Thursday, October 14, 2010

This week in The Tentacle

http://www.thetentacle.com/

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Kevin E. Dayhoff

Unbeknownst to most Marylanders, this November 2 you have the chance of a lifetime. No, I’m not just referring to whether you wish to continue the public policies and governance of the Gov. Martin O’Malley or try a different approach with former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.

Around the World from Home

Tom McLaughlin

On my long flight to and from the United States, I usually end up in the galley following the dictates of healthy flying on our long Malaysia Airline journey from our home in Kuching, Malaysian Borneo to Los Angeles, a 26 hour journey from door to door.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Mean Nation?

Roy Meachum

Last week’s column, “Anger Divides These United States,” dealt with the political arena. From my aged perception, a considerable portion of the electorate faces November voting blinded because of unreasoning anger.

Fads and Meeting Challenges

Nick Diaz

The world is changing at the speed of thought, yet the United States consistently ranks at or near the bottom among developed nations in every quantifiable category that measures achievement and preparedness in school-age students.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Voting! Making Up Your Mind

Shawn Burns

There are only 22 days left before the General Election on November 2. Get ready for a deluge of material in your mailbox and on your radios and televisions.

Campaign Diary – On The Trail Surprises

Michael Kurtianyk

Out campaigning to be a county commissioner is hard work. Not everyone will agree with you, but most are pleasant and welcoming. However, I have noticed several things that have struck me as different or unexpected.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Winchester Cathedral Window

Roy Meachum

A stained-glass window, at some expense, stands in the Winchester Cathedral, the church of the British Army Royal Rifles; it comes to mind again because of the latest awarding of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The Law of ‘Intended’ Consequences

Joe Charlebois

On March 9, 2010, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi assured us that we need to pass the healthcare legislation so we can learn what’s in the bill. She was speaking in defense of the soon-to-be-passed healthcare legislation. She could have been giving us a lesson of what the Law of Unintended Consequences actually means.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

It’s Up To YOU…

Joan Marie Aquilino

To slate or not to slate, that is the question – with apologies to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

An Open Letter to Frederick County Voters

Amanda Haddaway

Before the primary, I urged, begged and pleaded with you to vote in the primary. Most of you didn’t listen and I’m more than a little peeved about your wanton disregard of my request.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Change Needed in County Government

George Wenschhof

For 20 years, residents of Frederick County, Maryland, have been governed by either a "pro-growth" or "anti-growth" Board of County Commissioners.

A Return to a Forgotten Past

Kevin E. Dayhoff

A discussion on civility has been the subject of civilized society since the beginnings of language and the written word.

Things I like about North America

Tom McLaughlin

[Editor’s Note: Suriani, Tom McLaughlin's wife, has completed her first trip to America. They are flying home today. Here is a list of some of her favorite things, most of which are not found in Kuching, Borneo, Malaysia, where she is from, and where she and Tom live.]

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Anger Divides These United States

Roy Meachum

In counterpoint to the Tea Party rally on Washington’s Mall in late August, various organizations, especially the N.A.A.C.P. and labor unions, showed up Saturday.

Considering Your Governor Choice

Farrell Keough

When we were last together, we discussed some musings on the attempts to bring the various candidates under the Republican rubric together in unity. We noted a mechanism which could be used to make a clear statement to those in our party who do not follow a course of decency and integrity – the under-vote. Low and behold, this precise mechanism was used in this last primary.

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Katherine Heerbrandt: Toppings Pizza owner asked to pay $200,000 for unsolicited faxes

Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010

Toppings Pizza owner asked to pay $200,000 for unsolicited faxes

Four-year-old case back in Frederick County court on Oct. 27

by Katherine Heerbrandt | Staff Writer

http://www.gazette.net/stories/10072010/frednew155400_32549.php

A Frederick County restaurateur said he is in danger of losing his business, but not because of a downturn in the economy.

Rather, he said his livelihood is threatened by what he terms "a frivolous lawsuit filed by a serial plaintiff."

Ken Nelson, president of Toppings Pizza Company in Frederick, is being asked to pay $200,000 in damages and legal fees for allegedly faxing lunch specials to another business in violation of federal and state Telephone Consumer Protection acts, which restricts the use of fax machines to send unsolicited advertisements.

