Recent columns in The Tentacle by Kevin E. Dayhoff

Biography Dayhoff Media The Tentacle

November 18, 2009
A Fallen Hero Comes Home….
Kevin E. Dayhoff
As I surveyed the huge display of American flags and the mass of community that showed-up at the Union Bridge fire hall on Monday morning to pay their final respects to Marine Staff Sergeant Charles Isaac Cartwright; I could not help but think of the famous quote: “Where do we get such men?”

November 11, 2009
Stop with the Political Correctness…
Kevin E. Dayhoff
As Americans look forward to honoring our nation’s veterans today; we do so with heavy hearts in the wake of the senseless and cowardly murder of a dozen soldiers and one civilian at the Fort Hood (TX) Soldier Readiness Processing Center last Thursday.

November 4, 2009
Pulling the Plug on Maryland
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Word spread quickly through Maryland early Monday evening that the Black and Decker Manufacturing Company is “merging” with The Stanley Works. Black and Decker employees were notified by email at 4:30 P.M. of the $4.5 billion all-stock acquisition of the venerable old Maryland manufacturer.

October 28, 2009
Halloween and The Snallygaster
Kevin E. Dayhoff
This Saturday is Halloween and taking break from local and national politics could not come a moment too soon.

October 21, 2009
Virginia’s Dirty Deeds
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In less than two weeks, on November 3, our neighbor to the south, Virginia, will conduct a gubernatorial election that may give us our first insights as just how the nation really feels about the jumbled mess in which our great nation finds itself after about nine months of rule by President Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress.

October 14, 2009
A case of premature adulation
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Friday was the birthday of the Obama family dog and something else. Oh, now I remember. It was the day that President Barack Obama was awarded the Noble Peace Prize.

October 7, 2009
Always Remembered, Never Forgotten
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Sunday, friends and family from all over the country gathered at the New Windsor fire company social hall to pay their last respects to Guy Babylon, Elton John’s keyboardist for 21 years. Guy Babylon, 52, died at his Los Angles home on September 2.

September 30, 2009
Revealing Ike
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Of all the presidents of the United States, the one which Frederick and Carroll Counties may have literally the closest connection is President Dwight David Eisenhower, known affectionaly as “Ike.”

September 23, 2009
Big Media Missing the Point
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Everyone who bickers about the size of the crowd in Washington on September 12, or what network covered it and what media did not cover it, or whether the protest was the work of conservatives or un-American racists is sorely missing the significance of the entire event.

September 16, 2009
Enough Already…
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In the last week, we have witnessed a full-court press by President Barack Obama, in his efforts to push forward broad sweeping health care reform. He’s everywhere. He’s everywhere…

September 9, 2009
Two Plus Two Equals Five
Kevin E. Dayhoff
By now we have all had an opportunity to either read or watch President Barack Obama’s national address to our schoolchildren that aired yesterday at high noon.

September 2, 2009
The Perils of Facebook
Kevin E. Dayhoff
For better or worse, new social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter are here to stay – that is, until something new comes along – like, tomorrow.

http://www.thetentacle.com/author.cfm?MyAuthor=41 http://tinyurl.com/y9uwcq2

20091118 sdosm Recent columns in The Tentacle by Kevin E. Dayhoff Dayhoff Media The Tentacle

Recent columns in The Tentacle by Kevin E. Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/y9uwcq2

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/11/recent-columns-in-tentacle-by-kevin-e.html

*****

 

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 A case of premature adulation by Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Friday was the birthday of the Obama family dog and something else. Oh, now I remember. It was the day that President Barack Obama was awarded the Noble Peace Prize.

To Liposuction – or Not!
Tom McLaughlin
Kuching, Malaysia – “I like my tummy soft and round, not flat and hard like the cold hard ground” I sang to myself. These were remnants of a song I had heard on one of those PBS radio shows featuring local artists from around the country. I don’t remember the tune except it was country, but the words have stuck with me ever since.

Michael Kahn Does “The Alchemist!”
Roy Meachum
I’ve warned you about Michael Kahn before. The artistic director of Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company continues to make stage classics work by inserting shtickla the writer could not have imagined. He’s done it again in “The Alchemist,” by Ben Jonson.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009
No to County Commissioners
Roy Meachum
Kai Hagen and John L. “Lennie” Thompson cannot count on me; I will not sign the petition putting on the ballot the question of annexing three properties. And the same answer goes to the other commissioners.

Procrastination is the Thief of Time
Nick Diaz
In my last installment, I mentioned the “19-millimeter socket wrench” a mathematics student needs to bring success into his mathematical learning habits. Keep in mind that these observations and recommendations apply to mathematics students at all levels – middle and high school as well as college. Math is math, regardless of what course or level; good academic habits are universal.

Monday, October 12, 2009
Reviewing Contentiousness
Blaine R. Young
For the most part the dust has settled and the situation involving my brother Brad and the Walkersville High School girls softball team has been brought to closure. But this case was so bizarre, and so emblematic of the degree to which the Frederick County Board of Education is out of touch with reality, that it merits one last commentary.

Manipulation Nation
Steven R. Berryman
The control of your future behavior on an epic scale is the goal by some that will make us “The Manipulation Nation.”

From Hither, Thither and Yon
Michael Kurtianyk
Quite the furor over President Barack Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize this year, isn’t it? Such silliness! The deadline for the nominating committee to submit candidates was February 2nd, and his name was submitted on time.

