Showing posts with label Dayhoff Media The Tentacle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dayhoff Media The Tentacle. Show all posts

Thursday, May 2, 2013

The Tentacle: The Presidents Club by Kevin Dayhoff Wednesday, April 24, 2013



McDaniel College history professor Bryn Upton, left, discusses the world's most exclusive fraternity, the "Presidents Club," with authors Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy at McDaniel College on April 18. (Photo by Kevin Dayhoff / April 24, 2013)



Last Thursday, Time magazine editors Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy provided a sneak peek behind the curtains into the most exclusive club in the world, “The Presidents Club,” to a crowd that filled McDaniel College’s Decker Lecture Hall in Westminster.

For presidential scholars and arcane American history junkies alike, the timing of the presentation could not have been more perfect. … http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5741

++++++++++++++++++++++

Related: Eagle Archive: McDaniel talk offers glimpse into history of 'Presidents Club' by Kevin Dayhoff http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/neighborhoods/westminster/ph-ce-eagle-archive-0428-20130424,0,7709543.story

Related







It has been almost two-months since the legendary rock-blues master British guitarist Alvin Lee; the lead singer of the band “Ten Years After,” passed away on March 6.

His sudden death at age 68 was attributed to “unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5755
+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Obamacare: The New Repetitive Stress Disorder by Kevin E. Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/chrowx7

Obamacare: The New Repetitive Stress Disorder by Kevin E. Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/chrowx7

March 27, 2013 Obamacare: The New Repetitive Stress Disorder by Kevin E. Dayhoff

http://tinyurl.com/chrowx7 On January 1, 2014, the revolutionary change in how we will receive our healthcare in the future will become fully implemented. Last Saturday was the third anniversary of the law and even the mainstream media, which coordinated its passage, cannot avoid reporting on how it is already making all of us sick… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5694

*****


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

President Obama: The sky is falling March 13, 2013 by Kevin E. Dayhoff




Almost two weeks have gone by since the so-called “sequester” of the federal budget went into effect and all indications lead us to believe that the Zombie Apocalypse has not happened. Nor has it otherwise resulted in the end of the world as we know it.

Remember the sequester? It was the key and critical provision of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which took effect on March 1.

According to Dylan Matthews on March 1, 2013, in The Washington Post:

“The 2013 sequester includes: $42.7 billion in defense cuts (a 7.9 percent cut); $28.7 billion in domestic discretionary cuts (a 5.3 percent cut); $9.9 billion in Medicare cuts (a 2 percent cut); $4 billion in other mandatory cuts (a 5.8 percent cut to nondefense programs, and a 7.8 percent cut to mandatory defense programs).”

According to a number of astute political observers, including Chris Cillizza, also of The Washington Post, the sequester may very well have been over-hyped by a president who is not used to media scrutiny.

Mr. Cillizza wrote in “Did President Obama cry wolf on the sequester,” “In the days leading up to the March 1 sequester deadline, dire warnings about its impact were being issued daily from President Obama. Lines at airports would be interminable. First responders would be compromised. Things would be, in a word, bad.”

At my advanced age, I can easily recognize political silliness when I see it.

According to Media Research Center’s Brent Baker, who wrote in an article titled, “Krauthammer: Obama on Charm Offensive Because ‘Media Could No Longer Cover for Him,’” “Charles Krauthammer credited President Obama’s charm offensive toward Republicans to his losing the news media which couldn’t any longer abide his ridiculous sequester ‘cut’ exaggerations.

Mr. Baker is the vice president for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog organization and think tank.

President Obama’s strongest constituency, which, according to Dr., Krauthammer, “is not the left, it’s the mainstream media, could no longer cover for him without being entirely embarrassed,” Krauthammer observed last Friday night on the Fox News Channel, “It had to expose the one exaggeration after another on the sequester.”

Dr. Krauthammer went on to observe that … http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5670
+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Thursday, March 7, 2013

The Tentacle: How I learned to love the sequester by Kevin E. Dayhoff Mar 6, 2013 http://tinyurl.com/a4s5zu8


The Tentacle: How I learned to love the sequester by Kevin E. Dayhoff Mar 6, 2013 http://tinyurl.com/a4s5zu8



Last Friday, March 1, the much ballyhooed and overhyped “sequester” of the federal budget began. A key and critical provision of the Budget Control Act of 2011, sequestration was signed into law on August 2, 2011 by President Barack Obama.

In August 2011 “bipartisan majorities in both the House of Representatives and Senate voted for sequestration as a mechanism to compel the Congress to act on deficit reduction,” according to a March 1, 2013 Office of Management and Budget memo to Speaker of the House, John A. Boehner (R., OH).

