“Munchie run” by a Salisbury University student from Westminster leads to MTV infamy

“Munchie run” by a Salisbury University student from Westminster leads to MTV infamy

Lindsey Staymates, 20, of Westminster, talks to Deputy First Class Rob Parker of Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office near Salisbury University. Staymates’ appearance on the MTV show “Busted” garnered her the dubious distinction of “Miss Busted 2008.” ((Photo courtesy MTV))

November 23, 2008

Score another great story by talented Explore Carroll writer Charles Schelle. If you are not reading Mr. Schelle’s stuff on http://www.explorecarroll.com/, you’re missing out…

First the video that Mr. Schelle found:

Munchie Run

After receiving a DUI just two days earlier, a 19-year Lindsay is again stopped by an officer, this time for underage drinking while walking.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/268616/munchie-run.jhtml

MTV Shows

Now Mr. Schelle’s article in the Sunday Carroll Eagle:

'Munchie run' gone bad leads to MTV infamy

Westminster native 'Busted' on reality TV By Charles Schelle schelle@patuxent.com Posted on www.explorecarroll.com 11/23/08

Lindsey Staymates of Westminster was just "walking on the feet" to the "hungry store."

But she wound up on MTV with a ticket from police. Now, she's Miss Busted 2008.

"I actually don't regret it all," said Staymates, 20, a sophomore at Salisbury University. "I just see it as another life event."

Staymates received nationwide attention for her comical, yet eye-opening, appearance on the MTV show "Busted." The show is a sort of "Cops" for a younger generation, featuring footage of crimes committed by 17- to 25-year-olds and the consequences they face. In Staymates case, she says she was starving on May 11 after a night of drinking and headed to Hardee's. But after being previously cited for driving under the influence, she decided to jog to Hardee's.

That's when Deputy First Class Rob Parker of the Wicomico Sheriff's Office -- and an MTV crew -- spotted her.

The deputy performed a preliminary breath test, and Staymates blew a .16, twice the legal limit if you're 21. (The legal limit for people under 21 in Maryland is .00.)

But Staymates didn't see what was wrong with jogging to Hardee's, even if she was drunk.

"I was walking ... on the feet!" she told Parker in a plea that started her 15 minutes of fame. "I was hungry! ... I'm like, 'I'm walking to the ... hungry store!' "

Today, in retrospect, Staymates said she wasn't sure what would come out of the episode, mostly because she's not sure what happened.

"I didn't have any idea of what I said," she admits.

But suddenly, people recognized the Westminster High School graduate at Salisbury -- and back home in Westminster.

[...]

Read the entire article by Mr. Schelle here: 'Munchie run' gone bad leads to MTV infamy

http://explorecarroll.com/news/1628/munchie-run-gone-bad-leads-mtv-infamy/

20081123 Munchie run by Wster Sbury U student leads to MTV infamy

New York Times Op Ed columnist suggests Bush turn the presidency over to Pelosi for a Thanksgiving present…

New York Times Op-Ed columnist Gail Collins has suggested that for Thanksgiving President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Chaney ought to resign and turn the president’s office over to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

No, this is not April Fools Day and to the best of knowledge, this is not a spoof.

And no this is not humor from The Onion or a Katie Couric dream sequence.

It’s well, read on…

New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Time for Him to Go By Gail Collins Published: November 22, 2008

Thanksgiving is next week, and President Bush could make it a really special holiday by resigning.

Gail Collins photo by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Seriously. We have an economy that’s crashing and a vacuum at the top. Bush — who is currently on a trip to Peru to meet with Asian leaders who no longer care what he thinks — hasn’t got the clout, or possibly even the energy, to do anything useful. His most recent contribution to resolving the fiscal crisis was lecturing representatives of the world’s most important economies on the glories of free-market capitalism.

Putting Barack Obama in charge immediately isn’t impossible. Dick Cheney, obviously, would have to quit as well as Bush. In fact, just to be on the safe side, the vice president ought to turn in his resignation first. (We’re desperate, but not crazy.) Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become president until Jan. 20. Obviously, she’d defer to her party’s incoming chief executive, and Barack Obama could begin governing.

Read the entire column here: New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Time for Him to Go By Gail Collins

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/opinion/22collins.html

20081122 NYT Op Ed Columnist Time for Him to Go By Gail Collins

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Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will Tuesday, November 18, 2008

WASHINGTON -- "Nothing," said a General Motors spokesman last week, "has changed relative to the GM board's support for the GM management team during this historically difficult economic period for the U.S. auto industry." Nothing? Not even the evaporation of almost all shareholder value?

GM's statement comes as the mendicant company is threatening to collapse and make a mess unless Washington, which has already voted $25 billion for GM, Ford and Chrysler, provides up to $50 billion more -- the last subsidy until the next one.

[…]

The answer? Do nothing that will delay bankrupt companies from filing for bankruptcy protection, so that improvident labor contracts can be unraveled, allowing the companies to try to devise plausible business models. Instead, advocates of a "rescue" propose extending to Detroit the government's business model for the nation -- redistributing wealth from the successful to the failed, an implausible formula for prosperity.

[…]

Those Democrats, their rhetoric notwithstanding, really care most about the union. "Saving the planet" comes second and last comes the health of the auto companies.

{…}

Read the entire column here: Do We Need the Big Three? by George Will

20081118 Do We Need the Big Three by Will Nov18 2008

Tea for Carrie

Tea for Carrie

Kevin Dayhoff

20081123 Tea for Carrie

Running on empty – What a difference an election makes

November 23, 2008 by Kevin Dayhoff

By the end of last week the prospect of an auto bailout was running on four flat tires.

However, with the backdrop of the economy continuing to remain at the forefront of the media spotlight, the “Detroit Three,” General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, continue their tours de force beg-a-thon performance in the media with a great deal of support coming from the Democrat Party.

What a difference an election makes. If you will remember, during the election campaign, the Democrats railed about the increase in the national debt, increased spending, and failed economic policies.

And of course, earlier in the 2008 presidential campaign, when the price of oil and gasoline spiked, it was President George W. Bush’s fault. After the price of gas fell precipitously, the Democrats and their media sycophants fell strangely silent.

Moreover, on Election Day, when the Wall Street rallied, the media credited the prospects of the election of presidential candidate Illinois Sen. Barack Obama with the reasons for the uptick in the stock market.

The day after the election the stock market had the largest percentage drop in history on the day after an election. The media was silent – as in crickets chirping…

Many credited the election victory of Senator Obama on the chaos in the economy. Of course, the great paradox is that the very same foxes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Financial Services Committee chair Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Committee chair Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who caused the chaos in the financial henhouse have now been rewarded and are now in charge of protecting and fixing it. (See It’s the Congress, Stupid!, Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1, Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2, Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3.)

