DL Open Thread: Feb. 18, 2020
Bloomberg Attacks So-Called ‘Bernie Bros’. Bloomberg as victim. Right. If you can’t simply demean the candidate, demean his supporters. How did that work out with Hillary calling out the ‘Deplorables’?
Boy Scouts Declare Bankruptcy. So that they don’t have to pay for allowing pedophiles to run rampant on their watch.
Federal Judges Call Emergency Meeting To Figure Out How To Deal With Barr/Trump Interference. This is not business as usual. Oh, and former federal prosecutors calling for Barr to resign now number over 2000.
Plastic Clogging Landfills B/C Recyclers Don’t Know How To Recycle Plastic:
Many plastic items that Americans put in their recycling bins aren’t being recycled at all, according to a major new survey of hundreds of recycling facilities across the US.
The research, conducted by Greanpeace and released on Tuesday, found that out of 367 recycling recovery facilities surveyed none could process coffee pods, fewer than 15% accepted plastic clamshells – such as those used to package fruit, salad or baked goods – and only a tiny percentage took plates, cups, bags and trays.
The findings confirm the results of a Guardian investigation last year, which revealed that numerous types of plastics are being sent straight to landfill in the wake of China’s crackdown on US recycling exports. Greenpeace’s findings also suggest that numerous products labeled as recyclable in fact have virtually no market as new products.
Trump Will Cheat. I know, Dog Bites Man. But the sheer scope of the cheating is the road map to his reelection.
What do you want to talk about?
Anyone who thinks that the DoJ, IRS, Dept of Defense, Agriculture and any other useful federal agency will not be used by the Trump re-election campaign is dreaming.
I wonder how honest DSWA is when they say, nothing to see here, no problems, all is well. Newark just issued an app to try to get people to understand what they can and can’t toss into single-streamed recycling bins and that the wrong items cause the entire load to be considered contaminated and so must be shunted off to the landfill.
From Axios a few days ago –
“Recycling economics fall apart
Unable to absorb new costs, cities are killing recycling programs just as public concerns about climate change ratchet up, Kim Hart and Erica Pandey report.
China, the biggest buyer of U.S. recycled materials, has closed its doors. Before the ban, the U.S. was exporting around 70% of its waste to China.
Changing consumer behavior has made the trash-sorting process more complex and expensive.
What we’re seeing: Axios paid a visit to a major recycling center in exurban D.C.
The plant — operated by Republic Services in Manassas, Va., in the heart of Prince William County — runs up to 22 hours a day to process the 550 tons of paper, plastic, aluminum and glass that are delivered daily.
Despite the heavy machinery and increased automation, the process is still extremely dependent on humans.
On each shift, 28 “sorters” sift through the material as it rolls down a series of fast-moving conveyer belts. The workers spot and pull out non-recyclable trash from the stream so fast that they look like blackjack dealers.
People throw surprising things — Christmas trees, old carpet, shoes, diapers and even cinder blocks — into their recycling bins.
Many cities are struggling to make recycling work.
About 60 cities have canceled their programs, according to Waste Dive.
Others have stopped accepting certain items. Alexandria, Va., and Katy, Tex., no longer collect glass. Baltimore County recently admitted it hasn’t recycled the glass it collected for the past 7 years.
Costs are skyrocketing: Omaha, Neb., received a single bid for recycling services for $4 million, twice the city’s budget.
What’s needed: Cities have to renegotiate their recycling contracts, many of which are 30 years old, to find a viable business model.
That includes charging consumers for curbside pickup.
What’s next: Researchers are developing robots to more accurately and efficiently complete tedious, dangerous recycling tasks like sorting.”
And
Tracking the future of US recycling policy in Congress
https://www.wastedive.com/news/tracking-the-future-of-us-recycling-policy-in-congress/570778/
Thanks Nancy. Since China changed their policy I’ve been wondering if we were just pretending to re-cycle.
“We don’t use dirty words. This is the US Senate; we just starve little children, we go bomb houses and buses of children, and we give tax breaks to billionaires, but we don’t use dirty words.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/proustmalone/status/1229761632185847809
I strive to do the opposite of the Senate!
Fuck around and find out.
