So…a guy in a tree? I don’t know. It’s sad that he’s still up there. Also, we all decided “stuck” was the right word to describe it, even though it sounds like he’s staying voluntarily. I don’t want to speculate too much based on my basically scanning social media headlines, so I won’t. I will just say, I like the tree more than Seattlish.

So this happened over the weekend.

You guys! pic.twitter.com/9YAy9I2deh

— Carl Ballard (@BallardCrl) March 19, 2016

If you care about the opening of the new line, other people have said more interesting things than me. But here’s my 2 cents anyway.

This isn’t such a new thing in the way that the line from the airport to Westlake was. That being the first line and all. But it being on time and under budget, as well as a useful extension is promising. The stations are beautiful, and in great locations.

the only real negative for me was that I was a bit claustrophobic getting off at the U-Link station. I wandered around a bit before getting on the escalators but still felt boxed in. I hope at some point we get better as a city at stand to the right walk on the left.

All in all, quite good. I imagine I’ll take it pretty regularly. It’s a bit far from the Capitol Hill station, but if it isn’t raining too bad, you can take the train to Drinking Liberally.

One of the more interesting stories last Tuesday’s primary wasn’t a Presidential race. It was in Cook County where a prosecutor with the support of Black Lives Matter won opposing the worst abuses of the incumbent and ending the school to prison pipeline. I don’t know enough to have any opinion on how it’ll play out going forward. But from the outside it seems like the right local people are excited.

That got me thinking: Here in King County, we have a prosecutor who, while better than Cook County is still a problem. To cite the most prominent example, he didn’t prosecute Ian Berk after he was unjustified in killing John T. Williams.

It’s 2 more years until Satterberg is up for reelection if he decides to run again. And he won his first election fairly easily. Still, it seems like something for lefty activists in King County might be able to pull off if they found the right candidate.

If people reading this blog know one thing about me, it’s probably my politics. If they know anything else about me, it’s my sense of humor. But somewhere on the list is my love of the library. Seattle has a great system. New York where I grew up also has a great system, but I honestly don’t remember much about it. What I remember more is that I have family near the first public library paid for with tax money in the country, and hearing that history over the course of many summers rubbed off on me.

Currently, I have 4 books checked out of the Seattle Public Library and I spend far too much time managing my hold list. I’ve recently started reading comics for the first time since I was a kid, and the graphic novel selection is great. I doubt I’d have gotten into them if not for being able to check out some, often pretty silly ones, for free.

Anyway, all this to say fuck the Koch brothers for making anti-library robocalls. What kind of monsters do that?

Having been kicking around local lefty Internet circles for (approximately) ever I’m glad that we have Andrew Villeneuve and Northwest Progressive Institute around. From his activism against Tim Eyman, to helping build the netroots and his role as part of that netroots, Andrew has been a great part of the community. There were many times when I used to do multi-link open threads or tried on the old blog to at least have one local link a day and going to the Progressive Portal or the Regional Blogroll.

And while I’m always more of a build community on the Internet kind of person, Andrew and NPI are just as much in on the ground stuff. Permanent Defense goes after Tim Eyman in a real way, and the fundraising gala attracts a lot of big name people every year.

Well, the fundraising gala is happening again, and this year is no exception:

What: A special event to benefit the work of the Northwest Progressive Institute
Who: U.S. Representative Adam Smith, former Seattle City Councilmember Tina Podlodowski, and additional speakers to be announced
When: Friday, April 1st, 2016 | Reception starts at 6:15 PM, main program at 7 PM
Where: Mercer Island Community & Events Center
8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, 98040

I know a billion people in politics ask for your money. But NPI are good people and it looks like a fun event if you can make it.

I saw a countdown clock to St. Patrick’s Day recently that had days, hours, and minutes. I realized that it’s counting down to Midnight on St. Pat’s. I may be a bit of a prude, but I suspect that if anyone is in a bar at 11:59 on an weekday, they’re not waiting on the holiday to start drinking. I mean, I get that it’s a big drinking day but I think there’s time enough to not have to be up to the minute.

Also, please don’t yell “wooooooooooo” right outside my apartment. What? You’ll yell “woooooooooo” wherever you damn well please? OK.

I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather lately, so this Open Thread and possibly future ones will be a bit less than the already (sorry) less than I’d want output.

Well, no supplemental budget. No deal on McCleary. I guess that means mass vetoes. I’m here for it. Hell, he could have pull an Arnold Schwarzenegger* and just do an acrostic with all his vetoes. At this point, he could just write a note that says “Fuck you” and hand it to the sponsor with each veto and still be in the right here.

It also means we get a special session. So maybe the legislators having to deal with Pam Roch and Matt Manweller some more is a fuck you enough.

[Read more…]

I was going to do this post about Inslee’s mass veto threat. Shorter: I’m pro but with reservations because there are some good things he’s probably going to have to veto.

So I went looking for stories on Google News. And all of the stories were kind of a similar summation, or an opinion piece. Fine. In situations where it’s not one particular piece, but just the story, I try to find pieces that aren’t just written by white dudes. It’s a tiny nudge to newsroom diversity (yes, from this white dude writing in a space that’s mostly white and male).

When I looked at the author’s names, I noticed that they were all men, and as far as I could tell, all white. I may have missed someone. But I think newsrooms can do better.

I’m as for a silly list as anyone, and this list of possible new ways to raise revenue for the state is pretty solid. But, it does highlight the absurdity of how far we’re behind on a decent budget. And we all know that a income tax is the only real long-term fix for our current budget woes.

Three cheers for new upgrades for bikes on 2nd Ave. I still think people pretending to be confused about what the bike symbol on the stop light means when the last round came out were pretty awful. So I can’t wait for further dipshitatude.

Still, I hardly ever use 2nd. I see a lot more people on it than it used to have. Still, even though I’ve seen it, used it, and written about it, in a part of my mind, it’s still a 1 way, unprotected thing that drivers don’t use. I know this is wrong, but it still prevents some use from me. Also, I’m walking more than biking nowadays, but that’s neither here nor there.

This Open Thread is more rambling and half-formed than usual. Talk about whatever.

It’s obviously not huge news (I heard it on KUOW yesterday morning, but I don’t see it on their website, and there isn’t anything more current than the link below in a Google Search) but I’m surprised there isn’t more coverage of the legislature’s plan to kick McCleary down the road. Or, more formally: to start a task force.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad there’s even a tiny amount of forward motion. But the decision was 2012. The contempt was 2014. It’s 2016 now. We’re past task force time.

More cameras on buses seems like a no-brainer. Especially since they’ve been effective in the past. So cameras in 80% of Metro buses sounds like a good goal. There may be some privacy concerns with them, but I haven’t heard of the ones currently on buses being abused.

I am not a dog owner, but I know a fair number of HA readers are. So, you really should have been picking up after your dog any way, but now there’s going to be more enforcement of that and of off-leash areas. I’m of 2 minds. On the one hand, there is a lot of dog shit in the parks. Like a lot, a lot. It’s gross. On the other hand, I’m not sure a more enforcement approach is all that great in general.

If you want to name the new street sweeper, that’s cool. Don’t steal my 3 ideas, Farts, Fartz, and Fart Machine. Seriously, though, I’m glad that there’s a civic part of naming the sweeper, and it would be pretty cool to ride in it if you win the contest.