DL Open Thread: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
First, some thoughts on tomorrow’s scheduled Delaware City meeting on the proposed data center. We will almost certainly be able to figure out what Speaker Mimi’s and Nicole ‘No Longer’ Poore’s agenda is. We’ll know, in part, not only by who attends, but who wasn’t invited to attend. All we’ve been told is that Starwood will make a presentation. Did the two legislators invite county officials, including Land Use? Did they invite anybody from DNREC to address the environmental implications of the project?
Look, it’s possible that their motives are, um, pure. They realize that they were AWOL to the ongoing pollution at the refinery until they had no choice but to schedule a public meeting. Which, thankfully, resulted in the passage of HB 210, which had been languishing in the House until Speaker Mimi was exposed. She and Poore quickly signed onto the bill as co-sponsors, and Mimi put it on an agenda.
It’s at least equally possible that both legislators have dollar signs in their heads. After all, the Speaker has engaged in ‘triple-dipping’ w/o being held accountable for hours worked or not worked, according to the Auditor’s Report. And Poore got that bullshit job with that bullshit agency Jobs For Delaware Graduates virtually before the ink on her Certificate of Election was dry. There are already documented cases of elected and appointed officials in other venues with similar proposals having sold out their offices for financial gain.
I’m sure that Spotlight Delaware, at least, will cover this meeting. It’s so important that perhaps the News-Journal can spare somebody from the all-encompassing Restaurants Opening/Closing beat to attend (maybe they can do a puff piece on Crabby Dick’s while they’re at it).
Ho-kay, back to the rest of the real Bizarro World. ‘The Melania Trump Opera House’. ‘Greenhouse Gas Is Good Gas’. ‘Obama Tried To Rig The 2020 Election With Russian Assistance’.
Will Bunch: CBS Enabling Fascism. I agree:
Whatever the bottom-line rationale for getting rid of Colbert, the perception that a dictatorial Trump is crushing not just critical journalism but now even comedy is ultimately more important. Because that’s exactly the message that Trump wants to send to anyone even thinking about digging into his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — or coming up with the killer joke.
Colbert’s ouster is, after all, just one more exclamation point on an authoritarian capture of the American mainstream media. Another is last week’s vote to federally defund the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), which (despite occasional driveway cringe moments) has been a crucialsource of journalism, especially on the local level.
More tactics include other ludicrous lawsuits, denying access, and maybe the most insidious: billionaire owners, or purchasers of major outlets, who are simply simpatico with American autocracy. Journalist Aaron Ruper called it “oligarchic solidarity” — that rather than the conventional wisdom that media overlords are bowing down to Trump, they are actually cheering the death of liberty along with him, with thunderous applause.
That’s why the end of Colbert feels much, much worse than, say, a Smothers Brothers-type move, despite the surface similarities. Too many Big Media owners today don’t just want an LBJ or a J. Edgar Hoover off their back, but they want to proactively join the regime in piling on the masses. There’s no Murrow or Cronkite with the clout or the swagger to knife through the corporate baloney. This is not your father’s abusive military-industrial complex, but a 21st century dictatorship that has captured the mainstream media.
Josh Marshall On The MLK Files…That Trump Just Ordered Released:
We should start by noting that the King files were overwhelmingly the product of illegal surveillance that then FBI-director J. Edgar Hoover ordered to get blackmail information on King either to discredit him, force him out of public life, or, in specific cases, drive him to suicide. So it was anything but disinterested surveillance, and FBI agents had a huge incentive to include rumor, innuendo and more, whether it was true or not. With that said, King was also what used to be known as a womanizer. This is simply a fact of history along with King being one of the giants and heroes of the American 20th century. We know this mainly from the FBI files that were released decades ago — which is to say that we know from illegal surveillance that was conducted with the specific intent of neutralizing him as a leader of the civil rights movement.
I can only imagine that Trump ordered this with the idea that people can say “Ahha! Many prominent men had subpar sexual morality! Ahha! Ahha!” Either that, or to somehow cast Trump as another freedom fighter who the deep state is trying to bring down with sexual peccadillos. It is very important to note that I don’t think there’s ever been evidence or the suggestion that King’s paramours were anything but adult and willing. The part of this that is so wild is that I don’t think Epstein was really top of mind in the news world Monday morning, certainly not as much as was any day last week. But Trump put it right back there with the King materials. It’s the most obvious thing: releasing any trove of documents just reminds people of the trove Trump is moving heaven and earth not to release. I don’t think anything is more obvious. It’s like a quick fix that deepens the craving.
I Know That Genocide Is So ‘Last Week’. Still:
Doctors and medical staff in Gaza say their increasing hunger and the lack of available food is beginning to leave them too weak to provide urgent medical care to patients inside hospitals full of malnourished and injured civilians.
