OK, who will start “Gambling Liberally”?

Delawareonline.com: Governor Jack Markell signed legislation legalizing table games into law Thursday, setting up an implementation process that should have patrons playing with real cards and dice in as little as four months.

I am really excited about this.  I am not a SLOTS player at all – I find them rather boring.  I also never quite understood why we had casinos in this State but that Slots was all they had.  What would be the difference if you added Poker or Blackjack – or any other table game?  Dover Downs already sports a fake roulette table – I’d rather have a dealer then a screen and it ads jobs as well.  I love not only playing but also watching Blackjack and Poker.  While I won’t be able to play for financial reasons, knowing that I can without driving to Atlantic City is awesome!

AActually, to be honest, what bothered me was not so much there we only had slots, but that you couldn’t even pay with CASH at Dover Downs – getting all those quarters if you win and putting them into the machine is half the fun!

The Delaware Democrats want to hear from you

Your story and the stories of our fellow Delawareans must be heard in 2010. Congress has voted on important measures, including financial regulation, economic stimulus and health care. These votes have affected you and me, our families, friends and co-workers.

Please help highlight the impact these votes have had and will have on our lives — Tell us your story.

• Have you been impacted by the financial and economic crisis of the past 2 years?
• Have you experienced a foreclosure on a home or seen savings & investments evaporate?
• Have you been employed on a project funded by stimulus funds?
• Are you frustrated with the GOP’s “Say-No” attitude that is preventing your recovery from the current crisis?

If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, please click here and describe your situation.

Your story is important to us because the future of Delaware will be affected by outcome of the election in November. We can continue making progress on the issues that are critical to the future of Delaware or we can sit back and watch as Republicans vote against our state’s interests.

All across our state, lives have been or will be affected by decisions made in Washington. If you know someone who may have a story about these effects, please ask them to share their story with us by clicking below:

Forward to a Friend

Thank you for taking the time to help ensure our representatives will vote for us, the citizens of Delaware. 

Sincerely,

Rebecca Young

P.S.: Click here to see where our leaders stand on the most important issues in Delaware

Sex Offender Registry

When have you last been to the State’s Sex Offender Registry?  It’s an eye opening experience.  For example, there are 70 offenders within a 3 mile radius of my house.  How many do you have?  Looking at their convictions it appears that most of them molested kids between 12 and 15 years of age.  A few also have convictions where the victim is younger than 12 years old.

SCARY STATISTICS¹

• At least 1 out of 4 girls and one out of 6 boys will be sexually abused by age 18
• At least 90 percent of all childhood sexual abuse victims know their abuser
• Only 25 percent of childhood sexual abuse cases are even reported; only 5 percent of those cases will even make it to court and of that, 50 percent of these children will be returned to their alleged abuser
• The average sexual predator will commit 117 assaults before even getting caught
• The re-arrest rate for convicted child predators is 52 percent
• One in 10 homes are involved in some form of childhood sexual abuse; this is a leading cause of teen suicide and child prostitution

1. http://www.franksfoundation.org/know.shtml [↩]

Not something for the First State to be proud of

Looking at the per capita rates, Delaware ranks fifth in the number of sex offenders (per familywatchdog.us)

Children are not safe these days in Delaware

First the whole Bradley story and then every day another one…today in the Miflord Beacon was this:

Frederica, Del. -Delaware State Police arrested a 38-year-old Houston man Jan. 2 for allegedly beating his girlfriend’s children and raping one of them.

The man initially told police that he took the 13-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl out for ice cream around midnight and when they returned to the children’s Frederica home, they were attacked by several people, said Sgt. Walter Newton of the Delaware State Police.

The man said the people left and he drove for an hour until he could find help, Newton said.

Police doubted the man’s story and after collecting evidence at the Frederica home, Newton said police charged Wayne A. Jones with two counts of attempted murder, second-degree rape, endangering the welfare of a child, terroristic threatening and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. He was committed to the Department of Correction in default of $106,500 cash bail.

