Agenda for Delaware’s 148th General Assembly

• Increase Taxes substantially on the top 1% of Delawareans by increasing incrementally the top marginal tax rate.
• Override the Opt Out veto, giving parents the ultimate role in their child’s education.
• Remove and replace the  crony Smarter Balanced Test with a test that can actually help students with immediate feedback.
• Remove charter schools from being funded per student and have them paid by line item in state budget, bringing them under tighter public scrutiny and control.
• Quickly pass HB 217 (Keeley) which is designed to require that firearms which are recovered from crime scenes be entered into the National Crime Information Center firearm database system.

We have a tough session ahead.  All of these are no-brainers and should quickly be put to rest so attention can be focused outward towards new things.

Sean Barney: A Little Boy In A Man’s World

That was the consensus of how Sean Barney came across in yesterday’s debate. Perhaps it is the lisp he has, or his youthful choice of adjectives, but, when stacked next to the current treasurer, Barney comes across the weaker choice.

The debate pitted idealism against reality. As a child intent on making the world a better place, the idealism of Barney became too much as the hour progressed. Far too often he was tripped up by Flowers on specifics of the office that in our circle are common knowledge, but apparently Barney didn’t know.

As one sometimes feels sorry when two football teams are extremely mismatched, one feels the same for Barney.

After all, several external events recently undercut Barney’s campaign.

One: The treasurer was honored by the auditors report for being squeaky clean and honest. Unlike Markell (Barney’s old boss) Chip Flowers had no dings on his reporting of finances…

Two: Flowers acted promptly and properly over his deputy’s transgressions. There is no crime in being vicitmized and Barney lost points in trying to tie Flowers to the action of his deputy. Flowers responded to the problem, and currently now, for any future treasurer, it cannot happen again.

Three: Jack Markell’s and Tom Carper’s reputation are the kiss of death. It was ironical for Barney to accuse Flowers of travel violations when Barney’s own boss was accused of the very same, and unlike Flowers, has done nothing to resolve it… Markell had a low level staffer simply brush it off.

Four: The economy of Delaware is not booming. Problems outnumber successes. The Markell Administration is under fire for Fisker, Bloom, TDC, gutting the Coastal Zone Act, Common Core, Smarter Balanced Assessments, a diminishing economy, loss of revenue, casinos going bust, Charter Schools failing, so Barney’s advertising that he was Markell’s POLICY DIRECTOR, is nothing short of an albitross hung around his neck.

Five: It borders incredulous that Barney was unfamiliar with Dave Marvin’s malefeasance as member of the Cash Management Board, and that the single person leading the charge against Chip Flowers, was fined for being dishonest to his investors, and lying and cheating in his disclosures as required by law. Basically Sean Barney was unfamiliar with this man. This completely undercuts Barney’s argument that Chip is flawed because he can’t get “crooks” to like him. That exchange was incredulous to listen to.

Six: Complaining that Flowers was incompetent because he couldn’t get his legislation passed by Markell’s flackeys, was turned on its ear by Allan Loudell who immediately brought up that Markell couldn’t get his 10 cents a gallon passed, barely got his Smarter Balance Assessments passed (had to bribe Greg Lavelle with a spot on Chuck Todd), barely got gun legislation passed, failed to get Flower’s sanctioned last year. If not getting legislation passed is a crime, then Barney’s own boss was guilty of far more…

Seven: After a full hour, one gets an overall sense, that if you want the Delaware way to continue, where a few dictate things behind the scenes and there is no way one can contest or derail it, then Sean Barney is the way to go. One senses that he will not do anything without getting his bosses approval first. “I’ll have to ask the boss.” On the other hand if one feels the elite have run Delaware into the ground, and think a new direction is necessary, one which will improve economic possibilities for all Delawareans not making over $10 million a month, Chip Flowers should be the Democrats choice on the General Election ticket…

It depends who you are, on which one you should vote for. If you are a Greenville elitist, I doubt that you will be happy with Chip Flowers. Heck, if you are one of them, I doubt that you will be happy with anyone. Which in turn, would be good for Delaware….

What Kind Of Attorney General Would Block Legislation To Have All School Boards Recorded For Freedom Of Information?

 

This kind…

Doesn’t he have an election coming up soon?  If so, how can anyone expect to make a credible run for Attorney General IN THIS STATE, AFTER BEAU BIDEN’S TERM,  and be guilty of keeping a tiny little bill, which has no harm but opens all board meetings to being recorded and accessible on line?

Only Simon Barsinister could be against something so inane… Or…. Hmmmmm…. Somebody … With… Something…. To …. Hide….

