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Faced with inexplicable tragedy like the killer tornado that wiped Greenburg, Kansas off the map, people of faith sometimes ask how a compassionate God could allow such horrific suffering. Well, the Reverend Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas explains: God hates fags.

Amen.

Friends of Seattle, following the smash success of their kickoff event in Belltown some weeks ago, are throwing another get-together that mixes big city politics with (what else?) stiff drinks.

You can RSVP here.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 5:30-8:30 PM
The Baltic Room (1207 Pine Street)
(a recommended $10 contribution gets you membership and a free drink)

Expect lots of great guests and conversation. More info here.

Inside this great piece by Angela Galloway at the P-I there is this gem:

[F]ree parking costs everyone, said Donald Shoup, the nation’s most prominent academic on parking policies and an urban planning professor at the University of California-Los Angeles. Free parking inflates grocery bills, housing costs and movie ticket prices, he said. The burden is heaviest on the poorest, he said.

“Even if you’re too poor to own a car, you have to pay for parking,” said Shoup, author of “The High Cost of Free Parking.” Like other cities, Seattle has “very expensive housing of people and free parking for cars — and I think we’ve got our priorities the wrong way around.”

I live close to downtown, where free parking is tough to find. However, there are plenty of pay lots available, and parking is free on city streets after 6pm and on Sundays. Lots of people take the bus to work in the downtown core, and the people who do drive have a look of pain on their faces as they idle in gridlock on downtown streets.

(Folks in Seattle often say “there isn’t any parking downtown.” What they mean is there isn’t any “free” parking downtown. How folks spend money downtown while expecting their car to stay for free is beyond me.)

In his book, Shoup makes it clear that even if I choose not the drive, I still pay costs for parking. When new condo developments are built, new residents who choose not to own a car are nonetheless paying more for their units. Essentially, residents are socially engineered into owning cars.

U-District community activist Matt Fox (who comments anonymously on some local blogs) isn’t on board:

Officials say forcing unneeded parking inflates cost of development. Each above-ground spot costs developers about $20,000, below-ground spots can cost $30,000 to $40,000 or more, said City Planning Director John Rahaim.

Officials say unnecessary parking costs undermine the city’s efforts of providing affordable housing. But some doubt the relaxed rules will produce the anticipated savings.

“It’s really good for developers’ bottom line, but it’s not good for the quality of life in the neighborhoods or for small businesses,” activist Fox said.

Back in my car-drivin’ days, I used to spend entirely too much time on my Saturdays circling the Ave, block after block, looking for a spot to park my Geo Metro. The spot I found was usually really far from the Ave, and I did a fair amount of walking around from shop to shop before trekking back to the car. Now that Metro does my driving, the bus drops me off right on the Ave. After ditching the Geo Metro in favor of King County Metro, I go to the U-District more than ever for all sorts of things.

What kind of stuff, you ask? A used Adidas track jackets at the Buffalo Exchange, or maybe a movie at the delightfully dilapidated Varsity (or the Neptune, which is very cool). The UW Bookstore for Marx or Friedman. Maybe Costas for those goofy-ass french fries or the College Inn Pub for several pints of their finest bitter. Over time, the Ave holds up well, even after a controversial makeover a few years back. I have relatives who still love the Ave, years after their college days.

Maybe further auto restrictions will be the death of commercial districts all over Seattle. I do not believe it will be.

But what about folks who have to have a car to get their work done?

[Ditching her car is not] an option for Morley, who is on two waiting lists for spots in private garages, she said. Many mornings, 40 minutes after she arrives at work, an alarm on her computer reminds her to get back in her car and head toward the good spots.

If she misses out, sometimes she parks in a nearby free one-hour spot and resets her alarm for another try. Or she can pay for up to two hours at one of 570 Uptown street spots that were free until the city installed meters there last year.

Leaving the car at home is not an option, she said.

“I’m in sales, so I have meetings all day. So it’s not really a choice for me,” said Morley, whose work takes her around town and to the suburbs. She said the city’s policies don’t take into account people for whom “driving is part of your job.”

For sales folks, parking a a big deal. I don’t want to minimize their frustration. That said, companies are going to have to figure out solutions to these problems sooner or later. Companies are already utilizing Flexcar or other car-sharing programs to make it possible for folks to leave their car at home but still make errands during the day. New ideas like this require folks in HR and at leadership positions within companies to be flexible to the needs of their employees.

So, yeah, our transit options aren’t what they could be. We’re building the light rail system we could have had in the 70’s, and we’re building our first streetcar lines since the 40’s. (This one doesn’t count!) We’ve got catching up to do. Until then, have your transfer ready for the driver or get ready to pay more to park.

Via the General, a message from Tom Wales’ brother-in-law:

Anonymity is a fine thing. Many an evening I have rafted down the Internets Tubes, safe and secure in my anonymity: unafraid to speak up and unafraid of consequences. Toes have been stomped. Feathers ruffled (my tactfulness is not legendary). Well, mea culpa.

Today I risk nakedness, my fig leaf Googleable.

In testimony Thursday, James Comey, former #2 at the Department of Justice under Ashcroft, testified to the House Judiciary Committee (actually brought up first by Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), while Watt was questioning him) that John McKay, one of the fired USA’s, got in hot water in 2005 for agitating with the bigwigs in DC for more resources in hunting the assassin of Tom Wales, an assistant DA in Seattle killed on October 11, 2001.

Tom was shot a half-dozen times in the neck and head with hollow-point bullets (aka “cop killers””) as he sat at his home computer, answering an email. Sitting as we do, now. He prosecuted white-collar crime in Washington State, and was also a visible and dedicated gun-control advocate. I watched him debate Wayne LaPierre once, on Good Morning America, and thought Tom ate Wayne’s lunch. He headed Washington Cease Fire until murdered with a handgun.

His slaying has never been solved.

The FBI has a team, permanently investigating…they’re on record as saying they know the killer. They released a letter to the press, purportedly from the suspect, and asked the public’s help in identifying him. The FBI has, they say, ruined the suspect’s life, and hassled many a gun owner.

Now I learn through these Internets Tubes that John McKay may have been fired for paying too much attention to the assassination of his fellow federal prosecutor, instead of filing bogus voter-fraud suits.

It appears the DOJ (who sent no reps to Tom’s memorial service, btw, even though he was the first active Federal DA to be murdered, and this just one month after 9/11) was directed to minimize the hunt for Tom’s killer because it would harm the Republican Party’s NRA base, and inflame gun-control advocates.

I don’t speak for the Wales family. Several of them still lose sleep when the case re-makes the news, fearful for the safety of Tom’s children, now grown. And I see their point, though the children are as brave as he.

But if the DOJ is now in the business of ignoring the murders of dedicated prosecutors who spent a career contributing to the community and standing up for the powerless to better win the next election, then it’s time to clean house. If I had been murdered, instead, and my case swept under the rug, Tom would have charged in like an angry wolf.

I married his sister, you see.

And so I ask you, gentle reader, to call or write your Congresspersons, especially if they sit on the Judiciary Committees; demand they ask each DOJ employee, parading through in this shameful affair, what they know or knew of reasons for McKay’s firing.

If this White House is willing to murder Justice for power, we should replace them. Now.

UPDATE:
Tom Wales’ brother-in-law has asked that I post the following correction and clarification:

Monday, I posted re: the unsolved Tom Wales case, and did so in anger. In allowing my anger and resurgent grief sway, I stupidly misstated details that upon reflection deserved more perfect accuracy. No matter the threats to it, or from whence they arise, justice and truth will win out; they must, eventually. I believe that, as Tom did and worked toward. The FBI, DOJ, and law enforcement are filled with public servants as dedicated to justice as Tom. I deeply regret putting my two cents in on a case already so difficult and emotional for so many of them.

