Search Results for 'Ba'

[JoB]

NewResident

Re your article by Tomas Sowell…

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3864

I too like reading him. He presents a reasonable argument.

Unfortunately, it is one without actual facts…

he doesn’t even supply references to the statistics upon which he bases his argument.

and he doesn’t provide the kind of information that would make any of his outcomes more than coincidental to what he labels as cause.

I don’t think it is any secret that the social programs of the 60s didn’t work. but the answer could lie far more in the way the programs were designed and managed than in their existance…

Social programs combined with a lack of real opportunity for those in the programs are doomed to failure.

it is not enough to house, feed and clothe people. they need education and they need opportunity.

If the kind of education you can get in substandard schools doesn’t result in increased employment opportunities…

and if the education you recieve there doesn’t prepare you to actually succeed in college..

then it has not provided opportunity.

If your college education isn’t enough to surmount the color of your skin when it comes to employment opportunities..

then it hasn’t provided opportunity.

When you are talking about the 60s and 70s in the housing projects he mentions… those statements were the norm… opportunity and success the exception.

Those exceptions were created largely by the need to meet equal opportunity quotas…

I know you think things have changed so much now that minorities are getting preference.

But our willingness to provide opportunities for those in poverty really hasn’t changed so much… regardless of skin color.

The new light rail coming from the airport is a good example… It passes through a highly disadvantaged neighborhood on it’s way downtown… disrupting traffic patterns in that neighborhood.

It could have been a huge opportunity for urban renewal in that neighborhood and for efficient and frequent transportation to and from the downtown area.

Why are there so few stops serving the neighborhood? Drive the line and see for yourself.

Why is the ferry service to and from Bainbridge so much faster and more frequent than that to Bremerton?

Why can’t we get Roxbury Av fixed?

All of those issues.. transportation issues.. have more to do with the economic status of the areas they serve than with actual need…

and perhaps that has more to do with the failure of social programs than the programs themselves.

[beachdrivegirl]

THanks for that rs261. And on a different note it is a great day for the Obama campaign today ABC news is reporting that Obama is finally taking the lead in superdelegates!

[rs261]

If they campaigned there, I dont know, I wasnt there, never heard about it…I do know that his name wasnt on the ballot, so a lot of people who would have voted for him didnt vote. And thats not, they voted uncommitted…the just didnt vote.

I do still have family in Michigan, but dont believe any voted in the primaries. Read the story below, and please tell me if it seems like they knew to vote uncommitted.

Story from Flint press…

Something seemed to be missing when Susan Keeler of Grand Blanc Township opened her absentee ballot.

The candidates.

Michigan’s convoluted presidential primary is now hitting home for voters, who are getting absentee ballots for the Jan. 15 presidential primary.

“There is something wrong with this. People don’t even have a choice to vote for the person we want to vote for,” said Keeler, 68.

…

“It gives me a very nasty taste in my mouth,” said Susan Parnes, 63, of Flint, an Obama supporter. “I’ve begged people to go vote in the primary, and then this crap comes up.”

The candidates not on the ballot withdrew themselves from Michigan’s rebelliously early primary, in a bid to satisfy traditional leadoff states Iowa and New Hampshire. “The only name I even recognize here is Hillary Clinton,” said Keeler, who wanted to vote for Obama. “It just appears to be people trying to control how we vote.”

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Joe Biden also opted out of Michigan’s primary, leaving voters to choose among Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel and “uncommitted.”

[beachdrivegirl]

“Democrats like to look at corporations as a big fat rich man.” I have to disagree there. Most Democrats I know are not upset about the coporations and they do not think of the corporations as a big fat rich man. They are upset that CEO’s such as Jim Donald of Starbucks who made $16.1 million in 2006 and Howard SHultz who this same year as Chairman received a 7.9% raise to earn $17.9 million. There are a couple of different things wrong with this picture. first and farmost there are still individuals out there who cant afford healthcare or childcare but we as a country think it is oaky to allow corporations to pay this people this kind of money. Secondly, these are the ones that are getting tax cuts.

Furthermore, I am going to track down the name of this book I read for a class in college. I belive I still have it at my house. I used to think just like that that you should just work harder well sometimes it is not that easy. This book is by a lady who was upper middle class and she decided to leave her life for a few months and work minimum wage jobs across the country to experience what lower or lower middle class citizens were going through. She worked as a waitress @ a Denny’s, @ Wal-Mart, as a temp and worked the most hours available and sometimes worked two jobs(she never told the businesses what she was doing) at more then one time she had to live out of her car because even working two minimum wage jobs in a city she could not afford rent. And when she got sick she had to chose between a prescription and her rent for the next month. Although she had an emergency fund of money (her family) she never touched it because she wanted to experience it as though it was real. It sure changed my opinion on things.