Now these very same folks want to work their magic on the automobile industry in the United States – with taxpayer money, of course. They want to further raise the national debt by bailing out the Detroit Three – which is the focus of my “The Tentacle” column this week: Rewarding Bad Behavior

As an aside, speaking of changing his tune, you will notice that President-elect Obama has been eerily silent about Iraq, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and other aspects of his war on the Bush Administration’s national security polices now that he has been given a number of national security briefings.

Nevertheless, there remains a nagging concern that international terrorists are still plotting to kill Americans and we are still fighting two interminable ground wars overseas. The Iranians and North Koreans are still playing with their nuclear erector sets. Somali pirates are seizing ships in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes outside of the Gulf of Aden.

And in spite of the predicted outbreak of the Age of Aquarius as a result of the recent election, we find ourselves in economic chaos which continues to escape appropriate hyperbole and reactionary rhetoric.

Congress and our critical financial conglomerates have behaved so badly that their behavior raised the specter that the United States and the world would revisit the joys and riches of the Medieval Ages if something was not done.

Yet last week, the financial bailout had the look and feel of a circular firing squad as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stood before the nation, and said something to the affect: “You know, about that initial bailout strategy… Well nevermind, the facts have changed and we now have a new and improved pyramid scheme to sell you.”

His performance had all the reassuring aspects of a snake oil salesman from the 1890s as he sketched-out a new approach to encourage consumer confidence, borrowing, and get American families back in the mood for opening their pocketbooks.

No word as to how many Google searches occurred for “economic feudalism” last week as Americans started to feel like feudal serfs being sacrificed as a result of the lack of leadership of the overlords.

If this were not enough of a witches brew, many Americans – and the stock market – continue to feel morning sickness in a pregnant pause of anxiety over president-elect Obama’s election rhetoric to revisit free trade agreements, raise taxes, and unleash a new social-welfare system upon the nation that would make President Franklin D. Roosevelt green with envy.

Intellectual, morally and economically, a glance at Washington these days indicates that it not only the Detroit Three that is in trouble these days, the American taxpayer is more at risk than ever as a result of Congress running on empty.

####

20081119 Running on empty (752 words)

Alcalde y Westminster Común reunión del Consejo de 24 de noviembre de 2008

Domingo, 23 de noviembre de 2008

Westminster Mayor and Common Council Meeting of November 24 2008 Alcalde y Westminster Común reunión del Consejo de 24 de noviembre de 2008

Westminster Mayor and Common Council Meeting of November 24 2008 Alcalde y Westminster Común reunión del Consejo de 24 de noviembre de 2008

City Council Members Minutes of City Council Meetings Los miembros del Consejo de la Ciudad de las actas de las reuniones del Consejo de la Ciudad

AGENDA CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND AGENDA City of Westminster, Maryland

Mayor and Common Council Meeting of November 24, 2008 Alcalde y común de la reunión del Consejo de 24 de noviembre de 2008

1. CALL TO ORDER – 7:00 PM LLAMADA AL ORDEN - 7:00 PM
Presentation by Task Force on Office Supplies Procurement Presentación a cargo del Grupo de Tareas sobre suministros de oficina de adquisiciones
Mayoral Proclamation – Municipal Government Works Month – Maryland Municipal League Mayoral proclamación - Gobierno Municipal de Obras mes - Maryland Liga Municipal

2. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF NOVEMBER 10, 2008 ACTA DE LA REUNIÓN DE NOVIEMBRE 10, 2008

3. PUBLIC HEARINGS: AUDIENCIA PÚBLICA:
Ordinance No. 792 – Revisions to Chapter 164 Entitled “Zoning and Subdivision of Land” – Thomas Beyard Ordenanza N º 792 - Revisión del capítulo 164, titulado "Zonificación y la subdivisión de la tierra" - Thomas Beyard
Ordinance No. 793 – Revisions to Chapter 124 entitled “Sewers and Sewage” and Chapter 160 entitled “Water” – Thomas Beyard Ordenanza N º 793 - Revisión del capítulo 124 titulado "Sistemas de saneamiento y aguas residuales" y en el capítulo 160 titulado "Agua" - Thomas Beyard
Amended Ordinance No. 795 – Utility Fee Ordinance – Thomas Beyard Modificado la Ordenanza N º 795 - Utilidad de la Ordenanza de pago - Thomas Beyard

4. CONSENT CALENDAR: CALENDARIO DE CONSENTIMIENTO:
October 2008 Departmental Operating Reports Octubre 2008 informes de los departamentos de funcionamiento
Regional Automated Enforcement Center Agreement – Chief Spaulding Regional de Centro de la ejecución automatizada de acuerdo - Jefe de Spaulding

5. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES Los informes de las comisiones permanentes

6. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: Ordenanzas y resoluciones:

Adoption of Ordinance No. 791 – General Revisions to City Code – Thomas Beyard Aprobación de la Ordenanza N º 791 - General Revisiones de Código de ciudad - Thomas Beyard

Adoption of Ordinance No. 792 – Revisions to Chapter 164 Entitled “Zoning and Subdivision of Land” – Thomas Beyard Aprobación de la Ordenanza N º 792 - Revisión del capítulo 164, titulado "Zonificación y la subdivisión de la tierra" - Thomas Beyard

Adoption of Ordinance No. 793 – Revisions to Chapter 124 entitled “Sewers and Sewage” and Chapter 160 entitled “Water” – Thomas Beyard Aprobación de la Ordenanza N º 793 - Revisión del capítulo 124 titulado "Sistemas de saneamiento y aguas residuales" y en el capítulo 160 titulado "Agua" - Thomas Beyard

Adoption of Ordinance No. 794 – General Fee Ordinance – Thomas Beyard Aprobación de la Ordenanza N º 794 - Tasa Ordenanza General - Thomas Beyard

Adoption of Amended Ordinance No. 795 – Utility Fee Ordinance – Thomas Beyard Aprobación del modificado la Ordenanza N º 795 - Utilidad de la Ordenanza de tasas - Thomas Beyard

Introduction of Ordinance No. 796 – Amendment of Water and Sewer Chapters Regarding Rates Introducción de la Ordenanza N º 796 - Modificación de agua y alcantarillado lo que respecta a los capítulos Tarifas

Introduction of Ordinance No. 797 – Amendment to Utility Fee Ordinance Regarding Water and Sewer Rates Introducción de la Ordenanza N º 797 - Modificación de la Ordenanza de tasas de utilidad lo que respecta a agua y alcantarillado Tarifas

7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Asuntos pendientes:
a. Water and Sewer Rate Structure Study Agua y alcantarillado estructura de los tipos de estudio

8. NEW BUSINESS: NUEVOS NEGOCIOS:

a. Approval of Agreement CB-1108 – Commitment of Intent for the Redevelopment and Occupancy of the City Park Concession Stand/Community Building – Ron Schroers Aprobación del Acuerdo CB-1108 - Compromiso de Intención para la rehabilitación y ocupación de la Ciudad Parque Concesión Stand / Comunidad Edificio - Ron Schroers

9. DEPARTMENT REPORTS DEPARTAMENTO DE INFORMES

10. CITIZEN COMMENTS COMENTARIOS CIUDADANO

11. ADJOURN Aplazamiento

PLEASE NOTE: THE DECEMBER 8, 2008 MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE JOHN STREET QUARTERS OF THE WESTMINSTER FIRE COMPANY. Tenga en cuenta: el 8 de diciembre de 2008 la reunión del alcalde y consejo común se llevará a cabo en la calle Juan cuartas partes de la empresa WESTMINSTER fuego. FREE PARKING IS AVAILABLE. Aparcamiento gratuito está disponible.

