– Boot ’em.
– I haven’t delved into this map of Metro’s possible service cuts too deeply, but the cursory look is pretty scary.
– A fundraiser for Bread and Roses coming up July 23.
– The Revolutionary War is probably a richer topic for a movie than Angry Birds.
Update [Darryl]: The dust storm that ate Phoenix – videos and images.
Please join us tonight for an evening of politics under the influence at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. We meet at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00 pm, but feel free to join some of us for an earlier dinner.
Can’t make it tonight? Drinking Liberally Tacoma meets on Thursday, July 7th 7:00pm at the Hub Restaurant.
Special Event:
The NWroots Conference will be held this Saturday, July 9th at the Comedy Underground in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Speakers include attorney, Rhodes Scholar, and community leader Cyrus Habib, undocumented immigrant/UW graduate Alonso Chehade, Congressional candidates Jay Clough and Roger Goodman, Washington State Labor Council President Jeff Johnson, Congressmen Jim McDermott, Jay Inslee, and Dennis Kucinich, and former Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh.
Musical performances by Irthlingz and the Total Experience Gospel Choir round out the event.
The conference is $50 ($25 students), includes breakfast at Swannies & lunch at Fx McRory’s. Registration/breakfast begins at 7:30am. The conference is from 8:30am to 5:30pm.
You can find more information about the conference and register to attend here.
State Auditor Brian Sonntag has been contemplating a run for Governor, a move that would have left open another statewide office. Apparently, his 4th of July weekend self-performance audit convinced him otherwise. It appears he will run for a 6th term as State Auditor, instead.
Sonntag would have little chance of winning against Rob McKenna (R) and Jay Inslee (D). Sandeep Kaushik gives three reasons why a person who has been elected to statewide office five times wouldn’t successfully pull off a gubernatorial bid: The top two primary, money, and giving up a safe seat. The latter appears to have kept him from the race altogether.
Sonntag is nominally a Democrat, with a track record that includes things like endorsing Republican King County Executive candidate Susan Hutchison, snuggling spooning blowing Tim Eyman, and participating in Teabagger events.
We can only hope that the buzz about a potential Sonntag gubernatorial bid has encouraged some talented people to think about running for the open Auditor seat. And with any luck, they’ll still run, but now against Sonntag. Otherwise, I’m afraid, Sonntag will maintain his grip on the State Auditor’s office…well, until it’s pried out of his cold, dead hands.
I can’t get enough of these sorts of US history/civics quizzes. But this one is not right.
15. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states? (Five possible answers.)
The answer:
15. Provide schooling and education, protection (police), safety (fire departments), give a driver’s license, approve zoning and land use
I’m pretty sure driver’s licenses aren’t addressed under the Constitution. I understand that the question is really, “name some stuff states do.” But why bring up the Constitution in the question?
Happy 4th, the Declaration of Independence is below the fold.
Last week’s contest was won by Milwhcky. It was the home near Orlando where the infamous Anthony family lives.
Here’s this week’s contest, a random location somewhere in the world, good luck!
Exodus 35:2
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.
Discuss
I saw someone in a Powell’s cap today. It had the outline of Oregon on it. I feel like I see the outline of Oregon on a lot of stuff and the outline of Washington comparatively less. And Washington’s outline is much better looking. Between the coast, the Olympic Peninsula, and the Puget Sound, Washington’s state outline looks pretty unique, whereas Oregon despite a lot of coast has that one interesting curve toward the mouth of the Columbia river, and otherwise is basically a rectangle. Maybe there’s some graphic design difficulty, but I think we need to see the outline more.
Ann Telnaes: Sen. McConnell on raising taxes.
Thom: Will Ronald McDonald be added to Mt. Rushmore?
Maddow calls out Romney’s lie.
Glenn Beck Finally Goes the Fuck Away:
Goldman Sachs CEO outsources his way to Worst Person in the World.
Cenk: FAUX News’ Nixon roots.
Maddow: Koch Bros killing unions.
Thom and Jim Hightower: Gov Rick Perry is the Koch brother’s new poster boy?.
Palin Around with Crazy:
Olbermann defines FOX Populi.
President Obama welcomes the Seattle Storm:
Thom: Proof that Rich people aren’t the job creators!
Some Flake Announces:
Thom performs an an Exorcism on the GOP.
Seattle cop leaves assault weapon on top of car.
Head of TSA is Worst Person in the World.
Maddow: Arguments over the years against the ERA.