[rs261]

JoB, I agree the patriot act has been taken advantage of, and the court system is allowing it. I also think that its the democrats/republicans fault for passing the extention on it. On the initial act, it was for the good of the country (or so everyone believed) On the extention and “improvement” it wasnt, it had nothing to do with patriotism at that point.

Granted the current majority on the Supreme court has been picked by conservative republicans, hopefully some will resign their post during a Democrats presidential term, and get a more balanced court can be achieved.

As far as the stimulous check, that was me again, paying off debt is a great idea, spending it on “american” products may not be, as they might be labled as american, but parts come from all over (mostly asia), I dont think other then food, you can find many truly american only products. Buying used is always a good idea, as its the businesses getting supported.

Welfare is definitly needed for people who dont WANT to work. I think if a single mother/father is more interested in taking care of their children then finding a low paying job, its all the better. I personally believe that bad parenting is causing more of our countries problems then some want to believe.

I personally believe the Social security tax should have no cap (Hillary wants a cap still, McCain doesnt want to change anything, I have no idea about Obama though) it doesnt make sense to cap it when we have a huge deficit to fill.

[JoB]

NewResident..

You asked a very personal question.. and after thought.. i have decided to answer it.

My mom was one of 16 kids who whose family had money prior to the depression and really didn’t after. Mom was itinerant farm labor when she was 12 years old. She didn’t finish high school.. though she did get her GED in her early 30s.

She married young.. to an abusive man. She escaped in the middle of the night with her sister, her two children and her sister’s three. They drove west and didn’t stop until they literally ran out of money in Pendleton, Or.

Mom remarried.. to another man.. who was abusive to me… and we had a few years outside of poverty.

then she discovered the abuse and moved us to Portland with little more than determination and the same sister to move in with.

To say we didn’t exactly have money while i was in High School is an understatement. How mom managed to buy a house is still a mystery to me.. but we were definately house poor.. let’s just say i know what hunger is.

We didn’t qualify for any government programs and mom wouldn’t have accepted them if we had.

I did study.. and i qualified for incredible full ride scholarships.. which my mother would not allow me to accept because she felt the schools were too liberal. Being too young to sign for myself before the deadlines (a matter of days).. i stayed at home.

I was an unwed mother and gave my child up for adoption by the time i was 19.

And i was the lucky one. Most of my female cousins in my age group didn’t finish high school… though they were following somewhat less pedestrian dreams involving some loser of a man and children.

I did… i even went to college.. choosing community college to start where i was bored stiff because without scholarships mom made too much money for student aid.. by less than $100 a year.

I stayed in school… i married and had children… i kept going to school until i was in my mid twenties.. taking a class or two at a time. I built my degree in pieces. I didn’t quite finish my masters.

Of my first cousins.. my sister, my two brothers and i are the most successful of our generation… and the only family to have more than one college graduate…

i was lucky.

I have also had fibromyalgia most of my life and severe reoccurring bouts of chronic fatigue syndrome bad enough to leave me bedridden for months at a time since i was 15.

You speak of reinventing your life after an injury. I have reinvented myself more times than i can count when the last profession i was in before i collapsed became impossible for me to work in when i recovered. 17 years ago, i collapsed and have never recovered. I am disabled.

Disabled is not being able to hold any job at all.

I am unreliable. Sometimes my body works, sometimes it doesn’t. And it is always in pain.. the kind of pain that stops most people. Sometimes my brain works, sometimes it doesn’t. when it works, i am conversant, able to follow immense detail and well reasoned. When it doesn’t, i can’t find words even for simple things like water or glasses or….

My IQ was literally off the charts for children when i was 12. It regularly measured 180+ in my teens. I measured 120 verbally and 88 spatially less than 10 years ago. The spatial score is just above retarded. Parts of my brain just plain don’t work any more.

I am still lucky. I have found ways to manage my illness well enough to stay out of bed most of the time.. many of my friends with this illness are bedridden.

I have lived a full life.. i have a good husband and a good life. Many of my friends with this illness live alone in subsidized housing on less than my grocery budget.

I am lucky. I barely escaped the fate of my cousins… who are now grandmothers and greatgrandmothers… and live in intellectual, emotional or financial poverty… many still barely supporting children and grandchildren.

And I came from a family that believes in the work ethic.

I came from a good Republican family.. in fact, my brothers and sister are all Republicans.

I came from a good Christian family… three of my Uncles and Aunts were Pentacostal ministers until their retirement.

There are far too many myths about poverty.. myths that ignore stories like mine… and we were the lucky ones.

When i worked with social agencies in my 20s… i met and befriended women who would have given anything to have had my advantages… and that is putting it mildly.

I am sorry your dreams went wrong. I know about injury and illness and would not wish either on anyone.

