HorsesAss.Org

My mail box is being flooded this morning with press releases and advisories announcing a major new solar power facility to be built just north of Cle Elum:

A privately-held solar company today announced plans to install a 400-acre solar park on property north of Cle Elum, Washington. The Teanaway Solar Reserve is designed to generate about 75 megawatts of renewable energy — enough to power approximately 45,000 households — making it the largest photovoltaic (PV) solar project ever proposed in the Northwest.

[…] The Teanaway Solar Reserve will employ PV solar technology to directly convert sunlight into electricity. The power it generates will be connected to the utility grid and will offset about 275-million pounds of carbon dioxide every year compared to the equivalent amount of energy produced from coal. The target date for completion is fall 2011.

It’s not entirely clear, but it sounds like the company plans to build a manufacturing facility near the site to build the 400,000 panels necessary to complete the project… which would surely be an economic boon for the county, lasting far beyond the solar reserve’s initial construction.

And since I just took a shot at Sen. Maria Cantwell in a previous post, I suppose it’s only fair to give her a shout out on an issue on which she has shown great leadership:

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) says, “Last year, I fought to pass my bipartisan clean energy tax incentives bill, and now, thanks in part to that legislation, we’re seeing this project get off the ground. Washington State is leading the way to transitioning our world to a clean energy economy, and I am so proud that our state will be home to one of the largest solar generating facilities in the nation. This groundbreaking project will create construction and manufacturing jobs, bring hundreds of millions of investment dollars into Central Washington, and generate fuel and emissions-free electricity for our citizens.”

2011 seems like an awful ambitious target, but we need to be ambitious when it comes to renewable energy.

Two local rallies are being held today to send a clear message to Sen. Maria Cantwell that her constituents need and want substantial health care reform.  For those of you up in Everett, Dying for Universal Healthcare will host a rally  at 11:45 AM at Senators Cantwell and Murray’s joint offices, 2930 Wetmore Ave, while down here in Seattle MoveOn.org will be holding a rally at 12:15 PM at Cantwell’s office at 915 Second Ave.

From all accounts, Sen. Murray is a strong supporter of a public option for health insurance, but Cantwell can best be described as wavering in her opposition, instead promoting the formation “co-ops” like Group Health… which I suppose for those of us here in Group Health territory would mean no reform at all.

That’s just not good enough, not for the poor, not for the middle class, not for anybody.

I’ve been self-employed or a small business owner for most of my adult life, and at times, I’ve even made some decent money at it. But individuals like me no longer have access to full health insurance with robust preventative care at nearly any price.

For example, and to get very personal, there is a history of colon cancer in my family, but as an individual I can’t find affordable insurance that will cover a colonoscopy as part of routine preventative care before the age of 50. If I worked for the government, or big company, yes, but as an individual, that option simply isn’t available.

“So what?” you may say, “Stick with your catastrophic coverage and pay for it yourself.” And I very may well do that. But if I do, through the simple act of denying the claim, the procedure will cost me maybe a couple thousand dollars more than the pre-negotiated price between my provider and my insurer. I’m already not particularly inclined to let somebody stick something up my ass, so charging me an extra couple thousand dollars for the privilege doesn’t exactly incentivize responsible well care.

And now Regence wants to raise my premiums another 17%, the third year in a row of double-digit increases.

As an individual subscriber I’m doubly penalized for not being an employee of a large group. First I must pay a higher premium for my insurance, and then I must pay retail for the many services not covered. And for many American families, paying retail for preventative care, let alone a serious illness or injury, can result in thousands of dollars of bills they can’t afford. It’s a silly system in which Regence won’t pay for my cancer screening, but they will pay for treating my cancer. Where’s the sense in that?

The fact is, if co-ops like Group Health were such a cure-all, we wouldn’t have so many uninsured and underinsured individuals here in Washington state. But we do.

Let Sen. Cantwell know that the status quo simply isn’t good enough.

The podcast makes another surprise return from its summer vacation, giving Goldy and his panel of bloggers a chance to attack the political issues of our day over beer and nachos. The panel takes delight in the splendidly bewildering surrender of Gov. Sarah Palin. After a brief sojourn into rumors about imminent indictments, the panel delves into the big question of whether Palin has spoiled herself politically.

[14:01] It was a big day as Senator Elect Al Franken shortened his title to just Senator Al Franken. Goldy finds in this great hope for foul-mouthed politicos everywhere. The panel wonders when the sobered former satirist will again be able to get his humor back on.

[24:01] Finally, the panel examines Initiative 1033 that would limit future state spending to inflation plus population growth. Two major flaws of the initiative are discussed—the downward ratchet from economic dips and use of the wrong inflation index. If passed, will I-1033 cause Washington State to follow in the dreadful fiscal footsteps of California? A raucous debate ensues over whether angry scare tactics are the right approach for fighting the initiative.

Goldy was joined by Group News Blog publisher Jesse Wendel, Peace Tree Farm’s N in Seattle, and Horses Ass’ Will Kelly-Kamp.

The show is 47:04, and is available here as an MP3:

[audio:http://www.podcastingliberally.com/podcasts/podcasting_liberally_jul_7_2009.mp3]

[Recorded live at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally. Special thanks to Confab creators Gavin and Richard for hosting the Podcasting Liberally site.]

From the headquarters newspaper of Boeing (that would be The Chicago Tribune:)

Unless Boeing Co. can win a long-term contract that bars strikes by its largest union, the aerospace company will build a second production line for its new 787 jetliner outside of Washington state, members of the state’s congressional delegation say.

Because, you know, the 787 has become an international punch line, because of, er, um, stuff that kind of happened.

On Tuesday, Boeing said it would pay $580 million for a Vought Aircraft Industries plant in North Charleston, S.C., that makes large sections of its much-delayed 787.

Deliveries of the 787 have been postponed by nearly two years partly because of problems with components made by suppliers and work that suppliers didn’t complete. Those problems are expected to cost Boeing billions of dollars in added expenses and penalties.(emphasis mine)

Boeing is using suppliers from around the world to build large sections of the plane that are later assembled at the company’s commercial aircraft plant in Everett, north of Seattle. Boeing has booked orders for a record 850 of the planes, though some 60 orders have been canceled so far this year.

So the problems from “suppliers around the world,” many of them presumably non-union, mean the Boeing lapdogs in this state should um, er, do something.

Gregoire said that before Boeing decides on where to place a second 787 line, she plans to go to company headquarters in Chicago and make the case for the Puget Sound region before Boeing’s board.

Gregoire said a no-strike agreement is an ambitious goal for Boeing, and is something that cannot be achieved through legislation. Dicks said any such agreement would have to involve some kind of binding independent arbitration of disputes between Boeing and the Machinists.

Yeah, because nothing would make more sense than for Boeing to move production to right-to-starve states where inferior parts were made, or in some cases, not made. You know, the places that screwed things up for the 787 in the first place. Somehow, in Boeing-logic-land, this is the fault of unions.

Nobody wants to see Washington state workers lose jobs, but there should be limits to this kind of pathetic and transparent corporate blackmail. A “no strike clause” is in reality a “no union clause;” they might as well just dissolve the machinists’ union.

Which is, obviously, the point. Good luck with this, elected Dems. You’re going to need it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTN8cQLhM-k[/youtube]

This morning the media was invited along for a “How to ride light rail” lesson conducted by Mayor Greg Nickels, and once on the train I had the opportunity to shanghai King County Councilmembers (and Executive wannabes) Larry Phillips and Dow Constantine with the kind of hard hitting questions they never get from the legacy press.

So which candidate supports light rail more? Watch the video to find out.

Oh, and by the way, the trains, the stations, the schedule… it’s hard to imagine Seattleites not falling in love with light rail once it starts service next week.

Back when Microsoft first started fearing that open standards/platform independent web browsers could threaten its lucrative operating system monopoly, they set out to destroy Netscape, the dominant player in the field, by giving away Internet Explorer for free. And it worked. Sorta.

Yesterday, Google announced its new Chrome OS, and its intent to give away the operating system for free. Wonder where they got that idea?

Victoria Jackson, who made a career out of acting stupid on SNL, serves up something that is rather hard to characterize.

Obama legally kills babies and now he can legally kill Grandmas!

Hitler did this. He killed the weak, the sick, the old, and babies and races/religions he didn’t like. Hitler also controlled the media. (Where’s the public debate between scientists on “Climate Change/Global Warming?”) Hitler had the VW bug invented as the state car. What will O’s nationalized car be? So… kill off the weak. That’s the plan. Tax the workers to death. Erase the middle class. Sounds like the evil governments we studied in high school long ago. The evil governments were : kings, oligarchies, facist, socialist, and communist. Now it’s called the Obama Administration. Sounds like candy or a rock band.

Believe it or not, the piece gets better (or worse, depending of course on your point of view and mood) from there, as Jackson goes on to harass an innocent Burbank gift shop owner with wingnut ramblings, then wonders why she is met with silence.

