This week in The Tentacle
http://www.thetentacle.com/
Friday, May 22, 2009
Vice President Emeritus
Roy Meachum
A considerable portion of the American public seems curious that ex-Vice President Dick Cheney developed into the Great Defender of the recent administration. I am not. During the eight years George W. Bush sat in the Oval Office Mr. Cheney ran the nation, especially in financial and foreign affairs.
Squirreling Away – Part 2
Joan McIntyre
Yesterday I started this conversation about how elitist I believe our Frederick County Board of Education and the administration of Frederick County Public Schools have become. Today, I continue in that same vein with the hopes of stirring your emotions to do something. To put your foot down and scream “Enough is Enough.”
Decoration Day
Tom McLaughlin
Even when he was deep into his Alzheimer’s state, Dad always seemed to know when it was Memorial Day – Decoration Day, as he called it. I guess it might have been the war movies that showed constantly on the television that clued him in, or maybe he just knew.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Squirreling Away – Part 1
Joan McIntyre
The Board of Education seems to have "found" a $4.1 million surplus from the current year. It saved so much money from conserving things such as electricity, by turning off the lights, that we now have an excess. They are having a little trouble remembering to whom the money actually belongs.
Needed: A Different Approach for Change
Chris Cavey
Rolling up to the 2010 election it seems the predominate theme within our state is a continued desire for change. Is it a philosophical change, or a broad-brushed wholesale changing of the "professional," long-term politicians, who, regardless of party, are perceived as sharing the blame for the current political and economic situation?
The Cradle of True Leadership
Farrell Keough
I enjoy a number of talk radio shows from our local ones to Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin. Of course, these national shows have a strong leaning towards conservatism. I am okay with that.
Entertaining Entertainment
Roy Meachum
Somehow entertainment became a negative word in the theatre. Maryland Ensemble Theatre could change that. "And the World Goes Round" makes a case for evenings that are entertaining, not uplifting, carrying messages or making the world a better place.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Pause to Remember and Honor
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Next Monday is Memorial Day. It is a day when we should come together as a community and take a break from the rancid political bickering in Washington, which passes as national leadership today, and reflect on the men and women in uniform who are serving our country in the darkest corners of the world.
A Review – “Design for Living"
Roy Meachum
Once upon a time, as all good stories begin, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne epitomized theatrical royalty and this was in the era when the Barrymores were the first family of the stage. Noel Coward's chief claim to that company was that he was a kind of industry jester.
Alfred Wallace and Me – Part 3
Tom McLaughlin
Kampung Santubong, Sarawak, Malaysia – Alfred Wallace’s second and most famous Law of Natural Selection “suddenly flashed upon him” (his words) in February, 1858. With the monsoon season beginning to taper off, he suffered from malaria induced fevers.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Where's Jennifer?
Roy Meachum
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and I did not agree; her political strategists said she could win the governor's race by concentrating her efforts (and expenditures) after Labor Day. She tried, and had her head handed over by Republican Bob Ehrlich.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…
Michael Kurtianyk
A day doesn’t go by that I’m not asked: “How’s the real estate market? Any good news?” I’m here to say that we’re seeing increases in the number of properties going under contract this spring.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Death by Technology Dependence
Steven R. Berryman
How do civilizations die? How do cultures die? How do people die?
Friday, May 15, 2009
Budget Time, Bad Political Jokes
Roy Meachum
In the fat years – and we've had more than several recently – budget time takes on the tenor of holiday dinners fed by someone else. Local politicians get to say "You're welcome." A lot. Particularly to the Board of Education.
Of Opportunity and Failure
Joe Charlebois
Twelve million dollars is approximately the maximum amount of money that the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program will spend this year to allow residents of our nation’s capital to attend the schools of their choice including private and parochial schools.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
All Democrats Have to Fear is Themselves
Tony Soltero
We currently stand at what could be a watershed moment in America's political history. As has been well documented, the Republican Party is in serious disrepair nationally. It has essentially been reduced to a regional Southern party, with a few scattered pockets of influence in the Midwest and West. It's become all but extinct in the Northeast, and its reach is shrinking rapidly on the West Coast.