The 13 year old was flown to Christiana Hospital where he is listed in critical condition with skull fractures and open head wounds, Newton said. The female was taken to Peninsula Regional

Medical Center and later transported to Christiana Hospital where she was admitted with skull fractures and lacerations to the head and body and a broken left hand.

May the assholes all rot in hell

The girl mentioned is my son’s friend.  they actually dated a little while ago and he really likes her and cares about her.  He wondered why she wasn’t in school and didn’t text him.  Him and his friends are outraged, hurt, and pissed – as he says.

Looks like the ass who did it has quite a history of jail time and of blaming the State for doing him wrong.  He has taken DOC and offender programs to court a few times.  Did the mother know?  He is not a registered sex offender, but maybe he just got lucky before by not getting caught or charges being dropped, who knows.  This could be him – and if it is, we are talking about contact with DOC since at least 1995.

 Mandamus means he filed against the other party saying they were not doing what they were supposed to be doing and he wants a court to compel them to do what they are supposed to be doing. He wants the court to issue a Writ of Mandamus – a mandate if you will.

Habeas Corpus refers to filings that he initiated where he most likely felt that he was wrongfully convicted.  Most likely this was filed because he thought that there were errors made during the trial and he wants to court to find cause to overturn his conviction.  Pretty much, he either screams about his constitutional rights that were violated or he says his judge was not impartial or that his lawyer was incompetent or that the evidence was tainted – something along those lines anyway. 

As I have been saying…

From Delawareonline.com

December 26, 2009

Delaware’s broadband not quite up to speed

Initiatives under way to expand rural service

By DAN SHORTRIDGE
The News Journal

Ray and Barbara Pettyjohn are stuck in a technological no-man’s land.

They live on a rural road between Georgetown and Millsboro, about a mile each way from the nearest high-speed Internet connection.

So when Ray has to process payroll online for his school bus business, Barbara has to take their laptop into Georgetown to hook up to a wireless access spot.

Local companies offering broadband access “want an arm and a leg and a small fortune to run it down here for us,” Ray Pettyjohn said. “Here we are, in limbo.”

The couple is far from alone. Rural areas run far behind more urban and developed regions of the country in having access to high-speed Internet, which has become less of a luxury and more of a necessity for doing business, taking courses and conducting research — let alone entertainment and idle time-wasting activities.

But two initiatives are hoping to lay the groundwork for changing that state of affairs here.

Delaware’s technology agency was recently awarded a $1.5 million grant to map out the state of broadband access and plan for future expansions, and a project spearheaded by the University of Delaware focusing on Sussex County brought stakeholders together at a workshop over the summer to discuss the state of broadband.

Part of the challenge in discussing high-speed Internet access is that authorities and researchers don’t have a lot of data about where and how it currently exists, said Troy Mix, an assistant policy scientist with UD’s Institute for Public Administration.

“You can kind of talk about all these things in generalities — yeah, there are pockets where there aren’t connections, [but] by and large across the U.S., policymakers don’t have a great picture of where broadband is and isn’t, who’s using it and who isn’t,” said Mix, who helped organize the Sussex Broadband Project to bring groups and agencies together. “It’s tough to address an issue if it’s not really well-defined.”

That effort will start here in Delaware next year, funded by a federal grant awarded last month to create an interactive broadband map, said Michael Hojnicki, chief customer officer for the state Department of Technology and Information.

The final product will include a searchable public database, detailed down to the census block, of where access is available. Internet providers will be responsible for updating the map regularly and keeping it current, Hojnicki said.

The initiative is important to more than just technology enthusiasts or Internet geeks. Broadband access is increasingly important to residents and companies looking to move to an area, Hojnicki and Mix said.

“Broadband access can help drive economic development and recovery,” Hojnicki said.

Mix said the emerging reality is that broadband needs to be considered part of a community’s services, just like roads and other public works.

