CISPA’S GONE, ONE MORE ROUND, CISPA’S GONE

Like a zombie it may rise again.  But around 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon, members of the Senate confided to US News that in the way as the CISPA  House Bill was passed, “that” bill is dead.  Pieces of it may be pushed through the Senate in an effort to preserve the parts that protect our cyber-structure,  but  those pieces designed  to protect sitting politicians…  consider them tossed.

Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), CISPA’s sponsor, has been pushing for such a bill for years, and has repeatedly insisted this will be the year it becomes law. President Obama vowed to veto it if it passed in an answer given to over 100,000 signings of a White House petition… 300,000 people petitioned Congress to scrap it.

Cybersecurity lobbying has doubled in 2012 alone, outspending privacy groups by a factor of 14 to one. …$55 million to $4 million.

Essentually CISPA was supposed to help with cyber attacks.  If we were attacked by a Stuxnet virus, CISPA would drop all privacy issue restraints and allow anyone connected to security to roam through any and all accounts with impunity….

Like credit card numbers.  Like patient information.  Like pictures of you in the nude. Like your contacts and business associates. Once compromised and if anything were to happen to you, say, information was leaked to your boss, or your spouse, or put inside a newspaper for everyone to read, you could not sue, you would have no recourse and most likely, you would be completely unaware this was going on until a friend happened to see it and let you know….

The sponsor of the bill, wrongly says this is absolutely necessary to protect us from threats.  However, not being able to sue because you were fired because you boss saw a medical file showing you were being treated for cancer,  does little to protect us from Chinese hackers.

And that is the problem.  Furthermore,  so much stuff flows on the internet, that asking providers for specific data, is like asking someone to retrieve a certain molecule of water from a flowing river.  If CISPA passed, the internet would grind to a halt, as every search engine, every server, struggled to filter and organize all their data so if asked, they could legally provide.

It is a bad bill. Yet it’s sponsor keeps bringing it back. and back. and back.  Here is the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.  The one CISPA violates.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This is the anti-phishing amendment.  If you don’t have any charges to press, and don’t know of any particular evidence in a person’s possession, it is illegal to go to their house when they are not there, and look around for something to pin on them….  yet that is exactly what  CISPA sponsor Mike Rogers bill will do….

It allows Senator Joesph McCarthy hearings to take place without the hearing.

But more odd is how one private company is all over Mr. Roger’s CISPA, there at its inception, its creation, its Reichstag moment, and it’s demise. That private company is the  cybersecurity consulting firm Mandiant…. who is owned and run by Kevin Mandia out of Alexandria  Virginia.  Kevin Mandia was brought in by Mark Rogers to testify as to the dangers our computer system faced.

“China’s economic espionage has reached an intolerable level,” he said at a congressional hearing in October 2011.  As head of the House Intelligence committee  he held a hearing on “Chinese hacking”  and one of those creating the report, was Kevin Mandia who was thanked by Rogers at the hearing’s end.

At the hearing, cyber security groups were in force to testify, but no privacy groups were allowed inside.  The Conversation was one way with the cyber security groups insisting they would only share anonymous information with each other…  Unfortuately that assertion could not be challenged.

But outside the closed hearing, privacy groups are saying  it would let “companies hand over large swaths” of individuals’ private information “to the government, without a warrant.”  Credit card numbers, bank papers, phone contacts….

Rogers argues that is a consequence, not an intent.  No matter the reasoning behind it, CISPA allows it to happen.  Quite possibly thousands or tens of thousands can be looking over your data because you  happen to bank at Bank of America, or shop at Caldor… or Wal*Mart…. when they came under attack….

Then last year’s version was shot down, Rogers was undeterred.

There “appears to be a new level of threat that would target networks from—I’ve got to be careful here—an unusual source,” he said. He joked about how he wanted to share what he knew but couldn’t, because it was classified.  “I look really bad in those orange jumpsuits with the numbers on the back,” he told his audience…..

Then, almost as if on cue for this spring legislative session, in February 2013. the New York Times announced it had been hit by Chinese hackers, followed shortly by the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Then Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft. Their stories differed, as did the severity of the attacks, but everybody agreed: These hacks were sophisticated, and they all seemed to come from China…..

You probably remember the headline, just before the House vote on CISPA….

A cybersecurity firm had found the source of those attacks. In no uncertain terms, the firm claimed to have traced the hacking operation to a single, 12-story building outside of Shanghai: People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Unit 61398. Hiding in plain sight, the report said, was a dedicated hacking operation run by the Chinese government…..

And the firm that released it? Mandiant, whose CEO advised Rogers that day.

Mandiant’s report, backed by pages of data and years of research, relies on a few simple pieces of evidence. A loose coalition of similarly styled hacks all stem from the same source, codenamed APT1 (short for “Advanced Persistent Threat”). Mandiant traced the vast majority of the attacks to China—Shanghai, specifically—and noted that Unit 61398 was uniquely capable of sustaining such a sophisticated operation.

What was just said, was that these hack were traced to Shanghai and in Shanghai there is this building so they had to come from there…

Not so fast, says the head of another cyber-security agency. Jeff Carr, CEO of a different cybersecurity firm, Taia Global. He has a different explanation.

“Mandiant provided lots of facts about the PLA, and they provided a lot of facts about how APT1 works, I’m not disputing those.What I’m disputing is the conclusion that they drew. They created a table: In one column was characteristics of the PLA, the other was APT1, and they seemed to believe that the only possible conclusion was that the PLA is APT1. Well, that’s not the only possible conclusion.”   Those other possibilities include Russia, Israel, and France, which the U.S. has acknowledged engages in cyber-espionage. It could also include Ukraine, Taiwan, or Germany. Or “APT1 could just be a group of professional hackers that are stealing information and selling it,” Carr said. “In fact, that makes more sense to me because of the lack of operation security that’s been exhibited by these guys.”

The fact that most hackers’ Internet protocol (IP) addresses trace back to China doesn’t mean much. Those are easy to fake—heck, moderately sophisticated Internet pirates fake theirs all the time to avoid getting caught. China, indignant, countered the Mandiant report, partially on those lines.   “As we all know, hacker attacks almost always steal IP addresses. It is common practice online,” China’s Department of Defense announced after Mandiant’s report, though it also said it traced a million hacks on its own network to the U.S., via those attackers’ IP addresses.

What that says in plain language was that a million hacks came from the US into the Chinese system and then went back to the US.  A million hacks came from the US … just before CISPA was to be voted upon.    And you have this very cozy relationship with the sponsor of the CISPA bill and a cyber security firm which announced earlier that China was one day going to do massive hacks into the United States….

It worked.  It fooled Democrat John Carney.  He voted for CISPA.

“China is like the boogeyman to promote [CISPA],” cyber security specialist Carr added. “If you increase the fear around China, and then you wave CISPA, hopefully you will attract more movement to simply pass that—some blind attempt to heighten security.”

Bottom line is that CISPA would allow private companies (like Facebook, or your Internet service provider) to share your emails, text messages, or stored files with the government for “cybersecurity purposes,” and it would trump the existing laws that allow you to sue those companies for privacy violations.

All you know is that you got fired without cause and escorted out of your building…..

Sharing information is a flawed concept….   It is absolutely the wrong way to thwart an attack.  Such that it appears the main thrust of the bill is to access information, NOT thwart a cyber attack…

To thwart a cyber attack, one must take this approach….

