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The Golden Flush Award /Click Image for Past Winners
Usually this is an after thought…” Oh, wow, year’s over, let’s get a person of the year”… And then once we elect one, we go… “holy crap… we totally forgot so and so….”
So to try to stir up some old simmering coals of memory, both mine and others, and perhaps even to (heaven forbid) get some debate going in the blog sphere, I thought I’d make an initial run on Thanksgiving Week, and then add people into the nominating category as others mention various ones I should kick myself for forgetting.
It will also force me to review the year which is something I rarely do… because face it, as a human being, I am slave of the moment…. If I did this last year, come December 14th the entire world would have been turned upside down and all the old priorities of 2012, would in one day become trivial….
And so starting early gives me the chance to make the argument for each of those I decide to enroll with your kind recommendations included….
Julius Cephus: Particularly this one man organized and stopped an end run around the Port of Wilmington. The Kinder Morgan deal did not go through, and the Wilmington Port is bustling like never before… Kinder Morgan was to strip the union of power, and drop the rates of pay, further dampening the economy of Wilmington proper. It was also the first defeat of a Lavine-Markell development project, .. Fisker and Bloom had gone forward without a hitch. Julius and other’s push back resulted in a General Assembly motion that stated they, not the governor, had final approval. It was the first time we were exposed to the current Governor’s manipulations. They were to play a significant part across this year’s tapestry.
Steve Newton: A blogger who has written infrequently, but effectively. His piece on SB 51 is what alerted us to the end run being performed by Dave Sokola on lowering the current standards being used for educating teachers. It is brilliant. It took an evening of reading the legislation line by line and cross referencing it with Steve’s analysis, to understand the huge negative impact this bill would cause. By the time this was done, the Bill had already passed the Senate unanimously without comment, and with an friendly amendment added that was voted upon without even being read. Some public outcry was mustered within the House, both in committee and on the floor, but under the Governor’s direction, the Speaker of the House, pushed the bill to the floor before significant outcry could be mustered. Only 4 House members were not on record for it’s passing. Our educational schools now have to water down their teaching standards to meet the new law. Steve also has brought the Highmark story to Delaware. His research in the increase of medical costs in Western PA as a result of knocking out competition by unfair practices, leads one with a cold chill of what to expect in Delaware’s future. We are already there. As an insurer, Highmark is only paying medical claims in its own affiliated clinics. As the new Blue Cross/Blue Shield owner, that is a huge percentage of Delaware’s residents. None can go to any other hospital. He has properly fingered Karen Weldham Stuart for not catching this prior to implementation. Without Steve, this would have passed unnoticed. The News Journal still has not once mentioned the takeover of Delaware’s health field under one owner.
Ernest Lopez. If Kennedy were still writing Profiles of Courage, he should include this man. Ernest Lopez is a conservative, and voted with Libertarian values to pass the gun legislation recommended by Markell and Biden. Reflecting the views of his district, instead of taking the threatening message sent to him down from the NRA, he voted for his district. A very vocal minority, who is always vocal, and always in the minority, swore they would unseat him. He disregarded their idle threat, and voted both his and his constituents conscious. A major billboard was put up to call him out. His vote caused the passage of us now requiring background checks at public gun sales. Now a certifiably insane person cannot slap cash and get a gun. It is a no-brainer, and Ernie was the only Republican with brain enough to even know what a no-brainer is….
Cathy Cloutier: her vote allowed gays to marry. Again, she is a Republican who said enough is enough… Tired of voting against her conscious just so Sussex County would not flip over to the Democrats, she finally did not toe the line and voted along the lines of her own constituents, all overwhelmingly in favor of gay marriage. In doing so, she went against the entire grain of her party, who firmly feel that gays are second class citizens, even though most Republicans in office are closeted gays.
Bethany Hall Long: on the same vote, made a viable personal decision, and also voted for the legalization of gay marriage. Unlike Cathy’s vote, this was accomplished at great personal sacrifice, for all of those in her personal life, were solidly against this policy from taking effect. In voting for what was morally right, she had to contend against those whose influence she could not escape. She went with the correct vote, over the easy one. As a result, Gay marriage is now legal in Delaware.
Paul Baumbach: gave great ammunition against the fight for SB51, and later against HB 165. Both bills which will damage Delaware’s education for years to come. He was one of the four who put up a fight on the House floor. Paul also arranged for the meetings in Newark to discuss the new Power plant that figured in this past week’s election.
John Kowalko: also was against SB51, HB 165, as well, being against the power plant. In fact, John was the first person to sound the alarm over how big the power plant would be. Without his big voice, it may have slid through unnoticed. The power plant has defined northern Delaware politics since September.
