Councilman Rassmussen Calls Mayor Irresponsible and Obsessed About Tunnel Project

Here's the Seattle Channel program Inside/Out conversation with viaduct administrator Ron Paananen and Seattle City Council transportation chair Tom Rasmussen about the deep bore tunnel. One of the interesting parts of the discussion covers the Mayor's complaining about the increase of surface traffic that the tunnel supposedly will cause. Paananen and Rasmussen point out that McGinn is being irresponsible to obsessively complain about the surface traffic overflow issue because he fails to address the fact that 100% of traffic will be on the surface if the tunnel is not built. It is also interesting that the Mayor really has no alternative plan should the tunnel not get built.  Dear Mayor were will all the traffic go?

Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up

War Is What Is Bankrupting America And Stopping Us From Putting People To Work

Talk about tax cuts and stimulating the economy this way and that is all the rage with Americans. Meanwhile we continue to miss the point that the terrorist win by making us spend billions of tax dollars everyday because of our inability to extricate ourselves from our dirty little wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bin Laden is probably sitting in his air conditioned cave now laughing at us.

It's Called A Filibuster Stupid: Slog Story Blames Obama For Coming Apocalypse In Post About Tax Cut Battle

Below is the closing line from a story entitled "It just keeps getting worse" (worse than McCain and Palin in office I guess) by Charles Mudede over at the SLOG about Obama's supposed inability to increase taxes on the rich while continuing Bush's tax cuts for the middle class.

"I honestly believe his whole presidency will be defined here and now. If he backs down on this one, he will lose an entire generation."

Please spare us this bullshit!

Breaking: Two Democratic bills, one calling for continuing the tax cut for folks under 250K and one calling for no tax increase for people under a million failed in the Senate this morning. 

Why is it Progressives don't understand that Obama is hamstrung because there simply are not enough Democratic votes to pass a cloture motion in the Senate as the majority is now constituted, and it will get worse in January. This morning's votes on the tax cuts is a prime example. The cloture vote needed 60 D's to cut off debate and it got 53 votes.

Obama certainly realizes the votes aren't there, but most liberals apparently don't. This morning's votes in the Senate to extend the tax cuts for the middle class, which expire at the end of the month, failed for this reason. This lack of action is taking place in a lame duck congress that supposedly has 60 Democrats who are eligible to vote. The reason the vote took place now is because the tax cuts for everyone expire December 31st and that the D's majority in the Senate will be weakened further when the new Congress is installed in January and the house will go over to Republican control.

Democrats wanted to make a symbolic stand in favor of the middle class on taxes. The Democratic plan, knowing they could not win from the start, was to give Democrats a narrative and cover to blame Republicans for the failure to not continue middle class tax cuts and failure to begin taxing rich people who can afford to pay more taxes in a time when the government can use the money

So Obama has had three choices all along given the present and future head counts.

1. Veto any bill that comes to his desk on tax cuts. Therefore raising taxes on everyone rich and poor. Liberal certainly would not love this choice.

2 Compromise: allowing the tax cuts to continue for everyone in exchange for extending unemployment benefits.

3. Support what every the tax advisory group he's put together recommends, which will probably be a variation of number two.

The progressive leadership crisis is in the legislative branch of government not in the executive branch. Obama is not a king.

Now that liberals have had our "symbolic" votes in the Congress on whether to extend the tax cuts for only people making under 1 million but not those over that amount I wish liberals would shut up about Obama "losing an entire generation." This it poppycock, and also blames him for something he really has no control over.

I suppose we'd all like Obama to go on a nationwide tour for the next two weeks and call Republican "heartless bastards who only care about the rich" because it would make us lefties feel better, but in the end the Republicans are going to have their way because they're heartless bastards and THEY HAVE THE VOTES.

This is not Obama's fault, liberals should see if nothing else he's a realist. The fault lies with  lame ass Blue Dogs Democrats, conservative Democrats and because of weak leadership in the Senate.

Billions For War And Millionaire Bailouts Nothing For Unemployed Workers

Republicans in Congress are heartless bastards. One of the aspects of extending unemployment benefits is that the money received by the unemployed actually stimulates the economy. Economic experts estimate that 800,000 additional jobs will be lost as a direct effect of not extending unemployment benefits.

The benefits not only keep people on the brink from starving or going without entirely, but it also puts money back into the economy immediately because it is spent immediately paying the rent and utilities or at the local grocery store, doctor's office, cafe,  or gas station. The only conclusion has to be that Republicans want the unemployment rate to rise so they can use it as political fodder to attack the administration. This is criminal and evil behavior.

We Need A New Socialist Labor Party But Let's Not Call It That

I've had it up to here with the corporate oligarchy controlled political parties, both Republican and Democratic. Blue Dogs, Centrists, Tea Baggers and the plain old angry white guy wingnuts, the whole lot of them. We need to form a new major political party boys and girls. One that will fight for the working and middle class. What do you think? Take a short survey....

New Terror Alert Color Codes Released - Sort of....

The folks over at The Vigilant Lens are always a bit edgy to say the least. But they always spew with a touch of irony.  Below is their new version of Terror Alert Color Code system VL featured  in a story about how the government is not seeing the forest for the trees when the TSA is allowed to violate your rights and bust your balls, no pun intended, at the airport. They argue that government resources should be focused on what maybe the real problem, bomb factories like the one discovered in Escondido, California.

"Billions upon billions of dollars spent every year, grabbing your crotch, reading your email, hunting illegal’s and infiltrating peace groups…all in a self-serving, corporate attempt to Kabuki you into giving the rich more tax breaks."

