– A bill for the next session would make it easier to fire cops. On the one hand, I’m generally opposed to management being able to arbitrarily be able to fire employees, on the other hand, there are some cops out there who probably need it.
– Over at Defeating the Dragons there’s a multi-part piece on how an evangelical becomes pro-choice. In some ways since I’m not an evangelical it’s not my fight, but since there is so much spill over into public polity, it’s probably necessary. In any event it’s so far a pretty good read.
– I’m still think a special session to get a transit bill is our best hope of not losing Metro fundin, but Ben Schiendelman makes the case that it’s bad news and has a way forward.
– If you’re waving a confederate flag, you’ve lost the argument.
King County is in charge of the unincorporated parts of the county. It is letting some roads return to gravel and they will not be snow plowing them as much.
Why?
Declining property taxes, not enough sprawl and lower gas tax income is not enough to maintain roads and services in the unincorporated parts. Cities have annexed nearby parts of unincorporated King County that generate better taxes and are easy to maintain, leaving the county the hinterlands. ( It’s like charter schools picking out the better students leaving the worse and expensive students to the public school.) The people who live in unincorporated King county don’t want to pay more taxes. So….
(And a factor that must just drive the regulation phobic insane is …)
Listening to the local talk radio, the WA host was say that government welfare where people get support if they meet the numbers is wrong. Those people are not just takers, they are stealers. They cannot help themselves, if it’s available, they just will. Our society must go to an all charity welfare system. Those people need to prove constantly that they are truly needy and are trying to get off welfare and to weed out those people who lazy and the undeserving of charity.
Seems he was setting the ground for calling for massive budget cuts to welfare. Let private charity do it.
Does anyone see problems with this?
One, getting enough charity money to cover what welfare does? Will cash poor states and communities be able to provide for the poor in their communities
Two, capricious charity admins not responsible to the taxpayers or government representatives but to the whim of the patron and whatever the admin lord can get away with.
@2 Well, for starters that quest card that allows people to buy food also allows checkers and shelf stockers in grocery stores to keep their jobs.
Happy Columbus didn’t discover jack-shit day, everyone.
@4 Sure he did. He found a new source of slaves.
@2 Three, such a system would turn our cities into Calcuttas, full of beggars and starving people.
Being a cop is a responsibility, not an entitlement.
@1 Meh. Since when is lack of sprawl supposed to be a “crisis”? A much greater percentage of vehicles are AWD and virtually everything less than a half dozen years old has anti-skid “stability control” (a federal requirement) that makes it almost impossible to get yourself flying down the road sideways unless you’re a dumbfuck who reads the auto-porn mags that gush about the “performance cars” that have a switch to turn it off (referring to that as “launch control”). If there are places out in the boondocks where hardly anybody lives, then why bother to plow the roads? If the conditions are really bad, then either make sure you’re properly equipped and know what you’re doing, or don’t go.
While the “War On Cars” is a myth, the War On Cyclists unfortunately is not.
Sorry folks, cyclists are traffic too.
This is priceless. Bradlee Dean, who, like the puddibigot, believes “Margaret Sanger therefore DIMMOCRAT RACISTS!!11!”, or, ahem, something is the answer to any question of women’s autonomy, said this…
So, genocide via abortion for the brown people “we” “have”, so as to allow a new horde of brown people to be illegally imported so as to take the white peoples’ stuff.
Got it?
Good god, the fear and loathing are just too much sometimes.
Oops, here’s the linky to the Breadlee Dean escapades.
@10. That doesn’t make a lick of sense. I cannot even get my head around the timeline. Culturally, we don’t have the attention span of a goldfish and they are freaking out about something would will generations to accomplish?
Posting here from europe, the republicans have given the chinese a new talking point. Abandon the dollar as the international currency it has been since WWII. The R’s have proven the US is unreliable.
@12
You approach with too much rationality – you must be a liberal, er, libtard.
They are terrified. They are convinced they are in an epic death cage match with the forces of evuuul brownness – a rising tide of Mexicans and MOOSLUMS and liberated women and teh GAYZ that threaten the antebellum fiction in their pointy little heads.
No, they couldn’t possibly formulate a policy to pierce a wet paper bag, but they and their preachermen are howling about satanic conspiracies that ensconced a half-breed bastard of BLACK MOOSLUM miscegenation in the Presidency, hatched half a century ago with the phony birth announcement in the Honolulu Herard.
They can’t imagine that the rest of the world finds them hatefully looney and is steadily marginalizing them – no, for them, the only explanation then is a Rube Goldberg-like contraption of hidden agendas and secret pacts and conspiracies hatched by the Illuminati – and they will fight to the death to preserve Dixie!!