To be more specific: the FBI is NOT on record as saying they have but one suspect; though it’s true they have one who is particularly a focus, and has been the subject of public appeals. Also, Mr. Comey only responded to Rep. Watt repeating earlier testimony, as noted in the link. I knew that, and simply erred.

My post showed insufficient respect to Mr. Comey, and to the FBI, and the rank and file at the DOJ, respect I continue to have. My deepest and heartfelt apology for any trouble or confusion I have caused.

Tonight on “The David Goldstein Show”, 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO:

7PM: Are you a tax and spend… Republican?
Rural communities throughout the state and nationwide are facing an imminent crisis as 60 to 100 year old drinking and waste water systems begin fail… systems they simply can’t afford to repair or replace without state and federal government loans and grants. Isn’t it time for rural Republicans to acknowledge that it was government that built their critical infrastructure, and that only government can replace it?

8PM: Hard to Port
Did you know that the average King County homeowner subsidizes the Port of Seattle and the businesses that use it to the tune of about $100 annually? Port Commission candidate Gael Tarleton joins me for the hour to take your questions on what she wants to do with this hugely important but bizarrely low profile government agency. And I also suppose we’ll talk about the recent Port scandal.

9PM: TBA

Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

One of the classic attacks on liberals like me is to berate us as “tax and spend” Democrats — an ironic pejorative in light of the record budget deficits rung up over the past six years of absolute Republican control over the federal government.

But the truth is, I do believe in taxing and I do believe in spending as legitimate and necessary roles of government… and for more things than just killing brown people overseas.

There is still this Reagan-era perception amongst many diehard conservatives that the bulk of our tax dollars goes towards supporting lazy poor people, provoking an angry and visceral reaction to any notion of a tax increase. But in fact one of government’s primary roles is building and maintaining the critical (and sometimes invisible) infrastructure on which our economy and our standard of living depend.

A recent rash of water main breaks in Seattle highlights both the cost and danger of deferred maintenance. The usual knee-jerk, righty comeback is to blame this on incompetent local Democrats, but as an article in today’s Seattle Times highlights, our crumbling system of aging drinking-water and wastewater pipes is a nationwide problem, and a particular crisis for rural (ie, Republican) communities that lack the local tax base to replace or repair this infrastructure on their own.

All over the state — and all over the nation — broken and leaking pipes have many poor rural communities facing similar health threats and economic hardships. It’s been a problem that has been buried for decades. But a crisis point is finally arriving, experts warn. And there’s nowhere near enough government money to go around.

As last Wednesday’s rupture of a water main under Seattle’s University Bridge showed, it’s a problem affecting urban areas, too. But the experts say the difference for such towns as Vader is clear: They don’t have the millions of dollars that big cities have to keep their systems running.

One federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) survey has estimated that Washington state alone needs at least $6.7 billion over 20 years to replace aging drinking-water pipes.

Nationally, the EPA guesses it could cost $300 billion over the next 20 years just for drinking-water pipes, and almost as much to replace failing wastewater lines.

“We have never been in this situation before, where such a vast system of infrastructure is aging like it is,” said Ben Grumbles, an assistant EPA administrator in Washington, D.C. “Water is life, and infrastructure systems are the lifeblood of a community.”

Left purely to free market forces, many of our rural water systems make as little business sense as rural electrification — one of the great triumphs of mid-twentieth century American-style socialism. As their aging infrastructure slowly collapses, driving families and businesses out of the region, the politicians who represent these rural districts should be faced with a choice: abandon the destructive, divisive and dishonest rhetoric of East vs. West, Rural vs. Urban, Republican vs. Democrat, or be prepared to have our state’s urban, Democratic majority greet your plight with the same lack of compassion and empathy with which you greet ours.

