[UPDATE!!! Just got word that the Montlake Alehouse is closed tonight due to equipment failure.
Tonight’s Seattle DL has been moved to Elysian Fields, down by Qwest Field. Why there? Good beer, and plenty of room.]
The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.
I know the local news today is probably going to be dominated by our impending climatic doom (ie, it might snow) but if the forecast holds up we should be getting our usual rain until well past last call. So I fully expect the usual crowd.
Not in Seattle? Washington liberals will also be drinking tonight in the Tri-Cities and Vancouver. A full listing of Washington’s eleven Drinking Liberally chapters is available here.
NOTE:
The inaugural meeting of the Mercer Island chapter of DL will be held tomorrow, Jan 10, 6:30PM at the Islander Pub, 7440 SE 27th Street, Mercer Island. I know the DL calendar says they meet at the Roanoke Tavern, and I understand they plan to meet there in the future, but at least for this week it’s at the Islander.
bill says: Bloomingdale’s and Burdines are both owned by Macys which is in the process of rebranding those stores.
Burdines an Bloomingdales are STILL operating under their own names, with their own brands. I stand behind 8 vs 2, but 5 vs 2 is just as damning.
Thanks for making my argument FOR me, bill:
bill says: With double the rate of bachelors degree or higher and almost double the median income, I would disagree with your off hand ’same demographic’ statement.
SEATLE: DOUBLE THE MEDIAN INCOME AND 2 PIDDLY DEPARTMENT STORES
Thanks for making my argument FOR me, bill:
bill says: A department store is nice, but having a place to work is a bit better. How many high tech jobs are there in Tampa?
And yet is STILL 5 (8) vs 2.
Furthermore, not only do you prove my point with your false premise, you are just plain WRONG:
Avionics, Defense & Marine Electronics
From homeland security to avionics to marine electronics, Tampa Bay region has many centers of excellence which support these industry clusters. The University of South Florida’s Center for Ocean Technology, which has been a leader in MEMS research and development and has been using the technology to collect biological and chemical data to monitor water quality, provided underwater technology for port security at the 2004 Republican National Convention. USF’s Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue used its miniature robots to assist rescue teams at Ground Zero following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Tampa Bay is home to United States Central Command which directs military operations in Afganistan, Iraq and the middle East.
Tampa Bay has been called “Wall Street South” for the size and scope of its financial services industry. Tampa Bay’s financial services cluster is the largest in the state of Florida and ranks 20th in the nation in terms of domestic employment. The size and scope of this sector has drawn many service vendors to the region to support the financial services industry.
Worldwide organizations which have a major presence in the Tampa Bay region included JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., Raymond James, MetLife, State Farm, and Progressive Insurance
Tampa Bay is home to hundreds of medical technology companies, including medical device manufacturers and suppliers, pharmaceutical firms, cutting-edge biotech companies and information technology firms with a healthcare-related component. Tampa Bay ranks in the top 20 nationwide for medical device manufacturing clusters. The industry employs more than 10,000 people with an average wage in excess of $49,000 and produces over $2 billion worth of goods and services for an economic impact of more than 51,000 jobs and $5 billion.
bill says: However, you are neglecting stores such as REI and upscale businesses in this region that are not chains.
You don’t get out much do you, Bill? REI is a limited market SPECIALTY store.
bill says: In addition, the greater Seattle area is getting a Neiman Marcus
Uh huh.
How long has it been since we LOST Saks Fifth Avenue? How long has it been since they buried Frederick and Nelson?
But, OK. I get that you’re feeling unhappy with the Tampa comparison.
Seattle repeatedly and happily compares it self to San Fransisco so let’s look:
San Fransisco:
Population, 2005 estimate 739,426
High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000 81.2%
Bachelor’s degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000 45.0%
Median household income, 2003 $51,302
Seattle:
Population, 2005 estimate 573,000
Percent high school graduate or higher: 89.5%
Percent bachelor’s degree or higher: 47.2%
Median Family Income 2005 $72,250
They have airports/ we have airports.
