Archive for March 1st, 2013

Late Night Video — A Serious Cause for Mourning

Filed in National by cassandra_m on March 1, 2013 • 5 Comments

So sad (and I’m not especially a fan of the stuff) —

The night shift at a Chivas Brothers distillery screwed up this week and accidentally flushed about 6,000 gallons of Scotch whisky down the drain, according to reports from Scotland.

The 80-proof goof happened early Tuesday at a bottling plant in Dumbarton, where workers were cleaning equipment. Instead of purging the wastewater, they instead expelled 18,000 liters of bulk whisky into the local sewage system.

“It was like someone turned on a tap, and it just ran straight down the plughole,” an “insider” told The Scottish Sun.

Oh God.

Filed in National by Delaware Dem on March 1, 2013 • 9 Comments

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has declared Detroit to be in a state of financial emergency, paving the way for an emergency manager to be appointed to run Michigan’s largest city, as per Michigan’s law.

“Snyder said he has a candidate in mind but would not name that person, noting the city has a 10-day window to appeal that ends March 11. A hearing for a possible appeal has been set for March 12.”

When I read that quote, I knew immediately who Snyder is thinking of. Don’t you? Oh of course you do. It’s obvious. First one to guess in the comments gets the right height of trees.

City Council Hearing on the Port of Wilmington

Filed in National by cassandra_m on March 1, 2013 • 8 Comments

Yesterday evening there was a Wilmington City Council joint committee hearing — the Economic Development Committee and the Public Works Committee — to gather viewpoints and input on the proposed privatization of the Port of Wilmington to be run by Kinder Morgan. While invited, no one from the Governor’s office spoke on this project, but there were a number of businesses from outside of the Port fence who did speak on the potential conflicts and downside that this deal presents for them. I think that this may have been the first public forum that provided these businessmen (as well as the ILA) a chance to make their concerns heard. Senator Bobby Marshall was also in the audience, but did not speak.

Friday Open Thread [3.1.13]

Filed in Open Thread by Delaware Dem on March 1, 2013 • 15 Comments

Who dares run against Hillary in the Dem primary, Steve Kornacki wonders:

I would say there’s a decent chance Clinton actually could clear the field and face no serious opposition for the nomination. Not a good chance, but a decent one. This has never happened for a non-incumbent in the modern era, but then again, it’s not like we’re dealing with a huge data set here. And Clinton really is approaching the ’16 race with a set of advantages we’ve never before seen for a non-incumbent. Yes, there’s plenty of time between now and Iowa – time for Clinton to stumble or take a pass on the race, time for Obama to really step in it, time for a real split to open up within the Democratic Party. I’m not calling Clinton a shoo-in for the nomination, or even predicting she’ll run. I’m just arguing that if she does, she could break the mold for non-incumbent candidates of the modern era.

The only with the stature that Hillary now possesses is Gen. Eisenhower in 1952, and even he faced a credible and significant primary or a challenge from the more conservative Senator Bob Taft. I think if Hillary does run, we will still see a candidacy from Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. Cuomo will demur to Clinton. And so does Biden, in my opinion.