The FMH Good Samaritan of the Year
Michael Kurtianyk
Last Friday, my wife and I had the good fortune to attend Frederick Memorial Hospital’s Good Samaritan of the Year affair at The Lynfield Events Complex. We were worried that we’d get more rain, but I had my own contingency plan. For the last two weeks, I’d been building an ark in the back yard. Fortunately, the rains hadn’t arrived, or I’d have taken the boat off its mooring.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Arlington National Cemetery – Firsts of the heart
Kevin E. Dayhoff
As Memorial Day approaches, it is significant to note that today, on May 13, in 1864; the first soldier was buried at Arlington House, also called the Custis-Lee Mansion. We now know the property as Arlington National Cemetery and it is now the revered final resting place of over 320,000 stories of the heart.
Alfred Wallace and Me – Part Two
Tom McLaughlin
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia – The London scientific community viewed Alfred Wallace as a redneck, or, in their lingo of the day, a collector. These were people who went out to the tropics with a butterfly net or gun and brought back animals that were sold to the public.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Pope's New Failures
Roy Meachum
Vatican hypocrisy couldn't be clearer than in the reaction to Notre Dame inviting Barack Obama to address this year's commencement and receive an honorary degree. This president's "mortal sin," in church critics' eyes, derives from his support of abortion rights and for embryonic stem cell research.
Advice from The Voice of Experience – Part 4
Nick Diaz
This is the conclusion of my series on buying a used motorcycle. In my 39 years in the sport of motorcycling, I’ve bought only two new motorcycles, and that was back in the early 70’s. Buying a used motorcycle is one of the most challenging, yet satisfying activities a person can engage in.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Electoral Expectations
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
A recent set of news articles out of Anne Arundel County raise the issue of voter expectations for elected officials.
Anticipating the Air Show! – 2009
Steven R. Berryman
Time to break with your hibernation from the winter blahs; stop getting upset about the politics of Democratic deconstruction and more illegal immigrants for a time. Andrews Air Force base, in nearby Prince George’s County offers the best air show in the region once a year, and it’s this coming weekend!
http://www.thetentacle.com/
Friday, May 22, 2009
Vice President Emeritus
Roy Meachum
A considerable portion of the American public seems curious that ex-Vice President Dick Cheney developed into the Great Defender of the recent administration. I am not. During the eight years George W. Bush sat in the Oval Office Mr. Cheney ran the nation, especially in financial and foreign affairs.
Squirreling Away – Part 2
Joan McIntyre
Yesterday I started this conversation about how elitist I believe our Frederick County Board of Education and the administration of Frederick County Public Schools have become. Today, I continue in that same vein with the hopes of stirring your emotions to do something. To put your foot down and scream “Enough is Enough.”
Decoration Day
Tom McLaughlin
Even when he was deep into his Alzheimer’s state, Dad always seemed to know when it was Memorial Day – Decoration Day, as he called it. I guess it might have been the war movies that showed constantly on the television that clued him in, or maybe he just knew.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Squirreling Away – Part 1
Joan McIntyre
The Board of Education seems to have "found" a $4.1 million surplus from the current year. It saved so much money from conserving things such as electricity, by turning off the lights, that we now have an excess. They are having a little trouble remembering to whom the money actually belongs.
Needed: A Different Approach for Change
Chris Cavey
Rolling up to the 2010 election it seems the predominate theme within our state is a continued desire for change. Is it a philosophical change, or a broad-brushed wholesale changing of the "professional," long-term politicians, who, regardless of party, are perceived as sharing the blame for the current political and economic situation?
The Cradle of True Leadership
Farrell Keough
I enjoy a number of talk radio shows from our local ones to Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin. Of course, these national shows have a strong leaning towards conservatism. I am okay with that.
Entertaining Entertainment
Roy Meachum
Somehow entertainment became a negative word in the theatre. Maryland Ensemble Theatre could change that. "And the World Goes Round" makes a case for evenings that are entertaining, not uplifting, carrying messages or making the world a better place.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Pause to Remember and Honor
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Next Monday is Memorial Day. It is a day when we should come together as a community and take a break from the rancid political bickering in Washington, which passes as national leadership today, and reflect on the men and women in uniform who are serving our country in the darkest corners of the world.
