Can someone explain to me why the Mayor of Seattle is proposing gun control legislation that would have done nothing to prevent the recent incidences of gun violence? I’m no gun nut, and I’m for laws that will do some good, and more importantly, I’m in favor of enforcing current gun laws. The difference between an “assault weapon” and a regular weapon can be nothing less than a flash suppressor, a bayonet mount, and a high capacity magazine. I’ve shot an assault weapon; they’re really, really fun to shoot. I don’t understand why my liberal friends want to defend the Bill of Rights, but ignore the second item on the list.
GM’s new hybrid is ugly as sin. Detroit is going to continue to get its ass kicked by Toyota if they build cars like that.
Heheheh… ECB knocks down bullshit from The New Republic’s Ryan Lizza. Expect more to underestimate Pelosi in the coming months.
Jimmy, please please please don’t die!
Senate Democrats are going in for the kill in ’08.
I don’t see Rep. Dave Reichert handling minority status all that well.
I’d like to say I did my part as well.
From what I remember about this guy, I don’t think he’s going places. I guess we now know it was always about politics.
It’s easy to cut state spending in half, Goldy — just get rid of education. All of it. Keep ’em barefoot and stoopid so they’ll work for $1 a day. Wingnuts have all the answers.
Funny how Gregoire is able to grow state spending by 12% without raising taxes. Must be all that POPULATION and INCOME growth piling into our state.
Of course, if you’re a wingnut, you want to pay 1897 taxes (dollars, not %), which is fine if you’re content to drive on 1897 roads: http://tinyurl.com/wtocj
And educate our kids in 1897 schools: http://tinyurl.com/y7lyj3
Click here for photo of wingnut economy: http://cghs.dadeschools.net/sl.....cking2.jpg
One of the great bloggers is packing it in for now.
http://www.michaelberube.com/
The web is a little less enjoyable today.
Dear Will,
I was never in any danger other than directing myself towards a nearly impossible crossing of a creek under the snow. Thus, I had to hike. Uhhhhgg… I had to use the snowboard as a climbing tool!!!
Fortunately, I had friends laughing at me nearby. Of course, they were the ones depending on me the week before when they were lost!
Jimmy (I am a bootbacking animal)
Hey Will,
It was Eric Earling’s turn for an ass-whoopin’ today.
Goldy –
The ugly GM vehicle you link to is not a hybrid (as per the article)
Thanks@8 The only thing I would add to that takedown, would be to go a little further afield and take on the “Modified Marshall Plan” aspect of the chimpsters latest plan. . .for anything like this to function in Iraq it would require some sort of infrastructure of competent, honest men of good will to implement. In all honesty, how can you call the wide assortment of partisan crooks we have on the ground there now anything like competent to do anything but steal such a program blind like they have every other initiative like this we have introduced.
@8 Time Magazine analyzed what “The Surge” means here: http://tinyurl.com/yfjemd
Bottom line: The additional American troops will be used to conduct house-to-house searches for militants and weapons.
That means …
More U.S. casualties
More Iraqi civilians killed by U.S. troops
Higher potential for atrocities against innocents
This is the WORST CASE SCENARIO that U.S. military planners worried about: Urban guerrilla warfare. This kind of warfare neutralizes all of a superpower’s military advantages. Control of the seas and the air mean nothing; tanks and artillery are useless. It forces troops to fight on a prepared battlefield, on ground chosen by the enemy, at a time of the enemy’s choosing, and on the enemy’s terms. It is an infantryman’s nightmare, because it is man-to-man battle where the kill ratio is pretty much one of ours for one of theirs. And it is warfare that cannot be won, only bled in.
@9 I know Will. I’d like to say Will is a friend of mine. Will is no Goldie. Goldie did not provide that link!
On Air America’s Ed Schultz Show this afternoon, Schultz pointed out that Bush chose an ADMIRAL to run a ground war, which only makes sense if he’s planning to expand the theater by launching a war against IRAN from aircraft carriers and other naval forces.
As the Time article points out, what “The Surge” strategy means is that the neocons have regained the upper hand in influencing Bush’s military policies.
HEY ROGER IT WORKED FOR YOU FUCKING IDIOT
Roger Rabbit says: Funny how Gregoire is able to grow state spending by 12% without raising taxes. Must be all that POPULATION and INCOME growth piling into our state.
You truly are a koolaid swilling moonbat…. and a deaf, dumb and blind one at that.
Let’s compare this pathetic city with one that has similar demographics… and in some instances falls below your beloved pathetic city: Tampa Florida and the Tampa Bay “area” vs Seattle and the Puget Sound “area”
Tampa/Tampa Bay:
·3.8 million residents in 7 counties
· 147,000+ businesses
· 1.9 million in workforce
· 37,000+ new jobs created last year (most in the state of Florida)
· 12th largest media market in U.S.
Percent high school graduate or higher: 81.48%
Percent bachelor’s degree or higher:21.74%
An innovative labor force of more than 1.8 million people in a market that attracts 185+ new residents each day.
Median household income $44,318
Seattle/Puget Sound
3.5 million residents in 4 counties
Good luck finding Seattle/Puget Sound business/workforce info… I couldn’t, although I got bored looking… but I digress
2004 Total Employment:1,672,600
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? Demographically we are almost identical.
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???
Seattle (the formerly great city):
Nordstrom
Macy’s
Tampa
Neiman Marcus
Macy’s,
Dillard’s
Sak’s Fifth Avenue
Robinsons
Nordstrom
Burdines
Bloomingdale’s
I’ll tell you why.
