20080617 Pretzel Logic by Howard Kurtz Washington Post

“Pretzel Logic” by Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post

In case you missed Howard Kurtz’s latest post – at the Washington Post, please do a u-turn and go visit it.

It is an adventure into the latest in analysis of the presidential campaign landscape in 2,235 words, but it is worth the time – and I did not have to look up one single word.

He lays it out cleanly and clearly, includes source materials and cites to back up his insights into everything from Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s utterances about gun-control; flip flopping; New York Senator Hillary Clinton; Colin Powell; Karl Rove; to Lloyd Bensen’s absolutely devastating Dan Quayle with his famous line about Jack Kennedy and Tom Brokaw cancelling a fishing trip to Russia set for September.

Hat Tip: Doug Ross: Friday, June 27, 2008 “Obama's Speeches need a "Born-on Date" And while you are over on Mr. Ross’ site, also check out “8,400 murdered in DC since gun ban went into effect”

Pretzel Logic

By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, June 27, 2008

Barack Obama is under hostile fire for changing his position on the D.C. gun ban.

Oh, I'm sorry. He didn't change his position, apparently. He reworded a clumsy statement.

That, at least, is what his campaign is saying. The same campaign that tried to spin his flip-flop in rejecting public financing as embracing the spirit of reform, if not the actual position he had once promised to embrace.

Is this becoming a pattern? Wouldn't it be better for Obama to say he had thought more about such-and-such an issue and simply changed his mind? Is that verboten in American politics? Is it better to engage in linguistic pretzel-twisting in an effort to prove that you didn't change your mind?

Regardless of what you think of the merits of yesterday's Supreme Court ruling overturning the capital's handgun law, it seems to me we're entitled to a clear position by the presumed Democratic nominee. And I'm a bit confused about how the confusion came about.

[snip]

New York Post columnist Charles Hurt suggests the appearance of a reversal by the "most liberal member of the Senate," but doesn't provide the evidence on this point:

"Obama may as well have strapped on his John Wayne chaps and holster yesterday to announce his support of the Supreme Court's decision that the Second Amendment guaranteeing gun rights actually means what it says . . .

"As Obama moves rightward and gets tougher, Republicans are desperately trying to portray him as some sort of arrogant flip-flopper. But these audacious moves by him are not signs of weakness; they're signs of a man who will win at any cost.

"Isn't that what they used to say about the Clintons?"

The conservative blogosphere, however, brings out the heavy guns. Hot Air's Ed Morrissey points out that Obama is, after all, a lawyer:

"Barack Obama has been spinning like a top, and watching his positions on, well, just about everything is like watching table-tennis matches on TiVo triple fast forward. FISA, public financing, and NAFTA have all been reversed in the last couple of weeks, and Obama's not through yet . . .

[…]

Red State: "May I suggest that Senator Obama start putting a 'Freshest if used by' date on all his speeches? It'd be a help, really."

[snip]

Read the entire column here: Pretzel Logic

20080625 The hogs and parking meters of Westminster’s past history

The hogs and parking meters of Westminster’s past history

June 25th, 2008 by Kevin Dayhoff

Photo caption: Looking east on the south side Main Street of Westminster Maryland at St. John Catholic Church in the 1920s. The church was built in 1865. On June 19, 1952 the storm blew through town and toppled the steeple at 4:45 in the afternoon. As a result the structure was subsequently deemed unsafe in 1968.

The last church service was held on February 4, 1968. The structure was demolished in early March 1977 and replaced with the Westminster Branch of the Carroll County Public Library in March 1980. (The image is from an old file collection. The photographer is unknown. Kevin Dayhoff)

Writer’s note – a shorter version of this column appeared in the print edition of the Westminster Eagle on June 25, 2008.

_____

June is “invasion month” in the city of Westminster. Over the years, a sampling of the invasions over the years has involved bugs, hogs, parking meters, dust, flies, manure, and Southern troops have made historic appearances in the city and caused quite a ruckus.

Ay caramba – where to begin?

Throughout history there have been many critter problems in Westminster, but none seems to have caused as much a stir as what to do with the city’s hog population.

Many thanks go to Laurel Taylor, the Westminster City Clerk who gave me a hand a while back in getting to the bottom of the controversies.

As early as October 1, 1860, an ordinance was enacted by the Westminster mayor and common council, which prohibited “the running at large of hogs and swine” in the city.

On October 9, 1860, “the price per head for the impoundment of errant swine was reduced from $2.00/head to $1.00/head. The daily fee for impoundment was reduced from $1.50 to $.50.”

The following year, on June 12, 1861 the minutes of the common council proceeding note: “Moved and seconded that the Ordinance relating to Hogs running at large in the City of Westminster be enforced and that after the 1st of July 1861 all hogs or swine found in the streets will be taken up and disposed of as directed by Ordinance heretofore (illegible - passed?) by the Board and that ....Joseph Shaw publish a Notice of the same to the Citizens of Westminster prior to 1st July 1861.”

Dogs running loose seem to have also been a problem because in 1866, an ordinance took effect that prohibited dogs from running at large in the City unless they were muzzled.

The minutes of the meeting at which that Ordinance was adopted contain a warning: “Attention is hereby called to the Ordinance already existing relative to swine running at large, which will be rigidly enforced.”

However, the problems associated with hogs persisted and in October 1895 a special council meeting was called after “Dr. J. Howell Billingslea and a committee of citizens who went before them to urge immediate action in the interest of the public health,” according to an October 12, 1895 article in the now defunct American Sentinel newspaper.

The newspaper article noted that Dr. Billingslea was “convinced that the hog pens, even when kept as clean as possible, are disease breeders and a constant menace to the health of the people in towns of any considerable size, a fact about which there can hardly be a dispute…

“January 1st, 1896, is spoken of as the period at which the prohibition will likely go into effect. While such a measure will work hardship, probably in many cases, it seems to be necessary to the preservation of the health of the community.”

The article did not go into detail as to what “hardships” would occur.

In June 1946 another controversy erupted in downtown Westminster – parking meters.

On May 24, 1946, the now defunct Democratic Advocate reported that parking meters “from Charles Carroll Hotel to Anchor street, (became) a reality Tuesday morning when a force of men started drilling holes for the erection of the meters.”

The proposal by the city to install parking meters was quite controversial and the subject of litigation. However, the newspaper reported, “The injunction was denied by Judge Clarke, some time last April, and an appeal was under way but later dropped by the opposers…

“Charles Armacost, popular contractor of Finksburg, has charge of the placing the meters in position. The work is being done very rapidly.”

Of course, parking in downtown Westminster ebbs and flows in controversy. I can recall more than a few spirited conversations about the parking meters well into the late 1950s and 60s.

For many of us, one enigma remains and that is why parking was removed from the south side of Main Street in front of where the downtown branch of the Carroll County library is located.

Many of us who grew up in Westminster recall parking on that side of the street – in front of where St. John Catholic Church was then located. The came along “progress” and a center turn lane – that is hardly ever used - was added for the entire block and the parking removed.

Nevertheless, in spite of the critter challenges and the parking meters, the city has survived. Whether we will survive the city’s current “tax, borrow, and spend” initiatives remains to be seen.

####

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org
####

www.kevindayhoff.net
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E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org or kevindayhoff AT gmail.com

His columns and articles appear in The Tentacle - www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion; www.thewestminstereagle.com, Winchester Report and The Sunday Carroll Eagle – in the Sunday Carroll County section of the Baltimore Sun. Get Westminster Eagle RSS Feed

“When I stop working the rest of the day is posthumous. I'm only really alive when I'm writing.” Tennessee Williams

20080625 The hogs and parking meters of Westminster’s past history

20080625 The hogs and parking meters of Westminster’s past history

Westminster Eagle: Schedule of Corbit’s Charge commemorative events in Westminster

Westminster Eagle: Schedule of Corbit’s Charge commemorative events in Westminster

http://www.explorecarroll.com/

History Carroll Co. 18630629 Corbit's Charge June 29 1863

History Westminster 18630629 Corbit's Charge June 29 1863

Corbit rides again for city's weekend events

Published June 25, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Union and Confederate troop re-enactors, along with civilians and artisans, will converge on Westminster, from Friday, June 27 through Sunday, June 29, to commemorate the...

Re-enactors of the 4th Confederate Virginia Calvary from Cullpepper Virginia provide a seven gun salute in honor of those who were killed during the Civil War in the cemetery behind the Ascension Episcopal Church, during the Corbit's Charge commemoration in downtown Westminster. The living history event commemorates the June 29th 1863 Battle of Westminster also known as Corbit's Charge in which the Union Army slowed the Confederate calvary, out numbered 5000 to 90, in joining Robert E. Lee at the battle of Gettysburg.

Corbit rides again for city's weekend events

http://www.explorecarroll.com/news/40/corbit-rides-again-citys-weekend-events/

Re-enactors commemorate Civil War battle's 145th anniversary

Posted 6/25/08

Union and Confederate troop re-enactors, along with civilians and artisans, will converge on Westminster, from Friday, June 27 through Sunday, June 29, to commemorate the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Westminster, better known as Corbit's Charge.

This year's commemoration, again sponsored by the City of Westminster and hosted by the Pipe Creek Civil War Round Table, will feature events in Downtown Westminster, along with activities at the traditional encampment location of 224 N. Center St., the Corbit's Charge memorial and the Ascension Church cemetery.

The Friday evening program will feature a performance of Civil War period music by O' Be JoyFull on the Locust Lane stage in downtown Westminster at 6:30 p.m.

In addition, there will be a discussion by historian Tom LeGore and tour of several blocks of the downtown area.

On Saturday and Sunday, a living history encampment will be held on the grounds of the Multi-Service Center on North Center Street, Westminster featuring demonstrations and exhibits, camp scenes and drills.

On Saturday, a parade to Corbit's Charge Monument and Cemetery will take place at 1 p.m. for a brief ceremony. Then, at 7 p.m., the Susquehanna Travelers will give a free concert.

Sunday will feature a Tent-Style Civil War Church Service at 10 a.m. followed by guided battle site walking tours and reenactments. All events are open to the public.

For more information, contact Ron Kuehne, PCCWRT outreach coordinator at ronaldk@carr.org.

Civil War revisited

The following is a detailed schedule of events planned by day:

Friday, June 27

6 and 8 p.m. -- "Downtown Westminster, 1863" a walking tour with Tom LeGore. Meet at the "Welcome to Downtown" sign at Main and Liberty streets.

