Archives for January 2007

It’s been a bannering year for the Federal Way School Board, which is now considering banning cell phones and other electronic devices:

Federal Way School Board is exploring a ban on iPods, MP3 players, CD players and electronic games from campuses. Cell phones still could be brought to school, but they’d have to be turned off and stored in backpacks or otherwise out of sight.

Why ban cell phones, an object as integral to the lives of modern teens as weird piercings and moodiness? School board members have been coy, but one district insider tells me that the real concern is that too many Federal Way High School students have been using their cell phones to call Al Gore.

Proof that our current legal framework isn’t up to the task of confronting a new threat:

In a 5-4 decision that reversed a King County Superior Court ruling, the justices ruled that the city utility lacked the authority to use ratepayers’ money to compensate for its planet warming pollution.

Using ratepayer money in this manner is not “sufficiently related to the purpose of supplying electricity,” wrote Chief Justice Gerry Alexander.

In November 2005, City Light had boasted that it was the first publicly owned major utility in the nation to no longer contribute to global warming, that it was “carbon neutral.”

Back when City Light was founded, nobody thought about global warming. After all, it was 1902, and the automobile was still a curiosity.

I don’t fault the Washington State Supreme Court for ruling how they did. City Light was stung for “exceeding their brief” at least once before. This illustrates how our laws need to change to better fight this threat. Better we attack this problem now than wait for the Cascades to lose their snow pack, making our dams in the North Cascades artifacts of a by-gone era.

Um…

Why not THIS?

Tunnel’s too expensive, Rebuild’s is stoopid as shit… Why not at least CONSIDER an option that has 1) worked in other cities 2) meets the city’s global warming goals 3) and is affordable AND attractive.

In a KUOW report in December, the Surface+Transit option was reportedly set aside by the Governor because (I’m paraphrasing and not making this up, I swear)

The Governor doesn’t know where all the cars will go.

Is that the scientific term?

Is “The Straight Talk Express” really headed straight for the White House in 2008?

McCain’s political colleagues, however, know another side of the action hero — a volatile man with a hair-trigger temper, who shouted at Sen. Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor to “shut up,” called his fellow Republican senators “shithead,” “fucking jerk,” “asshole,” and joked in 1998 at a Republican fundraiser about the teenage daughter of President Clinton, “Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father.”

I’m just askin’.

As of next month I will no longer be employed by Entercom. Unfortunately for the righties who would like to see me off radio altogether, my paycheck will simply be signed by another company.

In what I suppose is a big shakeup in the Seattle and San Francisco radio markets, Entercom is trading KIRO, KTTH and KBSG to Bonneville for KOIT, KDFC, and KMAX. I’m not really sure what this means, but after the meeting today in which Entercom CEO David Field delivered the news, there wasn’t any wailing and gnashing of teeth in the office.

So I suppose this could be good for KIRO. Or bad.

State and city leaders met for hours yesterday to decide the fate of the Alaska Way Viaduct, but couldn’t come to a decision. That’s pretty much because city leaders refuse to accept the rebuild option, and state leaders refuse to pay for anything but that. But as recalcitrant as the participants were, one new idea did emerge from the meeting:

The joint statement says there are two options, build an elevated replacement or, “Reprogram funding to the 520 replacement project.”

I think this was supposed to be a threat or something, the implication being that the city risks losing $2.2 billion in state funds if we don’t budge on a rebuild. But if the governor does repurpose the Viaduct money towards the 520 bridge, it could actually end up saving local taxpayers a ton of money.

Stick with me on this one.

The region needs to replace both the Viaduct and the 520 bridge, but the total amount of money thus far committed by the state towards construction of the two projects combined is less than the projected cost of the 520 bridge alone. Who makes up the difference? Local residents, via various city, county, port and RTID taxes. And possibly tolls.

If the governor forces through a rebuild, not only would Seattle get a double-decker freeway it doesn’t want, but we’d be forced to tax ourselves to pay the difference between the state share and the total cost. Talk about adding insult to injury. And then we’d also have to tax ourselves to make up the difference between the cost of a new 520 bridge and the state share of the project.

