HorsesAss.Org

– The R is going to be back where it belongs (Seattle Times link).

– We’re going to get a government shutdown aren’t we?

– Bike Cages at Rainier Station sound pretty good, as someone who had his bike stolen from another station.

– I’m glad Seattle is doing pedestrian emphasis patrols but when I read about them, I’m always worried that it’ll just be tougher to jay walk in those areas.

– Money laundering is a harsh term, but I do hate how and how much the anti-522 people are raising their money.

– The hearing inspired by one shooting has been bumped because of another shooting.

– Vladimir Putin is a crusading columnist for the New York Times.

Dominic Holden links to this Jonathan Martin piece on Sally Clark not putting forward a resolution condemning the Russian anti-gay legislation. Holden hits most of the salient points, but I want to add a few things.

It’s mystifying to see Seattle City Council President Sally Clark’s Twitter account has blown up with criticism from gay activists, thanks to an off-hand comment from Mayor Mike McGinn. Mystifying, because Clark, the first openly gay council president, co-sponsored council resolutions in support of same-sex marriage in 2012 and donated to the campaign to affirm its legality. Her record on LGBT issues is rock-solid.

Well her record was pretty much the median Seattle City Council member on this issue, since they all have supported gay rights for, like, ever. Even Republican voting, “We value the sacredness of marriage between a woman and man” Tim Burgess is solid on LGBT rights issues compared to the rest of the state. So, sure, she’s been good on those issues up until now. Now is the problem.

Now is what activists are responding to. Gay rights activists have been on the defensive with the Russian law until Dan Savage and others in Clark’s home town started boycotting Russian products. You can debate how much of a difference that made, but between that, possible protests of the Olympics, and actual protests here and around the country, enough of a difference was made that it put Russian officials on their heels, and got the letter written.

Also, Clark has been one of the more conservative members of the council, generally. These things are relative within Seattle, of course, but it’s not that surprising that lefty activists more generally would go after her when she does the wrong thing. The good news is even though McGinn’s letter has been sent, there is still time for Seattle to do the right thing, and she can start taking the lead on it if she wants.

OK, a few more things from the piece:

Seattle City Council was once famous for far-afield resolutions over the decades — condemning the treatment of circus elephants, calling for removal of Eastern Washington dams, condemning Burma and apartheid — and got rafts of justified criticism for being distracted from its core work.

It got plenty of criticism, sure. I don’t think that criticism was justified for the most part. I mean the Burma and apartheid regimes they criticized fell. Obviously, there was a ton more than City Council resolutions that caused that, but Seattle should be proud that our City Council was on the right side of history, and did our part. The Snake River dams provide some good, but given the amount of money Seattle spends on salmon restoration, it’s lazy to pretend that expressing an opinion on them was a distraction “from its core work.” So that leaves cruelty to circus elephants. It was one of the quickest things the council did, but you’d never know that from all the criticism it got over the years. I’d guess if you add all of the criticism of how much time it wasted and compare it to how much time it took, the time it took would be less than the criticism. Also, maybe, don’t be cruel to circus animals is a good position to hold?

In any event he never gets around to saying why the criticism is justified, because it’s so obvious. I guess whenever he has a conversation about them at the WAC, or at the boardroom of the Seattle Times, everyone agrees, so no need to spell it out any further for the plebes.

Last thing I swear. He concludes:

Better yet, the council should stick to it’s core work, which currently includes writing a budget.

The City Council has a huge role to play in the budget process, of course. But they don’t, strictly speaking, write it. That’s part of the Mayor’s job, according to this timeline. I get what he’s saying, but they don’t actually write the budget. For an article saying it’s important to know what the job of the City Council is and isn’t that sort of seems like an own goal.

I think a lot of people who read these sort of things are mystified as to how it happens.

The owner of the construction business told police he believed Alexis was angry over the parking situation around the work site. Several workers reported Alexis staring at them prior to the shooting.

