Hijacking a Comment to Create an Open Thread [9.14.14]

Stealing this from Geezer in the Sunday Daily Delawhere thread:
I'll treat this as the open thread so I can post this link to Thomas Frank's piece from Salon, which is the best thing I've read so far this morning. http://www.salon.com/2014/09/14/all_these_effing_geniuses_ezra_klein_expert_driven_journalism_and_the_phony_washington_consensus/
John Manifold responds Geezer's post of the Frank article with this:
Thomas Frank : Ezra Klein Rousseau : Voltaire

Ken Simpler Thinks That Seniors Are Stealing From You

He argues in this piece over at Town Square Delaware that seniors who are taking advantage of Medicare Part D subsidies and co-pays are stealing. To be fair, the analogies and even the basic metaphor here are incredibly tortured. Starting with trying to make the hold up a bunch of convenience stores somehow the equivalent of presenting an insurance card to get a discount on medications, then moving on to claim that savings from the Medicare Part D aren't savings, then working at trying to wrap around all of it around no free lunches, government taking, the NJ needing to report better and Astra Zeneca laying people off. (This was sent to be by a GOP pal, who noted in his email to me "You will have a field day with this!")

Wednesday Open Thread [9.10.14]

Today is a major protest by some of the Internet's favorite sites to show users what an internet without net neutrality would look like:
You'll find spinning wheels at the top of Netflix, Etsy, Foursquare and other top sites today, as they take part in Internet Slowdown Day. While sites won't slow down for real, participating Internet companies will be covered with the symbolic loading icons "to remind everyone what an Internet without net neutrality would look like," the organizers write on their website. It's all part of a push to get the Federal Communications Commission to enact stronger protections for net neutrality. "We're going to reach millions and millions of people who have never heard the words "net neutrality" before," writes Fight for the Future's Evan Greer. The group advocates for tougher net neutrality protections.
Interesting, I haven't noticed the slowdown yet -- have you?
The Polls Are Closed! Primary Election Results Thread

The Polls Are Closed! Primary Election Results Thread

The real news of the day is that turnout seemed to have been abysmally light all over. Even the NCC DOE took to Facebook to say how light the turnout was and to urge people to vote. But the polls are closed now and candidates should be getting the final numbers of the day. Are you working on a campaign today? What was it like out there?
Delaware Liberal Primary Endorsements

Delaware Liberal Primary Endorsements

Took long enough, right? We're ready with our endorsements, after a simple vote. We did not require a unanimous decision to endorse, but I think we pretty nearly were unanimous on these. This is who your charming and knowledgeable Editors endorse for tomorrow's primary:

Monday Open Thread [9.8.14]

As states restrict the ability of women to get legal abortions, there will be more stories like this:
A Pennsylvania woman has been sentenced to up to 18 months in prison for obtaining so-called abortion pills online and providing them to her teenage daughter to end her pregnancy. Jennifer Ann Whalen, 39, of Washingtonville, a single mother who works as a nursing home aide, pleaded guilty in August to obtaining the miscarriage-inducing pills from an online site in Europe for her daughter, 16, who did not want to have the child. Whalen was sentenced on Friday by Montour County Court of Common Pleas Judge Gary Norton to serve 12 months to 18 months in prison for violating a state law that requires abortions to be performed by physicians.[...] Whalen told authorities there was no local clinic available to perform an abortion and her daughter did not have health insurance to cover a hospital abortion, the Press Enterprise newspaper of Bloomsburg reported.
And this is what the War on Women looks like -- criminalizing what shouldn't even be the state's business.

Sunday Open Thread [9.7.14]

It's been GOTV weekend here in Delaware and there are still races that are worth talking about -- witness Mike Protack running against Janet Kilpatrick for NCCo Council proudly waving the flag for Metropolitan government (joining the governments of Wilmington and NCCo):
If elected, Protack said he would push for a metropolitan government in which the county would take over most functions from the city of Wilmington, which he called "a giant anchor" for New Castle County. He claimed without county intervention the government would be bankrupt, like Detroit, within five years. "It could be a shining diamond, so it's really a shame," he said. "We need to save it from itself."
Oh my.

Late Night Video — The List of Rules for Women

The incomparable Jay Smooth works in this new video (about 2 and a half minutes long) at trying to round up the current set of rules for women so that women can get their humanity respected. After trying to grapple with the ever changing rules that (mostly) men prescribe for women to be able to make their way unassaulted in the world for awhile, he does note that it might be easier to provide a list for men:"Hello, Asshole. Women are human beings." BAM! Still, let the mansplaining begin.
It’s Labor Day and Someone Forgot About Winning Hearts and Minds

It’s Labor Day and Someone Forgot About Winning Hearts and Minds

Today was the Labor Day Parade in Downtown Wilmington -- a long-standing tradition of organized labor, their families and supporters and (during an election year) politicians who want to be seen supporting labor marching down King St. This year, the union rat was also on parade courtesy of the Building Trades (I'm told -- I was not at the parade this year) and this year, they put the face of John Kowalko on it -- in protest of his not supporting the Newark Data Center. Pretty despicable behavior -- especially towards someone who is routinely supportive of labor issues in Dover. Even more delusional when you factor in the fact that Rep. Kowalko was actually representing his *constituents* in the Data Center matter. Even union members can get that sometimes the people that actually vote in an area are pretty important to hear -- and in the long run, it isn't as though they'd be able to replace him with someone who is more committed to labor issues. I'll also point out that these folks taking the cowards' route in criticizing Kowalko today haven't been able to find anyone who could credibly run against him -- and seriously labor folks, if you think you can get someone more supportive of your agenda AND make those residents happy, then man up and get that person to run against Kowalko. Otherwise, what you did today was not worthy of what today is supposed to represent and it was just basic bullshit. A picture (thanks to my anonymous source) of today's labor bullshit is here: