“This is not a pipe” -Belgian Surrealist René Magritte
“This report was not a report” -American Surrealist Holly Armstrong
Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?
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!
And most of all, Bush is not a president….
Will–
Yer killin’ me!!!
Sincerely, nice work.
Calling BS on this kind of stuff is something reasonable folks from the Left & Right can agree on.
Public Servants is a misnomer…the true meaning disappeared decades ago.
A better nominclature would be Public Defiance-vants.
They serve the Government Bureaucratic vat of Goo and special interests.
Thanks for calling BS on this repeatedly Will.
You’re a great American!
Of course it’s not a report! Don’t you know the difference between a report and a study, Will?
Like Mr. C says, it’s goo.
Hey Mr. C! You shoulda bought NOV when you coulda got it for $58! That stock will go through the roof when Bush bombs Iran. How does your washing machine work? I want to know how you turn L & I taxes into Rossi slush funds — what’s the magic inside the rollers when you turn the crank?
It may not be a pipe, but it represents a place where things might be different:
http://www.axenhammer.com/slackidonia
Roger, it’s a secret kept closely within the ranks of certain inhabitants of Port Townsend. . .
Click here for photo of BIAW washing machine.
http://images.ola.com/auctions.....3804-1.jpg
It is not a pipe.
It is a picture of a pipe.
It cannot be emptied, loaded with tobacco, or drawn on.
ergo, it is not a pipe.
I could be a smart-aleck and say a picture of a report is also not a report, but to say Will’s picture is not a report is not a meditation on being vs perception of being. It’s just being in denial.
Perhaps the only aspect of this debate that tends to bother me (given that this issue is not all that directly pertinent to Eastern Washingtonites) is the lack of reporting on the inside lobbying efforts by those corporations who stand the most to gain from such a huge public infrastructure undertaking. Most people tend to forget that nearly every penny of tax revenue is expended through contract for services and products. These funds in turn stimulate (and reduce/ collapse) local economies in which these corporate and personnel interests live and work. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars isn’t throwing it up in the air and hoping some people catch it. This is so much more about the corporate names on the future checks, and for which communities and locales the future funds provide supplementary micro-economic benefits (and the opposite deprivation and impoverishment of others).
The paper contract alone, just for the reports, studies, memorandum, bills, proclamations, inspection permits must be in the millions. Likewise the cost of energy to perform just these investigations, deliberations, and debates will come out of the commonweal’s pool of available resources and be allocated to this or that utility company etc. Each step of this process costs all of us, and rewards only a few. The sooner it is over with the better i say.
I guess I’m just not seeing the big deal here.
Of course WSDOT and the Governor’s office are against a tunnel. This is news?
So they’re trying to spin a report as a “memo” – who cares?
The only reason this would be a big deal is if we supported a tunnel. I should hope we don’t – it’d be one of the worst decisions this city could make, saddling us with almost as much cost overruns as the monorail was projected to bear. So flogging this issue simply has the effect of keeping the tunnel alive and making it seem viable, which it is not.
I would much rather we spent our time fighting for a surface/transit option. THAT seems the real issue – how WSDOT and the Governor’s office haven’t even taken that seriously enough.
Eugene @ 11:
So far, the “transit” part of the “surface-transit option” is VAPOR! So why should we tear down the Viaduct for VAPOR? People do not move via VAPOR!
Show us the transit. Then let’s deal. Can’t show us the transit, for the same price that a new Viaduct would cost? Then we’re building a new Viaduct.
My buddy Will:
Five posts later, have you read a single word of that “report” yet?
@ 12
Ivan, yes.
Maybe there’s another option: “surface-plus-suck-an-egg”. The DOT wants us all to leave town in August so they can have their way with I-5? Maybe some (or all) of us might consider not coming back.
Surrealism. “Style using imagery from dreams and the subconscious, often distorting forms of ordinary objects or placing them in new contexts.”
I guess it’s from the open thread post of John Barelli!
John Barelli says:
Hi, christmasghost.