Tampa and Florida anre Business and citizen friendly while Seattle (the formerly great city and Washington (the once great state) are absolutley, most definitely NOT business and citizen friendly:
Them:
No county corporate income taxes
No state personal income taxes
No local personal income taxes
No inventory taxes
No corporate franchise tax on capital stock
No state ad-valorem taxes on goods in transit
No state or local payroll taxes
Statewide, the sales tax rate is six percent
The current total sales tax percentage in Hillsborough County (Tampa) is 7%.
The State of Florida assesses a vehicle use tax annually. Annual passenger car licenses range from $28.10 to $46.10 based on the weight of the car.
Florida does not levy an annual excise tax on motor vehicles.
Us:
The state of Washington does not levy a personal income tax.
Neither does the state collect a corporate income tax. However, Washington businesses are responsible for various other state levies.
The foul B & O taxes: The Business and Occupations (“B & O”) tax, imposed on gross income, is often a significant burden, since it applies equally to companies that are losing money and those that are operating at a profit. The sales tax, which accounts for nearly half of the state’s tax revenues, is also relatively high. Washington recently was ranked 19th among the states in terms of the per capita tax burden, despite not having income or franchise taxes.
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%
Passenger car or trailer renewel currently licensed in Washington:
$3.00 filing
$.75 license service fee
$30.00 State license fee
Vehicle Weight fee based on scale weight –
0-4000 pounds $10.00
4001-6000 pounds $20.00
6001-8000 pounds $30.00
PLUS RTA/Sound Transit tax of .003% of market value if you live within the RTA boundaries.
THAT is why 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.
AND they don’t even have a damned “thriving” downtown or ridiculous parking/driving/ bum problems we do.
EIGHT FUCKING DEPARTMENT STORES.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....38124.html
Re. the comic strip, Mallard Fillmore (he’s a duck, get it?): “Why is this comic strip in my newspaper? I know we feel like we’re helping Republicans, when we pretend they’re as smart as regular people, but it’s patronizing, and it only hurts them in the long run.”
re: 17. Earnst T Bass, you should probably read something other than the huff and puff before you start claiming how smart you Libtards are. By the way Slyvester Reyes was chosen by are new stretched face American Nanny. Nancy Pelosi.
Democrat flunks his first intelligence test
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....eyes13.xml
Ellison is either an ignorant fool who doesn’t know/care about TRUE history or more likely, believes YOU are!
What Thomas Jefferson learned from the Muslim book of jihad
There is no doubt Ellison was right about Jefferson believing wisdom could be “gleaned” from the Muslim Quran. At the time Jefferson owned the book, he needed to know everything possible about Muslims because he was about to advocate war against the Islamic “Barbary” states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli….
Jefferson had been right. The “medium of war” was the only way to put and end to the Muslim problem. Mr. Ellison was right about Jefferson. He was a “visionary” wise enough to read and learn about the enemy from their own Muslim book of jihad.
ALLAH AKBAR!
@15 So we’re not as great a city as Tampa because we don’t have as many department stores? Is that how you judge a city — by how many DEPARTMENT STORES it has?
On the subject of business taxes, I agree Washington’s tax structure sucks. According to the Gates report, small business carries 41% of the state/local tax load in our state, compared to 30% in other western states. Not exactly business friendly. Obviously, to fix this you have to shift taxes from small businesses to big corporations like Boeing or Microsoft (not fucking likely) or individuals. Equally obviously, it’s wrong (and impractical) to shift taxes to low-income households that are already paying 4 times as much of their income as high-income households. The solution is … EUREKA! … replacing the B & O tax and 6.5% state sales tax with an income tax that shifts taxes from (a) small businesses and (b) low income households to (c) high income households that are currently underpaying.
Are you with me on this? If not, SHUT UP about business-unfriendly taxes because you’re causing it not fixing it.
@15 P.S., here are Seattle-area department stores you overlooked:
Sears
Ross
Mervyn’s
Marshall
Arguably you could also include in this category:
K-Mart
Fred Meyer
Target
@15 (continued) So are you arguing that Seattle doesn’t have much shopping available? What about …
Southcenter
Northgate
Alderwood
Bellevue Mall
That’s 4 major malls right off the top of my head, plus there’s assorted smaller but nonetheless substantial ones such as Crossroads, Aurora Village, etc.
No shopping in Seattle … yeah right …
re: 20 you want to include all of those plus several wal marts in Tampa? Your brain does match one of a rodent.
@15 Hey Auntie Looney, why don’t you come right out and admit it: You want Washington to mirror Florida …
Low wages
Right-to-work laws
Racial discrimination
Elections controlled by GOP machine politics
Yahoos with confederate flags on their pickups
Hey if you like that shit so much why don’t you move to fucking Florida? Your friends here on HA will help you pack!
you fucking moron
those are NOT upscale DEPARTMENT stores… they are discount and mid-level chains that are equally and far too available in BOTH cities…
they cancel each other out much like the way your mini-muffin brain cells have been cancelled by too much hutch-hootch.
Christ on a crutch, only you would equate a K-mart with Neiman Marcus.
Roger Rabbit says:
Elections controlled by GOP machine politics: See the Washington State Governors Election of 2004. When you are in a hole rabbit quit digging.
22: We have right to work laws in Washington as well rodent. You should try it.
The only fraud committed in the 2004 Governor’s election was RUPUBLICAN
Take your own advice, wingtard!.
A million and a half dollars, to prove what? REPUBLICAN VOTER FRAUD!
How’s that court case working out for you, Wingtard!
