Search Results for 'Qu'

[Ken]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/12/30/12918/167/526/427649

Well here is a story of recent evangelizing of active duty military.

It is quite possible this is more of a convenient method of parting separating soldiers from their GI education benefits, than a takeover of the military, but the pressure at the Air Force academy is very real and has resulted in a decade of fundamentalist who believe the world is supposed to end in fire PDQ, having control of the largest nuclear arsenal ever assembled on the planet.

Note this is posted at the Great Orange Satans site DailyKos…

For more fun, read Bruce Wilson’s, How Fake American History Feeds Christian Nationalism

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/5/155457/0298

(excerpt)

Step 1: Change Beliefs About Origins of US Government. Step Two: Theocracy !

The easiest way to make the US into a Christian theocracy is to just re-write American history so that Americans grow up believing that the founders intended the US to be a Christian theocracy.

The problem with ignoring this fake history is that it then gets enshrined as “legitimate” and if House Resolution 888 gets passed, a whole mess of the worst history lies of the American Christian right will get entered into the Congressional Record and then people who push the “Christian nation” alternate version of American history can point to the Congressional Record and say “see ? it’s in the Congressional Record ! It must be true !” That’s how PR and propaganda work.

H. Res 888 is designed to make the history lies, cooked up by historical revisionists of the Christian right, more respectable. And, to the extent Congress members vote for it they become caught up in a web of complicity – the overwriting of American history.

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The church today has fallen prey to the heresy of democracy.

— R.J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1973), p. 747.

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The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit publicly to the eternal sanctions of God by submitting to His Church’s public marks of the covenant–baptism and holy communion–must be denied citizenship, just as they were in ancient Israel.

Gary North, Political Polytheism: The Myth of Pluralism (Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1989), p. 87.

[WSMom]

January 22 at 7:00 pm Hope Lutheran School will host an Open House for all prospective families.

My family has found Hope to be a wonderful school with dedicated teachers who go to amazing lengths to teach and care for our children. We have been very pleased with the quality of teachers and the administration. We would wholeheartedly recommend Hope to families looking for a smaller school environment where the child’s needs are the priority.

As a mom who has been through school hell I have one piece of advice. I have found that there is a correlation between how much loving kindness my children have experienced at a school and how kindly I am treated by the school office administration. If the school secretary is warm and welcoming to me as a parent, that is a good sign that something right is happening at that school. Since trying to pick a school for our kids is rife with anxiety, confusion and indecision, this is as good an indicator as anything. There is no such thing as a perfect school, but Hope has exceeded my expectations and I am grateful to have stumbled upon it for my children.

[Ken]

I have defended Ron Pauls consistency in other forums. It is his world view that is flawed.

As far as those currently running for the Republican nomination, he is also the least hypocritical. Of course that bar is set by some world class hypocrites…

I am happy to see Fox shut out and smear one of the candidates from the right, only because it was apparently required to break through the cognitive dissonance of Libertarians who had been strolling along unconcernedly on a steady diet of Fox propaganda and fear-mongering.

Too bad the skepticism had to be kick-started in this manner but the Libertarians will probably emerge from this battle a little more relevant and focused.

Democrats will applaud the return of the constitutional powers to the balanced powers of co-equal executive, congressional and judicial branches, but will fight the theocratic, militant paranoid and “privacy for me but not for thee” branches of the libertarian political movements.

Hell, I might vote for him in the primary just to annoy the WA Republican party. The WA republicans are choosing half their delegates in the primary and the Dems are choosing all of theirs at the caucus. (note: Feb 9th, 1 pm at a school near you)

[dirtdiva]

Laura Tsang is really wonderful -www.lauratsang.com. She is located behind Safeway in the junction.

[JayDee]

While there is always that “dead zone” between the top of the hill and the bottom (right around “Alki Mail and Dispatch”), I have found Verizon to have the best customer service, and the best coverage in general. From my understanding Clearwire is only an Internet provider of slower-than-DSL speeds (Clearwire is a tad coy about actual upload speeds…)

I do not know about your area–I’d quiz your neighbors if you are looking into it. There was/is an odd dead spot in Verizon coverage in the Alaska Junction if you hang there.

While this sounds lukewarm, I’ve gotten better customer service from Verizon wireless than any comparable utility.

[hopey]

From the link posted above: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/walk/Images/CrosswalkLaw1.jpg

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/walk/Images/CrosswalkLaw2.jpg

Those graphics make it pretty darn clear: drivers are not required to stop for a pedestrian standing on the curb. You don’t even have to stop for a pedestrian not in your half of the roadway.

for the moderator: markup doesn’t work in these posts, even when you use backticks.

[WSB]

I have just one thing to say:

Glad about Tuesday night’s results mostly because they ran counter to the polls.