More Jon and FAUX:
Stephen: Ted Nugent is hopping mad that youth aren’t joining the teaparty.
WTF: Has Mitt Romney ever heard of Teh Google?!?:
Jon on the the GOP candidate doppelgangers.
Tweety: Most Americans still blame Bush for economic hard times.
Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.
Olbermann: Kansas judge delays new abortion law from taking effect .
Cenk: TX Sen. John Cornyn’s batant anti-Obama hypocrisy.
Jon: Debt ceiling debate and the future American dystopia.
Teh Gay Marriage:
Sam Seder: Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) dealing with two disasters.
Mark Halperin calls Obama “a dick” on national TV.
Olbermann defines fibber-tarian.
Thom with another episode of The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.
Mark Fiore: A child’s Supreme right to violence.
Thom with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) on the constitutionality of the debt ceiling.
Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA-01) Runs for Governor:
Maddow: Republican war on women in Kansas escalates.
Their Back! The Republican Plan.
Thom: More Republican war on Democracy—the Minnesota shutdown.
Olbermann: Are Republicans trying to sabotage the U.S. economy?
White House: West Wing Week.
ONN: Coal lobby warns that wind farms my blow earth out of orbit.
Maddow: Ohioans unite against Republican Gov. John Kasich’s union-busting bill.
Mr. Colbert’s Excellent FEC Adventure:
Pap: deniers watching the world burn.
WI Justice Prosser has a hissy-fit with reporter (via TalkingPointsMemo).
Thom: The Supreme court ruling on Campaign Finance.
Young Turks: Herman Cain claims Obama isn’t a “real” black man.
Newsy: Minnesota shuts down.
Sam Seder: Spreading Santorum on Egypt.
Stephen: Should the US get sucked into the quagmire that is the US?
Thom with more Good, Bad and Very, Very Ugly.
Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.
Isaiah Kalebu was found guilty on all counts. When someone does something as horrible as he did we still give him a fair trial. We still give him an attorney and let him speak in his defense to a dozen members of the public who will decide his fate.
The good in our justice system doesn’t come up as often as the flaws on this blog. We talk a lot about the failures of the drug war. We talk about racial disparities. We talk about the very real problems with the death penalty. We focus on these and other problems instead of the good because the problems can, hopefully, be fixed. Hopefully more attention can help alleviate the problems.
But the system does work sometimes. It does put away a murderer. It showed evidence. It was fair. It gave the defendant his day in court. Hopefully, the surviving victim can find some comfort in the verdict. Hopefully we’re a little safer with Kalebu behind bars.
I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence or if it’s the summer (so I and/or horses are out on city streets more), but I’ve noticed more piles of horse shit in the middle of the road recently. This morning riding to work, it was pretty heavy traffic where there was maybe the largest pile of shit I’ve ever seen on the street. I was afraid if I swerved around it, and a car tried to pass me, that it they would hit me and I’d die, but decided it was worth the risk.
I assume this has to do with those carriage rides. It looks like a fun way to go around the city for a tourist or a date. I imagine the romance is lessened somewhat if there’s a bag of shit in between you and the horse/driver. Still, I don’t want to ride my bike through, or have to navigate it around horse shit. And I don’t really want to drive my car through horse shit either. I feel like when I lived in a more rural place, that made sense, but it shouldn’t be a thing that troubles downtown Seattle.
– Seattle is one of three cities selected for the Better Buildings Challenge.
– Also at CGI America.
– Support exists for higher taxes.
– What a dick.
– Republicans really are the wimpiest wimps in Wimpville (Marco Rubio edition).
– You don’t expense your smoke bombs? (automatically loading video, no politics whatsoever)
Now that the dust has settled from Governor Gregoire’s epic fail on the recent medical marijuana bill, the state’s community of growers and patients are starting to pore over the new law to figure out how they can still provide safe access. After tonight’s meeting at the Cannabis Resource Center (the main Cannabis Defense Coalition office in SoDo), I feel like there’s actually a light at the end of this tunnel.
Of course, dispensaries who openly sell medical marijuana to any authorized patient are not allowed. And there will be no production facilities regulated by the Department of Agriculture. But what the law does allow, however, are collective gardens. This evening, defense attorney Aaron Pelley outlined what appear to be the parameters of any new system for distributing medical marijuana within that framework. This discussion stems from meetings that Pelley has had with King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. The relevant language can be found in Section 403 of the passed bill.
