Serious Question.

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I broke down and started reading the details of the Miss Delaware Teen USA "scandal" this morning. I had been purposefully avoiding it because I don't consider such things actual news. Who the hell cares that a stupid teenager was stupid enough to allegedly engage in sexual activity on camera? Who the hell cares about a Miss Delaware Teen USA? What the hell is a Miss Delaware Teen USA, and for that matter the winner of any of the other beauty pagents out there? Why do we even hold them up as some kind of paragons of virtue? I guess I can understand holding a contest to determine which of the contestants is the most beautiful and well rounded person in that year's competition. But why then do we act like the winner of that meaningless contest is somehow given royal duties and then acts like a Head of State for a year?

Deep Pocketed Lying Cowards Still Lying in Appo

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I have to hand it to people like Joanne Christian who have integrity. She opposed the Appo referendum, but at least she did it with some dignity on honest grounds, and under her own name. Right now the anonymous trolls who upended the referendum with their blatant 35% property tax increase lie are now attacking someone running for the school board with lies about them getting illegal campaign contributions from teacher's unions. I'm not going to go into the details of the lies here because I think the chatter serves the liars nefarious purposes. [If there was any wrong doing, you would expect them to seek out the proper authorities.] Rather, I'd like to point out that there seems to be a pattern emerging.

Sunday Open Thread [3/3/2013]

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The end of the weekend Open Thread -- I went to the Home Show yesterday and had the chance to meet the great Jim Westhoff, who we liked ALOT for the DE House a few years back. Just the kind of candidate we need more of IMO, and he is a great guy, to boot. Today I'm thinking about all of the cool stuff we saw at the Home Show yesterday, and wondering if I should go buy myself a house with a proper yard so I can put a hot tub out there.

Massive Rudderplex Tower(c) Looms Over Little Dewey’s “Way of Life” Like a Death Star

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I'm not a big Dewey guy, so I'm probably out of line here, but I don't see how a massive cement tower in the brutalist tradition enhances Dewey's brand.
DEWEY BEACH — State Sen. Ernie Lopez praised the economic impact of the Ruddertowne construction project at a community meeting Saturday, saying it was one of the state’s most significant building efforts at the moment.

Sunday Daily Delawhere [3.3.13]

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The Green was the colonial core of the Dover, centered with the state house, seen on the right. The Old State House was built in 1792, after the state capital moved to Dover from New Castle in 1777, and functioned as the capitol until a new one was built in 1932.

The GOP’s Dilemma: Which to Destroy First?

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The same week that John Boehner said that revenue is completely off the table in any sequester negotiations, the Club for Growth has decided to ramp up its war on Republican Squishes. Because, you know... When you think "how do we fix this Washington dysfunction?" The answer that leaps to mind is MORE and wingnutier wingnuts.

Late Night Video — A Serious Cause for Mourning

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So sad (and I'm not especially a fan of the stuff) --
The night shift at a Chivas Brothers distillery screwed up this week and accidentally flushed about 6,000 gallons of Scotch whisky down the drain, according to reports from Scotland. The 80-proof goof happened early Tuesday at a bottling plant in Dumbarton, where workers were cleaning equipment. Instead of purging the wastewater, they instead expelled 18,000 liters of bulk whisky into the local sewage system. "It was like someone turned on a tap, and it just ran straight down the plughole," an "insider" told The Scottish Sun.

Oh God.

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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has declared Detroit to be in a state of financial emergency, paving the way for an emergency manager to be appointed to run Michigan's largest city, as per Michigan's law.
"Snyder said he has a candidate in mind but would not name that person, noting the city has a 10-day window to appeal that ends March 11. A hearing for a possible appeal has been set for March 12."
When I read that quote, I knew immediately who Snyder is thinking of. Don't you? Oh of course you do. It's obvious. First one to guess in the comments gets the right height of trees.

City Council Hearing on the Port of Wilmington

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Yesterday evening there was a Wilmington City Council joint committee hearing -- the Economic Development Committee and the Public Works Committee -- to gather viewpoints and input on the proposed privatization of the Port of Wilmington to be run by Kinder Morgan. While invited, no one from the Governor's office spoke on this project, but there were a number of businesses from outside of the Port fence who did speak on the potential conflicts and downside that this deal presents for them. I think that this may have been the first public forum that provided these businessmen (as well as the ILA) a chance to make their concerns heard. Senator Bobby Marshall was also in the audience, but did not speak.