Archives for January 2014

If you’re interested in taking a bus or a train to the playoff game, Seattle Transit Blog has the pertinent details.

Metro will once again be providing $4 (each way) cash-only shuttles from Northgate Transit Center, Eastgate Park&Ride, and South Kirkland Park & Ride, leaving each lot from 11:25 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and then picking up at 5th Ave S & S Weller St (on the east side of International District / Chinatown Station) after the game.

Sounder will once again be running pre-game trips to Century Link Field and post-game trips back to all Sounder stations. The schedule may look familiar because it is identical to the regular season game-day schedule. The only difference is this game is on a Saturday.

For those flying in from out of town, Link Light Rail gets you from the airport to Century Link Field. You can get an all-day ticket on Link at any ORCA vending machine, including the ones at Seatac/Airport Station, for $5.50. Set Seatac/Airport Station and Westlake Station as the termini of your trips so that you can travel anywhere Link goes all day. The best station for getting to the stadium is International District / Chinatown Station. Stadium Station is designed for the best connection to Safeco Field (where the Mariners play), but is also a decent option if you will be in the south end zone.

Obviously, good info if you need it. But it also makes me think of public transit’s ability to scale up. While there is more need for car infrastructure in SoDo, it’s not something you can just build more for the game. On the other hand, you can add more buses and trains for a peak time.

– Is this process for picking a new police chief going to produce different results than the last one?

– Jeff Merkley is a real hero on unemployment insurance, but it’s godawful that it has to come up at all.

– Oh my am I glad the people who gave us the Iraq war aren’t in power right now.

– I love that building

– In the last open thread, I said that Melissa Harris Perry was right to apologize, and I stand by that. But I also agree that there is a context.

– Holy shit Chris Christie.

– Nine years later he publicly came out of the closet, and has since made it his mission to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) athletes don’t have to wait until their playing days are over to be themselves.

– Ham proceeds to retcon the early chapters of Genesis, shuffling the chronology a bit and turning parts of Chapter 5 into a flashback preceding Chapter 4 — all in the name of a “literal” reading of the text. But throughout this fast-talking and dealing from the bottom of the text Ham seems to realize that the core problem he’s facing here is the disturbingly Flowers-in-the-Attic scenario necessitated by insisting on a single original family of original humans.

– I don’t mind people taking pictures of everything, but don’t block other people’s view.

I’m not sure where to put the blame for the Gigabit Squared deal falling apart. Murray says it was trouble when he came into office, but I suspect he’ll say that about a lot of things McGinn started did that he doesn’t want to do.

Mayor Ed Murray has declared the city’s deal with startup broadband company Gigabit Squared dead. In fact, the city’s deal with the company may have been doomed before Murray was even elected.

“We understand the Gigabit problems had developed before the election,” Murray told PSBJ reporter Marc Stiles in an interview last week.

Whatever the reason, it’s too bad. I’m a few blocks outside of the coverage area, so it doesn’t hit me personally, at least in the beginning. But regardless, if they can’t provide the service, the need for that high speed relatively cheap Internet is still there. Tech companies and other businesses will have a choice of where to locate, and that will certainly be in the calculus. People will decide where to live, and that will be part of the decision. For people who want to live in the city, it’s a quality of life issue.

Fortunately, Seattle is blessed with a utility in Seattle City Light that is already good at delivering a vital service city wide relatively inexpensively. So it should be easier for us to do this than most places. As such, I was glad to see Mayor Murray say this:

“It’s a utility, in my mind,” Murray said. “The city has done a very good job of providing affordable electric rates because we have a public utility. So I think there are a variety of models, including a hybrid model that might get that affordability.”

When something can and should be done but the private sector can’t or won’t do it, it’s time to consider how else to provide that service. It seems like something Seattle can do as a city.

Bikes passed the counter at the Fremont Bridge 926,025 times last year. It’s quite a bit over 2012 and a testament to Seattle and the region’s commitment to infrastructure for bikes on the government level, and to riding on the individual level.

It’s obviously still a small number compared to the number of cars crossing the bridge, but it is a lot of commutes, day trips, and other outings. Still, because we like round numbers — and goals — I think we can hit 1,000,000 next year.

