

However, according to the President-elect Obama supporters in the family, immediately after the ceremony, the turkey was whisked away to be held in an undisclosed location without formal charges or access to legal counsel…

Nevertheless, we have a particularly fresh turkey for Thanksgiving. We took Dave Barry’s advice and invited Martha Stewart over to help us cook.

If you are not familiar with Mr. Barry; he has written for The Miami Herald since 1983 and is a Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary. He writes about issues ranging from the international economy to exploding toilets. Alas, he is the source of all of my cutting edge information.

Sometime around the time he wrote, “A Waist Is a Terrible Thing to Mind,” Mr. Barry called to our attention that in selecting a turkey, remember that the fresher it is, the better it will taste.

“That's why, if you go into the kitchen of top professional homemaker Martha Stewart on Thanksgiving morning, you'll find her whacking a live turkey with a hatchet. In fact, you'll find Martha doing this every morning. ‘It just relaxes me,’ she reports.”

If you plan to do your own cooking this Thanksgiving; according to Dave Barry, “your first step is to calculate how much turkey you need.”

“Home economists tell us that the average 155-pound person consumes 1.5 pounds of turkey, so if you're planning to have 14 relatives for dinner, you'd simply multiply 14 times 1.5 times 155, which means your turkey should weigh, let's see, carry the two ... 3,255 pounds.

“If you can't find a turkey that size, you should call up selected relatives and explain to them, in a sensitive and diplomatic manner, that they can't come because they weigh too much.”

Hopefully your Thanksgiving will be full of smiles and laughs, family and friends – and plenty of food.

And as we gather with our families over a Thanksgiving meal, please remember our firefighters, police officers and men and women in uniform, who all look after us so that we may enjoy the day.

May we ask that we be given patience, resolve, and wisdom in all that lies ahead for our great nation.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff at carr.org
####
http://www.kevindayhoff.net/
His columns appear in The Tentacle, http://www.thetentacle.com/; Westminster Eagle Opinion and Sunday Carroll Eagle: http://explorecarroll.com/opinion-talk/

20081126 A Waist is a terrible thing to mind

At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'

At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'

Webmaster’s note: Some folks have been in touch looking for this column… Here ya go. Enjoy 11/27/2008 KED

By Kevin Dayhoff Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/ 11/16/08

Sunday Carroll EAGLE ARCHIVE

The fact that women gained the right to vote was a milestone that got mixed reviews in Carroll County after the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920.

It was an argument four decades in the making.

In 1878, a constitutional amendment to grant women the right to vote was introduced by Sen. A. A. Sargeant of California. Suffrage supporters called the proposal the "Anthony Amendment," for Susan B. Anthony.

When President Woodrow Wilson delivered his State of the Union message to Congress in December 1916, women in the galleries unfurled a large banner that read, "Mr. President, What Will You Do For Woman Suffrage?"

In October 1920, after women were finally allowed to vote, local newspapers carried several articles about women and the election, according to research for the Historical Society of Carroll County by historian Jay Graybeal.

An Oct. 29, 1920, newspaper article carried the headline: "The Republican Meet, A Remarkable Gathering." The article read: "On Tuesday evening the Armory in this city was filled both to its seating and standing capacity with men and women voters of the county to hear the issues of the campaign discussed. ...

"The first speaker was Mrs. S. K. Herr, of this city. Mrs. Herr received an ovation as she rose to speak and was frequently interrupted by outbursts of applause. She urged the women not only to vote but to study the issues and candidates that they may vote intelligently."

The article goes on to report:

"The Republican women of Westminster district have arranged for (an instruction) room near the polling place in each precinct ..."

"The voting place in precinct No. 1 will be the old Farmers and Mechanics Bank building. ... Voting place in No. 2 is Herr & Babylon's shop. ... Voting place in No. 3 is Firemen's Building. ... In precinct No. 4 the voting place is on Liberty street ..."

After the election, the Nov. 5, 1920 issue of the old Westminster paper, American Sentinel, carried the headline: "Women Disappointed Them."

"The men and women who were so bitterly opposed to giving women the ballot must have been keenly disappointed on Tuesday. None of the distressing scenes, turbulent conditions, verbal or physical combats predicted have been reported from any voting place in Carroll county, the State of Maryland or anywhere in the country.

"The women did not lose their womanly dignity or sacrifice the respect of the men, and we have not heard of any babies neglected or husbands compelled to cook their own meals while their wives were electioneering around the polls.

"Perhaps a few women said and did some things that would have been better left unsaid and undone, but there are legions of men who do this on every election day." Shocking. Well, maybe not so much.

One thing is certain. Some 88 years later, we still say and do things on Election Day that are "better left unsaid and undone."

Read the rest of the column here: At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'

http://www.explorecarroll.com/community/1576/westminster-polls-1920-women-disappointed-them/

20081116 At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'

This week in The Tentacle for November 26, 2008

This week in The Tentacle for November 26, 2008

Click here for more columns in The Tentacle by Kevin Dayhoff

Wednesday, November 26, 2008
“The Eight Years War”
Kevin E. Dayhoff
At high noon on Monday, amid cries of alarm that this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, President-elect Barack Obama rolled out his all-star economic team and a call for an economic stimulus package that could cost as much as $1 trillion.