In 2000, Seattle had 10,000 millionaires, leading the NATION in number of millionaires per capita…
and yet this pathetic, piss poor citty has TWO FUCKING DEPARTMENT STORES AND A DELUSIONAL RABBIT BRAGGING ABOUT SEARS AND K-MART!!!
“Gee Mr Gates, nice suit! Pick that up at Mervyn’s did ya?? What’t that? OH right! I did hear they closed their doors in Seattle”
22: racial discrimination. You should talk to Christine Gregoire about how she refused to let Black Women join her soriety in college. Then you should look at the percentage of blacks/minorities in our government (Seattle especailly) and talk to me about discrimination. Also we are at the lowest percent of blacks compared to the total population in the United States.
You are such a spin doctor idiot rodent. Did you take your lessons from Goldy?
Hey, Wingtard. We Do Not Have Right to work laws in Washington. The closed union union shop is alive and well, thank you.
Funny about those pesky facts, FOOL!
RE: 26. Listening to treefrogs drives me nuts too, I can see where you are coming from.
Half of what you wingtard’s spew is an out an out lie, and the balance is divided between being a semblance of the truth and bullshit.
33; Come back when you grow up and have some facts instead of insane libtard rhetoric.
ROB:
FACT: YOU’RE A LOSER!
Lemme see, now, wild assertions about voting fraud, disproved in a court of law. Hmm. Attacks on Pelosi on her appearance. Hmmm. Lies about the legal structure of Washington. Hmmm. Looks more like insane wingtard rhetoric to me.
Rob, your tenuous grip on reality is amusing. . .and TYPICAL WINGTARD! It’s this sort of foolishness that delivered both houses of Congress to us. . .keep it up and you will deliver the Presidency as well!
While we’re extolling Florida’s virtues, let’s not forget …
Crime
Corruption
Bad traffic
Worse schools
Overcrowding
Ethnic tensions
Economic stress
High cost of living
Hurricanes
In fact, Florida is such a great place PEOPLE ARE LEAVING! According to Time magazine (Nov. 19, 2006),
“Census Bureau data show that in each year since 2000, on average over 20,000 more residents have left Miami … than have moved there from other parts of the U.S. Immigrants from other countries … are the only reason Miami’s population is still growing.”
Florida may be business-friendly, but it’s sure as hell not worker-friendly, retiree-friendly, or young family-friendly:
“There’s Trouble–Lots Of It–in Paradise
“Sunday, Nov. 19, 2006
“By TIM PADGETT
” … Miami’s necklace of pearl beaches and aventurine waters long distracted residents from the city’s notorious imperfections. Crime and corruption were a small price to pay, people told themselves, for an otherwise affordable … paradise.
“That logic may no longer apply … the city’s old dysfunctions have been joined by … economic pressures on Miami’s middle class and retirees[,] … traffic jams, half-built high rises, struggling schools. And … they are … leaving town. …
“A retiree moving away from Florida might seem as odd as an Everglades egret flying north for the winter, but [Brenda] Powell … says she has had enough. ‘Miami has become an overcrowded mess,’ she says. ‘It takes me an hour to drive less than 10 miles.’ Joseph and Teresa Burke and their four children are also moving to North Carolina. … The Burkes watched … insurance … on their … house skyrocket from $3,500 a year in 2000 to $17,000 today. ‘I’m leaving everything I’ve known my entire life,’ says Joseph, … who runs a small … business. ‘But if the rest of the country was based on the same out-of-whack economic-fluid levels Miami’s on these days, America would be a Third World banana republic.’ …
” … Fred and Linda Adam … just sold their home … and are moving to … Honduras. ‘We could hold on to our house,’ says Fred, 57. But Miami’s spiraling cost of living means ‘we couldn’t afford the other things we like to do … [w]e’d be twiddling our thumbs.’
“Today Miami is the least affordable metropolitan area in the U.S. It has one of the highest median house prices … [b]ut a heavy reliance on … low-wage service jobs has given Miami one of America’s lowest household median incomes … and the country’s highest proportion of renters and homeowners who spend 30% or more of their pay on housing.
“It probably doesn’t help the morale of working-class residents that Miami has a way of shaking its wealthy side in your face. On many mornings, rush-hour drivers on packed causeway bridges between Miami and Miami Beach have to idle their engines … as the drawbridges raise for yachters on their breakfast cruises from nearby celebrity islets.
“The competition to stay afloat hasn’t improved ethnic tensions, either. …
” … [T]he Miami-Dade school … system has a dismal 45% graduation rate ….
“Even though the city of Miami has the third worst poverty rate in the nation, there have been few credible attempts to help the lowest earners find housing. One problem is weak government oversight of development …. ‘Planning is disdained as the enemy here,’ says Gihan Perera, director of the Miami Workers Center. Local anger boiled over recently at a housing scandal that Perera’s group helped … expose: Miami-Dade’s government housing agency paid millions of dollars to politically connected developers for low-income projects that were never built or were used to construct private condominiums instead. ‘This is a greedy city,’ says Yvonne Stratford, 52, an unemployed seafood-warehouse worker ….
” … [A] private community-development project, recently asked some 1,600 randomly selected residents to list what they thought were the top ‘Miami values.’ What was the No. 1 value? Corruption. ‘[Miamians] don’t trust their leaders or each other,’ says the group’s founder ….
” … Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez says …[,] ‘The structure of government here often doesn’t work ….” Alvarez argues that the citizens of Miami are ready to help take their city back. He points to a recent $3 billion bond issue that voters approved for massive infrastructure improvements, a half-penny tax to build up their virtually nonexistent public-transit system, and a new $400 million downtown performing-arts center. ….”
