Search Results for 'LS'

[Pat]

I’m the General Manager for Northwest Botanicals, Inc. located in West Seattle. We design, build and maintain sustainable gardens. Our website, http://www.NorthwestBotanicals.com has more information and pictures of our work. Call me at 206-932-1850 if you’d like to set up an appointment for me to stop by and meet with you to discuss your landscaping needs.

[cruiser]

My contribution to your day,enjoy:)

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years before. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to co-ordinate their travel arrangements, so the husband flew to Florida ahead of his wife, who planned to fly down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel and, unlike years ago, there was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address and, without noticing his error, sent the message.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral, and was reading her emails – expecting messages from relatives and friends. After opening the first message, she screamed and fainted. Her son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and then glanced up and saw the computer screen, which read as follows:

To: My Loving Wife

Date: Thursday 15th November 2007

Subject: I Have Arrived!!!!

Dearest Love,

I know you are surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now, and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I have just arrived and been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow, and look forward to seeing you then.

PS It sure is hot down here!!!

[Ken]

Before I start trying different tags and seeing what is passed by the editor and what is purged on re-edit, can the admin (That’s you WSB) toss out a few clues?

What wordpress mods are in use. Are they different for the comments on the main page and the forum? I feel it is impolite to run a script on your host that searches for the php info file. I also assume you have disabled it :)

Have you ever used a tinyMCE plugin with WP? or the wysiwyg upgrade? There are 1400 plugins currently and some are used for posting and editing on other WP sites as well as drupal and scoop.

I understand the reasons and wisdom of limiting code input and filtering code down to a minimum for security reasons as well as estethics, but figuring out what works where is by trial and error and should not be the norm for your average user.

code test box

<br />

[Ken]

In light of the lessons taught in that video, here is a little Irony to wash it down with.

---

Republicans Speak Out on War

The following quotes were made by Republicans during the Kosovo campaign.

“You can support the troops but not the president.” –

Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)

“[The] president is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.” –

Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)

“American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy.” –

Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)

“If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy.” –

Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W. Bush

“I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning. I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.” –

Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

“Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years.” –

Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

“I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The president began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our overextended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the president started this thing, and there still is no plan today.” –

Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)

“Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life.” –

Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.” –

Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

“This is President Clinton’s war, and when he falls flat on his face, that’s his problem.” –

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)

“Bombing a sovereign nation for ill-defined reasons with vague objectives undermines the American stature in the world. The international respect and trust for America has diminished every time we casually let the bombs fly.” –

Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)

“I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”

-George W. Bush, 6/5/99

“It doesn’t make any sense to have a timetable. You know, if you give a timetable, you’re conceding too much to the enemy.”

-George W. Bush, 6/24/05

[WSB]

Forum and comments are different. We’ll write that into our policy too. Thought it was obvious, but maybe not. As already stated in our policy, however, we reserve the right to delete or edit any comment or post at any time for any reason, though we do that quite infrequently. And on the other side, everyone who visits this site reserves the right to decide our policy doesn’t work for them and they don’t want to visit this site any more. We know we run that risk, we would regret it, but we would certainly understand it. We have a pretty open policy; there continue to be news sites that don’t allow comments on most stories at all (Seattle Times, a case in point) and don’t have forums, while other sites tread quite heavily in moderating/editing/deleting comments. 99.9999% of what is posted to this site goes through as is. Also, I am moving this post to open discussion, as it is not a “reader recommendation” post, which is what this section of the forum is for.

[TheHouse]

If you notice, I’ve been very quiet on this Blog the past few weeks. That is because I am pissed off with the fact that I am repeatedly censored (by deletion of posts) despite the fact that I do not make any obscene or patently offensive comments. I truly believe becuase I seem to have a difference in opinion than 90% of the readers out there in my political views that I’m held to different standards.