“You need to add broadband infrastructure to the list with drinking water and wastewater,” he said. “Everything from online banking and booking a trip online, to getting your GED or pursuing higher education, or staying in touch with your grandmother who lives out of state and doing it over a video … you need broadband Internet for most of those applications.”

Brian Parton of Felton is one of those people located outside standard service Internet service areas. He said the low number of houses on his road makes it impractical for Comcast to run cable to the area, and it’s too far for DSL service as well.

He’s tried satellite Internet, but said it can be slower than dial-up access via a phone line, and expensive to boot.

“On average, if I wanted to watch a 30-second video, it takes about 45 minutes to download so I can watch it,” Parton said.

Internet providers say they are expanding to serve as big a market as possible. Comcast has invested more than $100 million since 2001 in its Delaware network, and this year sped up its services to include “wideband” technology in Kent and Sussex counties, said spokeswoman Aimee Metrick.

Part of the money headed to the state, about $470,000, is designated for broadband planning efforts. The state can’t fund broadband expansions itself, Hojnicki said.

“We’re just looking for those ideas that we didn’t think about … ‘OK, we have an area in the state that is unserved or underserved, what can we do?’ ” he said.

OK, rather then using 1.5 million to DISCUSS it, I could use a 10K grant to actually get the cable to  my house and those of my neighbours – many of whom have children who could really use it for school and such.

State of Emergency for Kent and New Castle County

We have over a foot here because we are near the Kent County line (south of Milford).

How much did you get?

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT
SEVERE WEATHER ALERT: WINTER STORM: WARNING / ADVISORY; COASTAL FLOOD WARNING / ADVISORY; FLOOD WATCH; HIGH SURF ADVISORY; WIND ADVISORY

Updated: Dec 19, 2009 04:11 PM EST

FROM THE WBOC STORM TRACKER TEAM…THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR DORCHESTER, WICOMICO, SOMERSET, KENT, SUSSEX, QUEEN ANNE’S, TALBOT, AND CAROLINE COUNTIES UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY. A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR DORCHESTER, WICOMICO, AND SOMERSET UNTIL 7 PM; AND FOR KENT, INLAND SUSSEX, AND THE DELAWARE BEACHES FROM 8 PM UNTIL 2 AM SUNDAY. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ACCOMACK, WORCESTER AND SUSSEX COUNTIES UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY; A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR KENT, INLAND SUSSEX, AND THE DELAWARE BEACHES UNTIL 7 AM SUNDAY. A HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE MD BEACHES AND ACCOMACK COUNTY UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY…STAY TUNED TO WBOC FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES.

If I had a business, I wouldn’t move here…

I live in Sussex County. 

•  Cellphone coverage where I live (which is between Routes 13 and 113, just south of Milford) is shaky at best. 
• Cable TV and, therefore, high speed Internet via cable, is unavailable and so is Verizon FIOS or even DSL service. 
• The telephone lines are in such a bad shape, that dial up Internet service sets you back to 1995 speeds easily. 
• Of course, there is always the option of Internet via satellite, but that has upload and download limits and if the weather doesn’t play nice, which tends to happen a lot around here in the fall and winter, then you don’t have that one either.
• If your car doesn’t work and you are lucky to find someone that can take you to the nearest bus stop, you need to be aware that it takes OVER ONE HOUR to get from Milford to Georgetown.  If you happen to work south of Delaware Tech in Georgetown, then it can set you easily back 2 hours to get to work – If there happens to be a bus stop where you need to go to, that is.  HOWEVER, you may be lucky to be out and about during one of those rare “fast trips” from Georgetown to Milford, which heads straight up 113 without making that trip all the way to Route 1, as the bus normally does.  If you need to go from Seaford to Milford you have to plan on a minimum 2 to 3 hour trip one way though.
• There is a lot of land for sale around these parts that I believe would be great for businesses, but if I owned a business, I wouldn’t move here.  Telecommuting is becoming more and more common, but around these parts it is virtually un-do-able.  While the folks in Lewes get their panties in a twist about a possible shopping center, we here in not-quite-Western Sussex would love an actual shopping center that does NOT feature Walmart, the Dollar Tree, a check cashing place, and a  Family Dollar or Dollar General.