20081124 Westminster Mayor and Common Council Meeting of November 24 2008 20081124 Westminster y el Alcalde Común reunión del Consejo de 24 de noviembre de 2008

Westminster Mayor and Common Council Meeting of November 24 2008

Westminster Mayor and Common Council Meeting of November 24 2008

City Council Members Minutes of City Council Meetings

AGENDA CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND

Mayor and Common Council Meeting of November 24, 2008

1. CALL TO ORDER – 7:00 P.M.
Presentation by Task Force on Office Supplies Procurement
Mayoral Proclamation – Municipal Government Works Month – Maryland Municipal League

2. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF NOVEMBER 10, 2008

3. PUBLIC HEARINGS:
Ordinance No. 792 – Revisions to Chapter 164 Entitled “Zoning and Subdivision of Land” – Thomas Beyard
Ordinance No. 793 – Revisions to Chapter 124 entitled “Sewers and Sewage” and Chapter 160 entitled “Water” – Thomas Beyard
Amended Ordinance No. 795 – Utility Fee Ordinance – Thomas Beyard

4. CONSENT CALENDAR:
October 2008 Departmental Operating Reports
Regional Automated Enforcement Center Agreement – Chief Spaulding

5. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES

6. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS:

Adoption of Ordinance No. 791 – General Revisions to City Code – Thomas Beyard

Adoption of Ordinance No. 792 – Revisions to Chapter 164 Entitled “Zoning and Subdivision of Land” – Thomas Beyard

Adoption of Ordinance No. 793 – Revisions to Chapter 124 entitled “Sewers and Sewage” and Chapter 160 entitled “Water” – Thomas Beyard

Adoption of Ordinance No. 794 – General Fee Ordinance – Thomas Beyard

Adoption of Amended Ordinance No. 795 – Utility Fee Ordinance – Thomas Beyard

Introduction of Ordinance No. 796 – Amendment of Water and Sewer Chapters Regarding Rates

Introduction of Ordinance No. 797 – Amendment to Utility Fee Ordinance Regarding Water and Sewer Rates

7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
a. Water and Sewer Rate Structure Study

8. NEW BUSINESS:

a. Approval of Agreement CB-1108 – Commitment of Intent for the Redevelopment and Occupancy of the City Park Concession Stand/Community Building – Ron Schroers

9. DEPARTMENT REPORTS

10. CITIZEN COMMENTS

11. ADJOURN

PLEASE NOTE: THE DECEMBER 8, 2008 MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE JOHN STREET QUARTERS OF THE WESTMINSTER FIRE COMPANY. FREE PARKING IS AVAILABLE.

20081124 Westminster Mayor and Common Council Meeting of November 24 2008

Sykesville Mayor and council agenda for November 24 2008

Sykesville Mayor and council agenda for November 24 2008

MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF SYKESVILLE
AGENDA FOR
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008, 7:00 P.M.

QUORUM: Mayor
MINUTES: Town Clerk
TREASURER’S REPORT: Town Treasurer

PUBLIC CONCERNS

BUSINESS
FY 2008 Town Audit - Report
Public Safety Report – Chief Williams
Solid Waste and Recycling Initiatives – Proposal
Springfield Hospital Annexation – Discussion
Allocation of Surplus Budget Funds in Parks & Events, Gate House, & Little Sykes Railway
Historic District Commission – Appointments
Proposed FY 2009 Budget Amendment

OTHER:
Carroll County Chapter of Maryland Municipal League Dinner in Taneytown on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. Dinah needs to know by Monday night. Thanks.
Christmas Open House – Saturday, December 6, 2008 – Santa Arrives at 6 p.m.
Sykesville Historic House Tour – Sunday, December 7, 2008 – 1 – 6 p.m.

CLOSED SESSION:
1. Legal Consultation
2. Property Acquisition
3. Personnel

Main Street Christmas CelebrationDowntown Main StreetSaturday December 6, 2008 6 pm to 9 pm Santa Clause will arrive in town by Fire Truck & light the town Christmas tree at 6:00 PM. He will greet the kids till 9:00 at the Red Caboose. The S&P Railway will have its model train displays open offering complimentary hot chocolate & coffees Come Downtown for that Hometown Main St Holiday Charm and browse our beautifully decorated window displays.

20081124 Sykesville Mayor and council agenda for November 24 2008

Today in the DC Examiner: The Coming Conservative Ascendancy

Today in the DC Examiner: The Coming Conservative Ascendancy

November 20, 2008

Now that I have your attention!

Examiner Editorial: Barack Obama's strongest critic during the 2008 presidential campaign could turn out to be his most important ally in the coming energy debate.

Chris Stirewalt: Believe it or not, there are actually some differences between the Great Emancipator and The One.

Meghan Cox Gurdon: Will be back next week

Examiner OpEds:

* Mark Hyman says it's time to stop the bailouts and starve that beast on the Potomac.

* Michael Caputo introduces Joe the Plumber to Eliot Spitzer.

* John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation sees technology as Obama's key tool for bringing about change in Washignton.

* Jeremy Lott and Eric Heidenrich of the Capital Research Center contend voters definitely did NOT go green in the 2008 election.

* Pamela Villarreal of the National Center for Policy Analysis hopes we all can save our 401(K)s before the GRA becomes a reality.

The Coming Conservative Ascendancy? I almost forgot:

Tapscott's Copy Desk:Notes on the Coming Conservative Ascendancy

20081120 Today in the DC Examiner The Coming Conservative Ascendancy

With One Voice concert November 22, 2008 to benefit Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland

With One Voice concert November 22, 2008 to benefit Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland

Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland

Fifth Annual Concert: With One Voice

This musical and choral extravaganza will take place at the magnificent St. John's Church in Westminster. All proceeds will benefit the Carroll County Domestic Violence Safe House. Please join us for an evening you will not soon forget.

Enjoy performances by:

Old Line Statesman Barbershop Chorus
Children's Chorus of Carroll County
Carroll Singers
Coram Deo
Organist Amy Kwan
McDaniel College Madrigal Singers
New Life for Girls Choir
Nation of 3
Cara Wolf

When & Where
Tickets

Saturday, November 22, 2008 7:30 p.m.
St. John's Catholic Church
43 Monroe Street
Westminster, Maryland 21157
Adults $10 Children 16 and under $5
Tickets are tax deductible

Purchase tickets:
FCS Counseling Office
22 N. Court Street
Westminster, MD 21157or call 410-876-1233

Posted November 20, 2008

Non-profits Family Children’s Services
http://www.fcsmd.org/
http://www.fcsmd.org/events/withonevoice.htm

20081120 With One Voice concert November 22 2008

Junction disclosure and information

Junction disclosure and information

November 20, 2008

Click here for posts on Soundtrack on Junction.

