Search Results for 'cU'

[KBear]

Just order yourself another drink each time someone disturbs you. Soon everyone will be happy.

[Jasperblu]

Check out West Seattle on Social Media… we meet once a month for our monthly “Tweetup”. And you’re in luck, b/c it’s TONIGHT (Thurs Sept 23) at 5:30pm to 7:30pm at Skylark.

We meet in a different location every month, usually on the 4th Thursday (sometimes national holidays get in the way of that, like in Nov and Dec). If you use Twitter, you can find out the latest/greatest there @WSonSM or find our events posted on WSonSM’s Facebook page.

Nice group of people, mostly “professionals” (i.e. working stiffs). Drinking booze is NOT required. Eating, laughing, making new friends is.

Other than that, as a CA transplant, I can attest to the (sometimes) difficult process of making new friends in Seattle (not just West Seattle), but Meetup.com is a great place to start, as is Seattle SMC (Social Media Club), etc.

In any case, WELCOME to West Seattle!!

C ~

[Cait]

No, it’s the partitions between the booths that serve as backrests. They aren’t stable and they are shared – so any time someone leans back on one it throws the person on the other side forward. It’s… highly annoying. But I will put up with it for the chocolate souffle… but I’d love to not have to :)

[JanS]

are you saying someone’s chair kept hitting yours? I hate when that happens. We should all be aware of what is around us…and who is around us.

[blackwatch]

Since the subject’s been broached, I believe that not only is God imaginary but religion as a whole is based on delusion. It’s a mechanism established to make people feel better about having no real concrete answers to our existence. And for all the ‘proof’ given to prove the existence of God, there is not one shred of actual concrete proof available that any God exists. There’s a lot of “I prayed real hard and my cancer got cured” but none that establishes beyond even a reasonable doubt that there is in fact a God.

I’m sorry if this challenges someones steadfast faith or if it sounds cold, but like the poster above it’s time to speak out against this craziness, it’s killing the world and it’s time we spoke up and woke up……

[anonyme]

eyeswideopen: Thank you for having the courage to open this thread. In recent years I’ve become more open about my atheism, in part because of what I consider to be a frightening trend toward a kind of theistic nationalism in our country. Polls show that atheists are more hated, misunderstood, misrepresented – and therefore, largely closeted – than any ‘minority’ group in the U.S., including gays and Muslims.

The rationale in the following quote by Epicurus sums it up for me:

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?

Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing?

Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing?

Then whence cometh evil?

Is he neither able nor willing?

Then why call him God?”

[DP]

eyeswideopen: I agree with the arguments listed by the “God is Imaginary” Web site, but I doubt that any of those arguments would make a dent in your Catholic friend’s belief system. Consider that your friend has other, non-rational motivations for believing in Catholicism. Reasons like:

1. He was raised Catholic; it’s part of his culture.
2. He likes the rituals. They give him comfort.
3. It’s something to belong to.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t talk religion with your friend — especially if he’s the one who starts it. But when you do, be prepared to learn this basic truth of human nature: Reason is one thing, Faith another.

[maplesyrup]

So with the surface street option what happens to the commercial traffic? It’s not just about commuters, you know.

The bridge thing reminds me of Lisbon. They reinvigorated their waterfront mabye 15 years ago and one of the features is a huge bridge crossing the river to the suburbs.

From a distance the bridge is beautiful. But when you get close it’s pretty imposing, noisy, and as dominant as our current viaduct. Not saying the two situations are exactly alike but you have to remember that a bridge is just another concrete and metal structure that brings noise and isn’t necessarily all that attractive.

[Cait]

Hello everyone! I was at West 5 last night enjoying an (always) lovely meal when I remembered that I had been meaning to post this little reminder for quite some time…

The backs of the seats in the booths are wiggly! Must you rear back in your seat like a spooked horse every single time you get in or get out of your seat? Please by mindful of your interactions with your seatbacks and know that I am feeling absolutely every time you so much as tap them and it disrupts my meal and conversation.

