City of Wilmington Trying to Shut Down Your Freedom to Assemble

On March 7, 2012, there will be a meeting of the City's L&I Committee that will take up changes to City Ordinance 12-010 that look specifically targeted at the Occupy Delaware folks and will generally restrict the freedom of Wilmington residents to assemble, unless the government pre-approves your assembly. It also lets them pre-approve the time, the place, the duration, the financial capability of the group (in getting the insurance), and other factors that might restrict your ability to protest or even to petition the government for redress.

Late Night Video — The Speechless Banker

A few days ago, there was a press opportunity with ECB representatives, where Irish journalist Vincent Browne wanted to know specifically why the people of Ireland are being asked to live with the debt burden of a defunct bank. This is the kind of questioning many of us would like to see our own journalists perform when standing in front of folks who are taking crazy decisions on our behalf. These questions are fierce, fearless and utterly just. And the banker has nothing to say.

Adventures in Subscribing to the Digital News Journal

So the NJ has put up their paywall, and you are limited to 5 articles (per week? per month?) and they helpfully count down the number of free articles you have left in a box in the lower right hand of your screen every time you click on a new article. I waited until the paywall finally went into effect to sign up (for the record, I actually buy this paper every day I am in town) and preserve my access to online articles. I've tried subscribing twice online and finally called today to figure out why I still can't get the NJ online.

Wilmington Mayoral Debate — Public Safety Edition

Last night, the two unions representing the Wilmington Police Department and the Wilmington Fire Department sponsored a Mayoral Debate held at the Chase Center. Candidates Kelley, Johnson, Montgomery, Williams, Spencer and Bovell (!) attended, and Senator Marshall sat this one out again. This one was not open to the public, which accounts for the kind of topics covered. Much of the night's focus was less on issues of public safety and alot more in union issues. Not much of a surprise, I guess, but there's something quite corrective in being in a room full of police and firefighters where citizen safety was a topic addressed by just a couple of the candidates.

Sunday Open Thread — Oscars Edition! [2.26.12]

Tonite the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents their awards for 2011 film achievements. If you are outside of this industry, the interest in the Oscars seems to be either, 1) Dishy -- what they wore, who they were with, what they screwed up or 2) Snobby -- mostly centered around the perceived lack of artistry in the nominations. I'm in Camp 2. So what do you think about this year's nominations? Join us below and tell us who you think will win, what should have been nominated and preview the night's gossip.

NJ Truthiness Watch — Women’s Health Care is Not Important Unless Men Say It Is

The editorial in Saturday's NJ does a couple of dumb and dangerous things in siding with the religious leaders who have been howling about the Obama Administration's ACA rule that religious institutions need to provide contraceptive coverage to their female employees as part of a preventative care package. This isn't the first time that the NJ editorial has been quick to join the war on women's health care. And as usual, the NJ editorial staff doing the writing of this thing never bothered to inform themselves of the facts of this business and pretty much just repeat what they see on cable TV.

Saturday Open Thread [2.11.12]

I'd almost forgotten it was winter, with daffodils coming up and willow trees budding already. Unfortunately for most of my friends, I am a fan of winter and look forward to a few snow days each season, so am hoping there will be a proper snostorm before it is all said and done. But here we are, cruising the internets and catching up on the stuff that happened during the week: