– The bitter truth is that this verdict is neither an aberration, nor is it exceptionally unjust when viewed from the point of design. It is a systemic byproduct of our legal framework attempting to expand to accommodate those it was never designed to fit.

– If we increase maternity leave, then employers will treat women poorly. Oh you need proof? How about the fact that France exists?

– Four things that happened

– Love your neighbor as yourself.

– This Is Not a Post About Trayvon Martin

– I’m going to be doing a roundup of the various endorsements from groups. If you have ones you’d like included, let me know.

Ben Schiendelman at Seattle Transit Blog has the latest on studying the Ship Canal Crossing.

In order for this study to give answers that the city needs in time for Bridging the Gap and Sound Transit 3, it needs to start at the beginning of 2014. It takes three to four months after the council approves funding for a project for the scope to be written, bid on, and the contract awarded, so the funding has to come well before the beginning of 2014 – really, now.

So on Monday, council member O’Brien ran an amendment to the first quarter supplemental budget to fund the study starting now, instead of in 2015, where it’s currently scheduled.

O’Brien, Conlin, Bagshaw and Harrell voted for it, and the other 5 opposed it. So it failed, and as such:

This may have been the last chance to have the ship canal crossing study done early enough that it could influence BtG or ST3. I plan to get more details from SDOT about the shortest possible timeline for the work, and whether it could still provide guidance before being entirely complete. I’ll report back on a path forward in the next few weeks.

OK. Ben goes over the reasons they opposed it and here’s what he has to say about Licata:

Licata, the same day as the amendment, ran an insert in the Seattle Times with one of the worst false premises I’ve ever seen in Seattle politics. On Metro, it says: “We must not reduce its service in order to build major new rail projects.” This is unreal – in no universe is Metro’s funding shortfall related to rail. The worst part about a campaign message like this is that it makes people less able to understand what’s going on with transit funding – and because they’ll waste their time on a fake battle, it makes getting Metro revenue harder. It’s completely irresponsible on Licata’s part.

Sound Transit has a different budget than Metro. Neither one is controlled by the Seattle City Council. Spending city money on rail, or in this case, studying a rail corridor doesn’t take county money away from buses. This is so confusing. I really just wish I could follow his argument here.

Also, I feel like maybe with the ad implying that buses are the most reliable form of transit, neither he nor whoever wrote the piece has ever been stuck on a bus as it inched along stuck in traffic. Maybe they never had a bus pass them at a stop even though it isn’t even near full (or for that matter when one is full). Maybe they’ve never seen two or three of the same route bunched up together after waiting a long time. Maybe he’s never had One Bus Away screw up* or been on a snow route.

Don’t get me wrong: yay for our many aspects of our bus system. It’s pretty amazing in the urban core with the bus tunnel and with 3rd Ave closed off to traffic. If you don’t mind waiting you can get pretty far out. What it isn’t, what it can’t be as long as it uses the same lanes as cars, is reliable.

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– RIP Kip Tokuda

– “I’m appalled that Alaska Airlines is trying to stop SeaTac citizens from being able to vote on the good jobs initiative. What are they afraid of? Why don’t they want to share the success of the company with me and my community?” asked Chris Smith, a SeaTac resident and worker at Sea-Tac Airport. See also, Goldy.

– This is not our system malfunctioning. It is our system working as intended. To expect our juries, our schools, our police to single-handedly correct for this, is to look at the final play in the final minute of the final quarter and wonder why we couldn’t come back from twenty-four down.

– It is strange that the city cut down the cycle tracks that activists put up and then put up its own. But whatever, it looks nice, and I’m glad they responded to activist’s concerns.

– The overall push is laudable. Indeed, given Tukwila is so diverse and yet economically disadvantaged, transformation into a truly urban center, with plenty of transit access and walkability, could improve things. Tukwila seems to be making a real push for renewal, so hopefully it continues successfully.

– Zimmerman gets justice

I don’t own a TV box, and although I could find it, I rarely watch breaking news on television. But judging from my twitter feed, the coverage of the reaction to the George Zimmerman verdict was infused with the assumption that riots would happen, and surprised that they didn’t.

I've heard the word "peaceful" at least four times in the last 20 minutes.

— Grace (@graceishuman) July 14, 2013

Obviously, first and foremost the problem with this is the dehumanizing nature of it. It treats the black (and other, to the extent they’re acknowledged) folks who would protest this verdict as simply violence just waiting to happen. It certainly doesn’t give voice to the actual reason people were out to describe the level of violence.

Now sure, it’s more complex than just that. This has something to do with media sensationalism in general. Here on May Day even before some smashed windows, the story of some anarchists overshadowed much larger peaceful protests for immigration reform.

And it all adds up to a disincentive to participate. Don’t go to that march, it might be violent.