6:30 to 8 p.m. -- music by O' Be JoyFull at the Locust Lane Stage.

Saturday, June 28

10 a.m. to 9 p.m. -- Civil War Encampment, 224 N. Center St., Westminster. Displays open at 10 a.m.

10 a.m.-- Artillery demonstration.

10:30 to 11:30 a.m. -- Children's activities and games.

11 a.m. -- Infantry drill and firing demonstration.

12:30 p.m. -- Parade and ceremony at Corbit's Charge Monument in War Memorial Park and Lt. Murray's Grave, at Ascension Church Cemetery.

1 p.m. -- Artillery demonstration.

2-3 p.m. -- Children's activities and games.

2:15 p.m. -- Cavalry demonstration.

3:15 p.m. -- Artillery demonstration.

4 p.m. -- Infantry demonstration.

7 to 9 p.m. -- concert by Susquehanna Travellers in the big tent at the encampment grounds.

8 to 11 p.m. -- Civil War Ball at the Old Longwell Armory. Tickets and formal dress required.

Sunday, June 29

10 a.m. to 9 p.m. -- Civil War Encampment, 224 N. Center St., Westminster. Displays open at 10 a.m.

10 a.m. -- Civil War Tent-Style Church Service.

11 a.m. -- Medical demonstration.

Noon -- Battle skirmish between Union and Confederate units.

Noon-3 p.m. -- Walking Tours of the Corbit's Charge battle site.

1 p.m. -- Artillery demonstration.

1-2 p.m. -- Children's activities and games.

2 p.m. -- Infantry drill and firing demonstration.

3 p.m. -- Infantry demonstration.

4 p.m. -- Encampment closes.


Corbit's Charge has a growing role in Westminster's civic, commercial calendar

Published June 25, 2008 by Westminster Eagle

Editorial Westminster's place in history gets revisited this week as the city and local history enthusiasts commemorate Corbit's Charge with events in and around the downtown...

20080627 Schedule of Corbit’s Charge commemorative events in Westminster

19470627 State Revenue Sharing

Carroll County To Received $531,108.73 Additional State Revenue Through Gov. Lane — Democratic Advocate, June 27, 1947.

With the beginning of Governor Lane's new fiscal program of July 1, Carroll County will start to receive $531,108.73 additional in State revenues annually for the cooperation of its government functions and relief of taxation at the local level.

The $532,108.73 is Carroll County's share of the $20,411,348.18 in additional State revenues to be allocated each year to the political subdivisions of Maryland.

Of the $531,108.73 increase to Carroll County, some of which will be shared by incorporated towns, $338,710.00 is for schools, bringing the total received by the County yearly from the State for this purpose to $739,087.00. The new school incentive fund adds another $42,416.00 yearly.

Additional road funds for Carroll County to be divided among Cities and incorporated towns on a mileage basis total $71,413,30, bringing the State's yearly allocation for highway purposes to $308,186.71.

Democratic Advocate, June 27, 1947.

North County News: At school - Handzo named to deans list at Georgia Tech

North County News: At school - Handzo named to deans list at Georgia Tech

Posted on explorebaltimorecounty 6/25/08

Send announcements to 409 Washington Ave., Towson, MD 21204, or northcountynews@patuxent.com.

Ryan Handzo, of Phoenix, was named to the dean's list at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. (Mr. Handzo is the son of my sister, Tammy Frock Handzo and her husband, Rob Handzo.)

Joslyn Lear, formerly of Baldwin, earned a master's degree in education from Loyola College in Baltimore.

Matthew Hartig, of Parkton, earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in metals and jewelry from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga.

Abbe Balaban, of Phoenix, a junior at Widener University in Chester, Pa., was awarded a Chris Towns France Scholarship from Cultural Experiences Abroad to fund a semester overseas. Balaban, who is studying psychology, international relations and French, will spend the fall at the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Jamie Grandizio, of Baldwin, was named to the president's list at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., where she is studying kinesiology.

Amy Jaklitsch and Lisa Jaklitsch, of Parkton, were named to the dean's list at Frostburg State University in Frostburg.

Scott Meade, of White Hall, received an appointment from Rep. Roscoe Bartlett to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

These North County students graduated from Towson Catholic High School:
* Michael Brady, of Sparks.
* Emily Kearns, of Glen Arm.
* Erika Kolakowski, of Baldwin.
* Brittani Perz, of Glen Arm.

John O'Brien, an assistant principal at Hereford High School, has been transferred to the Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, where he will be an assistant principal. Louis Jira, an assistant principal at Randallstown High School, will replace O'Brien.

20080625 North County News Handzo named to deans list at Georgia Tech

20080625 This week in The Tentacle

20080625 This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The MML and the COPS Program
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The annual Maryland Municipal League summer convention in Ocean City wraps up four days of seminars and meetings at the Ocean City Convention Center today.

Greasing the Wheels
Tom McLaughlin
We purchase billions upon billions of dollars of goods from the Chinese. They, in turn, take those dollars and invest in conservative and safe instruments like American T-Bills. This circular path has caused alarm among some that they have the power to wreck our economy and bring America to its knees. However, to destroy our economy would also mean wrecking theirs.


Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Political Street Gossip – Part 5
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Yesterday, we ended our discussion of Frederick’s delegation races in 2010 with an observation about Sen. Alex Mooney's vulnerabilities. Here's some proof of that.