Residents of Washington state’s rural, suburban and urban areas all have critical public infrastructure needs — some shared, some not. But whatever the specifics, these needs can best be met by working together, rather than brandishing rigid, ideological swords in a fight to the death over dwindling public resources. At the same time conservative politicians champion the values and heritage of rural life, their anti-tax, anti-government screeds are poisoning the well — literally and figuratively — that made this lifestyle possible. For the past hundred years it was government that built and subsidized the infrastructure (transportation, electrification, irrigation, education, etc.) that allowed agricultural communities to grow and prosper. And only government has the incentive to invest in this infrastructure for the next century and beyond.

As our global food safety crisis makes clear, urban Americans have a vital stake in maintaining the livelihood and lifestyle of our rural neighbors, both out of appreciation and gratitude for the hard labor they put into feeding us, and out of simple, rational self-interest. By pressuring the margins of local farmers and processors, the walmartification of our food industry puts us all at risk. And for all of its obvious commonsense, the growing “Eat Local” movement can never be more than a slogan without local farmers to grow our food.

The explosion in the number of farmers markets throughout the Puget Sound region is as much about maintaining healthy rural communities as it is about healthy eating. Urban consumers have shown a willingness to pay a premium for high-quality fresh produce, knowing that the extra dollars are going directly to local growers. But ironically, it is this urban, progressive community that is most harshly vilified by the right-wing Republicans who represent much of rural Washington.

I believe that there is the political will, statewide, to continue to subsidize the investment in public infrastructure necessary to help Washington’s agricultural communities prosper for another hundred years. But to tap into this consensus the elected officials who represent these rural districts must stop painting state government as the enemy, and vindictively interfering in the ability of urban residents to tax themselves to meet their own infrastructure needs. Every time a rural Republican tells Seattle voters that we should not have the right to tax ourselves to build light rail or choose the means by which SR99 will run through our downtown waterfront, it undermines our support for fixing the leaky pipes beneath the streets of Vader and Tieton and a hundred other rural Washington towns.

Vader’s 2007 budget is a little more than $620,000. Nearly 40 percent — $244,000 — is for the water and sewer system.

Last year, the town replaced a worn-out clay sewer line and repaved Main Street with $1 million in grants and loans.

What the town really needs is a sewage-treatment plant. But “there’s no way 600 people can afford a $6 million sewage treatment plant,” [Mayor Guy] Chastain said.

Yes, governments tax and spend. But I suppose when your only hope of maintaining critical local infrastructure is to appeal for grants and loans from state and federal government, “tax and spend” isn’t such a pejorative.

Tonight on “The David Goldstein Show”, 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO:

7PM: Am I immoral?
For all intents and purposes, I’m an atheist, meaning… I don’t believe in God. According to recent Newsweek poll, only 68% of Americans believe it is possible for an atheist like me to be moral, and only 29% would vote for one for President, making atheism the least trusted religious, racial or ideological label. Meanwhile, a full thirty percent of the Republican candidates for President totally reject science, proclaiming that they do not believe in evolution.

8PM: Melamine: it tastes just like chicken.
Or is it the other way around? Yesterday we learned that another 20 million chickens are being quarantined after eating melamine-tainted feed, and I’m betting that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, the pet food recall expands on a daily basis. Joining me to discuss the latest is Ben Huh of Itchmo.com.

9PM: TBA

Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

It can be tough being both a liberal Democrat and a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. The National Rifle Association doesn’t make this any easier. A group that once concerned itself primarily with gun safety, the NRA has taken a sharp turn to the right over the last twenty years. Sometimes, the position taken by the NRA defy all common sense.

The National Rifle Association is urging the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit suspected terrorists from buying firearms. Backed by the Justice Department, the measure would give the attorney general the discretion to block gun sales, licenses or permits to terror suspects.

In a letter this week to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, NRA executive director Chris Cox said the bill, offered last week by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., “would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere ‘suspicions’ of a terrorist threat.”

“As many of our friends in law enforcement have rightly pointed out, the word ‘suspect’ has no legal meaning, particularly when it comes to denying constitutional liberties,” Cox wrote.