"More Homelandians are killed every day by a lack of health care, than any Langley employed underwear bomber ever trained for. Smoking, dental decay and french fries, kill more of us than any CIA trained-Iraqi pilot ever dreamed."

Buffett You Beautiful Bastard! I Read Your Book......

Warren Buffett's interview from ABC's This Week's shame the rich into acting ethically segment. The oligarchy must hate Buffett because he's like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz and a wealthy SOB too. There is no plausible reason a tax cut for the richest should be allowed to happen. 

Never Make A Working Class Irishman Mad

Does this sound familiar...  

Ireland's current banking crisis has been blamed on the misdeeds of Banks and greedy speculators. Also the business favoring politicians now in power in Ireland have been more then willing to keep business and personal taxes on the rich low and financial regulations lax. Their reasoning being that such policies attract investors and investments in the the Irish economy. But rampant speculation, especially in real estate, and lack of regulation created banks that are too big to fail.

Now faced with a banking and financial meltdown the government has to bail out the greedy bastards, not with the speculator's or bank's assets, but with money provided by taxpayers. They've decided to pay for the bailout through tax increases, cuts in pensions and services that will predominantly impact the middle and working class.

 “The 5.8 per cent interest rate (on the bailout loan) is unaffordable , The decision to force the state to take €17.5 billion out of the Pensions Reserve Fund to pour into the black hole that is our banking system is a disaster. The costs of this deal to ordinary people will be deep and will result in hugely damaging cuts to public services, social welfare and wages.” Sinn Féin Party President Gerry Adams

What maybe different about this crisis from the one we've experienced here in the US could be that Irish voters who are angry are politically astute enough to know where the blame should be placed.  What we may see in upcoming elections in Ireland will be the election of significant numbers of candidates from left and left of center parties like Sinn Fein or Labor.  Of course in the US we saw the opposite effect in our recent elections, where the voters rewarded the greedy who caused the crisis here with the election of more of their Republican enablers.

Who Was Right Huxley Or Orwell?

This is quite good ....... Click here to get original PBH Network blog post enlarged version...

 

How The World Feels About Organized Religion

Here's the survey graph. It seems to me like some of the biggest troublemakers are the countries that support the idea that religion is more of a positive rather then negative force in the world. Could there be a correlation?

Via: BBC News US and Canada

Bankers: The Musical

Via: Crooks and Liars

Ten Truths That Republicans And Misinformed Americans Ignore

Ted McLaughlin over at The Best Of The Blogs likes to write on this recurring theme. Below is McLaughlin's list of truths that Republicans like to deny or ignore.

The problem is the right has apparently won the public relations battle when it comes to getting this factual information out there. They just lie about it. Many Americans have bought into the wingnut version of things that promotes the idea that none of these things happened or if they did they had the opposite outcome from what actually happened. Maybe if we keep repeating the truth a small light bulb will go on in the minds of the unwashed masses.

1. President Obama cut taxes for everyone that earns a paycheck.

The first piece of legislation ushered in by the Obama administration was a stimulus package that contained almost $300 billion in payroll tax cuts. As Nate Silver calculated, that means 98.6% of working households received a tax cut once Obama took office.

2. TARP Worked

TARP worked. And it was a Republican policy. But it actually turned out to be a hugely successful program. The most successful policy of George Bush's two terms to be exact. The program earned the American government at least $40 billion. By far the most revenue any program has ever earned the government. In all, if it were to never make another penny, the program would now only cost tax payers $30 billion. That's dramatically cheaper than the near $1 trillion it was expected to cost. Pumping tax dollars into the the private sector helped ward off a complete financial meltdown. It worked. Plain and simple.

3. The Stimulus Worked

It warded off complete collapse. Stopped the flood of job losses. And boosted GDP back to positive territory. Economists agree the stimulus "raised GDP by about 3.4 percent, holding the unemployment rate about one-and-a-half percentage points lower, and adding almost 2.7 million jobs to U.S. payrolls."

4. Ronald Reagan Tripled the National Debt

This simple fact is regarded as pure fantasy by conservative and Republicans alike. But the truth is, if you turn down your Fox News teevee set that is, you'll learn that the national debt exploded under Saint Ronnie. Here's the scorecard:

After 8 years of Reagan the national debt went from roughly $900 billion to $2.6 trillion. That's a 186% increase, the most since WWII. That is an incredible amount of debt from the so-called small government, fiscally responsible party.

5. George W. Bush doubled It


Then without a second thought, or a single gripe from the fiscally conservative, deficit hawk crowd, George W. Bush and his GOP took a government that was running surpluses and created the largest deficits in human history. As a result, the national debt went from $5.7 trillion to more than $11 trillion when you add in all his bailouts including TARP.


6. Obama Inherited the Worst Scenario Any Elected President Ever Has

Simply and factually stated, no elected president in the history of America has ever inherited two ongoing endless wars with an economy on the verge of collapse. It's never happened before. But it did when President Obama inherited the country from Bush.

7. Obama Has Shrunk the Deficit

According to the U.S. Treasury, for the 2010 fiscal year that ended on September 30, the government had a budget shortfall of 1.294 trillion dollars, down 122 billion dollars from the previous year's record-setting high.

The 2010 fiscal year was President Obama's first federal operating budget. The previous year's budget was the final Bush budget which set a record for the largest deficit in American history. The budget deficit shrunk by $122 billion since Obama has taken office.

8. Obama Inherited a $1.4 trillion deficit, He Did Not Create It

It's amazing that some people believe American history began on Jan. 20th, 2009-- BUT IT DIDN'T. The day Obama took office the budget deficit was $1.416 trillion. He did not create it.