But yeah – I forget – it’s only Sussex County.

Sure, you ask now we I moved here to begin with — well, after spending 9-11 in Washington DC out on the street desperate to find a ride home to get my son from daycare, and after the Sniper shootings around the corner from my son’s daycare injured a school kid, and after a stabbing just outside my apartment — I was looking for something quieter and calmer.

Maybe I should have been more specific.  But then again – home is where the heart is and my dearly beloved lived here, so now I live here.  If all else fails, at least I am loved.

So who is paying for the French Fries now?

A while back the News Journal had an article about Fry Manufacturing and the 50K that where written into the bond bill for that company to develop a counter top French fry vending machine (because we all know how important it is to have a machine that makes you fries rather then people). ANYWAY —   There was a lot of talk about it also on Delaware Liberal and I, of course, posted my views on the topic.  This morning on the radio I heard that Allen Levin has been on contact with both, Senator Venables as well as Fry Manufacturing and has told them that there would be no money coming from the State of Delaware to Fry Manufacturing.  FM stated that they had a lot of orders for their machine already – and, from what I understand, they were told that if that was the case, they could just apply for a business loan to finance the operation until the orders can get filled.

Has anybody heard anything about this – I can’t find any info on line just yet.  HOWEVER, I do agree that the 50K would be better if converted to a loan rather than just being handed to them so they can make huge profits later (if that ever happens).  And – French fry vending machine?  We didn’t have any other company with a better goal that could have used the 50K?

Christine O’Donnell. Mammograms, and Health Care

While she has not yet “officially” announced that she is running for Senate, she has been on WGMD repeatedly to talk about it and said that she would officially kick of her campaign once she reaches 10K in donations.   I think it is fun to keep her around for the entertainment value – sort of like Mike Protack – just another perennial candidate that makes us laugh out a lot (or shake our heads in disbelief).

ANYWAY – my favorite comment of hers during the last radio interview was that she said it was the SOCIALIST AGENDA that caused the recommendations by the United States Preventive Services Task Force to begin breast cancer screening for women at age 50 rather then 40¹, as is the case right now. 

According to her, Socialists would change the age for screening because they do not care about the individual but they would change the age because screening at a younger age is not beneficial to the people at large.  It’s that tired old argument that socialists only do what benefits the greater good rather then any individual.

No Ms. O’Donnell – it’s not the SOCIALISTS that would change the age for screening, but the CAPITALISTS that want to remove one more procedure from the list of items health insurances have to cover and pay for.  The New York Times writes:

The guidelines are not expected to have an immediate effect on insurance coverage but should make health plans less likely to aggressively prompt women in their 40s to have mammograms and older women to have the test annually.

And I believe they are right – that is EXACTLY what will happen – health insurances will see a way to save money and act upon that, because…

Congress requires Medicare to pay for annual mammograms. Medicare can change its rules to pay for less frequent tests if federal officials direct it to.

Private insurers are required by law in every state except Utah to pay for mammograms for women in their 40s.

So the major benefit of changing the age for mamograms is the cost saving – does that sound like a socialist agenda item to you? 

Oh yeah, and I don’t consider myself a SOCIALIST but a SOCIAL DEMOCRAT.  Though, I doubt Ms. O’Donnell would know the difference between the two.

Sidenote: Having lived in a country with universal health care, I can not say that the individual is not cared for.  To give a few examples of my history with health care in Germany.

