Showing posts with label Dayhoff Art writing essays articles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dayhoff Art writing essays articles. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

New Windsor Heritage Carroll Co. Md. website http://www.newwindsorheritage.org/

New Windsor Heritage Carroll Co. Md. website http://www.newwindsorheritage.org/

New Windsor Heritage Museum | 207 Main Street, New Windsor, MD 21776 | 410-635-2602 | Most Saturdays 10AM - 1PM

Mission Statement

The New Windsor Heritage Committee was founded in 1986 by a group of like-minded citizens concerned with the preservation and documentation of all aspects of the history of New Windsor, Maryland. This not for profit body of people was organized and chartered exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. These are to include, but not limited to, the promotion and encouragement of historic research; the discovery and procurement, by donation, purchase, commission or otherwise, or historical relics that may pertain to the town; the preservation and publishing of documents, such as writings, blueprints, maps, journals, or records, etc., that shed light on the history and architecture of the town of New Windsor, and its environs.

See also: New Windsor Heritage Committee Summer's End Home and Garden Tour on September 10, 2016 https://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2016/08/new-windsor-heritage-committee-summers.html



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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Baltimore Sun - Carroll County Times - The Carroll Eagle: www.explorecarroll.com: http://www.explorecarroll.com/search/?s=Dayhoff&action=GO

Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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New Windsor Heritage Committee Summer's End Home and Garden Tour on September 10, 2016

New Windsor Heritage Committee Summer's End Home and Garden Tour on September 10, 2016 https://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2016/08/new-windsor-heritage-committee-summers.html

My next column will be on the upcoming New Windsor Heritage Committee Summer's End Home and Garden Tour on September 10, 2016 from 1:00 to 5:00p.m.

I interviewed Frank Batavick by email and one of the great resources he provided me about the event is this press release about the tour.

Sadly, many of my print stories have not been making it to the web – but if it does, it will be located here: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=Kevin+Dayhoff&target=all&spell=on

August 23, 2016 / KED



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August 17, 2016

New Windsor Heritage Committee
207 Main Street
P.O. Box28
New Windsor, Maryland 21776

410-635-2602

NEW WINDSOR HERITAGE ANNOUNCES 2016 SUMMER'S END HOME & GARDEN TOUR

New Windsor Heritage is sponsoring a Summer's End Home and Garden Tour on September 10, 2016 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The event features five historic homes and gardens, a contemporary home with extensive plantings, a restored 1854 school house, an 18th century log house, and a jewel of an 1897 church. Each site will include plein air artists working in a variety of media, and Master Gardeners will be on-hand to answer questions about the gardens on tour and attendees’ own trees, shrubs, and plants.

Homes include an 1813 high-style, Federal era, three story bank house/villa and an early 19th century Piedmont Plantation house. Owners and docents will be on-hand to share each house's history. A special attraction is the Springdale School where a teacher and students in period costumes will conduct lessons derived from 19th century textbooks.

Each visitor will receive a tour booklet containing descriptions of the homes and gardens and a map to the sites. The booklet will serve as a ticket to all of the locations. Admission is $15 per person, and children under 12 are free. 

Fees may be paid on the day of the tour starting at 12:45 p.m. at the New Windsor Heritage Museum, 207 Main Street, right next to New Windsor State Bank. Drinks, snacks, and rest room facilities will be available.

For additional information about the tour and the houses and gardens featured, please contact Dori or Frank Batavick at 410-848-5263.


The New Windsor Heritage Committee is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization founded in 1986 and dedicated to the preservation and documentation of all aspects of the history of New Windsor, Maryland. It was chartered exclusively for a wide-range of educational and charitable purposes related to this mission.
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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Baltimore Sun - Carroll County Times - The Carroll Eagle: www.explorecarroll.com: http://www.explorecarroll.com/search/?s=Dayhoff&action=GO

Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Friday, December 5, 2008

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

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

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.

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20081201 The automakers in your grill for a bailout

Kevin Dayhoff Westgov.Net: Westminster Maryland Online

Monday, December 1, 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


Kevin Dayhoff Westgov.Net: Westminster Maryland Online

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
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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

Kevin Dayhoff Westgov.Net: Westminster Maryland Online

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'



Kevin Dayhoff Westgov.Net: Westminster Maryland Online

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

Monday, November 24, 2008

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

Sunday, November 23, 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)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Washington Post editorial says No to slots … and so do I

Washington Post editorial says No to slots … and so do I

Sunday, October 19, 2008 – October 27, 2008

Hat Tip: Delusional Duck Maryland Southern Maryland

The Washington Post published an editorial on Sunday, October 19, 2008 that argued “No” to slots in the upcoming referendum to be held in Maryland on November 4th, 2008.

I think this is how I will be voting also. In spite of personal reservations about slots; I believe that I could’ve supported some of the formulations offering slots in Maryland under the previous administration.