@9 “Sorry folks, cyclist are traffic too”
Yeah, including the middle-aged guy not wearing a helmet who swerved across the front of my vehicle in the middle of the intersection as I was proceeding through a green light yesterday because he was in too big a fucking hurry to use the marked crosswalk 10 feet away or wait for the light to stop traffic and the “walk” sign to come on.
Sorry Michael, but not all cyclists are traffic, some are reckless jerks trying to get themselves killed, and when they do it’s their fault and no one else’s.
I may have to get one of those dashboard cameras that record the driver’s view of the road, so if I ever kill or injure one of these reckless cyclists through no fault of mine, I can defend myself against the lies that will inevitably be spewed in court by the representatives of his estate.
Sorry, Michael, but some of us are frustrated by the bad behavior of some cyclists. I’m not complaining about the law-abiding ones who ride safely. But there are rotten apples in every barrel, and it’s probably a safe guess that a motorist who antagonizes cyclists is someone who has been antagonized by cyclists. I’m not defending the behavior those drivers, it’s indefensible, but this cuts both ways and cyclists who behave badly make things more difficult for their fellow cyclists.
The Fiscal Crisis In A Nutshell
“So if the House wants to continue stabbing itself in the foot and bleeding all over the country, at least it should limit itself to furloughs. That might suggest the country is heading toward banana republic status. Defaulting on our debts would mean that we’ve already become one.”
http://www.businessweek.com/ar.....ult#r=most popular
Now For The Really Bad News
“Here’s a cheerful thought as Congress remains deadlocked over the debt ceiling and the hours tick away toward default: Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who basically forced the shutdown and whose own private polls have convinced him that it has been a glorious success, at this point could probably force a default and global economic calamity on his own if he were so inclined. …
“How could this happen? Because the Senate can move quickly … only by unanimous consent. Let’s say Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) strike a deal … he could drag out the proceedings past [the default deadline].
“‘If a determined band of nut jobs wants to take down the global economy, they could do it,’ says Jim Manley, a former top staffer for Reid. ‘Under Senate rules, we are past the point of no return — there’s not anything Reid or McConnell could do about it.”
The article below goes on to describe how Senate procedures work — and why it’s now too late to stop Sen. Cruz from crashing the economy if that’s what he wants to do.
http://www.businessweek.com/ar.....elf#r=most popular
@15
There are bad drivers and bad cyclists everywhere. However, I’m always amazed by the stupid shit I see cyclists doing in Seattle and Portland. Last time I was in Seattle I almost pegged a cyclist with my car, he was riding on a sidewalk at about 15MPH and blew right through a crosswalk without stopping or looking. In Portland cyclists passing cars on the right while those cars are about to make a right turn are a dime a dozen.
I was just in the upper mid-west, which is cycling central, for 2 and a half weeks. Don’t believe the articles that proclaim Seattle &Portland the cycling champs, Eau Claire & Madison WI, Rochester & Bemidji MN have people on bikes all over the place. You don’t see much, if any, of the stupid, crazy stuff you see in Seattle and Portland.
I really need to add a Seattle/Portland disclaimer when I do posts like #9.
@ 19
Teh House Republicanschanged the rules in midstream to force the impasse we’re at now.
“Only the Majority leader, or his designee is allowed to authorize an amendment to a bill.”
So, they rigged the game, and now are desperately clawing their way out of a hole they dug for themselves, and are doing so by declaring victory.
Fuckin morons.
Media reports this afternoon say Chimp’s recent stent operation was more serious than previously known; he had a “life threatening” 95% artery blockage.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/.....8C11392770
@20
Thank you for that.
I’m very sympathetic to cyclists, and occasionally one myself.
That said, I am astounded and appalled at the antics of many cyclists in this city. I love being screamed at by cyclists that have just done something astoundingly aggressive and stupid, often without a helmet, that nearly got them killed on my bumper, when it was impossible for me to see the more than 0.01 seconds prior to impact.
Sheesh.
@10 Speaking of Larry Klayman, the guy who defiled the WW2 memorial in D.C. with his presence …
A court recently ordered Klayman to pay his ex-wife $325,000 in attorney fees. Klayman appealed, but a judge tossed it out. What’s interesting, however, are a couple nuggets buried in the judge’s ruling …:
“{¶23} In his third assignment of error, Klayman argues that the magistrate’s finding that he engaged in inappropriate touching of his child was against the manifest weight of the evidence.
