Man Of The Year

Although the year is barely out, we do have our first nomination for the spot to be announced in December 2013.  With the Kinder Morgan Deal now on hold semi-permanently, even they are pointing to our hero of the year as the man most responsible for allowing the port to remain state owned….

I can say it was Julius Cephas who was behind almost every move to combat the loss of good jobs at our port.  He is being pointed out as the villain by the capitalists at Kinder Morgan.  In Delaware’s eyes, that elevates his hero’s stature even more…

In truth, he is no villain and knowing him, he will probably shun the acclimations being made by us common folk as being our hero.  In his eyes, he was just doing what needed to be done because no one else was there at that very moment to do it, and as that task swelled, it took a lot out of him….

Capitalists always need a villian.  But it was the “truth” which actually is what killed this deal.  Kinder Morgan WAS going to cut back on jobs, and their change of heart and blaming Julius instead of others, points exactly to the core of their problem with our port… …

People in Texas, do not understand unions.  They simply can’t fathom or understand how there can be an actual law that lets people strike and shut you down, whenever you try to pay them less..  In their eyes, you work for what they want to give you and if it is too little, ..humph.  go elsewhere….

The second culprit (after the “truth”),  was our office of economic development.  We gave Kinder Morgan too many “eager” signals that set us up as being seen as an easy pick.  They truly thought they could waltz in, pick up a top notch East Coast Port for a song, and we would eagerly give it up…  Again, that was because everything was done in secret.  Had a meeting been forthcoming in the very beginning,  Kinder Morgan might have moved on earlier when it became readily apparent, that southern Texas practices do not bode well in the Northeast…

Of course, being a corporation, they will blame the whistle blower.  (Ironic since the whistle blower of Enron works for them)..   Of course.  It is not like they find anything immoral in taking a state asset for a song, in firing those skilled dock workers, and replace them with some Spanish speaking Texans who never even heard of a union….

And Julius did blow that whistle. .  Like Rose on the Titanic, he took the whistle off of Jack (pun intended), and blew softly at first, then harder, and harder.   Gradually the sound registered on others ears….

Without Julius, Bob Marshall would not have pushed through Senate Bill 3.  Without Julius, most of the links showing up in everyone’s blog, would have not been found.  Without Julius, the case for protecting workers would not have even made the rounds of the Norman Oliver show….

There were many helpers. Bob Marshall, Nancy Willing, Norman Oliver, Norinda, Helene Keeley, Al Mascitti, Liz Allen, John Kowalko, and (an other blogger too shy to be mentioned here). When one looks back through all of them one sees from everywhere, there in the center of the universe,  stands a normal human being just like us, known to most … as Julius.

There will come a time when a better deal will arrive.  Could even be this year. There will come a time when a suitor who does care about Delaware, who does care about unions, about human beings, about those businesses on the outside, and who will want to upgrade the port for everyone’s interest, not just their own… And that suitor in this day and age, could even come from abroad.  Germany is very committed to union labor, to the environment, to being a good neighbor…. There are a great many possibilities out there that are immeasurable…. We definitely dodged a Texas bullet with this one….

When that suitor arrives… Julius’s stature will be set in cement….  For he did nothing really Herculean, except argue the truth…  He didn’t lie.  He didn’t connive,  He didn’t threaten….

That was done by our office of economic development.  Instead and unlike them, Julius told the truth.  He told the truth to anyone who would listen.  He told the truth enough, so many “did” listen….

And that is why, he  deserves this nomination as Delaware’s Man of the Year.  I know it is early into 2013, but great things just do not wait!!….

You will hear smears that Julius tubed the deal… I saw the letter and it is already out on WDEL and the Delawareonline’s News Journal… But as an impartial blogger, I can tell you exactly what killed this deal.

It was “the truth”.  The truth of what this deal would cost us Delawareans….. is what turned the tide and caused the outcry that rose up against it….