Almost a dozen medical staff across the territory have told the Guardian and the Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) of their increasingly desperate search for food and declining physical health due to hunger.
“They are in a state of extreme exhaustion. Some have fainted in the operating rooms,” said Dr Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, who said that like the people of Gaza, staff had not received any aid or had any meals in the past 48 hours.
“Medical services will be affected because our staff will not be able to hold out any longer in the face of this famine,” he added.
Many of the doctors and medical practitioners who sent messages to the Guardian did not want to be named as they feared being targeted by the Israeli military.
“Today I have been on a 24-hour shift,” said one physician at al-Shifa hospital. “At [the hospital] they are supposed to give us some rice for each shift, but today they told us there was none. My colleague and I [treated] 60 neurosurgery patients and right now I can’t even stand.”
Spoiler Alert: Israel continues to commit genocide. Back to your lives, already in progress.
Suxco’s Development ‘Domino Effect’. Well-reasoned and on-point:
After six years of observing Sussex County’s land use approval process, I am appalled by how the cumulative impact is disregarded and how the domino effect justifies more development.
Never a concern during the approval process, the cumulative impact’s ugly side surfaces when it is too late to fix. Some huge upzoning applications are assessed and approved one by one, without considering the impact of other nearby projects in the queue — against the opposition of the state planning office due to a lack of infrastructure funding and environmental concern.
Some will add tens of thousands of daily vehicle trips, threatening to more than double the current traffic where the newly widened road capacity is already tested. Many projects near waterbodies will destroy the area’s critical natural buffers, increasing flooding risk; many roads to evacuation routes will be flooded. (The Delaware Department of Transportation identified 3,000-plus road segments in Sussex County as “frequently flooded.”)
There are some new members on Sussex County Council. Will they address this? BTW, I hereby invite Eul Lee to join us as our Suxco correspondent.
Delaware Farms Out Defense Of SB 21 To–Meta’s Attorneys. Wonder what their hourly rate is:
The heavyweights of Silicon Valley typically call on a handful of elite law firms to carry out their high-dollar court fights.
Now, the State of Delaware is turning to two of those same firms to defend the constitutionality of a controversial new corporate law that legislators passed earlier this year amid escalating assaults on Delaware’s corporate brand.
Oh, the hourly rate?:
And the state appears to be getting quite a bargain with one of the firms – a $100,000 flat fee to write legal briefs and to argue what could become a landmark case before the Delaware Supreme Court, according to contract documents signed by the state and obtained by Spotlight Delaware.
Gee, wonder if this was part of the deal when the legislation was being considered: “Welcome To Delaware: A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Of META”. I’m reminded of the fictional huge corporation in ‘Rocko’s Modern Life’: “Welcome to Conglom-O–We Own You”.
What do you want to talk about?
If anyone needed any indication of where Matt Meyer’s interests lie, look no further than SB 21 and his mission to thwart rent stabilization in Wilmington. He doesn’t give a shit about people struggling to get by in this state. All he cares about is making him and his rich friends more money. He’s only marginally better than John Carney because he acts like he cares about the LGBTQIA community and our immigrant neighbors. Dude is a weasel, and it’s only going to get worse.
Given the wide disparity in issues involved in rent stabilization vs. an infrastructure-sapping capital project, I’m not sure your observation applies.
The wide-ranging impacts of all of these issues is exactly the point I’m trying to make, but thanks for your typical and predictable put-down.
It wasn’t a put-down. But if you want to talk about predictable, your inchoate whinging qualifies.
Ah, yes, the even more predictable follow-up comment that is always an attempt to assert your nonexistent superiority. Formulaic.
Take note: You not agreeing with someone doesn’t necessitate that the other person is incorrect. That said, when someone ALWAYS believes that they are correct, they are, in fact, not so. No amount of insults will change that, no matter how cleverly worded those insults might be.
Nothing I said indicated anything you’re inferring. I pointed out that Meyer not being in favor of rent control doesn’t necessarily say anything about what he’ll do in the case of the data center, which was the subject under discussion.
Everything else is some baggage you brought to the discussion. If you want to make this personal you’ll be out of here like shit through a goose, because I don’t see you adding anything worthwhile to the discussion.
I’m sure we’ll be treated to Meyer’s position on the data center soon enough.
As for “everything else?” Tangoes aren’t solo performances.
Be well, Alby. Happy Friday Eve.
I’m guessing we won’t know it for a while. I still don’t see how they can generate the amount of electricity required, and there’s no upside for him to pick a side. Maybe after these folks get their ears blistered tonight he’ll do the popular thing, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
The thing is, I agree with you about Meyer. I just don’t know that it will apply in this case.