The letter further detailed that “As a result of the Congress's failure to act, the law requires the President to issue a sequestration order today canceling $85 billion in budgetary resources across the Federal Government for FY 2013…”

This latest artificial governance-by-crisis has been unfolding for a number of weeks – err, months… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5658

+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Tentacle Kevin Dayhoff: Carroll County Commissioner John L Armacost – R.I.P. http://tinyurl.com/bzdqmtk



The Tentacle Kevin Dayhoff: Carroll County Commissioner John L Armacost – R.I.P. http://tinyurl.com/bzdqmtk






Many were saddened recently to learn that the well-respected longstanding community leader and former Carroll County commissioner, John L. Armacost, died January 13.

I had the privilege and honor to work for Commissioner Armacost in several capacities in the 1980s when he was in office from 1982 to 1986 with Jeffrey Griffith and William V. Lauterbach. From 1986 to 1990, Commissioner Armacost served with Commissioner Griffith and then-newcomer, Julia Walsh Gouge.

In those years I served the county during Commissioner Armacost’s term in office on a number of state and county boards and commissions including the county landscape manual committee and the tree preservation committee, in addition to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forestry Board, and numerous agricultural committees with the University of Maryland and the County Extension Service.

I also worked with Dr. Raymond J. Miller, the University of Maryland's Vice Chancellor for Agricultural Affairs, on panel luncheons on present and future challenges to the Carroll and Frederick County agricultural community. The sustainability of the business of agriculture was consistently an important issue for Commissioner Armacost and I recall well his keen interest in those discussions.

Commissioner Armacost served as president of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners from 1982 to 1990. During his tenure he was well known for his sound conservative management of the county budget and his thorough knowledge of the nuts and bolts of how a county works on a day-to-day basis… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5609
*****

+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Is Charter Right for Carroll County? - The Tentacle.com by Kevin E. Dayhoff January 23, 2013




The decision last November by Frederick County voters to go to a Charter form of government has kept local political junkies preoccupied ever since the election results were announced.

The ballot issue last fall was quite contentious in Frederick County and even the preliminary discussions over exploring such a change in Carroll County has already had a polarizing affect with people taking sides quickly.

Ever since the county was formed in 1837 citizens have tinkered with the county’s form of government.

In 1968 Carroll County voters rejected both Charter government and Code Home Rule. In 1984, Code Home Rule was defeated.

In 1992 Charter government was defeated at the ballot box. In 1998 the voters rejected a referendum to increase the Board of Commissioners to five at-large members and rejected a Charter form of government.

I participated, in vain, in the Carroll County Committee for Charter Government, in the effort to bring a Charter to Carroll County – that was defeated at the polls in 1992.

In the late 1960s, 1980s and early 1990s, many of my close friends and colleagues disagreed with my advocacy for Charter government.

Like most former mayors – who have experienced (municipal) charter government, I strongly believe that Charter is a move in the correct direction for a more cost-effective, efficient and citizen-oriented government.

I bristle that currently local Carroll County decisions are made by people in Annapolis, who do not even know where Carroll County is.

I believe in local control and local decisions. And I am convinced that, in the end, Charter is a cheaper form of government than the anachronistic inefficient and ineffective government we currently have in Carroll County.

According to numerous media accounts including that of Ryan Marshall in the Frederick Gazette, “With the results of Tuesday’s election, Frederick joins Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Dorchester, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Talbot and Wicomico counties with charter government…”

And according to a thoughtful opinion written on December 4 by Jackie Jones, of Taneytown, the chair of the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee, “Carroll is now the largest of the remaining six commissioner counties of 24 jurisdictions in the state…”

Although there have been many conspiracy theories put forth over the years as to why other community leaders, who care about the future of Carroll as much as I do, disagreed.

In the end, they were simply concerned that it would cost too much money.

I am well aware of the suggestion that the opposition to Charter was all about those in power “who didn’t want to lose the power that they had…”

In my experience, many of “those in power,” who are accused of selfishly taking care of their personal power base at the expense of the long-range interests of the citizens of Carroll County, are friends of mine. And I sure hope they were being straight with me when they said they were worried that Charter is a step in the direction of expansive and expensive big government.

Moreover, I share their concern… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5583
+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Yes Dear Readers Fruitcake Has A History by Kevin Dayhoff


Yes, Dear Readers, Fruitcake Has A History

December 26, 2012 Kevin E. Dayhoff http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5537

The holidays are upon us and I can only be sure that many thoughts have turned to getting together with family and friends – and of course, the wonders of fruitcake.

Yes, fruitcake. Yeah! I know it is a rather heavy subject for the Christmas season, but fools rush in where angels fear to tread. I’ve been called many things over the years, but “Angel” is not one of them, so here goes.

Seems nothing stirs the passions of many like the subject of food. I’m still nursing the bruising I took several years ago when I commented on the virtues of squash: “As much as I like vegetables, one food that does not exist on the Dayhoff's Nutrition Pyramid (DNP) is squash. God created the squash as a joke. The word "squash" is Native-American for "mud disguised as plant."

Moving along; your intrepid writer here has observed that first among equals on the holiday food passion meter seems to be the topic of fruitcake. After all, nothing warms the cockles of one’s heart like fruitcake on a cold Central Maryland night. I have been told that fruitcake burns – forever – in the fireplace at a rather high temperature; and it adds a brilliant display of holiday colors to the flames.

The subject of fruitcake arrived when I was recently asked as to what was my favorite food during the holidays. To which I answered, “Yes!!!”

Fruitcake has gotten a bad rap over the years. That’s probably because people haven’t had homemade dark fruitcake with icing – a Southern tradition.

According to various learned commentaries on the virtues of fruitcake, the concoction of chopped candied fruit, nuts, and spices – and plenty of alcohol – was quite popular at Victorian teas in 19th century England, where many know it as “Christmas Cake.”

Another variation of fruitcake – or “fruit bread,” …http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5537
+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Why Greece Matters by Kevin E. Dayhoff


Why Greece Matters by Kevin E. Dayhoff December 5, 2012 TheTentacle.com http://tinyurl.com/dxxwya5


As the global financial recession enters its sixth year, and the so-called apocalyptic ‘fiscal cliff’ looms large in the U.S., the repeating Greek chorus in this global economic opera played-out an all-too familiar refrain last Friday when the German Bundestag approved more bailout funds for Greece.

Yes, Greece – that tiny country of approximately 11 million people in the eastern portion of the Mediterranean between Italy and Turkey, with barely two-percent of the entire Gross Domestic Product of Europe, and capably competes with Argentina and the U.S. to command over 100 percent of everyone’s global, chronic, economic migraine headache.

Remember, it was not long after the Great Recession officially got underway in December 2007, when rumblings started to be heard that Greece was technically bankrupt.

“Greece kicked off the crisis in 2009 by admitting its budget deficit would be 12.9% of GDP, more than four times the EU's 3% limit,” according to an article written for About.com by Kimberly Amado.

Over the many years since Greece was first admitted into the European Union in 1981, and especially since 2001 when it joined the eurozone; the storied land of mythology, ancient civilization, and the birthplace of the Olympics, has lived huge, way beyond its means and lurched toward defaulting on its loans and economic chaos for over four years.

Say it ain’t so. Greece is the stuff of ancient lore, the beginnings of democracy and western philosophy with a documented history that dates back to the 3rd century BC, with a modern, high standard of living that The Economist ranked as high as 22nd in the world as recently as 2005… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5502


+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Sandy – The Historic Unwelcome Guest


Sandy – The Historic Unwelcome Guest


The last thing we expected, in a year full of the unexpected, was a late tropical storm, with a friendly moniker like Hurricane Sandy, making an unwanted appearance on our calendar.

For too many, it was an uninvited guest in our living room. For others, it came and went, leaving us in the dark, with fewer trees, and in return, left behind plenty of water – as in water, water everywhere.

You know, in Maryland, once the trees have begun to show-off their fall season colorful display, the days have started to get shorter, and the temperature leaves a nip in the air, one begins to think snow, ice, and winter – but not hurricanes.

We often associate hurricane season with unpleasant weather events that ruin the best of plans during the summer and fall months of June through November. Those of us who enjoy visiting the south during the summer have learned, in some instances the hard way, to keep an eye on the weather. Nothing can ruin a rare vacation – or even a writing assignment – worse than coordinating your schedule with the random vagaries of a hurricane.

We usually endure the wrath of hurricanes and tropical storms during the months of July and September. Once Labor Day comes and goes, we usually think that we’re in the clear; well, except for “nor’easters,” storms that resemble ‘winter-hurricanes,’ that form in the southeast and travel north.

The storm quickly caught the eye of many seasoned hurricane scientists who dubbed it Frankenstorm… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5433
+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Monday, October 29, 2012

English as the official language proposed in Carroll County MD


“English Only” Up in Carroll County by Kevin E. Dayhoff October 24, 2012

In Carroll County, a hearing is scheduled in New Windsor on October 30 to gather public input on a proposed ordinance, similar to the one passed by Frederick County officials in February to designate English as the official language of the county.

