What’s wrong with bowling?

What’s wrong with bowling?

18 Comments
That's a rhetorical question. Everyone knows that it is the scoring. Bowling scoring is stupid. Bowling would be doing itself a huge favor if it changed the scoring to the way "Match Play" golf is scored. It would be a 9 frame game and the winner would be the first person to win 5 frames outright, or win the most after 9. This has been another installment of "Jason330 Fixes the World" You're welcome Bowling! PS. Anyone up for a DL bowling meetup to road test this system?
Wednesday Open Thread [1.29.14]

Wednesday Open Thread [1.29.14]

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Andrew Sullivan:
The metaphor of the soldier slowly, relentlessly, grindingly putting his life back together was a powerful one for America – and Obama pulled off that analogy with what seemed to me like real passion. One aspect of his personality and his presidency is sometimes overlooked – and that is persistence. He’s been hailed as a hero and dismissed as irrelevant many times. But when you take a step back and assess what he has done – from ending wars to rescuing the economy to cementing a civil rights revolution to shifting the entire landscape on healthcare – you can see why he believes in persistence. Because it works. It may not win every news cycle; but it keeps coming back. If he persists on healthcare and persists on Iran and persists on grappling, as best we can, with the forces creating such large disparities in wealth, he will look far, far more impressive from the vantage point of history than the news cycle of the Twitterverse sometimes conveys. This was True Grit Obama. And it was oddly energizing.
When the book closes on this Presidency, given all he has done, President Obama will rank pretty high. Not among the greats like FDR, Lincoln, and Washington. But I think he will be regarding among the very good: Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton, Eisenhower, Truman; and not among the very bad: Carter, Bush II, Nixon, Hoover, and Buchanan.
State Of The Union Open Thread

State Of The Union Open Thread

61 Comments
Have at it!  I'll be here all night! (Am I the only one that loves these things?  Is that wrong? Or really weird?) [Update from Delaware Dem]: Some excerpts of the speech are starting to leak, as they always do. The White House, all White Houses, do this to prep the ground and give the pundits something to talk about in the run up to the speech. Here is one such excerpt...
In Case You Were Wondering If Republicans Got Their Act Together And United…

In Case You Were Wondering If Republicans Got Their Act Together And United…

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They haven't. Here's who the GOP has responding to the President's State Of The Union address: 1. The official GOP response is to be delivered immediately after the SOTU by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) 2. Americans will also get a rebuttal from Tea Party Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) 3. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will give a pre-recorded address (because he's psychic?) 4. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) announced Monday she will deliver her own State of the Union response in Spanish That's four - count 'em, FOUR! - different Republican responses.
President Obama’s Election Reform Commission-Small Ideas

President Obama’s Election Reform Commission-Small Ideas

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Last week the President's election reform Commission published its report with their ideas on reforming our election systems. The ideas seemed to be to improved voter participation, particularly in national elections. Because it was intended to provide a bi-partisan answer to our obvious electoral deficiencies, the solutions proposed, while mostly helpful, were incremental and did not offer answers to our long-standing crisis in our so-called participatory republican democracy.
Joe Scarborough Thinks He’s Found <i>A Way To Shut This Whole</i> Hillary <i>Thing Down</i>

Joe Scarborough Thinks He’s Found A Way To Shut This Whole Hillary Thing Down

6 Comments
Here's Joe Scarborough pretending to think out loud over whether "invoking Monica Lewinsky against Hillary Clinton could be an appropriate tactic."
"If Hillary Clinton attacks the Republican Party's handling of women, and treatment of women and disrespect for women, and suggests they’re misogynists et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, it does seem to be a fair question to ask right now, a few years out, does the media have a responsibility to say, ‘Well, let’s see what happened when you were in the White House, and how women were treated when you were in the governor’s mansion and the White House?’ Is that fair?" the 'Morning Joe' host asked Monday morning, as quoted by Mediaite. [...] "Does this not compromise Hillary Clinton's ability to bash Republicans as being terrible toward women, misogynist, et cetera?" he asked.
How exactly would Republicans use Bill Clinton's infidelity against Hillary Clinton?  How does that look?  Would they say she was a-okay with infidelity because, if she wasn't then she would have divorced him?  Would they say she's sexist and misogynist because she's married to a man who had an affair?  Most likely they would do what they love to do and tell Hillary to sit down and shut up... maybe they could even tell her to go make them a sandwich. But whatever route they choose they will end up putting forth this message:  Ladies, you are merely an extension of your husbands.  Your opinions will only be considered if they align with your husband's opinion and behavior.  If they don't, well... then you may not speak on certain subjects.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., Jan. 28, 2014

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., Jan. 28, 2014

31 Comments
Well. That was quite an ambitious, and welcome, State of the State Address from Governor Markell last Thursday. There is no surer way to jump-start our state's economy and, not coincidentally, address long-postponed infrastructure deficiencies, than by proposing a massive capital upgrade.  Our roads and bridges need it. So do our workers.  I suspect that we will hear this week how Gov. Markell intends to pay for the proposed $500 million program. No doubt an increase in the gas tax will be one of the proposed revenue generators. I, for one, strongly support such an increase.  People have choices as to what kinds of vehicles they drive. If they want to drive massive gas-inhalers, that's their choice. If they opt to downsize, that's their choice. The fewer massive gas-inhalers out there, the less pollution gets emitted. Those with mass transit and/or car pool options would be more likely to consider them should gas prices rise. There would be fewer unnecessary trips if people really were concerned about higher gas prices. Less traffic, smaller vehicles, less pollution. Why not raise the gas tax to help pay for this engine of economic recovery?  There no doubt will be other revenue sources. I, of course want to see some equity restored to our tax code. But I'm completely on board with this proposal. Lotsa other good stuff in there as well, including specific job skills training for high school students, and an intense campaign to clean Delaware's waterways. The question is, will D's respond favorably to one of the best and only Democratic proposals from our D governor.  Here are two early reactions....
Tiny Facebook Page Critical of NCC Government Subpoenaed by AG’s Office

Tiny Facebook Page Critical of NCC Government Subpoenaed by AG’s Office

24 Comments
This tiny facebook page with only 312 likes (as of yesterday afternoon) has someone mighty stirred up. Whoever is behind the page had apparently been doing some intriguing and often inflammatory writing about some Wilmington and NCCo fixtures until it seemed to have run out of steam. The recent lack of momentum may be associated with the fact that they went off the deep end, throwing around unsubstantiated rumors of affairs. Or it may be because they felt the heat coming on. Either way, this subpoena is intriguing. Who could induce Beau Biden to get involved with this small potatoes BS? What are they after? It appears Biden is asking for the names behind the page, but to what end? And why did someone think it was a good idea to employ the Barbara Streisand effect on this? Well, PRW has a theory...
Inequality for All is Showing Courtesy of Pacem in Terris

Inequality for All is Showing Courtesy of Pacem in Terris

1 Comment
Inequality for All is a great documentary that gives Robert Reich an opportunity to explain in great detail how and why the most powerful middle-class on the planet is now shrinking and fighting for survival. I saw this in the fall and it is as entertaining as it is sobering. Pacem in Terris is sponsoring a showing of this film -- so-sponsored with Common Cause Delaware -- Tuesday, January 28th at 7pm at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. The church is located at 1502 W 13th St, Wilmington, DE 19806. I think the showing is free (somebody confirm?), but they usually ask for a free will donation to help defray costs.