University of Delaware quartback Joe Flacco was just picked by the Baltimore Ravens,  Round One, 18th pick.   This sucks, now I have to like the Ravens a little bit.

University of Delaware quarterback Rich Gannon went in round 4 of the NFL draft in 1987 and has the honor of being the highest draft pick in U of D history, but today, I bet that record goes out the window.

Why? Because U of D quarterback extraordinaire, Joe Flacco, I’m predicting, will go in the first two rounds. Will Flacco go to the Ravens as some are saying, or will there be a miracle and he’ll end up in Philadelphia as an Eagle? (Nah, there are never miracles for the Eagles, not even a papal visit can change that).

But, alas, my football predictions are always wrong, so let’s see what you think.

Where will Flacco go and in what round?

I had to take these pictures in downtown Milton yesterday. I almost caught a heron flying overhead, but it was just too fast. 

Yeah, it’s a turtle on a log, but it was bigger than it looks in the picture.

A goose sitting on its nest on the log next to the turtle.

Senator Harris McDowell’s wind farm hearings may have cost the tax payers a bundle in DC lawyers and expert witnesses, but today, those few days of hearings resulted in a report, a long report. And long must mean it’s good. You can read it HERE.

That report was immediately refuted by a Minority Report put out by members of the same committee. You can see where other Senators are in disagreement with that report HERE.

But the report that everyone seems to ignore, is the Public Service Commission’s final staff report that is based on over a year of hearings, negotiations, studies, and the work of several independent consultants. That report, for those of you who can handle it, is HERE.

Meanwhile, Pat Gearity from Citizens for Clean Power is asking the Senate Energy and Transit Committee for the MOTHER LOAD of information about what they’re doing and the money they’re spending.

More to come…

Many of you might recall the controversy last month over Easter decorations. Many people were saying that Indian River School District superintendent Susan Bunting had told the teachers to take down all the Easter decorations, including ones that weren’t considered religious symbols. WGMD was then able to obtain comments from District spokesman Dave Maull saying, that at no time did she tell them to take down the Easter decorations, but rather “There would be no school-sponsored activities.” WGMD also received a statement from Dr. Susan Bunting about the celebration parties on March 20th, but made no mention of the Easter decorations. To hear report # 1 click here. To hear report # 2 click here.

Last night, a board member got up and spoke to the other members, but was mainly speaking to Dr. Bunting. Here are the exact quotes of what Board member Nina Lou Bunting said: She said that the issue regarding the Easter decorations was

“…Misconstrued by the talk show circuit, and in the confusion, there were several days of innuendoes, false statements, nasty, rude, and crude remarks, and other verbal assaults aimed against our superintendent, Susan Bunting. I was present when the board was apprised of the concerns of these holiday celebrations—these parties which might be interpreted as non-compliant with our new religion policy–a policy that was recently revised to meet state and federal law. Dr. Bunting was not an advocate of the necessary decisions. She merely relayed the concerns that have been raised, and the recommended resolution. Susan Bunting in this case was the messenger, and as sometimes happens, the messenger was shot. Susan, I want you to know how very sorry I am that you bore the brunt of this thing, and became a scapegoat for this district. It certainly wasn’t fair to you after all the time and energy you give, making this district one of the finest in the state. I consider it a travesty that you were treated as you were. I extend my apology for all you personally endured.”

WGMD tried to get Nina Lou Bunting to comment, but she refused, saying she wants nothing to do with WGMD. She said “They shouldn’t go on the air and talk about things they don’t know anything about,” and that, “They get everything all screwed up.”

WGMD was able to receive these comments from Indian River School District Board President, Charles Bireley who like District Spokesman Dave Maull, said that no—-she did not say for the teachers to remove all the Easter decorations. Here is what Charles Bireley told WGMD:  He also clarified exactly what the attorney had her pass on to the teachers: You can listen to that here. He basically says the attorney told Susan to tell them to exercise caution in handling the holiday parties and activities because of the recent decision on the lawsuit.

There was obviously a misunderstanding somewhere. On which side, I don’t know. You can listen to WGMD News report # 1 here and # 2 here.

