Sign This Petition to Support Implementing Real Violence Reduction Strategies in Wilmington

Sign This Petition to Support Implementing Real Violence Reduction Strategies in Wilmington

This petition at the site change.org is addressed to the Governor, AG Matt Denn, Mayor Dennis Williams and Chief Bobby Cummings to ask them to implement the Wilmington Public Safety Strategies Commission report and 9 other actions to help to address and reduce the violence in Wilmington. Please take a few minutes to read this over and sign it, if you can. Also forward this on to your friends and share via your FB pages or Twitter to help spread the word. Thanks!
Saturday Open Thread [5.2.15]

Saturday Open Thread [5.2.15]

Pope Francis is set to release his first Papal Encyclical and it will be on climate change. The Pope is recognizing that climate change is real, it is caused by humans and it needs to be addressed now. Conservatives are losing their minds -- this Pope has immense moral credibility -- and the Heartland Institute is so upset that they are trying to get a meeting with the Pope to make him an offer he can't refuse, presumably. Seriously, the hubris of these people to think that a man with the world's greatest minds at his fingertips could find the Heartland Institute's propaganda compelling. This Pope is not a clueless American conservative.
(Late) Friday Open Thread [5.1.15]

(Late) Friday Open Thread [5.1.15]

And what the heck is going on in Rehoboth Beach? Dogfish Head Brewing and Eats has plans to revitalize their space and the zoning board in Rehoboth turned down their variance. Because they would invite too many people to that part of downtown Rehoboth, even though the plans call for fewer restaurant seats than they have now. And one of the Zoning Board members invited Dogfish Head to move to another town. That's some economic development plan, right there.
The Creation of the Clinton vs the Progressives Narrative

The Creation of the Clinton vs the Progressives Narrative

It is fascinating to watch and of course Mark Halperin would be at the tip of the spear of this bullshit. According to him and his interlocutor here, Hillary Clinton is "terrified of the left". Setting up this narrative of Clinton vs "The Left" is all about demonizing "The Left" and its ideas in a way that Halperin would never do for the Tea Party -- who are demonstrably dangerous. Which might be why he feels that he can do this -- there's no downside to him for taking sides against "The Left". He won't be the only one, of course, but this is the first I've seen of this narrative in the wild this cycle.
Governor Markell to Hold Open Auditions for Lt. Governor Vacancy

Governor Markell to Hold Open Auditions for Lt. Governor Vacancy

From the Press Release: Dover, DE – Recognizing the obvious void felt following the departure of former Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn who was recently sworn in as Attorney General, and his anxiety about a possible Jeff Bullock term as Governor, Governor Markell announced today he would be holding open auditions to fill the Lt. Governor vacancy. Candidates must be Delaware natives, have a 5th grade reading level or a degree from Yale Law School and children more photogenic than the officeholder. “During his tenure as Lt. Governor, Matt spent a majority of his time at elementary schools or attending events I was ‘too busy’ to attend,” said Governor Markell. “One of his most endearing qualities was his ability to blend in with the crowd – whether it was a bunch of 3rd graders or a knitting club in Long Neck. Any respectable candidate should embody that same quality.”
Moral Monday Prayer-In Tomorrow

Moral Monday Prayer-In Tomorrow

Tomorrow (March 16, 2015), the first Delaware Moral Monday will take the form of a Prayer-In on East Steps of Legislative Hall in Dover. From the press release: The issues facing our state are both deeply spiritual and social. In response to the hyper-criminalization of people of color and the evident disparities present within the state’s criminal justice system, participants will gather to pray that the God of justice would intervene on behalf of the marginalized during this legislative session. Both specific and general criminal justice concerns will be at the forefront. The repeal of the death penalty, one such matter that will be introduced in the Senate on March 18, will be advocated.
Wilmington’s Business Community Says Enough Is Enough

Wilmington’s Business Community Says Enough Is Enough

Yesterday, the NJ published a lengthy article where Wilmington's business community officially went on the record to voice their disapproval of the Williams' Administration's approach to managing crime in the city. While news and complaints about the crime problem are not new, the fact that portions of Wilmington's business community is willing to talk to journalists about their concerns is new and huge, I think. Previously, they could just reach out to the 9th floor and they usually had not just a sympathetic ear, but also an administration that at least tried to address their concerns. Not, the problem (while admittedly not that much bigger than before) is exacerbated by both the glib promises made by the Mayor and his people as well as an administration that is utterly MIA on this issue. It isn't just that no one from the Administration will speak or even be seen to be proactive on safety issues (even the perception of safety issues), Wilmington's business community has met with the Administration multiple times asking how they can help AND communicating that they can be counted on to support solutions. This effort has been met with silence.

Late Night Video — NYPD #PMS

This is Bill Mahar hilariously commenting on the NYPD snit over accountability:
Post by Bill Maher.
John Carney Mad About the Fight Over the Dodd-Frank Rollback

John Carney Mad About the Fight Over the Dodd-Frank Rollback

We already know that a provision to roll back the Dodd-Frank provision that forbid banks from booking their deriviatives in the the parts of their business that is insured by taxpayers. They would have to keep them in the portions of their business where losses were borne entirely by the bank and their shareholders. Elizabeth Warren led what Bloomberg called The Great Swaps Rebellion during the Cromnibus negotiations. And John Carney was peeved:

RIP, Mario Cuomo

As you've likely heard, 3 time governor of NY Mario Cuomo died yesterday. Cuomo was one of the best voices for progressive politics in my lifetime, and a frustrating leader who couldn't seem to commit to leading the charge to implement those politics -- turning down opportunities to run for President and to be on the Supreme Court. Still, he was a brilliant speaker, providing some of the best defenses and descriptions of liberal politics ever:
Murdertown, USA

Murdertown, USA

That's the title of Newsweek's article looking at the crime problem in Wilmington. I thought that this article mostly tried to leverage off of articles like this one, that rank the safety of small cities using FBI crime stats and articles from the News Journal also reporting on Wilmington's crime issues. The author mentions a "tale of two cities" quality to the city (that's true) but doesn't really do this theme justice, which might have told us more about the problem. And if you google "Murdertown", you see places like Flint, MI, Chicago, IL, various towns in Texas and Youngstown, OH, tagged with it, so the title to this article is even a little worn. Still:
This year, there have been 27 homicides in Wilmington, tying its record 27 murders in 2010, and 135 people have been shot. Twenty-two of them died. With a population of just over 71,000, Wilmington had a violent-crime rate of 1,625 per 100,000 people last year, according to the FBI’s 2013 Uniform Crime Report (that crime rate measures murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault). The national average was 368 per 100,000 people. Wilmington ranks third for violence among 450 cities of comparable size, behind the Michigan towns of Saginaw and Flint, according to a Wilmington News Journal report.
The stats are bad, but if the number of murders could be cut by one third or so, Wilmington would fall right off of those top 10 lists. The city would be a little safer for the folks who live in the neighborhoods where the guns seem drawn all of the time, but would the problem be resolved? Probably not, because:
When you ask people in Wilmington about the root causes of the city’s crime epidemic, their answers read like the devil’s Christmas list: poverty, racism, lack of economic opportunities, drug and alcohol abuse, gun violence, high dropout rates, teenage pregnancy, stressed families and more.