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Saturday, April 12, 2008

Agreeing to Disagree


What happened to that?

I am fortunate to be able to watch HBO’s latest miniseries ‘John Adams’.

What a treat it has been, HBO has brought a human side to our Founding Fathers that history books have failed to do.

When I was home schooling my two oldest children, and we were studying American History and the Revolution, we had the opportunity to read many fantastic books on the subject. I was a little bit of an un-schooler in my teaching methods, but it worked quite well for our family. Whenever we would decide on a new subject to study we would go to the library, there we would check out every single book on the subject from the children’s, through juvenile to adult sections. We inevitably lugged home armfuls of books and began our study.
During this time we picked up a book that contained the correspondence between John Adams and his wife Abigail it was entitled ‘My Dearest Friend’.

John and Abigail Adams letters provide more historical documentation of the personalities of the cast of characters we call our Founding Fathers. They wrote each other constantly (over 1000 letters) and were very detailed in the happenings and emotions of what it was like to live in their day in the epicenter of the very founding of our nation. HBO has used these letters to create this mini-series.

Apparent from the very beginning of the series is the constant disagreement among the men who are now our national icons.

They disagreed about whether they should indeed declare independence. They disagreed on the structure of the new government they would form if they did declare Independence. They disagreed on the strength and size of a central federal government vs. the independence of each state to determine it’s own path according to it’s citizens. And from the very beginning they argued about southern farmers paying for the mistakes made on Wall Street.

Benjamin Franklin was a very skilled statesman and was very good at gauging a man’s personality and how to best convince individuals to his way of thinking. George Washington was an honored war hero who every one could agree would be an excellent leader, but once nominated and elected was a reluctant leader who was quickly dismayed at the division of ideas amongst his cabinet. Thomas Jefferson believed in absolute freedom no matter what, so long as it did not cost anyone other than oneself anything including harm. He believed so much in the inherent goodness of all people that if they were given absolute freedom without oppression they would prosper and do good. John Adams and Jefferson were dear friends, but disagreed on much. John was very pessimistic about human nature and believed the worst in people and while believed in freedom of country did not see eye to eye with Jefferson and believed that a federalized central government was imperative to a successful future.

Alexander Hamilton and Jefferson agreed on nothing, and Hamilton’s beliefs about establishing a central bank with a large debt merely months after our governments formation was so disheartening to Jefferson he resigned from President Washington's cabinet and went home. In a conversation with Adams about the wondrous beauty of our Constitution Jefferson said he didn’t know if it really was so wondrous, that while there were many good things about it, there were also very bad things about it and only time would tell what those would be. Thomas feared for our future because of the ability of a central government in a republic to become so corrupt. One of his most memorable quotes to Adams was “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

The common thread woven in the fiber of all of these men was their quest for liberty. They rarely agreed on the details, but each one of them dedicated so much of their lives doing what they felt was the right thing to do for our country.

Disagreement is not bad.

Disagreement is inevitable, and if we uphold each others rights to say what is on our minds and to do what is right, disagreement should not be something that we as Americans should shy away from.

So often in today’s society, people are belittled for saying what they believe, and discouraged in stating their beliefs. This I believe will be the downfall of our society.

Our founding fathers had no TV, they had books and they had ink, and they had each other to discuss the things that mattered to them and they educated each other in those things. If they did not agree they did what they could to educate the other further until they felt there was clear understanding of an issue and if they still did not agree, they agreed to disagree, because ‘free thought’ and individual liberty in all things was their common goal.

If you have the opportunity to see this series I highly recommend it. As with most HBO series they eventually come out on DVD and I encourage each one of you to watch it. The production and scenery is not only excellent but the humanity of each of these men is so present that you will never think of your Founding Fathers the same way again.

In closing, I would like to add; that in this day of mass media, it is very hard to find the whole truth of situation as every source puts their own self serving spin on issues at hand. So if you really want to be educated on a topic take the time to gather the information from a multitude of sources including those whom you may disagree with. If you only see the world through the eyes of CNN or Fox news you will doing yourself and your country a grave disservice. Even between the two of them you will hear differing stories so dig down check lots of different sources including those coming from the enemy’s camp and some where when you throw out all of the agenda’s you will be closer to the real truth of the matter.

In the meantime, time is marching on and we know not how many more breaths we get to take, so make the most of it and don’t be afraid to speak what you believe.

More Stuff From the Game!







