"Hacked emails were planned and well-funded"

Should it be called 'Climategate'? Some environmentalists seem to want to shy away from the -gate suffix. I say embrace it. Because where there is a -gate, there must be Plumbers:

Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, vice-chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the theft of emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) was not the work of amateur climate skeptics.

Ypersele speculates that hacked emails were done by a well-funded, sophisticated group with the aim of destroying public confidence in the science of man-made climate change.

The fact that the emails were first uploaded to a suspicious website in Russia was an indication that the people behind the controversy were paid, he said.

"It's very common for hackers in Russia to be paid for their services."

"If you look at that mass of e-mails a lot of work was done, not only to download the data but it's a carefully made selection of e-mails and documents that's not random at all. This is 13 years of data and it's not a job of amateurs." Source

Somebody Else for Seattle Port Commission #1

Ehhhhlection '09

Should a crypto-right-winger and Temporary Restrainee like John Creighton be allowed to simply skate through the general election unopposed? I don't think so. Clearly, then, the only solution is to write-in Susan Robinet. Poetic justice is an excellent campaign slogan.

Update (11/4/09): So far there are 3032 write-ins in this race. That's 1.78%, the biggest write-in percentage of all the races.

"The Public Wants Options"

Inspired.

How Bike Lanes should be done

Hello Seattle DOT, we'd appreciate it if you'd watch this.

The New York High Line

A great Flickr slideshow by mi compadre Unrealfred. Could part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct be converted to something like this?

Street View of the Week

Wawona Tunnel, Yosemite Valley

Swell Season

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova at NPR (33 min.)

Tiny Desk Concert

Bad meme

It is already being pointed out that David Letterman is not, definitely not, a hypocrite for basically dating women in his company when he was single. But the other way in which the finger-pointing Palinites are wrong is this: if dating becomes wrong, then (alleged) extortionists become whistleblowers.

The Threshold

R-71
Ehhhhlection '09


The campaign that gathered signatures to get Referendum 71 on the ballot has been the winner in court so far in its effort to withhold names of people who signed the referendum petition.

When should a group be allowed to withhold names? There is a local precedent that sets a threshold. The Seattle Ethics and Elections gave the Freedom Socialists a pass on disclosing supporter names because they were able to show disclosure would have subjected them to threats, intimidation and harassment.

As we can see today, Freedom Socialists are not the only ones with good reason to be afraid of the right wing. Threats based on politics target the center and left; Beckbots are willing to go after anyone even slightly liberal.

The case for withholding names of R-71 signers does not rise to this threshold. Opponents of gay civil rights have no safety concerns from loss of anonymity, because liberals don't threaten, intimidate and harrass. We do criticize, mock and boycott -- but those are legal and nonviolent expression. Shielding someone from legal and nonviolent expression is not sufficient reason for exemption from public disclosure.

Birds On the Wires

'Found music' by Jarbas Agnelli

No problem after Viaduct shuts down

A miles-long oil slick on the Alaskan Way viaduct this morning caused southbound lanes on the elevated roadway to be shut down from 4am until 8:30ish.

Traffic diverted elsewhere. No lightning flashed, no toads rained from the sky.

Are a SURE we need to replace it with a tunnel???

A Ginormous Tragedy

While you wouldn't think the health insurance reform debate ventures into green territory, a current experience of mine does exactly that.

• My health insurance company took away my choice of pharmacy. I usually go to Bartell, but for one particular drug I need, my insurance made me choose between two national mail order pharmacies. This is being done for excellence in service and for your convenience, the letter read. In reality I tried both companies, and one was incompetent and the other one involved a lengthy intake interview. Like they think they're my doctor. And they'll be calling me every month when I need a refill for another friendly chat. Yessss, much more excellent and convenient. With Bartell (which is located right down the street) I can call the automated refill line and be done in less than a minute.

• Of course the real reason my insurance has taken away my choice is because it saves money, i.e. it allows them to make more money (because it is one of the Blues, they put the money into their ginormous reserve and give their executives massive salaries).

• The green connection involves the way the mail order pharmacies send me my prescription: with massive amounts of styrofoam packaging. It has to be refrigerated, so what UPS drops on my porch is a massive box containing a ginormous styrofoam vault as well as gel cold packs.

