Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2008 The Tentacle columns by Kevin Dayhoff

2008 The Tentacle columns by Kevin Dayhoff

December 31, 2008
Obsession In Washington
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Obsession, the new fragrance from the elite media for 2009… As we await the dawn of a New Year, we look forward to many questions and challenges. However the subplot for 2009 has got to be how long the obsessive, passionate love affair between the press and President-elect Barack Obama will last.


December 24, 2008
Keeping Christmas
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Tomorrow we celebrate Christmas. The pageantry, art, decorations, traditions, and music of the season – especially the music – have all the ingredients for great family memories.


December 17, 2008
Time flies like an arrow
Kevin E. Dayhoff

As I’ve grown older, the joy of the Christmas season has slowly but surely become overshadowed with pressure and chaos. Certainly not to be overlooked is the emphasis on the materialism and over-consumption that has insidiously eroded the joys of the season.


December 10, 2008
In Your “Koobface”
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last week I had all the pleasure and honor to be among the 120 million users of the social networking web site “Facebook” who were targeted by a computer virus known by the unusual name of “Koobface.”


December 3, 2008
When cupcakes grow on trees
Kevin E. Dayhoff

It was serendipitous Monday evening, the day that President-elect Barack Obama unveiled his national security team, that I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Melvin A. Goodman, a former CIA analyst, discuss his latest book, The Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA, during the ninth annual Resnick Lecture at McDaniel College.


November 26, 2008
“The Eight Years War”
Kevin E. Dayhoff

At high noon on Monday, amid cries of alarm that this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, President-elect Barack Obama rolled out his all-star economic team and a call for an economic stimulus package that could cost as much as $1 trillion.


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.


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.


November 5, 2008
It’s the Congress, Stupid!
Kevin E. Dayhoff

When historians look back on the 670-day, $2.5 billion 2008 presidential campaign, the observations, analysis, second-guessing, and finger pointing will fill volumes. In the end, it was once again, “the economy, stupid” that ruled the day.


October 31, 2008
Just Say “NO” to Slots
Kevin E. Dayhoff

There are two constitutional questions on the ballot next Tuesday. I will be voting “NO” on both. Question 2 will amend the state constitution to allow slots. Question 1 would amend the Maryland Constitution to allow early voting in Maryland.


October 29, 2008
Vote “NO” on Early Voting
Kevin E. Dayhoff

On Election Day November 4, there are two statewide questions on the ballot to amend the Maryland constitutional. I will be voting NO on both questions.


October 22, 2008
McCain for America – First
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Election Day is less than two weeks away. On November 4, I will be voting for the Republican Party nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain and his vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.


October 15, 2008
Journalistic Bubble Wrap
Kevin E. Dayhoff

One of the hottest subplots to the 2008 presidential campaign is how would the contest, the polls and the final outcome have looked if the “old – elite” media had not been so biased towards the Democratic Party in general and specifically the Democrat nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.


October 10, 2008
The Future of Maryland Medevac
Kevin E. Dayhoff

The recent tragic crash of the Maryland State Police aviation command Medevac helicopter has unfortunately developed a subplot for those who wish to further a debate about the future of the vital air rescue service.


October 8, 2008
TFC Mickey Lippy – Hero
Kevin E. Dayhoff

At 11 P.M., September 27, Maryland State Police Medevac helicopter Trooper 2 left its hangar at the Andrews Air Force Base to preserve the “Golden Hour” for two traffic crash victims in Waldorf.


October 3, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 3
Kevin E. Dayhoff

On May 13, 2008, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama compared the current housing crisis in the U.S. to the Great Depression in a campaign stop in Missouri.


October 2, 2008
Congress and The Rattlesnake – Part 2
Kevin E. Dayhoff

For several weeks the nation and the world have been watching the financial news emanating from Washington and Wall Street with that “deer in headlights” look as everyone holds their breath in disbelief and worries another shoe will drop.


October 1, 2008
Congress and the Rattlesnake – Part 1
Kevin E. Dayhoff

In response to the increasing wrath of the American voter, the U.S. House of Representatives came to its senses on Monday and voted 288 to 205 to kill the rash and ill-conceived proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.


September 24, 2008
The Taneytown Business Breakfast
Kevin E. Dayhoff

I recently had a chance to attend the Taneytown business breakfast. I jumped at the opportunity to take a wonderful break from the drama of national politics and the byzantine intrigue over projected shortfalls in the Maryland state budget.


September 17, 2008
Truth, Lies and The Media
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Just two long weeks ago, Republican presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, announced that he had chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate.