What to get the elderly for Christmas
Tom McLaughlin
Black Friday arrives the day after tomorrow and throngs of shoppers will line up for those “deals’ in a panic frenzy. Credit, debit and anything else that still has value will be maxed out during this holiday season because of the economy. Often left in the riot are your parents.


Tuesday, November 25, 2008
County Democratic Party's Castration – Part 1
Roy Meachum
This year marked a quarter century that I resided in Frederick. Someone who arrived later cannot possibly imagine the changes made. Most from the visionary and long-time city Mayor Ron Young. He created Carroll Creek development and modernized downtown streets from the horse and buggy days.


Monday, November 24, 2008
Lobb(y)ing Grenades
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
At a recent Board of County Commissioners hearing, Commissioner, and self-described "country lawyer, John L. "Lennie” Thompson, Jr., gave Annapolis lobbyists a piece of his mind. Lennie needs a new enemy; his style of bare-knuckled populist politics works best when he has a boogeyman to attack.


A Saturday with the Sheriff
Steven R. Berryman
On Saturday I found myself waiting outside the Church of the Brethren for Chuck Jenkins, sheriff of Frederick County. He was late, but I don’t blame the man, as he is in highest demand during these troubled and newly formative days.


Friday, November 21, 2008
Katrina's Official Murderers
Roy Meachum
A good friend from New Orleans called the other day; he works for Holy Cross where I started as a boarding student when I was nine years old. The dormitories were ripped up more than 20 years ago by Hurricane Betsy; nobody lives there these days.


Secularism’s Effects on A Society
Joe Charlebois
Secular socialism has made steady inroads into our society since the early 1960s when prayer was being removed from the schools. What has this led too?


Thursday, November 20, 2008
A Radical Makeover
Chris Cavey
Since the November 4th election, there has been much ballyhoo about the redefinition and much needed re-packaging of the Republican Party, especially as to whom should be the authors and leaders of this remake and even how to get started.


The Good, The Bad and The Hopeful
Joan McIntyre
Ever have one of those times where you just can't shake that feeling of dread? I normally have an uncanny ability to find good in just about every situation. It's not happening this time.


Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Rewarding Bad Behavior
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Instead of tooling down the highway in the fast lane, two months after General Motors celebrated its 100th Birthday on September 16, it found itself huddled over at an intersection with fate, harassing passers-by with a tin pan in hand.


Fulfilling A Dream
Tom McLaughlin
“What has possessed you, Tom,” many have asked. “Leaving the country for Borneo Island for a year,” they wonder. “And what about your health?”


Baltimore Hippodrome's "Grinch"
Roy Meachum
What a delightful idea! Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre decided to bring in for the holidays "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical."


Tuesday, November 18, 2008
New Terms and Limits in Iraq
Roy Meachum
While George W. Bush's order to invade Iraq made headline news, the several papers I read cast the real outcome somewhere in the back pages.


A Once-A-Year Happening
Farrell Keough
“[A]m I my brother’s keeper?” This was the statement Cain gave to God when questioned about the location of Abel, whom Cain murdered. It has become part of our cultural colloquialisms – generally applied when asking about our responsibility to help others.


Walkersville’s Welcome Wagon
Joe Charlebois
Well, the ugly head of unforeseen consequences has reared its ugly head. The Town of Walkersville, in its determination to keep the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from building their worship and conference facilities, has ultimately broken the back – if not the pocketbook – of the Banner School family.


Monday, November 17, 2008
Avoiding The Temptation
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
I supported John McCain throughout the recent presidential election. Having written an entire column about why, there's no reason to re-plow that field.


Befuddled in Frederick
Steven R. Berryman
What strange days we are living in. My sympathy goes out to those whose intellectual process it is to attempt to make sense of the world around them.


Landfill & Waste-to-Energy Q & A
Joan McIntyre
My last column (from November 6) generated many questions. Trash in Frederick County certainly seems to be the hot topic. Trash is a given and we need to get out of our holding pattern. So, here I've done my best to address many of your questions.

20081126 This week in The Tentacle

Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company by Kevin Dayhoff

Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company by Kevin Dayhoff

Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/ 11/19/08

Click here for more columns by Kevin Dayhoff on http://www.explorecarroll.com/

Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company by Kevin Dayhoff

I was sad to see last week that the Pour House Café on East Main Street in Westminster was closing.

The unreal irony of the untimely demise of a popular local gathering place came with another piece of news from last week: According to ABC News: "Even as the company was pleading the federal government for another $40 billion dollars in loans, AIG sent top executives to a secret gathering at a luxury resort in Phoenix last week."

"Reporters caught the AIG executives on hidden cameras poolside and leaving the spa." I'm not making this up.

It was reported that AIG spent an estimated $343,000 on the junket.

I'll venture a guess that just the interest on that $343,000 alone could have kept the local Main Street shop in business.

No word as to whether owners of the Pour House considered lobbying the U.S. Treasury Department for a piece of the $700 billion bailout plan passed by Congress in the waning weeks of the 2008 presidential campaign.

But hey, why not? Everyone else is. According to an article in the International Herald Tribune, the "Treasury Department is under siege by an army of hired guns for banks, savings and loan associations and insurers -- as well as for improbable candidates like a Hispanic business group representing plumbing and home-heating specialists."