• I get to throw all that packaging away. More precisely, I get to pay to throw it away, either via municipal trash pickup or by transporting it 23 miles to Ikea.

It's a clear, compelling example of The Tragedy of the Commons. My insurance company is saving money, savings physically represented by petroleum-based material that ends up in the landfill. The mail-order pharmacies don't offer styrofoam mailback.

Maron subbing on "Ring Of Fire"

Marc Maron has Tweeted that he's filling in for Papantonio and RFK Jr. this weekend on Air America. Check with your local station.

Air America does it to me AGAIN

Break Room Live's last show:

Maron Down Under

I was trying to find a video for the Australia Channel 10 show "Good News Week," and look what I found instead: a clip of Marc Maron competing on one of the show's silly game segments.

What are you people afraid of?

Pollsters are supposedly finding that 70-75% of respondents favor some kind of single payer national health insurance. The right wing is going to ramp up its anti-single payer propaganda to eat away at that majority.

A lot of the progressive talk programs I've been listening to of late have been getting calls from the 25-30% who are against single payer. The thing is, most of them have trouble articulating their reasons.

It's really sad to hear their plaintive reasoning: if only everyone could take responsibility for themselves (in an employee-based coverage system?); if only we give the free market a chance (how can a choice be free if you must have coverage?); a government-run plan will lead to rationing (we have rationing now -- appointments and pre-authorization).

After listening to the fear I hear in their voices, I suddenly hit on what I think is the underlying cause of those fears.

The Resmuglicans keep screaming things like, "do you want a bureaucrat between you and your doctor?" I think the fear being triggered isn't fear of government, so much as the fear that the government will operate health insurance the same way the private insurance companies do now -- if not worse. And single payer would mean no recourse.

I think what people aren't realizing is that the reason for the private insurance system being such a miserable one wouldn't exist under single payer. Insurance companies create profits by denying claims, whereas under single payer there is no profit motive, and therefore no reason for a bureaucrat to deny claims! And because the federal government can run deficits, budget ceilings do not have to be a cause for denial of coverage either.

Under single payer, if you're a citizen, legal resident or legal visitor, you'd be covered.

Video: Palinites protest Letterman

No cries of "Letterman is a Muslim terr'rist, kill him!" But still fun!


"Alinksy and ACORN."

Also: Baked Alaskan by Todd Palin - "Where's MY apology?"

Then: Palin did not protest too much

Good Reading Department: Yesterday Shannyn Moore posted a rundown of all the times the Slutty Flight Attendant didn't seem to have a problem when comics joked about her daughters:

10) Last September, a skit on Saturday Night Live suggested incest in the Palin family. "What about the husband?" asked a mock Times reporter. "You know he’s doing those daughters. I mean, come on. It's Alaska!" No outrage. Sarah Palin appeared on the show one month later in late October.



9) Days after the announcement of Bristol’s pregnancy, Conan O'Brien joked, "It's true, John McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Palin said, 'We should never have introduced her to John Edwards.'" Where was the outrage? Was Conan promoting infidelity with an underage girl?

8 ) From two different Tonight Shows: "Governor Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. Oh, boy, you thought John Edwards was in trouble before, now he's really done it!" AND... "All the Republicans are heaping praise on Governor Palin. Fred Thompson said, as an actor, he could see them making a movie about Sarah Palin and her family. Didn’t they already make that movie? I think it was called 'Knocked Up!'"–Jay Leno

Read the rest

The Cost Conundrum (Update 3)

The New Yorker looks at an example of the craziness that is the U.S. health care system:

The Cost Conundrum
by Atul Gawande
...
McAllen (Texas) calls itself the Square Dance Capital of the World. "Lonesome Dove" was set around here.

McAllen has another distinction, too: it is one of the most expensive health-care markets in the country. Only Miami—which has much higher labor and living costs—spends more per person on health care. In 2006, Medicare spent fifteen thousand dollars per enrollee here, almost twice the national average. The income per capita is twelve thousand dollars. In other words, Medicare spends three thousand dollars more per person here than the average person earns.