**Update: I just got a call from a DL regular. Apparently the Montlake Ale House is closed this evening. Good thing I posted the announcement really late tonight!

Update II: Goldy, N in Seattle and I are heading for The College Inn, 4000 University Way NE
Seattle, WA. Please join us!

Start out the new year right by joining us tonight for an evening of post-holiday politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Our normal starting time is 8:00pm.

Can’t make it tonight? Check out another Washington state DL over the next week. Tonight the Tri-Cities chapter also meets. On Wednesday, the Bellingham chapter meets. On Thursday the Bremerton chapter meets. And on Friday, the Centralia chapter meets.

With 212 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

– I knew that Seattle was GOP territory not that long ago, but seeing that King County went for Reagan is a bit of a surprise.

– What is happening with Don Benton and Ann Rivers (Columbian link)?

– With social media at their disposal, the students are thinking big. They plan to organize, nationwide, a “Z-Day” on Jan. 31 to protest the forced resignation of Eastside vice principal Mark Zmuda after his same-sex marriage last summer.

– Even by The Daily Caller’s low standards, this is pretty stoopid.

– Anyone else going to Reproductive Health and Rights Lobby Day 2014 or any other lobbying efforts in Olympia?

– You have no idea how much I tried to come up with an “it’s Spokane’s fault” joke for the fault line running through it. But no.

– I hate that there was a car crash in LFP but a couple pedestrians on the Burke-Gilman trail are pretty awesome.

– Any thoughts on Cascade’s new logo?

This year’s short session starts January 13. With the state Senate controlled by the GOP even more so than last session, and the House and Governor’s Mansion firmly in the hands of Democrats, I think we’ll see more defense than either side being able to push an agenda. They won’t have to compromise on a budget, so I suspect anything that does get passed will be small and around the edges. Still, they might surprise us. And anyway, there’s no reason to start the session out without a wishlist. Is there anything you’re hoping for or anything you’re hoping gets blocked?

For me, I’m less and less sure that there’s any sort of transportation package that isn’t terrible, but you never know. If I had one thing that in an ideal world I’d have the legislature pass it would be a high earner’s income tax. That won’t happen, doy, but it’s worth saying I’d like it. If they won’t pass that, a local option income tax would be better, although I think localities have the right, because of supreme court decisions made in the 1930’s and political cowardice, they won’t use it without some prompting. Barring that, I’d still like the Reproductive Parity Act but given that when NARAL called me, they weren’t even pushing that, it seems unlikely.

– To protect and serve, I guess.

– Melissa Harris-Perry was right to apologize.

– I grew up as a Southern Baptist, where gays weren’t just sinners — they were a donation strategy.

– The website for the campaign for the $15 minimum wage is up now.

– Congrats to Boeing on the occasion of forgetting that you get what you pay for.

– Are we glad the Seahawks will face the Saints?

Last week’s contest was won by wes.in.wa, who got 4 out of the 6 locations. Sorry that the sadness of the topic turned off a few folks, so I’m not sure I’ll do something quite like that again. But here were the correct answers:

A – Akron, OH – news story
B – Michigan City, IN – news story
C – Bullard, TX – news story
D – Memphis, TN – news story
E – Liberty Township, MI – news story
F – Yuma, AZ – news story

This week’s is a random location somewhere on earth, good luck!

Luke 14:26

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

Discuss.

Young Turks: Recreational pot causes long lines in CO .

The Horrors of Affordable Health Care for All:

• Ann Telnaes: Healthcare and freedom from religion.
• Kliff Notes: Obamacare dates to watch in 2014
• Chris Hayes: 9 Million Plus Served!
• Ed: ObamaCare marks a new era of security for Americans:
• Sam Seder: Debunking the right wing’s ObamaCare claims.
• Liberal Viewer: Really? Lie of the Year?
• Thom: Time to close the Red State doughnut hole:

Sam Seder: Did Chris Christie create massive traffic jams because of political feud?

Young Turks: Belief in evolution—Republicans versus Democrats.

Benghaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!1!!11!

• David Pakman: Investigation finds no al Qaeda link in Benghazi.
• Chris Hayes: The New York Times Exposes GOP Benghazi lies.
• Joy Reid: New York Times punches holes in GOP’s Benghazi lies.