We all heard the rhetoric during the election campaign about how everyone is so concerned about "Main Street."

I kinda expected Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Senate Banking Committee chairman Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), to show up on Main Street in Westminster, order a vente double-shot mocha latte with lowfat soy and hand the Pour House a check.

Nah. That could never happen. These folks don't really know where "Main Street" is.

The other avenue of approach for the coffee house would have been to convert itself into a bank. I read the same day that the credit card company, American Express, was converted into a bank like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs -- so that it was eligible for a handout from the government.

As soon as the "Coffee Shop Bank and Trust" opens, it could take $343,000 junkets and be eligible for great seven-figure bonuses.

Hey, bean counting is bean counting.

Right after the news was revealed about the $343,000 AIG junket, the Federal Reserve System announced it was going to increase the company's bailout by $27 billion to a total of $150 billion.

Those folks who run AIG are no fools. That's a great return on misappropriating $343,000 of taxpayer dollars.

Along the same lines, I felt really bad to read a Reuters article that reported that "Wall Street bonuses could tumble 41.3 percent." Tumble?

Well, I tumbled out of my chair to read that economists "say each securities industry job on average paid $379,000 last year."

Now, according to Reuters, "Wall Street' high flyers are likely to see their bonuses take a brutal hit this year -- bonuses could be cut in half to $16 billion." Now that's brutal.

All this for an industry which Jay Leno described best: "The United States," he said, "has developed a new weapon that destroys people but it leaves buildings standing.

"It's called the stock market."

Is this a great country or what?

####

http://explorecarroll.com/opinion/1621/welcome-coffee-shop-bank-trust-company/

20081119 WE Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Co weked

Click here for more columns by Kevin Dayhoff on http://www.explorecarroll.com/

Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids
Published November 23, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and we at The Eagle hope you have a great turkey-day with lots of food, friends and family. Perhaps because of our...

Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company
Published November 19, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
I was sad to see last week that the Pour House Café on East Main Street in Westminster was closing. The unreal irony of the...

At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'
Published November 16, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE The fact that women gained the right to vote was a milestone that got mixed reviews in Carroll County after the 19th Amendment...

Life work of Sargent Shriver began in Westminster
Published November 12, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Twenty years ago this week the community was abuzz in anticipation of one of Carroll County's most celebrated native sons, Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. returning...

Patriotic, misty-eyed and corny about our Election Day
Published November 9, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE Last Tuesday, after two years, 45 debates and $2.4 billion spent, American voters finally had their day. Is it just me, or does...

Sunday Carroll Eagle: Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids by Kevin Dayhoff

Sunday Carroll Eagle: Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids by Kevin Dayhoff

Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids

EAGLE ARCHIVE By Kevin Dayhoff Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/ 11/23/08

This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and we at The Eagle hope you have a great turkey-day with lots of food, friends, and family.

Perhaps because of our long agricultural history, Thanksgiving has always been to be a special holiday in Carroll County. Me, I'm a fan of any holiday in which food is involved, especially turkey.

A lot happened in Carroll County history during the Thanksgiving holidays.

On this date in 1897, the old American Sentinel reported that "Thanksgiving day was observed in this city by the general cessation of business and by religious services in most of the churches. The union service at the Methodist Protestant Church was attended by a large congregation. The sermon ... was delivered by the Rev. C. S. Slagle, pastor of St. Paul's Reformed Church."

Not all the festivities were in churches and kitchens, however. The now-defunct Democratic Advocate reported on Nov. 24, 1922:

"On Friday evening an alarm of fire was sent in for a leaf fire at Western Maryland College. On the arrival of the fire company they were notified not to throw any water on the fire as they were initiating a student, it is said.

"Chief Shaeffer ordered the firemen to put the fire out at once, as it was close to a building. As the nozzlemen were throwing water on the blaze some students started throwing stones, one striking Fireman Harry Cootes in the head causing the blood to flow freely from his injury.

"This angered the members of the fire company and the students were chased with the stream of water. ...

"Two of the students were handled a little rough, but no serious harm was done to either."

And apparently the spirit was "in the air" during past holidays. According to the Baltimore Evening Sun, on Nov. 18, 1932, "an unlicensed radio station was shut down in Westminster by the Federal Radio Commission. ...

"The station broadcast music on Sunday afternoons. The signal was picked up in Pennsylvania. ...

"Investigators traced the signal to a farmhouse in Westminster. Homemade equipment was found at the home. Investigators made no arrest but reminded the unidentified youthful equipment owner that unlicensed broadcasts carried a penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine."

[…]

Meanwhile, for this Thanksgiving, let's join together in support of our fellow citizens who are less fortunate. Let us reach out with care to those in need of food, shelter and words of hope. May we also remember our men and women in uniform who are in harm's way, defending our freedom.

And finally, please remember to place a lemon slice in the dog's water bowl. Happy halidaze!

Read the entire column here: Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids

http://explorecarroll.com/community/1630/turkey-stuffing-illegal-radios-rowdy-college-kids/

20081123 SCE Turkey stuffing illegal radios and rowdy college kids sceked

Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

November 23, 2008

Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids
Published November 23, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and we at The Eagle hope you have a great turkey-day with lots of food, friends and family. Perhaps because of our...


Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company
Published November 19, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
I was sad to see last week that the Pour House Café on East Main Street in Westminster was closing. The unreal irony of the...


At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'
Published November 16, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE The fact that women gained the right to vote was a milestone that got mixed reviews in Carroll County after the 19th Amendment...


Life work of Sargent Shriver began in Westminster
Published November 12, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Twenty years ago this week the community was abuzz in anticipation of one of Carroll County's most celebrated native sons, Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. returning...


Patriotic, misty-eyed and corny about our Election Day
Published November 9, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE Last Tuesday, after two years, 45 debates and $2.4 billion spent, American voters finally had their day. Is it just me, or does...


Junction and Lenny Moore explain what teens are thinking
Published November 5, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
On Thursday, Nov. 6, Junction Inc. will host a substance abuse and awareness program sponsored by the Board of County commissioners at 6 p.m....


After this long campaign season, we have many reasons to celebrate
Published October 31, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
This coming Tuesday is General Election Day, and I hope everyone takes the time to vote. Along with our freedom of speech, the right to vote...


Silvery Moon celebrates auxiliary's golden anniversary
Published October 29, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Fifty years ago on Sept. 2, 1958, the Carroll Hospital Center Auxiliary was officially formed. Its first president was Gladys Wimert. Other community leaders...


William Jennings Bryan was the life of the party in 1900
Published October 24, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
I was watching the debate the other night -- you know, for the folks who, for some reason, want to be president -- when a...


Seems we're more in a 'Panic' than a 'Depression'
Published October 22, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Anyone remember the Panic of 1907? Well, let me refresh your memory. On Oct. 22, 1907, one of the more dramatic financial failures in American...


We had joy, we had fun, we had sidewalks in the sun
Published October 17, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE I'm writing this week's column within feet of the Atlantic Ocean in Nags Head, N.C. And I mean, literally, "feet from the ocean."...


Tragedy comes home to Carroll in fallen officers
Published October 15, 2008 by Westminster Eagle, Eldersburg Eagle, Sunday Carroll Eagle
It's a sad fact that five Maryland police officers have died in the line of duty in 2008. But it's a curious fact that four...


Real-life 'Flash of Genius' saw his final days in Sykesville
Published October 12, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle, Eldersburg Eagle, Westminster Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE The next time you're driving around Carroll County and it starts to drizzle just a tad, but sure to thank your former neighbor,...


A Culinary Experience is food for thought on a tough topic
Published October 8, 2008 by Westminster Eagle, Eldersburg Eagle
On Monday, Oct. 13, the Rape Crisis Intervention Service of Carroll County will hold its ninth annual "A Culinary Experience," at Martin's Westminster. This is...


Westminster's Clock Tower will stand the test of time
Published October 1, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Kevin Dayhoff kdayhoff@carr.org Ask anyone to name the most cherished landmark in Westminster, and most will say it's the Westminster Clock Tower, which sits atop the old...


Clock fund tolls for thee
Published October 1, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Foundation seeks $35,000 for repairs More than 100 years old, the Westminster Clock Tower has taken a licking and, for the most part, it has...


Pardon my French, but where do these words come from?
Published September 28, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE This week, we visit an event that took place long before Carroll County was formed -- yet affects English speakers worldwide to this...


Letters
Published September 24, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Are we, as parents, ready for the new school year? The summer flies by and another school year has begun. Even if you don't have...


Time to look toward shaping Westminster's the future
Published September 24, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
In last week's column I discussed the real challenge facing Westminster as the need for an open community conversation over the growth of city government,...


A few things to chew on as we contemplate Taneytown history
Published September 21, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
This Sunday we turn our attention to the northern part of Carroll County. For the convenience of folks in south Carroll, though, we'll...


Be critical of spending, but MML has been worthwhile
Published September 17, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
There has been a fair amount of discussion of late regarding published accounts of the June trip by 15 appointed and elected officials from Westminster...


League of extraordinary gentlemen (and women) serving Maryland
Published September 14, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
Between scholarships, the cost of conferences and its plan to create geocache sites in local municipalities, the Maryland Municipal League has been the...


Appreciating the composed chaos of the GOP Convention
Published September 10, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
I spent last week at the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The Xcel Center is a hockey arena...


For many years, the convention 'party' came to Baltimore
Published September 5, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
This past week I was fortunate to have the opportunity to travel with the Maryland Delegation to the 2008 Republican National Convention at...


Power of art contributes to a community's vibrancy
Published September 3, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
This week's column is a bit of a travel log, but one that relates to life here in Westminster. Recently I had an opportunity to...


A town divided found purpose and prosperity as a unified Westminster
Published August 31, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE Last Sunday we looked at the early history of the western end of Westminster. It was a little more than 80 years ago...


Economic development will revitalize Pennsylvania Avenue
Published August 27, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
At a recent meeting of the Westminster Common Council, it was announced that Councilman Greg Pecoraro will chair another Pennsylvania Avenue initiative, and that Councilwoman...


Years ago, folks celebrated sticking The Forks in Westminster
Published August 24, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
The City of Westminster has recently been working to form a group to study the Pennsylvania Avenue of town. In that context, it's interesting that back...


I speak today in favor of adventures in 'behindular zone'
Published August 20, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Well, I did it. Come a little closer, and I'll tell you all about it. All right, maybe not all about it. After all, this...


And now, for this week's installment of 'La Policia'
Published August 17, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
Carroll County's reputation for low crime and an aggressive approach to public safety is not a recent phenomenon. On July 16, 1925, the editor of the...


Future of police protection delayed, but crime doesn't rest
Published August 13, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
On Thursday, Aug. 7, the Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 to not move forward with a plan to form a county police department...


Future of police protection delayed, but crime doesn't rest
Published August 13, 2008 by Eldersburg Eagle, Westminster Eagle
On Thursday, Aug. 7, the Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 to not move forward with a plan to form a county police department...


Turkeys, fires and failed presidents were the stuff of old newspapers
Published August 10, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
As today's newspapers race into the Internet age, many folks might be fascinated with the look and feel of newspapers from the 1800s and early...


Carroll rides tall at the Chincoteague Pony auction
Published August 6, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
With pen in hand, Carroll County author Lois Szymanski looked up from a copy of one of her latest books, "Out of the Sea: Today's...


Fire and water have been volatile mix in Sykesville
Published August 3, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
It was 85 years ago, in the late afternoon of Monday, July 30, 1923, that an historic and terrible rainstorm hit Sykesville and other areas...


Destructive behavior from those contentious combines
Published July 30, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
On Saturday evening, the air was hot, thick and muggy, flavored with anticipation and seasoned with a hint of petroleum fumes. More than 5,000 fans...


Westminster's sacred places are shrines of community life
Published July 27, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE Since this is a Sunday column, I do hope it's fitting to talk about sacred places. Not necessarily houses of worship, mind you, though those...


Westminster's sacred places are shrines of community life
Published July 25, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
Since this is a Sunday column, I do hope it's fitting to talk about sacred places. Not necessarily houses of worship, mind you, though those are...


Viva la bicyclette de Carroll
Published July 23, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Today, as you are reading this, the 95th Tour de France is in Stage 17. This year's race began on July 5. After 23 days,...


Memories from City Hall and e-mail from the great beyond
Published July 20, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
Westminster purchased the property for its City Hall, on Emerald Hill Lane, from the estate of George W. Albaugh in September 1939 for the grand...


Appreciating Tony Snow's passion for life
Published July 16, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Saturday, July 12, former White House press secretary Tony Snow, 53, died of cancer. I certainly never knew him, yet after following his too-short career for...


Westminster's Civil War role didn't end at Corbit's Charge
Published July 13, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
The last several weeks have been busy in Carroll County, and one of the busiest was during the June 27-29 events surrounding the commemoration of...


Smith & Reifsnider was too hot to handle in July 1938
Published July 9, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Seventy years ago, Carroll County was reeling from the aftermath of fireworks of an unwelcome variety -- one of the biggest fires in the county's...


What a concept: sharing the wealth and pain of tax increases
Published July 6, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
"Gov. (William Preston) Lane does not like taxes ... but as long as you have colleges to take your money, ... you are to have...


The merry marry month of June
Published July 2, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
As we say goodbye to the month of June, bachelors can breathe a sigh of relief that they've survived what has historically been the traditional...


Years ago, trip to the beach required help from a little ferry
Published June 29, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE For many Carroll County residents, summertime means an opportunity to make an annual family trek to Ocean City, Md. Some of my fondest childhood memories...


Westminster's past included days of swine and meters
Published June 25, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
There have been many critter problems in the history of Westminster, but none seems to have caused as much a stir as what to do...

20081123 recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will Tuesday, November 18, 2008

WASHINGTON -- "Nothing," said a General Motors spokesman last week, "has changed relative to the GM board's support for the GM management team during this historically difficult economic period for the U.S. auto industry." Nothing? Not even the evaporation of almost all shareholder value?

GM's statement comes as the mendicant company is threatening to collapse and make a mess unless Washington, which has already voted $25 billion for GM, Ford and Chrysler, provides up to $50 billion more -- the last subsidy until the next one.

[…]

The answer? Do nothing that will delay bankrupt companies from filing for bankruptcy protection, so that improvident labor contracts can be unraveled, allowing the companies to try to devise plausible business models. Instead, advocates of a "rescue" propose extending to Detroit the government's business model for the nation -- redistributing wealth from the successful to the failed, an implausible formula for prosperity.

[…]

Those Democrats, their rhetoric notwithstanding, really care most about the union. "Saving the planet" comes second and last comes the health of the auto companies.

{…}

Read the entire column here: Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will

20081118 Do We Need the Big Three by Will Nov18 2008

Running on empty – What a difference an election makes

Running on empty – What a difference an election makes

November 23, 2008 by Kevin Dayhoff

By the end of last week the prospect of an auto bailout was running on four flat tires.

However, with the backdrop of the economy continuing to remain at the forefront of the media spotlight, the “Detroit Three,” General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, continue their tours de force beg-a-thon performance in the media with a great deal of support coming from the Democrat Party.

What a difference an election makes. If you will remember, during the election campaign, the Democrats railed about the increase in the national debt, increased spending, and failed economic policies.

