Thursday Open Thread [2.26.15]

Thursday Open Thread [2.26.15]

3 Comments
The Senate is moving forward on a clean bill funding DHS until September, and though it's not clear when that vote will happen, we know that House Republican leadership plans, at the very least, to let things go down to the wire. For some House Republicans, after all, a DHS shutdown is not such a big deal. First Read: “With the Senate easily advancing a ‘clean’ bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, the ball is now in House Speaker Boehner’s court. And the timing couldn’t be more problematic for him: The conservatives assembling at CPAC probably aren’t going to appreciate House Republicans caving in their fight against the Obama administration. It’s déjà vu for Boehner: He’s caught between trying to help his caucus out of tricky situations, and looking over his shoulder for conservatives who want his head on a platter if he caves to Democrats. What we haven’t been able to understand: Why haven’t Boehner and Republicans been able to make their success (so far) in the courts against Obama’s executive action an asset here?”
Science Takes On A Zombie Outbreak

Science Takes On A Zombie Outbreak

19 Comments
Given my and DelawareDem's love of The Walking Dead, I had to post this. This is for you, DD!
A team of Cornell University researchers has determined the best place to hide during a zombie apocalypse. A graduate statistical mechanics class was inspired by a reading of “World War Z,” a fictional oral history of a zombie war, and decided to explore what might happen in an actual zombie outbreak, reported Phys.org. [...] He said most films or books assume that a zombie outbreak would affect all areas at the same time, leaving a small pocket of survivors after a few months. “But in our attempt to model zombies somewhat realistically, it doesn’t seem like this is how it would actually go down,” Alemi said. Cities would fall quickly, the researchers found, but it would take weeks or even months for zombies to penetrate less densely populated areas.
Wednesday Open Thread [2.25.15]

Wednesday Open Thread [2.25.15]

4 Comments
Nevada State Assemblywoman and Cliven Bundy supporter Michele Fiore (R) said:
If you have cancer, which I believe is a fungus, and we can put a pic line into your body and we’re flushing with, say, salt water, sodium cardonate ([sic] through that line and flushing out the fungus. These are some procedures that are not FDA-approved in America that are very inexpensive, cost-effective.
Who knew that cancer is like athlete's foot? Idaho State Rep. Vito Barbieri (R) thinks the throat and stomach are connected to the vagina and uterus. Wrong hole, sir. But there is a sign of hope. In Wyoming, state Rep. Harlan Edmonds (R) was kicked out of a House Labor, Health and Social Services meeting after proposing an amendment to a bill protecting gay and transgender people from discrimination that would make it effective when “hell freezes over,” instead of the date of July 1.
“Many longtime observers said that while some members of the public have been tossed from committees, this was the first time they’d seen a lawmaker removed from a meeting.”
Good for the Republicans in Wyoming for showing a bigot the door.
Constitutional Absolutists

Constitutional Absolutists

26 Comments
Only 30% of Republicans oppose making Christianity the national religion. Let that sink in for a second.
A majority of Republicans nationally support establishing Christianity as the national religion, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday.
The poll found that 57 percent of Republicans "support establishing Christianity as the national religion" while 30 percent are opposed. Another 13 percent said they were not sure.
Yes Red Clay. No Christina. So What’s Next?

Yes Red Clay. No Christina. So What’s Next?

34 Comments
Residents in the Red Clay School District approved a measure that would raise taxes .35 cents per $100 of assessed property value over three years to cover increased operating expenses in their budget and provide for improvements in technology, curriculum and student services (the actual cost to the average homeowner in Red Clay once the measure is fully phased in would be $280 per year). Residents in the Christina School District had two options to chose from, and they said no to both. The first option was a bare bones measure to just "keep the lights on," and it would have raised taxes .65 cents per $100 of assessed property value phased in over three years. Only 26% of Christina residents voted yes to that. The second option would have raised taxes an additional .40 cents per $100 of assessed property value phased in over four years (so a total of $1.05 per $100), with the additional funds to pay for improvements in technology, arts, and early childhood learning. Only 22% voted yes. So what's next?
Tuesday Open Thread [2.24.15]

Tuesday Open Thread [2.24.15]

3 Comments
A CNN/ORC poll finds that only Hillary Clinton is viewed as a candidate of the future rather than the past, and I bet you it is because people view her as a potential first woman President, which of course is something that has not happened yet, and thus would be the future. This is why a "She's part of the past" argument will not work against Hillary.
Asked in a new CNN/ORC poll whether seven possible candidates better represent the future or the past, 50% said Clinton evoked the future, more than said so of any other candidate. By contrast, Joe Biden and Jeb Bush, whose names have been in the political conversation even longer than Clinton's, were each seen as representing the past by 64% of Americans.
43% say New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie represents the future, while 41% says its Rand Paul, while 39% says its Scott Walker.
Markell’s Supreme Court, and a Missed Opportunity.

Markell’s Supreme Court, and a Missed Opportunity.

3 Comments
Nothing explains the Delaware Way more than the recent nomination to the Supreme Court by Gov. Jack Markell (D) of corporate attorney and the son of a former Supreme Court Justice, Collins J. “C.J.” Seitz, Jr., Esquire. Seitz, when confirmed (because there is no if about it in this state), will replace retiring Justice Henry duPont Ridgely. The Judicial Nominating Commission, in addition to Seitz, also recommended to Governor Markell Superior Court Judge Calvin Scott, who would have been the first African American Supreme Court Justice on the Delaware Supreme Court; and a former Superior Court judge and now an attorney in private practice, Joseph Sleights III. I think the Delaware Supreme Court could have used a little color, and something more diverse than another corporate attorney.