Quoted under Fair Use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://tinyurl.com/yynr8o
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Omigod!!! Voters in Florida’s crown-jewel city are raising taxes on themselves because their city SUCKS!!! Maybe you shouldn’t move to Florida after all to escape Washington’s high wages and sales tax! Maybe you should do a little research next time, before you embarrass yourself by posting BULLSHIT.
If I’m not mistaken, they have poisonous snakes in Florida too, not to mention alligators crawling into people’s swimming pools.
@16 anti-liberal says: AND they don’t even have … ridiculous parking/driving/ bum problems we do. …
01/08/2007 at 10:04 pm
Oh, but they do! And drawbridges too, just like ours, only worse because more people down their have yachts and yachts have the right-of-way over cars. See #38 above.
Well, Roger, looks like you get the nightshift. I gotta do my slave at zerodarkhundred.
20 “Jefferson had been right. The ‘medium of war’ was the only way to put and end to the Muslim problem.”
Don’t stop! You’re giving me ideas on how to put an end to the Republican problem.*
* Just kidding! I don’t really want to exterminate illiterate wingfucks who can’t spell big words like “an” (as in, “put and (sic) end to the Muslim problem”). It’s a fucking JOKE, ya know? The kind of joke Ann Coulter loves to tell, and wingnuts love to repeat! If you guys can do it, why can’t I? I live in the same country you do, so the rules should be the same for me.
44 Rest easy, friend, HA is in good paws.
@24 Tell me what you want from a department store that you can’t buy in Seattle.
P.S., mail ordering to dodge the sales tax doesn’t count.
@26 We have perfectly adequate produce departments, and that’s all I worry about! But I have a question … what do you want to buy from a department store that you can’t get in Seattle?
Crime
Roger Rabbit says:
While we’re extolling Florida’s virtues, let’s not forget
Corruption
Bad traffic
Worse schools
Overcrowding
Ethnic tensions
Economic stress
High cost of living
Hurricanes
Were you describing Florida or Seattle rodent?
Re: 48. You must have been describing Florida, you left out Volcanos and Earthquakes. Sorry my mistake. You also left out Gary Alexander putting 200 murderers back on the street so it must be Florida you were talking about.
@27 I’ll be happy to debate that one all day, rob. I agree we don’t run our elections like Florida runs theirs — thank God! We don’t …
… have a crooked governor and secretary of state who removed nearly 60,000 legal voters from the rolls because they’re black;
… allow polling place challenges of voter registrations by party operatives;
… have thousands of votes simply disappear in touch-screen voting machines (except in Snohomish County);
… let party operatives disenfranchise military voters (http://tinyurl.com/jv9nf);
… etc.
Yada, yada, yada … I’ve heard and read all the talking points you guys have about the “stolen” 2004 election … every single one of them is BULLSHIT. Rossi and the GOP spent millions contesting the election in court … and LOST. If there was any truth to your claims, don’t you think their lawyers would have brought them to the attention of the hand-picked Republican judge in the hand-picked Republican county who shot down their contest? You guys are full of shit! The only votes proved to be fraudulent were for Rossi, and the hand-picked Republican judge in the hand-picked Republican county deducted them for Rossi’s total. LOOOOOOSERS!!!
Roger Rabbit says:
Yada, yada, yada … I’ve heard and read all the talking points you guys have about the “stolen” 2004 election … every single one of them is BULLSHIT. Rossi and the GOP spent millions contesting the election in court … and LOST. If there was any truth to your claims, don’t you think their lawyers would have brought them to the attention of the hand-picked Republican judge in the hand-picked Republican county who shot down their contest? You guys are full of shit! The only votes proved to be fraudulent were for Rossi, and the hand-picked Republican judge in the hand-picked Republican county deducted them for Rossi’s total. LOOOOOOSERS!!!
I have no problem with the outcome of the election Rodent. I am sure that you have no problem with the outcome of the election in 2000 that went all the way to the supreme court of the United States do you ?
Of course you do, you lost that one and the courts don’t matter anymore.
Libtard=Hypocrite.
Don’t fuck with me rodent you will lose everytime.
Let’s review:
Legitimate winner of 2004 election: http://tinyurl.com/y6h8d7
Loser of 2004 election: http://tinyurl.com/59kr6
53 “Don’t fuck with me rodent you will lose everytime.”
“everytime”? Why don’t you start with “first time” and work up from there.
Bush is legally the president. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, I’m simply saying what is.
Rodent you are too ignorant for words. I have said on this night and several others that Gregoire won..Rossi lost. My statement on whatever number it was is that the election system in King County is run by the Democrat Machine. I have also said that George Bush won in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio and numorous other states in 2004.
All of the above has been proven in court.
Do you have a problem with that?
28 Wrong. Washington does not have a “right to work” law. This is a union shop state. You don’t have to belong to a union to work in a union shop, but you do have to pay a “shop fee” to the union so that you’re helping to pay the overhead costs of bargaining for the union wages and benefits you enjoy by working in a union shop, so that you’re not freeloading off your co-workers.
Let me ask this simple question: Where are living standards higher, in “right to work” states or union shop states? Most “right to work” states are in the South, along with the lowest minimum wage rates. Not coincidentally, the southern states tend to have the lowest incomes and the most poverty.
@32 So what’s this department store fetish of yours? Are you too good to buy your carrots and lettuce in a fucking grocery store? We have PIKE PLACE MARKET for God’s sake! If you don’t like it here, move to fucking Miami.
