Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art One-half Banana Stems

Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art One-half Banana Stems - www.kevindayhoff.com Address: PO Box 124, Westminster MD 21158 410-259-6403 kevindayhoff@gmail.com Runner, writer, artist, fire & police chaplain Mindless ramblings of a runner, journalist & artist: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, technology, music, culture, opera... National & International politics www.kevindayhoff.net For community: www.kevindayhoff.org For art, technology, writing, & travel: www.kevindayhoff.com

Sunday, December 07, 2008

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas


I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtqIM_bPTws



I Want a Hippo for Xmas Words and music by John Rox performed by Gayla Peevey (1953)


I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippopotamus will do
Don't want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy
I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you?
He won't have to use our dirty chimney flue
Just bring him through the front door,
that's the easy thing to do

I can see me now on Christmas morning,
creeping down the stairs
Oh what joy and what surprise
when I open up my eyes
to see a hippo hero standing there

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses
I only like hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me too

Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then
Teacher says a hippo is a vegeterian

There's lots of room for him in our two-car garage
I'd feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage

I can see me now on Christmas morning,
creeping down the stairs
Oh what joy and what surprise
when I open up my eyes
to see a hippo hero standing there

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles or rhinoceroseses
I only like hippopotamuseses
And hippopotamuses like me too!

19530000 Lyrics I Want a Hippo for Xmas

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas


I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtqIM_bPTws



I Want a Hippo for Xmas Words and music by John Rox performed by Gayla Peevey (1953)


I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippopotamus will do
Don't want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy
I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you?
He won't have to use our dirty chimney flue
Just bring him through the front door,
that's the easy thing to do

I can see me now on Christmas morning,
creeping down the stairs
Oh what joy and what surprise
when I open up my eyes
to see a hippo hero standing there

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses
I only like hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me too

Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then
Teacher says a hippo is a vegeterian

There's lots of room for him in our two-car garage
I'd feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage

I can see me now on Christmas morning,
creeping down the stairs
Oh what joy and what surprise
when I open up my eyes
to see a hippo hero standing there

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles or rhinoceroseses
I only like hippopotamuseses
And hippopotamuses like me too!

19530000 Lyrics I Want a Hippo for Xmas

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Daily Patio Pic

Daily Patio Pic

December 6, 2008

Snow Dayhoff Daily Photoblog

20081206 Daily Patio Pic UTR

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

Kevin Dayhoff Art http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/

Missing atheist sign found in Washington state By Mallory Simon CNN

Missing atheist sign found in Washington state By Mallory Simon CNN

Fri December 5, 2008

For those of us who are aggressive protectors of the right to free speech, we have to wonder what it is that the atheists wish to accomplish...

Having said that, I understand that intent is certainly not an arbiter of the expression of free speech. However, manipulating some obscure interpretation of equal opportunity in order to attack Christmas, is certainly a unique approach to attempting to be compelling and persuasive about one’s cause…

Story Highlights

NEW: Placard from Washington state Capitol found in a ditch, radio station says

Atheists' place placard was next to Nativity scene in Olympia, Washington, building

Sign calls religion a myth that "hardens hearts and enslaves minds"

Some residents, Christian groups say atheists attacking celebration of Jesus' birth

Don't Miss: iReport.com:
Over-the-top holiday displays?

(CNN) -- An atheist sign criticizing Christianity that was erected alongside a Nativity scene was taken from the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington, on Friday and later found in a ditch.

An employee from country radio station KMPS-FM in Seattle told CNN the sign was dropped off at the station by someone who found it in a ditch.

"I thought it would be safe," Freedom From Religion Foundation co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor told CNN earlier Friday. "It's always a shock when your sign is censored or stolen or mutilated. It's not something you get used to."

The sign, which celebrates the winter solstice, has had some residents and Christian organizations calling atheists Scrooges because they said it was attacking the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth.

"Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds," the sign from the Freedom From Religion Foundation says in part.

The sign, which was at the Legislative Building at 6:30 a.m. PT, was gone by 7:30 a.m., Gaylor said.

[…]

The scene in Washington state is not unfamiliar. Barker has had signs in Madison, Wisconsin, for 13 years. The placard is often turned around so the message can't be seen, and one year, someone threw acid on it, forcing the group to encase it in Plexiglas.

In Washington, D.C., the American Humanist Association began a bus ad campaign this month questioning belief in God.

"Why believe in a God?" the advertisement asks. "Just be good for goodness sake."

That ad has caused the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to field hundreds of complaints, the group said, but it has heard just as much positive feedback, said Fred Edwords, the association's spokesman.

Edwords said the ad campaign, which features a shrugging Santa Claus, was not meant to attack Christmas but rather to reach out to an untapped audience.

[…]

Read the entire article here: Missing atheist sign found in Washington state By Mallory Simon CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/05/atheists.christmas/?iref=mpstoryview

20081205 Missing atheist sign found in Washington state

Friday, December 05, 2008

CNET News: Koobface virus hits Facebook


CNET News: Koobface virus hits Facebook by Robert Vamosi December 4, 2008

Top: “Cyborg Stare” Dec. 5, 2008 Kevin Dayhoff

Photo credit: A new mass-mailing virus targeting Facebook users directs victims to a site asking to download a Trojan masked as an Adobe Flash update. (Credit: McAfee Avert Labs) Actually this is a cropped version of the McAfee Avert Labs photo. I have the same image in my main computer, that is not available at the moment as I am still working on restoring all my data files and operating system after the “Facebook Koobface” virus infected my system in the early morning hours of December 4, 2008.

This message could lead you to the Koobface virus, say security experts.
(Credit: McAfee Avert Labs)


This is another good article that explains how the “Facebook Koobface” virus works…

A worm responsible for sending Facebook users malicious code appears to be limited in nature, although the social engineering attack may be used again, say experts.

Facebook representative Barry Schnitt said the worm isn't new; it dates back to
August, although the variant that first appeared on Wednesday targets only Facebook users.

Craig Schmugar, threat researcher for McAfee Avert Labs, confirmed this in a call with CNET News and said that, in general, Koobface strikes only social-networking sites.

After receiving a message in their Facebook in-box announcing, "You look funny in this new video" or something similar, recipients are then invited to click on a provided link. Once on the video site, a message says an update of Flash is needed before the video can be displayed. The viewer is prompted to open a file called flash_player.exe.

Schmugar said the prompt for a new player should be a warning. "The messages you tend to get from these sites don't look quite right." For instance, IE will tell you where the update is coming from, and usually it's not an Adobe site.


However, the message “a message says an update of Flash is needed before the video can be displayed,” is effective as many Microsoft users are aware that Microsoft and Adobe do not get along and that appears that Microsoft inhibits using Adobe products in Windows operating systems.

Many technology users maintain a hope that Microsoft will eventually stop attempting to inhibit Adobe products and we are always looking forward to “an update of flash” that will finally run easily in a Microsoft environment…

Another underreported dynamic is that the virus just breezed by Microsoft’s vaunted security update program. This program has been the source of much aggravation for heavy users; and now when the situation presents, that is why we put up with the obnoxious pesky persistent updates – it fails to work.

So the questions easily rises to the surface – why participate in the Microsoft update program?

If the viewer approves the Flash installation, Koobface attempts to download a program called tinyproxy.exe. This loads a proxy server called Security Accounts Manager (SamSs) the next time the computer boots up. Koobface then listens to traffic on TCP port 9090 and proxies all outgoing HTTP traffic. For example, a search performed on Google, Yahoo, MSN, or Live.com may be hijacked to other, lesser-known search sites.

Schmugar said this version of Koobface includes a bot-like component that could install other malicious apps at a later time.


[…]

Meanwhile, many articles repeat, “Facebook has posted instructions on how to remove the infection.” No it doesn’t. The information posted on the Facebook security page is so deficient and underwhelming, one could easily mistake it for humor.

