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Friday Night Multimedia Exravaganza!

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Mental Floss: 40 weird word origins.

David Pakman: AGAIN?!? Rand Paul accused of plagiarizing Obama lawsuit.

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very,Very Ugly.

Absurdity Today: Comcast screws up and tells truth.

Political Olympics

White House: West Wing Week.

David Pakman: God will repeal ObamaCare….

Mark Fiore: ObamaCare Job Killers!

Young Turks: Terrible news about the deficit—if your afflicted with Obama Derangement Syndrome.

Kimmel: This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.

Default Averted:

Pap and Sam Seder: CBO report shows Republican illiteracy.

Sharpton: The latest anti-Obama GOP ‘Gestapo’ talking point.

Ed: Ted Cruz goes from stand up filibuster to stand up comedy.

Thom: The Sexy Liberal tour.

Stephen is the first lady of France.

The Christie Minstrel Show:

Abby Martin: Top 5 crazy weaponized animals.

Pap: Billionaires defend greed.

David Pakman: SC removes evolution from science standards.

Young Turks: Heterosexuals are under attack, says Rush Limbaugh.

ONN: The Onion Week in Review.

Rep. Cathy McMorrs Rodgers claims to be for equal pay, votes against it repeatedly:

O’Donnell: Reaction to Michael Sam….

Political Valentine:

Sam Seder: Michele Bachman’s reason for no immigration reform (hint: Immigrants aren’t Republicans).

Young Turks: Did You Smoke Marijuana Marco Rubio?

Maddow: The shifting dynamics, pressures & loyalties within the GOP.

Thom: Should felons have voting rights?

Obama speaks on raising the minimum wage.

Facebook adds gender options.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

When The Criminal Justice System is Unhelpful

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There are two bills in Olympia that recognize that it’s not always in the state’s interest to keep felonies on people’s criminal records. First one that would let members of tribes with fishing rights vacate convictions for fishing off reservation before 1975 (Yakima Herald link). Since they have had their rights recognized for decades now, it makes sense to vacate the convictions of the people who made that possible. Also they had the right to fish there, even if the state didn’t always recognize it. Fortunately, that’s another lopsided vote.

House Bill 2080, which passed by a vote of 92-6, would allow those tribal members to apply to the sentencing court to expunge their misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor or felony convictions. Family members and tribal officials could also seek a vacated criminal record on behalf of a deceased person. The court would have the discretion to vacate the conviction, unless certain conditions apply, such as if the person was convicted for a violent crime or crime against a person.

“We have a responsibility to try and make things right,” said the bill’s prime sponsor Rep. David Sawyer, D-Tacoma. “It simply allows tribal members to apply to have those convictions vacated so they can live their lives in dignity. It’s essentially an apology as well.”

Tribal members and others were roughed up, harassed and arrested in the 1960s and 1970s while asserting their right to fish for salmon off-reservation under treaties signed with the federal government more than 100 years before. At the time, however, those acts violated Washington state regulations, and there were raids by game wardens and other clashes with police. The Northwest fish-ins known as the “Fish Wars” were modeled after civil rights movement sit-ins and were part of larger demonstrations to assert American Indian rights nationwide.

The other thing is a bill to allow prostitutes to clear their convictions stemming from prostitution if they were a result of. This story is a bit sensationalist, and probably makes some generalizations about why people become prostitutes that aren’t great. Not every prostitute is a victim or trying to leave, but this bill is still a good thing.

This session, Washington lawmakers hope to support victims by expanding a law to allow survivors of sex trafficking to clear their records of multiple prostitution convictions. A current law, passed two years ago, only allows for removing one conviction.

The new bill continues the state’s role as a leader in legislation to combat trafficking. So far, only about a dozen states have similar laws on the books. The latest legislative effort also continues a national trend toward taking a “victim-centered” approach to prostitution.

[…]

“The reality is that individuals engaged in prostitution are often caught and arrested and prosecuted multiple times over their time in ‘the life,'” said King County’s Senior Deputy Prosecutor Val Richey, who works exclusively on human trafficking cases. “Allowing them to remove those convictions because they were obtained as result of engaging in prostitution through force or coercion makes a lot of sense, whether it’s one conviction or two or three.”

Richey said he hopes the bill expansion passes through the state Senate. An identical expansion to the bill passed the House last year but got stalled in the mostly Republican-controlled Senate. This year the bill’s sponsor said it has a better chance because a compromise is being sorted out.

In both cases it shows the legislature, or at least some members, see the limits of the criminal justice system. That in those instances, people having a criminal record is worse than the thing that we’re trying to prevent by convicting people and giving them those records in the first place.

Gay Conversion Therapy Ban Passed The WA House

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And with a solid 94-4 majority. As I understand it, it would mean that people who practice that harmful garbage wouldn’t be able to hold a license to practice in the state.

It now goes on the the state Senate. Since it passed so overwhelmingly in the House, it will probably get through the Senate if it can get to the floor. There’s a committee hearing scheduled for the 20th, so you might want to let the members know that you don’t want this harmful practice done in the state.