But… if Governor Gregoire were to repurpose the state’s Viaduct commitment towards the 520 bridge, local taxpayers would pay much less for their share of that project. And then freed from the strings that come with state money, Seattle could choose a surface-plus-transit alternative that costs much less money than a Viaduct rebuild.

Think about it. The state share of the cost of the two projects remains the same, but the combined cost is substantially slashed. This saves local taxpayers money.

As far as I’m concerned, this might be the perfect political compromise. The state refuses to pay for any Viaduct replacement that reduces capacity. Fine. Don’t. We’ll use our own money to tear it down and do what we want with it. It is our city afterall. But as long as the state keeps the money in the region, local taxpayers don’t actually lose a dime. Indeed, by choosing a less expensive surface alternative, we actually save money.

Sounds to me like a win-win situation.

These days, when local Drudge wannabe Orbusmax takes offense at one of my posts here on HA, he describes me as a deranged “710 KIRO talk show host” rather than merely as a deranged “liberal blogger.” I suppose his hope is that if he wakes up enough people to the awful danger I pose, perhaps KIRO will fire me.

It’s kinda flattering.

Well yesterday conservative radio industry blogger (and former KIRO host) Brian Maloney picked up the Orb’s lead with the screaming headline “MORE ‘EXECUTION’ TALK: Second KIRO Host Calls For Presidential Death Penalty.” (The first, he claims, was Mike Webb, who’s been off the air since 2005.)

Now, a second KIRO host has kicked up the rhetoric several notches, going even further by posting such thoughts on the Internet. In two examples found at HorsesAss.com, David Goldstein (known as “Goldy”) has called for Bush Administration executions.

Hmm. Nice fact-checking Brian. I suppose you didn’t link to these “two examples” because, um, you couldn’t actually find them, huh? (Hint: they don’t exist.) And… uh… it’s HorsesAss.org.

In fact, I’ve never called for Bush administration officials to be executed. Hell, I oppose the death penalty on principle. All I snarkily asked was that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld be treated humanely, so I’m not really sure what Brian is getting at when he accuses me of “kick[ing] up the rhetoric several notches.” But I’m pretty damn sure I understand what he’s trying to achieve by branding me an unhinged, hate-talking, fringe extremist:

Here’s the big question: if lefty talk didn’t pan out for Air America, why does KIRO believe going even further to the fringe extremes will fare any better?

Well… the national audience for Brian’s Radio Equalizer may only be about the same size as my puny, fringe, local blog, but there’s no denying the respect he commands from industry insiders. Yesterday he questions the business sense of KIRO putting a kook like me on the air. And today… well… I just got notice from KIRO management that… they’ve doubled my weekly airtime.

That’s right, starting this week “The David Goldstein Show” can now officially be heard from 7 to 10PM on both Sunday and Saturday.

(Hey Brian… wasn’t that your old time slot on 710-KIRO?)

Brian claims to be some sort of radio industry expert, but he seems to have missed the most basic lesson of Talk Radio 101. If I succeed at KIRO, it won’t be because of my politics — it will be because I have a knack for entertaining and engaging my audience. If Brian understood this simple rule — and had the talent to act on it — then perhaps he’d still have the radio show and I’d be the one blogging about him, instead of the other way around.

I’m a bit late on this story from December. Local GOP activists are elated, I’m told.

King County Executive Ron Sims was released from the hospital today following weekend surgery to remove his gall bladder.

According to his office, Sims was admitted to Virginia Mason Medical Center Saturday afternoon after complaining of abdominal pain. Doctors removed his gallbladder on Sunday.

The laparoscopic surgery is a common procedure, according to a statement from Sims’ office. The doctors expect a full recovery. Executive Sims will rest at home over the next week.

It’s hard to fathom now, but he was totally beatable in ’05, what with the Critical Areas Ordinance, the election stuff, and the whole Southwest Airlines thing at Boeing Field. The GOP then nominated a guy who allegedly whomped on his momma and lied on his resume. Nice!