September 12, 2008
A Little Convention History
Kevin E. Dayhoff

It would be an understatement to suggest that the events of last week were quite different from the first Republican National Convention June 17 to 19, 1856.


September 11, 2008
Eloquent Prose – Excellent Friends
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last week I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to tag along to the Republican National Convention with the Maryland delegation.


September 10, 2008
The Four “E’s” of the GOP Convention
Kevin E. Dayhoff

I made a concerted effort to arrive early on each of the four days of last week’s Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN.


September 5, 2008
Travelogue: Salt Lake City
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Although I have been very fortunate to have had opportunities to travel a great deal over the years, I have never visited the great American west. I recently had a chance to spend a week in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was not disappointed.


September 3, 2008
“La Policía”
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Carroll County history is replete with colorful conflicts, many of operatic proportions, between the Carroll County Board of Commissioners, the Carroll County delegation to Annapolis, and the sheriff.


August 27, 2008
The “Behindular Zone”
Kevin E. Dayhoff

When you get past the age of 50 you may as well get the second half-century off to the correct start and begin by getting a colonoscopy. I finally did it and survived. Come a little closer and I’ll tell you all about it.


August 20, 2008
A Civil Affair at Saddleback
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last Saturday I took a two-hour break from total Olympics immersion therapy to watch Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum on the presidency.


August 13, 2008
They shoot dogs, don’t they?
Kevin E. Dayhoff

In Prince Georges County on the evening of July 30, the home of the Berwyn Heights’ Mayor Cheye Calvo was the scene of a home invasion.


August 6, 2008
Insufficient Funds
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Recently the Carroll County Chapter of the Maryland Municipal League has been the focus of some unwanted and undesirable attention.


July 30, 2008
The Obama Phenomena
Kevin E. Dayhoff

With less than 100 days to go before the November presidential election, both presumptive candidates for the Oval Office continue to look for a key – knock-out – issue that will put them over the top.


July 23, 2008
Fetching Food and Politics
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Every third Wednesday in July the Maryland State Capital, if not the center of the Maryland political universe, moves from Annapolis to Crisfield for the annual J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake.


July 16, 2008
R.I.P. Tony Snow
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last Saturday former White House press secretary, Fox News commentator and well-known columnist, Tony Snow, died of cancer at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington. He was but 53 years old.


July 9, 2008
The Path of History
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Hidden away in plain sight, in a storybook setting in northern Frederick County’s Catoctin Mountains, sits Eyler’s Valley Chapel, like a silent stone tribute to a Ralph Waldo Emerson essay.


July 2, 2008
The Lords of Annapolis
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Happy 4th of July. One of the main reasons we sought our independence from England was taxes. The only thing is – that this long after we won our independence – we are still fighting over taxes.


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.


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.


June 11, 2008
Jim McKay
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Yesterday morning the spotlight of the sports world was focused on the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore as people came together to pay their last respects to Maryland’s own Jim McKay.


June 4, 2008
The Mayhem of May
Kevin E. Dayhoff

For those who have desperately clung to a concept of civility and a respect for the office of the president, May was truly the month of full-employment for gossips, political pundits, and the ghoulish goblins of social maladjustment.


May 28, 2008
Ham Nation
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Newspaper junkies learned last week that Mary Katherine Ham is joining The Washington Examiner as the online editor of “the publication’s forthcoming new web site.”


May 21, 2008
Another Lock-Step Decision
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last Friday, Westminster Common Councilmember, and Democratic National Convention superdelegate, Greg Pecoraro endorsed Senator Barack Obama. His endorsement comes as the Democratic primaries draw to a close and presidential historians are looking to a very busy summer.


May 14, 2008
Investigating A Downer
Kevin E. Dayhoff

On May 7, the Humane Society of the United States held a press conference in which it showed the results of an “undercover investigation” of stockyards and livestock auctions in Texas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and at the Westminster Livestock Auction in Carroll County.


May 7, 2008
Pandering of Tulipomaniac Proportions
Kevin E. Dayhoff

In last week’s episode of “Democolypse Now,” the continuing saga of the deconstruction of America by the 2008 presidential campaign, we find Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton proposing a summer suspension of the federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel.


April 30, 2008
Seeing Red-Eye in the Camera
Kevin E. Dayhoff

The discussion and debate over speed and red light cameras continues to reverberate. It is one of a number of headaches lingering in the aftermath of the recent and unusual session of the Maryland General Assembly.


April 23, 2008
The Winds of Darkness
Kevin E. Dayhoff

On April 12, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced his administration’s opposition to the construction of wind power generators on public lands under the jurisdiction of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.


