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, June 03, 2009

20090601 Carroll Arts Center e-marquee

20090601 Carroll Arts Center e-marquee

Carroll County Arts Council
e-marquee
June 1, 2009

Our Website | Coming Attractions | Exhibits | Classes


UPCOMING EVENTS


Art in the Park

Saturday, June 6, 10 am - 4 pm
Free - Rain or Shine!

You'll enjoy art created by dozens of the region's most talented fine artists and craftsmen. Continuous musical entertainment, delicious food and free kids crafts. This annual outdoor event is held rain or shine on the grounds of Westminster City Hall at the intersection of Locust, Longwell and Key Streets in downtown Westminster.

Sponsored by Target Stores, The Carroll County Times, and The City of Westminster.

Tapestry of the Arts

Saturday, June 13

4 pm

$10

Performances by the vocal students of Ronald Douglass, the piano students of Myfanwy Jacob-Smith, CCSPA 5-6-7-8! Dance Troupe, and the Voices Community Ensemble. For more information call 410/382-7157.

This is a rental event not sponsored by Carroll County Arts Council.


FLICC presents

"Man on Wire"

Thursday, June 18 - 8 pm

2008; Rated PG-13; 90 minutes

The true stroy of Philippe Petit who, in 1974, walked on a high wire suspended between the two unfinished World Trade Center towers. Learn about the fateful day that he pulled off this notorious event. This film is being shown to complement the art exhibit "Balancing Act: Airborne Art" that will open the same evening. $5-$6. Buy tickets on-line

Sponsored by Crawford Insurance.


MORE ARTS CENTER NEWS


New Art Exhibit

"Balancing Act: Airborne Art"

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 18, 6:30 - 8 pm

On view June 18 - August 7

Mobiles, kinetic sculpture and art that seems to precariously float in space. Watch them bob, turn and flutter in response to the air currents. This fascinating show will feature works that follow in the footsteps of Alexander Calder, and are created by Bob Sapora of Westminster, Rick Eisenmann of Baltimore and Andrew Cronan of Silver Spring.


REGISTER NOW FOR

Summer Yoga

The Arts Council is offering two 9-week sessions of yoga this summer. Tim Hurley's class will be on Mondays from 6:30 - 8:00 pm beginning July 6, and A.J. Blye's sessions will be held on Tuesdays, 8:00 - 9:30 am beginning on June 30.
Advance reservations required. Visit our website for detailed information and registration materials.


ARTS IN CARROLL COUNTY


Choral Auditions - Children's Chorus of Carroll County

This award winning group provides music education, diverse performance venues and travel opportunities for young singers. Auditions will be scheduled throughout the coming weeks until August 15. To arrange an audition, call 410/751-5361 or go to www.ccccnotes.com

Westminster Ringers

"Hats off to Music"

Friday, June 5 at 8 pm

Scott Theatre, Carroll Community College

$8-$12

Information: 410/848-5482

September Song Auditions

For "The Sound of Music"

Saturday, June 6 at 1 pm

Tuesday, June 9 at 7 pm

Call backs: Thursday June 11

Century High School

Information: 410/654-0494

These activities are presented by our Arts Alliance affiliate members and are not sponsored by the Carroll County Arts Council. Please contact these organizations directly for information.


Purchase Tickets On-Line

Pre-payment is required to reserve tickets for CCAC shows and films.
You can now purchase tickets on line 24/7at www.carrollcountyartscouncil.org

A small convenience fee will be applied to all phone and internet credit card orders. No fees apply for tickets purchased in person at the box office. At this time, this service is not available for rental events that are not sponsored by CCAC.

.


Our Website | Coming Attractions | Exhibits | Classes

Contact Information phone: 410-848-7272 fax: 410-848-8962


Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: www.kevindayhoff.net
Kevin Dayhoff Art: www.kevindayhoffart.com
Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: www.westgov.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff
Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040426835

Pravda: American capitalism gone with a whimper




American capitalism gone with a whimper

27.04.2009

Source:
Pravda.Ru

URL:
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/107459-american_capitalism-0

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.

Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters.

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish.

Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more then ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them?

These men, of course, are not an elected panel but made up of appointees picked from the very financial oligarchs and their henchmen who are now gorging themselves on trillions of American dollars, in one bailout after another. They are also usurping the rights, duties and powers of the American congress (parliament). Again, congress has put up little more then a whimper to their masters.

Then came Barack Obama's command that GM's (General Motor) president step down from leadership of his company. That is correct, dear reader, in the land of "pure" free markets, the American president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEOs and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions.

So it should be no surprise, that the American president has followed this up with a "bold" move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too. Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK's Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our "wise" Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride.

Again, the American public has taken this with barely a whimper...but a "freeman" whimper.

So, should it be any surprise to discover that the Democratically controlled Congress of America is working on passing a new regulation that would give the American Treasury department the power to set "fair" maximum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private companies give out pay raises and bonuses? Senator Barney Franks, a social pervert basking in his homosexuality (of course, amongst the modern, enlightened American societal norm, as well as that of the general West, homosexuality is not only not a looked down upon life choice, but is often praised as a virtue) and his Marxist enlightenment, has led this effort. He stresses that this only affects companies that receive government monies, but it is retroactive and taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive.

