DL Open Thread: Sunday, November 10, 2024
I kinda buried this story a couple of days ago, but it deserves better. As do the people that Purzycki and the cops are trying to roust out of Buccini/Pollinville:
Last month, Wilmington officials and the ACLU of Delaware settled a lawsuit over the city’s policing of homeless people – an agreement that barred local police from arresting individuals who had asked strangers for money or who had lingered in public areas.
But, in the wake of the settlement, police appear to have taken a new strategy, one that critics say is unfairly targeting society’s most vulnerable populations.
Less than an hour after the ACLU announced its deal with the city last month, police were outside the offices of a local homeless services organization, called the Friendship House, which also had been a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Officers had been called there following reports of people doing illegal activity on sidewalk benches that sat just outside the doors of the Friendship House.
What followed was a tense exchange between police and officials of the Friendship House and of the church that owned the property.
Police asked to remove the benches, which for more than 30 years had provided respite for homeless individuals to drink coffee or wait on an open restroom at the center.
But the leaders of the organization and of the church refused.
Officers responded by threatening to shut down the Friendship House and cease its operations, according to Kim Eppehimer, executive director of the Friendship House.
Then, they left.
About an hour later, city officials returned with tools and a police escort, and promptly cut the benches from the sidewalk, trucking them away.
They placed cones over the nearly inch-long pieces of rebar that were left protruding up from the concrete on the sidewalk.
This is unconscionable. Although something you would expect from Mayor Mike and his Elsmere-based police force. We know that dimwit Carney doesn’t have an iota of empathy. So, it’s up to us. I recommend that you at least do what Al does–donate to Friendship House. Shout-outs to Al and Joe Connor for keeping the story alive.
Just a question: Does anybody on Wilmington City Council give a shit? Or do they too view the homeless as inconvenient nuisances interfering with Buccini/Pollin’s ‘vision’?
Unions About To Get What They Deserve. White House prepares to shed Union Label:
Joseph R. Biden Jr. promised to be the most pro-labor president in history. He embraced unions more overtly than his predecessors in either party, and filled his administration with union supporters.
Labor seemed to respond accordingly. Filings for unionization elections spiked to their highest level in a decade, as did union victories. There were breakthroughs at companies like Starbucks and Amazon, and unions prevailed in organizing a major foreign auto plant in the South. A United Automobile Workers walkout yielded substantial contract gains — and images of Mr. Biden joining a picket line.
As Donald J. Trump prepares to retake the White House, labor experts expect the legal landscape for labor to turn sharply in another direction.
Based on Mr. Trump’s first term and his comments during the campaign — including his praise for Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, for what he said was Mr. Musk’s willingness to fire striking workers — these experts say the new administration is likely to bring fewer challenges to employers who fight unions.
They bought him, he’ll break them.
Is It Too Late To Replace Sonia Sotomayor? Probably. RBG Part Deux. Is this what they call ‘doomscrolling’?
Rachel Baiman’s Is The Best Music Diary Out There. Excerpts:
Friday:
6:30 PM: Running around the campus of Virginia Tech. It’s beautiful, and I’m trying to feel normal but keep remembering the mass shooting that happened here when I was in high school.
7:30 pm: Back at hotel, shoveling down dinner. Frantic call from the venue, their merch volunteers need my pricing and square login!!!
7:45 pm: At the venue trying to explain merch to an army of vacant-eyed teenagers who are definitely required to be here for a class about….merch sales?
10:00 pm: show went great. Back at the merch table where the children have been replaced by one man whose hands are visibly shaking as he tries to swipe cards in the unruly square reader. I jump in and the line starts moving again.
Saturday:
5:00 PM: We arrive at Union Transfer in Philly. The LV soundcheck is in full swing. The band is unhappy and the monitor engineer is having a tantrum. I stand at my mic and try not to add to the chaos.
5:15 PM: The monitor engineer yells “Fine! We will start over!” And dramatically pulls all the faders down to zero with his arm. Everyone stares open-mouthed as he says “Kick drum please”.
Help a musician out. Subscribe.
What do you want to talk about?
To defund FOX News, cancel MSNBC immediately.
If you are watching MSNBC, you are paying for a bundle that also includes FOX News. So cancel your cable TV, or your YouTube TV, Sling TV, or Hulu Live.
Life is better without cable TV.
Cable TV long gone here, ROKU is enough for me and costs nothing.
Everything at this point is sorta revisionist history. But the case Ezra Klein makes is worth reading–at least by me:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/10/opinion/trump-harris-presidential-election-midterms.html
The Delaware Way is alive and well.
Just two months ago, the Auditor found that Mimi Brown stole taxpayer money, taking double pay for the hours she worked: “We […] found that state Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown, an official employed part-time by [Del Tech] received compensation for coincident time.”
I guess stealing doesn’t disqualify you from becoming Speaker of the House.
(In fact, she may have even been getting triple pay. She also works for UD too, which refused to provide their records.)
https://www.capegazette.com/article/audit-reveals-double-dipping-elected-officials/281156
More on the newly-minted leadership team tomorrow.
It will be (a) true, and (b) not flattering.
Do we HAVE to wait until tomorrow? Waiting with bated breath here!
Yep. Article’s written. Even had a couple of people read it in case I got anything wrong.
Don’t think it will under-deliver.
Today is the 49th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior with the loss of all 29 aboard.
https://delawareliberal.net/2019/11/21/song-of-the-day-11-21-gordon-lightfoot-the-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald/
My sources tell me that the party is trying to have Panama Papered Jeff Bullock nominated to replace Sarah McBride in the special election.
Heh. Going out on a limb–never happening.
Jeff Bullock would never allow himself to be that accountable to Delaware’s citizens.
No but apparently Carney is worried about allies in Dover
NOW he’s worried?
He apparently was convinced Bethany would win and became very worried when she lost.
Exhibiting his trademark vision and judgment to the last.
Johnny boy wil wish he lost by March and I’m here for it😎
That’s a way to drive me to vote for an R.
I think it’s probably best for Delaware if Elon’s number one target – Jeff Bullock – is somewhere else. The senate will never get anything done.
Difficult to think of someone less interested in the people of Delaware and progress than Jeff bullock. A rare person whose heart looks like he does – disgusting.