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A few months ago when I wrote about Linda Thomas using driving as a hook that, I felt was unnecessary, the first comment noted that as a radio commentator, her audience is disproportionately people driving. It’s a good point, and partly that explains the tone of this piece on My Northwest.

It’s far from a done deal and the public would be consulted before a protected bike lane would be added to one of those streets. But what is a protected bike lane, and how is it different from the bike lanes currently on 2nd and 4th?

Cycle tracks are full traffic lanes that are set aside from vehicle traffic and protected from cars by barriers.

“There might be a lane of parked cars that separate the travel lane and the bicycle facility,” Chang said. “It could be curbing, or it could be striping with some posts.”

Seattle has three of these protected bike lanes right now. Drivers and parkers had trouble with one on Broadway in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, because parking was pushed away from the curb into an old traffic lane. Those parked cars now protect the bike riders.

[…]

The money to pay for these extra bicycle amenities comes from your property taxes.

Still, what I think the piece is missing is that not providing bicycle infrastructure doesn’t mean there’s more parking or more room on the road. It would mean that more people would drive to everywhere. And when they do, they’ll take up room with their cars. If you can get several people out of their cars onto bikes, you won’t have to compete with them for parking space, and you won’t have them in the lanes of traffic that you’re trying to merge into. And as someone who bikes and drives, I’m just going to say that drivers are worse stewards of the roads than bicyclists; Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone text and bike.

US Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) apparently has no moral qualms about advocating the mass murder of millions of children in the name of US national security:

“I think if you have to hit Iran, you don’t put boots on the ground. You do it with tactical nuclear devices, and you set them back a decade or two or three,” Hunter said in an interview with C-SPAN. “I think that’s the way to do it — with a massive aerial bombardment campaign.”

Iran has a population of over 75 million human beings, about 24 percent of whom are under the age of 15. You know, innocent children—millions of whom would be instantly incinerated or die slower irradiated deaths should Representative Hunter’s preemptive foreign policy win the day. Or, maybe we should just preemptively try and execute Hunter as the war criminal he aspires to be? Wouldn’t that make the world a safer place for everybody?

I don’t really have very many feels one way or the other about college football. But Andrew at NPI has a nice piece on Steve Sarkisian going to USC.

Washington’s highest-paid employee is headed south for a more lucrative job.

Steve Sarkisian, who was hired to turn around a winless University of Washington football program five years ago, acknowledged earlier today that he has accepted the head coaching position at the University of Southern California, which is one of the most elite schools in the country and a traditional powerhouse in the Pacific 12 Conference (formerly the Pac-10). Sarkisian was an assistant coach for seven years at USC prior to being hired by UW, so his desire to return his understandable.

But the timing and circumstances of his departure are not becoming of a man who claimed for half a decade to bleed purple and gold.

It’s tough, perhaps, for a city and a state to put much civic pride in an institution with a mercenary at the top. Perhaps that why we cling the game with a spirit of amateurism in the rest of the game.

Please join us this evening for a round of political prognostication over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Our normal starting time is 8:00pm.

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

The Tri-Cities chapter also meets tonight, and every Tuesday night. The Lakewood chapter meets this Wednesday. For Thursday, the Spokane and Tacoma chapters meet. And on Friday, the Enumclaw chapter meets.

With 212 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

– Where fighting this might have at least resulted in an awareness of what was happening, years of Democrats chasing votes that were never going to come their way resulted in zealots quietly passing laws at the state level making abortion more and more difficult to obtain. I guess that’s what the anti-choice minority in the Democratic Party calls “winning.” They must be so pleased.

– I don’t mind Amazon’s drone program as much as some people, but there is something disquieting about it.

– It is pretty amazing that a smear against Obama can be dumb enough for the GOP to drop.

– This story of recovering a stolen bike off a rack is the greatest thing I’ve ever read.

– Willie fucking Bloomquist?

– No, you decided to buy Mirah Playing Cards even though you still have most of your Christmas shopping ahead of you.

Goldy has a map of the Seattle City Council District where Kshama Sawant will probably run for reelection.* It went pretty overwhelmingly for her. And it pretty much breaks down by neighborhood with Capitol Hill and First Hill overwhelmingly supporting Sawant and the rest of the district pretty overwhelmingly supporting Conlin.

While the district that Sawant lives in and would most likely run in is the most obvious to look at, that race might be a decent proxy for the other races on the ballot. For while it wasn’t the highest profile race, it was one with a fairly high profile and a real ideological divide. The mayor’s race was, of course, the highest profile, but it was at least as much about personality as it was about issues. O’Brien-Shen was probably more of an ideological divide for a council seat, but it turned out to be a bit less high profile after Shen not doing well in the primary. It was also so far apart, it probably doesn’t tell us much except don’t run a pro-bidness campaign anywhere in Seattle.

So there’s the Sawant-Conlin race. It pitted the only member to vote against paid sick leave/paid safe leave against the biggest proponent of a $15 minimum wage on the ballot. And of course one side pushed the socialism label pretty hard while the other didn’t. I’d think that someone running in a district where Sawant won might have a bit more leverage to push social and economic justice issues, and someone running in a district where Conlin won would have to be a bit more traditional lefty.

