Search Results for 'WO'

[cheyenne]

As an undecided voter, why would I want to support Ron Paul?

[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.

[credmond]

It’s funny, in the Wiki entry for Pennsylvania, they mention Tastykake as being one of the local food traditions – previously citing Pennsylvania as the capital of the snack food world. Yum, I think I can even remember one of their radio jingles. I’d said caramel earlier, obviously I meant to say butterscotch. That’s probably also the only butterscotch item I ever liked – hate the stuff, otherwise. I always thought they put something in the recipe so that it would become addicting. Also, apparently Philadelphia is the heart of the American food flavor and scent industry. Knew someone who worked there and they were always inventing new compounds which totally tasted or smelled like – a Jones Soda. Wonder who does the chemistry work for Jones.

[GenHillOne]

I can’t think of any WS tie, except perhaps our new neighbor from the Gates Foundation, but if you haven’t seen his video from the Consumer Electronics Show, you must check out Bill. I won’t try to link to You Tube, but go to kiro710.com and choose Bill Gates “click here” then “see the video” – SO funny. I have new respect for Bill, his self-deprecating sense of humor, and his rolodex!

[andrea]

Excellent article Kayleigh, thanks for the link. I saw Huckabee on Leno briefly last week and thought he was slightly reminiscent of Clinton (bass playing 60’s kid ponying up to a late night talk show crowd), but thought nothing further of him until he won Iowa last Thursday. Now the full extent of his right-wingedness is so blatant and so over the top for my rational mind, that I hope any other Republican wins tonight for sanity sake.

[andrea]

I recommend Ola Salon on Avalon Way. Its a great urban, fun, not like your grandma’s salon. I have been going to Sarah, who is a stylist there, for the last 5+ years and she is wonderful at haircutting as well as a genius as a colorist. Check them out at CitySearch.com for more info.

[beachdrivegirl]

I had Comcast for years and was fed up with it after continued bumps on their rates etc. So when I moved about 6 months ago, I researched the different costs between Direct TV, DISH, and COMCAST. After doing all of my homework I went with Direct TV for the “value” I thought I was receiving. Since then, I have had to replace my receiver twice (and all tv goes out) and on two other occasions due to the weather my disk just shut down and stoppped working. When i would call their customer support line I didnt receive any support and in fact both times had to pay shipping for new receivers. Needless to say, after 6 months, I am now going back to Comcast. Paying more for reliable service and a bit better customer service is worth it in my book.

[add]

Jan – I wonder if they still package them in that waxy paper? That was part of the experience, peeling each little cake very carefully off the wrapper so the icing didn’t get left behind. We used to eat them upside down so the icing wouldn’t stick to the roof of your mouth. Mmmm, my mouth is watering!

[Ken]

Kinsley: a joke quote from Wikipedia:

---

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

---

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

[Ken]

I am released from comcast bondage and save about 70.00 a month. It would have been more but I had a grandfathered plan that they kept trying to force me to upgrade so they could double the price. The last straw was after the 06 windstorm when they dropped power to my block by 40% and refused to fix it as long as I could get a signal on most of the channels when I moved the tv to within 10 foot of the demarc. I had paid for two boxes and full slate of channels for 12 years.

Dish and direct are both good. I have dish and a friend is a direct installer. They both have a good deal on HD DVRs.

The downside for some people is you lose the semi local cable news channel and the weather channel does not give the local radar and forecast “on the 8’s”. TWC just cycles through the regional current temps and the national radar. Also MSNBC is only available on the highest priced digital plan so Keith Olbermann viewers have to pay a few bucks more per month.

On the other hand, some channels come in both east and west coast editions. (three hours earlier)Nikelodeon? (twice the spongbob seems to tickle the 7 yeaar old.)

My DVR has totally released me from the tyranny of the tv schedual and fast forward at 4x spped through commercials keeps me from falling asleep and missing the last 15 min.

[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.

[FreeRangeAuthor]

I haven’t watched (or heard) any Party National Prez Convention in more than 20 years.

Of those I recall seeing, in my youth, it appeared that voting from the floor occurred in alphabetical order by State name. I also recall that long before the alphabet got around to Washington, enough delegates had voted to select a nominee (50% + 1), so that the Convention rules were suspended and the remaining States voted by acclamation, since the winner already had enough votes. Voting by the remaining States would not change the outcome, so acclamation was used.

If this is common at most Conventions, it seems to make Washington delegates, for both Parties, moot – they never get tallied individually. Even with a second or third ballot, the counting my not reach the States at the end of the alphabet before enough votes are accumulated, and acclamation used for the remaining States.