Three lines of simple code: All boards of education of public school districts, vocational-technical high school districts, and all boards of directors of charter schools shall digitally record all of their public meetings and shall make the recordings available to the public on the districts’ or charter schools’ websites within seven (7) business days of each meeting.  These recordings are not official board minutes, but are a means to enhance communication to the public and to State legislators.…….

Hmmm.  Now… Why would the surprise future attorney general, be sooooo adamant, even to the point of losing an election over blocking legislation so inane, that all it does is open school boards of all things, open to the public as a service… Anyone can walk into a school board and hear exactly the same thing they’d hear on tape… But sometimes… a diaper needs changed.  But sometimes, a family meal needs prepared.   Sometimes extra work for the office must be done for deadline the next day…. Darn we say now….I guess we won’t get to know what happened…

So why?  Why is HB 23 being put on ice as my compatriot Kilroy is found of saying.  Who is soooooo scared someone will find out what is really going on in school board meetings?  Is it Charlie Copeland?   Is it Mark Murphy?  Is it… Darryl Scott?   Is it Pete Schwartzkoph?

Hmmm.  I wonder if it has any sponsors in the General Assembly right now?

HOLY MOLY!!!!!!  LOOK AT THIS!!!   Sponsors:  Hudson, Sen. Peterson, Reps. Dukes, D. Short, Miro, Peterman, Wilson, Baumbach, Bennett, Mitchell, K. Williams; Sens. Hocker, Lavelle, Simpson, Townsend….

Is Pete Schwartzkoph there?….. No…… Is Bryon Short there?  ….. No……  Is Melanie George Smith there?….. No……  Is Valarie Longhurst there?……. No…… Is Darryl Scott there?  … No….Is Earl Jacques there?…… No  Is Patty Blevins there? …… No……  Is Quentin Johnson there? …. No….   is John Viola there?…… No….  Is Ernie Lopez there?….. No?

Hmmmmmm…   What do those all have in common…… 🙂   Hmmmmmmmmmmmm….  Do they all drink their coconut milk imbibed with lime?  …. No…..   Do they all call each other up and wear the same color of underwear each daily session?…… No……  Ummm.   Do they all have the same Delaware extension tatoo’d to their buttocks?….. Ummmm…..M a y… b e…….

It is someone with a lot to hide; that is for sure…  And it is nobody from here:

Red Clay, Christina, Capital, Delmar, Brandywine and Colonial currently already voluntarily record their board meetings! As well as the Delaware State Board of Education records their meetings!

So why is this something that has to be kept secret, and never brought to pass?….. Because we are not talking about individuals  VOTING on a bill…They could vote YEA or NEA and it wouldn’t matter!  What concerns us and you, is the pure morality of  KEEPING A BILL FROM BEING VOTED FOR YOU BECAUSE IT WILL PASS….

So according to its sponsor, Deborah Hudson,  Matt Denn is sitting on this bill….  He is doing it to protect someone else, to whom perhaps he is loyal….  How seriously then, were a procedural crime to be committed requiring a judicial investigation, can he be trusted to dig and search for the truth instead of whitewashing the whole affair to protect this same someone, when he can’t even be trusted to get a vote for heaven’s sakes….on  a voice recording of  school board meetings,  out on to the floor for a vote?   Let that sink in for a second….  Really?

Put all else aside…..  Really?

IS that really the kind of attorney general we want after Beau Biden….  a crony?

Really?  He’s going to throw his whole career away …. on that?

Really?  Why would he do that?   But it is definite a campaign issue, like blocking the GW bridge, one that resonates and will stick, because EVERY parent has a child in school….Whether they would ever listen themselves or not, this concerns them now… They too will question:  why is Matt Denn, who is running for Attorney General, trying so hard to keep information regarding my kid and his friends, from ever being made public??? Hmmmmm….

Seriously, this blemishes his entire pro-family  image he developed while serving as our insurance commissioner.  This makes him one of the snakes…..  with those evil eyes…..

What? MORE Discrepancies in the TDC Filing? GEE! Who Would Have Thunk!

It appears the TDC has run aground as did every Revolutionary warship that tried to attack up the Delaware Bay……

Newark’s newest populist hero, Mark Morehead, has found new discrepancies.  The problems are in violation of the project’s previously-awarded city zoning verification….

There are four tables listing data….

A.  There are several basic arithmetic errors in the first table.. Apparently the engineer fabricating them was trained by Common Core, and can’t do basic math.  (Common Core is 85% inferior to the mathematical teaching methods of the 70’s,80’s, and 90’s).