April 16, 2008
How to Make Trash Go Away
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Tomorrow the Carroll County Board of Commissioners will deliberate in open session and – hopefully – make a decision regarding the offer from Frederick County to join forces to make 1,100 tons of trash a day go away.


April 9, 2008
Wendi Peters – Mount Airy’s Steel Magnolia
Kevin E. Dayhoff

People were delighted to see former Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., last Friday when he came to Frederick County in support of Mount Airy Councilwoman Wendi Wagner Peter’s re-election bid.


April 2, 2008
The McCain Vice President Decision
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Speculation persists as to who presumptive Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain will choose as a running mate. This upcoming decision has sparked a growing debate among many political pundits for a number of reasons.


March 26, 2008
Preaching to the Choir
Kevin E. Dayhoff

As April 7, the final day of the 2008 Maryland General Assembly session, looms on the horizon, a great deal of conversation is focused on the fate of many of the “social initiatives” of the administration of Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.


March 19, 2008
Channeling the Kingfish
Kevin E. Dayhoff

On Monday, New York Gov. Eliot “Mr. Clean” Spitzer’s resignation took affect. To be sure, the country has been in a deep funk ever since the fall 2006 elections, but the last 10 days was not good for the weak-kneed political observer.


March 12, 2008
“Power to Tax, Not Power to Destroy…”
Kevin E. Dayhoff

…With all apologies to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.; but today is being dubbed as “tax day” in the Maryland General Assembly.


March 6, 2008
Making Trash Go Away – Part 2
Kevin E. Dayhoff

The February 26th joint meeting between Frederick and Carroll County over how to make trash go away came after two years of discussions and deliberations resulting from the Frederick County commissioners’ adoption of Resolution 06-05, on February 16, 2006.


March 5, 2008
Making Trash Go Away – Part One
Kevin E. Dayhoff

On February 26, the Frederick and Carroll County commissioners met to discuss how to make a combined 1,100 tons of trash-a-day go away.


February 27, 2008
Reality takes The Year Off
Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last weekend the nation’s governors met in Washington for the 100th annual National Governors Association 2008 winter meeting. They had lots to talk about; but it was the faltering economy that eventually stole the show.


February 20, 2008
A Presidents’ Day View
Kevin E. Dayhoff
In the wake of “Super Tuesday” and the “Potomac Primary,” all signs point to a November presidential contest between United States Senators John McCain, of Arizona, and Barack Obama, of Illinois.

February 13, 2008
The McCain Maalox Paradox
Kevin E. Dayhoff
At this point in the Republican 2008 presidential primary campaign Senator John McCain has over three times as many Republican National Convention delegates as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Most people have resigned themselves to the fact that Senator McCain is the de-facto Republican nominee.

February 6, 2008
The SB2 Virus
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last November the Maryland General Assembly inadvertently installed a “Trojan Virus,” now named “SB2,” on the critically important Maryland technology industry.

January 30, 2008
Senator Robert Hooper – R.I.P.
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Thursday, former State Senator J. Robert Hooper, (R., Harford) passed away from colon cancer while surrounded by his family at his home in Street. He served in the Maryland Senate for nine years.

January 23, 2008
Iron Chef Maryland
Kevin E. Dayhoff
As members of the Maryland General Assembly prepare a menu of legislative edicts that will save the world from global warming, the weather feels rather chilly for State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick.

January 16, 2008
“When all else fails, read the Constitution”
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last Thursday, Carroll County Circuit Court Judge Thomas F. Stansfield delivered a decision in the lawsuit filed by Republicans, which sought to overturn more than $1.3 billion in new taxes passed in the special session of the Maryland General Assembly in November.

January 9, 2008
The Special Session Lawsuit
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The 425th session of the Maryland General Assembly begins today. Hopefully, the first order of business for that august body will be to re-visit and fix all the problems created during the special taxing session last November.

January 2, 2008
Spiro Agnew: Patron Saint of Alaska
Kevin E. Dayhoff
I was treated to a white Christmas last week. It snowed everyday the entire week I stayed at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, which is incidentally the same hotel where the patron saint of Alaska, Maryland’s own Spiro Agnew, stayed on an impromptu stopover in 1981.

Kevin Dayhoff E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr DOT org His columns appear in The Tentacle, www.thetentacle.com; The Westminster Eagle /Eldersburg Eagle The Sunday Carroll Eagle - Opinion: http://explorecarroll.com/opinion-talk/ www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ http://www.youtube.com/user/kevindayhoff http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040426835 http://picasaweb.google.com/kevindayhoff


20081231 2008 The Tentacle columns by Kevin Dayhoff


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