The G-8 is coming, no federal money following, money from your pockets is going, going, gone. Taxes are rising. Maryland ranks 40th in the country for places to run a business. Gay marriage proponents got the high five from President Barack Obama with little to nothing else.

With all the recent discussion, debate, protests and media coverage of issues in Frederick County like the budget, teachers’ salaries, grants to nonprofits and other fiscal matters, it seems that growth issues have been taken off the front page.

Amid rancorous opposition from Republicans and rising discontentment among segments of the ruling Democrats, the curtain rose Monday for an attempt at a carefully choreographed special – 431th – session of the Maryland General Assembly opera.

Past school board president Brad Young and I have disagreed in the past, but I don't believe it affected our collegial relationship. However, he was miffed at what he described as my “poorly written article” about Frederick County Public Schools which appeared here last Wednesday.

Kuching, Malaysia Borneo – Spirits and ghost and other things that go bump in the night! My latest acquisitions have been Borneo masks that represent the other world. My collection of more than 20 is from the Iban people.

That was the headline above a full-page ad one week ago in The Washington Post. Several hundred years ago expressing such an idea publically would lead to the whipping stocks. Heresy against Rome would lead to necks cut by a sword – before the Reformation.

Contemplating the sale of a tract of land or commercial real estate, or even a personal residence? A property owner may want to consider taking action sooner rather than later.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney defends the principles of free-market capitalism as the cornerstone of his candidacy. It's easy to see why. His own business acumen has made him a multi-millionaire.

A fresh face, Hispanic-featured, appeared in the columnists’ corner of The Frederick News-Post on Saturday; it was a doctor, formerly from my medical group, Parkview Medical. I looked forward to learning his views on illegal-immigration.

After reading Margarita Raycheva’s excellent article in The Gazette (May 2, 2012) about the woman who just received an interest free home through Habitat for Humanity I’m left puzzling over what we now consider “needy” and “poor”.

May is going to be a grueling month for Occupy Wall Street protesters around the country. Between May Day protests centering around New York City, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and G-8 protests later in the month, a new hope has arisen for change.

A survey published this week shows that 92 percent of Americans oppose war in Afghanistan with only eight in favor. The longer the situation lingers; the more the support wanes. There have been jokes: Would the last one out turn off the lights?

The Obama-Biden campaign strategists have attempted to simplify the Obama agenda through a cartoon illustration of a woman named Julia at many different stages of her life. What it illustrates quite well is how an American woman – in this case Julia – is dependent on the state to protect her and provide for her through her entire cradle to grave existence.

I began traveling the world as a boy. How fortunate I was. My trips sent me to London, Paris, Moscow, Berlin and even to the Asian Pacific. I met those figures of the time, Winston Churchill, Hitler, Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Barack Obama, our president, half-black, half-Caucasian, with a half-Asian half-sister, is running for re-election. His apparently well funded campaign includes many websites and support groups.

Hear Ye! Here Ye! Citizens of Maryland! It is with great trepidation and tremendous consternation I remind you that Maryland General Assembly will convene, by request of the governor, for a two-day Special Session next week in Annapolis. May God help us all.

Much of the world’s political leaders – and the financial markets – are still trying to fathom the meaning of the narrow defeat of the center-right incumbent French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, by moderate-socialist Francois Hollande in Sunday’s presidential elections.

I returned this week from a wonderful reunion with my high school class of 1961 in Newport News, VA. A common theme was the quality and integrity of teachers and administrators in our school system, which handed us diplomas that had value. We were ready for work or college!

Kuching, Malaysia Borneo – Sometimes, Suriani, Dzul and I cross the river for dinner. There is nothing Biblical in this; and it has become second nature, like getting in your car and going to a diner in the states.

While brandishing aloft their expertise of the U.S. Constitution, America’s right-wing politicians ignore its Bill of Rights. They are so stuck in the 18th Century that – to them – the world must seem flat. Their blatant crusade against same-sex marriages and abortion particularly appalls me.

I got through “Unexceptionalism: a Primer” (barely) and was tempted to footnote most of it, as the author was obviously not edited for content to any degree. " “Not fleshed out” would be a massive understatement!