HorsesAss.Org

Easter, 1916
by William Butler Yeats

I

I have met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.
I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,
And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

II

That woman’s days were spent
In ignorant good-will,
Her nights in argument
Until her voice grew shrill.
What voice more sweet than hers
When, young and beautiful,
She rode to harriers?
This man had kept a school
And rode our winged horse;
This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought.
This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vainglorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terribly beauty is born.

III

Hearts with one purpose alone
Through summer and winter seem
Enchanted to a stone
To trouble the living stream.
The horse that comes from the road,
The rider, the birds that range
From cloud to tumbling cloud,
Minute by minute they change;
A shadow of cloud on the stream
Changes minute by minute;
A horse-hoof slides on the brim,
And a horse plashed within it;
The long-legged moor-hens dive,
And hens to moor-cocks call;
Minute by minute they live:
The stone’s in the midst of all.

IV

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven’s part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse –
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

Here are a few thoughts/reactions to the recent violence in the medical marijuana community:

– The major tragedy of the week wasn’t just the murder of Mike Howard, but the lingering questions about why this terrifying act of violence took nearly a week to be reported in the media. It’s hard to believe that an individual who was beaten to within an inch of his life with a crowbar while trying to defend his property wasn’t the top story that evening on Seattle news stations. The answer may lie in the actions of Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies, who – if this account is accurate – didn’t seem very motivated to help the gravely wounded Howard, but instead were more concerned with finding his plants.

– Steve Sarich, the homeowner in Monday morning’s incident, is a bit off. When I first starting following the story of the legislature’s attempts to revamp the medical marijuana law, I had a long, rambling phone conversation with him that lasted about an hour. He was angry, but I couldn’t pin down any specifics on what he was angry about. When it was all said and done, very little of what he said was backed up by anything I could find in the bills online. There were leaps of logic being made that didn’t quite match up with what I was able to find out on my own. Since that time, I’ve kept him at arm’s length, and take the things he says with a grain of salt.

Sarich is definitely the most controversial and polarizing figure in the medical marijuana community. People generally see him as either a hero or a villain. He’s often accused of working with the police to spur raids on other medical marijuana patients who cross him, but he’s also one of the most outspoken critics of law enforcement as well. As curious as I’ve been to know what the reality of that dude is, he’s still mostly an enigma to me.

– I wasn’t too surprised that police found as many plants as they did in Sarich’s house, but I would definitely be surprised if they were all full-grown plants. My understanding of what his CannaCare operation does is that it creates starter plants for other patients to take home and finish growing themselves. That may or may not still be true, but that’s what I’ve been told by several folks who are familiar with it. Is it illegal according to the state law? Probably. Should it be? Absolutely not. This was a profound failure by our legislature not to allow for operations like this to exist openly. By refusing to allow dispensaries, the legislature created this problem. To the extent that Sarich’s neighbors were upset about having this kind of an operation happening on a residential street, they can blame both Frank Chopp and Governor Gregoire, neither of whom took this issue seriously back in 2007 and 2008 when the law was being revised.

– Despite the accusations being thrown at the Pierce County deputies for how they treated a seriously wounded Mike Howard, and at the King County deputies who apparently ransacked Sarich’s residence after the shooting, the statements of both King County Sheriff Sgt. John Urquhart and King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg show that some folks in law enforcement do get it that Sarich and Howard are treated as criminals only because the laws are inadequate.

“By forcing this production to remain underground,” Mr. Satterberg said, “you increase the risk of violence for everybody and you disburse that violence to residential neighborhoods and put everybody at risk.”

This is a lesson that we need the legislature to learn – and learn quickly.

Yet again the Seattle Times editorial board has strongly urged Congress and/or the President to drop health care reform, focus on other issues, and start over from scratch. And yet again the Times has attempted to cover their motives with the following caveat:

For years, this newspaper has favored health care reform. We still favor it, done at the right time and in the right way.

Yeah, well, forgive my cynicism, but I’m not so sure.

As compromised as the current bill is, if history is any guide, this is our last, best chance to pass health care reform for at least a generation. Surely, the Times editors don’t believe that given such a disastrous political failure, Congress or the President would be willing to buck history and touch this rail again anytime soon? Certainly the Times isn’t suggesting that smaller Democratic majorities in both houses, or even a Republican majority in one or the other, would be more likely to pass health care reform than the relatively large Democratic majorities we hold at the moment? The Republicans are clearly invested in blocking reform at any cost, and view this obstructionist strategy as absolutely critical to their long term political survival.

So I can only assume that the Times is being either naive or disingenuous when they repeatedly and aggressively urge Democrats to abandon health care reform at the same time they claim to support it.

