Saturday Open Thread [10.11.14]

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South Dakota Independent Larry Pressler told The Hill that he won't say who he'd caucus with if he wins his independent U.S. Senate race in South Dakota but said that if elected, he'd be a "friend of Obama." He also confirmed voting for Obama twice: "I don't regret those votes, 'cause on that day, that's how I felt." I kinda hope he doesn't win, and in fact, I predict in the map that he will not. Yes, that's right. I think, when all is said and done, the Democrats will hope onto Arkansas, Iowa, North Carolina and Colorado, while losing Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, Alaska and Louisiana. That would leave the GOP one seat short of the majority, but then I believe the Dems will win Georgia and Kentucky from the GOP, and the Independent Orman will win Kansas, and then caucus with the Dems.
Wilmington City Council’s Meeting On Priority Schools

Wilmington City Council’s Meeting On Priority Schools

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Last night I attended the City Council Meeting on Priority Schools. I've stared at the above sentence for quite a while, not sure how to proceed.  Mainly because I think last night was simply window dressing, a box checked off... the deal is done.  These schools, imo, are headed for charter conversion, privatization or closure.  The only question is when this will happen.  Shortly after the December 31, 2014 Plan deadline? Or after the specified four year, approximately 6 million Plan doesn't meet the standardized test bar?
Friday Open Thread [10.10.14]

Friday Open Thread [10.10.14]

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Paul Krugman pens a defense of the President against his critics, and also lists his accomplishments. It is a lengthy piece, and you should read the whole thing, but here are some excerpts:
Obama faces trash talk left, right and center – literally – and doesn't deserve it. Despite bitter opposition, despite having come close to self-inflicted disaster, Obama has emerged as one of the most consequential and, yes, successful presidents in American history. His health reform is imperfect but still a huge step forward – and it's working better than anyone expected. Financial reform fell far short of what should have happened, but it's much more effective than you'd think. Economic management has been half-crippled by Republican obstruction, but has nonetheless been much better than in other advanced countries. And environmental policy is starting to look like it could be a major legacy. [...] [T]here’s a theme running through each of the areas of domestic policy I’ve covered. In each case, Obama delivered less than his supporters wanted, less than the country arguably deserved, but more than his current detractors acknowledge. The extent of his partial success ranges from the pretty good to the not-so-bad to the ugly. … Am I damning with faint praise? Not at all. This is what a successful presidency looks like. No president gets to do everything his supporters expected him to. FDR left behind a reformed nation, but one in which the wealthy retained a lot of power and privilege. On the other side, for all his anti-government rhetoric, Reagan left the core institutions of the New Deal and the Great Society in place. I don’t care about the fact that Obama hasn’t lived up to the golden dreams of 2008, and I care even less about his approval rating. I do care that he has, when all is said and done, achieved a lot. That is, as Joe Biden didn’t quite say, a big deal.
Middle East Bloodbath: DeJavu All Over Again

Middle East Bloodbath: DeJavu All Over Again

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Overrunning towns, pillaging, plundering, setting fire, torture, burning at the stake, rape, burning children alive, enslaving, beheadings, sacking places of worship, taking body parts for trophies, destroying libraries, cannibalism, crucifixions, opening bodies for swallowed treasure. A special place in paradise for warriors. Justice for infidels. Slaughter of their own. Robbing and keeping the riches.

Thursday Open Thread [10.9.14]

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The chart / graph tells us which states are angels on the street yet devils... well, on their computers. The chart finds that the more religious a state is, the higher the number of Google searches for porn. The states with 80% religiousity and that are over 60 in their interest in porn (and I cannot tell how that is measured (i.e. 60 on a scale of what? as a percentage?)) are Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Utah and Texas. I wonder what all these states have in common, other than hypocrisy. Delaware is on the opposite end of the spectrum: We are less religious and our searches for internet sex is low.
The NJ Newsroom of the Future Begins

The NJ Newsroom of the Future Begins

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A memo from David Ledford to NJ reporters, editors and other staff went out with a list of the new job descriptions that NJ employees need to fit into (see below). You'll recall that NJ employees are going to be required to re-apply for their jobs, re-interview I suppose, and convince whoever is in charge of this business that they should still be around. After reading the memo and the Job Descriptions (see below), this is just an odd thing. It certainly looks like they are using this exercise to orient themselves to the web and it looks like they are going to reduce positions. It isn't immediately clear that some of the folks on the editorial page would fit into this order. Which (even though they make me mad sometimes) seems like a waste of knowledge. I understand that some of the NJ folks have already decided that they will not re-apply and are walking away. Over the past year, that's quite the exodus of local knowledge.
Wednesday Open Thread [10.8.14]

Wednesday Open Thread [10.8.14]

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Yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), or rather, his staff, prepared a tweet that was supposed to both briefly describe in bullet point form the GOP Jobs Plan (because after being in power for four years in the House, NOW is as good a time as any to get started on that) and then link for a more detailed description, presumably. Now, you might think that Twitter, what with the 140 character limitation, might be the wrong place to even briefly describe a Five Point Congressional Jobs Plan. But not the GOP! Their entire economic theory does boil down to four words: Cut Taxes, End Regulations. Still, this was embarrassing. It seems the Speaker and/or his underpaid intern didn't complete their homework before sending this out: Capture Or maybe it is a rare moment of honesty from the highest ranking Republican in the land: The GOP has no jobs plan.