B.  TDC lacks the ability to complete the power plant project effectively,   Can anyone trust their life to someone who can’t add 20 + 20?

C.  “The multiple errors in the phasing chart, which was certified by Mr. Beringer, confirm the validity of the doubts expressed by Dr. Roe about Mr. Beringer’s competence,”

D.  Of the four interlocking tables submitted by TDC, the data does not match.  It fluctuates in all four to achieve whatever result the TDC wishes to convey….

E  Despite initial claims of excess energy to be sold out to the grid, the actual plans show that in phase one there is a deficit of 7.0 MW less than is necessary… meaing the Data center will be stealing power from Newark proper, and esculating everyones electrical rates through the roof… In phase 2 there is even more of a deficit, 17.4 MW less than required, which takes half of Newark proper’s hourly need of 34 Mw just to keep the lights on!

F.  No one but stupid builds a power plant in the middle of town.  But if they did happen to do so, they would require at least 30% extra power to be given to the town in payment.  The figures show this will not happen, and this was the prime contingent for moving forward with the project in the first place…   It is like you go to ShopRite and buy coffee and after getting rung up, you say:  “unh, unh, no way.  I want it for free. I’m not paying you”… hoping they will be too busy to make a fuss and just say “get outta here.”  We have a word for that in the English language.  It is: criminal.

G.  The university which allegedly has in its employee, some professors, did not have anyone double check the numbers before signing on…  Hmmm.  Or maybe they did, and THAT is why they are being so coy and secretive about it?  Hmmm.

The Council voted to uphold the people’s right to know, and stopped the forward movement of the Data Center… These are you heroes.  Rob Gifford, Mark Morehead, Polly Sierer, Luke Chapman and Marge Hadden …..

Here is pure unadulterated evil… Vince D’Anna…

It would be a rather wise idea to form a class action suit against Vince D’Anna in regards to potential damages he brings to all Newark’s citizens, and thereby force him to make a simple choice between either jail time or great personnel financial loss, or … turning to state’s evidence and informing us of all the corruption and criminal action of which he knows.  We have multiple lawyers, and I’m sure for the sake of their children, they would be willing to spend 5 hours of personal time perusing Nancy’s blog for data leading to a simple filing…  It’s for our kids, for heaven’s sakes….

What You Don’t Know Can Kill You

In what turns out to be nothing more than a get-rich-quick scheme, literally hundreds of thousands will die from this action…

The people of Newark have the last say; but only if they exercise it. If they do nothing, BIG BUSINESS always wins, because it can buy the political clout it needs. It can’t control you…..

Respond and contact those at the end of the video. Everyone needs to help here. 75 years of pollution is a long time… Almost one third as old as is the United States of America….

 

Courtesy of Delaware Way

Why The “Delaware Way” Must Go

Not Nancy’s blog; its awesome. But I am talking about the royalty that runs this state regardless of who gets elected,  If a candidate of the people gets in, they are quickly shoved out of viability inside the workings of government and the royalty continues to run things as it wishes.

Our locally elected officials for the most part, actually do try to represent us. And they actually do  well representing us on all issues that don’t affect those who think they run things… But go against those, and you get shoved into areas you can do no damage….

Money, influence, status are all the regular clients  The “Delaware Way” used to be held up as a good thing… I once believed it was a good thing, as probably did Nancy since it was how she named her blog.   The idea was that Democrats and Republicans all got along and got things done for the good of the state, and  compared to the breakdown we see daily in Washington DC, that alone does seem to be a benefit….

However, that now seems to have changed.   By taking a snapshot of today, their image show “The Delaware Way” is now a group that wants to put in a GIGANTIC power plant 200 yards from Newark’s back yards and doesn’t give a damn how many Newark children die in the process.  “The Delaware Way” is now a group that wants to get rid of the Coastal Zone Act, so new polluting industries which can’t get a foothold in any other civilized portion of the planet, can come here and pollute like they could in a third world nation… “The Delaware Way” is now a group that couldn’t care less about segregation, about teaching our children to read or right, about helping in-poverty children learn reading and math,  as long as they can get rich off of all their charter schools.  “The Delaware Way” wants unions busted; zoning laws gone,  conservative dogma taught, and no minimum wage increase until infinity.  Today’s “Delaware Way” wants to keep our prisons full, as long as the are privatized and someone gets paid for each incarceration. Today’s “Delaware Way” wants to keep the death penalty, and levy new death penalties on regular citizens by doing nothing to curb the buying or selling of contraband illegal guns. They want to actually make selling stolen guns completely legal… They want to benefit Highmark over Christina Care. They want to charge tolls on all our highways.  They don’t want taxes on the rich increased, but lowered.  They think today’s middle class earns far too much; they want them poorer…

Their names are familiar.  On the national scale they are Tom Carper, John Carney, and Chris Coons. On the state scale they are Gov. Markell, Dave Sokola, Brian Short, Dan Short, Pete Schwartzkoph, Valerie Longhurst… Add names below if you wish….