NRA flacks like Cox turn into civil libertarians whenever guns are involved. But other constitutional rights? Silence from the gun rights lobby.

Dan Savage:

Gun nuts talk and talk about needing guns to protect the rights and freedoms that all Americans enjoy, but when the rights and freedoms of Americans are under siege, guns nuts are nowhere to be found. I don’t recall seeing any NRA members, for example, ever protesting an assault on the free speech rights of Americans by the feds—or the federal government’s successful efforts to undermine our constitutional protections against government surveillance and unreasonable searches, their attempts to regulate speech on the Internet, limit abortion rights…

So while gun owners are always saying that owning guns is about defending freedom, the only freedom gun owners seem interested in defending with their guns is the freedom to defend their freedom to own guns.

Pro-gun politicians who defend ALL constitutional rights can be hard to find. The only two I know are both from Montana- Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sen. Jon Tester. Tester, who is totally pro-gun, also favors repealing the Patriot Act. Schweitzer just signed a bill that tells the federal government to go to hell over Real ID.

I’m certain the NRA will continue to be a Republican puppet organization for years to come, but with Democrats like Schweitzer and Tester on the forefront, real civil libertarians can sleep easier.

As I’ve previously suggested, after filing a PDC complaint that cost his party $40,000 in fines, HA regular Richard Pope isn’t the most popular Republican at KCGOP headquarters these days. So it came as no surprise when Richard forwarded a piece of fan mail from former Republican candidate for King County Executive, David Irons.

Mr. Pope

Some people see an injured person or a problem and lend a hand to fix what is broken. These people can take pride in their accomplishments and are frequently thanked by strangers who witness their unselfish act of kindness.

Other people see a problem and throw gas on a smoldering ember thus damaging and/or destroying everything nearby. These people normally live cold and lonely lives.

In your effort to damage others I fear you have destroyed what little reputation you had remaining. It must be lonely sitting on that pedestal you built for yourself.

I personally forgive you for your actions and the manor in which you have so aggressively attack good people. As for your hate, I sorry to say that is likely to continue to consume you for now until eternity.

Thank You

David Irons

How, um… ironic.

Of course, Richard informed the KCRCC of their disclosure violations way back in August of 2006, and only reported them to the PDC three months later, after they continued uncorrected and unabated. And again, in November, he informed them of additional problems, and didn’t report these to the PDC until March, 2007.

To Irons, the fact that his own party was violating the law seems unimportant — Richard went public with a family secret, an apparently unforgivable offense.

I was scanning the FDA website for information regarding the ever expanding pet food recall and food safety crisis, when I noticed a press release advising manufacturers “to be especially vigilant in assuring that glycerin, a sweetener commonly used worldwide in liquid over-the-counter and prescription drug products, is not contaminated with diethylene glycol.” The press release states no reason why they would issue such a warning at this time.

Hmm. Glycerin is an ingredient sometimes used in pet food. Diethylene glycol is a poison used in antifreeze, that is known to cause renal failure. Thousands of dogs and cats have died from renal failure, supposedly due to melamine, an industrial chemical not previously known to be highly toxic.

Can’t help but wonder.

UPDATE:
I asked FDA what prompted this press release, and they responded: “This is another action being taken under our unapproved drug initiative.”

For the most part, Americans are detached from this war in Iraq.

The Bush administration has avoided an unpopular draft through the use of extended deployments and stop-loss programs. They have deferred raising taxes while spending hundreds of billions of dollars in the war effort by charging it to the national credit card. And they have avoided any wide-scale programs to conserve aluminium, rubber, or petroleum resources for use in the war effort.

Thank God…because without the distractions of war we can do what’s really important: go shopping.

The Bush administration may earn an A+ for insulating us from the realities of war, but this news has killed my joy for a weekend shopping spree (and here is a little more background).

I guess that’s why they also keep the caskets out of sight.

