AndrewsDad

2012-01-24T15:25:00.000-08:00

1000 Days Without a Budget

I noticed this morning that this was day 1000 without a budget for the U.S. government. Later I saw a video of Senator Kent Conrad, D-ND, chair of the Senate Budget Committee claiming to correct the falsehood that we have not had a budget for 1000 days. His reasoning is the Budget Control Act of 2011 is a budget. Click here to watch for yourself.

Now you may be asking yourself, "The Budget Control Act of 2011? What exactly is that?" Well its S. 365, also know as the law that came out of the debt ceiling debate we had in August that led to the infamous debt super committee right before we were downgraded... or as my Congressman Jay Inslee said, which helped us avoid a downgrade. Wrong again Jay.

I called the Senate Budget committee asking where I could see the budget that Senator Conrad insists was passed. Got a call back and was told they would send me a link to the actual budget and that yes indeed it was an actual budget, not a continuing resolution. Great, can't wait. Here is the link. The link is to S. 365, "an act to provide for budget control". In addition to allegedly containing the entire U.S. budget, it also covers:

1) 10 year discretionary caps
2) Vote on balanced budget amendment
3) Debt ceiling process
4) Deficit reduction
5) Pell grant and student loan

Seems like a lot for 28 pages. Seems to me that the U.S. budget alone would take more than 28 pages.

So I took a quick look at the document to see how much money we were going to spend on the Department of Education. No mention. The word Education comes up 4 times in reference to the Higher Education Act of 1965. What about the Department of the Interior. The word Interior does not appear. What about Health and Human Services. 1 reference where it states that "If a bill or joint resolution making appropriations for the fiscal year is enacted that specifies an amount for the health care fraud abuse control program at the Department of Health and Human Services...", then it goes on to set caps for the amount that can be included in the bill or joint resolution. It does not budget anything for HHS, just caps the amount that can be spent on HHS' fraud abuse control program.

So I replied back to Director of Planning and Outreach for the Senate Budget Committee asking where exactly is the budget part in this budget. Where does it specify how much is going to be spent on what? I am awaiting a reply.

I also called the local office of Senator Patty Murray who is on the budget committee and asked where I could see the budget and I was told they would have to research that and let me know.

2011-08-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

Jay Inslee Says His Vote Avoided A Downgrade

I called my Representative, Jay Inslee, about 6 weeks ago asking about his involvement in the debt ceiling talks. I received a reply yesterday.

Rep. Inslee says his vote avoided a downgrade and then goes on to let me know about the additional spending he was able to save or increase as part of the debt deal.

Here is the letter:

August 23, 2011

Dr. Mr. XXXXXXXXX

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns over the agreement reached to raise the statutory federal debt limit. I appreciate hearing from you.

On August 1st, I voted in favor of S.365, the Budget Control Act of 2011 to prevent an economic disaster. This bill was unfortunately an unbalanced proposal that doesn't meet the expectations that the American people have for solutions to the debt problem. But because passage was necessary to avoid serious harm to our economy and because this bill takes steps to reduce our deficit, while protecting Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and education, the right solution was to move forward.

This legislation will allow increases to the statutory federal debt limit estimated to last until 2013 while directing more than $2.1 trillion in cuts to federal spending over the next ten years. House leaders from both parties were able to come together with President Obama on an agreement that has averted a predicted downgrade of U.S. bond ratings and other harmful economic effects associated with the inability of the Treasury Department to provide funds for Congressionally-ordered expenses. I think from this point forward we must focus on growing the economy and creating jobs to put our fiscal house in order.

It is unfortunate that such decisions are being made during this difficult time for the American people. Our economic challenges can only be solved by a balanced and fair approach, which is why I voted against extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. We must also look to responsibly downsize our federal budget without putting our most vulnerable citizens at risk, which is why I support our social safety programs and education that will aid our economic recovery.

I am dedicated to preserving the solvency of Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Social Security is one of the most successful poverty reduction programs in United States history. Fewer than 12 percent of older Americans today fall below the poverty line, without Social Security that number would be nearly 50 percent. I believe we have an obligation to provide both current and future retirees with public retirement benefits that they have paid into through hard work over their lifetimes.

You may be interested to know that during the debates on health reform legislation, I fought hard to include language in the final package that will help correct the geographic inequities in Medicare reimbursement rates that have long hurt both Medicare enrollees and caregivers in Washington state. The agreement, negotiated with Speaker Pelosi and the White House, will provide $800 million to providers and hospitals that are currently under-reimbursed in Medicare yet perform high-quality care. I also supported H.R. 2, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) which seeks to enroll 4.1 million new children in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid, bringing the total number of children covered by the program to over 11 million.I also strongly believe that we must adequately fund our education priorities because our children's education is too important of an investment to underfund. With regard to concerns about student aid, I want you to know that I am a strong supporter of the Pell Grant program and this agreement includes enough new funding to maintain the maximum Pell Grant at its current level, despite increases in student enrollment.

Education is one of my top priorities in Congress and I will continue to do everything I can to improve learning environments for students, teachers and administrators in our schools. Like you, I believe that we must address pressing issues in our education system. The federal government has a responsibility to act as a partner to the states and local school districts in order to provide the funds necessary to meet our children's educational needs. You can be sure that I will fight to make sure our students have the tools they need to succeed in school.

Our short term economic crisis and long-term debt problem should be about bringing people together in an honest and transparent debate about how best to marry our principles with economic reality. I will continue to work across the aisle to accomplish these goals.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me about such an important issue. For news on current federal legislative issues, please visit my website at www.house.gov/inslee, where you can also sign up to receive my e-newsletter. My office is here to serve you, so please feel free to contact us in Shoreline at 206-361-0233 or in Washington, D.C. at 202-225-6311 for assistance.

Very truly yours,
JAY INSLEE

Beyond the fact that my Representative seems unaware that we were downgraded, my biggest issue with the letter is calling social security a successful poverty reduction program. Anyone who is willing to spend a few minutes to understand how social security works would know that the only ones who really benefit from it are those who would not have been responsible enough to save for their own retirement at all if not forced into this ponzi scheme of a retirement plan. The average senior citizen would have been substantially better off if they would have invested the money in any reasonable secure investment instead of having the money taken to give to current retirees.

And those of us who are responsible are forced to pay into this system and suffer as a result.

2011-05-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

Jay Inslee, Still No Opinion on Congress Doing It's Job

How long has it been since that last Jay Inslee Libya post? Still waiting to hear about his position on the war powers act almost a week past the legal deadline.

2011-05-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

Waiting almost 10 years for this one...

Ladies and Gentleman, Johnny Cash

Thank you United States Military.

2011-04-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Atlas Shrugged Part 1

Sitting in the Lincoln Square theater with Andrew watching the previews before Atlas Shrugged. Andrew appears to be the only one here under 30.

2011-04-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

Jay Inslee Admits He Does Not Understand The Role Of Congress And That He Is Really Ineffective

I called Rep. Inslee's office recently and asked for a statement regarding the military action in Libya, specifically the fact that the Obama Administration did not get authorization for military action from Congress. Rep. Inslee replied letting me know that the administration muse be accountable to Congress and that nothing he is for ever seems to happen.

Here is the full reply:

April 7, 2011

Mr. XXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XXXX XXXth XXXX XX
XXXXXXX, Washington 98XXX

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXX:

Thank you for contacting me regarding you concern about U.S. participation in the international no-fly zone over Libya in response to oppressive violence by the country's dictatorship. I appreciate hearing from you on this very important issue.

I have been gravely concerned by the violence carried out by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi upon citizens of Libya who have sought to improve their political and economic freedoms through public protests. As members of the opposition rose up to defend themselves, joined by defecting military forces, the United Nations Security Council acted with unprecedented speed and in concert with NATO and the Arab League to adopt a resolution condemning the Gaddafi regime's actions and calling for international humanitarian intervention including a no-fly zone. After initially leading in the military effort to enforce the no-fly zone starting on March 19th—in time to prevent major civilian bloodshed in the city of Benghazi—the U.S. has shifted to a supporting role in the ongoing humanitarian effort.

I believe that any Administration must be accountable to Congress for the use of military power. That is why I am participating in Congress's ongoing oversight of the Administration to seek definitive answers about plans to quickly transition from a leading role to a supporting role in the international no-fly zone. I will work in Congress to make sure that any costs of the Administration's actions are appropriately budgeted and shared heavily with other with other participating nations, and that the U.S. is not left with the sole responsibility to rebuild yet another middle-eastern country. I will keep your thoughts in mind as events move forward.

As an opponent of the President's costly and dangerous Afghanistan surge strategy, I have voted against war funding and voted for requiring an exit strategy. Most recently, I joined with 98 of my colleagues in voting for an amendment to the Continuing Resolution for 2011 that would have limited funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to no more than $10 billion from the requested amount of $157.8 billion over the next six months. Though that amendment failed to pass, on February 19th, I voted against the full war funding as part of a short-sighted spending bill proposed by the House Republican Majority, which unfortunately passed by a vote of 235-189. This Continuing Resolution, to fund government operations until October, has been rejected by the Senate in its current state.

As you may know, I voted against the authorization to invade Iraq and I organized opposition in Congress to fight that resolution, as well as voting against this year's Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill which funded the continuation of the conflicts. I will continue to pressure the Administration to bring an end to our foreign military operations and bring our troops home responsibly.

Please continue to contact me about the issues that concern you, as I both need and welcome your thoughts and ideas. Because security measures in the House cause delays in receiving postal mail, I encourage you to contact me by telephone, by fax, or through my website at http://www.house.gov/inslee/contact. For more information on my activities in Congress, and for information on services that my office can provide, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/inslee/ or stay current with my new blog at http://blog.inslee.house.gov/. If you would like to subscribe to my email updates, please visit http://www.house.gov/inslee/signup.htm.

Very truly yours,

JAY INSLEE
Member of Congress

Jay Inslee, not sure what Congress is suppose to do and not very good at doing it.

2010-12-02T17:59:00.000-08:00

I am currently on a plane flying over Oregon After a stop in Portland. Sitting next to a guy from Oregon but not Portland. I know this even though we have not talked because he has an Oregon hunter magazine. I don't hunt. I don't plan on hunting. I don't get hunting but that does not bother me. What does is I was reading over his shoulder about how some Oregon hunting group is going to lobby to get government funds to compensate Oregon landowners who are severely affected by the excess of geese. Really! Is that the governments fault that there Are too many geese? Seems to me the hunters group needs to spend more time at the range n

2010-11-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

Sitting in unbelievable traffic due to snow and cold trying to get home. Thinking how pissed off I am that Al Gore finally admitted he has been lying to us for his own gain.

2010-03-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Jay Inslee Is A Liar According To His Shoreline Office

About 2 weeks ago I called Rep. Inslee's office and asked about the claim that with healthcare reform, if I liked my doctor, I can keep my doctor and how does that work since for most people, like myself, our employer decides what insurance plan we are on and if our employer changes plans and the doctor we have is not on the new plan, oh well. So how do I keep my doctor if my employer changes plans. I was told I must have misunderstood. Well guess what...

Those who currently have insurance they like, for example those receiving coverage through their employer, would be able to keep it.

Below is the entire email I just received today from Rep. Inslee.

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns with legislation to
reform our nation's health care system. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you know, beginning in July 2009, both chambers of Congress began
considering legislation that would bring important and long-overdue changes
to our health care delivery system. The decision to reform health care was
not made lightly or for political gain, but rather because the rapidly
increasing cost of health care is both financially unsustainable for our
country and harmful to the quality of life enjoyed by average American
families. Congress undertook this process with clear goals and bipartisan
consensus on a few key issues: ensure Americans have the freedom to choose
their own health insurance provider (including keeping your own health care
plan if you like it), prevent insurance companies from dropping customers
because they become ill or have a preexisting condition, and take steps to
reduce the cost of medical inflation to save our country's long term
economic viability.

While I am aware that the reform process has been controversial and partisan
at times, I am confident that the bill will have a positive impact on
Americans who are struggling to provide health coverage for themselves and
their families. I want to share some of the important reforms that will be
brought about by passage of this legislation:

o Beginning six months after passage, insurance companies will no longer
be allowed to drop coverage when an individual becomes sick. Beginning in
2014, individuals will no longer be denied care simply because they have a
preexisting condition.

o Tax credits to small businesses will ease the expense of employer
coverage. Beginning immediately, qualifying small businesses will receive
up to 35 percent of premiums, and in 2014 the available subsidy will
increase to 50 percent.

o Cost-control will be addressed by provisions in the bill that allow for
states to enter into agreements that allow for the purchasing of insurance
across state lines.

o Controversial provisions, such as the "cornhusker compromise," were
eliminated from the final version of the health reform legislation.

o Under the reform package, Members of Congress and their staff will be
required to secure health insurance coverage through a plan created by the
bill, or offered on an exchange that is established by the bill.

o At the request of President Obama, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is
currently directing a pilot program to evaluate the impact of tort reform on
the cost of medical care in specific states.

The reforms mentioned above are just a few of the highlights of the health
reform package. If you would like more information on the legislation,
including the full text of the bills, please follow this link:

http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-sen_health_care_bill.cfm

In the weeks and months leading up to the passage of health reform
legislation, I received calls and letters from constituents who expressed
various concerns with different aspects of the legislation, as well as the
process by which it was passed. I would like to take a moment to address
some of those concerns here, and what follows is a summary of the most
common questions associated with the health reform package:

1.Will the passage of this legislation deprive me of choice in selecting my
health insurance coverage, or force me to change providers?

I can confidently answer this question with an emphatic no. The legislation
actually expands the choices available to Americans when it comes to
purchasing health insurance. Those who currently have insurance they like,
for example those receiving coverage through their employer, would be able
to keep it. Further, individuals without employer-provided coverage, along
with small business owners, will be eligible to purchase coverage through
health insurance exchanges, in which competition among insurers will bring
down the price of coverage. These exchanges will offer a variety of
insurance plans, and the information regarding the specifics of each plan
will be readily available for consumers to compare.

2.Will the Medicare reforms enacted by this legislation hurt access to care
for America's seniors?

No, it will not. Inflation in the medical sector is being felt by all
Americans, but may be most harmful to our nation's seniors. Currently, the
average combined cost of Medicare Part B premiums and the donut hole in Part
D drug benefits is estimated to be 12% of the annual Social Security
benefit, with that share climbing to 18% by 2018. This legislation will
close the donut hole by 2020, with savings felt immediately in the form of a
$250 rebate to Part D enrollees who hit the donut hole in 2010. Also,
recommended preventive care services will be provided under Medicare at no
charge, including a free annual wellness visit. Seniors will still be able
to choose their health care provider, and the cost containment provisions of
this bill will extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by a decade.

3.Can our country really afford this legislation?

There are two important points to be made here. To begin with, when one
considers the overall cost of medical care, the annual increase in premium
rates, and the overall impact on our economy and the international
competitiveness of American companies, one conclusion is inevitable: We
can't afford not to act. In the last ten years, our country has increased
spending on health care by 90%, with premiums more than doubling for those
receiving employer-sponsored insurance. Further estimates predict inflation
in the health sector to outpace overall economic growth in the next decade,
and by 2018 one out of every five dollars spent in the United States will go
towards health care-related expenses.

The health reform legislation that was recently passed by Congress will
reverse this trend, helping both the families who have witnessed a
devastating increase in their premiums, and our nation's overall economic
competitiveness. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that, in the
next ten years, this legislation will trim $130 billion from our federal
deficit, and these savings will increase to $1.3 trillion over the following
decade. In addition, by reining in administrative costs and requiring
insurance companies to explain severe premium increases, as well as
providing affordability credits to those who can't afford coverage, this
legislation will reduce the overall cost of care, and make affordable care
more accessible to individuals and families who are currently without it.

4.Does the federal government have the constitutional authority to require
Americans to purchase health insurance?

The answer to this question is yes, for two reasons. The constitution
provides Congress with the power of taxation, and essentially the individual
requirement to purchase insurance under this bill is enforced through the
tax code - creating one tax structure for those who purchase insurance and
one for those who do not. Additionally, under the constitution, Congress
has the power to regulate interstate commerce that has a substantial effect
on the overall economy. Health insurance, at almost one-fifth of our
country's GDP, clearly falls within that authority.

Furthermore, I would like to share with you that the idea of mandated
insurance is not a new one. In fact, it isn't an idea unique to the
Democratic Party. The idea was promoted by Republicans in the early 1990s,
including Senator John McCain, and embraced by George W. Bush's Health and
Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson as late as 2008.
Additionally, in 2006, Massachusetts' Republican Governor Mitt Romney
adopted this approach when he passed comprehensive health care reform in his
state. Romney explained his position in a Wall Street Journal opinions
piece in April, 2006: "Some of my libertarian friends balk at what looks
like an individual mandate. But remember, someone has to pay for health
care that must, by law, be provided: Either the individual pays or the
taxpayers pay. A free ride on government is not libertarian." As Mr.
Romney points out, as long as a federal law exists requiring emergency rooms
to administer treatment regardless of a patient's ability to pay, every
insured American will pay a hidden tax to help provide these uninsured
individuals with health care at an inflated expense. Therefore, the system
that new health reform legislation puts in place will save money for
individuals who have insurance currently, while expanding the number of
Americans who can access affordable coverage

5.Was this legislation passed in a fair, bipartisan, and transparent manner?

As you may know, the first step in the health reform legislative process,
H.R. 3200, was introduced in July, 2009. This bill was marked up in three
House Committees, with republican committee members offering amendments and
taking full part in debating the bill. The majority of these hearings were
broadcast on C-SPAN, and the full text of the original legislation, along
with all amendments offered, has been available on the internet since July.
In all, the House held 79 bipartisan hearings on health reform legislation,
while the Senate Finance Committee held 53 hearings and the Senate Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held 47. During these
hearings, more than 350 amendments were considered in both chambers, offered
by both Democrats and Republicans. The Senate bill, which President Obama
signed into law on March 23, 2010, includes 147 Republican amendments.
Also, to allow for full consideration by members and the public, the bill
was posted online for three months before becoming law.

As your representative in Congress, I am staunchly committed to the
democratic ideals that I have sworn to uphold. H.R. 3962, America's
Affordable Health Choices Act, passed with a majority in the House of
Representatives, by a vote of 220-215. The Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, the Senate's version of health reform, was passed by
that chamber with a supermajority, by a vote of 60-39. Following passage by
the Senate, this bill was then passed in the House of Representatives by a
vote of 219-212, with a package of budgetary adjustments then passed by the
House and awaiting approval by the Senate in a process known as
reconciliation. This is a completely transparent process, and the votes cast
on both the Senate bill and the package of adjustments are a matter of
public record. Also, you may be glad to know that the "deem and pass"
procedural tactic, known informally as the "Slaughter rule" was not used to
pass the Senate health reform legislation through the House.

As I said, the questions listed above represent some of the most common
concerns expressed to me by constituents over the course of the health
reform debate. I am confident that, despite the controversial atmosphere in
which this legislation was debated and passed, the reforms enacted by it
will preserve American's right to choose their health provider, maintain
access to care for our nation's seniors, and expand access to health
coverage for those American's currently without it. Please rest assured, I
will keep your thoughts on this important issue in mind as the process of
implementing these reforms goes forward.

Please continue to contact me about the issues that concern you, as I both
need and welcome your thoughts and ideas. Because security measures in the
House cause delays in receiving postal mail, I encourage you to contact me
by telephone, by fax, or through my website at
http://www.house.gov/inslee/contact.
For more information on my activities in Congress, and for information on
services that my office can provide, please visit my website at
http://www.house.gov/inslee/. If you would
like to subscribe to my email updates, please visit

http://www.house.gov/inslee/signup.htm.

Very truly yours,

JAY INSLEE

Member of Congress

2010-03-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

Bryan Suits Interviews Shirley Phelps

Or as Bryan refers to her, a lying whore from Babylon.

Not sure what I found more entertaining, the actual interview...

or the fact the intro music was The Cult - Love Removal Machine

How perfect.

2009-10-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

Nancy "What Is In It For Us" Pelosi Wants Higher Taxes

And by "us" you mean???

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the windfall profits tax idea “very preliminary,” saying she’s asked House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to look at how much the tax could raise.

“I have asked Chairman Rangel to see what is in it for us,” Pelosi said. “There’s more that the insurance companies could contribute to this health care reform. They’re going to get 50 million new consumers, many of them subsidized by the taxpayer. They can put more on the table.”

2009-10-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Copenhagen Climate Change Treaty, Now Paying For Loss of Dignity

How very scientific

17. [[Developed [and developing] countries] [Developed and developing country Parties] [All Parties] [shall] [should]:]
(a) Compensate for damage to the LDCs’ economy and also compensate for lost opportunities, resources, lives, land and dignity, as many will become environmental refugees;
(b) Africa, in the context of environmental justice, should be equitably compensated for environmental, social and economic losses arising from the implementation of response measures.

2009-09-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Lake Forest Park Peace, Social Justice and Hypocrisy

From the web page

Nonviolence is not passive, but requires courage. Nonviolence seeks reconciliation, not defeat of an adversary. Nonviolent action is directed at eliminating evil, not destroying an evil-doer. Nonviolence requires a willingness to accept suffering for the cause if necessary, but not to inflict it - a rejection of hatred, animosity or violence of the spirit, ans well as a refusal to commit physical violence - faith that justice will prevail.

From the captions on the Right Follies page:

My Name Is Always M. Wright and I made an ass of myself.

Last observed at Lake Forest Park frothing at the mouth while 'splaining why he was right and everyone else was wrong. A personal observation; before Mr. Wright gets in front of a camera to make an ass of himself, he should check that his shirt doesn't end before his belly begins.

The very unattractive Mr Always M. Wright spurns the truth again and again.

BUT WAIT... It Gets Better

We were blessed with a visit from yet another right winger last week. Notice the finger in the air. As usual they like to point things out with one digit, never two. Wouldn't want to confuse an IQ number with the peace sign.

Now this lady looks harmless but let me tell you, she'll chew you up and spit you out. She thinks the current health care system is just fine. Got medical bills & can't afford insurance? Tough, get a job. Lost your job? Tough, your a loser. Can't afford to see a doctor? Tough, heal yourself. Lost your home due to catastrophic illness and medical bills? Tough. Tough. Tough. Given a chance this kindly looking grandma will beat you to death with her cane. She must get her nastiness from her hero, George (the shoe) Bush.

2009-09-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

Global Warming's Exhibit #1, The Hockey Stick Is Shown To Be A Fraud*

Here is the not as technical explanation of the whole story from Watts Up With That.

1- In 1998 a paper is published by Dr. Michael Mann. Then at the University of Virginia, now a Penn State climatologist, and co-authors Bradley and Hughes. The paper is named: Northern Hemisphere Temperatures During the Past Millennium: Inferences, Uncertainties, and Limitations. The paper becomes known as MBH98.

The conclusion of tree ring reconstruction of climate for the past 1000 years is that we are now in the hottest period in modern history, ever.

See the graph http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/image/mann/manna_99.gif

Steve McIntyre, a Canadian mathematician in Toronto, suspects tree rings aren’t telling a valid story with that giant uptick at the right side of the graph, implicating the 20th century as the “hottest period in 1000 years”, which alarmists latch onto as proof of AGW. The graph is dubbed as the “Hockey Stick” and becomes famous worldwide. Al Gore uses it in his movie An Inconvenient Truth in the famous “elevator scene”.

2- Steve attempts to replicate Michael Mann’s tree ring work in the paper MBH98, but is stymied by lack of data archiving. He sends dozens of letters over the years trying to get access to data but access is denied. McIntyre and Ross McKitrick, of the University of Guelph publish a paper in 2004 criticizing the work. A new website is formed in 2004 called Real Climate, by the people who put together the tree ring data and they denounce the scientific criticism:

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2004/12/false-claims-by-mcintyre-and-mckitrick-regarding-the-mann-et-al-1998reconstruction/

3- Years go by. McIntyre is still stymied trying to get access to the original source data so that he can replicate the Mann 1998 conclusion. In 2008 Mann publishes another paper in bolstering his tree ring claim due to all of the controversy surrounding it. A Mann co-author and source of tree ring data (Professor Keith Briffa of the Hadley UK Climate Research Unit) used one of the tree ring data series (Yamal in Russia) in a paper published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 2008, which has a strict data archiving policy. Thanks to that policy, Steve McIntyre fought and won access to that data just last week.

4- Having the Yamal data in complete form, McIntyre replicates it, and discovers that one of Mann’s co-authors, Briffa, had cherry picked 10 trees data sets out of a much larger set of trees sampled in Yamal.

5- When all of the tree ring data from Yamal is plotted, the famous hockey stick disappears. Not only does it disappear, but goes negative. The conclusion is inescapable. The tree ring data was hand picked to get the desired result.

These are the relevant graphs from McIntyre showing what the newly available data demonstrates.

http://www.climateaudit.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/rcs_chronologies1.gif

http://www.climateaudit.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/rcs_merged.gif

And by "fraud" I mean the "scientists" were purposely being deceitful.

2009-09-25T23:36:00.001-07:00

A Health Care Solution

Listening to Congressman Jay Inslee at the August townhall forum in Edmunds, he claimed the following:

A government run public option will cover pre existing conditions.
A government run public option will not have a limit on coverage.
A government run public option will cost less than existing health care insurance.
A government run public option will self finance through premiums and will not be subsidized by the tax payers.

So in a nut shell, it sounds like better coverage for less money.

Also observed at the townhall forum was a strong pro public option presence by unions.

So here is my idea, why not put all of the union represented government employees on a public option health insurance plan. The unions get what they want, a public option health insurance plan. Those on the right get lower cost government.

Everyone is happy... as long as Congressman Inslee is being truthful.

2009-09-24T22:15:00.001-07:00

Jay Inslee Health Care Question Update

Day 60 and counting. 8+ weeks and no answer to my question.

I did have another email from an actual staff member that once again did not answer the question. The question was and still is if a public option is passed as part of health care reform, with Congressman Inslee sign up for that public option for his personal health care. The email I got said Congressman Inslee does support a public option. I replied back and then called the office and spoke directly with the staff member to both make sure the question was clear and to ask if I could get the answer expedited. That was 3 weeks ago. I emailed the same staff member on Monday, 3 days ago, asking for status and have not received a reply. I called the office this afternoon and was told they would talk to another staff member and get back to me.

60 days and no answer to a yes or no question and these are the people that want to be in charge of my health care.

2009-09-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Micheal Moore, The Genius Hypocrite

Micheal Moore was a guest on the new Jay Leno show Tuesday evening. You can view the interview at this link, 25 minutes into the show. When he walked onstage, my first reaction was man is he fat. Now an educated guess is he is around 6 feet tall and has to be close to 300 pounds. The first comment Jay made was about his weight and surprisingly enough, he has lost 70 pounds and we were told he is half way to his goal. Now someone who is 6 feet tall is considered obese If they are over 220 pounds. So I am going to guess his goal is in the 220 range which would put him currently around 290 and therefore was once hovering in the 360 range. Why do I bring this up? Because the reason for the appearance was to promote his new movie. Now his previous movie was called Sicko which was a condemnation of the United States health care industry, specifically insurance companies and pharmaceuticals. But the reality is that the majority of health related issues in the United States are because of lifestyle choices and obesity is right around the top of the list. Think about this fact, our poor people are fat. 1 in 7 low income children is considered obese. So this man who makes a decision to lead a life which puts him at an exceptionally high risk of having health issues makes a movie complaining about insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies making excessive profits. How much did the morbidly obese Micheal Moore make off of this film? Well the reports are he made 50% of the after cost take. The film cost 9 million to make. It grossed over 24 million in the United States and over 11 million overseas. So the gross minus the cost is 26 million, half of that is 13 million. I am sure there were other expenses but I think it is safe to say that Mr. Moore made a significant amount of money, probably over 10 million, complaining about an industry when he is in fact should be the poster child for what is wrong with health care in the United States.

And that leads to any even more extreme example of hypocrisy by Mr. Moore. His current film is called Capitalism, a love story. It is about how capitalism is evil. This from a man who is making millions and millions of dollars off of making film that complains about the exact things he does with his life. During the interview with Jay Leno, Moore made the claim that the top 1% hold more wealth in this nation than the bottom 95%. I was not able to find any stats on that for the last year or two but the stats I did find from a couple of years ago do not support that claim. The unbelievable part though was when he talked about the rich and how “they” now want our money. Excuse me? This guy is without a doubt in the top 1% of income earners and is probably in the top tenth of 1% and is talking to someone who has even more money than he does and he refers to the rich as “they”. In that conversation, any reference to the rich should have used the term “us” or “we”.

I have got to give the guy credit though, being able to look in the mirror, recognize the worst in you, making a film blaming others for your faults and making a boat load of money, genius, pure genius. I am expecting Mr. Moore’s next film to be a condemnation of those who dress like slobs.

2009-09-04T10:59:00.001-07:00

Jay Inslee Responds To My Question Part 3

Just got an email from the office of Jay Inslee responding to my question asking if he will pledge to sign up for the public option if in fact it ends up being part of health care reform.

The answer...
He supports the public option and will vote for it.

6 weeks. I have been waiting for 6 weeks for an answer to my yes or no question. I have had 3 email replies, none of which answer the question. I have called the offices, both Shoreline and Washington DC at least 10 times to let them know they have not answered the question, to ask status, to make sure my question is clear. I sat in on a town hall meeting where the same question was asked. I still do not have an answer.

I am just glad I am not part of some government run health care plan and had a urgent more difficult question asking if a certain medical procedure I need was covered by my governemnt run health care insurance plan.

2009-08-31T23:50:00.000-07:00

Jay Inslee Town Hall Part 1

I went to the Jay Inslee Health Care Town Hall on Sunday in Edmonds. Did not get a chance to ask my question which is if a public option is passed with health care reform, will you sign up for that as your health care. Someone else though did ask the question. He did not answer her either.

2009-08-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

Jay Inslee Responds To My Question... Part 2

3+ weeks ago I emailed Representative Inslee the question If a government run health care plan is passed, will you pledge to sign up for that as your health care insurance?

I received a reply 1 week ago with a form letter that in no way shape or form answered my question. I called the Shoreline WA. office to let them know that my question was not answered. They said they would resubmit the question and I should have an answer in 2 weeks. I called back the next day asking if they could put my question at the top of the list since I had already waited 2+ weeks. They said they would see what they could do.

Last night I received a response to my question. I would include the reply in this post but since it is identical to the last reply that I included in the previous post that in no way shape or form answered the question, I will not bother.

Is this incompetence or cowardice? There really are not any other options.

2009-08-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

Suddenly, Calling Someone a Nazi is No Longer Acceptable... Sometimes.

Leonard Pitts writes a column letting us know how horrible it is to call someone a Nazi.

I hope this column makes you sick.

See, we'll be talking about Nazis, something many of us are doing lately. Indeed, just this week a fellow named Joseph e-mailed me about a caller he heard on a radio show. The man, vexed over health-care reform, likened President Obama to Adolf Hitler. Asked why, he said, "Hitler took over the car companies, then health care and then he killed the Jews."

Thanks Leonard, did not know that... well actually I did.

I guess though that Mr. Pitts did not remember Nancy Pelosi's recent comments:

Or Washington's own Brian Baird's "brownshirts" comment.

And finally, there is the Zombie Time's retrospective of Bush = Hitler references. It is a bunch of lefties expressing themselves so this is your content warning.

2009-08-13T14:45:00.001-07:00

Jay Inslee Responds To My Question

2+ weeks ago I emailed Representative Inslee the question If a government run health care plan is passed, will you pledge to sign up for that as your health care insurance? Here is his reply:

Thank you for contacting me regarding potential health care reforms. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, Members of Congress and retired Members are entitled to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) under the same rules as other federal employees. The Federal Government and enrollees of FEHBP jointly pay for the cost, or premiums, of the FEHBP plans. Participants pay an average of 28 percent, but no less than 25 percent of premiums. Members of Congress must also pay the same payroll taxes as all other workers for Medicare Advantage Part A coverage.

I would like you to know that I share your concern for reducing the tax burden of the American public. As a father of three, I know how hard it is to pay the mortgage, save for retirement, send our children to college, and pay taxes. I firmly believe that any increases in spending or changes to our tax code should simplify the system, increase our nation's savings rate, and fairly tax individuals of varying income.

While this is true, I am deeply concerned as the cost of medical care has risen over the years. Inflation within the medical sector has risen at an alarming rate, and we have seen health care spending rise from an average of $348 per person in 1970 to $7,026 in 2006. There are multiple factors for this and it is one of the reasons I believe the time for health care reform is now. I believe we must continue to work to expand affordable, high quality coverage, and contain medical costs. Critics of the reform process have claimed that attempts to limit cost will necessarily limit services and lead to rationing. On the contrary, funding in H.R. 3200 is directed towards comparative effectiveness research that will help doctors decide what treatments will be most effective for their patients, thereby promoting high quality care as opposed to simply high quantity care. This research will also help to combat overutilization practices, or so-called "defensive medicine," another driver of high costs in the system.

You may be interested to know that throughout the process of consideration of H.R. 3200 in the Energy & Commerce Committee I have voiced my concern that the initial version of the bill did not do enough to address the high cost of health care, and I have worked diligently with my colleagues to add additional cost containment measures to the bill. Our Nation spent over $2 billion dollars on health care in 2007, or more than $7,000 per person. If the inefficiencies in the system aren't addressed, by the year 2025 it is estimated that one of every four dollars in our national economy will be consumed by the health care system. One of my focuses in the reform process has been addressing inequities in the Medicare reimbursement process. I worked hard for the inclusion of two studies in the reform bill that, when implemented, will lead to the creation of a value index to guide reimbursement rates, and address the geographical disparities that have long affected physicians in Washington state. Under the current Medicare reimbursement formula, payment for services rewards the quantity of services, rather than the effectiveness of those services. For this reason, Washington state physicians have historically been reimbursed at a lesser rate compared to their peers in other parts of the country, due to the efficient, high-quality service they provide. Implementation of the two IOM studies will rectify this historic inequity and provide real cost-containment by incentivizing and reimbursing for the quality, not the quantity, of medical care across the United States. This reform will also benefit Washington state's senior citizens, who suffer from limited access to providers as a result of the reimbursement inequality that affects low-cost areas. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that these Medicare reforms will save more than $500 billion in the next decade.

I would also like to take a moment to address one of the most common misconceptions related to the health care reform effort. Many voices critical of reform have pointed to a section that addresses seniors' consultations with their physicians as cause for concern. The provision in question, found in Part 3, Section 1233, simply allows for Medicare coverage of "advanced care planning consultations," sessions in which a physician can offer details as to what options the patient has for end-of-life care. These sessions would be in no way mandatory, and the purpose of this section is to merely to extend Medicare coverage to a common medical practice, making physicians more likely to be available to patients who are interested in the service but couldn't otherwise afford it, protecting the doctor patient relationship.

I believe that it is important to protect the interest of the consumer by providing choices so that people may decide what solution is best for them and their family. As you may know, H.R. 3200 promotes choice through the creation of a public health insurance option that would include sliding scale affordability credits to assist those with low and moderate incomes. H.R. 3200, includes language that explicitly affirms that the public option will remain just that, optional, and will be offered alongside private health insurance plans in a Health Insurance Exchange. Any individual who is satisfied with their current plan would be allowed to remain with that provider. While some express concern that this public option will lead to the disappearance of private plans, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the number of Americans with private health insurance will grow, rather than shrink, under the House bill. Additionally, the CBO projects that two-thirds of consumers who purchase insurance through the Health Insurance Exchange will opt for one of the private plans, and they further estimate that only 3% of our country will select the public insurance option in the first decade after it is implemented. Perhaps most importantly, this public option is entirely budget neutral, financed primarily through its own premiums.

Finally, as you know, most federal assistance programs are meant for citizens and legal residents only. Standing federal laws bar any illegal immigrant from receiving any direct federal assistance such as Social Security, Medicare, or housing assistance. H.R. 3200 expressly prohibits the payment of the public plan's affordability credits to individuals who are not legally documented residents. It would also create a small business health tax credit to make it easier for small businesses to cover their employees and assist in lowering premium costs for businesses. This bill also seeks to improve Medicare and Medicaid and prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the programs. These are just a few components of the proposed legislation. Knowing your interest in this issue, I encourage you to visit the Energy and Commerce website for a more comprehensive look at this bill. I hope you will find the following summary of interest: http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/hr3200_summary.pdf.

At this time, H.R. 3200 has been approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee and reported to the full House of Representatives. In the interest of allowing for ample consideration of such a hugely important issue, the House will not vote on the bill until after the August recess. I will keep your thoughts in mind as the bill moves through the legislative process.

Please continue to contact me about the issues that concern you, as I both need and welcome your thoughts and ideas. I encourage you to contact me via email, telephone, or fax, because security measures in the House cause delays in receiving postal mail. For more information on my activities in Congress, and for information on services that my office can provide, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/inslee. If you would like to subscribe to my email updates, please visit http://www.house.gov/inslee/signup.htm.

Very truly yours,

JAY INSLEE
Member of Congress

Is that yes or no?

I called the Shoreline office letting them know he did not answer the question. They said they would submit it again and I should hear back in about 2 weeks.

2009-08-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

News Flash! Jay Inslee Lives In The District He Represents

I called Jay Inslee's Shoreline office the other day asking about any scheduled town hall meetings, either in person or on the phone. I was told nothing was planned but that could change because Representative Inslee lives in the district. I then explained to the person that it is a requirement to represent the district.

Early this morning I saw on the news that Representative Inslee was holding a round table discussion at the Dale Turner YMCA at 9:30. I guess that one escaped his office's notice, as well as those who put out his press releases.

2009-08-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

Obama Spokesperson Gibbs Intentionally Misleads The Press
The press says nothing.

Start watching at 5:45:

"All we are asking people to do is if they are confused about what healthcare reform is going to mean to them, we will clear that up for them."

Here is what the White House web page says:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

There is no "if you are confused let us know and we will clarify" kind of statement in there. It is clearly rat on your family and friends who send you emails that do not follow our version of the story.

The frustrating thing is the "reporters" have to know what Robert Gibbs just told them is not accurate and nobody, not one single person calls him on it.

2009-08-05T14:24:00.001-07:00

Jay Inslee Is A Coward

My Congressman, Jay Inslee, has been doing phone town hall meetings recently. You did not know that???... probably because you do not check his web page every single day. You see, Representative Inslee puts out press releases on his web page informing the public of these calls. Here is the release, dated July 29th for the last one:

Inslee to hold telephone town hall meeting - Wednesday, July 29

July 29, 2009

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) is hosting a telephone town hall meeting tonight so he can speak with his constituents about the health care reform bill. The call begins at 7:10 p.m. PDT and will last for one hour.

In the call, Rep. Inslee will give a update on the health care reform bill and its status. After that, he will then answer constituent's questions and listen to comments and concerns about the legislation.

Dial-in information is as follows:

-- Toll-free participant line: 877-229-8493 or 877-269-7289
-- Conference code: 13634

Now if you were paying attention, the press release was put out the same exact day as the town hall.

I just happened to see this release on the 29th and called the office to ask what is the deal with putting out the release the same day. I was told they often do these things last minute and they said they would take my number and call me when they have another one. So I gave them my number. I have since checked the website every day or two and 2 days ago, Monday August 3rd, there was no mention of a town hall. I then check today and guess what, a town hall scheduled for today, Wednesday August 5th. Here is the release:

Media releases
Inslee to hold additional telephone town hall meeting

August 2, 2009

In light of the success of his July 29th telephone town hall meeting, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) will host another telephone town hall meeting on Wednesday, August 5th so he can speak with his constituents about the health care reform bill. The call begins at 7:30 p.m. PDT and will last for one hour.

In the call, Rep. Inslee will give a update on the health care reform bill and its status. After that, he will then answer constituent's questions and listen to comments and concerns about the legislation.

Dial-in information is as follows:
-- Toll-free participant line: 877-269-7289
-- Conference code: 13634

So to recap, the press release dated August 2nd was put on the web sometime after mid morning August 3rd and that phone call I was promised... {insert crickets chirping}

Something tells me he would prefer to not have people know about these. What a gutless coward.

2009-08-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Animal Farm... 1984...

I just watched Animal Farm with my soon to be 10 year old son and we are starting to read 1984. That is why this from the White House website officially creeps me out.

Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

2009-08-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

Healthcare Phone Calls To My Representatives

I have called the offices, both local and Washington DC, as well as emailed, my congressional delegation, Jay Inslee, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, 6 phone call, 3 emails, with one simply question…. If a healthcare bill with a government run public option is passed, will the Congressman / Senator pledge to sign up for that plan for their health insurance. The lack of a response has been eye opening.

It has become extremely clear to me that this is a question the offices have received many times and they simply have no good answer. I say this because the one person I did speak to who was not the front line telephone answerer told me that I am not the first person to ask this question but did everything she could to not answer the question and would not promise me she would get an answer, just like everyone else I spoke with. I will go a step farther and state I firmly believe that the offices have been in contact with each other and have talked about what to do to not answer this question. The reason I state this is because I have got the same non answers with almost the exact same wording from all 6 locations. So now almost 2full weeks after sending the original emails and making the first phone calls, I have yet to get a single response.

The most amazing conversation was one where when I first called and asked the question, I was originally told by the person answering the phone that she could not speak for Representative Inslee, which is the exact same first response I have received with all 6 calls. I told her I understood and then asked if she knew the answer to the question. She said no. I then asked if she could find someone else in the office who might know the answer. After 2 minutes of waiting on hold, she came back and said nobody else in the office knows the answer. I then asked if she knew who I should talk to in order to get the answer. She replied that would be me. After about 10 seconds worth of awkward pause / stunned silence, I told her that she did not know the answer. At this point I was not sure if she knew that or not. I then came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea. I told her what she should do is next time she sees Representative Inslee, she should walk up to him and say a voter called with this question, then ask the question and then after he gives the answer, she should call me back with that answer. She told me she was not sure she could do that in her position in the office. I then asked if she was physically capable of asking the Representative a question and she said she was. I told her it sounds to me like it is not a case of you not being able to ask the question, but rather you are not willing to ask the question and my guess is it is because we both know the truthful answer will make the representative look bad. She said she could not speak for the Representative.

While this was the most extreme example, all of the 6 calls have had a very similar nonsensical run around quality to them. An absolute unwillingness to try to get my question answered.

Feel free to call your representatives and see how their tax payer supported employees respond.

2009-07-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

The Science is Settled

Reason number one why there is debate on "climate change".
When asked to see the data and methodologies used by the UK's National Weather Service in order to verify the results, the answer was no, you might find something wrong with what we did.

When asked by Warwick Hughes for this data, Dr. Jones famously replied:

Even if WMO agrees, I will still not pass on the data. We have 25 or so years invested in the work. Why should I make the data available to you, when your aim is to try and find something wrong with it.

When one side refuses to allow independent testing of scientific results, it ceases to be science.

2009-07-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

U.S. consumers should pay for part of Chinese greenhouse-gas emissions - Gary Locke

Not sure why I am so surprised by this.

With the U.S. secretaries of energy and commerce in China this week, much of the attention focused on the standoff over emissions reductions or small breakthroughs in clean-tech cooperation.
But yesterday, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said something amazing—U.S. consumers should pay for part of Chinese greenhouse-gas emissions. From Reuters:

“It’s important that those who consume the products being made all around the world to the benefit of America — and it’s our own consumption activity that’s causing the emission of greenhouse gases, then quite frankly Americans need to pay for that,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke told the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

2009-03-20T23:48:00.000-07:00

Kitsap County denies preschool permit over laughs

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. -- A Kitsap County hearing examiner denied a permit for a Montessori school near Port Orchard in part because the laughter of children could annoy neighbors.

2009-03-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Bill Gates Need To Be Accountable To The Public For How He Donates His Money

So says Pablo Eisenberg, a senior fellow with the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, in one of the dumbest things I have read in a while. And that is saying a lot.

In short, The Gates Foundation would be well-advised to have an enlarged board of four to eight additional members who are not part of the Gates family or their personal advisers and retainers. Such a public board, along with greater and broader consultation, would give the Gates Foundation that minimal measure of public accountability that taxpayers and the public deserve. As a model for other family foundations, it could have an enormous, beneficial impact on our foundation world.

Eisenberg served for 23 years as Executive Director of the Center for Community Change. The Center for Community Change is a leftist socialist group

What We Believe

Only by challenging the "on your own" mentality of the right and building a new politics based on community values can we achieve social and economic justice.

that advocates for loans for the poor:

Helped establish the Community Reinvestment Act (1977). In 1978, helped community-based groups in Brooklyn and St. Louis file the first formal complaints against banks that failed to meet their CRA obligations. Results: Brooklyn received $20 million and St. Louis $1 million in housing loans for low-income neighborhoods.

Immigration reform

Launched and now staffs the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a national coalition that unites 300 diverse grassroots groups to advance comprehensive immigration reform.

And other socialist agendas

Launched the Campaign for Community Values, a national effort to project the progressive values of interconnectedness and the common good into the political debate—and into public policies adopted by a new Administration and Congress.

2009-02-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

Snohomish County Gets Beyond Race

If by "gets beyond race", I mean treats people differently based on race and in the process implies one race is poor and diseased.

The Seattle Times has a blurb on how Snohomish County is doing a public service... just for one race.

Snohomish Health District will offer free, anonymous or confidential HIV testing on Monday for black people who are at risk.

No appointments are needed for the tests from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rucker Building, 3020 Rucker Ave., Suite 106, in Everett. People who want an appointment can call 425-339-5298.

The test requires a drop of blood pricked from a finger, and results are ready within 30 minutes. Participants do not need photo identification, proof of residence or nationality.

I may need to make a phone call tomorrow to find out how exactly they determine what race you are. Could they be using the "one drop rule"?

2009-02-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

If Every Christian Acted Like Christ, The World Would Be A Better Place... If Every Muslim Acted Like Mohammed, According To Modern Law They Would Have To Be Jailed.

I did not say that... Steven Crowder did...

I wish I had said it.

2009-02-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

Only In Seattle

But the Washington state Supreme Court ruled the city for two years unfairly charged its water customers for hydrant service --a cost the city should've paid out of the general fund.

So the average Seattle water customer will get a court-ordered refund of $45. But the customers won't come out on top.

Someone has to pay for they hydrants, and city leaders say they don't have the money in the general fund. As a result, the city plans to charge the recipients of the refund a surcharge of $59.

The attorneys who fought the city on the hydrants will get $4.2 million plus interest charges.

2009-02-04T17:14:00.001-08:00

Totally Useless Fact of the Day

On June 7, 1925, Moe Howard of the Three Stooges fame married Helen Schonberger, a cousin of the late Harry Houdini.

2009-02-03T23:36:00.000-08:00

Totally Useless Fact Of The Day

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was the 1971 film based on the 1964 Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However, the title was changed to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory partly because of the United States' continued involvement in the Vietnam War at the time; "Charlie" was a nickname for the Viet Cong.

2008-12-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

My Email To Valerie Easton Of Pacific Magazine

Regarding your Pacific Magazine article last week:

Would you like to maybe fix this sentence:

a decrease in snowpack in the mountains and less snow in the lowlands

because I have about 16 inches of climate change I need shoveled from my driveway.

Here is the problem, when the earth was getting warmer 10 years ago, people were crying global warming. Now that it has been getting cooler the last few years, it is now "climate change". What the climate change crowd does not seem to understand is the earth's climate is always changing and that people are really insignificant part in the process.

You can not think of global climate over a 1 year or 10 year period. Looking at the big picture, hundreds of millions of years, this page has a graph of carbon levels and global temperature, scroll down to the graph labeled Global Temperature and Atmospheric CO2 over Geologic Time, historically the earth is now cold and carbon levels are low.

The other reality is ever single human being could live in the state of Texas with a population density of less than 39 people per acre. And before you reply about that is too dense, there was an article in the Seattle Times within the last year or two about a new "green" housing development in Issaquah that had a density of 40 people per acre.

Then there is the whole myth of carbon dioxide causes temperature rise. If anything it is the opposite. Look at the following. It is clear that the change in carbon levels FOLLOW temperature changes. The temperature starts moving up or down and then the carbon follows.

Finally, who is claiming that a warmer earth would not be a better earth. More people die during the colder months than the warmer months. 7,300 Americans die each day during January and February while 6,200 die each day during July, August and September.

In addition, about 1,000 years ago was a time referred to as the Medieval Warm Period when the earth was warmer than it is now. It is also called the Medieval Climate Optimum. Funny how it is not call Medieval We Are All Going To Drown Because Of The Melting Polar Ice Caps Period.

As Dennis Miller says, I will believe we can fix global warming sometime after we figure out how to fix traffic after a Lakers game.

Just had a few spare minutes because I was unable to drive into work today because of the lack of lowland snowfall and thought I would express myself.

2008-12-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

Global Warming... Is There Nothing It Can Not Do, Part 424.

An "informative" article in today Pacific Magazine section of today's Seattle Times

While there is great year-to-year variability in our weather, Mass documents a warming trend, increased precipitation, a decrease in snowpack in the mountains and less snow in the lowlands.

In unrelated news...

Snow continues to fall; freezing rain glazes roads
Snow is falling again this afternoon all around the region — south in Fife and Tukwila, at Paine Field in Everett, east in Redmond, and on the Seahawks and Jets at Qwest Field in Seattle.

The when's-it-going-to-end snow followed a pre-dawn freezing rain that left a slippery layer of ice over Saturday's snow. Roadways and sidewalks have been left worse for the mix.

2008-12-14T22:35:00.001-08:00

Rufus Wainwright Is Retarded

Yea, I had never heard of him either until I read an bit about him in the Newsmakers question and answer section of Newsweek.

You've lived in Canada and the U.S. Which has the better healthcare system?
At the end of the day, if it's free it's better. There are a lot of obstacles but eventually you get what you need if you fight really hard. That's better than being completely wiped out.

Well then I guess his music must suck since if I go to Amazon and search on his name, none of what comes up is free.

The whole Canadian Health Care is free line just bothers me to no end. It is not free. Doctors in Canada do not perform medical procedures as a hobby. The pharmacuticals do not donate drugs to Canadian medical facilities. It is NOT free and it is NOT better.

Canadian healthcare is funded through a combination of taxes and / or premiums...

Funding for the insurance plans comes from the general revenues of the Canadian provinces/territories, assisted by transfer payments from the federal government through the Canada Health Transfer. Some provinces charge health care premiums, but these are in effect taxes (since they are not tied to service use, nor to provincial health expenditures). The system is accordingly classified by the OECD as a tax-supported system, as opposed to the social insurance approaches used in many European countries.

Free healthcare, it does not exist, it never has and it never will. Someone is paying and most likely it is the person receiving the treatment.

But let me ask this one question, would you even want to go to a doctor that does not get paid?

2008-12-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

Al "Amazing Kreskin" Gore Makes Another Prediction

From Watts Up With That, Al Gore is now claiming all the ice in the North Pole will be gone in 5 years.

Al Gore made another prediction, about increased hurricanes shortly after hurricane Katrina.

The following is a transcript of a speech given by former Vice President Al Gore at the National Sierra Club Convention in San Francisco on September 9, 2005 addressing the challenges and moral imperatives posed by Hurricane Katrina and global warming.
...
...
There are scientific warnings now of another onrushing catastrophe. We were warned of an imminent attack by Al Qaeda; we didn't respond. We were warned the levees would break in New Orleans; we didn't respond. Now, the scientific community is warning us that the average hurricane will continue to get stronger because of global warming. A scientist at MIT has published a study well before this tragedy showing that since the 1970s, hurricanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific have increased in duration, and in intensity, by about 50 %. The newscasters told us after Hurricane Katrina went over the southern tip of Florida that there was a particular danger for the Gulf Coast of the hurricanes becoming much stronger because it was passing over unusually warm waters in the gulf. The waters in the gulf have been unusually warm. The oceans generally have been getting warmer. And the pattern is exactly consistent with what scientists have predicted for twenty years. Two thousand scientists, in a hundred countries, engaged in the most elaborate, well organized scientific collaboration in the history of humankind, have produced long-since a consensus that we will face a string of terrible catastrophes unless we act to prepare ourselves and deal with the underlying causes of global warming. [applause] It is important to learn the lessons of what happens when scientific evidence and clear authoritative warnings are ignored in order to induce our leaders not to do it again and not to ignore the scientists again and not to leave us unprotected in the face of those threats that are facing us right now.

We can check how that prediction has panned out...
2005 28 storms, 15 hurricanes, 7 major hurricanes
2006 10 storms, 5 hurricanes, 2 major hurricanes
2007 15 storms, 6 hurricanes, 2 major hurricanes
2008 16 storms, 8 hurricanes, 5 major hurricanes

But that does not tell us how big and devastating the storms can be, so lets look at it from a different perspective. How costly have they been? It would seem to make sense that if in fact things are getting warmer and if in fact storms are getting bigger and more dangerous then the most costly storms should have been fairly recent.

Costliest U.S. Atlantic hurricanes
Total estimated property damage, adjusted for wealth normalization[121] Rank Hurricane Season Cost (2005 USD)
1 “Miami” 1926 $157 billion
2 “Galveston” 1900 $99.4 billion
3 Katrina 2005 $81.0 billion
4 “Galveston” 1915 $68.0 billion
5 Andrew 1992 $55.8 billion
6 “New England” 1938 $39.2 billion
7 “Pinar del Río” 1944 $38.7 billion
8 “Okeechobee” 1928 $33.6 billion
9 Ike 2008 $31.5 billion
10 Donna 1960 $26.8 billion

Hmmm... 6 of the top 8 costliest storms are prior to 1945. Only one in the top 10, that being #9 since Mr. Gore made his prediction.

Unlike "The Amazing Kreskin" though Al Gore actually believes what he is saying is true. Too bad the facts do not back him up. Really too bad nobody seems interesting in calling him on it.

2008-12-11T21:43:00.000-08:00

Seattle's Proposed Gun Ban Hearing

Monday 6:30, be there.

Public hearing scheduled on proposed firearms rule
Residents may also comment online

SEATTLE – The city of Seattle has scheduled a public hearing on a proposed administrative rule to restrict firearms on city-owned property.

The hearing will be held on Dec. 15, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue, with sign-in beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Bertha Knight Landes room is accessible from the building’s Fifth Avenue entrance. Residents unable to attend may also submit written comments at: www.seattle.gov/firearmsrule

Following a shooting that injured three people at the Folklife Festival on May 24 of this year, Mayor Greg Nickels directed all city of Seattle departments to study the adoption and enforcement of policies, rules and contractual agreements which would prohibit the possession of dangerous weapons, including firearms, on city property. The suspect in the Folklife shooting had a concealed weapons permit, despite a history of drug abuse and mental health problems.

“From increasing the number of patrol officers on our streets, to our Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, we’re addressing public safety issues from all directions. Common-sense gun rules are just one more way to protect our workers, residents, families and children,” said Nickels.

The proposed rule does not include any specific criminal or civil penalties, but a person refusing to comply with the rule would be subject to citation or arrest for criminal trespass.

The proposed rule would not apply to:

City streets and public sidewalks, except when they are being used for non-transportation purposes such as special events. The rule does apply to sidewalks and other walkways located within city parks.
Motor vehicle parking garages and parking lots.
City property leased and occupied for residential purposes.
City-owned property that is located outside the state of Washington.
The Roger Dahl Rifle Training Range.
To address the safety of visitors, including families and children, at city-owned properties, the city of Seattle is also implementing a firearms policy which is applicable to permits, leases and other contractual agreements for the use of city property. Under its policy, the city would lease, rent or permit the use of city property to only those parties who prohibit all persons, except law enforcement officers, from possessing firearms on leased city premises. To prevent the possession of firearms during an event, the city would also require sponsors of major events to take reasonable steps, such as signage, visual inspections, safe storage for lawful firearms, etc. The city would also permit departments to add gun-free terms to most leases and agreements.

State law allows private property owners to prohibit the presence of firearms on their property. As a property owner, the city has rules at Seattle Center and most facilities such as City Hall, prohibiting firearms unless a person has a concealed weapons permit. Organizations that lease Key Arena also have the ability to prohibit firearms in the facility. In addition to other prohibitions, state law prohibits firearms at schools, jails and courthouses.

Get the Nickels Newsletter and the mayor’s inside view on transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities at mayor.seattle.gov

- 30 -

Office of the Mayor

2008-11-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

Did President Elect Obama Not Register?

All male citizens 18 - 25 must register with the Selective Service. There may be evidence that President Elect Obama may not have done so and people have made an effort to cover that up after the fact. Debbie Schlussel has the details.

This intrigues me on multiple levels beyond the penalties:

Men who do not register could be prosecuted and, if convicted, fined up to $250,000 and/or serve up to five years in prison. In addition, men who fail to register with Selective Service before turning age 26, even if not prosecuted, will become ineligible for:

Student Financial Aid - including Pell Grants, College Work Study, Guaranteed Student/Plus Loans, and National Direct Student Loans.

U.S. Citizenship - if the man first arrived in the U.S. before his 26th birthday.

Federal Job Training - The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) offers programs that can train young men for jobs in auto mechanics and other skills. This program is only open to those men who register with Selective Service.

Federal Jobs - men born after December 31, 1959 must be registered to be eligible for jobs in the Executive Branch of the Federal government and the U.S. Postal Service.

There is the question of the cover up and we should all know by now, it is not the crime, it is the cover up that is usually the problem.

I also always am fascinated by those investigating things like this, how something small and seemingly trivial can be the smoking gun. For example, if you look at the document, it is suppose to be from 1980 and there is a United Postal Service stamp on it that says USPO but the postal service stopped using that stamp in 1970 and went to USPS. Smoking gun, don't know. Not sure how someone could explain it away though.

Finally, I have always had a beef with the Selective Service regarding the fact only males need to register. I live in a state where the Governor is female and both Senators are female and if you call and ask why is it only males have to register, you will get some lame answer that sure does not sound "empowering to women" to me.

2008-11-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

President Elect Obama Employment Questionnaire

I am guessing the President Elect will not be answering any of these questions himself.

#14 If you have kept a diary... that could be embarrassment, please describe.

#18 Please describe any relationship with any financial institutions.... Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac.

#46 have any member of your family close social or business associates been arrested, charged with a crime or convicted...

#59, Do you or any member of your family own a gun. If so please provide complete ownership and registration information, whom it is used by. etc. etc.

2008-11-06T18:17:00.001-08:00

Wealth Redistribution 101

Today we learn that the idea of wealth redistribution is not as attractive when it is your wealth not getting to you.

Former Obama workers claim they were short-changed

Indianapolis - The Obama campaign says most of the payment issues that brought hundreds of upset campaign workers to the Indianapolis office Wednesday have been resolved.

Campaign spokesman Jonathan Swain says a few people showed up Thursday and made arrangements for payment by mail.

A few hundred people stood in line for several hours Wednesday waiting to get paid for working in the final days of the campaign. Many of those people said they were underpaid for the number of hours they worked.

Read the original story:

Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd.

The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.

"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.

...
...

The large gathering of around 375 people prompted police to call in extra officers and set up temporary barricades. The barricades helped keep the crowd from spilling out onto Meridian Street. Police say the several hundred people in line were for the most part orderly.
...
...

Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail.

"Still that's not right. I'm disappointed. I'm glad for the president, but I'm disappointed in this system," said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker.

"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.

"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

"I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned," said Randall Waldon.

Some people weren't satisfied with filling out a claim form for money they felt was still due to them.

...
...

"Talking about they'll mail it to us. I ain't worried about that, man. They're not going to mail nothin'," said Martin.

2008-11-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

My Head Hurts

In the last 4 year, President Elect Obama took more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other person in Congress over the last 30 years except for the head of the Banking committee, Chris Dodd - D.

And somehow the economy was the number 1 issue...

2008-11-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

Redistributing the wealth

Got this in an email today...

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.

Redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

2008-11-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

Media Bias, What Media Bias?

An ad from a recent edition of Newsweek:

2008-10-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

I Am Voting For Obama

Hey, I do not want to pay for my gas or mortgage either...

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go home and wait for my pet unicorn to poop some more Hersheys kisses.

H/T Glenn Beck

2008-10-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

Buddy

October 29th 2008

You will be missed.

2008-10-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Getting Beyond Race?

Guess not...

2008-10-26T20:33:00.001-07:00

Get Ready To Have Your Wealth Redistributed

2008-10-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

Homecoming

Bring a hanky...

If that made you cry, do not click on this link

2008-09-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

Why We Are Having The Credit Crisis?

Start here, the Community Reinvestment Act...

The Community Reinvestment Act (or CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq.) is a United States federal law that requires banks and savings and loan associations to offer credit throughout their entire market area and prohibits them from targeting only wealthier neighborhoods with their services, a practice known as "redlining." The purpose of the CRA is to provide credit, including home ownership opportunities to under-served populations and commercial loans to small businesses. It has been subjected to important regulatory revisions.

Let me see if I can simplify that, the C.R.A. requires banks to give mortgages to poor people.

The hell you say?!?

The new rules, during a time when many banks were merging and needed to pass the CRA review process to do so, substantially increased the number and aggregate amount of loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers for home loans, some of which were "risky mortgages."

Lets look at some video, shall we...

And one more, just for fun.

2008-09-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

How To Get A Grass Roots Campaign Going 101

Pay People!

"Grassroots"... that word does not mean what you think it means.

2008-09-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

Why We Are Having A Financial Melt Down

Lenders were "encouraged" to lend to those who can not afford the payments. Throw on top of that lenders thinking those making the rules are "family".

2008-09-21T23:28:00.000-07:00

Legal Issues For The Obama Campaign?

My Pet Jawa has the whole thing but of course I found out about it from Ace.

Anti-Palin Astroturfing Traced Directly to Obama-Connected PR Firm
UPDATE: LIKE CLOCKWORK, VIDEOS TAKEN DOWN!!!
Update: Rusty Uploading His Copy Now

Obama Connected PR Firm Produces, Uploads Lying Anti-Palin Ad on YouTube, Then Pushes it Virally as "Grassroots" Effort; PR Exec Sockpuppets Praise Video for "Getting the Truth Out;" Company Employee Uploads it On Democratic Underground and Urges Readers to Send it Out to Ten People Each

It is Ace... so consider this your content warning.

Just so you know, I am still alive, just life getting in the way of posting.

Also, Andrew lost a tooth earlier today.

2008-06-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Obama "Uninterprits" His Stance On The DC Gun Ban

He now says his earlier statements saying the DC ban was constitutional was "inartful".

Obama Camp Disavows Last Year's 'Inartful' Statement on D.C. Gun Law
Email
Share June 26, 2008 7:35 AM

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Alexa Ainsworth Report: With the Supreme Court poised to rule on Washington, D.C.'s, gun ban, the Obama campaign is disavowing what it calls an "inartful" statement to the Chicago Tribune last year in which an unnamed aide characterized Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as believing that the DC ban was constitutional.

