Rep. Kratovil (Md-1st) votes AGAINST stimulus bill

In addition to every single Republican member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md-1st) votes against President Obama's stimulus bill. He was one of 11 Democrats to do so, presumably after securing permission from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to do so. From the Washington Wire of WSJ.com:

President Barack Obama extended an olive branch to House Republicans in a Capitol Hill meeting on Tuesday, but not one member of the GOP conference voted in favor of the nearly $900 billion economic package approved 244-188 this evening.

After a day of spirited debate on the House floor, 177 House Republicans voted en masse against the proposal. Joining them were 11 House Democrats, including Reps. Allen Boyd of Florida, Bobby Bright andParker Griffith of Alabama, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Walt Minnick of Idaho, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, Heath Shuler of North Carolina, and Gene Taylor of Mississippi.

Bright, Parker, Kratovil and Minnick are freshman lawmakers, while Boyd, Cooper, Ellsworth, Peterson, Shuler and Taylor are members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. [EDIT BY DUCKAROUND: Kratovil has previously announced his intentions to join that caucus. Not sure if he's officially joined yet.]

As a freshman Democrat in a largely Republican district, Kratovil could almost have been expected to cast this vote. I'm sure he does honestly believe in his vote against this bill, as he has stated he won't vote for any stimulus package that doesn't have much more oversight and accountability than the bailouts passed under Pres. Bush and this package proposed by Pres. Obama.

But, let's be honest, it does give him convenient cover against a run by Andy Harris in '10. He can say he stood up to increased Washington spending, and demanded more oversight. The first bill he co-sponsored would eliminate the automatic raised Congresspersons get adjusted for inflation. 

For someone just getting introduced into big-time elected office, Frank Kratovil seems to have learned some lessons very quickly.

And here's why I love The Sword

"How Heavy This Axe" from "Gods of the Earth".

It's like Black Sabbath got a new singer in 1972 rather than 1979. Their guitar tone is to kill for. I can't wait to see these guys.

Just 3 days 'till 'Tallica....

So my daughter and I make the journey north on Saturday to enjoy the musical stylings of The Sword (love that band! Lars was right about something!), Machine Head, and the mighty Metallica.

It will be the 7th time I've seen them, and the first for my oldest offspring. (Note to self - see The Offspring this year...) In celebration, I'll post a video a day of something Metallica has played this tour. Unless I forget one day. Or decide to post two in a day. You'll understand.

So, in installment #1, here's "Ride the Lightning" from Dutch TV last year.

From 1981 - Newspapers on Computers! Who Knew?

Saw this on DailyKos. 

"We're probably  not gonna lose a lot, but we're not gonna make much, either." - San Francisco Chronicle executive, 1981.

How right they were.

In other news, I finally join 2006

Well, I've finally taken the Facebook plunge. It's amazing how fast people find you - I've had about half a dozen people from my graduating class at Parkside find me in the last 24 hours. I'm listed as William Duck. Makes me sound older. :)

And the weirdest part? I didn't know my own sister was already on Facebook!

Words Fail Me.

Those who know me know I'm not a reticent guy. I talk. A lot. Usually too much. But faced with this yesterday, I didn't do much talking. The occassion simply called for silence.

Sure, it was cold getting in line for Silver Ticket Security at 5:30 a.m. Yes, it was cold standing from 5:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. No, I couldn't see very well.

But the sound I will remember is the sound of 1.5 million people listening to every word President Obama spoke. You could hear a pin drop on grass when his Inaugural Address began, and you could hear a pin drop on grass until moments after he finished.

There wasn't much grand poetry in his address. He didn't offer the lifting language of the campaign. You didn't want to run through a wall for him after listening to him like in the campaign. This was a speech full of hard realities, and a firm conviction to set things right.

This isn't the speech we wanted. But it was the speech we needed.

More later tonight.

Goin' to DC!

And in this case, I don't mean the Delmarva Classic...

I found out last night that I was one of five lucky constituents to be picked in Rep. Frank Kratovil's lottery for Inauguration tickets. These are the good ones, too - my wife and I will be right behind the Reflecting Pool, behind where Members of Congress will be sitting. When Kratovil's staff showed me on the map included with the invite where those without tickets would be standing, he pointed to an are three inches below the map on the counter. I gotta admit, I smiled a little.

I'll try out the functions of this new doo-hickey of a phone I have, and see if I can't do a little live-blogging from the Inaugural activities.

It's official - Metallica makes the Hall of Fame

Courtesy of EW.com:

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2009 inductees this afternoon, and the lucky five legends are Metallica, Run-D.M.C., Bobby Womack, Jeff Beck, and Little Anthony & the Imperials.

So Metallica basically made it the first year they were eligible. Black Sabbath had to wait WAAAAAAAAY too long, and don't get me started on the fact that KISS, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest aren't in. I mean, Rush isn't in. WTF?

Here's Metallica at their absolute best - 1985, Day on the Green in Oakland, with original bassist Cliff Burton.

Thank You, Salisbury!!!!!

In just 36 hours since word went out on SBYNews.com and in today's The Daily Times, we have commitments for ALL 14 weight classes, plus an additional $1,000 from the U.S. Navy Recruiting Office in Ocean City, who will be on-site for the weekend.

Those businesses and groups who stepped up to the plate include:

Common Grounds, a Fair Trade Coffee House opening in March at Mill Pond Village across from Toys-R-Us. They sponsored an incredible FOUR weight classes! Go drink some coffee in March! 