Seattle detectives ultimately arrested Alexis a month later. According to police, Alexis told detectives he had been “mocked” by construction workers and said they had “disrespected him.” Alexis also claimed he had an anger-fueled “blackout,” and could not remember firing his gun at the victims’ vehicle until an hour after the incident.

Alexis also told police he was present during “the tragic events of September 11, 2001″ and described “how those events had disturbed him.” According to police, detectives later spoke with Alexis’ father, who lived in New York at the time, who told police Alexis had anger management problems, and that Alexis had been an active participant in rescue attempts on Sept. 11, 2001.

Seattle detectives referred the case to the Seattle Municipal Court for charges. Court records indicate Alexis was not charged.

I certainly am not in a position to place blame for this, but clearly something let him fall through the cracks. And we can see where that ended up. Obviously, most cases like this won’t end up as mass shootings, but when things don’t get resolved, they escalate. And when they escalate with a gun around, there is more chance things will go badly. When someone shoots tires, that should be the best time to take their guns.

We should really as a city and as a state see if there’s anything we could have done differently.

Please join us this evening for a pint peppered with political prognostication 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 to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings this week. Tonight the Tri-Cities and Shelton chapters meet. The Lakewood and South Seattle chapters meet this Wednesday. And for Thursday, the Spokane and Tacoma chapters meet.

With 210 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.

– The first ads for both sides of I-522 have been released. Is Ken Eikenberry really much of a spokesperson for anything these days?

– Jean Godden and Tim Burgess take a look at why the city of Seattle is falling down in regard to its women employees.

– Let me make this abundantly clear, to you and to the other men reading this: when you comment on a woman’s appearance, you are not doing it for her. You are doing it for you. It’s not some great way to make a woman feel sexy and appreciated. It’s not flattery, even if you mean for it to be. The only thing it is is a great way for you to create a shitty power dynamic, by which you have announced yourself as the arbiter of her value, and you’ve deemed her fuckable, and she is supposed to be happy or impressed by that.

– Good on McGinn and Murray on the protest of the Russian anti-gay laws. Boo on our City Council.

– A Statement of Trans-Inclusive Feminism and Womanism (h/t)

– The results of the study may seem little more than an exercise in confirming the obvious, but that’s an exercise the country needs. It needs to have the obvious — guns kill people, health-insurance helps keep them alive, large banks are all thieves, economic oligarchy is incompatible with political democracy, Fk The Deficit. People Got No Jobs.

– You had me at musical penis.

But it seems like Eastern Washington got less water and all the dust (Spokesman-Review link).

Though few raindrops fell during Sunday night’s storms that swept through Eastern and Central Washington, howling winds kicked up choking dust in downtown Spokane and downed power lines as far west as Othello, where classes were canceled Monday. The gusts caused three trees to tumble like dominos in the Filos’ yard along South Adams Street near High Drive, crushing one of their neighbors’ four-door Subaru sedan.

[…]

Airway Heights reported wind gusts topping out at 60 mph around the time the pine fell, according to figures from the National Weather Service. Visibility in downtown Spokane was reduced to less than a quarter mile, thanks to dust picked up by the high winds.

Apparently newer farming techniques are making those sorts of storms rarer. But still, yikes.

– Oh, hey. Diplomacy actually works, maybe.

– There was a shooting at the Washington Naval Yard.

– The rise and decline and possible rise again of the Olympia oyster.

– Larry Summers won’t be Fed chair.

– Congrats to Seahawks fans for being loud.

– That’s a lot of ice.

Last week’s contest was won by milwhcky. It was Portland, OR.

This week’s contest is a random location somewhere in Arizona. Good luck!

Isaiah 17:1
Damascus is doomed!
It will end up in ruins.

Discuss.

On Sept 21: Draw the Line on Keystone XL.

Maddow: G.O.P. War on Women™ yields gender gap in VA.

