Friday Open Thread [6.21.13]
Senator Chris Coons has been appointed to the Senate Appropriations Committee. This is a big deal for Senator Coons -- the last time a Delawarean was on this committee was in 1973, when Caleb Boggs was last on the committee. We congratulate him on this appointment:
"The Appropriations Committee offers a unique opportunity to make a difference for Delawareans on an extraordinary range of issues, and to ensure that the federal government is making the wisest, most efficient investments in our future," Senator Coons said. "My priorities on Appropriations will be consistent with my work in the Senate so far — helping businesses grow and create jobs; supporting innovative research; giving law enforcement the tools to keep our communities safe; and building a circle of protection around the most vulnerable in our society. I am excited to join Chairwoman Mikulski and Vice Chairman Shelby on the committee, and grateful to Leader Reid for his confidence in my ability to make a difference here."
QOTD — Howard Dean Running for President in 2016
Netroots Nation is underway and Howard Dean made some news early on -- he'd consider running for President again. Particularly if he thinks the field needs to be pushed towards more popular positions:
Thursday Open Thread [6.20.13]
Exodus International, the Christian ministry known for its "pray away the gay" therapy for homosexuals, issued an apology "for years of undue judgment by the organization and the Christian Church…
Goombahs and goodbyes – R.I.P. James Gandolfini
I was shocked to hear the news that James Gandolfini, best known for his role as North Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, died Wednesday of an apparent heart attack while on holiday in Rome.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., June 20, 2013
Spidey Sense working overtime as we enter the last five days of legislative session. We know that some kind of closed door deal has been cut on HB 165, but…
N-n-noooooh!! ‘Tony Soprano’ Sleeps With the Fishes
James Gandolfini reportedly dead of a heart attack suffered while he was in Italy.
Actor James Gandolfini died suddenly after a suspected heart attack while on holiday in Rome to attend the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily. He was 51. Gandolfini will be forever known for his portrayal of mob boss Tony Soprano on the seminal HBO series The Sopranos, which eventually won him 3 Emmy Awards and a $1,000,000-an-episode paycheck. Overweight, balding, rough around the edges with a thick New Jersey accent, Gandolfini was the opposite of a marquee leading man, destined to be a character actor. Yet he proved through his masterful acting that he could make Tony Soprano sexy and smart, towering and powerful.More inside....
The Westboro Baptist Church Comes to Delaware to Spread Their Hatred
Yes, folks, you know your agenda of social equality has ARRIVED when the Westboro Rat Bastards show up to protest. This is from a Facebook entry:
Everyone in Delaware loves roads, until they have to pay for them
Here's a fun game. Find someone wearing one of those yellow "Don't Tread on Me" t-shirts and start complaining about the quality of Delaware's roads. I'm sure you'll hear a mouthful about potholes, uneven payment and complaints about traffic.
Wednesday Open Thread [6.19.13]
I have been ambivalent on the proposed construction of the Keystone Pipeline. It was one of those balancing issues where protection of the environment went up against concerns for new sources of energy and jobs. If you forced me to decide, I would have decided against it only because the US was not the recipient of the oil. It may just be me, but if we are going to build the thing, and give up our land, and take the risk that we are going to damage forever our environment in nearly half the states, then I want the freaking oil to stay in the US for our use and not export it to China.
Well, what opponents of the Pipeline long feared would happen to US if the pipeline was built has happened to Canada....
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 19, 2013
The Great Grubby Gold Rush of 2013 has begun. Millions for an Archmere mansion(?), $8 mill for racinos w/no strings attached(?), more $$'s down the aglands preservation rabbit hole(?), $2.2 mill to buy a Sussex hunting preserve(?). A disproportionate number of these requests for downstate projects. The News-Journal covers it here. And the racino $8 mill rationalizations here. Enjoy (or despair of) Bloviator Colin Bonini's contradictions within mere paragraphs of each other. Must be Bond Bill time.
The idea of giving $8 mill to the racinos that were already given legal monopoly status with no licensing fees and slot machines video lotteries subsidized by the state is brain-dead. What other casinos in this country received such a sweetheart deal? As Al Mascitti pointed out on our show yesterday, it's not our fault that idiots at Dover Downs somehow decided that theirs would be a 'destination resort' that required hotels and restaurants. Nothing says destination resort quite like anonymous concrete strip malls and traffic lights every 20 feet. Why in hell should they get even a penny of bailout money? In this case, true to Markell form, this lame cash dump doesn't even require the racinos to forestall layoffs, which is just what they're threatening to do if they don't get relief. Markell is simply doubling-down on someone else's bad bet. With our money. Let's see...$8 mill earmarked for racinos, $7.5 mill pissed away on agland preservation, you could more than pay for a 1% increase for state employees with that money. Jack, Jack?