Kim Williams; responsible for HB 40 which investigates Charter School’s meddling into our educational systems. She was as an acting state representative, allegedly refused entrance into a committee hearing on education, for fear she might say something damaging to the bill being rushed through…. She brought to the public’s knowledge, that the Charter School bill was drafted illegally without public input, and the charter group constructing it, was also under FOIA, to which the private group denied. The Attorney General backed up her assertion, that the bill was formulated illegally but their decision was moot, because the bill was passed both houses anyways. Kim Williams also in the HB 40 task force, led the group to realize that charter schools unlike public schools, do indeed filter those entering charters to weed out those who might lower their test scores….
Mark Murphy, Rodel, Sweeney, Hefferman, and the Fake Educational Reform Establishment: I almost purposefully did not post this. Although the first person’s name is usually followed by explicatives whenever mentioned, it is unlike Voldermort’s, still getting mentioned. Mark Murphy was not put in his position based on his ability. He was placed there for his loyalty to the cause of corporatizing public education. Markell pulls the strings, Murphy figures how to get it done… It is hard to make a puppet the most influential person of the year… So I was going to skip him… But at the last minute, remembered that every time he or anyone of these make an op-ed, it resonates as gigantic news. The entire community rises up to counteract each op-ed, usually with the word “lies” thrown liberally about…. So, they do exert an influence. I looped all of them together, as the group of liars in a Greek play, who stand on the stair steps and taunt the protagonists. Well,… they are part of the play…….
Dan Short: Sometimes villains get noticed too. Primarily a single issue candidate, who personally supports the NRA, he actively campaigned and organized to create enough backlash so Markell’s gun laws could not get enough votes… Without him, there is a possibility that all four of Markell’s gun control pieces of legislation would have passed both houses of Delaware’s legislature. Dan Short should be given the credit for stopping them.
John Sigler: Single handedly by his very brief tenure as the re-elected head of the Republican Party, he pointed out through his pigeon shooting, just how inept the Republican Party was at everything else. With his leaving, all fissures cracking the Republican bedrock, were impossible to ignore. Blogs split. The IPOD’s split. Former candidates of the same party just months earlier, now not talking to each other. The Delaware Republican Party is dead; no it is past dead. More dead than a pigeon shot inside a box by John Sigler, former head of the Delaware Republican Party.
Nancy Willing: Her blog, the Delaware Way, is the go-to site for local information. Whether about Dover, about New Castle County, about any of New Castle County’s associations, Nancy combs all sources and puts them down in aggregate form. Heavily involved in the Power Plant controversy, The Delaware City Rail Yard controversy, Barley Mill controversy, the Woodlawan controversy, the Kinder Morgan controversy, the Charter School Controversy, the Common Core Controversy, Nancy has who is saying “what”, and links to “why”. One can expend less energy by using her blog to follow all the stuff the News Journal neglects, in a few quick empty steps.
Amy Roe: a head of the Sierra Club, who emerged from nowhere to lead the fight against the power plant, and give quite a run against the establishment candidate. Becoming the face the anti- power movement could coalase behind, she gave the anti power plant movement both dignity and grace. Coming up short only 115 votes, she has awakened Newark now politically as never before… The power plant if it goes forward, now has a strong group of Newarkeans against it. Hopefully they will be monitoring it regularly and helping authorities keep in in compliance with all local law.
Tom Gorden; although much quieter than his first term in office, Tom Gorden is rapidly rolling back the privileges the previous Clark administration handed over to our state’s top developers. The Barley Mill plaza which had a green light, is now parked at a red. In a big sea change, though handled quietly, community groups are now no longer persona non grata in county government. It is no longer accepted as a matter of course that the Woodlawn Trust will be gobbled up by developers. If enough fight can be mustered, it can be stopped. Furthermore, with Tom there is closer coordination with the City of Wilmington, than we have experienced anytime in our lifetimes. In the county, local policing has been stepped up, particularly in neighborhoods prone to crime…
Dennis Williams: Came in with grand expectations, which looked deliverable for a while. The tide is turning and his relevance on this list, is because every day, the headline reality in Wilmington’s streets, brings his electioneering boasts back to haunt him, like a sizzling hot branding iron. Time, Dennis, to say “Damn the torpedoes… Their punk asses are going in jail no matter which blowhard on City Council spouts off,before mine gets tossed in jail for impersonating a mayor..”