And of course, earlier in the 2008 presidential campaign, when the price of oil and gasoline spiked, it was President George W. Bush’s fault. After the price of gas fell precipitously, the Democrats and their media sycophants fell strangely silent.

Moreover, on Election Day, when the Wall Street rallied, the media credited the prospects of the election of presidential candidate Illinois Sen. Barack Obama with the reasons for the uptick in the stock market.

The day after the election the stock market had the largest percentage drop in history on the day after an election. The media was silent – as in crickets chirping…

Many credited the election victory of Senator Obama on the chaos in the economy. Of course, the great paradox is that the very same foxes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Financial Services Committee chair Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Committee chair Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who caused the chaos in the financial henhouse have now been rewarded and are now in charge of protecting and fixing it. (See It’s the Congress, Stupid!, Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1, Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2, Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3.)

Now these very same folks want to work their magic on the automobile industry in the United States – with taxpayer money, of course. They want to further raise the national debt by bailing out the Detroit Three – which is the focus of my “The Tentacle” column this week: Rewarding Bad Behavior

As an aside, speaking of changing his tune, you will notice that President-elect Obama has been eerily silent about Iraq, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and other aspects of his war on the Bush Administration’s national security polices now that he has been given a number of national security briefings.

Nevertheless, there remains a nagging concern that international terrorists are still plotting to kill Americans and we are still fighting two interminable ground wars overseas. The Iranians and North Koreans are still playing with their nuclear erector sets. Somali pirates are seizing ships in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes outside of the Gulf of Aden.

And in spite of the predicted outbreak of the Age of Aquarius as a result of the recent election, we find ourselves in economic chaos which continues to escape appropriate hyperbole and reactionary rhetoric.

Congress and our critical financial conglomerates have behaved so badly that their behavior raised the specter that the United States and the world would revisit the joys and riches of the Medieval Ages if something was not done.

Yet last week, the financial bailout had the look and feel of a circular firing squad as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stood before the nation, and said something to the affect: “You know, about that initial bailout strategy… Well nevermind, the facts have changed and we now have a new and improved pyramid scheme to sell you.”

His performance had all the reassuring aspects of a snake oil salesman from the 1890s as he sketched-out a new approach to encourage consumer confidence, borrowing, and get American families back in the mood for opening their pocketbooks.

No word as to how many Google searches occurred for “economic feudalism” last week as Americans started to feel like feudal serfs being sacrificed as a result of the lack of leadership of the overlords.

If this were not enough of a witches brew, many Americans – and the stock market – continue to feel morning sickness in a pregnant pause of anxiety over president-elect Obama’s election rhetoric to revisit free trade agreements, raise taxes, and unleash a new social-welfare system upon the nation that would make President Franklin D. Roosevelt green with envy.

Intellectual, morally and economically, a glance at Washington these days indicates that it not only the Detroit Three that is in trouble these days, the American taxpayer is more at risk than ever as a result of Congress running on empty.

####

20081119 Running on empty (752 words)

Democracy Now: Ex-CIA Officials Tied to Rendition Program and Faulty Iraq Intel Tapped to Head Obama’s Intelligence Transition Team

Democracy Now: Ex-CIA Officials Tied to Rendition Program and Faulty Iraq Intel Tapped to Head Obama’s Intelligence Transition Team

November 18, 2008

Related:

Melvin Goodman: "Change in Intelligence?"

Glenn Greenwald: "John Brennan and Bush's Interrogation/Detention Policies"

John Brennan and Jami Miscik, both former intelligence officials under George Tenet, are leading Barack Obama’s review of intelligence agencies and helping make recommendations to the new administration. Brennan has supported warrantless wiretapping and extraordinary rendition, and Miscik was involved with the politicized intelligence alleging weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war on Iraq. We speak with former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman and Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s been less than two weeks since Obama’s election. Speculation is already rife about the change he intends to bring to Washington’s intelligence community. The Washington Post reported last week that Obama is expected to replace the country’s top two intelligence officials over their support for controversial Bush administration policies like torture and electronic surveillance. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and CIA chief Michael Hayden reportedly wish to remain on the job.

No appointees have been named as yet, but questions are already being raised about the people heading Obama’s transition efforts on intelligence policy. John Brennan and Jami Miscik, both former intelligence officials under George Tenet, are leading the review of intelligence agencies and helping make recommendations to the new administration. Brennan has supported warrantless wiretapping and extraordinary rendition, and Miscik was involved with the politicized intelligence alleging weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war on Iraq.

I’m joined now by Washington, D.C.—in D.C. by former CIA and State Department analyst Mel Goodman. He’s a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, director of the Center’s National Security Project. His latest book is called Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA. He is also co-author of Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neoconservatives are Putting the World at Risk.

We’re joined here in New York by Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. His latest book is The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! I want to start with Mel Goodman in Washington. Long years at the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department. You’ve just written an op-ed piece in the Baltimore Sun that looks at these two top transition officials. Explain who they are and what they represent.

[…]

MELVIN GOODMAN: OK. John Brennan was deputy executive secretary to George Tenet during the worst violations during the CIA period in the run-up to the Iraq war, so he sat there at Tenet’s knee when they passed judgment on torture and abuse, on extraordinary renditions, on black sites, on secret prisons. He was part of all of that decision making.