The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at this and the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left.

The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker.

Stanislav Mishin

The article has been reprinted with the kind permission from the author and originally appears on his blog,
Mat Rodina

© 1999-2009. «PRAVDA.Ru». When reproducing our materials in whole or in part, hyperlink to PRAVDA.Ru should be made. The opinions and views of the authors do not always coincide with the point of view of PRAVDA.Ru's editors.


20090427 SDOSM Pravda American capitalism gone with a whimper

Remember today is the Torch Run in Westminster

Remember today is the Torch Run in Westminster

See: Flame of Hope Arrives in Carroll County!

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kelley Wallace/SOMD
PH: 410-789-6677 x117
Cell: 443-386-7965
E-mail: kwallace AT somd.org

OR

Chief Jeff Spaulding
Westminster Police Department
PH: 410-848-4646
E-mail: jspaulding AT westgov.com

Flame of Hope Arrives in Carroll County!

Carroll County Law Enforcement Officers Join Forces to Escort the Special Olympics Maryland Torch, Ensuring its Safe Passage to the 2009 SOMD Summer Games

Law Enforcement officers representing the police agencies throughout Carroll County will be out in force on Wednesday, June 3rd beginning at 8:00 AM, escorting the Special Olympics Maryland “Flame of Hope” from five (5) separate points around the county to Westminster. There they will join together and officially present the Flame of Hope in a brief ceremony at noon at City Hall. It is the duty of these Law Enforcement Torch Runners to ensure that the Flame is protected until it is delivered to the waiting hands of Special Olympics athletes on Friday, June 5th at the Opening Ceremony for the Special Olympic Maryland Summer Games held at Towson University, Towson Maryland.

[…]

Final Leg – Includes all participating law enforcement agencies in Carroll County (see above) to include members of the McDaniel College Department of Campus Safety, Office of the State’s Attorney and Westminster Police Department. Runners/bicyclists will depart McDaniel College @ noon and travel east along Main Street to City Hall where a Torch Run welcoming ceremony and celebration will take place.

For more information go to: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2009/05/flame-of-hope-arrives-in-carroll-county.html

20090603 SDOSM 2009 CC Torch Run reminder
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: www.kevindayhoff.net
Kevin Dayhoff Art: www.kevindayhoffart.com
Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: www.westgov.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff
Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040426835

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Baltimore police try to quell violence downtown

STATE: Baltimore police try to quell violence downtown

By The Associated Press Monday, June 01, 2009

BALTIMORE — A string of random attacks in downtown Baltimore has prompted police to beef up patrols around the Inner Harbor and other tourist-friendly areas.

In several incidents, tourists and city residents have been beaten by roving groups of young people who say little and take nothing from their victims.

The victims include an off-duty police officer from New Jersey and his girlfriend, who said they were beaten by a group of young men and women. The officer, George Williams, wrote a letter to Mayor Sheila Dixon saying that they now feel unsafe in Baltimore.

[…]


20090601 Baltimore police try to quell violence downtown

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2009/06/01/news/breaking_news/99baltimore.txt

Newly elected councilmember tackles hit and run driver and sits on him until police arrive


Law and order Councilmember Chiavacci

Newly elected councilmember tackles hit and run driver and sits on him until police arrive.

By Kevin Dayhoff Sunday, May 31, 2009
Westminster councilmember Tony Chiavacci (submitted photo)


[Note: This is an update of an earlier story from Sunday, May 31, 2009 4:00 pm: Law and order councilmember Tony Chiavacci Westminster Maryland - Newly elected councilmember tackles alleged hit and run driver and detains him until police arrive, by Kevin Dayhoff. A shorter – edited version of this story appears in the Westminster Eagle, “Dayhoff: New councilmember tackles alleged hit and run drive” Published June 1, 2009 by Westminster Eagle]

Westminster Maryland - If you aspire to be an alleged hit-and-run driver in Westminster, you may not want to do it in front of newly elected Westminster Councilmember Tony Chiavacci’s house on Willis Street, just a couple houses down from Westminster City Hall and the Westminster police station.

Reports of the councilmen’s heroic law-and-order behavior travelled quickly through town last Sunday morning.

Usually the most activity on Willis Street on any given Sunday are the squirrels frenetically frittering about doing, well, whatever it is the bushy tailed critters frantically do, birds singing and a few bunny rabbits nibbling on some grass.

However, last Sunday the bucolic story-book calm of the historic tree-lined street noted for its large stately homes and well manicured lawns was shattered abruptly by the sounds of a roaring engine, squealing wheels and a car crash.

When it was all over, even the squirrels, birds, and bunnies stopped in their tracks and the only frantic critter on the street was a reckless hit-and-run driver flailing about with the grass flying and a councilmember sitting his back.

Witnesses revealed that a hapless eastbound driver on Willis Street, had apparently rounded the corner and traveled at a high rate of speed from the direction of Westminster City Hall towards Center Street when he hit several parked automobiles.