My second-to-last boss in the TV business was a very wise man who decreed that we would not cover polls in our newscasts – the horse race was meaningless, he declared, just takes us away from the issues. As the political-coverage manager, I completely agreed with him, and despair as I listen to so much “conventional media” spend so much time on polls. But tonight it was sweet to know that the polls were wrong … because that might force some of my former “old media” colleagues to stop putting quite so much of the spotlight onto them. Talk about facts, talk about crowd sizes at rallies, talk about vote counts, but polls? Methodologies are fallible. Among other problems.

[JayDee]

Thanks to all. I am really in a dilemma; half the Direct TV/Dish Subscribers really like it, no problem. beachdrivegirl had some really negative experiences with Direct TV, and Comcast has a spotty rep, some good, some bad, but generally higher prices.

Now Ken tells me that I will lose my local Weather Channel station input if I upgrade to satellite…This is the one thing that may keep me from switching–As a weather foamer (being rabid about it, that is) I switch between whatever station I am watching and the weather channel for a local radar/forecast shot when a commercial hits . While it seems obvious that I would miss this with satellite, I’d overlooked it.

I may just remain with Comcast for awhile, get a few upgrades from my current package, and see how this whole HD thing sorts itself out. However, for those doubting the move to HD: Do it, it is truly amazing what the quality difference is. My old TV was a stunner in it’s time, but 14 years later is nearly Jurassic Park for TVs.

Thanks all – JayDee

[swimcat]

Teriyaki tastes are very subjective- I don’t like New Teriyaki Wok at all! :) And the teriyaki joint at Westwood Village has the WORST teriyaki I’ve ever eaten. It was dry, with no sauce- completely inedible. My favorite place is the one downstairs in Jefferson Square, next to Subway. They also offer some Chinese dishes, but the yakisoba is too appealing every time.

[Ken]

While the recent House of Representatives “Christmas resolution” was being covered in the PI generating 5 pages of condemnation of Jim McDermott for voting against it, another far more disturbing resolution was introduced, one which, does not appear to have been noticed by anyone.

On December 18, 2007, Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA) introduced H. Res. 888, a resolution “Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation’s founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as ‘American Religious History Week’ for the appreciation of and education on America’s history of religious faith.”

This resolution, which purports to promote “education on America’s history of religious faith,” is packed with the same American history lies found on the Christian nationalist websites, and in the books of pseudo-historians like David Barton. It lists a total of seventy-five “Whereas’s,” leading up to four resolves, the third of which is particularly disturbing — that the U.S. House of Representatives “rejects, in the strongest possible terms, any effort to remove, obscure, or purposely omit such history from our Nation’s public buildings and educational resources,”

This is historical revisionism on a grand scale and it looks like it will slip through congress with no notice by the press busily baying like a pack of dogs across New Hampshire.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.RES.888:

For debunking of specific “whereas” see this book/website:

http://www.liarsforjesus.com/

Many people here in WA have told me that the takeover of the Republican party in the 80’s by fundamentalist, was repulsed and corrected. Informed people know better. The stealth use of steeplejacking of existing churches, using fake history in homeschools and christian schools, and the appeal to authoritarians of the dominionist, punish everyone world view, has all but wiped out moderate republicans in the WA GOP.

The Theocratic wing of the Republican party is driving now and with Huckabee’s rise in the primaries, they will only get bolder.

[Ken]

Kinsley: a joke quote from Wikipedia:

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On July 12, 2006 Kinsley underwent a form of surgery known as deep brain stimulation, to treat his Parkinson’s Disease. Initial reports suggest that the operation was a success. According to a joke reference in Time Magazine, Kinsley’s first words out of the operating room were, “Well, of course, when you cut taxes, government revenues go up. Why couldn’t I see that before?”[2

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So I wonder if he will show up at the caucus in his precinct?

[Ken]

RE super delegates:

Both parties have them and they are elected officials above a certain level (what determines the level is probably in each State/National parties bylaws somewhere)and party officials also determined by those same bylaws.

Indirectly, PCO’s voted for the party officials (actually we voted for people who voted for the

party officials) And the electorate voted for the elected officials who are also super delegates.

For convention delegates, the caucus is the only source for non super delegates on the Dem side.

The Republicans will choose half at the caucus and half at the primary.. unless they change their mind.

If Huck or Ron Paul were to win the republican caucus, then the party is not above a little top down retroactive maneuvering if it is commanded to by the RNC.

I am under no illusion that the WA Dems would not buckle under the same kind of pressure from the DNC, but there does not seem to be any similar divisions on the Dem side. I suspect all Dems agree that any random Democrat pulled stinking drunk out of a Drinking Liberally meeting, would be a better choice than the current administration or the current crop of Republican wannabees.

