Delaware casinos bailout

Gambling News Not ALL Bad For Delaware

We're attracting lots of degenerates from NJ and PA who just have to get their fill of betting on NFL games: From the Philly Inquirer:
The total wagered on NFL games in Delaware _ with barely one-tenth the population of New Jersey _ was $31.5 million last year, more than triple the mark set in 2009, according to Vernon Kirk, the director of the Delaware Lottery. Kirk added that the state's share was $5.2 million, with casinos and the state's horsemen also getting a portion of the net revenues after expenses.

Comment Rescue: Liberalgeek on taking over the Demcoratic Party

I'll offer my thoughts under the fold. Here is the comment:
I guess the plan is to win hearts and minds with an air war. Sounds reasonable. If you are clamoring for the Democratic Party to move to the left, but are unwilling to actively participate in politics outside of election day, you will be left with exactly what you already have. The only reason that there are any progressive voices around here is due to the Dean campaign. The beauty in his campaign was the ability to get people involved in the campaign. There were meetups, blogs were started (this one included) and people stepped up to join committees and start organizations (like PDD). A decade has passed since then. Some of us are still involved, some have settled in for armchair bitching and some have dropped out of politics altogether. But if you don’t think that the Howard Dean message was “Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work”, you weren’t paying attention.

Election Day Open Thread [11.4.14]

The thing about election days for me is boredom. You see, I vote first thing in the morning. So now I have nothing to do but wait for the next 13+ hours (besides working at my real job, of course). So here are some good political documentaries for your viewing pleasure to pass the time... Primary--about the primary race between Senators Kennedy and Humphrey in the 1960 Wisconsin Primary The War Room--about the 1992 Clinton campaign Journeys with George--about George W. Bush.
My Green Votes

My Green Votes

At the moment of truth, it was tough. I'm a Democrat and I want Democrats to win, so it took a lot for me to punch the button for the Green Party candidates for Congress. But neither John Carney or Chris Coons gave me any reason to vote for them. Since they are both going to win by miles, the old scare tactics, and the "lesser of two evils" arguments don't seem to apply. They are such prohibitive favorites that I doubt they will even notice this impotent protest, but I feel better. When they return to Congress and vote along with the Republicans to prove their bipartisanship bone fides on the next heinous trade agreement, or more tax cuts for "job creators" I'll be able to say, "I didn't vote for that."

Monday Open Thread [11.3.14] — MY PREDICTIONS for tomorrow.

If you had told Republicans a couple of months ago that they would win Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana and Arkansas, all the while defending Kentucky, which at the time was the only competitive GOP-held seat, they would have been ecstatic. All they would need is just one more seat to win the majority of 51 from the following Democratic competitive seats: Alaska, Iowa, Colorado or North Carolina. The GOP would bet that they would win at least one of them, most likely Alaska. I predict that the GOP will win none of them. And they will lose two of their own seats: Georgia and Kansas. That means, in the end, the Democrats will have 52 seats (51 without the Independent Orman) and the GOP will have 48. I could be completely wrong, and the GOP could win 8 seats. But I am not sensing the deep malaise and depression amongst the Democratic electorate that preceded the 2010 blowout.
A Kent County Example of a Lack of Clean Hands: Sign Stealing in the Recorder of Deeds Race

A Kent County Example of a Lack of Clean Hands: Sign Stealing in the Recorder of Deeds Race

I warned Republicans not to get too triumphant and self righteous last Thursday when it was revealed that Dana Long, the husband of Senator Bethany Hall Long, was caught stealing GOP signs that threatened Delaware with a return to their Depression-causing economic policies. What Mr. Long did was wrong, and he will pay the consequence for his crime. But certain Republican Party officials and commenters here acted like all Democrats engaged in sign stealing, and no Republican ever did. I warned them because, at that moment, I was aware of an incident in Kent County allegedly involving Lamar Gunn, the Republican candidate for Kent County Recorder of Deeds, who allegedly and personally removed the signs of his opponent, the Democratic Recorder of Deeds, Betty McKenna. I commented that I knew some evidence had been turned over to the Delaware State Police at the Troop 3 barracks. We held off on publishing the allegations until I had the evidence in hand and reviewed it. I received it last evening. First, we have a sworn affidavit of the witness, Ronnie Allen. And we have a video....
Saturday Open Thread [11.1.14]

Saturday Open Thread [11.1.14]

Good news on the real Ebola outbreak in West Africa from NPR:
If you want the inside scoop about what's happening with the Ebola outbreak, then just hangout at the Mamba Point Hotel in Monrovia. It's packed with scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, international reporters and a bunch of guys and gals in camouflage from the U.S. Army. They all like to hang out at the bar during lunch time. That's where I met Joel Montgomery, a top epidemiologist at the CDC. We head off to a quiet side room, and he starts telling me about all of his trips to Monrovia. "When I was here in August, not to sound like, making this too colorful but, I mean there were ... literally dead people on the streets," Montgomery says. "And the burial teams were picking up 50 to 60 bodies a day." At that point, the country had been on a devastating path. Clinics were stretched way past capacity. And even getting an Ebola test could take days, or weeks if you lived in the jungle. Samples had to be sent by a series of canoes and motorcycles to the only lab in the country. The epidemic was doubling every few weeks. Some computational biologists were predicting more than 20,000 cases by the end of October. But officials are seeing a very different situation on the ground now. The country has had about 6,500 cases. New cases are on a decline, dropping off by about a 100 a week, on average, since early October.
The American response prompted by President Obama is succeeding. It will be a true American success story.