Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Spellbound by Salvador Dali
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Last month I enjoyed a bit of respite from Maryland’s winter by visiting Florida. Finding myself within reasonable driving distance of St. Petersburg, I jumped at the chance to visit the Salvador Dali Museum.
Improving Recycling
Michael Kurtianyk
We can and should do a better job of recycling here in Frederick County. Recycling means separating and collecting materials for processing and remanufacturing into new products, and the use of the products to complete this cycle.
Prostitutes and Algebra
Tom McLaughlin
Batam Island, Indonesia. – The Queens, a bar, restaurant and prostitute hangout along the waterfront of Water City, Batam Island, services the western male community. All have seen better days.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Six Years and Counting
Roy Meachum
On March 18, the gap between St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's days, New Orleans keeps on partying, defying the church calendar to celebrate three days off from Lent. Green beer flows into red wine.
When a Tax Cut Isn’t
Farrell Keough
What is truth in politics? Is it something black and white; or are there varying degrees of gradation? Obviously it is the latter. Hence the need to research and understand what is stated versus what the realities behind the action are.
Monday, March 23, 2009
As the Worm Turns
Steven R. Berryman
Last week marked a watershed in the recent history of our newly transforming “Obamanation.” The anecdotal evidence was everywhere, although highly disparate, that what had once been hope, born of its own sake, was being replaced by a more healthy skepticism.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Jennifer's Campaign Targets
Roy Meachum
By reading her sycophantic newspaper columnists, it's easy to see the shape of Jennifer Dougherty's current campaign for mayor; there were three others. Only one run for City Hall succeeded.
The Assault on Our Basic Rights
Joe Charlebois
Whether one believes in a higher being or not, our founders did. Those who finesse the issue that they may or may have not been Christians obfuscate the point. They believed in a higher being. They more importantly believed that all rights that were bestowed upon man were given by that higher being, God.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Jennifer Again?
Patricia A. Kelly
I can’t believe she’s back – yet again. She says she’s running because she loves Frederick. A lot of us love Frederick, and we love it a lot more when she is not mayor.
Imitating a Junta…
Tony Soltero
Back when I was a child, my parents once took a long, ambitious vacation to South America. When they got home they brought back countless little treasures from the countries they visited, an album's worth of beautiful photographs, and plenty of gripping stories to share. My brothers and I couldn't get enough of them.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Think Globally, Bank Locally
Kevin E. Dayhoff
If you are banking with any of the ginormous intergalactic financial institutions that are at the center of the current financial crisis, then you are part of the problem.
Budget Cuts Affecting Local Arts Scene
Michael Kurtianyk
If current legislation is passed by the General Assembly, funding to the Maryland State Arts Council would decrease from $16.6 million to $10.6 million. This is on top of the 14 percent cut last year, used to balance the budget.
A $40 Million Ruse
Tom McLaughlin
Batam Island, Indonesia – The islands were calling me and with rhythms of music from South Pacific flowing in my mind, I elected to visit a couple of them about an hour boat ride off the coast of Singapore.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Pushkin's Winter of Discontent
Roy Meachum
Mother Nature and government frequently disagree. Washington told us clocks must be turned back February's last weekend. A sure sign of Spring? The season doesn't begin until three weeks later.
Exhibiting America’s Traits
Nick Diaz
There was a time when one, in the world of machines, could hardly hear two dirtier words than “Planned Obsolescence.” The very idea that a complex mechanical object should have a deliberately abbreviated life expectancy was nothing less than a kind of mortal sin against proper engineering.
Monday, March 16, 2009
General Assembly Journal 2009 – Volume 8
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Granting Personhood! Yes, I know what the editor is saying. What a terrible example of poor grammar in an opening. Unfortunately, I don’t make this stuff up, I just write about it!
Where’s the “Ownership,” Mr. President?
Steven R. Berryman
During the election cycle of 2008 it became the standard rhetoric for candidate Barack Obama and his wife to distance themselves from the elements of what it meant to “be American.”
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