According to a December 4, 2008 Reuters article, “Social network MySpace, owned by News Corp, was hit by a version of Koobface in August and used security technology to eradicate it, according to a company spokeswoman. The virus has not cropped up since then, she said.

If “MySpace” can protect its users, then why can’t Facebook?

[…]

Read the entire article here: Koobface virus hits Facebook

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10113981-83.html


20081204 Koobface virus hits Facebook

I have a sad face today after being attacked by the Facebook Koobface virus


I have a sad face today after being attacked by the Facebook Koobface virus

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Related: Reuters: Destructive Koobface virus turns up on Facebook By Jim Finkle Thu Dec 4, 2008

I’m working on a backup computer because I have fallen victim to the “Facebook virus” that is making the rounds as it is described here – and in a Reuters’ article:

[…] “McAfee warned in a blog entry on Wednesday that its researchers had discovered that Koobface was making the rounds on Facebook…

“Facebook's 120 million users are being targeted by a virus dubbed "Koobface" that uses the social network's messaging system to infect PCs, then tries to gather sensitive information such as credit card numbers.

“It is the latest attack by hackers increasingly looking to prey on users of social networking sites…

“Koobface spreads by sending notes to friends of someone whose PC has been infected. The messages, with subject headers like, ‘You look just awesome in this new movie,’ direct recipients to a website where they are asked to download what it claims is an update of Adobe Systems Inc's Flash player.

“…users tend to be far less suspicious of messages they receive in the network. ‘People tend to let their guard down. They think you've got to log in with an account, so there is no way that worms and other viruses could infect them,’ Boyd said.”

Another excellent post about this may be found on the Schipul Blog: Facebook Users Attacked by Trojan Virus November 7th, 2008

Over 24 hours later, and after considerable work, the virus has been removed; however it irreparable damaged the operating system, in spite of the highly touted Microsoft security update system...

Fortunately I have backups. However, in spite of an excellent backup system, I temporarily have no access to any of my data, research, notes, preliminary drafts of future columns, writing or art files, because of the thoroughly destructiveness and ingenuousness of this particular attack and how complicated it has been to restore my data and operating systems.

Fortunately my next column is not due until tomorrow and only missed some relatively minor deadlines today, for which, everyone is being very supportive and understanding.

Of course, it is not Facebook’s fault that it was attacked by a virus, with perhaps one pause for thought, as mentioned in the article: “Social network MySpace, owned by News Corp, was hit by a version of Koobface in August and used security technology to eradicate it, according to a company spokeswoman. The virus has not cropped up since then, she said.”

I’m an intense internet and technology user and for twenty years I have safely avoided a serious attack. Although in hindsight I understand how and why I make such a stupid mistake.

Nonetheless, the Reuters article points out that “McAfee has not yet identified the perpetrators behind Koobface, who are improving the malicious software behind the virus in a bid to outsmart security at Facebook and MySpace.

"The people behind it are updating it, refining it, adding new functionalities," said McAfee's Schmugar.”


Over 24 hours later and a lost day of work, I will have to re-evaluate using Facebook. I have to consider that since Facebook is not a component of how I make a living, and that statistically, Facebook users will remain a target of the hackers, I may have to err on the side of avoiding exposing myself to this phenomena in the future.

Between the spam, the phishing, and the hackers, it would appear that the criminals in the internet world are making considerable inroads in eroding the benefits that internet technology can provide to our everyday quality of life.

The ratio of spam to real emails on one of my email accounts is currently 50 to 1. It is not fun worrying about every other click of the mouse…

I wish that somehow, there was some hope that solutions are being developed to combat the criminal element on the internet, however, the technicians I spoke with today, seemed just as pessimistic as I feel at the moment.