Soon after the parked cars were hit, the offending auto stopped in the street like a wounded beast and the driver attempted to flee. That’s when councilman Chiavacci sprang into action by eventually running-down and tackling the individual.

As a crowd of older citizens, assorted family dogs, birds, bunnies, squirrels, and children gathered around, the alleged offender was reported to have been heard screaming, “Get off of me.” A request that Chiavacci, the son of a career retired Maryland State Police officer did not seem to be in the mood to oblige.

Later that evening in a telephone interview, Councilman Chiavacci, a former Army military police officer who is known for his good-natured smile and easygoing personality - but who is also about the size of a small Sherman Tank – calmly recalled the morning’s events.

“Today is my birthday and my kids made me a birthday breakfast,” said the father of five children proudly in a soft, measured voice. “I was sitting in the living room reading the Sunday paper, when all the sudden I heard a car engine roaring, tires squealing – and then a loud crash.”

Now, no longer worried that an idiot was on the loose on Willis Street, Chiavacci’s annoyance turned into concern. “I was worried that someone may have gotten hurt, so I hustled out of the house and down the driveway to see a damaged mini-van sitting in the middle of the street.”

“Then this guy gets out and starts beating the feet on down the street towards Center Street…” Chiavacci’s police training immediately kicked in as he noticed the vehicle did not have tags on it, “and I wondered why this guy was taking off?”

Chiavacci went on to say that “I asked the guy to stop and get back to his car.”

At which time the driver of the wounded mini-van said, “I’ve gotta get to work man.”

Quickly getting a grip on the situation and transitioning from big-breakfast-eating, newspaper-reading slumbering-Sunday Dad to concerned citizen; Chiavacci said he realized that “something wasn’t adding-up, so I asked him again to ‘stop right there,’ more colorfully,” shared Chiavacci in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, as if he were talking about the weather.

Meanwhile the offender is picking up the pace, not running, but moving even more quickly. “I caught up to him and asked him again to stop.” At that the gentleman pushed back against Chiavacci.

Other accounts suggest that the offender struck Chiavacci, however according to Chiavacci, “ah, he just pushed me and said something like ‘leave me alone.’”

Three strikes and a shove and you’re out. Besides, the bad guy interrupted Chiavacci’s Sunday morning with his kids.

Chiavacci reports that he “was nice enough to ask him to stop one more time,” as the offender continued to try and take off. “So, I just leveled him in the yard,” at the northeast corner of North and Willow Streets.

“My MP training just took over. I was worried for all the kids that were out … and my elderly neighbors… and fortunately I knew how to stop him without hurting him.”

“He kept fighting me, but I had the better of him and I just waited for the police to come…”

Fortunately for the alleged hit-and-run driver, Westminster city police arrived quickly and took control of the situation.

Afterwards, the children in the neighborhood resumed playing; the squirrels went back to – whatever it is that they do and Chiavacci, well, “after the police took the guy away, I went back to being a birthday Dad and reading the paper.”

All in a day’s work.
-30-

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. E-mail him at kevindayhoff AT gmail.com.

####

20090601 SDOSM Law and order Councilmember Chiavacci

GIs Use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Against Taliban

AP: GIs Use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Against Taliban

Monday, June 01, 2009

KABUL — The U.S. military in Afghanistan is launching a Facebook page, a YouTube site and feeds on Twitter as part of a new communications effort to reach readers who get their information on the Internet rather than in newspapers, officials said Monday.

The effort, which officials described as a way to counter Taliban propaganda, represents a sea change in how the military can communicate its message.

"There's an entire audience segment that seeks its news from alternative means outside traditional news sources, and we want to make sure we're engaging them as well," said Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan.

Read the entire article here: AP: GIs Use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Against Taliban

20090601 GIs Use Facebook Twitter YouTube Against Taliban

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523822,00.html

• Click here for the Facebook page of U.S. Forces — Afghanistan.
• Click here for the Twitter page.
• Click here for the YouTube channel.
• Click here for FOXNews.com's Personal Technology Center.
• Got tech questions? Ask our experts at FoxNews.com's Tech Q&A.
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: www.kevindayhoff.net Kevin Dayhoff Art: www.kevindayhoffart.com Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: www.westgov.net Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040426835

Monday, June 01, 2009

Remembering the days when you could walk to work and stores

Remembering the days when you could walk to work and stores

In 1925, planting the seeds of employment, production

EAGLE ARCHIVE By Kevin Dayhoff Posted 5/31/09:

“Many years ago, before zoning — and progress? — came to Westminster in the late 1970s, homes, schools, stores, shops and employment were more often than not all located within walking distance the same neighborhood.

“In the 1950s, when I lived behind Samios Food Market at 306 E. Green St. at the corner of Washington Road and East Green Street, there was a manufacturing plant across the street that provided a great deal of employment.

“It was great that folks in the neighborhood could walk to work.