Alan Levin: Jack Markell’s second in command, he was instrumental in defending Markell’s position on Kinder Morgan and the port, as well as the new power plant for the data center. He also had a hand in keeping Dole in Delaware, and worked to slip the power plant past a slew of unsuspecting Newark City officials.
Jack Markell: had his hand in everything. He was behind Kinder Morgan’s takeover. He was behind SB 51 and HB 165. He was behind the illegal charter group, requiring HB 40. He also was the driving force for the four rational steps to gun legislation, 2 of which were passed. He was also the driving force behind the passage of gay marriage, signing the bill in the chambers just moments after its passage. He also supported the transgender bill in its travels through the labyrinth of Legislative Hall. He as behind keeping Dole in Delaware. He was behind changing an icon in Millsboro away from pickles, over to poultry. He pushed the bill to curtail Flowers. Despite your opinion over whether these were good or bad, they still showed a ubiquitous and wide reach across the state of Delaware. Seems like nothing got done that didn’t have his fingerprints all over it.
John Young: As head of Christina board, John Young led the board in standing up to Mark Murphy and Jack Markell, by refusing the RTTT funds slated for his district. Although some hired fools, (Jea Street) tried to paint Young into a corner, it served the opposite purpose and gave Young a platform. For the fist time, Common Core was getting publicly bashed. For the first time, many were finding that aligning themselves blindly to this sham of improving standards, was probably going to hurt them politically in the next couple of years. It was the fist salvo back, so the damage estimates were not high, but it did open eyes of many who had been on the sidelines of all educational issues, making them also become vocal in fighting Common Core. His blog Transparent Christina has channelled a lot of detailed information into the Delaware market, and had made Common Core an apprehension, instead of the savior it was supposed to be….
Kilroy: Kilroy has always been haranguing over education. In fact he was doing such a good job I left that issue alone for years, because other issues for me, like the economy and elimination of guns from the hands of the mentally ill, were more important. But as the issue has shifted back into the limelight, Kilroy’s hard hitting is making its mark… Kilroy is blunt, and right now, that is the language that needs to happen. Blunt descriptions of what takes place in the stratosphere of he academic field…. Kilroy often breaks stories before the News Journal, especially ones embarrassing to the Murphy/Markell cartel of education. If you have read Kilroy over the past couple of years, you would already know that Common Core is not the panacea we have been promised. It is a power grab for taxpayer dollars, financed by Wall Street itself…. If you think otherwise, you haven’t been reading a balanced reading list….
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That is what I have so far. In retrospect I am surprised that education has played so much, as even I have only come to that topic lately… But if one looks over the News Journal op eds, education really did dominate the discussion in the 2nd smallest state this year….
I may have forgotten some big ones. To reiterate, that is why I am posting this early, to catch those big mistakes as they get brought to my attention….
Turkey Erupts Into Protest
Photo courtesy of Seattlepi.com
An amazing thing happened in Turkey. Something probably that could happen no where else in the world!… A spontaneous demonstration against the government bulldozing a centuries old park into a shopping mall, erupted into a large wave of protests across the Anatolian peninsula that is known to most simply as Turkey.
The protest was supposed to be minor, but a vicious crackdown on families for the most part, launching tear gas and water cannons into their midst, now has the talk of bringing down the current government.
Of particular interest, the Turkish military which was on hand in case things got out of control, which was repeatedly asked by the police forces to assist, refused to side with the police or with the government. It appears they like the park too. In fact there were many anecdotes of the military encouraging the protesters and advising them where and when to protest so they would not receive the full force of the police.
The idea of the government, representing the top 1%, kicking regular citizens out of a park to build a mall as their investment, became the straw breaking the camel’s back.
The ATP, has been the ruling party since 2003 which would make it 10 years. Although Muslim it is very business oriented and is responsible for rebuilding Turkey into the powerhouse it is now. This is almost a miracle if one considers its neighbors, Cyprus, Greece, the Balkans, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the principalities of the Caucasus….
Coming into power off the backs of the economic crash or 2001 and 2002, the ATP first rebuilt the banking industry, then focused on the economy and unemployment, get the budget under control, and then invested everything it could into its infrastructure, health, education, and technology.. . Now home to some of the top construction firms in the third World, it is landing contracts though out Asia and Africa. It has invested heavily into renewable energy, and is exporting energy to its energy starve neighbors.
The ruling party and its leader, Erdoğan, have been re-elected three times, each time with a consistent higher percentage of the vote.. Ironically what no one inside Turkey could accomplish, Erdoğan has done himself. Put his government in jeopardy, and solidified opposition to his rule.