20081204 A sad face over the Facebook Koobface virus.

Kevin Dayhoff Westgov.Net: Westminster Maryland Online

I have a sad face today after being attacked by the Facebook Koobface virus


I have a sad face today after being attacked by the Facebook Koobface virus

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Related: Reuters: Destructive Koobface virus turns up on Facebook By Jim Finkle Thu Dec 4, 2008

I’m working on a backup computer because I have fallen victim to the “Facebook virus” that is making the rounds as it is described here – and in a Reuters’ article:

[…] “McAfee warned in a blog entry on Wednesday that its researchers had discovered that Koobface was making the rounds on Facebook…

“Facebook's 120 million users are being targeted by a virus dubbed "Koobface" that uses the social network's messaging system to infect PCs, then tries to gather sensitive information such as credit card numbers.

“It is the latest attack by hackers increasingly looking to prey on users of social networking sites…

“Koobface spreads by sending notes to friends of someone whose PC has been infected. The messages, with subject headers like, ‘You look just awesome in this new movie,’ direct recipients to a website where they are asked to download what it claims is an update of Adobe Systems Inc's Flash player.

“…users tend to be far less suspicious of messages they receive in the network. ‘People tend to let their guard down. They think you've got to log in with an account, so there is no way that worms and other viruses could infect them,’ Boyd said.”

Another excellent post about this may be found on the Schipul Blog: Facebook Users Attacked by Trojan Virus November 7th, 2008

Over 24 hours later, and after considerable work, the virus has been removed; however it irreparable damaged the operating system, in spite of the highly touted Microsoft security update system...

Fortunately I have backups. However, in spite of an excellent backup system, I temporarily have no access to any of my data, research, notes, preliminary drafts of future columns, writing or art files, because of the thoroughly destructiveness and ingenuousness of this particular attack and how complicated it has been to restore my data and operating systems.

Fortunately my next column is not due until tomorrow and only missed some relatively minor deadlines today, for which, everyone is being very supportive and understanding.

Of course, it is not Facebook’s fault that it was attacked by a virus, with perhaps one pause for thought, as mentioned in the article: “Social network MySpace, owned by News Corp, was hit by a version of Koobface in August and used security technology to eradicate it, according to a company spokeswoman. The virus has not cropped up since then, she said.”

I’m an intense internet and technology user and for twenty years I have safely avoided a serious attack. Although in hindsight I understand how and why I make such a stupid mistake.

Nonetheless, the Reuters article points out that “McAfee has not yet identified the perpetrators behind Koobface, who are improving the malicious software behind the virus in a bid to outsmart security at Facebook and MySpace.

"The people behind it are updating it, refining it, adding new functionalities," said McAfee's Schmugar.”


Over 24 hours later and a lost day of work, I will have to re-evaluate using Facebook. I have to consider that since Facebook is not a component of how I make a living, and that statistically, Facebook users will remain a target of the hackers, I may have to err on the side of avoiding exposing myself to this phenomena in the future.

Between the spam, the phishing, and the hackers, it would appear that the criminals in the internet world are making considerable inroads in eroding the benefits that internet technology can provide to our everyday quality of life.

The ratio of spam to real emails on one of my email accounts is currently 50 to 1. It is not fun worrying about every other click of the mouse…

I wish that somehow, there was some hope that solutions are being developed to combat the criminal element on the internet, however, the technicians I spoke with today, seemed just as pessimistic as I feel at the moment.

20081204 A sad face over the Facebook Koobface virus.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, December 3, 2008
When cupcakes grow on trees
Kevin E. Dayhoff
It was serendipitous Monday evening, the day that President-elect Barack Obama unveiled his national security team, that I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Melvin A. Goodman, a former CIA analyst, discuss his latest book, The Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA, during the ninth annual Resnick Lecture at McDaniel College.


Moving East for a Spell
Tom McLaughlin
“Warm and tropical with pouring rains after 3 P.M.” describes Borneo in this northeast monsoon season. The city of Kuching combines old and new, with the modern Hilton overshadowing Chinese shop houses built in 1900's.