Thank you and enjoy.

[DP]

[ Very apt observations, rb and WC. ]

I have some sympathy for Obama. On his first day in office, he was no handed no less than two wars, a financial meltdown, and a very vocal group of haters (led by Fox News) who were determined to see him fail.

That’s gotta be discouraging.

There’s still time for him to succeed. If he can get us all the way out of Iraq and Afghanistan, that will assure him a place in my heart.

Fingers crossed, everybody.

[eyeswideopen]

I have a good friend who is a devote Catholic, and I am Atheist.

He is so fluent in expressing his beliefs, while I find it difficult to articulate my reasons for being Atheist to him.

I came across a website that explains my feelings about all religion perfectly. I think it is a great resource for everyone to start thinking and speaking rationally about religion.

http://www.godisimaginary.com

[redblack]

DP: regarding your financial regulation comments, i read an interesting quote by neal stephenson the other day that i think sums up obama’s choices like this:

“the best lock-designers are the people who have a talent for picking locks.”

i think the choice of somers, geithner, et al, was largely to protect obama from wall street. they obviously have the power to bring down politicians on a whim.

[WorldCitizen]

I’m not saying Obama is inept, he just looks that way because of the lack of clear victories. I’m just saying change could be implemented effectively if there were enough support in congress for these things. It hurts Obama to promise big and not be able to deliver…

I think it’s far easier to win a campaign than bring the opposing forces together.

[redblack]

why doesn’t anyone ever mention that social security and medicare are non-budget programs that are funded separately?

oh, yeah. i forgot. they’re socialist programs that need to be defunded… err.. uhh… except when we need to raid their trust funds for political reasons, that is. or when we turn 67 and start getting our dole checks. or when aetna turns down our claims because of preexisting conditions.

but anyone who wants to defund medicaid is just a mean-spirited cretin who doesn’t understand – or simply doesn’t care about – the hardship that almost half of this once-great country endures.

[redblack]

@dawsonct: i focus on the SOV because i am condemned to being an SOV. no matter how i try to arrange it, commuting with others doesn’t work for me, and, believe me, i’ve tried. i have to lug rain gear, tools, hard hat, lunch box, etc. to destinations that change daily or weekly, and at times that change daily, and i am condemned to the SOV lifestyle. (the worst part is that my car stereo just took a dump on me. D: )

the best i can do is live in the city (unlike my rednecked, xenophobic, tax-dodging, gas-guzzling coworkers), and west seattle provides my downtown-commuting wife with easy access to work.

enough about me. let’s find out what you think about me.

just kidding.

@villagegreen: my biggest question about the replacement of the 99 corridor through downtown is why “cut and cover” was given short shrift and why deep-bore was the only option for a tunnel.

it seems to me that someone, somewhere had dollar signs in his eyes.

fiscally speaking, cut and cover is probably cheaper than deep-bore or a bridge, and would be a milder engineering feat with lower construction costs. replacement of the seawall would be easier. maintenance would be easier. incorporation of rapid/light rail transit would be easier. connection to the existing battery street tunnel would be easier. (ever consider the grade-change question on the belltown/QA approach? it’s a brain teaser. the deep-bore tunnel would have a damn-near vertical incline to hit the proposed mercer/aurora interchange.)

as far as a bridge goes, though, i guess we’ll have to agree to disagree…

because my answer to the noise question is simple: recycled tire aggregate. europe uses it – with great success – for noise reduction and pavement life.

to sum up, though, my opposition to deep-bore is partly political and partly practical; i have given my vote(s) a great deal of thought, and i am not a simple naysayer.

[DP]

Obama’s problem isn’t that he’s inept. His problem is that he’s been trying to steer a middle-of-the-road course on every single issue.

He hasn’t gone down in flames on anything. But by the same token, there’s nothing he can point to and say: “That was a clear win!”

On war, for example, he’s tried to appease the hawks by winding down slowly in Iraq, while actually winding up in Afghanistan. This is losing him support from the Left, but not gaining him any on the Right, since the Right hates his guts anyway.

On health care, he got us a bill, and he did win us some changes, but the insurance companies are still in place as middlemen. Bad idea. Maybe he should have gone for the full meal deal (public option or single payer) instead of settling for a side of fries.

On financial regulation, it was the same thing. Obama left most of the Old Guard in place and chose not to take a stand on the parts of the reform bill he really wanted. As a result, we’re still in thrall to the big banks and investment houses.

Stimulus package — Same deal. He let Van Jones go without a fight and significantly underfunded the package. A step forward? Yeah. A clear and present victory? Nah.

 

 

Could Obama have gotten his way on ALL these things? No. Politics doesn’t work that way. But if he’d shown a little more political courage on some of them, if he’d taken a stand now and then, he’d at least have some real wins to his credit, instead of all these half-measures and stalemates.

Yes, Congress gets some of the blame for this. But I don’t hold with the idea that Obama’s hands are tied, that he really can’t do anything. After all, if you’re a young Black man who can come from behind and defeat the odds-on favorite First Lady Democrat (not to mention the white War Hero Republican) you’re no lame duck.

Or rather, Ducky.

—<shameless self-promotion> David </shameless self-promotion>

[anonyme]

Have you tried osteopathy and/or acupuncture? Orthopedic surgeons are great at fixing bones, but often it’s the injuries to soft tissue that won’t heal. Conventional medicine doesn’t offer a lot of assistance in that area, aside from recommendations for rest, heat/cold, and pain killers. Sorry I don’t have any specific docs for reference; my D.O. is fantastic but unfortunately he’s not accepting new patients.

[villagegreen]

redblack – First off, I love the word ‘specious.’ Thanks for using it.

As for your critique of my argument, I agree, the surface street option would be the best option for the city of Seattle. The pain for commuters would lead to better public transit and more people would most likely choose to live closer to work rather than out in the burbs. I didn’t say connecting north and south promotes sprawl, I said making it easy to get downtown from anywhere promotes sprawl. The tunnel is simply the next best solution that accomodates people such as yourself – those that work in different locations and need to bypass the city in order to get there. Ideally, everyone would live close to where they work, but we know that can’t always happen. The tunnel at least gives people an option other than I5.

Unlike San Francisco and Boston, Seattle’s unique geography (narrow strip of land surrounded on both sides by water) really does limit the options we have for road building. Putting them underground is a viable solution that many other cities have implemented successfully.

As for the non-ugly bridge argument, the Sistine Chapel of bridges could be built and it would still ruin the waterfront. Besides cutting the waterfront off from the city and being an ugly monstrosity, the worst thing about the current viaduct is the NOISE. What’s the point in trying to turn the waterfront into a destination point for locals if they have to shout at each other while they’re down there? It’s a no win proposition. For the 81st time, building a new viaduct is a non-option.

[Dr.Moxie]

Hey, just a quick heads up – the American Academy of Pediatrics just released new clinical guidelines when it comes to lice (http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;126/2/392), and one of the strong recommendations it makes is that “No healthy child should be excluded from or allowed to miss school time because of head lice. No-nit policies for return to school should be abandoned.”

The guidelines also mention that “International guidelines established in 2007 for the effective control of head lice infestations stated that no-nit policies are unjust and should be discontinued, because they are based on misinformation rather than objective science.”

I mainly bring this up because I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on head lice recently for a project I’m working on – preparing detailed handouts with information about OTC and alternative head lice treatments for pharmacists and parents. The hard truth right now is that the best treatment for lice is a combination of manual nit removal and 1% permethrin (Nix) or a product containing pyrethrins (RID). Alternative treatments or home remedies like tea tree oil, mayonnaise or vaseline don’t have any data supporting their efficacy and can cause scalp irritation.