I assume all of the Democrats and some of the Republicans on the committee would support it. Randi Becker is the chair of the committee, and so probably the person to push to make sure it gets a vote.

[Late Update] I should note that the bill only applies to children. I would hope that we could ban it for everyone, but this is still much better than the status quo.

Off The Doc

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Doc Hastings is retiring. In the article linked article, Joel Connelly also makes a point how awful his environmental record was. And that’s certainly a large part of his legacy. He also was about the first in line to excuse any wrongdoing from GOP leadership.

Still, ever the optimist, after reading, “Hastings beat one-term Democratic Rep. (now Gov.) Jay Inslee in 1994, withstood a tough 1996 challenge and has since coasted” I wondered if it might be possible to maybe run a Democrat and pick up the seat. I mean, I know it’s a GOP leaning seat, so it’ll be tough. But honestly I think every seat is a possibility. Yes, it would be a lot of work, and I don’t know who over there would run. A good candidate might not win (although, they might!), but could perhaps excite labor the Hispanic community in that area and have an effect on down ticket races.

Open Thread 2/13

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– Turns out a $15 minimum wage is popular in Seattle.

– And maybe we can get a minimum wage for the Port? Maybe?

– Health Care And Ending The War Secure Obama’s Legacy, Nick Gillespie. Okay, Pot Would Be Nice Too

– 21 Things You Can’t Do While Black

– Not that I would in a million years be able to afford a Tesla, but boo!

– Looks like trouble in the Majority Coalition (TNT link). I mean other than their ideology, just generally.

– In fairness to Rand Paul, nobody likes Mitch McConnell.

– If men got the Titus 2 Treatment…

Sure

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There’s a bill wending through the legislature that would allow vets who were honorably discharged, their spouses and their dependents to pay in state tuition at Washington State colleges and universities regardless of residency in the state. I’m not sure how many people this will affect: The GI Bill already covers college for vets.* Still, this is probably a good thing for their families, so it makes sense. This is a job that asks people to move around the country, and so it makes sense that if they land here, that we wave that requirement.

Still, a lot of the need for this sort of thing could be avoided if the state hadn’t bumped up tuition so much in the past few years. I suspect the state will be carving out exemptions and hopefully adding more financial aid as the economy improves, and we can pay for it a bit better.

If we’re going to be a high tuition state, then the more exemptions and the more financial aid the better. Sure, you had to move here because your spouse was sent to JBLM, you an go to the UW or Evergreen, or wherever at an in-state rate. Sure, you’re low income, take some financial aid. Sure, we’ll have the DREAM Act apply in state tuition to more people. I would prefer we weren’t a high tuition state, but a piecemeal approach is better than nothing.

[Read more…]

Death Penalty Moratorium

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I didn’t realize this was even in the works as a possibility, but Jay Inslee has put a stop to the death penalty when he’s in office (Spokesman Review link). While I’d prefer him commuting people’s sentences or the legislature actually passing a ban on the death penalty, this is an important thing, and I’m glad he did it. Still the real work to make this permanent is ahead.

Inslee announced a moratorium today on capital punishment, saying he will issue a reprieve if any execution warrant comes to his desk. He’s not issuing a blanket commutation of sentences, and anyone who gets a reprieve from him could still be executed by a successor.

He expects the moratorium to spark a conversation about the death penalty in Washington.

There was a discussion in yesterday’s Open Thread about how much it means. I don’t know if there’s much of a chance to get something passed this session, but it might be worth letting your legislator know if you want the death penalty ended.

Drinking Liberally — Seattle

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DLBottleThe Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally continues its city-wide Drinking Liberally tour, in search of a new home.

This evening we will converge upon the South Lake Union neighborhood for an evening of politics under the influence with an Irish theme at Paddy Coyne’s Irish Pub (at South Lake Union), 1190 Thomas St. Seattle. We meet at 8:00 pm, but some folks show up even earlier for dinner.



Can’t make it tonight? Check out another Washington state meeting of DL over the next week.

The Tri-Cities and Vancouver, WA chapters, and Washington’s newest DL, the Redmond chapter, also meets on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Bellingham chapter meets. On Thursday the Bremerton chapter meets. The Centralia chapter meets on Friday. And next Monday, the Aberdeen, Yakima and Olympia chapters meet.

With 215 chapters of Living Liberally, including nineteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting somewhere near you.

Open Thread 2/11

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– Maria Cantwell is right that the DC Football team has the wrong name.

– If I were writing for The Seattle Times’ Ed Board, I wouldn’t oppose the minimum wage.

– State Senate Republicans set new date to finish negotiating with themselves on transportation plan they don’t have votes for

– I would hope Gillibrand’s military sexual assault bill would get a vote.

– The NFL Will Never Be ‘Ready’ for an Openly Gay Player

– So keep on bikini-ing, I guess, bikini baristas! And I’ll keep on driving the extra 10 minutes down Aurora to get to a Starbucks or something because all the hometown pride in the world isn’t going to get me to drink crotch-coffee.