“{¶24} A judgment supported by some competent, credible evidence will not be reversed by a reviewing court as against the manifest weight of the evidence. C.E. Morris Co. v. Foley Constr. Co., 54 Ohio St.2d 279, 376 N.E.2d 578 (1978). A reviewing court must not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court where there exists some competent and credible evidence supporting the judgment rendered by the trial court. Myers v. Garson, 66 Ohio St.3d 610, 614 N.E.2d 742 (1993). Where the decision in a case turns upon credibility of testimony, and where there exists competent and credible evidence supporting the findings and conclusions of the trial court, deference to such findings and conclusions must be given by the reviewing court. See Seasons Coal Co. v. Cleveland, 10 Ohio St.3d 77, 80, 461 N.E.2d 1273 (1984); Cohen v. Lamko, Inc., 10 Ohio St.3d 167, 462 N.E.2d 407 (1984).
“{¶25} The issues raised by Klayman involve credibility assessments made by the magistrate. Klayman challenges these findings. The magistrate heard evidence from the children’s pediatrician who reported allegations of sexual abuse to children services, and from a social worker at children services who found that sexual abuse was ‘indicated.’ Although the social worker’s finding was later changed to ‘unsubstantiated’ when Klayman appealed, the magistrate explained that the supervisor who changed the social worker’s finding did not testify. The magistrate pointed out that he was obligated to make his own independent analysis based upon the parties and the evidence before him. In doing so, the magistrate found on more than one occasion [Klayman] act[ed] in a grossly inappropriate manner with the children. His conduct may not have been sexual in the sense that he intended to or did derive any sexual pleasure from it or that he intended his children would. That, however, does not mean that he did not engage in those acts or that his behavior was proper.
“{¶26} The magistrate further found it significant that although Klayman denied any allegations of sexual abuse, he never denied that he did not engage in inappropriate behavior with the children. The magistrate further found it notable that Klayman, ‘for all his breast beating about his innocence * * * [he] scrupulously avoided being questioned by anyone from [children services] or from the Sheriff’s Department about the allegations,’ and that he refused to answer any questions, repeatedly invoking his Fifth Amendment rights, about whether he inappropriately touched the children. ‘Even more disturbing’ to the magistrate was the fact that Klayman would not even answer the simple question regarding what he thought inappropriate touching was. The magistrate stated that he could draw an adverse inference from Klayman’s decision not to testify to these matters because it was a civil proceeding, not criminal.
“{¶27} After reviewing the record, we find no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in overruling Klayman’s objections regarding the magistrate’s finding that Klayman inappropriately touched the children.”
http://blogs.citypages.com/blo.....ildren.php
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Hey, I’m not saying Larry Klayman “inappropriately touched” his own children. All I’m saying is an appeals court upheld a magistrate’s finding that he did. It’s clear from this excerpt that Klayman claimed innocence. He also claimed Obama is a Muslim. Obama says he’s a Christian. It all comes down to who you believe, a guy who was elected twice by the American people, or a slimeball who a court determined inappropriately touched his own children.
@23
I have a pet theory that everyone in the upper-midwest is secretly stoned, it’s the only way you can explain how mellow people are (Green Bay excluded), all the snack foods, and putting Nutella on everything.
But yeah, I’m a transportation cyclist advocate and I cringe when I hear people talk about Seattle. Madison, WI or Ames Iowa are much better models to look at. But, they’re not hip “it” cities…
Klayman was born in 1951, according to Wikipedia, which means he was in his 20s during the 1960s, but I can’t find anything that says he served in the military.
This is what Klayman says on his website about the magistrate’s finding that he “inappropriately touched” his own children:
“Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and now Freedom Watch, and a former Justice Department prosecutor, has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Ocala Division) (Case No. 5:13-cv-267-oc-10-PRL) against Cleveland family court magistrate Lawrence Loeb, alleging hate-filled religious and other forms of discrimination and dishonesty.
“As set forth in the complaint, which asks for $3 million in damages, Klayman alleges that Loeb issued false findings of fact and viciously portrayed Klayman in a derogatory way to harm his personal reputation and career as an activist attorney and religious conservative. In an unprecedented 93 page singled spaced opinion, which reads like an ad hominem attack, it is alleged that Loeb mocked and belittled Klayman’s religious beliefs as a Jew who believes in Jesus Christ, and made a false finding that Klayman had ‘inappropriately touched one of his children,’ when in the fact of Cleveland Department of Children and Families and the local district attorney had investigated these false charges by Klayman’s ex-wife and found that no such thing had occurred. Moreover, Klayman had voluntarily taken a polygraph test and passed, while his ex-wife refused to. The false charges are alleged to have conveniently been made by Klayman’s ex-wife only after Klayman had filed a custody petition.”
http://www.larryklayman.com/article130616.php
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Off the top of my head, I don’t think he can sue the magistrate; I would guess the magistrate has judicial immunity from such suits.