Syria’s Consideration:

• Obama addresses the nation on Syria.
• Stephen: Rand Paul’s contradictory criticisms of Obama on Syria
• Young Turks: Putin’s Op-Ed outrage.
• Sam Seder: Did Putin’s NY Times Op-Ed contain secret messages?
• Young Turks: Media reaction to Obama’s statement on Syria.
• Bashir: Shirtless Vlad’s statesmanship is the new GOP fantasy
• Six Presidents make their case for foreign intervention.
• Mark Fiore: Operation accidental diplomacy.
• Ann Telnaes: Secretary of State John Kerry heads overseas.
• Stephen: Fuck you, Putin!
• Maddow: Putin’s provocative Op-Ed.
• Jon on Vladdy’s NY Times Op-Ed
• Syria explained in 5 minutes.
• Diplomacy breaks out in Syria.

Ed: Trickle-down fails.

Susie Sampson’s Sister: Is sex fun?

Michael Brooks: “Trifecta of Stupid” Reps Bachmann, Goehmert, & King go to Egypt to celebrate coup.

Alex Wagner: Former Rep. Allen West thinks U.S. should go to war with Libya.

Mental Floss: 48 names for things you didn’t know had names:

Weiner Goes Out Like a Dick:

• Young Turks: Weiner flips off the media.
• Jimmy Fallon and Sheryl Crow do the Anthony Weiner song.
• ONN: Week in Review.
• Jon: Goodbye Anthony.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Weiner goes out with a wave…of his middle finger.

Red State Update: Podcast Episode #43.

White House: West Wing Week.

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

Sharpton: G.O.P. insanity…with 41st failed attempt to “repeal Obamacare”.

Ed and friends: Is God really a Republican?:

Kimmel: This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.

Remembering September 11:

• Liberal Viewer: Overview of NSA spying program since 9/11.
• Thom and Alan Grayson (D-FL-9): Has America learned from 9/11?
• September 11th at the Pentagon.
• Sam Seder: Nutjob Pastor Terry Jones arrested for “liquids violations” on 9-11.
• Sharpton: Rudy Giuliani & Fellow GOP goons attack Pres. Obama on 9/11 anniversary
• Ann Telnaes: The Legacy of 9/11.
• A moment of silence at the White House
• Thom: It’s time to break up Homeland Security & learn from 9/11

Meet the “Governor of D.C.”:

Thom corrects the Daily Mail on climate change.

Young Turks: NRA victory in Colorado.

Bashir: How “Obama derangement syndrome” is dating up the insides of the GOP tea-party.

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

I see you’re considering opening a store in Seattle. That might be a problem. This piece, for example, says that you might have problems because of your owner’s intolerance of gay rights. Certainly, the hateful nature of his opposition to gay rights is disquieting in a city that favors such rights. That said, it’s fortunate that KIRO 7 managed to avoid the trap of presuming that because he’s a Christian, he opposes gay rights.

Sure, Washington consistently ranks among the least religious states in the country. But in a country that’s 85% Christian, a relatively secular city in a relatively secular state is still overwhelmingly Christian. The Seattle Christians tend believe that love your neighbor bits are more important than some clobber verses here and there. And Seattle Christians tend to say that the Biblical injunction against gay people isn’t particularly strong anyway. And Seattle Christians realize that when you bring up Sodom as proof that God hates same sex relationships, for example, the case isn’t as strong as you make it out to be.

So yes, sales will probably be lower than they might be in places with a more hateful interpretation of the Bible, because some folks from Seattle — Christian and otherwise — don’t want to support that sort of hate. But the real problem you’ll find is that Seattle has Ezell’s. Trying to compete in Seattle on fried chicken makes no damn sense. Seriously, try some Ezell’s before you open, and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and effort.

Love,

Carl Ballard

[Read more…]

The light rail over the bridge case has been decided on the side of Duh, Of Course They Can.

Not surprisingly, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled against Kemper Freeman Jr.’s long and futile legal struggle to block the construction of light rail across the I-90 floating bridge. In a 7-2 opinion (pdf), with the Johnson brothers dissenting, the court ruled that Sound Transit’s fair market lease of the bridge’s center lanes, and its reimbursement of WSDOT’s contribution to their construction, means that no state gas tax dollars are being spent in violation of the state’s 18th Amendment.