That section allows:
– 10 people to participate in a collective garden, which can have 15 plants and 24 ounces per person (up to 45 plants and 72 ounces total)
– The collective members to share in the costs of maintaining the collective
Interestingly, the section does not disallow:
– Multiple gardens to occupy the same space
– A single person to belong to multiple collectives
– Central offices where multiple collectives can establish an “access point”
My takeaway from this meeting is that what we’ll end up with (probably first in Seattle, then across the state) are these “access points” (not dispensaries!) where people can join a collective. Once part of a collective, you’d only be able to obtain medicine grown in that collective’s designated garden – and would probably have to pay for the upkeep of the garden (rather than directly paying for the medicine). From my reading of the law, that would be fully compliant with the statute, but hey, I’m not lawyer. And even Pelley wasn’t terribly sure how all of this will be interpreted once it inevitably ends up in a courtroom.
There are basically 2 ways to make Metro fiscally sound: (1) eliminate most service south of Renton and East of Lake Sammamish or (2) find another source of revenue (fares, taxes, taking the money away from something else the county does or some combination, but fares have already gone up and other services are hurting too). Or if you’re The Seattle Times, whine about driver pay and don’t offer any real solutions.
Two problems are special to Metro. One is bus-driver pay. It can be defended by pointing to the 2010 contract, which has minimal raises. But under the previous contracts, between 2000 and 2009, bus-driver pay rose 38.5 percent, to the third-highest figure of any big-city bus operation in the country.
Metro now feels the consequences of the contracts it has signed.
Like 90% of bus drivers are helpful and good natured. They put up with drunks, abrasive assholes, and all sorts of shit while navigating often narrow streets in and out of traffic. They are professionals. So, doy, don’t pay them anything. Also, I’m a little confused. Was bus driver pay the 3rd highest after 2009 or is it the third highest now, after concessions? The writing wasn’t clear, but I think they mean the first. The Seattle Times doesn’t say what we should pay bus drivers, nor do they calculate how many more routes we could save with cuts to bus drivers’ pay (assuming we don’t have more accidents, etc. with poorly paid drivers).
Another problem is that Metro tried to serve the whole county. The agency is going back to setting routes based more on demand, and that is good. Run buses where people want to ride them. But it is too late to avoid this deficit.
It is true that it is more costly (as I hint at in the opening), but I’m not sure it’s a “problem” as the editorial says. I think 40-40-20 is horrible policy, and am fine focusing on routes that serve the most people. Still, I don’t think we should abandon the whole areas of the county that aren’t dense enough to make back much at the fare box.
Anyway, then The Seattle Times goes from wrong to wroooooong.
The problem is that the five lattes are on top of all the other lattes, mochas and Frappuccinos people already buy for their government. Taxes go up in bad years because times are bad and good years because we can afford it.
Aah the implication that no taxes have ever gone down. Good work, people who hate facts.
There has to be a stopping point. Given the economic pain, the public opposition and the unbelievable claim that the $20 tax is for two years only, this is a good time to say no.
FYI, I skipped it but their only evidence for public opposition is that they get more letters opposing it than pro. No polling data. No focus groups. Letters to one newspaper is how you judge all public support. They aren’t calling for an election.
And it’s not like they’ve supported other tax hikes and are reluctantly opposing this. They’re opposed to any tax hike no matter how reasonable. Really, the line in the sand for The Seattle Times isn’t Metro funding. It’s public education, K-12 and higher ed. And it’s public safety. It’s all of the things the state, county, and cities do that have been reduced since the recession hit.
Today is the day Glenn Beck leaves FOX News (at least that’s what they say…I don’t have cable or a functioning teevee in my home). So it seems only fitting then that today Gawker examines the origins of FOX News:
Republican media strategist Roger Ailes launched Fox News Channel in 1996, ostensibly as a “fair and balanced” counterpoint to what he regarded as the liberal establishment media. But according to a remarkable document buried deep within the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, the intellectual forerunner for Fox News was a nakedly partisan 1970 plot by Ailes and other Nixon aides to circumvent the “prejudices of network news” and deliver “pro-administration” stories to heartland television viewers.
The memo—called, simply enough, “A Plan For Putting the GOP on TV News”— is included in a 318-page cache of documents detailing Ailes’ work for both the Nixon and George H.W. Bush administrations that we obtained from the Nixon and Bush presidential libraries.
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that the seeds of FOX News were sewn in the Nixon White House.
It explains a lot!
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!