Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack Division of Old Silent Movies - www.kevindayhoff.net - Runner, writer, artist, fire and police chaplain. The mindless ramblings of a runner, journalist, and artist: National and International politics. For community see www.kevindayhoff.org. For art, writing and travel see www.kevindayhoff.com
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Erratum Ethics and morality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Erratum Ethics and morality. Show all posts
Mark Sanford's press conference. Did you watch that performance? Wow. He just... he just kept going. How did it compare to some classic political meltdowns of the past? Favorably!
He was 24 minutes late to the podium and then he rambled, just straight-up rambled, apologizing to literally everyone he's ever met, talking about dinosaur sheets and "Adventure Trips," becoming tearful, and wasting a full ten minutes of rambling before finally admitted to cheating on his wife. He cheated on his wife for a year with some friend from Argentina, and his wife has known for five months, and the affair just continued, while he worked on his marriage, and it was not until he disappeared on Fathers' Day (to spend "five days of my life crying") and the media caught wind that something might be up here that he decided it was time to apologize to his family and maybe stop the affair.
It was reminiscent, especially with the wife's glaring absence, of the pre-9/11 Rudy Giuliani classic, "I am telling the press about my separation from my wife before I tell my wife."
Sanford didn't have a single sound bite as classic as Nixon's "last press conference" (well, maybe "the biggest self of self is indeed self"), but it will provide us with many days of joy, until Tim Pawlenty's "I am addicted to meth" conference next month.
By contrast, CEO gets no 2008 or 2009 compensation, bonus; CFO gets no bonus
Bonuses necessary to keep Fannie's most experienced execs, says FHFA director
Many Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac employees received pay cuts, no bonuses, he added
Baucus on news of bonuses: "Give me a break. What are these people thinking?"
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae planned to pay four top executives retention bonuses ranging from $470,000 to $611,000, according to a February SEC filing.
Executive vice presidents Kenneth Bacon, David Hisey, Michael Williams and Thomas Lund will be receiving bonuses of close to half a million dollars each. Bacon supervises community development for the company, Hisey is its deputy chief financial officer, Williams is its COO and Lund oversees the single-family mortgage business.
By contrast, Fannie Mae CFO David Johnson received no bonus on top of his salary of $625,000, while CEO Herb Allison received no compensation or bonuses in 2008 or 2009.
A spokesman for Fannie Mae deferred comment on the bonuses to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The bonuses were necessary to keep Fannie's most experienced executives working to reverse the effects of the mortgage crisis, FHFA Director James B. Lockhart told CNN.
Read the entire article here: Four Fannie Mae execs to get big bonuses CNN's Emily Anderson, Ted Barrett and CNNMoney.com's David Goldman contributed to this report.
I came across this cartoon earlier in the day. It belongs to a cartoonist by the name of Todd Sullivan. I was not able to find much information about Mr. Sullivan…
The cartoon depicts much of what I feel are the wrong priorities about art and artists…
20090308 FB SDOSM T Sullivan Cartoon Starving Artists Kevin Dayhoff Art http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
There are many aspects of this sad story that are outrageous.Pick our own:The frequency of pit bulls involved in vicious attacks; or the apparent lack of responsibility on the part of the dog owner; and/or the apparent lack of consequences for the dog’s owner…
By Sun Reporter Mary Gail Hare May 10, 2008baltimoresun.com
A young male pit bull attacked several horses pastured at a northern HarfordCounty farm Wednesday, injuring one so severely that it was put down. Another horse might not survive its injuries and a third has nearly 50 stitches on its face, officials said.
HarfordCounty animal control officials ordered the dog destroyed yesterday.
"Based on information from witnesses and past history, this dog was considered potentially dangerous and had to be destroyed for the safety of this neighborhood," said Pamela Arney, Harford's animal control officer.
The dog was often seen running loose in the Forest Hill area near the Grier Nursery Road farm. Twice since March, Jonathan Russo, the dog's owner and the farm's neighbor, had been fined $60 for not securing the animal. Russo, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, received another $95 fine Thursday.
[…]
The dog grabbed a 6-year-old Welsh pony by the nose and hung on, despite the horse's efforts to shake it off. It took 45 stitches to close the pony's bite wounds. The dog then chased a 2-year-old Chincoteague pony and tore at its left hind leg so deeply that its survival remains in question. A 350-pound yearling sustained a fatal injury when the dog grabbed its foreleg and pulled it down. The deep bites exposed joints and tendons on the Welsh pony cross and its leg was broken.
[…]
"I know its owner has rights, but along with that comes responsibility," Klein said. "This dog was unpredictable and vicious."
