HorsesAss.Org

Previous “scoping sessions” in Whatcom, Skagit and Spokane Counties — held by the Washington Dept. of Ecology, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Whatcom County — have drawn overflow crowds.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, and other Northwest Washington mayors, have warned about the disruption of having a succession of mile-long coal trains, bound for Cherry Point, move along the waterfronts of their cities each day. McGinn worries that after waiting for one long train to go by, waterfront traffic lineups won’t be able to clear in time for the next train.

“Transportation impacts evolve into economic impacts,” McGinn said this week.

I’m opposed to the coal trains, but if they run them, I hope the city and the state have a plan to mitigate the traffic and coal dust. So come on out and make your voice heard.

The Dec. 13 meeting in Seattle will be held at the Washington State Convention Center, Ballroom 6f. The ballroom has a capacity of 3,500 people. Doors will open at 3:30 for people to find seats, and to put down their names for the upcoming drawings.

I hate to make promises about these things, especially because I haven’t done the proper inquiries about media, but I think I’m going to live blog it.

Open Thread 12/7

by Carl Ballard — Friday, 12/7/12, 8:03 am

– Frequently asked questions about Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) in Washington State

– Way Past Wonderful

– What, you want me to actually name the spending cuts I support?

– To schedule a wedding with a district court judge you, please follow these instructions.

– Hip hop, like nearly every other genre has some people who support gay civil rights.

Sure

by Carl Ballard — Thursday, 12/6/12, 5:15 pm

Rob McKenna’s wife is right about marriage equality (h/t).

In an email to The Seattle Times, Marilyn McKenna added that while she and her husband disagree on the subject, they respect each other’s opinions. “I believe that being pro-gay marriage is completely consistent with being a Republican too. It’s a matter of personal choice that the government has no right to interfere in,” she wrote.

She added in a second email: “Both the government and the Republican Party need to get the hell out of people’s bedrooms and get a life!”

Great. I mean sure. I’m glad to have Republicans on board the human decency train. Of course that’s easy enough to say after marriage equality passed, and when it’s a done deal. I hope this is part of a genuine reassessment on the part of the GOP, but I fear they’ll be just as backwards on whatever is the next issue of basic dignity in the state as they mostly were on this one.

A Better Day

by Carl Ballard — Thursday, 12/6/12, 7:57 am

Of course we’ve known since election day, or thereabouts, that today would be the day marijuana and gay marriage would be legal in Washington. Still, going to bed reading about the people waiting to start the process finally at midnight and waking up knowing that they live in a state that lets them get married is great. Before I went to bed, I wondered if I should go down to a repeal day event even though I don’t smoke marijuana and then I woke up knowing that people around the state weren’t going to jail for that.

It’s a rare thing to wake up in a state that’s so much better than when you went to bed. Today was one of those days, so savor it.

Another Mayoral Contender

by Carl Ballard — Wednesday, 12/5/12, 8:29 pm

I’d have guessed that Ed Murray wouldn’t run for Seattle mayor. He just became the Democratic leader in the Senate and with the long session next year, he won’t be able to fundraise as well as the rest of the candidates. But if blogging has given me any insight it’s that I shouldn’t make predictions. He has formed an exploratory committee.

I had expected to be a McGinn partisan, and still may go down that road. But instead of it being a definite thing, I’ll have to look at both of them. I just don’t have enough of an idea of Murray’s vision for Seattle to know one way or the other. I certainly like what he’s done in the legislature.

Also, it’ll be interesting to see — to the extent that it isn’t all behind the scenes — how as Majority Leader who is running for mayor, he’s able to shade legislation that he might want to run on. He’s already pretty good on transit funding, and God knows he’ll be running on having passed marriage equality. But the next session will be a chance to burnish those credentials.

Congratulations 38 G.O.P. Senators

by Darryl — Wednesday, 12/5/12, 5:14 pm

Dear Senators,

Congratulation, assholes, for blocking the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities yesterday. You done “real good!”

Let’s see…you further narrowed your alarmingly narrow base:

If you thought the Republican Party only tries to appeal to well-off, married, white suburban and rural Christian men, boy are you wrong. The Republican Party tried to appeal only to well-off, white, suburban and rural able-bodied Christian men.

Nice!