I wonder if Jackson and Dennis Miller hang around Burbank together, worrying about nationalized cars? The burdens these folks carry, I tell you. My heart aches for Jackson, who is certainly old enough to be a grandma and is clearly rather frightened by it all. She should get out of her comfort zone and drive over to Malibu or something.

(I saw it here.)

Join us tonight at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally for an evening of politics under the influence. The festivities take place at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. beginning at 8:00 pm.

Yeah…I’m late with the post tonight but, hey, I’m busy already!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGK5tXNItV0[/youtube]

Not in Seattle? The Drinking Liberally web site has dates and times for 332 other chapters of Drinking Liberally for you to get lost at.

There are a lot of things I just don’t get. And this is one of them.

Didja know that Ted Van Dyk worked in the Johnson administration? Ted reminds us.

It’s pretty damn wonky, and it’s not overtly political in the normal sense, but there’s an interesting piece in AppleInsider on a brewing HTML 5.0 standards battle, that I think might surprise some locals as to Microsoft’s history of anticompetitive practices, and how its relentless opposition to open standards has adversely impacted both web developers and consumers alike.

I don’t ever remember reading coverage like this in the local press, but perhaps I just missed it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNrUo6snlx4[/youtube]

It’s not like any real news was made at yesterday’s big press conference at Sound Transit’s Link Operations and Maintenance facility, though you’d think a public gathering featuring our Mayor, Governor, US Senator and US Secretary of Transportation might be news enough to make it into our city’s only remaining daily.

Apparently not.  Not even a mention in a measly blog post. Not even an ironic jab at say, Gov. Gregoire, for talking almost entirely about highway spending while standing before a backdrop of spanking new trains. Huh.

Obviously, the purpose of media events like this—and I’m assuming Sec. Ray LaHood is holding them around the nation—is to show the public that stimulus dollars are actually being put to work building infrastructure and creating good paying jobs. You know, like the 75,000 jobs here in WA state that Gov. Gregoire claims these federal dollars have already helped create or save.

And that’s an important message to get out, especially as some of are nation’s leading economists are beginning to make the argument for another round of stimulus spending… an argument that will fall on deaf ears if the public doesn’t believe that the first round of spending has actually accomplished something. And if papers like the Seattle Times fail/refuse to pass on this message… well… if a tree falls in the forest, and all that.

Wow:

But as for whether another pursuit of national office, as she did less than a year ago when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the White House, would result in the same political blood sport, Palin said there is a difference between the White House and what she has experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House, she said, the “department of law” would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.

“I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we’ve been charged with and automatically throw them out,” she said.

There is no “Department of Law” at the White House.

[via Atrios]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiNUkME9D9k[/youtube]

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood held a press conference in Seattle today at Sound Transit’s Link Operations and Maintenance facility on Airport Way, to highlight how the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (i.e., the stimulus package) is funding sustainable transportation projects and putting people back to work here in Washington state. Joining Sec. LaHood at the podium were Gov. Chris Gregoire, US Senator Patty Murray and Mayor Greg Nickels, a pretty high-power group, but I thought the best explanation of the impact of stimulus dollars on our local economy came from Lee Newgent of the Seattle Building and Construction Trades Council, so that’s the video clip I’m posting first.

More clips coming as I slog through the editing process.

I can empathize with nearby residents inconvenienced by light rail, and I sure hope Sound Transit does its best to prevent or abate those unexpected screeching noises on the run through Tukwila. But… I have trouble feeling sympathy for homeowners complaining about noisy trains “knocking down their property values” when the homeowners knew full well that they were buying next door to busy train tracks:

David and Laurie Shumate, who moved into their remodeled 1920s home two years ago, take issue with Sound Transit’s November noise readings… “We don’t want to move, but … ” David Shumate said, sighing deeply before finishing, “I don’t know.”

The woman who’s lived in her house for 60 years… she’s got a reason to complain. But the Shumates, not so much. It’s like folks who buy houses near airports, because they’re such a good value, complaining about noise from airplanes flying low overhead.

Sound Transit is in the midst of conducting further tests, and if they determine there is a problem they will try various noise abatement methods, including soundproofing affected homes. But…

“That doesn’t help when we’re outside,” Laurie Shumate said. The Shumates spend their spare time converting what they disparagingly call the previous owner’s “English garden” into a lush yard full of plants native to the Duwamish River area.

Again… they bought a house across the street from elevated train tracks, and they expect to enjoy their lush garden in piece and quiet? That’s just bad planning.