Or maybe I’m reading too much into one race with two unique people.

[Read more…]

– Mark Deiscoll is the worst and he steals from the worst.

– Oh look people are actually getting health care coverage.

– I’m rather excited for the campaign for a $15 minimum wage coming to Seattle

– Jameis Winston, and the Overlapping of Football Culture and Rape Culture

– This is maybe the least thought out heist of all time (Seattle Times link).

– Are you ready for some traffic between Monday Night Football and maybe some snow?

Last week’s contest was won by waguy. It was Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s “crack house” in Etobicoke, Ontario.

This week’s contest is a random location somewhere on earth, good luck!

1 Kings 1:1-4
King David was now an old man, and he always felt cold, even under a lot of blankets. His officials said, “Your Majesty, we will look for a young woman to take care of you. She can lie down beside you and keep you warm.” They looked everywhere in Israel until they found a very beautiful young woman named Abishag, who lived in the town of Shunem. They brought her to David, and she took care of him.

Discuss.

Zina Saunders: Factory farm super bugs.

Pap: wealthy CEOs fighting retirement benefits.

The lost SNL audition tapes.

Obama: Immigration reform.

The Horrors of Affordable Health Care for Everyone:

• The biggest threat to ObamaCare.
• Nia-Malika Henderson: ObamaCare’s silver lining.
• Sharpton: Increasingly positive ObamaCare news vexes FAUX News and G.O.P. haters.
• Ann Telnaes: ObamaCare and religious exemptions.
• Ed: Obamacare success stories continue to hurt the Republican hate playbook.
• This is ObamaCare: Working for America.
• David Pakman: Why do Republicans have Obamacare amnesia?
• Maddow show: The tarnished Heritage Foundation and OromneyCare

Chris Hayes: FAUX News’ racist ‘Knock-Out Game’ fear mongering & stereotyping.

Dennis Trainor, Jr: Going postal to save the post office.

Lawrence O’Donnell: Palin’s & O’Reilly’s sorry explanation of Obama’s “socialism”.

The Seattle divestment forum.

Maddow: Billionaires’ bad day as new rules rein in nonprofits (via Crooks and Liars).

Thom: Will Republican treason take down Obama?

Holy Economics:

• Ed: Pope Francis rejects G.O.P. greed, cruelty & Reagan’s “trickle-down economics”.
• Young Turks: Pope Francis goes off on capitalism.
• Sharpton: Pope slams the “idolatry of money” as the G.O.P. uses “faith” to justify cruelty.

The Rob Ford calendar.

Red State Update: Podcast 54.

Young Turks: Domestic oil production up 50% under Obama.

Pap: McDonalds offers financial advice for underpaid employees.

Georgia court lists “slave” as possible occupation on website.

This Week in the Republican War on Women™:

• Zina Saunders: G.O.P. abortion siege:
• Dennis Trainor, Jr: Don’t mess with the lady parts of Texas women.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Birth control wars….Are for-profit U.S. corporations ‘religious people? ‘
• Sharpton: Sen. McConnell lies about his hopeless record on “fairness for women”.

White House: West Wing Week.

Greenman: Rhymes with Smokey Joe.

Thom and Pap: The Media’s war on Obama.

Obama: The economy.

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

Republican anarchists didn’t like everything about the shutdown they forced last October. No…it wasn’t the fact that important things like food and aviation safety programs were put on hold. It wasn’t that poor people were going hungry or that “essential” government employees were working but not receiving their paychecks. It wasn’t that untold numbers of applications, hearings, meetings, consultations, and enforcement actions were delayed, sometimes causing damage beyond repair. It wasn’t that scientific research and medical trials were being harmed (sometimes irreparably). It wasn’t that the taxpayers paid for, and lost two, weeks of productivity from millions of government employees.

It wasn’t the $24 billion in damage they caused to the U.S. economy. Oh, well.

Nope…it wasn’t about any of that. It was because…Veterans. And national parks.

“Why were veterans turned away from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial?” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asked Wednesday….

“Why were members of the Americans’ finest generation in their 80s and 90s turned away and told they could not visit what would be undoubtedly in many cases their last time at those monuments?” Issa asked. “Why were private businesses and nonprofits operating near park land shuttered?”

Because YOU SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, you stupid fuck!

Republicans were caught unawares. And then, even with their best efforts, they were unsuccessful in shifting the blame of their own obstructionism to the Black guy in the White House.

What to do for the next government shutdown that could happen again after January 15th? Plan ahead!

The Provide Access and Retain Continuity (PARC) Act, which has 17 Republican co-sponsors, would allow states to keep national parks operating in the event of another shutdown and would make them eligible for reimbursement by the federal government. (During the shutdown, six states entered into a similar agreement.)

That’s right…Republicans are now planning for their own failure to govern. “Screw all the other negative consequences…we want our shutdowns to be less politically painful.”

Bruce Sheaffer, Comptroller of the National Park Service, isn’t having it. He delivered a solid smackdown to G.O.P. obstructionists:

We have a great deal of sympathy for the businesses and communities that experienced a disruption of activity and loss of revenue during last month’s government shutdown and that stand to lose more if there is another funding lapse in the future. However, rather than only protecting certain narrow sectors of the economy…from the effects of a government shutdown in the future, Congress should protect all sectors of the economy by enacting appropriations on time, so as to avoid any future shutdowns.

[…]

[Planning for failure] “is not a responsible alternative to simply making the political commitment to provide appropriations for all the vital functions the federal government performs.”

In other words…DO YOUR DAMN JOB!

Fucking assholes.

Happy Thanksgiving and/or Chanukkah. Here are some links to hold you through the day….

A Thanksgiving Message from Gary Oldman:

Jonathan Mann: Some Thanksgiving Thoughts.

Pardon Me?

• White House: The Turkey Pardon.
• Presidential Thanksgiving pardons.
• Young Turks: Obama pardons some turkey.

How To: Make the perfect turkey.

National Menorah illuminates Washington D.C.

Thanksgiving poll: Did we steal America.

Ann Telnaes: What would a turkey choose?

Mental Floss: 25 little known facts about Thanksgiving:

Sam Seder and Janeane Garofalo Offer Tips for Thanksgiving:

• The three types of annoying relatives.
• Surviving Thanksgiving with the archetype Republican.
• Dealing with the 47% believer.
• Surviving the FAUX News obsessed relative.
• Surviving the “Jews for Jesus” aunt.
• The Teabagger.
• The conservative uncle.
• The “independent”
• The fake liberal
• The libertarian techie nephew
• Republicans who believe they are entitled to their own facts.
• Coming out as a progressive at your conservative family’s holiday dinner

Sharpton: Biggest political turkeys of the year.

ONN: FAA Issues Holiday Reminder That Planes Can Crash And Kill You.

Mark Fiore: Peace Turkey.

Young Turks: Ready to argue politics at Thanksgiving.

Special “thanks” from American Family Voices.

STILL THE BEST THANKSGIVING CLIP EVAR!!!: The Thanksgiving Massacre!:

British people explain Thanksgiving.

Ann Telnaes: Black Friday Thursday.

A few months ago when Oregon said they would recognize same sex partnerships that happened in states where that’s legal, I wrote that it would probably be a boon to Vancouver. Looks like that has happened (there were some ads that may be NSFW, depending on where you work; h/t).

So, you know, congrats to the couples who got married, and I’m sorry that your state has yet to get on board. It must be strange to have to travel, for some a short distance, for others quite a long way, to have to get legally married. It’s better than your home state not recognizing it at all, but it’s so far from the ideal.

I’d add that as long as you’re coming to Washington, the train ride up to Seattle is pleasant (driving is not so much). As long as you can’t get hitched in your own state, you might as well enjoy Seattle if you can.

While writing about Boeing threatening to leave the Puget Sound, I’ve had some thoughts batting around my mind about corporations more generally. I think all major (and most minor) corporations have 4 obligations. 3 that I think are necessary to their survival, as well as just decency and one that’s important but not really in the same way. Corporations have obligations to their shareholders and their investors. They have an obligation to their workers. They have an obligation to their customers. They also have an obligation, although probably not at the same level, to the community where they’re based.

I know this sounds naive, and it probably is. Still, I think those obligations, even though they’re sometimes in competition with each other, make corporations worth having as instruments in society. Obviously, we put a lot of emphasis on shareholders and investors. Probably too much, but they do play a role. And if they’re getting paid a reasonable amount for bringing a return on investment, then fine.

Still, businesses must have an obligation to their employees. When companies like Boeing threaten to leave, we keep hearing about the jobs they provide. But we rarely ever hear about an obligation to provide good jobs. When companies are lagging in this, unions, or government regulation like workplace safety and a minimum wage can force a minimum standard. But I think corporations have an obligation to the people working for them to treat them as something more than just cogs.

They also have an obligation to their customers. Ultimately, they’re making a product or service for someone or some group. When I use a good product, it reflects well on the company that made it, and when I have a bad product it feels like a bit of a betrayal. I think that’s part of the reason that people are sensitive to bad customer service.

Finally, and more generally, businesses have a duty to the communities where they’re located and where they do business. When companies give to charity, we call it “corporate citizenship.” As long as we understand that’s a metaphor, and corporations can’t actually be citizens, that’s fine as far as it goes. Still, there ought to also be an obligation not to pollute and to pay their taxes. Basically, it ought to be better for the community that a corporation locates there. Otherwise, why have them?

I don’t really know what my point is here, but I think the discussion is too much on shareholder value or return on investment, and not on the other things that companies ought to do.

Don’t be caught off guard when Uncle Ernie unloads about Obama’s death panels and the U.N. coming for his guns. Please join us for an evening of politics and a pint at this evening’s Thanksgiving warm-up edition of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Our normal starting time is 8:00pm.

Can’t make it tonight? Check out another Washington state DL over the next week. The Tri-Cities chapter meets tonight and every Tuesday night. The Bellingham and Burien chapters meet on Wednesday. And next Monday, the Yakima, South Bellevue and Olympia chapters meet.

With 212 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.