But your dreams went wrong in an environment that supported you and in a way that allowed you to recover.

Too many never even get to have dreams…. and even less get the chance to live them.

[charlabob]

We definitely love West Seattle Nursery but we’ve found another hidden gem in Georgetown that’s become our hands down favorite (hey, it’s close to WS:

Julius Rosso Nursery & Garden

6404 Ellis Ave S

Seattle, WA 98108

Phone: (206) 763-1888

It’s much less polished than West Seattle Garden, but I think, more varied and definitely less expensive. The bob half just gave me this report: If you know what you want, you can get good stuff. :-)

The folks who work there are friendly and knowledgeable; and sometimes hard to find — when they’re out on the back 40. Hence the “know what you want.” Family business, which started out wholesale only. Definitely worth the short trip.

I couldn’t find their web site but this blog gives you a good idea of what you’ll find (and probably tells you more than you want to know about my taste in funky shopping places)

http://midbeaconhill.blogspot.com/2007/04/julius-rosso-nursery-in-georgetown.html

(I’ve posted this in a couple threads where it seems to have been consumed by the spam filter — if it suddenly shows up everywhere, it almost will be spam — not on purpose) :-)

[charlabob]

(This is a response to the question about WS garden centers — my reply on that thread wound up in the spam bucket – -happens sometimes. But the info here is worth reviving, imnho, and not just because so much of it is for ME :-)

We definitely like West Seattle Nursery but we’ve found another hidden gem in Georgetown that’s become our hands down favorite (hey, it’s close to WS:

Julius Rosso Nursery & Garden

6404 Ellis Ave S

Seattle, WA 98108

Phone: (206) 763-1888

It’s much less polished than West Seattle Garden, but I think, more varied and definitely less expensive. The bob half just gave me this report: If you know what you want, you can get good stuff. :-)

The folks who work there are friendly and knowledgeable; and sometimes hard to find — when they’re out on the back 40. Hence the “know what you want.” Family business, which started out wholesale only. Definitely worth the short trip.

I couldn’t find their web site but this blog gives you a good idea of what you’ll find (and probably tells you more than you want to know about my taste in funky shopping places)

http://midbeaconhill.blogspot.com/2007/04/julius-rosso-nursery-in-georgetown.html

[JoB]

Toddinwestwood..

i will try to make it next month…

i really do love vintage bikes.

have a great time this weekend.

[charlabob]

Yup, Jerald, the very same — proves I was, in fact, bipartisan at one point, that Republicans used to be reasonable, and that I’m very old (even though I was a mere child when I worked for the Brooke campaign). He was known then as a flirt. (Was that a more innocent time, or what?)

[JoB]

shibbaguyz..

i have to respectfully disagree with you…

i have been lobbying my Senators for a long time now. I haven’t yet met these two.. or to be more accurate… their local representatives since i moved back to Washington… but i will.

I find that stopping by on a somewhat regular basis… by myself or with one other person.. is quite effective.

over time you build up a relationship which generally moves on their part from defensiveness to actually listening over time.

i will admit that it is always more effective to go alone or in very small groups than in larger groups… you get time for actual conversation that way.

And like all relationships.. it helps if you get to know them better before you really lambast them for their Senator’s stand:)

but over time an individual can be quite effective.

I can’t say i have been as satisfied with some of the stock answers to my letters in which the only relevance can be the repetition of the key phrase containing my subject.

[charlabob]

We definitely like West Seattle Nursery but we’ve found another hidden gem in Georgetown that’s become our hands down favorite (hey, it’s close to WS:

Julius Rosso Nursery & Garden

6404 Ellis Ave S

Seattle, WA 98108

Phone: (206) 763-1888

It’s much less polished than West Seattle Garden, but I think, more varied and definitely less expensive. The bob half just gave me this report: If you know what you want, you can get good stuff. :-)

The folks who work there are friendly and knowledgeable; and sometimes hard to find — when they’re out on the back 40. Hence the “know what you want.” Family business, which started out wholesale only. Definitely worth the short trip.

I couldn’t find their web site but this blog gives you a good idea of what you’ll find (and probably tells you more than you want to know about my taste in funky shopping places)

http://midbeaconhill.blogspot.com/2007/04/julius-rosso-nursery-in-georgetown.html

[Jerald]

Wow, Charlabob, the now-infamous Ed Brooke? Was Barbara Walters hanging around?

[Anonymous]

NR, I agree about the abuse of federal programs, but disagree about who’s doing the abusing. Sure you have a person here or there, lying or cheating to get benefits, but it’s not as easy as you think to get those benefits.

I read a lot more stories about dishonest contract billing to these agencies and employee misuse of funds. For instance, doctors who bill for patients they aren’t seeing. Government credit cards getting used for ipods and laptops. Where is the over sight?