Instead of change, these people grind down the changes of other well meaning people into dust.  A simple rule requiring all schools to put their public board meetings on line, was, since it certainly if publicly voted would have passed, shoved into a drawer to never be seen again…  Charter school legislation that will bankrupt every single public school in the state, was drawn up in secret though deemed illegal by the Attorney General’s office of the state, was railroaded through both chambers and signed by the orchestrators above, before anyone knew it was happening…  Public schools are stripped of funding, and it was never brought up to the public for debate.

What brought all this up was Connie Merlet’s letter.. published in Nancy’s blog… appropriately titled:  The Delaware Way.  And it is one tiny piece I wish to draw out…  a little statement.  a few words strung together that says, so, so much….

“I believe changes were well-intended when the Stars program was envisioned, but it has morphed into a system that has enabled already high-quality day cares to enjoy most of the financial benefits… In conversations with our representatives at both levels, I have realized that they really have no understanding of how that money is actually being used. “

There appears to be a government within our government… One thing is promised and passed and then turned over to be executed.  At that point those in the Delaware Way take over, enabling  those of privilege get more money, and those in need to become shafted…  The legislators, those to whom you throw your vote, for the most part mean well;  it is when it gets into the actual bureaucracy that the Delaware Way comes into play. They are the “deciders” as one cowboy once called them.

So no matter what gets passed…. it certainly doesn’t come out the way it was intended… We have a government within our government that does not bode well for the Delaware people.  Look at New Castle County under Paul Clark where without brakes of any sort, the Delaware Way had its way…. The elite do what the elite want, despite the fact they only have one vote like everyone else.

John Carney has gotten completely loopy lately.  So has Chris Coons.  Carper has been pro-elite for a long time now.  But their statements in public from these three decrying it is better that they try to get along with our equivalent of Hannibal Lecter, don’t bode well for all of us who are to be his future victims. It appears that their statements still supportive of the Delaware Way, are only meant to have on single purpose….keeping the lambs quiet before their slaughter. ….

 

Disadvanteges Of Gas Turbine Power Plants

• Cost is very high
• Less efficient than reciprocating engines at idle speed
• Longer startup than reciprocating engines
• Less responsive to changes in power demand compared with reciprocating engines
• Characteristic whine can be hard to suppress

Translated to a loud jet engine larger than that on planes, sitting on the Chrysler Site running 24/7….  once it gets turned on, it stays on until it breaks down.

Remember those sissy’s who lived in Brandywine Hundred who were always bitchin’ bout those planes coming into Philadelphia International?  At least they got breaks between planes…..

State Of Delaware Gets Front Paged On Kos

If Christie laughed at every time he was lampooned, he’d lose weight.

Clarification from Down South

I’m skimming Nancy’s account of the Millsboro Vlasic Pickle delimna and my, are they in a pickle.

But some of the data given had me pause and ask questions…  Perhaps one of my more astute readers geographically closer to the problem can reassure me that what I’m reading, “ain’t really so?”

“Samples at a central location showed levels of tetrachloroethene and perchloroethene above the state’s drinking water standard, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.”

Does this mean when I eat pickles I am getting tetrachloroethene and percholoroethene in my brine?  Where would this contamination come from?  What use do these chemicals have with vinegared cucumbers?…

Nitrate was detected in several onsite wells, but the drinking water standard was exceeded in only one onsite drinking water well and two monitoring wells.

The plant sits either in or almost on city limits.  Does this mean everyone in Millsboro is drinking water, right now, right before the holidays, Christmas and all that, with family coming in to celebrate, that is potentially deemed harmful?  It certainly would imply that it is… When was the last time Millsboro’s water and wells surrounding the town, have their purity checked to deem if they were truly safe, ..or not?

In addition, lead exceeded the state drinking water standard.

How can this happen in 2013?  Drinking water?  With excessive lead?  (And we’re thinking Common Core is going to make these contaminated lead brains smarter?)  When was the last time Millsboro wells and drinking water was checked for lead?  Children live there, you know!

