Wednesday Open Thread [9.10.14]

Filed in Open Thread by on September 10, 2014

Ready for some no-primary news?

Today is a major protest by some of the Internet’s favorite sites to show users what an internet without net neutrality would look like:

You’ll find spinning wheels at the top of Netflix, Etsy, Foursquare and other top sites today, as they take part in Internet Slowdown Day. While sites won’t slow down for real, participating Internet companies will be covered with the symbolic loading icons “to remind everyone what an Internet without net neutrality would look like,” the organizers write on their website.

It’s all part of a push to get the Federal Communications Commission to enact stronger protections for net neutrality. “We’re going to reach millions and millions of people who have never heard the words “net neutrality” before,” writes Fight for the Future’s Evan Greer. The group advocates for tougher net neutrality protections.

Interesting, I haven’t noticed the slowdown yet — have you?

More of the GOP (this time in Georgia) have internalized the idea the stopping black people from voting is a real campaign strategy:

A Republican state senator in Georgia has vowed to end Sunday balloting in DeKalb County due to the fact that the area is “dominated by African American shoppers and it is near several large African American mega churches.” […]
“Now we are to have Sunday voting at South DeKalb Mall just prior to the election,” Millar wrote in the email. “Per Jim Galloway of the AJC, this location is dominated by African American shoppers and it is near several large African American mega churches such as New Birth Missionary Baptist. Galloway also points out the Democratic Party thinks this is a wonderful idea – what a surprise. I’m sure Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter are delighted with this blatantly partisan move in DeKalb.”

Right? Because if early voting helps black people vote, then we really need to get rid of that.

I was watching (and contributing to) the NY Governor and Lt. Governor race, because Cuomo was looking like he was getting a pretty credible challenge from his left. Coumo won, and he won ugly, but:

As expected, Governor Andrew Cuomo won New York’s Democratic primary on Tuesday night, but the success of his Mean Girls–esque strategy of ignoring rival Zephyr Teachout is still up for debate. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Cuomo had 61 percent of the vote to Teachout’s 35 percent (with comedian Randy Credico at 4 percent). That’s not exactly the landslide Cuomo was looking for, and the governor embarrassed himself through his ridiculous efforts to avoid acknowledging the Fordham Law School professor, even when she was standing two feet away from him.

Apparently, Cuomo kept up the act straight through primary night. He did not hold a victory party (which would have suggested he participated in a primary), and Teachout was reportedly unable to concede to the governor with a phone call, as he wouldn’t give her his number.

Tim Wu, running for Lt. Governor, lost, but got almost 39% of the vote. Both Teachout and Wu definitely beat expectations yesterday and if Cuomo thinks he has a national elective office calling, then progressives know he is not invulnerable. Cuomo comfortably won yesterday, but he couldn’t just brush off the state’s progressives. Very nice to see progressives lacing up the gloves in a serious way.

What interests you today?

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"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm

Comments (10)

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  1. gobiden says:

    “Interesting, I haven’t noticed the slowdown yet — have you?”

    ? Like the article says, it’s not a real slowdown. It’s just some sites using typical “loading” animations symbolically to show that they would become much more common sights.

  2. mouse says:

    The inland bays are healthier today thanks to the loss of Phillips on the Sussex County Council. Hopefully some cerebral reasonable land use ideas will come our way.

  3. SussexAnon says:

    With Arlett saying ” we can have development and a clean environment” while deriding DNREC for its over reach I don’t hold any hope at all for improved inland bays.

    While Bob Wheatly believes in buffer zone planning, the right will surely attack him for it. Because we all know any planning is a communist marxist master planning plot for you to give up your god given property right to pollute and eliminate any and all wetlands in this county.

    Wheatly should have better name recognition and connections into the district. He is very business minded and is not a flaming liberal. Which should help him.

    Arlett isn’t from here and a relatively recent (by Sussex standards) transplant.

  4. Jason330 says:

    Thinking about the big speech tonight, I hope the President use the stupid Bushism – The Homeland.

    Just say The United States for fuck sake.

  5. Jason330 says:

    That is I hope he DOESNT use Homeland. (Stupid phone comments)

  6. cassandra_m says:

    @gobiden — you are correct, of course. I even went to Netflix and they were functional enough to ask me for a new credit card, since the one on file will expire shortly.

  7. LeBay says:

    >Thinking about the big speech tonight, I hope the President use the stupid Bushism – The Homeland.

    Just say The United States for fuck sake.

    Thank you, Jason.

    I cringe whenever an American politician invokes the word “Homeland.” We’re a nation of immigrants, for fuck’s sake!

  8. mouse says:

    Homeland sounds like some redneck slogan

  9. auntie dem says:

    That’s because Homeland IS some redneck slogan.

  10. Geezer says:

    It sounds like a Nazi slogan. It’s a common construction among countries with imperial holdings, or, as we prefer to call them, “American interests.”