Search Results for 'tM'

[Anonymous]

I have seen the King County Sheriff Department helicopter many times in the last sixteen years (I live near 9 SW & SW Trenton).

I have always wondered if it is effective.

It has a spotlight, but it continually orbits (I’m guessing to minimize effectiveness of potential groundfire) so the spotlight advantage would seem to be limited by its orbiting.

Maybe instead of paying for more of the same, we could pay for infra-red technology for the helicopter or at least for goggles for its pilot.

[HMC Rich]

To add a another point. I was looking for something to answer Ken’s post. I decided to use the author of the Constitution. This is from the University of Virginia and quotes from Thomas Jefferson:

The Moral Sense

“He who made us would have been a pitiful bungler, if he had made the rules of our moral conduct a matter of science. For one man of science, there are thousands who are not. What would have become of them? Man was destined for society. His morality, therefore, was to be formed to this object. He was endowed with a sense of right and wrong merely relative to this. This sense is as much a part of his nature, as the sense of hearing, seeing, feeling; it is the true foundation of morality… The moral sense, or conscience, is as much a part of man as his leg or arm. It is given to all human beings in a stronger or weaker degree, as force of members is given them in a greater or less degree. It may be strengthened by exercise, as may any particular limb of the body. This sense is submitted indeed in some degree to the guidance of reason; but it is a small stock which is required for this: even a less one than what we call Common sense. State a moral case to a ploughman and a professor. The former will decide it as well, and often better than the latter, because he has not been led astray by artificial rules.” –Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1787. ME 6:257, Papers 12:15

“How necessary was the care of the Creator in making the moral principle so much a part of our constitution as that no errors of reasoning or of speculation might lead us astray from its observance in practice.” –Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Law, 1814. ME 14:139

If others want more quotes from Jefferson, go to this website. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeffcont.htm

I would not want a theocracy ever in this country. I would not want a country without religion. I believe we can have separation of church and state but a country without a moral identity will eventually fail.

[Garden_nymph]

I would highly recommend the Can-O-Worms by Triformis. Amazon currently has it on sale and we have had great success with it. Here is what the ad says, “Finally… A Can-O-Worms Worth Opening! The Can-O-Worms is an odorless, user-friendly worm composting system that allows anyone to participate in recycling and garden enrichment through composting. Can-O-Worms Whether you live in an apartment or have a backyard, you can provide organic fertilizer for indoor plants and your garden. Stacked ring-upon-ring, each section of this worm condo can house thousands of worms for composting year round. Each unit features a tap drain on the lowest ring to collect compost tea directly from the source. Harvesting of castings (worm manure) is easy because the worms eat their way up, leaving their rich castings behind which are readily removed, free of worms. The Can-O-Worms stands on five sturdy legs, approximately 29″ tall x 20″ wide. Made from durable 100% recycled plastic to give many years of vermicomposting success. Worms can be purchased separately. Be sure to use only special composting redworms…” I had previously bought the square version sold by the city of Seattle and it was flimsy and awkward to use. The interior of the lid was wood that soon became rotten and moldy and the design allowed rain to flood the worms when it rained (and since we live in Seattle…) I could go on and on about why I would stay away from that unit. I like the round design of the Can-o-worms; it is well designed. The spigot is great for “worm tea”. The only downfall is that the legs needed reinforcing (my yard is not perfectly level and the legs started to buckle a bit), I used big bamboo poles cut to length and inserted into the legs and have been delighted with it since! Seattle Tilth is where I bought my worms. Good luck!

[HMC Rich]

JamminJ, I read your links and yes there are many loopholes for businesses. I believe the rest pay between 15 and 35 percent. I guess their accountants aren’t as good. Seems to me you are complaining about our (unfair) tax code. Maybe it should be changed.

If what you say is true, then we cannot afford the stimulus (spending program) because only 1/3 of the corporations are paying the full amount of taxes. Add to that the amount of people paying federal income tax is about 62%, we probably cannot pay for everything that we already owe besides all the new or “needed” spending.

