Search Results for 'Sl'

[miws]

…. they know when we are sleeping….

I was just thinking about this yesterday.

I remembering you mentioning some time back that there is maybe one hour a day when both you and Patrick have a little (but not total—since the phone is always monitored) downtime at the same time.

I think I like Santa better, though….

Mike

[WSB]

Unfortunately, it is a bolted door … but there’s a bit of a gap through which a tiny fraction of the spam gets through. The attack has been relentless (not just our site) for a long time and if you could see inside our filter, you would see hundreds of these “messages” stopped at any given time … but a few get through. Still working on that but it ain’t easy. So we appreciate the notifications and we head in to bulk-delete when needed. It seems they are as omniscient as Santa – they know when we are sleeping, they know when we’re awake, they know when I leave the keyboard for 15 minutes to go check on a story, and they attack then for goodness’ sake …

[DannyQ]

Soo………do you remember that Christmas tree at Westlake I hated so much? Well I bet it won’t be welcomed back again!

It really sucked driving by and having the tree be off during the day and then no light show in the evening. I am glad they decided to put lights that will stay on continuously.

Let this be a symbol of keeping our traditions alive, even if it comes at an expense to our own.

[TanDL]

They seriously need to get a life… a real one, not a virtual one.

[datamuse]

I’ll start by revealing a potential bias in that I work in higher education and also for a private institution, albeit one not nearly as well endowed as Harvard. And I’m doing homework tonight (heh) so this’ll be quick, but let me just mention a few things:

– the scale of increase of Harvard tuition over the time stated is commensurate with that of other private colleges and universities over the same time period–including mine, whose funding is primarily tuition driven.

– every higher education endowment suffered to the same degree as Harvard’s in 2008 and after; the Harvard endowment is by no means unique in that sense.

Having said that, university endowments can be a pretty risky business; I wouldn’t classify them as hedge funds, necessarily, but they’re not always as conservative as you might think. I wouldn’t call Harvard a hedge fund with a university attached, though. Any university campus requires an enormous amount of money to run, and faculty salaries are a smaller slice of that pie all the time (the real scandal is compensation for and increasing numbers of administrators–but that’s a rant for another time). Cjboffoli is right that all that other stuff costs money, and the Harvard campus is one of the most extensive, with better facilities, that I’ve ever seen.

As to the differential between the fund managers’ compensation and that of the faculty, I agree it’s insane, but let me ask: what would you have them do? Harvard cannot function on tuition alone; the price per student would be prohibitive (you think it’s high now…). The amount of money their managers make is commensurate with the industry. Meaning, if they want to hire managers remotely qualified to do the job, they have to pay them accordingly. Likewise the faculty compensation–and Harvard professors, believe me, make a LOT more than the majority of their professional colleagues. (Did you know that most professors in this country are essentially one-year contractors with no job security? Did you know that a lot of them work for multiple employers and are paid by the course?)

I believe that’s called the free market. I have to wonder if all those people suggesting that universities should run themselves like businesses had this in mind.

[WorldCitizen]

I also see the decline of infrastructure being in no small part due to our failure to realize it needs to evolve. Streets should be kept up and replaced when necessary, but the population explosion necessitates new diversity in transportation to keep up with increased density. This helps slow the decay of what is renewed. Not everyone uses public transportation, but everyone benefits from its use. And I don’t just mean the environmental aspects of it either (as undeniable as they are). If I’m on a train, I’m not clogging up the road, making it easier for those who HAVE to drive. And less tires on the road, the longer the road lasts.

We knew our energy needs were growing at an amazing pace for the last 30+ years. Our thirst for energy is only growing stronger. Yet we failed to upgrade our grid to something more substantial, sustainable and secure. Now it’s crumbling under the weight of our needs. We need to learn from our shortsightedness and make improvements now.

More people being dropped into the equation isn’t going to make it any easier, but if we fail to recognize this now, we may be too far behind int he future to catch up to those who are making the necessary adjustments now.

[DBP]

I don’t see how people can say with a straight face that population growth isn’t a problem, here, there, and everywhere. Are these the same folks who follow the traffic reports obsessively and kvetch about the long drives into work?

Not overcrowded? Ha. Let me list just a few of the ways in which crowding affects us every day.