Pap and Thom: Oil industry wants to privatize profits, socialize risks.

Zina Saunders: The animated life and times of Ronald Reagan.

Young Turks: Billionaire warns the Pope.

Invasion of Privacy, Florida Style:

• Young Turks: Drug testing for welfare recipients is ruled unconstitutional.
• Sharpton: Judge strikes down Florida Gov. Rick Scotts’s racist drug testing plan.

David Pakman: Scott Walker makes WI #1…in jobless claims.

WaPo: How unemployment benefits could make a comeback.

Sam Seder: Is David Brooks high?!?

Young Turks: Charlie Christ “evolves” on gay marriage.

New Year:

• Mark Fiore: Little Suzie Newsykins remembers to forget for the new year.
• Lee Camp: The Most Jaw-Dropping Underreported Stories Of 2013
• Alex Wagner: America’s most colorful political characters in 2013:
• Young Turks: Was 2013 a good year?
• Joy Reid: Will 2014 be the year for liberals?
• David Pakman: 5 worst FAUX News moments of 2013
• Sen. Sherrod Brown’s New Year Resolution.
• Sen. Joe Manchin’s New Year’s Resolution.
• Sen. Tim Kaine’s New Year’s Resolution.
• Sen. Tom Harkin’s New Year’s Resolution.
• One minute news: Fun new laws for 2014.
• Mental Floss: 38 Bizarre items dropped on New Years.
• Ed: Ted Cruz is the 2013 “Pretender of The Year”
• White House: West Wing Week year in review.
• Young Turks: Best stories of 2013.

Maddow: Epic Koch brothers smackdown (via Crooks and Liars).

Sam Seder: Democrats will win with minimum wage in 2014.

David Pakman: Same-sex couples breaking records in Utah.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

At 9:30 today, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray will hold a live web cast to “discuss next steps to raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all Seattle City employees”.

Watch it here:

Because we need another open thread.

– I Was An NFL Player Until I Was Fired By Two Cowards And A Bigot

– What the fuck, Border Patrol?

– Run Goldy.

– Hey, schools and other public institutions. Handle rape allegations better.

– Many of the people advocating this theory are religious leaders — church people who criticize government for not “allowing” the churches room to care for the poor and the jobless through private charity. Here’s their chance to put their money where their mouth is. Here’s their chance to prove they’ve been speaking truth and not just spouting hateful anti-poor garbage.

– The gun show loophole will almost certainly be on the ballot in November.

– I will have to stop using American idioms.

– OK, I’m going to be back to normal next week. I think it’ll still be Monday-Tuesday-Thursday open threads, but if you’d prefer Monday-Wednesday-Friday threads, let me know and I’ll consider it.

Today was “Green Wednesday” in Colorado, the first day of legal marijuana sales to all adults. Another great milestone in the dismantling of one of America’s most tragic and destructive policies. There’s not an exact date for when Washington’s stores will open, but it should be around May or June.

Here are my blogging resolutions for 2014:

• I’ll post more content than just “Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza” and “Drinking Liberally” this year.
• I’ll make every effort to avoid posts about Fibonacci sequences or Taylor series expansions.
• I’ll only blog professions of love to genuine offspring.
• I will not use the term “cephalonomancy” in a blog post this year. Period.
• I’ll scrap the draft about wetbacks with body parts the size of cantaloupes.
• I won’t blog about degrees of legitimacy regarding rape or about fecundability following rape.
• I’ll ALMOST shut down HorsesAss until Goldy agrees to getting lower internet connectivity, more limited resources, and crappier response time. Because FREEDOM!
• I’ll avoid uncomfortable sexual posts referring to unlubricated ass-fucking or the extra-plentiful quantity of pussy I have to eat at home.
• Oh…and I’ll avoid smoking anything while in a drunken stupor. Not even for the free munchies.
• I won’t write about a certain co-blogger’s pteronophobia
• I’ll refrain from commentary about dynasties, Dynasty, ducks, ducts of any sort, or even about about how to “die nasty.” Nuh-uh. Not gonna do it. Wouldn’t be prudent!
• I’ll eschew hackneyed clichés like “hackneyed clichés” and “Happy New Year!”

(Yup…it’s another open thread.)