What War?
Roy Meachum
Reasonable doubt exists that most readers do not know that a week ago 50 Shiite Iraqis died in a tremendous blast, engineered by al-Qaeda Sunnis. In the same forgotten category: Afghanistan's Taliban seized and held a series of towns and villages.

Enjoying What Life Brings on Two Wheels
Nick Diaz
You’ve seen them on the road – all those guys on motorcycles, parading down the boulevard, on Saturdays or Sundays. Where are they going? I’m sure many of you have wondered the same thing.


Monday, June 23, 2008
Political Street Gossip – Part 4
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
We've looked at federal, city, and county upcoming election cycles. The 6th District congressional race is upon us, the others are more distant and definitely less clear.

Ear to the Ground
Steven R. Berryman
Once again, awash in too much real news, here is a smorgasbord of the events I witnessed last week. You may call it “Short Takes 2,” as I keep my ears to the ground for The Tentacle and Frederick County.


Friday, June 20, 2008
Goodbye, Beautiful Long Legs
Roy Meachum
She danced while others simply walked. Parts of two days I spent with Cyd Charisse; the night belonged to her new husband, Tony Martin. He did all the talking, as I recall. She satisfied herself with smiles and a quiet but fiercely radiated warmth.

Before and After November 4, 2008
Edward Lulie III
I have to concede that my regard for President Bush have been on a sliding scale downwards for several years. I believe going into Iraq was the right thing to do; but we never should have based the reason on weapons of mass destruction without solid proof. He also wasted effort and prestige trying to convince the European Union (EU) to go along when half of its leaders were in bed with Saddam Hussein anyway. It was a waste of time.


Thursday, June 19, 2008
For Freedom and Liberty
Chris Cavey
Last week was Flag Week; Saturday, June 14, was Flag Day. It’s a shame that many Americans take this symbol of our freedom for granted. Here at the “Cavey Compound” Old Glory flies everyday because we are free…and my Dad makes sure it happens.

The Death Toll for the DRRA
Joan McIntyre

Well, it seems the Developers Rights and Responsibility Agreement (DRRA), is about to receive last rites. The county is trying to give it CPR but the family, Land Stewards, has said pull the plug, there are no signs of life. It’s heading to the incinerator; this isn’t recyclable.


Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Holes in Our Safety Net
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Tim Russert, “a giant in journalism and in politics” passed away unexpectedly last Friday. It followed by less than a week the death of ABC’s Jim McKay.

Quantity vs. Quality
Tom McLaughlin
For the first time, it was announced recently, the life expectancy in the United States reached above 78 years old. Some may rejoice at this news, but one must be very careful because the quantity of life may have increased but the quality of life has decreased. This quality not only affects the individual who has reached the golden age mark, but the many people who care for him or her.


Tuesday, June 17, 2008
So Be It
Roy Meachum
Iraq was never about military success; the war has always been a political mess: unwinnable at its best. That truth trumped all American pretensions from the start. But U.S. deaths settled down to a point when the casualties could be tolerated by the public. More or less.

20080417 Mikulski slams White House on lack of DOJ COPS funding

Mikulski slams White House on lack of DOJ COPS funding

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on April 16, 2008, Maryland Democrat Senator Barbara Mikulski gave White House budget director Jim Nussle a piece of her mind over the Bush administration’s lack of funding for Department of Justice domestic law enforcement programs… Hat TIP: “Think Progress” and “Amanda.”

20080416 Mikulski slams White House over DOJ COPS funding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uxZHgRSo24



[Postscript: By way of the wonders of technology – the visual and the audio are not well synched. And perhaps that is prophetic – as upset as Senator Mikulski is in this clip. Listen to the words – smile at the out of synch technology…]

Related: 20080528 Bush cuts aid to US cops by David Lightman; 20080416 Mikulski slams White House over DOJ COPS funding; 20080623 What is Community Policing?

Think Progress:

Mikulski Slams White House: ‘Since You’re Pugnacious, Guess What? I’m Going To Be Pretty Pugnacious, Too’

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/17/mikulski-nussle/

By Amanda on Apr 17th, 2008

The White House has proposed a $108 billion emergency-spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Frustrated that U.S. taxpayers continue to pay for the wars while domestic needs go unmet, lawmakers have attempted to attach spending for domestic programs to the bill. But Bush has balked, promising to veto any such bills.

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing yesterday, White House budget director Jim Nussle ironically blasted lawmakers for “sky-is-the-limit mind-set” on the spending bill. One of the most combative moments came when Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) chastised Nussle for his “snarky, scolding, dismissive” responses to the senators and the Bush administration’s attitude toward funding the nation’s law enforcement officers:

Your testimony has been disappointing in both tone and substance. I personally take offense at the snarky, scolding, dismissive way that this testimony represents. And I think it’s inappropriate. […]

This is an ideological commentary, not the testimony of OMB. So since you’re pugnacious, guess what? I’m going to be pretty pugnacious, too, only my pugnaciousness is not going to be directed at the Congress. It’s going to be pugnacious about the people I represent. […]

Number one, let’s go to safety and security. We have funded the surge of Baghdad, but we have not funded the surge of violent crime in Baltimore, Biloxi, or other places. You have zeroed out the COPS program. You have zeroed out the Byrne grant.