Yes, Mr. Stupid does prove that being liberal does not equate to being either smart or reasonable. Yes, distorting forms of ordinary librulism or placing libtrulism in new contexts.
Don’t laugh too hard, for every Mr. Stupid, you folks have a Mr. Redneck.
Mr. Stupid the one that keeps preaching that we Democrats need to lie and cheat and do whatever it takes to win elections, regardless of the consequences. Yes, distorting forms of ordinary librulism or placing libtrulism in new contexts.
He also seems to be of the impression that anyone to the right of Lenin is a Republican at heart. He seems to be of the impression that the Democrats lost the last election. Yes, distorting forms of ordinary librulism or placing librulism in new contexts.
Of course, from his perspective, they did. Many of the Democrats currently serving in both the State and Federal governments are much too right-wing for him. Certainly none of the State Legislators from my area (Derek Kilmer, Pat Lantz and Larry Seaquist) are to his liking. Yes, distorting forms of ordinary librulism or placing libtrulism in new contexts.
Nationally, Norm Dicks and Maria Cantwell are both (from his perspective) practically Republicans, and Nancy Pelosi is an obvious DINO because she actually speaks to them. Yes, distorting forms of ordinary librulism or placing libtrulism in new contexts.
They’re all way too reasonable, and are actually willing to work with the Republicans, whenever they can find common ground. To his thinking, that makes them traitors.
(It must get pretty lonely over in Mr. Stupid’s party, since 95% of the folks that vote Democratic agree with us, and he’s out their shouting at the wind.) Mr Stupid wouldn’t know a party if a Moonbat! sat on his face.
One of the things that the folks on the fringes of both sides seem to agree on is that they have absolutely no use for moderates. Anyone who is willing to even consider that there might be valid points made by the other side is simply a traitor to the cause, and is to be attacked with even more vehemence than the other side. I think he’d be happier in the Socialist Workers Party, but they don’t have an active chapter here (to my knowledge). Ummm John, here on ASSWipes most Moonbat!s are just that! Ever read Yos Lib Bro/Clueless’ commentary after November 7th?
Mr. Redneck and Mr. Stupid have far more in common with each other than either does with any reasonable human being.
If Mr. Stupid’s three “real Dem” friends don’t want to do business with me, that’s ok. I’m sure he doesn’t like any of the candidates I helped get elected, either. John, his three real dem friends are Clueless, Froggy and Carl Grossman
Oh, and Mr. Stupid? I’ll be helping them get elected again. Good luck out there on the far-left fringe, and say hello to Mr. Redneck for me.
02/22/2007 at 7:30 pm
Mr Stupid. I like that. Addressing him with a “proper” name!
THANK YOU JOHN – Thanks for pointing out that surrealism!
Bush Family Protects Moon’s Gangster Enterprises
According to the picture painted by independent investigative journalists such as Robert Parry of Consortium News, Korean “businessman” and cult leader Sun Myung Moon ranks among the world’s most sinister men. He not only is allegedly an extremely powerful organized crime leader, but also dreams of dominating the entire globe and the entire human race under his personal totalitarian rule.
Moon allegedly uses his “church” and “business” enterprises as fronts for criminal activities that range from international drug and weapons trafficking to local, petty scams. His alleged money laundering operations provide banking services to some of the world’s biggest drug traffickers.
Moon is no ordinary alleged gangster. He allegedly has forged strategic alliances not only with powerful South American, Asian, and Japanese organized crime groups, but also with right-wing dictators, government intelligence agencies, Nazi fugitives, the Contras, violent Cuban exiles, and Central and South American death squads. He is believed to have financed the so-called “Cocaine Coup” that replaced Bolivia’s government with a military junta profoundly intertwined with the cocaine cartels that became infamous as one of the most brutal in South American.
Moon also is a major funder of U.S. rightwing propaganda operations. In exchange for pouring billions of dollars into the GOP noise machine, he is given sanctuary in the U.S. and protection from interference by law enforcement.