Tuesday, December 2, 2008
"Let Slip the (Political) Dogs of War"
Roy Meachum
"Cry havoc" forms the first part of that "Julius Caesar" quote and that might make a bitter title for the electoral cycle that starts right after the looming holidays. Shopping malls aside, I do not count Thanksgiving as the leading edge of Christmas.


Change! It’s Everywhere! It’s Everywhere!
Farrell Keough
As a new year is dawning, many issues and perspectives are drawing near in our political arena. We have a “change” coming on our national front – but we must remember that our state representatives will be meeting in the near future and may be offering us “change” as well.

Monday, December 1, 2008
Anatomy of a Correction
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
On November 20, I gave a lunchtime speech to the Frederick County Builder's Association. After more than a dozen years in public service, these public speaking opportunities have become something I look forward to.


Never Cool
Steven R. Berryman
As usual, family gatherings over the Thanksgiving weekend allowed for more personal interactions. I have three wonderful teenagers and have confirmed that the scrutiny and evaluation that befall parents at this critical juncture are surely unimaginable to anyone not experiencing it first hand.

Friday, November 28, 2008
County Democratic Party's Castration--Part II
Roy Meachum
A vacuum resulted from the political retirement of the most powerful Good Ol' Boys. Rushing in to fill the space was a female cabal led by Del. Sue Hecht. When did I first discover that reality?


Redeem Your Deposit Here
Joe Charlebois
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have a five-cent deposit. Michigan has a ten cent-deposit. The Frederick County Board of Commissioners wants to impose a 5-cent deposit to be added to each purchase of a non-reusable beverage container.


Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving Day 2008
Joe Charlebois
As we come upon the ending of one presidential administration and begin another, let’s reflect on what our first president, George Washington, wrote some 219 years ago in proclaiming our country's first national day of public thanksgiving. This proclamation came just a few months after his first inaugural address.


Thanksgiving – and Remembrances….
Edward Lulie III
I used to appreciate Thanksgiving, or so I thought, as a time for food, family and friends, watching football, eating turkey and just relaxing. For over 35 years that was how my wife Beth and I always spent the holiday together. Since her death in January, my sons and I have been adjusting to life without her. It has been very difficult for all of us.


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.

20081203 This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, December 3, 2008
When cupcakes grow on trees
Kevin E. Dayhoff
It was serendipitous Monday evening, the day that President-elect Barack Obama unveiled his national security team, that I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Melvin A. Goodman, a former CIA analyst, discuss his latest book, The Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA, during the ninth annual Resnick Lecture at McDaniel College.


Moving East for a Spell
Tom McLaughlin
“Warm and tropical with pouring rains after 3 P.M.” describes Borneo in this northeast monsoon season. The city of Kuching combines old and new, with the modern Hilton overshadowing Chinese shop houses built in 1900's.


Tuesday, December 2, 2008
"Let Slip the (Political) Dogs of War"
Roy Meachum
"Cry havoc" forms the first part of that "Julius Caesar" quote and that might make a bitter title for the electoral cycle that starts right after the looming holidays. Shopping malls aside, I do not count Thanksgiving as the leading edge of Christmas.


Change! It’s Everywhere! It’s Everywhere!
Farrell Keough
As a new year is dawning, many issues and perspectives are drawing near in our political arena. We have a “change” coming on our national front – but we must remember that our state representatives will be meeting in the near future and may be offering us “change” as well.

Monday, December 1, 2008
Anatomy of a Correction
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
On November 20, I gave a lunchtime speech to the Frederick County Builder's Association. After more than a dozen years in public service, these public speaking opportunities have become something I look forward to.


Never Cool
Steven R. Berryman
As usual, family gatherings over the Thanksgiving weekend allowed for more personal interactions. I have three wonderful teenagers and have confirmed that the scrutiny and evaluation that befall parents at this critical juncture are surely unimaginable to anyone not experiencing it first hand.

Friday, November 28, 2008
County Democratic Party's Castration--Part II
Roy Meachum
A vacuum resulted from the political retirement of the most powerful Good Ol' Boys. Rushing in to fill the space was a female cabal led by Del. Sue Hecht. When did I first discover that reality?