They have seaports/ we have seaports
They have military bases/ we have military bases
They are a coastal city/ we are a coastal city
They are a tourist destination/ we are a tourist destination
They have major league sports/ we have major league sports
They have a major university/ we have a major university
GOT IT?
San Fransisco / Seattle: Demographically almost identical.
San Fransisco:
Nordstrom
Macys
Neiman Marcus
Saks Fifth Avenue
Dillards
Bloomingdales
Seattle
Nordstrom
Macys
and a promise of Neiman Marcus [snicker]
8 vs 2
6 vs 2
So why is it this (formerly great) city of Seattle can only manage to attract 2 piddly department stores (one of which is homegrown) while Tampa, with a less marginally educated, and lower median income population can manage to attract and keep EIGHT FUCKING DEPARTMENT STORES???
So why is it this (formerly great) city of Seattle can only manage to attract 2 piddly department stores (one of which is homegrown) while San Francisco, with a nearly identically educated, and somewhat lower median income population can manage to attract and keep SIX FUCKING DEPARTMENT STORES???
Monday, January 08, 2007
Ellison’s Chance to Show What He is Made Of
Rep. Keith Ellison’s Excellent Opportunity
To: Congressman Keith Ellison, Fifth District, Minnesota
From: Interested Americans
Re: Your great opportunity
You have been elected to serve the Fifth District of Minnesota in the United States House of Representatives. This is a crucially important opportunity, not only for all of your district’s constituents, but also for Muslims in America — even Muslims worldwide, who watch American politics with close attention.
You are in an unprecedented position: the political point man for Islam in this country. As our only elected Muslim in national office, you have the heavy burden and the unique responsibility to aid the cause of Islam in its endeavor to become the religion of conciliation.
There is no doubt that you, as our sole Muslim member of Congress, could bring to bear a high level of influence on Iran and other Muslim countries, in order to make the situation for women in these countries more humane.
If you were to use your bully pulpit to speak out about the plight of women under sharia law — especially in Iran and Pakistan — you would be a powerful influence for good.
Your wife is a professional, a teacher of mathematics. She has obviously been a helpmeet and an equal in your rise to national office. To make the politics into the personal, consider the alternative fate of your wife, her career, and her life, were she living in a Muslim theocracy such as Iran. As you well know, her existence would be precarious and her career non-existent. You have only to question former professional women like Iranian expatriate Manda Zand Ervin, the founder and president of the Alliance of Iranian Women, to know that your family’s Muslim identity and security in America do not flow from the ideas laid down by the Muslim Brotherhood. Instead, your family’s safety originates here, in your native country, where all women have the access to the same opportunities your wife has used to educate herself and to contribute to the commonweal of Minnesota and of the United States.
Muslim women in other countries live under the yoke of a draconian hatred towards women qua women. Their original sin lies in being born female, and thus being worth half the value of a man.
– – – – – – – – – –
This law is not something your leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi, would understand or condone.
Thus, Rep. Ellison, your public stance on the predicament of Muslim women is vital to the progress of reforming the view many Americans have of Islam at the moment. The news from Afghanistan and Iran is unutterably sad: the number of women choosing suicide over the prospect of living under sharia is increasing dramatically. A nine-year-old girl chose self-immolation rather than face a forced marriage that meant a lifetime of virtual slavery. Can you imagine your child faced with such a choice?
Many women in Iran are in prison awaiting execution by stoning or hanging for the crime of being raped. Often these are rural women who do not speak Farsi, and have been inadequately represented in court. Some of them had to have their sentences explained to them after the fact.
You have emphasized your Muslim beliefs by choosing to take your oath of office using the Koran. With this public emphasis on your religion, it is imperative that you follow through on this symbolism with vital action on behalf of Muslim women everywhere.
Why not begin in Iran, where women like and support our country, where people have begged the United States to intervene on behalf of the homeless children and the underage sex slaves who are sold into lives of degradation in other Muslim countries?
With many others, I await your response to your historic calling.