“The solution is to assume your network is going to be breached, and you need to be able to identify what’s of value on that network, and segregate it and monitor it in real time. If somebody does gain access, and they’re accessing it from an IP address you don’t recognize or at a time of day where they shouldn’t be, you can immediately lock down that file. It’s known as data protection.    “It’s like the TSA. You tried to bring a bomb aboard in your shoe, so from now on we’ll just have everybody take off their shoes. 

But, as for now these details are all for naught ….

CISPA’s gone, one more round, CISPA’s gone…..

Republicans Just Cost Me $1000 A Year!

They cost you too…

The drop in payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2% results in a savings of about $1000 a year to every wage earner.

(If truth were widely known, that tax cut is actually a bad idea. It hemorrhages a dying social security fund, requiring the eventual death of the program or an expensive emergency last ditch surgery in the future.)

But it is hard not to give a $1000 present to every voter. Even if it only comes out as $19 dollars and change each week… But, still again, if your electric bill is $198 and you only have $189 in your account, that additional amount is, well, a lifesaver…..

But, Republicans in the House, even after Republicans in the Senate voted passage, overwhelmingly voted….. not to vote on the measure…

They didn’t vote against it… THEY VOTED NOT TO VOTE ON IT……
(speculation is that they lacked the votes to keep it from passing)..

So, how does that relate to you?

House Republicans (read Tea Party) just voted NOT TO VOTE on whether or not you will be losing an extra $20 a month out of your next paycheck.

Imagine what this is doing to payroll clerks around the country?
Imagine what this is doing to family budgets around the country?
Imagine what this is doing to businesses who rely on consumer spending around the country?
Imagine what this is doing to businesses heavily involved in the financial sector, around this country?

So what would normally happen?

Normally a group that can’t find agreement, acknowledges the sad fact, and long before the deadline, announces that they failed to reach agreement and that things would continue as they were on a temporary basis, to unfortunately allow for more time to solve differences.

But NOOOOOOOOOOOO, …. WE ARE STUCK WITH A TEA PARTY THAT FUCKS THINGS UP.

Instead, we have a vote not-to-vote, then get all sorts of very lame excuses from those who are delaying, none of which apply to the real problem that Social Security is doomed unless drastic action gets taken (higher rates, not lower), and we get nothing….

The tax cut will expire…

It is like sequestering a jury in a room, where everyone after much fact-covering argument has agreed to a judgment, except for one person who’s been bought off. And nothing, nothing, logic, emotional appeal, bullying, snuggling up to, befriending, produces any change. And you go years, every working day, to the same court house, the same jury room, they same chair at the same table, hear the same arguments, hoping against all odds, that today, he will see the light and switch. You go the next day.

That is today’s Congress. Held hostage by Tea Party Republicans who live in a dream world untouched by the reality of living under $185,000 a year. Like that bought-out juror, every day, they hold up progress with the unjustified belief that, if they wait long enough, the other 11 jurors will give up and sway over to the sole juror’s way….

Two things can happen… 1) return to the public and announce a hung jury, and do a complete retrial.. or 2) sneak up to that one juror, put a gun to his head, say nothing, pull the trigger, clean up the mess, dispose of the body, then go out to the public and announce what the 11 of you have decided…..

One is the nice way, sanctioned to due process of law. The other is the American Way.

It’s time to initiate the kavipsian policy of expression or what is otherwise known as “Show Us How You Really Feel”… Who knows? It could become the next great movement? The next time someone you know (or don’t), says anything about how millionaires should keep their tax cuts and the poor should pay, nod your head in agreement, smile a little bit, then hit them as hard as you can in their mouth, I mean as hard as you can! Put them flat on the ground holding their jaw… Then loudly say, “Don’t every talk that stupid way to me again!” Who knows, if 99% or all 303,930,000 would respond that way to our fellow congressional delegates, and the other 3.9 million of their like who advocate such madness, we might actually get the very progress we need, not because of intimidation, but because such policy is right….

For those who argue expression of violence is un-American, I’ll remind them that tonight, is John Wayne Night on AMC: view it!… I argue that such action is VERY American and perhaps it has been the lack of such spontaneous expressions of frustration from working American people, that has caused the logjam where nothing gets done because of one holdout, who thinks he can sway the world to his opinion and face no consequences… ….

Practice now, by punching brick walls.

Inside Joke

“It is our fault.  We started with a surplus… then pissed that away,  then started borrowing, and pissed that away, then deregulated the banking industry, which pissed everything else away…. It is the Republican’s fault…”

Outside The Perimeter: The Return

Courtesy of Department of Defense

“By the first light of the third day, look to the East!”

Everyone knows that living starts on the weekend… That makes Monday the third day… It is my sincere hope to return this feature back to its original time-slot so those starting their week, have something worthy to follow… Of course that leaves “Around the Horn” to synopsize on Friday, so between the two of us, we have full weekly coverage….

I apologize to Deldem of Delaware Liberal if this first return edition bashes up against his on vacation version of what went down this week…

So what happened this weekend?

• Delaware Curmudgeon
  

Shirley opens with a story of what being an American is all about.   The teary eye part made me proud that America still recognizes its heroes, and goes out of their way to make sure they know it…  All of us can learn a lesson from this post…. When was the last time you went out of your way to make a member of our armed services feel welcomed?

She carries another idea that I will be stealing shortly.. It’s from down under. and it certainly is worthy of the read, if you haven’t caught it earlier…. it’s just another way of self expression…. 🙂

Delaware Liberal

Aside from seven videos of varying topics, one an hour and twenty-six minutes long, and four quotes, the memorable posts on Delaware Liberals this weekend are the following… (We only covered the full first two pages, lol)… Their best was this one, The Morning After….. which describes the cuts to the state budget… “The Morning After” in this case does not refer to contraception, but is instead, related to the budgetary announcement made by Jack Markell on Thursday…. It begins with….

March 19, 2009 will forever be remembered as the date that Delaware’s Gilded Age officially ended. An age that was literally ‘built on a house of (credit) cards’ is no more.

The interesting point is that ultimately, it is the responsibility of the wealthy to carry the weight of the rest of us. Pandora follows the same theme with “What’s In The Water At CNBC”: apparently someone argued on that show that Wall Street couldn’t be run by anyone making under $250,000…… the unsaid premise is that the wealthy, who are overpaid for their results, need to make sacrifices so those making less, do not have to…

However the most uplifting piece of the entire weekend, was on this blog and had nothing to do with the economy… or the wealthy… It is about race, and in a spirited fashion on the weekend that Battlestar Galactica ended its 6 year run, Cassandra puts this vignette forward… I’m impressed she saw it, since she admits she doesn’t watch the best show on television this decade. Next to Obama’s Philadelphia campaign speech on the reality of “race”, this is as good as it gets….

Delaware Libertarian

This blog has taken on new life with the economic crises swirling around us… In an amazing piece, Steve Newton (in real time) breaks down the implication of Markell’s budget cuts and other attempts to balance the budget, and illustrates how those cuts will affect our employees… I can proudly say, it as good, or better than that other Delaware blogger who is prone to such analysis…… Again the same theme comes out…..

But the reality doesn’t work that way. If you eliminate one unnecessary management position making $120K, then you have saved enough money to keep thirty employees at the $40K and below level from having to take a hit.