 

► You can’t recognize your old neighborhood because it’s full of high-rises now. No more lawns, no more gardens. Just concrete and steel. We’re losing that sense of neighborhood and community we had just a generation ago. People don’t say “hi” to you on the sidewalk anymore. And why should they? They don’t know you from Adam.

► A bus passes you by at the stop because it’s already full. Don’t worry, there’ll be another along in 20 mintues, if it’s not full too. You have to wait in line everywhere you go. There are places you CAN’T go in your car now, because there’s no parking available. And at public events people are packed in like sardines. Bumbershoot? Bite of Seattle? Folklife? Forget about it.

► Prices are up for food, and WAY up for organics or any kind of food that hasn’t been genetically modified and produced using intensive, factory-based agriculture. Fish farms contaminate wild stocks and degrade the environments in which they’re raised. All for the sake of feeding more hungry mouths.

► Pressure on wildlife habitat causes mass extinctions, with new species threatened every day. Yes, building high-rises in cities slows habitat gobbling, but it doesn’t stop it. People in cities still consume stuff that has to be produced and shipped in from elsewhere, and that means taking resources away from wildlife.

 

It’s true that the term “overpopulated” is relative. We’re not as bad as Bangladesh, for example. At least not yet . . . But we can certainly see which way things are headed, so why not take action now? The closer you get to the edge of a waterfall, the harder it is to change course.

[anotherwsmom]

Holy Rosary is holding a coat drive for West Seattle Clothesline

[elikapeka]

I did the Heifer project this year. I have people on my list that really don’t need or want anything material, so this was perfect. And it’s easy! No shopping, no traffic, no hassles!

[DBP]

I want to make something clear. I’m not down on people who have lots and lots and lots and lots of kids.

(Sike! I really am.)

skeeter don’t you think crowding is a problem here? How can you deny it? Just look how bad traffic is getting around here. Why, they’re turning the Junction into a concrete canyon; I get claustrophobic just driving south out of there on California . . .

And . . . as if the Mormons and Catholics weren’t bad enough, now gay people wanna have kids too!

What’s next? Cloning? Sheesh!

*****************************************************************************************

wakeflood are you in panic mode by any chance? Kind of sounds like. Why don’t you just meditate for a while?

Also, consider this: Plenty of new infrastructure is being built in this country, but it generally follows the money. We’ve upgraded our local ports several times, for example. Ditto for the airport. –Why? Because those bring in money. Lots and lots of money.

Throw in a clutch of shiny new stadiums, with more on the way. Again: money. (Whether stadiums actually make money is not important. What’s important is that people THINK they make money. Plus, people are suckers for sports.)

The more money or glamor a project has attached to it, the more likely it is to get built. Decaying bridges will still get replaced, aging schools will be updated . . . just on a much slower timeline.

This problem isn’t new. It goes all the way back to the Romans. Which reminds me . . . What have the Romans ever done for us?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso

[wakeflood]

Agreed, re: Jaydee, et al.

We’ve blown by all the stop signs and don’t seem able to control our reproduction or “me first” mindset – as a species. Whatever hive mind we have is NOT serving our long term best interest.

The laws of nature are fairly immutable and I don’t think it takes much investigation to determine that a comeuppance is due with regards to population. Any organism that outgrows the environment’s capacity to sustain it, gets a hard slap down. The four horsemen are saddled up.

This is one of the reasons I’m confident there is no god, and certainly not an interventionist one. Why would such a being concoct a species with such promise and doom it with such character flaw?

Have a nice day. :-)

[Vanessa]

ha ha ha ha, I’m glad I’m not the only crazy lady out in the alley taking my frustrations out on that darned black box. I do slam it into the ground on occasions. I am glad, however, that it does keep the critters out.

[WorldCitizen]

maplesyrup:

I would agree that the vast majority of our problems in this world right now are a direct result of overpopulation. And it’s not going away any time soon. In fact, I think I read somewhere (can’t remember the source) that we’re headed toward 10.5 Billion by 2050. Obviously this is going to cause a number of different issues depending on where you are in the world, but we’re far from immune to the resulting problems here in the US.

I’m not sure how much of an impact it’s had on infrastructure up to this point. I would guess quite a bit. But, this is even more of a reason to address the core of these problems now before we’re tied up with so many more complicated problems in the relatively near future. You know, give us a chance to compete in the sardine can that is future Earth.