It was said before the election, including by me, that he was a poor choice but the least bad of a poor lot. He was backed by a pro-business coalition, which pissed off the Democrats in the pro-union coalition. In the case of this proposal, the pro-union Democrats will push for it hard, because that’s what construction unions do, the public be damned.
Will Meyer look at this as a way to mend fences with the part of the party that hates him? Or will he go with public opinion, which I expect to be solidly against this (though the organizers will pack public comment events to mask this)?
Most people are unaware of how much those unions wag the Democratic Party dog in this state. The myth that unions are liberal actors on anything except their own pay and job security dies hard.
For only a few jobs, there has to be a better solution than a data center! I hope we put our citizens, land use and infaststucture ahead of this! El Somnambule seems to have his microscope on the situation. Legislature violators of government regulations need to be punished. Especially for getting paid for being chairmen of committees and don’t have committee meeting. What’s up with that? Making people CHAIRPERSONS and they don’t have a committee meeting. That’s slight of hand. It needs to be addressed.
The chief issue to be addressed is infrastructure. Where will the electricity come from? Where will the water come from?
What’s the benefit to the state, and don’t tell me jobs. Construction unions will be all for it, but like all construction jobs it’s temporary work. The full-time staffing has been touted as 120, which means it would be less than 100.
For 100 jobs we have to go through everything that would be involved? Yeah, right.
From a welfare-of-the-state standpoint, there’s no reason to support this proposal.
Don’t think they get paid extra for chairing House or Senate committees.
They DO get paid extra for serving on the Joint Finance Committee, Bond Bill, and Sunset.
BTW, some people are awarded chairmanships by ensuring that good legislation is NOT considered in their committees.
What is the long term plan for this huge data center? As with all technology this will be obsolete the moment its finished. dont we have enough dead and decaying “big job producers” strewn about the state? Astra Zeneca? Bloom? Fisker? etc. Just put in another huge distribution center. they take up minimal natural resources, always have job openings and can be demolished pretty easily. 10 years from now that data center will be a huge blight
Quick question: Is anybody reading here going tomorrow?
And, if so, can you report back?
The county finance meeting yesterday was a doozy. Lots of enraged public comment. Was council asleep at the wheel?
How much you wanna bet Meyer KNEW that the commercial tax burden was going to lower so dramatically and the residential would increase so dramatically, but he decided to keep it hush hush because he didn’t want it to hurt his primary chances?
Someone knew at the county. Someone knew…and we need answers.
Thanks! Any county officials care to comment?
BTW, here’s is the latest ‘This Is The Delaware Way’ podcast, featuring both the RD 20 Special Election and the ‘energy-hog’ data center proposal:
http://thisisthedelawareway.com/episode/558dc5ab/data-center-hogs-how-to-run-for-office
Definitely worth a listen.
One of the unacknowledged reasons employers forced people back into offices was exactly this: The valuations of commercial properties tanked, costing governments a lot of money. Cities all over the country felt the effect.
The drop in commercial property value was not a secret. Anyone who understood the real estate markets could have figured this out.
The solution is to raise the rate on commercial properties, which nobody on offer would have done. Meyer sucks, but so did the alternatives.
That’s pretty much what Rick Jensen was saying yesterday as well.
I doubt Rick would be for increasing commercial tax rates.
No, this was in response to Meyer knowingly suppressing details about assessment outcomes to better this electoral chances.
Suppressing how? The bulk of the taxes are school taxes. The county does not set them.
Seems like a manufactured outrage to me.
you gotta take that up with Nunya. It was just odd to me how closely the talking points aligned.
Rhetorical question.
I am assuming that with the large increase in residential tax increase for schools that there will be no more referendums. Because if they attempt it I can’t imagine one passing for a very long time. Nearly everyone i know, including all my wifes teacher friends, said they will not vote for another refendum.
Off-topic, but I wish somebody would explain for me what the sides on the Christina School Board are actually fighting about. What is one side trying to do or failing to do that the other side doesn’t like?
But that doesn’t equate to more revenue for districts. It’s just that the tax burden was shifted to residents FROM commercial. Districts will not be experiencing a windfall because of this. What we need to do is clearly allow school districts to SPLIT THE RATE as has been mentioned in some circles the last few days. Applying a higher rate to commercial and a lower rate to residential.
In no sane world should Chase have a tax bill $600,000 less than what it was the year before. That’s literally dozens of jobs in the Christina School District that would be lost if the taxes weren’t thrown on the backs of residential homeowners.
Well do you think Finance Chair George Smiley was a fan of Meyer? Pretty sure he quietly supported Ramone. This went down the way it did because of the lawsuit, not any politics. Caneco brought up the idea last night of raising commercial tax rates. Yet to see if it goes anywhere.
On the data center… isn’t this why we have the Coastal Zone Act? Where, specifically are they proposing to build this thing?