Additionally 5% of the top individual tax payers pay for 59% of all federal income. The Wealthy do seem to be paying their share. Maybe the rest of us need to make more money! I wish I could but not at the expense of others.

Excuse me, but plenty of corporations have been or were building infrastructure. Now they are cutting back. True, their job is to make money and some really screwed you and I. Others wanted to expand businesses but ran into intrusive government rules and regs, plus lawsuits. I am amazed anything can be built in King County. Tried to get something done in Bellevue lately? Amazingly I still see some cranes.

Oh yes, all Republicans just want people to die and pay too much for health care so that insurance companies can make a profit for their shareholders. Predators in business get caught eventually but too many people get hurt.

How intrusive and innovative do we want our health care system? I think ours stinks because it should be an individual care system rather than employer based concerning insurance. Switzerland has a decent system. It is still a market driven system but involvement is mandatory. Everyone benefits and pays. http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/bus/stories/DN-swisshealth_07bus.ART0.State.Edition2.21730ee.html

Whether market driven or tax driven, government or private, you have to pay. I just believe a government run health system would be less efficient.

Look at what our poor veterens have to go through at Walter Reed.

I am willing to be open minded because we all need more and more care as we age. Show me a system that works better. Give me examples please.

[Anonymous]

Robindianne wrote:

“I worked as a technician (kennel cleaner, walker, euthanasia tech, socialization person, etc…”

Robindianne,

I wouldn’t exactly *like* the other tasks you listed, but I would do them (and make sure I did them properly) for the dogs since they can’t do those things for themselves, but the “euthanasia tech” would be difficult.

It needs to be done, too, but it would still be difficult.

Dogs live in the present.

After my first dog Sam died in front of me at the vet (systemic sepsis after 38 good months of treatment for lymphoma), I brought his corpse back to my house in the back of “our” pickup so his companion Bernie would know he was dead. She didn’t have a noticeable pause after she sniffed his corpse, and she ignored his corpse. She carried on with life as usual.

I hope that makes you feel better.

[c@lbob]

I’m confused, Magpie. What is it that you are agreeing with the Republicans relating to education aid in the stimulus bill?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/education/28educ.html?hp

[HMC Rich]

Morgan, welcome to the buzz saw. Some of these extremely tolerant citizens just hazed you. I say you should listen to Rush, Hannity, Levin, Beck and the normal people you watch and listen to. That is not to say the people I listed are abnormal but some may feel that way. The way you are posting, many might say you are a Republican. Zero, huh…I had not heard that one.

I have looked into this conservative vs liberal media issue, mostly print. The large metropolitan areas seem to have more liberal leaning editorial staffs and the medium to small papers across the country seem to have more conservative editorial staffs. I was hoping to use the argument against certain groups but the papers generally follow the way people vote in various districts. Imagine that!

Since we are in a large Metropolitan area we get center to center left reporting. The PI was much more left than the Times. There is not a conservative leaning large daily here. In DC you have the Post which Conservatives view as left leaning and the Washington Times as Right leaning. Check out the PI bylines. You see or did see quite a few NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times stories. I have rarely seen a Washington Times, San Jose Mercury News story. The lead stories above the fold on a slow day quite often tell you how a paper leans. Obviously the editorial staffs help cement the issue. Funny thing though, the New York Times is losing readership and The New York Post is gaining. True different papers but a definite difference in paper styles. I wish Seattle had more of a tabloid daily.

As far as radio, it is a no brainer. The AM dial for talk is comparatively dominated by Conservative talk radio, news and sports. Our FM friend NPR is what it is. I liked working at a public radio station years ago. KOMO radio is in my view a centrist station reporting the news. KVI, KTTH, are right wing. KIRO-FM has variety with Dory being the loudest conservative and Dave Ross being the mellow progressive. Their news has a bit of left leaning reporting in the evening once in awhile but all in all pretty fair. Air America or what’s left of it on 1090 is left.

FOX News is getting more Right Wing. CNN is left leaning to centrist. Wolf Blitzer cracks me up. MSNBC is the Public Relations Department for the Democratic Party. “I get a chill up my leg”

ABC, NBC, and CBS are NOT conservative or generally right leaning. The morning shows more so. If you want to say the paradigm has shifted, then fine.

For the battle of media viewpoints you go to Media Matters for the Left and the Media Resource Center for the Right.

To show you one reason why Republicans complain about the media, go to the first link at Politico.com, then go to the MRC link for conservative outrage.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18011.html

http://www.mrc.org/press/2009/press20090129.asp

Can you imagine if Rush, Hannity and O’Reilly had daily morning calls to Rove, what the roar of indignation would have been?

I couldn’t find a media matters story but they have many others.

The following results are four years old.

Media bias by the working press is real. Read all of this link

http://www.mediaresearch.org/biasbasics/biasbasics3.asp

It shows a 30 to 40 year trend that is undeniable.

Whether or not the owners are biased is another question.

UCLA study 2005 http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/Media-Bias-Is-Real-Finds-UCLA-6664.aspx

My wife and I work with journalists. There is a bias. It is not malicious. Although for Helen Thomas not to think she is liberal?! At least the Right Wing guys say they are right wing.

I hear there is a sale on Right Wing Nuts with openings for Left Wing Nut Jobs.

[Elyse]

Janean Wjvold Janka, Medical Esthetician at OLa Salon and Spa, Luna Park, is also expanding within All Star Fitness Executive Club downtown in the Medical Dental Bldg.

She is the “guru” of microcurrent non-surgical facelifting, cellulite treatments and microdermabrasion.

Janean takes before and after pictures and works with a natural red algae product that lifts your face and eye lids like nobody’s business.

Reach her for a free consultation at 206.391.8381

[WSB]

The Medical Examiner listed the date of death as January 21st on the media-release recording the day after the body was found; the published notice here says Jan. 13. What’s written in the link, otherwise, is pretty much all there is to say. We had followed the story since it started as a medic response/7 per rule that day, saw that the call canceled but that police were still on the scene, chased down more info with police and fire, later with the M.E.

[Zenguy]

They are currently using city buses for older kids and it is a nightmare in my opinion. The system gets too overloaded during very small time frames, many are roudy and too much for the bus drivers to handle.

I think there is value in going to school in ones own neighborhood. I walked to Lafayette as a child and then got bused to Rainier Beach, there were good points and bad to both but making friends in your general area is benefical.

[Gina]

I like Dr Shaffer at Admiral Vet. One cat had hyper-thyroid, he discussed all the options, and I decided to get the injection treatment at the all cat place on Aurora in Shoreline. He doesn’t hesitate to refer if there may be an option for treatment, but also will mention more budget conscious alternatives.

The biggest problem with the radiation injection was waiting for the cat litter to “cool down” for six months for disposal.

Very kind when the time to say goodbye comes.

[alki_2008]

Thanks Rob!

Found this page on their site that mentions the tax-deduction receipt they’ll give for CPU’s only: http://www.allcss.com/social_responsibility.html

Looks like there are other places that will also take monitors for “donation” (not in West Seattle though): http://www.interconnection.org/give_donate.html

[Diana]

They are probably doing their monthly update. Usually the contractor obtains permits but the homeowner can as well. Not everything requires a permit. You can either go downtown to the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development or go online. There is lots of information available through Client Assistant Memos, referred to as CAMS. They can be downloaded. I applaud your effort in looking into this…more homeowners should when they are planning projects!

[Anonymous]

E-Cycle Washington

(E-Cycle Washington brings free recycling of TVs, monitors and computers):

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2009news/2009-011.html

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/eproductrecycle/faq.html

[Anonymous]

A stray pet found within Seattle Animal Control’s jurisdiction should be turned in to Seattle Animal Control so the pet’s owner has an opportunity to reclaim the pet.

The animal will be held for seventy-two hours, and then the animal may be offered for adoption.

http://www.seattle.gov/animalshelter/lostpetinfo.htm

[Anonymous]

Diana wrote:

“This work requires that anyone other than the homeowner have a contractors license. Hiring employees that do “side jobs” is a very bad thing to do. It harms their employer, it harms our economy, it harms legit contractors, and it all could come down on the homeowner if things don’t go right. There’s no bond, no insurance…potentially dangerous waters to tred if you want to protect your assets. The Department of Labor and Industries has a good website that can provide lots of information to you when it comes to hiring a contractor.”

Please provide a URL for the Department of Labor and Industries website regarding hiring a contractor.

From what I have seen, the Merlino guys who do side jobs do beautiful work, and they are the guys most likely to know what meets code.

I dunno the specific legalities, and I am certainly not advocating anyone sideskirt the specific legalitiies.

[Anonymous]

sam-c wrote:

“what about abandoned cars ON a property.

can you do anything about that ?”

sam-c,

Seattle Department of Planning and Development:

http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Compliance/Codes_We_Enforce/default.asp

[Anonymous]

WesCAddle wrote:

“…cars have parked right smack in front of my driveway, completely blocking it.”

I encourage you to stick up for yourself. Call the Seattle Police Department non-emergency number: (206)625-5011.

It is your driveway, and it should never be infringed upon except by legitimate official emergency vehicles. The Seattle Municipal Code specifically addresses driveways:

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/parking/drivewaymarking.htm

Nobody cares about your driveway rights except you. If you don’t complain to the City of Seattle Police Department, then nobody will enforce your driveway rights.

Good luck, and keep good records of date, time, license plate number, incident response number or event number, responding officer badge number, etc.

[CB]

There’s something about this dialogue that is just pinging me. Here’s an email I got tonight from a person who is helping her community in Wallingford get emergency prepared, which is also one of my interests. This scenario can play out in any community of any size. I hope all this conversation leads you to her bottom line.

“As you may or may not know, my 88 year-old Mother lives alone in Princeton, Kentucky. They were ground zero for damage–literally on the enterline of where the ice storm tracked through Arkansas and Kentucky–early this week. I had been in contact with her on Tuesday when she still had power but the ice was falling at a steady pace and we figured it was only a matter of time. She’s a tough old bird and had her

stuff together.

I tried several times to call her and others on Wednesday and Thursday, using both land and cell lines, but they are in the area where communications were completely down. (Ironically, she is my family’s emergency out of area contact!) Radio and TV outlets in her area had

gone dark as well. She managed to get a line out yesterday afternoon and is doing fine so I spread the word to others from here — that contact

number works both ways. She’s got a gas cook stove and logs in the fireplace that are working fine to stay warm, plenty of food, water stored, oil lamps, crank flashlight/radio, and a nice warm down comforter to snuggle with the cat. She has a great support system in friends, relatives, and neighbors and everyone in town is pulling

together to clean up the mess. She grew up on a farm in the depression so she knows how to get by without modern conveniences.

My cousin, a retired Army colonel, called this morning in response to a text message I sent to him yesterday. His cell service has just been

restored today. The current situation is pretty remarkable, aka devastating. The two major power supply lines into the city, from the Southeast and West, are both completely down. The big towers have buckled, and they don’t know how many towers are down and how far in either direction. Estimates there are that power may not be fully

restored for 3-5 weeks. He said that he doesn’t think there is a single tree in town with the top remaining.

The city shut down the water service on Wednesday afternoon because it comes out of Lake Barkley/Cumberland River, some 20 miles away, and

there is no power at the water treatment facility at the origin point. He said he saw a flatbed truck with the biggest generator he’s ever seen

in his life headed in that direction, so maybe the water treatment plant will be back online soon.

This is a town of about 5,000 people with probably another 2,000-3,000 in remote areas of the county. They have a city police department, maybe half a dozen officers, and a county sheriff with about the same size staff. They have a volunteer fire department with 3-4 trucks and a

fairly robust ambulance service. I am sure they are absolutely overwhelmed. This certainly brings home the need for emergency preparedness on all levels: personal, immediate neighbors, and communities!”