"That statement was obviously an inartful attempt to explain the Senator's consistent position," Obama spokesman Bill Burton tells ABC News.

"Inartful"??? When you have to make up words to "clarify" your position...

2008-06-26T07:57:00.001-07:00

Comment On The Heller Decision

One quick comment based on a quote from a CNN article

Elilta "Lily" Habtu, however, told the high court that she supports the handgun ban, and tighter gun control in general. Habtu was in a Virginia Tech classroom in April 2007 when fellow student Seung-Hui Cho burst in and began shooting. She survived bullets to the head and arm.

"There has to be tighter gun control; we can't let another Virginia Tech to happen," she told the court. "And we're just not doing it; we're sitting around; we're doing nothing. We let the opportunity arise for more massacres."

Virginia Tech had a total ban on guns. It was a gun free zone as are the overwhelming majority of places that experience tragedies such as this. Let me say that again, the overwhelming majorities of mass murders caused by guns happen in "gun free zones". It is not a coincidence. It is because gun control laws take guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens, thus making them unable to defend themselves in a V.T. type of situation. The criminals know nobody will be able to shoot back and therefore gun free zones are nothing more than consequence free firing ranges for those intent on killing large numbers of people.

So what law exactly does M. Habtu think would have stopped the V.T. massacre?

2008-06-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Is Global Warming About To Bring On A Little Ice Age?

Scientists are referring to the sun as "dead" due to the lack of sunspots.

The sun has been laying low for the past couple of years, producing no sunspots and giving a break to satellites. That’s good news for people who scramble when space weather interferes with their technology, but it became a point of discussion for the scientists who attended an international solar conference at Montana State University. Approximately 100 scientists from Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and North America gathered June 1-6 to talk about “Solar Variability, Earth’s Climate and the Space Environment.”

...
Tsuneta said solar physicists aren’t like weather forecasters; They can’t predict the future. They do have the ability to observe, however, and they have observed a longer-than-normal period of solar inactivity. In the past, they observed that the sun once went 50 years without producing sunspots. That period, from approximately 1650 to 1700, occurred during the middle of a little ice age on Earth that lasted from as early as the mid-15th century to as late as the mid-19th century.

Maybe someone should look into a possible connection between the earth's temperature and sunspots. You would have thought that would have been done hundreds of years ago.

How The Old Farmer's Almanac Predicts The Weather
...
We derive out weather forecasts from a secret formula that was devised by the founder of this Almanac, Robert B. Thomas, in 1792. Thomas believed that weather on Earth was influenced by sunspots, which are magnetic storms on the surface of the Sun.

Over the years, we have refined and enhanced that formula with state-of-the-art technology and modern scientific calculations. We employ three scientific disciplines to make our long-range predictions: solar science, the study of sunspots and other solar activity; climatology, the study of prevailing weather patterns; and meteorology, the study of the atmosphere. We predict weather trends and events by comparing solar patterns and historical weather conditions with current solar activity.

2008-06-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

City of Seattle Property, Now Gun Violence Free

It is official, the Mayor has made the 2nd amendment null and void while on city of Seattle property. Kind of… at least in his mind.

After a shooting at the Northwest Folklife festival injured three people, Mayor Greg Nickels will prohibit guns at Seattle Center, parks, community centers and city-run buildings.

On Monday, Nickels announced he had signed an executive order, which does not require City Council approval, directing employees to draft a plan in 30 days to create a "gun-free policy" on city property. He has not set a date for the prohibition to take effect.

"Our parks, our community centers and our public events are safer without guns," Nickels said at a news conference with Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. "At many properties, including City Hall, you can bring a gun if you have a concealed-weapons permit. Under this order, people with concealed weapons will be asked to give up their weapon or leave."

The city does not have the authority to arrest or fine people for bringing a gun onto city property. Only the state can enact laws governing firearms, and the mayor acknowledged the city could face a legal challenge.

First some background, at the recent Folklife festival, where people who do not regularly bathe, gather to air out and do what they normally do the other 364 days of the year, nothing productive, there was a shooting which injured 3 people. Nobody died, 3 people were injured. Over the course of the 37 year history of Folklife, the number of shootings at the festival now total… I may need some time here to calculate the total… fire up the spare server with the dual processor… including this 1 shooting… that would be 1. 1 shooting, 37 years. Millions of people have gone to this festival and there has been 1 shooting, no deaths, in 37 years.

So Mayor Greg Nichols has taken it on himself to make us all safer from this epidemic of violence from this one shooting, in 37 years, by deciding unilaterally that the constitution, the part that say the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, should not apply on city owned property.

Now I understand the need to get this epidemic of gun violence of 1 shooting in 37 years at Folklife down to a rate that would make other gun free zones such as post offices or schools envious, oops, bad examples. But wouldn’t a better idea be to limit other constitutional rights that have no doubt been the source of more violence? If the Mayor imposed restriction on speech, such as outlawing the phrase “Dude, are you sure this is not oregano?, at Hempfest or any speech starting with the phrase "Yo Momma" at the hip hop festival, surely that would result in a greater reduction of violence and we are just limiting a right, not doing away with it. Doesn’t this make more sense? Who could possibly have a problem with this idea?

2008-06-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

Seattle, Where The Constitution Does Not Always Apply

Seattle Mayor Greg Nichols has decided the 2nd amendment to the constitution does not apply in Seattle.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels plans to ban concealed weapons at festivals after a shooting at Northwest Folklife injured three people.

Joshua Penaluna, her boyfriend, who was shot in the arm, called a ban a good idea. "At a public area like that, the only people that should have weapons should be cops and security."

And criminals Joshua, you forgot criminals. Because the reality is only "law abiding" citizens follow laws.

On May 25, the two Renton residents were hit by stray gunfire after a fight erupted between two men. A bullet shattered Penaluna's wrist and then entered Thorsnes' thigh. A third man, Henry Morris, who was struggling with the gunman, suffered powder burns on the upper lip and nose when the gun discharged close to his face.

Does anyone believe that someone willing to violate attempted murder laws by pulling a gun out and starting to shoot is going to be deterred from bringing a gun by a law against possession?

It was the first shooting in the festival's 37-year history.

So the reality is no doubt thousands and thousands of people have probably had concealed guns at the festival in the past and this was the first shooting. So because of this one shooting, part of the United States Constitution is now null and void at festivals in the city of Seattle.

Let me make an analogy. Let's say tomorrow, someone goes to Safeway and buys a 6 pack of beer and starts drinking it on the drive home and gets in a bad accident that injures some people, not kills, just injures. Should we now ban driving with alcohol in the car? I am not saying ban the consumption of alcohol while driving, that is and should be illegal. I am saying should we ban the transportation of alcohol in a vehicle. If a 6 pack is sitting in a grocery bag in the back seat of a car, should that be banned? The simple act of having a concealed weapon at a festival does not cause harm. Using that weapon, that can, and I stress, can cause harm. It is the same with the alcohol in the car. Having alcohol in the car does not cause harm. Using the alcohol can cause harm. But here is the difference... using the weapon at the festival can cause good. It could stop a serious crime. Using the alcohol in the car will not cause anything positive to happen. One more difference... we do not have a constitutional right to keep and use alcohol.

And where exactly is the ACLU on this issue? Their silence is deafening.

2008-06-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Seattle Alone Will Stop Global Warming

Seattle has decided to take the one drastic step needed to stop global warming, ban beach bonfires.

The park board will hear the recommendation Thursday, and the city plans to run public-service announcements and hand out brochures later this month about the effects of bonfires on global warming.

According to a memo to the park board from the staff released Thursday, "The overall policy question for the Board is whether it is good policy for Seattle Parks to continue public beach fires when the carbon ... emissions produced by thousands of beach fires per year contributes to global warming."

Because that is all it should take:

But at Alki, Nguyen said he'd be OK with banning bonfires.

"By all means, I'd rather not have bonfires than have global warming," he said.

In unrelated news, the Seattle Times has a list of fun things to do while we continue to have unseasonably cold and wet weather:

Puget Sound under cover: Fun places, out of the cold and wet
Here's a list of Puget Sound-area attractions and fun places to go — under a roof.

Of course you could always go to the mountains and play in the new snow:

Snow forecast for mountains, rain for lowlands
By Seattle Times staff and The Associated Press

Snow is in the forecast for the higher elevations of the Olympics and North Cascades, and rain will continue to fall in the lowlands through the rest of today.

The National Weather Service says up to two feet of new snow are possible by tonight above 5,400 feet, creating avalanche danger and hazardous conditions for climbers or hikers in the backcountry.

The Weather Service says the strong low pressure system over the Northwest will bring cool, cloudy weather with a chance of showers through the weekend across Washington. That means rain is likely off and on through the weekend, with temperatures in the mid-50s to lower 60s.

2008-06-05T07:50:00.001-07:00

It's Official, Hillary! Is Out, Obama Is The Nominee

2008-06-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Obama Fundraising Buddy Guilty On "Some" Counts

Of course no mention on which Presidential party nominee he might have raised these so called funds for.

Political fundraiser Antoin 'Tony' Rezko has been found guilty on some counts of corruption charges related to a kickback scheme for companies that do business with the state.

Guilty on 16 of 24 counts... or as those of us with degrees in math would say... "most" counts.

2008-06-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

Obama Clinches, Race Hustlers Hardest Hit

With the "historic" nomination of Barack Obama, race hustlers such as Al "Tawana Brawley" Sharpton, Jeremiah "God Damn America" Wright and Jesse "Hymietown" Jackson may want to take another angle in order to shake down corporations and the tax paying public for cash.

Either Barack Obama is the next President of the United States of America, proving that race does not matter or Barack Obama loses proving what I have long believed that it is the left that has a problem with race.

2008-05-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

Obama's Spiritual Advisor's Film On Hold

Barack Obama's chief political advisor, David Axelrod, is making a film on one of Obama's spiritual advisors, Rev. Michael Pflegerm but that film is currently on hold.

Pfleger's crusades against guns, prostitution, porn and tobacco have made good copy for years for a fairly admiring local press corps hooked on cheering for the underdog, the poor and the powerless.

Pfleger is the subject of a documentary being made by Chicago-based David Axelrod, Obama's top strategist. On Friday, Axelrod told me in an e-mail that the film project has "been dormant for much of the last two years due to other commitments

When asked to comment, Mr. Obama said, "I did not know that".

2008-05-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

So Long Montana?

Or should that be hello Republic of Montana? In response to the 2nd amendment case before the Supreme Court, if it does not come down on the side of an "individuals right to keep and bear arms", Montana, may take things into its own hands.

In a joint resolution, the Montana politicians argue that when Washington approved the state constitution, including a clause granting “any person” the right to bear arms, upon the Treasure State’s entry into the Union in 1889, the federal government recognized that clause as consistent with the Second Amendment. If the Court comes down on the side of a collective right, they argue, it would breach the compact for statehood between Montana and the federal government.

Bringing the United States down to 49... or 56 in Obama's world.

2008-05-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

House Democrat Want To Socialize Big Oil

Maxine Waters, D-CA, who has some "ethic issues":

Waters was named in 2005[2] and 2006[3] as one of the "most corrupt" members of congress by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. They said, "Her ethics issues arise from her exercise of this power to financially benefit her daughter, husband and son."

Would like to socialize.... or is that nationalize big oil.

Link: sevenload.com

Hey, lets just call it National Socialize and be done with it.

2008-05-11T00:11:00.000-07:00

A Solution To Many Of America's Problems

I am reposting something from May 2007, because I feel like it and it is a really good idea, no more so than before.

I am going to throw this out to the public but remember, it was my idea, you heard it here first.

One of America's biggest problems is energy independence. Another is the terrorist issue, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. What is one way we could solve both problems with one solution? Easy answer, become energy independent. No more need to buy oil from the Middle East, no more billions of dollars available to those who would like to see us dead.

So how do we do this? Being the capitalist society we are, monetary incentives and disincentives. Now stick with me for a second... we raise the tax on gas and other oil products that come from outside our borders. Call it the foreign oil tax. Not sure the proper amount per liter, quart, gallon or barrel but enough to cause at least some mild discomfort from the consumers and enough to raise some serious cash. Then we take that money, and I am talking multiple billions per year, and we have a national contest, make it a reality show. An American Idol type event called American Energy Independence. Anyone and everyone who is an American citizen, any individual, group, team, company, non profit, church, club, quilting circle whomever, whatever are eligible to submit a plan to a blue ribbon panel with the goal of making America energy independent. The ultimate goal would be a source of energy that is homegrown with bonus points for renewable, cheap and clean.

The foreign oil tax money would be used to fund the research and development of the top ideas deemed worthy of pursuit. There would be a limit to how many are currently being funded and every so often, say 6 months, each plans progress would be reviewed and ranked by probability of success. Any new plan, or even updated old plan, that has been submitted that looks more promising than the current list would replace any existing plan for funding.

The ultimate winner gets any money left over and all future foreign oil tax revenue in addition to a reasonable royalty fee on all future units of energy sold. And by reasonable I mean enough to make Bill Gates wish he had not wasted his time on software.

One condition. The name of the ultimate product has to be called VOOM! Because I really like reading Dr. Suess to Andrew and like I said, it was my idea.

2008-05-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

The United States of America, According To Obama

Not sure which United States of America he is talking about... it is not the one I am familiar with.

H/T Ace

2008-05-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

State closes "flawed" office to help black children in welfare system

5 years after the “Office of African-American Children's Services” opened, someone realized that it

appeared to use "racial classifications as the sole factor in determining" which kids are served

I wonder if anyone at DSHS has looked to see if they have an “Office of Cooking and Distributing Meth”. Nothing gets past these people.

The flaw of course is not that the office only serves African American kids, the flaw is nobody is willing to admit what any sane person knows, that the problem is in the African American culture, parents, and more specifically fathers, in the African American community tend to not take responsibility for their children.
Obviously not the case in all or even most situations but just look at Seattle Public school data and compare the breakout by race with the percentage of kids living in a single parent home. Then see if there is a relationship between single parent homes and test scores. Who would have thunk it? It appears dad is not there to make sure junior does his homework.

Enough diversity training of the welfare workers already, get dads to take responsibility for their kids. There is no other solution.

2008-05-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

HOT Lanes, Government At Its Tax Spending Worst

New numbers on the HOT lanes and how financially inefficient they really are...

Here are the revenues...

Between 5 and 10 a.m. Monday, 339 solo drivers paid to enter the northbound lane, in fairly light traffic, said Craig Stone, urban-corridors administrator for the state Department of Transportation. Just 29 drivers used the southbound HOT lane.

The tolls, which increase as traffic gets heavier, reached $2.25 at 7:15 a.m. northbound at 277th Street, but Stone said no one paid that rate to use the HOT lanes. The most anyone paid, he said, was $2. The minimum toll was 50 cents, while the average paid was $1.04.

For the afternoon commute, between 2 and 7 p.m., 284 vehicles used the HOT lanes southbound and 60 used them northbound. They paid an average of 72 cents and had an average time saving of two minutes.

The highest the toll Monday afternoon was $1.25, and the highest time savings was 4 minutes.

That would be $557.04 for Monday. And now for the cost side of that financial ledger.

The federal government contributed $5 million toward the state's $18 million startup costs.

18 Million... that does not include the day to day ongoing cost which I am reasonably sure is way, way more than $557.04.

So at this rate, at $557 a day, the startup costs should be repaid in about 88.5 years. Someone may want to take another look at the cost benefit analysis for this project.

2008-05-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

HOT Lanes, Another Bad Idea Only Government Could Come Up With

HOT (high occupancy transportation) lanes, AKA diamond lanes, are those where you need to be in a carpool or on public transportation to actually use. Highway 167 is now setup so that single drivers can use these lanes if they are willing to pay a fee. The fee varies depending on how bad the traffic is at the time.

Monday morning, in the first 5 hours of a weekday commute, 339 cars paid an average of $1.04 to use the lanes. Just a guess here but the cost to administer this program was more than the revenue generated and the benefit was minimal at best. $350 for 5 hours, that is about what it would cost to pay 9 people minimum wage over the same time period. This does not take into account any of the cost of the technology, signage etc. Reports this morning was 167 was backed up because of confusion over how the new system works.

Only government could come up with a plan this costly and ineffective. Do we need to do something about traffic congestion, sure. Spending $1000 to get $100 worth of benefit... only the government would do something like this.

2008-05-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

McDermott Call U.S. Soldiers Mercenaries, Stupid and Felons

That is the claim by his opponent, Steve Beren.

McDermott said that “we’re losing in Afghanistan,” accused the President of planning to expand the war into Iran, and said “we’re running a gulag – one over in Guantanamo, and several in Iraq.” Yet, the congressman argued, “nobody cares” about the war because “as long as we can hire mercenaries to fight this war for us” the war would continue. McDermott said that the "mercenaries" were recruited from those who could not get jobs, or who could not get into school, or who were in jail due to having committed felonies.

And based on Representative McDermott's history, there is no reason to give him the benefit of the doubt.

2008-05-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Reverend Wright's 9 Commandments

Seems Reverend Wright's version of the 10 commandments is missing the one about "you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife"

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's loose cannon of a spiritual adviser, stole the wife of a parishioner - after the man sought Wright's help in saving his troubled marriage, the former husband told friends.

Delmer Reed, 59, confided to pals that he believed the minister moved in on his wife while Wright was counseling the couple at his Chicago church in the early 1980s, The Post has learned.

"That's exactly how he said it," Reed's divorce lawyer, Roosevelt Thomas, told The Post.

H/T Hotair.

2008-05-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

Gas Tax Holiday, A Dumb Idea

We do not need a gas tax holiday. When a patient is hemorrhaging from a gaping wound, a band aid is nothing more than a waste of time fixing the issue. What we need is a comprehensive energy plan that will eventually make us energy independent. This needs to include temporary steps such as drilling in ANWR and raising fuel mileage standards. Both side need to give on this issue because it is too important.

And no, Senator McCain, ANWR is not the Grand Canyon but even so, if there was significant oil in the Grand Canyon, we should drill there also, it is that important.

2008-04-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Obama - Wright, Part 2

Interesting theory about why the rift between Obama and Wright. Could it be that if Obama wins, then everything Wright needs to continue to do what he does, make a really good living complaining about "whitey", goes away?

2008-04-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Obama - Wright, Part 1

Here was my first reaction when I heard Obama say "that is not the man I met 20 years ago". Oh really, how about the man who married you the the Mrs.? How about the man who baptised your children? How about the man that inspired your book? Is that the same man?

It reminded me about the comment about Ayers when he said the bombings took place when I was 8. OK but you did not meet with him when you were 8, you did not serve with him on Boards when you were 8. There seems to be a pattern here.

I have not heard anyone else bring this up. Am I the only one?

2008-04-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

McDermott Pays $1 Million For Leaking Tape But Still Claims Victory

It is official, the check has finally been written and cashed.

Rep. Jim McDermott has paid more than $1 million to House Minority Leader John Boehner, ending a decadelong dispute over an illegally taped telephone call.

"Every last penny will be used to help elect Republicans," Smith said, calling it ironic that McDermott — an outspoken partisan — "is helping fund the defeat of his fellow Democrats. I wouldn't expect he'll receive a lot of thank yous come November."

Meanwhile, McDermott still does not get it...

"While the amount of damages assessed in this case is significant, I submit that defending the First Amendment is beyond measure and worth every penny," he said.

If it was truly "worth every penny" then why is he not out each and every day breaking laws in a constant effort to defend the First Amendment?

Why? Because he was not defending the First Amendment, he was proving that if you can come up with enough cash, ideally from other people, you are free to violate the law and do what you want.

Multiple calls to Rep. McDermott's office asking for an explanation of how he was defending the First Amendment have gone unanswered.

UPDATE:
Another call into the office and we have an explanation. It seems new case law was created and the court ruled that Rep. McDermott did nothing wrong. When asked why then was he paying over a million dollars, I was told that it was because the court said he should not have turned over the tapes. I was also told that I needed to read the ruling to understand that he did not "lose" the case.

What was the word he used to describe the ruling... "nuanced". I kid you not.

2008-04-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

Voter ID Is Constitutional

As blogging buddy Karl over at LSU notes, it is legal to require ID to vote. Who would have thunk it.

Reminds me of the time that I went to my polling place after complaining earlier in the day to the county about the law which said it was illegal to ASK for ID. When was my turn to sign the voters book, I asked to see the book and looked through a couple of pages of voters names as if I could not decide which one I was. I then said how about this one. The polling person said how do I know that is you? You do not, do you, and you are not permitted to ask for identification. I then said in fact that was me and they said we understand your point, feel free to make it somewhere else next time.

2008-04-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

Potential African American Baseball Players Opt To Become Doctors and Lawyers

Jerry Brewer had an article in the Sunday Seattle Times complaining about the lack of African American baseball players in the major leagues.

The subject barely musters shock value now. Mention that the African-American baseball player is on the verge of extinction, and, at best, it inspires brief pondering. At worst, it prompts little more than an obligatory nod.

We already know he's dying. We figure there's little we can do.

This feels like a vigil.

"It's sad," says Dan Jurdy, the Rainier Beach High School athletic director. "It's really sad."

Only 8.2 percent of major-league baseball players are African-American, according to diversity expert Richard Lapchick's 2008 Racial and Gender Report Card. It's the lowest percentage in at least two decades. Some estimates have it as the lowest since the 1950s.

I say it is a good thing. First off, if you strictly look at the numbers, African Americans make up about 12% of the population in the US and account for 8.2% of MLB players. Now if you subtract out the foreign players, mostly Latin and Asian, that brings those numbers up to something closer to the population at large. The sad reality is a significant number of young African American males can not play in the majors because they are incarcerated. Subtract out that total and that would probably get you to right about that 12% number.

But here is my point... sometime in the past, say 20 years ago, if you were driving down the road and a top of the line Mercedes pulls up next to you and a fairly young African American is driving this expensive vehicle, your first reaction is I wonder what team he plays for. That was what I was thinking, that is what you were thinking. Not the case anymore. That guy could be a doctor, a lawyer, sell real estate or own a small business.

As long as kids think the only chance to succeed is playing pro sports, they will not hit the books and stay in school and become a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer or teacher. The reality is making a living playing sports is one in a million and the overwhelming majority just do not have the God given gifts that it takes. But they can graduate from high school and go to college and make something of their lives. That should be what we are concerned about, the number that graduate, not the number that can hit a ball with a bat over a wall.

2008-04-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

Government Ideas On How To Spend Tax Dollars

Here is a story that bothers me in a number of ways

After an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2000, Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama faced serious financial pressure: numerous debts, limited cash and a law practice he had neglected for a year. Help arrived in early 2001 from a significant new legal client -- a longtime political supporter.

Chicago entrepreneur Robert Blackwell Jr. paid Obama an $8,000-a-month retainer to give legal advice to his growing technology firm, Electronic Knowledge Interchange. It allowed Obama to supplement his $58,000 part-time state Senate salary for over a year with regular payments from Blackwell's firm that eventually totaled $112,000.

A few months after receiving his final payment from EKI, Obama sent a request on state Senate letterhead urging Illinois officials to provide a $50,000 tourism promotion grant to another Blackwell company, Killerspin.

Killerspin specializes in table tennis, running tournaments nationwide and selling its own line of equipment and apparel and DVD recordings of the competitions. With support from Obama, other state officials and an Obama aide who went to work part time for Killerspin, the company eventually obtained $320,000 in state grants between 2002 and 2004 to subsidize its tournaments.

There is the obvious corruption angle. Clearly Obama took a payment in order to direct taxpayer money to a client. But here is my issue... the government is providing tourism promotional grants... to a ping pong company?

This reminds me of a book I read about the Clinton administration. Before the 1992 election, the Clinton camp was going to come up with places where the federal budget could be cut and the one thing they came up with, reducing the amount of money the government gave to honey producers by 40 million dollars. And why exactly is the federal government giving money to honey producers?

2008-04-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

The Black Panthers, Celebrating 40 Years Of Racial Socialism in Seattle

Of course that is not how the Seattle Times tells it...

The group was never anti-white, members said. Its mission was to advocate for the poor and protect the oppressed.

as long as they were black...

According to the Black Panthers own 10 point plan:

1)We want power to determine the destiny of our black and oppressed communities' education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present-day society.
2)We want completely free health care for all black and oppressed people.
3)We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people, other people of color, all oppressed people inside the United States.
4)We want an immediate end to all wars of aggression.
5)We want full employment for our people.
6)We want an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our Black Community.
7)We want decent housing, fit for the shelter of human beings.
8)We want decent education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society.
9)We want freedom for all black and oppressed people now held in U. S. Federal, state, county, city and military prisons and jails. We want trials by a jury of peers for all persons charged with so-called crimes under the laws of this country.
10)We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, peace and people's community control of modern technology.

Who would you think the Black Panthers are referring to when they say "our people"? Not Asians, not Hispanics, certainly not "the Jews".

Substitute the word white in place of black and you would think it was the KKK or white supremacists talking... no wait, that is not correct. The KKK is not a socialist group that is demanding land, bread, housing etc. for its members.

Here is a better analogy, substitute the word Germans for black and it sure sounds like the Nazis or as they are officially known, the National Socialists.

2008-04-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Diversity Loving Liberals In Seattle... Not In My Backyard

You got to love liberal Seattle..

