Open Thread
Saturday Open Thread [6.27.15]
In the conversations, Romney said he is intent on running to the right of Bush, who also is working vigorously to court donors and other party establishment figures for a 2016 bid. Romney has tried to assure conservatives that he shares their views on immigration and tax policy — and that should he enter the race, he will not forsake party orthodoxy.
To the RIGHT of Jeb Bush. As if that part of the Clown Car isn’t already overflowing.
Friday Open Thread [6.26.15]
President Obama delivered an emotional and powerful eulogy at the funeral service for Reverend Clementa Pinckney this afternoon. If you haven’t had the chance to see this magnificent and compassionate eulogy, sit down and see it now and see it until the end:
Sunday Father’s Day Open Thread [6.21.15]
Happy Father’s Day! What do you have on tap to honor your dad, or the men who nurtured you like a father would? I’m on my way to Baltimore to see my Dad for a fun dinner.
Thursday Open Thread [5.28.15]
Finally, someone starts talking some sense about Delaware’s tax rates. Seriously, it makes no sense to raise the taxes of the people who did not gain much during the recovery (the plan to eliminate deductions) — taxes should be raised on the folks who did get the money:
Delaware’s personal income tax is the largest source of state revenue, generating $1.2 billion this year – enough to fund almost 32 percent of total state government operations.
Delaware’s top income tax rate of 6.6 percent is charged on incomes $60,000 and above.
Some lawmakers now say adding a tax bracket for wealthier Delawareans could help solve the state’s budget problems, while more fairly spreading the state’s income tax burden.
Thursday (mini) Open Thread [5.7.15]
Pandering, not baseball, has always been Smyrna’s pastime. It is good to see Lumpy is keeping the tradition alive.
Delaware lawmakers score political points by offering free fishing tags to firefighters and discounted annual park fees to seniors.
But those giveaways cost Delaware’s parks system more than $750,000 in uncollected revenue each year, according to state figures.
Now lawmakers have introduced new legislation that would expand those freebies, offering surf fishing tags at no cost to active members of ladies auxiliary crews at Delaware volunteer fire companies.
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]
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.
Tuesday Open Thread [10.14.14]
The GOP in Asheville, NC objected to a rainbow flag hung at city hall (voted on unanimously by Asheville City Council), and the GOP hung a Nazi swastika flag alongside it as a protest.
This is how we know them, right?
Monday Open Thread [10.13.14]
This ought to be the talk of everyone today — with the Texas Ebola problem, we are seeing how the US Public Health system has been deliberately broken:

That chart is from a great piece in the Scientific American, showing how Public Health spending has been on the decline. The author, Judy Stone, provides some context for how Public Health considerations have been undermined over the past few years. Read the entire thing, then take a look at some of the material she provides in the links at the end of the article:
Late Night Video — Jon Stewart Crushes Fox News, Again
This is a thing of beauty and a reminder that there is no news at Fox News:
Thursday Open Thread [9.18.14]
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/apple-will-no-longer-unlock-most-iphones-ipads-for-police-even-with-search-warrants/2014/09/17/2612af58-3ed2-11e4-b03f-de718edeb92f_story.html?hpid=z2" target="_blank">Kudos to Apple today</a>:
<blockquote>Apple said Wednesday night that it is making it impossible for the company to turn over data from most iPhones or iPads to police — even when they have a search warrant — taking a hard new line as tech companies attempt to blunt allegations that they have too readily participated in government efforts to collect user information.
[…]The key is the encryption that Apple mobile devices automatically put in place when a user selects a passcode, making it difficult for anyone who lacks that passcode to access the information within, including photos, e-mails and recordings. Apple once maintained the ability to unlock some content on devices for legally binding police requests but will no longer do so for iOS 8, it said in the new privacy policy.</blockquote>
If you have data in the iCloud, this does not apply, but I like locking down your devices from law enforcement not just as a privacy standard, but also as a marketing differentiator. All of the rest of the cell phone purveyors need to offer this level of privacy immediately.
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.
John Manifold responds Geezer’s post of the Frank article with this:
Thomas Frank : Ezra Klein
Rousseau : Voltaire


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