56: you are still to ignorant for words. I hire union and non union workers everyday. If this was a union shop I couldn’t do that and I don’t have to pay any fee’s to some union retard.
I have never heard of what you are talking about so I am sure you made it up like most of what you spew.
33 “You should talk to Christine Gregoire about how she refused to let Black Women join her soriety in college.”
Gregoire didn’t refuse to let black women join her soriority. She didn’t run the sorority, lamebrain! She was just a member of it. She had no say in that policy, in fact objected to it, but some people criticized her for not quitting a sorority with discriminatory policies.
Me, I think the whole Greek system is a piece of shit. I prefer colleges that don’t have fraternities or sororities. I have gone to both types of schools and the academic environment is much better if you don’t have the Greeks around. They’re nothing but rich kids’ drinking clubs.
61: Gregoire was president of the sorority you imbecile.
60 Just because you haven’t heard of something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or isn’t true. Sheesh. Do you think the fucking universe orbits around you?
62 Not when she joined, dolt! And if you’re implying she instigated the sorority’s racial policy, that’s just plain BULLSHIT. If you’re insinuating that Gregoire is/was a racist, that’s bullshit too.
The truth is the sorority CONCEALED its policy from Gregoire and the other pledges:
“Gregoire says she and her fellow Kappa Delta recruits were not told about the whites-only policy until just before their initiation. ‘We all felt lied to, because no one told us anything … [w]e were angry and … offended.'”
http://tinyurl.com/yhl8kh
The Seattle Times article quoted above goes on to say that Gregoire considered quitting, but decided to work to change the rule. As a chapter president, she had some leverage with the sorority’s national conference; if she had walked away, she would have had none. The sorority ultimately did scrap its whites-only policy.
Gregoire chose that sorority because of its emphasis on academics and leadership. It was one of the nation’s first sororities, and is a large national organization that started in the South. Gregoire certainly had nothing to do with its racial policy, nor was this sorority’s policy unique. Back in the 60s many Greeks discriminated against minorities. If you’re going to impugn Gregoire for belonging to one, then you have to impugn nearly everyone over the age of 40 who ever belonged to a fraternity or sorority.
P.S., BAD NEWS for wingnuts — a SurveyUSA poll last month shows Gregoire with a 55% approval rating! Eat shit, trolls! http://tinyurl.com/ylbemf
re: 63: For one thing I have heard that spin before. Let’s take it for face value. Gregoire applied for and was accepted to an ALL WHITE, ALL CHRISTIAN sorority and she didn’t know it was all white and all Christian. Is that what you are saying? She then went on to accept the office of President in an ALL WHITE, ALL CHRISTIAN sority and refused membership to black women. Are you still saying she didn’t know what she was doing? If you are right I am so glad this ignorant person is our governor aren’t you?
64: Is Gregoire running for office in Mexico?
Please, please, please, Republicans — run your real estate salesman against Gregoire in ’08! Let’s compare resumes:
Rossi …
-B.A. in real estate management.
-Worked for r.e. broker who went to prison for defrauding widows and orphans of their life savings.
-Worked for same broker after he got out of prison.
-Supervised 1 part-time janitor briefly while in college.
-Ran 2 small apartment buildings.
-Served 1 term as state senator after losing first campaign for state senate.
-Worked on 1 state budget.
-Most noted achievement was kicking 40,000 poor kids off Basic Health.
Gregoire …
-B.A. in speech and sociology; law degree.
-Worked her way up in state government from clerk-typist to social worker to lawyer.
-As assistant attorney general, worked on cases involving abused and neglected kids.
-As appointed head of Ecology and elected attorney general, managed two state agencies with multimillion-dollar budgets and over 1,000 employees each.
-Elected state attorney general 3 times.
-Personally argued several cases in U.S. Supreme Court.
-As lead negotiator for all 50 states in tobacco litigation, won largest legal settlement in human history, bringing $4.25 BILLION to Washington taxpayers.
-Other noted achievements: Broke state’s transportation deadlock in first legislative session while governor; restored Basic Health to the 40,000 kids Rossi took health care away from; proposed education improvements; helped expand state’s civil rights laws.
Bottom line: Gregoire, who came from modest roots, is one of the most dynamic, productive, and accomplished politicians Washington state has ever had; Rossi is a big fat zero (not to mention a whiny sore loser).
65 “she didn’t know it was all white and all Christian. Is that what you are saying?”
yes – do you have a reading comprehension problem?
What part of “the sorority CONCEALED its policy” didn’t you understand?
51 Where volcanoes hit is a bit more predictable than where hurricanes hit. See Mt. Rainier over there? See that big mudflow coming down its side? Don’t build on top of it, dipshit.
Re: 68. That’s comforting, she was presdent of a sorority and didn’t know it was ALL WHITE AND ALL CHRISTIAN. She’s a smart one.
51 (continued) But hey, you got a point about earthquakes. We live in an EARTHQUAKE ZONE!!! In fact, the Seattle Fault runs right under our butts. And earthquakes are totally unpredictable … for you humans, anyway. Dogs, cats, and of course, rabbits can sense when one is coming. And frankly I don’t give a rat’s ass about earthquakes … if one collapses my burrow I’ll just dig another one … takes about 1/2 hour. Tell you what though. When I sense the Big One coming, I’ll let you know — if you promise to stand under a brick wall.
70: Actually all scientists say that volcanos can’t be predicted while hurricanes are tracked on radar for days before they hit.
You liberals love to make things up.