If you’re not in the trenches for a particular candidate or party, then stock up on popcorn since this is probably going to be quite entertaining.

[JanS]

Kayleigh…I had a neighbor move out recently and she left me quite a few things, one of which is a nice hard plastic bottle that has lines…where to fill with vinegar, where to fill with oil…and then you can add your mustard, salt, pepper, whatever…it has a stopper, and is really handy. Not sure where it came from, but has recipes for Dijon Vinaigrette, Italian Vinaigrette, French Herb Vinaigrette,and Balsamic Vinaigrette on the bottle. You use olive oil, so it will harden in the fridge..you just nuke it for 30 second or so with the lid off, and it’s good to go. And NO HFCS :)

[WSB]

Well, just to tamp the cynicism a tiny bit: As we posted here in finally belatedly introducing ourselves last month, I worked in “conventional media” for many years, including 14-plus years as a manager in TV news departments here in Seattle. The political coverage was always “my thing” because few people in the newsroom really took the time to pay attention to it, get passionate about it, learn about the people and the issues, much more a case of negligence than deliberate malfeasance. But — and this is part of the reason why I have left that business — it’s true, it doesn’t get much coverage any more till the last minute, hard to squeeze it in between the latest bursts of mayhem coverage, which is where most local tv news is hanging most of its hats right now. But thank heavens for this here medium that we are all using for communication right this moment … it makes it possible to learn as much as you want to know, provided it’s not too tough to find. Which is part of our mission here in this small corner of the Internet: make the hyperlocally relevant info easy to find. Going to add an election page before long. — TR @ WSB

[WSMom]

Yesterday my teenager and I spent two hours on this link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21116732/

listening to each of the viable candidates positions on major issues. Great learning experience for both of us. We’re still undecided between Sen.’s Clinton, Obama & Edwards. We feel that all three of them would be excellent change for the better. Listening to Romney, Guiliani & Huckabee was quite a learning experience too. There is no question in my mind that I will support whoever is on the Democrat ticket.

[Ken]

Anyone have questions about the process?

I have a few about the changes rumored for this year, but I probably know more about the process than most having chaired my precinct caucus in both presidential years and off years.

Basic info is

Feb 9th at 1 pm.

Registered voters can caucus but any resident can attend and take part in the discussions.

The sign in sheet is where you must affirm you are a Democrat (on that day)

So far the planning seems to indicate that there will be refreshments (coffee, pastries, etc) and the sign in sheet will be used to track both the initial choice as well as any changes in support during the caucus.

Each precinct will need a chair (usually the PCO if there is one) and a secretary and a tally clerk. Forms and checklists will be provided to aid those who are unfamiliar with the process.

Relatively heavy turnout is expected and efforts are underway to streamline the sign-in process as well as the choosing of delegates.

Speaking of turnout, here is an example. During the last presidential nominating process, my precinct had 48 people show up out of around 400 registered voters (approx 88% of those self identified as Democrats) so estimated 350 as Democrats.

During the off year caucus, there were 4 of us that showed so we could not even fill all the allowed delegates for the precinct.

This is where grass roots organizing has a chance to multiply their vote since the power defaults to those who show up.

So far the “primary” election will just be a popularity contest for those who are too lazy or unable to participate in the caucus for some reason. It does indeed exclude those working on Saturday, deployed, and ill from the process but remember this is a party function, paid for by the local districts (that is where our annual dues go) and donations collected at the caucus. (so bring a few bucks for the donations envelope)It is not meant to be a beauty contest for the public at large.

Also note, each precincts number of delegates it can send to the district and county conventions, is determined by voter turnout in the previous general elections. (I am trying to find the formula and exact method for delegate assignment but so far …)

Details for the 34th LD Democrats

http://www.34dems.org

King County Dems caucus page

http://www.kcdems.net/

WA State Democrats page

http://www.wa-democrats.org/

[credmond]

If you’re lucky, on a Comcast main trunk, in a popular area for them then you’ll do fine. If there’s a lot of Comcast folks in a single neighborhood, they respond fast if one of them has a problem, they don’t want to generate a serious customer migration. We’ve got two digital set boxes – now about 5 years old, and two equally ancient remotes. The Comcast software is only slightly less sucky than the AAT MotoRazr software on my cell phone – which is to say they both suck a lot. But they work, and like an old microwave, they do what you tell them to do even if it takes some weird contortion of the buttons to do it. If you’re in some isolated Comcast, single customer, zone, I’d expect your service would get pretty bad even if you had their latest set boxes and fancy, back-lit, remotes. Ask around, if other neighbors in your area have Comcast and are happy with it, then you in the right area for Comcast. If you see a lot of dish antennas on people’s houses or balcony’s, see which one has the most logos and ask a couple of folks what they think.