Again the message is simple: Cut off the top to save those on the bottom, holding everything up… The shocking truth of what happens when citizens are preoccupied with other matters than their government, showed up in this comment…. “a vacant position in my agency, one that had been vacant for 1 1/2 years got filled by someone on Minner’s staff. Let me reiterate. WE DID WITHOUT THIS POSITION FOR 1 1/2 YEARS. AND NOW WE FILL IT? Luckily it is not a merit position, so it’s possible that the position gets vacated anyhow. But this is one of those 120k positions. “

Again the message: cut the top to save the bottom….

Delaware Politics (FSP)

Delaware Politics begins with their take on Markell’s budget… One noticeable trend has been the life recently pumped back into conservative blogs. I have not yet commented upon it, but…. they were pretty shoddy all election season and up until the inauguration…. But with the Democrats now in the driver’s seats, the conversation among the back seat drivers, has again become interesting to listen to… At least one can feel they are getting pumped up, perhaps stealing the energy leaking away from those liberal blogs, who are now getting tired, and starting to wind down in their ardor and intensity…

Dave Burris does his take on Markell’s budget… Most notably he notices the lack of cuts in services…

“But when the rubber hit the road, not only did they fail to cut an agency, they didn’t cut ANYTHING. That is a massive failure to lead. We got such a large deficit (I don’t believe the numbers, but maybe you do) because we grew our government at a rate of 2.5 times inflation during the Queen Worthless administration. If we don’t address that, we will continue to have this problem as more and more of the economy is eaten up by the government.”

I noticed there was no mention that the failure of the Bush economy has drastically reduced ALL sources of revenue pouring into state coffers on which our government used to thrive during the last 8 years… But he does agree with Markell on across the board cuts: “I agree with the administration that cutting pay across-the-board is better than across-the-board layoffs in this environment, because layoffs would cost the state unemployment money,”

Interestingly, being conservative in a time of crises, leads to some silly conclusions… This one for example: “the gain from the Gross Receipts Tax increase is a pittance compared to what the state would get if they would just get out of the way and let these small business owners grow the economy”. Really? Currently we have 7.5 % unemployed, and our largest employer, the state, is taking an 8% across the board pay cut? And paying more for medical? And more in taxes? Where is all that money going to come from to allow these small businesses to grow the economy? You can give them a zero tax rate, but it no one spends in their business, they don’t pay taxes anyway… Nope, you need to make people spend, before any type of business aid makes sense…. Small businesses aren’t going to grow… They are just trying to hang on and stay solvent! Screw growth!!!!! lol.

In another attempt at silliness the lovely Marie Evans is proposing the Greenville Casino… The land is available… Three casinos, she points out in a state 96 miles long, with some creative placing, puts one every 16 miles…( as I said: creative placing… lol).. Unfortunately since Greenville is too close to the northern edge, were one to go in up there, her 16 mile theory would be impossible…

Likewise the Special Olympians apology to our and their president, does crack a faint smile….

And I’m outraged, outraged that there is no mention of the Democratic Party in each of these instances.

And the DSEA? They also are outraged, outraged that while arguing for higher taxes on all other people, under Markell’s budget…. THEY WILL HAVE TO PAY HIGHER TAXES TOO… OUTRAGEOUS!!! lol….

Welcome back to the fight guys!

Delaware Watch

Dana carries the AFSCME demostration over the cutbacks… They want the rainy day fund tapped out so they have their jobs… The only question, besides that is must be repayed every year., is that once spent, then what gets done next year…

Delaware Way

Nancy covers the controversy over whether pensions should be capped at higher rates, than those just years away from retirement….

Down with Absolutes

Mike Matthews has a job interview today… GOOD LUCK from all of Delaware’s Blogosphere…

The same theme brought to you by Markell’s budget cuts appears in Byron Short is Wrong (IMO)

In short, the most disappointing thing about Gov. Markell’s proposal is he’s shifting too much burden on the poor, lower-middle class and, in reality, isn’t asking much of those state employees (cabinet heads, directors, etc.) who could stand a tightening of the belt. Or a complete axing of their positions.

Knock something off the top, to save the foundations supporting the bottom…. Where have I heard that before?…

Already two proposals are in state legislature that work to mitigate the effects of the cuts… One doesn’t allow retirees to have the lower wages be used as a determinant of their pension size, and the other, gives two state employee’s married to each other, less cuts than two single state employees sharing an apartment, would get… These bring up questions of fairness.. One can sense in both these proposals that these employees are “entitled” to earning more money.. It’s a valid point.. They are lucky to have jobs… and if they get a “by” or a “pass”, who is it then who gets hit with the charge for allowing them not to carry the load everyone else is being dealt… If they really wanted to have done something constructive… they could have worked for Kerry…. But nooooo, they didn’t.. and now they are paying the price…. We all are.

Kilroy’s Delaware

However, a job is better than no job at all and this is not meant to be an insult! I didn’t enjoy my pay cut and the traumatic impact. Unfortunately Governor Markell did the right thing. Those at the top of the pay scale will survive better than those at the bottom!

Where have we heard that sentiment before? I don’t know… but it sounds vaguely familiar…

And some wise words to AFSCME union wannabe’s who wish to increase their power within their organization… “Suck it up and be thankful you still have a job because others will be glad to take it.”

Mikes Musings

Mike Mahaffie went to the last of the Markell meetings before this budget proposal came out… What is interesting is how the theoretical side of the equation seems dreamlike when compared to the reality all all the posts following the Thursday budgetary announcement… But although Markell was unable to attend due to the death of his father, Mahaffie does capture many of the sentiments “flickering” around the room…. One that stands out, was this gem:

As things wrapped up, Senator Simpson and Representative Carey, both Republicans, made a point of praising Governor Markell, a Democrat, for his bipartisan approach to the budget problem and openness to working together. They pointed out that Sec. Kee is one of several republicans in the Markell cabinet.

“On my count… all hands pull on the ropes…. Heave!”

Mourning Constitution

One of those heaving is Brian from the Mourning Constitution. He tackles sports betting from the revenue side, and argues income beats job cuts….. Bringing money into the state, by making us the Vegas on the east coast, could keep some people some jobs…

For some facing job cutbacks, some good advice on how to survive a panic attack, can be seen here… This lesson might come in handy…. and then again, if you start foreseeing your own death.………

Redwaterlily’s Ramblings

As for the current vacancies at the Delaware DOC – just a month ago at a meeting of the Corrections hearing before the Joint Finance Committee, there were 33 vacancies in order to assure MINIMUM staffing – while in actuality there are over 330 vacancies that need to be filled to assure smooth, safe, and efficient operation of Delaware’s prisons.

Redwaterlily shows us what is occurring across the state simultaneously. Everyone is questioning their department, and wondering how they can afford any more cutbacks… Every department has needs… Every department has hard working employees who are not making the money they deserve… But as El Somnambulo points out above, by law,any extra money is spent in one sector, must be cut from another one…. The total amount is to remain the same… So each time one says they must keep their department open…. They are dooming another department somewhere in the State of Delaware, to double the amount of cuts….

The Colossus of Rhodey

Although quite prolific lately, this was a quiet weekend for the Colassus of Rhody… amounting to this list of what was NOT said by Obama on Jay Leno’s show….