Running Again

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It’s no surprise, but Patty Murray will be running for reelection in 2016 (Seattle Times Link). Good to know. Patty Murray has been a voice of reason in an increasingly dysfunctional Congress. She has brought decency and class to the Senate. While I don’t like a lot of the compromises she has had to make — most recently with the budget deal — I have no doubt but that they would have been worse without her there.

I suppose, this also dashes my hope that she would run for president. There was no reason to think she would run, but I had always sort of hoped that she might. I suppose with Hillary Clinton pretty close to a lock on the Democratic nomination if she wants it, that wouldn’t make much sense.

Open Thred 2-10

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– In short, compared to other parts of the country, we don’t go to church that much. Not that we aren’t spiritual, we just as a region don’t go into churches. And, we haven’t for a very long time.

– Hey NFL, Seattle is Gay!

– I don’t know if Lee is going to have a larger piece but on Twitter he noted this piece about the legislature moving to make localities take marijuana businesses.

– The good news is that we haven’t yet seen any evidence that the US is doing this. On the other hand, we’re very good at outsourcing our dirty work when we need to, aren’t we?

– Whatever snow related fun we had over the weekend, I’m certainly glad not to be on the East Coast right now.

– GOP Congress Snake

Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza!

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Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.

Science v. Creationism:

Mental Floss: 29 misconceptions about alcohol.

ONN: The Onion Week in Review.

White House: West Wing Week.

Political Olympics:

WaPo: When politicians lash out at reporters.

Young Turks: Republican birth control jokes probably won’t help them with the female vote.

The federal government legalizes hemp!

ObamaCare means Freedom:

Maddow debunks government weather manipulation conspiracy theory.

Mark Fiore: Wheels on the tech bus.

Stephen: America’s wealthy under siege.

Political Football:

Maddow: Tasers, and Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger announce they will no longer sell new semi-auto handguns in California”.

Rocky Anderson: The US’s imperialist history of undermining democracy.

Sharpton: Now Republicans want to execute a “lawless” Obama?!?

Laura Ingraham is a Bigger Idiot than Anyone Realized!!!

Sharpton: Why do Republicans freak out over contraception?:

The Bromance: Scott Walker on Paul Ryan.

Daily Show: Selling Koch to small towns.

The Christie Minstrel Show:

Farron Cousins with Nancy Cohen: Republican War on Women™ still a losing strategy.

Young Turks: This is why people love Elizabeth Warren.

Thom with more Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

The Republican War on the Needy™:

Young Turks: What do the Republicans really think of Cathy McMorris Rodgers?

Chris Hayes: How the Koch brothers are trying to buy the Senate.

Fallon: Reads awful advice and channels Rob Ford on his last night of Late Night.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Good Job Seattle Area Transit

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As you might have heard, this Wednesday there was a bit of a parade in Downtown Seattle. Given that the crowd was larger than the population of Seattle, getting to and from the event was no small task. Martin H. Duke at Seattle Transit Blog has the early info on how the systems did: Mostly pretty well but he also suggests room for improvement.

In all, a memorable day for transit. All transportation modes were overwhelmed beyond their capacity. Things might have been much worse had it not been for crowds of riders in good cheer, orderly, and forgiving of systems well beyond their design limits. Moreover, agencies showed uncommon agility in mobilizing for Wednesday on short notice, and the efforts of foot soldiers controlling crowds at Westlake station and other places were nothing short of heroic.

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However well Wednesday made the point that Seattle’s transit capacity is valuable, there were certainly some suboptimal operations. In particular, joint tunnel operations are severely capacity-reducing when demand reaches these levels. Your humble correspondent arrived at Westlake a little before 5 pm; lines criscrossed the mezzanine as police limited access to the platform for safety reasons. These volumes compounded the usual bus friction, with restricted movement on the platform, Metro’ s insistence on adding congestion at the point of maximum stress, and the apparent breakdown of Metro’s sequencing system for southbound buses. It was clear that the surge of novice riders was largely waiting for the train, well in excess of the share of platform time granted Link.

Moreover, the consistent weakness of rider information arose once again. The tunnel message boards spouted useless platitudes. The crowd got restless as train headways widened, with no real-time information to satisfy them. Moreover, the instinct of a savvy rider, knowing that full trains will pass up riders further South, is to head to Westlake, which no doubt added to the overflow there. Sound Transit, in a brilliantly creative move, sent some trains “out of service” through Westlake to clear out the other crowds and ran some trains between Stadium and Seatac only. It might have relieved some of the pressure to let people know that taking relatively empty buses a few stops would not maroon them, and in fact might get them home sooner.

I don’t want to downplay the people who were stuck at stops but still and all, with only a couple days to prep the agencies — some that have faced severe budget cuts recently — got most people who wanted to be there downtown. It is a testament to the agencies and to the individuals who pulled it off.

Given some of the nightmares that came out of New Jersey after the game, it wasn’t a given that this would work. Of course people were able to come in slowly (the route was pretty well attended at 7:00 when I left for work) and were able to enjoy Seattle for a while rather than all going home at once. I don’t think there’s any way this could have run perfectly, but it did run pretty damn well.

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