Friday, October 9, 2009
False Media Prophets
Roy Meachum
The Washington Post and The New York Times have changed their tune. Both powerful newspapers bellowed intense “jingoism” at Iraq’s invasion. They thoughtlessly went along with what in columns I called an expression of national egotism. You wouldn’t know it if you read either paper today.

Cheap Political Tricks
Joe Charlebois
Newsflash: According to Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, men and women are the same! This past weekend Senator Mikulski excoriated the insurance industry for treating men and women differently. She noted that women can pay much more for healthcare insurance than a man of the same age.

Thursday, October 8, 2009
Changing Strategies, Positive Results
Chris Cavey
Few people inside or outside the Party of Lincoln would argue the fact that now is the time to invest in Republicans, because everyone knows buying low always yields the best profit. Currently my beloved party is at a low ebb; however, there are signs that the stock will soon rise.

The Good and The Helpful
Joan McIntyre
The poor, picked on Frederick County Board of Education does something that appears to be a good idea and might actually help – and save money to boot – and here I go just raining on its parade. Before I tell you why, let me say I'm actually glad to hear of their plans. I also hope it catches on and becomes a norm for all administrative staff.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Always Remembered, Never Forgotten
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Sunday, friends and family from all over the country gathered at the New Windsor fire company social hall to pay their last respects to Guy Babylon, Elton John’s keyboardist for 21 years. Guy Babylon, 52, died at his Los Angles home on September 2.

“…And Yesterday’s Done….”
Tom McLaughlin
Middletown, MD – “It’s a grand old flag, it’s a free flying flag, forever may it wave!” This tune ran through my head as I walked up the hill to the parking lot in Middletown for the annual celebration of Middletown Days. I stopped and watched a fife and bugle ensemble, dressed in 1776 uniforms, playing a patriotic song whose melody I recognized but could not pinpoint. A tear came to my eye.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009
In the Street Origin
Roy Meachum
I don’t remember that there were several thousand marching; I could be wrong. Among the numerous people who poured out that October Saturday in 1983 were my then-wife, her 88-year-old father and me. The weather was decent; I can’t recall details. But it didn’t rain that day, nor was it beastly hot.

Remembering The Forgotten
Farrell Keough
I recently got back from Iowa. I would have invited you, but they were full.

Monday, October 5, 2009
It’s “The Message,” Stupid
Steven R. Berryman
Freedom of speech may be relegated to the past, if the voices of our Founding Fathers are not re-remembered, and quickly. Some attempts to exercise our First, and most valuable amendment to the Constitution, upon examination, are really attacks on the message itself.

A Comfortable Chair and a Good Book
Michael Kurtianyk
The most responses I’ve received to my contributions to TheTentacle.com have come from two recent posts: my summer reading list and my take on the city aldermanic race (I love that word: “aldermanic”; so many connotations). I may post something on the mayoral race prior to the General Election, but until then, here’s my Fall Reading List:

Dayhoff Media The Tentacle, Pres 2009 44 Obama-Barack 20091014 sdosm This week in The Tentacle

 

*****

 

The Tentacle http://www.thetentacle.com/ : A case of premature adulation by Kevin E. Dayhoff October 14, 2009

Last Friday was the birthday of the Obama family dog and something else. Oh, now I remember. It was the day that President Barack Obama was awarded the Noble Peace Prize.

The lead paragraph in The New York Times in the wee hours of the morning when the news was announced read: “The U.S. president Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize ‘for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,’ the Nobel Foundation said in Sweden on Friday.”

I am not making this up.

Much of the world’s reaction, even from die-hard sycophant supporters of President Obama, was complete surprise, bordering on total disbelief.

Read the entire column here: A case of premature adulation

20091014 The Tentacle: A case of premature adulation

http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3409

Dayhoff Media The Tentacle, Pres 2009 44 Obama-Barack, This is nuts

*****

 

This week in The Tentacle

http://www.thetentacle.com/

Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Enough Already…
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In the last week, we have witnessed a full-court press by President Barack Obama, in his efforts to push forward broad sweeping health care reform. He’s everywhere. He’s everywhere…

Monks, Monkeys and a Mad Englishman
Tom McLaughlin
Krabi, Thailand – This beach resort has the atmosphere of a quiet upscale scene as opposed to the honky tonk of Phuket Island or Ocean City, Maryland. The beaches, hotels and restaurants are filled with sexy Swedes. I can't seem to get away from those blue eyes and blonde hair, nor do I want to. They have taken over South Thailand.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
From the Desk of the Publisher:
John W. Ashbury
Once again, our Roy Meachum has discovered that recovery from surgery is far more difficult than he had expected. Progress is being made, but, as most people know, set-backs are a part of the game. Hopefully he’ll be fit enough to resume on Friday.

Addressing the Algebra Crisis
Nick Diaz
In recent years, many jurisdictions throughout our country have experienced their share of educational crises – such as “whole language“ and “fuzzy math“ in general – and “TERC” in particular. Even now, the state is still in the grips of an “algebra crisis.”

Monday, September 14, 2009
9/11 Rally Meets the Tea Party
Steven R. Berryman
The convergence of local politics with national is impossible to escape now, even to the casual observer. With the timeframe overlap between the newest “Tea Party” style rally, the observances of 9/11s “Patriot Day,” and municipal primary elections tomorrow in Frederick, the relationship between party and constituent becomes even more blurred.

Down to The Wire
Michael Kurtianyk
Well, tomorrow (September 15) is Primary Day for Frederick City. More than ever, the city’s registered voters must go out and vote for those candidates who represent them in their parties.