Case in point…

The last post that I wrote that was deleted was about Christine Gregoire. I called her a “toolshed”. This is a far cry from inferring that the President of the United States is a “Horses Ass”. This is clearly a joke, but so was my statement. If you considered my comment offensive, then how do you not consider several of the above equally offensive?

WSB, I really enjoy your site and commend you for all of the work you’ve put into your site and success that you’ve had. As one of your first readers and contributors, I’d like to stick around for years (and give Jan reason to raise her blood pressure)but it’s difficult being held to different standards.

[Julie]

Sounds like many of you share my frustration, judging from comments today in “Let’s hear it for…” It’s so frustrating at every caucus to be forced to choose a candidate who is not the candidate I want to choose; instead, I have to choose which candidate of the remaining field is most likely to beat the opposing party’s candidate. Essentially, either I am prevented from voting my true choice, or I risk not having my voter preference count.

This is not true democracy. So let’s do something about it!

I’m introducing a resolution at my precinct caucus to support instant runoff voting (sometimes known as ranked choice voting). Under this system, I can rank all my preferences, and if my first choice is defeated, my vote can go to my next choice—and so on, until only two candidates are left. My choice between those two candidates will count, even if neither was my first choice.

Pierce County will be using this system for county and local elections starting this year. King County’s charter is being reviewed this year; with enough support, King County could also use this system for county and local elections. Resolutions introduced at the precinct level will be considered at the County Convention; I figure it’s worth a try to get an IRV resolution introduced at as many precinct caucuses as I can.

If you’re interested in introducing such a resolution at your precinct caucus, please feel free to copy the one I’ve posted at:

http://www.moreperfect.org/wiki/index.php?title=Resolution_supporting_Instant_Runoff_Voting

Scroll down: the resolution for Washington State is below that for Minnesota.

If you log in, you can even edit the resolution (I’m sure it could use improvement!) Please share it with anyone you think might be interested! This version is geared for Democrats, but there’s no reason Republicans couldn’t suitably adjust it and introduce it at Republican caucuses. (One prominent Republican IRV supporter: McCain.)

If you’re unfamiliar with IRV/RCV, you’ll find quite a lot of discussion on the web. Much of it generates more heat than light; voting systems discussion tends to bring out passionate supporters of alternatives. One place you can go for more information on IRV, amongst other election reforms, is http://www.fairvote.org.

The Democratic Party traditionalists (Hi, Ivan!) are skeptical about IRV. Many of them downright hate it; they’re concerned it will erode the power of the party. I have at least two answers to this: 1. Many powerful Democrats do see the need for it; (Chairman of the Democratic National Committee) Howard Dean, and Barack Obama all support IRV, and, 2. the parties still retain control over who runs with the party label–and how many can run with that label. The parties can still caucus to select those candidates. Democrats aren’t using the Washington primary, anyway–so they can hardly claim it’s needed. Furthermore, if the power of the party isn’t serving democracy well, it deserves eroding.

I don’t think IRV alone will fix our broken election system; we also need to change the way we conduct and finance campaigns, and we need proportional representation. We need a press that actually educates voters. But IRV is one helpful step, and it addresses my repeated frustration with not getting to vote for MY candidate, election after election.

[credmond]

Ken, Al

–

One thing which may not have been mentioned at the RR meetings is that in two years, after the present alignment issues are resolved, KCM will hold a second round of community meetings to gather input for the redirection of existing WS bus resources. At that time it’s entirely probable that the 22, 21, 51, 37, 57 and other local routes will be re-routed more efficiently. There’s additional discussion internally at Metro – based on WS feedback on the possible Westwood Village end-of-line, that the 125 and 60 lines could be extended from White Center to Westwood. That would make Westwood a real transit center and would provide an end-of-line stop for the RR system. Delridge corridor already has nearly-RR like service. The 120 was an early beneficiary of the Transit Now funding and that line was increased in service to every 15 minutes, Monday through Saturday and 30 minute service on Sundays, for a daytime duration of 20 hours service (5:30 am through 1:30 am). Metro is also looking for ways to link the 120 with the RR, maybe looping the 120 through Westwood also.