Here’s my theory. The Times used to support health care reform, as like most businesses, they saw rising employee health insurance costs as threatening their economic survival. But with the collapse of the newspaper industry, and the large number of journalists and other related professionals now out of work, supply and  demand has shifted so far in favor of the publisher that health care costs have ceased to be much of an issue. Newspaper employees are just thankful to have a job, and have repeatedly granted wage and benefit concessions to the Times and other papers nationwide.

If health insurance costs continue to rise, the Times will simply demand even more concessions, with the implied threat that recalcitrant employees can always be replaced by those hungry enough to do the job for less.

Health care crisis solved.

Yeah, I know, that’s an awfully cynical theory. But the only reasonable alternative would be to assume that the Times editors are a bunch of blithering idiots who genuinely and inexplicably believe that defeating health care reform is the surest path toward achieving it… and such a brutally harsh assessment just wouldn’t be polite.

If you’re wondering why I’ve sat back and allowed Jon DeVore to use HA as a forum for promoting the candidacy of State Sen. Craig Pridemore to succeed U.S. Rep. Brian Baird in WA-03, well, this video should tell you everything you need to know.

Of course, with a controversial and uncertain House vote nearly upon us, the politically prudent thing to do would be to keep quiet until the outcome is determined. No need to expend political capital in a losing cause, and all that. And that’s exactly the path that Pridemore’s main Democratic opponent, Denny Heck has chosen.

But not Pridemore. This is a guy who clearly wants to go to the other Washington not just to be a representative, but to represent the people back home. There’s an authenticity in this video that one doesn’t often see from politicians these days, and I sure hope Pridemore’s consultants don’t attempt to polish it out of him.

Yeah sure, Pridemore is the more progressive of the two candidates, and of course that helps earn my support, but I’m also a pragmatist who fully understands that WA-03 is a swing district in which sometimes the less progressive Democrat is the better choice in August if that’s the only Democrat who can win in November. But I simply don’t believe that Heck’s more “moderate” tack gives him that advantage… not in this race, and not in this election cycle.

Heck comes off as just another politician, and maybe that’s good enough in some years, but not in 2010 when there’s a backlash brewing against politics as usual. Pridemore on the other hand is a guy who I believe can genuinely connect with voters, given the resources and opportunity to do so. And that’s why I’m convinced that Pridemore represents the Democrats’ best shot at holding WA-03 in November.

But don’t take my word for it. Check out Pridemore’s website for yourself. And if you come away as impressed as I have, you might want to consider throwing him a few bucks.

For the first time since I learned about the King County Conservation District elections a few years back, the King County Conservation Voters endorsed candidate has finally won one of these bizarre, nearly secret elections. So congratulations to Max Prinsen, who topped runner-up Mara Heiman, 1,772 to 1,488.

So now that we’ve proven that pro-conservation forces can win an election that in recent years had proven the only race that KC Republicans could reliably count on, I’d like to take the opportunity to publicly suggest that we scrap this election entirely.

4,232 conscientious citizens cast ballots in yesterday’s election, better than 50% more than the 2,757 ballots cast in 2009… which in itself was a huge increase over previous years, when a mere few hundred votes was sometimes all that was needed to assure victory. But that’s still a tiny fraction of the roughly one million registered voters in King County.

So if we really can’t afford to piggyback the KCCD election onto a primary or general election ballot — when, you know, people actually vote — why even bother holding it? Two of the board’s five seats are already appointed by the three elected members, so why not just appoint them all? Maybe distribute the appointments geographically amongst the nine County Council members, so as to assure that rural voters receive adequate representation?

I know, I know… nobody votes for less democracy, but a countywide election with less than 1% turnout is a farce. It’s past time we admitted it, and eliminated the KCCD election all together.

Once again, the Change.org website held an open forum for voting on which issues Americans want the Obama Administration to address. The results were announced and – once again – ending marijuana prohibition was one of the top issues voted on. In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper discovered the same thing when he agreed to respond to questions from the online community. He was expected to respond to these questions today.

[Read more…]

After struggling to find a polling place and waiting in line for what seems like forever for today’s election, you could use a drink. So 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. beginning at about 8:00 pm. Stop by even earlier and enjoy some dinner.

Not in Seattle? There is a good chance you live near one of the 343 other chapters of Drinking Liberally.

The good news is that there’s a 90 minute wait to vote at the Bellevue library polling station, so I guess the turnout is relatively high. And the bad news is that there’s a fucking 90 minute wait to vote at the Bellevue library polling station!

The parking lot is overflowing and the line is so long people are walking away in disgust. If you wanted to design an election to discourage participation, this would be the way to do it. You know, the Republicans’ dream system.