In Frederick County, the proposal passed by a vote of 4-1 and, according to the Associated Press, “requires official actions of Frederick County to be taken only in English.”

Of course, nevermind that federal and state laws mandate that various government agencies offer assistance to non-English speakers.

If a predominant number of the members of the Frederick and Carroll County Boards of Commissioners were from the Democrat Party, Republicans would be screaming bloody-murder about such legislation being a waste of taxpayers’ time and money… Oh, well, nevermind, moving right along here…

Although the idea for such an ordinance in Carroll County has been discussed since last winter, or earlier, the proposal was introduced by the Board of Commissioners September 27.

The entire kerfuffle over “English only” piqued my curiosity since our area of the state has only spoken English for approximately 25 percent of our history… In our modern history, anecdotal accounts indicate that German was the predominant language in Carroll up to around the time of the Civil War, especially in the northern and western portions of the county.

My thoughts were immediately channeled into a column I wrote October 20 in The Baltimore Sun, “Strictly speaking, Carroll's predominant language was once German.”

“In October 1833, in the area we now know as Carroll County, a vote was taken as to whether or not we should form a new county in Maryland from portions of Baltimore and Frederick counties.”

Much of the opposition to forming a new county came from the predominant German population in Taneytown, Manchester and Hampstead. “Some of those folks were not really sure they wanted to form a new county – especially with a minority that spoke English and owned slaves, and well, perhaps were not as well educated or cultured as the German population.

“There was a great deal of concern that the English speakers would never learn German – and thus would exploit the generosity of the German majority. Paying extra taxes to support the English speakers was also of great concern…

Ultimately, the October 1833 referendum was defeated.” … http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5414

Related – also see: Eagle Archive: Strictly speaking, Carroll's predominant language was once German by Kevin Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/8hvbfy2



+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack: Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle Dialogue on the Preside...

Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack: Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle Dialogue on the Preside...: October 10, 2012 Dialogue on the Presidential Election Elections 2012 , Elections 2012 presidential , Politics debates http://www...

Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle Dialogue on the Presidential Election


Dialogue on the Presidential Election Elections 2012, Elections 2012 presidential, Politics debates


Recently, political science professor Dr. Herb Smith, the McDaniel College director of government relations, brought together a distinguished panel at the college in Westminster for a local “Dialogue on the Presidential Election.”

Just as early voting has begun in many states, and the date of the traditional fall general election is within weeks, now is the time that our country turns to the podium and stage for the debate edition of presidential reality theatre.

Many have been surprised that the Republican presidential challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, did as well as he did during the first presidential debate in Denver on October 3.

Writing for The Slatest, Josh Voorhees penned on Monday, “Was Romney's Debate Win the Most Convincing in History? It Looks That Way.” According to Mr. Voorhees, “Gallup's latest survey shows just how overwhelmingly the American public thought Mr. Romney bested President Obama onstage in Denver last Wednesday: 72 percent of debate watchers gave the win to the GOP challenger with only 20 percent seeing the president as the winner. That 52-point gap was the largest the polling outfit has ever seen, topping even Bill Clinton's 42-point margin over George H. W. Bush in 1992…”

For those who missed the debate, it is also a great read. The transcript of “President Obama and Mitt Romney’s remarks at the first presidential debate …,” has been published by The Washington Post.

For a concise and insightful commentary on the debate by TheTentacle.com writer, former Maryland State Del. Rick Weldon, read, “A Slam-Dunk Election Snapshot.” “Employing language familiar to basketball fans, the first presidential debate of the 2012 election cycle resulted in a slam dunk for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,” says Delegate Weldon… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5389


*****

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Time to rethink Afghanistan September 25, 2012 by Kevin E. Dayhoff


In light of a recent dispatch from Michael Yon, “Stuck in the Mud,” 24September 2012, http://www.michaelyon-online.com/stuck-in-the-mud.htm, I am reminded of what I wrote back in March, 2012:

“Time to Rethink Afghanistan” by Kevin E. Dayhoff March 28, 2012






So far, 2012 has not been a good year for the war in Afghanistan. Just last Monday a New York Times/CBS poll quantified what most Americans already know in their gut: support for the war is dropping sharply among both Democrats and Republicans.