He has made some mistakes. Most particular are his cozying up to the influence of Allah. Turkey is mostly Muslim but… it has one of the largest populations of non-Muslims of any other Muslim nation. Turkey since Atatürk founded it in the 1920’s has had a secular constitution. Recently, the curtailing of late night selling of alcohol, has as one would certainly expect, made a lot of people angry. He also alienated a large population by naming the third bridge across the Bosporus, after an Ottoman sultan known for his massacre of minorities….
So when the bulldozers started uprooting Century old trees in one of the few green parks in its largest city, it was as if Saruman had come back to life. The arrogance was too much for large numbers of its citizens. Taking children in hand they occupied the park in a silent and peaceful demonstration. Without warning, the trucks moved in, water cannons fired, and tear gas cannisters launched.. It galvanized the opposition.
By the third day, protests, some violent, had taken place across all of Turkeys cities, and in foreign countries with numbers of Turkish immigrants.
Although the park was the instigator, the cause is arrogance. There may be a big price to pay. Will investment flee turkey? Already as this is written, the Turkish Lira is dropping on the Asian markets.. The press which has so far been supportive of Erdoğan is very harsh to him right now.
Perhaps he can hang on, but his once untouchable position has head of the most stable of muslim countries, is now a lot closer in reach.
On a personal note, I can see parallels with our own Governor in his arrogance towards our current schools, teachers and districts, as possibly being the step for him that undoes his aura of invincibility…. People are angry.
Jeff Christopher followers stage a show of force to give Sussex County an idea what will happen once a sheriff gets full power to make arrests base on his arbitrary judgment.
All three of his followers think this is what America needs more of.
Today in order to capitalize upon the fact that the fourth quarter economy sank (even though it was because of the downward pressure due to the threat of sequestration forced upon Congress by the Tea Party), they wheeled out Arthur Laughter Laffer to make a dire predictions….
He is on their short list of who-to-call-when-we(FOX News)-NEED-a-dire-prediction…..
Because….. He is well known for making “dire predictions”..
“Economist Arthur Laffer told his clients on July 26, 1982, that (Ronald Reagan’s) Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which raised taxes by about one percent of GDP, “will stifle economic recovery,” “retard economic growth,” and undercut “the economy’s ability to enter into a period of expansion.” On August 20, 1982, he told his clients that TEFRA, Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, “will tend to lengthen and deepen the recession.”
Instead, ….. No one could have been more wrong…
On August 20, 1993, Laffer told his clients, “Clinton’s tax bill will do about as much damage to the U.S. economy as could feasibly be done in the current political environment.” He said that interest rates would rise and the stock market would fall.
Once again, it would be hard to find a forecast that was more completely wrong….
And now! Today,… well, there he goes again….
“You have the whole output of the economy shrinking. Not just expanding more slowly, it`s absolutely shrinking,” (lol, see by how little, below)… Laffer told Fox News’ Eric Bolling…
“That’s catastrophic,” the former adviser to President Ronald Reagan added. (Did anyone else catch the stupendous irony of that? Oh, Wow. You can’t make stuff like that up).
“You can explain some of that by sequestration, and defense spending was down lot and all that. But you still have a rotten economy. And it’s still too bad. We know how to fix it, by the way, a low rate flat tax, spending restraint, sound money, free trade.” (See George Bush’s Economic Record.) Laffer was responding to reports Wednesday that the U.S. economy contracted 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2012…
Yes. Laffer was responding to reports Wednesday that the U.S. economy contracted 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2012. Quote: “You have the whole output of the economy shrinking. Not just expanding more slowly, it`s absolutely shrinking,”
Recalling his years as one of Reagan’s top economic advisers, Laffer said Reagan actually cut the highest tax rates (From 70%-50%; they are 35% now) He said “we made a mistake” by phasing in the cuts, which he said caused the 1981-82 recession. But he said the economy took off in 1983* when the cuts (and 1%GDP tax increase) went into full effect. *
“This place just went like a rocket ship,” he said. “I think we had 7.5 percent growth in 1983 and 5.5 growth in 1984, just this boom that lasted for years and years.”* (*lol)
(Conversational excerpts provided by Newsmax)
Right click to open full image… Pictograph Courtesy of Viral..
So, can someone tell me again, why we shouldn’t tax the rich, and instead, balance the budget on the backs of everyone else?…….
I seem to be missing that little detail where that all makes sense……
Kilroy Nails it Good This is exactly what it is all about….
This video footage of John Atkins lurking outside WGMD’s studios, showing him trying to listen through the air grate while Hastings was doing an interview inside,… is priceless…..