56 I’m not the ignorant fuck who tried to compare Washington elections with Florida elections. See #27.
59 Whoop-de-doo so you don’t run a union shop. Why is that not a big fucking surprise?
@59 (continued) I kinda wonder if you run anything … most working people aren’t blogging at 1:15 AM.
re: 74 I was, they were both decided in court. Do you have a problem with the courts?
76: does that mean you don’t work?
@71 Still have reading comprehension problems, I see. What part of “Gregoire says she and her fellow Kappa Delta recruits were not told about the whites-only policy until just before their initiation” didn’t you understand? All of it, it seems.
RE: 75 , caught you lying again rodent. Now tell me one more time about Washington being a Union shop?
73 Are you saying the radar boys can tell us whether, when, and where ‘canes will come ashore days in advance? Bullshit. Are you saying critters don’t get squirrely before an earthquake? Bullshit.
Humans have noticed the ability of certain creatures to detect incoming earthquakes for many centuries. Scientists have long debated whether we detect P-waves or low-frequency electromagnetic signals or piezoelectric effects on deeply buried quartz crystals or what have you. All these theories are a crock!
Wanna know my secret? I can SMELL that bastard coming — just like I can smell a Republican coming … a foul stench precedes its arrival.
80: uhmm yeah they can. They were pretty accurate with the hurricane force winds we had here. As for your smelling ability, I can smell too and I smell a democrat apologist spin doctor.
Like I told you before, don’t fuck with me you will lose evertime.
With or without your crystals… moonbat.
77 Changing the subject now, I see. The discussion had nothing to do with courts. You tried to compare Washington elections with Florida elections. There is no comparison. Nobody in Washington purged 57,900 eligible voters off the registration rolls by falsely claiming they were ineligible felons — all of whom happened to be black. Nobody in Washington bussed in party workers to stage a violent riot to keep election workers from counting ballots. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission did not issue an official report finding Washington violated federal civil rights laws. Washington voters, by and large, did not have to vote on antiquated voting equipment that did not record votes. The list of irregularities in Florida in 2000 is almost endless. I won’t bother to catalog them all here. It isn’t necessary. Florida was a cesspool of partisan manipulation of the election by GOP officials and party operatives. The whole thing stank to high heaven.
78 That’s right.
82: Since none of what you just said was proven in any court of law, I will just take it as more liberal whining.
Asshole rabbit, you do know that that case went all the way to the supreme court and none of what you are whining about was proved to be true.
Please don’t go into the Kennedy Assanation or the World Trade Center with your paranoid conspiracy theorys.
Why the fuck should I work? There’s no incentive to work in this country! Workers are treated like shit. Cheap-labor Republicans want to pay workers like shit, too. And the government taxes the shit out of wages while giving a free ride to unearned income. To wit:
The first $2.5 million of inheritances aren’t taxed, while less than $10,000 of a single worker’s wages are exempt.
Workers pay FICA taxes on all of their wages; heirs and investors pay FICA taxes on none of their inheritances, capital gains, rents, dividends, or interest — even if it’s in hundreds of millions.
Wages are taxed at nearly double the rate that capital gains are taxed.
Business owners can deduct their Hummers, yachts, corporate airplanes, hotel bills and restaurant meals, and even skyboxes in sports stadiums as “business expenses”; workers can’t even deduct their bus fare to work!
Our society fawns over and worships rich heirs and CEOs who make off with billions, while treating workers with contempt.
Why the fuck should anyone work? More to the point, why the fuck should I work? I worked for 40 years, plus I fought a war. That’s enough! Now I live off the fat of the land. Like the old-time Democrats used to say, “I’m a Democrat so I can live like a Republican some day!” Well, for Roger Rabbit, “some day” has arrived — I now live like a Republican, i.e., I do no work! I pay no FICA taxes! I don’t have to kiss anyone’s ass!
However, if YOU would like to kiss MY ass, call 1-800-LICK-ROG for a good time!
79 I didn’t say Washington is a union shop. I said Washington is a union shop state, and doesn’t have a right-to-work law. What part of that don’t you understand? All of it, it seems. In addition, you apparently have no clue what a “union shop state” is.
81 Uhhh no they can’t. Take Katrina, for example. Damn thing swerved at the last minute. They all do. You know for several days they’re coming, but you usually know where they will come ashore only a few hours ahead of time.
83 The fact you were born hasn’t been proved in a court of law either, so does that mean you don’t exist?
That was the most ignorant rant I have read in awhile but it is typical with Libtards. I fought the same war you did asshole and I don’t believe anyone owes me anything for doing it. That is the difference between me and you. You can kiss my ass.
87: us humans have a birth certificate moron.
@83 (continued) Now here’s the really interesting thing about comparing Washington 2004 with Florida 2000. Both elections went to court, but in 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court SHUT DOWN all the recounts and state and federal lawsuits that had been filed, and in effect said, you can’t recount the votes and you can’t litigate whether the election was stolen. In 2004, the issue of whether the election was stolen WAS litigated and the only thing the losing side proved was their candidate got 4 fraudulent votes. So these situations are exactly opposite. One was blocked from being recounted or litigated, and the other was recounted and litigated.
There’s another important difference between Florida 2000 and Washington 2004: What Democrats said about Florida being stolen is true, and what Republicans said about Washington being stolen is false. But I’m not going to spend all night hashing through that debate and the voluminous evidence that supports my statement on both counts.
90: I am not sure how you could be anymore of a hypocrite. Like I have said in time infinitum. I have no problem with either of the court outcomes.
What liberals can’t stand is if the court rules against them. You and your little friends should really get over it. It isn’t going to change. You can act like little bitches and whine into the next century.