According to the Times’ article, “Support in U.S. for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds,” “the survey (a copy of which may be accessed here,) found that more than two-thirds of those polled — 69 percent — thought that the United States should not be at war in Afghanistan. Just four months ago, 53 percent said that Americans should no longer be fighting in the conflict, more than a decade old.”

Inadvertently, the Times article explained part of the problem when it quoted “Michael E. O’Hanlon, a military expert at the Brookings Institution, who is close to American commanders in Afghanistan, said that the opinion polls reflected a lack of awareness of the current policy…”

Yes, Mr. Hanlon, you are correct. Ten years of war and at this point in time, most Americans cannot tell you why we are still risking the lives of our young men and women.

The rest of the quote from Mr. Hanlon reads: “…the current policy, which calls for slowly turning over portions of the country to Afghan security forces, like the southern provinces, where American troops have tamped down the violence.

“I honestly believe,” said Mr. Hanlon, “if more people understood that there is a strategy and intended sequence of events with an end in sight, they would be tolerant…”

Here’s the takeaway: “The overall image of this war is of U.S. troops mired in quicksand and getting blown up and arbitrarily waiting until 2014 to come home. Of course, you’d be against it,” said Mr. Hanlon.

Bingo. Increasingly the overall image of this war has become the feckless foreign policy of sending young men and women into quicksand to get blown-up arbitrarily.

The additional context of the troubled mission-drift approach to the war may be found in a recent telling interview with the top commander in Afghanistan, detailed by Jennifer Hlad and Chris Carroll in Stars and Stripes.

U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen was quoted as saying that “he believes the majority of non-commissioned officers; staff NCOs and young officers are ‘extraordinarily well-trained.’

“Repeated tours in Afghanistan, and prior to that, in Iraq, don’t inherently reduce the effectiveness of the force or reduce the effectiveness of small-unit leadership… I’m confident the institution is solid,” said General Allen in the article, “Allen: Investigation of Afghan killings to look at leadership climate.”

Anecdotally and unscientifically, all intuition and instincts indicate that General Allen has unwittingly responded to what has been, heretofore, only whispers in the hallway… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5001



+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Chick-fil-A will be celebrating Back to School day on August 18, 2012.



Tuesday, August 14, 2012, Westminster MD - We stopped over at the Chick-fil-A in the Westminster Shopping Center at the corner of Englar Road and Rte 140 in Westminster, MD for dinner Tuesday evening.

Along with our food came a little flyer saying that the local Chick-fil-A will be celebrating Back to School day on August 18, 2012.

I also attached a flyer that we got last December. The Chick-fil-A Trays flyer was discussed at great length at several public safety non-profits, of which I belong.

I know that many of us go out of our way to patronize the local Chick-fil-A, because the restaurant is so supportive of our local community…

Chick-fil-A has excellent food; runs a great restaurant, has excellent customer service, and is very supportive of local firefighters and law enforcement, non-profits and the community.

By all measures, Chick-fil-A is reported to be a good employer, and is a valuable contributor to the local community.

Chick-fil-A, chicken, food, restaurants, Westminster, Maryland, firefighters, law enforcement, public safety, catering,







Hopefully you and your family will join former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee today and be sure to patronize your local Chick fil-A restaurant in honor of ‘Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.’ http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5261

Governor Huckabee organized the event in the wake of the un-American, intolerant, hate campaign being waged against the Atlanta-based restaurant chain after its president, Dan Cathy, told the author of the “Biblical Recorder,” a journal of the Baptist Press, his personal views on gay marriage.

In an article, “‘Guilty as charged,’ Mr. Cathy says of Chick-fil-A's stand on biblical & family values,” writer K. Allan Blume, explains, “Dan Cathy oversees one of the country's most successful businesses.

“As president and chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A, Cathy leads a business with 1,608 restaurants that had sales of more than $4 billion dollars last year…

“His father, S. Truett Cathy started the business in 1946… In 1967, his father opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta…

In an excellent article on the matter by Jamie Smith Hopkins, “Chick-fil-A president's words on gay marriage spark tempest,” penned for The Baltimore Sun, Ms. Hopkins reports that Mr. Cathy said that Chick-fil-A is “very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.”… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5261

++++++++



Celebrate Eat More Chicken ‘Buy-cott’ Day – Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle http://tinyurl.com/d8d2s4d

August 1, 2012

+++++++++++++++++
Also see:

Fighting the Stuff Monster – Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle

June 20, 2012

Westminster Bus Chick-Fil-A, Carroll Co Bus Chick-Fill-A, Free Speech, Restaurants, Food, Dayhoff Media The Tentacle,
+++++++++++++++
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
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/
+++++++++++++++