Friday, September 11, 2009
Historic Hypocrisy
Roy Meachum
During my New Orleans childhood, street vendors walking along beside colorful horse-drawn wagons peddled bananas for “ten cents a dozen, two dozen for fifteen cents.” Why so cheap? They paid nothing.

Have you forgotten?
Joe Charlebois
Eight years ago today, an earthquake shook the American psyche as four passenger airliners carved scars into the New York skyline, the Pentagon and a farm in Somerset County, PA. When the tremors subsided – in true American fashion – we came together as one to start healing the wounds that a group of Islamic extremists – sponsored by al Qaeda – inflicted on that beautiful September morning.

The Good and The Ugly
Michael Kurtianyk
Last Friday I attended a “Music on the Terrace” program at C. Burr Artz Library. It was a beautiful midday, with a gentle breeze blowing over Carroll Creek. The terrace was packed with citizens enjoying the salsa music (as performed by Sin Miedo), and the free Rita’s ice cream.

Thursday, September 10, 2009
Two for the Money – I Mean – City
Joan McIntyre
There is no excuse good enough to NOT VOTE!!! It is a privilege and honor to have – and use – that single vote that belongs only to you. Your vote does make a difference.

What’s up with that?
Chris Cavey
The strict definitions of political parties are changing driven by the thought patterns of a disgruntled populace. Election 2010 will not be exclusively “R’s” and “D’s.” Instead it will be directed by where you fall in place on the liberal/conservative political spectrum.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Two Plus Two Equals Five
Kevin E. Dayhoff
By now we have all had an opportunity to either read or watch President Barack Obama’s national address to our schoolchildren that aired yesterday at high noon.

Vignettes of West Sumatra
Tom McLaughlin

Padang, Sumatra Indonesia – They reminded me of Dad. I could see him in their eyes and faces. Soldiers who had fought the Japanese in World War II and then the Dutch for independence had gathered for ceremonies and stayed at my hotel.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009
From The Desk of The Publisher:
John W. Ashbury
Roy Meachum has discovered – belatedly – that healing from surgery requires recovery of the mind as well. While expecting to be able to compose a column for today, Mr. Meachum found that his convalescence from knee replacement has drawn more of his attention that he planned. So, we at The Tentacle are hopeful that his commentary will restart on Friday.

Exposing the Real Agenda…
Farrell Keough
Now is the summer of our discontent – made glorious winter by this sun of the Statis. Shakespeare may not have been pleased, but my literary license is paid in full and allows for such word play.

From the Desk of The Publisher:
John W. Ashbury
WE GET LETTERS!!! Two Republican candidates for the Board of Aldermen of the City of Frederick weigh in on the annexation votes taken last week. And due to technical difficulties, it will be posted in this manner! Please ignore the byline and look at the end of the letter for the contributors.

20090916 sdosm This week in The Tentacle

 

*****

Recent columns in The Tentacle by Kevin Dayhoff

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/09/recent-columns-in-tentacle-by-kevin.html

http://www.thetentacle.com/author.cfm?MyAuthor=41

September 9, 2009
Two Plus Two Equals Five
Kevin E. Dayhoff
By now we have all had an opportunity to either read or watch President Barack Obama’s national address to our schoolchildren that aired yesterday at high noon.

September 2, 2009
The Perils of Facebook
Kevin E. Dayhoff
For better or worse, new social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter are here to stay – that is, until something new comes along – like, tomorrow.

August 31, 2009
The Legacy of Sen. Ted Kennedy
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The sad death of Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy last week brought with it a wave of sadness about the tumultuous events of the last four decades in our country.

August 26, 2009
Cindy’s Restaurant…
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On Sunday President Barack Obama, his extended family and an entourage of friends and colleagues, arrived in a "New England paradise," Martha's Vineyard, for a much-deserved vacation.

August 19, 2009
Hippy Dippy Stardust and Golden Memories
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In case you missed all the recent over-hyped media coverage, forty years ago the weekend of peace, love, and revolution took place in the garden at Max Yasgur’s 600-acre farm in upstate New York.

August 12, 2009
Free Speech was great while it lasted
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Maryland’s Democrat U. S. Senator Ben Cardin got quite an earful at a town hall meeting Monday night in Towson on healthcare reform. Although I choose not to attend, according to many published accounts, those who did go soundly jeered and booed him throughout the evening.

200090912 sdsom Recent columns in TT by KED

  *****

Recent The Tentacle columns by Kevin Dayhoff

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/08/recent-tentacle-columns-by-kevin.html

http://www.thetentacle.com/author.cfm?MyAuthor=41

http://www.thetentacle.com/

Kevin E. Dayhoff Biography

August 12, 2009
Free Speech was great while it lasted
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Maryland’s Democrat U. S. Senator Ben Cardin got quite an earful at a town hall meeting Monday night in Towson on healthcare reform. Although I choose not to attend, according to many published accounts, those who did go soundly jeered and booed him throughout the evening.

August 5, 2009
R.I.P. – Dr. Ira Zepp
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Saturday word spread quickly throughout the greater Carroll County community that Rev. Dr. Ira Gilbert Zepp, Jr., professor emeritus of the Religious Studies department at McDaniel College, had died peacefully at his home. He was 79 years old.

July 29, 2009
Black and blue and stupid, too
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On Thursday afternoon, July 16, the otherwise peaceful and stately Ware Street in Cambridge, MA, within shouting distance of Harvard University, became the latest ground zero for a debate over race relations in our country.

