Conflict of Interest by 3 Wilmington City Council Members

Or at least the appearance of a conflict of interest by 3 Councilmembers who work for or have recently worked for Connections CSP in Wilmington. Sunday's NJ has a great article by Andrew Staub and Beth Miller detailing the concerns that quite a few people have had over what appeared to be conflicts of interests between the roles of City Council members and Connections employees or consultants for Hanifa Shabazz, Mike Brown and Darius Brown.
John Carney Joins the SNAP Challenge Protest — UPDATED

John Carney Joins the SNAP Challenge Protest — UPDATED

The House of Representatives is getting to vote on its version of the Farm Bill -- this GOP led version cuts 2.5% of SNAP funds. It is estimated that this might throw about 2.5M Americans who need food help off of the program. As a protest -- 26 Democrats in the House have started a week-long SNAP Challenge (some reports have some of their staff joining them), where they pledge to live on the $4.50/day subsidy SNAP provides. Our representative, John Carney, is on the list of Democrats doing this challenge.

Monday Open Thread [6.17.13]

Tales of Security Theater -- the NFL has posted new security rules for attending their games starting next season. These new rules include size limits on purses, a list of prohibited items and a requirement for carrying what you do bring into the stadium in a clear bag. You get a bigger bag if you buy the special ones (with or without branding!) from the NFL or you an use a gallon-size ziplock bag. You can still have anything you want in the parking lot. The one that slays me is the prohibition against bringing in seat cushions. I don't think that this is about security -- I think that it is about making it quicker to get people in the gates. But I'm definitely rolling my eyes at this BS.

Late Night Video — Labor Pains for Dads

This is a great Father's Day Video (even though it was made for Mother's Day) -- where two Dads take the challenge of experiencing simulated labor pains. A doctor rigged up electrodes that she strapped to the abdomens of these guys and then started the simulation. Love that their wives stroll into this thing, drinking coffee and being utterly nonchalant. Then the wives drop right into birth coaching mode. Hilarious! (Approx. 3 and a half minutes long.) More boys need to try this out.

Hiding Behind Lawyers to Hide Coastal Zone Impacts Isn’t A Good Management Strategy

It just makes people think that you are trying to hide something, which, apparently, the Markell Administration is doing. Today's NJ brings us another story of the ongoing issues surrounding the PBF refinery at Delaware City. In the main, it looks like the refinery is expanding its operations outside of its permitted area (staging and unloading rail cars outside of the boundary of the plant; a planned barge shipment of oil over to a NJ plant), and taxpayers aren't being allowed to see whether or not there are violations of the state's Coastal Zonal Act here.

Saturday Open Thread [6.8.13]

Yesterday, President Obama strongly defended the NSA's Big Surveillance program:
Obama, who ran for president in 2008 on a platform of reversing some of the Bush administration’s encroachments on civil liberties, instead defended the programs. ”I came in with a healthy skepticism about these program,” Obama said, noting his administration has strengthened some program safeguards. “My assessment and my team’s assessment is that they help us prevent terrorist attacks.”
Friday Open Thread [6.7.13]

Friday Open Thread [6.7.13]

Did you know it is OK to shoot escorts who won't have sex with you in Texas? A Texas jury acquitted a man who shot an escort he contacted via Craig's List. She's dead, but:
During closing arguments Tuesday, Gilbert's defense team conceded the shooting did occur but said the intent wasn't to kill. Gilbert's actions were justified, they argued, because he was trying to retrieve stolen property: the $150 he paid Frago. It became theft when she refused to have sex with him or give the money back, they said.
Time to give Texas back to Mexico, I'm thinking.

Sunday Open Thread [6.2.13]

This Sunday's NYT provides a must-read for those of us interested in resolving the long-term problem of reducing health care costs. This piece take a look at how colonoscopies are performed and charged to demonstrate the scope of the problem. And basically the scope of the problem comes down to Profit incentives, rather than health incentives. It also shows how hard it is to even get cost data for procedures -- even by a physician doing the procedure. Certainly our health care system pays dearly for heroic end-of-life care, but it certainly looks as though basic procedures done by our physicians in their offices or their physician centers are ripe for cost review.

Saturday Open Thread [6.1.13]

Today's Open Thread is in the form of a Chart of the Day. Chart of the War on Drugs era, most probably. But this chart comes from a 2005 study, taking a look at trends in incarceration of drug offenders. It was cited over at Wonkblog this week, noting some of the small changes in the War on Drugs: