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Well shit.

Sen. Mike Carrell, who has been receiving stem cell transplants since last month for a blood condition, died Wednesday from complications related to his treatment. He was 69.

Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler said Carrell died at a Seattle hospital of lung complications from his ongoing treatment of stem cell transplants from his brother and chemotherapy. Schoesler said that Carrell died in his sleep with his wife, Charlotte, nearby.

Earlier this year, the Lakewood Republican was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, also known as pre-leukemia. The chronic disease affects blood-forming stem cells.

When we last checked in on professional genius and part time legislator Representative Ed Orcutt, he was complaining about all the carbon bikes were pumping into the air. Before that he was calling hungry families special interests in defense of keeping loopholes for private jets and out of state banks. What I’m saying is the people of his district clearly insist on electing only Mensa members. So his latest email to constituents should come as no surprise.

Since the incident, I have been on a conference call with the Governor (which included WSDOT and WSP officials); two briefing calls with National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials; and have met with NTSB officials on the deck of the bridge. From NTSB to WSDOT, it is clear that the reason for the collapse was due to a collision with the super structure of the bridge — not a lack of structural integrity of the bridge. The bridge would indeed be standing today had the truck’s load NOT rammed the super structure of the bridge. In fact, 11 of the 12 sections of the bridge are still standing.

I suppose the person who emailed him wanted to be able to rest assured that if a truck hits other bridges that those bridges won’t collapse. But instead we get 11/12 of the bridge is still up. Look on the bright side!

Now I know what you’re thinking. “What? Is? ?????? Fuck!” But if you’re anything like me, you’re also wondering if Representative Orcutt is drunk emailing constituents. Because if that’s the case, he maybe needs help instead of the constant mocking he gets from here. I don’t know. But if this is a call for help, maybe don’t do it at the expense of Washington citizens.

Start your summer right left! Please join us tonight for an evening of politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out another nearby DL meeting over the next week. The Tri-Cities chapter also meets tonight. And next Monday, the Aberdeen, Yakima, South Bellevue and Olympia chapters meet.

With 204 chapters of Living Liberally, including sixteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

– I hope you had a good Memorial Day.

– But the bigger lesson to learn from the Skagit River bridge collapse is that government matters.

– So, basically, the Washington Post just made me less likely to agree with them because they didn’t seem to understand what the actual stakes were. Just because James Rosen isn’t a North Korean intelligence asset (or the dupe of one) doesn’t mean that he isn’t stupid enough to do just as much damage as if he were.

– Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, you’ve got some explaining to do.

– I would have assumed the IRS would be more politically sophisticated than to devise the crude screen they used during those cycles. But they did have an obligation to check.

– It’s always a bit tough to tell from pictures, but it looks like a good turnout in Olympia for the day of action against Monsanto.

In 2010, King County Council member Reagan Dunn was a conflicted man. Driven by his Inner Socialist, he huffed and puffed and took his ball and went home after the King County council considered sequestration cuts that would hit the Sheriff’s office. At the same time, his Inner Teabagger adamantly opposed new taxes, or even putting a tax measure on the ballot to let the voters decide.

In other words, “gimme my Gov’ment funded security, but keep your bloody hands off my money!”

Well now, thanks to sequestration cuts, Mr. Dunn’s inner Socialist has reared its ugly little head again:

“This airport is critically important to King County and the region,” said Dunn. “Congress must act and guarantee that the Renton Municipal Airport and others like it have the needed funding to operate fully and continue contributing to the local economy.”

Dunn joined his comrades, Council member Julia Patterson and King County Sheriff John Urquhart, in writing a letter to Congress stressing the importance of Big Government sponsored airport infrastructure, and its value to the local economy.

Wait…isn’t this a job for local governments? Aren’t they in a better position to understand the local needs? Or, better yet, can’t the Free Market fix this along with everything else it has on it’s To Do list? Surely the sequestration cuts will lead to a booming economy sowing magic beans that sprout into new private sector infrastructure to fill the void left by Shrinking Government, right?

Apparently not. Reagan wants his Big Government funded infrastructure. But don’t count out Reagan inner Teabagger just yet—we have yet to learn how Mr. Dunn wants the Feds to fund the Renton air traffic controllers….

Last week’s contest went unsolved (as of Friday night). It was Brier Terrace Middle School in Brier.

This week’s is related to something in the news from May, good luck!

Galatians 5:12
I wish that everyone who is upsetting you would not only get circumcised, but would cut off much more!

Discuss.

Sam Seder speaks with Katherine Harris about scandals.

The IRS/Tea Party Scandal:

• O’Donnell: The Republican ‘ignorance-fueled war’ on the IRS and Pres. Obama.
• Stephen: Boehner and the IRS/Tea Party scandal.
• Mark Fiore: Money for Nothin’.
• Jon asks, “What the hell happened?!?”
• Lawrence O’Donnell: The Real I.R.S. scandal. Part 1.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: The Real I.R.S. scandal. Part 2.

Lawrence O’Donnell: Conceited Sen Ted Cruz vs. the Republican Party he ‘does Not trust’.

White House: West Wing Week.

Susie Sampson’s Tea Party Report: Happy Memorial Day.

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

The Daily Show catches up with Dylan Ratigan (via TalkingPointsMemo).

Obama’s War on War:

• ONN: Obama aims to limit civilian casualties with switch to Taser drones.
• Stephen: Obama’s Flying Deathbot Program.
• Maddow: End of war. Part 1
• Maddow: End of war. Part 2
• Sam Seder: Obama calls for repeal of AUMF

Jon does Bill-O the Clown.:

Young Turks: Jon pwns O’Reilly

Thom: The G.O.P. punks ABC News.

John Fugelsang: Barack Obama — Worst. Socialist. Ever.

Obama honors Carol King.

Young Turks: AZ Athiest lawmaker addresses House with his own prayer.

I5 Bridge Collapse:

• A bridge collapsed in Washington
• One Minute News: Collapse.
• Officials weigh-in
• A guy who ended up in the drink speaks.
• Maddow: Bridges and infrastructure
• Young Turks: Bridge collapse.

Young Turks: Historic ban overturned.

Alyona: Saluteghazi!!!

Sam Seder: Glenn Beck sees “false flag” atheist conspiracy in Blitzer question.

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

Transparent President:

• Jon: Priorties USA
• Ann Telnaes: The once transparent President.

Sharpton: The G.O.P.’s rebranding FAIL, as outreach extended to white supremacists!.

Mental Floss: 50 Common Misquotations.

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

Jon on Peggy Noonan (via Political Wire).

The Republican War on Women™:

• Ann Telnaes: Anti-Women Trash.
• Thom: Why some G.O.P. men should experience labor.

Thom: How electric cars save human lives.

John Fugelsang: Anthony Weiner is running for Mayor. Gentlemen, start your puns!

Maddow: Foolhardy budget cuts cripple government.

The Onion Week in Review.

Ann Telnaes: What the G.O.P. and the White House are NOT focused on.

Virginia is for Haters:

• Maddow: Social conservative extremists fill Virginia G.O.P. slate.
• The Virginia “Dream Team”

Bashir agrees with Ted Cruz on one thing.

Maddow: The GOP’s ‘Guantanamo closure’ road-block: .

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

On May 24, 1941, Robert Allen Zimmerman was born in Duluth, Minnesota. No information is available regarding whether his first cries were hoarse and nasal. Certainly they were unintelligible.

Zimmerman is better known, of course, as Bob Dylan. On this day, “the voice of a generation” turns 72. I’ve been a Dylan fan for a long, long time — at least a generation, probably closer to two. I don’t think I bought his debut album Bob Dylan in 1962, the year it was released, but I’m certain that when I did acquire it a year or two later I could choose between mono and stereo versions of the record.

I’ve taken note of the turn of Dylan’s calendar quite a few times over the years, in a couple of settings:

• When he’s 64…, written on Peace Tree Farm in 2005
• Medicare Part D-ylan, which appeared in 2006 on both DailyKos (that’s the link) and PTF
• 2010’s Time flies…, written at PTF
• The very brief HBD, Bob! at PTF in 2011
• Last year’s Happy birthday, Bob, another dual dKos-PTF post

Dylan rarely celebrates his birthday on the road any more. By my reckoning, the Never-Ending Tour has had a late-May break in all but three years since 1996 (comprehensive tour schedules, set lists, and reviews available here). I haven’t a clue how he marks the occasion, but I bet he’s enjoying it.

The title of this essay refers, of course, to one of Dylan’s hundreds of familiar tunes. A particularly apt one, to be sure. Here’s a video of Bob and The Band playing Forever Young at The Last Waltz in 1975.

Dylan wrote the song in 1973, over half a lifetime ago (he was 32 at the time). One wonders whether he was envisioning himself four decades later. It’s clearly one of his favorite ditties — he’s played it in concert 493 times (his 27th most commonly performed song), starting on January 3, 1974 and most recently on November 21, 2011.

So, I wish a very happy birthday to Bob Dylan, and hope for many more. I can’t think of a better salutation to Dylan on his birthday than his very own words:

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

I’ll email these to the Seattle mayoral candidates later today. I still haven’t figured out the calendar. I’ve put them here first in case y’all have any more suggestions or tweaks. I’ll update this post to reflect any changes if I make them before sending.

1) Now that I-502 has passed, what will the purchase of marijuana look like within city limits? Will medical marijuana collective garden storefronts in Seattle have to abide by the 1000-foot rule established by I-502?

2) With Metro’s ability to fund itself at the whim of the legislature, what should the city’s role be in public transportation? As mayor, how will you both make sure we get our fair share, and that the system serves the entire region well?

3) What should the waterfront look like after the Viaduct comes down? Will there be a streetcar or other transit?

4) What should happen in the next 4 years to make sure that police reform both satisfies the Feds, and works for Seattle citizens?

5) When there are police incidents, the response from the top is important. With hindsight, in the wake of John T. Williams being killed by a Seattle police officer what, if anything, should the mayor’s office have done differently what, if anything, did it do right?

Jesus.

Washington State Patrol confirms an I-5 bridge over the Skagit River has collapsed and at least two cars with people inside are in the water.

The incident has closed all northbound and southbound lanes.

This piece in The PI’s Big Blog about Seattle being a healthy city is fine. But I’m confused about this from the setup (bold mine):

We may be hard to get to know and a drag to ride the bus with, but when it comes to being healthy, Seattleites rank right up there with Bostonians.

What? Are we more of a drag to ride the bus with than most other places? Is it just the bus or any public transit?* I feel like I don’t even know what the stereotype about Seattle bus passengers is. Is this a reference to another piece that I missed?

Compared to a lot of the places that I’ve lived (larger like London and smaller like Olympia both come to mind), we’re much more conversant, chatty, maybe even flirtatious with strangers. If anything, people are more likely to drag me into a chat that I don’t really want to participate in than I’d like. And when you ride the same route regularly, you get to know some of the other people. I guess if you hate those damn kids, they can be annoying, but no more than anywhere else. For me, other than the occasional person with a mental illness, the other passengers are generally pretty pleasant.

Your mileage may vary, of course. There are horror stories that I’ve heard from women about sexual harassment and worse on the bus. Still, I don’t think it’s more of a drag than anywhere else.

[Read more…]

– The first time I read the Silicon Sound I thought it sounded pretty good. But maybe it’s catching up to somewhere else.

– So, related to the Salon piece, I think articles like it serve as important reminders of how Wikipedia’s form, so to speak, can’t always be separated from its content. (h/t)

– Jesus, London

– Just remember: the state can’t touch our guns (or require tornado shelters) because of freedom…but adults’ private decisions about whom to love must suffer the full brunt of state power.

– I am going to opt for not being in the same car as your dog, sorry.

– I digitally scan bowling ball surfaces and I vote

This is pretty neat:

Mills, a Central District resident, said Books on Bikes is a “full-service library model. I’m not aware of any other library that does this. We will be able to provide people with help on digital downloads, as well as offer reading suggestions, have popular new titles available for check-out, provide Library card sign-ups, assist with research and much more,” he said. The trailer to accommodate all the librarians’ needs was developed and constructed by Colin Stevens, who runs Haulin’ Colin in Seattle.

And just to head off the almost inevitable how-come-there-aren’t-books-on-cars trolling, there are. And that’s pretty cool too, but not a new program.

Later in the week, I’m going to send out candidate questions to everyone running for Seattle mayor. I have my own ideas about what to ask, but I thought I’d throw it out to the comment section before I send anything off.

The general rule is it would have to be broad enough that it could be asked to all of the candidates so no in your first term questions for McGinn or legislature questions for Murray, for example. But there are more general questions about things that happened in McGinn’s first term or in the legislature when Murray was there. I talked to Lee and Darryl at Drinking Liberally and there was some discussion of Metro and I-502, but we weren’t sure if that’s a city question. I’m definitely going to ask a police reform question.

Here are the questions I emailed out to City Council candidates 2 years ago.

Aside from Seattle mayor, I think I’m going to ask the top 2 people in each City Council seat after the primary. Are there any other seats you’d like to see questions asked?