What a joke.

I'm not sure where this is, or even what this is, but it sure is a fun looking indoor space.

When I talk about a really kick–ass playground to replace the Seattle Center’s Fun Forest, instead of the pay-per-view Chihuly museum that’s been proposed, of course I’m thinking of a space mostly aimed at kids. But I emphasize the “mostly.”

This is an opportunity to let our imaginations run wild and build something appealing to kids of all ages. Yeah, sure, we could build just another museum. Or we could build a public “playground” that could ultimately prove just as iconic as the Space Needle itself.

Unless, you know, Seattle just isn’t up to the challenge.

The world’s stupidest election has come around again, with the King County Conservation District giving new meaning to the term “secret ballot.” Dozens of voters will gather today at seven libraries throughout the county to cast ballots in a race that nobody but dedicated environmentalists and self-interested developers even know exists.

No publicity. No convenient neighborhood polling places. No mail-in ballot. It’s pretty much democracy at its worse.

That said, I suppose I’ll attempt to find the polling-place/library closest to a Trader Joe’s, and try to make the most of the inconvenience, casting my ballot for either Kirk Prindle or Max Prinsen. As Lee mentioned, Kirk is a friend of Howie, and thus a friend of HA, who has managed to make it out to a couple DL’s. But Prinsen has the endorsement of the King County Conservation Voters, and I’d hate to see our side split their vote.

Anyway, I’m probably voting for Prindle, but you use your own judgment. Just get out there and vote.

As legislators prepare to close Washington’s $2.6 billion budget gap, partially by imposing a tax on carbonated beverages, a new scientific study confirms the obvious… that taxing soft drinks can make young people healthier.

The study, which collected food intake data from 12,123 young adults for 20 years, found that with every 10 percent increase in the price of a two-liter bottle, people consumed 7 percent fewer calories from soda. They also took in fewer calories over all.

When people faced an even larger increase — $1 for a two-liter bottle of soda, comparable to a proposed tax in Philadelphia — they consumed 124 fewer calories a day, the study found. The lower soda intake was associated with a drop in weight of more than two pounds — and a lower risk for pre-diabetes. The study appears in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Now some might argue against any government effort to influence behavior by distorting the price of one product over another, yet the low price consumers have long enjoyed on sugary beverages is itself a direct result of massive federal corn subsidies and the vast supply of cheap, high fructose corn syrup these policies have created. Washington’s proposed nickel per 12 ounce tax, representing about a 20 to 30 percent increase at the checkout counter, can thus rightly be seen as merely a state effort to partially counter the market distortions created by subsidies at the national level. And considering the measurable public health benefits the study suggests we should expect, this policy seems like a win-win to me.

If the Wright family really wants to improve the Seattle Center, perhaps they should attach a couple of these wicked cool sliding tubes from the Skyline level of the Space Needle? How fun would that be?

The Wright family, the people who constructed and own the Space Needle, want to build a private, pay-per-view Chihuly Museum at the foot of the Needle on public land where the Fun Forest used to be. Personally, I can think of some much better uses for a couple acres of land the Seattle Center master plan had envisioned as open space.

Seattle Times Publisher Frank Blethen waving the piece of paper upon which Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong promises only to persecute dissidents "a little."

As tough as I am on them, I have to admit that the Seattle Times editorial board is usually pretty good on issues involving free speech. Unless, of course, it’s spoken in Mandarin.

GOOGLE’S fight with China presents issues that are not as simple as many Americans believe.

Americans frame it as a fight against state censorship — of government telling a U.S. company to disable its search engine in China so that Google’s customers there can’t read certain political opinions. Americans don’t believe in doing that — and Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, has said so publicly, threatening to leave China.

To China’s government, the issue is whether a foreign corporation will obey its laws. Framed that way, the answer is easy. It has to obey. That is the rule with foreign companies everywhere.

Well, the law is the law. Spoken like a Mahatma Gandhi or a Martin Luther King Jr… you know, if they were drunk.

And on what does the Times base this bold statement of principle? Well apparently they looked the communist Chinese minister of industry and information in the eye and were able to get a sense of his soul. After all…

Listen to what they say.

“I hope Google will abide by Chinese laws and regulations,” says Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology. This is not the diction of a totalitarian state. It sounds like a man who wants to make a deal.

Now that’s the sorta confident assessment of a foreign government’s character and intentions that would make Neville Chamberlain proud. I mean, with totally non-totalitarian diction like that, where’s the harm in a little censorship?

I dunno, but is anybody else a little weirded out by an American newspaper defending government censorship, while urging the world’s largest Internet search engine to just quietly play along? Strange.