[dobro]

More evidence that military spending is rife with waste, fraud, and abuse…

“On Tuesday the Senate unanimously passed a defense authorization bill that contains $17 billion more than the Pentagon asked for. They’ll go to conference over a House bill that has an addition $3 billion more than the Pentagon asked for.”

There’s $20 billion in unnecessary spending (that the Pentagon hasn’t even ASKED for) that you haven’t even heard about. Where’s the fiscal conservative outrage about that?

[maude]

I usually yank on the lid while cussing and slamming it down on the ground. The lid comes off eventually.

[Patrick]

About 99% of the game is where you’re located. If you’re below the High Point hill,down one of the slopes in Fauntleroy or along Alki you’re mostly out of luck with rabbit ears.

[Cecilia Erin Walsh]

Looking for a resolution for the New Year? Something new and different? Consider volunteering your time and sharing your fluency in English. Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish on 35th Ave SW is partnering with St. James ESL to provide English lanugage tutoring to low-income, adult, immigrants and refugees living in West Seattle. Volunteer tutors are at least 18 years old, pass a background check and interview. Free tutor training and on-going support are provided. Learn more at our website (www.stjames-cathedral.org/esl) or by e-mail to cwalsh@stjames-cathedral.org. This social outreach program is non-sectarian.

[redblack]

skeeter: compensate for volume with quality. you’re doing fine and i, for one, like having you around. it’s no fun for us liberals to sit around patting ourselves on the back all day.

and regarding post 21, it’s not easy to compare those things, and your list is a little vague.

for example, “infrastructure” could mean transportation, which is largely block granted by the fed to the states; or it could mean hospitals, which would fall under DHHS; or it could mean the electric grid, which would fall under energy; or it could mean dams and reservoirs, which would fall under interior and/or bureau of land management.

similarly, “corporate welfare” – a derogatory term, to be sure – could mean ignoring enforcement and punishment of tax avoidance and evasion; it could mean federal pork which goes directly to businesses like conagra through subsidy (which was originally intended for smaller family farms); or it could mean the amount of access they have to our government when compared to actual human constituents.

in any case, i believe our lack of infrastructure spending has more to do with vision and political will to fight those who would maintain the status quo – for whatever agenda.

the thread i started about having a municipal fiber optic broadband network in seattle is a perfect example. comcast would surely fight such a bold, progressive move tooth and nail with a lot of lawyers and negative advertising. why? because of the way the city contracts wholesale telecommunications, they have a tidy monopoly going on here – and absolutely zero incentive to improve service or control prices. just the opposite, in fact, because they have no real competition.

this gets slightly OT, but is related to communication infrastructure and why it isn’t improving:

ratepayers in seattle have stockholm syndrome when it comes to internet and teevee bills. most of us – but certainly not all – no longer blush at paying $200 or more for internet, phone, and teevee. it doesn’t have to be that way, people. and comcast’s service and speeds ain’t that great. but i suppose when you have nothing but DSL to compare it to…

but that’s a perfect example of why better infrastructure is not being built out in the united states:

call it corporate protectionism.

if we paid the government half of what we pay corporate america for things like internet access, we’d have far greater value for our money. just look at tacoma’s click! network if you want to see a model where government and private business compete in a fairly straightforward manner – and without all of the ballyhoo that most conservatives claim will lead to government monopolies and such.

real, robust, honest-to-god competition scares the bejesus out of corporate america. they prefer to corner entire markets, stifle or buy all other competition, and set their rates based on profits instead of value. and it’s a huge impediment to making things better.

[wakeflood]

Well JD, I’m not so sure you can extrapolate your theory to cover virtually every other city/state in the union. This isn’t a local phenomenon. It’s national.

And it should be noted that NOTICING the issue isn’t new either (studies have been out for 15+ yrs.)and it AIN’T just bridges fer goodness sake. Our electrical grid is an antiquated cluster, our internet infrastructure is about as good as most 2nd tier countries, etc., etc.

The simple fact is, we do everything related to infrastructure piecemeal and on an emergency only basis. We haven’t done a federally coordinated major infrastructure project since the Interstate Hwy System in the 50’s/60’s.