Dymphna Gates of Vienna
Any citizens who wish to encourage Rep. Ellison may contact his Minnesota district office here:
The Hon. Keith Ellison
250 Marquette Avenue, Suite 225
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
Phone: (612) 664-8000
Fax: (612) 664-8004
Mail to Congressman at their offices in Washington is slowed considerably due to the anthrax quarantine. However, phone calls and faxes are effective; use the numbers below.
Phone: (202) 225-4755
Fax: (202) 225-4886
Update: I should have mentioned that this open letter is part of a group effort. The idea for it came from No Apology, to whom we owe a hat tip.
I am not holding my breath that Keith Ellison will do the right thing here, but it does give everyone a good chance to see what he is made out of and exactly what side of Islam he stands for… the moderates or the radicals.——spree
Hey Goldy,
As a staunch Liberal, do you belong to the Union that represents Radio entertainers, for your one night show? In fact, how many Unions do you currently belong to? How many have you belonged to? Did you hire 100% Union members for your Off Broadway Musical Flop?
There’s a new development being built in Bellevue that’s going to include a full-up Neiman-Marcus. I think that’s a great thing–being based in Texas (where the people are larger, along with everything else), they sell stylish clothes for people of any size.
So far as I know, it’s still going to be quite a while before we won’t have to go at least to Portland to get to a Saks.
Hey, the Montlake Alehouse has wi-fi, doesn’t it? It might be interesting some time to try “podcasting liberally” as a live stream.
Union Fireman @3,
KIRO employees, formerly represented by AFTRA, decertified themselves in 2005. So it is no longer a union shop. I’m also a part time employee, so I’m not sure if that would have qualified me for union membership.
So no, I’ve never been a member of a union, and have never had the opportunity to join one. My mother was a union member; that’s about as close as I come.
ArtFart says: There’s a new development being built in Bellevue that’s going to include a full-up Neiman-Marcus.
OMG!!
LMAO
So, it’s not the almighty and formerly great city of SEATTLE with its pathetic TWO PIDDLY department stores that’s getting a Neiman-Marcus… it’s BELLEVUE!
That is hysterical… and perfectly makes the point.
LMAO!
fireman @ 3
So you have to knock Goldy in an effort to make yourself feel better than he? What point are you trying to prove?
You have never been creative enough to write something that anyone would back with cash and bring to the stage, let alone wipe their ass with it.
You are an ignorant slug with, apparently, the brawn required to lift a ladder but you are not in posession of the brains with which to properly use it. You criticize wholly unrelated elements of Goldy in a misguided, and failed, attempt to attack him. How, exactly, does writing a play or a Chanukah story relate to Goldy’s politics? What point are you trying to make? Well, other than proving once again what kind of moe-ron you really are.
Feel free to Google any words or phrases that your cro magnon brain did not grasp. I bet your parents are so proud of their ignorant bully of a son.
So tell me “fireman” do you get hard every time you get to turn on the siren or slide down the pole?
What a wanker you are. Fucktard.
auntieliberal/JCH:
You sure seem to be interested in upscale department stores. Are you hoping to get a job in one selling ladies under garments? Or childrens clothes perhaps? It has to be one or the other. You are a Republican and we know all of them are perverts in one form or another.
@1 How is not having as many department store brands as Miami “damning”? Does Miami have as many Rembrandts as SAM? I know it has more gangsters and Haitians.
@2 Why the fuck should Ellison represent wingnuts in Congress? The whole point of electing him was so wingnuts wouldn’t run Congress anymore! Wingnuts LOST in Ellison’s district … and wingnuts LOST control of Congress … and wingnuts aren’t running things anymore! Which part of this don’t you understand, LOSER?!!
The mysogynist, racist, rightwing agenda of hate is passe. The wingnuts are done. Toast. Kaput.
@3 Hey union fireman, do you hate the union responsible for your union pay and benefits? Do you shirk paying dues in order to freeload off your dues-paying co-workers? Why do you bite the hand that feeds you? Did you bite your mommy’s tit, too? How long have you been a tit-biter? How does your significant other feel about this? Do you have a high bandaid bill every month?