9. All the Bailouts Were Republican George Bush Policy

TARP was passed in October of 2008, over three months before Obama would become president. The original legislation was submitted to Congress by President George Bush and passed with both Republican and Democratic support of which Bush signed into law. Prior to TARP, the Bush administration had already committed $30 billion to Bear Stearns, $400 billion to Fannie and Freddie, $180 billion to AIG, $25 billion to the Auto industry, $85 billion to AIG, and billions more to the airline industry after 9/11.

Even the GM bailout in 2009 came from TARP funds and was structurally in place before Obama took office. It was the continuation of a Bush plan already moving forward, much like the surge in Iraq can't be credited to Obama either.

10. Republicans Have NEVER -- NOT ONCE IN MODERN HISTORY -- Shrunk Government, Cut Spending, or Reined in the Deficit

Is there anyone that still believes Republicans have ever governed with their so-called "principles" in mind? If so, consider this:

Since the ushering in of the modern Republican "Reagan Revolution," the GOP has never done any of the above. Frankly put, in the 20 years of modern Republican rule-- 8 years of Reagan, 4 years of Bush, and 8 years of Bush-- spending has never decreased, the deficit only grew by leaps and bounds (see #'s 4 & 5) and never did government shrink. There is no factual record they can point to that would in any way whatsoever suggest they are a fiscally conservative lot.

Shoppers Gone Wild

Something is wrong with this behavior my gut tells me.  These poor, mostly working class, people seem to have lost their dignity and been duped once again into nearly killing one another over a TV set. The Walmart door buster sale on Black Friday reminds me of starving people attacking a food truck in some famine ravaged African country instead of a sale on flat screen televisions or a toaster.

This relatively new shopping experience in America ironically follows Thanksgiving Day, which has become more a day to feed ones face and plot your position in line the next morning than considering the fact your lucky to have a roof over your head, a job or anything to eat at all.

"Advertising defines "the good life" in terms of buying rather than of doing, of acquisition rather than of accomplishment, of consumption rather than conservation." Thomas Hines

Another Republican Lie: The Stimulus Didn't Work

Unfortunately, most Americans bought that Republican BS bill of goods too. The only problem with the stimulus is it probably wasn't big enough and should of contained more shovel ready infrastructure repairing projects than tax cuts.

So instead of a 11.6% unemployment rate we have a 9.6% rate because of the stimulus according to the impartial Congressional Budget Office. The Republicans have proposed we rescind the remaining $12 billion of the Recovery Act that remains unspent, even though many of them actually voted for the original legislation or made sure they could claim credit for the jobs it created in their home districts or states even though they originally opposite the Recovery Act.

"The stimulus created the equivalent of 2 million to 5.8 million jobs during the third quarter as part-time workers shifted to full-time work, or employers offered more overtime work."

Southern Poverty Law Center Lists Top 18 Anti-Gay Groups

The SPLC, the long established and respected civil rights advocacy group,  has published a list of the top 18 anti-gay groups. We couldn't help but notice that the creeps over the the American Family Association, who we just happen to expose yesterday in a previous post, also made the list.

Video: Climate Change Denial Wackos Wrong Again

Climate change is real and the evidence of the lose of sea ice, a key indicator, is undeniable according to most objective scientists who are experts in the field.  But the wackos continues to politicize the issue. Their motives apparently based on greed,  hokey-poky and other assorted crapola. Their theories usually follow the pattern of something like, there's more snow in the front yard this year so how could the the planet be warming. 

Much of the misinformation campaign is spewed out from the website watts up with that, which claims to be "the world's most viewed climate website". The site is authored by deaf former TV weatherman Anthony Watts. I think that Watts real end game is motivated by using his notoriety to sell his weather widgets and website ad space. It's comparable to the deceased Seattle's KIRO TV weatherman Harry Wappler coming back from the grave and suddenly being anointed a climate change expert.



Via: Little Green Footballs

Power Hungry America's Quadrillions of BTU's

Texas is the biggest hog and Washington leads in renewable energy.....

 

 Click here for full sized look via GOOD infographics

Republicans Playing Politics With START Will Ultimately Strengthen Iran and North Korean Position

Republicans playing politics with START is just plain stupid and threatens to embolden Iran and North Korean efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and George Will is a pencil neck twit.

I Just Balanced The Federal Budget Now It's Your Turn

The New York Time has a groovy interactive budget puzzle that let's you "fix the budget" by choosing what taxes should be collected  and cuts made to balance the budget. One of my major cuts was the funding for our wars. Boy it felt good selecting that option.

Vigilante Politics Musical Interlude

Jesus Freak Says Medal Of Honor Should Require More Killing And Less Life Saving

This is just beyond the pale. Christian spokesman from American Family Association says Medal of Honor recipient not deserving because he saved lives rather then killing the enemy. These fascists would make a controversy out of anything if they felt in some strange way it serves their twisted political agenda.

Christians Who Don't Believe In The Separation Of Church And State Are Not Really Being Christ Like

I respect atheists who lead a good life because they simply choose to, rather than because of the fear of some sort of atonement should they not behave themselves. Often atheists believe there is no god because it is a belief that is both logical and intelligent, especially given the alternatives demonstrated in the myriad of evil doing that has transpired in the name of organized religion. I believe strongly in the separation of church and state, something that in present day America seems to be a dying concept even though the idea surely demonstrated the often ignored brilliance of some of our country's founders.