July 22, 2009
The Ironies of Empathy
Kevin E. Dayhoff
As last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court quickly becomes a distant summer memory, the ranking Republican member, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions assured that the nomination will get a full Senate vote on her confirmation before the Senate goes on recess August 7.

July 15, 2009
Remembering the Sacrifice of Vietnam
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On Saturday, at 1 P.M., members of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Air Cavalry Troop – the Black Horse Regiment, from all over the country – will pause to remember the fallen from the Vietnam War at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial Park at Willis and Court Streets in Westminster. The public is invited.

July 8, 2009
Palin Derangement Syndrome
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Friday the liberal hate machine gasped in collective horror at the very idea that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may not be around in the foreseeable future and be the object of anger looking for a safe victim.

July 1, 2009
Zelaya has left the building
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Early Sunday morning four units, consisting of 200 soldiers of the military in Honduras, stormed the presidential palace in the capitol, Tegucigalpa, at 6, arrested and bundled-up their pajama-clad president, Manuel Zelaya, and carted him off to the airport and flew him to Costa Rica.

June 24, 2009
Irony Deficient
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Half-way across the globe on June 12, the volatile and enigmatic theocratic nation of Iran held elections in which the Iranian government counted 32 million hand-written paper ballots in about three hours and declared the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad victorious.

June 17, 2009
The fall'll probably kill ya!
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On Monday, the ever-perpetual campaigner in chief, President Barack Obama, took his health care reform road show to Chicago for a 55-minute speech before the American Medical Association’s annual convention.

June 10, 2009
Obamamobile hits a bump
Kevin E. Dayhoff
With the checkered flag in sight, late last Monday afternoon, with only minutes to spare before the 4 o’clock deadline set by Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg caused the fast-tracked Obama economic recovery plan for Chrysler – and GM - to hit a speed bump.

June 3, 2009
Sotomayor – Break Her and You Die
Kevin E. Dayhoff
At 10:13 A.M. on May 26, President Barack Obama introduced to a breathless nation, a fawning audience, and a mesmerized press, his selection to replace retiring U. S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter – Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit of New York.

20090812 sdosm Recent The Tentacle columns by Kevin Dayhoff

*****

This week in The Tentacle

http://www.thetentacle.com/

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
R.I.P. – Dr. Ira Zepp
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Saturday word spread quickly throughout the greater Carroll County community that Rev. Dr. Ira Gilbert Zepp, Jr., professor emeritus of the Religious Studies department at McDaniel College, had died peacefully at his home. He was 79 years old.

Rainforest World Music Festival
Tom McLaughlin
Santubong, Sarawak, Malaysia – Shhhhhh! It’s a secret! Don’t tell anybody! I want to hoard this event for just my friends! I don’t want anymore people to come. As far as I am concerned, there were just enough people here a weekend or two ago.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009
“Uppity Negro” vs. “Racist Pig”
Roy Meachum
Any American who can see or hear knows exactly who are the “uppity negro” and the “racist pig.” That’s how each is described by radical elements in both camps. Their names may not be remembered. Their professions are: Harvard professor and Cambridge Police sergeant. The reality will probably offend more Henry Louis Gates, Jr., than James Crowley.

Motorcycle Touring – Part 3
Nick Diaz
Everyone needs to eat. On the road you, the touring motorcyclist, have two choices. You could buy food in a grocery store and prepare it yourself, or you can pay someone else to prepare the food. You cannot just go to the refrigerator and grab something, or drive to your favorite restaurant. While touring by motorcycle, you'll have to get food wherever you can.

Monday, August 3, 2009
Failure may be the only option
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Okay, by now you have to have spent time wondering why, in spite of all of the rhetoric thrown around over the last few decades, we’re no closer to substantive and meaningful healthcare reform than we’ve been before.

More-on Medicine!
Steven R. Berryman
Call me crazy, but I want to live longer, and into a fruitful old age. All events surrounding healthcare reform convince me of the opposite!

Friday, July 31, 2009
Those Movie Rating
Roy Meachum
Various groups have protested to the media how Hollywood advertises its product to the public; the G, PG, PG13, R and NC-17 appraisals have been found lacking. It seems today that before allowing a child to go off to a moving picture, parents should see the picture first.

So you want to buy a car?
Joe Charlebois
The American automobile industry, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. are publically traded corporations, private industry that – for the most part – has struggled to survive the marketplace in the past two decades. There are a multitude of reasons that the Big Three are failing while their foreign-owned counterparts have tapped into greater percentages of the American market share.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Who is watching the cookie jar?
Chris Cavey
At our family reunion last weekend, conversation turned to Maryland’s politics. Not that political talk is uncommon at this type of gathering, however, this time the facial expressions of the miscellaneous kinfolk gathered for this chat told me there was both interest and concern on many levels.

Summer Reading List
Michael Kurtianyk
Ah! The joys of summer! As the days get longer and I am busy with work, I love beginning the day (6 A.M.) with a cup of coffee, The Frederick News-Post (Washington Post on Sundays), and then a chapter or two of a book I am currently reading. So, I’d like to share with my readers my summer reading list:

Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Black and blue and stupid, too
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On Thursday afternoon, July 16, the otherwise peaceful and stately Ware Street in Cambridge, MA, within shouting distance of Harvard University, became the latest ground zero for a debate over race relations in our country.