At least I could’ve closed my eyes, held my breath, pinched my nose, and pushed the green button.

I happen to be old enough to remember slots and members of my family viewed them as harmless entertainment – and by and large, it was just that.

I never saw the ills that slots created for society and yet as I grew older I began to see that slots are a huge potential for harm to the fabric of the community.

Earlier proposals had more benefits than harms. I liked the revenue for agriculture and education and I certainly liked the jobs creation.

However, the current proposal is not very attractive in that there is not enough upside to the proposal to overcome the downside.

Overlooking for the moment that it places slots in the Maryland constitution where it does not belong; it appears that little of the revenue will go to help agriculture, or more specifically, the horse industry; way too little goes to education and too much goes to the general revenue fund coffers of Maryland state government.

Maryland state government already has a pathological spending addiction and the current legislation only fuels the problem as opposed to what a dedicated fund for ag and education would provide.

And there’s the rub.

Anyway, the Washington Post says: No on Maryland Slots:

Voters should oppose a referendum that would bring the machines -- and a host of maladies -- back to the state.

Sunday, October 19, 2008; B06

ON JULY 1, 1968, the last slot machines were wheeled out of the taverns and diners that dotted a stretch of Southern Maryland known as Little Vegas. Maryland banned the machines because they fostered crime and corruption and drained money from the poor. In the 40 years since, the lever on the side of the machine has given way to a button on the front, but the scourges ushered in by slots are the same.

Supporters of a Nov. 4 referendum that would restore slots to Maryland paper over these memories with dollar bills. Slots, they promise, will plug Maryland's $430 million budget gap, revive the faltering horse-racing industry and inject needed cash into schools. Marylanders shouldn't fall for this neon mirage.

[…]

Maryland had the good sense to rid itself of the machines 40 years ago, and voters should continue to resist the glow of slot machines and the false promise of pain-free revenue they represent.

[…]


Read the entire editorial here: No on Maryland Slots

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/18/AR2008101801534.html

20081019 Washington Post editorial says No to slots

Monday, September 22, 2008

Westminster Eagle: Be critical of spending, but MML has been worthwhile by Kevin Dayhoff


Westminster Eagle: Be critical of spending, but MML has been worthwhile by Kevin Dayhoff

Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/opinion-talk/ 9/17/08

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 to attend the annual Maryland Municipal League summer convention -- which city officials acknowledge cost approximately $19,000 in taxpayer money.

The reaction on the street and in the grocery store checkout line was, to be polite, outrage. "Where were their heads when they made this harebrained decision?" asked an acquaintance while I was munching on fries and a roast beef sandwich at Baugher's.

Well, have a seat and take a deep breath. For you see, I can't entirely go along with the populist rabble on this one.

Yes, I enjoy my reputation as a tightwad penny pincher, for which I have endured eloquent criticism in the past -- criticism that comes from those who believe tax and spend big government is the answer to all the challenges in our community.

At a time when city officials are, to the best of my knowledge, for the first time in Westminster history laying off employees due to budget constraints, raising taxes and actively discussing curtailing city services; was it really wise to spend $19,000 on a convention -- which included a $1,500 "team-building dinner?"

Probably not. As one person said to me, it doesn't meet the smell test.

City officials have defended the expense of attending the MML convention, as well they should, by saying in affect that the conference is cost effective.

However, by all accounts, they missed the big picture in defense of the expenditure in that the real challenge facing Westminster is a community conversation over the growth of city government and the spending priorities and policies of the current administration.

The cost of the MML convention served as a lightning rod for the frustration of many folks in the community concerning the past several years when conflicting messages have been telegraphed to the public about city finances. For example, in the last several years the city has added new administrative positions at a cost of more than $200,000 a year -- all the while pleading poverty.

If you want to be upset over the spending priorities and the lack of fiscal discipline of the current administration; have at it.

However, I would leave the MML out of it. For my money, MML is actually part of the solution.

To be fair, the current administration campaigned on the need for increased spending, taxes, bureaucracy and larger government. To now be angry because they've been true to their word is disingenuous at best.

When I was an elected official with the city, I attended six conferences in Ocean City and I continue to keep in touch with MML officials and stay current with MML initiatives, programs, conferences and seminars.

The annual summer convention has grown over the years into a must-attend event for statewide elected leaders as well as municipal officials. Even though it's held in Ocean City, it is a far cry from a vacation at the beach. It's a great deal of work crammed into too few days.

What city officials ought to have done is give a "show me the money" report on what an invaluable service the MML and the summer convention provides our community. There really is bang for that buck, but it's hard to hear that bang over the sound of public protest.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. E-mail him at kdayhoff@carr.org.

http://www.explorecarroll.com/opinion/1005/be-critical-spending-but-mml-has-been-worthwhile/

20080917 WE Be critical of spending but MML has been worthwhile

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