The web site for Junction can be found here: http://www.junctioninc.org/

I’ve been a member of the board of Junction since October 2000.

Junction is a local Westminster Carroll County Maryland private nonprofit agency for substance abuse prevention and outpatient drug treatment. It provides prevention, intervention, and treatment of substance abuse for individuals, their families, and the community through education, counseling, community collaboration, and leadership in Carroll County.

It was incorporated on September 27, 1971. A month after incorporation, on December 6, 1971, it opened its doors in the historic Carroll County Jail on Court Street in Westminster.

Junction Inc., http://www.junctioninc.org/, (410) 848-6100, 98 North Court Street, P. O. Box 206, Westminster, MD 21158

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/search/label/Non-profits-Junction

http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/search/label/Non-profits-Junction

http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/tag/non-profits-junction

20081120 Junction disclosure and information

Charlie Mann, driver for S Lease Warner and WFD member died Nov 17, 2008

Charlie Mann, driver for S Lease Warner and WFD member died Nov 17, 2008

November 20, 2008

Charles A. ‘Pappy’ Mann, 86, of Westminster

Charles Adam “Pappy” Mann, 86, of Westminster died Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, in Westminster.

Born June 8, 1922, in Patapsco, he was the son of the late Harry H. Mann Sr. and Agnes A. Frank Mann. He was the husband of Thelma D. “Sis” Buckingham Mann, his wife of nearly 67 years.

He was an active member of Benjamin’s Krider’s United Church of Christ in Westminster. He worked as a delivery truck driver throughout Carroll County for S. Lease Warner — Carroll Independent Fuel Co. before retiring in 1995.

During the World War II era, he was active in Minutemen and assembled aircraft at Glen L. Martin.

He was a member of the Westminster volunteer fire company for more than 40 years. During his life, he worked as a home delivery salesman for Quality Cleaners and serviced area business in the first 7-UP distributorship in Carroll and Frederick counties.

He enjoyed working on Wheel Horse lawn tractors and mowing lawns for his neighbors and family.

Surviving, in addition to his wife, are sons and daughters-in-law Charles R. “Bobby” and Mara Mann of Westminster, Gerald R. “Jerry” and Mary Mann of St. Louis, and Daniel L. and Bonnie Mann of Finksburg; a brother, Clayton Mann of Taneytown; 10 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by siblings Harry H. Mann Jr., Margie Virginia Wilson, William F. Mann; and two great-granddaughters.

A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Myers-Durboraw Funeral Home, 91 Willis St., Westminster, with his pastor, the Rev. Jennifer Walters, officiating. Interment will follow in Sandymount United Methodist Church Cemetery in Finksburg.

The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, and from 2 p.m. until the time of service Sunday at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be sent to Benjamin’s Krider’s United Church of Christ, 208 Krider’s Church Road, Westminster, MD 21158; or Carroll Hospice, 292 Stoner Ave., Westminster, MD 21157.

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.myersdurborawfh.com.

2008117 19220608 Charlie Mann WFD S Lease Warner

Mann Charlie 19220608 2008117 WFD S Lease Warner

Democracy Now: Ex-CIA Officials Tied to Rendition Program and Faulty Iraq Intel Tapped to Head Obama’s Intelligence Transition Team

Democracy Now: Ex-CIA Officials Tied to Rendition Program and Faulty Iraq Intel Tapped to Head Obama’s Intelligence Transition Team

November 18, 2008

Related:

Melvin Goodman: "Change in Intelligence?"

Glenn Greenwald: "John Brennan and Bush's Interrogation/Detention Policies"

John Brennan and Jami Miscik, both former intelligence officials under George Tenet, are leading Barack Obama’s review of intelligence agencies and helping make recommendations to the new administration. Brennan has supported warrantless wiretapping and extraordinary rendition, and Miscik was involved with the politicized intelligence alleging weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war on Iraq. We speak with former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman and Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s been less than two weeks since Obama’s election. Speculation is already rife about the change he intends to bring to Washington’s intelligence community. The Washington Post reported last week that Obama is expected to replace the country’s top two intelligence officials over their support for controversial Bush administration policies like torture and electronic surveillance. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and CIA chief Michael Hayden reportedly wish to remain on the job.

No appointees have been named as yet, but questions are already being raised about the people heading Obama’s transition efforts on intelligence policy. John Brennan and Jami Miscik, both former intelligence officials under George Tenet, are leading the review of intelligence agencies and helping make recommendations to the new administration. Brennan has supported warrantless wiretapping and extraordinary rendition, and Miscik was involved with the politicized intelligence alleging weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war on Iraq.

I’m joined now by Washington, D.C.—in D.C. by former CIA and State Department analyst Mel Goodman. He’s a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, director of the Center’s National Security Project. His latest book is called Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA. He is also co-author of Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neoconservatives are Putting the World at Risk.

We’re joined here in New York by Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. His latest book is The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! I want to start with Mel Goodman in Washington. Long years at the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department. You’ve just written an op-ed piece in the Baltimore Sun that looks at these two top transition officials. Explain who they are and what they represent.

[…]

MELVIN GOODMAN: OK. John Brennan was deputy executive secretary to George Tenet during the worst violations during the CIA period in the run-up to the Iraq war, so he sat there at Tenet’s knee when they passed judgment on torture and abuse, on extraordinary renditions, on black sites, on secret prisons. He was part of all of that decision making.

Jami Miscik was the Deputy Director for Intelligence during the run-up to the Iraq war. So she went along with the phony intelligence estimate of October 2002, the phony white paper that was prepared by Paul Pillar in October 2002. She helped with the drafting of the speech that Colin Powell gave to the United Nations—[inaudible] 2003, which made the phony case for war to the international community.

So, when George Tenet said, "slam dunk, we can provide all the intelligence you need,” [inaudible] to the President in December of 2002, it was people like Jami Miscik and John Brennan who were part of the team who provided that phony intelligence. So what I think people at the CIA are worried about—and I’ve talked to many of them over the weekend—is that there will never be any accountability for these violations and some of the unconscionable acts committed at the CIA, which essentially amount to war crimes, when you’re talking about torture and abuse and secret prisons. So, where are we, in terms of change? This sounds like more continuity.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to excerpts from a December 2005 interview with John Brennan, the former CIA official now leading Obama’s intelligence transition. Brennan was interviewed by Margaret Warner on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer about his views on the Bush administration’s practice of extraordinary rendition.