Can anyone cite any National Convention, for either Party, where Washington delegates changed the outcome of the vote?

[westwood]

The Little League fields are near Alki, the Pee Wee fields are in Highland Park. So if you live in Admiral or Alki, Little League is probably your better bet. If you live in the south end of WS, Pee Wee will be easier. Your son will be playing T-Ball at 5, so you can always switch later if you wish. My son loved Pee Wee. They play T-Ball, then two years of B ball, then two of A ball, then Bronco at Lincoln Park. Each level changes the rules. Coaches pitch most of the time in B-ball.

Good luck.

[WSB]

Such a subjective thing :) We have a soft spot for many of the dishes at New Teriyaki and Wok in Morgan Junction but also keep in mind – that’s the closest place to our house. Extremely nice people; I could go months without calling them and the lady who generally mans the front counter would still remember my name just by hearing my voice on the phone!

[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

[Ken]

If I remember correctly. The newspapers hold off until the state and county parties buy some ads.

Free milk vs cow and all that.

The last two weeks is when they will start using the press releases and manage to mangle the details in editing.

The tv stations will mash it up with some incomprehensible fake controversy and then run it on the weekend before or like some times in the past, not mention it until it is over at which point it becomes “news”.

It is an old game around here.

Even some of the liberal web sites think the “primary” is the relevant part of the process. It is if you’re a republican… They will choose half the GOP delegates at the caucus/straw poll and half via the primary.

[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]

One way I strive to be able to stop for pedestrians wanting to cross 35th is to go the speed limit on 35th. It’s 35 miles per hour, not 40 or 45 or 50. Of course, about two-thirds of the cars are passing me on the left. But those of us in the curb lane are at least in a position to slow down and stop, and since there’s usually at least two or three of us going the legal speed, that is a lot of cars to be stopping and drivers in the other lanes pay attention. I’ve stopped for any number of pedestrians in the area around Camp Long up to Morgan St. and had no problems and others eventually stopped to allow the pedestrians to cross. By not recognizing the need to stop sooner, others merely delayed the entire flow of traffic as the pedestrians weren’t going to cross until all 4 lanes were stopped – as it should be. We can subtly enforce the laws ourselves by actually abiding in them. Strange concept, I know. Oh, I also bike and walk on 35th – all the time, and ride the bus. So I do have a good feel for how traffic flows throughout the day and week. The alternative to not being nice, by the way, is to put 35th on a road diet – reduce it to one travel lane in each direction with a center turn lane. Which would be better?

[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).

[credmond]

Of course, a super-lightweight, super-strong and crash-absorbent vehicle which ran on solar or wind or rain would be cool, too. Maybe use your rain car in the winter and your solar car in the summer and your wind car in the spring and fall. What we need is about a thousand innovators and outside-of-the-box tinkerers and a community or region willing to experiment.

[credmond]

And anyone who’s seen “Who Killed the Electric Car, would have some thoughts for the 500-gallon coin and the thousand-gallon coin, too. Remember when “What was good for GM, was good for the Country.” Different era, different media, but – hey, we all got suckered in then. That was the heyday of the late 40’s and ’50’s when it was drive everywhere on gas so cheap it must have made your head spin. As a teenager in PA, I used to fill my mom’s car with Gulftane – I think it was 85 octane, but it was only 12 cents a gallon and her tank only held 13 gallons. All I needed to do after a date was make sure I had a dollar left in my pocket. We all fell for it then, too. And now we argue over how to replace the Viaduct. How ’bout electric cars? At least our electricity is “mostly” renewable and does a small amount of damage (fish) and its cost is pretty darned predictable.

[WSB]

Thanks, Jan.

But hmm, where would Huckabee or Romney come in on the lineup … haven’t studied them too closely yet.

[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]

OK, my bad JT for not searching more — Of course I am not the only one searching for the right answer.

As to Acemotel, community service is great, but I currently pay $58/month for basic cable, and despite “competition” — promised so long ago when Cable was deregulated — The monthly cost has never decreased. The problem with Cable/Satellite is that while it is certainly not a public good like electricity or gas, it is certainly more valuable than when I when I grew up.

The differential costs add up, month after month, and I am not willing to pay $25-$40/month year after year, even if they provide community service projects. Comcast has never shown me that my business is worth anything to them, or gone out of their way. While Verizon is a similar type of company, I never hang the phone up wondering if I’ve gotten the worst part of the bargain.

Acemotel, I will check out the thread reccomended and if Comcast offers the best deal or PQ at a reasonable, if not the lowest price, I will go with them.

Thanks – JayDee