If Kinder Morgan really wanted this deal, they could have easily said… “we are expanding and putting 5 new berths out into the river.  We are buying the port for the bargain price of $5 billion.   We need those businesses outside the fence because the jobs we get, will soon be too big, we can’t do it ourselves.  We will keep the union just as it is;  Wilmington needs good jobs and we are going to do our part….  We are also going to contribute into an emergency fund to be used for any spill or environmental accident that takes place under our tenure….

Kinder Morgan could have done any of those things, … and didn’t…. The blame doesn’t lie with Julius after all…. Especially when you consider the following…

This Economic Council erred on Fisker Automotive.  Then it erred on Bloom Energy.  Then it tried to Kinder Morgan us out of our port…..   Someone rushed in  with a save to make sure that last one didn’t happen.

That person is now hereby nominated for Delaware’s Person of the Year…….

$1.2 Trillion: For A Limited Term Only: Offer Expires 12/21/12

When I was young, and thought I ruled the world, I went car shopping. it was about time for a new car, I wasn’t really in the market, but repairs were due and perhaps I could leap into a new car, and let the dealer fix up the old one on his dime…. I walked into the Honda dealer on Cleveland Avenue 15 minutes before closing , way back when Honda Accords were listed for $12,000….

I test drove then sat down with the salesman/manager (he negotiated back and forth with himself), and I said, it’s a nice car, but I can’t go over $8000. He got all exasperated, and flustered about, and said, .. “if you sign it tonight, I can give it to you for $8500…. Right here. Right now…” That scared me. I began to wonder what on earth was wrong with the car; still, I could have sold it the next day for $9000. But, it was too fast for me, and I said so. “I can’t sign tonight, I have to look at all the options including finances.”

I spent all night trying to find a way I’d lose money on that deal.. I couldn’t find one. So at 10:00 am I drove to Cleveland Ave, … the car was gone! I approached the manager I’d had the conversation the night before, and thinking they were prepping it up for me, I said … I decided to take that offer now…”

“Sorry, kid. That was for last night. It is gone. Would you like another vehicle?” I didn’t want to pay more than $8500. so i said “no:….

As a caveat 7 years later I saw that same model, same year, on the used car lot with a price tag for a used car, of $14,800…. My left shin was black from all the kicks I gave it…

To this day, I’ve always wondered why he went so low that one night? It has definitely been the best deal ever on a vehicle I’ve seen, and I haven’t figured out any rational reason why he would do such a thing…. Being the sales manager, the man in charge, it obviously had some import….

This relates to the fiscal cliff in this way. Just because an offer was made… doesn’t mean it has to stand. It was made for a limited time only.. That time frame is at the discretion of the seller.

Did you ever try to use a coupon that has expired? What happens? It doesn’t work.

If Republicans do not act on this in a timely way, the price goes back up… That way, they will have more respect, as did that young car buyer, of in the future, acting in a timely fashion…

If they don’t accept now and firm a deal, it is time to pull the offer. Later on, we can settle for keeping the tax cuts on those under $250,000 and Republicans will sit out in the cold…..

We wanted to sell it today, we gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse, they refused and the offer got pulled…

It was for a limited time … only.

The Effect of Labor Unions On A Local Economy

This is a tough one. Like a Gordian Knot, one string is overlapping another. Pull one, and an unexpected result pops out. This problem is one that will depend upon specifics, such as what is the business, what is the competition, how many people does it affect….. Not a quick answer mind you…

Michigan went to right to work, as you all by now know. That is a blow to unionized labor in that state. It does not mean unions are immediately dissolved. It means that over time they can be weakened….

Indiana also went. Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, are all trying to follow suit. Anywhere there were cars made, there is a large enough voter backlash to make it tough to keep unions in business. Why? The economies of these heavily industrialize auto manufacturers are slumped. Detroit in particular is a ghost town, compared to its heyday in the seventies. However, automobile manufacturing units put in by foreign car makers, BMW, Nissan, Honda, and Toyota in Southern right to work states, are thriving….

There are many factors. During the 80′s and 90′s baby boomers simply preferred foreign models. Despite campaigns to buy American, buyers persisted in preferring foreign models whose quality showed through when the time came to trade them in. So some of the slump can be contributed to poor design and planning. But, today when every new car is carrying a price tag of $1500 to pay for labor and future pensions guaranteed to the union of automobile workers, it is very hard not to succumb to the philosophy that perhaps, unions did chase the jobs away and cause the rust belt.

Companies who are non union have more money to re-invest into their business than companies who are closed shop… If you have more money to reinvest, you can build better cars than your competitor who cannot match you there… because he diverts more money to labor.

To understand how unions work you need to understand cartels. Cartels as in Arab Oil Cartels, withhold the amount of product (labor) forcing its price to climb…. The labor unions says: if you want to make cars, this is our price. The automobile manufacturer has to meet that price. If all cars have the same labor price, then this system is static. But when some labor is high priced, and some is low priced, then those with low price do well, and those with high price do not…. Over time, the proper tendency would be to become free of union intervention….

Granted, a union is savvy enough not to kill it’s host, and with global competition, may unions have made concessions to keep their plant open and working. But there have been many plants that closed. Like Janesville. It closed because it wasn’t needed; not because of labor. However the argument against labor unions, is that they make cars less competitive by inflating its cost, and if cars don’t sell, they get discontinued, and that forces the plant shut down…

It is no lie…. that union salaries positively impact a communities economy far more than do non union wages….A union is able to bargain for a higher wage, and a non union worker gets the lowest amount a company can pay and still keep and employee… Those that vote for making states a right to work one, fall back on the adage that it is better to have a job that pays little, than a job that goes away…. Ask yourself. If you were laid off from a union job, and off work unemployed for two years, then applying for a job making one third your previous amount, would you take it? If so, then right to work wins over closed shop labor. Because you would work at low wages.

Now. There is no one that I’ve seen who has not given credit to the unionization of American workers as being the reason our nation used to have a prosperous middle class. That middle class did most of the buying and selling in this nation. When they have money to spend, all is well. When they don’t and are pinching pennies themselves, the economy sputters and dies. This is commonly accepted by all people.

The Unions are what built America.

As Unions have gotten weaker, corporate income has gotten higher, and wages have gotten lower….

Where this is good for investors, it is not good for the economy. More money thrown to wages and less to profits and dividends, is the key to getting our economy thriving. More money thrown to wages increased our nations demand for goods. Increased demand is what investors are waiting for to toss in all the money they have waiting on the side, hoping for the perfect moment to lay it down……

So I think we are beginning to see the dilemma and the possible resolution required.

Labor unions are not a business tool. If treated as such they will evolve outward and disappear. They are a social tool. Having labor unions is bad for business and is a burden to any business that has to deal with them. Labor Unions are NOT business friendly. However as a tool for society, they serve the most basic function of forcing more money to back down to the first through fourth economic quintiles, and sucking it out of the stratosphere of the top 1%….

Instead of money being bet on the price of eggs in China, it is being used to buy more eggs in ShopRite which stimulates the economy…

We know from history how dark life is for those without any protection from their employer. The standard reply from a boss, is “if you don’ like it you can just……… leave.” But what if you can’t leave? What if you have so little that your children starve if you are off work one day? Two days. Three days….

Without unions, you have no choice. You have to work at whatever wage they tell you…. All America becomes a sweatshop….

Socially, philosophically, and patriotically we need a rejuvenation of Union Strength. Toss out all business arguments. That usually is how all anti- union arguments are framed, and it is smart they do so, because as I said above, Labor Unions are bad for business.

But they are good for America….

There are $2 trillion dollars today on the sidelines waiting for Congress to decided on its tax plan. Some of that needs to be invested in todays workers. The argument for unions would be weaker if business on its own, chose to reward its workers with some of its riches just because they were are part of the success too. But they do the opposite, and therefore, society needs some balance.

Labor Unions are a social issue… an economic issue…. not a business issue. The US rust belt needs investment. It also needs those wages to be high enough to spurt the local economies…. Only unions can provide that higher rate…. Though in negotiation for their own welfare, when successful, all of America benefits…..

