– For the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, Paul Constant writes one of the greatest love letters to Seattle I’ve ever read.
– Sure, Paula Deen is the Michael Sam of cooking? [h/t]
– I’m opposed to any expansion of gambling (although I recognize that I don’t, and shouldn’t, have any say in tribal gaming). But I’d prefer if people could make better arguments than oh no, it would be near an Air Force base (Spokesman-Review link).
– Finally the Seattle Streetcar gets ORCA readers, and I can not be vaguely confused about what I ought to do even tough I’ve both talked to people and read the webpage.
– The Seattle Aquarium has a new fur seal.
Arizona governor vetoes RETHUG anti-gay bill. Says all the business owners she talked to said the bill was BAD FOR BUSINESS.
Senate Republicans have blocked a Democratic bill that would enrich health, education and job-training programs for the nation’s 22 million veterans.
It’s A Matter Of Priorities …
In 2012, Texas slashed $16 million from its state budget for volunteer firefighters, then asked for millions in federal emergency aid.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/po.....re-budget/
In 2012, a Texas school district spent $60 million on a high school football stadium.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/spo.....39851.html
Dishonest Bully Cops Indicated
A major problem with forfeiture laws is they give dishonest cops a powerful incentive to terrorize innocent citizens in order to seize their property.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us.....ons-n40406
Roger Rabbit Commentary: This is hardly the first time that forfeiture laws have been abused. A couple of Texas border towns became notorious for shaking down black motorists driving through their towns.
Can there still be any doubt that America’s Toughest Sheriff (TM) is a racist who panders to a racist constituency and hangs out with racist rightwing politicians?
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/la.....ast-n40096
This innocent citizen was killed by stupid cops who couldn’t tell the difference between a handgun and a spray nozzle on a garden hose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6S7LRrCru8
Roger Rabbit Commentary: The jury verdict in favor of the family against the Long Beach, California, police department in this case was $6.5 million. But that doesn’t give the victim his life back. Cops in America are too violent, too trigger happy, too quick to use force. The militarization of our municipal police forces must end.
I want a Super-compact Folding E-Bike For Short Commutes for my birthday.
Wanna buy a lightly used air craft carrier?
The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) has a slight radiation problem
The carrier we can write off. Maybe sell it to China as scrap metal which they can then ship back to us as structural steel.
Then what about the sailors? As a group they are going to need a lot of medical help and for years to come.
In the mean time lets keep running those antiquated Fukushima style reactors we have scattered around the country. Because, you know, the chance of an accident is quite small.
From Feb. 25, 2014
717,000 is close to 10% of our state’s population. Yep, the exchange sure isn’t working here. (Snicker Snort)
@9 When did facts ever slow down a Republican propaganda campaign?
Democrats should run campaign ads this fall saying,
“REPUBLICANS WANT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR OBAMACARE!”
and then see what happens.
EPA Moves To Stop Pebble Mine
“The Environmental Protection Agency took the first step Friday toward possibly halting construction of the largest open-pit mine in North America, declaring that Alaska’s Bristol Bay — home to the most productive sockeye salmon fishery on Earth — must be protected.
“‘Extensive scientific study has given us ample reason to believe that the Pebble Mine would likely have significant and irreversible negative impacts on the Bristol Bay watershed and its abundant salmon fisheries,’ EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters Friday morning.
“‘This process is not something the agency does very often,’ McCarthy said in announcing her agency’s decision to use the power granted to it under the Clean Water Act. ‘But Bristol Bay is an extraordinary and unique resource.'”
http://www.latimes.com/nation/.....1162.story
Roger Rabbit Commentary: The Pebble Mine, if built, will be the largest open-pit mine in North America, and directly upstream from Bristol Bay, a salmon factory that produces half of the world’s wild sockeye salmon.
The proposed mine site contains the largest known undeveloped copper deposit in the world, and also would produce huge amounts of gold and molybdenum. The recoverable minerals there are thought to be worth $300 billion at current prices. But the ores are low-grade, and would mining would require processing billions of tons of rock, creating gigantic amounts of mine tailings and toxic waste water that would be stored in impoundments. The mine would directly threaten the Bristol Bay salmon fishery.
The politics of the mine mostly split along party lines. Arrayed against mine advocates, who are supported by Republicans, are environmentalists, commercial fishermen, and Native Americans, who are supported by Democrats.
The Pebble Mine just doesn’t make sense. Bristol Bay’s salmon, worth about $1.5 billion a year, are irreplaceable. There are other places to dig for copper, gold, and molybdenum. The mine is a time-limited enterprise that might operate and provide local jobs for 50 or 60 years. Bristol Bay can continue feeding people all over the world in perpetuity if we don’t allow it to be destroyed by mine pollution.
As usual, Republicans are short-sighted. They invariably side with the rape-ruin-and-run crowd, and with profits-for-a-few at the expense of the general welfare. That’s not something I would vote for, and I don’t see how anyone else with a conscience or common sense could vote Republican, either.