–

Anyway, the point is that Metro is thinking ahead, does realize that WS needs and wants more service, are themselves somewhat stuck with “how” to get to downtown because the whole Viaduct issue has yet to be resolved. And, they are well aware that the spoke system of downtown-oriented buses which worked so well during the 70’s, 80’s, and part-way through the 90’s is now seriously out-of-date. There is a slow evolution within Metro that downtown isn’t the same destination point it once was.

–

And, keep writing and commenting to Metro because opinions do count and we’re pretty aware of our transportation options here in WS and Metro knows that.

[Al]

Ken, I completely agree – the spider system also works well when intersecting with other transit options, bus station, trains, trolley, etc. and is easily expandable in multiple directions, not just expandable by going further out.

[Ken]

Some good points AL.

The 21 has severe problems and peak ridership should be one of the stats available for planners from the fare-box. Why it seems to be ignored is anyone’s guess. We will leave that one alone for the moment…

But looking at the entire West Seattle transit issue, it seems some straight forward ideas are also being ignored.

If we follow the concepts developed in larger cities for efficient mass transit, (substituting RR for those less backward cities above or below grade cores) the feeder collector model seems to be way more efficient than the express flyby system.

In Boston for example, buses spider out from subway stations or arc across between the red, green, blue and orange lines.

A realistic RR could have three stations in WS including the ferry dock, if metro were capable of thinking in circles instead of their tunnel and long spokes system designed to move people from the outer burbs into the city and back out again. This would require that all current bus routes (even the White Center/Burien bound) connect with two of the stations, (pick any two), and maximize the frequency of the RR to the tunnel. Dedicated bus lanes through some of the known bottle necks could make this a system that could cut down on cars going to the downtown core, make restaurants in the junction as accessible as those in the international district to business lunch patrons, and put the hurt on Diamond parking and the parking enforcement legions.

The reasons why this basic approach has escaped current metro and city planners can only be left to conspiracy theorist.

[JoB]

i am really struck with the sensible analysis parents have given to this question. It depends on the kid, on how far, on how safe, on how well you have prepared them and most of all… on your own comfort level.

My grandkids walk to school… the younger are walked by the older and the older are in middle school and high school. The older have phones. someone is home to notice whether or not they get home. they have been well prepared. And … both families live in “safe” communities.

And every day a grandmother’s heart worries about the sickness that lurks even in safe places. But i also remember that they have to grow up and this is part of growing more independent.

We can’t raise our children in fear and expect them to become fearless adults… so we take calculated risks and pray for the best… for all our children.

[JoB]

i like that. can we find a coffee shop where we can dance on tables? that sounds like great fun to me. i remember once doing that while someone else must have been looking at me through beer goggles… what a memory;-) good thing i was too drunk at the time to remember it clearly. Ah.. the excesses of youth:)

[JoB]

corporate greed monkey? well i suppose that’s one way to characterize working on WalMart’s board years ago…while she was supporting a political husband and a daughter.

I like Billary better with the implication that she too will run after interns and lie.

Or, we could call her the screecher after what ken and others say is her voice.

or we could follow the press and label a misty eyed moment when she talked about her ideals as an emotional breakdown.

or we could talk about nepotism ignoring the fact that a politician’s wife certainly gets a political education and that she has used hers to work tirelessly for the Democratic party and has successfully (on her state’s terms) carried out her responsibilities as a senator.

or we could simply comment that she should have gotten bill a puppy sooner and should get him another to occupy him now.

Good grief!

How about we talk about policies and what we hope our candidate will or won’t do once elected?