Religion Grows In Sussex County; It’s Just Not the Religion Our Backwood’s Preachers Envisioned

The story goes that Warren Buffet, rather worried about his investments early 2008, wanted to talk to God… God told him to use his phone and he’d send him the bill… He got and paid the $333 million dollar charge. His investments flourished, too… That would be the end of the story, except he was down in Sussex County recently, following up first hand on a corporate case being processed out of Georgetown… once again, he asked God for the right to call, and agreed to accept the charges… When he got his bill, he was fuming… He was only charged 25 cents… “God”, he said, “you ripped me off on that first call, big time!”… God said, “Warren, don’t you get it? In Sussex County, that’s a local call…”

Local call or not, Sussex County is weighing in on whether to say a prayer before County meetings or to not… Here are a few takes on that policy: one, two, three, four……

As someone who grew up where prayers were always said before football games and county meetings, it isn’t a big deal…… That is, as long as everyone agrees it isn’t a big deal. You don’t see prayers before meetings conducted in New York.

Not because New Yorkers are heathens, but because in New York, you have a multiplicity of religions, so praying a prayer from one of them, is a slap in the face for all others…

Why it’s even an issue in Sussex County is because the Positive Growth Alliance, has been building condo’s like ants, and lots of people who did not grow up in Sussex County, now live there. Many have different ideas of religion than those who’ve always been there all their lives…

If everyone believe in the same version of God as does David Anderson, then of course, duh, why are we even arguing about it… Of course we’re going to pray to God to guide us through this meeting.. That’s what He’s for!

Suddenly, thanks to Rich Collins and the Positive Growth Alliance, we have tons of people who do object to having David Anderson’s version of God, one who dislikes Homosexuals, and one who casts pox on Democrats, one who believes married people should have sex only when they have children, one who believes sex between animals is immoral, one who believes taxes are caused by the devil, one who believes that nature was made to bulldoze and pave with a combination of petroleum and gravel. … one who believes that oil companies have the divine right to pollute oceans, one who believes that animals were made for us to kill. … one who believes a national religious holiday should fall on the first day of deer season.. one who believes pick up trucks and baseball caps are proof that homosexuality is a sin,… on who believes killing someone with a gun is not a sin, but taking that gun away for the safety of others is…

(yes, I’m having fun and talking tongue in cheek)…

The point I’m making is that Sussex County is changing; and it is changing mostly thanks to Rich Collins and the Positive Growth Alliance.

Can you make new citizens join the current religion? If so, then by all means, just like the days of old, they will see no qualms in having a tiny prayer before the meeting.

But if they don’t want to join that religion, then, to force one group of religious people to impose their prayers on others, is not American…In fact, it’s kinda creepy…

If in an effort to show fairness, the Sussex County decided they would do prayers from all religions in alphabetical order, when they came to “B” and hit Buddahism, giving an Buddahist prayer before the session, most of those in the audience would be saying WTF! This is our nation, why do we have to listen to such crap…

Which is… exactly what those Buddahists think, who have opened a business in Millsboro, and have come before the county to ask for a variance on something or other that is in their antiqued code….

So… If it is unnatural for a Baptist to suffer a Buddahist prayer, it is equally unnatural for a Buddahist to sit through a Baptist prayer…

It’s not about one religion being right and the other wrong. It’s about who the citizens are that make up Sussex County. If you want to blame anyone over this controversy, the blame solely lies with those who built up Sussex County and brought in all these new people to begin with… Now that they are here, we have to make Sussex County as fair to them as New York, is fair to us, when we take our business up there……

Positive Growth, huh? Depends on your version of positive I guess………….

State Employee Legislators

i’m concerned.

With a lot of discussion aimed at one particular person who is employed by the state, and works for it as well, that something will get washed under the bridge without anyone mentioning it.

That is,

If we disallow state employees to run for office, who does that leave to run? People with Republican sympathies…..

Let me explain. Delaware only pays a legislator $42,000 a year. One can’t live on that… Therefore the only people who can physically serve are those who do not have to work 40 hours for their income…. That can be someone retired,or someone fabulously wealthy, or someone who doesn’t need forty hours of pay to stay alive….

