This is a great thing Patty Murray did to prevent active duty suicides.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., announced Thursday that President Obama has signed her amendment to require the Pentagon to create a new suicide prevention program for active military members.

The new program would also expand eligibility for Department of Veterans Affairs mental health service to family members, improve training and education for health care providers and create more soldier-to-soldier counseling opportunities, according to Murray.

Great work, Senator. Still, as long as the war in Afghanistan is going on anything like this is going to be a small part of the solution. Because this is an inevitable consequence of a decade of war. This is going to happen in a war where the end is still over a year away. This is what happens when people are going to be away from their families for an extended period of time.

So by all means, let’s do everything we can to prevent military suicides. But let’s not pretend they’re going to stop while the country is at war.

All questions edition:

– Is the best fact about Patty Murray her college major?

– Is a hostage negotiation the best metaphor for what the GOP is trying to do with the budget?

– Wouldn’t you want a beer after you’d shot yourself? (h/t)

– Anyone interested in seeing Sarah Weddington at Town Hall?

– Did you get called for jury duty?

– How about those Seahawks?

– This… I… um… What?

West Seattle Blog passes this along this Department of Ecology request to help document the high tides in the coming month.

The dates for January’s king tides vary slightly depending on location:

· In the Strait of Juan de Fuca, king tides will occur Jan. 8-13.

· Along Washington’s outer coast, they occur Jan. 10-12.

· The Puget Sound dates for king tides are Jan. 14-17.

Follow these steps to participate:

· Use Ecology’s king tide map and schedule to find when and where the highest tides will occur. Go to http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/ipa_hightide_map.htm.

· Locate a public beach by checking out Ecology’s Coastal Atlas at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/coastalatlas/.

· Take photos during a king tide, preferably where the high water levels can be gauged against familiar landmarks such as sea walls, jetties, bridge supports or buildings.

· Note the date, time and location of your photo – then upload your images on the Washington King Tide Photo Initiative Flickr Group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/1611274@N22/.

· Play it safe! While the winter king tides occur during daylight hours, don’t venture out during severe weather and keep a close eye on rising water levels.

I love the citizen participation aspect of this. Hopefully they get a lot of good data.

– The Republican Fig Leaf Industry

– It’s impressive that Rush Limbaugh could lament the supposed sexism of Al Jazeera and say something incredibly sexist in the same sentence.

– Prophecy.

– I like this idea for a 3 in 1 trash can.

– There’s a debt fix I can get behind.

– Not sure who I’m voting for for mayor in 2013, but I think I’ve found my candidate for 2025.

Seattle can’t jay walk. It’s a real problem.

I don’t mean the people who wait at the corner and don’t go no matter what. They’re fine. If that’s what they want to do, God bless. Those people won’t jay walk.

No, I have a much bigger problem with people who seem oblivious to traffic. Maybe they’re out of towners who expect drivers are looking for them. If you’re from a city with more consistent jay walking, perhaps that’s reasonable. But here if you want to to cross in the middle or against the light, you’ve got to follow some rules:

First watch for traffic. I know that sounds like it should be obvious, but enough people just dart out obliviously, that it clearly isn’t. Pedestrians dart into traffic pretty regularly. Watch for it.

Somewhat related to that is emergency vehicles. Give them more room than you’d give other cars. A lot more room. The prompt for this post is that I saw people running to get across the road when a fire engine was coming. They had enough time, but not a lot. If the engine has to slow down it’s a couple more seconds before they can get to the emergency, and they’re going faster than you’re thinking they are. Just don’t do it.

Of course, even when road is clear on the side with the green light, there may be people who are going to make a right turn on the red. They’re looking for traffic, not looking for you. Figure out where the possible right turns are and make sure that nobody is going to make them. DON’T assume that a car without its blinkers on isn’t going to turn: Seattle drivers often forget how blinkers work.

Finally, Seattle police will still stop you for jay walking. It’s not as likely if you’re white as if you’re a person of color. It’s not as likely if you’re well dressed or in a nicer neighborhood. Being on the lookout for police will probably distract from the other stuff, but you probably don’t want to get the world’s dumbest ticket.

As the new year comes, I write the annual what-do-you-want-from-the-upcoming-legislative-session? piece. It starts on the 14th, and I think this year it’s more defense than it has been in the past. Hopefully education won’t be hurt too badly. Hopefully social services won’t get slashed too much. There’s still a Democratic governor (albeit one who campaigned against raising taxes) and a Democratic House, so hopefully the damage won’t be too severe.

I’m planning to be a bit more activist on HA than I have in the past. So I’ll be encouraging y’all to write to or call your electeds. Maybe letters to the editor (do people still do that?) and other ways to get involved.

In that spirit, I’m going to be emailing lefty/civic groups the following questions:

1) What do you want from the next session of the legislature?
2) What are the prospects for making that happen?
3) How can the Horse’s Ass readership help?

I figure most won’t respond, but a few might. If there’s anyone you want me to email, let me know. If there are any issues you’d like me to push, let me know.

– Happy New Year!

– Comparing the current budget deal to the Gore plan is interesting, but the early 2000’s were very different than now in terms of the economy and in terms of the deficit.

– Who knew the House would be the more dysfunctional body?

– So obviously, it needs More members.

– Get well soon, Hillary.

– The Atom Bowl

– Where to find Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartman.

I hadn’t read this New York Times piece on the GOP takeover of the Washington State Senate until today. It’s pretty much a standard recap, but I hadn’t heard Tim Sheldon’s view that Jay Inslee doesn’t represent the state.

“Seattle-centric,” said Senator Tim Sheldon, a two-decade veteran lawmaker and Democrat from a district west of Olympia, summing up the combination of forces that alienated him: safe seats in Seattle, campaign money raised in safe seats but spread around, and a caucus that rewards and reinforces the safe-seat equation with powerful leadership posts. “They’re not representative of the state,” he said.

The fact that Gov.-elect Jay Inslee, a former Democratic congressman, will take office in January having won majorities in only eight liberal counties* while losing in the other 31 only bolstered the case for change, said Mr. Sheldon, who said he voted for Mr. Inslee’s opponent, Rob McKenna, the state’s attorney general and a Republican.

He lost the counties 8 to 31, but we don’t vote by county. We have human beings vote. And the human beings pretty easily supported Inslee. To imply that Jay Inslee is less representative of Washington because he didn’t do as well in Adams or Mason counties is the height arrogance.

Those of us who live in Seattle, in addition to funding the schools in Tim Sheldon’s district, in addition to funding social services in his district, have the right to vote. If Tim Sheldon is out of step with the state as a whole when we vote for governor, well, maybe that’s because the state is more Seattle centric than he is.

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As I said in today’s Open Thread, McGinn announced the next step on the Missing Link. So it’s that Seattle will conduct an Environmental Impact Statement.

“We are eager to complete the Missing Link, and conducting a full EIS is the best way to break the legal log jam on this project,” said McGinn. “We are also moving ahead on safety improvements on the street that can be implemented quickly to help everyone share the road.”

“For over a decade the City has been working to complete the Burke-Gilman Trail. I am confident that with careful planning both bicyclists and freight and industrial traffic will be able to co-exist successfully in Ballard,” said Rasmussen, chair of the City Council’s Transportation Committee.

“The Burke-Gilman Trail is a busy, multi-use trail that provides an important connection to residents and businesses in Ballard. I’m glad to see that the City is moving ahead with its plans to close the Missing Link and with these other safety improvements,” said Davidya Kasperzyk, Founding Board Member of Friends of the Burke-Gilman Trail.

For the past decade and a half or so, I’ve been skeptical and excited about the next step on the missing link pretty much whatever the next step is. So hopefully the EIS will get done and we can finally go ahead on completing it. But who knows?

It’s a pretty slow week here, but here’s an open thread.

– The Murdoch empire is reprehensible. Also, who didn’t know crossing the Rubicon?

– Split the difference.

– When I say I hope The Seattle Times survives, it’s because of stories like this on a Seattle program to help people living in their cars and how it’s off to a slow start.

– Here’s hoping the next step on the missing link is a decent one. The fact that it’s being announced between Christmas and New Year’s makes me think it won’t be very popular.

– Today in doooooooooyyyyyyyyy

– If you’re looking for something to do with that $25 from grandma, I can think of worse things than a Kiva loan. I’m on the Friends of Bob Harris team.

FYI, in the new year, open threads will probably be Monday-Wednesday-Friday.

During the budget coup, Rodney Tom’s magical mystery majority relied on Pam Roach coming back into the GOP fold. And as you may remember, there were some issues.

In a letter obtained by The Seattle Times and others, an attorney for Republican Senate Counsel Mike Hoover contends Hoover has been the brunt of abuse from Roach for years. Allowing her back into the caucus — after she had been banned for past behavior — makes Hoover’s job with the Senate untenable, the attorney says.