@4 Well hey, it’s about time Kemper Freeman did something about the department-store gap! We can’t afford to let Miami get ahead of us! This should be an issue in the next election. JFK won in 1960 because of the missile gap; maybe we can win in 2008 on the department-store gap!
7 “makes the point”
What point? Is there a point to this somewhere? How many people is Neiman-Marcus relevant to? Besides Republicans, I mean, and they don’t count.
The interesting thing about Bellevue’s new Neiman-Marcus store is that it will employ lots of retail clerks who won’t make lots of money. In fact, Bellevue’s commercial development is bringing in lots of lower-earning office and retail workers — who live in Bellevue close to their jobs. This is the dynamic that is turning Bellevue into a Democratic town, and adding more office and retail space accelerates this dynamic. Soon, GOP-held congressional and legislative districts east of Lake Washington will be only a memory for the wingnuts.
Roger Rabbit rarely attends DL because I don’t want to get squished hopping across Montlake Avenue!
Unscramble those few remaining brain cells and get out of the hutch-hootch you fucking moron.
The subject was… pay attention now mini-muff..
HOW THE FUCK A PROGRESSIVE, MASSIVELY RICH CITY LIKE SEATTLE CANNOT COMPARE WITH THE POORER TAMPA see there, mini muff TAMPA, not MIAMI, NOR DOES IT COMPARE WITH THE CITY IT ASPIRES TO BE, SAN FRANCISCO, DESPITE THE FACT IT HAS A HIGHER MEDIAN INCOME AND 10,000 MILLIONAIRES.
You are truly pathetic when your sole argument is to change the fucking subject, mini muff.
The bottom line, mini muff, is that you can’t answer because to answer is to prove the point that this formerly great city is now little more than a backwater enclave of warmed over hippies.
bill says: Then realize, that since florida get the majority of its income from sales tax, the largest majority of income is from out of staters.
Thanks again for the aptly, if inadvertantly, proving the POINT:
Statewide, the Florida sales tax rate is 6%
The current total sales tax percentage in Hillsborough County (Tampa) is 7%.
Statewide, the California sales tax rate is 7.25%
The current total sales tax percentage in San Francisco County is 8.5%.
Washington’s state sales tax is 6.5 percent. It applies to some services as well. 6.5% base + 0.5 to 1.7% local levy
King County tax is up to a whopping 8.8%
Well, golly pardner, just think of the sales tax revenues King County could bring in if those 10,000 millionaires could shop at HOME.
18
Your level of idiocy is truly staggering. If your point (which is highly elusive) is that somehow having fewer chain department stores in Seattle than in Tampa reflects poorly on Seattle, then not only are you incapable of thinking but your values are all fucked up as well. I don’t choose to live in a particular metropolitan area because of the available shopping opportunities; indeed, I stay the hell away from areas (like Dallas, for example) that put a premium on shopping. We have a different, more outdoor-oriented, culture here. Given your distaste for this area, I would suggest you move once you have completed your probation and can legally leave the state.
bill says: you also need to figure out the number of shoppers in those stores chosen demographic which gets artifically pumped up by tourism.
note to bill:
http://www.cityofseattle.net/html/visitor/
http://www.visitseattle.org/
http://www.experiencewashington.com/
http://www.enjoyseattle.com/Seattle3.html
http://www.portseattle.org/com.....ment.shtml
note to stupid leftist… you daddy doesn’t need a hug, he needs another kick in the balls so he doesn’t procreate, particularly with the deaf, dumb and blind chihuahua again.
World class cities have world class shopping.
Former world class cities have world class morons named proud leftist.
AntiLib, I’m not sure I see that you have much of a point, other than the one you put your hat on. Are you trying to tell us that there are more department stores in places that are solidly Republican? Then San Francisco doesn’t make a very good example.
If you think Florida is so terrific, fine…go live there. I’m sure we all hope you, Brother Jeb, Katherine Harris, the spiders, snakes, hurricanes and “self-propelled logs” will all get along just fine.