Therefore, every legislator if not independently wealthy, needs a benefactor. If that benefactor is not the state, or other forms of government, it has to be a private concern…. And… a private concern will be much more emphatic that their “owned” legislator, does their bidding…. For proof of this, look no further than Scott Walker, John Kasich, an Rick Scott.

Currently, allowing someone to work as a state employee, and serve as a part time legislator, is the only way a person representing working people, can afford to be a legislator.

It can create some problems of course, such as funneling money to a certain bureau but that pales in comparison to having another friend of Delmarva Power, Bank of America, Waste Management, Dupont, Positive Growth Alliance, Pam Scott Realitors, serving in our state legislator.

Only someone independent of corporate influence can see clearly when it comes time to balance the needs of corporations versus the needs of our state’s people…

One, we’ve already lost that balance. Forcing a legislator to have a corporate benefactor, will only push that balance further in the wrong direction….

So if we force this disconnection between a working state employee and a position as an elected official, we need to also have a way of having voices independent serve on our state boards…

Currently you have land use issues around this state. Residents are in an uproar over changes to their neighborhoods. But, none of them can run… Who can run? A realtor…. So properties get zoned for quick sales, irregardless of the consequences they actually impose upon those who live there!

This is the direction this bill will take us… unless we have something in it to balance corporate takeovers…

I propose that we pull the plug and make our legislators full time….

Jump the salary from $42,000 a year to $100,000 a year…. Wow, that’s a 138% increase in a time of recession!

Yes, but it will better equal our capacity to serve the whole of our states population.

Any government worker, can afford to quit to serve as his constituents representative. Any corporate representative, can afford to quit, to serve as his constituents representative…. Any human being, can afford to serve the needs of his constituents, without having to sell his soul to represent some narrow interest group once in….

How much will this cost?

41 plus 21 times $58,000…. equals $3.5 million dollars. or roughly 1 percent of our state’s budget. Whereas that may sound like a lot, we could easily increase the top 1% tax rate slightly to counteract it, and with the stroke of a pen, finally have a government independent of corporate, or labor, or another state department’s influence.

Such is the cost of excellence….

Other state’s paying for full time legislators, are…. California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania… Once looking a the the list of salaries paid state by state nationwide, it becomes rather apparent why across this great nation of ours, the whims of government can be quickly changed by one good meal……

On Saturday, February 26, at noon local time, we are organizing rallies in front of every statehouse and in every major city to stand in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin.

‘Nuff said.

Aragorn Arrives….

Desperate times demand bold actions… Yesterday Delaware Governor Jack Markell, who won the past election with the support of many from both parties, addressed the full houses of both Legislatures giving a “state of this State”, message…

The commentary across the blogs and airwaves, is all over the place.. So for those who missed it, here is the meat…

A. We’re in the middle of a Great Depression.

B. Wake Up, Old Farts! We’re short $780 million!

C.We shall share the burden fairly, and not cater to the sqeamy baby whiners…

D. (1) Cut spending by $331M; (2) Cut funding to special funds by $40M; (3) Utilize $155M in one-time federal stimulus funding; (4) Raise at least $55M by re-authorizing a sports lottery and getting a fairer deal for taxpayers; (5) Increase our revenues by $166M; and (6) raise fees and fines by $12M.

E. If you see one of our State’s Casino operators out shopping or walking down the street, do the whole state a favor and bitch slap some sense into the moron.

F. We have 10 weeks; or 70 days; or 1680 hours; 100,800 minutes…. to correctly set Delaware’s course to solubility over the next three years… Every second squandered, every breath of hot air, pushes us backwards from where we came…

G. Only complete openness and accountability can make government more efficient.

H. “We must shift our reliance on expensive institutional care for our senior population by fostering community and home based care.”

I. This state funds local governments.. We wonder what THEY are doing with that money we give them…. Hmmmm.

J. Education sucks up and wastes much money… We will consolidate our school districts as soon as we render inconsequential those legislators who have their tongues permanently stuck up their union’s ass, ….

H. We will free teachers from the impediments imposed upon them by unions and ill informed legislators, and let them teach… Let teachers teach.