You just have to grow up and realize you lost asshole.
88 Well I think someone owes me something for fighting it. Namely, the state credits my military time for the purpose of computing my state pension, because that’s the law. Of course, when I was in the military, I had no idea that I would later have a career in state government or get a state pension someday. In fact, I wasn’t even aware back then that military time counts for state pension credit. But it does, and since every other veteran gets it, why shouldn’t I? Why should I be singled out for less favorable treatment?
I got some other veterans benefits, too. For example, I got G.I. educational benefits, which helped me attend law school and take some miscellaneous college classes like accounting. And I got some minor medical care at the VA hospital right after I got out. Hey — if a war veteran is entitled to these things, why shouldn’t he/she get them?
It’s up to you whether you claim YOUR veterans benefits, although if you’re claiming that you didn’t, I’ll bet you’re lying. I’ll bet you’d take a Purple Heart, too, if they gave you one — just like Kerry did. I knew a warrant officer who got 3 Purple Hearts for minor wounds, just like Kerry did. The first time, an AK-47 bullet cut off the tip of his nose. The second time, an AK-47 bullet clipped his ear lobe. The third time, an AK-47 bullet grazed his head. Luckiest fucker I’ve ever met, one more inch and he would have been dead 3 times. I hope that guy’s been buying lottery tickers since he got out of the service.
As far as GM’s new “hybrid” is concerned….looks ok to me.
I think the Scion looks far uglier, yet apparently young people think they are “cool”.
BTW, calling an electric car a “hybrid” is a misnomer.
87 A birth certificate isn’t issued by a court, jackass. Hey I’m just feeding your own rant back to you. Didn’t you say something about the theft of the 2000 election not being proved in court? Well, your birth certificate hasn’t been proved in court either, has it? So, according to you, that proves you don’t exist.
rodent, my whole college education was paid for (as far as it would go) with education benifits. I am not going to talk about medals here.
My point is that I got everything that was promised to me. I do not want for anything from anyone for my time in the service.
As I recall you also implied you work, by saying something about hiring people. Well, it’s 2 AM and most working people aren’t sitting a computer at 2 AM arguing with a fucking rabbit. If you work, then you must be working the graveyard shift in the BIAW’s basement boiler room. I’ll bet they hired a guy just to keep one fucking rabbit busy — and you’re him! See what I’m saying? Work sucks, there’s no incentive. I do this for fun. I’ll bet you do it for money, poor sap. Doing it for money takes the fun out of everything. Even fucking isn’t much fun if you have to do it for money — at least, according to what your wife told me.
antiliberal,
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.
In addition, the greater Seattle area is getting a Neiman Marcus (better known as attracting business). You might want to check your list, Bloomingdale’s and Burdines are both owned by Macys which is in the process of rebranding those stores. So, three of your upscale chains vs 5 in reality.
However, you are neglecting stores such as REI and upscale businesses in this region that are not chains. How about industry?
A department store is nice, but having a place to work is a bit better. How many high tech jobs are there in Tampa? Truth be told, you wont find many at all, mostly because the revenue for the state is so small, that their education is lagging far behind the rest of the nation. Look at that median income again, a large majority of that state is working at minimum wage jobs based on tourism.
When you come down to it, that really is why Tampa has that many department stores in the first place, snowbirds shop.
Nice try though.
95: I own my own business and even when I didn’t sometimes I would stay up late. You must understand the problem I have with the democrat Nanny State and my Ex Wife. My currant wife understands me, the NANNY STATE never will.
Excuse me if sometimes I stay up late and humiliate liberals.
Ratworth, it has a gas engine to run a generator to charge the batteries, hence the hybrid label.
94 See? You took your veterans benefits, didn’t you! You just said, “my whole college education was paid for (as far as it would go) with education benifits.”
Now this is a very interesting statement, so let’s analyze it in detail. First of all, you specifically referred to a “college education” but anybody who spells “benefits” as “benifits” either didn’t graduate from college, or went to Podunk Valley Community College where they didn’t have any graduation standards, or you went to college recently and our colleges have been “dumbed” way down since I went. Because let me tell you, the university I went to wouldn’t graduate you if you didn’t pass freshman English, and I had a freshman English prof who wouldn’t pass you if you turned in papers with misspelled words, and we didn’t have Spell-Check in those days.
Second, my G.I. benefits didn’t pay for my “whole” college education or anywhere near it. So either you fought a different war than I did, or you lived with your mom while going to Podunk Valley Community College where the tuition is real cheap and you didn’t have to buy any books because your older brother gave you his. It didn’t work that way for me. The WW3 vets, I’m told, got everything paid for (and college was a lot cheap then, too). And when we went to the Volunteer Army after Vietnam, they tripled the soldier pay and quadrupled or quintupled the education benefits — they had to, to induce people to enlist, after they couldn’t resort to slave labor by conscripts anymore — so the post-Vietnam peacetime soldiers got a much better deal than those of us who slogged through Nam. I got $130 a month, which was later raised to $175 a month. That was it. Well, not quite. As I recall, the state gave a tuition discount to Vietnam veterans, although it wasn’t a real big one, but when you’re trying to go to law school on $130 a month every little bit helps. But these things didn’t come close to paying for even a third of my education and I had to go deeply into debt to graduate from law school, even though I was working too.
So, I really gotta wonder if you’re telling the truth, because (a) you don’t spell like a college graduate, and (b) you don’t seem to know what you’re talking about.
but you are right its downright ugly
@97 Oh, I see — you’re one of those business owners who tells all his friends on the cocktail party circuit about how “hard” he “works” who stays up all night arguing politics with a fucking rabbit …
roger:WW3? Was I asleep?