Delmarva Wrestling Club, under the direction of Homer King, will sponsor a weight class.

Harvard Manufacturing has committed to sponsoring two weight classes.

Atlantic Lighting & Sign has committed to sponsoring two weight classes.

Delmarva Auto Glass will sponsor a weight class, as will Tapman's Refrigeration, Capital Choice Financial Group, Fraternal Order of Police Wicomico Lodge 111 and the Wicomico High School Faculty and Staff.

I can't tell you how much this will help local high school wrestling. We're bringing in 17 teams from across two states, including 7 state-ranked wrestlers from MD and another 5 from Delaware. There have been 6 wrestlers who've won states the year they didn't win the Delmarva Classic - that's how tough this tournament can be!

I appreciate all the individuals, organizations and businesses that have come together to help high school wrestling on the Lower Eastern Shore. I do want to thank Wicomico County Tourism and the staff at the Civic Center - they are doing all they can to help, and are making this event's logistics a lot easier to manage. They will be one of the reasons this event will be so successful this year.

And thanks to SBYNews.com and The Daily Times for getting the word out. This would have not been possible without the interest and help of Joe Albero and Daily Times' Sports Editor Shawn Yonker.

Join us at the Civic Center starting at 2:30 on Friday, Jan 16th and again starting at 9:30 Saturday January 17th. Finals should begin at 6 p.m. Saturday. Varsity and junior varsity wrestling will occur through Friday afternoon and evening and just about all day Saturday. Admission is $10 per day or $15 for the weekend.

-Bill Duck
delmarvaclassic@verizon.net

The Delmarva Classic needs your help

The Wi-Hi Wrestling Team DESPERATELY needs your help. Last season, after a 13th year of record attendance, we made the decision to move the Delmarva Classic Wrestling Tournament to the Civic Center. We had more teams interested in attending than ever before, and this would allow us to also offer a JV tournament for those JV wrestlers who get few opportunities to wrestle each year. The tournament will be next Friday and Saturday, Jan. 16-17.

With the Civic Center comes a rental fee - $3,000 a day for the two days, and $1,000 in mandatory WY&CC staffing. The Civic Center is barred by the County Council from giving community groups discounts as they have in the past. So we have to pay the entire $7,000. I don't blame the Civic Center - they are just administering a policy given to them by the County. Arguing over whether it's fair or not doesn't help me make the rent, to be blunt. It is there, and must be paid.

The team had planned on doing that by offering sponsorships - $300 per weight class (there are 14) would get a corporate logo on every t-shirt, every program sold, and every bracket for that weight class. Also, the mat that weight class is wrestled on would have signage as well. This looked like a great idea last spring, it really did.

Well, the response has been underwhelming to say the least. Of the 6 of us actively soliciting sponsorships, we have secured one. Not one each, one. We need 14. And, to make matters worse, I've had 4 teams (and their fees) pull out due to travel restrictions put on them by their counties, so instead of 21 teams, I now have 17.

If you know ANYONE who owns a business that you think might be willing to help the Wrestling team, PLEASE let me know. I’ll pass on a sponsorship packet you can present to them, or arrange for someone from the team to make contact.

We’re looking at losing more than $3,000 if we don’t secure these sponsorships, and I have to have a definitive list by next Tuesday – just 8 days from now.

If you know ANYONE who can be of help, LET US KNOW!

Sincerely,

Bill Duck

Tournament Director

delmarvaclassic@verizon.net

ADDENDUM: Just to clear a few things up...

PLEASE don't bash the Civic Center over this - they and Tourism are bending over backwards to help. I don't want anyone to think THEY are the problem - they're not. I knew what I was getting into as far as rent when we agreed to this. We just had no idea the economy was going to absolutely tank the way it did. The Civic Center and Tourism staff have been GREAT to work worth - they're doing all they can within the latitude they have, which isn't much. I can't stress that enough - this is not a problem of their making. We have had support from the business community before, and I'm sure there are people and businesses who want to help, but just can't. I just wanted to let the community know "Here's a need, can you help?" That's all I'm doing, and I thank SBYNews.com for letting me do that.

How far is too far in tracking sex offenders?

Georgia has enacted a law that’s stretching the limits of what civil liberties we as a society are willing to take away from those who have committed the most heinous of crimes short of murder – sexual abuse or assault.

A Georgia law going into effect [today] will require that all sex offenders not simply turn over their email addresses and screen names to authorities—which goes back to 2006—but all their passwords as well.

 

Georgia is one of 15 states requiring sex offenders to give their email addresses, screen names and "other internet handles" to authorities, and now the second (after Utah) to force them to give up their passwords as well, giving authorities unlimited, unfettered access to monitor their email and other internet activities.

State Senator Cecil Staton told MSNBC, "We limit where they can live, we make their information available on the Internet. To some degree, we do invade their privacy...But the feeling is, they have forfeited, to some degree, some privacy rights."

Sex offenders usually don’t get cured by their time in jail. In fact, there’s an almost 50/50 chance they will be arrested AGAIN for something within 36 months of incarceration:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Within 3 years following their 1994 state prison release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders (men who had committed rape or sexual assault) were rearrested for another sex crime, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. If all crimes are included, 43 percent of sex offenders were rearrested for various offenses.

Some think Georgia’s going too far. Personally, I’m all for chemical castration of anyone convicted of child sex abuse of anyone under the age of 13. And don’t get me started on the treatment of juvenile offenders and their precious civil liberties. They are in your children’s schools, and not only are you not being told, neither are the teachers. At least in Wicomico County, they're not.