Stranger No More
Tom McLaughlin
Kampung Boyan, Sarawak, Malaysia – The sampans ply the Sarawak River between two docks. On one side, where I live, is the city with tall buildings like the Hilton, Grand Margurita (formerly the Holiday Inn), Harbor View Hotel and my 16 story edifice housing my modern condo. These are all at least 10 stories high.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Not Forgotten! Not Quite!
Roy Meachum
To emphasize the new importance America’s current president gives to the war we had been told was finished, The Washington Post prints separately the names of those lost in Afghanistan; they were once “lumped in” with Iraq. Saturday’s edition published Germantown’s Rodrigo A. Mungula Rivas among the other dead soldiers. He was 27.

The Eyes of the Beholder
Farrell Keough
What an interesting week of racism. First we had a non-hearing on the confirmation of a proposed Supreme Court justice. And most recently we had the President of the United States defending a Harvard scholar for incendiary statements toward a policeman. It seems we have finally reached a point where racism is acceptable in some circles, as long as it is the ‘right’ kind of racism.

What are the answers?
Bill Brosius
Circumstances are troubling today. No one in the current Obama Administration seems terribly concerned. The president appears to think they can be ignored, or he can apologize for the USA, and every potential problem will melt away. The axis of evil is no more? Terrorists have mended their ugly ways? There are no latent catastrophic threats for us?

Monday, July 27, 2009
Why Take Back America?
Steven R. Berryman
To the uninitiated, the very concept of a “meet-up group” can be worrisome, and a bit unsettling. With much curiosity about our local splinter organization emerging from the original “Tea Party Movement,” I jumped into the fray last Friday night at the Hampton Inn’s meeting room.

20090805 sdosm This week in The Tentacle

 

*****

Kevin Dayhoff: http://www.westgov.net/ Westminster Maryland Online http://www.westminstermarylandonline.net/ http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/

Black and blue and still stupid, too

By Kevin Dayhoff July 29, 2009 – August 5, 2009

 

(For a larger image - go here: http://twitpic.com/cw5y2)

Almost three weeks have passed since Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar, was arrested in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside of Harvard University…

And yet, there are folks who seem to not be able to let go.

“Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home after a woman reported seeing ‘two males with backpacks on the porch,’ with one ‘wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry.’”

As for the rest of the story, the details are easily found in print, on the Internet and on television – as well as analysis of the incident – and an analysis of the analysis, ad nauseum.

Hopefully by the time you read this column the country will have collectively rediscovered that our nation is involved in two foreign wars, a recalcitrant economy in the toilet, and a raging debate over healthcare reform – to name just a few of the challenges.

At the time of Dr. Gates’ arrest,one headline screamed, “Harvard Prof Arrested; Gates Tried To Get Into Own House.”

However, as more facts come to light, the incident began to remind many of the infamous Duke lacrosse players’ debacle some time ago in which an African American female claimed that she had been assaulted the lacrosse team at a party.

Race, class, old wounds, and privilege immediately came into play. The media, along with other individuals who should know better, such as a large number of the Duke University faculty, jumped to broad-sweeping horrid conclusions before all the facts were known. Then there were extreme consequences.

After all the facts became clear, it became apparent that no crime had been committed except for extreme stupidity on the part of a whole host of bad actors.

As for the recent incident in Cambridge, Massachusetts; in days gone by, in an era long before the cable news and blogosphere-overloaded information – or disinformation – dissemination architecture, the story may have been lived and died in one or two news cycles.

However, the story quickly grew legs when cable news seized it as yet another example of law and order lunacy, not unlike last summer’s nightmare of police officers breaking into the home of a popular small town Maryland mayor and shooting his two dogs. Oops.

It is the latest saga of bad public relations for law enforcement in our country. Nevermind the detail that the facts do not support the hype in the case of the Cambridge incident.

Whether the example is speed cameras, red light cameras; or the recent incident where members of one law enforcement agency performed an undercover drug operation in Statesboro, NC, in which they arrested a member of another agency’s undercover operation; members of the public are continuing to be pre-disposed to believe that law enforcement in our country is becoming a bad Saturday Nigh Live skit.

Everyone immediately analyzed the recent Cambridge incident through the prism of his or her own experiences. Even those of us who grew up in small town America, where the local police officer was your friend, and helped you put your chain back on your bicycle; began to recall bad memories of our own war stories of dealing with overly officious adrenaline-driven police officers with the common sense of a goldfish.

The police report was scoured with a fine toothcomb looking for clues as to what really happened. The report may be found here (http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/23/0498.001.pdf.)
In the final analysis, President Barack Obama lost his script as the great uniter and weighed in badly as the great divider at a news conference last week, and further disseminated bad information by saying the Cambridge police department acted stupidly.

Never one to miss an opportunity to use race to promote himself, the Rev. Al Sharpton also weighed-in.

In the final stage, most all the finger-pointers have egg on their face and are walking back what they said in haste and spinning it for all its worth.

The news media was only too happy to help the president walk back his unfortunate hasty words, when it was revealed that Dr. Gates may have, in reality, precipitated and participated in his own victimization by his unprofessional and uncivil treatment of the police officer involved in the incident.

…

 

On Thursday afternoon, July 16, the otherwise peaceful and stately Ware Street in Cambridge, MA, within shouting distance of Harvard University, became the latest ground zero for a debate over race relations in our country.

For everyone who wishes that the debate would just go away, the uneasy discussion over racial relations in America continues to take one step forward and two steps back.

This story gets tedious quickly. On July 20, The Associated Press reported: “Police responding to a call about ‘two black males’ breaking into a home near Harvard University ended up arresting the man who lives there – Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar.