Read the entire article and interview here: Ex-CIA Officials Tied to Rendition Program and Faulty Iraq Intel Tapped to Head Obama’s Intelligence Transition Team

20081118 DemNow Ex CIA tapped to head Obama intel transition team

Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

November 19, 2008

Will Obama back missile defense or back missile defense into history?

Examiner Editorial: Liberals have been saying for decades that missile defense can't work, even as the U.S. Army and Navy are repeatedly and successfully testing land and sea-based systems that destroy incoming missiles. Will Barack Obama listen to the liberals or the military?

S.J. Masty's Time Machine: Maybe Charlie Chan can solve the mystery of who shot the GOP.

Jay Ambrose: Our Denver-based Herald of the Rockies is having second thoughts about Obama's first promises.

Tapscott's Copy Desk: Harry Reid and Robert Byrd falsified government data on job creation. Will the Mainstream Media call them on it?

And don't miss a former GM manager's explanation for why she opposes a federal bailout for Detroit's Big Three: You will find Lori Roman's Op-Ed here: “An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires”

20081119 Today in the DC Examiner: An Auto Bailout is Like Sending Arsonists to Fight Fires

This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Rewarding Bad Behavior

Kevin E. Dayhoff

Instead of tooling down the highway in the fast lane, two months after General Motors celebrated its 100th Birthday on September 16, it found itself huddled over at an intersection with fate, harassing passers-by with a tin pan in hand.

William C. Durant formed General Motors (GM) as a holding company in 1908 for Buick. He subsequently took on overwhelming debt by purchasing the manufacturers of Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Elmore and Oakland. After a dramatic drop in automobile sales, Mr. Durant lost control of the company two years later to one of the many powerful bankers’ trusts of the time.

A hundred years later, the “Detroit Three,” – Ford, GM and Chrysler – have lost control of their companies to the United Auto Workers (UAW.)

After decades of being blackmailed with the threat of crippling union strikes, the Detroit Three finds themselves with uncompetitive work rules. It manufactures products which continue to languish with the perception that they lack the quality of their competitors. They offer numerous models, in which the American consumer has little or no interest. They make these automobiles with enormously uncompetitive salaries and benefits; and now the American taxpayers are being asked to bail them out.

Read the entire column here: Rewarding Bad Behavior


Fulfilling A Dream
Tom McLaughlin
“What has possessed you, Tom,” many have asked. “Leaving the country for Borneo Island for a year,” they wonder. “And what about your health?”


Baltimore Hippodrome's "Grinch"
Roy Meachum
What a delightful idea! Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre decided to bring in for the holidays "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical."


Tuesday, November 18, 2008
New Terms and Limits in Iraq
Roy Meachum
While George W. Bush's order to invade Iraq made headline news, the several papers I read cast the real outcome somewhere in the back pages.


A Once-A-Year Happening
Farrell Keough


“[A]m I my brother’s keeper?” This was the statement Cain gave to God when questioned about the location of Abel, whom Cain murdered. It has become part of our cultural colloquialisms – generally applied when asking about our responsibility to help others.


Walkersville’s Welcome Wagon
Joe Charlebois
Well, the ugly head of unforeseen consequences has reared its ugly head. The Town of Walkersville, in its determination to keep the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from building their worship and conference facilities, has ultimately broken the back – if not the pocketbook – of the Banner School family.


Monday, November 17, 2008
Avoiding The Temptation
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
I supported John McCain throughout the recent presidential election. Having written an entire column about why, there's no reason to re-plow that field.


Befuddled in Frederick
Steven R. Berryman
What strange days we are living in. My sympathy goes out to those whose intellectual process it is to attempt to make sense of the world around them.


Landfill & Waste-to-Energy Q & A
Joan McIntyre
My last column (from November 6) generated many questions. Trash in Frederick County certainly seems to be the hot topic. Trash is a given and we need to get out of our holding pattern. So, here I've done my best to address many of your questions.


Friday, November 14, 2008
Newly "Dis-Organized" Party
Roy Meachum
Three months after Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in as the first Democratic president since Woodrow Wilson, Oklahoma-born comedian Will Rogers said on his weekly radio show: "You've got to be optimist to be a Democrat and you've got to be a humorist to stay one." Mr. Rogers was also quoted: "I belong to no organized political party – I’m a Democrat."


Thursday, November 13, 2008
Onward and Upward, Not Backwards
Tony Soltero
Now that the election is behind us, there's no shortage of analyses being offered by pundits left, right, and center about “What It All Means.” So here are a few bullet points of my own as a contribution to the discussion.


My President
Patricia A. Kelly
I’ve lived a pretty long time. I was alive and conscious during the civil rights movement. In fact, during that time, my mom drove my brother and me through the South every summer to visit my grandparents.


Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Incredibly Shrinking Republican Party
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The ink is hardly dry on the “historic” election of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and already those with 20/20 hindsight are dissecting and revising the two-year ordeal, known as the 2008 presidential election, with the conviction of someone who has just seen a flying saucer land in the backyard.


Just Bustin’ Out All Over
Tom McLaughlin
It was as if a massive salt water wave swept over the country and washed away all of the hate and intolerance. I felt cleansed, jubilant and am still high from the November 4 election results. No more African-Americans, or Chinese-Americans, or Native Americans. We are all Americans.


Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Please, Jennifer, Not Again
Roy Meachum
Jennifer Dougherty's loss record for elections stands four-to-one after Tuesday's drubbing by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. The only time she won, incumbent Mayor Jim Grimes shot himself in the foot. Repeatedly. When she tried for a second term, her own party dumped her; the first mayor in modern times to be defeated in a primary.


“It’s Good To Be A Teacher…”
Nick Diaz
Work-to-rule, teachers’ contract, planning time, Board of Education, FCTA, negotiated agreement – these topics, and more, have surfaced recently in Frederick concerning local education issues.

Monday, November 10, 2008
Election Post Mortem
Steven R. Berryman
Election 2008 is over. America now has a new president-elect, and an opportunity to evaluate just what Barack Obama’s victory means. Here are some lessons learned along with some 20/20 hindsight.

20081119 This week in The Tentacle

Historical Society of Mount Airy Hall of Fame Nominations

Historical Society of Mount Airy Hall of Fame Nominations

http://www.carr.org/mtairy/

November 19, 2008

The Historical Society of Mount Airy, MD, Inc. is soliciting nominations for the 2009 Hall of Fame program.

All local organizations and individuals are invited to nominate a person or persons to be considered for this honorable position.

The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to honor truly deserving people, living or deceased, of Mt. Airy and the immediate surrounding areas, who by work, service, volunteerism, word or deed, made the community a better place for everyone.

Also honored will be those who were born here and went on to bring honor and glory to the community by their efforts, deeds, or life’s work outside of the area. By honoring these individuals, it is believed that their stories will inspire others to greater achievement and make everyone aware of the fabric that is woven into our home - Mt. Airy, Maryland.