I was raised an Irish Catholic and now generally think of myself as more agnostically or open theism inclined then Catholic when it comes to matters of spirituality. One of the main reasons I stopped being a practicing Catholic was because I had a difficult time reconciling how religious people, especially Christians and Catholics could justify violence, vilifying the weak, poor, killing, hating gays, war and all the other evil they promote in the name of Jesus as being something that Jesus would approve of under any circumstances. In my limited understanding of Christ's teachings modern Christian dogma seems to be completely contrary to Christ's actual teachings and more often than not a justification for widespread hypocritical behavior. Like other progressives I have often wondered how all this hypocritical behavior, lying, killing and promotion of violence by these righteous Christian folks could ever be justified as being Christ like.

Gregory Boyd is a theologian and failed Catholic who now preaches and writes extensively on how Christians have it completely wrong if they believe that the mixture of church and state is acceptable behavior. Boyd in fact says that mixing the two is the opposite of what Jesus would want them to do. Boyd's book, The Myth Of A Christian Nation: how the quest for political power is destroying the church, caused quite a stir when it was first published in 2006. He was called a heretic by his fellow Christians and generally attacked by those on the political right, a sign that he must be preaching something intelligent. Boyd believes that Christians who think Jesus would approve of war and violence of any kind are missing Christ's message.

Although I don't agree with everything Boyd says during the three part interview below from the Charlie Rose's show in 2006, I think that most of what he says about present day politically involved Christians if pretty much directly on point, and worth the time to watch.

Patty Murray Tabbed To Head Senate Campaign Committee?

Les Blumenthal, McClatchy's Washington State correspondent, writes that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the White House are trying to convince Senator Murray to head up the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2012 campaign.

The Impersonal Nature Of Modern Warfare

"Wonder weapons... my God, I don't see the wonder in them. Killing without heroics, nothing is glorified... nothing is reaffirmed? No heroes, no cowards, no troops, no generals? Only those who are left alive... and those who are left dead. I'm glad I won't live to see it." George C. Scott from the Movie Patton

Yes, a made up quote from a Hollywood movie, yet quite fitting I think when it comes to the American war policy of using drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I remember being in the Army during the Vietnam War and receiving a fellow soldier's letter from Saigon that talked about how impersonal war had become in the modern world.

Carpet bombing in the Vietnam War was common place and the collateral damage it inflicted  caused thousands of innocent civilian deaths, all in the name of more efficiently killing the enemy. War is truly evil, most people agree, but modern warfare has turned war into the likes of a government sanctioned video killing game. Americans driven by misinformation, fear and preoccupation with our personal lives appear willing to turn a blind eye to the killing of humans randomly and impersonally by our government, often divorced from the the true reality of what it really means.

"While the United States might be at war in Afghanistan, many of the people we are trying to fight seem to be taking refuge in Pakistan. While the government won't acknowledge it, there is a massive operation using unmanned aircraft to hunt and kill militants in Pakistan. The New America Foundation has been tracking these operations since 2004, and their numbers show that as the war in Afghanistan winds down, our attacks in Pakistan are increasing." 

Click here for larger interactive graphic via: Good Infographics

Over 100,000 Jobs The GOP Didn't Want To Save

Think Progress has a nice piece on the success of the GM bailout and their successful IPO.  GOP leadership at the time ranted on about the destruction of the free market and how the bailouts of the auto industry would be, “the road toward Socialism."

I always like it when the Republicans talk about the destruction of the free market. Right wing free market dogma speak doesn't apply when it's some monopoly the wingnuts wants to protect from competing in the so called free market.  In fact the existence of free markets is pretty much a total bullshit lie when it comes to the way multinational corporations operate in today's world.

I wonder what the more than 100.000 auto industry workers, who's jobs were saved or created by the bailout, feel about the Republican fears of Socialism and destruction of the free market now.

Is It Fascism Yet Mommy.......?

Best of the Blogs always has something thought provoking. This particular article points out that many of the "stages" of becoming a fascist state are already present in America. Boy are the rally for sanity crowd going to hate this. Well there may come a point where being politically correct and nice may not work anymore.

Hyperbole you say, it couldn't happen in America could it. Well, I say given the great unwashed masses of the uninformed liberals, yes maybe even you, and ignorant uniformed rednecks that inhabit this land I'm not so sure. Maybe you'll  realize it has happened when you hear that knock on your door when they come to take you away.

Timeless Tea Making Tips (1941)

Now for something completely different Darling......

Deadly Amounts Of Radioactivity Found 1000 Feet From Columbia River

Meanwhile down at the Plant..... (that's what the locals call Hanford, by the way)

Workers have found a nasty surprise beneath a Hanford building just north of Richland - they found highly contaminated soil from an previously undiscovered leak.

"This is extremely high radiation. Nothing else compares in the river corridor," said Mark French, Department of Energy project director for environmental cleanup in the river corridor, the 75 square miles of Hanford along the Columbia River. 

Radioactivity has been measured at 8,900 rad per hour, which would be about 10 times the lethal dose on contact, according to Hanford officials. The building where the leak was found is about 1,000 feet from the Columbia River.

Heart of America NW, a Hanford watchdog group, had this to say about the contamination:

"Now, the question is how could USDOE have promoted use of the building for years without knowing about radiation levels so high in the sumps and soil under the building that they would kill in minutes??? What is needed Now: an emergency cleanup effort is needed due to proximity to the River and public, and an investigation as to how this was ignored or not found for years. This is going to be very expensive because of the incredible risk from the gamma radiation, and shielding needed. However, this comes at a time when Congressional pressure and the President’s announced response is to cut Hanford Clean-Up budgets in 2012. The waste should not be disposed at Hanford in landfills, it is so hot it should be treated as High-Level Waste, which is what it originated as." 