Blogger Jason Scott at DelawareLiberal.net has put partisan politics aside to employ the biggest smackdown of the season on fellow Democrat, Delaware Senator Harris McDowell:

It is McDowell’s most recent attempt to use is position to create a six figure job for himself upon his exit from “public” service. It is sponsored by McDowell, Copeland, & Hall-Long and co-sponsored by Blevins, Simpson, Schooley, and Lofink - all of whom need to have their heads examined for getting into bed with the brazenly corrupt Harris McDowell. READ MORE HERE 

But as Scott pointed out in a previous post, Senator McDowell has been smacked down by a fellow Democrat before, and for similar reasons: 

Actually, one person did notice McDowell’s greedy machinations and that person did seem to mind. The story of that knowing and acting on the knowledge provides another layer to the sedimentary history of McDowell’s serial abuse of the public trust. In fact, it is a glittery and interesting layer of that dank history because Harris McDowell was rebuked for his greed and indiscretion in no uncertain terms. READ MORE HERE 

So who was that “one person?” It was none other than Governor Ruth Ann Minner. (Holy cow, alert the media).

The bottom line? It looks like some of Delaware’s so called “green” initiatives are being used to line some General ASSembly members’ pockets with green. That kind of law making can’t mean good things for the average Delawarean.

Maybe it’s time for some laws to come out of Dover that prohibit members of the General ASSembly from serving on any entity created by the General ASSembly. That way our Representatives and Senators can spend less time legislating their future careers, and more time figuring out how to run a state financially without having to pull text books out of the hands of children.

A conservative friend has grown tired of John McCain and the current occupant of The White House.   He sent me this..

Dear Sir or Madam;

My name is George Bush.

I am seeking employment with your firm, for the position of Chief Executive Officer.

I have held the position of President of the United States of America for the past eight years.

During that time, I note my achievements as follows:

• Successfully transferred responsibility for border security to other entities (the states).
• Created unprecedented demand for a food stamp dependency program for over 28,000,000 citizens.
• Successfully implemented the seamless integration of 2,000,000 uneducated illegal immigrants per year into our economy.
• Demonstrated ability for increasing financing for operations in the amount of $9,000,000,000,000, despite revenues of under $690,000,000,000.
• Creatively navigated through a major debt crisis by deferring responsibility until 2040 or later.
• Caused a transfer of private assets into government control, in the amount of $1,500,000,000,000, during what has been referred to as the “sub-prime mortgage crisisâ€.
• Created several new, complex departments: The Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Agency, which increased employee count by over 150,000 and 90,000, respectively.
• Made more free programs available to the growing illiterate class, to foster domestic tranquility.
• Implemented an unprecedented transfer of public facilities to private, foreign owners, without the reduction of tax revenue.

As you can see, my career has been tremendously successful and robust.

I look forward to discussing the position of Chief Executive Officer with you soon.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully,

George W. Bush

The bear on the left was chosen to represent Democrat Barack Obama, the bear on the right is another bear the company makes that many experts feel more closely resembles the Candidate.
Was it just a coincidence or flagrant racism that lead a company to choose the dark brown teddy bear to represent Democrat Presidential hopeful Barack Obama? Research on the company’s own website revealed that they do manfacture a lighter brown teddy bear that some experts believe more closely matches Obama’s skin color. 

Unnamed political insiders are speculating that Obama’s  rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, may have been involved in choosing the darker brown bear.

“The Clinton smear machine will stop at nothing to destroy Obama,” according to someone close to the Obama campaign who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “We were prepared for a tough fight, but none of us imagined anything as bad as this.”

The informant pointed out that it wouldn’t be the first time the Clinton Campaign played these games, citing  the video of Obama rumored to have been “darkened” by Clinton campaign workers.

The McCain Campaign was quick to assert that the McCain teddy bear also smacked of racism, portraying the candidate, according to an anonymous source close to the campaign, as, “pretty damn white.” McCain took time out on the campaign trail to call for a more civil tone. 


The McCain Campaign is calling “foul” at the white bear chosen to portray the candidate.

Will there be more to come? Not likely….                 

Democrats and Republicans from the Delaware House and Senate are introducing legislation that would prohibit Delmarva Power and Light from charging their customers for for the costs they’re racking up while fighting to prevent having to enter into a long term contract for wind power.

SYNOPSISThis concurrent resolution recommends that the Public Service deny any request by Delmarva Power to recover from or pass-through to its ratepayers the costs it has incurred opposing the Power Purchase Agreement negotiated between Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind pursuant to the criteria established in House Bill No. 6.    READ IT HERE…

 This is from a Sponsor of the legislation, Representative John Kowalko of Newark:

This resolution was crafted to reinforce my previously stated position that Delmarva Power and Light and its agents have always and will continue to put the interests of the company before that of the ratepayer. Statements made to me by President Stockbridge and VP Glen Moore at various public venues have always been consistent that they (Delmarva/Pepco) intend to pass through to the ratepayers expenses incurred in waging an obstructionist campaign against the mandates of HB6 and the best interests of their customers. They are certainly entitled to financial outlays accrued in meeting the obligations of HB6 but since that PPA was on the table December 18,2007 all subsequent expendetures should be their burden to bear. 