Redeem Your Deposit Here
Joe Charlebois
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have a five-cent deposit. Michigan has a ten cent-deposit. The Frederick County Board of Commissioners wants to impose a 5-cent deposit to be added to each purchase of a non-reusable beverage container.


Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving Day 2008
Joe Charlebois
As we come upon the ending of one presidential administration and begin another, let’s reflect on what our first president, George Washington, wrote some 219 years ago in proclaiming our country's first national day of public thanksgiving. This proclamation came just a few months after his first inaugural address.


Thanksgiving – and Remembrances….
Edward Lulie III
I used to appreciate Thanksgiving, or so I thought, as a time for food, family and friends, watching football, eating turkey and just relaxing. For over 35 years that was how my wife Beth and I always spent the holiday together. Since her death in January, my sons and I have been adjusting to life without her. It has been very difficult for all of us.


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.

20081203 This week in The Tentacle

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Merry Christmas from the Left Red White and Impeach


Merry Christmas from the Left Red White and Impeach

December 2, 2008


Apparently the left dos not rest for the holidays.

For those of us who feel passionately about the right to free speech, we also understand that it comes with responsibilities.

Memo: I’d love to see the elite media’s reaction if something like this were to occur during the presidency of Barack Obama.

Hat Tip: Don Surber: “Maturity” “Ornament maker does something inappropriate. The White House refuses to retaliate.”

Read on, according to Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach,” By The Reliable Source December 2, 2008:

[…]

Laura Bush asked members of Congress to pick local painters to decorate ornaments for this year's 20-foot Fraser fir in the Blue Room. The globes (to be unveiled by the first lady tomorrow) are supposed to showcase something special about each congressional district. Washington state's Rep. Jim McDermott contacted a local arts organization, which asked Lawrence, a collage artist, to create the local entry.

"I was at first nauseated, then realized it was an opportunity," said Lawrence, 55, who frequently combines politics and satire in her work and saw this as the perfect way "to highlight Jim McDermott because he's a hero of mine."

The nine-inch ball is covered with swirly red and white stripes -- and, in tiny glued-on text, salutes the Democratic congressman's support for a resolution to impeach President Bush.

See a picture of it here.

Sally McDonough, the first lady's press secretary, said yesterday that hundreds of ornaments were submitted for display and there were no plans to pull Lawrence's artwork or her invitation. But, she said, "it really is too bad. I haven't seen the ornament, but I would hope that no one would take this as an opportunity to be divisive and partisan. There is a time and place for everything, and I don't think this is either."

Read the entire account here: “Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach

And be sure to read Don Surber’s post also: “Maturity


And be sure to read all the comments...

Commenter “dhender999aolcom” said: “When Deborah Lawrence arrives in the White House she will be treated graciously by her hosts, because that is the nature of George W and Laura Bush…”

“olukemi": said: “I applaud Deborah Lawrence for her courage in celebrating her equally forthright Congressman. Freedom of speech does not take a rest on Christmas. Happy Holidays to all!”

Then in a flourish of the holiday spirit, “editwest” wrote: “To dehender999@aol.com: ‘Gracious’ people do not steal elections, subvert the Rule of Law and the judiciary and the Department of Justice, attack and occupy sovereign states for imperialist goals, profit from the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians, order the death/maiming of tens of thousands of our own troops in a war of naked aggression forged in lies, loot the treasury and destroy the futures of America's children, channel fortunes to cronies, attack the Constitution and its protections against tyranny, destroy America's position in world opinion, and so much more. Gracious people don't do these things. Thugs and ghouls do.”


Nice.

Oh Merry Christmas

20081202 Merry Christmas from the left Red White and Impeach

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

Monday, December 01, 2008

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 31st, 2009

Sunday, November 30, 2008

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

Thursday, November 27, 2008

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'

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'


Wednesday, November 26, 2008

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