(via The General.)

Via Talking Points Memo, an unnamed WA state prosecutor chimes in on the news that former U.S. Attorney John McKay’s efforts to seek more resources to investigate the 2001 assassination of form Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Wales, may have in part led to his firing:

I’ve read TPM for years, and appreciate your work. I email you because I read something today about the firing of John McKay that finally put me over the edge.

Apparently during Comey’s testimony today he said that one of the reasons McKay got himself in hot water with the DOJ heavyweights was because he was pushing for additional resources to investigate the murder of Tom Wales, who was an Assistant US Attorney in Seattle. Tom Wales was shot and killed in 2001. What nobody has talked about, and what you may not be aware of, is the fact that Tom Wales was extremely active in attempting to get tighter gun control laws passed here in Washington.

Think about that for a second. A pro-gun control federal prosecutor was shot and killed. John McKay was agitating for more resources to bring his killer to justice. That pissed off DOJ, who apparently thought that McKay should spend his time going after bogus voter fraud prosecutions rather than solve the murder of a guy who was in favor of gun control. If you don’t think the fact that Tom Wales’ political views weren’t taken into consideration by the higher ups at DOJ when they decided to punish McKay for fighting to find his killer, you haven’t been paying attention to the way these guys have operated for the last 6 years. Every single thing they do is about politics, and the political views of those they help or hurt.

The bottom line of this whole McKay firing could be summed up in this way: try to catch killers, you get fired. File BS charges of voter fraud, you keep your job.

It’s a slap in the face to every prosecutor in the country. It’s our job to seek justice for those that aren’t able to seek it for themselves. None of us should give a damn what the political views are of the victims we try to protect. It’s beyond reprehensible for them to punish McKay for doing this. But for this administration, it’s par for the course.

Politically motivated, bogus voter fraud prosecution, good. Investigation of politically motivated murder, bad.

Perhaps the biggest surprise at tonight’s Republican presidential debate is that only three of the ten candidates — Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo and Mike Huckabee — don’t believe in evolution.

I’m guessing HA regular Richard Pope isn’t the most popular Republican down at King County Republican Central Committee headquarters today, now that our local GOP has agreed to accept a $40,000 civil penalty for chronic and acute public disclosure violations during the 2006 election season. Check out the PDF of the KCRCC’s stipulation agreement with the state Public Disclosure Commission for yourself.

It’s a pretty stunning document, outlining dozens of late and incomplete contribution and expenditure reports… some of them as much as 275 days late. The King County Republicans’ brazen flouting of our campaign disclosure laws can only be chalked up to arrogance or incompetence. Or both. And they wonder why King County voters don’t seem to want to trust their party with running state and local government?

Back when I was living in New York City, a college friend once tried to track me down by calling information and asking for the phone number of “David Goldstein”. The operator derisively laughed back, “I must have hundreds of David Goldsteins, sir. You’ll have to be more specific.”

Yeah, when it comes to naming children, my parents didn’t earn any points for creativity. Six out of the eight boys in my Hebrew school class were named “David”, and tacking on my last name wasn’t any more distinctive. “David Goldstein” is the “John Smith” of Judaism — about as generically ethnic as it gets.

And so it is with some amount of pride that I noticed this morning that HA currently occupies the top two slots when you search my name on Google. In fact, of approximately 1.7 million results returned, I personally hold five of the ten slots on the first results page.

(Of course, on the downside, HA is no longer the top result for “Tim Eyman“. It’s number three. Ah well. You can’t have everything.)

It’s not exactly fame, and it certainly hasn’t brought me any fortune, but my Google ranking is a testament to the power of the blogosphere to give voice to individuals who, a few years ago, would have been drowned out by the din of the corporate media. Anybody with something to say — and a knack for saying it — now has the opportunity to reach a larger audience.

I’m a cynic by nature, but I remain hopeful that the Internet will continue to grow into the democratizing force our world desperately needs.