That smile on that boys face is priceless! It's what its all about, making kids have fun and helping them live out their dreams a bit! Tonight was Autism Awareness night. Thanks to all who came out and supported these kids! Remember please donate to worthy charities who help improve and make manageable kids lives!

Delmar News

I was just informed there's a McDonald's coming to Delmar. It will be located right next to the WaWa on Rt. 13 & Rt. 54. I'm told the design will be exactly the same as the new one their replacing on Tilghman Road in East Salisbury.

Live At Perdue Stadium

It's a great crowd tonight and all the families are in attendance. The students from the Sylvan Learning center had a blast walking around the field with their parents while getting high fives from all the players and Sherman! And remember every 7th inning if the Shorebirds score a run everyone and we mean everyone gets a free Hardee's Thickburger....mmmmm

You can contact me direct on America Online Instant Messenger ( AIM) at SalisburyNews

Start of the first... Dominic Brown reached 1st on an error, but Freddy Galvis popped right to the first baseman Joe Mahoney at first for an unassisted triple play. Matt Rizzotti single to right. Michael Taylor reaches on an error. Luis Noel throws K to end inning. 0-0
Bottom of the first - Joe Nowicki triple to dead center but left stranded.

Top of the 2nd - Derrick Mitchell reaches 1st on infield blooper but stranded on Myers flyout. 0-0
Bottom of the 2nd - Wally Crancer single to right. Kieron Pope walked, men on 1st and 2nd. Ryan Adams grounds into a double play to end inning. Still 0-0.

Top of the 3rd -Luis Noel throws a 1-2-3 inning. He's really pitching quite well.

Bottom of the 3rd - Matt Angle single to center. Nowickin was K-O'd to end the inning. Still 0-0

Top of the 4th - Michael Durant solo HR. Joe Naughton doubled to center but stranded on a Derrick Mitchell pop out. 1-0 Lakewood.

Bottom of the 4th - Mahoney walked to lead off the bottom of the 4th. Henson grounds into a fielders choice, Mahoney out at 2nd. Crancer infield single, men on 1st and 2nd. Pope standing RBI Double. Men at 2nd and 3rd. Florimon strikes out to end inning. Tied at 1-1.

Top of the 5th - Brown reaches 1st. Brown steals 2nd. Galvis walked, men 1st and 2nd. Noel K. Taylor hit by pitch, bases juiced. Noel ends the inning with a K an disaster avoided. Showed some great poise on the mound. 1-1

Bottom of the 5th - Nowicki doubled but left stranded. Still 1-1

Top of the 6th - 1-2-3 inning!

Bottom of the 6th - Henson lead off single to center and reached 2nd on an error but left stranded. Still 1-1.

Top of the 7th- Myers singled to lead off the 7th. Beautiful double play on hit to to 2nd baseman with a sweet back hand grab and turn to 2nd then first. Still 1-1.

Bottom of the 7th - Cash walked with 2 outs on the board but stranded on a Nowicki ground out. Still 1-1.

Top of the 8th - Durant struck out to end the inning. Still 1-1!

Bottom of the 8th - Henson singled to left but stranded on a Pope ground out. Still 1-1.

Top of the 9th - Joel Naughton sky high bloop that landed in left field for a double; the wind was a big factor on that one, it changed orientation big time! Naughton thrown out at home after a hit to center field to preserve a 1-1 time. I'm talking a big time hit on Wally Crancer. Great job holding on to the ball and taking one for the team!

Bottom of the 9th - Florimon a 1 out double off the left field wall. The fans are on their feet! Angle moves Florimon to third with a ground out, 2 outs. Passed ball, Floriman scores...Game over!

Final Score 2-1 Delmarva

Pics from tonights game!






The band's name is Poison Orchid. They put on some great rock and jazz for the fans waiting to get in line and they sounded great. www.myspace.com/livefromthebarn.com.
Sorry Michael, I honestly did not realize you were in that picture unitll Joe caught it; my mind was running in 100 directions. We had a laugh!

Rock The Hawk Works, Green 2 Goals, Ovechkin Game WInner

Verizon Center,

Mike Green scored 2 goals on the power of his and Capital fans' mohawks to tie the game up in third period to allow Alexander Ovechkin to score the winning goal over the Flyers in the first game of their playoff series. Green scored at the 1:50 and 6:26 mark in the third after Philly's Daniel Briere scored 2 and Vaclav Prospal added one of his own to make during the Second period.