Article

Update 1: Following on this news comes a letter from my health insurance carrier. That private health insurance company has written to inform me that it has decided to limit my choice of pharmacy. Instead, they have formed an exclusive arrangement with Accredo and Walgreens in order to provide, and I quote, "excellent service" and "greater convenience."

Thank gawd, it's SO about time. Because Walgreens is located a whole block closer to my house than my current pharmacy where I've been forced to do business for the last 10 years.

Update 2: So Premera gave me two numbers to call (at least it was toll free). I have a choice between Accredo and Walgreens (then how is the arrangement "exclusive"?). One turned out to be a general public number with a robot. No thanks.

The other number was picked up by an actual person; but it was clear they had no idea of their special relationship with Premera. I was kept on hold while she read something, then sought instructions from a supervisor. Then she took down my doctor's name and number so they can bother her too. I suppose they're going to have to call me back to get my address, which they'll need if they're going to ship me the prescription.

All I have to say is keep up the good work, guys. Much more of this "excellence" and "convenience," and even more Americans will be on board with single payer.

Update 3 (6/19): My prescription arrived today, by UPS. The box was crammed full of non-recyclable materials, including a massive styrofoam 'vault.' Grrrrrrr. I called the service, who passed me to a pharmacist, who first said he would connect me to their (alleged) Green Team, but then couldn't remember who was on that team -- could he have them call me back? They haven't.

Two admirable news stories from The South

These are both really wonderful events:

First Black Mayor in City Known for Klan Killings
New York Times

The city of Philadelphia, Miss., where members of the Ku Klux Klan killed three civil rights workers in 1964 in one of the era’s most infamous acts, on Tuesday elected its first black mayor.

James A. Young, a Pentecostal minister and former county supervisor, narrowly beat the incumbent, Rayburn Waddell, in the Democratic primary. There is no Republican challenger...




Texas Mayor Trades Job for Romance in Mexico
Wall Street Journal

J.W. Lown, the mayor of San Angelo in West Texas, recently narrated a video touting his town as a great place to live. Then he left to pursue another passion.

Mr. Lown resigned this week -- less than a month after winning a fourth two-year term in a landslide -- saying he was leaving to carry on a relationship with a Mexican man who had been living illegally in the U.S.
...

With his partner unable to legally remain in the U.S., the mayor said he realized around election day -- May 9 -- that he faced a choice: betray his duty to abide by the law by helping the man hide from immigration authorities; end the relationship, or join him in Mexico. He chose Mexico.

Mr. Lown's colleagues and constituents have rallied around him. Some said they hadn't known he was gay. Others were surprised he got involved with an illegal immigrant. Neither issue drew widespread censure or disapproval.

"In this neck of the woods," said Councilman Johnny Silvas, "people are accepting."
...

The newest Mariners fan

Heretofore non-sports fan Marc Maron, Air America Media pundit, has chosen a baseball team to root for. He explains his variety of reasons in this segment from Friday's Break Room Live:



No sooner had Maron boarded the good ship Mariner than the team went out and got clobbered by the Twins 11-0 on Friday and 9-6 on Saturday, continuing a four game losing streak courtesy of Texas and Kansas City.

Only today's 5-3 win over Minnesota saves Maron from jinx status. Welcome, Marc, and see ya at Safeco Field.

This is also how you Do It

Public rental bikes, that is: the check-out stations have to be near everywhere you want to go.

Blueprint for London's Cycling Revolution (The Guardian)

"We are all polluters"

Did you catch last night's PBS Frontline report on Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay?

If not, watch it now!

Money talks

Here's a video of Will Murray describing his proposal for a sidewalk in the Bitter Lake neighborhood. It's the fourth time he's submitted it -- ironic that it has been unsuccessful, considering the area is one of the urban villages that supposedly is the focus of our smart growth, walkable neighborhoods policies.



Seattle may claim to put a priority on pedestrian needs, but money talks. The $90,000 available annually in the Neighborhood Street Fund represents city hall's real level of interest in making streets safer. In other words -- very little.

There will be no comprehensive improvement in pedestrian infrastructure so long as city hall follows a divide and conquer strategy: allocating a tiny amount of funding and making the neighborhoods compete for it against each other. It distracts everyone from uniting as one community and demanding a solution that is good for everyone.

