Archive for August, 2013
Wilmington as the 8th Unfriendliest City in America?
This is the result of one of those Conde Nast Traveler surveys, which asks its readers to rate hotels, resorts, airlines , cruise ships and even cities. There is even a category for Friendliest and Unfriendliest City, and Wilmington made the Unfriendliest City list, ranked at 8
Wilmington, the state’s largest city, didn’t appeal to our survey takers as much as Delaware’s better known beach areas. One reader says he “would rather avoid” the city that is only “necessary to visit on business.” Other readers say Wilmington is a place with “not much charm” that “needs work.”
What do you think about this? The NJ reports on this and got plenty of reaction from locals, mainly of the cheerleading variety.
The Open Thread for Friday, August 2, 2013
Republican governance, a contradiction in terms, or an oxymoron, reached a fever pitch this week as the GOP tried to wrap up the legislative calendar and pass some necessary appropriation bills before going on vacation. Of course they failed…
Jonathan Chait: “Yesterday, the House of Representatives pulled a bill from the floor for lack of votes — the sort of scrambling chaos that occurs routinely in the chamber where John Boehner presides like a trembling child monarch. But this defeat was different. The bill concerned the funding of housing and transportation programs, though its failure represented more than just a programmatic setback, or even a setback for the Republican economic strategy writ large, but the potential ruin of its entire posture toward Obama. Since taking control of the House two and a half years ago, Republicans have fomented a series of crises that seemed to have no end in sight, explicitly refusing to negotiate with Obama and implicitly denying his legitimacy as president. The crumbling of that wall is far from certain, but yesterday a wide crack opened up.”
Andrew Sullivan: “Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the current GOP’s refusal to do anything but propose to slash spending is that “propose” is all they really want to do. They cannot actually stomach the actual cuts their abstract ideology demands. And so what happened yesterday, when the House leadership suddenly yanked a bill slashing transportation and housing spending, is of a piece with the growing incoherence on the right.”
So now the House GOP has revealed to all that not only will they refuse to pass any Democratic budget or spending bill from the Senate, but they also cannot pass any Republican budget or spending bill of their own.
Around the Horn for the Week of July 26-August 1, 2013
Our weekly look at the other blogs in Delaware, of all political stripes.
Retired in Delaware has a message to all the gays who are upset that they do not have marriage equality yet in their states like we do in Delaware: either get to work to change that like we did in Delaware and stop crying, or move. Either way, shut up.
Elizabeth Scheinberg of the Children & Educators First blog has a post up about the Cape Henlopen School District’s recent controversy over offering an elective Bible in History course.
Pat Fish at Delaware Politics tells her story of going up against county government in a zoning and property dispute. Despite the site’s conservative civil war, and its conservative if not batshit politics, I think this story is universal, and it is amazing how similar to New Castle County Sussex County sounds like when it comes to coddling developers.
More inside…
Decision Making In Shades Of Gray – Is It Time?
I’m a decisive person. Give me a choice and I’ll make it – quickly and, in most cases, easily. Raising children means constant decision making. So yeah, I’ve had some practice.
But now I’m facing a decision that’s far from clear cut. Our dog, a black lab mix (aka mutt) is fourteen years old. She has hip dysplasia, a torn ACL (surgery wasn’t an option due to her age, but she is on medication), is partially blind, and almost completely deaf. She also appears confused and easily frightened – and just for fun, she is now having trouble controlling her bowels. Lucky me! None of these symptoms is life threatening. And we won’t make a decision in the name of convenience (altho, some days I want to).
Due to her hip dysplasia/ACL tear, she has trouble getting up from a resting position. She still attempts stairs, but usually ends up stuck, or worse, sliding backwards down them. Trying to keep her downstairs while we go to bed results in her howling loud enough to wake the dead – and the neighbors. Lately, Mr. Pandora has been carrying a 70lb dog up the stairs. At the beach, I’ve been placing pieces of Beggin’ Strips on every other step and supporting her weight as she slowly makes the climb – which we only let her do three times a day. Dog’s gotta go potty.
And here’s where things get tricky.
Late Night Video — The IRS Snipe Hunt of Darrell Issa
This is from the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, who have helpfully condensed the snipe hunt masquerading as a Congressional Hearing to it’s salient points (approx 1.5 minutes). As in there *is* no scandal at the White House for this. The scandal is that Issa wasted alot of Government time and money in order to get this bit of arson done in full view of a TV audience:
GOP Bamboozlement on SNAP Benefits
SNAP benefits have been in the news over the past few weeks as Congress tries to pass a Farm Bill. The Senate passed a bill that made some cuts to the SNAP program, while the House separated SNAP from the Farm Bill and proceeded to cut SNAP so that 5 million people would no longer be eligible for food support. The GOP ( including the locals who don’t have much to say other than to repeat the talking points sent to them each day, and the media, unfortunately) are pushing messaging that tries to link the SNAP program with economic recovery. This messaging ignores some key points….
The Open Thread for Thursday, August 1, 2013
You don’t realize how dependent, and how addicted, you are to the internet and email and just computer databases in general until the servers crash and you have no access to anything. That was me yesterday at work. No email. No internet. No computers. Well, we could turn on our computer and type something, but our network is set up in such a way that we could not print what we typed. So yesterday, my office was literally back in the 60’s and 70’s. We used an old typewriter for letters that had to go out.
Seriously, how was business conducted back then?
Anyway, thanks for Cass for picking up the ball I dropped.
Here is some polling goodness….
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