I. Teaching to the DSTP — dead

J. Want more money? Then teach better… We’ll make sure you get it.

K. The only long-term answer to our problem is getting Delaware back to work

L. We propose to train 40-50 year olds how to use computers. We propose to use 5 million to leverage 50 million to start up small businesses. We propose to push green energy from the top to generate jobs and cheaper energy for Delawareans than ever Pepco or Delmarva Power could ever provide. Since the blogging world is now keeping a close eye on Harris McDowell, we can use the good parts of his plan, and even mention his name in public again in a positive way… Will wonders never cease?

M. We seek legislation that requires utilities to achieve, by 2015, a per capita electricity consumption reduction and peak demand reduction of 15%.

N. We propose to establish a statewide priority order for new electricity generation – requiring that we look first to cost-effective efficiency measures to meet new demand, followed then by cost-effective renewables. Only after those resources have been exhausted should we look to conventional fossil fuel sources.

O. Delaware must become the center for Green energy. Not China.

P. So let’s work to encourage turbine manufacturers to make the turbines and assemble the towers here in Delaware, with easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. These wind turbines require thousands of parts and we should work to make sure they are made in Delaware.

Q. Nod to Gilliagan, DeLuca, and Carney… Hey… How are you?

R. Look folks, it’s this simple.. We’re dead in the water, the enemy ship is swinging around to rip us apart with a final broadside from 55 cannons…. Do we grapple, tie ourselves, board, and take the fight to them, or…. do what we always have done and quibble about who gets the credit and who carries the blame…

S. Damn it. I’m going aboard. Who is with me?

In typical kavipsian fashion no punches were pulled.. Our crisis is too big for subtle niceties… “Gee, Tony, what nice suspenders!”…. The effectiveness of the speech, lies in the answer to the last question: who is with him?

For one, I am. And I pity whoever gets in my way….

lol.

How Clean Is Your Air, Delaware?

Courtesy of the Delaware Energy Office

It’s Here! Three Days Early….

(right click on image for full view)

The Budget Bill is posted and goes to both Houses on Monday, the last day of this year’s Legislature.

Avid readers can understand after reading why most Delawarean legislators vote aye or nay on standard principal without ever reading the entire voluminous work…….

However at this point in time, the Bond Bill is still off line. That bill is primarily the one with all of the hidden agendas…….

For those unaccustomed to analyzing these type of things, the definitions below may be helpful……..

GF – General Fund
ASF – Appropriated Special Funds
NSF – Non-appropriated Special Funds
TFO – Trust Fund Operations
TFC – Trust Fund Capital
FTE – Full-time Equivalent

Due to it’s complexity and size, specialists in each category now need to look over just their own respective areas of expertise, in order to determine if any citizen action is required…..

You can post any item you feel requires citizen action in the comment section below (the tab is at the end of the category listing just under the heading) and they will be read by those who need to know……..

They will.

Outside The Perimeter: HCR38 Edition

Courtesy of Department of Defense

The most notable event that took place in our recent blogosphere, was the unceremonious “fuck you, assholes” sent by the Delaware House of Representatives (25 to 11) to those turds in the Senate, who are, and have been for too long,….. clogging up the plumbing of good government. By now, all should know that Charlie Copeland, Harris McDowell, Tony DeLuca, and Thurman Adams, are impersonating the Four Whoresmen (sp?) of the Apocalypse, responsible for keeping Delaware from becoming anything more modern than…………a feudal government.

Gloom and Doom opened the morning of the tenth. The News Journal and WDEL both took the fake, went chasing after a foul ball, and ran squarely into the right field fence. Anyone reading past the headlines would have instantly realized that something was wrong, There was nothing lurking in the background to back the headlines. It was a rumor gone wild. Someone had whispered that the wind farm was in mortal danger.

“What?” “The wind farm is in danger?” “Oh, No!”……..

But no report was out, said both news sources, but fortunately for us, four senators were squealing to the press about the issue.

What? Four Senators? Could it be?……Were we about to see the New Age reincarnation of the four Whoresmen of the Apocalypse? Was Armageddon just around the corner?