Bush has requested $603 million to train Iraqi police. But at the same time, his FY 2009 budget includes a 61 percent cut for state and local law enforcement programs at the Justice Department.

Transcript:

MIKULSKI: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you very much for calling this hearing. I think it’s the essential thing we need to do.

Mr. Nussle, I’ve got to tell you, I’m really disappointed in your testimony. It’s been some time that I have heard the kind of tone that has been expressed by a representative of the Bush administration. Your testimony has been disappointing in both tone and substance.

I personally take offense at the snarky, scolding, dismissive way that this testimony represents. And I think it’s inappropriate.

[…]

This is an ideological commentary, not the testimony of OMB. So since you’re pugnacious, guess what? I’m going to be pretty pugnacious, too, only my pugnaciousness is not going to be directed at the Congress. It’s going to be pugnacious about the people I represent.

So let’s get to it. Pugnacious? You bet. Let’s pick up on what Leahy and Harkin said about the Byrne grant. You want the regular order? I am the regular order. I chair CJS. And what this administration has done here has been outrageous.

Number one, let’s go to safety and security. We have funded the surge of Baghdad, but we have not funded the surge of violent crime in Baltimore, Biloxi, or other places. You have zeroed out the COPS program. You have zeroed out the Byrne grant.

When Shelby and Mikulski tried to do something last year in the regular budget, we were told, Eat $3 billion or face a veto threat. So we foraged and we skimped and we squeezed in to be able to make sure that our bill didn’t get a veto threat, and we came up with $170 million.

You can talk about all your smokestacks and whatever, but you bet there’s smoke. There’s smoke right here and now, and there is frustration from state and local police officers that say they need help. They need help.

And this administration has funded $5 billion over the last couple of years to fund the training of Iraqi police. You bet they need training. But I am telling you, I need the money, Senator Shelby and I need the money to make sure that our local law enforcement, the thin blue line, gets the money that they need to fight violent crime. So I’m going to ask in plain English: If, in fact, we (inaudible) the supplemental, restore the Byrne grants and only the Byrne grants to the needed level of $560 million, will you support it or will we face a veto threat?

NUSSLE: Well, Senator, I can only repeat what the president has said.

MIKULSKI: The president didn’t say anything about this. You think if I went to see the president, he would say, No ?

NUSSLE: Senator, I can only repeat what the president said. And his two priorities that he stated were that the bill stay within the $108.1 billion request and that it support the troops. That’s what he has said on the topic.

Beyond that, I don’t believe he has — I think the senator is correct — not spoken directly to those issues. But I also believe that the regular appropriations process is the time and the place to deal with those challenges. And…

MIKULSKI: But you eliminated it. You eliminated the COPS program, and you eliminated the Byrne grant program in your regular appropriations request.

So you’re saying, Don’t fund it in the supplemental. The president doesn’t request it in the regular order. And now you’re telling me you can’t accept it in the supplemental because the president didn’t talk about it. And when you sent us the CJS president’s request, it’s not in there for ‘09.

[…]

Mr. Chairman, with your cooperation, I hope that we do and fund it. If we’re talking about a safe and secure America, I want to make sure the streets of the United States of America are safe and secure. And I will work on a bipartisan basis to do it.

BYRD: Senator Murray?

MURRAY: Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for having this hearing.

And, Mr. Nussle, I share the anger, frustration, I guess pugnaciousness of the senator from Maryland. It is extremely disturbing to me that we are getting an emergency supplemental request for Iraq and Afghanistan five-and-a-half years into this war that’s being paid for off the books.

Public Safety Law and Order DOJ Federal Domestic Grants

People Maryland Mikulski – US Sen. Barbara Mikulski

20080417 Mikulski slams White House on lack of DOJ COPS funding

20080528 Bush cuts aid to US cops by David Lightman

Bush cuts aid to US cops by David Lightman

Bush cutting aid to U.S. cops

MORE BUDGETED FOR IRAQI POLICE

http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/417234.html

Posted By David Lightman on Wed, May. 28, 2008, DLIGHTMAN@MCCLATCHYDC.COM

WASHINGTON -- At the same time the Bush administration has been pushing for deep cuts in a popular crime-fighting program for states and cities, the White House has been fighting for approval of $603 million for the Iraqi police.

The White House earlier this year proposed slashing the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which helps local law enforcement officials deal with violent crime and serious offenders, to $200 million in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

In 2002, the year before the Iraq war, the program received $900 million.

The administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress are headed for a showdown over the domestic money, probably next month. When the Senate last week passed the emergency Iraq war funding bill, it allotted an immediate $490 million for the domestic grants while keeping the Iraqi police funds intact.

[…]

"State and local policing should be left to state and local governments. I don't see any advantage to federal meddling," said Chris Edwards, an analyst at Washington's Cato Institute.

Cato opposed the Iraq war, but Edwards said the issue of Iraq's police funding "is a foreign policy question, and foreign policy should depend on things other than economics."

But Travis Sharp, military policy analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, disagreed.

"There are tradeoffs in the federal government, and one of the arguments a lot of people make is that money spent in Iraq is not spent here," he said.

Those angry with the administration have a powerful ally in Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science that oversees the Justice Department.

"While President Bush requests millions of dollars for the war in Iraq, his domestic spending continues to shortchange our safety at home," she said.

When Budget Director Jim Nussle testified before her subcommittee last month, neither side showed any desire to compromise.