Wonder what the Republican majority in the House of Representatives thinks about providing  money to clean up this deadly mess. Maybe they will be swayed into paying for the cleanup because it more directly effects their redneck base supporter who live and work in Eastern Washington, or would  that be considered an earmark? Ouch!

Why Doesn’t Disingenuous Mayor McSchwinn Just Come Out and Say He’s Against the Tunnel Under Any Circumstances

Sometime in the utopian future Mayor McSchwinn wants all of us to ride our bikes or take public transit if we're going through town for business or pleasure. These are lovely and lofty ideals that the city of Seattle should strive for, but as I’ve said before they are highly unrealistic for most people who are living in the present.

Apparently he is more concerned with where to locate Nickelsville than getting started on replacing the crumbling viaduct and seawall. Publicola had a story yesterday that says the McSchwinn has not made a measurable effort yet to lobby Seattle’s legislators about controlling Seattle's share of the cost overruns that he's got his panties all in a knot about controlling.  Of course, the issue will come up in the next session of the legislature. You'd think, as mayor of Seattle, one of his top prioities would be to exercise do diligence and communicate his concerns to lawmakers about cost overruns on the tunnel project, but I guess not.

McSchwinn talks a good game and does a lot of posturing about tunnel cost overruns being the problem.

He gives the impression that if the city had certain guarantees that cost overruns could be controlled and not the responsibility of the city taxpayers he’s start construction tomorrow. But his actions demonstrate his real political agenda is no tunnel being built ever.

Even Goldy over at Horsesass argues that McSchwinn and his allies at the Stranger and elsewhere are only eclipsed by Tim Eyman when it comes to their anti-roads ideology.  All caught up in their personal agendas about bicycle ridding everywhere for everybody acted out behind the wizard of Oz tunnel cost overrun smokescreen.

Dear Mayor McSchwinn can you please come out and just say that your against the tunnel no matter what the circumstances are and quit being the typical politician that you are who's more concerned about protecting your bicycle riding back side than making the hard choices.

Baird Moving To Edmonds Hints Of Possible Run For 1st CD Seat

In a wide ranging interview with McClatchy News outgoing 3rd Distirct Congressman Brian Baird spreads the blame for the Republican takeover of his seat, and indicated he may run again.

"Baird has roughly $450,000 in his campaign account. He can't keep it personally, but can donate it to charity or other campaigns. There's one other alternative." "I could use it for another race," said Baird

"Baird is moving to Edmonds, Wash., in the 1st Congressional District north and east of Lake Washington currently represented by Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee. If Inslee were to run for governor in 2012 as many expect, the congressional seat would be open."

The Things Deep Bore Tunnel Opponents Don't Talk About

My Graphs better illustrate, I think, the concerns about the surface traffic issues that they won't talk about, and How Time Is Spent By Opponents Of The Deep Bore Tunnel, as far as we can determine: (Note: click on image for larger resolution)

Class Warfare And Trickle Down Economics My Ass

Every time someone argues for the elimination of the Bush tax cuts for the rich the right hauls out their "class warfare" talking point. If that doesn't work they go to the "less taxes on the rich will create jobs" trickle down rant. Really it's about tax equity and fairness and the fact that higher taxes on the rich really don't create the jobs that they claim they do.

The elephant in the closet in all the arguments about deficit reduction and taxes that almost always fails to get addressed is the fact that we are conducting two very expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that are draining this country's coffers and are essentially unfunded mandates.

Real class warfare is what's going to happen sometime in the future if the middle class wakes up to the fact that they've been getting screwed for years by the corporate and financial oligarchy and their political enablers.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Nothingness
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Get Out The Rye Bread Grandma It's Grand Salami Time In Baseball Heaven

Dave "Voice Of The Mariners" Niehaus 
1935 - 2010

click on above link to hear his famous grand slam call

Boy Was I Wrong: No Gravel Pit On Vashon Island Opponents Devise Plan To Buy Mining Operation

In early 2009 I wrote a post that pointed out that it looked like the Glacier Northwest no gravel pit on Vashon environmentalists had reached the end of the line in their attempts to stop the multinational Corporation from expansion of it mining operations on the Island. After a 10-year battle I reasoned it appeared to me that the company had in fact jumped through all the governmental hoops and should probably be allowed to run their business as they saw fit. I offered the opinion that perhaps the protesters should accept the fact and open up lines of communication with the company for the overall betterment of the community.

Boy was I wrong. 

Instead of accepting my call for a retreat the opponents of the expansion of mining redoubled their efforts. The turning point in the battle royal came with the election of a new State Land Commissioner Peter Goldmark. The new Commissioner Of Public Lands had, during his run for office, promised that if elected he would review the granting of the lease to aquatic areas surrounding the project that previously had been granted to Glacier Northwest by the outgoing Commissioner Doug Sutherland.  Sutherland’s granting of the lease was controversial because it was done at the end of his term and appeared to be a quid pro quo to the mining company in return for their campaign contributions.

Goldmark won the election and he fulfilled his promise. He informed the company that he had “grave concerns” about the project and had called for a complete review. That action put the company once again on the defensive and probably turned the tide in favor of the opponents of project. The other factor was the election of County Executive Dow Constantine. The new executive, and former 34^th District State Senator, which includes Vashon Island, had been an opponent of the project for years.

Today the County Executive announced an agreement to purchase the property from its present owners CalPortland Materials Group. Large parts of the property will be converted to a park open to the public. The purchase is contingent on the Cascade Land Conservancy Group raising 2 million of the purchase price total of $36 million dollars and the approval of the King County Council.