The News Journal named no names but gave background quotes from 4 sources…..Can we guess? “Desk Drawer” Adams? Harris McDowell? Tony DeLuca? Charlie Copeland? My………………………..how did you know? What amazing powers of prognostication you all possess! (That could, in part, be why you are bloggers).

So as we listened to Karen Petersen stammer from having been aroused too early in the morning (session went late the night before), things didn’t sound so good, Especially everywhere one turned, something was being said about the end of the windfarm……..

But those of us in the know, saw it as a concerted effort by four people. A quick look at the math, leaves 783,596 Delawareans still unaccounted for.

Any basketball team losing 4 to 783,596, would never be considered, even by its most ardent believers, as sitting on the edge of an upset!…………Some of us are wondering why those within the media, who should be immune to this type of fake out, were so gullibly sucked in……..

Tommywonk set them straight on Loudell’s Noontime broadcast, notable for being the first guest in recent memory, that Loudell has allowed to go over his time limit, during an interview without pulling the plug…….. Meanwhile, down south, Maria Evans was filtering through the News Journal story as well.

This flap had occurred just on the toes of Delmarva releasing their on shore prices for renewable wind energy. Or lets say they issues a perspective…..a rosy perspective…..an almost too rosy of a perspective to be taken with a grain of salt………This was quickly debunked by several of Delawares bloggers as purporting to buy wind energy from windmills whose building rights on the tops of mountains, were not even proposed?

And then, HCR 38 went to a vote. Tommy has the scoop on how it happened. as well as does John Kowalko. It came out………… in favor of Bluewater Wind by a vote 25 to 11. Almost all of the 11 came from Sussex County, and were Republican……..Looks like no help will be forthcoming from Dave for these notorious bashers of Dave Burris and backers of John Atkins. Sussex County is wind country. Don’t believe me? Just ask Lynn Bullock?

There is no doubt that Harris McDowell is tearing up all of the fabric of compromise within the second smallest state, in his all out scorched earth attempt to kick out Bluewater Wind.

Dana at Delaware Watch, sings the praise of one committed Legislator, intent on working for the people of his district, unlike his compatriots in the Senate, who have sold their people “out”. That’s the problem with keeping politicians in office too long. It is only inevitable that they eventually, they spoil like a ripe papaya

There has been a surge of spirit among those willing to take on the sad state of affairs known normally as Delaware Politics. Strange events are occurring. People are not willing to sit back and just take it anymore. Many will wonder where this spirit is coming from, and why it suddenly manifests itself among us……..But some of us know exactly from where it comes ….and will fight to keep that free spirit alive.

Delaware Politics.Net has absolutely nothing on Bluewater Wind this past week. Too occupied with “being bitter” and like the rest of us, they are nostalgic for 1999. When Republicans start fondly reminiscing about 8th year of a Democratic president, during the middle of the 8th year of a Republican one, you know something has broken down somewhere in their philosophy.

However all friendly kidding aside, they, along with JTTR, and Rick Jensen, are taking on the 10% cuts being forced upon our educational departments. This is an issue. Schools are being asked to give back money as well as every other state government entity. Dave asks if that is fair? Is it the best option on the table? Dana shows us where that money is going to. Take it from the schools and give it to………….Kilroy has a better answer…..Translate that feeling into action……Steve Newton takes the message directly to the source. Obviously our soon-to-be-retired Governor, having heard Allan Loudell who seems to be the only one mentioning the catastrophic food shortages, (that quite possibly has the potential to change our global political landscapes relatively soon), is worried that in her retirement, she will run out of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Stay tuned for a photochop of Minner enjoying her retirement dinner, with a twenty years stash stored behind her. Those of you who are parents, get yourselves ready for conversations such as this: “Dad,” “Yes, son,” “Why did you let the governor eat up all our school’s money?” If you are prepared, your answer should go like this……”Well, once upon a time…..It all started off when four people got together, and all of them had funny names. Their names were Tony “On The Take” DeLuca, Charlie “No Wind Here” Copeland, Harris “I love Delmarva” McDowell, and “Desk Drawer Adams”…………………” (more to come later)

From the Libertarian side of things, Shirley shows us that there are other people in this world who also have brains, balls, and the know-how to use both, other than Tyler Nixon. Figures this link would come from the “Live Free or Die” State. What is it with small states having the most vocal Libertarian contingents?