Nelson denies the claim, and has been fighting it for four years. The Frederick County Circuit Court decided the case in Nelson's favor in 2009, but the case was appealed to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals on a technicality. The Court of Special Appeals kicked it back to Circuit Court where it is scheduled for trial on Oct. 27.

"This has gone on for nearly four years," Nelson said. "Why are we still in court for faxes?"

The case began in October 2006...

[...]

In court documents, R. Michael Parrotte, founder of AGV Sports Group Inc. of Urbana, a motorcycle apparel company, said he received 69 unsolicited faxes from Toppings Pizza, which prompted him to file a complaint against Nelson and Faxertise Inc. for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protect Act... http://www.gazette.net/stories/10072010/frednew155400_32549.php

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The Herald-Mail: County voters will face three ballot questions By ANDREW SCHOTZ

County voters will face three ballot questions By ANDREW SCHOTZ

The Herald-Mail http://www.herald-mail.com/

09/26/2010

County voters will face three ballot questions By ANDREW SCHOTZ andrews@herald-mail.com

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=253638&format=html&autoreload=true

RELATED STORIES in the Hagerstown Herald-Mail:

On the Campaign Trail

Staley to run as write-in candidate for school board

BOE candidate, Chamber of Commerce at odds over forum

O’Malley, Ehrlich hold first 2010 gubernatorial debate

Candidates for Register of Wills tout qualifications for job

County commissioners candidates respond to questions

On the Campaign Trail

Deadline to register for voting is Tuesday

Washington County Commissioners candidates Q&A

Constitution guides Reed’s candidacy

________________

Washington County voters will be asked on Nov. 2 to consider three statewide ballot questions:

• Should Maryland have a convention to change its constitution?

• Should Baltimore City’s orphans’ court judges be required to be lawyers?

• Should jury trials be allowed only in civil cases when the amount in question is more than $15,000, instead of more than $10,000, the current minimum?

Those items will be on general-election ballots along with numerous county, state and federal races.

Even though the orphans’ court question pertains only to Baltimore City, it’s up for statewide vote because it proposes a change to the state constitution, said Jared DeMarinis, the Maryland State Board of Elections’ director of candidacy and campaign finance.

The jury trial question also proposes a constitutional amendment.

The constitutional convention question is one that, according to the state constitution, must be asked of voters every 20 years.

A constitutional convention question failed in 1990.

Neither major political party is taking a position on the statewide ballot questions.

“Personally, I don’t think there’s a need” for a constitutional convention, said Susan Turnbull, the chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party. “We’re working pretty well in the state of Maryland.”

“That’s something for Maryland voters to decide,” Ryan Mahoney, a spokesman for the Maryland Republican Party, said of a constitutional convention.

He added that it’s not a bad idea to ask voters the question every 20 years.

Baltimore City and several counties throughout Maryland also will have local ballot questions for their voters. Washington County will not have local ballot questions.

The three statewide ballot questions are listed below, along with explanations and background from the state:

• Question 1, Constitutional Question — Maryland Constitutional Convention

(Senate Bill 26, Chapter 9 of the 2010 Legislative Session)

Should a constitutional convention be called for the purpose of changing the Maryland Constitution?

Under Article XIV, Section 2 of the Maryland Constitution, the General Assembly is required to ask the voters every 20 years whether a constitutional convention should be called for the purpose of altering the Maryland Constitution.

• Question 2, Constitutional Amendment — Trial by Jury

(Senate Bill 119, Chapter 480 of the 2010 Legislative Session)

Authorizing the enactment of legislation to limit the right to a jury trial in a civil proceeding to those proceedings in which the amount in controversy exceeds $15,000.

(Amending Maryland Declaration of Rights — Articles 5(a) and 23)

Under Articles 5 and 23 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, a party in a civil proceeding has a right to a jury trial where the amount in controversy exceeds $10,000. In cases where the amount in controversy does not exceed this threshold amount, a judge, rather than a jury, determines the verdict. The constitutional amendment would increase the amount-in-controversy limitation by providing that a party may not demand a jury trial in a civil proceeding unless the amount in controversy exceeds $15,000, excluding attorney’s fees if attorney’s fees are recoverable in the proceeding.

• Question 3, Constitutional Amendment — Qualifications for Baltimore City Orphans’ Court Judges

(House Bill 417, Chapter 481 of the 2010 Legislative Session)

Requires judges of the Orphans’ Court in Baltimore City to be members in good standing of the Maryland Bar who are admitted to practice law in Maryland.

(Amending Article IV, Section 40 of the Maryland Constitution)

Under the Maryland Constitution, the voters of each county and Baltimore City elect three judges to the Orphans’ Court of their respective jurisdictions, with the exception of Montgomery and Harford counties, where circuit court judges sit as the Orphans’ Court. The judges must be citizens of the state and residents, for the preceding 12 months, in the city or county in which they are elected. The constitutional amendment would add an additional eligibility requirement for judges of the Orphans’ Court in Baltimore City, requiring them to be members in good standing of the Maryland Bar who are admitted to practice law in Maryland.

Related: November 2, 2010 Maryland General Election Ballot Questions

Maryland State Board of Elections

http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2010/ballot_questions.html#state1

Section 2 of Article 14 of the 1867 Maryland constitution mandated that every 20 years a referendum is required to appear on the ballot for citizens to decide whether or not they wish to rewrite the Maryland constitution.

Find my www.thetentacle.com column on the constitutional convention question, here: http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4005

My Sunday www.explorecarroll.com column will also address the constitutional convention question…

20100926 HHM County voters will face 3 ballot questions

20101102 Ballot questions Gubernatorial Election

The Maryland Public Policy Institute: Unintended Consequences

Unintended Consequences

The Maryland Public Policy Institute

http://www.mdpolicy.org/policyblog/newsID.133/news_detail.asp

by John J. Walters SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

When I was growing up I was told to always consider the worst possible outcome of whatever I was about to do. Apparently our current administration wasn’t ever told that when they were growing up, because we’re only now beginning to see the unintended consequences that healthcare reform can and will bring to America. Health insurance companies in several states have recently announced that they will stop selling children’s policies in response to the mandate that no individual under the age of 19 be denied coverage for any reason whatsoever. So far, Maryland is unaffected. But we must wonder: for how long?

So why stop selling policies that cover children only? It does seem a little barbaric. Shouldn’t a sense of decency compel the insurance companies to continue? Unfortunately, health insurance companies are not in the business out of a sense of decency. They sell health insurance for the same reason most people have jobs: to make money. Clearly, if they are going to stop selling children’s policies it is because they do not think they could make a profit off them anymore.

The explanation for this is simple…http://www.mdpolicy.org/policyblog/newsID.133/news_detail.asp

20100923 MPPI Unintended Consequences

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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Man thought to have been hit and killed by train in Sykesville MD

Police Department

On October 12, 2010 at about 9:30 pm, the Sykesville Police responded with the Sykesville Freedom Fire Department for a report of a pedestrian struck by a train, on the CSX tracks near Harman Dr. Upon arrival, it was learned that a male and a female had been sitting alongside the tracks, and the male had been struck by a westbound freight train. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Main St. in the Town of Sykesville was blocked for about three hours by the stopped train, while the investigation was conducted.

John R. Williams, Jr.

Chief of Police

Sykesville Police Department

7547 Main Street

Sykesville MD 21784

(410) 795-0757 FAX (410) 795-8864

policeadmin@sykesville.net

Sykesville Town House 7547 Main Street Sykesville, MD 21784 410-795-8959

*****

Jerry Brown announces NOW endorsement one day after Meg Whitman slur

PolitiCal

ON POLITICS IN THE GOLDEN STATE

« Previous | PolitiCal Home | Next »

Jerry Brown announces NOW endorsement one day after Meg Whitman slur

October 8, 2010 | 2:05 pm

Jerry Brown announced he has received the endorsement of the National Organization for Women, less than 24 hours after the emergence of a recorded message in which Brown can be heard in a conversation with advisors in which someone calls Whitman a "whore." Coincidence? You be the judge.

Whitman's campaign pounced after the audio was made public, sending out a release Thursday night from spokeswoman Sarah Pompei calling the use of the term "an insult to both Meg Whitman and to the women of California. This is an appalling and unforgivable smear against Meg Whitman. At the very least Mr. Brown tacitly approved this despicable slur and he himself may have used the term at least once on this recording."