Is this the end of the fight? Maybe it’s the beginning of the end. But what will we do if we don’t have the Vashon gravel pit controversy to kick around anymore?

Ouch That Hurts: Reviewer Calls Samsung Galaxy "A Pocketable Train Wreck"

 artistdogboy geek minute

Android's answer to the I-Pad takes a beating in funny review from Gizmodo.

"This thing is just a mess. It's like a tablet drunkenly hooked up with a phone, and then took the fetus swimming in a Superfund cleanup site. The browser is miserable, at least when Flash is enabled. It goes catatonic, scrolling is laggy, and it can get laughably bad. When better browsing is half the reason to go for a larger screen, that's insanity."

Texas Motel Sign Fail

Via: Good Magazine

Atheists Had No Songs To Sing Till Now

I'm not an atheist, but I certainly sympathize with their logic and the outrage they aim at the hypocritical organized and run of the mill religious bigots we see all over the place nowadays. I tend to beleive in Theism,  just in case you care to know. Besides being a satirical observation on gospel songs this video has some bodacious harmony singing!



Thanks Donna!

Low Point Of His Administration According To George W Bush Is?

Oh the humanity!

Via: Best of the Blogs

Labor Board Rules Calling Your Boss A Nut On Facebook Is Protected Speech

In what maybe a precedent setting case, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that a worker fired because she said on Facebook that her employer had psychiatric problems should be reinstated.

"Dawnmarie Souza lost her job at a Connecticut ambulance service after starting a thread on Facebook suggesting that her supervisor was a psychiatric patient. Because Souza's co-workers chimed in—making it a "concerted protected activity"—the NLRB ruled that the conversation was guarded by a law guaranteeing employees the right to discuss their workplace conditions."

The NLRB was considered a toothless entity under Republican rule. Often doing next to nothing when employee workplace organizing and association rights were violated. The ruling could be an indication that the NLRB under the Obama administration is now willing to vigorously address valid complaints from workers when interference takes place concerning their rights to associate and organize unions to combat employer abuses or improve working conditions. The National Labor Relations Board was created during the Roosevelt Administration to administer the National Labor Relations Act that mandated protection of employee rights to organize unions and have government administered elections where employees could vote for union representation or not free from employer reprisal and retaliation. I expect that the Chamber of Commerce won't take the ruling laying down. So this may not be the end of the story.

Backbone Campaign Director And Local Activist Bill Moyer Featured On Huffington Post

Bill Moyer, Director of the Backbone Campaign and fellow Vashon Islander, had his piece entitled, Hell With Congress - We Need A Movement prominently featured on Huffington Post yesterday. The Backbone Campaign movement is known for its unique use of political theater, puppets, satire and irony in its organizing and activism activities. Moyer's has a dogged believes in local "community based organizing" as the foundation of any meaningful attempt to build a larger reform movement.

"The strategic response to Tuesday's election results is not to fight to defend private mandates or toothless financial reforms. The strategic response is to refocus and redouble our efforts to build a nationally-networked, community-based progressive populist movement that makes a real difference in the people's lives."

The Backbone Campaign's 2nd annual Chocolatada fund-raiser is scheduled for November 27th at the Open Space on Vashon Island.

Here's a June 2010 video of Moyer in action on, of all places, the Fox Business channel where he's talking about the Backbone Campaign's call for a nationwide boycott of British Petroleum.

62% Of People Who Understand Waterfront Replacement Plan Favor Deep Bore Tunnel

Build baby build! Thirty thousand union wage jobs created and we all get a brand spanking new waterfront. What are we waiting for Seattle? The political mouse has been milked dry. Survey says 62% of people who are informed about the tunnel and seawall replacement favor its construction. So get informed because I believe you'll see it is the best option that's doable. Enough talking and Mayor McSchwinn sandbagging for god's sake.

More Exclusive Video: Capture Of Hanford's Radioactive Bunny (PG)

"It's just a harmless little bunny!"



Hat Tip: Robin

Reactions To The Fact That I Am A Vegetarian

Religious Zealot Voters In Oklahoma Inadvertently Make Ten Commandments Illegal

Holy Shit! Residents in Oklahoma thought they were voting to ban Sharia law last Tuesday but it turns out that the new constitutional amendment may also extend to the Ten Commandments.

The Map: The Status Of Marijuana Law Reform

Now that Proposition 19 has failed in California we should look at the current map from NORML showing the status of all State Marijuana laws:

click on image to enlarge

World War II Psych Report On Hitler's Tendencies Mimic Today's Right Wing Lying Whenever It's Necessary Practices

"His (Hitler) primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it." The Nizkor Project

Rachel Maddow's report above on the propensity of right wing news sources to report and regurgitate bullshit as fact is profound.  Triggered by last week's $200 million dollars per day cost of Obama's trip to India story promulgated across the airwaves by the likes of Hannity, Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. We remember the lies about death panels, Obama's fake birth certificate and numerous other so called news reports that seem to bubble up from the right on a daily basis. Many of these scandals have their source in the heart of darkness bullshit news factory right wing tool bag known as the Drudge Report.

I remembered the right wing methods that Maddow is talking about resembling closely the World War II era Nazis Party propaganda machine practice of using what became known as the big lie. They never let facts get in the way, the bigger the lie the better. Researching the practice I came across the holocaust victims website The Nizkor Project that has complied some old OSS physiological reports on Hitler. That is where I found the above excerpt that described some of Hitler's core beliefs.

Sounds awfully familiar?