The chicken plant that was shut down for sanitary failures last week has reopened. No specifics as to why it was closed and why it was permitted to reopen after only four days:
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2020/02/18/southern-delaware-chicken-plant-reopens-cause-closure-unknown/4788091002/
Joe DiStefano of the Inquirer has the latest on the DuPont Co., where the CEO and CFO were sacked and Ed Breen is back in charge. (Nothing in TNJ.)
https://www.inquirer.com/business/dupont-breen-doyle-ceo-breakup-20200218.html#loaded
As of December, what’s left of the DuPont Co. had 650 employees in Delaware.
I had the story yesterday! Damnit. If only there were an independent media operation around here. Hmmmm.
“Are they getting a market value or does this have the perception of a sweetheart deal?” he said. “I want to know the details, since it’s not being sold or let to a charitable organization. We’re talking about private business here.”. Kowalko is a hero
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2020/02/18/corporation-service-co-may-buy-state-land-wilmington-building/4764966002/
Sweetheart deal? For an “innovation hub”? Here? Nah, they’d never.
Good stuff here from Jeanne Kuang, Bunker alum.
Once again, our Governor and his staff have decided to conduct business involving Delaware taxpayers’ money behind closed doors. This all too common practice should and must be challenged and stopped.
This particular secret deal is being consummated without any consultation with the entire General Assembly and instead is being slipped into the Bond Bill, which is voted on in the waning hours of the session at the end of June.
Further compounding the lack of transparency is a significant perception of favoritism.
The prospective purchaser of the property is Corporation Service Co., a powerful special interest player described in the News Journal as one of “the state’s most politically influential registered agent company, that for more than a century has helped cement Delaware’s status as a world ‘corporate capital’ by providing businesses with legal, financial and other services.” The public should be aware that CSC acts as a registered agent of record for many LLC license applicants. Many of Delaware’s LLC licensed businesses have been in the news and identified as shell companies that have laundered money, helped fund certain questionable real estate investments (such as Manafort’s Ukrainian connection), engaged in suspected human trafficking (Backpage), and have contributed to a fraudulent abuse of the public trust and shareholders.
In addition, the News Journal has exposed the fact that “the proposal in the Bond Bill is worded to allow Delaware officials to bypass its ordinary process for selling state property. State law requires that a commission check that no other government department needs the property before declaring it surplus, and then determine the best way to sell or transfer it to ensure it’s used for ‘a public purpose.’ The Governor’s proposal instead directs DelDOT to sell the lot to the ‘current lessee.’ CSC signed a lease for the lot in December, contingent on its purchase of the office building.”
OMB spokesman Bert Scoglietti’s claim that this practice is “not uncommon” belies the reality that most state property transfers approved in recent Bond Bills have been to another government agency or a non-profit organization.
As one of 62 elected members of the General Assembly, It seems obvious that this proposal transferring ownership of a taxpayer-owned property without submitting details to all members of the General Assembly and bypassing the ordinary process for selling state property is an attempt to avoid transparent and good government.
If these types of special interest deals with private corporations are not conducted in the full view of the public and the public’s elected representatives, then we will never have the public’s trust nor should we. This blatant attempt to place an important public interest proposal in the Bond Bill, a piece of legislation that is voted on at the very end of the legislative session, is not normal nor justified. I am urging the Bond Committee to request a full review of this proposal and that all legislators be engaged and informed of its nuances.
Representative John Kowalko
I’m officially breaking with the Dem Party. If Bloomberg is the Dem nominee, I’ll not be pulling a lever for president. Feel me, all you Dem faint hearts who believe today that Bloomberg is the only Dem who can defeat Pmurt, fuck you.
Each of the last three nights I’ve spent two hours watching “Washington” documentary on the history Channel. God, it has reinforced how disgusted I am with the piece of shit human and his slutty wife occupy the People’s House of my country today. I’m praying that just under nine months from now we all show up to VOTE this asshole out of office!
The Scouts’ National bankruptcy reorganization is actually to ensure that all the victims get some money in an organized manner and that it’s able to remain standing at the end of the day – probably in a much different, much smaller form. If the first trial gets a verdict that wipes out its bank accounts and insurance coverage, then no one else gets squat because there’s nothing to give.
Its policies on protecting kids are much tougher than they were 30 years ago. The membership today is hugely different than it was a year ago – LGBT Scouts can join, girls can join, and the incredibly powerful LDS Church which dominated the national leadership for decades is gone.
In five or so years, it will look hugely transformed by virtue of kids today taking ownership and fixing the mistakes of the past.