Thank heavens some one is finally getting wise.What a beautiful day

Bet it wasn’t a beautiful day for these people in Berks County, PA. (There is a highly recommended YouTube clip in this post’s comment section.) Obviously some laws are still subjective when it comes time to met out their punishments……

Alan Coffey lays the Republican hypocrisy right on the line with this post. Don’t forget, up until just last November, we were going to bomb them…….

Delaware Libertarian has a short post (Yes Duffy! It’s true……Check it out… ) about how an above mentioned controversy will impact our local politics. Try as you may to simplify and reduce it further, it can’t be done……..

Along the same lines…..Duffy has some similar advice about finding simple solutions to big problems: always check the registry, and then, check it again………………..Duffy’s stories always make me feel human again; its nice to know I am not the only one upon who life is not always smiling….

On a more serious note, Duffy brings home just exactly what America is all about. Honor, Duty, and the willingness to sacrifice for a greater cause. Irregardless on how you feel about the war, you can feel nothing but pride after reading this tribute…….It infuriates me that back home, in Dover, we are forced to deal with those pursuing a narrow,specific, personal agenda, focused only on themselves and the accumulation of their own wealth, with not even a smidgen of responsibility to those who will suffer because of their actions.

What a huge difference between our military heroes, and those politicians who stay at home……………..

People ask me if I am worried…….I tell them no, I had an omen that in this week something great would happen……I was right. It did. Blue bug eyed aliens were discovered in and around Sussex County (must see picture). And after some trouble with a blood clot, Mahaffie is now in New Orleans, giving us a first hand look at the aftermath of Katrina. I was relieved to see the Cafe du Monde was still around with their awesome beignets. I hope he gets a chance to ferry over to Algiers, but his schedule may be a little too tight…….I’m still waiting for him to show up at the South Pole, to check out the accuracy of his GPS device.

And we need to keep Joe M. close to our hearts and in our prayers. Anytime one of us goes silent, I start to worry.

But a real event spinning off one of JTTR’s posts had be worried even more. Although I am fond of his analysis covering his taste in music, he did exceptionally well in reviewing this product. I was able to fight the power of suggestion for twenty one minutes before heading out to the nearest 24 hour location…………only to find, that because of the slowness of the economy, it had cut back its hours…….stranding me unfulfilled with JTTR‘s words echoing though my head….(By the way, his review is on target, and the purchase is worth the effort…) His mirror image, has finished his four years and like everyone who has traveled that path, looks backwards and says ………………..”ok”.

Matt Marshall is on TV. No not like water on Mars, this is the real thing. Those who follow DWA can also get a glimpse of the always articulate, and eloquent Dominique…..
But even bigger news it how Gene Reed, insurance commissioner gets his money……..and how the News Journal tried to hide it and cover it up……Just imagine the Pottersville this state would be in if it weren’t for us bloggers?

The Colossus of Rhodey points out that not all stupidity lies with our administration. The University of Delaware is getting ready for another national firestorm, especially during an election year, by putting this up for all to see….”The University of Delaware has revised a speech code that used to classify “[a]ny instance that is perceived by those involved as being racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, or otherwise oppressive” as an emergency equal to fire, suicide attempts, and alcohol overdose.” Hmmm…a little hyperbole we have there, perhaps? Perhaps the University of Delaware’s officials should watch Battlestar Galactica to learn how one deals with those having different viewpoints, even if that person is yourself. I’m telling you. It’s the best show on television.

Finally full circle back to Bluewater Wind. Jason at Delaware Liberal shows us that as we squabble away valuable time arguing with, instead of simply bypassing one Harris McDowell, the rest of the world is moving forward with Offshore wind very quickly. We have just days before the announcement that the East Coast Hub of Offshore Wind development, will no longer be in Delaware. Because we (1st Senatoral District, Wilmington) elect stupid asses to our Legislature.

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