Mutant Radioactive Fauna Terrorize Tri-Cites (Video)

There are a number of news stories about the capture of a radioactive rabbit on November 4th at the Hanford Nuclear reservation in Southeastern Washington State. Apparently workers find the exposed rabbits by monitoring their glowing poop droppings.  I wonder if these rabbits could lead to a new species of mutant fauna the likes of the Rodan monster I remember from the 1956 science fiction movie about a flying pterodactyl wreaking destruction on Japan. But, what's more likely is that humans end up getting exposed to radioactivity when the contaminated nuclear waste enters the ground water that eventually gets into the Columbia river and its tributaries. Unfortunately, the possibility of that happening is NOT science fiction.

Plans To Bring Trader Joe's To West Seattle Move Ahead

The West Seattle Blog reports progress on plans to build a new Trader Joe's at the site of old Huling Brothers car dealership.  I like shopping at Trader Joe's because I like their products and prices. Having an outlet located in West Seattle would certainly be more convenient for me. 

I'm hoping that we can continue to get Trader Joe's corporate masters to be proactive about worker safety when it comes to farmworkers and others who are employed by their wholesale suppliers. There is a history of some abuse that lead to the death of a 17 year old farmworker connected with production of Two Buck Chuck's wines, sold exclusively at Trader Joe's stores.

Nut Job Party History Refresher

Crackpots days of lore explained....

Welcome to California Style Budget and Tax System Gridlock Nitwits

If you voted for I-1053 I'm sure you'll probably like it when absolutely nothing gets done in this State from now into the foreseeable future. I hope some government service you depend on gets cut first. Roads go to hell, ferry service is cut, kids don't get the medical treatment they need or your kid's school goes to hell.  Little old San Juan was the only county in the state that rejected this bullshit initiative having apparently had enough of Mr. Eyman's past smoke and mirror routine with initiatives 1033 and 601.

Washington State is now headed strait for major budget cuts and/or legislative gridlock because this law effectively blocks the regular absolute majority legislative process. If you like tyranny by the minority, your going to get a belly full of it for sure. This arcane process is now going to be the law in Washington State. Oh, I know Tim Eyman and the rest of his we got ours cronies made it sounds real good, but even if you didn't understand what it really meant when you voted for I-1053 your going to find out now for sure. It's called....

"Tyranny of the minority, is most often applied disparagingly to processes in which a minority is able to block legislative changes through super-majority threshold requirements. For example, if a 2/3 vote in favor is required to enact a new law, a minority of greater than 1/3 is said to have "minoritarian" powers."

I didn't vote for a selfish Republican no tax asshole to represent me and it looks like a majority of other citizens of this state didn't either. But some how the Republican minority will end up with veto power over the Democratic majority in both chambers of the legislature. Tim Eyman's I-1053 assures it will happen. Government here will be just like it is in California now, unable to pass a budget that 3/4 of the assembly can agree on and, dead broke!. There is just no way that you are going to get 2/3 or the State House and Senate to agree to raise any tax, not matter how worthwhile or needed, given the Republican just say no rich angry white man philosophy on taxes and life. Apparently an absolute majority vote used in most all democratic processes wasn't good enough for you was it?

I'm sure that 65% of the voting nitwits in Kitsap and Island Counties who ride the ferry system and also voted  for this Machiavellian rule will love it when their ferry service is cut. "Oh shit, what happened?", they'll muse. When the viaduct falls down and the State can't build the necessary road to replace it because they can't pass a a toll fee to pay for it for sure these shills will blame it on those damn politicians in Olympia or the overpaid state employees instead of their own uninformed ignorant vote.

And another thing, tell your State Representatives and Senators whatever they do, not to tax my candy or soda pop because I can't afford to pay that extra 2 cents tax on a bottle of sugar filled soda pop or candy bar those health nuts in the legislature tried to impose last year on my fat misinformed ass.!

Fuck those poor people and their kids anyway if they get sick!

Steve Ballmer Sells $1.3 Billion Worth of Microsoft Shares

Since I-1098 didn't pass it must be time to cash-out, eh? Seems Bill Gates Jr. sold 27 million of his shares too.

The Systematic Destruction Of The US Middle Class

Max Keiser interviews David Degraw about the concentration of wealth and power at the top in the United States.



Part two of the interview:

I'm Not Loving It

One more reason not to eat at McDonald's. As if we didn't have enough already.

Ohio McDonald’s tells employees to vote Republican if they want to continue receiving raises and benefits.

Apparently this Ohio McDonald's franchise operator also may have violated Ohio's law against political intimidation of employees.

The Awful Truth About Halloween Candy

Hand me that snickers bar...

 

click on image to enlarge

via: flowing data

What Republican And Democratic Tax Cuts Look Like

Here's a graph from the Washington Post on what the Republican and Democratic tax cuts may look like. Of course, much of what actually is enacted will depend on the outcome of the election.

click on image to enlarge

Crowd Sourcing Johnny Cash Video

Individual frame drawings submitted by people around the world make up this video. Courtesy of The Johnny Cash Project.

 

How People Get Hurt At Burning Man

This is a chart of the injuries and incidents at burning man from 2007 through 2009. For better resolution you can click here.

via: GOOD

Visualizing NFL Statistics

This is a unique way for NFL fans to look at team and individual statistics. The search by name feature is fun too.

My Beef With Meat

I used to love a good hamburger or beefsteak like just about every other American. I ate beef, pork or chicken pretty much on a daily basis. But I started to learn that my consumption of these foods in large amounts actually was damaging my health, and also the environment. Some of this information came from my doctor. I had a successful outcome in a bout with prostate cancer, high cholesterol, weight gain that, although not excessive, was leading to other health problems. These issues started to get me to seriously look at what I was putting in my body. Then I saw the documentary film Food Inc. on cable television. I saw that food production methods in this country not only made meat unhealthy for human consumption, but also had profound effect on animals and the overall environment.