Mikulski called Bush's policies "outrageous" and labeled Nussle's testimony "snarky, scolding, dismissive."

"We have funded the surge of Baghdad, but we have not funded the surge of violent crime in Baltimore, Biloxi or other places," the senator said. She then asked Nussle if Bush would support restoring most of the Byrne grant.

[…]

The Iraq police funds are listed as money due to Iraq's Ministry of Interior. Also included in "new obligations" to the "Iraq Security Forces Fund" are $603 million for the Interior Ministry, $744 million for the Ministry of Defense and $153 million for "quick response."

The Congressional Research Service estimates that since the war began, the United States has spent about $20.75 billion to train and equip Iraqi soldiers and police officers.

Read the entire article here: Bush cutting aid to U.S. cops

20080528 Bush cuts aid to US cops by David Lightman

20080623 What is Community Policing?

What is Community Policing?

http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?item=36

Retrieved from U. S. Department of Justice Office of Community Policing Services website (http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=34) on June 23, 2008

A central goal of the COPS Office is to help law enforcement agencies implement and enhance community policing. We have previously defined community policing as "a policing philosophy that promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and police-community partnerships." In an effort to help discern what community policing is, what interactions between the police and citizens are central to this philosophy, and how the field should measure movement towards community policing, COPS has attempted to further outline the elements that are central to the philosophy of community policing.

This document is considered living, just like community policing itself, and it is meant to inform current practice and the discussion surrounding the advancement of community policing. It is not intended to be a prescriptive listing of central elements, but is meant to stimulate discussion in what is an ever-expanding body of experience and knowledge about the practice of community policing.

Community policing focuses on crime and social disorder through the delivery of police services that includes aspects of traditional law enforcement, as well as prevention, problem-solving, community engagement, and partnerships. The community policing model balances reactive responses to calls for service with proactive problem-solving centered on the causes of crime and disorder. Community policing requires police and citizens to join together as partners in the course of both identifying and effectively addressing these issues.

The core elements of community policing are described below:

Organizational Elements:	Tactical Elements:	External Elements:
1. Philosophy Adopted Organization-Wide 2. Decentralized Decision-Making and Accountability 3. Fixed Geographic Accountability and Generalist Responsibilities 4. Utilization of Volunteer Resources 5. Enhancers	1. Enforcement of Laws 2. Proactive, Crime Prevention Oriented 3. Problem-solving	1. Public Involvement in Community Partnerships 2. Government and Other Agency Partnerships

20080623 How to speak Democrat

How to speak Democrat

June 23, 2008

Many Thanks to “Delmarva Dealings - Political Dealings In And Around The Delmarva Peninsula” for calling this to my attention. “Cato,” in turn credits, Kenny Burns…:

“How To Speak Democrat,” Posted by Cato, June 23, 2008, “Thanks to my Red Maryland and Salisbury News colleague Kenny Burns for putting me on to this one…”

How to speak Democrat: Speaking Democrat: A Primer by Rep. McCotter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EcQ03qRE1s

Speaking Democrat: A Primer by Rep. Thad McCotter (R-MI)

Republican Policy Committee

Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI-11,) Chairman

"Speaking Democrat:" A Primer

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI-11), House Republican Policy Chairman, recently took to the House floor to translate Democrat speech for the rest of America in a speech entitled “Speaking Democrat: A Primer.” The video and text of McCotter’s remarks are below:

http://www.houserepublicanpolicy.org/speaking-democrat-a-primer

(text of charts found below)

In the interest of legislative process, whereby we hear many speeches on the floor, many members talk to their constituents; I'm going to try to bring a bit of enlightenment to this process with the use of a technological device as a ruler and chart. We're going to learn how to speak Democrat today.

Speaking local Democrat.

Often we hear the word progressive, which translates into regressive, as used in a sentence, democrats are progressive.

The translation, Democrats are regressive.

We hear the word change which means the 1970's. Democrats will bring you change.

Translation, Democrats will bring you the 1970's.

Government means socialism. Democrats support proactive government. Translation, Democrats support proactive socialism.

Enhance revenues translates into raise taxes. Democrats will enhance revenues. Translation, Democrats will raise taxes.

This is my favorite part. The rich means you. For example, Democrats will only tax the rich. Translation, Democrats will only tax you. Ouch.

Invest translates into waste. Again used in a sentence. Democrats will invest your money. Translation, Democrats will waste your money.

Energy means lethargy. Democrats have an energy policy. Translation, Democrats have a lethargy policy.

Green collar jobs translates into unemployment. Democrats will replace your blue collar jobs with green collar jobs translates into Democrats will replace your blue collar jobs with unemployment.

Speaking global Democrat. Diplomacy equals magic. Democrats will protect America from Iranian nukes through tough principled diplomacy translates Democrats will protect America from Iranian through tough principled magic.

Engage means appease. Democrats will engage America’s enemies. Translates, Democrats will appease America’s enemies.

Importantly, end means lose. Democrats will end the Iraq war. Translation, Democrats will lose the Iraq war.

And finally, Contextually Construing Electoral Democrat, i.e., walking the party plank. This is a graduate level course.

As a progressive party, Democrats will bring you change to the production of green collar jobs and by using diplomacy to engage into diplomacy and end the Iraq war.