Or let’s talk about the sex thing. Why is America more comfortable with it’s first viable black candidate than with a woman? (Probably for the same reasons that black men got the vote before women.)That would make a great conversation.

ok, so today i’m feeling a bit frustrated, but i have already stated that i am not in favor of combative politics (i think she should send bill home unless he can find something positive to say)…

and if the only way to support your candidate is to dig for the opponents weaknesses then i think that you have to re-examine why you support your candidate.

i could and have found good things to say about the other two democratic contenders… i just don’t think their good points trump hillary’s good points.

Ken disagrees with me.

That makes for discussion that actually uncovers some of the issues…

as for folding your tents and going home if your candidate isn’t our nominee… that’s one sure way to get a republican elected… and have you looked at their “corporate greed monkey” credentials lately?

Have you checked your house’s current market value? are you sure that you or your spouse are immune from the economic downturn that is headed our way? Do you like where your tax dollars are being spent? Are you in favor of corporate immunity and bailouts? I could go on and on.

Anger, bitterness and disappointment… along with a little graft and fraud… have put us where we are today. If we are stupid enough to fall for it again, we deserve what we get.

Regardless of who is the democratic nominee, it is out best interests to support them fully. And it might be a good idea to start remembering that now before we have blown bridges we can’t repair.

LOL… if we can be this divisive with the quality of candidates we have for nomination… imagine what we would be as republicans;-) no wonder they still feel confident that they can and will win.

[Bernicki]

My daughter is 8, and occasionally she walks to school by herself. In our case, though, we’re close to the school (about 2 blocks). Other neighbors and friends are also walking to school at that time, so the streets aren’t empty. Plus, she’s taken self-defense classes for kids, and I’ve given her lots of instruction in stranger awareness and how to react in uncomfortable situations. She is at the age where she loves to feel grown-up and independent, so I try to give her safe opportunities when I can.

[Ken]

Kayleigh:

I am firmly ABC, (anybody but Clinton) and have been from day one. But I base my opposition on disagreements I have with many of her stated goals and published policy papers. There are some places where she says the right words but I don’t believe she means them.

She is indeed the most likely candidate to sell out to the corporatist in my opinion. But I do not put any faith in hit pieces which cannot cite any sources in an era where news reports, SEC filings and the archives of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette (I pay for a subscription to get at the archives) are online.

The tactic is almost identical to the Clinton haters of the 90’s smear campaigns.

The left is not immune to the tactic. The nation magazine, counter punch and several authors who post at commondreams.org have created baseless smears attacking every candidate that is not Dennis Kucinich or Ralph Nader.

Matt Tabbi, now at The Rolling Stone, has written many good articles this year, but I still remember the vicious hit pieces he wrote in 03 against several Dems in the 04 primary race. I take his pieces with a grain of salt unless I have a second source.

[charlabob]

Miranda Taylor (www.taylorgoodhealth.com) She’s amazing (the first acupuncture I ever had, so she also overcome fear). Slightly out of WS, but also http://www.communichi.org for community, sliding scale acupuncture from folks who are extremely kind *and* professional. I’m dealing with chronic pain (see previous post on other forum about the wonderful purple cane) and these two saved me many times! I can’t say too much, so I’ll stop.

[AndieMQ]

Fantastic! I just knew there had to be someone else out there looking for a play group.

If you’d like, we can try to connect this or next week at a local coffee shop.

We can create our own play group and hopefully more will join us.

[Kayleigh]

The past matters to me, Ken, and I’m not going to change my mind about Hillary. Until she shows me real, progressive plans and ideas that make sense, I won’t vote for her at all, even if she gets the nomination.

I’m so disheartened by the type of thinking here in this thread (and elsewhere in the country in the Democratic party), I’m tempted to not attend the caucus at all. We have a real opportunity to turn the country around with John Edwards–to really make gains in things like health care and income equality. The poor, working,and middle classes have already lost so much in the last decade. It’s time get some of those things back, not to compromise.

The Democrats have given Bush way too much of what he wants and gotten little in return. When are they going to stand up and fight for the people they’re *supposed* to represent?