Ovechkin on a strong forecheck on a Flyer's break-out was able to get Lasse Kukkonen to cough up the puck in ront of Martin Biron to get the eventual game winner. This was Ovechkin's first career NHL Playoff game and goal and added an assist on a Green goal.

Cristobal Huet had 18 saves in the win.

This is the first trip to the postseason for the Caps since the 2002-2003 season in which they lost the opening round to the Lightning 2-4.

The Capitals play Sunday at 2pm and the game will be aired on NBC.

Boxscore can be found here - http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=280411023

Joe "G" Says Goodbye


GO HERE to see the original post in The Daily Times.

Final Post


SALISBURY — This will be my final Shore Politics entry.

I have received an offer from one of our sister papers in New Jersey, the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill. I start this week.

It’s been an honor serving the Lower Shore for the past two years. I’ve learned a great deal about watermen and rural living. I immensely respect these farmers and seafood savvy professionals who keep us fed.

I’m going to miss the touch of God this region sees. I don’t think I’ll ever be in the presence of so many breathtaking sunsets.

I’ll miss my colleagues and leaders. They all want to be a part of history and make the Lower Shore a better place.

What I won’t miss are the constant naysayers. The bitter, cranky, nearly-fanatical critics who won’t be happy until taxes are nil and anarchy is achieved.

I’ve attempted to find moderate voices throughout my reporting. But those citizens unafraid to talk openly about ideas, programs and projects which might serve a greater good are fewer every day. Those opposed to everything have too loud a megaphone. Appreciate critical perspectives, as long as they’re constructive.

I wish the region’s leaders luck. There are many serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. Recognize who is, and is not, to be taken seriously.

Future government requests and inquiries should be directed to my fantastic colleague, Greg Latshaw at glatshaw@dmg.gannett.com or 410-749-7171 ext. 216.

Thanks Delmarva. I’m proud to have called you home.

jgidjunis@dmg.gannett.com
410-845-4630

Posted at 4:32 AM

All I have to say is, am I one of those "naysayers?" If so, BITE ME! If not, Good Luck Joe. LOL

Under The Lights

There's something about playing under the lights.

The Gulls put on a special dominating performance beating St. Mary's 23-4 in their regular season finale. The Seagulls are now 14-0 overall and 7-0 in the Capital Athletic Conference. Senior Matt Hickman scored 7 of the Salisbury's first 13 goals in the first half and played like he was unstoppable.

Salisbury will be entering the C.A.C. Tournament once again as the top seed against Hood College Monday, April 14th at Seagull Stadium.

The win puts Salisbury at 67-0 since 2003 while playing at home and they have never not won a C.A.C. Championship since joining the conference. A total of 13 titles have been won and are 96-0 versus conference foes. The Gulls also has not lost a game since the start of last season in which they won the National Championship. Their overall winning streak is up to 37.

A VIEW FROM THE WEST: Tavis Leaves Tom

Originally posted at KENNYBURNS.COM, but customized for Salisbury News

In a move that should of happened ages ago in my opinion, Tavis Smiley has seen the light. This June, he will be departing from the Tom Joyner Morning Show (heard in Delmarva on WSBY 98.9FM.) In The Washington Post this morning, Tavis said (in a nutshell) that he is leaving because he has a lot going on. Now, this is where us media people can more than likely call out the BS in this. The same article said that good ol' Tommy Boy went on his blog and said "The real reason is that he can't take the hate he's been getting regarding the Barack issue -- hate from the black people that he loves so much." Yeah, way to spin a smack into a positive.

In case you missed that, I thought Tommy Boy's comment on his blog was a back handed slap to a guy who has been dedicated to a program for 11 years. I'm going to take this one step at a time, because I have a lot to say on this one. I am first going to start out by saying that for starters, I always thought that Tavis Smiley was WAY too good for Tom Joyner. Keep in mind that Tavis is on the opposite end of the spectrum, but he provides a fair shake on his commentaries and when he is interviewing people. He cannot be lumped in with the likes of Joyner or Sharpton or every other Black liberal that is way out there. He actually cause you to think and go 'yeah' or 'ok, but...."

A true show of Tavis' character came during the time when BET was under fire (and rightfully so). The issue was going to be discussed on BET Tonight, which Tavis hosted in the late 90s...but it wasn't Tavis hosting, is was the "Black Eagle" Joe Madison with one of Robert Johnson's cronies as a guest. I have the suspicion that Tavis wanted no part of that broadcast that night. When BET fired him, Tavis blew up! He was everywhere, including a guest host spot on CNN's "Talkback Live." Now, he has a show on PBS that is so popular, ALL THREE PBS stations that we get here in Central Maryland airs the program (including Maryland Public Television.)