Article II, Section 40 says that all vehicle fees and gas tax revenue must be “placed in a special fund to be used exclusively for highway purposes.” The purposes of this Motor Vehicle Fund (MVF) do not include building light rail. But, the court ruled, because “any money that was previously expended from the MVF will be reimbursed, the language of article II, section 40 is not violated.”

Of course. Of course, of course, of course. Of course! I’ll look forward to going into Bellevue and shopping at a non-Freeman area. I’m glad of the region getting the chance to be a bit more connected. People in Bellevue will be able to experience game day light rail, one great thing about city life. In many ways, the East Side will get a little closer to Seattle, and Seattle will be a bit closer to the East Side. I’m glad this hurdle was cleared, and, frankly that it wasn’t really that much of a hurdle.

In the linked article, Goldy also makes mention of another section of the ruling that this may be an even better ruling for proponents of transit than it appears now. And it appears pretty good now.

A few months ago, there was GMO wheat getting into non-GMO crops, and now it looks like alfalfa.

Agriculture officials in Washington state are testing samples of alfalfa after a farmer reported his hay was rejected for export because it tested positive for a genetically modified trait that was not supposed to be in his crop.

If it is confirmed that the alfalfa in question was genetically modified, it could have broad ramifications, said Hector Castro, spokesman at the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

The piece about it in the Weekly (that gets the Hat Tip) makes a link between that and the GMO labeling initiative. That’s fine as far as it goes. This sort of thing might make people want to get non-GMO food, and of course labeling would be the best way to go about that.

But I’m more worried that it has happened twice recently. If the initiative passes or fails, surely the industry could better spend their $9 Million that they spent this week on a political campaign on not fucking this sort of thing up. Because frankly, those ads and mailers and whatever else can’t change the fact that this has happened. Twice in recent months.

– Whatever you were doing, stop doing that because Orcinus is back! You should go read it is what I’m saying. Also coincidentally, I just finished a book last night, and Neiwert’s is the next on the list.

– People who passed stopped school buses on the right are incredibly problematic. I literally can’t even fathom how anyone could think it was even in the same state as OK. Randy Dorn wants cameras on more (I couldn’t tell from the article if it’s all) buses, and says that’s part of the reason why.

– I would have thought similar reasoning would have prevented Syria from using chemical weapons in the first place.

– But I do think that diplomacy can win out.

– Top Ten things Americans need to Know about Syria if they’re going to Threaten to Bomb It

– Relevant to our work on this blog, for instance, 43% of downtown households are car free, and 1 in 3 downtown residents walk to work.

– It simplifies things when we can write-off the thoughts and opinions of other people by assuming they’ve taken the easy way out, that they’re just trying to be popular and liked. It’s oddly affirming to tell ourselves that we’re the ones living counter-culturally, we’re the ones taking all the risks for the truth, we’re the ones getting persecuted for our right and true beliefs.

It’s September 11th, so I guess this is as good a time as any to let you know that The Muslims are Coming!

And they want you to die!

Ummm…I mean, they want you to die laughing. You know…figuratively.

Here’s the deal:

The Muslims Are Coming! is an independent comedy film that hits back against Islamophobia. It will be in Seattle theaters for a one week run starting tomorrow (Friday).

Here is the blurb:

A group of Muslim-American standup comedians go on the road counter Islamophobia using the only weapon they have: jokes. The Muslims Are Coming! follows these comics as they visit big cities, rural villages, and everything in between to do shows, meet locals, and counter the haters. Commentary from pop culture icons like the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, Rachel Maddow, Janeane Garofalo, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, David Cross, and Lewis Black pepper the film as the comedians travel through middle America. Will audiences laugh? Will they make a difference? Will they make it back? Rest assured, you’ve never laughed this hard at a Muslim!

And here is the trailer:

The film is playing at the Grand Illusion Cinema. Tickets are available here.