Looks like it’s on!

So this Jeremiah Wright fellow stood before his flock and shouted. “God damn America” is the part of his sermon most unsettling. That he also blamed white devils for the plague of aids and drug infestation was also a bit shocking as he can cite no evidence. Did you notice the mostly white-liberal media soft shoed around his remarks? Then witness the coverage of Pope Benedict. The same man who came to the United States and intoned that we could all be doing better in our efforts to follow God. Milder remarks yet I still keep reading stories about how many Americans raised Roman Catholic have abandoned their faith. Could I ask the mainstream media a simple question? How many people raised Baptist, Methodist and Seventh Day left those churches? Any comparisons? Because if there are people leaving other churches then we might draw a conclusion that Americans change faiths as often as they change jobs and marriages and that little of the change can be blamed on onerous policies reiterated by kindly old men in Rome. The other media narrative is that the church is run by a ring of pedophiles using cassocks as cover while molesting every child in sight. Look, I know child-abuse victims. I’ve also reported on stories about police officers, schoolteachers and Baptist ministers molesting kids. This isn’t to say that all police officers, schoolteachers and Baptists are child rapists. So I wouldn’t mind seeing the media put this in context. After meeting Thursday with a small fraction of abuse victims the Pope was suddenly portrayed by the likes of CNN and MSNBC as a liberation theologian. The mostly un-churched folks doing the reporting haven’t bothered to inform you that the loudest voice at the Vatican decrying the response of his church the last quarter century was a man named Josef Cardinal Ratzinger. I would also like the folks at the major media outlets to remind us that apologies ease suffering but won’t wash away all the pain. From what I can see the Pope’s meeting with the group of victims has wholly changed media coverage. Two nights ago it was all “Pope bad”. Last night it was “Pope good”. Are the major newsrooms all staffed by simpletons? Maybe they could spend more time telling us about the man’s other actions while visiting this country. I’m a Roman Catholic and I very much like going to church. When I return to me seat after swallowing the bread I have a physiological reaction. It’s a feeling of joy and it lasts long after I leave. Even while struggling to leave the parking area of the church I don’t lose the glow. In my ever longer growing life I’ve experienced prejudice, which I know of, just twice. A “Christian” radio station wouldn’t hire me because I was “Catholic”. The job was reading the news and I guess there was fear that I would lock myself in the broadcast booth and begin reciting The Rosary. My second experience came from a large Christian radio network. Again I was being considered for a job in news and the deal was almost complete. It’s when I decided to volunteer I was a Roman Catholic. The personnel director was silent. The next day my telephone rang and I was told I really didn’t have the right “sound”. Thank you, K-Hate. Or how about the protestant pastor endorsing John McCain? The man of God was asked if he was anti-Catholic. He insisted he wasn’t but intoned Catholics don’t know The Bible. Which Bible? Mine has a few different books but I’m guessing he means Roman Catholics don’t read? I should point out I most certainly have so I’m left with the conclusion that he means many people from my church can’t cite chapter and verse. Let me get this straight, if you read the book but can’t be specific about a citation you aren’t Christian? Doesn’t matter if you try and live by the book. I’ve got news for him, my brain isn’t wired that way and I’ve never been able to grasp rote. He should also know that every Roman church I know of has frequent and regularly scheduled Bible study. A woman once living as my neighbor worked for an agency called Family Planning. She used to tell me that the Roman church had ruined the lives of many, many women. Her family was nominally Methodist. In other words they had presents under a tree once every year. Later she moved to Hawaii with a friend of mine. Shortly thereafter she abandoned him and had a baby from another man. Not that she’s all sure how this came about. She had been strung out on crack and the like for a few months. Then one day the crack headed guy was gone and she had a burgeoning tummy. Years later I learned this same woman had been a victim of child sex abuse. Her assailant was her nominally Methodist dad. I can say with faith and even a good degree of certainty this woman would’ve found great solace in most of the Roman Catholic Churches I’ve attended. Along with kindly understanding from this man called Benedict.