I had misgivings about what I considered at the time to be rather moralistically sounding pronouncements about the negative effects of eating beef, but I had a funny feeling that they certainly made sense. So about a year ago I stopped eating red meat. I also stopped eating chicken and pork for what it’s worth because I understood that these foods also used questionable production methods that could effect consuming humans negatively. Like beef, pork and poultry mass production methods effect the environment profoundly. Bacon, of course, seemed to be one of he hardest meats I had to give up.

The results of eliminating these foods a year later? I’ve lost 25 pounds. My digestive system works better and I get some benefit in knowing I’m not supporting a broken corporate meat production system while I also help to improve the environment. I’m not one of the people who stopped eating meat because I was necessarily concerned about the cruelty to animals. That is a noble consideration, but eliminating meat from my diet just seemed to make sense. I felt I didn’t want to support the broken system given the common sense arguments about the negative effects it has on humans, the environment and animals.

I think that those of you who eat beef and other meats still should be able to consume it. But I think it’s important that you know that if you choose to eat these meats you can help the environment by reducing your consumption and by buying from a producer or market that raises meat from animals in a natural way. The video entitled The Secret Life Of Beef helps make my point.

Be Careful What You Buy That's Made In China

First it was baby food, then toys, and counterfeit drugs, now this....

Guns God And The Black Panthers Are Coming

This is the same sort of bullshit I ran into almost on a daily basis in East Texas and Montana when I was working for the Obama campaign during the presidential race. God and Guns, that's all they talk about. "They're going to take my gun away, or he's really a Muslim terrorist Antichrist..... and it wasn't a Saturday Night Live skit. Then of course. there's also a deep seated fear of anyone who's not white gaining power. Rather un-fucking believable how ignorant large groups of people are in this country.

Obama's campaign had a handout that addressed his position on guns quite clearly, since it was always coming up. If you got a chance to discuss the handout or give them a copy they'd say it's a lie. "Cus my uncle Joe told me he read it on the internet and heard it on FOX News"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

WANTED POSTER Tea Party Woman Beating Bully

Click to enlarge poster to enlarge

This angry thug and defenseless woman beater (pictured in the wanted poster) should be brought to justice. We have a video of the crime from the KYPost.com and also another angle here. We should demand that the police take action. Every effort should be made to stop this type of political activity by the Tea Party or anyone else, whenever and wherever it takes place.

Kentucky US Senate candidate Rand Paul should denounce the thugs who participated in the beat down of this woman. The victim Lauren Valle of the political action group Republicorp has apparently filed a complaint with Lexington, KY police.

Tea Party Thugs Beat Defenseless Woman Counter Protester

I think this should be one of the top news stories in the country. Rand Paul's Tea Party supporters beat on a defenseless and outnumbered woman protester. The woman was attempting to deliver a "employee of the month" award from the political action group MoveOn. to Paul before the Kentucky Senate candidates debate last night. Outrageous would be putting it mildly. Could this be a glimpse into the future should these angry white guy tea party "men" actually gain political power?

Keep Pushing Till It's Understood

We Will Own You

I thought I was already owned. This Republicorp video features talented local actor Steffon Moody. Republicorp is a website that lampoons Republican ideals. Another way Democrats deal with the crisis using humor instead of brickbats.

Headline: California Is Broke Maybe Time To Leave - Could It Happen Here?

"California Is Broke: 19 Reasons It May Be Time For Everyone To Leave The State For Good"

Business Insider has the above story which points out that California is basically broke. They go on to recommend that it's time for you to get the hell out if you live there.

But what Washingtonians should garner from headlines such as these is that the government gridlock instead of dealing with problems that need fixing, that the sunshine state is now become famous for, could also happen here if Tim Eyman's sponsored Initiative 1053 is approved by voters.

"Tim Eyman's proposal to create California-style political gridlock in Washington. Backed by BP, Tesoro, and Wall Street banks, Initiative 1053 would allow just 17 legislators to prevent a majority from taking action on a responsible, balanced approach to the budget. This minority veto is undemocratic and makes it easier for big corporations to influence legislation. California has the same two-thirds rule and it has caused such a mess of partisan gridlock there's an initiative to repeal it on the California ballot. Conservative special interests like BP and Bank of America are funding I-1053 because they want to keep their tax loopholes and giveaways." progressive voters guide

The budget crises in California have been brought about starting when conservatives got together a few years back and sold a "pleasant sounding" but radical bill of goods ballot initiative to voters that required the California State Assembly to have at least a two-thirds majority in order to pass any budget or tax increase. This is basically the same BS that Eyman's initiative 1053 proposes. The effect of the law in California is to restrict the party in the majority, which in California, as of late, has historically been the Democrats.

Instead of voters deciding tax and budget policy by supporting like minded politicians to create a majority who then create and implement tax and budget policy, the California laws have created a de facto tyranny of the minority. Democrats now control a majority in both chambers of the California assembly, but not enough of a majority to reach two thirds. You'd think a few moderate Republicans would be willing to join with the democrats to reach the required two-thirds majority to pass budgets and needed taxes. But instead it turns out that Republican assembly members in California are so conservative that they simply refuse to cooperation. They then attack the left for doing nothing and use the crisis as political fodder at election time. (also see US Congress, Republicans, filibuster)

Turns Out First Republican President Would Of Probably Loved Glee

Andrew Sullivan makes the case that we've probably already had a gay president.