Nomination forms for the Mount Airy Hall of Fame may be found at the Mount Airy Town Hall, the Mount Airy Museum, and on our website at http://www.carr.org/mtairy/. Follow the links to the Historical Society, then Hall of Fame, and finally nomination forms - or by clicking here.

Any person or group is eligible to submit nominations to the committee using this form. Candidates should be considered from the following fields: business, community-civic service, education, historical, humanitarian, political, religious, sports-recreational, or a general category.

Please send all nomination forms to HALL OF FAME COMMITTEE, P.O. Box 244, Mount Airy, MD 21771. All nominations must be in the hands of the committee by Saturday, December 6, 2008.

After the close of nominations, a committee will review all nominations and select the persons who will be inducted into the Mount Airy Hall of Fame.

The induction will be held on March 17, 2009 at the American Legion Home, on Prospect Road.

Visit the Mount Airy Museum to learn about the people who have been inducted into the Mount Airy Hall of Fame.

Related:
Table of Contents
Lecture Series - May 2008
Town Museum
Museum History
Hours of Operation
Past Officials
E-m@il for more information
Historical Society
Hall of Fame

Newsletters
Sep 08
May 08
Feb 08

Brochures
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Historical Buildings
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Related Links
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Historic Mt. Airy B&O planes

20091118 Historical Society of Mount Airy Hall of Fame Nominations

Today in the DC Examiner: Are we bailing out dead donkeys?

Today in the DC Examiner: Are we bailing out dead donkeys?

November 18, 2008

Examiner Editorial: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is handing out billions of tax dollars to selected Wall Street firms, but refuses to disclose any details of who, how much or with what in return. This is a major scandal-in-the-making.

Quin Hillyer: The Supreme Court agrees to hear another case that could put McCain-Feingold regulation of political speech in the legal garbage can where it belongs.

Examiner OpEd: John Hawkins pens an open letter to GOP members of the U.S. Senate, challenging them to try something new.

20081118 Today in the DC Examiner Are we bailing out dead donkeys?

CyberAlert for Monday November 17 2008

CyberAlert for Monday November 17 2008

The 2,772nd CyberAlert. Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
9:05am EST, Monday November 17, 2008 (Vol. Thirteen; No. 217)

1. CBS's Kroft Pushes Obama to See U.S. in 1930s-Like Depression 60 Minutes viewers got better economic rationality Sunday night from President-elect Barack Obama than from the journalist who interviewed him. CBS's Steve Kroft proposed: "People are comparing this to 1932. Is that a valid comparison, do you think?" Obama didn't accept the comparison: "Well, keep in mind that 1932, 1933 the unemployment rate was 25 percent, inching up to 30 percent. You had a third of the country that was ill housed, ill clothed..." But Kroft wouldn't let go of trying to paint the America of 2008 as dire as 1932. Eight minutes later in the interview, when Obama related how he was reading briefing papers and had read about Abraham Lincoln putting political rivals in his cabinet, Kroft returned to the Depression: "Have you been reading anything about the Depression? Anything about FDR?"

2. Howell: 'Most Washington Post Journalists Voted for Obama. I Did' A week after Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell agreed with readers who saw "a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama" in the paper's campaign coverage, Howell this Sunday admitted she voted for Obama and "bet" that so did "most" in the Post's newsroom: "I'll bet that most Post journalists voted for Obama. I did. There are centrists at The Post as well. But the conservatives I know here feel so outnumbered that they don't even want to be quoted by name in a memo."

3. ABC's Cuomo Has Few Follow-ups for 'Campaign Boogeyman' Ayers Good Morning America news anchor Chris Cuomo on Friday conducted an interview with former bomber William Ayers that qualified as neither a softball or a grilling of the ex-domestic terrorist. Although he did challenge Ayers, he didn't interrupt when the Chicago professor insisted that America fought a "violent terrorist war" or when the '60s radical characterized the U.S. government as murdering thousands "every month" during Vietnam. Additionally, the online version of the ABC story referred to Ayers as a "campaign boogeyman," while co-host Diane Sawyer in an introduction for the piece defensively explained: "The name of Bill Ayers, William Ayers, was used as kind of a political weapon by the Republicans." During the segment, Cuomo even editorialized that Ayers is now a "respected professor" at the University of Illinois. Respected, perhaps, by leftists and radicals, but many Americans still hold great anger towards Ayers and his terrorist group the Weather Underground.

4. Chris Cuomo Hits Ayers on Bombings; Skips Specific Victims In part two of Good Morning America's Friday interview with former bomber William Ayers, news anchor Chris Cuomo did challenge the ex-'60s radical on whether or not he was a terrorist. But after Ayers contended "It's not terrorism because it doesn't target people. It doesn't target people to either kill or injure," the journalist failed to offer specifics that would refute that point. Cuomo could have easily cited the example of John Murtagh. He was a child in 1970 when the Weather Underground, founded by Ayers, placed multiple bombs, one underneath the gas tank of the family car, at the home of his New York judge father. However, while not pressing Ayers on specific victims, he did skeptically wonder: "How can a sophisticated academic like yourself believe that the inherent recklessness of exploding bombs that you know too well killed three of your own- you know the potential for deadliness there."

5. CNN's Quest: Europe 'Starving' for Obama, Want Bite of Hillary During Friday's Situation Room, CNN correspondent Richard Quest predicted that the international community would react favorably if Hillary Clinton would become the next Secretary of State: "Absolutely amazed, outstanding reaction -- I've little doubt. Remember, Hillary Clinton is an international superstar, known around the world. There would be some reservations, bearing in mind everyone saw the bruising Democratic primary....But no question, the gravitas -- the authority that she would bring would be welcomed around the world." He later made a bizarre analogy about European reaction to the election of Barack Obama: "You're talking about people who have been like starving men, who have suddenly been given a food [sic] and a meal and it tastes brilliant to them."

6. So Eager for Obama Neuharth Wants Inauguration Moved to December "People who elect a new President are eager for the change to take place. The sooner the better," USA Today founder Al Neuharth argued in his Friday column in which he asked, coincidentally just a week-and-a-half after Barack Obama's election: "Why wait until late January to turn the Oval Office over to a new President elected in early November?" He proposed: "We should move the President's inauguration up to the first Tuesday in December, one month after the election." After all, "the time lag" is "too long in these modern times when crises need the earliest possible attention."

A usually-daily report, edited by Brent H. Baker, CyberAlert is distributed by the Media Research Center, the leader since 1987 in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.

20081117 CyberAlert for Monday November 17 2008

Harry Zook, former member of the WFD and the WPD died Nov. 14, 2008

Harry Zook, a former member of the Westminster Fire Department and the Westminster Police Department passed away November 14, 2008

November 17, 2008

Harry A. Zook, 83, of Westminster

Harry Arthur Zook, 83, of Westminster died Friday, Nov. 14, 2008, at Carroll Hospice Dove House.

Born Nov. 16, 1924, in Hanover, Pa., he was the son of the late Arthur Abraham and Ruth Zincon Zook.