And why aren’t people more upset about no-bid contracts for $200,000 paper clips (exaggeration)? You always hear this *welfare* buzzword, while the government is bailing out another corporation. It reads like prejudice against the poor. Do you even truly know the statistics on welfare fraud? I’m asking, cuz I don’t.

I do know people who have died before they’ve come up for a disability review. The waiting list to have your case heard, is now years. Yes, years. And what they receive, including our heroic veterans, is a pittance. Not enough to live on, not enough to buy medicine.

Sometimes I feel that the republicans are just so used to believing a certain way, they don’t stop to really evaluate what they’re saying. There is this mass belief that some worthless good for nothing is taking hard earned money out of their pocket. If that were true, it would be offensive. I just don’t believe it is true, and I think if some people took the time to put a human face on these buzzwords, They might not believe it either.

[Anonymous]

I never heard this story to begin with. Reading the the quote, it doesn’t even sound like him or his speech writers for that matter. The words, that is, not the sentiment. I think it’s always a good idea to be careful of what we throw around as facts. Might come back and bite you in the … Now, I do think it’s a fact he doesn’t care about the constitution:)

[jbd]

JT that may be the case now with Costco but back in the day when they started they just returned stuff without asking questions cause it was good customers service. I know cause I worked there during my college years. :)

[Anonymous]

Trick – Thank you for that. I feel like I made myself vulnerable in this ocean of Democrats, but I’m glad I put my thoughts and beliefs out there!

It feels good that it was appreciated (at least by one).

JoB- I noticed that you still haven’t responded to my request for specifics of the point you were trying to make. I anxiously await your response.

[TheHouse]

J.D. Johnson Construction on California (near Thriftway). Did great work on my addition and will definitely work with you on price!

[Trick]

I can understand and respect the “definition” of conservatism. The problem is, it really isn’t practiced when it comes to the definition.

They’d rather cut child education and veteran benefits, and spend almost $1 Trillion on a war, let Haliburton move to Dubai (no taxes there) and let Henry Kravis pay less taxes then the avg. citizen while using pension funds as leverage to dismantle companies and employee’s lose decades of pensions.

Yes, there are abuses, no doubt in alot of welfare programs, but let’s not forget the billions spent on the largest program ever, Homeland Security. Or should I bring up the $9 billion missing in Iraq?

Less taxes = less revenue for government. We’ve seen this in the Reagan years (large deficit) and we’ve seen the numbers from Bush, how short can our memory be? Clinton raised taxes and still had a very prosperous economy.

I find it still amazing that 60% of republicans still approve of George Bush’s peformance.

From my experience with a handful of Republican friends is they don’t always practice what they preach.

Nobody likes aliens entering illegally. The problem is, we have millions here already. That is the question is how “we” deal with it humanely and economically.

I’m glad NR responded because I’m not the most eloquent either, but I’d much rather say how I feel inside then let Wikipedia do it for me…that is our difference. And I’m glad you did respond even if you felt like you put yourself on a limb, at least you gave more than a vague description.

[TheVelvetBulldog]

Zook and Olsen – based here in West Seattle. A husband and wife team and they are GREAT.

[cecdizon]

hi, i’m looking for someone to remodel my small bathroom. anybody knows of a contractor that does small projects? good but not too expensive? thanks.

[Anonymous]

BDG – Thank you for that example of someone who used the federal program to their benefit. It was a way for her to better herself and her situation, not a way of life for her.

I do not believe that we should never help people that need it. I think most federal programs are abused by the majority who use them and something should be done to fix that.

[Sue]

I just got back from Ho-Win – all this talk of chinese food made me hungry. Their menu does not mention MSG, and I never ask since I don’t have a sensitivity to it. So I would call to ask. Their website is http://ho-win.cwok.com/index.html

[CMP]

Definitely not Jan…my Mom probably wouldn’t even know how to find this blog! Plus they live in Bellevue so it’s not exactly appliable to them. They grew up in Chicago and like their comfort food, nothing too out there. Don’t let that discourage anyone from trying out this restaurant though…it’s good stuff! I think it’s better than Lee’s Asian, which I’m surprised to see has not gotten any mention here, although the ambiance leaves much to be desired.

[beachdrivegirl]

That is exactly what I was thinking on my way home from work right now. One of my best friends was born to a meth addict. She never has known who her dad is and she has lived in and out of foster care since she was a baby. Did she ask to be born into that life? No. I dont think anyone would. Without state and federal programs availabe she would not be where she is today. Today she is not only a college graduate but she has her PHD and is in law school right now becuase she wants to be a lawyer for the DSHS system. She is an amazing young women and if politicans had gotten rid of these federal programs years ago she would not be where she is today and I probably would have never known her.