– I think I will go on twitter and start another trend: #AmericaisGeorgeZimmerman

– Seriously, gents, get a different sign.

– Washington is taking steps to keep Boeing here (Seattle Times Link). The thing they could best offer is that they aren’t South Carolina.

– So white people who kill black teenagers shouldn’t even go to court. Because blacks are violent … even if conservatives have use video of rioting (white) hockey fans in Vancouver to prove it.

– Harrell’s attitude about speeding is disappointing; it reveals how ingrained speeding is in American culture, and reminds us that traffic crashes are thought of as “accidents” – things that just happen, and we have little control over. Little could be further from the truth.

– Trayvon Martin was stalked by George Zimmerman because he was black. Trayvon Martin is dead because he was black. George Zimmerman was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin because the boy Zimmerman killed was black.

– The GOP press release failing Rep. Mark Takano’s grading is hilarious.

Hmm. It turns out that at the debate on HB2 in Texas today, they forbade bringing tampons into the building. I can’t think of a more ham handed way they could try to exclude women from meaningful participation in this debate.

I mean literally, I can’t. This is where my schtick would be to do a list of outrageous over the top things. Usually when I want to make a list like that a few ideas spring to mind quickly, but not this time. The only thing I thought of that is in the league of that is “just outright ban vaginas.”

I’m sure when tunnel proponents talked about our once in a lifetime opportunity for a revitalized waterfront what they meant was this.

The new Alaskan Way, located mostly within the current footprint of the viaduct, will be four or five lanes for most of its length until it reaches Columbia Street. South of Columbia, it completely explodes with travel lanes and starts to look a whole lot more like a freeway than a waterfront boulevard. Near the Ferry Terminal, there are even sections with eight travel lanes and a parking lane (though some are transit-only).

You know, 8 lanes and more coal trains are just what the waterfront needs. Maybe we can transport nuclear waste in open top containers next.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’m reading Edmund Wilson’s Patriotic Gore. In the section on William T. Sherman, it has a long section on his son. Sherman wasn’t religious, but his wife was a rather devout Catholic. And one of his sons, Thomas, became a Jesuit priest. Thomas eventually went mad. To quote the second to last paragraph of the chapter:

The story of his last twenty years is most painful. He was able to travel and to live alone, and he engaged in a whole forlorn series of self-invented ministries and projects. Father Sherman first set out to organize a Catholic Colonization Society designed to resettle, in the state of Washington, recent immigrants of Catholic faith from the big American cities

On reading that, I wondered, why Washington? I mean on the one hand, there’s only so much you can question the schemes of someone who was in and out of mental institutions. On the other hand there were 40 some states when this happened, why should he pick Washington for his Catholic homeland in the US? Is it just our remoteness to the rest of the country or is it something else? I don’t know, but it put me in mind of a somewhat more creditable idea for resettlement in Washington. It starts off kind of in a strange place, so bear with me.

Before the Civil War, the United States would occasionally chide foreign governments for being bad on something or another related to human rights, and those governments would essentially respond, “fuck off, you still have slavery, so you can’t lecture us” except in more diplomatic speak. So it wasn’t until after the Civil War that US foreign policy had any sort of systematic human rights component.

All this is to get to Benjamin Franklin Peixotto, who was a consul in Romania. His official diplomatic posting was the same as any other consul, but unofficially, he was President Grant’s Jewish representative in a country that was persecuting its Jewish population. After failing to get anywhere in defense of that population, he according to this book:

In response, Peixotto advocated large-scale Jewish emigration to the United States, an objective that Romania’s antisemitic government, eager to be rid of its Jews, enthusiastically encouraged. He even contacted his old friend Governor Edward S. Salomon…about the possibility of settling Romanian Jews in Washington Territory.

I’d always assumed that in that case it was probably Governor Salomon more than Washington qua Washington that would have made us a homeland for those Romanian Jews. But in light of Father Sherman, maybe there’s something about us in the imagination of the late 1800’s?

– “I can tell you this: No matter who introduces it, it is not going anywhere in the Senate,” Murray said. “We are not going to let it come up in the Senate. There is no reason for it. This is settled law. We are not going to be sidetracked by a debate on women’s health yet again.”

– I don’t know why I keep mentioning these and then not going, but there’s a Seattle Balloon Juice Meetup.

– So how long is it respectable to pretend that David Boardman was anything other than a right wing hack who survived at The Seattle Times for 30 years by being a right wing hack?

– You wouldn’t think this would be necessary to say, but in the last two days, I’ve seen 2 different cars that looked to me anyway to not be county vehicles on bike paths. Don’t do that.

– I haven’t had fruit flies yet this year (something something eat more fruit, Carl), but this is a neat idea for when they come.