Translation, as a regressive party, the Democrats will bring you the 1970's by using socialism to raise taxes from you to waste in the production of lethargy and unemployment and by using magic to appease America’s enemies and lose the Iraq war.

I hope this exercise has been instructive. ...

***** text of presentation ******

“Speaking Democrat:” A Primer

Speaking “Local Democrat”

“PROGRESSIVE” = “REGRESSIVE”

“Democrats are progressive.”

Translation: “Democrats are regressive.”

“CHANGE” = “THE 1970s”

“Democrats will bring you change.”

Translation: “Democrats will bring you the 1970s.”

“GOVERNMENT” = “SOCIALISM”

“Democrats support proactive government.”

Translation: “Democrats support proactive socialism.”

“ENHANCE REVENUES” = “RAISE TAXES”

“Democrats will enhance revenues.”

Translation: “Democrats will raise taxes.”

“THE RICH” = “YOU”

“Democrats will only tax the rich.”

Translation: “Democrats will only tax you.”

“INVEST” = “WASTE”

“Democrats will invest your money.”

Translation: “Democrats will waste your money.”

“ENERGY” = “LETHARGY”

“Democrats have an energy policy.”

Translation: “Democrats have a lethargy policy.”

“GREEN COLLAR JOBS” = “UNEMPLOYMENT”

“Democrats will replace your blue collar jobs with green collar jobs.”

Translation: “Democrats will replace your blue collar jobs with unemployment.”

Speaking “Global Democrat”

“DIPLOMACY” = “MAGIC”

“Democrats will protect America from Iranian nukes through tough, principled diplomacy.”
Translation: “Democrats will protect America from Iranian nukes through tough, principled magic.”

“ENGAGE” = “APPEASE”

“Democrats will engage America’ enemies.”

Translation: “Democrats will appease America’s enemies.”

“END” = “LOSE”

“Democrats will end the Iraq War.”

Translation: “Democrats will lose the Iraq War.”

Contextually Construing “Electoral Democrat” (i.e. Walking the Party Plank)

“As a progressive party, Democrats will bring you change by using government to enhance revenues from the rich to invest in the production of energy and green collar jobs; and by using diplomacy to engage America’s enemies and end the Iraq War.”

Translation: “As a regressive party, Democrats will bring you the 1970s by using socialism to raise taxes from you to waste in the production of lethargy and unemployment; and by using magic to appease America’s enemies and lose the Iraq War.”

20080623 How to speak Democrat

20080623 Obama for change

Barack Obama for change

Because that is all you will have left when he’s done.

June 24, 2008 - - The base idea for this image was passed on to me in an email from “CJ.”

I guess it resonated with me as the presumptive Democrat nominee for president’s conversation so far about economics and taxation is a major concern for me as I ponder the merits of his candidacy of the Oval Office.

At my advanced age I can easily recognize political silliness when I see it and I refuse to be distracted.

Barack Obama appears to be an honorable man who wants to be president and I admire him for his accomplishments.

My heart and prayers go out to him and his family when I hear or read the vicious personal attacks over drivel that ultimately I really don’t give a rat’s backside over. It’s all so boring and an unnecessary distraction of high chair food fight proportions.

I don’t really care what Rev. Wright has said or when he said it. I don’t care about what Senator Obama’s wife said or when she said it.

I’m not fooled by the recent marketing makeover with his appearance on People magazine or Mrs. Obama’s chattiness on “The View.” I have no interest in voting “for the friendly guy next door” to be president.

I care about issues such as who is going to protect us from foreign aggressors. I care about national defense.

I care about the economy. I care about the class warfare being promoted, disguised as taxation policy.

I care about the deleterious affects of our nation’s lack of a coherent energy independence policy.

I care about who has the experience necessary to be president.

I care about who is going to appoint the next several Supreme Court justices.

If I were to have a choice between “a third term for the Bush Administration” or “Jimmy Carter’s second”; I’ll take “Bush’s third term” in a nanosecond.

Although I realize that Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain is certainly no George W. Bush and I have not, as yet mistaken Senator Obama for President Jimmy Carter…

Anyway - I played with the base idea for the image; re-arranged it and added to it and voila.

Please cut and paste this image and distribute it widely…

KevinDayhoffNet

www.kevindayhoff.net

20080623 Obama for change

20080615 I went into stripping for all the wrong reasons

"Craig Seymour: I went into stripping for all the wrong reasons"

June 25, 2008

What a hoot. How could I have missed this? As an artist and a writer, I have gone through some pretty lean times in my life. However, I must admit that this is not an idea that I ever considered…

"I went into stripping for all the wrong reasons."

After Craig Seymour Took It All Off, He Wrote It All Down

Sunday, June 15, 2008; M02 by Gabe Oppenheim for the Washington Post

Before Washington leveled Southeast's gay clubs for a stadium, when neighborhood men could get up close and sweaty together without being in the Nats lineup, Craig Seymour, 39, took the stage in a G-string.

A PhD student and stripper.

This fall, he joins the journalism faculty at Northern Illinois University.

[…]

I always wanted to be a writer, but taking the risk as a stripper allowed me to take risks in other parts of my life. . . .

[…]

I wouldn't put stripping on the curriculum for J-school. That was just part of my journey. That happened to be the thing I needed.

The better solution perhaps is just to take chances all along the way. I think I had made so many safe decisions in my life, I needed a big decision like stripping. . . .