@97 (continued) I don’t think a real college graduate would spell “current” as “currant” either, but I’m inclined to believe the part about an ex-wife. You do seem like the type who would have an ex-wife … maybe several of ’em. Currant is a berry. Kind of bitter tasting; I don’t like ’em, but some people relish currant pies.
96: Bill you are such and idiot. For example the state budget for Florida is $70.8 Billion for one year. Compared to our budget of $30 Billion for 2 years.
You should learn how to read and google before you make an ass out of yourself.
http://www.ebudget.state.fl.us/
Although possibly I could be talked into believing you went to Podunk Valley Community College sometime after, say, 1998 as I’m aware that graduation standards have gone downhill in recent years. Now they graduate everybody, even people who can’t read, comprehend, or spell.
104 Still struggling with the spelling of “an” I see.
103: If the best you can do libtard is attack my spelling at 2:30 in the morning, I will take that as a win.
There’s an epidemic of misspelled “an”s in your post tonight, so I suspect it’s not an accidental typo. Loose brain wiring is the more likely cause.
Well, I just have a really hard time believing anyone pounding a keyboard at 2:30 AM to argue politics with a fucking rabbit owns a business or, for that matter, works. It doesn’t ring true.
Clearly, whatever you are doing right now, rob, you aren’t getting laid. Speaking of which, Mrs. Rabbit is getting impatient so I need to perform my duties. Later, traitor. See you again tomorrow, if they haven’t hanged you for treason by then.*
* Just kidding — Coulter humor, you know?
107 If you want to consider mispelling words like “benefits” and “current” and “an” as some sort of victory, what can I say? I’d hate to see your plan for Iraq. For that matter, I hate to see Bush’s plan for Iraq — sadly, he’s no smarter than you.
The reason I pick on your spelling is because you can’t get away with such atrocious spelling as yours in college, so I think you’re lying when you claim to have gone to college on veterans benefits. Good night, asshole. See you in the morning — if you’re still extant.
Yeah, I did, I looked at the census.
Florida: 15,982,378
Washington: 5,894,121
Look at that median income again and tell me again how much waste we have in our government, how much we overspend on schools.
99: Well I gues someone does owe you something. What I got was full tuition benifits and a stipend of 220 a month. Maybe you should try making something else up asshole.
Then realize, that since florida get the majority of its income from sales tax, the largest majority of income is from out of staters.
111, Speaking of liars, no one I know of was just given a check for 175. per month asswipe. Your tuition was paid directly by the government and you were given a stipend to live on. You were also given a credit for books. Mrs. Rabbit (if there is one as you always seem to be here) will probably be disappointed again.
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 we are 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 nearlu identically educated, and somewhat lower median income population can manage to attract and keep SIX FUCKING DEPARTMENT STORES???
Well so far anti liberal, youve managed to grab two tourist cities that have attracted chains because the tourist, who probably more than double the numbers of potential shoppers like to shop at store that remind them of home. Big surprise there.
You really dont get that whole idea that ‘same demographics’ means that the numbers are, ummm, the same. You are right, San Fran is much closer, however, you also need to figure out the number of shoppers in those stores chosen demographic which gets artifically pumped up by tourism. And there is the answer to your question, why do they have more of your economic markers? Because, those cities have more tourists in the demographic those store want to sell to.
Since the main point of your diatribe is that this region is not attracting or able to attract businesses, I think dismissing announcements of one of the businesses you say is a major economic marker (which is incidently more than a little random) has been attracted to the region is more than a bit disingenious. I would say that if there was a problem, it has been corrected, since those businesses are coming to the region.
Is your next complaint that miami grows more oranges than we do?
@106 Yeah, you must’ve slept through that one!
@108 “Bill you are such and idiot.”
Memo to wingnut: The article “an” is spelled without a “d”. Perhaps you should retake first grade, where they teach the usage and correct spelling of the articles “a”, “an”, “the”, and “and”.
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.
@108 Actually, rob, our budget is about $16 billion every two years when compared to other states. The reason for that is that Washington uniquely runs local school funding through a state agency and the state budget accounting before it ends up in local school districts. In most states, schools are funded by property taxes collected by local districts. In Washington, about 44% of the state budget is K-12 school money.
Thanks for the blogiversary plug, Will. Stylistically, you might have linked directly to the celebratory post rather than the main page of Peace Tree Farm … after all, that post will scroll off the front page in a month or two. :-)
Your mention of City Council reminds me that I do need to get cracking on a discussion of ways to (IMHO) improve the way we choose its members.
@117 Washington’s population is about 6.2 million as of 2006.
@118 Then you didn’t fight in the same war I did. Vietnam veterans got the least of everything — the lowest pay, skinflint G.I. benefits, and the least respect. The people who served in the Volunteer Army after Vietnam did vastly better than we did in both pay and educational benefits.
@118 (continued) So which war were YOU in? The Grenada invasion? The Panama Campaign? The Miami Beach Spring Break Expeditionary Force?
@120 I really don’t know what the system was at your voc-tec school. Law schools charge fairly hefty tuition, and I had to pay it myself.
Roger Rabbit says: Law schools charge fairly hefty tuition, and I had to pay it myself.
You didn’t get your moneys worth, pack up the paperback law Cliff Notes, the number 2 pencil and ask for a refund.
I bet the company is run by Moonbat!s who hate the military and want to screw the vets:
http://www.news-leader.com/app...../701090386