So Seattle doesn’t “put a premium” on shopping?
You might want to mention that to Nickels, Pikes Market and the forces that keep it open and busy at night and on Sundays.
Poor little downtown in Tampa has the lights turned off every day by 7.
World class cities have world class shopping.
Former world class cities have world class morons named proud leftist.
#8,
Wow, sounds like I hit a nerve. I asked a simple question. Why attack me? Is it because of the level of hypocrisy? Goldy, by not working at a Union Shop, is doing exactly what he claims he hates. He is contributing to the downfall of Unions and the working class. That was the only point I was trying to make. I did not spew hatred towards him. I did not make false accusations towards him. I asked him a few questions, using his own words.
Roger,
I don’t hate my Union. I love it. I proudly display my IAFF (AFL-CIO) sticker on all of my vehicles. In fact, I have been working with out E-Board in an appointed official manner for a little over 2 years. I have fought with City Council, the mayor and state legislators (All Democrats I might add) to ensure the Wages, hours and working conditions of our members.
The point of my post, and asking about his admitted broadway flop (I am the co-author of an Off-Broadway musical flop (and I have the bad review in The NY Times to prove it,) and the developer and publisher of the world’s most widely pirated rhyming dictionary software for Windows, Macintosh and Palm OS.) was to demonstrate that he has made choices in the past, and currently, that have contributed to the downfall of the working class.
Goldy, you continue to promote the Walmart model, by choosing to work part-time and as a non Union member. The very attacks that you have made towards Walmart and other work forces, you have helped make happen.
Attack me all you want, but at least I pay my union dues, work hard for my members and continue to fight for the rights of firefighters not only in my local, but statewide as well.
The point you fucking moron is that Seattle does not attract and cannot keep retail business.
The point you moron is that cities with less people, less income and less education manage to attract and keep them
There was never a mention of “republican” cities you fucking moron, nor “liberal cities… just the point that this lousy, formerly great city and its fucking moron citizens like you delude yorselves into THINKING and feeling it is a world class city.
It is not.
And, anyone that would like it to be must ask themselves what it is about this formerly great city that does not allow it to compete with a backwater like Tampa or its idol San Fransisco.
Christ on a crutch, do you people ever get out?
Roger @ 13,
Oh yeah, and a poll of our members concluded that almost 50% of our local vote republican. All of those polled, are regular dues paying members. If I failed to pay my dues, then I would not be a member in good standing, and could not hold the current position in our Union Administration that I do.
Frederick and Nelson
Caswell Massey
Ernst
Lamonts
Payless Electical Supply and Hardware (Bellevue)
Mervyn
Brennan Brothers
Alberstsons
Johnny’s
All G O N E from this ‘world class’ city… and tha’s just off the top of my head… how many others G O N E and never replaced?
JUST ANOTHER FRIENDLY REMINDER TO YOU WINGNUTS TO DRIVE YOUR GAS-GUZZLING, POLLUTING SUV’S TO YOUR FAVORITE RIGHT-WING WATERING HOLES. EVERY EXTRA OUNCE OF FUEL YOU WASTE GOES RIGHT INTO OSAMA AND FRIEND’S POCKETS SO THEY CAN CONTINUE TO PLOT TO KILL AMERICANS. JUST OF THINK OF IT AS A JOBS PROGRAM FOR WINGNUTS. GEE ITS BEEN OVER FIVE YEARS AND WE STILL HAVEN’T NAILED THE BASTARD. OH YOUR DEAR LEADER IS JUST NOT THAT CONCERNED ABOUT HIM. HE’S TOO BUSY TRYING TO FEED MORE BODIES INTO THE MEAT-GRINDER HE STARTED.
ArtFart @ 22
Perhaps we should take up a collection for antilib so that he can move out of this area he so detests. I would guess that he has no spare income such that he might finance a move himself. All of his dues to internet porn sites really strap him.
A-L: HERE’S AN X-RAY OF YOU.
Every ounce of fuel we BUY puts cold hard cash in the coffers for the Olympia criminals-in-power to WASTE
28 Let’s not forget
Larry’s Markets
Tradewell Stores
Food Giant
Chubby and Tubby
Thurman Plumbing & Electric
Warshall’s Sporting Goods
And on and on…if you’re having trouble think up some more, pick up a copy of Clark Humphrey’s book.
The sad part that you don’t understand proud left, is that I am arguing for more commerce because I do love this area and I remember how great can be compared to how pathetic it is now compared to lesser cities.
Your ilk, however, has exposed your true selves. You don’t want what’s best for this formerly great city, you only want the OPPOSITE of what anyone who does not share your “progressiveness” wants, even to the detriment of the city.
Ditto the state.
Ditto the country.
Ditto the world.
Shame on you.
antilib
Your ability to reach conclusions without a shred of evidence is breathtaking. You have no clue who I am, what I want for this city, etc. Yet, you come to conclusions concerning those issues anyway. I have been to most of the large cities in this country, and to many of the “world class” cities elsewhere around the globe. Seattle is truly among the most livable of any of them, and most objective observers would not argue otherwise. We are at the height of our cachet now; characterizing this city as a “formerly great city” makes me wonder what planet you call home. A city achieves greatness not by aping other cities–with the same big-box stores, the same central planning strategies, the same cultural milieus–but by recognizing and emphasizing its uniqueness. We have much to be proud of in that regard. Our physical setting, of course, is an almost unmatchable asset in comparison to other large metropolitan areas. Our mix of people and our connection to Asia also contribute to our identity. Having a Saks Fifth Avenue downtown would add absolutely nothing to Seattle’s status. You are utterly blind to what makes this area an outstanding place to live. I would live nowhere else. Of course, I wouldn’t mind if the Mariners turned things around this year.
“Seattle is truly among the most livable of any of them, and most objective observers would not argue otherwise.”
Then why is it that most City employees live outside of the City? Maybe because they can’t afford to live there, due to the high cost of living and the high taxes.
the Olympia criminals-in-power
OH A-L HAVE THEY BROKEN THE LAW? I AGREE – THE LAWS OF YOUR WINGNUT FILTER THAT YOU’VE WASTED A LIFETIME CONSTRUCTING IN YOUR WALNUT SIZED BRAIN.
WHY DON’T YOU TRY ARRESTING THEM? ARE YOU BY CHANCE ONE OF THOSE WHACKO MILITIA TYPES? JUST DECLARE A COUNTRY OF YOUR OWN AND JAILING ANYONE YOU SEE FIT. THAT’S SURELY THE TICKET FOR A WINGNUT LIKE YOU.
UF
I’m referring to Seattle’s greater metropolitan area, not just the city itself. In any event, the high cost of living is a function of the city’s desirability–in a market-driven society, such is unavoidable. With regard to “high taxes,” I don’t hear many residents complaining about the tax burden. Most Seattle residents have no problem paying taxes that maintain the city’s livability. Other people with different values may refuse to live within the city limits because they don’t want to pay taxes for such things as art museums, parks, and relatively safe streets. That is their prerogative in a free society.
You were probably still in Pampers when ‘Places Rated’ put Seattle as #1 the most liveable and enviable city in the country.
Gosh, where is it now?
Large Cities:
Charlotte, NC
Cincinnati USA
Denver, CO
Fort Worth, TX
Jacksonville, FL
Kansas City, MO
San Diego, CA
San José, CA
Tulsa, OK
Mid_Sized Cities:
Birmingham, AL
Columbia, SC
Grand Rapids, MI
Jackson, MS
Richmond, VA
Riverside, CA
Santa Rosa, CA
Saint Paul, MN
Saint Petersburg, FL
Winston-Salem, NC
Regions:
Greater Sacramento, CA
Marquette County, MI
Memphis/Shelby County, TN
Tacoma-Pierce County, WA (OUCH! That’s gotta hurt!)
Traverse City Region, MI
Of course, I also remember when Pittsburgh overtook Seattle as #1…. it was after all the Califuckers came here by the droves.