The GOP’s new plan to oust him is clear: they’re going to take him out organ by organ.

“Stefan has an accuracy rate that Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf would envy…”

That’s what Ron Sims spokesman Sandeep Kaushik told me when I asked about Stefan’s suggestion on (un)Sound Politics that the King County Executive was “actively seeking” the Port of Seattle director’s job.

Sims’s candidacy for Port director sounded fanciful. But I’m told Sims was actively lobbying for the job (The annual compensation is over $350,000, more than twice that of County Executive). Sources familiar with County Council backroom dealings report that several Councilmembers were already jockeying for the appointment to succeed Sims.

“Sources”…? Uh-huh. Stefan should stop listening to those voices in his head.

Besides, councilmembers are always jockeying to succeed Sims. (Sources tell me that Larry Phillips and Bob Ferguson actually carry carpet swatches with them whenever they visit the Executive’s office.)

Kaushik described Sims as a little annoyed that this rumor persists despite his blunt denials to several members of the press. According to Kaushik, Sims said that he never sought the position, never put his name in for consideration and never asked anybody to recommend him on his behalf. “I’d swear on a library full of bibles,” Sims told Kaushik.

From what I hear, Sims not only fully intends to fill out his term, he has not yet completely ruled out running for reelection in 2009. Of course… a cabinet secretary appointment from a Democratic president could cut Sims’ tenure short. So Bob… Larry… keep those carpet swatches handy.

The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.

Our fearless leader Nick tells us that the Alehouse is open, and DL is going on as usual. I’ll be there if I can manage to get my car off the Graham Hill Glacier.

Not in Seattle? Washington liberals will also be drinking tonight in the Tri-Cities. A full listing of Washington’s eleven Drinking Liberally chapters is available here.

Amazing how this stuff works out, huh? Just a few months ago he wasn’t on the radar, but looky here!

Obama filed paperwork forming a presidential exploratory committee that allows him to raise money and put together a campaign structure. He is expected to announce a full-fledged candidacy on Feb. 10 in Springfield, Ill., where he can tap into the legacy of hometown hero Abraham Lincoln.

Obama’s soft-spoken appeal on the stump, his unique background, his opposition to the
Iraq war and his fresh face set him apart in a competitive race that also is expected to include front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

His middle name is Hussein, and he did coke once, and he’s religious and talks about his faith openly. He’s going to piss off a lot of folks on the secular left as well as the Muslim-hating right. I hope he’s ready for it, because every candidate will be gunning for him. If Howard Dean taught us anything, it’s to not peak early.

I can’t wait for Campaign 2008!!

Article IX, Section 1 of the Washington State Constitution is pretty damn clear:

It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex.

“Ample” is not synonymous with “adequate” — it means “more than adequate,” “abundant,” “liberal” or “copious.” And a “paramount duty” is one that is “chief in importance or impact”… “above others,” and “superior in power or jurisdiction.”

Attorneys might semantically nitpick over the subjective meanings of these words, but us normal folks understand that when our per-student education funding ranks amongst the lowest in the nation, our state can’t possibly be living up to the spirit of Article IX, Section 1.

A suit was filed last week challenging the state’s inadequate funding of K-12 education, and I agree with the Seattle P-I editorial board’s assessment:

While it is regrettable that public dollars will need to be spent on lawyers, experts and depositions, it is more important that words in our state constitution have real meaning. The state can’t win this suit. One way to limit legal expenses would be to negotiate a settlement that honors the words and intentions of the state’s founders.

But it is not enough for our state’s editorialists to simply join the civic-minded chorus demanding more education funding. It is time they start laying the groundwork for the type of tax restructuring necessary to assure that the state has the resources to live up to its paramount duty.

