At least Tampa Bay got a taste of Delaware while they were in the mid-atlantic, while they stayed in the city's luxurious 5-star Hotel duPont. You can stay there too. Make sure you try the macaroons.
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Phillies and the Comcast center statute end the curse
Good for the phillies as they win the 2008 world series. And, as pointed out at the end of the broadcast, William Penn was recently back on top of the city of Philadelphia. Of course, that was last year, but who is counting.
At least Tampa Bay got a taste of Delaware while they were in the mid-atlantic, while they stayed in the city's luxurious 5-star Hotel duPont. You can stay there too. Make sure you try the macaroons.
At least Tampa Bay got a taste of Delaware while they were in the mid-atlantic, while they stayed in the city's luxurious 5-star Hotel duPont. You can stay there too. Make sure you try the macaroons.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Getting used to the new (to me) comcast channel lineup
One gripe I have about the upstate cable service is that the news channels are all over the place. Although both services are offered through Comcast, I'm surprised that the downstate channels are much more structured. Particularly (and to support my point), the news channels downstate are all grouped between channels 25 and 29, with the sports channels in the early thirties. Upstate, they are all over the place. It's just going to take a bit to remember where the right channel is.
Phillies rain delay
I was shocked to hear how many times Joe Buck kept saying "well, this is an official game", implying that they should just call it (which was not going to happen). Add to the shots of the doppler radar and it gives some credence to the local newscaster pondering whether this was the curse of billy penn in action. Give me a break - this is the world series, it's not going to be called for rain. So the question that is going to be on everyone's mind for the next few hours (or years even) is what effect this weather will have on tonight's game.
Here are a couple of my thoughts - phillies are at an advantage since Hammels now has a day to rest before retaking the mound and ryan howard can think about not striking out again. tampa has a minor advantage since they tied the game and got everyone to shut up about calling the game on account of weather. Advantage: Phillies.
Here are a couple of my thoughts - phillies are at an advantage since Hammels now has a day to rest before retaking the mound and ryan howard can think about not striking out again. tampa has a minor advantage since they tied the game and got everyone to shut up about calling the game on account of weather. Advantage: Phillies.
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Monday, October 27, 2008
The curse of William Penn...almost over?
Internet has been sporadic lately, but hopefully it will be fixed sometime this week. With the Phillies only a game away from finishing off Tampa Bay, it is almost time to say that William Penn has finally let bygones be bygones. I'm not going to go as far as to guarantee that the Phils will win the world series though.
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Sunday, October 19, 2008
On environmental advocacy: Thoughts for the new governor
Well, at least with oil at 50% of its highest levels, the price at the pump should be a little lower for a while. It will be interesting to see if all the calls for drilling offshore continue, and to what extent. (The answer is that they should - the problem has not gone away).
Many of my entries dealing with state-based proposals have some environmental overtones to them (solar panels on houses, economic plan, gas surcharge speeding tax, etc.). I will discuss another macro idea briefly: recycling.
Now, recycling itself is not a very worthwhile endeavor. While in Delaware, you have to pay into the recycling program, in Pennsylvania and other states, you do not. Cost deterrent aside, that is only one factor that may act more as a stick than a carrot. The more significant one is simple numbers: no matter how much we recycle in this State, or in any of the other 49 for that matter, there are countries whose recycling policies are decades from any we have developed, and their actions certainly offset any of ours. Rationally, the response to this argument would be to say that there is rationally no reason to recycle (a glorified "why bother" excuse). I say to act irrationally on this one: the point is for us to set an example for the rest of the world to follow and if it changes international perception even a fraction, that would be significant. (After all, it's the effort that accounts for more than the immediate result sometimes).
If the State of Delaware is serious about setting about recycling goals and encouraging the practice, the current efforts to simple merge all recycling bins to force the workers themselves to sort them falls a bit short.
Here is one solution. Cities in parts of the midwest have two trashcans covering their sidewalk corners - one for trash and one for bottles/newspaper. Granted, there is probably a lot of mixing of the two, but at least these cities are attempting to give people a choice to recycle or not.
Similarly, in at least two western/midwestern international airports, they also employ a similar recycling strategy. There were regular waste bins and recycling bins within a few feet of each other. Just like in the cities, and even more so because of what you are limited to buy food-wise and drink-wise in an airport, this sort of effort makes perfect sense. Of course, Philadelphia International had no such program, but the fact they did not was decidedly noticeable, which brings me to my point.
This sort of strategy can translate over here to Delaware just as easily and at a minimal cost to the state. In the cities (and particularly at the beach), the dual trashcan system, once implemented, would have the same effect as the current Delaware recycling plan that does not require individual sorting. Except that instead of having to travel to the outskirts of the cities or wherever to find these bins, simple recycling of a water bottle can be thrown out as you are walking to your next destination. This pilot could start at the beach where bottled water constitutes half the liquid economy down there.
Would it work? I think it depends on how one defines the end goal. But from a fiscal perspective, the price tag is quite nominal all things considered. At the very least, some people, given the choice, would put their recycled goods in the recycle bins. My guess is that the value of "some" would actually be "a lot." Something to think about.