Wilson, the horses' owner, credited Klein with saving the remaining animals. She has mounting veterinary bills, already in excess of $1,500 and has lost a horse worth about $7,000, she said. As of yesterday, Wilson said that Russo had not contacted her.
New York Governor Eliot “Mr Clean” Spitzer resigns – and Why do women stand by their cheating husbands?
Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that an analysis “a year's worth of expense reports for Spitzer's office and his campaign committee shows little sign the money was used for illicit activities.”
By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 21, 2:18 PM ET
Ever since the prostitution scandal shoved Gov. Eliot Spitzer out the door, people have wondered: Did he spend taxpayer dollars or campaign money to subsidize trysts?
An analysis by The Associated Press of a year's worth of expense reports for Spitzer's office and his campaign committee shows little sign the money was used for illicit activities.
Just last week, just when you were about to get your nerve up to watch or read the news, the story broke that (now former) New York governor Eliot Spitzer – “The gov-love client number 9” - had violated his marriage vows and broken a number of laws by having an extra-marital affair with an “aspiring singer.”
All right, you follow the news.You know the story.This is a family oriented newspaper…
As the news continued to unfold, it started to read like a bad plot for a “B” movie or a harlequin novel.In New York, even Governor Spitzer’s more ardent enemies were in disbelief when the story broke and passed off the initial reports as a bad practical joke.
For those of us who simply dread winter, spring can’t come soon enough.For those of us who are old enough to understand that good times and bad times are cyclical; perhaps some sunshine, spring flowers, the end of the current Maryland General Assembly session, and some resolution on the many pressing challenges facing our local, and national government will brighten our outlook.
Of course, recently a study was released that folks with a positive outlook live longer and healthier lives, so the other day I endeavored to adopt a “cheer up, things could be worse attitude.”
I cheered up and sure enough – things got worse…
Locally, county and municipalities are grappling with how to fund all the goods and services of which local citizens are demanding with the reality that tax revenues are declining.
Revenues for local government are declining as the cost to operate government continues to escalate and it is starting to sink-in that the Maryland legislature increased taxes last fall yet cut back on the amount of money flowing into the coffers of local government.
Juxtapose this with the fact that Governor Spitzer, a multi-billionaire, threw away as much as $80,000 on his extra-curricular activities.Just think of how much a difference that kind of money would’ve made in our local community?
Governor Spitzer mercifully resigned on March 12 and ended a sensational 48 hours of salacious melodrama of position, power, greed, and human failings. It has probably ended the career that was considered so bright that his name was being bantered about as a 2012 or 2016 presidential candidate.
There are many lessons to be learned by this sad, sordid saga.
*****
Why do women stand by their cheating husbands?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pWq5nbPmbIk
March 15, 2008
Last week the story broke that (now former) New York governor Eliot “Mr. Clean” Spitzer, otherwise known as “love client no. 9,” had violated his marriage vows and broken a number of laws by taking “acting lessons” with an “aspiring-singer.”
Governor Spitzer mercifully resigned on March 12 and ended a sensational 48 hours of salacious melodrama of position, power, greed, and human failings.
Our first thoughts go out to his family.This is first and foremost a personal tragedy.Our hearts went out to his wife, Silda Spitzer, as she stood by her husband in two key press conferences.
Folks who ask why she did that are overlooking the obvious.Why didn’t he apologize directly to her?For the love of Pete, why didn’t she haul-off and clobber the miserable slug?
Mrs. Spitzer, his wife for 21 years, by all accounts is quite accomplished and well educated and has essentially forsaken her career for his – and to raise three daughters.
The ironies abound in this tragedy…
That was the introduction of the Westminster Eagle column I filed over the weekend.It will appear in the paper this coming Wednesday, March 19, 2008
After being publicly humiliated by reports of her husband hiring prostitutes Silda Spitzer stands by her man.That was the case during Wednesday morning's press conference...
New York Governor David Patterson admits to affairs
March 18, 2008
Maybe it’s something in the water up in New York.Pretty soon, it will be “breaking news” when it is reported that a governor did NOT have an affair.
And of course, this all happens after I wrote, “No doubt, the governors’ winter meetings were probably overlooked because, even with Democrats holding a 28 to 22 majority, they may be the only sane adults left on the nation’s leadership stage….”(February 27, 2008 Reality takes The Year Off Kevin E. Dayhoff:
“Last weekend the nation’s governors met in Washington for the 100th annual National Governors Association 2008 winter meeting. They had lots to talk about; but it was the faltering economy that eventually stole the show.”)
Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer mercifully resigned on March 12 and ended a sensational 48 hours of salacious melodrama of position, power, greed, and human failings. It has probably ended the career that was considered so bright that his name was being bantered about as a 2012 or 2016 presidential candidate.
His successor, New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson is the state’s first African-American governor, the third in the nation since reconstruction, and the first legally blind governor in the nation.
Just as everyone took a deep breath and sighed in relief; it took only minutes before it was revealed that now-New York governor Patterson admitted that “he and his wife Michelle had affairs during a rough patch in their marriage several years ago,” according to published reports.
Ay caramba.
“(Governor) Paterson told the Daily News that he maintained a relationship with another woman from 1999 until 2001. He and his wife eventually sought counseling and repaired their relationship.”
Gov. David Paterson, who took over the state's top job Monday after Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal, has admitted he and his wife Michelle had affairs during a rough patch in their marriage several years ago, a newspaper reported.
March 12, 2008 -- The following is the statement of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer at his announcement of resignation:
In the past few days, I have begun to atone for my private failings with my wife Silda, my children and my entire family.
The remorse I feel will always be with me. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for the love and compassion they have shown me. From those who much has been given, much is expected. I have been given much - the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to leave this state.
I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me.
To every New Yorker, and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize.
I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might have been. But I also know, that as a public servant, I and the remarkable people with whom I work, have accomplished a great deal. There is much more to be done and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work.
Over the course of my public life, I have insisted I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct. I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor. At Lieutenant Governor Paterson's request, the resignation will be effective Monday, March 17, a date that he believes will permit an orderly transition.
I go forward with the belief, as others have said, that as human beings, our greatest glory consists not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
As I leave public life, I will first do what I need to do to help and heal myself and my family. Then I will try once again, outside of politics, to serve the common good and to move toward the ideals and solutions which I believe can build a future of hope and opportunity for us and for our children.
I hope all of New York will join my prayers for my friend David Paterson as he embarks on his new mission and I thank the public once again for the privilege of service. Thank you very much.
Anti-death penalty forces have gained momentum in the past few years, with a moratorium in Illinois, court disputes over lethal injection in more than a half-dozen states and progress toward outright abolishment in New Jersey.
The steady drumbeat of DNA exonerations — pointing out flaws in the justice system — has weighed against capital punishment. The moral opposition is loud, too, echoed in Europe and the rest of the industrialized world, where all but a few countries banned executions years ago.
What gets little notice, however, is a series of academic studies over the last half-dozen years that claim to settle a once hotly debated argument — whether the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. The analyses say yes. They count between three and 18 lives that would be saved by the execution of each convicted killer.
The reports have horrified death penalty opponents and several scientists, who vigorously question the data and its implications.
So far, the studies have had little impact on public policy. New Jersey's commission on the death penalty this year dismissed the body of knowledge on deterrence as "inconclusive."
But the ferocious argument in academic circles could eventually spread to a wider audience, as it has in the past.
"Science does really draw a conclusion. It did. There is no question about it," said Naci Mocan, an economics professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. "The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect."
A 2003 study he co-authored, and a 2006 study that re-examined the data, found that each execution results in five fewer homicides, and commuting a death sentence means five more homicides. "The results are robust, they don't really go away," he said. "I oppose the death penalty. But my results show that the death penalty (deters) — what am I going to do, hide them?"
Statistical studies like his are among a dozen papers since 2001 that capital punishment has deterrent effects. They all explore the same basic theory — if the cost of something (be it the purchase of an apple or the act of killing someone) becomes too high, people will change their behavior (forego apples or shy from murder).
To explore the question, they look at executions and homicides, by year and by state or county, trying to tease out the impact of the death penalty on homicides by accounting for other factors, such as unemployment data and per capita income, the probabilities of arrest and conviction, and more.
Among the conclusions:
[…]
The studies' conclusions drew a philosophical response from a well-known liberal law professor, University of Chicago's Cass Sunstein. A critic of the death penalty, in 2005 he co-authored a paper titled "Is capital punishment morally required?"
[…]
"We just don't have enough data to say anything," said Justin Wolfers, an economist at the Wharton School of Business who last year co-authored a sweeping critique of several studies, and said they were "flimsy" and appeared in "second-tier journals."
[…]
Then, economist Isaac Ehrlich had also concluded that executions deterred future crimes. His 1975 report was the subject of mainstream news articles and public debate, and was cited in papers before the U.S. Supreme Court arguing for a reversal of the court's 1972 suspension of executions. (The court, in 1976, reinstated the death penalty.)