Tommywonk

Tommwonk’s weekend contribution deals with: Jack Markell’s budget…. Tommy focuses on how this budget will be perceived by the staff budget meetings…

We are open to discuss other ideas to meet our financial challenges, and in fact encourage your ideas, because the $750M [deficit] we face now may be our best-case scenario, if the fundamentals of the national economy do not improve.

Our best case scenario.. In this sobering piece,

..
The actual budget proposal made by Markell is here…

Looking at our problems…. it is easy to get overwhelmed.. sometimes it helps to realize through out history greater problems have befallen greater numbers of human beings…. But somehow we muddled through… We will muddle throughout this time, ….

And to give us a greater perspective, as always, Duffy weighs in with two sentences… Sentence One….. and Sentence Two….

Remember how this opened? It was a celebration of an American hero… Like them, today we need our wealthy to contribute more to the nation that gave them opportunity. Today we need our wealthy stepping up and heeding the call of their country. Like our young boys who are on foreign soil, they too must suffer the sacrifice, and without grumbling, willingly pay more to the state to cover those expenses incurred assisting those less fortunate than themselves…

Outside The Perimeter (@2X)

Courtesy of Department of Defense

So here is what is going on across Delaware’s blogosphere….

The Colossus of Rhodey is bemoaning some publication’s or journalistic attempt to describe the left side of the Supreme Court as being moderate… Like Jane Fonda’s hell he says…. He also revisits John Edwards (remember him) sending a campaign staffer to by a Wal*Mart Playstation 3, while slamming Wal*Mart in his campaign speeches… The seventeenth of November was a light day for him, …but then Battlestar Galactica came on that evening… as his review on the eighteenth brings that episode back to life….

Duffy  has a post covering open ended gaming... it’s worth it visiting to see his reminiscence of his reaction to playing on a 2600…. I didn’t know that Americans spend more on games than movies? He also finished an extensive piece on religion and science.. Instead of debating between science and religion…we should include science in the classification of religion… I was intrigued by this statement….and after turning it over, I would have to say it is true… “There are many points of contention and conflict between Arab Islam and the West, but the chief religious contention between Islamists and the West is not really between Islam and Christianity but between Islam and Western scientific-materialism.” And to show you that Republicans never learn... Trent Lott is again appointed to the Number 2 spot….. Wow.

Delmar’s Dustpan covers a cover girl, a beauty of Delmar fame… Another Delmar, beauty, this architectural wonder, was once owned by the William Freihofer Baking company. But with new news of a priestly scandal, Delmar’s Dustpan makes a surprising find about the difference between two Delmarva newspapers… The News Journal and the Daily (Salisbury) Times….. If one’s blood has not boiled once yet today, they should view his catch (same link) of the FBI knowingly sending 4 men to jail to protect the identities of their informants… Two died.

Merit Bound Alley tells us of Joe’s plan to hook up with Tyler Nixon for a seminar of alternative energy, featuring a symposium of solar, wind, and bio fuels.. Someone named William Kempton is speaking on wind. Joe M is still in the process of trying to find out how many Karen Peterson votes were written in during the election just passed… but the Department of Elections does not plan on releasing them until the next year… He also gives a head shout to another blogger who made his predictions for the next race… two years away…. titled appropriately… “True Addiction“… Equally fascinating was Joe M’s personal vignette covering the problems being hidden within the Wilmington Catholic Diocese.

Delaware Watch recommends visiting Merit Bound Alley as well. (I didn’t check out the audio…) Dana Garrett takes on the Republican Party’s blame game among themselves and their propensity NOT to blame those who made the decisions …but underlings of those who made the decisions…. no matter what the economic status is within their families…. He also notes that Liberals have outed the Conservatives among our neighbor to the North… Apparently across the board, the term Conservative is equatable to Creationism, which was another once firmly held belief, despite the total absence of fact to back it up…. Dana also pokes holes in capitalist theory… Guess who’s gross domestic product — a measure of all the goods and services in the economy — rose 10.2 percent from July to September compared to the same three-month period during the previous year? Did anyone say Chavez? “It’s ironic, this revolution. The rich are even richer now.” Dana also uncovers a little know legislative attorney who defends Rep Wagner’s little past double dipping episode: charging in front of a judge, that anyone who wanted to sue against collecting from the state twice…. “had no standing to do so.” Aye! Protecting the little guy, huh?

Nancy’s The Delaware Way has a piece attributing the Democrat’s win to Dean and moderate conservatives who left the Republican Party… Even she admits she is reeling from the events of this past week with her pictorial representation she posts here…. She appears to be going through a light phase… going back a week is her celebration that Andy Reid accepts that his play calling sucks….

From Down State, Mikes Musings, starring a blogger still remarkably self absorbed since 1962, shares with us one of his life changing moments….. But more important for us, is the changing of Delaware’s status away from being the first state… nay, even being a state at all! But solutions are the real reason Mahaffie is happy. Using technology to bring back the best of olden times, is what technology is all about….

Tommywonk has his thing on Purple America…. He also celebrates another blogger’s bump to the home page of Daily Kos… He takes time to eulogize an economist responsible for uttering these profound words of wisdom: What George W. Bush has done has been to shift taxes from the present to the future–and also made future taxes uncertain, random, and thus extra-costly from a standard public finance view. So no matter how high our taxes go… Democrats cannot be blamed….

This person is wondering what the difference is between a Republican and a Democrat… Do we see seeds of a future post? Perhaps… But nevertheless, he has picked a new chairperson for the Republican Party.. One who has combed through all evidence and knows their weaknesses inside and out… The name of their new chair, may surprise you….. And this, will make you want to hug your kids forever.

Dave Burris,  quotes an article from TIME, outcrying that Republicans were only 77,611 votes shy of taking control of the House of Representatives, and that just a shift of 2847 votes in Montana, could have kept them in control of the Senate…. In fact, instead of drowning his sorrows for the Republicans faulty showing, he is crowing that in a bad year, where they should have been squelched, they weathered the storm rather well… “In a year that was supposed to be a big, blue wave where Democrats dominated from sea to shining sea, it almost wasn’t that at all. I can’t imagine conditions that would favor the Dems more, so this will probably be the best they can do.” he boasts.

Delaware Liberal, along with Tommywonk, and FSP, praise Joe M. for his work in pursuing the missing write in vote… a vote whose total was to be suppressed until after the choices were made for Senate leadership…. Also Jason goes out on the early line in his predictions for two years hence… I wonder how prognosticatable he will be? One of the interesting aspects of our blogosphere is the interaction between right and left… This interesting exchange covers Bush’s handling of the Iraqi war…I hope no one eats their words…. He comments on FSP’s head scratching over what was going on with the National Republican Leadership.. Dave Burris with this quote: “I spoke to the Sussex County Republican Women’s Club on Wednesday, and one portion of my message to them was that I was certain that our leaders in Washington had gotten the message that voters sent on Election Day.
Now, I’m not so sure.” And we have breaking News that Mike Castle has filed again…One must check out the link provided… We also have the traditional rant over the “liberal media” which is not so liberal after all.…. then proves it with this worthy piece about the News Journal burying an environmentally sensitive piece that might offend the entrenched powerful….even though not publishing it could kill someone over time….. That Delaware blogger had better slow down… He just might burn himself out….. lol
At least I’m glad to see he his taking a break… on this post election weekend….