Goldy has the latest Rodney Tom is full of shit news. First quoting the Seattle Times:

Tom created a buzz after broaching the idea of a $250-a-day fine for each day lawmakers go past the time allotted in the regular session.

Then Goldy notes:

For wealthy lawmakers like Senator Rodney Tom (R-Medina), $250 isn’t all that much money. Hell, that’s less than Tom spends a day just murdering kittens. (Actual Rodney Tom 2012 campaign slogan: “Because Those Kittens Aren’t Going to Murder Themselves.”) But for legislators who mostly rely on their $42,000 a year salary, the $15,000 in fines they would have accumulated this year could’ve been the difference between keeping and losing their homes. The end result would be those lawmakers who can’t afford to pay the fine caving to lawmakers who can.

Aah. Nothing like fake populism from a dirtbag millionaire in an effort to advance their dirtbag millionaire goals. Look, if Rodney Tom had wanted to end either special session early, he could have done it at any point simply by resigning. Since a Democrat would replace him, a Democrat would caucus with the Democrats like Democrats are supposed to do, and then they could have passed a budget. Done and done. Or barring that, he could have gone back to caucusing with the Democrats. Either event would involve Rodney Tom eating a lot of shit, but if he’d wanted the special session to end earlier, that would be the thing to do.

Also, as the person who is most responsible for the legislature adjourning with a lot of work yet to do, Rodney Tom should really not be discouraging the legislators actually doing the people’s business. I mean honestly, the legislature should have passed the Reproductive Parity Act. It should have passed the DREAM Act. It should have passed a transportation budget, or at least let municipalities pass their own. But Rodney Tom was a roadblock that kept that important work from being done. To say the legislature should have got even less done is highly insulting. Honestly, the goal should have been to pass legislation that makes Washington a better place, not to simply avoid a special session.

I have been reading with interest about the so called zero option in Afghanistan. That is, after the end of the war to have 0 American troops in the country. I don’t know if it’s serious or an attempt to wring concessions out of Karzai or if there’s some other plan at work. But I hope you’ll use whatever space you have in the Senate to make the zero option more viable.

America’s longest war has gone on long enough. It’s time, frankly it’s well past time, to bring all of the troops home. They have done their jobs admirably, but the mission was never clear and has only managed to get more muddled with time. So I hope we leave that country a clean break.

Thank You
Carl Ballard
HorsesAss.org

You can write them about this or whatever you want here.

– A swap of development rights from rural King County to South Lake Union.

– Rick Perry won’t run for another term as Texas governor. People are saying it frees him up for a presidential run, but I’m not sure it’s actually helpful.

– Unfortunately, he’s still the governor now.

– I want you to start asking why every salon doesn’t have at least one person who knows how to handle textured hair. Because the world is getting more and more diverse and your niece, your grandson, your daughter – they might have hair like mine.

– Jim McDermott’s article about what America’s relation to Iran should look like in the wake of Hassan Rouhani’s election.

– Anyone going to Bastille Day?

On this lazy Monday evening, I thought I’d mention some of the free things in and around Seattle, and hope that you add your own in the comments.

– First, art walk is first Thursdays most months, but the second Thursday this month since the 4th of July was a Thursday this year. And the neighborhood art walks are often lovely also.

– Also free and artsy fartsy, Seattle Shakespeare Company is doing outdoor productions in the Puget Sound area. I’ve never seen The Tempest, so I might stop by one of those productions.

– Those will be in some lovely city and county parks, and even if you’re not going for the Shakespeare, the parks are great. I should also make a pitch for Port of Seattle parks, just because they’re rad. A few weeks ago, I was at Jack Perry Park and a jazz band were practicing. I just read my paper and listened for a half hour or so with a view of the water. Jack Block has the best views of the Seattle skyline.

– Port of Seattle has some great trails, as well as those city and county parks. Obviously, the Burke-Gilman and Sammamish River trails are great. The Interurban trail is barely more than a bike lane in the City, but it opens up in North Seattle and in the suburbs. Seattle Bike Blog links to another blog making the case for the Iron Horse Trail.

– I’ve mentioned the Seattle library system recently, and I’ll put in another pitch for it here. I’ve recently decided to return books at some other branches. So far only ones in walking distance of me or on the light rail, but it gives a chance to see some of the rest of the city that I might be too lazy to go to very much otherwise.

So what do you like to do that you don’t have to pay for?

– How forced cutbacks will affect Madigan (TNT link)

– Sea Tac is maybe not a place bring your gun

– And leave it to the guy who invented “Crunchy Cons”, the non-existent group of conservatives who are also hippies, to dream up an old-age exception for despicable bigots.

– With Texas still pushing to move abortion back to the bad old days, it’s important to know what the bad old days looked like (NY Times link)

– Stop us before we are forced to commit journalism again!

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.