He was a 1943 graduate of Westminster High School and was a World War II Navy veteran. He was a retired police sergeant with the Westminster Police Department, joining the force in December 1954 and retiring in March 1982.

He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 20 and a former member of the Westminster fire company.

Surviving are a daughter, Barbara E. Zook of Westminster; son and daughter-in-law John and Lori Zook of Westminster; and a grandson, Torey Daniel Zook.

He was predeceased by a son, William "Billy" Zook; and a sister, Delores Zook Ecker.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Pritts Funeral Home & Chapel, 412 Washington Road, Westminster, with his pastor, the Rev. Kevin Clementson, officiating. Interment will be in Westminster Cemetery.

The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be sent to Grace Lutheran Church, 21 Carroll St., Westminster, MD 21157.

Online condolences may be made at www.prittsfuneralhome.com.

20081114 19241116 Harry Zook WPD WFD
People Zook-Harry

Today in the DC Examiner: Secret ballots for the lame ducks, but not for American workers?

Today in the DC Examiner: Secret ballots for the lame ducks, but not for American workers?

November 17, 2008

Examiner Editorial: When the congressional party caucuses convene to elect new leadership this week, they will do so with the secret ballot. Guess who wants to abolish secret ballots in the work place?

Melanie Scarborough: All that changes on inauguration day is who gets the goodies.

Examiner OpEd: Andrew Moylan of the National Taxpayers Union wonders what might have happened had John McCain opposed the Wall Street bailout.

Tapscott's Copy Desk: What's this, a Washington Postie defending Sarah Palin?

20081117 Today in the DC Examiner Secret ballots for the lame ducks

At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'

At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'

By Kevin Dayhoff Posted on www.explorecarroll.com 11/16/08

Sunday Carroll EAGLE ARCHIVE

The fact that women gained the right to vote was a milestone that got mixed reviews in Carroll County after the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920.

It was an argument four decades in the making.

In 1878, a constitutional amendment to grant women the right to vote was introduced by Sen. A. A. Sargeant of California. Suffrage supporters called the proposal the "Anthony Amendment," for Susan B. Anthony.

When President Woodrow Wilson delivered his State of the Union message to Congress in December 1916, women in the galleries unfurled a large banner that read, "Mr. President, What Will You Do For Woman Suffrage?"

In October 1920, after women were finally allowed to vote, local newspapers carried several articles about women and the election, according to research for the Historical Society of Carroll County by historian Jay Graybeal.

An Oct. 29, 1920, newspaper article carried the headline: "The Republican Meet, A Remarkable Gathering." The article read: "On Tuesday evening the Armory in this city was filled both to its seating and standing capacity with men and women voters of the county to hear the issues of the campaign discussed. ...

Read the rest of the column here: At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'

http://www.explorecarroll.com/community/1576/westminster-polls-1920-women-disappointed-them/

20081116 At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'

Presidents Radio Address for November 14 2008

Presidents Radio Address for November 14 2008

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 14, 2008
President's Radio Address
President's Radio Address Audio En Español

In Focus: Economy

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This weekend I am hosting a summit on the global financial crisis with leaders of developed and developing nations. By working together, I'm confident that with time we can overcome this crisis and return our economies to the path of growth and vitality.

I know many of you listening are worried about the challenges facing our economy. Stock market declines have eroded the value of retirement accounts and pension funds. The tightening of credit has made it harder for families to borrow money for cars, homes, and education. Businesses have found it harder to get loans to expand their operations and create jobs. Many nations have suffered job losses and have serious concerns about the worsening economy.

Nations around the world have responded to this situation with bold measures, and our actions are having an impact. Credit markets are beginning to thaw and businesses are gaining access to essential short-term financing. It will require more time for these improvements to fully take hold and there will be more difficult days ahead, but the United States and our partners are taking the right steps to get through the crisis.

As we address the current crisis, we also need to make broader reforms to adapt our financial systems to the 21st century. So during this summit, I will work with other leaders to establish principles for reform, such as making markets more transparent and ensuring that markets, firms, and financial products are properly regulated.

All these steps will require decisive actions from governments around the world. At the same time, we must recognize that government intervention is not a cure-all. While reforms in the financial sector are essential, the long-term solution to today's problems is sustained economic growth. And the surest path to that growth is free markets and free people.

This is a decisive moment for the global economy. In the wake of the financial crisis voices from the left and right are equating the free enterprise system with greed, exploitation, and failure. It is true that this crisis included failures by lenders and borrowers, by financial firms, by governments and independent regulators. But the crisis was not a failure of the free market system. And the answer is not to try to reinvent that system. It is to fix the problems we face, make the reforms we need, and move forward with the free market principles that have delivered prosperity and hope to people around the world.

The benefits of free market capitalism have been proven across time, geography, and culture. Around the world free market capitalism has allowed once impoverished nations to develop large and prosperous economies. And here at home, free market capitalism is what transformed America from a rugged frontier to the greatest economic power in history.

Just as important as maintaining free markets within countries is maintaining the free movement of goods and services between countries. There are many ways for nations to demonstrate their commitment to open markets. The United States Congress can take the lead by approving free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea before adjourning for the year.

In the long run, Americans can be confident in the future of our economy. We will work with our partners around the world to address the problems in the global financial system. We will strengthen our economy. And we will continue to lead the world toward prosperity and peace.

Thank you for listening.

# # #

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2008114 Presidents Radio Address for November 14 2008

Bill Ayers – in his own words: “What a long strange trip it has been”

What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been Friday 07 November 2008 by: Bill Ayers, In These Times

Truthout

Upon the end of a surreal campaign season, Bill Ayers speaks out. (Photo: Chris Walker / The Chicago Tribune)

Bill Ayers looks back on a surreal campaign season.

Whew! What was all that mess? I'm still in a daze, sorting it all out, decompressing.

Pass the Vitamin C.

For the past few years, I have gone about my business, hanging out with my kids and, now, my grandchildren, taking care of our elders (they moved in as the kids moved out), going to work, teaching and writing. And every day, I participate in the never-ending effort to build a powerful and irresistible movement for peace and social justice.

In years past, I would now and then - often unpredictably - appear in the newspapers or on TV, sometimes with a reference to Fugitive Days, my 2001 memoir of the exhilarating and difficult years of resistance against the American war in Vietnam. It was a time when the world was in flames, revolution was in the air, and the serial assassinations of black leaders disrupted our utopian dreams.

These media episodes of fleeting notoriety always led to some extravagant and fantastic assertions about what I did, what I might have said and what I probably believe now.

It was always a bit surreal. Then came this political season.

During the primary, the blogosphere was full of chatter about my relationship with President-elect Barack Obama. We had served together on the board of the Woods Foundation and knew one another as neighbors in Chicago's Hyde Park. In 1996, at a coffee gathering that my wife, Bernardine Dohrn, and I held for him, I made a $200 donation to his campaign for the Illinois State Senate.