For example, a local affiliate of Moon’s Unification Church in San Francisco illegally poached baby leopard sharks from San Francisco Bay, which were sold to make sushi, for over a decade. When Moon’s operatives were caught, federal authorities dropped charges in exchange for a $500,000 payment for habitat restoration — and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales fired the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case.
Moon has intimate connections with the Bush family, and has paid George H. W. Bush millions of dollars in “speaking fees.” In return, the Bush family provides political and legal cover for Moon to pursue his alleged far-flung criminal activities.
For complete story, see http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/021707.html
Sorry, Will, you still have not proven anything. That an option would pass muster in a SCREENING LEVEL REVIEW and later prove not feasible or cost effective or not meet safety standards is a routine part of the process. You say you’ve read the document. What does it say? Is there additional information presented in February which leads to different conclusions?
It’s important to look at what question is being asked. Are they looking only at capacity? What analysis was done of safety. Please don’t recycle the answer that it will be as safe as the current tunnel. When you build something, you must meet current codes and standards, not those in place when an earlier structure was built. Anyone who has done a major remodel and had to bring an entire structure up to current code can attest to that fact.
Nickles and Ceis are at least as capable as Gregiore of distorting process. Any questions how they quickly moved from a 6 lane tunnel to 4?
You’ve raised questions but proven nothing.
You guys just don’t get it. I suppose that’s because you haven’t worked in the state bureaucracy. A “report” is something that agency managers and/or politicians sign off on, i.e., endorse. A “study” is merely a document that no one has lent their name to in their official capacity, and which therefore has not been endorsed by any agency or political leader. Studies don’t amount to squat. Only “reports” are important, and until you see people’s initials in the margin, it’s not a “report.”
Korean “businessman” and cult leader Sun Myung Moon ranks among the world’s most sinister men.
SOUNDS LIKE THE KIND OF GUY PUDDYBUD CAN LOVE AND WORSHIP. WE ALL KNOW PUDDY LOVES THE MOONIE TIMES EXCEPT OF COURSE WHEN THEY PRINT SLADE GORTON DEBUNKING HIS PHONY GORELICK WALL.
Puddybud:
(As I mentioned in another post, somehow “Mr. Bud” just doesn’t work for me. Probably due to my growing up in the sixties.)
Ok, Puddy, perhaps it’s me, but I’m really not sure what you’re trying to say. Are you agreeing that most liberals and most conservatives can find ways of working together on most issues? (well, mostly? ;-)
Are you saying that most liberals are reasonable folks and that only the very few out on the fringes are trying disrupt the conversation? That we have folks here that are out on the far left fringes? Ok. I’ve noted that myself, and have engaged in some interesting debates with a couple of them.
I’ll disagree with you about a number of the posters. For example, Carl is probably further left than I am, but he thinks about issues and is usually willing to discuss them with folks on the right. Read his posts and attack his position and he’s usually pretty civil and open to discussion. Sometimes he may take offence where I would not, but considering the abuse that was leveled at his wife by at least one person on your side of the aisle, not to mention the attacks on his religion, I can understand his having a rather short fuse.
TreeFrogFarmer also tends to discuss issues, and if you attack his position with reason and argument, you’ll probably find him well read, reasonable, and open to reason.
Roger is rude, crude, socially unacceptable and leaves pellets in Stephan’s garden. That’s why we love him. (You’re welcome, Roger.)
I have less interaction with the others you mention, but for every snide or obnoxious post they have made, I guarantee I can find one even worse coming from a right-winger.
Are you trying to say that there are liberals that cannot open their mouths without inserting at least one of their feet? Ok, no argument from me, but you might consider checking out that log in your eye before pointing out the speck in ours.
If you want to stay and try to get some of the folks here to understand your position just a bit better, then welcome. Expect that you will receive some abuse. Heck, I get some abuse from folks on the far left. Don’t take it personally. Over on the right wing boards, we get called “Demoncats” “Democraps” and any number of other names, so expect some of the same sort of thing in the opposite direction. (Just part of having a completely uncensored board.)