Other chemicals – including iron, cyanide, mercury, methyl acetate and chloroform – were found in soil samples but none present a risk to human health, DNREC officials said…    

Beneficial:  Iron, … Harmful:.. cyanide! mercury!, methyl acetate! chloroform!….  Here, drink this poison.  It makes you tough, puts hair on your chest as long as you don’t drink too much…( but I’m a girl; I don’t want hair on my chest.)

Gov. Markell and other politicians have focused solely on a vacant site and jobs, and not the resources or impact on the tourist economy the area also depends on,”

For some of my western NY readers… can anyone tell me how much tourist revenue the Love Canal is currently bringing in these days?

A DNREC memo dated May 19, 1997, indicated concern about the Vlasic site.

Based on what was disclosed above….. I SHOULD “EFFIN” HOPE SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The contamination of off-site shallow domestic wells which lie north and northeast of the Vlasic facility have always been the major concern regarding the potential off-site groundwater impacts of the groundwater plume,” the memo stated.

Translated… the water table will be contaminated some day inevitably, if not done so already.  How does one pollute so much from pickles, for heaven’s sake… We EAT pickles!

Bob Wheatley, incoming public policy chairman for the Delaware Association of Realtors.

Oh, man.  Like anyone is going to believe a single thing he says is true…..

Rob Arlett, Sussex County Association of Realtors public policy chairman: “This is also about property rights,” he said. “The owners of the building have the right to sell or lease their property.”

Appropriate translation:   “Die! Die! You scurvy scum.  Haul your bones to your graves will you?  Bite off your tongues.  You got no right to live! You got no right to be healthy!  You got no right to have children without Birth Defects!   YOU ARE SCUM. POND SCUM,  YOU DON’T MATTER. YOU DON’T MATTER… NO ONE CARES IF YOU LIvE, DIE, OR MOVE. YOU ARE THE LOWEST FORM OF HUMAN EXCREMENT FOUND ON THE SEAT OF ANY PORTA-POTTY….  PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE WHAT ITS ABOUT!  NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU.  PROPERTY RIGHTS! PROPERTY RIGHTS! PROPERTY RIGHTS! PROPERTY RIGHTS! PROPERTY RIGHTS! … OUR PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE ALL IMPORTANT! YOU SCUM WHO LIVE, WORK AND DIE IN THIS TOWN… GET OUT!  GET OUT!  GET OUT OF HERE NOW!  PROPERTY RIGHTS!  PROPERTY RIGHTS!  PROPERTY RIGHTS…. NOTHING IN SUSSEX COUNTY MATTERS NOTHING NOTHING EXCEPT PROPERTY RIGHTS. PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPERTY RIGHTS…. SCREW DEAD BABIES!  PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPERTY RIGHTS… SCREW THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION… PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPERTY RIGHTS… SCREW EVERYONE EXCEPT THOSE WHO WILL MAKE MONEY OF THIS DEAL… PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPERTY RIGHTS…..

===

As said… looking for clarification… Thanks Nancy for stirring the pot…  Never knew Millsboro had such a poisonous aquifer. And I eat pickles…

Does Anyone Know the Law? Does Anyone Really Care?

John Young alerted me to this line in the new election law…..

§ 7558. (Municipal) Election results; recounts; contests.

(a) A person certified as being elected shall not take office before the seventh day following certification of the election.

The commissioner of Delaware’s elections certified  the Newark Election on December 3rd, 2013….

December 4th, 2013    Day One

December 5th, 2013    Day Two

December 6th, 2013    Day Three

December 7th, 2013    Day Four

December 8th, 2013    Day Five

December 9th, 2013    Day Six

December 10th, 2013 Day Seven……..

On December 10th, by law, the  new mayor can be sworn in……  That is this coming Tuesday btw and today is Sunday. December 8th…

(In case you don’t know she was sworn in on December 3rd, 2013. )

The real issue is how can anyone run an election and be in such violation of state code?  Either the code is bogus, or rendered meaningless by lax enforcement, or completely ignored by our election overseers, or completely off the Commissioner of Election’s radar and whatever the law states is in another solar system to her.

How can anyone in the computer age, run and win a campaign, and get sworn in, before the law allows?

What kind of state is this, where law is routinely ignored if your position on a controversial issue, aligns  with those wealthy enough to can throw $45,000 of illegal money to throw a town’s election?

The complaint here is not so much about Polly; it is leveled precisely  the Delaware Chamber of Commerce and like groups for attempting to run things their own way, even if a Delaware law stands in their way…..

The law was broken.  Sp what are we going to do about it?