“This plant opened with great fanfare in May 1925…”


Read the entire column here: In 1925, planting the seeds of employment, production

http://explorecarroll.com/community/2964/1925-planting-seeds-employment-production/

20090531 SDOSM In 1925 planting the seeds of emp prod brief

Letter to the Explore Carroll editor: Initial meeting for new Sykesville mayor raises concern by Saslow

Initial meeting for new mayor raises concern in Sykesville by Howard Saslow, Sykesville

Letter to the editor posted in
www.explorecarroll.com on 5/31/09

On May 27, I attended my first Sykesville Town Council meeting since losing my bid for a council seat and since the new administration took office.

Though Jonathan Herman, my choice for mayor, was narrowly defeated by Mike Miller, I was, and still am, willing to give our new mayor a chance.

However, first impressions are that the town's residents are in for a rude awakening. The most telling change was Mr. Miller's refusal to take public comment during discussion of the planned purchase and installation of the emergency generator slated for the police station and town house.

First, let's remember that the generator was approved by the previous council. Second, funding for the generator is included in the current year's fiscal budget. Third, the project was already awarded to a contractor, Bangs Generator Systems, and finally, it sets a dangerous precedent that puts many past, current and future projects in jeopardy.

One of the things I have always valued as a citizen of the town has been accessibility to town officials and the ability to affect town decisions through public comment at town meetings.

Certainly if the mayor wishes to eliminate the generator, something that may have tremendous impact on the health, safety and welfare of residents, he should be willing to entertain comments from the community that he serves.

Mr. Miller's position is a slap in the face to every citizen whose past participation at council meetings has made Sykesville a better place to live.

Had he made it a point to attend Town Council meetings prior to taking office, he would be aware of the public/council dynamics that have worked so well for the town during past administrations.

Howard Saslow

Sykesville


http://explorecarroll.com/news/2953/ce0531Saslowletter/

20090531
Initial meeting for new Sykesville mayor raises concern
by Saslow

For more information please see:

New Sykesville mayor objects but council OKs generator:
http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-sykesville-mayor-objects-but.html

Charles Schelle’s article in
www.explorecarroll.com may be found here:
Resident takes issue with mayor not taking public comment on matter -
New mayor objects, but council OKs generator

______

Herman's loss in Sykesville is a blow to countywide economics by John Culleton http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/05/hermans-loss-in-sykesville-is-blow-to.html

Mr. Culleton’s column may be found in
www.explorecarroll.com here: Culleton on Carroll - By John Culleton Posted on www.explorecarroll.com 5/18/09 Herman's loss in Sykesville is a blow to countywide economics

______

Miller upsets Herman in Sykesville mayoral race By Charles Schelle on “Soundtrack.”

Charles Schelle’s article may found here:
Miller upsets Herman in Sykesville mayoral race By Charles Schelle

______


The election results may be found here: Sykesville, Carroll County Maryland May 5 2009 municipal election results

Maryland Conservatarian: The President's Power Worries

Maryland Conservatarian: The President's Power Worries

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: www.kevindayhoff.net

New Sykesville mayor objects but council OKs generator


New Sykesville mayor objects but council OKs generator

New mayor objects, but council OKs generator

For more on this unfolding story please see:
Herman's loss in Sykesville is a blow to countywide economics by John Culleton http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/05/hermans-loss-in-sykesville-is-blow-to.html

Mr. Culleton’s column may be found in
www.explorecarroll.com here: Culleton on Carroll - By John Culleton Posted on www.explorecarroll.com 5/18/09 Herman's loss in Sykesville is a blow to countywide economics

Miller upsets Herman in Sykesville mayoral race By Charles Schelle on “Soundtrack.”

Charles Schelle’s article may found here:
Miller upsets Herman in Sykesville mayoral race By Charles Schelle

The election results may be found here:
Sykesville, Carroll County Maryland May 5 2009 municipal election results


*****

Resident takes issue with mayor not taking public comment on matter By Charles Schelle cschelle AT patuxent.com

Posted on
www.explorecarroll.com 5/31/09


The Sykesville Police Department will get an emergency generator despite opposition by newly-elected Mayor Mike Miller.

The mayor and members of the Town Council debated at a May 27 meeting whether to fund the generator in the $2.8 million fiscal 2010 budget -- despite the fact that the council had previously awarded a contract in April to Bangs Generator System for $43,511.

The 80-kilowatt generator will power both the police station and the Town House in emergencies.

Council members Leslie Reed, Frank Robert, Scott Sanzone and Chris True voted to approve to fund the generator in next year's budget, while Miller and council members Leo Keenan and Ian Shaw voted against the generator.

[…]

Miller then said he would not take additional public comment on the generator issue before the vote. That prompted resident Howard Saslow, who unsuccessfully ran for Town Council, to criticize the process.

"It is a slap in the face to all of us who take part in due process," he said.

Miller said he decided to not take public comment because the generator had been discussed at prior council meetings and he thought the audience "was aware of all the nuances."

Saslow said the mayor and council should consider public comment if they are considering reversing the outcome of a vote made by the previous by the mayor and council.