Here’s a possible causal relationship: Substantially reduced Federal matching funds. Remember those? Gee, I think they helped fund TONS of state-level projects to the tune of 50%, sometimes more. That must have become an unpopular place to put federal funding. Wiser folks chose the B-1 bomber, and Missle Defense, etc…

[geronimo]

you need to push down hard in the center of the top and simultaneously pull up on one of the corners. after you do it a couple of times it’s easy. getting it closed is harder – three of the four corners go on easily and you have to push/hit the last one.

definitely keeps the raccoons out, though.

[jissy]

GoGo– try Imperial Foot Massage in the ID (900 S. Jackson St.), that’s probably the one Jan is referring to. There is free parking and it is crazy inexpensive. They are open 10 a.m. – midnight, 7 days a week and although they would prefer you schedule an appt, I never have and have never had to wait. It’s a funny experience, 10 basically recliner chairs in 1 room (I hear snoring EVERY time I go!). For a 30 minute session, you do a hot foot soak while they massage your scalp, neck and shoulders, then do reflexology on your feet. I think it’s $15 for the 30 minutes and $25 for an hour. For the hour, they lay the chair flat, flip you over and do a massage — with VERY deep pressure! I usually just do the 30 minutes b/c I find their pressure is just too much for me and it will never replace the skilled hands of someone like Jan — I still see my regular LMP and my regular Reflexologist but pop into this place spontaneously (when I’m having a really crappy day and can get out of the house while the kids nap).

I think I have seen one in Burien (in the Albertson’s, Trader Joe’s shopping center) but have never tried it…. haven’t noticed 1 in White Center.

[RainyDay1235]

Really nice stuff too(Janie & Jack, GAP, Carters, Gymboree etc)…I would say easily over 50 pieces of clothing alone.

5+ sets of pajamas, several nice jeans & more pants, dressy shirts, play shirts, winter pants-coats-mittens-hats, swim trunks. TWO VERY CUTE CHRISTMAS SWEATERS. A FULL 2T MONKEY COSTUME. Also a “leather” bomber jacket and a white tuxedo (seriously) if you want.

And shoes…oh the shoes. Boots, snowboots, sneakers, you name it.

Would like $150 for it ALL. Located in High Point area….let me know if you’re interested. Thanks!

[DBP]

I APPLAUD the Seattle Times for their series of reports on the problem of elephants in our zoos. Seattle has been in denial about this problem for a long time, in spite of the best efforts of PAWS (?) and other animal welfare groups to keep a spotlight on it.

A zoo is not the best place for any animal (except humans), but for some animals, it’s little better than a slow death. Case in point: elephants.

I was never – repeat NEVER – persuaded by Woodland Park’s long-standing claim that they were doing right by their elephants and that their breeding program was successful. The one baby that was born there died of infection, and all you have to do is go there to see for yourself how unhappy their elephants are.

. . . and Woodland Park is an example of a GOOD zoo. Think of all the zoos that aren’t even up to Woodland Park standards.

Sorry, but “captive breeding” is not an excuse for keeping an animal that normally ranges over thousands of square miles of warm rainforest in a cold, dark enclosure of less than an acre. In this case, “captive breeding” is just code for “People come to this zoo to see elephants, and by god, they’re gonna see elephants.”

If we need to keep and breed large tropical species, it must be done in conditions that are as similar to the wild as possible. Does Seattle look and feel like Thailand to you? If so, perhaps you’re the one who needs to be in the zoo.

(And I wouldn’t recommend that they try to breed you, either.)

[DBP]

wakeflood, thanks for this question.

I see that Jo has thrown you slightly off track with her “no acceptable failure rate” statement, which merely demonstrates that she does not think like an engineer. (No offense, Jo.)

There’s no problem with current engineering design standards in this country. None. The problem is, as you implied in your first post, that we’re not replacing infrastructure in a timely way.

So, again . . . WHY aren’t we replacing?

Although the question might seem “basic” it’s actually about as unbasic as they come. In fact, there are many contributing factors to the infrastructure problem, including:

► Increase in costs (labor, insurance, financing)

► Shortfall of revenue

► Changed spending priorities

► “Don’t fix it til it’s broke” syndrome

Etc.

–each of which could lead you down a different rabbit hole.

The good news is that bridges don’t all fall down at once, and (usually) they don’t fall down without some kind of warning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

[clairdesol]

I am completely befuddled by my new micro container for garbage. It is black, small and square with a (removable) square lid. I think I’m supposed to somehow slide the lid on and snap it in place. Now I cannot get it off. Any helpful hints?