“Mr. Hoover understandably has no faith that the caucus can or will take any steps to protect him or other staff from Senator Roach’s behavior in the future,” the attorney wrote in the letter to Secretary of the Senate Tom Hoemann.

…

Roach, R-Auburn, was banned from her caucus in 2010 over her treatment of Hoover. She was able to vote but was barred from the caucus room where her colleagues discussed legislation, and she could not deal directly with caucus staff or counsel.

In an interview last month, she said she was allowed back into the caucus when she cast a key vote that allowed the Senate Republicans, with the help of three Democrats, to pass their own version of the state budget.

I assume the GOP would have kept her on no matter the situation. But this deal gives her more power, and more opportunities to abuse the staff.

Christ almighty, what the fuck is going on any more?

A 30-year-old Seattle man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting at a crowded bar in Bellevue early Monday, police said.

The shooting broke out just after 1 a.m. at Munchbar at Bellevue Square, an upscale shopping center about 10 miles east of Seattle, said Carla Iafrate, a spokeswoman for the Bellevue Police Department.

Police officers were outside the bar when gunfire erupted because a large crowd had gathered there, she said.

More than 600 people were inside the venue at the time of the shooting. “It was a very complicated scene,” Iafrate said.

– Plan B was just to not have the votes, I guess.

– Speaking of Plan B, Patty Murray made a funny.

– Speaking of Patty Murray, Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

– King County wins the Brightwater lawsuit and so good news for ratepayers.

– Best Year Ever

– The gun monsters.

– This miserable little genus.

– The Sirens would have been a better name than Seattle Reign FC (although the lack of a creepy eagle logo is a plus).

I’ve been thinking about what the state can do as far as gun control in the next session. Most sensible regulations will get caught up in Rodney Tom’s GOP Senate. And I’m not sure I’d want to test our state constitution or the current US Supreme Court, even now. But it seems to me that we could probably fine the gun manufacturers for every death by a gun in Washington.

I’m thinking something large enough that it would impact their bottom line, but not enough that it would put them out of business. So every murder, every suicide, every hunting accident, every police officer shooting that ends with a death gets, say, a $2000 fine for the manufacturer of that gun assessed at the end of each year. Doesn’t matter if it was legally purchased, stolen, or whatever — you made the gun, you pay a price.

We can use the money to go to gun safety programs if you like. Or victim compensation. I’d be fine with just putting it in the general fund, but I wouldn’t want the legislature to become dependent on it, since the goal is to have it not produce any money. In any event where the money goes isn’t as important as getting it in the first place.

A fee like that would encourage gun manufacturers to make their guns in a way that won’t be involved in killings any more. A problem with regulation is that the manufacturers will just do the minimum. Putting a direct cost on dead people will encourage them to make guns that won’t cause problems, and will let the market decide what’s the most effective way.

If the best way to prevent gun deaths is safety training, the manufacturers will invest in that. If it’s locks or fingerprint technology, the manufacturers will invest in that. If it’s designing guns that are fine for hunting, but bad for school shootings or street crime, they’ll do that. If it’s just not having super, super irresponsible ads,* they’ll do that. In any event, let’s put a price on dead people and make the people who manufactured the tool of death pay.

All that said, I know that the legislature probably won’t do that with a GOP senate that has a pretty gun loving chair of the Law and Justice Committee. And depending on what the courts say it might need a 2/3 majority since it’s a fee; if that does happen, put it on the ballot.

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Now that there has been some time with the free ride area gone, here are some random things I’ve been wondering. Some of them I’ve mentioned on Facebook or Twitter, but mostly, it’s just off the top of my head.

– Do you say “thank you” if you’re exiting from the rear? I don’t but enough people do that it makes me wonder if I’m being impolite.

– How many times do you yell “Back door, please” before you walk to the front? I think two.

– Is there a better way for bikes and buses on Third Ave? I don’t even take my bike on Third, because yikes. It’s probably not great for bike lanes. I don’t know if there’s a better solution than bikes being more visible and obvious how they’re going to move. Not really novel to Third?

– Are the drivers trying to stop with the back door open in front of a tree or a telephone poll?

– What’s the way they deal with fare evaders getting on the back? I’ve only seen it a couple times, but it seems like they go over the intercom asking once and then don’t do anything, but I don’t know if there’s a better way or if that’s official policy. I remember being on the bus in London once and the driver was like “we’re not moving until you pay.” That doesn’t seem good in the moment, but maybe longer term it makes more sense???