"I hope that the future of the town is not what I saw tonight," he said. "It is really upsetting to me as a member of this town to not be able to comment on something that important."

[…]


Be sure to read the entire article:
New mayor objects, but council OKs generator

20090531 New mayor objects but council OKs generator by Schelle

http://explorecarroll.com/news/2950/new-mayor-objects-but-council-oks-generator/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff

www.explorecarroll.com New Sykesville mayor objects but council OKs generator by Charles Schelle http://tinyurl.com/mxkkfv

Peggy Noonan Calls Mika's Shoes An "X-Rated Fantasy" On "Morning Joe"


The "Morning Joe" crew is a tough crowd to dress for. One day after Chuck Todd, Joe Scarborough and David Gregory had a fashion face-off, Mika Brzezinski's high heels came under attack by Peggy Noonan.

Mika is known for her love of shoes, and
showed off her favorite pairs on the Huffington Post seven weeks ago.

On Friday's show, Willie Geist implored Noonan to "tell everyone what you said of those shoes."

"They were not shoes," Noonan said in an even tone, "they were an X-rated fantasy walking on Mika's feet."

[…]

She then retracted her criticism, saying "That was too harsh. I think we have to start showing empathy."

[…]


Read the entire article here: Peggy Noonan Calls Mika's Shoes An "X-Rated Fantasy" On "Morning Joe"

Explore Carroll most emailed

Explore Carroll most emailed

http://www.explorecarroll.com/

More youngsters needed for police CSI Academy
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle, Eldersburg Eagle

In 1925, planting the seeds of employment, production
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Gate House director ready to ride into history
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle, Eldersburg Eagle

Space — the final frontier when teaching youth sports
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Son's wedding had an 'I do' ... and also an eye don't
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Water issues aren't new in Mount Airy, nor is the solution
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Soul of the artists on display at festival
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle, Westminster Eagle

Enjoy ivy by keeping the plant in its proper place
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Emergency crews take part in county training exercise
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle, Westminster Eagle

10 Days 05-31
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

20090531 SDOSM Explore Carroll most emailed

Explore Carroll most read


Explore Carroll most read

http://www.explorecarroll.com/

Initial meeting for new mayor raises concern in Sykesville
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Westminster homeowner charged with arson
Posted: May 28th, 2009 in Carroll Eagle, Westminster Eagle

Dinner Rolls
Posted: May 18th, 2009 in Carroll Eagle, Westminster Eagle

Roads rule in debate over Liberty Exchange
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle, Eldersburg Eagle

For Liberty tennis squads, season is 14-love
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Friends & Farmers
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Sports Shorts
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

New mayor objects, but council OKs generator
Posted: May 31st, 2009 in Carroll Eagle, Eldersburg Eagle

Carroll County Memorial Day services
Posted: May 22nd, 2009 in Carroll Eagle

Dayhoff: Maryland National Guard Company H, had its beginnings in the flower business
Posted: May 22nd, 2009 in Westminster Eagle

20090531 Explore Carroll most read


Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040426835

WSJ: Banks, Energy Firms Help Lift European Stocks By SARAH TURNER


Wall Street Journal: Banks, Energy Firms Help Lift European Stocks May 29, 2009 By SARAH TURNER


LONDON -- European shares rose for the fourth of five sessions on Friday, with optimism for an improving economy fueling more gains for banks such as Spain's Santander.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index gained 0.1% to 208.21, leaving it up 4% in May. The U.K. FTSE 100 index climbed 0.7% to 4417.94, the German DAX 30 index rose 0.2% to 4940.82 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.4% to 3277.65.

Bank stocks led the market as
Credit Suisse rose 2% and Santander climbed 0.7%. SEB shares advanced 2.5% after it said that it will place the majority of its activities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into a separate division.

[…]

Shares of Italian car maker
Fiat declined 4.5% in a broadly higher auto sector. General Motors Corp. and auto parts group Magna International Inc. have reached an agreement in principle that could rescue GM's German Opel division…

[…]


Read the entire article here: Banks, Energy Firms Help Lift European Stocks


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124357888632665809.html#mod=rss_markets_main

20090529 WSJ Banks Energy Firms Help Lift European Stocks


Related: The euro stood at $1.3993, the dollar at ¥96.60, and British pound at $1.6023. http://tinyurl.com/ltgvc7

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Speech by Secretary Geithner - The United States and China, Cooperating for Recovery and Growth

Speech by Secretary Geithner - The United States and China, Cooperating for Recovery and Growth

May 31, 2009
TG-152

Speech by Secretary Geithner - The United States and China, Cooperating for Recovery and Growth

The United States and China, Cooperating for Recovery and GrowthTreasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner
Speech at Peking University - Beijing, China
June 1st, 2009

It is a pleasure to be back in China and to join you here today at this great university.

I first came to China, and to Peking University, in the summer of 1981 as a college student studying Mandarin. I was here with a small group of graduate and undergraduate students from across the United States. I returned the next summer to Beijing Normal University.

We studied reasonably hard, and had the privilege of working with many talented professors, some of whom are here today. As we explored this city and traveled through Eastern China, we had the chance not just to understand more about your history and your aspirations, but also to begin to see the United States through your eyes.

Over the decades since, we have seen the beginnings of one of the most extraordinary economic transformations in history. China is thriving. Economic reform has brought exceptionally rapid and sustained growth in incomes. China¡¯s emergence as a major economic force more fully integrated into the world economy has brought substantial benefits to the United States and to economies around the world.

In recognition of our mutual interest in a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship, President Hu Jintao and President Obama agreed in April to establish the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Secretary Clinton and I will host Vice Premier Wang and State Councilor Dai in Washington this summer for our first meeting. I have the privilege of beginning the economic discussions with a series of meetings in Beijing today and tomorrow.

These meetings will give us a chance to discuss the risks and challenges on the economic front, to examine some of the longer term challenges we both face in laying the foundation for a more balanced and sustainable recovery, and to explore our common interest in international financial reform.

Current Challenges and Risks

The world economy is going through the most challenging economic and financial stress in generations.

The International Monetary Fund predicts that the world economy will shrink this year for the first time in more than six decades. The collapse of world trade is likely to be the worst since the end of World War II. The lost output, compared to the world economy's potential growth in a normal year, could be between three and four trillion dollars.

In the face of this challenge, China and the United States are working together to help shape a strong global strategy to contain the crisis and to lay the foundation for recovery. And these efforts, the combined effect of forceful policy actions here in China, in the United States, and in other major economies, have helped slow the pace of deterioration in growth, repair the financial system, and improve confidence.

In fact, what distinguishes the current crisis is not just its global scale and its acute severity, but the size and speed of the global response.

At the G-20 Leaders meeting in London in April, we agreed on an unprecedented program of coordinated policy actions to support growth, to stabilize and repair the financial system, to restore the flow of credit essential for trade and investment, to mobilize financial resources for emerging market economies through the international financial institutions, and to keep markets open for trade and investment.

That historic accord on a strategy for recovery was made possible in part by the policy actions already begun in China and the United States.

China moved quickly as the crisis intensified with a very forceful program of investments and financial measures to strengthen domestic demand.

In the United States, in the first weeks of the new Administration, we put in place a comprehensive program of tax incentives and investments ¨C the largest peace time recovery effort since World War II - to help arrest the sharp fall in private demand. Alongside these fiscal measures, we acted to ease the housing crisis. And we have put in place a series of initiatives to bring more capital into the banking system and to restart the credit markets.

These actions have been reinforced by similar actions in countries around the world.

In contrast to the global crisis of the 1930s and to the major economic crises of the postwar period, the leaders of the world acted together. They acted quickly. They took steps to provide assistance to the most vulnerable economies, even as they faced exceptional financial needs at home. They worked to keep their markets open, rather than retreating into self-defeating measures of discrimination and protection.

And they have committed to make sure this program of initiatives is sustained until the foundation for recovery is firmly established, a commitment the IMF will monitor closely, and that we will be able to evaluate together when the G-20 Leaders meet again in the United States this fall.

We are starting to see some initial signs of improvement. The global recession seems to be losing force. In the United States, the pace of decline in economic activity has slowed. Households are saving more, but consumer confidence has improved, and spending is starting to recover. House prices are falling at a slower pace and the inventory of unsold homes has come down significantly. Orders for goods and services are somewhat stronger. The pace of deterioration in the labor market has slowed, and new claims for unemployment insurance have started to come down a bit.

The financial system is starting to heal. The clarity and disclosure provided by our capital assessment of major U.S. banks has helped improve market confidence in them, making it possible for banks that needed capital to raise it from private investors and to borrow without guarantees. The securities markets, including the asset backed securities markets that essentially stopped functioning late last year, have started to come back. The cost of credit has fallen substantially for businesses and for families as spreads and risk premia have narrowed.

These are important signs of stability, and assurance that we will succeed in averting financial collapse and global deflation, but they represent only the first steps in laying the foundation for recovery. The process of repair and adjustment is going to take time.

China, despite your own manifest challenges as a developing country, you are in an enviably strong position. But in most economies, the recession is still powerful and dangerous. Business and households in the United States, as in many countries, are still experiencing the most challenging economic and financial pressures in decades.

The plant closures, and company restructurings that the recession is causing are painful, and this process is not yet over. The fallout from these events has been brutally indiscriminant, affecting those with little or no responsibility for the events that now buffet them, as well as on some who played key roles in bringing about our troubles.

The extent of the damage to financial systems entails significant risk that the supply of credit will be constrained for some time. The constraints on banks in many major economies will make it hard for them to compensate fully for the damage done to the basic machinery of the securitization markets, including the loss of confidence in credit ratings. After a long period where financial institutions took on too much risk, we still face the possibility that banks and investors may take too little risk, even as the underlying economic conditions start to improve.

And, after a long period of falling saving and substantial growth in household borrowing relative to GDP, consumer spending in the United States will be restrained for some time relative to what is typically the case in recoveries.