Obama's political rivals and enemies thought they saw an opportunity to deepen a dishonest perception that he is somehow un-American, alien, linked to radical ideas, a closet terrorist who sympathizes with extremism - and they pounced.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) campaign provided the script, which included guilt by association, demonization of people Obama knew (or might have known), creepy questions about his background and dark hints about hidden secrets yet to be uncovered.

On March 13, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), apparently in an attempt to reassure the base,- sat down for an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News. McCain was not yet aware of the narrative Hannity had been spinning for months, and so Hannity filled him in: Ayers is an unrepentant "terrorist," he explained, "On 9/11, of all days, he had an article where he bragged about bombing our Pentagon, bombing the Capitol and bombing New York City police headquarters. ... He said, 'I regret not doing more.'"

McCain couldn't believe it.

Neither could I.

[…]

Read the rest here: What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been

20081107 Bill Ayers What a long strange trip it has been

Some thoughts on “Union says more job cuts coming at the Baltimore Sun”

“Union says more job cuts coming at the Baltimore Sun” Thursday, November 13, 2008 Baltimore Business Journal - by Julekha Dash Staff

Hat Tip: The Gunpowder Chronicle

November 15th, 2008 - My thoughts, for what they are worth…

Lately the topic of another round of layoffs and adjustments in the business of Tribune and the Baltimore Sun has been the subject of some discussions among several of us who work for Tribune. (See my media disclosure here. I work for Tribune.)

I have also been a critic of the Baltimore Sun’s political coverage in the past and I agree that the widespread perception of bias on the part of the Baltimore Sun has been detrimental to the overall health of the paper.

Moreover I continue to believe that liberal media bias plagues too much of the traditional mainstream media.

However, when I read criticism that involves hyperbolic name-calling, the critic loses the argument with me. (And yes, I am aware of past columns and blog posts in which I have engaged in some name calling… I guess I am a recovering name caller…)

Nevertheless, the editorial board of the Baltimore Sun continues to promote the paper in an unfavorable light. The fact that I disagree with much of the editorial slant does not concern me. What concerns me is that all too often the position of the board is inconsistent, displays situational principles, and is personality driven.

Perhaps this is simply the nature of the beast, but I would much rather see objective consistent community-benefit-driven analysis and commentary, instead of a newspaper editorial board parroting the talking points and spin of a particular individual, political party, or ideology.

To say it clearly, anything Illinois Sen. Barack Obama or Maryland Governor O’Malley = GOOD. Anything conservative, Arizona Sen. John McCain, or former Governor Robert l. Ehrlich = BAD.

If you need a more recent example, take a look at slots: Slots under Governor Ehrlich = BAD. Slots under Governor O’Malley = GOOD. What changed…?

However, the local community newspaper arm of Tribune – The Baltimore Sun, the Patuxent Publishing Company, (Explore Baltimore Co., Explore Carroll Co. - the paper for which I write, and Explore Howard Co.,) continues to deliver quality news and reporting. Of course, part of the reason for that is that those of us on the local community level have a higher level of accountability in that we can often be found at the same pizza parlor and grocery store check out line with the very folks we cover.

Nonetheless, the current economic times are a strain on all businesses, including newspapers, the metros, and the community newspapers alike.

In spite of the bewildering approach of the Baltimore Sun’s editorial board, most all the reporters are quite professional, talented, and objective in their reporting.

In the end they all have families and unless a particular individual displays a personal animus or maliciousness; critics of the paper may benefit from a more constructive engagement with the reporters. And I hate to see anyone lose his or her job – especially these days.

And especially a writer: What do you call a writer without a significant other? Homeless.

There is a growing perception that the management of the Baltimore Sun is trying hard to adjust to the times – with more accessibility and less of the condescending arrogance that has manifested in the corporate personality of the paper in the past.

As an aside; whether I agree or disagree with the columnists, I like the sharp writing of most of the columnists (and most of the reporters) – and I like the paper’s recent foray into blogs. And I like the improvements in the web site.

The debate about blogger journalists versus traditional print media journalists has been getting increasingly boring – see 20070112 Some wisdom about the silliest debate in journalism. There are good and bad in both camps. If you don’t like a particular writer, don’t read them.

I read writers – not headlines - and not papers...

Attempting to promote blogs and new media by carelessly denigrating traditional print media is a disservice to all journalists and journalism and brings all of us down.

Considering the challenges at the local level, in Maryland and the nation; the press has, if anything, an increased responsibility and there is an important role for the Baltimore Sun to play.

We need greater cooperation, collaboration – and we need all hands on deck.

Kevin Dayhoff

******
Union says more job cuts coming at the Baltimore Sun

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Baltimore Business Journal - by Julekha Dash Staff

A Baltimore Sun union said Thursday it expects another round of job cuts at the newspaper, and officials are preparing to fight any future layoffs.

The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild said it expects more job cuts within days. Angie Kuhl, a unit chair with the union, said she does not know how many job cuts are planned. But union officials don’t expect buyouts to be offered, as they have been in the past, and the cuts will impact the newsroom.

Renee Mutchnik, a Baltimore Sun spokeswoman, said Sun management has no comment.

The Sun eliminated 100 positions at the paper in August. It also recently eliminated its standalone Maryland and Business sections as part of an overall redesign.

[…]

Tribune Co., the Sun’s parent, posted a $124 million third quarter loss this month.

The newspaper, Maryland’s largest daily publication, saw its average Sunday circulation number fall 3.9 percent to 350,640 during the period.

Read the entire article here: Union says more job cuts coming at the Baltimore Sun

Tribune Co. posts $124M loss

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2008/11/10/daily53.html

20081113 Some thoughts on Union says more job cuts coming at the Baltimore Sun

Reuters: Obama McCain to meet Monday to talk cooperation

Reuters: Obama McCain to meet Monday to talk cooperation

This is a good thing; however, if the past is prologue, Arizona Sen. John McCain should be extra careful.

See:

20081109 First Bush Obama Meeting Hard Feelings and Hand Sanitizer

20081111 Drudge Bush Anger Obama Aides Leak Chat Details

*****

Obama, McCain to meet Monday to talk cooperation

Fri Nov 14, 2008

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama will meet with his former rival, Republican Sen. John McCain, on Monday to talk about ways they can work together, an Obama spokeswoman said on Friday.

The meeting between the former competitors will take place in Chicago at Obama's transition headquarters two weeks after the Democratic senator won a decisive victory over McCain in the November 4 election.

It will be the first time the two have spoken since McCain called Obama to concede the election. McCain gave an emotional speech after the concession in which he promised to help his former rival address the country's many challenges.

[…]

She said the two men would be accompanied by McCain's close friend, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

[…]

Read the rest here: Obama, McCain to meet Monday to talk cooperation

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4AD4IX20081114

2008114 Reuters Obama McCain to meet Monday to talk cooperation