As if on cue, Brown's campaign Friday released the endorsement from NOW championing Brown's record on women's rights. "As Governor, Mayor, and Attorney General, Jerry Brown has promoted and defended women’s rights,” said California NOW President Patty Bellasalma... http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/10/jerry-brown-announces-now-endorsement-one-day-after-meg-whitman-slur.html

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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Poll numbers, media frame debates By Adam Bednar

Poll numbers, media frame debates

Tuesday, October 12, 2010 By Adam Bednar, Times Staff Writer

http://carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/article_6230be14-d5b1-11df-baab-001cc4c03286.html

The competitiveness of a campaign and the media coverage of it are major factors that affect how voters view a political debate.

Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich taped the gubernatorial campaign's first of four debates Monday morning, and it was broadcast that night.

Before noon, both campaigns tried to frame the results as a triumph for their respective candidates by sending out e-mails claiming victory to news organizations.

Controlling the tone of the coverage during the following news cycle is almost as important as the candidates' performance in the debate, according to Richard Vatz, a professor of communication and rhetoric at Towson University.

"Many people don't get their reactions from the debate itself; they get it from the reporting of the debate," he said.

[…]

Herb Smith, a professor of political science at McDaniel College, also said the impact of a debate is relative to a campaign's competitiveness.

[…]

Read Mr. Bednar’s entire story here: http://carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/article_6230be14-d5b1-11df-baab-001cc4c03286.html

20101012 CCT Bednar Poll numbers media frame debates

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Jay Ambrose: Dems want to avoid certain words

Ambrose: Dems want to avoid certain words

Saturday, October 9, 2010 By Jay Ambrose

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/article_37bdbdfe-d326-11df-a559-001cc4c002e0.html

The news is bad economically for the country and bad politically for the Democrats, and there may be some words they will want to avoid, such as "food stamps." I would throw in "oil spill" and "light bulbs," though it will take me a few paragraphs to get there.

Meanwhile, here's a new, foreboding record for the

United States

- 41.8 million people receiving the aforementioned food stamps in a human catastrophe brought on by unemployment rising scarily again. With an eye to November's midterm elections, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has responded by referring to Democrats as "the party of food stamps," as opposed to the Republicans, viewed by him as "the party of paychecks."

It's rhetoric packed with partisan purpose, to be sure, but also some analytical insightfulness. Properly devised safety nets are needed when the free market is not delivering everything it can, but a chief reason it is not performing well right now is a government scaring businesses into investment of the kind where you first find a mattress and then stick your money underneath it.

The perceived threats are multiple - what might happen when the Obamacare mayhem fully kicks in, if the dollar keeps collapsing, if debt keeps accumulating, if taxes go up, if no one stops the madness that assumes it's not free exchange that is finally the source of all wealth, but the cleverness of the leftists now in power… http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/article_37bdbdfe-d326-11df-a559-001cc4c002e0.html

20101009 Ambrose Dems want to avoid certain words

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Rescuing resources: WasteNot! Carroll pitches in By Lois Szymanski

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/neighborhoods/article_1257668a-d24c-11df-be4e-001cc4c03286.html

Friday, October 8, 2010 By Lois Szymanski, For Neighborhoods

The grassroots organization Waste Not! Carroll has been working to keep recyclables out of the county’s trash since 2009. At last month’s Maryland Wine Festival at the Carroll County Farm Museum, nearly 70 volunteers promoted recycling and composting and helped the museum’s efforts. Together, they diverted more than nine tons of resources from the waste stream.

“That figure includes the efforts of vendors, attendees and the farm museum staff,” said Don West, cofounder of Waste Not! Carroll.

The museum staff concentrated on the wineries and was able to recycle 7.58 tons of recyclables.

Waste Not! Carroll was assigned food vendor areas and sent an additional 1.26 tons of recyclables to the county.

West said that, in addition, they removed what he estimated to be an additional ton of compost, aluminum and other recyclables… http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/neighborhoods/article_1257668a-d24c-11df-be4e-001cc4c03286.html

20101008 Szymanski WasteNot! Carroll pitches in

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Baltimore Sun: Snookered in the gulf

Our view: Obama was too quick to accept BP's low-ball estimate of the oil spill's size

October 10, 2010

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-oil-spill-20101010,0,3836793.story

Days after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, officials at BP were still assuring the Obama administration their estimates showed the blown-out well was only leaking about 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the surrounding waters. That was the figure the administration initially used to describe one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, even though other government experts and independent scientists were already warning that the spill was likely much larger than oil company officials were letting on… http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-oil-spill-20101010,0,3836793.story

20101010 Suned Snookered in the gulf

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