Many of my entries dealing with state-based proposals have some environmental overtones to them (solar panels on houses, economic plan, gas surcharge speeding tax, etc.). I will discuss another macro idea briefly: recycling.
Now, recycling itself is not a very worthwhile endeavor. While in Delaware, you have to pay into the recycling program, in Pennsylvania and other states, you do not. Cost deterrent aside, that is only one factor that may act more as a stick than a carrot. The more significant one is simple numbers: no matter how much we recycle in this State, or in any of the other 49 for that matter, there are countries whose recycling policies are decades from any we have developed, and their actions certainly offset any of ours. Rationally, the response to this argument would be to say that there is rationally no reason to recycle (a glorified "why bother" excuse). I say to act irrationally on this one: the point is for us to set an example for the rest of the world to follow and if it changes international perception even a fraction, that would be significant. (After all, it's the effort that accounts for more than the immediate result sometimes).
If the State of Delaware is serious about setting about recycling goals and encouraging the practice, the current efforts to simple merge all recycling bins to force the workers themselves to sort them falls a bit short.
Here is one solution. Cities in parts of the midwest have two trashcans covering their sidewalk corners - one for trash and one for bottles/newspaper. Granted, there is probably a lot of mixing of the two, but at least these cities are attempting to give people a choice to recycle or not.
Similarly, in at least two western/midwestern international airports, they also employ a similar recycling strategy. There were regular waste bins and recycling bins within a few feet of each other. Just like in the cities, and even more so because of what you are limited to buy food-wise and drink-wise in an airport, this sort of effort makes perfect sense. Of course, Philadelphia International had no such program, but the fact they did not was decidedly noticeable, which brings me to my point.
This sort of strategy can translate over here to Delaware just as easily and at a minimal cost to the state. In the cities (and particularly at the beach), the dual trashcan system, once implemented, would have the same effect as the current Delaware recycling plan that does not require individual sorting. Except that instead of having to travel to the outskirts of the cities or wherever to find these bins, simple recycling of a water bottle can be thrown out as you are walking to your next destination. This pilot could start at the beach where bottled water constitutes half the liquid economy down there.
Would it work? I think it depends on how one defines the end goal. But from a fiscal perspective, the price tag is quite nominal all things considered. At the very least, some people, given the choice, would put their recycled goods in the recycle bins. My guess is that the value of "some" would actually be "a lot." Something to think about.
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Saturday, October 11, 2008
Moving back to Wilmington
My work has transferred me back to Wilmington, so I'm going to be out of internet access for about a week or so. Hopefully the internet doesn't go under next, otherwise we're all in trouble.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Food for thought: A clean house (of representatives)
I watched the debate, but will hold off commenting on it, if at all, until I think about it some more. My sole thought, separate from this debate, stems from this financial bailout and all this talk for increased/decreased government spending. McCain's plan to buy mortgages, in light of last week's bailout bill, seems contradictory to his position to lower taxes or keep them the same. How are we supposed to pay for it? He says government freezes, but we've seen how that has stifled the Delaware economy, so multiply that by 50 and I can only imagine how worse the economy will get. At least with Obama, you know taxes are going to go up to some degree. Obama's plan to keep taxes the same for the middle class (i.e., those making less than $250,000/year) seems little more than a pipe dream, however. In either case, it seems that only Bob Barr has recognized that taxes are going to have to go up, probably significantly, although I'm at a loss for how that will help the economy either.
But focusing on last week's bailout bill for the moment, what I would like to see is a complete revamping of the House of Representatives. Since all are up for re-election next month, it is theoretically possible that all can be ousted for a new house of Congress. Granted, some are probably running unopposed and a certain percentage are probably always elected, but setting those numbers aside, I'm sure that of the 500+ seats, a solid majority could be won by non-incumbents. Could be interesting if it actually happened (notwithstanding the fact that it will not).
But focusing on last week's bailout bill for the moment, what I would like to see is a complete revamping of the House of Representatives. Since all are up for re-election next month, it is theoretically possible that all can be ousted for a new house of Congress. Granted, some are probably running unopposed and a certain percentage are probably always elected, but setting those numbers aside, I'm sure that of the 500+ seats, a solid majority could be won by non-incumbents. Could be interesting if it actually happened (notwithstanding the fact that it will not).
Sunday, October 5, 2008
So who won the debate really? Biden, of course.
I watched the debate for the first few minutes before heading out to dinner, mainly to see Joe Biden in action against Sarah Palin. Curiously, there are a lot of parallels between Biden and McCain and Palin and Obama, but after listening to Palin speak for a bit, and having heard Obama speak in the past, I find that whatever experience Obama supposedly lacks, Palin does not make up for it. I listened intently for her responses to whatever the questions she was asked, and compared to Biden's answers, I am much more comfortable having him give advice to the president than Palin. And if that's all the vice president is really supposed to do, other than break ties in the Senate, then I find it difficult to believe anyone who believes Palin won that debate.
Now, if Palin shows up in Delaware driving with a brown tag, that may be another story all together. Delaware, in addition to the black tag phenomena, now offers a brown centennial tag as well.
Now, if Palin shows up in Delaware driving with a brown tag, that may be another story all together. Delaware, in addition to the black tag phenomena, now offers a brown centennial tag as well.
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