“Gates had forced his way through the front door because it was jammed… Colleagues call the arrest last Thursday afternoon a clear case of racial profiling.”

The plot followed an all too familiar storyline. First there were the initial sensational reports in the media that a prominent African American scholar, at Harvard, no less, was arrested at his own home for breaking into his own house.

Unfortunately, for black males in our country, it is a story that is all-too familiar.

However, as more facts come to light, the incident began to remind many of the infamous Duke lacrosse players’ debacle some time ago in which an African American female claimed that she had been assaulted by the lacrosse team at a party.

After all the facts became clear, it was obvious that no crime had been committed – except for extreme stupidity on the part of a whole host of bad actors.

Read the entire column here: Latest column in http://www.thetentcle.com/ by Kevin Dayhoff Black and blue and stupid too http://tinyurl.com/nfuml6

Dayhoff Media The Tentacle, People Gates Henry Louis, Pres 2009 44 Obama-Barack, US st Massachusetts Boston Cambridge,

20090729 TT Black and blue and stupid too ttked

 

*****

Kevin Dayhoff: http://www.westgov.net/ Westminster Maryland Online http://www.westminstermarylandonline.net/ http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/

Those Movie Rating
Roy Meachum
Various groups have protested to the media how Hollywood advertises its product to the public; the G, PG, PG13, R and NC-17 appraisals have been found lacking. It seems today that before allowing a child to go off to a moving picture, parents should see the picture first.

So you want to buy a car?
Joe Charlebois
The American automobile industry, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. are publically traded corporations, private industry that – for the most part – has struggled to survive the marketplace in the past two decades. There are a multitude of reasons that the Big Three are failing while their foreign-owned counterparts have tapped into greater percentages of the American market share.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Who is watching the cookie jar?
Chris Cavey
At our family reunion last weekend, conversation turned to Maryland’s politics. Not that political talk is uncommon at this type of gathering, however, this time the facial expressions of the miscellaneous kinfolk gathered for this chat told me there was both interest and concern on many levels.

Summer Reading List
Michael Kurtianyk
Ah! The joys of summer! As the days get longer and I am busy with work, I love beginning the day (6 A.M.) with a cup of coffee, The Frederick News-Post (Washington Post on Sundays), and then a chapter or two of a book I am currently reading. So, I’d like to share with my readers my summer reading list:

Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Black and blue and stupid, too
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On Thursday afternoon, July 16, the otherwise peaceful and stately Ware Street in Cambridge, MA, within shouting distance of Harvard University, became the latest ground zero for a debate over race relations in our country.

Stranger No More
Tom McLaughlin
Kampung Boyan, Sarawak, Malaysia – The sampans ply the Sarawak River between two docks. On one side, where I live, is the city with tall buildings like the Hilton, Grand Margurita (formerly the Holiday Inn), Harbor View Hotel and my 16 story edifice housing my modern condo. These are all at least 10 stories high.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Not Forgotten! Not Quite!
Roy Meachum
To emphasize the new importance America’s current president gives to the war we had been told was finished, The Washington Post prints separately the names of those lost in Afghanistan; they were once “lumped in” with Iraq. Saturday’s edition published Germantown’s Rodrigo A. Mungula Rivas among the other dead soldiers. He was 27.

The Eyes of the Beholder
Farrell Keough
What an interesting week of racism. First we had a non-hearing on the confirmation of a proposed Supreme Court justice. And most recently we had the President of the United States defending a Harvard scholar for incendiary statements toward a policeman. It seems we have finally reached a point where racism is acceptable in some circles, as long as it is the ‘right’ kind of racism.

What are the answers?
Bill Brosius
Circumstances are troubling today. No one in the current Obama Administration seems terribly concerned. The president appears to think they can be ignored, or he can apologize for the USA, and every potential problem will melt away. The axis of evil is no more? Terrorists have mended their ugly ways? There are no latent catastrophic threats for us?

Monday, July 27, 2009
Why Take Back America?
Steven R. Berryman
To the uninitiated, the very concept of a “meet-up group” can be worrisome, and a bit unsettling. With much curiosity about our local splinter organization emerging from the original “Tea Party Movement,” I jumped into the fray last Friday night at the Hampton Inn’s meeting room.

Friday, July 24, 2009
Make the Switch!
Roy Meachum
Every candidate for the September 15 Frederick City primaries has been rustling around doors; not necessarily mine. Old Towne Tavern and the Democratic headquarter are across the street. With two tattoo parlors and three head shops in the block – and mine the first-single family dwelling from the Square Corner – a candidate should have sanity checked for working this block.

Why wait?
Joe Charlebois
When President Barack Obama states that we can’t wait to implement a government sponsored healthcare reform, the public needs to be wary. The administration that sold us on transparency has been anything but.

Thursday, July 23, 2009
Draconian Absolutism
Tony Soltero
I remember when I was first looking for a place to live on my own. I checked out quite a few neighborhoods in the Baltimore area, and among other things, I noticed that every school proudly displayed a placard declaring itself "drug-free."

Summer musings, Personal and Political
Patricia A. Kelly
I've reached the stage in life where I have the good fortune of several friends and relatives who own vacation homes. Nothing could be better except for having the master bedroom and private bath, than having a virtually free vacation among friends and family.