[Anonymous]

MrJT wrote:

“Weren’t we talking about illegal parking ? Where did noise ordinance regulations come in ?”

My personal experience is that people who disregard the ordinances regarding parking are also likely to disregard the ordinances regarding noise.

The “Residential Disturbance” ordinance

http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~scripts/nph-brs.exe?s1=25.08.225&s2=&S3=&Sect4=AND&l=20&Sect1=IMAGE&Sect3=PLURON&Sect5=CODE1&d=CODE&p=1&u=/~public/code1.htm&r=1&Sect6=HITOFF&f=G

was written to enable SPD noise enforcement during quiet hours in the Seattle city limits without audio equipment.

The SMC website is IMHO not very useful. Since I had already provided URLs for (IMHO) useful SMC ordinances, I wanted to provide a URL for the

Residential Disturbance ordinance, which IMHO may be useful for Seattle residents.

[c@lbob]

Friday, January 30, 2009

Remember to vote for Sherril Huff

Starting today, we’re going to post daily reminders about next Tuesday’s special election to pick a Director of Elections for King County.

The number of absentee ballots that has the county has received from voters so far is abysmally low. It is estimated that ninety percent of voters who received ballots in the mail have neglected to return their ballots.

This election is incredibly important. The stakes are high: Will we have a skilled professional at the helm of King County Elections through the end of 2011, or an unqualified and potentially deeply partisan individual in charge?

The NPI Advocate has endorsed Sherril Huff because she is by far the best candidate for the job. She knows how to manage elections and she capably represented the people of Kitsap County as their Auditor for eight years.

We are fortunate to have her as our Director of Elections now – and we need to keep her working for us.

Jason Osgood, the Democratic nominee for Secretary of State in 2008, said of Huff when she announced her intention to run for Director of Elections:

Huff is currently the appointed head of the department and is now the most experienced and best qualified candidate seeking this position. Her exemplary performance in the November general election clearly demonstrated that Huff is the most logical choice in this race.

Tuesday’s election is a choice between moving onwards and forwards or sliding backwards with the takeover of the department by one of Huff’s unqualified rivals. What will it be? The decision is in our hands.

Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate.

(added by TR – direct link to site from which this was taken:

http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2009/01/remember-to-vote-for-sherril-huff.html

)

[westseattlegrl]

okay, I had to sign up just so I could chime in.

Years ago, I worked the front desk at a different All Star Fitness location. It was one of the most chaotic companies to work for. I think the West Seattle location is visibly the nicest compared to others, especially the one I worked for which barely had any cleaning supplies, mold on the carpet and ceilings.

The front desk position had an extremely high turnover rate with little to no customer service training. So even if the front desk employee became super helpful, he/she was gone in a few months. It was a difficult position because of all the problems, like broken machines (and my manager telling me I couldn’t place a “broken” sign on it because it wouldn’t look good if he was touring potential members). Something was always breaking down. The repairs were spotty.

I fielded A LOT of complaints about membership. People would threaten class action lawsuits. If your year of membership hadn’t expired, then you had to go through so many hoops like proving you had moved more than 20 miles from the nearest location or pay alot of $$$. The salesguys, at least at my location, were under a lot of pressure to fill a quota, so they weren’t the best people to talk about membership concerns. Maybe you could talk to the accounting department? That’s where I sent people when they had questions.

I don’t know if sending them complaints would help because there really isn’t any incentive for them to improve. A lot of suggestions that I passed on to my manager fell on deaf ears. It was just shrugged off like it was okay to lose a member because there were others who just dealt with the moldy carpets or freezing water temperature.

And the owner, Bob Padgett, drives a yellow hummer.

[JayDee]

Yep; a short rock of the bed at 5:24? just before the alarm went off. I’d say it was a small one based on the short-duration ground motion.

–

No information on it yet at:

<http://www.ess.washington.edu/recenteqs/Maps/122-48.htm&gt;

or

http://www.ess.washington.edu/recenteqs/Maps/122-48.htm

[inactive]

Department of Lights?

[Trisket]

Department of Labor?