Jami Miscik was the Deputy Director for Intelligence during the run-up to the Iraq war. So she went along with the phony intelligence estimate of October 2002, the phony white paper that was prepared by Paul Pillar in October 2002. She helped with the drafting of the speech that Colin Powell gave to the United Nations—[inaudible] 2003, which made the phony case for war to the international community.

So, when George Tenet said, "slam dunk, we can provide all the intelligence you need,” [inaudible] to the President in December of 2002, it was people like Jami Miscik and John Brennan who were part of the team who provided that phony intelligence. So what I think people at the CIA are worried about—and I’ve talked to many of them over the weekend—is that there will never be any accountability for these violations and some of the unconscionable acts committed at the CIA, which essentially amount to war crimes, when you’re talking about torture and abuse and secret prisons. So, where are we, in terms of change? This sounds like more continuity.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to excerpts from a December 2005 interview with John Brennan, the former CIA official now leading Obama’s intelligence transition. Brennan was interviewed by Margaret Warner on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer about his views on the Bush administration’s practice of extraordinary rendition.

Read the entire article and interview here: Ex-CIA Officials Tied to Rendition Program and Faulty Iraq Intel Tapped to Head Obama’s Intelligence Transition Team

20081118 DemNow Ex CIA tapped to head Obama intel transition team

Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

November 19, 2008

Will Obama back missile defense or back missile defense into history?

Examiner Editorial: Liberals have been saying for decades that missile defense can't work, even as the U.S. Army and Navy are repeatedly and successfully testing land and sea-based systems that destroy incoming missiles. Will Barack Obama listen to the liberals or the military?

S.J. Masty's Time Machine: Maybe Charlie Chan can solve the mystery of who shot the GOP.

Jay Ambrose: Our Denver-based Herald of the Rockies is having second thoughts about Obama's first promises.

Tapscott's Copy Desk: Harry Reid and Robert Byrd falsified government data on job creation. Will the Mainstream Media call them on it?

And don't miss a former GM manager's explanation for why she opposes a federal bailout for Detroit's Big Three: You will find Lori Roman's Op-Ed here: “An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires”

20081119 Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Rewarding Bad Behavior

Kevin E. Dayhoff

Instead of tooling down the highway in the fast lane, two months after General Motors celebrated its 100th Birthday on September 16, it found itself huddled over at an intersection with fate, harassing passers-by with a tin pan in hand.

William C. Durant formed General Motors (GM) as a holding company in 1908 for Buick. He subsequently took on overwhelming debt by purchasing the manufacturers of Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Elmore and Oakland. After a dramatic drop in automobile sales, Mr. Durant lost control of the company two years later to one of the many powerful bankers’ trusts of the time.

A hundred years later, the “Detroit Three,” – Ford, GM and Chrysler – have lost control of their companies to the United Auto Workers (UAW.)

After decades of being blackmailed with the threat of crippling union strikes, the Detroit Three finds themselves with uncompetitive work rules. It manufactures products which continue to languish with the perception that they lack the quality of their competitors. They offer numerous models, in which the American consumer has little or no interest. They make these automobiles with enormously uncompetitive salaries and benefits; and now the American taxpayers are being asked to bail them out.

Read the entire column here: Rewarding Bad Behavior


Fulfilling A Dream
Tom McLaughlin
“What has possessed you, Tom,” many have asked. “Leaving the country for Borneo Island for a year,” they wonder. “And what about your health?”


Baltimore Hippodrome's "Grinch"
Roy Meachum
What a delightful idea! Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre decided to bring in for the holidays "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical."


Tuesday, November 18, 2008
New Terms and Limits in Iraq
Roy Meachum
While George W. Bush's order to invade Iraq made headline news, the several papers I read cast the real outcome somewhere in the back pages.


A Once-A-Year Happening
Farrell Keough


“[A]m I my brother’s keeper?” This was the statement Cain gave to God when questioned about the location of Abel, whom Cain murdered. It has become part of our cultural colloquialisms – generally applied when asking about our responsibility to help others.


Walkersville’s Welcome Wagon
Joe Charlebois
Well, the ugly head of unforeseen consequences has reared its ugly head. The Town of Walkersville, in its determination to keep the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from building their worship and conference facilities, has ultimately broken the back – if not the pocketbook – of the Banner School family.


Monday, November 17, 2008
Avoiding The Temptation
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
I supported John McCain throughout the recent presidential election. Having written an entire column about why, there's no reason to re-plow that field.


Befuddled in Frederick
Steven R. Berryman
What strange days we are living in. My sympathy goes out to those whose intellectual process it is to attempt to make sense of the world around them.


Landfill & Waste-to-Energy Q & A
Joan McIntyre
My last column (from November 6) generated many questions. Trash in Frederick County certainly seems to be the hot topic. Trash is a given and we need to get out of our holding pattern. So, here I've done my best to address many of your questions.


Friday, November 14, 2008
Newly "Dis-Organized" Party
Roy Meachum
Three months after Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in as the first Democratic president since Woodrow Wilson, Oklahoma-born comedian Will Rogers said on his weekly radio show: "You've got to be optimist to be a Democrat and you've got to be a humorist to stay one." Mr. Rogers was also quoted: "I belong to no organized political party – I’m a Democrat."