I went into stripping for all the wrong reasons. I went into it because I actually thought it would help me make peace around the issues I had with body image.

[…]

####

20080615 I went into stripping for all the wrong reasons

20080619 “Blue Balled” by “Truth through Action”

20080619 “Blue Balled” by “Truth through Action”

“Blue Balled” by “Truth through Action”

A 4 minute and 30 second short film about a young lady who abandons a late night encounter when she discovers her date’s undisclosed secret. The film was shot in Manhattan over two nights in April. (See footnote 1.)

Retrieved June 19, 2008: http://truththroughaction.org/media-gallery/film/blue-balled/

http://youtube.com/watch?v=15zSYa1_7J0

June 19, 2008 - - At my advanced age I can easily recognize political silliness when I see it and I refuse to be distracted.

Nevertheless, from an artist’s point of view – as someone who really enjoys edgy videos and the use of cutting edge art to promote (advertise) a particular agenda, this video is kinda cool. I liked it…

However, the purpose of commercials and advertising is compel and persuade a person, who is not particularly predisposed, to purchase a product – or in this case, vote a certain way.

I can’t imagine this video being persuasive to an independent or least of all a conservative. It seems to be an artistic endeavor in search of meaning. (And I can’t really throw stones at that when I look back at some of my political advocacy in the past…)

This video, with its high production values and artistic accomplishments, is only appealing to the choir – and if anything, may very well persuade an independent or conservative to shy away from the frivolous and superficial values presented.

To state the obvious, I certainly know of few folks who ever utilized a person’s party affiliation in choosing a partner for life – or an evening.

The country is full of husbands and wives who cancel each other’s vote at the voting booth during presidential elections…

Nevertheless, this video is out there in the pop culture overlay that is being promoted by supporters of presumptive Democrat presidential nominee, Barack Obama.

Moreover, in all candor, I’d like to see more of the edgy, artistic approach to political advocacy from both sides of the aisle and I’ll look forward to more of the work of New York filmmakers Joshua Sugarman and Brandon Yankowitz of YaSu Media.

However, one can easily agree with ABC News writers, Susan Donaldson James and Cloe Shasha, when they observed in a thoughtful analysis on June 11 in “Dems Use Edgy Films to Rally Youth Voters”:

“The video, created by the new political organization TruthThroughAction.org, is one more affirmation that the Internet is a central character in the 2008 presidential race.

The blue-leaning nonprofit was founded by New York filmmakers Joshua Sugarman and Brandon Yankowitz of YaSu Media, who are producing a series of short films and online videos. The "527" group is, unlike political action committees, exempt from contribution limits.

[…]

… "Our products have a message but are also entertaining as film projects, and we don't think anybody else is doing the same thing."

Like the "Obama Girl" video, which spread virally last year, "Blue Balled" is intended to rally the indie community and young political activists to support the Democrats in November…

[…]

"I thought it was brilliant," said Andrew Rasiej, co-founder of TechPresident, a group blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates use the Web.

"It clearly taps into the fact that the election has captured the imagination of the youth of our country and reinforces a message that any political organization for a candidate would want to associate with -- hip cool and passionate," he told ABCNEWS.com.

"It clearly takes advantage of the atmosphere of young people paying attention to the election and using their language and their medium to convey the message," he said. "It's very shrewd."

[…]

Jeff Everson, an economics major and football player at Middlebury College, was not impressed with the Democrats' video. "I thought that as a political tactic it wasn't effective," said Everson. "But at the same time I found it funny. The concept of this video sort of separates the country, which seems counterproductive."

Everson, a McCain supporter, agrees that the Republicans need to find new ways to reach young voters.

"One of the mistakes that McCain made was not utilizing technology like YouTube," said the 20-year-old. "The Democratic Party has done a better job of encouraging young people to vote."

Whether the message of these clips fits with Barack Obama's strategy is anybody's guess.

A film that includes copious amounts of alcohol, sex and near nudity may not fly with the group of young evangelicals Obama is now targeting.

"Anytime any organization tries something new, there will always be people who don't agree," said filmmaker Sugarman. "What the Democratic Party and anyone involved in politics are starting to realize is that we need a new way to get in touch with people beyond the traditional means of political communication."

The complete article by ABC News writers, Susan Donaldson James and Cloe Shasha, is worth a good read. Please find it here: “Dems Use Edgy Films to Rally Youth Voters.”

Related: View Political Monogamy

Kevin Dayhoff

www.kevindayhoff.net

_____

Footnote 1:

Written and Directed by Josh Sugarman

Presented and Produced by Brandon Yankowitz

Produced by Brigitte Liebowitz

Starring Michelle Galdenzi and Bryan Dechart

Featuring Steven Berrebi and Elo Santana

Music by Shanna Zell and J. Chris Griffin

Crew

Duke Greenhill, 1st AD

Jason Pritzker, 2nd AD

Apryl Richards, Script Supervisor

Mike Bozzo, DP

Joel Knutsen, 1st AC

Ian Swanson, 2nd AC

James Leonzio, Steadicam Operator

Havi Elkaim, Production Designer

KD, Key Hair Stylist

Allison McCrudden, Key Makeup

JD Hartman, Gaffer

Sean Hutcheon, Key Grip

Matt Jensen, Grip

Joshua Hilson, Sound Mix

Alan Tansey, Boom Operator