Oh! And as if we needed another one……….From the ranks of our regular commentators, a new Delaware blog is now on the boards as of 11/17……Welcome. Here is its opening post…..We shall see if it makes any difference… Most likely, due to “the fix” that’s in ….. this blog too will matter very little…….

Outside The Perimeter: Post Convention Stress Disorder

Courtesy of Department of Defense

Obviously the conventions would dominate those weeks in which they take place within our local blogosphere….

Since the Democrats began their convention, the number of posts relating to just national politics were as follows.

Delaware Liberal 77
Delaware Libertarian 6
Delaware Politics.Net 26
Delaware Watch 5
Delaware Way 5
Down With Absolutes 13
The Colossus of Rhodey 20

The number of posts relating to our state races were as follows:

Delaware Liberal 12
Delaware Libertarian 5
Delaware Politics.Net 5
Delaware Watch 2
Delaware Way 7
Down With Absolutes 13
The Colossus of Rhodey 6

Of course there were some judgment calls. Most particularly with our Senator running as Vice President, that always forced a judgment on whether the post should be considered local or national.

I say it should be no wonder that most local posts remained focused on the national fracus… For these are historic times… The first person with Afro-American blood is right now, running for the White House. The first conservative female (ever) is vying to survive the achievement of the Vice Presidency…. The first Delawarean in anyone’s lifetime, is right now on the national ticket…There was even a storm that looked like Katrina all over again…and the Republican convention downsized accordingly…. Out West, the police busted up a group of drinking conservatives who allegedly threatened to assassinate Obama… The other convention’s police, not to be outdone, were able to arrest Amy Goodman….

So I don’t want to fault those who ignored local politics in order to focus on the national agenda…

I just want to debate whether that is the most effective use of our time, irregardless of whatever party we are discussing…. The underlying question begs to be asked…. Does anything we say or picture upon our blogosphere …make even the slightest difference in the National Race?

Meanwhile we have local people desperately trying to find out about their candidates, as well as candidates trying to get their message past the WNJ’s blockade……and can’t; because we are not talking about it…And it certainly wasn’t a very quiet week in local politics.

The last week before the Primary begins today. On the Republican side, we have the hard liners fighting new blood… After 8 years of Bush, Republicans must consider whether they should stay the course, or molt into a new party still sporting the same name? Protack versus Copeland-Lee is about to determine that….Should Protack upset the regular party faithful, as his state’s highest ranked candidate, he will have considerable input on the direction his party must take, at least until a new figure emerges…. Conventional wisdom considering his win, says there is no way…. But across this nation, Republicans have lost three seats in special elections, all in reportedly safe districts…. If enough of Delaware’s Republicans want to force their party to run on issues, instead of running on slander, then Protack could just get enough bounce to go over the top…..

Stranger things have happened.

On the Democratic side, the governors race is heating up. But you would never know it if you only read the blogs for information (Unless you read Down With Absolutes)… Since a majority of bloggers consider themselves not only Democrats, but progressives, this is a tragic silence. Fortunately the News Journal stepped in, and took over the bloggers role this time, and published a great comparison of both candidates. Hats of to their editing department for their picturesque face off: that put bloggers to shame.

One would think there would be some buzz over the Democratic race to pick Mike Castle’s successor. Granted, the candidate we wanted to run is either going to win or lose the governor’s race next Tuesday, but irregardless, in a Democratic year, nothing substantial has been said about any of these candidates…

Fortunately WPVI Channel 6 stepped in and carried the bloggers role by televising their debate last Sunday morning…. But none would know by just reading the blogs…. It was actually a good chance to see who was honest and direct, who was prompted with canned answers, and who was trying to toe the center by not giving specifics and speaking in platitudes…..

And our insurance commissioners are infighting among the Democrats to see who takes on John Brady…. To be honest, the only one I know anything about is Gene Reed, and that is because of Mike Matthews. There have been three debates yet no one has mentioned them in blogworld…..

But the big, really big race. ie the one affecting us (up North) the most, is the Gordon-Coons battle. Tuesday decides it; there is no Republican challenger…. Fortunately this race has gotten some mention. Before the conventions started, cassandra m wrapped up a synopsis of their debate, that was not flattering to Gordon… But where we get our hard nuggets of info, are out of comments, as one side’s supporters bash those representing the other side…. But the real question of who will better reign in our developers ravaging our countryside, has yet to be answered…..

Equally strategic, is whether Bill Dunn can upset Paul Clark…. Clark is better funded, but previously committed official endorsements for Clark are now dropping like flies, since Bill Dunn has now entered the race….At stake is the question of whether developers should have unlimited access to our county government? Or should they have only the same rights as everyone else? Dunn is for reform… Clark is “the way we were”……

Up North, the big General Assembly race is in the fourth… the seat previously held by Copeland…. Three Republicans, and two Democrats, are battling among themselves for the right to go to Dover… All are well funded for a Primary and the fourth is covered with election signs… However very little has been said about this race within the blogosphere. What will be done when they are elected, will be anyone’s guess….

Democrats in the 6th Senate have a battle on their hands between John McKenzie and Mike Terranova. That race has not registered in our little blogosphere…. Nor has the Republican race for the 10th….between Andrea Daley and James Weldin…. Andrea is a frequent writer on Nancy’s Blog, Delaware Way…… But has any blog covered the pros and cons of either candidate? No.

County Council 8 and 12 are up for grabs on the Democrat’s side. In the 8th, John Cartier and Carl S. Colantuono go head to head for the grand prize… Carl Colantuono was previously highly recommended during a different race two years ago… In the 12th, the new guy Thomas Scherer is giving William Bell a run for his money…. Bell has all the trappings at his disposal that come with being an incumbent, but it appears that Tom is making up the discrepancy on the ground……

In town since Republicans do not exist in the city proper, the mayor, city council president, and the members of Districts 1,2,3,4,8 are all to be settled next Tuesday… But if one were reading the blogs for news, no one would ever know…. Before he left, Tommywonk featured Campbell Hay, who has the dubious distinction of being the only city candidate featured in blogland….

Kent County has a primary in the 3rd district of Levy court, just among the Democrats… and that winner goes against blogger David Anderson, I presume? Further south, Sussex County has a three way Republican race in the 2nd District, and a two way Republican race in the 3rd. In the last race, one of our states more insightful bloggers has put his hat into the ring… To find out his stance on everything, just Google Jud’s Rants Delaware... It should lead you right there……

So all that aside, during this week of conventions, what did we learn locally?

1) We learned we are more exited about the national circus than we normally let on…. It can suck up all our energy…..

2) We learned that we did not live up to our reader’s expectations; who will walk in to the booth on primary day, still in the dark, as if we didn’t exist at all.

3) We learned that candidates need to use us by sending their info to be published, and in order to distinguish ourselves from the News Journal, we need to print it…..

4) We learned we need to apply endorsements based on our values, and adequately explain to readers why our support is forthcoming…..

5) We all have favorites. But if you read the local blogs during this past week of convention coverage….. you would never know it…..

With one week to go in the primaries, we can make some inroads. However the lesson that we take for this week, is that as thoughtful bloggers, we CAN make real impacts on local races decided by the slimmest of margins. Talking mostly about national campaigns, only helps keep things running in our state, the same way as they always have been.

And none of us would agree that running in the same way…is good…..