I did not see this in anyone’s archive, so I believed it was missed by everyone. Stay tuned to the last bit, for Jared M’s commentary is almost as worthy as watching Atkins slink away without saying a word…..
On guard…. Be aware that there are multiple double entendre’s which make this a joy to watch…….
Thanks to the campaign of Obama, we are listening again to voices that are quite different from what we are used to hearing on our corporate media.
What he says does not fit within the narrow guidelines dictated by the likes of Disney Inc.
Therefore, we hear only one side of this important discussion. It is up to the blogs to carry the other half.
Al Mascitti should be blamed for this post. It was through his show this morning that the nucleus of this post was formed. If you missed the show it can be summarized with two brief points. One: was his acknowledgment that Wright’s comments, were exactly the same often expressed on his show by quite of few of his callers. Two: when someone who was “outraged” by Wright tried to defend their hatred for the man and his race, they couldn’t. Under Al’s questioning, their argument boiled down to one thing: he insults “white” people.
That is a factual untruth. The problem with the “right” controversy lies not in what the Reverend Wright says, ……the problem lies between the two ears of those who fail to understand.
I agree with Wright. Although I’m sure there may be areas that our thoughts may differ, he has been saying nothing different than any of us on this media, have not said before. That blanket includes those who consider themselves to serve the “right” but as we all know, because they are all free thinkers, they tend to break from the position papers that are spoon fed to the “right’s” hypnotized zombies, and when logic dictates that truth be told, Delaware’s “right” often takes courageous action and differentiates themselves from the stupidity dripping out of “right” wing (please don’t) think-tanks……
The real problem is in “definition” and in America’s suspicion of “those who are different”, and the fact that Hillary and Republicans are fanning the flames.
They have to. Ironically they have no hope against Obama, but to drive wedges between those members who support him. Obama represents what America CAN BE. Both McCain and Hillary represent what America once was….
If one is to put his finger on the button that pushes this controversy forward, it is that Mr. Right tells the truth, and those who oppose his voice, are scared to death that the truth will come out.
That includes the Hillary supporter and the Republican supporter who battled Al Mascitti on the Delaware blog scene over this past weekend. Neither were able to support their vision with facts. It was only their “opinion” . Well, if I could be so bold, the sole reason this country is in such a mess, it that everyone has an opinion, I as well as you, and we waste too much time chasing “opinions” without trying to research and determine if there is a factual basis to those opinions to begin with.
The facts are solidly on Mr. Right’s side. You can disagree with the man for whatever reason you choose. But that means that you have never listened to the full service. You can hear him speak with Bill Moyers here, and today’s NPR address here. Then you issue your apology.
We did go to war and sacrifice 4,000 Americans to make Cheney rich. If you disagree, prove it otherwise. You can’t.
We did mortgage our children’s future to the tune of $30,000 for each child, in order to give the top 1% a most bountiful harvest of riches beyond their wildest dreams. if you disagree, prove it otherwise. You can’t.
We did cause our planet irreparable harm, by wiping out the excellent controls established over thirty years, to control our air pollution, water pollution, and the quality of objects we buy……. If you disagree…prove it otherwise. You can’t.
But what you CAN prove by attacking Mr. Right,………is that you are supporting Mr. or Mrs. Wrong.
I am becoming more and more convinced that anyone who attacks Mr. Right, would find themselves on the same side as the Pharisees if they themselves were investigating a controversial figure two thousand years ago. Its the same argument, just different times.
The only reason for insisting that Mr. Right is wrong, is that those forces of evil, are too wrong to reason with Wright.
If anyone was looking for another Martin Luther King, I think they may have found one. Truth is always necessary. Sometimes it needs to be given without a sugar coating.
Hello to my fellow Delawareans:
Hi, my name is Pamela Thornburg and I am from Dover and I am a Republican who voted to keep a vote for Bluewater Wind locked up in committee.
As a Republican I think your concerns do not matter. I am bought and paid for by corporate interests and this Bluewater Wind deal will prevent my lobbyist friends from making tons of money. You citizens have no understanding on how tough it is to be a lobbyist. The need someone to look after them too.
I am confident that after this hoopla is all over no one will remember that I voted to kill this bill. But had I voted on your side, to give you cheap energy with clean air, my lobbyist friends would stop calling on me and not invite me to any parties…..and I love parties……
Knowing that you all have tons of extra money and will not miss a couple of hundred dollars going to Delmarva, I hereby support those corporate interests who need to take billions, not just millions of your excess cash.
I refuse to vote for cheap power for anyone.
Sincerely,
Pam Thornburg.
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