These are necessary adjustments. They will entail a longer, slower process of recovery, with a very different pattern of future growth across countries than we have seen in the past several recoveries.

Laying the Foundation for Future Growth

As we address this immediate financial and economic crisis, it is important that we also lay the foundations for more balanced, sustained growth of the global economy once this recovery is firmly established.

A successful transition to a more balanced and stable global economy will require very substantial changes to economic policy and financial regulation around the world. But some of the most important of those changes will have to come in the United States and China. How successful we are in Washington and Beijing will be critically important to the economic fortunes of the rest of the world. The effectiveness of U.S. policies will depend in part on China's, and the effectiveness of yours on ours.

Although the United States and China start from very different positions, many of our domestic challenges are similar. In the United States, we are working to reform our health care system, to improve the quality of education, to rebuild our infrastructure, and to improve energy efficiency. These reforms are essential to boosting the productive capacity of our economy. These challenges are at the center of your reform priorities, too.

We are both working to reform our financial systems. In the United States, our challenge is to create a more stable and more resilient financial system, with stronger protections for consumer and investors. As we work to strengthen and redesign regulation to achieve these objectives, our challenge is to preserve the core strengths of our financial system, which are its exceptional capacity to adapt and innovate and to channel capital for investment in new technologies and innovative companies. You have the benefit of being able to learn from our shortcomings, which have proved so damaging in the present crisis, as well as from our strengths.

Our common challenge is to recognize that a more balanced and sustainable global recovery will require changes in the composition of growth in our two economies. Because of this, our policies have to be directed at very different outcomes.

In the United States, saving rates will have to increase, and the purchases of U.S. consumers cannot be as dominant a driver of growth as they have been in the past.

In China, as your leadership has recognized, growth that is sustainable growth will require a very substantial shift from external to domestic demand, from an investment and export intensive driven growth, to growth led by consumption. Strengthening domestic demand will also strengthen China's ability to weather fluctuations in global supply and demand.

If we are successful on these respective paths, public and private saving in the United States will increase as recovery strengthens, and as this happens, our current account deficit will come down. And in China, domestic demand will rise at a faster rate than overall GDP, led by a gradual shift to higher rates of consumption.

Globally, recovery will have come more from a shift by high saving economies to stronger domestic demand and less from the American consumer.

The policy framework for a successful transition to this outcome is starting to take shape.

In the United States, we are putting in place the foundations for restoring fiscal sustainability.

The President in his initial budget to Congress made it clear that, as soon as recovery is firmly established, we are going to have to bring our fiscal deficit down to a level that is sustainable over the medium term. This will mean bringing the imbalance between our fiscal resources and expenditures down to the point - roughly three percent of GDP -- where the overall level of public debt to GDP is definitively on a downward path. The temporary investments and tax incentives we put in place in the Recovery Act to strengthen private demand will have to expire, discretionary spending will have to fall back to a more modest level relative to GDP, and we will have to be very disciplined in limiting future commitments through the reintroduction of budget disciplines, such as pay-as-you go rules.

The President also looks forward to working with Congress to further reduce our long-run fiscal deficit.

And, critical to our long-term fiscal health, we have to put in place comprehensive health care reform that will bring down the growth in health care costs, costs that are the principal driver of our long run fiscal deficit.

The President has also proposed steps to encourage private saving, including through automatic enrollment in retirement savings accounts.

Alongside these fiscal actions, we have designed our policies to address the financial crisis to carefully minimize risk to the taxpayer and to allow for an orderly exit or unwinding as soon as conditions permit. Across the various financial facilities put in place by the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC, we have been careful to set the economic terms at a level so that demand for these facilities will fade as conditions normalize and risk premia recede. Banks have a strong incentive to replace public capital with private capital as soon as conditions permit.

Let me be clear - the United States is committed to a strong and stable international financial system. The Obama Administration fully recognizes that the United States has a special responsibility to play in this regard, and we fully appreciate that exercising this special responsibility begins at home. As we recover from this unprecedented crisis, we will cut our fiscal deficit, we will eliminate the extraordinary governmental support that we have put in place to overcome the crisis, we will continue to preserve the openness of our economy, and we will resolutely maintain the policy framework necessary for durable and lasting sustained non-inflationary growth.

In China, the challenge is fundamentally different, and at least as complex.

Critical to the success of your efforts to shift future growth to domestic demand are measures to raise household incomes and to reduce the need that households feel to save large amounts for precautionary reasons or to pay for major expenditures like education. This involves strengthening the social safety net with health care reform and more complete public retirement systems, enacting financial reforms to help expand access to credit for households, and providing products that allow households to insure against risk. These efforts can be funded through the increased collection of dividends from state-owned enterprises.

The structure of the Chinese economy will shift as domestic demand grows in importance, with a larger service sector, more emphasis on light industry, and less emphasis on heavy, capital intensive export and import-competing industries. The resulting growth will generate greater employment, and be less energy-intensive than the current structure of Chinese industry. Allowing the market, interest rates, and other prices to function to encourage the shift in production will be particularly important.