[JanS]

hi to everyone here…here’s a link to a class you might all enjoy….and Harmony Hill is an absolutely wonderful place near Hood Canal in Union, WA…just down the road from Alderbrook Inn.

Sustainable Gardening

with Ann Lovejoy

Feb. 16, March 2, and March 15 – one-day workshops

Get your gardening year off to a great start by learning how to create a garden that offers year-round beauty, serves your changing needs, and becomes easier to care for each year. Ann Lovejoy is one of America’s most well-known and widely respected gardening authors.

Details & registration

http://www.harmonyhill.org/retreats/lovejoy.html

[Ken]

Just to clarify: The regulations on “free markets” were made after the crash of 29, to save capitalist and the corporations they invested in, from themselves. The boom and bust cycles throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, were the result of manipulation of most investors by the few insiders. Every cycle relied on a new crop of investors that could be roped into another “once in a lifetime opportunity”. Note they occurred at approximately generational intervals. Sometimes the unregulated businesses caused ecological disasters. The Dust Bowl of the 20’s could never have happened without wheat speculation during WWI driving investors to lease Midwestern grasslands sight unseen and pay crews to plow up the grass and plant wheat. After two years most of it reverted to it’s normal dry state, the wheat market crashed and the newly exposed dirt took to the winds in storms that brought darkness at mid day as far away as Washington DC.

Deregulation loosed these same actors on the public again and it is foolish to think any corporation will police itself. History can only teach us when it is not ignored.

[JoB]

Yesterday, i saw a man holding a sign on a street corner that said “homeless, need help”. had i encountered him in starbucks, i would not have been surprised because he was clean, well dressed in outdoor clothing and carrying a quality daypack. i nearly stopped just to ask him his story because i think there is probably a pretty interesting one there.

The assumption that the homeless are there by choice has driven a callousness about this problem that borders on cruelty.

There but for the grace of god… Any of us could suffer reversals of fortune that could bring us to that street corner. I know many women who are one step from that because of nothing more than chronic illness.

As a community, we need to address this problem whether it is an “artificial” problem landed on us by crackdowns in other parts of the city or a local problem. Once it is here, it is a local problem.

I am too new to be able to name the local agencies that take on this work. I encourage donations of money and goods… but the most important donation is time… both for those doing the work and those receiving help.

the greatest gift we can give another is to listen and acknowledge their story.

shame on me for only almost stopping to at least hear that young man’s story. i had the time.

[sw]

Call Mitch Monetti at Monetti Landscaping – 938-5400. He did some work for us last year that was great, and priced comparably to other bids we had. He’s also done some work for others around the neighborhood that has turned out nicely.

[JanS]

I have been treated by Dr. Weibe, but not recently…I loved his gentle touch. He’s just a really nice person, and very knowledgeable. I’ve also been treated by Linda Minato….she’s really very, very good. Debi worked for a naturopath in West Seattle a number of years ago, when my daughter also worked there. She’s both an RN, and an acupuncturist…and both very, very nice…

[acemotel]

oooh, I don’t remember the price per sq. ft. but the area we uncovered is somewhere between 1000-1500 sq. ft and the cost was around $3000. There were a lot of imperfections and repairs necessary. This was a couple years ago. They also made some vents for the air return out of oak to replace the old metal ones, and re-routed one of the vents too. We had the old linoleum floor in the kitchen replaced with a new wood floor, and they did a fine job (that cost was extra). It’s impossible to tell that some of the wood is new and some old. Their phone number is (206) 784-9369, www.ballardhardwoods.com.

[westie]

We have a son at Gatewood, we went out of cluster to send him there, and think it’s a great school. There is an acceptance there, where the kids can learn in different ways and come from different backgrounds- and have that be celebrated. Also it doesn’t seem clicky among the students or the parents. Those factors won’t show up on the WASL, but are just as important to me as a parent.