Many residents in Seattle's affluent Magnolia neighborhood are fuming over plans to house homeless people near Discovery Park at soon-to-be-closed Fort Lawton.

At one community meeting, some residents wondered whether homeless housing at the fort would attract wife-beaters, sex offenders and crack addicts. They rolled their eyes when city officials asserted that such housing increases property values. They worried about the impact on schools and scoffed at the idea of homeless people shopping at the closest grocery — which sells pheasant-and-rosemary pâté for $9.99 and ground coffee for up to $18 a pound.

"We're the ones who live here, and we want to have a nice, safe neighborhood to live in," Donald Raz, a King County deputy prosecutor and Magnolia resident, said later.

Like most affluent neighborhoods in Seattle, Magnolia doesn't have any housing for homeless people mainly because land is too expensive for social-service agencies to buy.

According to Wikipedia, so you know it may or may not be complete bs, Magnolia's demographics are such:

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 19,156 people, 9,077 households, and 4,828 families residing in the neighborhood. There are 9,416 housing units. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 87.4% White, 5.8% Asian, 1.6% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 1.0% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.3% of the population.

And of course the residents in Magnolia donate 3-1 to Democrats.

They are all for helping the homeless, just keep those wife-beaters, sex offenders and crack addicts away from overwhelmingly white, liberal neighborhood.

2008-04-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Global Warming Does It Again

Global warming once again is damaging crops...

Reports of crops damage caused by freezing temperatures has grabbed the attention of Gov. Christine Gregoire, who may seek a proclamation offering growers low-interest loans

Fire up those SUVs

"Right now, the damage does not appear widespread but may be significant in isolated areas," Gregoire said in a news release. "Growers are telling us they need a few days of warmer weather before they will know the real extent of the damage."

2008-04-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Why I Love Dick Cheney, Part 630913

Air Force 2 takes off.

Airforce II Blows Media Away - Watch more free videos

2008-04-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

Toys For The Kids

I recently bought stock in Hasbro... and not Playmobil... which on Amazon.com sells such exciting toys as Safe Crackers by Playmobil

Product Description
Two "crooks" have broken into the bank's safe. Comes complete with working safe locker.

or how about the Playmobil - HazMat Crew

Product Description
Oh, no! Hazardous waste has managed to seep out of a barrel and onto the sidewalk! No need to worry, the Hazmat Crew has promptly arrived. The street has been secured with road warning signs and the Crew begins clean up with their powerful very vacuums. Dressed in protective uniforms and armed with hazardous material equipment, this sidewalk is sure to be free of this hazardous substance in no time! Ages 4 & Up

Fun for everyone.

2008-04-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

Sexism At the University of Washington

According to the UW's own Factbook for 2007, 9521 first year freshman females applied for admittance to the University of Washington while 8356 first year freshman males applied. 53.26% of the applicants were female, 46.74% of the applicants were male. But... 55.55% of those accepted were female while a mere 44.45 accepted were male.

Oh where oh where is that champion of diversity and all things fair, State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles when you need her?

2008-04-21T07:36:00.000-07:00

The Cure For High Gas Prices... More Government Regulation

My Senator, Maria Cantwell, feels that the solution to high gas prices is more government regulation.

Today, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Rep. Jay Inslee will be sending a letter to President Bush, urging him to increase vigilance at the federal level. They want an energy-fraud task force established at the Department of Justice. Last year, Cantwell was able to insert a provision into law that provided more tools for the federal government to investigate allegations of gas-market manipulation but the rule-making has been slow to start.

Is she in favor of increasing supply by drilling in ANWR? No. Is she doing anything to increase refining capabilities? No. All she wants to do is increase government regulation. Yea, that should help.

I guess I should not expect anything more from her.

2008-04-20T23:37:00.001-07:00

Stock Market Investing Update

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had changed the way I invest in the stock market a while back. Starting in January, I tweaked that method slightly. I now purchase up to 5 stocks every 3 months instead of selling the 5 that have hit the one year anniversary and buying 5 new stocks. In January I held two of the 5 I already had and bought 3 new stocks. Just last week I purchased 4 new stocks, replacing the 5 that I have had for the last year.

This is a slight modification to the "MFI" method I had been using. I just feel more comfortable not being forced into 5 new stocks every 3 months. If I can find 5 worthy of purchase, great, if not, ok. This also concentrates my investment dollars into fewer stocks, which can be good or can be bad.

So far, the results since January, way, way too short of a time period, have been exceptionally good but only time will tell.

2008-04-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

Global Warming, Is There Anything It Can Not Do?

I drove around the Seattle area watching it snow and hail from time to time while the thermometer said it was 41 degrees outside.

Snowing at 41 degrees. I am finally impressed by global warming.

2008-04-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Former Marshall Principal To "Resign"

If by "resign" they mean paid a lot of money so he will stop working there.

Seattle Public Schools will pay former John Marshall Alternative School principal Joseph Drake more than $200,000 in exchange for his resignation from the district.

Clearly this guy should not be a principal of a school.

A district investigation found that Drake was viewed as a "threatening person" by his staff. In addition, the investigation said he "engaged in a campaign of profane, intimidating and bully behavior, using the 'F' word during a meeting with central-office staff members"; bullied University of Washington evaluators working on a report about his school; "created an atmosphere of mistrust and 'my way or the highway' approach to policies and practices at the school"; and "impugned the character and competence of the district staff."

But here is the "money quote", literally...

In a March 4 letter, Drake wrote that he deserved compensation "in order that my family and I continue to experience a quality lifestyle."

He "deserves" compensation so he can continue to experience a quality lifestyle? No... you deserve compensation because you supply goods and or services of value.

This smacks of the school district spending taxpayer money to take care of their own. The guy deserved to be fired and they paid him off to go away. Must be nice to have a checkbook funded by others that allows you to do that.

2008-04-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Cuban Citizens Can Finally Get Cell Phones, Part 2

More interesting facts and figures from the same article:

The contracts cost about US$120 (euro76) to activate — half a year's wages on the average state salary. And that doesn't include a phone or credit to make and receive calls. Still, lines formed before the centers opened, and waits grew to more than an hour.
...
Astorga planned to buy about US$65 (euro41) in credit — enough, she hopes, for three months of very brief conversations

The "average" state salary? What about economic equality? Shouldn't all workers be equally poor in a Marxist utopia?

So lets run some numbers, $120 to ACTIVATE, another $65 for 3 months worth of calls, so $260 per year for air time. $120 is half a years wages for the average state salary, so $240 is about the average yearly salary. So for the low, low price of only 58% above your yearly salary, you to can purchase cell time and activation for a cell phone. The actual cell phone is extra.

So to put that in perspective, if you were making the US federal minimum wage, not the average salary, but the minimum wage of $5.85 an hour and working a full year at 40 hours per week, you would earn $12,168 and if the US had "economic equality" similar to Cuba, phone activation and airtime for the year would cost $19,266. But remember, that does not include an actual phone.

2008-04-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Cuban Citizens Can Finally Get Cell Phones

Not like I really care but I did find this quote interesting:

Getting through the day without a cell phone is unthinkable now in most developed countries, but Cuba's government limited access to cell phones as well as kitchen appliances, hotels and other luxuries in an attempt to preserve the relative economic equality that is a hallmark of social life in communist Cuba.

"Economic equality" Or as we would call it, everyone is dirt poor.

Anyway, welcome to the 1990s Cuba... you may want to start getting prepared for that Y2K bug.

2008-04-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

McDermott's Loses Again But Thinks He Won

There is a saying that goes something like I would rather deal with a corrupt politician than an insane one because at least I know how to work with the corrupt one.

But what if the politician is both corrupt and insane? Today's lowlights from my congressman...

McDermott to pay more than $1 million in Boehner legal bills

A federal judge has ordered Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) to pay over $1 million in legal bills incurred by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a long-running battle between the two lawmakers over a leaked 1996 phone call.

Chief Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered McDermott to pay $1,053,181.40 in attorney's fees and costs, plus roughly $40,000 in interest to date. The Washington Democrat also had to cough up another $60,000 in fines. And that's on top of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees that McDermott must pay his own lawyers.

In a statement, McDermott said the legal fight - which Boehner offered at one point to settle with a public apology and a charitable donation - was worth it, despite the cost.

"This has been a long and costly battle but, in the final analysis, the judgment handed down today in the U.S. District Court is a small price to pay in defense of so fundamental a principle, and freedom, as the First Amendment," McDermott said. "Because of this protracted legal challenge, the First Amendment is stronger today, and shielded by new case law that will buttress its capacity to protect the publication of truthful information on matters of public importance long into the future. Knowing this, I am proud of my role in defense of the First Amendment."

I have a call in to McDermott's office asking what case law now protects the right to illegally disclose taped conversations. I also asked what color is the sky in Representative McDermott's world. I won't hold my breathe on getting an answer.

H/T Orbusmax

2008-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

More Global Warming News

According to Reuters...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Ribbon seals, which depend on floating sea ice that is growing scarce in a warming Arctic, will be considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act, a U.S. government agency said on Wednesday.

Also according to Reuters, in unrelated news...

CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island (Reuters) -Canada's annual seal hunt, which the government promised would be more humane this year, cranked up slowly on Friday because of thick ice.

2008-04-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

Global Warming 2008

It is April, a light covering of snow on the ground here in Seattle, 30 degrees this morning, my vehicle was frozen shut.

Global warming, she is finicky, ain't she.

2008-03-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

The Company Hillary! Keeps

From Wikipedia so you know it may or may not be total BS.

Susie Tompkins Buell, a United States former entrepreneur and a liberal political donor. Buell is often described as Hillary Clinton's best friend.

In 1967, Tompkins Buell and Jane Tise co-founded the Plain Jane clothing label. Tompkin Buell's new husband Douglas Tompkins recommended changing the name to Esprit.
The early sensibility of Esprit was seen as flowing from the personalities and interests of its founders. They were once described as "a pair of San Francisco hippie merchants who sold clothing over a North Beach massage parlor".

Esprit de Corp. was found by the National Labor Relations Board to have illegally interrogated and intimidated $2-an-hour Chinese workers, and then to have shut down a factory to keep them from unionizing. The Department of Labor found that an Esprit contractor doctored payroll records and refused to pay overtime.

Tompkins Buell led a 1990 leveraged buyout that allowed her to gain control of Esprit, and also earned her a profit of about $150 million. The buyout left Esprit deeply in debt. In two years it went into technical default on its outstanding loans and in 1997, Tompkins Buell relinguished all ownership of and involvement in the company to a consortium of investors.

In March 1997, Tompkins Buell sued the new owners of Esprit for $3 million she said they owed her in reimbursement for tax payments

A San Francisco hippie who illegally interrogated and intimidated $2-an-hour Chinese workers, refused to pay overtime, took $150 million in profits resulting in a company deep in debt that lead to a default on its loans and then sued to get someone else to pay her taxes.

Sounds like a democrat to me.

2008-03-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Bryan Suits interviews Jim McDermott

I have had this .mp3, all 24 minutes worth, of an interview Bryan Suits conducted of my Congressman Jim McDermott since early 2003. This interview is just prior to Iraq War 2.0.
Click here to listen to Bryan Suits interviewing Jim McDermott

The audio has some gaps, not sure why. I bring this up now because of the item over at Ace's that claims Saddam may have paid for McDermott's trip to Bahgdad prior to the war.

Note the following:
Jim McDermott is unaware that Bryan Suits, a talk show host on a political talk radio station, is an officer in the National Guard or that he is not old enough to have been in the Vietnam war.

After saying over and over that he has never said he was a Vietnam veteran, he then repeatedly says when I was in the (Vietnam) war.

He refers to the United States as "they".

It sounds like the Congressman may have "drank his dinner".

A little background. Bryan Suits use to be on Seattle Radio stations KIRO and KVI but was let go only to be picked up by Southern California talk radio powerhouse KFI. The first time I ever heard Bryan on the radio, he was on KIRO. I was just flipping through stations and heard this guy talking about McDermott and claiming that McDermott had never claimed to be a "Vietnam Veteran". To quote Kieth Jackson... Whoooa Nelly... earlier that week, I had personally heard Jim McDermott, while in Bahgdad, hence "Bahgdad Jim", give an interview on ABC's "This Week" were he said, and I quote,

I believe that sometimes they give out misinformation. Lyndon Johnson did it in the Vietnam War. Both David and I were in that war, and there was no Gulf of Tonkin incident.

So I emailed Bryan the next day and let him know this fact and pointed him to the transcript. That was the first of what turned out to be many, many emails and a few face to face meetings where alcoholic beverages may or may not have been consumed.

2008-03-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

Seattle Public Library Announcement

The Seattle Public Libraries will be closed this Sunday due to "historically low usage". Or as the rest of us call it, "Easter".