cassandra_m
"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm
cassandra_m's Latest Posts
Late Night Video — Police Should Dress for the Job They Have, Not for the Job They Want
John Oliver takes on the militarization of the police as well as the serious lack of adult supervision in the Ferguson business. This is about 15 minutes long, but it is well worth it:
QOD — Challenging Hillary for the Democratic Nomination
Who could do it? Andrew Sabl at Samefacts asks this question, and sets up what any challenger to Hillary Clinton (presuming again that she is running) would need to look like:
Who Gets Casino Money?
The other day, I listened to a story from WHYY on Delaware legislators who get money fron casino interests. The report they referenced noticed the recent casino bailout and wanted to see if there was any clear connection to votes for the casino interests with contributions from those interests. They led with their conclusion: Legislators who supported Del. casino ‘bailout’ received more industry cash. Referencing a recent report from the Follow the Money website called Ante Up: Gambling and Casino Contributions in Delaware, they reported:
Late Night Video — Real Time with Robin Williams and Joe Biden
Love how Biden crosses himself when Williams gets wound up. And Jeff Gannon! Talk about a flashback:
Saturday Open Thread [8.16.14]
![Saturday Open Thread [8.16.14]](http://api.ning.com/files/Y9Yc5qVXVzRezeggJkopkLVaERlXeOskMJGJNVZbRZFATGr*V2hK3nEGZdFypL03Uey91ckbnsleNoOorZlYEIbZpTsGi0xT/IfTheyGunnedMeDownHeartbreak_Rell.jpg "Saturday Open Thread [8.16.14]")
Have you been following the #iftheygunnedmedown campaign? As the conversation has evolved this week about how Americans see its black men, it is black men (and women) who have taken to Twitter to ask the question: Which picture of me would the media and authorities use to represent me if I was gunned down by the police today? Here are a few of them:
MORE BREAKING (x2): Pictures of Flowers at the Patriots Game
The NJ released video today of conversation with Erika Benner with her explanation of the Patriots tickets. Click through for the video. As of this writing, there is the video, no other reporting by the NJ. The much rumored picture of Chip Flowers at the game is shown here. Benner claims that Flowers not only knew about the charge on her state card for these tickets, he told her the charge was allowable since they were doing some State business.
The Disgrace of Ferguson
Take a look at this picture:
I’m old enough to remember this kind of image being routine from news stories from Central and South America or the Eastern Block countries. We used to see those images as the disgrace of these dictatorships, where they have to point their armies at their citizens in order to maintain their power.
That picture is from Ferguson. This St. Louis suburb can afford to equip its police as if they were an occupying army. And they are delivering on the authoritarian behavior of an occupying army.
Late Night Video — Robin Williams, RIP
I’m really stunned at this evening’s news that Robin Williams died today, apparently of suicide. Many years ago I saw him in a Kansas City club — the second show. He was on a tear, and the audience was falling off of their chairs laughing. By the time they got to the club’s closing time, Williams had a ton of energy and the audience was game to stay — so the owner closed the club, charged people $5 or something (so he could claim it was a private club since he was keeping the bar open) and Williams went on for at least two hours more. And it was really interactive too — not only was he conversing with patrons (and then riffing off of the conversations), but he took suggestions for routines. Mostly from Shakespeare. It was utterly hysterical and really smart — you could tell that he knew the work he was riffing off of. I can’t imagine what he has been experiencing, but I know depression can be brutal. Even if you are someone that the world loved so very much.
Thursday Open Thread [8.7.14]
Delaware has convened a study panel to see if there is a way to get electricity to you cheaper than Delmarva can sell it. See if you can spot the irony:
Electricity aggregation programs, already in use in some states, allow governments or communities to negotiate for and buy power in a block for residents, with the group potentially able to get a better deal than the “standard offer” available from utilities.
In Delaware, the block could be as large as 900 megawatts annually, a deal that [Sen. Colin] Bonini said could draw spirited bidding from large and “very smart” suppliers.
Delmarva Power officials said they still were puzzling over the proposal Wednesday, when a study committee chaired by Secretary of State Jeffrey W. Bullock held an initial public meeting in Dover. The committee agreed to hire a consultant to assess potential gains, prospective supplier markets and other considerations.
“There are other jurisdictions throughout the country that have looked at retail purchase energy models both for gas and electric,” Bonini said. “We’re looking specifically at electric.”
How to Handle the Walking Dead — or, The Casinos Are Coming for Your Tax Dollars
In the stuff I missed over the past couple of travel weeks, was this notice from the NJ that Delaware’s zombie casinos are still hanging around looking for more bailout effort from Delaware’s taxpayers:
One casino executive is hopeful lawmakers will provide relief for the state’s ailing casinos when they return to Legislative Hall in January. But don’t call it a bailout, says Dover Downs Hotel & Casino president Ed Sutor.
Talks about potential long-term fixes to keep the casinos competitive are set to begin by mid-September.
“They (the state) like the jobs created and the revenue,” Sutor said Tuesday afternoon during a quarterly meeting between casino stakeholders, industry professionals and state department of finance.
“They know that if something isn’t done, some of that is in jeopardy,” he said.
Governor Markell on NPR Talking About Common Core
Yesterday morning, I heard the Governor on NPR in a quick (4 minutes) interview on Common Core and the fact that there is some movement in a few states to disown the curriculum/process/name. I can’t really tell what is being walked away from really. But it looks like Governor Markell is not expecting the standards to go away entirely, just the name:
SIMON: So if a lot of states pull out of the Common Core, is there really a Common Core?
MARKELL: Well, it depends what they replace it with. I mean, I think a lot of states, you know, who are talking about getting rid of the Common Core are quite likely to replace it with something that looks quite similar. If they call it something else, that’s up to them. If they want to, you know, tweak the standards somewhat, that’s up to them as well. I can tell you, in Delaware we’re going forward because we really think it makes the most sense for our students.
Saturday Open Thread [8.2.14]
It’s August, y’all, and the southbound portion of I-495 is OPEN for traffic, one month early. Thank DelDOT and union workers today.
Mrs. Betty Bowers Explains How You Know If You Should Join the GOP
Mrs. Betty Bowers is America’s Best Christian, and today she provides you with the road map for deciding if you should join the GOP or not. Put down any liquids before watching — this is hilarious and dead on correct.
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