And That’s The Way It Was
Michael Kurtianyk
Another legend passed recently: Walter Cronkite. I am not too young to remember him, nor am I too old to forget who he was. Growing up, he was a fixture on our television set at dinnertime.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Ironies of Empathy
Kevin E. Dayhoff
As last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court quickly becomes a distant summer memory, the ranking Republican member, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions assured that the nomination will get a full Senate vote on her confirmation before the Senate goes on recess August 7.

To Retire in Paradise…
Tom McLaughlin
Phuket Island, Thailand – Tourism and retirees are the major sources of income for those living in the Phuket area. A very impoverished region, thousands are underemployed along the coast serving the needs of westerners.

20090731 sdosm This week in The Tentacle

 

*****

This week in The Tentacle

http://www.thetentacle.com/

Friday, July 31, 2009

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/07/this-week-in-tentacle_31.html  http://tinyurl.com/m8xodz

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Ironies of Empathy
Kevin E. Dayhoff
As last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court quickly becomes a distant summer memory, the ranking Republican member, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions assured that the nomination will get a full Senate vote on her confirmation before the Senate goes on recess August 7.

To Retire in Paradise…
Tom McLaughlin
Phuket Island, Thailand – Tourism and retirees are the major sources of income for those living in the Phuket area. A very impoverished region, thousands are underemployed along the coast serving the needs of westerners.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Goodbye, Walter!
Roy Meachum
Over the weekend the biggest news came from the death of Walter Cronkite, and his CBS glory days. He shot to fame covering John F. Kennedy's assassination, as all the weekend's reporters and commentators said. He and I had a nodding acquaintance before he traveled to New York and took over my early Channel 9 slot, opposite NBC's "Today."

Who brought the canards to this party?
Farrell Keough
Many of us have known people who married the person involved in the break up of their marriage. We have also seen this situation in which one or the other in this new marriage cheats again. It is a difficult situation, but one with which a person has to wonder, why would you trust someone who has a known history of cheating or breaking vows?

Motorcycle Touring – Part 3
Nick Diaz
As I promised in my last installment on motorcycle touring, I intend to deal with the topics of security, food, and shelter while on the road.

Monday, July 20, 2009
Maverickism and mistakes
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Yes, dear reader, the first word in the title is not actually a real word. No, you won't find it in spell check or even the new slang version of the dictionary. Not yet, at least.

Nags Head Vacationing Past
Steven R. Berryman
Forgetting politics and current events for a time, vacation is on my mind. One must only notice the missing traffic from Interstate 270 southbound in the mornings to fully realize this!

Friday, July 17, 2009
Save Historic Preservation
Roy Meachum
Since moving up from Bethesda, 26 years ago, I have lived in old houses. I'm grateful for the things accomplished by the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) and its predecessor, the Historic District Commission (HDC). But given the vacancy created by half the panel resigning, Mayor Jeff Holtzinger should reform the panel's mission. Its decisions can be absurd.

Eugenics: Alive and Well
Joe Charlebois
The world has been exposed to the suggestions of eugenics since Plato who proposed a positive type. He suggested breeding should be done through a state controlled system to provide the state with the best possible outcomes in progeny.

Thursday, July 16, 2009
Mother Knows Best
Chris Cavey
The word of the month is accountability. This fourteen-letter word and its conjugations have been holding feet to the fire for many people, including myself, of late.

Real Estate: Backward and Forward
Michael Kurtianyk
Foreclosures have been on the rise in recent years, and we’re seeing an increase locally of properties being foreclosed. A foreclosure is defined as a legal process by which the lender seizes property of a homeowner, usually due to the homeowner not making timely payments on the mortgage.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Remembering the Sacrifice of Vietnam
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On Saturday, at 1 P.M., members of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Air Cavalry Troop – the Black Horse Regiment, from all over the country – will pause to remember the fallen from the Vietnam War at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial Park at Willis and Court Streets in Westminster. The public is invited.

Travel Tales
Tom McLaughlin
Phuket Island Thailand – Every week I play a game I call “Air Asia” roulette. The local price buster airline offers weekly sales well below any advertised price. When I say “well below,” I mean deep ocean discounts where sometimes one can fly paying only the airport tax.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009
See How They Run – Part 2
Roy Meachum
The numbers are intimidating: 20 candidates are contesting for five seats on the city's Board of Aldermen. That turns out eleven Republicans and nine Democrats. Most names ring no bells. With exactly nine weeks before voters march into the booths, many who filed can count on only their families and friends stepping up for them.

Looking at The Future
Farrell Keough
Been watching a local election with great interest recently. Noticed one very poignant aspect – there are two basic types of candidates: Fixers and Visionaries. It will be interesting to see who the voters decide on.

Monday, July 13, 2009
Becoming a Billionaire – Part 2
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks is a billionaire industrialist who lives in a grand mansion at 987 Fifth Avenue in New York City. He's gruff, focused, and intent on building his empire, in spite of the onset of the Great Depression. He has a great deal of affection for his large staff, especially his personal assistant, Grace Farrell, although he goes to great lengths to not let that be known.

Vigilance Is Our Saving Grace
Steven R. Berryman
I deny that I wrote this column. The problem is that the technology exists today to record electronically the very keystrokes emanating from my wireless keyboard, and – that as it happens – in “real time!”

20090722 sdosm This week in The Tentacle

 

*****

Sotomayor Break her and you die

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/07/sotomayor-break-her-and-you-die.html

Sotomayor – Break Her and You Die June 3, 2009 www.thetentacle.com by Kevin E. Dayhoff
 

 

Read the rest of my column here: Sotomayor – Break Her and You Die

20090713 sdosm Sotomayor Break her and you die
www.thetentacle.com http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3191

*****

 

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Palin Derangement Syndrome
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Friday the liberal hate machine gasped in collective horror at the very idea that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may not be around in the foreseeable future and be the object of anger looking for a safe victim.

What’s Up with Republican Governors?
Michael Kurtianyk
So what is it with these Republican governors these days? Is there some sort of Kool-Aid trough they’re drinking from that’s making them go wacko? In no particular order, let’s look at the Hall of Shame.

English Lessons
Tom McLaughlin
Kuching, Malaysia – “Sir! Sir!” the voice pealed behind me. I turned around and there was a very pretty young Malay girl trying to hail me. I was on a busy shopping street that had been closed to traffic and reverted into a pedestrian walk way in downtown Kuching.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Sarah Palin's Bye-Bye
Roy Meachum
Resigning as Alaska's governor may have been the smartest move by Sarah Palin, a politician noted more for smarts than intelligence; it cheers her fans and confounds her enemies, including those in the media. Journalists have criticized their colleagues – never themselves – for being too hard on the ex-vice presidential nominee.

Hail and Farewell, Sarah Palin
Patricia A. Kelly
Sarah Palin just announced her resignation as governor of Alaska, effective July 26, 2009.

Motorcycle Touring – Part 2
Nick Diaz
Summertime is motorcycle touring time. This year I’m headed for West Virginia, (heaven, not “almost…”), in late July, to meet with a bunch of friends from far and wide. Two weeks later I’m headed for northwestern Ohio for a high school reunion.

Monday, July 6, 2009
Becoming a Billionaire – Part 1
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
In the last few weeks, the transformation of my life from a relatively normal one to one of a 1920s industrial tycoon began.

The Take Back America Rally
Steven R. Berryman
It was my honor and pleasure to bear witness to the first annual rally in front of the Frederick County Courthouse on the 4th of July. Not a “tea party,” it was about taking back America.

Friday, July 3, 2009
Four Fourths
Roy Meachum
The orgy of fireworks came late to the Independence Day celebration, long after my youth. A gathering on July 4th to see a brilliant display of pinwheels and rockets may have been the rule in Philadelphia, but it was unknown in New Orleans and the surrounding South. Maybe because Confederate Fortress Vicksburg fell to Union forces on that date? More probably, the costs of the shows.

Time Can’t Change Its Meaning
Joe Charlebois
On July 2nd, 1776 our Founding Fathers voted to declare independence from Great Britain. On July 4th they attached their signatures to a document that will be hailed as one of the greatest statements for individual freedom ever written. The preamble states the basic principles of individual rights, liberty, equality, and self-government or “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Thursday, July 2, 2009
Non-Answers and Squirrelly Financing
Farrell Keough
The Frederick County Board of Education had a televised meeting on June 10, 2009. During that meeting, many things were discussed including re-districting and the budget. It is the latter for which we will focus our discussion today.

Sacrifice in the Name of Freedom
Chris Cavey
This weekend there will be thousands of “Tea Parties” across the United States. In Maryland at least seven are planned, being diligently promoted and advertised. If you can attend a local Tea Party please do so. While you are there, take a little time and ponder these thoughts.

The Doers and the Talkers
Joan McIntyre
Will this subject ever die, ever be solved? No! As long as there are people, there will be waste and, of course, opinions aplenty on its disposal. There are those who do and those who just yammer about what others should do. Those who do, finally make a decision; those who talk, are still talking.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Zelaya has left the building
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Early Sunday morning four units, consisting of 200 soldiers of the military in Honduras, stormed the presidential palace in the capitol, Tegucigalpa, at 6, arrested and bundled-up their pajama-clad president, Manuel Zelaya, and carted him off to the airport and flew him to Costa Rica.

A Reunion
Tom McLaughlin
Kuala Pilah, Malaysia – My friend Dzul urged me to return to Kuala Pilah, a two-hour flight, for a reunion with his class. I had started teaching in 1974, just after his group had left; but some had returned for the next level of education (form six). The best and the brightest, they scored the highest on their exams. These were the former students who remembered me after 35 years.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
R.I.P. – For a Pair of Stars
Roy Meachum
Two celebrity deaths this past week brought an outpouring from the general public and the people who knew them. Farrah Fawcett's dying was both documented and expected. She bowed out with great grace. Although she came a great way professionally from the tousled-hair "Charlie's Angel" in the poster, she earned her greatest review on the manner of her passing.

Of Minnows and Whales
Michael Kurtianyk
I was thinking over the weekend how great it was that the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team made it to the finals of the Confederations Cup in South Africa. I remember when I was growing up that the biggest claim to fame for the team was a win over England in 1950. That was at the World Cup, which was played in Brazil. It was dubbed “The Miracle on Grass” (not to be confused, of course, with the “Miracle on Ice” in the 1980 Olympics).

Monday, June 29, 2009
The Bagel Master Burgermeister
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
So what is it about a very friendly and congenial local shop keeper that suggests he has the tools to the lead the City of Frederick? Only in City of Frederick politics could the phrase "He's a really nice guy" be considered pejorative.

Cap and Traitor
Steven R. Berryman
The House of Representatives barely passed the first stage in President Obama’s “Cap-and-Trade” energy/ecology legislation late Friday 219-212. This, with the help of eight Republican traitors crossing over to vote, and having not read the bill, hundreds of pages of which only just became available at 3 A.M. on the day of the vote.

20090708 sdosm This week in The Tentacle

*****