Outside the Perimeter: Copeland’s Bad Week

Courtesy of Department of Defense

First from Kilroy, a former Republican but more of a man than either I or that Republican running for Lieutenant Governor….Here, from the eye of Kilroy:

courtesy of Kilroy from Lee & Copeland’s Night In Paris

courtesy of Kilroy from Dr. Copeland Snubs Red Clay Students

courtesy of Kilroy from Minner’s and Copeland’s Last Dance

courtesy of Kilroy from Maverick (Lee) and Goose (Copeland) Grounded

So what’s up, you might wonder? Why is Copeland being touted in many various poses all engendered solely to make one laugh?

The answer is simple really. Occasionally there are people who for whatever unknown reason, just make you want to laugh out loud. Unfortunately for them, there are some of us who will use anything just to make people laugh… So if one takes the two and mixes them together, and then, when that person involved does something really stupid, all one has to do is say his name and the crowd laughs uproariously.

For example……. try as hard as you can not to smile………………Joey Buttafuoco

One can’t help it…With a name like that, he should have been very careful to stay out of the limelight. For once in, he is fair game…..

What is funny about Copeland is his political backwardness… Like the nerdish boys of high school in asking one for a dance, his responses to questions seem rehearsed as if coming from a “How to Ask A Girl to Dance” book instead of coming from himself……Instead of asking, do you want to dance, he strolls up, looks up at the ceiling, and says something like….”The gym lights are real romantic tonight. May i take you onto the dance floor and “cut a rug”?” Egads….

What ticked Kilroy off, was Copeland, member of the Senate Education Committee. (the only committee Senator Copeland specifically requested upon entering the state legislature was the Education Committee, believing that the roots of most of Delaware’s chronic and long-term problems could be best confronted in the way that Delawarean children were educated.) said he did not want to get involved with local problems. Instead, he raises a racket about how prisoners are being treated, calling Gov. Minner and Meconi out for not providing the most basic decencies to our convicted criminals, while letting the schools in his own district languish with no money for the barest necessities…. The trigger I think was Kilroy’s walking into one of Red Clay’s school bathrooms, using the facilities, and then finding there was no soap to wash his hands… He followed the trail upwards, a student told them there never was any soap in that school’s bathrooms, the district office told him that was one of the areas they chose to cut back expenses on…. and Kilroy just transferred that creepy feeling you get when something is on your unwashed hands, over to Charlie Copeland, who vociferously insists that when it comes to education, that we need to cut back on government spending, except of course,whenever he has a chance to blame a Democrat for doing what he continuously proposes. ..but anyway, that is the Copeland that Kilroy knows…..The one whose actions show he doesn’t care……

Not only here, but several other blogs had a word or two about Copeland. Tommywonk in his distinct fashion provides the legal argument as to why Copeland is in the comic spotlight is week…..Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Copeland made the statement somewhere that he supported offshore wind power off Rehoboth, Delaware…. He shouldn’t have done that… I mean its one thing to tell a “little” lie……from a politician we expect that…. but to say you supported Bluewater Wind?…… Tommy breaks it down…

“The problem with that argument is that Charlie Copeland didn’t just oppose the Bluewater PPA; he opposed any PPA. He opposed even requiring Delmarva Power to sit and negotiate a PPA.”

Borrowing from the words of Matt Denn, “Sometimes the facts, hurt,” Tommywonk slams Copeland to the mat with a reminder of Copelsnd’s letter to Russ Larson not to vote in favor of Bluewater Wind; with a reminder of Copeland’s opposing the whole process set up by SB 06; with a reminder of Senator (cut all unnecessary government expenses) Copeland’s complicity in hiring $30,000 Randall Speck to “tear her a new one” in Arnette McRae’s testimony; with a reminder of who voted for Harris McDowell’s draft resolution ordering Larson to vote “no” on the Bluewater Deal…..

And (light chuckle here) we are to believe that Charlie Copeland supported Bluewater Wind……. Truly after this, how can we take anything Copeland says seriously?

Elsewhere on the internet…Delaware Liberal’s “I’m Loving the Bitch Slaps Matt Denn Keeps Laying On Charlie SilverSpoon” carries Mr. Copeland’s assertion that he represents the best of Delaware’s future….to a new extreme. “Senator Copeland has been part of the problem in Dover during his six years as a legislator.” Sort of puts him in the exact same boat as Minner, doesn’t it?

Both Delaware Liberal and Down With Absolutes have some fun with the “Inversion of Website Domain Controversy” …….Delaware Liberal lambastes the News Journal’s reporting skills at their labeling the switch a “mix up” One should ‘mix-up” the domains of delawareonline and the Newark Post and see how trite that really is…

Down With Absolutes tells us how to handle switch voting in the voting booth. If you want to vote for Copeland, pull the Denn handle…. It is unfortunate that he made that plea public, for now the Copeland committee will have an excuse on which to blame their 7% showing come November…….”It certainly wasn’t Charlie’s fault….” I’m sure we’ll hear it….

DWA also carries the links with which good natured Matt responded…Looking for Copeland? Try visiting these links to see what he’s all about…And Nancy’s comment is endearingly…. well… Nancy.

Delaware Liberal rescues a comment made by State Rep. Kowalko regarding his memory of the Charlie Copeland metamorphosis…..

As one who personally attended scores of meetings, hearings and political posturing exercises on the matter, I have said before and I reiterate this point. Charlie Copeland did not support the Off-Shore wind project and in fact, aggressively worked behind the scenes as well as out in the open (occasionally), against it. This is a matter of record and Tom Noyes and Matt Denn are dead on correct.

Delaware Liberal reiterates a point made above by Tommywonk here, and calls out Charlie to be a Liar. (Well, I guess if it is true… it’s acceptable to do say it…. I mean,… the facts really don’t support him….they don’t support him at all…..)

Looking closer, was Delaware’s Brilliantest Blogger, who revisits the News Journal account of Charlie’s defense of using the term that HE -DID- SUPPORT- BLUEWATER- WIND. Quoting the News Journal, he reports:

“Copeland said some bloggers asserted that Sen. Harris McDowell, who chaired the committee, was trying to undermine the agreement.”
No….effin….way? Really? Harris McDowell was trying to undermine the agreement? How can that be? He is Delaware’s “expert” on polar bears renewable energy!

And then…. the fool ….said it……He actually came out….. and said it…

“I think that [Denn] reads too many blogs,” Copeland said.

As compared to what? The modern equivalent of Alice in Wonderland?

So that’s the stupid thing that got this whole thing started…. Joey Buttafuoco……..Charlie Copelsnd……from this point on they are forever linked……

Oh and that was actually the second stupid thing Copeland embraced. To paraphrase the first, it was like this:

Copeland supports drilling crude oil off of Rehoboth…..

I think it would be most appropriate to close by using Charlies own words against himself:

Copeland said. “I think it’s regrettable he’s trying to create an issue and fabricate things that are easily proven wrong.”

Those actions are regrettable, Charlie, but you are totally blaming the wrong person…..

Your worst enemy appears to be your own self. Stop trying so hard, and take some advice from Mahaffie who has slipped in three games of golf since July 26th……

New Page At kavips

I have given that ceremony, the one of awarding the winners of the “kavipsian awards”, a page of it’s own. Anytime you would like to revisit, you can now find it easily at the top of each and every page…..