Tavis has broad appeal, as opposed to Tom Joyner. I am not going to hold back on Joyner when I say is a hack poverty pimp supporter. Excuse me while I ask publicly why in the world would he spend money on kids to only attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities? I thought the whole point of the civil rights era was to give kids an equal opportunity at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, UMCP and other schools that are majority white.

This is the point that I brought up to my sister, Brooke, one day about Joyner paying money for Black kids to go to college. For argument sake, there is a family mom, dad and two kids who started out living in a rough Southeast Washington neighborhood. They're doing well, but they want a better life for their kids. They move to the suburbs, either in Maryland or Virginia. Mom and dad knows that the cost of living would be higher than their current neighborhood, but they do not want to see their kids fall to the peer pressure to do negative stuff. So they move to the burbs, they kids work hard with the oldest kids nailing the scoreboard (academically) in his senior year when he finds out that he just got accepted to an Ivy League school. Mom and dad who regularly listens to Tom Joyner thinks this is freaking great and rightfully so. They look into the scholarship program Joyner always talks about and they find out, they have to send their kid to an HBCU? What do they tell that kid?

I admit that is a far reaching scenario because the family can simply apply to any scholarship that could help them and problem solved, but for Joyner to close it off to just kids attending HBCU's is ignorant, especially since that was the whole point of the civil rights movement so our generation can have an equal opportunity to attend any school we want. I should also note that I have nothing against HBCU's, just Tom Joyner. Whether it's a black or white school, the piece of paper is the same. When you face the real world, brains, behavior and the execution of common sense will be tested rather than brains alone.

Which now leads me to Joyner's audience which comprises of "The Secret Order of Black People." For those unfamiliar, this is the group that I created in the last year and a half to describe those who think that one black person speaks for all black people. A group of people who do not want the dirty laundry of black people out on display, despite the fact that it has been seen by everyone in the world. This is the group that came out against the Hot Ghetto Mess TV show on BET, BET in general and defended Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Vivian Stringer for throwing a good ol' 60s style party during the Imus flap last year.

Tavis struck a nerve with this bunch that caused such a backlash. He said the "a" word....accountability. From The Post: "Don't fall so madly in love [with Obama] that you surrender your power to hold people accountable. . . . I'm not saying overlook Senator Obama, but you now better be ready to look him over." I don't find anything wrong with this. ALL people running for office should be looked over and held accountable, they should not get a pass on any grounds. But still, the secret order was upset and expressed their outrage against Smiley. I do disagree with a later comment from Smiley about Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) not being attentive to Black issues (due to the fact that I believe that Obama has to run for President of America and not Black America.)

Whether Tavisis leaving because of his heavy workload or because Tommy Boy pissed him off one to many times, he made the right decision. I also have to give credit to Tavis for holding to his convictions, as opposed to a particular audience.

P. Kenneth Burns is a contributor to Salisbury News. He is the editor/writer of Maryland Politics Today (www.marylandpolitics.us). He also contributes to Red Maryland (redmaryland.blogspot.com) and is a columnist for PolitickerMD.com. He lives in Laurel, Maryland. His email is kennyburns@marylandpolitics.us.

Shorebirds Play Tonight At 7:05


Don't let the rain fool you, by Game time it should be completely gone.

Autism Awareness Night w/ Tippy Martinez

This Saturday & Sunday is Autism Awareness Weekend at the ball park. On Saturday evening there will be a special player hat auction and other silent auctions throughout the game to help raise money for the Autism Chapter of the Eastern Shore. Following the game is a Froggy 99.9 FIREWORKS Extravaganza! Special guest and Oriole Great TIPPY MARTINEZ will be on hand to show his support and will be available for pictures and autographs. Game time is 7:05pm on Saturday.

Sunday's game is a 2:05pm start time and is another chance for you to show your support. Tickets to both games start as low as $6! Saturday FIREWORKS!

This Saturday is the 2nd of Four "Hit the Books" games presented by the Sylvan Learning Center. That evening we will be honoring students from Worcester, Somerset and Dorchester Counties who completed this year's Hit the Books Reading program. All attending students will participate in a pregame parade around the field and following the game there will be a Froggy 99.9 FIREWORKS EXTRAVAGANZA! For those without tickets they are available online or at the gate for as low as $6! Game time is 7:05pm!

Today's Wildlife Photo