An important part of this strategy is the government's commitment to continue progress toward a more flexible exchange rate regime. Greater exchange rate flexibility will help reinforce the shift in the composition of growth, encourage resource shifts to support domestic demand, and provide greater ability for monetary policy to achieve sustained growth with low inflation in the future.

International Financial Reform

These are some of the most important domestic economic challenge we face, and these issues will be at the core of our agenda for economic cooperation.

But I think it is important to underscore that we also have a very strong interest in working together to strengthen the framework for international economic and financial cooperation.

Let me highlight three important areas.

At the G-20 Leaders meeting, we committed to a series of actions to help reform and strengthen the international financial architecture.

As part of this, we agreed to put in place a stronger framework of standards for supervision and regulation of the financial system. We expanded and strengthened the Financial Stability Forum, now renamed the Financial Stability Board. China and other major emerging economies are now full participants, alongside the major financial centers, in this critical institution for cooperation. We will have the chance together to help redesign global standards for capital requirements, stronger oversight of global markets like derivatives, better tools for resolving future financial crises, and measures to reduce the opportunities for regulatory arbitrage.

We also committed to an ambitious program of reform of the IMF and other international financial institutions. Our common objective is to reform the governance of these institutions to make them more representative of the shifting balance of economic and financial activity in the world, to strengthen their capacity to prevent future crisis, with stronger surveillance of macroeconomic, exchange rate, and financial policies, and to equip them with a stronger financial capacity to respond to future crises. We also committed to mobilize $500 billion in additional finance through the enlargement and membership expansion of the IMF's New Arrangements to Borrow in order to provide an insurance policy for the global financial system.

As part of this process of reform, the United States will fully support having China play a role in the principal cooperative arrangements that help shape the international system, a role that is commensurate with China's importance in the global economy.

I believe that a greater role for China is necessary for China, for the effectiveness of the international financial institutions themselves, and for the world economy.

China is already too important to the global economy not to have a full seat at the international table, helping to define the policies that are critical to the effective functioning of the international financial system.

Second, we must cooperate to assure that the global trade and investment environment remains open, and that opportunities continue to expand. As economies have become more open and more closely integrated, global economic growth has been stronger and more broad-based, bringing increasing numbers out of poverty, and turning developing nations into major emerging markets. The global commitment to trade liberalization and increasingly open investment played a critical role in this process ¨C in the industrialized world, in East Asia, and, since 1978, in China. As we go through the severe stresses of this crisis, we must not turn our backs on open trade and investment - for ourselves and for those who have yet to experience the fruits of growth and development. The United States, China, and the other members of the G20 have committed to not resort to protectionist measures by raising trade and investment barriers and to work toward a successful conclusion to the Doha Development Round.

And third, one of the most critical long-term challenges that we both face is climate change. Individually and collectively, there is an urgent need to ensure that each and every country takes meaningful action to deal with this threat. Reducing land and forest degradation, conserving energy, and using clean technology are important objectives that complement both our efforts to achieve a new, sustainable pattern of growth and our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. China and the United States already are working closely through the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in areas such as clean transportation, clean and efficient production of electricity, and the reduction of air and water pollution. We must continue these efforts for the sake of our natio ns and the planet.

Conclusion

In the last few years the frequency, intensity, and importance of U.S.-China economic engagements have multiplied. The U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue that President Obama and President Hu initiated in April is the next stage in that process. I look forward to welcoming Vice Premier Wang, State Councilor Dai and their colleagues to Washington to participate in the first meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

Our engagement should be conducted with mutual respect for the traditions, values, and interests of China and the United States. We will make a joint effort in a concerted way "同心协力". We should understand that we each have a very strong stake in the health and the success of each other's economy.

China and the United States individually, and together, are so important in the global economy and financial system that what we do has a direct impact on the stability and strength of the international economic system. Other nations have a legitimate interest in our policies and the ways in which we work together, and we each have an obligation to ensure that our policies and actions promote the health and stability of the global economy and financial system.

We come together because we have shared interests and responsibilities. We also have our own national interests. I will be a strong advocate for U.S. interests, just as I expect my counterparts to represent China¡¯s. China has benefited hugely from open trade and investment, and the ability to greatly increase its exports to the rest of the world. In turn, we expect increased opportunities to export to and invest in the Chinese economy.

We want China to succeed and prosper. Chinese growth and expanding Chinese demand is a tremendous opportunity for U.S. firms and workers, just as it is in China and the rest of the world.

Global problems will not be solved without U.S.-China cooperation. That goes for the entire range of issues that face our world from economic recovery and financial repair to climate change and energy policy.

I look forward to working with you cooperatively, and in a spirit of mutual respect. 20090531

Sunday, May 31, 2009

The unblinking eye


“The unblinking eye.” May 28, 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff

Your brain is turning into mush…

“There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits. — Opening narration – The Control Voice – 1960s

(“The Outer Limits originally was broadcast from 1963 to 1965 on the U.S. television broadcasting network ABC; in total, 49 episodes.”)

“The unblinking eye.” May 28, 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff
20090530 FB Twitpic SDOSM The unblinking eye