As to your insults about this blog and some of the folks here, I might point out that this is our (actually, Goldy’s) pool that you’re peeing in. Coming here is entirely optional, and it isn’t as if we try to hide the fact that this is a liberal blog. If someone has you tied to a computer with your eyes taped open, just let us know and we’ll send someone to get you released (maybe in a day or two).
If you’re just into calling names and posting long cut-and-paste articles from NewsMax, expect to get lumped in with Redneck, AmericaFirst, He Who Must Not Be Named (in any of my posts), and Mr. Stupid.
Which Texas politician said that the only thing you’ll find in the middle of the road is yellow lines and dead armadilloes. Even a small child can understand that if two people sit in the middle of a see saw, well…. I’m sure you get the point, John Barelli.
@20 “Roger is rude, crude, socially unacceptable and leaves pellets in Stephan’s garden. That’s why we love him. (You’re welcome, Roger.)”
Not in civil society. It’s all an act. On this board, I behave like a Republican so they can see what Republican behavior looks like.
@20 “That’s why we love him.”
How can anyone NOT love a cute, cuddly, critter like me? (See photo.) Except Republican animal-haters.
http://www.merchantsbay.com/eI.....t_Full.jpg
@10 “Most people tend to forget that nearly every penny of tax revenue is expended through contract for services and products.”
Not entirely. The state has over 100,000 employees, and while I’m not sure what the state’s payroll costs are, they have to be billions a year. The state also owns quite a bit of real estate, vehicle fleets, and consumes trainloads of office supplies. It even owns a printing plant.
However, your basic point — that the state spends a lot of money on services contracted to the private sector — is valid. For example, the state pays hundreds of nursing homes to take care of thousands of Medicaid patients, and these nursing home contracts are DSHS’s single largest expenditure.
Ah, hey, I hate to say this but HA has become a little fixated lately. I know this advisory election is an important issue, but there is OTHER stuff going on. Stefan is outing posters he doesn’t agree with, the Legislature is dealing with issues other than the friggin viaduct, there is still a war, McCain’s FlipFlop Express was in town, etc. etc.
ivan @ 12, you’re absolutely right that the transit doesn’t yet exist to handle the traffic load of the viaduct. I’ve never argued otherwise. It is most definitely vapor at this point.
But that doesn’t mean we should abandon that option. The transit has to be built and provided in any case, so why not start now?
Ideally, yes, you provide the transit before you close freeways. And it would have made this SO much easier had Nickels helped try and save the Monorail – which followed almost EXACTLY the same corridor as the viaduct – from itself, and helped it go back to voters to ask for an increased tax to cover the shortfall.
Even now there are things that can be done to help take the load off of the Viaduct corridor. Bus Rapid Transit comes immediately to mind. By the time the viaduct reopens light rail will have been up and running for several years and well on its way to Northgate. A billion dollars could VASTLY improve what Metro can offer Seattle in terms of bus coverage.
And really, how many people use the Viaduct as an alternative to I-5 for going through Seattle? I’m betting most users’ trips originate and end within the city, since it’s almost impossible to get back to I-5 from Aurora very easily.
The Viaduct situation is one where we don’t so much have the luxury of building all the transit first, though again I think a significant chunk can be provided in the time it would take to do a rebuild. It’s going to come down sooner or later and we’re going to have to live without it for some period of time. I say we make that permanent and start getting serious as a city about transit as an alternative to freeways and cars. Seattle’s head has been in the sand on this for far too long, and the pictures of rising sea level projections should alone remind us the time to start moving away from cars and toward transit is NOW.
As I’ve said over on Slog, this discussion is no longer about logic, but about preventing environmentalists and smart growthers from having an influence over urban planning.
John, you and I both know Carl has stated he hates my positions no matter how much URL power I supply, Froggy just attacks me with my first name but hides his pimply ass behind the keyboard and clueless is one note clueless.