If you want more reading information, here are a couple of good websites:

http://identify.us.com/head-lice/

http://www.powerpak.com/index.asp?show=lesson&page=courses/106888/lesson.htm&lsn_id=106888

http://dritchy.com/parents

The NPA (National Pediculosis Association, http://www.headlice.org) has a pretty zealous “no-nit” policy and is very anti-pesticide use. I know that their hearts are in the right place and I encourage parents to use as few pesticidal products as possible (i.e. ONLY treat a child with a confirmed case of lice – one where adult, live lice are actually seen), but I don’t think that it’s necessary to bash all pesticide products and to stigmatize children (and their parents) who contract head lice by keeping them home. In addition, relying solely on the mechanical removal of head lice is not 100% effective to remove all nits and can often increase the duration of an infestation and increase the risk that lice are spread to other kids or their families.

Just my $0.02! I know that lice can be a pretty emotional topic, but I wanted to throw in some clinical recommendations.

[Vanessa]

I must put a plug in for Husky Deli…I wanted to gift some caregivers a “Thanksgiving Dinner” while they were on 24 hour duty caring for for an elderly patient, and Husky’s came to the rescue. I just picked up all the fixings, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce. It was delicious!!!!

[WorldCitizen]

We need some US senators with the guts to force change from the ground up. Anyone who thinks the president can come in and buck Congress is living in fantasy land. Just look at Obama. Great ideas (for the most part) and no way to implement them. Now he looks inept.

[WorldCitizen]

I sell wine for a living. I’ve sold wine in many states

I have to say, the consumers in Washington (and in most wine-centric states) are all the same. They would adjust their buying habits as a result of this new law, just not in the way the opposition to 1100 would have you believe. The buyers of the lower-end wine would buy more at cheaper prices. These people would be happy and the wineries who mass produce wine would be able to afford the discounted volume sales as their overall budgets would not take an unreasonable hit.

This is not the demographic driving sales of small wineries in Washington State or any other Wine region. The buyers of boutique wines, or small production wines are an entirely different customer. These consumers aren’t going to stop buying from these excellent growers/winemakers just because they can get jug wine cheaper. They don’t drink jug wine in the first place. The boutique wineries aren’t going to be forced to artificially lower their prices. The boutique wine buyer realizes what goes into the bottle they are buying and by and large willing to pay for that quality.

It’s what happens in California and I would be so bold as to say California has a fairly successful wine industry. The vast majority of wine made in Cali is jug wine. I really want to stress that … the VAST MAJORITY!! The smaller quality wineries have been “competing” with these massive labels for decades and have produced world class wines that have stood the test of time. Liquor restrictions don’t affect the palates of wine drinkers. It also doesn’t affect the decisions they make.

I would also suggest the same holds true for the craft beer industry. I dare you to go up to a craft beer drinker with a straight face and say, “Man, why don’t we just get the Coors Light instead of the Boundary Bay…it’s only nine bucks a case!”

[dawsonct]

Yep, difficult to run a government research project without government funding. Kind of like not giving visionary investors credit when a new business is a success.

But whatever, Al Gore is obviously the source of all the economic, social, and diplomatic problems we have experienced this most recent decade, so keep harping on him.

Ignore the man behind the curtain, dupes.

[dawsonct]

Again, you are focusing on the SOV. We need to refocus our communities on the human beings that occupy it, and not the vehicles they have become dependent on. Hate to sound harsh, but adjust and adapt; destroying the quality of life in pursuit of convenience and efficiency isn’t a path we want to continue down.

Frankly, I agreed with the surface street option you mentioned; with strategic rerouting N. and S. of downtown, traffic could have been disbursed evenly through the city. Increased emphasis on trip mitigation would have helped reduce traffic as well.

[Jiggers]

I see Rossi is one who would cut your benefits..