Gov. Christine Gregoire’s new budget already provides several hundred million dollars more for education. But even though this is still at least a billion dollars a year short of the mark, her spending “increase” has already generated faux outrage by those who either refuse to, or are incapable of understanding the true nature of our state’s long term structural budget deficit. It’s not state spending that is out of whack — it continues to steadily decline as a percentage of the overall state economy. The problem rather, is the antiquated, early 20th Century hack of a tax system that simply cannot grow revenues at a pace sufficient to keep up with the demands of our post-industrial service economy.

Both the governor’s mansion and the state legislature are controlled by Democrats. Does anybody really believe that the Democrats wouldn’t spend amply on such a popular item as K-12 education if they had the money to do so? For all the recriminations we continue to focus on the wrong end of the problem, and the Democratic leadership is just as guilty as the obstructionists across the aisle.

We need to start having a grown-up, mature and informative debate about tax restructuring. We need to be willing to broach the idea of an income tax without fear of political retribution.

But we’re never going to get that debate unless our state’s editorial pages start leading the way.

***Note to Goldy: Sure, go ahead and do radio bits, but don’t do this one.

***File this under “Things That Will Never Happen”:

George Bush is preparing to make a historic shift in his position on global warming when he makes his State of the Union speech later this month, say senior Downing Street officials.

Tony Blair hopes that the new stance by the United States will lead to a breakthrough in international talks on climate change and that the outlines of a successor treaty to the Kyoto agreement, the deal to curb emissions of greenhouse gases which expires in 2012, could now be thrashed out at the G8 summit in June.

***More Republicans are freaking out about boys kissing each other.

***Evergreen Politics is extra wonky today. Transit and roads will be on the ballot this fall, and both have to pass for either to be law:

There are those in the environmental community who oppose the coupling of Sound Transit 2 and RTID into a single ballot measure. Opposing this marriage is a fight not worth fighting. The Legislature took the action to put the former adversaries of highways and transit in bed together just last year.

I think the fight is worth it. Transit funding is more popular than roads funding. Polls have been done showing the roads package may actually drag the transit element to defeat. Methinks Ezra Bason short changes us transit dweebs.

***I’ll just link to the blog (there’s too much good stuff). Make Erica C. Barnett a daily stop on your blog wanderings.

***New blogger in Central Washington!!! It’s Darci (no, not that Darcy) and she’s opened up shop at McCranium.

Presidential candidates have a way of poking their noses where they don’t belong:

Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democratic presidential hopeful joining fellow Sen. Christopher Dodd at Martin Luther King Jr. holiday events, said Monday he thinks the Confederate flag should be kept off South Carolina’s Statehouse grounds.

“If I were a state legislator, I’d vote for it to move off the grounds — out of the state,” the Delaware senator said before the civil rights group held a march and rally at the Statehouse here to support its boycott of the state.

Oh jeez… There’s more:

Jim Hanks stood across from the Statehouse with about 35 Confederate flag supporters.

“We love this flag. We love our heritage,” said Hanks, of Lexington.

Some carried signs saying: “South Carolina does not want Chris Dodd,” referring to the Connecticut senator who, along with Biden, attended the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People rally at the Statehouse.

Hanks said that Dodd, Biden and other Democrats running for president “would probably say most anything if it would get them votes.”

I’m not a fan of the “stars and bars,” but I think it’s incredibly silly for candidates to inject their views in what is a very sensitive state issue. Whether a flag is flown on the dome or on state grounds, it’s up to the residents of South Carolina to decide. Jim Hanks is a racist; that’s clear enough. But that’s not his worst sin. You see, folks in the South are supposed to be considerate. The southerners I know would never display a flag that would make folks feel unwelcome. It’s called “manners,” and Jim Hanks would do well to learn some.

It’s a candidate’s right to pander like a “mofo” on the campaign trail (remember this?), but it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do it. Senators Dodd and Biden should pay attention to getting the American flag out of Iraq and less to getting the Confederate flag out of Dixie.

Whoops…

As Tikriti fell to the gallows, his head was taken off by the rope noose, and the body and the head fall to the floor while Bandar swings on the rope.

My only hope is that when Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney are held accountable for their war crimes, that they be punished more humanely.