Klayman also claims on his website to be the founder of the Tea Party movement.
He also claims Obama is a Muslim.
@25 Don’t the cops there burn seized marijuana plants in the same incinerators that generate their electricity?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/d...../lightbox/
@15
Not sure of the specifics of your recent situation with a cyclist but if you’re implying that they wait for a pedestrian signal that’s not right.
A cyclist is not a pedestrian, they are a vehicle. Not only that, but cyclists are afforded “special” privilege if they are indeed in a crosswalk. Come to a four way unsigned intersection, the bicycle ALWAYS has the right of way. I’m not stupid enough to try to demand that from an oncoming several tons of metal but if I’m in your neighborhood and I have to stop for you when we approach an intersection that isn’t signaled, the car has committed a vehicular offense. Similar to so many asshole drivers (Greenwood Ave comes to mind) who will blow by a pedestrian waiting at the corner, a car is required to stop for a bicycle.
At least every 2 weeks I get screamed at by a driver for legally hand signalling a left turn, moving to the far left lane and proceeding through the intersection when safe. I’d say 50-60% of the time I make this 100% correct maneuver a driver will either lay on their horn or yell at me through a window.
One more time. Cyclists are, under traffic laws, cars as well as protected pedestrians.
That said, there are a lot of dumb ass cyclists whose culling from the herd might be helpful.
@31 I had been stopped for a red light at the intersection. The light turned green and I started through the intersection on a straight line of travel. He came from the right, blew a red light, and cut across the front of my vehicle.
If bicyclists want to be considered vehicles instead of pedestrians, then they should obey the rules of the road applicable to vehicles. I’m not aware of any law that says cars always must yield to cyclists. To the best of my knowledge, a cyclist who blows a stop sign or red light is breaking the law, and if he gets hurt as a result, is negligent for liability purposes.
One thing cyclists must realize, if they want to live long and healthy lives, is that car drivers’ eyes are calibrated to car-sized objects and don’t even see the bike. Assuming the driver sees you is a good way to end up injured or dead.
The left turn maneuver you describe is the right and legal way to do it. A cyclist making a left turn obviously can’t make the turn from a bike lane to the right of the vehicle. The cyclist has to get into the center car lane, just like a car does, to make a left turn. I don’t understand why a driver wouldn’t comprehend this. Drivers who honk at you for doing that aren’t thinking, and these roadhogs also honk and swear at car drivers who “impede” them as they go on their merry way.
Unfortunately, most of the people using our roads and streets turn off their brains when their driving or riding, which is why we have a thriving accident industry. Nowadays, a lot of them aren’t even looking, they’re texting.
Many years ago, I was traveling south on the Alaska Way Viaduct, in the left lane, doing 50 mph, coming up on the Kingdome exit. A driver in the center lane and slightly ahead of me abruptly decided to take that exit and made a left turn across my lane. There was no way to avoid a collision. I reflexively slammed my brakes and swerved onto the exit ramp, keeping her to my right. I had probably slowed to about 35 or 40 when I hit her just behind the driver’s seat, at a flat angle, it was much more of a sideswipe than tee-bone collision, and that kept my vehicle from pushing her vehicle through the rail. We both would have been killed for sure if we had gone through the rule. Nobody got hurt and both vehicles were repairable. I got her to sign a written admission of fault at the scene, and her insurance company took care of my damage without resistance. I didn’t chew her out, but I told her she was lucky to be alive.
It’s a sad day when protest organizers have to condemn their own protest. The organizers of yesterday’s veterans march did just that.
http://thinkprogress.org/polit.....-shutdown/
Sorry if the post is old news, I work nights.
Second Amendment Report (TM)
Alan Gottlieb gets owned by Piers Morgan.
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/.....a.cnn.html
@34 Rightwing extremists have long tried to portray Democrats as anti-military and create an impression that active duty soldiers and veterans are conservatives. But veterans, like other citizens, have a range of political views. And no one can really say what the political views of active duty troops are, or which party or candidates they support, because federal law forbids political polling on military bases.
Possibly the most famous (notorious?) example of a rightwing attempt to hijack veterans for partisan propaganda arose out of the 2005 VFW National Convention, when veteran Bill Moyer wore a cardboard “Bullshit Protector” on his ear. The photo was legit; the caption claiming Moyer was reacting to a speech by Ted Kennedy was a manufactured lie. In fact, the speaker was George W. Bush, and Moyer was angry at Bush’s V.A. policies. Last year rightwing propagandists took another stab a circulating the same photo with a new false caption that substituted Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden for John Kerry.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/earflap.asp