It’s a compilation of the best of the best for the first half of 2008………

Outside The Perimeter: Fragments…

Courtesy of Department of Defense

If there is any correlating theme coming from this past week, would have to lie deep within the meaning of this word: fragments.

Whereas before, the blogging community seemed to be one amorphous blob, with all of its patrons joined together in a fight for survival against the study of the illogical (illogogy)…. it almost seems that with the passing of the Bluewater Wind controversy and the closing of Legislative Hall for another 6 months, that without a common enemy, the blogging world is running all over the place, like a week’s worth of wind-up McDonald’s toys set loose at the same time.

It was different last summer. The evil Stockbridge was the ogre of that time. (Copeland and McDowell surfaced as the insidious ones later in the fall)… During those lazy, hazy days, one could always on a slow day count on someone posting something about Mitt Romney. Others could be counted on to praise Obama, or damn Mike Castle, and many Ron Paul supporters were just beginning to get the wind beneath their wings. Giuliani even had a supporter or two, and one Sussex County person, was anticipating the great Fred Thompson’s march all the way into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue…. Last summer bred some exciting times. It was a great time to be a blogger…..

This week, each blog is on its own agenda. Even one fascinated with blogs as myself sometimes skims and clicks out if nothing jumps out like a fanged dog at me….That never happened last year… Did we overwork ourselves with all of our successful endeavors?

One difference between the two summers, lies in the march of events. Events have increased their frequency this summer. Every day destiny provides us with a fait accompli before we even get a chance to comment upon it.  We will have a presidential campaign soon upon us with two conventions. We will have the Olympics starting on the ominous day of 8/8/8. We are hanging by just a thread from collapsing into the abyss of bank closures, unemployment, with a broke federal government unable to guarantee any other bailout. We will have a good Phillies’ team for once.

But for whatever reason each of us are starbursting, which is management speak for just bouncing around, making a scene, yet accomplishing little in the long term because of a lack of any follow-through…

Everyone is on their own agenda….. If you were new to Delaware’s blog scene and just happened to visit us for the first time this week, you might think Delaware Liberal was misnamed. Although they smatter their posts with some liberal content, most of their time within posts and comments was tied up on the global significance of the Thursday election of Delaware’s hottest blogger. Fortunately Donvitti provides pictorial relief from his blatant lobbying attempt to keep the title coming to himself….. This is worth the visit just to see what some rather famous names look like…..There are also some nice photo’s of some trees…..and portable chairs….. On a serious note, mark your calendars for the Thursday July 31st fundraiser for Tommy….. Voting will be done on site…..

One controversy stirring among Delaware’s elite, is over the use, or misuse of Democratic party funds to fund one candidate over its challenger.

In a detached way it almost seems like we are sifting too hard, forcing out controversies in otherwise everyday occurrences, then fanning the flames, just because we have too little to argue about… (and more like the main stream media than we would like to think)…… to draw attention to ourselves.. We are, after all, human beings too…. But when all is said and done, it still is the party’s money to spend as they see fit. But in judging it’s overall importance, after  looking over each blog’s links,  this giant controversy also covered by our main stream media,  is mentioned in only two blogs, both of which lean towards Markell.  Is it then really such a big deal if it is only being mentioned by just one side?  Just asking…

Now, moving on……..

Delaware Watch jumps around between the national political scene and controversies occurring on the home front. Taking on the fickle Lee turnabout, it appears that the sentiments of the actual Republican Gubernatorial candidate, do not fall in line completely with his handlers. We in a glimpse see that their party’s flagship candidate, who until he was restrained by his programmers, actually had a moment of courage and credibility. With his reversal, we see we are now exposed to just another hologram, a human face put on some shady backroom dealings….He is truly just following his handler’s directions…… On the national front, Delaware Watch covers the real reason McCain reversed himself and went with offshore drilling…. It wasn’t for America’s interests……it was done in the interest of his campaign treasury… With his reversal…. his campaign treasury swelled with oil man’s money. No doubt this was noticed by Christine O’Donnell who thought she could get free money as well……  Continuing…..

Delaware Way has dived down deep into New Castle County Politics. While struggling to protect The Grange’s historical significance from the Scott- aided developers who are just itching to bulldoze that remarkable historical site under….. her commentary is long and full of information…. Truly this is corruption in its highest form. It is the local equivalent of Iraqi oil. We’ll take it because we can, thank you very much….. As one nation under God, we fought against this concept of entitled royalty during our Revolution War. No wonder Clark-Scott want to remove any local traces of that rebellion from Delaware’s future collective memory…. They are establishing themselves as the nouveau caste of elitists…. it’s Capano and the Highway Radisson all over again………

On a side, this controversy reminds me that for one week in late summer of 1777, thirty thousand troops were camped in New Castle County. (To get a visual of that amount, climb to the top of St. Francis Hospital’s parking garage and look out over all of Wilmington. Half of all you see, represents the number of troops, both British and American, being bivouacked here). Even more historic, is the fact that the war could have been settled here in the British’s favor, had the British capitalized on one of Washington’s errors….. They didn’t. Clark-Scott want it covered up…. $$$$$$$ Shall we let them?

Oddly since mentioning Scott and Clark in the same sentence makes one want to throw up, the local blogosphere, perhaps in a subtle tribute to Al Mascitti, has decided to go the route of food critic. DWA’s Dominique recommends juicy hamburgers, and Jason330 issues accolades for a tuna pineapple appetizer…. And for those who salivate at visual images…….

Next, getting to the spirit of political fundraising, we are shown two opposite approaches. Delaware Politics. Net has this article of one union shaking down its members to meet an arbitrary goal. Just when unions finally have an election season going for them, one of their members pulls a stunt like this…. Down With Absolutes has a tongue in cheek posting in similar vein. Apparently to facilitat their solicitation for donations, they need a mechanism that responds to sexual favors (see comments).

Meanwhile our favorite Curmudgeon is standing guard over our rights,… (naturally including our right give and receive sexual favors).(lol) Most particularly important to her, is the right to pursue our own form of happiness. That July 4th right is under attack by two local towns. A giant controversy, covered nowhere else, has its silence broken by Shirley. Apparently they do not have sex in Middletown. or at least certain elements of that city want to pretend that they don’t…. Banishing Waters and dropping Bernhardt seems like much ado over nothing. Surprisingly this has not gotten airplay from anywhere else… But such controversies will forever haunt the human condition. It is what happens when you let stupid people into government….. Personally I’m looking forward to the response to Newark’s singling out motorcycles for their noise abatement enforcement. I’ve never seen a million motorcycles before. I wonder if they could get that many to show? They have the mailing lists, and most bikers I know would drive at least 500 miles to an event like this….

On a side, I wonder how long it would take a million bikes to pass down Newark’s Main Street? Taking the average of 5 feet per bike and going with a tight 4 bike abreast formation with twenty feet separating each row…. To pass by one point, the answer is 79 hours; from noon on a Friday until 7 pm Monday evening. Now that would be an event worth seeing. I don’t think any other locality would dare venture so far as to single out motorcycles in the future, were bikers able to pull something like this off…….

The Colossus is starbursting from the other side… Now a movie critic they cover the The Great Debaters and The Dark Knight.. The latter was more of a Ms. Manners’ commentary on the behavior of those watching with him. (No wonder boot-legs sell well on the black market.) (lol) But to test your brainpower acumen, check out the trivia question included near the bottom of The Dark Knight... I wonder whether sight unseen if you can guess the winner? If you guessed “Mr. Trivia”, Allan Loudell, you are close….. almost.