In rejecting the treaty, you spit in the face of both former Sen. Bob Dole and former President George H.W. Bush—you know, the guy who signed the American With Disabilities Act, that serves as model law for signatory states. Oh…and George W. Bush, whose administration negotiated the treaty in the first place, and who first signed the treaty.

Really, nice work!

Instead you cast your lot with the fringe extremists of your party—the American Taliban, if you will. And the American Taliban’s top General is Senator Rick Santorum, who convinced you to reject the treaty because:

…parents and caregivers care most deeply and are best equipped to care for the disabled. Not international bureaucrats.

Except that the treaty does not put “international bureaucrats” in charge of children with disabilities. The very idea completely contradicts the words and spirit of the treaty (try reading it, ya nutjobbers!), which is almost entirely about countries agreeing to pass laws ensuring people with disabilities receive the same opportunities that are enjoyed by persons without disabilities.

Santorum’s ~~overt lie~~ misinformation about the treaty is strikingly similar to, and as absurd as, Sarah Palin’s 2009 lie-of-the-year award winning, repeatedly debunked “Obama’s Death Panels” crazy talk.

Santorum also frets:

Another example of this U.N. overreach is the treaty’s “best interests of the child” standard, which states in full: “In all actions concerning children with disabilities, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”

But here is what the treaty says:

Article 7 – Children with disabilities

States Parties shall take all necessary measures to ensure the full enjoyment by children with disabilities of all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with other children.

In all actions concerning children with disabilities, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

Wow…I can see how considering the best interests of the child in passing laws to ensure equality of “full human rights and fundamental freedoms” might threaten the fuck out of you. The little rugrats might try to vote!

And it isn’t just General Santorum. Some of you bought the bullshit of General Tony Perkins:

“The global community could force America to sanction sterilization or abortion for the disabled–at taxpayer expense,” said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.

Actually, what the treaty says is:

Article 23 – Respect for home and the family

1. States Parties shall take effective and appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities in all matters relating to marriage, family, parenthood and relationships, on an equal basis with others, so as to ensure that:

a. The right of all persons with disabilities who are of marriageable age to marry and to found a family on the basis of free and full consent of the intending spouses is recognized;

b. The rights of persons with disabilities to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to age-appropriate information, reproductive and family planning education are recognized, and the means necessary to enable them to exercise these rights are provided;

c. Persons with disabilities, including children, retain their fertility on an equal basis with others.

Literally, the treaty encourages countries to provide the same reproductive options to persons with disabilities as are available to persons without disabilities. But Tony Perkins is a well known ~~lying sack of shit~~ uninformed dissembling nutjob. So…”good job” there.

And that’s not all. You:

…bought the bogus argument that to vote for the U.N. treaty would mean that the U.N. committee overseeing the ban on discrimination against the disabled, including children, could violate the rights of American parents who decide to home school their disabled children.

Nuh-huh. What the treaty does do is ensure that children with disabilities have the same rights to schooling, including home schooling that children without disabilities have.

This “home schooling” concern can only be considered the rantings of lunatics who have not read the fucking treaty. That likely includes YOU and up to 37 of your esteemed, lunatic colleagues!

That’s not the craziest thing of all. The stupefyingly crazy thing comes from a whole other collection of wackjobs: The “U.N. sovereignty over the U.S.” conspiracy theorists. Santorum, of course, hinted at this.

Since the treaty is really designed to get countries to pass laws essentially modeled after the American With Disabilities Act, ratification of the treaty by the U.S. would really only subject the U.S. to a quadrennial reporting requirement. So, thank you, Senators, for saving us from the tyranny of writing the Easiest. Report. Ever. every four years.

Now that you have saved us from the autocracy of U.N. bureaucrats performing abortions and forced sterilization on home-schooled babies with disabilities, it’s time to move on the other important things.

You know…like outing high ranking government officials who are members of the New World Order (or the Muslim Brotherhood). Or revealing the truth about aliens and Area 51. And, for Pete’s sake, finally nailing Bill and Hillary Clinton for the death of Vince Foster!

Get to it!

Verily,
Darryl
Horsesass.org

Open Thread 12/5

by Carl Ballard — Wednesday, 12/5/12, 8:01 am

– ACORN are still scary.

– Back to marrying couples for the first time since 2004.

– We’ve seen remarkable reductions in pedestrian collisions since the start of the Center City Holiday Pedestrian Safety Campaign four years ago – down on average 34 percent – but even one collision is too many.

– As a Hillary Clinton partisan in 2008, and probably one again if she runs, Joan Walsh’s note of skepticism is pretty much correct.

– It will surprise nobody that Patty Murray’s priorities for the debt negotiations are better than many of her colleagues.

– Lynwood missing link.

– Fuck you Boston and San Francisco.

Thinking of the Children

by Lee — Tuesday, 12/4/12, 10:25 pm

Amanda Reiman writes about the tragic story of Michael Saffioti, the Lynnwood man who died in a Snohomish jail for doing something that will now finally be legal on Thursday.

Is it Because of All The Dick Jokes We Made About Them?

by Carl Ballard — Tuesday, 12/4/12, 7:39 pm

The Tacoma News Tribune looked having any relevance at all in the future in the face, and decided fuck that noise.

When your subscription does renew, print subscribers will receive digital access on all platforms for an additional $2.50 a month (just over eight cents a day). Nonsubscribers who want to subscribe to The News Tribune only on a digital platform will pay $9.95 a month (about 33 cents a day).

Our digital offerings include our website (thenewstribune.com), our mobile apps available for both the iPhone and Android phones, and our digital replica edition of the printed News Tribune (available on the desktop, laptops and tablets). Digital subscribers will also get access to our archives and to databases not otherwise available to print subscribers. And we are working on other products that will become available to subscribers with digital access in coming months.

Now they’re going to go with the New York Times model and offer limited amounts of free views before it’s shut down.

Nonsubscribers will be able to access only a limited amount of digital content after Dec. 16. Access to the home page, the obituaries and classified advertising will not be restricted, but most other content will be limited to 15 page views a month.

Of course, The New York Times can get away with that because there is a group of people who will pay for access to The New York Times. I don’t know other than some government employees who would pay for The Tribune online.

So if I make less fun of their odd pre-defensiveness, or Lee only makes fun of 15 fucked up drug war editorials a month now you know why.

And look, I’d very much like the Tribune to survive. Their coverage of the Tacoma Teacher’s strike was great (the editorials about it, not so much). And they cover an important piece of the state that I don’t know how it’ll get replaced if they go away. So even with this I’m still pulling for them. But I think it’s a mistake.

Drinking Liberally — Seattle

by Darryl — Tuesday, 12/4/12, 2:57 pm

Please join us tonight for an evening of politics over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

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

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings over the next week. Tonight the Tri-Cities chapter meets. And for Thursday, the Spokane chapter and Drinking Liberally Tacoma meet.

With 230 chapters of Living Liberally, including fourteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter that meets near you.

Legalization Week Open Thread

by Lee — Monday, 12/3/12, 10:13 pm

– Gene Johnson writes about how we got to this point.

– Based on Washington state data, a national market for regulated marijuana sales could be a nearly $50 billion a year market.

– In a letter to UW students, Eric Godfrey (Vice President and Vice Provost for Student Life) emphasizes that marijuana is still not allowed on University grounds. I’d imagine that’s probably true for alcohol as well, but hopefully someone can clarify in the comments. I’m curious to know if there’s a place on campus where alcohol is allowed, but marijuana would not be (for those over 21 of course).

– This Thursday at the Space Needle, people will gather to mark the milestone. Technically, using it outdoors is still illegal. But you only get to celebrate the end of prohibition once.

Probably Pay Them More

by Carl Ballard — Monday, 12/3/12, 7:08 pm

I don’t know how much the tip jar and the value of health care offset the low wages at Starbucks. But surely they can do better.

The National Employment Law Project analyzed large companies whose employees are making minimum wage, or barely above. Overall, their 2012 report found minimum wage today is worth 30 percent less than it was in 1968.

Most of the 12 largest employers studied are national restaurant chains, such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and Starbucks. The others are national retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Sears.

Starbucks ranks seventh on their list. With a workforce of 176,533 and 12,903 stores in the U.S., Starbucks had revenue of $13.3 billion and net income of $1.4 billion. CEO Howard Schultz earned $16.1 million in compensation.

Sigh.