A Review – “Design for Living"
Roy Meachum
Once upon a time, as all good stories begin, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne epitomized theatrical royalty and this was in the era when the Barrymores were the first family of the stage. Noel Coward's chief claim to that company was that he was a kind of industry jester.
Alfred Wallace and Me – Part 3
Tom McLaughlin
Kampung Santubong, Sarawak, Malaysia – Alfred Wallace’s second and most famous Law of Natural Selection “suddenly flashed upon him” (his words) in February, 1858. With the monsoon season beginning to taper off, he suffered from malaria induced fevers.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Where's Jennifer?
Roy Meachum
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and I did not agree; her political strategists said she could win the governor's race by concentrating her efforts (and expenditures) after Labor Day. She tried, and had her head handed over by Republican Bob Ehrlich.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…
Michael Kurtianyk
A day doesn’t go by that I’m not asked: “How’s the real estate market? Any good news?” I’m here to say that we’re seeing increases in the number of properties going under contract this spring.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Death by Technology Dependence
Steven R. Berryman
How do civilizations die? How do cultures die? How do people die?
Friday, May 15, 2009
Budget Time, Bad Political Jokes
Roy Meachum
In the fat years – and we've had more than several recently – budget time takes on the tenor of holiday dinners fed by someone else. Local politicians get to say "You're welcome." A lot. Particularly to the Board of Education.
Of Opportunity and Failure
Joe Charlebois
Twelve million dollars is approximately the maximum amount of money that the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program will spend this year to allow residents of our nation’s capital to attend the schools of their choice including private and parochial schools.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
All Democrats Have to Fear is Themselves
Tony Soltero
We currently stand at what could be a watershed moment in America's political history. As has been well documented, the Republican Party is in serious disrepair nationally. It has essentially been reduced to a regional Southern party, with a few scattered pockets of influence in the Midwest and West. It's become all but extinct in the Northeast, and its reach is shrinking rapidly on the West Coast.
The FMH Good Samaritan of the Year
Michael Kurtianyk
Last Friday, my wife and I had the good fortune to attend Frederick Memorial Hospital’s Good Samaritan of the Year affair at The Lynfield Events Complex. We were worried that we’d get more rain, but I had my own contingency plan. For the last two weeks, I’d been building an ark in the back yard. Fortunately, the rains hadn’t arrived, or I’d have taken the boat off its mooring.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Arlington National Cemetery – Firsts of the heart
Kevin E. Dayhoff
As Memorial Day approaches, it is significant to note that today, on May 13, in 1864; the first soldier was buried at Arlington House, also called the Custis-Lee Mansion. We now know the property as Arlington National Cemetery and it is now the revered final resting place of over 320,000 stories of the heart.
Alfred Wallace and Me – Part Two
Tom McLaughlin
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia – The London scientific community viewed Alfred Wallace as a redneck, or, in their lingo of the day, a collector. These were people who went out to the tropics with a butterfly net or gun and brought back animals that were sold to the public.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Pope's New Failures
Roy Meachum
Vatican hypocrisy couldn't be clearer than in the reaction to Notre Dame inviting Barack Obama to address this year's commencement and receive an honorary degree. This president's "mortal sin," in church critics' eyes, derives from his support of abortion rights and for embryonic stem cell research.
Advice from The Voice of Experience – Part 4
Nick Diaz
This is the conclusion of my series on buying a used motorcycle. In my 39 years in the sport of motorcycling, I’ve bought only two new motorcycles, and that was back in the early 70’s. Buying a used motorcycle is one of the most challenging, yet satisfying activities a person can engage in.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Electoral Expectations
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
A recent set of news articles out of Anne Arundel County raise the issue of voter expectations for elected officials.
Anticipating the Air Show! – 2009
Steven R. Berryman
Time to break with your hibernation from the winter blahs; stop getting upset about the politics of Democratic deconstruction and more illegal immigrants for a time. Andrews Air Force base, in nearby Prince George’s County offers the best air show in the region once a year, and it’s this coming weekend!
20090522 SDOSM This week in The Tentacle
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/
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