I personally think it totally depends on where you are in West Seattle. I think Highland Park/White Center is a dish network area. Gatewood Hill seems to be a fairly happy Comcast area. The Junction seems to be in love with their DSL (and why not, the freakin’ switch is about 100 yards from everyone).

[Kata]

I’ve had a membership at ASF since September, and have been pretty happy with it. The pluses, to me, are the quantity and variety of equipment available (aerobics machines, weight machines and free weights), and the fact that I’ve never seen it so crowded that I couldn’t get on the machine I wanted. I do wish they kept the women’s locker room cleaner, and had staff available on the 3rd floor to deal with problems that might arise. But on the whole, I’ve found it a really good deal for the money.

[JayDee]

Dear All:

I just bought a HD TV and it is being delivered tomorrow. I have normal Comcast Cable, but I dislike Comcast (Value, Customer Service are my beefs), and would like to explore other possible HD sources.

My main concern is how well these work in West Seattle in terms of HD picture quality (PQ) and the local vendors. Secondly comes price. My sister pays $100 plus for her Comcast HD and that seems steeper than the real (not intro) costs of Dish or Direct. If Dish is $59, Direct is $49 (for instance, for similar lineups) then PQ and equipment/service would be the deciding factor. From my exploration on the web, I’ve seen that PQ is a local thing, and connected to quality of installation, and cable equipment, dish set-up.

If Comcast is really superior in PQ (Because, with HD, PQ is key) then maybe it is work sucking it up. But my experience has been less than Comcastic and I am willing to change.

Thanks for your advice – JayDee

[Aim]

<i>Can anybody recommend a good bottled salad dressing that isn’t $14 a bottle or loaded with sugar, HFCS or MSG?</i>

Kayleigh, we use balsamic vinegar. Get a hig quality one and heat it in a saucepan for just a few minutes, until it just barely begins to thicken. It will still seem too “thin” but it will continue to thicken, so take it off the heat earlier than would be instinct.

As it cools it thickens more, and you will end up with a nicely textured dressing that’s got all the sweetness of balsamic and no “vinegary” taste. If you like the vinegary taste, add a few drops of uncooked balsamic back in.

You can cook up a couple of teaspoons at a time, and it’s so easy and delicious.

Lower-effort alternative: extra virgin olive oil and balsamic. Go half and half in an empty glass jar, put the lid on and shake. Add salt and pepper to taste.

[Anonymous]

When I was looking for something unique I went to every nursery in the greater Seattle area. The choices were slim and not that healthy looking. A friend sent me to Bamboo Gardens of Washington. It’s between Redmond and Fall City, but if you have an afternoon, it is so worth the drive. They have a complete forest almost, of full grown (some are 30+ feet) bamboo. You really get a feel for what they will become. I thought I was looking for black, like everyone always is. But when I saw all the choices, many were much more attractive. Look at their website and you’ll see what I mean. Everything from shrub to timber varieties.

[SA]

eigenwijs,

I recently joined ASF in my quest for triathlon glory. :) The price of $50/month is accurate and is even cheaper if you pre-pay for the full year as they give you an extra three months free… thus 15 months for $600.

I’ve had the chance to try 24HF a couple of times and much prefer ASF. I’m a big fan of the pool, the spin classes (Ed and Stacy are great instructors) and the weights/strength equipment although I think the cardio equipment is old and mostly crap… my tennis club has better cardio equipment.

Other than for spin classes I rarely use the club during peak hours so I can’t tell you how busy all the equipment is. However, parking is limited during these times so you can expect to park on the street.

Hope this helps. :)

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend a good marriage counselor or sex therapist who is in the West Seattle area?

[credmond]

I love Peet’s in Fremont and forever rue the day that Starbucks bought Seattle’s Best since the Caffe Torrefazione (also at Fremont) was such a wonderful place to sit and sip and as soon as Starbucks completed the acquisition, that location and the other one in Occidental Square disappeared. One more reason I try diligently to never grace the threshold of a Starbucks store. Having said that, I would like to say that the only decent Starbucks in the entire city is the one at 23rd and Jackson – very cool and very hip baristas. But, that’s the ONLY Starbucks I ever enter.

[Julie]

The California alignment would be better for me personally, but I’d support the Fauntleroy alignment for speed improvement, depending on how much speed. credmond, do you know the differential? One of my concerns about this “rapid” ride is safety of pedestrians, bikes, and cars sharing the road with these buses. (That grade-separation problem, again!) Seems to me this need for safety will surely slow the buses down. How would the safety compare California vs. Fauntleroy? I have a hunch California has fewer accidents, and if that hunch is correct, I’d guess it has to do with the lower speed on California. How would the “rapid” (I plan to keep quoting it to remind everybody that this is NOT a Rapid Transit solution) buses affect both streets? Would it make less difference on Fauntleroy because it’s already faster?