The Real Reason Hillary didn't become President

It would have crushed this little girl's dream:

Another car runs amok

Hey, a bicyclist has been hit by another one of those driverless cars. The Seattle Times story in full --

March 11, 2009 10:38 AM
Bicyclist struck by vehicle in Wallingford neighborhood

Posted by Nick Provenza

A cyclist suffered serious head injuries after she was struck by a vehicle just before 10:30 a.m. in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood.

Police and medics are at the scene, near First Avenue Northeast and North 56th Street.

The cyclist, a woman in her 40s, suffered life-threatening injuries and is being transported to Harborview Medical Center, said Dana Vander Houwen of the Seattle Fire Department.

More to come.

Ya missed a Who, Nick.

Mercer will still be One-Way, in a way

Gee, so Seattle is going to put $154 million on making Mercer Street two-way, with another $50 million coming from federal stimulus funds. Yes, we'll be paying contractors and putting people to work to take a couple minutes off the drive of people exiting I-5.

This strikes me as perpetuating the "one way" that urban development has followed for decades: the car culture.

I've been going around telling people that the point of the stimulus is to spend money to get it out into the economy. Well, why Mercer Street? Won't other non-defense spending also create work? How about these items that are supposed to be city priorities:

• Pedestrian safety
• Housing and support services for the hardcore homeless
• School district funding
• Finish the sidewalk grid!
• Duwamish Superfund cleanup
• Fast, convenient and pervasive transit

And how about this need that no one ever talks about: preparing the infrastructure that will support the 1.6 million additional residents expected to move to the Puget Sound region between now and 2040. Do you think the current wastewater treatment system can handle all the additional inputs? Wouldn't our power grid benefit from rooftop solar and wind farms?

The problem for Seattle is that the federal stimulus is only going to shovel-ready projects. That is, projects that were already in advanced planning and only lacked the funding to proceed.

Obviously, Seattle didn't plan.

Another piece of great reporting

The Seattle Times reports on another one of those accidents where a cyclist collides with an -- apparently -- driverless vehicle:

Bicyclist killed in Ballard crash

A 39-year-old cyclist was killed in a collision with a van this morning in Ballard.

By Seattle Times staff

A 39-year-old cyclist was killed in a collision with a van this morning in Ballard.

Medics were called to 24th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 65th Street just before 11 a.m. and performed CPR on the man, according to Dana Vander Houwen, a spokeswoman for the Seattle Fire Department.

The cyclist suffered life-threatening injuries and later died at Harborview Medical Center, said hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson. Police did not immediately provide details of the collision.

Way to get all the 5 Ws, "Staff."

Update, 2/5:

Here's the Street View of the scene, looking south. The Viking is on the left, the turn lane is just ahead. The arrows appear to be where the accident occurred -- pan right 2 clicks, and the telephone pole in the P-I photo is visible.


View Larger Map

Scenario 1. News stories are implying the van was making a legal turn at the intersection with 64th. But the only way the accident makes any sense at that location, and considering the victim, Kevin Black, was an experienced rider, is if he was in the southbound lane preparing to enter the turn lane, and the van driver passed Black and got there first. It's also possible she only thought she was past him, then turned before he did. Drivers think they can share the lane with me all the time.

By the way, for the P-I Soundoff trogs -- there is no law saying you MUST use a bike lane if one is there. There are in fact all sorts of reasons not to use it -- people often insist on loading cargo on the driver's side, someone could be in the middle of parking, a car could be parked in the bike lane. The bike lane is also where all the road debris winds up.

Scenario 2. But the most common reason not to be in the bike lane is if you have to swerve to avoid something -- such as a van that has pulled out in front of you. Interestingly, the accident site is precisely where a southbound vehicle would make a U-turn to get to The Viking (look at where the nose of the white van is in the 13th photo HERE). But that can't possibly be the case here, since U-turns are only allowed at intersections and streetends -- and drivers never EVER break the law, right trogs?

O Green Mayor, Where Art Thou?

Where's our city-wide bike rental program?

Velíb (Paris)



Smartbike (Washington DC)

It's a new year...

...time to do some shopping at one of the hip boutiques on Western Avenue!


The giant safety pin must be for popping the really big ones.