Thursday, November 13, 2008
Onward and Upward, Not Backwards
Tony Soltero
Now that the election is behind us, there's no shortage of analyses being offered by pundits left, right, and center about “What It All Means.” So here are a few bullet points of my own as a contribution to the discussion.


My President
Patricia A. Kelly
I’ve lived a pretty long time. I was alive and conscious during the civil rights movement. In fact, during that time, my mom drove my brother and me through the South every summer to visit my grandparents.


Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Incredibly Shrinking Republican Party
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The ink is hardly dry on the “historic” election of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and already those with 20/20 hindsight are dissecting and revising the two-year ordeal, known as the 2008 presidential election, with the conviction of someone who has just seen a flying saucer land in the backyard.


Just Bustin’ Out All Over
Tom McLaughlin
It was as if a massive salt water wave swept over the country and washed away all of the hate and intolerance. I felt cleansed, jubilant and am still high from the November 4 election results. No more African-Americans, or Chinese-Americans, or Native Americans. We are all Americans.


Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Please, Jennifer, Not Again
Roy Meachum
Jennifer Dougherty's loss record for elections stands four-to-one after Tuesday's drubbing by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. The only time she won, incumbent Mayor Jim Grimes shot himself in the foot. Repeatedly. When she tried for a second term, her own party dumped her; the first mayor in modern times to be defeated in a primary.


“It’s Good To Be A Teacher…”
Nick Diaz
Work-to-rule, teachers’ contract, planning time, Board of Education, FCTA, negotiated agreement – these topics, and more, have surfaced recently in Frederick concerning local education issues.

Monday, November 10, 2008
Election Post Mortem
Steven R. Berryman
Election 2008 is over. America now has a new president-elect, and an opportunity to evaluate just what Barack Obama’s victory means. Here are some lessons learned along with some 20/20 hindsight.

20081119 This week in The Tentacle

Today in the DC Examiner: Are we bailing out dead donkeys?

Today in the DC Examiner: Are we bailing out dead donkeys?

November 18, 2008

Examiner Editorial: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is handing out billions of tax dollars to selected Wall Street firms, but refuses to disclose any details of who, how much or with what in return. This is a major scandal-in-the-making.

Quin Hillyer: The Supreme Court agrees to hear another case that could put McCain-Feingold regulation of political speech in the legal garbage can where it belongs.

Examiner OpEd: John Hawkins pens an open letter to GOP members of the U.S. Senate, challenging them to try something new.

20081118 Today in the DC Examiner Are we bailing out dead donkeys?

Presidents Radio Address for November 14 2008

Presidents Radio Address for November 14 2008

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 14, 2008
President's Radio Address
President's Radio Address Audio En Español

In Focus: Economy

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This weekend I am hosting a summit on the global financial crisis with leaders of developed and developing nations. By working together, I'm confident that with time we can overcome this crisis and return our economies to the path of growth and vitality.

I know many of you listening are worried about the challenges facing our economy. Stock market declines have eroded the value of retirement accounts and pension funds. The tightening of credit has made it harder for families to borrow money for cars, homes, and education. Businesses have found it harder to get loans to expand their operations and create jobs. Many nations have suffered job losses and have serious concerns about the worsening economy.

Nations around the world have responded to this situation with bold measures, and our actions are having an impact. Credit markets are beginning to thaw and businesses are gaining access to essential short-term financing. It will require more time for these improvements to fully take hold and there will be more difficult days ahead, but the United States and our partners are taking the right steps to get through the crisis.

As we address the current crisis, we also need to make broader reforms to adapt our financial systems to the 21st century. So during this summit, I will work with other leaders to establish principles for reform, such as making markets more transparent and ensuring that markets, firms, and financial products are properly regulated.

All these steps will require decisive actions from governments around the world. At the same time, we must recognize that government intervention is not a cure-all. While reforms in the financial sector are essential, the long-term solution to today's problems is sustained economic growth. And the surest path to that growth is free markets and free people.

This is a decisive moment for the global economy. In the wake of the financial crisis voices from the left and right are equating the free enterprise system with greed, exploitation, and failure. It is true that this crisis included failures by lenders and borrowers, by financial firms, by governments and independent regulators. But the crisis was not a failure of the free market system. And the answer is not to try to reinvent that system. It is to fix the problems we face, make the reforms we need, and move forward with the free market principles that have delivered prosperity and hope to people around the world.

The benefits of free market capitalism have been proven across time, geography, and culture. Around the world free market capitalism has allowed once impoverished nations to develop large and prosperous economies. And here at home, free market capitalism is what transformed America from a rugged frontier to the greatest economic power in history.

Just as important as maintaining free markets within countries is maintaining the free movement of goods and services between countries. There are many ways for nations to demonstrate their commitment to open markets. The United States Congress can take the lead by approving free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea before adjourning for the year.

In the long run, Americans can be confident in the future of our economy. We will work with our partners around the world to address the problems in the global financial system. We will strengthen our economy. And we will continue to lead the world toward prosperity and peace.

Thank you for listening.

# # #

FAQ
I can't find a radio station that carries the radio address. Click here for answer....

Archives
Radio Address:
2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
Radio Interviews: 2006 2005 2004

2008114 Presidents Radio Address for November 14 2008