• I rarely ever made appointments with my primary care doctor, most of my appointments where walk in with a wait of less then 30 minutes.
• Dental care is part of the regular health insurance and not separate.  This was especially important to me when an accident at age 13 knocked out my two upper front teeth and required me to have first a partial and later a bridge to cover the gap. I walked into my dentists office without an appointment as soon as possible after the accident and left that same day (many hours later) with a partial denture to cover the gap (I was too young for a bridge at that time).
• A school accident left me with a moderate concussion at age 16.  I walked into the Emergency room and, within an hour, was admitted into the hospital.  10 days and several brain scans later I was released with almost no residual effects of the concussion.  The reason they kept me rather then sent me home was that they know children do not lay still at home and because this was a moderate concussion that left me with no memory of the 2 hours following the event, they felt it was necessary to monitor me.  The concussion was so severe that I did not go to the hospital the day it happened but rather then next morning – when my parents thought I was on my way to school, I walked myself to the hospital 45 minutes away — I have no idea why I did that – I don’t remember much of the hours after I passed out (I passed out and hit my head on a sink).
• When I was pregnant with my son I had some minor complications (very low blood pressure) and could see my doctor any time needed to address this. Unfortunately I had to have a c-section; however, since German’s consider this a type of major abdominal surgery, they like to keep you in the hospital.  I left the hospital with my son 9 days after he was born – drains, bandages, stitches – everything had been removed.  Again – they like to do this to make sure you are OK and that there aren’t any complications.

I don’t know about you – but I personally felt that I as an individual mattered and was cared for. 

As for the mammograms, I had my first one shortly after my 38th birthday and a second shortly thereafter because of “issues” – and it was emotionally very stressful and I worried a lot.  Luckily the second one came back fine.  I believe they should not change the age for mammograms but maybe have them  a bit less frequently before age 50 – say every two years or three years until age 50.

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/health/17cancer.html [↩]

Road Closures

More than 50 roads in Kent and Sussex counties are closed or have high water from coastal flooding this morning, the Delaware Department of Transportation reports

For a list of the roads check here: More than 50 roads affected by flooding | Delawareonline.com | The News Journal.

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A COASTAL FLOOD WARNING FOR DORCHESTER, WICOMICO, AND SOMERSET UNTIL 6 PM. A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR QUEEN ANNE’S, TALBOT, AND CAROLINE UNTIL 7 PM, FOR INLAND SUSSEX AND THE DELAWARE BEACHES UNTIL 11 AM SUNDAY, AND FOR WORCESTER AND ACCOMACK UNTIL 12 PM SUNDAY

via SEVERE WEATHER ALERT – WBOC-TV 16, Delmarvas News Leader, FOX 21 -.

Also:

DUNE  AND BEACH DAMAGE

Rehoboth Beach

• Ocean cut away at the dune just north of the Henlopen Hotel and waves broke over the sea wall and spilled into the street.

• At dune crossing, water carried sand and stones onto the boardwalk

Indian Beach

• Waves broke under oceanfront houses and severely eroded the beach.

Delaware Seashore State Park

• Dune breaches in several locations from Conquest Road to Indian River Inlet.

Bethany Beach

• No dune remaining at Ocean View Parkway and Parkwood Street.

South Bethany

• No dune remaining at south end of town.

Health Care Reform

It was scheduled for noon from what I read, but this just in from the Washington Post:

Baucus Proposes 10-Year, $856 Billion Health-Care Bill

He must have just started – that’s all the news they have.  It was epected to happen today – curious what’s all in there.  The Wall Street Journal wrote about him not getting any support for his bill but he is still unveiling it.  ABC writes that nobody likes the bill more then Baucus himself.

Yahoo writes this here.

• requiring all individuals to purchase health care or pay a fine
• prohibiting insurance company practices like charging more to people with more serious health problems
• Consumers would be able to shop for and compare insurance plans in a new purchasing exchange.
• Medicaid would be expanded, and caps would be placed on patients’ yearly health care costs.
• The bill fails to fulfill President Barack Obama’s aim of creating a new government-run insurance plan — or option — to compete with the private market. It proposes instead a system of nonprofit member owned cooperatives, somewhat akin to electric co-ops that exist in many places around the country

LINK: Chairman’s Mark – America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009

Comparison between the Senate and House Bills already introduced