Starbursting from the other side…. the staff of Colossus has decided to rule the Isle of Lost Causes and scours the media outlets for anything to throw at Obama. Most of them don’t stick….but the theme picture is worth commenting upon. Here is pitch one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, etc…. and a couple of small arms fire, one and two, aimed at Protack. Perhaps I’m nuts, but the only thing missing in this exhaustive anti-Obama coverage, is any substantial argument as to why someone in their right mind would ever want to vote for Obama’s opponent? Darn, after such extensive reading, I forgot his name…….

Third parties often are manned by well meaning dolts. One ducks and dodges them in any public event…..or fails to return their phone calls because of their tendency to focus on one narrow issue that appears to most, to be relatively unimportant. But,…. when a third party is manned by someone of superior intelligence, they offer a view of the other political parties unseen by those confined within…. Browsing through Delaware Libertarian recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find a rather good description of the Democratic Party…..

Using Delaware Liberal as a template, Steve Newton dissects the Democratic Party with a surgeon’s precision. As his discussion evolves it becomes self-evident that perhaps Progressives of all parties need to unite and elect intelligent candidates for a change, instead of the usual ones put up by parties whose sole appeal lies in the fact that they obey orders….. His proposal for an amalgamated Progressive Party made of many parts (smart Dem’s, smart Repub’s, and smart Indi’s), is a thinking man’s proposal for finding a way out of our cardboard maze we have chosen to place ourselves inside. It is proposal worth pursuing…..For both Steve, Shirley, and myself are pulling for one Republican: Tyler Nixon. Common Sense may need a little help in this race.

In my pick for the best post of the week, we have the breakdown of our Medicare System. By breakdown, I mean totally….broken…..down….. Our medicare system is busted and in this post we actually feel a father’s anguish of a daughter caught up in a bureaucracy-gone-wild under the current Republican unfunded mandates….. Read at your own discretion… It made me angry…. Just be prepared to laugh out loud when Copeland, Lee, Castle, and McCain say their administration has trimmed costs by reducing the rolls of those on Medicare. Be prepared to laugh them all the way down below 10%…. The post is truly non- partisan, but I guarantee your anger after reading it….will be partisan…..no matter what party you hail from…..

But be careful of what you say….. not.. Obviously Delaware Libertarian has been compromised by the Fed’s searching for information on face it, this and other local deviants, who they fear more than any blah-blah propagandist. For they have no defense against facts. Facts pertaining to what they have done wrong , facts showing they care not for their constituents, facts that will anger a population so much that their power base will shift to another…. They must find those who prevent their story line from being seriously taken at face value and take them out….

Commendation must be given to the Delaware Libertarian for following the letter of the law, but posting the warning for all to see is genius. I had not yet thought of that form of civil disobedience which is perfectly legal, ( I checked) since it is a blanket warning and is not one expressly tipping off the person that their records are being culled. I encourage all others receiving such notification to follow this defiant act. At this early stage, searching through the records of one blogger (obviously not a threat to this or any other nation, but equally obviously a threat to an already very dead political movement within this nation), may be legal, but is very hard to justify politically. Now is the time to push back, and not wait until after Israel bombs Iran and we go into Emergency Powers……

But running scared is the opposite of what we bloggers do. If you have ever trained as a United States Marine, you know that when you hear enemy fire, you race hell bent towards it… So that is what we are doing…. Causalities are a cost of doing battle with evil… To this poor soul, violating the laws of the Constitution of the United States, is about as close to treason and evil as anyone can get…..

Thanks Steve for finding that solution… Of course if it was done as a “punk”, it worked well enough so that we have acquired a defense against a Department of Homeland Security staffed only by sick Republicans….. if everyone posts a similar notice we can show the world that within our own country, our freedom is under attack…..

Joe M of Merit Bound Alley comes out of his two month sabbatical, no doubt, because of the hostility given to his view posted in Delaware Liberal‘s comment section regarding the pope. He applies scientific principals to the Catholic position, and proves that the church’s stand on this issue, is, if not completely unsound, still rather controversial.

Now on a lighter note… much needed I think after that…… Ok…we had our food critics….we had a movie critic…. and now, (drumroll please) from lower Delaware, we get our automotive critic. Mike Mahaffie has left the hybrid community. “What? No more mileage posts?” Gone is the Prius. Mike’s Musing‘s author has settled on a new Scion as his next best thing…..Being familiar with anime artistry, I laughed at his quote….”The styling is sharp; a colleague described the front view today as like a Japanese anime character. I can see that.” if needing a good game of golf to relax, you can find it here…. But making vehicle changes is not the only change his blog has undergone… the blog itself has received some major housekeeping….

Last but not least, as he prepares for Thursday’s Drinking Liberally accompanied by the sideshow of choosing Delaware’s Hottest Blogger, Tommywonk is getting his writing ready for the big time of national politics in Denver…. His three posts about Obama, naturally are sandwiched between three posts about energy…… Obviously Christine’s illogogy has gotten his dander up a little, as she did mine….. To paraphrase Dusty’s admonition to Bill, the tornado chaser in the 90’s thriller...Twister…. “(She)’s gonna rue the day (she) goes up against “The Extreme.” Better give it up Christine O’Donnel, challenger to Joe Biden’s Senate seat,…. By going against Tommywonk, you are simply competing out of your league………..

So you see…. we are all fragments… our blogosphere has lost its cohesiveness…. A vast pit of randomness is what we have become, disconnected, diverse, looking away from each other and chasing our own rainbows…

Which reminds me to take off my hat and give David Anderson a deep bow of respect for deciding to make a difference by running for office... Watching David’s writing change over the last two years, has been a pleasure. It’s been a while now, since he has started writing from his own heart, instead of his party’s standard talking points. I’m thankful for the insights which his view has provided, some of which have grounded my own views with a deeper truth… I know he ran before. But based solely on his writing, this time in my heart, I believe he is ready to do what is needed for his constituents, and not follow what is asked of by his party’s higher up’s. Thumbs up, David. You represent us all. Make us proud……

So fragments we collectively are.. and you know… as I processed all this information, I realize that being fragmented so is not all that bad, as you too can now see by this rather lengthy, exhaustive post…

Unless, of course, the economy has dealt you a blow. Unless, of course, you are desperately trying to make ends meet with no steady stream of finances. Unless, of course, by this time all you have left is fragments…. and it shows up in your writing style…. because that is how your life………………… is.

Outside The Perimeter: Reminder

Courtesy of Department of Defense

The kavipsian award open-voting closes at midnight July 31st. The winner will be announced August 1st. I highly recommend that all peruse this selection since these are the best of the best of Delaware’s blogosphere. To miss it is like driving by the Louvre and not stopping in.

To navigate there easily, I have installed a page at the top of my blog. Click on the link contained within, and you will be there…

I’m surprised that some votes are in already, since the list is rather ponderous. But careful reading should be encouraged since this represents the best of what Delaware is…

Remember to post your votes in the comment section in this format: b,e,d,a,c,b,a,e,b, and to use the name anon. And yes, of course it is cool to vote for yourself….

So who is winning on the back stretch?

a,c,d,b,b,tie,d,tie,tie

Just five days left.